Firefly/Doctor Who crossover fic: A Different Kind of Companion (17/20)

[locker_monster]

Title: A Different Kind of Companion (17/20)
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. And beware, technobabble lies within.

Chapter One. Chapter Two. Chapter Three. Chapter Four. Chapter Five. Chapter Six. Chapter Seven. Chapter Eight. Chapter Nine. Chapter Ten. Chapter Eleven. Chapter Twelve. Chapter Thirteen. Chapter Fourteen. Chapter Fifteen. Chapter Sixteen.

            Inara quickly decided to sit in the jump seat, her hands gripping the sides hard enough that her nails sunk into the fabric. The Doctor threw a switch and the whole of the TARDIS shuddered violently. Inara tightened her grip, her stomach doing flip-flops. There had been times when Serenity had hit turbulence while entering atmo, but it had never been this severe. When it seemed like the TARDIS might shake itself apart, it all came to a stop with a heavy thud.

            The lights in the room flickered once. Inara gradually loosened her hold on the jump seat, as if fearful the TARDIS might give another shake. She looked to the Doctor.

            He removed the sonic screwdriver from the console. “We’re back.” Pocketing the small device he grabbed his coat from the railing and slipped it on. “Hopefully Rose and your friend haven’t wandered too far.”

            “We’ve only been gone for a few minutes from their perspective. Right?” Inara slipped off the jump seat and slowly made her way to the TARDIS doors.

            “Oh, you’d be surprised.”

            At the doors, Inara hesitated. She placed her hand on the surface but she couldn’t continue through. Had they landed in the right place and time? Anything could have been on the other side. But even in her uncertainty, she could see what the Doctor was talking about. The unknown was enticing.

            She pulled the doors open.

            The back room was the same as before. The same shelves and cans of food and kegs of alcohol were all there. Inara stepped out of the TARDIS and breathed in the dusty smell she always associated with the rural towns she visited. This was real.

            “Nothing can stop you,” she heard the Doctor whisper to the TARDIS as he locked the doors. He treated his ship with such affection. Inara couldn’t help but smile.

            “Hello there.”

            A deep male voice caused Inara to turn. A middle-aged man stood in the doorway between the back room and the bar. With the holster on his thigh and the air of authority he commanded, she assumed he was local law enforcement, maybe even the sheriff. He didn’t appear pleased.

            “No one’s supposed to be back here,” the officer said in a commanding voice.

            Immediately Inara thought of using her status as a Companion to get them out of the situation, but the Doctor quickly stepped in front of her, brandishing a small leather wallet. “We have every right to be back here. Don’t you recognize your superior officer when you see ’em?”

            She caught a glimpse of the inside of the wallet as the officer stepped forward to examine it. It was blank, but the man seemed impressed, even a little awed.

“I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t realize you had been called in.”

            “Honest mistake. The lines of communication out here aren’t very reliable. Now, tell me what you’ve done so far.” The Doctor slipped the wallet back into his pocket, giving Inara a subtle wink in the brief moment he was turned away from the officer.

            “I have men conducting interviews and the man and the young woman we apprehended were taken into custody.”

            “I’d liked to question them myself.”

            “Then you’d better hurry, sir. The Alliance arrived a few minutes ago to transfer them into their detention.”

“Rose,” said the Doctor, and then he was off and running. Inara followed after him, dodging around the officer who watched them leave with a confused expression.

            Inara paused in shock as she emerged from the back room into the bar. Jannik still lay sprawled on the floor, his complexion a pasty bluish-white. Faustus lay nearby, hand still clutched lifelessly around his gun. It was a bloody carnage. Had Mal and Rose made it out all right, she wondered, her eyes scanning the bodies frantically for the recognizable brown coat.

            A familiar object on the floor caught Inara’s eye. She snatched it up, the weight of it in her hands letting her know it was real. It was Mal’s pistol. He wouldn’t part with it unless he had a good reason.

            “Inara!” The Doctor was far ahead of her, looking frantically back over his shoulder. She quickened her pace, her grip tightening around Mal’s gun.

            “Where are we going?” she asked the Doctor as she tried to keep pace with him, running in sandals and a dress making it difficult.

            “Uh…” The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver and twisted the section around the middle. The blue light lit up and began to pulsate. He swept the sonic screwdriver around in front of him until the blue light began to pulse faster. “There! It’s picking up the signal from Rose’s TARDIS key.” The Doctor reached out and took hold of Inara’s hand.

            Together they ran past buildings, eliciting stares from the townspeople. Inara’s heart pounded from more than just the exertion of running as they rounded a corner and she heard Mal’s voice, the urgency of his shout unmistakable.

            At last, the captain came into view. He was being held by an Alliance officer who was trying his hardest to restrain him. And Rose was…

            Rose was on the ground, a gun pointed at her head by a second officer.

            The Doctor brandished his sonic screwdriver, pointing it at the second Alliance officer. Inara had no idea what the Doctor thought he could do with the little tool from this distance, but she knew Mal’s pistol could certainly do some damage. Freeing her hand from the Doctor’s grasp, she raised the gun and took aim at the officer standing over Rose and–

            The Doctor activated the sonic screwdriver.

Comments

[thegiantkiller.livejournal.com]

Oh, the suspense! You get inside Inara's head so effectively that my own pulse is elevated just reading this.

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

First off, icon love! I just got the first season of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends on DVD and Eduardo is my favourite character. Anyway, now that's out of the way... :-D

I've always struggled with getting characters' voices right so I'm happy to hear that it reads like Inara.

[pescivendolo.livejournal.com]

ACK! Cliffhanger of doom!!!

I don't know if I've commented yet, but I've been reading and enjoying this thoroughly.

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying this.

Yup, a cliffhanger of doom. We're getting towards the end here so the fic's got to go out fighting. ;-)

[scarfman]

How many cliffhangers are you going to milk out of that gun at Rose's head? :D

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

As many as I can, uh, I mean... Bunnies? ;-)

Actually, the next chapter continues right from the end of this chapter. I just split it up because I didn't want an overly long chapter.

[ertheuponerthe.livejournal.com]

GAH! Cliffhanger! I should've expected it, but still! Great post, btw. I'm anxious to see what happens next. :D

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

This is the last cliffhanger. I think. :-D

[kefira.livejournal.com]

You are so evil with that cliffhangers! This is a good one and I can't wait for more! I am loving this :)

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

I didn't write the fic with the intent purpose of having cliffhangers every other chapter, but they are fun to have. This should be the last one so no more evil. :-D

[honorh.livejournal.com]

*wibble* Updatey?

You've a way with action. That was very tense and real. I pity the officer pointing a gun at Rose; you just don't *do* that!

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Funny you should say that because I hate writing action. It never seems as suspenseful as I envision it.

And the Doctor's on the scene so you know he's going to save the day. :-D

[ohvienna.livejournal.com]

AWESOME cliffhanger!

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Thanks! There seems to be a split: people who like the cliffhangers and people who don't.

[goldy-dollar.livejournal.com]

Oh, my god! Have I mentioned yet how much I LOVE and ADORE this fic?

I love: The Doctor's affectionate whispering to the TARDIS, him winking at Inara after using the psychic paper, and THAT THEY HELD HANDS. :)

Also: OH MY GOD ROSE, NOOOOOO.

I don't really know what the Doctor's going to do with the sonic screwdriver, but I really hope it's something heroic and life saving. *G*

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

I wasn't sure if I wanted the Doctor and Inara to be holding hands as they ran. That's totally a Doctor/Rose thing, but I suppose the context is different.

Of course the Doctor will do something heroic. He can't not. :-D

[randomdent.livejournal.com]

Sonic screwdriver to the rescue! Although I'm not sure what he's going to do with it either. Your Inara POV is so spot on, I love it. And I can just see the Doctor scrambling around to find Rose.

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

I hope it's not cheesy. The sonic screwdriver always gets flak because it seems like it gets the Doctor out of any situation.

If the Doctor's scrambling then you know the situation is dire. And because it's Rose. :-D

[live-brave.livejournal.com]

Ah! Not a cliffhanger!! Well, no matter, I can't wait to see how it's all wrapped up. :D

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Wow, I didn't realize I wrote so many cliffhangers. I guess you don't notice those kinds of things when you're writing the story straight through. And just imagine if I had been posting this fic as I wrote it. There would have been huge gaps between parts. :-)

[jpgr.livejournal.com]

I always smile when I see a new installment. Ugh, only 3 more to go? Makes me think I should get writing again. Fab job and can't wait to see how you pull it together

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Yeah, only three more. I hope the ending isn't anti-climatic. :-D

Crossovers are always good. Can never have enough Doctor Who/Firefly crossovers. :-D

[jpgr.livejournal.com]

I mainly do crossovers myself. I've only done a couple Firefly fics, short ones at that. Hm, maybe if the right idea comes to me...

[sunstar77.livejournal.com]

Doctor to the rescue!

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Naturally. :-D