The Boy That Time Remembered

(Runs around the console room squealing) Eeeeeeehhhhhh!

ML: Taiyo-chan, the readers-chazu.

Eeeeeeehhhhhhh!

ML: Taiyo-chan!

Eeeeeeehhhhhhh!

ML: Oh boy. (Turns to the audience) Sorry about this you guys. Taiyo-chan has been like this for a few days, after watching The Day of The Doctor.

Eeeeeeehhhhhhh!

ML: And now she's all excited from watching the Eleventh Doctor episode for The Doctors Revisited.

Eeeeeeehhhhhhh!

ML: And she's excited about the Christmas special.

Eeeeeeehhhhhhh!

ML: And she's excited about the preview clips of Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor.

Eeeeeeehhhhhhh!

ML: Will you knock that off?!

(Stops running for a second) Never! I'm too excited! (Continues running)

ML: (Sighs aggravated) Fine. I guess I'll do the talking. If you are wondering how this came so fast after the first chapter, well, we had that one stored for a while. After the 50th Anniversary special and the Christmas special, she just got so excited Taiyo-chan had to release the first chapter and get this one out as soon as possible.

(Stops running and bends over panting heavily) Oh god I ran too much.

ML: What do you think was going to happen after you were done? And weren't you out cold before?

The DTD and Eleven special revived me. For those who have not seen them (and if you didn't then you have missed out in life), one word: AWESOME.

ML: Taiyo-chan you are stalling!

Right right sorry! Gotta get this down! I've got work from school I need to work on later. Hope you lot enjoy this second chapter. ML, do your thing.

ML: Taiyo-chan does not own Doctor Who. It belongs to the BBC and I am pretty sure that she cannot buy it from the BBC.

Unless I start saving up now. Oorrrr….. (Turns to the audience) If people are generous enough to donate to me?

ML: Stop it-chazu.

I wasn't serious! Geez, have some faith in me.

ML: You can never be too careful around you.

(Sighs) Read and review people! If only to get ML off my back. (Reaches towards console and starts pushing buttons.) Here we go!

ML: Enjoy-chazu.

(Pulls down a lever) Geronimoooooooo!

Chapter 2: The Lost is Found Again

The Doctor felt numb.

He simply stood there staring at the solid black wall before him. The wall that led millions of Daleks and Cybermen into the Void for all eternity. A wall that previously held a portal to a parallel universe that was nearly overtaken.

A wall that separated him from Rose.

Rose. His chest tightened at the thought of her. He was never going to see her again. He was never going to be with his bright pink and yellow human ever again. The one who had made him so much better when all he felt was misery and anger. The one who always stayed with him. The one who always loved him no matter what.

And now she was gone.

After a few more moments, the Doctor turned away from the wall and made his way through the mess of Yvonne Hartman's office. Papers scattered on the floor, holes in the walls, a desk overturned, he walked past them and outside the office. Once he stepped out, he could hear the sounds of UNIT working to secure the area. He hurried away before any of the soldiers could stop him. He just wanted to leave this place. This place filled with horror, loss, deceit and anger.

He traveled down the staircases to different floors, peeking through each one. He couldn't help himself. He wanted to see if there were any survivors to this battle. Though he very much doubted there was anyone left alive in this building. They were either dead or had fled once the Daleks and Cybermen began to attack.

He had just reached the second to last floor (and there were just too many floors in this place, how many of them were actually used) when he felt it. He gasped in shock as his Time Lord senses were bombarded with overwhelming sensations. He couldn't quite place what it was; it was just like what he felt at the Game Station but not quite. While that feeling held such utter wrongness (should not even exist, a mistake), this one was more….. quiet. It didn't quite belong but it felt like it had existed before but then fell outside of the here and now. Like something which had gone missing turning up after a long period of time.

The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows. 'But what could be giving out that feeling?'

He hurried towards the stairwell and ran down two steps at a time, his coat flapping behind him. He wondered if it was such a good idea to go running off to an unknown thing but then dismisses the thought. He does this all the time. Besides, it could be something potentially dangerous.

The Doctor finally made it to the ground floor and looked around. The feeling was stronger out here. He took out his sonic screwdriver and began scanning the area. He walked around slowly, hopping over pieces of debris as he continued his search. The sensation only became stronger and stronger the further he walked.

Finally, he came upon a slab of concrete. The sonic was going crazy and he checked it. Whatever he was feeling it was behind the concrete. The Doctor walked around the slab and looked down.

And he nearly dropped the screwdriver in shock.

No. He dropped down onto his knees and simply gaped at the body before him. No. It couldn't be him, it just couldn't, it was impossible. No, no ,no. But it looked just like him. The same age, same body build, same face, he even recognized those dark green pants he insisted on wearing all the time. The Doctor reached out a trembling hand and ran it through his shaggy black hair (he would never let him cut it, no matter how many times he asked) then reached for one of his cheeks. He cupped it in his still shaking hand. It was warm. So warm. Alive.

Adric.

He stayed like this for a few seconds before pulling away sharply and shaking his head in disbelief. He was hallucinating. Everything from the entire day was catching up to him. He was feeling so much guilt and sorrow from losing Rose that he was starting to see previous companions that he lost throughout his life. The Doctor looked around and almost expected to see Jamie or Peri to come out from around the corner.

He closed his eyes and shook his head harder. 'Stop it, Doctor.' He thought to himself, pressing his fingertips against his temples. 'Focus on the situation at hand.' He opened his eyes and looked forward. The body was still there. Still giving off that indescribable feeling of otherness.

The Doctor bit his lip and thought about his next decision. Then he stood up, bent over and picked up his supposed long-dead companion. He wasn't that heavy and was wearing nothing except a pair of green pants that was thoroughly shredded. Other than that, there wasn't a scratch on him, no injuries, perfectly preserved. He would have to get Adric back to the TARDIS to check if there were any internal injuries he was missing. The Doctor shook his head firmly. 'If it was Adric.' He couldn't get his hopes up.

He hurried across the deserted Canary Wharf to the area where he left the TARDIS in. During the journey, he kept glancing down at the face of the maybe-Adric. Each time he noted more and more similarities (his nose was still a bit small, his cheeks were still round but they were thinning out, his eyelashes were still long and gave off tiny shadows over his eyelids, he still had those splash of tiny freckles across the bridge of his nose). By the time he reached the TARDIS, the Doctor's hearts were beating rapidly from the hope that was swelling up inside him. That everything was not lost to him, that maybe the fates has decided to throw him a bone instead of constantly crushing him.

The TARDIS gave off a hum when the Doctor touched her doors, careful with the possibly-Adric in his arms. She was questioning him, wondering what was going on and what exactly he was carrying. Why did it feel so abnormal?

"I don't know, Old Girl." He patted her on the side as he went inside, shifting the most likely-Adric into one arm while he closed the door. "I'll explain everything in a bit. Just be patient, okay?" The TARDIS gave him a discontented sound but otherwise let him be. The Doctor was glad for it.

The Doctor hurried through the console room and towards where he remembered the Sickbay was located. 'Now where was it again? First door on the left, down the corridor, second door on the right, down the corridor, third door on the left, down the corridor, fourth door on the right. Blimey, I don't remember it being this far away…. Ah, here we go!'

The Doctor made his way into the Sickbay. It was a large room, stark white with black tiled floors. Lining the walls to the sides were small beds, about twenty-four in all, each with a pair of curtains for privacy. Across the room were various medical devices, some put away in cabinets while others were scattered on metal trolleys. It was rather cluttered as he hadn't been in here for quite some time.

His long strides led him quickly to the nearest bed and he laid the most definitely-Adric on the pristine white sheets on top. He did not even make a sound at the transition. He had not made any noise during the entire journey to the TARDIS, like his mind was cut off from his body and the physical world.

The Doctor turned from the almost absolutely Adric and began working on the data interface next to the bed. "Interface activation password: 11231963."

"Password accepted." The interface stated in a faint female voice.

"Begin full body scan. Priority is to search for any internal injuries and anomalies within patient. Ranging from tears in muscle ligaments, ruptures in the organs, parasites, probes, and any type of foreign substance , conduct biological scan to determine species of sure that brain activity correlates with patient."

"Orders accepted." The interface began to follow the orders given to it. A large scanner unfolded itself from the interface and made a slow path across the quite definitely-Adric's body. Information immediately appeared on the interface screen, displaying blood pressure, heart rate, the status and functioning of organs and everything else important. The Doctor took all of this information in as he sat next to the bed, watching the scanner repeat its journey multiple times. He felt the palms of his hands start to sweat from nervousness and anticipation. As the injuries made themselves known (muscles in the body weak from having not been used at all, some malnutrition where did that come from, otherwise entirely healthy, how is that possible?)

"Species confirmed." The interface said after a moment. "Subject: Alzarian."

The Doctor let out a ragged breath, almost like a sob, before burying his face in his hands. There was no other known Alzarians in the universe probably because there was no other Alzarians in this universe at all. It was him. It really was Adric. He was alive. Alive. The Doctor felt a hysterical laugh build up in his throat but he squashed it down.

"No old chap." A voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like his third self told him. "You can't break down. Not yet. You still have work to do. Get to it."

With that reasonable sounding pep talk, he got out of the chair and made his way to the lab station. It was when he was mixing the solution that he noticed something.

The otherness. It was gone.

The Doctor frowned deeply at the new development. Adric now felt completely normal. How was that possible? The Doctor looked at the readings on his sonic screwdriver and nearly hit himself for not seeing it earlier.

"Void Stuff!" He ran a hand through his hair. "That's why you felt so strange! You were absolutely drenched in Void Stuff!" Then he was frowning again. "But the only way that would be possible is if you travelled across the Void. No, not just through the Void. You had to be residing within the Void, living in there! But that's just not possible! No living thing can survive in the Void. So how exactly did you survive?"

He didn't get an answer of course. But talking out loud made him feel better.

The Doctor's mind was swimming with billions of ideas and theories as to how exactly his previously dead companion turned out to be not dead at all and had apparently been living in the Void. But he decided that they could all wait. Right now he had Adric to attend to. He turned back to the lab station.

"Right then! First I'm going to have to help with those muscles of yours. A good old stimulant might do the trick, though I'll have to be sure to use the less strong ones. Goodness knows what will happen if I just make your muscles come to attention so quickly. Who knows how long since you moved them!" As he worked he continued to talk to fill the silence of the room, he could feel his hearts start to lighten up just ever slightly. "And then there is the malnutrition you have. Well don't worry Adric I'll fix that right up. Will have to give you some new clothes as well while I'm at it. I don't expect it feels very pleasant to lay around in shredded trousers. Trust me I know..."

- Linebreak! Linebreak! -

Adric came back to consciousness slowly. His mind felt like it was wading through a persistent swamp. Every time he felt like he made progress, he would only be pulled back to where he had started. But he kept going and finally his mind came back. When he opened his eyes, he had one thought.

The lights were too damn bright.

He immediately closed his eyes back and groaned weakly. God, who decided to keep the lights that high on? Were they trying to blind him? He really should remind the Doctor about that -

Adric's eyes snapped open again as a flurry of panic came over him. He quickly sat up and ignored the subsequent head rush as his mind raced. The Doctor, the Doctor. Where was he, was he okay, were Nyssa and Tegan okay, did the Cybermen get them-

A pair of hands suddenly appeared and pushed him back against the bed. "Steady now." A male voice said to him. "You shouldn't try to get up so quickly."

That was not the Doctor's voice. Adric looked at the man standing before him, immediately suspicious. The man was tall, about six feet, and only slightly taller than the Doctor. He was whip-cord thin (Tegan would have called him a walking stick) and had narrow features. The Man's eyes were a dark brown color and were wide on his face. His hair, also brown, was short and stuck up in such a way that Adric wondered if he made it that way on purpose. His clothes consisted of a brown suit with blue pinstripes across it, a white shirt and a blue tie. His shoes were the most interesting aspect. They were a pair of white, beaten up Chucks, the same kind of shoes that the Doctor wore. Strange.

"Who are you?" Adric asked, keeping a wary eye on the stranger. "And where am I?"

The stranger smiled softly. "You are in the TARDIS medical bay. How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine." Adric glared at the man. "And you didn't answer my first question. Who are you? Where is the Doctor? And Nyssa and Tegan?" Adric sat up again quickly. "If you've done something to them I swear-!"

"Oh no, no,no, no, no!" The stranger put his hands on his shoulders again. "No they are fine! Absolutely, perfectly fine."

"Then where are they?" He countered. He was steadily getting annoyed by this man's dodging and just wanted a straightforward answer already. "If we are really inside the TARDIS, then where are they?"

The stranger sighed heavily, sat on the bed and took back one of his hands to drag it heavily down his face. Adric faintly realized that he did not have a shirt he looked up again, his eyes held a sadness that seemed to consume his face.

"Adric." How did he know his name? "What is the very last thing that you remember?"

"Wha-" Adric furrowed his eyebrows as he thought about that question. It was all a bit hazy, like his mind was trying to get back into working order. He remembered that they were trying to stop the Cybermen from destroying Earth, the others were stuck on the TARDIS with the Cyber Leader. The freighter had been deadlocked and was on its way to Earth, the scientists and himself were about to evacuate but he had decided to stay back and try to stop it and-

The color drained out of Adric's face as the rest of his memories came back. He had stayed behind to try and break the codes that deadlocked the freighter. He had almost done it when a Cybermen came out of nowhere and destroyed the control panel and then...

"Easy now." The stranger squeezed the shoulder he still had a hold on."You're going to send yourself into a right tizzy if you don't calm down."

"I'm supposed to be dead." Adric stated numbly. The man only continued to look at him. "I am. No one would have been able to get there in time. The calculations were so against it they were astronomical. I actually heard the metal of the ship giving in and felt the fire from the explosion. I should have died. I knew I was going to die. But I didn't. And look-" He examined himself. "No scratches, no burns, nothing! That is just not possible!"

"Adric..." The man tried to grab his other shoulder but Adric shook him off.

"And that's another thing! Why are you here anyways! Why do you care! I have never seen you before in my life! Who are you?! And where is the Doctor?!"

The silence after his outburst was heavy. Adric continued to glare angrily at the man before him.

Finally, after what felt like eternity, the man asked him a question.

"Adric, what is regeneration?"

He was thrown off by the question but answered immediately. "Regeneration is a biological process of the Time Lords. In the moment of near death, regeneration occurs. Every cell in the body is changed completely until they are entirely different from before. Not only does the person change their entire physical appearance, but their personality as well due to the change of chemicals in their brain. But the main essence of the person is kept and they retain all of their memories.A Time Lord is only able to regenerate twelve times before they have a final death." Adric frowned at the stranger again. "Why did you-"

"Look into my eyes, Adric. Look deeply." The stranger asked.

"What?"

"Just. Look."

Feeling oddly compelled by the command, Adric looked into the mans eyes. They appeared normal but the longer he looked at them he saw something. These eyes. They were like a deep well that he could lose himself in if he wasn't careful. They were like miniature pockets of space, dark and spreading out for all eternity. This man was looking right into his soul with this stare, he just knew it. But Adric was strangely not afraid of his soul being bared. He had received a completely identical stare...

... by a pair of blue eyes from a man who took him to see the stars.

Adric gasped. "No..." It couldn't be. He looked at the man in a completely different light. It just couldn't be him. But the idea only continued to grow in his mind, the synapses of his brain kicking into overdrive. Regeneration is a biological process of the Time Lords... Not only does the person change their entire physical appearance but their personality as well due to the change of chemicals in their brain. "You're..."

The man nodded. "Yeah."

Adric swallowed heavily. "Doctor?"

The Doctor nodded and gave him a small smile. "Hullo Adric."

The silence reigned supreme for them, the only sound being the hum of the TARDIS, until it was broken.

"You've changed again."

The Doctor scratched the back of his head nervously. "Yes... Regeneration will do that to somebody."

"But how? It was only moments ago that I saw you last. How did you change so quickly?"

The Doctor looked at him in sympathy. "Oh Adric. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But it has been a long time since we've seen each other."

Adric drew in a shaky breath and tried to stay calm. "How long?"

"Not now." The Doctor held him by the shoulders again. "You can ask your questions later."

"But Doctor..." He wanted to ask so much more, he needed to know what has happened since the freighter and the Cybermen. What caused the Doctor to regenerate? Where were Nyssa and Tegan? And how was he still alive when nothing was close enough to save him? But he could feel eyelids getting heavier by the second. The energy he had possessed was quickly draining out of him and he found himself easily pushed back onto the bed.

"No, Adric. Right now you need to rest." The Doctor reached down and pulled the sheets up to Adric's chin."You really need it." He got up and made to leave but stopped when he felt a hand grip his wrist tightly.

"You'll still be here, right?" Adric was looking at him with a desperate look in his eyes, holding his wrist in a firm grip despite being tired. "This isn't a dream? I won't wake up and find myself being held captive or in some kind of simulator machine?"

The Doctor gave him a reassuring smile as he used his free hand to grab Adric's fingers. "Don't worry. I'll still be here."

"You promise?"

The Doctor nodded. "I promise." He gently pried Adric's fingers from his wrist and laid them gently on the bed. "I'm not going to disappear." He brushed the bangs from in front of Adric's face. "Now go to sleep."

And even though he wanted to stay awake and have his questions answered, Adric let himself be pulled from the realm of consciousness. The last thing he was aware of was the feel of the Doctor's hand running through his hair.

-Linebreak! Linebreak! -

When he woke up again, he was alone. Adric didn't try to get up yet as he gathered his thoughts together and figure out the situation he was in.

Subject Number 1: Apparently, he did not die when the freighter crashed into Earth. How that came to be was something he was going to have to ask the Doctor. Also he would need to ask about the fate of the Earth.

Subject Number 2: The Doctor had regenerated while he was incapitated. That was another thing he needed to figure out.

Subject Number 3: Where were Nyssa and Tegan? Nyssa would have most certainly be worried and would have watched over him. And sure, he and Tegan didn't get along all the time, but she would have been just as worried, in her own way. The fact that he hasn't seen either of them at all since awakening told him something was wrong with them.

Subject Number 4: From what the Doctor had told him before, it has been a considerable amount of time since he and the Doctor saw each other. How long exactly? The answer to that question may tell him what happened to Nyssa and Tegan as well.

These facts swirled around inside his head, no explanation forthcoming. He sighed. 'Why can't anything ever be easy?'

After a few more moments of staring at the ceiling, Adric decided that he had rested enough and he would go look for the Doctor. He pulled off his covers and noticed that he was now wearing a large white T-shirt that stopped at his waist with a large yellow star in the middle. It was so baggy that it flapped around every time he moved. Also he noticed that he was wearing a pair of black trousers that nearly covered up his figured that his regular tunic outfit had been destroyed as it was nowhere to be seen.

As his feet touched the floor Adric shivered at the biting cold if the tiles. What he would not give for some socks. When he tried to stand up he nearly found himself on the floor, his grip on the bed preventing his fall. His legs felt like lead and did not seem willing to moving anytime soon.

"Muscle atrophy." Adric pulled himself to his knees. "I have been immobilized for such an amount of time that I have lost some use in my leg muscles." Using the bed railing as leverage Adric managed to stand on his feet, though he was considerably exhausted afterwards. Getting his breath back he started to take slow steps towards the exit. The muscles in his thighs burned from it but he pushed it to the back of his head. He was going to get out of here and he was going to find the Doctor.

"And then I'm going to get my answers." He gained energy at the thought and reached the door at last. He pulled the door open and looked around. The corridors were quiet and empty. Before he could go on Adric noticed something by the door.

A pair of black boots sat innocently in the hallway.

Adric blinked at them. "Did the Doctor leave them here?" He bent down and picked them up. They looked about his size. But why were they-oh. There were socks inside them as well.

Well then. He put on the socks and boots, making sure to tuck in the edges of his trousers into the boots.

Now armed with shoes and socks, Adric continued his trek through the TARDIS corridors. His legs weren't giving him as much trouble as before, now only feeling moderately sluggish. He felt that he had his healing factor to thank for this.

When he finally made it to the console room, Adric had to blink several times to assure that yes, what he was seeing was real.

The console room was so different. Instead of the stark white walls and roundels, the room was so much darker. The room had taken on a type of organic design, possibly coral, and there were five great pillars surrounding the room. The tiled floors were replaced with metal gratings which led on to the platform which housed the console. Black wires criss-crossed from the top of the time rotor, which gave off a dim green light.

Seeing all of this only reinforced to Adric that everything was different. He felt his hands shake slightly and his insides shift nervously from the thought. His entire world had changed and upheaved itself into something completely different. But this time the change happened without him and on a far grander scale then before.

'Not just a completely different Doctor... But a completely different TARDIS as well. No one else around... Just what has happened while I was gone?'

He noticed the Doctor on top of the platform. He stood with his back to him, hands held loose at his sides. He was talking to some form of hologram emerging from the console. Who he didn't know but he could just make out a female voice.

"And I suppose...since this is my last chance to say it..." He sounded so sad. Adric had never heard such sadness coming out of him, even though it was another voice with another face. Not when Romana had decided to stay behind with the Thrails or when Nyssa had lost her father and entire planet. He sounded absolutely heartbroken.

" Rose Tyler... I-" Just as he said those words, the hologram sputtered before going out completely. The Doctor stood there, his arm stretched forward as if to keep the image from leaving. Slowly he put the arm back to his side. The Doctor circled the console and reached forward to pull down a lever.

The familiar sound of the TARDIS de-materializing should have been comforting to Adric. He felt his feet jerk beneath him as they travelled through the Time Vortex. But he didn't pay attention to any of these things. He kept his eyes solely on the Doctor. The Doctor who braced himself harshly on the console, who stared ahead with a tired face and eyes close to shedding tears.

He wanted to go to him. He wanted to walk up to the Doctor and tell him that everything was going to be all right. But he didn't move, so shocked he was at seeing him like this. This type of situation was so out of his depth that didn't know how to act. Seeing the man he looked up to so haggard. Seeing the one who always found the answer so lost.

Seeing the Doctor so broken.

It was just at that moment a burst of golden light engulfed the room. The Doctor's head shot up just as Adric turned his head to the side.

A woman in a long white dress stood there. She had, quite literally, appeared out of nowhere.

"What?" The Doctor's mouth dropped open in surprise.

'Huh?' Adric looked at the scene in shock.

The woman turned towards the Doctor and let out a squeak of surprise.

"What?" The Doctor had apparently been reduced to one word sentences.

The woman was the first to recover.

"Who are you?" she asked in a loud voice.

"But..." The Doctor tried to speak but he was ruthlessly cut off.

"Where am I?"

"What?"

"And what the hell is this place?!" the woman finished the question with a shout and glared at the Doctor heatedly.

"...What?" The Doctor finally said.

"What?" Adric couldn't help but repeat him.

(Collapses onto the ground) I am dead.

ML: (Whistles at word count) Over 5000 words... Who would have thought?

(Still on the ground) ML... Tell my family... To keep their hands off my stuff.

ML: If you're still talking, then you're not dead-chazu.

Yeah. Well I'm about to be dead to the world in a couple of seconds. I need sleep.

ML: Then go to sleep, you chronic insomniac.

But... The readers...!

ML: I'll take care of them. You've been busy all day. Now go to bed.

(Already snoring)

ML: Thank you to those who have read this story. We hope that you all enjoyed this chapter-chazu. Have a nice night.