Author's Note: Hi again!
VERY IMPORTANT READ THIS EVEN IF YOU DON'T LIKE TO READ AUTHOR'S NOTES BECAUSE I KNOW THEY CAN GET BORING AND LONG! Italics (as such) in this chapter indicate a flashback for Eleven (the new one)
It's gonna get a bit wibbly wobbly (also maybe with the typos. I'm not the perfect editor I confess)
Rate, review, comment, etc. if you find yourself so inclined. It would be awesome :)
I still haven't been able to snatch those Doctor Who rights. Darn it!
Peace, Love, Allons-y!
Chapter Two: Enough with the Headbanging
"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." –Dr. Seuss
"Hello Sweetie," smiled River, not missing a beat to flirt with a second version of her husband. The one standing next to her gaped at her and then back at the mirror image of himself. River realized that they weren't perfect matches of each other, the one climbing down from the roof of the TARDIS had slightly shorter hair. She resolved in her mind to call the one standing at her side Doctor One, and the other Doctor Two. He had shown up second after all.
"You can't be here. Holes in the universe, remember?" Doctor One hissed to Doctor Two, who was standing in the doorway to the TARDIS. Two was emanating energy, not seeming to mind what he had just told himself about the dangers of crossing timelines.
"There are bigger things that we have to worry about, my friend," Two replied, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he closed the view to the Medusa Cascade. "Much bigger things," he whispered under his breath, walking towards the console. He gave a quick glance back at the two confused faces.
"I hope I wasn't interrupting…anything…" he trailed off before returning to focus on the TARDIS. River noticed that One's face was a shade pinker than it normally was, and laughed at her husband.
"Where are you, in all of this?" One asked Two, still glaring at him.
"I thought you would be happy to see me! Last time there were two of us, we got along quite well I thought!" Two seemed to be done with his tinkering and was looking at the TARDIS monitor. "Ah, and I just came back from giving River her diary. Sorry about ditching you," he spoke to River, serious for once. "But there were some…things to attend to. Specifically this!" he clapped his hands together and rubbed them, his magnificent plot he no doubt had in store about to be explained.
"What's so important you had us cross paths?" One inquired, still growling.
"Hush up and let yourself talk, sweetie!" River exclaimed. She had always wondered why she had been left alone at the hospital. Why she hadn't woken up with the Doctor and her parents by her side. All she had been left was her diary, no note, no nothing. Maybe today she would get the answers.
"Right! Well it started shortly after you healed me, River, which was stupid. You shouldn't have done that," he still didn't stop bothering her about it, after all this time.
"Well neither of you would be here if you hadn't, so I guess you'll just have to survive with it," River huffed, rolling her eyes in frustration.
"Anyway," Two continued, switching the subject, "it got me thinking. What you did…" Two trailed off, realizing explaining would be too difficult. He walked up to One, intent on what he was about to do.
"No way! We said we weren't doing that after Craig! It hurts!" River chuckled at One as he backed up against the TARDIS doors.
"Just one more time. It won't be that bad. We're both Timelords after all," Two smiled, grabbing the back of One's neck. One looked around nervously, not wanting to look his younger self in the eye. With that, Two pulled One's head to his own, and transmitted his selected memories.
"You too River," he said, wheeling around as One's face contorted in to one of pain and he started to double over.
"Oh no, you're not head-banging me, sir, no way," River muttered under her breath, backing up the stairs.
"It's important," was all he replied with. River heard the seriousness in his voice, his playfulness completely gone. With a glare at him, she walked forward until they were inches apart.
"I hate you," she sneered, shaking her curls again, although she knew it was important they do this. If the Doctor crossed his own timeline in order to tell them something, it had to be vital.
"No you don't," he smirked, smashing their skulls together.
"Something's not right, something's out of place," the Doctor muttered to himself, pacing back and forth in front of the TARDIS console. No amount of head scratching or finger twiddling seemed to allow him to figure out what was wrong. He leaned on the console, kicking his legs off of the ground so all of his weight was in his hands. Hands. He recalled River's hands, glowing with regeneration energy as she healed him.
"That's it!" he exclaimed, running to the other side of the console where the monitor was, grabbing it to wheel himself around to face it.
"She's had two regenerations so far, what, Melody to Mels and then Mels to River," he whispered to himself pressing various buttons to scan himself.
"But if she used up nine regenerations to save me," he whispered as the scan was completed, racing to the TARDIS doors and out to the infirmary where a sleeping River was laying peacefully on a hospital cot. "Then why does she not have one left over?" he asked as he looked at the results from his scanning of her newly regenerated body.
"But that has to mean," he whispered in awe, looking at how peacefully the woman slept. "That couldn't happen, could it?" At this point he was furiously rubbing his hair, urging his brain to think faster. "Unless…" he trailed off, looking out of the TARDIS doors one last time.
"You genius woman, you," he whispered before closing the two wooden doors and racing off to his next destination.
River and Doctor One sat on the ground, rubbing their heads with the palms of their hands.
"Who came up with the idea that the best way to transfer knowledge is through practically cracking your skull open against someone else's?" River moaned, giving a contemptuous glare at Two. He smiled back sheepishly and shrugged.
"But that means," One gasped out, obviously still shocked by the memory he had just been shown.
"I know," Two replied, his mischievous grin showing up once more. He walked over to River and helped her to her feet. He flicked her nose with the tip of his finger.
"You, my River, are amazing," he smiled, looking at her as if she was one of the aliens he became fascinated with on such a regular basis.
"But that's not possible," she protested, still in shock from what she had seen. "I've only regenerated twice! Melody to Mels to River, just like you said!"
"You only think you've regenerated twice," Two replied, still beaming at her. His hands were rubbing together, a sign he was getting quite excited about everything that was happening.
"I think I would remember how many times I've regenerated," River huffed, crossing her arms.
"And why don't I remember any of this?" One asked, speaking up. "Not any of it! I left right after I gave River the journal! I never came to visit future me! This isn't possible!"
"Ah, and this is where is starts to get complicated," Two replied, a devilish grin spreading over his features. "Don't you just love it?"
