We Don't Get Fooled Again (Eleven & Emilie)

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The younger Doctor's usually stern features softened at the mere mention of Peri's name. "I don't have to tell you how glad I am to hear that." The Doctor loved all of his companions but he couldn't imagine anyone other than Peri being able to stick with who he currently was. She was the only capable of getting him off of his figurative high horse sometimes.

The trial where he had been shown her 'death' hadn't happened that long ago for him but it already felt like a distant bad memory, one that he wanted so desperately to file away and forget about but one which he knew he would never forget about, no matter how hard he tried to. "I still cannot believe that the Valeyard thought resorting to such cheap tricks would work." Well, the Doctor still also couldn't believe that the Valeyard was the manifestation of his own dark side.

What his older self said was exactly what he would have suggested. It was good to know that, even upon disagreeing with each other's style, they still were on the same wavelength with each other. "I should have done it a long time ago, as soon as Chessene and the Sontarans had been dealt with." But even the Doctor couldn't always predict the future. He thought that everyone would be content with forgetting about the space station, letting it sink into a state of decay over the years. It looked like he had been wrong about that.

Before taking a step in any direction, his older self went on with one more suggestion. He looked at Emilie for any indication that she thought this other him was crazy or any indication that she understood what he was talking about. Sure enough, her words confirmed that the latter was the case. "We will cross that bridge when we get there," he agreed with Emilie, in a somewhat perturbed manner. Fish fingers and custard. The Doctor shook his head at the very thought of that combination of foods.

But there was no time to ponder that subject for long because they had business to do. "The size of this station," he said, "would suggest that we three split up to search it for clues as to the whereabouts of the crew and what has been going on here, but experience suggests that we stay together."

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The older Time Lord nodded slightly and said, "I figured you might be. She's alright, still living as a Warrior Queen. Her husband died, so she's the sole ruler of her world. She has two sons and a daughter, and looked to be quite happy." He hadn't stayed long, seeing as he was dying at the time, and had an awful lot of people to visit before the radiation had taken him and forced the Time Lord to regenerate.

The conversation turned to The Valeyard, "Ah, yes, him. So glad I haven't run into him again." The Doctor, not aware that Emilie had met him, decided to explain, "The Valeyard is a possible version of myself in the future, between my final regenerations. He's a collection of the darkness within me, and tried to take my remaining lives when I was him," The Doctor nodded toward his younger self.

"Obviously it hadn't turned out well for him, and I've heard nothing of him since then." Surely that would change soon, but The Doctor wasn't too bothered by that at the moment. More important was getting his younger self to try fish fingers and custard, "Really? But you'll love them! So good." He pouted, "No one ever believes me."

Someone would, one day. His younger self had moved on to the quest at hand. He'd suggested that they stick together, and The Doctor was poised to agree, "And you know what they say, three heads are better than one. Though I suppose it's more like two. Anyways, come along Gunnar, time to shut down your very first Space Station."

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Just hearing his name spoken aloud was like an invitation to relive those nightmares. Emilie found herself staring her horror, first at the technicolour Doctor and then her own. His explanation was hardly needed, but at the same time, it made his existence even worse. If the Doctor was aware of the Valeyard, then how could he ever let himself become that?

Shakily, she agreed with a nod to go along with the two Doctors. Even though she wanted to keep space between them far more than usual, if she didn’t go along, the two might bite each other’s heads off or worse.

Probably best to play it safe. Besides, Emilie's reluctance was simply her fear talking, and despite her immediate reactions, she did trust the Doctor. Part of her was still in love with him, but love and fear are a volatile mix.

“He wants to do more than take your remaining lives,” Emilie pointed out, seeing as from her viewpoint it was obvious. “He wants to rewrite his... your... own time stream.”

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The Doctor could very well imagine Peri running a whole world. As much as he would have loved traveling with her for a little while longer, he was glad that she had been able to settle down and find happiness somewhere. The Doctor would never be able to afford the luxury of settling down, not that minded that all that much; living on one planet for the rest of his life, raising a family, none of that was that appealing to him, at least not this him. He couldn't speak for his older self standing before him.

He didn't fail to note the expression on Emilie's face when he mentioned the Valeyard. However, he didn't have long to ponder it before his other self was offering her an explanation as to whom that Time Lord was. The younger Doctor was very glad to hear that he wasn't going to be running into him again anytime soon. He had his suspicions that the Valeyard hadn't died in the Matrix, after all, and his other self seemed to share those suspicions. Wherever the Valeyard was and whatever he was up to, he seemed to be taking his time getting around to trying to get rid of the Doctor again.

The Doctor was going to say something to the effect of how Emilie never wanted to meet him, but she spoke up before he could. So, she had met him and kept it a secret from the him that she traveled with. He could hardly blame her for that. The Doctor couldn't even begin to imagine what the Valeyard had told her or tried to do to her. But it was a good sign that she was still traveling with future him. Whatever the Valeyard had said or done, it hadn't been enough to scare her away from the Doctor because of what he might become in the future.

"'His' is the proper form of address in this case," he said, "He's not me in the sense that he--" He gestured towards her Doctor. "--is me. He's a personification of my dark side. One side of a man hardly makes the whole man." A personification of his light side, a personification of his humorous side, etc., none of them would actually be the Doctor.

The Doctor didn't want to dwell on the subject of the Valeyard for long, nor was it important or relevant to the task set before their hands today. "This way then," he said, after his older self's agreement to the plan. He began to head in the direction of the laboratories. Curiosity always got the better of him; he wasn't going to shut down the station until he knew what had been going on in the station during the last fifty years.

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The Eleventh had picked it up as well. Apparently at some point in time, Emilie had run into the Valeyard as well. He'd like to know when that had been, because he certainly couldn't remember losing her for any extended period of time. How very unsettling.

Regardless, he couldn't question her about it now, they were with a younger version of himself. If he said anything, that could possibly mess things up when he'd meet her in his Ninth incarnation, no need to jinx it. After they part ways with his younger self, The Doctor could take Emilie aside and ask her what had happened with The Valeyard.

"Right, space station shut down. Let's go." He put a hand on Emilie's shoulder, perhaps trying to reassure her that he wasn't ignoring what she'd said. They would take care of it soon, The Doctor just couldn't do or say anything about it right now. Spoilers.

Walking alongside his younger self, The Doctor looked to him and asked, "You haven't run into any other regenerations lately, have you?" He was beginning to wonder if it was just him, or all The Doctors. Sure, he might've remembered it, but it didn't seem like that was the case at this time. As his Sixth didn't seem to remember having met Emilie when he'd been in his Second incarnation. For that matter, neither did the Eleventh.

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She was not as familiar with the Sixth Doctor, but for just a moment, he appeared rather suspicious.

Well, let him suspect, Emilie thought rather uncharitably. It hadn’t stopped the Valeyard from anything.

But as she listened to Doctor Technicolour’s explanation, Emilie found herself calming. Because he was right. The Valeyard was no more truly the Doctor than the ‘Thirteenth regeneration’ of him had been. True, one had been the result of psychic pollen, and the other was somehow just an amalgamation of darkness, but neither were really, truly the Doctor. They were just concentrated parts of him.

The brief touch at her shoulder eased a knot of tension, and Emilie followed the two Doctors after a brief nod to her friend.

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The younger Doctor seemed to quite naturally fall into the leadership position. He was one to always consider himself superior to everyone that he ran into, and this Doctor supposed that that also applied to when he ran into his other selves. His second incarnation certainly had been a bumbling fool who needed to be watched carefully and, already, the Doctor was feeling that his older self was a lot like that bumbling fool had been.

He looked at his older self as he asked his question. He seemed quite concerned about this issue of running into their other selves. "Besides what happened when I was here the last time?" he said. "I have not. I take it that you have, though." The Doctor had all of time and space to explore. Occasionally probabilities dictated that he would run into his other selves sometimes but it was supposed to be far from a common occurrence.

The younger Doctor led his other self and Emilie down the familiar corridors, until he reached what had once been Dastari's office. It stood to reason that, if experiments were still going on here, then whomever was the lead scientist would use Dastari's office as their own. The Doctor headed over to the desk and began to shuffle through unimportant papers, soon calling out, "Ah! Here we are!" He had found Dastari's log and quickly flipped through the pages.

It wasn't long before he reached Dastari's last page and flipped to the next. The handwriting had changed but the words were still the same. It looked like some people who had worshiped Dastari and all of his work still thought that augmenting Androgums was a good idea. "It looks like we came back just in time," he said, handing the log book over to his future self so he could read it for himself. "Let's just hope that the Sontarans aren't involved this time," he added as an afterthought.

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"Besides what happened when I was here the last time?" he said. "I have not. I take it that you have, though."

And the time he'd rescued his second self had only been because of a pure coincidence. The older Time Lord furrowed his brow. So, it was likely only happening to him then. It was all central to the current Doctor, as far as he knew, he didn't consider himself the previous incarnation, though, like his Sixth was experiencing that right now, really didn't mean much. His future was out there wandering somewhere, probably.

Oh, right, the younger Time Lord had asked a question, "Hm? Oh, yes. Three times so far. Once with our Second, once with our Third and an incident with the Fifth? Curious though, is that you don't remember any of them. My being here should have sorted any mind wipe." He thought to make contact, but there'd be the chance that Six would wander in his head, discover the Time War and that was just a big problem.

No. Best not.

"Ah! Here we are!"

The Doctor blinked and looked back up, focusing on what was going on around them. He was sitting at Dastari's desk, checking to see how well it could spin while his younger self looked through the paper log. Before the Sixth brought the book to him, the Eleventh had used his sonic to open the desk drawers, "Completely empty. Except this."

He held up a small rectangle, "Not unlike a flashdrive from the 21st century Earth. Probably contains a list of clients." The log was passed to him, "Well, look at that." He flipped through the log, eyes scanning each page, "Well then. That's a bit odd. Worship? Why?" He looked to Emilie before saying, "Dastari was something of a grand scale plastic surgeon."

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Emilie privately thought that everything was very curious, but at least it was a proper Doctor she was meeting this time. She had not tried really touching him yet, but if her Doctor recognized him, surely he must be substantial and... well... real.

The girl followed the Doctors without speaking down the corridors, although she was listening intently.

"Let's just hope that the Sontarans aren't involved this time," he added as an afterthought.

"Sontarans?" Emilie asked curiously of Six before her Doctor began to speak, thus distracting her for a moment.

"Well then. That's a bit odd. Worship? Why?" He looked to Emilie before saying, "Dastari was something of a grand scale plastic surgeon."

"Doctor, it may have escaped your notice, but certain humans in the 21st century worship plastic surgeons. I hardly think that is a folly contained to just one species."

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“As a matter of fact I do remember; but sometimes such incidents are best left kept under wraps...” He muttered to the Doctor. “...this place isn't particularly high on my to visit list despite my past selves frequenting the area. And don't get me wrong, Doctor! The way that I looked at that cat; I was imagining various gravies to accompany it. As for the Sontarans; rather rubbery and tasteless”. Perhaps it was an answer to Emilie's latter question regarding the Sontarans.


Once they had entered the room and he fiddled about with the journal he had found; he cut himself off once he had witnessed his elder form use his infamous Sonic Screwdriver to access a flash drive hidden in a drawer.

"Are you still using that daft old thing?" He chuckled. "Surely my vast amount of intelligence and brilliance would be enough to surpass a gadget kept in a pocket that couldn't even penetrate wood..."

Cut off again, he huffed.

“Worshipped? WORSHIPPED?!” In all honesty he felt insulted. The Doctor turned on the spot and then slammed his hands on the table. “Wouldn't surprise me if several secrets to his schemes were influenced by the Rani! But an influential plastic surgeon”. He held his hand out for the flash drive. “Give me that and perhaps I can mock up some sort of device that could read it”.

A wink followed in the direction of Emilie.

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"Are you still using that daft old thing?" He chuckled. "Surely my vast amount of intelligence and brilliance would be enough to surpass a gadget kept in a pocket that couldn't even penetrate wood..."

The Doctor slowly looked up at his young self and then to Emilie, "Have I mentioned that my first mid-life crisis was quite awful?" He was teasing the younger Time Lord, only because he could be quite high strung some times, "Don't diss the Sonic, Doctor. The TARDIS made this one, and anything that beautiful ship makes is more than good enough for me."

They got back to work, "Well then. That's a bit odd. Worship? Why?" He looked to Emilie before saying, "Dastari was something of a grand scale plastic surgeon."

"Doctor, it may have escaped your notice, but certain humans in the 21st century worship plastic surgeons. I hardly think that is a folly contained to just one species."

“Worshipped? WORSHIPPED?!”

"Oh, here we go," The elder started.

“Wouldn't surprise me if several secrets to his schemes were influenced by the Rani! But an influential plastic surgeon”. He held his hand out for the flash drive. “Give me that and perhaps I can mock up some sort of device that could read it”.

"I suppose one of the perks of being as tall and built as I was when I was him, at least at this point, was that I had quite the set of lungs. I once spoke thirty minutes non-stop when I was him." He paused, "Have you done that yet? I don't remember."

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Knowing how the Sontarans tasted, or rather didn't, did not really help Emilie understand them any better, but given everything else she supposed it was not worth pressing too hard about.

For some bizarre reason, the younger Doctor seemed to be rather insulted at the idea of a people worshipping this Dastari. Emilie had no idea why that might be either, and she was starting to not like not knowing things.

Her Doctor was having a grand old time poking fun at himself though, enough so Emilie found herself giggling as well.

"Do be kind, Doctor. I quite like getting to know you."

Amusement glittered in her eyes as she looked to the younger Doctor.

"I've had lots of practice, you see."

There was a lingering sadness in her gaze though. Remnants of fear from her time spent with the Valeyard, even if the Doctor with the extraordinary coat had allayed some of her doubts for a while.

"Let's see what's on our mysterious 'flash drive', yes?"

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If it was one thing he disliked the most about meeting himself it was meeting himself. The Doctor rolled his eyes as his elder form questioned him on whether or not he had spoken thirty minutes straight yet. He opened his mouth to reply and instead decided on snapping it shut.

Emilie added her two cents on the matter; noting she had lots of practice. Indeed, Emilie was a rather interesting character in herself; the Doctor found her popping up throughout several moments of his lives. Not that he wasn't ungrateful, she was a good friend to have.

“How about we focus on the matter at hand instead of laying out my flaws you seem to be so amused by Doctor?”

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"Your flaws?" The Doctor asked, "Flaws? Bah! We don't have flaws!" He was getting boastful for the sake of being boastful, "You and I are magnificent. I believe it was you who said that the outside didn't matter." He poked himself, smiling a bit, "And that it was on the inside that really did." He moved along, holding out the flash drive to his younger self.

"Have at it then," They really needed to get to work, and that meant working together rather than being silly and arguing into the mirror of himself, "Let's get cracking Doctor." There was plenty of work to be done, and who better to assist him than himself? Well, of course, Emilie was quite the excellent choice as well, but he was sure she understood, even though he hadn't said it out loud.

"Emilie, help me, er, younger me, I'm going to pop out for another look around, make sure no other Me's are showing up. That seems to happen in this place a bit."

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Emilie found herself rapidly coughing to mask what would otherwise have been a laughing fit. The Doctor was being completely ridiculous, as per usual. True, the Doctor was magnificent, but he was flesh and blood. He wasn't, couldn't be, completely perfect.

She knew that better than most, having met his dark side.

"I'll help as best I can."

Although she was not entirely certain what she could help with or how she could do so.