Fic: Capture
Title: Capture
Author: On Teaspoon: Timeweaver, on lj: spellweaver731 - My Fan Fiction Master List
Beta: No time, did my best to proof read very carefully
Rating: All
Characters/Pairing: Rose, Ten, Rose/Ten
Genre: Action, Fluff, UST
Spoilers: None
Summary: Only a few kilometers left. She couldn't, she wouldn't be captured now.
Author's Notes: Written for the Celebrations challenge on Never Ever Will. Using prompt 6 photo 11. Sorry this was so last minute, rl and all that.
Disclaimer: The Doctor, Rose, The TARDIS and all other Doctor Who characters, settings and artifacts belong to the BBC or so I am told.
***
Only a few kilometers left. She couldn't, she wouldn't be captured now. Not when she'd made it so far and achieved so much; she clutched her precious burden to her chest, the reason she was hunted so doggedly. She could hear the sounds of her pursuers chasing her phantom down the wrong side street, the wrong alley. She was safe-for now.
Just as Rose let herself relax against the unyielding brick behind her-daring to take a moment to catch her her breath-strong arms encircled her from behind, grasping her in a tight hold. Her body instinctively convulsed as a hand clamped over her mouth, muffling her useless protests. It was a cool hand, a familiar hand. Rose would know that particular hand anywhere. The Doctor.
He'd somehow made it to their rendezvous point way ahead of schedule. That was just like him, scaring her half to death with his usual poor timing. Some Time Lord he was, late or early but never just right. Nevertheless Rose melted into his grip, his arms supporting her, letting her weary body fold against his. He was much comfier then the building behind them or the splinter-ridden wooden fence ahead. The Doctor cradled her gently as she surrendered momentarily to the sensation of being held in his arms. They were together again, now all they had to do was stick to the plan and everything would be fine. They could do this; they could do anything so long as they were together.
“You got it,” he said. “I knew you could do it!” She glanced up at him and felt a swelling of pride at his admiring tone and the fond, happy look in his eyes as he gazed back. Yes, they had both successful done their parts, she could never have gotten her prize without him organizing the distraction. With a heavy heart she wondered how many were captured during the operation. She pushed that thought aside, there would be time to think about that later.
“Ready for the last leg,” he asked, his breath a moist whisper against the whirls of her ear, puffed air from his lips more then sound. It sent a shiver down her spine despite the heat, despite the sweat beading down that same path.
“As I'll ever be,” she answered. In truth this little respite had refreshed her, the Doctor's presents and praise had energized her like nothing else could.
His arm snaked up from her hip to firmly clasp her hand, giving it a little shake to show their solidarity in this endeavor. Rose brought the appendages up and interlocked their fingers instead, she liked the greater surface area of skin to skin contact this configuration allowed, she liked the subtle play of muscles she could feel when his fingers were locked with hers like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
He smiled winningly at her, his hair standing up in dramatic disarray-rather fetchingly, she thought, even if she did have the strange compulsion to straighten it for him. She resisted the impulse, there was no time for that, so she simply smiled at him instead, hoping that he could discern her pleasure at being reunited with him, at the end of their trial being nearly within their grasp.
He ducked his head out of the alley, keeping her held back with pressure on their entwined hands; the coast must have been all clear because he pulled her out after him, sprinting across the pavement, the rubber soles of his red converse slapping rhythmically and lullingly in the hot, humid air. She followed behind like a somnambulist, struggling to keep her feet steady, to keep pace with the Doctor. She could do this; he was counting on her. They rounded a street-cart full of an apple-like fruit, slipping into a nearly concealed passage he had scoped out before.
It was lucky that the Doctor knew this alien city so well. 'Like the back of my new, new hand,' he'd said earlier when they'd been formulating their plans. He'd not had that hand long, less time then he'd even had the rest of his new body, so Rose hadn't been completely reassured, but now that he was leading her around the Byzantine maze of buildings, fences and occasional tunnels she was duly impressed by his mental map. She'd tell him so-and he would no doubt love to hear about it-if she weren't so out of breath from all the running. All day she'd been running. The heat, the constant stress of potential discovery and subsequent capture, and the never ending physical exertion were all taking their toll on Rose.
Without warning the Doctor thrust her flat against a wall, his body pressed hard against her back, making it difficult to breath-in more ways than one-and impossible to see the threat he so obviously had. It was alright though, she trusted him completely, she didn't need to see, in this instance he could be her eyes as he guided her to their goal. He fit the curves of her body like designer jeans, his breath panting against her neck, his lower body temperature cooling her heated flesh. She felt rather than saw him looking over the barrier they were pressed to.
“Almost there,” he panted out. She felt less bad about her own state of breathlessness; they'd run far if he was out of breath. “You still have it?” He asked, but he didn't sound worried, more like he was asking just so she would have to respond, just so he could hear her voice.
“Yes,” she answered, making an effort to keep her voice steady.
“Allons-y,” he said with a grin, tugging her after him once again.
They raced on. Under archways that momentarily blocked the intense light of the setting sun on the horizon, through perilously open courts and squares, across narrow bridges barely wide enough for a merchant's cart, on and on they ran. At last the Doctor swung her around a corner and she spotted their goal. The town center with it's magnificent mosaic fountain.
“Ha,” the Doctor cried out triumphantly. Rose longed to join him in his exuberant laughter as they put on one last sprint of speed, but it would have to wait until they really reached it, only then would they be safe. They neared the low base and leaped straight into the water, the glorious mist from the many arching water plumes cooling her overheated body, causing her red cotton vest to cling. The Doctor lifted her up by the waist, his hands near trembling in his excitement as she unfurled the red flag she'd kept pressed to her chest the whole way. With her own triumphant cry she stuck the flag's small pole into the allotted hole, letting it rise above the rest of the tiled fountain.
“We did it!” She near shouted in joy as the Doctor lowered her down, guiding her against his body but not letting her back to her own feet. She threw her arms around him, her weariness forgotten in light of their success. The Doctor returned her enthusiastic embrace, spinning them around in the fountain's falling water, soaking them both completely.
“We sure did, we've won this year's Battle for Kriton! Quite magnificently if I do say so myself.” The Doctor beamed at her before turning out to face the gathering crowd and lowering her to stand on her own two feet. The citizens of Kriton were spilling into the square to congratulate the winning team, tossing flower petals and confetti into the air. Rose could see their fellow red-team members racing in and jumping into the fountain along with them, embracing each other and chanting, “we've won, we've won!” The defeated blue-team seemed to be taking it well, she could see many of them clapping and cheering with everyone else, even if some were giving each other dejected pats on the back.
“The game of capture the flag is meant to simulate the final conflict in the revolution that liberated the city,” the Doctor explained to her unnecessarily. She'd heard the whole story from their teammates earlier. “I may have had something to do with it all going so well,” he finished, smiling at her again.
“Oh you, you think you're so impressive,” she teased, giving him a tongue touched smile, showing all her teeth.
“Rose, I don't think, I know,” he answered, with the air of someone indulging a small child.
Rose looked at him menacingly. He backed away with a nervous look around. Too late though as she hip checked him. He overbalanced on the slick tiles and went down with a loud splash. He came up spluttering as she laughed, the crowd joining in at the spectacle. Rose hopped out of the fountain, walking as gracefully as she could in her sodden clothing. There was still lots to do and see at Kriton's Independence Day festival, Rose was quite looking forward to the fireworks, set to begin just after sundown.
“Roooose!” The Doctor's whine followed her to the refreshment stand, she just smiled, her back still to him, and waited for him to catch up.
