I found this on my flash drive, I'd forgotten I had it.

It was originally meant to be part of my fic 'Any Fool Can See It'- but it just won't work.


He didn't have long now, he could feel himself fading fast- he just had to hold on until Rose woke up; he didn't know how she'd react if she woke up to a complete stranger. His fiancée had a slap to rival her mother's.

As if on cue, Rose woke up, but didn't move from where he'd laid her

"What happened?" she asked, sounding dazed

"Don't you remember?" he asked, keeping his tone slightly mildly surprised. Slightly mildly? There went his brain.

She sat up, her hand going to her head. "It's like… there was this singing…"

She shouldn't even have been able to remember that. Thinking quickly the Doctor announced cheerfully.

"That's right, I sang a song and the Daleks ran away" it was a terrible lie but the best he could do in the state he was in. He looked down at his hand- the veins were visible, glowing faintly with regeneration energy

"No, I was at home… no, I wasn't, I was in the TARDIS and… I can't remember anything else…"

She broke off, trying to remember what had just happened. She looked so… cute with that deeply puzzled look on her beautiful face, Rassilon he hoped that he was more handsome in his next body. Suddenly, as if feeling his gaze, she looked up at him, he smiled at her.

"Rose Tyler. I was gonna take you to so many places, like Barcelona… not the city Barcelona, the planet. You'd love it. Fantastic place- they've got doges with no noses; imagine how many times a day you end up telling that joke, and it's still funny!"

"Then why can't we go?" Rose asked, not understanding- he could see the fear and rejection in her face… she didn't think he was going to dump her did she?

"Maybe you will" he announced, determined to take her there so they could get to know each other again. "And maybe I will… just not like this"

"You're not making sense" she told him, rising to her feet

"I might never make sense again" he shrugged, the pain was building now- he had to tell her. "I might have two heads… or no head! Imagine me with no head. And don't say that's an improvement love."

Rose gave a bemused chuckle, playing with her engagement ring.

"But it's a bit dodgy. This process, you never know what you're going to end up with…"

He broke off with a sudden spasm of pain which was accompanied by a blast of regeneration energy propelled him backwards; he clutched his stomach, wincing in pain. Rose rushed towards him, her face full of concern.

"Stay back!" he barked urgently, he could hurt her while he was regenerating if she was too close

"What's going on?" she asked, sounding frightened. "Doctor, tell me"

The pain was mounting by the second but somehow he managed to keep his tone light as he explained. "I absorbed all the energy of the Time Vortex; and no one's meant to do that!"

Another, more intense spasm of pain had him screwing up his face; he had to make this quick. "Every cell in my body's dying"

"Can't you do something?" Rose asked, sounding horrified

"I'm doing it now" he told her to reassure her. "You see, Time Lords have this little trick… sort of a way of cheating death. Except…" he looked into her eyes- beautiful dark brown eyes they were too. "It means I gonna change.

"And I'm not gonna see you again. Not like this. Not with this daft old face" he didn't want to scare her, he managed to laugh, attempting to lighten the mood. "And before I go…"

"Don't say that!" she snapped, sounding on the verge of tears

"Rose, love…" he only had a few more seconds, at a push. "Before I go, I just wanna tell you, you were fantastic; absolutely fantastic- and you know what…?"

She shook her head, he grinned; glad that hers would be the first face his new eyes would see. Nothing would change his feelings for her.

"So was I"

Rose smiled, nodding. Rassilon she was so beautiful. He smiled back at her.

A few moments later the regeneration energy overwhelmed him.


Rose yelped as her fiancé convulsed and golden light exploded from out of his sleeves; the neck of his jumper and the bottom of his trouser legs, hiding him from her. She staggered backwards on leaden legs, hiding behind one of the struts, shielding her eyes as the light brightened and the heat coming off him intensified… she couldn't look away, not until whatever was happening to her love stopped happening to him

Rose stared at her Doctor, rooted to the spot as the light faded a little. She watched as hair grew out of his scalp; as his face changed, it got thinner, more angular… slowly the light faded away to nothing revealing a strange man, dressed in the Doctor's clothes, standing on the spot that her fiancé had vanished from. The man looked surprised, and stunned. Then he turned to look at her, a smile lit his features.

"Hello… Ok, ooh" the man's brow furrowed and he ran his tongue over his teeth. "New teeth, that's weird. So, where was I?"

Then, without giving her chance to speak, the man spoke up again. "Oh, that's right! Barcelona!"


The Doctor smiled at Rose for a moment, really hoping that she liked the new him, and began to input the co-ordinates for their next destination.

"Thursday… 6pm" he murmured. "October 5006… on the way to Barcelona!" he looked at Rose again, Rassilon- had she always been that beautiful, all pink and yellow? If she hadn't, why not? It was a good combination. But there was another matter at hand, what did his fiancée think of him? "Now then, what do I look like?"

No, no- it suddenly seemed a better idea to find out for himself first, and get his Rose's opinion second. Yes, that's what he'd do. He told her as much and began to examine himself; after all he was as new to himself as he was to her.

He was bipedal, that never changed; he had two arms and hands- even if there was a slight weakness in the dorsal tubercle. Did he have hair? His two new, manly, hands flew to his head; of which there was only one (good he was humanoid- wouldn't do to scare Rose). Ooh hair, big hair too- that was a big change considering the close cropped fuzz he'd had last time round. Sideburns! Fantastic he had sideburns!

He moved onto his body, slapping his stomach. He was slimmer now, it was odd but he'd get used to it soon enough…

Oh! Oh, now that was fantastic- a mole. There was a mole on his back, right between his shoulder blades. It was officially his favourite feature.

Now there was only one thing left to sort out. He returned his attention to Rose, she was staring at him- did that mean she liked him? He hoped so.

"What do you think?" he asked

"Who are you?" she asked, timidly

Ok, that wasn't the reaction he was expecting. Hadn't he explained all this?

"I'm the Doctor"

"No!" she snapped. "Where is he? Where's the Doctor? What have you done with him?"

"You saw me- I changed" he pointed to the console, behind him, at the spot where he'd just regenerated. "Right in front of you"

"No, I saw him sort of… explode, and then you replaced him; like a… a teleport or, or a body swap, or something." She moved towards him and pushed him in the chest, not really the kind of reaction he'd been hoping for. "You're not fooling me"

The Doctor just couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was his fiancée; the woman he loved more than his own life. Of all the things he'd shown her in their time together- was him regenerating really that unbelievable?

"I've seen all kinds of things: Nano genes… the Gelth… Slitheen…" Rose gasped and glared at him. "Are you a Slitheen?

What? Where had she got that one from? He might be able to understand her thought process if he'd got fatter instead of thinner.

"I'm not a Slitheen" he told her, calmly

Rose looked at him for a few seconds. Did that mean she believed him? He certainly hoped so.

"Send him back!" she shouted, suddenly. "I'm warning you- send the Doctor back, right now!"

"Rose, my love" he was pleading with her now. "It's me, honestly. It's me. I was dying, and to save my own life I changed my body. Every single cell- but I promise, it's still me"

"Y-you can't be" She whispered, staring at him, her chest rising and falling very fast in her distress. It seemed he had to prove himself, and he knew just the way- the very first thing he ever said to her... He closed the gap between them, gazing into her beautiful brown eyes.

"Then how could I remember this? The very first word I ever said to you. Trapped in that cellar, surrounded by shop window dummies… oh… such a long time ago. I took your hand…"

He did so now, revelling in the fit of their fingers; it was as if these new hands of his were moulded to hold her small soft ones. Rose looked down at their joined hands for a moment and then back up at his face, tears trickling down her normally pink cheeks.

"I said one word… just one word. I said" he leaned in, and whispered the very word in her ear. "'Run'"

"Doctor" she whispered- seeming finally to believe who he was.

"Hello" he said, gently, the desire to test whether the apparent custom-made-for-Rose-Tyler thing went further than his hands blossomed within him. He was going to have to kiss her.

Well he would have if she hadn't stumbled backwards as the impact of realizing that he was the same man who had proposed marriage to her only days earlier hit home. Maybe it would be best to give her some space for a few minutes. He took off, putting the console between them- deciding to try and make her laugh.

"And we never stopped did we? All across the universe, running. Running, running, running… one time we had to hop- do you remember? Hopping for our lives?" he hopped madly on the spot, demonstrating. Rose just stood watching him with her back against one of the pillars

"Yeah?" he continued. "All that hopping? Remember hopping for your life? Yeah?! Hop? With the…" His attempt at humour was apparently lost on his lady at this point in time. "No…?"

"Can you change back?" Rose asked suddenly

That wasn't a good sign. "Do you want me to?"

"Yeah"

"Oh" his hearts dropped in his chest at that

"Can you?" she asked, timidly

"No" if she didn't like the new him maybe she wouldn't want to travel with him anymore- he loved her too much to force her to stay with him. "Do you want to leave?"

"Do you want me to leave?" she asked, shocked.

What? How could she think he wanted her to leave? Just because his body and personality had changed didn't mean his feelings for her had.

"No! But… your choice… if you want to go home…" he turned back to the console and cancelled Barcelona, she'd have loved it there. "London… the Powell Estate… ah… let's say 24th December." He looked at her. "Consider it a Christmas present."

"I'm going home?" Rose asked, sounding hurt

"Up to you" he told her- he really did not want her to leave- hopefully she'd change her mind if he took her home for Christmas and their relationship would survive his regeneration. "Back to your mum… it's all waiting. Fish and chips, sausage and mash, beans on toast- no, Christmas! Turkey! Although, having met your mother nut loaf would be more appropriate"

Rose looked down, trying to hide a smile

Hope resurfaced. "Was that a smile?"

"No" Rose lied transparently

"That was a smile…" the Doctor said, knowingly

"No it wasn't"

His tone turned teasing. "You smiled…"

"No I didn't"

"Oh come on" the Doctor sighed. "All I did was change. I didn't…"

He gagged suddenly as if something was trying to force its way up his throat. The TARDIS shuddered and Rose looked at him questioningly

"What?"

"I said I didn't…" he gagged again and a piece of the Time Vortex floated out of his mouth. Rose edged around the console towards him, cautiously.

"Errum… are you alright?"

Another piece of the time vortex emerged before he could reply- Rose asked what it was.

"Oh the Change is going a bit wrong and all" he told her, trying to make light of the situation. His bluff was called as he gagged again, falling to his knees in pain.

"Look" Rose was trying not to panic; he respected that. "Maybe we should go back. Let's find Jack. He'd know what to do"

Ugh no, no, no, no. They weren't going back for Jack- not after what Rose had inadvertently turned him into.

"Gah! He's busy." He demurred. "He's got plenty to do rebuilding the earth"

A lever caught his eye- one he hadn't used in years. He flicked it and the TARDIS shuddered violently, nearly knocking them both off their feet.

"What are you doing?!" he heard Rose demand, panicking now

"Putting on a bit of speed!" he told her. "That's it!"

He started attacking the control panel; the need to go faster was overwhelming

"My beautiful ship" he cackled. "C'mon, faster! That's a girl! Faster! Wanna break the time limit?"

"Stop it!" Rose cried out, sounding angry and scared

"Ah don't be so dull! Let's have a bit of fun! Let's rip through that vortex" he snapped at her, then, remembering to whom he was speaking he looked at her, knowing he'd have to apologize to her when he finished regenerating. "The regeneration's going wrong. I can't stop myself"

Pain washed over him. "Argh my head…"

The madness took over again and he heard himself yell. "Faster! Let's open those engines!"

The cloister bell tolled. He noticed Rose looking around, frightened. "What's that?"

"We're gonna crash land!" he heard himself tell her, sounding delighted. A manic laugh tore from his throat as he heard Rose scream at him to do something.

"Too late! Out of control" that's when he started running around, giggling like a small human child on a sugar high. "Oh, I love it! Hot Dawg!"

"You're gonna kill us" she cried- were he in his right mind he'd be doing something to stop it, but not right now

"Hold tight" he yelled. "Here we go"

He met her gaze over the console, he grinned madly at the scared look on her face.

"Christmas Eve…!"

To Be Continued…?


What do you think? Should I leave it as a one shot or carry on into series two?