Firefly/Doctor Who crossover fic: A Different Kind of Companion (10/20)

[locker_monster]

Title: A Different Kind of Companion (10/20)
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Ten, Rose, Ten/Rose, Mal, Inara, Mal/Inara
Timeline: A week after "Heart of Gold" for Firefly, and just before "Army of Ghosts" for Doctor Who
Summary: After an encounter in the 26th century, Inara and Rose find themselves in unfamiliar settings.
Disclaimer: Firefly and Doctor Who belong to their respective creators and showrunners. Too much awesome would happen if Joss Whedon and Russell T Davies ever worked on something together.
A/N: The biggest thank you goes out to browncoat_2x2 for betaing this story and helping with the minor changes.

Chapter One. Chapter Two. Chapter Three. Chapter Four. Chapter Five. Chapter Six. Chapter Seven. Chapter Eight. Chapter Nine.

            The simple question was much more complicated than it should have been, at least from Rose’s perspective. She decided on the easiest answer. “I’m just Rose Tyler.”

            Reynolds seemed satisfied enough with the answer. “The answer’s yes, Rose Tyler. We’re in for a world of hurt.”

            Rose sat down on her own cot. It wasn’t often that she and the Doctor dealt with normal human beings. There was always some alien involved or some technology being exploited.

            And now it was just her and a surly man in a coat. She had faith that the Doctor would come back for her, he always did whenever they got separated, but she also knew she couldn’t just sit around and wait. If she was going to get carted off by these Alliance people for not existing, then she didn’t want to be there when it happened.

            “We should try to escape then.” Rose got to her feet and approached the bars separating her cell from Reynolds’. “There’s gotta be a weak point or something.”

            Reynolds rested the back of his head against the wall. “Can you bend solid steel with your bare hands?”

            “No.”

            “Then we ain’t escapin’.”

            “I thought you said you were a smuggler.” Grabbing one of the bars, Rose tugged at it. “Shouldn’t you be all, I dunno, escape artist?”

            Reynolds lifted his head. “What am I? A gorram magician? Even if I could contact my crew, they’re gonna have to deal with the Alliance and I wouldn’t wish that on them even if I wasn’t in a jail cell.”

            “Well we can’t just wait around!”

            “I can’t help but notice that if you and your friend hadn’t shown up at the bar, we wouldn’t be stuck in this tài huāngmiù de qíngkuàng.”

            The sudden insertion of another language made Rose frown. Everyone had been speaking English, even after the TARDIS had dematerialized. “Was that Chinese?”

            It seemed that Reynolds had been ready to make a comment in response to whatever Rose had been going to say, but at her question his expression became a confused one. He got up from his cot and stepped up to the bars on his side. Leaning in, he asked again, “Who are you?”

            “Whaddya mean?” She tried to make herself sound innocent. Rose couldn’t tell if she had said something wrong. Without the TARDIS around, she had no clue if she was saying the right things.

            “You don’t know about the Alliance and any backbirth woulda understood me. You’re not even on file. Your friend has a ship that can fit in a back room and he magically disappears with Inara. So I’ll ask you again. Who are you, Rose Tyler?”

            “I’m no one,” Rose said, her words in earnest.

            Reynolds turned away from her with an irritated sigh. “If your friend’s got plans for Inara…”

            “Your friend’s fine. She’s with the Doctor. She helped me,” Rose added. “During the fight, I froze. She probably saved my life. The Doctor wouldn’t hurt her.”

            With his back turned to her, she couldn’t see Reynolds’ reaction but the tension in his back eased. “I’m holding you to your word.”

            “You’ll see her again. That’s if we make it outta here alive,” muttered Rose.

tài huāngmiù de qíngkuàng = extremely ridiculous situation

Comments

[honorh.livejournal.com]

I'm still enjoying this very much. Surly!Mal is always fun.

One thing, though: the TARDIS translates all languages, even when Rose is away from it. She'd hear the Chinese as English.

[goldy-dollar.livejournal.com]

Even if the TARDIS was on another planet, though? I'd assume it'd stop working once you got a certain distance away from it.

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Who can resist a surly Mal? :-)

I was always under the impression that the TARDIS only translates when it is in the same time and place as the Doctor and Rose. With the TARDIS on another planet, it made sense that it wouldn't be translating for Rose. Though, I have no reference for this, at least no new Who episodes. Hmm, now I have major thoughts... :-D

[scarfman]

Depends. It didn't translate the aboriginal Australian in Four to Doomsday.

[goldy-dollar.livejournal.com]

Love! :D

I adored Rose's insistence that the Doctor would be coming back for her ("Right. Always wait five and a half hours!"), and then her resolve to get her own self out.

And - omg! Suspicious!Mal. It's so cute! Heh. It's the Doctor. No, the TENTH DOCTOR. Maybe he'd cuddle Inara to death or something. *G*

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

The Doctor always comes back. It's just a matter of how long he takes. Just look at Sarah Jane. :-D

Ten and Inara cuddling. Hee! Maybe that would be cause enough for Mal to dislike the Doctor. ;-)

[sunstar77.livejournal.com]

Poor confused Rose. Poor confused and surly Mal. :-)

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

I actually planned to have Rose thinking she had simply traded one surly man in a brown coat for another. :-)

[sunstar77.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can see that too.