Doctor Who

Old Friends

"Something's wrong!" the Doctor shouted, as the centre console exploded in a spray of sparks "you think?" Amy shouted, as she and Rory tried to their best to stay on their feet as the Tardis threw them every which way.

"You shouldn't be doing this" the Doctor said, in frustration, bashing part of the console with a mallet. The Tardis didn't seem to react well to this and with one final bump, which sent Amy, Rory and the Doctor flying to the ground, the engines fell silent and the lights went out.

"Are you ok Pond?" the Doctor asked, getting unsteadily to his feet "my dignity's suffered a bit of a blow, but I'm ok" Amy replied, her face appearing above the centre console, as she too climbed back to her feet, "don't worry, I'm ok too" Rory said, but the Doctor seemed to ignore him.

"Now dear, what was that about, hmm?" the Doctor said to his Tardis, provoking a strange look from Amy and Rory, but they didn't say anything. The Doctor pulled an old fashioned television down and entered in commands, before looked back at the screen.

"Ah…ok, this is either very bad or perfectly fine" the Doctor reported "quite a margin of error there, more specific?" Amy asked, slightly concerned, "we've broken through the walls that divide the universes. That either means we're trapped on a parallel world forever…" the Doctor started "or…?" Amy asked, "or…the universe is still resetting and the walls haven't had a chance to re-establish themselves yet" the Doctor replied "so which is it?" Amy asked.

The Doctor studied the seemingly meaningless display of circular patterns displayed on the screen, which Amy had learnt was the native written language of the Time Lords.

A look, as if something had very suddenly dawned on him, appeared on the Doctor's face, "Doctor?" Amy asked "this is Pete's World" the Doctor replied, "Pete's World, who's Pete when he's at home?" Amy said.

Without answering, the Doctor set about adjusting some instruments and the lights came back on, "at one time, travel between the universes was common, but something happened and it became impossible. It still is, for the most part, but sometimes something happens to change that…I adapted the Tardis' systems in case I ever got back" he said, removing the handbrake.

The lights came back on and the engines sounded as they once again took off. Just a minute later, however, they'd arrived at their destination and the engines fell silent once again.

"Soooooo, where to?" Amy asked "just this time, nowhere, this is something I have to do on my own" the Doctor replied, "fine" Amy said, slightly bitterly "I won't be long, I can't be, just…don't touch anything" the Doctor said, pointing at her before opening the door and closing it behind him.

Inside, the Doctor was thankful he didn't have much time, this was going to be complicated enough as it was, but he owed it to her. It hadn't been difficult for the Tardis to trawl the local phone books and electoral registers for their names and even less time for it to bring him here, Rose Tyler's house.

The Doctor cleared his throat and straightened his bow tie as he walked towards the house, wondering how he could start, when the front door to the Tyler's house flew open and Rose Tyler came running out. If there was something the Doctor knew, it was that moments like this were hardly ever ceremonial.

Certainly not this time, as Rose ran straight past him and smiled the biggest smile as she stood before the imposing shape of the ancient and mysterious Tardis. When the doors didn't open, she turned back to him "excuse me mate, you haven't seen a tall bloke in a dark brown suit, have you?…long overcoat" Rose asked "not in a little while, no…" the Doctor replied, honestly "what do you mean…" Rose began, but then gasped.

She approached the Doctor slowly, things falling into place with each step, until she stopped.

"…Doctor?" she asked "hello Rose Tyler" the Doctor replied, "oh my god!" Rose said, excitedly as she pulled him into a hug. When she finally let go, Rose took the Doctor by the hand and they sat down on the edge of the curb together. "Wow, look at you, your face and your hair and the clothes…actually, look at you, what do you look like?" Rose laughed "why, what's wrong it?" the Doctor asked, "ok, the black leather coat I understood, the suit and the overcoat, I got…but now you're wearing a tweed jacket and bow tie?" Rose smiled "bow ties are cool" the Doctor replied, "since when?" Rose asked "round about the time I started wearing one actually" the Doctor said..

"You haven't changed, I mean, you have, but…" Rose laughed "so where's Donna, I can't believe she didn't have something to say about you dressing like that", "Donna had something to say about most things, didn't she?…..but no, I had to take her home not long after I left you at Bad Wolf Bay" the Doctor said "why, what happened?…half human, half Time Lord, sounded like a perfect companion for you" Rose replied, "she was a result of a biological metacrisis between human and Time Lord, that can't ever happen, the knowledge of a Time Lord would have killed her, so I had to wipe every memory of me from her mind. She's ok though, got married and won the lottery actually" the Doctor said, to a bemused look from Rose "so you helped her win the lottery and you couldn't do that for me?" she joked, "what makes you think I had anything to do with it?" the Doctor asked "oh, you had something to do with it, I know you did" Rose smiled, "maybe a little something, but she deserved it after everything she went through" the Doctor said.

They sat for a little while, just enjoying each other's company, like old times.

"So…" Rose said "…are you travelling alone now or…?", "no, you know me, I'm never alone for long, I've left Pond in the Tardis…" the Doctor started, when he was interrupted by the Tardis engines sounding "where I specifically told her NOT to touch anything" he sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"Hold on, your companion's called Pond?" Rose asked, confused "yes, well no, Amelia Pond, Amy" the Doctor rambled, "so which one is it?" Rose asked and the Doctor laughed "Amelia Pond, but she calls herself Amy these days, for some reason. I thought Amelia was a great name" he said, "so is there anything going on between you two?" Rose asked "what?…no no no, she's a little Scottish girl who's afraid of a crack in her wall and she's married, Rory his name is, he's travelling with me at the moment too, so no" the Doctor insisted, "she's a little girl and she's married?" Rose asked "well, of course, she's not a little girl anymore, it's complicated" the Doctor replied, "always is with you, anyway, that's a bit domestic, aint it?…I remember a time when you wouldn't let Mum in the Tardis" Rose said "there were many reasons I didn't let Jackie Tyler in the Tardis" the Doctor joked, "oi" Rose smiled, giving him a gentle tap on the arm.

Again, there was silence between them as Rose tried to stay away from the one question she wanted answering the most, but in the end, she had to ask it.

"So come on Doctor, what happened to you?" she asked "what happened to me?" the Doctor asked back, "yeah, what happened to my Doctor?" she clarified "it's a long story and I don't have much time" the Doctor said, "I need to know" Rose replied.

The Doctor breathed in deeply and sighed out, "well…to cut a very long story short then, there were…a series of events that meant Wilfred got trapped inside a control room that was going to be flooded with massive amounts of radiation" the Doctor started "to get him out, I had to go into another compartment and press a button to release the door and that's when I was flooded with radiation".

Rose held the Doctor's hand and waited for him to continue, "the regeneration process started almost immediately, but I was able to resist it long enough to go back and visit some old friends…Jack, Martha, Sarah Jane and you" he said "me?" Rose asked, "I went back and saw you before we met, New Years Day 2005" the Doctor said.

Rose thought as hard as she could back to what felt like another life, a life before the Doctor but finally, it clicked, "the drunk bloke in the shadows…" she said "but it wasn't drink that was the problem, it was radiation poisoning. Thanks to some help from an old friend of mine, I managed to get the Tardis into orbit, regenerated and here I am" the Doctor finished, gesturing to himself by sweeping his hands down his body.

"So you were alone when you regenerated?" Rose asked "I prefer it that way" the Doctor said, causing Rose to frown, "this is me you're talking to Doctor, I'm sorry you had to be alone" she said, "it was safer that way anyway" the Doctor said, getting to his feet "resisting the regeneration process resulted in a massive build-up of energy that seriously damaged the Tardis when I finally did regenerate. She careered out of control and crashed in Amelia's garden. Rebuilt herself though, better than ever"

Rose got up too, "I thought she looked different" she said "you haven't seen the inside" the Doctor replied. Rose smiled, "one last look for old time's sake?" she asked "oh go on then" the Doctor smiled back, turning the key in the lock and opening the door as Rose followed him in.

"I thought I told you not to touch anything" the Doctor said, as he ascended the steps to the centre console. Rory simply pointed at Amy, "I was bored, ok?…and when someone tells you not to touch anything, it's impossible to resist" she said.

Meanwhile, Rose was still at the doors, "wow" was all she could say. The last time she'd been in the Tardis, the room had felt much smaller, was darker and had coral-like structures everywhere, but this was something else.

"You can't see anything from down there" the Doctor said, inviting her up "Rose, this is Amy and Rory".

Rose climbed the steps and shook their hands, "the Doctor told me you're Scottish, I haven't been to Scotland since the late 19th Century, you remember that?…Queen Victoria and the Werewolf" Rose said "how could I forget, though I wish she had" the Doctor replied, "so you've travelled with the Doctor before then?" Amy asked "oh yeah, two of them actually" Rose replied, causing the Doctor to clear his throat, "two of them?" Amy asked, as the Doctor pulled Rose aside.

"I haven't told her about regeneration or the Time War yet" the Doctor whispered "why not?" Rose asked, "well, because it hasn't come up in conversation yet, I don't know" the Doctor replied.

Rose turned back round, "never mind" she smiled "I'll just say goodbye to Rose and we'll be on our way" the Doctor said, ushering Rose gently down the steps.

Outside, he closed the door behind them, "a leggy redhead, eh?…that's new" Rose teased "a lot of things are new and I told you, she wasn't like that when I found her" the Doctor replied and Rose laughed.

"Anyway, I suppose I should have asked earlier, but where's the other me?" the Doctor asked "ah, well, everyone calls him John now, easier to live with as a human than just Doctor and he's at work, the European Space Agency" Rose said, "really?" the Doctor asked "yeah, he couldn't seem to leave his Time Lord life behind him, space and time seemed to call to him and with the knowledge he has, they were happy to have him" Rose explained as the Doctor opened the Tardis door and stood on its threshold.

"Well, it seems it's time for me to go again. I'm glad you're happy Rose, I really am" the Doctor said "we seem to say goodbye a lot" Rose replied, "we do, something seems to find ways to bring us together, doesn't it?…..so let's not say goodbye this time" the Doctor said "yeah, see you when I see you" Rose smiled, "see you when I see you, Rose Tyler" the Doctor smiled back and closed the door behind him.

Rose stepped back and watched as seconds later, the engines roared into life and the Police Box exterior of the Tardis slowly dematerialised until she was left staring at thin air.

Rose stood there for a few moments, before putting her hands in her jeans pockets and slowly strolling back to the house.

THE END

This short scene is the property of JW2006. Doctor Who, The Characters Mentioned, The Tardis and Tardis Interior/Exterior are (c) BBC.