A Return...of Sorts
A Doctor Who Story
A/N: This was my very first DW story I ever wrote and I wrote most of it a long time ago. It's not finished and it's never been proof-read. (In fact, it's never been seen by another person 'til now.) Takes place during Season 6 but does not involve Rory or River. Sorry Rory & River fans! He's not dead, he just went home to visit his dad and work for a while. River is either still in prison or off on her own adventures. So the 11th Doctor and Amy are by themselves. But they meet up with Rose and the Meta-crisis Doctor in the parallel world. Could be categorized as A/U. Very 11/10.5/Rose angst heavy. 11/Amy friendship. No smut.
CHAPTER 1
The TARDIS materializes. It's not a crash, but it's definitely not the softest of landings, either.
From inside the TARDIS:
Amy (slightly irritated): "So, Doctor, where are we?"
Doctor: "I don't know yet, Pond. But let's have a look, shall we?"
He leans cautiously out the doors, with Amy curiously peering over his head.
They both study their surroundings. Right away, 11 notices that something is wrong.
Doc: "Amy...I can't quite put my finger on it, but something is wrong here." He's standing quite still now, sonic out, scanning the air & surveying everything with nervous eyes.
Amy: "But...this is London. London...as in England. Earth. Just boring 'ol London, yeah? I mean, that's the London Eye right over there...you know? I've always wanted to ride that thing..." She slowly walks over towards it.
11 looks up and finally notices what's wrong.
Doctor (as he talks, his voice grows steadily louder): "Nonononononono...this is extremely very not good at all. This...is impossible. I can't be here. We can't be here. No...Amy, we're leaving. Get back in the TARDIS & don't even *think* about arguing about this. Get in there, NOW!"
Amy (looking back at him like he's nuts):"Doctor, I'm not going anywhere 'til you explain why...properly." She folds her arms and gives him the typical *stubborn Amy* look.
Doc: "Amy..." He places his hands on her shoulders and looks her square in the eyes. "Just look up."
Amy looks. Amy: "What in the bloody hell are those things!? Doctor? Explain! DOCTOR!?"
11's face pales...he's looking up too, but he's too stunned to move or speak. He doesn't quite believe what he's seeing himself.
Finally, he speaks again (in a calm whisper): "Blimps, Amy. They're blimps. Blimps from a parallel world."
Amy: "Sorry...what? Doctor? Did you say a parallel world?" She stops. Looks confused. Starts again. "...with blimps?"
11 doesn't answer. He finds a bench and sits down, completely dumbstruck.
Amy (looking more concerned now): "Doctor...?"
Doc: "Rose." The word barely registers as more than a whisper, but Amy manages to hear it all the same. She comes over and sits next to him.
Amy: "Who's Rose? That's what you said, yeah? Rose? Who or what is Rose, Doctor? Come on...talk to me."
11 had been sitting with his face in his hands, hunched over, but slowly takes them off, side-glances at Amy. He looks...sad. Sadder than she's ever seen him. But hopeful as well. And by the looks of it, he's been...crying? She can't believe it.
Amy: "Who was she, Doctor? Was she a friend? Another companion, like me? Or someone...like River? Tell me, Doctor...did something happen to her?"
Doc: "Oh, Pond..." He sighs, attempts a sad smile. "Yes...she was...before..." He trails off again, apparently deep in thought, remembering.
Amy puts her arm around his shoulders. "I'm sorry, Doctor."
To herself, she thinks, 'Before what, I wonder?' "Doctor, I know you're sad, but...why? What does a former companion have to do with where we've landed?"
11 slowly stands up, a little wobbily on his feet. But he answers her all the same. "She lives here. Or will. Soon. Or has already...I don't know. Timey-wimey stuff." He seems to be regaining his natural momentum again. "Point is, Pond...I cannot be here, at least not for much longer. Or we may very well end up with something akin to Big Bang 2. Got it? And we can't have that now, can we? Nooo...so, regardless of who lives here or doesn't...we need to leave this place. And quickly."
Amy: "But why, Doctor? I don't know about you, but if I had a friend who lived in the neighborhood, I'd want to go pay them a visit. And if your friend lives here...and you miss her, (which you clearly do, don't deny it) ...don't you wanna see her? See how she's doing? I'm sure she'd love to see you again."
Doc: "Amy, you don't understand. *I*, me, my self, in this body, cannot be seen here, let alone by *her*...it would... confuse things...not to mention, make several bad things happen to my time stream and hers...plus, knowing her, I'd probably get slapped..."
At this point, Amy is beyond confused by the Doctor and his unwillingness to see his friend, especially with that last statement. Amy is not stupid, however, and knows he's not telling her the whole story (as usual), but has traveled with him enough times to know that something about this place is really scaring the Doctor...enough to make him want to leave. The last time this happened, they ended up dealing with a bunch of Weeping Angels, so...whatever the problem is, it doesn't bode well for them to stay.
Meanwhile, 11 has made his way back inside the TARDIS, presumably to turn off the warning cloister bell that been going off this whole time. She wanders in to find him moving swiftly about the console, pressing buttons & muttering incomprehensibly to himself about black holes, voids sealing, Daleks & Cybermen...
"...this can't be possible...how is this possible? The cracks were supposed to be sealed...I closed the void...and I left her in good hands..."
Amy, who has sort of snuck up behind him, and has been listening to his mutterings with increasing curiosity & indignation, picks up this last bit. "So, Doctor, your friend, Rose. You left her here!? And in whose hands? Who did you leave her here with? Doctor! Stop mumbling to yourself, and tell me what's going on! Please!"
Seeing as how he knows Amy won't shut up until he explains things to her, he stops his tinkering, steps away from the console and flops down on the pilot's chair, defeated. Amy looks triumphant for a second, but notices that although the cloister bell has stopped, thankfully, that everything else has stopped dead as well. The TARDIS is completely silent. Deathly silent.
11 sighs. "Too late. We're stuck here, Pond. For a while, at least...stuck in a parallel world that should not exist. Again. Stuck with you...(Amy gives him a nasty look at that)...with her...and...him."
She doesn't know why she asks, but she does anyway, if only to get to the bottom of this mystery:"...him? Who, Doctor?"
Suddenly, a dark and serious expression falls upon the Doctor's usually boyish features that makes Amy want to step back from him a bit.
"Me."
