A/N: Having a strong urge to write random one-shots today. Never mind though eh? Hope you enjoy my take on this incredibly overused (but often fun) plot tool.

Take out the Raggedy.

by Flaignhan.

She threw herself against the door, but it was locked. Amy swore under her breath, rooting in her pockets for her Tardis key, eventually fishing it out of a mess of various alien currency and a few crumpled receipts.

She jammed the key into the lock, looking over her shoulder before pushing the door open with a bang and stepping inside. She closed the door hurriedly, then slid down to the floor, chest rising and falling rapidly as she attempted to regain her breath.

"Er..."

Amy looked up to see a man in a brown pinstriped suit standing next to the Tardis control panel, his eyebrows high on his forehead as he took in her appearance. She scrambled to her feet, frowning as she looked around.

The Tardis was different. Completely different. Same layout, roughly, but the Tardis she knew, the Tardis she lived in and loved did not have that blue glowing column stretching up to the ceiling, nor the winding support columns that made her feel like she was in an aquarium.

Obviously, the first port of call was finding the Doctor. Perhaps he'd invited someone over for tea...and redecorated...

"Is the Doctor about?" she asked, trying to sound casual as she tucked a hand into the pocket of her hoody.

The man in the brown suit frowned.

Amy tried again. "Tall fella, wears a bow tie, little bit mental...you can't miss him. Seen him?"

"Bow tie?" The man scowled and yanked the monitor around so he could see his reflection in the black screen. "Really? A bow tie?"

"Yeah..." Amy said, glancing around the control room. "Maroon mostly, though if he's feeling a bit adventurous he'll go for blue..."

"This Doctor..." the man begun, walking around the control panel until there was nothing between them but the ramp that led up to the console. He leant against one of the columns, arms folded across his chest. "Better looking than me, would you say?"

Amy's jaw dropped a little, but she regained her composure quickly. "Who are you?"

"Answer the question."

"Like hell! Get out of the Tardis! How d'you get in here? And what have you done to it?"

The man heaved a sigh. "I think you've got the wrong Tardis," he said simply.

"How many Tardises are there in the universe?"

"Plenty."

Amy scowled.

"Doctor?"

Amy looked up in the direction that the voice had come from. Glaring at the man in the brown suit, she legged it up the ramp, rushing past him and into the corridor where she found herself face to face with a petite, dark skinned woman, whose eyes widened at Amy's sudden appearance.

"Where's the Doctor?"

"In there, I think, unless he's wandered off. Who are you?"

"No!"

Both women whipped around.

"There he is," the woman said to Amy, nodding towards the man from the control room.

Amy frowned.

"That's not the Doctor."

"I am the Doctor," he said. "And you've got the wrong Tardis, so it would be best for all of us if you just toddle off back to the right one, if you don't mind."

"Yeah but how can there be two Tardises in the same place at the – "

"It's a time machine..."

Oh. That tone sounded familiar. Exasperation and frustration at dim witted humans with their simple minds and their not-grasping-the-situation-quick-enough-for-his-liking-ness.

Amy frowned. "You're the Doctor?"

"Yes!" his brown eyes were wide and impatient as he ran a hand through his hair, causing it to stand on end.

Amy took a closer look. "Take your jacket off a minute?"

He removed the jacket with a good deal of fuss before fixing her with a 'there, happy?' look.

Amy looked him up and down. The pale blue shirt, the brown pinstriped trousers, the brown and blue tie and the beaten up Converse...he wasn't as raggedy as her Doctor had been when she'd first met him, but take the Raggedy out of Raggedy Doctor and you're just left with Doctor.

"You're the Doctor?"

"Yes."

"So how comes you look different?"

"I..." he frowned and looked down at the floor. "Maybe you should ask your Doctor to explain."

"Why can't you explain?" her hand was resting on her hip, and he glanced at it cautiously.

"Because it would be easier if he did. Now, off you go, I'm sure you're very busy, and we were just leaving actually so – "

Before Amy knew what was happening she was being chivvied out of the Tardis door, and it shut with a resounding clunk behind her. She huffed, and was about to walk away when she heard the door creak open again.

"Is he better looking than me?"

Amy opened and closed her mouth several times, before settling on a definite and absolute: "Yes!"

The Doctor's mouth skewed downwards and he tilted his head to one side. "Something to look forward to, eh? What's your name, by the way?"

"Amelia Pond," she answered, reverting back to her full name and tucking her hands into her pockets.

"Amelia Pond...that's a fantastic name."

"I know."

He grinned, and let out a short giggle. "Sorry to chuck you out like this but you're my future, can't have too many spoilers, can I?"

"Except for my name," Amy replied critically.

"I said too many. I'm allowed a few...where's the fun in time travel otherwise?" he winked at her and disappeared back into the Tardis, the door shutting once again before the noise that sounded like an asthma attack in a nightclub echoed throughout the alleyway, litter blowing around Amy's ankles.

She scowled. "You've left the brakes on!"

Amy knew he wouldn't hear her, but she felt better all the same.

She sighed and turned around, only to be greeted by another Tardis, with her Doctor leaning against the side of it looking rather sheepish.

"Well?" she demanded, crossing the gap between them in two long strides. "He reckons he's you, is that right?"

"I think we'd best have a cup of tea..." the Doctor said, searching through his jacket pocket for his key.

"So he's you? In the past?"

"Yes."

"And you're him now?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Cup of tea...maybe a jammy dodger."

Amy put her hands on her hips but the Doctor said nothing else until he found his key.

He looked up at her, fringe falling softly over his right eye, his head bowed in that nerdy, unsure, way that made him look so gentle. "D'you really think I'm better looking?"

She sighed heavily.

His lips curved into a smile as he turned and unlocked the door of the Tardis, then stood aside to let her go in.

The End.