Chapter 9 – The Next Great Adventure

The Doctor spent a few moments in Clara's room, still unsure if anyone would ever set foot in there again. She stood up and rested her head on the doorframe, trying to take in every single detail. She thought about her the conversation with Clara and considered her words carefully. Was the school teacher correct, did the universe really need protecting from her? This regeneration was a little spikier than the previous Doctor but surely not to universe threatening levels. She was certainly different enough to drive Clara away which gave the Time Lady cause for concern.

With a loud sigh she pushed herself off the door frame and ventured out in the corridor. The Doctor inspected some of the other doors in the archives, trying to find some solace from the names . Firstly she came across Martha's old room, she had done a good job turning her into a soldier during the year that never was, so much so that she joined UNIT as a field doctor. The Martha she first met would never have done that. Next in the archives was the room belonging to Donna Noble, the fiery red head who challenged The Doctor every step of the way. At least she was living a peaceful life the raven haired woman thought, even if she couldn't remember her travels with the Time Lady.

The list of personal failures continued the longer she spent in the archives. Peri Brown, her consciousness fractured into several pieces and spread throughout time and space. There was a version of her living in modern day Los Angeles but the original Peri was dead. That brought The Doctor to some other companions of his fifth self, Adric, sacrificed his life to save all of creation, Nyssa, her father was killed when The Master took over his body, Leela, previously presumed dead when Gallifrey was destroyed but now probably trapped in the pocket dimension with the other Time Lords. The Doctor paused at a couple of other rooms, "At least you two are safe", she muttered at the former rooms of Sarah Jane Smith and Jo Grant. So many names that had been lost to The Doctor over the last two millennia, creating an aching in the Time Lady's soul that was full of guilt.

Finally The Doctor paused at the room with circular writing and opened the door. The inside was very minimalistic with plain white walls, a double bed, a metal desk and a wardrobe in the corner. Scattered over the desk was some unfinished paperwork, a half built electronic device and a small tape recorder. The Doctor picked up the paperwork and scanned her eyes over the text, "Theory of thermodynamics in the fifth dimension", she whispered, "that takes me back". She turned on the tape recorder and to her surprise, Let It Be by The Beatles began to play, "The demo version", she smiled, "I really should drop in on John and thank him". The Doctor turned off the tape recorder and left the room, pausing only to inspecting the writing again, "Arkytior", he whispered in revelry before shaking her head and leaving the archive.

The Doctor made her way to the console room and took a moment to check the external scanner. The device was now in the shape of a 1950's television set and the Time Lady had to twist a couple of knobs before an image could be displayed. She noticed that Clara was still outside but talking on her phone. "Maybe I should pay a visit to some of my companions that I haven't screwed up", the Time Lady sighed and moved around to the other side of the console. She needed some reassurance that she was a good person and maybe some familiar faces could do that. She twisted a couple of values, placed her hand out in front to protect herself from some steam. Finally she pulled a lever and set the TARDIS in motion, "Sorry the first trip is so brief", The Doctor called out to the TARDIS, "just need to make sure everything is working alright".

Just to The Doctor's left, a small pipe emitted some steam, "I know I shouldn't be crossing a timeline", The Doctor stated, "but Clara said she had already met me so I know I've already done this successfully". The time rotor emitted its familiar groaning noise and the TARDIS landed with a bump. The Doctor ran over to other screen, this one a more modern looking flat screen computer modern. She pulled it a little closer and checked her present location, "North London about three hours ago", she smiled, "not bad and on the first attempt". She looked down at her clothes, "Clara said that I had changed my clothes", she continued, "better find something suitable in the wardrobe for a memorial service". She turned sharply on her heels and moved briskly to the wardrobe, eager to join the party and desperate to validate her own worth to the universe.

It didn't take The Doctor long to find a black cocktail dress that stopped just above her knees and a matching pair of heels. Fortunately these shoes came from the fifty second century and were specifically designed to prevent tripping. Still unsure what to do with her new long hair, The Doctor simply left it flowing loosely down her back. She tottered out of the wardrobe and back into the console room, patting the console on the way past, "Don't wait up sexy", she called out and opened the TARDIS doors.

She had parked the TARDIS opposite the building and had switched on stealth mode. She wouldn't make her grand re-entrance for another couple of hours, if the TARDIS was noticed now it could have a serious impact on the timestream. Before leaving the TARDIS's wardrobe, she had picked up a small clutch handbag. When The Doctor approached the UNIT guard on security duty, she reached inside and pulled out the psychic paper. She flashed it quickly at the guard and with a grunt, he let her into the building.

The Doctor made sure not to draw too much attention to herself, instead she looked at some of the large pictures on display, "Not the most flattering angles", she muttered, looking at a picture of the Eleventh Doctor, "my word that chin is huge, and where are the eyebrows", she added. She moved down the line to the Tenth Doctor, "This picture must be cropped", she shook her head.

"What makes you say that?" an elderly sounding voice said from behind her. The Doctor turned her head slightly, just enough to make out the grey hair and beard belonging to Wilfred Mott, Donna's Grandfather.

"He's so skinny", The Doctor replied, "a strong breeze would probably blow him over". The Time Lady called on all of her willpower not to throw her arms around Wilfred. He was one of the kindest souls she had ever met. Wilfred had been there for her tenth self during his final adventure, eventually forcing the Tenth Doctor to sacrifice his life to save the old man. The Time Lady allowed herself a small smile, she had no regrets about saving his life and would do it again in a heartbeat.

"He was a good man though", Wilfred said sadly, "he gave up his life to save mine", the old man paused for a moment, echoing The Doctors own thoughts from a moment ago, "I never did thank him properly".

The Doctor lowered her head and muttered, "You're welcome".

"Hmm", Wilfred replied, "did you say something".

"Oh, no", The Doctor stated, "just clearing my throat. So did you travel with this version of The Doctor?" She already knew the answer but she had to keep her cover up.

"Just the once and that was enough for an old man like me", Wilfred stated, "my Granddaughter Donna, she saw the universe with that man", he sighed, "but now she can't remember any of it".

The Doctor suddenly felt a little uncomfortable with the direction this conversation was taking. She was here to alleviate her guilt, not be reminded of her failure to protect Donna. She quickly changed the subject, "Did you know he was a Grandfather too", she stated, "proudest moment of his life when she was born. She travelled with him too you know, saw the most wondrous things, saved whole civilisations".

"What happened to her?" Wilfred asked, during his brief meetings with The Doctor, he had never mentioned anything about his family.

"She grew up", The Doctor stated sadly, "had a family of her own, might consider travelling herself one day".

There was a brief moment of silence between the pair before Wilfred asked, "You know a lot about The Doctor, what did you say your name was?"

Internally The Doctor was cursing Wilfred for being so sharp but she was saved by a sharp whistling from the other side of the room. She noticed Captain Jack, Clara and Sarah Jane standing next to each other. Clara looked annoyed at the Captain before she reluctantly began to make a speech. As she was talking, The Doctor finally took a good look around the room. There were some noticeable absences but it looked like almost every available companion was in the room. The Doctor couldn't help but be touched but the support and loyalty shown by the group, even in her supposed death.

Clara's speech finished quicker than expected but the words were enough to stir something inside the Time Lady. The Doctor thought highly of all of her companions but to hear Clara compare the Time Lady so highly to them inspired her once again. The speech allowed The Doctor to quietly slip away from Wilfred. She continued to look at the pictures, starting at the First Doctor and moving slowly onto the Second Doctor. The Doctor thought that she had evaded further observation but that illusion was soon shattered as she inspected a picture of the Sixth Doctor, "It took a brave man to pull off that kind of coat".

The Doctor cursed herself, somehow Clara had spotted her from the other side of the room. Deciding to avoid eye contact for the moment, she replied, "Like an explosion in a paint factory, not one of his prouder moments".

The Time Lady thought that would be enough to evade further questions but Clara wasn't giving up "Did you know The Doctor well?" she asked.

"Not as well as I would've liked", The Doctor replied quickly, almost surprising herself with the way that sounded and how quickly it had come to mind. Realising she couldn't put this off any longer, she turned around and gave Clara a tight smile, "You must be Clara Oswald, the host of this event", the woman offered her hand but noticed how reluctant Clara was to return the gesture.

"More like party planner", Clara replied slowly. The Doctor knew she had to be careful with her words, Clara picked up on things really quickly, "So did you travel with this Doctor?" Clara added

"Fortunately not", The Doctor stated, "he was a bit too loud for my taste, if I'm recalling him correctly". Once again The Doctor cursed herself, clearly this incarnation spoke before thinking, even when trying to be careful. Ironically her current personality was probably quite similar to the Sixth Doctor, with a little bit of the Ninth Doctor thrown in for good measure.

The Doctor could see Clara attempting to mentally join the dots in her head and kept her gaze on the Time Lady. The sound of a ringing phone grabbed The Doctor's attention but it didn't distract Clara, "You're being evasive", she stated with a cool tone, "just who are you?"

The Time Lady felt a slight pull in her head. Her time sense was telling her that the earlier version of herself was arriving in the area. It served as a warning that she needed to get out and as quickly as possible. Knowing that Clara would bump into her in a couple of hours, The Doctor dispensed with the subtlety and laughed, "You'll find out soon enough", she pointed her head in the direction of Kate Stewart who was talking on her phone, "you might want to pay attention to that".

Clara turned her head and The Doctor used the distraction to quickly run to the exit. She breezed past the guard and gave her a little wave in the process but her footwear was giving her some problems, "I don't know how women tolerate these things". The Doctor hopped on one foot and took off one of her shoes and then repeated the manoeuvre with the other one, "centuries of engineering progress and they still can't make a comfortable pair of heels", she grumbled. The Doctor stepped inside the TARDIS and tossed the pair of shoes into the chasm at the side of the walkway. When the TARDIS didn't return them, she knew that she wasn't going to need them again in the future.

The Time Lady paused at the console and leaned next to the time scanner. The little visit to her own memorial service had been enlightening. It made her realise how clever and observant her companions were. She smiled at a comment the Eleventh Doctor had made, all of her past incarnations really did choose the best of humanity to travel with. But then she remembered the hurt in Wilfred Mott's eyes when he talked about Donna. Some of her past companions weren't able to be there today, maybe it was time for The Doctor to make some house calls, "I've spent a lot of time running old girl and made a lot of mistakes", The Doctor said out loud, "it's time that changed".

The Doctor activated the scanner and flipped the lever to move them out into the Time Vortex, "I made a promise to return for Clara in a week", she continued, "but I can get a lot done in that time". She twisted a couple of glass valves, "I'm going to start with my biggest regret", she paused for a moment, "I'm going to find Gallifrey". The Doctor clung on to the console as the TARDIS conducted a search for the lost planet. The time for running aimless was over, now The Doctor had something to search for and she would do everything in her power to find her lost home planet.

THE END

A/N – So there it is, end of the 'pilot' episode of this series. I've been extremely happy with the response so far so I'm pleased to announce that the next instalment will be uploaded in a couple of weeks time. It will entitled "Family Affairs" and will see feature three different yet related "episodes". Here's a quick synopsis of what to expect, I hope to see you again:

Episode 2: A trip to The Moon in the twenty second century sees The Doctor battle creatures known as Time Shadows as she tried to prevent a fixed point in time from disintegrating. The Time Lady gets a surprise though when she bumped into a newly regenerated Jenny, a daughter she forgot she even had.

Episode 3: The TARDIS summons The Doctor to Gallifrey as all of her past incarnations plan to freeze the planet in a moment in time. A meeting with her past selves reveals the secret of the Time Lady's memory lapses and answers the question about her rebirth.

Episode 4: To cheer Jenny up, The Doctor takes her to seventeenth century Japan to understand why the younger Time Lady can't access her soldier training from her previous life. The Time Lady's though run afoul of a male dominated clan, forcing them to take sanctuary with a group of exiles kunoichi.