Disclaimer: This is not mine. I repeat, Doctor Who and any other related characters are not mine.

Well, this actually just came to me today when I was supposed to be preparing for my Art exam. Damn plot bunnies. I hope you lot like it.

This is a slightly revised version to get rid of the stupid spelling and grammar errors. Sorry.

Caught in the Cross Fire

By Chaimera

Chapter 1: Not so Fantastic

Rose and the Doctor walked back towards the TARDIS across the large purple meadow. The orange sun was high in the sky and it was warm on Rose's back as she skimmed her hands along the top of the high grass. There was a playful breeze whipping hair cross her face and she tucked a few strands behind her ear as she looked up at her quiet companion who was staring off into the distance as they walked.

"Well, that was a nice change, huh?"

They were just returning from a festival that had taken place in a nearby village. It had been similar, Rose thought, to how people used to celebrate May Day back home. There had been lots of colour and ribbons, music and dancing. She had enjoyed the two days they had spent in the small village. The people had been friendly and welcoming, a local couple putting the pair up for nothing except help with the cooking. Of course whenever this was requested the Doctor went for a walk, muttering something about domestic. One of the main reasons Rose had liked it so much was that the most running she had done was when the Doctor had chased her down, forcing her to dance last night. It wasn't that she didn't like all the adventure, excitement, saving the world and all, it was just, non stop running for your life tended to take its toll. The Doctor was still quiet as they approached the door of their time machine. She looked up at him again.

"Are you ok?"

"What was that?"

"Have you been listening to anything I have said to you since we left?"

"… No."

She shook her head and slapped his arm. "Some companion you are."

"Sorry. What were you saying?" He fished in his pockets for his key, coming up with various other items.

She pulled her own out of her pocket and unlocked the door. "I was saying that was a nice change."

"Oh, yeah."

"I also asked you if you were ok. You're really quiet."

"…oh. That."

"Well…?"

The Doctor looked out over the meadow and ran a hand over his hair. "The whole place, just reminds me a bit of…"

"Home?"

"… yeah."

She grabbed his hand and gave it a quick squeeze. "Come on. Let's go and find somewhere a bit more… happening."

He smiled and squeezed back. "Fantastic."

The two entered the TARDIS and after a few seconds the blue box disappeared.

"So," the Doctor ran up to the control console with a few bounds. "Where do you want to go?"

"Dunno. Any suggestions?"

"I do know this great place a few planets over from here. Always some fun to be had."

"Your kind of fun or mine?"

"Mine."

Rose rolled her eyes and grinned.

Rose clung on to the main console as the TARDIS shook uncontrollably. The Doctor pulled a lever and hit the panel with his hammer.

"What is going on?"

"I don't know. Must be some kind of storm. We're being thrown about like a ball in a lottery machine."

"Oh, fantastic. Can you get us out?"

He grinned at her maniacally. "I can try."

Rose lost her grip and was thrown to the floor as the TARDIS jolted again.

"Just do it. My arse is going to be black and blue at this rate."

"Alright."

He pushed a few more buttons and there was a huge lurch as they were both thrown half way across the room. He grinned and lifted his weight off her, looking down at the girl pinned beneath him.

"I got us out."

Rose just groaned and pushed him off her, standing up. She reached down and helped the Doctor up as well, just as the TARDIS shook again.

The Doctor frowned and moved back to the central column. "That's not right."

"Oh just great."

"Fantastic."

"What? What can be so fantastic to get you to say it that way?"

"I'm gonna have to land her. Now."

"Where are we?"

"No idea, but if we don't land, we're pretty dead."

Rose sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Just do it."

"You keep saying that like it's a bad thing."

"I'm not sure yet."

"Hold that one down and hang on."

The TARDIS lurched and shook and then jolted as they hit solid ground. Rose breathed a sigh of relief and looked to the Doctor who was staring at a screen intently.

"Well, what's the damage report?"

"It'll take me a few hours to get up and running again. No longer."

"That's good. So where are we?"

"Still got no idea. Wanna go take a snoop around first?"

"Why not."

"Fantastic."

"You know, between the two of us, we've said that word about six times in the last hour."

"We need a new word."

She smiled and nodded, heading for the door.

Rose was oddly struck when she stepped from the side all where the TARDIS was parked on to the main street. Technologically, were they were seemed to be like 1980's earth, but what really caught her attention was that the people here seemed to be human. She looked at the Doctor curiously.

"Are we on earth?"

He shook his head. "Nope. We're on the other side of the Universe."

"These people look human."

He shrugged. "Well, for all superficial purposes, they are. Two eyes, ten fingers, one heart, two lungs. It's only when you get down to the genetic level that you could tell the difference."

"Oh."

They walked down the street, people hurried by looking at the pavement, everyone in a hurry to get where they were going. The Doctor raised an eyebrow when they saw an armoured army vehicle travelling slowly down the street, men in blue uniforms sitting astride the monster with heavy artillery. Rose looked at them uneasily.

"I wonder what's going on."

The Doctor shrugged and kept walking, nodding at passers by who just averted their eyes and walked quicker. The Doctor frowned again and looked around.

"I'm just popping into the news agents to get a paper. Don't go far."

"I won't. Bring back chocolate." She shouted after him as he ran across the street. She walked further on up the street. She looked in the window of an electrical shop where a bank of TV's was flickering against the glass. Her eye brows shot up as she read the news heads that appeared on every TV screen. This was bad. She jumped as the Doctor grabbed her arm, a newspaper clutched in his hand. He looked worried.

"We have to go."

"I know."

They both hurried back in the direction they came. They rounded a corner and there was an explosion. They both threw themselves to the ground and the Doctor covered Rose's body with his own as debris fell around them. The Doctor rolled off Rose and sat up. Rose rubbed dust out of her eyes and looked around. The street was in bits. Debris littered the pavement and street. There was glass everywhere from the broken shop windows and there were several cars on fire. Two buildings down the street seemed to have been completely destroyed. There were people screaming and crying as they ran from the scene and several motionless bodies lay on the street. The Doctor pulled Rose to her feet and glanced around. No one was taking any notice of the pair as they slipped into a back street, moving towards the centre of the explosion. He glanced sideways at her.

"You alright?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Yeah."

The TARDIS had stood right next to one of the destroyed buildings and was nowhere to be seen amongst the rubble. Rose averted her gaze as she saw a hand sticking out of the wreckage, limp and bloodied. He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him.

"Come on. The TARDIS wouldn't have been destroyed by that."

They eventually found the TARDIS, lying on its side a few minutes away from where the blast had taken place. The paint was scratched, the 'For Public Use' sign had disappeared and several of the letters were absent, but other than that, the time machine seemed none the worse from its ordeal. On the outside. Once they had scrambled inside the battered box, a disorientating experience for Rose, as her centre of gravity shifted rapidly, they stood and looked around. The place was a mess. More of a mess than usual, thought Rose caustically. Everything in the entire ship, it seemed, had been thrown around during the explosion. The main console looked the worse for wear as it sparked intermittently. Rose sat on the floor and watched the Doctor diagnose his patient.

"Well, how long will it take now?"

He gave her a dark glance. "An indeterminate amount of time."

She raised an eyebrow. "Indeterminate? What does that mean? Days?"

Silence.

"Weeks?"

Silence.

"Months?"

A twitch of his eye.

"Years?"

He turned to her, a worried expression marring his usually cheerful face.

"Indeterminate."

Rose lay back against a pillar. "Shit."

End Chap.

Well? What did you think? You know how to inform me. Just look below!

Slán.