Chapter Text
He had to admit, it was not what he was waiting for when he regenerated. Sure, it wasn’t the first time a known face had turn out, hance his twelfth self that looked just like the ancient roman man he saved lifetimes before, but repeating a face he already had was definitely a first.
Not that he didn’t like that face. The freckles were cool and that hair was nice (though not ginger). He was rater skinny, but that was fine too. What couldn’t he muster was: why that face again? Of course he remembered how much he feared regeneration last time he was that man and how badly he’d wished for more time, but that didn’t sound like reason enough.
He was so full of regret and pain when he regenerated from that face to bowtie. His tenth life had been so full of hurt and heart break that he was honestly just about to lose it when it came to an end. Now he could see that the regeneration had come in the right moment, but at the time it just felt unfair.
The Doctor looked at his reflection on the TARDIS monitor and let out a sigh. He remembered that this face was always moving around, talking all the time and feeling everything with tremendous force. He wondered if that would be the same. Maybe not, since he looked bit older now, probably just a few years, there was a chance other changes came along. Or not. Either way that would be a long and, if he knew himself, painful regeneration.
“Old new Doctor” he said taping the controllers. The lights dimmed a little, as if the TARDIS was agreeing and he laughed. “Old new TARDIS too, I can see.”
The TARDIS had redecorated, probably while he was passed out. It kind off looked like how it was on his tenth reincarnation, but definitely more bright and shiny. The corals where almost golden and the ground looked like it was made of glass. The round things on the walls were a nice add too, he loved the round things.
Just then he realized he was still wearing his previous regeneration clothes. Another laugh scaped his lips. He used to be a woman and the clothes weren’t even tight in this new body. Proper skinny.
I wasn’t hard to find a new look on the wardrobe. He didn’t want to go back to the pink striped suit but going too far from it also sounded wrong. The TARDIS seemed to know exactly what was going through his head when positioned right in front of him a TARDIS blue suit. The waistcoat was darker than the rest and the tie grey with blue stripes. If fitted him surprisingly well and the long jacket that reached his knees made it all familiar enough while still quite different. The Doctor ended up slipping some All Stars in the end. Not everything needed to change after all.
He had barely made it back to the control room when an alarm started to blaring. The Doctor quickly grabbed the monitor, eager to understand what was going on, and was faced with an incoming message labeled as “EMERGENCY”. He wasn’t quite sure who was able to put up such stunt, but whoever it was certainly caught his attention.
As soon as he opened the message, his own face appeared on the screen. That exact face he had just got back. This Doctor looked a mess, though, as if he’d been running from something. When the hell had he recorded that?!
“I know what you’re thinking and no, you never recorded this” his voice said on the screen, making less sense than ever “I’m not you. Well, not Time Lord you. I’m human you, the one you left in Pete’s world”
Well, that made more sense. But how was he sending that message? That shouldn’t be possible. And why? His heart sunk. There was only one reason he would break all the rules and make de impossible possible: Rose.
“I’m causing a massive black out to get this through, so I don’t have much time” human him said on the screen “We need your help. I can’t keep them safe anymore.”
His other-self hand went through his hair, making it even messier than it already was. The Doctor heard gun shots on the background and his hearts started to race. What the hell was going on?!
“Me and Rose, we have a daughter, her name is Suzan” the information caught the Doctor off guard, he wasn’t expecting that. He always assumed Rose would have a life with his Metacrises, that was the reason he’d left them there in Pete’s World. But hearing about it felt strange. He was almost jealous? The Doctor shook his head. It wasn’t time for that. “She is 6 and more Time Lord than we expected.”
More Time Lord? What did that mean?
“Of course it attracted unwanted attention in a universe with no Time Lords” his human-self continued, not caring to soothe his confusion “ At first it was easy to keep them at bay with Torchwood’s help, but they’ve got stronger, clever. I hid them, Suzzy and Rose. Made everyone believe the Time Lord readings were coming from me and ran. But they found me and as soon as they find out I’m not who they want, they’re gonna kill me and start looking for her.”
The Doctor tried to take a deep breath. Ok. So his human-self was about to die or probably dead, taking in consideration how much time it took to the message hit him. There were offensive beings after his and Rose’s daughter because she was “more Time Lord than expected” and he’d exhausted his resources to protect them. The Doctor started to panic. But why the message? There was nothing he could do!
“I need you to come here and take them back to your universe, it’s the only way to keep them safe” he said on the screen.
“I can’t!” he shouted back, hearts beating on his throat, fear flooding his brain. He was powerless.
“Yes, you can!” the other man shouted back as if he could hear him “We were bold to assume we had closed every single rift, but some remained open. Most are really small almost undectable, unimportant, barely big enough to send a message, like the one I’m using right know. But there is one that is big enough for you to go through. It’s unstable, I think it probably will only last for two rides. But that’s all you’ll need.”
The Doctor on the screen looked behind as an explosion shook his camera and then started to type something.
“I’m sending you the coordinates to the rift and to where they are. Get there as fast as you can. Rose will be expecting you. Just get them out of this universe” his human-self faced him once again “Don’t ever leave them, Doctor. They only will be safe with you. And please, protect Suzan with your life. Technically she’s more your daughter than mine.”
The message ended, leaving the Doctor completely overwhelmed by all the information he’d just received. He shook his head. He could overthink things later, he decided, entering the coordinates his other-self had sent him without a second thought and leaping into the unknow.