Life At Fanwood

Episode 4.3: Just a Little Problem...

London headed towards the supermarket.  The Cheshire Cat told her he saw someone carrying the scarf into the store, but he didn’t see who it was.  “Man, I hope he’s right,” London whispered to herself.

She entered the store and asked the clerk if she had seen a long, multi-colored scarf being toted around by a suspicious-looking person.

The clerk’s face lit up and she replied, “Yes, I remember!  He bought a hammer and some nails and some wood!”

“Do you remember what he looked like?” London asked.

The clerk’s face fell as she replied, “Well, no.”

London smiled a humorless smile and said to herself, “No, of course not,” then she turned and walked out the door.  “Nobody remembers who this guy is,” she thought, “It couldn’t be the Silence because she wouldn’t have remembered anything.”

“London, did you find anything?” Loki asked.

She jumped in surprise, then dug her hands in her pockets and mumbled, “I hate this place.”

 -

Back in the apartment lobby, the 4th Doctor stood eagerly in front of Loki and London, waiting to hear the news they had brought back to him.  “So what did you find out?” he asked.

London took a deep breath and said, “Well, we found out that whoever took your scarf bought a hammer, nails, and some wood.”

“AAHH!” the Doctor shouted as he crumpled to the floor, “I knew it!  Some psychologically disturbed individual is going to hang up my scarf as a trophy!”

London stared at the Doctor.  “Uh… you don’t know that…” she said, trying to calm him down.

The Doctor stopped and gathered his thoughts together.  “No, you’re right.  I don’t know.  But what am I supposed to do in the meantime?” he asked.

“Perhaps you could… oh, I don’t know… play… chess?” London fumbled.  She was grasping at straws because honestly, she didn’t know what the Doctor did in his spare time besides save realities from collapsing, Daleks, Cybermen, and whatnot.

“Or you could go to a separate dimension and have a conversation with your future selves!” Loki suggested.

London blinked three times and then said, “That was totally NOT helpful.”

“Hey, that’s a good idea,” the Doctor said as he stood up.

“But wouldn’t that cause a disruption in the time-space continuum?” London asked, genuinely concerned.

“Nah,” the Doctor said as he waved his hand in dismissal, “It will be fine.”  With that, he spun around and ran down the stairs.

There was thick silence that lasted a full ten seconds.

“I do believe I am worried about his sanity,” London said.

“He’ll be fine,” Loki assured her.

London raised an eyebrow in disapproval and suspicion.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her when she failed to say anything.

“I question your motives,” London replied as she walked past Loki and toward the stairs, “Crossing your own time stream would cause a paradox, leaving us with either no Doctors or an apocalypse-style town.”

Loki followed her as she ascended the stairs.  “How do you know that?” he asked.

“I don’t know.  I just hope I’m wrong.  The Doctor knows better than to cross his own time stream, so why is he going to attempt it now?” she asked, not even looking over her shoulder.

Loki was silent for a moment.  “He misses his scarf,” he said finally.

London sighed and said, “The loss of his scarf wouldn’t prompt him to do something as drastic as that.”

“How’s Paris?” he asked.

“Excuse me?” London responded, almost stopping in her tracks.  The Fate of the Doctor’s sanity was resting in their hands and he wanted to talk about Paris?

“Paris.  Your friend.  How is she?”

London contemplated her answer before she said, “She’s… fine, I suppose…  Why?”

“Oh, no reason.  I haven’t seen her in a while and Tom said he-” Loki started, but London cut him off.

“Speaking of Tom, where is he?”

“I… have… no idea.” he stammered as he absentmindedly followed London to her apartment.

Just as she was about to unlock the door, she stopped and turned to face Loki.  She pointed at the floor and said, “Your apartment is on the level below me.”