A/N: Sorry for the late update! Well, I am trying to update this story at least twice a week, though :) And thank you for all the Reviews and Follows! Okay, now let's get on with it!

Chapter 2

Abrupt, Young and Not Ginger

Wilfred Mott and Donna Temple-Noble sat side by side, peacefully looking up at the night sky.

The black sky was so peaceful, so quiet, and so beautiful at once. Wilfred knew that somewhere in that sky, the Doctor would be roaming the Universe and saving people. And somewhere in that sky, people would be singing the song of Donna Noble, the most important woman in the Universe.

And Donna couldn't remember it.

It hurt Wilfred so much, shattered his heart in pain and sadness. The Doctor lost his friends—sacrificed himself, and yet, Donna knew nothing about it. She had to forget, in order to keep her head from burning out. And that gave him so much sorrow. Especially when he saw that from time to time, Donna seemed to feel empty. Lost. She even got divorced, because she couldn't stand this strange, bored feeling. And she was always looking up at the sky, looking for something she couldn't quite catch.

Wilfred glanced at Donna, concerned. She didn't notice him. She just watched as a glimmering shooting star streaked across the endless night sky, the one she used to travel, a soft smile upon her lips.

"Look, it's a shooting star. I haven't seen one in ages."

"Well then, Donna, make a wish! Who knows, maybe you will get another lottery ticket?" Wilfred chuckled fondly at his granddaughter. Donna laughed and smacked him on the shoulder. He laughed along with her, and looked up to see the shooting star.

Wait…... no, it couldn't be…?

Wilfred frowned, rubbed his eyes, and turned to Donna. "Is it just me, or is that shooting star actually getting brighter and brighter?"

Donna's head snapped up. Her eyes widened in surprise. Wilfred was right. Yes, that shooting star didn't look like one anymore. It was too bright, engulfed in a blinding white flame, and it was actually coming closer and closer. To them! And—seriously, was that a blue police box in the center of the flame?

And that's when it happened.

"Oh!" Donna suddenly cried out, a hand flying to her forehead. Her eyes widened impossibly, and Wilfred jumped up, alarmed and fearful.

"Donna? Donna! Are you all right?"

"My—my head—! It hurts!" Pain. That was all she could assess at the moment. Pain, heat, burning. A million voices talking in her head, ringing in her ear, ten billion images dancing and fleeting across her vision. It was all too familiar and all too strange. Donna clutched her head and rocked her body back and forth, trying to withstand the sudden flood of thoughts.

It was her memory coming back.

Oi, Doctor, let's get out of here! Huon Energy—a pencil in a cup—I'm not mating with you, sunshine! Spaceman, I'm waving at fat? Allons-y! It's bigger on the inside. Shock. Give me a shock! Agatha Kristie is always a bestseller—

Hello, Doctor Donna.

The pain vanished as abruptly as it had come, and Donna's eyelids flied open, gasping.

"DOCTOR! That bloody spaceman!"

"Donna…?" Wilfred approached, looking cofused and cautious at the same time. "Are… are you all right?"

"Me? Of course! Of course I'm alright. Except for the fact that the stupid idiot ERASED my memory and left me here to grow old and die! What did you expect? Explode or burst into flames or something like that?"

"Well, Donna…" Wilfred's voice trailed off uncertainly, and Donna looked baffled.

"Seriously? Did you think that I would explode?"

Wilfred toyed with his fingers, looking confused and nervous. Then he cleared his throat and spoke.

"Actually… the Doctor, he told us that you absorbed his knowledge. And Time Lord consciousness being too much for a human to contain, you would have burned or something if you kept your memory. That's why he erased your memory—to save you. Well, somehow…" He shrugged, chuckling a bit. He still couldn't quite believe the fact that now, Donna remembered everything.

"I think it turned out great! I mean, well, you remembered, but you aren't burning up, right?"

"Well—I don't know. Oh my god. This is a bit much to take in," Donna said, rubbing her temples. She still felt a little numb. Her mind was overwhelmed by all the memories and all the Time-Lordian knowledge. (Although some parts—like seeing all the timelines side-by-side—were stragely missing. Maybe that was why she wasn't burning up.)

Then despair welled up in her heart. Last time the Doctor left her, it took her ages to find him again. And that was only sheer dumb luck, too. She felt like screaming; so, duh, she remembered. But how could that be good when she couldn't get back on the TARDIS? She didn't even know if she will ever see the Doctor again!

Oh, this was so abrupt. One moment she was sitting under the stars, and now she was longing for a certain, bigger-on-the-inside, time-traveling blue police box. She sighed, feeling more lost than ever. Wilfred watched her helplessly, the smile gone from his face.

But then, suddenly—!

WHAM!

"What?!" Donna looked up and gasped. Wilfred's mouth hung open, too. That couldn't be happening; that simply couldn't—!

"It's the TARDIS!" Wilfred exclaimed, surprise dawning on him. "So that's why you remembered…?"

Yes. Sure enough, the blue police box shooting by was unmistakably the Doctor's TARDIS. It didn't look like it was in its best condition, though; it was thoroughly wrapped in a brilliant coat of white burning flame, and there was a jagged, giant crack in the night sky, brightly illuminating Donna's backyard. What the hell was that? He wondered. What did that poor lad get himself into this time?

"Oh my god. Oh, my, god!" Donna jumped up, hardly believing her eyes. This was too good to be true—and this was her only chance. Maybe. She jumped up without hesitation and began shouting at the top of her lungs, flailing her arms wildly.

"OI, SPACEMAN! DOCTOR! I'M HERE, you'd better come and pick me up, or else I'll slap you for good! I REMEMBER—!"

At her words, as if by magic, the TARDIS stopped. Stopped dead in its track. It wobbled in the air, smoke erupting from its engines, shaking uncertainly, all-wibbly-wobbly, then it turned, facing her side, as if it could hear and see her, tilted a little, when—

The splendid white light emanating from the Crack died out.

The TARDIS was still for a moment, absolutely and completely still, then it began— it began plummeting to the ground! Staggering, crashing, falling at an alarming speed—

BANG!

—Right into the woods.

"Ow," Wilfred winced. "I knew he was in a bad condition. Even spaceship engines don't work properly when they are on fire."

"Doctor!" Donna yelled, alarmed, springing forth instinctively. The blue police box shuddered and groaned, obviously in an extremely bad shape— then finally collapsed onto the ground with another huge boom. Donna came right up close to the familiar time machine, her heart racing and her thoughts wild. What could have happened to the Doctor?

"I need to get him out of there!" She cried, grabbing a wooden stick and beating away the broken branches blocking her way. Wilfred was standing by her side in a second, huffing heavily, and joined Donna in searching for a way in. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, the entrance was clear. The door, usually closed tight, was hanging open. Donna and her grandfather took a hesitant step in, unsure of what will be waiting for them inside.

That's when she heard the groan.

The Doctor's groan.

"Are you okay, Doctor?" Donna yelled, sprinting into the console room without any more faltering. Wilfred was about to follow her—when he realized that the Doctor must have changed. The last time he had confronted the lone Time Lord, he was full of grief and sorrow. He had said that he was dying; that 'it had started'. Yes, he had been dying—well, not exactly dying, but regenerating, he said. But still—

Donna wouldn't be able to recognize the stranger.

"Donna, wait!" Wilfred shouted, hurrying after the determined woman. She was already far ahead of him, and came to a stop—gasped—when she saw a familiar man in strange clothes, sprawled out unconscious in the console room. She rushed forward, shaking the pale man.

"Doctor! DOCTOR! Oi, are you with us?"

Wilfred stood and stared, confusion evident on his face.

It was the same Doctor.

Brown, crazy hair sticking up on its own, check. Tall, skinny, and handsome, check. Sideburns, check. He hung limp on his chair, beads of sweat lacing his forehead. His breathing was sporadic and strained, too. But not dying. Definitely not dying. Relieved, Donna pulled back, then observed him up and down. She frowned, and said in an incredulous voice.

"Seriously? Black suit and hat? Was he on a date or something? And oh, don't tell me that's a bowtie! What got into him?" Donna muttered, tapping him on the shoulder. "And he looks like he is getting younger!"

SLAP!

Donna Noble's powerful slap, one almost as powerful as a Tyler's, came down on the poor man's back with a loud, thundering smack. The Doctor inhaled sharply in shock, and his eyelids flew open.

"Whoa!" He gasped, jolting upright. He panted for a few seconds, looking around with a disoriented look on his face. Then he spotted Donna and Wilfred. He blinked rapidly, taking in the sight—and grinned. The familiar, manic grin.

"Well, if this isn't Donna and good old Wilf! Donna, Donna, so you are alright? No fever, no burning, no headache, no nothing? Right? It worked, eh? And it looks like I've made it through all that alive. Brilliant!" He pulled both of them in a tight hug, laughing.

"Spaceman…" Alive through what? Donna wondered. She was about to ask, but the Doctor suddenly withdrew, a look of horror dawning on his face.

"Wait, wait, wait. How did you recognize me, Donna?"

Donna snorted.

"Well, as I have my damn memories back, I'm sure as hell that I'm bound to know your face, Doc. After all, it's not easy to forget a time-traveling, 900-year-old alien."

"No, no, no, it's not that— but my face, it changed!" The Doctor cried out helplessly. He leapt up and rushed to the mirror. He inhaled sharply when he saw his own face. "Oh god, no. But this—this can't be!"

"What's wrong?" Wilfred edged forward, feeling unsettled by the shadow of panic clouding the time traveler's eyes. The Doctor, still staring at his reflection, murmured.

"I've regenerated, Wilf. You shouldn't be able to recognize me."

"You what?" Donna yelled, stepping forward. But the Doctor stopped her advance by lifting both of his hands. He turned to face the two of them, his eyes, fierce, intent, and fearful.

"Not now, Donna. Listen! I've regenerated into my Eleventh form ages and ages ago. I died and changed my face! But today—today I was being chased by a horde of mad Daleks. You remember those mad killer pepper-pots, huh? And the only way I could escape, the only way I could survive, was going through a Crack in Time. But the intense storm of the Huon Energy affected my own body; it wrecked my timeline. I've actually degenerated, for God's sake! The degeneration process seems to have stopped, but—"

The Doctor clenched his teeth, his eyes tightly shut.

"It's not over, not at all. Oh, this is going to be bad. Very bad. I'm, I'm…"

"You're what?" Donna said, her voice fearful. Her Doctor-Donna brain understood what he was saying all too well; but it just made her anxiety worse. Such massive dose of energy could have unthinkable effects on an incredibly time-sensitive species like Time Lords. Anything could happen.

The Doctor took a shuddering breath. His body convulsed in pain as his feet kept slipping, leaning on the wall. Oh, he didn't want… his reunion with good old friends… to go like this. A wisp of golden dust seemed to seep into his veins. Wrong way. Regeneration energy should go out, not get back in. Everything was going wrong, wrong, wrong!

"No…" He murmured in a faint voice. "The degeneration process—it stopped. But the time, it's still rewinding and breaking… I, I am—"

The Doctor's body shook in a painful spasm as he gasped out loud. "I am de-aging."

He collapsed onto the floor, unable to withstand the burning pain any longer. If regeneration was an explosion, this was an implosion; it was killing him, killing his tissues and ripping apart his cells in the most painful way possible. He writhed, trying to control his pain, for fear of frightening poor Donna Noble and old Wilfred Mott. But when he found out that it was impossible, he did the most natural thing he could have done at the moment:

He screamed.

"A—Ahhhh!"

"Doctor!" Donna quickly caught his body before he fell completely and banged his head on the floor. Her warmth seemed to calm him down a bit, ease his pains; he gulped large amounts of air several times, his body shaking uncontrollably. He opened his eyes and stared at Donna wide-eyed, clutching her hand like a drowning man.

"Donna, Donna, Donna, don't worry. The pain, it's not going to kill me or anything, it's just massive cell deaths giving me a severe cramp or something. But the thing is… I—I—I—need to ask you something, Donna, you amazing, brilliant woman— The Most Important Woman in the Universe." He rambled, giving her a weak, fake grin. Then he turned serious again, as he stared intently into her eyes as he asked:

"How many years has it been… since when I, I left you after erasing your memory? Tell me. You have to."

"Three years," Wilfred answered instead, and Donna scowled at the unpleasant reminder. The Doctor gave her an apologetic smile. He let out a soft laughter.

"It was two hundred years for me, Donna."

A heavy silence.

"What?!" Donna hissed and swacked him on the shoulder, albeit not so hard this time. The Doctor involuntarily whimpered and cringed at the stinging pain, and she almost felt sorry for him—but she couldn't help but snap.

"You didn't even pay me a visit for two whole centuries?! Spaceman—!"

"I know, and I'm so sorry about that. I was a coward and idiot, but what I'm trying to say is… that…" His jaws trembled as he slowly took a long, deep breath. Then he continued. "I'm a different man, Donna. I've gone through so much, things you can't even imagine. I've regenerated. I've changed so much…"

"It's okay," Donna said, shrugging carelessly.

"I like fez," he stated in a matter-of-fact voice. "I like fish finger and custard. I like bowties. I've traveled with other companions, too."

"That's okay, too."

"I've used guns, Donna. I've experienced and jumped into the center of another Big Bang. I am married, too."

"That's—wait. WHAT? YOU'VE MARRIED—"

"Anyway," The Doctor continued quickly. "I'm a changed man. I'm completely different on the inside. I might not be your Doctor anymore. Is… is that okay? After all those years, do you still trust me enough to help me out?"

He stared at her with pleading eyes. Donna wanted so much to press him about the marriage—she had never thought of him as a 'domestic type', good god, no— but she couldn't. That was a topic for another day, when things were not so dire.

So she simply let her frown dissolve, gave his hand a gentle squeeze with her own, and whispered—

"You might have changed, Spaceman, I know that. Everyone does; that's what time does to us. And yes, you might not be my Doctor. But you are still the Doctor, and that makes you the same man."

His eyes widened, then brimmed with tears. He turned his head away to hide it.

"Thank you, Donna." He whispered. "Now, hold onto me. I'll come back, no matter what happens to me, I promise. Just… hold on. Real tight. Please… don't let me go."

She did, and he gave a brief, tearful smile.

"Thank you, Donna. Thank you so much. Well, now… Geromino." He whispered, and closed his eyes.

And as soon as he did so, a blinding rush of white light erupted from his veins. His body turned rigid, but only for a split second; the next thing they knew, his back was arching, his head was thrown back violently, as if he was having a seizure. And he was screaming and screaming like hell. The Huon Energy was exploding all around, engulfing the Time Lord's body in a golden flame.

"Donna, what's happening?!" Wilfred shouted over the thundering sound, and Donna yelled back.

"Just close your eyes, Grandpa! The Huon Energy is taking effect! Close your eyes and DON'T LOOK!"

Wilfred obeyed, and Donna closed her own eyes tightly, too. A few images fleeted across her mind. It was the messages that the Doctor had transmitted to her telepathically in his last moment. She saw that the Doctor had recorded a vocal message in the main database— had sent messages asking for help to all his companions— they were going to come and help him.

Donna gaped as her eyes flashed open. The light was gradually subsiding; the process had ceased. She slowly looked down to her lap, where the Doctor had been lying, her heart drumming against her ribs painfully fast. Wilfred opened his eyes too, looked, and gaped openly at the bizarre sight.

There, swamped in a heap of all-too-large clothes that the Eleventh Doctor had been wearing, was a child. A peacefully sleeping child with messy locks of brown hair, his body too small for his age. Donna's heart stuttered as she realized who the boy was.

The child was the Doctor.

A/N: Thank you so much for your R&Rs! I might post another chapter today. Please keep on reviewing and following!

Anime Angel 72: Yes, I did make a story with a child Tenny. And yes, thank you for your kiss. This fic may be even longer than fifty chapters, so please, please, please keep an eye on it! I LOVE you for leaving a review. And thanks for calling me a genius (although I'm not.) Ah, and I'm a girl, by the way.

Shadowdragon1317: Ah, my lovable first reviewer. I never knew that there was a Time Lord Dragon, though…... (sniff sniff) But I do wish you good luck for your Pear Destruction Project. And OH MY GOOOD yes this is a fic with both Tenny and our Raggedy Man! And it's new! Yeah! Thank you soooo much for encouraging me! I'll surely keep on posting!

Guest: Ooooh, can you hear me jumping in joy? YES! Thank you soooo much! I love you! IC is the best compliment you can give me! I'll go and write another chapter—sniff sniff.

Lili: Thank you for your compliment:) I'm not very good at English, though. I'm still learning. Please help me out if you see any grammatical mistakes!

RandomW: Yes, I did. (wink wink!) Okay, basically everyone will make an appearance in this story. Including Rose and 10.5! But unfortunately Rose isn't a main character :( Okay, and I don't care about the distantce; you can give me hugs as much as you want to!