Fic: From the Ether (A Magnificent Seven: ATF, Doctor Who and The Who crossover)

[sparrow015]

Title: From the Ether
Series: Fragments
Author: Sparrow
Fandom: The Who, Magnificent Seven: ATF, Doctor Who
Characters: J.D. Dunne, Buck Wilmington
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own Magnificent Seven: ATF, Doctor Who or The Who.
Author’s Note: Many, many thanks to Enola aka jennytork, for letting me brainstorm with her. And I kid you not; this fic was finished in 3 to 4 hours and tons of encouragement. When I first tossed this idea at Enola, her exact typed words at me were: OH! OHOHOHOH YOU HAVE GOT TO WRITE THAT!!! I'll write it with you if you get stuck! BUT THAT HAS TO BE WRITTEN! Suffice it to say, it was written and Enola is an awesome co-pilot/co-writer.
Author’s Note #2: I would just like to point out that John Entwistle is alive in my story, he did not die. It will be explained, don’t worry; there is a bit at the bottom that might confuse people unless I cleared it up here. Series Archive here.
Spoilers: Nothing really
Summary: JD Dunne wasn’t always JD Dunne; he used to be someone else.





It was a rainy day in Denver, Colorado and both JD and Buck had the day off from the ATF. Deciding to be productive, JD went to the attic to clean out some of the boxes of stuff he brought over ten years ago.

Buck, being Buck and having nothing else to do, decided to join JD.

“ACHOO! AAHHHCHOO!” sneezed JD “Jeeze Buck, when was the last time we cleaned up here?”

Buck swatted at the dust uselessly as it rose into the air, “Um, before you moved in?”

JD laughed, “We’re really earning the nickname of the C.D.C. right now.”

The mustached man flashed a grin at JD.

Buck rubbed his hands together, “Now, I spy with my little eye, a box full of JD’s old junk!” Cackling, Buck grabbed a box marked ‘JD’s Stuff – Do Not Touch! THIS MEANS YOU BUCK!!!’

A few boxes later, Buck pulled out an odd looking wind-up watch. Bringing it up to his face, Buck held the chain and watched it twirl in front of him.

Hands reached out and gently grabbed it.

“Wow, I forgot I had packed it in there. Was wondering where it got to.” JD carefully traced the geometric grooves.

“Huh, never knew you owned that.”

“It was with me when I was found.”

Buck caught the hitch in JD’s voice, “Found?”

Settling the watch onto his knee, JD turned sad eyes towards Buck, “Yeah, found. My Ma isn’t my real Ma, but my adopted Ma. But oh Buck, she was my real mother to me.”

“I never knew that about you kid.”

“Well, it’s not something I like telling people. As far as I’m concerned, Kim Dunne is my mother. Whoever the woman who gave me up is no concern of mine.”

Buck gave JD a lopsided one-armed hug, “And that’s all that counts kid.”

JD pushed Buck off, “Geroff you! And I’m not a kid anymore Buck, I’m twenty-eight turning twenty-nine in September.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me, means I’m getting old.”

JD grinned.

“So the watch, what’s inside of it?” Buck tried to swipe it off the leg.

Grabbing it more quickly, JD cradled the watch close to his chest, “No idea, I don’t think I’ve ever looked inside of it.”

“Well, now is as good a time as any to see what’s inside. C’mon, I’m curious here! Open it!” Buck was all eagerness and JD knew if he didn’t comply, Buck would take a hammer or something else to it later on to see what was inside it.

Rolling his eyes and sighing, JD popped the watch open.

Both let out the breaths they were holding. A white face with a short hand and second hand looked up at them. The inside of the watch had the same intricate geometric designs, shapes and curves as the outside.

Frowning slightly JD stared at the watch, willing it to do something.

“Well, looks pretty cool at least.” Buck slapped JD on the shoulder.

Just as JD was about to reply, tick…tick…tick, tick.

The watch was ticking!

Eyes widening, JD watched the second hand slowly start to wind itself backwards. Faster and faster and faster until the long hand and short hand both rested on twelve. As soon as the second hand touched the twelve, the ticking stopped.

Orange, red, and yellow coloured lights crept out slowly from the watch and made their way to JD. Wafting, they drifted upwards to touch JD. Seizing as soon as the light touched him more light exploded from the watch and engulfed JD.

Buck shied away from the light as it became too intense to make out JD.

And just like that, the light show was over and JD was slumped over onto the ground, the watch clutched tightly in his hand.

“Shit!” Buck grabbed JD from under his armpits and started to drag him downstairs.

Settling him down on the couch, he started dialing Nathan’s phone number. Just as he was about to hit the last number he heard a low groan from behind him.

JD was slowly sitting up and cradling his head in his hands.

“JD, you alright there?” Buck filled up a glass of water and brought it in front of the young man’s face.

Grabbing the water, JD downed it one gulp, “Bu...ck, head hurts. Too full.”

Setting the glass aside on the table, Buck lifted JD’s head up to look at his eyes. Eyes that looked unfocused and confused.

“Too full of what kid?”

JD blinked slowly, “Memories, my memories.” Groaning, JD cradled his head again.

Lifting a finger in front JD’s eyes, “Follow the birdie kiddo.”

JD’s eyes followed Buck’s finger better than he thought they would.

Buck decided to humor his friend, “So do these memories have anything to do with that light show?”

“It has everything to do with the light show Buck.” JD’s voice whined slightly.

What followed was a string of technicalities that had Buck's head spinning. JD might have been speaking Sanskrit for all Buck knew.

“Whoa, slow down there pard. You know I don’t speak tech-geek. Try that again in plain English.”

Sighing, JD tried again in simpler terms, “Pocket Watch held memories. Pocket Watch held my memories of my previous lives. Pocket Watch was opened; memories came flooding back into me.”

“I think that Pocket Watch scrambled your brains is what I think. Lemme call Nathan to come check you out.” Buck made to turn, but JD grabbed his arm and brought him down to face level.

“Buck, I don’t need Nathan. I need for you to listen to me. I have never been clearer in my entire human life right now.”

JD’s eyes held such intensity that Buck sat down in front of him.

“Right, let’s try this again kiddo. Previous lives? Human life? You might want to start explaining that first.”

Chuckling, the younger brown-eyed man smiled brightly at Buck.

“Thank you Buck. I shall do my best to explain what I can in hopes that you understand what’s going on. Also Buck, no interrupting.”

Buck gave a one-fingered salute back.

“Right, the beginning is usually a good place to start. I was born over 3000 years ago, relative time, on a planet called Gallifrey. I was part of an alien species called ‘Time Lords’. Keep in mind Buck, only a few on the planet could be Time Lords or Time Lady’s.”

“So the best and the brightest.” Buck interjected.

“Yeah, the best and the brightest. I certainly was one of those, still am if I do say so. I traveled in a time ship called a T.A.R.D.I.S. That’s ‘Time and Relative Dimension in Space.’ I was one of the few from the planet that would go exploring and just see such wonders you could hardly believe your eyes Buck.” JD’s voice took on a wonder.

“Sounds like you miss home.”

“I do, Buck; I do miss it very much. But I can never go back.” A sheepish grin adorned JD’s face, “I’m kinda on the run.”

Eyes widened, “That must be some story.”

“Oh, it is, but for another time. Now to keep something in mind Buck, a Time Lord has twelve bodies, thirteen lives. I was on my last life when I found them.”

“Wait, wait, twelve bodies, thirteen lives, how does that work?”

“Well, it’s generally described as a ‘genetic reshuffling’ which a Time Lord may go through if his or her body is worn out by age or has suffered some life-threatening injury or infection. Time Lords may even regenerate at will. So say I was shot and dying, I could regenerate into a new body and live.”

“I feel like I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole and entered the Twilight Zone at the same time, but new body? You don’t look like yourself when you regenerate?” Buck asked, looking very confused.

“Well, with a new regeneration I could look like anybody. I get a new face, new hair, and new body. Pretty much new everything, even a new personality. It’s still me at the core, but regeneration brings out the bits of you that are hidden. Like in one body I remember really loving pears and in the next I hated them. Was quite disappointed with that.”

Buck cradled his head in his hands, “I’m confused.”

JD laughed, “I know, it was confusing to me too when it was first explained to me.”

“Right, you mentioned ‘you found them.’ Them who?”

Eyes danced with laughter, “The Who.”

Buck jerked slightly, “I’m sorry, but did you just say The Who?”

JD adopted an English accent, “I did dear boy.”

Buck stared at JD, “You sounded just like…”

A quirky smile painted itself across JD’s lips, English accent still in place, “Like who Buck?”

“But that’s impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible dear boy, whatever remains must be fact.”

“You just butchered that quote horribly.”

“Huh, what’s he gonna do, sue me?”

Buck snickered slightly, “Nah, he’s too busy being dead…” Light blue eyes widened.

The smile came back onto the younger man’s face, “I see the wheels are turning in that head of yours Bucklin old chap.”

Muttering to himself, Buck got up and started to pace, “Last life, found them, The Who, dear boy, dead. Oh crappy-mccrap-crap-crap! You were Keith Moon!”

“Bravo Buck, bravo! You’ve figured it out.” Nimble fingered hands clapped at Buck’s success.

Darkness crept around the edges of his eyes as Buck blacked out.

~~~

Something was poking his shoulder. Ah, it’s a finger, with a very sharp finger nail.

He flailed his hand out and smacked someone, “Ow! Buuuck that hurt!”

Ah, it was JD. He hit JD. Good, bastard deserved it for poking him in the shoulder.

Eyes flew open as the last events flooded his mind; he sat up suddenly and pointed a shaky finger at JD, “You were Keith Moon!”

JD rolled his eyes, “Yes Buck, we’ve established that fact. You didn’t get brain damage from that fall by any chance?”

“Keith Moon!” was all Buck could seem to say.

“Buck Wilmington!” JD shot back, “Yes, I was, well, am Keith Moon, Buck.”

“Keith Moon died from a drug overdose; you were on your last life! Explain that alien boy!”

Rubbing a hand over his face, the drummer turned ATF agent sighed, “I was gonna get to that part, but you blacked out on me Buck. See, the thing is, when I told Pete, John and Roger what I was, they completely accepted me for who I was, alien D.N.A., odd quirks and all.”

“Odd quirks indeed.” Buck snorted.

“Hey! I was an eccentric rock star! I was allowed quirks!” Suddenly JD looked older than his twenty-eight years, “But yeah, those three accepted me and I would do anything in my power to protect them. So when a group of alien time-tracking hunters called the ‘Shoonarsha’ tracked me down, I knew what I had to do to protect them. Because the hunters would’ve killed anyone in their way to get to me.”

Buck laid a hand on JD’s shoulder, “Hardest thing you’ve ever done, huh?”

A smile of sorrow was Buck’s answer.

“You could say that Buck. I faked my death and left the guys a note. I grabbed my T.A.R.D.I.S. and laid out a false trail for about a year, earth time. I finally decided to grab a last resort if the false trail failed. There’s this piece of technology called a Chameleon Arch. It can modify the biology of a creature so the cells were that of something else. I chose human and set it up for six months. Obviously something went wrong.”

“You can say that again, you’ve been around as a human for twenty-eight years. I’d say more than ‘something’ went wrong.”

“I think my Chameleon Arch was faulty, because I now remember being de-aged back to a human baby, left on a church doorstop and with only this pocket watch. I know my T.A.R.D.I.S. is with the rest of the guys though. I made sure to set it for hibernation so that the Shoonarsha couldn’t find it either.”

“You know, I got a question for ya kiddo.”

“Shoot.”

Buck shot a grin, “Literally or figuratively?”

JD swatted at Buck’s shoulder, “Figuratively Buck.”

“Okay, so The Who there knew you as Keith Moon and on your twelfth life, right?”

“Yes.”

“So my question is, since you’re in a new body, can you still drum like Keith Moon? ‘Cause I’m not too sure if they’ll believe you without a demonstration.”

“Um, well, that is a good question, if all else fails, I have a back-up plan if drumming fails me.”

Bushy eyebrows rose in confusion, “And that is?”

JD grinned, “I have two hearts and they know that. All they have to do is feel for a pulse.”

“Two hearts?” Buck squeaked out.

“And a respiratory by-pass system.” JD grinned.

~~~

In another part of the world, three men gasped as the keys they kept close to their hearts warmed slightly.

~~~

“So you believe me about this entire thing Buck?” JD asked tentatively.

The next words Buck uttered could destroy or help this young man, err, older than him alien.

“Of course I believe you kid! It’s too crazy not to believe it!”

Whooping, JD grabbed Buck into a tight hug.

Patting the alien on the back “Yeah, yeah. So now what?”

“We go find three Who’s.” The grin was pure Keith Moon.


THE END
Or is it?



THE END
Or is it?

Comments

[myhiddeneyes.livejournal.com]

Oooh this is so exciting!

Now I'm gonna be all worked up during my finals though, but hey this story deserves it.

[sparrowsverse.livejournal.com]

Yay! First comment!

Thanks! I'm glad you like! I am currently working on Story #2, so hopefully I'll be able to get it out within a few days. :D

[sfulton229.livejournal.com]

Very cool idea! JD as a Time Lord and Keith Moon is very intriguing and I hope you explore this. Looking forward to the next part.

[sparrowsverse.livejournal.com]

I was reading Enola Jones fics and had Doctor Who in the background and this idea just hit me!

I definately like this universe and more adventures are gonna come! :D

[sfulton229.livejournal.com]

Great! I'm looking forward to it.