The new Doctor dashes to the console and flicks a few switches, checking the monitor.
"6 PM... Tuesday..." the doctor says.
Rose watches, half concealed by a pillar. While Nova stands at the console with a rather large grin on her face. The Doctor turns a knob.
"October... 5006... On the way to Barcelona!"
Nova smirks "yessss I've always wanted to go there and see the dogs with no noses" She crosses her arms over her chest looking at her dad "You promised when I was a little girl that you would take us but that never got to happen... I know that's not your fault but still, at least I finally get to go" she breaths out and mutters to herself "would be better if Noah was here as well but at least I have, dad now" then in her head she's thinking 'damn how is this the first time I've thought about him since I remembered who I was?'
But her comment goes unnoticed as the Doctor straightens up and faces Rose, grinning as if extremely pleased with himself.
"Now then... what do I look like?" Nova goes to say something, but he gives them no chance to reply before holding up a hand to silence them. "No, no no, no no no no no-no-no. No. Don't tell me."
Rose looks completely bemused while Nova is trying not to laugh. "Let's see... two legs, two arms, two hands..."
He tests his wrist, circling it "Slight weakness in the dorsal tubercle."
Hands fly to his head "Hair! I'm not bald!" Rose now looks shocked. The Doctor runs his hands through his hair gleefully. "Oh, Oh! Big hair!" Feels his sideburns, and looks, and sounds delighted "Sideburns, I've got sideburns! Or really bad skin. A little bit thinner..." He slaps his stomach. "That's weird. Give me time, I'll get used to it." With the air of someone making a most wonderful discovery "I... have got... a mole. I can feel it." By now Nova is struggling to keep a straight face with how excited her dad is about this but Rose, on the other hand, is breathing heavily. She looks scared. The Doctor seems not to notice. But Nova does "Between my shoulder blades, there's a mole."
Nova rolls her eyes "Dad, you're scaring her."
But the Doctor pays his daughter no mind right now still too hyped up from the regeneration he rotates his shoulders. Nova rolls her eyes again as the Doctor continues "That's all right. Love the mole."
He grins at Rose. "Go on then, tell me." He stands straight up before Rose, ready for assessment. His hair is all ruffled. "What do you think?"
Rose looks at him timidly and says in a quiet voice "Who are you?"
Nova shakes her head she should have known this wasn't going to go over very well. The Doctor looks at her slightly surprised "I'm the Doctor."
Rose shakes her head, not believing him "No... Where is he? Where's the Doctor?" She raises her voice "What have you done to him?"
"You saw me, I, I changed..." Indicates over his shoulder, the spot where he regenerated ... "right in front of you."
Nova rolls her eyes which she seems to be doing a lot lately "See this is why you should have explained the process to her before it happened" He looks at his daughter "I don't think you're helping the situation Novs."
She snorts with a shrug "Probably not but I am telling the truth."
Rose narrows her eyes at Nova slightly before looking back at the new Doctor "I saw him sort of explode, and then you replaced him, like a... a teleport or a transmat or a body swap or something."
The Doctor does not interject. He seems lost for words. Rose takes a few steps towards him. At arm's length, she pushes him in the chest. "You're not fooling me." The Doctor rocks back on his heels as though he cannot believe what he is hearing. "I've seen all sorts of things. Nano genes... Gelth." she looks darkly at him "Slitheen..." The Doctor and Nova both raise their eyebrows at that. "Oh, my God, are you a Slitheen?"
"I'm not a Slitheen." He tells her calmly.
Rose's voice raises to a shout "Send him back. I'm warning you; send the Doctor back right now!"
Nova lays a comforting hand on her shoulder, but Rose shrugs it off. The Doctor looks at her pleadingly "Rose, it's me." He leans forward in his urgency to make her believe him.
"Seriously Rose that is the Doctor... my father" Nova tries to convince her but to no avail. Nova rolls her eyes and steps back to let her dad try and get through to the girl while Nova leans against one of the columns.
"Honestly, it's me." Rose stares at him, her chest rising and falling very fast. As the Doctor tries again to convince her that it is him "I was dying. To save my own life I changed my body. Every single cell, but... it's still me."
"You can't be," Rose whispers, she had come to see the Time Lord as a best friend over the course of their adventures.
The Doctor takes a few steps closer to her, looking straight down into her eyes. "Then how could I remember this? The very first word I ever said to you. Trapped in that cellar. Surrounded by shop window dummies... oh..."
He looks away for a moment, reminiscing. Then he looks back into her eyes. "such a long time ago. I took yours and Nova's hands..." To emphasize this point, he takes her hand... just like he did when Rose first asked who he was. Rose glances briefly down at their joint hands and then back up at his face. "I said one word... just one word, I said... "Run".
He gazes at her. Rose looks into his eyes, her own full of tears. Finally believing it's him she whispers "Doctor."
Nova smiles at the cute little moment between the two of them. Knowing that things were going to be a little different until Rose got used to the new Doctor.
The Doctor grins. "Hello."
Rose sighs in an almost exasperated fashion and stumbles backward as the impact of what has just happened hits her. The Doctor takes off around the other side of the console.
Rose looks over at Nova who has a grin on her face as well watching her father run around the console flipping switches "And we never stopped, did we? All across the universe. Running, running, running..." Flicks a few switches on the console.
"One time we had to hop. Do you remember? Hopping for our lives." He hops madly up and down on the spot. Rose has her back against the pillar and is just watching him. Nova is still watching with a grin looking happier than Rose had seen her in a long time.
The Doctor looks at them "Yeah? All that hopping? Remember hopping for your life? Yeah?! Hop? With the..." Nova nods as the wild enthusiasm ebbs from his voice at Rose's lack of reaction. His hopping subsides.
"No?"
"Can you change back?" Rose asks.
The Doctor looks at her "Do you want me to?" She nods "Yeah."
Nova shakes her head at her friend's denial as the Doctor looks disappointed "Oh." "Can you?" Rose asks him again "No." He seems rather disappointed. He glances briefly down at the floor. Before looking back at Rose "Do you want to leave?"
Rose looks shocked "Do you want me to leave?" "No!" The Doctor tells her quickly there is a pause before he continues "But... your choice... if you want to go home..."
Rose still looks upset. He goes to the console again.
"Cancel Barcelona. Change to... London... the Powell Estate... ah... let's say the 24th of December."
He looks at her. "Consider it a Christmas present." Rose is edging slowly closer to the console.
Nova pouts "So no Barcelona? No noseless dogs?" He gives her a look and shakes his head. "Not this time Novs but I promise again I will take you there one day" She smiles at him with a nod "Okay."
The Doctor turns back to Rose "There" He steps back, his arms tucked under his armpits in an almost defensive manner. Rose looks at him, then back at the console. The TARDIS shudders as it changes direction.
"I'm going home?"
"Up to you. Back to your mum... it's all waiting. Fish and chips, sausage and mash, beans on toast... No, Christmas! Turkey! Although... having met your mother... nut loaf would be more appropriate."
Nova snorts out a laugh and Rose looks down quickly, to hide a smile.
The doctor looks at Rose as Nova smirks "Was that a smile?"
"No." Rose says quickly but the Doctor gives her a knowing look "That was a smile..."
Nova smirks "That was so a smile, Rosie!"
"No, it wasn't." Rose protests. Nova smiles as the Doctor looks at Rose teasingly "You smiled..."
"No, I didn't," Rose says being stubborn. "Oh, come on, all I did was change, I didn't..." He suddenly gags as the TARDIS shudders.
Nova's eyes widen "Uh oh."
Rose looks between the two questioningly "What?"
"I said I didn't..." The same thing happens again, more violently. He makes nasty retching noises.
The Doctor looks at them "Uh oh."
Rose edges cautiously around the console. While Nova rushes to her dad's side "Er... are you all, right?" Rose asks still looking at him questioningly.
A piece of golden time vortex issues from the Doctor's mouth. "What's that?" "Oh... the change is going a bit wrong and all." He tells her very nonchalantly.
Nova shrugs "It happens sometimes" He gags again. He falls to his knees, his face contorted.
Rose looks at him "Look... maybe we should go back. Let's go and find Captain Jack, he'd know what to do."
"Gah, he's busy! He's got plenty to do rebuilding the Earth!" The Doctor tells her impatiently. A lever on the console suddenly catches his eye. "I haven't used this one in years."
He flicks it. The TARDIS shudders violently and they are nearly knocked off their feet.
Nova rolls her eyes as Rose exclaims "What're you doing?!" In a questioning way.
"Putting on a bit of speed! That's it!" He tells them crazily. He turns more knobs while Rose tries to maintain a more secure grip on the console.
"My beautiful ship! Come on, faster! That's a girl!" Rose looks distinctly alarmed. The Doctor looks and sounds violent, crazed.
Nova pinches the bridge of her nose looking at Rose "Sometimes the process can mess with your head and make you do things you can't control."
"Faster! Wanna break the time limit?!"
Rose looks at him angrily and scared "Stop it!"
"Ah, don't be so dull... let's have a bit of fun! Let's rip through that vortex!" The Doctor tells her slightly nastily and still crazed. He catches her eye for a moment. His voice calms for a moment "The regeneration's going wrong. I can't stop myself." He grimaces in pain. "Ah, my head..."
He violently springs up into a standing position again, and his voice has gone back to being crazed. "Faster! Let's open those engines!"
Rose looks at Nova "Do something!"
"I can't... He can't control himself, you just gotta let it run its course" A bell rings.
Rose is looking around, frightened "What's that?"
The Doctor's face appears next to her. He grins sounding delighted "We're gonna crash land!" He laughs maniacally.
Nova rolls her eyes not really stepping in because she understands that this process can be dodgy, and it's just got to work itself out.
Rose is shouting over the sound of the bell "Well then, do something!"
The Doctor grins his voice rising hysterically "Too late! Out of control!"
He runs around the console, giggling. "Oh, I love it! Hot dawg!" He hops in the air excitedly.
"You're gonna kill us!" Rose shouts at him angrily.
"Hold on tight, here we go!" He tells them Nova makes sure she has a good grip on the pillar she was leaning against.
Their eyes meet across the console, the Doctor grinning madly, Rose looking scared. Nova just looked annoyed.
"Christmas Eve...!" The Doctor tells them still grinning madly.
***
Here is 'Born Again' It was the webcast that introduced us to 10 so I had to add it in here. Next will be 'The Christmas Invasion.' And just so you know I already know how Nova is going to regenerate into her 3rd regeneration and it's not going to be until book 3. So, we still have a while with our sassy ginger Nova.
