Disclaimer: Doctor Who and Torchwood belong to Russell T. Davies, the BBC and affiliates. No money is made with this story and no offense is intended.


The Cabinet of Doctor Who

When living inside a time-travelling spaceship, it's hard to find the right time for the spring-cleaning; there's always spring somewhere.

Not that the Doctor does the spring-cleaning every year. Usually, he just leaves things as they are until the TARDIS gets annoyed with him – and the sign on the wardrobe door he's found just this morning, saying "Staff Only", is a very good indicator. Not to mention the banana tree growing in the middle of the library… but actually, that's kind of convenient.

And so, on a cloudy winter day (who says cleaning has to be done in the spring, really?), the Doctor parks his magnificent friendly spaceship on a cliff overlooking the capital of Hrak'tha. The locals are always happy to see the Time Lord and more than eager to help with the cleaning – especially since they live off dust and the masses that have accumulated inside the TARDIS will feed the whole continent for months to come. It leaves the Doctor free to wander the corridors, checking for faults in the machinery, broken circuits and unnecessary items in every room.

Well, almost every room; his companions' rooms stay just the way they were when their respective occupants left them, no matter how messy the room or how long since the owner left.

He has just finished checking the last room and is walking back to the console room when the Doctor notices a door he has never seen before. It is a simple steel door, to be found in warehouses in the whole universe… and he has no idea what could be behind it.

Which, really, has never stopped him from going through a door before.

The door opens silently, revealing a spacious room filled with… garbage?

Curiously, the Doctor walks into the room, wandering around between the piles rising up from the floor. Something is tugging at the back of his mind, he knows where all this stuff comes from, but can't quite put a finger on that familiar feeling yet.

When it hits him, he stops, surprised. "Jack!" he exclaims loudly, his voice echoing off the bare walls. Each and every single item has the faintest trace of the immortal man on it, and looking through the stuff, the Doctor finally realises what all of it is – and can't help but laugh.

He has always wondered where the bullets, the splinters and all the other little pieces left in a lethal wound disappear to when Jack comes back to life – and it looks very much like they have been disappearing to this room in the TARDIS all along, and the Doctor has never noticed until now.

Smiling to himself about another solved riddle, he turns and walks to the exit, in between the rather big pile of bullets from almost every time period since guns were invented (on Earth, anyway), the piles of splinters (metal and wood), glass shards, a rubber duck, a handful of dirt from the 1st century, and… wait.

Surprised, he kneels down beside the small pile of dirt to examine it, only to find out his instinct hasn't failed him; the soil really does come from Earth, 1st century. Just… how did Jack get there? The Doctor knows for a fact he disabled the Captain's vortex manipulator.

Unless Jack has somehow managed to repair it. Again.

Sighing, the Time Lord leaves the room behind, deciding to travel to Cardiff, 21st century, in his near future; pay a visit to Jack, refuel, see what Torchwood is up to nowadays…

But not now, he decides as he ventures into the library and absently plucks a banana from the tree. For now… well, maybe Mars.


Reviews are appreciated.
And since English is not my first language, info on grammar mistakes or style is appreciated, too.