Disclaimer: Dr Who and related characters are owned by BBC.
The Wolf's Song
By Eugena
Rated: T
One day he would discover a secret to his past. After the book "Only Human." References to First, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Doctor eras.
The Doctor watched as Rose headed to the wardrobe. Don't let her get rid of that outfit, he pleaded to the TARDIS. He was more tactful than T. P. Quilley. He'd never do that in front of Rose, but that didn't stop him from thinking about it.
He didn't do domestic for a number of reasons. He lost his family and never imagined getting close to anyone for a long time. Not that he was too close to anyone in his family when they lived anyway. Gallifreyans didn't have the close family group like humans had. There was little biological attachment at all. Everyone had been born – in a matter of speaking – on looms for centuries. There had been no live birth for some time. He remembered Susan, and thought that somehow there had been a live birth at some point.
Susan had suddenly appeared on Gallifrey. Although she had no past, it was as if she had an entire history. It was the same feeling he later had on his travels when he appeared him human societies, and they immediately accepted him and any personal history he provided. The Time Lords ran many tests on Susan, and did not look too pleased when they finished. They handed Susan to him and said she was his responsibility, since he was her grandfather.
Grandfather. That scared him. It meant at some point he had been a father. The Doctor hadn't missed the look on the council member's faces. Susan was his granddaughter by natural birth, and natural birth all the way.
After his sixth regeneration, Romana brought up the subject again.
oOo
"You must go to Earth. Humans need our help. They will not be ready for some time."
She reached out and squeezed his hand. He felt a wave of sadness was over him.
What is it? he asked telepathically.
I often wonder what the universe has planned for you, Doctor.
She looked away, but he did not stop asking the question in his mind.
Susan was part human, she finally answered. There have always been mysteries surrounding you. I saw the possible future you would not allow yourself to see because it might interfere with one of your future regenerations.
He tried to join his mind with hers to see the future she had, but she placed a mental wall in front of him.
She looked back at him, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I can't let you see, Doctor. It will break your hearts, and every heart of future regenerations."
"Susan never spoke about her parents or her grandmother. She didn't want it to change history. She said only once that I loved her grandmother more than anything, and that she loved me, too. Susan daid to remember that whenever I would almost give up, to remember that one day I would meet the woman that would change my life forever."
"You will meet her soon, Doctor," Romana said. "That is all I can tell you."
oOo
Bad Wolf could travel to any time she wanted. She looked into the threads of time to find a moment that caused The Doctor great pain.
oOo
The Seventh Doctor screamed again for the humans to stop. They could not understand what would happen soon if they continued. He felt death take its hold of him, and he had little strength to hang on. He closed his eyes and wanted to close them again.
A glowing woman stood in front of him, bathed in gold light. No one existed except the woman and him.
He tried to reach out to touch her, but he felt himself slipping away.
A soothing melody filled his mind, and the woman said, "A new era begins. I have missed you, My Doctor."
oOo
Somehow, his mind still existed. His seventh life was over, but still some blood flowed slowly in his viens. The woman's image burned into his memory. He heard those who came before him. None understood what happened. He focused more on the woman. A shadow appeared in his thoughts. He felt the shadow's excitement and happiness.
He looked up into the woman's face, at a loss for words as he gazed into her eyes.
"I am what will be," she said. She placed a hand on her belly, and he felt the presence of a new life in infancy. A rough hand covered hers. He searched behind the woman for the other man's face, but he could not see past her golden eyes. He saw the stars and solar systems in her eyes.
"He is who you will be," she said.
She stepped closer to him and pressed her lips to his forehead.
"Now you must become who will be next," she said as her golden eyes looked into his eyes.
The shadow appeared next to him. She looked away from him and kissed the shadow.
The Seventh Doctor faded as the shadow breathed his first breath.
oOo
The Ninth Doctor woke from his dream. He remembered his previous lives and kissing Grace. His eighth self enjoyed snogging women and thought about it more than he had the chance to do it. Every time, something in the back of his mind would say, "Not the same." Sometimes, it would be Seven's voice.
He wondered what Rose would think if she knew about regenerations. He knew he should tell her. She accepted him as an alien, but could she accept the fact that one day he would not look the same?