I had this all planned out.
I was going to start posting Ctrl + C as my next Doctor Who ficlet, followed by…well…the one that I was planning on posting after that one was written. And a third one would follow that one (sorry, guys; didn't want to give away any unnecessary spoilers!).
…
And then…
This happened.
This idea for a fanfiction story popped into my head, and I couldn't get rid of it. So now I'm bouncing back into the past of Doctor Who…into the brilliant era known as "Nine, Rose, and Captain Jack Harkness" (or, the original "Power of Three").
The main idea for this fic stemmed out of Ten's remark about "hopping for their lives" after he's newly regenerated and trying to convince Rose that he's still the Doctor.
I will also be introducing several OCs who will be tying this story to Room Service, as well as to the three DW fanfiction works that I haven't written yet.
Anyhoo, without further ado, I now present to you:
Hopping for Our Lives.
God bless and have a great day (or night)!
ThePro-LifeCatholic
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. I own any OCs and/or made-up planets. If I happened to own Doctor Who or BBC, there would be Wholock by now. That, or Nine would've gotten into the 50th somehow (or, at least, more so than what the 50th showed of him). Or both. But I don't, so there you go. *shrugs*
"We ready?"
A man in black pants, dark green shirt, and black leather jacket looked expectantly over his shoulder. He had a short, strong build; a firm jaw, large ears and nose, and sparking blue eyes. He was standing in the doorframe of a blue wooden box, which was parked in the space between two small storefronts.
"Doctor, would you believe me if I told you I've been waiting for you two beauties to get ready so we could leave?" a man answered the question put to him. He was taller than the Doctor, and was sporting navy blue pants (with a matching jacket), white shirt, and well-polished black boots. His dark brown hair had been smoothed down.
"No, I wouldn't," the Doctor responded, turning to the world outside the wooden doors. "'Cause you got up and dressed only seven or ten minutes ago."
"And how would you know that?" the other man retorted obstinately.
"I heard the shower going, Jack." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "And I just finished clearing away your breakfast dishes. Coffee still in your cup – not even half-emptied – so you couldn't have been up for very long."
"Oh," was all that Jack could respond.
"Alright you two," a blond-haired girl broke into the conversation. "I'm goin' out there, and if you two want to argue about who-woke-up-when, then have at it. I'm certainly not gonna stop you." With this, she side-stepped the Doctor and Jack, disappearing outside. The two men glanced at each other, then followed the girl.
"We weren't arguing, Rose," the Doctor commented, shutting the doors behind him and locking them with a key.
"Yeah, sure. So what were you doin' then, huh?" She grinned when she got no response, her tongue sticking out between her teeth. Despite himself, Jack smiled, deep dimples appearing in his cheeks. The Doctor sighed, but the ends of his mouth twitched upward. He jumped to the front of the line, quickly taking the lead.
"Here we are, Jack and Rose!" He flung his arms out, rocking back on his heels. "Welcome to Fizon!"
Rose looked around. A sapphire sky stretched overhead, and thin clouds like white taffy were inching their way through the endless blue. Beneath her feet was a cobblestone road, but not any cobblestone road, no. This was an alien road. Trees and bushes lined the street-sides, and the road was full of life. To-and-fro creatures skittered. Some were talking on phone-like devices, others were talking amongst themselves. Some were walking quickly to unknown destinations, not taking any interest in the throngs around them.
"Not too different from Earth, really," Jack was saying, taking in his surroundings. "I've been here once or twice, actually. What year is this, Doctor?"
"We're in the year 7645," the Doctor informed Captain Harkness. He had his hands shoved in the pockets of his leather jacket, and was surveying the assortment of faces that was passing them by. Almost directly across from the odd trio, a male and female (couple?) were snapping photos of everything in sight.
"Tourists," the Doctor muttered. "Beautiful. Just what we needed. A couple of nutters to ruin our otherwise perfect day."
"No, I didn't come this year," Jack commented thoughtfully. "It was 7620-something-or-other."
"What were you doin' here?" Rose wanted to know.
"Well, I told you and the Doctor that I was a con-man, and I made my living selling out on Time Agents," Jack explained. "I mostly stuck to Earth, but as humans spread out across the universe, Time Agents went with them. And off-and-on, I would have a Time-Vortex Manipulator, which let me jump around in time."
"Now where would you get a Time-Vortex Manipulator?" the Doctor asked (somewhat sternly).
"I was conning Time Agents," Jack said, throwing his hands out. "Where else do you think I got it from? Anyway, long story short, I came here sometime in the 7620s, with some space junk. A Time Agent found it, and we went through the whole deal. There was a tiny slip-up, though," Jack recalled, chuckling nervously. "I misjudged the angle that the junk was coming in from, and it took off the side of a house."
"What?!" Rose and the Doctor simultaneously exclaimed. Several passing pedestrians jumped, startled by the sudden outburst.
"It was all straightened out," Captain Jack assured them. "I didn't get framed for it, and the house belonged to this really rich guy. Can't remember the name, but he was mentioned a lot by the locals."
"I've only been to this planet once or twice, so I wouldn't know either," the Doctor admitted. "Now, are we gonna muck around or are we gonna try out that ice-cream shop that Rose has been dying to visit for the past five adventures?"
"It wasn't five," Rose retorted. "And 'sides, it was your fault for bringing it up in the first place!"
The trio moved off, talking and laughing. Examining their pictures, the couple watched them mingle with the crowd and vanish from sight. They moved quickly down the road, in the opposite direction of the Doctor and his companions.
About an hour later…
The male and female were standing in front of a dark green door. It was smooth and cold to the touch, very similar to glass. An elaborate knocker was fixed on the center of the door, but neither alien tried to use it.
"We shouldn't have come, Trung," the female murmured, shifting her weight uncomfortably and straightening out her outlandishly bright, neon-purple dress. Blue hair fell past her waist, and small antennae twitched on her head.
"It'll be fine, Rea," the other assured her, rubbing his pink-tinted arms down her back. "Think about the reward he's promised us. We'll be able to finally pay off the house!" He smoothed down his neon-blue shirt. "Once we show him this," he said, holding up the cameras, "he'll give us our due, and then we're outta here."
As if by an unheard signal, the green doors swung open with a quiet moan.
"You may enter," a thin female voice declared from within.
Rea and Trung paused on the threshold, looking in. It was a spacious room that greeted them; the walls and floor were dark in color. A desk stood in the middle of the room, dominating the entire space and grabbing one's attention immediately. A chair had been placed on either side of it. The seat facing the door was occupied by a man. He glanced up from a stack of papers, examining them with a scrutinizing glare.
"Come in," he called softly.
Trung squeezed Rea's hand, and they crept warily into the room. Their footsteps creaked on the wooden floor. Right next to the door they saw another desk, much smaller, with a women sitting behind it. She was wearing a tight-fitting white dress, and her silver-streaked hair was pulled up into a knotted bun. She glanced up at them with dull, purple-gray eyes; eyes that shifted to-and-fro constantly. Then she bent back over her work, typing out messages of some kind on a flat, transparent keyboard.
Trung and Rea moved to the escritoire in the center of the room. The man in the chair was dressed in darker hues of blue, purple, and red. It certainly was expensive-looking attire, but then again, everything he owned was expensive. He now turned his attention to the two quivering aliens, rubbing pale hands together.
"Let's see what you have," he commanded in a soft voice. Dark, beady eyes fixed themselves on the cameras. "Nari!" he barked, causing Trung and Rea to jump.
"Yes, sir?" The woman behind the desk shot out of her seat and stood at attention. Standing there, her demeanor wasn't unlike that of some wild animal, on the alert for an approaching predator. She was tense, as if ready to bolt at any given moment.
"Take these," her boss explained, handing over the cameras, "and upload the photographs for me."
Ms. Nari took them and clicked out of the room hurriedly. The male rested his dark eyes on the couple in front of him. They could see his face clearly; thin, sallow, and quite possibly the palest face they had ever seen. The cheeks were slightly sunken, and dark rings were clearly visible beneath the eyes. Their pink skin and bright clothing clashed severely with this man's style and appearance.
"So…finally working for an Edwatte, are you?" he asked. His voice dripped like molasses into the silence, oozing out of his mouth and choking up the room.
"Y-yes, sir, I suppose we are," Trung stuttered. Rea was too shaken to say anything. Edwatte went back to staring at the papers on his desk, leaving the two aliens to stand awkwardly in laconism. He didn't offer them a seat, and seeing as there was only one other chair, Trung and Rea were obliged to stay on their feet.
"Here you are, Sir." Nari's paper-thin voice sliced through the awkward silence. Edwatte snatched the papers from her shaking hands. As he looked them over, he waved his hand dismissively.
"Show them out, Nari," he muttered, tracing the outline of the figures on the photographs. "Make sure they get their payment."
"Yes, Sir." Nari motioned to Trung and Rea, who followed her out quickly. They were all-too-happy to be leaving the suffocating atmosphere of the small room.
"You wouldn't happen to have experience in abduction, would you?" Edwatte called after them.
"What?" Trung wasn't sure he had heard the man correctly. "No; no, of course not."
"Hm," Edwatte grunted. When he didn't say or do anything else, the trio took their leave. Edwatte examined the photos, brushing violet-dyed hair out of his eyes.
"Seems I have you at last, Mr. Jack," he hissed, stabbing a pen through one of the photographs.
So…here we go! The adventure begins! I'm excited for this story, and since I already have most of Ctrl + C already typed up, maybe I can start posting that one too…
I don't know. I'll think on it. In the meantime, hope you guys enjoy! Be sure to leave a review and let me know what you think!
