Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, it belongs to the BBC. Scenes and dialogue lifted from The Visitation are credited to Eric Saward.
Author's Introduction: I was inspired to write this short story out of curiosity. In the episode The Visitation, the Doctor's faithful sonic screwdriver is destroyed (under instruction of producer John Nathan-Turner, who felt it was being used too frequently), yet by the TV movie Enemy Within he has it back again. This brief fan fic is my interpretation of how the Doctor got the screwdriver back. As usual, reviews are most welcome, good or bad.
RESCUING AN OLD FRIEND
Heathrow, England
September 2nd, 1666
The Doctor looked at the collection of objects on the ground before him. He had to find a way out of this dungeon with only a safety pin, two power cells, some string and his ever-reliable sonic screwdriver. "Someday I must get a proper survival kit together," he said as he contemplated his escape.
He heard a fumble of keys from the door behind him, and quickly collected all the items into his pockets. It was difficult with his hands in chains, and he had the sonic screwdriver clutched to his chest when he heard a voice.
"Stay where you are, Doctor." It was the Terileptil Leader. He and two other Terileptils had crashed on Earth while being transported to a prison colony. The Doctor had offered to take them to another, unpopulated world but the Leader had refused. He planned to wipe out mankind with a modified version of the plague that was sweeping the nation at this time in history. The Doctor disliked dealing with stubborn megalomaniacs hell-bent on exterminating humanity and conquering the Earth, and he was determined to put a stop to the Terileptils' plans. It was going to be rather difficult in his current position.
From behind him, the Doctor heard Mace and Tegan enter the room. Richard Mace was an actor, indigenous to this point in time, who had helped the Doctor and his companions. Both he and Tegan were under the Terileptil's mind control device worn on the wrist.
"Shoot him if he moves," the reptilian Leader said to Mace, who brandished a pistol. "Now," he said to the Doctor. "Turn around."
The Doctor slowly stood and turned to face the Terileptil, dropping the screwdriver down to his side. If he could keep it out the Leader's sight, he could still use it to escape.
No such luck. "Drop the sonic device," said the Leader.
The Doctor sighed and dropped the screwdriver to the ground. "This isn't my day, is it?" he said.
The Terileptil Leader lowered his gaze and fired. A bright green line of energy streaked out from his weapon and hit the screwdriver, bursting it into flame.
The Doctor stared down at the small, flaming tube of twisted metal and his face dropped. "I feel as thought you've just killed an old friend…"
"Flipping heck, Professor! We were lucky there," said Ace, the Doctor's teenaged companion. They had only just made it back to the TARDIS from an alien space station mere seconds before its self-destruct had gone off.
The Doctor adjusted controls on the central console, making sure they were indeed safe. "You're right, Ace. That was a close one. Too close." He hung up his umbrella on the hat-stand and sighed. "If only I still had my sonic screwdriver. I could have unlocked that door much quicker."
"You what?" asked Ace.
"My sonic screwdriver," the Doctor said. He flailed his hands about, trying to describe it. "It's a little silver pen-like device…"
"What's it do then?" said Ace.
"Oh, just about everything," said the Doctor. "Yes, I was never without it in the old days."
"Did you lose it or something?"
"Me? Lose something? Never. Although I suppose there were those Watergate tapes… But no, the screwdriver was destroyed."
"Can't you get a new one?"
The Doctor shook his head. "They're very hard to come by. I wish I had kept the remains of my old one. I might have been able to fix it."
"So why don't you?" said Ace.
"What do you mean?"
"This is a time machine…"
"No, no, no, no. I couldn't do that. Far too dangerous. I might run into myself, which is extremely hazardous. Not to mention the fact that the TARDIS is programmed not to. It's against the First Law of Time."
"Since when have you ever worried about rules, Professor?" Ace shot him a sly glance.
The Doctor broke into a grin. "You quite right. Off we go then!"
While his Fifth incarnation was busy in London, preventing the Terileptils' modified plague from being released (and accidentally starting the Great Fire of London in the process), the TARDIS carrying his Seventh self was materialising in the dungeon he had fled moments ago. Or years ago, depending on one's perspective.
The door opened and the Doctor poked his head out, as if afraid his other self was hiding nearby. He stepped out and began to carefully comb the floor. Ace stepped out after him. She knelt down alongside the Doctor.
"Aha!" he declared, holding up the scorched remains of the screwdriver.
"You think you'll be able to fix it, Professor?" Ace asked him.
He rolled it over and over in his fingers. "Perhaps. It could take time though. Come on, Ace, let's go before I run into someone familiar."
Once back inside the TARDIS, the Doctor put the sonic screwdriver away safely in a drawer before flying off for their next adventure.