The Doctor idly brushed a hand over his light stubble. He stared at his reflection in a mirror lost somewhere in the labyrinth of his time machine. The Time Lord's thoughts travelled back to a memory of a moustache and goatee beard from a previous face as he casually wondered whether it would look good on his current one. He was sure it would go well with the ageing half-lidded eyes and the wrinkles. He daydreamed about it for a second before catching a flutter of confusion fly across his features. He had never had that face.
They say that nothing is ever forgotten, not completely anyway. They also say that if you're clever, even if something disappears completely it can be reconstructed by the gaps in the universe. The Doctor knew of Irving Braxiatel. His name was still lost but he knew of him. Sometimes if he concentrated hard and thought of home, he thought of his childhood and of playing on is friend's estate near Mount Perdition. He thought of the deep red grass and how he liked to stay out late and watch the sunsets. When it was past home time and he had no intention of going home, there was someone else there. If he concentrated hard there was sometimes a silhouette of an older boy, static against the burnt orange sky…but sometimes not. Sometimes the young Gallifreyan somehow made it home before a scolding, other times he came home alone.
The Doctor no longer knew why he left Gallifrey. He remembered that he ran. He remembered that Susan was in danger and he knew that someone had saved their lives. No one owned up to it because no one remembered. But The Doctor knew, so he never forgot. Someone very important looked after him that day.
The Doctor pulled a pocket watch from his jacket pocket. Sometimes he showed this particular one off and sometimes he didn't, but he always had it on him. He always thought that it was probably older than him; it was showing signs of age and the mechanisms were heavier than they needed to be. The brushed metal finish showed scratches but as The Doctor opened the ornate clasp he could see the glass was as it was when it was new. He loved watching as the second hand slowly clicked round the watch face. A cloaked shadow suddenly flew over the pocket watch, jumping The Doctor out of his mindful state. He carefully closed the watch with one hand as he span on the spot looking for the cause of the movement. There was none. It was just the same empty junk room and everything was still.
"She will come for me one day as well, brother."