Disclaimer: Never have, and never will own Doctor Who. It is property of BBC.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, Favorite-ed, and subscribed to this story :D! Sorry this took so long, I was fighting a major writers block =.= .


Chapter 1: Reality

The Doctor rose to consciousness slowly, his mind filling with memories of a previous body, and a previous companion.

He opened his eyes and shoved the memories aside, at least until his next quiet moment.

The life of that particular body, and the memory of that particular companion left him nothing but heartache, regret, and guilt.

His eyes focused on a redwood ceiling… He blinked 'Redwood ceiling? Since when does the TARDIS have redwood ceilings?'

The Doctor sat up and took in the room surrounding him.

The walls were a light brown, speckled with gold. The furniture was Spartan, and consisted only of a dark cedar desk and dresser. The carpet was a dark, warm gold, and... he appeared to be sitting on a very soft bed with a fluffy, dark brown duvet.

'This was definitely not on the TARDIS.'

The usual list of questions when waking up in a place he had no memory of falling asleep in, floated through his head.

'Where was he? When was he? Why was he here? Are their any megalomaniacs near by? Had he said or done anything to royally tick someone off yet? And do they have any banana's?

'Well, only one way to find out.' The Doctor thought as he thrust the covers off, and leaped out of the bed. And nearly fell flat on his face, as the room spun and black spots entered his vision.

He leaned heavily on the foot of the bed for a moment while he recovered. 'His hearts weren't pumping blood through his system properly!' he realized with a shock.

The Doctor closed his eyes and concentrated on his hearts. 'They were recovering from something… But what? What happened to him?'

He felt as if the answer were dangling in front of him, just out of his reach… 'Worry about that later. Whatever happened, it wasn't good. He needed to get out of here.'

He could tell if he put to much strain on his hearts in their current state, he would likely pass out.

'Okay, no problem. He just needed to get out of this building, avoid the natives, and find the TARDIS on an unfamiliar landscape when he had no clue were it was parked. All while keeping his hearts rate down, easy, right?'

The Doctor sighed, and made his way out of the room, glad their was no one to answer that question.

The Doctor entered the hall outside the bedroom. It was decorated in warm colored wall paper and hangings.

He continued down the hall until he reached a grand stairwell, leading to a scarily familiar ballroom.

The Doctor made his way down the staircase into the ballroom. His mind flooding with memories of Cybermen, an idiot, and a young blond woman in a servers outfit. He knew it couldn't possibly the same place, but its likeness was shocking…

He was lost in memories of that day, when movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention.

He turned, and reeled in shock when he saw the face staring back at him.

The Doctor was facing a mirror on the ballroom wall, it was reflecting his face, but it was the wrong one.

'No, that wasn't possible, this has to be a trick, an illusion! Some one trying to mess with his head.'

He reached up and ran his hands over his face, the reflection did the same.

'Bad skin and sideburns.'

He ran a hand through his hair, the reflection still copied his movements.

'Big hair.'

And, just to be sure, he shifted his shoulder blades around.

'Mole.'

'Not a trick then.' He thought dazedly. He started to feel lightheaded.

'Ok, I've just regressed to my tenth body, no big deal, nothing worth passing out for, calm down!'

"Doctor?"

The Doctor spun around, fists raised. Only to freeze in shock when he found a familiar young, blond human smiling nervously back at him.

A flash of memories shot through him.

The planet Shora, an invasion of Krarth, a worried young Shinthka.

Him dying alone on the TARDIS.

A hallucination, and darkness… death.

'But he wasn't dead, and the hallucination… wasn't a hallucination… it was real. She was really there… She is really here, staring at him, within reach.

"Hi." She said quietly.

A quite "Hello." was all he got out before collapsing to the floor.


Another short chapter... I really tried to make it longer, but it just wouldn't co-operate! Anyway, reviews and constructive criticism are always loved and appreciated :D!