[Secret Santa] All of Time & Space in One Year 2/2

[alexon-charm.livejournal.com]

TITLE: All of Time & Space in One Year 2/2
AUTHOR: alexon_charm
RECIPIENT: dovsari
GENRE: Romance/Adventure/Sci-Fi
RATINGS/WARNINGS: T
SUMMARY: Arthur was just a librarian before all of time and space fell into his lap. Then everything really went to hell, but in a good way.
NOTES: Sorry this is so late, well only 14 minutes in my time zone, but still. Happy New Year though and I hope you like it!



It took Arthur a long time to accept the whole concept. Granted it was hard to ignore when he opened the door to space, but his brain quickly supplied ‘trick’ for him. Alfred(that was his blasted name) had to work rather hard to get him to believe. Mostly because Arthur would not step foot outside until he was certain that he was on earth. Except that the bastard had sent him to the past. Bloody fantastic that had been. Alfred for his part found all of this incredibly amusing which just agitated him further. Not to mention there was a lot of running involved. No wonder the alien stayed in such great shape, not that he had really noticed that sort of thing.

It wasn’t exactly an easy adjustment, but Arthur was capable and something stopped him from wanting to go home. He wasn’t sure what it was and he definitely didn’t want to look to closely at it.

“Hand me the chew toy.” Alfred spoke carefully and cautiously his voice precise to the letter. Arthur stood holding tightly to the wall they were perched on not daring to move. He gave him a glare that he was sure was already lost on the other. He spoke as quietly as he could.

“And how the bloody hell do you expect me to move an inch without falling to an early grave?!” When Alfred spoke again he could hear the grin in his voice. Mad man through and through.

“Well I’d get it, but I’m kind of busy making sure we don’t get eaten by the dragon that I believe you wanted to see.”

“Well you bloody well didn’t tell me it was going to be this close and that it was going to try to eat me! Git.” Granted the whole dragon thing had sounded amazing to begin with. Living breathing dragons were something he felt he had to see for himself. He didn’t actually think they would land inside a cavern the height of twenty Big Ben’s and the width of a city made up of broken rock-like structures barely sturdy enough to hold them. Still Arthur made the best of it slowly inching his way to the toy that was in the bag that had been discarded in favor of running for their lives.

He carefully jumped to the ledge finding the larger, standing surface comforting. He wanted nothing more than to stay there, but of course he couldn’t leave the stupid git out there. He picked the bag up quickly sorting out the strange toy and gripped it in his mouth as dignified as he could with it squeaking. He made his way back to the ledge and said a silent prayer before landing back on it. His hands instantly gripped the hard material behind him. “If I die for a dragon I swear to god-“ Arthur cursed as he made his way slowly back.


Arthur had demanded to go home after that incident and not in the past or the future, but home. He needed to know the world still made sense. Alfred didn’t protest setting the course for Arthur’s flat. Seeing it after so long felt like a miracle in itself. He sorted his affairs and rested thinking he was going to stay yet that nagging voice in the back of his head whispered more.

Which is how he found himself going on the adventure of his life. Planet after planet, further than he ever could have dreamed. Alfred showed him everything. The popular places, the obscure, the breathtakingly beautiful and the devastatingly horrid. Seeing how the human race would evolve, what they would become, how they would survive was something that changed who he was. He wasn’t sure what to make out of any of it.

Then there was a different problem. A much more human one.

“Hey Artie come here a sec!” Arthur eyed the other warily. The last time he had said that he had ended up falling into some unknown abyss. He certainly didn’t want a repeat incident. “Oh come on don’t look at me like that! I want to show you something.” Arthur glared half-heartedly knowing he would eventually give in, he always did. He made his way over to the other man arms crossed over his chest in a defying manner.

“Don’t call me Artie.”

“Sure thing, now sit!” Alfred had been seated in his red beanbag chair, which he was rather oddly territorial over, wearing his usual slacks with white shirt, that infernal top button never buttoned. Leaving just enough space to be able to glimpse the strong skin underneath. Not something Arthur should be noticing in the first place. The blasted straps to his suspenders that he never seemed to ever properly wear instead choosing to leave them dangling and those arms. The shirt pulled up to the elbows, scrunched and in need of a good ironing. The suit that he had seen him wearing the day they had met having been worn for a special occasion. One Arthur had never actually learned about, but there were a lot of things he didn’t know in the first place. As the days passed, which he had lost count of, he had become more and more interested in the driver instead of the planets. Arthur was lost in his thoughts and didn’t notice Alfred was still speaking until he was pulled down to sit next to him, almost landing in his lap as the chair molded to adjust to the extra person that should not be on it.

As their bodies brushed Arthur found himself blushing. He didn’t like it. The uncomfortable feeling, but it was fleeting as Alfred was already distracting him with his screen. “Do you see that?” He spoke excitedly not noticing anything as usual and pointing excitedly until Arthur looked. The screen was huge, the size of a movie one perhaps, holographic of course. When Alfred had first showed him it was clear he had been trying to impress Arthur with it and had failed miserably in that aspect much to his chagrin. Although the pouting had been endearing Arthur had not given him the satisfaction. After all when what was outside was, well everything a giant screen tended to pale, despite the cool things it did manage to do.

“You can actually see as that world is born.” Arthur smiled, it sure was something to behold, however it was surprising that Alfred would think so, given what he had seen.

“Yeah? And haven’t you seen this a billion times before?” Alfred turned to him then, his face still in that mid-awe look that had become so familiar to Arthur. He smiled then a slow and warming one.

“Not for this planet, I’ve never managed to catch It before this will be my first time, do you want to watch it with me?” He asked and Arthur didn’t understand why his heart missed a beat then. He didn’t understand for a very long time.

That time had been one of the occasions they stayed inside. It was hard to keep Alfred inside for very long. He was always rushing, always running, always doing something. Arthur managed to slow him down some, to make him really look at what he was doing and that somehow made Alfred more willing to spend time indoors. That night they simply watched as the clumps came together forming the core, the circular debris spinning around. Arthur didn’t notice how he had rested his head over Alfred’s chest until he could hear the faint beating of two hearts.


The next time Arthur would notice any change was in the city of Ice Towers. It felt like winter every day and even Arthur had to admit that it was beautiful. He held onto Alfred’s hand as they walked through the busy streets, full of human colonists, all varying in appearance, some were obviously a different species and yet Arthur knew they were all human still, all like him. Alfred pointed towards the two towers in the middle of the city.

“That’s where we’re going. Usually full of tourists, but you’ll love it.” Alfred smiled down at him as they continued. Another sight-seeing tour. Arthur found he enjoyed these trips the most, even if they did suddenly lead to trouble on occasion, that was interesting in its own right. Even with the crowd, which only seemed to grow they reached their destination quickly. As he looked up at one of the towers he couldn’t help but feel a familiarity with it, which was mad considering they were on a different planet. It took him a moment, but eventually he understood why.

“Hey is that…”

“Big Ben? Heh actually it’s a replica, but this entire planet is filled with descendants of Great Britain. Thought you might like to see.” Arthur stared amazed at it all. It was no wonder he had felt a kinship with the people. He couldn’t stop the smile that spread over his face, he was doing a lot more of that lately. It didn’t last long however as Alfred was already moving into the tower his arms in the air. Arthur laughed as he followed his mad man.

Of course they found trouble. It was almost customary by this point. However Arthur’s reaction to it was different. He found himself terrified, truly terrified. Alfred was missing. He was on his own in an unknown place, but the only thought that he could have was for Alfred’s safety. It was so startling he almost choked on the feeling. However he didn’t have time to think on it, he had to find Alfred.

The following night was the worst night of his life. There was a lot of running and a lot of searching and some more running. The people that had taken Alfred, and it had been people perhaps that was the worst of it all, were professionals. Apparently they had been following them for some time now, just waiting for the perfect time, when his normally intense guard would be down. Arthur couldn’t help but feel responsible for it all.

He finally tracked him down with the help of the TARDIS which had somehow known that Alfred was in trouble. The top floor of the building was normally off limits but Arthur managed to sneak in, having picked up a trick or two from Alfred. He felt that he should be more scared of what he was doing and he would like to think that it was because he had been through worse, but it was because it was Alfred on the line. So many times it was Arthur who had wandered off and had found himself in a situation that was over his head and Alfred would bust in guns a blazing a look of determination on his face. Now it was Arthur’s turn and he found that his role was a lot worse.

He watched as they tortured him, not able to do anything, he only had one chance to save him and it wasn’t with the room full of men with guns. Of course Alfred never gave them what they wanted, attempted to make peace with the wretched men and received a shock in response. It was more than Arthur could bear. He felt as if his soul was being battered slowly, falling away in flakes.

Finally after what felt like a lifetime they left for the night after securing Alfred down tightly. Arthur wasted no time in lowering himself down into the room. He moved quietly and sighed when he finally reached Alfred. His hands shook as he broke his constraints, careful not to hurt him. Alfred glanced up at him in the dark.

“Arthur?”

“Shh quietly. God Alfred are you o-okay?” Arthur fumbled with the rest of the constraints, his voice unsteady as his hands. “What did they want?”

“Same old thing, you’d think you humans would get tired of these things.” Alfred smiled warily and it broke Arthur’s heart. “A-Arthur? Are you okay?”

“W-what? Of course I am, you’re the one strapped to the blasted table here.” Arthur scoffed as he tried to wrap Alfred’s arm around his shoulder. Alfred took his other arm and wiped Arthur’s face where a row of tears had been falling without him knowing it. He blushed wiping them away, feeling ridiculous for blushing at such a time.

“You’re crying Arthur.”

“W-well I think the situation calls for it now come on we need to get out of here.” Arthur spoke as he led them out.

“Arthur I’ve had worse, you don’t have to-”

“I don’t want to hear that. T-that y-you’ve..” Arthur couldn’t finish after that the tears could not stop. The thought of this situation happening before and worse was too much to bear. Did Alfred have someone there for him then? Or had he been alone facing such a horrid thing? “Let’s just go.” And they did. They made it safely out and afterwards Alfred managed to shut them down. They didn’t speak much about the incident, but Arthur couldn’t deny that it was a turning point for him.


Then came the land of no night.

Alfred had taken him there in an attempt at something light-hearted and it like everywhere else was truly something to behold. A place where the sun never went down, where the people had only heard of darkness, but never actually seen it. Where stars were held as bright balls for aesthetic purposes only. The people were peaceful and welcoming. Arthur did enjoy the place. The way that it seemed like nothing dark could ever touch such a place.

It was there that Arthur realized just how deep his feeling went. How what was keeping him around was no longer adventure, but something more and it terrified him. The reason being that Alfred could never feel the same. He couldn’t even consider it.

Yet it seemed the universe had other ideas, or at least the TARDIS did. When they tried to enter it to leave the doors refused to budge. Alfred was confused not having dealt with this before, but assumed that it would open when they were done doing whatever it was they were supposed to do here. They both assumed it was of the alien nature as opposed to what it really was.

Arthur was resting on a quiet beach. The place was full of them though the water here was purple and healing apparently. Not to mention you could breathe inside of it still he had no desire to go in. So he merely sat watching it flow. It wasn’t long before Alfred tracked him down.

“So I’ve tried to fix her, but she really isn’t going to budge, I’m beginning to think she’s annoyed with me, though I can’t figure out why.” Alfred sat down next to him his voice pensive.

“Maybe she just wants you to take it easy, it wouldn’t kill you to you know.” Arthur spoke picking up a cube of what he assumed to be sand. Alfred processed that for a moment and then grinned.

“Nah I don’t think that’s it.”

“Alfred do you ever think about that sort of thing?”

“Of what? Settling down?” His voice gave away exactly what he thought of such an option. “Of course not I’m going to be free forever.” Arthur stayed silent for a moment before speaking.

“So what’s going to happen to me then?” That seemed to stop Alfred and Arthur almost regretted ever saying anything, but it was already out there.

“Well that’s up to you. I-I mean I can’t keep you-I mean that-well that’s your choice if you want to go. I mean I understand after what happened and I mean just that I get it.”

“Get what?” Arthur turned to Alfred suddenly. Something in him had ignited and he knew that now was the time, though he wasn’t sure what for. “Tell me what it is that you get?! Because I sure as hell don’t get anything these days.”

“I just meant that-I mean your reaction to-I just” Alfred seemed at a loss for words on how to continue. Arthur would never know what prompted him to do what he did next, but it happened anyway. He pulled Alfred down by his shirt and pressed his lips against the other and then he knew. Everything made sense, for that moment everything was perfect. Of course once he broke away and realized exactly what he had done he ran. Alfred’s expression had been shocked, surprised as if kissing Arthur was the last thing he ever had planned to do. Arthur felt like a fool.

He ran to the TARDIS whose doors opened for him and for that he would always be grateful. He was sure that he would have to go now, all because he was foolish and stupid and had read too many romance novels in his life. He might have gotten along well even with his feelings being what they were, but now the situation would be too awkward to bear. So he indulged snuggling himself into the blasted beanbag chair that Arthur had always found irritating. It smelled like him though and if he closed his eyes it almost felt as if he were being held by him. Yes he was truly a foolish man.

Alfred didn’t return until much later. Arthur was grateful for the time to compose himself. When he finally did come in it was with a slam of the door. Arthur was startled as he stood watching as Alfred walked towards him a new look of determination on it. It looked as if his brain were working overtime as he stopped in front of Arthur. He wasn’t sure what to say, but thankfully Alfred spoke first.

“Just-just stand there.” Arthur only looked on confused. “I want to try something. An experiment! Yes an experiment.” That didn’t clear anything up for Arthur who just continued to look as he did before. That was when Alfred took a step forward so there was only a breath of space between them. Arthur swallowed a lump in his throat as he almost stepped back before remembering his words. What exactly was Alfred thinking? Then he was being grasped pulled against Alfred. He let out a gasp of surprise. Alfred continued to look at him as if he were trying to solve the world’s most complicated puzzle. It wasn’t a comfortable situation to be in. He was reminded of the day they had met, when Alfred had looked at him with that alien look.

Then he leaned in and pressed his lips against Arthur’s. For a moment they just remained still until he pushed them slowly and Arthur couldn’t help but respond despite himself. He kissed back eagerly and was surprised when Alfred’s hands lifted him up leaving Arthur no option but to wrap his legs around him as they fell down onto the bean bag chair. Alfred continued to kiss him then and Arthur felt like it was the highlight of everything he had ever felt. When they finally broke for air Alfred spoke.

“Interesting.”


Things changed after that day. It happened slowly at first, but eventually Alfred took more and more liberties with Arthur who welcomed the advances with open arms. He was happy, truly happy for the first time in his life. It was everything.


Which leads Arthur to his current predicament. Trapped in a collapsing ship. He is okay with this, because Alfred is safe, gone off. He only hopes that he won’t blame himself, that he won’t be too sad. That he will find someone else to hold his hand. This is where his thoughts lead him to. The only thing he wishes as the final boards crack. He shuts his eyes waiting for his skin to come in contact with the burning acid. Certainly not the way he would have chosen to go, but having no regrets sure is something to be grateful for. He keeps them closed waiting for the first feeling, however it never comes.

“You know if you keep your eyes closed like that you’re going to miss my awesome rescue!” Arthur’s eyes open to find that he is now in the air, being lifted up towards the TARDIS.

“But I saw you leave! You were safe and—you left!”

“Oh Arthur as if I could ever leave you behind.”

“You stupid wanker. You were supposed to get out! That was the whole point.” Arthur found himself feeling irritated with the man as he was beamed up. Despite his expression his heart beat faster at the sight of the other.

“No, the whole point was for us to get out. Sorry man you’re kind of stuck with me.” Despite his rants Arthur found that he didn’t mind that statement all that much.