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theunquietgwyneth · 4 years ago

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Adventures with a rift

*based on a dream I had so if it doesn’t make much sense that’s probably why*

A new day dawns in the house, the self-named “House of Chaos”. The Doctor sits on the couch watching television while Gwen finishes drying her hair upstairs. The days always pass the same way recently. No excitement, no adventures. I can see the Doctor is getting restless, he’s repainted the fence twice and hoovered the whole house three times.

Suddenly the Doctor springs up from the couch and flies across the room to where I’m standing in the doorway. “Do you feel that? The earth’s sort of… bouncy. It’s like living inside a bouncy castle.” I look down at my feet and realise he’s right. The ground is doing something it shouldn’t. It’s moving.

“Gwen!” I yell upstairs, praying she’s turned off the hairdryer and can hear me. “Don’t you two ever stop arguing?” She responds, annoyance dripping from her voice. I curse internally, only Gwen would assume I’m arguing with someone at a time like this. “No we don’t but that’s not the issue right now” A few loud, angry thuds later, Gwen is standing at the top of the stairs looking rather uncomfortable out of her usual clothes. Dressed in a bright pink top, a thin black cardigan and black jeans, the doctor double-takes upon seeing her before mumbling out “you look nice” to which Gwen simply looks slightly uncomfortable. “Right no one is talking, this is uncomfortable. The floor is moving, is no one concerned?” Gwen looks down the stairs to the floor I’m standing on which now resembles a liquid as opposed to a floor. She turns to look at the Doctor, slowly making her down the stairs which are also slowly changing to a liquidy mess.

A noise from behind me catches my attention and I turn to see a mess of blue and purple appearing in the back garden. “Doctor- Doctor I-” He turns to me, following my line of vision until he sees what I’m seeing. By this time Gwen has made it downstairs and is also looking outside. “Shit” she mutters under her breath. Watching both their expressions change I start to wonder if I should be concerned. What Gwen says next tells me I should be.

“There is a rift in your back garden. A rift is in your back garden.” Gwen announces, sounding slightly terrified. Before I have time to question what’s happening the Doctor is in the back garden, scanning the so-called rift with his screwdriver. As Gwen and I make our way outside, struggling due to the moving floor, the Doctor is looking at his screwdriver, concern etched into his face. “How long has this been here?” he asks, sounding more serious than I’ve ever heard him. “I- I don’t know it’s never appeared before, maybe all my life?” Fear crosses his face and Gwen pipes up “What does it mean? What’s happening?”. Her voice gets a little higher with every word and the fear is audible. “Does time ever feel… different? Like it moves faster or slower than everywhere else?” the Doctor questions and I can see Gwen wondering what’s happening. “Yeah, I guess, I just assumed it was me but it does feel odd” The Doctor looks around as if trying to figure out what is happening here and Gwen is chewing her sleeve nervously. “How old are you?” the Doctor demands turning to face me. Gwen steps in front of me, sensing the rising anger coming from the Doctor. I squeeze her hand gratefully and smile at her. “I’m 19, I turned 19 a month or so ago” I respond. The Doctor stands for a moment as if trying to understand something.

“This is a rift in time… through there could be the past or the present, any day in any time period that was or ever will be” the Doctor starts before Gwen cuts him off. “We get it okay? We’re not stupid now what do we do about it!”. The Doctor stops for a second, looking slightly shocked at Gwen’s outburst. “What? Not used to being spoken back to?” I question, enjoying myself in spite of the situation at hand. Gwen looks slightly shocked but before she can speak the Doctor answers me. “No I’m not but right now that’s the least of my concerns. I need information, I need answers, I need- I need. I need to know more about this rift before it’s too late. Right now no one needs to get hurt by this, it’s small, inconsequential even but if it spreads then it won’t be those things anymore. It will be a problem.”

Gwen looks at me and for a second I’m confused but then it hits me. “The folder” I whisper and she nods. The Doctor’s eyes jump back and forth between me and Gwen, eventually settling on me “Wait there,” I tell him, turning to run back inside. As I’m leaving I hear the Doctor tell Gwen that we spend too much time together and begin to question what we do together and just for a second I wish I could stop to hear her response but right now that’s not important. Entering my bedroom, I desperately try to recall the location of the folder I’m thinking of. “Under the bed” I mutter before dropping to my knees and looking under my bed. “Bingo!” I think to myself, grabbing the folder and running back downstairs.

As I exit the house I see the Doctor look at me with a confused look on his face and Gwen won’t meet my eyes but I decide it’s a problem for another day. “I’ve been making notes in here since I was five, I don’t know what made me start but maybe it has something to help close this rift in it? There’s a whole section of just numbers.” I say, handing the folder to the Doctor. He looks at me confused but before I can do anything else he starts to flip through it. Muttering to himself, he flips through pages and pages of writing. I struggle to meet Gwen’s eyes. “You okay?” I question quietly. She nods but before I can question her any further the Doctor turns to me. “What is this?” he demands, pointing at something I’ve written. “That’s a 2, 4 and a 9, it’s the date I wrote this,” I tell him. He stops for a moment and I use this opportunity to speak to Gwen. She’s chewing her sleeve again, never a good sign.

“Gwen, what’s happening here?” I ask gently. She shrugs, “I don’t know, he talks a lot but none of it makes sense. He says it has something to do with you and that this was always going to end this way but truthfully I don’t understand half of what he’s said. I just hope that it has everything he needs in it.” I take her hand, squeezing it gently. The Doctor turns back to look at us and hands me his screwdriver. “You need to push that button and point it at the rift, it’s already programmed to close the rift but you have to do it.” Taking the screwdriver I turn to face the rift, trying to hide how scared I am and do as the Doctor says. The rift gets smaller and for a second I think it’s over but then it stops shrinking. “Keep going,” the Doctor urges. I shift position to show him that I haven’t stopped. “Something’s missing, it’s got to be or that would’ve worked” I hear him say and from his voice, I can tell he is running his hands through his hair as he speaks.

Gwen speaks up, so quietly I almost don’t hear her at first. “Have you put anything in today?” she whispers. I shake my head, realising I haven’t had the chance to yet. The Doctor gasps, “numbers, I need those numbers. And that screwdriver” I hand him the screwdriver and stop for a second. “Um- um I don’t know” I whisper. Gwen grabs my hands, looks me in the eyes and whispers “I love you okay? You can do this” She leans in and kisses my forehead. I smile at her, not knowing what to say and she smiles back.

Turning to the Doctor I take a breath and reel off a list of numbers and words that I don’t remember thinking. The Doctor plays with the screwdriver before handing it back to me. “As you were, “ he tells me. Taking the screwdriver from him I point it at the now tiny rift and push the same button as earlier. The rift shrivels up smaller and smaller before seemingly turning in on itself and disappearing completely.

“Is it gone?” I hear Gwen ask. Still staring at the spot the rift was in, I sense that there is movement behind me but I keep staring. I can hear the conversations, I hear the Doctor confirm it’s gone and Gwen sighs in relief but I still can’t seem to move. “Is she alright?” I hear the Doctor ask and Gwen responds but I can’t make it out. Suddenly I find myself moving and yet I keep staring at the spot. Entering the house snaps me out of my reverie and I realise Gwen is carrying me. I glance around, looking for the Doctor. The Doctor appears in my eye line with a look on his face I don’t quite recognise. It almost looks like fear, maybe apprehension. But as quick as it appears it goes again. Gwen puts me down on the sofa and I instinctively pull my legs up, allowing her to sit also. The Doctor sits on the floor, one thing that quickly became clear when this house-sharing situation began, is that he doesn’t do well with conformity and that extends to sitting on chairs.

For a few minutes, silence reigns over the scene. Then the Doctor speaks. “Are you okay?” he asks, hesitantly. I sit up, trying to come up with a witty response but there’s nothing. “I don’t know” I respond truthfully, realising how shaky my voice sounds but not caring enough to do anything about it. I sense movement from the end of the sofa and realise Gwen is shifting, seemingly unable to sit still. “Do you two know something I don’t?” I ask, sitting up. The Doctor has a look on his face and it’s not one I like. “If this involves me in some way I’d like to know. That was not human and you are both sitting here keeping things from me” I snap. Gwen looks taken aback and keeps glancing over at the Doctor.

The Doctor sighs and gets to his feet. I shift position, steadying myself and preparing for the Doctor to speak. “Before I start, I need you to promise me that you won’t blame anyone for this, not me, not Gwen, not yourself. Because this is no one’s fault.” I nod, reaching out for Gwen’s hand which she takes. “So, how to explain this” the Doctor starts. I glance up at him but I find myself unable to meet his gaze. “You’re right, that’s not human. It’s a rift in space and time. And all that means is somewhere in the whole wibbly-wobbly earth timeline something has gone wrong and the rift tries to compensate for it. Now obviously you can’t leave that wide open like that but they need a specific set of numbers that correspond with some other numbers that are part of the rift to work together to sort of mesh everything back together and repair that rift or else it just gets bigger. Usually, the person who opens that rift knows what they’re doing and has the numbers to close it. But this one was different, it’s been sort of building up for years and using you in a way. Not necessarily as a bad thing but someone has been using you to note down the numbers needed to close this thing. Now I’ve been around you long enough to be certain that this hasn’t damaged you in any way. You’re not part alien or monster, you’re as human as Gwen is and that’s what’s confusing. But it’s a good thing. You’re the same person as you would always have been, the only difference is that you just saved the world by writing down some numbers and words” The Doctor pauses for a second and it gives me a chance to process everything. Gwen doesn’t look as shocked as I feel and for a second I think she must be in on this. Then she speaks. “What, and I cannot stress this enough, the hell are you on about?” I can’t help but laugh at her comment and even the Doctor manages a smile.

“Did Jack not teach you anything?” the Doctor teases. Gwen scowls, “My first day he left Owen Harper alone with a young girl who had been taken over by alien pheromones that made her so irresistible I sort of snogged her.” She responds and the Doctor’s face takes on an expression I’ve never seen before, but Gwen continues before he can speak. “Don’t worry though, Owen got what was coming to him. She’s fine, back home with her friends, she thinks she had a little too much to drink one night and doesn’t remember a thing” The Doctor looks Gwen up and down and a glint appears in his eyes. “Don’t suppose you remember the creature's name do you? I’m assuming Jack bothered to tell you what you were up against if he even knew” he asks. Gwen nods, “I have notes on most of the creatures we faced, they’re a bit sketchy when it comes to the 456 because, well Ianto kept the best notes and he’s, well he’s not alive anymore but all the others I have records of” The Doctor nods and I cough quietly, trying to remind the others that I’m there. They turn to me and then back to each other. “Let’s do it,” they say in unison.

#doctorwho #gwencooper #torchwoodxdoctorwhokindoff #dreams

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