Chapter 3

A Brand New Sister

The light faded and a completely different woman tumbled forward only to pass out in the Doctor's arms. A whispered name passed her lips.

"Doctor…."

The woman had should blade length, fiery red, wavy hair. Her skin was paler, and there was only one freckle that touched her face, on the right corner of her mouth. Her eyes had only looked golden before she closed them as she entered a state of unconsciousness, but they all got the feeling, her eyes had change colors. Her figure was slightly more curvy than before, and she looked a little older, but still rather young, like she was in her late twenty's compared to maybe the twenty-one she looked before. Rory's nurse instincts kicked in and he ran over to her, trying to make she was alright.

"Is she okay?!" He worriedly asked the Doctor.

"She'll be fine. A good cup of tea would be a good idea though. Super heated infusion of free radicals and tannin, just the thing for healing the synapses." The Doctor nodded.

"Right" Rory said, obviously the things the Doctor had just said meaning nothing to him, he turned to the Professor. "Can you make a cup of tea?" the Professor nodded, and ran out of the room. Clara finally got over her shock.

"Doctor, what the hell just happened? How did she turn into a different person?!"

"Oh, that's right, you don't know…" The Doctor said just giving her a blank look, like he had expected her to just know. River decided her husband wasn't going to answer the clueless girls question, and picked up the slack.

"She regenerated, it's Timelord biology. When the are dying, their bodies trick death. Their bodies die, but they basically grow another one. They keep their memories though. They don't forget their past lives."

"So, you're telling me they die, and came back to life?" Clara's expression showed that she halfway believed it, but her brain just wanted to tell her it was ridiculous.

"Basically, yes." River again answered not even blinking. Clara just gaped at her.

"Has the Doctor regenerated? I mean surely he hasn't- has he?"

"I've regenerated twelve times now." The Doctor whispered, still looking at his sister.

"What?! But How-?"

"Different ways. It doesn't mean anything though, I'm still the same man. Different face, different opinions on some things, but I'm still the same man. I've always followed my current principles. Just ask Sarah Jane, she's known several of my regenerations. She knows, I'm the same man I was then, just- slightly different."

"…Okay." She said, finally excepting the truth, but the shocked expression did not leave her face.

A moment of silence passed before the Professor came back into the room carrying a cup of steaming tea. Quickly he handed it to the Doctor. The Doctor nodded thanks before turning back to the girl in his arms he had lowered to the ground.

With one hand he waved the drink under her nose and with the other he supported her head. After a few seconds her head turned towards the tea, her eyes still closed, and she took a deep breathe. Slowly her eyes fluttered open. Now they could clearly see, her eyes had indeed changed colors. Now they were a brilliant crystal blue, with hints of bright green near her pupils. Her eyes frantically danced around trying to figure out what was going on.

"Where-? Where am I? I don't remem-" She paused, her eyes finding the Doctor's. " Oh, did I-?" She looked down at her hands flipping them so she could see her palms and the backs of her hands, taking in every detail, as she sat up, out of the Doctor's grip.. She grabbed at her hair, trying to figure out what she looked like now.

"My fingers, are longer, and, am I ginger?! I've always wanted to be ginger! Oooh! And my hair's longer! Curlier!"

"Why does my sister get to be ginger and I don't? I always wanted to be ginger!" the Doctor pouted and River giggled, thinking he was adorable when he pouted like that.

If the full female Timelord heard the Doctor's muttering, she didn't act like it. Her hands ran down her figure, tracing it, as she stood. " This body has some curves now doesn't it? Oh that is nice! Wonder if I was trying to show off?" She laughed at that. "Oh well! I like this body!" Her voice was different too, light and sing-songy now, whereas it had been richer before. Like the difference between that girl in that band, 'Florence and the Machine' vs. Regina Spektor's voices, Amy thought. (A/N: Look them up if you haven't heard them, they're good! Love 'em!)

Finally she seemed to notice the others in the room.

"Aahhh, you'll want answers for everything I said earlier won't you?" She asked warily. She seemed to take their silence as a yes and sighed.

"Great, just leave it to me to let out too many secrets when I die. Well, where should I even begin?" Then she scrutinized every face in the room, her brow furrowed. "No, wait, it's too early to tell you everything…. You have to lack the knowledge a little while longer. I'm sorry, but it's not the right time right now. You can ask one question, but depending on what it is I might or might not be able to answer properly." Everyone in the room was sent reeling for a question to ask when finally Amy asked one.

"What's your name?" She blinked realizing her in mistake, Timelords don't just give you their name. "I mean, what do I call you?" The Timelord in question blinked at her, and then burst out laughing.

"Oi! Why are you laughing?! It wasn't a horrible question!"

"No! It's a fantastic question!" The woman said, stifling her laughter. "It's just, you could've asked me anything, and all you ask is what my name is! This is why I love humans! They think of some of the most out of the box stuff. It really is a brilliant question though. I can't tell you anything I shouldn't while answering it! But it gives me the potential to answer many more questions, and you'd also know who I am! Well in a sense anyway." Finally the woman got her laughter in order and actually thought about the question and answered it.

"Call me… I suppose Adept works? Yes, I rather like that. Call me Adept."

"Adept…" The Doctor whispered, like he was trying out the word. "Adept… I suits you… somehow." He said louder, making sure she heard his words. Adept gave him a soft smile and her eyes sparkled, happy that her brother approved of her new name.

"Glad you approve. Though I must say after all the stories I've heard about you, I kind'a pictured you differently" She said a glint a mischief surfacing in her eyes, a smirk tugging at her lips.

"Oi! There's nothing wrong with this face!"

"Nope!" She said laughing at her brother.

Then Clara realized something, this woman they had just met, and had just met them, was letting them read her emotions as easily as a person breathes. It seemed very clear to Clara too, that if this woman didn't want them to know, she could very easily hide her feelings. She was just that type of person. And yet she didn't hide anything from them, well aside from what she couldn't tell them. She had put a great deal of trust into people she'd just met, to just let them read her like this.

"Why are you trusting us like this?" She asked, and everyone turned to her with a puzzled expression trying to figure out what she meant by that. "I mean, you're just laying out your emotions before us, when it seems to me, you could easily hide them. You just met us and you're letting us read your emotions like a open book. Why?"

Adept just laughed again. "Oh, it's rather simple. Whereas I might not have met my brother before, I know him very well. And I know, anyone who he travels with has to be a certain type of person. A very trustworthy one. I know I can trust everyone in this room. Even the Professor, who I can't be as sure about, I know his story well enough, I known I can trust him well enough too. Do you find that strange?"

"Well, yeah. It's not normal for someone who just met you to let you actually see them as they really are. Normally the first thing you see of a person is their shield. Protecting their real thoughts and emotions, it's just how people work. Even children can see that, though a lot of the time when they're younger, they haven't made that wall yet."

"I suppose you are right, but where's the fun in that?" Adept said with a laugh. Suddenly the ship shook violently, throwing them around the room. Finally it stopped and everyone slowly crawled to their feet.

"What the hell just happened?" The fiery red head with a Scottish accent said through gritted teeth.

"Not sure. Is everyone alright?" The Doctor called out, already on his feet. A mild consensus answered him and he nodded.

"Then let's go figure out what that was!" Adept said excitedly, also on her feet. After her statement she grabbed her brother's wrist and dragged him out the door, not even waiting for the others, but trusting that they'd follow. And with a few groans, they did.

Haha! Cliffhanger! Try to figure out what happens next! XD

Thank you for reading!