Chapter 8: I Don't Wanna Go
The TARDIS reappeared in the nook out in front of the Tylers' apartment. All four of them exited the TARDIS and Kate was speechless.
"It's been a long time since I've done that." Kate said.
"Don't worry, I'll regrow my own." The Meta said to Twelve.
Twelve nodded, then looked at Rose. Even with the Meta here, Rose was doing her best not to cry.
"I'm losing you all over again." Rose said through the lump in her throat.
"Oh, don't worry Rose Tyler." The Twelfth Doctor said as he pulled her into a hug, "I'm never too far gone. Besides, you've got a Doctor of your own to fuss about again."
Rose chuckled through the tears, then looked at Twelve and kissed his cheek.
"I don't want you to go." Rose cried.
"I have to, otherwise I'm stuck here." Twelve said, "And I'm fairly certain that no universe could handle more than one Doctor for an extended timeline."
Rose nodded her understanding, but her frown didn't dissipate.
"I know it's not much," Twelve started, "But keep the sonic. It'll come in handy."
Rose smiled a little at the new gift as the Meta used his own sonic to scan the area.
"You better get going," The Meta said with sadness, "The breach is getting smaller."
"You be more careful this time around." Twelve said with a smirk as he pointed at the Meta, "You're not able to regenerate anymore."
The Twelfth Doctor then shook hands with Kate, hugged the Meta and Rose goodbye, then stepped into the TARDIS shutting the door behind him. He stepped to the main console and leaned against it.
"Alright, ol' girl." The Doctor said with a bit of a smirk, "Take me home, and take me where I need to go."
Without any assistance, the main throttle threw itself forward as several lights and displays began to flash in symphony sending the TARDIS back through the dimensional breach - and unbeknownst to the Doctor - through another, very different dimensional breach.
A few seconds later, the familiar tremor and soft thud of the TARDIS landing were felt and heard. The Doctor had shed his red-lined jacket for his royal-red velvet one. With the jacket straightened, both the sonic specs and the still relatively new TARDIS-esque screwdriver tucked into the breast pockets of the jacket, the Doctor stepped through the doors hoping for his Earth. What greeted him was something entirely new, but only a bit different.
Grungy, dark streets - a substantial shadow even for the middle of the day - and decaying but surviving buildings stretched out to form a city. People walked by dressed in semi-modern clothes, drove by in cars from the 1980s and '90s, and went about their day as if a Police Box suddenly appearing in an alley and depositing a man in a velvet jacket wasn't even remotely the craziest thing they had seen.
As the Doctor closed and locked the TARDIS, he looked down the street and saw a familiar but startling sight - a tall man with brown hair swept upward wearing a trench coat and a pinstripe suit walking down the street towards him.
"Where the hell have you brought me?" The Twelfth Doctor asked as he looked at the TARDIS and then up to the sky.
On the other side of the city, as the Doctor looked to the TARDIS for answers, Detectives James Gordon and Harvey Bullock strapped on their badges and their guns as a lead in their case not only turned up successful, but was now running a truck through several buildings of Gotham City.
END STORY
To continue, head to the sequel story: Timelords, Detectives and Serial Killers - What Could Go Wrong?