Hey! just a little oneshot idea that wouldnt leave me alone. Yes, I am still continuing with Birthright, don't worry :)
This is supposed to be set in the 'normal' universe, so it doesn't tie in with my other story in any way.
Enjoy
It's time.
The world felt heavy on the young man's shoulders, and truth pressed hard on his ancient soul.
His fingers twitched at his sides, he gripped his broken sonic as though it might save his life as it had done so many times before.
But not this time.
This time, there was no escaping. His body felt flooded with energy, as though he had already regenerated. But it wasn't time for that, yet. He pressed his hand over his hearts that were racing out of control, reminding himself to breathe. Slowly now.
He stepped forwards, walking tall as he always had. He didn't risk looking at his companions, every friend he had ever traveled with in this regeneration.
The place where no one could lie.
It wasn't the place. It was the situation. It felt so obvious, like he should have known it all along. The place was Earth. Simple, sweet Earth. Second home, precious blue planet. It might have been the place a little bit after all, he was so much more of an honest person here.
Daleks. Why did it always have to be Daleks? The Doctor was a man who hated little, but his thoughts towards Daleks might have been enough to condemn his soul. The single-minded pepper-pots stood –do Daleks even stand?- in a ring around his dear friends.
No.
If he had been a friend to them, he would have found some way out. He would have realized what was going on before they had all got caught. He would have been the unbeatable, the strong, the optimistic, the raggedy, the merciful, the clever clever Doctor that they all wanted to believe in.
But he had been beaten, and knew there was no way out. No other way.
He had been running. Always running. Running for so long he sometimes forgot what was chasing him. Ever since physically fleeing the scene at the age of eight, after staring into the impossible swirling vortex of time, after having caught a fleeting glimpse of his own future.
He remembered now.
The Question. The Question than must never be answered. The oldest question, hidden in plain sight.
He knew the others were watching him, and knew one pair of eyes already knew the answer.
Oh River.
"I see you've finally come." Hushed a silky voice. A humanoid figure stepped into sight.
"Master." The Doctor was surprised at how confident his own voice sounded. "I see you've regenerated."
The rogue Time Lord spread his hands, "How do I look?"
The Doctor thought for a moment. "Like Sherlock Holmes."
The Master gave a casual smile, as though they were just old friends chatting over tea. "Even in the darkest of times, you always had your sense of humor. No really, you do." he continued to smile, and pressed his fingertips together. "Now, is there something you want to talk about? Doctor?"
"Yes." The Doctor kept the disturbingly light mood up, "you don't happen to have any Jelly Babies, perchance?"
"Ah, I'm afraid not. But I did have a teensy little question for you." The Master's tone was like honey. And this Doctor had always found honey to be a bit sickening. "And I REALLY would appreciate it if you didn't lie to me." He gave a look of false worry, "these Daleks are QUITE hard to control. Why, if they thought you were LYING to me, they might do something that all parties will…ah…regret." He chuckled.
"ExTERminATE!" chorused the Daleks, to prove the point.
"So you see," the Master stepped closer, "inquiring minds wish to know, Doctor…Doctor…Doctor who?"
"Yes." The Doctor stood fast, at least he could do this with dignity. "Yes, exactly."
The Master's emotion betrayed itself more clearly than that of his adversary. "What?"
The Doctor was more than slightly amused at the Master's obvious confusion. "Not what. Who. Just Who. Doctor Who."
"Whahat?" the Master was dumbfounded. "Who? Your name is Who? You can't be serious. DALEKS!"
"ExTERminATE!" One of the Daleks fired at their captives. A skeleton flashed like an x-ray, and Rory dropped dead. One of the others screamed.
The Doctor waved his hand dismissively. "He's always doing that."
The Master rolled his eyes. "SONG!" he whipped around to stare hard at River. "Talk, or you're next."
"What do you want me to say?" she said, with such a level of sarcasm the Master actually backed off a little.
"Is he lying?" he tried to regain his footing.
Silence. Bitter silence. "No." she said firmly.
"Hidden in plain sight." whispered doctor Who.
The Master hissed angrily. "DALEKS!" he shouted again.
"ExTERminATE! ExTERminATE! ExTERminATE!"
"BACK. DOWN!"
A dozen glaring eyestalks swiveled around to stare straight at the Master. "WE do not UNderSTAND."
"I said BACK DOWN!" snapped the Master.
"WE do not UNderSTAND. WE do not show MERcy. We ExTERminATE!"
"Oh trust me, this isn't mercy. We're just going to let him suffer a while, knowing that his greatest enemies," he lowered his voice to a hissing whisper purely for the drama of it, "hold his greatest secret."
If a Dalek looked at each other, as if wanting to know what the other ones were thinking.
"Let them go." The Master waved his hand.
The Doctor and companions took a few nervous steps away, back towards where the TARDIS was supposed to be.
"Well go!"
They started moving a little quicker.
"RUN!"
They took off at a sprint. Leaving behind only Rory's corpse.
As soon as they were out of earshot, the Master leaned in towards one of the Daleks. "Kill Who. Not completely, mind you. Just enough for regeneration."
The Doctor and the rest ran easily. Everyone was used to this. They reached the doors of the TARDIS, and the Doctor allowed the others inside first, just in case the Master changed his mind, or the Daleks really DID slip from his control. As soon as everyone was inside, the Doctor was about to take a step forwards when a bolt of light was shot at him. He gave nothing more than a small gasp as he absorbed the Dalek's beam, skeleton flashing blue for an instant, and then pitched forwards into the TARDIS.
He examined his hands. Threads of golden energy had begun to curl around them.
It's starting.
He sighed, and grew nervous again. Would his next incarnation be anything at all like he had always been? Would this new man who would saunter off have even a fraction of the same soul as him? Would he love Earth, value life, and the wonders of the universe? Or would he be a jaded, careless killer? Would he still like bow ties and funny hats? Would he even be a he, rather than a she? Things with River might get very...awkward…
The energy began to spread and grow stronger, he leaned up against the console. "Funny, isn't it?" he said, "the question that must never be answered, it should have been worded as the question that can never be answered." He looked up at River, "you all get it, don't you? The question can never be answered…"
River smiled. "Because the answer is always a question."
"Well, it's short for Whovian, which is short for- AGH!" the regeneration had taken it's strongest hold, and the Doctor subconsciously stood up and spread his arms out. "Stand back." He whispered, and seemed to explode into golden light.
The light receded, and a new man slumped to the floor. He breathed heavily for a second, then began the usual 'new body examination'. He fluffed his fingers through his hair, looked down the length of his arms, put his hands on his hips and inspected every inch of himself.
At this moment, an oblivious-looking Rory stepped into the control room via the hallway. "Did I miss something?" he asked.
When the Twelfth Doctor had finished his examination, he turned to his companions. "Give it to me straight." He said solemnly. "Am I ginger?"
Sorry, probably not my best writing ever, but it was the concept of the Doctor's name I had to get out there somehow. And I deeply apologize for killing Eleven.