So, my brother took his laptop back and so it might be a while before I post again.
Dean Winchester was pissed. No, scratch that, he was livid. Those stupid, clumsy, Neanderthal military fish dropped the crate. It took everything in Dean to not wrap his hand around those tree trunks that passed for necks and squeeze the life out of them. Those artifacts were brought to America so they wouldn't be broken. Argh! Dean paced in front of the fish boys, ranting at them, hands waving aggressively in the air, his voice rising in volume, and just when he hit his stride on his tirade an amused chuckle sounded behind him. He cut himself off to yell at whoever thought it was funny to see thousands of years of history destroyed by clumsiness from SEALs no less.
He turned around to yell at the chuckler and stopped; Jack.
"Go. Just fucking go, you fucking fishboys. Get out of my sight or I swear to God I will kick your ass and then I'll let Admiral Rhogan deal with you," Dean gritted out. The SEALs stared at him, then Jack then back to Dean.
"I'd listen to him, boys. Admiral Rhogan is a good friend of mine and I am Doctor Winchester's godfather. You do the math," Jack said with a smirk.
The SEALs looked at each other and booked it for the exit. Leave it to them to piss off an admiral and a general's favored son.
"Hey, Jack," Dean said, wearily. Stupid fish.
"Hey, Deano. You have no idea how happy I am to know just how much of Daniel has rubbed off on you."
Dean tilted his head and looked at his godfather in confusion. "Huh?"
"That whole hand waving thing you got going on. Your dad is the same way, especially when he's supper excited or super angry. Those hands dance around like he's conducting an angry orchestra. I miss seeing that. Though you got to work on your diatribes, needs work, kiddo. Tell you what, when we go back home, I'll have Daniel give you a lesson on saying the most cutting words to a person who has pissed you off. I've been on the receiving end of a few of those, not fun."
A reluctant grin stole its way from him, and he saw Jack preen at it. Jack really didn't like seeing his godson unhappy. His papa bear instincts kicked in and he would go on a war path, sometimes he'd include Daniel, who'd take it to a whole new level. They made a scary team when it comes to Dean's well-being. Just ask the archaeology director.
"Sure, Jack, sounds fun. What do you think dad would say about this," he said gesturing to the broken artifacts. They traveled five thousand miles only to be broken three feet inside the museum archives.
"Daniel? He'd still be yelling at them, their ears would be ringing and bleeding. Their C.O.'s would check in to see what's taking them so long and then they would be subjucated to the same lecture. The poor SEALs wouldn't know what hit them. You should call him up and tell him what happened," Jack said eagerly, dancing on the balls of his feet.
Dean rolled his eyes at his godfather's antics. "No. I'm a big boy now. I can handle this."
"You're no fun."
Dean stuck his tongue out at him and Jack returned it. "What brought you here, Jack?"
"Eh. I was bored. Same old, same old."
"Wanna go get something to eat? I need to get away right now."
"Yeah, let's go, kiddo. You're buying."
"Of course I am."
Jack bumped shoulders with Dean and got another smile out of his godson.
After lunch with Jack, Dean went back to the museum archives and filed his report on what happened to the artifacts. This was going to be a long week.
He was right.
The week dragged slowly, and Dean was at his wits end. There had been contradicting reports from Dean and the stupid fish, the C.O.'s were arguing the SEAL unit were in the right and it was Dean's own clumsiness that caused the priceless artifacts to break. Dean saw red and he gave a lashing worthy of his father. In the end, the Navy took responsibility and Dean was cleared and he washed his hands of the whole situation.
That night, Dean gratefully fell onto his bed and went into, what he hoped was a dreamless sleep.
It wasn't.
Dean opened his eyes to see the whimsy interior of the TARDIS, and promptly groaned in frustration. He was off until next Wednesday as a 'sorry we thought you destroyed thousands of years' worth of history, here have a paid vacation' and all he wanted to do was sleep.
"Behold, Rio!" He heard the Doctor call out loudly and Dean made his way towards where he heard the Doctor speak.
Dean tilted his head in confusion. Rio?
They were in a graveyard, surrounded by trees and vegetation that were not indigenous to Rio.
"Wow, Doc, you really need to work on your geography."
The Doctor whipped around with the biggest smile Dean has ever seen. He took a step back inside the TARDIS and whispered excitedly, "You're here! I have missed you, Dean."
"You too, Doc."
"Hang on," the Doctor said and moved back outside and jumped up and down on the grown. "The ground feels strange." He turned around and looked at Amelia and a guy in a winter vest who stared at him like he was crazy. "Just me."
"Rory," Dean said suddenly. He moved closer to the other companion. "How do I know you, Rory Williams, and not Amelia Pond?"
The Doctor turned towards Dean, surprised. His expression asking, 'How do you know him?' Dean shrugged. "I don't know. I just do. Kind of like when I knew Donna and Martha without actually meeting them, ya know? I think Rory is the same way. He's special."
The Time Lord even more confused. "Hmm."
"Come along, Amy, Rory. Let's go and have a look at this big mining thing." He gave Dean a look that promised they'd talk later.
"If he can't get us to Rio, how he's ever gonna get us back home," Rory asked sensibly.
Dean grinned. He liked Rory. He's a smart one, that's for sure.
Rory asked for Amy's ring, he didn't want her to lose it, and he took it back to the TARDIS for safekeeping. The Doctor and Amy went towards the drill and Rory to the TARDIS, and Dean stayed where he was, undecided which one to follow: The Doctor or Rory?
"I'm going with Rory, catch you later, Doc," Dean said and followed the Scottish nurse.
The Doctor frowned but nodded his head. Odds are, Dean would be safer with Rory anyway, not that Dean needed to be protected, physically not here; therefore, in no danger of being hurt. That didn't matter. Dean needed to be safe. Not to mention he felt a pang in his chest whenever he looked at his beloved human, he missed Dean becoming a young man and he did not like seeing the reminder that it was all his fault.
"Be safe."
"Always, Doc, though I should be saying that to you, Mr. Trouble Magnet," Dean said with a cheeky smile. The Doctor scrunched his nose at Dean who laughed.
Dean decided he liked the whimsy interior of the TARDIS. "You look amazing, Beautiful," he told the TARDIS who hummed in pleasure. He felt her give a gentle caress to his mind and he closed his eyes basking in its warmth. "That is awesome. Feel a little tingly though. Kind of like when I pressed my hand against the star whale." She gave him another gentle touch before withdrawing. "Wow." Dean grinned and let his hand pass through the consol. He looked up to find Rory gone. "Shit!"
The TARDIS opened the door for him and he ran out looking for the wayward nurse. "Rory, where are you, man?"
Dean dropped down to the ground and looked for footprints or depressions in the grass to find out where Rory went. There! Dean found three sets of footprints and followed them, silently thanking Jack for teaching him how to track. He found them standing in front of a grave, an empty grave. He moved so he was standing right next to the nurse. He caught the tail end of the lady's sentence.
Two missing bodies with no discernible evidence of them being stolen or moved. Hmm...missing bodies and grass that looked out of place. Blue grass, meaning really old grass. Pre-Cro-Magnon or Neanderthal. Somewhere thereabouts.
Give him a break. He's an archaeologist, not a paleontologist.
Dean watched Rory climb down the grave and investigate, jumping up and down on the ground like the Doctor did earlier. The woman's son appeared and asked Rory what he wanted in his tea and proceeded to tell the Scotsman his theories, concluding with, "The ground around here eats people." The look on Rory's face was hilarious, despite him being just as freaked out as the nurse.
"I think we should go, Rory," Dean said to the companion. "Come on, you're smart, listen to your instincts and let's go," he urged the Scotsman. He had a ball of dread suddenly appear in his stomach. That does not bode well. "Come on. God, I really wish you guys could hear me."
Dean looked up when he heard a weird noise and saw red streaks across the sky. What the fuck? He heard Rory tell the Doctor the graves were eating people and the Doctor cut him off.
"Energy barricade, invisible to the naked eye. We can't get out and no one from the outside world can get in," the Doctor said.
"Well, that's just great," Dean complained.
"Where's Amy," Rory asked. Dean looked around, no red head in sight.
"I'll get her back," was all the Doctor said.
"What do you mean get her back, where she gone?"
"She was taken. Into the Earth."
"How? Why didn't you stop it?"
"I tried. I promise I tried."
"You should have tried harder," Rory yelled, angry and worried.
"I'll find Amy, and I'll keep you all safe, I promise. Come on, please. I need you alongside me," the Doctor pleaded to the distressed companion. Dean stared worriedly at his Doctor. He saw the look on the Time Lord's face, there was guilt plastered all over before he hid it from the others. Dean also saw the expression on Rory's. The Scotsman clearly didn't trust the Doctor and was wary about the ancient alien. Smart man.
Dean watched the Doctor galvanize into action and formed a plan to prepare for whatever is coming up from the ground. He stayed back and kept quiet, not wanting to distract the Doctor. They'll find Amy, Dean knew that much, he trusted the Doctor to keep his word about that. She was the first face he saw, he'll do whatever he can to get her back and keep her safe.
The Doctor went outside to check on Rory and Dean followed.
"It's getting darker. How can it be getting this dark so quickly," Rory asked.
"They're trying to isolate us in the dark. Which means," the ground rumbled and the Doctor said rather creepily, "It's here."
"You know, it was bad enough knowing something was coming up from the ground, but did you have to say that in a creepy way?"
The Doctor narrowed his eyes playfully. "Hush, Dean."
"Who," Rory asked, looking around confused. "Who are you talking to?"
"No one," the Doctor said quickly. "Come on, we need to head back."
They ran into Ambrose and they hurried back to the mining building. The door wouldn't open and Ambrose and the Doctor tried to push it open.
"Anytime you want to help," the Doctor told Rory.
"Why don't you sonic it," Rory asked.
"It doesn't do wood."
"Well that's rubbish."
"Oi! Don't diss the sonic," the Doctor said, affronted on the behalf of his trusty screwdriver. Rory gave the patented 'well sorry' gesture and Dean laughed. He really liked Rory.
They got the door open only to have the power go out once they were inside. He saw Rory ask if everyone was okay and Dean nodded his head in approval. Not something the Doctor would have thought to ask. The banging stopped and Ambrose asked where her son Elliot was. The foolish boy left to get headphones in the middle of a crisis. Kids in the future have serious priority problems.
They heard Elliot outside the door begging to get in because there was something out there with him. Rory and the grandfather rushed forward to pull the door open and when they did, Elliot was gone. Ambrose ran out to look for her son, stupidly putting herself and the others in danger. The stupid woman was being attacked by a reptilian humanoid and her father shoved the thing off, and was hit by what looked like a really long tongue.
The Doctor told Ambrose Elliot wasn't dead and that he would get everyone back before telling the distraught woman to get her father back inside.
"So what now," Rory asked.
The Doctor walked away without answering the Scotsman. Dean rolled his eyes. The damn Time Lord really needed to learn how to share his theories/plans. He watched the Doctor pick up what looked like a pair of sunglasses and put them on.
"Really, Doc, sunglasses at night. Want to know who where's sunglasses at night? Talentless douchebags, that's who. Hipsters too."
The Doctor turned to look at Dean and scowled playfully. "Shush, Dean. I'm thinking, and I think I know what we're dealing with."
"Really?" The Doctor nodded and Dean said, "Great! Care to share that with Rory?"
"Yes," he replied before walking away without expounding on what exactly he was going to share.
"You know, you really got to learn how to share your thoughts," Dean called after the Doctor.
The Time Lord laughed but kept on walking.
Shaking his head, Dean stayed where he was. He couldn't help. He wandered over to the edge of the barricade and reached out to touch it. He felt a faint vibration. Frowning, Dean laid his hand against it and felt his hand tingle. He pulled back and looked over his hand to see if it left a mark or something. It was fine. Huh, now what, he thought. He spotted some blue grass and made his way over. He stooped down and scrutinized it, wishing he could pick it up and examine it more thoroughly. Dean dropped down to his stomach and studied the peculiar grass. His dad would have a field day with it. He sat up abruptly and blinked. "Let there be light," Dean said with a laugh as he stared up at the bright sky.
He really should go see the Doctor but in all honesty, he didn't want to. He dawdled by the bizarre grass for another hour before giving in a going to go see the Doctor and learn what the ancient man has found out.
Homo reptilian. Earth's original inhabitants. Well, I'll be damned, Dean thought.
"I'm going down there. I'm going to go get out people back. Our prisoner for theirs."
"That's dumb but I know you'll go regardless what anyone says. Be safe, Doc," Dean said not really surprised with the Doctor's decision.
The Doctor nodded his head towards the door and Dean complied with the unspoken request. Dean walked to the TARDIS and waited for the Time Lord. "You know this is incredibly stupid, right?"
"Yes, Dean, I know, but it's the best way to get our people back without starting a war," the Doctor explained.
"Yeah," Dean said tiredly. "I know."
"Are you coming with me," the Doctor asked, playing with a button on his tweed jacket, waiting for Dean's response. He noticed how quickly Dean bonded with Rory, despite his companion not being able to see his precious human. He didn't like sharing Dean.
Dean sighed. "No. I'm going to stay with Rory and the others. I don't...I don't want to see what peril you'll undoubtedly get yourself in."
The Doctor closed his eyes at the rejection. Dean has never not followed him before, and it hurt that he was choosing Rory over him. "Very well. Keep out of trouble. I'll see you when I get back."
Dean gave the Doctor half a smile. "Yeah, you will."
He went back to the main mining hub, guilt gnawing at him. He just couldn't do it anymore. He couldn't watch the Doctor put himself in danger again and again. Dean was getting too damn old for this. He was twenty-six, an adult, the dreams of a child need to stop. He needed this time away from the Doctor to figure out how he's going to say he no longer wanted to dream about his imaginary friend.
Hours passed and Dean could not find a way to word his request without completely shattering his Time Lord's hearts. Again, his mind supplied cruelly.
Dean growled in frustration. Why is it so fucking hard?! "Doctor, you better get your ass up here so I can have this fucking painful conversation with you!" His voice echoed off the walls of the old church. He walked over to the pocket of Earth and yelled, "Do you hear me? Get back up here right now! Before I lose my nerve," Dean whispered the last part.
More time passed and Dean was starting to get worried. Where is he?
Dean heard a cry of pain and went to go investigate. Shit. That stupid woman just killed the only leverage they had on getting their missing people back. Now what seemed like the military commander of the homo-reptilian is demanding the now dead hostage, and the stupid woman ruined everything again.
"You know, if I was actually, physically here, I would slap you," he told Ambrose.
The Doctor told them to go back to the storage room and they'd be transported down to the Silurian base.
Fun.
"Who's going to tell them one of their own is dead," Dean asked the room. Nobody answered, not that Dean was surprised.
Well, Dean now had another way of transportation he'd gladly do without. Traveling through the earth via transport disk...not fun. Not at all. Being encased in dirt is almost as worse as being encased in metal high above the earth. Dean shuddered. Never again.
"Something's wrong," the Doctor said when he saw them carry in the body. "No. Don't do this. Tell me you didn't do this." He pulled back the blanket and dropped his head in despair. "What have you done?"
"Blame that stupid woman," Dean said gesturing towards Ambrose. "Didn't help Alaya goaded her."
"You ruined everything," the Doctor told Ambrose. He turned towards what looked like a government official and pleaded with him to not let the deal fall apart, but again, that moronic woman ruined it.
"Let the Silurians kill her, Doc. She is not worth the earth being pulled into a species war."
The Doctor turned and glared at him. "I won't allow anyone to die. Not this time."
"Then run."
For once, the Time Lord listened and told everyone to run. He used a sonic pulse to mess with the Silurian's weapons, giving the people more time to run away. Dean was a head of the pack, and ran into a control room type place. Tony Mack showed is wound when the Doctor questioned what was wrong with him and turned out he was mutating.
"Fun." The Doctor glared at him again and Dean stared back evenly. The Time Lord tore his gaze away from his precious human and went into 'world saving mode'. "In a thousand years time, spread the word that this world is to be shared," the Doctor told the stupid woman and her family.
Tony Mack chose to stay behind. The technology down in this place was his only hope to reversing what is happening to him. "Go," he urged his family. "Go, I'll be fine." It tore Ambrose's family apart but they did leave and ran back to the TARDIS with Amy and Rory.
Dean stayed with the Doctor as he tried to get Nasreen to leave with them, but she spent her life trying to get here and she wasn't going to go now that she found it. She and Tony Mack would live down here with the Silurians. Amy came back and grabbed the Doctor, pulling him to the TARDIS. Though Dean approved, he was a little worried how focused she was on the Time Lord. She valued his life over anyone else's. That's a deadly obsession. Not even Rose put an innocent's life over the Doctor's. She, Martha, and Donna would have found an alternate way. He'll talk to the Doctor about that later. When they're not in danger of being poisoned by toxic fumigation.
They raced down corridors and came across Rory who was coming after Amy. Good man. The Doctor opened the TARDIS and shoved Ambrose and her family in when they noticed a huge crack in the wall, like the one on the star whale. Dean could hear voices whispering from it.
The Doctor approached it, intending to reach into it.
"You are insane," Dean yelled. "Don't put your hand in there!" Rory echoed him.
The Doctor yelled as he reached into the crack, his voice distorting like an echo.
"What is it," Amy asked.
"I don't know," the Doctor replied.
"Doctor!" Rory yelled in warning and shoved the Doctor out of the way when that Silurian protector shot at the Time Lord. The Scotsman was hit instead.
Dean felt sick as he watched Rory die. Not him, please not him.
Amy was breaking apart in front of him as the nurse died in her arms. The light from the crack in the wall was reaching for the companion. The Doctor pulled Amy away and shoved her into the TARDIS.
"That light. If he's body is absorbed I'll forget him," Amy said through tears.
The Doctor tried his best to make Amy remember Rory, to save his memory. She tried, god, did she try. She loved him too much to let him go.
"Don't let anything distract you," the Doctor said just as they were pitched forward to the floor of the TARDIS.
When Amy looked up, Dean could see she no longer remembered her fiancé. The Doctor looked at him, and Dean saw grief in the ancient man's eyes. Another companion he failed to save.
The Doctor played off Amy's concern and ushered her back inside the TARDIS after letting off Ambrose and her family topside. The Doctor closed his eyes in grief before reaching into his jacket to look at the shard he pulled from the crack. The Doctor's eyes widened in shock. He placed the shared against the TARDIS' sign. It was a match. They looked at each other in stunned silence.
"The TARDIS," Dean started, "the TARDIS is what is causing the cracks in time? How?"
"I don't know, Dean. I don't know."
Silence encompassed them again.
"Will I remember Rory when I wake up?"
"I don't know."
"You'll remember him, right? He won't be completely forgotten?"
"I'll remember him; for you if you forget and for Amy, he won't be forgotten. I promise," the Doctor said firmly.
"Did you hear them? The voices," he elaborated when the saw the Doctor's confused expression.
The Doctor shook his head, but he trusted Dean if he said he heard something.
"Go inside, Doc. Check on Amy. Make sure Beautiful wasn't hurt when she was drug down."
"No. If I do, you'll leave and I need you, Dean. I really need you right now. Please stay with me," the Doctor pleaded, and Dean nodded his head.
"I'll stay for as long as I can," Dean promised. He looked towards the ship and a thought lodged itself inside his head. "Let's go for a ride, Doc. I wanna go on an adventure. I've never actually rode inside Beautiful. That time with Donna doesn't count."
The Doctor looked at him and gave him a smile. "Of course. Where would you like to go?" He'd never deny Dean anything.
"Egypt," Dean said, thinking of his dad.
"Done," the Doctor replied cheerfully. He was taking Dean on an adventure. It was something he had planned on doing when Dean was older, back when he was physically on the same plane.
"And what are you going to tell Amy?"
"Oh, I plan on putting her in one of the rooms that has a time dilation field. For her time will be moving normally but outside the room we would be moving quite fast. I'll have the TARDIS lock her in, should she try to leave."
Dean shook his head but went with the plan. He stayed by Beautiful's consol and let his hand move through her, that tingly sensation making him giggle. Thankfully, no one but Beautiful heard him giggle.
"Are you ready, Dean," the Doctor asked eagerly, bouncing on his feet, reminding him of Jack.
"You bet."
"Then off we go," the Doctor pulled a lever and they were moving through time and space.
Dean laughed as he was pitched to and fro, happy he was finally traveling with the Doctor. They landed with a thud and Dean fell forward onto the glass floor of the TARDIS. "That was awesome!"
The Doctor smiled widely at his beloved human. "Wanna see what Egypt looked like in the 2600 BC?"
"Yes!" Dean yelled and practically threw himself at the TARDIS door, they both felt her laugh at them but obliged in opening the door. They spent an hour exploring ancient Egypt. Dean was ecstatic to see his dad's homeland once more. His family hadn't gone back to Egypt since his father's archaeology tour when they first adopted him. He felt saddened by that and vowed to take his dad home for a family trip. Jack will undoubtedly come with them, possibly Sam and Teal'c as well.
Dean felt awareness tug at him, he was waking up, he turned to tell the Doctor but stopped when he saw his Time Lord staring at him forlornly. He knew. Of course he did.
"Sorry, Doctor," Dean whispered sadly. "I'll see you again."
"Not the same, Dean. It's not the same at all."
Dean shifted. "I know but it's the best we got. I think I missed my chance to get back to you when Rose returned and the Doctor-Donna was born. The whole 'Stars going out, Davros returning and it's the end of the world' thing. I genuinely believe that was my last, and possibly, only chance to get back to you."
"It's not," the Doctor said simply. "I will see you again, Dean. That much I know. It's what keeps me going, to be honest."
"Care to share how you know that?"
"No. Wake up, Dean. I'll see you next time, just like you said."
"Which time," Dean asked suspiciously. The Doctor had a look about him, the same look he got when he had a suicidal plan on his mind.
"Don't look at me like that. It's not dangerous. Go. Wake up and join the 'real world'."
Dean stared a little bit longer to make sure the Time Lord wasn't lying before grudgingly allowing himself to wake up. "Stay safe and remember Rory, Doctor. Make Amy remember too. It's important."
"I will, Dean," the Doctor promised. He watched Dean fade out back to his world. He stared at the spot Dean was last standing, his mind churning with an absolutely insane plan. He knew how he was going to get Dean back but it would be suicide and had a small chance of success, but he didn't care. He needed his human. This was his last regeneration, this was his last life, and he wasn't going to live it without Dean. "Forgive me, Dean."
"Forgive me, Dean." It came as a whisper, so quiet Dean didn't hear it but he felt it deep within his soul. A ball of dread formed in his stomach and Dean had a sinking feeling he wasn't taking his father back to Egypt.