The Second Doctor
The two men stood in the dusty old library just regarding each other. There was an uncomfortable silence between them, one that the second Doctor just couldn't tolerate any longer. "Well come on then, say what you have to say. I have plenty of things to do with my time, like fix that confounded teleporter! If you have something to say, say it. Otherwise, just let me go on my way".
The first Doctor grasped his lapels and breathed in like he was about to deliver a long oratory. "Well I should think I have something to say! What have you done? Where is your dignity? And why are you dressed like that?"
"Well it fits doesn't it? It's comfortable. That was always your problem, you know, you always had to appear so much better. Are you aware how many ice planets there are out there? Or planets like earth that have ice ages every so often?"
"But what about my legacy? You still call yourself 'the Doctor' do you not? And why should anyone look to you for answers dressed like that?"
"Should they always look to me for answers?"
"Certainly! If you travel with human companions it is only logical for them to look to you for an answer for every question they have! You are their intellectual superior. You must be aware of your proper station!"
The second Doctor waved the recorder around in the air, so fast that it blurted out a rather clumsy G flat. "Oh tommyrot! How are they ever to believe in themselves if I…", he paused and blinked, "…we do everything for them? They aren't without potential themselves, and isn't that the role of a teacher? To let his students realise their potential?"
As the second Doctor said these words, he noticed that the first Doctor's eyes were tightly shut. He realised that he was accessing his future memories. This was a shared psyche after all. But he still couldn't shake the feeling that his predecessor was somehow cheating. The first Doctor opened his eyes. "And what about the Scottish barbarian? Did he realise his potential?"
"Jamie? Of course. As two men, both out of time, we became more like friends than student and teacher".
The first Doctor shook his head. "No. I can see. You simply don't understand, do you?"
"Understand what?!"
"You don't understand that all you gave your companions was a false hope. You allowed them to believe they were something they were not, that they could be your equal in all your adventures. And where is 'Jamie' now? Is he a leading scientist or explorer? Has his time travelling with you even changed him one bit?"
"Well now that's unfair. He doesn't remember his time in the TARDIS".
"And I suppose that's just as well. It's good that he doesn't remember your sugar coated version of the universe where a barbarian in a kilt can hold back the Dalek hordes!"
"Now just one minute there! You know as well as I do that the universe is a dangerous place! If we are to let humanity fly to the stars then surely we have to give them the confidence to believe that they can do it!"
"And who said it has to be us who lets humanity see the stars? Who appointed you to be the human race's astral guide?"
"Well no one. But don't forget you were quite happy to take human companions as well. Even kidnapped the first two as I recall".
"There we go again. Total exaggeration. I merely grew tired of planet earth in 1963 and left".
"And how much longer would it have taken you to let them out of the TARDIS before leaving? Ten seconds? Twenty?"
"It was they who entered the TARDIS. Surely it was their responsibility to leave, seeing as they were so anxious to force their way in".
The second Doctor folded his arms. "You are totally impossible".
The first Doctor raised his head. "A fact I am supremely proud of".
"Yes", replied the second Doctor, "even though I was every bit as effective as you were. Maybe more".
The first Doctor's face turned into a mask of rage. "Effective? You?!"
"Well let's just say I didn't have to rely on Ian Chesterton half of the time".
"And you didn't rely on your companions?"
"Not in the same way you did. I allowed them to get us out of difficult situations. You needed Chesterton. And all the others for that matter, you needed them. You just don't have the humility to admit it".
"Humility? Yes, I suppose that's it. And you, my dear fellow, are the very embodiment of humility. Flying around space and time, dressed as a cosmic hobo, playing a recorder. Why you belong in a circus tent, not in the TARDIS. It's no wonder the Timelords put a stop to you".
The second Doctor frowned. "How dare you! You mean to say they were right to do what they did?"
The first Doctor raised a chastising finger. "You had begun to falter. To take too much interest in earth. To allow history to be changed. The fundamental laws of the universe aren't to be trifled with, even by us".
"But I was only trying to do good".
"You were doing so much good that the universe would have eventually become reliant on you. The only universe that can progress is a universe that helps itself".
"Which is precisely why I made sure my friends believed in themselves. Only the Timelords were too much like you to see it".
"What did you say?"
"That in all your arrogance, you began to become the very thing you were trying to get away from. Your regeneration into me was the best thing that could have happened. For you, for the earth, for the entire universe. What do you say to that, Doctor?"
The first Doctor screwed up his face. "Oh… Fish fingers and custard!"
For a tiny sliver of time, a look of abject horror crossed the second Doctor's face. Then, as quickly as he arrived, he disappeared, only to be replaced by a taller man with greying hair in a splendid burgundy suit. He looked as if he had been concentrating on something as he glanced up at the first Doctor. "Oh, my turn, is it. I'll be with you in a second. Just when I've reversed the polarity of the neutron flow".
The first Doctor shook his head in pity. "My dear fellow, how can you reverse the polarity of a neutron flow when it is electrons, not neutrons that flow around a circuit?"
The newcomer stood up, his previous problem seemingly forgotten. "I'm sorry?"
"I think it's time we had a talk about that and all your other grandiose claims, isn't it, my good man?"