One Times Infinity - Chapter 12 (10/Rose AU PG-13 Doctor Who fic)
Title: One Times Infinity
Author: darkbunnyrabbit
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Anything up to Doomsday, There will occasionally be canon elements included from any aired episode of Torchwood or Doctor Who, however.
Pairings: Doc/Rose, Rose/Jack
Characters: 10, Rose
Warnings: Flippantly AU
Genre: Adventure, Romance
Beta: None! Oh dear.
Summary: The walls between universes are more fragile than they seem. Once again it falls to the Doctor to save more than one universe...but can he fight what he wants the most? And who is this unseen enemy? A post-Doomsday reunion, of sorts.
Previous Chapters
Trailer
Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure after seven years we all know I don't own this by now.
AN: I actually wrote this mostly last year, but got bogged down by stuff and never finished it. This chapter is about twice as long as normal chapters, though, so it's like getting two chapters at once?
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One Times Infinity
Chapter Twelve: Irriguous
Rose wasn't even surprised to find that their second trip out they found themselves arrested. In retrospect, if she wasn't so distracted by the differences of the last universe, she would have been a little bit surprised they didn't end up in any life threatening situations there. It was probably for the best that they didn't, all things considered...but there was still a part of her who found it a little bit thrilling now to be thrust back into danger. Oh, yes, Torchwood carried a little bit of danger too...but in the time she'd been there, they'd only encountered a few things, and it only made the time drag by that much more acutely.
The small smile the Doctor tossed her as they shuffled into the throne room (as it looked like it was) must have meant she wasn't holding that excitement in as well as she thought. Or, maybe more likely, he just knew her well enough that he didn't need to see it to know it. But given they were in an entirely different universe without any idea where they were going, the Doctor was probably just as excited. He always did have a thing for the unknown.
Within the 'throne room' sat a much larger version of whatever it was that led them from the surface to the underground caverns of Cardiff. She had trouble believing, even on this Earth and this being a different universe, that these were any kind of 'human'. It seemed more likely they were some sort of aliens who'd settled on the planet. The question Rose couldn't help wondering, as she scanned the large cavern they'd been led into, was whether these aliens came because of the lack of water, or the lack of water came because of the aliens.
What probably shouldn't have surprised her but did, was that when the 'leader' spoke, it came out only rumbling hisses. Given that she'd been traveling in the TARDIS again, she'd expected the translation circuits to be running properly again... but then again, maybe because this was another universe, it was a language the Doctor couldn't speak, like at Krop-Tor. The thought was a little disconcerting.
And yet, the Doctor spoke almost immediately after she thought it. “We're travelers, actually. Just passing through! I'm the Doctor, this is Rose. We didn't mean to trespass anywhere.” At her confused look, he leaned in closer to her and spoke in a low voice. “The TARDIS is still recovering from the shock, Rose, her translation circuits aren't exactly up to her best.”
She opened her mouth to point out that clearly she could hear what the Doctor said in the same language, but the rock-person spoke first, in a booming voice that couldn't have been good. Well, it could have been, but usually that kind of booming voice didn't go well with accusing them of trespassing. Accusing them of trespassing at rifle point tended to just not go well overall, actually.
He grimaced. “I assure you, we're not attempting to claim--” the rock-creature's roar cut him off, and Rose tried not to visibly flinch at the way it reverberated in the cavern. “Well you didn't have signs, did you? You can't claim sacred territory and then not warn anyone!”
Given the leader's gestures led to the rifles pointing at them again, he clearly seemed unconvinced. “Doctor...”
“Wait! Just--wait!” He held up his hands, not in a passive gesture, but a placating one. “This is a misunderstanding. A big...tourist-y misunderstanding, and we'll happily turn back around and leave now that we know this is your sacred ground. You don't have to do this.”
It was possible his pleading might have calmed the leader somewhat, as it was back to simply hissing...but after a moment Rose doubted he got through to it. In fact, considering most cultures she'd met didn't tend to stun people they were releasing when they were happy enough to lead them into their lairs conscious, she was pretty sure he didn't.
She didn't care for stunners. They might not do very much permanent damage, but it was always a headache waking up after one of them. If their adventures could do more with being shot at and less with actually being shot she didn't think she'd mind the change.
The Doctor was already awake when she stirred. That wasn't any more surprising than it was to find her arms chained to the wall of the cave. It was always either the chains or the cell option. Oddly enough, times when 'prisoner' meant something other than those two options were actually very rare. But then they were the most practical options for making sure people didn't get away.
“...Doctor?”
He glanced over at her. “You alright?”
Her mental inventory didn't take long. “Yeah, just a bit of a headache. What'd he say?”
“They're a race called the Pyroville. Earth is their sacred ground. All of it. Only the High Pryrellian-that's the large one you saw-and his followers are allowed on the ground, they use it for...luck ceremonies and burials and that sort of thing. Apparently they've got warnings up about it across the solar system...and he's a bit of a cross fellow. Not so much interested in hearing explanations as he is in meting out punishment.”
“And that punishment is?” She had a feeling, really, that she didn't need to ask.
His strange blue eyes turned back from the rest of the empty cavern to her. “We're to be used as fuel for the morning ceremony.”
Fuel. “Is that what they did to the humans of this Earth? Made them into fuel?”
“Could be. I don't know.” He glanced up at the ceiling, expression resigned. “Probably.”
It probably meant there wasn't a Doctor in this universe, either. “We've...got to do something about them, then. Stop them just...pointlessly killing people they find.”
“No.”
“...No?”
“We can't just travel across realities and fix them, Rose.” He refused to look at her, even though she strained at the chains to get a good look at him, but the frustration in his voice was clear enough anyway. “It's not our Earth. Things aren't meant to go the same way. Even if-even if the ways we know look better to us, sometimes what's meant to be isn't what's best to be, Rose.” He did finally turn to look at her at that. “Sometimes...a volcano is meant to destroy a city of innocent people and no one can stop it, and sometimes that volcano doesn't and an entire race is wiped out because of it. And sometimes the race that destroys them has to stay. That's how parallel realities work.”
“Some realities are wrong.”
For a moment, his expression flickered to something intensely sad, but he only said, “Yes.”
If she could have, she would have reached out to him, but as it was, her arms were useless. She might have been able to reach out and nudge him with her foot, as they were standing just about side-by-side, but it would have been a little bit of a stretch. So she did the next best thing. “So. I'm not planning on being anyone's fuel. How d'you suggest we get out of here and find Adeola? Cos...I'm not sure, but I'm betting we're even deeper than before.”
“We are.” He grimaced. “They left me my sonic screwdriver-probably had no idea what it was-but I can't reach it like this.”
“...So how d'we plan on getting out without it? Cos I might've been a gymnast when I was a kid, Doctor, but I'm pretty sure there's no way I'm gettin' to any of your pockets.”
He grinned briefly, shaking his head. “No. That'd be a bit beyond the human scope of flexibility.”
“And a bit difficult t'operate the screwdriver in trainers.”
“A bit.” He glanced up at his wrists a moment. “...I've got an idea, but you're going to have to trust me, Rose.”
She frowned. “I always trust you.”
He smiled over at her for a moment, before kicking himself away from the wall and...spinning. It was probably a better, more fluid movement than that, really, but her observation was a bit distracted by the fact that it left him pressed uncomfortably flush against her. Not that it hadn't happened before-TARDIS crash landings, tiny alleyways while fleeing pursuers, any enthusiastic hug, general tight quarters-but it seemed...excessively close while their arms were both still chained to the wall. He must have been to the limit those chains would allow him...and the feeling was a little bit claustrophobic.
“Doctor...?” Trust didn't mean she couldn't ask for an explanation.
“The screwdriver's in my trouser pocket.” He gave her an apologetic smile. “It's on a proper setting that'll do, and it ought to be able to reach one of our chains. I've just...got to activate it. Hold still.”
She drew in a reflexive breath when his thigh pushed against hers, but she bit her lip rather than speaking. Operating the sonic screwdriver by...nudging couldn't be an easy process, given that look of concentration, and as wildly inappropriate as the squirming and pushing would have been if he...weren't a Doctor who was very much looking for his own Rose, distracting him wasn't going to get them out of there any faster.
She was already distracted enough for the both of them, really.
After moment more of struggling, there was a high pitched whine, and her arms fell free. The Doctor made a triumphant sound, and nodded. “Thought it might've been angled more towards yours. If you'd just...grab it and do mine?”
Really, he didn't know any better, but that language wasn't really making the situation any better. She laughed. “Blimey. Good thing it wasn't upside down.”
He grinned. “That'd take a considerable amount of athletics to fix.”
Despite the fact that she was no longer shackled to the wall, the way he remained so close-definitely at the limit of those chains-made it exceedingly difficult for her to actually struggle her arms down to his pocket. It took a considerable amount of flailing and squirming to get her elbows underneath his and to freedom. She half-expected to find his pocket as roomy as the one in his coat-which she'd been startled by the time she'd plunged her hand into it for the psychic paper once-but as it turned out, his trouser pockets weren't actually all that bigger on the inside. It was wide enough to actually get into and disguise the presence of the sonic screwdriver from the outside...but not much larger than that.
Once she retrieved it, she then had to struggle a bit and pass off the screwdriver to the hand she'd still kept trapped in an uncomfortable position above her head. Frankly, this had to be among one of the most awkward 'stuck in a prison cell/chained up somewhere' situations she'd ever gotten into with the Doctor.
“Okay, um...” She craned her neck to look at the wall his chains were rooted to and tilted the screwdriver accordingly. “Just...aim it at the chains and press the button, yeah?”
“Yep. Bit sooner than later if you could. Might be starting to lose feeling in my hands.”
She frowned, twisting her wrist a bit more to aim the screwdriver properly. “You're the one who's too thick to--” the sharp whine of the screwdriver cut her off initially, but it was the flash of lime green from the screwdriver that derailed her train of thought. “Why's it green?”
“What?” The Doctor frowned at her, apparently baffled. “Why's what green?”
“The...sonic-get off.” Not that she wouldn't normally have a certain appreciation for such close quarters contact, mind, but it was stiflingly warm and even though he didn't really seem to give off body heat she needed just about as fresh oxygen as she could get on this version of Earth. While underground. “It's green. It's just...I...my Doctor's sonic is blue.”
“Hnh.” Despite the contemplative sound, the Doctor's attention seemed to linger for a few moments on the wall where his hands had been caught. Before she could turn to look at it he sprang backward and spun around. “Alright! Shall we go and find Miss Jones?”
Rose glanced back at the wall for only a moment before she picked up her speed and chased after him. “Alright...any idea where she is?”
“Haven't the faintest.”
“Could she be somewhere down here?”
He nodded, although his attention remained on the path ahead of them, rather than herself. “Could be. Not likely. She'd have been granted an audience at the same time...and even if she'd been brought in later she'd be here.”
“So she's somewhere up top?”
“Mm, well. Best guess, anyway.” He skidded to a halt as he turned a corner, which nearly caused her to slam right into him. As it was, she had to grab his shoulder just to stabilize herself when she stopped. The reason for his halt was obvious, though. Only a few feet from the turn-the only turn-stood what appeared to be a door without any immediate method of actually opening it.
He frowned and took a step forward, running his hand over it. “Oh, I haven't seen one of these in ages. Heat-sensitive door! You raise it's temperature to a sufficient level and it uses the energy to operate the machinery in the wall to open. Very clever...and given it's the cell door, I imagine it'll require a specific temperature to open. Or a specific combination of them. Bit like a keypad.”
“Raise it's temperature...” She edged into the corridor with him, studying the shining black wall-door from where she stood. “How d'we manage that? Raise it how high?”
“I'd say given the nature of our hosts...very.” He took a step back and gave the sonic screwdriver a little flourish. “Nothing this couldn't handle. I'd just have to excite its molecules in a wide enough or specific enough area and it'd activate. We could gradually increase the temperature until it gathered sufficient energy...but without the passcode we'd have to try every temperature. And take breaks between each attempt.”
“That would take ages, Doctor, we'd be better off waiting for them to show back up and running through the door as soon as it opened.”
He nodded. “Yes, well, there's another option.” He took another step back. “Back up a bit, Rose.” He pointed the sonic screwdriver at the door and fiddled with the setting a bit. When she retreated behind him, he activated the sonic once more. The device flashed green and the sound almost made her wince, so high was its pitch.
At first nothing seemed to happen, but after a moment the door cracked. Then again, running the length of its shape. After that the structure simply seemed to splinter and all but shatter. It took only a firm push of the Doctor's shoulder to send it all toppling to the ground in the other hallway.
She blinked as she picked her way through the debris, following after him as he set off once more. “Well...never saw that one happen before.”
“Doesn't happen often. The rock's only so brittle because of the way it's been heated and cooled so often.” He tossed her a small smirk and tucked the sonic into is jacket sleeve. “Bit of a design flaw, that.”
“Well...they probably don't have to deal with sonic screwdrivers all that often.” Even less so than any race from a world where the Doctor actually went. With those it was always possible they might eventually catch on. Not that she felt any sympathy for this race that had wiped out an entire planet to make a sacred farm.
“No, they probably only need to deal with brute strength and temperature tampering. When they have to deal with anything at all.”
Rose hadn't been paying too much attention to where they were going, given that she didn't have any idea how they'd gotten from the throne room to the 'dungeon', but the air seemed less thick and oppressive now. It could have simply been because she wasn't chained to a wall and stuck in one place...but she chose to believe it meant they were slowly climbing upward. It was progress, after all, and leaving Adeola alone on a planet in the wrong universe could get her killed.
They made it through a few more doors before Rose heard that almost-familiar hissing roar from behind them, and the definitely familiar click of rifles. So much for getting out without incident. Because that happened so often.
She sighed and turned around along with the Doctor. Apparently they'd stumbled right into the path of a small patrol of four of the...Pyrovilles. If her experience and observations held up across universes, anyway.
“Oh, hello!” The Doctor beamed at the aliens holding rifles at them, the same as he almost always did. “Actually I was hoping to catch a few of you...would any of you happen to have a map? We've gotten a bit turned around, and I just can't seem to find anything that says 'You Are Here'.”
Judging from the hissing and sharp movements none of them were interested in lending a map. “I'm pretty sure that's Pyrovillian for 'we're not tour guides', Doctor.”
“Something like that.” He nodded and continued to smile. “I was afraid you might say that. You could really do with a gift shop for that. Still! I suppose you wouldn't get very much business with sacrificing everyone who drops by...wait!” He lifted his hands over his head in an apparent attempt to keep the Pyrovilles from stunning them all over again.
To keep the Pyroville from hopefully stunning them again.
“Alright! Alright, we'll go with you. Just...just one last thing!” His hand flicked backward, and apparently he'd hidden a launcher up his sleeve, because the sonic screwdriver sprung out of his sleeve and into his hand. “Run!”
Green light filled the corridor, followed-with surprising speed-by the crackling sound of the overstressed rock. Rose didn't have long to think on just what he'd done, though, as he quickly sprinted down the corridor once the pulse was finished. It didn't take long to figure out just what he was running from, though, as the first cracks in the ceiling raced along the length of the hallway far more quickly than they ever did with the doors. She couldn't even afford to look back and see if the Pyroville took his advice or not, because even as it was she barely made it around the corner and into another hallway before the whole section they'd been standing in collapsed in a shower of dirt and jagged rocks.
The Doctor laughed and shook his head as he leaned against the wall next to her. “Works much faster than I thought it would on the ceiling.”
“You could've compromised this whole level, Doctor.”
He nodded. “Could have. Wasn't likely. Didn't.”
Rose glanced back at the collapsed hallway a moment, before shooting the Doctor a look of sufficient annoyance to shut him up...but she couldn't really argue they could have done better. There wasn't an efficient, better choice at that point.
“Right. C'mon. Let's go find Adeola.”
He smiled and nodded, this time allowing her to take the lead. After a few more turns and one door, she glanced over at him. “So why's it green? What's the difference from blue?”
“Hm? Oh...it's probably cosmetic.” He tucked the sonic away once more as he spoke. “The light doesn't do anything. It's not even necessary. It's helpful to know when it's on, though. It's possible your Doctor uses a different frequency band than this one, but there's simply no way to know...unless your Doctor showed you how to assemble one?”
She scoffed and shook her head. “No, not even close.”
There was that look again, the one she realized was a kind of sincere look of sympathy, pity, or...maybe confusion at something her Doctor didn't do with her that he did. It wasn't an expression she'd often seen directed toward her by the Doctor, as there simply hadn't been many times he'd felt pity toward her. Apparently it was something she'd have to get used to now.
He tucked his hands into his pockets after a moment and started off down the corridor once more. “Now...this looks familiar. I think the exit's this way! Well...it should be. Well. I say should...”
“Y'sure about that?” She tossed him a sidelong glance. “Y'know. Just...checking.” She'd like to know if they were following his nose, or if he'd just glanced at a map somewhere along the way.
“Well, the designs are the same as the path to the throne room, so we must be on the proper level.”
“Right, so we're on the way out...and where do you think Adeola got to?” Rose glanced over at him as they walked.
“It's been twelve hours now, I imagine the most likely place we'll find her is the TARDIS.” He shrugged. “Or she's spent this whole time with a group of Pyroville who disagree with the frankly terrible anti-tourist attitude of the Pryrellian and is organizing a dramatically timed rescue right now. We could meet her on the way out after doing all the hard work.”
“Oh, that was one time, Doctor.”
“Mm, in your universe.” He smirked as he started in on another door. “The Rose I know had it happen distressingly often.”
She snorted. “Well, it sounds like a problem with your universe, not me.”
He shrugged as the door caved inward. “If so, we'll just have to see how this universe turns out. I suppose she might just have gotten lost and we'll have to pick her up in the TARDIS.”
“Do you think...” She trailed off as she stepped into the room and took in its entirety. “Well.”
The Doctor sidled up next to her and frowned. “I did say we were close to the throne room. Still...who doesn't label their side-doors to the throne room? That must get awkward.”
That was about the time the guards in the room all turned on them, and the High Rock Poobah or whatever it was hissed and roared in their direction. She could get the gist of what he was saying even without a convenient translation.
“...Doctor...”
“Hello!” He beamed at the king, surreptitiously nudging her to the right as he spoke. “We were just going for a walk...you know, Walk Your Prisoners Day...we got a bit separated from the rest of the group and it seems like we've gotten lost! You wouldn't happen to know the way?”
The creature roared, and the Doctor winced, shuffling them just a bit more quickly to the right as he spoke. “Right, not a tour guide...blimey your race is inconsiderate of visitors. No wonder you've got such a slump in the middle of Summer.”
More roaring and hissing. She'd have liked to say something herself, but without remotely speaking their language, it would be completely impossible to convey anything of sense to them.
“Alright, alright! We'll just go back to our cell, shall we?” He held up his hands once more, still holding the sonic screwdriver this time from opening the door just moments earlier. “Only it might be difficult, given one of the main hallways collapsed on the way. We'll have to find an alternate pathway.” He glanced over at her for a moment, voice lowered. “The door is behind you. When I say it...you need to run. Got it?”
She nodded after a moment. “Yeah, right, as long as it's we. I'm not getting stuck on this planet.”
He tossed her an amused grin. “Cover your ears.”
It was the only warning she received before the Doctor activated the sonic screwdriver again. This time the light was a bit more bright and the sustained pulse echoed off of the walls at a pitch which was actually painful. Not terribly so, but something that would certainly be annoying if she were subjected to it at any length.
She didn't even need his command to grab his hand and bolt out through the throne room double doors. She'd seen what happened to the hallway, it didn't take much to figure out what it would do to the auditorium. The roars of the Pyroville inside probably wouldn't do much good for the auditorium, either. Fortunately, the main doors of the throne room were left open-otherwise she imagined an effective escape would have been a bit more tricky.
From the doors of the throne room their escape was a bit easier, having already seen the pathway in. Of course, Rose didn't remember all of it, but the Doctor did tend to be good at remembering those sorts of details. Which was good, because running in a circle after than dramatic exit would have been embarrassing. Despite the chaos the Doctor's stunt elicited, there seemed to still be plenty of Pyroville to chase them, as she could hear them roaring and stomping along in the hallways just out of sight the whole time they navigated the corridors up to the surface...so going in circles would have been very unfortunate.
Although the Doctor did mention they'd been down in the dungeon for twelve hours, Rose still found herself momentarily disoriented when they stumbled out of the labyrinth into...nightfall. She really did hate stun guns.
Once they topped the nearest ridge, the Doctor slowed to a walk, scanning the area around them with a thoughtful expression. It was a little bit disquieting, considering the army of rock-people still chasing them and really only a short distance away.
“Please tell me you haven't forgotten where you parked, Doctor.”
He snorted. “I always remember where I've parked, Rose. Except when it's moved. Which is hasn't, because the TARDIS technology is too foreign from Pyrovillian technology to be worked out in twelve hours.” He shook his head and picked up his pace...although really it was still just a brisk walk. “Right now they can't be completely sure which direction we went. I've got a very strong guess-and I'm rather good at those-that they can sense the vibration in the ground. The less we vibrate the harder it is to find us.”
She nodded. They did have quite a bit of...earthy-cave-y technology and...body-types. It seemed to stand to reason. “Right, so...people who panic get caught.”
“Exactly. Take a few more minutes to observe the scenery and we should be able to avoid standing out like a great big shaking beacon.”
Honestly, though, the sooner she was out of this scenery and on to a more recognizable universe? The better. Maybe for once they could find one of those necessarily good universes next time. That might be a bit more encouraging than finding out her universe was apparently stuck in the middle of the group of universes where everything went wrong. Even though she had a feeling the Doctor would say that wasn't quite how their traveling worked.
“How much navigation do you get?”
“Hm?” He glanced over at her, and by his expression she'd clearly interrupted him mid-thought.
“Through universes...you said if you know what you're doing you can navigate these universes, yeah?”
“Ah, yes. Well...once the TARDIS is fully charged I'll be able to lead her anywhere...anywhere I know where is.” He gave her an apologetic look then. “I can't just take you to your universe. Not and be sure it's yours. It'll take time to calculate where yours is and how to get there...and it'd be a bit easier if the TARDIS could focus on just one thing at a time.”
“Finding your Rose, you mean.”
Again, the apologetic look. “The TARDIS is connected to me. She's got my energy fueling her systems-well had by this point, but same effect-finding my universe...or traces of it...is as natural to her as finding home. Finding yours isn't that easy.”
She shook her head quickly. “No, no. I'm here to help, not just t'get a free ride. I'm not going anywhere until we find your Rose. Then y'can see about getting me home for dinner.”
He grinned. “Dinner, maybe. Can't make any promises about Midnight.”
“Yeah, but I've got a knack for sneaking in late.”
He gave her an intrigued and amused expression, but before he could say anything the nearby rocks erupted outward. Or...well...parts of them dropped off and Pyrovilles came pouring out all around them, surrounding them once more. At least that explained how they'd been sneaked up on last time...
“Ah.” The Doctor moved to hold up his hands, but froze at a rather aggressive sounding hiss from one of the nearby ones.
“...Did that one just tell you not to hold up your hands where they can see them?”
“Apparently I'm not trustworthy.” He tutted. “You know if you'd just let us go you wouldn't have to deal with the whole...involved...messy sacrificial fuel thing at all. Might get a day off out of it? Could do all sorts of things with a holiday on a planet like this. Have you seen Fiji? Come to think of it there's...probably all sorts of wonders to be found wandering the bottom of the ocean when you're not busy being crushed by all the weight of the ocean...”
One of them growled, and he immediately silenced. Apparently collapsing the throne room made one unpopular. Or at least not to be trusted to talk, anyway. Which honestly, Rose was a little surprised sometimes there weren't galactic laws addressing the subject.
“So...” Rose said, “new plan?” They couldn't exactly collapse a cave which wasn't there after all.
“Well...” He pursed his lips an frowned when the creatures hissed again.
“They really don't like you talking.”
He shrugged and smiled. Which...was less than helpful. This was really turning out to be a terrible escape-rescue. Getting captured all over again would stick it down at the bottom with the other Worst Rescue Attempts she's been a part of, and distressingly close to a Failed Escape. Which would be not good considering the morning would be sacrifice-day.
It occurred to her then that the creatures were still hissing, but the Doctor made no effort to respond to them. Instead he frowned with increasing curiosity. She turned her head to ask for a translation-or a general paraphrasing, she was fine with that, too-when a drop of wetness landed on her cheek. Then nose. Hand.
...Rain? It was raining? The hissing increased in pitch until the creatures howled and shrieked, turning quickly from 'apprehending' to 'fleeing for their rocky lives'. Meanwhile, the Doctor had turned his head up to the sky and started grinning, holding out his arms.
“Right on time! Hah! Brilliant!” He laughed and took a step forward, arms outstretched as those early drops of rain turned to a torrential downpour in record time. The hard packed clay and earth they'd walked on up to this point was already puddling and becoming mud in the rain...and where was it even coming from? There wasn't any water on the planet.
“Doctor? What did you do?”
He dropped his hands and turned back to her, though his actual gaze didn't quite land on her. “I can't just make it rain on command, Rose. It takes more technology than a sonic screwdriver to do that. Isn't that right, Miss Jones?”
Rose spun at that, just in time to see a rather dirty looking but triumphant Adeola Jones skid down the muddy side of the cliff they'd topped a short while ago. “Something like the weather-control satellites orbiting the planet?”
“Weather control?” Rose glanced back at the Doctor a moment. “I thought you said--”
“Of course! No water at all, Rose.” He skipped forward between she and Adeola still grinning. “No water, and blue skies. The Pyrovilles can't use it at all, and they couldn't just make it go away. They had to move it! Where better than as a shield to keep people out of their sacred land?” He turned toward Adeola. “But how did you know?”
“When you were captured, they all went crazy and started gathering around down there to see what happened. All of their factories and controls up here were left unguarded, and when you mentioned there wasn't any water, it had to go somewhere. S'pose it was just luck finding the controls, but once I had the time to look them over, they're not that different from some of the devices Torchwood's been studying. It just took awhile for the satellites to reverse their hold. Then--”
“Let there be rain! Hah!” He yanked the both of them in for a hug as he continued to grin up at the sky. “All of Earth's water returned at once!”
Which...was really good for escape and the future of this Earth, but, judging from the mushiness of the ground... “It's all pouring down at once? Right now? Won't that cause...some sort of Biblical flood?”
“Yes, well...it'll take days to drop it all. All of Earth's life has moved underground by now, they should be safe if they keep down deep, and they'll have to stay down there long enough for other life to land and flourish here again! Oh, thousands of years at least! It'll be a whole new planet by the time they can emerge again. They'll have a second chance to make contact properly, and no global catastrophe to give them an upper hand.”
For a few moments, though she knew it wouldn't be humans on Earth, that made it all...some what better. Rose found herself grinning and laughing up at the rain, caught up in his jubilation as well. She probably would have been caught up longer, actually, but Adeola chose that moment to speak.
“Those machines won't be water proof, will they? If they short out and we're standing in a puddle of water...”
“Right!” He stepped back then and grabbed the both of their hands as he turned again. “C'mon! Run!”
She thought, looking over the other times she'd run back to the TARDIS in the rain and mud, this was the best such time.
Author: darkbunnyrabbit
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Anything up to Doomsday, There will occasionally be canon elements included from any aired episode of Torchwood or Doctor Who, however.
Pairings: Doc/Rose, Rose/Jack
Characters: 10, Rose
Warnings: Flippantly AU
Genre: Adventure, Romance
Beta: None! Oh dear.
Summary: The walls between universes are more fragile than they seem. Once again it falls to the Doctor to save more than one universe...but can he fight what he wants the most? And who is this unseen enemy? A post-Doomsday reunion, of sorts.
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Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure after seven years we all know I don't own this by now.
AN: I actually wrote this mostly last year, but got bogged down by stuff and never finished it. This chapter is about twice as long as normal chapters, though, so it's like getting two chapters at once?
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One Times Infinity
Chapter Twelve: Irriguous
Rose wasn't even surprised to find that their second trip out they found themselves arrested. In retrospect, if she wasn't so distracted by the differences of the last universe, she would have been a little bit surprised they didn't end up in any life threatening situations there. It was probably for the best that they didn't, all things considered...but there was still a part of her who found it a little bit thrilling now to be thrust back into danger. Oh, yes, Torchwood carried a little bit of danger too...but in the time she'd been there, they'd only encountered a few things, and it only made the time drag by that much more acutely.
The small smile the Doctor tossed her as they shuffled into the throne room (as it looked like it was) must have meant she wasn't holding that excitement in as well as she thought. Or, maybe more likely, he just knew her well enough that he didn't need to see it to know it. But given they were in an entirely different universe without any idea where they were going, the Doctor was probably just as excited. He always did have a thing for the unknown.
Within the 'throne room' sat a much larger version of whatever it was that led them from the surface to the underground caverns of Cardiff. She had trouble believing, even on this Earth and this being a different universe, that these were any kind of 'human'. It seemed more likely they were some sort of aliens who'd settled on the planet. The question Rose couldn't help wondering, as she scanned the large cavern they'd been led into, was whether these aliens came because of the lack of water, or the lack of water came because of the aliens.
What probably shouldn't have surprised her but did, was that when the 'leader' spoke, it came out only rumbling hisses. Given that she'd been traveling in the TARDIS again, she'd expected the translation circuits to be running properly again... but then again, maybe because this was another universe, it was a language the Doctor couldn't speak, like at Krop-Tor. The thought was a little disconcerting.
And yet, the Doctor spoke almost immediately after she thought it. “We're travelers, actually. Just passing through! I'm the Doctor, this is Rose. We didn't mean to trespass anywhere.” At her confused look, he leaned in closer to her and spoke in a low voice. “The TARDIS is still recovering from the shock, Rose, her translation circuits aren't exactly up to her best.”
She opened her mouth to point out that clearly she could hear what the Doctor said in the same language, but the rock-person spoke first, in a booming voice that couldn't have been good. Well, it could have been, but usually that kind of booming voice didn't go well with accusing them of trespassing. Accusing them of trespassing at rifle point tended to just not go well overall, actually.
He grimaced. “I assure you, we're not attempting to claim--” the rock-creature's roar cut him off, and Rose tried not to visibly flinch at the way it reverberated in the cavern. “Well you didn't have signs, did you? You can't claim sacred territory and then not warn anyone!”
Given the leader's gestures led to the rifles pointing at them again, he clearly seemed unconvinced. “Doctor...”
“Wait! Just--wait!” He held up his hands, not in a passive gesture, but a placating one. “This is a misunderstanding. A big...tourist-y misunderstanding, and we'll happily turn back around and leave now that we know this is your sacred ground. You don't have to do this.”
It was possible his pleading might have calmed the leader somewhat, as it was back to simply hissing...but after a moment Rose doubted he got through to it. In fact, considering most cultures she'd met didn't tend to stun people they were releasing when they were happy enough to lead them into their lairs conscious, she was pretty sure he didn't.
She didn't care for stunners. They might not do very much permanent damage, but it was always a headache waking up after one of them. If their adventures could do more with being shot at and less with actually being shot she didn't think she'd mind the change.
The Doctor was already awake when she stirred. That wasn't any more surprising than it was to find her arms chained to the wall of the cave. It was always either the chains or the cell option. Oddly enough, times when 'prisoner' meant something other than those two options were actually very rare. But then they were the most practical options for making sure people didn't get away.
“...Doctor?”
He glanced over at her. “You alright?”
Her mental inventory didn't take long. “Yeah, just a bit of a headache. What'd he say?”
“They're a race called the Pyroville. Earth is their sacred ground. All of it. Only the High Pryrellian-that's the large one you saw-and his followers are allowed on the ground, they use it for...luck ceremonies and burials and that sort of thing. Apparently they've got warnings up about it across the solar system...and he's a bit of a cross fellow. Not so much interested in hearing explanations as he is in meting out punishment.”
“And that punishment is?” She had a feeling, really, that she didn't need to ask.
His strange blue eyes turned back from the rest of the empty cavern to her. “We're to be used as fuel for the morning ceremony.”
Fuel. “Is that what they did to the humans of this Earth? Made them into fuel?”
“Could be. I don't know.” He glanced up at the ceiling, expression resigned. “Probably.”
It probably meant there wasn't a Doctor in this universe, either. “We've...got to do something about them, then. Stop them just...pointlessly killing people they find.”
“No.”
“...No?”
“We can't just travel across realities and fix them, Rose.” He refused to look at her, even though she strained at the chains to get a good look at him, but the frustration in his voice was clear enough anyway. “It's not our Earth. Things aren't meant to go the same way. Even if-even if the ways we know look better to us, sometimes what's meant to be isn't what's best to be, Rose.” He did finally turn to look at her at that. “Sometimes...a volcano is meant to destroy a city of innocent people and no one can stop it, and sometimes that volcano doesn't and an entire race is wiped out because of it. And sometimes the race that destroys them has to stay. That's how parallel realities work.”
“Some realities are wrong.”
For a moment, his expression flickered to something intensely sad, but he only said, “Yes.”
If she could have, she would have reached out to him, but as it was, her arms were useless. She might have been able to reach out and nudge him with her foot, as they were standing just about side-by-side, but it would have been a little bit of a stretch. So she did the next best thing. “So. I'm not planning on being anyone's fuel. How d'you suggest we get out of here and find Adeola? Cos...I'm not sure, but I'm betting we're even deeper than before.”
“We are.” He grimaced. “They left me my sonic screwdriver-probably had no idea what it was-but I can't reach it like this.”
“...So how d'we plan on getting out without it? Cos I might've been a gymnast when I was a kid, Doctor, but I'm pretty sure there's no way I'm gettin' to any of your pockets.”
He grinned briefly, shaking his head. “No. That'd be a bit beyond the human scope of flexibility.”
“And a bit difficult t'operate the screwdriver in trainers.”
“A bit.” He glanced up at his wrists a moment. “...I've got an idea, but you're going to have to trust me, Rose.”
She frowned. “I always trust you.”
He smiled over at her for a moment, before kicking himself away from the wall and...spinning. It was probably a better, more fluid movement than that, really, but her observation was a bit distracted by the fact that it left him pressed uncomfortably flush against her. Not that it hadn't happened before-TARDIS crash landings, tiny alleyways while fleeing pursuers, any enthusiastic hug, general tight quarters-but it seemed...excessively close while their arms were both still chained to the wall. He must have been to the limit those chains would allow him...and the feeling was a little bit claustrophobic.
“Doctor...?” Trust didn't mean she couldn't ask for an explanation.
“The screwdriver's in my trouser pocket.” He gave her an apologetic smile. “It's on a proper setting that'll do, and it ought to be able to reach one of our chains. I've just...got to activate it. Hold still.”
She drew in a reflexive breath when his thigh pushed against hers, but she bit her lip rather than speaking. Operating the sonic screwdriver by...nudging couldn't be an easy process, given that look of concentration, and as wildly inappropriate as the squirming and pushing would have been if he...weren't a Doctor who was very much looking for his own Rose, distracting him wasn't going to get them out of there any faster.
She was already distracted enough for the both of them, really.
After moment more of struggling, there was a high pitched whine, and her arms fell free. The Doctor made a triumphant sound, and nodded. “Thought it might've been angled more towards yours. If you'd just...grab it and do mine?”
Really, he didn't know any better, but that language wasn't really making the situation any better. She laughed. “Blimey. Good thing it wasn't upside down.”
He grinned. “That'd take a considerable amount of athletics to fix.”
Despite the fact that she was no longer shackled to the wall, the way he remained so close-definitely at the limit of those chains-made it exceedingly difficult for her to actually struggle her arms down to his pocket. It took a considerable amount of flailing and squirming to get her elbows underneath his and to freedom. She half-expected to find his pocket as roomy as the one in his coat-which she'd been startled by the time she'd plunged her hand into it for the psychic paper once-but as it turned out, his trouser pockets weren't actually all that bigger on the inside. It was wide enough to actually get into and disguise the presence of the sonic screwdriver from the outside...but not much larger than that.
Once she retrieved it, she then had to struggle a bit and pass off the screwdriver to the hand she'd still kept trapped in an uncomfortable position above her head. Frankly, this had to be among one of the most awkward 'stuck in a prison cell/chained up somewhere' situations she'd ever gotten into with the Doctor.
“Okay, um...” She craned her neck to look at the wall his chains were rooted to and tilted the screwdriver accordingly. “Just...aim it at the chains and press the button, yeah?”
“Yep. Bit sooner than later if you could. Might be starting to lose feeling in my hands.”
She frowned, twisting her wrist a bit more to aim the screwdriver properly. “You're the one who's too thick to--” the sharp whine of the screwdriver cut her off initially, but it was the flash of lime green from the screwdriver that derailed her train of thought. “Why's it green?”
“What?” The Doctor frowned at her, apparently baffled. “Why's what green?”
“The...sonic-get off.” Not that she wouldn't normally have a certain appreciation for such close quarters contact, mind, but it was stiflingly warm and even though he didn't really seem to give off body heat she needed just about as fresh oxygen as she could get on this version of Earth. While underground. “It's green. It's just...I...my Doctor's sonic is blue.”
“Hnh.” Despite the contemplative sound, the Doctor's attention seemed to linger for a few moments on the wall where his hands had been caught. Before she could turn to look at it he sprang backward and spun around. “Alright! Shall we go and find Miss Jones?”
Rose glanced back at the wall for only a moment before she picked up her speed and chased after him. “Alright...any idea where she is?”
“Haven't the faintest.”
“Could she be somewhere down here?”
He nodded, although his attention remained on the path ahead of them, rather than herself. “Could be. Not likely. She'd have been granted an audience at the same time...and even if she'd been brought in later she'd be here.”
“So she's somewhere up top?”
“Mm, well. Best guess, anyway.” He skidded to a halt as he turned a corner, which nearly caused her to slam right into him. As it was, she had to grab his shoulder just to stabilize herself when she stopped. The reason for his halt was obvious, though. Only a few feet from the turn-the only turn-stood what appeared to be a door without any immediate method of actually opening it.
He frowned and took a step forward, running his hand over it. “Oh, I haven't seen one of these in ages. Heat-sensitive door! You raise it's temperature to a sufficient level and it uses the energy to operate the machinery in the wall to open. Very clever...and given it's the cell door, I imagine it'll require a specific temperature to open. Or a specific combination of them. Bit like a keypad.”
“Raise it's temperature...” She edged into the corridor with him, studying the shining black wall-door from where she stood. “How d'we manage that? Raise it how high?”
“I'd say given the nature of our hosts...very.” He took a step back and gave the sonic screwdriver a little flourish. “Nothing this couldn't handle. I'd just have to excite its molecules in a wide enough or specific enough area and it'd activate. We could gradually increase the temperature until it gathered sufficient energy...but without the passcode we'd have to try every temperature. And take breaks between each attempt.”
“That would take ages, Doctor, we'd be better off waiting for them to show back up and running through the door as soon as it opened.”
He nodded. “Yes, well, there's another option.” He took another step back. “Back up a bit, Rose.” He pointed the sonic screwdriver at the door and fiddled with the setting a bit. When she retreated behind him, he activated the sonic once more. The device flashed green and the sound almost made her wince, so high was its pitch.
At first nothing seemed to happen, but after a moment the door cracked. Then again, running the length of its shape. After that the structure simply seemed to splinter and all but shatter. It took only a firm push of the Doctor's shoulder to send it all toppling to the ground in the other hallway.
She blinked as she picked her way through the debris, following after him as he set off once more. “Well...never saw that one happen before.”
“Doesn't happen often. The rock's only so brittle because of the way it's been heated and cooled so often.” He tossed her a small smirk and tucked the sonic into is jacket sleeve. “Bit of a design flaw, that.”
“Well...they probably don't have to deal with sonic screwdrivers all that often.” Even less so than any race from a world where the Doctor actually went. With those it was always possible they might eventually catch on. Not that she felt any sympathy for this race that had wiped out an entire planet to make a sacred farm.
“No, they probably only need to deal with brute strength and temperature tampering. When they have to deal with anything at all.”
Rose hadn't been paying too much attention to where they were going, given that she didn't have any idea how they'd gotten from the throne room to the 'dungeon', but the air seemed less thick and oppressive now. It could have simply been because she wasn't chained to a wall and stuck in one place...but she chose to believe it meant they were slowly climbing upward. It was progress, after all, and leaving Adeola alone on a planet in the wrong universe could get her killed.
They made it through a few more doors before Rose heard that almost-familiar hissing roar from behind them, and the definitely familiar click of rifles. So much for getting out without incident. Because that happened so often.
She sighed and turned around along with the Doctor. Apparently they'd stumbled right into the path of a small patrol of four of the...Pyrovilles. If her experience and observations held up across universes, anyway.
“Oh, hello!” The Doctor beamed at the aliens holding rifles at them, the same as he almost always did. “Actually I was hoping to catch a few of you...would any of you happen to have a map? We've gotten a bit turned around, and I just can't seem to find anything that says 'You Are Here'.”
Judging from the hissing and sharp movements none of them were interested in lending a map. “I'm pretty sure that's Pyrovillian for 'we're not tour guides', Doctor.”
“Something like that.” He nodded and continued to smile. “I was afraid you might say that. You could really do with a gift shop for that. Still! I suppose you wouldn't get very much business with sacrificing everyone who drops by...wait!” He lifted his hands over his head in an apparent attempt to keep the Pyrovilles from stunning them all over again.
To keep the Pyroville from hopefully stunning them again.
“Alright! Alright, we'll go with you. Just...just one last thing!” His hand flicked backward, and apparently he'd hidden a launcher up his sleeve, because the sonic screwdriver sprung out of his sleeve and into his hand. “Run!”
Green light filled the corridor, followed-with surprising speed-by the crackling sound of the overstressed rock. Rose didn't have long to think on just what he'd done, though, as he quickly sprinted down the corridor once the pulse was finished. It didn't take long to figure out just what he was running from, though, as the first cracks in the ceiling raced along the length of the hallway far more quickly than they ever did with the doors. She couldn't even afford to look back and see if the Pyroville took his advice or not, because even as it was she barely made it around the corner and into another hallway before the whole section they'd been standing in collapsed in a shower of dirt and jagged rocks.
The Doctor laughed and shook his head as he leaned against the wall next to her. “Works much faster than I thought it would on the ceiling.”
“You could've compromised this whole level, Doctor.”
He nodded. “Could have. Wasn't likely. Didn't.”
Rose glanced back at the collapsed hallway a moment, before shooting the Doctor a look of sufficient annoyance to shut him up...but she couldn't really argue they could have done better. There wasn't an efficient, better choice at that point.
“Right. C'mon. Let's go find Adeola.”
He smiled and nodded, this time allowing her to take the lead. After a few more turns and one door, she glanced over at him. “So why's it green? What's the difference from blue?”
“Hm? Oh...it's probably cosmetic.” He tucked the sonic away once more as he spoke. “The light doesn't do anything. It's not even necessary. It's helpful to know when it's on, though. It's possible your Doctor uses a different frequency band than this one, but there's simply no way to know...unless your Doctor showed you how to assemble one?”
She scoffed and shook her head. “No, not even close.”
There was that look again, the one she realized was a kind of sincere look of sympathy, pity, or...maybe confusion at something her Doctor didn't do with her that he did. It wasn't an expression she'd often seen directed toward her by the Doctor, as there simply hadn't been many times he'd felt pity toward her. Apparently it was something she'd have to get used to now.
He tucked his hands into his pockets after a moment and started off down the corridor once more. “Now...this looks familiar. I think the exit's this way! Well...it should be. Well. I say should...”
“Y'sure about that?” She tossed him a sidelong glance. “Y'know. Just...checking.” She'd like to know if they were following his nose, or if he'd just glanced at a map somewhere along the way.
“Well, the designs are the same as the path to the throne room, so we must be on the proper level.”
“Right, so we're on the way out...and where do you think Adeola got to?” Rose glanced over at him as they walked.
“It's been twelve hours now, I imagine the most likely place we'll find her is the TARDIS.” He shrugged. “Or she's spent this whole time with a group of Pyroville who disagree with the frankly terrible anti-tourist attitude of the Pryrellian and is organizing a dramatically timed rescue right now. We could meet her on the way out after doing all the hard work.”
“Oh, that was one time, Doctor.”
“Mm, in your universe.” He smirked as he started in on another door. “The Rose I know had it happen distressingly often.”
She snorted. “Well, it sounds like a problem with your universe, not me.”
He shrugged as the door caved inward. “If so, we'll just have to see how this universe turns out. I suppose she might just have gotten lost and we'll have to pick her up in the TARDIS.”
“Do you think...” She trailed off as she stepped into the room and took in its entirety. “Well.”
The Doctor sidled up next to her and frowned. “I did say we were close to the throne room. Still...who doesn't label their side-doors to the throne room? That must get awkward.”
That was about the time the guards in the room all turned on them, and the High Rock Poobah or whatever it was hissed and roared in their direction. She could get the gist of what he was saying even without a convenient translation.
“...Doctor...”
“Hello!” He beamed at the king, surreptitiously nudging her to the right as he spoke. “We were just going for a walk...you know, Walk Your Prisoners Day...we got a bit separated from the rest of the group and it seems like we've gotten lost! You wouldn't happen to know the way?”
The creature roared, and the Doctor winced, shuffling them just a bit more quickly to the right as he spoke. “Right, not a tour guide...blimey your race is inconsiderate of visitors. No wonder you've got such a slump in the middle of Summer.”
More roaring and hissing. She'd have liked to say something herself, but without remotely speaking their language, it would be completely impossible to convey anything of sense to them.
“Alright, alright! We'll just go back to our cell, shall we?” He held up his hands once more, still holding the sonic screwdriver this time from opening the door just moments earlier. “Only it might be difficult, given one of the main hallways collapsed on the way. We'll have to find an alternate pathway.” He glanced over at her for a moment, voice lowered. “The door is behind you. When I say it...you need to run. Got it?”
She nodded after a moment. “Yeah, right, as long as it's we. I'm not getting stuck on this planet.”
He tossed her an amused grin. “Cover your ears.”
It was the only warning she received before the Doctor activated the sonic screwdriver again. This time the light was a bit more bright and the sustained pulse echoed off of the walls at a pitch which was actually painful. Not terribly so, but something that would certainly be annoying if she were subjected to it at any length.
She didn't even need his command to grab his hand and bolt out through the throne room double doors. She'd seen what happened to the hallway, it didn't take much to figure out what it would do to the auditorium. The roars of the Pyroville inside probably wouldn't do much good for the auditorium, either. Fortunately, the main doors of the throne room were left open-otherwise she imagined an effective escape would have been a bit more tricky.
From the doors of the throne room their escape was a bit easier, having already seen the pathway in. Of course, Rose didn't remember all of it, but the Doctor did tend to be good at remembering those sorts of details. Which was good, because running in a circle after than dramatic exit would have been embarrassing. Despite the chaos the Doctor's stunt elicited, there seemed to still be plenty of Pyroville to chase them, as she could hear them roaring and stomping along in the hallways just out of sight the whole time they navigated the corridors up to the surface...so going in circles would have been very unfortunate.
Although the Doctor did mention they'd been down in the dungeon for twelve hours, Rose still found herself momentarily disoriented when they stumbled out of the labyrinth into...nightfall. She really did hate stun guns.
Once they topped the nearest ridge, the Doctor slowed to a walk, scanning the area around them with a thoughtful expression. It was a little bit disquieting, considering the army of rock-people still chasing them and really only a short distance away.
“Please tell me you haven't forgotten where you parked, Doctor.”
He snorted. “I always remember where I've parked, Rose. Except when it's moved. Which is hasn't, because the TARDIS technology is too foreign from Pyrovillian technology to be worked out in twelve hours.” He shook his head and picked up his pace...although really it was still just a brisk walk. “Right now they can't be completely sure which direction we went. I've got a very strong guess-and I'm rather good at those-that they can sense the vibration in the ground. The less we vibrate the harder it is to find us.”
She nodded. They did have quite a bit of...earthy-cave-y technology and...body-types. It seemed to stand to reason. “Right, so...people who panic get caught.”
“Exactly. Take a few more minutes to observe the scenery and we should be able to avoid standing out like a great big shaking beacon.”
Honestly, though, the sooner she was out of this scenery and on to a more recognizable universe? The better. Maybe for once they could find one of those necessarily good universes next time. That might be a bit more encouraging than finding out her universe was apparently stuck in the middle of the group of universes where everything went wrong. Even though she had a feeling the Doctor would say that wasn't quite how their traveling worked.
“How much navigation do you get?”
“Hm?” He glanced over at her, and by his expression she'd clearly interrupted him mid-thought.
“Through universes...you said if you know what you're doing you can navigate these universes, yeah?”
“Ah, yes. Well...once the TARDIS is fully charged I'll be able to lead her anywhere...anywhere I know where is.” He gave her an apologetic look then. “I can't just take you to your universe. Not and be sure it's yours. It'll take time to calculate where yours is and how to get there...and it'd be a bit easier if the TARDIS could focus on just one thing at a time.”
“Finding your Rose, you mean.”
Again, the apologetic look. “The TARDIS is connected to me. She's got my energy fueling her systems-well had by this point, but same effect-finding my universe...or traces of it...is as natural to her as finding home. Finding yours isn't that easy.”
She shook her head quickly. “No, no. I'm here to help, not just t'get a free ride. I'm not going anywhere until we find your Rose. Then y'can see about getting me home for dinner.”
He grinned. “Dinner, maybe. Can't make any promises about Midnight.”
“Yeah, but I've got a knack for sneaking in late.”
He gave her an intrigued and amused expression, but before he could say anything the nearby rocks erupted outward. Or...well...parts of them dropped off and Pyrovilles came pouring out all around them, surrounding them once more. At least that explained how they'd been sneaked up on last time...
“Ah.” The Doctor moved to hold up his hands, but froze at a rather aggressive sounding hiss from one of the nearby ones.
“...Did that one just tell you not to hold up your hands where they can see them?”
“Apparently I'm not trustworthy.” He tutted. “You know if you'd just let us go you wouldn't have to deal with the whole...involved...messy sacrificial fuel thing at all. Might get a day off out of it? Could do all sorts of things with a holiday on a planet like this. Have you seen Fiji? Come to think of it there's...probably all sorts of wonders to be found wandering the bottom of the ocean when you're not busy being crushed by all the weight of the ocean...”
One of them growled, and he immediately silenced. Apparently collapsing the throne room made one unpopular. Or at least not to be trusted to talk, anyway. Which honestly, Rose was a little surprised sometimes there weren't galactic laws addressing the subject.
“So...” Rose said, “new plan?” They couldn't exactly collapse a cave which wasn't there after all.
“Well...” He pursed his lips an frowned when the creatures hissed again.
“They really don't like you talking.”
He shrugged and smiled. Which...was less than helpful. This was really turning out to be a terrible escape-rescue. Getting captured all over again would stick it down at the bottom with the other Worst Rescue Attempts she's been a part of, and distressingly close to a Failed Escape. Which would be not good considering the morning would be sacrifice-day.
It occurred to her then that the creatures were still hissing, but the Doctor made no effort to respond to them. Instead he frowned with increasing curiosity. She turned her head to ask for a translation-or a general paraphrasing, she was fine with that, too-when a drop of wetness landed on her cheek. Then nose. Hand.
...Rain? It was raining? The hissing increased in pitch until the creatures howled and shrieked, turning quickly from 'apprehending' to 'fleeing for their rocky lives'. Meanwhile, the Doctor had turned his head up to the sky and started grinning, holding out his arms.
“Right on time! Hah! Brilliant!” He laughed and took a step forward, arms outstretched as those early drops of rain turned to a torrential downpour in record time. The hard packed clay and earth they'd walked on up to this point was already puddling and becoming mud in the rain...and where was it even coming from? There wasn't any water on the planet.
“Doctor? What did you do?”
He dropped his hands and turned back to her, though his actual gaze didn't quite land on her. “I can't just make it rain on command, Rose. It takes more technology than a sonic screwdriver to do that. Isn't that right, Miss Jones?”
Rose spun at that, just in time to see a rather dirty looking but triumphant Adeola Jones skid down the muddy side of the cliff they'd topped a short while ago. “Something like the weather-control satellites orbiting the planet?”
“Weather control?” Rose glanced back at the Doctor a moment. “I thought you said--”
“Of course! No water at all, Rose.” He skipped forward between she and Adeola still grinning. “No water, and blue skies. The Pyrovilles can't use it at all, and they couldn't just make it go away. They had to move it! Where better than as a shield to keep people out of their sacred land?” He turned toward Adeola. “But how did you know?”
“When you were captured, they all went crazy and started gathering around down there to see what happened. All of their factories and controls up here were left unguarded, and when you mentioned there wasn't any water, it had to go somewhere. S'pose it was just luck finding the controls, but once I had the time to look them over, they're not that different from some of the devices Torchwood's been studying. It just took awhile for the satellites to reverse their hold. Then--”
“Let there be rain! Hah!” He yanked the both of them in for a hug as he continued to grin up at the sky. “All of Earth's water returned at once!”
Which...was really good for escape and the future of this Earth, but, judging from the mushiness of the ground... “It's all pouring down at once? Right now? Won't that cause...some sort of Biblical flood?”
“Yes, well...it'll take days to drop it all. All of Earth's life has moved underground by now, they should be safe if they keep down deep, and they'll have to stay down there long enough for other life to land and flourish here again! Oh, thousands of years at least! It'll be a whole new planet by the time they can emerge again. They'll have a second chance to make contact properly, and no global catastrophe to give them an upper hand.”
For a few moments, though she knew it wouldn't be humans on Earth, that made it all...some what better. Rose found herself grinning and laughing up at the rain, caught up in his jubilation as well. She probably would have been caught up longer, actually, but Adeola chose that moment to speak.
“Those machines won't be water proof, will they? If they short out and we're standing in a puddle of water...”
“Right!” He stepped back then and grabbed the both of their hands as he turned again. “C'mon! Run!”
She thought, looking over the other times she'd run back to the TARDIS in the rain and mud, this was the best such time.