Spoilers for: The Name of the Doctor

Disclaimer: Don't own Doctor Who (or The Name of the Doctor)

She was a museum piece. She sat there, a grey cylinder, absolutely identical to the two on either side of her, nothing more than an attraction over which to gork – and she probably wouldn't even get that kind of attention if the room in which they kept her hadn't been so sinfully boring. The walls were plain and black, and the only thing that was in the room at all apart from her was the two other TARDISes either side of her.

She longed for nothing other than to escape this place; to fly away, out into the vast expanse of time and space: to see the universe in all its glory.

It was a dream which she had all but given up on. She longed to forget how much time she had spent just sitting here in the museum. Unfortunately, it was a requirement of a TARDIS to understand the passage of time in such an intimate way that it could only have been engineered by the Time Lords themselves.

All she could do was sit there, watching the Gallifreyans pass her by, and wonder what was worse: the ignorant tourists who gawped and pointed, disbelieving that TARDIS technology could have been so primitive once upon a time; or the learned Time Lords, usually hotheads just graduated from the Academy, flippantly discussing how technology had moved on, listing off all of the TARDIS models which were being rolled off the factory line and which were oh-so-more sophisticated than the defunct Type 40 model standing before them.

That was, until, one day, two people came into the room after the museum closed, oozing an air of mischief and hope.

They were an old man and a teenage girl, furtively looking over their shoulders as they regarded the three TARDISes.

"Ooh, grandfather, I'm so excited!" the girl squealed.

"Hush, Susan," the man warned, as he looked up at the three TARDISes. "We must be swift."

A thrill ran through her Data Circuits. Whatever it was that these two were planning, it involved one of the TARDISes – and it was probably frightfully illegal. More than anything, she hoped that they would choose to use her. This was her chance to get out of here, to finally escape – to wherever they may take her.

She almost didn't pay attention to them as she desperately worked to fix her navigation system – after all, they probably wouldn't want one that was faulty – as they took a step forward…

Towards the TARDIS on her right.

"No!" She wanted to scream, almost forgetting that they wouldn't be able to hear her without a psychic link between them.

They reached up to the door of that TARDIS, and she was shouting and hollering to no avail, but she had to try because they were wrong; that was the wrong TARDIS…

They were distracted by the sound of a pair of high heels clattering on the floor.

Another Time Lady had entered the room.

"Stop!" she called out to them.

The man turned to her impatiently. For all that he had seemed nervous about the possibly of getting caught a moment ago, now that he had, he seemed far too adept at adopting the air of someone who was doing absolutely nothing wrong.

"Yes, what is it?" he barked at the Time Lady. "What do you want?"

The Time Lady leaned against her, and she felt a prickle of irritation. If she could have shrugged her off, she would have.

"Sorry, but you're about to make a very big mistake," the Time Lady began, a hint of sadness in her voice, before she smirked. "Don't steal that one, steal this one." She knocked on her side. The TARDIS felt a prickle of irritation at the action, but she decided not to say anything; after all, the Time Lady's words were working in her favour. "The navigation system's knackered, but you'll have much more fun."

She couldn't help but feel wary at her words. How did this woman know about her broken navigation system? She was certain that they had never met, never in all of the Time Lady's regenerations. She filed that piece of information away for later; she would have to look out for this woman in the future…

The man turned his eyes to the Time Lady, scrutinizing her.

She allowed herself a morsel of hope, as he took a step closer, followed by Susan.

He flicked his eyes to the Time Lady, then back to her.

"Okay," he finally said.

The Time Lady grinned; she purred appreciatively.

The man pulled open her door, ushering his granddaughter inside. He was just about to follow himself, when the Time Lady called him back.

"Oh, and Doctor?"

The man turned, his hand still curled around the edge of her door.

The Time Lady was grinning at him, her lips quirked playfully with some secret knowledge.

She was definitely going to have to keep a lookout for this one in the future.

"Have wondrous adventures. Meet amazing people. And never – stop – running."

The man – the Doctor – turned to face the Time Lady head-on, his grip on her door tightening as he fixed her with a confused expression, his brow furrowed.

"Running?"

The Time Lady smirked. "Yes, running," she nodded. "Run, you clever boy. And remember."