I'm Not (2/?)
Title: I'm Not
Part: 2
Fandom: Animorphs/Doctor Who
Characters: Cassie, Rachel, Ten
Setting: post-#54; sometime when Ten is traveling alone (but not post-season4 angst!Ten, because no one likes angst!Ten)
Rating: PG
Summary: The Doctor comes across a young blonde girl in distress and saves her life. He tries to bring her home again, but he's a little off. Meanwhile, Cassie - an adult, a full-fledged vet, and engaged - is still struggling to let go of the past when it lands, quite literally, in her front yard.
Notes: The only AU on Earth is that Rachel's body was never found.
Part 1 is here.
Rachel waves a hand dismissively at her friend’s comment. “What, that? I’ve gotten out of tighter spots than that in my sleep.” She grins easily at Cassie, but something is nagging at her, something she can’t quite place. It’s too dark to see clearly but there’s something off about her appearance, and it isn’t just that she’s very nearly naked.
Both are silent, each staring at the other with mixed emotions nearly tangible in the air between them. Neither is quite sure what to say - Cassie struggling to find her voice and Rachel waiting for her to do so.
“Oh, hello!” The voice from behind them makes them both jump, and Cassie’s startled eyes dart over Rachel’s shoulder to land on the Doctor. “So you’re one of Rachel’s friends, then? A bit cold to be walking around in getup like that, isn’t it?” Without a hint of shame he shrugs off his long overcoat and hands it to Cassie, who takes the offered clothing mutely and wraps it around herself. It’s so long that several inches of the hem are piled on the ground behind her, but she realizes suddenly that the chilly air has long ago begun to bite at her skin and she doesn’t want to be walking around in her underclothes with a strange man.
“Oh! Yeah,” Rachel says, having nearly forgotten that the Doctor was there at all. “Doctor, this is Cassie. Cass, this is the Doctor. He, um, saved my life.” She seems almost annoyed about that, like she believes that she could have found a way out on her own, but both she and the alien beside her know that isn’t true.
“But - but you were dead,” Cassie says, suddenly remembering how to work her tongue again. “I saw the Blade Ship disappear into Z-space, and - and Jake, he said-”
“Like I said,” Rachel says flatly. “He saved my life.”
“Then why - why didn’t you come back?”
“I-” She stops, frowns. “What?”
“Nine years, Rach. Nine. You never came back, never even thought to tell us you were alive?”
Rachel turns accusingly to the Doctor, who looks troubled. “Nine years?” he repeats, frowning at his watch. “Rassilon knows she’s not the most exact of ships, but she’s usually not that far off . . . ”
“You said it was a spaceship,” Rachel says, her voice low and dangerous.
“Well, she is,” the Doctor replies, now carefully examining the woodwork of his craft with his hands. “A sort of time- and space- ship, you know. That’s what TARDIS stands for: Time And Relative Dimensions in Space.”
“Then I can go back,” Rachel demands, her hands on her hips.
“No, I’m afraid not,” he says, now circling the TARDIS and occasionally giving one of her sides a quick tap. “If you haven’t shown up in the last nine years then you can’t show up in the last nine years. Can’t cross your own timeline, see.” He stops and looks at the two girls. “I’m sorry. I’m really very sorry.”
“The others, then,” Cassie says, her voice trembling. “You saved Rachel, you can save them too.”
Rachel’s heart sinks very far, very fast. “The others,” she repeats, and Cassie looks like she’s about to cry. “I thought . . . ”
“No,” Cassie says, her voice and heart breaking. “They’re gone.”
“All of them?”
“I’m the only one left,” she says, because she can’t bring herself to say out loud that they’re all dead and gone and long lost to some cold, airless grave far, far away.
“God,” Rachel breathes, her shell of confidence and bravado briefly cracked. “They’re all . . . ”
Cassie turns to the Doctor, and feels Rachel doing the same beside her. “Can you save them?” she asks, and she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to take it if he says no.
“Maybe,” he says, his expression unreadable in the dark.
“Can you save them?” Rachel repeats, her voice loud and harsh and so very Rachel.
“I can try,” he says, because he’s the Doctor and he can’t bear to see people, good people, suffering “But I’ll need help.”
Cassie and Rachel exchange a look, a slow grin spreading across the blonde’s face.
“Let’s do it.”
Part: 2
Fandom: Animorphs/Doctor Who
Characters: Cassie, Rachel, Ten
Setting: post-#54; sometime when Ten is traveling alone (but not post-season4 angst!Ten, because no one likes angst!Ten)
Rating: PG
Summary: The Doctor comes across a young blonde girl in distress and saves her life. He tries to bring her home again, but he's a little off. Meanwhile, Cassie - an adult, a full-fledged vet, and engaged - is still struggling to let go of the past when it lands, quite literally, in her front yard.
Notes: The only AU on Earth is that Rachel's body was never found.
Part 1 is here.
Rachel waves a hand dismissively at her friend’s comment. “What, that? I’ve gotten out of tighter spots than that in my sleep.” She grins easily at Cassie, but something is nagging at her, something she can’t quite place. It’s too dark to see clearly but there’s something off about her appearance, and it isn’t just that she’s very nearly naked.
Both are silent, each staring at the other with mixed emotions nearly tangible in the air between them. Neither is quite sure what to say - Cassie struggling to find her voice and Rachel waiting for her to do so.
“Oh, hello!” The voice from behind them makes them both jump, and Cassie’s startled eyes dart over Rachel’s shoulder to land on the Doctor. “So you’re one of Rachel’s friends, then? A bit cold to be walking around in getup like that, isn’t it?” Without a hint of shame he shrugs off his long overcoat and hands it to Cassie, who takes the offered clothing mutely and wraps it around herself. It’s so long that several inches of the hem are piled on the ground behind her, but she realizes suddenly that the chilly air has long ago begun to bite at her skin and she doesn’t want to be walking around in her underclothes with a strange man.
“Oh! Yeah,” Rachel says, having nearly forgotten that the Doctor was there at all. “Doctor, this is Cassie. Cass, this is the Doctor. He, um, saved my life.” She seems almost annoyed about that, like she believes that she could have found a way out on her own, but both she and the alien beside her know that isn’t true.
“But - but you were dead,” Cassie says, suddenly remembering how to work her tongue again. “I saw the Blade Ship disappear into Z-space, and - and Jake, he said-”
“Like I said,” Rachel says flatly. “He saved my life.”
“Then why - why didn’t you come back?”
“I-” She stops, frowns. “What?”
“Nine years, Rach. Nine. You never came back, never even thought to tell us you were alive?”
Rachel turns accusingly to the Doctor, who looks troubled. “Nine years?” he repeats, frowning at his watch. “Rassilon knows she’s not the most exact of ships, but she’s usually not that far off . . . ”
“You said it was a spaceship,” Rachel says, her voice low and dangerous.
“Well, she is,” the Doctor replies, now carefully examining the woodwork of his craft with his hands. “A sort of time- and space- ship, you know. That’s what TARDIS stands for: Time And Relative Dimensions in Space.”
“Then I can go back,” Rachel demands, her hands on her hips.
“No, I’m afraid not,” he says, now circling the TARDIS and occasionally giving one of her sides a quick tap. “If you haven’t shown up in the last nine years then you can’t show up in the last nine years. Can’t cross your own timeline, see.” He stops and looks at the two girls. “I’m sorry. I’m really very sorry.”
“The others, then,” Cassie says, her voice trembling. “You saved Rachel, you can save them too.”
Rachel’s heart sinks very far, very fast. “The others,” she repeats, and Cassie looks like she’s about to cry. “I thought . . . ”
“No,” Cassie says, her voice and heart breaking. “They’re gone.”
“All of them?”
“I’m the only one left,” she says, because she can’t bring herself to say out loud that they’re all dead and gone and long lost to some cold, airless grave far, far away.
“God,” Rachel breathes, her shell of confidence and bravado briefly cracked. “They’re all . . . ”
Cassie turns to the Doctor, and feels Rachel doing the same beside her. “Can you save them?” she asks, and she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to take it if he says no.
“Maybe,” he says, his expression unreadable in the dark.
“Can you save them?” Rachel repeats, her voice loud and harsh and so very Rachel.
“I can try,” he says, because he’s the Doctor and he can’t bear to see people, good people, suffering “But I’ll need help.”
Cassie and Rachel exchange a look, a slow grin spreading across the blonde’s face.
“Let’s do it.”