When TARDISes collide.
4 Doctor, 3 Hatter, and Sarah Jane Smith.
The Hatter groaned as she slammed the doors of her TARDIS closed, leaning her back against them as she winced, closing her eyes as her head throbbed painfully. It felt as if there were a million drums being beaten inside her head, never stopping or slowing.
She knew that it was a bad idea to go to Gallifrey, but of course, she had to. She had received an urgent message from her mother requesting, well, more like demanding that she returned home to attend her elder sister's second marriage to none other than the Lord Presidents son. Of course, she had very reluctantly returned home, why would she want waste her time going to someone's wedding when she knew perfectly well that the bride hated her? Even if it was her own sister.
She winced again as she felt another sharp pain shoot through her head, why did that keep happening? That wasn't the only thing wrong with her. Every bone and joint in her body was arching, the tip of her nose was bright pink from how many times she had blown it throughout the day, she felt freezing cold despite how many jackets she put on, and her throat felt red raw.
Of course, most people would simply say that she had a nasty case of the flu, but she wasn't anybody. She was a Time Lady; therefore, she didn't just catch some random bouts of illness that was flying around.
Suddenly, a loud bark like cough rang through the empty console room, echoing off the walls as the Hatter doubled over with the force, shacking like a leaf as she coughed heavily into her hand, falling back against the doors as her coughing fit ended, leaving her breathless and weaker than she had felt in quite some time. Perhaps she did pick something up while on Gallifrey, it wasn't impossible after all, now that she thought about it.
"Sleep," she mumbled to herself, her voice hoarse as she closed her eyes again, rubbing her temples, "Sleep and fluids, that's what I need," she nodded to herself and pushed away from the doors, shakily making her way up to her console, "Maybe I'll spend a few hours in the Zero Room," she continued, mumbling to herself.
When she reached the console, she pulled a leveller and sent the TARDIS flying into the Time Vortex, but as she reached for another button, her entire world turned upside down and her eyes bleared together. She gasped as the pounding inside her head reached a new height and her legs gave way underneath her. She blindly tried reaching out for something to stop her, accidently hitting a random button.
Sirens began sounding, blearing loudly throughout the time machine as the Time Lady covered her already arching ears with her hands, trying to pull herself up on the console, but when she finally managed to, she found she couldn't read the symbols on the monitor with her bleary vision.
"No, no, no…" she breathed, letting out a yelp as her TARDIS jolted violently and began shacking madly, sparks flying everywhere from the console and even small fires began spring up.
It didn't take a Time Lord to relies that the usually well controlled machine was crashing.
"No!" she shouted, her voice cracking, "Stop it!" but it was no use. She tried to stand again, only for her legs to give way as the TARDIS continued to fly out of control, sparks still flying.
Before she realised what was happening, her head spun and everything turned to darkness as she slumped against the floor of her console, unconscious before she hit the floor.
…
"Doctor, I wondering about that moon you mentioned earlier…" Sarah Jane said as she walked into the console room, looking at a book in her hands as she neared the curly haired Time Lord. She frowned as she received no response and looked up to see him staring at the controls on the console, looking slightly forlorn.
Not that this was a big surprise, not at all. The Doctor had a habit of getting into moods when something was bothering him, or when someone was bothering him. That someone being the Hatter, of course. They hadn't managed to run into each other since the whole adventure with the Zygones and UNITE, so it was no surprise to Sarah that the Doctor would be missing the dark haired Time lady. She had to admit that she too was missing her, it was comforting to know that she could talk to her, should she ever need to.
"Doctor?" Sarah asked gently, moving closer to him, looking concerned, "Doctor, are you alright?"
The Doctor blinked a few times before flashing her a wide grin, one that didn't meet his bright blue eyes, "Of course I'm alright, Sarah," he replied, waving off her concern as he glanced back at the controls, "I was just thinking".
"About what?"
He didn't reply for a moment, busy fiddling with the controls before he looked back at her, "Oh, I was just thinking about where we could go next," he said after a moment, "Perhaps I should see if we can finally get to Florana?"
Sarah sighed and nodded, sometimes she just wished that he would open up to her and talk about how he was feeling. Typical man, regardless of what planet he came from.
The Doctor smiled, not noticing her mood, "Good, I'll just put the shields back up," Sarah gave him a questioning, "I was just rebuilding the old girl, she…" but he was suddenly cut off by the TARDIS sending both he and Sarah to the floor.
Alarms began blearing, but before either Sarah or the Doctor could scramble to their feet, the entire time machine jolted again and a loud crashing sounded, sending dust and debris throughout the room, covering the Doctor and Sarah. The Doctor quickly moved and covered Sarah with his own body, both of them burying the faces into the white floor of the console to try and protect themselves.
A couple of moments later, everything began to settle down once more and the Doctor and Sarah lifted the heads, coughing slightly from the dust, "What…what happened, Doctor?" Sarah asked, coughing as he quickly scrambled to his feet and rushed to the controls, "Did we hit something?"
"Or rather did something hit us," the Doctor said mysteriously, narrowing his eyes as he stared at something on the other side of the room, half hidden by the dust still flying through the air.
Sarah frowned, not liking the way he had said as she pulled herself back up and joined him at the controls. She followed his line of sight and gasped, "Doctor," she quickly turned to him, grabbing his hand, looking alarmed, "Doctor, what is that? Is it safe?"
"It's a TARDIS," he replied, frowning as he eyed the time machine now residing in the wall of his TARDIS. The old girl wasn't going to like this.
"So whoever could be inside there, might be a Time Lord?" Sarah questioned, already having a good idea of what the answer would be.
"Almost without a doubt," he nodded, looking more irritated by the idea then pleased, but there still a part of him that couldn't help but think of how familiar this TARDIS was. It was like…his eyes winded in horror as he realised just who this TARDIS belonged to. And if it was hers, that could only mean that she was in trouble. She would never have flown her TARDIS so badly that it crashed; she was far to experienced to do that.
"Doctor?" Sarah frowned as she noticed his sudden change, the way he was staring transfixed at the TARDIS, or whatever it was.
"Hmm?" he blinked, shaking his head he quickly turned to his companion, saying very seriously, "Sarah I need you to listen, I'm going to go inside that TARDIS to make sure everything is right, but I want you to get a first aid-kit and bring it here. Do not go inside that ship unless I tell you to. Understand?"
"But, Doctor…"
"No!" the Doctor cut her off, "Don't argue, this could be the difference between life and death, Sarah, now hurry!"
Sarah Jane frowned, but nodded and turned on her heel, running out of the room and down the hall toward the infirmary. The Doctor didn't bother to watch her go, far to concern for what may have become of his dearest friend as he turned and ran over to the other TARDISes doors. He quickly pulled out a key from out of his breast pocket, over his right left heart, the pocket that he kept everything of the Hatter's in and inserted it into the lock.
The doors popped open, thick smoke billow out with them, making him cough before he grabbed a handful of his multi-coloured scarf and held it to his mouth. What type of possible recuse mission would this be if he ending up collapsing before he had even stepped inside? Shaking his head, he rushed into the room and almost did a double take at the sight.
The once beautiful, steam punk style room was in complete ruins. The bookcases that lined the room were empty, the books they once held now littered all over the floor with piece of the pages left with burn marks or torn. The arm chair that the Hatter often sat in while reading was now lying on its side with burn holes all over it, the table that would accompany it was no better. The dark oak panelling was also covered in burn marks, parts of it were still burning, in fact.
The Doctor winced as he took it in. He knew how much the Hatter loved this room, how even though she had regenerated twice she had still kept it exactly the same, from the books to the furniture, everything was exactly the same from when she had first ran away from Gallifrey in it, but then again, there was just something about it that did just cry out the Hatter's name.
He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He was supposed to be focusing on finding the Hatter, not on her taste in deco, something which would no doubt amuse her when he found her. He began making his way through the chaos of the room, taking care not to stand on any of the books when he could. She would murder him if he damaged one of them, well, damaged them more than they already were. In a short space of time, he managed to make his way over to her console, wincing again as he noticed how badly damaged it was.
'It would take weeks, maybe even months to repair it properly,' he thought grimly before a small, slightly selfish part of him brightened, 'But that would also mean that she would have to stay with him. In his TARDIS. Travelling with him until they could repair it. Working on it together'.
Ooh, so many wonderful things could happen, like….He quickly shook his head again, feeling guilty for how selfish he was being when it was clear that his best friend needed him. He scanned the room, taking in every detail as he searched for her when a flash of red caught his eyes.
Lying on the other side of the room, half covered by books that had fallen from the shelf behind, was the very pale Hatter, dressed in a long red dress that the Doctor recognized at once as being from Gallifrey. She was lying on her stomach, her shiny black hair covered in dust appeared to be duller then normal as it hid the side of her face from view. Forgetting to be careful with the books, the Doctor ran to her side, falling to his knees as he gently rolled her over, lifting her into his arms as he brushed the books covering her legs away.
Her skin was white as paper, far paler then normal for her, and as he touched her check, he released that it felt like she was burning up. Her lips were very pale and dry, looking as if she was dehydrated and the tip of her nose looked sore and pink. The Doctor frowned as he continued to examining her, very gently lifting her eyelid to see bloodshot eyes. His frown depend as he checked her pulse, his eyes winding when he could only feel one heart beating.
"No, no, no…" he muttered, shifting her in his arms so he could listen for himself to her hearts, but only finding one heat beat, "Hatter!" he called as he lifted his head from her chest her and shock her shoulders, tyring desperately to wake her, "Hatter! Come on, Hatter! Just open your eyes!"
But she didn't. She remained still and just as unmoving as before, something that broke his hearts. If one of her hearts wasn't working, that would mean that she wouldn't be able to regenerate, she would just…die.
"That's not going to happen," the Doctor said sternly, filled with confidants. She would never allow that to happen to him, so he would never allow that to happen to her. Never, "Alright, come on," he put his arm under legs and lifted her bridal-style as he stood.
Or though this regeneration of her was quite tall, she was still very light which made it very easy for him to carry her while navigating out of the recharge of her beloved TARDIS. Once outside, the Doctor quickly passed Sarah Jane as she stared, open mouthed at the sight of the unconscious Hatter in his arms, before she quickly shook herself and raced after him, still holding the first-aid kit.
The Doctor ran as fast as he could to the infirmary, laying the deathly pale Time Lady on the bed as he reached the room. As soon as he did, he began racing around the room, grabbing everything he would need before placing them on a small table beside the bed. He then raced over to a computer and typed something in.
"Doctor, what's happening?" Sarah asked, breathless as she ran into the room, casting a worried look toward the Hatter. She had never seen her look this pale before, what could possibly wrong with her?
"She's ill," he replied, not spearing her a glance as he continued typing, "She must have been to Gallifrey recently, that would explain her dress," he gestured to the long red dress the Hatter was dressed in that Sarah had only just noticed, "And picked up the Gallifreyan flu".
"The Gallifreyan flu?" Sarah Jane frowned, "But I didn't think you Time Lords could get sick?"
"It's doesn't happen often. The Gallifreyan flu is a vires, a Time Lord or Lady can only catch the vires only once…"
"Like the chickenpox," she nodded, following along.
"Exactly," the Doctor agreed, moving away from the computer as he began setting up a drip, "Most Time Lords suffer from the illness when their children, picking it up from other kids".
"Then why is the Hatter sick?"
"She hardly spent any time around other children her own age," the Doctor quickly explained, focusing on what he was doing, "Most children develop the illness before they enter into the Academy, by that time the immune system is usually fully functioning meaning that it's almost impossible for the child to fall ill. The Hatter has never suffered from the vires and if she was on Gallifrey for a family advent, which is more than likely, then she would have been under a great amount of stress. Her body would have been perfect to infect".
"But she's going to be alright?" Sarah asked, sounding slightly fearful. She had no idea what she would do without being able to talk to her best friend, let alone what the Doctor would do, "I mean, you will be able to cure her? She can't just…just…" she trailed off, blinking back tears as her eyes fell on to the Time Ladies almost deathly pale face.
The Doctor paused, closing his eyes and swallowing hard before he looked back at her, "Just," Sarah opened her mouth but he quickly silenced her, "Had she been left any longer then she would".
Sarah sighed in relief and nodded, "Is there anything I can do, Doctor?"
The Doctor paused, looking up from where he had been working with a couple of test tubes with different liquids in them. He looked at the Hatter a moment before replying, "Yes," he carefully put the test tubes down and walked over to the side of the bed, gesturing for Sarah to do the same on the other side, "Make sure she doesn't roll off," he told her.
He gently rolling the Hatter onto her side, Sarah quickly did as she was told, "Doctor, what are you doing?" she asked, looking confused as she watched him.
"I'm going to loosen her corset," he explained as he began to undo the back of the Time Ladies floor length red dress, making Sarah's eyes widen. He glanced up and noticed her face, rolling his eyes, "I'm not doing anything improper, Sarah, I am simply trying to make her more comfortable," Sarah blushed bright red and looked down, slightly guilty, "Humans," he muttered, shaking his head.
Once the back of the Hatter's dress was undone, the Doctor quickly set to work on loosening the corset while Sarah simply watched. It was funny how you could picture doing something and end up doing it, but yet it being so different at the same time, the Doctor thought as he struggled with a difficult knot. How women put up with wearing corsets he would never know.
Behind them, the computer dinged and the Doctor quickly rolled the Hatter back onto her back, rushing over to the machine and grabbing a small vial with a clear coloured liquid in it. He hurried back over to the bed and grabbed a device that looked like a dart gun and inserted the vial into it and leaned over to the Hatter, injecting her with the device on the side of her neck.
Almost immediately, the screens connected to the Hatter that showed her vital signs began to settle, decreasing to a more normal rate, aside from only having one heart working. The Doctor sighed in relief, running a hand through his curly mop of hair.
"Is that it?" Sarah asked, looking at the Doctor, "She's cured?"
"Her body will need a good couple of days of rest," he replied after a moment, smoothing a piece of dark hair away from the Hatter's pale face, he could already feel a notable difference between her temperature from before to now, "Her body is exhausted, she'll be unconscious for a while yet, but yes, she is cured".
"Just like that?" Sarah blinked.
"She is a Time Lord, Sarah," the Doctor reminded her, smiling as he looked back down at his best friend, "We recover far quicker than humans. Sleep is what she needs now, I'll get her heart working again, but other than that, it's up to her. Once her hearts working again, she'll slip into a healing coma and her body will finish the rest".
Sarah nodded, "Is there anything I can do to help, Doctor?" she asked after a moment, wanting to be more helpful.
The Doctor flashed her a wide smile, "No thank you, Sarah, but I will be sure to call you if I do".
Sarah frowned, glancing at the Hatter before reluctantly leaving the room, leaving the Doctor to get to work on restarting the Time Ladies heart.
….
Eight hours later, long after the Doctor had managed to get the Hatter's both working, the Time Lady began to stir from the same position that she had been since Sarah Jane had left. The Doctor immediately jumped to his feet, his book that he had been reading falling to the floor as he put a hand on her cheek, waiting.
The Hatter's eyes flickered a couple of times before opening, blinking as she tried to bring everything back into focus, wincing as she felt like every joint in her body was aching. Where was she? Wasn't she…her eyes winded as she remembered that her TARDIS had been crashing, images of what happened flashing in front of her mind as she tried to sit up but something pushed her back down.
"Careful," a deep and very familiar voice said, gently pushing her back against the pillows behind her, "Don't over stress yourself, you'll end up doing more damage to yourself".
The Hatter frowned, or she thought she did, she couldn't quite tell for some reason because she felt very tired, but there was something about the voice, something telling her that she knew them that…and then it clicked into place. The owner of the voice, the man, could only be one other person.
"Doctor, is that you?" she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper as her eyes began to focus, being able to make out a tall shape leaning above her.
"Were you expecting someone else?" the Doctor grinned, unable to stop himself from running his thumb along her cheek. He would never have been so bold to do something like that while she was fully aware, not unless they were both at risk of dying for fear of her catching onto his feelings for her.
"Yeah, but you'll do for the time being," the Hatter replied, sounding cheeky, well, as cheeky as someone could be while slowly gaining more and more consciousness.
The Doctor blinked, slightly taken aback from her casually remark. This version of her, her Third incantation, was far more serious than any of her past selves, something that she had in common with his own Third incantation, but since she had travelled with him, Sarah Jane, and Harry Sullivan at the very beginning of his new bodies life, she had began to show her less serious side, something that was just one of the things that he loved the most about her. How childish but yet clever at the same time she could be.
Shacking his thoughts away, he flashed her another grin an flicked the tip of her nose, "Don't get cheeky with me after I saved your life," he said, losing his smile and turning serious.
The Hatter rolled her eyes, or tried to as she broke into a small coughing fit. The Doctor frowned and carefully eased her up, rubbing her back as the coughing subsided, "Don't over dramatis things, Doctor," she managed to cough, falling back against her pillows, "I would have been fine. I just needed a few hours sleep".
"You crashed your own TARDIS into mine and one of your hearts stopped working," the Doctor frowned, looking very serious.
"Well, it hardly matters now," the Hatter managed to shrug.
"You almost died, Hatter!" he almost shouted, making the Hatter wince, "This is serious! You would have died, not regenerated, just…died," his voice broke one the last word and he stopped, taking a couple of deep breaths before looking back at her again, "I…I don't know what I would do if that ever happened".
"But I didn't," the Hatter reminded him calmly, struggling for a moment to sit up before giving up and flopping back against the pillows, letting out an irritated groan. She sighed and looked back at him, "Doctor, I know this is serious, it is my life after all and I would much rather continue living it, thank you very much. Now, I understand that you are upset, but what has happened has happed and there's nothing more that can be said".
"Oh yes there is!"
"No there is not," the Hatter cut in, holding up her hand, looking stern, "I was called to Gallifrey for my sister's wedding, I fell ill, crashed my TARDIS, almost died, and now I am cured and recovering. What else is there to speak off?" she frowned, quickly covering the Doctor's mouth when he opened it, "Talking of my TARDIS, there isn't too much damage to it, is there? Or yours?"
The Doctor sighed and moved her hand away, "My TARDIS is fine," the Hatter let out a relieved sigh, "But she might be a bit huffy with you for a couple of days…"
"I wouldn't blame her," the Time Lady said, glancing up at the ceiling, "Sorry old girl, I'll make it up to you…somehow".
The TARIDS gave a soft hum through the room and the Doctor huffed, crossing his arms, "Oh sure," he shook his head, "The Hatter crashes her TARDIS into you and she gets off, but if it was the over way around you would be furies with me".
"I keep telling you that she's found of Time Ladies," the Hatter smiled, looking amused before turning serious, "Doctor, you didn't answer my question, what about my TARDIS? I assume that's because it was badly damaged".
"It's going to take weeks, possibly months to rebuild," he nodded, avoiding meeting her eyes in case she was upset. He always hated it when she cried, "I'm sorry…"
"It was my fault," she cut him off, shaking her head, "I shouldn't have attempted to drive her when I was so ill, even though I didn't think I was at the time," she paused before shrugging, "All well, I don't care how long it take but I will rebuild her again".
There was a short pause before the Doctor said, smiling, "You know, if this was different circumstances, we would be laughing".
Both Time Lords eyes meet and they dissolved into laughter.
A big thank you to Lizzie13zzz for suggesting that I write this, I'm sorry about how long it took, but it would have been up sooner had I not had my wisdom teeth removed which I'm still recovering from. If anyone else has any suggestions then I would be happy to writ it.
So, this was set before Pyramids of Mars but after Planet of Evil, and the Hatter would continue to travel with the Doctor and Sarah until the end of Seeds of Doom, just in case you wanted to know the time line.
I hope you liked it, tell me what you thought, please review :)
