Beating the Universe at it's own Game

[fifthdoctor]

The Doctor pushed through the doors of the police precinct and walked off in the direction where he'd parked the TARDIS, hands jammed in his pockets. He was still kicking himself for getting involved as he heard his strange new companion trotting along behind him. Couldn't just stay incognito, could you, he told himself. Now he was stuck with

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[ovr_teh_rainbow]

"Ok, and we're in an alley because...?"

"Wait, is that an old style Police Call Box? Are you seriously trying to tell me that you work out of a ...great, I'm being led astray by a homeless guy.

He paused for several seconds.

"Then again, I talk to guys like the wizard and listen to messages through the tv. Who am I to judge? Lead on." Sam watched as the Doctor unlocked the box.
Then

[fifthdoctor]

The Doctor ignored him initially as he turned the key in the lock. "Because this is where I parked the Tardis. I didn't count on your overactive police force grabbing me for being at a crime scene."

He was starting to wonder if this was a bad idea. This guy was on edge enough being outside the tardis...oh well, they'd come this far...

He opened the door and stepped inside, happy to be back at the controls again.

[ovr_teh_rainbow]

It wasn't an uncommon thing to be roughed up, whether one was a witness or a suspect. Sam blinked, shrugging automatically. To be fair, he'd feel the empathy later for rough handling and misuse, including his own gruff behavior. But right now, he was feeling like a lemming about to leap over a cliff.

A big fat cliff with lots of console panels and ...and well, he stood there close enough to see the controls where the Doctor seemed to be heading. But he wasn't looking at all that. Sam's mouth hung open just a little. His eyes were wide as saucers while he was listening to a faint sound - like a heartbeat maybe? Nah, he thought. It was probably just whatever passed for machinery.

And in three, two, one, it finally sinks in.

"You're an alien, aren't you? Wait, don't tell me, I don't think I wanna know. At least you aren't the ones who I think might be responsible." It was clear he was babbling and it wasn't going to stop any time soon. The reality of actually going home, finally sunk into his brain.

[fifthdoctor]

As he flicked a switch here and there, the Doctor was smiling on the inside. It was a secret pleasure of his to show off his time machine, whether he wanted to admit it or not

[ovr_teh_rainbow]

Taking a clearer look around, he choose a bench that was well and far away from the controls. Curious as ever, he nodded and pulled away from the instinct to poke and prod at anything nearby. Every time he did something like that in the past, his reality changed and he was not about to muck this up.

Sam gave the date, address, and time and coughed before adding in a mumbled tone, "At my old precinct the day before my accident."

[fifthdoctor]

The Doctor fed in the coordinates, his hands flicking and turning things here and there. But suddenly his hand hovered over the control panel, not sure if he had heard Sam right.

"Just a tic...did you say the day before this all started?" hoping that was not what he had just said. The implications of going back to before an event were...well they weren't good. Quite bad in fact.

[ovr_teh_rainbow]

"Oh well, yeah. Why, is that wrong?" The minute he said it, he realized what the Doctor had meant in asking. Still sitting, he placed his head in his hands and mumbled the exact date and time of his accident.

"Feel free to tell me I'm being an idiot." He just knew it, a sinking feeling in his gut telling him that this was going to turn into an endless loop.

[fifthdoctor]

"Ohoho...so much wrong with going back prior to leaving one's time stream. The catastrophic implications alone..." the Doctor gestured like he really didn't need to say what could happen.

"Especially if you're trying to undo what was undone already," he said pointedly. "Two of oneself in the same time. Not good, not good at all."

[ovr_teh_rainbow]

Looking straight at the Doctor, Sam contemplated what was said. He already knew this in his own way, but he still had to try. The Doctor had left an opening for rebuttal and in his usual manner, he blurted out his reply.

"Well, you know if we do go back to just prior of my accident, you can see what really happened. How about five minutes before and I swear I won't do anything unless you say its ok. Don't you want to know what happened and make sure it doesn't happen again?"

[fifthdoctor]

The Doctor opened his mouth to protest, knowing full well what his so called "duties" as a timelord were...but he stopped...

This could happen again, and if someone was grabbing people and sticking them into other times...

He eyed Sam, not wanting to trust him...couldn't trust him...

Reminded him of Turlough in a lot of ways. He sighed inwardly but outwardly he fixed Sam with a look. "...ok, but you break that promise and...I'll be very upset. Very."

Let his hand down on the controls again and the Tardis started it's shaky noisy dematerialization pattern. "Hang on, be there in a tick..."

[ovr_teh_rainbow]

Blinking, eyes went wide, and a happier more estranged looking grin there never was, when Sam got the go ahead. He clapped once, palms staying together for a short second or two before parting. Pointer fingers blazing, one thumb cocked and he winked.

"Great! Thanks, oh man, you won't regret it! Ok, so how does this thing ...?" Before he could finish the sentence, Sam heard before he felt the slight movements. He knew for sure that if he tried to figure out how it all worked, this machine, his head just might explode. Literally.

Making sure he stayed seated, Sam tried to envision his past, the exact spot in front of the apartment building. It would be logical that they would end up right there, just waiting for the accident to happen.

[fifthdoctor]

http://fifthdoctor.livejournal.com/4049.html