The Fall And Rise of Theta Sigma
(Disclaimers/ Warnings: I do not own DOCTOR WHO, WAREHOUSE13 or any of their characters. Now that that's out of the way I'd like to mention that as this is a sequel to my DW fic-Koschei's trinity, it will mostly be centered around the DW characters with occasional disections with the Warehouse 13 'verse.)
"Sometimes you wake up. Sometimes the fall kills you. And sometimes, when you fall, you fly."
-Neil Gaiman
Chapter One: The Fall
"Haven't we seen this one already?" Amy asked, getting up off the couch at the sound of the mail slot.
"I don't know. Could be." Rory admitted. "It's whatever they're showing on the telly. I was just flipping past when I saw… Hey! Isn't that the Doctor?" Rory suddenly exclaimed, leaning forward to take a closer look at the Marx brothers' movie. Amy came back into the room with the mail and glanced over his shoulder.
"Yes, it is." She confirmed, sorting through the post. "I told you. He's been doing that. It's like he's showing off or something. Junk, junk, creepy letter from Thomas, junk- Oh! Rhonda's having another baby!"
"Oh, good." Rory commented distractedly. Amy sighed.
"I'm sure if something was up he would…" She trailed off, dropping the rest of the post onto the table behind their couch to inspect the TARDIS-blue envelope in her hands more carefully.
"Amy?" Rory inquired, turning to look questioningly at her over his shoulder.
"I might have spoken too soon." Amy told him, holding it up so that he could see it. It was covered in a collage of stamps from all over the world. "I think this is from him. TARDIS blue, no return address, and then there's the message." She passed him the neatly-folded square of vivid-blue paper.
"Temporal coordinates." Rory noted. "Yep. That's him. …Looks like we're going to America."
River sat in one of the more disreputable, dimly-lit bars of Blackstar Space Station, sipping a poisoned martini, and enjoying the loud but strangely soothing music from the post-dub band blaring over the speakers.
"'Scuse me, Lav. You Song?" The surly Altenian bartender asked, squinting down at her with two of his six beady, red eyes. She looked up at him, smiling politely.
"Mhhm. Why do you ask?"
"This was left for you." He said, reaching out one of his three upper tentacles to pass her a little blue envelope.
"Why thank you, Alpert. How much do I owe you?"
"Nothing tonight, Song. You do know you've been stung, yeah?"
"Oh, yes." River replied, characteristically unconcerned. She recognized the taste of this poison and was confident of her resistance to it.
"You're not bothered?"
"Give it a minute." River returned. There was a groan from the corner booth behind her, followed by the sound of two bodies collapsing. Alpert opened his mouths to comment but she held up a hand. One more body collapsed, this one knocking into another table and spilling drinks on the way down. The music stopped for a second while the patrons processed this. Less than a minute later they resumed as if nothing at all had happened, having determined that these thugs didn't belong to any of the other criminals present.
"Ooh, that last one was a bit messy, wasn't he?" River observed. "Sorry about that. Feel free to charge me for the damages." She tossed a charge card onto the countertop. "I'm good for it. Gotta go. The past again, that'll be fun!" She stood from her stool and strolled out of the bar. The Altenian shook his head, watching her leave.
"Time-travellers…" He muttered to himself, then got to work cleaning up this latest mess.
"You have to admit. It is a bit strange." Mr. Valda remarked as he got out of his limmo in the middle of the Utah desert. He gestured dismissively to his body guards when they started to follow. "It's alright. Take five." The guards narrowed their eyes in dissatisfaction, but obeyed. "Care to explain?"
"Not really." The Doctor replied, sitting on the hood of the car.
"Fine. What's with that hat?" Valda asked, disapprovingly eying the ten-gallon hat the Doctor was currently sporting.
"Cowboy hats are cool."
"No it isn't." Valda assured him. A little yellow bus pulled up a little way down the road and Amy and Rory got out, running up to hug the Doctor.
"Doctor!" Amy cried happily, tackling him in a hug.
"Hello, Ponds!" The Doctor responded, hugging her, then Rory, and squeezing the latter a little harder than necessary.
"Hello. What's with the hat?" Rory inquired.
"I wondered that too." Mr. Valda said.
"It's cool!" The Doctor defended, jumping when someone shot it off his head. River blew the smoke away from the tip of her gun and walked over to join them, smirking.
"Hello, Sweetie." She greeted.
"River." The Doctor acknowledged with a tight smile. "So, now that we're all here. Let's get moving shall we? I brought a picnic basket! Don't give me that look Canton—"
"Benedict." Valda corrected.
"You'll like it." The Doctor finished, ignoring the interruption.
"Sorry. Who are you?" Amy inquired, studying the unfamiliar man.
"This is Agent Delaware—" The Doctor began.
"Mr. Valda." Valda corrected, patiently. "That was a long time ago, Doctor."
"Wouldn't know it by looking." The Doctor remarked, looking him over. Then he shook his head as if to disperse the thought. "…Doesn't matter. Come along." He picked the old-fashioned picnic basket up off the ground and led them down to the lakeside.
"Wait a minute. Where's Koschei?" Rory asked as they had to break into a jog to keep up, except for the mysterious Mr. Valda, who'd fallen into step with the Doctor as soon as he'd started walking. River glanced curiously over her shoulder, noticing his two dark-suited bodyguards shadowing them from a respectful distance.
"He couldn't make it." The Doctor answered cryptically. "Ah, here's a good spot. Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Doctor—" River stopped herself. They could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't going to give anything away until he was good and ready. She sighed and pulled out her notebook. "Fine. Let's get this part over with." She looked him over thoughtfully as he and a bewildered Amy spread out the picnic blanket. "Jim the fish?"
"Yes, he's doing quite well." The Doctor responded.
"Oh, good! What's the old boy up to these days?"
"You know… same old Jim, still building his dam." The Doctor replied fondly.
"What are they doing?" Mr. Valda inquired as Rory began unpacking the food. Rory straightened up to glance at the two over his shoulder and shrugged.
"You know. Time-travelers: they never meet in the right order, so they have to sync their diaries whenever they meet in order to know which 'them' they're dealing with."
"Huh. I never thought about that."
"Most people don't." Rory said, inspecting the wine bottle he'd just retrieved from the picnic basket. "Um… Doctor?"
"Ah yes, a present from Julius Caesar. I've been saving it for something special." The Doctor explained. Rory and Amy exchanged skeptical expressions.
"You don't drink, Sweetie." River pointed out.
"I must have at some point. I'm 910 years old; you don't think I've ever had wine?" The Doctor argued defensively, taking a drink and promptly spitting it out. "Ugh, that's vile! It's not at all what I expected. I thought it'd be more… grapey."
Things continued in the same relaxed manner for a while afterword, with everyone taking the chance to catch up and simply enjoy each other's company. Amy was once again laughing at the Doctor's antics when she saw it. There was a strange, looming figure staring down at them from its perch on the cliff above. A suited, too slender figure stood unnaturally still on the slanted rock. Its head was overlarge for its slim, sticklike body. It shifted its gaze to regard her and her smile slipped from her face at the chilling feeling she got when their eyes met, as though it was reaching into her mind and pulling.
"Amy?" Rory questioned, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you alright, Dear?" River asked. Amy looked over at her and suddenly she wasn't sure why she felt so scared.
"I thought… Yes, never mind." She said, brushing it off. "It's nothing. Sorry, what were you saying?"
"Are you sure?" The Doctor said. Mr. Valda narrowed his eyes at her, before looking back over his shoulder in the direction she'd been staring. There was nothing there.
"I'm fine." Amy insisted. The Doctor studied her face interestedly, but then shifted his gaze away to their surprise guest. Someone was walking towards them out of the water.
"What the…" Rory mumbled as they all stared. The Doctor calmly got up.
"Is that an Apollo astronaut?" Amy said in disbelief.
"…Coming towards us out of the center of a lake." River added.
"Stay back. Canton: Tell your men to do the same. Whatever happens, no one interferes. Understood?" The Doctor instructed, not taking his gaze off of their strange guest. A muscle in Valda's jaw twitched, perhaps indicating his dislike of being the one taking orders. The Doctor looked to him expectantly. After a brief hesitation, the shorter man nodded and gave another signal to his guards. They obediently lowered their weapons as the Doctor strolled over to meet with the astronaut.
"What's going on?" Amy asked quietly while they watched the Doctor and the astronaut's exchange.
"I'm not—No!" River shouted in shock. The astronaut had just shot the Doctor with some kind of plasma weapon. Amy darted forward but River grabbed her and held her back. The Doctor fell to his knees, starting to regenerate.
"Let me go!" Amy shouted, struggling against her. Another shot rang out. The Doctor was on the ground. The bodyguards readied to shoot but Mr. Valda held up a hand reminding them to hold their fire. "We have to do something!" Amy shot back, still struggling to break free.
"We have our orders, Miss Pond." Mr. Valda shouted back. One more shot rang out. The Doctor's body went completely still. He was no longer regenerating. The astronaut turned back and walked away into the lake it had risen from. The moment it was a safe enough distance away, River released her hold on Amy and the three companions ran to the Doctor's side to help him.
"Nothing." River reported, scanning him for life-signs. "He's… dead! You—" She stood up and emptied her gun trying to shoot his retreating attacker. "Damn it!" Not a single hit.
"He can't be dead!" Amy denied.
"I'm sorry." River said, turning back to the others.
"We have to do something! Rory? How do we fix him?" Amy demanded, looking up at her husband.
"I can't…" Rory replied numbly, shaking his head.
"What do we do? There has to be something that we can do!"
"We need to burn the body. Timelord biology is uniquely valuable." River announced, holstering her pistol. "There are species that would scorch this entire planet just to get the tiniest piece of him." Rory glared at her disapprovingly.
"He had me bring gasoline." Mr. Valda piped in, causing Amy to jump. She'd sort of forgotten that he was there. "I wondered what he'd want it for."
"He must've known he might die. He wanted us to be prepared." River observed.
"Okay. But if we're going to do this we should give him a proper send off." Rory concluded. "He deserves that much."
They placed his body on a little rowboat and set it ablaze, watching it drift away at sunset. Amy remained silent all the while keeping to the edge of the group. After the Doctor's body vanished into the darkness, River finally broke their solemn silence.
"There has to be something more." She thought aloud, turning to address Mr. Valda. "There must be some reason he called us here."
"The Doctor clearly knew that he was in danger." Rory observed.
"Yes, but if it was as simple as that, then why did he keep us from helping him?" River countered. "There's something we're missing… You, Valda was it? Why did you come here?" Mr. Valda pulled a TARDIS-blue envelope out of his breast pocket.
"He sent me these coordinates, a date and time, nothing more."
"Me as well." River noted pulling out her own and comparing the two.
"Us too." Rory added. Amy fished their invitation out of her rucksack and passed it to him.
"They're exactly the same…except." River scrutinized the numbers that were carefully inked onto the corner of each seal. "Four," She passed Valda's back to him. "Three," She passed him hers. "Two… Where's one? …It's a clue. He called us here, the people he trusted, and he numbered each envelope very meticulously. We need to find who received the first envelope. Who would the Doctor trust most?"
"What does it matter? He's dead." Amy dismissed.
"Because he still needs us." River responded. "He called us here for a reason, dead or alive, he's still counting on us to finish this." Amy went silent again, not buying it.
"We stopped at a diner on our way here." Mr. Valda recalled. "I thought I saw him leaving when I was taking my order."
"It's a start." River decided.
River, Amy and Rory entered the diner together after exchanging a hasty farewell with . He had gotten an urgent call from a 'Mrs. Fredrick' about some work related issue that simply could not wait, and had left them with the promise that he and his people (whoever they were) would look into the Doctor's murder.
"Look." Rory prompted, pointing to the far booth. There was another familiar, blue envelope on it. River picked it up and checked the flap.
"Number one." She confirmed. Amy slumped into the booth, while Rory went over to the counter to ask the worker about it.
"Did you see who was sitting at that booth?"
"Some guy." The man replied with a shrug.
"What did he look like?"
"I dunno. He ordered a float, paid in cash. What do I care?"
River let out an impatient sigh and opened her mouth to respond, when Koschei stepped through the door that she and Amy were facing.
"I'm simply saying that you could've thought it over first." He was telling someone over his shoulder. "It's not as though we were going to miss anything. We live in a time-machine! Oh, hello Bhai. You've been crying. What's wrong?" Amy jumped up and hugged him tightly, almost beginning to cry all over again.
"You don't—" River began, then her mouth dropped open as the Doctor stepped through the door behind him.
"Doctor?" Rory questioned, understandably confused.
"Yep, just me. I went back to get my special straw." The Doctor explained. "It adds extra fizz."
"You…" Amy said angrily.
"Not who you were expecting? Bit of a surprise I guess." The Doctor continued oblivious. "You know me. Can't resi—" River slapped him, hard, across the face. Koschei raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.
"That is cold Doctor, even for you." River accused.
"Ow! What'd I do?" The Doctor inquired, touching his cheek. Rory scowled at him.
"Seriously?" Amy said, glaring at the Doctor with her hands on her hips. River squinted at the Doctor's bewildered expression thoughtfully.
"You really don't know do you?"
He shook his head.
"How old are you?" Rory asked.
"What? 906. Why?"
"You received one of the envelopes, right?" River guessed.
"You're holding it." Koschei finally piped in, sliding into the booth. Amy frowned at them before sitting down beside him. "Care to explain?" Koschei added, looking up at River. She shook her head.
"Sorry I slapped you." She admitted as the rest of them took their seats in the booth.
Koschei and Rory sat side by side on the stairs watching the Doctor mess with the TARDIS controls while Amy and River hovered closer to him, having some kind of silent argument.
"So we're going now, then?" Amy asked. The Doctor nodded mutely.
"You've got the coordinates wrong." River observed.
"No I haven't. We aren't going to the sixties."
"But we have to." Amy exclaimed. The Doctor walked around the other side of the drive pillar and slumped into his seat.
"Why?" He responded flatly. "Who says?"
"We can't tell you." River replied before Amy could.
"No." The Doctor shot back.
"We have to." Amy protested.
"Then tell me why?" The Doctor insisted. Amy looked over at River and she shook her head. "I'm not going anywhere until I know what's going on."
"We told you." River said. "Something big happens in America in 1969 and it has something to do with—"
"Canton Everett Delaware III. Yes, I know but there's something else you aren't telling me. Why is that?"
"You just need to trust us on this." River hedged. The Doctor stood and stepped up to her.
"Well, too bad. I can't say that I do trust you, River Song. Who are you, really? All I know for certain is that you knew me in my future, and that you'll kill—"
"Theta!" Koschei warned, and the Doctor's mouth snapped shut with an audible click.
"Then, trust me." Amy said, drawing him out of his staring match with River. "We need to do this."
"Do you mean that?" The Doctor clarified moving closer to her and continuing more quietly. 'If someone is making you say that. You know you can tell me, if someone's threatening you."
"No one's making me say it." Amy assured him. "It's the truth. I promise. Just trust me." The Doctor stared into her eyes for a long moment before pulling away and nodding.
"Fine." He relented. "1969, here we come."
The Doctor landed the TARDIS, in stealth mode within the oval office itself. River quickly corrected a slight mistake at the controls while he wasn't looking, so that they really were in stealth mode. The Doctor turned to look suspiciously at her. She became the perfect portrait of innocence.
"Let's see what they're talking about shall we?" The Doctor said, letting it go. "The visual feed won't work in stealth mode. Be back in a minute." The Doctor announced, leaving the TARDIS. River and Koschei watched him go, catching a glimpse of Agent Canton Everett Delaware III conversing with President Nixon at his desk through the closing doors.
"Would you like to do the honors, or shall I?" Koschei inquired, leaning casually against the console with his arms crossed. River smiled.
"I've got it this time, Dear." River said, pulling the closest screen closer and hitting a few switches.
"What are you doing?" Rory asked.
"Getting us a peek at what's going on out there."
"But the Doctor just said we couldn't get a visual during stealth mode." Amy said, peering over her shoulder.
"He did, didn't he?" River remarked as the visual feed appeared on screen. "Bless."
The Doctor had wandered towards the desk and was taking notes on the two humans' conversation, something about mysterious calls from an unknown child… when they noticed him. Agent Delaware jumped out of his seat, in surprise.
"Who the hell are you and how did you get into the oval office!" Nixon demanded.
"Oh, um… Right, this is the oval office. My mistake. Love what you've done with the place." The Doctor rambled, backing away. "No need to call security, I'll just—" He turned and walked right into the side of the cloaked TARDIS, falling to the floor. Inside, Koschei shook his head.
"Honestly, Theta. Every time…" He remarked fondly as Nixon, then Agent Delaware, called for security. Agent Delaware tackled the Doctor, being joined by two more Secret Service Agents a second later. Koschei smirked, clearly enjoying this.
"That seemed unnecessary." Rory noted. River began to busy herself with the controls.
"River? Kos? A little help, please?" The Doctor called. "I know you've got the feed working by now." Koschei and River exchanged a look.
"I hate him." River commented, flipping a few switches. Koschei took his time on turning his dial, wanting to savor the moment. The Agents outside backed off a bit at the sight of the TARDIS' sudden appearance.
"See: I belong here, actually. The Doctor explained, flashing his psychic paper and taking a seat behind the desk. "Good evening, Mr. President." He joked in a fake American accent. Canton looked intrigued. The other Secret Service Agents all aimed their weapons at him.
"Hold your fire." Agent Delaware ordered long-sufferingly.
"Oh, you Americans and your guns." The Doctor chastened. Nixon turned to look askance at Canton.
"I'd like the chance to hear what he has to say, Sir." The Agent clarified, watching the Doctor with interest.
"My team and I can solve this for you in no time at all." The Doctor assured him.
"Your team?" Nixon echoed. The Doctor nodded and whistled.
"You can come out now." He called, and the others filed out of the TARDIS, holding up their hands, except Koschei. The older Timelord just crossed his arms over his chest looking characteristically unconcerned.
"Any other brilliant ideas, Dr. Smith?" He said drily.
"Meet my team. I'm the Doctor. The grumpy ginger over there is the Master." The Doctor introduced. Koschei glared at him. "Then there's the Legs; on her right, there's the Nose, and…Mrs. Robinson." The Doctor finished, indicating River.
"I hate you." River responded.
"Your orders, Sir?" One of the Agents requested, looking to Nixon. Nixon squinted at the Doctor for a moment, then turned to Agent Delaware.
"I say we give them a chance." Canton advised.
"Thanks." The Doctor said, smiling.
"What are you nuts? Sir, let us handle them." Another Agent demanded.
"…if he can't deliver, we shoot him." Canton continued, ignoring them both.
"Not so thanks." The Doctor amended.
"This man got in here undetected with a seven foot tall police box and four associates, and that is the guy that he slipped past." Agent Delaware elaborated, indicating the other Agent. "Which one do you think is more worth listening to?" Nixon considered this before nodding his assent.
"We can solve this in no time." The Doctor told Canton. "All I need is a few maps, some jammy-dodgers and a fez." The Agent eyed him for a second before deciding.
"Get him his maps."
"Found it." The Doctor said, pointing to a mark on the map that he was currently perusing.
"Finally." Koschei responded from where he was lounging unhelpfully in a nearby chair as Agent Delaware came to look.
"You're an absolute genius." He observed.
"I know." The Doctor agreed, swatting at Koschei's foot. "Get your feet off my maps." Koschei's ghostly-silver eyes stared coolly up at him as he obeyed. Agent Delaware raised an eyebrow. "He gets troublesome when he's bored." The Doctor explained in a stage-whisper. "It's best to just ignore him." Koschei was about to voice a characteristically biting reply when he noticed Amy staring transfixed at something out in the hall.
"You alright, Love?" He inquired, jolting Amy out of her trance. Rory straightened from where he'd been bent over another map and walked up to grab her arm when her balance wavered.
"No, yes, I'm fine. I just—" Amy looked back out into the hall, perplexed. She could remember seeing someone, maybe someone frightening. Why couldn't she remember what she saw?
"Which is it? Yes or no?" Koschei teased.
"I'm fine. I just need a minute." Amy assured Rory, heading for the doorway. One of the other Agents stepped forward to block her path. "I'm just going to the restroom." Amy told him.
"I'm sorry Ma'am, but you need to stay with the others for the time being." The Agent said solemnly. Canton rolled his eyes.
"Just shut up and take her to the bathroom."
Amy splashed water onto her face, trying to wake herself up and turned of the taps. She took a deep breath, still casting about in her mind, trying to breach the odd fogginess in her memory. Some of her memories were blurred. It was like they'd been forced out of focus. She didn't know how or why, but she was determined to figure it out.~ It was something important.~ She looked up at her own reflection as she wiped the water off her face then gasped and spun around to face the other being she'd noticed standing behind her.
"Do not scream." The alien instructed. Its voice was a cross between a whisper and a growl. Neither of which seemed particularly appealing to Amy at the moment. She realized that this was what she'd seen but couldn't retain. She side-stepped with her back to the sink until she could back away to the other end of the restroom, never removing her gaze from it for even a millisecond.
"What are you, and what do you want?" She demanded, retrieving her mobile-phone from her back pocket.
"It does not matter what we are. We will have what we desire soon enough."
"Sounds terrific. Why not tell me anyways, eh? If it doesn't matter…" Amy tried, snapping a picture of it with her camera-phone.
"You will tell the Doctor."
"Tell him what?"
"You will tell the Doctor what he needs to know, and what he must never know." The alien replied. Amy tensed when another woman entered the restroom, walking right up to the sink beside to the Münch-esque, suited alien.
"Get back!" Amy warned. The other woman jumped and turned to her. "Get away from it!"
"Get away from what, Honey?" The woman asked.
"Look behind you!"
The woman turned and put a hand to her heart.
"Oh my! Wow! Nice costume! Fred, is that you in there?" She questioned, leaning closer.
"No! Keep away from it!" Amy urged. The woman turned to address her then frowned.
'What's wrong?"
"It's not a costume. You need to keep away from it!" Amy insisted.
"Away from what, Honey?" The woman asked. Amy's eyes widened. The thing reached out, opening its mouth when the poor woman turned back to face it and electricity arced towards it from all around them, building until with a surge of charge, the woman was incinerated before her eyes. There was nothing left in her place but a sad little pile of black ash. Amy turned and bolted from the room, knocking into the Agent assigned to escort her in her haste.
"Whoa, careful! Is something wrong?"
"I have to tell the Doctor." Amy announced.
"Tell him what, Ma'am?" The Agent queried. Amy blinked. She wasn't sure. ~No, not again! I was so close!~
"Nothing."
"What is that?" The Agent said pointing to her mobile.
"That? Nothing, it's just my phone." She dismissed. "Come along. We should get back to the others."
"Gotcha!" The Doctor exclaimed, stopping the recording with a smile on his face. "I've found your mystery child. If it is a child." Canton's brows rose, catching the added utterance, but the Doctor just waved it off. "You never know. Where's Amy? There you are. Good. We're off then."
"What?" Canton said as the others filed obediently into the TARDIS.
"Ah, yes." The Doctor said on his way to the doors. "Agent Delaware, under no circumstances are you to follow me into the TARDIS and shut the doors behind you on your way in." Sure enough Canton darted into the TARDIS right behind him, staring in awe at the inexplicably spacious interior.
"There he is." Koschei remarked from his perch atop the lower staircase. "Bigger on the inside. I know. Always fascinates the natives."
"Behave." Amy chastened.
"I've won the bet." The Doctor reminded him.
"Later tonight." Koschei returned, drawing various intrigued reactions from River, Amy, and Canton. "Get your mind out of the gutter." Koschei responded.
"You put it there." Rory mumbled.
"What was that, Eeyore?" Koschei challenged and Rory shot the Doctor a pointed look.
"This is what I was talking about." Rory said as they landed. "What is with him?" The Doctor avoided eye-contact.
"We're here. Come on, you three." The Doctor prompted, hurrying out of the TARDIS. Canton did a double take at the sight of the view through the open doors.
"We've moved." He observed.
"Yes. Rory, you handle this one." The Doctor instructed, nodding to the overwhelmed Agent and patting the procrastinating Koschei on the top of his head as he passed.
"Is this punishment or something?' Rory inquired unhappily.
"Nope. You're just the newest." Koschei responded, tidying his hair and ducked out of the TARDIS.
"You're certain she's still here?" Koschei inquired as he and the Doctor searched an empty office in the abandoned warehouse.
"Not 100%, but pretty sure." The Doctor admitted.
"Perhaps we should—"
"Doctor!" River's voice called from further into the warehouse. They jogged out to join the others. They were standing over a pile of space-faring supplies. Including a big, white astronaut's helmet.
A/N: Thank you for reading this. Please review.