Fic: If You Were I: "John" 4/5
Title: If You Were I: "John"
Author: alex_caligari
Beta: jellybean728
Characters/Pairings: Doctor!Rose, Companion!Nine
Rating: PG
Summary: A blonde, an explosion, and a leather jacket.
Disclaimer: All puppets still firmly attached to the BBC.
Author's Notes: About a year ago, I was given a prompt about a gender/role-swapped Doctor and Companion, called "If You Were I". I decided that it needed to be fleshed out, and here is the result. With enough motivation it might become a 'verse all of it's own.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3
“Big Ben wasn’t low-key enough, but this is fine?” I asked as we walked under it. The white structure towered above us, while a calming female voice emerged from the pods along with sightseers.
The Doctor pointed her device at it. “It makes sense. It’s newer than Westminster, so it doesn’t interfere as much with the structures below it.” She walked past the crowds and towards a small maintenance building.
“Below?” I said as I caught up to her.
“The Eye is only the transmitter; the real power comes from beneath. So,” she said as she buzzed open the door, “we go down.” She disappeared through the opening.
I glanced around, but no one was watching. I steeled myself and followed her in. She led me down several flights of stairs and didn’t speak. Her abrupt change of attitude worried me, and I finally spoke up. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s the plastic,” she answered.
“The dummies from last night?”
“Not just them. Think about it, John. If something was controlling those dummies, what if it controlled all of them?”
“Oh.”
She scoffed. “Yeah, ‘oh.’ I’ve seen stuff like this before. The dummies are easy ‘cause they already have a humanoid shape, something that can move around. But it can spread. The controller will move on from shop dummies to other plastics. What if your rubbish bin suddenly came alive, eh? Or your telephone cord. If we don’t find the source of this, all the plastic in the world will be under its domain.”
I slowed as I thought this over. A worldwide invasion, using a material as ubiquitous as plastic for its soldiers. It would hardly be a fair fight; it wouldn’t be a fight at all. I also realized that our mission, such as it was, was for the defence of everyone, not just stopping another department store prank.
“John?”
The Doctor called from the bottom of the stairs. She looked anxiously up at me. “It should be just up ahead.”
I walked slowly down to her. “We’re the only ones that know about this,” I said, “the only ones who can stop it. The last line of defence.”
“More like the first. Or only. Doesn’t matter, really.”
“This is so much bigger than us,” I said, still in a daze.
She pulled something out of her pocket. “This might level the playing field a bit.” She held up a test tube full of thick blue liquid and grinned. “Anti-plastic.”
I stared at her, completely amazed. “What else you got in that jacket of yours?” She only shrugged and stuck the tube back in.
We walked until we found a locked door. The Doctor buzzed it with her device and frowned. “It’s just through here. You sure you want to come? It might be dangerous,” she said.
I thought about all I had seen and heard since I met her, and knew that this was my last chance to walk away. I could go back to my normal life, find a new job, and continue ordering take-aways instead of cooking real food. I could clean my jacket, still smelling faintly of smoke, and buy a new mobile to replace the one she had modified. I could keep making tea in the same mug over and over.
“I can hardly let you face it alone, can I?” I said. “Lead on.”
She gave me a small smile, nothing like the blinding grins she usually had, but it was disarming nonetheless. She nodded, and opened the door.
I noticed the heat first, followed by the stench. Wet, humid air filled with the smell of burning plastic made me double up in a coughing fit while the Doctor seemed unaffected. It was an ugly room, one in which the builders stuck all the bits they knew they needed but didn’t want anyone to see. We ducked pipes and walked on metal grating towards an enormous pit several floors below us. Something was bubbling in it.
The Doctor walked to the edge of a platform and addressed the pit. “I am the Doctor, and you have invaded a Level 5 planet. I suggest you leave immediately without any casualties.”
I wondered how the hell she was going to accomplish that. She was one woman faced with an enemy that controlled the materials around it. And she wanted to use diplomacy? I started to murmur, “Doctor, I’m not sure that-” but she cut me off with a shake of her head.
“Am I, or am I not addressing the Nestene Consciousness responsible for this invasion? Answer me!” she shouted.
The thick liquid in the pit twisted into something resembling a mouth and spoke. It was a horrifying, offensive noise, like the tearing of wood under a buzz saw and the whine of a generator. I didn’t understand it, and for that I was thankful. The sound was so unsettling I backed away as far as possible, until I hit a wall. I watched the Doctor as she responded to the shrieking.
“Pity doesn’t work on me,” she said. Her voice was cold and flat, and nearly as unsettling as the thing in the pit. It quieted immediately. “It’s no use telling me about your reasons. I already know how much you lost. I know better than anybody, remember? I was there, on the front lines!”
“Doctor, we should go. Throw that stuff in and let’s get out,” I hissed.
She turned her gaze on me, and I felt small and helpless. It was such an odd look, like someone watching an insect and knowing that they could destroy or spare it with a simple movement. You are tiny, her gaze told me. I can see the whole of you and all that you are a part of and you are still tiny. I suddenly understood why such vast and powerful creatures would cower before this one small woman.
The shrieking was now sounding desperate. “That doesn’t give you any right to destroy another planet,” the Doctor answered. “But I can help. I can find you somewhere else to live, somewhere safe.”
I caught movement in the corner of my eye. “Doctor!” I called out but too late. Two dummies had come forward and grabbed her, pinning her arms to her sides while ignoring me. One dummy rifled through her pockets and produced the tube of anti-plastic. The shrieking increased.
“No, it’s not like that!” she said. “It was just insurance; I wasn’t going to use it!” She stopped struggling and frowned. “What weapon?”
Two more dummies appeared on our left and slid open a door. Behind it stood the TARDIS. “You don’t understand,” the Doctor said, turning back to the pit, “it’s not a weapon. It’s more advanced technology; you only think it’s dangerous because you can’t understand it!”
I knew it was the wrong thing to say. The shrieking rattled my head, seemed to rattle the building. The dummies held the Doctor fast, despite her struggles. I was useless. Our weapons had been taken, our position was powerless. The dummies must have triggered something, because an explosion rocked the building and I fell to my knees. The Doctor staggered but the dummies held her up, unaffected by the chaos. Fire erupted to our right, blocking our only exit. I felt like I was in Hell.
The Doctor twisted her head back to look at me. She had realized the same thing I had, that we were both going to die here.
No job, I thought. I stood up.
No relationship. I saw the dummy still holding the anti-plastic vial.
No life. I braced myself.
“But I do have four years of school rugby behind me,” I said, and rushed the dummy. I hit it with enough force to lift it off the ground and let go of the Doctor. My momentum carried it to the edge of the platform, where it fell squarely in the pit with the creature. The Doctor, one arm freed, was able to twist away from the other and kick it over the edge. “Nice one, John,” she said. “Now run.”
“Agreed,” I replied, and we both bolted for the TARDIS.
Chapter 5
Author: alex_caligari
Beta: jellybean728
Characters/Pairings: Doctor!Rose, Companion!Nine
Rating: PG
Summary: A blonde, an explosion, and a leather jacket.
Disclaimer: All puppets still firmly attached to the BBC.
Author's Notes: About a year ago, I was given a prompt about a gender/role-swapped Doctor and Companion, called "If You Were I". I decided that it needed to be fleshed out, and here is the result. With enough motivation it might become a 'verse all of it's own.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3
“Big Ben wasn’t low-key enough, but this is fine?” I asked as we walked under it. The white structure towered above us, while a calming female voice emerged from the pods along with sightseers.
The Doctor pointed her device at it. “It makes sense. It’s newer than Westminster, so it doesn’t interfere as much with the structures below it.” She walked past the crowds and towards a small maintenance building.
“Below?” I said as I caught up to her.
“The Eye is only the transmitter; the real power comes from beneath. So,” she said as she buzzed open the door, “we go down.” She disappeared through the opening.
I glanced around, but no one was watching. I steeled myself and followed her in. She led me down several flights of stairs and didn’t speak. Her abrupt change of attitude worried me, and I finally spoke up. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s the plastic,” she answered.
“The dummies from last night?”
“Not just them. Think about it, John. If something was controlling those dummies, what if it controlled all of them?”
“Oh.”
She scoffed. “Yeah, ‘oh.’ I’ve seen stuff like this before. The dummies are easy ‘cause they already have a humanoid shape, something that can move around. But it can spread. The controller will move on from shop dummies to other plastics. What if your rubbish bin suddenly came alive, eh? Or your telephone cord. If we don’t find the source of this, all the plastic in the world will be under its domain.”
I slowed as I thought this over. A worldwide invasion, using a material as ubiquitous as plastic for its soldiers. It would hardly be a fair fight; it wouldn’t be a fight at all. I also realized that our mission, such as it was, was for the defence of everyone, not just stopping another department store prank.
“John?”
The Doctor called from the bottom of the stairs. She looked anxiously up at me. “It should be just up ahead.”
I walked slowly down to her. “We’re the only ones that know about this,” I said, “the only ones who can stop it. The last line of defence.”
“More like the first. Or only. Doesn’t matter, really.”
“This is so much bigger than us,” I said, still in a daze.
She pulled something out of her pocket. “This might level the playing field a bit.” She held up a test tube full of thick blue liquid and grinned. “Anti-plastic.”
I stared at her, completely amazed. “What else you got in that jacket of yours?” She only shrugged and stuck the tube back in.
We walked until we found a locked door. The Doctor buzzed it with her device and frowned. “It’s just through here. You sure you want to come? It might be dangerous,” she said.
I thought about all I had seen and heard since I met her, and knew that this was my last chance to walk away. I could go back to my normal life, find a new job, and continue ordering take-aways instead of cooking real food. I could clean my jacket, still smelling faintly of smoke, and buy a new mobile to replace the one she had modified. I could keep making tea in the same mug over and over.
“I can hardly let you face it alone, can I?” I said. “Lead on.”
She gave me a small smile, nothing like the blinding grins she usually had, but it was disarming nonetheless. She nodded, and opened the door.
I noticed the heat first, followed by the stench. Wet, humid air filled with the smell of burning plastic made me double up in a coughing fit while the Doctor seemed unaffected. It was an ugly room, one in which the builders stuck all the bits they knew they needed but didn’t want anyone to see. We ducked pipes and walked on metal grating towards an enormous pit several floors below us. Something was bubbling in it.
The Doctor walked to the edge of a platform and addressed the pit. “I am the Doctor, and you have invaded a Level 5 planet. I suggest you leave immediately without any casualties.”
I wondered how the hell she was going to accomplish that. She was one woman faced with an enemy that controlled the materials around it. And she wanted to use diplomacy? I started to murmur, “Doctor, I’m not sure that-” but she cut me off with a shake of her head.
“Am I, or am I not addressing the Nestene Consciousness responsible for this invasion? Answer me!” she shouted.
The thick liquid in the pit twisted into something resembling a mouth and spoke. It was a horrifying, offensive noise, like the tearing of wood under a buzz saw and the whine of a generator. I didn’t understand it, and for that I was thankful. The sound was so unsettling I backed away as far as possible, until I hit a wall. I watched the Doctor as she responded to the shrieking.
“Pity doesn’t work on me,” she said. Her voice was cold and flat, and nearly as unsettling as the thing in the pit. It quieted immediately. “It’s no use telling me about your reasons. I already know how much you lost. I know better than anybody, remember? I was there, on the front lines!”
“Doctor, we should go. Throw that stuff in and let’s get out,” I hissed.
She turned her gaze on me, and I felt small and helpless. It was such an odd look, like someone watching an insect and knowing that they could destroy or spare it with a simple movement. You are tiny, her gaze told me. I can see the whole of you and all that you are a part of and you are still tiny. I suddenly understood why such vast and powerful creatures would cower before this one small woman.
The shrieking was now sounding desperate. “That doesn’t give you any right to destroy another planet,” the Doctor answered. “But I can help. I can find you somewhere else to live, somewhere safe.”
I caught movement in the corner of my eye. “Doctor!” I called out but too late. Two dummies had come forward and grabbed her, pinning her arms to her sides while ignoring me. One dummy rifled through her pockets and produced the tube of anti-plastic. The shrieking increased.
“No, it’s not like that!” she said. “It was just insurance; I wasn’t going to use it!” She stopped struggling and frowned. “What weapon?”
Two more dummies appeared on our left and slid open a door. Behind it stood the TARDIS. “You don’t understand,” the Doctor said, turning back to the pit, “it’s not a weapon. It’s more advanced technology; you only think it’s dangerous because you can’t understand it!”
I knew it was the wrong thing to say. The shrieking rattled my head, seemed to rattle the building. The dummies held the Doctor fast, despite her struggles. I was useless. Our weapons had been taken, our position was powerless. The dummies must have triggered something, because an explosion rocked the building and I fell to my knees. The Doctor staggered but the dummies held her up, unaffected by the chaos. Fire erupted to our right, blocking our only exit. I felt like I was in Hell.
The Doctor twisted her head back to look at me. She had realized the same thing I had, that we were both going to die here.
No job, I thought. I stood up.
No relationship. I saw the dummy still holding the anti-plastic vial.
No life. I braced myself.
“But I do have four years of school rugby behind me,” I said, and rushed the dummy. I hit it with enough force to lift it off the ground and let go of the Doctor. My momentum carried it to the edge of the platform, where it fell squarely in the pit with the creature. The Doctor, one arm freed, was able to twist away from the other and kick it over the edge. “Nice one, John,” she said. “Now run.”
“Agreed,” I replied, and we both bolted for the TARDIS.
Chapter 5