A/N: I do not own Twilight or Doctor Who. I'm just playing in their universe. Original plot developed by i heart the doctor.
Chapter 9 Hope
10th Doctor's POV
I did not like where this was going. This Edward guy has changed, in a very bad way and it seems that Bella has realized it too. Whatever happens, for now we need to do what he says, or neither of us will survive.
"Well, back to where we came from then?" I asked trying to lighten the mood a little. Edward's only acknowledgement was an almost indistinguishable nod. "Right, hold on then." I began the procedure to return us to the location we just left. The atmosphere in here has taken on a dark oppressing feel.
"Bella, if you could help me out again." I asked, since I know there was no way I could speak to her without him hearing and I needed to make a plan. I was sure it was these two that caused the future to be changed. I needed to get her back to the past to set things right. But I was not positive it would be enough, as this timeline would still remain.
She came over and began pressing buttons, the correct buttons at that. It made me smile as she started hitting keys to where my screen showed what I was thinking. We needed to play along and then get away.
All of a sudden the TARDIS started to shake violently.
"What are you doing?" I asked the TARDIS.
"Doctor what is going on."
"I have no idea. Something is interfering with the input."
"What are you playing at?" Edward's look had not softened, he looked very frightening.
"I am not playing at anything. The TARDIS is essentially alive, it has the time vortex in its matrix and it can see all of creation. It will go where it is needed and I have no control over it right now."
Another violent shake as I was thrown back. Luckily Bella caught me before I went over the railing.
It stabilized after that and we stopped somewhere, though I had no idea where.
"Are we back?" Evil Edward demanded.
"We are somewhere." I answered looking to the screen and pressing some buttons to find out where we were. "OK, we are back, Italy 3000AD." That was weird, what should have been a short smooth ride from space back to Earth ended up being a violent trip; as if we passed through a rift.
Edward didn't waste any time as he moved with incredible speed and opened the door. It was twilight out and I did another quick check and found something interesting.
"This isn't right." Evil Edward hissed.
I looked out past him and noticed it was the same place we were before only no vampires were out this time. In fact I was only detecting a few thousand spread out over all of Earth.
"Where are we?" Evil Edward was by me before I could blink.
I am not one to get scared, but this guy frightened me. I didn't bother answering just turned the screen so he could see the map location and the words, Italy 3000AD. He looked at it, glared at me and then ran back to the door.
"Doctor, what happened?" Bella's sweet voice calmed me instantly, enough so I could start thinking straight.
"Right, OK, we are in the same spot as when we left and a few hours, at most, have gone by, but everything is different. Why, what changed? The trip to space was smooth and quick the trip back was rough. We must have passed through the rift, the separation between timelines. We must be in Bella's timeline."
"This is not right. Vampires should not be hiding again. Fix this, NOW." Evil Edward was getting very angry.
"Edward, it isn't that easy. It will take some time before the TARDIS can travel again. The trip through the rift has drained her. Please give it 24 hours. I know you remember how to keep a low profile, just give us 24 hours and we'll be able to go together." Bella was pleading; knowing this was our only chance.
I pushed a few buttons and went to grab my coat. A few seconds later the power started shutting down. I was fixing my collar as Edward's glare turned to me, at this point I was sure to keep a straight face as I knew he was looking for a tell, some way to see if we were lying.
"Well I am afraid Bella is right, it should only take a day and we'll be charged up again. We could either sit here until she is recharged or go for a walk."
"Come on Edward, let's get out of here. I need to get out of this box." Bella cooed. She was good.
"Fine, 24 hours and we leave." Edward stepped out of the door and pulled up his hood.
I walked beside Bella and we slowly stepped out of the TARDIS. I locked it up and took a look around. Still had some flying cars and skyscrapers, but the air seemed to be cleaner and there were vast forests around. I took a deep breath.
"Where would we like to go?"
"This way." Edward ordered and ran off.
"Sorry Doctor, I hope you don't get motion sickness." Bella grabbed me and put me on her back and took off running, following Edward who was now out of sight.
"This is a first." I said to her. "A little unnerving I might add. Please don't hit a tree."
She laughed; it was such a pleasant laugh I relaxed. "Don't worry; I have better eye sight than you. I remember when Edward did this to me when I was a human, so long ago. It was when he first showed me what he was. I remember being scared, I didn't like if very much and afterwards I had to sit down and catch my breath. Soon after that I really test his control when we had our first kiss."
"You really didn't have any sense of self preservation." Edward said as we came to the edge of the forest. He even had a little smile on his face. "I guess you like running now though?"
"I do. I also like driving fast and mountain lions, though black panthers are my favorite."
"I haven't had to feed from animals in over 1000 years. Not that the animal population now would be able to survive a group of vegetarian vampires any longer. The deforestation and ultra metropolitan cities have destroyed most forests." He sounded a little remorseful.
"Where are we?" I asked looking at an old walled city that could have been from early AD.
"Volterra." Edward answered. "I want to see what all has happened to this timeline."
We entered through a side door and followed Edward to a passage in the floor. He opened it, using a great deal of strength, much more than a dozen humans could have exerted. As I jumped down the dark hole Bella caught me. I got out my screw driver and did a quick scan. These tunnels were very old. We walked a ways and came to a heavy door. As we went through it opened in to a dimly light hall. Edward walked around to a desk in front of a series of doors.
He walked over to the women, who seemed human. "I would like to see the masters."
"Do you have an appointment?" She asked gently.
"No, but I know they will see me."
"Your name?"
"Edward Cullen."
"One moment please." She turned and typed something on the computer. "You said Edward Cullen?" He nodded. "Someone will be out in just a moment to take you back. Please have a seat."
Edward just took a step back and stood still. Bella and I took a seat and waited. It wasn't a couple minutes before the back door opened and a short haired little girl came dancing out.
"Alice!" Bella ran over to her.
"Bella? What are you guys doing here? I thought you were off on your 1100th anniversary to Isle Esme?"
"Huh?" Bella sound confused for a second. "Oh, right, yeah, lots of weird things have happened. I guess we should talk."
"I get it. Looks like Edward slipped. Is everything OK? Do we need to call Carlisle?"
"Alice?" Edward looked like he had seen a ghost.
"Obviously." She rolled her eyes.
"I'm fine. But how is this possible."
"I have no idea what you are talking about, but Bella, who is the human and why does he have two heartbeats?"
"We should go inside; it is going to get complicated."
"This way." Alice grabbed Bella and held on for dear life and Bella wrapped her arms around her. I got up to follow and Edward had not moved the entire time.
"Shall we?" He followed and we went back to the door she just emerged from.
The room was bright and open. There was a round table in the middle with 12 chairs. In the back was another door. We went through the back door and entered a room that was very out of place. It was bright and had over sized couches, a TV and game controllers. There were several doors leading off this one.
"Marcus." Alice said as she drug Bella and sat down on one of the couches.
"So Alice, what brings Edward back so early? Usually those two cannot be bothered for at least two weeks." An older looking male walked in with long dark hair and a pleasant smile.
"Master?" Edward looked confused.
Marcus laughed. "No one has called me that for nearly a thousand years. Is human blood not sitting well with you my friend?"
"No it's fine, just what happened?" Edward's confusion seemed to be going on overload.
"OK, my name is the Doctor and I guess this is the time to get everyone up to speed. It would seem that we have indeed come across an interesting chain of events." All eyes turned to me, the pleasant gold honey of Alice and Bella, the slightly unnerving of Marcus and the very unsettling eyes of Edward. "Alice, when did you meet Bella?"
"1950s, when Jasper and I came to join Carlisle."
"Marcus, how about you? When did you meet Bella?"
"Early 21st century, when I found out of a grievous crime my brother had committed and sought assistance to right a terrible wrong done to me."
"So this is Bella, the Bella that meet Edward in 1917. But her story gets a little complicated. It started in 2005 where she meets Edward, this Edward. She falls in love, but in July she is touched by an alien, the silent killers, the Weeping Angels. They have a perfect defense; if you see them they are stone. If you are touched by one they will send you back in time and you live yourself to death. She was touched and sent back to 1917 where she met your Edward." I pointed to Alice.
"You're talking about time travel?" Marcus asked.
"Yes, sounds a little silly I know, but that is the case. You see something happened, something that should not have happened and this planet's timeline has split. It shouldn't have, but it did. My only conclusion is it was because Bella's life did not end as it should have in 2005, after being sent back. Instead she was made into an immortal vampire and the timeline fractured. You see when people are sent back by the time they get back to their original time, the time they initially disappeared from, they are dead or about to die. For those that are left without answers as to where she went, it is as if she died the day she disappeared. The closer you are to her the more it would seem to affect your life. People that didn't know you would not have any different timeline. Your family, vampire family would have very different timelines, so it would seem."
"So you are saying this is my Bella, but that is not my Edward?" Alice sounded confused.
"Yes. This Edward is the Edward from the timeline when Bella disappeared and had no idea where she went."
"Enough Doctor, there is no need to tell them more about my timeline as it does not concern them." Evil Edward was back.
"Very well, I'll just say that we are stuck her for a little while before we are off again."
"What is different about your timeline Edward?" Marcus asks. "What is it you are afraid of?"
"I fear nothing master." Edward replied, it would seem that the Volturi in his timeline demand unquestionable loyalty. "It is just that Aro has steered the world in a different direction benefiting all vampires. Here it seems that nothing has changed and we still live in fear of humans."
Marcus laughed. "No Edward, we don't live in fear of humans any longer. In fact Carlisle and Esme are meeting with the heads of the Global 6. I don't know how it is in your time, but here World War 3 was fought in 2334. It lasted for 10 years followed by World War 4 fifty years later; it lasted for over 20 years. By the end of it the world was divided into six countries, the six continents, Antarctica is still mostly uninhabited. It was after WW4 that we announced our presence. The governments of most small countries collapsed and the world was in chaos. China, US, England, Brazil, Australia, and Egypt, all stepped up and started exerting control over their areas. Vampires did what they could. Mostly killed criminals all over the world and brought order from chaos as the people turned to the highest authority for help and protection."
"In the years sense we have established a partnership with the world leaders. We vampires go about our business as usual. We are more or less known to the world now, but we don't flaunt our existence. I still maintain the order and secrecy of vampires and keep those that wish to exploit our power and ability from getting out of hand. If we have to have a trail we do it in the other room with the table. They present their case before a panel of vampires that is chosen. Three permanent members sit on the council and 4 chosen to serve for 10 year turns, majority vote rules. We rarely have to have trials anymore though."
"Alice, you still drink from animals? How are they still alive after so long?" Edward asked.
"Yes, so does the other you." She said and looked confused. "That is going to take some getting use to. It started with us, the Cullens and Denali's started to buy and preserve large forested areas. After WW4 vast amounts of forests were destroyed. After we meet with the governments they took control of most of what was left and banned any building or deforestation of these protected areas. With new and better ways to build houses and buildings wood was no longer needed. A clean source of fuel was found so wood was no longer needed for fireplaces and heat."
"Emmett and Rosalie, where are they?" Edward asked.
"They are visiting with some of our friends in the Amazon, hunting big game." Alice replied. "Edward, what happened to you? You look, different."
"Hmph, well I thought Bella was dead, you can't image what that was like for me. I meet her when she was human and feel in love. I knew she would die at some point, but I never expected it to be so soon after she was attacked and from right under my nose. I went to the Volturi to seek escape. I found it and a different way of life."
"So you are with Aro and Caius?" Marcus asked with no small about of hate.
"Yes, you and your brothers are my masters. I am Aro's right hand man, Renata is his left."
"They are no brothers of mine now." Marcus said coldly.
"What happened?"
"Aro killed my Didyme, his own sister to keep me from leaving the Volturi. An old friend of mine told me when he found it safe enough to do so. At that point I sought out friends I believed would help. As it turns out our Bella there has a most powerful gift that allowed us to destroy Aro and his Guard. Those that were left standing rebuilt the Volturi to be what it was originally meant to be."
"Aro killed your mate?"
"Yes." Marcus hissed.
"I'm sorry, I never knew." Edward said. "He has always done what was best for the Family, but I never knew he would go that far."
"Neither did I, until my most loyal guard and his mate returned to me when I least expected it. So how is your timeline different?"
Edward seemed to hesitate not sure if he wanted to answer. I am sure because he would have to say the Cullens were all killed and Bella was never seen again.
"It seems to be kind of similar. We have come out to the humans and live together in a kind of truce."
"What are we doing?" Alice asked. "If you took to a diet of human blood again, I am sure Carlisle isn't really that upset, he always was the first to forgive."
"You're dead." Edward said bluntly. "All the Cullens were found guilty of a crime and executed."
"What did we do? We would never commit a crime, not one that would have us killed." Alice's look of horror was mirrored by Marcus'.
"No I am sure they just got on Aro's bad side and he found some way to have them killed that would not upset the community." Marcus said, having known his brother for a very long time I would wager.
"Doctor, what is going on?"
"Just as I said, we are waiting for my ship to recharge so we can return Edward, this Edward to his own timeline."
"I know, but how did he end up like this?" Alice asked, sad that her brother turned out to be so different than the one she knows.
"I would wager it was the loss of Bella. You see when Bella disappeared he never knew why and never heard from her again. As he mentioned he was heartbroken and heartbreaks make everyone react differently." I answered; it saddened me to say all this was centered around these two.
"I am fine Alice. It was hard for a long time, but everything is fine now." Edward replied.
"If you say so." Alice replied, but still looked sad.
The door opened behind us.
"Edward? What brings you back so early son?" A pair of vampires entered. These two looked like every happily married human couple I have seen.
"Carlisle?" Edward asked.
"This isn't our Edward Carlisle. This man is the Doctor, he is a time traveler and this Edward is from a different timeline and this Bella is our Bella only a Bella from the past."
"Well that certainly sounds confusing. Doctor, I am Doctor Carlisle Cullen and my wife Esme. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"And you." I shook his cold hand.
"So Doctor Who?" Carlisle asked.
"Just the Doctor." I smiled.
"Fair enough, so what brings you to, this timeline?" Carlisle asked as if he wasn't sure that was the right way to phrase it.
"Well I am not sure to be honest. We were going to drop off Edward and Bella when the TARDIS decided to bring us here. Now we have to wait a little while until the TARDIS's energy it charged up enough to make the trip back."
"Carlisle it is good to see you again."
"And you Bella." They gave each other a warm embrace.
"So Edward, how is the other timeline. I trust everything is going well with you."
"Yes, everything is as it should be." Edward was very evasive.
"Doctor, did you need to get something to eat? We could let Edward catch-up with this lot."
"Sure, it has been a while since I have had anything to eat."
"There is a little deli just down the road. It is very good I hear." Marcus said.
"Thank you. We will be back shortly."
"I think I'll come with you."
"Don't be silly Edward." Marcus said. "Stay with us. I would like to learn more about how the vampires are doing in your timeline."
I could see that Edward was torn between letting us go alone and a request from one of his masters. Bella took this opportunity and we left the way we came. We hurried out the door and down the road.
"What do we do Doctor?" Bella asked, still in a hushed voice.
"I am not sure to be honest. It is a situation I don't think I have faced. I know we can't leave him here, I really don't know what that would do. I also know if we take him back to his time nothing will change. I am very surprised that time has continued like this for so long, fractured like this. There are not supposed to be two timelines. I truly am at a loss right now."
"Well it stands to reason that this Edward is not one to give up. So how could we fix this mess? If something bad could possibly happen to the world, what would need to happen to keep this Edward from changing the future you know?"
"Die, in the past, sometime before he could influence the vampire world to go down a different path. He must have caused a ripple effect that I could never have foreseen. By living longer than a normal human he was able to influence a large group of powerful beings that was able to alter the course of human history. However, since you went back there was also your timeline that let the normal course continue. If we want to right the fracture, Edward would need to die in the past."
"I can't do that Doctor. I can't kill him. Maybe this Edward, that is keeping me from my love, but I can't kill him in the past, while he grieves over his loss of me."
"We'll have to think of something and soon. We only have 22 hours before we have to take him back and you will be forced to stay with him. I am sure if we asked your family from this time they would help us. But I don't want to upset him, unless it is a last resort."
Bella nodded in agreement.