Doctor Who Fic-Alternates (2/?)

[walkwithheroes]

Title: Alternates (2/?)
Author: walkwithheroes
Rating: PG for the ‘f’ word
Spoilers: Up to "Doomsday"
Word Count: 3, 398
Disclaimer: The Doctor, the Tyler family, Jack Harkness, Mickey Smith, Jake, Torchwood, etc belong to the BBC and their creators. 
Pairings: Ten/Rose, Other Doctors/Other Companions
A/N: Another post-Doomsday fic. Only, not so much. The Doctor discovers millions of rips in time. Millions of rips that could cause several alternate time-lines to run into one another, causing the end of all things.
Summary: Everyone ends up where they ought, and ought not, to be. 

I knew a man once. History will never remember him, though that is the way he wanted it. The important thing is that I remember him. He was a man with a traveling machine, who could change his face. He was simply called ‘The Doctor’. And one day, with a grin and a wink, he saved the whole of existence.

 

 

Earth
London, Torchwood Headquarters 
April 5, 2008

 

The doors to the TARDIS flew open, causing a banging sound to echo through the room. The Doctor strolled out, with all the air and authority of someone who owned the place. With barely a moment’s pause, he turned his attention to the nearest person. "Captain Jack Harkness, where is he?"

The person didn’t even reply. He didn’t even have time to. "Doctor?" The Doctor turned to his right, just in time to see Jack Harkness walking out of an office. "Got to say, this isn’t a surprise." He glanced over the Doctor, and then at the TARDIS. "Hell of an entrance."

"Jack." Despite himself, the Doctor smiled. "You know about the rips?"

"Know about them? Hell, Doc, we’ve been trying to figure them out for the last three hours." Jack shook his head. "Nothing. They’re there, but with no explanation as to why." Jack chewed on his lower lip for a second. "Martha not with you?"

"She . . . " The Doctor trailed off for a moment. "She went back to where she belongs." His smile wavered for only a moment. "So, rips in time. Dimensions all going to crash into one another." The Doctor put his 3-D glasses on. "Shall we try and find a reason as to why?"

Alternate Earth
London, the Powell Estate 
April 5, 2007

The Doctor closed and locked the TARDIS door, while Tess Hartnell bounced excitedly beside him. In her hands was a small, clear, ball, a gift for her dad’s fifty-third birthday.

"He’s going to be mad over this." Tess stated, grinning madly. "A real telepathic ball thing. All right, so it doesn’t work." She shrugged lightly. "But, it’s still a brilliant paper weight."

The Doctor glanced down at her. "It is brilliant, isn’t it?" He offered her his hand. "Shall we, Tess Hartnell?"

With a playful look, Tess took the offered hand. "We will, Doctor."

Together, the two of them walked straight to the flats and up the stairs. Tess handed the Doctor her dad’s birthday present, so she could find her house key. A moment later, the door was unlocked and the twosome was walking through the front door.

"Dad?" Tess peeked around the corner. "What?" She blinked, then glanced to the Doctor. "It’s all different. That," she pointed to a rather ugly couch. "is not ours."

The Doctor gave the ugly couch a look. Now, Michael Hartnell was an old drunk, but even he knew better then to buy a pea green, leather, couch. Quickly taking a look around the living room, the Doctor noticed that nothing was the same. Different furniture, different pictures on the wall, different people in the pictures.

Something really wasn’t right. This was Tess Hartnell’s home, but it wasn’t.

"Tess . . . ?" The Doctor rolled his eyes upward. Tess had wondered off into her bedroom, or at least the room that was supposed to be her bedroom.

He found her standing next to the desk, looking so forlorn. "My bed goes there." She pointed to the desk, as if pointing to it would make the bed appear. "And the walls are all wrong. They’re soft and pink, not this ugly, dusty color." The Doctor slipped his hand into hers. "Doctor? It’s all wrong. What’s happened?" They shared a look. "It’s all so wrong."

He nodded, feeling helpless. "Maybe I got the year wrong? Been known to do that, yeah?"

Tess nodded. Yes, the year was wrong, that was all. Though, that didn’t explain how she had opened the door with her key. Nor did it explain anything, actually. She and her dad had lived in their flat for twenty years. Before them, Tess’s grandmother had lived there. None of it made sense.

The Doctor walked Tess back outside, and to the nearest trash bin. He took a paper out and scanned the dates. "Brilliant!" He nearly shoved the paper, which smelt like cat-food, under Tess’s nose. "See, April fifth, two-thousand and eight. We’ve over shot by fifty-three years. Your dad’s only being born today. Wrong date. That’s all." The Doctor gave Tess a loopy smile.

Tess pushed the paper away. "All right, sure. But, Granny Hartnell lived there. That wasn’t Granny’s place." She dug into her jean pocket and pulled out her mobile. "I think we should ring Dad or Nicky, or hell, even John and Liam."

The Time Lord made a face. No way was he getting help from Tess’s idiot mates. Sure, they had over shot by fifty-three years. And yes, Granny Hartnell’s flat wasn’t Granny Hartnell’s flat. Still, he could figure out what was wrong. He was the Doctor, after all.

"No." He put a hand on her arm. "You’re not calling Team Idiot." He tapped his foot, thinking. "We’ve just . . . " His eyes widened . . . they weren’t. They couldn’t possibly be. Could they? "We’re . . . "

"Doctor?" Tess lightly tugged on his arm. "What? We’re what?"

He didn’t answer, instead he grabbed her hand and started dragging her back to the TARDIS. "Come on, or we’ll be late."

Tess tripped over her feet, struggling to keep up and save her phone. "Doc . . . Doctor?" The Doctor let her go, and she nearly tripped backward. "Oh! Bleeding hell, Doc!"

Even as Tess adjusted herself, the Doctor was busy trying to get the TARDIS open. He seemed scared, nervous even. He fumbled only twice, before the door was open. Their eyes focused in on the inside of the empty, normal looking, TARDIS. Frantically, the Doctor walked inside, banging his hands against the walls. "No. No, no, no, no, no, NO!" The Doctor moved out of the TARDIS, and kicked a rock, hard. "This cannot be happening!"

Tess moved slightly back, suddenly feeling scared. "Doctor? What . . . where’s the TARDIS? How . . . " she shook her head, trying to clear it. "This . . . bleeding hell."

"I think, if we can’t . . . we’re trapped here." His voice was quiet.

"No. Don’t say that, Doctor. Is this you, now? Come on, we’ve gotten out of worse. So the TARDIS isn’t your ship anymore? Remember the time those . . . " she trailed off.

The Doctor looked at her. Tess caught his eye.

"All right, so this may be the worse it’s ever been. We’ll be all right. Got to think, is all." She laughed nervously. "We’re good at that."

The Doctor nodded, pulling her into a tight hug. He looked darkly at the world around them, holding Tess tightly.

Alternate Earth
London, Torchwood Headquarters 
April 5, 2007

 

Rose was out of the lift before the doors had fully opened. Jake and Mickey, baby Mary firmly in his arms, trailed behind her. They had gotten the call less then twenty minutes ago. Jake was sure Rose had broken some kind of record for speed. But then, this was a ‘Code Ten’. Somewhere, the TARDIS had landed. Which meant that somewhere, the Doctor was roaming about London. Jake knew that Rose would do anything to have the Doctor back, even break speed limits.

"And we’re sure it’s a Code Ten?" Rose asked, even as she was swinging the doors to the labs open.

"Yes, Miss. Tyler." A short little man replied. He didn’t even look up from his keyboard. "We got traces of the TARDIS roughly twenty-one minutes ago. No signs of the Doctor, though no traces of the TARDIS leaving, either." He cleared his throat nervously. "We’ve called in Mr. Tyler. He should be here."

Rose nodded, Mickey and Jake exchanged a look.

"There’s one other thing, Miss. Tyler." The man glanced up at Rose. "I think you should see this." He quickly typed on the keys, pulling up a view of space. "See that? Rips in space and time, millions of them. That’s a problem. We’ll have to find a way to close it, fast."

"No." Rose shook her head. "No, that’s how he’s doing it. It’s how he’s here."

Mickey gently, and awkwardly, put a hand on Rose’s shoulder. "Rose. He said he couldn’t. It would make everything bleed into one another."

"Yeah." Jake nodded in agreement. "The Doctor wouldn’t go about it this way."

Rose shook her head again, this time more firmly. "If there were no other way, he’d . . . "

"Rose." She was cut off by a firm, and all too familiar voice. Everyone turned to watch Pete and Jackie Tyler enter the lab. Pete had a firm eye on Rose. "He wouldn’t." Pete tried to give Rose a warm smile, but failed. "Just be happy we’ve got a Code Ten."

Pete briefly glanced around the room. "Let’s get to work on finding out why the rips are there and how to close them. Jake, I want you on standby for that. As for the Code Ten," he locked eyes with Rose "Get me the exact spot, my daughter and Mickey Smith are going to see about it."

"Uh, of course, sir . . . but . . . " the man at the keyboard nervously cleared his throat again. "We’ve just gotten another TARDIS signal." He looked back at Pete. "Which spot do you want?"

The TARDIS

The Doctor watched Lily closely, he hadn’t taken her eyes off her since she had passed out. He didn’t plan to stop watching her for a long while. She had absorbed the Time-Vortex. She had absorbed it and she was still alive. Hell, she was sitting beside the console. Just sitting there, with her head in her hands. Every so often, he’d catch eyes, still slightly glowing.

"This isn’t supposed to be happening." He told her, matter of fact. "You should have burned. Or at the very least had to regenerate."

"I thought it was gone." Was her whispered reply. "It was a life time ago, a body ago."

The Doctor moved away from the console, joining Lily on the floor. "What was, Lily love?"

She sighed, took her hands away from her head, and stared deeply into his eyes. "When I was three, I . . . well, it just sort of opened and I looked." The Doctor’s mouth opened slightly. "Only for a moment! And it didn’t hurt the TARDIS. It was only a piece and it just sort of stayed there, in the bottom of my soul." Lily smiled fondly, remembering. "Keeping me warm. But then, I regenerated into this body. The feeling went away. Until, until you knocked me out." Lily playfully hit him in the arm. "Guess you woke the Time-Vortex inside me up."

He shook his head in disbelieve. "That makes about as much sense as we do." The Doctor and Lily shared a secret smile. "And you’re all right? No pain?"

Lily shrugged lightly. "Not really, no." She sniffed. "It was weird, right? I don’t really remember what happened. There was singing." Lily’s eyes widened slightly. "I didn’t sing, did I?"

The Doctor laughed lightly. "No! You just sort of . . . glowed. Went power mad, called yourself a God." He smiled mischievously. "Rather cool, really." He sighed, stood, and went back to the console. "Think we could use a holiday, Lily love. Uh, April 5^th, 2007-Earth." They shared a small and private smile. "Hold on!"

The TARDIS landed just outside the Royal Opera House, mere seconds later. The Doctor and Lily casually walked out, locking the TARDIS behind them.

Lily bounced happily on the balls of her feet. "We’re home!"

The Doctor laughed lightly. "A mere, what, several years before your birth." He held his arms out. "Take it all in, Lily! The places, the peoples, the smells." He caught a whiff of something. "Well, maybe not all the smells." The Doctor slid his hand into Lily’s. "Chips?"

"Chips." She nodded, happily. "And no . . . " Lily trailed off. Something had suddenly given her a chill. Something was . . . off. "Doctor. You feel that?"

He considered the question. "Like a chill, yeah?" He glanced around at all the people. "Best get the chips somewhere else. I don’t like the feeling here." The Doctor turned back to the TARDIS, dropped Lily’s hand, and unlocked the doors. He opened them, looked inside, and turned back to Lily. "Now, that is odd."

Lily peered over his shoulder. "Fuck me blind. It’s all gone!" The two exchanged a look. "That’s not supposed to happen, is it?" The Doctor could only look at Lily. 

Earth
London, Torchwood Headquarters 
April 5, 2008

Jack Harkness had done a lot of stupid, crazy, and all together dangerous things in his time. But, this was just really ridiculous.

After much looking around, the Doctor had jumped up excitedly, rushed back inside the TARDIS, and called for Jack. It seemed the plan was to set the TARDIS for just outside of Torchwood, in hopes that they would end up on the other Earth. The Doctor believed that was the cause of the rips was. Jack was sure it was more about getting Rose back.

Either way, Jack wouldn’t miss it for the world. He ran into the TARDIS, just as the doors swung shut. He and the Doctor shared a look over the console. "Hope this works, Doctor."

The Doctor grinned. "If it doesn’t, if we get pulled into some rip in time, I’ll see you in hell." 

Alternate Earth
London, Outside a School
April 5, 2007

The Doctor opened the doors to the TARDIS with a wide grin. "London!" He glanced back at his companion, who was just slipping on a light jacket. "2007, the year of, well, nothing overly important. Still, they’ve got this place ‘round the corner that serves the best pizza." He smiled brightly. "You’ll love it."

Leven shyly returned the smile. "Really? It’s all right if I eat pizza?" She lightly touched her belly. "I was just shot with a laser last week."

Waving a dismissive hand, the Doctor nodded. "Pizza, chips, those cakes with those little eatable ball things. Eat whatever you want."

Leven caught the Doctor’s eye. "So, we’ve come all this way for pizza?" she giggled softly, coyly. "Is this my reward for being shot? Or is this your reward for not hitting my Mummy and Mr. Jones on our visit?"

The Doctor shrugged, making a face that said it all. Something which caused the two of them to break out in a fit of giggles.

Leven smiled brightly. "Pizza, then?" The Doctor’s reply was to turn and lock the TARDIS door behind them. The two of them exchanged another smile before heading down the road.

They got roughly ten feet before they were forced to stop. A large truck had pulled onto the sidewalk, causing several onlookers to gasp. The Doctor just moved protectively in front of Leven, even as she took the sonic screwdriver from his pant pocket. The two of them watched as a handful of men got out of the trunk, each looking more determined then the last.

One of them looked the pair up and down, before asking: "Doctor?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" He looked closely at the young man in front of him. "Do I know you?"

"It’s me, Mickey."

The Doctor looked back at Leven. "Do we know a Mickey?" 

Alternate Earth
London, the Powell Estate 
April 5, 200

The Doctor and Tess sat on the edge of the sidewalk beside the TARDIS. The Doctor tapped his foot on the road in time to a song only he could hear. Tess drummed her nails against her bare legs.

"Maybe, this is all a dream." Tess glanced at the Doctor through her hair. "Pinch me or something."

The Doctor pinched Tess’s arm, which only lead to her letting out a small ‘ow.’ "It’s just that everything’s wrong. And yet . . . nothing has come upon us." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "It always comes to us!"

Tess sighed. "I know you’re just getting used to the regeneration, but shouldn’t you do something?"

"What?!" He regretted the outburst the moment it was out. "Sorry." He let out a heavy sigh. "All right, enough moaning." The Time Lord stood up, brushed himself off, and looked about. "The TARDIS is now a regular old police box. We are in a London that isn’t London. I feared this."

Tess gave him a questioning look. He answered her darkly. "Alternate Earth. Somehow the TARDIS has landed us on an alternate Earth. And, somehow the TARDIS is gone because us being here has changed history. You can’t change history, Tess." The Doctor gave her a pointed look. "You remember me telling you that."

"So . . . "

"So, we find what we’ve changed, and we put it right. Then . . . "

"Then, the TARDIS goes back to normal. We get to Dad’s just in time for the yearly birthday pub run!" She jumped up and they shared a brief hug.

"Brilliant! We best be off before---" He was cut off by a large truck that pulled onto the sidewalk. The Doctor didn’t even think. He just pulled out his sonic screwdriver from his coat pocket. Tess jumped behind the Doctor, wishing she had a weapon. The two of them watched as a handful of people got out of the trunk, each looking more determined then the last.

One of them, a blond woman, moved forward. She stared deeply into the Doctor’s eyes. Something that didn’t go unnoticed by Tess. "Doctor?" The woman sounded so, so hopeful.

The Doctor stared intensity at the woman. "I’m the Doctor." He nodded, as if to prove it. "And who might you lot be?"

"It’s me, Rose. Rose Tyler. Your Rose."

The Doctor’s brow knitted in confusion. "I don’t know any Rose. You sure you got the right Doctor?"

Alternate Earth
London, Royal Opera House
April 5, 2007

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, double fuck!" Lily lightly kicked the side of the TARDIS. "Sorry, old girl." She blushed lightly. "It’s just, why’d you have to go and do this?"

Meanwhile, the Doctor was standing inside the empty TARDIS, running his hands over the walls. "Maybe, maybe you could just put the Time-Vortex in?" He stuck his head out of the TARDIS, peering at Lily. Lily just glared. "Maybe not."

Suddenly, a large truck that pulled onto the side of the street. The Doctor quickly jumped out of the TARDIS, grabbed his sonic screwdriver, and pushed Lily behind him. The two of them watched as a handful of people got out of the trunk, each looking more determined then the last.

One of the men pushed his way to the front. He gave them a once over. "You’re not the Doctor." He told the Doctor.

"No?" The Doctor and Lily exchanged an amused look. "No, guess not." He gave the crowd a once over. "You’re Torchwood, aren’t you?"

Lily moved forward ever so slightly. "I’m Lily Tyler, this is, for all purposes the Doctor."

The Doctor groaned inwardly. He’d hate to be corny, but . . . "Take us to your leader, lads. I think we’ve got business here."

Alternate Earth
London, Torchwood Headquarters 
April 5, 2007

Jackie Tyler sat in Pete’s office, gingerly rocking baby Mary back to sleep. Things were certainly strange today. Not that they weren’t a bit strange every day. There were millions of tiny rips in space. And, there were four TARDIS signals throughout London. Mickey, Rose, and Jake had taken teams to see what was going on. Which TARDIS had the real Doctor? And could the Doctor even exist in the same place, at the same time, in two different incarnations? It was enough to make Jackie’s head spin.

She looked lovingly down at Mary. "You’ve had a big day, haven’t you?" Jackie kissed her daughter’s forehead. "Your Daddy and Rose think the Doctor’s come back. I hope he has, Rose misses him so much."

Jackie was about to stand, when her ears caught the low whirling sound of something very familiar. She watched in a mix of shock and fear, as the TARDIS materialized in front of her eyes. Jackie held in her breath, as the doors opened. A man that she didn’t know came causally walking out, followed by none other then the Doctor.

The Doctor glanced around the office. "I thought I sent it for outside." He shrugged lightly, before noticing Jackie. "Jackie? Hello!" For her part, Jackie stared at the Doctor is shock.

 

 

 

Comments

[unrequited-rain.livejournal.com]

hmm... interesting. a bit confusing, but give me a while and I'll sort it out. But good, very good.

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

First, yay that someone reviewed.

Second---

hmm... interesting.

Thanks!

a bit confusing, but give me a while and I'll sort it out.

Mm, did you read the first part? And if so, maybe I can help you out, what do you find confusing?

[unrequited-rain.livejournal.com]

It's just keeping the Doctors straight, they get all jubled up in my head. and yeah, I read the first part. Looking forward to the next bit!

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

I know, I know. I'm still fleshing out the other Doctors, while trying to make sure that they are still 'Doctory'. It's a bit hard, but hopefully people will get less confused as it goes on.

[lothy.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm intrigued :) Can't wait for more of it.

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

:) Thanks for reading.

[rawthorne.livejournal.com]

Golly. Yeah, this is confusing, mainly because you don't always know which Doctor you're dealing with. But with such a complicated plot, it's to be expected.

I'm personally quite hooked.

The Doctor’s brow knitted in confusion. "I don’t know any Rose. You sure you got the right Doctor?"

Loved this. It sums up a lot of things about the characters you've introduced, not least of all, the Doctor. For once, he is lost, completely and utterly, in all his future incarnations.

Can't wait for the Rose/Ten reunion. And curious to see where Jack fits into all of this.

Good job on this second part.

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

Golly. Yeah, this is confusing, mainly because you don't always know which Doctor you're dealing with. But with such a complicated plot, it's to be expected.

It is very confusing, I'll admit to that. I think I need a beta. Also, I really must flesh out the other Doctors a bit more. Hopefully, now that they are all pretty much together I can make each Doctor stand out a bit more. I'd hate for this story to end up labeled: 'Most confusing fic ever.'

I'm personally quite hooked.

Yeah, glad to hear it! :) Hope I do well, then.

The Doctor’s brow knitted in confusion. "I don’t know any Rose. You sure you got the right Doctor?"

Loved this. It sums up a lot of things about the characters you've introduced, not least of all, the Doctor. For once, he is lost, completely and utterly, in all his future incarnations.

:) The Doctor, the one with Tess, is utterly confused and lost. Poor fellow. You'll find out more about him soon. Actually, all the Doctors are a bit lost at the moment.

Can't wait for the Rose/Ten reunion. And curious to see where Jack fits into all of this.

I'm looking forward to Rose/Ten's reunion. I have a couple of different ideas for it. Just got to figure out which works best. Jack, well I do love him. He fits in. He fits in a lot. I say: watch Lily Tyler and her Doctor. She was a God for half a moment. He knows Torchwood.

Good job on this second part.

Again, thanks for reading.

[t-a-n-g-o.livejournal.com]

Love it, really intresting! looking forwad to more!

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I hope to have more out soon. By the end of the week at the latest.

[veela-girl.livejournal.com]

Damnit... I'm hooked! Well done! You've dealt brilliantly with the Doctor swaps, although it is kinda confusing (as stories like this generally are) but this is one of the clearest I've read yet! And interesting plotline, btw. :)

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

Damnit... I'm hooked! Well done!

Glad to hear it. And, thanks for reading!

You've dealt brilliantly with the Doctor swaps, although it is kinda confusing (as stories like this generally are) but this is one of the clearest I've read yet!

Thanks, I am trying. I know it is a bit confusing, and I am trying to work it out. I think maybe I need to find myself a beta.

And interesting plotline, btw. :)

Thanks. It will hopefully get a lot more interesting. ;)

[misty-anne.livejournal.com]

I'm really looking forward to more of this story. Is Lily an alternate version of Rose or a decendant? Or ancestor? If having two versions of the same person weakens the fabric of space/time what will having four(five?) Doctors in the same time/space do? And "Yay" for Jack. I'm wondering how he's going to take the news about Rose in the series.

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

I'm really looking forward to more of this story.

Thank you. I hope to have chapter three up by Thursday.

Is Lily an alternate version of Rose or a decendant? Or ancestor?

Yes, to one of those. Notice the things she said to her Doctor. ;)

If having two versions of the same person weakens the fabric of space/time what will having four(five?) Doctors in the same time/space do?

Lots of really bad things. Rips in space and time, lots of Doctors...could old foes and friends be next?

And "Yay" for Jack. I'm wondering how he's going to take the news about Rose in the series./i>

:) Jack is awesome. He'll take it...like Jack.

[wiccagirl24.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm dying here. Please say the next part is up soon.

This is such a clever concept, and well written. Bravo.

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

Oh, part three is written and has been beta'ed by one of my betas. I'm waiting to hear back from the other one. I do want to post part three, but I don't want to be rude. You'll have to wait a bit longer, sorry.

Thanks for reading, though. Here, I'll give you a bit of a preview: chapter three: all about rooms and reunions. Chapter four: Think the Firefly episode where the crew were all questioned and the laugh out loud moments that came from it. Plus, shocking twists!