DOCTOR WHO - ACCELERATING SUNDAY - PART 3

            The TARDIS wheezed and ground to a halt in the dusty space in front of the biggest window. The Doctor walked out through the doors purposefully, companion in tow. He had changed again, this time slightly taller and distinctly more scholarly in appearance. His companion however was stylish in her red shirt and grey jacket.

            'You're sulking again, aren't you?' she said.

            'Not sulking,' the Doctor said, pulling his brown tweed jacket back over his shoulder, 'Proving a point.'

            'All I said was that you've been so busy tweaking the TARDIS it seems like you might be procrastinating.'

            'That wasn't the word you used, Clara.' The Doctor turned around to her. 'That wasn't the exact phrase you used.'

            'All right, so I said you were wasting time.'

            'To a Time Lord!'

            'I didn't say it wasn't ironic.' Clara glanced around the old bus station. 'Why are we here? If you're saying we're catching a ghost bus...'

            'We're not catching a ghost bus. I am proving a point.' The Doctor hurried over to the ticket office and opened the door. He glanced at his wrist watch. 'Wait a minute.'

            'I really don't see how waiting in an abandoned bus station for a minute is proving a point. You're being silly.'

            The Doctor ducked down beneath the counter. 'I am not being silly.'

            'You are being so silly.'

            'All right, so I am a bit silly in general but I'm not being anywhere near as silly right now. In fact, I'd say it was a stroke of brilliant genius bringing you here.' The Doctor looked up from behind the counter. 'Accusing a Time Lord of wasting time. Tsk.'

            'So what's going to happen?' Clara said, folding her arms.

            'You'll see in about thirty seconds.'

            'You're really being that way? Fine.'

            'Trust me, Clara, this will put things into perspective for you.'

            'Like the time you 'proved' I wasn't the fattest, most disgusting thing by taking me to a Slitheen Vomit Banquet? Most repulsive sight you've shown me by the way. Thanks for that.'

            'Well I don't know what to do when you get all shouty and...um, sore.'

            'You act as if you've never lived with a woman before.'

            'I technically haven't.'

            'Just because you sleep in your car doesn't mean that it's not your home.'

            'Clara,' the Doctor said, 'What time is it?'

            'You've got a watch.'

            'And so have you, I want to check.'

            'All right, it's...' Clara pulled her sleeve back. 'Ten o'clock. Already?'

            'I know. Two hours lost.' The Doctor smiled.

            'Doctor, how did you get over here so fast?' He had managed to get out from behind the counter, leave the room and shut the door behind  him within only a couple of seconds.

            'Maybe the question you should be asking is, why are you suddenly standing by the window?'

            Clara glanced around her. Somehow she had managed to move a few metres away without even noticing it. She didn't even pick up her legs. 'Two hours?'

            'All gone within the blink of an eye.' the Doctor fiddled with his bowtie. 'Truly a waste of time.'

            'Oh!' Clara said.

            'Anyway, I didn't exactly come here just to prove a point, there's something I've been meaning to sort out but just haven't got around to yet.' He rushed back into the room and returned to the counter. Clara followed him to a small upside down oval device that had its wiring exposed. The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at it and clicked. A brief buzz later and the device dropped into his other hand.

            'That's a Time Lord device?' Clara said.

            'Yes. One that they should have retrieved and destroyed a long time ago. It's a dangerous little pest, notorious for malfunctioning like this.'

            'How long did it take you to find it and figure out what to do with it?'

            'Not long. Well three lifetimes technically but I did it all on the same day. Today.'

            Clara rolled her eyes and made her way back to the TARDIS.

            'Time Lords,' she said, 'You still procrastinate, you just disguise it with a time machine.'

            'At least we never waste time,' he shouted back, before mumbling, 'but fair enough.'

            The Doctor rolled the PPM between his fingers and tossed it in the air. He'd have to do something with this before it could fall into the wrong hands, throw it into an event horizon or something similar. In the meantime he dropped it inside his jacket pocket and hurried back to the TARDIS.

            Closing the door behind him, the TARDIS began to hum and groan. Barely a second later it had vanished, blowing the surrounding dust away. The rest of the old Paterhurst bus station remained virtually the same. If anything it was quieter, safer perhaps.

            There was still nothing to it but at least it would be remembered. At least it saw a little change before the big, final one.