Richard Book is Innocent (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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tweedandtinsel2010-12-04 07:30 pm
oxfordtweed) wrote in tweedandtinsel2010-12-04 07:30 pm
Hitchhiking (7/7)
Title: Hitchhiking
Fandom: Hot Fuzz/Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy/Doctor Who
Character/s:Hot Fuzz: Nicholas, Walker, Saxon; H2G2: Heart of Gold crew; Doctor Who: Nine, Rose
Word Count (chapter/total): 3000
Rating: PG
Summary/Warnings: Green, bug-eyed monsters demolish the Earth to make way for a hyperspace express route. At least, that's what the people of Earth are told.
There's a lot here that was cut out from my ending, in my many, many re-writes. I'm planning on doing a follow-up, but Nicholas' story ends here. I know there's some questionable science at the end, but hopefully, no one feels the need to cry at me when it's all over.
As they walked down the corridor, the ship seemed to bounce, as though someone had picked it up and thrown it against a wall.
“Oh, what now?” the Doctor asked, helping Rose to her feet.
“I’m never going to get used to this,” Nicholas muttered, using the wall to re-balance himself. He paused, moving his hand off of what appeared to be texta marks on the otherwise pristine surface.
Zaphod is a goit.
“What?” he wondered aloud.
The Doctor turned to him. “All right, Nathan?” he asked.
Nicholas shook his head. “It’s—”
“Don’t,” Rose cut him off lightly. “He’s... just like that.”
By the time Nicholas was back on his feet, the Doctor was already heading down the corridor, making tracks for the main bridge. Not wanting to be left to wonder what all the fuss was about, Nicholas and Rose followed after. They found the Doctor, pushing past Zaphod to get to the main controls of the ship.
“Hey, man,” Zaphod said. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”
The Doctor turned sharply on him. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?” he demanded.
Zaphod shrugged. “Yeah,” he said simply. “Closing the deal with my new channel.” He flashed his bleach-white smile. “It’s gonna be all about me.”
“I should have known.” The Doctor made a dash for the airlock, using his sonic device to override the controls and slide the door open. “No,” he said quietly.
Moments later, Nicholas and Rose caught up, finding themselves right back on Satellite Five. While still no people, the construction phase seemed to be nearing completion, as various computer terminals and yet-to-be-stocked vending machines lined the walls.
“It’s even warmer,” Nicholas pointed out, taking off his jacket. “Why’s it so hot?”
Rose and the Doctor each exchanged a silent glance before running back toward the lift. Tossing his jacket to the ground, Nicholas followed after.
On floor five hundred, there were no longer any Judoon guards keeping people from entering. The air formed tiny ice crystals on their breath and clung to the unshaven stubble around Nicholas’ mouth almost instantly. He was very sorry that he’d gotten rid of his jacket.
This room seemed to have been the first completed, huge computer terminals taking up almost all of the available space. Nicholas almost asked if it was cold to keep the technology from overheating, but he was interrupted by a growling, hissing sound above them. Looking up, Nicholas stumbled backwards, falling into the Doctor. “Jesus Christ!” he shouted. “What the hell’s that!?”
“Jagrafess,” the Doctor said quietly, setting Nicholas back on his feet. “And its masters probably aren’t too far away.”
Rose moved close to the two men, grabbing tightly to the Doctor’s coat. “If that’s what controls the broadcasts, why not get rid of it now?” she asked nervously as the three of them backed away toward the lift. “Make it so none of that ever even happens.”
“We can’t,” the Doctor said. “We made it a fixed point in time, just by being there.”
The docking bay was still empty, but they moved cautiously across the open floor, mindful of anything that could, and possibly would move out and make noises at them. But in fact, aside from the slobbering Jagrafess on floor five hundred, everything was perfectly normal.
They slid open the airlock to the Heart of Gold finding this assumption to be quite a misguided one, however. Three Daleks had the ship’s inhabitants cornered on the main bridge, closing in on them slowly.
“You will relinquish it to us!” one of them shrieked.
“Hey!” Zaphod insisted. “That wasn’t part of the deal, you know! I never said I was giving you my ship!”
“The deal has changed!” a second Dalek screamed.
“Deal?” the Doctor asked quietly. Then, loud enough for everyone to hear, “Since when to Daleks make deals with other species?”
The Daleks slid around at the voice. “The Doctor?” the nearest one demanded, before turning back at their captives. “You lied to us! You said you were alone! YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!!”
“No!” Nicholas shouted. He reached blindly into the Doctor’s coat, pulling out the sonic screwdriver before running across the bridge.
“Nicholas!” The Doctor warned, unable to stop the man.
Reaching from the side of the metal creature, Nicholas grabbed firmly to the nearest Dalek’s eye stalk, the metal searing into his skin. Crying out through grinding teeth, he aimed the sonic screwdriver into the creature’s eye and activated the device. Expecting to only blind the monster, if he was lucky, he was surprised when the mechanical eye shattered, leaving the Dalek to spin round in panicked circles.
The attack proved enough distraction for the inhabitants of the Heart of Gold to scatter, barely dodging deafening laser blasts.
“EXTERMINATE!!” One of the remaining Daleks shouted, aiming for Saxon as the dog rushed out of the airlock.
“Bob!?” The dog shouted desperately. Moments later, Walker pushed through the mayhem and followed his friend.
“Wait!” Nicholas shouted after the officer, not sure if he should follow or not.
A loud blast rocked the entire ship, stunning everyone left for only a few moments. One of the two remaining Daleks had been blown in half,
“I missed my daughter grow up because of you bastards!” Trillian screamed harshly from behind everybody, gripping tightly to a very large blast gun, its sights aimed at the invading creature.
The Dalek she aimed at seemed to almost shake, its unbending arms quivering back and forth. “EMERGENCY TEMPORAL SHIFT!” it screeched, before disappearing into a harsh white glow.
Convinced that the madness was over, Arthur carefully got up from where he hid behind a cheap plastic plant and made careful steps toward Trillian. “Trill,” he said softly, pushing the gun down so that she lowered it. “Put it down. Come on.”
Slowly, Trillian lowered the gun, before dropping it to the floor all together. “Oh, Arthur,” she said quietly, before throwing herself into his chest.
Awkwardly, he brought his hands up to her shoulders, doing his best to comfort her. “It’s all right,” he said softly, before leading her off the bridge.
Breathing deeply through his nose, the Doctor surveyed the damage. Stomping over to Nicholas, he pried the sonic screwdriver from the stunned man’s fingers and made a line straight to the main controls of the ship.
“Hey!” Zaphod shouted. He ran up to the Doctor, not fast enough to stop the man from destroying the Infinite Improbability Drive with his sonic device. “What was that for?”
The Doctor stood up stiffly, looking Zaphod’s nearest head straight in the eyes. “Zaphod Beeblebrox, you are a very dangerous man,” he said simply, sliding the screwdriver into his pocket.
“You just wiped out our navigation system!” Zaphod shrieked. “What are we supposed to do now?”
The Doctor stared silently at him for a few moments. “Every time you use that drive, you punch another hole into the walls of the universe!” He turned sharply and left the bridge in the direction of the observation deck, back to the TARDIS.
“Doctor,” Rose said softly. “Help him.”
She motioned toward Nicholas, his knees drawn tightly to his chest. Though he was facing out the large window that looked out at the planet below, he didn’t seem to be looking at anything in particular, his troubled gaze out of focus.
The Doctor crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. “Humans,” he marvelled to himself. “It never ceases to amaze me, just how fragile your species is.”
“We have to take him home,” Rose stated.
Rubbing his fingers against his forehead, the Doctor walked over to the TARDIS, moving out of sight behind it. When he failed to walk back around, Rose set out to follow him, walking around the police box just as the Doctor finally made his way back to complete his circle.
“I don’t know where that is,” he admitted finally, continuing his path around the TARDIS.
“But, it’s there,” Rose pointed out as she rounded the craft. She pointed out the large bay window to what was unmistakably Earth below them. “It’s just, the wrong time.”
“And it doesn’t make sense,” The Doctor insisted. As he passed by the window, he looked down at the planet, slowly twisting and turning beneath them. “This is Earth, at the dawn of the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Humans don’t leave the planet completely for eons.” He scratched his fingers against his short crop of hair a few moments. “Rose,” the Doctor said suddenly. “Do you remember when we went to Platform One?”
Rose nodded lightly. “Yeah,” she said.
Nicholas watched the two of them walk circles around the blue box for a few moments before burying his face in the crook of his elbow, fearing he’d get dizzy and sick if he kept watching much longer.
“What was the first thing you noticed about the Earth?”
Rose shrugged. “I dunno,” she said. “It was the same. You said they moved everything back so it was... classic.”
“Everything,” the Doctor repeated. “Even the ice caps?”
“What about global warming?” Rose asked. “They’re always talking about the global temperature changing, and melting the ice caps.”
“What if it only changed one pole at a time?” The Doctor offered. “Warmer in Britain during the summer, but colder during the winter; just by a few degrees both ways. Would the ice caps still melt?
“How would that happen?”
The Doctor closed his eyes for a moment and ran his fingers over the TARDIS as he circled it, changing his step ever so slightly.
“Rose,” the Doctor said calmly. “Stay still.” Both of them stopped walking. “Can you see me?”
Rose shook her head. “No,” she said incredulously. “You’re on the other side of the TARDIS.”
The Doctor suddenly peered around the side of the craft, grinning widely. He ran around the TARDIS to Nicholas, pulling the man reluctantly to his feet. “Nick, let’s go! We’re taking you home!”
Nicholas looked up at the Doctor, not sure if he should believe him, or worry about being sent to some strange place that only resembled home. He and Rose were quickly ushered into the TARDIS, Nicholas immediately finding an out of the way corner where he could try to ignore the noise of the main console. Again, the craft lurched violently, the Doctor and Rose actually laughing as the man smacked at various objects with a large rubber mallet.
Finally, everything stilled. The Doctor pulled on one final lever before sauntering confidently over to the door, pushing it open.
“There’s nothing here,” Rose pointed out. “Just like last time.”
“Exactly,” the Doctor said. “You got it right when we first tried to land. No debris, no dust... nothing!” He inhaled deeply, looking over the vast nothingness. “Do you know what today is?”
Rose shook her head. “What?”
“Today is July the fourth. The day the Earth is furthest from the sun.” He slammed the door shut and rushed back over to the console. “Where’s the best place to hide something?” he asked, bringing the TARDIS back to life.
Rose held onto the closest rail. “Where no one can see it?” she guessed.
The TARIDS slammed to a sudden stillness, and the Doctor rushed back to the door. He held tightly to the handle, keeping it closed. “January the third,” he announced. “The day Earth is closest to the sun.”
He pushed the door open, revealing a sprawling field, grass blowing gently as a late evening wind swept across the area. The sun slowly dipped lazily beyond the horizon, casting an orange glow on everything, and elongating shadows which startled a flock of sheep. Slowly, Nicholas looked up, cautiously getting to his feet. He ran toward the door, pushing past the Doctor and Rose. They had landed on the edge of the field that made the base of Spencer Hill, a line of rustic cottage on the other side of a barely-paved road.
“Wait, this is Sandford,” Rose said softly.
Nichols leaned heavily against the TARDIS, when his world suddenly went dark.
Sergeant Danny Butterman often would wander out to the edge of the village, but usually he was on foot, and slightly drunk. This evening, he’d brought his car, if only because he was at the station late, and hadn’t yet had the chance to wander down to the pub yet. He barely had enough time to fetch a quick takeaway dinner for himself before the restaurant closed for the night.
He stopped the engine, parked outside the row of cottages, their outlines dark against the inky evening sky. Sighing, he looked up, and realised he was outside the wrong house. Blinking a few times, he revised that thought, and realised that he was at the right one, and that someone else had gotten there before him.
Angry, he rushed out of his car and up the path, finding the door unlocked. He intended to make a lot of noise, and maybe break a few faces, but stopped when he saw a young blonde standing in the middle of Nicholas’ sitting room.
“Rose?” he asked dumbly, certain he was mistaken.
Rose turned around, her face lighting up. “Danny!” She rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded. He pulled himself away from Rose’s embrace. “Auntie Jackie said you been travellin’ with some doctor friend.”
Rose smiled warmly. “We’re just making a quick diversion,” she said easily. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, this is N—this is the inspector’s cottage,” he informed her. “How’d you get in here?”
Rose looked up at Danny, puzzled. “Inspector?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Danny confirmed. “Inspector...” He was interrupted by the Doctor, walking quietly down the steps from the bedrooms. “Oi!” he shouted. He pushed past the man, upset that he would have been someplace he didn’t belong and rushed up the steps. He nearly fell backwards when he made it to the master bedroom, stopping in the door. “Nicholas?” he said breathlessly. “Sorry...”
Nicholas turned round slowly, frozen midway through the motions of pulling on a clean shirt. “Hi,” he said, slightly stunned. Slowly, he pulled the plain black shirt over his head and tucked it neatly under the waistband of his trousers.
“How was Calais?” Danny asked, leaning against the door frame.
Nicholas smiled tiredly, picking up his wallet from the nightstand. “Good,” he said. “I think we got a lot accomplished.” He walked past Danny, turning off his bedroom light. “I didn’t know you had family in London.”
Danny nodded as the two walked downstairs, where Rose and the Doctor were carrying on a hushed conversation. “S’just Auntie Jackie and Rose,” he said.
Nicholas approached the Doctor, reaching into his wallet. “Again, thanks for the lift,” he said. He tried to hand the man several notes, surprised when the offer was refused.
“Not necessary,” the Doctor said simply.
Nicholas looked at the man, confused. “You sure?” he asked. “I took you awfully far out of your way.”
The Doctor shook his head again. “Really,” he insisted. “Not necessary.”
Not wanting to push the matter further, Nicholas returned the cash to his wallet, before sliding the thin fold of leather into his pockets. “Would you like to...stay for some tea, at least?” he asked, smiling lightly at Rose.
“Ah...” She glanced at Danny, catching the horrified look on his face. “No. Thank you. We actually should be going,” she said. She grabbed hold of the Doctor’s sleeve. “Shouldn’t we? “Jack’s probably waiting.”
The Doctor smiled awkwardly. “Oh, right!” he said. “Forgot all about him.”
Exchanging quick farewells, they saw themselves out, quickly crossing the small road to the field with the startled sheep.
“Danny didn’t seem very happy,” Rose stated uncertainly.
“You know him?”
“Yeah,” Rose responded as they walked into the TARDIS. “He’s Aunt Irene and Uncle Frank’s boy. How did he know about Calais?”
The Doctor shrugged lightly. “No idea. I don’t even know how long he’s been gone. I had to guess, when to bring him back.”
Rose peered darkly at the man. “Why’d you do it?” she asked. “All them things he saw; you took all that away.”
The Doctor sighed lightly as he made his way to the centre console. “I did your friend a favour,” he said flatly. “As a species, you lot are wonderful at adapting, but an individual can’t handle that sort of stress. It would have driven him mad. He was already overwhelmed as it was. He wouldn’t be able to cope.”
“You went into his head and changed bits of his mind?” Rose accused. “Without knowing any of this for sure?”
The Doctor looked over at her, expression completely unreadable. “Yes,” he said simply. “If he kept all that up in his head, it would alter the future of Britain. MP Nicholas Angel. In about fifteen years, he’s going to stop being a police officer in this sleepy little village, and make some very big changes in Parliament.” Rose sighed and looked away, her arms crossed over her chest. “He fancies you, you know,” the Doctor said before turning to the centre console.
“He does not!” Rose insisted, already forgetting that she was trying to be upset.
“He does,” The Doctor insisted, pulling down on a nearby lever.
“Yeah, he got back in tonight,” Danny said, leaning against the counter. He listened to Sergeant Fisher on the other end of the line, rambling about seemingly nothing, while watching Nicholas devour a box of Chinese noodles in front of the telly. Even from this distance, it was clear that Nicholas was eating around the bits of beef.
“He’s knackered,” Danny said finally. “Looks like he were in a shootout all over again. It were Auntie Jackie’s girl, Rose, brought him home. She was with that doctor bloke Auntie Jackie said she’s been travellin’ with. Stupid bastard lost his ferry ticket and didn’t want to hire a car back.” He paused a moment longer. “I’m not sure.”
As Danny listened to the other man ramble, a sound cut through the air, like someone revving an asthmatic jet engine. In the sitting room, Nicholas nearly dropped his supper. He quickly put it down on the coffee table before making his way to the window, cautiously peering out into the inky night
“Gotta go,” Danny said quickly, hanging up his mobile. “You all right?” he asked cautiously.
Nicholas nodded slowly. “Yeah,” he said. “Just...” he shook his head and closed the curtain. “Nothing,” he said, smiling lightly. “I’m fine.”
Fandom: Hot Fuzz/Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy/Doctor Who
Character/s:Hot Fuzz: Nicholas, Walker, Saxon; H2G2: Heart of Gold crew; Doctor Who: Nine, Rose
Word Count (chapter/total): 3000
Rating: PG
Summary/Warnings: Green, bug-eyed monsters demolish the Earth to make way for a hyperspace express route. At least, that's what the people of Earth are told.
There's a lot here that was cut out from my ending, in my many, many re-writes. I'm planning on doing a follow-up, but Nicholas' story ends here. I know there's some questionable science at the end, but hopefully, no one feels the need to cry at me when it's all over.
As they walked down the corridor, the ship seemed to bounce, as though someone had picked it up and thrown it against a wall.
“Oh, what now?” the Doctor asked, helping Rose to her feet.
“I’m never going to get used to this,” Nicholas muttered, using the wall to re-balance himself. He paused, moving his hand off of what appeared to be texta marks on the otherwise pristine surface.
Zaphod is a goit.
“What?” he wondered aloud.
The Doctor turned to him. “All right, Nathan?” he asked.
Nicholas shook his head. “It’s—”
“Don’t,” Rose cut him off lightly. “He’s... just like that.”
By the time Nicholas was back on his feet, the Doctor was already heading down the corridor, making tracks for the main bridge. Not wanting to be left to wonder what all the fuss was about, Nicholas and Rose followed after. They found the Doctor, pushing past Zaphod to get to the main controls of the ship.
“Hey, man,” Zaphod said. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”
The Doctor turned sharply on him. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?” he demanded.
Zaphod shrugged. “Yeah,” he said simply. “Closing the deal with my new channel.” He flashed his bleach-white smile. “It’s gonna be all about me.”
“I should have known.” The Doctor made a dash for the airlock, using his sonic device to override the controls and slide the door open. “No,” he said quietly.
Moments later, Nicholas and Rose caught up, finding themselves right back on Satellite Five. While still no people, the construction phase seemed to be nearing completion, as various computer terminals and yet-to-be-stocked vending machines lined the walls.
“It’s even warmer,” Nicholas pointed out, taking off his jacket. “Why’s it so hot?”
Rose and the Doctor each exchanged a silent glance before running back toward the lift. Tossing his jacket to the ground, Nicholas followed after.
On floor five hundred, there were no longer any Judoon guards keeping people from entering. The air formed tiny ice crystals on their breath and clung to the unshaven stubble around Nicholas’ mouth almost instantly. He was very sorry that he’d gotten rid of his jacket.
This room seemed to have been the first completed, huge computer terminals taking up almost all of the available space. Nicholas almost asked if it was cold to keep the technology from overheating, but he was interrupted by a growling, hissing sound above them. Looking up, Nicholas stumbled backwards, falling into the Doctor. “Jesus Christ!” he shouted. “What the hell’s that!?”
“Jagrafess,” the Doctor said quietly, setting Nicholas back on his feet. “And its masters probably aren’t too far away.”
Rose moved close to the two men, grabbing tightly to the Doctor’s coat. “If that’s what controls the broadcasts, why not get rid of it now?” she asked nervously as the three of them backed away toward the lift. “Make it so none of that ever even happens.”
“We can’t,” the Doctor said. “We made it a fixed point in time, just by being there.”
The docking bay was still empty, but they moved cautiously across the open floor, mindful of anything that could, and possibly would move out and make noises at them. But in fact, aside from the slobbering Jagrafess on floor five hundred, everything was perfectly normal.
They slid open the airlock to the Heart of Gold finding this assumption to be quite a misguided one, however. Three Daleks had the ship’s inhabitants cornered on the main bridge, closing in on them slowly.
“You will relinquish it to us!” one of them shrieked.
“Hey!” Zaphod insisted. “That wasn’t part of the deal, you know! I never said I was giving you my ship!”
“The deal has changed!” a second Dalek screamed.
“Deal?” the Doctor asked quietly. Then, loud enough for everyone to hear, “Since when to Daleks make deals with other species?”
The Daleks slid around at the voice. “The Doctor?” the nearest one demanded, before turning back at their captives. “You lied to us! You said you were alone! YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!!”
“No!” Nicholas shouted. He reached blindly into the Doctor’s coat, pulling out the sonic screwdriver before running across the bridge.
“Nicholas!” The Doctor warned, unable to stop the man.
Reaching from the side of the metal creature, Nicholas grabbed firmly to the nearest Dalek’s eye stalk, the metal searing into his skin. Crying out through grinding teeth, he aimed the sonic screwdriver into the creature’s eye and activated the device. Expecting to only blind the monster, if he was lucky, he was surprised when the mechanical eye shattered, leaving the Dalek to spin round in panicked circles.
The attack proved enough distraction for the inhabitants of the Heart of Gold to scatter, barely dodging deafening laser blasts.
“EXTERMINATE!!” One of the remaining Daleks shouted, aiming for Saxon as the dog rushed out of the airlock.
“Bob!?” The dog shouted desperately. Moments later, Walker pushed through the mayhem and followed his friend.
“Wait!” Nicholas shouted after the officer, not sure if he should follow or not.
A loud blast rocked the entire ship, stunning everyone left for only a few moments. One of the two remaining Daleks had been blown in half,
“I missed my daughter grow up because of you bastards!” Trillian screamed harshly from behind everybody, gripping tightly to a very large blast gun, its sights aimed at the invading creature.
The Dalek she aimed at seemed to almost shake, its unbending arms quivering back and forth. “EMERGENCY TEMPORAL SHIFT!” it screeched, before disappearing into a harsh white glow.
Convinced that the madness was over, Arthur carefully got up from where he hid behind a cheap plastic plant and made careful steps toward Trillian. “Trill,” he said softly, pushing the gun down so that she lowered it. “Put it down. Come on.”
Slowly, Trillian lowered the gun, before dropping it to the floor all together. “Oh, Arthur,” she said quietly, before throwing herself into his chest.
Awkwardly, he brought his hands up to her shoulders, doing his best to comfort her. “It’s all right,” he said softly, before leading her off the bridge.
Breathing deeply through his nose, the Doctor surveyed the damage. Stomping over to Nicholas, he pried the sonic screwdriver from the stunned man’s fingers and made a line straight to the main controls of the ship.
“Hey!” Zaphod shouted. He ran up to the Doctor, not fast enough to stop the man from destroying the Infinite Improbability Drive with his sonic device. “What was that for?”
The Doctor stood up stiffly, looking Zaphod’s nearest head straight in the eyes. “Zaphod Beeblebrox, you are a very dangerous man,” he said simply, sliding the screwdriver into his pocket.
“You just wiped out our navigation system!” Zaphod shrieked. “What are we supposed to do now?”
The Doctor stared silently at him for a few moments. “Every time you use that drive, you punch another hole into the walls of the universe!” He turned sharply and left the bridge in the direction of the observation deck, back to the TARDIS.
“Doctor,” Rose said softly. “Help him.”
She motioned toward Nicholas, his knees drawn tightly to his chest. Though he was facing out the large window that looked out at the planet below, he didn’t seem to be looking at anything in particular, his troubled gaze out of focus.
The Doctor crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. “Humans,” he marvelled to himself. “It never ceases to amaze me, just how fragile your species is.”
“We have to take him home,” Rose stated.
Rubbing his fingers against his forehead, the Doctor walked over to the TARDIS, moving out of sight behind it. When he failed to walk back around, Rose set out to follow him, walking around the police box just as the Doctor finally made his way back to complete his circle.
“I don’t know where that is,” he admitted finally, continuing his path around the TARDIS.
“But, it’s there,” Rose pointed out as she rounded the craft. She pointed out the large bay window to what was unmistakably Earth below them. “It’s just, the wrong time.”
“And it doesn’t make sense,” The Doctor insisted. As he passed by the window, he looked down at the planet, slowly twisting and turning beneath them. “This is Earth, at the dawn of the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Humans don’t leave the planet completely for eons.” He scratched his fingers against his short crop of hair a few moments. “Rose,” the Doctor said suddenly. “Do you remember when we went to Platform One?”
Rose nodded lightly. “Yeah,” she said.
Nicholas watched the two of them walk circles around the blue box for a few moments before burying his face in the crook of his elbow, fearing he’d get dizzy and sick if he kept watching much longer.
“What was the first thing you noticed about the Earth?”
Rose shrugged. “I dunno,” she said. “It was the same. You said they moved everything back so it was... classic.”
“Everything,” the Doctor repeated. “Even the ice caps?”
“What about global warming?” Rose asked. “They’re always talking about the global temperature changing, and melting the ice caps.”
“What if it only changed one pole at a time?” The Doctor offered. “Warmer in Britain during the summer, but colder during the winter; just by a few degrees both ways. Would the ice caps still melt?
“How would that happen?”
The Doctor closed his eyes for a moment and ran his fingers over the TARDIS as he circled it, changing his step ever so slightly.
“Rose,” the Doctor said calmly. “Stay still.” Both of them stopped walking. “Can you see me?”
Rose shook her head. “No,” she said incredulously. “You’re on the other side of the TARDIS.”
The Doctor suddenly peered around the side of the craft, grinning widely. He ran around the TARDIS to Nicholas, pulling the man reluctantly to his feet. “Nick, let’s go! We’re taking you home!”
Nicholas looked up at the Doctor, not sure if he should believe him, or worry about being sent to some strange place that only resembled home. He and Rose were quickly ushered into the TARDIS, Nicholas immediately finding an out of the way corner where he could try to ignore the noise of the main console. Again, the craft lurched violently, the Doctor and Rose actually laughing as the man smacked at various objects with a large rubber mallet.
Finally, everything stilled. The Doctor pulled on one final lever before sauntering confidently over to the door, pushing it open.
“There’s nothing here,” Rose pointed out. “Just like last time.”
“Exactly,” the Doctor said. “You got it right when we first tried to land. No debris, no dust... nothing!” He inhaled deeply, looking over the vast nothingness. “Do you know what today is?”
Rose shook her head. “What?”
“Today is July the fourth. The day the Earth is furthest from the sun.” He slammed the door shut and rushed back over to the console. “Where’s the best place to hide something?” he asked, bringing the TARDIS back to life.
Rose held onto the closest rail. “Where no one can see it?” she guessed.
The TARIDS slammed to a sudden stillness, and the Doctor rushed back to the door. He held tightly to the handle, keeping it closed. “January the third,” he announced. “The day Earth is closest to the sun.”
He pushed the door open, revealing a sprawling field, grass blowing gently as a late evening wind swept across the area. The sun slowly dipped lazily beyond the horizon, casting an orange glow on everything, and elongating shadows which startled a flock of sheep. Slowly, Nicholas looked up, cautiously getting to his feet. He ran toward the door, pushing past the Doctor and Rose. They had landed on the edge of the field that made the base of Spencer Hill, a line of rustic cottage on the other side of a barely-paved road.
“Wait, this is Sandford,” Rose said softly.
Nichols leaned heavily against the TARDIS, when his world suddenly went dark.
Sergeant Danny Butterman often would wander out to the edge of the village, but usually he was on foot, and slightly drunk. This evening, he’d brought his car, if only because he was at the station late, and hadn’t yet had the chance to wander down to the pub yet. He barely had enough time to fetch a quick takeaway dinner for himself before the restaurant closed for the night.
He stopped the engine, parked outside the row of cottages, their outlines dark against the inky evening sky. Sighing, he looked up, and realised he was outside the wrong house. Blinking a few times, he revised that thought, and realised that he was at the right one, and that someone else had gotten there before him.
Angry, he rushed out of his car and up the path, finding the door unlocked. He intended to make a lot of noise, and maybe break a few faces, but stopped when he saw a young blonde standing in the middle of Nicholas’ sitting room.
“Rose?” he asked dumbly, certain he was mistaken.
Rose turned around, her face lighting up. “Danny!” She rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded. He pulled himself away from Rose’s embrace. “Auntie Jackie said you been travellin’ with some doctor friend.”
Rose smiled warmly. “We’re just making a quick diversion,” she said easily. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, this is N—this is the inspector’s cottage,” he informed her. “How’d you get in here?”
Rose looked up at Danny, puzzled. “Inspector?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Danny confirmed. “Inspector...” He was interrupted by the Doctor, walking quietly down the steps from the bedrooms. “Oi!” he shouted. He pushed past the man, upset that he would have been someplace he didn’t belong and rushed up the steps. He nearly fell backwards when he made it to the master bedroom, stopping in the door. “Nicholas?” he said breathlessly. “Sorry...”
Nicholas turned round slowly, frozen midway through the motions of pulling on a clean shirt. “Hi,” he said, slightly stunned. Slowly, he pulled the plain black shirt over his head and tucked it neatly under the waistband of his trousers.
“How was Calais?” Danny asked, leaning against the door frame.
Nicholas smiled tiredly, picking up his wallet from the nightstand. “Good,” he said. “I think we got a lot accomplished.” He walked past Danny, turning off his bedroom light. “I didn’t know you had family in London.”
Danny nodded as the two walked downstairs, where Rose and the Doctor were carrying on a hushed conversation. “S’just Auntie Jackie and Rose,” he said.
Nicholas approached the Doctor, reaching into his wallet. “Again, thanks for the lift,” he said. He tried to hand the man several notes, surprised when the offer was refused.
“Not necessary,” the Doctor said simply.
Nicholas looked at the man, confused. “You sure?” he asked. “I took you awfully far out of your way.”
The Doctor shook his head again. “Really,” he insisted. “Not necessary.”
Not wanting to push the matter further, Nicholas returned the cash to his wallet, before sliding the thin fold of leather into his pockets. “Would you like to...stay for some tea, at least?” he asked, smiling lightly at Rose.
“Ah...” She glanced at Danny, catching the horrified look on his face. “No. Thank you. We actually should be going,” she said. She grabbed hold of the Doctor’s sleeve. “Shouldn’t we? “Jack’s probably waiting.”
The Doctor smiled awkwardly. “Oh, right!” he said. “Forgot all about him.”
Exchanging quick farewells, they saw themselves out, quickly crossing the small road to the field with the startled sheep.
“Danny didn’t seem very happy,” Rose stated uncertainly.
“You know him?”
“Yeah,” Rose responded as they walked into the TARDIS. “He’s Aunt Irene and Uncle Frank’s boy. How did he know about Calais?”
The Doctor shrugged lightly. “No idea. I don’t even know how long he’s been gone. I had to guess, when to bring him back.”
Rose peered darkly at the man. “Why’d you do it?” she asked. “All them things he saw; you took all that away.”
The Doctor sighed lightly as he made his way to the centre console. “I did your friend a favour,” he said flatly. “As a species, you lot are wonderful at adapting, but an individual can’t handle that sort of stress. It would have driven him mad. He was already overwhelmed as it was. He wouldn’t be able to cope.”
“You went into his head and changed bits of his mind?” Rose accused. “Without knowing any of this for sure?”
The Doctor looked over at her, expression completely unreadable. “Yes,” he said simply. “If he kept all that up in his head, it would alter the future of Britain. MP Nicholas Angel. In about fifteen years, he’s going to stop being a police officer in this sleepy little village, and make some very big changes in Parliament.” Rose sighed and looked away, her arms crossed over her chest. “He fancies you, you know,” the Doctor said before turning to the centre console.
“He does not!” Rose insisted, already forgetting that she was trying to be upset.
“He does,” The Doctor insisted, pulling down on a nearby lever.
“Yeah, he got back in tonight,” Danny said, leaning against the counter. He listened to Sergeant Fisher on the other end of the line, rambling about seemingly nothing, while watching Nicholas devour a box of Chinese noodles in front of the telly. Even from this distance, it was clear that Nicholas was eating around the bits of beef.
“He’s knackered,” Danny said finally. “Looks like he were in a shootout all over again. It were Auntie Jackie’s girl, Rose, brought him home. She was with that doctor bloke Auntie Jackie said she’s been travellin’ with. Stupid bastard lost his ferry ticket and didn’t want to hire a car back.” He paused a moment longer. “I’m not sure.”
As Danny listened to the other man ramble, a sound cut through the air, like someone revving an asthmatic jet engine. In the sitting room, Nicholas nearly dropped his supper. He quickly put it down on the coffee table before making his way to the window, cautiously peering out into the inky night
“Gotta go,” Danny said quickly, hanging up his mobile. “You all right?” he asked cautiously.
Nicholas nodded slowly. “Yeah,” he said. “Just...” he shook his head and closed the curtain. “Nothing,” he said, smiling lightly. “I’m fine.”