The Adventures of the Doctor and Rory the Roman: Ten Round Two

[jesterladyfic]

1896 AD

Sometimes Rory wondered exactly how on Earth he managed to get into these kinds of things. He didn’t wonder long because he was usually running a lot or fighting for his life or plotting how to keep Amy safe or reining in another one of the Doctor’s crazy schemes or trying to heal someone with limited tools.

Or simply living through history. Like escaping the American Revolutionary War with only minutes to spare and then getting caught up in the French Revolution, meeting Beethoven, avoiding Napoleon’s armies, trying to understand why Lord Nelson never existed, listening to Wagner on opening night, hearing the news from across the pond about Abraham Lincoln’s assassination – not by Booth though, he’d never been born – getting bought – well, it was the Pandorica really – by Queen Victoria, watching them try to x-ray the Pandorica with no results, and then getting presented to the first Olympic games as a peace offering. Though he remembered being present at the actual first Olympics and that was a very weird thought.

That’s where he currently was, Athens, Greece – he liked using his Greek again - and if he’d a. been more into sports or b. less worried about so many people around the Pandorica, he’d have been thrilled to be there. The best part though was so many people dressed up in so many different costumes, their native dress as well as different periods. It was like a science-fiction convention for history cosplay. And he was practically the main event as he blended in perfectly. It was almost easy to keep an eye on the Pandorica because he’d gotten hired as part of the security forces for it.

As times got more modern he had a feeling he’d have to do that more instead of appearing and demanding things based on being a legend. That hadn’t worked very well on Queen Victoria anyway. He’d been trying to figure out how to get fake papers or something when that became necessary. Maybe the Doctor could fake some for him or something. Or Rory could get involved with a seedy underground sort of person. The idea actually was frightening and exciting at the same time.

But he wouldn’t have to worry about that for quite some time so he put it in the back of his mind and spent his time watching the Olympics. The Pandorica was in a high box-type place of Panathenaic Stadium overlooking everything so he had an excellent view. It was beyond amazing and he only wished Amy and the Doctor were there to enjoy it with him. It was funny to him that he would wish for his Doctor – not that he would want Amy, which went without saying – but that, despite how many Doctors Rory met, he wanted his original Doctor too. He wondered if that happened to all companions who met more than one Doctor.

It was the third day of the games and, so far, everything had been quiet and any excitement was relegated to the arenas. Night had fallen and most of the athletes were resting in the areas designated for them and the visiting dignitaries from each country were meeting in the main area, hobnobbing and schmoozing. Rory was the only guard who stayed at his post through night and day – some of the other guards found that odd, but none minded if it meant that they never had to work the night shift – and so he saw a lot of what went on behind the scenes in the privileged areas. He’d even become somewhat of a favorite for several of the older women who thought he was adorable in his costume and devotion. Whatever kept him close to the box was Rory’s mantra these days.

Rory had a habit – formed about fifteen hundred years prior – to always stand in the shadows so that he could watch for threats without being noticed. It had served him well on too many occasions to count. So far, that evening, nothing untoward or threat-y had happened. But then two foreign officials, the ambassadors from Bulgaria and China, if he wasn’t mistaken, walked past and paused in front of the box, looking rather furtively around them. Rory perked up his ears.

“It must be tonight,” the one was saying. “In the spirit of the festivities, most are unguarded. As each category gains a clear winner, everyone shall be on the watch and less likely to make merry until the end.”

Rory’s Bulgarian was very weak; however, he had once visited New Bulgaria with the Doctor and Amy and, though the language had definitely evolved – slang was all pervasive he’d discovered – since now, the Tardis translation seemed to still be working well enough for him to understand what was happening.

“Agreed,” said the Chinese ambassador. His Bulgarian was probably better than Rory’s though that wouldn’t be hard. “But we must be cautious. There have been far too many rumors about an attempt. If we assassinate we must assassinate well.”

Rory’s eyebrows went well into his hairline.

“Is the target aware?”

“Certainly suspicious, but we have one amongst their number. Chengming will not fail us.”

“I have heard great praise of her previous work. But I fear to be involved. We must not be found out.”

“You are involved,” his cohort snapped back. “We have too many strings tying us together so don’t get any ideas about pleading innocence. We are committed to this now.”

“I don’t want to know the details.”

“You are the details.”

“Fine,” the Bulgarian ambassador said and sighed. “We are going to meet here, yes?”

“In three hours time. Chengming will come to get her final instructions and the first half of her pay. You will provide the money, so do not be late.”

“And then the English will die?”

“Yes!”

The two figures melted away into the darkness and Rory almost sat down while he tried to figure out what he’d just heard.

An assassination attempt on an English person of importance in three hours by some Chinese girl named Chengming. What should he do? As far as his history served, there hadn’t been any assassinations at the first Olympic games. On the other hand, history really couldn’t be trusted right now. And even if it could, should any person be carelessly allowed to die when it could be prevented? Rory would say no immediately every time if he hadn’t been acquainted with the Doctor for so long. Sometimes things had to happen – something called fixed points - or there would be consequences, but one apparently had to be a Timelord or something to know what those might be.

But Rory wasn’t a Timelord and the Doctor wasn’t there and Rory was, so he was going to do something about it. It was about nine o’clock and he didn’t want to leave the Pandorica unguarded. However, one of his fellow guards, Sven, took his job almost as seriously as Rory did and usually showed up at about now to partake in the watch. Rory prayed tonight wouldn’t be the night that Sven found some buxom girl in the buffet line or whatever the equivalent here was. Rory didn’t know, he didn’t eat.

Rory waited for about thirty minutes anxiously, trying to figure out what to do, when Sven showed up.

“Sven!” he called out, nearly delirious with joy. “I need you to watch for me.”

Sven blinked, not seeming to understand. Rory could get that, after all, he never went anywhere. Ever.

“Yes,” Sven said, “I will watch for you. When will you be back?”

“As soon as I can,” Rory said, “but probably not for a couple of hours. Try not to let anyone see you and please don’t let anyone near the box.”

“That is the point,” Sven said, rather grumpily, Rory thought.

Rory simply left and headed toward the English portion of the vast city of tents for different countries. No proper Olympic Village this, everyone had to fend for themselves. Tents and flags were everywhere. It was a veritable maze and would be very easy to escape through in the midst of some type of confusion. Rory planned how he could either a. prevent that or b. cause that, while he made his way through. He was known to most of the important people and so most everyone he passed greeted him. He nodded in return and kept going.

It took him a good twenty minutes to get to the tent that he was pretty sure would be the target. Nearly next in line for the English throne would certainly do it. He crept around the back of the tent, avoiding their guards with ease. There were slots of space between the canvas and he peered through, spying a dizzying assortment of food and people. He kept moving until he found who he was looking for. There were plenty of girls around, several of them Chinese.

“I didn’t know Romans were peeping toms,” a familiar voice from behind him said.

Rory nearly sagged with relief.

“Doctor!”

“John Smith actually, though if you do call me Doctor I inevitably answer, sort of a Pavlovian response, I think. And you don’t know him cause he’s not been born yet, but apparently he wasn’t born at all so maybe it’s a totally different response you would call it.”

Rory watched the Tenth Doctor natter on and grinned.

“Doctor, I’ve never been so glad to see someone since the last time I was never so glad to see someone, which, incidentally, was also you.”

“I’m very popular this time period,” the Doctor said happily. “I’m not usually popular, usually locked up or turned into a god or shot at. Very rude, of course. I rather like being popular.”

“My name is Rory,” Rory said patiently and watched the usual flicker of comprehension pass over the Doctor’s face.

“What trouble have you got for me this time?” the Doctor asked, smiling slowly.

“An assassination attempt.”

“By Chengming, that’s what this little one told me,” the Doctor said, pointing to his empty hand. Rory just looked at it. The Doctor looked down. “Oh, she’s run off. Well, I don’t blame her, after all, who would want to be involved in this? Apart from you and me. Daft, we are.”

“Or simply bored after hanging around for a couple of millennia,” Rory said.

“Bored, not you,” the Doctor said. “Think of it all, Rory. Think of the Romans and the Vandals and the Popes and the armies and the Muslims and the Crusades and the French, always the French, the ships and dances and inventions and people, people, people. It’s enough to make anyone mad, mad and happy.”

“Certainly has done you,” Rory said, smiling faintly. “From knowing multiple worlds even if they don’t exist anymore. Rather like your informant, I think,” he finished, pointing at the ground where two sets of footprints, one considerably smaller than the other, could be seen coming up but none going away.

“Oh, that’s sad,” the Doctor said. “I liked her. She wasn’t afraid of the Tardis.”

“Sorry about that,” Rory said, “but Chengming is due back at the Pandorica in less than two hours to get her money and instructions. We’ve got to act now.”

“Right,” the Doctor said and clapped his hands together. He pushed open the tent flaps – never minding that they weren’t supposed to be opened - tearing them, and strode into the midst of a bunch of ladies - thankfully - mostly dressed. “Nobody panic but someone’s going to get killed.”

Rory almost clapped his hand on his forehead in a cliché display of annoyance, really, he almost did.

Panic erupted and Rory grabbed the Doctor and pulled him back out and found himself holding the Doctor’s hand while running – that was strictly Amy’s job, not his, they’d tossed for it and he’d won for once in his life – and dropped it. The Doctor laughed at him and kept going. They made their way to a place far enough where they couldn’t possibly be considered to have been involved and stopped.

“Are you mad?” Rory asked. “Now we’ll never get back in there.”

“But they’ll be doubly on the alert now,” the Doctor said. “They – meaning the assassins - would have to be fools to try anything which Chengming will undoubtedly tell her accomplices back at the Pandorica.”

He smiled his very smug smile and made a triumphant clicking kind of noise with his mouth. Rory shook his head.

“You are going to be the death of me.”

“Again?”

“Again. Could you ever explain your plans before you implement them perhaps?”

“You take all the fun out of life,” the Doctor said, then became more serious. “But nobody’s dying here tonight. Not on my watch. Never on my watch.”

Rory felt a little bit worried. This Doctor had been through the Time War, but he seemed to suffer from PTSD more than Nine had. And he appeared to be alone.

“Where’s Martha?” he asked. “Did something happen to her, Doctor? Tell me!”

The Doctor stared at him for a moment before breaking out into a grin.

“Not my Martha. Strongest woman in the cosmos, defender of the Earth! No, she left me, had to. She’s gone and gotten married actually and done something dreadful to her hair. But she’s fine. She was lucky, she was smart, always been brilliant, my Martha,” he finished, seeming a million years away.

Rory wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or alarmed.

“And you’re on your own now?” he asked cautiously.

“I’m not on my own,” the Doctor said, ruffling his hair. “I’ve got Rory the Roman with me! Always somebody new and interesting.”

“But nobody full time?” Rory persisting, hardly knowing why he was doing so.

“It’s dangerous being with me,” the Doctor said tightly. “You’re evidence enough of that.”

“But I am going to travel with you…provided we don’t all get erased,” Rory said. “You won’t always feel that way.”

“I can’t know too much about my future,” the Doctor said. “I already know far too much. But, then again, this timeline should be moot and void and all for naught. Three great phrase amalgamations, so, Rory…let’s save a princess!”

The moment appeared to be over, so Rory didn’t push it. Instead he followed the Doctor back to the Pandorica where the Doctor flashed psychic paper at Sven and made him leave. Then he climbed on to the railings surrounding the Pandorica and hopped on top of it, beckoning to Rory to follow. Silently begging Amy’s pardon for constantly climbing all over her and letting strange versions of her imaginary friends do likewise, he did.

They waited there together for awhile, sometimes talking and sometimes not. Rory managed to get the Doctor to tell him a little bit about his latest traveling companion, Donna – though the Doctor wouldn’t say much more than her name - and also about the lives of all the other companions Rory had met. Jamie and Zoe back in their own times – Rory did not like the end to that story – Jo married and exploring the Amazon, Sarah-Jane saving the world from her attic in Ealing, Peri either living with some barbarian king or gone home - Rory couldn’t quite understand from the rambling way the Doctor said it – Ace either doing charity work in Rory’s original time or something about nineteenth century Paris – the Doctor was a bit vague on that bit too. He flat out refused to say anything about Romana and Rory could understand that and so didn’t press.

The Doctor even told Rory about the ones that he hadn’t met like Tegan and Turlough, gone back home, or Jack and Rose, one running Torchwood – Rory did not have good memories of his encounters with them – and one happy in a parallel universe. He said something about a human Doctor, but Rory didn’t stop to ask questions because at that point he saw his two ambassadors sidling up to the box.

In a few moments a young girl joined them, dressed in a heavy cloak. They had a hushed conversation that Rory could just hear with his plastic ears, or he could have if the Doctor didn’t keep whispering and distracting him, saying something rubbish about China not even being at the games historically and lamenting the loss of Austria as a country.

Basically Chengming told them what had transpired at the tents and they were arguing about what to do. China was all for letting Chengming do it in the confusion, Bulgaria was all about waiting for a better opportunity and Chengming simply wanted more money because of the increased risk. Finally they agreed to wait and Rory stood up, ready to jump down on them.

“Wait,” the Doctor said, showing him a…digital recorder. “We’ve got all the evidence we’ll need.”

“I’m still going to get them,” Rory said. “Evidence like that could be suspect this day and age.”

“Oh, fine, be right all the time,” the Doctor said, looking sulky.

Rory jumped from the Pandorica, landing lightly on his feet. His quarry had parted ways a little bit ahead and he quickly knocked Bulgaria unconscious, trusting it would last till he got back. China and Chengming were much more difficult. China was evidently a talker and not a fighter, but he was slippery. Chengming was a highly trained assassin and Rory took at least two stab wounds before he managed to subdue her and then kept his gun hand on China so he couldn’t get away.

The Doctor ran up to them announcing he’d gotten the game officials and authorities and they all had a nice confab in the fog. With the eye witness of an above board guard, visual and audio evidence of the actual plan, and the many weapons discovered on Chengming’s person, they were believed and the three carted off with announcements to be made about their sad departure due to illness.

The Doctor and Rory hung back, both wanting anonymity for their own reasons, Rory was sure. In the end, they went back to the Pandorica.

“So…what’s to do for fun around here?” the Doctor asked.

“Um…watching sports?”

“I guess they don’t have edible ball bearings here yet.”

“Uh…no.”

“Who do you favor in the discus?” the Doctor said, slinging an arm around Rory and Rory was very confused.

“So…you’re staying around?”

“I came here to watch the games, didn’t I? Keep up, Rory!”

“Well…okay.”

Which started a very weird series of days for Rory where the Doctor would come and watch the games with him and yell things at the athletes and bring food he’d gotten from the Tardis that wouldn’t be around for several hundred years. Occasionally the Doctor would go right down to the arena and lecture assorted people who hadn’t behaved according to the Doctor’s idea of things. It was almost the least terrifying time Rory had ever spent with the Doctor and so long as the Doctor didn’t try to make him leave the box he was okay with that. In the process he got to ask the Doctor all the questions he’d ever wanted to know – though the Doctor refused to answer a lot of them or changed the topic or started blathering on about Timelord responsibility or blatantly lied – and Rory felt quite enlightened by the end of it.

It was actually very sad when the games were over and the Doctor met up with Rory after the closing ceremony to say goodbye.

“Well, getting down to the wire, huh?” the Doctor asked.

“Really really am,” Rory said, nodding. “It’s funny, but most people must think of a hundred years as something that they could never get through. I kind of laugh at a thought like that, but I get it at the same time, because this last hundred feels like forever.”

“You’ll last,” the Doctor said firmly. “I’ve no doubt. The universe has many tricks up its sleeve, it can be cruel and we’re witnessing that every moment, but there are miracles, there’s wonder.”

“You’re a ridiculous miracle,” Rory said, remembering.

“Me?” the Doctor asked, pointing at himself.

“You’ll find out the day you wear a fez and get a sudden desire to mop the floor.”

“Fez? Me? Don’t be absurd,” the Doctor said, looking horrified. “I couldn’t run my hands all through my hair and run around being all clever. And it would look murder with my coat.”

Rory opened his mouth, but then didn’t bother. Every Doctor was so the same, but every Doctor was so so different. And he wouldn’t really want it to be any other way. He’d often wished differently, but now he just couldn’t imagine life with the Doctor any other way.

“As you wish, Doctor,” he said, smiling to himself.

“You think you know more about me than I do,” the Doctor said, smiling a little grumpily.

“About your future, I most certainly do,” Rory said, grinning.

“Shut up,” the Doctor said and then nearly crushed Rory in a hug which Rory returned gladly.

He had a feeling he probably wouldn’t be seeing the Doctor – at least this one – again. So he waved while the Doctor loped off back into the fog and took up his position with the Pandorica.

Comments

[rosaxx50.livejournal.com]

Like escaping the American Revolutionary War with only minutes to spare and then getting caught up in the French Revolution, meeting Beethoven, avoiding Napoleon’s armies, trying to understand why Lord Nelson never existed, listening to Wagner on opening night, hearing the news from across the pond about Abraham Lincoln’s assassination – not by Booth though, he’d never been born – getting bought – well, it was the Pandorica really – by Queen Victoria, watching them try to x-ray the Pandorica with no results, and then getting presented to the first Olympic games as a peace offering. Though he remembered being present at the actual first Olympics and that was a very weird thought.

One of my absolute favourite passages in the story. Not just because of all the history packed into it, but because of its obvious impact on Rory. He has seen the actual first olympics. Indeed. ALl the references to past companions were great, too. I nearly squealed, reading through all of them and realising Rory's attachment to the whole idea of them.

And WoT!Ten is one of my favourites too. I'm so glad he showed up.

[jesterladyfic.livejournal.com]

Companions unite! Thank you so much. I love the idea of so much happening to one person and how it's going to change them. I'm pretty sure I only just scratched the surface though because 2,000 years!