New Life (Book 2 of the Bad Wolf Series)

Born Again

The handsome new Doctor dashes to the TARDIS console, flicking the switches and assuring he's going to the right place. "6 PM..." he paused, flicking a few more switches. "Tuesday... October... 5006... on the way to Barcelona!" He straightens up and turns to Ivy. "Hello, Love." He smiled and opened his arms. Ivy giggled and raced into his arms. He held her as close as possible, head buried into her hair. They pulled apart, grinning at each other. She breathed in his scent, happy that he still smells the same; that fact being oddly comforting to her. He pulled back and smiled at her, his smile quickly becoming Ivy's nee favourite thing. "You alright?"

She shrugged. "Not too bad. Just watched my boyfriend regenerate but other than they, just dandy." She smirked at him.

He let out a loud laugh and smiled brightly at her, winking as he went,. Before straightening up and turning to face Rose, who looked utterly bemused and fairly (and understandably scared).

Ivy's eyebrows furrowed noticing her facial expression, already knowing that this wasn't going to go well. "Now then, what do I look like?" he asked the two girls, looking between them. Before either of them could reply he jumped back in, holding a hand up to stop them.. "No, no no, no no no no no no no. No. Don't tell me!" He looked down at himself. "Let's see, two legs, two arms, two hands." He held his right wrist in his left hand and twisted it round, circling it as if testing its ability. "Slight weakness in the dorsal tubercle." His hands suddenly fly to his head. "Hair! I'm not bald." He exclaimed, running his hands through his hair and messing with it. "Oh, oh! Big hair!" His fingers travel to the sides of his face. "Sideburns, I've got sideburns!" He states, delightedly before his smile falls and he pauses. "Or really bad skin." He slaps his stomach. "Little bit thinner. That's weird. Give me time, I'll get used to it."

He paused and stared at the floor intently. "I have got... a mole. I can feel it." He mused, rotating his shoulders. Rose starts breathing heavily and Ivy turns to her, worried, though the Doctor seems not to notice. "Between my shoulder blades, there's a mole. That's alright, love the mole." He grins again at Rose. "Go on then, tell me. What do you think." He straightens, ready for her judgement of him.

Rose starts to quiver slightly from fear. "Who are you?" She asks timidly.

The Doctors smile falls. "I'm the Doctor." He stated, crestfallen and slightly upset.

Ivy nodded when Rose turned to her. "He's the Doctor." She confirmed.

Rose shakes her head in disbelief. "No, where is he? Where's the Doctor?" She stares sternly at him, her voice rising in anger. "What have you done to him?" She asked.

Ivy stepped forward slightly, making Rose stumble back. "You saw him change. Do you remember him saying that Time Lords have a little trick for avoiding death.." She paused, trying to get Rose to understand. "That was it, regeneration. He regenerated." She indicated over at the Doctor.

"No. I saw him sort of explode, and then he replaced him.. like a teleport or a transmat or a body swap or something." Ivy and the Doctor stare, mouths wide, in disbelief that she didn't believe them.

"No Rose." Ivy implored. "Really, he's the Doctor. My Doctor!" Her mouth twitches into a convincing smile but it wasn't enough for Rose.

Rose shook her head, taking a few tentative steps towards him while still remaining a safe distance away from him. "You're not fooling me." Rose insisted, pushing his chest.

Ivy took a step towards her, Rose not noticing her movement and so not being afraid. "Rose." Ivy's voice was incredibly calm, as if she were talking to a child. "He's the Doctor. I know my boyfriend, I know about regeneration and I understand how you feel. Look, let me explain." She gently took Rose's hand and Rose let her. "Time Lords have evolved to avoid death at all costs. Every cell in our body is set to rejuvenate itself if we're ever on the brink of death. We can't plan what we'll look like.." she paused. "Well, we can to a certain degree but not consciously. And even then, it's not a guarantee." She took Rose's other hand and turned her to face the Doctor. "He's the Doctor. Same man, same feelings same memories just with a different she'll." She encouraged her to walk towards him.