AU!Doctor Who fanfic: First Impressions 6/?
Title: First Impressions (previously Greetings)
Fandom: Doctor Who, specifically NewWho
Characters: Rose Tyler, the Doctor, Jackie Tyler, Mickey Smith, some OCs
Pairing: Eventual Rose/Doctor
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don’t own any part of Doctor Who.
Summary: Rose Tyler wakes up, goes to work and returns home at the end of a normal day. She doesn’t meet the Doctor, the Living Plastic or see the TARDIS. From that day onwards the world she knows shifts forever, and another universe is born.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.
It had definitely been a most interesting day so far for the Doctor. He even remembered getting an odd feeling early that morning, as if something was coming. But then again it was rare that his warnings could tell him what to look out for. Especially if it involved travelling to parallel universes, being kidnapped by Hashes and then sold on the intergalactic black market of Greeb. He probably should have paid more attention to it. But then again, it had been a whole day of not paying attention and doing all the wrong things.
The Doctor had found himself in yet another perplexing situation. After the Hash had knocked him out in the teleportation bay, he’d woken up in a small grey cell. It was fairly standard as detention cells went, and he could tell by the writing on the walls outside his cage that they were in Greeb Central. He was in the infamous city of the Dealers, beings from all walks of life who made their living capturing and trading goods that were illegal in almost every planet. But the city itself was under the rule of the Family of Kaif. The Doctor wondered how Hash scavengers had ended up here of all places, but figured that they’d been bribed or blackmailed into doing service. He knew they weren’t his problem anyway. If there was anything funny going on around there, it would be because of the Family.
So far he hadn’t had any ideas as to why he’d been kidnapped. The Doctor hadn’t travelled to this part of the cosmos for many years, and even then he had been very reluctant to take on one of the most powerful crime families of the universe. Black markets were no place for a Time Lord, and especially a renegade survivor of an entire species for that matter. It was possible that he’d insulted or opposed a Dealer from Greeb, but he couldn’t think how he’d managed to do it. Not to mention why they’d sprung a trap now.
The Doctor was reviewing the particulars of his latest travels when he was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Around the corner of the large chamber his cage sat within, a metal door parted and a large Greebian guard entered. The Doctor could tell straightaway that this one was of the proud warrior race, from his dark purple horn and the intricate carvings upon his breast plate. However he also wore a single black collar around his stocky neck, which was the mark of shame within his kind. No wonder he’d been left with guard duty.
“…Doctor.”
The Greebian had put such an exaggerated amount of venom to his name that the Doctor could not hide the smile on his face. His guard seemed appalled by his reaction, and replied only by turning his head away.
“Yes, hello, I’m the Doctor and you must be a warrior of Greeb, am I right? It’s nice to meet you.”
He only received another silent shake of the head. The Doctor continued on. “Say, do you have any idea why I’m here? I mean I’ve got some ideas, well about six, but I really don’t like the sound of any of them to be honest. I’m kind of hoping this is some great prank by one of those Plith tricksters. Now they are some naughty little buggers.”
This time the Greebian showed no sign of having heard him at all. The Doctor decided to keep going regardless, which was what he usually did anyway. “I mean I’m sure you’re busy, very busy during your break time, I mean your last invasion was about a month ago, wasn’t it? You must not be doing much at all, unless you’ve been hired as a Dealer bodyguard, but then you can’t have been because you’ve been shamed and that means you’re left with one of the lowest jobs there are-guard duty.”
Suddenly the Doctor was hit square in the chest by in the butt of a spear. He fell to the ground, gasping. The Greebian let out a gruff sigh, and retracted his weapon. Unfortunately for him he hadn’t hit the Doctor with enough force, because he was up and talking within seconds.
“Now that wasn’t very nice, was it? I’m just trying to make some conversation, it’s been mighty boring here, and talking to myself is not half as fun as with someone else, well, not that you’re much conversation but it’s-so come on, tell me; why am I here?”
“You will be silent, Doctor.”
“Yes, you know who I am because you’ve obviously been briefed by your superiors, but how do your superiors know? Unless there’s been a hit put on me and my head is going for the highest bounty in Greeb at this moment. So what I want to know is who’s behind this? Who wants my body on their mantelpiece? Who is it?”
By this point the Doctor’s patience was beginning to run thin, and he hated being left in the dark. He sprang up from his seat in the corner and latched onto the bars.
“Come on, tell me something! I’m pretty much a dead man anyway! You’ve taken all my gadgets and gizmos, and even my jacket. It’s getting cold in here, you know. I know it wasn’t the Hash, they’re harmless folk. Was it-”
The jailor banged his spear upon the stone floor, cracking the tile right through the middle. He turned to face his prisoner and bared his great teeth.
“The next time you speak, it shall be your head beneath my spear.”
But the Doctor didn’t flinch. “No I don’t think so, because you need to finish this job so that you can be eligible to re-enter service. And besides, taking the prize of killing the Doctor from the Dealers will give you more than a demotion, I’ll tell you that. Just tell me one little thing…just a tiny little thing… who called for the hit?”
By now the prisoner and guard were very close to one another, and the former was getting dangerously close to the latter’s horn. He became wary of this and let go of the rails to take a step back towards the cell wall. But the Greebian warrior only leaned his horn in between the bars as far as it would go, his smile widened. Suddenly the Doctor felt that the wall against his back wasn’t far enough away from his guard’s most prized weapon.
“Who else could it be but the masters themselves?”
The Doctor’s face fell. But before he could contemplate any further, he heard many footsteps coming towards the chamber. His guard immediately stepped away from the cell and stood at attention, as other Greebians entered the room in a close formation. Without a word the guards exchanged a number of arm gestures, before his jailor turned and walked out the exit and left the Doctor alone with the three guards. Judging by their expressions, he seemed to have been lucky to get such a talkative cell keeper. Despite this the Doctor continued his questions, and the Greebians continued to ignore him as they entered his cell and cuffed his hands and legs. Before long they were dragging him out of the chamber.
The Doctor fell silent as they walked him to what he believed would be the auction area. The Family of Kaif were very rich and loved ceremony, and would have a horde of guests and bidders to show off their latest prize. But he knew they were never reluctant to soil their rugs with blood if needed to. They were a very bad lot, and the Doctor had so far managed to avoid them. But why they suddenly wanted his head as their table ornament was lost on him. Not to mention that it made things particularly difficult to escape from.
It was while being dragged through room after room that the Doctor thought having a companion would have been good at a time like this. It certainly meant that he could relax once in a while and just enjoy being rescued. But he stopped at the next line of thought. He’d been doing alright by himself, and besides, the kidnappings and traps were regular occurrences of his extraordinary life. He had escaped countless scrapes in the past alone, and was likely to escape from the present one. But then his mind returned to his last friend Martha, then to all of his beloved companions, and the Doctor suddenly felt miserable.
By now he was tired, and didn’t bother to stop the next thought that came to his mind. Rose Tyler, the girl who was trapped inside a parallel universe, who was also the girl he’d met just that morning. The Doctor knew they were different people, and that the girl he’d met today could never take the place of the one buried inside his memory. But as he thought back to their meeting, it dawned upon him that she’d been his bait. It brought a soft chuckle to his lips. Somehow, no matter what universe; Rose Tyler would always be the Doctor’s greatest weakness.
She was probably safe, now that the Hath had found what they were searching for. At least he didn’t have to worry about that. However as he was entered into a hallway filled with aliens of all kinds, watching him with laughing eyes, he decided that it was probably time to start worrying about himself for a change. He had entered the auction chamber, and soon the bidding for the last Time Lord would commence.
--
“Doctor!”
Without quite knowing how, the Doctor found himself lying on the ground. The Slitheen held a human girl hostage and had pushed her in his direction, and the both of them had crashed to the floor. Ignoring Harriet for the moment, he rolled over to get a look at the girl lying beside him. In dismay he saw that the top of her scalp was bleeding and that she was unconscious. Sitting up properly he put a finger to her exposed neck, and was relieved to find her pulse.
Margaret and the other Slitheens laughed as they watched the Doctor tend to her. “You might as well have her now, she’s useless to us. Consider yourself lucky to be with your beloved before we sell you in the auction!”
He was about to reply when Harriet pressed a button, which caused the partition to come down again. Instead he gestured for her to come towards them. So far she’d been a great help to the Doctor, although he was still at a loss to where he’d read her name from. She brought her jacket with her and upon seeing the girl’s injury, carefully lifted the blonde head into her lap and used it to apply pressure to the wound. The Doctor looked on, satisfied.
“So, you know this girl?”
“Nope.”
“But the Slitheen…they said you knew her.”
The Doctor stopped his pacing and looked to the girl in question. He was sure he never forgot a face, and he was sure he’d never seen hers. “They must’ve got it wrong; I’ve never seen her in my life.”
Harriet didn’t ask any further, and instead started upon the girl’s bindings. Whoever she was she looked to be in quite a bad state, judging by the dirty state of her clothes. She must have been kidnapped by the Slitheen and had the most awful fright of her life, much like the one she had experienced only several hours ago. Looking back at her day so far, she could still hardly believe it to be true. But knowing that her full attention was needed elsewhere, she tucked her thoughts away for the moment.
Meanwhile the Doctor had had a great idea, a plan that could save his, Harriet’s and the lives of every person on Earth. However, it was dangerous. He threw the idea around in his mind, judging and measuring and comparing to the last detail before he realised that he’d given himself a headache. Of course, if it had been only his life on the line he wouldn't think twice about it, but he had Harriet to worry about. It was going to be another major decision, and it rested solely upon his shoulders. After some time he remember his new friend, who had by now finished with the girl’s bindings and had returned to holding her head.
“Harriet, do you have a phone on you?”
She rummaged through her coat pockets but came up empty-handed. “I must’ve dropped it when I was hiding in the…” She stopped as her eyes fell on a mobile phone some distance away from her. It must have been the girl’s, and it had fallen out of her pocket when she fell. The Doctor followed her gaze and went to pick it up.
“What are you going to do with it?”
He was busy punching numbers in and didn’t meet her gaze. “I’ve got a way to save everyone Harriet,” With a pause he looked up from the small phone screen and his expression turned thoughtful. “But we might not make it through the process.”
Harriet didn’t flinch and her gaze remained strong, forcing the Doctor to return it. She waited until he did before asking. “And how are you going to do it?”
“I know someone from UNIT who can launch a small missile here, which will wipe out the Slitheen. But the bulkheads might not survive the direct hit.”
The Doctor watched Harriet carefully as she ran the proposition through her mind again and again. He let her weigh the options before making her decision. But despite her response, he knew that he’d always be the one to make the choice. And he already knew what he was going to do.
“Then do it, Doctor. The entire world is at stake here. We must do our duty to it.”
He nodded once, and pressed the dial button on the mobile. Within minutes he was talking to an old friend who, after some argument, eventually believed him and put through the orders. Then there was nothing left to do but to pick up the unconscious girl and stand underneath the archway, hoping that Harriet hadn’t be wrong to put her trust in him.
But against all odds, they were unharmed. The missile came and destroyed the area around them, blowing the Slitheens out of their skins. The metal room took a great pounding, and its occupants were thrown many times over. But when the dust had settled Sergeant Price had the door pried open, and the Doctor, Harriet and the kidnapped girl were found. The paramedics and news reporters soon swarmed upon them, and the girl was lifted onto a stretcher and loaded into the back of an ambulance. The Doctor dodged his way out of the crowd, and upon turning round saw Harriet Jones at the centre of the horde. She had her ID card out again, and was calmly giving orders in all directions.
The Doctor smiled to himself. Now he remembered why her name had been familiar to him. His work was done for that day. The Earth was saved, and millions of humans could live another day of their brilliant lives. But as the ambulance went racing down the street, he couldn’t help but wonder about the girl.
The Slitheen had said that there was a bounty on his head, and that the girl had been his bait. They ended up being very wrong about her, but news of a manhunt was worrying. He took out her mobile phone from one of his pockets and scanned it quickly with his sonic screwdriver. He found that her name was Rose Tyler, a nineteen year old who lived in 15 Powell Estates in London with her mother Jackie Tyler. But he still didn’t know how she’d gotten involved with the Slitheen and him. The Doctor decided that he’d drop off her phone at her house, but only after he’d figured out what the Slitheens had meant. He turned and walked off towards his TARDIS.