Crossover Fic: Broken Pieces (3/3) Doctor Who/Firefly
Title: Broken Pieces (3/3)
Fandoms: Firefly/Doctor Who
Characters/Pairings: Mal/Inara, Kaylee, Zoe, Ten, Nine, Jack, Doctor/Rose
Summary: Mal helps Inara out with some crime. The Doctor risks a paradox. How two timelines meet and don’t cross.
Spoilers: DW through to VotD. No S4 spoilers. Firefly post-BDM.
Rating: PG13
Word Count: 2, 528
A/Ns: At the end. Because I’m chatty. :D
Thanks to intrikate88 and hjea for the beta. Any mistakes are probably still mine.
( Chapter 1) ( Chapter 2)
It doesn’t take them long to walk back to Serenity. They pass a blue box sitting by the side of the road, just on the outskirts of town, and Inara feels a prickle of recognition on the back of her neck. Mal’s hand on her back hurries her forward and she ignores the strange sensation. She knows Mal is eager to leave the planet as soon as possible.
When they reach Serenity, Mal disappears onto the bridge and she hears him yelling irritably into the comms a moment later.
Inara takes her bag to the galley. There, she dumps her items out on the table and then stands back to study them. Three scarves. Ten pieces of china. Seven bracelets. Fifteen pairs of earrings. Twenty pearl necklaces. All together, she’s amassed a small fortune.
“You know, wouldn’t’a thought the galley would be the best place for this sort of thing.”
Inara gives a tight smile to acknowledge Mal’s presence, but she doesn’t look up. Instead, she folds her arms over her chest and gives a small shrug. “I needed someplace where I could set them out.” Her eyes travel over the expansive collection. “I’d forgotten I had some of these.”
Mal comes to stand next to her. His shoulder bumps hers, one arm leaning against her elbow. She swallows but says nothing.
“Could try again,” Mal says. “Could try’n sell ‘em to someone else.”
Inara avoids answering the question. “Did you get in touch with the rest of the crew?”
“They’re on their way.” Mal pauses and then says, “You could keep your things, Inara. We ain’t never going to live like those Alliance folk, but we get by. So long as Serenity’s still flying, it ain’t a bad life.”
“I never implied that it wasn’t.” She manages a small smile. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
He blinks, and then looks smug. “Could be that we need somebody a mite more diplomatic. To keep up appearances for public relations and all.”
She raises her eyebrows, amused. “Mal, are you offering me a job?”
“I, uh… I suppose I am.” The smugness fades and he turns serious. “Hell, Inara. Name it. Whatever it is you need to stay.”
His mouth hangs open like he wants to say more, but he abruptly pulls away, wandering over to the table like he’s suddenly entranced by her things.
Inara fingers one of the scarves, brushing the material over the inside of her palm. She doesn’t know what to say.
Mal startles her. “Might be that you’ll need ‘em one day.”
“It’s hard to plan for the future on a ship like this, isn’t it?”
“Is at that,” Mal says. “If it ain’t the Alliance, it’s Reevers or-hell, something worse. I reckon it’d be good for you to have a fall back.”
She hears his unspoken words. In case you decide you want to leave again one day. Instead of responding, she takes a deep breath and say, “Do you think she’s gone?”
He squints at her in confusion. “Who what now?”
“That woman,” Inara says. “In town. The one the Doctor said was-”
“Yeah, yeah,” Mal says, waving a hand like the mere memory is something unpleasant. “It’s not our place, Inara. It’s likely that market will be crawling with Alliance feds in a few hours time. I aim to get us off this rock before then.”
Then he grabs a comm out of his right pocket and says, “Zoe, any chance you could tell me you’ve found Jayne yet? We should’a left this planet more’n an hour ago.”
“No sign of him yet, sir. About to try looking inside Madam Redwood’s Slinky Kitty Parlour.”
“You’re a brave woman, Zoe.”
“I appreciate that, sir.”
Mal shuts off the comm and nods to himself. “All according to plan. Nothing to be worrying over.”
The words barely leave his mouth when the floor beneath them violently convulses.
“What in the-” Mal begins, the sudden shock throwing him off his feet. Inara manages to grab the end of a counter and hold on. Inside the cupboards, she can hear the dishes smashing and breaking against the wood paneling.
Her things slide off the table, crashing to the floor on top of Mal. He sputters when a scarf gets caught in his mouth. He yanks it out, grabbing onto one of the table’s legs as the ship continues to buck and rock with the force of the earth.
Inara winces when the jewel earrings scatter across the floor, some shattering under the table, others skidding under the oven. The pearl necklace breaks into pieces and hits the floor with soft pops.
Mal manages to hook his arm around one of the table’s legs, and grabs at the comm with his other hand. “Kaylee?”
The comm crackles to life. “Cap’n?”
“Who the hell did we piss off this time around?”
“It’s the whole planet,” Kaylee responds, voice snapping over the comm. “Whole town’s a mess. Is Serenity doing okay?”
“She’s holding up,” Mal says. “You get back here soon as you can, dong ma?”
“I’m tryin’ but it ain’t easy going. What about the others? Are Simon and River...?”
Mal glances at Inara, and she shrugs helplessly.
After a second, he replies. “They’re on their way, Kaylee. You worry about your own self.”
“Cap’n?” she sounds worried. And then, “Hang on a second, will ya’?”
“Kaylee? Is there somebody there with you?”
“Just… just one second, Cap’n.”
“Kaylee,” Mal says again, voice rising. “What in the gorram hell is going on over there?”
Inara rolls her eyes. “That’s the solution,” she says. “Yell as loudly as you can.”
Mal ignores her and glares at the comm as if that might answer all his questions.
Howling wind crackles through the comm, punctuated by the roaring of tearing earth and terrified screaming.
Then they hear a familiar voice. “Now, don’t be alarmed. This is all fairly routine, actually. An earthquake is just the universe’s way of sealing a wound. No fuss, no muss. Just cut off the tainted part and everything should sort itself out. Brilliant, really, in a ruthless sort of way. Are you alright?”
Mal visibly twitches. “Is that…?”
Before Inara can answer, Kaylee responds to the voice. “I think so. Doctor, what do you mean? What’s the universe got to do with an earthquake?”
“Man is crazy. That’s why,” Mal mutters before dragging the comm back to his mouth. “Kaylee?!”
“Be right there, Cap’n!” Kaylee replies.
There is more hissing and crackling, and then the Doctor says, “The time differential has shorted out. Same person, same time-it’s like… like a chair folding in on itself. If the earthquake doesn’t take care of it now, the entire universe will collapse.”
Kaylee’s voice sounds more alarmed. “Can you do something?”
“Well, It’s sort of… my fault to begin with.” He sounds faintly embarrassed. “Anyway, I’ll be off. Everything should snap itself back into place.” He pauses. “I hope.”
Inara forgets that they’re too far away to hear her. “You hope?” she screeches. “Wuo duh ma.”
Mal glances at her in amusement, but then shakes his head and focuses on their predicament. “Kaylee, you tell the Doctor that I’m gonna need a lot more than a pile of fay hwa.”
“It’s not nonsense!” says the Doctor’s irritated voice. “You 26th century humans. Most close-minded lot I’ve ever come across.”
Another ripple hits the ship, and Inara hangs onto the counter again, knuckles beginning to turn white. Mal’s head bangs the top of the table and he lets out an angry curse. He loses his grip on the comm and it slides across the floor before banging against the stove.
Inara can just barely hear the Doctor’s voice crackling out from it. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
She feels a strange tightening in her chest, but the earthquake comes to a sudden stop. She jerks and lets go of the counter, falling to the floor in a heap.
“Inara-”
She looks up. Mal is crawling towards her, bleeding from a cut over one eyebrow. She moves forward to meet him, keeping close to the floor in case the earthquake starts up again.
He reaches our to grasp her shoulder. “You okay?”
“Fine,” she says, sitting up. She manages a smile. “You look… banged up.”
“Part of the rugged charm,” he says and, before she can react, his arm slides across her shoulders and he hugs her. She hugs him back, letting her eyes drift shut. For just a second.
The comm snaps open. “Cap’n?”
With an apologetic smile, Mal releases her and scrambles on hands and knees for the comm. “Fine, Kaylee. We’re both fine. You?”
“Yeah,” she says. “I reckon the Doctor fixed things.”
“I’ll bet he did,” Inara mutters.
Mal nods in agreement. “You can’t just… stop an earthquake, Kaylee. That’s not the way of the ‘verse.”
That’s not what Inara meant. She thinks about what the Doctor said-my fault to begin with. That was the voice of someone lucid; someone who knew exactly what they were talking about. Someone, Inara hopes, is now far, far from where they are.
Kaylee’s voice draws her attention. “Everyone’s okay, Cap’n. We’re coming.”
“Well,” Mal says. “Shiny. Let’s get the hell off this rock.”
He shuts the comm off and glances at the destruction around them. “Yep,” he says cheerfully. “No way we’re going to try and sell those things of yours a second time around.”
Inara emits a small snort (a ladylike snort, she tells herself, even if she’s not sure why it matters after being tossed about like a ball in an arcade machine). “Probably wise.”
She struggles to her feet, using the handles on the cabinet to pull herself up. She idly tries to smooth out her hair and then gives up. “How soon can we leave this planet?”
She hears the cargo bay doors open with a protesting whine.
Mal picks up the comm. “Grab onto something, people. We’re leaving this planet five minutes ago.” He grins at Inara. “How about that?”
She tells herself she isn’t blushing.
*******************************************
When the earthquake finally recedes, the town is strewn with rubble. Rose pushes herself to her knees, hands grimy with sand, pebbles and-of all things-orange peel. She gingerly rises to her feet.
The Doctor pops up next to her. “Everyone alright? Rose?”
“Yeah,” she says, brushing off her pants.
“Jack?”
“Yeah, yeah, fine. Doubt we’ll get a refund on the ice cream, though.” He kicks at a pile of pink slush in the sand.
The Doctor doesn’t smile. He stares off into the sunset, mouth pushed into a grim line. “He’s gone. Good.”
“Who’s gone?” Rose says. “Doctor, what was that?”
“Nothing,” says the Doctor. He turns to face her, forcing a smile. “Earthquake. Normal around these parts.”
Jack snorts. “That wasn’t any ordinary earthquake, Doctor. Want to tell us what's really going on?”
The Doctor looks uncomfortable. Rose can tell he doesn’t want to answer. Finally, he shifts his gaze and says, “Look at that.”
The ground rumbles under her feet and Rose jerks, expecting another quake. Instead, a ship gracefully takes off and glides into the atmosphere before disappearing.
“Firefly class,” says the Doctor. “Some of the best ships ever made.”
“Until the Time Agency,” Jack says.
The Doctor gives a derisive snort. “Built like paper airplanes, those things are.”
Rose rolls her eyes at their gentle bickering. It’s much cooler in the fading sunlight and she shivers, instinctively moving closer to the Doctor. She looks longingly over at the TARDIS, sitting just outside of town.
“Come on,” says the Doctor, “we’ve got work to do.”
He sets off back towards the market and Rose and Jack rush to catch up to him.
“What d’you mean?” Rose says. “Does this have something to do with that man you were speaking to?”
The Doctor stops and Rose almost runs into him. “Did you see him?”
“What?” Rose says.
“Rose, I’m serious,” says the Doctor and she swallows. “This is important. Did you get a good look at him?”
Rose glances at Jack, but he looks just as baffled. “I suppose not. That’s not my future descendant or anything, is it?”
The Doctor looks momentarily appalled, but then he schools his face into a neutral frown. “Something like that. It doesn’t matter.”
Except his expression tells her it does matter. She wonders if it’s something to do with the Time War again. She remembers how he looked facing down that Dalek in Utah and the thought makes her mouth go dry.
“Rose.” The Doctor closes the distance between them and holds out a hand. She grasps it, letting their fingers entwine together. “Everything is fine. That earthquake was nothing. I promise.”
She looks down at their clasped hands and then back at his face. Sometimes, like now, she doesn’t know what to say to him. The Doctor’s fingers are warm and strong and Jack’s looking away and all these things twist and turn inside of her. She thinks of Mum, back home, drinking tea and flipping through the latest celebrity gossip magazine, or Mickey, sitting by the window and waiting for her to come back. It feels like somebody else’s life.
The Doctor tugs her closer and into what might be a half-hug. She’s not really sure, but she feels his leather jacket against her cheek and so she closes her eyes and breathes in. No, not about the Time War. It’s got something to do with her. And it scares him.
He touches her cheek with his free hand, palm barely making contact with her skin and then pulls away. The smile is gone, but so is the fear. “Listen, we’ve got to go back into town. Do you remember that woman from earlier?”
“Yeah,” Jack says. He winces. “You’re about to tell me we have to go back, aren’t you? Great.”
“I have a reliable source,” the Doctor says. “He says it’s a fake operation. That technology doesn’t belong to her. And it’s up to us to stop it.”
“It’s alien?” Rose guesses.
“Worse than that,” the Doctor says. “It gets in people’s heads. Controls them.”
Jack nods, catching on. He looks grim. “Slavery.”
Rose gasps and the Doctor sends Jack an approving look. “The vendor is likely only a pawn. She might not even know the full extent of it. And hiding it out on the Core like this, it flies right under the radar of the Alliance.”
The three of them lock eyes and Rose tries to bite down on a grin. “And just think, we could be on the beaches of Santa Pesos right now.”
“Nudes don’t have anything to hide,” the Doctor says. “Where’s the fun in that?”
“Actually,” Jack says. “The Time Agency taught me how to conceal a weapon in any circumstance.”
The Doctor rolls his eyes, but Rose grins and says, “Okay, what do we do?”
“We stop it,” says the Doctor seriously. “And then we go for waffles.”
Jack and Rose blink at him.
“What?” he says, digging out the sonic screwdriver. “I really like waffles.”
********
A/N: I thank anyone who made it through all three chapters! This fic was a bit of a departure for me. (Notes to self: goldy_dollar shalt not write crossover fic and multi-era fic at the same time. Nor shall she write Nine, Nine/Rose, or Jack. That way leads to madness and Tenth Doctor withdrawal pangs.)
The idea for this fic was premised on the idea of two separate storylines intersecting, but not really crossing. It seemed fairly true to life to me, that most of the time people are too wrapped up in their own problems to really notice who they interact with every day and might be influencing without being aware of it. (Or, well, as normal as one can get with criminals on the run and aliens and time travel and such.) I wanted to try a crossover where the two stories in each universe were pretty distinct but kept intersecting and meeting. I probably succeeded with varying degrees of success, but I do like how parts of it came out. Even if it took me a few months to get there. *pats self*
Also! locker_monster made me the most perfect graphic ever to match with this fic. Isn't it pretty?!
Fandoms: Firefly/Doctor Who
Characters/Pairings: Mal/Inara, Kaylee, Zoe, Ten, Nine, Jack, Doctor/Rose
Summary: Mal helps Inara out with some crime. The Doctor risks a paradox. How two timelines meet and don’t cross.
Spoilers: DW through to VotD. No S4 spoilers. Firefly post-BDM.
Rating: PG13
Word Count: 2, 528
A/Ns: At the end. Because I’m chatty. :D
Thanks to intrikate88 and hjea for the beta. Any mistakes are probably still mine.
( Chapter 1) ( Chapter 2)
It doesn’t take them long to walk back to Serenity. They pass a blue box sitting by the side of the road, just on the outskirts of town, and Inara feels a prickle of recognition on the back of her neck. Mal’s hand on her back hurries her forward and she ignores the strange sensation. She knows Mal is eager to leave the planet as soon as possible.
When they reach Serenity, Mal disappears onto the bridge and she hears him yelling irritably into the comms a moment later.
Inara takes her bag to the galley. There, she dumps her items out on the table and then stands back to study them. Three scarves. Ten pieces of china. Seven bracelets. Fifteen pairs of earrings. Twenty pearl necklaces. All together, she’s amassed a small fortune.
“You know, wouldn’t’a thought the galley would be the best place for this sort of thing.”
Inara gives a tight smile to acknowledge Mal’s presence, but she doesn’t look up. Instead, she folds her arms over her chest and gives a small shrug. “I needed someplace where I could set them out.” Her eyes travel over the expansive collection. “I’d forgotten I had some of these.”
Mal comes to stand next to her. His shoulder bumps hers, one arm leaning against her elbow. She swallows but says nothing.
“Could try again,” Mal says. “Could try’n sell ‘em to someone else.”
Inara avoids answering the question. “Did you get in touch with the rest of the crew?”
“They’re on their way.” Mal pauses and then says, “You could keep your things, Inara. We ain’t never going to live like those Alliance folk, but we get by. So long as Serenity’s still flying, it ain’t a bad life.”
“I never implied that it wasn’t.” She manages a small smile. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
He blinks, and then looks smug. “Could be that we need somebody a mite more diplomatic. To keep up appearances for public relations and all.”
She raises her eyebrows, amused. “Mal, are you offering me a job?”
“I, uh… I suppose I am.” The smugness fades and he turns serious. “Hell, Inara. Name it. Whatever it is you need to stay.”
His mouth hangs open like he wants to say more, but he abruptly pulls away, wandering over to the table like he’s suddenly entranced by her things.
Inara fingers one of the scarves, brushing the material over the inside of her palm. She doesn’t know what to say.
Mal startles her. “Might be that you’ll need ‘em one day.”
“It’s hard to plan for the future on a ship like this, isn’t it?”
“Is at that,” Mal says. “If it ain’t the Alliance, it’s Reevers or-hell, something worse. I reckon it’d be good for you to have a fall back.”
She hears his unspoken words. In case you decide you want to leave again one day. Instead of responding, she takes a deep breath and say, “Do you think she’s gone?”
He squints at her in confusion. “Who what now?”
“That woman,” Inara says. “In town. The one the Doctor said was-”
“Yeah, yeah,” Mal says, waving a hand like the mere memory is something unpleasant. “It’s not our place, Inara. It’s likely that market will be crawling with Alliance feds in a few hours time. I aim to get us off this rock before then.”
Then he grabs a comm out of his right pocket and says, “Zoe, any chance you could tell me you’ve found Jayne yet? We should’a left this planet more’n an hour ago.”
“No sign of him yet, sir. About to try looking inside Madam Redwood’s Slinky Kitty Parlour.”
“You’re a brave woman, Zoe.”
“I appreciate that, sir.”
Mal shuts off the comm and nods to himself. “All according to plan. Nothing to be worrying over.”
The words barely leave his mouth when the floor beneath them violently convulses.
“What in the-” Mal begins, the sudden shock throwing him off his feet. Inara manages to grab the end of a counter and hold on. Inside the cupboards, she can hear the dishes smashing and breaking against the wood paneling.
Her things slide off the table, crashing to the floor on top of Mal. He sputters when a scarf gets caught in his mouth. He yanks it out, grabbing onto one of the table’s legs as the ship continues to buck and rock with the force of the earth.
Inara winces when the jewel earrings scatter across the floor, some shattering under the table, others skidding under the oven. The pearl necklace breaks into pieces and hits the floor with soft pops.
Mal manages to hook his arm around one of the table’s legs, and grabs at the comm with his other hand. “Kaylee?”
The comm crackles to life. “Cap’n?”
“Who the hell did we piss off this time around?”
“It’s the whole planet,” Kaylee responds, voice snapping over the comm. “Whole town’s a mess. Is Serenity doing okay?”
“She’s holding up,” Mal says. “You get back here soon as you can, dong ma?”
“I’m tryin’ but it ain’t easy going. What about the others? Are Simon and River...?”
Mal glances at Inara, and she shrugs helplessly.
After a second, he replies. “They’re on their way, Kaylee. You worry about your own self.”
“Cap’n?” she sounds worried. And then, “Hang on a second, will ya’?”
“Kaylee? Is there somebody there with you?”
“Just… just one second, Cap’n.”
“Kaylee,” Mal says again, voice rising. “What in the gorram hell is going on over there?”
Inara rolls her eyes. “That’s the solution,” she says. “Yell as loudly as you can.”
Mal ignores her and glares at the comm as if that might answer all his questions.
Howling wind crackles through the comm, punctuated by the roaring of tearing earth and terrified screaming.
Then they hear a familiar voice. “Now, don’t be alarmed. This is all fairly routine, actually. An earthquake is just the universe’s way of sealing a wound. No fuss, no muss. Just cut off the tainted part and everything should sort itself out. Brilliant, really, in a ruthless sort of way. Are you alright?”
Mal visibly twitches. “Is that…?”
Before Inara can answer, Kaylee responds to the voice. “I think so. Doctor, what do you mean? What’s the universe got to do with an earthquake?”
“Man is crazy. That’s why,” Mal mutters before dragging the comm back to his mouth. “Kaylee?!”
“Be right there, Cap’n!” Kaylee replies.
There is more hissing and crackling, and then the Doctor says, “The time differential has shorted out. Same person, same time-it’s like… like a chair folding in on itself. If the earthquake doesn’t take care of it now, the entire universe will collapse.”
Kaylee’s voice sounds more alarmed. “Can you do something?”
“Well, It’s sort of… my fault to begin with.” He sounds faintly embarrassed. “Anyway, I’ll be off. Everything should snap itself back into place.” He pauses. “I hope.”
Inara forgets that they’re too far away to hear her. “You hope?” she screeches. “Wuo duh ma.”
Mal glances at her in amusement, but then shakes his head and focuses on their predicament. “Kaylee, you tell the Doctor that I’m gonna need a lot more than a pile of fay hwa.”
“It’s not nonsense!” says the Doctor’s irritated voice. “You 26th century humans. Most close-minded lot I’ve ever come across.”
Another ripple hits the ship, and Inara hangs onto the counter again, knuckles beginning to turn white. Mal’s head bangs the top of the table and he lets out an angry curse. He loses his grip on the comm and it slides across the floor before banging against the stove.
Inara can just barely hear the Doctor’s voice crackling out from it. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
She feels a strange tightening in her chest, but the earthquake comes to a sudden stop. She jerks and lets go of the counter, falling to the floor in a heap.
“Inara-”
She looks up. Mal is crawling towards her, bleeding from a cut over one eyebrow. She moves forward to meet him, keeping close to the floor in case the earthquake starts up again.
He reaches our to grasp her shoulder. “You okay?”
“Fine,” she says, sitting up. She manages a smile. “You look… banged up.”
“Part of the rugged charm,” he says and, before she can react, his arm slides across her shoulders and he hugs her. She hugs him back, letting her eyes drift shut. For just a second.
The comm snaps open. “Cap’n?”
With an apologetic smile, Mal releases her and scrambles on hands and knees for the comm. “Fine, Kaylee. We’re both fine. You?”
“Yeah,” she says. “I reckon the Doctor fixed things.”
“I’ll bet he did,” Inara mutters.
Mal nods in agreement. “You can’t just… stop an earthquake, Kaylee. That’s not the way of the ‘verse.”
That’s not what Inara meant. She thinks about what the Doctor said-my fault to begin with. That was the voice of someone lucid; someone who knew exactly what they were talking about. Someone, Inara hopes, is now far, far from where they are.
Kaylee’s voice draws her attention. “Everyone’s okay, Cap’n. We’re coming.”
“Well,” Mal says. “Shiny. Let’s get the hell off this rock.”
He shuts the comm off and glances at the destruction around them. “Yep,” he says cheerfully. “No way we’re going to try and sell those things of yours a second time around.”
Inara emits a small snort (a ladylike snort, she tells herself, even if she’s not sure why it matters after being tossed about like a ball in an arcade machine). “Probably wise.”
She struggles to her feet, using the handles on the cabinet to pull herself up. She idly tries to smooth out her hair and then gives up. “How soon can we leave this planet?”
She hears the cargo bay doors open with a protesting whine.
Mal picks up the comm. “Grab onto something, people. We’re leaving this planet five minutes ago.” He grins at Inara. “How about that?”
She tells herself she isn’t blushing.
*******************************************
When the earthquake finally recedes, the town is strewn with rubble. Rose pushes herself to her knees, hands grimy with sand, pebbles and-of all things-orange peel. She gingerly rises to her feet.
The Doctor pops up next to her. “Everyone alright? Rose?”
“Yeah,” she says, brushing off her pants.
“Jack?”
“Yeah, yeah, fine. Doubt we’ll get a refund on the ice cream, though.” He kicks at a pile of pink slush in the sand.
The Doctor doesn’t smile. He stares off into the sunset, mouth pushed into a grim line. “He’s gone. Good.”
“Who’s gone?” Rose says. “Doctor, what was that?”
“Nothing,” says the Doctor. He turns to face her, forcing a smile. “Earthquake. Normal around these parts.”
Jack snorts. “That wasn’t any ordinary earthquake, Doctor. Want to tell us what's really going on?”
The Doctor looks uncomfortable. Rose can tell he doesn’t want to answer. Finally, he shifts his gaze and says, “Look at that.”
The ground rumbles under her feet and Rose jerks, expecting another quake. Instead, a ship gracefully takes off and glides into the atmosphere before disappearing.
“Firefly class,” says the Doctor. “Some of the best ships ever made.”
“Until the Time Agency,” Jack says.
The Doctor gives a derisive snort. “Built like paper airplanes, those things are.”
Rose rolls her eyes at their gentle bickering. It’s much cooler in the fading sunlight and she shivers, instinctively moving closer to the Doctor. She looks longingly over at the TARDIS, sitting just outside of town.
“Come on,” says the Doctor, “we’ve got work to do.”
He sets off back towards the market and Rose and Jack rush to catch up to him.
“What d’you mean?” Rose says. “Does this have something to do with that man you were speaking to?”
The Doctor stops and Rose almost runs into him. “Did you see him?”
“What?” Rose says.
“Rose, I’m serious,” says the Doctor and she swallows. “This is important. Did you get a good look at him?”
Rose glances at Jack, but he looks just as baffled. “I suppose not. That’s not my future descendant or anything, is it?”
The Doctor looks momentarily appalled, but then he schools his face into a neutral frown. “Something like that. It doesn’t matter.”
Except his expression tells her it does matter. She wonders if it’s something to do with the Time War again. She remembers how he looked facing down that Dalek in Utah and the thought makes her mouth go dry.
“Rose.” The Doctor closes the distance between them and holds out a hand. She grasps it, letting their fingers entwine together. “Everything is fine. That earthquake was nothing. I promise.”
She looks down at their clasped hands and then back at his face. Sometimes, like now, she doesn’t know what to say to him. The Doctor’s fingers are warm and strong and Jack’s looking away and all these things twist and turn inside of her. She thinks of Mum, back home, drinking tea and flipping through the latest celebrity gossip magazine, or Mickey, sitting by the window and waiting for her to come back. It feels like somebody else’s life.
The Doctor tugs her closer and into what might be a half-hug. She’s not really sure, but she feels his leather jacket against her cheek and so she closes her eyes and breathes in. No, not about the Time War. It’s got something to do with her. And it scares him.
He touches her cheek with his free hand, palm barely making contact with her skin and then pulls away. The smile is gone, but so is the fear. “Listen, we’ve got to go back into town. Do you remember that woman from earlier?”
“Yeah,” Jack says. He winces. “You’re about to tell me we have to go back, aren’t you? Great.”
“I have a reliable source,” the Doctor says. “He says it’s a fake operation. That technology doesn’t belong to her. And it’s up to us to stop it.”
“It’s alien?” Rose guesses.
“Worse than that,” the Doctor says. “It gets in people’s heads. Controls them.”
Jack nods, catching on. He looks grim. “Slavery.”
Rose gasps and the Doctor sends Jack an approving look. “The vendor is likely only a pawn. She might not even know the full extent of it. And hiding it out on the Core like this, it flies right under the radar of the Alliance.”
The three of them lock eyes and Rose tries to bite down on a grin. “And just think, we could be on the beaches of Santa Pesos right now.”
“Nudes don’t have anything to hide,” the Doctor says. “Where’s the fun in that?”
“Actually,” Jack says. “The Time Agency taught me how to conceal a weapon in any circumstance.”
The Doctor rolls his eyes, but Rose grins and says, “Okay, what do we do?”
“We stop it,” says the Doctor seriously. “And then we go for waffles.”
Jack and Rose blink at him.
“What?” he says, digging out the sonic screwdriver. “I really like waffles.”
********
A/N: I thank anyone who made it through all three chapters! This fic was a bit of a departure for me. (Notes to self: goldy_dollar shalt not write crossover fic and multi-era fic at the same time. Nor shall she write Nine, Nine/Rose, or Jack. That way leads to madness and Tenth Doctor withdrawal pangs.)
The idea for this fic was premised on the idea of two separate storylines intersecting, but not really crossing. It seemed fairly true to life to me, that most of the time people are too wrapped up in their own problems to really notice who they interact with every day and might be influencing without being aware of it. (Or, well, as normal as one can get with criminals on the run and aliens and time travel and such.) I wanted to try a crossover where the two stories in each universe were pretty distinct but kept intersecting and meeting. I probably succeeded with varying degrees of success, but I do like how parts of it came out. Even if it took me a few months to get there. *pats self*
Also! locker_monster made me the most perfect graphic ever to match with this fic. Isn't it pretty?!