Regeneration - a Doctor Who fanfic
Author's note:
As usual, I don't own the characters. This random piece of one-shot goodness was conceived from the many Nine/Ten Doctor crossovers. Features cameos from earlier Doctor incarnations. Pairing of Nine/Rose, Ten/Rose.
Exactly what happens to the Doctor during regeneration? What goes through his mind? Why does his personality change? This random drabble hopefully answers those questions.
All reviews appreciated, especially for my other fic, Game On. Perhaps, just perhaps, this is the start of something more...
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The light was unbearably bright.
The Doctor felt his eyes roll back into his head as the slow burn coursed through his veins, tearing him apart from the inside out. This had happened before, many times, but he could never ever get used to this. He could only imagine what Rose must be thinking.
Rose.
The thought of his companion burned with a fiercer flame than the pain that was shooting through his body. What would she think? How would she react when...
Then nothingness enveloped him and everything went dark.
Who are you? I feel you there.
I'm the Doctor, who are you?
I thought I was the Doctor. Where am I?
You're here, with me, mate. This is your limbo, of sorts. What happened to you?
I absorbed all the energy from the Time Vortex.
You bloomin' idiot! What'd you go and do that for? Honestly, I really wonder sometimes...
I did it to save her.
Her?
Rose. Rose Tyler. The most wonderful human I've ever met.
Oh, right. You fell in love with her.
Silence in the darkness. Then...
Where am I?
You're home, now. Back with everyone you know and love. A few familiar faces about, anyway, plus a few you haven't met yet.
Like you?
Oh, you'll know me. I'm next. Goodbye, Doctor. Sleep tight.
The ninth incarnation of the Doctor opened his mind and saw for the first time where he was. A familiar head of curls partnered with a long, long scarf. Blonde hair and a brilliant smile. Two elderly men with wise eyes, one slightly more grumpy than the other. There were others, others that hadn't seen the light of day, barely more than ghosts in this state. He smiled, faded memories returning to him as he shook hands with the one who came before.
'I'm back!'
'Took you long enough,' grumbled Curls. The Ninth Doctor laughed heartily and tugged his leather jacket into place. He cast his mind back to the bodiless voice and he remembered for the first time who he had spoken to and grinned.
'Good luck to him, I say. Poor sod won't know what hit him.'
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The pain was unbearable. He had a nasty feeling that this was what being born felt like. Or perhaps having an internal nuclear explosion happening. He could feel it happening, every cell in his body dying and being reborn. His complete physical being changing...
The tenth Doctor's head snapped forwards in alarm, mind completely blank. No recollection of his conversation with his previous self, no idea who he was, rambling something about the planet Barcelona...
There was a girl.
Across the way from where he was standing, still coming to grips with the new body and old memories flooding through him. A blonde girl. Her name surfaced to his untested lips.
Rose.
The Tenth Doctor smiled. There were some things a Time Lord never forgot.