Timeline: for Rose, DW season 4; for Sara LoT season 2

Thank you to stillthewordgirl and tenroseforeverandever

The Waverider was still and quiet. Sara Lance had landed on the outskirts of London and given her crew a well-earned day of shore leave. She sat in her study, feet kicked up on the table, studying a small holographic projector in her hands. It had been a gift from Jax.

"Hey, Sara, I made you something. OK, Gideon actually made it, but I picked the image."

He'd extended the small item, and she'd accepted it curiously. Jax pressed the button, and a small 3-D image flared to life - Sara and Snart, him seated in one of the jump seats, her leaning back against him, passing a bottle.

"Look, I know that discussion wasn't maybe the nicest one we've ever had, but the picture - it just -"

"It's perfect," Sara said, engulfing her young friend in a hug to hide her slightly watery smile. "Thank you."

"Any sign of him, Gideon? Anything at all?"

"No, Captain Lance," the AI's voice replied from the vicinity of the ceiling. "There are no references to Leonard Snart past January 2016."

"I understand that the Vanishing Point existed outside of time. Theoretically, doesn't that mean that he could still be out there? Somewhere?"

"Theoretically, almost anything is possible."

"That's not helpful."

Rose Tyler checked the readings one last time. Massive amounts of what could only be artron energy on the outskirts of London. This had to be the Doctor and the TARDIS. What else could generate these readings?

She looked through the partition at Jake, and caught that expression in his eyes - the one she'd been seeing more and more lately, the one that said that people were humoring her in this wild endeavor. She pushed that thought firmly aside and gave him a thumbs-up. He nodded once, and pushed the button, mouthing 'good luck.'

A few seconds warning was all Sara got.

"Captain Lance -"

A flash of light, the clatter of a gun hitting the deck -

"Bloody hell-"

"Who the hell are you?" Sara demanded, knife firmly in her hand as she stared down at the intruder on her bridge.

The blonde in the blue leather jacket looked up at her, noting the knife and carefully sliding her hands away from the large weapon she'd been carrying. She sat up cautiously and looked around. Not the TARDIS. Or at least, not his TARDIS.

"Are you a Time Lord?" she asked finally, in a cockney-accented voice.

The smaller blonde looked sharply at her. "You mean a Time Master? No. Gideon, who is this, and how did she get on board?"

"Scans show her to be human, Captain, but her cells contain an unusual amount of background radiation, of an unknown type."

The woman on the deck cracked a grin. "Your TARDIS can talk? The Doctor's gonna be so jealous. I'm Rose, by the way. Rose Tyler. Mind if I get up?" she asked carefully.

Sara nodded and stepped back, keeping cautiously out of reach. "Sara Lance. How the hell did you get on board my ship?"

"It's called a dimension cannon. Maybe not the nicest method of travel, but it gets the job done." Rose climbed slowly to her feet, keeping her hands in plain sight.

"The 'job' being?"

"I'm lookin' for someone."

"This Doctor you mentioned."

"Yeah. He's a Time Lord, from a planet called Gallifrey."

"And you are?"

"Human from Earth, 21st century."

"Gideon, can you corroborate any of this?" Sara asked.

"The Time Lords of Gallifrey are a myth," the AI stated flatly.

"Think again, sister," Rose quipped.

Sara raised a hand. "OK, you know about time travel. How about parallel worlds?"

"Got trapped on one. That's why it's so hard for me to find the Doctor."

"OK. On the earth you're from, are there people who can do things, like fly or turn into metal?"

"Only in comic books."

"So, you're from a parallel world where these Time Lords exist, but heroes and meta humans don't? Interesting. Out of curiosity, how were you planning to get back?"

"The cannon has a twenty minute recall. It's come in handy a few times."

Sara huffed out a breath, making a decision. "Gideon, does Ms. Tyler pose any threat that you're aware of?"

"No, Captain."

Sara smiled at her guest. "Seems like you've got a little time to kill. Maybe we can help each other." She gestured to the study, the knife seeming to have vanished from her hand.

Rose followed, looking around curiously at the scattered antiquities. She noticed the small hologram on the table. The man's icy blue eyes reminded her a bit of her first Doctor. "Is that your bloke?"

"Something like that," Sara replied, switching off the hologram and pocketing the device.

There was a look in the other woman's eyes that Rose had seen far too often…in the mirror.

"Drink?" Sara offered, trying very hard to keep her voice steady.

Rose nodded and sank down into a chair. She accepted the glass of brandy that Sara passed and took a cautious sip.

"Why are you going to so much trouble to locate this Doctor?" Sara asked, looking over the rim of her glass.

"At first," Rose replied slowly, "it was just for me. We got separated, an' he couldn't get back to me. I love him," she added defiantly. "But now, it's bigger than that."

"How do you mean?"

"The stars are goin' out."

"Gideon?" Sara asked quickly.

"I have not observed this phenomenon, Captain."

"And you think this Doctor can fix things?"

"I hope so. If he can't save us -"

"Then you save yourselves," Sara said firmly.

"You think so?"

"You figured out a way to travel between parallel worlds. I know one other team who's managed that. It's not easy. If you can do that, you can do anything."

"You sound a bit like him."

Sara shrugged. "I'm the captain of this ship now. A big part of that is making these guys believe that they can do whatever they need to do."

"The fella in your picture...how did you lose him?" Rose asked shrewdly.

Sara sucked in a deep breath. "He…died, we think…saving all of us, at a place called the Vanishing Point."

"You think?"

"It's a matter of debate. The Vanishing Point existed outside of time. Quite a few of the usual rules didn't apply there. And he was pretty damn good at breaking the rules."

"So's the Doctor," Rose said, with a rueful smile. "I hope you find…"

"Leonard," Sara supplied, with a faint smile.

"Leonard," Rose echoed.

"I hope you find your Doctor."

A device on Rose's wrist beeped softly. "That's my ride."

"Good luck," Sara said, extending her hand.

"To all of us," Rose agreed, shaking Sara's hand firmly. She picked up her gun and there was a blinding flash of light.

Sara huffed out a sigh when her vision cleared. "Well, that was pretty crazy…even for us."

She walked back into her study and flopped back into her seat, helping herself to another glass of brandy. "Gideon, tell me what you know about these Time Lords."

"As I said, Captain, they are a myth."

"And in Rose's world, we're the legends. Indulge me."

"Very well. Time Lords are reputed to have originated on a planet called Gallifrey, supposedly located in the constellation of Kasterborous…"