Firefly/Doctor Who crossover fic: A Different Kind of Companion (19/20)

[locker_monster]

Title: A Different Kind of Companion (19/20)
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. One chapter to go...

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. Chapter Seventeen. Chapter Eighteen.

            Rose trailed her hand along the wall of the corridor leading to the console room. The familiar feeling of the TARDIS beneath her fingers soothed her. She had lived at the flat at the Powell Estate for all of her life, but it was the TARDIS that felt more like home.

            In the console room, she found the Doctor making repairs to the time machine. He ran around the console in his usual manic manner, pushing buttons and turning dials that, even after all this time, Rose had no idea what their functions were.

            A massive shudder suddenly shook the TARDIS and Rose grabbed onto a railing just in time to steady herself. “What was that?” she asked as the time machine settled.

            The Doctor scratched the back of his head. “Nothing really. The TARDIS just broke through the ceiling of the backroom. How’s your hearing?”

            “Fine. We’re flying out of here?” Rose walked over to the console screen to look at the feed. The bar shrank to a dot in the distance as they climbed higher into the planet’s atmosphere.

            “I told you. Materialization circuit’s damaged. I’ll have to fix it before we can travel through the Time Vortex. I’ve set a course for Beaumonde; it has the best spare parts yard in this entire sector. Which means the space bazaar in the Bazool asteroid belt will have to wait.”

            “S’fine.” Rose wasn’t really listening to the Doctor. The image on the screen had her transfixed. The TARDIS was actually taking off like a real ship. She could see entire continents below them through the clouds.

            “26^th century’s not a bad century. I should take you to Ariel. You can swim in a bioluminescent lake. That’s, of course, if swimming is your thing. Never learned to swim myself. Not a lot of call for life guards back home.”

            Rose looked up from the screen and over to the Doctor. He seemed very wrapped up with the idea of swimming. “Did you ever think you might not make it back?”

            He turned his head to look at her. “Rose–”

            “I know you weren’t gone that long–”

            “Every second.”

            A smile blossomed on Rose’s face. Sitting down on the jump seat, she stared up at the central column and watched as the inside rose and fell. “How long am I gonna travel with you?”

            The Doctor sat down beside her. The answer was simple. “Forever.”

* * *

            The shuttle streaked across the desert landscape as Mal pushed the small craft to its limit. His desire to get back to Serenity was not hard to understand but Inara didn’t want the ship to fall apart before they could get there. But she kept these thoughts to herself. It wasn’t her shuttle and fairly soon returning to Serenity wouldn’t be part of her routine anymore.

            It was Mal who broke the silence first. “So where do you figure the Doctor and that girl were from? Whole time we were in those jail cells she didn’t know who or what the Alliance was.”

            “They’re…” Inara found herself hesitating. Could she say “time travellers” without sounding crazy? “They’re travellers,” she decided on.

            “With a ship that can fit in a back room.”

            “I wouldn’t define the Doctor and Rose as conventional.”

            “Yeah, more like crazy. Bungled up the meeting with Jannik, too. They ain’t the ones who have to tell the crew we’re eatin’ protein for another week.”

            It occurred to Inara in that moment that she couldn’t tell anyone about her short time with the Doctor. Even the most open-minded person on the ship wouldn’t believe that time machines existed and that she had visited a completely different solar system. What proof did she have?

            “I won’t miss the moulded protein,” Inara said softly, more to herself than to Mal.

            The shuttle let out a low whine as Mal pushed on the throttle. “Would certainly do yourself a kindness by leaving sooner.”

            Inara looked away from Mal. “I’ll begin arranging my affairs when we get back.”

Comments

[goldy-dollar.livejournal.com]

Ack. I'm behind on my feedbacking again! (But you KNOW I think you're awesome, right?)

Oh, god, this chapter is so perfect, and just so painful. The Doctor and Rose - so, so very together, to the point where the Doctor's COMMITTED, EVEN. VOLUNTARILY. Which is exactly how I see them post-Fear Her, anyway. I just want to shove them both into a protected little bubble and keep them there FOR ALL ETERNITY.

And Mal and Inara, who are in an opposite place, yet oddly NOT headed for doom. (But still with the painful.)

And I loved:

-Inara's musings on how she can't ever share what it was like to travel with the Doctor with anyone. (That so begs for a Ten/Inara follow-up. *G*)
-The TARDIS just broke through the ceiling of the backroom.
Buhahaha! I love the Doctor so much when he just does random and crazy shit, like flying the TARDIS through the roof of a building and acting all nonchalant about it. WIN.

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

That was the best part about writing this fic. Having super happy Ten and Rose and comparing that with firmly in denial Mal and Inara. The fact that Inara returns to Mal and Rose leaves the Doctor just shows that things are constantly in motion.

A follow-up, huh? Just wait for the last chapter. Or my entry for sonic_tea. :-D

[kefira.livejournal.com]

I can't believe there is only one more part. I am excited and sad all at the same time!

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Yup, one more to go. I think I'll post it earlier, in honour of Mother's Day. :-D

[sunstar77.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm sad there's only one more part. This one was good as always. :-)

[elflore.livejournal.com]

The moulded protein dialogue at the end there?

Utterly perfect Mal/Inara. Damn!

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

The great thing about Mal and Inara is that their conversations always have so much subtext. I suppose that's also the hallmark of their relationship. They never say what they mean but the hidden message is there.

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Well, all good things must come to an end, right? :-D