AN: I'm so thankful for all of your support! This is actually just a really long oneshot broken into bite-size chapters, so I hope that you're still enjoying it even though I could have done some more developing. Thank you all so very much!


The Doctor was frantically rigging together a last minute effort that would see the Dalek ship and the Weeping Angels destroyed. A nearby monitor flickered to life, revealing the emperor.

"A Delta Wave will obliterate Earth as well as my army," he stated smugly. "Another planet lost to the Time War and the Doctor's rage. I name you Doctor, the Destroyer of Worlds, for at your core, you are so very gifted at it."

Locking her jaw and forcing back the tide of self loathing guilt, the Time Lady ignored him. Finally, she let out a breath and finished the alterations to the ship that would see the Dalek army wiped out. In saving the universe, however, she was sacrificing yet another planet.

"A coward or a killer," the emperor taunted as she placed her hand on the lever, "which will you be?"

The sound of the Daleks firing at the door to the room echoed off the walls as the Doctor hesitated. Suddenly, a familiar wheezing drowned out the beat of her hearts pounding in her ears. Spinning, she could only watch in shock as the TARDIS materialized. She felt her hearts stop all together as the doors flew open and out stepped John glowing like a vengeful deity. White light poured from his eyes as he looked at her.

"John?" she gasped. "What have you done?"

"I looked into the heart of the TARDIS," he answered in dual tones. "I am the Oncoming Storm. I create myself."

Terror ripped through the blonde. "No! Oh, no, Johnny. You've got to let it go," she pleaded, taking a step closer. "It'll burn you up. No one's meant to look into her heart."

A mechanical voice shredded apart the scene, demanding, "What is this? The Abomination spoken of!" The emperor fairly shrieked the last sentence, "Exterminate!"

John smiled at the softly crying blonde. "I want you safe, my Doctor. I see all that is, all that was, all that ever could be. I've scattered my name throughout Time and Space to lead myself here. And, you are worth it, Bad Wolf, my golden Rose."

Glancing to the emperor, his face hardened. "You are tiny. I take your atoms and I divide them. The Last Great Time War ends here."

Just like that, the Daleks and the Weeping Angels were dust. Wiping her eyes, the Doctor slowly approached her friend.

"Let it go, Johnny," she whispered again. "Please, it's killing you."

A pained expression flittered across his face. "I know. I see across all worlds, Doctor. This is the only universe where I am the human and you are the Time Lady," he told her as he touched his head. "In every other one where we exist, it is reversed. Somehow, we always find each other." His hand dropped to touch her face. "Those other reflections of me hurt you terribly. Only a few of our counterparts have happy endings."

Choking a sob, she raised her fingers to his temples. "Well, you'll have yours, John Smith. If it's the last thing I do, I'll see you happy."

The white light left his eyes. "Doctor?"

But, she wasn't finished, and firmly yanked the rest of the Vortex from him into herself. Just as she was retreating from his mind, a movement caught her attention. A green, churning Storm watched her from an open door.

"Leave him!" she commanded, reaching for it.

The Storm chuckled and evaded her grasp. "I am him, Bad Wolf. I am here when he is ready. You cannot out run a Storm."

With that, the door was slammed closed and sealed before the Doctor was expelled from her friend's mind.

Gasping, her eyes flew open to find a deathly pale John collapsing against her. Reflexes had her catching him and heaving him over her shoulder. With one last glance around, she hurried into the TARDIS and immediately sent them into the Vortex. The ship welcomed her back delightedly, though sadness tempered the emotion as regeneration light began dancing over her skin. Gently, she laid John on the floor and scanned him with her sonic. He had no injuries, but she wasn't sure what the Vortex had done to his mind.

"John?" she called, shaking him.

Moaning, he rolled his head to the side and looked up at her.

"Doctor!" he cried, shooting up to embrace her tightly. "Don't ever, ever scare me like that again! What happened?"

With a wince, she drew back and pressed a lingering kiss to his temple. "You sang a song and they ran away." Because she couldn't bear him knowing that he'd destroyed an entire race. She'd carry that burden for the both of them, but she didn't want to lie. As another wave of pain hit, she scooted away from him, breathing hard despite her bypass system.

"There were so many things I wanted to show you," she said hoarsely, eyes focusing on his concerned face.

Fear settled over John. "What? Doctor, what's wrong? Were you hurt?"

"Time Lords have a way of cheating death. We can regenerate every cell in our bodies," she gasped out.

"You'll be a different person?!" he gaped.

Wheezing a chuckle, she shrugged. "I'll be the same where it counts, Johnny. My personality may change, but my feelings on important things won't." Gritting her teeth, she felt the process surge, unable to hold it back any longer.

She forced her eyes to his, memorizing his so cherished features. "You were fantastic, Johnny. Any you know what? So was I."

Her words faded as she erupted in golden light so bright John had to look away from it. When the light settled and he could see again, he snapped his attention back to the prone form of the Doctor. Despite her warnings, he was shocked to see the changes. Her blonde hair spilled around her, long enough now for her to sit on it and leaning more toward strawberry than yellow. Her features were mostly the same, only daintier and her brown eyes had lightened to a wolfish gold.

Blinking long, dark lashes rapidly, she ran her tongue over her teeth. "Oh, new teeth."

She paused and her brows shot toward her hair line. "New voice. Huskier with the Queen's English and a bit of a pretentious drawl. Huh."

Shuffling to her feet, she swayed and gripped the console for support. John nearly reached to steady her, but he held back, unsure of how welcome the gesture would be. She moved around to test out the new body, commenting on it as she did so. John noticed her clothes seemed too big for her now-she was quite a bit smaller, just reaching his shoulder. A hiccup escaped her and with it a golden tendril of energy.

Groaning, she raised a hand to her head. "I need tea."

"Sit down," he told her, eager to help her and do something. "I'll go get it."

When he returned with the beverage, she took a large gulp and made a face. "That's revolting. What did you do to it?"

John shifted nervously. "It's how you usually drink it."

"Really?" she mused, wrinkling her nose before dutifully draining the cup and hiccupping again.

Standing, she pulled at her clothes. "Let me go change."

John was left alone in the console room, wondering what had just happened and where his friend had gone.

An hour later, the Time Lady returned to the room. Originally, she'd preferred to make her eyes up heavily and wore quite a bit of makeup. Now, she didn't seem to be wearing any at all. She'd also forgone her near combat looking outfit for something more…well, the only word that came to John's mind was 'gangster'.

She had wide cuffed black trousers paired with a crisp button up and a tailored jacket. On her hands she wore fitted white gloves and a vibrantly red tie adorned her neck. To complete the look, she had a fedora perched jauntily on her head and a pair of spats buttoned on her dress shoes.

Her long hair was braided down her back, but her grin was still wide with a familiar hint of tongue. John felt his tension ease just a bit.

"Johnny!" she said, rolling his name like a piece of candy. "Look at this."

Pulling aside her left lapel, she revealed red braces. Smirking, she reached under his coat and fingered his braces.

"Couldn't help myself."

That broke his patience. Catching her hand, he drew her closer and frowned down at her. "Are you alright? The last thing I remember is looking into the TARDIS' heart."

Flinching, she scowled at him. "I'd like to not discuss that, if you please, Johnny. I'm quite cross with you."

His jaw dropped. "Cross with me? You're cross with me? You tricked me into the TARDIS and sent me away so that you could go on some sort of idiotic suicide mission. It's like the conversation we had last night didn't happen. Your careless disregard for your own welfare scares the Hell out of me and would have resulted in your senseless death this time!"

Snatching her hand out of his grip, she straightened and composed herself. Flipping switches and pulling levers, she piloted the TARDIS in silence. Finally, the Time Lady faced him, her eyes a whirlpool of Time and antiquity. She suddenly looked every one of her years.

"No one is meant to look into the heart of the TARDIS, John. It nearly killed you. There are always heavy prices extracted for receiving a favor of Time."

A niggling worry perked up in the back of his mind. Folding his arms, he eyed her cautiously. The other Doctor would have deflected this conversation and changed the subject so thoroughly that he wouldn't remember it until days later when it was too late to do anything about it. He didn't know what to do with her actually addressing the issue. Just last night, she'd directed the conversation away from her actions and he'd just now realized she'd never given any answer to his accusations.

"How did I survive?"

"Oh," she waved him off, fiddling with the controls, "you're stronger than you think."

Mind rapidly calculating all the data (part of him reevaluating his initial thought that she wouldn't still avoid things) John puzzled on the question until a look of horror skated onto his features.

"No-you took it out of me," he corrected her with wide, appalled eyes. "You said it would kill me and Time Ladies have a way of cheating death. You took it out of me and it killed you instead."

Agony washed over him, causing his knees to buckle and send him crashing into the jump seat. He felt as though his heart would shatter.

"I came back to save you and I killed you!" he rasped, pulling at his hair in an unconscious mimic of her former self. "Why would you do that?"

In a flash, she was kneeling in front of him, gripping his hands on his knees. Her golden eyes were large and earnest when they met his.

"Hush, that's nonsense. You didn't kill me; you really did save me, Johnny. Essentially, I killed myself and had you not returned, there would have been nothing left from which I could regenerate." She squeezed his hands. "And, I saved you for the same reason you saved me: you're my best friend."

Choking a laugh, he tugged her to him and embraced her; fearing his emotions would ruin anything he tried to say. They weren't all right, but at least he knew that he hadn't lost her. That was enough for the moment.

John's family had only just turned from the spot the TARDIS had disappeared when the distinct sound filled the air and it returned. Confused, they traded looks and waited with baited breath for the door to open. When it did, a grinning John popped his head out of it. Unconsciously, they relaxed.

"How long's it been?" he asked.

"About two minutes," Amy replied. "Are you alright?"

"Perfectly, Pond. Just wanted to let you know it worked."

Rory glanced over his brother's shoulder, but couldn't see anything. "And the Doctor?"

An impish gleam sparked in the green orbs. "They want to see you, Doctor," he called behind him.

"What? Why?" A husky voice carried to them as John shifted to the side.

Arthur frowned. The small woman that appeared beside his son could have been the Doctor's sister, but she wasn't the Doctor.

"Uh, John?"

The professor leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms and smirking. "She's the Doctor. Apparently, Time Ladies can regenerate every cell in their bodies when injured badly enough."

Amy's eyes widened. "But, you were able to save her?"

A dark look flickered across his features before he nodded. The Doctor smiled politely and disappeared back into her ship. John tossed something to Rory, making him scramble to catch it. When he did, he saw that it was a phone. Confused, he arched a brow at his brother.

"The Doctor tweaked it to make it able to call me or the TARDIS anywhere or anywhen. The numbers are already stored."

His sister-in-law stared at the phone in awe. "Like a super phone?"

He smiled. "Exactly. Since I don't know when our visits will be, we can talk on that and you can make sure we don't miss anything important."

Arthur looked relieved, but then resigned. "I suppose this means you're not going back to the university."

Straightening, his youngest shook his head. "No, Dad."

With a sigh, the older man nodded. "I always knew one day you'd go somewhere I couldn't follow. I just never thought it'd be quite like this. Be careful, son."

Beaming, John waved and closed the doors. As the blue box faded from sight, Rory glanced to his father.

"He doesn't do anything by halves, does he?"

Chuckling, Arthur stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Everything I said about you and Amy eloping-I take it all back. At least you stayed on Earth."

Rory smirked as Amy snorted. Yeah, their little adventure seemed positively dull by comparison.