Summary: The Doctor gets amnesia. Rose thinks he's dead.
Setting: At the end of WW3. AU.
Disclaimer: Is my name 'the BBC'? No? Then I don't own Doctor Who.
Author's Notes: Like usual. Review. Always review. Remember, your reviews are used to feed my ego, which helps me decide if I should write more or not.
Spoilers: For Aliens of London/World War Three.
Bananas Are Good
…Rose…
The dust cleared, and Rose looked around.
"Well, that's it for the Slitheen," she muttered, looking at Harriet Jones. "Where's the Doctor?"
Harriet let out a gasp and pointed to something behind Rose. She whirled around and saw an all-too-familiar leather-clad arm poking out from underneath a huge pile of rubble. She let out a strangled cry and ran over.
"Doctor?" she screamed. She took his hand and tried to pull him out, but she wasn't strong enough, and when she let go, his arm fell back onto the ground and didn't move. "No, no, no!"
Harriet came up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she said. "There's no way he could have survived that, alien or not."
"No!" Rose sobbed. "He has to be alive…"
She tried to move the rubble off him but couldn't. She stayed there for hours, hoping he would move, but he didn't. Eventually she went home and locked herself in her room, refusing to come out.
…Doctor…
The man pushed away the rubble and crawled out. His head throbbed, and he wondered how long he'd been unconscious. Then he wondered what he'd been doing buried in the wreckage of this building in the first place.
Then he realized that he had no idea how he'd gotten here and what he was doing here.
And then, finally, he realized something else, something very important: he didn't know his own name.
He reached into his pocket, hoping to find something that would identify him, but all he felt was the smooth surface of a banana, and a long, thin device.
He pulled out the banana and ate it.
"Bananas are good," he said to no one in particular. He remembered that much, at least. Bananas were most definitely good.
He reached into his pocket again and pulled out the device. He pushed a button, and the tip glowed blue.
"What is this thing?" he wondered out loud. He was sure he was supposed to know what it was and how to use it. He pointed it at a piece of rubble and pressed the button again. The rubble exploded.
"Oh," he said. That could be useful.
Was that what had happened to this building? Had he used this device to blow it up?
If so, he really hoped there hadn't been anyone else in the building when it had happened.
Suddenly, a picture flashed in his mind. A blonde girl, huddling in a closet next to him.
She was important. He knew that, but he didn't know how. Whoever he really was, that blonde girl was very important to him. He hoped she'd gotten out of the building all right.
"Oi, you! What are you doing here?" someone yelled. He looked up to see a strange man looking down at him. "You're not supposed to be here!"
"Just… looking for something," he said. For instance, what's left of my life. "I'll leave."
"You do that."
He sighed and walked to the street. Find the blonde girl. He had to find the blonde girl. She was the only thing he remembered of his past life. Maybe she would know who he was.
Except… maybe he would get a banana somewhere, first.
Bananas were good.
…Rose…
"It's been long enough, Rose!" her mother called, banging on her bedroom door. Rose looked up from where she lay on her bed, tears still staining her cheeks.
"Mum, I've been in here, what, a day? Hardly a long time," Rose said to the door, not caring if Jackie could hear her or not.
"Rose, you need to find a job, too, now that you're stuck here with the rest of us boring humans," Mickey yelled. So he was here too.
Just what she needed.
She dangled her TARDIS key at the end of its chain around her neck. She wondered what would happen to the TARDIS. Would it just sit there forever? Would it slowly fade away? Would it just disappear in an instant?
Was it gone already?
She decided she had to know. Maybe just seeing the TARDIS would help her feel better, like there was still some piece of the Doctor left.
She opened the door to a shocked Jackie and Mickey and walked past them, ignoring their attempts to hug her.
"I'm going out," she told them. "I'll be back in a bit."
She walked outside. When she saw the TARDIS, she let out a sigh of relief. At least it was still here, even if the Doctor…
She didn't let herself finish that sentence.
She unlocked the door and let herself inside. Seeing the interior of the TARDIS brought fresh tears to her eyes.
The Doctor should be right there, grinning at her and making some comment he didn't really mean about stupid apes. He should be here with her, not buried under some rock.
She realized she was crying.
Why did this hurt so much? She barely even knew him. She shouldn't feel so miserable.
Somehow, from the moment he'd grabbed her hand and told her to run, he'd become everything to her. They'd fought together, nearly died together. Even though she'd known him for only a short time, she realized that she trusted him with her life, maybe because he'd saved it so many times, sometimes at great risk to his own life.
He couldn't be dead.
Suddenly she heard a click. She looked up and realized that the TARDIS doors had shut. Then she heard the unmistakable sound of the TARDIS starting up. She ran over to the console and started pushing buttons frantically.
"No! Wh-what are you doing? What's happening?" she cried. "Where are you taking me?"
She noticed a promisingly large red button clearly labeled "Emergency Brake," but just as she was reaching for it the TARDIS bucked and sent her flying across the room. Luckily, she landed on a pillow – what was a pillow doing in here? – and soon the TARDIS stopped moving. Rose got up and opened the doors.
"Where am I?" she asked the TARDIS. Then she realized that she was talking to a machine, and even if it could hear her, it probably couldn't respond.
She got out and shut the door, making sure she had her key. Then she looked around.
She recognized this place, she realized, relieved to find that she was still on Earth and in London. It was the street corner where she'd been standing when the Doctor had blown Henrik's up, trying to stop the Autons. She smiled at the memory. She'd thought the man was completely crazy at the time, telling her that the mannequins were actually alive, and then blowing up the shop. She'd soon found out that he was telling the truth.
She jumped back as a car almost hit her. She couldn't get caught up in memories. She had to be more careful.
There was a nice restaurant near here, she remembered. At the thought of food, her stomach growled, and she remembered that she hadn't eaten in almost a day. She checked to make sure she had money, then headed for the restaurant.
…Doctor…
The man chewed his banana thoughtfully. He wondered where he should look for the blonde girl. He had absolutely nothing to go on except the picture in his head. He didn't even know her first name, he…
Rose.
Her name was Rose.
He saw her face, grinning up at him with her tongue between her teeth.
Rose.
So he had a face, and he had a first name. It wasn't a lot, but it was better than nothing.
He finished the banana and threw the peel away in a nearby trash can.
Bananas really were very good.
Now he had to find Rose.
…Rose…
Rose sighed, picking at her food. She knew she needed to eat, but she just didn't feel like it. She looked out the window of the restaurant.
She remembered her mother's angry words, yelled through the door earlier that day when Rose had refused to come out.
"You think you're so much better than us regular humans, you and that Doctor of yours! You think you're above it all, just because you've seen stuff the rest of us haven't!"
She didn't think she was better than them. Really, she didn't. But when she looked at the people passing by, she couldn't help but feel just a bit sorry for them. They had no idea there were all those other worlds out there. There was so much humanity was missing…
Snap out of it, Rose, she told herself. Like Mickey said, you're stuck back on Earth now. Better get used to it.
She sighed. Mickey was right – she should find a job. She ate her food and stood up.
"Rose!" someone yelled.
…Doctor…
"Rose!" he yelled. "Ro-ose!"
He knew everyone was staring at him, but how else was he going to find Rose? He didn't know where she lived or worked, or even her last name. All he had was the name "Rose" and a picture in his head.
So he was going to keep yelling "Rose" until he found her.
"ROSE!" he bellowed. He looked around dejectedly. This was hopeless. She could be anywhere in the world.
"Rose?" he called again, close to giving up. Suddenly he saw two huge men coming towards him with an angry look on their faces. He backed away slowly.
…Rose…
"Rose!" the person yelled again. Rose looked around, searching for the source of the voice. It sounded like it was coming from outside the restaurant, so she paid and left.
"Look, mister, there ain't no 'Rose' here," she heard someone say from around the corner. "And you're starting to annoy me. So if you know what's good for ya, you and that leather jacket of yours will get out of here."
Leather jacket. Someone who was looking for a Rose.
It couldn't be. Could it?
She couldn't allow herself to hope, she'd just get let down, but still…
"Doctor?" she called. She went around the corner and saw two men facing her. In front of them, with his back to her, was a tall, lean man wearing a leather jacket. His hair was short and dark, and his ears stuck out from his head at an odd angle.
"Doctor!" she cried, unable to believe it. The man turned to her, and she saw that yes, it was the Doctor, he was alive, and she ran to him and hugged him.
But something was wrong. His arms were not going around her. He was tense.
She looked up. He was looking down at her with confusion on his face.
"You're Rose," he said, almost questioningly.
"Of course I'm Rose! I thought you were dead, Doctor!"
"Doctor…" the Doctor said thoughtfully. "Is that me? Am I a doctor?"
Yes, something was definitely wrong with her Doctor.
…Doctor…
The girl who must be Rose ran to him and crushed him in a hug. He looked down at her, and she looked up. He recognized her face from what little memory he had.
"You're Rose," he said, and his voice wavered up so it was a question.
"Of course I'm Rose!" the girl said. "I thought you were dead, Doctor!"
So she cared about him, too. She'd been afraid for him.
And… she'd called him "Doctor."
"Doctor," he said, trying to remember. "Is that me? Am I a doctor?"
Rose's face fell.
"Rose, I don't remember anything," he tried to explain. "I don't know who I am. Ever since I woke up under that pile of rocks… All I remember is your face, and your name, "Rose." And that bananas are good, though I don't see how that helps me much."
"Well then," Rose said, and he could see that she was fighting back tears. "Let's get you some bananas, since you seem to like them so much."
She took his hand, and even though he didn't know who she was to him anymore, even though he was essentially meeting her for the first time… her hand in his… it felt right, somehow.
…Rose…
Rose couldn't believe it. The Doctor had amnesia? She hadn't even known Time Lords could get amnesia.
At least he's alive, she told herself, but she wasn't sure that this was much better. He had no idea who he was, or who she was. He probably didn't know that he wasn't human. She would have to explain to him, and there were so many things she didn't know. He might not even believe her…
She bought some bananas for the Doctor, and they sat down on a bench. She took a deep breath.
"I'm going to try to explain to you who you are," she told him. "There's a lot I don't know about you, but maybe telling you what I do know will help you remember the rest."
"Okay," the Doctor said. "Go ahead."
"Your name is 'the Doctor.' You're a Time Lord from Gallifrey. You—"
"Gallifrey, is that in Ireland?" the Doctor interrupted. "And what's a Time Lord? Am I part of some special club? And what kind of a name is 'the Doctor?' Doctor what?"
"I don't know," Rose said. "You never told me. 'Just the Doctor,' that's all you ever said. And Gallifrey's not in Ireland. It's a planet. Time Lords are a race of aliens, and you're the last one."
…Doctor…
The man… the Doctor… couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You're saying I'm an alien?" he asked in disbelief. "Look, I don't even know you, not really. How do I know you're telling the truth? I don't know anything about you except your first name. I don't even know your last name!"
Rose was silent for a while. Then she said, "Tyler."
"What?"
"My last name's 'Tyler.'"
"Rose Tyler," he said. The name felt right on his tongue, like he'd said it a thousand times before.
And with that, something clicked, and he remembered everything.
"Rose…" he whispered.
…Rose…
He remembered. She could see it in his eyes.
"Rose," he whispered.
And then she saw the pain hit, the centuries of pain she knew he'd gone through. For a moment she wished she'd just made up a story for him, a life that he could have lived. But she knew that wasn't what he would have wanted. So she took his hand, letting him know she was there.
After a minute he smiled at her, back to his usual self.
"Come on," he said. "There's someplace I want to show you."
They stepped into the TARDIS hand in hand, ready for a new adventure.