a/n: The original version of this story was written as a response to a writeworld prompt on tumblr. Since then I've significantly rewritten and revised it.
Chapter One
With its typical metal-on-metal wheezing and groaning, the time and space ship ripped through the barrier that separated the Time Vortex from the normal space of the universe. Seemingly out of nothing, it slowly appeared—at first ghostlike, then more and more solid until what appeared to be a tall, wooden blue box stood on the flat, gravelled roof of a tall building. There was a paneled door on one side; a sign over the door stated it to be a Police Public Call Box, while another, smaller one on the door itself gave instructions as to the box's use, not the least of which was the fact that the door should be pulled to open. As the hole between reality and the Vortex healed itself, a light on the roof of the box flashed once, twice, three times, and the sounds heralding the box's arrival faded.
The door of the Police Box opened—inward rather than outward—and Rose Tyler walked out onto the roof. She was a young, very pretty blonde woman from a 21st century South London council estate, and despite that she now considered herself a seasoned time traveler, she was still amazed every time she walked out the door to find herself somewhere different than she had been just moments earlier.
Rose was followed by an older man who called himself the Doctor. Although the Doctor appeared human, she knew he wasn't, if for no other reason than the fact that the blue box he traveled in was actually a bigger-on-the-inside ship he called the TARDIS. That, and the fact that she had recently discovered he had two hearts. Rose couldn't say which was odder, the fact that he was an alien from outer space but looked human and sounded like he was from Northern England, or the fact that he had a time machine. Probably the time machine, she decided, since with it he had taken her as far forwards as the day the Earth exploded and as far backwards as 1869 where they met Charles Dickens, and at Christmastime no less. After all, how many humans could do that?
When Rose saw where they had landed, she stopped and gaped at her surroundings: the tall steel and glass buildings around them, the heavy clouds above, the modern city below. Very modern, she thought, as she watched tiny vehicles—part car, part airplane—whiz through the gaps between the buildings.
"This is incredible," she said, her voice filled with excitement.
"It's a dump," replied the Doctor.
The TARDIS was currently on the top of an alien skyscraper in an alien city on an alien planet far in the future. At least it was far in the future for Rose. She wasn't certain whether it was the future or the past or the present for the Doctor. To Rose's disappointment, he rarely talked about himself, and he had never shared with her whether the time he had been born into was from her relative past or future.
Assuming he had been born at all, and hadn't sprung fully formed from the head of Zeus, she thought, remembering a bit about ancient Greek gods. No, that was Athena, she reminded herself. She could see him as a modern Greek god, strong, powerful, and dead sexy with his steely blue eyes, strong features, broad shoulders and sexy leather jacket. But there was no way in Hades he was, or ever had been, a Greek goddess.
"I think it's interesting," Rose responded. "We haven't been to too many planets. 'S kinda grey, though." She wrinkled her nose. "And what's that smell?"
"The usual," he said. "Incompletely consumed fuel resulting in hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and ozone. Among other things."
"So, smog."
"Yep, smog," he agreed, nodding with a proud smile for her.
"Wow. A Sucona 15B5. I used to fly one of those," came a voice from behind them. Rose glanced over her shoulder.
Their traveling companion, Captain Jack Harkness, had emerged from the TARDIS. As usual, Jack was wearing his trademark dark trousers, white shirt, and braces with a dark blue overcoat that looked vaguely military. Like Rose, Jack was human, and with his thick, dark hair, twinkling blue eyes, and straight white teeth, he was considered very handsome by most of the people they met, both male and female, regardless of species. Although he had been brought up on a distant planet in the 51st century, he had a vaguely American accent, something Rose found just as odd as the Doctor's Northern one.
After pulling the TARDIS door shut, he gestured at a small ship flying just above the tops of the buildings.
"When I was in the Time Agency," he continued, "we flew B5s all the time. Sweet ride. Interplanetary class, but can fly in the atmosphere as well. Handles beautifully in places like this. It can stop on a dime and handles turns like…"
"I flew one, too," the Doctor interrupted. "Can stall out in conditions like this. Bad furon/hydro conversion design. High concentrations of ozone can gum up the works. Sucona fixed that problem in the later C classes. The 17Cs in particular are much better ships."
"Well, yeah, but that doesn't negate the beauty of…" Jack's voice trailed off. He and Rose stared at the Doctor. "When did you fly one of those?" he asked.
"Been around a while," the Doctor said absently as he scanned their surroundings. "Flown all kinds of things, me. Even raced in the Jacosic thirty million. Came in fifth."
"That's incredible," Jack said, sounding more than slightly impressed. "Considering the typical number of entries in that race, that is a very nice showing."
"I thought so."
"Doctor," Rose interjected, "where are we?"
"New Japan," he answered. "The planet, not the country. Settled by humans in the year 50,003, right after a massive explosion on the sun's surface decimated the Earth's atmosphere, making your planet uninhabitable for centuries. Most of the population of the Earth moved out to the stars until it was safe to return, but some, like the people who settled here, never went back.
"Right now we're in New Tokyo, right on the edge of the south eastern quadrant of the city." He glanced at Jack. "It's 16 May. In the year 51,130."
"Oh, shit," Jack swore.
"Yeah." The Doctor nodded ruefully. "Couldn't have put it better myself."
"Why? What's wrong," Rose asked with just a hint of nervousness creeping into her voice.
"This is the year of the morality riots," the Doctor told her. "The government of New Japan had strict codes in regards to dress and behavior, and in the year 51,130 the people began rioting for change."
"Today in fact," Jack added. "No one knows what triggered the riots, though."
"Wanna find out?" the Doctor asked, raising one eyebrow at Jack. He had a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
"Doctor, what about Rose?" Jack reminded him.
"Oh, yeah," the Doctor said. He glanced over at Rose and frowned. "Maybe not such a good idea."
"Why not?" Rose demanded.
"Do the words 'jeopardy friendly' mean anything to you?"
She rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine. If I could survive Justicia, the Gelth, and hanging off a barrage balloon during the Blitz, I think I can survive this."
"That's what I said. Jeopardy friendly."
Rose stared at him in a battle of wills. The Doctor's eyes narrowed, and he stared back at her intently. She knew he was analyzing every possible outcome of them staying. She could almost hear the wheels turn in his head. Finally he sighed in resignation.
"Alright," he said, "but don't wander off." This last part was accompanied by a shake of his finger at her. As Rose grinned in triumph, he returned to looking at the skyline.
She glanced down at herself. She was wearing a new, for her, t-shirt, one she had found in the TARDIS wardrobe. It was bright pink with the slogan Someone Went to New Rome and All I Got Was This Lousy Tee Shirt emblazoned in dark blue across the chest. She had paired it with her pink hoody, jeans and white trainers.
"If they have a strict dress code, am I alright wearing this?" she asked.
"You're fine," the Doctor answered, not even glancing in her direction.
"You look lovely as always," Jack said with a wink at her.
"Thanks," responded the Doctor. "'S a new jumper. Thought it brought out the color of my eyes."
Rose rolled her eyes again. Every time Jack tried to compliment her, the Doctor jumped in and intercepted it. She didn't protest anymore, though, mostly because she strongly suspected the Doctor was demonstrating a jealous streak. And she kinda liked it.
On the other side of the TARDIS they found a locked door that led into the building. The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver out of the inside pocket of his leather jacket and pointed it at the lock. The screwdriver whirred and its tip lit up in blue. With a loud click, the lock disengaged.
After stowing his sonic back in his pocket, the Doctor automatically took Rose's hand. Then he flashed her a manic grin.
"Let's go and investigate a riot."
