A/N: Howdy! This is an AU revision of Series 1 based on my Academic Series, a set of stories that include my OC the Professor, a very close friend (and something more) of the Doctor. In my original series, the 10th Doctor finds her being tortured and used by the Krillitanes during School Reunion and rescues her. This story will be a 'what-if' where the 9th Doctor found her first. Here, he never comes back to tell Rose the TARDIS also travels in time which will alter most of the first Series, however Rose will be in a few chapters.

I would recommend reading the Academic Series (Reunion to Remembrance) for more background on the Professor. I will try to write this as though this is the first we learn of the Professor and explain more about her as it goes on, some things that appear in the first few chapters should be explained by later chapters (if not at first) with the reader learning more about her as the story goes on.

Some notes:

~8~ is a scene break

~/~\~ is a flashback (three per story)

'italics' is the Doctor/Professor speaking telepathically.

This story will be based around the Doctor and Professor's POV, so some scenes might be missing, and since we're all fans of DW I'm hoping we've all seen the episodes and know what's going on in those scenes :)

This story should be updated every day!

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who...if I did, more of the good Time Lords would have survived like the Daleks did...

~8~

Rose

The TARDIS set down in a little alleyway, Mickey scrambling out of it as soon as it had stabilized, falling over, terrified of the box that was so much bigger on the inside. Today had been a messed up day, first Rose nearly got blown up, then he got eaten by some plastic thing, and then ther was that box. He backed up against a wall as Rose stepped out, her attention focused on her phone, "Rose!" her mother answered, "Rose! Don't go out of the house, it's not safe!" Rose laughed, so relieved to hear she was alright, that the plastic shop dummies hadn't harmed her, "There were all of these things! And they were shooting! And they…" she clicked off the phone, smiling, before running over to Mickey.

"A fat lot of good you were!" she laughed, but Mickey could only whimper, thoroughly freaked out about everything that had happened, everything he'd seen.

The Doctor leaned in the doorway of the TARDIS, grinning, "Nestene Consciousness?" he snapped his fingers, "Easy."

"You were useless in there," Rose teased, "You'd be dead if it wasn't for me."

"Yes, I would," he admitted, looking at the blonde girl who had gotten him out of trouble...much like another blonde woman he knew from so long ago, "Thank you. Right then! I'll be off! Unless, uh...I don't know..." he glanced at Rose, "You could come with me?" Rose looked at him, putting her hands in her pockets, hesitant, "This box isn't just a London hopper, you know, it goes anywhere in the Universe free of charge."

"Don't!" Mickey shouted, "He's an alien! He's a thing!"

"He's NOT invited," the Doctor glanced at Mickey before focusing on Rose, "What do you think? You could stay here and fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go, uh...anywhere."

"Is it always this dangerous?" Rose asked.

He nodded, "Yeah."

Mickey put his arms around her legs, clinging to her, more afraid for her wellbeing than that she might run off. After what had happened today, just because that Doctor fellow showed up…Rose would be in terrible danger if she went with him.

"Yeah, I can't..." Rose shook her head, though she looked reluctant to give up the adventure, "I've um...gotta go and find my mum and um...someone's gotta look after this stupid lump..." she gave a small laugh and patted Mickey on the back, "So..."

"Okay," the Doctor shrugged, though Rose could see he was disappointed, "See you around," he eyed her a moment longer, she didn't seem to have truly made up her mind yet, there was still hope…but she didn't move. He nodded and stepped into the box, closing the door behind him. He rested his back against the doors a moment, feeling quite a bit disheartened that the Rose girl had said no. He'd…he'd been lonely, very lonely actually…it would have been nice to have someone to travel with again…just like he'd planned to do with a very special woman when he'd been younger.

Still…some company would have been nice…even if no one could take her place…maybe he ought to tell Rose the box also travelled in time?

Before he could even turn around, the engines started up. He looked up, startled, having been nowhere near the controls, and ran for them as the TARDIS began dematerializing. He pulled a lever, trying to stop the box, but it didn't work. He dashed around to the monitor, watching as the TARDIS entered the Vortex, hurtling through it. He frowned, having no idea where it was headed, but watching.

A moment later the TARDIS flew out of the Vortex, heading for a small purplish planet with soft blue clouds. He squinted, watching as the TARDIS approached a small area on a little peninsula, zeroing in on a rather large building, before it appeared in the middle of an advanced sort of laboratory. He paused, looking at the door and back to the monitor a moment before dashing out.

He stepped cautiously out of the box, looking around at the darkened room. There were quite a few test tubes bubbling away, a small tube being fed through the bottom of a door at the side of the room and over to a two barrels in the corner. He walked over to them, sonicing the stopper of the barrel without the tube in it to open it before scanning inside. He looked at the results on the sonic, frowning, Krillitane Oil. He glanced at the tube running out of the second barrel, clearly they were mixing the oil with a secondary substance.

He glanced at the tube running out of it, under the door, a small amount of clear liquid dripping through it every so often. He crouched down and sonicing the tube. He eyed the results but was getting a rather odd reading, cerebral fluid. But why would Krillitanes need to mix such substance with their oil? What was the point? What's more…whose cerebral fluid was it?

He stood up and walked along the tubing to a very heavy-duty door. He frowned, pressing his ear against it and listening intently, there was a vague noise coming from behind it, the door being so thick that it muffled the noise quite a bit. He stepped back and soniced the lock, pushing the door open, only to stop dead.

There, strapped to an examination board with some sort of light above it, was a woman in a hospital-like gown, her arms and legs tethered to the board, needles sticking out of her shaved head, crying. He ran forward, not needing more than that image to kick him into motion.

"Hold on," he told the woman as he tried to unstrap her, straining with the bonds.

A moment later a computerized voice asked, "What is 1,364 times 585?"

He looked over his shoulder to see a small computer set up, asking a series of questions, before he felt the woman tense and scream in pain. He spun back around to see the telltale signs of electrocution in play.

"797,940!" she shouted after a moment of enduring the jolt's increasing voltage.

He watched in horror as the needles sucked the clear fluid, the cerebral fluid, from her head and shook his head. He quickly pulled out the sonic, flashing it at the computer, shorting it out…the light above her head as well as it appeared to be connected to the computer.

The woman groaned, her eyes closing tightly as the light shut off, the suppressing rays allowing her mind, her brainwaves, to flow outwards again.

His eyes widened, "Kata," he breathed, reaching out to her, his hand cupping her cheek hesitantly, unwilling to believe she was really before him, a Time Lady, the Professor, his best friend, the woman…the woman he loved…his hands hit flesh and he gasped.

She looked up, startled, possibly having believed the same, that he was a figment of her imagination and squinted through her tears, "Theta?"

He started to smile, "Yes, it's me," he nodded, cupping both her cheeks in his hands.

She gave a watery smile, "You found me…"

He nodded, stepping closer to rest his forehead against hers, "I will always find you…I promised didn't I?"

She groaned again, closing her eyes tightly at a very different pain. He stepped back, quickly sonicing the restraints, catching her as she fell out, holding her tightly in his arm. His breath caught in his throat as he saw the faint orange-gold light start to wrap around her. His jaw tensed as he scooped her up in his arms, carrying her bridal style back through the door and into the TARDIS, the only safe place for her to regenerate amidst the chemicals in the rooms.

He gently placed her on the floor of the control room, kneeling beside her to squeeze her hand, "I'm here," he whispered to her, before stepping back as she arched, the energy exploding out of her as she screamed.

As soon as the glow had disappeared, he was at her side again, gently picking her up into his arms as he looked at her. Her hair was blonde, as blonde as it had been when he'd first met her, she was pale, and she appeared to be a bit taller...which made the gown she was wearing seem a bit smaller than before...exposing more of her legs, which, admittedly, he'd always tried to trick her into skirts to see when they'd been on Gallifrey centuries ago...he shook his head, now was not the time to be noticing that...

She shifted slightly in his arms, her eyes, now a warm brown, fluttering open as she looked up at him, "Theta?" she breathed, reaching out a hand to touch his face, tears coming to her eyes as she met flesh, "It's really you…"

He nodded, "It's really me."

She started nodding along with him before her eyes fluttered closed again, the regeneration being too much for her. He laughed a bit, scooping her up more into his arms and standing. He stepped towards the console, gently placing her on the captain's chair, curled up. He moved to step away but she shifted, letting out a pained noise that broke his hearts. He slid off his jacket, draping it over her, watching with a small smile as she gripped the collar of it, bringing it closer as she turned slightly onto her side.

He reached out, brushing a hair behind her ear, feeling his hearts nearly bursting…she was back, she was alive, she'd survived the war. She was here!

She was here…

He blinked and looked out the doors of the TARDIS, still open from where he'd kicked them open.

She was here.

Here, where she'd been tortured. Where they'd been harvesting her cerebral fluid, a fluid that Time Lords produced when they thought. Where she'd been held captive with a brainwave suppressant keeping her from calling out for help…

His expression darkened as his hands clenched into fists...they'd hurt her...

~8~

Alarms were blaring as the Krillitanes raced into the lab, the security having been triggered, someone was snooping around where they shouldn't be. They burst into the lab, their bat-like personas out in full force as they hissed at the intruder.

The Doctor, leaning against the corner of the TARDIS, his arms crossed, switched off the sonic, the alarms turning off as he eyed them. He aimed it at them, clicking it, locking the door behind the aliens. He simply stood there, a hard look in his eyes before he simply turned, stepping into the TARDIS. He stormed over to the console, bringing up the monitor as he watched the Krillitanes searching the room, wanting to make sure he hadn't tampered with anything. They started screeching when they discovered the Time Lady was missing.

And then he pulled a lever.

Explosions blasted outside the TARDIS, the walls of the box keeping them safe even as he sent her off into the Vortex.

"You stopped them?" a weak voice called.

He looked over, the hardness in his eyes fading as he saw she was awake again. He walked over to her side, kneeling down before her on the captain's chair. He nodded, stroking her hair as she looked at him, tears and thankfulness in her eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered, reaching out to touch his face, stroking his cheek as she eyed him, "We're both at nine," she told him, taking in his appearance, which body he was on, "You saved me…" she smiled at him, an exhaustion in her eyes as she fought to remain awake, "You always save me."

He reached out and took her hand, pressing the back of it to the center of his chest, letting her feel his hearts beating, "You saved me first," he told her, "You saved so many of us during the war."

She shook her head, her eyes starting to flutter closed, "You saved me first," her words started to slur, "The moment...I met you..."

He watched as she fell asleep again, tears in his eyes at being reunited with her once more. He laughed a bit under his breath as he moved to pick her up again, they always seemed to find each other no matter what, no matter the odds or the circumstances…they'd promised after all, promised never to leave one another, to always find their ways back to each other if they were ever forced apart.

He walked through the halls of the TARDIS, stopping before a door as the TARDIS brought it up. He smiled, "Thanks," he called to the box as the door opened before him. He stepped in, smiling at the room beyond, decorated in light golds and blues. He moved over to the rather large bed, gently placing her down on it.

He moved to step away but she reached out quickly and grabbed his hand, even half asleep her reflexes were sharp as ever, "Stay…" she mumbled.

He laughed at the pout on her face, it was amazing, truly, to be able to laugh at that again…having thought it was gone forever…he helped move her a bit more to the side, crawling onto the bed beside her, holding her in his arms, much like they had done as children in the Academy, as he too drifted off to sleep…

~8~

He woke up to the feeling of something on his face, gently moving along it. He blinked a bit, looking over to see the Professor had awoken and had been lightly tracing the contours of his face, as though trying to memorize it.

"It wasn't a dream," he breathed, looking into her eyes, grinning, "It wasn't a dream!" and pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly as he laughed.

"Have you been dreaming about this often then?" she asked, laughing as well, with tears in her eyes.

"Every night," he admitted, whispering in her ear, still holding her close, in fact, he doubted he would ever let her go. He was being honest, not a night passed that he hadn't dreamed of doing something different. Of finding her on the battlefields and spiriting her away. Of following her when she'd been extracted from where his platoon had been stationed. Of somehow ending the war and saving her in the process. Losing her had been the most devestating thing to happen to him during the war. And if he were truly being completely honest...not even the death of the family he'd formed with his 'ex-wife,' his son and granddaughter, had broken him as completely as learning she had supposedly fallen in battle.

She was the Professor, his best friend on Gallifrey, the woman he loved, the woman he had fought in the war for. They had always promised to never leave each other, to always find their way back to each other. Even now, even after their planet had been destroyed, they'd still managed to keep the promise despite the near impossible circumstances.

He pulled away, thinking on that, "Kata…how did you survive?"

He needed to know. He'd been the one to Time Lock the planet, he'd thought she died before he had done it, but now, to find out that he'd nearly locked the planet away while she'd been alive, that he'd nearly trapped her in it...

She looked at him, tears in her eyes and he squeezed her hand, knowing how much she hated the war, what she had done, what she had become. She was an Academic, a student of the Academy who returned for more schooling, learning finer details of space and time. When the war began, all Academics were taken to a training facility, forced through intense regiments of weapons/combat/strategic training before they were forced to regenerate. An aftereffect of that had led to a new breed of elite Time Lord soldiers to fight on the front lines. She had been the best of the best, the last one to make it, the things she'd done…he'd seen millions of Daleks destroyed in a single go, their burning flesh raining down on the Time Lords, at her hand. And that hadn't been the worst of it, the utter destruction she had been able to bring upon the Daleks just by herself, the missions to assassinate sympathizers of the Daleks, the masterful traps she'd laid for their enemies…she had been a force to be reckoned with, a hardened soldier whose only mission had been to destroy the Daleks and anyone who joined them…and she'd hated it.

"I regenerated," she said, her voice a whisper.

"You?" his eyes widened, not expecting that.

She'd managed to outsmart the Daleks as they began to target other Academics, drawing them out and into traps. She'd adapted her weapons when they began to mutate and change their shared DNA. He'd heard stories of her blowing up scores of Dalek ships, or her tearing out the throats of the genetically manipulated beasts the Daleks had created to help them fight with her bare hands…to think of her, that soldier, regenerating, being hurt to that point…he couldn't see it happening. In fact, when he'd learned that the last Academic had fallen in battle, that she'd died entirely with no regeneration, something he now knew to be a ruse of the Daleks…he'd been heartbroken and truly stunned. At first he hadn't believed it was possible, actually leaving the battles and heading to the Citadel, barging into the High Council, demanding the truth…the Time Lords hadn't denied it.

It had been the last straw for him, he had to end the war once and for all. Just before he'd barged in, he'd heard the council discussing the 'Final Sanction,' destroying Gallifrey and the rest of the Universe by tearing apart the Time Vortex, and decided no more death. Traveling the Universe had been their plan since they were children, he was not about to let them destroy that too, not after that stupid war had taken her. He'd stolen an invention of hers, 'The Moment', the first Time Lock, and trapped the planet just after it destroyed itself. He could have tried to end the war another way, gone back in time and truly destroyed Davros before the Daleks grew in power, taken out the President and reclaimed the position, in the end he could have set the Time Lock to activate before the Final Sanction went into effect, but he'd wanted them to pay, he'd wanted the entire planet to pay for what they'd done to her, what they'd made her, for taking her from him.

"I heard you'd been in the Archives," she continued, pulling him from his thoughts, he looked over to see her giving him an understanding smile, she'd heard his thoughts, she knew what he'd done...and there she was, smiling at him, forgiving him, they'd both done terrible things during the war, "That no one saw you after that and I…I thought…" her voice cracked, "I thought you died, that the Daleks had gotten you and I…snapped…I went after them," she let out a soft chuckle, "Anger is always the shortest distance to a mistake…that proved it. I couldn't think, I just went there, to the Archives, and they were there and I was distracted looking for you and they surrounded me…"

"How'd you get away?" he asked, his arms tightening around her.

"Emergency teleporter. I got out and regenerated. That next body…I saw what I'd become, what our people were becoming…and I couldn't bear it. I wanted the war over. So I stole a shuttle," she nudged him, "Just like we used to do, and tried to go to the Eternals for help…but…I heard them dying and turned around. I was distracted and the Krillitanes attacked…they shot me and I started to regenerate…again," she scoffed a bit, "I was only her for 20 hours before I was someone else," she looked at him, "You can guess what happened next."

"They won't ever hurt you again," he promised her, looking her in the eyes, "I made sure of that."

She sighed a bit, "They had other barrels of Oil. Two had already been mixed with cerebral fluid and kept in another location. They wanted to mix the cerebral fluid of a Time Lady to their Oil to increase the mental capabilities of whoever ingested the Oil. They would talk, when they came to see my progress, they wanted to give it to children, they wanted to try and crack the Skasis Paradigm. Those barrels in the lab were the ones they intended to mix next. And I doubt ALL the Krillitanes came to investigate…"

His grip tightened, "I won't let them anywhere near you if they did survive. If we ever see them again, I'll destroy them too. No one is ever going to hurt you again Kata."

She smiled, hearing him call her by her true name, seeing the promise in his eyes, it was such a terrible thing to promise, to destroy others, but…she couldn't help but feel protected and safe at his words, "Thank you Theta."

He gave her a grin, "Now!" he cheered, getting up and pulling her up too, "Let's get you cleaned up. We've got the whole wide Universe to see!"

She laughed and let him pull her out of the room by the hand and towards the wardrobe.

~8~

The Doctor was leaning against the wall just outside the wardrobe, waiting for the Professor to finish picking out an outfit, when the door opened. He looked up, his eyes widening as he started to smile at the Professor as she stepped out. He couldn't help but look her over. Her hair was parted on the left, but hung over her right shoulder. She had on a gray dress that went down to just above her knees, buttoned up in the front, with sleeves that folded on the cuff just above her elbow. Over that she had a buttoned up black vest. She also had black boots that were just a few inches shorter than her knees.

"What do you think?" she asked, gesturing to herself and her clothes.

"It suits you," he smiled.

"You think?" she frowned, looking down at herself. It always took her a bit of getting used to after she regenerated.

He walked over, "I know something that'll help."

"What?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bracelet that seemed to be like braided metal with a small white diamond-like gem in the middle of it, "This."

Her eyes widened, "My bracelet!"

He grinned, reaching out to put it on her left wrist. It was the bracelet he'd given her when she turned 100, her first triple digit. She had given it back to him when he'd met her briefly during the war as a promise that she would survive and find him again, she'd want it back, now she had it, "Better?" he asked.

"Thank you!" she hugged him tightly. She'd seen quite a few odds and ends in the wardrobe, an old scarf she'd knit him once, a few other things she'd given him over the years, it seemed like he kept more than just the clothes.

"You're very welcome," he laughed. She smiled, just looking at him, "What?"

"You're so different," she remarked, reaching up to trace his face once more.

"Good or bad different?" he grinned widely.

"Good," she nodded, "Your smile is fantastic," he laughed a bit at his own word, but then she started laughing.

"What?"

"Who's got the schnoz now?" she asked, before dashing off in the direction of the control room. It had been a small joke between them ever since it came time for her to choose a name or title for herself. She'd nearly had a breakdown about what name to pick and had mentioned that the word schnoz had different meanings between species, how she didn't want to be known as 'big nose' the rest of her life, until he'd suggested she call herself 'The Professor' like she had mentioned he reminded her of Earth 'Doctors' when they'd met as children.

"Oi!" he laughed, rushing after her, ready and eager for their adventures to start.

A/N: This Professor is going to be quite different from the original series Professor, though there will be some similarities. For those who have read the original series, she will still be afraid of something, but it won't be thinking (to be explained later). And her appearance will be different as well. I feel like when the Time Lords regenerate it's based on what point/time in their life that they do. Like…your experiences make you who you are. You're a different person and react differently to things when you're 10 than when you're 20. I feel like, if the 10th Doctor had regenerated in Stolen Earth, that he wouldn't be the 11th Doctor that we know, but a slightly different person. The Professor regenerated much earlier than she had in the original series and I feel like that would make her a different person this time around in personality as well as appearance (there's also a tiny reason why she's blonde first, to be mentioned in Father's Day). And it is AU so it sort of works :) (the woman I picture as being close to the new 9th Professor is actress Sarah Carter).

I hope the 9th Doctor was believable in what he did to the Krillitanes. I feel like he could have done worse, said things to them, BUT he had a recently regenerated Time Lady (his best friend and beloved) to take care of and wouldn't have wanted to be away from her too long. And I don't think he would have trusted himself not to do something like slowly torture them if he stuck around longer.

I'm sorry this chapter was so late, I was debating posting this today, but then we made it to 25 reviews for Revision: The Dream Lady and thought, why not? I'm also sorry that it's so short, but since it only came in at the end of Rose, I sort of wanted them to get right into their adventures. They won't be jumping right into a relationship since they need just a bit more time to get to know the new thems and the Professor won't know what she's afraid of till she's confronted with it, which will be the next chapter. Since this WAS so short, I felt like I should post it today (after finishing Revision: The Dream Lady) instead of tomorrow, that way we can jump right into their adventures with them :)