FINDING GALLIFREY
A/N: Another Something Old and New fanfic, written with the assistance of Ninewood. Chapter One Clara stepped out of the TARDIS shower room and into the corridor. She'd just had a shower and felt refreshed, invigorated and ready for the day. It'd been two weeks since their last day on Trenzalor and she was finally learning to trust this new Doctor and get used to his new look and personality. The Doctor, for the most part, was still affectionate but not as touchy feely as he had been and was more serious and dignified. To be honest, she missed the not quite knowing how to work his limbs Doctor and the zany way he had of looking at things but as the Eleventh said, times change and so must the Doctor. He moved on and she had to as well. Clara headed into the console room. It had a slight overhaul to it that Clara didn't really like. She had told him so but the Doctor merely grinned and told her that she'd get used to it. She hadn't but she wasn't going to complain so long as it took her and her friend off to distant worlds and time periods for fun and adventure. As she entered the console room, she noticed the Doctor was standing by his monitor, gazing at it intently. She walked towards him but he didn't acknowledge her until she was almost beside him. "I think I found it," he said to her. "Found what?" she asked. "Gallifrey," the Doctor said in a hushed voice. "You did? Where?" "Through a gap in time. I'm getting readings from Handles," he said, pointing to the disembodied Cyberman head near the monitor. "You found Gallifrey?" Clara asked Handles. "Affirmative," Handles replied in an electronic voice. "Analysis of time gap confirms presence of Gallifrey on the other side." "So, what do we do?" Clara asked the Doctor. "Are we going to find it?" The Doctor stared at the monitor in silence. Clara glanced at him, waiting for him to answer. "Doctor?" she finally said after a minute of silence from her friend. "It'll be dangerous," the Doctor said, keeping his eyes on the monitor. "Time travel between universes is tricky. We may die." "But…the Time Lords were going to come through that one little crack, yeah?" Clara said. "That didn't mean they weren't putting themselves at risk. I had a…friend called Rose. She was stuck in another universe, trapped there. She came back once but that was only because the barriers between universes were breaking down. Any other time, it would have been dangerous for her to do it." "How dangerous" Clara asked. "Destruction of both universes." "Oh. Not good then," Clara said. She was about to turn and walk away when the Doctor grabbed her arm. Clara looked back at him, a quizzical look on her face. "Do you want to risk it?" he asked her. "You just said two universes might explode," Clara said. "Implode but that's just semantics," the Doctor said. "However, there is a chance the gap is large enough that the TARDIS can get through. After that…there's no way of knowing if we can get back or not." "You mean…we might end up stuck there…like your friend?" "Yes." "I have a job, Doctor. Angie and Artie…" "I know, that's why I'm asking if you want to do this. You have a lot more at stake here than I do if we are trapped in this other universe." Clara leaned against the console, deep in thought. She glanced at the monitor, hoping to see a glimpse of Gallifrey. Instead, there was only a couple of graphs and Gallifreyan writing on the monitor. The Doctor was waiting for her answer and Clara glanced at him. She knew how much this meant to him and she knew that if she declined, he might take her back home and she would never see him again. Even though he was not the man she grew to love, she still loved him and the thought of never seeing him again filled her with dread. Better to risk death and entrapment than to go through life never seeing her friend again. "I want to do it," she said to him. "Are you sure? This could possibly be a one way trip." Clara took his hand and squeezed it. "Yes, Doctor. Let's do it, let's find Gallifrey," she said. The Doctor smiled and squeezed her hand back. Once again, Clara was struck by how different he was from her other Doctor. Her other Doctor would have whooped and hollered and laughed and been completely manic. This Doctor was calmer, more thoughtful and introspective. He let go of Clara's hand and turned towards the monitor. "Right. To Gallifrey then," he said as he input some coordinates into the computer. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (Meanwhile in the other universe on New Gallifrey…) Hope rollerbladed down the road alongside her parents. Both the Doctor and Rain were out enjoying the beautiful day and since the Academy was shut for the summer, Hope could join them. She had just turned nine years old but already she was eager to grow up and join her father on great adventures, ones far more thrilling than the ones he deemed safe enough to join him on. For now, she was enjoying the day and listening to her parents while they strolled and chatted. Until…she saw Alan and Rose coming towards the other way on the other side of the road, hand in hand while they chatted. Hope grinned and sped off towards them while the Doctor and Rain stopped and watched her. "So…I'm looking forward to seeing you at the audition, Wife of Mine," Alan was saying to Rose, totally unaware that Hope was coming towards him. "Yeah, you better look the other way, Husband of Mine," Rose said, pointing past him. Alan turned his head and his eyes boggled when he noticed Hope was zooming towards him. "The Nazis!" he yelled as he let go of Rose's hand and ran back the way he came. "Those damned Nazis are back! Run for your very existence!" "Hi, Aunt Rose." Alan stopped running and turned to see Hope chatting with Rose while the Doctor and Rain headed towards them. Alan smiled and walked back towards them. "Ah, it's only you, good," Alan said as he rejoined his wife. "I was running for the nearest bomb shelter. Maybe get a hold of Indiana Jones somehow…or Adam since he thinks he's Indiana Jones but anyway…greetings to one and all." "You ran from me," Hope said when Alan walked up to her. "Well, I couldn't help it. You were going a zillion miles an hour and I didn't want to be roadkill. I'm too gorgeous for that," he said, giving her an affectionate pat on the head. "So…out enjoying the day instead of running from Daleks somewhere?" he said to the Doctor and he and Rain finally reached them. "We decided to take a break from Dalek running," the Doctor replied. "Besides, isn't it nearly time for Gallifrey's Got Talent?" he said to Rose. "Nearly. My audtion's in a few days," Rose said. "And she will win, mark my words," Alan said pompously. "She is the bestest singer in the history of singerdom." "I did something creative with Daddy," Hope said to Rose. "Wanna see it?" "Ah, did you draw a stick figure?" Alan said, leaning in to her. "How very droll." Hope stared at him for a moment before squeezing his nose in reply. "Hey, you broke my nose, I'll sue," Alan said while Hope giggled and looked at her father. The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a black IPhone. He looked through the menu until he found a video recording. He turned it on and handed it to Rose. Alan peered over Rose's shoulder while she watched. Hope was standing in the TARDIS by the console. She was dressed in a pink t-shirt and blue jeans and was bouncing side to side while a rap beat was coming from the console. "I'm kickin' it with my dad," Hope was rapping as she bounced back and forth. "Uh-huh," the Doctor said off camera. "I'm kickin' with my dad," Hope rapped. "That's right," the Doctor said off camera. "My dad is the baddest Time Lord around, he travels in the TARDIS from town to town, when I'm around him I never frown cause I'm kickin' it with my dad." Rose giggled at that while Hope beamed proudly. The video ended and Rose chuckled as she handed the phone back to the Doctor. "I like it," she said to him. "I don't," Alan said. "Where was the meat of the song, the elan, the joie de vivre?" "Don't mind him," Rose said to Hope while she patted her on the head. "He didn't take his medication this morning." "Is that why I'm seeing pink bunnies everywhere, I thought New Gallifrey was under attack by rabbits," Alan said, feigning confusion. He smiled when Hope hugged him around the middle before looking at Rose. "So did you ever rap with Daddy in the TARDIS?" she asked Rose. "Um…no," Rose said while the Doctor giggled. "He never asked me to do that." "I didn't think you were down with it, yo," the Doctor said. "You fly girl, you." "Yeah, stop that," Rose said, holding up her hand. "I get enough of that from him," she added, hooking her thumb at her husband. "So, are you heading to anywhere in particular?" Alan said. "No, we're just taking a walk," Rain said. "Come with us, we can walk together." "Wife, shall we?" Alan said to Rose. "We shall, lead on, Doctor," Rose said. Alan took Rose's hand and they turned and walked beside the Doctor and Rain while Hope skated along beside them.
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