"Barbara have you seen my old running shoes?" Ian called from outside the cupboard.
Hearing no answer from his wife, he began to pull open the door of the cupboard to see if he could retrieve them. The cupboard was full of musty old blankets and junk, but he persevered and pulled out the first box he came to, putting it to the floor to have a rummage through.
Barbara came up the stairs at that moment and saw him head first inside the box, his bottom sticking in the air.
"It wouldn't be so strange if that box was attacking you," she said as pulled him up. "Not with all the things we've seen."
Ian laughed and placed several old toys onto the floor, along with newspapers and magazines. Barbara picked up one of the magazines and laughed.
"Top tricks for clever dicks?" she queried as she flicked through it. "Anything you want to tell me Ian?"
He grabbed the magazine from her and a wave of nostalgia swept over him, remembering all the times he and his friends had sat in a tree house all transfixed with the latest issue of the publication. "Ah now this takes me back. Me and the boys used to do all these magic tricks and illusions, that sort of thing."
"What happened?"
"Eh?"
"When did that little mischievous boy become the sceptical man?"
"When he got his heart broken for the first time! I knew then life wasn't all bread and jam."
Barbara kissed her husband on the cheek. "Oh you poor thing. Well don't worry, I'm not going to break your heart- your neck maybe if you don't clear up this mess soon."
Ian smiled and put the magazine down, picking up a blazer instead. He noted to Barbara that it was the one he wore on his last ever adventure with the Doctor and it was now very special because of it. Barbara found her jumper there too, the battle dress number that she had become so fond of- neither of them wanted the outfits to become further damaged so they'd been placed in storage for the time being. Ian felt something in the blazer pocket and let out a cry of surprise at what he'd found.
"Barbara! It's the Sensorites discs, the ones we got given as a present by the Elders. Look, they must have been here the whole time."
Barbara smiled and took them off her husband. "Well at least we have one souvenir of our travels. They are rather lovely little things."
"Handy too."
Barbara saw the look of mischief in her husband's eye. "We can't use them," she said firmly.
"Why ever not?"
"They would give us an advantage over everyone else."
"Yes, but we could use them just the two of us. I could know what you're thinking; find out what you really think of me."
Barbara frowned and put the two devices into the box away from his grasp. "Don't you dare Ian, these are not toys. I don't want you knowing my thoughts, thank you."
"But ever since the Doctor modified them they were much easier to use weren't they? It'll just be like talking on the phone."
"Well," Barbara said. "We'll talk about this later. I have to pick John up and you're meant to be at work, off you go."
…
Barbara put the baby to bed and sat watching him as he breathed lightly in his cot. She ran her fingers gently across his forehead and smiled, he looked so peaceful and calm, so beautiful and sweet. In some ways he looked just like Ian at that moment when he slept, the way his little nose twitched when it sensed something around him. She was gazing at John fondly for another moment when she suddenly heard a noise, a low sort of mumbling, and she spun around in her chair to look around the room. She was certain she'd heard a voice; someone in the room besides John, but the space was empty and silent. She shook it off and started to move her position when she heard another low whisper, a mumbling voice.
"Is someone there?" she called.
She turned to look at John and his eyes were open. He was on one side and looking directly at her, staring in fact. Barbara shuddered as the voice started to talk again as the baby continued to look at her.
"John?" she asked, feeling incredibly stupid for even having to ask. Of course it wasn't her baby talking! But what was it? The television and radio were switched off and the house was silent. Ian was in school teaching.
"John? I don't understand?"
There was a voice talking now clearly but it was very quiet and she couldn't make out all the words. She felt a chill run down her spine, how was John communicating with her?
"John is something wrong?" she said, feeling rather embarrassed at speaking to a nine month old baby, but after travelling with the Doctor she couldn't rule out anything she'd previously thought impossible.
"I am a baby!" the voice said louder this time. "I cannot talk."
Barbara looked around her and went over to the window, looking out to make sure someone wasn't playing a trick on her. She sighed with frustration and sat back down. As the voice grew louder and started discussing the weather forecast, she realised that the voice itself wasn't actually in the room but rather it was like a distant voice in her mind, sort of like when she'd been communicating with Susan when they were on the Sense-Sphere. Ian! It had to be Ian!
She pulled the cushion off the chair and was greeted with a silver disc device where she'd been sitting. She scrunched her face up in annoyance and held the disc up to her forehead. She'd forgotten the Doctor had made the receiver able to pick up a voice from further away. She spoke in her mind. "Ian! Can you tell what I'm thinking right now?!"
There was a pause and she heard a giggle return to her, along with sudden thoughts from Ian's mind about how he'd fooled her, and how funny it all was her thinking their baby son was talking to her. She also picked up a few of his other thoughts, something about theories of relativity, and a girl named Prudence who wouldn't pay attention to the board work in his class.
"Ian, are you doing this in your classroom?" she said in her mind.
He told her back that he was, but that he was alone for lunch. She was then bombarded with thoughts of Ian's appetite and the feeling he got from his sandwich. It was flattering at least; after all, she'd made it.
"Alright, it was quite funny," she admitted in her mind. "We'll talk about it later. My mother's coming over soon."
She thought about how much she loved him and she heard his voice thanking her and telling her the same. Even better, she heard his inner most thoughts about his love for her, in fact it made her blush slightly.
…
Barbara brought in a tray of tea and biscuits as Joan Wright sat with baby John bouncing on her knee. Barbara left the silver disc of the Sense-Sphere beside her on the chair, hoping not to let it out of her sight.
"He's looking a bit like you, dear," she told Barbara. "He's got your eyes. And Ian's impatience," she added as John fidgeted from her grasp. She put him onto the floor and let him play with his toys.
Barbara was just putting her mother's sugar into the tea when she heard the voice in her mind again.
"Is there anybody there?"
It was Ian's voice.
"Yes, but go away!" she said aloud, forgetting that she didn't have to speak aloud to communicate with him.
"That's no way to speak to your mother," said Joan with a huff.
"Oh, no, not you Mum, I meant…oh never mind, it's been a long day."
"Mummy's girl!" said Ian.
"Oh shut up!" Barbara said aloud again without thinking.
"I beg your pardon Barbara?" said Joan.
"Oh not you, I meant Ian."
Joan looked over her shoulder at the door. "I didn't hear him come in."
Barbara stuttered. "I…he didn't, it must have been the TV."
Joan looked at the television set which was turned off. "Is something bothering you dear?"
"You look ravishing when you pour that tea!" said Ian.
"How do you know, you're not here?!" she said aloud yet another time by mistake.
Joan put her cup on the table in frustration. "Dear, I don't mean to be rude but I think you may be under the weather."
"Perhaps you're right," she said to her mother and then focused her mind to tell Ian to cut it out.
"Though you also look good in nothing at all!" said Ian.
Barbara's face flushed as though her mother could hear him too. She then started to get more embarrassed as she could now hear all of Ian's racy thoughts. In her mind she told him to stop thinking impure things about her, but he swore he had no control over simple sexy thoughts of his wife.
"Not here Ian, that's all," she accidentally said aloud. "Later."
Joan got up from her chair and felt her daughter's brow. "You do seem hot. Perhaps you need a break."
"I'm sorry!" Barbara heard Ian's apology in her mind.
She concentrated and accepted his apology, and of course she was now sure he meant it as she could hear all his little thought processes telling her he felt bad that his little joke had embarrassed her in front of her mother.
"I'll get some water," Barbara said as she left the room to clear her head, taking her thoughts with her and away from Ian for a moment. The discs were wonderful things but utterly exhausting. They were fine for communication but she could hear every little thing her husband was thinking and she was pretty sure he could hear every thought she had, including imagining him in a ruffled shirt in the bedroom with a rose between his teeth.
Joan sat down in Barbara's chair to pick up John who was crawling beside it. She saw the telepathic device on the side and she picked it up curiously, holding it up near her face.
"You sexy little…oh it's you Joan!" said Ian.
Joan Wright heard Ian's voice in her mind and passed out in the chair.
…
When Ian arrived home, Barbara was half cross with him but also half amused after the whole experience. Her mother was fine, though Barbara had to come up with an elaborate story about a radio recording of Ian's voice. Ian took off his overcoat and stood in a ruffled white shirt and presented her with a rose.
"I thought you might like this," he said, smiling at her.
She laughed and playfully hit him on the arm. "Oh it's terrible, Ian, knowing all my thoughts like that."
Ian nodded. "I agree, I got carried away, I'm sorry. From now on, we communicate the good old fashioned way. Some things are better left to the imagination eh?"
Barbara grabbed Ian's hand and pulled him up the staircase. "Where are we going?" he asked obliviously.
"You've read my mind haven't you? Work it out for yourself."
She laughed at Ian's merry glance as he followed her quickly to the bedroom.