Disclaimer: Having to repeat this so many times in a short space of time is very bad for my state of denial. Here goes: I don't own Doctor Who or anything associated with it and I make no money from using the BBC's property.
A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating! I have been otherwise occupied. But now, with all commitments fulfilled (except for the persistent nuisance known as homework) I can write this chapter! I have been asked for placements, so I will say that for Rose, it is between Fear Her and Army of Ghosts. For Sarah, it is set after School Reunion, and don't even ask about the spin-offs and for Ian and Barbara, it is set during the second series, between The Dalek Invasion of Earth and The Rescue so no Susan or Vicki. Well, that was a long note…
"What can we do?" Rose broke the silence.
The others seemed to shake themselves. There was something deeply wrong about the Doctor having to live on as such an abomination. It seemed, somehow, to rob him of his dignity. That was it. The Doctor had always had dignity.
"Is this where we discover why our species and native time are important?"
The look of discomfort on the Doctor's illusion of a face was so fleeting that they all wondered whether they had imagined it.
"I have pinpointed several points in history that seem to have contributed to this. I need you to visit these events." He drew four devices from his pocket.
Ian stared at them with a small frown creasing his forehead. "Is it just me or do they look rather like those travel devices we had on Marinus? What do you think, Barbara?"
"I think they do."
"They are similar. But these allow you to travel in time as well as space and also have nexus point locators. That is, they will detect any deviations from the timeline that is programmed and alert you, and me."
He explained slowly and patiently. But it didn't make any more sense than if he had explained at ninety miles an hour.
"So if it's just a simple find and fix-it mission, why can't you do it?"
"I daren't," he replied soberly. "I'm not supposed to exist. That's why I'm here, where the TARDIS and I can do the least damage. If I try to interfere directly… I had a friend, once, who nearly ceased to exist because her family history was changed. When I brought her to the nexus point, she actually began to fade in and out of time. I had to-"
The Doctor had never been so willing to volunteer information, but they couldn't shake the feeling that he had gone off on a deliberate tangent, as if to distract them.
"So what do we have to do? Why is our species and native time important? Or travelling with your…Pentaler incarnations?"
Sarah gave him the look that said "I'm a journalist, it's my job to ask questions. Now answer me."
The Doctor was saved by Rose. "The TARDIS?"
The look of pain that crossed his face was not imagined. "You don't want to see."
He changed the subject again by handing out the travel dials. This Doctor seemed remarkably good at deflecting interest, Sarah observed. She wouldn't let him get away with it. She was just about to ask another awkward question when Rose interrupted.
"Doctor, what's happening for the other Doctor? I mean, the one I'm travelling with? Will he have to tell Mum that I disappeared? I can't even phone her and explain." Rose pulled her mobile from her pocket and stared dejectedly at it. "That's the second time we've been out of range."
"That's a phone?" Ian exclaimed, amazed.
"About forty years in your future," the Doctor explained.
"How does it work? On some sort of radio waves?"
"Something along those lines. But I modified Rose's phone."
"It's going to be hard acting surprised when all the innovations we've seen come along," Barbara observed.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe we'll invent a few."
The Doctor shot Ian a sharp look. Ian looked innocently back.
"Don't worry, I'll cut you in."
Barbara frowned as she realized another implication in Rose's speech.
"Does your mother know about you travelling with the Doctor?"
Rose nodded. "We visit ever so often. Not as often as she'd like, though."
Anticipating the questions, the Doctor answered before anyone had a chance to ask them.
"One, I didn't kidnap Rose's mother because…because she's Jackie," he shuddered. "And two, I knew Rose centuries after you two. My TARDIS driving skills have improved somewhat." It didn't help.
"What…he kidnapped you?" Rose exclaimed.
"Yes, those two nosy parkers over there followed Susan home and forced their way into my TARDIS."
"I thought the universe needed saving!" Sarah shouted down everyone else.
"Susan?" Rose asked, in the ensuing silence.
The Doctor suddenly looked every one of his years.
"Sarah's right. Now those devices will transport you when you twist the dial. Don't interfere with the events. Whatever happens, don't interfere; just observe. I'll be in the TARDIS monitoring the feedback the devices give. The devices will bring you back here once you're done. Then we can see what the problem is."
Barbara was the last to go.
"Doctor, how is Susan?"
"Just go, Barbara."
She went. She'd remember Susan as she last saw her on the scanner; distraught at being left behind by her grandfather, but with a future with David in front of her.