[Fic] TFs/DW: Faultlines, Ch. 3
And here's the last chapter for now...
Title: Faultlines
Series: Transformers/Doctor Who crossover
Genre: Action/Adventure
Warnings: AU
Summary: Oh, you know. Giant robots, universe unraveling, the usual.
Faultlines
A Doctor Who/Transformers crossover
by Hoshikage
--Chapter Three--
Sam watched the Doctor and his companions warily. They'd all turned white, even Jack, and the Doctor buried his head in his hands as he leaned heavily against the console. "Okay, so I'm guessing Daleks are bad."
"You could say that," Jack said. "Probably the most deadly life form in our universe. Wiped out entire civilizations."
"O-kay," Sam said. "But it isn't Skaro here, so no Daleks... isn't that a good thing?"
"But why?" the Doctor muttered. "Why are Cybertron and Skaro the same? It doesn't make any sense!" He shot back upright and fixed a disturbingly intense stare on Sam. "This Matrix. You said it's kind of like a repository of Cybertronian history?"
"Kind of," Sam said, scowling as he tried to figure out how to explain. "And then some. But I guess it's the history part you're interested in?" Once again he felt a surge of frustration at being a walking history book, but he tried to stifle it. He was afraid some of it still came out as a sarcastic edge to his voice, though.
"At the moment, yeah." The Doctor sighed, and clearly made an effort to reduce the tension. "So... mind if I have a look?" he asked a bit diffidently.
"How? Read my mind?"
"Well... actually," the Doctor admitted, "Yes, pretty much."
Okay, Sam was not so keen on that idea. "Are you serious? A guy needs his privacy, you know!"
"No, no!" the Doctor said, screwing up his face. "Not like that!" Jack actually snickered and the Doctor glared at him. "Oh, don't start. What I mean is, I could connect to the Matrix through you. Actually," he added, "I could probably do something about your neural pathways to make it easier for you to control your interface with it, while I'm at it."
Sam's heart leaped even though he tried to stuff the feeling down. No more fits? No more half being afraid to be out in public for fear some random person on the street would think he was having a psychotic episode? Actually being able to have some kind of a clue what he was doing? Ohmygodyesplease. He barely took note of Mikaela's worried expression as he tried to keep his voice steady. "You can do that?"
"I think I can. I can try." Even though Sam had only known the Doctor for what, two hours, he had still definitely gotten the feeling that the Doctor was very very good at half-truths, evasions, omissions, and things that were perfectly truthful and yet meant nothing at all. This time was different. As if their minds were already connected, Sam felt his honesty, and was more than a little tempted to yell STOP THAT at the Matrix again in his head. Not that that ever worked. Or maybe it was just the Doctor having an ability to genuinely mean something without a protective screen over it after all, because he didn't actually feel any of the weird otherworldly Matrix tinge to his thoughts at the moment and the Doctor still felt almost painfully truthful when he said, "I won't hurt you. If something starts to go wrong, I'll stop. I promise."
Sam hesitated a moment longer. Mikaela was biting her lip but staying silent, leaving the decision up to him. Bumblebee reached in through the door, and though he couldn't fit more than his arm through the gap it was still enough for Sam to step over and let Bumblebee curl his fingers around him comfortingly. He didn't say anything either, not with radio or his own voice, just let the touch speak for him.
Sam swallowed and rested his own hand against the silver rain-slick metal of Bumblebee's thumb. "Okay," he said. He took a breath. "So do I have to do anything? Think about the sound of one hand clapping or something like that?"
"The things humans come up with," the Doctor sighed, though he had an oddly affectionate smile that seemed to be directed at the entire species in general. "No, just relax and let me in." He stepped closer and reached up to Sam's face, and Sam closed his eyes as he felt the Doctor's fingers touch his skin.
Wow, I'm gonna get a Vulcan mind-meld.
What is it with everyone I meet and this Spock? he heard - felt - a mutter in response, and almost jerked in startlement. He hadn't thought he'd actually be hearing thoughts in words -
I wasn't expecting that either, actually. This Matrix really has done some amazing things to your brain. Humans shouldn't be able to have a telepathic conversation this coherent.
Sam winced at the immediate flare of resentment he felt, hating the fact that he knew full well that he wouldn't be the only one seeing it, but he couldn't stuff it down. I think I'd rather be normal, thanks.
The Doctor was silent for a long time after that, or what seemed like a long time - who knew, maybe all of this was taking place in nanoseconds. He couldn't actually feel if the Doctor was doing anything or not, but finally he sighed, That I can't help. I do have some experience with partially or fully psychic devices and mental interfaces with them, but... this one is very tightly bonded to you. It's chosen you, and I don't think I can persuade it to let go.
Like your TARDIS is to you? Suddenly he knew what TARDIS stood for too, and felt disoriented. Uh. Wait. Am I getting--
Well you shouldn't be able to do that either, the Doctor said, and with a strange sensation like he'd slapped Sam's hand lightly away, the unfamiliar information abruptly stopped appearing in Sam's thoughts. And to think you were the one worried about privacy.
Sam flinched. Sorry. He knew for certain that whatever else came out of this, he really, really did not want the Doctor angry at him.
The Doctor only seemed simultaneously exasperated and resigned, though. It's not your fault, you can't help it. Let's see if I can talk this Matrix of yours into having a bit more in the way of manners, hm?
Sam gasped as a faint breeze of presence boiled into thunderclouds, stretching touches of silent, forceless lightning, brilliant gold that reached into blue -
Blue that exploded into billions of symbols, sparkling like stars flung in all directions at incredible speed, like the universe expanding in moments all inside his head -
Sam finally got his wish as his mind folded under the impossible flood and he blacked out.
---
Rose held her breath as the Doctor and Sam both closed their eyes, but it seemed like barely two seconds had passed before there was a sudden flash of blue light, so blinding that it left afterimages glowing in her vision as she frantically blinked to try and clear it. She heard a crash and as her vision cleared she saw the Doctor crumpled in a limp heap on the other side of the grate floor from Sam, as though he'd been flung across the room by the flare of energy. "Doctor!" she cried, running over to him.
"Sam!" she heard Mikaela cry from behind her, and twisted her head to look back as she dropped to the floor, but Sam had merely fallen back more fully into Bumblebee's grasp. Rose rolled the Doctor onto his back and quickly put her head to his chest, and was reassured when she heard two steady heartbeats.
She looked up at Jack as he quickly knelt next to her and gathered the Doctor half into his arms. "What just happened?"
"I don't know, but--" Rose didn't get to finish her sentence. The Doctor's eyes popped wide open and he gave a huge gasp, then sat bolt upright out of Jack's grip before squeezing his eyes shut again and grabbing his head.
"Whoa," he mumbled. "Headrush."
"Doctor?" Rose asked worriedly. "What happened?"
"Let me guess," Jack said. "The Mysterious Hugely Powerful Thing didn't like questions?"
The Doctor was back to staring blankly, his eyes more than a little dazed. "Just the opposite, actually," he said, blinking. "Talk about an infodump." He complained, "Does this thing do that all the time?"
Rose looked up and saw Sam standing out of Bumblebee's grip, a hand to his own head. "Yeah. Kinda. Usually not quite that... much though." He snorted. "Guess it likes you."
"Lucky me," the Doctor said without a trace of sarcasm. "I'd rather not find out what it could do if it didn't." He shook his head, his eyes focusing again, then leaped back to his feet. "Right. Well now that I've got every answer I could possibly have asked for and a bunch I really wouldn't have wanted to, maybe now I can convince it to have some other mode besides 'off' and 'total overload.'"
"You... didn't yet?" Sam asked, bewildered.
"Didn't get a chance," the Doctor admitted, rubbing his head again. "Soon as I came into contact, well, the total overload part."
"Hang on, that thing knocked you across the room!" Rose protested. "Shouldn't you, I don't know, wait before poking it again?"
"Nope, it's kind of discharged for now. If I wait it'll just get stronger again. Besides, it should recognize me this time. It already knows I've got all the information now so it doesn't need to throw it all at me again."
"So it's... sentient?" Jack asked.
The Doctor frowned. "Yes and no."
"Oh, that totally makes sense."
"It's... it's... oh, later," the Doctor said with a frustrated wave of his hand. "I'm still trying to sort out everything it just told me. One thing at a time, strike while the iron is hot, et cetera et cetera." He crossed the room again in a few long strides, then paused. "If... you're feeling up to it, that is," he said to Sam, apparently realizing (possibly because Mikaela was standing partially in the way and glaring daggers at him) that not everyone was going to have his stamina.
Sam looked at him dubiously. "You're sorting out that entire flood of information? In your head? Like, right now?"
The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Mmm... yeah."
"And holding a sensible conversation at the same time," Sam said in obvious disbelief.
The Doctor grinned at him. "Oh yes. Time Lords are really quite good at that kind of thing. Comes with the telepathy and the having more senses than humans."
"I'd say it's more because you don't actually have your brain and your mouth connected anyway, so they can run at the same time just fine," Rose said with her hands on her hips.
"Oi," the Doctor protested.
Sam smiled a little, suddenly. "Okay, bring it on. If you were gonna fry my brain I guess you'd have done it already, right?"
"Assuming your Matrix would let me," the Doctor said shrewdly.
"Yeah, that too," Sam said, his smile widening. Apparently he'd already thought of that.
Rose folded her arms and leaned against the console to watch. The Doctor didn't look like he usually did when he was trying to hide something... so she didn't seem to have much choice but to assume that he had in fact been as unharmed by the Matrix as he claimed. She still wasn't sure about it at all - tampering with a mysterious maybe-sentient energy source capable of bonding to both organic and robotic life that no one really seemed to understand just seemed like really asking for trouble - but then again, that kind of asking for trouble was exactly what the Doctor did, and usually the stranger it was the more excited he was about it. She sighed, and waited, and was slightly comforted when Jack stood next to her with his own arms folded too. Even the both of them combined couldn't keep the Doctor out of trouble, but at least they could try.
---
Sam closed his eyes again and waited for the silent thunderstorm. It was still intimidating, but he still felt more relaxed than he had been before. And he was definitely eager for some successful results this time, assuming the Doctor could do what he claimed.
He really hadn't been at all sure of how to react to an alien who wasn't a giant robot. It was weird as hell that Sam could be comfortable with aliens so totally different and yet freaked out by one so much closer to human - or maybe that was the problem. What was it, Uncanny Valley or something? Robots were, well, robots. Obviously different. But who knew what was going through the mind of someone who looked human but wasn't? Rose and Jack were obviously used to him, but they had tons of aliens in their universe - they'd said so themselves. On their Earth they probably had plenty of experience with - what had the Doctor said, Time Lords?
And then Rose had harassed him, and he'd smiled instead of blew up or anything, and Sam realized that no matter what the cultural differences were, or how unfathomable his thoughts might have seemed, apparently he actually liked at least a certain level of backtalk. Suddenly Sam could relax, could stop worrying that he was going to make the Doctor angry or impatient simply by being himself. He knew full well that his mouth could get him into trouble, but now he knew that for all the stormy power he could feel in his mind, the Doctor was close enough to human for Sam to at least partially understand him, and he felt much less afraid.
The Doctor was clearly aware of it, too. Ah, that's it. Now this might feel a bit strange, his "voice" warned, and Sam tried to consciously relax.
The closest Sam could come up with for an approximation of how it felt was having a bunch of mismatched puzzle pieces settled into their rightful pattern. It was weird, really weird, feeling like parts of him were being rearranged - but it didn't hurt, and he even started to feel impatient for the process to go faster as he felt his thoughts clearing and coming into sharper focus with each new piece that slid into place. Places where he'd tripped over his own confusion and inability to process what he was feeling, like cluttered, foggy mazes in his mind, straightened and lit brightly. It was incredible.
There. The Doctor sounded extremely satisfied with himself, not that Sam could fault him at the moment. Now, let's try an experiment. Imagine that between you and the Matrix is a door - then open it.
Sam did, slowly and cautiously. Brilliant blue information streamed into his mind again - but it all made sense, and it was slow and gentle enough that he could still remain himself and could actually follow it. He felt like whooping in joy and relief. Now this he could handle!
He tested closing the door, without waiting for prompting, and the Matrix immediately stopped - not silenced, he could still feel it, but he could actually halt the information without having to just helplessly wait until it let him go. It worked!
The Doctor didn't seem to be done with him yet, though. Good! Now, there's another door, can you feel it? Open that one.
Sam hesitated, confused at first, then at a nudge he groped his way toward the second door, trying to sort out by feel how it was different from the first one. Imagine it a different color or something, the Doctor's thoughts said helpfully, and Sam found it was a lot easier when he thought of it as bright yellow instead of warm brown wood. He had a feeling he already knew what would happen when he opened it.
He was right. A flush of surprise, and then welcome, wonder -
Bee.
Sam! A flood of excitement washed through him, as clear and effortless as sunlight in comparison to the erratic and dim connection they'd had before, usually when he was least expecting it. I guess this Doctor knows his stuff! Bumblebee laughed.
Sam realized he was hearing words, clear words. They could talk.
He almost cried.
He hadn't realized how much he had craved the ability to have a real conversation until this moment. Spending as much time with Bumblebee as he did, he'd gotten very good at interpreting snatches of music or movie dialogue purely by necessity, and Bee had gotten to be nearly expert at conveying through body language what he couldn't find the right recorded words for. But it just didn't compare to this. Nothing could, as he felt what he could only describe as a soft hug, the kind of embrace that Bumblebee's metal skin could never provide in the physical world.
One more door, the Doctor encouraged him softly.
Go on, Sam, Bumblebee said when Sam hesitated. I'll still be here.
Sam swallowed, closed the door, and turned to a blue one. He hesitated, really not sure he wanted to open it.
It's your choice.
Sam slowly opened the door just a crack.
Even through such a tiny opening, he could feel the immense power and age on the other side and flinched, nearly slamming it shut again before he stopped himself. Optimus was just too much, too overwhelming - and that wasn't even counting how guilty Sam still felt over getting him killed, temporary though that had turned out to be. The same guilt kept him frozen again, unable to bring himself to open the door further and yet feeling too miserable to let himself slam it shut.
It's all right, Sam. Optimus' voice was infinitely gentle and filled with understanding. When you're ready.
Sam closed the door.
"And there we are," the Doctor's voice said outside his head, and Sam abruptly snapped his eyes open and found himself alone in his mind again. The Doctor was smiling at him, hands shoved into the pockets of his brown suit. He looked just as pleased with himself as Sam had pictured, but his eyebrows raised in what seemed to be a silent query of You all right? as Sam just stared at him for a moment.
"I... I... Thanks," Sam stuttered, and turned to hug Mikaela in relief, feeling as though an enormous weight had been dropped from his shoulders.
Bumblebee hummed happily from the door, resting his fingers lightly against Sam's back.
---
Jack watched the kids and the robot hug and gave the Doctor a questioning look as the Time Lord sauntered back over, hands still stuffed in his pockets. Jack had known this new Doctor long enough to know that his mood wasn't as casual as it seemed, though his pleasure at being able to help Sam was undoubtedly genuine. "So, question for you," Jack asked in a low tone, knowing the kids at least would be too distracted to hear. "How exactly are we going to close that dimensional gap, again?"
The Doctor shrugged a little. "I'm sure you've guessed that Sam is the key. Without him able to interface properly with the Matrix, this whole thing would be doomed from the start. But now that he's stable, it should be possible to connect the Matrix and the TARDIS through him."
Jack raised his eyebrows. "Two birds with one stone, huh?"
The Doctor looked over his shoulder. "Nice that it worked out that way."
Rose said, "You'd have helped him anyway though, right?"
"'Course I would," the Doctor said a little indignantly. "It's just nice to have some good luck for once. Especially since we're probably going to need it."
"I'm not liking the sound of that," Jack said. "What did that Matrix tell you, exactly?"
The Doctor's face sobered. "I know what we're up against. And why Cybertron and Skaro are the same planet, too."
"At least tell me we won't be running into Daleks again," Jack groaned. "If I never see another one it'll be too damned soon."
"Well... not Daleks. Probably." The Doctor still didn't look terribly hopeful. "But still..."
"Very bad, yeah?" Rose sighed. "Tell you what, how about after we get home we go spend some time on the Rainbow Candy Planet or something?"
"Not sure that's guaranteed trouble-free enough," Jack teased.
"Oi," the Doctor muttered again. "We don't get into trouble every day."
"No, just every week," Rose teased in return.
The Doctor folded his arms and made an obvious attempt to shift the harassment onto another target. "Speaking of trouble, I'm surprised at your restraint, Jack."
Rose looked at him in surprise. "That's right, you haven't made a move on Mikaela at all. Or Sam, for that matter. You feeling all right?"
"Hey," Jack said, raising his hands, "Just because I can't die doesn't mean I don't have some sense of self-preservation. And I'm not getting on the bad side of a jealous giant robot."
Rose's face contorted in a highly amusing fashion. "I really, really don't need to think about giant robots like that," she said. "Thanks so much, Jack."
"You're welcome."
The Doctor cleared his throat and turned back toward the door, announcing, "So! Time for a plan. I like plans! Of course, things hardly ever go according to plan, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have one. Or maybe three. Three's a good number." He cheerfully started herding the teenagers toward the door as Jack snickered and followed.
Score one for him.
---
Optimus watched the humans - and one non-human - emerge from the TARDIS after Bumblebee had moved out of the way. Sam immediately moved back to Bumblebee again and leaned against his side, Mikaela leaning on both of them. He was glad that Sam looked more relaxed than he had in a long time. Optimus had been putting off the inevitable conversations that he and Sam needed to have, knowing from Sam's determined avoidance of him that he simply was not ready, but perhaps some progress could be made at last.
First, though, the Doctor clearly had something on his mind. Optimus shifted into a better kneeling position where he could see everyone, and tilted his head at the Time Lord, waiting. Mud clung to his legs, but at least the rain itself had stopped for the moment, though Optimus could sense more rain falling in the distance if he cast his sensors far enough. Hopefully they would be back on the road before it reached them. Ratchet would be furious with him if he let any of the humans get chilled through enough to get sick, and he was no more eager to brave Ratchet's wrath than anyone else.
The Doctor paced restlessly, though it didn't seem to be due to nervousness. "Time for a little history lesson," the Doctor said, his voice strong and carrying. "Centuries ago - well, millennia really - in our universe, there was a scientist named Davros." His face darkened. "Brilliant, but completely mad. He decided to create what he considered to be the ultimate race. Weapons that could win any war. Creatures completely without any emotion other than hatred and the desire to destroy." He took a deep breath, a cold fury showing in him that seemed completely at odds with his cheerful tone of moments before. "Those were the Daleks. And they have wreaked havoc upon our universe ever since."
"Like Decepticons?" Sam asked slowly.
"Worse," the Doctor replied. "Especially since there were infinitely more of them." He stopped pacing. "But you see... Davros existed here too. That was the point of change, between your timeline and ours." He looked up at Optimus. "I think you might be the only one who knows what he created," he said quietly. "Perhaps the only one left of your race who has even heard the name. And they still exist, because you killed one today."
Optimus felt dread clench cold inside him. "No. It cannot be."
The Doctor nodded. "I'm sorry," he said.
"They are gone," Optimus insisted, willing it to be true. Sam and Mikaela looked at him fearfully, even Bumblebee broadcasting confusion and worry.
The Doctor shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said again. "But you saw it. They're real, and they are coming back in numbers. You have to be ready."
"Who are?" Sam demanded.
The Doctor said flatly, "The Quintessons."
--To Be Continued--
Title: Faultlines
Series: Transformers/Doctor Who crossover
Genre: Action/Adventure
Warnings: AU
Summary: Oh, you know. Giant robots, universe unraveling, the usual.
Faultlines
A Doctor Who/Transformers crossover
by Hoshikage
--Chapter Three--
Sam watched the Doctor and his companions warily. They'd all turned white, even Jack, and the Doctor buried his head in his hands as he leaned heavily against the console. "Okay, so I'm guessing Daleks are bad."
"You could say that," Jack said. "Probably the most deadly life form in our universe. Wiped out entire civilizations."
"O-kay," Sam said. "But it isn't Skaro here, so no Daleks... isn't that a good thing?"
"But why?" the Doctor muttered. "Why are Cybertron and Skaro the same? It doesn't make any sense!" He shot back upright and fixed a disturbingly intense stare on Sam. "This Matrix. You said it's kind of like a repository of Cybertronian history?"
"Kind of," Sam said, scowling as he tried to figure out how to explain. "And then some. But I guess it's the history part you're interested in?" Once again he felt a surge of frustration at being a walking history book, but he tried to stifle it. He was afraid some of it still came out as a sarcastic edge to his voice, though.
"At the moment, yeah." The Doctor sighed, and clearly made an effort to reduce the tension. "So... mind if I have a look?" he asked a bit diffidently.
"How? Read my mind?"
"Well... actually," the Doctor admitted, "Yes, pretty much."
Okay, Sam was not so keen on that idea. "Are you serious? A guy needs his privacy, you know!"
"No, no!" the Doctor said, screwing up his face. "Not like that!" Jack actually snickered and the Doctor glared at him. "Oh, don't start. What I mean is, I could connect to the Matrix through you. Actually," he added, "I could probably do something about your neural pathways to make it easier for you to control your interface with it, while I'm at it."
Sam's heart leaped even though he tried to stuff the feeling down. No more fits? No more half being afraid to be out in public for fear some random person on the street would think he was having a psychotic episode? Actually being able to have some kind of a clue what he was doing? Ohmygodyesplease. He barely took note of Mikaela's worried expression as he tried to keep his voice steady. "You can do that?"
"I think I can. I can try." Even though Sam had only known the Doctor for what, two hours, he had still definitely gotten the feeling that the Doctor was very very good at half-truths, evasions, omissions, and things that were perfectly truthful and yet meant nothing at all. This time was different. As if their minds were already connected, Sam felt his honesty, and was more than a little tempted to yell STOP THAT at the Matrix again in his head. Not that that ever worked. Or maybe it was just the Doctor having an ability to genuinely mean something without a protective screen over it after all, because he didn't actually feel any of the weird otherworldly Matrix tinge to his thoughts at the moment and the Doctor still felt almost painfully truthful when he said, "I won't hurt you. If something starts to go wrong, I'll stop. I promise."
Sam hesitated a moment longer. Mikaela was biting her lip but staying silent, leaving the decision up to him. Bumblebee reached in through the door, and though he couldn't fit more than his arm through the gap it was still enough for Sam to step over and let Bumblebee curl his fingers around him comfortingly. He didn't say anything either, not with radio or his own voice, just let the touch speak for him.
Sam swallowed and rested his own hand against the silver rain-slick metal of Bumblebee's thumb. "Okay," he said. He took a breath. "So do I have to do anything? Think about the sound of one hand clapping or something like that?"
"The things humans come up with," the Doctor sighed, though he had an oddly affectionate smile that seemed to be directed at the entire species in general. "No, just relax and let me in." He stepped closer and reached up to Sam's face, and Sam closed his eyes as he felt the Doctor's fingers touch his skin.
Wow, I'm gonna get a Vulcan mind-meld.
What is it with everyone I meet and this Spock? he heard - felt - a mutter in response, and almost jerked in startlement. He hadn't thought he'd actually be hearing thoughts in words -
I wasn't expecting that either, actually. This Matrix really has done some amazing things to your brain. Humans shouldn't be able to have a telepathic conversation this coherent.
Sam winced at the immediate flare of resentment he felt, hating the fact that he knew full well that he wouldn't be the only one seeing it, but he couldn't stuff it down. I think I'd rather be normal, thanks.
The Doctor was silent for a long time after that, or what seemed like a long time - who knew, maybe all of this was taking place in nanoseconds. He couldn't actually feel if the Doctor was doing anything or not, but finally he sighed, That I can't help. I do have some experience with partially or fully psychic devices and mental interfaces with them, but... this one is very tightly bonded to you. It's chosen you, and I don't think I can persuade it to let go.
Like your TARDIS is to you? Suddenly he knew what TARDIS stood for too, and felt disoriented. Uh. Wait. Am I getting--
Well you shouldn't be able to do that either, the Doctor said, and with a strange sensation like he'd slapped Sam's hand lightly away, the unfamiliar information abruptly stopped appearing in Sam's thoughts. And to think you were the one worried about privacy.
Sam flinched. Sorry. He knew for certain that whatever else came out of this, he really, really did not want the Doctor angry at him.
The Doctor only seemed simultaneously exasperated and resigned, though. It's not your fault, you can't help it. Let's see if I can talk this Matrix of yours into having a bit more in the way of manners, hm?
Sam gasped as a faint breeze of presence boiled into thunderclouds, stretching touches of silent, forceless lightning, brilliant gold that reached into blue -
Blue that exploded into billions of symbols, sparkling like stars flung in all directions at incredible speed, like the universe expanding in moments all inside his head -
Sam finally got his wish as his mind folded under the impossible flood and he blacked out.
---
Rose held her breath as the Doctor and Sam both closed their eyes, but it seemed like barely two seconds had passed before there was a sudden flash of blue light, so blinding that it left afterimages glowing in her vision as she frantically blinked to try and clear it. She heard a crash and as her vision cleared she saw the Doctor crumpled in a limp heap on the other side of the grate floor from Sam, as though he'd been flung across the room by the flare of energy. "Doctor!" she cried, running over to him.
"Sam!" she heard Mikaela cry from behind her, and twisted her head to look back as she dropped to the floor, but Sam had merely fallen back more fully into Bumblebee's grasp. Rose rolled the Doctor onto his back and quickly put her head to his chest, and was reassured when she heard two steady heartbeats.
She looked up at Jack as he quickly knelt next to her and gathered the Doctor half into his arms. "What just happened?"
"I don't know, but--" Rose didn't get to finish her sentence. The Doctor's eyes popped wide open and he gave a huge gasp, then sat bolt upright out of Jack's grip before squeezing his eyes shut again and grabbing his head.
"Whoa," he mumbled. "Headrush."
"Doctor?" Rose asked worriedly. "What happened?"
"Let me guess," Jack said. "The Mysterious Hugely Powerful Thing didn't like questions?"
The Doctor was back to staring blankly, his eyes more than a little dazed. "Just the opposite, actually," he said, blinking. "Talk about an infodump." He complained, "Does this thing do that all the time?"
Rose looked up and saw Sam standing out of Bumblebee's grip, a hand to his own head. "Yeah. Kinda. Usually not quite that... much though." He snorted. "Guess it likes you."
"Lucky me," the Doctor said without a trace of sarcasm. "I'd rather not find out what it could do if it didn't." He shook his head, his eyes focusing again, then leaped back to his feet. "Right. Well now that I've got every answer I could possibly have asked for and a bunch I really wouldn't have wanted to, maybe now I can convince it to have some other mode besides 'off' and 'total overload.'"
"You... didn't yet?" Sam asked, bewildered.
"Didn't get a chance," the Doctor admitted, rubbing his head again. "Soon as I came into contact, well, the total overload part."
"Hang on, that thing knocked you across the room!" Rose protested. "Shouldn't you, I don't know, wait before poking it again?"
"Nope, it's kind of discharged for now. If I wait it'll just get stronger again. Besides, it should recognize me this time. It already knows I've got all the information now so it doesn't need to throw it all at me again."
"So it's... sentient?" Jack asked.
The Doctor frowned. "Yes and no."
"Oh, that totally makes sense."
"It's... it's... oh, later," the Doctor said with a frustrated wave of his hand. "I'm still trying to sort out everything it just told me. One thing at a time, strike while the iron is hot, et cetera et cetera." He crossed the room again in a few long strides, then paused. "If... you're feeling up to it, that is," he said to Sam, apparently realizing (possibly because Mikaela was standing partially in the way and glaring daggers at him) that not everyone was going to have his stamina.
Sam looked at him dubiously. "You're sorting out that entire flood of information? In your head? Like, right now?"
The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Mmm... yeah."
"And holding a sensible conversation at the same time," Sam said in obvious disbelief.
The Doctor grinned at him. "Oh yes. Time Lords are really quite good at that kind of thing. Comes with the telepathy and the having more senses than humans."
"I'd say it's more because you don't actually have your brain and your mouth connected anyway, so they can run at the same time just fine," Rose said with her hands on her hips.
"Oi," the Doctor protested.
Sam smiled a little, suddenly. "Okay, bring it on. If you were gonna fry my brain I guess you'd have done it already, right?"
"Assuming your Matrix would let me," the Doctor said shrewdly.
"Yeah, that too," Sam said, his smile widening. Apparently he'd already thought of that.
Rose folded her arms and leaned against the console to watch. The Doctor didn't look like he usually did when he was trying to hide something... so she didn't seem to have much choice but to assume that he had in fact been as unharmed by the Matrix as he claimed. She still wasn't sure about it at all - tampering with a mysterious maybe-sentient energy source capable of bonding to both organic and robotic life that no one really seemed to understand just seemed like really asking for trouble - but then again, that kind of asking for trouble was exactly what the Doctor did, and usually the stranger it was the more excited he was about it. She sighed, and waited, and was slightly comforted when Jack stood next to her with his own arms folded too. Even the both of them combined couldn't keep the Doctor out of trouble, but at least they could try.
---
Sam closed his eyes again and waited for the silent thunderstorm. It was still intimidating, but he still felt more relaxed than he had been before. And he was definitely eager for some successful results this time, assuming the Doctor could do what he claimed.
He really hadn't been at all sure of how to react to an alien who wasn't a giant robot. It was weird as hell that Sam could be comfortable with aliens so totally different and yet freaked out by one so much closer to human - or maybe that was the problem. What was it, Uncanny Valley or something? Robots were, well, robots. Obviously different. But who knew what was going through the mind of someone who looked human but wasn't? Rose and Jack were obviously used to him, but they had tons of aliens in their universe - they'd said so themselves. On their Earth they probably had plenty of experience with - what had the Doctor said, Time Lords?
And then Rose had harassed him, and he'd smiled instead of blew up or anything, and Sam realized that no matter what the cultural differences were, or how unfathomable his thoughts might have seemed, apparently he actually liked at least a certain level of backtalk. Suddenly Sam could relax, could stop worrying that he was going to make the Doctor angry or impatient simply by being himself. He knew full well that his mouth could get him into trouble, but now he knew that for all the stormy power he could feel in his mind, the Doctor was close enough to human for Sam to at least partially understand him, and he felt much less afraid.
The Doctor was clearly aware of it, too. Ah, that's it. Now this might feel a bit strange, his "voice" warned, and Sam tried to consciously relax.
The closest Sam could come up with for an approximation of how it felt was having a bunch of mismatched puzzle pieces settled into their rightful pattern. It was weird, really weird, feeling like parts of him were being rearranged - but it didn't hurt, and he even started to feel impatient for the process to go faster as he felt his thoughts clearing and coming into sharper focus with each new piece that slid into place. Places where he'd tripped over his own confusion and inability to process what he was feeling, like cluttered, foggy mazes in his mind, straightened and lit brightly. It was incredible.
There. The Doctor sounded extremely satisfied with himself, not that Sam could fault him at the moment. Now, let's try an experiment. Imagine that between you and the Matrix is a door - then open it.
Sam did, slowly and cautiously. Brilliant blue information streamed into his mind again - but it all made sense, and it was slow and gentle enough that he could still remain himself and could actually follow it. He felt like whooping in joy and relief. Now this he could handle!
He tested closing the door, without waiting for prompting, and the Matrix immediately stopped - not silenced, he could still feel it, but he could actually halt the information without having to just helplessly wait until it let him go. It worked!
The Doctor didn't seem to be done with him yet, though. Good! Now, there's another door, can you feel it? Open that one.
Sam hesitated, confused at first, then at a nudge he groped his way toward the second door, trying to sort out by feel how it was different from the first one. Imagine it a different color or something, the Doctor's thoughts said helpfully, and Sam found it was a lot easier when he thought of it as bright yellow instead of warm brown wood. He had a feeling he already knew what would happen when he opened it.
He was right. A flush of surprise, and then welcome, wonder -
Bee.
Sam! A flood of excitement washed through him, as clear and effortless as sunlight in comparison to the erratic and dim connection they'd had before, usually when he was least expecting it. I guess this Doctor knows his stuff! Bumblebee laughed.
Sam realized he was hearing words, clear words. They could talk.
He almost cried.
He hadn't realized how much he had craved the ability to have a real conversation until this moment. Spending as much time with Bumblebee as he did, he'd gotten very good at interpreting snatches of music or movie dialogue purely by necessity, and Bee had gotten to be nearly expert at conveying through body language what he couldn't find the right recorded words for. But it just didn't compare to this. Nothing could, as he felt what he could only describe as a soft hug, the kind of embrace that Bumblebee's metal skin could never provide in the physical world.
One more door, the Doctor encouraged him softly.
Go on, Sam, Bumblebee said when Sam hesitated. I'll still be here.
Sam swallowed, closed the door, and turned to a blue one. He hesitated, really not sure he wanted to open it.
It's your choice.
Sam slowly opened the door just a crack.
Even through such a tiny opening, he could feel the immense power and age on the other side and flinched, nearly slamming it shut again before he stopped himself. Optimus was just too much, too overwhelming - and that wasn't even counting how guilty Sam still felt over getting him killed, temporary though that had turned out to be. The same guilt kept him frozen again, unable to bring himself to open the door further and yet feeling too miserable to let himself slam it shut.
It's all right, Sam. Optimus' voice was infinitely gentle and filled with understanding. When you're ready.
Sam closed the door.
"And there we are," the Doctor's voice said outside his head, and Sam abruptly snapped his eyes open and found himself alone in his mind again. The Doctor was smiling at him, hands shoved into the pockets of his brown suit. He looked just as pleased with himself as Sam had pictured, but his eyebrows raised in what seemed to be a silent query of You all right? as Sam just stared at him for a moment.
"I... I... Thanks," Sam stuttered, and turned to hug Mikaela in relief, feeling as though an enormous weight had been dropped from his shoulders.
Bumblebee hummed happily from the door, resting his fingers lightly against Sam's back.
---
Jack watched the kids and the robot hug and gave the Doctor a questioning look as the Time Lord sauntered back over, hands still stuffed in his pockets. Jack had known this new Doctor long enough to know that his mood wasn't as casual as it seemed, though his pleasure at being able to help Sam was undoubtedly genuine. "So, question for you," Jack asked in a low tone, knowing the kids at least would be too distracted to hear. "How exactly are we going to close that dimensional gap, again?"
The Doctor shrugged a little. "I'm sure you've guessed that Sam is the key. Without him able to interface properly with the Matrix, this whole thing would be doomed from the start. But now that he's stable, it should be possible to connect the Matrix and the TARDIS through him."
Jack raised his eyebrows. "Two birds with one stone, huh?"
The Doctor looked over his shoulder. "Nice that it worked out that way."
Rose said, "You'd have helped him anyway though, right?"
"'Course I would," the Doctor said a little indignantly. "It's just nice to have some good luck for once. Especially since we're probably going to need it."
"I'm not liking the sound of that," Jack said. "What did that Matrix tell you, exactly?"
The Doctor's face sobered. "I know what we're up against. And why Cybertron and Skaro are the same planet, too."
"At least tell me we won't be running into Daleks again," Jack groaned. "If I never see another one it'll be too damned soon."
"Well... not Daleks. Probably." The Doctor still didn't look terribly hopeful. "But still..."
"Very bad, yeah?" Rose sighed. "Tell you what, how about after we get home we go spend some time on the Rainbow Candy Planet or something?"
"Not sure that's guaranteed trouble-free enough," Jack teased.
"Oi," the Doctor muttered again. "We don't get into trouble every day."
"No, just every week," Rose teased in return.
The Doctor folded his arms and made an obvious attempt to shift the harassment onto another target. "Speaking of trouble, I'm surprised at your restraint, Jack."
Rose looked at him in surprise. "That's right, you haven't made a move on Mikaela at all. Or Sam, for that matter. You feeling all right?"
"Hey," Jack said, raising his hands, "Just because I can't die doesn't mean I don't have some sense of self-preservation. And I'm not getting on the bad side of a jealous giant robot."
Rose's face contorted in a highly amusing fashion. "I really, really don't need to think about giant robots like that," she said. "Thanks so much, Jack."
"You're welcome."
The Doctor cleared his throat and turned back toward the door, announcing, "So! Time for a plan. I like plans! Of course, things hardly ever go according to plan, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have one. Or maybe three. Three's a good number." He cheerfully started herding the teenagers toward the door as Jack snickered and followed.
Score one for him.
---
Optimus watched the humans - and one non-human - emerge from the TARDIS after Bumblebee had moved out of the way. Sam immediately moved back to Bumblebee again and leaned against his side, Mikaela leaning on both of them. He was glad that Sam looked more relaxed than he had in a long time. Optimus had been putting off the inevitable conversations that he and Sam needed to have, knowing from Sam's determined avoidance of him that he simply was not ready, but perhaps some progress could be made at last.
First, though, the Doctor clearly had something on his mind. Optimus shifted into a better kneeling position where he could see everyone, and tilted his head at the Time Lord, waiting. Mud clung to his legs, but at least the rain itself had stopped for the moment, though Optimus could sense more rain falling in the distance if he cast his sensors far enough. Hopefully they would be back on the road before it reached them. Ratchet would be furious with him if he let any of the humans get chilled through enough to get sick, and he was no more eager to brave Ratchet's wrath than anyone else.
The Doctor paced restlessly, though it didn't seem to be due to nervousness. "Time for a little history lesson," the Doctor said, his voice strong and carrying. "Centuries ago - well, millennia really - in our universe, there was a scientist named Davros." His face darkened. "Brilliant, but completely mad. He decided to create what he considered to be the ultimate race. Weapons that could win any war. Creatures completely without any emotion other than hatred and the desire to destroy." He took a deep breath, a cold fury showing in him that seemed completely at odds with his cheerful tone of moments before. "Those were the Daleks. And they have wreaked havoc upon our universe ever since."
"Like Decepticons?" Sam asked slowly.
"Worse," the Doctor replied. "Especially since there were infinitely more of them." He stopped pacing. "But you see... Davros existed here too. That was the point of change, between your timeline and ours." He looked up at Optimus. "I think you might be the only one who knows what he created," he said quietly. "Perhaps the only one left of your race who has even heard the name. And they still exist, because you killed one today."
Optimus felt dread clench cold inside him. "No. It cannot be."
The Doctor nodded. "I'm sorry," he said.
"They are gone," Optimus insisted, willing it to be true. Sam and Mikaela looked at him fearfully, even Bumblebee broadcasting confusion and worry.
The Doctor shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said again. "But you saw it. They're real, and they are coming back in numbers. You have to be ready."
"Who are?" Sam demanded.
The Doctor said flatly, "The Quintessons."
--To Be Continued--
