Doctor Who Fic-"alternates" (5/?)

[walkwithheroes]

 Title: Alternates (5/?)
Author: walkwithheroes
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Up to "Doomsday"
Word Count: 2,181
Disclaimer: The Doctor, Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, Jack Harkness, Jackie and Pete Tyler, Torchwood, etc, aren’t owned by me. The third narrative's dialog is taken directly (or pretty much directly) from the S1 and S2 Doctor Who trailers. I did not write those trailers, therefore the words in them are not mine.
Pairings: Ten/Rose, Eleven/Tess. Hints at others.
A/N: Another post-Doomsday fic. The Doctor discovers millions of rips in time. Millions of rips that have caused several alternate time-lines to run into one another, something that could cause the end of all things. The italic bits are ‘spoken’ by two different people, ala Rose’s narration in ‘Doomsday’. Each companion will get a small narration, okay. This was a one chapter 8337 story, but had to be split into three, as it was too big. Thanks to my beta, nemesis_cry who helps more then she knows.

 

 

 

 

I knew a man once. History will never remember him; though that is the way he would have 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.

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Earth, this is where I was born. This is where I died.

Once upon a time, I met a man called the Doctor. A man who laughed in the face of danger; a man who wasn’t a man; a man who took me away in his magic box. He showed me the whole of space and time. I thought it would last forever. But, then came the rips in time, the armies, the Torchwoods, and war on Earth.

This is a story of how the Doctor saved the universe. This is the story of how I died. 
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Do you wanta come wit' us?

Think you've seen it all?

'Cause if you do, we should warn you.

You should think again.

You're goin' t'see all sorts of things.

Once we step outside those doors, we might see anything.

Ghost from the past.

Terrifying monsters.

Aliens from the future.

Impossible things.

The day our home world died in balls of flames.

We'll find new worlds.

It won't be quiet, it won't be safe, and it won't be calm. But, I'll tell you what it will be.

It'll never be the same again.

The trip of a lifetime.

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Lily stood in the middle of the room she and her Doctor had been put in, absentmindedly playing with her rings. All these years and she still hadn't taken them off. That was loyalty, that was, or at the least the Doctor thought so. He knew she was waiting for him to come up with...something. Meanwhile, he knew that she was thinking about things she really ought not be thinking about.

"Leave it alone, Lily love." He warned sternly.

Lily glanced over at him. "Leave what alone?"

The Doctor rolled his dark eyes upward. Did she honestly think she could play innocent with him? He stood up from his chair and moved to stand in front of her. Bending down slightly - he wanted to look her in the eyes for this - the Doctor put his hand under her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.

"You know damn well what, Lily." The Doctor gave her a hard look. "Alternate Earth, 2007. I know what you're thinking about. The answer is no. If – If - they are here you can't... we can't act like we know them. We're strangers in this." He touched his chest. "I'm the Doctor and you" he touched her chest, "are simply my loyal companion. Nothing more, nothing less."

"But...don't you..." Lily let out a shaky sigh, as her eyes darted away from his. She was determined not to look at him, because she knew if she did, she'd see just how right he was. "We didn't get any time with them. Fourteen years, it's just a moment for people like us."

His eyes softened ever so slightly. All lives were made up of moments. "Be thankful for our moments with them, okay?"

"Just moments, shimmering and lovely and sad." Lily agreed. They shared a half-hearted smile, each lost in their own thoughts. Suddenly, Lily's eyes lit up with an odd mix of mischief and hope. "Do you think he's here? Timeline fits, even if the Earth doesn't."

"No, no, no." He angrily pushed her away from him.

"Don't push me!"

The Doctor ran his hands through his hair, before whirling around to face Lily. "No, do you understand me? No! It doesn't...if anyone is here...They're not them." Lily scoffed and turned her gaze from him. Growing upset, the Doctor rushed back to Lily and grabbed her face between his hands. "Look at me, Lily." With reluctance, she did as she was told. "If they are here, they are not the people we knew, no matter how much we want them to be." He sighed heavily. "Including him, including your husband."

Furious that the only person she loved would say that to her, Lily pushed the Doctor away. Moving to the other side of the room, she began sulking. She was determined to not even look at the Doctor for another hour or two.

From his spot, her Doctor watched her closely. She always did this. They always did this. They fought and laughed and played and saved everyone until they both grew tired and slept, and then they started the whole thing again.

They had traveled the whole of space and time. They'd even gone so far as to go from the first day of mankind until the last day of the last pure human. In all that time, what they had found was simply this: the greatest thing mankind ever did was invent new and better weapons for killing things.

Truthfully, that had made them both rather depressed, which had lead them to making a new game in order to amuse themselves. They picked a monarchy and went through time, trying to get one another kicked out of each court of that monarchy. Currently, Lily was winning by seven.

"Lily?" Lily made a little noise that may or may not have been 'what?' "After all this, would you like to head to Queen Victoria's court? I'll even let you win. You can tell everyone I'm wearing ladies' knickers."

Despite herself, Lily laughed softly. She turned around and offered him a tight smile. "I think you need that free win more than I do." A mischievous grin spread across her face. "Besides, I was going to tell everyone that you enjoy shagging horses."

Trying not gag in disgust, the Doctor made a face. "That's sick!"

Lily giggled. "No sicker than your date with that Slitheen."

He was surprised she remembered that story, as she hadn't been with him during that time. Letting out a little gasp, he retorted: "That was research!"

"You took it to lunch!" She shot back, never missing a beat.

Throughout this exchange, they had started moving toward one another. Now, they were face to face. The Doctor gave Lily a look, before she wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a tight hug.

"Rebound rate of less than a minute." He told her with a small laugh. "I'll take you to Barcelona after this, okay?"

Lily glanced up at him. She bit her lower lip in thought for a moment. "And you'll dance with me? Really dance?"

He smiled fondly down at her. "Sure."

"And after that, we can go see Thin Lizzy. Then, a few years of just us banging around the TARDIS. And after that, well, I'll let you pick." She stepped up on her tip toes to kiss his cheek.

"Because you love me." The Doctor told her cheekily.

Lily nodded happily. "Because you love me."

He gently kissed her forehead. "Yes." Looking at her, he felt the need to say something else. Or at the very least kiss her forehead again.

Before the Doctor could do or say anything, Lily playfully pushed him away. "Don't get pensive. We are in the middle of something." She waved a hand in front of his face. "Torchwood, other Earth, broken TARDIS. Time to focus." Lily clapped her hands to further her point.

"Well, how do you know I haven't already come up with something?"

"Because..." Lily started slowly, "you never do. It's always last minute, fly by the seat of our pants with you." She offered him her hand, and he took it. With a satisfied smile, Lily led her Doctor to the table. "Sit." He did as he was told. "Now, all things considered it would be best if you did all the talking." The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but Lily firmly put her hand over it. "No, I might...I've always been weaker than you when it comes to this sort of thing. Let's just hurry this up." She glanced around the room for a moment. "I don't like it here. It brings back memories."

The Doctor was about to protest, when the door to the little room opened.

Pete Tyler stepped into the room to find one of the men calling himself 'Doctor' and his partner. They were just sitting at the table, sizing him up. The girl's ruby mouth was open in a gaping manner. The man looked like he might jump up and rush over to Pete for a hug.

Clearing his throat nervously, Pete made his way to the table and laid down a folder. "This is everything we have on the Doctor and neither of you are in it. Mind explaining that?"

"Uh..." Lily looked to her Doctor for support. "He's...uh..."

The Doctor paused for a moment, silently thinking about what to say or do. He could see the tears forming in Lily's eyes. Knowing full well that nothing about the oncoming conversation would end well, the Doctor simply told Pete the truth. "We knew you when you were dead."

"What?" Looking closely at Lily and her Doctor, Pete didn't think they looked anything like him. He briefly wondered if Lily was another daughter from an alternate Earth. Truthfully, he was having a hard enough time dealing with Rose. "You're...she's not...no." He went to stand, but was stopped by the Doctor, who reached out for his arm. "What is this?"

"A joke the universe thinks is funny?" The Doctor suggested in all seriousness. Pete didn't look amused and Lily looked as if she wanted to jump up and hug Pete. "Look," he ran a hand through his hair. "Neither of us asked for this. We just wanted chips. And none of this is really fair to us."

"How do you mean?" Pete bit his lower lip, surprised that he had asked such a question.

"It's a long story; you wouldn't be interested." The Doctor told him in a nonchalant tone of voice. He reached over and took Lily's hand in his. "I'd like our things back, please. I need to fix my ship."

The Doctor's voice sounded even and forced, while his companion still looked sad and yet thrilled at the same time. All and all, it made Pete highly uncomfortable. So, for some reason that he didn't fully understand, Pete asked two very simple questions that were sure to lead to a very complex answers. "Would you tell me the story? How could you know me?"

"You were married to Gran." Lily answered softly. "You died when Mum was just a baby."

Pete's breath caught in his throat. "You're...you don't look anything like me."

The Doctor squeezed Lily's hand. "She... that's a rather long story. Rose Tyler had two children with the tenth incarnation of the Doctor. It made things...different for Lily and her brother."

"So," Pete shook his head, slightly confused. "Are you the Doctor?"

"Yes." The Doctor answered, though he was shaking his head 'no'. "That's also rather complicated."

"I think we have time, don't you?" Pete leaned on the table. "Tell me what is going on with you two. Who are you two? How can she be...she looks nothing like me or Jackie...or Rose."

Lily looked sadly at Pete. "We told you, it's complicated. Really complicated." She looked over at her Doctor, who only nodded. Lily let out a heavy sigh. "He took the title of 'Doctor' when he was twenty-two. I was fourteen. Rose had died a few months before, and the Doctor couldn't get over it. He just sort of went even more insane and left us."

"My name's Peter Alan Tyler Jr." The Doctor locked eyes with Pete. "But, due to a rather embarrassing accident when I was two, my family used to call me Levi." He got a far off look in his eyes. "No one's called me Levi in hundreds of years."

Lily could tell Pete wanted to run away, so she quickly went on. "Growing up on the TARDIS was difficult for us, but we tried to be normal. And after the Doctor went away, we tried to take over. A Doctor and a loyal human companion, that's what we pretended to be. For years and years. But, then I went to Earth in 2018 and I stayed."

The Doctor – Levi – went from there. It was almost as if they had planned this whole story out, who would tell what and what they'd say and leave out. "I spent four hundred years running around, and then I went to Earth, to 2080. I'd forgotten that we aged. I had regenerated into my second body, into this body, when Lily was sixteen. I'd forgotten that she'd age. She was eighty-nine, dying."

"But, I regenerated into my second body, into this body." She stared deeply into Pete's eyes. "It's why we look different. We regenerate, we don't die." Lily laughed to herself. "Believe me, it was a bit of a surprise when the Doc - when Levi," she briefly paused to give her companion a loving look, "did it. I'd nearly forgotten I would too."

"That was two hundred and ten years ago." The Doctor, Levi, added. "You could...it would be alright if you called me Levi. It might make things less confusing for you." He added lamely.

Eyes wide, Pete stood up and walked to the door. Lily and Levi watched him, waiting to see what he would do. Pete opened the door and walked out, leaving the duo alone.

Lily lazily put her head on Levi's shoulder. "That could have gone better."

"Oh?" Levi half shrugged. "I thought it could have been worse."

Suddenly, the door swung back open, causing them to jump. Pete was back, this time with a man in a white lab coat. Lily jumped off of Levi. The twosome exchanged a nervous look, as Pete began speaking:

"Even if you two changed every cell and atom in your bodies, there still has to be something in you that would link you to me and my family. That human part of you that you two seem to have nearly forgotten."

Levi raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying you don't believe us, so you're doing some Torchwood version of a parentage test?" Pete just looked at Levi.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Levi turned to Lily. "Alright, now I really am wishing we went somewhere else for the chips." Lily simply shook her head in disbelief.

 Disclaimer:

"We knew you when you were dead." -Levi "The Doctor" Tyler. This line is a play on "I knew you when you were dead.", which was spoken, to Pete, by the Doctor in the S2 finale.

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Comments

[wiccagirl24.livejournal.com]

Oh.My.Goddess. That was the coolest twist ever. Loved it!

Love this too.

From his spot, her Doctor watched her closely. She always did this. They always did this. They fought and laughed and played and saved everyone until they both grew tired and slept, and then they started the whole thing again.

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

Oh.My.Goddess. That was the coolest twist ever. Loved it!

Thank you. It was a chance that I just had to take. Wait until chapter 6, another huge twist. ;)

Love this too.

From his spot, her Doctor watched her closely. She always did this. They always did this. They fought and laughed and played and saved everyone until they both grew tired and slept, and then they started the whole thing again.

Oh, thanks. I really like that part as well. To me, that sums these two up perfectly.

[rawthorne.livejournal.com]

Back to squeeing then. This time, it's about the twists.

I thought the Leven/Doc relationship was my favorite? Yeah, I was wrong, this is it. I loved their closeness, exceeding and yet not that of a brother/sister relationship. I loved their understanding, the way they didn't come off as brother and sister immediately and how it even confused Pete.

And still that preview at the beginning... makes me wonder what's coming and makes me fear the worst. As far as I've seen, you've kept the tone of the show intact so... am I right in supposing all the playfulness will give way to some tragedy?

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

Back to squeeing then. This time, it's about the twists.

The twists are fun, and I hope that they will all unfold in ways that the reader will enjoy.

I thought the Leven/Doc relationship was my favorite?

It's a sweet one, but it does have its darker undertones.

I loved their closeness, exceeding and yet not that of a brother/sister relationship. I loved their understanding, the way they didn't come off as brother and sister immediately and how it even confused Pete.

Over all, they've been together 237 years, so they're very close. They just fit together and I think, because they are the only two of their kind, they understand one another in a way no one else ever will. As you said, they understand one another. They don't come off as brother and sister for a lot of reasons, and in some ways (because they pretend so much) they have sort of forgotten they are brother and sister.

It confuses Pete and makes him comfortable, because he's seeing what could have been. He sees these two possible-grandkids as very sad, odd, lonely children.

And still that preview at the beginning... makes me wonder what's coming and makes me fear the worst.

The first one is a bit regretful but also very happy. Which ever companion is 'speaking' it, has grown and is finally at some kind of peace with everything.

The second one well, which ever companion is 'speaking' has matured, and has had that one last great adventure.

The third, that's as Levi then Lily 'speaking' before the start of this series or maybe 'speaking' to someone later on.

am I right in supposing all the playfulness will give way to some tragedy?

Yes. The thing about all the people in this story is that they can all meet with tragedy, because they all have something or someone(s) to lose.

As you've seen everyone in this story is holding on to someone or something. And sadly, not everyone is going to get that 'happily ever after' that they want.

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

*should be 'uncomfortable' not 'comfortable'. Pete is very uncomfortable with their closeness.