Reset Button
The Doctor watched as the tall man with the grim smile upon his face approached. He sighed. It wouldn't be long now. He wasn't hurting anymore. They were in a dark expanse, with nothing else but the two of them, squared off as if in a draw. The Doctor was too tired to even glare at the replacement. He was so tired with the whole situation. He just wanted to get this over with.
"So you're me then? I mean, my replacement?" The Doctor started.
"Aw, I wouldn't say that like it's such a bad thing. Let's just say I'm your reset button," the man replied. Oh, wonderful. The next incarnation was a madman. "You don't want to leave. I get that. None of the others ever wanted to. But think about it, Doctor. You're alone. You have no one. You're depressed. In fact, I'd say that if this went on any longer, you'd have forced your regeneration anyway, or maybe something worse. Perhaps a new outlook on life is all you needed. So, reset button."
"No, you don't understand!" The Doctor yelled. "I like who I am. I like it more than any of the others. I would never have left on purpose. I have too many friends, too many loose ends! And I can't even be sure you'll feel the same way that I do about them."
The man could only gaze at him sadly in response. "Who you were, Doctor," he whispered.
"I never wanted to be you!" The Doctor yelled. "When you replace me, just remember that. I never wanted to be you…" he said a little softer. He was so tired.
"Now you don't understand," the next Doctor said, smiling brighter this time. "All of our multiple personalities are sides of the same face. So, you're not becoming me. You are me, and always have been, just as I have always been you."
"That's what you believe," The Doctor retorted.
"No, think about it. Or even better, observe," the next Doctor replied, and gestured around him. The two were no longer alone in the darkness. There were now 11 other men, 9 of which The Doctor recognized as himself. Past versions of himself, the ones he had almost forgotten, and the two he assumed to be the even further future versions of himself: all there, standing silently. The Doctor felt tears welling up in his eyes.
The very first of all the Doctors approached the two. "This place is reserved for our weakest moments, the border between life and death: the regeneration process itself, when we are at our most divided. You will not remember this moment until you regenerate again, Doctor. Or should I say, we will not. Or I will not. Whichever version of the word you choose."
The Doctor nodded, and the old man who he once was, or still was, glided back to join the ranks of the other past Doctors. They slowly began to fade, and the now-past Doctor looked down at his hands only to realize that he was fading as well. The fatigue that had drained him faded at the same pace, and The Doctor started to feel strangely at peace. Sighing, he turned to face the next Doctor once more.
The next Doctor strode up to his most recent past incarnation and held out his hand for a handshake. "Reset button?"
The past Doctor took his hand in his own and shook it. "Reset button it is." It was his turn to smile grimly, for he had now almost completely faded away. "Don't forget yourself, Doctor."
"I would never, Doctor."
Blinding light flooded into the Doctor's vision, and with a scream of pain he opened his eyes…