Are you ready for this? No, you aren't. Well, neither am I, so we're even.

Disclaimer: I do not own the BBC (sadly [what I wouldn't give to own Doctor Who AND Sherlock AND Broadchurch]), and I am not Rick Riordan (again, very sad, but nothing to be done about it, so no point whining).

Have fun!

"Why do I have to come with?" Percy whined petulantly.

"Because you're a good boyfriend who wants to see all the incredible work his girlfriend has been doing," Annabeth explained patiently. Her level of tolerance was rather astounding in the face of Percy's pouting.

"But the gods are there," Percy reiterated for what seemed like the hundredth time. "At least half of them hate me. Probably more than half."

"True," Annabeth conceded. "However, you did save their lives. The least they can do is let you keep yours."

"I already made them do stuff they didn't want to do!" Percy protested. "They're gonna gut me like a fish!"

"Fitting, when you think about it," Annabeth replied with a smirk. When Percy scowled at her, she sighed, placing a comforting hand on his arm. "Perce, listen to me. The gods owe you. Sure, you had some demands, but you also saved the world. They can't kill you if you're a hero. Besides, your dad would get pissed off, and nobody wants to be on the wrong side of that. You're going to be fine."

Percy still felt skittish, but Annabeth's words were reasonable and comforting as always. He grinned slightly. "You always know just what to say, Wise Girl."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but she was smiling as the train screeched to a halt. She grabbed his hand. "C'mon, Seaweed Brain. This is our stop."

Olympus was beautiful as always, but even more so due to Annabeth's efforts. New fountains burbled cheerfully, blasting multicolored water to towering heights. Statues depicting the gods at their finest stood in lush green courtyards. Everything was new and magnificent. Percy said so aloud. Annabeth, aside from blushing a little and grinning, made no motion or indication that she'd heard the compliment.

Still, even as he marveled at the wonders Annabeth had designed, Percy felt uneasy. Life on Olympus seemed perfectly normal, or as normal as it could get on a huge mountaintop hanging over New York City. The population gave no sign of anything being amiss, but the air felt... charged. Like a storm was coming. And Percy would know about storms coming. His father ruled the tempestuous seas, and his uncle was the god of turbulence. He knew what it felt like when the weather was going to go foul. And yet... he couldn't sense any rain on the way. Just the hairs on the back of his neck rising up like they did right before lightning struck.

Something was definitely wrong.

Soon, the pair came upon a garden dedicated to Athena. It was absolutely gorgeous, of course. Nothing but the best for mother dearest. But there was something that shouldn't have been there.

"What in Hades is this doing in my mother's garden?" Annabeth asked in bewilderment, gesturing towards the box of deep blue in one corner of the walled-in region.

Percy shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe Athena put it in here?"

Annabeth shook her head thoughtfully. "No, Mother wouldn't ruin the symmetry of this place. Someone else did this."

Her tone was so ominous, Percy was tempted to laugh (it was just a box), but he didn't. He knew Annabeth took her symmetry seriously.

Instead he thought for a moment. "Well..." he began slowly. "When in doubt..." He turned to face the great palace looming over the rest of Olympus. "... there's always the direct approach."

They came in at a bad time. To be fair, they always seemed to do that. However, it was clear from Zeus' thunderous glare that this was the king of all bad times. When his glare was copied by pretty much every other being in the room, the pair knew they were in for it. After all, they'd walked in when Hades was in the room. Hades was never on Olympus. Even Hestia was glaring at them. All fourteen of the major gods and goddesses were in the room, in the midst of what looked like a very important conversation.

Oh, they were so dead.

Then a voice neither of the demigods recognized said, in a distinctly British accent, "Oh, new faces! Lovely. Who are you two, then?"

Percy and Annabeth looked towards the source of the question in confusion and found a tall man (by human standards- he was quite small compared to the extremely tall gods behind him), maybe in his early thirties. His hair stuck up like he'd been sticking his fingers into electrical sockets (but in an attractive way, Annabeth couldn't help but notice), and his manic smile sort of corroborated that theory. He reminded Percy a bit of May Castellan, what with the hair and the grin. But his eyes- deep, dark brown eyes- glittered with more than just madness and grief. He had a spark of something in there, something mysterious and powerful and dangerous, and, for some reason, it excited Percy... and also scared him shitless.

"Are they minor gods?" the strange man asked in interest. "If they are, they're new. Never seen them around before, and they aren't in the mythology, are they? Didn't know you still made new gods. I thought it was rather... rare." He paused for a moment, then whipped out an odd... metal... blue... thingy. He pointed it at them.

The demigods tensed up, prepared to attack, but the rod merely lit up on the end and made a whirring noise.

"Oh, you're demigods!" the man exclaimed in delight, turning off the whirring thing and tucking it back into his inside jacket pocket. "It's been ages since I saw a demigod. They allow you on Olympus now? Brilliant! See, I knew you could make a change."

"Um... forgive me for asking, but who exactly are you?" Annabeth asked, not impolitely.

This was apparently not something the gods had wanted her to ask. There was a collective intake of breath, like they were all expecting the young half-blood to be vaporized on the spot.

"Oh, quit being so uptight," the man said teasingly. "If she wants to know, it's perfectly all right with me." He held out a hand. "I'm the Doctor."

Annabeth shook his hand tentatively and asked, "Doctor who?"

The man- the Doctor- smiled happily. "Oh, I love it when they say that!" he exclaimed, pleased. "'Doctor who?' they say. They always ask, one way or another. I love it, I really do. And as for your question," he said, addressing Annabeth once again, "it's just the Doctor. The one and only. The definite article, as it were. What's your name?"

"Annabeth Chase."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "No." He whipped around to face the gods. "Is she really?"

Athena nodded, uncomfortable with the man's interest. "This is my daughter, Annabeth."

The Doctor laughed delightedly before spinning around to face the demigods once more. "But that's brilliant! You're redesigning Olympus! And it's beautiful, by the way, simply marvelous. Love what you've done with the fountains." He frowned. "But... wait. If you're Annabeth Chase... but then..." He focused on Percy for the first time, and the son of the sea god felt his skin crawling under the Doctor's intense gaze. "No. But it has to be! You're Percy Jackson!"

Percy shifted uncomfortably before nodding.

"Oh, this is fantastic! I've wanted to meet you two for ages!" the strange man crowed. "The saviors of Olympus- you two will go down in legend! Annabeth Chase- powerful warrior, amazing strategist, excellent with a dagger, held the sky, saved Olympus with a single broken promise- you're incredible! Most famous daughter of Athena ever!" He turned to the other half-blood. "And you! Perseus Jackson. Son of Poseidon. Killed the Minotaur twice, retrieved Zeus's master bolt, ventured into the realm of Hades at least three times, held the sky too- you've done so much, even I can't mention it all!" He turned and faced the side of the room. "Rose! Come and meet these two!"

Percy and Annabeth exchanged confused glances. Rose? Who was Rose?

A moment later, they saw, quite clearly, who Rose was. She ran over from her place at the side of the room, looking a bit nervous but grinning anyway. She wasn't conventionally pretty, with large brown eyes, clearly bleached blonde hair, and almost too-big lips, but somehow the features worked well together and created a lovely, vibrant young woman maybe two or three years older than them. Her smile was wide and entrancing, and Percy and Annabeth couldn't help but smile a bit as well.

"Hello," she said, her accent evident even in that single word. "I'm Rose, but you probably gathered that from this one." She nudged her elbow into the Doctor's ribs, and he nudged her back. "I'm nobody special."

"Of course you're special!" the Doctor insisted immediately. "You're the most special of the special, the best of the best! I only take the best, Rose, and you know that."

Rose rolled her eyes but grinned back at the man, tongue in teeth.

Annabeth and Percy exchanged a glance. They may have been oblivious about their own feelings, but Rose and the Doctor's were blatantly obvious. The two looked over at Aphrodite, expecting to see her plotting and planning. However, to their immense confusion, Aphrodite didn't look to be in any sort of planning mood. In fact, she seemed almost... scared. All the gods did. Even Zeus.

But of what? What could the fourteen most powerful beings in mythology possibly be scared of?

The Doctor turned to the gods suddenly, which seemed to startle them. Apollo even flinched.

"Well! Rose and I should probably be off. But this was a good talk! Definitely a brilliant talk. So, remember what I said, yeah? Pay attention, don't overreact, and maybe cool down the extremely harsh punishments? That sound all right?" The gods nodded. "Excellent, molto bene! Now, Percy and Annabeth..." He turned to the demigods in the room. "Would you mind accompanying Rose and I back to our vehicle?"

Annabeth glanced at the gods for some sort of guidance. When none was forthcoming, she nodded. "Sure, why not?" she said, elbowing Percy in the ribs.

"He- I mean, yeah, of course!" Percy exclaimed over-enthusiastically. "Ow."

"Fantastic! Come on then!" He grabbed Rose's hand and, with a mischievous grin, shouted, "Allons-y!" at the top of his lungs.

The effect of this one word on the gods was almost comical. Half of the gods became unnaturally pale, while the other half flushed a deep crimson from their positions on the ground, having fallen out of their thrones.

The Doctor laughed. "Never fails!" he crowed before taking off, dragging Rose with him. Percy and Annabeth exchanged panicked glances and hurried after the pair, not wanting to remain in the room with a bunch of extremely embarrassed gods. After all, with them, embarrassment turned to anger turned into blow-up-all-the-mortals-in-a-hundred-foot-radius.

So they followed.

Annabeth and Percy had no idea where they were being led to, but they should have expected this.

"So... the box is yours?" Annabeth inquired, trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice.

"Yep!" the Doctor said, popping the "P". "Gorgeous, isn't she? My beautiful blue box." He smiled, almost dreamily, at the box. "She's called the TARDIS."

"The what?" Percy asked in confusion.

"TARDIS," Rose repeated, looking amused. "Stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space." Her grin widened, and a hint of tongue peeked out from between her teeth. "She's his spaceship."

Percy and Annabeth exchanged disbelieving glances.

"Your spaceship," Percy deadpanned. "As in a ship that flies through space."

"Of course!" the Doctor exclaimed. "What else could the words spaceship possibly be referring to?"

Percy shrugged. "Beats me. I just wanted to make sure I heard right."

Annabeth shook her head. "But that's-"

"Impossible?" Rose provided airily, smirking slightly. "Yeah. Tha's what I thought at first, too. But once you go inside..." She chuckled. "Well, there's really no way to convince yourself that it isn't real once you see it."

"See what?" Annabeth cried, sounding close to losing her temper. She really didn't like not knowing things. "What. Is. In. This. Box?!"

The Doctor grinned and slid his his key into the lock, then turned it. An audible click sounded, and the door swung open slightly. "Care to find out?"

It was a dumb thing to do. Even Percy knew that. This man, whoever he was, struck fear into the gods. He was obviously dangerous. And Rose... well, Rose was normal. Nice, even. But the Doctor wasn't someone they could trust. And besides...

"How in Hades are we all supposed to fit in there?" Percy asked bluntly.

The Doctor scratched behind his ear, feigning innocence. "Wellll... You won't know unless you go inside, will you?"

Annabeth knew she shouldn't, but the Doctor irritated her. He was taunting her with knowledge, holding it just out of her reach and telling her to jump for it. She shouldn't take the bait. She couldn't! She wouldn't.

With a resigned and disgruntled sigh, Annabeth stepped forward. She had to see what made the Doctor smile so mischievously. She had to know.

Percy saw his girlfriend's decision and followed her, hoping that he wasn't making a mistake.

Annabeth pushed open the door...

Inside, the two demigods tried to close their mouths and failed. So they stayed open, silent 'O's that would have been shouts of surprise and excitement, but neither really had full use of their voices, seeing as they'd disappeared from the shock.

"Well, go on," the Doctor prompted excitedly. To Rose, he muttered, "This is my favorite bit, right here."

"Mine too," Rose murmured in reply, stifling a giggle as she gazed at the astonished faces of the two teens. "Never gets old, does it?"

"Never."

"It's bigger on the inside!" Annabeth breathed. "The outside is smaller than the inside... How?"

"Advanced alien technology," the Doctor said airily. "You get used to it if you've been living in it for nine hundred years."

"Nine hundred-!" Percy exclaimed. "You two are that old?"

"He is," Rose said, jerking a thumb at the smirking Doctor. "I'm barely twenty. He just picked me up and swept me away on an adventure."

Percy frowned. "Wait, so he kidnapped you?"

"Of course not!" the Doctor retorted indignantly. "I am not a kidnapper! I am many things, but a kidnapper is not one of them."

Annabeth pursed her lips and turned to Rose for confirmation.

"He's not lying," Rose reassured them. "He just asked me if I wanted to travel across the stars with him... I said no the first time, though." She smirked. "Luckily, he came back a few seconds later and told me that it traveled in time. Biggest mistake of my life, saying no."

"Good thing I really wanted you to come," the Doctor said softly, smiling at Rose as though she was the only person in the room.

Percy and Annabeth exchanged knowing glances. This was one pair that was very obviously in love.

"Anyway," the Doctor said suddenly, breaking the momentary silence. "TARDIS, time and space, fun. Care to come?"

This threw the demigods for a loop. "Excuse me?" Annabeth asked. "Are you joking?"

"He doesn't joke about things like this," Rose said knowingly. "This is our home. He thinks long and hard about who he invites on here."

The Doctor nodded. "I do. I take this very seriously. The last time I didn't think before inviting someone along..." He snorted. "Well, I don't want another Adam. That was just a mistake."

Rose nodded in agreement, looking slightly guilty, but a pleased grin rested on her lips, like she was remembering something good. "Yeah, he was a tosser," she said, waving a hand in the air as though brushing away memories of this "Adam" fellow.

"But you two," the Doctor said firmly, gesturing towards the pair, "are nothing like Adam." He frowned. "Well, maybe you are a bit like him, Ms. Chase. Knowledge seekers." He shook his head as though symbolically shaking off his misgivings. "But you'd know better than to try and take information from the year 200,000 and send it to 2012, right?"

"Is that what Adam did?" Percy asked curiously.

"Tried to do," Rose replied. "We stopped him."

The Doctor nodded. "Good thing, too. He almost destroyed history! Humans can't have knowledge that advanced until the right time, otherwise everything just-" He waved his hands around a bit, demonstrating how everything went. "Right Rose?"

"Absolutely," Rose said, voice curiously void of emotion, as she winked at the guests aboard the TARDIS. "Makes perfect sense."

"Really, Rose? Really?" The Doctor sounded hurt at her tone, but he was grinning at his friend. "I'm sorry I can't explain it better for you, but that's just what happens! Time gets all wibbly-wobbly, and that's never fun 'cause I always have to fix it!"

Rose smirked. "It's a bit fun. You can't deny you enjoy saving the universe."

"Well, yeah, it's enjoyable, but only because I'm making sure that everything living in the universe has a universe to live in!" the Doctor protested. "Including me, for that matter. I live here. I would like to remain so, both living and in the universe."

"Anyway," Rose said quickly, turning back to Percy and Annabeth. "D'you want to come?"

Percy had his misgivings. These two were a dangerous pair that delighted in chaos... but could he honestly say he was any different? Besides, it sounded so thrilling. Being out there, amongst the stars, flying from one adventure to the next... how could they say no?

Annabeth, too, was quite tempted. It was one thing to learn about the stars, and why they were in the constellations they were in, and which great heroes caused those shapes to be formed. It was another to be up where the stars were, traipsing across the universe.

But...

"Why are the gods so scared of you?" Annabeth asked. Percy glanced at his girlfriend, then back at the alien-human duo in curiosity. It was a good question. The gods, all-powerful beings that ruled the earth, feared this skinny little man with an odd sense of fashion and off-world origins. Why?

Rose frowned. "Actually, I was wonderin' about that as well." She turned to her best friend. "What makes 'em nervous about ya, Doctor?"

The Doctor looked uncomfortable, then shrugged. "Well, it could be the fact that the Daleks are scared of me... Well, were scared of me. Actually, a lot of species are scared of me." The Doctor frowned. "Didn't mean for that to happen."

"Wait," Rose said, stopping the Doctor. "The gods are scared of the Daleks?"

"Everyone smart is scared of the Daleks," the Doctor replied.

Rose snorted. "I mus' be an idiot then."

"And why's that?"

"Cuz as long as you're here, I'm not scared of anythin', Doctor," Rose said matter-of-factly with a smile.

"They're almost gag-worthy," Percy muttered. "It's adorable, but..."

"I know," Annabeth whispered back. "It's like they don't even know they're doing it!"

"Doing what?" the Doctor asked, his superior Time Lord hearing picking up the soft words being exchanged by their guests. "What are we doing?"

Percy opened his mouth, but Annabeth quickly said, "Forgetting we're here and not really explaining anything at all." She shot Percy a look that said, quite clearly, Don't make them feel awkward. We need info and they're going to give it to us, so shut up and follow my lead.

It was a testament to how well he knew his girlfriend that Percy understood that perfectly. He closed his mouth and got ready to pay attention.

"Oh, sorry about that!" the Doctor said, not looking very sorry but evidently trying. "What do you need explained?"

"What are Daleks?" Annabeth asked.

"Evil," Rose offered venomously, causing Percy to glance at her in surprise. He hadn't expected such an outburst from the girl.

"Rose is right," the Doctor added, sounding quieter than Percy and Annabeth had ever heard him. "They're monsters. Genetically mutated creatures that believe that all other creatures are inferior. They want to destroy anything that isn't Dalek."

"Why are they scared of you, though?" Percy asked.

The Doctor sighed. "That's... that's a bit of a long story." He looked down and swallowed, hard. "My... My people were called the Time Lords. We had the knowledge and resources to travel through time and space, but they were... well, pompous and stuffy. Y'know, I never really fit in," he confided, looking proud, annoyed, and heartbroken all at once. "I was a bit of a rogue. We were supposed to sit back and watch and never get involved unless something universe-ending was going on, but I just borrowed a TARDIS and started interferin' every which way." He leaned against the console, hands in his pockets. "The Daleks were taking over. We were the only ones who had a chance. So... we fought them. The largest, bloodiest war in the universe. The Time War.

"The horrors of that time... you wouldn't believe the terrors the War created. The Skaro Degradations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-Have-Been King with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-Weres. They were monsters born of the War, the real War to end all other wars, but not really because war never truly ends. I lived to see my people, once the proudest race in the universe, become no better than the creatures we fought. And the rest of the cosmos got trapped in the middle.

The Doctor dragged a hand down his face, covering his eyes briefly before looking at them once more. "A young woman, hardly more than a girl, died because she refused my help, because she no longer believed there was a difference between Time Lords and Daleks." He sighed heavily. "And now... it's all gone. My planet, my people... All gone. All dead. The Daleks, too. Everyone died, and I survived because I was the one who ended it all."

Rose choked on her own breath. "What do you mean, you ended it all?"

The Doctor laughed humorlessly. "Did I never tell you? Rassilon- one of the three who founded Time Lord society, eons ago- was brought back to life. I guess someone thought he could figure out a way to win the War... but he was insane. He decided that in order to end the War, he would use the Ultimate Sanction, which would turn Time Lords into beings of pure consciousness... and destroy the rest of the universe."

Annabeth and Percy were rapt, hanging on the Doctor's every word. Rose was close to tears.

"I had to stop him," the Doctor rasped, eyes wide and wet. "It was either us or the universe, and I chose you. All of you, I chose you. My family and friends, all gone, all dead, because I knew that Rassilon was going to destroy everything so that we could survive, and that was something I would never be able to live with."

He stood up suddenly, startling those watching. "So there you go," he said loudly, spinning around with the most blatantly fake grin the three humans had ever seen pasted on his face. "That's the reason the Daleks are scared of me. That's why I'm so intimidating."

Rose let out a grating sob and threw her arms around the Doctor. Automatically, it seemed, his arms went around her. She cried into his shoulder, and the Doctor looked somewhat surprised, as though he hadn't been expecting this sort of reaction from Rose.

Annabeth and Percy stared on in shock, still processing the horrifying, heartbreaking tale the Doctor had told them.

"I don't know if going along is a good idea right now," Percy muttered. "It looks like those two have things to discuss."

Annabeth nodded in agreement. "Maybe another time," she whispered in return.

And with that, the two slipped, unnoticed, out of the TARDIS.

"Do you think we'll get to go with them?" Percy asked. "I mean, if they asked again, I'm not sure I'd say no."

Annabeth shook her head thoughtfully. "No," she replied. "At least, not this time. If they come back, maybe. Probably. But now? No way."

"Yeah. It's kind of a lot to take in."

"Yeah."

"... So. Care to finish the tour?"

"Sure. Right this way."

"Why did you never tell me?" Rose whispered into the Doctor's ear as she held him.

"I thought..." The Doctor's arms tightened around her. "I thought you'd leave. I-If you knew, I thought you'd be just as scared as they are. But when they asked, I just told them, because I needed to tell them, and I needed you to hear, to know what I've done."

Rose sighed through her tears. "You stupid man," she murmured. "I've told you before and I'll tell you again: you're stuck with me forever."

The Doctor grinned a little despite himself. "Well... stuck with you, that's not so bad."

Rose let out a choked laugh. "Really?"

"Yes," he replied firmly, hugging her harder.

Rose smiled and buried her face in the Doctor's shoulder. The fabric of his jacket was warm and soft to the touch, and it smelled like bananas and applegrass and time. A bit like dust, a bit like metal, and old and new all at once. It smelled like comfort and the universe and warmth and home. Rose never wanted to let go.

The Doctor kissed the top of her head. "Rose Tyler," he whispered.

"Yeah?" she mumbled into his jacket.

"...Never mind."

The sound of the universe echoed across Olympus. Inside their throne room, the gods relaxed minutely.

"He's gone," Zeus whispered.

"Do you think he'll be back this time?" Athena asked, struggling to sound in control of the situation. "Do you think we've convinced him that we can change, that he can stay away?"

"Even if we have, it won't matter," Poseidon said quietly. "He'll always come back, just to make sure. He won't leave us to our own devices; he never does."

Aphrodite sighed, ever-changing eyes glittering. "He's changed," she murmured. "Every time he came to us before he had those blue eyes and that leather jacket... but not this time."

"He said it would happen one day," Hephaestus grumbled to his wife. "He said his face would be different. Same man, new package. Like transferring a memory chip into a new shell."

"But it's more than that," the goddess of love insisted. "He never came with a companion before. He's changed on the inside as well. That girl..."

"Don't get involved with that man," Hades warned. "Don't try and entrench yourself in his love life. I've seen what happens to people who get close to him. It's like touching the sun." The god's voice lowered, sounding almost mournful. "They burn."

"That poor girl..." Hestia muttered softly. "Oh, that poor, poor girl..."

Percy and Annabeth gazed on in wonder as the box faded from sight, the blue light at the top flashing and the strange sound of grinding issuing from it. The sight and sound brought to mind images of stars and distant shores and everything the universe had to offer... disappearing.

For a moment- just a second- the two shared a glance and wondered if they had just made the biggest mistake of their lives.

But then the regret was gone, and the two smiled warmly at each other, happy that their new found friends were off on their next adventure.

"Tour," Annabeth reminded him.

"Right," Percy replied, reaching out to take Annabeth's hand. "Lead the way, Wise Girl."

DONE!

Oo-hoo-hoo! Wow! This was fun! And a bit heartbreaking. But fun!

How was it? Was it good? Do you like how I put this together? Was it intriguing? Saddening? Or did it just suck? Let me know by RFF-ing!

...And I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry that I put in that bit with the gods... because we know what happens, you and I. We know where this is heading. This was not a Doomsday fix-it.

Although... who knows? Maybe it could be. We'll see if I decide to continue this. If not a Doomsday fix-it, it might be a Journey's End fix-it!

Or it could be canon compliant. Doomsday and Journey's End and The End of Time will happen, and the Doctor will regenerate, and he'll visit with other companions. Because if I continue this, the Doctor will keep on visiting, once with Martha and once Donna. Also, if I let Journey's End and The End of Time happen, the eleventh Doctor will visit once with Amy, one with Amy and Rory, maybe twice with River, and once with Clara.

Should I continue in this way, or just leave it here? Let me know!

The word of the day is AFTERMATH! This is what happens after the thing that happened. Like after Rose got... y'know, and the Doctor did the hologram thing and... y'know. Sadness was really the aftermath of that whole shebang. Nothing but tears.

Love ya! lulu