Aragorn and Legolas stepped lightly across the forest floor, not quite running, towards the little camp they had set up after they had found the girl. The sunlight streamed through the leaves, casting droplets of light along their paths. It was a fine, normal day.

They laughed when they heard Merry and Pippin shouting for the Doctor, and were about to call after them, when they heard another voice, like none they had heard before. Merry and Pippin did not sound calm while the other voice, definitely a man, told them to relax.

Aragorn and Legolas stalked in the trees, hiding in the darkness, their feet barely making a noise. Legolas drew his bow, but Aragron called him off. "We don't who he is yet." it took more than that to convince Legolas. "He could be a friend of the Doctor's." Legolas brought his bow down.

"Hold these on the palm of your hands for a moment, will you?" the man was holding two metallic discs, and he gave them to Merry and Pippin. They looked nervous. Whatever he was doing, it must have been a trap. But Aragorn and Legolas didn't recognise it in time.

"Like the hat, by the way." he looked at Pippin's ridiculous fez. It must be nearly falling off his head. It was a miracle he hadn't lost it by now.

The man was holding a metal rod that looked and sounded very similar to the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. Maybe there was more of that strange contraption out there.

Pippin humbly thanked the man, and the two held the devices in their hands. The man played with the other sonic, and pointed it at the discs. Merry and Pippin frowned.

"And..." the man took a breath. "Now!" the discs turned a deep blue, and seemed to explode over Merry and Pippin. Then the two were gone. Disappeared. Aragorn and Legolas gasped. Maybe the Doctor did know him.

"Better watch out." the man turned to where Aragorn and Legolas were standing not really seeing them. "'Cause there's a whole lotta trouble comin' your way lil' darling."

He smiled, and looked Aragorn and Legolas right in the eye. "The Doctor's coming to town."

The two stepped out from the shadows, and they glared at the man. "Where are Merry and Pippin?" Legolas demanded, looking around the man.

"I'm sorry." he said. "But they're on a whole different planet, fighting a whole different war."

"What?!" Aragorn grabbed the man's arm. "Tell us the truth. Where are our friends?"

The man looked Aragorn in the eye. "I'm sorry. But you are just going to have to trust me."

"We cannot trust you if we do not know your name." Aragorn let go of the man's arm.

The man in blue took a deep intake of breath. "John Smith." he said. "My name is John Smith."

Gimli appeared from the shadows. "We'll take that as a no, then." Aragorn frowned at the dwarf. "Oh come on! You don't think that's his real name, do you?"

Aragorn and Legolas knew Gimli was right. "Go on then. What's your real name?"

'John Smith' smiled. "Now if I told you that, which I can't, you wouldn't believe me."

"Why can't you tell us your real name?" Legolas frowned.

"Certain things, certain history." he looked up. "I have two names. Well, maybe three."

"We don't have times for riddles, man." Gimli spat.

"That's just something you're just going to have to learn later." John Smith smiled sweetly.

A little, pint-sized Hobbit emerged from the trees. Frodo's bright blue eyes were alight with anger and knowledge. Somehow, he looked wiser beyond his years. "You're a Time Lord." Frodo said. "Old and forever. Known to everyone, and yet no one knows your name. Hiding in all of time and space. Alone, with every planet at your fingertips, so many jumping to fly with you to the stars." Frodo circled John Smith. "But sometimes the stars isn't enough. All of time, waiting for you to steal it."

Frodo produced his sword, although it wasn't glowing blue. He help it up to the Doctor's neck, at least, as high as he could, and snarled at the Doctor. "You know the answer to every question, but you won't answer mine."

Frodo stood tall, this new level of aggressiveness didn't suit him.

"Where. Are. My. Friends. Answer me Doctor!"

The Doctor gulped, and whispered, "Middle Earth."

*Flashforward*

"This is how it ends, Doctor." Saruman smiled. "This is how both of our universes end. With the reign of Sauron, the terrible and great reign of the dark lands of Mordor!" the wizard laughed. "You lose."

The Doctor lay vunerable on the ground, paralysed, hurt. Dying. Silent.

"Listen to that, Doctor. Do you hear it?" Saruman grabbed hold of the Doctor's jaw in fury. "Do you hear anything, Doctor? Answer me!"

"No." the Doctor whispered through gritted teeth.

Saruman let go. "Good." the wizard leaned on his staff, staring out the huge, panoramic window, looking out at the planets that lit the sky, every one either crumbling, or in fatal turmoil. "Now look at our worlds, Doctor. Look at them dying. Burning with rage and hatred." he said, eyes glassy, twinkling at the death and destruction around him. "All because of you."

"Look at them! Look at what you have done!" Saruman raised his staff, and pointed it into the darkness behind him. "Look at the sky. Or I will destroy it."

The Doctor looked up with grey eyes. He breathed in deeply, but could only take shallow breaths. "It's over, Saruman. You have your prize. Let them go." The apocalyptic scene reflected on his face, as he turned to Saurman.

Saruman bent to the ground, still holding his staff in his hand. "I am but the middle man, Doctor. You know who calls who lives and who dies." The two looked to the metal door where beyond it the ruler of the universes hid, shrouded in the darkness of the recesses of his mind.

"What is he?" The Doctor whispered, still staring at the door. "What has he become?"

"He has become greater than all of us. He is time and space. Don't you see it, Doctor?" he turned back to the window.

"Yes." the Doctor whispered. "I see it all."

"You didn't see this coming, did you?" Saruman smirked. "You thought you would win, like you always win."

"See, that's where you're wrong." the Doctor smiled, for once in a long time. "I never win. But the other side always loses."

Saruman laughed. "Does it not relieve you? To see that all your efforts weren't needed, that every time a person died in your name, it didn't really matter?"

The Doctor sighed. "Saruman. You really don't understand it. The time, the paradox, the collasping dimensions. How this isn't the real end. The real end is all of this-" The Doctor waved to the burning sky before them, "Ceasing to exist. Just popping out of all of space."

"He wouldn't let that happen." Saruman side glanced to the door in the darkness, and moved closer to the Doctor, whispering. "The child wouldn't let that happen."

"The child was stolen out of time! Do you think it would care about a bitter war like this?" The Doctor spat. "Look at you. You're no longer the great power you were. You're just the middle man now. You're nothing."

"Watch your tongue!" Saruman hissed, and neither said nothing more.

A voice drifted from the shadows, hiding in the darkness. "You're winning. The Time Lords are returning. When we all die, they will come back"

"Well I'm not going to let it come to that." The Doctor looked into the shadows, eyes searching for the speaker.

"Oh but it's too late! They've already come!"

The voice in the shadows was proved correct when right in front of the window, before their eyes, slowly materialising with the wheezing, metallic noise, a big, blue, classic 50's British police phone box floated beside them.

"You're right." The Doctor sighed. "This is the end."

*End of Flashforward*

"Ow! Watch it!" Merry rubbed his arm after Pippin had fallen on him in the dark.

Merry and Pippin had no idea where they were, and they were lost. The walls, enclosed around them, were grey and damp, and were made of stone, no bricks. A dirty stream of water flowed beneath their feet, which became stagnant the more they walked ahead. The discs no longer glowed, and were now returned to the useless pieces of steel they once were. The two were both very annoyed at that man.

"Sorry." Pippin whispered, adjusting his cap.

The darkness surrounded them, and they were trapped in this long, stinking tunnel. They didn't know how long they had been walking for, but they guessed that from the waves of fatigue, it had been a while.

Merry, ahead of Pippin, spotted the light first, and gasped, turning to Pippin and laughing. "Look! Light! Finally."

The two laughed at each other for a moment, then frowned. The light ebbed, and darkened. It was getting further away.

Merry and Pippin started to walk faster, then ran towards the ever darkening light. They sprinted up, and the light stopped. They hesitated, and stepped cautiously up to it.

The light was itself just a glowing ball, brighter than normal sunlight, but not blinding. Nothing held it, it was floating in mid air, pulsating. It didn't generate much heat, but certainly lit up the tunnel. The tunnel was smaller than normal man-sized tunnels, but bigger than Merry and Pippin. The walls dripped with algae and other sea-plants, and the water was clearer than they had expected.

Merry reached forward to touch the ball, and his hand went straight through it, like it wasn't there. Pippin jumped forward to stick his hand through.

Suddenly, the ball shot up into the ceiling of the tunnel, where a door slid open. The ball shot through it, hovered above the opening for a second, and disappeared, leaving them in darkness again.

Another light illuminated the tunnel, but this one was more stable and seemed to have a more feasible light source. Someone had a torch.

"Who's down there? How did you get into the pipe?" A man called down from the opening. "Hello?"

Merry and Pippin jumped up, and Pippin shouted up to the man, "Hello! Can you get us up, please?"

The man grunted, but threw down a rope, which hit the floor with a splash. Merry thanked him, and began to crawl up the rope. In time, both of them were up from the tunnel.

They found themselves in a huge, maybe underground cavern, still damp, but a lot less wet than the tunnel. The cavern was rocky, littered with white, dripping columns and pillars, and in the centre was a cart, filled with sacks of coal. The man was draped in a long brown cloak, worn and tattered, stained with water at the bottom and ends of the sleeves.

The man put the torch in the cart, and pulled down his hood.

Merry and Pippin's mouths widened. They covered their gaping gobs with their hands, but pulled their hands back down again, and attempting to close their mouth, only to be opened again.

"So, you never told me, who are you and what are you doing in the camp?" The man asked, oblivious to the two's gawping.

"We-we-" Merry stuttered, "We know you. How couldn't we?"

The man frowned. "I'm sorry, have we met before?"

Pippin nodded frantically. "How do you not know us?"

Merry laughed. "Funny joke! Hilarious! But you can stop it now. I don't know who put you up for this, maybe Gimli or Boromir, but the joke's over now." Merry's smile faded. "It's not funny anymore."

"I am very sorry, but I really don't know you. Maybe you know someone who looks like me?"

Merry shook his head. "No... It's definitely you. Come on, don't you remember us?"

The man smiled sadly. "No."

"Aragorn? How could you forget us?"

][][][

"Frodo? What happened?" Aragorn approached an angry Frodo, who still held John Smith, or whoever he was, by the throat, tightly with Sting.

"He's telling the truth." Frodo whispered, disbelievingly, and slowly took the sword from John Smith's neck. "They really are in Middle Earth."

Frodo looked different. He seemed to have changed his clothes, his facial expression, and his voice had hardened. He wore tattered chest armour, iron gauntlets, and a loose leather belt, with a highly engraved metal scabbard, for a tiny dagger maybe, tube-shaped and it looked unlike anything on Middle Earth (but that really wasn't anything unusual, from what they have seen so far). On another side of his belt was Sting. Frodo's face was grittier and harder, the brightness and sadness in his eyes replaced with older, distrusting ones, flashing with intelligence.

Frodo had become a warrior, to the standards of Aragorn, Gimli and the elf one, he seemed ready for any unexpected journey, and a long awaited for battle. He certainly hadn't been in Middle Earth for quite some time.

The man nodded. "Only not here. A different version of Middle Earth, a different world, very complicated."

"A collapsing cosmos containing three inverted parallel universes. Those machines Merry and Pippin stole, they're pan-dimensional trans-teleporters. They use highly advanced quantum transportation, at least highly advanced for two Hobbits in Middle Earth." Frodo turned to Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, who were dumbfounded and quite rightly confused.

None of them had any former knowledge on the physics behind the disappearance of Merry and Pippin, and neither should Frodo. He shouldn't even know how to put quantum in a sentence, let alone teaching three of the Fellowship about quantum physics.

"Frodo... What?!"

"What did you do to him, Doctor? For him to be speaking such babble." Gimli spit out his name like it was a curse.

"Nothing, nothing..." the Doctor frowned, worried. "Frodo, did you bump into anyone... or anything?" The Doctor bent down for a moment, to Frodo's height, and creased his forehead.

Frodo looked away, seemingly confused, eyes and mind elsewhere, then turned to them, "N-no, no, I didn't. I..." Frodo whispered, unsure, even with the sudden, Einstein-like intelligence, marginally close to that of a Time Lord. Not enough head space, though, Frodo is still only a Hobbit of the Shire.

"Right then!" The Doctor clapped his hands together. "You don't know, you don't know."

"This forest isn't safe anymore."

][][][

When the Doctor first heard of the Bane, quite a long time ago, he was sure they would, at some point, be up to no good. Sure, he had been in conflict with them before, but never kidnapped and in such a situation.

And with the Sontarans, no less.

He should be disappointed, but the fact that creatures from his home universe were coming through was both worrying and brilliant. He had a way back home, hopefully, but Middle Earth was doomed to implode on itself.

Boromir stirred beside him, shuffling on the cold, damp floor, struggling against their binds, searching in the dark.

The Doctor grinned, but realised it wouldn't be able to help him now. "Finally!"

"Where are the others?" Boromir muttered groggily, and shifted to his feet, feeling an arrogant scratch on his nose.

The Doctor thought for a moment. "They should be on their way to Rohan, I believe. Not so sure where the three hobbits are..." His memory, failing him, made him give up trying to understand what was going on.

Boromir snorted. "Right." He surveyed the surroundings, which could have been a room full of sugar with walls of jelly, the darkness was that overwhelming.

A shaft of light illuminated the dirty floor, then a pair of loafers, leading up to a bowtie, and an ugly Uruk accompanied with an angry potato man stood in the doorway.

"You're wanted by the master." the Uruk grunted. "Immediately." the Sontaran added, grumpily.

As the two unhappy prisoners were lead out of the dusty cave of a cell, the Doctor noticed something strange about their wardens. They were arguing, muttering at each other, and giving each other dark looks and snarls. Any Sontaran that came in contact with an Uruk openly proclaimed their superiority, and an Uruk openly was aggressive. It was surprising a war hadn't begun here already.

The Doctor turned his face from the enemy, and whispered to Boromir, "They don't get along." He turned back around, to face an irritated potato man, who shooed him along.

The steps of Orthanc were unwelcoming and steep. A white wizard and a smart-looking woman had waited to greet the prisoners, but had gotten bored and busy, and so the Doctor and Boromir had sit on cold black floor.

Saruman looked incredibly old and malicious, tapping his staff, resembling the tower, on the ground as he entered. Mrs. Wormwood looked like a woman with a deep plan of her own, which was going her way, and her footsteps were in tune with Saruman's tap-tap-tap. Saruman perched himself on his throne, while Mrs. Wormwood gathered around a cloth on a podium.

"Look who it is." Saruman began. The Doctor wanted to say something witty, but managed to keep his mouth shut, for Boromir's sake.

Mrs. Wormwood raised her eyebrows at Saruman. "Your eyesight never seems to fail you." She turned to the Doctor and Boromir. "Now, then. Tell us what you're up to."

Saruman frowned. "They're bringing the Ring of Power to Mordor, to destroy it."

Mrs. Wormwood gave Saruman a glance of annoyance and rolled her eyes, sighing. "Where's your little TARDIS? Moria?"

The Doctor sneered. "We'll just have to hope it turns up at some point."

Mrs. Wormwood laughed, evilly, but whole-heartedly. "A time-machine can't always be your deus ex machina. No way out this time."

Saruman started, his mind reeling at the mention of a 'time-machine'. Maybe that's why the Doctor's so strange, he's from a different time. The possibilities had suddenly become endless, and the Doctor's grave bottomless.

"Well, yes, but I can always be my own deus ex machina!" The Doctor joked, really hoping he could come up with a plan, quickly. "What have you done with the girl?"

"Disposed. You should thank me, Doctor, for saving this pitiful world." Mrs. Wormwood snorted, knowing she did a good-guy duty. In the Doctor's eyes, she should be a villian.

"Thank you." The Doctor croaked. "You saved millions of lives."

Mrs. Wormwood was suddenly taken aback, and Saruman almost stood. They might have broken him.

"Where is she now?" The Doctor asked.

Mrs. Wormwood snapped back. "They're burning her in the fires deep."

The Doctor's head nodded in the direction of the doorway. "Oh? Then who's that?"