Author's note: Thanks once again to MarcusSLazarus for all his help on this story.
The Doctors and the Keys
Chapter 3
TARDIS
Nyssa, Tegan, and Adric followed the young brunette through the front doors of the tenth Doctor's TARDIS. Once inside, the three Companions of the fifth Doctor stopped and looked around in wonder. Faith heard their gasps and turned around. She had an amused smile on her face. "What's with you guys? I thought the TARDIS has always been bigger on the inside," she asked.
"In the TARDIS we use, the front doors lead into the control room," Nyssa tried to explain.
Adric walked up the catwalk a few more steps and then brushed his hands across the new console panels. He reached out and gently tapped on the floor to ceiling Time Rotor shaft. "I think they still do," Adric muttered. "Nyssa, come look at the console. It's laid out in the same pattern as ourDoctor's console and I think this," he tapped on the glowing tube again, "is the Time Rotor," he said.
Nyssa hurried forward and started running from panel to panel examining the changes. Tegan folded her arms and nodded her head in appreciation. "Beats white, that's for certain," she said. Tegan joined the others around the console and started chuckling when she saw the label on the airline seats that had been installed on the railing. They read, "Qantas Airline, Qf32". "Qf32" was the designation of the Sydney to London flight. "Oh, Doctor," she whispered affectionately. Tegan decided she liked this version of the Doctor almost as much as she hers. She tapped Faith on the shoulder, extended her hand, and said, "Tegan Jovanka."
Faith returned the handshake with a firm one of her own. "Faith Lehane," she replied. "I recognize you from the photos the Doc keeps in his room," Faith informed her.
"You've been inside the Doctor's bedroom?" Adric asked in surprise. To his knowledge, neither he nor his two friends had ever seen the inside of the Doctor's sleeping quarters.
"Of course I've seen it," Faith laughed. "It's my bedroom too," she told him. Tegan's face lit up at the thought of the Doctor actually having a non-platonic relationship. Nyssa and Adric just looked confused.
"Are there shortages of rooms now? Did the Doctor have to jettison even more of the TARDIS?" Adric asked.
Tegan and Faith laughed. "No, Adric, I'm sure there are plenty of rooms still in the TARDIS," Tegan told him.
Nyssa cocked her head as she tried to pull things together and then her eyes grew wide. "Oh, my," she said breathlessly.
"What? I still don't understand," Adric complained.
"Dude…I'm his girlfriend," Faith explained.
Adric pointed to the other two companions. "They're female friends of the Doctor as well. I don't see what that has to do with anything," he said. Nyssa walked up to Adric and whispered something in his ear. "Ohhh," he said and blushed a deep crimson. "Um…nice to meet you," Adric said, trying to change the subject.
Tegan wasn't having any of that. "So how long have you two been together…dating I mean, not as his Companion?" she asked Faith. Adric hurried to the other side of the console and tried to lose himself in the new controls.
"We've been an item for almost a year now," Faith replied.
"What's it like?" Nyssa asked, getting in on the gossip. The three women began chatting away about their favorite alien.
The fifth Doctor and his older self strode through the front doors and made their way to the center console. The younger Doctor noticed the three women were shooting the Doctors conspiratorial glances from the other side of the Time Rotor. "Oh…bother," the fifth Doctor sighed. "Those two aren't going to let me hear the end of it now that they know Miss Lehane is more than just a Companion," he whispered to the tenth Doctor.
"Doctor…what happened to the control room?" Adric asked loudly, not caring which Doctor answered.
"My guess is the primary and secondary control rooms somehow merged. Am I right?" the fifth Doctor asked.
The tenth Doctor nodded. He looked around and for the first time in ages noticed how much she had changed since even his seventh self. "Something like that, yeah…but it's a bit more complicated," the tenth Doctor answered, not wanting to give too much away. The TARDIS had been severely damaged during his eighth life. Not only had it been forced to completely reconstruct itself after suffering serious damage in the final battle of the Time War, but after that the Doctor had been forced to use the TARDIS to contain a cold fusion explosion that could have killed many, many people. Unfortunately, the explosion took place in the primary control room. Due to its limited power in the absence of the Eye of Harmony, the TARDIS rebuilt itself by combining what was left of the two control rooms into a completely new one.
"But why does it look so different?" Adric asked. "The secondary control room on the TARDIS is wood paneled," he stated.
"The TARDIS has several desktop themes that can be used for the secondary control room. I have always been partial to the 'English study' one myself," the fifth Doctor told Adric. "For some reason I can't fathom, this Doctor prefers the 'Coral' one," he said shaking his head. "It's even worse than the 'Leopard skin' theme," the fifth Doctor repeated from his last visit to the tenth Doctor's TARDIS.
"Oi! I happen to like the organic look," the tenth Doctor said defensively.
The fifth Doctor rolled his eyes. "Well, now that you have us all in the TARDIS; how do you propose we go about actually locating the segments?" he asked pointedly.
The tenth Doctor ran his hand through his messy brown hair. "Um…that's a really good question," he admitted. "I suppose we could…no that will never work. Maybe we could…no…no, I accidently dropped that in a nuclear reactor. Big boom, let me tell you," the tenth Doctor babbled.
"I knew it. I've gone senile," the fifth Doctor complained. The Time Rotor flashed, getting the Doctors' attention.
"See…she knows how to build one, no problem," the tenth Doctor said happily. "Wait, how did you manage that?" he asked the TARDIS.
"Who's he talking to?" Tegan asked. Nyssa shrugged her shoulders. The Time Rotor flashed again. Both Doctors looked a little chagrinned.
The Time Rotor flashed an angry red before going back to its normal blue. "Now you're just being crude," the tenth Doctor told the TARDIS.
"What did Blue have to say?" Faith asked.
"I'm not going to translate the last bit, it was a rather inappropriate metaphor," the tenth Doctor said. "As for the rest, she says since she was in such close contact with the original tracer, she believes we can construct a new one with parts from the storeroom," he explained.
The fifth Doctor didn't know if he should be angry or amused at the current attitude the TARDIS was showing. "Where did she learn that kind of language?" he asked.
Faith knew when to make an exit. "I'm …going to go check on Buffy and Dawn," she said hastily. Faith made a bee line for the door that led to the rest of the TARDIS.
The tenth Doctor watched Faith leave, again appreciating how good she looked in the tight black dress she was wearing. "I'm going to have quite the handful, aren't I?" the fifth Doctor chuckled, indicating Faith.
"Yep," the tenth Doctor agreed. "But she worth every bit of it," he assured his younger self. The tenth Doctor bent down and removed one of the floor grates. "Let's get to work on cobbling together a new tracer," he suggested. The tenth Doctor suddenly looked down at the tuxedo he was wearing. "Right after I change," he said.
An hour and several disagreements over the usefulness of a sonic screwdriver later, the two Doctors had managed to piece together a new tracer. The new model consisted of a black, triangular base with sides approximately 5 centimeters long. On top of the base was a clear tube that was filled with glowing blue gas on one end and red on the other. The tube spun freely about its center. While the Doctors had been busy working on the tracer, the TARDIS had reconfigured one of the console panels to accept having the tracer put onto it.
Faith and Spike walked into the control room to check the progress. Spike had changed into a pair of black jeans and a black tee-shirt with the sleeves rolled up slightly. Faith had changed into a pair of faded blue jeans and a red tank top. "How's it going in here, Doc?" Faith asked.
"Fine," both Doctors replied. The Doctors smiled at each other and the tenth Doctor took the tracer and slipped it into the waiting slot. While he did this, the fifth Doctor kept staring at Spike, finally having a moment to slow down a bit.
"I'm sorry, usually I have a better memory for these kind of things, but…have we met before?" he asked.
"You probably remember seeing me at Wolfram & Hart," Spike suggested.
"No, I don't think that's it. Where have I seen you before?" the fifth Doctor pondered.
"Sorry, Doctor, I'm pretty good with faces and I'm sure we didn't meet before that," Spike said.
The tenth Doctor looked up from the console. "1880, London," he prompted the fifth Doctor.
The fifth Doctor looked closer at Spike. "William Pratt," he said suddenly. The fifth Doctor hurried over to Spike and shook his hand. "I loved your poems. It's truly a shame what happened to you," he said offering his condolences.
"I've gotten used to being a vampire, besides if I wasn't I would have never met my wife, Buffy," Spike said philosophically.
The fifth Doctor frowned. "I'm sorry, did you just say vampire?" he asked.
"Yeah, Spike's a vampire…well, vampire half-breed," the tenth Doctor confirmed. "Although I'm not certain he fits that description any more either. You see, brave, brilliant, beautiful Spike over there fought to regain his soul and won," the Doctor said proudly of his friend.
"Remarkable," the fifth Doctor said as he slipped on his brainy specs. He moved his head from side to side, examining Spike.
As usual, Spike was slightly embarrassed at the praise the Time Lord gave him. At least he was until he thought back to what the fifth Doctor had just said. "If you weren't talking about me being turned into a vampire, what were you talking about?" Spike asked.
The fifth Doctor walked around Spike, continuing his examination. "What Anyanka did to you, of course," he muttered.
Spike spun around inhumanly fast and fast the fifth Doctor. "What did you say?" he asked in a stern voice.
The tenth Doctor made a noise by sucking on his teeth. "Oooh, I wasn't going to mention that part," he said and then went back to calibrating the controls.
Spike stormed over to the tenth Doctor. "What's he talking about, Doc?" asked.
A pinging noise came from the console and the blue end of the tracer began glowing brighter. "Thank the Vortex," the tenth Doctor swore under his breath. "Looks like we have the coordinates for the first segment," he said loudly. He tossed the switch that sent the TARDIS into the Vortex and on to its destination. Only after the tenth Doctor threw the switch did he look closer at the coordinates. "Why there?" he asked the Universe softly. Within moments, the TARDIS materialized on a planet in the late stages of terraforming.
Faith watched as the color drained out of her Doctor's face. He staggered back until his back was pressed against the railing. Even though he was alien, Faith had learned to read her lovers expressions well. The tenth Doctor wasn't backing away in fear; he was staggering from tremendous sorrow. "Doc, where are we?" Faith asked softly.
Faith's voice snapped the tenth Doctor out of his memories. "Messaline," he responded. He took Faith's hand for support as he said, "It's where my daughter was born."
The fifth Doctor looked at Faith and correctly assumed she wasn't the mother, considering the look of shock on her face. "Good lord, I become a man slut," he said without realizing he had spoken.
The tenth Doctor glared at his younger self and for the first time, the fifth Doctor had a glimpse of the terrible pain that filled his hearts. "Her name was Jenny. She came out of a progenation machine after it took a tissue sample of mine," the tenth Doctor corrected the fifth one. "Messaline is also where she died," he said coldly. Faith's grip tightened on the Doctor's hand.
Spike walked over and placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. He gave the shoulder a small squeeze and said, "I'm sorry, mate."
The fifth Doctor was touched by how easily these Companions showed emotion. "I have my deepest sympathies," he told his older self.
The tenth Doctor shook himself out of his depression. "Right, let's get this over with, shall we?" he asked. "Nyssa…Adric, you two stay with Buffy and Dawn. See if there's anything in the library that might help stabilize Dawn. If you can't find the library, Buffy can show you where it moved to," the tenth Doctor ordered.
"And me, Doctor?" Tegan asked.
"Would you have stayed behind even if I asked you to?" the tenth Doctor asked with a fond smile.
"Of course I wouldn't," Tegan admitted.
The fifth Doctor smiled as he watched the byplay between Tegan and himself. He stretched out his arm and plucked he tracer off of the console. With tracer in hand, the fifth Doctor walked over to the hat rack and grabbed his tan hat. "Shall we?" he said, echoing the tenth Doctor.
The tenth Doctor frowned and scrunched up his face. "How come you get to hold the tracer?" he asked petulantly.
"Because I'm younger and faster," the tenth Doctor explained. "Perhaps I might let you have a turn on the next segment," he said noncommittally.
The fifth Doctor waited at the doors until the tenth Doctor gave in and opened them. "It's my TARDIS, I should be the one to hold the tracer," he heard the tenth Doctor complain to Faith.
The TARDIS had landed on the stage of a quaint theater. The walls were lined with floor to ceiling windows with only light coming in from the stained glass tops. "Hum…still living underground I see," the tenth Doctor mused once those going on the expedition were out of the TARDIS. "A bit odd that, but I love what they've done to this place," he said spinning around to take in the whole theater. Gone were the military cots and weapon stockpiles. In their place were rows of seats like a theater should have. The tenth Doctor craned his neck and looked up at the ceiling.
Faith followed his gaze and looked up at the ceiling as well. The ceiling had been painted as a mural depicting the Doctor's last visit to the planet. The first panel showed the Doctor with his hand in a machine. The next panel showed the machine opening and a petite blonde woman surround by glowing light emerge from it. Faith scanned the other panels and stopped when she saw the ones that showed Jenny taking a bullet for the Doctor and then dying in his arms. The final panel was only partially completed as if the artist had been suddenly interrupted. The panel showed what Faith suspected to be Jenny laying on a slab. Only her legs had been painted in.
Faith decided she needed to lighten her lover's mood. She nudged his arm and pointed to a panel showing him, Donna, and Jenny running down a tunnel. "Wow, that one really makes your ass look huge," she teased him.
"What?" the tenth Doctor exclaimed, slightly insulted. He turned around several times on the stage as he tried to look at his own butt.
The fifth Doctor shook his head in frustration. "Our butt looks fine, I'm sure she's just teasing you," he said. The tenth Doctor stared at Faith, who was having a difficult time keeping a straight face. The tracer flashed insistently and the tube moved slightly as the fifth Doctor shifted his position. The fifth Doctor took a bearing and started walking towards the exit door at the rear of the theater. "Right… this way people," he ordered. As the group started to move, the fifth Doctor was surprised when Spike shouldered past him and took point. The fifth Doctor looked towards the rear of the group and saw Faith was hanging back to protect their flanks. This had all happened without a word spoken between the two warriors.
When they came to the second intersection in the tunnel they were walking through, the fifth Doctor stopped to get another reading. The tenth Doctor moved next to him and said, "Something is very wrong here."
"How so?" the fifth Doctor inquired.
"We've been walking for ten minutes and haven't run into anyone," the tenth Doctor told him. "There were quite a few humans and Hath when I left here," he said.
"Night cycle?" the fifth Doctor suggested, having little hope that he was correct.
"Nah…some thing's definitely wrong here," the tenth Doctor assured him.
"Well, the sooner we locate the segment, the sooner we can go about fixing whatever is wrong here," the fifth Doctor said.
The tenth Doctor's manic smile finally returned to his face. He winked at his younger self and said, "Yeah, 'cause that's what we do isn't it? We fix it when things go wrong."