Still Alive
Chapter 1-
After Regeneration
"What happened?"
"Don't you remember?"
"It's like- there was a singing,"
"That's right, I sang a song and the Daleks ran away."
"I was at home- no I wasn't, I was in the TARDIS, and there was this light... I can't remember anything else."
"Rose Tyler, I was going to take you to so many places, Barcelona, not the city Barcelona, the planet Barcelona. You'd love it, fantastic place. They've got dogs 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?"
"Maybe you will, and maybe I will. But not like this."
"You're not making sense,"
"I might never make sense again! I might have two heads, or no head! Imagine me with no head! And don't say that's an improvement. It's a bit dodgy, this process. You never know what you're gonna end up with."
"Doctor!"
"Stay away!"
"Doctor, t-tell me what's going on,"
"I absorbed all the energy of the time vortex, and no one's meant to do that. Every cell in my body's dying."
"But, cant you do something?"
"Yeah, I'm doing it now. Time Lords have this little trick, it's, sort of a way of cheating death. Except, it means I'm gonna change. And I'm not gonna see you again. Not like this, not with this daft old face. And before I go-"
"Don't say that,"
"Rose, before I go I just wanna tell you, you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And you know what? So was I."
He didn't want to leave her. The best he could do was to hope that his new regeneration would keep her safe. This was it. He was leaving. Sure, he's just changing. But it's still changing. The man he was before dies. It was time for him to regenerate, and die. He was going to die and leave Rose alone with some new stranger who won't even know who he is. He would have his memories, but he would be a stranger to the universe, Rose, and himself.
The Doctor braced himself. He could feel the burning feeling of regeneration, tingling on the tips of his fingers, and knew his hands were glowing with ribbons of bright light. He took one last sad look at Rose, and closed his eyes. The regeneration energy took over, forcing his arms out to the side, and the golden light enveloped him.
Unexpectedly, the burning stopped. The Doctor opened his eyes. The light was gone. He lifted his hands to his face. They were the same hands, the same hands he had before. Had he not regenerated?
"I'm still alive?" he breathed, not quite believing it.
He looked around. He was still in the TARDIS, but he was alone. Where was Rose?
The Doctor, confused, called out, "Rose!"
He walked around the console, looking over the control room for Rose. The beating of his hearts quickened as confused jumble of questions flew around in his head. Why had he not regenerated? Where was Rose? Did he imagine what had happened not two minutes ago?
Wondering if she had left the TARDIS, he walked over to door and tried to open it. It wouldn't open. He jiggled the handle and tried to force it open, but it was sealed shut. He looked back behind him, scanning the area thoughtfully. He sighed, keeping himself calm, and decided to search the rest of the TARDIS in hope to find Rose or something to open the TARDIS door with. He entered the hallway, thinking about where he might find something to help him open the doors He began to walk down the hallway, which eventually led to a turn. Halfway there, he stopped and walked backwards several steps. Looking to his right, he saw there was a door. His eyes narrowed. That wasn't there before. Yes, there were some places in the TARDIS he had not explored or even knew about, with how big it is, but this was new. It was so close to the control room, he should have seen it before now.
Excited curiosity surged through the Doctor, who then proceeded to open the door. He braced himself, not sure what was behind it, thinking that it could be dangerous. What he saw was a little disappointing. It was a plain room, filled only by a couch and a large flat-screen TV. The couch was a warm brown color, and looked like it would be squishy. It was covered with an assortment of mismatching cushions. However, that was until he saw the TV. Not the TV specifically, but what it was showing. On the glowing screen he saw Rose. She was in the TARDIS, She was looking fearful surprise at the figure before her. It was him, the Doctor, but the golden light was covering his hands and face. It was him, in the middle of regeneration. The image was frozen, and there was a pause symbol on the screen.
The Doctor not on the screen stared in confusion and slowly made his way to the couch and sat down. To his left he found a black remote with various buttons on it, like a normal Earth remote. He pressed the play button then fixed his eyes back on the screen.
The golden light faded, revealing a new man with spiky brown hair. He blinked.
"So that's what I look like now then?" the off-screen Doctor scrutinized with narrowed eyes.
"Hello," he said. "Oka-hmmn." he stopped suddenly, and made a face, feeling his teeth with his tongue. "New teeth. That's weird."
The Doctor frowned. If that was him, why was he here?
"So where was I? Oh yeah, Barcelona!"
It was him. How? How did he get here, but still be there?
He watched as the new Doctor, which he was beginning to refer to as "Ten" set the TARDIS coordinates for Barcelona.
The regeneration must have gone wrong somehow, and sent himself, who he was now thinking of as "Nine", here. Another question was, what, where and when is here?
"Who are you?" Rose asked cautiously, interrupting Ten, who was excitedly looking over his new body
Nine felt sympathetic towards his replacement. Rose might not trust him anymore, now that he has changed.
While he watched Ten try to convince Rose that he was the Doctor, he pondered what had happened to himself. The regeneration must have gone wrong. It sent this version of him here. "Here" was probably a sort of pocket universe, formed from the regeneration energy. It took Nine, the old Doctor, who was now in a way dead, and put him in it, creating this pocket universe TARDIS. That would explain why he couldn't get out. There probably was no out.
The only thing Nine could do was to wait, and watch his new regeneration. He was also might as well try exploring more of the TARDIS, maybe finally try out that pool in the library.