Where Waves crash and Journeys end (Doctor Who/Broadchurch)

23

"I keep telling you, I can't.", said The Doctor, ruffling his brown hair nervously. He was walking in circles round the console while Alec bombarded him with questions: 

"Why? We're talking here about a little boy, only 12. He has been killed and I want to save him from this bastard once and for all. Isn't that the thing your people do? Save?" 

The DI had taken very long to tell the Timelord about his job in Broadchurch and that he just wanted to finish this case. Then he wanted to travel with him, experiencing new things, seeing other planets. But first, he wanted to save Danny. He wanted to change history, bringing him back to his family every time bursting into tears when they would see him. He had never believed in such things as time travel, had never believed it would be possible to save people from death. With meeting The Doctor, everything had changed. 

All of a sudden, he belonged to something. Something even bigger than anything he had ever imagined. On the Inside, too. Literally. Something bigger than sitting in an office all day. He had a mission. 

And the earlier he could get his memories back, the better. 

The Doctor stopped pacing around the console as if he had just realized what he was doing. His face was completely pale and his big brown eyes twinkled like a thousand stars, those eyes that have seen so much in such a long life...

 He clenched his fists. 

"You haven't the faintest idea about my people!", he snapped, turning to Alec. 

"They have been cruel to me, so I became an outlaw. They have tortured me, so I had to run away. They are nothing but cowards, nothing but beasts. They are the stuff out of your deepest nightmares, stuff out of exploding stars, creators of time itself. They rule about time, pay attention to every change in history - we can't just pop up anywhere you think someone needs help. We can't just go back. Some events in time never can be changed, they just stay as they are. You would know if you've seen what I once have seen, Alec...I'm sorry, but I can't!" 

The DI frowned, wondering if he was talking about the fobwatch. His secret door to a long forgotten time full of war and death. His chest to a past full of pain and grief about his family. His hideaway, just like the TARDIS. The TARDIS and Rose. The only ones giving him shelter, a place he needed to forget. 

Other than Alec who had nothing but a place he hated and a case unsolved. Along with a colleague who couldn't trust him. 

He sighed before he finally dared to ask: 

"What did you see in the watch?" 

The Timelord put his hands over the control panel, pretending to look at some point in the distance only he could witness. The TARDIS made her humming sound so different as he answered, mumbling, even the DI froze. 

"I saw you, Alec. A very long time ago..." 

Pulling the lever once more, the TARDIS took off.