Hanger - TARDIS

[makeherblue]

[Takes place right after clone plot and arriving back on Stacy. After there]

“First sharks and now explosions!” The Doctor held up his ruined sonic screwdriver and turned it in the light. “I’ll have to proof against both, I suppose.”

He crossed the Hanger in long strides, expecting Otter Soother Daniel Jackson to keep up. Daniel had held himself rather well during the whole clone thing and what was more, he even saved his sonic for him! The Doctor found himself feeling rather fond of the human right this moment. Good man! Resourceful! But also being annoyingly close-mouthed about what he might have picked up from that encounter with the Other Doctor, which was surprising because he thought he knew humans and if there was anything he learned from all his time amongst them, it was they loved talking almost as much as he did! Questions in particular were their favorite, no matter how obvious or rhetorical or downright silly. Big big fan of the obvious questions. Basically they were a chatty species.

Part of the reason why he’d asked Daniel to come with him to the TARDIS.

If he was lucky, Daniel would tell him what he’d seen from that clone on his own, given enough time and company.

The Doctor was tucking the sonic back into his pocket when they came into sight of the TARDIS. He only paused for the briefest of beats as he took in the fact the old girl’s doors were wide open, positively gaping open! This wasn’t looking very looked out after and he wondered if maybe Jamie’s memory retention was failing thanks to him being an ex-dead man. Clearly the human needed a talking to! He approached cautiously, poking his head inside.

Everything in the console room looked in order, if you ignored the suspicious trail of foam cups leading away from the door and a few minute scratches on the glass which he knew for a fact hadn’t been there since he last checked. The Doctor’s lips pursed as he peered about, head weaving as he checked under the control console and then straightened. Where was Jamie? In fact, where were the rest of his friends?

“Better have a look around,” the Doctor lied, perhaps too cheerfully. “Long time away from home and I’m afraid River’s gone and organized things. I’m very specific on my organization system, I’ll have you know.”

He made a vague shooing motion at Daniel.

((So basically this is thread two, with the Doctor/Daniel/Rory jumping into a TARDIS taken over by the Master. Since the Master can switch up rooms (up to the players in the threads for what's wrong with the rooms) and trap people/shift people around, I guess assume timey-wimey things to allow different characters to stumble into each other? But yeah, I guess do subthreads for characters stumbling and we can subthread different people running into them.

I think we're looking at people in the TARDIS as: Victoria, Martha, The Master, River, Jamie, Doctor, Daniel, Rory, Amy, Eva. If I missed anyone, poke me!))

Comments

Maybe example of how it might be easier for timey-wimy? [The Doctor]

[makeherblue]

The Doctor

Re: Maybe example of how it might be easier for timey-wimy? [The Doctor]

[hi_there_aliens]

Daniel had been quiet, more or less, ever since coming back from Galilee. Aside from talking with Eva and Jr. Daniel buried himself in his work. Or he tried to. As much as he tried, he couldn't get those memories out of his head. Over and over he kept seeing that unnamed red planet dying underneath him, just like that Empress and her children, and he had to wonder at the crushing sorrow that followed the first, and the way he hadn't felt a thing at the second. Daniel had to admit, he wasn't getting anywhere on his research once he got back. He'd be reading up on the different protests against early cloning when he'd be back on the TARDIS, with the ship ripping around him.

After several more minutes of trying again, Daniel pushed his work aside. He knew a lost cause when he saw one. This was definitely a lost cause. He got to his feet, and changing clothes, left to track down the Doctor.

The Doctor had said he'd "explain later", which Daniel fully intended to make good on. Now that there wasn't a war going on around them, as Daniel figured it, the Doctor wouldn't have any excuse to duck out of it. Besides, he had something of his to return to him.

Now he had to rethink his odds of getting his questions answered. The first sign of trouble was the fact that the TARDIS doors were sitting wide open. The second sign of trouble was the Doctor's reaction, as if he'd just stumbled onto the possibility someone had broken in, entered, and made off with all his credit cards, but he wasn't sure yet. The third sign was the Doctor trying to play it smooth. He didn't believe this was River's work for one second.

Still, this time Daniel wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer because at this rate, he'd never get any work done if this kept up. He was going to stick to the man like glue until he answered his questions. Daniel pretended as if he didn't understand the "shoo" motion.

"Sure you don't want any help?"

Re: Maybe example of how it might be easier for timey-wimy? [The Doctor]

[makeherblue]

The Doctor turned as he was about to duck one of lengths of twine spinning off toward one of the doors, as if surprised to hear that Daniel hadn't shooed like he was supposed to. No, he had to be brilliantly human and if it wasn't falling into place with the rest of humanity, it was striking out on his own! It was one of those endearing human traits -- this need to see the why, the how, even if whatever animal instincts they still had were going off about important things like fight-or-flight responses and general survival.

To put it shortly: humans were some of the best adventurers the Doctor had the privilege of knowing.

The only problem was they tended to adventure right off cliffs and into hungry Murk dens (things of that nature, more often than not in their enthusiasm), and while he respected Daniel's sudden need to adventure right now, he didn't trust the human to do it alone in the TARDIS. Obviously the shoo hadn't worked. Maybe he was losing his shooing skills. Worrying about that for a long moment, the Doctor frowned at Daniel.

Well! He thought he knew that look in Daniel's face. Looked rather like Amy's when she had to go all Scottish at him. Either he took Daniel along or Daniel was going to come anyway.

The Doctor laced his fingers in front of him, thought better of it and then unlaced them, all almost bird-like fidgets.

"...I could use another pair of hands, on second thought. Now, stay close behind me and I'd really advise against wandering or adventuring off. Tricky place, the TARDIS."

He squinted at Daniel and then wheeled around on the heel of his boot, marching toward one of the open doors. Ideally he'd be able to keep Daniel from adventuring off any cliffs that might have popped up in the TARDIS. That or at least have him adventure in the safest direction possible. The Doctor led the way down the corridor, keeping alert. The TARDIS felt...off. That old familiar drone in the walls, the kind that humans didn't always hear, felt warbly to him. On edge.

FOR LATER

[syncopath]

The Master had long since found something in the wardrobe more suitable to his tastes (if you'll forgive the pun). Although the material this ship had so graciously forced upon him seemed to stubbornly refuse removal. Now he tugged restlessly at the Venusian-style suit he'd eventually just put on over the other, as he prowled around what must have been the Doctor's study. Surely there must be an answer in here somewhere, some reason why the TARDIS didn't budge no matter what the Master tried.

And then he caught sight of something familiar, stowed away in the back of one of the drawers like an afterthought. Something that looked suspiciously like the remnants of his laser screwdriver. The Master pulled it out, hearts beating rapidly... and noticed that several key components had been unceremoniously ripped out.

Oh, if the Doctor had chosen anything less as an insult. The Master laughed long and hard.

Re: FOR LATER

[makeherblue]

Nearly falling through not one, but several holes in the floor and nearly breaking his neck wasn't even the strangest thing about his day. Neither was the fact that he was almost certain the Zero Room had tried to smother him in those bubbles Jamie had thought nice and harmless, and really, the thing was they didn't look quite as friendly when they were trying to crowd you and turn you into a permanent fixture. It wasn't that.

It was the journal pages.

Those impossible, downright personal pages about all his lives, hacked out on paper by the man he wished he could be. It was the closest thing to the naked truth as he could get.

The Doctor couldn't tell just yet just how cross he was. Wary, yeah. Bit wary. You'd be stupid not to be wary about something like this, no matter how long you lived. Not many people out there in the universe knew about the Journal of Impossible things, much less which pages to scatter about that, as if whoever was doing it knew exactly where he'd go when he wanted to prove a point and not follow the paper cup trail. He supposed if it'd been any other day he would've found the challenge refreshing. Almost like an invitation of sorts. The very definition of interesting. But the fact of the matter was someone, or something, was roaming about in the TARDIS and they knew enough to not only plot out where he'd go, but also how to change the room settings. Playing with him. That was the niggling feeling he had: being toyed with.

The hallway to his private study had a small pile of journal pages, far more in one spot than the other places he'd tried. The faces of some of his companions stared up at him from the floor. Old friends. New ones. Old loves you never quite got over. The Doctor scooped them up, folding them carefully and putting them into his pocket. This had gone far enough.

He pushed open the study door just in time to hear someone laughing. Someone just as impossible, if not more, than those journal pages. Someone who should all rights be dead. Given how the dead had a habit of popping up on Stacy -- look at his ex-dead Scot -- the Doctor supposed he shouldn't be surprised.

Walking in on the Master, looking much better than the last time they met, was enough of a shock to make both his hearts jump in his chest. He tried to ignore the thundering in his ears, the realization sinking in that he wasn't the last Time Lord left. Funny, it didn't feel like he expected it to. He wasn't even sure what he felt right now, because even angry wasn't doing it for him.

The Doctor stopped just inside the study.

"Ah," he said, trying to play it as if of course the Master would be here. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

River

[hullo-sweetie.livejournal.com]

Right! Well, so far she'd been following this damn trail of foam cups - which she'd assumed that Jamie had laid out for a reason, instead of to just drive her bonkers.

Something wasn't right though. Something didn't feel right. She had this niggling feeling in the back of her head that something was wrong. That same feeling she got every time the Doctor drove the TARDIS with the brakes on. Only, much worse.

"Jamie? You alright?"

Re: River

[makeherblue]

The series of thuds and "whoops" and "I'm certain that wasn't there before" tipped off River that this wasn't Jamie.

Not by a long shot.

The last thud was more of a surprised whud as part of the ceiling suddenly caved in, showering the floor below with crusty bits of TARDIS and other odds and ends and probably-essential-parts-further-down-the-line. The Doctor tried to cling to a ceiling that was now sporting a fashionably big hole, his legs kicking for purchase as he tried to hold on tight as he could. He wheezed and grunted as he tried to haul himself up. Obviously he hadn't had the time to spot River: give him a second or two.

As old as the old girl was, the Doctor was sure she wasn't supposed to go caving in like that. The paper cup trail hadn't led up into that air duct but if there was anything he disliked more than apples and stupid questions, it was being pointed toward the painfully obvious direction. Loads of things you could miss if you just went where people told you to. In his experience, it was usually worth the detour to go the more scenic route. Today...might not be one of those days, the Doctor slipping and sliding toward the edge of the hole as he started to lose his grip.

[hullo-sweetie.livejournal.com]

Naturally, she recognized that voice long before she was able to see him and gravitated in that direction. When she found him, hanging on to a piece of ceiling with those gawky legs of his dangling and kicking, she was quite sure that this situation shouldn't be as humorous as she found it to be. He was in real danger of falling, but the distance to the more stable floor below him wasn't far enough to be too dangerous to his health.

"Doctor?" She can't quite hide that concerned note in her voice as she stands below him. Watching his fingers slip-slide dangerously. "Let g-oomph!" No sooner had she tried to coax him down did he come crashing down ontop of her. The solid weight of his body knocking the air from her lungs. He knocked her to the ground and landed solidly overtop of her.

When she regained her breath, she notices his face was less then an inch from her own. Really, this was like a complete reverse of that time she'd jumped out of that ship.

"I'm flattered, Doctor....but you're quite heavy."

And later on...

[bonnypiperlad]

River's search for Jamie wasn't entirely in vain. Eventually the confusing trail of cups ended at the edge of a catwalk, a slender one stretching above a drop that led who knows where. The Scot was there, standing stock still and staring down into the darkness. Not even the familiar orange glow reached that far. At the voice, however, he turned towards her, an alarmed look on his face.

"River, stay back!" Even that small movement caused the metal walkway to creak in a very unhealthy sounding way, and it swayed alarmingly, in a way it really shouldn't. From here, he could see where the supports had been weakened. Too much weight, and the whole thing would collapse. He was light enough - barely - that it still held together for now, but if anyone else set foot on the thing...

"It'll fall if ye come any further."

Daniel Jackson - open to anyone

[hi_there_aliens]

How did he manage to lose the Doctor? And now where was he? Because if he wasn't imagining things, he was looking at a swimming pool in a library.

He'd been lost in tombs before. Okay, not so much lost as in temporarily waylaid. Daniel had been in enough tombs and there usually was a method to them, one that became apparent if you kept your head about you and didn't panic. Panicking could easily get you trapped, and probably end up as a surprise find for future archaeologists. Daniel didn't panic when he got sidetracked in tombs. He knew a way back, and if not, he could easily find it.

The big difference was that humans were just that, humans, and hadn't exactly developed the technology to make something "dimensionally transcendental". Keeping a cool head around Egyptian tombs and knowing what you were doing meant you probably weren't going to get lost down there forever. There was only so far humans could physically build something. Unfortunately Daniel knew that whoever was behind the TARDIS wasn't human. This really could go on forever and ever. He kept an eye on the thin twine going through the shelves like it was a lifeline.

He thought he heard something. Daniel turned, looking around. Better not to surprise anyone else that might be here. "Hello?" And that sounded like those cheesy horror films, the ones he tried to avoid. "My name is Daniel Jackson," and I 'm actually not an explorer from Earth at the moment. "Are you lost? Do you need help?"

AHAHAHAHHA

[syncopath]

"Help?" the Master mused, busying himself with perusing one of the bookshelves and frowning at the twine.

"No, I don't think so. You, on the other hand..." And he smiled congenially, as if he belonged here. As if he'd always belonged. "Are you a friend of the Doctor's?" Last he'd checked, this man hadn't been in the TARDIS' data banks, but the Doctor did have a habit of picking up strays.

Jamie

[bonnypiperlad]

There's an empty-handed Scotsman wandering the corridors, the supply of cups he had been 'asked' to distribute long since gone. The urge to go and get more was strong, however, and Jamie decided to find his way back to the room where they're stored.

He could have sworn it was down the corridor with the alcoves along the wall, but when he made his way to where it had been, the hallway in question was no longer there. Instead, a unremarkable series of walls lay before him, the roundels on them looking exactly the same no matter which way he turned when he came to an intersection.

Even trying to backtrack had no results, and Jamie was beginning to get the feeling he was wandering the same stretch of corridor over and over. As he turned left for what seemed like the thirtieth time, he wondered if he'd figure his way out of wherever he was - or even if he'd ever see anyone again.

"Och, not another one," he muttered, as he came across yet another stretch of similarly-featured walls. He stopped and started rummaging through his sporran. "There's got to be something in here I can use to make a trail..."

I CAN TYPO GUD :|

[makeherblue]

A door burst open behind Jamie, the very same door that hadn't been there two seconds ago.

The Doctor stumbled out of the door snapping closed on his heels, nearly tripped, and caught himself neatly as if that was precisely what he intended to do in the first place. Fresh perspective on things when you had a decent half-trip over your own feet! Or at least that was what he would insist if anyone asked, the Doctor straightening to brush himself off, his hair puffing out after trying to fight his way through a wind-tunnel that hadn't been there last time he'd gone this way and so far he had established he wasn't shark proof, otter proof or hurricane proof. He tried in vain to smooth it back into place as he turned at the voice muttering off to the side.

Jamie McCrimmon! The very human he'd been looking for! That and his...unfortunate paradox still loom over his shoulder, still wanting desperately to kill the Scot and restore Time, but at the moment, Jamie was right where the Doctor wanted him.

Of course he lost Daniel Jackson in the process, he wasn't sure how, but he was (mostly) certain he could find the human once he sorted out the TARDIS's hiccups. The Doctor made right for his Scot. The hair would have to wait.

"Did the definition of 'look out for the TARDIS' change while I was gone? Or is this one of those human things? I know, memory, faulty, you're only human, but really. I know you humans aren't that bad off!"

Re: Jamie

[hi_there_aliens]

Daniel seemed to materialize out from one of the walls, and turned, staring back the way he came. This place was getting weirder by the second. He'd already been worried about moving doors, but having walls count as exits now? At least he wasn't alone. John was...somewhere, and so was the Doctor. It was just the chances of finding them again were starting to look astronomical.

The wall stared back at him, as solid as it was a few seconds ago, as if agreeing with him that yes, he was so screwed.

That was when he heard someone grumbling nearby. Daniel rounded the corner to find the man from earlier, the one with the kilt, bent and rummaging through something. The one Daniel had embarrassed himself in front of. Luckily, he was thinking things were looking bad enough that wasn't going to be an issue at the moment. Daniel moved closer. "Jamie? Is that you?"

Eva

[vissernone.livejournal.com]

For some reason, Eva thought it would be a good idea to go to the TARDIS after her little foray in GLaDOS. Something about the mazes reminded her of the insides of the so-called Phantom Tollbooth, and she thought it would be a good idea to talk over her little adventure with someone intimately familiar with unusual architecture.

Turns out that this was a terrible idea. She's lost. Not that that should surprise her, but she's somehow gotten herself turned around in that room with the giant stairs, although currently it is sans coffee cups.

There are doors embedded horizontally on the floor, as if someone had taken the room and tipped it ninety degrees.

Swearing to herself in very loud and argumentative Spanish, she tries to tug it open. Locked. Clearly the solution is to swear at it more.

"Is anyone in here? Doc? Nurse Williams?"

Re: Eva

[hi_there_aliens]

Daniel came up around the bend behind her, just in time to see a woman, her back to him and hunched over, trying to tug a door open and swearing in some very colorful Spanish. The archaeologist had to stop for a second. How many people had gotten lost in the TARDIS? That was up there with "How are we going to get out of here?" and "How do we stop more people from wandering in and getting just as lost?" This could turn into a police box shaped black hole that had a knack for sucking people into it.

Although he had thought the Doctor had closed the door but he'd been so preoccupied with the Doctor's reaction to the doors being open in the first place, and his own questions, that he had to admit, he hadn't paid that much attention to that one detail.

"Eva?" Daniel asked from where he stood. "What are you doing here?"

[bonnypiperlad]

One of the doors in the floor abruptly opens, a sleeve of coffee cups popping up through it before being nudged off to one side by someone's hand. The owner of the hand follows the cups' example. Unfortunately, it's neither the Doctor or Rory.

Instead, a young man with brown hair appears in the opening and starts to climb through it. However, the abrupt influx of irritated sounding Spanish makes him pause, and he winds up looking over at Eva in a rather confused sort of way.

"Hey? How'd ye get in here?"

Re: Eva

[makeherblue]

One of the doors bangs open almost right under her feet. A pair of hands grope about.

"Eva? Spanish like that, I'm assuming Eva, unless Daniel's gone and had a few...changes. Among other things, although -- Right! Eva! Could you help me up? A hand up, even. Or a leg! But I'd rather prefer a hand, if given the choice and -- "

The Doctor tries to pull himself up, but it seems like he's having a hard time just holding onto that bit of door in the first place. If Eva were to peek over into the door, there's something that looks like a mix between a giant plant and bits and pieces of one of the side libraries trying to drag him back in. A string of brochures and collected short stories have wrapped themselves around his legs as he slips again.

He knew he should've jettisoned that particular library. Always suspected it had it out for him, what with the way it would lose books on him, and know he knew he wasn't just being paranoid.

Or someone, somehow, is playing with the TARDIS's controls and turned it into a death trap with a sense of humor, and he's going to fib like there's no tomorrow if that comes up after Eva's rescued him. Part of it's out of sheer pride. Most of it's because that's really just more than Eva ought to know, given he's supposed to be in control of his own ship.

Rory - Late to the trap party

[theboywhowaits]

His ribs felt slightly better after a night's rest, burn almost completely healed. The blisters he'd forgotten about completely until he decided to walk across the ship.

He paused in the doorway, suddenly glad for the presence of his sword at his side, hand falling to the hilt and baring an inch of steel. "Doctor? Amy? Jamie?" He frowned, eying the foam cup trail and deliberately heading in the direction of their rooms, ignoring it completely. "River?"

If this was a game, he found he wasn't really a fan of it. Amy and Molly were here, the Doctor and River also. Jamie could mostly look after himself, but he was still worried. Was Victoria here? Were any of the others? This stank of a trap. He didn't like his family in traps. "Doctor?"

He tried again, reaching out with the ring, keeping the channel open in an attempt to reach anyone on the TARDIS. < Doctor? Amy? Jamie? Anyone here? >

Re: Rory - Late to the trap party

[makeherblue]

The omnicomm ring beeped. < Rory? Is Amy with you? Actually -- wait -- hang on -- ! >

The Doctor's voice sounded off, as if he was trying to yell through a wind-tunnel.

He neglected to mention that whatever spooked the TARDIS had decided to replace Rory's bedroom with a wind-tunnel. He told himself he'd get it fixed before Rory noticed. Whatever the Doctor was doing, he was in a hurry and he wasn't going to take the time to say what a room imploding into nothing looked like as that wind-tunnel suddenly decided it was going to try something new and shifted. The door where Rory's room should have been burst open as the Doctor fell more than walked through it. He grabbed at Rory in mid-fall and pushed him down as Rory's room continued to suck everything toward it.

"Hold onto something!" The Doctor yelled into Rory's ear, grabbing for purchase himself. He slid a few feet backward before he managed to wrap his skinny legs onto a bit of piping sticking out from the wall. Wind howled and shrieked through the air as Rory's room turned into a ball and then a pin-point of light, both far and close at the same time.

Sorry this took so long. :(

[bonnypiperlad]

At the questions, there's a faint thump that can be heard from somewhere down the hall. It's followed by an extended series of similar noises, rather like the sounds of someone banging around the inside of the cupboard. If there's another, verbal, reply, it's swallowed up by that banging and thumping.

However, once Rory thinks to use the comm ring, the person who's making those noises catches on quite quickly that this is a much better way to communicate right about now.

< Rory? It's Jamie. Where are ye? I... > More thumping, followed by a distinctive crash, loud enough to give anyone in the immediate area an idea of Jamie's general location. < Ooh, my head. >

Sob so sorry this took so long

[atruedoctor.livejournal.com]

These bloody cups! She couldn't help but follow them as silly as it seemed. Martha always had her stupidly strong sense of curiosity urging her on through what others would soon shrug and give up on. And cups were harmless as anything. But why? Maybe if she followed it long enough she would find the culprit.

But eventually she found herself wandering elsewhere, the trail of cups lost. She chalked it up to everything being so bloody different than she remembered. Once she ever saw the Doctor (she had to at some point, after all. Stacy couldn't be that big!) she would certainly have a few words for him. Changing the old girl around like that.

Well ... hell, she was in a situation here. But wander enough and she would certainly find somewhere. Or someone. Hopefully.

It's cool! Going to do a short post to set up the trap and have Eleven jump in next round? :)

[makeherblue]

That "hopefully" was important because the floor was going to turn into quicksand before she had a chance to have second thoughts.

The tiles in the room she was in suddenly blipped right of out existence, quicksand rushing in and trying its very very best to be Martha Jones' worst best friend. Martha, you may have picked the very worst room to wander into -- or, as the Doctor would insist, adventure right into because humans have made adventuring practically an art form. Just out of reach was a sort of odd consolation prize: a page from the Journal of Impossible Things, sitting there innocently as if waiting for just the right person to come along.

Somewhere in the distance, a door slammed open and shut. Apparently she wasn't the only one running up and down the TARDIS's corridors...

Victoria

[sonicscreamer.livejournal.com]

There was a good reason that the Doctor had once asked Jamie to guide Victoria around the TARDIS when she had just arrived. Now she was wandering the corridors completely lost and without a map, remembering how Jamie had told her about the pieces of string and mentally kicking herself for not having found a ball of yarn to do the same. Then again, she wouldn't be surprised if that plan wouldn't work.

Once in a while, she found a door leading to a familiar place, sometimes just a cup pointing her somewhere, which she dutifully followed, but still, this was getting rather frustrating.

The urge to scream out was rather great, you might say.

Going to give Victoria a chance to save Eleven 8D

[makeherblue]

If she kept walking, she would find that the floors and walls were looking more like a forest, which was odd considering the Doctor hadn't found any forests the last time he went looking for one. That was recently. Now? Entirely different matter! The corridor turned into a path leading through the forest: ashes and oaks crept toward a ceiling that vaulted up out of sight, sometimes dotted with trees that were decidedly alien. The Doctor could probably point them out to her if he was in any state to.

Unfortunately, he found himself trapped. Just a little. He tugged on the roots keeping him pinned to the ground and found that they didn't have much give.

"Hello?" The Doctor tried again. He craned his head, trying to see past the rhubarb bush he'd gotten very familiar with over the last five minutes. Five long minutes, in a human's order, and it felt loads longer already. Maybe he was supposed to die of boredom? "I know there's a few of you wandering around! (Hopefully). Over here!"

His voice carried for a bit, just off the path Victoria found herself on. Other than that it was surprisingly empty feeling for a forest; no birds, no rustling, just a kind of sad silence, heavy in the air. The closest thing to what pure Time passing could feel like to a bored Time Lord.