The Time of Change

The Three Doctors

My balance wobbly after the time-jump, I trip over my own foot and throw the heavy wooden door open, letting out a stunted girlish squeak in the process. The door scrapes hair-raisingly against the rock floor. I push a hand through my thick locks, attempting to catch my breath, and blink at my new surroundings: a dank, dark cell made of crudely-attached stones. There are three men in the room, and my husband stands directly in front of me, staring like I've just done something extraordinary.

"H-how did you do that?" he inquires, bringing his hands together to wring them.

I give him a look. "You aren't more concerned about how I got here?"

"Of course not. I knew you'd figure it out. I practically gave Kate an instruction manual!" After gesturing back at a pillar behind him, he raises his eyebrows in the direction of the door to silently ask the same question.

I sigh with a slight smile and jerk my thumb over my shoulder. "It wasn't locked."

"... Right."

Shaking my head, my eyes flit to the left and fall on an older-looking man. I recognize him at once. He is the one I saw with the Moment, the Doctor from the Time War. His eyes are uncomprehending as he stares at me, and after a millisecond, he breaks our gaze to glance over his shoulder, agape, at the figure of a woman who leans against the wall. I follow this movement and see myself, only she's in dark pants and my leather jacket. She gives him a tight half-smile. "Do you get it now?" she asks in my voice, something that sends chills down my spine. When he does not respond, the Moment adds, "You will."

All of this happens within the span of a second, not even enough time for me to wonder why she's allowed me to see her. My heart begins to pound violently against my chest as I find myself looking at the third man in the room.

The very first thing I notice are sparklingly thoughtful hazel eyes, and they are exceptionally wide. The left is droopier than the right. Next I see the wildly messy brown hair and the pinstriped suit, and then my focus is on the thin lips as they part to discharge a soundless gasp. He breathes like there is not enough oxygen in the world for him to be sated. Shakily, he shuffles nearer to me, and I feel a watery smile appear on my mouth as tears fill my eyes. He reaches out as if to touch my face, but he stops short in midair, like he is not certain about whether or not I am actually here. Hesitation flashes across his irises before he buries it and gently cups my cheek. A tremulous breath escapes both of us.

"You're real," he whispers, brushing his thumb across my cheekbone, and I can feel my heart burst within me at the sound of a voice I only ever heard in my childhood dreams.

"So are you," I reply, my words sounding rather broken as I wrap my fingers around the hand that is pressed to my face. In an instant, he pulls me into a hug so strong that he could be trying to absorb me into himself. I press my chin into his shoulder and attempt to hold him just as tightly, if not more so. I feel his hearts hammering against my chest, their out-of-time rhythm overwhelmingly comforting, and somehow I manage to forget the present situation. All that exists in this moment in time is the fact that I'm face-to-face with someone I never thought I'd see again.

In my peripheral vision as we pull apart, I see my husband look between us with a sad smile.

Beaming through the tears on my cheeks, I nod my head at his attire and ask, "Do you ever change your suits?"

The Tenth Doctor smiles. "There's no one to remind me anymore."

I sniffle. "How long has it been for you?"

"Long enough," he answers, eyebrows furrowed. "Probably a month in Earth time." His gaze intensifies as he stares at me, and after a moment he adds, "I've missed you. I'm just so—" He pauses suddenly, eyes dropping to the floor. "Wait," he says. There's another short beat in which he looks nervous. "Alright, this is rubbish timing, I know, but d-do you happen to remember what we discussed... before you died?"

A fleeting memory of his heartbroken I'm in love with you in my final moments skirts through my mind, and my heart swells as I remember the sensation of his kiss. My smile widens; my gaze falls upon my husband, who grins right back at me over the Tenth Doctor's shoulder.

"Lucky for you, yes, she does," he answers on my behalf, causing his past self to look at him. With his eyes still locked with my own, the Eleventh Doctor says slowly, "Gentlemen, this is my wife, Annalise Song."

Out of the edge of my range of vision, I notice the Warrior's jaw drop once more. He looks back at the Moment as she beams at me.

The Tenth turns his head back to face me, and there are new tears filling those deep browns. Before either of us says a word, he quickly dips his head and presses his lips to mine, and the earth starts quaking beneath my feet. Time itself ripples around us, yet we stand still. It only takes half a second for my eyes to flutter shut, for me to lean into the embrace like I haven't another care in the world and let this one instant fill all the empty silences scattered throughout my life.

It's over too soon. When he pulls back, his eyes appear glazed. He smiles at me sheepishly. "Technically that wasn't unfaithful," he quips under his breath.

Both the Eleventh Doctor and I laugh.

Unprompted, the tender moment is shattered by a thought coming to me. "Hang on," I say, moving away from the Tenth and peering around at the Doctors. "Three of you in one room, together, at the same time, and not one of you thought to try the door?"

"It should have been locked," the Warrior defends.

"Yes," my husband agrees readily. "Exactly. Why wasn't it locked?"

"Because I was fascinated to see what you would do upon escaping," says a woman's voice.

The Tenth yanks me away from the door by the hand he still holds in his own as Queen Elizabeth the First fills the threshold. She looks different than I imagined, very contrasting to the portraits I've seen of her. She's not as graceful, calmly authoritative, or benevolent. Actually, she looks quite threatening. Goosebumps stand to attention across my skin as she gives them a condescendingly confident grin. When she speaks again, there is a malevolent glint behind her dark eyes.

"I understand you're rather fond of this world," she adds to the three Doctors, disregarding my presence entirely. "It's time I think you saw what's going to happen to it."