As I am a professional writer and have work to do to get paid, I have decided to deal with these thudding plot bunnies in the traditional manner - I will inflict them on others. Please see my Profile for the Challenges of the Month. July Challenges are now available, and what a twist for one of them. If you'd rather do June's, instead, I'd love to hear from you. Thanks to all those who have participated thus far - we had an exceptional turn out for June II for example. The new challenges will run through the end of July. Please let me know when you respond to a Challenge so I can read and review.
Response to ZephyrFox's challenge for July II!
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. However, I do not guarantee this to be a permanent condition.
Double Crossing
Chapter 1: Doctor, Doctor
Rose peered around the Doctor at this other Doctor. She stared at the little man very hard, but couldn't see it. Her first Doctor had been dark and brooding, punctuated by moments of brilliant, breath-snatching lunacy. Her second Doctor alternated between child-like tempestuousness and dangerous tempestuousness. This little man seemed, at first glance, to be a sweeter, gentler sort of man, older looking than either of her Doctors for sure, but seeming more innocent.
Then, she looked at his eyes. Her heart stuttered in her chest. There was no mistaking those eyes. They were blue, deep, icy. They spoke of enormous power that was scarcely contained, and had the light of stars glittering far within them. Rose didn't think it would be easy to look into those eyes, most days.
Then again, she had stared her first Doctor down on multiple occasions and, if anybody had dangerous blue eyes, it was him. She smiled warmly. "Rose Tyler," she said politely, and held out her hand. "My mum slaps, you might want to watch for that." Her Doctor laughed.
The shorter Doctor interrupted his glare at himself to turn to Rose with a friendly, inviting smile. "Pleased to meet you, Rose," he said, trilling the r in her name.
She giggled.
"Who's this, Professor?" came another voice from somewhere off to the left. Rose turned her head to see where it came from, then turned back to steal a quick glimpse of her Doctor. He was grinning madly, his eyes lit up and practically glowing.
Rose bit her lip and promised herself she would not, under any circumstances, repeat the events with Sarah Jane today.
"Ace," the shorter Doctor said, "this is Rose Tyler. Rose, Ace."
"Hi," said Rose, and held out her hand to the girl in the bomber jacket who shook her hand with a firm but friendly grip. "Thought Sarah Jane said your assistants are getting younger?" she said to her Doctor. Ace was probably at least a year, more likely two or three, Rose's junior.
He tugged on his ear nervously. "Yeah, well, she didn't meet Ace," he said.
"How is Sarah?" asked the other Doctor.
"Oh, you know," said Rose's Doctor.
"Is he... you?" asked Ace with considerable surprise.
"Somebody got warned about changing bodies, I see," Rose muttered.
"Yes," said Ace's Doctor. "Or, I will be him. Though I can't think why. Pin stripes and trainers?"
"Better than a party-colored waist-coat," Rose's Doctor shot back pointedly.
Ace's Doctor grumbled something about inheriting technicolor tendencies and both Doctors laughed.
"Ace, I vote we also change our names to Doctor for the day," Rose said. "Really confuse things here."
Ace grinned. "Nah, just call this one Professor."
"Ace," the Professor cautioned.
"Professor," Ace shot back cheekily.
Rose grinned up at the brown-eyed Time Lord who was starting to look a little green. "I like her, Doctor."
"Oh, good," he said calmly. "Where, of course, good means... well, something other than good, actually. Yes. Right. You. You need to leave. I have to be here, and we can't endanger the continuum."
"I have to be here," the other Doctor replied. "I'm looking for a Streerax arms deal that's to take place here this weekend."
"Well, I'm looking for a lost prince who is going to get this planet invaded if he doesn't turn up. So why don't you run along and let me handle both problems?"
"I was here first," the smaller Doctor said. "Why don't you run along?"
"No," said the younger looking, older Doctor. "I think I'll pull the age card and send you packing."
"We always let One pull the age card," was the reply. "So why don't you try to be serious and leave?"
"Yep," said Rose, to Ace, "here we go with the testosterone again."
The smaller Doctor gaped at her in open-mouthed disbelief while Ace burst out laughing.
"What?" she said, a little confused. She looked up at her Doctor and caught him blushing. "What, don't Time Lords have testosterone?"
Ace's laughter only increased in volume and intensity.
The smaller Doctor cleared his throat. "Right, well, um... I think..."
"Look," said Rose, to deflect from whatever it was that was so weird, "why don't we just work together, get this sorted as quickly as possible, and all of us get out of here?"
Ace finally stopped laughing and leaned on the nearest column to catch her breath. "I'm game if you are, Professor," she said at last.
The Professor was staring at Rose as if he was trying to read her mind or something. "What?" she asked.
"Nothing," he said. Then he looked up at Rose's Doctor. "Right, which one are you?"
"Ten," said her Doctor.
The two Doctors looked at each other, considering. Finally, the older one handed Rose the psychic paper. "Why don't you see if you can get us a room?" he said. "Nice big suite, yeah? Rooms for everybody? The Professor and I need to have a chat."
"Right," she said and glanced at him, nervously. He smiled gently and touched her cheek.
"Go on," he said. "I promise to behave."
"All right," she said agreed at last and led a still snickering Ace off with her.
"So," ventured Rose, "do we need a place with three rooms?"
Ace shrugged. "If you don't mind sharing, yeah, that's fine. I'm sure you're right about the Doctors bunking together. Not a good idea, is it?"
"Oh," said Rose, hoping her voice didn't sound anything like relieved. "Yeah, exactly. I mean, there's got to be something about building tolerances for egos that size."
Seven considered him for several moments, doing everything short of walking around him to size him up. "So, your companion..."
"Do me a favor and don't mention our age, please." The Doctor suddenly remembered that would be a problem.
"Why ever not?" asked the younger Doctor. Then, he did a quick double take. "Are you telling me..."
"Nine started it," he defended. "I blame him. Mind, if you asked him, he'd say he recalculated it in Earth years. But I think he really just decided not to count the years he didn't like. He picked a nice, round number, so I just go with it."
"So, you're lying about your age to a companion?" asked Seven. His blue eyes started twinkling. "Why would you?"
"Her mum accused me of being forty-five! I looked thirty-eight at the time, forty, tops."
"Since when..."
"You'll find out," the Doctor answered forbiddingly.
"All right," said Seven in his most placating tone. "Why did you send her to get a room? Surely it won't take that long to wrap this up."
"Have you even noticed where we are?" demanded the Doctor.
"Some sort of convention," Seven answered. "Science-fiction fans, Ace said. Why?"
"How do you think we're going to find aliens in the middle of an alien convocation?"
Seven looked around at the blue aliens in the doorway, a green woman dressed like Leela being followed by an entire crowd of t-shirt wearing teenagers, the troop of Klingons heading toward the hotel bar, singing a drinking song. "Ah," he said.
"Yeah," the Doctor answered, "and the kid I'm looking for is from Mdrestry. Apparently, the pointy-eared set is going to be thick on the ground out here."
Rose reappeared. "Are you done snarking?" she asked.
"Snarking!" both Doctors exclaimed.
"Good, 'cuz I got us a suite. Still, I think one of you ought to get kitted out." She looked at the smaller Doctor, considering. "You could be Doctor McCoy," she said.
"And the crowd goes wild," the Doctor murmured to no one in particular.
Rose stared at him. "Yeah, 'cuz you're making so much sense," she said. "C'mon, you two, let's go see our room and make some plans."
"Must we?" the Doctor pleaded.
"You look like Five doing that," Seven commented.
"Yes," said Rose, and firmly took his hand. "I'm pretty sure we must." Then, apparently to make sure she had made her point, she also snatched Seven's hand. "Right, this way, Ace is waiting by the elevators."
Seven stared at their joined hands as they threaded their way through the lobby. Then, he looked around her back and gaped at how she held the Doctor's hand. The Doctor shrugged.
Ace was, indeed, waiting by the elevators. Well, if you called holding a fourteen year old kid in a head-lock waiting. "And don't you dare touch anyone else without permission for the rest of your life, or I will hunt you down, got it?" she shouted as they approached.
"Ace!" Seven exclaimed. "Let him go."
"Not 'til he says it!" she answered, then looked down at her prisoner. "You got me, sunshine?"
The kid gasped out a quick, frantic apology. Ace let him go with a shove away from them and shook her head. "Rotten brat," she grumbled as the kid fled back toward the convention hall at top speed.
"What was that about?" the Doctor asked mildly, in the face of Seven's stern disapproval.
Ace turned her head away and ignored them both as the elevator arrived. She stepped in, punched for the fourteenth floor, and handed Rose a little plastic key.
Rose took it and, as soon as the doors opened again, bounced off down the hall. Ace tore after her, obviously just for the thrill of the chase. "They seem to be getting along well," Seven observed mildly.
"And you have no idea how terrified I am," he replied.