A Twist of Fate

"It's my fault."

This was the only phrase going through the Doctor's mind.

That beautiful, impossible girl would have been fine, would have lived a long, happy life, if he hadn't've burst in and muddled everything up.

He couldn't do anything right.

And now, all of the fish custard in the world couldn't cheer him up.

He was empty, empty as a rain gauge in a drought, but somehow, simultaneously, about to explode with the emotion of it all- the sadness, the anger, but, most of all, the guilt.

The Doctor couldn't stand even to look at himself. He didn't care about anyone, about anything anymore.

Why couldn't everything just...

"STOP!" he suddenly yelled to the empty TARDIS. "Stop, stop, stop!" He threw his sonic across the room, where it hit a mirror, which shattered on contact with the buzzing device. The screwdriver snapped down the middle into two identical pieces. Seven years' bad luck, he thought.

Perhaps, he thought, he was too old for this.

Perhaps there was only one way to stop it.

In the old society of Gallifrey, a forced regeneration was not illegal, but it was treated with utter distaste.

A regeneration, the life of a time lord, was the single most valuable thing in the known universe. To waste that, to throw it away, was, to some, the ultimate crime.

Too bad they were all dead now.

The Doctor closed his eyes and flicked the switch. Instantly, a thick, foggy gas permeated into the air of the control room. A maniacal smile etched across his face, he sank to the floor.

However, this peace was temporary. Just a few minutes later, the Doctor was jerked awake and barely had the time to get to his feet before his hands began to glow. As if a swarm of fireflies had flew into the room, it was lit with a hazy light. His head jerked back, and, suddenly, he was new.

Slowly, painstakingly, the Doctor pulled himself to his feet. "Old. I'm older now." That's the trouble of regeneration, he thought to himself. It's a bit of a gamble. He laughed dryly.

Now, where have we landed this time?

He pushed open the door just a crack, to a place he barely recognized.