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crack_van2010-07-07 10:34 pm
beatrice_otter) wrote in crack_van2010-07-07 10:34 pm
Entry tags:
Suddenly a Small Fish (The Great Big Pond Remix) by wojelah (PG)
Fandom: DOCTOR WHO
Pairing: Doctor, Brigadier
Length: 1300 words
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wojelah
Author Website: Delicious tag
Why this must be read:
I have a weakness for fics where New Skool and Old Skool Doctor Who meet up. I also like fics that deal with the reality of the Time War without getting too angsty and melodramatic about it. This fic does both, beautifully well. The war is over, the Doctor's regenerated again and trying to learn how to live after all his people have died. On his first trip post-Time War, he meets an old friend. They have a short adventure. Then they talk. And the Brigadier, that old soldier, is just who the Doctor needs to talk to.
He doesn't know how long it's been. That's a lie, actually - Lord of Time and Space, him, so he's always going to know, but he's also tricky, and very good at ignoring things. Even himself, apparently. (Five Earth months, six days, four hours, and nine seconds... ten... eleven... )
The Doctor knows exactly how long it had taken him - the TARDIS - them (only them, only ever them, now) - to get away, to get to a rare pocket of safety and stability where they could wait till the worst of the aftermath of the War had passed. He knows exactly how long he'd spent in the Zero Room, afterwards. He knows exactly how long it had taken him to repair the TARDIS once he'd come out.
He also knows exactly how long after than he'd hesitated to launch them both back out into the universe (sixteen seconds) because whoever he is now, he doesn't like to stand still. That's what he tells himself, at any rate, and if there's another answer, he doesn't care to listen. (Cowardly cowardly custard, running from his own thoughts.)
What he doesn't know, he thinks, opening the door to the TARDIS and stumbling into a rosebush, is what repair he bungled that his first start out of the gate lands him in a neat, pastoral, English country garden. (Romana would know, would've been the first to point it out, but that's one thing he won't miss - he's lying.) It's... smoking, he realizes, which is not normal for English country gardens, so the only thing for it is to have a look. That's how he comes to twist his ankle on the bloody rose bush.
When the Brigadier yanks him out, he decides that he's sticking with this jacket, because there's nary a scratch on him. "Having a bit of trouble with your garden, Brigadier?" he asks, grinning, because apparently he's a bit smart-mouthed this time around. (Eccentric, cheeky, blunt, he's been them all in turns, but he's never been alone - that's all new.)
That, of course, is when the gnome runs past with the fishing rod, and he grins, because here, at least, is something to do. (He's always been a rolling stone - he's never been very fond of moss, though he'd liked the silver trees, and they're all gone, gone, gone.) Five minutes later, mind, he's a bit less chuffed about the whole thing. "Try and herd it this way, Doctor," Alastair shouts, and it surprises him enough that he follows directions, and eventually the tricky little bastard's shut up in Doris's laundry.
Suddenly a Small Fish (The Great Big Pond Remix)
Pairing: Doctor, Brigadier
Length: 1300 words
Author on LJ:
wojelah Author Website: Delicious tag
Why this must be read:
I have a weakness for fics where New Skool and Old Skool Doctor Who meet up. I also like fics that deal with the reality of the Time War without getting too angsty and melodramatic about it. This fic does both, beautifully well. The war is over, the Doctor's regenerated again and trying to learn how to live after all his people have died. On his first trip post-Time War, he meets an old friend. They have a short adventure. Then they talk. And the Brigadier, that old soldier, is just who the Doctor needs to talk to.
He doesn't know how long it's been. That's a lie, actually - Lord of Time and Space, him, so he's always going to know, but he's also tricky, and very good at ignoring things. Even himself, apparently. (Five Earth months, six days, four hours, and nine seconds... ten... eleven... )
The Doctor knows exactly how long it had taken him - the TARDIS - them (only them, only ever them, now) - to get away, to get to a rare pocket of safety and stability where they could wait till the worst of the aftermath of the War had passed. He knows exactly how long he'd spent in the Zero Room, afterwards. He knows exactly how long it had taken him to repair the TARDIS once he'd come out.
He also knows exactly how long after than he'd hesitated to launch them both back out into the universe (sixteen seconds) because whoever he is now, he doesn't like to stand still. That's what he tells himself, at any rate, and if there's another answer, he doesn't care to listen. (Cowardly cowardly custard, running from his own thoughts.)
What he doesn't know, he thinks, opening the door to the TARDIS and stumbling into a rosebush, is what repair he bungled that his first start out of the gate lands him in a neat, pastoral, English country garden. (Romana would know, would've been the first to point it out, but that's one thing he won't miss - he's lying.) It's... smoking, he realizes, which is not normal for English country gardens, so the only thing for it is to have a look. That's how he comes to twist his ankle on the bloody rose bush.
When the Brigadier yanks him out, he decides that he's sticking with this jacket, because there's nary a scratch on him. "Having a bit of trouble with your garden, Brigadier?" he asks, grinning, because apparently he's a bit smart-mouthed this time around. (Eccentric, cheeky, blunt, he's been them all in turns, but he's never been alone - that's all new.)
That, of course, is when the gnome runs past with the fishing rod, and he grins, because here, at least, is something to do. (He's always been a rolling stone - he's never been very fond of moss, though he'd liked the silver trees, and they're all gone, gone, gone.) Five minutes later, mind, he's a bit less chuffed about the whole thing. "Try and herd it this way, Doctor," Alastair shouts, and it surprises him enough that he follows directions, and eventually the tricky little bastard's shut up in Doris's laundry.
Suddenly a Small Fish (The Great Big Pond Remix)