They came down from the warehouse and into a small, enclosed courtyard. Both Doctors were giggling away at their little misadventure while Donna guided them along. Rosita was very much quick and to the point.
"Well!" she said rather loudly. "I'm glad you think it's so funny! You're mad, both of you! You could've got killed!"
"But evidently we did not," the other Doctor chuckled as he took the quick road to recovery. "Oh, I should introduce Rosita. My faithful companion, always telling me off."
"Well, they do, don't they?" the Doctor said with a knowing nod.
"Oi," Donna said, smacking his arm lightly.
The Doctor grinned kindly at Rosita. "Lovely name, Rosita. Like a name in a fairytale."
"Yeah, yeah," she said, clearly too cross to focus on greeting him properly. "Now I'll have to go and dismantle the traps. All that for nothing, and we've only got twenty minutes to the funeral, don't forget, then back to the TARDIS, right?"
"Funeral?" the Doctor asked as she stormed off down the alley.
"Oh, long story," the other Doctor replied tiredly. "Not my own, not yet. I'm not as young as I was."
The Doctor looked curious. "Really? You don't look that old. Still a bit fresh-faced. Not too much wear and tear, though clearly you've seen quite a bit due to the shadows under your eyes."
The other Doctor looked at him in surprise, but a grin on his face as well. "Quite remarkable deductive skills for such a young man," he remarked. "Most impressive. Yes, I have seen quite a bit in my time."
"Yeah, that seems to be my thing now. Just picked it up," the Doctor grinned, feeling rather pleased with himself. He was starting to get a handle on who he was now.
"And what is your name, sir?"
The Doctor frowned slightly, confused. "Don't you recognize me?" he asked.
"You said we'd met somewhere before… You'll have to refresh my memory, young man."
A brief pause for some thought, and then the Doctor decided: "Oh, I'm Ian Foreman," he said swiftly. "Studying medicine. On holiday with my friend here, Donna. Came to enjoy the sights. Heard all about you, though, Doctor. Haven't we, Donna?"
Donna looked a bit startled at being included in the conversation. "Yeah! Yeah, we have. Bit of a legend you are, Doctor," she said quickly.
"Modesty forbids me to agree with you, madam," the other Doctor replied. "But yes. Yes, I am."
The Doctor smirked momentarily, but then looked wary. "A legend with…certain memories missing. Am I right?"
"How do you know that?"
"You've forgotten me…"
"Are you important to me?"
"…Perhaps… Funny thing, memory…"
The other Doctor didn't seem to note the sorrow in the Doctor's voice, and he began to explain his situation. "Great swathes of my life have been stolen away," he admitted. "When I turn my mind to the past, there's nothing."
"Going how far back?"
"Since the Cybermen," he said with a sigh. "Masters of the hellish warscuttler and old enemies of mine, now at work in London Town. You won't believe this, Mr. Foreman, but they are creatures from another world."
"No, really? Wow," the Doctor replied flatly, while Donna grinned slightly behind him.
"'Tis said they fell onto London out of the sky in a blaze of light. And they found me."
A half-buried memory shifted in the Doctor's mind that he tried to get a better look at, but it wasn't very clear right now.
"Something was taken," the other Doctor continued, "and something was lost." He stared into a fire-lit barrel for a moment before looking up again. "What was I like in the past?"
The Doctor grinned sadly. "Gotta be careful with memory loss, Doctor," he said. "One wrong word. Learned about that in school. Dodgy business…"
"Strange, though… I talk of Cybermen from the stars and you don't blink, Mr. Foreman."
"Ah-ha! Don't blink! Remember that? Whatever you do, don't blink? With the blinking and the statues and Sally and the angels and… No?"
The other Doctor faintly shook his head. "You're a very odd man."
"You figured that one out alright," Donna murmured.
"Seems I always will be," the Doctor said quietly, ignoring her, looking his 'other self' over. "Something's wrong here."
"Oh, the funeral!" the other Doctor said suddenly. "The funeral's at two o'clock. It's been a pleasure, Mr. Foreman. Don't breathe a word of it."
"Couldn't I come with you?" the Doctor asked, not wanting to lose sight of this other man who claimed to be him.
"Far too dangerous for a young man with his life ahead of him. Rest assured, I shall keep this city safe. Oh, and Merry Christmas, Mr. Foreman."
"Merry Christmas, Doctor."
And the other Doctor hurried away.
The Doctor watched him leave for a moment before collapsing to his knees again. Donna was at his side in a second.
"Doctor…?" she asked worriedly.
"Thought he'd never go…," the Doctor muttered, clutching his sides in agony. "By the way, 'bit of a legend'? Really?"
"Shut up."
"I'm touched!"
"Well, what about 'Ian Foreman'? Where'd that come from? What about John Smith?"
"Dunno. I just don't feel like a 'Smith' in this body."
"Doctor, what's wrong?" she demanded.
"Still regenerating. Not quite right yet. Hang on…"
And he took three deep breaths, waited a moment, and then – whack! He smacked himself hard on the head. And then he grinned and was back on his feet again.
"There! Just a quick jolt to the neural implosions. Should tide me over for a bit longer," he said.
"I'll jolt yourimplosions myself in a minute. What's wrong with you?"
"Not done yet. Need a little more time… Oh, I wish I could just sleep it off like last time…"
"There's still time. Whatever those Cybermen are up to, maybe they're not starting for awhile yet."
"No, no, you heard him. They've been here awhile. Whatever they're up to, they're probably getting ready to implement it. We need to keep at it."
"Doctor, you're in no fit state to walk in a straight line, let alone stop an army of Cybermen! For heaven's sake, just sit this one out! You've already got another you on the case!"
"Yeah, that's another thing I'm worried about."
And he broke into a fairly healthy-looking sprint as he chased after the other Doctor. Donna sighed heavily and followed him.
The snow had stopped falling by now.
The other Doctor and Rosita were in a rather posh part of town. They hid on the opposite side of the street, watching a hearse pass them by pulled by horses, followed by a second carriage and mourners marching behind.
"The late Reverend Fairchild," the other Doctor murmured, "leaving his place of residence for the last time. God rest his soul. Now, with the house empty, I shall affect an entry at the rear while you go back to the TARDIS. This is hardly work for a woman."
That naturally angered Rosita. "Oh, don't mind me saving your life. That's work for a woman, isn't it?"
"The Doctor's companion does what the Doctor says," the other Doctor said, surprisingly calm.
Rosita huffed and stomped off down the street, away from the funeral, not noticing the Doctor and Donna watching from nearby, they had been listening in on their conversation.
The Doctor glanced at Donna thoughtfully, but she just glared at him. "Don't even think about it," she muttered warningly.
"Wouldn't dream of it," the Doctor replied with a playful grin.
"What do we do now?"
"Well, if he's going to explore the house, I'd better help him out. He seems a bit lost. Plus, I saw his sonic screwdriver. It's rubbish."
"Is it possible, though? Can there really be two of you in the same time and place?"
"When you travel around as often as I do, you're bound to run into yourself at some point. Doesn't happen very often, but it does. Not like this, though. Very odd."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm still completely new. Nothing's tested, nothing works, not sure who I am yet. Same with him. He knows he's the Doctor, but nothing else. 'Course, he's got it worse. His memories have fled from him. Strange…"
"So what do you want me to do?"
"Follow the funeral, if you don't mind. See what happens there. Something interesting might turn up. Find out what you can and report back."
"Report back where, exactly?"
The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device that was long and rectangular like a remote control, except instead of buttons it had lights on it. "Take this," he said. "It's linked with the sonic. It'll lead you back to be me, wherever I am."
"Right," she said, pocketing it. "You be careful, yeah?"
"Ahh, don't worry about me…," he grinned. "I'll be fine."
She gave him one of her very pointed looks. "You always say that."
And then the Doctor's cocky grin became surprisingly gentle. He gave her hands a reassuring squeeze, and suddenly, Donna felt like a little girl being reassured by her gramps.
"Trust me," he said in a whispery kind voice. "I'm the Doctor."
And he clapped her shoulder and then bolted across the street after the other Doctor, who had vanished behind the house.
Donna watched him, stunned by how reassured she felt. In his last incarnation, she'd felt like she always had to look out for him to make sure he didn't get hurt, physically and emotionally, and he always needed a hug at the end of the day. Now he felt like he would hug her and look after her in a way he never did before.
She shook her head out of these thoughts and set off after the funeral march.
Author's Note: It got a bit tricky trying to differentiate Eleven's quirks from Ten's for this story, but I think I managed pretty well, considering.
