HP/DW: Clarke's First Law (12/?)
Summary:Rose is stuck in Fred's World and the Doctor knows that getting her back is impossible. Then again, doesn't the universe just love to prove him wrong? Meanwhile, trouble is brewing for Rose on the other side of the wall. Sequel t Clarke's Third Law.
Disclaimer:I don't own Doctor Who or Harry Potter. I just decided that it would be a good idea to combine them (and I wasn't the first to come up wit tha idea, either).
Note Sequel to Clarke's Third Law
Chapter 11: Dinosaurs in London
The Doctor, Jack, Al, and Hugo managed to make it to the control room, gasping for air. The Doctor switched on the controls and sent them into the Vortex, before slumping up against the console. Al and Hugo were each perched against a coral strut. Jack had given up all pretenses of energy and flopped lazily in the Captain’s Chair.
“Well,” the Doctor said, able to regain his breath much more quickly thanks to his respiratory bypass system, “That didn’t go as planned.”
The three glares he got made him realize that his comment was truly unwarranted
In truth, it all would’ve worked out had it not been for the Doctor’s impressive ability to put his foot in his mouth. He had inadvertently insulted some important deity or other, leading the foursome to high-tale it to the TARDIS as fast as they could, all the while being chased by a rather angry group of Native Americans
The Doctor, though, was nothing if not cheerfully optimistic (some, like Hugo, would say ‘daft’)
“Ready to try again?”
“As long as I don’t have to move for a good, long while,” Jack muttered, entirely unwilling to move from the Captain’s Chair.
“Nah,” the Doctor said easily, “The TARDIS and I will do all the work: pull some buttons, push some levers- Wait, no. Sorry. Strike that. Reverse it. ‘Push some levers, pull some buttons.’ Better.”
Albus just watched fearfully. This was their driver? “Sometimes I swear you don’t know how to drive this thing.”
“She,” the Doctor stressed. “The TARDIS is a she. And I know how to pilot her, even if I didn’t pass my exams-”
“Oh, bloody-”
“-she just doesn’t always listen, is all,” the Doctor continued, oblivious to the fact that all blood seemed to have left Albus’s face. Instead, he focused on the flickering of lights in the console room and the feeling of a vague irritation pressed into his mind. He tutted to his ship, “Hey, hey, hey. Easy. No need getting like that with me. It’s true. You never take me where I want to go. You know you don’t.”
The Doctor paused for a moment and Jack eyed him curiously. The previous regeneration of the Doctor had to talked to the TARDIS, too, but perhaps not as openly. Jack wasn’t too surprised, though, as this regeneration was much chattier than the previous one.
“Well, yes, you do always take me where I need to go I suppose,” the Doctor admitted. “But this time, I need you to take me where I tell you. We need to get Rose back.”
The Doctor was suddenly hit full force an overwhelming warmth and with an image of Rose, one that both haunted his dreams and made his hearts sing. It was her, that night on the Game Station, bathed in the golden light of the TARDIS with all of Time to command. The Doctor had known that since that night, the TARDIS had felt very strong affection for Rose (she had always been fond of her, the Doctor supposed), but hadn’t realized how strongly the TARDIS felt until now.
“That’s my girl,” the Doctor crooned, dialing several buttons with a pronounced flourish, sending them off.
The TARDIS, though, may have agreed to get the Doctor to Rose, but she was apparently still a but testy about the Doctor’s attitude. In retaliation, she made her landing particularly rough, jolting the Doctor and his companions sharply enough that they all landed in heaps on the floor.
The TARDIS sent a mental apology to his companions, hoping they could feel it, but ignored the Doctor entirely. He had, after all, deserved it.
Oh, sure, she knew that the Doctor loved her -and she him- and her Time Lord always did the best he could to keep her happy and running smoothly (something a lesser Time Lord would not have managed half so well, considering the scarcity of the supplies), but it was different with his companions. Especially the pretty one: the pretty one was always complimentary, even though he felt so wrong now, wrong enough for her to run away, to protect her Time Lord and her heart in human form--
The TARDIS had felt particularly bad about this running off, too, especially since the pretty one was always so, very, nice to her
All four of them (Time Lord and human alike) were completely unharmed. The Doctor, sensing that the TARDIS was still a bit annoyed with him, wisely didn’t say anything. Instead, he stood up and brushed himself off, straightening his coat as he did so.
“Here we are!” He beamed. He pulled his glasses on and checked one of the monitors mounted on the console. He “hm’ed” and “oh’ed” to himself for a minute.
Hugo, losing his patience, asked, “Are we there or not?”
“It looks like,” the Doctor said distractedly. He tapped gently on the screen. “But- Hullo! What’s going on, eh, girl? You seem a bit off. All this parallel travel getting you down?”
The TARDIS rumbled something akin to shrugging her (metaphorical) shoulders
“Don’t worry! Quick pop outside, grab Rose, and we’ll be home in no time at all!” The Doctor assured, flicking the screen off. “Allons-y, then, you lot!”
The Doctor threw open the doors to the TARDIS and sauntered outside, almost vibrating with excitement. The three left inside the TARDIS heard him make a rather disappointed exclamation and all wandered outside to see what it was.
Much to their relief, it did seem as though they had landed in the right place this time. 21st century London was certainly recognizable. For a moment, then, it took them all a moment to see what it was that had made the Doctor so upset and caused the concerned frown that now marred his face. Everything seemed fine, after all. It was a pleasant evening, if a bit chilly, and there was no sign of a massive alien invasion (such as screaming, spaceships, and so on).
It was Jack who placed it. “It’s completely deserted.”
And it certainly was. Not a soul could be seen wandering the streets. The Doctor opened his mouth, perhaps to ask why, when a loud roar interrupted him. Jack turned and saw the last thing he ever expected to see in twenty-first century London - even parallel twenty-first century London.
Dinosaurs. And angry ones to boot. They were lumbering towards the group, but didn’t look as though they had seen them yet. The Doctor
seemed unconcerned.
“Oh, dinosaurs!” The Doctor chirped. “I haven’t seen those in years! Blimey! Aren’t they beautiful?”
“Those don’t happen to be vegetarian, do they, Doctor?” Jack asked, as one of the dinosaurs finally saw them.
“Nope!” The Doctor said happily. “Definitely carnivores!”
“Then how about I make a suggestion?” Jack offered. “Run!”
If the dinosaurs hadn’t noticed them before, they were noticed now with Jack’s loud proclamation. The Doctor needed no further encouragement as he and the other turned tail and ran as fast as they could.
“God, I missed this!” laughed Jack, grinning widely at the Doctor as they took a sharp left. The Doctor laughed and backed them down a small side street. Albus, spotting a bridge and hoping it would provide them with a bit of cover, pointed the others toward it. They all hunched underneath it and tried to catch their breath as quietly as they could. The dinosaurs, clearly having lost them, wandered above them, their steps rattling the infrastructure
The Doctor held his fingers to his lips, urging the others to be quiet. They needed no further encouragement.
The dinosaurs seemed to pause for a moment. The tension grew as the group waited to discovered and, inevitably, start running again. For once, however, it seemed as though the universe were on there side. The dinosaurs seemed to decide that the group was nowhere nearby and continued onward. Once the dinosaurs were a safe distance away, everybody released the breaths they had been holding.
“Well, that was new,” Al said, slumping against the wall. “Were they here the last time you visited?”
Hugo shook his head. “No. Definitely not.”
“So what do we do now?” Jack asked the Doctor. The Doctor frowned. He had thought (read hoped despite all evidence to the contrary) that getting Rose back would be relatively simple once he’d figured out how to reach Fred’s world. As he had no been proven horribly wrong, the first thing he had to do was get somewhere safe.
He told Jack so and added, “If we can make it back to the TARDIS-”
“You mean back where the dinosaurs came from?” Albus asked. “Right. I’m not sure that’s the best idea you’ve ever had.”
“Then where do you think we should go?” The Doctor pouted
“Diagon Alley,” Albus said immediately. “You said that even in this world it was for wizards only, right? It’d be safe and we can apparate there.”
It was rather fortunate that apparation worked both between parallel worlds and through time.
“Works for me,” Hugo agreed. Jack couldn’t help but make a face, thinking back to the first and only time he had ever apparated. It had been when he first met the Doctor and Rose, during World War II, and Rose had taken him and the Doctor back to his ship to escape from the gas-mask children. It had also been one of the worst experiences of his life and that was saying something.
“Do we have to?” he whined. Al’s response, at the Doctor’s nod, was to grab Jack by the arm, holding him firmly, and apparating him to Diagon Alley, Hugo close behind with the Doctor. When the spots cleared from Jack’s vision and he was able to regain his breath, he eagerly began to drink in the sight of Diagon Alley. He had never been, after all, and only read about it in some of the books he’d found in the TARDIS library. Even if this wasn’t the same Diagon Alley back home, it was still something. It wasn’t like anything he imagined, though
There was certainly no shortage of people, but they weren’t the eager shoppers or workers that Jack had always imagined them to be. Honestly, if Jack were to characterize Diagon Alley right now, he’d say it looked more like a refugee camp than anything else. There were people lined up, ready to receive medical attention or food or clothing. There were people of all ages huddled inside shops, which looked as though they had been transformed into shelters.
The Doctor, like Al and Hugo, wore an aghast expression. “What in the-”
He was cut off by an extremely pudgy, extremely professional looking wizard in dark red robes coming up to them. A piece of parchment and a Quill floated behind him, no doubt ready to take notes
“Refugees?” the man asked immediately in a no-nonsense tone.
“Ah-”
“Are you refugees?” the man demanded again. “Or volunteers?”
It was Hugo’s turn to be confused. “Refugees from what?”
The man looked incredibly annoyed. “I have no time for games. Answer the question! A simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ will suffice!”
Jack, quickly deciding on a course of action, since the others still seemed a bit frozen said, “Yes! Yes! Sorry! Just in shock. We got chased by some dinosaurs a few blocks down.”
“Well, naturally,” the man sniffed, clearly unimpressed. “They always wander around there during this time of day. Have you not been reading the warnings?”
Their blank faces answered his question for him and the little man sighed. Mumbling something to quill about this being why there were so many casualties, he turned back to the group.
“So the enchantment has just worn off, then?” the little wizard asked. The Doctor just nodded, afraid of being yelled at again. The quill took down some more notes.
“Names?”
“Sorry?” the Doctor asked.
“Your names.”
“Oh, well, I’m Hugo-- Smith, this is Albus, ah, Green,” Hugo said, thinking quickly. Al did his best not to snicker at the names. “This is Jack Harkness and the Doctor.”
As the quill wrote down their names, the wizard turned to the Doctor and said, “I presume you’re a muggle then?”
“If you like,” the Doctor said breezily. Seeing the man’s displeasure, he added, “I mean, yes. Definitely yes. As muggle-y as they come.”
“Thank-you. Obviously muggles aren’t generally allowed in Diagon Alley, but considering the circumstances, that ban has been lifted for the time being. Sorry, your full name again? Dr.- what was it?”
“Just the Doctor,” the Doctor said firmly. The man scowled, the tips of his ears turning red in anger.
“I can’t just put down “doctor” can I?” he asked. The Doctor not realizing that the question was rhetorical, asked, “Why not?”
“It’s not a name!” the other man argued.
The Doctor crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. “It is a name! My name! And a perfectly good one at that!”
“Look,” Jack said, breaking in, “Why don’t you both just calm down, alright?”
“I am perfectly calm!” The wizard began, sounding anything but. Before he had a chance to continue, though, a younger, leaner, and more well dressed man came up behind him, resting his hand on the smaller man’s shoulders.
“Please calm down, Mr. Carlton. I’ll take it from here,” the second man said in a Welsh accent. Carlton didn’t look thrilled, but didn’t argue.
Judging by the way he stalked off, Jack guessed that this new man was of a hire rank than he was.
“You’re the Doctor,” the new man said, sounding both disbelieving and relieved.
“That’s what I was trying to tell him,” the Doctor said.
“Forgive him,” the new man said. “He can be a bit of a perfectionist, not to mention he’s been working for several days straight, now.”
“Seems a lot to ask,” Jack said, letting out a low whistle. “You must have some very dedicated workers-?”
“Ianto. Ianto Jones. And we do,” Ianto agreed. “But that’s not surprising considering the circumstances.”
“What circumstances?” Al asked.
At the same time, Hugo asked, “What exactly is going on here?”
Ianto seemed surprised. “Oh. You don’t know. I’m sorry. I just assumed that given the Doctor’s reputation you all would- But, no, I don’t see
how you would, then. That must mean you’ve just arrived here.”
“We have,” the Doctor said, all traces of annoyance from his earlier encounter gone. Now he spoke with a slight guardedness in his voice, which Jack didn’t blame him for. This Ianto -despite being ridiculously good looking- obviously knew of them.
That begged the question of how.
“Then there’s a lot I’ll have to bring you up to speed on,” Ianto said firmly. “If you’ll follow me, we can go somewhere more private.”
“Now, hold on!” the Doctor protested, planting his feet firmly on the ground, a clear indication that he had no intention of going anywhere. Ianto turned around and faced him, his face questioning. “You seem to have a pretty clear idea of who I am. What I’d like to know is who you are, Mr. Ianto Jones, and how you came to know about me.”
Ianto seemed surprised that the Doctor hadn’t already worked out the answer. “Why, Rose told me about you. We worked together at Torchwood. I’m not sure how you managed to get here, but I must say that I’m relieved that you did. If all Rose has told me is true- and I suspect it is- then we could use somebody like you right about now.”
Jack let out a whoosh of breath, and Al and Hugo leaned on each other a bit, all three of them surprised
Suddenly, the Doctor was more animated than he’d ever been. He grabbed Ianto by the shoulders and shook him impatiently. “Rose? Rose is
here? I need to see her!”
Ianto looked surprised and very uncomfortable with the line of questioning. “She isn’t here. Please, let me take you somewhere private-”
“Where is she?” The Doctor demanded in a tone of voice that booked no argument.
“I don’t know,” Ianto admitted. It sounded as though the words were forcing their way up his throat, as though there was nothing he’d rather say less, as though just thinking the words was liable to kill him.
“She’s missing,” the Doctor said flatly. His voice rising as he continued, “I broke every law in the Universe, tore through worlds, just to find her and now you’re telling me that you somehow lost her?”
“There are things at play that you don’t understand,” Ianto protested. He lowered his voice slightly when he noticed that there were some passerby looking at him oddly
The Doctor didn’t seem to care. He shouted, “If Rose is missing, you need to go after her!”
“Doctor,” Ianto said firmly. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. We just don’t have the resources and, to be honest, Rose is probably better off hidden, wherever she is. You see, regardless of what you’ve been expecting to find, right now, we are officially at war.”
(Next chapter here)
Disclaimer:I don't own Doctor Who or Harry Potter. I just decided that it would be a good idea to combine them (and I wasn't the first to come up wit tha idea, either).
Note Sequel to Clarke's Third Law
Chapter 11: Dinosaurs in London
The Doctor, Jack, Al, and Hugo managed to make it to the control room, gasping for air. The Doctor switched on the controls and sent them into the Vortex, before slumping up against the console. Al and Hugo were each perched against a coral strut. Jack had given up all pretenses of energy and flopped lazily in the Captain’s Chair.
“Well,” the Doctor said, able to regain his breath much more quickly thanks to his respiratory bypass system, “That didn’t go as planned.”
The three glares he got made him realize that his comment was truly unwarranted
In truth, it all would’ve worked out had it not been for the Doctor’s impressive ability to put his foot in his mouth. He had inadvertently insulted some important deity or other, leading the foursome to high-tale it to the TARDIS as fast as they could, all the while being chased by a rather angry group of Native Americans
The Doctor, though, was nothing if not cheerfully optimistic (some, like Hugo, would say ‘daft’)
“Ready to try again?”
“As long as I don’t have to move for a good, long while,” Jack muttered, entirely unwilling to move from the Captain’s Chair.
“Nah,” the Doctor said easily, “The TARDIS and I will do all the work: pull some buttons, push some levers- Wait, no. Sorry. Strike that. Reverse it. ‘Push some levers, pull some buttons.’ Better.”
Albus just watched fearfully. This was their driver? “Sometimes I swear you don’t know how to drive this thing.”
“She,” the Doctor stressed. “The TARDIS is a she. And I know how to pilot her, even if I didn’t pass my exams-”
“Oh, bloody-”
“-she just doesn’t always listen, is all,” the Doctor continued, oblivious to the fact that all blood seemed to have left Albus’s face. Instead, he focused on the flickering of lights in the console room and the feeling of a vague irritation pressed into his mind. He tutted to his ship, “Hey, hey, hey. Easy. No need getting like that with me. It’s true. You never take me where I want to go. You know you don’t.”
The Doctor paused for a moment and Jack eyed him curiously. The previous regeneration of the Doctor had to talked to the TARDIS, too, but perhaps not as openly. Jack wasn’t too surprised, though, as this regeneration was much chattier than the previous one.
“Well, yes, you do always take me where I need to go I suppose,” the Doctor admitted. “But this time, I need you to take me where I tell you. We need to get Rose back.”
The Doctor was suddenly hit full force an overwhelming warmth and with an image of Rose, one that both haunted his dreams and made his hearts sing. It was her, that night on the Game Station, bathed in the golden light of the TARDIS with all of Time to command. The Doctor had known that since that night, the TARDIS had felt very strong affection for Rose (she had always been fond of her, the Doctor supposed), but hadn’t realized how strongly the TARDIS felt until now.
“That’s my girl,” the Doctor crooned, dialing several buttons with a pronounced flourish, sending them off.
The TARDIS, though, may have agreed to get the Doctor to Rose, but she was apparently still a but testy about the Doctor’s attitude. In retaliation, she made her landing particularly rough, jolting the Doctor and his companions sharply enough that they all landed in heaps on the floor.
The TARDIS sent a mental apology to his companions, hoping they could feel it, but ignored the Doctor entirely. He had, after all, deserved it.
Oh, sure, she knew that the Doctor loved her -and she him- and her Time Lord always did the best he could to keep her happy and running smoothly (something a lesser Time Lord would not have managed half so well, considering the scarcity of the supplies), but it was different with his companions. Especially the pretty one: the pretty one was always complimentary, even though he felt so wrong now, wrong enough for her to run away, to protect her Time Lord and her heart in human form--
The TARDIS had felt particularly bad about this running off, too, especially since the pretty one was always so, very, nice to her
All four of them (Time Lord and human alike) were completely unharmed. The Doctor, sensing that the TARDIS was still a bit annoyed with him, wisely didn’t say anything. Instead, he stood up and brushed himself off, straightening his coat as he did so.
“Here we are!” He beamed. He pulled his glasses on and checked one of the monitors mounted on the console. He “hm’ed” and “oh’ed” to himself for a minute.
Hugo, losing his patience, asked, “Are we there or not?”
“It looks like,” the Doctor said distractedly. He tapped gently on the screen. “But- Hullo! What’s going on, eh, girl? You seem a bit off. All this parallel travel getting you down?”
The TARDIS rumbled something akin to shrugging her (metaphorical) shoulders
“Don’t worry! Quick pop outside, grab Rose, and we’ll be home in no time at all!” The Doctor assured, flicking the screen off. “Allons-y, then, you lot!”
The Doctor threw open the doors to the TARDIS and sauntered outside, almost vibrating with excitement. The three left inside the TARDIS heard him make a rather disappointed exclamation and all wandered outside to see what it was.
Much to their relief, it did seem as though they had landed in the right place this time. 21st century London was certainly recognizable. For a moment, then, it took them all a moment to see what it was that had made the Doctor so upset and caused the concerned frown that now marred his face. Everything seemed fine, after all. It was a pleasant evening, if a bit chilly, and there was no sign of a massive alien invasion (such as screaming, spaceships, and so on).
It was Jack who placed it. “It’s completely deserted.”
And it certainly was. Not a soul could be seen wandering the streets. The Doctor opened his mouth, perhaps to ask why, when a loud roar interrupted him. Jack turned and saw the last thing he ever expected to see in twenty-first century London - even parallel twenty-first century London.
Dinosaurs. And angry ones to boot. They were lumbering towards the group, but didn’t look as though they had seen them yet. The Doctor
seemed unconcerned.
“Oh, dinosaurs!” The Doctor chirped. “I haven’t seen those in years! Blimey! Aren’t they beautiful?”
“Those don’t happen to be vegetarian, do they, Doctor?” Jack asked, as one of the dinosaurs finally saw them.
“Nope!” The Doctor said happily. “Definitely carnivores!”
“Then how about I make a suggestion?” Jack offered. “Run!”
If the dinosaurs hadn’t noticed them before, they were noticed now with Jack’s loud proclamation. The Doctor needed no further encouragement as he and the other turned tail and ran as fast as they could.
“God, I missed this!” laughed Jack, grinning widely at the Doctor as they took a sharp left. The Doctor laughed and backed them down a small side street. Albus, spotting a bridge and hoping it would provide them with a bit of cover, pointed the others toward it. They all hunched underneath it and tried to catch their breath as quietly as they could. The dinosaurs, clearly having lost them, wandered above them, their steps rattling the infrastructure
The Doctor held his fingers to his lips, urging the others to be quiet. They needed no further encouragement.
The dinosaurs seemed to pause for a moment. The tension grew as the group waited to discovered and, inevitably, start running again. For once, however, it seemed as though the universe were on there side. The dinosaurs seemed to decide that the group was nowhere nearby and continued onward. Once the dinosaurs were a safe distance away, everybody released the breaths they had been holding.
“Well, that was new,” Al said, slumping against the wall. “Were they here the last time you visited?”
Hugo shook his head. “No. Definitely not.”
“So what do we do now?” Jack asked the Doctor. The Doctor frowned. He had thought (read hoped despite all evidence to the contrary) that getting Rose back would be relatively simple once he’d figured out how to reach Fred’s world. As he had no been proven horribly wrong, the first thing he had to do was get somewhere safe.
He told Jack so and added, “If we can make it back to the TARDIS-”
“You mean back where the dinosaurs came from?” Albus asked. “Right. I’m not sure that’s the best idea you’ve ever had.”
“Then where do you think we should go?” The Doctor pouted
“Diagon Alley,” Albus said immediately. “You said that even in this world it was for wizards only, right? It’d be safe and we can apparate there.”
It was rather fortunate that apparation worked both between parallel worlds and through time.
“Works for me,” Hugo agreed. Jack couldn’t help but make a face, thinking back to the first and only time he had ever apparated. It had been when he first met the Doctor and Rose, during World War II, and Rose had taken him and the Doctor back to his ship to escape from the gas-mask children. It had also been one of the worst experiences of his life and that was saying something.
“Do we have to?” he whined. Al’s response, at the Doctor’s nod, was to grab Jack by the arm, holding him firmly, and apparating him to Diagon Alley, Hugo close behind with the Doctor. When the spots cleared from Jack’s vision and he was able to regain his breath, he eagerly began to drink in the sight of Diagon Alley. He had never been, after all, and only read about it in some of the books he’d found in the TARDIS library. Even if this wasn’t the same Diagon Alley back home, it was still something. It wasn’t like anything he imagined, though
There was certainly no shortage of people, but they weren’t the eager shoppers or workers that Jack had always imagined them to be. Honestly, if Jack were to characterize Diagon Alley right now, he’d say it looked more like a refugee camp than anything else. There were people lined up, ready to receive medical attention or food or clothing. There were people of all ages huddled inside shops, which looked as though they had been transformed into shelters.
The Doctor, like Al and Hugo, wore an aghast expression. “What in the-”
He was cut off by an extremely pudgy, extremely professional looking wizard in dark red robes coming up to them. A piece of parchment and a Quill floated behind him, no doubt ready to take notes
“Refugees?” the man asked immediately in a no-nonsense tone.
“Ah-”
“Are you refugees?” the man demanded again. “Or volunteers?”
It was Hugo’s turn to be confused. “Refugees from what?”
The man looked incredibly annoyed. “I have no time for games. Answer the question! A simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ will suffice!”
Jack, quickly deciding on a course of action, since the others still seemed a bit frozen said, “Yes! Yes! Sorry! Just in shock. We got chased by some dinosaurs a few blocks down.”
“Well, naturally,” the man sniffed, clearly unimpressed. “They always wander around there during this time of day. Have you not been reading the warnings?”
Their blank faces answered his question for him and the little man sighed. Mumbling something to quill about this being why there were so many casualties, he turned back to the group.
“So the enchantment has just worn off, then?” the little wizard asked. The Doctor just nodded, afraid of being yelled at again. The quill took down some more notes.
“Names?”
“Sorry?” the Doctor asked.
“Your names.”
“Oh, well, I’m Hugo-- Smith, this is Albus, ah, Green,” Hugo said, thinking quickly. Al did his best not to snicker at the names. “This is Jack Harkness and the Doctor.”
As the quill wrote down their names, the wizard turned to the Doctor and said, “I presume you’re a muggle then?”
“If you like,” the Doctor said breezily. Seeing the man’s displeasure, he added, “I mean, yes. Definitely yes. As muggle-y as they come.”
“Thank-you. Obviously muggles aren’t generally allowed in Diagon Alley, but considering the circumstances, that ban has been lifted for the time being. Sorry, your full name again? Dr.- what was it?”
“Just the Doctor,” the Doctor said firmly. The man scowled, the tips of his ears turning red in anger.
“I can’t just put down “doctor” can I?” he asked. The Doctor not realizing that the question was rhetorical, asked, “Why not?”
“It’s not a name!” the other man argued.
The Doctor crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. “It is a name! My name! And a perfectly good one at that!”
“Look,” Jack said, breaking in, “Why don’t you both just calm down, alright?”
“I am perfectly calm!” The wizard began, sounding anything but. Before he had a chance to continue, though, a younger, leaner, and more well dressed man came up behind him, resting his hand on the smaller man’s shoulders.
“Please calm down, Mr. Carlton. I’ll take it from here,” the second man said in a Welsh accent. Carlton didn’t look thrilled, but didn’t argue.
Judging by the way he stalked off, Jack guessed that this new man was of a hire rank than he was.
“You’re the Doctor,” the new man said, sounding both disbelieving and relieved.
“That’s what I was trying to tell him,” the Doctor said.
“Forgive him,” the new man said. “He can be a bit of a perfectionist, not to mention he’s been working for several days straight, now.”
“Seems a lot to ask,” Jack said, letting out a low whistle. “You must have some very dedicated workers-?”
“Ianto. Ianto Jones. And we do,” Ianto agreed. “But that’s not surprising considering the circumstances.”
“What circumstances?” Al asked.
At the same time, Hugo asked, “What exactly is going on here?”
Ianto seemed surprised. “Oh. You don’t know. I’m sorry. I just assumed that given the Doctor’s reputation you all would- But, no, I don’t see
how you would, then. That must mean you’ve just arrived here.”
“We have,” the Doctor said, all traces of annoyance from his earlier encounter gone. Now he spoke with a slight guardedness in his voice, which Jack didn’t blame him for. This Ianto -despite being ridiculously good looking- obviously knew of them.
That begged the question of how.
“Then there’s a lot I’ll have to bring you up to speed on,” Ianto said firmly. “If you’ll follow me, we can go somewhere more private.”
“Now, hold on!” the Doctor protested, planting his feet firmly on the ground, a clear indication that he had no intention of going anywhere. Ianto turned around and faced him, his face questioning. “You seem to have a pretty clear idea of who I am. What I’d like to know is who you are, Mr. Ianto Jones, and how you came to know about me.”
Ianto seemed surprised that the Doctor hadn’t already worked out the answer. “Why, Rose told me about you. We worked together at Torchwood. I’m not sure how you managed to get here, but I must say that I’m relieved that you did. If all Rose has told me is true- and I suspect it is- then we could use somebody like you right about now.”
Jack let out a whoosh of breath, and Al and Hugo leaned on each other a bit, all three of them surprised
Suddenly, the Doctor was more animated than he’d ever been. He grabbed Ianto by the shoulders and shook him impatiently. “Rose? Rose is
here? I need to see her!”
Ianto looked surprised and very uncomfortable with the line of questioning. “She isn’t here. Please, let me take you somewhere private-”
“Where is she?” The Doctor demanded in a tone of voice that booked no argument.
“I don’t know,” Ianto admitted. It sounded as though the words were forcing their way up his throat, as though there was nothing he’d rather say less, as though just thinking the words was liable to kill him.
“She’s missing,” the Doctor said flatly. His voice rising as he continued, “I broke every law in the Universe, tore through worlds, just to find her and now you’re telling me that you somehow lost her?”
“There are things at play that you don’t understand,” Ianto protested. He lowered his voice slightly when he noticed that there were some passerby looking at him oddly
The Doctor didn’t seem to care. He shouted, “If Rose is missing, you need to go after her!”
“Doctor,” Ianto said firmly. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. We just don’t have the resources and, to be honest, Rose is probably better off hidden, wherever she is. You see, regardless of what you’ve been expecting to find, right now, we are officially at war.”
(Next chapter here)