Ch 2: The Time We've Lost

As the TARDIS landed, the Doctor looked at Rose as she walked around the interior.

"How many times have you redecorated since the last time I've been in here?" Rose asked as she took Moby Dick off the shelf and skimmed through it.

"Three." The Doctor answered honestly, "When I first regenerated after the tenth hour, when I went through a bit of a depression phase and when I started my second regeneration cycle."

"I wish I could've have seen them." Rose said as she set the book back on the shelf.

The Doctor thought for a moment, then turned the main monitor to the keyboard and began typing.

"Close your eyes." The Doctor said before flipping a switch as Rose closed her eyes.

There was a flash and a quick zapping sound, then it was quiet and dark for a second.

"Ok, open them." The Doctor said.

Rose opened her eyes and she was greeted with the interior she knew all too well. Brownish walls, greenish light of the center column, the couch-chair against the railing that surrounded the center console.

"This is what you were used to," The Doctor said before he started typing again, "This little desktop got me through some rather dark times. This next one though, might be a bit of a culture shock. You'll want to close your eyes again."

Rose did as she was told, this time with a bit of a smirk. The flash and zap happened again, and Rose opened her eyes a second later. The column now had a weird shape in chrome pulsing up and down, the console was a bit more active with moving parts everywhere and there were several monitors on the walls. The platform extended a bit farther from the console and the lights had a bit of an orangish quality. There was a level under the console that was covered with cords and it allowed access to work on the console and other areas of the TARDIS.

"What's with the t-shirt hanging from the archway?" Rose asked pointing at the blue t-shirt with white print on it.

"Oh, a joke from my last regeneration." The Doctor said he started typing again, "I may have mentioned to a pirate captain that 'I'm Confused' is a big club that should have t-shirts. Get ready, next desktop's coming up."

Rose was flat out smiling now as she closed her eyes. Flash, zap, open the eyes. The column and console themselves were now much like what the current Doctor had, except it was blue lights. The round things the Doctor was fond of were there along the walls, a bit smaller with blue lights, and the second level platform was there. The level under the console was no longer covered in the cords, it was changed to wardrobe and the TARDIS phone now actually ran through the phone box on the front door.

"The round things." Rose said as she smiled.

"You remembered." The Doctor said through his own smile.

"I've never forgotten a word you said to me." Rose said as she brushed her hair back.

"Nor I about what you've said." The Doctor said before beginning to type again, "We're coming back to the current desktop."

Rose closed her eyes, flash, zap, she opened her eyes again. The current interior, just like the second desktop the Eleventh used, except the lighting was orangish again, there was more furniture making it a bit more cozy and some of the lights on the ceiling looked a bit like Dalek eyestalks. That's when Rose saw the picture that even Clara hadn't seen. Just to the left of the bookcase, in a simple wooden frame, two pictures one over the other; the top was a picture from the first week Rose ever spent with the Doctor, the bottom was a picture of Rose from the last week she was with the Doctor. Rose took the frame off the wall just as the Doctor turned turned the last knob.

"Ah, now that, that is…" The Doctor started before realizing he really had no excuse for why that was there, "Look, don't get any funny ideas, since we last met a lot of birthdays happened. I'm now old enough to be your Messiah, or at least one of His disciples."

"Don't worry," Rose chuckled as she rehung the frame, "I'm not really looking anymore."

"If it's not too hard to recap, what'd I miss while I was out." The Doctor asked.

"Well, my Doctor and I actually got married." Rose started, "He grew his own TARDIS, like you told him, we saw so many incredible things. He actually grew a beard, changed his style a bit. Life was great until the wreck. He's actually buried at UNIT headquarters, along with the TARDIS piece. It condensed back to that one piece when it felt the Doctor die. They've done everything they can to revive him."

"But they haven't had me to help them." The Doctor said putting on his sunglasses.

"Are those part of the outfit?" Rose asked with a smirk.

"Sonic sunglasses." The Doctor said as he took the glasses off and put them on Rose so she could see, "I lost the sonic screwdriver, bit of bad memories. Pretty sure my next hour will bring it back though. I can show you on the monitor what it looked like."

"Was it still blue?" Rose asked as she scanned the TARDIS core with the sonics.

"Sadly no," The Doctor said as he brought up the specifications on the last screwdriver he used, "It was green, much longer than the blue one and had a claw extension. Also, the blue one broke my first day as the Eleventh."

"How'd the green one break?" Rose asked as she took off the sonics and handed them back to the Doctor who put them away in his jacket.

"Davros." The Doctor said, not bitterly, but not too kindly either.

"I see." Rose said, remembering the hell Davros had put them both through.

"Did your Doctor have a sonic?" The Doctor asked as he moved the monitor to another section of the console to scan the area around the TARDIS.

"Yes actually," Rose started as she looked at the screen over the Doctor's shoulder, "It had a blue light shaped like your last one, it didn't extend but it had a white grip with a section of blue lights as a readout and the end of it was silver."

"Sounds lovely." The Doctor said with a smile, "How are Pete and Tony Tyler?"

"They were with my Doctor on the train." Rose said as she wiped away a tear, "They survived, my dad can't walk and Tony is still in therapy to learn to live without his left arm, but they are alive."

"Must've been a good reason for such a bad wreck." The Doctor said looking in the corner.

"What's going on over here?" Rose asked changing the subject.

"I'm scanning the area around the TARDIS," the Doctor replied, "Just to make sure I got the coordinates right."

"Still iffy when it comes to flying this thing?" Rose asked with a smirk.

"Oi, I try my best," the Doctor said as he headed to the front door, "It's not like I can just push a button and there we are."

The Doctor walked out the door and was met by at least fifteen guns of different sizes and calibers.

END CHAPTER TWO