Proper introduction...welcome to Companion Coffee Shop: Riddles in Time, a sequel to my long running The Companion Coffee Shop. The second arc of The Companion Coffee Shop, Time Convergeance, featured all of the coffee shop companions meeting multiple Doctors, although some companions didn't get the chance to really know/meet other Doctors, and I did not include some other companions, which might have been missed. So I'm continuing Time Convergeance, in a sense, although Riddles in Time will deal with a separate problem than Theologians of the 4th Quarter and Cybermen, though I don't really know what yet.
P.S. Um...some past companion/Doctor pairings may be similar to the Prisoners in Time comic, but I can't help it...these are some of the best companions, in my opinion, favorites for me at least and I wanted the right mix of them. Plus, fairly limited as to what companion/Doctor pairings are available when in some regards.
2. London Eyesore
Barbara hummed softly to herself as she folded some clothes and heard footsteps approaching behind her. She didn't move and pretended not to hear, continuing with her work, until she felt him standing right behind her and his hands moving over her eyes. "Guess who?" He asked.
"Well, now, let me see," She said, pretending to consider the problem. "We are stranded in a vessel which travels through time and space, and last time I counted, there were four of us, including me. Two of them are men, as I am sure you are, when your hands are large and your voice is deep, so you must be…the Doctor?"
"The Doctor!" Ian cried, removing his hands as Barbara laughed and turned around to face him staring at her, aghast. "How can you mistake me for the Doctor! My hands aren't that wrinkled yet, are they?"
"No, they're not," Barbara said, leaning forward to kiss him. "I was just joking."
"For a second there, I almost believed you." Ian said. "If we stay in this TARDIS for much longer, I fear that I may start turning into the Doctor. Can you imagine that?" He asked before clearing his throat and doing his best Doctor impression. "I say there, my dear boy, would you kindly help me remove the lid of this sarcophagus? There's a good chap…confound it! Chesterfield…" Ian said as Barbara broke down laughing.
"Please stop that now, before he catches us." Barbara said, glancing around. "This is his ship, after all, I don't want him to throw us off."
"Oh, you know he won't, he hasn't threatened to do that to us in ages." Ian said. "Ever since Susan…left, and Vicki joined us," Ian said, not wanting to mention that Susan had practically been abandoned by the Doctor, "He has been kinder to us. I think he has warmed up to us."
"Yes, I hope so, otherwise he wouldn't excuse that." Barbara said.
Ian sat down on one of the beds and sighed. "Well, we have put up with a lot with him, so he should give us a break. Giant insects. What a nightmare." He remarked, shaking his head. "I felt like we had been shrunk again." Barbara laughed as he continued, "You know, in spite of everything that we did to help the Menoptera and the Optera fight the Zarbi and the Animus, the one thing that really affected me most of all was when one of the Optera sacrificed herself so that the rest of us would live, and they didn't even mourn her. They just moved on. Cold, callous, cruel and unfeeling. That is the truth of the universe that we have seen ever since we started traveling with the Doctor."
Barbara sighed. "You may be right there, especially when speaking about the Daleks, but it hasn't been all bad, has it?" She asked. "We have suffered a lot, but we have seen some wondrous things that no one else on Earth or in our own time period have seen. We have been to so many different places and times, it's hard to count how many times off the top of my head that I have been caught breathless with wonder and amazement at the sight of it all. My head's still reeling and it's been reeling ever since we got on board. Don't you feel the same way?" She asked him.
"Well, yes, it's all well and good to get caught up every now and then in the fun and thrill of it all, but we've got to keep our heads or else we're liable to lose them!" Ian cried. "We can't completely lose control of who we are and where we come from. And someday, if we survive this and if the Doctor is willing to let us go and if we are lucky enough to land in the right time and place…then we'll be home again." He said. "Don't you want to go back home again?"
"Not straight away, not this very minute, but yes, Ian, I do want to go home, eventually." Barbara said as he gaped at her. "Did you ever get the chance to see one of those temples of light that the Menoptera had?" She asked, trying to change the subject. "It was very beautiful. I could actually believe that they weave songs in there."
"Oh, it's hopeless, is it not?" Ian asked. "I've lost you."
"Oh, no, you haven't! Now tell me, Ian, surely there is something that you enjoyed doing, even if it was a little scary?" Barbara asked.
"Well…to tell you the truth, even though my life was on the line, or my friend's…" Ian grimaced and then smiled. "I sort of enjoyed being a Roman gladiator, fighting before emperor Nero and you. Ben-Hur doesn't have anything on me, does he?" He asked.
"No, he certainly doesn't!" Barbara said and laughed.
"It may be funny to you now, but I was really into it, especially with my life on the line. I hope that, wherever or whenever we do go next, I want to go somewhere where they have proper sword-fighting so that I can train some more." Ian told her. "I have been getting good at it. I actually like being in combat sometimes."
Barbara frowned. "That's not a good thing, though." She said.
"I know." Ian said, looking down. "I get so restless and agitated sometimes, the longer we remain stuck on the TARDIS, that I feel like fighting anything or anyone that comes my way. Plus, you were in danger, too, Barbara." He said, turning to her. "Nero did threaten you. I tried to save you then, but I couldn't…I had to get you out of there."
"To return to the villa?" Barbara asked.
"Exactly." Ian said, staring at her.
"Eh-hmm!" They heard, and turned around to face the first Doctor himself, wearing his shirt, cravat, and suspenders. "If you two would kindly join me and Vicki in the console room, we are about to making a landing." He told them, gesturing out the doorway.
"Right." Ian said, annoyed at being disrupted like this.
"Ugh." Barbara said, sitting down on the bed.
"Is something the matter?" The Doctor asked, as Ian turned to her with concern.
"I'm fine, just a bit queasy all of a sudden." Barbara said, shaking her head. "You two go on ahead, I'll catch up in a bit. Maybe I should lie down." She said, easing back into bed.
"Barbara, are you sure?" Ian asked.
"Just go." Barbara said, waving him off.
"All right…" Ian said, walking away. "I'll go check on Vicki."
"Is there anything I can do, Barbara?" The Doctor asked when they were alone.
"No, Doctor, it'll probably go away with a little bed-rest." She smirked to herself. "If you were a real medical doctor, you would know."
"Hmm. Perhaps that episode with the Animus, fighting off its control, wore you out more than you realize." The Doctor said. "Vicki and I, we were trapped there, helpless and unable to move as it tried to steal all of the secrets of the TARDIS and the universe from us. Yet I was conscious enough to notice you when you came in with that Isotope, bent on destroying that monster, yet you were helpless to overcome its control until you saw…Ian. You had assumed he was dead, didn't you?" The Doctor asked.
"No, it was just that it had been so long since we got separated…I wasn't sure." Barbara said. "I was very glad, though."
"Of course you were." The Doctor sighed. "You and Ian are both very strong, especially together. Well, I shall get back to the console room, make sure that they haven't broken anything in my absence. We don't want a repeat of what happened last time that happened, do we?"
"Oh, certainly not, that was insanity." Barbara remarked.
"Indeed. Well, have a good rest." The Doctor said. "See you soon." He left the room, and returned to the console room to find Vicki and Ian arguing. "Children." He muttered to himself, tut-tutting and shaking his head. "Now, what seems to be the problem?" He asked them.
"Vicki has gotten it wrong again…" Ian said.
"It's right, I'm telling you, it's right!" Vicki cried, showing the Doctor the monitor. "See?" She asked him.
The Doctor peered at the monitor. "What am I looking at here?" He asked.
"It's London." Vicki said.
"No, it's not!" Ian cried. "I know London, past, present, and future, and that is not London! It doesn't belong there!"
"It does so!" Vicki cried. "It was installed there near the beginning of the 21st century."
"Oh, wait a moment, I'm remembering something." The Doctor said, peering at the monitor again. "Yes, it does look familiar to me. What's it called again?" He asked.
"The London Eye." Vicki said.
"You mean that thing is right in the middle of London!" Ian cried, aghast. "An eyesore?"
"Yes, it was a very popular tourist attraction for years until it was torn down." The Doctor said, nodding.
"A ferris wheel." Ian reinterated.
"It's quite more than that, my dear boy." The Doctor said, chuckling. "It's a lot of fun in those little glass booths. Come on, I'll show you. Let's go out and take a ride." He said, laughing as he pulled the door lever and headed towards the opening TARDIS doors, grabbing his cane, coat, and hat on the coat-stand.
"Oh, boy!" Vicki cried, going after him.
"Wait a minute, what about Barbara?" Ian asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I almost forgot." The Doctor said and then hesitated. "Well, I don't think a ferris wheel would be very good to her stomach right now. She needs to rest, you know."
"Is she all right?" Vicki asked, concerned.
"Don't worry, she'll be right as rain soon. Maybe she'll come join us in a bit." The Doctor said. "In any case, we won't be gone long. She won't miss us."
Ian hesitated and finally he said, "All right, Doctor, I'll come with. I'll leave a note, though, just in case." He grabbed a piece of paper, quickly jotted down, 'Went out to London ferris wheel' and stuck it on the monitor. There ought to be a better way of leaving messages, but Ian had never figured out what sort of future technologies could aid him in this endeavor.
"By the way, Vicki, do you happen to know what year is it?" The Doctor asked her as they waited for Ian on the TARDIS threshold.
"2008 according to the British Earth calendar." Vicki told him.
"2008…yes, I have been here before." The Doctor murmured, staring outside before he stepped out of the TARDIS, which was parked a couple of blocks away from the London Eye on a sidewalk next to the Thames. Pedestrians, some of whom were tourists, but most were residents, walked past the TARDIS without really noticing it, although one or two glanced at the Doctor himself with a curious stare. "I was here with Susan before we traveled to 1963, and met Ian and Barbara." He said. "We rode that ferris wheel several times." Ian, still inside the TARDIS, paused as he overheard the Doctor talking.
"Really?" Vicki said, following after him. "You never say very much about…Susan." She said. Personally, Ian thought that the Doctor never said very much about himself or Susan before he had met Ian and Barbara. Once or twice, Ian had wondered what sort of world the Doctor and Susan came from, if they had other machines like the Doctor's TARDIS there, but he knew not to pry and the Doctor probably would never divulge the information unless necessary. The circumstances of their departure had apparently been shameful or disastrous, from what little Ian had gathered.
"She was a dear, sweet girl, but it was time for her to go." The Doctor sighed. "Just as it will be time for…" He frowned to himself. "You know, the oddest thing happened, last time I was here with Susan. We got separated and I searched for her for hours. I was desperate and frightened, worried that something had happened to her and that I was alone, on a strange alien planet in a strange time, but she returned to me. She said that she had been in trouble, but some people had rescued her." Ian walked out of the TARDIS unnoticed by the other two as the Doctor continued.
"Did you get to meet them? Who were they?" Vicki asked.
"I didn't really meet them, but I saw them and I recognized them, several of them. They were…" The Doctor remembered all of those faces, the crowd of people staring solemnly at him and Susan, and knew that some of them belonged to him, his future incarnations, even though it went against the First Law of Time. But there was one face, an old human woman's face, in particular…could that have been Barbara?
"What, Doctor?" Vicki asked, unnerved by the Doctor's uncanny silence and look of dismay.
"Never mind." The Doctor said, shaking his head. "Let's forget it, and just enjoy the day." He murmured, walking off with his cane plodding on the ground. "Come, Chesterfield! Vicki!"
"Chesterton. My name is Chesterton." Ian grumbled as Vicki laughed before they followed after the old man towards the London Eye.
"Yes, yes, I know." The Doctor said, shaking his head.
The trio were an uncanny sight, walking down the sidewalk towards the London Eye, with Vicki and Ian glancing around and marveling the unfamiliar and occasionally familiar London landmarks while the Doctor plodded on ahead, focused on their destination. However, at one point, a young woman racing through the crowd bumped into Ian and almost lost her balance, falling towards the river barrier, but Ian grabbed her and pulled her up.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She cried, shaking her head.
"Watch where you're going!" Ian cried. "You could have hurt yourself." The Doctor had paused and turned around to watch the sight with some amusement and interest.
"Thank you for helping." The young woman said.
"What's the matter?" Vicki asked. "Why were you running so fast?"
"I was trying to get away…" The young woman said, and then paused as she noticed who was watching her.
"Do I know you?" The Doctor asked.
"No, I don't think so, not yet." Clara said. "Good-bye, Doctor." She added for her own amusement, and then ran off before anyone could say anything.
"Doctor, she…" Ian started to say.
"I know." The Doctor said, frowning.
"But how did she know?" Ian asked.
"Like she said, I have not met her yet, but she has met me already. Although I still think she looks familiar to me." The Doctor shook his head.
"Should we go after her and find out?" Vicki asked.
"No, no, I think that whatever is chasing her, and with the way she was running, there is bound to be something, we should stay well put out of it. Especially if it's something to do with my future." The Doctor remarked.
"Doctor, is it likely that you would encounter somebody from your future?" Ian asked.
"My dear boy, it's possible, anything is possible. Haven't you learned that already?" The Doctor said with a laugh and wandered off again. "Come on, to the London Eye!"
"Time travel, I'm never going to get used to it." Ian said, shaking his head.
"Me, too," Vicki added before they continued.
A short distance away, Clara turned the corner into an alleyway and asked, "Is it all set?"
"The trap is laid." The Twelfth Doctor said, jiggery-pokering a small device with his sonic screwdriver. "Now all we have to do is wait." He laid the device down on the ground and switched it on before moving off to the side, waving for Clara to come over and join him. "Hopefully they won't be able to resist."
"By the way, I think I ran by your first self down by the Thames." Clara added as she joined him.
"Really?" The Twelfth Doctor asked, glancing at her. "What did I look like?"
"Old with wispy white, balding hair, a crooked smile and a gaunt appearance, not to mention hat and cane." She told him. "You were with a younger man, a school-teacher or soldier type, and a young teenage girl."
"Oh, I think…are you referring to Ian or Steven?" The Twelfth Doctor asked. "And was that Susan, Vicki, or Dodo?" He frowned. "It couldn't be Ben or Polly."
"You have a confusing life, don't you?" Clara remarked.
"Yes, I do." The Twelfth Doctor muttered. "And it gets stranger."
And it continues. Very strange. (I don't know how long this story will run. Companion Coffee Shop ran from 2007 to 2013, for goodness sake, with occasional updates, so...maybe, by the time I finish this, the 12th Doctor will really be on TV. Most likely will run through 50th anniversary and Christmas.)