kbk

agh. I did not go to the shop today as I did not want to leave bed. This is why I am not actually employed or even attempting such. also the part where I suck.

I had big complicated dreams which I could remember but now I am forgetting some. Ooh, there was Batman in an internet cafe (no, there were reasons). And a misinformed bombing raid by other comicsy types. And me watching video of a freefall that I didn't remember doing.

And I kept not posting this for hours upon hours on end, and now I have read piles of fic, and am happier again, and more snippetude has occurred.

Title: Five Ex-Companions OR The Revelations Of Five People Who, In Their Respective Pasts, Travelled With The Doctor
Author: kbk
Fanda: DW crossovering with various. In this instance, Due South.
Notes: 500-ish words. Go me.

Benton has a lot of stories, but most of them are the sort that never get told. However, on this adventure, he has spent an unprecedented amount of time in the company of one person, and they have told each other many stories by the light of the aurora borealis, and Benton finds that Ray Kowalski's stories shame him with their open honesty. He considers, for many days, the possibility of telling Ray something true.

Then Ray, be it down to deduction or instinct or sheer blind luck, asks the right question. "You really spent months tracking some guy through this?"

It would be easy for Benton to be evasive, to discuss the differences in terrain or the vagaries of weather. But he doesn't. "That is a matter of record," he says instead.

Ray squints at him, a small suspicious smile forming on his face. "That wasn't a yes."

"The record is, ah, technically inaccurate." Benton looks at his friend with that particular innocent glance which they both know means nothing of the kind.

Ray laughs so hard he almost falls off his skis, and the discussion is set aside until they settle for the night. Then, Benton stares into the fire, and lets himself remember.

"The first week of tracking, and the time spent bringing the fugitive to justice; those happened entirely as I reported. However, on the eighth day, I met a... person, who introduced himself as The Doctor." The man had been entirely unsuitably dressed for the climate, and physically unsuitable as well; an older man, with a twinkling expression like that of a trickster uncle bearing noise-making gifts. "I subsequently spent some time travelling... a variety of places... in his company."

Benton can feel Ray's confusion like a crick in his neck that won't crack out, and he has to bite his lip for several long seconds before he can force himself to continue. "I learned many things during that year. And I wouldn't understand Diefenbaker nearly as well as I do if not for the lingering effects of that time."

"Year?" Ray asks quietly.

"Subjectively, yes. Only a few weeks passed here, of course; his, ah, spaceship, you see, could also travel through time, and... Ray, are you quite all right?" It's a reasonable question, because Ray's eyes are wide, his face is pale, and he doesn't appear to be breathing. Still, Ray chuckles, and then he reaches out to put his hand on Benton's shoulder.

"Are you telling me you got abducted by an alien?"

"Oh no, Ray, I went perfectly willingly."

Ray positively cackles, and Dief raises his head to contribute an amused chuff of his own.

"All right," says Ray. "All right. So tell me more. He had a spaceship?"

It's entirely possible that Ray doesn't actually believe him; Benton can't bring himself to care.

"The most extraordinary thing... well, no. The first extraordinary thing was that it appeared to be a large old telephone box; it was dark blue..."

Next up: someone from Joss-verse. I'm just not quite sure who, yet.

Mmm. Sleep now, sleep good. Omfg, lookit time! Bad me! Sleep!

ETA: (five hours later) No sleep. Omf. Bad. Also, help? Which Doctor is most repressed/buttoned-down/etc? Because I'm thinking Five, but then I'm thinking I don't know him well enough to..... oh my god just *thought* and *eee* sometimes my brain is joy.