A/N: I own nothing. I make nothing. It all belongs to BBC and RTD and I'm just playing with their Whoverse. I'm more of a Torchwood fan, so any canon inconsistencies from the Whoverse, or Torchwood I guess, are more than likely accidental and I would love your help in pointing them out! It'll become obvious which changes are conscious decisions once our main character arrives in Cardiff.
"So, where are we off to, then?" asked Rose Tyler as the Doctor assumed command of the navigational controls of the TARDIS.
"Oh, you know, the usual. Running. Mayhem. Saving lives. Protecting the universe..." the Time Lord trailed off.
"So, no idea then?" Rose replied cheekily.
"Of course not! We go where we're needed!" exclaimed the Doctor.
Soon after beginning their flight into the unknown, the TARDIS began to pick-up a strange energy signal. She tuned her senses onto the strange reading and soon was recoiling in shock. She sent an empathic cry to her Doctor, who suddenly collapsed while piloting the time-ship.
Rose quickly noticed her friend's distress and rushed to his side. "Doctor! What's wrong?"
"TARDIS… need, change… time… pull lever…" was all the Doctor managed to tell Rose before he slipped into unconsciousness. Not knowing exactly what the Doctor meant by his vague message, but trusting him enough to tell her what she needed to know, Rose pulled the nearest lever to her position on the floor with the Doctor.
The effect was immediate as the TARDIS was violently thrown off course and directed toward the strange reading that she had encountered. It took this violent shake to the TARDIS to wake Jack Harkness, who was happily dreaming of his time on a pleasure planet surrounded by alien vixens before being deposited roughly on the floor.
Once the violent shaking had stopped, Jack managed to find his feet and make his way out from his bedroom and to the control room.
"What the HELL just happened?" he demanded of Rose.
"I… I, I don't know. The Doctor collapsed, told me to pull a lever so I did. I don't know where or whe-"
She was cut off by the violent intake of breath from the Doctor as he roused from his sleeping state. Before she or Jack could ask any questions, he leapt from the floor and raced to the TARDIS controls. He needed to confirm what she had telepathically shared with him while he slept. He figured that as the TARDIS ran her analyses was as good a time as any to share with his two companions what had happened.
"After Rose and I set the TARDIS to travel to our next location she detected a mass of void stuff" pausing briefly to gather his breath, he continued before the obvious questions could flow. "Void stuff is the matter that makes up the… 'space' between alternate realities. It should NOT exist within any physical universe… well at least not in this quantity… well outside of a singularity…anyways; When the TARDIS picked up its energy signal she sent a cry to me, which I was unprepared for and which caused my collapse."
He paused to make sure that the two humans were following him he waited until he received nods from them both before finishing.
"Rose, when you pulled that lever I told you to, it changed our course towards the void stuff. I thought that I would regain consciousness in time to pilot our final approach… but I didn't. We flew right into the void stuff and landed ourselves in an alternate reality"
Rose immediately felt a wave of guilt assault her for her misstep. She glanced at the Doctor. There was no judgment or recrimination in his eyes and she breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he did not blame her for her action upon his vague instruction.
"Well how the hell do we get back then?!"
Leave it to Jack to insist upon an answer to their current situation. The Doctor looked at him with sympathy before responding.
"I'm not sure yet"
/*/*/
Jordan Mars was unaware when he left his last class of the day that his life would change forever.
Strolling slowly from the bus stop toward his apartment in Tampa Florida, he heard a strange sound. It was something familiar… something that should definitely NOT exist.
Clearly someone has their TV volume up far too loud if I'm hearing the sounds of the TARDIS from the damn sidewalk he thought as he continued walking.
Turning the corner, Jordan nearly stopped breathing as he caught the last pulse of blue light of the TARDIS materializing in front of him.
I must have lost my mind
Despite these thoughts about his mental health, he positioned himself a few feet from the door of the TARDIS and stared at it intently. He didn't want the perception filter to augment his sight so he lost track of the beautiful time-ship.
His patience was soon rewarded as the door swung open to reveal the Doctor, Jack and Rose stepping out from the box.
The Doctor caught sight of the young man who had his gaze fixed on his TARDIS and turned to him.
"Hello there! I know this might sound a bit odd… but could you tell me where we are?" asked the Doctor
Jordan couldn't help but chuckle. If only that question were the odd thing about this he thought before answering. "Yes, Doctor I'm happy to tell you where and when you are, but I think it might take a bit of time… we could head to my apartment nearby, or perhaps retire to the TARDIS for this discussion?" he added the last part on a whim, not expecting the Time Lord to grant access to his ship to a strange human within moments of meeting them.
The Doctor recoiled at the response of the young man. He knows of us? How? This is clearly Earth… late 20th century. How does he know of me?
Jordan decided it was best if he explain at least a little of the conclusions he had drawn.
"Doctor, I know you're wondering how I know you. And you Jack Harkness. And you Rose Tyler. I know because here… welll… you only exist in a television show. I'm assuming you have traveled from an alternate universe where you actually exist. Otherwise, I'm schizophrenic. I cant begin to understand how you got here, and I'm sure you want to get home as soon as you can. I can help give you the lay of the land here while you figure a way to get back to your own universe…" he trailed off not knowing how much more he should say.
"TV you say?" Jack asked innocently.
Jordan chuckled under his breath. "Oh yes, Jack. TV. And yes you are hugely popular and everyone wants to bed you. That the answer you're looking for?"
"Only if that everyone includes you gorgeous" replied Jack with a wink.
This caused Jordan to blush. He was 23 with fairly plain looks and short brown hair. His eyes were, in his opinion, the only thing good about his features. One good feature was surely not enough to attract someone as perfect as Jack Harkness. Never the less… it never hurt anyone to try. The deep sapphire blue eyes were utterly captivating, and Jordan knew it. He batted them at Jack.
"Enough" intoned the Doctor in a voice that brooked no interruption.
"Since you already seemed to know so much Jordan, we will retire to the TARDIS and finish this discussion. Also I'm assuming you have information that could be critical to our timelines. I'm hoping you realize the enormity of keeping the timelines intact and will keep it to yourself whenever possible. Yes?"
"Of course Doctor" supplied Jordan with all the humility he could muster in front of the Time Lord.
"Good. Then… in we go." And without another word he turned on his heel and re-entered the TARDIS, followed closely by Rose.
Jack waited for Jordan to collect himself and breathe a few calming breaths before entering the ship that he had only seen on TV. When Jordan strode into the TARDIS he was followed closely by Jack. Closer than was strictly necessary to follow him into the TARDIS. This lead to an increasingly erotic train of thought that battled for dominance in his conscious mind as he marveled at the space around him.
"I know everyone says this… but it really is bigger on the inside!" he said, which caused a sparkle of amusement to enter the Time Lord's eyes.
He would have no time to appreciate these thoughts further, because as soon as he took a few steps into the TARDIS, she immediately slammed her doors closed and set of on a return trip through the void stuff, and back into their own reality.