Hey guys! I really meant to post earlier, but I kinda forgot... And then I remembered! But then I also remembered that the 29th of October just happens to be the day that I started watching Doctor Who! So, I decided to wait a couple days longer and post NOW! BECAUSE IT'S BEEN A YEAR!
A lot has happened. I've met so many great people, realized that I wanted to write as my profession, and.. I don't know(: I love this Whovian world that I stumbled into. It seems like it's only been a couple weeks since I perused through On Demand and saw Doctor Who, remembering one of my friends talking about it, then started watching earliest episode they had, "The Eleventh Hour." I just want to say that I'm so glad that I decided to watch it, that I was able to talk to all of you(: You're all freaking awesome.
Now, since I hate being such a cheeseball, LET'S GET BACK TO BUSINESS. This title is from the song "Little Lion Man" by Mumford and Sons. Not sure about the relevance, mainly because I'm too tired right now, but the title fits. And... I just love this song?
Remember that I own absolutely nothing! And if you review, you get a sneak peek(: Okay, guys. Long A/N over. FallOutGrl02 OUT! Enjoy!
"You look so… Different." Of course, it wasn't the first time Rose had had to see the Doctor with a new face. Still, this one was so much younger-looking than the man she had fallen in love with. Rose tried to, again, wrap her head around the idea that he still was the man she knew and loved.
"Different is…?" the Doctor trailed off, looking at her unsurely. A million thoughts were running through his head. What was Rose doing here? How? Why hadn't Jack warned him?
"Good," Rose answered, grinning and pulling the Doctor into a tight hug, "Absolutely brilliant! Oh, I missed you so much!"
He returned the embrace and looked over the blonde's shoulder to Jack, who just shrugged and walked away, his hands in his pockets. He thought it might be best to let the two have their moment, not to mention he had something else to take care of. "I missed you too, Rose," the Doctor returned, but then pulled away, "But as much as I love all the hugging and missing, what are you doing here? How…?"
Rose chuckled softly, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked down at the ground then back up at the man across from her. This time, her eyes were filled with worry. "We got a message a while back from some distress beacon… It was asking for people to help, you specifically, Doctor."
The Doctor frowned. River's message. But that was during a timeline that had never existed… He had stopped all that, hadn't he? No… Maybe not. She had fixed it to send outside of their timeline just moments before he died. And all he had re-rewritten was how he'd died. The Doctor realized he hadn't managed to save himself the humiliation that his future wife had caused. His cheeks burned, embarrassed that the universe had seen their one savior in a moment of weakness, completely helpless.
"We tried to get here as soon as we could," Rose continued, "It took a while, but we found a way. I thought… Well, I thought I was too late. So, we went to Jack and he said that you were fine, that you'd survived. We've been waiting here for you ever since."
"How did you know I was coming back?" he asked, still looking at the ground to hide his blush. The instant that the question left his mouth, a Scottish voiced filled his voice. Because you always come back, Stupid.
Rose had a different answer. "You were looking for information. That's why you're here now, isn't it?"
The Doctor felt his lip quirk. She knew him too well. "Yes, but… I can't get you involved with this, Rose. It's too dange-"
"Oi" she broke in, "You're not seriously trying to talk me out of this, are you? Doctor, I've fought Cybermen and Daleks, faced a werewolf and hijacked the bloody TARDIS once."
"I know, but-"
"You're not going to scare me off."
He opened his mouth to protest, but Rose gave him a warning look that made the Time Lord close it and smile, narrowing his eyes and shaking his head. "Rose Tyler…" he sighed, then thought of something. The Doctor's eyes widened. "You said 'we found a way.' Who's we?"
Before Rose had the chance to answer, footsteps came up from behind the Doctor, pulling up alongside the blonde. He found himself grinning at the person that had just showed up, who quickly returned it. Everything about the newest addition to the conversation was so familiar. The blue, pin-striped suit, the sparkling, brown eyes, the spiky, gravity-defying hair. It was the Meta-crisis Doctor, John. He waggled his fingers at the Time Lord. "Miss me?"
"So, how are we doing this?" Rory asked. He stared up at the large building in front of them, unsure of why Amy had made him drive all the way to Cardiff.
She stared at the famous building, the Millenium Centre, trying to figure out how the hell this was going to work. Amy had already thought about calling Perez, but that meant telling her bosses that she had failed her mission, the punishment being instant termination. And Amy definitely didn't want that. But how was she going to break into Torchwood? The only things she'd heard about it were from Jack, and Amy had the feeling that this was a very high-security organization. Even with her programming, it would be tricky.
"Don't know," she answered simply and honestly.
"We're just going to wait out here, then?" Rory persisted. He still couldn't believe he'd been dragged into this world again. Amy always knew how to rope him in, though.
Amy shrugged, turning to Rory. "Why not? Look how far it's gotten me before." They were the Boy and Girl Who Waited, after all.
She knew Rory wouldn't like the plan, or lack thereof, but getting in was the only step Amy hadn't thought about. She always had the TARDIS or the Doctor's "sonic-and-entering" to rely on, and now she had neither. She tried not to dwell on that too much, though, and really didn't have much time to.
"Little Red?" a voice laughed. Amy instantly recognized the American accent and grinned. Her and Rory turned around to meet Captain Jack Harkness' blue eyes and charming smile. There was something about it, though, that bothered Amy. It seemed a bit fixed. She saw his eyes move to Rory. "And if it isn't Nurse Boy! You know, I've still got that little fantasy of mine if you'll reconsider."
"Is he flirting with me?" Rory asked, though he knew the real question should be why this stranger was acting like they knew each other, when he'd never seen him in his life. His wife was just as confused. Was she missing memories? Had these two men actually met? Something in Amy told herself to just go with it and she elbowed Rory slightly, hoping he would get the hint. Subtlety was never his strong point, though.
"Yes, I definitely think he is flirting with my husband right in front of me," Amy smiled.
"Never said you weren't invited to join the fantasy party, Red," Jack replid with a mischievous glint in his eye, the same one that always made Amy wonder whether he was kidding or not with his innuendos. "Don't act like you're not into that sort of thing."
Rory just watched the two, confused on what to do. Amy just smiled back, laughing, and coming up with another funny retort. This seemed to go on for a couple minutes and he had no idea how to break into the conversation to get back to business, all the while wondering if there was someone who wouldn't flirt with his wife when he was standing next to her. The only consolation Rory got was the fact that Jack was flirting with him too, which maybe meant he just liked to joke around and was completely harmless.
"You guys wanna see inside?" Jack asked, breaking Rory from his observations.
"I don't know…" he repied, sort of wanting to leave. He still didn't know of Amy even had a plan at all.
"Oh my God, yeah!" the redhead answered simultaneously with her husband. She turned and glared at Rory, who sighed and rolled his eyes before eventually nodding.
Jack chuckled, but his eyes seemed to grow sad. "Nice to see you two haven't changed. So, shall we start the tour?"
"There's more like us, Doctor," Rose said. The three were sitting at a desk, Jack and his Torchoow team off in the med lab or something. "That distress beacon was able to go through the void."
"I didn't even think that was possible!" John chimed in, pushing up the rectangular frames that he'd put on to show he was in "thinking mode."
Well," the Doctor said with a slight roll of his eyes, "That's River Song for you."
John's eyes widened slightly, recalling memories that weren't necessarily his, ones with a blonde, curly-haired professor in an all-too-quiet library. "You mean…" The Doctor responded with a small smile and a single nod. "No! You've got to be joking!"
"Afraid not." The Doctor tried not to think about that day in the Library, or his most recent visit with River at the Singing Towers.
"Wait, hold on," Rose said, confused still, "Who's River Song?"
"Uh, well," the Doctor began, scratching the back of his neck nervously. It was a question he had once asked himself a million times a day, but now he knew. Still… It was all timey-wimey and very hard to explain. So, he went with the shortest answer he could think of. "That would be my wife."
There was a few moments of shocked silence before Rose was able to regain her composure, her jaw clearly open. "Y-your wife?" she repeated, "You're married?" She didn't understand. The Doctor had made it very clear when she was travelling with him that he wasn't the type to settle down. He always going to travel around in the TARDIS and save planets, always. And there was no room for a wife and kids on board. Maybe this regeneration was different? Rose told herself that it didn't matter anyways. And it really didn't. She was perfectly happy with John and the life she had with him back on the parallel universe. They were just starting to try for a family now that Rose had that cold, soldier mentality gone for good in him. Still, it stung to see that the Doctor, who she really thought had loved her, was able to change for someone else and not her.
The Time Lord was a bit oblivious to this though, and simply shrugged. "It's a long story, but yes. I've got an old ball and chain, myself. Our timelines are a little mixed up… It's all very confusing. I'll explain later," he said, then looked around, "Now, where's everyone run off to? I have to talk to Jack." The reunion time had completely distracted him from what he had originally come for.
"Oh, I think Gwen and Rex went to go get Chinese," John replied, "But Jack might be in the research lab with Martha."
"Martha's here?"
"Yeah, so is Mickey," Rose nodded, "You asked Jack to get you some information, right?"
"By the time we got here, he already had Sarah Jane and Martha on the case," John finished, "He's had to deal with rebuilding his Torchwood team back up, but he said that whatever this was about was obviously important to you."
The Doctor looked down at his fingers. He thought about Amy and how he'd left her. But it was his only option if he wanted to prevent her foretold death. It was just that he missed her terribly. Even with the old crew back, it didn't fill the hole in hearts that only one ginger could really fix. He thought about Donna, his other redheaded companion that was the only one from the old gang that hadn't been able to make it. The Doctor actually preferred that, though. She was out living a normal, human life married to a normal, human husband. She was safe, while all these friends around him were signing up for something they knew nothing about. Why did people have to have such blind faith in him?
Amy looked around the Torchwood office, her eyes wide with wonder. Maybe she would've been happy with working on Earth if she got to have a job here. There was no possible way you could get bored here. The only thing ruining the moment was the fact that Rory was absolutely scared stiff of the pterodactyl soaring above them. "Amy, do you remember when we learned about dinosaurs in school?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly, "Do you remember if that one was carnivorous?"
"Rory, I don't think they'd let it out if it ate people," Amy replied, rolling her eyes. She had bigger things to worry about than her husband's fear of large reptiles. She had to get that vortex manipulator, the one that Jack was wearing right at that moment. The only thing she had to figure out was how to get it off his wrist and onto hers.
There was a nice woman they met named Gwen Cooper, who had dark hair and a slight gap between her teeth, but kind eyes. She looked at Rory with a bit of pity, trying to hold back a laugh. "Rhys, my husband, was the same way when he first saw it," she said, then looked at her boss, "Jack, you said that Rory was a nurse, right?"
"Oh, yes," Jack nodded, giving Rory another wicked smile.
"I could show you the med bay if you'd like?" Gwen suggested, "We've actually got some pretty cool stuff down there. The only rule is that we can't take anything home."
"Are there any pterodactyls or other meat-eating things in there?" Rory asked, hesitantly. He'd died enough for one lifetime, and he highly doubted that anyone could bring him back after his body had been ripped to shreds. Not even the Doctor.
Gwen laughed. "No. Not right now, anyways."
She led Rory over to the medical bay, leaving Amy and Jack by themselves. The man leaned against a desk and crossed his arms, looking more serious than the redhead had ever seen him. "Something wrong?" she asked.
"I know what you're here for," he sighed, "And I know you're not the real Amy. You're her copy, aren't you?"
Her blood froze for a second and Amy could feel adrenaline start to fill her body as she realized that she was busted. "How did you know?" But she knew. Of course, she knew. How else would Jack have recognized Rory? "You're from my future, aren't you?"
"More like you're from my past," Jack corrected, "I knew it the second you showed up. Because the real Amy wouldn't be here. Not with Rory." He flashed back to the memories of what had happened just months ago. It was all still fresh in his head, the battle. Scenes flashed in his head. The lives that were lost, changed, damaged. Jack remembered the look on Rory and the Doctor's face after it was through, their expressions completely lost. And why wouldn't they be? They both lost something that day.
"Why didn't you stop me, then? Kill me? You know where I want to go, what I'm going to do." This wasn't making sense to Amy. Nothing Jack said was computing.
He smiled softly. If only she knew. But it was too early for that. "Because I know what happens at Trenzalore," Jack said, "And even though the Doctor's going to kill me for doing this, I'm going to let you borrow this." He started unfastening the vortex manipulator. It was with a heavy heart that Jack did this, but he knew that this day was coming. He hadn't realized it'd be so soon.
"But I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill the Doctor," Amy said, watching him. She felt like this was too easy, like it was a trap. "He's your friend, isn't he?"
"Of course he is," Jack replied, his voice rising a bit there, but instantly calming down once more, "And so are you. He'll forgive you, of course. He's completely soft and mushy and crumbles at the sight of your face, whether it's the real thing or not."
"Then why are you doing this?"
"Because some things happen for a reason," Jack answered simply, handing it over. He smiled then, going into his cheerful demeanor, "Now, remember what I said. You're borrowing that. Give it to Rory and he'll bring it back to me."
Amy hesitantly took the device, still eyeing Jack carefully. Did he know the cause she was fighting for? If he was still here, in the future, that meant she'd killed the Doctor, right? She'd managed to stop the prophecy. That must mean that Jack believed in her then, knew why she had to do this. "Fine. And… Thanks, I guess," she said, fastening it onto her wrist.
Gwen and Rory came out after that, laughing and joking around. Jack smiled at his co-worker. She was so good with people, and not in the way that he was, where he could get anyone to sleep with him. It was why he kept her around. Well, one of the reasons. Gwen wasn't that bad of a looker, either. "Oh!" Rory's eyes widened when he saw the bulky piece of time technology on Amy's wrist. How the hell had she gotten it so fast? He looked at the hemline of her skirt and decided it must be that. Again. "We leaving, then?"
Amy smiled and nodded. "Yup," she replied, "It was nice meeting you, Gwen. Thanks for everything."
"Oh, we've already met before, actually," Gwen said. She was also a really good actress, "Rory, it was nice seeing you, too."
"I'm confused," Rory sighed, not knowing how everyone seemed to know him.
Gwen and Jack laughed. "You haven't changed," she sighed, then turned to Amy, "Amy..."
"We're sorry," Jack finished, knowing that Gwen was going to say much more than what she needed to. He could already see her eyes fill with guilt and pity for the two, knowing what they were about to get themselves into and being unable to stop any of it.
Amy didn't know what they meant, but she wouldn't have them blowing her cover in front of Rory. She still needed him for a little bit longer, just until she got to the destination. Going in by herself was highly dangerous, and besides, Amy knew what else was on that planet. And Rory definitely needed to be there for that, for their daughter. Because even though she was fighting for the Silence, she was also fighting to get Melody. With the Doctor gone, they wouldn't need her anymore, and Amy could take her back.
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