Ch 1: The Beginning
The Doctor walked slowly around the console with his hands folded behind him as the center column hummed. He wore his old red lining jacket and galaxy shirt as the TARDIS hovered over 32nd Century Mars.
The Doctor didn't know where to go, didn't know what to do. The TARDIS had been on autopilot for the last few weeks, taking the Doctor where he was most needed. He would solve the problem as best he could, then he would go back inside the box and continue to wish things had ended differently.
River's visit helped to soften things a bit, but it wasn't enough. Nothing was easy since the Doctor had lost Clara. She was the impossible girl, the girl who saved the Doctor, the girl who came into the world on a leaf.
As the Doctor started to head to his bedroom, the main monitor started to chime rhythmically as it pinpointed a small bay in Southern Wales that was completely empty. The Doctor looked closely at where the TARDIS was pointing on the map.
"No, no, not there!" The Doctor almost screamed as he tried to grab the main lever.
The lever lurched forward on its own, the TARDIS lurched throwing the Doctor on his back as it zoomed to 21st Century Earth.
In a few seconds, the TARDIS landed with a resounding thump as the Doctor stood up.
"That was really rude." The Doctor said as he dusted off his jacket, "How'd you even cross the dimensional barrier? Oh that's right, I can talk to you but you can't talk to me."
The Doctor grabbed his sonic glasses and opened the front door. The bay was completely barren, the waves were calm and the sand was completely wet like it had just finished raining. The Doctor closed and locked the door behind him, then started walking down the beach. He used his psychic paper to get a plane ride to London and once he landed he was greeted by UNIT.
"Where have you been Doctor?" the Osgoods asked simultaneously.
"Mourning." The Doctor answered honestly.
"Who did you lose?" The Osgood with the scarf asked.
"Clara." The Doctor said when he noticed a familiar lavender winter coat shuffle through the crowd in the airport.
"Was that…?" The Doctor said as he put on his sonics.
"Doctor?" The Osgood with the sweater asked.
"Uh, excuse me for a bit." The Doctor said as he started following the lavender coat.
The Doctor started walking through the crowd, following the coat as best he could. At forks and turns in the hallways, the glasses would zoom in on the coat showing the Doctor which way to go. He followed the coat outside realizing it was in a cab heading away from the airport. The Doctor used a new setting that set the coat up as a tracer and followed it on the map. Then using a TARDIS key, he called the TARDIS to him and once inside he followed the coat to an address several blocks away.
The Doctor landed the TARDIS in the same spot from all those years ago when he and the owner of the coat had met. He took off the sonics and stayed in the shadows until the woman went into the apartment. He then slowly started walking up the stairs towards her apartment door. He was about to knock, when he was reminded of everything they had been through, both the good times and the dark times. After a few seconds of mental debate, the Doctor put his hand down and started walking away. His footsteps were a bit loud as he left the doorway and they caught the attention of the woman in the apartment. The door opened the behind the Doctor and she stood in the doorway.
" 'Ello, sir. You okay?" The woman asked.
The Doctor considered his options, then finally turned towards the woman.
"Uh, hi. I was in the area and thought I'd stop by." The Doctor said, trying not to cry.
"Do I know you?" The woman asked.
"Uh, well, you used to." The Doctor said as he pulled out a wallet photo album and paged to his last regeneration and the regeneration before that.
He handed the pictures to the woman and waited for her reaction. She started to tear up as she looked at both pictures and at the man in front of her.
"Doctor?" The woman asked also trying not to cry.
"Hello, Rose Tyler." The Doctor said before they both stepped in for a hug.
A few minutes later, the Doctor stood in Rose's kitchen as she poured tea. The Doctor looked around at the apartment, still exactly as it was the last time he had been here.
"Where's the lovely yet overbearing Jackie Tyler?" The Doctor asked.
"She's actually out on a date." Rose chuckled.
"How is my Meta-Crisis counterpart?" The Doctor asked.
"He was killed in train wreck two years ago." Rose said trying to bite back tears.
"Rose, I am so sorry." The Doctor said.
"No, don't, please." Rose said as she set the kettled on the stove and walked down the hall to the bathroom and somewhat slammed the door.
"Rose, are you okay? I heard that door slam from out here." Jackie asked as she came in the front door before noticing the Doctor.
"Who the heck are you?" Jackie asked as she grabbed a baseball bat that was beside the door.
"I'm the Doctor." The Doctor replied as he held out the two pictures he had shown Rose.
"Where the heck have you been?! We thought you died in that train-wreck!" Jackie started yelling.
"I'm not your Doctor, I'm the original." The Doctor said.
"How'd you get here then, I thought you couldn't cross dimensions or something." Jackie asked.
"I usually can't, I honestly don't know how the TARDIS got here." The Doctor replied.
"Well as you can tell, she's in mourning for her Doctor, so I'm going to nicely ask you to leave before I throw you over the railing." Jackie said as she pointed to the door.
"I am dreadfully sorry." The Doctor said before he left and headed back down the three flights of stairs.
The Doctor was opening the TARDIS door when he heard the door slam upstairs. He looked up and saw Rose half hanging over the railing.
"You were just going to leave without a proper goodbye again?!" She yelled down to him.
"Well your mother made it clear that I'm not welcome here. And in the meantime, I need to figure out how I got here in the first place; it's not everyday that you cross across the dimensional plane with no reason except the TARDIS thought it'd be nice if I met up with an old friend." The Doctor yelled back.
"Maybe that's because last time, you- oh, AHHH!" Rose started to scream as she fell over the railing.
The Doctor ran into the TARDIS with the doors still open and jumped the TARDIS to a sideways position under Rose. She fell in through the doors and into the Doctor's arms. The Doctor then moved the TARDIS back to where it was.
"I'm sorry about last time, I did everything I could. I did warn you that he wouldn't regenerate, and I am sorry. You don't have to help me, but I still need to figure out how I got here." The Doctor said as he let Rose go and started flipping switches and pressing buttons around the console.
"I'll help you." Rose said quietly as she shut the doors and then walked back to the console and helped as best she could with the console switches.
"Where are we going first?" Rose asked.
"UNIT headquarters." The Doctor said as he threw the main lever forward and the column pulsed as the TARDIS took off.
END CHAPTER ONE
