Entry tags:
FIC: The Rutan Relics - Epilogue
Title: The Rutan Relics - Epilogue
Author: Me
Beta-Reader:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alouzon
Fandom: Doctor Who/M*A*S*H
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1759
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all its characters belong to the BBC; M*A*S*H and all its characters belong to Twentieth Century Fox. I own nothing - not even the Fourteenth Doctor.
Summary: The Doctor returns to a place he has visited in the past to stop some old enemies from recovering something that is best left forgotten.
Warning: Spoilers for Abyssinia, Henry/Welcome to Korea.
Epilogue
It felt good to be back in his normal clothes after a long day wearing itchy fatigues, Jamie thought as he adjusted the kerchief around his neck in front of the mirror. Sure, these had been slightly more comfortable than the uniforms he had to wear in the past (who in their right mind had thought that wearing leather - or, even worse, rubber - was a good idea?), but they still did not feel right.
As he walked down the corridor back to the console room, Jamie's thoughts focused on Victoria once again. The Doctor had told him, in order not to disturb her timeline it was best to set the TARDIS to arrive sometime after the last time the Time Lord had encountered Victoria, which was when the lass had visited her (him?) in the hospital ward at UNIT HQ after her third regeneration. "Maybe it would be a good idea if we go there after the last time that particular regeneration dealt with UNIT," she added, "when there was that nasty business with the android invasion. Just to avoid confusion, you see. We might need their assistance to get Hye some new documentation."
Jamie had agreed with this. If it had been up to him, they would have found Victoria only a few weeks after she had left them - just enough time for her to miss them and change her mind. However, he could see that the Doctor was right - if the two of them had been meeting on a regular basis during the Doctor's exile, it would probably cause some serious confusion (the Doctor had said something about the universe going "Poof!") to remove Victoria from that timeline before those encounters had happened.
He considered what the Doctor had told him about the exile. The grey-haired Doctor had spent five years (apart from some occasional long journeys through time and space after the exile had been lifted and Jo Grant had married) working for UNIT. During these five years he and Victoria had often met for tea and to reminisce about the old days. This, of course, meant that Victoria had aged five years, while Jamie had only aged three - the year he and the Doctor had spent travelling with Zoe, and the two years he had been living in France with his memories erased. He wondered how much she had changed, and for a brief moment wondered if the Doctor was right when she said the lass would probably not want to join them again. However, he quickly brushed away that thought. Of course she would - after five years, she was probably bored to tears and wanted nothing more than to return to a live of adventure and excitement.
It was with these comforting thoughts that Jamie entered the console room. Hye was already there, packing some articles of clothing in the time capsule. Having explored the TARDIS wardrobe during the time Jamie had showered and taken a short nap, she was now wearing a black linen outfit consisting of loose-fitting trousers and a high-collared tunic. The outfit, which was still reminiscent of the style of the villagers' clothes, looked much more comfortable and practical than the dress she had been wearing until then.
Hye stood up the moment she noticed Jamie's arrival. "Oh, hello," she said, beaming. "Is the Doctor-" She trailed off, and stood staring at the Highlander's bare knees with a surprised expression.
"What is it?" Jamie asked, confused.
"Klinger has a skirt that looks just like yours," the lass blurted out.
"Hey," he exclaimed truculently, "I'll have you know this is a kilt!"
"What's the difference between a kilt and a skirt?" she asked, clearly surprised that Jamie was taking offence at her comment.
Before Jamie could answer, the Doctor's voice rang out behind them, "Now, children, don't argue."
They turned to look at her, and Jamie's mouth opened in astonishment. The Doctor was wearing a red top with a black shirt underneath, and a small dark skirt short enough to give Victoria a seizure. Her legs were completely covered by a long pair of eye-catching black-and-white striped socks, and a pair of red leather boots.
"Well?" the Doctor asked, noticing his shocked silence. "How do I look?"
"Is that what they wear in the future?" Hye asked doubtfully.
"In some parts of it, yes. Not as colourful, granted, but I doubt I'll stick out much."
Hye nodded her approval. "Well, I like it. I mean, I don't know if I could wear it, but I like it."
Jamie nodded, still stunned. "Aye, it's verrae nice." He doubted the Doctor's claim that it wouldn't get noticed, but considering what that other Doctor had first worn when he met him on the space station, he decided to keep his thoughts to himself.
The Doctor moved towards the console, paused, and suddenly turned towards her companions. "I've just remembered something. This is 1988!"
"Aye, you'd said so earlier," said Jamie. "What of it, then?"
"This is the year South Korea held the Olympic Games."
Jamie shrugged, but Hye's eyes widened in delighted surprise. "Really?"
The Doctor nodded. "So I was thinking... Before we drop Hye off in her new timeline, what about if we show her just how well the rest of the country progressed after the war?" She looked at Jamie. "What do you think?"
"Well..." Jamie hesitated. On the one hand, he really wanted to see Victoria. On the other, the Doctor was batting her eyelashes and giving him her most disarming smile again, while Hye looked at him pleadingly. He sighed, defeated. "Och, all right," he relented. "Will it take long, I wonder?"
"We'll just watch the opening ceremony," the Doctor promised, pressing a few buttons and switches on the console, while Hye jumped up and down in excitement. "I would have liked to watch the women's marathon again, but there's a chance I might encounter one of my past selves, and you know how that turns out."
"Will we watch it here?" Jamie asked, pointing at the scanner.
"Certainly not," the Doctor said. "We'll go to the Olympic stadium and see it live."
"Won't we be turned away when we try to go in?" Hye questioned.
The Doctor seemed to be insulted at the suggestion. "Of course we won't! I'm allowed everywhere!" She pulled a lever, and they felt the TARDIS shudder as it dematerialized. "Next stop, Seoul," the Doctor said, smiling at her friends.
Jamie grinned back. Seeing the excitement on Hye and the Doctor's faces made him look forward to seeing what the Olympic Games were like and if the opening ceremony was as exciting an event as the Doctor tried to make it seem. He was certain that since the Doctor had already decided on the date they would show up on Victoria's doorstep, another small detour would do no harm. Although the Doctor had often enough told him that time was relative, he couldn't help but wonder what she was doing right now...
***
Victoria sat on the sofa, and put her feet up. It had been an exhausting yet exhilarating day; she never thought teaching could be so exciting. Not for the first time in her life, she wondered what her father would have thought if he could see her now. Or maybe the Doctor - either of her Doctors, that is. The first one would probably have rubbed his hands together and given her the warmest of smiles, while the second would look at her the same way her father used to (most likely why she warmed up so quickly towards him when he first arrived at the Harrises to see her, she thought). The newest one, all teeth and curls and manic energy, whom she had recently met at the UNIT Headquarters, still felt like a bit of a stranger to her (he had called her Vicki, much to her distaste but she hadn't corrected him, seeing how he was still recovering). Nevertheless, she was sure she'd like him the moment he was himself again - he was the Doctor, after all.
She was lost in these thoughts when unexpectedly, she heard the sudden, alarming sound of glass shattering in the kitchen. Some kids playing outside broke my window with their cricket-ball, she thought. Or maybe it's a prowler, she suddenly concluded with a twinge of panic, as she realized it sounded more like a glass being dropped than a pane being smashed. Mentally reprimanding herself for not locking the kitchen door, she jumped from the sofa and armed herself with a large, wooden African statue Maggie Harris had given her for her twentieth birthday; an excellent weapon with which to defend herself, though she hoped it wouldn't come to that. Anyone breaking in while it was still light and making such noise probably thought the house was empty, and hopefully would be unarmed and easily routed.
She crept on tiptoe down the corridor towards the kitchen, her heart jumping wildly. Please let it be a cricket-ball, she thought to herself, hoping against hope that her first impression had not been wrong after all. She peered through the kitchen door, and her blood froze. What she saw in front of her was not a cricket-ball or a prowler, but something she hoped she would never see again. It stood, silver and menacing, staring at her with its blank, impassionate face - a face that looked slightly different from what she remembered, but which was nevertheless unmistakable.
"Victoria Waterfield," its metallic voice rasped. It was not a question. "You are required. You will come with me. Do not resist." It stepped towards her. A blind panic took over Victoria's mind, and she found herself doing what she knew was the most stupid and pointless thing she could have done: with all her might, she raised the statue in her hands and struck the creature on the side of the head with it. To her surprise, the blow managed to separate the creature's head from the rest of the body with a loud crack, which made her gasp. She could have sworn they were much more resistant than that.
But whatever relief she felt soon dissipated, as the creature's body still stood upright, and was now stretching its hands out to grab her. "You will come with me," she heard the severed head repeat from where it now lay upside-down by the icebox. "Victoria Waterfield. Do not resist. You will come with me. You are required. Victoria Water-"
She screamed.
Author: Me
Beta-Reader:
alouzonFandom: Doctor Who/M*A*S*H
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1759
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all its characters belong to the BBC; M*A*S*H and all its characters belong to Twentieth Century Fox. I own nothing - not even the Fourteenth Doctor.
Summary: The Doctor returns to a place he has visited in the past to stop some old enemies from recovering something that is best left forgotten.
Warning: Spoilers for Abyssinia, Henry/Welcome to Korea.
It felt good to be back in his normal clothes after a long day wearing itchy fatigues, Jamie thought as he adjusted the kerchief around his neck in front of the mirror. Sure, these had been slightly more comfortable than the uniforms he had to wear in the past (who in their right mind had thought that wearing leather - or, even worse, rubber - was a good idea?), but they still did not feel right.
As he walked down the corridor back to the console room, Jamie's thoughts focused on Victoria once again. The Doctor had told him, in order not to disturb her timeline it was best to set the TARDIS to arrive sometime after the last time the Time Lord had encountered Victoria, which was when the lass had visited her (him?) in the hospital ward at UNIT HQ after her third regeneration. "Maybe it would be a good idea if we go there after the last time that particular regeneration dealt with UNIT," she added, "when there was that nasty business with the android invasion. Just to avoid confusion, you see. We might need their assistance to get Hye some new documentation."
Jamie had agreed with this. If it had been up to him, they would have found Victoria only a few weeks after she had left them - just enough time for her to miss them and change her mind. However, he could see that the Doctor was right - if the two of them had been meeting on a regular basis during the Doctor's exile, it would probably cause some serious confusion (the Doctor had said something about the universe going "Poof!") to remove Victoria from that timeline before those encounters had happened.
He considered what the Doctor had told him about the exile. The grey-haired Doctor had spent five years (apart from some occasional long journeys through time and space after the exile had been lifted and Jo Grant had married) working for UNIT. During these five years he and Victoria had often met for tea and to reminisce about the old days. This, of course, meant that Victoria had aged five years, while Jamie had only aged three - the year he and the Doctor had spent travelling with Zoe, and the two years he had been living in France with his memories erased. He wondered how much she had changed, and for a brief moment wondered if the Doctor was right when she said the lass would probably not want to join them again. However, he quickly brushed away that thought. Of course she would - after five years, she was probably bored to tears and wanted nothing more than to return to a live of adventure and excitement.
It was with these comforting thoughts that Jamie entered the console room. Hye was already there, packing some articles of clothing in the time capsule. Having explored the TARDIS wardrobe during the time Jamie had showered and taken a short nap, she was now wearing a black linen outfit consisting of loose-fitting trousers and a high-collared tunic. The outfit, which was still reminiscent of the style of the villagers' clothes, looked much more comfortable and practical than the dress she had been wearing until then.
Hye stood up the moment she noticed Jamie's arrival. "Oh, hello," she said, beaming. "Is the Doctor-" She trailed off, and stood staring at the Highlander's bare knees with a surprised expression.
"What is it?" Jamie asked, confused.
"Klinger has a skirt that looks just like yours," the lass blurted out.
"Hey," he exclaimed truculently, "I'll have you know this is a kilt!"
"What's the difference between a kilt and a skirt?" she asked, clearly surprised that Jamie was taking offence at her comment.
Before Jamie could answer, the Doctor's voice rang out behind them, "Now, children, don't argue."
They turned to look at her, and Jamie's mouth opened in astonishment. The Doctor was wearing a red top with a black shirt underneath, and a small dark skirt short enough to give Victoria a seizure. Her legs were completely covered by a long pair of eye-catching black-and-white striped socks, and a pair of red leather boots.
"Well?" the Doctor asked, noticing his shocked silence. "How do I look?"
"Is that what they wear in the future?" Hye asked doubtfully.
"In some parts of it, yes. Not as colourful, granted, but I doubt I'll stick out much."
Hye nodded her approval. "Well, I like it. I mean, I don't know if I could wear it, but I like it."
Jamie nodded, still stunned. "Aye, it's verrae nice." He doubted the Doctor's claim that it wouldn't get noticed, but considering what that other Doctor had first worn when he met him on the space station, he decided to keep his thoughts to himself.
The Doctor moved towards the console, paused, and suddenly turned towards her companions. "I've just remembered something. This is 1988!"
"Aye, you'd said so earlier," said Jamie. "What of it, then?"
"This is the year South Korea held the Olympic Games."
Jamie shrugged, but Hye's eyes widened in delighted surprise. "Really?"
The Doctor nodded. "So I was thinking... Before we drop Hye off in her new timeline, what about if we show her just how well the rest of the country progressed after the war?" She looked at Jamie. "What do you think?"
"Well..." Jamie hesitated. On the one hand, he really wanted to see Victoria. On the other, the Doctor was batting her eyelashes and giving him her most disarming smile again, while Hye looked at him pleadingly. He sighed, defeated. "Och, all right," he relented. "Will it take long, I wonder?"
"We'll just watch the opening ceremony," the Doctor promised, pressing a few buttons and switches on the console, while Hye jumped up and down in excitement. "I would have liked to watch the women's marathon again, but there's a chance I might encounter one of my past selves, and you know how that turns out."
"Will we watch it here?" Jamie asked, pointing at the scanner.
"Certainly not," the Doctor said. "We'll go to the Olympic stadium and see it live."
"Won't we be turned away when we try to go in?" Hye questioned.
The Doctor seemed to be insulted at the suggestion. "Of course we won't! I'm allowed everywhere!" She pulled a lever, and they felt the TARDIS shudder as it dematerialized. "Next stop, Seoul," the Doctor said, smiling at her friends.
Jamie grinned back. Seeing the excitement on Hye and the Doctor's faces made him look forward to seeing what the Olympic Games were like and if the opening ceremony was as exciting an event as the Doctor tried to make it seem. He was certain that since the Doctor had already decided on the date they would show up on Victoria's doorstep, another small detour would do no harm. Although the Doctor had often enough told him that time was relative, he couldn't help but wonder what she was doing right now...
Victoria sat on the sofa, and put her feet up. It had been an exhausting yet exhilarating day; she never thought teaching could be so exciting. Not for the first time in her life, she wondered what her father would have thought if he could see her now. Or maybe the Doctor - either of her Doctors, that is. The first one would probably have rubbed his hands together and given her the warmest of smiles, while the second would look at her the same way her father used to (most likely why she warmed up so quickly towards him when he first arrived at the Harrises to see her, she thought). The newest one, all teeth and curls and manic energy, whom she had recently met at the UNIT Headquarters, still felt like a bit of a stranger to her (he had called her Vicki, much to her distaste but she hadn't corrected him, seeing how he was still recovering). Nevertheless, she was sure she'd like him the moment he was himself again - he was the Doctor, after all.
She was lost in these thoughts when unexpectedly, she heard the sudden, alarming sound of glass shattering in the kitchen. Some kids playing outside broke my window with their cricket-ball, she thought. Or maybe it's a prowler, she suddenly concluded with a twinge of panic, as she realized it sounded more like a glass being dropped than a pane being smashed. Mentally reprimanding herself for not locking the kitchen door, she jumped from the sofa and armed herself with a large, wooden African statue Maggie Harris had given her for her twentieth birthday; an excellent weapon with which to defend herself, though she hoped it wouldn't come to that. Anyone breaking in while it was still light and making such noise probably thought the house was empty, and hopefully would be unarmed and easily routed.
She crept on tiptoe down the corridor towards the kitchen, her heart jumping wildly. Please let it be a cricket-ball, she thought to herself, hoping against hope that her first impression had not been wrong after all. She peered through the kitchen door, and her blood froze. What she saw in front of her was not a cricket-ball or a prowler, but something she hoped she would never see again. It stood, silver and menacing, staring at her with its blank, impassionate face - a face that looked slightly different from what she remembered, but which was nevertheless unmistakable.
"Victoria Waterfield," its metallic voice rasped. It was not a question. "You are required. You will come with me. Do not resist." It stepped towards her. A blind panic took over Victoria's mind, and she found herself doing what she knew was the most stupid and pointless thing she could have done: with all her might, she raised the statue in her hands and struck the creature on the side of the head with it. To her surprise, the blow managed to separate the creature's head from the rest of the body with a loud crack, which made her gasp. She could have sworn they were much more resistant than that.
But whatever relief she felt soon dissipated, as the creature's body still stood upright, and was now stretching its hands out to grab her. "You will come with me," she heard the severed head repeat from where it now lay upside-down by the icebox. "Victoria Waterfield. Do not resist. You will come with me. You are required. Victoria Water-"
She screamed.