| Date: 9 January 2008
Characters: The Tenth Doctor, Mickey Smith Location: hotel bar Link to IJ: thread #28809 |
 Leaning against the open door of her TARDIS, the Doctor kept her eyes closed, listening to the faint hum in the back of her head, and every so often taking a sip from the glass of whatever cocktail the bartender had given her. Something involving bananas and mangos and copious amounts of alcohol and other elements she was deliberately not trying to individually identify, just letting the gestalt flow across her tongue and down her throat. She'd contemplated chasing after the Master, but the grumble from her TARDIS had kept her from going far.
"Shh. We'll be fine," she murmured, talking out loud even though she knew the TARDIS didn't require verbal communication. A wave of irritationannoyancedoubt flashed back at her, and she grimaced, taking another sip of the drink before sending her own pulse back at her ship, reassurancelovewarmth. "Seriously, we'll be fine. And we'll get back to Mark and Jack before the universe ends." She paused, rolling the glass in her hand a moment. "Or they get eaten." She wasn't paying a lot of attention to the place they'd landed in, and didn't really hear the person approaching until a nudge from her TARDIS had her opening her eyes. "Hello there. You wouldn't happen to know where I am?" She smiled cheerfully at the other person, before adding hastily, "Besides in a hotel bar, I noticed that when I opened the door, no matter certain other Time Lords assertations to the contrary." |
 "Are we multiplying then?" Mickey asked, snorting a bit as he placed a vague drink order (strong and fast) as he settled down on the stool next to the woman who was prattling in an all too familiar manner. "And female this time? Well, that makes for a change."
After a moment, Mickey finally shook his head, "Wish I could tell you, miss, 'cause that would mean I would know myself. And I can't say that I do." |
| "Multiplying?" The Doctor gave the young man a strange look, before taking another absent sip of her drink. "And why is it a change that I'm female? I'm the Doctor, by the way, pleasure to meet you...?" She trailed off, still smiling as she held out her hand towards the young man. |
| Mickey turned and stared at the woman for the longest time, ignoring the hand all together before simply replying, "Of course you are. And I'm the Bloody King of Scotland." |
| "Hmm. Well, I didn't think I'd run into any monarchs while I was here, this really isn't the place to run into any." She shrugged, finishing her drink, and waving to the bartender for another. "You should try this, it's really quite good. Now, who are you really? Because it's not polite to impersonate monarchs who no longer exist. People tend to get all upset over that." |
| What was more disturbing than this woman claiming to be the Doctor was that she was actually acting like him, "Mickey Smith," He said after a moment, shrugging a bit as he turned back to the bar. "And I'm fine with what I have."
And Mickey took a stab without looking at what she was drinking. "Besides, I'm not that fond of bananas." It would figure, wouldn't it? |
| "Pity. They're good for you, full of potassium and all sorts of other goodies." The Doctor picked up the fresh glass the bartender set on the bar. "Mickey Smith...." she frowned, trying to place the name.
"Oh! Roland's girlfriend is named Mickey. Michaela, actually, but she doesn't like being called by her full name. Everyone calls her Mickey. Sweet girl, a bit of a tomboy, made a great heroine out of herself in the end." She sighed, a slightly wistful expression on her face. "Hope she's doing all right, her and Roland and Jon and Rina." |
| Mickey twitched. There wasn't much more that he could do to the news that, worse than being named Ricky in another universe, there was one where he was a bloody girl. Though, the Doctor was apparently a girl, too, so that balanced it out, right?
"Uh, yeah. That's me," Mickey said, downing the shot that was placed in front of him. "Just a bit more...well," Mickey cleared his throat a bit. "I suppose it's obvious." |
| "Oh, definitely." The Doctor shrugged, turning her glass around and around for a moment.
"So, the Doctor where you come from is male? Huh. Who'd he travel with, then? I mean, if you're male, and you expect the Doctor to be male, then I don't suppose his companion was. I mean, it would make sense for everyone to be gender-reversed, wouldn't it? Even Jack, lovely lady that she is, and Mark and Roland, and... Oh, dear. That would mean the Master is male too, and wouldn't that be a fright?" She took a rather larger gulp of her drink, shivering theatrically. "I really hope they don't run into each other, the Master is bad enough on her own. Wouldn't do for her to find someone else with similar ambitions. Though, I suppose that wouldn't necessarily be the case, would it?" |
| "Men and women tend to think differently," Mickey said. "And I think Roland would be Rose. And Jack is well...Jack, but yeah, male. I can't say that I know who this Mark is. Probably after we ended up on the other side of the Breach." |
| "Oh, probably. I mean, I didn't travel with Mark until after I lost Roland. Trying to avoid going to find Jack and ask her to travel with me again, because as nice as it would be to have someone to travel with that I don't have to protect, and who isn't going to get all grey on me, or all dead on me, it really isn't fair to her. She doesn't need to have some silly maudlin Time Lord showing up on her doorstep and shaking up whatever she's done with her life."
She sighed, resting her chin in her hand as she leaned against the bar. "It's all a bit silly in the end, because Jack tried to catch up with me, and was rather a bit miffed when we ended up at the end of the universe with the TARDIS trying to get bearings. I didn't even notice her until it was too late to stop the dematerialization, and she rode all that way on the outside, in the Vortex." She shook her head, giving Mickey a cheery smile. "But that's all another conversation entirely, and I shouldn't bore you with all that. What happened in your world, with your Doctor, and this Rose? If you know, at least. Something, I'm sure, there had to have been times he brought her home for a spell, I know I brought Roland home a time or two." |
| "From the sound of it...exactly the same thing," Mickey said, glancing over at the Doctor.
All right, no, not going to ever get used to this. |
| "Oh, come on, it can't have been exactly the same! You said it yourself, men and women think differently, male and female of any species, actually. All in the hormones, mostly. Not so much for Time Lords, most of us are female, but... Well, I suppose most of the Time Lords in your universe wouldn't be, would they?"
The Doctor frowned thoughtfully, sipping her drink. "I would imagine they'd be mostly male. Anyway, really, I'd love to know more about the Doctor in your universe, what's he like? Oh, is he here?" She flashed a brilliant grin. "Now that would be amazing, wouldn't it? Meeting myself, and not crossing my own time-line anywhere. Well, not exactly myself, he can't have all the experiences I've had." She paused, looking distant a moment before shaking her head. "No, can't have had all of them. Hope he hasn't. Be disappointing, that." |
| "He's here," Mickey said, looking over at the Doctor before waving his hand at her. "Regeneration before this one. Though, I can't be sure, but the bouncy, hyperactive big kid regeneration might be here, too." |
| "Oh, the regeneration before this one? Oi." The Doctor shook her head. "Ugh. Wouldn't want to be her again. All dark jumpers and black jacket and combat boots. No, no, don't want to be that again. Doesn't suit me at all. Besides, do you know how hard it is to get the mud out of the seams of those boots?
"I'll have to go looking, it really should be great fun, don't you think? Just do me a favor, would you? Avoid the woman in the black suit jacket who looks like she's never smiled a day in her life? She's the Master, and really, quite a lot of trouble if she figures out you know me, or even a male version of me. Might take a fancy to you, play all sorts of games with your head." |
| "I prefer to keep my head just the way it is. I'll keep that in mind, thanks," Mickey said, downing another shot before glancing over at this female Doctor. "You didn't have the habit of calling the other me an idiot by any chance, did you?" |
| "No, no, never!" The Doctor gave Mickey a confused look. "Why would I call Mickey an idiot? She's a bit clingy sometimes, and didn't have much sense of adventure the first time I met her, but she grew out of that. Always knew she would, I mean, not that I knew how her future would turn out, but people like her usually do. Grow out of being scared of the unknown. Most of them." She sighed, sipping her drink. "Why would your Doctor call you an idiot, anyway? Is he daft or something? |
| "Something about being useless, clingy, and having nothing to add to the conversation except the obvious, I do believe was what it was," Mickey said, taking another shot before waving the bartender off, pillowing his head on his hands.
He missed his home. He missed Jackie. He missed Pete. He missed Jake. And lord knew he missed Rose. But he hadn't found a door back yet, so it looked like he was stuck. |
| "Hmph." The Doctor wrinkled her nose. "Sounds like me as male is a bit of a wanker." She shook her head, peering over at Mickey as he rested his head on his hands. "Are you all right? You look a bit... Well, a bit like Roland when he wanted to go home for bit." She reached out a hand to rest it on his shoulder a moment, a slight frown on her face. |
| "I ended up here by mistake," Mickey said, frowning softly. "And now I don't have a clue where I am or home to get home."
"And it didn't help my mood that the first person I ran across when I got here was that wanker," Mickey said, "but proceeded to point out my apparent lack of perspective and observational skills." |
| "Oh, that... well, it's terrible." She rubbed his shoulder, shaking her head. "I don't know how to help, since I'm not actually sure how to go home myself. Even my TARDIS doesn't know how we got here, or how to get us out. It would be nice to be able to leave the Master behind here, and get Jack and Mark before they get eaten." She paused, shrugging. "Or the universe ends, whichever comes first.
"Though it does sound like your Doctor and the Master I arrived with have something in common. Think a bit too highly of themselves, and not highly enough of the people around them." |
| Mickey snorted in amusement, "Delusions of grandeur? Yeah. Sounds about right." |
| "Well, it's what she's good at. Always thinking she's destined to take over the universe, and never bothering to think about the rest of sentient life. Not a whole lot that like the idea of being conquered and ruled over by an insane Time Lord." |
| "Hello, I could barely stand a slightly unstable one," Mickey said with a grin. Though, to be honest, that was a rather horrifying prospect, with what he'd seen the Doctor accomplish before. |
| "Precisely!" The Doctor beamed at Mickey. "Though it's always the insane ones who seem bent on universal domination. Really quite the pity, that. Be nice to deal with a sane tyrant for once. Might be less running involved that way." |
| "Is there really such a thing, a sane tyrant? Even all of Earth's various dictators have had an edge of crazy to them." |
| "Oh, I doubt it, but it would be nice, don't you think? Either that, or a bit scary, and either way, it would involve less running." The Doctor paused, a frown on consternation on her face as she thought about it. "Might involve a little more sitting in a prison cell, though, and that's never fun." |