Chapter IV: You Before Me
The two Doctors and their companions were inside the 11th Doctor's TARDIS trying to work through their current predicament and figure out a way to leave this time and place.
"I love what you've done with the place, very modern." remarked the 10th Doctor upon looking around the TARDIS' new interior.
"Oh and you've kept the up and down whooshing thing in the center. Delightful!" the 10th Doctor exclaimed.
"I couldn't ever see myself getting rid of that. It's probably one of my favorite additions to the place." the 11th Doctor commented.
The Tenth Doctor stepped back and held his chin in his hand while observing the 11th tinkering away at the TARDIS' sleek new control panel.
"Since you're here we know that I can survive a regeneration without getting all blaaah rawr rawr. That's a good thing as least as far as Time Lords are concerned." he mused at the 11th Doctor.
"What's blaah blaah rawr rawr?" asked the 11th Doctor.
"You know a zombie, animated corpse, ghoul, the flesh eating brain craving living dead, the things we're tracking down and trying to stop all these lovely humans from becoming. Blaaah blaah rawr rawr." explained the 10th Doctor.
"Walkers." added Rick.
"Ah yes, and I would assume the paradoxes would have ironed themselves out by now since I haven't detected any fractures in time and space. So yes, you should survive regeneration. The timelines are really blurring together in my mind so I can't exactly remember when or how that occurred." the 11th Doctor rambled.
"You wouldn't want to do that anyways because. . ." the 10th Doctor started to say.
"Spoilers." River Song completed his sentence.
The 10th Doctor snapped his fingers. "Now what I want to know is can the pathogen survive regeneration?" he suggested.
"A quick test should determine that." the 11th Doctor said as both of them went back to check for the presence of the zombifying agent in the 11th Doctors bloodstream.
After the analysis was complete the two Doctors stood in low spirits over the display. "Can the pathogen survive regeneration, apparently so." the 11th Doctor somberly stated.
"Indeed it seems that way." the 10th Doctor commiserated with him.
The 10th Doctor suddenly perked up with an idea, stepped away from the console and spun around. "Wait wait wait, you were exposed to me before you were tested. That could have been how you picked up the pathogen therefore the regeneration question is still in play." the 10th Doctor exclaimed clapping his hands together once.
"Now what we need to do is find the me that comes after you and test him or her without direct exposure to us." he continued moving over to another console to continue working out the difficulties the TARDIS was having in leaving this time and place.
"Great plan but one minor flaw; I'm the last one of us." the 11th Doctor said.
"What? No, that's not right. You said you're the one that comes after me which makes you eleven and by my calculations we've got one more left."
"There was one. You regenerated into well, you." the 11th Doctor confessed.
"No, really?" the 10th Doctor asked looking back in bewilderment at his future self.
"Yes, I, I mean you was rather vain back then." the 11th Doctor told him, making an inadvertent slight against his previous incarnation in the process.
"I wouldn't exactly say that is a fair characterization." said the 10th Doctor.
"Well drat, there goes that idea." the 10th Doctor shrugged his shoulders and looked back down at the controls.
"Oh well, we've still got the mystery of why we're stuck here to work on." the 10th Doctor continued.
"Getting bored of Madame Vastra's hospitality already?" the 11th Doctor joked.
"Oh we haven't even been properly introduced but we can get to all those formalities in due time. The fate of the human race is at stake here." the 10th Doctor replied.
"And the Silurians at that I'd imagine. This whole planet's bound to suffer by this blight." the 11th Doctor added.
"It appears that we're being held here by a pre-established fixed point in time. It's like one of those scary stories where the ghost can't pass on because it has some unfinished business left to do in this life. It's like that, but without the ghosts and with time travel, and zombies and two ridiculously handsome sons of Gallifrey." the 11th Doctor stated upon discovering something embedded in the TARDIS' timeline integration subroutines.
"So we've got to go out there and make this fixed point happen all the while avoiding infecting anyone else and making this mess worse?" the 10th Doctor summarized a plan.
"The stealth respirators should handle any airborne transmission and we should be able to do the same with like spacesuits to keep sweat and other bodily fluids from infecting the environment." the 11th Doctor proposed.
"Only we'll stand out like the biggest sore thumb in England while we do it." the 10th Doctor complained.
"It's amazing how easily the human eye can be diverted. I think a couple of clever guys like ourselves could make it work, even in these stuffiest of times." the 11th Doctor said.
"That's it! Victorian garb was all big and stuffy we could just wear it over our spacesuits. Brilliant!" the 10th Doctor exclaimed as both Doctors stepped away from the control panels.
"And you're telling me? Try fitting into the ladies fashion that's all the rage out there." River Song remarked.
"Good idea River! It'll be easier to divert the eyes if we doll ourselves up like dames before we go out there." the 11th Doctor added.
"Can you say. ." the 10th Doctor began to say. "Makeover!" both Doctors said in unison facing and twiddling their fingers towards each other.
They then turned towards Rick. "You're not considering that I. . ." Rick began to protest.
"But of course, we'll need someone out there to be the muscle in case we run into a rough patch again. But don't you worry, we'll get you cleaned up and I promise you that you will look absolutely fabulous in drag!" the 10th Doctor told Rick.
The Doctors, over Rick's protests took him back, cleaned and groomed themselves, donned environmental suits and wrapped them in the finest Victorian era ladies regalia. River Song did the same though the process wasn't as much of a conversion for her. When they came back the two Doctors took turns marveling at how each other presented themselves as a lady.
"I do believe you have the better face for this." the 10th Doctor remarked.
"It's the dress, it really brings out my eyes." the 11th Doctor blushed and admitted modestly.
"How the hell am I supposed to move in this." complained Rick walking out in a busty corset and wire framed ball dress.
"That's what I've been saying all along sweetie." River commented.
"You'll get used to it. Besides it'll stop you from spreading infection while keeping the prying eyes off you." the 11th Doctor said.
"With all this talk of infection going about that reminds me we have a zombie out in a field around here that needs disposed of. We were on our way to fetch oil and torches to incinerate it." the 10th Doctor mentioned.
"Mind if we lend a hand?" asked the 11th Doctor.
"But of course, you're more than welcome to come along. Perhaps this is the fixed point we need to establish." the 10th Doctor replied.
"I would be surprised if it was that easy." the 11th Doctor mused.
With that the four gathered at the TARDIS door. As the 11th Doctor reached for the doorknob there was a firm knock at the door. The two Doctors looked at each other curiously and then back at the door. Who ever could it be?