Chapter Three:

With the toss of the fez the time fissure grew and expanded until they were all sucked in as if by a tornado. The Doctors tried to grab onto their respective companions but only the flimsiest of touches could be managed until they were suddenly dropped onto a hard surface against each other. Head bounced off of elbow bounced off of knee bounced off of ground in loud rumbles of displeasure and pain.

"Come on, come on," the Ninth Doctor mumbled as he helped Alexys to her feet.

Alexys turned back to see the Eleventh Doctor and Alex getting themselves in order with a bit of blush and flirtation. They looked around and found themselves in a white room that was more than a white room. It was a white eternity. Endless white continued in all directions and Alexys thought to herself it was something close to the Janet Void though she knew no one around her had watched the Good Place enough to know what that was. Everything was all straight lines of white except for the very obviously blue box with the very obviously amused man and woman standing in front of it.

"So, you took the scenic route."

Alex and Alexys grabbed at each other in shock as they looked to the Tenth Doctor standing with Rose Tyler at his side. They spoke to each other in excited noises of half understandable gibberish, "Rose Tyler, Rose Tyler, Rose Tyler!"

"Sorry about them, their…" the Eleventh Doctor looked to the two then back toward the Tenth, "American. Are you the reason we…Rose Tyler?"

The Ninth Doctor questioned, "Rose Tyler?"

"Doctor?" she wondered out loud.

The Tenth motioned toward the Ninth, "We haven't met you yet and we," he motioned toward the Eleventh, "are very pleased to see you."

She stared in surprise as she looked over the Eleventh Doctor then back to the Ninth with a tinge of hurt before settling her eyes on Alex and Alexys, "And who are they?"

The Tenth Doctor brought out his screwdriver to scan them, "They…are in the wrong universe. They are in the wrong time."

"Hold on now," The Ninth Doctor stepped before Alexys protectively, "Wrong Universe, wrong time? Who are you?"

"I'm you," he answered with a little smile before extending his hand, "Welcome to the present."

"You mean the past," The Eleventh Doctor mumbled grasping the fez that Rose Tyler held before placing it on his head. It was clear there was pain on his features that he suppressed deeply for the sake of protecting what had not occurred for her yet. He reverted his attention to the white everything, "You said wrong universe. Where are we then?"

"We are nowhere," the Tenth Doctor answered.

"When are we?" the Ninth Doctor questioned.

"We are no-when," he replied smugly.

"So we're in the void," the Ninth and Eleventh Doctor rolled their eyes and pulled out their screwdrivers.

The Tenth Doctor huffed standing upright as he motioned to the Tardis, "This is not the Void but it is a Void. Look."

The Doctor began to jump, showing a slight decrease of speed in the landing and the absence of sound that accompanied the action. He then cupped his mouth and began to shout but it came out in quiet hush. He made a little whisper and it sounded as though he were screaming.

"Alright, alright, we got it," The Eleventh Doctor began to sniff and taste the air wildly, "I get a vague sense of boiled cabbage but there is no wet dog scent."

"Dog!" Alex did his best to keep his voice even despite his distress, "Hicks! We have to go back and get her!"

"Don't worry, Alex, to her it'll be mere seconds until we return. Plus the Tardis will take care of her if our stay ends up…extending," he looked to the Tenth Doctor, "Why are we here? Did you bring us?"

"No, we crash landed here trying to escape from a massive crack in the universe. We've been here oh…" he looked to Rose as they made faces toward each other as if in a secret language, "Ten…ten seconds before you arrived."

"Another crack," the Ninth Doctor looked to Alexys, "What do you know about this?"

"I…uh…"

The Doctors looked to Alex and Alexys with a strange expression and in unison spoke, "I'm starting to forget things…"

"And I'm starting to remember," the Eleventh Doctor stepped away from the two. "How did we meet you two again?"

"Uh…you materialized in the living room of an Air B&B I was renting," Alex answered.

"Before that?" he looked down with his hand to his head, "I remembered but it's slipping from me."

"They are not who you think they are," the Tenth Doctor tried to explain again as he offered the screwdriver to show its readings, "You two were both mistaken. You assumed these two were the Alex and Alexys from our universe but they are the Alex and Alexys from a different universe. We'll call it…universe—"

"A!" Alexys offered.

"Yes, Universe A."

She smirked to Alex then remembered his name also started with an "A" and so she extended her right hand as she pressed her left hand to her chest. He completed their shake with a double tap to his chest and her palm. The sound seemed to amplify around them, making them all cover their ears. Rose looked to them, "What was that!"

"Just a hand shake," Alexys looked nervously at them.

"Do it again," the Ninth Doctor ordered.

The two looked at each other and repeated the same hand shake.

Tap, tap.

The sound was massive and this time even Alex and Alexys had to cover their ears. The Ninth Doctor shouted, "Where did you get it from?"

"A TV Show!"

"A TV Show?" the Tenth Doctor questioned.

"Wait…" the Eleventh Doctor squinted hard at both Alex and Alexys, "I'm remembering…what I've been forgetting…but forgetting what I've been remembering…"

"No sense this one," the Ninth Doctor shook his head with dissatisfaction.

"Let him finish," Alex piped up.

"That…handshake. I recall you two doing that tappy thing together…on a street…I was…on the road…you…?" he shouted in pain, dropping his head into his hands.

"And I recall seeing you and a butterfly," The Ninth Doctor stared at Alexys as he shook his head, "She is not the wrong Alexys. She is my wife!"

"Wife!" nearly everyone but Alex and Alexys shouted which made it all sound like a giant whisper.

"No…that's…got to be wrong?" The Tenth Doctor began squinting.

"If they are the wrong universe how could we travel to them so easily? How are they with us now? How are we with th—"

"The cracks," Rose spoke softly, gazing at Alex and Alexys with thoughtfulness, "It's the cracks, right? It's mucking everything up…Like when we travelled through the time vortex and had that whole Cybermen incident with Mickey. Except the cracks are doing it. They're mucking everything up and that's how you're able to keep criss crossing back into your own time stream."

"What about the Time Fissure?" The Eleventh Doctor asked in distress, "It brought us here like when we all…"

"Don't," the Tenth Doctor shook his head, "I'm remembering it now too but don't you dare bring it up."

"We need a plan," the Ninth Doctor suddenly interrupted, "We need to get out of here and seal up those cracks."

Alex and Alexys looked to each other remembering how it had been done in the past…or the future.

"What's the look?" the Eleventh Doctor stood beside Rose as he motioned to Alex and Alexys, "You saw that right? They had a look."

She nodded, looking to him still with disbelief that her Ten could turn into that Eleven, "I saw it."

He stepped forward, "What was it then? What was the look?"

"Nothing," Alexys shook her head, "We're just as lost as you are."

"Oh, really? Because I do recall my wife knowing about the Blinovitch Limitation Effect," Nine snapped.

"The Blinowhat?" Rose questioned.

Alex shook his head, "I'm just as lost as you are."

"Who are you?" The Ninth Doctor questioned.

"Yeah, who are you really?" the Eleventh Doctor followed.

"Just tell us who you are," the Ten Doctor added.

Alex and Alexys looked to each other with desperate fear. They were completely at a loss on how to explain their involvement especially since they themselves did not know their involvement. Alex opened his mouth, deciding to explain, but Alexys suddenly shouted, "We're the Watchers!"

"The Watchers," the Doctors whispered to themselves, the Void turning it into a scream.

Alexys shook her head, "Not…related to that Watcher," she looked to Alex and shouted a phrase she knew that would turn into a whisper, "I'll explain later," then returned her attention to the others, "Yes, yes it's all coming to me now. I too am remembering what I have forgotten and forgetting what I have remembered. We are the great and mysterious Watchers of the Doctor. It has been our sacred duty to be of observance to your many great triumphs and heartbreaks. We live in all universes in which the Doctor exists and we observe in every one. The Universe we come from and the Universe you originally met us in…uh our vessels do not know of our great mission. We are mere mortals that remain Watchers through…other means."

There was silence that was soon broken up by Rose Tyler, "Is a TV show, innit?"

"What?" Alexys squeaked.

"In your Universe the Doctor is a TV show. Probably on BBC or something like," she let out a little laugh.

The Ninth Doctor shook his head, "The great and mysterious Watchers."

The Tenth Doctor cracked into a smile, "Well, how do I look?"

"Great!" Alex answered before narrowing his eyes, "What do you mean?"

"I mean compared to television. How do I look in the flesh?"

Alex repeated with the same enthusiasm, "Great!"

"I'm still not buying it!" The Ninth Doctor shook his head, "I'm losing bits of moments but I remember the Sapphire Waterfall and when I married you I knew exactly who I was marrying."

"And when we were in Rome," The Eleventh Doctor looked to Alex with tenderness in his eyes, "I could not have gotten all that wrong."

"You did not," came a gruff old voice from behind them.

Everyone whipped their head to see the Twelfth Doctor emerging from a Tardis that had made no sound. Alex gave a little scrunch of his nose and suck of his teeth in displeasure, "Oh."

"We turn into you," the Doctors tried to keep their voices below a shout but it did not work.

"I wasn't too thrilled about it either," he stepped out and looked to Rose, "Rose Tyler…I…"

"Alright, what's happened to me that the two of you are actin' so funny," she demanded.

"Who's acting fu—"

"Clara Oswald!" Alex and Alexys' scream came out in a whisper that was heard throughout the void.

"Hello, you two. Have we met?" she asked with her kind smile and massive cheeks.

"They're the Watcher," the Ninth Doctor gestured toward them with a scoff, "Didn't you hear?"

"And you are?" she smiled curiously, politely.

"He is me," the Twelfth Doctor stood upright, looking over the many faces and pointing them out, "So is he and so is…well you met that one."

"No, I don't believe we have," The Eleventh Doctor furrowed his brows, "Are you…wait…say something?"

Clara had the look Rose had, the look of not being remembered and the look of fear having been forgotten, "What? What'd you want me to say?"

"Soufflé girl!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Sou—oh, yeah. Yeah," she smiled bashfully, "That was me."

"Amazing!" he gasped, grasping her face between his hands as he looked over her, "It's really you."

"I didn't get a welcome like that," Rose mumbled.

Alexys leaned forward to whisper, "You wouldn't want one," forgetting that the whisper turned into a shout.

"What was that?" the Eleventh Doctor snapped looking back.

"I'm Rose Tyler," Rose smiled, leaning around the man to meet Clara.

Clara's eyes grew wide as she looked over the woman, "You're Rose?"

"Oh, she's doin' it too," Rose had a look of nervousness, "Doctor, what happens to me."

"Don't worry about it," the Doctors all spoke at once but the Twelfth Doctor continued, "I am here to tell you that the Universe is collapsing and it is all—wait…is that a wedding ring?"

Alexys smiled as she lifted her hand and though the Ninth Doctor was guarded and visibly annoyed he lifted his hand too, "We're married."

"That's no—" The Twelfth Doctor pulled out a blue book.

Alex and Alexys mouthed to each other, "River Song."

"River Song? Who's that?" Rose questioned as she looked between their faces.

The time fissure appeared once more and with it came a woman with curly beautiful hair and bright green eyes that fell from the sky and landed on her feet. A smile formed on her face as she looked into the crowd of Doctors, "Hello, Sweetie."

Both Alexys and Alex nearly fell against each other at the sight of the woman standing before them. The Eleventh and Twelfth Doctor gave a wave, "Hello, River."

"Who is River Song?" Rose questioned.

Clara smirked as she pointed to the Doctor, "That's his wife."

Rose motioned to Alexys, "I thought that was his wife."

"No, that is my wife," the Ninth Doctor grabbed Alexys around the middle and pulled her up against him.

"You're wife?"

"Until he regenerates," Alexys explained, "Then it's a clean slate!"

River nodded with a polite smile then quickly pulled out her blue book for details.

"Don't bother, River. I already checked. There's…nothing about it," the Twelfth Doctor shook his head, "This is all wrong. All of it is all mixed up and you want to know who's fault is it?"

"Who?" Clara questioned.

"This is all his fault," he jabbed a finger toward the Eleventh Doctor.

"Me?"

Alexys smirked toward Alex and mouthed the words, "Told you he's the worst."

"How is this my fault! And I heard that, Watcher!"

"It doesn't matter how it's your fault. Just that it is," he nodded before looking to River with gentleness in his eyes, "River…I—"

She pressed a finger to her lips before giving a shake of her head, "Spoilers. Now…are you Rose Tyler?"

A smile came on her features as she gave a little wave, "Hello, I am."

River crossed the space between them before taking the blonde's hands in hers, "I have wanted to meet you for an eternity."

Her smile faltered as she looked to the Tenth Doctor, "Uh…Doctor. I'm starting to get very nervous about what happens to me again."

"Don't worry," the Doctor pulled Rose away from River, "Nothing's happening to you."

"Well, the universe will rip us to shreds in moments if we don't sort this situation out. Now, Clara and I have been tracking the Time Fissures and from what we can tell it leads back to one point in time."

"What point is that?" Rose pondered.

"The 25th of December in the year 2020," the Twelfth Doctor spoke with absolute certainty.

Alex and Alexys looked to each other and mouthed the words, "Christmas Special!"

"Okay, so we narrowed down a time but what about an actual location?" the Ninth Doctor huffed as he gripped onto Alexys.

"That is where I come in," River smirked pulling out an old, old textbook, "I too have noticed the influx of Time Fissures and those very nasty cracks. Now, sweetie, I thought we had taken care of all that at Lake Silencio but it appears they are growing at a rapid pace. I have noted mentions of them throughout every point in the Universe except for this one right here."

She opened the book and pointed to the title of the page. The rest of the room read the name out loud, "Greendale."

"Greendah…yes, yes," the Tenth Doctor nodded with squinting eyes before pulling back to look at everyone else, "Alright, I don't have my glasses. But I get the point. You want us to go to Greendale on Christmas?"

Alex and Alexys mouthed to each other again, "Christmas Special!"

"Actually Doctor," Clara interjected, "It would stand to reason that if all the points lead back to December 25th, we should arrive much earlier to figure out what events lead to it?"

"How do we know what events to look for if we don't go to the actual event?" the Tenth Doctor questioned.

"Well, there are enough of us here. Why don't we split up and have some go to the day of while others go to the weeks before?" Rose offered.

The Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Doctor grinned, "Brilliant."

"You. You're coming with me," the Ninth and the Eleventh Doctor spoke in unison in regards to Alexys and Alex.

The Tenth Doctor rolled his eyes, "No, no, no. Watchers, you come with me along with Rose and Clara to the weeks before. You lot go to the day of."

"I'm not leaving my wife in your hands," the Ninth Doctor huffed.

"Technically…they're your hands," Alex offered.

"I'll be fine," she smiled as she looked up at him all ears and nose and eyes and concern, "We'll be together again."

"Do you remember this?" River looked to the Eleventh Doctor and the Twelfth Doctor expecting answers.

They shook their head, "Not at all!"

The two kissed to the surprise of everyone in the room. Eleven took the opportunity to grasp Alex by the face and look him in the eyes, "Now, I want you to do everything I sa—he says. The last thing I want for you is to get hurt. Is that understood?"

Alex nodded with a face growing redder by the second, "I understand."

"Don't be a hero. Don't trust anything," he leaned forward to kiss Alex's forehead before stroking his cheek, "When you get back I'll take you for eggs at the Heathrow."

Alex nearly melted as he nodded with confirmation, "It's a date."

"Alright everyone! Allons-y!"

The Twelfth Doctor whispered words of encouragement to Clara that she took with a solid nod of her head before following along. Alex and Alexys gave one final look to their Doctors before stepping inside the Tardis and shutting the door. Together they walked up the ramp and viewed the inside with Clara in amazement.

There was a moment of awkward silence as the Doctor got the Tardis up and running but in that moment Alexys looked between all the faces with shyness, "Sooo…what is everyone's zodiac sign?"