Title: Busman's Holiday
Author: Disasteriffic Kaz
Info: Tag to 7x01 – AU a little crossover interlude of this show I adore with the show I have loved since I was 6. Supernatural meets Doctor Who. Takes place between Death leaving the boys at the house and the next morning at Bobby's and anime porn.
Author's note: Alrighty! Back from a week in NY with my Mom. :D She's doing brilliantly! Fighting and working to kick cancer's ass. You'll all be happy to know I had roughly 20 hours on a bus with nothing better to do than…write. So! Here comes the end of Busman's Holiday and I have a brand new multi-chapter fic almost finished as well. But first, the boys and the Doctor have some unfinished business.
Do please Review once you've read. :D Every comment and vote of support helps keep me writing. Not to mention if I've pooched anything, someone can always tell me. :P
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"You don't look fine, kid." Dean shook his head. "You get any paler we'll be able to see through you." He was in a rage but years of practice helped him to shove it down, tuck it away until he needed it. Dean had every intention of finding a way to use it on something here before they left. He'd had enough of gods preying on them, on any planet.
"I want to see what's in the top of this tower." The Doctor told them, smiling when their eyes widening in incredulity. "I think we should see what's up there."
Sam looked into his eyes and then smiled slowly. He met Dean's eyes who looked ready to argue. "He's got the same idea you do, Dean. You want to go to the top of tower."
"Huh?" Dean looked between them.
"You wanna stop their gods." Sam said surely. "So does he."
"I do appreciate perceptive humans, I really do." The Doctor remarked with a grin, a mischievous look in his eyes. "Let's go see how much trouble we can cause. Come along Winchesters."
CHAPTER 4
The Doctor led the way further up the tower. Dean and Sam lagged a little behind taking turns steadying each other when a wave of dizziness would strike. It would have been comic, Sam thought, if not for the tense postures and alert eyes on watch for the appearance of another 'god'. The higher they rose, the fewer Were's they encountered. The unusual tree that rose through the center of the tower spread its limbs out finally. Delicate branches like vines extended and curled onto the walkway, brushing deep crimson leaves the size of dinner plates against them as they walked.
"Wish I had a camera." Sam said softly, brushing a hand through a cluster of leaves. They shimmered gently at his touch. "Kind of hard to be pissed at a place this beautiful."
Dean chuckled, ducking beneath a branch. "Trust you to still see the good."
"Why do you suppose the Werewolves back home are all feral?" Sam asked, looking first at Dean and then the Doctor's back.
"Different evolution of similar organisms." The Doctor replied and plucked a leaf from one of limbs. "If I had to guess, I'd say the Weres on your world are much less evolved. Give them a few more millennia and maybe…" He gestured out at the tower but Dean shook his head.
"Won't happen. Hunters got no choice but to gank 'em." Dean said grimly. "Eventually, someone's gonna wipe them out."
The Doctor frowned, very unhappy with that pronouncement even though he understood Dean was only speaking the harsh truth of their particular Earth. It was a very different Earth he had found, more vicious he thought. Although the concept of Hunters, mere humans who trained and studied and threw themselves at the unexplained and the deadly every day to save others impressed him. The full force of what the brothers and those like them did had stunned him when he'd seen it in Sam's mind. It was terrifying and heroic and, like the Doctor, they were rarely thanked or even seen no matter how many lives they saved and they had saved their entire world twice over.
"This looks like it!" The Doctor said cheerfully as they reached the top and a tall, arched door greeted them. It was half hidden by leafy branches. Lettering glowed faintly on its surface. The Doctor pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver and scanned the door.
"What is that thing?" Sam asked, peering over his shoulder at the device.
"Lock pick." The Doctor said with a smirk. "Huh." He looked perplexed. "There's no locking mechanism."
"Saves us having to break in then." Dean grinned but the Time Lord shook his head.
"No opening mechanism either." He changed settings and tried the door again. "Oh very clever." A last adjustment as his screwdriver hummed and the door hissed slowly open. "It's keyed to the vibrational frequency of their 'gods'. So…the Weres aren't allowed up here."
"So they didn't build this thing." Dean surmised and looked through the door. Stairs quickly turned out of sight. He stopped the Doctor with a hand on his shoulder. "Hang on. Suppose there's more of those things up there? We need a way to fight them."
"Already taken care of." The Doctor held up his screwdriver. "Opens locks. Banishes false gods. I can use it to disrupt the wavelength that allows them to be here. Should send them packing."
"Should?" Sam looked over at the screwdriver. "Hope you're right cause I do NOT wanna be lunch again."
"I won't let that happen." The Doctor said, making eye contact to reinforce his promise to them both. "Trust me. I'm the Doctor." He smiled then and stepped onto the stairs, screwdriver held before him.
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The top of the tower was as surprising as the rest had been. The 'walls' were glass paneled windows that wrapped all the way around. A low, round table ran all the way around beneath the windows. Spaced at regular intervals were seedlings. It was easy to identify them as the same tree growing up through the center of the tower. In the center was some sort of sophisticated console that made the Doctor almost hum with excitement.
"Oh you beauty!" He ran his hands along its panels. "Destroying you is going to be a crime! And a pleasure."
"What the hell is it?" Dean rapped his knuckles against the metal and the Doctor grinned.
"The answer to everything." He turned about, taking in the whole room with an appraising eye. "These gods of theirs are like me; from a different dimension. All of this is to allow them to manifest here and feed." He dashed to one of the saplings, scanning it with the Sonic Screwdriver and then ran back to the console. "Clever. Very clever. The tree down there is part of the whole thing."
Sam picked up one of the saplings, watching its tiny leaves shimmer in the sun. "What's the tree have to do with this?"
"Everything!" The Doctor took it from him. "This is the anchor! Well, when its grown it will be. The tree gives off a very specific frequency. The console picks up the resonance, magnifies it and follows it through the vortex creating a conduit and if you happen to be a form of energetic life it's like a…"
"Supernatural highway." Dean said irreverently and the Doctor smirked.
"Exactly! Well actually no, not even close but as a rudimentary understanding of the concept it will do." He ran his screwdriver over the console. "All I have to do be very clever, which I am, and find a way to disrupt the transmission."
"We break this and those ghost vamps can't come through anymore, right?" Sam asked.
The Doctor nodded. "Not sure how the natives are going to take it."
"Why not just smash the thing?" Dean grinned. "Simple works."
"It would, yes but only temporarily." The Doctor smiled. "I want to make sure the inter-dimensional compass gets well and truly scrambled."
"Better hurry up then." Dean cocked his head to the side. "I hear voices down there."
"Try to hold them off without getting violent?" The Doctor said, smiled and turned to get to work.
"No promises. Sam. Weapons?" Dean pointed to the narrow sections of table and he nodded. Together they emptied a section and with a series of powerful kicks, had themselves a couple effective clubs. They waited to either side at the top of the stairs. The voices were growing louder; some confused, some angry.
"Just knock 'em back down." Dean ordered. "We won't win in a fair fight without silver."
"Got it." Sam hefted his club, face determined while the Doctor worked on the console, talking to it…or himself all the while.
The first furred head and Sam swung with a practiced effort. The Wolf's head toppled out of view with a sharp cry.
"Nice hit, Sammy!" Dean grinned took his own swing as the next head, a leopard rose up and was as quickly knocked from view. "Oh a two-fer!" He chuckled as the leopard went backward and knocked the one behind him down the stairs.
"Hurry up, Doctor!" Sam called. He could hear more voices below and two small points of light began to coalesce on the far side of the room as a breeze lifted his hair.
"Almost there." The Doctor scowled at the console. He'd gotten a panel off and had one arm in up to the elbow, yanking wiring and roots from the tree below to find what he needed. "Don't…be difficult." He warned the thing and pulled his arm out, this time grinning. "Gotcha!"
Shouts whipped his head around and he saw things were quickly about to spiral out of control. Several wolves and leopards leaped impossibly from the stairs. Sam and Dean had no warning and were tackled to the floor in a tangle of limbs and claws. Both men shouted in pain.
"Stop!" The growling bellow came from below and the Weres froze. The leopard pinning Sam literally stopped with the boys bleeding arm in his mouth. Shekir Grral appeared and walked quickly up, his feline eyes taking in everything. "Do not kill them!" He ordered. Grral scowled at the Wereleopard above Sam. "You have spilled blood in the Tower of Gleddon." Sam's arm fell from his now open jaws and the cat belly crawled to the Shekir. "Go from this place. Return to your pride." His voice was severe and the leopard cowered before slinking to the stairs and out of sight.
"Get off me! Sam!" Dean was pinned beneath two wolves, each needing all their weight to keep him down. The Doctor marveled at the strength fear for his brother was giving him as he slightly raised the two muscled and furred bodies above him.
"Doctor." The Shekir hissed. "You should not be here. None but the gods are…" His voice trailed off as his eyes found the row of saplings beneath the windows. The great shaggy cat strode quickly to them. He picked one up in incredibly gentle claws and stared.
"Something wrong?" The Doctor asked though, like Dean, his eyes were on the growing pool of blood beneath Sam's arm. He hoped he was hiding the rage better than Dean whose face was burning with it.
"This should not be." Grral said softly. He turned back with the sapling cradled in his hands. "None may cut the sacred tree yet these…"
"Cut when you weren't looking." The Doctor told him. "The beings posing as your gods want more of them. They want more towers just like this one."
"But why?" The Shekir asked. "I do not understand."
"They're psychic vampires. Each time they touch the mind of someone, they feed."
"You're cattle!" Dean shouted angrily from the floor. "They're using you for snack food, Jackass! Let me UP!" He pushed again at the impenetrable fur chests holding him down.
"Please." The Doctor pointed to Sam. "Let his brother stop the bleeding."
The Shekir nodded and growled at the two wolves. They rolled off of Dean, wisely moving out of range. Dean surged to his feet and stalked to Sam. "GET the hell off him!" He told the Leopard still pinning his brother. "I will end you."
The leopard seemed to realize Dean meant it, slitted eyes widening in fear and he moved quickly away. Dean knelt next to his little brother, relieved to see him looking up at him. His eyes were glassy but alert. "How you doin'?" Dean turned his arm carefully. Sam had his teeth gritted against the pain and just nodded.
"Dean?" The Doctor asked, concern clear in his voice.
"He'll be fine." Dean stripped off his jacket then his outer shirt. He folded it up and wrapped it tightly around Sam's torn forearm. "Gonna need some stitches, buddy. Getting' tired of sewin' you up lately." He smiled even as he winced at the soft moan that escaped his brother.
"Up." Sam managed between clenched teeth. Nausea was rolling his stomach. "Help me…sit up."
"Ok, hang on." Dean put the hastily bandaged arm across his chest and gently lifted him so Sam was resting against his chest. "Better?" Sam nodded and cradled his arm.
"Dean." Sam shivered from blood loss. "Dean it bit me."
Dean's face blanched, the realization rocking through him. A werewolf's bite was a sure way to become infected. He'd never seen a wereleopard before but had to assume it would work the same way. "It'll be ok, Sammy. We'll figure it out." Sam nodded against his chest but inside the floor had dropped out from him. Dean was going to have to kill him if…when he turned.
Wind began to blow through the tower room. Two balls of light were growing, a static charge building in the air. Dean got both arms around Sam and waited, hoping they were low enough not to be thrown this time. The lights expanded and, as before, a great gust of wind pushed outward. The remaining Weres had bent low to the floor and the Doctor crouched behind the console. Dean managed to keep Sam and himself still against the gust. The wind dissipated and two of the ethereal beings floated together. The Doctor could see anger in their eyes and he smiled.
"Be gone from here." The male and taller of the two 'gods' spoke. His voice bit out making the leopards and wolves flinch.
"Oh I don't think so." The Doctor stepped toward them and waved. "Hello! Nice to meet you well…no not really but I am trying. Now I think the Shekir has questions for you. Don't mind me, I'll just be over here interfering." The Doctor stepped back to the condole as the Shekir came forward, Sapling held out in his hands.
"You have cut the sacred tree." He said in his gravelly voice. "You are our gods! Why would you do this?"
The beings glanced at each other and eyed the big cat with disdain. "We are your gods. We do as we wish." The woman said.
"And we wish to build more tower all across this world." The man added with a cold smile.
"Planet wide buffet, is that it?" The Doctor said angrily. "I wonder, how many of them have you killed? Fed them to death because I know creatures like you and frankly, you all have a bit of an overeating problem."
"Irrelevant." The man raised an airy hand. "We are gods and…"
"Yes, yes." The Doctor turned his back on them and took two wires from the console. "I think it's about time someone sent you lot packing back to your own dimension." They're eyes widened and he grinned. "Yes, I know what you are." A wing began to pick up, lights winking into being all over the twoer. Soon there would be a dozen of them. The 'gods' moved farther into the room, reaching for the Doctor. "Not today." He raised his Sonic Screwdriver and set it humming. There was a loud pop and both beings were sucked out of the room. "Much better." He took the wires from the console and quickly started making new connections. The wind picked up, the dozen new lights growing in size.
"Doctor?" Dean called as three of them grew dangerously close to him and Sam.
"Got it!" The Doctor shouted over the wind. The console hummed, building into a whine and light burst forth, filling the room.
Dean closed his eyes against the glare. When he opened them again all the lights were gone.
"That should sort them." The Doctor dusted his hands off and looked around happily. "I've sent them back to their own dimension. Shouldn't have any more fake deities on your doorstep."
The Shekir stared at the Doctor and then shook his head. "There will be chaos." He looked down to the sapling in his hands and smiled. "But that is good. They were not gods, were they?"
"No. Sorry." The Doctor patted his furred shoulder in awkward sympathy. "Just hungry inter-dimensional phantoms with delusions of divinity. They took advantage of your people because they could."
"Doctor." Dean called him. Sam was shivering more violently. The shirt Dean had wrapped round his arm was saturated with blood and he was barely conscious. "We gotta get him home. Now."
"Sam, you are one of the most jeopardy friendly companions I've had in a long time." The Doctor smiled kindly down at the boy.
"Wait." Shekir Grral strode to them and knelt. "Honor demands we fix what we can. Blood has been spilt in our Tower. Remove the bindings." He told Dean.
"He'll bleed out." Dean argued, eyes angry on the big cat.
The Doctor watched as Grral reverently removed the newly budded leaves from the sapling and smiled. "It's alright, Dean." He gently picked up Sam's wounded arm and began unwrapping Dean's unfortunate shirt. "Trust me. It's going to be alright." He grimaced at the sight o the long angry tears in Sam's flesh. Sam made little protest. He was pale and his eyes fluttering on the edge of oblivion.
"This will hurt but will heal all." Grral told the men. He placed the leaves in his mouth, chewing quickly and then dropped them back into his hand.
"Ewww. Good thing Sam's out for this." Dean groaned as the Shekir spread the red paste onto Sam's arm and into the wounds.
"Ahh!" Sam shouted, back arching and hand scrabbling for purchase. Dean wrapped his arms around his brother's shoulder and held him tight.
"Hang on buddy. Sam!" Dean worked to get his attention. "It's ok, hold still."
Sam was reduced to panting through gritted teeth. "Ok…I'm okay." The burning was receding slowly until he was able finally to open his eyes. "What the hell?"
The Shekir took Sam's arm in his hand and scraped the paste carefully away. Beneath lay undamaged skin, leaving both Winchesters gaping in astonishment.
"Transitive healing properties on the macrobiotic level." The Doctor grinned at the big cat. "Your sacred tree is just full of surprises."
"How you feel?" Dean asked as Sam shifted against him and sat up.
"I feel…I feel good." Sam ghosted his fingers over the now healed skin. "I seriously wish those trees grew back home."
"What? And ruin all the fun I have stitching you back up?" Dean laughed at his brother's bitch face and stood, pulling Sam up with him.
"Thank you." Sam nodded gratefully to the Shekir.
"Thank you, Apes." Grral rose and bowed to them. "Will you stay and enjoy our hospitality?"
"Ah…no. I think we should be on our way." The Doctor grabbed a clawed hand and shook it vigorously.
"Yeah, time to go home, eh Sammy?" Dean bumped his shoulder and Sam nodded with a tired smile.
"Bobby's gonna wonder what happened to us." Sam followed Dean to the stairs so neither man saw the satisfied smirk on the Doctor's face. The walk down the tower was far less eventful than the walk up. The three men stepped outside and were greeted by the same two guards. The werewolf looked angry and disgusted while the leopard was clearly amused.
"Surprised to see us?" Dean grinned and bent to collect his weapons, still laying where they had left them. The wolf grunted and reached a clawed hand into a pouch at his side. The leopard held out his hand and the wolf wordlessly dropped a handful of coins into it.
Sam snorted and then burst out laughing. "You bet we wouldn't come back out?" The wolf nodded.
Dean chuckled, sliding his Desert Eagle back to it's home. "Big mistake." He grinned up at the wolf. "Never bet against a Winchester. We always beat the odds."
"Come along, Winchesters." The Doctor waved an arm and led them into the wood once more. It seemed to take no time at all to reach the TARDIS. Sam smiled when the insane blue box came into sight on the hill.
"She has that effect." The Doctor said suddenly and made Sam blush. He strode ahead of them, up the hill and had the door open and waiting for them. Once in the console room the Doctor went into a flurry of activity and they were shortly traveling to the sound of the rumbling machine.
"Oh Sam?" The Doctor took his arm and pulled him over to see the screen. "I did a scan. You're clear of the lycanthropy virus."
Sam gaped. "You're sure?"
"What? Of course I'm sure! I'm a Doctor!"
"Thought you weren't that sort of Doctor." Dean observed with a smirk and slapped Sam's shoulder in relief.
"Well maybe only sometimes." The Doctor grinned and busied himself around the console in a flurry of activity while the brother's watched. He had seen the raw fear on both their faces but it was the crushing grief in Dean's eyes, grappling with the thought of having to kill Sam that had spurred him to act. Sam had been infected. The lycanthropy virus was already attacking his system in force when they reached the TARDIS. That was unacceptable. He had promised to get them both home and still human. Thankfully, the TARDIS databanks were used to strange illness diagnoses and the TARDIS herself…well, that little wereleopard virus was easy pickings for her and neither brother had noticed the added tang to the air as the cure was vented through the control room.
"Now then!" The Doctor clapped his hands. "Scale of one to eleven, one being the absolute worst, dodgiest excuse for holiday ever and eleven being, well…simply brilliant." He grinned at his own pun. "How was it?"
"Not including the minor concussions, ghost vampires and my brother being used as a chewtoy?" Dean scowled until the Doctor's face fell. Sam knew what was coming but kept silent. "That was awesome!" Dean broke into a huge grin, Sam laughing beside him.
"Well that was uncalled for." The Doctor chuckled at being caught out. "Sam?"
"I wouldn't have missed it!" Sam ran a gentle hand along the console with a content smiled as the time rotor came to a stop. "We're home?"
"That we are! Out you go." The Doctor waved his arms and ran to open the door for them. "One round trip as promised."
Sam and Dean stepped out into the cold night air, breath fogging in front of them and Dean frowned, staring at the ruined trees across from them.
"Why are the trees still smoking?" He asked. "We've been gone almost a day!"
"Five minutes." The Doctor rubbed his knuckles along his jacket and straightened his bowtie with a satisfied smile. "I've brought you back precisely five minutes after we left. Time machine. Remember?"
"Holy crap!" Dean breathed and then smiled. "Come on, Doc. Lemme show you my Baby."
Sam rolled his eyes good naturedly and followed behind them as they nattered back and forth about engines and speed and reliability…or lack thereof. The Doctor made an appropriate noise of admiration as the Impala came insight and practically danced down and over the drainage ditch. "Oh my…I am so sorry!" He looked in horror at the canted car.
"Aw she's fine." Dean slid behind the wheel and Sam pulled the Doctor safely away.
"He'll have her out in no time." Sam smiled. "Just stand here." He went and knelt, two hands under the front fender and knees braced. Dean gunned the engine and with Sam rocking the front, he coaxed the Chevy back up onto the road.
"That's mah baby." Dean got out and did something he rarely did, watching Sam's eyes go wide. He gestured to the driver's seat. "You can take her for a spin if you promise to be gentle."
The Doctor grinned and slid behind the wheel onto the bench seat, leaving the door open. The seat was comfortable, the wheel vibrating eagerly in his hands as the engine growled. He raised his brows in surprise and got back out.
"She's a remarkable vehicle." The Doctor ran an appreciative hand along the hood. He'd felt a distinct presence in the car, not unlike the TARDIS though it was rudimentary in comparison. She knew he wasn't a Winchester and wasn't comfortable with him behind the wheel. "Think I'll leave the driving to you."
"Suit yourself." Dean smiled and grabbed the Doctor's hand, giving it a shake. "Thanks, Doc."
The Doctor returned the strong grip. "My pleasure." He sighed. "Shame I have to leave so soon."
"You can't stay?" Sam asked, coming to stand beside him.
"Ah, no. I really do need to plug the hole I made." The Doctor smiled ruefully. "I suppose I shouldn't have but I've never been good about words like shouldn't."
Sam smirked. "I've noticed."
"Now boys." The Doctor impulsively caught each of them with an arm across their shoulders. "Try to remember there's always hope out in the universe somewhere, no matter how bad things seem."
Dean stiffened though he tried to relax again. "Maybe, Doc but here's all we got." He looked up into the cold, starry sky. "And here's pretty screwed up." Reality crashed back into him; Cas, Leviathans, the end of the freakin world again and his little brother the closed book with the broken head. There was no hope for them but it had been nice to forget for a while.
"We appreciate it, Doctor." Sam said with a sincere smile, trying to alleviate the sorrow on his face. "Is there any way we can thank you for…for god that was amazing."
The Doctor chuckled, letting Dean slip away behind the wheel and clapped Sam on the shoulder. He caught the boys eyes. "Fight, Sam. Don't stop fighting." Sam's eyes widened in surprise. "That's what you can do. Don't give in." The Doctor reinforced the words through his hand on the back of Sam's neck without him knowing. Technically it was a breach to subtly interfere with the future but it wasn't his universe and he'd become rather fond of the Winchesters in their short time together. "No thanks needed, Sam." The Doctor grinned and stepped back.
"Well thank you." Sam raised a hand and got into the passenger side of the Impala. The Doctor watched them go, the car rumbling into motion and streaming off into the night, black against black.
"Come along, Winchesters." The Doctor said softly, sadly. "The battle's just starting for you." He watched until the car vanished around a turn and hopped across the ditch, striding back into the woods and back to his own 'baby'.
"Now then." He petted a hand along her exterior. "I suppose we should get back to our own universe before something eats us." He took a last look out into the night then stepped inside and closed the door. The familiar wheezing filled the clearing as the blue police box once more faded into the air and left that particular universe to its own more than qualified guardians, speeding toward their own destiny.
The end