From One Universe to Another

Initial Setting: Parallel World

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Bong...

The Metacrisis Doctor's eyes snapped open from his slumber, the noise fading in his mind. A very familiar sound he hadn't heard in a long time. He lay staring at the ceiling, his senses tingling as he fully awoke. The longer he lay in silence, the more convinced he became it was only a dream. And yet, he could not remember the dream, only the single echo of the Tardis. It was if he had imagined it, and woken himself up in hopes of it being real.

Rolling over in the bed, he rested his gaze on the other form in his bed, his eyes radiating a certain warmth. Rose, his companion that had saved him quite a few times as companions were want to do, especially from himself. He leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I'll be back," he whispered quietly, and watched as a small smile appeared on the corners of her mouth in her sleep. He watched her for a second longer, before he rolled off the side of his bed, careful not to disturb her.

After dressing in his blue suit and a plain white shirt, he made his way outside to the shed not far from the house. Actually, it wasn't quite a shed, more like a small laboratory. For inside he found numerous machines and equipment a person could use for practically anything. And in the middle was his precious piece of the Tardis. It still hadn't grown much, but then again, it needed ten years, even with its accelerated growth. He rested his chin on his hand as he stared at it, watching it glow faintly and the faint energy swirl ever so slowly about it.

Then he heard it again, in the small recesses of his mind. An eyebrow raised as he leaned forward, and picked up the growing Tardis. He stared at it silently asking whether it was the origin, before he set it down again amidst the equipment. Eventually he would be able to grow one, and travel the stars again, with Rose as his constant companion. Idly he wondered the fate of his other self, his timelord self. Probably scraping with death a thousand times more. Had he regenerated into a different person yet? Granted it didn't matter, time wasn't exactly long and straight, he'd be young in one time, and that old man in another.

His thoughts were interrupted again by the sound of the Tardis, and this time he felt it. His head jerked up to the door as his eyes widened, before he dashed out of the shed. He ran as his fast as his legs could carry him, onwards to where he had felt it, felt her. He came to a sudden stop at the edge of a group of trees, nearly falling over as he sucked in sharp breaths. His single heart beat rapidly, and for a moment he cursed his human body. Before he had had two hearts pumping blood, a feat that kept him running longer than his companions. A faint smile appeared on his face as he recalled them panting for breath, and wondering why they couldn't keep up with him. Now he knew exactly how it felt, and in an annoying way, it felt wondrous and so human.

His hand rested on the trunk of a tree, pushing himself up from his slightly stooped over position into a standing one. He looked around his surroundings, finding it to be a small forest a small distance from the road. Why had the Tardis brought him to this place? He thought with confusion as he looked from side to side. There was nothing special about here, and there certainly wasn't a Tardis to be found. A frown crossed his face as he stuck his hands into his pockets, wandering through the trees. It was still incredibly dark, making it difficult to see without the assistance of his senses, or a source of light. The moon was setting, casting a very faint light over the trees and through the branches. And yet he could feel it, but he couldn't hear the distinctive hum. As he stepped forward, his eyes caught something not quite right in the air. For a moment, as the moon passed over the trees, its beams seemed to reflect off the air, creating a shimmering effect.

"What?" he uttered to himself as he stared at the air, an eyebrow raising. "That's not right..."

Unfortunately, whatever it was, or had been, he could not scan it. The sonic screwdriver was a handy tool, but had been left in the other universe. And without a Tardis, it was difficult to make a compact version. The pieces were sitting in his shed, but they wouldn't help him now. He began to walk around the area in a circle, his hands still in his pockets and his steps slow. He thought he could detect the shimmer again, but the moon moved behind a tree and he was once again blinded. Removing one hand, he gently put it through the air. He felt nothing, and nothing happened, but as he removed it, he felt a strange tingling sensation that traveled up his arm. He gently moved his fingers, before crouching beside the unseen air.

"What are you?" he murmured. He could guess quite a few things; it could be a tiny rift in time, a whole in the universe, a portal to another world. But without his screwdriver, it was impossible to tell. And the only way to find out, he decided, was to try going through it and see what happened. Which, depending on what it could be, was risky. But he could feel the Tardis calling, and he seemed to feel it most here. And so he moved into a standing position, and stepped directly into the shimmer. Whatever it was, acted violently with his presence. Instead of sending tingles up his arms and body, it sent a wave of crashing pain through him, and he felt like he was thrown violently about. It finally ended with him thrown to the ground, in a momentarily unconscious state. But it wasn't the same ground as before, he was back in the universe he had started from. The other side.

Sonya scowled at the screen in frustration. Oh Lady was mad at her alright, furious in fact. She had decided to... Ahem, 'borrow' Nine's TARDIS for a bit, get some of her own traveling in for a while. Apparently Lady was in an irritable mood as it was. Well, she had the right to be, he parked her just outside of a nightclub! Couples were using her as a support for their snogging, or they wrote on her for the hell of it. She was mad about it herself, but still, she didn't have to yell at her for it!

"Oh hush, at least I got you out of there, now tell me where we are." Sonya snapped impatiently, straightening the screen up once more and studying the information displayed there. "Right... And why exactly are we here? Oh... I see, an open rift, not big, it should close on it's own anyway. If it doesn't in about... Ten minutes I say, we'll do it ourselves, yeah?" She said cheerfully, patting the console as she hummed in agreement, finally calmed down for the moment. "Shall I go take a look around?"

A sudden high-pitched humming sounded in her ears, Making Sonya clap her hands over them and wince slightly. "Yeesh! You don't have to get so excited, I'm going I'm going, what are you so insistent about?" She grumbled, her ears still ringing from the assault on them as she grabbed her jacket and wandered over to the doors when they opened on their own. Stepping outside the first thing she registered was 'Rift' the second thing was 'body' and finally before she rushed over was 'Doctor!'.

Crouching down next to his body, she placed a hand on his forehead with a frown. No... Not quite the Doctor, but he was. It was impossible to deny that, there was just something... Her eyes widened slightly as she heard his heart beating, two, two beats. He was human! Leaning back a bit, she studied his form curiously. He looked just like the Doctor she knew best, but there was just... He had one heart, that was hard to deny. Did he use a Chameleon Arc again? What for..?

Her eyes drifted up at the rift again before darting back down to his face. Oh... Oh! It was him! The Metacrisis Doctor, the one Donna had helped along by accident. Oh this was Christmas, she had never met this version before. In her excitement, she leaned over him once more and shook on his shoulder gently. "Come on, Space Boy, wakey wakey."

"Oh my head..." were the first words that came out of the Metacrisis Doctor's mouth. Feeling was slowly coming back to him, and it wasn't in a good way. His heart was racing like mad from the excursion of sorts, and every beat of his heart could be felt pounding away in his head. Odd tingles were traveling up his arms and spine, and his body ached all over like someone had hit him over and over with a baseball bat. He rolled over from his side onto his back, another moan escaping his lips. His eyes flickered open, and the world before him was a dark whirling haze. He could only guess he had been out for a second or two, because he was still surrounded by darkness.

It took him another moment to realize that he was in the presence of someone else, and that someone was touching his shoulder, shaking him even. "Oi I'm awake," he responded with a faint annoyance as he looked up at the dark shape before him. "Rose?" he asked suddenly, assuming she was the only one who would've followed him out this far. He hadn't meant to wake her, but it seemed he had.

Sonya blinked then let out a low chuckle, sitting back on her heels with her hands resting on her legs. "Um... Not exactly." She said in amusement, eyeing the man as he shifted around in confusion. "Sonya, my name is Sonya." She added quickly, examining the way he moved around, as if in pain. "Where are you hurt at? I might be able to help." Reaching forward, she hesitated before her fingers made contact with his forehead, then dropped her hand back down onto her lap with a low sigh.

"How did you get here? You should be in that other Universe, with Rose and her mum." Sonya said quietly, staring down at him with a frown, unable to comprehend how he could have left Rose behind. Her mum she could understand from what she had heard, she would have left her behind too, but never Rose. "You had to know what this was, why would you go through... Now your stuck here, Man. It's closing already... Too small for you to go back through anyway." Her teeth grazed her lower lip thoughtfully as her attention was once more pulled to the small, shimmering cloud a few feet away from them. Watching as it shrank little by little even as she stared. "It's a miracle you even came out without any serious damage actually. That thing could have started to close with you in it..."

"I'm fine," he muttered in response to the obvious concern she showed in her voice. He let out a groan as he pushed himself into a half sitting position, half lying position. The person named herself as Sonya, so it wasn't Rose. Mild disappointment settled in his chest along with relief, but curiosity quickly replaced it. Who was this person? She seemed to know exactly who he was. Which meant she knew the Doctor. And not only did she know the Doctor, but she knew him in the same regeneration as himself. And not only did she know him, she must have traveled with him. Which meant she was one of his companions, and his other self was somewhere nearby. His gaze turned to match hers, his eyes focusing on the slight shimmer still present in the air. His eyes widened at her words, realizing exactly where he was.

"No no no no no no!" He scrambled to his feet and lurched himself towards the shimmering cloud, but it was of little use. She was right, it was far too small for him to go back, at least not in one piece. He groaned in frustration as he stared at the air, watching the shimmer shrink in size until it was barely the size of a pea. Depression settled in, as he watched his doorway to the other universe close, leaving Rose behind. Rose...he was never going to see her again. Again.

Or was he? He spun around in a frenzy until he found her, that beautiful blue box. "Oh there you are!" he exclaimed, his eyes brightening as he spotted the Tardis. He completely ignored Sonya as he ran past her in a mad rush for the slightly open doors. He burst through them as he came into the main control room of the Tardis. With satisfaction he noted it was almost exactly as he had left it, with its gold, slightly archaic design, and the split pillars on the sides. By himself without his screwdriver or Tardis, he had absolutely no hope of getting back to Rose's world. Even with the Tardis, he had a small chance. But he was determined to find it.

"Oi! Oi!" Sonya shouted, chasing after him into the TARDIS, pausing only long enough to shut the door then raced up to the console, placing herself between him and the controls with her arms spread out wide. "Oh no you don't, never. You do not use Lady like that buster, last time she fell through nearly killed her!" She snapped, her eyes flashing dangerously as she protected the TARDIS from the madman. "You are not going to use her like that, no." Narrowing her eyes, a flash of gold shone in them momentarily then vanished, leaving the blue behind once more.

"I borrowed Lady from a past incarnation of yours, and I left a note saying I'd take good care of her in case he got back before I did." She added hastily, the grip she held on the console tightening by a degree. "And letting you go traipsing off into another universe by using her like that would kill her power again, and I am NOT letting you do that, now back off buster." Sonya snapped, a low hum echoing around them as the TARDIS agreed with her for once. "She remembers what happened. She's a past version, but she knows the future, she exists in every time line, Man. She won't let you do that even if I had let you get to these controls."

Another hum called for her attention, nudging at her to look at the screen. With a final look at the man, she slowly walked over to it, keeping him in the corner of her vision should he make a move for the console again. Pulling the screen over to where she could see it, Sonya studied the Gallifreyan symbols on it with a frown. "No, I know that. You don't have to tell me, the man has one heart. I don't care, he knows how to fly you, he is not touching your controls. Not stop acting like a lovesick puppy."

He leaned his head back as he regarded her with some surprise, and also a slight desperation. "But..." he started to say, but was interrupted by another torrent of talking. He narrowed his eyes slightly in frustration, peering around her towards the controls. He moved to one side, but she remained blocking him, and he was quite sure if he did try to go by her, they'd both be fighting. He looked up towards the Tardis' column as she seemed to hum in agreement with Sonya. I'm so sorry, he echoed in his mind towards the Tardis. He really was sorry, but he had to go back to the other universe. He was still the Doctor, he could figure something out that wouldn't damage her again. Or rather, in the past.

"Last time, that was an accident. She fell through a rift. This time it's different, if I just readjust the ma..." he suddenly stopped his train of thought, realizing what she had said prior. If she had borrowed the Tardis from his past self, that meant that he wasn't with her, and she had flown it by herself. "Hold on, you can fly the Tardis?" He continued with barely a pause for breath, giving her a confused and bewildered look.

Mal shot out from the bar, ducking around the dancers, horn dogs, and loud mouth drunks.  She quickly pulled her own reigns so she slowed and walked at a brisk pace.  Yes, yes, that's better.  Now you don't look suspicious.  Damn, Ash it gonna owe me big time for this....  Man, I'd so get fired if I was caught... She manoeuvred her way around the busy street, a full bottle of vodka in her hand.  It was a long story, really.  One she wasn't about to share or even think about.

Suddenly, she was caught in the heated crossfire of two lovers.  Their faces were battling in the heat of passion as one backed the other up.  Mal tried desperately to move out of the way but it was no use.  She was pushed up between the tangled bodies and a hard surface.  Her face contorted in horror at being made the panel of the lovers' love making.  

No!  No, oi!  Look, human here!  Get the hell off, mates!"  Mal screamed at them, pushing with desperation and even went so far as to claw at the parts not covered with clothing.  They wreaked with alcohol which was never a good sign.  Awe, man.  Bad luck followed every where the brown haired girl went.  The two finally realized she was there and they moved past her blindly before tossing themselves against the structure again, right beside Mal.

She quickly darted away, heart rate exhilarated due to her disgusting experience of suffocating in hormones and booze.  Though almost as soon as she ran, she stopped.  Her head slowly turned to the surface she had been trapped against and where the lovers were currently snogging themselves to death.  What laid in the wake of her wide eyes was the blue box of the Doctor's.  

Just as Mal was gaping at the ship, she heard someone yell, "Hey, get her!  She stole my liquor, she did!"  Mal squeaked and looked at her hands in surprise.  How she managed to hold on to the bottle up to this point was beyond her.  The sound of footsteps advancing towards her forced her into motion.  She ran around the TARDIS until she found the doors. The small girl didn't even have the courtesy to knock, she just opened the doors and shut it tight behind her. There was no time for politeness when she was in a pickle such as this one.

Mal spotted Sonya right away but ascended the ramp and, through whatever bloody god smiling down at her, snuck around the Time Lady and entered one of the many rooms of the TARDIS. It wasn't that she wanted to avoid Sonya. The redhead was her friend after all. Honestly, Mal just didn't want to explain the situation she got into. No need letting the fact slip she stole things on occasion.

So there Mal sat in a room until she felt the TARDIS shake and realized they were moving. Crap, they were moving. Where they were landing, who knew? But Mal didn't move. She perched on the edge of a chair and waited a long time. Oh, god, the guilt was causing her to shake. No, don't move. Just wait a bit longer, then we can work on explaining a few things.

Mal stashed the bottle of vodka under some quilts she found and hesitantly walked to the door, pressing her ear to it to see if anyone was in the TARDIS. She heard two voices, the angry one of Sonya and finally the voice of the Doctor. Well, maybe they wouldn't be that mad she had snuck in...

It was now or never... Mal burst from the room she was in and ran into the console room. She looked like a deer in the head lights as she cleared her throat, heart beginning to pound and panic rising in her voice, "I-I can explain!" Mal didn't doubt she looked like a wreck at this point...

"Of course I know how to fly the TARDIS." Sonya huffed in indignation, her arms crossing over her chest. "I'm a-" Cutting herself off, she shook her head and looked back at the screen, tapping a couple of the keys on the pad below it, studying the energy levels then wandering over to the other side, a pained expression on her face as she looked back up at him with a frown. "I'm sorry... But I just cannot let you go back. Not with Lady, you'd end up tearing a rip in the fabric of both universes. Do you honestly want to risk puttong Rose in that type of danger?" She asked in a softer tone, her eyes flicking to the TARDIS doors quickly then back to his face. "I know the pain of being ripped from your universe. I know, but I also know there is no way back without putting Millions at risk."

Before she could go on, Mal burst through the doors, a panicked expression on her face and a bottle of vodka in her hand. "Well... This was not what I expected at all." Sonya said with a startled tone of voice, her eyebrow arching up as she took on Mal's appearance. "Well, that would be our cue to get out of here." Flashing a grin at the two with her, she grabbed the lever and yanked it down. Reacting to the action, the TARDIS ground to life, dematerializing and flying into the vortex with a familiar grinding noise.

The Metacrisis Doctor stared back at Sonya, his face solemn as she spoke her words. He understood what she was saying, but part of him wanted to use whatever it took to get back. This was different, he thought to himself, usually he was the one telling others what could and could not be done, apologizing for others who couldn't be saved, and those who were lost because of him. With him making the final decision as a timelord. Now the roles were reversed; it had a certain irony to it. He cast his eyes downward, avoiding her gaze as her words hit home. Of course he didn't want to put Rose in that danger, and he had to make that decision again, the decision not to force his way back. The only thing was, Rose wouldn't know what had happened to him, and it killed him to think of how she'd feel when she woke up that morning.

"Yeah," he said quietly, his eyes looking up again.

Then just as suddenly, the doors to one of the hallways burst open. He jerked his head to focus on this new intrusion, his eyebrow raising as he saw the human girl barrel into the control room. Sonya seemed startled by her presence, but otherwise didn't seem to be too annoyed by her presence. A friend maybe? His eyes moved back to Sonya in a curious stare, watching as a grin played itself on her face. Much like the same grin he got when they were on the run, and off to a new exciting destination. The Tardis lurched as she went into the vortex, that familiar grinding noise of the brakes echoing about the control room. He was thrown forward into the control panel, grabbing onto the edge as he steadied himself. He smiled faintly as he looked up at the column as it moved up and down.

"Hello again," he said softly, where only the Tardis could hear him above the noise. Then he looked down at the controls, his hand moving to adjust one as they went into the vortex. It had been far too long since he last stood inside her.

"Well, it all started when- gah!" Mal was flung off her feet when the TARDIS flew itself into the vortex. She crashed heavily onto the ground, the wind whooshing out of her lungs. Ok, that didn't feel very good. Things seemed to smooth out so she opened her eyes to see the two time lords working their magic on Lady.

Slowly, and cautiously, Mal picked herself off the floor and dusted off the debris. "Not much of a warning, was it? Oh, god, where are we going now? Please don't say Troy, we all know how that turned out." She padded over to the console and cast the Doctor a wary look before she poked him in the arm, "Plus I don't want you forcing me into playing dress up again. That tunic was breezy, let me tell ya. And then that whole one day early thing with the bull. Jeeeez! Scariest adventure I've ever been on. But did I ever thank you for saving me in London? Thanks, if I didn't. Sorry I got you caught up in an Angel's grip, though. I'm sort of useless."

Mal bit her bottom lip to keep from rambling too long. Her nervous gaze rested on the time rotor before she looked back over to the Doctor who didn't seem to know what she was talking about. Mal then looked over at Sonya with a perplexed expression and gaped, "Please don't tell me this is another time twisted situation. I mean, this doc has met me already, right? Ow, my brain... I hate thinking about time not being linear and bleh! You people are insane." She didn't wait for an answer, just pushed herself away and walked towards the jump seat. It was a very comfortable chair to fling yourself on. Her head hung back and she sighed, resting her tired body after a long day of... stealing.

Oh man... not guilt again. Leave me alone!

Sonya cast an amused look over at Mal as she blurted out several things at once, her hands still working on the controls easily without watching. "Mal, this isn't the Doctor you know, this is his... Did he ever tell you the story of his Human Meta-crisis form? Well this is him, the human Doctor. Blimey, what do we call you anyway? If your here, things might get confusing if both of you are in the room." Sonya suddenly stated, looking over at him with a slight frown on her face. Imagining a situation where they were both together and her calling for the Doctor only to have the both of them look over with slightly amused and slightly irritated looks on their faces was enough to cause a laugh to break free.

Shaking her head and chuckling, she looked back at the screen before reaching over and yanking on the lever again, stopping the TARDIS and landing her easily. "There we are. Safe and sound." She said with a grin, looking over at Mal then at the human Doctor cheerfully. "I can't rightfully turn you out, considering you aren't really from around here and are lost. Mal, well, she's like glue, can't get rid of her easily either. So, I would like to suggest, in light of having two humans with me, that we go get some chips and think of our next course of action, yeah?" Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed her leather jacket and skipped towards the doors as they swung open to allow her outside. "Ah! You just can't beat London!"

He looked over at the human girl blankly, but the amusement played at the corners of his mouth. He sure did know how to pick his companions, didn't he, he thought with some amusement. Even if it was his future timelord self. He looked over at Sonya as she briefly mentioned the meta-crisis, and that he was human, but not much else. It was probably unnerving for some people to have two versions of yourself walking around. Personally he had no issue with it, double the Doctor, double the fun. And talking with himself only to have himself finish off his thoughts was equally fun.

"You can call me Doctor?" he offered, as if that helped matters. Looking at Mal, he flashed a smile as he himself interjected, "Yeah you probably met my other timelord self. Or maybe my future other timelord self. Although you could've met future me..." he trailed off as he left that thought hanging, looking over as Sonya went over to the controls again. He flicked one as she pulled down a lever, the Tardis landing with a gentle thud. He looked up at the column and ceiling, a slow smile appearing as he pressed his tongue against his teeth. He looked over at Sonya, before a grin played over his face.

"Fish and chips, sounds like a plan," he said as he nearly bounded from the control room for the door. He almost grabbed for the brown trenchcoat that hung over the pillar, before realizing it wasn't there as he moved towards the door. Coming outside, he spun around as his hands went into his pants pockets. "Ah yes, good ol' London! Smells of pollution, fresh water air, and..." he paused to lick the air in front of him slightly, moving his tongue around his teeth. "Mint?" he said as he looked about confusedly.

"Human? A human Doctor? That just sounds... wrong. Well technically it would be right if I were to go talk to someone who didn't know about Time Lords...Anywa, human doc man, do not confuse me with that future time lord crap. Though I have met your thirteenth incarnation. Crazy, he is. Mal smirked in amusement and shook her head. When they landed, she reached back to rub the kink in her neck.

Oh, chips sounded good right about now. With a small bounce she followed after the two Time Lords and stopped just behind them. Mal forgot about their super senses and found it extremely amusing they could pick it all up. Her grin turned a bit cruel as she leapt in front of the human Doctor and said in an attempted sultry tone, "The mint would be me pretty boy. Wanna taste?" Considering she wasn't smooth when it came to this stuff, her voice sounded too forced and her face was turning red before she could even finish.

With that, she spun around and just stormed to the restaurant. Oh man, what caused her to do that? It was the guilt from stealing, wasn't it? It was driving her insane. Her subconscious was probably trying to find a way to distract her from feeling bad by using embarrassment. Or maybe Karma had spun into her life and pulled on this string and that. Whatever it was, she was rightfully red and couldn't turn around to make sure the other two were following.

Sonya cast a sideways look over at the Doctor, struggling to keep a straight face before bursting out into laughter. "Oh! Your face!" She cackled in delight, leaning forward and resting her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. "She is just... There are no words to describe this moment." Managing to get her laughter under control, she straightened back up with a burst of giggles. Pressing her lips together tightly, she forced herself to stop grinning and walked towards the restaurant doors. Pulling them open, she glanced back at him, a wide grin breaking through her careful mask. "Come on then."

He couldn't help it as Mal jumped in front of him, offering him a "taste". He just stared at her in disbelief, his mouth hanging open and his eyebrows raised ever so slightly. He had just been describing the smells, the way he was wont to do, and was pleasantly surprised to see that even as a human he could still do it. Though perhaps it was because he already knew every taste and smell, and humans just had a bad habit of ignoring it all, only paying attention to it if it screamed at them. Why she even suggested that, confounded him immensely. To make it worse, Sonya began laughing, and he found himself looking bewilderedly, and faintly annoyedly, between the two of them. Mal had turned around in embaressment and Sonya, Sonya was still breaking out into laughter and random giggling. It wasn't that funny, was it?

"Blimey," he said as he screwed up his face, his head shaking to one side as he moved after the two. He gave the two a sideways glance, the confusion and annoyance still on his face. As he entered, he looked around, before he took on a look of recognition. "Oh, this is where I had dinner with the Slitheen. They've redecorated," he said as he turned his head from side to side, all traces of annoyance gone from his face.

Mal slipped into one of the booths and just slammed her head into the table, not moving. The only noise that emanated from the girl was a long, drawn out 'ow' when her head collided. Great, now she wouldn't be able to look either of them in the face all evening. Until something struck her and caused her to straighten and stare at Sonya with her jaw unhinged, "Wait, what do ya mean I'm like glue? I ain't clingy!" Mal thought about that then. Was she clingy? No, she tried her best to ignore the whole 'hey look, I attract the bad kind of attention' people. Given she wasn't very good at it...

"Eh, forget it." She groaned before laying on the table again. If only she could disappear... actually, Mal should be careful what she wished for, that could easily be arranged . "Wait, guys, are we still in the same year? Like, you didn't knock me a few hours ahead and stuff, right? Ash would murder me... or worse, sell my stuff on e-bay."

Robin sighed as she stopped walking and leaned against a wall. Boredom is bad. Fishing her hands in her pockets, she discovered she ran out of money. Again. Stepping away from the wall, she decided to figure out where she was first, then find someone to pick-pocket. A smile grew on her face as she looked up and saw that the building she was leaning on was a restaurant. "Jackpot..." She ducked her head down as she walked inside, looking at people's feet rather than their faces. Deciding on the person who was closest, she sped up and bumped into them, slipping her hand in their pocket, then right back out, her hand closed around whatever she managed to take. "Sorry." She forced a slight frown on her face as she looked up to the person to 'apologize' - surprise forcing it right off. "Sonya?" She giggled nervously, handing Sonya her stuff back... Well that's gonna take some explaining...

Sonya looked down at Robin in amusement as she handed her things back over. "You know, picking pockets isn't exactly polite." She stated blandly, taking her money back and shoving the notes back into her jacket pocket. Nodding over at the table Mal had sat at, she flash the young girl a smile. "Care to join us? We're just debating on what we should do next." Slinging an arm over Robin's shoulders, she led her over to a chair without waiting for a reply then sitting down herself, across from her other friend who continued to let her face have a close encounter with the tabletop.

Casting a glance over at the Doctor, she gestured to a chair beside her with an arched eyebrow. "Come on, it won't bite. I'm sure you know this universe rather well, and none of the inanimate objects don't really tend to attack people. Well... Some of them won't, I still smart from a shock I received from a computer a few days, back. Prolly my fault, granted, but still." Shrugging her shoulders, she leaned back in her chair and laced her hands behind her head, relaxing for the first time since finding the man in a wooded area.

"So, chips sound good. I dunno though, you've been in here before, Doctor man, what would you suggest?" Sonya piped back up, not really caring for the silence that surrounded the little group of people. Honestly, she should learn to keep her mouth shut now and again, but the urge to get people moving and getting herself to move on was hard to stop. "I know for a fact that they have rather good spaghetti, but chips don't really go well with that meal."

The Meta-crisis Doctor had followed Mal towards the table, but began wandering slightly as he moved, not quite paying attention to the group. Though the question of what year lingered in his own mind. Though they could be at any moment in present twenty-first century time. Well, it wasn't the time with Margaret and the slitheen, as the place had changed some. But then that's what happens when a Tardis opens a rift, shattering glass and ripping cracks in the floors and buildings. New paintings were up on the walls, though they closely resembled the wavy designs that had been up before. The glass was new, and yet slightly smudged from the dirty air and rain. Perhaps a year after the earthquake, maybe two?

He looked over at Sonya as she spoke to him, gesturing to a chair beside her. He looked over at the table in slight surprise, seeing a young girl having joined them. Well it seemed they were drumming up quite the party. Sooner or later, he half expected to see his younger incarnation waltz in through that door. Then again, he hadn't remembered visiting here since then, so perhaps his older one. Maybe even the same one? Oh time streams would hate him if that happened, not to mention the looks of surprise they'd get from other people. He had to half remind himself that he and his timelord self were no longer the same person, and therefore no longer shared the same time stream. His was more linear, while his timelord self was not so linear. Still, he would have to be careful what he said if he ran into a slightly younger version.

"Chips, yes," he said as he looked over at Sonya. He picked up the menu in front of him, examining the items on the list. "That goes well enough with anything. Almost as well as bananas," he said with slight emphasis, looking over at the others with a slight grin. "Steak was good," he said as he looked back at the menu. "At least I remember it being good..." he trailed off. He waited a moment for the others to decide what they wanted, before he waved down the nearest waitress.

"I think me and my friends are ready to order, I'll have steak and chips and as for a drink, do you happen to serve banana milkshake?" The waitress shook her head, and he gave a slight frown. "No? Ok...just a plain one then."

Mal just remained silent for a while, knowing full well she would just order chips. When she heard the waitress being called over, the girl finally lifted her body into a slouched sitting position. "I'll just take a small order of chips, thanks."

Mal looked over at Robin with surprise, completely oblivious to her arrival. She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't say anything. The last time she had seen the younger girl was during that horrible trip with Rax and Kuul and... the murder. Mal's face paled considerably and she abruptly stood up, gripping the back of the booth chair to prevent herself from falling. "I-I'll be right back!" Her voice was rushed and she pushed herself from the chair, stumbling over to the bathroom.

She barely had time to make it to the toilet before she was hurling her stomach's contents into the disgusting public washroom. Mal groaned and squeezed her eyes tight. That was the horrible problem of being the anxious person she was, too much guilt always affected her in the worst ways physically. To her surprise, she hoped no one would follow her in here. She didn't want to be interrogated, she didn't want to explain or talk about it. Her favourite way of dealing with something was pretending it never happened. Unfortunately for her her brain never allowed her to forget these things.

Oh man...

Robin didn't order, she didn't walk in here for the food. Her eyes widened as Mal stood up and practically ran to the bathroom. "Hello to you too..." She mumbled, taking a wild guess as to why she ran off. She frowned a bit, looking over to... the Doctor. She assumed anyway - she was basically going off his hair and the fact that he was with Sonya and Mal. Well that was unexpected, as was this whole trip at the moment. Replacing her frown with a smile, she waved to him, "Nice to meet you." Nice. That was totally the right word for what just happened. Oh well.

Sonya glanced at the waitress then shrugged her shoulders at her questioning look. "Give me the same thing he's having. I really don't know this place so..." She said with a wry smile, her eyes flicking over towards Mal's vanishing form with a slightly confused look. "Well, you don't see that every day." She murmured to herself, resting her elbows on the table, her chin sitting in her hands as she stared around the restaurant. She had never been in this particular one before, she's seen it, yeah, but never really had time to go in.

"So, Doctor. Food, then what? I know there's something cooking in that head of yours, what is it?" She finally asked, turning to the man beside her with another grin. Out of instinct, she tried to brush her mind against his lightly, and frowned at the wall she met with. So human, I will never get used to that with his face. She sighed and turned away once more, studying the other people there, eating, conversing, living a normal life. I don't think I would ever miss that. Moving is what I do, sitting in one spot to just eat a meal is already making me nervous.

"Nice to meet you too, I'm the Doctor by the way," the Meta-crisis Doctor said cheerfully as he looked at Robin. "Well actually, I'm not the same Doctor, I'm a human version of the Doctor. And you?" Boy she was young, he thought idly as he looked at her. Perhaps a bit too young to be running about with timelords who had a habit of running into trouble at every turn. Then again, Sarah Jane's boy and his lot were something special.

"Well first, I could use a banana," he said as his eyes darted towards the door. "I'm suddenly craving them...going through that portal has made me hungry. And then, we could, I dunno. Cardiff, what do ordinary human beings do for fun in Cardiff, besides go to work every morning, eat chips, nearly get killed by earthquakes and spaceships. And watch rugby matches. I've never been to one, not the first one ever at least. Oh, the London Olympics! I wonder who won anyway. I carried the torch, you know?" The Doctor's eyes flickered over to Robin's briefly before looking back at Sonya.

"But then you know that don't you," he said as he stared at her, his voice dropping from his excited cheery one, to a more serious one. "You know everything about me, where I was, what happened to me, right up to my becoming a human being and diverging from my timelord self. Oh, but you're not just another one of the Doctor's companions, you can fly the Tardis. And no one can fly the Tardis but me or another timelord. Who are you, Sonya?"

Sonya returned his stare for a moment then shook her head with a low sigh. "It's best if you don't know. I've already mucked up the Time Lord Doctor's life, I won't muck yours up too. The least I can do is help you get set up in this universe then bring him to you so you two can talk whatever Doctor conversations that need to be spoke about." She said shortly, refusing to look up at him from her glass, watching as the ice cubes clinked around in the water. "I'm a friend, an old friend... And let's just leave it at that, shall we?"

Finally looking up from her glass, she stared out the window across from her, squirming in her chair slightly from the unwelcome scrutiny from the man. How do I always get myself into these messes? He's bound and determined to know who I am, and I don't want him to know. The last thing I want is for him to begin pestering me for help on getting back to his universe and to Rose.