Fic: Colours Chapter 6a- A 51st Century Interlude

[mogamus_ii]

Title: Colours Chapter 6a- A 51st Century Interlude

Author: mogamus_ii
Rating: PG13
Pairing/characters: Finn/Kurt, Burt, Brittany and other Glee members, Amy Pond, Donna, 9th, 10th and 11th Doctor (phew).
Spoilers: Up to Furt (AU from there on) and mentions various episodes from new Who.
Wordcount: (this part) 2, 200
Warnings:  AU (telepathic!Kurt). I started this a while ago, and assumed that Kurt was living at Dalton.
Summary:  Crossover with Doctor Who. A strange man tries to stop Kurt going to Dalton. The Warblers are not what they seem. Finn is struggling with strange feelings for his stepbrother and really doesn’t know how to deal with Kurt’s suddenly cold behavior.



Burt turned to glare at the Doctor.

‘What have you done to him? Why is he glowing? Is the thing broken?’

‘Wait, you know him?’ Finn felt completely out of his depth for about the fiftieth time that day. Kurt looked equally perplexed.

‘Dad? Wh-what’s wrong with me?’ He asked in a quiet voice.

*****

Mahrise Nine, 5130 AD

Life was pretty damn good for Burt Hummel, even if he said so himself. He had a job, an apartment, a substantial amount of money and he’d only just turned twenty five.

What’s more, he’d had a career in the Time Agency and lived to tell the tale. True, he did quit after seven years. It paid well, but Burt never had liked corruption. The first time he’d stumbled over a cover-up that was endorsed by the highest power, he was out. It had cost him his vortex manipulator, which he still missed. He didn’t miss the time sickness, though.

Mahrise Nine was a small planet. There were shuttle rides that travelled around it in one day. Burt had ridden one during his first week living there, watching the pink desert rocks blur past as the shuttle hurtled through the dust. The vehicle was almost silent, and didn’t jolt once. It made Burt think of his dad’s old hover-transporter, his pride and joy. Burt would never forget the first time he was allowed to help his dad mend it, even if all he did was pass him the tools.

That evening, Burt had gone and applied for a job at the local mechanics.

Yes, Burt was happy. He grinned nervously at the mirror and straightened his tie. He could do this.

A date. What’s more, a blind date. A friend of a friend of a friend. How had Alex ever talked him into this?

Burt walked out of his building and into the balmy night air. Darkness fell quickly on this planet and the sky was a quickly fading dark blue. Orange light from lamps that floated high above his head flooded the narrow streets. Burt was about to turn in the direction of the restaurant when he heard the scream. Without pausing to think, Burt ran towards the sound.

He ran into a dark passage between buildings, already panting heavily. He should have kept up his exercise regime after he quit the agency, he thought guiltily. He shouldn’t let himself get this unfit. He couldn’t hear anything in the narrow alley, he must have lost them or gone the wrong way. He stopped, catching his breath and heard a small, muffled sound. A whimper, then a whisper.

‘Shut up.’

‘Hello?’ Burt walked carefully towards the noises, whishing not for the first time that he still had his blaster and wriststrap.

Eventually he managed to make out two figures in the gloom. A man, thickset and aggressive, pinning the slighter figure of a woman to the wall. The second Burt saw the play of a soft amber light over her skin, he knew what she was. Daethion. Burt had had several encounters with that race in his work for the Agency, slavers traded that species like power cells.

‘Let go of her,’ he said, as menacingly as he could. Not menacing enough, it turned out. The man did release the girl, but he also took a couple of slow steps towards Burt and actually growled.

‘Now, I don’t want to fight,’ Burt said calmly, in a voice he hoped said ‘but I will if you make me. And I will beat you.’

Either it didn’t work, or the guy didn’t care. He charged at Burt, who avoided him easily, surprised and thankful that he hadn’t forgotten everything he learned in the academy.

‘Run!’ Burt yelled to the woman as the man ran at him again. She hesitated only a moment and then fled, leaving Burt to turn his full attention on the attacker, just in time to catch a fist to the stomach. Burt sprawled backwards, landing on his back and rolling away as fast as he could. The man loomed over him, grinning and taking far too long to deliver the next blow. (Burt could still hear his mentor, saying ‘don’t get smug ‘til the fight is over, Hummel. And that means after your enemy is rendered unconscious or is dead. Not before.’)

Burt lifted his leg and kicked the man square in the groin. He crumpled and Burt climbed to his feet, rubbing his shoulder.

He didn’t even consider the possibility of a second man behind him until something heavy connected with the back of his head.

******

Burt woke up, which was a pleasant surprise in itself. He was alive. He wasn’t lying in a dark alley, either, which was also a good thing.

‘Where am I?’ He asked the white ceiling. His head throbbed when he spoke.

‘You’re awake? Sister, he’s awake!’ Someone said, and Burt caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. Then someone leant over him. A cat, who also appeared to be a nun. Burt had seen Catkind before, but never as nuns. The cat face smiled, showing sharp teeth.

‘Hello, sir, good to have you with us.’

‘Hey,’ Burt croaked, ‘where am I?’

‘You’re in the New New York hospital, sir,’ the nun said, adjusting a bag of green liquid hanging to Burt’s right.

New New York?

‘When am I?’ Burt asked.

‘The year five billion and three,’ the voice Burt had heard when he had first woken up answered this time.

‘How did I get here? Who are you?’

‘My friend brought you here.’ The voice grew closer, and then the owner was also leaning over him.

Green eyes. Blonde hair. Pale skin that glowed with a sky blue light.

‘You’re the Daethion from the alley.’

‘So, you’ve learnt your Alien Spotters guide, well done.’ Her smile softened as she added, ‘you saved my life. Thank you.’ Her blue glow darkened. Burt knew that the colours a Daethion emitted reflected their emotions, but it was different for each individual.

He wondered what blue meant for…

‘What’s your name?’

‘Katherine. And before you ask, I was brought up in a in a compound with a lot of human families. My parents always liked the human names better than the traditional ones.’

Before Burt could reply, they were interrupted by the arrival of a tall man in a leather jacket.

‘Katherine? Can we take him back yet? You know I don’t usually hang around…’ He had an accent that Burt couldn’t quite place.

‘Doctor, he’s only just woken up. I don’t even know his name yet.’

‘It’s Burt,’ Burt said helpfully.

‘Okay Burt, this is the Doctor.’ Katherine smiled at the man affectionately and Burt felt irrationally jealous.

‘You’re reacting unusually well for someone waking up several billion years in the future,’ the Doctor said suspiciously and without preamble. He had piercing blue eyes that made Burt think that if he lied to him, this man would know.

‘I used to be a Time Agent. Time travel was my job.’

The Doctor nodded and Burt could see glint of humour in his stern gaze.

‘But I bet you’ve never travelled by TARDIS, right?’

*****

Three months later.

‘You’re sure about this?’ The Doctor asked Katherine, leaning against the TARDIS console with his arms crossed.

‘Yes, I’m sure.’ She grabbed Burt’s hand and squeezed it gently. ‘Mahrise is a nice place, isn’t it, Burt?’

He nodded.

‘And it’s the day after I left, right? I don’t want to lose my job.’

‘Yes, yes, Sunday the fifth of the second Mahrizian month, 5130.’

‘Brilliant,’ Burt hesitated, and then turned to the Doctor, ‘Thank you, Doctor. These past months have been amazing.’

‘Yeah.’ The Doctor grinned. ‘We were fantastic.’

But the smile disappeared from his face as quickly as it had arrived.

‘Anyway, I don’t do long goodbyes, so…’ he pulled a lever and the TARDIS began to hum. Katherine gave the Doctor a quick wave and a sad smile before pulling Burt towards the door to the world outside.

*****

One year later

‘Burt!’ Katherine yelled, grabbing at his arm, ‘look, over there!’

The streets were filled with a screaming throng of humans and aliens, and the sky was full of screaming oily creatures. Burt turned and looked at where his wife was pointing.

The TARDIS. Burt felt like crying with relief, he was here, the Doctor would save them.

Katherine shrieked as a dripping black bird dropped from the sky, diving at her face. Burt dragged her out of the way, shoving them both through a frightened crowd and towards where he had seen the blue box.

Please let him be inside, Burt thought as they ran towards it.

Katherine got there first, her hands curled protectively around her swollen stomach. She leaned against the wooden door, yelling for the Doctor to open up. Burt joined her, pounding a fist against the blue panels.

The door opened, and an unfamiliar face looked out, the face of a young man with messy brown hair.

‘This isn’t Barcelona,’ the stranger said, looking out at the burning streets, ‘why do I never get to Barcelona?’

‘Where’s the Doctor?’ Burt demanded.

‘Burt? Katherine?’ The man looked surprised.

Katherine ignored them both, bundling Burt in through the door and slamming it behind them.

‘Get us out of here,’ she said desperately, slumping down on the chair beside the console.

‘Oi, who are you?’ A red headed woman stared at them. Burt didn’t answer, still looking around for the Doctor.

‘I’m right here,’ the brown haired stranger said. ‘I’m the Doctor. I look different, but I promise Burt, it’s me.’

‘It is him. He can change his face.’ Katherine sounded exhausted, so Burt hurried over to her.

‘You okay?’

‘Katherine, you’re pregnant!’ The Doctor sounded shocked.

‘Really? I hadn’t noticed,’ Katherine said snippily.

‘Hello?’ The redhead was obviously fed up with being ignored. ‘Will somebody please tell me who these people are?’ She bellowed.

‘Ah, yes, Donna,’ the Doctor put a hand on her shoulder, ‘This is Burt Hummel and this is Katherine Ro-‘

‘Katherine Hummel now,’ she interrupted, ‘we’re married. You obviously didn’t get the invite.’

‘Right, Hummels, this is Donna Noble and now the introductions are over… What was going on out there?’

‘These things attacked the planet,’ Burt growled, ‘they came after the Daethions.’

A dark expression flitted across the Doctor face

‘The Myre,’ he said softly, anger and disgust coating every word. ‘I’ve seen them before. They come from a swamp planet I visited once, a long time ago.’ He turned to the console, haphazardly pressing button and flicking switches.

‘Can you stop them?’ Katherine asked quietly.

‘No,’ he said abruptly, ‘this is one of those events that can’t change. I’m sorry.’

‘Like Pompeii?’ Donna asked.

‘Like Pompeii.’

‘Then where can we go? You can’t take us back there,’ Burt said, feeling half angry and half afraid, because this may be the Doctor but it wasn’t his Doctor and Burt couldn’t quite bring himself to trust him.

‘No. I’m taking you somewhere safe.’ The TARDIS engines whooped and ground, the glass column rising and falling.

‘Where?’ Burt asked when the noises had stopped.

‘Lima, Ohio,’ the Doctor read off one of the screens, ‘1993. Welcome to your new home.’

*****

Thanks to the Doctor’s psychic paper, it didn’t take long to get Burt and Katherine set up with identities and a place to live. It was a little frightening, Burt thought, the amount of things people would do for you just based on a small page of credentials. For the one thing that the psychic paper couldn’t sort out, the Doctor had a solution.

‘Perception filter,’ he said, fastening the clasp of the silver necklace he had given Katherine.

‘Just enough to distract people from the glowing. If you lose it, or something goes wrong, phone me. And call when the baby arrives.’ He waved Burt out of the TARDIS, but held her back out of earshot.

‘Be careful,’ he said, staring deep into her eyes. ‘If something happens to you -and I’m sure it won’t- but if it does, it could hurt him. Badly. You’ve bonded with him, haven’t you?’

She nodded and he sighed.

‘Does he know?’

‘No.’

‘Telepathy. More trouble than it’s worth. But I mean it; if one of you dies… anything could happen. Well, anything painful and life threatening. So call me.’

Swallowing back tears, she walked towards the door.

‘Oh, and Katherine,’ she looked back.

‘I’m sure nothing bad will happen. Have a nice life, and see you in a few months.’

A/N:

1)  No Finn/Kurt and a lot of back story. Sorry, I’ll make up for it next time. (Well, there will be more back story next time, but also Finn and Kurt, so…

2)  I think I’ll change the posting day to Thursdays now, seeing as I never actually manage to finish by Wednesday. However, it will be either posted on Wednesday or Friday next week, as I am going to see Tim Minchin on Thursday (Yay!)

3) Writing this made me realise that I actually miss writing Torchwood fic ) :  And I hope I got all the dates right. Time travel gives me a headache.