A Question of Time

Author’s Note: Human Nature? Didn’t happen… er, well the Family did try to steal the Doctor’s life energy or whatever, but the Master got pissed and took the same vengeance the Doctor takes in actual series.

After insuring that someone would pick up the survivors of the ship which had almost crashed into the living sun, the TARDIS had taken a quick jump back in time and space, in order to pick up Ianto Jones, before they dove back into the Time Vortex.

There the ship stayed, idly floating in the Vortex as the crew ate dinner. They were sitting in one of the TARDIS’ dinning rooms, eating dinner while Rachel told Ianto about their adventures with the living sun.

It was a wonderful evening when the TARDIS ran into something, the resulting impact threw everyone inside to the ground and sent food flying into the air. As soon as the shaking stopped, the Master, the Doctor and Rachel were on their feet and running towards the control room, followed by Jack and Ianto, who hadn’t been able to get up as fast as the Time Lords and their daughter.

“What did we run into?” Ianto asked as the two Time Lords and Rachel began to run around the central counsel, checking to see what had happened. “I thought there wasn’t anything to run into…”

“A bump.” Rachel said, turning away from the controls to answer Ianto’s question. “The TARDIS travels through the Time Vortex and sometimes there are bumps and such in the Vortex itself.” Rachel explained.

“And we managed to hit one…” the Master sighed, rolling his eyes as he fiddled with the TARDIS.

“We really managed to bang her up this time…” the Doctor sighed, running a hand over the TARDIS’ controls. “We’re gonna have to go out of the Vortex and do some major repairs.”

As the Master and the Doctor worked on finding somewhere to set the TARDIS down, while Jack and Rachel started looking at the damage that had been done, while Ianto remained near the jump seat… when the TARDIS shook again, as if it had hit a second something.

“What’s happening now?” Jack asked from his position on the floor… the last time the TARDIS shook he hadn’t been able to grab on to something in time. A few seconds after Jack asked his question reality seemed to both slow down and speed up at the same time… while the TARDIS shook harder then it ever had before.

“I don’t know!” The Doctor replied as he struggled to gain control of his ship. Ianto was clinging to the jump seat, Jack managed to get up and grab hold of a pillar as Rachel attached herself to his side. The TARDIS continued to shake violently… but through it all the Master and the Doctor remained at the controls, the two Time Lords somehow managing to stay upright despite the turbulence.

Then, as if by some invisible signal, the TARDIS stoped shaking and everything was calm and quite again. “Now what was that all about?” the Doctor asked, talking more to his ship then anyone else. The Doctor was… well petting the central column when the group noticed a man pass by the Doctor, muttering and turning knobs.

The man wore a long white sweater, pinstriped pants, a hat with a red band and a cricket jumper… which had a stalk of celery where most men would place a flower. The man looked up at the Master and the Doctor, blinking in confusion before all three men spoke at the same time.

“What?!?”

Jack, Ianto and Rachel were just a confused as the group… when the Master suddenly smirked and a huge smile spread over the Doctor’s face.

“Who are you?” the man asked, staring straight at the Doctor.

“Oh… brilliant!” the Doctor laughed before he blinked cutely. “I mean, totally wrong, big emergency, universe goes bang in five minutes..”

“But brilliant.” The Master finished his mate’s sentence while Jack, Rachel and Ianto tried to figure out what was going on… and why the strange man was wearing a stalk of celery of all things.

“I’m the Doctor,” the stranger said, obviously getting angry, “who are you?!?”

“Yes you are.” the 10th Doctor stated, as the two humans and Rachel realized the stranger must be one of the Doctor’s past incarnations. “You are the Doctor.” the grin on the 10th Doctor’s face was reaching a size that Ianto would have thought was physically impossible.

“Yes I am the Doctor!” the other Doctor was clearly confused and annoyed with the other men in ‘his’ TARDIS.

“Oh good for you.” the Master smirked, clearly enjoying the past Doctor’s annoyance… probably it reminded him of some evil doings he’d preformed in the past, when both he and the Doctor wore different bodies.

“Is there something wrong with you two?” the past Doctor asked, apparently not having seen Ianto, Jack and Rachel.

“Oh!” the Master leaned over the 10th Doctor’s shoulder. “There it goes --- the frowney face!”

“I remember that one.” the 10th Doctor added, leaning back against the Master as the past Doctor frowned.

“Mind you, bit saggier then it ought to be…” the Master noted, poking the older Doctor’s face and checking out his hair line. “Hair’s a bit grayer.”

“That’s cause of me…the two of us together has shorted out the time differential.” the 10th Doctor explained, stepping over to the TARDIS’ controls and glancing over at Rachel.

Which one? she mouthed and her father held up five fingers… so it was his 5th incarnation that was standing in front of them.

“Should snap back in place when we get him home.” the Master added, looking down at the TARDIS’ monitor. “But look at him! The Hat, the Coat, the Crickety stuff…”

“The stick of celery.” Rachel deadpanned, walking over to help her father’s as the 5th Doctor stared at her. “Brave choice, celery… not a lot of men can carry off a decorative vegetable.”

“Shut up!” the 5th Doctor yelled, glaring at the Master, the 10th Doctor and Rachel in turn as Jack and Ianto just watched, Jack wishing he had some popcorn as the 5th Doctor whipped his hat off. “There is something very wrong with my TARDIS and I’ve got to do something about it very, very quickly. And it would help, it very really would help, if there wasn’t some skinny idiot ranting in my face about every single thing that happens to be in front of him!”

Rachel looked between the two Doctors as the 10th Doctor did his best to look chastised and the Master tried not to break down in a fit of laughter as the 5th Doctor went over to try and fix the TARDIS. “What have you done with my TARDIS?” He asked, looking around the room. “You’ve changed the desktop theme haven’t you? What’s this one--- coral?”

“Well…” the 10th Doctor started but was cut off.

“It’s worse then the leopard skin!” the 5th Doctor growled, taking out a pair of glasses and putting them on.

“Oh! And out they come--- the brainy specs!” the Master smirked. “He doesn’t even need them, he just thinks they make him look cleaver.” he explained to Rachel, who was now also trying not to laugh as the 10th Doctor bounced around like a hyperactive puppy… and an alarm went off.

“Level Five, temporal collision…” the 5th Doctor remarked. “It’s like two TARDIS have merged… but there’s only one TARDIS present!” He wiped some sweat off his brow. “It’s like two time zones at war in the heart of the TARDIS… that’s a paradox…could blow a hole in the space-time continuum the size of---” before he could finish Rachel swept the monitor over so the 5th Doctor could read it. “Well actually the exact size of Belgium...”

“Bit un-dramatic that.” Rachel remarked, as the 10th Doctor took out his Sonic Screwdriver.

“Need this?”

“No I’m fine.” the 5th Doctor remarked, leaning down to get to work.

“Oh of course, he mostly went hands free…” the Master remarked. “It was like ‘Hey, I’m the Doctor! I can save the universe using a kettle and some string… and look at me, I’m wearing a vegetable.’”

Rachel sniggered as the 5th Doctor glared at the Master before shifting his gaze back to the 10th Doctor. “Who are you?” he asked. “Your not… a fan are you?” he sighed in annoyance before rambling on about the fans that annoyed him…

“Listen to me!” the 10th Doctor sighed, pulling the 5th so that they were facing each other. “I’m you… you with a different face. Check out this bone structure Doctor because one day your going to be shaving it!”

From somewhere deep in the TARDIS a loud bell went off, spooking the 5th Doctor and sending a shiver down the Master and the 10th Doctor’s spine... “The Cloister Bell…” the 5th Doctor whispered.

“Right on time!” the 10th Doctor smiled and ran over to the controls. “That’s my cue!”

“What are you doing?” the 5th Doctor asked.

“Your TARDIS and this… well the same TARDIS in different points in it’s own time stream collided.” the Master replied as the 10th Doctor started to flick switches, announcing what he was doing as he did so.

The TARDIS shook and the 10th Doctor smiled as the 5th realized what had happened. “I’ve never met anyone else who could fly the TARDIS like that… how did you work it all out?”

The Master laughed. “He didn’t work it out.”

“I remembered because you will remember.” the 10th explained and a look of understanding washed over the 5th’s face.

“Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey!” the two said together as the TARDIS began to separate once more.

“Sorry, times up, back to long ago!” the Master smirked, handing the 5th Doctor his hat.

“Where are you anyway?” the 10th asked. “Cybermen? Time Lords with funny hats and the Master?”

“He just showed up again.” Rachel joked and the 5th Doctor raised his eyebrow in surprise.

“Really? Does he still have that rubbish beard?”

“No I don’t.” the Master sighed angrily and the 5th Doctor stared at him in confusion for a few seconds, before he started to slowly fade away, but the 10th Doctor delayed it for a moment so he could speak…

“You know… I loved being you.” the 10th Doctor smiled as Rachel came over to hug him and he hugged her back. “When I first started at the very beginning I was always trying to be old and grumpy and important, like you do when you’re young…and then I was you!” he smiled crazily. “And it was all dashing about and playing cricket and my voice going all squeaky when I shouted---I still do that, the voice thing, I got that from you. Oh,” the 10th Doctor quickly put his foot up so that his shoes could be seen… “and the trainers…and these!” he took out his glasses and put them on. “…because you know what Doctor, you were my Doctor…”

The 5th Doctor smiled. “To days to come.”

“All my love to long ago.” the 10th smiled as the 5th faded from view.

“So that was you?” Jack asked from the corner and the Master broke out in laughter.

“His fifth regeneration… you should have seen him when he was actually in it.” the Master whistled. “What a cuttie.”

“Hey!” the Doctor sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Well lets get out of the Time Vortex before anything else---”

Before he could finish his sentence there was a sound not unlike a fog horn and one wall of the TARDIS was suddenly blow away as everyone fell to the floor…. Embedded in the side of the TARDIS was the front of what appeared to be a ship and lying on the floor in front of Rachel and the Master was a life saver, with the word “TITANIC” printed on it.

“What?” the Master and Rachel said in unison, while Rachel looked down at the life saver in confusion.

TBC