Title: What I've Done
Author: CosmicalMadison
Summary: The Doctor tries to move on after the events of "Journey's End." Sonfic.
Rating: K
Genre: Genres
Author's Note: The lyrics are "What I've Done" by Linkin Park.

In this farewell,
There's no blood, there's no alibi.
'Cause I've drawn regret,
From the truth of a thousand lies.

No violence, no death, no excuses. All of his companions are gone, and there's not a thing he can do about it. Rose is back in Pete's World with his copy, happy. Martha, Jack, and Mickey are moving on, happy. And Donna, the old Donna she was before meeting him, is safe as long as her parents keep their promise not to mention him or the things they have done. Happy? He hopes so.

So let mercy come and wash away,
What I've done.
I'll face myself to cross out what I've become,
Erase myself and let go of what I've done.

He tries not to think about what Davros told him, about turning his friends into weapons, but it's hard. In a way, he supposes it's true. It's wrong, he knows, but there's nothing to be done for it now. They've all gone on with their lives, left him behind, and there's nothing to do but forgive himself and hope to do better next time.

What you asked, what you thought of me.
Well, I clean this slate with the hands of uncertainty.

A clean slate is what he needs to start over, but it's so hard to go on by himelf. So lonely with the TARDIS empty all around him. No more hearing Rose humming in her room as she gets ready for the day, no more Martha with her bright-eyed curiosity and sarcastic comments, so more telling Donna how special she is.

He's all alone. He doesn't know if he can go, find a new companion. This will happen again. It's always there, hovering in the all-too-distant future. Whoever comes with him will eventually leave; they always do.

So let mercy come and wash away,
What I've done.
I'll face myself to cross out what I've become,
Erase myself and let go of what I've done.

But he knows he shouldn't think like that. How can anyone live like that? Sure, the shadow of the future is always there, but sometimes it must be ignored. Sure, his old friends are gone now, but they'll always be with him in his hearts. They would want him to be happy, to find someone else to share the glories of the universe with.

For what I've done, I start again.
And whatever pain may come,
Today this ends, I'm forgiving what I've done.
I'll face myself to cross out what I've become,
Erase myself and let go of what I've done.

Determined now, he returns to Earth, the twenty-first century, where he has always found true friends. The TARDIS lands in the middle of Central Park, and he steps out and looks around. There are many people there of every age. Can he just pick someone? Randomly go up to them and say, "I'm a Time Lord; this is my ship. Wanna travel through time and space with me?" It's a ridiculous notion, but-

His though is cut off as an odd sound reaches his ear. It is something between a sob and a hiccup. He turns toward it and sees, a little ways away, a teenage girl with messy red curls sitting on a park bench with her head in her hands. She is crying.

A sympathetic smile works it's way onto the Doctor's face as he approaches her. The girl obviously needs help, and that's just what he does best.

What I've done…
Forgiving what I've done.