Chapter Four:

Rocket Man

It was a loud bass that caught Delta's attention. "Koschei," she knocked softly as she called out. "Koschei…?" She said louder, leaning against the door. It was locked and so she sent out a soft tug to his mind, to keep him caught up that she was outside. "I was—"

"What's up?" He opened the door, catching her as she fell. He laughed again, a smile on his face as he brought her in, setting her lightly on her feet and twirling her around easily. He had taken a bit of movement control so that they could dance and once she caught on, they were gracefully dancing around the room, which had turned itself into a ballroom for them. A knock at the front door made them freeze and stare at each other.

Delta went slowly towards the door, pushing a reluctant but willing Koschei back. She was surprised, but opened the door.

A man in full uniform stood before her. "The Weeping Mother would like to see you."

She sighed softly and nodded. "I'll be there in just a moment." She closed the door quickly before turning back to Koschei. "I have to change. It's—"

Koschei nodded. "You know where the robes are. Same robes as our—"

"Wedding," they finished together. Both smiled the same smile.

Falling Pandorica

"Such a very un-Time Lord name," said the Weeping Mother. Her eyes stared out, past the Daleks and at one of her children. She watched as he fought, already lost in the Time Loop.

"Technically, I'm not a Time Lady, anyway. I'm just an-"

The Weeping Mother turned her eyes, finally focusing on something in front of her, out of the Time Loop, and completely unexplainable. She kept her thoughts and emotions secured, not knowing exactly who this woman was. She recognized her, some trace of herself in the young woman, but that didn't mean that she was of her or of her children. Something about the woman just made the Weeping Mother angry, but something about her forced the Mother to protect her.

The young woman took small steps and joined her hostess at the window. "I fell through a crack in time. It was a literal crack in time and was suddenly here. My head filled with unexplainable knowledge. I was once a professor. I don't know if I'd be a very good one here, but if it pleases you, then I'd gladly take the title as Professor." Her voice was a quiet sort of tone, and very unlike the majority of Time Lords. They were smug, but she was quiet.

After a few moments, she had departed from the Weeping Mother's home and was instantly struck with fear as the metallic voices echoed closer in her ears.

"Delta," someone had called, "get back, now!"

It was a beat too late. She had hesitated and saw white fury as the Daleks shot from all around her. She felt the beating of her hearts and the trembling of the earth. Her mind shook as it caught up with her.

No one should ever survive falling through time.

It wasn't like last time where she had fainted and was suddenly on Gallifrey caught in a Time Loop in the Time War. Instead, she was wide awake and felt the tearing of Time. It was like she was traveling through her own mind, but she had looked into the Schism. She knew what this was, because of that Schism. Falling, falling, falling… Time had cracked and was breaking and she fell. Finally, she landed on ground.

It was like she had actually fallen, but the loss of impact indicated she was wrong. Instead, she heard all sorts of evil creatures. Creatures she had before, not only from her own life, but from another Time Lord's mind as well. When they had quieted, she lifted herself up off the ground and looked at what had guarded her from those creatures.

"But that's impossible," said the same voice who had tried to save her.

"Koschei?" She turned around, watching as he kept himself braced against the wall.

"That's… that's a Pandorica. The Pandorica, but it's just a fairy-tale." For a moment, he just stared in horror before snapping back to his normal personality. He lifted himself away from the wall and went towards the woman in front of him. "What'd you tell the Weeping Mother? I only heard part of your conversation…"

She turned back to the Pandorica, her hand settling on it. "I told her to call me Professor if she must. She didn't like my name. Time Lords, always so secretive and old, never wanting change."

She shook her head, locks of her hair flying about her. She wasn't in robes, but instead seemed to have changed as she fell through Time. She wore pants that hugged her lower half, and a long sleeved blue shirt that complimented her fair skin. Her hair was no longer up in the braid she had tied it in, but instead fell about in waves to her mid-back. "Why were you eaves-dropping, Kos?"

He only grinned and also touched the Pandorica. Then he heard it, a voice of a man. It was a different voice, but he heard the knowledge. He'd never mistake that voice. They had both regenerated, and that voice both grated and soothed his nerves.

"I think we should open it."

She widened her eyes. "You're nuts. It's the Pandorica, Koschei! That's suicide."

Then she heard a voice and the Pandorica was opening on its own. They looked at each other, moving to see who it was opening it and who was in the box.

"Are you kidding me?" Koschei said again for show, forcing eyes on the two Time Lords beside the box. "The Big Bad Warrior is the Doctor? That's just rich! Who did that? Honestly, because even I couldn't dream that up. Professor, are you watching this?'

The Professor had stayed still before, suddenly aware of the Doctor's glare. She had pulled down at her clothes, used to wearing robes, and quietly dropped her eyes so as to not anger the Oncoming Storm. She was erased from Time, and then became a Time Lady by right, genetic coding, and then by force.

"I see. The Doctor was in the Pandorica."

"We have bigger issues to deal with," said the human. "Amy's not really dead, but sort of is."

Koschei, the talkative man, rolled his eyes. He held up his hands, grin already growing. "Let me guess," he said, directing the attention back onto him. "She's the newest companion?"

As Rory untangled the Doctor from the mess of cords, he sideways glanced at him.

"Who exactly are you two?"

The Professor sighed, looking at Koschei before he opened his mouth to speak again. "I'm the Professor and this is my prisoner, Koschei. We don't know how we got here." She looked at the Doctor for a brief moment before averting her eyes from the man known by many names. The awful, beautiful enemy of her prisoner.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, I'm not as good as BadWerewolf, and can't rewrite a DW episode, but this is an alternative to the oncoming sixth season. I probably won't be able to continue writing this when it airs at Christmas, but I can write the adventures of the Professor, Koschei, and the Doctor. I'm dropping Amy and Rory off. They decide to say goodbye to the Doctor instead of traveling with him. We might catch up with them, but I doubt it. Anyway, allons-y!