Chapter Text
"You cannot run forever, Doctor!" The Caleon armies chased him, all the way back to his Tardis where he succumbed to his wounds.
"We will find you again, Doctor. We know your face."
With the last of his strength, the Doctor launched his box into the Time Vortex, hiding from the threat.
As tears rolled down his face, his life ended without goodbyes. The friends his face had made, and the adventures he’d had, all coming to an abrupt stop. His crippled body exploded in a violent orange fire, the Tardis struggling to stay in one piece.
As her ship crashed, the Doctor stepped out. She would be stuck here, waiting for her ship to put itself back together.
She looked around, at the unknowns that lay around her. It was dark outside, presumably night. Grass and trees and flowers surrounded her, with small dirt paths and shoddy wooden planks taking her across a small ditch. After a few minutes, she reached a paved concrete plaza, with twentieth and twenty-first century human buildings around it. There were a few restaurants and pubs still open, even at this hour. She recognised two languages spoken by the people walking around: Earth English, and Earth Dutch.
She walked into one of the bars, and asked the bartender for a drink.
"Sorry, do you speak English? I'm not sure what a 'bishouway' is," he responded.
Right, speaking can be hard just after regeneration , she reminded herself. She tried again: "Could I have a breendey?"
"I'll get you a brandy, if that's what you want."
She just nodded, afraid of what her mouth was going to ask for.
"Oh, also, where am I?" she tried to ask.
"You've really had too much to drink, haven't you?" He laughed. "You're in the Westerpark. Oh, by the way, can you tell me who you are?"
"I'm—" She wanted to say she was the Doctor, but then a plan formed in her head.
The Caleon were tech-savvy and nearly all-knowing. They could find anyone if they knew the face and name of whomever they were looking for. But they didn't know her face yet... Maybe she could hide and find a way to defeat them, but only if this face was never connected to the name of The Doctor.
"Well, what's your name? Otherwise I'm just going to call someone to get you home safe," the bartender asked again.
"I eem Sophie."
"Alright then, but just let me know if you want me to call someone."
He looked at her expectantly. "What's up?"
"You need to pay... or did you forget that, too?"
"Oh, yes. Right."
She had indeed forgotten, completely. She needed to think of something, quickly. There was, of course, only one option. She held up her psychic paper. "Actually, are you sure you need me to pay?"
"O–oh. No, no, no, of course you don't have to pay, my lady. I'm sorry, I didn't recognise you."
"It's fine. Wait- hold on. ‘My lady’? I’m a woman again?"
“...Yes?”
“Huh, so that’s why my chest is so big.”
After she finished her drink, she finally had to deal with the next problem: finding a place to sleep. She had no cell phone, and no map of the area, so she just started walking, hoping to run into something. It was a fairly touristy area, after all.
Only about five minutes later, she reached something that looked like a hotel. Westervilla was written on the sign. She went inside, and asked if she could get a room for tonight.
"I'll see if I can find you anything, ma'am."
Some ten minutes later, he came back. "Our Tuesday room is available for you, but it's booked starting tomorrow. Is that alright?"
"Yeah, it's fine. How much do you need me to pay?"
"The total comes out to €192,01. Pay by cash or card?"
"Card, please. And, would you mind looking away, I'm a bit paranoid about my PIN and all that."
As the receptionist turned his back, she took her screwdriver from her coat, and hacked the terminal to show she'd paid.
"There we are. Can I go upstairs now?"
"Of course. Do you have any luggage with you?"
"Nah, it can stay in the car."
Her room was on the first floor, up a steep set of stairs and a pretty narrow corridor. Dinsdag was written on the door.
Immediately through the door was a king-size bed, with a night stand on either side. There was also a small desk beneath the television on the other side and a door to the bathroom, which contained a shower, a toilet, and a sink.
She saw her new face in the mirror for the first time.
Her hair was shoulder-length, the bottom of which was dyed pink — she didn't know regeneration could dye hair. She had moderately rough skin, her face fairly round with dark-green eyes and slight bags underneath them. None of her facial features stood out more than any other. Overall, not too bad, she thought to herself.
She jumped onto the nice, soft bed, and fell asleep to see what the next day would bring.
After checking out of the hotel, she returned to the Tardis, which was still largely repairing itself. She got some Euros from it, and decided to let it steep for a bit longer. She needed a new outfit, after all.
After getting some proper clothes — a pair of light blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a long, beige overcoat — she heard commotion, just outside the store. She saw a large crowd gathering in front of the Royal Palace, or rather, gathering where the Palace was supposed to be. In its place was a crater and a massive shadow; the Palace was floating high up in the sky.