There's a howling in the factory yard; there's a pounding in my head...

[alsotravels]

It's closer now, so close he can feel the energy building in his solar plexus, coiled and waiting between surges, can feel his hearts straining, and it's all right, for once. Time to go and all that, and so he tosses a grin at Rose through the pain, says his last words -- fantastic last words, really -- and throws his head back. He's overwhelmed

Comments

[nowinprint]

Dmitri Lang might not quit be back up to fighting weight - two months in Silent Hill followed by a week of maniac universe-hopping means you take it goddamned easy for a while, or at least this is what doctors and Archangel trainers have told her - but that's no reason not to come around the Conrad now and then, hassle Vincent or whoever's around, throw a few punches at their punching bag, take advantage of the free food... and free beds, seeing as her lease defaulted due to her being stuck in a hell town, and she's been splitting her time between the Conrad and the Kashtta. At the moment she was heading to her room to cool down, change, and then head out to hit up an internet cafe and check on those submissions to the Board of the Sciences, but... yelling. From the Rift Room. Generally a good indication that there's a new person there, demanding an explanation for this bullshit

[alsotravels]

Oh, it's a person. He turns to her and gives her a somewhat forced grin. "Hello, Dmitri Lang. I'm the Doctor. And what's the point in a Rift in spacetime if it only goes one way?"

And with that, he whips out his sonic screwdriver and starts scanning the Rift, frowning to himself. "I doubt it's transuniversal, though. The walls have closed, and I should..." He frowns again.

"...Or I could be wrong." He turns back to her. "Chicago, though... I haven't been in Chicago in ages. Good hot dogs, shame about the weather. Just how many of us are there?" By which he means Wanderers, not Doctors, though either one is a valid question in this case.

[nowinprint]

"Many a person has wondered that, my enterprising trireme," Dmitri says, stepping over to the couch and hopping up to sit on the back. "Right along with 'what's the good of a Rift that tears you out of your life and dumps you into the American midwest' and 'what's the good of a Rift that has even odds of turning you into other species part-time' and 'wait, what in the name of junipers in January

[alsotravels]

"Yeah, that's me. The Doctor," he repeats, just so she's clear on this, and glances down at the sonic screwdriver again.

The implications will be hitting him in 3...

2...

1...

"Wait a minute, how do you know about Time Lords? Have I just gone all Chatty Cathy all of a sudden, 'Hi there, have a detailed explanation of my innards'?" He takes a moment from frowning at the readings coming from his screwdriver to look indignant in her general direction. "The sonic's hardly standard kit, so it'd have to be one of me, and it's obviously not this one, or you'd know me already, so would you mind terribly describing me to myself, thanks?"

[fantasticrose]

Rose doesn't generally go down by the Rift room, but she's feeling antsy and doesn't fancy going outside for a walk (or clubbing, as Cassandra has suggested) - both because it's nippy, and because sometimes she just gets scared of bein' out alone in the dark. So she's wandering down the hallways and is close enough to hear the Doctor shouting at the Rift.

She stops stock still for a moment, her heart suddenly racing. It can't be him. It can't possibly be him, she's not that lucky.

Well if it's not him, it sounds horrifically similar....Doctor

[alsotravels]

The Doctor turns, because he's know that voice anywhere, and if she's here, then he can at least look after--

Except she's wrong. Not wrong in the way Jack's wrong, but she's older by a couple of years, and scarred, and for a moment all he can think is that he promised Jackie Tyler that he'd take care of her.

For a moment, he wants to believe it's not her, but who else would know him, here?

"...Rose?" He's just staring now, taking in the differences.

[fantasticrose]

It's him. It's him. It's the Doctor, her Doctor, the proper Doctor, and as nice as the one who's been here is, this is the man she's missed since before she even came here.

She lets out a small cry, quite without meaning to, and basically throws herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and holding on for all she's worth.

"It's you," she says. "It's really really you!" And maybe she's crying a little, but she's smiling too, and she can't help herself. She never thought she'd see this Doctor again. He'd died, because of her, and she'd lost him forever.

And now he's here.

[alsotravels]

The Doctor wraps his arms around Rose, ignoring the adrenaline rush of someone launching themselves at him -- no matter what, it's still Rose, and Rose is safe -- and just lets her cling for a minute.

"And who else would it be, face like this?" he asks, before gently prying her away and taking her by the shoulders. "Rose. I need you to tell me something. How long has it been since you last saw me? What's happened?"