Ficlet: Last Breath (4/4 in the Breathing series)
Title: Last Breath
Series: Breathing - Story 4/4
Author: Kaethel (
kae_nine)
Characters/Pairing: Ten, Rose, Ten/Rose, Donna, Jack
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Stolen Earth
Summary: ... can't be given without spoiling the episode, other than saying this final story deals with the Doctor’s point of view throughout *the* scene.
A/N: This is the fourth and final story in the series I started writing on Saturday night after watching Stolen Earth.
Here are the links back to the first three stories in the series:
Keep Breathing (Rose's POV)
Holding My Breath (Donna's POV)
Breathless (Jack's POV)
Many thanks to
wendymr and
dark_aegis for BRing, and to jennijungle for the fanfic posters.
Last Breath
by Kaethel
“Why don’t you ask her yourself?”
She’s looking over my shoulder, that daft little smile on her face, the one she uses when she’s one step ahead of me and so proud of herself.
I turn around, but the street is as empty as when we stepped out of the TARDIS. No-one’s left. The Daleks took them all away, leaving nothing but a world that came to a complete standstill: deserted houses, abandoned cars, doors gaping into darkness; and silence, silence everywhere. The stench of burnt flesh scorches my nostrils, cloaking the area in its foul smell, remnants of the massacre that took place here before they took the rest of the people back to their warships.
No-one’s there. No-one can be there.
Yet someone’s stepping out of the shadows at the far end of the street. A slender figure clad in a leather jacket, blond hair framing her face, marching on. Coming to a stop. Locking her eyes with mine.
It can’t be.
She can’t be standing there, so real, so very much alive, and practically within reach.
Rose.
She’s smiling. Smiling that bright smile I thought I’d never see again. I want to cry. I want to laugh. I want to forget the past three years and yet I cherish the exhilarating sensation of seeing her again after all this time, and still feeling the same as when we said goodbye.
I’m running. Running as fast as I can, wind whistling in my ears, my hearts hammering from a mixture of exertion and fear that she’s just an image projected from across the void, that I’ll reach for her and my fingers will meet nothing but empty space. There’s nothing I want more than to hold her. I want to feel her close to me, to know for real that Rose Tyler is back. Back in this universe. Back where she belongs.
Back with me.
I run faster, always faster. Waiting is unbearable. We’ve already waited so long, too long, but this time, this one time, nothing will stop us. Nothing can stop us. Nothing.
Suddenly, she’s skidding to a halt and her beautiful smile falters.
EXTERMINATE!
No. No!
I barely have time to see the protruding gun firing its lethal blast before pain shoots through my side. The world comes to a stop. The sound of Rose’s rushed footsteps turns into a loud buzzing in my ears. The sight of her blond hair becomes blurry, and then everything goes dark.
When I open my eyes again, she’s leaning over me. One of her hands is in my hair; I can feel its warmth at the back of my neck. The other is on my chest, close to one of my hearts, and I smile despite the burning inside me and the chill coursing over my skin.
Rose is here. She’s holding me. Everything’s all right.
There’s so much I want to tell her. So much I want to do with her. Travel the universe. Hold her hand in mine. Run. Run again. Oh yes, run.
My muscles aren’t answering, and all I can do is fight to keep my eyes open for fear that if I close them, she will disappear again. I can’t let that happen.
“Long time no see,” I manage through gritted teeth before another wave of pain makes my whole body convulse. I feel my eyelids flutter close, denying me the possibility to reassure Rose that I’ll be fine.
“Don’t die.”
I won’t. I promise.
“Oh my God, don’t die.”
Rose... Oh, Rose...
Her words are a jumble. Every breath hurts like hell, every heartbeat sends a jolt of pain through my chest. The hand supporting my head pulls me closer. Her body heat radiates through me. It soothes me.
I... lo...
Darkness.
When I wake up, the cold surface of the TARDIS floor is beneath my back. Rose’s hand is still supporting my neck. Tears are streaming down her face. I recognise Jack’s voice in the background, filled with concern. Donna’s fingers are protectively wrapped around my forearm, and she’s asking questions through her own tears. Nobody’s answering her. I should’ve told her. She should’ve been prepared for this. I hadn’t told Rose, but I should’ve learned my lesson. Instead, I kept Donna in the dark, and now it’s too late to explain.
I can’t take my eyes off Rose. I can’t, even when pain spreads to every one of my cells, making me writhe in what I know is this body’s final agony.
When Jack pulls Rose away from me, the skin at my nape tingles from the lost contact. I stagger to my feet, relying on the final burst of pre-regeneration energy that lets these eyes of mine see her beloved face for the last time.
I wanted to run with her again.
My time’s run out.
Series: Breathing - Story 4/4
Author: Kaethel (
kae_nine)
Characters/Pairing: Ten, Rose, Ten/Rose, Donna, Jack
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Stolen Earth
Summary: ... can't be given without spoiling the episode, other than saying this final story deals with the Doctor’s point of view throughout *the* scene.
A/N: This is the fourth and final story in the series I started writing on Saturday night after watching Stolen Earth.
Here are the links back to the first three stories in the series:
Keep Breathing (Rose's POV)
Holding My Breath (Donna's POV)
Breathless (Jack's POV)
Many thanks to
wendymr and
dark_aegis for BRing, and to jennijungle for the fanfic posters.
Last Breath
by Kaethel
“Why don’t you ask her yourself?”
She’s looking over my shoulder, that daft little smile on her face, the one she uses when she’s one step ahead of me and so proud of herself.
I turn around, but the street is as empty as when we stepped out of the TARDIS. No-one’s left. The Daleks took them all away, leaving nothing but a world that came to a complete standstill: deserted houses, abandoned cars, doors gaping into darkness; and silence, silence everywhere. The stench of burnt flesh scorches my nostrils, cloaking the area in its foul smell, remnants of the massacre that took place here before they took the rest of the people back to their warships.
No-one’s there. No-one can be there.
Yet someone’s stepping out of the shadows at the far end of the street. A slender figure clad in a leather jacket, blond hair framing her face, marching on. Coming to a stop. Locking her eyes with mine.
It can’t be.
She can’t be standing there, so real, so very much alive, and practically within reach.
Rose.
She’s smiling. Smiling that bright smile I thought I’d never see again. I want to cry. I want to laugh. I want to forget the past three years and yet I cherish the exhilarating sensation of seeing her again after all this time, and still feeling the same as when we said goodbye.
I’m running. Running as fast as I can, wind whistling in my ears, my hearts hammering from a mixture of exertion and fear that she’s just an image projected from across the void, that I’ll reach for her and my fingers will meet nothing but empty space. There’s nothing I want more than to hold her. I want to feel her close to me, to know for real that Rose Tyler is back. Back in this universe. Back where she belongs.
Back with me.
I run faster, always faster. Waiting is unbearable. We’ve already waited so long, too long, but this time, this one time, nothing will stop us. Nothing can stop us. Nothing.
Suddenly, she’s skidding to a halt and her beautiful smile falters.
EXTERMINATE!
No. No!
I barely have time to see the protruding gun firing its lethal blast before pain shoots through my side. The world comes to a stop. The sound of Rose’s rushed footsteps turns into a loud buzzing in my ears. The sight of her blond hair becomes blurry, and then everything goes dark.
When I open my eyes again, she’s leaning over me. One of her hands is in my hair; I can feel its warmth at the back of my neck. The other is on my chest, close to one of my hearts, and I smile despite the burning inside me and the chill coursing over my skin.
Rose is here. She’s holding me. Everything’s all right.
There’s so much I want to tell her. So much I want to do with her. Travel the universe. Hold her hand in mine. Run. Run again. Oh yes, run.
My muscles aren’t answering, and all I can do is fight to keep my eyes open for fear that if I close them, she will disappear again. I can’t let that happen.
“Long time no see,” I manage through gritted teeth before another wave of pain makes my whole body convulse. I feel my eyelids flutter close, denying me the possibility to reassure Rose that I’ll be fine.
“Don’t die.”
I won’t. I promise.
“Oh my God, don’t die.”
Rose... Oh, Rose...
Her words are a jumble. Every breath hurts like hell, every heartbeat sends a jolt of pain through my chest. The hand supporting my head pulls me closer. Her body heat radiates through me. It soothes me.
I... lo...
Darkness.
When I wake up, the cold surface of the TARDIS floor is beneath my back. Rose’s hand is still supporting my neck. Tears are streaming down her face. I recognise Jack’s voice in the background, filled with concern. Donna’s fingers are protectively wrapped around my forearm, and she’s asking questions through her own tears. Nobody’s answering her. I should’ve told her. She should’ve been prepared for this. I hadn’t told Rose, but I should’ve learned my lesson. Instead, I kept Donna in the dark, and now it’s too late to explain.
I can’t take my eyes off Rose. I can’t, even when pain spreads to every one of my cells, making me writhe in what I know is this body’s final agony.
When Jack pulls Rose away from me, the skin at my nape tingles from the lost contact. I stagger to my feet, relying on the final burst of pre-regeneration energy that lets these eyes of mine see her beloved face for the last time.
I wanted to run with her again.
My time’s run out.