A/N: Hands over Jelly Babies to my reviewer, OtherMeWriter. Thanky much. Yeah, Rose is being given a chance of a lifetime here. And she's going to take a hold of it with both hands and then panic about not telling her mum later.
PS: the Scene with Mal and Inara is based on a flashback scene from 'Out of Gas' as seen in the show Firefly.

Summary: The Doctor, reeling from the effects of the TimeWar as the last surviving TimeLord, stumbled into a situation he could not ignore when the TARDIS landed him inside a ship that was clearly in trouble. After the rescue, he's left with eight survivors that he must somehow get to safety. But the situation is not as cut and dry as he might like. His people may be gone, but the stamp he's made on the universe is still there, and he finds himself caught in a web spun of the choices he's made in his past…

Something in history has prompted humanity to explode out from their home world. Could the events of 2164 be responsible? Was Earth a myth or was it real? In fleeing Earth-that-Was, humanity scattered to the stars across the galactic arm. Initial survey teams targeted likely planets and systems for habitation and not all of them ended up on the same side of the sector. Blue Sun exists on one side, separated by a patch of 'wild space' filled with exotic binary and triple star systems, from the rest of civilized space. Few ships brave the route. But luck had it that one ship did. Risking a ghost run, the only contact that the two sides have, the Hunter-Gratzner crashed midway through the journey. Original Port of Departure: Eavesdown Docks, Persephone. Mixed Sino-Anglo culture. Original Port of Call: Tangiers-5. Darkside. Mixed Islamic-Anglo culture. Crew complement: Four. Passengers: Forty. Living 'Cargo': Two. Survivors: Eight plus One

So what happens in 2517 to Dr. Simon Tam, his brilliant but damaged sister, a convicted murder by the name of Richard B. Riddick, and Jack B. Badd now that they are on their way home? They end up slightly out of their own Time, on a ship filled with living sculptures and then a 'quiet' trip to 2005 London brings them face to face with living sculptures of another kind… And just how is this related to the TimeWar?

A Doctor Who / Firefly / Riddick crossover.

Features Doctor 9, companion Rose Tyler; The cast of Firefly; 'Jack B. Badd' and Richard B. Riddick…

Doctor Who and the Ties that Bind.

Part Twenty-Four

Indisputable

The Golden Lady told River many things. They often spoke of hopes and dreams, adventures and trials, love and loss, and even the Doctor and what was needed to help him win his battle with the Skaro-derived parasite. She'd led the girl to albums of images showing snapshots of past companions, starting with Susan, Ian, Barbara, and then moving onto all the rest. She'd shown her the tokens of their travels, little things attached to each adventure, ranging from the worthless, like the feather from an alien bird, to the priceless things that were once touched by the emperor of China himself, all because River cared and was willing to look at the past and own those things. And sometimes Verity thought that the fight would be lost and nothing else could survive that aside from the memories.

She's chosen River, because the dark haired teen, like her, needed the Doctor for her very existence. So entwined was she now with the Time Lord, that his passing would rend her sanity into a twisted demented form. So alike she'd become that the void of his mind forever gone from her would shatter her own soul. Of them all, River was the one that could understand Verity's terror over the looming and growing power of the energy leech as it fed on the forces born of her biological and psychic connections with the Doctor.

And then they had come here. Here on Earth, with so many unguarded minds, the raven-headed teen would be driven insane if not for the Time Lord's ability to run interference. River needed his mental touch here more than anyplace they had been to before. Thus they were usually close together, or they returned to each other's side after the shortest of times, and Verity could rely upon River to keep tabs on the Doctor and let her know if he was hiding the evidence that would indicate the return of his symptoms.

Besides that River liked Rose. They were about the same age, with in a few years, close enough that the stray thoughts Rose had about boys, and fashion, and the occasional lack of it, resonated with the side of River that few people realized was there. Besides, Rose was unique, or near enough, being as she was aether, and frankly not too many people qualified that might just be strong enough to step up and assist in the way that she, Verity, required. But Rose… she was. And that was an opportunity that she just had to grab hold of tight and not let go.

Now she just had to ease Amadak's fears. Rose Tyler would not replace him. She could not. A soul a big as her Time Lord's had enough room for dozens, and always before he'd kept himself apart, but now there was no need. No authority would step in to strip those he cared for away from him, as had happened with Jamie and Zoe. No cruel overseer existed to tell him he couldn't reach out and touch those special souls to keep them with him as had happened with Sarah Jane. When a being's family alone was fifteen times three, and his ship could support a city's worth, and he had two very empty hearts… anything could happen. And maybe his kind, not the stuffy Gallifreyans of old but something new, devoted to the Red Guardian, could exist again, reformed into the original intent he had for them, helpers against the forces that he stood alone in opposition of now. Already, with Jack, it had started.

Gallifreyans were, by their very nature, extremely social. Telepathically social, even. From Looming to final Passing, they were never alone. They had large families, Cousins by law, which existed as a constant physical presence, even when parted. Those few elite that became Time Lords took on another layer of togetherness, becoming part of a mass mind of a thousand, slowly climbing in the ranks from bottom to top over the course of their very long lifespans. Even being given TARDIS was a major event, like being married, as the bond was physical and mental, although most Time Lords dominated their connections while she and the Doctor had a more informal and natural bond. Even in the 'after-life' in the matrix, they were social, the essence of each joining millions of others. So for them to be alone… So very alone… was painful beyond anything.

Verity knew that one mind or even a hundred, was a mere fraction of what the Doctor was used to. But six of the right minds, forming a solid network, could go much farther toward healing him, healing them, than any old assortment of minds could ever do. And even if her Time Lord didn't want this, she needed it. Without Rose Tyler, her biological and psychic connection to him would continue to feed the foreign parasite until it killed them both. With Rose Tyler, they at least had a chance of containing it for good, and maybe even destroying it.

So, she'd told River. And now River was, in her ever so clever way, slowing hooking Rose Tyler into an seemingly impossible situation. Verity rejoiced.

Now, they just needed to deal with the Nestene Consciousness and it's invasion attempt.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

They ended up at an open-all-night grease-bar of a restaurant. It was breakfast time, after all. Rose was mildly surprised to be included in the open order-invitation to get something to eat. To reassure her, she was shown, discreetly by Simon, that they did, in fact, have enough money on them to actually pay for the meal. Suddenly, she was hungry. Maybe it had to do with the story about UNIT and the Nestene invasion attempts thirty-five years prior that the Doctor was telling her, with enough detail that she thought perhaps he'd been there. Or maybe it had to do with the plate of thick, rich very egg-y gypsy (french) toast being delivered over at the next table topped with enough butter to be obscene.

While the Doctor himself ordered tea and a light meal of tinned fruit and cottage cheese, which looked more like something River might eat, each of them chose their heart's desire off the menu and settled in to wait around either their coffee, tea, or hot coca. The Doctor was just finishing up the tale about he and his companions, a different group, mind you, had stopped the Nestene before by telling it that the conditions weren't so perfect after all. He doubted it would be so simple this time as there were vastly different conditions in existence now that made the creatures much more desperate.

"That's quite a story," Rose says, "but I don't get how you stopped it from killing me."

"Well… The Nestene mass-mind, like I mentioned before, projects it's own life force into various plastic objects. It needs a certain polymer arrangement to do that, and while it can use any plastic item, or plastic type, once it syncs itself to a certain wavelength it takes some time for it to adjust if the structure of an item is altered." He pauses to see if she is 'getting' it or if he's being too technical. Rose doesn't seem quite lost, which might be a good sign, "I scrambled some of the molecules inside the hand and cut off the signal. Or rather this piece of plastic's ability to respond to it."

"Is this like radio control?" Rose is still trying to get her mind around the idea. She knows as soon as she's away from this bunch the entire surreal conversation is going to sound completely crazy. But right now it seems so very – reasonable.

There's a pause, and then the pale, smooth skinned man looks at her. "Something like," the Doctor says.

River adds, "Psychic dominion, driven force of will, nearly as old as the 'Verse itself." The blonde looks at the ebony-headed gal, matching brown eyes to brown eyes. She goes very still as the words sink in. Somehow, River gives this so much weight, so much reality – Rose blinks at her. River more than believes, she knows with a sureness born of feeling it, like how even a blind person knows the sun from the heat of it on their skin. The truth of it shocks Rose almost more than the words themselves do.

"Are you all right?" inquires the blue-eyed tall gent, with a light, rather soothing, touch. She swings her eyes to him and notices his grave concern. She nods. This is serious. They aren't joking with her. There's no humor or teasing about it. She wonders why no one remembers the invasion attempts from before, or if it was covered up and the people who had known silenced somehow. A shiver runs through her. She wonders if her mum would remember such a thing.

"Why here? Why now?" Rose finally gets out as the food arrives, "What's it got against us?"

"The conditions are right for it?" Rich says, answering her question with a question, "I mean you got the plastic already made. There's all the pollution and garbage it might ever want, and overpopulation galore. It's too perfect a set-up for something like the Nestene to pass up, ain't it?"

"Exactly. It has nothing against humanity. It loves you. You've got such a good planet; lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air. Perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the War." There's quite a lot of weight in the Doctor's use of the word 'war', Rose notes. She can see that behind his slightly flippant mention that there's vast pain at the thought of it. This war, whatever happened, must not have been one with any winners. "All its protein planets rotted. So. Earth. Dinner."

Jack pipes up; "Ya do believe us, don't you?"

She looks at him and sees – hope – in those green eyes. For some reason her believing them is important. Rose is not sure. Aliens from space, secret international military branches, repeated invasion attempts? Sounds like science fiction. She sighs and tucks into her plate of food; "It's a stretch. You know that, I'm sure. Just, I mean, you all sound like Internet conspiracy freaks. Even though you seem sane enough."

"And isn't that exactly where you'll go for more information, the moment you decide to go your own way?" Rose blinks and looks up at Simon, who is pointedly gazing at her. It's like he's a mind reader or something. "See, you are listening, Rose. And some part of you already knows the truth."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

This is the eighth ship she's looked at, the third with a shuttle for rent. Really, she's beginning to wonder when she will know that she's found the right place. The Firefly class ship is clean, polished even, clearly loved for what she is. And Inara thinks that maybe, just maybe this is the place for her, as she follows the captain across the catwalk. Malcolm Reynolds opens the door and steps to the side, acting like a gentleman. "Well, here she is." Taking a deep breath she steps over the threshold into the space. Everything clicks into place. "Nice, ain't she?"

Trying to find some fault with the calculations that led her here, or the shuttle itself, or even the people on the Serenity, Inara says, "Smallish." It's not really; there's much possibility in it. And she needs to be here, on this ship, because this is where everything intersects. The past, the future… the fate of the 'Verse itself. She knows this. It's a calculated certainty. She wonders if the captain knows how important he really is.

"Not overly. How much room do you really need for what you do, anyway?" he tosses at her. The 'Ifritah distinctly does not react to the barb. He does not like her profession, even though socially her standing is above reproach. He is at least honest about his feelings unlike some of the other swine she's looked into renting from. Instead she glides into the cockpit and looks over the controls. She could fly this, easily. Behind her he moves to stay within a polite distance, "I got a surveyor and his wife interested in renting it. They're just waiting to hear back." He is a bag of mixed signals, and in spite herself she finds him almost more interesting than the shuttle.

"What's her range?"

Mal is finding this one intelligent and certainly competent. She asks good questions, her references are impeccable, and she's willing to pay for six months straight up, with a deposit. It's money he sorely needs to get them back in the air, "Standard short. She'll break atmo from a wide orbit. Get you where you need to go, bring you back home again." He pauses, then adds, "She's space worthy. Like the rest of Serenity is."

He sounds like he's espousing his ship's honor. She looks at him, "No need to sound so defensive, Captain." Then she moves back into the main area again. She very much needs to be here. "I prefer something with a few miles on it." Her feet carry her into the center of the room as her mind is already filling the space with her belongings, new and old. And for a moment she sees more than the possibilities, but the Red Guardian himself before her, nodding. She can see his pale complexion and his intense blue eyes, and she knows he's in the form of something alive, not just as a temporary thing but as a choice that he made at the beginning of time, and he's struggling to keep it that way. With a slight shake of her head she turns to looks at Malcolm again, "Were we to enter into this arrangement, Captain Reynolds, there are a few things I would require from you. The foremost being complete autonomy. This shuttle would be my home. No crew member, including yourself, would be allowed entrance without my express invitation."

"You'd get your privacy," he assures her.

Something in his eyes makes her say the next bit with more coolness then she intends, "And just so we're clear, under no circumstances will I be servicing you or anyone who is under your employ."

"I'll post a sign."

She almost laughs, "That won't be necessary. The other thing I would insist upon is some measure of assurance that when I make an appointment with a client, I'm in a position to keep that appointment. So far as such assurances are possible on a vessel of this type." Inara must keep up the ruse and gather information for her people for as long as necessary, and if this isn't possible then she'll need to consult with Aereon before making her decision.

"That's an awful lot of caveats and addendums there, miss," he seems put off, but really she wonders if he is or if he's trying to gain some room to dicker with her over the prices of the rent.

"As I stated, I just want to be clear."

"Well. I'll be sure and take all of that into consideration when I review the applications." He wants dicker room. She bets that she's the only application he's got, actually.

She smiles at him, "Don't be ridiculous. You're going to rent this shuttle to me."

He seems surprised that she knows, "Am I?"

"Yes. And for one quarter less than your asking price." Really she's doesn't need it cheaper, but she does need him to understand that he wants her here, as much as she needs to be here.

"That a fact?"

Poker face on she says, "It is."

Now she notes that he doesn't argue the point about her getting this shuttle, only the deduction in cost that she tossed at him, "And you figure you'll be getting this discount... why exactly?"

"You want me." Opps, that sounds wrong, somehow, "You want me on your ship," better, but he does want her, she can tell.

"Do I?"

She nods, "Yes. Because I can bring something that your surveyor or any of the other fish you might have on line can't – a certain respectability."

He tries to cut her off, "Respecta—"

"And based on what little I've seen of your operation, I suspect that's something you could use." Her social standing would open doors for him that are currently closed, allow him to dock at ports that might otherwise turn him away, and provide him with a layer of cover he's lacking. While it means she's allying herself with an element of the underworld, she also knows that the Red Guardian will set foot on this ship eventually. She needs to be here.

"Fine. Let me ask you this: if you're so respectable, why are you even here? I mean, I heard tell of fancy ladies such as yourself shipping out with the big luxury liners and the like. But a registered Companion on a boat like this? What are you running from?"

"I'm not running from anything." No, it's running to, if anything. Although her sisters back at the Companion house were getting a little suspicious of her lack of aging...

Malcolm raises an eyebrow, clearly itching to find out why she'd want to leave Sihnon for the stars, "If it's Alliance trouble you got, you might want to consider another ship. Some on board here fought for the Independents."

"The Alliance has no quarrel with me. I supported Unification."

He blinks, "Did ya? Well, I don't suppose you're the only whore that did."

She takes a deep soothing breath and looks Malcolm Reynolds in the eye. Then she smiles, "Oh – one further addendum. That's the last time you get to call me 'whore.'" She then walks back out of the shuttle, knowing that it is hers and her place in the wider scheme of things is set.

Behind her she hears him mumble, "Absolutely. Never again." Right, she thinks, Never again. Sure.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

After their meal, Richard says, "Well, we do have an alien force to track. And the sooner we find it the safer everyone will be. We're not in the habit of kidnapping folks, so it's up to you, Miss Tyler." They are standing on the sidewalk outside the restaurant half way between the estate and the blown up shop where Rose worked. It will take her an hour to get back home, walking. One thing she hasn't got is who the Doctor is, or these people with him, for that matter. None of them seem to see this as a problem, but for all she knows he's a rapist, or murderer, or terrorist, or something. She needs some reason to trust them.

"You're offering to let me go with you, still? Even though I don't exactly believe the wild stories you've told me?"

The Doctor looks at her, "You wanted to know, and I've told you the what, the when, the why, and the how. Now we need to find the where. Like Richard said, at this point it's up to you. Come with us, or go home."

Rose looks at him, "But… who are you?"

The fellow just blinks at her. Then River steps over at takes Rose by the hand, "Remember that first time you were told that the Earth is moving?" Rose looks at her and nods. "You were young, and the evidence you got from your eyes told you that it couldn't be true because everything is standing still." Rose nods again, because it's exactly what happened, like River was there with her. "Close your eyes." She finds that she wants to, that she trusts this girl. Then the Doctor takes her other hand. Suddenly the earth is in motion. It's like being on a carnival ride, this persistent sense of direction. "Can you feel it…?" River whispers. Amazed, all Rose can do is nod.

Then the Doctor picks up the words, "… The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet, spinning at a thousand miles an hour and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour. And for a brief moment, I can let you feel it. We're all falling through space clinging to the skin of this tiny little world." After a long pause he lets go. Rose sways as the feeling fades. She blinks. Then she meets his impossibly deep blue eyes. "That, and so much more, Rose Tyler, is who I am. Decide. Come with us, or go home."

Oh, she wants to. She really does. But there's her mum, and Mickey… and she's supposed to go out with him tonight, and suddenly she remembers how right the Doctor was about her 'beans on toast' life… She's torn. River squeezes her hand. Rose looks at her as the dark haired teen speaks, "Such a huge choice, to either slip back into ignorance or to open your eyes and see the 'Verse. It's destiny, Rose. Yours, Mine… The entire world, hanging in the balance. Remember what you wanted when you were young? It's come finally, that point you always knew would arrive. Do you really want to retreat?"

No, no she doesn't. "Alright then. Let's go." Rose says. She'll figure out the mess of her life later. Right now there's a world to save, and she's been offered a front row seat. She follows them down the lane to an alley where a blue police public call box sits.

The Doctor says, "So are we still getting the signal?"

"Yeah," says Jack, "But it's faint."

Removing his key from his pocket, the Doctor then replies, "Well, there's some tricks I can use to try to pin it down. With what we've got, I'm not too sure about success, however." He unlocks the door and Simon carries the arm, sans hand inside. The Doctor and Jack follow him. River smiles at Rose while Richard indicates 'ladies first'. What sort of joke is this? Rose thinks. From inside she hears the Doctor saying, "Here, let's try putting them back together." It sounds faint-ish, like he's in a large room. River's smile becomes mysterious before she goes through the door. Rose narrows her eyes then steps through.

It takes her five steps to register that something's very off. Very, very off. She freezes. This is impossible! She should have hit the back wall, but... her mind sputters to a halt, not quite able to get around the change. "Yeah, it's a bit of a shock, first time." Richard agrees, as Rose stands there on the ramp blinking. The door closes behind her.

"Um, the inside's bigger than the outside?" Rose asks as he walks past her.

"Yes," says Simon from where he is standing on the upper grating near where the Doctor is fiddling with the hand and arm and a bunch of wires. "Much bigger, actually. This is just the control room."

"It's alien…" She says as she looks around the huge coral pillared chamber, with it's vine like cables and pleasing bluish light coming from a crystalline center column.

"Uh huh," says Jack as he circles the room to put his gear back in the cubby it came out of. "Unlike anything else you'll ever see." He speaks with undeniable affection and love. There's an unspoken 'and ain't she great' in there.

"But… are you aliens?" Jack giggles from her expression.

The Doctor looks up, "I am, yes," he pauses a moment in his attempt to get a fix on the faint signal, "Is that all right?"

"Yeah," Rose almost laughs out. This is incredible. She must be dreaming. She puts a hand on the nearest pillar and it pulses under her fingers, impressing upon her with a single overwhelming sensation – it is alive. She immediately feels a connection to this, whatever it is, deep in her soul. It's like walking into an ancient church for the first time and realizing that kings have kneeled on the same stone in ages past. The sheer beauty and power she can sense flowing through the structure now that she is touching it awed her, "Wow."

"It's called the TARDIS, this thing. T-A-R-D-I-S, that's Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. My Ship. And – she likes you, Rose." Smiling, Miss Tyler nods to the Doctor. This is the craziest, but most fantastic thing that has ever happened to her. And she likes it, too.