Title: Emotional Baggage
Characters: Donna, the Doctor
Rating: G
Summary: The Doctor shows Donna the Tardis wardrobe.
Word count: 417
A/N Written for the prompt "Spare parts" at scifimuses
"Oh. My. God." Donna stood, mouth agape, staring at the TARDIS wardrobe. "What - I mean - whose -"
The Doctor laughed. "Finally rendered you speechless. I show you all of time and space, and you are overcome by a wardrobe."
"Well, I've never seen--" she broke off, walking up to one of the racks, fingering the clothes. She could see every variety, size and style of clothing on the various rods, all jumbled together with no apparent pattern. A large spiral staircase led up and up to even more racks of clothes. She turned to the Doctor again. "All of these clothes, and you wear the same two suits all the time."
He looked down at his brown pinstriped suit and shrugged. "Simpler this way. I never have to decide what to wear."
"So why keep all of these other things around? Are they all yours?"
"Mostly. Some are from...other people."
Donna walked over to another rack, pulling out a Victorian-era dress. "Don't tell me you wore this." He stepped forward and took it from her, returning it carefully to the rack. "No," he replied.
"Sorry," she said. "Was that hers?" she asked, softly.
He seemed far away, lost in thought. "Whose?"
"Was that - did Rose leave that here?" She hated the flash of pain in his eyes whenever he heard that name.
He shook his head. "No, it wasn't hers. She wore it once, that's all." He ran his hand over the sleeve of another coat. "Some of this is mine. Some I picked up along the way. Some got left behind."
"By the others who have travelled with you." A statement, not a question.
He nodded. "Yes."
She wondered how many people that had been over the years. How many others he had offered to show all of time and space to. Why they would leave so many things behind.
"The clothes remind me of them. That's why I keep them. Not only because they might be useful."
"And you complained about my hatbox," she said.
He turned to her with a smile. "Well, you do have the largest wardrobe the TARDIS has ever given anyone else so far."
"Just like to be prepared, is all," she said. "Ready for anything."
"A woman after my own heart," he said, taking her hand as they headed back to the console room. "Where do you fancy we go next?"
"Somewhere I can wear one of those gorgeous dresses."