Into The Past

(For Ten, Thet, Mal)

With a grinding noise, a TARDIS slowly appeared on a corner in London. With a final groan, it fully materialized and the door creaked open, Sonya poked her head out of the opening and smiled brightly and looked over her shoulder into the control room. "We made it, first shot!" She laughed brightly and stepped out into the brisk morning air, her hands stuffed into her pockets as she waited for the Doctor to follow her out. "I told you that I could land her better than you could. Knowing you, we'd end up somewhere in the feudal era in Japan." Letting out a low laugh, she turned fully around and gestured with one of her hands for him to come towards her. "Come on, get your butt out here. You can't hide in your TARDIS all day." Sonya giggled slightly and looked back towards the busy city in front of her, a peaceful smile on her face as she examined the street. "Oh this place is just brilliant, I love this city more than anything. Though I have to say... It could be better, less smoke and such." She added idly, sniffing at the air with a slight grimace.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and walked down the ramp, snagging his trench coat and putting it on before walking out of the doors of the TARDIS where Sonya stood waiting for him. Glancing around London, he released a sigh, "Blimey this place gets familiar" he mumbled to himself as he took a step forward then quickly spinning around to defend himself, "And Japan is a fantastic place. A bit crowded in some parts..but still, beautiful none the less". With a sniff, he rested his case, "And your landing was a bit off, we were supposed to be there and not here" he illustrated by pointing his finger at the spot he spoke about then released a playful smirk afterwards as he looked back up to her, "Still could have been worse. So..good job.".

"Better be good job. And I thought that place was too conspicuous." Sonya added with a playful sniff of her own before wrapping an arm around him in a hug and racing off across the empty street to peer into one of the store windows. "Oh! Cakes, I love a good cake, and pie and ice cream... I have such an odd taste in food now, it's wonderful." She murmured to herself before moving to the next window and peering in, not noticing the odd looks she received from the people passing by her on the sidewalk. "Oh look, Doctor. Pets, I want to get a pet, I miss my snake, I wonder where he ever got off to... Hmm, oh I'm sure he's fine, but still makes me wonder what he did." Looking over her shoulder, she spotted the Doctor still across the street and waved at him. "Come on then, keep up old man. You won't get any younger standing there like a statue." She called with a large grin on her face. She had never felt so excited about anything like this before, everything seemed new to her in a way that she never thought it would. The sudden adrenalin coursing through her body was making her race about and speak faster than usual. Not to mention her brain kept switching topics on her halfway through a sentence, making her sound like a blithering idiot now and again. "Oh! Another pie shop! Look at those, ooooh see that? I can see you wearing a suit like- No! Look, they have big screen tvs! You really ought to get one for the TARDIS Doctor, I mean really I can hardly- Oi, look at the duckpond, see that? It's brilliant!" Skipping across the street again, she left the Doctor behind as she made her way to the little pond full of ducklings and parents, leaning over the small handrail to get a better view of them.

Mal walked out of the café with a small sigh.  She was wearing her work uniform which was a good indicator she just got off her shift and was heading home for a nice, long shower.  The latte in her hand was piping hot but she sipped at it anyway, recoiling when she scalded her lip. 

"Think a girl would learn." She grimaced.  At least the day had been mild compared to most.  That was the one good thing about working on weekdays.  The really crabby people were at work, most likely staring blankly at a computer screen or making boring phone calls. 

This way of thinking was to avoid the annoyance that the only job Mal could get paid minimum wage.  She could only afford her rent and a measly cup of caffeine once in a while.  Maybe even the odd brew if she was feeling down.   But that was the price you pay with a lack of education and only a visa to your name.

The Doctor continued to chase after Sonya, making sure she didn't get in too much trouble, but then his eyes caught the site of Mal, stepping out of her workplace. Immediately, his attention was diverted from Sonya and shot over to Mal as he raced over to her with a smile on his face, "Mal!!" he proclaimed happily, stopping once he was a few feet in front of her, "Didn't know you worked here..well..never took the time to find out, well..never had the time. But how have you been?" he asked, stopping his ramble with a question. His mind was still worrying partially about Sonya and her excited rampage but his eyes and attention was set on Mal who stood out front of her employment.

Suddenly a loud splash was heard, followed by a string of Gallifreyan curses as Sonya pulled herself out of the duck pond amid of the residents in it pecking and flapping at her in anger. "Alright! I'm getting out, I'm getting out! Sheesh, haven't you lot ever heard of patience?" She growled, finally hoisting herself over the handrail and turning around to glare at the excited ducks in front of her. "You lot need to learn some manners. I mean seriously!" Flinging her arms up in the air, she turned around and headed back to the Doctor, dripping on the pavement all the way. "You lean too far over a handrail once and a entire species hates you for it." Finally coming to a stop, she spotted Mal and grinned brightly at her. "Oh! Didn't see you show up, how are you? I know I'm a bit wet, but there is a very good explanation for it. I saw something glittering at the bottom of that pond over there and I thought maybe if I leaned over a little, I could reach in and get it..."

Mal jumped in surprise when he name was shouted.  The latte fell from her hand and exploded on the pavement.  She stared at it for a moment in defeat before turning her wide eyes to the Doctor, "Oh, it's you.  Almost gave me a heart attack... But oh, uh, yeah, I'm fine.  Just being mundane and boring per ushe.  Well, I really shouldn't say it's ushe... but I guess it is when you aren't around.  Oh, man, I'm just confusing myself." She finished with a small smile of her own.  She was about to ask him what brought him here, a little afraid of his answer but nonetheless wanting to be polite.  But before she could, Sonya came trudging up.

"Uh, people usually throw coins and stuff in ponds, you know.  It's for good luck or something.  Or making your wish come true. I think they don't advise people to lean on the railings for this very reason." She motioned up and down Sonya's body before just shrugging.

Next to the Doctor's TARDIS, another one slowly materialized, fading into view. It landed with a heavy woosh. The doors flew open and Theta came running out, looking around then giving a sigh of relief. He slowed to a stop.

"Finally! Rassilon, I try following their TARDIS then end up in Japan...twice. How does that even work?" he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, looking around the area. Ah. London. They always seemed to gravitate back here, didn't they? Maybe there was a default in the TARDISes. He ran to catch up with the other two, which were across the street from where the two boxes were parked.

"Hi, sorry, got lost on the way..." he eyed Sonya as soon as he neared them "and why are you wet? Honestly, you're more hyper than me now that you've been 'unlocked' or whatever it was"

The Doctor listens intently to Mal's response but his attention was quickly shifted into other spots as more and more people suddenly appeared from seemingly, nowhere. He turned his head nearly three hundred and sixty degrees as he spun around towards Theta as he approached. The Doctor's smile grew wide as he mentally embraced the newly formed group and it stuck til as he walked over to Thea and scrutinized his appearance with an eyebrow raised, "You've changed" he commented, "And yeah..Sonya is a bit..well..off her rocker at the moment. Had a bit too much sugar on our last adventure".

"Oi! I am perfectly on my rocker, thank you very much." Sonya protested, her arms crossing over her chest as she scowled at the Doctor. "And by he way it is your fault for leaving that bag of cookies laying around. Yu know i have a probom with self control right now." She added, pointing a finger at him before finally looking over at Thet with a grin. "Hey, long time, well to me, not so sure about you, could be next week or even hour later! I mean seriously, time lines are a tad difficult to keep straight, arent they?" Shaking her head, she threw her sopping arms around the young Time Lord in a tight hug, throughly soaking his jacket the bow tie.

Theta laughed, embracing Sonya with a bright grin.

"It seems like I still didn't land in the right place. Saw you just ten minutes ago, after we left the cabin in the Himalayas. I'm sorry if you got annoyed at me for not showing up, by the way" he eyed Sonya and the Doctor up and down "So how long has it been for you two? You don't look like you've changed that much..."

Mal stared at the newly arrived Theta with parted lips. She listened to the time talk before shaking her head slowly. The motion quickly became dramatic and she groaned, "Oh, come on. That is just horrible confusing. I've traveled through space. Time? Nah, the only time was... well it was just in the past 10 min from that present. Gosh, time travel is a pain in the butt." She crossed her arms over her chest and averted her head to stare across the street though her eyes were unseeing.

"Oi" The Doctor hissed, standing up after inspecting Theta completely, now completely convinced he must have put on a new shirt, "Now, you're right. It's only been a few years..well..for me anyways. I've dropped this one over here off once or twice, went about causing trouble, picking up trays, then came back ran into this one again, got her..then came here. Only to be tracked by the pearman himself". He chuckled with an emerging smile as he glanced around the newly formed group then finally back to Theta, "Nice to see you again" he said with a slight nod of the head.

Sonya grinned up at the Doctor, her excitement practically exploding out of her as she let Thet go and spun away to stare at the crowds around them. "But it's so great! I have never felt so... Whole in my entire life, like I found something that I've missed for hundreds of years." She said with a cheerful hug to herself. "So excuse me for being excited, and it's been... Oh about three or four years since I last saw you, Thet. My time stream tends to skip around a few months due to practicing with my doorways and all."

Theta blinked, letting out a low whistle. Four years? That was a long period of time...well, in his own opinion. The longest he had gone without seeing the redhead was a year; it was like she was a magnet. Either that, or Lady just liked seeing her so much that she landed where ever she was.

"Anyways...what's going on? Oh Rassilon, this is going to be just like that time on Ferosh, isn't it? Nothing good ever comes out of too many of us in one place..." he sighed, but told himself to enjoy his friend's company while it lasted. It seemed like the more Timelords there were in an area (or people that knew Timelords), the more evil, Earth-hating aliens that came.