oOo
"I've come to tell you that you have to leave," the White Guardian said, with no prelude. Although the Doctor distinctly remembered entering his TARDIS, he found himself standing next to a low stone wall, gazing out at what appeared to be a peaceful Edwardian countryside, complete with a grand mansion in the background and sheep grazing on the expanse of green lawn. The White Guardian stood next to him. Glowing. "You've had your time off, and now it is time to return to your work."
The Doctor cocked his head quizzically. "Return to work? I'm not certain I understand you."
"Come now, Doctor," the White Guardian's voice was lined with impatience. He turned to glance over his shoulder at the Time Lord. "You know very well that I do not engage in frivolities. This is no time to be obtuse. You need to leave Earth. At once. And pick up that young woman, Peri, before you go. You'll be needing her."
"You're not making any sense," the Doctor protested. "Why should I do any of that?"
"Because you have more important matters to attend to."
The Doctor stiffened. "I happen to feel that my family is extremely important," he said quietly. "More important than any amount of random wandering about the galaxy. They need me right now, and quite frankly, I need them. Whatever's going on in the universe can wait for a while."
"The universe has already waited for two Earth months while you attended to your personal affairs," the White Guardian snapped. "It is time you gave it your attention once again. While there is still time to put things to rights."
The Doctor's uneasiness grew as this strange conversation continued. What was the White Guardian talking about, putting things to rights? "Why?" he demanded irritably. "I did it before and no one noticed! I practically retired, until I was ready for my first regeneration! That took much longer than a mere two months, if you recall. Why shouldn't I take this time for myself?"
The Doctor felt the White Guardian's sigh whisper impatiently in his mind. "I didn't want to have to tell you this, but it seems I must," he stated, the words still forceful for the soft tone in which they were spoken. "You were not supposed to be here at all, weren't even supposed to make this much of a stopover on Earth. You've severely disrupted the Time Lines of this universe. All because your TARDIS intercepted a message from Lavinia Smith that it wasn't supposed to." His expression hardened. "Someone has been meddling in your reality, Doctor. Someone has purposefully altered your life from its proper course."
The Doctor felt a chill fall over him at those words. So much for the myth of free will. "You're telling me that my life has been set, that I am following some sort of predestined cosmic plan."
The White Guardian shrugged eloquently. "Call it what you like, Doctor. Fate, destiny, karma...all of the myths have a basis in truth. You of all people should realize that."
The Doctor shook his head stubbornly. "I of all people believe in the free will of intelligent beings to plot their own courses in life. I refuse to believe that everything I do, from brushing my teeth to fighting with the Master, is part of some elaborate schedule."
"You're very fond of Earth, Doctor, aren't you?" The Doctor nodded, caught off guard by the apparent non-sequitur. "They have a strong tradition of philosophizing, a strong religious background throughout their history. I assume you've heard of St. Augustine?"
The Doctor nodded again. He saw where this was leading, and he still didn't like it, but at least this was something he could understand. "St. Augustine believed in free will within a predestined life," he answered reluctantly. "His ideas were very similar to those of the old Norse myths about the Fates holding the threads of life, cutting those threads when the life was due to end. What a man did within those allotted years was up to him; but the end came when it was due, and nothing he did could stop it."
The White Guardian waited until the Doctor's impromptu lecture on Earth religion ran out of steam before speaking again. "Then you do understand what I have been trying to tell you."
The Time Lord turned away from him. "I understand," he conceded. "But I don't have to believe it." His voice rang with challenge.
"I never asked you to," his ostensible host replied drily. The Doctor's lips quirked in a brief smile that quickly faded as the White Guardian continued. "However, I am asking you to do what you can to mend the errors. They are compounded, error upon error, every moment you continue in this incorrect direction. If you hesitate too long, it will be too late to return time to its proper course."
"Are you saying I've created an alternate timeline?" The Doctor's voice was skeptical. "Does that mean there's a 'true' timeline, or has this one completely replaced the 'real' one?"
The Guardian sent a scornful glance at the Doctor. "You once told one of your traveling companions that there was no such thing as an alternate universe; have you changed your mind since then?"
"It was worth a try," the Doctor mumbled, not at all contritely. He turned back quickly to face his host, a suspicious gleam in his eyes as a sudden thought struck him. "You said 'someone' altered my life. Who?" he demanded.
The White Guardian sighed again, this time impatiently. "Very well, Doctor, since it gives you so much pleasure: I shall admit that I do not know. I suspected the Black Guardian, but I dismissed him as he would never have given you so...pleasant...an alternative. Although," he seemed to reconsider his words, "perhaps I was hasty in drawing that conclusion."
"You mean perhaps he did give me a pleasant alternative?" the Doctor guessed. "Perhaps he wanted me to be at odds with you, to want this life I'm living now, to be unwilling to give it up? Is that what you're thinking?"
The White Guardian nodded, still looking distracted. "Perhaps, although he is not usually this subtle. Still, it is worth further consideration."
"What will you do?" the Doctor cut in, concerned by the White Guardian's show of unease. He must truly be worried, to allow a mere ephemeral like a Time Lord to see him indecisive.
"Do? I shall ponder the situation further, of course," the White Guardian replied. He waved a negligent hand. "Go back to your Earth family, Doctor. You have won yourself a reprieve. I will contact you when I have discovered the truth of the matter."
He vanished, and the illusionary scenery he'd conjured up vanished as well, leaving the Doctor standing in Lavinia Smith's front hall.
"Doctor! Where on earth have you been?"
The Prydonian turned at that surprised voice, to see Lavinia standing on the stairs. "Not on Earth at all," he replied vaguely, then walked slowly toward the front parlor. "Please excuse me; I need to speak with K-9."
Lavinia stared after her houseguest with an expression of mixed concern and suspicion in her eyes. The Doctor had simply vanished for nearly a full day, and all he had to say was that he needed to speak to K-9? She was certainly beginning to see why Tegan, Sarah and Harry became so frustrated with him! She shook her head and continued into the kitchen. Better warn Tegan that he was back, and acting extremely distracted. To say the least.