Smile

Crossover 1. A Beginning

Since Master Skywalker wouldn't say it, Ahsoka did: "Thank you."

She received a brilliant smile in return, beaming down at her with such brightness she couldn't help but return some measure of it herself.

She had no idea what to make of him. He wasn't human – he looked human, sounded human, at least in terms of his actual voice - but there the similarities ended. He wasn't human. He couldn't be human. She wasn't sure he was even mortal. The Force rushed around him in a dizzying display, flowing like rapids or tornadoes or swift-approaching storms, all charged and menacing and powerful.

And yet, he was incredibly still.

The only person who she could even think of as a comparison was Master Yoda. No, he was not human.

They'd come to this planet on a mission, to investigate a series of attacks by what was believed to be a new Separatist weapon.

It was not a Separatist weapon. Ahsoka still wasn't sure exactly what those things had been, bubbling up out of pits, all black and oily and full of mouths and teeth and shrieking to the heavens and devouring everything in their paths. They just absorbed blaster fire. Lightsabers cut through the splattering tentacles, but did not seem to harm the things – they just flowed back together, like cutting through crude oil.

Then he showed up, appearing completely out of nowhere, waving around some sort of buzzing screwdriver (screwdriver?) and bellowing about stupid natives digging too deep (it's a mining planet!), creatures from the dawn of time (what?), and Shadow Proclamations (no such thing in Republic history…). Then he started giving out orders, beginning with: "Run for your life!"

Master Skywalker did not like taking orders from an apparent lunatic. It made him cranky. Of course, the lunatic seemed to be the only one with any idea of what was going on, so follow his orders they did.

And they ran.

Somewhere amid all the running, they'd stopped for a few seconds, and she'd managed to ask for his name.

"I'm the Doctor!" he proclaimed, beaming an almost manic smile.

"Doctor who?" she'd asked.

If possible, the grin widened. "Nothing. Just "the Doctor". Nice to meet you, miss….?"

"Ahsoka Tano."

He'd given her a rather peculiar look. It was almost chilling, but it was gone in an instant, and he was smiling again, and then they were back to running for their lives.

Nothing that happened that day made much sense. She still wasn't entirely sure how they'd stopped the oil monster things, but they were now slipping and sliding back down into the holes that had been drilled down into the planet's core, leaving trails of slick black residue all over the drills and various other machinery used for mining. The rocky field they stood in was filled with the remnants of the sludge and now-useless machinery.

It was not lost on Ahsoka that after the Doctor arrived, they'd lost no more men. The entire situation was bizarre. She glanced at him again, sidelong. He was average height, at least by human standards, with unruly brown hair sticking up all over his head in licks and tufts. He looked like he forgot to shave that morning, and had large, dark brown eyes that did not quite border black. Despite their darkness, they still seemed to gleam a little, even in the grey afternoon. He had his hands casually shoved into the pockets of his blue suit. A long brown trenchcoat draped over him, and he was rocking back and forth on his feet, almost absently.

Those dark eyes, though, were purposefully flicking from figure to figure in their team. When they settled on Master Skywalker, his expression sobered a bit.

"Exactly how long has the war been going on now?" he asked.

Ahsoka gave him an odd look. Was there anyone who didn't know when the Clone War broke out? "About three years," she replied, still watching him carefully, trying to understand. Not human, and certainly not normal.

The Doctor nodded once and ran a hand over his face. "Three years, eh? That long already…."

He seemed to be mulling something over, and Ahsoka prepared herself to ask him some questions – where was he from? How did he get here? How did he know what those things were, and that they would be driven back simply by shutting down the automated mining systems? Master Skywalker was a famous hero of the war, and very recognizable, but why did he keep staring at him like that? And why did he keep making funny faces at her and Rex?

Rex was walking up to them. The remainder of their squad, along with Master Skywalker, were standing in an oil-free area, uphill from the drills. Judging by Rex's set shoulders, clenched fists and staccato stride, he was not pleased about the mission. There was plenty to be displeased about. Nothing went according to plan, and it wouldn't exactly be easy to explain "giant man-eating oil monsters" to the Jedi Council, much less the Doctor himself.

It was going to be a long debriefing.

Rex slipped his helmet off and opened his mouth, but whatever it was he was about to say was cut off by the Doctor's random request of: "Why don't you come with me?"

He was grinning again. Rex was simply staring, taken aback, and Ahsoka felt…well, flabbergasted at the utter randomness of it. "Uh, what?"

The Doctor rubbed his hands together for a moment before shoving them back into his coat pockets. "I mean both of you, of course. Don't think I've ever traveled with a Togruta before, much less a Jedi. Or a clone, for that matter! Always good, getting some variety, meeting new people, you'd definitely be a different set than I'm used to, so why not?"

Ahsoka exchanged a befuddled look with Rex. The Doctor might have saved all their lives, but he couldn't possibly be sane. Still, the smile on his face seemed both genuine and gentle when it settled on her and Rex. "Um, thank you, Doctor, but I don't think that's possible." She tilted her head to the side, her lekku swinging a little at the motion.

"Ah, of course not," he chuckled, then looked at Rex, his face growing serious. "Problem is, you two aren't supposed to be here. Not here as in here," he made a broad gesture towards their surroundings, "but here as in now. I'm surprised, there's not much time left. Three, maybe four months?" His attention slid over towards Master Skywalker momentarily before returning to the two of them. "Never did like anomalies like that, people just randomly appearing and disappearing in the timeline for no apparent reason. Sure you won't change your minds?"

Ahsoka exchanged another look with Rex. Maybe they should try to convince him to come along? Have one of the Jedi healers check him out. Maybe have Master Yoda talk to him, because of the way the Force spun so dizzily, so potently, around him. Could the Force feel like that, around a madman? Or was he just so deeply steeped in the Force she couldn't understand him?

Master Yoda could be cryptic too….

Rex was staring at her, clearly waiting for her to take the lead. The situation was a little too weird for him, she guessed. She gave Rex a brief smile, then said, "Thanks for the offer, but we've both got a duty here. Are you…going to be alright? Do you live around here? We have a ship on the way to pick us up."

"Nah, I've got my own transportation." He smiled again, and made a small twitch towards one of the many sets of boulders nearby. Ahsoka frowned. It would have to be a very small ship, to be able to hide behind some rocks. "Thanks for the offer though, can't say I've been in a Republic cruiser in, oh, ages and ages. Nice ships, always found them a bit cold though, all angles and big guns."

"Sir," Rex said, giving the Doctor a final odd glance before turning to her. "The General wants us to regroup. Larty should be arriving to pick us up any moment."

Ahsoka nodded. "I'll be right there."

Rex nodded once and slid his helmet back onto his head, turning to leave, but the Doctor called out, "Captain!" and he paused, turning to the side and glancing back. The Doctor's smile was gone, and his face was again quite serious. "You were quite impressive today. Lots of quick thinking. Always good, you know, to think quickly and know when to think for yourself. Good job. Keep it up."

It was eerie, his lighthearted words and serious expression. Ahsoka repressed a shiver. Not human. Possibly not mortal.

Rex's reply was gruff, but polite. "Thank you." Then he turned and left.

"Good man, that Rex," the Doctor told her. "He's probably your best chance. Stick with him."

Ahsoka lifted a brow. Best chance of what? She folded her arms. "I need to be getting back. Are you sure you won't join us?"

The Doctor brightened. "Positive! I appreciate the invitation, though, Miss Tano. Well, back to it, I suppose." He gave her a final smile, which she returned with a wave, before he turned and headed for one of the larger, taller clusters of boulders lining the quarry. He didn't seem to be in any kind of hurry, but he moved with enough purpose that it was clear he was moving towards something – not just meandering around. He must have a one-man transport. Though if that was the case, where was the ship he worked with? Small ships belonged with larger ships….

Nothing about the man made sense. He reached one of the piles of boulders and disappeared behind it.

Then the noise began.

For a second, she thought it was the distant sound of the LAATi, arriving to pick them up, but this was not like any sound she'd ever heard before. It began like someone running a music pick too harshly up and down the strings of a quetarra. It rushed and wheezed, but most of all it vibrated. Ahsoka clapped her hands over her montrals as the cadence grew. The more the noise built, the stranger it became, moving out of the harsh, unnatural scraping and wheezing into higher octaves that resounded in her montrals, reverberating and pitching higher until it sounded like the Force itself was singing, humming in clear sweet notes that lasted only for a moment.

For just that moment, it was as though she could hear the music of the spheres, whirling and rushing and spinning at thousands of kilometers a second.

And then it was gone.

"What is going on?" she demanded. She knew Rex wasn't going to be able to give her a full explanation, not right now, but something, anything, telling her why her entire squad was suddenly mutinying against her would be nice.

These were her men. Men from the 501st. Friends, helping with her mission, and now they were trying to kill her.

Except for Rex. She was trying to cover him and herself. Both of her lightsabers were out, her regular green blade accompanied by the shorter yellow shoto, and both were whirling around her in a frenzy. Rex, behind her, was firing rapidly from both of his blaster pistols at men that should have been friends and allies. They were still several meters from the nearest cover – the treeline of a forest. If she and Rex could make it in there, there was a chance they could give the rest of the squad the slip, and try to figure out what to do, who to contact, who to call for help.

Something was horribly, horribly wrong, and right now, Rex was the only one of her men acting sane. He'd shouted a warning at her just a few seconds before the shooting began. To her horror, the men began to fire at Rex, too, when she didn't instantly go down under a hail of blaster fire, and he didn't join them. She got herself between Rex and the rest, and they were slowly backing their way towards the forest. It would, if nothing else, buy them some time.

Then the music began.

High and sweet, she actually felt it vibrating in the tips of her montrals before it began to drop down into a more normal hearing range, deepening and expanding, humming and filling her with the kind of comforting reassurance only touching the Force itself could.

Then it turned into an almost obnoxious wheezing and scraping. Ahsoka flinched as the beauty was replaced with harshness.

Still batting away blaster bolts sent by her own men, she didn't have time to turn around and see what it was that was materializing behind her. And it was materializing. She didn't need to turn around to see it. She didn't even really need the Force to sense it, because in a way, she couldn't. Whatever it was, it was unbelievably muted. But it was the source of the music and the scraping, and with her native Togruta echolocation, she heard its mass fade into existence, something solid forming in a space that, a moment ago, was entirely empty.

Then, if possible, things got even weirder.

The blaster bolts started hitting an invisible wall in front of them. For a moment, she and Rex froze, still in position, open mouthed and staring as the blue blasts from their squad continued pouring towards them…then seemed to bounce harmlessly off the invisible shield.

The sound of a door banging open made both of them spin around, and Ahsoka found herself looking at what appeared to be a big…blue…box? With the Doctor hanging out of a door in the front. He peered around for a minute before focusing on the astonished pair standing before him. He winced a little, almost sheepishly. "Looks like I overshot by a couple minutes. Sorry about that. Meant to get here before all the shooting started."

At the word "shooting", Rex and Ahsoka both turned furtively back towards the rest of the soldiers. Two were still firing steadily at them, their blasts still bouncing harmlessly off of whatever deflector field was protecting them. The rest of the squad seemed to be running for either bigger weapons or trying to decide what to do in this rather unprecedented situation.

"I've expanded the TARDIS's shields a bit, nothing they've got is going to get through. Still, we probably shouldn't be hanging around."

Ahsoka gaped at him, then at Rex, then at the men running around outside the shield's perimeter. Suddenly, she felt unbelievably frustrated, confused and overwhelmed. Trusted people were shooting at her, there were invisible shields popping up out of nowhere, blue boxes (what was a Police Public Call Box?) materializing out of thin air, an impossible – impossible! – man that felt as ancient as Master Yoda, and the Force was absolutely throbbing around all of them. It was getting painful. Something terrible was happening, and there was an awful, awful ripping starting up somewhere in the galaxy, strong enough that she could feel it from what must be so far away. She clutched her lightsabers tightly, brought them up into a defensive stance, and cried, "Would someone please explain to me what is going on!"

Ahsoka barely registered Rex and the Doctor exchanging a look. Rex lifted his pistols, warily, defensively, edging closer to her, but the Doctor seemed unconcerned by Rex's caution. He stepped out of the blue box. "That's going to be complicated, and I think the best person to explain a large part of it is the good Captain here. But right now, we need to get inside."

This time, it was Ahsoka and Rex that exchanged glances. Rex said, flatly, "Inside the box?"

"You'll be surprised," the Doctor replied, a bit of a grin beginning to appear, but it did not fully form. He was looking at what was beyond them, at the running clone troopers that were beginning to bring out heavier artillery. He gestured with his head, jerking it in the general direction of the blue box and the open door. "Come on." A little bit of faint light seemed to be coming out of it; from her current angle, Ahsoka couldn't quite see the source.

Into the blue box and trust the strange man, or try to fight back against her own, heavily armed squad, where she and Rex were outnumbered. Even if they could make it to the forest, it may not be enough. She looked at Rex. He was worried too, she knew. Still, he was at her back. It was reassuring.

"I don't see much choice," she murmured up to him. Rex's helmet tilted down, and she knew he was looking at her. He nodded once, slowly.

Ahsoka straightened, flicked off her lightsabers, but kept them in hand. The Doctor was a friend, or at least she thought he was – was it really just a few months ago they'd met? Grimly, she marched forward. The Doctor stepped aside to let her pass. He was smiling again, but this time, it was sad.

The box wasn't that big. This was going to be one squishy ride, whatever this thing was capable of. Bracing herself, she stepped through the doorway, Rex behind her, guarding her back.

And, because he was right behind her, she felt him walk into her when she abruptly stopped.

Ahsoka blinked. Then she blinked again, twice, rapidly. Then she pushed Rex backward, backing up to look at the outside of the blue box again. Then she rushed forward a couple steps and looked inside again.

Warm, neutral light filled the space, with organic, almost treelike supports stretching upward from the floor to the ceiling. The series of pillars curved elegantly around what had to be some kind of central control module in the center of the wide, large room, glowing coolly in the amber lighting.

"It's alive!"

There was no technology she knew of capable of making something bigger on the inside, but more importantly, there was no technology capable of masking the Force so well. Outside, it was muted, but inside…inside, she could hear the music again. Inside, it was not just a beautiful hum, but an almost tear-inducing chorus. It was everywhere, like angels singing, a dazzling orchestra of the spheres. She could only stand and listen in open-mouthed, childlike wonder.

"Never did bring a Jedi into the TARDIS before," the Doctor mused, looking past Rex to look at her. "Come on, no point blocking up the doorway, let's get a move on."

The frank, almost ridiculously practical words brought her back to reality for a moment, and Ahsoka holstered her lightsabers, then wrapped a hand around Rex's arm, pulling gently. He was standing in the doorway, solidly, defensively. She understood his confusion, his reluctance to leave.

And she expected answers. Soon. But nothing this beautiful – nothing this full of Light – could be of the Dark Side. So she pulled Rex in with her, and the Doctor closed the door behind them with a click, and then was running swiftly up towards the control module that was also a nexus of the Force, and was shifting levers and spinning dials, and the wheezing and scraping began again, and the floor tilted, and she knew they were moving.

One of Rex's hands was on her arm, gripping her tightly. It was the only outward sign he gave of his anxiety. The rest of him was as he always was; stable and familiar, solid and stoic in the face of any difficulty.

She gripped him tightly in turn, as they moved into places unknown, and the Force sang a symphony around them.

From the control center, the Doctor was looking at them with a smile.

Nothing was as it should be, but she returned the smile anyway.

For now, at least, they were safe. And she knew, somehow, that the Doctor was the Doctor because he was there to fix things.

Somehow, it was going to be alright.

I've always loved crossovers, and thought it might be fun to poke at a couple little ideas here. I have no idea what happens after this, but thought it might be interesting to write out. It would have to be massively AU. I've never written any Doctor Who before, so hopefully I got Ten down okay. I love Ten. *huggles Ten*

There are going to be a couple of these "mini-crossovers" coming up next. Hope you all like them.

And actually, I have this random scene floating around in my head too:

Yoda: Hmph! When nine-hundred years old you are, look as good you will not!

Doctor: But I am nine hundred years old!

Yoda: Bah! Nine hundred years old you may be, but your body, nine-hundred years old is not! Live nine-hundred years in one body you will, then come back and tell me you look as good, hm? Bah! Time Lords! Bah! Cheating, regeneration is!

Doctor: You know, something tells me there's no point arguing with Master Yoda….

That's all for now. Til next time,

~Queen