Pompeii

Summary: What the bloody hell is wrong with Pompeii?Disclaimer:** I don’t own Doctor Who. **A/N: Yeah Hi. Well lots of Doctors and stuff.

Part I – Rose and her Doctor

“Right outside those doors, Rose Tyler,” The Doctor said, drawing out her name in that way that makes her smile, “is the beautiful lost city that is Pompeii.” She smiled up at him, tongue touching teeth before bolting towards the door and running out into the beautiful ancient city.

“Hope you set an alarm for volcano day, doc,” Jack Harkness called out from behind him and leaning against the railing of the TARDIS interrupting him smiling and watching Rose marvel at the city from the open doorway of the TARDIS. The Doctor turned to him and crossed his arms.

“I think you’ll find we’re nowhere near that part of Pompeii’s history, I wouldn’t put he—us in danger like that.” Jack turned and glanced at the monitor, clicking his tongue before pushing himself off the railing to move closer to the monitor, gripping it firmly and turning it around.

“Now maybe I don’t completely understand this ship of yours, doc, but this date looks very familiar to me.” The Doctor’s brow furrowed as he walked up the grating and towards the monitor Jack had turned towards him. He read the date on the monitor and swallowed thickly.

“Rose,” he called towards the doorway upon seeing the date, which was exactly one day before volcano day. “Rose I seem to have miscalculated slightly,” he called as he walked down the grating and towards the door where he could no longer exactly see her.

He stuck his head outside the TARDIS, bracing his hands on either side of the wall around him.

“Rose?” he asked, glancing frantically around beach he had parked them on, “Rose!” he called again.

“Looks like she’s gone exploring, doc,” Jack said, pressing some buttons on the console. The Doctor wiped his hand down his face and sighed in frustration before turning back to the Captain.

“What are you doing?” he asked. Jack pressed a few buttons on his vortex manipulator before looking The Doctor square in the eye.

“Setting an alarm for Volcano Day,” he responded before walking down the grating to the door, “now let’s go find Rose.”

Part II – Pond and Raggedy Man

“What do you mean I’m stuck in Pompeii?” Amy hissed into her phone. The Doctor sounded more than just a little distressed and apologetic.

“Not for long Amy, I promise we’ll come get you,” Rory piped up in the background.

“Yes, yes. Amelia we will come to you straight away,” The Doctor responds, “but the TARDIS can’t quite…well….land. It’s like she doesn’t…want to. Something’s not quite right down there…” The Doctor finished quite uncomfortably.

“What do you mean the TARDIS can’t land?” Amy growls.

“I said can’t quite land, Pond,” The Doctor corrected, “that doesn’t mean I can’t land her, it simply means it is going to be very difficult for me to land her.”

“What am I supposed to do until you can figure out how then?” Amy asks, hands on her hips, sounding extremely irritated.

“You’ll think of something!” The Doctor says enthusiastically as he hangs up the phone and Amy nearly screams in frustration as she shoves her mobile back into her pocket. Then she notices, much to her dismay that a crowd of people have begun to stare.

“What are you lot lookin’ at?” Amy asks harshly, giving them her best ‘back off’ glare. The people quickly continue what they’re doing and start back on their way. With the exception of one, a woman cloaked in red that she can’t quite see watching from afar.

“First thing’s first, new clothes,” Amy smirks and bounds off down the road of the Bazaar.

Part III – Spartacus & Spaceman

Donna glowered at the Spaceman who brought her here to bloody Pompeii when he meant to take them to Rome. Imagine her surprise when instead of the seven beautiful hills of Rome, she’s greeted with the volcano Vesuvius and a day before the bloody thing is going to erupt.

And now, to add insult to injury, as they tried to return to the TARDIS to escape the inevitable fires of Pompeii, the ship was (of course) missing.

“How do you lose a bloody spaceship, spaceman,” Donna had whispered to him, voice shrill. He swallowed, trying to remain as calm as possible as he had asked the shopkeeper nearest to where they had parked the TARDIS what exactly had happened.

So here they were, the Spartacus twins (apparently according to Caecilius) trying to get back the TARDIS so they can escape. Caecilius seems wary of The Doctor, Donna notes, especially when he reaches out and shakes the man’s hand. Donna could very visibly see him tense, but it didn’t make the man any less kind to them, other than the quip about them looking alike.

“You know,” Donna begins, cutting off whatever The Doctor was about to say, “you lot should really take a vacation somewhere with no volcanoes,” she suggests. The Doctor clenches his jaw and sends a sideways glance at her. She ignores him and continues talking, bringing up volcanoes half a dozen times as he continues to stare at her, practically seething.

“Donna,” he whispers, harshly, pulling her to the side once she’s finally done with her long-winded schpeel about vacations and volcanoes, “they don’t know that word yet. People don’t really have a word for volcanoes until, well, tomorrow.” Donna gapes at him before shutting her mouth with an audible click crossing her arms.

Part IV – The Fucking TARDIS

He’s walking through the Bazaar when he sees her parked behind a shady merchant. He frowns slightly, almost ninety percent certain he parked her much closer to the house he was currently residing in with his three companions.

“Did you move yourself?” he asks the ship, stroking her exterior fondly before moving his hand to touch the handle on the door.

“Hey!” The merchant shouts, “don’t touch the goods if you ain’t looking to buy.” He purses his lips and very nearly laughs, ignoring the merchant as he pulls out his TARDIS key and tries to unlock the door. It doesn’t budge.

“Bugger,” he mutters under his breath, jimmying his key in the lock a few more times she still doesn’t budge. He narrows his eyes.

“Odd…” he says, stepping back and trying something he hasn’t done since his last incarnation. He snaps his fingers. Nothing.

“Are you gonna buy that thing or not?” the merchant asks, irritated. He frowns and purses his lips.

“Alright, mate,” he says, turning toward the merchant before asking, “how much?” because he can’t very well leave his TARDIS there, no matter how bloody stubborn she’s being.

Part V – Jack and Doc

“How many times have I told her not to wander off?” The Doctor asks Jack angrily, searching around for Rose on the streets of Pompeii.

“Does she ever listen?” Jack asks with a laugh. The Doctor shoots him a glare and Jack raises his hands in surrender.

“Rose!” he calls out into the crowd of people, pushing through the swarm to get to the thick of it. Maybe he would find her there.

“Rooose,” Jack calls from behind him, cupping his hands over his mouth to amplify the sound. The Doctor sighs as he bumps into several people who give him dirty looks as he tries to look for his companion.

“Doctor?” he hears someone ask near him and he turns quickly towards the sound, but it isn’t wasn’t what he was expecting in the least. Instead of Rose, he sees a woman with a white painted face and a red cloak talking into a mobile phone.

He turns around and shoots a glance at Jack. That wasn’t Rose. That was another time traveler. Which meant that…he swallowed hard.

“Jack,” The Doctor said, voice shaking slightly. The captain nodded his understanding and called out for Rose again, a sense of urgency coming over both of them.

Part VI – Rose

She found the TARDIS parked near a merchant’s stall and she smiled softly. She had wandered off like he always told her not to, but she couldn’t help it. There was always an adventure to be had, especially in a long dead civilization.

“Oh, Doctor,” she smiled, reaching out and touching the door to the TARDIS for a moment before digging in her shirt to pull out the key and stuck it into the lock.

At first, the key seemed to stick and Rose’s forehead crinkled in confusion. Her TARDIS key never stuck, it was special. She turned harder, feeling the key finally cave and the TARDIS finally unlocking.

“Doctor?” she asked, sticking her head inside the TARDIS before entering slowly when she didn’t see anyone waiting in the console room.

“Jack?” she asked and the TARDIS’s lights flickered in a warning. Rose stopped next to the console and bit her bottom lip. Something felt very distinctly wrong about her being here.

However, just as she was about to head for the door, she heard someone else jimmying the lock and froze. The TARDIS’s lights flickered again, this time with urgency and Rose felt fear rising up in her throat. Then, not even a few moments later she was distinctly aware that the TARDIS was being moved.

Part VII – The Sisterhood

The Doctor said she would think of something and he was right. Almost immediately she became a part of some kind of sisterhood of women who could tell the future. Something wasn’t quite right about these women and she was determined to find out what it was.

Thus, being a time traveler with a super phone and also quite clever, she started making very accurate predictions. Though, most of her predictions she definitely had to ensure happened on her own, she did attract their attention.

However, she wasn’t quite prepared for the extent this “undercover” position would change her. She very nearly lost sight of who she was due to the heavy consumption of the vapors that helped The Sisterhood to see and make accurate predictions. That was until she saw the familiar blue box in the bazaar (and after she reported it to the sisterhood as part of a prophecy because hey, it’s written and she read it so it had to happen, right?).

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” she asked reaching out to touch the exterior of the time ship fondly. However, before her fingers could barely graze the ship, the door flung open and she heard two people conversing about Rome.

“What?” she asked in a harsh whisper, flattening herself against the back of the box as she tried to make out what they were saying. However, it was to no avail. The only things she could make out was that it was The Doctor and a woman called Donna. What the hell was going on here?

After she could no longer hear their footsteps, she decided to make a run for it and call her Doctor to figure out exactly what was happening in Pompeii. Because now it seemed like so much more than just the TARDIS acting up and the strange vapor that was making her ill and her skin turn to stone. She really hoped The Doctor could fix that.

Part VIII – Stuck in the Wrong TARDIS

Rose sat on the floor and chewed her lip. She reached into her pocket and tried to pull out her mobile to call Jack and The Doctor to come figure out what was going on, but she found that it was missing.

“Blimey,” she whimpered, clutching her knees to her chest. Well, it wouldn’t take long for him to figure out the TARDIS had been stolen anyways and he would find her, wouldn’t he? He always did.

She didn’t know how long they had been moving, but she was so grateful when it stopped. She got up quickly and ran to the door to pull it open, but found that it wouldn’t budge.

“What’s wrong?” Rose asked the TARDIS, pulling harder on the door and even trying to push a few times.

“Oh my god I’m stuck,” she pounded on the door wildly, but it was no use. No one would come, she wasn’t even sure anyone could hear her. She sighed and swallowed, pressing her back to the door and sliding down slowly.

She never thought she’d ever be stuck in the TARDIS alone without at least The Doctor. And she especially never expected to feel so afraid and unwelcome in a place she had begun to consider her second home.

Part IX – Bad Wolf

“Doctor, she is returning,” his companion said, her mother (who ended up tagging along very much against his will, mind you) holding the poor girl up. He never wanted her to get caught up in this Sisterhood thing but he needed to know what was going on. And of course she had taken it upon herself to help him solve the mystery.

However, he didn’t remember that his younger self and Donna had been here too. Why couldn’t he remember that he and Donna had come here? The only thing he remembered about Pompeii and volcanoes was something Jack had said years and years ago now.

Wait did she just say “she is returning”? He snaps his head back to his companion who is now looking quite a bit worse for wear. He thinks he knows who she means. He knows he sees her again, right before he regenerates into his previous form. And if he’s travelling with Donna now he knows that it shouldn’t be too far off in his younger self’s future.

Why didn’t he remember her telling his younger self this? Then, as if to answer his question, the doors to his younger self’s TARDIS rattled from the inside.

Both Doctors and Donna turned to look at the blue box wide eyed. The door rattled again and then someone pounded on it repeatedly before a familiar voice uttered several unsavory words. Okay, he definitely didn’t remember this happening.

His younger self turned to him, brown eyes wide in disbelief and he stared back. He tried his best to compose himself and act like he didn’t know what was going on. But a second later when she emerged all pink and yellow screaming curses at the TARDIS he couldn’t help himself.

“Rose?” He breathed out at the exact same time his other self did and then they looked back at each other, realization flashing in his younger self’s eyes. Rose blinked a few times, shutting the door to the TARDIS behind her.

“Who are you then?” She asked. He swallowed thickly, eyes still locked with his younger self. Donna blinked at the blonde girl a few times and cleared her throat.

“You look really young,” she remarked and Rose stared at her.

“Am I missing something?” she asked, hands bunching up the bottom of her hoodie nervously, “how does everyone know me?”

“Who did you come here with?” He asked suddenly, turning back to the pink and yellow human and away from his younger self. She stared at him in disbelief for a moment.

“No,” she said, all sass as she crosses her arms, “you don’t get to ask questions. Who the hell are you?”

“Rose Tyler,” his younger self admonished playfully, his tongue peeking out between his teeth in the way she always did, “such colorful language.”

He heard her breath catching in her throat as she stared at the younger man. Then she turned and looked at Donna and back to him.

“Oh my god,” she said before turning and taking off out of the house and back onto the street.

Part X – DOCTOR!

“Doctor!” She screamed until her voice was hoarse, tears stinging in her eyes from frustration. Oh god what if he couldn’t find her. She couldn’t cope with the weirdness that was happening right now. She wasn’t even sure what happened back there in that house, but she was terrified.

“Doctor!” she screamed once more, tasting blood in her throat from the exertion. If only her mum were here then maybe she’d have a better chance of getting his attention. Her mum could probably be heard across the whole of Pompeii.

“Rose?” She heard someone ask from behind her and she whirled around to see the brown haired man from the house.

“Who are you?” She asked, backing up as he came towards her.

“Doctor!” She screamed behind her into the darkness as the unfamiliar man continued to advance on her.

“Spaceman!” The red head called from behind him, running up and grabbing onto his arm forcefully. He stopped advancing on her then and just stared at her, eyes full of sadness and something else. Something that frightened her much more than the weight of sorrow in his eyes. He was gazing at her with love.

“Doctor?” She whispered then, taking a few tentative steps towards the stranger and his red headed companion. It was then that she noticed his clothing. Who else could wear a completely out of place suit with chucks and belong so completely to the landscape?

“Rose,” he whispered with a soft sad smile.

“What happened?” She asked, visibly frightened as she looked him over, “Why are you different? Are you a clone?…how do you know me!” Donna looked at him, startled.

“Changed, Doctor?” she asked curiously, but he ignored her.

“Rose…” he said carefully, “we need to find The Doctor and get you out of this time before it’s way too late.”

“What?” She asked, mind spinning in circles. She was so confused.

“I thought you were The Doctor,” she whispered, backing away again.

“Rose,” he said, voice tinged with warning as she was just about to start running again. She stopped and stared at him.

“Where’s the TARDIS?” he asked and she narrowed her eyes.

“If you’re The Doctor, shouldn’t you know?” She growled at him before turning on her heel and taking off into the darkness.

Part XI – Volcano Day

“Amy, come in Amy,” The Doctor shouted into the telephone and Amy held it away from her ear and glared at it.

“Doctor I can bloody hear you,” she hissed into the receiver, “I called you, remember?”

“Ah, yes,” he said and she could practically hear his brow crinkling, “why is that?”

“Any chance you can land the TARDIS right now and rescue me from another month of slumming it in Pompeii?” She asked hopefully and he was silent. She sighed and pursed her lips.

“Thought so,” she continued, “but that’s not exactly why I called, Doctor.” He was still silent so she kept going, “you see, there seems to be another TARDIS here and I was thinking that maybe that’s why you couldn’t em…quite land.”

“What?” He asked, confusion evident in his tone, “another TARDIS? Nonsense, this old girl would never take us somewhere that I’ve been in the past or the future. She takes careful consideration to make certain time lines never cross. My other self being there is impossible.” Amy clicked her tongue.

“Yeah, yeah Doctor,” Amy growled into the phone, “you always say that and in the end you’re always wrong and the impossible does happen and you eat your stupid words. I mean if not you then how else would there be another blue police box in Pompeii?”

tbc