Fic: The content of the box
Title The content of the box
Fandom Doctor Who / UK politics crossover
Pairings No obvious ones.
Rating/warnings/spoilers PG, spoilers for the trailer of 5x12.
Word count 1302
Summary The Pandorica opens, and the Doctor knows what it holds. There is only one person in the universe who can help him. Amy is slightly surprised at who that is...
Notes All because of this post on the UK lolitics comm (a spoiler for the fic, obviously). Unbetaed.
And then the Pandorica opened.
He had thought it was all a myth, but when he saw the light from the box, his hearts turned cold with fear, and he knew (but hoped, oh he hoped) that it was not true.
'What could you possibly be?' he whispered, and the light was broken by a shadow. To Amy and River, it would only look as the shape of a man, but the Doctor could see through it. He did what he always did it these situations. 'RUN!'
Amy and River turned, breaking into a run, the Doctor after them. He overtook them soon, but did not dare to go to far ahead of them - the shape was moving slowly, but it was only a matter of time until its instincts kicked in. When they reached the door, they pushed it closed together and the Doctor soniced the lock.
‘Don’t stop running!’ he urged them, and they continued to the TARDIS. When they finally stopped to catch their breath in the safety of the time-machine, Amy, leaning against the console, asked:
‘What was that?’
‘You honestly don’t want to know,’ the Doctor said, as he produced a drawer from under the console. ‘I’m going to regret this so much...’
‘What could be that bad?’
‘Not what. Who!’
‘Who is so bad, then?’ Amy shouted as he went to find another drawer. At last he went up to the attic to search. When he returned, the item clutched tightly in his hands, River was talking to Amy; the Doctor was guessing that she was giving her advice on how to cope with the Doctor being difficult. However, when she spotted him, she flared up again, all red hair and Scottish intensity. ‘Tell me, Doctor! Don’t keep me in the dark,’ she urged him. ‘What was in that box?’
‘A creature, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies,’ the Doctor answered, checking something on the scanner and starting to set in a course.
‘So the legend says,’ River said. ‘But you know him, didn’t you?’ The Time Lord stopped momentarily.
‘We have met,’ he admitted hollowly. ‘Actually, I should leave you somewhere safe, because he is worse than the Daleks and the Cybermen and the Carronites and everything which either of you have ever encountered.’ He swore in Gallifreyan and pressed what he was holding in his hand to his forehead. ‘Nowhere is safe anymore,’ he said, calming down. ‘And there’s only one person who can help me.’ Then he continued setting the course.
‘Tell us,’ Amy said again, and at last he stopped and sighed.
‘Oh, all right,’ he said. ‘We’re going to see my brother.’
***
When the TARDIS landed, Amy was very surprised to find that they were just outside the Houses of Parliament.
‘Your brother’s an MP?’ she asked as they passed through the door, waving psychic paper at the guards.
‘No, my brother’s a Lord,’ the Doctor answered, without looking back at them.
‘A Lord?’ River Song repeated and hurried past. ‘Wait a minute, Doctor, all Time Lords are dead. Even the Master...’ The Doctor stopped and whirled around, and they stopped before him. Amy got the strong feeling that now was the time he was going to tell them what was happening.
‘All Time Lords are dead,’ he said. ‘All of them, except one other - the one I hid away, years before the Time War.’ At last he showed them what he had been holding in his hand; a silver snuff-box, Gallifreyan script covering the lid.
‘What happened?’ River asked silently; she made a move to touch the Doctor’s arm, but then thought better of it.
‘He... got into trouble,’ the Doctor answered, pushing his hands down his pockets. ‘It is said that he found the Pandorica.’
‘But you thought it was a myth...’
‘Because I thought he was lying!’ he said, exploding. ‘Brothers always lie to each other! It’s what they do! Especially about things which will tear the universe to pieces. At least if they’re my brother.’ When he calmed down again, he continued his story. ‘The Lord - my brother, that is - didn’t awaken what was in the Pandorica, but he claimed himself that it recognised him. To protect him - from the other Time Lords, from himself and from whatever danger he had stirred, I turned him human. And that is what this is.’ He held up the snuffbox. ‘This is the part of him which is Time Lord. Perhaps there is possibly the slightest chance that if I bring him back, we can fight what is in there. I hope.’ Then he continued to walk down the corridor.
‘But what is in there?’ Amy shouted.
‘He doesn’t have a name and he has a million names,’ the Doctor answered, not looking at her but continuing to walk. ‘He is in every shadow in every alley-way. He is at the shoulder of every suicide. He is behind empires falling, and tyrants rising. Tyrants falling, and massacres taking place. He watches over every ship-wreck, every heart-break, every species at the moment it dies out. His palace if he had one would be built of bones and stones and the agony of the ages.’ Then he looked at them and said: ‘Because of that, I usually just use the short-hand name Peter Bone for him. So watch out for Peter Bone. Ah, here we are!’ Suddenly jolly again, he stopped by a door and walked in.
The only person in the room swirled around quickly, the scarlet robes of a peer in stark contrast with his pale complexion.
‘Who are you?’ the man, whom Amy thought looked very familiar, snapped. ‘This is completely unacceptable...’
‘I know, I know, you always hated it when I came into your room without knocking,’ the Doctor said without looking up, searching through his pockets for the snuffbox. ‘Especially that one time when my room got displaced in time and I had Koschei over for a sleepover, and you were off somewhere, so we took your room instead, and your timing on getting home wasn’t great, and...’
‘Who are you, sir?’ the Lord said exasperately. ‘I honestly do not know you.’
‘Oh, you know me,’ the Doctor said, still looking through his pockets. Suddenly Amy said:
‘Wait a minute!’ Both the men looked up.
‘Amy, not now...’
‘Young lady, I am quite sure that you’re not supposed to be here either...’
‘You’re Peter Mandelson!’ she exclaimed, laughing. ‘You’re the Dark Lord!’ Mandelson raised an eyebrow, obviously not impressed with her deduction skills.
‘Yes, I am, miss,’ he said.
‘No, you’re not,’ the Doctor answered, finally finding the snuffbox and, taking the Lord’s hand, placed it in it. ‘You’re my brother.’ He opened the box, and its light enveloped Mandelson.
A moment later, it died down, and he gasped and staggered.
‘There, it’s okay!’ the Doctor said, catching hold of his arm to steady him. Mandelson blinked a few times and looked from Amy and River to the Doctor.
‘Brother,’ he said breathlessly and drew him into a crushing embrace. ‘You came back for me.’
‘Yes,’ the Doctor answered, returning the embrace, but his tone was subdued.
‘What is the matter?’ the Lord asked, drawing back.
‘Gallifrey is gone,’ the Doctor explained. ‘And the Pandorica is opening. I need your help, Lord.’ A smile which Amy could not call anything else than demonic spread over the Lord’s face.
‘It will be my pleasure,’ he said. ‘Take me to the TARDIS.’
Fandom Doctor Who / UK politics crossover
Pairings No obvious ones.
Rating/warnings/spoilers PG, spoilers for the trailer of 5x12.
Word count 1302
Summary The Pandorica opens, and the Doctor knows what it holds. There is only one person in the universe who can help him. Amy is slightly surprised at who that is...
Notes All because of this post on the UK lolitics comm (a spoiler for the fic, obviously). Unbetaed.
And then the Pandorica opened.
He had thought it was all a myth, but when he saw the light from the box, his hearts turned cold with fear, and he knew (but hoped, oh he hoped) that it was not true.
'What could you possibly be?' he whispered, and the light was broken by a shadow. To Amy and River, it would only look as the shape of a man, but the Doctor could see through it. He did what he always did it these situations. 'RUN!'
Amy and River turned, breaking into a run, the Doctor after them. He overtook them soon, but did not dare to go to far ahead of them - the shape was moving slowly, but it was only a matter of time until its instincts kicked in. When they reached the door, they pushed it closed together and the Doctor soniced the lock.
‘Don’t stop running!’ he urged them, and they continued to the TARDIS. When they finally stopped to catch their breath in the safety of the time-machine, Amy, leaning against the console, asked:
‘What was that?’
‘You honestly don’t want to know,’ the Doctor said, as he produced a drawer from under the console. ‘I’m going to regret this so much...’
‘What could be that bad?’
‘Not what. Who!’
‘Who is so bad, then?’ Amy shouted as he went to find another drawer. At last he went up to the attic to search. When he returned, the item clutched tightly in his hands, River was talking to Amy; the Doctor was guessing that she was giving her advice on how to cope with the Doctor being difficult. However, when she spotted him, she flared up again, all red hair and Scottish intensity. ‘Tell me, Doctor! Don’t keep me in the dark,’ she urged him. ‘What was in that box?’
‘A creature, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies,’ the Doctor answered, checking something on the scanner and starting to set in a course.
‘So the legend says,’ River said. ‘But you know him, didn’t you?’ The Time Lord stopped momentarily.
‘We have met,’ he admitted hollowly. ‘Actually, I should leave you somewhere safe, because he is worse than the Daleks and the Cybermen and the Carronites and everything which either of you have ever encountered.’ He swore in Gallifreyan and pressed what he was holding in his hand to his forehead. ‘Nowhere is safe anymore,’ he said, calming down. ‘And there’s only one person who can help me.’ Then he continued setting the course.
‘Tell us,’ Amy said again, and at last he stopped and sighed.
‘Oh, all right,’ he said. ‘We’re going to see my brother.’
***
When the TARDIS landed, Amy was very surprised to find that they were just outside the Houses of Parliament.
‘Your brother’s an MP?’ she asked as they passed through the door, waving psychic paper at the guards.
‘No, my brother’s a Lord,’ the Doctor answered, without looking back at them.
‘A Lord?’ River Song repeated and hurried past. ‘Wait a minute, Doctor, all Time Lords are dead. Even the Master...’ The Doctor stopped and whirled around, and they stopped before him. Amy got the strong feeling that now was the time he was going to tell them what was happening.
‘All Time Lords are dead,’ he said. ‘All of them, except one other - the one I hid away, years before the Time War.’ At last he showed them what he had been holding in his hand; a silver snuff-box, Gallifreyan script covering the lid.
‘What happened?’ River asked silently; she made a move to touch the Doctor’s arm, but then thought better of it.
‘He... got into trouble,’ the Doctor answered, pushing his hands down his pockets. ‘It is said that he found the Pandorica.’
‘But you thought it was a myth...’
‘Because I thought he was lying!’ he said, exploding. ‘Brothers always lie to each other! It’s what they do! Especially about things which will tear the universe to pieces. At least if they’re my brother.’ When he calmed down again, he continued his story. ‘The Lord - my brother, that is - didn’t awaken what was in the Pandorica, but he claimed himself that it recognised him. To protect him - from the other Time Lords, from himself and from whatever danger he had stirred, I turned him human. And that is what this is.’ He held up the snuffbox. ‘This is the part of him which is Time Lord. Perhaps there is possibly the slightest chance that if I bring him back, we can fight what is in there. I hope.’ Then he continued to walk down the corridor.
‘But what is in there?’ Amy shouted.
‘He doesn’t have a name and he has a million names,’ the Doctor answered, not looking at her but continuing to walk. ‘He is in every shadow in every alley-way. He is at the shoulder of every suicide. He is behind empires falling, and tyrants rising. Tyrants falling, and massacres taking place. He watches over every ship-wreck, every heart-break, every species at the moment it dies out. His palace if he had one would be built of bones and stones and the agony of the ages.’ Then he looked at them and said: ‘Because of that, I usually just use the short-hand name Peter Bone for him. So watch out for Peter Bone. Ah, here we are!’ Suddenly jolly again, he stopped by a door and walked in.
The only person in the room swirled around quickly, the scarlet robes of a peer in stark contrast with his pale complexion.
‘Who are you?’ the man, whom Amy thought looked very familiar, snapped. ‘This is completely unacceptable...’
‘I know, I know, you always hated it when I came into your room without knocking,’ the Doctor said without looking up, searching through his pockets for the snuffbox. ‘Especially that one time when my room got displaced in time and I had Koschei over for a sleepover, and you were off somewhere, so we took your room instead, and your timing on getting home wasn’t great, and...’
‘Who are you, sir?’ the Lord said exasperately. ‘I honestly do not know you.’
‘Oh, you know me,’ the Doctor said, still looking through his pockets. Suddenly Amy said:
‘Wait a minute!’ Both the men looked up.
‘Amy, not now...’
‘Young lady, I am quite sure that you’re not supposed to be here either...’
‘You’re Peter Mandelson!’ she exclaimed, laughing. ‘You’re the Dark Lord!’ Mandelson raised an eyebrow, obviously not impressed with her deduction skills.
‘Yes, I am, miss,’ he said.
‘No, you’re not,’ the Doctor answered, finally finding the snuffbox and, taking the Lord’s hand, placed it in it. ‘You’re my brother.’ He opened the box, and its light enveloped Mandelson.
A moment later, it died down, and he gasped and staggered.
‘There, it’s okay!’ the Doctor said, catching hold of his arm to steady him. Mandelson blinked a few times and looked from Amy and River to the Doctor.
‘Brother,’ he said breathlessly and drew him into a crushing embrace. ‘You came back for me.’
‘Yes,’ the Doctor answered, returning the embrace, but his tone was subdued.
‘What is the matter?’ the Lord asked, drawing back.
‘Gallifrey is gone,’ the Doctor explained. ‘And the Pandorica is opening. I need your help, Lord.’ A smile which Amy could not call anything else than demonic spread over the Lord’s face.
‘It will be my pleasure,’ he said. ‘Take me to the TARDIS.’