The flats were simple affairs, perfect starter homes for just married couples. The Doctor juggled the flowers and a box of candies as he knocked on the door to the Chesterton residence. "Ian, get that would you?" a familiar voice filtered through the wooden barrier which swung open to reveal a slightly older Ian from what he had remembered.
"Ian, good to see you. Congratulations on the nuptuals," he handed the startled man the flowers and candies and brushed past him.
Ian sputtered and turned. "Wait a minute! Who do you think you are?"
"Ian? Who is it?" Barbara asked as she walked into the room. She stopped and stared at the leather clad man, her eyes widening as she took in the overly large ears and his stance. For a moment, the man's features flickered in her mind to be replaced with a white haired man and a warm smile. "Doctor?" she questioned incredulously, blinking away the image. "No, it can't be."
The Doctor grinned. "Hello, Barbara. Knew you'd get it before Ian over there."
Ian Chesterton's knees felt as if they were about to give out on him as he stumbled to one of the chairs. "Doctor! How, why, how..."
The Time Lord brushed off his questions. "I don't have much time, but I wanted to ask you a question. You, specifically, Barbara."
She started, her eyes widening as she registered his words. "You came here to ask me a question?"
"Yup." He searched her eyes for a moment before continuing. "What's love?"
It was Barbara's turn to search for a chair before her knees gave out. "It just...is. I think Shakespeare said it best: 'Let me not to the marriage of true minds. Admit impediments: love is not love. Which alters when it alteration finds.'"
"And is that how you felt when you met Ian?"
"That," she admitted, smiling at her husband, "Came later. First there was friendship - love was a natural result."
He frowned. First the Brigadier, and now Barbara seemed to confirm his emotions. Could it be? Could he be in love? Shaking off his thoughts, the Doctor turned. "Thanks, Barbara, Ian. I'll see you around."
"Oh no you don't. You don't get to walk in here, ask a question like that, and then swan off like nothing happened. What's this about Doctor?" Ian stood, blocking the door.
The Time Lord seemed exasperated. "I thought that was obvious. I wanted to ask Barbara a question. She answered it. Now I'm off. Planets to save, megalomaniacs to stop, the usual."
"You're in love." Barbara spoke the words in wonder.
Vaguely the Doctor wondered when his emotions had become an open book. "I never..."
"No, you don't have to say anything, Doctor. Go on. Ian, get out of his way," she instructed her husband, ignoring the glare he shot her way.
"Thank you," he whispered, turning the knob.
Before he left, Barbara asked, "Doctor, how's Susan?"
A flicker of pain danced in his gaze, swirling with the other emotions that ran rampant through his mind. "She's dead." Without waiting to answer their inevitable questions, the Doctor slipped out the door.
The man stood in shadows, his expression hidden from her questing eyes. Normally, a figure such as this, especially given her experiences with the Doctor, would have caused her to brandish her knife in unspoken threat. However, she somehow knew that she had nothing to fear from the dark man. Leela moved away from the TARDIS, the Doctor was still safe inside. She would address the issue of this stranger and determine if he was a threat.
"Hello, Leela," he spoke once she reached him.
Her expression was confused as she looked long into his eyes, a shock of recognition rumbling through her. "Doctor?" That was impossible. The curly haired man was still inside the box. How could he be in two places at once?
"Got it in one. Just don't tell me that I'm around. Might upset the locals."
She cocked her head at his words, confusion evident on her face. "I do not understand you, Doctor."
"I'm complicated, me."
Leela sighed. "Why are you here?"
"To talk to you. I have a question, but I have to be quick. I'm not supposed to be here." The Time Lord's expression was furtive as he looked beyond her at the still closed doors to the TARDIS.
"Then ask."
"What's love?"
She peered at him curiously, seeking and finding the emotion in his stance. "You already know."
"No, I don't." He shook his head in denial.
"You do. It is in your eyes. You do not need to ask me this question." The Sevateem woman could not fathom why he insisted that he did not know the meaning of the word 'love' when it was obviously written on his soul.
"Leela..."
"If you do not know this, then you are a fool. The Doctor I know is not a fool." Leela placed her hands on her hips, glaring up at the tall man as she spoke.
"The Doctor you know is young," the Time Lord objected.
"He knows to be true to himself, and his emotions. Do you?"
He rocked back on his heels, stung by the truth in her words. "I don't know anymore."
"Find out, Doctor. Then you will know what love is." Leela said gently. With those words, she turned and walked away from the future aspect of the man she knew. In her heart, she knew that his questions were through. He had much to think about, and that was best done alone. However, once she reached the TARDIS doors, she could not help but turn back to where he had stood. The man was gone.