Something's not right. Actually, everything.

[doublefirst]

Romanadvoratrelundar realized quite quickly that she was a very long way from Gallifrey.

It wasn't her first thought; that was focused on the brilliant purple-green swirl that towered over her. Surprised, she took a step back, and nearly tripped over some sort of cage. With straps on it, like a harness. Person-sized, about, and apparently broken.

Comments

[thatsortofaman]

The Doctor, on occasion, likes to wander around the city. And if his wanderings happen to take him to this part of the city... well, that certainly doesn't mean anything at all. It is the part of the city where he's extremely unlikely to run into anyone he knows, mostly because hardly anyone ventures here anymore, since the earthquake, and since the reign of Calisto... The fact that his current path takes him right by the warehouse, of course, certainly has no significance at all

[doublefirst]

The voice startles her a little. She'd thought she'd heard something, but she'd been busy trying to work out the planet's size and climate from the level of refraction in the atmosphere. When the noises start speaking, though, clearly that demands her attention.

"The Rift?" she asks, turning around. "Do you know what that is in there?"

The man seems familiar - not in the sense that she's ever seen him before, but in a sense that anyone who wasn't a Time Lord probably wouldn't have a word for. Her mind couldn't sense the other Time Lords anymore, which she'd assumed was some residual disorientation from whatever had brought her here; but there was certainly something about this man that didn't quite fit in four dimensions. In any event, he looked reasonably civilized, which was a promising sign.

[thatsortofaman]

"The Rift," he repeats, as if that's supposed to explain anything at all. "It's more or less a standing hole in the fabric of- ROMANA!" Whatever explanation he was given cuts off as he registers that he knows her face, oh, he knows that face, and his concerned, uneasy grimace abruptly becomes an overeager grin as he bounds the rest of the distance to her, taking her shoulders in his hands.

"Oh, look at you, labcoat and all, ready to take on the universe! I forgot how young you were back then. Well, suppose I was young too... Not quite so young, mind you... Least I'm better looking this time around. Aren't I?" It's amazing he says all of that almost in one breath without tripping over himself, though whether or not the words are at all comprehensible is another matter entirely.

[doublefirst]

"Oh-" Romanadvoratrelundar's attempts to reply was hampered a bit by she had absolutely no idea what was happening to her or what this man was babbling about.

Well, he had to be a Time Lord. That, or he was just completely deranged; but he certainly seemed to recognize her, suggesting he was someone from further along her time track.

Time Lords weren't normally supposed to interact with acquaintances from time zones, because of the obvious continuity troubles; and Romanadvoratrelundar thought she had found another good reason, as she wondered if this man was indicative of what her future would be like. But during such an encounter, it was doubly important to remain focused on the present, so she oughtn't let herself be distracted.

"I'm sorry," she continued, frowning, while these thoughts were running through her head. "Who are you?" she demanded. "-How do you know me?" she added, a second later. Then, "…What's the fabric of romana?"

[thatsortofaman]

"I'm- I'm the Doctor," he says, sounding almost offended. But... oh, she is young. Of course, he should have guessed sooner, what with the outfit and all, but just seeing her was enough to make him forget that detail for the moment and... His expression softens a little. He drops his hands and steps back, though still trying desperately to hold back a somewhat disarming grin.

"You... haven't met me yet, have you? Timelines. Always with the timelines..." Because that is what the Rift does to him and everyone he knows. Well, no. There is Martha... Still, everyone else. "You're a Romana." Pause. "You are Romanadvoratrelundar, aren't you?"

There is the possibility that she's from a far alternate universe, that she's another Time Lord who just looks like Romana, or... But she sounds like Romana, she's got the bearing and the expressions and oh, it has to be her.

[doublefirst]

"Well, of course I am," she says, trying to regain her footing (metaphorically and literally). "But did you say - oh." She elongates the last syllable as the pieces finally fit together. She's heard of the Doctor, of course - he'd been infamous on Gallifrey even before that business with the Eye of Harmony - but he hadn't looked anything like this man. Well, a bit in the eyes, perhaps. And clearly he's from somewhere farther along the timeline, so it's only sensible he could have regenerated himself along the way.

It was a little more disturbing that she would actually meet him sometime in her future; the Doctor wasn't the sort of Time Lord whose company she typically kept. Then again, she just has met him, so it really was a moot point now. Still, she doesn't like that he knows more about her than she knows about him - or about herself, quite possibly

[thatsortofaman]

A bit of the giddiness fades with the question, and he glances back over her shoulder, towards the warehouse. Oh, she's not going to like the answer for this. Come to think of it, he doesn't much like the answer for this, but it's not as if he can avoid it these days...

"Right. I want to say, first off - again - that it's absolutely not my fault." Not that he's entirely convinced telling her it's not his fault is going to make her believe it, but he might as well give it a try. "We're in Chicago. Planet Earth, 2008. There's a Rift here, pulls people through from other places, other times, other universes. Iiiit... does a lot of things it technically shouldn't be able to. Like pulling you here." Oh, there are reasons upon reasons it shouldn't have pulled her here now, high on the list being that Gallifrey doesn't exist anymore, but...

He pauses for a second, and then adds, "I'm sorry." For more than he can really tell her.

[doublefirst]

Romanadvoratrelundar sighed. “Really, Doctor, there’s no use in being so dramatic. And if you absolutely must, you might at least be a bit specific.” It really was just her luck, to find the one Time Lord who lacked a good sense of scientific propriety.

She turned back towards the warehouse, placing her hands on her hips as she directed an appraising look back at the mess of reality that lay within the broken wall. “Now, this is obviously the product of some sort of timelash, bound to a spatial structure outside of four-dimensional space. Any perceived aberrant behavior must be a concentration of quantum probability events around the vortex, likely brought on by the absence of an anchor point at this end of the space-time structure. It would follow, then, that all we need to do is construct a proper time anchor…” She trailed off. “But really, what did you mean, I haven’t met you yet?”

[thatsortofaman]

"Oh, will you stop talking like you're giving a le- hmm?" He cuts himself off in the middle of a word to blink at her like he hadn't heard her. Which he had, perfectly well, it's just a question he's not sure he wants to answer. But then again, as long as he's here... Well, it's not like he's going to be able to get rid of her, anymore than he's been able to get rid of the Rani or the Vesmier or any of the other Time Lords in Chicago who make him uncomfortable...

"I mean that you... haven't met me yet. I know you of course, used to travel with you, and I wouldn't be telling you this except that you're probably not getting back, time anchor or not - trust me, I've tried and it's been a year, and... ah... I should stop now." Because now he realizes he's rambling and making himself look like an idiot. Though he's fairly sure that Romana, in this generation, would consider him an idiot no matter what he says or does.