WHEN COMPANIONS MEET
Chapter One "Doctor?" Amy stuck her head through the back entrance and looked into the console room. Her husband was right behind her as she slowly came down the steps towards the console. She looked around but the room was empty. "Maybe he went outside to explore," Rory said. "Without us? That doesn't sound like him," Amy said as they stepped onto the glass floor surrounding the console. "Maybe he's resting," Rory offered. "Resting? He does that?" Amy said with a wry smile. She put her hands on the console and pretended to flip the switches and buttons. "Vroom, I'm the Doctor and I'm taking us through time and space," she said as she stared into the blank monitor. Where shall we go, companion?" "Me?" Rory said, pointing to himself. "Well, yes. You're standing here, aren't you? And you are my companion." "Yes, but I'm a man. Shouldn't I be the Doctor." "Nah, sex change Doctor is more interesting," Amy said, giving him a playful poke in the arm before walking over to the chair by the railing and easing down into it. "I wonder what the Doctor does do for relaxation. Most of the time he's in here piloting the ship or making repairs, surely he has hobbies." "Maybe doing repairs is his hobby," Rory said, sitting down on the floor next to his wife. "Ugh, I'd pick another hobby then," Amy said, making a face. "You realize, Rory, that we've been with him for almost two years now and we still don't know that much about him. What was Gallifrey like, what was he like as a child, did he have a wife, lover, children? Who is he?" "I have a feeling you're not going to get those answers from him anytime soon," Rory said, resting his back against the railing. "I know he's traveled with loads of women. I tricked him into letting me access the TARDIS's voice files one time," Amy said. "Did he ever love any of them though?" Rory shrugged. Amy looked up at the ceiling. "Hey, TARDIS, did the Doctor ever love any woman the way I love Rory?" Amy said. Rory looked up with Amy while they waited for an answer. "I think you're not gonna get…" Rory trailed off when suddenly a holographic 3D image of Rose Tyler appeared in front of them. "I remember seeing her from the photographs," Amy said, pointing to her. "This is the woman he loved?" The TARDIS grunted. "I'm guessing that means yes," Rory said, glancing at Amy. The words ROSE TYLER appeared above the 3D image. "And where is Rose now?" Amy said. The words PETE'S WORLD, ALTERNATE UNIVERSE appeared below Rose's name. "Can we go there and meet her?" Amy said eagerly. They waited for a response while the hologram and words vanished. Amy noticed the monitor switched on and what looked like numerical calculations were scrolling down the screen. "What's it doing?" Amy asked Rory. "Finding a path to Rose?" Rory said with a shrug. The numbers scrolled down the screen for a few minutes and then suddenly it was replaced by one line of numbers that blinked on and off in the middle of the monitor. "She found a path?" Amy said, pointing up to the ceiling. They gasped when the central column suddenly came to life. "My guess is she did," Rory said as the TARDIS powered up. XOXOXOXOXOXOX (Meanwhile in one of the TARDIS bathrooms…) "I'm siiiinging in the rain!" the Doctor sang in the shower while he lathered his hair with shampoo. "Just siiinging in the rain, what a glorious feeling, I'm haaappy agaaaain!" He hummed the tune while he stepped back under the water and rinsed the shampoo out of his hair. He closed his eyes, loving the feel of the warm water all over his body. While he was doing that, he suddenly became aware that the TARDIS was powering up. He opened one eye and stepped away from the water so he could hear better. He turned off the water and listened and his eyes widened when his suspicions were confirmed. "Hey! I didn't tell you to go anywhere!" the Doctor said angrily to his ship while he grabbed a towel off the rack beside the shower. He quickly dried most of the water off his body, wondering what the hell his ship was doing. "When I said singing in the rain, I wasn't giving you directions!" he yelled at his ship while he hurriedly dressed himself. He nearly finished dressing and was just slipping his jacket on when suddenly the TARDIS lurched and he stumbled forward, catching himself on the rim of the sink to avoid hitting the floor. The TARDIS began to violently vibrate and his teeth chattered in his head while he sank to the floor and held on to the sink for dear life. "W-w-w-what's g-g-g-going on h-h-h-here?" he stuttered to the TARDIS as it continued to vibrate. Then suddenly the vibration stopped and everything calmed down. The Doctor let go of the death grip on the sink and breathed a sigh of relief. He leapt to his feet, grabbed his jacket and hurried out the room, making tracks to the console room so he could see what the hell was going on with his ship. XOXOXOXOXOXOXO "Is it over?" Amy said as she and Rory released the iron grip on the railing behind them. "I think so. I hope so," Rory said, looking around before getting to his feet. "Seems calm now." "So…we're where Rose is?" Amy said, getting up from the chair. "One way to find out," Rory said, pointing to the front door. They were about to go over to it when the Doctor burst into the console room and hurried down the steps to his console. "Amy, Rory, are you alright?" he said, glancing at them as he went to his monitor. "Sorry I was having a shower when my ship went doolally. I'm gonna find out why." "We're in Pete's World," Amy said. The Doctor froze with his hand on the bar below his monitor. He looked at Amy. "I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly," he said. "Pete's World. That's where Rose is, isn't she?" Amy said. "How do you know about her?" the Doctor said, letting go of the bar. "I asked the TARDIS if you ever loved anyone the way I love Rory and she showed us this hologram of someone called Rose Tyler and she said she lived in Pete's World and I asked if we could meet her and your ship just started up by itself." "Why?" Amy was about to answer the Doctor before realizing he was addressing the TARDIS. "Why did you bring us here?" the Doctor said to the ceiling. "Are you listening to Amy now? Is that what you're doing? No offense," he said to Amy, "but this is my ship and she's supposed to let me give the go ahead to go anywhere and why are you risking yourself to come back here anyway?" he said, turning his attention back to his ship. "You know it's dangerous to be here for long, the booster power cells I installed won't last that long. And she's here with my other self, what's he gonna think when I waltz in and say hello." "Sorry. Other self?" Rory said to the Doctor. "Clone. I have a clone of my last life that I left with Rose, a half human version of myself that would grow old with her and she could love him in return. I…sorta shoved him out the door and I'm sure he won't be welcoming me back with open arms if he sees me." "Your other life?" Amy said. "My previous life. I regenerate, remember." "So she doesn't know what you look like now. Rose, I mean," Amy said. "No, she's never seen this body before." "Then just pretend you're some bloke that ran into her and have a conversation with her. She doesn't know us either so we could be three strangers saying hello and chatting." Amy could see the Doctor was thinking that over. "How long will these booster power cells last?" Rory asked. "About twelve hours, more or less," the Doctor said. "Then go out, find her, say hello and find out what's been going on in her life and we can come back and leave," Amy said. The Doctor thought that over for another minute before finally looking up at the ceiling. "Is she nearby?" he asked. The TARDIS grunted. "Show me, show me her artron energy signature," the Doctor said, walking to the monitor. The TARDIS did a scan for him and he nodded. "She's not far from here," he said, memorizing the directions. "Alright, Pond. You're barking mad for doing this but as long as we're here in this universe, we might as well go and meet her and chat with her before coming back here and going back home."
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