"Gah! Rassilon's rod!" hissed the Doctor. She yanked the hairbrush through her curly brown mane again and heard a series of snapping sounds. She stared blankly at the (now useless) tool before pitching it into a pile of similarly defunct brushes and combs and shaking her head.

"I suppose Alice was right when she said that it would be a good idea to brush my hair regularly," she grumbled. "Now what?"

"Pardon me, but what are you doing in the TARDIS?"

The Doctor snapped around to see a woman who looked about ten years older than her, but in reality was many, many years younger than her. She was wearing a prim bronze-green dress, with a matching handbag and a red shawl.

"…I could ask you the same question," said the Doctor. "As your being here is interfering with the laws of time."

"Are you saying that you-"

"Yes. I'm the one right after you."

"Well, that's- That's-" Three blinked, then looked her replacement up and down. She looked a great deal more earthly than she had, but the knee-length burgundy skirt and Edwardian coat, combined with the cream vest, felt hat, black loafers, and overly long striped scarf and matching socks, made for an… interesting combination, not to mention the gigantic blue eyes and grin. But it was Four's hair that caught Three's attention. Namely:

"Why do you have brush bristles in your hair?" Three asked.

"It's that tangled," sighed Four. "I had a bad run-in with a vat of Gak, not to mention I've been a bit… out of sorts." She thought back to leaving Steven behind in Croyden and the ordeal with the Mistress, sighing and shaking her head. "But we don't have the time! We've got to get you back to your TARDIS!"

Three nodded and set to work at Four's TARDIS.

"Well, it could've been worse," she grumbled as she calibrated the temporal tracker to her arton trail. "I could've been stuck with that little clown."

"Says the dandy~" muttered Four. She grinned at her now scowling predecessor. "Don't worry, I love you anyway." Three scoffed and finished with a flourish.

"Done," they said in unison.

"We'll have a couple hours before you go back to your timeline," said Four. "Fancy a game of chess?"

—•—•—•—

"Checkmate," said Four.

"This is preposterous," sighed Three. "I've lost two games!"

"You'll win two eventually," said Four. "So, where are you in your timeline?"

"Hm…" sighed Three. She drooped and Four winced slightly.

"Joe just left."

"Oh…" sighed Four. She reached over and patted Three on the back. "It's always tough to see the ones you love go."

Three nodded and dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief.

"Another thing…" said Four. "If it's not too insensitive, do you happen to remember where we put the Zenthian Detangling Fluid and the Plastic Solvent?"

"I'll put it in the loose roundel," said began to fade and Four sighed.

"Thank you. Good-bye!"

"Good-bye!" Three faded into the air and Four sighed. She walked over to the loose roundel and pulled it away. Inside were two bottles, a hairbrush, and a note attached to the brush. Four picked up the note and read it.

'I remembered your pile of broken brushes when I was on Zentha III. It's supposedly able to detangle a Bznark's fur, so it should be able to withstand your problems.' Four chuckled and picked it up.

"Well," she said, "I think I did just nicely, don't you old girl?" The TARDIS hummed in agreement.

Bloody: This was done with the Fic Monopoly on the Official Time Lord Registry. The prompt was 'Write a Genderbend story about the 4th Doctor. Your theme is paradox.' Alice is the Fem!Brigadier, or Alice Gardenia Lethbridge-Stewart.

Unicorn Plushie: She doesn't own DW. Bye.