Living In Time And Space (Book Six of The Bad Wolf Chronicles)

Old Debts

The walk to the palace was surprisingly short, given that two people were nearly dragging a third, and Rory and Fitz kept turning back to ask where they were going.

But the moment Fitz stepped into the main hall, he froze where he stood, eyes wide. Rory frowned, taken aback himself by the sheer mass of people in the room. There were at least fifteen, nearly twenty. Maybe even more. "Er . . . Fitz?" he asked, looking at him as they all turned to them. "Who's this lot?"

Fitz opened his mouth to respond, but Jemma gasped from behind them. Rory and Fitz turned, and tried to figure out who looked more stunned - the Doctor or Jemma. Jemma was looking from person to person, eyes widening with every moment. As the Doctor's dulled emerald eyes flashed over them, he started to look slightly more hopeful. "Doctor?" Rory repeated. "Who - "

"Dad?" a small voice asked, and from the midst of the group, a young blonde woman with sparkling brown eyes wearing a SHIELD catsuit and her hair in a ponytail stepped forward, eyes wide. "What happened?"

"Jenny," the Doctor whispered, and the girl ran forward, hugging him tightly. The Doctor hugged her back, closing his eyes and taking a deep, shuddering breath. "It's the Metacrisis."

"The what?!"

Rory whipped around, hearing a woman's loud voice cut through the sudden mass of people talking. They all quieted when the woman spoke, and an older ginger woman stepped forward, glaring at the Doctor. "What happened to the Aussie Wolf, Spaceman?"

" . . . not Aussie anymore," the Doctor mumbled, looking at her.

"Fine, Supergirl," the ginger rolled her eyes. "You didn't answer the question."

The Doctor took a deep breath and straightened. "She and Amy, Rory's wife - " He pointed to Rory, who raised a hand. " - were replaced with doppelgängers, called Gangers. Everything about them was the same: thoughts, appearances, even the blood bond couldn't detect anything different. The connection shorted out, and - " The Doctor let out a strangled noise, doubling over; Jemma and Jenny hurried to straighten him. "Well, you can see what that did."

"Oh, my God," the ginger whispered.

"Donna?" Rory gave a random guess, looking at her. "Donna Noble?"

"Yeah, that's me," she nodded, then turned to the others. "Who else do you know?"

"He's met Coulson, May, and Saleen," Fitz supplied, and the SHIELD agents near the back nodded.

"Um . . . " Rory looked around, somehow getting a feeling this was some kind of test. "Martha Jones," he finally pointed out the pretty black woman, wearing a white lab coat over a similar SHIELD catsuit. "Jenny was given away." He looked at the man with black hair wearing a World War II greatcoat, who had been quiet so far. "Jack Harkness?"

"Captain Jack Harkness," he corrected.

"Stop it," the Doctor sighed - along with nearly everyone in the room.

"Can't I say anything?"

The Doctor laughed, then started coughing. As Jenny turned to fuss over her father, Rory turned to the other older woman, who had short brown hair with a few teenagers with her. "Sarah Jane Smith, right? And the kids . . . " He scratched his head. "I only know Luke, I'm sorry," he apologized.

"That's all right," Sarah Jane smiled. "His friends, Clyde and Rani."

"And then you Asgardians," Rory continued, looking around. "Loki and Thor, I know." He looked at the silent four standing ready. "Which makes you lot Sif and the Warriors Three." When they all started smiling at him, he shuffled awkwardly. " . . . that was a test, wasn't it?"