Fic: Miscellaneous
These are a few fics written for a community challenge thing; brace yourself for new themes and new and unusual fandoms
1)
Title: Friends
Rating: G
Fandom: Doctor Who
The Doctor has many friends. People from many different planets, robots, gestalt entities, whispers in the air, animals, plants and sometimes, mixtures of all of them.
And yet, sometimes he is the loneliest being in all the cosmos.
Everyone leaves - either by choice or by force. And if they don't, he has to push them away, make them leave.
He's not sure if his friends would forgive him. Susan maybe, but she's his granddaughter and that's different.
Sometimes he feels the weight of the universe crushing him. He faces battle after battle, adventure after adventure, but it is never enough.
For every planet he saves, one is destroyed. For every spared life, someone else loses his. For every victory, there is a defeat. Sometimes he's not sure if he can carry on, when there is nothing he accomplishes. When nothing changes.
In the end, he is always alone. His companions back at home, or in a bright new world, or dead.
Everbody leaves in the end.
There is a time for such melancholy, and the middle of a battlefield is definetely not it.
He is caught in a game of the Toymaster and doesn't know how he will escape this time.
They're playing chess, with the Toymaster and the Doctor as the respective kings. The Toymaster's chesspieces are victims he lured here, innocent people who are now trapped. The Doctor stands alone.
A woman, forced into the costume of a pawn takes one clumsy step forward.
"I'm sorry," she says, agony on her face. Her feet won't obey her. If she moves just once more, the Doctor will lose the game.
He wonders if this will be the end, when he hears something.
But how? It's the TARDIS. But it's not one TARDIS, there are a dozen of them.
If this would be one of those movies Peri's so fond of, all doors would open simultaneously, and all Doctors would step out, coats billowing, sonic screwdrivers in hand and determination in their steps.
But this isn't one of those movies, it's his life.
Through the first door that opens comes Jamie, good, brave old Jaime. The Doctor, as he once was and is, keeps behind Jaime, peeking over the youg man's shoulder.
"Oh good, there I am. I mean, there you are!" he says and waves the the Doctor.
And as if a spell was broken, the other Tardis-doors open and people just come pouring out. Sarah Jane, Tegan, Adric, Ben, Polly, Romana, Susan, Nyssa, Romana, Zoe and - good lord, how many Brigadiers are here?
And of course, the Doctors come. The crochety one, the clown, the dandy, teeth and curls, milksop and other doctors he hasn't been yet. He doesn't want to look too closely, but they are either tiny or riduculously tall. And they have brought his future friends, people he hasn't met yet.
People who don't know him, not this him, and who came anway.
"Very good," one of the small future-Doctors says, "exactly as I remembered. Now, I think our king there looks a bit lonely. And we can't have that now, can we?"
"No, professor," a girl besides him says.
The Doctor can tell, he is going to like her. And all those other bright people.
He realizes something, looking at smile he remembers fondly and smiles he has never seen; greeting 5 brigadiers; and all the men he hasn't been.
He is never going to be alone.
The Doctor will always have friends.
2)
Title: The Answer
Rating: PG-13 or higher (it's not graphic, of sexual nature, but violence is mentioned. may contain a whammy)
Fandom: Mentalist
Lies are there to make life smoother, to make life easier. Lies wrap around rough edges to prevent harm. Lies wrap the jarring truth in soothing darkness. Lies make ugly truths beautiful.
Except, when the truth isn't ugly. Then, lies are made to hurt. They cut like knives, crawl under your skin and chill you to the bone. They laugh, they sneer, they smirk. They are cruel and vain and cause you nothing but pain.
But then, sometimes the truth is harsher than any lie could have been. When even the cruelest lie would be a comfort, the truth all too often breaks free.
Jane has finally found Red John, has found countless moles, sleeper agents, found dozens of corpses and dozens of red smilies on the wall.
And after all this time, Red John is unremarkable. He looks bland; normal hair, normal face, normal body, normal clothes.
But his eyes - his eyes belong to a monster. That is why he wears glasses, proably.
Jane steels himself. His voice does not crack, his hand with the gun does not shake.
"Why?" he asks.
"Oh, my dear Patrick. Are you sure you want to know? Why I did what I did? Why I did what I did to your wife, your child?"
"Yes," Jane spits out.
"To play with you, of course. You were fun back in the days, but you needed.... a focus. A goal. It's no fun playing when your opponent doesn't have his heart in the game. Then, it was ...more fun. You were adorable, trying to catch me, running around with that team of yours. But adorable wasn't enough. I wanted someone who played after my rules. Who did not care who he hurt to get what he wants, who does not care about the laws of men and gods, who does what he does without petty restrictions. And you have developed beautifully. You are my masterpiece, Patrick. My nemesis. My little Sherlock. It has been fun. In the end, after I shot Teresa, it really was good. You were magnificent. You were driven, focused: all you wanted was to kill me. And here you are."
Red John laughs, and it is a thin, weak sound.
"And now, Patrick, quid pro quo. Answer me a question."
Red John pushes his glasses up his nose.
"Was it worth it?"
Jane pulls the trigger.
He doesn't answer.
He's not sure if he had told a lie or told the truth.
He doesn't know which one would have been crueler.
3)
Title: Family
Rating: G
Fandom: Doctor Who
The Doctor doesn't really do "family", not after he and Susan left Gallifrey. For a long time, it's just him and her against the universe, exploring this planet, that era and doing whatever he likes. Susan isn't family - family is his parents, family is siblings, annoying aunts and uncles, cousins twice removed and relatives he can't remember having seen in his life before. Susan is not that. Susan is everything to him.
Then, there's Ian and Barbara. Maybe, just maybe, they remind him of two cousins that were not quite that terrible.
In his head, he never calls them family though. It takes a long time before he can admit that they have passed from meddling fools to possible allies, sometimes-charming-aquaintices and eventually, friends.
They leave, but he never forgets them.
Then, there's Ben, Polly, Victoria.
He may change, but there are so many more. Jamie, Zoe, Brigadier, Benson, Jo, Yates, Sarah Jane, Harry, Adric, Romana, Tegan, Nyssa, Peri, Mel, Ace, Grace, Rose, Jack, Martha, Donna, Amy, Rory, River and oh, so many more.
And they have families, and they have kids and then those have kids.
He doesn't tell them, but he does visit. Maybe not now, not now for them anyway, but in his now, which is at any time.
He has a mug of ale with Jamie's grandson, a cup of tea with Jo's grand-grandkids, with Yates's sister, Peri's daughter and he spends an entertaining week trying to track down some of Jack's descendants. Then he intervenes and stops Jack's grandson from becoming Jack's grandfather. It gets a little bit complicated after that.
But in all his talks, he feels something. He has touched the lifes of all his friends in some way, and that has passed on. Every child tells him eventually of an old story that dad/mum/nana/uncle/auntie/cousin/great-forefeather-jack-the-handsome has told them, of a man in a blue box. For some of them, he was like a grandfather, a father, an uncle, a cousin, for some a brother and in one case, even a son.
And although he has never really applied the term "family" to them, that's what they are. His family, his everything.
4)
Title: The Biggest Conspiracy
Rating: G
Fandom: White Collar/Doctor Who
It's nothing, just Mozzie going wild. Neal swears, Mozzie had a sixth sense for someone thinking "conspiracy".
It was just a flash of blue, it was just a squad car.
It's past 3am when Mozzie bangs on the door, and barges in before Neal is even awake.
"It's real! I saw it! Around Central Station, in a corner. And everybody kept walking past it! It's like no one could see it! Neal!"
It takes another 10 seconds before Neal's brain catches up.
"Is this about your blue box again?"
"Neal! I'm serious! I got photos!"
Mozzie shoves several glossy photos in Neal's hands. They show a bit of wall, a bit of pavement and indeed, a blue box. "Police Public Call Box?" Neal asks.
"British, 60s, not used anymore."
"It's probably just a movie prop, or some kind of prank. Let it go, Mozzie." The "let me go to sleep" remains unsaid.
Neal is working on a case when Mozzie calls him. Peter gives him that look that says "I know it's Mozzie and while I care about that guy, this is a serious FBI investigation and we're going to do this by the book". Neal replies with shrugging his shoulders and steps outside.
"Mozzie, have you found the fence yet? Is it Orsini?"
"Neal. It's here. It's right here."
"The stolen egyptian ushebti?"
"The police box!"
"Moz, not that again!"
"People came out of it, I saw them. I have photos. See you tonight."
In the end, Franco Orsini is the fence and they use him to take down the smuggling ring.
And Mozzie has even more photos, of a man who looks like a sailor, a tiny girl and someone is probably her grandfather.
By now, even Neal is a bit curious. The box doesn't look too big and why would those three people cramp themselves in there?
One night, while Mozzie walks home from Neal's ....which is actually June's, he hears it. He hears a sort of wheezing, a groaning. It's a sound like he never heard before. Then blue light flashes and that is definetely not a squad car. Wind comes up and tears at his scarf and coat. And out of nothing, the blue box appears. The door creaks as it opens and out comes a man. He is quite small, not taller as Mozzie himself, with a mop of black hair, a bowtie and a ridiculously large fur coat that dwarfs him. Mozzie thinks he likes him. Then the man smiles and Mozzie is definetely sure that he likes him.
"Oh good, it's you! I have been waiting for you! It's-- oh, wait, do you go by Mozzie already? I was trying to find you, but well, my TARDIS can be a bit tricky to manage."
"TARDIS?"
"It's my ship, travels in time and space."
The man steps forward and grasps Mozzie´s hands in his.
"Are you coming?"
"Where?"
"Everywhere and anywhere, anytime, anyplace."
Mozzie grins.
Of course he is.
5)
Title: Golden Age
Rating: G
Fandom: Doctor Who
"Oh no, it's the evil Daleks! Who will save us now?"
And while the plague of the ruthless Daleks - heartless monsters encased in unforgiving metal - descends upon the people of New Metropolis, there is just one question to be heard. "Where is the Doctor?"
The brigadier risks his life by fighting his way to the Doctor's TARDIS - the Transdimensional Arsenal of Royal Destructive Invincible Sorcery.
While around him, war rages, lasers are being fired and people scream, he drags himself into the one safe haven.
"Doctor," he calls out, "Doctor!"
Where is he? Where is that dashing hero; that magnificent man; the fearless, the daunting, the courageous and brave hero, champion of New Metropolis?
And then, there is silence, just for one second. The battle seems to stand still. The universe takes a deep breath.
And like lightning, the Doctor comes! He flies, leaving behind a trail of gold. He soars through the sky like the gods themselves.
"Fear not, citizens of New Metropolis," he says, his voice inspiring hope and confidence, "I, the Doctor have returned!"
"Oh no, not him! We thought you trapped in the wasteland of Mediocrity. How did you manage to escape?" ask the Daleks, suddenly fearful.
"I'll explain later," the Doctor says with a grin full of blendingly white teeth. The sun shines on his golden locks. "Now, Daleks, be gone!"
He swoops from the sky, like an avenging angel, his wondersome powers turning the Daleks into dust and rust as he commands the force of time itself.
The battle is won and the Doctor lands. His cape, a beautiful mix of all colors and patterns continues to ripple, moved by an invisible breeze.
"Thank you, Doctor," the people say and cheer. The start singing while the Doctor smiles his handsome smile.
"Please, I was just doing my job."
At this point, Peri loses it and starts laughing.
"Peri!" admonished the Doctor.
"But, this is brilliant! And look, that's you on the cover."
The Doctor huffs but takes the book - flimsy excuse for literature - and turns it around.
He turns red and starts shouting, cursing the publisher, the author and the artist in equal measures and increasingly long and colorful insults.
The man on the cover has blond locks, a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger and he wears red underwear over yellow-striped tights.
And his cape looks like the Doctor's coat, just with a ridiculous collar.
The Doctor's irritation makes Peri laugh even more, which irritates the Doctor even more.
Eventually, they decide to pay the creators of this "Tales of Time"-comic a visit.
6)
Title: Smiles
Rating: G
Fandom: Mentalist
This time it's not a baseball, but rather a basketball that hits the side of Jane's head. He has time to grin at Lisbon, tell her not to worry, he'll shrug it off, before his eyes roll back and he collapses.
Cho suggests to leave him there in the pile of leaves since he seemed to enjoy it last time, but Lisbon says no.
They'll get Jane to a hospital, just to be sure.
They wait in the hallway, but they're not too worried. Lisbon talks on the phone to her boss and explains that their lead was wrong: the murderer was right-handed and the suspect - the man who threw the ball in the first place - was left-handed.
Rigsby and van Pelt check in, they also didn't find the killer.
Lisbon is about to tell Cho to pursue their next lead when a nurse comes up to them and announces that Mr Jane is awake now.
And indeed he is, sitting up from the hospital bed, hair rumpled, suit full of wrinkles and a smile.
It's a weird smile. Lisbon has seen dozens of Jane-smiles: she knows smirking-because-I-have-a-plan, I'm-laughing-at-you, oh-hey-tea and even the sad little smile that he gets sometimes when he's thinking about his family.
She knows his phony smiles, his predatory smiles, the baiting smiles, the too-innocent smiles, the grins, the smirks and even the grimace that doesn't even pretend to be a smile anymore and is just a lot of teeth and cold eyes.
This one is different.
It's open, unguarded, and happy. It's a bit like those smiles when he's on the beach, underneath the warm sun, with toes curling in the sand and the breeze in his hair.
But totally different all the same.
The smile is not Jane's. But it's on his face.
He turns and looks at her.
There is nothing in his eyes, no twinkle, no glow, not even a hint of hey-Lisbon.
"Hi there," he says.
He even sounds different. Not really, not that anyone would notice, but Lisbon does.
Somehow, that's not Jane.
"Don't mind me asking, but who are you?"
She can't speak for a second.
"And for that matter, who am I?"
That man on the bed isn't Patrick Jane, con-man turned consultant. He is not the man on a crusade against Red John. He is not a widower. He hasn't lost his child.
She sees what Jane, what Patrick could have been.
And that breaks her heart.
7)
Title: Don't lick it!
Rating: G
Fandom: Doctor Who
"I told you *not* to touch it! And you did! Look at the mess you made! Oi, alien boy, I'm talking to you."
The Doctor stared at Donna. Or rather, what looked very much like Donna stared at what looked a lot like the Doctor.
The words were purely Donna's but the voice was not. It was masculine and got all-squeaky on certain words.
"I had no idea of knowing it was capable of spontaneous inter-corporeal exchange."
"English, please."
"Donna, I didn't know it was a body-swapping machine."
"I believe that you didn't know, but it was still a strange, alien machine with blinking...things and evil levers."
"I didn't pull the levers!"
"You licked it, that was worse! You're lucky it didn't give you an electric shock and killed you on the spot!"
"Well..."
"Well what?!"
Not that the Doctor would admit it now - he had no idea his own face could look so menacing. No wonder that he was a feared being all around the cosmos - but the idea of the machine killing him didn't sound so bad now. At least that would have made him regnerate into a Timelord body, with two hearts, synapses firing and time everywhere.
No offense to Donna, but her body was all squishy, too hot, to constricted and he could already feel his mind starting to burn her up. No human brain could hold a Timelord consciousness - it was like installing the newest Windolinux 5000S on a punch card computer. Again, no offense to Donna. His mind was like an inferno and every second he remained in her body, she was being consumed.
"We have to reverse it," he said, "quickly!"
He reached into his pocket for his sonic screwdriver, but all he found was a half-eaten chocolate bar.
"Looking for something?" Donna said and held his scredriver in her hand. Well, it was actually his hand.
"Right, I'll just-" years of habit made him reach into an inside pocket that wasn't there.
His glasses. Brainy specs.
They sat on his nose, alright. His real nose.
Donna grinned.
Did he always look that smug?
At least it did make him look smarter.
He grabbed the screwdriver, aimed it at the device - at second thought, he really shouldn't have licked that - and activated it.
The, the machine went *ding* and the Doctor looked again down on his own hands.
His hands, his feet, his shoes, his coat.
He touched his face.
His nose, his sideburns, his specs.
And thank Rassilon for that.
He would have made a terrible Donna Noble.
1)
Title: Friends
Rating: G
Fandom: Doctor Who
The Doctor has many friends. People from many different planets, robots, gestalt entities, whispers in the air, animals, plants and sometimes, mixtures of all of them.
And yet, sometimes he is the loneliest being in all the cosmos.
Everyone leaves - either by choice or by force. And if they don't, he has to push them away, make them leave.
He's not sure if his friends would forgive him. Susan maybe, but she's his granddaughter and that's different.
Sometimes he feels the weight of the universe crushing him. He faces battle after battle, adventure after adventure, but it is never enough.
For every planet he saves, one is destroyed. For every spared life, someone else loses his. For every victory, there is a defeat. Sometimes he's not sure if he can carry on, when there is nothing he accomplishes. When nothing changes.
In the end, he is always alone. His companions back at home, or in a bright new world, or dead.
Everbody leaves in the end.
There is a time for such melancholy, and the middle of a battlefield is definetely not it.
He is caught in a game of the Toymaster and doesn't know how he will escape this time.
They're playing chess, with the Toymaster and the Doctor as the respective kings. The Toymaster's chesspieces are victims he lured here, innocent people who are now trapped. The Doctor stands alone.
A woman, forced into the costume of a pawn takes one clumsy step forward.
"I'm sorry," she says, agony on her face. Her feet won't obey her. If she moves just once more, the Doctor will lose the game.
He wonders if this will be the end, when he hears something.
But how? It's the TARDIS. But it's not one TARDIS, there are a dozen of them.
If this would be one of those movies Peri's so fond of, all doors would open simultaneously, and all Doctors would step out, coats billowing, sonic screwdrivers in hand and determination in their steps.
But this isn't one of those movies, it's his life.
Through the first door that opens comes Jamie, good, brave old Jaime. The Doctor, as he once was and is, keeps behind Jaime, peeking over the youg man's shoulder.
"Oh good, there I am. I mean, there you are!" he says and waves the the Doctor.
And as if a spell was broken, the other Tardis-doors open and people just come pouring out. Sarah Jane, Tegan, Adric, Ben, Polly, Romana, Susan, Nyssa, Romana, Zoe and - good lord, how many Brigadiers are here?
And of course, the Doctors come. The crochety one, the clown, the dandy, teeth and curls, milksop and other doctors he hasn't been yet. He doesn't want to look too closely, but they are either tiny or riduculously tall. And they have brought his future friends, people he hasn't met yet.
People who don't know him, not this him, and who came anway.
"Very good," one of the small future-Doctors says, "exactly as I remembered. Now, I think our king there looks a bit lonely. And we can't have that now, can we?"
"No, professor," a girl besides him says.
The Doctor can tell, he is going to like her. And all those other bright people.
He realizes something, looking at smile he remembers fondly and smiles he has never seen; greeting 5 brigadiers; and all the men he hasn't been.
He is never going to be alone.
The Doctor will always have friends.
2)
Title: The Answer
Rating: PG-13 or higher (it's not graphic, of sexual nature, but violence is mentioned. may contain a whammy)
Fandom: Mentalist
Lies are there to make life smoother, to make life easier. Lies wrap around rough edges to prevent harm. Lies wrap the jarring truth in soothing darkness. Lies make ugly truths beautiful.
Except, when the truth isn't ugly. Then, lies are made to hurt. They cut like knives, crawl under your skin and chill you to the bone. They laugh, they sneer, they smirk. They are cruel and vain and cause you nothing but pain.
But then, sometimes the truth is harsher than any lie could have been. When even the cruelest lie would be a comfort, the truth all too often breaks free.
Jane has finally found Red John, has found countless moles, sleeper agents, found dozens of corpses and dozens of red smilies on the wall.
And after all this time, Red John is unremarkable. He looks bland; normal hair, normal face, normal body, normal clothes.
But his eyes - his eyes belong to a monster. That is why he wears glasses, proably.
Jane steels himself. His voice does not crack, his hand with the gun does not shake.
"Why?" he asks.
"Oh, my dear Patrick. Are you sure you want to know? Why I did what I did? Why I did what I did to your wife, your child?"
"Yes," Jane spits out.
"To play with you, of course. You were fun back in the days, but you needed.... a focus. A goal. It's no fun playing when your opponent doesn't have his heart in the game. Then, it was ...more fun. You were adorable, trying to catch me, running around with that team of yours. But adorable wasn't enough. I wanted someone who played after my rules. Who did not care who he hurt to get what he wants, who does not care about the laws of men and gods, who does what he does without petty restrictions. And you have developed beautifully. You are my masterpiece, Patrick. My nemesis. My little Sherlock. It has been fun. In the end, after I shot Teresa, it really was good. You were magnificent. You were driven, focused: all you wanted was to kill me. And here you are."
Red John laughs, and it is a thin, weak sound.
"And now, Patrick, quid pro quo. Answer me a question."
Red John pushes his glasses up his nose.
"Was it worth it?"
Jane pulls the trigger.
He doesn't answer.
He's not sure if he had told a lie or told the truth.
He doesn't know which one would have been crueler.
3)
Title: Family
Rating: G
Fandom: Doctor Who
The Doctor doesn't really do "family", not after he and Susan left Gallifrey. For a long time, it's just him and her against the universe, exploring this planet, that era and doing whatever he likes. Susan isn't family - family is his parents, family is siblings, annoying aunts and uncles, cousins twice removed and relatives he can't remember having seen in his life before. Susan is not that. Susan is everything to him.
Then, there's Ian and Barbara. Maybe, just maybe, they remind him of two cousins that were not quite that terrible.
In his head, he never calls them family though. It takes a long time before he can admit that they have passed from meddling fools to possible allies, sometimes-charming-aquaintices and eventually, friends.
They leave, but he never forgets them.
Then, there's Ben, Polly, Victoria.
He may change, but there are so many more. Jamie, Zoe, Brigadier, Benson, Jo, Yates, Sarah Jane, Harry, Adric, Romana, Tegan, Nyssa, Peri, Mel, Ace, Grace, Rose, Jack, Martha, Donna, Amy, Rory, River and oh, so many more.
And they have families, and they have kids and then those have kids.
He doesn't tell them, but he does visit. Maybe not now, not now for them anyway, but in his now, which is at any time.
He has a mug of ale with Jamie's grandson, a cup of tea with Jo's grand-grandkids, with Yates's sister, Peri's daughter and he spends an entertaining week trying to track down some of Jack's descendants. Then he intervenes and stops Jack's grandson from becoming Jack's grandfather. It gets a little bit complicated after that.
But in all his talks, he feels something. He has touched the lifes of all his friends in some way, and that has passed on. Every child tells him eventually of an old story that dad/mum/nana/uncle/auntie/cousin/great-forefeather-jack-the-handsome has told them, of a man in a blue box. For some of them, he was like a grandfather, a father, an uncle, a cousin, for some a brother and in one case, even a son.
And although he has never really applied the term "family" to them, that's what they are. His family, his everything.
4)
Title: The Biggest Conspiracy
Rating: G
Fandom: White Collar/Doctor Who
It's nothing, just Mozzie going wild. Neal swears, Mozzie had a sixth sense for someone thinking "conspiracy".
It was just a flash of blue, it was just a squad car.
It's past 3am when Mozzie bangs on the door, and barges in before Neal is even awake.
"It's real! I saw it! Around Central Station, in a corner. And everybody kept walking past it! It's like no one could see it! Neal!"
It takes another 10 seconds before Neal's brain catches up.
"Is this about your blue box again?"
"Neal! I'm serious! I got photos!"
Mozzie shoves several glossy photos in Neal's hands. They show a bit of wall, a bit of pavement and indeed, a blue box. "Police Public Call Box?" Neal asks.
"British, 60s, not used anymore."
"It's probably just a movie prop, or some kind of prank. Let it go, Mozzie." The "let me go to sleep" remains unsaid.
Neal is working on a case when Mozzie calls him. Peter gives him that look that says "I know it's Mozzie and while I care about that guy, this is a serious FBI investigation and we're going to do this by the book". Neal replies with shrugging his shoulders and steps outside.
"Mozzie, have you found the fence yet? Is it Orsini?"
"Neal. It's here. It's right here."
"The stolen egyptian ushebti?"
"The police box!"
"Moz, not that again!"
"People came out of it, I saw them. I have photos. See you tonight."
In the end, Franco Orsini is the fence and they use him to take down the smuggling ring.
And Mozzie has even more photos, of a man who looks like a sailor, a tiny girl and someone is probably her grandfather.
By now, even Neal is a bit curious. The box doesn't look too big and why would those three people cramp themselves in there?
One night, while Mozzie walks home from Neal's ....which is actually June's, he hears it. He hears a sort of wheezing, a groaning. It's a sound like he never heard before. Then blue light flashes and that is definetely not a squad car. Wind comes up and tears at his scarf and coat. And out of nothing, the blue box appears. The door creaks as it opens and out comes a man. He is quite small, not taller as Mozzie himself, with a mop of black hair, a bowtie and a ridiculously large fur coat that dwarfs him. Mozzie thinks he likes him. Then the man smiles and Mozzie is definetely sure that he likes him.
"Oh good, it's you! I have been waiting for you! It's-- oh, wait, do you go by Mozzie already? I was trying to find you, but well, my TARDIS can be a bit tricky to manage."
"TARDIS?"
"It's my ship, travels in time and space."
The man steps forward and grasps Mozzie´s hands in his.
"Are you coming?"
"Where?"
"Everywhere and anywhere, anytime, anyplace."
Mozzie grins.
Of course he is.
5)
Title: Golden Age
Rating: G
Fandom: Doctor Who
"Oh no, it's the evil Daleks! Who will save us now?"
And while the plague of the ruthless Daleks - heartless monsters encased in unforgiving metal - descends upon the people of New Metropolis, there is just one question to be heard. "Where is the Doctor?"
The brigadier risks his life by fighting his way to the Doctor's TARDIS - the Transdimensional Arsenal of Royal Destructive Invincible Sorcery.
While around him, war rages, lasers are being fired and people scream, he drags himself into the one safe haven.
"Doctor," he calls out, "Doctor!"
Where is he? Where is that dashing hero; that magnificent man; the fearless, the daunting, the courageous and brave hero, champion of New Metropolis?
And then, there is silence, just for one second. The battle seems to stand still. The universe takes a deep breath.
And like lightning, the Doctor comes! He flies, leaving behind a trail of gold. He soars through the sky like the gods themselves.
"Fear not, citizens of New Metropolis," he says, his voice inspiring hope and confidence, "I, the Doctor have returned!"
"Oh no, not him! We thought you trapped in the wasteland of Mediocrity. How did you manage to escape?" ask the Daleks, suddenly fearful.
"I'll explain later," the Doctor says with a grin full of blendingly white teeth. The sun shines on his golden locks. "Now, Daleks, be gone!"
He swoops from the sky, like an avenging angel, his wondersome powers turning the Daleks into dust and rust as he commands the force of time itself.
The battle is won and the Doctor lands. His cape, a beautiful mix of all colors and patterns continues to ripple, moved by an invisible breeze.
"Thank you, Doctor," the people say and cheer. The start singing while the Doctor smiles his handsome smile.
"Please, I was just doing my job."
At this point, Peri loses it and starts laughing.
"Peri!" admonished the Doctor.
"But, this is brilliant! And look, that's you on the cover."
The Doctor huffs but takes the book - flimsy excuse for literature - and turns it around.
He turns red and starts shouting, cursing the publisher, the author and the artist in equal measures and increasingly long and colorful insults.
The man on the cover has blond locks, a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger and he wears red underwear over yellow-striped tights.
And his cape looks like the Doctor's coat, just with a ridiculous collar.
The Doctor's irritation makes Peri laugh even more, which irritates the Doctor even more.
Eventually, they decide to pay the creators of this "Tales of Time"-comic a visit.
6)
Title: Smiles
Rating: G
Fandom: Mentalist
This time it's not a baseball, but rather a basketball that hits the side of Jane's head. He has time to grin at Lisbon, tell her not to worry, he'll shrug it off, before his eyes roll back and he collapses.
Cho suggests to leave him there in the pile of leaves since he seemed to enjoy it last time, but Lisbon says no.
They'll get Jane to a hospital, just to be sure.
They wait in the hallway, but they're not too worried. Lisbon talks on the phone to her boss and explains that their lead was wrong: the murderer was right-handed and the suspect - the man who threw the ball in the first place - was left-handed.
Rigsby and van Pelt check in, they also didn't find the killer.
Lisbon is about to tell Cho to pursue their next lead when a nurse comes up to them and announces that Mr Jane is awake now.
And indeed he is, sitting up from the hospital bed, hair rumpled, suit full of wrinkles and a smile.
It's a weird smile. Lisbon has seen dozens of Jane-smiles: she knows smirking-because-I-have-a-plan, I'm-laughing-at-you, oh-hey-tea and even the sad little smile that he gets sometimes when he's thinking about his family.
She knows his phony smiles, his predatory smiles, the baiting smiles, the too-innocent smiles, the grins, the smirks and even the grimace that doesn't even pretend to be a smile anymore and is just a lot of teeth and cold eyes.
This one is different.
It's open, unguarded, and happy. It's a bit like those smiles when he's on the beach, underneath the warm sun, with toes curling in the sand and the breeze in his hair.
But totally different all the same.
The smile is not Jane's. But it's on his face.
He turns and looks at her.
There is nothing in his eyes, no twinkle, no glow, not even a hint of hey-Lisbon.
"Hi there," he says.
He even sounds different. Not really, not that anyone would notice, but Lisbon does.
Somehow, that's not Jane.
"Don't mind me asking, but who are you?"
She can't speak for a second.
"And for that matter, who am I?"
That man on the bed isn't Patrick Jane, con-man turned consultant. He is not the man on a crusade against Red John. He is not a widower. He hasn't lost his child.
She sees what Jane, what Patrick could have been.
And that breaks her heart.
7)
Title: Don't lick it!
Rating: G
Fandom: Doctor Who
"I told you *not* to touch it! And you did! Look at the mess you made! Oi, alien boy, I'm talking to you."
The Doctor stared at Donna. Or rather, what looked very much like Donna stared at what looked a lot like the Doctor.
The words were purely Donna's but the voice was not. It was masculine and got all-squeaky on certain words.
"I had no idea of knowing it was capable of spontaneous inter-corporeal exchange."
"English, please."
"Donna, I didn't know it was a body-swapping machine."
"I believe that you didn't know, but it was still a strange, alien machine with blinking...things and evil levers."
"I didn't pull the levers!"
"You licked it, that was worse! You're lucky it didn't give you an electric shock and killed you on the spot!"
"Well..."
"Well what?!"
Not that the Doctor would admit it now - he had no idea his own face could look so menacing. No wonder that he was a feared being all around the cosmos - but the idea of the machine killing him didn't sound so bad now. At least that would have made him regnerate into a Timelord body, with two hearts, synapses firing and time everywhere.
No offense to Donna, but her body was all squishy, too hot, to constricted and he could already feel his mind starting to burn her up. No human brain could hold a Timelord consciousness - it was like installing the newest Windolinux 5000S on a punch card computer. Again, no offense to Donna. His mind was like an inferno and every second he remained in her body, she was being consumed.
"We have to reverse it," he said, "quickly!"
He reached into his pocket for his sonic screwdriver, but all he found was a half-eaten chocolate bar.
"Looking for something?" Donna said and held his scredriver in her hand. Well, it was actually his hand.
"Right, I'll just-" years of habit made him reach into an inside pocket that wasn't there.
His glasses. Brainy specs.
They sat on his nose, alright. His real nose.
Donna grinned.
Did he always look that smug?
At least it did make him look smarter.
He grabbed the screwdriver, aimed it at the device - at second thought, he really shouldn't have licked that - and activated it.
The, the machine went *ding* and the Doctor looked again down on his own hands.
His hands, his feet, his shoes, his coat.
He touched his face.
His nose, his sideburns, his specs.
And thank Rassilon for that.
He would have made a terrible Donna Noble.