[closed] Trouble is a friend of mine

[alwaysalright]

Donna squeezes his hand gently. "You understand, don't you?"

The Doctor smiles. "Course I do. Wasn't thinking. Sorry," he says. Of course Donna would like to see her family alone, when they hadn't seen each other for so long. He should be used to it by now -- his companions' mums aren't usually too fond of him. Even though he had been looking forward to seeing Wilf. Later, then.

"I'm gonna get some flowers and walk home. Why don't I meet you back here, this time, tomorrow?" she tells him.

"Here. Tomorrow. Sold." The Doctor winks at her and starts walking off. "Nice flower shop on the corner thataway," he calls out, pointing. "Ask for Loretta and say I sent you."

That had been an interesting day. That stuff had taken ages to wash off, though. Well, at least now he has no social engagements, he has time to figure out why no one is around today. He heads in the opposite direction from Donna and the TARDIS, shoving his hands in the pockets of his blue suit and ambling down the street.

Except he doesn't get all that much investigating done, because all of a sudden he feels his stomach twist. Like when you're walking up the stairs and you think there's still a step to go, but your foot only finds air. The whole world turns sideways for a second, the Doctor blinks, and lands on his knees on the pavement.

Except he's not where he was a moment earlier. There's a few things that tip him off. Mostly it's the huge, light-covered building and large amounts of people milling around. It's colder, and it's darker, though you can't really tell given how well-lit the place is. He mouths wordlessly at his surroundings. The yellow cabs is what sells it. No. Can't be. Except it definitely is.

He grabs a random stranger, asking "Excuse me, mind telling me the date?"

Comments

[lukesmith]

"January 12th," replies Luke without thinking. He's like a little automatic information dispenser! While he was happy to help Ambrose earlier, being suddenly grabbed by a random adult sounds more like the sort of thing people have told him to watch out for, so he gives a little wiggle to try to get un-grabbed.

[alwaysalright]

Right, ungrabbing the young teenage boy. Might be a bit invasive, whoops, sorry about that.

"Aaaand, what year would that be?" he asks, pretending this is a perfectly common question, because it totally is.

[lukesmith]

"Twenty-thirteen?" Has he run into another rifty again? Luke squints at the man, trying to decide. Meanwhile, he utterly fails to try to get away from the potentially dangerous man.

[alwaysalright]

"Riight," the Doctor answers loudly, looking around and stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Twenty-thirteen. Not a bad year. Except for the... well, never mind. Only last time I checked, there wasn't a rift in Manhattan, certainly not at this point..." He seems to be mostly talking to himself, having apparently forgotten Luke for the moment, or perhaps just not caring if he hears what he's rambling about.

[lukesmith]

Has the Doctor noticed that he has a teenaged boy just sort of staring at him still? Luke frowns, brow furrowing in that look of consternation he so often wears.

"But there is a rift here," he interjects. "It's mostly in Central Park, but it's out to here, too."

[alwaysalright]

The Doctor looks back at Luke, appearing to suddenly realise Luke is still there.

"Oh, so you know about the rift?" he asks, grinning suddenly. Either it's common knowledge, or he just got lucky. "What's your name?" he asks, gesturing Luke to follow him a bit towards the corner so they can stand not quite so in the way of the flood of people.

[lukesmith]

"I'm Luke," replies Luke, following. Someone who knows about the rift -- or knows that it could be a rift -- has to be a rifty, right? Unless this man is a rebel and wants something bad (fairly unlikely, he thinks), it should be fine to talk to him and explain what's going on.

"A lot of people have been coming through it this weekend," he comments. "More than usual, I guess."

[alwaysalright]

The Doctor nods thoughtfully. It feels... excited might be a good word for it. Even out here, towards the edge of it, there's still the occasional ripple. He wonders if there's anything causing it, if the rift is expanding, or if it's just a random spike. Probably best to find out.

"I just came through myself," he explains. "I'm the Doctor."

[lukesmith]

"The Doctor?" It would be inaccurate to say Luke perks up and pays attention -- he was paying quite a bit of attention to the man already. If anything, though, the look he gives the Doctor is more appraising, even more curious than before.

"Are you Sarah Jane's Doctor?" he asks eagerly. Subtlety, thy name is not Luke Smith. It doesn't even occur to him that if this man isn't that Doctor, he'll end up looking like a weirdo.

[alwaysalright]

The Doctor nodded his confirmation and is busy paying attention to his surroundings. There's something iffy about the place. Something besides the rift.

When Luke mentions Sarah Jane, however, the Doctor's attention snaps back to him and a wide grin spreads on his face. "You know Sarah?"

[lukesmith]

"Sarah Jane," Luke corrects him automatically. "She's my mum -- she's told me all about you."

Well, not all about him, probably. And no, he doesn't think to explain further.

[alwaysalright]

The Doctor's grin fades a little in his confusion. "Your mum?"

"How long has she been your mum -- Weell," he reaches out and puts his hand on Luke's head then moves it to his own chest, measuring their heights against one another, looking him up and down. "Thirteen, fourteen years maybe? When are you from?"

At least if she's told Luke about him, that question won't be quite as baffling.

[lukesmith]

"It's 2008 back home," Luke replies, answering the second question first. "And she's been my mum a few months now."

So helpful! Ask him anything!

[alwaysalright]

2008, that's what, two years after the last time he saw her? Something like that.

"Oh, so she adopted you!" he answers, grin returning once he's finished being confused. "Lovely! And how's K9?"

[lukesmith]

"He's closing up a black hole, so we don't get to see him very often." Perfectly ordinary conversation about their robot dog here. "But I think he's doing well."

[alwaysalright]

"Good dog," the Doctor answers, still grinning cheerfully, though it's replaced quickly again by a frown. He cycles through expressions a lot. "Wait so, when did you get here? Are you here on your own, you doing all right? Where are you living?"

Because right, thirteen year old kid, totally not fine having him live alone in New York. And it's a good thing he's such an information dispenser, seeing as the Doctor has a lot of questions.

[lukesmith]

Luke's own smile fades. He's adjusting to being here, but he would still go home in a heartbeat. "Three weeks now," he says sadly. "I came here by myself, but I met some people who are helping me. We're going to try to work out how to get the rift to send people back."

[alwaysalright]

The Doctor pats Luke's back comfortingly, offering an encouraging smile. "I'll help too. Don't worry, Luke, I'll get you back to your mum. Promise."

There he goes, promising things he can't keep again. But it's not like he has any intention of staying here for that long. He can probably build something that lets them reverse the rift. He'll think of something.

[lukesmith]

Except by all accounts there's no way to get the rift to undo what it's done -- only, perhaps, to go in and get spat out somewhere else entirely. Luke has not yet lost hope, though, and he returns the smile as best he can.

"Is it true that you have a ship that can travel in time?" he asks, suddenly. Look who's leaping to one possible method of escape.

[alwaysalright]

Pffsh, the rift hasn't met HIM.

"I do, but it's stuck back where I came from, I'm afraid," he answers with a frown. "That's not the only way to travel, though. I've been stuck in worse scrapes."

[lukesmith]

"I guess I sort of have as well," replies Luke bravely. He's saved (and endangered) the Earth how many times now? "I've just never been this far from home, that's all."

[alwaysalright]

"And perhaps not this long - three weeks, was it?" he asks, not waiting for an answer. "I can get you back in time for tea the day you left, so Sarah doesn't have to worry about you."

Yeah he's going to keep calling her Sarah.

[lukesmith]

Luke grins -- somehow, despite everything he knows about the difficulties of doing anything with the rift, he believes the Doctor.

"She'll be glad to see you, too," he points out.

[alwaysalright]

"Oh, I should hope so!" he answers with a grin, completely ignoring the fact that the only reason he's met her in the last couple of decades was pure chance.

"SO, we'd better get on it. This rift, it pulls people from all of space and time?"

[lukesmith]

Luke nods eagerly, the Doctor's gung-ho attitude proving infectious. "Different universes, too," he points out. "That's what Topher told me, but I didn't get to look at all his readings yet."

[alwaysalright]

"Hmmmm. Generally traveling from universe to universe is near impossible, but seeing as the breach is already here, it should be doable," he answers thoughtfully. And hopefully without damaging reality too much. "Who's Topher?"

[lukesmith]

"He helps run Romac," supplies Luke. "They help the people coming through the rift, and they're looking for a way to bring it under control and send everyone back."

Ahh, blissful naivety.

[alwaysalright]

Saying Topher helps run Romac is maybe a bit of a stretch. The rift-related science department maybe, and he's got some respect and authority when it comes to that, but he's not all that administratively involved.

The Doctor doesn't even know what Romac IS though. "Right, that'd be the people you're staying with. What are they? Small band of scientists? Giant secret government organisation? A corporation? Bridge club?" he asks. No, Luke, you don't have to answer that last one, it was a joke.

[lukesmith]

Luke's grip on how Romac works might not be the strongest. Barry would be happy to explain, of course, but even Luke has his limits when it comes to Barry-splaining.

"Giant secret government organization," says Luke decisively. "I don't think a bridge club would be able to support all the refugees they do."

Is he joking? It is sometimes hard to tell. The fact that he didn't plan it out in advance probably means no.

[alwaysalright]

"Right," the Doctor answers. Luke's a tiny bit odd, isn't he? Quite literal. That's alright though, odd is nice. "I'd like to meet them, though perhaps not quite yet. Got my own investigating to do before then."

He looks around, sniffs, contemplating what to do. "Tell you what, Luke, I'll be in touch. Is there anywhere I can reach you?"

[lukesmith]

Would Sarah Jane be likely to adopt a normal child?

"Can't I come with you and help?" he asks, a little hurt that the Doctor is ready to abandon part from him so soon after they met.

[alwaysalright]

The Doctor grins. He was giving him an out, without having to worry about losing him forever, but alright, if he wants to join, the Doctor doesn't mind. It's getting late though, and the Doctor doesn't want to be a babysitter either.

"If you can keep up," he answers. "Now, let's see." He licks his finger then lifts it into the air. "Rift's that way." He points north. "I suppose we can go check that out first. I don't really have any equipment with me, but even just feeling it should help."

[lukesmith]

In all honesty, Luke should go 'home' relatively soon. Their curfew isn't unreasonably early, but it's not usual for him to stay out very late regardless. Still, this is the Doctor. One doesn't pass up an adventure with the Doctor just to make curfew.

"'Course I can," he says confidently. "I know where the rift is, too."

[alwaysalright]

"Excellent, having a guide will probably make it quicker," he says, heading north at a brisk pace. "This seems like a pretty regular New York. No zeppelins. Cabs are yellow. Looks more or less like it's supposed to. Have you ever been to New York, back in the other universe?"

[lukesmith]

"Never," admits Luke, falling into stride a few steps behind the Doctor, and hurrying to catch up. "But I've seen movies and read books and things, and it seems like it's the same."