#116 - No Place Like Home (Doctor Who/Buffy)

[kerravonsen]

Title: No Place Like Home
Word count: 200
Fandom: Doctor Who/Buffy
Challenge: #116 - home sweet home
Summary: Parallel universes are like gingerbread houses.
Disclaimer: Universes not mine. Words mine.
Notes: This is part of my "World Savers" series. All you need to know is that Buffy fell through a portal into the Doctor's universe and is a companion to the Tenth Doctor.

---

"I'd like to see it." Buffy leaned back in the padded chair and rested her feet against the edge of the console.

"See what?"

"Earth," she said. "Your Earth. An Earth without vampires. My home town. See what it's like."

The Doctor frowned. "That wouldn't be wise. Parallel universes are like gingerbread houses: full of temptations."

"I need to know," Buffy said. "Yes, I know I can't go home again, but I need to see that, I need to touch it. I need to know my home isn't just around the corner."

"And what if it is just around the corner? What if it is almost the same? What if someone who died in your world is alive in this one?"

All the people who had died. The people she had died for.

"What if there's another you here?"

Buffy's thoughts stuttered to a halt. "She wouldn't be me. She wouldn't be a Slayer. She'd be the empty airhead I used to be." That Buffy probably never moved to Sunnydale. Never made friends with the Scoobies. Could she bear to see the blank looks on their faces? "I have to."

The Doctor sighed. "Where is your home town?"

"Sunnydale, California."

Comments

[jedibuttercup]

Like gingerbread houses; a very vivid comparison.

A lot of emotion packed into a very short ficlet;I liked.

[kerravonsen]

Like gingerbread houses; a very vivid comparison.

I can't claim that comparison for myself; it was actually used in Doctor Who canon in a similar situation to this one: the TARDIS fell into a parallel universe. So the Doctor here is speaking from experience.

A lot of emotion packed into a very short ficlet;I liked.

Thank you! A version of this scene is part of my as-yet-unfinished Proper Sequel to the first Proper Story in this series. I realized it would fit this theme perfectly, but when I revisited it, I realized I needed to rewrite it to be clearer and tighter, so this is all to the good.

I fear I will disappoint people, though, because the scene after this one reveals that there is no Sunnydale in the Doctor's universe. That's what the Muse wanted. There's something, but there is no town called Sunnydale... so no immediate encounters with Doppelgangers. I hope my readers don't throttle me. If I ever manage to finish the story, that is. I've had writer's block on this particular story for far too long. (sigh)

[tvashti.livejournal.com]

This just makes me want more.

[kerravonsen]

Thanks!