Fic: This Inner Time, Star Trek/Doctor Who, Gen, 6863 words
Okay, so, the xover_exchange is over now, so I can post this elsewhere, so, here we go.
this inner time
star trek/doctor who, gen, pg, 6863 words
wayoffbase
Thanks to flash_indie for the beta. Title comes from an epigraph to the novel Man and Time, which was also used in the Time Traveller's Wife. Oh, and I went with the idea that the Doctor is half human.
With all his companions, in all his incarnations, there is one place (and one person) he keeps returning to.
23rd century. Assorted locations. A man/boy/person called Spock.
*
The first time Spock meets the man who calls himself The Doctor, he is seven years old. It is, in fact, his seventh birthday, which, despite his protestations that it was not at all logical to celebrate him on the day of his birth (in which he had played no active part) had consisted of a party and a human dish known as cake. He rather thinks they should instead give thanks to his parents, the midwives, and the group of geneticists who played a part in his conception, gestation period, and birth, but he has found that he does not have much say in the matter. Spock has just managed to escape the celebrations, and has ventured out into his mother’s garden. He estimates that he will have approximately one hour and thirty seven minutes to himself before he is found, and thus does not bother to hide - that time period will be more than satisfactory as relief from the party, and he does not feel the need to prolong it further. Instead, he climbs up onto the railing around their balcony, staring out over his mother’s plants.
It is then that he notices that there is a man in his garden.
Spock has met many humans, both male and female, and, as far as he can tell, this man is also human. This means that Spock’s chances of overpowering him, should he prove to be a threat, are quite high - 89.3%, to be precise. And so, despite the Vulcan desire for him to suppress the very human trait of curiosity, Spock walks up to the man, intending to ask him just what he is doing there.
The man pre-empts his question, however, by turning around and saying “Hello there! Did you know there’s a window in space time here? Right here! Brilliant! Also incredibly dangerous of course, but still. Brilliant! Come and have a look.”
Spock does not think this is a good idea. He has no clue what a ‘window in space-time’ might be (well, he knows the theory, but in practice it is highly unlikely) and has no desire to get any closer to what seems to be a very strange human indeed. Instead he says “Please explain what you are doing in my mother’s garden.”
The man grins “Sorry. Terribly rude of me, intruding on you like this. It’s just it’s not every day you get a window like this one - usually they need some sort of conduit - a fireplace, or a mirror - something. But this one! It’s just there, a gap in the fabric of the universe! The technology to create this must be extraordinarily advanced.”
Up until now, the man has been facing Spock, but he now turns back to face something nestled between two rocks “It can’t have come from this side” he mutters “23rd century Vulcan doesn’t have anywhere near the technology to do something like this.”
Just as Spock is about to protest - despite its flaws, Vulcan is highly advanced technology wise - the man exclaims “Oh! It’s closing!” He then turns back to Spock. “Well, it was nice to meet you, must be off. Wouldn’t want to get stuck here again - deserts and I don’t agree, really - much too dry.”
Before Spock can say another word, the man has disappeared, apparently into thin air. And so he goes over to investigate, only to find that there is nothing at all out of the ordinary there, nothing to explain the man’s sudden disappearance. Indeed, all he can find are a pair of rocks and a small group of plants.
“Fascinating.” Spock says.
He is unsure even logic can explain this.
*
The Doctor visits frequently after this, although Spock does not have the chance to converse with him again until many years later. Coincidentally, the next visit upon which they do converse also coincides with the first time he brings a companion along - for him, this is about halfway through the 98th century, but for Spock it has only been about four years since his first visit. Like his seventh birthday (the occasion of his bonding to T’Pring) this conversation occurs just after another event which Spock will later consider to be one of the most defining moments of his life, although he does not think so at the time it occurs. He has just been reprimanded (the first of many times) for fighting, but he doesn’t care. They had insulted his mother (both his parents). He only wishes he’d been able to hit them harder, and with more accuracy and frequency, before he’d been pulled away. In response to this incident his father has told him to be “completely Vulcan”, but at this point, Spock doesn’t feel like listening to him. So he goes outside, to the gardens attached to his family’s quarters.
It is there that he, as he has done many times during the past four years, wanders over to the rocks and plants where he first saw that strange man. So far he has found nothing to prove the man’s existence - a fact he finds most disquieting - and it looks as though today will prove much of the same - there is no sign of anything out of the ordinary in the area, especially not strange men in suits from circa 21st century Earth (this is an educated guess only - Spock had tried to research the phenomena, but the archives had not been particularly forth-coming in Earth matters, and he does not wish to ask his mother for fear she will inquire as to the reason for his questions). Disappointed, Spock makes to return inside. It is then that he hears voices:
“Look, another one!”
“Another what, Doctor? What on earth is going on?”
“I think-“ and with this, a familiar face appears, again apparently out of nowhere, “that you should say, what on Vulcan is going on!” The rest of an equally familiar body soon follows - brown suit this time, red earth-style sneakers - followed this time by another head - dark hair, dark skin, female, young - and then the rest of her - shirt, jeans, also in what looks like early 21st century style. “Martha Jones!” the Doctor (apparently) says, “Welcome to Vulcan!”
Martha Jones does not look impressed. “Doctor, where are we?”
“I told you - Vulcan!” The Doctor explains.
“Oh very funny, Doctor.” Martha Jones says “Vulcan? That’s not a real place.”
“Of course it is!” The Doctor gestures around “You can see it is, quite clearly.”
“But Doctor, I’ve seen Star Trek...you’re telling me that Vulcan really exists?”
“Of course it does, Martha. But that’s hardly the real question.”
“Alright,” she says, “What is the real question?”
“The question is...why is there a space time window onto Vulcan? I’ve lost count of how many I’ve come across leading to this same garden, and,” he pauses, “to the same time period as well!”
It’s at this point that the Doctor turns around and spots Spock. “Hello!” he calls, “You wouldn’t happen to be the same Vulcan I met before, would you? Must be about four years ago by your timeline? And about ten years into your future, but we won’t go into that now.”
Spock just stares at him. “I thought,” he says, “I asked you to leave my mother’s garden.”
“Quite right!” The Doctor says, “Sorry, we’ll be off in a minute - just let me take a look at this window here, and then we’ll leave you to it.” He turns away, and then turns back again “I’m the Doctor by the way, and this is Martha Jones. Y’know, this re-introducing myself thing does get quite old.”
Spock stares at him stiffly. “I am Spock.”
“Spock, right! Of course! Lovely name! Sorry again about the intrusion, we’ll be off now.”
It seems that while he has been talking (at a rather alarming rate, in fact - Spock feels concerned for his welfare - he knows that humans require rather more oxygen than Vulcans, and his rate of speech cannot possibly be conducive to receiving the correct amount) the Doctor has been scanning the ‘window’ with a strange, rather large, red and silver instrument, comprised mainly of a large wheel. Despite the utter implausibility of the situation, the Doctor then slides the instrument into one of his pockets, into which it disappears completely. He then proceeds to leap through the ‘window’ (which Spock still has no proof of), pulling his companion through with him. His head then appears again briefly “Nice to meet you! Goodbye then!” and then disappears again.
Spock runs over - this time he is determined to find proof of these ‘space-time windows’, or at least proof of something to explain this strange man in his garden.
He is just in time to catch a brief glimpse of the edge of Martha’s sleeve as it disappears through what is, without a doubt, a window of some kind. Spock can’t see much through the ‘window’, but what he can see certainly makes a case for at the very least a space window, if not a time one - the edges of a white, wooden building, perhaps nineteenth century, Earth style. Architecture is one of the areas in which the Vulcan records are proficient, and so Spock is far more confident in dating this than he is the Doctor’s clothing(it turns out later that he is wrong, and that this style of architecture has been popular (and will continue to be popular) far into the future). He is also very certain that there are no buildings even remotely similar anywhere on Vulcan (about this, of course, he is correct). However, despite his determination to follow the Vulcan way, Spock finds little comfort in these particular facts - they really do not explain anything at all, especially not the way the window is shrinking, becoming smaller and smaller until, finally, it disappears entirely, leaving the landscape looking entirely ordinary. Except - Spock crouches down to look closer - for a small silver object, approximately three inches in diameter, of similar design and shade to the Doctor’s scanning instrument.
As he pockets the object, once again the only appropriate phrase he can find is a common one, one that he feels he will have much use for in the years to come, especially if incidents like this continue to occur:
“Fascinating.”
*
The Doctor’s visits continue in a similar pattern to the one they followed in the four years between his seventh birthday and the ‘fighting incident’ (his father’s words, not his own) - he sees The Doctor many times, although they are mostly just glimpses. Always when an important event occurs, or at least important to him. He gets used to it - something important will happen, and a flash of blue/brown will flicker in the corners of his vision. He doesn’t speak to him again - the Doctor is mostly there and gone again, flitting through his life whenever something defining occurs. He is sometimes alone, sometimes accompanied by someone - he sees the dark haired girl again, plus a blonde girl and two different brunette men, and a red haired woman - all human, as far as he can tell.
He begins to measure the importance of events this way (not exactly logical, but he can’t seem to escape the habit) - if he sees The Doctor, chances are something major has happened, something he should pay attention to.
Which is why, when he steps outside (again into his mother’s garden - it has become something of a refuge for him) shortly after, in effect, telling the Vulcan High Council to go fuck themselves (a human phrase he has picked up over the years, despite his mother’s distaste for such offensive language), he is unsurprised to see The Doctor standing there, this time accompanied by the blonde woman. She does not look impressed.
“I thought you said no more ‘magic doors’, Doctor!” She looks around. “There better not be any mirrors about this time. Or horses.”
“But that’s just it, Rose!” The Doctor exclaims (his mother often used to use the phrase ‘inside voices’, to describe the sound level she felt was appropriate indoors - not that this was usually a problem, Vulcan young being usually quite reticent. It is a phrase Spock feels the Doctor has probably never heard, judging by his predilection for speaking rather loudly) “This isn’t a magic door at all! It’s something entirely new - I’ve never seen anything like it before!”
Spock frowns. On his previous visits, the Doctor had not seemed prone to lying. Also, Spock is more determined than ever to discover more about these ‘space-time windows’ (referring to them as ‘magic doors’ is not particularly dignified, let alone scientific). However, he is hesitant to trust someone who apparently does not remember any of his previous visits, several of which occurred with the blonde girl who is currently accompanying him.
The Doctor and his companion continue their conversation, although at this point they are so quiet he cannot hear them. Spock instead decides to weigh the pros and cons of approaching the pair, and decides, much like he did in previous visits, that his odds of overpowering the pair are quite high should anything go wrong, and therefore it would be quite safe to approach. And so he does.
“Oh!” The Doctor shouts, “Stupid! Stupid! We’re on Vulcan! Of course! 23rd century Vulcan, no less!” The Doctor turns around and spots him “Hello! This is Vulcan, yes? 23rd century?”
Spock resists the urge to say ‘obviously’. “You are correct, Doctor. Although this should come as no surprise to you, as we have in fact met before.”
The Doctor squints at him, turning his head sideways and screwing up his entire face. It makes him look rather odd. “Oh, it’s you! Oh, I’ve met you before, no question. I’m surprised you remember, though, or that you recognise me at all - I looked a little different then - no hair, leather coat, terrible ears? Said fascinating a lot?”
Spock stares at him, a thousand replies rushing through his mind. In the end, he goes with: “Vulcan memory is far more adequate at remembering events from early childhood than the human brain”
“So you do remember me!” The Doctor grins. “Wonderful!”
Spock is confused. “I remember the man you describe - in fact, I suspect he is the one from whom I first heard the phrase ‘fascinating’, and thus developed a predilection for using it. However, you bear no similarity to that man, so your claims that you are him are most illogical. Also, I am referring to the many other visits you have made to this planet, the most notable of which you made accompanied by a dark skinned woman, and alone.”
“Mmm, most illogical, that’s me. And really? That’s brilliant, brilliant. This probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to you, but trust me when I say that hasn’t happened to me yet - probably won’t for a while now.”
“May I enquire as to how this is possible?”
“Vulcans! Always so formal. The thing is, Spock - it is Spock, yes? I did remember that correctly?” Spock nods “The thing is, I’m a time traveller.”
Spock does not even have time to protest how illogical this is before the Doctor continues. “But that’s not the important thing here. You said we’ve met before? Several times? Were there any more of these windows involved?” Spock nods again, still feeling a little too confused to answer properly “See that’s bad. That’s very, very bad. Because these windows, they shouldn’t be here. In my experience, windows opening onto people’s lives, one person’s life, that’s very bad indeed. Very bad.”
It is at this point that Spock regains the use of his voice “These windows, as you call them, have not only opened onto my life, they have also opened on to events that I consider personally significant. Indeed, it is only because of these windows that I consider some of these events significant - they have had quite an impact on my life thus far.”
“Oh, that’s, that’s not good, not good at all.” He pauses. “So today, it’s significant for you?”
“It is. I have” and it’s hard to say, even now - he truly does want to please his father, “Decided to join Starfleet.”
This seems to make the Doctor happier. “Excellent, Starfleet, I love Starfleet. Love Earth. Don’t you love Starfleet, Rose?” He turns to his companion, who has so far been silent.
She appears to think about it “Weren’t they the ones with the phasers? Tried to shoot us on that world with the pigeon people?”
The Doctor looks about suspiciously. “Yes, well, never mind that. Earth, excellent. And then on, throughout the galaxy. Maybe that’ll confuse whatever’s causing these windows - following a personal timeline isn’t exactly easy, especially over such large jumps in space.”
Spock has no idea what the Doctor is talking about, but before he can ask him to clarify, Rose says “Doctor! The window,” she points, “it’s closing!”
“So it is!” says the Doctor. “Well. Must be off. Have a nice time on Earth. And, really, please don’t take offense, but I really do hope never to see you again - normally I love exploring, but these windows? They’re dangerous, bad, they really are.”
And then, without further ado, the Doctor disappears, the blonde girl following him minutes later.
Spock feels like he should say ‘fascinating’, only at this point it isn’t really. It’s mainly just annoying.
*
Spock does enjoy Earth, inasmuch as he can. Starfleet feels right to him - he is surrounded both by people who are of equal intelligence to him, and also who do not feel he is somehow inferior for having a human mother who loves him. He excels at the Academy, and even makes a few...friends, he supposes the term would be.
It is on the day he first becomes acquainted with one such ‘friend’, a young woman named Nyota Uhura, when he catches another glimpse of a blue pinstripe suit, alone this time.
He is somehow unsurprised to see the Doctor again, despite the huge gap between Vulcan and Earth. Despite the Doctor’s assertion that ‘space-time windows’ (and he still thinks this (if he said it, people would no doubt think him insane) is a ridiculous term) cannot travel across large distances, it would really be too much to hope for that these windows would suddenly stop appearing. He is pleased by his appearance this time, however - if these windows do signal an important event in his life, he is glad to know that Nyota will be important to him.
“So Spock,” the Doctor says, “what’s new?” He is grinning, as per usual, only this time the grin is borderline manic. It is odd to think, but Spock supposes that this is the Doctor’s way of concealing his emotions, just as surely as Spock’s ironclad control is his way of concealing his. However, Spock does think his is the superior method, as the Doctor’s eyes are suspiciously shiny, belying his huge smile.
Spock decides not to mention it, and instead says. “There have been recent developments in the field of physics that could lead to the development of primitive time travel technology.”
The Doctor laughs. “I suppose I asked for it” he says (and he did, Spock thinks), “I did mean ‘what is new in your life’, but that information is just as interesting.”
Spock does, in fact, know the meaning of the phrase the Doctor used, but he had thought that a discussion not relating to personal matters would be best. However, the Doctor has always behaved drastically differently to any other human he is acquainted with, and so Spock says, “Yesterday I met a young woman by the name of Nyota Uhura. I am sure we will become good friends”.
This time the Doctor’s smile is more genuine. “A girl, is it? Wonderful.”
Spock considers being offended. “She is just a friend. She is also a student.”
The Doctor’s smile turns sad, “Just friends, is it? I know how that goes.”
Spock is just about to ask him to elaborate (he knows that humans often like to discuss their feelings) when the Doctor says “Wait! Did you say Nyota Uhura?”
Spock nods, and the Doctor rubs his hands in glee. “Brilliant!” he says “Mr. Spock, you do have the most interesting friends.”
Spock agrees, of course (Nyota is an interesting person indeed), but as the Doctor has never met Nyota before, he is confused as to how he would have formed an opinion on her personality (it is not as though they would have met, even in the future - Spock plans to keep these meetings with the Doctor to himself if it is at all possible - he rather fears that any knowledge of them would give people cause to consider him insane). He is just about to enquire about this when a voice interrupts them.
It is Nyota. “Spock!” she calls, waving at him. Spock waves back (and of course the Doctor would meet her at some point - it seems inevitable now, despite his wishes), and she jogs towards them. “Who’s this?” she asks as she reaches them. “You always know the most interesting people.”
The Doctor laughs, but with a strange look in his eye. He quickly drifts off, and Nyota turns her attention to him.
“Nyota Uhura.” She extends her hand, presumably for the Doctor to shake. He does, looking slightly dazed. “John Smith,” he tells her. She raises an eyebrow at him, and he shakes his head.
“I’m sorry, I...you remind me of someone, that’s all. It’s an honour to meet you, Nyota Uhura, a great honour.” He shakes her hand enthusiastically, and invites her to sit down with them. They talk for hours, and Spock is, despite himself, impressed by the Doctor’s vast knowledge about a number of subjects, and his ability to converse intelligently (and somewhat sedately and logically) about them. Their conversation ends (four hours and fifty five minutes later, to be precise), when the Doctor reverts to his highly illogical self by declaring “The TARDIS has held the window for long enough, poor thing”, and disappears into thin air.
Nyota later tells him that she quite liked the Doctor. For a moment he is - he supposes the human phrase would be ‘gobsmacked’ - but then stops to think, and realises that maybe, just maybe, he likes the Doctor too.
*
“How the hell did that kid beat your test?”
“I do not know.”
“I do!” Volunteers a voice. The other professors and supervisors turn, surprised, to see who has spoken. Spock already knows. Nevertheless, he turns with the rest of them. “Doctor.” He greets.
The Doctor is leaning against one of the computer consoles, the one nearest the door. His presence causes something of a stir. Questions are shot at the Doctor from all sides: “How did you get in here?” “Where did you come from?” “Who are you?” “What are you doing here?”
The Doctor largely ignores them, although Spock expects the red-headed Orion girl sneaking out of the room, shamefaced, is grateful for the instructors’ distraction. He suspects she had something to do with the Cadet’s mysterious success at the Kobayashi Maru, but he can wait until later to question her. For now he focuses on the Doctor, interrupting his colleagues’ frantic questions and offering to escort the Doctor out of the building. He has cultivated a feeling of respect and not a little awe during his time at Star Fleet, and so he is not questioned. They are also somewhat shocked still from the Doctor’s abrupt appearance, and thus they leave the room in silence. Nobody speaks (Spock is shocked - this is perhaps the first time the Doctor has been silent in all the years he has known him) until they reach the small courtyard located just outside this building. Even then, it is Spock that speaks up.
“I dread to think how these events will become important in my life.” He is also confused - unless his theory is somehow completely wrong, all these windows (especially the ones which involve extended visits from the Doctor) open onto important events in his life. He cannot think of any ways in which a young upstart of a Cadet, especially one most likely guilty of cheating, could possibly become important to him.
The Doctor grins (Spock is worried) “Oh, you might be surprised” he says.
Spock decides to change the subject. “Doctor,” he says, “what purpose is served by you coming through these space-time windows? They often seem to close rapidly, and I cannot imagine a scenario in which you becoming stranded here could have a positive outcome.”
The Doctor laughs. “It wouldn’t be a very good idea for me to get stuck here, no. But as for why I do it - curiosity, Mr. Spock, simple curiosity.”
Spock is about to reply, to tell him this is most illogical, that the benefits of curiosity in this situation far outweigh the risks, when he notices that the Doctor is carrying something in his hand. It is seconds later that the something starts beeping, frantically and at a very loud volume. The Doctor looks at a small display on the front of it, says something rather unflattering under his breath, and stands up. He looks distracted, and Spock makes the logical assumption that this means he has to leave, that something important is happening, most likely to do with the windows. As these windows correspond with significant events in his life, Spock says:
“I expect I will see you again soon.”
“Yes, I expect so!” the Doctor replies. “Lots of important events occurring - s’why the gadget is beeping. It probably won’t be more than a few days.”
Spock cannot help but be amused by the Doctor’s actions by now, and so his lips twitch briefly as he says “I will see you soon, then, Doctor.”
*
It is in fact three days, two hours, and thirty minutes until the next time he sees the Doctor. He has just seen Cadet Kirk again - and he was right, he had cheated - he feels irritated even thinking about it now. He supposes this could be a sign of his importance - while Spock might feel emotions, very few people can get him to show them. He does not have the chance to speak to the Doctor about it, however - he only briefly glimpses the Doctor for most of the day, although this suits him fine. The double shocks of the irritation caused by Cadet Kirk and the worry caused by the distress call from Vulcan have made him feel somewhat unbalanced, and he does not feel up to dealing with him just now. Even then, when he does see him, the Doctor is rushing about looking harried, although he still manages a brief smile for Spock as he rushes past. Spock does not even bother to ask why no one has stopped this strange man from entering a high security star fleet hangar - he has reached a state of resigned surprise in relation to the Doctor’s actions now, and he suspects that, should he ask someone, they would no doubt think him to be some sort of high security clearance star fleet personnel, or perhaps would not have even seen him. He does consider asking him about it, but eventually decides against it -no doubt the Doctor will simply avoid the question.
However, even had he wanted to ask the Doctor, he would not have had the chance - when they do have time to converse, it is the Doctor who does most of the talking, babbling frantically about time windows opening more frequently and staying open for longer and something about bananas and the French. Spock is most confused (especially about the bananas and the French), but it doesn’t stop the Doctor from talking.
“The only thing that could be causing this would be a massive rip in space time” he says “...primitive time travel technology could have punched a hole in the fabric of reality, and the efforts of space to heal itself could have stretched space so thin it tore apart...but all these windows seem to have focussed on you, which I’ve never seen before, at least not by accident. An event like that should have caused the universe to split in half! We should, right now, be living in an alternate universe! Unless...no! Yes! Of course! That’s brilliant! I’m brilliant!” And with this he dashes off, disappearing into thin air. At this point Spock doesn’t even blink at his actions (not that he makes it a habit to blink at all), but something about what the Doctor said sticks in his mind. An alternate universe...
*
The next time the Doctor makes an important appearance in Spock’s life, Spock (or the one that knows the Doctor, at least) is not present. The Doctor has followed the strongest of the windows through time and space to this spot, and he is starting to form a theory.
The TARDIS also does not want to be present, judging by her behaviour. She doesn’t like the cold all that much, and Delta Vega, as well as being full of dangerous creatures, is freezing. Even through a space time window she can feel it, and one of the monsters could come through at any time. In slight deference to her wishes, the Doctor picks a window (there appear to be several onto this planet) that opens into a cave (she would have preferred the one that opened indoors, but she’ll take what she can get). Apparently this window is giving off strange energy readings, anyway. And so, the Doctor flits off through the space-time window, nearly decapitating himself on a ledge of rock. He recovers quickly, rolling over and coming face to face with two rather confused looking people; one human, one Vulcan.
He squints at them, brushing snow out of his eyes, and then exclaims:
“James T. Kirk!”
Kirk, for his part, looks even more confused, and also kind of exasperated. “What the hell is going on?” he says.
The Doctor grins. “Same as ever. Wonderful to see you again” (“now I’m getting déjà vu” Kirk mutters). He turns to the Vulcan “And who might you be?”
“I am Spock” says the older man.
“Yeah,” says Kirk, “Apparently he’s from the future.”
“The future!” The Doctor exclaims. “Excellent! Tell me, Spock - now this could get confusing - you wouldn’t happen to be from an alternate universe, would you?”
“The events that are currently occurring did not happen in my personal timeline, and neither did events that occurred twenty five years ago that have led to this day.” He tells him.
“That’s excellent! Well, I mean, not really, but it would explain...so you travelled from the future, and your arrival caused events to completely change, creating a new series of events, or alternate universe?” the Doctor asks. At Spock’s nod, the Doctor grins. “Brilliant! You wouldn’t mind if I took some readings, would you? It could help confirm a theory I’m working on.”
Spock nods again, and the Doctor grins again, and reaches into his coat pocket. He pulls out an implausibly large object, rectangular, multi-coloured, and with wheels attached - and far too big to fit in his pockets. The Doctor flicks a switch, and the device begins to make a strange humming noise. Apparently noticing Kirk and Spock’s bewildered stares, the Doctor decides to explain.
“This is my timey-wimey detector!” He tells them, obviously delighted. “It goes ding when there’s stuff.”
Spock and Kirk both look at him like he’s crazy.
The Doctor sighs. “Why doesn’t anyone know anything anymore?” he mutters, apparently to himself.
“Honestly!” he holds the ‘Timey-Wimey Detector’ up into the light from the fire, closer to Kirk and Spock. “This” he says “is the Timey-Wimey Detector - and now that I’ve said that a few times it does sound rather silly, doesn’t it? I’m using it to detect any odd energy readings around you - alternate universe energy readings, or void energy picked up through time travel. It’s very multi-purpose, this detector. And - “ the detector beeps, and its wheels spin crazily “like I thought. You, Mr. Spock, are covered in strange energy.” He shakes his head. “Time travel!” he exclaims. “Truly dangerous - no one should have that kind of technology, especially not in such a crude form.”
Continuing his strange habit of alternatively muttering to himself and addressing the people around him, the Doctor tells Spock. “Nevertheless, at least we can fix the problem now - oh, and please, please destroy whatever device it was you used to travel this far - I can only imagine what would happen should anyone get hold of it now. It is truly wonderful to see you again, Captain Kirk.” And with this he disappears again, back through the window, his Timey-Wimey Detector beeping all the way. And, as they stare after him, perfectly in sync, identical expressions on their faces, it is perhaps the first time Kirk thinks that maybe, maybe this friendship thing with Spock might not be too far-fetched after all.
*
He flees the bridge, control, planet, captaincy lost. First he goes to the transporter pad, and then, when his father finds him there, to the observation deck. When he sees the brown suit, he nearly screams. He knows it to be childish, but all he wants is to be left alone.
The Doctor is staring out the window, apparently lost in thought. They are at warp, and all that can be seen outside the window is a blur of planets and constellations, rushing past. At the sound of the door closing, he turns, leaning back against the window. He doesn’t move any closer, however, and doesn’t move further. Spock does, though; he enters the room, closing the door behind him and going to sit in one of the many available chairs. It’s then that the Doctor moves - he comes to sit across from Spock, his back to the window.
“My planet’s gone too,” he says.
Spock stares at him. “I thought...” I thought you were human
“I’m not human” he says “Not entirely. My planet was called Gallifrey, and my people were the Time Lords. It was thought that my mother was human...but they’re all gone now, anyway.”
Spock can’t help himself. “All of them?” he asks.
The Doctor smiles sadly. “Except for me.”
He goes on. “I used to think I could bring them back. I used to think I could scream and rage, but...they are gone, and I can’t bring them back, any of them. But I can...I’ve still got Earth, and the things humans can achieve...it’s a planet worth fighting for...” he trails off into silence.
“My mother was human,” says Spock. “I suppose...that would make Earth the only home I have left.”
The Doctor smiles again. “Take good care of her, Spock.” There is a faint flicker, a hint of something moving just outside the edge of his vision. The Doctor glances towards it, and Spock looks too.
What he sees is utterly implausible. There is a square of green grass, floating in mid-air near the window of the observation deck. It is rapidly shrinking, disappearing, the blur of warp speed reappearing behind it. The Doctor stands. “I have to go” he says. He looks indecisive, but eventually moves toward the window, climbing through it onto the green grass. Spock follows him to the window, peering through to see an apparently endless field of green grass, dotted with Terran wildflowers.
“Something tells me I will see you soon” says Spock. The Doctor, already halfway across the field, nods, turns, and moves further away from the window. “And Doctor” Spock continues (the Doctor turns to look). “Thank you.”
The window disappears.
*
The next few hours keep him too busy to even think of the Doctor, although his words of advice are there, in the back of his mind, for the rest of their mission. When he flies the Jellyfish into the Narada, it is all he is thinking of - saving Earth, the only home he has left (and, maybe a little, getting away from it all, not having to deal with the fact that Vulcan is gone, and he can’t bring it back). He is not surprised, however, to arrive back on Earth and see the Doctor waiting, accompanied this time by the blonde girl, Rose. He is also not surprised to find that his ‘future’ self knows the Doctor, or indeed that he has a future self involved in these events. However, after the events of today, he does want an explanation for these events (and so, it seems, does his future self), and so, as the Doctor and Rose approach, he says:
“I think, perhaps, it is time you told me what was going on Doctor.”
The Doctor and his companion glance at each other, and then Rose says:
“None of this was supposed to happen, you see. These windows, the Doctor’s visits, none of it.”
Spock can understand this - these windows have had a profound effect on his life, and he doubts he would be the same had he never met the Doctor, and he says so. This makes the Doctor grin.
Rose continues, “But they’re dangerous, these windows. They’re - the Doctor uses some technical term, but what it boils down to is...that black hole, where the Narada and your future self came through, it ripped a hole in the universe. But the universe tried to fix itself, only there wasn’t enough , um, fabric to do so. So it fixed the biggest hole, but the strain on the universe caused thousands of other little windows to open. It was something we’d seen before - people messing about with time, tearing holes and screwing up people’s lives. The TARDIS fixed it all up, though.”
This answers some of his questions, but perhaps not the most obvious. “I do have a theory,” says Spock, “but I would like to hear your thoughts on why exactly these windows focussed on my timeline.”
The Doctor takes over here. “Well, Mr. Spock” he says, “I have a theory too.” He goes on, “Despite not actually being sentient, the Universe did want to limit the damage caused by the black hole - so she focussed any other potential rips on the people who travelled through the hole, one of which was you! It seems she knew you wouldn’t do too much damage to the universe, should you happen across any of these windows. As for the focus on important events in your timeline...I think” the Doctor says, “that these events give off more energy than others, and so there was more to pull from to fix the black hole, and less risk of causing huge windows.”
Spock (both Spocks) nod. This does make sense.
“But,” and here the Doctor turns serious, “that doesn’t mean any of this is excusable. This technology is dangerous - no one should get hold of it - the damage someone could do with the technology to create a black hole. Please,” he implores, “all this - it needs to be destroyed. I am sorry about your ship” he says to the older Spock, “but it really is too dangerous, especially in the wrong hands.”
Spock agrees, of course, although he doesn’t see exactly how these windows have caused anything but good in his life. However, he also cannot imagine events more complicated or significant than these, and thus does not expect more windows (or more of the Doctor). He finds that this thought saddens him. Aloud he says “I expect I will not see you again”.
“You never know” says the Doctor “but I get the feeling the universe isn’t quite done with us yet, Mr. Spock,” he then turns to include both Spocks’ in his statement. “So,” he says, “Want to see my ship?”
Although he will not admit it, Spock has always harboured an intense curiosity about what manner of travel the Doctor uses, and so he readily agrees. He imagines it will have extremely advanced technology, brilliant design, fascinating construction.
He has to say, the reality does not impress him. The ship appears to be made of wood (hardly a space worthy material) and it is tiny, barely big enough to fit an average sized man, let alone the variety of companions he apparently travels with. And then the Doctor opens the doors.
Spock can think of a myriad of responses to this ship - a ship that is, for all intents and purposes, bigger on the inside. He thinks “this vessel is highly illogical”, “you are a most improbable being”, “the statistical likelihood that this ship can exist is less than 4.3%”. And then he stops, and decides that the ship is perhaps best summed up by one word, a word that has served him rather well, especially when it comes to the Doctor. It appears that his counterpart has come to the same conclusion, and so in sync they say:
“Fascinating”.
this inner time
star trek/doctor who, gen, pg, 6863 words
wayoffbase
Thanks to flash_indie for the beta. Title comes from an epigraph to the novel Man and Time, which was also used in the Time Traveller's Wife. Oh, and I went with the idea that the Doctor is half human.
With all his companions, in all his incarnations, there is one place (and one person) he keeps returning to.
23rd century. Assorted locations. A man/boy/person called Spock.
*
The first time Spock meets the man who calls himself The Doctor, he is seven years old. It is, in fact, his seventh birthday, which, despite his protestations that it was not at all logical to celebrate him on the day of his birth (in which he had played no active part) had consisted of a party and a human dish known as cake. He rather thinks they should instead give thanks to his parents, the midwives, and the group of geneticists who played a part in his conception, gestation period, and birth, but he has found that he does not have much say in the matter. Spock has just managed to escape the celebrations, and has ventured out into his mother’s garden. He estimates that he will have approximately one hour and thirty seven minutes to himself before he is found, and thus does not bother to hide - that time period will be more than satisfactory as relief from the party, and he does not feel the need to prolong it further. Instead, he climbs up onto the railing around their balcony, staring out over his mother’s plants.
It is then that he notices that there is a man in his garden.
Spock has met many humans, both male and female, and, as far as he can tell, this man is also human. This means that Spock’s chances of overpowering him, should he prove to be a threat, are quite high - 89.3%, to be precise. And so, despite the Vulcan desire for him to suppress the very human trait of curiosity, Spock walks up to the man, intending to ask him just what he is doing there.
The man pre-empts his question, however, by turning around and saying “Hello there! Did you know there’s a window in space time here? Right here! Brilliant! Also incredibly dangerous of course, but still. Brilliant! Come and have a look.”
Spock does not think this is a good idea. He has no clue what a ‘window in space-time’ might be (well, he knows the theory, but in practice it is highly unlikely) and has no desire to get any closer to what seems to be a very strange human indeed. Instead he says “Please explain what you are doing in my mother’s garden.”
The man grins “Sorry. Terribly rude of me, intruding on you like this. It’s just it’s not every day you get a window like this one - usually they need some sort of conduit - a fireplace, or a mirror - something. But this one! It’s just there, a gap in the fabric of the universe! The technology to create this must be extraordinarily advanced.”
Up until now, the man has been facing Spock, but he now turns back to face something nestled between two rocks “It can’t have come from this side” he mutters “23rd century Vulcan doesn’t have anywhere near the technology to do something like this.”
Just as Spock is about to protest - despite its flaws, Vulcan is highly advanced technology wise - the man exclaims “Oh! It’s closing!” He then turns back to Spock. “Well, it was nice to meet you, must be off. Wouldn’t want to get stuck here again - deserts and I don’t agree, really - much too dry.”
Before Spock can say another word, the man has disappeared, apparently into thin air. And so he goes over to investigate, only to find that there is nothing at all out of the ordinary there, nothing to explain the man’s sudden disappearance. Indeed, all he can find are a pair of rocks and a small group of plants.
“Fascinating.” Spock says.
He is unsure even logic can explain this.
*
The Doctor visits frequently after this, although Spock does not have the chance to converse with him again until many years later. Coincidentally, the next visit upon which they do converse also coincides with the first time he brings a companion along - for him, this is about halfway through the 98th century, but for Spock it has only been about four years since his first visit. Like his seventh birthday (the occasion of his bonding to T’Pring) this conversation occurs just after another event which Spock will later consider to be one of the most defining moments of his life, although he does not think so at the time it occurs. He has just been reprimanded (the first of many times) for fighting, but he doesn’t care. They had insulted his mother (both his parents). He only wishes he’d been able to hit them harder, and with more accuracy and frequency, before he’d been pulled away. In response to this incident his father has told him to be “completely Vulcan”, but at this point, Spock doesn’t feel like listening to him. So he goes outside, to the gardens attached to his family’s quarters.
It is there that he, as he has done many times during the past four years, wanders over to the rocks and plants where he first saw that strange man. So far he has found nothing to prove the man’s existence - a fact he finds most disquieting - and it looks as though today will prove much of the same - there is no sign of anything out of the ordinary in the area, especially not strange men in suits from circa 21st century Earth (this is an educated guess only - Spock had tried to research the phenomena, but the archives had not been particularly forth-coming in Earth matters, and he does not wish to ask his mother for fear she will inquire as to the reason for his questions). Disappointed, Spock makes to return inside. It is then that he hears voices:
“Look, another one!”
“Another what, Doctor? What on earth is going on?”
“I think-“ and with this, a familiar face appears, again apparently out of nowhere, “that you should say, what on Vulcan is going on!” The rest of an equally familiar body soon follows - brown suit this time, red earth-style sneakers - followed this time by another head - dark hair, dark skin, female, young - and then the rest of her - shirt, jeans, also in what looks like early 21st century style. “Martha Jones!” the Doctor (apparently) says, “Welcome to Vulcan!”
Martha Jones does not look impressed. “Doctor, where are we?”
“I told you - Vulcan!” The Doctor explains.
“Oh very funny, Doctor.” Martha Jones says “Vulcan? That’s not a real place.”
“Of course it is!” The Doctor gestures around “You can see it is, quite clearly.”
“But Doctor, I’ve seen Star Trek...you’re telling me that Vulcan really exists?”
“Of course it does, Martha. But that’s hardly the real question.”
“Alright,” she says, “What is the real question?”
“The question is...why is there a space time window onto Vulcan? I’ve lost count of how many I’ve come across leading to this same garden, and,” he pauses, “to the same time period as well!”
It’s at this point that the Doctor turns around and spots Spock. “Hello!” he calls, “You wouldn’t happen to be the same Vulcan I met before, would you? Must be about four years ago by your timeline? And about ten years into your future, but we won’t go into that now.”
Spock just stares at him. “I thought,” he says, “I asked you to leave my mother’s garden.”
“Quite right!” The Doctor says, “Sorry, we’ll be off in a minute - just let me take a look at this window here, and then we’ll leave you to it.” He turns away, and then turns back again “I’m the Doctor by the way, and this is Martha Jones. Y’know, this re-introducing myself thing does get quite old.”
Spock stares at him stiffly. “I am Spock.”
“Spock, right! Of course! Lovely name! Sorry again about the intrusion, we’ll be off now.”
It seems that while he has been talking (at a rather alarming rate, in fact - Spock feels concerned for his welfare - he knows that humans require rather more oxygen than Vulcans, and his rate of speech cannot possibly be conducive to receiving the correct amount) the Doctor has been scanning the ‘window’ with a strange, rather large, red and silver instrument, comprised mainly of a large wheel. Despite the utter implausibility of the situation, the Doctor then slides the instrument into one of his pockets, into which it disappears completely. He then proceeds to leap through the ‘window’ (which Spock still has no proof of), pulling his companion through with him. His head then appears again briefly “Nice to meet you! Goodbye then!” and then disappears again.
Spock runs over - this time he is determined to find proof of these ‘space-time windows’, or at least proof of something to explain this strange man in his garden.
He is just in time to catch a brief glimpse of the edge of Martha’s sleeve as it disappears through what is, without a doubt, a window of some kind. Spock can’t see much through the ‘window’, but what he can see certainly makes a case for at the very least a space window, if not a time one - the edges of a white, wooden building, perhaps nineteenth century, Earth style. Architecture is one of the areas in which the Vulcan records are proficient, and so Spock is far more confident in dating this than he is the Doctor’s clothing(it turns out later that he is wrong, and that this style of architecture has been popular (and will continue to be popular) far into the future). He is also very certain that there are no buildings even remotely similar anywhere on Vulcan (about this, of course, he is correct). However, despite his determination to follow the Vulcan way, Spock finds little comfort in these particular facts - they really do not explain anything at all, especially not the way the window is shrinking, becoming smaller and smaller until, finally, it disappears entirely, leaving the landscape looking entirely ordinary. Except - Spock crouches down to look closer - for a small silver object, approximately three inches in diameter, of similar design and shade to the Doctor’s scanning instrument.
As he pockets the object, once again the only appropriate phrase he can find is a common one, one that he feels he will have much use for in the years to come, especially if incidents like this continue to occur:
“Fascinating.”
*
The Doctor’s visits continue in a similar pattern to the one they followed in the four years between his seventh birthday and the ‘fighting incident’ (his father’s words, not his own) - he sees The Doctor many times, although they are mostly just glimpses. Always when an important event occurs, or at least important to him. He gets used to it - something important will happen, and a flash of blue/brown will flicker in the corners of his vision. He doesn’t speak to him again - the Doctor is mostly there and gone again, flitting through his life whenever something defining occurs. He is sometimes alone, sometimes accompanied by someone - he sees the dark haired girl again, plus a blonde girl and two different brunette men, and a red haired woman - all human, as far as he can tell.
He begins to measure the importance of events this way (not exactly logical, but he can’t seem to escape the habit) - if he sees The Doctor, chances are something major has happened, something he should pay attention to.
Which is why, when he steps outside (again into his mother’s garden - it has become something of a refuge for him) shortly after, in effect, telling the Vulcan High Council to go fuck themselves (a human phrase he has picked up over the years, despite his mother’s distaste for such offensive language), he is unsurprised to see The Doctor standing there, this time accompanied by the blonde woman. She does not look impressed.
“I thought you said no more ‘magic doors’, Doctor!” She looks around. “There better not be any mirrors about this time. Or horses.”
“But that’s just it, Rose!” The Doctor exclaims (his mother often used to use the phrase ‘inside voices’, to describe the sound level she felt was appropriate indoors - not that this was usually a problem, Vulcan young being usually quite reticent. It is a phrase Spock feels the Doctor has probably never heard, judging by his predilection for speaking rather loudly) “This isn’t a magic door at all! It’s something entirely new - I’ve never seen anything like it before!”
Spock frowns. On his previous visits, the Doctor had not seemed prone to lying. Also, Spock is more determined than ever to discover more about these ‘space-time windows’ (referring to them as ‘magic doors’ is not particularly dignified, let alone scientific). However, he is hesitant to trust someone who apparently does not remember any of his previous visits, several of which occurred with the blonde girl who is currently accompanying him.
The Doctor and his companion continue their conversation, although at this point they are so quiet he cannot hear them. Spock instead decides to weigh the pros and cons of approaching the pair, and decides, much like he did in previous visits, that his odds of overpowering the pair are quite high should anything go wrong, and therefore it would be quite safe to approach. And so he does.
“Oh!” The Doctor shouts, “Stupid! Stupid! We’re on Vulcan! Of course! 23rd century Vulcan, no less!” The Doctor turns around and spots him “Hello! This is Vulcan, yes? 23rd century?”
Spock resists the urge to say ‘obviously’. “You are correct, Doctor. Although this should come as no surprise to you, as we have in fact met before.”
The Doctor squints at him, turning his head sideways and screwing up his entire face. It makes him look rather odd. “Oh, it’s you! Oh, I’ve met you before, no question. I’m surprised you remember, though, or that you recognise me at all - I looked a little different then - no hair, leather coat, terrible ears? Said fascinating a lot?”
Spock stares at him, a thousand replies rushing through his mind. In the end, he goes with: “Vulcan memory is far more adequate at remembering events from early childhood than the human brain”
“So you do remember me!” The Doctor grins. “Wonderful!”
Spock is confused. “I remember the man you describe - in fact, I suspect he is the one from whom I first heard the phrase ‘fascinating’, and thus developed a predilection for using it. However, you bear no similarity to that man, so your claims that you are him are most illogical. Also, I am referring to the many other visits you have made to this planet, the most notable of which you made accompanied by a dark skinned woman, and alone.”
“Mmm, most illogical, that’s me. And really? That’s brilliant, brilliant. This probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to you, but trust me when I say that hasn’t happened to me yet - probably won’t for a while now.”
“May I enquire as to how this is possible?”
“Vulcans! Always so formal. The thing is, Spock - it is Spock, yes? I did remember that correctly?” Spock nods “The thing is, I’m a time traveller.”
Spock does not even have time to protest how illogical this is before the Doctor continues. “But that’s not the important thing here. You said we’ve met before? Several times? Were there any more of these windows involved?” Spock nods again, still feeling a little too confused to answer properly “See that’s bad. That’s very, very bad. Because these windows, they shouldn’t be here. In my experience, windows opening onto people’s lives, one person’s life, that’s very bad indeed. Very bad.”
It is at this point that Spock regains the use of his voice “These windows, as you call them, have not only opened onto my life, they have also opened on to events that I consider personally significant. Indeed, it is only because of these windows that I consider some of these events significant - they have had quite an impact on my life thus far.”
“Oh, that’s, that’s not good, not good at all.” He pauses. “So today, it’s significant for you?”
“It is. I have” and it’s hard to say, even now - he truly does want to please his father, “Decided to join Starfleet.”
This seems to make the Doctor happier. “Excellent, Starfleet, I love Starfleet. Love Earth. Don’t you love Starfleet, Rose?” He turns to his companion, who has so far been silent.
She appears to think about it “Weren’t they the ones with the phasers? Tried to shoot us on that world with the pigeon people?”
The Doctor looks about suspiciously. “Yes, well, never mind that. Earth, excellent. And then on, throughout the galaxy. Maybe that’ll confuse whatever’s causing these windows - following a personal timeline isn’t exactly easy, especially over such large jumps in space.”
Spock has no idea what the Doctor is talking about, but before he can ask him to clarify, Rose says “Doctor! The window,” she points, “it’s closing!”
“So it is!” says the Doctor. “Well. Must be off. Have a nice time on Earth. And, really, please don’t take offense, but I really do hope never to see you again - normally I love exploring, but these windows? They’re dangerous, bad, they really are.”
And then, without further ado, the Doctor disappears, the blonde girl following him minutes later.
Spock feels like he should say ‘fascinating’, only at this point it isn’t really. It’s mainly just annoying.
*
Spock does enjoy Earth, inasmuch as he can. Starfleet feels right to him - he is surrounded both by people who are of equal intelligence to him, and also who do not feel he is somehow inferior for having a human mother who loves him. He excels at the Academy, and even makes a few...friends, he supposes the term would be.
It is on the day he first becomes acquainted with one such ‘friend’, a young woman named Nyota Uhura, when he catches another glimpse of a blue pinstripe suit, alone this time.
He is somehow unsurprised to see the Doctor again, despite the huge gap between Vulcan and Earth. Despite the Doctor’s assertion that ‘space-time windows’ (and he still thinks this (if he said it, people would no doubt think him insane) is a ridiculous term) cannot travel across large distances, it would really be too much to hope for that these windows would suddenly stop appearing. He is pleased by his appearance this time, however - if these windows do signal an important event in his life, he is glad to know that Nyota will be important to him.
“So Spock,” the Doctor says, “what’s new?” He is grinning, as per usual, only this time the grin is borderline manic. It is odd to think, but Spock supposes that this is the Doctor’s way of concealing his emotions, just as surely as Spock’s ironclad control is his way of concealing his. However, Spock does think his is the superior method, as the Doctor’s eyes are suspiciously shiny, belying his huge smile.
Spock decides not to mention it, and instead says. “There have been recent developments in the field of physics that could lead to the development of primitive time travel technology.”
The Doctor laughs. “I suppose I asked for it” he says (and he did, Spock thinks), “I did mean ‘what is new in your life’, but that information is just as interesting.”
Spock does, in fact, know the meaning of the phrase the Doctor used, but he had thought that a discussion not relating to personal matters would be best. However, the Doctor has always behaved drastically differently to any other human he is acquainted with, and so Spock says, “Yesterday I met a young woman by the name of Nyota Uhura. I am sure we will become good friends”.
This time the Doctor’s smile is more genuine. “A girl, is it? Wonderful.”
Spock considers being offended. “She is just a friend. She is also a student.”
The Doctor’s smile turns sad, “Just friends, is it? I know how that goes.”
Spock is just about to ask him to elaborate (he knows that humans often like to discuss their feelings) when the Doctor says “Wait! Did you say Nyota Uhura?”
Spock nods, and the Doctor rubs his hands in glee. “Brilliant!” he says “Mr. Spock, you do have the most interesting friends.”
Spock agrees, of course (Nyota is an interesting person indeed), but as the Doctor has never met Nyota before, he is confused as to how he would have formed an opinion on her personality (it is not as though they would have met, even in the future - Spock plans to keep these meetings with the Doctor to himself if it is at all possible - he rather fears that any knowledge of them would give people cause to consider him insane). He is just about to enquire about this when a voice interrupts them.
It is Nyota. “Spock!” she calls, waving at him. Spock waves back (and of course the Doctor would meet her at some point - it seems inevitable now, despite his wishes), and she jogs towards them. “Who’s this?” she asks as she reaches them. “You always know the most interesting people.”
The Doctor laughs, but with a strange look in his eye. He quickly drifts off, and Nyota turns her attention to him.
“Nyota Uhura.” She extends her hand, presumably for the Doctor to shake. He does, looking slightly dazed. “John Smith,” he tells her. She raises an eyebrow at him, and he shakes his head.
“I’m sorry, I...you remind me of someone, that’s all. It’s an honour to meet you, Nyota Uhura, a great honour.” He shakes her hand enthusiastically, and invites her to sit down with them. They talk for hours, and Spock is, despite himself, impressed by the Doctor’s vast knowledge about a number of subjects, and his ability to converse intelligently (and somewhat sedately and logically) about them. Their conversation ends (four hours and fifty five minutes later, to be precise), when the Doctor reverts to his highly illogical self by declaring “The TARDIS has held the window for long enough, poor thing”, and disappears into thin air.
Nyota later tells him that she quite liked the Doctor. For a moment he is - he supposes the human phrase would be ‘gobsmacked’ - but then stops to think, and realises that maybe, just maybe, he likes the Doctor too.
*
“How the hell did that kid beat your test?”
“I do not know.”
“I do!” Volunteers a voice. The other professors and supervisors turn, surprised, to see who has spoken. Spock already knows. Nevertheless, he turns with the rest of them. “Doctor.” He greets.
The Doctor is leaning against one of the computer consoles, the one nearest the door. His presence causes something of a stir. Questions are shot at the Doctor from all sides: “How did you get in here?” “Where did you come from?” “Who are you?” “What are you doing here?”
The Doctor largely ignores them, although Spock expects the red-headed Orion girl sneaking out of the room, shamefaced, is grateful for the instructors’ distraction. He suspects she had something to do with the Cadet’s mysterious success at the Kobayashi Maru, but he can wait until later to question her. For now he focuses on the Doctor, interrupting his colleagues’ frantic questions and offering to escort the Doctor out of the building. He has cultivated a feeling of respect and not a little awe during his time at Star Fleet, and so he is not questioned. They are also somewhat shocked still from the Doctor’s abrupt appearance, and thus they leave the room in silence. Nobody speaks (Spock is shocked - this is perhaps the first time the Doctor has been silent in all the years he has known him) until they reach the small courtyard located just outside this building. Even then, it is Spock that speaks up.
“I dread to think how these events will become important in my life.” He is also confused - unless his theory is somehow completely wrong, all these windows (especially the ones which involve extended visits from the Doctor) open onto important events in his life. He cannot think of any ways in which a young upstart of a Cadet, especially one most likely guilty of cheating, could possibly become important to him.
The Doctor grins (Spock is worried) “Oh, you might be surprised” he says.
Spock decides to change the subject. “Doctor,” he says, “what purpose is served by you coming through these space-time windows? They often seem to close rapidly, and I cannot imagine a scenario in which you becoming stranded here could have a positive outcome.”
The Doctor laughs. “It wouldn’t be a very good idea for me to get stuck here, no. But as for why I do it - curiosity, Mr. Spock, simple curiosity.”
Spock is about to reply, to tell him this is most illogical, that the benefits of curiosity in this situation far outweigh the risks, when he notices that the Doctor is carrying something in his hand. It is seconds later that the something starts beeping, frantically and at a very loud volume. The Doctor looks at a small display on the front of it, says something rather unflattering under his breath, and stands up. He looks distracted, and Spock makes the logical assumption that this means he has to leave, that something important is happening, most likely to do with the windows. As these windows correspond with significant events in his life, Spock says:
“I expect I will see you again soon.”
“Yes, I expect so!” the Doctor replies. “Lots of important events occurring - s’why the gadget is beeping. It probably won’t be more than a few days.”
Spock cannot help but be amused by the Doctor’s actions by now, and so his lips twitch briefly as he says “I will see you soon, then, Doctor.”
*
It is in fact three days, two hours, and thirty minutes until the next time he sees the Doctor. He has just seen Cadet Kirk again - and he was right, he had cheated - he feels irritated even thinking about it now. He supposes this could be a sign of his importance - while Spock might feel emotions, very few people can get him to show them. He does not have the chance to speak to the Doctor about it, however - he only briefly glimpses the Doctor for most of the day, although this suits him fine. The double shocks of the irritation caused by Cadet Kirk and the worry caused by the distress call from Vulcan have made him feel somewhat unbalanced, and he does not feel up to dealing with him just now. Even then, when he does see him, the Doctor is rushing about looking harried, although he still manages a brief smile for Spock as he rushes past. Spock does not even bother to ask why no one has stopped this strange man from entering a high security star fleet hangar - he has reached a state of resigned surprise in relation to the Doctor’s actions now, and he suspects that, should he ask someone, they would no doubt think him to be some sort of high security clearance star fleet personnel, or perhaps would not have even seen him. He does consider asking him about it, but eventually decides against it -no doubt the Doctor will simply avoid the question.
However, even had he wanted to ask the Doctor, he would not have had the chance - when they do have time to converse, it is the Doctor who does most of the talking, babbling frantically about time windows opening more frequently and staying open for longer and something about bananas and the French. Spock is most confused (especially about the bananas and the French), but it doesn’t stop the Doctor from talking.
“The only thing that could be causing this would be a massive rip in space time” he says “...primitive time travel technology could have punched a hole in the fabric of reality, and the efforts of space to heal itself could have stretched space so thin it tore apart...but all these windows seem to have focussed on you, which I’ve never seen before, at least not by accident. An event like that should have caused the universe to split in half! We should, right now, be living in an alternate universe! Unless...no! Yes! Of course! That’s brilliant! I’m brilliant!” And with this he dashes off, disappearing into thin air. At this point Spock doesn’t even blink at his actions (not that he makes it a habit to blink at all), but something about what the Doctor said sticks in his mind. An alternate universe...
*
The next time the Doctor makes an important appearance in Spock’s life, Spock (or the one that knows the Doctor, at least) is not present. The Doctor has followed the strongest of the windows through time and space to this spot, and he is starting to form a theory.
The TARDIS also does not want to be present, judging by her behaviour. She doesn’t like the cold all that much, and Delta Vega, as well as being full of dangerous creatures, is freezing. Even through a space time window she can feel it, and one of the monsters could come through at any time. In slight deference to her wishes, the Doctor picks a window (there appear to be several onto this planet) that opens into a cave (she would have preferred the one that opened indoors, but she’ll take what she can get). Apparently this window is giving off strange energy readings, anyway. And so, the Doctor flits off through the space-time window, nearly decapitating himself on a ledge of rock. He recovers quickly, rolling over and coming face to face with two rather confused looking people; one human, one Vulcan.
He squints at them, brushing snow out of his eyes, and then exclaims:
“James T. Kirk!”
Kirk, for his part, looks even more confused, and also kind of exasperated. “What the hell is going on?” he says.
The Doctor grins. “Same as ever. Wonderful to see you again” (“now I’m getting déjà vu” Kirk mutters). He turns to the Vulcan “And who might you be?”
“I am Spock” says the older man.
“Yeah,” says Kirk, “Apparently he’s from the future.”
“The future!” The Doctor exclaims. “Excellent! Tell me, Spock - now this could get confusing - you wouldn’t happen to be from an alternate universe, would you?”
“The events that are currently occurring did not happen in my personal timeline, and neither did events that occurred twenty five years ago that have led to this day.” He tells him.
“That’s excellent! Well, I mean, not really, but it would explain...so you travelled from the future, and your arrival caused events to completely change, creating a new series of events, or alternate universe?” the Doctor asks. At Spock’s nod, the Doctor grins. “Brilliant! You wouldn’t mind if I took some readings, would you? It could help confirm a theory I’m working on.”
Spock nods again, and the Doctor grins again, and reaches into his coat pocket. He pulls out an implausibly large object, rectangular, multi-coloured, and with wheels attached - and far too big to fit in his pockets. The Doctor flicks a switch, and the device begins to make a strange humming noise. Apparently noticing Kirk and Spock’s bewildered stares, the Doctor decides to explain.
“This is my timey-wimey detector!” He tells them, obviously delighted. “It goes ding when there’s stuff.”
Spock and Kirk both look at him like he’s crazy.
The Doctor sighs. “Why doesn’t anyone know anything anymore?” he mutters, apparently to himself.
“Honestly!” he holds the ‘Timey-Wimey Detector’ up into the light from the fire, closer to Kirk and Spock. “This” he says “is the Timey-Wimey Detector - and now that I’ve said that a few times it does sound rather silly, doesn’t it? I’m using it to detect any odd energy readings around you - alternate universe energy readings, or void energy picked up through time travel. It’s very multi-purpose, this detector. And - “ the detector beeps, and its wheels spin crazily “like I thought. You, Mr. Spock, are covered in strange energy.” He shakes his head. “Time travel!” he exclaims. “Truly dangerous - no one should have that kind of technology, especially not in such a crude form.”
Continuing his strange habit of alternatively muttering to himself and addressing the people around him, the Doctor tells Spock. “Nevertheless, at least we can fix the problem now - oh, and please, please destroy whatever device it was you used to travel this far - I can only imagine what would happen should anyone get hold of it now. It is truly wonderful to see you again, Captain Kirk.” And with this he disappears again, back through the window, his Timey-Wimey Detector beeping all the way. And, as they stare after him, perfectly in sync, identical expressions on their faces, it is perhaps the first time Kirk thinks that maybe, maybe this friendship thing with Spock might not be too far-fetched after all.
*
He flees the bridge, control, planet, captaincy lost. First he goes to the transporter pad, and then, when his father finds him there, to the observation deck. When he sees the brown suit, he nearly screams. He knows it to be childish, but all he wants is to be left alone.
The Doctor is staring out the window, apparently lost in thought. They are at warp, and all that can be seen outside the window is a blur of planets and constellations, rushing past. At the sound of the door closing, he turns, leaning back against the window. He doesn’t move any closer, however, and doesn’t move further. Spock does, though; he enters the room, closing the door behind him and going to sit in one of the many available chairs. It’s then that the Doctor moves - he comes to sit across from Spock, his back to the window.
“My planet’s gone too,” he says.
Spock stares at him. “I thought...” I thought you were human
“I’m not human” he says “Not entirely. My planet was called Gallifrey, and my people were the Time Lords. It was thought that my mother was human...but they’re all gone now, anyway.”
Spock can’t help himself. “All of them?” he asks.
The Doctor smiles sadly. “Except for me.”
He goes on. “I used to think I could bring them back. I used to think I could scream and rage, but...they are gone, and I can’t bring them back, any of them. But I can...I’ve still got Earth, and the things humans can achieve...it’s a planet worth fighting for...” he trails off into silence.
“My mother was human,” says Spock. “I suppose...that would make Earth the only home I have left.”
The Doctor smiles again. “Take good care of her, Spock.” There is a faint flicker, a hint of something moving just outside the edge of his vision. The Doctor glances towards it, and Spock looks too.
What he sees is utterly implausible. There is a square of green grass, floating in mid-air near the window of the observation deck. It is rapidly shrinking, disappearing, the blur of warp speed reappearing behind it. The Doctor stands. “I have to go” he says. He looks indecisive, but eventually moves toward the window, climbing through it onto the green grass. Spock follows him to the window, peering through to see an apparently endless field of green grass, dotted with Terran wildflowers.
“Something tells me I will see you soon” says Spock. The Doctor, already halfway across the field, nods, turns, and moves further away from the window. “And Doctor” Spock continues (the Doctor turns to look). “Thank you.”
The window disappears.
*
The next few hours keep him too busy to even think of the Doctor, although his words of advice are there, in the back of his mind, for the rest of their mission. When he flies the Jellyfish into the Narada, it is all he is thinking of - saving Earth, the only home he has left (and, maybe a little, getting away from it all, not having to deal with the fact that Vulcan is gone, and he can’t bring it back). He is not surprised, however, to arrive back on Earth and see the Doctor waiting, accompanied this time by the blonde girl, Rose. He is also not surprised to find that his ‘future’ self knows the Doctor, or indeed that he has a future self involved in these events. However, after the events of today, he does want an explanation for these events (and so, it seems, does his future self), and so, as the Doctor and Rose approach, he says:
“I think, perhaps, it is time you told me what was going on Doctor.”
The Doctor and his companion glance at each other, and then Rose says:
“None of this was supposed to happen, you see. These windows, the Doctor’s visits, none of it.”
Spock can understand this - these windows have had a profound effect on his life, and he doubts he would be the same had he never met the Doctor, and he says so. This makes the Doctor grin.
Rose continues, “But they’re dangerous, these windows. They’re - the Doctor uses some technical term, but what it boils down to is...that black hole, where the Narada and your future self came through, it ripped a hole in the universe. But the universe tried to fix itself, only there wasn’t enough , um, fabric to do so. So it fixed the biggest hole, but the strain on the universe caused thousands of other little windows to open. It was something we’d seen before - people messing about with time, tearing holes and screwing up people’s lives. The TARDIS fixed it all up, though.”
This answers some of his questions, but perhaps not the most obvious. “I do have a theory,” says Spock, “but I would like to hear your thoughts on why exactly these windows focussed on my timeline.”
The Doctor takes over here. “Well, Mr. Spock” he says, “I have a theory too.” He goes on, “Despite not actually being sentient, the Universe did want to limit the damage caused by the black hole - so she focussed any other potential rips on the people who travelled through the hole, one of which was you! It seems she knew you wouldn’t do too much damage to the universe, should you happen across any of these windows. As for the focus on important events in your timeline...I think” the Doctor says, “that these events give off more energy than others, and so there was more to pull from to fix the black hole, and less risk of causing huge windows.”
Spock (both Spocks) nod. This does make sense.
“But,” and here the Doctor turns serious, “that doesn’t mean any of this is excusable. This technology is dangerous - no one should get hold of it - the damage someone could do with the technology to create a black hole. Please,” he implores, “all this - it needs to be destroyed. I am sorry about your ship” he says to the older Spock, “but it really is too dangerous, especially in the wrong hands.”
Spock agrees, of course, although he doesn’t see exactly how these windows have caused anything but good in his life. However, he also cannot imagine events more complicated or significant than these, and thus does not expect more windows (or more of the Doctor). He finds that this thought saddens him. Aloud he says “I expect I will not see you again”.
“You never know” says the Doctor “but I get the feeling the universe isn’t quite done with us yet, Mr. Spock,” he then turns to include both Spocks’ in his statement. “So,” he says, “Want to see my ship?”
Although he will not admit it, Spock has always harboured an intense curiosity about what manner of travel the Doctor uses, and so he readily agrees. He imagines it will have extremely advanced technology, brilliant design, fascinating construction.
He has to say, the reality does not impress him. The ship appears to be made of wood (hardly a space worthy material) and it is tiny, barely big enough to fit an average sized man, let alone the variety of companions he apparently travels with. And then the Doctor opens the doors.
Spock can think of a myriad of responses to this ship - a ship that is, for all intents and purposes, bigger on the inside. He thinks “this vessel is highly illogical”, “you are a most improbable being”, “the statistical likelihood that this ship can exist is less than 4.3%”. And then he stops, and decides that the ship is perhaps best summed up by one word, a word that has served him rather well, especially when it comes to the Doctor. It appears that his counterpart has come to the same conclusion, and so in sync they say:
“Fascinating”.