Chapter 1: Past Mistakes
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Soft whimpers of distress came out of his mouth as the Doctor tossed and turned as he slept, a nightmare plaguing his mind, making cold sweat cover his forehead making the sheets to stick to his body.
The TARDIS hummed loudly noting his anguish to try to wake him up.
He gasped at the sound and woke up startled, panting, as if he had ran a long distance. He ran a tired hand trough his face and tossed the covers aside, it was clear that he was not going back to sleep now.
He had dreamt of her once again, seen her as she had been when he first met her. The small girl of the 1940´s playing with her childhood friends at the park. She had showed him kindness at the moment he needed it the most, reminded him why the human species were so fantastic, her simple act at the time had made him feel in debt to her and had lead him to do later on one a reckless mistake. His hearts ached at what he had done to the poor girl.
He stood up to get himself a glass of water from the pitcher he kept by his nightstand, the cold and freshness of the water helping his body go back to its normal temperature.
The dim blue light of his room stopped him from being consumed by the darkness, and it brought great comfort to know that Rose was a few rooms down the hallway sleeping. He was not alone, he reminded himself, at least for now...
He got changed quickly finding a dark purple shirt and his beloved leather jacket before exiting his room, his sonic screwdriver in hand.
"Maybe it's time I take a look to those time vortex controls?" he asked to his TARDIS softly as he made his way to the control room, looking for something to keep his mind busy. Repairing things had always been his option of choice, even if it meant repairing things that were functioning all right.
-000-
Rose found him hours later below the console, a net of wires around his neck, his sonic screwdriver in his mouth as he appeared to be reconnecting something.
"Doctor! there you are," Rose said moving towards him, eyeing his work, for it appeared that he had been busy "I didn´t know the TARDIS was in need of some repairs?" she inquired, trying to remember if the Doctor had said something about it.
He eyed her, sonicing two wires together "Oh hello Rose," he said with a small smile already in a better mood from that in which he had woken up. "Well she just needed a few perks here and there...nothing serious," he said placing all the wires back in place quite quickly refusing to tell Rose he was just trying to keep his mind off things.
Rose smiled and moved around the controls taping them slightly with the tip of her fingers, happy to just be there with the Doctor, and all the possibilities of their adventures "So...where are we going today?" she asked exited at what the Doctor might have planned for that day "are we going surfing, swimming on the sky? or maybe a party in the court of King George?" she said voicing the first things that came to mind.
"Swimming in the sky?" the Doctor said in disbelief, letting out a soft chuckle "Well I had never tried that before," he mused, pausing a bit to recall if he had ever done something of the like "But maybe we could go to the planet-" the Doctor started to say until a phone ringing interrupted him.
He frowned at the sound, it had been quite a while since someone phoned him. Ever since the Time War he had pretty much kept to himself, with the exception of Rose, that was.
"Doctor?" Rose asked a bit surprised of hearing the phone ringing, she had assumed it was just another gadget from the console and not a real phone. "The phone is ringing," she offered, even if that was a given.
The Doctor let the phone ring for a little while, before actually moving to answer it. "Hello?" he asked chirply, smiling towards Rose to let her know it was all right, yet as the other person or alien or whomever was on the other side of the phone continued to talk, his smile erased from his face completely.
"I see," he said softly starting to re-enter the codes for their destination "I´ll be there, don´t worry, I..." his eyes met Rose´s " I will be there in a few minutes," he said as he hanged up and finished redirecting the TARDIS towards their new destination.
"Who was that?" Rose asked curious of who could phone the Doctor and make him look so upset.
"A friend," he answered vaguely, walking around the console and he piloted the TARDIS.
"What friend?" Rose said trying again.
"An old friend," the Doctor said pulling down the lever getting a grip on the rail just as Rose did.
As the TARDIS landed Rose went out, curious to see where this friend of the Doctor lived, was it a strange planet? someone famous she knew of? but as the doors opened she found herself in London, and just not any part of London, they were just in front of the complex where her house was situated.
She looked backed at the Doctor who was lingering by the doors of the blue box.
"Wait...don´t tell me it was my mum who called?" she asked confused, knowing that her mum could not possibly had the number to call the TARDIS, right?.
The Doctor crossed his arms around his chest obviously not that comfortable telling Rose he was up to something.
"You can visit your mum," he offered not daring to look at her in the eyes knowing she was going to get mad at him " I will just go and come back for you in a few hours," he said.
"What?" Rose said not liking a bit his plan "Why can´t I come?"
"It won´t be a fun trip Rose and I´m sure that Jackie will like to see you."
"Well It doesn't matters if it's not going to be a fun trip, I want to go," she said walking towards him, if he thought she could just dump her whenever he pleased to go somewhere else just because he thought it wasn't going to be fun, he was really mistaken. "Besides you can´t just decide for me when I can´t go, it´s not like I have not confronted danger with you before," she reminded him
"Actually I can decide when you go or not," the Doctor said stubbornly. "And I say you are staying," his tone of voice said he was done discussing with her and before Rose could do something else the well known Whooorp Whooorp of the TARDIS resounded and the blue box disappeared in front of her.
-000-
The Doctor sighted as he entered the coordinates for his true destination, he knew that Rose would give her a piece of her mind for leaving her, but this was something he had to deal on his own.
He landed the TARDIS in just another part of London, near a small chapel, he arranged his jacket as he closed and locked the blue doors and made his way following the small gathering of people which were all dressed in black.
As he said, this was no fun trip.
Some people looked his way finding strange that someone would wear a leather jacket during a funeral.
She was standing in the front row, her arm around a man around his fifties with already graying hair, yet he knew the girl was at least a good twenty years older than the man, but didn´t look a day older than the way she had looked at 1949.
He gulped.
Her eyes and nose were red from having cried, though she looked quite calm at the moment, she spotted him and smiled, relived to see him.
He approached her and soon found himself next to her and the middle age man. "Had I introduced you to Richard before?" she said softly "Lewis eldest son, he looks just like him, don´t you think?"
He remained silent, just nodding slightly as an answer, he wanted to say how sorry he was for the loss of her brother, knowing he was the last dear person that remained to her, but this version of him was not good with words in that aspect.
Give him a Dalek, an automaton and he knew exactly what to say and do, give him an old friend in grief and he was at a loss of what to do with himself.
"Richard, love, you should go and check on your wife," she said patting his hand.
"Will you be all right? I don´t want to leave you alone aunt," Richard said eyeing the Doctor with disbelief. His father and his aunt had been as close as siblings could be, and now that his father had died, he was afraid of leaving her on her own.
"Don´t be a silly boy, go to your wife, I will be fine, " she said releasing his arm.
Richard looked between his aunt and the strange man in the jacket another time before agreeing to his aunt´s words "If you need me just...just call me, okay?" he said kissing her cheek as she nodded .
"He was a great man," he told her.
"Of course he was," she said looking at the casket now in front of them, it was closed but there was a big framed picture of Lewis Watson at his 72 years, smiling brightly at the camera.
"Yet it should have been my baby brother attending my funeral, not me attending his..." she said, her voice breaking as her eyes watered with unshed tears.
"Annie," he said softly taking her hand, his hearts aching at her pain, she had lost so many people already, her parents had been gone for many years now, aunts and uncles followed close by, then cousins and friends and now her brother, and she couldn´t have the comfort of knowing she would see them soon, for she was stuck, thanks to him, she had been 19 years old for the past 56 years.
"I´m so...so sorry," he managed to say as he enveloped her in a hug, he felt his shirt become a bit damp because of her tears but he didn´t mind in the least. She had held his hand that time so many years ago, sit with him and let him cry.
He would do the same now.
The day went slowly for them, but he remained by her side as she said her last goodbye and her dear brother was left to rest below the ground.
The Doctor unlocked the TARDIS, there had been something in his mind all day and he had been debating on whether ask her or not. But now as he was about to say goodbye to her once again he changed plans.
"Come with me," he said, smiling, he would love to have her around, make up to her in some way.
"You don´t want an old lady to go with you to fight aliens," she said with a soft laugh.
"You are not old."
" I´m 75, for most people that is old," she said.
"Do I look like most people to you? 75 you say? please you are still in diapers," he said with a chuckle making her smile.
"I forget you are the gramps here," she said with a tone that suggested affection.
She looked around, with a look he knew too well, a look he had when no one was seeing. It was a look of loneliness, for years he had come to see her, to check on her, and had always asked her to come with him and travel, but she had always refused, arguing she just couldn´t leave her family and friends behind.
She bit her lip.
"I have found traveling helps in this kind of cases," he offered. "Different times, wondrous planets...we can go anywhere Annie Watson," he said with a grin.
"Yet, you have never stopped traveling Doctor," she said looking at him in the eyes, her comment made him go silent, she was right, he was always traveling, always on the run, making sure he kept his mind busy. As they looked at each other a silent understanding went through them.
"You are right, I never have."
Her chocolate brown hair was already coming off from the neat updo she was wearing and she arranged her coat around her as the chilly wind blew softly their way. She had no one waiting for her anymore, her nephews were grown men, married, with teenage kids of their own. They didn´t need an old aunt that looked as if she could be their daughter.
She took the hand he was offering her "Then my dear Doctor, make sure we never stop," Annie said stepping into the TARDIS, not daring to look back as the doors closed behind them.
A/N: This is set roughly in 2005, after The Empty Child so Rose has been with the Doctor now for quite a while. I hope the Doctor didn´t seem to OCC, I just imagine 9 would be kind of awkward around comforting someone in Annie´s situation specially if he thinks it is somehow his fault. What do you think? Should I continue this or not? please leave a comment with your thoughts, ideas or questions!
-C.W