FIC: Kink in the Thread P/10? - R - Jack/Rose (Doctor Who)
Title: A Kink in the Thread
Author: Jinni (jinni.fanfic@gmail.com)
Rated: R
Disclaimer: All things Doctor Who belong to the BBC, et al.
Pairing: Jack/Rose
Notes: Spoilers up through PotW.
Summary: Sometimes the thread of life just gets a little twisted…
x x Prologue x x
It burned.
Pain trickled through his body, liquid fire that threatened to burn its way down through his bones and organs, straight to his soul. The Doctor stepped back and let go of…something. He was stumbling back and away -
- away from?
He couldn’t think. The things in his head were jumbled. Wrong. Mixed up like a blender’d had its way with him. In front of him stretched time and infinite possibility, behind him was the past and everything he was powerless to undo.
No, not powerless. It was right there, within his grasp, the ability to undo it all. Just reach out and -
Those thoughts he forced away, just as he faced the Tardis. His beautiful girl. Faced her and pushed with all his will, sending the pain and the power back where it had come from. Back to where it had never meant to be taken.
How had it gotten out?
His head was muddled. He was confused, shaken. What had happened? Where was he?
The Tardis he knew. The Tardis he recognized and it knew him, too. It was trying to tell him…something… as he took step after step towards it.
Forgetting. He was forgetting.
The pain was back and it was eating him inside-out.
So much for this regeneration. It wasn’t that long that he had burned in another way, destroyed by destruction. Gallifrey gone and…
… why couldn’t he remember anything that came after?
He swallowed and made it inside the doors of the Tardis, stumbling to the controls. Back to the Vortex. He was dying and he wanted to be safe when it happened.
x x x
The Tardis!
Jack rounded the corner just in time to see the blue box disappear, feeling the immediate pain of its loss. The Daleks were gone, even if he wasn’t sure how. Nothing left.
And he’d been dead. He knew it. Could remember the moment that the Daleks had fired, knew that no one could survive that.
Then he’d woken up. Right as rain, feeling better than he had in a long time, except for the fact that he was awfully confused. The Tardis’ engines starting up had put even that confusion aside - because if anyone could explain things, it was the Doctor.
But the Doctor was gone. The Tardis was gone.
He’d been abandoned.
Abandoned on an empty Game Station. Great. Just great.
He took a step forward, looking around the room. No sign of what had happened.
Wait -
Jack nearly stumbled over his own feet as he lurched towards the body on the floor.
“Rose?” he said loudly. He dropped down next to her, reaching immediately for her throat. His fingers rested gingerly on the skin, praying and hoping. Yes! She had a pulse. A nice, strong pulse. Not dead, which was good. He didn’t think he could handle that, on top of everything else. Though, seeing her here was a shock. Hadn’t the Doctor said that he sent her away?
Relief faded quickly to anger. The Doctor hadn’t just left him, then - he’d abandoned Rose, too! Maybe - maybe - he deserved it. The Doc had barely known him, after all. Maybe he even thought that he was dead. A good assumption, based on the last thing he probably heard.
But there was no reason for him to have just left Rose behind like that.
Jack gently arranged her so that she was lying half in his lap. First things first, wait for Rose to wake up and see if she knew what was going on. Maybe this wasn’t as bad as it looked at first glance.
Second - if it really was that bad, he’d have to figure out a way to get them both off of this station and down to Earth. Then, from there -
… well, from there he didn’t really know. But he’d figure something out.
Rose stirred in his arms and Jack’s attention immediately went back to her. He licked his lips and forced himself to smile as she opened her eyes. He’d be damned if he scared her right off the bat.
“Hey, there,” he murmured.
“’Lo,” her voice cracked for a moment as she spoke. Jack waited patiently as she licked her lips, swallowed a few times and then tried again. “What happened?”
“Was hoping you could tell me that, actually. I just found you laying here.”
She frowned, forehead creasing. He’d always wanted to rub at that little wrinkle of a spot when she did that, yet right now the urge wasn’t there. Maybe it was because of the trepidation and anger that was coursing through his veins still.
Or maybe he was still just too worried about her to even flirt that little bit.
“I… don’t remember,” she said.
“Nothing?”
Rose shook her head and Jack bit back a sigh. That was great. He didn’t know why she’d been left, how he’d gotten revived, what had happened to the Daleks - although, on that one he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Point of fact - he knew nothing about what had happened to lead them to where they were, right at that moment. Her worn down and looking like she’d been put through the ringer, him feeling far healthier than someone who’d recently died should feel.
“Where’s the Doctor?”
In a flash, Jack’s anger was back. “He left us, Rose.”
“What?”
“He left us,” Jack repeated, slower this time. “I came running up here and he’d obviously just left you on the floor and taken off. I got here just as the Tardis dematerialized.”
He felt like a cad when her lower lip started trembling. A heel, even.
“But -“
“Shh,” Jack put a finger over her lips. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.”
“He left us,” she whispered. It was obvious that the words left a bad taste in her mouth, judging by the way she pursed her lips together and frowned. “He sent me away… and I came back.”
Maybe he wasn’t happy about that, Jack wanted to say, but didn’t. Maybe the Doc hadn’t planned on either of them getting out of this. Hell, for a while there it didn’t look like the Doc had planned on getting out alive himself, even. Still - when all was said and done and the three of them were still alive - the Doc had made his choice.
He had abandoned them.
“We’ll be stuck here, in this time,” Rose gasped. Her eyes went wide for one moment and then she broke. “I’ll never see my mum again.”
“Yes. You. Will,” Jack shook her, gently. “Former Time Agent, remember? I can get us out of this.”
Somehow. Someway. The trick was getting his hands on another time ship and then he’d get Rose back where she belonged and then -
… then he really wasn’t sure what came next. Could stick around with Rose a bit, try his hand at twenty-first century life, as archaic as it was, and make sure that she adjusted back to her own time well enough. Wouldn’t really be fair to leave her there with no one that really understood her, after all.
First things, first.
They had to get off of this satellite.
END PROLOGUE
Author: Jinni (jinni.fanfic@gmail.com)
Rated: R
Disclaimer: All things Doctor Who belong to the BBC, et al.
Pairing: Jack/Rose
Notes: Spoilers up through PotW.
Summary: Sometimes the thread of life just gets a little twisted…
x x Prologue x x
It burned.
Pain trickled through his body, liquid fire that threatened to burn its way down through his bones and organs, straight to his soul. The Doctor stepped back and let go of…something. He was stumbling back and away -
- away from?
He couldn’t think. The things in his head were jumbled. Wrong. Mixed up like a blender’d had its way with him. In front of him stretched time and infinite possibility, behind him was the past and everything he was powerless to undo.
No, not powerless. It was right there, within his grasp, the ability to undo it all. Just reach out and -
Those thoughts he forced away, just as he faced the Tardis. His beautiful girl. Faced her and pushed with all his will, sending the pain and the power back where it had come from. Back to where it had never meant to be taken.
How had it gotten out?
His head was muddled. He was confused, shaken. What had happened? Where was he?
The Tardis he knew. The Tardis he recognized and it knew him, too. It was trying to tell him…something… as he took step after step towards it.
Forgetting. He was forgetting.
The pain was back and it was eating him inside-out.
So much for this regeneration. It wasn’t that long that he had burned in another way, destroyed by destruction. Gallifrey gone and…
… why couldn’t he remember anything that came after?
He swallowed and made it inside the doors of the Tardis, stumbling to the controls. Back to the Vortex. He was dying and he wanted to be safe when it happened.
x x x
The Tardis!
Jack rounded the corner just in time to see the blue box disappear, feeling the immediate pain of its loss. The Daleks were gone, even if he wasn’t sure how. Nothing left.
And he’d been dead. He knew it. Could remember the moment that the Daleks had fired, knew that no one could survive that.
Then he’d woken up. Right as rain, feeling better than he had in a long time, except for the fact that he was awfully confused. The Tardis’ engines starting up had put even that confusion aside - because if anyone could explain things, it was the Doctor.
But the Doctor was gone. The Tardis was gone.
He’d been abandoned.
Abandoned on an empty Game Station. Great. Just great.
He took a step forward, looking around the room. No sign of what had happened.
Wait -
Jack nearly stumbled over his own feet as he lurched towards the body on the floor.
“Rose?” he said loudly. He dropped down next to her, reaching immediately for her throat. His fingers rested gingerly on the skin, praying and hoping. Yes! She had a pulse. A nice, strong pulse. Not dead, which was good. He didn’t think he could handle that, on top of everything else. Though, seeing her here was a shock. Hadn’t the Doctor said that he sent her away?
Relief faded quickly to anger. The Doctor hadn’t just left him, then - he’d abandoned Rose, too! Maybe - maybe - he deserved it. The Doc had barely known him, after all. Maybe he even thought that he was dead. A good assumption, based on the last thing he probably heard.
But there was no reason for him to have just left Rose behind like that.
Jack gently arranged her so that she was lying half in his lap. First things first, wait for Rose to wake up and see if she knew what was going on. Maybe this wasn’t as bad as it looked at first glance.
Second - if it really was that bad, he’d have to figure out a way to get them both off of this station and down to Earth. Then, from there -
… well, from there he didn’t really know. But he’d figure something out.
Rose stirred in his arms and Jack’s attention immediately went back to her. He licked his lips and forced himself to smile as she opened her eyes. He’d be damned if he scared her right off the bat.
“Hey, there,” he murmured.
“’Lo,” her voice cracked for a moment as she spoke. Jack waited patiently as she licked her lips, swallowed a few times and then tried again. “What happened?”
“Was hoping you could tell me that, actually. I just found you laying here.”
She frowned, forehead creasing. He’d always wanted to rub at that little wrinkle of a spot when she did that, yet right now the urge wasn’t there. Maybe it was because of the trepidation and anger that was coursing through his veins still.
Or maybe he was still just too worried about her to even flirt that little bit.
“I… don’t remember,” she said.
“Nothing?”
Rose shook her head and Jack bit back a sigh. That was great. He didn’t know why she’d been left, how he’d gotten revived, what had happened to the Daleks - although, on that one he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Point of fact - he knew nothing about what had happened to lead them to where they were, right at that moment. Her worn down and looking like she’d been put through the ringer, him feeling far healthier than someone who’d recently died should feel.
“Where’s the Doctor?”
In a flash, Jack’s anger was back. “He left us, Rose.”
“What?”
“He left us,” Jack repeated, slower this time. “I came running up here and he’d obviously just left you on the floor and taken off. I got here just as the Tardis dematerialized.”
He felt like a cad when her lower lip started trembling. A heel, even.
“But -“
“Shh,” Jack put a finger over her lips. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.”
“He left us,” she whispered. It was obvious that the words left a bad taste in her mouth, judging by the way she pursed her lips together and frowned. “He sent me away… and I came back.”
Maybe he wasn’t happy about that, Jack wanted to say, but didn’t. Maybe the Doc hadn’t planned on either of them getting out of this. Hell, for a while there it didn’t look like the Doc had planned on getting out alive himself, even. Still - when all was said and done and the three of them were still alive - the Doc had made his choice.
He had abandoned them.
“We’ll be stuck here, in this time,” Rose gasped. Her eyes went wide for one moment and then she broke. “I’ll never see my mum again.”
“Yes. You. Will,” Jack shook her, gently. “Former Time Agent, remember? I can get us out of this.”
Somehow. Someway. The trick was getting his hands on another time ship and then he’d get Rose back where she belonged and then -
… then he really wasn’t sure what came next. Could stick around with Rose a bit, try his hand at twenty-first century life, as archaic as it was, and make sure that she adjusted back to her own time well enough. Wouldn’t really be fair to leave her there with no one that really understood her, after all.
First things, first.
They had to get off of this satellite.
END PROLOGUE