The old man entered the room. He was tall, about 5'8" with medium-length white hair swept back from his face and curled at the nape of his neck. Looking about him, all that he could see was a generic conference room, all blond wood and cold, grey metal with a light blue carpet and fabric on the chairs. He sniffed at the oval-shaped table, then put his black cloak and battered hat on one of the hooks near the door and went to sit down at one of the table ends, facing towards the door.
"Hello!" yelled a voice as the door was banged open by another tall figure wearing a dark brown coat with a battered fedora and gargantuan multi-colored scarf. He looked and saw the older man at the table. "Well I'm glad to see I'm not the first." A large smile accompanied this as he likewise doffed his scarf, coat and hat before choosing a seat at the table. The older man did not return his smile.
"Is that what passes for humor these days?" the old man grumped.
"Not really." He said. "It is good to know that we do lighten up a bit as life goes by, though isn't it?"
"Hmph" returned his elder.
Another man came in, dark brown hair artfully ruffled, wearing a brown pin-striped suit with a long tan trench coat. "Hello. I was wondering if we'd already started."
"Not at all, not at all." said the smiling man. "I think that we've only just begun arriving."
"Good." said the third man as he hung up his coat with the others. He sat down across from the smiling man. "Sooo, how is Susan these days?" he addressed the old man.
"You would know better than I would, wouldn't you?" snapped the old man.
"Easy, I was just trying to make conversation. No need to react that way." said the brown-suited man.
"This is highly irregular, not to mention very illegal! When they find out…"
"No-one's going to find out. Trust me." responded the brown-suited man.
"I doubt anyone's going to care." remarked the smiling one, his smile vanishing.
"Of course they would care! We're very important after all! Well, according to some." said a new person in the doorway. "I take it that this is where the meeting is being held?" He came in and went to sit down between the old man and the previously smiling man. He was 6'2" with white curling hair and piercing blue eyes, dressed in a dark red velvet coat with lace cuffs and a lace gavotte.
Another man with blond curly hair bustled in, wearing an outfit that looked as if someone had thrown a number of loud prints into a blender then decided to make a suit out of them. The old man, the man in the velvet coat and the smiling man looked at him in horror while the brown-suited man smiled at him tolerantly. "What in the nine moons are you wearing?" gasped the old man. "You can't go around the universe looking like that!? How are you supposed to keep a low profile looking like a technicolor nightmare?"
"I'll have you know that this is very fashionable" said the technicolor man, sitting down near the brown-suited man. "And I don't have to keep a low profile; unlike some of you, I can come and go as I please."
"Really" said the smiling man. "And how did you manage that may I ask?"
"Oh my word" interrupted a voice from the doorway. "I have to wonder as to what happened to merit that" the speaker chuckled as he came in. He was as tall as the old man, but wore a black frock coat and checked pants. Still chuckling, he went and sat down on the other side of the brown-suited man.
A smaller man popped his head in. "Are we all here yet?" he asked the room. He came in, leaning an umbrella with a question mark hook against the wall, putting a hat on the hook above it. He was smaller than most of the others, and wore a jumper with question marks all over it.
"Nope" said the brown-suited man, popping the 'p'. "Still a few more to go." He looked around, counting mentally.
"All I am saying is…" voices sounded from the hallway with the owners coming into the room together. One of them, a man with light blond hair wearing a cricket outfit looked at the gathered people, then sighed and hung up his beige coat, then went quietly and sat down at the table next to the man with the question marks.
The man he had entered with looked around the table for empty seats, his black leather jacket making him look much tougher than the others. "YOU!" he shouted when he saw the smiling man. He jumped toward the smiling man quickly with a black look on his face. The other assembled men rushed forward, trying to stop him and pin him down. "This is all your fault!" The man in the leather jacket struggled fruitlessly against his captors, his eyes blazing.
"What did I do? I haven't done anything that I know of." replied the smiling man. Then he considered. "Yet."
"Now, now, he didn't know what he was doing, did he?" said the brown-suited man, in a calming tone. "How could he have known?"
The man in the leather jacket wasn't having any of it. "You couldn't have listened just once?" he hissed. "You couldn't have just done what they asked for ONCE IN YOUR LIFE?! ONE TIME! JUST ONE TIME!" All of a sudden he relaxed, sagging to the floor, sobbing.
The old man rose from his end of the table. "Get hold of yourself!" he said sharply. "Is that anyway to behave, hmm? Disgraceful!" He sniffed as the sobbing man flinched, trying to get control of his tears.
"I'm all right. It's all right. I'm okay." He got up off of the floor, wiping his eyes with his hand, accepting a handkerchief from the man in the frock coat then sat down as far away as he could from the smiling man. "Thanks" he said to the man in the frock coat. "D'you mind if I keep this?"
"I'm sure I can get another one." said the other man, smiling. "Don't worry."
The old man sniffed again. "Is it time to get started yet? Are we all here? The longer we stay, the more of a mess its going to be to—"
He was interrupted by a young man with floppy hair, wearing a dark wine-red Victorian-looking outfit. "Hello! I'm not the last one again am I?" He smiled as if he'd made a private joke.
"Just a few more chairs left" said the man in the cricket outfit. "I imagine that they are an exact number?"
"Of course" said the young man, sitting down at the opposite end of the table from the old man. "Just two left now I see."
"How long do we wait?" asked the man in the velvet coat. "They are going to notice that I'm missing, you know."
"No they won't." said the young man firmly. "And that's why I've called all of you here today. We only have a couple left, so I don't want to go into it very much until they're here."
"Won't go into what?" Another man walked into the room. While younger-looking than most of the assembly, he was wearing a dark green velvet frock coat and a dreamy expression, taking one of the remaining proffered chairs. "I see that all of you got the same call I did." he said, looking around.
Just then the last man walked in. He was of medium height, wearing a long brown leather jacket with a bandolier across his chest. "It appears that I'm the last one. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep you all waiting." and he sat down in the last seat next to the young man with the floppy hair.
"What is he doing here?! If he's here then I'm out whatever it is. I don't care." The man in the leather jacket started towards the doorway, but was stopped by the young man.
"He is essential to my plan. We are all essential. I cannot do this without everybody." He looked at the man in the leather jacket in the eyes. "I know that it is hard for you, I understand, but I need for you to be reasonable and at least listen. If you don't agree, fine, but at least listen."
"What plan can you possibly have that I'd listen to that would involve him?" the man in the leather jacket sneered, indicating the man with the bandolier.
"Gallifrey. Saving Gallifrey." said the young man, carefully watching the man in the leather jacket.
Gasps of shock rippled around the room. "What do you mean, saving Gallifrey?" cried the old man.
"Saving Gallifrey from what?" asked the man in the frock coat.
The man in the leather jacket looked at the young man, then at the man in the bandolier, then sighed and sat down in his chair once again. Pointing a finger at the young man, he said "Okay I'll listen. But if I don't like it, I'm gone. Clear?"
"Agreed" said the young man. Turning and gesturing to the seated men around the table, he said "Since I know all of you, but you don''t know all of each other, why don't we go around the table and introduce ourselves numerically, okay? I'll start. I'm number eleven." He pointed to the man sitting across from him.
"I'm number one, I suppose. The original you might say." he said, throwing his chest out while grabbing his lapels.
"Number eight" said the man with the dreamy expression. "Is this about what I think it is?"
"Lets get ourselves introduced first" replied Eleven. He pointed at the technicolor man. "Your turn."
"I am Number Six." he said. "But I'm not a number, I'm a person!" The others looked at him blankly with faintly questioning faces. "Sorry, I've always wanted to do that. It's from an Earth television show….never mind." He turned toward the brown-suited man.
"Right, yes. I'm number ten." he said smiling at the assembly.
The man in the frock coat rolled his eyes. "I'm number two" he said calmly.
"Number nine" mumbled the man in the leather jacket, looking downward.
"What was that young man?" asked One from the other end of the table. "Speak up please."
"What is this 'young man business? I'm older than you!" exclaimed Nine stubbornly. "And fine, if your hearing is going I'll repeat it; I'm number nine!"
"Yes, well." Eleven coughed slightly to try and head off an incipient fight. "We'll skip the next one for a moment." Turning to the man with the question mark jumper he said "Your next."
"I'm number seven." He looked carefully at Eleven. "Are you sure about this?"
"Very sure" responded Eleven.
"Hmmmm" was the response.
The man in the cricket outfit looked dubiously at Seven, then looked up and said "I'm number five. Is this going to take much longer? My companions will only wait so long, as you know."
Eleven indicated the clock on the wall above the door; the second hand ticking back and forth as if it were stuck. "We have all the time we need."
"I guess that makes me number four" spoke up the smiling man next. "And what do you mean by 'it's all my fault'? How can it be my fault if I don't know what it is?" He looked at the man in the leather jacket, who was busy glaring at him as if he could kill him by will alone.
"We'll go into that in a moment" said Eleven. "We need to get this finished first."
"Number three here, dear chaps." spoke up the man in the velvet coat. "And what's all this about saving Gallifrey?"
"I think that we're all here and accounted for" said Two dryly. "Now what about him?" he asked, pointing to the man sitting next to Eleven.
"That is what I want to talk about with all of you." Said Eleven, getting up out of his chair. "You" pointing to One, "discovered the Daleks on their home planet of Skaro and got them thinking about interstellar travel; were they could exterminate all beings not Dalek. We can't rightly blame you for that" he said, glancing at Nine glowering from where he sat. "Someone would have done it eventually. However, as all of you also know, they also very quickly discovered time travel; no-one really knows how. This made the CIA very nervous, but the High Council never cared so long as they didn't upset the Web of Time. Which they didn't, until relatively recently."
Eight broke in. "They didn't upset the Web of Time. I was upsetting the Web of Time trying to keep my companions safe. It didn't work, however." He looked down at the table.
"And it didn't bring down the wrath of the High Council, did it?" said Ten. "Doesn't matter. They had bigger fish to fry."
"Bigger fish to fry than catching a Time Lord breaking the Web of Time on a whim?!" shouted One. "I'm surprised that the three of you are here at all!"
"It was the Daleks, wasn't it? They finally moved against us." Seven suddenly interrupted, watching Eleven closely. "We would have lost, am I right?"
"Yes." said Eleven. "And this is the Doctor who fought in the war."
"I don't want a number" said the War Doctor in a weary voice. "I'm not even sure I want the name 'Doctor'. I've done nothing but fight the war since I started, and it didn't go very well." He turned towards the others. "I'm sure that being an eccentric renegade is all very much fun, but it didn't help when I needed them to listen to me about what to do. They brought Rassilon back and once that was done any chance I might have had to make any significant strategic input into the whole thing was gone. All I could do was try to protect those that they had placed in my command." He sighed bleakly. "That didn't go so well."
"Didn't go so well? Didn't go at all! No need to sugar-coat it here! And then you went and destroyed Gallifrey!" Nine sneered, looking around the room at the collective gasps. "He went and used the Moment to destroy Gallifrey and the Daleks. Only it didn't work." His voice took on a nasty tone as he continued yelling at the War Doctor. "Didn't quite work because the Daleks are still around! I"m still fighting them and I bet that they're still fighting them too." He indicated both Eleven and Ten on either side of him. "In the end it was all for nothing!" He collapsed back into his chair, glaring at the tabletop and blinking rapidly.
"Isn't the Moment one of the forbidden weapons? How could they sanction the use of one of the forbidden weapons?" Four gave a sidelong glance at the War Doctor. "Unless he stole it."
Ten stepped in, tugging at his earlobe. "Actually by that point, the Moment was the only one left." he said. "They'd already used all of the others."
"Used all the others? Used all of the others? How could they use them at all?" Six's indignantly asked.
Eleven broke in, trying to get back on track. "That doesn't matter right now. The reason I called you all here is—"
"What do you mean it 'doesn't matter'? Of course it matters! It matters a great deal! How can you say it doesn't matter?" spluttered Three.
"Just because it happened in your past doesn't mean it has to happen in our future!" spoke up Two, to a chorus of "yes, exactly!" from the other Doctors.
"That's exactly my point!" yelled Eleven frustratedly. "That's why I brought all you of here together so that it doesn't happen, that Gallifrey isn't destroyed!"
"All right all right, everyone calm down!" yelled One, knocking on the table to get everyone's attention. "Now that we know what happened, what did you intend to do about it, young man? Hmm? Well speak up!"
"What I don't get is why they didn't stop this problem at the source?" Three butted in. "We're Time Lords for Rassilon's sake! For something this serious, the CIA would have definitely risked sending someone back and destroying them at the beginning."
"Er." said Four, as the older Doctors pointedly looked away from him. "I feel Nine is right. It is my fault in that sense. They intercepted me and my two companions on our way back to Nerva beacon and sent us to Skaro to blow up the initial incubation chamber and destroy Davros' notes. Instead I only wound up delaying them for about a thousand years."
One looked peeved. "That was no time for half-measures" he said sternly. "You should have done it or you should have refused to do it at all."
Five spoke up in Four's defense. "Our TARDIS had been left on Nerva beacon and they only left us a Time Ring to get back which only worked after we had completed our task." He sighed. "Of course it was almost immediately stolen and we spent most of the time trying to get it back. You know how these things go." He looked around and saw everyone nodding their heads in agreement.
"I agree with One" Six spoke up unexpectedly, glaring at Four. "I'll have you know that the CIA put me in a kangaroo court most likely because of this. They ironically enough charged me with genocide."
"Who am I to play god?" said Four loudly, getting red-faced. "Who are we now to play god?" He turned to the War Doctor. "You say that you used the Moment to destroy Gallifrey; was there really no other way? Couldn't there have been some way to evacuate people, especially civilians?"
Nine, the War Doctor, Eleven and Ten exchanged glances. Ten turned the others. "No. By that time the Daleks had surrounded the planet in a planetary blockade and were bombarding it from space as well as landing on Gallifrey. Arcadia had fallen and they were blowing up and exterminating anything that moved. Civilian extraction, especially the evacuation of the children, was left until it was too late due to the High Council's pig-headedness to ponder even the slightest idea that Gallifrey herself might be endangered."
Everyone took a moment to digest this. The War Doctor spoke up next. "And talking of playing god, Rassilon has a plan to make them all actual gods. I have to do something."
"Yes" said Eleven shortly. "And now I want to try something else. For that, I'll need all of your co-operation." He looked around the room, making eye contact with each of his previous selves. "I was recently reminded of Time Lord Art; how it is a slice of actual time and place. My proposal is to put Gallifrey into something similar."
"Those artists are some of the best mathematicians that Gallifrey has ever produced. How are we going to do this?" Two protested.
"And even if we were capable of this, the calculations would take centuries" pointed out Five. "Far longer than anyone of us would live even if we didn't travel. You wouldn't have enough time."
Seven's keen glaze turned toward Five. "But you see, he does. All he has to do is have One start the calculations and then the rest of us work on it during our spare time. By the time it reaches Eleven, it will be nearly done, am I right?" He turned toward Eleven, who was looking at him with a smug smile.
Eight looked up. "And this will save Gallifrey? Where will it be once we've applied this?"
"I'm not sure" replied Eleven. "But at least it would be somewhere safe where the Daleks can't find it right away. And I'll find it again." He gave a soft smile, looking at all of his earlier selves. "They'll have a chance to start building again." All of a sudden he turned business-like. "We will have to show up together once, right when we apply the computation, but it should only be for a couple of minutes. They won't have time to catch anyone" he looked at One specifically when he said this, then glanced over at Two and Three.
"They'd better not be able to catch us" said Two. "It's almost too big a risk."
Nine gave a harsh laugh. "We'd be flyin' our TARDIS' in, right in the middle of the Dalek blockade, weapons firing everywhere, to be in stationary orbit for the few minutes it would take to apply this computation to Gallifrey as we dodge Dalek cruisers, planetary bombarders and the odd space-faring Dalek and you're worried about the High Council catching you and throwing you in jail? Give me a break. If I'd wanted to be safe or sure I'd have just stayed home." He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. Looking over at Eleven, he said, "I'm in."
"You do realize that you won't remember this meeting, right?" Eleven asked him. "If we do go through with this, all you'll remember is that you have to work on this mathematical problem. And when you show up to contribute your piece, you won't remember having done so. Nothing that I've told you so far about Gallifrey or how to save her leaves this room."
Six rolled his eyes. "This isn't the first time we've had to make ourselves forget because of crossed timelines, as you well know. Especially as the eldest you would remember more than any other man here what we've forgot, or rather had to make ourselves forget."
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry." Eleven waived his hands about briefly. "I had forgotten how it could be." He smiled at his unintended joke. "At any rate, the other reason that I brought us all here together is to check to see if anyone else had any other brilliant plans." He glanced around the table, looking particularly at Seven. "Anyone at all."
"You haven't really given us much time to think about it, have you?" Seven spoke slowly. "No time to think about the possible ramifications of your—that is our—actions."
"What ramifications would there possibly be? The Daleks would mostly destroy themselves in the crossfire and Gallifrey would exist again. We wouldn't be the last anymore." Eleven paused as the most of the others had an sharp, involuntary intake of breath. "We could go back home if we wanted to. Our family might still be alive…" His voice trailed off and he stopped, slumping in his chair; trying to hold back the tears even as they ran down his face.
Nine reached over and awkwardly patted him on the shoulder, then offered the handkerchief Two had given him earlier. "The loneliness doesn't get any better does it?" he asked softly.
Eleven shook his head. "No. And they won't even travel full-time with me anymore." he quietly responded, while wiping his eyes with the handkerchief. "I need for this to work."
"I already told you, I'm in. Just let me know and I'll be there." Nine stood up, stretched, then turned to the group. "Send my portion the usual way and let me know when to show. 'Till then." And he left.
Seven sighed dramatically. "I suppose that means that anything that I can come up with is going to be ignored." He stood up and went to grab his umbrella and hat. "Well, guess that means I'll be brushing up on my maths for the foreseeable future."
The War Doctor stood. "Good to know that I'll have help when I need it. I'll see you in a moment." He stopped on his way to the door, considering what he'd said, then laughed a little and continued on his way.
Ten squeezed past Two, putting his hands on Eleven's shoulders and looking his successor in the eyes. "We'll be all right" he said.
Eleven shook off Ten's hold, then quickly grabbed him in a hug. "We'll be fine" he whispered in his ear. Clapping each other on their arms, they separated, smiling through misty eyes. "Just remember to get your section done on time" sniffed Eleven.
"Of course. Think you could stop me now?" Ten smiled, grabbed his trench from its hook and left.
Two turned toward Eleven. "I suppose that we have to support you in this. Rest assured that I shall do my part." He looked keenly at Eleven. "And do take some time off for fun. Traveling is supposed to be about having fun, remember?" Two nodded once more and left for his TARDIS.
Eleven was just about to turn around when he found his back and shoulder grabbed in a fierce hug. He looked to his side to see Four grinning at him, already wearing his coat and signature scarf. "Bear up old chap, we'll get this done." He started for the door, calling back "We always do."
"Well, I must go too" said Five, causing Eleven to turn around toward him. "Thanks for an interesting time." He grabbed Eleven's hands to shake them, then whispered, "Remember that we're always here for you." Eleven nodded, his eyes bright, his hearts filled with gratitude.
"I must be off to do my section and possibly have to do his" Six said, rolling his eyes in the direction Five had taken. "I can't possibly see why this would work, but I can't think of any major flaws in it either." He looked at Eleven, then smiled and said "Of course it will work, even if I have to go to Legopolis again and abduct some of the monks." Eleven smiled gratefully at him as he left.
Eight came up next and hugged Eleven tightly. "If I had known what would've happened…" he started, releasing Eleven and looking at him sadly. "Ah, but that's it, isn't it? Even we can't know all the consequences of our actions. Well, goodbye for now. I'll see you shortly with my section." He smiled sadly once more at Eleven, then turned and left.
"Now, now old chap." said Three, coming up and standing next to Eleven, hands in his pockets. "No need to get overly sentimental about this" he observed, watching Eleven wiping his face with Two's handkerchief. "You know that you can count on me to do my share. And probably Two's." He smiled. "There has to be some silver lining in this? I just hope that you can find it." With that, he left, leaving only One behind.
Finally, One came up to where Eleven had sat down, overwhelmed by the support the others had expressed. "It all depends on you now," said Eleven. "The others will continue this, but you need to start it." He smiled briefly. Just like always."
"It worries me when you say that you can't reach our family. What about Susan? Surely she wouldn't have been on Gallifrey?"
"No she wasn't" confirmed Eleven. "But with the Daleks sealed in a Time War, she turned out to be in an alternate timeline. I'm sorry."
One sat down heavily. "So you truly are alone." He looked back up at Eleven. "This relies just as much on you as on me. You have to finish this."
"I know. I'll have plenty of time to work on it though. Can't find anyone to travel with me full-time anymore." He laughed bitterly. "I remember when I had to refuse people because I didn't want too many in the TARDIS. Now I've got the opposite problem." Eleven shook his head slowly, wiping his face again. Looking at One, "I never used to be so emotional either. But companions will do that to you. Teach you to unbend a little."
"Hrmph." One looked at his latest self, a young man dressed much like him. "I have to admit I never thought I'd make it this far. I thought that they would have caught up with us long ago, put us in jail, forced all our regenerations or worst of all put us back where we were before we left. It's good to know that they couldn't stop us."
"Not completely." Eleven confirmed. "They did eventually catch up with us, forced a regeneration, exiled us to one place, tried to make us be be responsible. Tried to kill us. Couldn't stop us, though. Nope." He looked at One with a smile. "We're best when we're free."
One nodded. "I always thought so." He stood. "Well, best be off. Things to do, Places to see. Must remember to start that problem before I forget about it completely, hmm?" He patted Eleven on the shoulder before reaching for his hat and coat. "I assume that you'll let me know when to show up and how to get everything organized, right?"
"Of course." Said Eleven.
"Wouldn't miss it for the universe." Smiled One.
"Let me go with you, see who your traveling with, maybe say hello to Susan if she's there..."
Their voices faded as they walked down the corridor to where they had parked. Three minutes after they had left, the door burst open and a tall, thin man with wild grey hair ran into the room. "Am I too late? Did I miss anything? Did-" He stopped, finally seeing that the room was empty, except for a red handkerchief, lying forgotten at the head of the table. Sighing, he picked it up. "Of course I'll be there." He said to it, turning the handkerchief over in his hands. He looked up, and speaking to the empty chairs said "I wouldn't want the most important equation in the universe to be ruined because I was in too much of a hurry to re-check my last section, now would I?"
Stuffing the handkerchief into his pocket, he looked around the room one last time, then snapped his fingers at the clock which finally let the second hand continue around the dial and left, making sure that the lights were turned off.