Disclaimer:I do not own Doctor Who or Batman. All relative media and characters belong to the BBC and DC Comics respectively.
A soft breeze passes by Wayne Manor, turning the quiet atmosphere into a silence of tranquility. Bruce Wayne contemplates this, sitting in a chair at his back patio enjoying the silence and sipping his tea. Very rarely did the millionaire have any chance to rest due to his rather interesting life style. After spending countless weeks of patrol while managing one of the largest and well known corporations of the world, Bruce himself was surprised that he actually had a day off.
Maybe I earned it. Bruce thought to himself as he sets down his tea cup and looks into his large backyard garden. With Damian sent to train with Dick and Tim, the house was pretty much empty. The only one who actually stayed was Alfred, but that wasn't a surprise. A small, almost miniscule grin formed Bruce's face as he thought of his family. In the years following his parents' deaths, Bruce would believe that he would live forever alone, to never experience love again.
Bruce then remembered when he took Dick in as his ward when his parents were killed, he too knowing what is was like to experience that tragedy. He remembered taking in Jason when he tried to steal the wheels of the Batmobile. He also remembered sheltering Tim as Barbara became Oracle from her visit with the Joker. He finally knows Damian as his son and took him in to train him that killing was never an action in their vigilante business. And his family all began with Alfred, the kind butler who became his father figure the rest of his life.
Instantly, Bruce frowned, the little smile he had disappeared as he thought over his memories. He remembered being told this by someone. It sounded so familiar...
You're not alone Bruce, and you will never be.
The billionaire's eyes widen in remembrance. "The Doctor." Bruce quietly stated, finally remembering the man he met so long ago as a child. Bruce placed his tea cup down realizing how accurate the Doctor was when he talked to him during his parents' funeral. The Doctor was right which Bruce was destined to become a symbol in Gotham and how he regained a family. Bruce remembered looking into those brown orbs, his eyes staring into the vastness of the billionaire's soul. Bruce also remembered the pain and sadness the Doctor carried, as if committing an action so horrible it scared him.
For years, Bruce searched on any information regarding the Doctor. Texts, databases, the Internet, etc. using his wealth. Bruce learned that in almost every disaster, the Doctor was there. Ancient cultures praised him as a righteous god. Others condemned him as an ancient punisher who smites anyone who angered him and was capable of destroying civilizations. In that one time he met the Doctor, Bruce didn't think he was a murderer. He just seemed alone.
Bruce also discovered two British organizations who were in contact with the Doctor, UNIT and Torchwood. Using his incredible influence under his Batman persona, he managed to receive some information from UNIT. Torchwood, however, wasn't as generous, refusing to release little to no data on the Doctor.
There were two pictures of the Doctor Bruce received from UNIT, but the pictures were from the 1970s. The first picture showed an older man with white poofy hair, with grey eyes and a rather large nose. This man also wore a frilled shirt as well as velvet smoking jackets which matched the color of his pants. The other picture showed a younger man, but still very different from the Doctor he knew. This man had dark, curly hair with blue eyes and prominently displayed teeth. He wore an outfit which consisted of a waistcoat, cravat, trousers, a frock coat, a wide-brimmed hat, and a ridiculously long multicolored scarf.
The first time seeing these pictures, Bruce was puzzled. Were these men the Doctor or is "Doctor" a term that was passed down from one man to another. What began as research turned into an obsession as Bruce stayed late hours every night attempting to uncover the mystery which is the Doctor. To this day, the Doctor is one mystery which Bruce has yet to solve.
As Bruce continued to think of the Doctor, his eyes widen as he hears the familiar groan of the TARDIS materializing. Looking over the garden, he could see the outline of the blue, police box showing. Instantly, Bruce shot out of his chair, racing down towards the garden, running pasts shrubs and hedges. The normally, calm Bruce Wayne was now running frantically at barely contained excitement. He couldn't believe it, after all these years, the Doctor finally came back! He could finally answer Bruce's questions.
Bruce stops ten feet from the TARDIS and looks at the now-arrived time traveler. He hadn't aged a day, still having that young face, wearing the same pinstripes, sneakers, and overcoat. He still had his wild hair, always spiked in every direction. But even then, Bruce frowned at the Doctor's sad expression, the man matching the Doctor's frown.
After a few moments of silence, Bruce was the first to speak. "It's you." He stated quietly. "It's really you. After all these years, you came back." Bruce said quietly as the Doctor nodded slowly.
Bruce took a step closer to the Doctor. "Why? Why did you come back now?" The billionaire asked.
The Doctor gives Bruce a sad smile. "To say goodbye." The other man replied, his voice low and soft.
Bruce looks at the Doctor quizzically. "Goodbye?" He asked before realizing the Doctor groaning in pain as he fell to one knee. Bruce instantly knelt down to help the other man, who clenched his teeth in pain. "Are you injured? What happened?"
The Doctor picked himself up with assistance from Bruce. Taking a deep breath, the Doctor replied with an answer that almost made Bruce's blood cold. "I'm dying."
Bruce stared at the Doctor confused. "What are you talking about?" Bruce asked, his voice calm but anxious at the Doctor's words. Before the Doctor could reply, Bruce's eyes widen slightly as he see's golden energy radiating off of one of the Doctor's hands. Bruce looked back at the Doctor, who looked even sadder by the minute.
"What are you?" Bruce asked quietly, finally letting go of the Doctor.
The time traveler stared back at Bruce, offering a small smile of reassurance. "I'm a Time Lord." The Doctor replied before clenching his teeth in an effort to prolong the regeneration for a few minutes longer.
Bruce stares back at the Doctor, confused. Seeing his expression, the Doctor began explaining. "A Time Lord is an alien destined to obey the Laws of Time and to preserve all of existence. So yeah... I'm an alien." The Doctor added, trying to lighten the mood with a little grin.
Bruce nodded slowly. He knew having partners who were aliens, but he never heard of a Time Lord. Bruce gave himself a mental slap; something is happening to him and he needs to find out what. "How are you dying?" The billionaire asked.
The Doctor gives a grimace. "A good friend of mine was trapped in a machine filled with radiation. I freed him by absorbing all of it." The Doctor answered before hissing in pain.
Bruce narrows his eyes. "How much did you absorb?" He asked, not wanting to find out.
"Five hundred thousand Rads." The Doctor choked out his answer and turned to see the horror on Bruce's face.
"Come on, I'll take you inside." Bruce responded, attempting to pull the Doctor to the mansion and receive medical attention.
The Doctor didn't move and shook his head. "It's too late, Bruce. You can't save me." The Doctor answered quietly.
"No. I have to save you. It's what I do." Bruce replied, attempting to hide the overwhelming sadness he was feeling. He lost too many he cared about, he be damned to let another one die too!
The Doctor's melancholy smile resurfaced. "It's all right Bruce." He spoke in a fatherly tone to help sooth a frantic child.
Bruce turned to the Doctor, his stoic mask falling apart. "How?! How is this all right?!" The billionaire demanded, angered and confused at how well the Doctor was taking this.
The Doctor's comforting smile calmed Bruce before explaining. "Time Lords have this trick. Every time a body is mortally wounded, I regenerate with a new body and personality." Suddenly, the Doctor's smile dropped as small tears began forming in his eyes. "But every time I regenerate, it feels like dying. A new man replaces me and I'm..." The Doctor pauses as he holds back his tears. "...And I'm dead." The Doctor chokes on those words as they echoed in Bruce's ears.
Bruce was breathing heavily, attempting to hold back his tears as the Doctor's sad smile resurfaced. "I...I have two pictures of men who are called the Doctor. One was wearing a frilled shirt and the other was wearing a scarf. Are those two...you?" Bruce asked.
The Doctor's smile widened despite the pain as Bruce seemed helpless in despair. "It's all right Bruce." The Doctor repeated, trying to help calm the other man from breaking down. "This was meant to happened. I was told a prophecy that I will die when someone will knock four times. At first, I didn't want to go. I could have been so much more for this world. But, I was selfish, abusing the Laws of Time for my own desires." The Doctor replied, his eyes resuming to water. "I earned this." The Doctor whispered. Feeling the regeneration coming soon, he turned and walked back to the TARDIS. Before opening the door, Bruce stopped him.
"You may go through this alone Doctor, but know that you will always be considered... as my friend. You're not alone and you will never be." Bruce stated, repeating what the Doctor said to him when he was a child.
The Doctor's smile grew in happiness. "Thank you Bruce. I promise you'll see me again, only different. I just hope when I regenerate, I don't lose a head. Imagine me with no head?" The Doctor said humorous, earning a quiet chuckle from the billionaire. The Doctor's smile lowered as he gazed at Bruce in this regeneration one, last time. "Goodbye." The Time Lord said as he closed the TARDIS doors. After a few sounds of mechanical wheezing and groaning, the TARDIS disappeared and the Doctor was gone, leaving Bruce alone in the garden.
"Goodbye Doctor." Bruce whispered as a tear slid down his cheek, staring at where the TARDIS was standing on.
The Doctor threw his overcoat on one of the railings of the TARDIS as he plugged in the coordinates for the time machine to orbit around the Earth. As he walked to the center of the main console, he could feel the energy radiating off his body. The Doctor closed his eyes remembering Rose, Mickey, Jack, Martha, Donna, Wilfred, Sarah Jane, and now Bruce. He can remember the laughs they shared, the adventures they fought, the hardships they endured and in the end... it was worth it.
The Doctor opened his eyes, giving himself one last smile for all these fantastic people he met. "Allon-sy." The Doctor whispered before his body was engulfed with violent energy, his song over but not forgotten.