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shinealightonmeTitle: pay no attention to that man inside the mirror
Fandom: Doctor Who/Heroes
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Nine, Claude; gen
Summary: A crash landing leads to misunderstandings.
Author's Note: written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
xoverland, for the Doppelganger challenge (actor: Christopher Eccleston).
The damage from the War sends the Tardis hurtling through time, space, and dimensions it was never meant to cross, while inside, the last Time Lord dies.
The Doctor regenerates, and wishes that he hadn't.
The Tardis is chiming a warning, though, and he can't let her down, so he drags himself to the console.
He catches sight of his new face, a faint reflection off a dark-lit screen, and turns away.
It takes him a moment to understand the readings the Tardis is giving him. There's no one there to ask what it means, and he speaks aloud to ward off the emptiness.
"Alternate universe. Fantastic."
-
The noise is faint, but underestimating strange things on the edge of his senses is the kind of mistake Claude can't afford to make.
He investigates, and of all the things he'd expected to find, a British police call box didn't even make the list. Claude circles it twice before trying the door. It won't open, but he's patient.
-
The Doctor works out how to get back to his own universe before giving in to the temptation to step outside, see what's there, what this place is like.
What he finds outside is the worst possible thing.
Himself.
-
Claude nearly swears when he sees who steps out of the box – bloody shape shifters.
But that's not it, because how could this shape shifter know what he looks like? The shape shifter is looking, impossibly, right at him, and the shock of it keeps Claude from reaching for his taser.
-
Maybe he's imagining things. Maybe this face is so new that he's seeing it everywhere.
Or maybe he's gone insane. Who could blame him?
"You can see me?" Other-Doctor asks.
"Course I can see you. You're not doing a very good job of hiding yourself."
-
"It usually works," Claude replies, thinking what to do now that he's lost the element of surprise. He's not sure he can do anything, if this is the kind of target with a bag full of tricks. "But this isn't quite usual, is it? How'd you get that here?"
"Bit of an accident, really," the shape shifter says. "Don't suppose I can stay here if you're around."
"Don't go dashing off on my account," Claude replies.
"You'll be fine. You've still got more like us around, haven't you?"
Claude tries not to think of vivisections. "For all the good it does me, yeah."
"You would see it that way."
"What do you know about it?"
He rolls his eyes, which annoys Claude further. "Look, the longer we're both here, the more potential this has to become really disastrous. I think it's about time I left."
"Wait!" The shape shifter is back inside before Claude can catch him, and he's forced to step away as the box makes ominous whirring noises and vanishes.
Claude has no idea how he's going to explain this to the Company. And maybe, he thinks, he doesn't even want to.
Fandom: Doctor Who/Heroes
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Nine, Claude; gen
Summary: A crash landing leads to misunderstandings.
Author's Note: written for
xoverland, for the Doppelganger challenge (actor: Christopher Eccleston).The damage from the War sends the Tardis hurtling through time, space, and dimensions it was never meant to cross, while inside, the last Time Lord dies.
The Doctor regenerates, and wishes that he hadn't.
The Tardis is chiming a warning, though, and he can't let her down, so he drags himself to the console.
He catches sight of his new face, a faint reflection off a dark-lit screen, and turns away.
It takes him a moment to understand the readings the Tardis is giving him. There's no one there to ask what it means, and he speaks aloud to ward off the emptiness.
"Alternate universe. Fantastic."
-
The noise is faint, but underestimating strange things on the edge of his senses is the kind of mistake Claude can't afford to make.
He investigates, and of all the things he'd expected to find, a British police call box didn't even make the list. Claude circles it twice before trying the door. It won't open, but he's patient.
-
The Doctor works out how to get back to his own universe before giving in to the temptation to step outside, see what's there, what this place is like.
What he finds outside is the worst possible thing.
Himself.
-
Claude nearly swears when he sees who steps out of the box – bloody shape shifters.
But that's not it, because how could this shape shifter know what he looks like? The shape shifter is looking, impossibly, right at him, and the shock of it keeps Claude from reaching for his taser.
-
Maybe he's imagining things. Maybe this face is so new that he's seeing it everywhere.
Or maybe he's gone insane. Who could blame him?
"You can see me?" Other-Doctor asks.
"Course I can see you. You're not doing a very good job of hiding yourself."
-
"It usually works," Claude replies, thinking what to do now that he's lost the element of surprise. He's not sure he can do anything, if this is the kind of target with a bag full of tricks. "But this isn't quite usual, is it? How'd you get that here?"
"Bit of an accident, really," the shape shifter says. "Don't suppose I can stay here if you're around."
"Don't go dashing off on my account," Claude replies.
"You'll be fine. You've still got more like us around, haven't you?"
Claude tries not to think of vivisections. "For all the good it does me, yeah."
"You would see it that way."
"What do you know about it?"
He rolls his eyes, which annoys Claude further. "Look, the longer we're both here, the more potential this has to become really disastrous. I think it's about time I left."
"Wait!" The shape shifter is back inside before Claude can catch him, and he's forced to step away as the box makes ominous whirring noises and vanishes.
Claude has no idea how he's going to explain this to the Company. And maybe, he thinks, he doesn't even want to.
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no subject
on 2010-06-01 09:04 am (UTC)You should see if your professor likes it, though. The power of Claude is awfully compelling. She might give you an A.
no subject
on 2010-06-01 09:08 am (UTC)(Claude is compelling. I like to pretend sometimes that he got a spinoff, and that it didn't suck.)
no subject
on 2010-06-01 09:15 am (UTC)I think that formatting your AU fic in a "Choose Your Own Adventure" style would really show your deep comprehension of the original work.
(A good dream.)
no subject
on 2010-06-01 09:17 am (UTC)Hm, an interesting idea, but no - Greek myth is all about zomg your choices mean nothing because there is FAAAAATE.
(It helps me get by on cold winter nights)
stupid html. I will beat you one of these days.
no subject
on 2010-06-01 09:22 am (UTC)EXACTLY. No matter what choices you make, you always end up back on page 8! [rocks fall, everyone dies/your crew are all turned into pigs/you sleep with your mother & put out your own eyes/etc]
no subject
on 2010-06-02 08:10 am (UTC)LOL, the best thing about these stories is that, not only do you not have the power to make your decisions, even, but it's STILL somehow All Your Fault for doing what you were forced into doing. (I love Greek mythology, but some of it hurts my brain, like Zeus going into labor)