The Next Doctor- Part 1

I do not own Doctor Who and I am not making a profit off of this. I only own my OC.

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The Tardis materialises under a medieval archway, in the falling snow. The Doctor and I step out. "It's snowing." I said, smiling. I was wearing a Victorian dress, brown so I could easily blend in.

"Yes it is." The Doctor said. We looked at each other and laughed. We walked into a busy Victorian market where sellers are calling out their wares.

A policeman acknowledged the Doctor. "Good afternoon." He tipped his hat to me.

I nodded back smiling and said, "Merry Christmas!"

The policeman looked stunned that I'd actually taken the time to wish him a Merry Christmas but he shook it off and said in a ruff voice, "Thank you Miss."

"Hot chestnuts. Chestnuts!" A seller yelled.

"Oh, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy. Oh, tidings-" The Choir sang.

"So it's Christmas?" The Doctor asked me.

I smiled. "Christmas Eve actually. I've been here almost... two years." By that time my smile had vanished. I was missing home. It must be the fact that it's Christmas.

The Doctor looked like he was going to say something then somebody shouted, "Doctor! Doctor!"

"Who, me?" The Doctor asked me, distracted. I giggled, remembering how funny this part of the episode was.

"Well he did say Doctor." I retorted. We look at each other and The Doctor takes my hand and we run towards the voice.

In an alleyway we find a dark skinned young woman. "Doctor!"

"Don't worry, don't worry. Stand back. What have we got here?" The large double doors in the wall move and something snarls behind it. "Ooo. Okay, I've got it. Whatever's behind that door, I think you should get out of here."

"Doctor!" The girl yells again. I put my hand over my mouth in an attempt to stop my giggling.

"No, no. I'm standing right here. Hello."

"Doctor." I whispered. "I don't think she means you."

"Don't be stupid. Who are you?" The women asked, confused.

"I'm the Doctor." The Doctor told her.

"Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor." I said, still in a fit of giggling.

"Well, there can't be two of you." Another man runs up. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Right then. Don't worry. Stand back. What have we got here then?" The next Doctor said.

"Hold on, hold on. Who are you?" The Doctor asked.

"I'm the Doctor. Simply, the Doctor. The one, the only and the best. Rositta, give me the sonic screwdriver." Rositta hands him a regular screwdriver.

"The what?" The Doctor said. Now I was barely holding back my laughter. I had to use my hand to cover my mouth.

"Now quickly, get back to the Tardis." The Next Doctor said to Rositta.

"Back to the what?" The Doctor said, shocked.

"If you could stand back, sir. This is a job for a Time Lord."

The Doctor looked at me, perplexed. "Job for a what lord?" The doors burst open and an animal with Cyberman-style head is visible.

"Oh, that's different." The Doctor said.

"Oh, that's new." The next Doctor agreed. They both point their screwdrivers at it

"Allons-y." They both said and I burst out laughing. Both men turned and glared at me. I quieted down fast.

"I've been hunting this beast for a good fortnight. Now step back, sir." The beast leaps and lands way up the opposite wall. It has a furry body and metal hands and feet.

"Some sort of primitive conversion, like they took the brain of a cat or a dog." The Doctor said.

"Well, talking's all very well. Rositta?" The next doctor said.

"I'm ready." Rositta hands over a large coil of rope.

"Now, watch and learn" The rope is a lasso, and this Next Doctor gets it around the beast in one try. "Excellent. Now then, let's pull this timorous beastie down to earth." The beast climbs higher, pulling him up with it."

"Or not." I said.

"I might be in a little bit of trouble." The next Doctor said in embarrassment.

"Nothing changes. I've got you." But the beast is strong enough to pull the both of the Doctor's off the ground.

"You idiots!" Rositta and I yelled.

I looked at Rositta and through my hands up. "Better save them." I said sighing. Rositta sighs and we ran inside the building, hearing the Doctor's yelling.

"Perhaps if you could pull?" The next Doctor yelled.

"I am pulling. In this position, I couldn't not pull, could I?" The Doctor said. The beast leaps through a window into the top floor of the warehouse.

"Then I suggest you let go, sir." The next Doctor said.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight, Doctor. Don't you recognize me?"

"No, should I? Have we met? This is hardly the right time for me to go through my social calendar. Argh!" The Doctor and the next Doctor are now pulled through the window.

"Bloody Time Lords." I mumbled. Then I remembered that I now was one and smacked myself in the forehead.

"Whoa!" The Doctor yelled. And across the dusty floor, on their bottoms, to the opposite window. "It's going to jump!" The Doctor said

"We're goanna fall!" The next Doctor yelled. The beast leaps through the window. Rositta and I run to the rope and cut it with a big axe. The sore men get up and the Next Doctor starts laughing. Then they hug.

"Idiots." I mumbled. Rositta and I stood next to each other, our hands on our hips, glaring down at the two grown men laughing on the floor.

Back in an alleyway "Well, I'm glad you think it's so funny. You're mad. Both of you. You could've got killed." Rositta scolded.

"But evidently we did not. Oh, I should introduce Rositta. My faithful companion. Always telling me off."

"Well, they do, don't they? Rositta. Good name. Hello, Rositta." The Doctor said. "And this is my companion, Susan Jane Anderson."

"Huh. Now I'll have to go and dismantle the traps. All that for nothing. And we've only got twenty minutes till the funeral, don't forget. Then back to the Tardis, right?" Rositta huffed and walked away.

"Funeral?" The Doctor asked.

"Oh, long story. Not my own, not yet. Oh, I'm not as young as I was." The Next Doctor said.

"Well, not as young as you were when you were me." The Doctor said.

"Shut up." I hissed in The Doctor's ear.

"When I was who?" The next Doctor said.

"You really don't recognize me?" The Doctor said with a raised eyebrow.

The next Doctor shook his head. "Not at all."

"But you're the Doctor. The next Doctor. Or the next but one. A future Doctor anyway. No, no, don't tell me how it happened. Although, I hope I don't just trip over a brick. That'd be embarrassing. Then again, painless. Worse ways to go. Depends on the brick." The Doctor said. I grabbed the Doctors hands and squeezed it.

"You're gabbling, sir. Now might I ask, who are you, exactly?" The next Doctor asked.

"No, I'm, er, I'm just. Smith. John Smith. But I've heard all about you, Doctor. Bit of a legend, if I say so myself." I smacked his arm lightly and The Doctor just glared at me.

"Modesty forbids me to agree with you, sir. But yes. Yes, I am." The next Doctor said, smiling.

"A legend with certain memories missing. Am I right?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

The next Doctor looked at me in confusion. "How do you know that?"

"You've forgotten me." The Doctor said. "And her." The Doctor nodded his head in my direction.

"Great swathes of my life have been stolen away. When I turn my mind to the past, there's nothing." The next Doctor told us.

"Going how far back?"

"Since the Cybermen." The Doctor looked at me, startled. " Masters of that hellish wall-scuttler and old enemies of mine, now at work in London town. You won't believe this, Mister Smith, but they are creatures from another world."

"Really." The Doctor asked.

"Wow." I said.

"It's said they fell onto London, out of the sky in a blaze of light. And they found me. Something was taken. And something was lost. What was I like, in the past?"

"I don't think I should say. Sorry. Got to be careful with memory loss. One wrong word-" I started, steeling the Doctor's lines.

"It's strange, though. I talk of Cybermen from the stars and you don't blink, Mister Smith, Miss. Anderson." The next Doctor said.

"Don't blink. Remember that? Whatever you do, don't blink? The blinking and the statues? Sally and the angels? No?" The Doctor asked,

"You're a very odd man." The next Doctor said.

"Hmm, I still am. Something's wrong here." The Doctor said.

The next Doctor's eyes widened. "Oh, the funeral! The funeral's at two o'clock. It's been a pleasure, Mister Smith, Miss. Anderson. Don't breathe a word of it."

"Oh, but can't I come with you?" The Doctor asked.

"It's far dangerous. Rest assured, I shall keep this city safe. Oh, and, er merry Christmas, Mister Smith, Miss. Anderson."

"Merry Christmas, Doctor." The Doctor said. I curtsied and the next Doctor walked away.

"Should we follow?" I asked with my eyebrow raised.

"Yes." The Doctor said, starting to get over his shock. "Yes we should." The Doctor and I start ot follow from a short distance away.

The Doctor and I sneak around, following The next Doctor. The on street is a well attended cortege, with quite a solemn crowd following the four black horses pulling the hearse. We were near enough to hear The next Doctor's words.

"The late Reverend Fairchild, leaving his place of residence for the last time. God rest his soul. Now, with the house empty, I shall effect an entrance at the rear while you go back to the Tardis. This is hardly work for a woman."

"Oh, don't mind me saving your life. That's work for a woman, isn't it?" Rositta argued.

"The Doctor's companion does what The Doctor says. Off you go." The Doctor and I watch as Rositta leave. We sneaked in through the front door and walked through the house till we got to the back door.

The Doctor pulled open the back door and said, "Hello."

"How did you two get in?"

"Oh, front door. He's good at doors. Er, do you mind my asking, is that your sonic screwdriver?" I asked, for the benefit of The Doctor.

"Yes. I'd be lost without it." The next Doctor said, proudly.

"But that's a screwdriver. How's it sonic?"

"Well, er, it makes a noise. That's sonic, isn't it? Now, since we're acting like common burglars, I suggest we get out of plain view." The next Doctor said, coming in. I closed the door.

"I must protest, Miss. Anderson. This is hardly the work of a lady." The next Doctor said.

I pointed a finger at The Doctor. "If you make me go back to the… house, I will go back to my job at Cardiff."

"She stays." The Doctor said, glaring at me. Then he changed the subject. "This investigation of yours, what's it about?"

"It started with a murder." The next Doctor began.

"Oh, good. I mean bad, but who's?" The Doctor said. I smacked him lightly on the arm when he said good.

"Mr Jackson Lake, a teacher of mathematics from Sussex. He came to London three weeks ago and died a terrible death."

"Cybermen?" I asked, looking around the room.

"It's hard to say. His body was never found. But then it started. More secret murders, then abductions. Children, stolen away in silence." The next Doctor said.

"So whose house is this?" The Doctor asked.

The next Doctor tuned from the desk and faced The Doctor. "The latest murder. The Reverend Aubrey Fairchild, found with burns to his forehead, like some advanced form of electrocution."

"But who was he? Was he important?" I asked.

"You both ask a lot of questions."

"I'm your companion." The Doctor said.

"And I'm his." I said. "But if you don't want the help." I said, backing away.

"No no. Stay." The next Doctor said. I stopped backing up and The next Doctor continued. "The Reverend was the pillar of the community, a member of many parish boards. A keen advocate of children's charities."

"Children again. But why would the Cybermen want him dead? And what's his connection to the first death, this Jackson Lake?" The Doctor thought out loud.

The next Doctor looked at us funny."It's funny. I seem to be telling you two everything, as though you engendered some sort of trust. You seem familiar, Mister Smith. I know your face. But how?"

"I wonder. I can't help noticing you're wearing a fob watch." The Doctor said, walking slowly over to him.

"Is that important?" The next Doctor asked.

"Legend has it that the memories of a Time Lord can be contained within a watch. Do you mind?" The Next Doctor hands him the watch.

"It's said that if it's opened" The Doctor said. He opens it and the works fall out. " Oh. Maybe not." I laughed.

"It was more for decoration." The next Doctor said.

"Yeah. Anyway, alien infiltration." I said.

"Yes. Just look for anything different. Possibly metal. Anything that doesn't seem to belong. Perhaps a mechanical device that could fit no earthly engine." The Doctor surreptitiously scans with his sonic screwdriver.

"It could even seem to be organic, but unlike any organism of the natural world. Shush!" The next Doctor stopped what he was doing and looked at The Doctor. " What's that noise?"

"Oh, it's just me, whistling." The Doctor does a perfect imitation of the sound that the sonic makes. " I wonder what's in here, though." He opens the writing desk.

"Ah. Different and metal, you were right." I said. I take out one of the cylinders. And The Doctor takes out the other.

"They are infostamps. I mean, at a guess. If I were you, I'd say they worked something like this." He presses one end and images are projected from the other.

"See? Compressed information. Tons of it. That is the history of London, 1066 to the present day. This is like a disc, a Cyberdisc. But why would the Cybermen need something so simple? They've got to be wireless. Unless, they're in the wrong century. They haven't got much power. They need plain old basic infostamps to update themselves."

I looked at The next Doctor and asked, " Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." The next Doctor said.

"No, what is it? What's wrong?" I asked him.

"I've seen one of these before. I was holding this device the night I lost my mind. The night I regenerated. The Cybermen, they made me change. My mind, my face, my whole self. And you were there, Mister Smith. Who are you?"

"A friend. I swear." The Doctor said.

"Then I beg you, John. Help me." The next Doctor said, close to tears. I slowly walked over and hugged the next Doctor.

"Ah. Two words I never refuse. But it's not a conversation for a dead man's house. It'll make more sense if we go back to the Tardis. Your Tardis. Hold on. I just need to do a little final check. Won't take a tick. There's one more thing I cannot figure. If this room's got infostamps, then maybe, just maybe, it's got something that needs infostamping." The Doctor opens a door. There is a Cyberman behind it. "Okay." He closes it again. "I think we should run."

The Cyberman smashes the door down. "Run, Doctor! Now, Doctor!" I yelled.

"Delete. The Doctor will be deleted." The first cybermen said.

"Delete." The second one said.

"Stairs! Can't lead them outside!" The Doctor yelled. The Doctor grabs something only to discover it is an umbrella. He takes a sword from the wall instead. I ran up the stairs and stood next to The next Doctor.

"Delete." The Cybermen said.

"I'm a dab hand with a cutlass. You don't want to come near me when I've got one of these. This is your last warning. No? Olay, this is really your last warning! Okay, I give up." The Doctor said.

"Delete."

"Listen to me properly. Whatever you're doing stuck in 1851, I can help! I mean it. I'm the only person in the world who can help you! Listen to me!" The Doctor yelled.

"Delete."

"I'm the Doctor. You need me. Check your memory banks. My name's the Doctor. Leave this man alone. The Doctor is me!" The Doctor gets a foot onto the leading Cyberman's chest and pushes them back downstairs.

"Delete."

"The Doctor, remember? I'm the Doctor! You need me alive. You need the Doctor, and that's me!" The Next Doctor is on the landing next to me, studying the second infostamp. The Cybermen knock the Doctor down.

"Doctor!" I yelled, meaning my Doctor.

"Delete."

The Next Doctor activates the infostamp and aims the beam at the Cybermen. They fall to their knees then their heads explode.

"Infostamp with a Cyclo-Steinham core. You ripped open the core and broke the safety. Zap! Only the Doctor would think of that." The Doctor said.

"I did that last time." The next Doctor said, staring at the device.

"Come here. You'll be okay. Let me just check." The Doctor said.

"You told them you were the Doctor. Why did you do that?"

"Oh, I was just protecting you."

"You're trying to take away the only thing I've got, like they did. They stole something, something so precious, but I can't remember. What happened to me? What did they do?"

"We'll find out. You and me together." The Doctor said and I coughed. "And Susan." He added quickly.

Back in the alleyway Rositta has her hands on her hips. " Doctor! I thought you were dead!" Then she hugs her Doctor.

"Now then, Rosita. A little decorum." The next Doctor says.

"You've been gone for so long. He's always doing this, leaving me behind. Going frantic." Rositta said.

"What about the Tardis?" The Doctor asked.

"Oh, she's ready. Come on." Rositta said proudly.

"I'm looking forward to this." The Doctor said.

We walked into what was a stable. There was no horses. The stalls have been converted into The next Doctor's living space.

"You were right though, Rositta. The Reverend Fairchild's death was the work of the Cybermen." The next Doctor said.

"So, you live here?" I asked.

"A temporary base, until we rout the enemy. The Tardis is magnificent, but it's hardly a home."

"And where's the Tardis now?"

"In the yard." The next Doctor answered.

"Er, what's all this luggage?" I asked,

"Evidence. The property of Jackson Lake, the first man to be murdered. Oh, but my new friend is a fighter, Rositta, much like myself. He faced the Cybermen with a cutlass. I'm not ashamed to say, he was braver than I. He was quite brilliant." The Doctor scans the luggage. "Are you whistling again?"

"Yes. Yes, I am, yeah. Yeah."The Doctor mouths shush to Rosita as he puts the sonic screwdriver back in his pocket and takes a suitcase off the pile.

"That's another man's property." Rosita said, horrified that someone would do that.

"Well, a dead man's." He opens the suitcase.

"How did you two meet, then?" I asked.

"He saved my life. Late one night, by the Osterman's Wharf, this creature came out of the shadows. A man made of metal. I thought I was going to die. And then, there he was. The Doctor. Can you help him, sir? He has such terrible dreams. Wakes at night in such a state of terror."

"Come now, Rositta. With all the things a Time Lord has seen, everything he's lost, he may surely have bad dreams." The next Doctor said.

"Yeah. Oh, now. Look. Jackson Lake had an infostamp." The Doctor said, picking it up out of the suitcase.

"But how? Is that significant?" The next Doctor asked.

"Doctor, the answer to all this is in your Tardis. Can I see it?" The Doctor said.

"Mister Smith, it would be my honor." The next Doctor said.

A/N: It's spring break which means earlier updates!

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