Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Episode 5 - An Unexpected Visit


Our travels through the Multiverse had been going on for some time when this story commences. Janias and Camilla were cuddling each other on the stairs near the TARDIS Control, waiting for me to bring us to our next destination. I was hard at work on the TARDIS controls. "So, my dears, where to next?", I asked. "Risa, perhaps? We've yet to party crash Emperor Vir, I wouldn't mind visiting Centauri Prime for that."

"It's your TARDIS," Cami remarked. "Just don't get us chased around."

"Where's your sense of adventure, girls?"

"I left it with those maniacs who wanted our skulls for a skull throne," Janias said drolly.

"Oh yes. Chaos types, not very fun at all, was that?" I sighed and pressed a switch. "Well, I shall try to give us a random..."

Suddenly the TARDIS shifted under us, a sudden tremor that might have knocked me off my feet. It began to shake. "Oi, what's wrong now?" I ran a hand over the controls while checking a screen. "What's wrong, dear? You normally run so well. You can tell your Doctor."

"You're talking to it again," Camilla laughed.

"Well, yes. She needs someone to," I countered, checking another switch. "Oh, a right knotty distortion in the dimensions. She's giving my girl a little indigestion. We'll just set her down and get our bearings." I flipped a couple of switches and pushed the lever to shift the TARDIS out of the Time Vortex. I stepped up to the TARDIS door and opened it.

I took only one step out to get my bearings, but by then the rest of my brain was processing my environs. To my left was a desk with a computer monitor on it, early 21st Century, and a colorful but featureless painting hung above it. As I looked around and noticed equipment and table space and cabinents, it occured to me that the vista was eerily familiar. Beyond an open sliding glass door was another section, with visible shelving and equipment, and a door open to a corridor with brown - maybe brownish red or even a darker orange - siding.

"What is this, some sort of lab?", Camilla asked from beside me.

Lab. The word struck through me. The fact that I had to hear it over a constant background of heavy metal music made my mind connect the dots.

Before I could verbalize this, someone stepped around from the other side of the open sliding glass door. A woman, white lab coat, dark hair in pigtails, light green eyes, some fetching tattoos on the visible bits of her skin.... yes yes, and the spiked dog collar too.

And, of course - of course! - a big red plastic cup straight from a convenience store with "CAF-POW!" written on it.

I remember thinking that this was not exactly a destination I had ever had in mind. The mere fact it was happening was bringing me a headache. This kind of world was really not compatible with a Time Lord running about with an alien Jedi girl and her girlfriend. Materializing in such a secure location was an extra headache.

I looked at our hostess and saw her struggling to find words. I forced a smile to my face. "Clearly, my dear, you have had far too much caffeine today and are seeing things. I really think you should lay off the CAF-POW! for a while, Abby."

That got me a confused stare. "How... how did you know my name was...?"

Beside me Camilla spoke up immediately. "Well, we're in your head, right? Why wouldn't we?"

Clever girl.

"Just go have a lie down for a while, get your blood sugar evened out. I'm sure you'll be fine." I backpedaled into the TARDIS and dashed up to the controls. I hit a couple of controls to make damn sure we materialized somewhere quiet and secluded and in another time period. And then I pulled the lever to get us out of there before the girl could do something like grab us before we dematerialized. "That was a close one," I breathed.

"Who was that, Doctor?", Camilla asked.

"Oh, someone I've heard of. Honestly, this world isn't quite the right place for us to be openly moving the TARDIS about..." I pushed open the TARDIS door and....

It was a primarily white room. There were three metal exam tables and a tray with various instruments that were used for the business of, well, cutting a dead body open. At a desk in the far corner, two men - one fairly young, the other late in his middle aged years - peered at us through their glasses. Looks of extreme befuddlement were on their faces.

I let out a deep sigh. "Well, clearly this isn't from too much caffeine," I said. "Perhaps you gentlemen have a gas leak or some such thing. Really should look into that, Doctor Mallard. Please, take care. And please, do keep the bowties. Bowties are cool."

And so I backpedaled into the TARDIS yet again and triple checked my coordinate settings and hit the lever once more.

When we stepped out, we were in an office, a big one, with a plasma screen and a picture of an African-descended woman and children... "Oh bugger," I grumbled, recognizing the office and just who inhabited it. The girls didn't get a chance to see outside of the TARDIS before I slammed the door in frustration and went back to the controls. "Why won't you leave?! This isn't the place for us, we shouldn't be here!" In frustration I shifted even more controls, targeting us back to Air Acolyte Island of all things. And then I pulled the lever.

I opened the door and for the briefest moment the appearance of sunlight gave me hope it'd worked. But that hope was dashed when I saw a clear view of a river and structures beyond... through the panes of windows set into a brick wall. Desks were arrayed in front of the TARDIS on either side, all four occupied, with at least one big plasma monitor to the left and other examples of decent technology for the early 21st Century.

Four sets of eyes focused on me. I looked into the faces of each and recognized every one of them. The one nearest to my left was holding his phone to his head. "Abby, I think I believe you now..."

And the man nearest to me on the other side stood and faced me directly. He said nothing. He didn't need to. His attention was enough to speak volumes.

I looked back up at my TARDIS and noticed other faces looking up and over cubicle walls or from other spots on the floor and the one above. I let out a breath and conceded defeat. For the TARDIS to be this bloody stubborn, something was going terribly wrong and it wanted me here to fix it.

So I looked back to the man. "Hello. NCIS Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, I presume?"

I got a laconic "Yeah".

"I'm the Doctor. And I'm afraid that something very, very wrong is happening to your world."





Everytime I've had to bring up the issue of six dimensions and everything existing and other such, I've found myself wishing I had Bob - as in the one living in a skull on Harry Dresden's lab shelf - with me to explain it. It gives me headaches.

So we're all there, in the main squadroom of NCIS Headquarters. I have the entirety of Team Gibbs focusing on me. Behind me the girls are still standing in the threshold of the TARDIS, trying to find out what's going on.

At that point, so was I. This... this did not work. I'm not sure why some cosmoses fail to explore ways to bend reality, technologically or magically, but some do. Perhaps they are more metaphysically "solid". But what I did know was that this cosmos was one of them.

I was literally not supposed to be here. It threatened existential issues of all sorts to crop up.

"I'm listening." The look on Gibbs' face didn't change.

"Right," I muttered. "Something's hinky in your world. Don't ask me what, I haven't figured that out yet." I stepped forward and looked over to Timothy McGee, still on the phone with Abby. "You. You're the one most likely to be open to these things."

"Open to what?", he asked.

"The Nerd Side of the Force, obviously." Down from him, Tony DiNozzo was smirking a little.

Behind me, Janias asked "Doctor, what's going on?". She stepped out with Cami behind her.

I heard Ziva David ask, "Why is she... green?"

Yes, Janias stepped out without her holographic belt.

I turned to glare at her over that, but she preempted me. "We appeared out of thin air, Doctor. I think it's too late. So yes, everyone, I'm a Mirialan, not a Human."

Naturally, Tony had to chime in with a remark. "You look Human enough to me."

Janias looked to him and narrowed her eyes. "I'm not going to like you, am I?"

"Probably not," I said. "Now...."

Gibbs' phone took the moment to ring. He answered it with his name and listened to the other speaker. "Yeah, Duck, I know."

I looked to him. "If that's Doctor Mallard, can you ask him up here with his stethoscope?"

"Hey Duck, bring your stethoscope up to my desk. Got something for you." He hung up and looked back to me. "I'm still waiting, Doctor."

"Yes. Well, the short of it is that I was going through the Time Vortex with my TARDIS, we hit a dimensional distortion and I took her out of the Vortex to get our bearings and here we are. My TARDIS now refuses to leave your offices. And the only reason she would do that is if..."

"Wait, you mean your wooden box is alive?", Tony asked.

"Yes, actually," I replied. "As I was saying, a pan-dimensional disruption of unknown origin led me to stop here. I'm now imagining the two are related, so..."

"Oh my God!"

I breathed in a tolerant sigh at the new interruption. Abby, it seemed, had made her way up and was in sight of the TARDIS now. "Is that it? is that really...?"

Gibbs stepped back from the entrance where he had been looking inside. "It's smaller on the outside," he remarked, looking up at the top of the TARDIS.

I smirked. "Yes, you would be the one to put it that way, wouldn't you?" In the distance I heard the elevator open. "Before we start getting too chaotic... yes, Abby, it is the TARDIS. Yes, you can look, Janias will make sure you don't get lost." I looked over at Gibbs. "Presuming you are given permission."

"Not at the moment, not until you give me some answers."

Now you can imagine that the scene was getting more and more chaotic. I had eyes looking at us everywhere and voices rising up shock. I was already trying to figure out what had happened; now I was letting the sheer insanity of the situation become distracting to the pressing issue.

A loud whistle broke through the clamor. "Hey!" All eyes turned to Gibbs. "We'll handle this. Get back to work."

He was obeyed. Of course he was. The man's reputation was enough to cause that.

"Thank you," I breathed.

"Don't, I'm not through with you yet," Gibbs replied.

Before I could ask more, Doctor Mallard - who for simplicity's sake I shall call Ducky for now on - rounded the corner. He looked at me and to the TARDIS. Our eyes met. "Well," he said, "I should be thankful that you are actually there."

It occurred to me that for a man who's mother was suffering from, among other things, severe dementia, seeing the TARDIS would have prompted all sorts of unhappy possibilities for the actual cause.

"Yes. I'm afraid I'm having difficulty with my TARDIS today."

"I liked you better when you had the scarf."

"I sort of liked the leather jacket that the Ninth wore," Tim added.

"Just what are you talking about?", Ziva asked them.

"Our good Doctor is supposed to be a television series character," Ducky explained. "One that I grew up with. So it makes me wonder just what his explanation for this is."

I smiled thinly. "Understandably. I shall enjoy explaining, but I think it best if we confirm my nature." Because of my height I leaned against Tim McGee's desk and partially unbuttoned my shirt. "If you would please listen to my hearts beat?"

Ducky put the instrument over his ears and applied the sensor end to my chest. At my indication he put it on the other side as well. I saw his face go blank. "Oh dear."

"What?" The question was from Ziva, who looked the most lost. I recalled her upbringing in Israel probably left her the least likely to know who I was supposed to be.

"He has two hearts," Ducky said. "How is that possible?"

"I'm a Time Lord. Well, a TIme Lord now..." I sighed. "Honestly, it's a very long story and Agent Gibbs is more interested in why I'm here, a question that I'm admittedly fairly vexed in as well."

"Maybe it was Professor Ratigan," Tony proposed humorously, his emphasis including a very bad impersonation of my voice. When we all looked at him he sat up in his chair. "Come on. Barrie Ingham, 'The Great Mouse Detective'. Vincent Price himself as the nefarious Professor... " Gibbs leveled a Look toward Tony. "Shutting up now, boss."

"If only sewer rats were the extent of the problem," I muttered. I had to admit... thinking of my voice at the time, I did sound fairly close to how Ingham voiced Basil of Baker Street. I found that profoundly odd. "Has anything bizarre happened lately?", I asked. Seeing their looks, I quickly amended, "Besides me."

"Define bizarre, sir," Ducky said.

"People who look like they're in the wrong time period," I replied. "Mysterious security breaches or computer behavior, some indication that someone has time traveled or that there is a temporal rift of some sort."

"That's not really something in our jurisdiction," Tim pointed out. "Unless you're suggesting that an aircraft carrier is about to go through a time warp or something, I'm not sure we'd have anything to do with it."

"'Final Countdown', Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen. Good reference, probie."

"Is he always like this?", Cami asked Ziva. She was answered with a nod.

"Have there been any recent incidents with particle colliders?", I asked. "It's a long shot, but there's always a possibility that they could have caused a space-time tear."

Tim shook his head. "Uh, none that I've heard of."

"Maybe you're not just thinking fourth-dimensionally," Tony suggested in his best Christopher Lloyd voice.

I turned my head toward him. "I give you credit for the Doc Brown impersonation, but I'm a Time Lord. Our brains are made for thinking fourth dimensionally. Besides, I don't think you're one to talk. The only dimensions you're interested in are Jan's and Cami's. You shouldn't bother, Agent DiNozzo, they're not your type."

"And how would you know, Doctor?", he asked.

Ziva beat us to the answer. "Because they're already together, Tony."

"Very observant, Agent David," I concurred.

My Companions let out a giggle and held hands.

"Both. Hrm." Tony seemed to give it a thought. "That would be tricky."

"Drop it, DiNozzo," Gibbs said. "So, Doctor, care to explain just what you are?"

"I'm a Human from an Earth much like your's," I answered. "I was abducted by an unknown force, planted in a situation where I was sure to get killed, and then getting killed caused me to regenerate and become a Time Lord. I've been mentally violated so that I slowly lose my personal memories of my old life and provided the means and tools to cause me to intentionally and unintentionally transform into a psychological doppelganger of the Doctor. So yes, Doctor Mallard, I am probably quantifiably mad at this point."

It's surprising how hard it hurt to say that, to remember the memories slipping into that black hole in my head. I made myself focus on the issue at hand.

"Maybe you should find another name then," Ziva said.

I didn't answer. I didn't want to answer. I focused on the problem, staring at their blank plasma screen. "The TARDIS wants to be here. Something about the problem, or the solution to it, is here. Are you sure there is nothing bizarre going on?"

"The only thing bizarre around here is the weather," Tony scoffed.

I hmphed... and then I stopped. "The weather," I said. I whirled around and faced Tony. "What's wrong with the weather?"

"Record lows across the Mid-Atlantic," he replied. "We're in May and we hit freezing last night."

Tim nodded. "Yeah, it's been real weird. It's warmer in Maine right now."

"So you're having colder temperatures than normal." I started moving my right hand index finger. "For how long?"

"About two weeks," Gibbs answered.

"Then... that might be something. I need to see weather data." I turned to where Abby was standing outside the TARDIS doors, a pleading look on her face. "Abby! I need your lab!"

"Do I get a ride?", she asked.

"That depends." I looked to the man who was her boss in spirit if not in truth. "Does she get a ride, Agent Gibbs?"

"So long as you get that thing out of our squadroom," Gibbs replied.

"Alright! A ride it is." I went to the TARDIS door. Abby hopped through - yes hopped - with Gibbs behind her and my Companions following, Ducky taking up the rear. "Welcome aboard the TARDIS," I said. I looked back to Ducky. "I'm no Tom Baker, but I hope you'll forgive me."

"I was a Pertwee lad myself," Ducky answered.

"Ah. And a Sarah Jane lad too, I imagine." I went to the controls. "Everyone loved Sarah Jane."

Tim stood at the door and began peeking in. Moments later Tony and Ziva were right behind him.

Before I could invite them, Gibbs looked back. He breathed what seemed to be a sigh of resignation. "Come on."

And so I had everyone piled aboard the TARDIS at that point. They spread out around the Control Center while I began tweaking very carefully with the coordinates. Janias was kind enough to close the door. With the Force, admittedly.

"Wait, how did she do that?", Ziva asked.

"I was a Jedi Padawan once," Janias answered.

That earned her the attention of both Tim and Tony. I raised a finger. "No, DiNozzo. No Sir Alec impersonations, no Yoda. Harry Dresden was bad enough." I was privately thankful that after the whole business with Harry Dresden and some of his Jedi remarks I'd finally sat down with Janias and Camilla to explain things involving six dimensions of space-time and the power of thought.

"Whatever you say, Doc." Tony went up toward the controls.

I only noticed this afterward; one moment I was busy locking in the coordinate change to take us to Abby's lab, the next a wailing came from the TARDIS systems. I looked over to see Tony's hand still toggling a knob, now moving it the other way. I went over, hit a switch, and took the knob myself to move it back into place. The wailing stopped before I let myself take a breath. I brought my finger up toward Tony's face. "This is not a toy," I said through clenched teeth. "You almost disengaged the locks on the Time Vortex. That would be a very bad thing."

"How bad?", he asked.

"The Eastern Seaboard would stop worrying about the weather because there'd be a black hole big enough to destroy Belgium in here," I answered. "General announcement for everyone: If I have not personally shown you how to operate the TARDIS, do not touch anything."

With the exception of Gibbs, everyone found themselves pulling their hands back to their sides. Even Ducky.

"Now. On to Abby's lab." I pulled back on the lever and allowed the VWORPing of the TARDIS engine to speak for itself. When we were done I opened the TARDIS door. We were right where I'd first arrived in this cosmos. I didn't bother looking back to see everyone off. I went right into the main part of the lab and the computers. Abby was right on my tail. "I need weather data for the past two weeks."

"What kind?", she asked.

"Everything. Temperature, air currents, storm activity."

"Just give me a moment."

While she did that I took out my sonic screwdriver and went to her other computer. I brought the screwdriver up to the monitor and turned it on. A small purple light played over it and the monitor flickered. "Wait, what are you doing to my computers?", Abby asked, sounding rather territorial.

"Nothing permanent, my dear," I answered. "I'm establishing a link to the TARDIS and her systems. We're going to need it."

"Okay. Well, I'm getting your weather data."

I looked over at her computer while, on the other side of the table, the rest of the team and my Companions were seeing the result up on the big monitor. "Look at that." I pointed my finger to the map. A ridge of cold air was stuck in the Eastern Seaboard region, roughly from Massachusetts to the Carolinas, but only a few hundred miles wide.

"It's got meteorologists across the world stumped," Abby told me. "They can't think of what's wrong."

"I can," I said. "Something's drawing thermal energy from the atmosphere. Abby, can you run a time lapse from the start of the weather pattern? I want it in a continual loop."

"Already on it, Doctor," she answered. She let out a giggle. "This is so cool."

"Oh, it's always cool," I agreed. I used the sonic to finish the hookup and tie the weather data into the TARDIS' own sensors. "Look at that..."

"It's actually growing," Ziva said, watching the big screen with the others.

"Yes," I said. "And now...." I ran the sonic over it one more time, merging the time loop data with the data from my TARDIS.

"What are you doing?"

"Thinking fourth-dimensionally, Agent DiNozzo," I answered. "I'm using the TARDIS to determine the flow of temporal energy, quantum fields... various timey-wimey stuff that happens when you move in six dimensions."

Before our eyes the patterns merged. The change in winds, the change in temperatures, the storm activity from warm air hitting cold... it all flowed in with the data from the TARDIS, with a growing patch of reds and yellows right over the Eastern Seaboard.

"I was afraid of this," I murmured. "It's a temporal rift of some form. It's literally sucking the heat right out of the atmosphere."

"Then why aren't we popsicles yet?", Tony asked.

"Because the energy flow isn't high enough yet," Tim answered before I could.

"That's the key word, Timothy. Yet. It's getting bigger, and it's going to keep getting bigger and drawing out more thermal energy. Ladies and gentlemen..." I drew in a breath. "What you're looking at is nothing less than the end of life on Earth. When it grows big enough it'll draw up every bit of thermal energy on the planet. The Earth will become a frozen, lifeless ball. And then your solar system will be next. Granted, you won't be around to worry about it..." I looked over at the assembled quartet of Team Gibbs, all of whom were quite speechless at the moment. "Not exactly tracking a drug smuggling ring on a naval base, is it?"

"Yeah," was the laconic reply I got from Gibbs. "Although that doesn't explain why your... doodad wanted to come to us."

"I know. The weather data is something I could have gotten elsewhere." I was examining the map closely, thinking of it. "Unless.... the epicenter is here, see?" I pointed to what looked to be a suburban area under a splotch of dark red. Abby, from her controls, zoomed in on it, showing us streets. "If I can find the origin point of the tear I can think of how to deal with it."

And then I thought of it. I realized what I'd been missing.

"Your databases," I murmured. "You keep an updated database of current and former military personnel, correct? For people who were involved in cases that may yet require contact with them?"

"Yes," Tim answered. He looked over at me. "You think the answer is in there?"

"Abby, run a search on that area." Gibbs pointed to the map. "Inactive, active, retired, I don't care. We need the name now."

"Running it now... woh, I already have a match."

"I had the TARDIS give you a little extra processing power through the link," I confessed.

"Alright, we've got a couple hits in the area." I heard Abby's keyboard clacking. Dots appeared on the map. Most were centered around the epicenter.

Only one was dead on the center.

"I need that one, Abby," I said, pointing to it.

"Okay, bringing it up now. Wow, I've got two hits on that address."

"Let's see 'em," Gibbs said.

We stood side by side as the images appeared on the screen. Recognition flickered in Gibbs' eyes and I know they did in mine as well. Tony looked over at us. "Hey boss, haven't we met that guy before?"

"Yes we have, DiNozzo," Gibbs answered.

I nodded. As I did so pieces fell into place and I realized I'd forgotten something.

Despite my earlier remarks about the NCIS team living in a cosmos that was more "metaphysically solid"... in truth there had been instances of metaphysical power used in this cosmos before. They just hadn't been linked to Gibbs and NCIS.

"According to our records, that address is the home of two retired officers," Abby announced. "Captain Harmon Rabb and Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie Rabb, formerly of the Judge Advocate General's Office."

"Well well well," I murmured. "Now things are getting interesting."