Landing somewhere strange

A shudder went through the TARDIS; Rose made her way through the shaking timeship, perturbed to find the Doctor frantically running around the control room. Sparks shot out from the console, the normal wheezing of the engines replaced by a sickly groan.

"Doctor-" Rose said.

"Eddies in the vortex!" the Doctor said, not turning away from the console. "Aftereffects of the war. Most have faded, just a pain to steer around. I- ah!"

The TARDIS shook violently again; Rose grabbed a railing.

"And it's a big one," the Doctor said.

"Can't you do something?" Rose said.

He glanced back to her, then hesitated. He turned back to the console, eyes darting over it.

"We need to get out of the vortex," he said. "We can't land through the eddy, which leaves the opposite direction..."

"What?" Rose said, shouting to be heard over the grinding of the engines.

"TARDIS emergency unit," the Doctor said back. "It's... risky, I've used it before. I-"

He pulled himself along the console, the ship around them shaking. After a moment he rolled his eyes, braced himself, and:

"Hold on!"

He pushed a glass casing up, then pulled a lever down-

The engines made a completely new sound. It... might have been healthier than the shrieking from trying to get through the scar in the vortex, but it still didn't sound normal.

And then it, and the juddering stopped. There was an instant of perfect tranquility, the TARDIS completely still and silent. It wasn't even humming.

Slowly, Rose pulled herself back to her feet. She stood for a moment, frowning.

"Is it over?" she said.

The Doctor was standing by the console, perfectly still. His hand was stilll on the lever, though his face looked more unnerved than triumphant.

"We're not affected by the eddy," the Doctor said. "That's over. Which is good, a large enough eddy could tear a TARDIS apart."

"Then where are we?" Rose said.

"Nowhere," the Doctor said.

It wasn't fear in his eyes. Rose had seen him scared and he didn't look like that, but it was something close. Wariness was too mild a term.

"Doctor?" Rose said. "How can we be... nowhere?"

"We were stuck in the eddy," the Doctor said. "There was no way through the vortex back into reality so we had to go the other way. Out of reality," he paused. "We should be safe. Just stay in the TARDIS. I should have a few things to help work this out."

An instant later and the haunted look on his face faded. He wasn't back to his usual grin, but he was running; he ducked back into the TARDIS, deeper inside to collect whatever it was he needed.

Rose sighed. She paced around the console for a few seconds before, curiously going over to the screen.

She'd seen him operate this enough times. That switch, and that...

The scanner flickered to life; Rose almost laughed.

It displayed what was outside. For a moment the screen had been white, but suddenly it resolved itself. Trust the Doctor; they weren't nowhere, they were in London! She'd know those streets anywhere.

She was home. Rose couldn't help but grin at that; as much as she loved her travels, she did like to visit her family again.

It was like him, making a big deal out of it only to mess up and find out nothing had happened. Chuckling to herself, Rose went for the door.

"Oh, and Rose, don't trust the scanner!" the Doctor said, stumbling back into the console room with his arms full of a bizarre array of items. Wires, devices, helmets, and a surprising collection of books. He could barely see over them.

"It's called the Land of Fiction," he muttered, unaware he was just talking to himself. "The first time I was here, it tried to trick my companions into going outside, trap them in stories, but it's not real. There could be anything out there, any laws of physics no matter how bizarre-"

It was only then he realised that no one was answering. The Doctor put the equipment down, looking from side to side, and then took in the rest of the scene. The scanner was active, a perfectly white screen depicted, while the TARDIS door was ajar.

"Oh no, no..."

He ran to the door and peeked out into the white void, not setting foot outside. No sign of anything.

Ok. he turned and ran back to the scanner, picking up one of the devices he'd brought with him. For a few urgent moments he fiddled with the console.

"If we're in the Land of Fiction, I should be able to tap into the mediasphere..." he muttered. "A newcomer, a real person, will send out ripples. I can track where she is, what genre she's surrounded by, and work with- ah!"

The depiction on the screen shifted from white void to a sifting mass of black ink, so vivid it seemed like his fingers would come away darkened if he touched the screen.

Tweaking the device he'd attached to the TARDIS, the visualisation became clearer.

"Now to find her..." the Doctor muttered. "Are you really still talking to yourself Doctor? Come on. We've talked about this."

The ink resolved into a palimpsest, which resolved into clearer words.

"Ah!" the Doctor said, triumphantly. "There you are, the city of... what on earth is ENF?"

Frowning, he tapped a few buttons to switch the screen from displaying the scanner, to accessing the TARDIS database. A few seconds later and his eyes went wide.