Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. Doctor Who © BBC
Author's Note: Alright I'm giving you the chance to voice what you'd like to see! So if there are any scenarios you'd like to see certain characters be put in, let me know! If it keeps them in character, and sounds interesting enough I may just add it in! ;-) I've already received some awesome feedback about what some people want to see on deviantArt, so I'd love to see what you all have in mind!
Also to clear things up again: This is definitely NOT a Doctor/Rose fic. It's a Doctor/River story, just with the twist of having Rose there as well. Just toying with how I think Rose would react to the new Doctor and his new life/companions! ;-)
"What? How could that happen? Well, no I take that back. Whatever caused the TARDIS to explode is still happening at some point in time, so there technically is the possibility of it opening again. But that shouldn't be for a very very long time, hopefully long enough until the end of the universe. Or better yet, the possibility of it actually never happening again. Yes I like that one." The Doctor began pacing around the room. His shoes echoed on the glass floor as he did so.
"Doctor, there's something else. I've noticed some other...things. I don't know what else to call them. But take a look at this." River handed over some papers she'd brought with her.
He quickly snatched them up and began power reading through the documents, again and again until he had everything memorized. "But that doesn't make sense. That's...that's impossible. Where did you get these?" He ran his hands through his hair frantically trying to conjure up some rational explanation.
"I got them from a friend. Why? What's wrong?" River tried her best to keep a cool facade. Though she was having a hard enough time trying to with the Doctor's constant pacing.
"It's just...if what I'm reading is right, then it's opening up from a parallel world. And not just any parallel world. One that I've been to before. And one that's supposed to stay sealed up, forever." As he looked over at her, she felt chills run down her back. Something about the situation left a bad taste in both of their mouths.
They stayed in silence for a few minutes. "What should we do?" River finally spoke up.
"First and foremost is to figure out where it's coming from, and then hopefully we can figure out a way to close it. Again." The Doctor stood up straight and composed himself. "Best to round up your parents then. I'm sure they'll just be thrilled."
"So run that by me one more time." Rory was sitting in one of the chairs placed around the console. He scratched his head trying to wrap his brain around what the Doctor and River were saying. All that was registering for him was something complicated and 'timey whimey' as the Doctor would put it.
The Doctor groaned, he hated explaining things to humans. "The crack from Amy's wall is reopening from a parallel world. What part don't you understand?"
"Well for one, I thought that you closed it when you flew the Pandorica into it." He folded his arms across his chest and slumped further into his seat. "I mean, how can it just reopen?"
The Doctor rubbed his temples as he felt another headache start up.
"We're not sure, which is why we're going to go and figure it out." River answered.
"Well yeah I got that part, but how?" Rory added.
"We need to fly as close as possible so we can scan it for more information. Hopefully not being pulled through in the process. In any case, I've found where it's originating from." The Doctor was already starting to plug in the coordinates as he continued trying to explain.
"Wait, but won't we get erased from time like it did before?" Amy moved out of the Doctor's way as he rounded to where she stood.
"From the readings it shows that it's nothing like before. Rifts in time and space aren't always the same. Some are good for pit stops, those are the ok ones that I use sometimes to refuel the TARDIS. Then there are kinds, like the one from your bedroom, will erase time. There's also those that stop time, or freeze it, if you will, in a specific location. The one that we're dealing with right now is different, and the same as the first one." The Doctor tried to explain in more human-friendly terms.
"Wait, how can it be the same and different?" Amy's brow furrowed and she took a seat next to her just as perplexed husband.
"If I'm correct, and I always am, then this one transports you to a different world. In this case a parallel world." He stopped what he was doing briefly to look at the two on the chair, and then back over to River. He was mentally asking for her help, but she just shrugged not knowing what else to say.
"So? What does that mean exactly? And I thought parallel worlds didn't exist?" Amy asked, her face took on an even more puzzled look. Rory sat forward putting his elbows on his knees and scratched his head. Nothing the Doctor was saying sounded even remotely sane, though he knew from past experience that the Time Lord didn't exactly take each day in a sane manner, always adding, 'Where's the fun in that!' when asked.
"If you cross over to a parallel world it tears the universe apart more and more each time you do it. Essentially it adds to the destruction of everything. So it both transports you, as well as tearing apart the universe. Either way it's bad. And we need to close it before it does anymore damage." He finished, running his hand through his hair trying to come up with an idea of what to do.
River looked at her parents and tried to give them her best reassuring smile, but she knew they could see through it. "We're not going to go through it, just scan it to figure out what caused it, and then figure out a way to close it back up again."
"Now enough talking, we need to get going, now!" The Doctor twisted a few knobs and pulled down one last lever. The engines started up in the TARDIS and the dematerialization noise echoed eerily in the room.
Ever since the Doctor took her on the many adventures, Rose never wanted to go back to the 9 to 5 life of working in retail. Which is what kept her working at the parallel version of Torchwood. Instead of spending her time trying to find a way back, she was dedicated to the world she lived in and spent her days in the office making sure that it was safe from any outside threats. Luckily the world was more advanced with technology, which was a plus when it came to defending it from other alien attacks.
As she went to her station, she began to read over some files that had been dropped off the previous night. There had been some reports of a couple energy rifts popping up around the world at the same time. They were fairly small, and would go away after a few hours or so. However, each day they merged, as though they were coming together to become an entire entity in and of itself. It also showed that each day they would last longer than the previous day.
A sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach formed. She could tell that there was something wrong with the readings. The more powerful they became, the more people were in danger. Immediately she picked up her phone and began dialing.
"Oh come on pick up already." She sat back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling, impatiently waiting.
Eventually she heard the click of the phone as it was picked up, along with some clatter and cursing on the other end before, "Yes? Hello? Rose is that you?"
"John! Finally! Hey I think you'd better come down here. I just got some more readings from those rifts I was telling you about. If what it says is true, then they've predicted that the next one should be today. And this time it's going to be the final version of it."
"Doctor! What's happening? I know the rides are generally bumpy, but wouldn't you say this is a bit more than usual?" Amy yelled over to the Doctor as she tried to hold herself in place.
The second they took off it felt as though the TARDIS had been pulled left and right involuntarily. The Doctor scrambled around the controls trying his best to keep the movements steady. "Yes, I realize that! Which is why I'm trying to fix it!" He hollered back. "River I don't need help, I've got everything under control!"
"You call this control, Sweetie?" River shot an annoyed look at him. She swore he was too obsessed with his silly pride to accept help from anyone. She continued to pull levers and flick switches the Doctor had missed in an attempt to stop the roller coaster effect.
"Yes!" He yelled over to her. Another jolt and he was sent tumbling to the floor. "Ok, no. Not really."
River rolled her eyes. 'He can be so daft at times.' She thought.
"Doctor, why do I get the feeling that we're not exactly going to be scanning the rift like you said we would?" Rory asked, barely keeping his legs from buckling.
"Ah, yes. About that..." The Doctor pulled himself up, turning on the screen as he did. He turned a few knobs before it pulled up readings of what was happening. "Oh, not good at all. Bad, bad, very bad." He read it twice before looking over to Amy and Rory, then back at River.
"Doctor? What does it say?" River was the first to speak. Smoke began to bellow out of the middle of the console causing everyone to cough. "Doctor!"
He coughed some more before continuing, "It seems as though we're automatically being pulled through it! I'd tell you more, but the screen stopped working."
"Can't you do your weird alien Time Lord thing and figure out what it is?" Amy asked looking desperately for a good sign.
"Time Lord alien thing?" The Doctor looked at her and furrowed his brow. She made no sense at times, especially when she was worried.
"Oh never mind!" Amy answered.
The Doctor rushed over to where River was and hit some more switches, which caused some more sparks to fly about the room.
"What are you doing?" She looked at him puzzled.
"Deleting some extra rooms! Maybe it'll help—" Before he could finish his sentence, there was another large jolt.
In order to keep standing, everyone had to grab hold of the nearest thing to them. Amy had both hands on one of the railings, while Rory helped hold her up. Both had their eyes closed. River had used the controls to hold herself up, while the Doctor had been sent forward into the first thing in front of him. That, of course, being River.
He blushed profusely when he realized he had both his hands on her waist and was considerably close to her face. Had it not been for the fact they were being pulled through to a parallel world, with no control whatsoever, he would have enjoyed it a bit more. He was about to step away when a final tug to the TARDIS sent everyone toppling over.
As soon as they'd landed, which the Doctor hoped was the case, the lights drained and the whole room was black in a manner of seconds.
Amy groaned as she rolled over on to her back. "Please tell me that's it."
"I think I chipped my tooth on one of the railings." Rory chimed in.
"Least you didn't break your back on the way down. Owww..." His wife continued to complain.
"Let's not make this into a contest of who hurts more. I'm pretty sure it'd be a tie." He pinched the bridge of his nose.
The red head moved to sit up, then quickly went back to her previous position, "I think I'll just stay here for a bit actually. Give time for the rest of my body to adjust and all."
The two continued their conversation of who was in more pain, not paying attention to anything else.
On the opposite side of the console, the Doctor found himself in yet another awkward position. He hadn't had enough time to catch himself, so when he'd landed, he did so on top of River. He was propped up on his elbows, mere inches from her face, while his lower half straddled her. Her mess of hair tickled his nose as he breathed in.
"I, um, sorry. Lost my footing." He gulped and he could feel his cheeks getting hot again. It wasn't to say he didn't like the position he was in, on the contrary he was quite enjoying it. Though, he realized, he was enjoying it just a bit too much. Which caused certain sensations to happen. Certain sensations that he really didn't need to get in the way of figuring out what had gone wrong.
River chuckled quietly so not to attract any unwanted attention, "Enjoying yourself are you?"
"Yea—I mean no. Definitely not. Why would I?" He knew he had to get up, but wanted to stay there for as long as possible to admire the scene.
"Well, for one, you haven't moved. Second, you can't keep your eyes off me." She teased as she batted her eyelashes innocently.
It was true, though. He wanted to stare at her forever if he could. Her eyes, her hair, her lips. Everything about her was perfect, and he wanted to take it all in.
"River...I—"
"Oy, I think that's enough from you two." Rory cut in, his arms were crossed and the Doctor dared not make him angry.
"Right, right, sorry!" The Doctor stood up fairly quick and backed away from both River and Rory. "Anyway, on to more important matters, it seems as though the TARDIS is drained. Which is to be expected. It does take lots of energy." He looked around the room, not really looking for anything in particular. "Well, we should let her do her thing while we figure out what caused the rift. So, first things first, everyone out of the TARDIS. Come on, quickly now!" He shooed everyone outside while he did a final glance around the room.
"Doctor?" River poked her head in from outside.
"Yes, right, I'm coming!" He strode over to her, closing the doors behind him and locking them as he did so.
When he turned to face everyone, he was met with another surprise for the day.
"Rose.."