No Justice - [3/5]
Title: No Justice
Author:
sketty24
Chapters: 3/5
Characters: The Doctor, Donna Noble, and Captain John Hart.
Rating: T
Spoilers: None specific, but may hold a few mentions of Series 4 of Doctor Who and Series 2 of Torchwood.
Summary: The Doctor meets a stranger upon a refuel in Cardiff, and is accompanied to the prison system of Justica by one of its previous captives. (Set before Series 4 finale.)
Everything seemed distorted and blurred. The Doctor slowly opened his eyes as he felt his senses recover. He tried to look around him, recognise his location, but the bright lights were harsh on his sight. He squinted, trying to sit up on what felt like a firm mattress. He felt someone bustle by his side and encourage him to lie down again, speaking quietly in the slow, short sounds of a Judoon. His eyes were getting used to the light, and he saw what he could only guess was a female Judoon trying to stop him from getting up. He also noticed he was half-naked, and his shoulder was tightly bandaged.
“No, no, wait!” the Doctor insisted, reaching his hand out to the tough-skinned forearm of the Judoon. “What happened? Am I still on Prime?”
She spent a moment activating the translator device pinned to her medical uniform before answering in a low tone. “Yes. You were found on the surface. The Judoon Troops brought you here for medical assistance.”
The Doctor leaned back slowly against the bed, taking a moment to recall what had happened with John. For all he knew, the man was long gone now. What would happen to Donna? Without his TARDIS, he was more or less stuck on Prime. Not only that, even his sonic screwdriver was gone. His fingers clenched slightly in his anger, frustrated by his helplessness.
“You must rest,” the nurse insisted. “The Judoon Captain will speak to you when you’re recovered.”
Looking at his shoulder, the Doctor tore off the padded bandage. “I’m recovered.”
The Judoon made a small noise of protest, but then stopped, staring at the healed skin.
“Timelord,” said the Doctor with a grim smile, throwing the bloodied bandage in a bin just off the side of the bed. “Now then, where’s your Captain?”
***
When Donna reappeared, she found that her shackles were gone, and gratefully rubbed at her wrists. She looked around her, noticing that John had appeared directly by her side, also uncuffed. They were in a small, dark room, that echoed when they moved. She saw uncomfortable looking beds hung off the side wall by chains, while the rest of the area was formed out of dark, unpleasant metal. She turned slowly, frowning as she took it all in. She then noticed a porthole at the other end, and walked over quickly. She crouched down to look out, then gasping quietly as she saw the infinite galaxy of stars stretch out as far as she could see. “We’ve left the planet,” she told him, looking back over her shoulder.
John was studying the cell, his hands testing the mattress on the bed to see how comfortable it was. “Yeah,” he replied as he glanced round at Donna. “These are self-sustained prison cells that orbit Prime. Nobody can get in or out.”
Donna stared around them. “Well, there must be a door or something,” she insisted, panic beginning to creep into her tone. “We need to find a way out, Doctor.”
“There is no way out,” John replied, sounding exasperated by her perseverance. “This is one of the toughest prison cells in the galaxy. Trust me, I know.”
“Well, we can’t just stay here, can we? There’s got to be a way out, we can think of something.”
“Donna,” began John slowly, then stopping and breathing out a small sigh. “We can’t. We’re over 30,000 miles away from the nearest planet, and it never drops out of orbit.”
Donna gave a small scowl. “This new regeneration of yours is bloody pessimistic.”
John laughed quietly, climbing up to the top bunk and flopping down on the bed, folding his arms behind his head.
“What are you doing?”
“Me?” he asked, looking down at her. “Getting comfortable, here for the long haul, aren’t we?”
Donna threw her hands up in frustration. “Great, he’s idle too.” She sighed and turned away from the bed, walking over to the console on the wall to begin studying it, trying to work out the screen and lights. She had seen a lot on her travels with the Doctor, and usually there was something he could do. A wall of electronics should be a positive sign. “What this?” she asked, pointing at the screen.
John looked her way again. “Monitors the atmosphere levels and loop.”
“Loop?” Donna asked, frowning.
“Time loop. It controls the time difference inside the ship.”
Donna’s frown furrowed ever more. “Time difference? You mean we’re not running on the same timezone as the planet?”
John groaned quietly, smacking his head down into his pillow. At least when he had shared a time-loop cell with Jack Harkness they had had fun. Now she was just annoying him. “It’s a Justica prison cell, they put us in for two years, on the outside it’s about a week.”
Now, Donna’s eyebrows shot into her fringe. “A week?!”
“There’s an echo going on,” John said loudly at the ceiling.
“You mean, we’re stuck here for two years, but really, it’ll only be a week?” she said sternly, her voice growing in volume and stiffness.
“That’s the general idea. Means they can fulfil a prison sentence without taking up the cells for too long.” John glanced down at her. “Now, are you going to stop talking?”
“No, I flamin’ well ain’t, Spaceman!”
John groaned quietly, focusing his eyes on the dirty ceiling and deciding to just ignore her.
When Donna got no response, she picked up an empty metal food tray and chucked it at the top bunk. It clanged loudly on the cell wall besides John’s head and he jolted in shock. “Get your arse down here. Now!”
John suddenly leapt off the top bunk with a surprising ease, landing with a heavy thud on the grated cell floor. “You are going to learn something about me very quickly if you keep this up,” he threatened as he took swift strides towards Donna, the change in his demeanour causing her to back up slightly, momentarily fearing she’d gone too far with her impatience.
After swallowing slightly, she recovered, her stern expression returning. “You are going to get us out of here,” she ordered, pointing at him. “You can’t just give up! You never give up! Two years might seem like nothing to you, but I’m thirty-eight! I don’t live forever!”
John set his hands on his hips with a slow smirk, apparently enjoying her fierce rant. “Thirty-eight?”
“What?”
“You seem younger.”
Donna was briefly bemused. “Thank you. Stop distracting me. I’m trying to make a point here!”
“Made and received, darling.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly, her head tilting in that manner than suggested she was gearing herself up. “Are you.. flirting with me?”
“Me? Yes.”
“Don’t you dare try charming me out of a bad mood. Just because you’ve gained some muscles doesn’t mean I’ll swoon over your every word.”
John slid his hands to the front of his belt, dipping his head to peer at her with a playful pout of his lips.
Donna pointed a finger warningly. “This new regeneration of yours is going to get a smack in a minute.”
“Ooh, angry sex, I love it.”
There was a gasp of indignation from Donna. “You’ve turned into a right perv!”
“Do you like it?” asked John, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
“You’ve gone from being totally asexual, to this. Timelords don’t do things by halves, do they?”
John shrugged casually. “I just couldn’t help but notice how gorgeous you look when you’re mad.”
Donna stared at him blankly. If there was anything worse than being stuck in a cell for two years, it was being stuck in a cell for two years with a horny alien. In Donna’s silence, John was slowly leaning closer, having full intention of having just as much fun as the last time he was imprisoned here. Her brain seemed to have discovered the most inopportune moment to not function, and she stood stock-still in front of him, staring into his advancing face. A sudden clatter snapped her out of her reverie, and her head turned quickly to see what it was.
Ginger hair whipped sharply against John’s cheek, lips missing her face. He tutted at the distraction, turning to watch as Donna walked over to the wall under the screen. There was a small hollow, about the size of a fireplace. It had been empty before, but now hold two metals trays, stacked on top of each other. She slowly lifted the lid, looking inside. “It’s food.”
“Of course it’s food. They’re not going to starve us unless we really misbehave.”
Donna shot him a small look before she picked up one of the trays, clutching it tighter than necessary as she moved to sit on the floor on the opposite side of the cell to him. She wasn’t hungry, especially not for the grey gloop that sat in her bowl, but she needed something to distract herself before she threw another tray at him, this one with food contents. She poked the mixture grimly with her spoon, lifting it slowly and sniffing it. It smelt faintly musty. She grimaced, quickly lowering it back to the bowl.
“You’ve got it eat it at some point,” drawled John casually, and Donna looked up to find him on the top bunk again.
“You’ve not touched yours,” she said accusingly, noticing the tray still in the hearth-like hollow.
John folded an arm behind his head. “Not hungry yet. But I’ll eat when I have to.”
Donna looked down slowly at the bowl, abandoning pretence and putting it on the floor. She folded her arms, looking down without really focusing. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This wasn’t what she had signed up for. She’d rather be fleeing from a monster than trapped here. The old Doctor would be trying so hard to get them out now. He never gave up, he’d be cooking up some brilliant plan to trick the Judoon and get them back to the TARDIS. Her eyes flickered to the figure on the bed. Not this one. Not the new Doctor. He quite clearly didn’t care about how long they stayed here. He accepted the punishment. He’d endure it.
“When we get out of here,” she began faintly, voice cracking slightly. “I’m going home.”
“Fine by me,” John sighed, crossing his ankles in a leisurely fashion.
Donna frowned, feeling her eyes burn slightly with indignant tears. “You just don’t care anymore, do you? Is this what a regeneration does? Rewires every emotion you’ve ever felt? Changes how you treat others?”
“Will you stop going on about it? God, this is going to be a long two years. You won’t even try and spice things up a little. You’re going to be stuck here with me for a long time, you’d better get used to it.”
“No, I will not stop going on about it,” Donna hissed, throwing her hair back as she got to her feet, storming over to the bunk and glaring up at him. “You won’t even try to get us out of here, you keep bloody charming me, like it’ll help, and you’ve turned into a complete and utter bastard!”
“Are we back to the rants?” John asked boredly as he looked down at her.
Donna clenched her fists, exasperation overwhelming her. “Why won’t you just DO something?!”
John closed his eyes, jaw tensing as his patience grew thin with the charades. “Because I can’t!”
“You can!” Donna cried. “The stuff you’ve done! The people you’ve saved! Entire civilisations, rescued, and they all have one man to thank! A cell? So what? We’ve got out of cells before. I know I’m not all that helpful, but for God’s sake, I’m trying!”
He’d reached the end of the line, his frustration with this situation now bubbling over. “Because I’m not him!”
“But you are!” Donna insisted. “You’re still the Doctor! Regenerated, but still same man at heart. You’ve done all these amazing things, and you can do them again.”
John sat up, waving a hand in dismissal. “No. I’m not. I’m not the Doctor. I hijacked his spaceship, alright? I lied.”
Donna’s oncoming rant was cut to a sudden halt, and she stared at him blankly. There was a long and tense pause, her head moving stiffly. “ … What?” she breathed.
John pushed himself out of the bed again, landing on the cell floor. “It’s the truth. I came clean. God, I hope that means you stop ordering me around.”
“You hijacked the TARDIS?”
“Yes, I hijacked the TARDIS. It was very clever, if I do say so myself.”
Donna’s eyes followed him tensely. “You lied to me?”
“Yes. Yes, I did. Are we nearly done with all the questions?”
Donna’s breaths had grown slightly erratic, not quite sure how to control the sudden rage of anger that flared through her senses. It all boiled down to one instinct, and with a yell of fury, she pulled her fist back and clouted him across the face. It had enough force to knock John off his feet, and he quickly grabbed at his lip.
“Feeling better now?” he mumbled as he lay on the hard floor.
A long breath was exhaled as Donna tried to compose herself. “A bit,” she said, then turning away and grabbing her throbbing hand, stalking away from him and to the other side of the cell. Well, things had gone from bad to worse; but one thing consoled her. If the Doctor wasn’t here, that meant he was out there somewhere. His usual self, his amazing self, and eventually, he would find her.
Onto chapter 4!
Author:
sketty24
Chapters: 3/5
Characters: The Doctor, Donna Noble, and Captain John Hart.
Rating: T
Spoilers: None specific, but may hold a few mentions of Series 4 of Doctor Who and Series 2 of Torchwood.
Summary: The Doctor meets a stranger upon a refuel in Cardiff, and is accompanied to the prison system of Justica by one of its previous captives. (Set before Series 4 finale.)
Everything seemed distorted and blurred. The Doctor slowly opened his eyes as he felt his senses recover. He tried to look around him, recognise his location, but the bright lights were harsh on his sight. He squinted, trying to sit up on what felt like a firm mattress. He felt someone bustle by his side and encourage him to lie down again, speaking quietly in the slow, short sounds of a Judoon. His eyes were getting used to the light, and he saw what he could only guess was a female Judoon trying to stop him from getting up. He also noticed he was half-naked, and his shoulder was tightly bandaged.
“No, no, wait!” the Doctor insisted, reaching his hand out to the tough-skinned forearm of the Judoon. “What happened? Am I still on Prime?”
She spent a moment activating the translator device pinned to her medical uniform before answering in a low tone. “Yes. You were found on the surface. The Judoon Troops brought you here for medical assistance.”
The Doctor leaned back slowly against the bed, taking a moment to recall what had happened with John. For all he knew, the man was long gone now. What would happen to Donna? Without his TARDIS, he was more or less stuck on Prime. Not only that, even his sonic screwdriver was gone. His fingers clenched slightly in his anger, frustrated by his helplessness.
“You must rest,” the nurse insisted. “The Judoon Captain will speak to you when you’re recovered.”
Looking at his shoulder, the Doctor tore off the padded bandage. “I’m recovered.”
The Judoon made a small noise of protest, but then stopped, staring at the healed skin.
“Timelord,” said the Doctor with a grim smile, throwing the bloodied bandage in a bin just off the side of the bed. “Now then, where’s your Captain?”
***
When Donna reappeared, she found that her shackles were gone, and gratefully rubbed at her wrists. She looked around her, noticing that John had appeared directly by her side, also uncuffed. They were in a small, dark room, that echoed when they moved. She saw uncomfortable looking beds hung off the side wall by chains, while the rest of the area was formed out of dark, unpleasant metal. She turned slowly, frowning as she took it all in. She then noticed a porthole at the other end, and walked over quickly. She crouched down to look out, then gasping quietly as she saw the infinite galaxy of stars stretch out as far as she could see. “We’ve left the planet,” she told him, looking back over her shoulder.
John was studying the cell, his hands testing the mattress on the bed to see how comfortable it was. “Yeah,” he replied as he glanced round at Donna. “These are self-sustained prison cells that orbit Prime. Nobody can get in or out.”
Donna stared around them. “Well, there must be a door or something,” she insisted, panic beginning to creep into her tone. “We need to find a way out, Doctor.”
“There is no way out,” John replied, sounding exasperated by her perseverance. “This is one of the toughest prison cells in the galaxy. Trust me, I know.”
“Well, we can’t just stay here, can we? There’s got to be a way out, we can think of something.”
“Donna,” began John slowly, then stopping and breathing out a small sigh. “We can’t. We’re over 30,000 miles away from the nearest planet, and it never drops out of orbit.”
Donna gave a small scowl. “This new regeneration of yours is bloody pessimistic.”
John laughed quietly, climbing up to the top bunk and flopping down on the bed, folding his arms behind his head.
“What are you doing?”
“Me?” he asked, looking down at her. “Getting comfortable, here for the long haul, aren’t we?”
Donna threw her hands up in frustration. “Great, he’s idle too.” She sighed and turned away from the bed, walking over to the console on the wall to begin studying it, trying to work out the screen and lights. She had seen a lot on her travels with the Doctor, and usually there was something he could do. A wall of electronics should be a positive sign. “What this?” she asked, pointing at the screen.
John looked her way again. “Monitors the atmosphere levels and loop.”
“Loop?” Donna asked, frowning.
“Time loop. It controls the time difference inside the ship.”
Donna’s frown furrowed ever more. “Time difference? You mean we’re not running on the same timezone as the planet?”
John groaned quietly, smacking his head down into his pillow. At least when he had shared a time-loop cell with Jack Harkness they had had fun. Now she was just annoying him. “It’s a Justica prison cell, they put us in for two years, on the outside it’s about a week.”
Now, Donna’s eyebrows shot into her fringe. “A week?!”
“There’s an echo going on,” John said loudly at the ceiling.
“You mean, we’re stuck here for two years, but really, it’ll only be a week?” she said sternly, her voice growing in volume and stiffness.
“That’s the general idea. Means they can fulfil a prison sentence without taking up the cells for too long.” John glanced down at her. “Now, are you going to stop talking?”
“No, I flamin’ well ain’t, Spaceman!”
John groaned quietly, focusing his eyes on the dirty ceiling and deciding to just ignore her.
When Donna got no response, she picked up an empty metal food tray and chucked it at the top bunk. It clanged loudly on the cell wall besides John’s head and he jolted in shock. “Get your arse down here. Now!”
John suddenly leapt off the top bunk with a surprising ease, landing with a heavy thud on the grated cell floor. “You are going to learn something about me very quickly if you keep this up,” he threatened as he took swift strides towards Donna, the change in his demeanour causing her to back up slightly, momentarily fearing she’d gone too far with her impatience.
After swallowing slightly, she recovered, her stern expression returning. “You are going to get us out of here,” she ordered, pointing at him. “You can’t just give up! You never give up! Two years might seem like nothing to you, but I’m thirty-eight! I don’t live forever!”
John set his hands on his hips with a slow smirk, apparently enjoying her fierce rant. “Thirty-eight?”
“What?”
“You seem younger.”
Donna was briefly bemused. “Thank you. Stop distracting me. I’m trying to make a point here!”
“Made and received, darling.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly, her head tilting in that manner than suggested she was gearing herself up. “Are you.. flirting with me?”
“Me? Yes.”
“Don’t you dare try charming me out of a bad mood. Just because you’ve gained some muscles doesn’t mean I’ll swoon over your every word.”
John slid his hands to the front of his belt, dipping his head to peer at her with a playful pout of his lips.
Donna pointed a finger warningly. “This new regeneration of yours is going to get a smack in a minute.”
“Ooh, angry sex, I love it.”
There was a gasp of indignation from Donna. “You’ve turned into a right perv!”
“Do you like it?” asked John, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
“You’ve gone from being totally asexual, to this. Timelords don’t do things by halves, do they?”
John shrugged casually. “I just couldn’t help but notice how gorgeous you look when you’re mad.”
Donna stared at him blankly. If there was anything worse than being stuck in a cell for two years, it was being stuck in a cell for two years with a horny alien. In Donna’s silence, John was slowly leaning closer, having full intention of having just as much fun as the last time he was imprisoned here. Her brain seemed to have discovered the most inopportune moment to not function, and she stood stock-still in front of him, staring into his advancing face. A sudden clatter snapped her out of her reverie, and her head turned quickly to see what it was.
Ginger hair whipped sharply against John’s cheek, lips missing her face. He tutted at the distraction, turning to watch as Donna walked over to the wall under the screen. There was a small hollow, about the size of a fireplace. It had been empty before, but now hold two metals trays, stacked on top of each other. She slowly lifted the lid, looking inside. “It’s food.”
“Of course it’s food. They’re not going to starve us unless we really misbehave.”
Donna shot him a small look before she picked up one of the trays, clutching it tighter than necessary as she moved to sit on the floor on the opposite side of the cell to him. She wasn’t hungry, especially not for the grey gloop that sat in her bowl, but she needed something to distract herself before she threw another tray at him, this one with food contents. She poked the mixture grimly with her spoon, lifting it slowly and sniffing it. It smelt faintly musty. She grimaced, quickly lowering it back to the bowl.
“You’ve got it eat it at some point,” drawled John casually, and Donna looked up to find him on the top bunk again.
“You’ve not touched yours,” she said accusingly, noticing the tray still in the hearth-like hollow.
John folded an arm behind his head. “Not hungry yet. But I’ll eat when I have to.”
Donna looked down slowly at the bowl, abandoning pretence and putting it on the floor. She folded her arms, looking down without really focusing. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This wasn’t what she had signed up for. She’d rather be fleeing from a monster than trapped here. The old Doctor would be trying so hard to get them out now. He never gave up, he’d be cooking up some brilliant plan to trick the Judoon and get them back to the TARDIS. Her eyes flickered to the figure on the bed. Not this one. Not the new Doctor. He quite clearly didn’t care about how long they stayed here. He accepted the punishment. He’d endure it.
“When we get out of here,” she began faintly, voice cracking slightly. “I’m going home.”
“Fine by me,” John sighed, crossing his ankles in a leisurely fashion.
Donna frowned, feeling her eyes burn slightly with indignant tears. “You just don’t care anymore, do you? Is this what a regeneration does? Rewires every emotion you’ve ever felt? Changes how you treat others?”
“Will you stop going on about it? God, this is going to be a long two years. You won’t even try and spice things up a little. You’re going to be stuck here with me for a long time, you’d better get used to it.”
“No, I will not stop going on about it,” Donna hissed, throwing her hair back as she got to her feet, storming over to the bunk and glaring up at him. “You won’t even try to get us out of here, you keep bloody charming me, like it’ll help, and you’ve turned into a complete and utter bastard!”
“Are we back to the rants?” John asked boredly as he looked down at her.
Donna clenched her fists, exasperation overwhelming her. “Why won’t you just DO something?!”
John closed his eyes, jaw tensing as his patience grew thin with the charades. “Because I can’t!”
“You can!” Donna cried. “The stuff you’ve done! The people you’ve saved! Entire civilisations, rescued, and they all have one man to thank! A cell? So what? We’ve got out of cells before. I know I’m not all that helpful, but for God’s sake, I’m trying!”
He’d reached the end of the line, his frustration with this situation now bubbling over. “Because I’m not him!”
“But you are!” Donna insisted. “You’re still the Doctor! Regenerated, but still same man at heart. You’ve done all these amazing things, and you can do them again.”
John sat up, waving a hand in dismissal. “No. I’m not. I’m not the Doctor. I hijacked his spaceship, alright? I lied.”
Donna’s oncoming rant was cut to a sudden halt, and she stared at him blankly. There was a long and tense pause, her head moving stiffly. “ … What?” she breathed.
John pushed himself out of the bed again, landing on the cell floor. “It’s the truth. I came clean. God, I hope that means you stop ordering me around.”
“You hijacked the TARDIS?”
“Yes, I hijacked the TARDIS. It was very clever, if I do say so myself.”
Donna’s eyes followed him tensely. “You lied to me?”
“Yes. Yes, I did. Are we nearly done with all the questions?”
Donna’s breaths had grown slightly erratic, not quite sure how to control the sudden rage of anger that flared through her senses. It all boiled down to one instinct, and with a yell of fury, she pulled her fist back and clouted him across the face. It had enough force to knock John off his feet, and he quickly grabbed at his lip.
“Feeling better now?” he mumbled as he lay on the hard floor.
A long breath was exhaled as Donna tried to compose herself. “A bit,” she said, then turning away and grabbing her throbbing hand, stalking away from him and to the other side of the cell. Well, things had gone from bad to worse; but one thing consoled her. If the Doctor wasn’t here, that meant he was out there somewhere. His usual self, his amazing self, and eventually, he would find her.
Onto chapter 4!