Celestia watched as the new Doctor dashes to the console and flicks a few switches, checking the monitor to make sure everything was going correctly. She looked over to see Rose watching him by the pillar. Celestia beckoned her over, but Rose refused, not wanting to get close to the unknown man.
"6 PM... Tuesday...October... 5006... On the way to Barcelona!" the new Doctor shouted happily, as he straightened up and turned to them; he was extremely pleased with himself as shown by his big smile.
The Doctor turned to Celestia, wanting to know what his Stella thought of his new self. "Now then... what do I look like?" he asked her.
Before she could say anything, he held up his hand. "No, no no, no no no no no no no. No. Don't tell me." He told her, wagging his finger. Celestia giggled at how silly he was being as Rose looked completely bemused, lowering her guard for a moment.
The Doctor looked down to see his body. "Let's see... two legs, two arms, two hands..." He then tests his wrist, circling it. The two blondes watch him, Rose bewildered at the strange man while Celestia was trying to hold in her laughter.
"Slight weakness in the dorsal tubercle." He noted before rushing his hands over his head. "Hair! I'm not bald!" he said happily. Celestia noted that his hair seemed very soft and lushest, she couldn't wait to play with it as she watched the Doctor run his hands through his hair gleefully. "Oh, Oh! Big hair!"
He then moved down slightly to feel his sideburns. "Sideburns, I've got sideburns! Or really bad skin. Little bit thinner..." He slaps his stomach. "That's weird. Give me time, I'll get used to it."
He then froze for a second then turned his head towards them. "I... have got... a mole." He told them. "I can feel it. Between my shoulder blades, there's a mole." He rotates his shoulders. "That's all right. Love the mole."
The Doctor then turns to fully face Celestia. "Go on then, tell me." He said to Celestia, giving her a big grin and standing up even straightened, buzzing with excitement at what Celestia might think about his new body. "What do you think?"
Celestia walked around him, her eyes going up and down as she took in the new Doctor. He certainly was a pretty boy she noted to herself before whistling at one her favorite features. She then walked in front of him and nodded. "Not bad, not bad." She nodded before lighting up. "Still as charming as ever."
The Doctor lit up with happiness before turning to the frightened Rose, who had been quietly watching the duo. "Who are you?" Rose asked quietly, hiding herself from the Doctor.
The Doctor looks at her, crestfallen. "I'm the Doctor." He stated.
Rose shook her head in disbelief. "No... Where is he? Where's the Doctor?" she asked, her voice starting to rise. "What have you done to him?"
"You saw me, I, I changed..." he pointed over his shoulder to the spot where he regenerated. " ... right in front of you."
"I saw him sort of explode, and then you replaced him, like a... a teleport or a transmat or a body swap or something." She said, trying to make sense of everything that was going on.
"Rose.." Celestia called out to the younger blonde as the Doctor seemed as though he was at a lost for words. Rose took a few hesitant steps towards him before moving over to Celestia.
Rose glared at the man, pulling Celestia away from the Doctor. "You're not fooling me. I've seen all sorts of things. Nano genes... Gelth... Slitheen..." she looked him over, her brown eyes piercing him. The Doctor raised his eyebrows at her.
"Oh, my God, are you a Slitheen?" Rose asked him.
"He's too skinny to be a slitheen." Celestia told her.
"I'm not a Slitheen." The Doctor said calmly yet that did not help Rose at all.
"Send him back." Rose began to raise her voice. "I'm warning you; send the Doctor back right now!" she demanded.
"Rose, it's me." He pleaded to Rose, wishing that she would understand that it truly was him. He leaned forward in his urgency to make her believe him but that made her more afraid. "Honestly, it's me." He said softly.
Rose stared at him, her chest rising and falling very fast. Celestia noticed this and quickly wrapped her arms around her, running her fingers through her hair to calm her down. Rose was able to calm down for a bit but she kept her eyes on the new Doctor, not trusting him.
"I was dying. To save my own life I changed my body. Every single cell, but... it's still me." He explained to her.
"You can't be." Rose whispered.
Celestia pulled away slightly so that Rose could see her face. "He's the Doctor Rose, it's truly him. I would know." She then looked at the Doctor, giving him a wide smile. "He's my partner."
The Doctor returned the smile and took a few steps closer to them. "Then how could I remember this?" he said to Rose. "Very first word I ever said to you. Trapped in that cellar. Surrounded by shop window dummies.... oh..." he looked away for a moment, reminiscing about the past before turning back to look at Rose. " ..such a long time ago. I took your hand..." he took Rose's hand. "I said one word... just one word, I said... "Run".
Rose looks into his eyes, her eyes full of tears. "Doctor." She whispered. Now believing that they were telling the truth. This causes the Doctor to grin.
"Hello." He said gently to her before looking back to Celestia. "Hello Starlight." He officially greeted her.
"Hello Charming." She returned, giving him a peck on the lips.
Rose sighs in an almost exasperated fashion and stumbles backwards as the impact of what has just happened hits her. Celestia rushed to her side as the Doctor takes off around the other side of the console.
"And we never stopped, did we? All across the universe. Running, running, running..." he said as he flicked a few switches on the console.
"One time we had to hop. Do you remember? Hopping for our lives." He said as he began to hop up and down on the spot. Rose and Celestia watched him, with the elder blonde bemused at the whole thing. "Yeah? All that hopping? Remember hopping for your life? Yeah?! Hop? With the..."the Doctor notices Rose's lack of reaction, causing him to stop hopping. "No?"
"Can you change back?" Rose asked him, missing the old Doctor.
"Do you want me to?" he shot back before casting a look to Celestia, worried that she wanted him to change back too, even though it would be impossible.
"Yeah." Rose said as Celestia told him "No."
"Oh." The Doctor let out but he felt a bit better by Celestia saying no. He was glad that she was alright with everything and that she was handling everything better than Rose.
"Can you?" Rose asked, ignoring Celestia's looks.
"No." He said, disappointed, glancing at the floor briefly. "Do you want to leave?" he asked her, shocking the blondes.
"Do you want me to leave?" Rose asked him as she held on to Celestia.
"No! But... your choice... if you want to go home..." he quickly told her before going back to the console.
"Don't worry Rosie, we are not going to leave you." Celestia told her quietly, but Rose was still upset.
"Cancel Barcelona. Change to... London... the Powell Estate... ah... let's say the 24th of December. Consider it a Christmas present." He told her. Celestia and Rose walked over to the console as the Doctor finished putting in the coordinates. "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?" Rose asked him.
"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." He muttered loudly.
Rose looks down quickly, to hide a smile. Celestia grins. "Was that a smile?" she asked her teasingly.
"No." Rose quickly denied.
"That was a smile..." the Doctor pointed out.
"No it wasn't." Rose looked away at them.
"You smiled..." the partners said at the same time as they gave Rose playful looks.
"No I didn't." she denied once again.
"Oh, come on, all I did was change, I didn't..." the Doctor suddenly gags as the Tardis shuddered. Celestia rushed to his side as Rose looked at him questioningly.
"What?" she asked him.
He tried again. "I said I didn't..." He gagged again, worryingly Celestia greatly.
"Uh oh." He said as Celestia took note of how faint he seemed.
"Charming, do you need to sit down?" she asked him as Rose edges cautiously around the console.
"Er... is you alright?" she asked him. The Doctor opens his mouth, releasing a gold gas.
"Is that part of the time vortex?" Celestia asked quietly as she reached out to touch the gas before it evaporated.
"What's that?" Rose asked, having not heard Celestia.
"Oh... the change is going a bit wrong and all." The Doctor gags again, falling to his knees. Celestia goes down with him, trying to ease the pain as she watches the Doctor face contorts into pain. He tried to pass it off as if he wasn't hurt to stop her from worrying but the pain was unimaginable.
"Look... maybe we should go back. Let's go and find Captain Jack, he'd know what to do." Rose advised, not noticing how the partners seemed to freeze at the mention of Jack.
"Gah, he's busy! He's got plenty to do rebuilding the Earth!" the Doctor shouted as he slowly got up with the help of Celestia. A lever on the console suddenly catches his eye. "I haven't used this one in years."
He flicks it, resulting in the TARDIS shuddering violently and they are nearly knocked to their feet.
"Why did you flick it when you haven't used it in years!" Celestia said as she steadied herself.
"What're you doing?!" Rose shouted.
"Putting on a bit of speed! That's it!" he said crazily as he turned more knobs. "My beautiful ship! Come on, faster! That's a girl!"
Rose and Celestia look at him alarmed by his actions. They took note that the The Doctor looked and sounded mad. He looked at them with a crazed, maddening look in his eyes. "Faster! Wanna to break the time limit?!" he asked them.
"Usually, I would be all down for danger but I'm more focused on surviving right now!" Celestia shot back sarcastically as she held on to the console.
"Stop it!" Rose shouted with a mix of anger and fear.
"Ah, don't be so dull... let's have a bit of fun! Let's rip through that vortex!" He shouted.
"Charming stop it, you're scaring us!" Celestia told him as she noticed how afraid Rose was. The Doctor softens for a moment.
"The regeneration's going wrong. I can't stop myself." He grimaces from the pain. "Ah, my head..." He violently springs up into standing position again, and his voice has gone back to being crazed.
"Faster! Let's open those engines!" The Doctor shouted as a bell began to ring.
"What's that?" Rose asked.
"Bad news." Celestia told her as the Doctor turned to look at her.
"We're gonna crash land!" the Doctor said, sounding quite delighted before laughing manically.
"Well then, do something!" Rose screamed at them.
"Too late! Out of control!" he shouted, his voice a higher octave and full of hysterics. He then ran around the console, giggling as the blondes watched with mixed emotions. "Oh, I love it! Hot dawg!" he hops in the air excitedly as Celestia tried to take over the flying with great difficulty.
"You're gonna kill us!" Rose shouted at him.
"Hold on tight, here we go!" the Doctor shouted as he grinned madly to the two blondes, ignoring the serious look in Celestia eyes as she tried to land the Tardis and the scared look in Rose's. "Christmas Eve...! "