Girls, Wormholes, and Other Dimensional Mayhem (2/?)
Title: Escape
Rating: PG (mild language)
Characters: Rose, Jack
Word Count: 2100
Spoilers: Doctor Who- season 4, Torchwood -season 2
Summary: Jack realises that his timeline has not run concurrent to Rose's.
He took Rose’s face in both his hands and smacked a kiss on her lips. “Plenty of time for that later,” he grinned, as she protested with a wide-eyed squeak. “Let’s get out of here first.”
Jack froze as an extremely pretty girl pointed an extremely ugly gun at his head. Slowly, he raised his hands and held them away from his body, palms forward.
“How do I know you’re really you?” she demanded.
Jack pondered that a second, calculating his odds. “Well,” he said carefully, “I’ve got ID in my wallet.” He let a lascivious smile creep across his lips and smirked, “You’d have to stick your hand in my pants to get it.”
Relief flooded him as her deep blush and rolled eyes told him everything he needed to know. She lowered the gun as he chuckled, both of them echoing, “It’s really you.”
He hauled himself up into a sitting position with her help. Fuck, resurrection was something a guy never got used to. He did his best to keep the pain off his face as every bone and joint protested. He winced as Rose smacked him playfully on the arm.
“Captain Harkness, you are incorrigible,” she teased, and oh yes, there it was. That smile.
“And you, Miss Tyler, are beautiful,” he replied as he brush a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
“So,” he said, glancing at the icy walls. “Where are we?”
“No idea,” she admitted as her eyes roamed over him. “Back to the classic overcoat, I see?”
“Hey,” he protested. “I like this coat.” He ignored the ache in his bones as he stood up and stretched. “What about you? I don’t remember you being a dress slacks and blazer kind of girl.”
“Got a desk job, yeah?” she beamed, showing off with a little twirl. “D’ya like it?”
“I do,” he readily agreed, holding out his arms. “C’mere.” There was that smile again as she stepped forward, her arms sliding under his coat as he swept her into a hug. She giggled as he spun her around. “Rose Tyler,” he laughed. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
“You’re one to talk, Jack Harkness,” she retorted as he set her on her feet. “Aren’t you supposed to be dead?”
Shit.
The Doctor hadn’t told her. Of course he hadn’t. She’d have wanted to do something incredibly brave and stupid like re-absorb the Time Vortex and fix him. She looked up at him, and he looked into those brown eyes full of that something that was Rose, and there was no question.
He’d had plenty of time to watch the security cameras of Station Five while he’d been trying to get his Vortex Manipulator repaired. And watch them he had, over and over again. She’d absorbed the Time Vortex, the Doctor had said. And Jack had watched her, the Bad Wolf, the golden glowing angel of destruction, turn the entire Dalek armada into glittering dust. More than that, he had watched, over and over, the moment when she had brought him back to life.
She had changed his life, when they'd rescued him with the TARDIS, she'd given him a reason to fight. She had drawn courage from the guts of a coward and a con-man, simply by looking at him with those big brown eyes and seeing something in him that he wanted to live up to. He’d had a family there, Rose and The Doctor, people who he could rely on and who relied on him. People who believed in him, for the first time in all his thirty years. People he could trust.
She had shown him a better way to live. She had shown him, with her quiet courage and her never-say-never attitude that it was worth it to do what was right, no matter the consequences.
Then she had changed his death, breathed him back to life with a thought, and nearly killed herself to do it. It wasn’t surprising that she didn’t remember. And it certainly wasn’t surprising that the Doctor hadn’t filled her in. She wouldn’t think about the fact that she’d saved the day, that she’d saved the whole damn universe. She’d think she’d broken him, and the thought of that thought behind her eyes made his chest ache. Whether what she’d done was good or bad, whether it was her fault or just the universe shitting on him again, here and now was not the time and place. Maybe once they were out of here and someplace safe where they could sit and talk about it.
Maybe not.
Maybe he’d just shrug and change the subject.
“We need to get out of here,” he said, deftly steering the conversation away from his immortality. “Any ideas?”
“Well, we’re pretty stuck,” Rose replied, gesturing upward. “Don’t think there’s any way out down here, so that looks like the only exit.”
“Don’t think?” Does that mean you didn’t check?” Jack scolded with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, no,” she admitted sheepishly.
Jack started to open his mouth, but Rose interrupted, “Don’t you give me that look, Jack Harkness. Yes, that look. The one he always gave me right before he insulted my species and started shouting.”
“I didn’t-“ Jack tried, only to be interrupted again.
“I had a headache, and a load of snow, and a scare, and a hug, and I haven’t had time to look, thank you very much.”
“Jesus, you sound like Gwen,” he grumbled when she paused for breath.
Rose stopped, confused. “Who’s Gwen?”
Jack couldn’t help but laugh as her tirade derailed as quickly as it started. He took Rose’s face in both his hands and smacked a kiss on her lips. “Plenty of time for that later,” he grinned as she protested with a wide-eyed squeak. “Let’s get out of here first.”
Rose planted her hands on her hips and glared. “Fine. Got a plan, then?”
“Yep. Step one, look around and see if there’s a way out down here.”
“Very funny,” she shot back, rolling her eyes again. She followed him to the wall and they set off in opposite directions.
They worked in silence, eyes and fingers scanning the icy walls for any egress. After a few minutes, Jack came across a section of ice with a slightly different texture. He pulled his knife from his belt and chipped at it. A long, thin shard of ice broke away, revealing packed snow behind it. Stepping back, he followed the contours of the ice flow to the ceiling.
“Rose, I think I’ve found something!” he shouted. He gestured at the ice flow as she ran up behind him. “Help me dig this out.”
It took them about half an hour to dig the snow out of the crack once they’d broken away the ice, and Rose’s eyes sparkled as she surveyed their work. The chimney was now a long, sloping crack that extended from the middle of the ceiling to nearly ground level on one side of the cave.
“We can climb out of this, yeah?” Rose asked.
“Yes, Ma’am. I’ll give you a boost, and you take my knife and carve out a hand hold or two. I’ll climb up after you.”
“Well let’s get moving, then,” she complained. “It’s bloody cold down here.”
“Gonna be a lot colder up there,” he said, glancing at her thin blazer. “You still have that super phone the Doctor doctored for you?”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “No signal, though.”
Well, that answered at least one question. If Rose had somehow been thrown back into his universe, her phone would have been able to call anyone, anywhere, any when. Which meant they were both not in Kansas anymore.
“That’s okay,” he said, tying not to let the concern show on his face. “Let me see it.”
“Why?” she asked as she fished it out of her pocket and handed it over.
“I might be able to turn it into a distress beacon.”
He pulled his electro-spanner from his own pocket and popped the back off Rose’s phone.
“What’s that, then?” she asked, craning her neck to see what he was doing.
“Electromangnetronic Adjustment Spanner,” he replied absently.
“And that is?” she pressed.
“Basically, a magnetic screwdriver. Not sonic, but it was the best I could do with twenty first century tech.”
He was nearly done with the adjustments when she mumbled, “May as well paint it mauve.”
“Exactly what I just did,” he grinned, flipping it around so she could see the pinkish purple screen. “Now, let’s get out of here.”
Neither of them could have said who slipped first. Truth was, it didn’t really matter, as the end result would probably have been the same, with Rose dangling from the edge of the crack, and Jack landing back at the bottom of the cave with a nauseating crunch.
“Jack?” Rose yelled, feet scrabbling for purchase on the slick walls. “Jack, are you alright?” He didn’t immediately answer, but she could hear movement below her, and that meant he was at least alive. She found a depression with her foot and pushed herself over the lip of the chasm. Quickly, she scrambled around so she could see back down to the bottom. “Jack?”
He groaned as he got to his feet. “I’m okay,” he yelled back in a strained voice. “You make it out?”
“Yeah. Jack, should I come back down for y-“
“No,” he interrupted, as he finally looked up at her. Pain was etched in lines around his eyes. “Just toss the knife back down. I’ll be up in a sec. See if you can see anything nearby.”
Nodding, she carefully tossed the knife back to him and then stood up, dusting snow from her hands. Jack was right, it was a lot colder up here. There wasn’t much to see, just snow, snow and more snow. There were mountains off in the distance in two directions, and the other way… those might be trees. Trees were good.
She didn’t even realize Jack had made it out until he draped his coat around her. “I’m fine, really-“ she started.
“No arguments,” he insisted in a tone that allowed no arguing. “Those trees?”
“Think so, yeah.”
“Looks good to me,” he said, and nudged her forward.
They walked for what felt like endless, freezing hours. Rose huddled in Jack’s coat, teeth chattering, and wondered how much damage the soft wool was taking from being dragged behind her in the snow. He was considerably taller than she was, and in light of nothing else to think about but snow, it seemed like the thing to ponder. She had just begun to steer her train of thought towards how divine a cup of tea would be at that moment, when she heard Jack’s steady tread falter behind her.
She spun around to find him dropped to one knee in the snow, his hair damp and hanging limply in his face. Tea forgotten, she rushed over to him, sliding a hand under his arm.
“Jack?” she asked softly. He waved his free arm in a dismissive motion. His fingers were blue.
Quickly, she shrugged out of his coat and draped it over him, wrapping her arms around his torso to try to share some of her own warmth. Her right hand found something warm and sticky on his shirt. Puzzled, she pulled it back and looked at it.
Her fingers were covered in blood.
“Jack!” she shouted, pushing the coat away from his back until she could see the deep, seeping puncture just below his left shoulder that he’d been hiding from her. He looked up at her with a weak smile and her heart stopped. His face was a pale, ashen hue, and his blue eyes blazed from dark hollows.
“It’s okay, Rose,” he rumbled in a pained, gravelly voice.
“No, Captain Jack Harkness, this is absolutely not okay!” she yelled, tears stinging her eyes as she finally noticed the trail of blood that led back the way they’d come. “Why didn’t you tell me? This should have been bandaged. You should have kept the coat. Damnit, Jack, you should have-“
“Rose,” he interrupted, laying icy fingers against her cheek. “I need to tell you something. It’s goin-“
The roar of engines cut off whatever he’d been about to say. Looking up, Rose watched as a small ship, no more than five meters long, circled her and Jack, and then began to descend. Tears of relief stung her cheeks in the icy cold.
“Jack,” she grinned. “Your mauve signal worked. Someone’s found us. We’re going to be oka-” The smile slid from her face as Jack slowly slid to the ground. Snow whirled around them, settling on his long lashes. He was utterly, terribly still.
“Jack?” Rose said, voice cracking. She shook him. Then again, harder. Was he breathing? Blinking back freezing tears, she reached for his throat, feeling for his pulse.
There was nothing.
Rating: PG (mild language)
Characters: Rose, Jack
Word Count: 2100
Spoilers: Doctor Who- season 4, Torchwood -season 2
Summary: Jack realises that his timeline has not run concurrent to Rose's.
He took Rose’s face in both his hands and smacked a kiss on her lips. “Plenty of time for that later,” he grinned, as she protested with a wide-eyed squeak. “Let’s get out of here first.”
Jack froze as an extremely pretty girl pointed an extremely ugly gun at his head. Slowly, he raised his hands and held them away from his body, palms forward.
“How do I know you’re really you?” she demanded.
Jack pondered that a second, calculating his odds. “Well,” he said carefully, “I’ve got ID in my wallet.” He let a lascivious smile creep across his lips and smirked, “You’d have to stick your hand in my pants to get it.”
Relief flooded him as her deep blush and rolled eyes told him everything he needed to know. She lowered the gun as he chuckled, both of them echoing, “It’s really you.”
He hauled himself up into a sitting position with her help. Fuck, resurrection was something a guy never got used to. He did his best to keep the pain off his face as every bone and joint protested. He winced as Rose smacked him playfully on the arm.
“Captain Harkness, you are incorrigible,” she teased, and oh yes, there it was. That smile.
“And you, Miss Tyler, are beautiful,” he replied as he brush a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
“So,” he said, glancing at the icy walls. “Where are we?”
“No idea,” she admitted as her eyes roamed over him. “Back to the classic overcoat, I see?”
“Hey,” he protested. “I like this coat.” He ignored the ache in his bones as he stood up and stretched. “What about you? I don’t remember you being a dress slacks and blazer kind of girl.”
“Got a desk job, yeah?” she beamed, showing off with a little twirl. “D’ya like it?”
“I do,” he readily agreed, holding out his arms. “C’mere.” There was that smile again as she stepped forward, her arms sliding under his coat as he swept her into a hug. She giggled as he spun her around. “Rose Tyler,” he laughed. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
“You’re one to talk, Jack Harkness,” she retorted as he set her on her feet. “Aren’t you supposed to be dead?”
Shit.
The Doctor hadn’t told her. Of course he hadn’t. She’d have wanted to do something incredibly brave and stupid like re-absorb the Time Vortex and fix him. She looked up at him, and he looked into those brown eyes full of that something that was Rose, and there was no question.
He’d had plenty of time to watch the security cameras of Station Five while he’d been trying to get his Vortex Manipulator repaired. And watch them he had, over and over again. She’d absorbed the Time Vortex, the Doctor had said. And Jack had watched her, the Bad Wolf, the golden glowing angel of destruction, turn the entire Dalek armada into glittering dust. More than that, he had watched, over and over, the moment when she had brought him back to life.
She had changed his life, when they'd rescued him with the TARDIS, she'd given him a reason to fight. She had drawn courage from the guts of a coward and a con-man, simply by looking at him with those big brown eyes and seeing something in him that he wanted to live up to. He’d had a family there, Rose and The Doctor, people who he could rely on and who relied on him. People who believed in him, for the first time in all his thirty years. People he could trust.
She had shown him a better way to live. She had shown him, with her quiet courage and her never-say-never attitude that it was worth it to do what was right, no matter the consequences.
Then she had changed his death, breathed him back to life with a thought, and nearly killed herself to do it. It wasn’t surprising that she didn’t remember. And it certainly wasn’t surprising that the Doctor hadn’t filled her in. She wouldn’t think about the fact that she’d saved the day, that she’d saved the whole damn universe. She’d think she’d broken him, and the thought of that thought behind her eyes made his chest ache. Whether what she’d done was good or bad, whether it was her fault or just the universe shitting on him again, here and now was not the time and place. Maybe once they were out of here and someplace safe where they could sit and talk about it.
Maybe not.
Maybe he’d just shrug and change the subject.
“We need to get out of here,” he said, deftly steering the conversation away from his immortality. “Any ideas?”
“Well, we’re pretty stuck,” Rose replied, gesturing upward. “Don’t think there’s any way out down here, so that looks like the only exit.”
“Don’t think?” Does that mean you didn’t check?” Jack scolded with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, no,” she admitted sheepishly.
Jack started to open his mouth, but Rose interrupted, “Don’t you give me that look, Jack Harkness. Yes, that look. The one he always gave me right before he insulted my species and started shouting.”
“I didn’t-“ Jack tried, only to be interrupted again.
“I had a headache, and a load of snow, and a scare, and a hug, and I haven’t had time to look, thank you very much.”
“Jesus, you sound like Gwen,” he grumbled when she paused for breath.
Rose stopped, confused. “Who’s Gwen?”
Jack couldn’t help but laugh as her tirade derailed as quickly as it started. He took Rose’s face in both his hands and smacked a kiss on her lips. “Plenty of time for that later,” he grinned as she protested with a wide-eyed squeak. “Let’s get out of here first.”
Rose planted her hands on her hips and glared. “Fine. Got a plan, then?”
“Yep. Step one, look around and see if there’s a way out down here.”
“Very funny,” she shot back, rolling her eyes again. She followed him to the wall and they set off in opposite directions.
They worked in silence, eyes and fingers scanning the icy walls for any egress. After a few minutes, Jack came across a section of ice with a slightly different texture. He pulled his knife from his belt and chipped at it. A long, thin shard of ice broke away, revealing packed snow behind it. Stepping back, he followed the contours of the ice flow to the ceiling.
“Rose, I think I’ve found something!” he shouted. He gestured at the ice flow as she ran up behind him. “Help me dig this out.”
It took them about half an hour to dig the snow out of the crack once they’d broken away the ice, and Rose’s eyes sparkled as she surveyed their work. The chimney was now a long, sloping crack that extended from the middle of the ceiling to nearly ground level on one side of the cave.
“We can climb out of this, yeah?” Rose asked.
“Yes, Ma’am. I’ll give you a boost, and you take my knife and carve out a hand hold or two. I’ll climb up after you.”
“Well let’s get moving, then,” she complained. “It’s bloody cold down here.”
“Gonna be a lot colder up there,” he said, glancing at her thin blazer. “You still have that super phone the Doctor doctored for you?”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “No signal, though.”
Well, that answered at least one question. If Rose had somehow been thrown back into his universe, her phone would have been able to call anyone, anywhere, any when. Which meant they were both not in Kansas anymore.
“That’s okay,” he said, tying not to let the concern show on his face. “Let me see it.”
“Why?” she asked as she fished it out of her pocket and handed it over.
“I might be able to turn it into a distress beacon.”
He pulled his electro-spanner from his own pocket and popped the back off Rose’s phone.
“What’s that, then?” she asked, craning her neck to see what he was doing.
“Electromangnetronic Adjustment Spanner,” he replied absently.
“And that is?” she pressed.
“Basically, a magnetic screwdriver. Not sonic, but it was the best I could do with twenty first century tech.”
He was nearly done with the adjustments when she mumbled, “May as well paint it mauve.”
“Exactly what I just did,” he grinned, flipping it around so she could see the pinkish purple screen. “Now, let’s get out of here.”
Neither of them could have said who slipped first. Truth was, it didn’t really matter, as the end result would probably have been the same, with Rose dangling from the edge of the crack, and Jack landing back at the bottom of the cave with a nauseating crunch.
“Jack?” Rose yelled, feet scrabbling for purchase on the slick walls. “Jack, are you alright?” He didn’t immediately answer, but she could hear movement below her, and that meant he was at least alive. She found a depression with her foot and pushed herself over the lip of the chasm. Quickly, she scrambled around so she could see back down to the bottom. “Jack?”
He groaned as he got to his feet. “I’m okay,” he yelled back in a strained voice. “You make it out?”
“Yeah. Jack, should I come back down for y-“
“No,” he interrupted, as he finally looked up at her. Pain was etched in lines around his eyes. “Just toss the knife back down. I’ll be up in a sec. See if you can see anything nearby.”
Nodding, she carefully tossed the knife back to him and then stood up, dusting snow from her hands. Jack was right, it was a lot colder up here. There wasn’t much to see, just snow, snow and more snow. There were mountains off in the distance in two directions, and the other way… those might be trees. Trees were good.
She didn’t even realize Jack had made it out until he draped his coat around her. “I’m fine, really-“ she started.
“No arguments,” he insisted in a tone that allowed no arguing. “Those trees?”
“Think so, yeah.”
“Looks good to me,” he said, and nudged her forward.
They walked for what felt like endless, freezing hours. Rose huddled in Jack’s coat, teeth chattering, and wondered how much damage the soft wool was taking from being dragged behind her in the snow. He was considerably taller than she was, and in light of nothing else to think about but snow, it seemed like the thing to ponder. She had just begun to steer her train of thought towards how divine a cup of tea would be at that moment, when she heard Jack’s steady tread falter behind her.
She spun around to find him dropped to one knee in the snow, his hair damp and hanging limply in his face. Tea forgotten, she rushed over to him, sliding a hand under his arm.
“Jack?” she asked softly. He waved his free arm in a dismissive motion. His fingers were blue.
Quickly, she shrugged out of his coat and draped it over him, wrapping her arms around his torso to try to share some of her own warmth. Her right hand found something warm and sticky on his shirt. Puzzled, she pulled it back and looked at it.
Her fingers were covered in blood.
“Jack!” she shouted, pushing the coat away from his back until she could see the deep, seeping puncture just below his left shoulder that he’d been hiding from her. He looked up at her with a weak smile and her heart stopped. His face was a pale, ashen hue, and his blue eyes blazed from dark hollows.
“It’s okay, Rose,” he rumbled in a pained, gravelly voice.
“No, Captain Jack Harkness, this is absolutely not okay!” she yelled, tears stinging her eyes as she finally noticed the trail of blood that led back the way they’d come. “Why didn’t you tell me? This should have been bandaged. You should have kept the coat. Damnit, Jack, you should have-“
“Rose,” he interrupted, laying icy fingers against her cheek. “I need to tell you something. It’s goin-“
The roar of engines cut off whatever he’d been about to say. Looking up, Rose watched as a small ship, no more than five meters long, circled her and Jack, and then began to descend. Tears of relief stung her cheeks in the icy cold.
“Jack,” she grinned. “Your mauve signal worked. Someone’s found us. We’re going to be oka-” The smile slid from her face as Jack slowly slid to the ground. Snow whirled around them, settling on his long lashes. He was utterly, terribly still.
“Jack?” Rose said, voice cracking. She shook him. Then again, harder. Was he breathing? Blinking back freezing tears, she reached for his throat, feeling for his pulse.
There was nothing.