The Third Fold and the Unknown Fold.

-8-

A Short Story featuring an alternate Third Doctor and the Fugitive Doctor.

-8-

"Tell me about your parents," the Doctor flicked some dark hair out of her face, feeling the leather strap of the vortex manipulator on her wrist, as the car she was sharing with the increasingly mysterious Ruth Clayton bounced on the unmade road.

The Doctor had arrived in Gloucester when her time ship had detected the presence of the Judoon in Earth's early 21st century; it was odd because the Judoon had no jurisdiction over Earth and the humans hadn't yet signed the treaties of galactic law.

The Judoon should not even be here, and instead, they were trampling all over the city and hunting down a fugitive. The Doctor had encountered the Judoon before in her current incarnation, back when she had tracked down plasma coils outside the Royal Hope Hospital, which the Judoon transmatted to the moon to hunt down a plasmavore. With the help of Martha, she'd stopped the rhino-like thugs from causing too much damage, but the Doctor wanted to know what kind of fugitive would make the Judoon risk so much anger like this.

The Doctor, now in her third incarnation, was in the guise of a young woman with long brunette hair and a moon-like face with dark eyes. She had escaped from the Time Lords by throwing herself into the Untempered Schism, after she had stolen her TARDIS and a second TARDIS and a vortex manipulator, regenerating as she did so she could escape the Time Lords after they'd decided to have her executed for meddling in history after they'd captured her when she'd summoned them for help during the War Games.

"I wish I could tell you I adored them," Ruth sighed as she drove; the Doctor watched her closely, seeing that there was no deceit in her words, but the Doctor didn't trust her, especially after seeing that sudden burst of martial arts moves she recognised from different cultures in galaxies Earth had yet to visit at this point in history.

Ruth had ripped off the horn of a Judoon captain, she had issued an ultimatum in Judoon-ese, for God's sake…and yet she remembered nothing else. "But they chose to live in a disused lighthouse. That tells you how good they were with people."

"Some people might find that idea," the Doctor pointed out, remembering all the times she had seen people give up with others, and just go in hiding. "Not like you, in the heart of the city, talking to people all day long."

Ruth chuckled, "I guess we all rebel against our parents. It's part of growing up, innit?"

The Doctor chuckled herself. "I've never been a fan of growing up myself. I ran away from home to get away from them, so I know what you mean."

"You ran away?"

"Yes, they wanted me to…enter the family business, and I hated the idea. I wanted to explore, to travel."

The Doctor would never know if Ruth would have replied to that, as they came closer to the lighthouse. "They loved it out here. Suited them," she snorted with a sneer.

The Doctor frowned when she saw the gravestone close to the road, "Loved it so much they wanted to be buried here?"

"Yep."

"But by that point, you'd already gone, hadn't you? You'd just moved to the city, and you never looked back?"

"Yeah."

"But you still own the lighthouse?" The Doctor pressed, sensing there was something fishy about this.

"Yeah, they left it to me," Ruth said. "But I never wanted to come back here to live, though."

"When did you move to Gloucester?"

"Ooo, 1999. Mid-December," Suddenly Ruth glanced at her suspiciously, suddenly realising what was happening. "Are you testing me?"

The Doctor raised a brow, "Yes."

She didn't see the point in hiding it, nor her distrust.

"I don't know why I'm even trusting you."

The Doctor laughed for a second, "The feeling's mutual, Ruth, believe me. I've got one of those faces. I promise you, I'm your best hope of finding out who you are and staying alive. That Judoon captain is not going to stop getting to you, to make you pay for humiliating him."

Ruth said nothing, and it looked like she was spacing out.

"Ruth?" The Doctor said.

Ruth didn't say anything.

"What are you seeing or hearing?" The Doctor pressed.

"Nothing," Ruth said, but the Doctor saw the lie instantly, but before she could say anything to press on, hoping to find out more about the persona she was now convinced was hidden away so thoroughly even Ruth didn't recall anything, like that scene in the cathedral, she went on, "We're nearly there."

"Why don't I believe you?" The Doctor whispered.

Xxxxx

The interior of the lighthouse was musty with dampness and disuse after decades of not being occupied or visited. The Doctor stepped inside slowly, tapping her vortex manipulator; she was tempted to run a scan, but the last thing she wanted to do was alert the Judoon in orbit where they were.

"That smell," Ruth shook her head, a look of nostalgia on her face, nostalgia she was sure was faked somehow. "Home. Forgotten what it feels like to come back here. Like nothing can touch me."

"Do you mind if I take a look around?" The Doctor asked.

"Sure," Ruth whispered, her expression making it clear she was as distrusting of the Doctor, as the Time Lady was of her. "I'll get a fire going."

The Doctor nodded, and she went up the spiral staircase. In truth, the Doctor wanted to look around and find any more signs of her mysterious new acquaintance. She reached the top, out onto the walkway outside the light itself. She looked around, seeing nothing but the beach and the sea, but then her eyes flew to the lone gravestone near the parked car. Curious, she walked outside into the open air, not taking her eyes off of the gravestone, and she saw there wasn't a name on it.

Ruth had seemed contemptuous about her parents, but surely she wouldn't have left a gravestone blank?

"Why would you have a blank gravestone?" The Doctor whispered to herself. She glanced upwards and decided to take a chance. She flipped open her vortex manipulator and performed a scan. "There's something in there, but there are no human remains down there."

The Doctor downstairs and out of the door. She didn't see any signs of Ruth and she guessed the woman was somewhere else, but while she was concerned about where she had gotten to, the Doctor decided the grave was more important. Grabbing a spade, she rushed to the grave and started to dig. As she dug deeper, the tip of the spade struck something. She kept digging….until she got down on her hands and knees, and brushed the soil away….revealing a Police Public Call Box.

"What the hell?" The Doctor whispered, scanning it, her mind racing.

It wasn't a real police box, and her hearts stopped.

It was a TARDIS, alright. And as she stared at it in disbelief, she recognised it as her own TARDIS. Her old Type 40. But that didn't make any sense; her Type 40 was onboard her Chula time-ship that she'd stolen decades ago.

What was going on?

"You're probably a bit confused right now," Ruth's voice came from behind, and the Doctor swung around and blinked in surprise. The moment she saw her, the Doctor just knew Ruth's real personality had returned. Ruth was wearing a smart suit in dark blue with a colourful shirt, and she was holding a laser rifle. And she was holding herself differently from before. "I broke the glass. It's all come back to me."

The Doctor pointed down at the TARDIS. "This. What is this? What is going on? Who are you?"

"That's my ship," Ruth smiled.

"What?" The Doctor whispered. No, she couldn't be...

"Let me take it from the top. Hello, I'm the Doctor," Ruth introduced herself, unaware of how shocked the Doctor was by hearing that. "I'm a traveller in Space and Time, and that thing buried down there is called a Tardis. Time And Relative Dimension In Space. You're going to love this," she grinned, stepping close to the Doctor, and she took the Doctor's hand. The Doctor blinked when she felt the Transmat wormhole ripple around her, and deposit them inside the TARDIS.

The moment they were both inside the TARDIS, the console room in its basic, default mode with white walls, the Doctor got more confirmation this was her Type 40. She felt it.

"Come on, old girl" Ruth was saying as she raced around the console, her hands dancing over the controls to get the power building. "Too sleepy. Power up. Need you right now."

The Doctor watched her for a moment before she spoke up to get an idea of what was happening. "Hi. Struggling with this. Can you just…?"

"No, I can't. Not right now. No time. Just stand there and don't ask questions," Ruth said quickly, but she began speaking again as the Doctor looked around the console room, spotting the chameleon arch lowered. Ah, that explained a lot. "Sorry you got caught up in all this, but if Gat is half the operative she used to be, she's already figured out where we are. And we need to be ready, and we're not."

"Wait a moment! Stop. Just Stop for a moment! Who's Gat? And who are you? Truly," the Doctor demanded as patiently as she could as she tried to get clear answers.

"I told you, love," Ruth said with exaggerated patience. "I'm the Doctor."

Alright, the Doctor had decided enough was enough. She would get clearer answers right now. She didn't know what was happening if she was encountering an incarnation who came from a different universe, one who'd yet to come, although that was unlikely since she would have recognised her instantly, or if this was a clever ruse, she could clear that up.

"You can't be the Doctor," the Doctor snapped.

"Oh. Yeah? And why's that?" Ruth challenged.

The Doctor stepped around the console. "Because I'm the Doctor. And this is my TARDIS."

Ruth stared at her in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me. Really?" She looked over the Doctor critically.

"Yes, really," the Doctor snapped in annoyance.

"Since when?"

"Since forever," the Doctor was growing more concerned with….Ruth; she was still not sure this was even a version of her. If this was a future incarnation, Ruth would have recognised her at once, but she hadn't.