Spring Cleaning, Round 2 [Backdated to just after podpop]

[fantastix]

Who: The Doctors, their assistants and friends, some visitors [Open], and the Master.
Where: The TARDIS, the blue police box located in the Hangar.
Summary: Somebody's made a mess of the old ship. The Doctors are very unhappy. Time to dig in and clean up! Also, there's some necessary hashing-out of titles and ownership between three men who happen to be the same person. And a bit of a problem arises...
Warnings: Possibly mild swearing on Nine's part.


The Doctor and his immediate successor with the long coat had run straight from the Observation Deck when they'd learned where the TARDIS was and gotten their bearings. They'd been whisked through the uncomfortable transport tubes, spilled into an arsenal of ships, and been left to search. Luckily, as diminished as their abilities were, they could still sense the old girl. It wasn't long before she was found.

They wasted no time in opening the door, winding up in a console room that could never fit inside the seemingly small exterior of the police box without some serious dimensional shifting. It was a wide space, well-lit, but definitely not the room the two new arrivals were used to.

Here, they'd finally find this other Doctor the other crew members have told them so much about. And with any luck, they'll have some answers too.

Comments

[fantastix]

"Oh, years ago. Sometimes...well, sometimes when you leave, you leave things behind." The Doctor wasn't sure how much he could say without causing trouble. Oh, he hated that River and the older Doctors were hiding things from him, but it was a necessary protection of time. Now he had to do the same to Barbara.

"Nope! You're the only Barbara Wright I've ever taken with me---so far. The older Doctors might know another, but it's not too likely."

He wouldn't say more without being asked. The things she was seeing were likely to cause trouble---fond if distant memories for him, but apparently not yet memories for her.

[first_in_time]

"Of course I left things behind. We were in the middle of a Dalek war when I woke up here." Barbara gently put the dress back down on the bed. "Not that I had a lot. Just a purse, some material from Ganatus on Skaro and a couple of trinkets from the Himalayas. I don't exactly carry that sort of stuff with me."

She frowned a little. If no other Barbara Wright had traveled on the TARDIS, then what was all this stuff doing in a room with her name on it? Maybe it was being used as extra storage space. And that was a wonderful feeling.

"Who's this?" she asked after another moment of looking around. The photograph with the three of them and the girl which sat on the table beside the bed was picked up and handed to the Doctor. "I know Ian and yourself, but I've never met her in my life."

[fantastix]

The Doctor knew that face too. Vicki. The poor girl had lost her family at such a young age. And even back then, the Doctor had known a thing or two about feeling lonely. She'd been an interesting addition to life---even Barbara would admit that, no matter how roughly their relationship started.

But he couldn't just say that if Barbara didn't remember.

"I hate to take a leaf from River's book, but that would be a spoiler. The most I can say is that you would've known her if time hadn't been upended. A future friend. Maybe you'll still meet her someday."

[first_in_time]

"Who's River?" Barbara asked, turning to put the picture back. Her eyes lingered over the small ring box. She picked it up but left it shut, tapping the top of a finger on its side.

"Doctor," she hesitated a little, taking a step forward, "would I be able to live here? The sleeping quarters are horrid and all my things are here. It seems fair." Sort of fair, anyway.

[fantastix]

"River Song. She's a 'future friend'. She knows the older Doctors. Just about every time I ask her a question, she says I can't know because it'd be spoilers."

The Doctor wasn't annoyed and frustrated by this, not at all! Nope. Er...maybe he was, yes. He pulled himself away from thoughts of River to look back at Barbara.

"It's not exactly a safe place yet. I know you're used to danger, but I want to know how many monsters I've got running around here first."

[first_in_time]

Barbara looked down at the ring box in her hand. The sleeping quarters were very much like a giant nose, as she'd been hearing since she pod popped, but the Doctor was right. The TARDIS wasn't very safe at the moment. "What about when all these monsters have been dealt with? Would I be able to stay?"

[fantastix]

The Doctor couldn't help but gaze at the ring box as well. It was a happy memory she no longer have...but it might happen again someday. Not that he was snooping around, but he'd noticed Ian and Barbara wandering off together a fair few times.

"...yeah. Of course! Who would I be to keep you from your things? And between you and me, I''m not so sure I trust the ship's quarters. All the more reason to deal with this quickly and get you all inside."

Before long, he worried that he might be running a hotel. Luckily Jamie and Victoria lived elsewhere. "So. Anything you want to take with you?"

[first_in_time]

Barbara looked around the room and shook her head, "no, thank you. I'll only have to bring it back when I move in." She smiled, contemplating if she should take the ring box. It'd be nice to have something small, but beautiful to wear. Not that she'd opened it to see what the ring looked like.

But if they were going to be cleaning up after monsters, and fighting in a war, it may not be wise. Barbara reluctantly put the box on a shelf by the door. "Alright. Let's clean up the TARDIS."