Watches

Chapter four: The First Watch

I blink my eyes as the interior of the TARDIS comes into focus. I try to sit up but I am greeted by a dizzying wave of memories, and a pounding in my head that forces me to lie back down. The Doctor is fiddling with the TARDIS and muttering to himself. I feel a warm weight above me and realize the Doctor's coat is spread over top my body, I feel heat rise to my cheeks and I feel flattered by the gesture but embarrassed that I passed out cold. I clear my throat and the Doctor turns to look at me his face breaking into a smile when he sees that I am all right. I try sitting up again and succeed but my head still continues to pound. The Doctor sits next to me and I ask, "what happened?"

He looks at me with concern etched across the features of his face and after a pause he responds, " don't worry about its just a side-affect to the rush of memories you had, after all it must have been pretty overwhelming you went through a lot at a young age." A memory of being guided away from my parents flashes across my vision. I feel a slight stinging in the corners of my eyes but I will myself to be strong and not to cry. The Doctor smiles at my sympathetically before saying in a soft, steady voice " could you answer a few a questions for me to help me better understand this, first of all how old are you? When were you taken? How long where you on Gallifrey? Why do you still have your watch?" I try and make sense out of the jumble of memories in my mind and asnswer his question the best I can.

" I really don't know my age if I were a human I would be 23 and if I had to guess I would be 700 in Gallifreyan years. I was taken when I was a teenager, before I got my title but after I looked into the time vortex. I don't know how long I was on Gallifrey there are a lot of gaps or really fuzzy memories, but I know I was turned human only a week before Gallifrey fell. As for the watch I'm just as clueless as you there must have been a cloaking spell on it so I wouldn't notice." I say my answers in slow careful tones still adjusting to the new knowledge that flooded my brain. He nods and then quickly retreats further into the TARDIS and returns a few minutes later with another watch. He holds it out to me and says,

" this is the watch the First doctor managed to find unlike what the show says I'm not a regeneration of him, he was my mentor and just before the time war he told me to take this and become the Doctor he said it would be an honor for me to carry on his title." The Doctor pauses at this moment and I see sadness in his ancient eyes he stares off into space for a moment longer before continuing " I still haven't found the owner but I come to these conventions to see if anyone has Timelord energy or scent, unfortunately the process to turn you human is almost perfect so it's extremely difficult. It was so lucky I happened to see you and your watch. I would have never known otherwise." He looks up at me and, my blue eyes lock with his brown ones, he looks so grateful for me and at that moment I am terrified of letting him down.