One Day, I Shall Come Back

by JSmith25

The Doctor left his granddaughter on 22nd Century Earth after defeating a dalek invasion. The time has come for him to honour his promise and return.

2. Memories

Chapter 1 - Memories

It was a quiet day in New London. The year was 2191, approximately twenty years after the defeat of the daleks. Most of central London had now been rebuilt, but with many more nature strips. It was a smaller London, due to the decreased population. The Thames was now full of river traffic, and New London's residents were now used to the chimes of Big Ben as they went about their daily lives.

Parts of New London still had to be rebuilt, and one such place was under a bridge, opposite Battersea Power station, now restored to its original, pre-invasion state. Here, a pile of girders lay coated in dust, undisturbed for twenty years. A stray cat was passing these girders when a strong gust of wind blew leaves into the cat's face. It raised its paw to bat the leaves away but was distracted by a strange wheezing groaning sound coming from the space to the right of the girders. The cat watched, amazed as a blue police telephone box materialised into existence. This was too much for the cat, and it ran away as fast as its four paws could carry it. If it had stayed, it would have seen a young man step of the box. He had jet black hair that hung over his angular face, and was dressed like an Oxford professor, complete with a bow tie. It was the Doctor.

The Doctor surveyed his surroundings with interest. "Well, you got me here this time, old girl," he said, giving the TARDIS an affectionate pat. "No side-tracking to a magical school this time!"

He looked more closely at his immediate environment. "Nothing seems to have changed," The Doctor noted. "I don't think those girders have moved since David and his friends cut them to allow access to the TARDIS!" Smiling at the memory, he pointed out more places of interest from an adventure long ago. "That's where the dalek came out of the Thames. And I think that the TARDIS has materialised in the same place!" he said excitedly.

He started walking, going nowhere in particular, just hoping to find Susan, David or perhaps one of their children, but soon spotted something on the ground. He picked it up. I appeared to be a small pendant, covered with mud, but after dipping it in the nearby Thames he saw that it was actually much, much more.

"Susan's TARDIS key!" the Doctor exclaimed as more memories flooded back to him. "I think it's time she got it back."