TARDIS Spring Cleaning (after Darksoul possession/Jamie-talk)
Several days after being possessed and the Doctor’s convinced he needs to do some spring cleaning. Or at least some kind of cleaning. Probably should have done it awhile ago, come to think of it, but things kept coming up. Things do that, so he doesn’t blame them. So, spring cleaning. Needs doing, established that, good as a distraction except….
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As they walked down that long dark corridor, the Doctor glanced over at Billy. That made sense too. Humans always did have a habit of seeking out the familiar when things went wrong. It only made sense Jamie would try to get comfortable in the TARDIS. Or the next closest thing to the TRDIS. The Doctor nodded, absently throwing in a “mind that ventilation shaft, that’s new” (otherwise Billy was going to end up headfirst down the shaft in part of the floor), and paused as they finally hit a door. It looked like the door to the wardrobe but it was entirely possible it could be something else. The Doctor made himself busy working on opening the door at the mention of how good it was for Jamie he was around.
Bit awkward. If he hadn’t been around, well…
The Doctor cleared his throat, shining his sonic screwdriver down where the hall suddenly curved up into a ramp. “When was this? Learning about the Ohm? And is there definite proof? Definite proof aside from, well, a talking ship. Let’s go this way,” he added, ignoring the door. Probably have to fiddle with that one later. Their voices echoed down the corridor, bouncing off, and it was becoming more clear how massive the TARDIS was, even with the new changes.
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"What we've been told was that our memories of our rescues were suppressed because they were too traumatic. I opted to have my memories of the Ohm's destruction of my world restored and it was about as horrifying as you'd expect, but we also know that the ship is capable of suppressing and altering our memories. It leaves our verification attempts in somewhat of a bind." And that was never fun.
"We've had arguments about whether it's true, but shortly after that we learned that the Ohm definitely exist. Stacy sent us down to a vacation planet a few months ago. Nothing was unusual until we got word to investigate a nuclear reactor---there we found the Ohm preparing to obliterate the planet. We fought them off, but when the nuclear plan didn't work they sent their swarm to kill all life on the surface."
Of course, then the question was whether the Ohm were in cahoots with the Daligig in a good cop-bad cop routine to keep the crew in line. Billy wasn't one to dabble in conspiracy theories too often, but he knew the others did.
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"So their method is to swarm the world, wipe out all the population? How can they actually destroy the planet itself?" The Doctor ushered Billy up the ramp, switching his sonic to his other hand. This was something he'd need to know. And maybe this was something he should try to fix, to blatantly interfere. The sheer scale of it alone was something he was sure the Time Lords of old would have had to at least sit up a little straighter for, for all their stuffiness.
He knew the Earth was going to be destroyed sooner or later. Just the natural life cycle. Everything had an end. But these Ohm going through time, space and multiple dimensions? That was hardly part of the natural cycle. He really did need to get the TARDIS up and running again.
The ramp dropped Billy and the Doctor onto a high catwalk. As catwalks go, it was incredibly high, hanging over some kind of park. So that was where it had went. The Doctor moved to peer over the railing, not seeming to notice the way it swayed and creaked under their weight.
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That hadn't been fun. He trudged up the ramp, carefully trailing the twine up it and onto the catwalk. A rather stomach-churningly creaky catwalk. It was at times like these that Billy wished he carried a portable grappling hook. Instead, he traced a hand over the morpher on his belt and gripped it for reassurance.
"Are you sure that this is safe?"
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And with that said, the Doctor did exactly that. Thankfully he didn't do it literally: instead of running, he carefully walked across, hands on the railing, the sonic screwdriver clenched in his teeth. The Doctor made it to the other side, and, satisfied with the integrity of the catwalk, motioned Billy to join him on the other side. It didn't appear to occur to the Doctor that maybe, just maybe, Billy might not be a fan of heights.
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Billy had a look at the connections, mentally calculated his chances, and positioned his morpher on the hand not trailing twine. If he happened to fall, morphing would cushion the blow.
Once he was set, twine and shiny silver device in tow, he nodded and started across carefully. With all luck on his side, he'd live to tell the tale of how ridiculous he looked right then. "It's been good to me so far."
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The Doctor turned, leading the way once more. Another corridor, this one suddenly lit. He thumbed off the sonic. This particular corridor did look interesting, the Doctor leading Billy through a dizzying series of turns until they stumbled upon the sprawling wardrobe. The Doctor made a mental note of where it was, herding Billy inside.
"Lovely, another thing down," the Doctor strode in, not heeding how ridiculous high the ceiling was or that the racks of clothing seemed to simply keep going. Almost all of it was old, although "old" could simply mean he'd popped ahead into the future and had them sitting around here in the TARDIS for decades. The Doctor wheeled around to face Billy. "See anything you like?"
Not that he could guarantee Billy he'd have his size, but he was definitely offering him a chance to wander without the Doctor chaperoning. There wasn't anything particularly dangerous in the wardrobe, after all. From his impression of Billy (and he generally had mostly accurate first impressions), Billy wasn't likely to run around pushing big red buttons he shouldn't or go tearing off into the TARDIS the moment the Doctor's back was turned. He thought he could start to see why Jamie would confide in Billy. Perfectly reasonable, friendly human.
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If the Doctor liked awed reactions from humans, he'd enjoy this particular moment. Never had Billy seen such an assortment of clothing extending that far into the distance, though that was partially because he avoided shopping duty with Kimberly whenever possible. She would have been in heaven here.
He was too, but for a rather different reason. "Everything," he answered, taking the opportunity and...not quite running away with it, but strictly observing. While the Doctor did whatever he was inclined to, Billy drifted toward clothing that caught his eye: a vest worthy of Jamie (and sized like him, as a physical inspection pointed out), a garment with five sleeves that he took a minute to meticulously re-fold, a hat that could easily hold ten feet of hair piled on the head, and a surprisingly extensive collection of womens' clothing. Like most teenage males would, he gave a glittering silver bikini the once-over, but his question was perhaps different:
"It's impressive that they're so well-maintained, Doctor, but...you traveled anywhere in the universe, right? Why is there a disproportionate representation of fashion from Earth?"
That had caught his eye. He'd expected the percentage of humanoid-styled clothing to be smaller.
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And the humans weren't bad either -- most of the time. He could spend all day pointing out all the negative spots but every species in the universe had them. The Doctor came around a several story tall rack coats and jumpers, leaning up against the side with his arm as he watched Billy investigate. Actually, it was an intelligent question. He'd been expecting "it's amazing" (which Billy essentially gave him, good man), but not the following question. Intelligent and observant. Good combination there.
"Anyway, I like to keep extra things on hand. You never know when you might need them," the Doctor added, content to simply watch Billy explore.
The only problem with finding the wardrobe was the fact that he still hadn't figured out how to remove the plantsuit. It seemed very determined to stick on there. At most he'd managed to get it to retract to something smaller than a full suit, but other than that, it didn't seem to want to go anywhere. Any clothes, like things from the wardrobe, would have to go over.
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Not that there was much time for academia when the world had ended.
Billy passed by several other humanoid items---countless suits, a trenchcoat, very colorful scarves, and an extensive collection of shoes. Always prepared, the Doctor was.
If the Doctor noticed any patterns to the garments that Billy investigated for himself, a likely one was that the items were overwhelmingly blue. The color attracted him almost magnetically.
"Am I to assume that there are other extensive collections here? Tools, inventions far beyond mere human understanding?"
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Or at least were trying very, very hard to give that impression.
The Doctor watched as Billy continued to explore the wardrobe, eyes following him. Was it him, or did the human seemed to gravitate toward blue? Not that blue wasn't a perfectly good color in its own right. He rather liked it himself, so clearly Billy had good taste there. The Doctor nodded at Billy's question. "Good assumption. And yes. Floating around here -- maybe not literally floating -- but I'd make a guess and say they're still here. Just a matter of finding them."
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He finally pulled himself away from some interesting, almost familiar spandex suits and addressed the Doctor, rolling the twine in his hand again. "Did you want to keep searching, sir?"
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Which made it exciting, in his opinion. Even if this was some bad timing (and he knew bad timing. And good timing and not-so-good timing. This was bad timing). The Doctor was perfectly willing to lead Billy back to the exit if he had other duties he needed to be attending to. They'd got some mapping done, judging by the twine that was trailing out back the way they had come.
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"No, Doctor, it's fine! This actually fulfills a schedule requirement. I'm ordered to spend at least two hours a day away from engineering work and training with the Rangers...or else I'll wear myself down until nothing remains but my shoes, they say."
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The Doctor snapped his fingers, pointing at a spiraling staircase leading down. That was the way they should go, although they probably should mind the twine so it doesn't get stuck on the stairs. The Doctor took the lead once more, making a mental note of where the wardrobe is. It was nice to find it so early with Billy but it won't get the TARDIS fixed. It wasn't the first room he would've chosen to almost literally stumble across.
The stairs took them into another room. This one was much smaller, and almost annoyingly peaceful. There was even a peaceful fountain in the center with peaceful and artfully placed stones (also peaceful). Even the trickle of water could only be described as peaceful. The Doctor stopped in front of it, looking a mix between baffled and faintly offended. Rory clearly had more influence on him and the TARDIS than he thought.
"That," the Doctor pointed Billy toward it, "I would jettison, if I could. I'd give it to you, but it's a bit heavy, I'd think."
Shame, too. It'd probably be just the thing to give Billy. A far cray from being in Engineering for unhealthy amounts of time.
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When they'd found themselves in a room with architecture that had become very familiar to Billy over the months, he couldn't hide a smile. It was definitely his sort of place, but why was it here? "A...meditation room? It's certainly well designed," he remarked, but one look at the Doctor's face told him that that was probably the wrong thing to say.
"I suppose quiet reflection isn't for everyone," Billy said rather obviously. "What would you prefer to fill the space with?"
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