Re-boot
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all of it's associated characters are the property of the BBC, I make no money off my stories. If they were mine, there would already be a 12/river Darillium spinoff!
Rating: K. Nothing naughty in this one.
I've written fanfic before, but not for Doctor Who. Constructive criticism is welcomed.
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"Where we off to now Doc?" Graham entered the console room, a large cheese and branston sandwich on a plate, in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. Ryan huffed.
"Where's our cuppa?"
"Still in the kettle."
"Well that's charming." Yaz joined in. Graham shrugged.
"The last time I made tea for everyone, one was too weak, one was too strong and evidently the Doc's was too 'tea'. I mean, how can tea be too tealike?" He sat and tucked into his sandwich. "So until you lot decide how you like it, you can make your own." He looked around. "Where is the Doc anyway?" Yaz pointed to an open hatch just under the console. A pair of boots and the lower half of a pair of legs was just visible. Just then there was a clanging sound and what sounded like a string of curses which the Tardis decided not to translate. The legs squirmed about as the Doctor shuffled back out of the hatchway. She pulled off the goggles and huffed.
"First time in four centuries that the energy conduits need cleaning, and I have a body that's a foot too short." She grumbled, she wandered over to Graham and took the tea from beside him. "Oooh Ta." She took a sip.
"Oi, that's mine!" He protested. The Doctor pulled a face.
"Still too much tea." She handed it back to the grumbling Graham. Yaz bent down and looked into the hatchway.
"Anything I could help with?"
"No, not this time. Travelling across time and space, you tend to pick up all sorts of excess energy which is floating around, not to mention all of the radiation, and of course the regeneration energy. The Tardis collects all of the spare energy and uses what she can, but now and again I have to flush her systems out and clear away everything she can't recycle. It's built up to a point where she's really going to struggle if I can't clear out the rubbish stuff. Unfortunately the flush controls are right up inside the console. I have to connect the collectors to the waste conduit. But I can't reach." She looked at Yaz, "Sorry, but you wouldn't be able to reach either." She looked at Graham, he shook his head.
"There's no way I'm going to fit inside that hatch."
"Too many cheese and pickle butties." Ryan laughed. But he shrugged. "I wouldn't get anything past my head into that gap, you'd need to be built like a whippet..."
"That's it! Ryan, you're a genius!" The Doctor stood and started to pace around. "Of course, this hasn't been done for a very long time, and never by me..." She looked up at her companions. "Right fam, this may be a little bit weird, but you know when a computer goes wrong, you can restore it to an earlier setting. That's what I'm going to do."
"Restore the Tardis to an earlier setting?" Ryan asked. The Doctor shook her head.
"No, I'm going to restore me to an earlier setting."
"Whah.."
"Seriously!"
"What do you mean earlier?"
"Look, Timelords have this ability, when we are injured beyond our ability to heal, or have reached an age where our bodies have worn out, we are able to regenerate our bodies into a new one."
"When we first met, you were a bit confused, you said that half an hour before you'd been grey haired and Scottish." Yaz smiled. The Doctor nodded.
"And that grey haired Scotsman also happened to be six foot one and built like a stick insect..."
"Wait, wait.. Scots..man?" Ryan's voice went up an octave. The Doctor grinned.
"Surprise! Regeneration is a lottery. This is my fourteenth face, and the first time I've been a woman. I'm quite enjoying it, except for the height thing."
"So, you can turn back into an old version of you?"
"Not really, only the last one. And It's only because this face is fairly new, the blueprint for my old face is still lingering, as is the regeneration energy I expelled. I can use some of that for a reboot. It'll only last for a couple of hours though, a day at the most."
"Can I ask a question." Graham held his arm up, "Why are you able to do that, what's the point?"
"Like I said, regeneration can be tricky. It's not easy, having your DNA re-written, and it hurts. Sometimes, it can go wrong, the reboot is to protect against regeneration failure."
"Sort of a back up."
"Yes. Usually, once a regeneration has settled, the old pattern disperses, but I don't know why, this time, I seem to have held onto it." She grinned "I must have really liked the old me." She started to move around the console, pulling wires and flipping switches."
"So how do you do this...thing?" Yaz asked.
"Oh, I just reroute some of the expended regen energy which is trapped in the collectors, and trigger the de-regeneration...Is that a word? If it isn't it should be. De-regeneration. I like that."
"When will it happen?" Ryan asked. The Doctor turned and smiled at him, holding onto the end of what looked like a large fibre optic cable.
"Oh, any moment I should think..." In that instant the Doctor was engulfed in a blaze of yellow energy, Yaz, Ryan and Graham stood together, shielding their eyes. As the light faded, they stood gawping at the sight in front of them. The tall surly looking man with grey curly hair and severe eyebrows leaned heavily on the console for a moment before seeming to come to his senses.
"Owww, ow ow ow..." He quickly toed off the boots he was wearing and rubbed the end of his toes, muttering under his breath, then shrugged the braces off his shoulder, letting them hang at his sides as he pulled the trousers a bit lower to a more comfortable location. "Did I regenerate into a bloody hobbit?" He groused, "And what the hell is that!" He looked down the front of the rainbow shirt. "What the f...Why am I wearing a bra!" He looked at the three people who stood staring at him. ""Please tell me I didn't get drunk with Jack again."
"Ummm, no. Uh, You …..de-regenerated." Yaz offered. "Don't you remember?" She watched at the stranger in front of her rubbed his face with his hands before pushing them through the grey curls on his head.
"Sort of, it's fuzzy. Regeneration plays havoc with the memory. So, I've rebooted. Did the regeneration fail?"
"No, It's been fine. We've been travelling with the doctor for months. But the Tardis needs fixing, and she needed to be you." Ryan tried to explain. The Doctor frowned.
"She, well that explains the bra, and I have to say, these pants are not comfortable. At least It explains these trousers. I thought for a moment that I'd joined a bloody circus." He pulled the tight t-shirt over his head and started to wrestle the unfamiliar chest wear. After several unsuccessful attempts, Yaz took pity and stepped towards him.
"Here, stand still, you're going to throw your back out." She reached out and unfastened the bra and watched as he discarded the unwanted piece of clothing.
"That's better. I have to say, I have a new respect for you having to wear that torture device." He rolled his shoulders. "Right fam, I'll be right back." He paused and put his hand to his forehead. "Fam? Where did that come from?"
"It's what she calls us, you know, fam...family." Ryan answered. The grey haired doctor nodded.
"I think I remember, bits anyway." He went quiet and started to walk away.
"Hey, where are you going."
"To change. I'm wearing trousers that could get me a job as a children's entertainer, and underpants which are cutting off the circulation to various parts of my anatomy." With that he disappeared off into one of the Tardis corridors. The three humans just stood and stared. Graham was the first to break the silence.
"I'm sorry, but did no-one else find that a bit disturbing."
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The Doctor returned about ten minutes later, he looked much more comfortable in a white shirt and black trousers and black doc martens. He was slipping a black jacket with red lining on as he approached the three humans. He adjusted the collar and raised an impressive eyebrow.
"That's much better. Now, what do you need me for?"
"The Doc said she was trying to connect the …..collectors to the flush..." Graham looked to Yaz and Ryan.
"She said something about the waste conduit and flush controls." Ryan added. The doctor frowned, and act which was really very impressive with the new eyebrows.
"You mean she risked a reboot just so that I could take the rubbish out?" He growled. Yaz stepped forward, a little intimidated by this new/old angry Doctor, but years of being a young female trying to make her way in the police force had taught her not to show when she was intimidated.
"She said the Tardis was suffering. She couldn't reach the controls."
"Suffering how?"
"She said the excess energy and radiation has built up to a point where the Tardis will struggle. She didn't go into any more detail than that." She watched as the Doctor bustled around the console, switching buttons and reading the instruments. He paused and looked at the monitor as numbers and figures scrolled across it, he bit at his bottom lip, apparently in concentration.
"Oh, she didn't tell you the half of it. Tell me, has she had problems navigating the old girl lately?"
"Lately! I don't think we've ever ended up in the right place." Graham stated. Ryan nodded.
"Or time. She got dunked as a witch by James I the other day, we were aiming for present day Sheffield."
"The whole matrix is infused with energies and radiation. It's amazing that the old girl managed to materialise anywhere." He moved around the console, and eyed the still open hatch. "Oh, well. Might as well get this done, I don't know how long I'll be me." He slipped the jacket off and handed it to Yaz. He got down and eased himself into the space under the console, wriggling himself inside. Graham raised his eyebrows as a string of profanities assaulted their ears.
"Yeah, don't repeat any of that eh kids." He quipped. He bent down towards the pair of legs stuck out of the hatch. "You okay in there?" He winced as the Doctor answered with more profanity. "Apparently not." He stood back. Eventually there was a muffled cry of "Ha, got it.!" The lights in the console room seemed to dim for a moment, before returning to normal. The Doctor began to reverse shuffle out of the tight space.
"A little help would be appreciated." He called. Ryan and Graham helped to pull him from the hatch until he re-emerged from the hatch which he shut behind him. He grabbed a rag and wiped his hands, breathing heavily.
"Well, I know I'm not the meatiest of men, but that was still quite tight." He grinned at them, running his hands through his grey curls in an attempt to smooth them down."
"So, where did all the rubbish energy go?" Ryan asked.
"No such thing as rubbish energy. Just misplaced. It's all been diverted into the eye of harmony."
"The eye of who?" Graham looked puzzled.
"The eye of harmony, the power source at the heart of the Tardis. A collapsing star, trapped in a pocket of time."
"Wait! You have a star...A star...In the Tardis..." Yaz interrupted. The Doctor shrugged.
"Bigger on the inside." He took his jacket back and slipped it on, wandering around the console, pushing buttons and wiping imaginary spots of dust away with the rag he was still holding. He was very aware of the eyes following him and it made him feel a bit uncomfortable. He stopped and looked at the three humans. "Don't worry, you're doctor will be back soon." He said in a soft voice, Graham seemed to come out of his shocked daze.
"Sorry, um, we must seem really ungrateful. It's just seeing the Doc suddenly disappear like that..."
"Yeah. Look, why don't I make us a coffee or something. I know you don't like tea much..."
"I like tea. Strong but sweet." He smiled as he wandered over to the little seated area and sat down wearily. "And you're Doctor didn't disappear, I'm still here, different face, same person. I can remember now, falling into the train, finding the Tardis, the pting...It's all there." He smiled as Ryan came back with the drinks. The smile softened the harsh lines of his face, and for the first time, Yaz could see their Doctor in this other one.
"How long did you look like this?" She asked. The Doctor's closed his eyes for a moment, when he opened them, yaz could barely stand the sadness in them.
"A long time. Long enough to lose so much." He whispered, almost to himself. He sat back and sipped on his tea. "You'd be better off asking me stuff like that when I'm back as her. This me can be a grumpy arse sometimes. But I will admit, I'm glad I accepted the regeneration. You three are amazing." He gasped as a yellow light started to wisp around his fingers. He handed his cup to Graham and stood taking a step away from the group. He gritted his teeth as a another wave of energy swept over him. "Well, I think my times up. Give her a message for me. Tell her to run, never stop, run...for me, and be a doctor..." He barely had time to finish before the blaze of energy exploded from him and made the three shield their eyes. When they looked again, their own Doctor stood in front of them, she looked down at the long shirt sleeves which fell over her hands and slumped back into her seat.
"Wow. That was interesting." She said.
"You okay Doc."
"Yeah, just a bit tired, well exhausted actually. Never done that before. It's a bit weird."
"Do you remember?" Ryan asked, the doctor nodded.
"Yeah, Most of it. Do my trousers really look like a clown's?" She frowned. Yaz and Ryan tried to hide their laughter. Graham nodded.
"A bit, yeah."
"Oh. Well, I like them." She touched the fabric of the black coat with the red lining. "I really liked this coat, Clara used to say I looked like a magician." She stood up and twirled around, nearly falling flat on her face when she realised her boots were about five sizes too big. Yaz laughed.
"You look like a kid who's been playing dress up in her dad's wardrobe." The Doctor grinned.
"Yeah, I'll be right back." She turned towards the exit to the wardrobe room, Graham coughed and held out the discarded t-shirt and bra. The Doctor blushed. "And can we never, ever talk about my underwear again please."
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A few hours later, Yaz sat at the galley table, both hands wrapped around a rapidly cooling cup of coffee. She didn't notice the Doctor approach until the other woman sat down opposite.
"Here you are. Wondered where you had taken yourself off to."
"Just needed a few minutes of peace and quiet." Yaz smiled. The Doctor nodded.
"Okay, I'll leave you..."
"Not from you. In fact, I'm glad you're here."
"Oh? It's not the regeneration thing is it? Because I know that it can be a bit hard to get your head round."
"No, well, I mean the fact that you've been other people in the past is a bit weird, but I'm kind of getting used to weird."
"Okay."
"It's something the other you said, about losing everybody. He looked so sad, and I don't mean just spilt wine on your best jacket sad. He looked...hollow."
The Doctor looked down at the table. "I'm sorry, I forgot that you are him, that whatever he went through, you did too."
No, It's alright. When a regeneration happens, it is a bit like a reset. That old me had lost so much, he had lived through some of the worst moments of my two and a half thousand years. He was the version of me that was betrayed and tortured by my own people, he was the one who took River to Darillium and lived through her death. He was the one who devoted himself to trying to save one of my oldest friends, only to lose her. He lost two companions who had become so much more. Clara was more than a friend, he loved her, and her death nearly drove him mad. And Bill, she practically became family. He told the other tutors that she was his grandaughter. She absolutely didn't deserve what happened to her." For a second, a dark cloud swept across the doctor's face. "I remember them, all of them. But regeneration acts like a buffer. Like we can start over. Does that make sense. If I had carried all of the loss and tragedy I have ever experienced down through my regenerations, I would have probably been driven mad centuries ago."
"It does make sense. All those memories and experiences, it must be so hard sometimes. To live so long."
"That grumpy scot once told Clara, immortality isn't living forever. Immortality is everybody else dying. And he felt that more than any of us. In fact, he almost didn't regenerate. He resisted it at first."
"What, like you um I mean he just wanted to ...what...die."
"Yes. It took some persuading. But in the end, he decided to be selfless, and he carried on."
"He kept on running." Yaz smiled. The Doctor nodded. "He still looked like he could have used a hug."
"Well, that me really wasn't a hugger." The Doctor smiled wistfully "I was a bloody good guitarist though."
"Really? What about now?" The Doctor shook her head.
"No. I tried, but it sounded like a Trivusian flutehorn being strangled."
"Trivusian flutehorn?"
"Amazing creatures! They are like a cross between a rhino and a giraffe, they have a series of hollow horns with holes in running down their faces, they raise their heads into the wind, moving it around to make different sounds, the older the animal, the more horns, the more complicated the song. I'll take you all to see them." The Doctors face lit up, "But I know where I want to take you first."
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"Doc, why are we at a student bar." Graham groused, they were sitting near the back of the bar, their table drowned in shadow.
"I want to show you something. But we mustn't be seen, okay."
"Seen by who?"
"Him." The Doctor nodded towards the stage as the band began to play.
"Isn't that..."
"Yep. But that really is me. Before me I mean. It's not an echo or reboot. That's why we had to park the Tardis so far away and walk. I've crossed my own timeline, the old girl doesn't like that."
They listened for a while, the music filling the bar until the band decided to take a break and the Doctor carried on solo.
"Doc, you were well cool." Ryan said, his head moving with the music.
"What do mean, was?"
"Well..."
"Because that would suggest that you don't think I'm cool now."
"Yeah, yeah you're sort of cool, in a I'm really not trying to be cool sort of way.." Ryan squirmed.
"That's good, what's the song called." Graham whispered, trying to change the subject.
"I forget."
"Oh. That's okay."
"No, that's what I called that piece of music. I forget." They listened for a while longer as the students all started to leave for the evening, the Doctor strumming his guitar in the background. Yaz, Ryan and Graham all followed the Doctor as she rose to leave, but she stopped suddenly as the music changed. She turned back to the music.
"Doc? Are you alright." Graham asked, concerned as he noticed the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
"This song, I don't remember playing it here. This is the song I wrote for River." She whispered. She looked over at the guitarist and their eyes met. The Scotsman smiled and nodded. The Doctor smiled back. "C'mon, we had better get out of here, I think we've been busted."
"Does he know you're you." Ryan asked, before making a face "Did that make sense?"
"Yeah it did, and probably. I've always been good at spotting myself." They walked back to the Tardis. Ryan broke the silence.
"So, who is River?"
"Oh, River, the most amazing and infuriating woman you could ever meet, hell in high heels, and my wife."
"Wife!" Graham spluttered.
"Yes, but that's a whole other story. I'll tell you later over a cuppa."
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Things had settled down again, and the gang decided to have a bit of an evening out, see a movie and get a pizza. The three humans stood by the Tardis door, waiting for the Doctor, who was taking longer than usual to join them. Finally they heard her coming but all three stared as she appeared. She stopped and looked at them, puzzled.
"What?"
"You look a bit different." Yaz smiled. The Doctor was still wearing her brown boots and stripey t-shirt, but instead of the cut off trousers, she was wearing a pair of skinny bleached jeans, the coloured braces were still there as well, but the biggest change was her coat. Instead of her usual lavender duster, she was wearing the black with red lining coat her other self had favoured. It was longer on her, and a little wide on the shoulders, and she had turned the cuffs up exposing the red lining on the cuffs. She shrugged.
"I like a change now and again. And I bloody loved this coat."
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Author's note. Sorry if this waffled towards the end, the darn thing just didn't want to finish!
This story came from me watching one of the regeneration episodes the other day, the new doctor always regenerates into the old doctors costume...that's going to be interesting :D
The guitar scene in the bar is based on a deleted scene from series 10 the pilot. You can find it on youtube.