Okay, so, this is an old story of mine, again originating on the StarDestroyer . net forums (it was originally inspired by an old discussion thread I started there). It is, I will confess, something of a shame of mine- I wrote it without a copy of Dresden Files on hand, entirely from memory, and there were... a lot of errors. If you want an explanation... Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-Wimey. :) I may rewrite it at some point, but for now, I'm posting it in its original form, aside from editing as necessary to conform to this site's formatting, and changing the intro/author's note. Hopefully others will find some amusement from it, if only from laughing at the errors.
Obvious disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or The Dresden Files, or anything originating therein. This story is not for profit, and I am making no money off of it.
[size=150][i][b]TIMES' RITES[/b][/i][/size]
Somewhere infinitely remote yet closer than touch, lost in the space between realities, between past, present, and future, a blue police telephone box tumbled through time.
Inside, in an improbably large room ringed by metal stairs and doors, bathed in orangish light and centred around an eclectic console out of which rose a column of glass or some other transparent substance, a pale, slender woman with long legs and flowing red hair stood leaning against the railing of the stairs. She laughed exuberantly, her eyes dancing as they followed the frenetic movements of a gangly man in a brown tweed coat and a bright red bow tie as he dashed around the console, flipping switches, pulling levers, and muttering loudly to himself, or perhaps to the living machine that he called home. Amy Pond watched him fondly, her ragged Doctor, not at all alarmed by the ever-present rumble or the constant shuddering motion, or the occasional jolts that shook the whole control room.
"No no nono, Oh! Something's interfering with the temporal-positioning adjusters." The man slapped a hand on the console as if to wordlessly shout "Eureka!", then gripped it tightly, grinning broadly, as the whole room lurched violently, nearly causing his legs to slide out from under him on the slippery glass floor. Amy gave a slight shriek and clutched at the railing of the stairway as she stumbled, before a hand gripped her arm, steadying her. She pulled free, embarrassed, but cast a quick, appreciative smile over her shoulder at Rory, marvelling again for a moment at the fact that he was now Rory Williams/Pond, her husband. His face, however, wore an expression of mingled concern and a hint of disapproval as he watched the Doctor. She barely resisted rolling her eyes. She loved her husband dearly, or she would never have married him, but he could be such a worry wort, and he still didn't seem to entirely trust the Doctor. Well, it had taken her long enough to trust him, but Rory really needed to let go of the past and stop worrying. She tried to ignore the painful reminder that Rory had an awful lot more past to forget than most on her account. Her thoughts were interrupted as the control room shuddered violently again, but this time she was able to catch herself on the railing of the stairway. She stepped down to the floor of the control room, Rory following her carefully, figuring that it would be more stable down their.
She'd momentarily forgotten the glass floor, but she was used enough to the TARDSIS that she could mostly keep her balance when the time machine lurched again.
"Oy! Behave yourself!" The TARDIS's pilot slapped the console, casting a sharp glance upward at the column that rose from the console into the ceiling, and the complex machinery inside of it.
"Doctor", Amy called, curious. "Where are we going? Or is that when?"
"Somewhere. Some[i]when[/i]. Not sure."
"Well that tells us a lot", Rory grumbled, to Amy's mild irritation. The Doctor shot him a sharp look.
"TARDIS is locked in, I can't alter course."
"But where too?", Amy asked again.
"Can't tell Amy, I'll know when we get their", the Doctor replied, then staggered as the control room shuddered again. He glanced at a view screen, and his face brightened eagerly. "Oh, looks like we should be arriving... aannny moment." The shuddering of the control room eased as the central column began to move up and down, and a deep, wheezing groan echoed through the TARDIS. With a final, slight jolt, and a deep, echoing thud, the time machine stopped shaking. The sound faded away, and all was still and quiet. Amy straightened, Rory moving up to stand a little behind her, releasing his grip on the railing. She glanced at the Doctor in anticipation.
"Well", Amy asked after a moment. "Where are we?"
The Doctor grinned eagerly, that boyish grin at the start of each adventure that could not quite hide the age or the sadness in his eyes. It made her heart beat faster, imagining what lay outside the TARDIS's front door, knowing that it was all about to being again. Even the danger. They could handle danger.
"Let's find out."
The Doctor wheeled and made for the exit on the far side of the control room. Amy bounced after him, barely slowing to snatch her jacket from the coat hanger by the door. She could sense Rory following behind her, but she didn't pause or look back. He would be their no matter what, and the knowledge made her feel a little warmer, and sadder, inside. In front of her, the Doctor had thrown open the doors and stepped out into the night, right into the middle of...
"A parking lot?" Amy's face fell, mirroring her baffled surprise. "Doctor, why are we in a parking lot?" A curious thought occurred to her, making her grin. "Ooh, is it an alien parking lot?"
The Doctor seemed not to hear her. He was glancing around inquisitively, first at the nearly empty lot, the gas pumps in the middle of the asphalt and the small store on the far side of the lot, then back at the TARDIS.
"Why did you bring me here", he muttered, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. A bright green light lit up on the end of the long, knobbly silver device, which he waved back and forth in front of him as he peered into the night.
"Doctor", she queried. "What is it?"
He continued to wave the sonic back and forth for a few moments, then finally seemed to hear her and turned, shrugging slightly.
"Hmmm... what's that? Oh, no, looks just like an ordinary parking lot." He looked slightly disappointed, matching her own sentiments. "Earth, mid-western United States, late 20th. Century, I believe." Then his features perked up, and Amy knew at once that their was something unusual here after all. "But I'm picking up an odd energy signature. Looks like its coming from inside the store."
The Doctor snapped his fingers, causing the TARDIS doors to swing shut behind them, then turned and strode away across the lot, toward the little store. Amy followed, grinning once more, with Rory a few steps behind her. They crossed the pavement quickly, and though the night was not cold, Amy reflexively drew her jacket tighter around herself as they moved away from the TARDIS, her eyes darting quickly into the deep shadows at the edges of the lot. She felt Rory tensing behind her, and knew that it wasn't just her imagination. Their was something about this dark, empty space, so ordinary yet so lifeless, that made her shiver. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she felt like someone was... [i]watching[/i] her, with a malevolent gaze, and though she would never have said it, she was grateful for the presence of Rory a few feet behind her and of the Doctor, his face lit up faintly by the green glow of the sonic, a few paces ahead. If he was troubled, he didn't show it, just strode through the door of the little gas station like a king entering his castle. She smiled slightly, then followed him quickly inside, Rory close behind her.
The inside of the store was much like that of any other gas station store that Amy had ever been in- dull, crowded, and filled with cheap merchandise. The feeling of menace had lessened slightly, but it had not completely disappeared. A young man, just a kid really, sat behind the counter, looking both very bored and very tired. Amy could empathize, though she raised an eyebrow when he didn't even seem to notice the sonic. The Doctor, however, paid him no mind- simply strode on past him down one of the isles, the sonic held up out in front of him, turning to follow each flicker of its green light. Amy followed, wondering where all of this was going. This place didn't seem like anywhere special or dangerous or exciting, but she'd learned to expect the peculiar everywhere, especially when she was with the Doctor.
The Doctor had reached the end of the isle and turned the corner, then stopped so suddenly that Amy, having rounded the corner behind him, nearly ran right into him. She peered over his shoulder, curious as to what had brought him so abruptly to a halt, but she saw only a gangly and rather unkempt boy who looked about fifteen years old. The boy suddenly seemed to realize that someone was standing behind him and yelped, spinning so fast that she started. He was tall, slightly awkward, with sharp features and brown hair and eyes. He looked rather ordinary, if a little on the scruffy side, but their was something wary in his face, and his eyes were haunted. She looked quickly away. Something told her that it would be a bad idea to meet those eyes for long.
The boy had assumed a defensive posture, and the Doctor, in an unusual display of tact, had taken a quick step back, raising both hands in what was clearly meant to be a non-threatening gesture. Unfortunately, his right hand was still holding the sonic screwdriver. The boy's eyes fell on it, then widened slightly, and he took a step back too, his back hitting the shelf behind him.
"Stay away from me", he snapped, his voice slightly high and shaky. "Just, stay away."
"Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you", the Doctor said.
"Oh, right", snapped the boy. "So that's why you're got me cornered with your little glowey thing."
"What, my screwdriver", the Doctor asked, sounding surprised and a little hurt. Amy smirked, then sighed as the Doctor waved it around and the boy flinched. "Its' harmless." The Doctor leaned forward to peer more closely at the boy. "Why would we want to hurt you? And more importantly, why would you think we'd want to hurt you?"
The boy shrugged, though he no longer seemed angry or afraid, just uneasy and a little confused.
"Everybody does", he said bitterly. "Why should you be any different?"
Amy elbowed the Doctor aside, ignoring his indignant expression, and stepped toward the boy.
"Are you in some kind of trouble", she asked softly. "'Cause we can help", she added quickly when the kid's face tightened. "Right boys?"
"Oh, yeah, we're great at helping", the Doctor threw in, pushing forward again. "We're the best at... helping." He trailed off awkwardly. The kid was looking at the Doctor like he wasn't sure if he was sane. Amy signed. She loved the Doctor, but he had a way of attracting those sorts of looks, her mad man with a box.
"Don't mind the Doctor", Amy said. "He's mostly harmless."
The boy studied her for a moment, his eyes drifting down her legs before they snapped quickly back up, his face reddening slightly. Amy sighed inwardly. Teenagers.
"Who are you?", he asked finally.
"I'm Amy", she replied. "Amy Pond. And this is my husband Rory", she nudged him with her elbow, "and this is the Doctor." She nodded toward her other companion.
"What kind of Doctor", the boy asked.
"Oh, this and that", the Doctor replied vaguely.
"He dabbles", Rory threw in.
"So that's us", Amy said. "What's your name?"
Their was a brief silence.
"You're not..." the boy swallowed. "You're not with [i]him[/i]?"
"With who?", Amy asked, confused.
The boy frowned, as if he was considering what to say next. Then his face cleared, as he seemed to make up his mind.
"Look, don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think you can help me. Thanks and everything, but its really not your business, so if you don't mind-"
He tried to push past them, but the Doctor reached out and caught his arm.
"Do you know that you're emitting low-level Thaumaton Radiation on an irregular frequency?"
The boy had turned to glare at the Doctor, breaking his grip, but now he just looked confused, and a little concerned.
"Tauma-What?"
The lights went out.