Hey guys! This is a story I wrote for a girl on DeviantArt. She posted a prompt about John Smith returning, but in Eleven's body. And, here it is! Hope you like it!
I don't own Doctor Who.
The Human Element
John Smith had died so the Doctor could live. The Doctor saved all those boys, the teachers, and Joan... But little had the Doctor noticed, John had become a part of him. The bowties, the professor-ish clothing - John lived there in his subconscious, at least, until the day Amy found a strange set of headphones...
"Doctor, what is this?" She asked, playing with the pair of headphones in her hands. They were standing in the control room of the TARDIS. The Doctor was busy checking some maintenance readings on the control screen.
"Chameleon Arch." The Doctor responded. "Had to use it a few times. Not the most pleasant experience."
"What does it do?" She turned the contraption and ran her hands over the brown leather that covered it.
The Doctor smiled. "It's changed. Last time I took a good look at it, it was all silver and blue."
"Doctor!" Amy demanded. "You're rambling again." She crossed her arms. "Now what does it DO?"
"It rewrites my biology to whatever I choose, and then saves my mind and biological imprint in the object of my choice."
"It does sound painful. What about me, would it work on me? Could I become Time Lord?"
"Sorry, Amy. It only converts Time Lords."
Amy made a pouting face. "You and your Time Lord technology. Can't you make anything us humans can use?"
"Now, I never said you couldn't use it. For you, it makes a lovely pair of headphones." He smiled and flipped a switch. "There. Enjoy the music."
Amy slipped the odd headgear on. "Best pair of headphones? I think so." She said with a smile.
The Doctor went back to studying the screen. "Everything looks normal." He said.
"Oh, this is a good one!" Amy said excitedly. She closed her eyes and bobbed with the music.
The Doctor smiled. "Figured you'd like it."
"Oh, don't you want a listen?" Amy asked.
He shook his head. "No, you enjoy it."
"Oh, come on, Doctor." She pulled the headphones off and slipped them on his head.
"Amy!" He exclaimed as he felt them slip over his ears. "No, Amy, NO!"
But it was too late. The Doctor screamed and shook, his face contorted in a look of pure agony.
"DOCTOR!" Amy yelled.
He twisted and turned, clutching at his head.
"Just take it off, Doctor!" Amy screeched, then she noticed the waves of blue electricity pulsing from the machine.
"I CAN'T!" The Doctor yelled back through clenched teeth.
Amy watched helplessly. One thought kept running through her mind. "What have I done?"
Suddenly, the Doctor fell to the floor, the Chameleon Arch sliding off his head remaining suspended in the air.
"Doctor?" Amy asked cautiously as she crept toward his still body.
He didn't move, but he moaned. "Where...am I?"
"In the TARDIS." Amy replied. "Where did you think you were? What happened? I'm sorry, I didn't think anything would happen to you..."
"Young lady, you're rambling." The Doctor huffed. He sat up. I'm back! I can't believe, it I'm back! I'm alive!" He jumped to his feet and looked around. "Oh, not all this nonsense again."
"Nonsense? Doctor, you're the one not making sense!" Amy said, her voice filled with concern.
"This whole Doctor thing. And where's Joan? I need to see her!" He scrambled to his feet and ran towards the TARDIS door.
"Doctor! Wait!"
"Don't call me Doctor. My name is John Smith. And I am so glad to be back!" He smiled happily, then stopped dead. "What on Earth am I wearing?" He tugged at his tweed jacket. "Just look at these pants! Who rolls up pants like this?" He unrolled the bottoms of his charcoal pants so that they covered the tops of his black boots. Then he noticed his hair. "What? This doesn't make any sense!" He ran back up to the TARDIS console and dropped to his knees, examining his reflection on the glass floor. "What? I look different! Why do I look different?"
Amy didn't know whether to laugh or be concerned. "You're a Time Lord."
"Yes, yes. Time Lord. Alien. I know that. But, I only have one heart now. I'm human. Just like I was before..." He trailed off.
"Before what?" Amy prompted.
"Before I died." He finished.
Amy's eyes softened. "Well, you didn't die, you're here now."
"So why am I different? I never was the kind of man to believe in reincarnation."
"Time Lords regenerate." Amy explained. "When they come to the end of their life, or when they are sick, or mortally wounded, their bodies change. It's their way of healing irreparable damage." She could hear the Doctor's words echoing in her ears as she spoke.
"Disgusting creature." John spat. "No compassion, no ability to love, not human at all."
"Excuse me, but that's my friend you're talking about!" Amy exclaimed, annoyed that he would say that.
John ignored her. "I have to find Joan!" He raced to the door again and threw it open.
"Doc- John! Wait! You can't go out there!" Amy yelled, rushing after him.
People brushed past John, too busy talking on their cell phones to care or even notice.
"What...what is this?" He whispered.
"2010." Amy said, joining him.
"It was 1913."
"The Doctor is a time traveler."
"I know. All we have to do is use this...TARDIS, that's what it's called...this TARDIS to go back to 1913. I need to see Joan."
"Was Joan your girlfriend?" Amy asked.
He sighed. "I love her."
Amy felt terrible. She would have to tell him the one thing that would break his heart. "John, I can't fly the TARDIS. Only the Doctor can."
His expression fell. "What? The Doctor didn't teach his companion how to use his time machine? What if something happened to him? Reckless fool."
Amy could hardly believe these words were coming out of the Doctor's mouth. It was surreal to see someone who looked exactly like her Doctor, who was her Doctor, say such terrible things about him. "I'm sorry." She whispered and put her hand on his shoulder.
He shook it off and stared off into the distance, olive eyes brimming with tears. "She'd be dead now. Oh, Joan. Oh, Joan..."
Amy felt sad for him, but, she needed her Doctor back. "John, come back to the TARDIS." Amy said softly, her normally sassy tone all but gone. She really felt sorry for him. She liked this John. He had the one thing the Doctor did not – a true grasp of human emotion.
"I finally make it back, and it had to be inside that blasted thing!" He grabbed a coffee cup out of the hand of a bewildered passerby and threw it at the blue box. "Do you hear me? You're useless!" And with that, he broke down. His knees gave way, and he hit the ground, face in his hands. He was sobbing uncontrollably. "I've lost everything!"
Amy watched him for a moment, unsure of what to do. She was still plagued by the thought that this was still the Doctor, even though he clearly wasn't in his mind. Finally, she grabbed his arm and pulled him up, then ushered him back inside the TARDIS. She sat him down on the stairs to the console and stood in front of him. "John, I'm so sorry for all of this. It's my fault that you're here. If you will help me find what the Doctor's mind was stored in, we can bring him back."
"I'm here by accident?" He exclaimed. "I'm an accident. Not that anyone wanted to see me, it's because you messed up!"
Amy took a step back. That had sounded just like the Doctor, even though it wasn't him."I was trying to share something with the Doctor! I honestly didn't know what would happen!"
"I must be the only man to have died twice. I'm not even supposed to be here this time." He said in a depressed tone. He stood, walked down the steps, and paced a bit. He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I never even asked you for your name."
"Amy. Amy Pond."
John smiled a bit. "Like a name from a story."
Amy didn't mention that this was very similar to what the Doctor had said to her the first time they met. He didn't need that kind of comment right now.
"Alright, Amy." He gazed at her, his eyes still filled with sadness. "You need your Doctor, and I need to get away from all of this."
She smiled. "That's the spirit!" She stopped before she could continue with her pep talk. It had just occurred to her that helping her find the Doctor's consciousness was his way of killing himself.
He saw the look on her face. "Don't be so shocked. I'm not real. Just a story that's not supposed to be here. Things must go back to normal. Yes, I'm going to die. It will be better than all of this."
"If you're not real, then you can never die." Amy said. "The Doctor told me that ideas and stories can be more powerful than what's real and concrete. As long as someone out there remembers that you existed, then you existed. You LIVED."
John's looked past her, his eyes clouded with memories. "Joan must have remembered. And you'll remember." He said.
"And the Doctor remembers. You are him."
John smiled. "Well, let's figure out how to get the Doctor back, then."
"Right." Amy said. "The Doctor said it would save his biological imprint in the item of his choice. All we have to do is figure out which item that would be."
"The TARDIS." He said softly.
"How do you know?" Amy asked in surprise.
"From the dreams I had about him. He loves this contraption dearly."
"I guess it makes sense." Amy said. "But, how do we get him back?"
"I don't know. I had to open a watch last time. But, we've already opened the TARDIS door." He walked up the steps to the console. "Maybe something with this..." He leaned against it and a voice exploded in his head.
"THE BIG LEVER. THROW THE BIG LEVER."
He turned to Amy, eyes wide, still a bit stunned from the explosion of sound in his head. "I can hear him!"
"What's he saying?" Amy asked, joining him on the platform.
"He says to throw the big switch."
"He must mean that one." She said, pointing to the dematerialization lever.
John placed his hand on it, then hesitated. He looked at Amy beside him. "Thank you."
She smiled and placed her hand on his. Together, they pulled the lever down. "Goodbye, Mr. Smith." She said.
"Goodbye, Amy."
And with that, the TARDIS wheezed to life. Gold light shot from the console, hitting John and throwing him back against the railing around the platform.
"John!" Amy screamed.
He blinked a few times. "Amy! How many times do I have to tell you not to mess with things when you don't know how they work!"
She rolled her eyes. "Thanks for bringing me back, Amy. Oh no problem Doctor." She said mockingly. "Welcome back."
He pulled himself to his feet, rubbing his side. "Well, that hurt." He stalked toward the console.
"I'm really sorry, Doctor." Amy said.
"I know you are." He sighed. "I should have told you that I couldn't listen. It's not your fault." He smiled at her.
She still wore a bit of a sad expression.
"Amy, what's wrong?"
"It's just that you told me once that things that are lost can still be brought back if you remember. If I remember John, can I bring him back?"
"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way." The Doctor said. "He is me. Try as you might, you can't bring back someone who never had their own existence."
Amy looked away. "He deserves a chance."
"Maybe one day, he'll get it." The Doctor said.
Amy was used to his cryptic comments and said nothing.
He smiled at her. "Now, where were we off too? Oh! Right! The Falls of Alpheus."
And so, John Smith once again rested in the subconscious of the Doctor. He was not forgotten. Not by the Doctor, not by Amy, not by Joan, not by her granddaughter Verity, and not by the millions of readers who knew his story.