The Doctor's innocent, doe-like eyes suddenly hardened under the shadow of his furrowed brow as he tapped a finger against his chin in silent contemplation at the sight before him. Tegan had once again begun her periodic hysterics about being returned to Heathrow Airport, and of course the old girl had chosen now of all times to malfunction on him.

'For a time machine she has a very poor sense of timing', the Doctor thought to himself with a rather childish huff. His furrowed brow jumped back up under his blonde locks as he ducked below the console and unlatched a compartment, pulling out circuits and circuits galore. It was while he was fiddling about with the inner workings of the TARDIS console that he heard the unmistakable clatter of high heels stomping across the floor.

TRIP TRAP TRIP TRAP

'Who's that trip trapping over my bridge?' the Doctor thought to himself with a resigned frown as peeked his head up over the edge of the console. Of course, he'd already known it was Tegan. Very few beings in the universe could use a pair of high heels to unknowingly communicate the morse code for 'I'm angry and I want you to know all about it', but Tegan, true to form and in all her gobby glory, somehow managed it. He let out a weary sigh and hoped to dear Rassilon that it didn't communicate a few too many of his own pent up thoughts. Considering her flared nostrils and glazed over eyes, he'd obviously failed in that endeavour.

'Ah, Tegan!' The Doctor exclaimed, affixing a queasy smile to his face and hoping that he could stem her anger for as long as possible until Adric or Nyssa arrived, 'Do you know I was just thinking about you? Why, after all that business over at Deva Loka, I thought a stop over at Madame Emmeline's Ice Cream Parlour and a double scoop might not be out of the que-'

'Don't come the raw prawn with me, Doctor!' Tegan interrupted, emphasising his name with an almost chicken-like bob of the head, 'you've bloody well shirked it again, haven't you?!'

'On second thoughts, Definitely Nyssa,' He thought to himself, 'Adric would only exacerbate matters...'

'Now Tegan, we've gone over this, the TARDIS is a very tempermental machine and such an emotionally intense environment is not particularly condusive t-'

'I'll tell you what's not condusive, being all pent up in that damn library, having Adric question me about everything from the birds and the bees to the bermuda triangle!' Tegan yelled, again interrupting him.

The Doctor leaned his head back up to the ceiling, his eyes rolling back into his head as he did so. It always infuriated her. He wondered why he continued to do it. Maybe he liked seeing her all flared up, after all.

'He's just a boy, Tegan,' The Doctor said, his voiced lowering to that just barely diplomatic tone that he also secretly knew infuriated her, 'it's perfectly natural for an adolescent member of a different species to take an interest in Earth culture'.

'Oh? And does that explain your liking for always coming back to Earth?!'

The Doctor simply blinked.

'That's right', Tegan said, her arms now folding in a manner that suggested she'd pulled one over on him, 'I've been digging around this place, Doctor. I know all about the women you've brought aboard... Have a thing for Earth girls, do ya?'

His eyes widened. He knew even before opening his mouth that his voice would rise to that unbearably undignified sqeak that seemed to have become a fixture of this particular body.

'Now Tegan, I'm now quite sure what you seem to be implying he-'

'You know damn well what I'm implying, Doctor,' Tegan said, her arms unfolding and her hands affixing themselves to her hips. 'A second ago you said that you were thinking about me... You think about me a lot, do ya? Is that maybe why your TARDIS seems to have such an easy time finding just about any place other than Heathrow?'

The Doctor swallowed. He looked away. He looked at the console, the scanner, the hatstand... Anywhere but her. She was wrong... to an extent. The TARDIS' malfunctioning was, honest to Rassilon, nothing more than that. Not manipulation nor malpractice, just malfunction. But he'd be lying to himself... Well, he was lying to himself... if he said that the TARDIS' malfunctioning didn't turn out to be a bit of a happy accident...

'Tegan... I can assure you that my interest in you is stictly platonic and that I would never even consider such an improp-'

'Oh of course you wouldn't, you're the chaste Time Lord! You're above that sort of animalistic nonsen-'

'You really ought to stop interrupting me, Tegan...', The Doctor said, his face turning to look directly at her, 'One might get the idea that you couldn't stand me...'

Tegan simply looked at him.

'As I said a moment ago - with your stumbling aboard the TARDIS, I have assumed somewhat of a duty of care to you and would never even think about taking advantage of you in such a way. Nor with Nyssa or anybody else whom I'd invited along to travel. You have my word on that. I know we have our spats every now and again and believe me, I could very much do without them, but never doubt that I am grateful for the help you've given me since my regeneration. I consider you a friend, Tegan, and only that. You've nothing to worry about.'

Again there was silence.

'Pity.'

The Doctor looked up, only to catch the fleeting glimpse of Tegan's purple skirt as she sauntered out of the console room with a smug grin affixed to her face. Again the Doctor swallowed.

But oh what a beautiful face it was.