"What can you see?" she whispered. From here she had to turn her head to look and she didn't want them to be spotted, even though they were in the shadows.

"I think--" Ian said before he stopped suddenly and kissed Barbara, surprising her.

When he stopped, she looked up at him, her fast heartbeat not just from the fear of being discovered. She'd forgotten where they were until she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked round to find the people they were watching had moved along and were trying to break into the post office. Worse, they were most definitely aliens - when they passed under a street light she could see their skin glowed gold. "We should call the police," she suggested.

Ian shook his head. "The police wouldn't know what to do with them." Before she could ask what the two of them could do against four aliens he said, "Stay there," and ran off towards the post office.

Now that all the aliens were inside and hadn't posted a look-out they could see from here, going closer wasn't so dangerous, but there was still a risk Ian could be seen. Barbara wanted to shout at him for going closer, but then they would definitely know he was there. So she stayed where she was and watched and worried as he opened the door of the aliens' car and started the engine. Then she understood what he was doing and ran over to meet him as he drove towards where she was waiting. The alarm that went off inside the post office suggested that the aliens weren't likely to be in there much longer.

"They won't get very far," he said, as he sped off around the corner and out of sight. "They should have had a getaway driver."

"They're very inept criminals." She smiled at him and he grinned back.

"Let's go to dinner and leave them to it." He parked the car down the road from what had been their intended destination, before they were waylaid by the promise of adventure.

"Didn't we come home to have a normal life free from aliens?" she asked, as they left the car with the keys in the ignition and walked up the road. There was no one following them, despite her worry that the aliens would find them. The police would surely get involved now and she wasn't sure what they would think about people with gold coloured skin. Or whether Ian was more interested in adventure and chasing aliens or dinner and a normal life. Come to think of it, she wasn't sure which she would prefer.

"We can do that too." Ian stopped suddenly and kissed her again.

Barbara smiled and found she had already forgotten all about the alien robbers.

2.
"That monkey has three arms," Jo said, frowning as she peered into the tree.

Cliff shrugged and didn't so much as glance up from the patch of ground he was studying for signs of the mushroom. "It's probably a mutation."

Jo didn't know enough about biology to know if monkeys were capable of that large a mutation, but if Cliff thought it was likely then it was good enough for her. Or it would be if that was its only difference from other monkeys. "It's also green," she said to his back.

"Good camouflage." He must have discovered the mushroom wasn't there and he started walking, writing something in his notebook as he went.

She folded her arms and waited. It took a few moments before he looked up and around and then finally back at her.

"Did you say it was a green monkey with three arms?" he asked as he returned to her.

She nodded. At least he'd been listening.

"You think it's an alien?" He didn't sound sure, but then she'd seen more aliens than he had.

"Yes, I do."

He looked up into the tree, watching as the monkey swung from branch to branch to settle down in the next tree along. "What do you want to do about it?"

Since they were in the middle of nowhere and the nearest phone was a day's walk away, they couldn't call anyone to help. Not that anyone would be able to get here before they lost the monkey. "Let's find out if it's intelligent," she suggested. She followed its path to stop underneath the tree it was currently sitting in. Then she cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted up at it, "Hey, you!"

The monkey turned to look at them, then threw down the remains of a piece of fruit it had been eating. The fruit went splat at Jo's feet.

"I think that's a yes," Cliff unhelpfully pointed out.

Jo wasn't about to give up, especially if it could understand them. "Wouldn't you like to go home?" she called up to it.

Her answer was another piece of fruit. It would have landed on her shoes if she hadn't taken a step backwards just in time.

"I think it's happy here," Cliff said. "I don't think it's doing any harm."

She looked over at him. "If the Doctor was here he could take it home." Cliff took her hand and she smiled at him. "It might take him a few attempts," she admitted, smiling too. "It's happy here," she decided. "Let's just leave it."

She let him lead her onwards and they forgot all about the alien monkey for several years until they heard reports of a new species discovered in the Amazon. When they returned to see it for themselves they found the alien must have bred with the native monkey population to produce a variety of monkeys that were either green or had three arms. The experts were baffled, but neither Jo nor Cliff thought they would believe the truth. But Jo and Cliff knew and that was enough.

3.
"Why did I agree to do this?" Harry grimaced as he and Sarah stepped out of their hotel room and he locked the door. A night spent on the floor hadn't done his back any good and he ached all over.

"Because everyone here has to be married," Sarah reminded him, then suddenly turned and kissed him.

For a moment he remembered exactly why he'd given in to her pleading to help her with an investigation that apparently no one else in the world could help with. Then he opened his eyes and discovered she was looking at something over his shoulder. It wasn't as if he was asking for a bit of romance, but Sarah played pretending to be married badly. He ended the kiss, reminding himself not to be fooled, and waited for her to tell him what was going on.

"It's not just corruption," she said, "it's aliens." Her eyes sparkled.

He sighed. He had supposed that when he'd left UNIT that would be the end of deadly adventures with aliens. He hadn't reckoned on his friendship with Sarah pulling him right back into the world it seemed she'd never left.

"Come along, darling," she said, in a tone that Harry couldn't believe no one else found suspicious. At least he couldn't until they reached reception. Various couples were seated on the sofas dotted around the foyer. Most of them were kissing. Some of them looked like they were on their way to doing more than just that.

"Um," Harry said. That wasn't normal, even for this place, and it was an odd, badly-run hotel. Surprisingly, none of the other couples had any complaints about their stay.

"Why aren't we affected?" Sarah frowned at him. "Unless you have to be in love."

That couldn't possibly be it because Harry still had no desire to kiss Sarah like that in public. He didn't dare say it, though. "It could be any number of things. They did state that you had to be married, not just in love," he pointed out.

Sarah stuck out her left hand and stared at it. They had the rings and the forged papers, but not the actual marriage. "Kiss the receptionist," she said suddenly, putting her hand in her pocket.

"What?" he frowned.

"We have to do something, to shock them or break their hold. They won't be expecting adultery."

He had a feeling that even if it were adultery Sarah would still suggest it, if it meant getting a story. It didn't explain why he'd ended up being her skivvy and he attempted to put his foot down. "Why don't you kiss her?"

She sighed. "Look, she's pretty, Harry. What more do you want?"

As an attempt it was a miserable failure. Sarah always got what she wanted, it was merely a question of how long it took her to talk him into it. Kissing random strangers, no matter how pretty, wasn't something he did and nor was adultery. So he took off his ring and passed it to her, not intending to put it back on, no matter what happened next. Before he could change his mind, he walked up to the receptionist and kissed her.

She turned out to be an alien of course.

After that there was general chaos and Sarah trying to talk the aliens into leaving, while Harry tried to stay out of the way. He wasn't sure how successful she'd been given that they got thrown out.

"I don't know how I'm going to write this up," Sarah said, standing on the pavement and staring at the hotel.

Harry smiled. "I'm sure you'll think of something, old girl."

4.
"Rabbits," Tegan cursed as she heard the band say good night and the sound of music was replaced by the chatter of thousands of people leaving the arena. She'd been hoping the band would be on stage for longer. Now she would be trying to hunt a blue slithering alien while evading more security people. Not to mention the man carrying a guitar who came from around the corner and stopped right in front of her. "I don't suppose you've seen a big, blue caterpillar anywhere, have you?" she asked him. Sometimes brazenly telling the truth got you further than lying.

He gave her an odd look. "No, I can't say I have. Are you supposed to be back here?"

"That depends on how you look at it." She was probably the only person here qualified to know that the thing that looked like a big, blue caterpillar was really an alien.

"Right." He clearly didn't believe her. "I suppose you'd like an autograph."

She shook her head. "I'd rather wait until I caught the caterpillar-like thing, if it's all the same to you." Although it might stop Jenny from complaining Tegan abandoned her if she returned with an autograph.

He gave her an odd look. "You don't know who I am, do you?"

"Of course I do, you're in the band. And there it is!" She pointed toward where the creature had slithered off towards the toilets and ran after it.

The man put his guitar back around his neck and followed her. "Why would you come to a concert if you don't recognise the band?"

"Jenny dragged me."

"So you got bored and came backstage?"

Tegan decided to use the fact that she was running as an excuse not to answer that one. She knew the music, so she hadn't been that bored, they'd just been so far away they couldn't see anything, which made her wonder what the point of being here was. Having caught up to the caterpillar, she took a leap and rugby tackled it.

"It really is an alien."

Tegan was too busy stopping it from escaping under her that she failed to appreciate for a minute that she hadn't mentioned the creature was an alien. "A little help would be appreciated."

It turned out that the man's guitar strings came in handy for tying it up. By the time they were done all it could do was wriggle helplessly on the ground.

"You've seen aliens before?" Tegan asked, given his blasé attitude about the whole thing.

The man shook his head. "My parents always claimed they'd seen aliens. I never believed them." He smiled and stretched out a hand. "I'm Johnny."

"Tegan." She shook his hand.

"We're playing here again tomorrow night. I'll get you some free tickets, then you can see the songs you missed. And a proper backstage pass too." Tegan hesitated and he stepped closer to whisper in her ear. "Maybe you can check for aliens before we go on."

She couldn't resist that grin or another chance to see him.

5.
Performing CPR on an alien was a tricky thing. It was hard enough to work out where the heart was (or even if there was just the one) with medical equipment and a heartbeat. It was harder when you were kneeling in the road in the middle of a crowd of onlookers, trying to establish if there was a heartbeat. Or even a heart, in this case.

"Allow me, I'm a doctor."

Harry looked up from his patient to see a young woman kneeling across from him on the other side of the alien. "Not of him you're not," he said, although the alien could have female, it was hard to tell. It was generally simplest to pick a pronoun until the aliens could reveal which they preferred. If they had one of those too.

"You'd be surprised," the woman said, pulling a stethoscope out of her bag and pressing it against various parts of the alien's torso. She was at least more prepared for a traffic accident than he was, but then he had just been for a quiet walk and not expecting his medical skills to be needed.

"Who are you?" She didn't looked fazed by the alien's appearance. Harry was sure he could see crumpled wings beneath it. Unless it was just his coat, it was hard to tell.

She smiled. "Martha Jones. And don't worry, I'm sure he's going to be fine."

Harry wasn't so sure. "Harry Sullivan. I have seen aliens before." He wasn't going to let her pull the wool over his eyes.

"Oh." She took the stethoscope out of her ears to look up at him instead.

"I'm a doctor too," he added. "I think he might be dead."

"I think you're right," she admitted. She sighed and sat back on her heels. He was tempted to tell her it wasn't her fault, she only just got here, but this was unlikely to be the first time she'd lost a patient, despite how young she looked. "But we can't leave him here."

"Leave it to me," he said and then realised that calling UNIT would be tricky from the middle of the road and there weren't as many phone boxes as there used to be. "Er, I don't suppose you have one of those mobile phone things?"

She laughed and passed him her phone. After Martha's introduction to UNIT, Harry took her to the pub to tell her all about how he knew about aliens. At least, that was how he justified it...

"Hmm," the Doctor said, peering at a screen.

Ian refused to respond to that. Instead he put his hands in his pockets and waited to see if the Doctor explained himself.

The Doctor didn't. He merely moved the chair at the next desk out of his way so he could peer at the screen there and say "Hmm" again.

Ian sighed. "What is it, Doctor?"

"Huh?" The Doctor looked round with a surprised expression, as if he'd forgotten his companion was there.

It was Ian's turn to wait for the Doctor to comment. He leaned against the desk and folded his arms.

The Doctor took his glasses off and stepped closer to Ian, lowering his voice. "They're predicting the weather tomorrow will be cloudy."

Ian shrugged. "That sounds about right for England in the autumn."

"But there's going to be a hurricane."

"Really?" Ian twisted round to look at the screen, but he couldn't see where the Doctor was getting that conclusion from the data. "How do you know?"

"From this." The Doctor grinned and pulled a book out of his pocket, which he waved at Ian.

As it moved Ian managed to read the title: 'The Pocket Book of Weather in Britain in the 20th Century'. He rolled his eyes. "Don't you think you should tell them?"

The Doctor considered that for a moment. "I think I'll wait and see if they notice. They'll learn from their mistakes far better than if I just told them."

"Isn't that irresponsible? A hurricane could do untold amounts of damage if there's no warning."

"They won't be believe me anyway." The Doctor patted him on the shoulder. "Oh look, there's the TARDIS."

Ian gave in. This was all in his future anyway. Perhaps he could warn people once this date came around. Assuming the Doctor ever got him home...

Barbara had only been at Coal Hill School since Easter, so this was the first time she'd seen the staff let their hair down. O levels, A levels and end of year exams had kept everyone too busy to celebrate a week off at half term, so it seemed like they were making up for it now. It was only tea time and already she had seen signs of people who couldn't hold their drink.

With the growing inebriation the time for pleasant chat about plans for the summer holidays was beginning to pass; now there was some serious drinking to do. Guarding her glass of wine in case anyone spilt it, Barbara made her way over to where Brenda sat on a padded bench in a corner. They smiled at each other and Brenda shifted over just enough for Barbara to squeeze on the end.

Once she sat down Barbara discovered she had a good view of the whole pub and half the garden from this position. Which was probably why Brenda had bagged the seat. "Where's Susie?" she asked. Brenda and Susie seemed to be the least harmless of the staff, based on which of them gossiped the most, and therefore her closest female friends at the school.

"Gregg thinks he's getting somewhere with her," Brenda replied, pointing the pair of them out. "But he's just had too much to drink as usual."

As Barbara watched, Gregg shifted forward on his seat, so his and Susie's knees were touching. Susie made a face and turned sideways. Barbara put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing, but Brenda didn't have any such inhibitions. The sound carried easily and distracted Gregg long enough for Susie to escape his clutches and rush to the safety of the toilets.

"And Ian has half the women in the pub hanging on his every word," Brenda continued, looking over to the other side of the bar.

Barbara had been trying not to look, but it was hard to miss. The same thing happened at school. Ian never lacked for company in the canteen or the staff room. At least Brenda and Susie never threw themselves at him. Barbara couldn't understand why the rest of them did, but Ian never seemed to mind. He looked to be in his element now, entertaining the women arranged before him. She wondered if he knew that it wasn't just his witty repartee they were interested in, but she didn't see how he could miss it.

She started when she heard him call her name.

"Barbara will know more about that than I do," he said loud enough for her to hear and motioned for her to come over.

She didn't miss the looks the other women gave her and she hesitated to leave her comfortable seat. Brenda, however, had other ideas and practically pushed her out of it. Then moved over, so there wasn't any space for Barbara to sit back down. She grinned as Barbara gave her a look.

Ian didn't appear to have seen any of this and he smiled at her as she turned back to face him. Accepting her fate, she smiled back and went over. The other women grudgingly made space for her beside them although not, she noticed, next to Ian.

"Rhonda was asking about Galileo being excommunicated," he said. "But that's more your speciality than mine."

Barbara gave him a searching look, but he looked and sounded sincere. She didn't kid herself for a minute that the women around her wanted to hear what she had to say about Galileo.

"I know what he said," he continued, "but not why his discoveries caused so much trouble."

He looked interested. She could understand that he might want to know more about the subject, so she stayed and told Ian what she knew, for the sake of his curiosity if nothing else. As she did so, ignoring the other women, they gradually drifted away and left her alone with Ian. He didn't seem to notice and happily carried on chatting with Barbara for the rest of the evening.

~*~

When Ian had invited her to come along to a party with his colleagues, Barbara wondered why he'd asked. He'd only been to one since starting at the college, but that was before they were married. Even so, husbands and wives weren't usually invited since it was just the usual end of term celebration. Ian wouldn't give her anything but the vaguest of reasons, but she suspected it had something to do with that last party and why he hadn't been to any since. He wouldn't be drawn on just what had happened, though, so she agreed to come along, thinking that she might at least get to find out why he was so quiet about it.

Barbara had to come straight from school herself, so she was a little late. All eyes turned to her as she walked in and she tried not to blush at the attention. She hadn't intended to make an entrance. Fortunately, Ian soon came over and everyone turned back to their conversations. He introduced her to the secretary, Mary, who was hosting the party at her flat, then he left to get her a drink.

"It's so lovely to meet you," Mary said.

Barbara blinked, surprised. She hadn't imagined Ian had spoken of her much. Or perhaps it was because he hadn't that they were all curious to see what she was like. She tried not to feel scrutinised - Mary wasn't Ian's mother after all. "Your home is lovely," she said, so as not to dwell on that thought.

Mary beamed. That was clearly the right thing to say. "My husband works in the city."

So that explained how she could afford a big flat in the centre of London overlooking the Thames.

"But enough about my husband, what about yours?" Mary looked far more interested in the subject than Barbara would have expected.

Barbara frowned. "What about Ian?" She wondered what was taking him so long to pour one drink.

"Well," she lowered her voice, "does he flirt with everyone or just women he really likes?"

Barbara looked at her, agape as she wondered exactly what Ian had been doing. Then she shook her head. That idea was ridiculous. He was just naturally charming to everyone. Admittedly, he had flirted with her, but then he'd married her. She couldn't imagine that he flirted with Mary. He had always been so popular with the female teachers at Coal Hill and could probably have had any woman he wanted. But he'd chosen her.

She looked over to the kitchen to see Ian, a drink in each hand, surrounded by women. After a moment of jealousy she reminded herself how he'd reacted when that happened in the past. Barbara wondered if she should go over, but she couldn't understand why these women would be hanging on his every word just because he was handsome and charming. They must know he was married and that she was here.

Her pause had gone on so long that Mary called her name. Barbara had forgotten she was there for a moment. But before Barbara could try and come up with an answer to her question, Ian caught her eye, and then mouthed 'help' at her. She tried not to smile and told herself she'd been silly to think that Ian would be interested in anyone else.

"He doesn't flirt with anyone," she said sternly. "Please excuse me," she added in a more normal tone of voice, before going into the kitchen. Ian held a glass of wine out to her and once she'd taken it, he put an arm about her shoulders. The women around him were a range of ages and beauty. Some of them had glazed expressions and Barbara soon found out why when she listened to the conversation.

Most of it she didn't understand, but she knew enough to tell that it was highly technical. Given their expressions she wasn't sure any of these women were scientists, which made her wonder how they'd got onto this topic in the first place. Shooting her looks of hatred, the women drifted away one by one. Ian continued talking, although Barbara suspected what he was saying was nonsense. She'd known him long enough to pick up some science after all.

Once the last one had gone Ian sighed and kissed Barbara.

"What was all that about?" she asked.

"I don't think they believed I was married," he said.

She frowned. Admittedly they'd eloped at half term, but he had returned wearing a wedding ring, which Barbara would have said was proof enough.

"I think they think I'm just pretending because I can't choose between them."

Barbara tried not to smile. Some things never changed. Although these days she knew she had no reason to be jealous. "Oh, I think they know now," she said, remembering the looks they'd given her. "But just to be sure..." She kissed him again.

Johnny held his hands up, away from the console and backed away, wide-eyed. "The TARDIS told me." He sounded amazed. "You never said it could do that," he accused his parents, who'd followed him into the TARDIS, fearing the Doctor was going to kidnap their son.

"She doesn't," the Doctor answered before anyone else could get a word in. "Unless..." He turned on Ian and Barbara. "You two had sex on the TARDIS."

Ian coughed and spluttered; Barbara, blushing, slapped him on the back.

The Doctor folded his arms and advanced on the couple. "And Johnny here was born nine months later."

"It was more like eight and a..." Ian broke off at the look from his wife.

"So you did." He spun around to point at Johnny. "You're a Time Lord."

Johnny shook his head. "No, I'm not."

"He's human," Barbara protested.

"Of course he is. Never said he wasn't." The Doctor flicked a couple of switches and turned a dial. "Exposure to the vortex creates Time Lords. And Time Lord babies if they're conceived while the TARDIS is in flight." He stared at Ian and Barbara, who looked away, embarrassed. The Doctor turned back to the console to pull a lever with a flourish. The familiar sounds of the TARDIS dematerialising soon followed.

"Doctor, you can't just take off." Ian took a step forward, worried, but managing not to sound panicked.

"If I knew bringing a man and a woman on board at the same time would cause this many problems, I'd never have done it." He frowned as he stopped to think. "I wonder how many of the others have children." He made a face at the idea.

Ian ignored the Doctor, as he often did when he wasn't making sense. "But you can't control where we go."

"Of course I can," he said, offended, as they landed. "You three stay here." Then he opened the doors and strode out of the TARDIS before anyone else could catch him.

Johnny started after him, but Ian caught his arm just as Johnny reached the doors. "You don't know what's out there."

"It's a car park," Johnny said, sounding unimpressed.

Ian frowned. "What?" He stood beside his son and peered outside. Johnny was right, it was a car park. And unless there was an identical one elsewhere in the universe, it was the car park by their local shops.

Barbara joined him at the door. "There's Maud from number three." She was on her way out of the supermarket, shopping bags in each hand and in danger of looking straight at them at any minute.

Ian stepped back, out of Maud's line of sight, pulling Barbara and Johnny with him.

"Dad," Johnny complained, pulling out of Ian's grasp.

"If anyone sees us you'll end up having to answer questions about why you were coming out of a police box. Believe me, it's far better to just deny all knowledge." With that, Ian pushed the doors shut, so Maud wouldn't be tempted to see what was inside.

Johnny sighed, seeing the truth in that. "But what does being a Time Lord mean?"

Ian and Barbara looked at each other. Barbara shrugged and Ian was left to answer the question. "I don't know." He was worried about that one himself. "You'll have to ask the Doctor when he comes back."

Johnny went back to examine the console and the Doctor returned a minute later, grinning. "Now there'll be no more Time Lord babies. One per companion should do it." He plonked a box of condoms down on the console with a grin.

As she peered over his shoulder Barbara discovered that was an understatement. Outside the landscape was uninviting; bare, aside from the odd leafless tree dotted around and the wind swirled around the Ship. She folded her arms around herself and shivered in the breeze blowing through the open doors. "I'll get my coat," she said. Once she took a few steps the heat of the console room warmed her up.

"I'll get them," Vicki promised.

Barbara smiled at the girl as she went off to fetch their coats. Ian, however, wasn't waiting and he stepped outside, even though he only had a cardigan to protect him from the cold. Barbara shook her head. If he wanted to prove he was a man by freezing that was up to him, as long as he didn't expect her to admire him doing so. She wasn't sure what was worth going out there for, but since they'd landed they might as well investigate their surroundings. You never knew what you might find.

"What is this?" The Doctor was puttering about the console, pressing buttons. The readings the scanner gave about this planet suggested it was summer. It should be sunny and hot out there but it wasn't and the Doctor was vexed that it was wrong. Mind you, Barbara was happy for them to stay while he fixed it if it meant not getting the wrong information when they landed somewhere deadly.

As Vicki returned, their coats in her arms, Barbara heard a noise. She turned round to see the doors closing. "Ian!" He looked back at her shout, but he'd wandered too far and couldn't get inside before the doors shut completely. "Doctor, what did you do that for?"

"I didn't. The Ship did it all by itself." He frowned at the console.

Back when they'd first come aboard, Barbara wouldn't have believed him, but that was a long time ago. Now he and Ian were friends and they hadn't argued recently. The Doctor had no reason to shut him outside. "So open them again," she snapped.

"They won't!" He flapped at the console, pulling levers and flicking switches. Nothing happened for a moment, then Ian's thumping on the door gave way to the familiar sound of the Ship taking off.

"Doctor!" Barbara and Vicki shouted at the same time.

"I'm sorry." He looked first at Barbara, then Vicki. "I can't stop it." He sounded defeated.

Barbara couldn't speak as her heart thudded and a lump formed in her throat. Ian was going to be stuck on that planet and they had no way of getting back to him. She had to hope there were friendly people nearby, otherwise Ian would freeze to death on his own. Or starve to death, she wasn't sure which would come first.

"You must be able to do something," Vicki pleaded.

Barbara looked hopefully at the Doctor, hand to her mouth as she tried not to think about Ian's fate.

"Well, maybe... It's just a possibility, mind..." He didn't tell them what he was trying, instead flicking a switch. The sound of taking off immediately gave way to one of landing and Barbara began to hope that maybe just this once, he'd been able to control their destination.

When the Doctor opened the doors Barbara rushed over to them. The view she had was the same as the one she'd seen moments ago. Except this time there was no sign of Ian. She called his name, but heard nothing in response. Worried, she asked the Doctor, "When are we?"

He shook his head. "I don't know." He tapped at a read-out, but presumably it didn't tell him anything.

The trouble with time travel was that just because they'd left a minute ago, it didn't mean that only a minute had gone by. It could be hours or years, or they could have arrived before they left. However long it was, Ian would have to assume that they might not be coming back for him. In this cold, he couldn't wait forever. But she hated to think he'd died waiting, so she had to assume that he was out there somewhere. She couldn't just give up on him.

Without waiting for the Doctor, she stepped out of the Ship, looking at the ground for clues as to which direction Ian went. But she'd never had to track anything in the wild before and didn't know what to look for. This wasn't sand or snow; there were no footprints.

"We'll all look for him." The Doctor came up behind her and put her coat over her shoulders.

Barbara smiled at him as she put her arms through the sleeves and buttoned it up. Of course she wasn't on her own. "We should split up," she suggested. With nothing on the horizon, Ian could have gone anywhere.

The Doctor nodded. "Meet back here in half an hour." He closed the door behind him and at Barbara's nod, he strode off with Vicki, imploring her to stay close. Vicki seemed happy to oblige.

The landscape was eerie, but Barbara had other things to be scared of, so she started out in the opposite direction. As she walked she reminded herself that Ian was resourceful. She'd seen him make fire without matches or a lighter and there was no reason he couldn't do the same here, even if she couldn't see any smoke.

Something caught her eye as she passed a tree and she stopped to look at it. It was faint, but there was an 'IC' carved into it. Even if the straight line of the 'I' was a coincidence, the 'C' couldn't be. She breathed a sigh of relief. She almost called the Doctor and Vicki back, but she didn't know how long ago Ian had made the mark and it was possible he'd gone the other way some time later.

Now she picked up her pace, checking the trees as she passed. Whenever she couldn't see Ian's initials on one, she changed direction and was soon rewarded with another sign. After a few minutes, when she was starting to get warm from the exercise, she trod on something hard at the base of a tree. She almost ignored it in her rush, but it wasn't a familiar feeling underfoot, so she stopped in case it was something important. It was Ian's penknife.

She pulled her hands out of her pockets to pick it up, then looked around. If Ian had dropped it on purpose there would be other clues, but there was nothing she could see. The 'IC' on this tree was complete, so he hadn't been disturbed while he was carving. There were no signs that anything or anyone was here now, but Barbara still gripped the penknife tightly as she cautiously carried on.

The next tree still had an 'IC' on it, but it looked different as if it had been made by another hand. She ran her fingers along the initials, sure they were created by the same blade. But how could Ian have carved into the tree with a penknife he no longer had? She found his initials on two more trees along the route too.

After a few more minutes she heard the footsteps of someone running. Although they came from somewhere in front of her, she could see nothing and the barren landscape around wasn't enough to hide a person. With trembling hands, she pulled out a blade from the penknife and held it out in front of her. Whoever it was, would be able to see she had a weapon, even if it wasn't much use.

Whoever it was cried out. He had to be close by, but she still couldn't see him. The next thing she heard was the thump of someone hitting the ground. Then, out of nowhere, Ian appeared on the floor by her feet. "Ian!" Barbara dropped the penknife as she bent down to him. He lifted his head, but whatever he was about to say was subsumed in a coughing fit. Barbara helped him sit up so he could breathe and eventually his coughing gave way to deep breaths.

"I knew you'd come back for me," he said, as he smiled and hugged her.

She realised, as she held him close, relieved to find him alive, that he smelt of smoke and his clothes were damp. But she hadn't seen any smoke and neither could she smell any elsewhere. He was shivering too, so she let go of him. "I found your initials," she said, unbuttoning her coat.

He frowned. "Where?"

She took her coat off and draped it over his shoulders. He wouldn't be able to get it done up, but it might stop him freezing to death. He smiled and pulled it around himself. "Carved on the trees," she said, picking up the penknife, with the blade still sticking out.

He shook his head. "I didn't do that."

If Ian didn't do it then someone must have. But there was still no one around here, other than Ian. "I'll show you." He must have done it and he had just forgotten, that was the only explanation.

There weren't many trees on the path back to the TARDIS, so she was sure she could remember which ones his initials were on. But when they reached the first, the carving had gone. "It was here." She ran her fingers over the area just below her eye line.

"You must have been mistaken," he said good-naturedly.

"No!" She resented the suggestion she was making it up, even if that hadn't been what he meant. He put an hand on her shoulder and she sighed, recognising that she'd overreacted. "Why do you smell of smoke?" she asked instead.

"I started a fire for warmth," he said. "But I feel asleep and it spread. For a moment I didn't think I was going to get out of there alive, but someone threw water on the fire near me and half on me." They both looked back in the direction he'd come from. There was no fire there now and no sign there had ever been one. "Funny thing is, I thought I heard Vicki's voice."

"The Doctor and Vicki didn't come in this direction." It wasn't unreasonable that he had imagined her voice, but what with the other strange things going on, perhaps Vicki really was there. When their eyes met, Barbara took his hand. It was cold in hers. This planet had gone from eerie to spooky and she was glad Ian was with her. "Let's get back to the TARDIS," she suggested. Perhaps the Doctor would be able to solve this mystery. "I have to meet the Doctor and Vicki back there in..." She trailed off as she looked at her watch. "When I left the TARDIS it was ten past two," she said, at Ian's questioning look. "Now it's five past."

He inclined his head and she held her arm up so he could see the time. "That can't be right."

It couldn't, but her watch was still ticking and even if it had lost time, it couldn't go backwards on its own. However, it gave her an idea. "What if the carvings aren't here because no one has made them yet?" It was a crazy suggestion, but she had been to places before she was born. They just usually involved travelling in the TARDIS, not walking across a deserted planet.

He sighed. "I don't know."

Sure she was right, she dug the blade of the penknife into the wood and dragged it down to make an 'I'. The 'C' was harder, but when it came out, it looked just like she remembered. She looked up at Ian afterwards, but he didn't say anything, just shook his head.

She led him to the next tree to carve his initials and the next. The silence in the absence of birds and insects, along with the cold made her hand shake and she dropped the penknife after she finished the third one.

Ian took her hands and rubbed them with his thumbs. "I'll do it," he said, although his hands were no warmer than hers. When he put his hand in his trouser pocket, he pulled out an identical penknife. Barbara's eyes widened when she saw it. "I think you were right," he said. "This wasn't here earlier."

Barbara nodded, but the knowledge didn't comfort her now.

Having to stop to initial the trees meant their journey back to the Ship took longer than Barbara's trip out. They were both shivering by the time they reached it. Fortunately the Doctor hadn't locked the door and they entered the warmth within with matching sighs of relief.

Barbara looked at her watch. It hadn't yet been half an hour, but the Doctor and Vicki must have been back here. A hose was stretched across the console room and there were patches of water on the floor. Barbara couldn't tell what any of it might have been for, so she didn't worry about it for now and resolved to ask when she saw the others. In the meantime she fetched some blankets from the cupboard. Ian smiled as he took one from her and wrapped it around himself. Barbara took her coat back and did the same, but she still shivered, only partly from the cold.

"Come here," Ian said, opening his blanket.

Barbara stepped into his arms. He was no warmer than she was, but she rested her head against his shoulder. His cardigan felt icy beneath her cheek. Now they were both safe she could give in to her fears about never seeing him again. She wasn't sure how cold you had to be to get hypothermia, or just how cold it was out there, but she didn't think Ian had been far off it. Even though the Doctor got them back to the planet, if she hadn't found him when she did, it might have been too late for him. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to think about it and refused to cry. He was safe now and that was all that mattered. After a few minutes she stopped shivering, although Ian didn't.

She was just starting to feel comfortable when the doors burst open. As she sprang away from Ian she wrapped the blanket more securely around herself. The smell of smoke wafted in along with the Doctor and Vicki. They both looked unharmed, if a little sooty. "What happened?" she asked them.

"We put out a fire," Vicki said, sounding excited. "Although I don't know why it didn't go out on its own, there's hardly anything out there to burn."

"You don't know that." The Doctor pointed a finger at her. "Just because you can't see it doesn't mean there's nothing there."

Ian smiled at their familiar bickering and hugged Vicki hello.

Barbara stepped closer to the Doctor. "There's something wrong with time," she said.

"Oh, you noticed that, did you?" the Doctor said, as if it was obvious. "Time swirls about on this planet, the same way the wind does on Earth. That's why the Ship took off. We'd caught up with ourselves." He pulled a lever, the doors closed and the Ship took off, just as it had before.

"It's like in the Space Museum," Ian said, understanding dawning on him.

Ian appearing out of nowhere was certainly similar, Barbara thought.

"No, nothing like that." The Doctor sounded cross. "It's perfectly simple."

Barbara rolled her eyes at Ian, who smiled. Vicki giggled.

The Doctor made a "Hmph," noise and gave them up as a lost cause. "Now, I suggest we all go somewhere warm next, hmm?"

That would be nice, if only the Doctor could control where they went.

"And you, young man will remember not to wander off in future." Despite his stern tone, there was a hint of a smile on his face. He was clearly pleased to see Ian unharmed, even if he wasn't going to admit it.

"Of course, Doctor." Ian gave Barbara a conspiratorial smile. "As long as I have you to save me, I'll be all right," he whispered to her.

"Daddy," Johnny whispered, "there's a Dalek in my wardrobe."

According to Johnny there were all manner of monsters hiding in his room just waiting to ambush him. Ian regularly had to make his bedroom safe, but this was the first time the monster was something real. As he struggled to wake up properly he briefly wondered if there really was a Dalek in the house. But he was sure he'd know if the Daleks had invaded two hundred years early.

"All right," he said and stumbled out of bed. As he found his dressing gown and slippers in the dark, he thought about how to deal with this particular monster so Johnny would feel safe enough to go back to sleep.

Johnny followed Ian to his room, but stayed in the doorway. Ian yawned and opened the wardrobe, making sure he was between it and Johnny. He didn't feel up to searching the room for Daleks in the middle of the night. Having established there was nothing living in there, he shut the door and turned to his son. "There is a Dalek in there," he said. "But I think it's just exploring."

"But it wants to kill me," Johnny said, loud enough to wake Barbara up.

Ian shushed him. So much for that idea. "I won't let it," he promised. He looked around the room and spotted the cheap radio they'd bought Johnny for his birthday. "Do you remember I told you that Daleks use static electricity to get around?"

Johnny nodded.

"If we disrupt that, the Dalek will be paralysed and it won't be able to do anything." He hoped that would be good enough and he wouldn't need to prove it had gone.

Johnny thought about that for a minute before saying, "How do we do that?"

"We can use the wires in this plug." He picked the radio up. "Can you get me a screwdriver?"

Johnny ran off downstairs sounding like a herd of elephants. If Barbara wasn't already awake, she would be by now. Ian was just glad that although Johnny was scared of imaginary monsters in his bedroom, he would happily go downstairs in the dark on his own without a second thought. Now was not the time to wonder why.

While Johnny was downstairs Ian put a toy dinosaur in the wardrobe. He'd never described a Dalek in much detail and with the lights off, odd shapes could become anything. Even a Dalek.

Once Johnny came back and handed Ian the screwdriver from his toolbox, Ian set to work dismantling the plug on the radio. Johnny's curiosity overcame his fear and he peered over his father's shoulder as he worked. Fortunately, Ian had wired plugs a few times before and the half-light in Johnny's room was just enough to see by. On their own the wires inside the plug wouldn't do much, but Johnny didn't know that. By the time Johnny learnt more about how electricity worked there wouldn't be any more imaginary monsters in his bedroom to dispose of. "You should stand back," he said to Johnny, once he had the plug off.

Johnny went back to the doorway, wide-eyed.

Ian opened the wardrobe door and thrust the wires in. Since it had no real effect, he had to make the crackling noises himself. After a few seconds he stopped and said, "It's dead. Come and see."

Johnny peered around his father to look at the dinosaur half-hidden by clothes.

Ian held his breath while he waited for Johnny to agree that a non-moving dinosaur was a dead Dalek. At last Johnny said, "Thank you, Daddy."

Ian smiled at him. "Now you should go back to bed." At least Johnny didn't require disposal of dead monsters.

Johnny went to bed willingly, and Ian tucked him in before going back to his own bed. He left the screwdriver on the bedside table - he could put that away in the morning once he'd put the plug back on Johnny's radio. He discovered Barbara wasn't asleep when she moved closer to him and he put an arm around her, glad of her warmth.

"What was it this time?" she whispered.

"A Dalek in the wardrobe."

Barbara stiffened. "I told you not to tell him scary stories."

When Johnny asked for a story at bedtime they'd taken turns telling him tales of their adventures with the Doctor, but had left out the parts where it all looked hopeless and they nearly died. There was no need to scare him that much. "He likes scary stories. And I leave out the worst parts. Can we please have this argument in the morning?" Ian yawned again.

She pulled away from him, back to her side of the bed. "And you indulge him far too much. What were you doing in there tonight?"

He sighed. Apparently, they were going to have this argument now, in whispers, in bed in the middle of the night. "Electrocuting the Dalek. And I've tried just telling him it's not there. It doesn't work and he just ends up in our bed. Would you rather he did that?"

"No," she admitted, sounding begrudging about it.

"I'm just doing the best thing for you and Johnny." He reached out to take her hand and she let him.

"I know. But you could still tell him stories that aren't going to end up with him getting you up in the night."

She did have a point there. "I will," he promised and leaned over to kiss her forehead. "Oh, and there's a dinosaur in his wardrobe you'll have to take out in the morning."

"Yes," Johnny replied, as he always did, regardless of whether he had been good or not.

But today something was different and Ian realised he could hear voices coming from the living room. "Do we have visitors?"

Johnny nodded. "The Doctor's playing with my train."

Ian blinked. Johnny didn't call anyone he knew the Doctor and Ian had an odd image of an old man playing like a child. But there was no point imagining the scene, when he could easily find out, so he pushed open the living room door. Inside was a man who looked younger than the Doctor they'd met a few years ago and he was rearranging Johnny's train track. It was designed to have just enough pieces to go in an oval and Johnny had always been happy with that arrangement. Ian wondered why this man would try, but there was something in his expression that reminded him of the Doctor, which would explain a lot.

He realised Johnny was trying to get down, so he let him go back to his train and turned to the other occupants of the room. A red-headed girl and a man sat on the sofa drinking tea. Barbara, who was sitting on the room's only armchair, smiled at him.

"Ian," she said, "this is Amy and Rory."

Ian shook hands with them and wondered, if they were with the Doctor, when they were from. "You haven't lost your TARDIS again, Doctor?" he asked, as he perched on the arm of the chair.

The Doctor at last looked up from the track he was failing to make. "Oh no, I know exactly where it is. I haven't come to ask anything from you this time, Chesterton, I've come to give you something. Well, Rory has."

All eyes turned to Rory, who pulled a small box out of one pocket. "I believe this is yours," he said, and held it out to Ian.

Ian didn't recognise it at all until he took it and opened it. Inside was a ring he remembered buying several years ago. "It's the engagement ring I bought you on Perashaw," he said to Barbara, showing her. It had been just after their trip to China when she'd asked him to marry her when they got home. When he'd seen the jewellery stall in the market he'd been determined that she should have a ring to go with his promise.

"I think you'll find I bought it," the Doctor said. "It was my money."

Ian looked at the ring and then back at the Doctor. "Only because I didn't have any local currency." He'd had every intention of re-paying the Doctor when he'd had the chance, but he'd never had the opportunity. At the time he thought he'd been discreet enough that the Doctor hadn't known what he'd needed to borrow the money for. He should have known better. "I will pay you back." He pulled his wallet out. The Doctor was bound to need some currency from this time. "How much was it?" He pulled out the notes in there and was dismayed to find he only had ten pounds. He'd wanted to spend more on Barbara than that.

"About ten pounds," the Doctor said and Ian looked at him suspiciously. "I can sell it for ten times the amount in the future."

Barbara gave Ian the same look she gave Johnny when he was about to misbehave. Ian had been married for long enough now to know that it was usually best to do as he was told. And if Barbara was happy with the amount he'd spent on her ring, then he would be too. Besides, he didn't want the Doctor to have bought her engagement ring, so he handed over the money and put his wallet away.

Barbara asked Rory, "Where did you find it?"

Ian suspected Barbara was changing the subject on purpose, but he was curious about where it had been and happy enough not to think about the money.

"I was exploring the TARDIS and I found a corridor of rooms with names on them. This was in the room with 'Barbara' on the door. I wasn't prying, I was just curious."

Amy and Barbara both smiled forgiveness at him. The Doctor went red and looked away. Ian wondered what that was all about.

"We didn't take anything with us when we left," Barbara explained. "We just saw our chance and took it. I forgot all about this." She looked over at Ian apologetically.

"There were more important things to think about," he said softly. He'd rather have her than the ring any day.

"Didn't you wear it?" Amy asked.

"I didn't want to lose it," Barbara replied. "I thought it would be safer on the Ship."

Amy's right hand went to her left and Ian noticed the two rings there. Curious, he moved his gaze to Rory and found a matching ring there. He smiled and turned to Barbara. "I should give this back to you," he said to her, taking the ring out of the box.

Obligingly, Barbara held out her left hand. Although Ian had done this twice before, once with this ring and once on their wedding day, sliding the ring onto her finger felt just as thrilling. When it was done he looked up to find they had matching smiles and he leaned down to kiss her.

"Done!" the Doctor said, breaking the moment.

Ian looked over at the track, which now went in a figure of eight pattern. He frowned trying to work out how the Doctor had done it. The piece in the middle hadn't existed before today, he was sure of it. Johnny, on the other hand wasn't bothered by the impossibility of what the Doctor had just done. He was happy enough to push his train along the track and provide the appropriate sounds.

"We should go," the Doctor said, standing up.

"Why don't you stay for dinner?" Barbara suggested.

"No, we couldn't. I promised to take Amy clothes shopping."

Ian raised his eyebrows. He didn't remember the Doctor ever being particularly fond of shopping for clothes, although he had plenty in the Ship.

"She doesn't have any of the local currency," he added, at Ian's expression.

Ian had to smile at that. He no longer had any lingering doubt that this man was the Doctor.

They all said their goodbyes and the Doctor promised Johnny he'd come back and play with him again some day. After the three of them had gone Ian took Barbara's hand. "How many more times do you suppose he'll visit?"

Barbara shook her head. "And how much younger will he look each time?"

Ian had been used to thinking of him as an old man. Then, when the Doctor had visited with Martha he'd been around Ian's age and now he looked much younger. "We'll just have to wait and find out," he said with a smile. The Doctor's visits were almost as much of an adventure as travelling with him had been.

Notes: Barbara asks Ian to marry her when they get home at the end of the The Eleventh Tiger. The Eighth Doctor says he's got rid of the corridor of old companion's bedrooms in Relative Dimensions. The idea that the Tenth Doctor and Martha visit Ian and Barbara when they're stuck in 1969 during Blink comes from various fanfics.

Barbara's perfectly happy to give a history lesson, here on the streets of Victorian London. "Things were different back then. Now." Time travel confuses the tenses. "It wasn't done to go anywhere with someone of the opposite sex without a chaperone."

"We have the Doctor and Vicki," he points out.

But the two of them have just gone into the Ship and haven't been in the same shops as them. "And," she continues, "there was no touching either."

He shifts his arm, so it's no longer linked with hers, and takes her hand instead. When she looks at him, he's grinning.

She rolls her eyes, but doesn't let go.

"They must have led very boring lives," he says. She's about to protest when he speaks over her. "I suppose that means I can't do this either." He kisses her.

She's aware, as she kisses him back, of people watching them. "Certainly not. You have a lot to learn about Victorian England."

"But I have a very good teacher to tell me about it."

She can hardly say no to that.

But he had to stop when Barbara shouted. "This isn't a fight to the death," she said, "and you're bleeding."

He hadn't noticed, but now she'd pointed it out, the cut on his arm did hurt. Since the fight had well and truly been stopped, he sat down and allowed Barbara to tend to his wounds. He didn't know what she was using, but whatever she pressed to his arm stung and he winced.

"Don't be such a baby," she said.

"It hurts," he pointed out.

She rolled her eyes. "Men."

Her faith in his sex was misplaced because Rory shouted, "Call it a draw?"

Ian stood to shake his hand. "A draw," he agreed, which at least made Barbara smile.

~*~

Rory's sword was heavy as it lifted it for a blow, but the slave blocked it. He was tired, but he couldn't give in. He had to show Amy he didn't just look the part.

But he had to stop when Amy shouted, "Rory, that's enough. You'll kill yourself if you're not careful."

The sword fell through his fingers and dropped to the ground with a clang.

Amy dabbed at the wound on his arm with a hanky that had seen better days.

"You're just putting dirt in it."

She sighed and stopped. "Neither of you are going to win," she said. "If you stop now you can just say it was a draw."

He knew he'd never hear the end of it, so he shouted, "Call it a draw?"

Ian nodded and they shook hands. Rory was glad: there were far better things he could do in this outfit.

"You knew the Doctor?" she asked them.

"We did, back in the sixties." Barbara smiled.

"You really haven't aged much."

They were both going grey and did look older than they must have been in the sixties - the rumours were unclear about exactly what age they had been. But they looked at least twenty years younger than they should be.

"I have a theory about that," Ian said. "I'm sure it's something to do with the Doctor's Ship."

Sarah considered how often she was told that she looked good for her age and Jo hadn't had the demeanour of someone in their fifties. "Tell me more." They were happy to oblige and the three of them spent a fun afternoon exchanging stories of their adventures in the TARDIS.

Ian sighed. "I've been thinking about that." Although not hard enough when there were so many distractions in modern London. "Would your family believe that you'd gone away of your own free will without a word for two years?"

She shook her head. "I don't think they'd believe that all my letters were lost in the post either. Besides, we left your car in Totter's Lane."

"Yes," he said, thoughtfully. That would certainly look suspicious. "Maybe we should stick to something closer to the truth."

"I don't think anyone would believe that!"

Ian smiled fondly at her. She was right, but that hadn't been what he meant at all. "No, no. How about this: we followed Susan home and were just in time to see her being kidnapped. The kidnappers didn't want us to go to the police, so they took us as well, and kept us locked up."

"For two years?" Barbara didn't sound like she believed the story. Ian couldn't blame her - it did sound like the sort of thing that only happened in wild fantasies.

"The police investigation took that long." Ian shrugged. "Someone must have told the police we'd disappeared." He wondered whether they'd given up looking, especially since they couldn't have had any clues to go on.

"Well, in the absence of anything better, let's go with it."

They spent the rest of the walk home working out the details so their stories would match. It was only when they reached Ian's house that they realised two years was a long time and as far as anyone was concerned, he didn't live there any more.

Coming home
The logical thing to do was for each of them to go back to their parents' houses. Ian was loathe to part with Barbara, but he reminded himself that this was home and nothing bad could happen to her here. Well, nothing aside from the usual crime in London in the 1960s. At least it wouldn't involve aliens.

Barbara had pointed out that their families would be worried about them and they should reassure them they were still alive. She was right, as usual, but Ian still hesitated as in stood in front of the familiar brown door. He wished he had Barbara with him for support, but having her here would probably only make his parents think something else had happened entirely. And he needed to test their story out on someone likely to believe what he said.

When he at last plucked up the courage, he was met at the door with a hug and a "Where have you been? I've been worried sick."

He smiled and said, "It's a long story." But he was glad his nerves had been for nothing and the sight of him had helped his mother forgive him for being away for so long. She even made him a cup of tea.

"I was kidnapped," he began.

"You were what?" She looked shocked and had to sit down suddenly.

Ian wondered if this had been a good idea - he hadn't meant to scare her. But Barbara was presumably telling her parents the same thing and he couldn't go back on the idea now. Maybe he should have let her think of something - she always was more level-headed.

The story, once he got it all out, took a while in the telling. Partly because his mother asked lots of questions - and Ian was glad he and Barbara had thought of them in advance - but also because she kept threatening to ring the police right there and then. Ian had a job convincing her there was nothing they could do about it now, what with the kidnappers being dead, hence his and Barbara's escape. He had an easier time when he asked for a bed for the night, and she agreed to let him stay for as long as it took for him to find another job.

Getting a job
"I can't give you your old job back."

"I know," Ian said. He'd rung Coal Hill school more on the off-chance than because he thought it would be a success. He had to start somewhere after all. "I don't suppose you know of anywhere needing science teachers?" He wanted to ask about history teachers too, but he'd heard enough rumours about what he and Barbara had supposedly got up to that he didn't want to call attention to their friendship. Even when people heard the kidnapping story they'd still wondered what the two of them had done, alone with nothing to do for two years. Ian couldn't blame them - in their position he'd probably have thought the same things. It's just that none of it was true and they really were just friends.

But he had to concentrate on getting himself a new job and forget about Barbara for the meantime. Which was easier said than done. He'd been used to seeing her nearly every day - and the days when they hadn't been together had usually been because one or both of them had been captured. So it had been natural to worry about her when they were apart. He had to remind himself that he knew exactly where she was and it was just as well she'd thought to give him her parents' phone number, just in case. He just hadn't had the courage to ring it yet.

He realised his attention was wandering - which wasn't a surprise when his old headmaster was telling him what a hard time they'd had having to replace two teachers at such short notice. Ian had a hard time feeling guilty about inconveniencing him because they hadn't chosen to roam about in time and space. Although they hadn't exactly spent the whole time wanting to get home.

Eventually Ian managed to get the headmaster to at least agree to give him decent references and a few phone calls later he had also secured himself three interviews.

Meeting up
"Do you still think coming home and leaving the Doctor was a good idea?" Barbara asked as he walked her home.

Ian was tempted to say no. As much as he'd missed pubs, parks and cricket matches while they were away, he missed Barbara more now they were back. "Of course not," he said. "It's bound to be strange at first, but I'm sure we'll get used to it."

"I hope so."

He frowned and stopped. "Barbara, is everything all right?"

She turned to face him. "Oh, it's just job hunting getting me down. I hadn't expected to be doing it again so soon. I liked Coal Hill school."

Ian nodded. He'd liked it too, although for more than one reason. His new school was just as good, it just lacked one essential element. But he smiled reassuringly at her. "You're a good teacher. It's just the wrong time of year to be looking. It'll be easier in the summer." He'd only got his job because the previous teacher had had a nervous breakdown. Which hadn't been entirely reassuring, but Ian hadn't been in a position to be picky.

"I suppose you're right." She sighed, not even responding to his compliment.

It was odd, he reflected. They had no shortage of things to talk about and yet not being on a different planet or in a different time made it hard to know what to say. Despite them now living in different parts of London he wanted things back as they were and he wasn't sure how to start saying it.

So they walked in silence. Barbara kept stealing looks at him, as if she knew what he was thinking and was just waiting for him to talk. But she didn't ask and so he didn't answer.

At her door he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. As he did, she put her hand on his neck and he wasn't so sure about moving away from her. When he turned his head a little he realised how close her mouth was. His heartbeat sped up as if he'd just faced down a Dalek and he was almost too nervous to move. But it was folly not to and it only took a slight bend of his neck to meet her lips with his own.

When he stopped she didn't quite let him go and he took that as a sign to pull her closer and kiss her again.

Marriage
"Let's elope," she said one day when they were outside her door and he didn't want to let her go.

He frowned, taken aback by this sudden pronouncement. He was sure he was supposed to be the one to ask her about marriage, but Barbara never was one for doing things by the book. "Wouldn't you like a white wedding in a church?" Most women, he had found, seemed to think that no wedding was right without one. Since he couldn't see why it made any difference, he couldn't guess what Barbara wanted.

She shook her head. "I'm tired of being everyone's centre of attention. I just want to marry you and be done with it."

She hadn't asked him if that was what he wanted, he noticed. As it happened, he agreed with the sentiment wholeheartedly and he wondered how it was that Barbara always seemed to know his heart better than he did himself. "All right. Gretna Green it is." He smiled and bent to kiss her.

"I would love to," she said, ducking away from him, "but they have a three year waiting list."

"Oh." All thoughts of kissing her fled from his mind as he pondered alternatives. "We'll find somewhere."

"Just tell me what sort of clothes to pack."

He smiled at her faith in his planning abilities, but didn't question it. As he kissed her a final good night he wondered how far in advance you had to book somewhere in Italy. It would be a fitting place to get married.

Note: According to Face of the Enemy, Ian and Barbara eloped on the first anniversary of them getting home.

He waited until the Doctor let his guard down, thinking he couldn't lose. What he'd forgotten was the Doctor never lost. The Doctor parried easily and Ian, who hadn't been expecting it, couldn't do anything in response to the Doctor's riposte.

"Well, done." The Doctor's personal cheering squad, aka Jo Grant, congratulated him.

Ian had to settle for a commiserating pat on the shoulder from Barbara and the offer of a rematch another day.

Ian's sure he couldn't repeat the trick if he tried it, but the Doctor has somehow talked all four of them into a concert by a band called the Bootleg Beatles. It's not that far in the future past 1963 and Ian is amazed that anyone would copy the Beatles like that, or that they would still be popular enough to. He's not sure what to expect at first, but when the band come on he's entranced by the music and doesn't notice the Doctor and Vicki have slipped away until it ends and he looks for them.

By now he's less surprised by the crowd the concert has attracted and makes a mental note to see this band again sometime. When they join everyone else on their way to the exit he's still humming Ticket to Ride and only stops when he and Barbara are nearly separated. It's not anyone's fault, just the push of the crowd and the sheer number of people it contains. He grabs Barbara's hand to keep them together.

She pulls him to one side and away from the door. "Let's wait until there are fewer people," she says, sensibly.

If the Doctor and Vicki aren't off on an adventure of their own they would wait for them in the TARDIS, so they're not in a hurry. Ian is glad of the chance to watch the variety of people contained in one large room. He's amazed by the clothes they wear, even though he's seen much more outlandish things and worn less than that on occasion too, although not entirely out of choice.

"Ian, look!" Barbara says suddenly, pointing at the crowd and startling him.

He frowns, unable to work out what she's looking at and then he sees it too. On the other side of the crowd a man and a woman are also waiting and standing so close together it's obvious what they are to each other. They're older and both have grey hair, but Ian recognises them in an instant. He's seen their faces every day for years.

"It's us." He squeezes Barbara's hand and she looks up at him with a smile.

He returns it briefly before looking back up and his heart misses a beat. The older Barbara is looking straight at him with the same expression on her face he's just seen on the younger Barbara's. Today's not the first time he's seen it, just the first time he knows what it is.

It only takes a few seconds, but time feels stretched so he always has Barbara's face in his vision. When he's regained his senses and pulled Barbara away from view he finds she hasn't looked away from him.

"Do you think they saw us?" she asks.

"They do know we're here, after all." It might be a long time in the future but he can't imagine he'll forget this easily.

"Can you imagine what the Doctor would say if he knew we were here twice?" She's laughing about it, and he can't help but laugh along with her as they head toward a different exit, further away.

~*~*~

Now here we are
And I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you

It ends with a concert.

It's the late 20th century and enough years have passed that their experiences with the Doctor and Susan and Vicki are almost dream-like. Barbara's glad they have each other to remind them it really happened. This year they do something different for their anniversary and have tickets to see the Bootleg Beatles. They're not as good as the real thing, of course, but when they listen it's easy to imagine they've only just made it back to 1965.

When the concert ends and they join the crowds on their way to the exit Ian's still humming the last song. He's hopelessly out of key and although she doesn't mind, she hits him anyway. He pretends she's wounded him, but laughs along with her, as he always does.

"This is silly," he says, as the queue for the exit moves slowly, yet jostles them as it does so. "We may as well wait for the crowds to die down."

She lets him pull her to one side with an arm across her shoulders. Her arm goes round his waist out of habit, but they've travelled in time tonight and it feels like the first time.

Ian starts humming a different song. She smiles fondly, shakes her head and looks out into the crowd. Out of the corner of her eye she spots something and takes a second look to be sure. She'd forgotten completely what the date was, although this was one experience she remembered well. The Ian she can see on the other side of the crowd is young, but still handsome and she smiles at him automatically.

"Ian," she says, her free hand going to his arm, "we're here!" But as she does so the younger Ian pulls her younger self away from view.

"What?" He's not quite concentrating on what she's saying and she doesn't think he's stopped looking at her the whole time.

She sighs. "Don't you remember going to this concert with the Doctor and Vicki?"

Understanding dawns across his face. "I remember." He smiles for a second and then steps away from her a little to gaze seriously at her. "I also remember the way you looked at me."

"How?" She frowns. There hadn't been anything special she'd thought about when she looked at the young Ian.

"The same way you always have. Ever since..." He trails off, lost in his memories and not quite focusing on her any more.

By now, though, she knows what he's thinking. "After we met the Doctor," she finishes.

He nods. "That was the first time I knew how you felt."

At that, she laughs. "Sometimes, Ian Chesterton, you can be so dim."

"And you love me for it."

She shakes her head at his apparent ego. There's no reply to that except, "Happy anniversary."

Although the crowds have thinned and they could leave safely, he kisses her before they make their own way home.