3AN- I'll try not to make it a habit to make author's notes up here during this, but I figured I'd tell you... I'll reference the Doctors as Ten and Eleven when they're together, but when there's flashbacks or anything like that, the Doctor is just referenced as the Doctor. Just btw.
The eldest and most experienced of the two Doctors quickly made his way to his TARDIS, which was parked just outside one of the back doors of the establishment, in a dark alleyway. The others should catch up soon, he thought. In any circumstances, Amy knows where I'm parked, so she'll be able to lead them back.
In the end, he decided to wait for them all outside, instead of going in. He leaned up against his blue box. And while he stood there, arms crossed, he puzzled over recent events. He had once again met one of his past incarnations. Not at all UNUSUAL, per say, but it didn't occur that often. And on those rare occasions when it did, he had always had memory of said meeting. Having these memories had saved his lives on more than one occasion, such as the time when he used the memory of watching his older self expertly flying the TARDIS to his advantage, and ended up successfully separating the collided time capsules. This time however, there was nothing. There was no memories at all, not even a tiny glimpse. And it scared him.
If he couldn't even remember this moment, then there could theoretically be a whole pluther of things gone wrong. Yes, time can be rewritten, the phrase had been pounded senseless into his head over his long existence. But might it change things in a way that wouldn't be for the better? Maybe if time changed to allow for this series of events, then he wouldn't have been there when Davros and the Daleks invaded Earth that one time. Maybe the Master would have successfully implanted himself into every single Time Lord. Maybe he wouldn't have even met Amy, Rory, and River. Maybe... (and this was such a hard thing to think about) he wouldn't have even lived to this age. In theory, anything could change.
Eleven then stuffed all of these worried thoughts in the back of his head as he saw two laughing gingers nearing his location...
(Elsewhere...)
"Hey, Donna... How did you meet the Doctor?" came her sudden question, as they walked at a slow pace behind Ten.
"It's a long story, really," replied Donna, smoothing her hair behind her back. "To tell the truth, I just got sorta zapped up into the TARDIS on my wedding day... What a MESS that was!"
"You're kidding? How did you get in there?"
"I don't know! The Doctor explained it to me once, but you know him... Give him the chance, and he'll go all spaceman on you!"
Both woman laughed at this, and Ten took a passing moment to turn around and flash a hurt expression towards them.
"Oi, I'm not that bad!" he insisted.
"Oh, you SO are!" retorted Donna, Amy cracking up now. "I can't even begin to understand half the words out of your mouth!"
"I'm just not gonna argue..." muttered Ten, shaking his head and walking off in a completely different direction.
"Well, were does he think he's going?" Amy asked, a grin crossing her face.
"Hmm..." Donna thought out loud. "Probably going off to the other TARDIS to sulk. Cause he knows I'm right..." At this, the two gingers started snickering again.
By the time both women had made it to Eleven and his TARDIS, they were almost reduced to tears. The older Time Lord was left standing there clueless to their antics as they continued to laugh, muttering something about trench coats and fezzes and poor fashion sense. When they had both regained their stature, the two looked up, only to find him propped up at the side of his ride, arms crossed.
"So I see you two are friends," he said, a smirk close by. Amy and Donna just gleamed at each other innocently. "Where's your Doctor?" Eleven asked, nodding at Donna. She glanced around, shaking her head.
"Obviously not here. I saw him slink off a bit ago, he WAS ahead of us."
"Maybe he got lost," Amy supplied.
"Maybe, just maybe... he snuck off to go get his overcoat?" came a familiar voice from behind the group. The three turned around, and there was Donna's Doctor, now outfitted in his long brown coat, fitting snugly over his suit. He walked up and joined the other members of the small band of time travelers. "Sorry about that. I hadn't been expecting to be out so long. Anyways, the TARDIS, eh? She looks a bit different," he noted, stroking her side gently.
"It's my fault, really," replied Eleven, coming up beside Ten. "I crashed her..."
The group patiently waited for him to complete his sentence. Amy had a small smirk on her face.
"Into her shed," he finished, gesturing over to Amy. "Anyhow, you ready for this?"
"Yep."
"Always."
The eldest of the bunch snapped his fingers, the door of the TARDIS opening immediately. Everyone made their way inside. Eleven and Amy hopped right up to the console, being quite familiar with the time capsule. Meanwhile, Ten and Donna stood silent in the doorway, checking out the place. They were silent for quite a few seconds, taking time to appreciate the new environment. Donna looked rather thrilled with it, but it was hard to tell what HE was thinking... Ten currently had one of those facial expressions that was rather hard to identify.
"Well," he muttered, speaking up. "Quite a bit different, then, I guess."
"Do you like her?" Eleven asked hastily.
"Well, I kinda liked her better when the desktop was set to-"
Realizing the stupidity of his question, Eleven interrupted him. "Hold on, wait a tick... Well, THAT was a rubbish question, now wasn't it? Do you LIKE her? Of COURSE you'll like her, I like her, so when you're me you'll like her, and oh great, look at me, I'm rambling! Nothing much changes, does it?"
Amy started snickering, while the Doctor's younger incarnation just smirked in agreement. Donna supplied a small smile, taking a step towards the Time Lord, and gazing up into his greenish eyes.
"I don't think you ever change, you dumbo," she said quietly. "Even with regeneration. Now come here, you. I don't do this often, but you're needing a hug, I can tell. You've been practically begging for once since you arrived here!"
"Yes, ma'am," Eleven replied with a slight salute, as he stepped forward to receive a hug from one of his best friends. Her arms reaching loose but firm around his lanky frame, he almost had forgotten over these past few years just how brilliant Donna was. Donna Noble... The most important woman in the universe, just for one shining moment... Well, never mind that. To him, she still was the most important woman in the universe. Along with all the rest of his friends.
"It's a rare day when she gives ME a hug..." Ten leaned over while watching this, whispering to Amy.
"Don't worry..." she replied with a small smile. "In the future, you'll get regular hugs!"
At this point, Donna glanced up at the Doctor, who was more hugging HER now rather than her hugging HIM. One thing she had noticed about this Doctor was that he was a tight hugger. She could barely breathe! She glanced up at him with a look of urgency and surprise.
"Um, Doctor... Donna needs to breathe!" she said, wriggling hastily out of the embrace.
"Oh. Yes... Sorry!" Eleven stumbled backwards into the console, pausing for a moment to take a break. His eyes stopped on his younger incarnation, and he gazed at him with a serious glint in his old eyes. "So Doctor... Seriously... What do you think...?"
"About what?" Ten asked, stepping up to the console, Amy following. "The TARDIS, your choice of attire, why I even followed myself into my own TARDIS? Why we're even here?" He stopped.
"No, no, no, I mean, has there been anything strange, anything weird? Anything out of the ordinary? Donna?"
"No..." Donna said. "There's been nothing. Not even anything remotely strange. We haven't even run into a rut for about a week." Nodding slowly, Eleven then motioned over to Ten.
The younger Doctor took a thoughtful glance up, thinking hard. "Not anything to my knowledge..." he replied finally. "You?"
"Nothing much for me, either..." Eleven replied, deep in his mind. Something HAD to of happened. Why else would he have absolutely no memory of these events? Donna never saw this... HE never saw this. He would have thought he would remember a meeting with an OLDER incarnation. Yes, yes, time can be rewritten, he knew that, but if that was, then the new memories were sure taking their own sweet time catching up with him. He was aroused when Amy shook his arm.
"Doctor, what about the turbulence?"
"Turbulence?" he repeated, turning around to face her. Amy raked her fingers through her hair.
"You know, when we landed!"
Turbulence. When we landed... Turbulence, in the TARDIS, when we landed...
(Hours earlier in the TARDIS)
"Doctor!"
"Just hang on, Amy! Find something to hang on to, and you'll be fine!"
There was a sudden jolt in the TARDIS, one that sent Amy reeling into the railing, and almost swept the Doctor off his feet. Luckily, the console was there for him to cling to, and he stuck to its side, trying hard to stay upright. As the turbulence continued, there was another big jolt, and the TARDIS was sent spinning in a fast clockwise circle. Amy gave a squeal as she hung on to the system of poles surrounding the raised platform the main console was on. Looking down, she sure hoped she didn't let go. It would probably be a four to five foot drop.
She managed to successfully twist her head towards the Doctor without straining it due to the turbulence, and shouted over to him. "Doctor, why is there this much turbulence?"
He spared only a second to glance quickly her way before putting his full attention back to the console. "I do not know!" he replied loudly, trying to pilot the TARDIS expertly through a hornet's nest of bumps and obstacles. They were sent bouncing up and down, attaching themselves to any surface they could to keep upright. Any let a loud cry loose suddenly, the exhilaration of it all finally catching up with her. They were probably about to crash, but that didn't mean that it wasn't exiting.
The lights in the TARDIS began to flicker on and off, and even the central column was losing its
color. This continued for about a minute, the poor old dear groaning and wheezing as they were shaken to pieces all about her console room. And then with a large thud, the major turbulence stopped, leaving the two practically head-over-heels in the time capsule. The Doctor had been clinging to the pull down monitor that could come down from above the console. And although she was a tough old thing, it honestly wouldn't have surprised him one bit if he had accidentally broke the monitor off its hinges.
Amy meanwhile, was still stuck to the railing like a fresh wad of gum. It didn't look like she planned on moving too quickly, either.
They sat there in those positions for a second. The turbulence did not do anything else. They had stopped. The Doctor took that time to pull himself up and flip on the handbrake, efficiently parking the TARDIS, and then sidestepped over to Amy. She stood up carefully, trying hard to detach herself from the pole. Laughing, she walked to the console slowly, legs still shaking like jello.
"Well, that's something new!" she exclaimed, eyes gleaming.
The Doctor twisted his body to face hers, eyes just as bright in agreement with her. There was, however, a smidge of nervous hesitancy in them. Turning back to the mechanics in front of him, he began surveying the console, making sure that nothing had gone out. "I'm not sure what just happened," he mumbled as he stepped around the platform, being sure that everything was in check. "But it doesn't seem like it had any effect... My best guess, what we just stumbled through is a little something called a gravity bubble."
"What's a gravity bubble?" Amy asked, acting blasé at the whole
situation.
"Not... important..." the Doctor replied quietly, pulling the monitor that he had clung to earlier down to his eye level. It was a bit loose, and squeaked on its hinges. "Ooh, a bit wobbly, then.. I'll have to fix that later. But! What IS important is a question! Where are we?"
Amy opened her mouth to say something, but he immediately interrupted.
"No, no, I know where we are. At least, I hope I know where we are!" The Doctor leaped down off the platform, swiping his long dark coat off the hat rack he had by the door, and quickly slipped it over his braces. He made his way to the door, and then stopped, holding onto the door handle with one hand. He swiveled on his feet to face Amy once more. She caught sight of his eyes, a mixture of green and grey, gazing up at her.
"You coming?" he asked, hand still on the door.
"Where?"
"Well, if I'm right, then we're exactly where I wanted to be! A museum!"
"Oh, how am I not surprised?" Amy groaned. She could almost already feel the boredom seeping through.
"Cheer up, Pond. It's not that boring. I'll only be in there for a little while, anyways, and then I'll show you something exciting. Deal?"
"Deal," she replied quietly. "But why did you want to come here, anyways?"
"Ah, that? There's just something that I've wanted to find..."
"What?" she asked, her curiosity suddenly perked.
"Oh, I'll show you when I have it in my hands. Where it hasn't been for hundreds of years now..."
"What is it?"
"I was wanting to retrieve it a long time ago," the Doctor continued, ignoring Amy's pleas of curiosity, "but I kept on forgetting about it. Or something would come up. Or all of the above... Now, are you coming, or not?"
He did an about-face, opening the door and peaking out. Giving a cry of triumph that he was in the right place, he continued out the wooden door and to the alleyway directly outside. Amy was left standing in the TARDIS, not quite sure what had just happened. She called out to him.
"Doctor? We pretty much crashed here! Don't you think that might be a bad..." She stopped, exasperatedly dragging her feet on the floor beneath her, and then groaned. "You know what? Fine. Yeah, let's just walk into a museum somewhere in Britain and ask to fob off with one of their artifacts. That's so like you..."
And with that, Amy picked up her feet and ran out the door behind the Doctor, joining him. As it turned out, it wasn't even daytime there. It was night. Coming up to the door, the Doctor had to use his sonic to receive access...
(in the TARDIS, present)
"And then I appeared?" Ten asked, as Amy and his older incarnation finished telling him about the events that had occurred up to then. He was sitting contentedly on the jump seat, bent over with his head in his hands. Donna stood close nearby, propped up on one of the stairs.
"Yeah," Amy muttered. "That's when you two came into the picture. And you didn't even notice us at first!"
"To me, it was like seeing two people suddenly pop up from the middle of nowhere," Donna added. "At first, I thought you were ghosts or images or something..."
Ten shrugged, sitting back in the seat. "I really didn't know what to think. Once you've lived as long as I have, you learn to expect the impossible. And here I am right now in the company of myself!" He gestured towards Eleven, who just gave a short nod. He had been unusually quiet during all of this, only interrupting to clarify a subject of confusion, or to add a small note of interest. Ten continued, standing up from the small jump seat.
"But there's something wrong here!" he exclaimed. "Something little, some tiny detail just nagging at me!" He whipped around to face the older Time Lord, startling him. "You! You said that you couldn't remember this-"
"No, not a thing..." he supplied, unsure as to where his younger incarnation was taking this.
Ten walked up to him, stopping right in front. "Then maybe this was supposed to happen."
Eleven stood there, the gears in his head turning as he imputed this into his brain. The room was quiet in courtesy as he thought. "You know," he said suddenly, breaking the silence, "you've got a valid point! That's about what I've come up with, sitting here and thinking while you lot are doing whatever you've done. Except I don't think it limits itself there..."
"What are you thinking then, Doctor?" asked Amy, standing on the sidelines.
"I think that this is something I have to fix, some specific trouble point in the universe that always, always happened the wrong way." He paused, taking a breath, and giving two of the others a time to digest that information. "Basically, I think that this is a fixed point in time."
AN- Okay, so I'm not quite sure when I'm gonna get up the next bit. I've been dumped with homework lately, (homework that I actually should be doing right about now...), and I've only just gotten this piece done. Remember, I'm constantly revising this as I go along, so don't worry! But I've been working hard on this, and I've got it completely plotted out. It's pretty exiting. It just needs to get up to speed. So please review! :D Cause maybe if you do, I'll get out the next bit earlier than expected! It only takes 5 minutes of your day to make an author's whole day... :D
~x Savannah x (peace, love, and DW!)