Fic: A Way Back (1/4)
Title: A Way Back
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing: Ninth Doctor/Rose
AU from end of Parting of the Way through The Christmas Invasion.
The Doctor doesn't regenerate after taking the time vortex from Rose. It doesn't mean he okay though, far from it.
Hurt/comfort and eventual Ninth Doctor/Rose
He was burning. Every cell, every nerve ending, every synapse felt as if it were on fire as the conflagration of Time Vortex energy, regeneration energy and his body’s own desire to repair itself fought for control.
Stumbling away from Rose, the Doctor doubled over, barely successful in stifling a cry as he did so. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to breathe, desperate to spare her the knowledge of the depth of pain he found himself in.
It would only be few more seconds, a minute at most, he told himself, and then it would all be over and he’d have to get used to being somebody else. He’d had difficult regenerations before, but most of those had been in the minutes or hours after the change. He couldn’t remember any being so uniquely painful or drawn out in the time preceding the regeneration. Not that coherent thought or analysis of the situation was particularly possible at that moment.
The regeneration energy flared as he knew it would, bright, brilliant and agonising in its intensity. Resigned to what was about to happen to him he didn’t fight it as it drove him to his knees. Then at the last moment, as he was all but engulfed by it, the impossible happened: it started to falter, the energy sparking and shorting along raw nerves, flickering erratically like a guttering candle, until finally it was snuffed out.
An agonised cry escaped him as the realisation of what had happened overwhelmed him. The regeneration had failed. He was going to die. Perhaps the damage from the vortex energy had been too great or maybe without Gallifrey, without the rest of his kind, regeneration was no longer possible, he didn’t know. How could anyone know? Whatever the answer was it was bitterly unfair.
A harsh, wracking sob shook him. He didn’t want to die. He wasn’t ready, not now, not like this. Not with Rose watching him with wide, terrified eyes. Yet he had no energy left to fight against it and he felt himself start to topple forwards.
Ignoring what he had told her earlier about keeping her distance, Rose ran in front of him, catching him before he fell and letting him slump forward against her.
“’M sorry,” he slurred. Clinging to her, he tried and failed to ride out another wave of pain in silence.
“Doctor?” Rose looked at him her eyes filled with tears. “What’s happening? What’s wrong?”
It broke his hearts to look at her and he turned his face against her shoulder. At least he could spare her the sight of his own tears, it was all that was left that he could do for her. “Dying, I’m s-“ He stopped choking on emotions that were as strong as the pain itself.
“You’re not dying. You're not.” It was as much a sob as it was an order, but there was fierce determination behind it was as strong as the time vortex itself. “I’m not gonna let you. Now get up.”
It seemed an impossible request, but somehow with Rose’s support the Doctor found himself on his feet once more. Breathing hurt, the air he needed seeming to scour his lungs like ground glass, but for her he’d try to keep breathing. Rose had a plan. She’d already saved him in more ways than she could ever know. He trusted her, had to trust her, he had nobody else. So when she told him to walk, somehow he found the energy to force himself to keep moving.
“In here,” she said, halting outside a door.
Through a growing haze, he recognised the zero room. He wanted to tell her that it had never been meant for this, that it held almost no hope of success, that even if she knew how to activate any of it, the chances were it was too late, but the words wouldn’t come. None would. He was vaguely aware that his temperature had been steadily climbingn from a perfectly normal Gallifreyan 15C to a delirium inducing 41C. Even with his species’ ability to withstand substantial ranges of body temperature this was reaching the upper limits of what could be withstood for more than a few minute without serious consequences.
A muscle twitched in his neck, then his whole body seemed to seize, pitching him forwards out of Rose’s grasp and onto the floor. He was barely conscious as his arms and legs spasmed, pain and fever spiking higher and higher until it engulfed him, toppling him over the edge into oblivion.
Notes:
The Zero room is borrowed from Classic Who and from the 8th Doctor novels. While the normal Gallifreyan body temperature is from an 8th Doctor audio adventure. They are not outright contradicted in New!Who and they work for this story so I have chosen to use them.
TBC
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing: Ninth Doctor/Rose
AU from end of Parting of the Way through The Christmas Invasion.
The Doctor doesn't regenerate after taking the time vortex from Rose. It doesn't mean he okay though, far from it.
Hurt/comfort and eventual Ninth Doctor/Rose
He was burning. Every cell, every nerve ending, every synapse felt as if it were on fire as the conflagration of Time Vortex energy, regeneration energy and his body’s own desire to repair itself fought for control.
Stumbling away from Rose, the Doctor doubled over, barely successful in stifling a cry as he did so. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to breathe, desperate to spare her the knowledge of the depth of pain he found himself in.
It would only be few more seconds, a minute at most, he told himself, and then it would all be over and he’d have to get used to being somebody else. He’d had difficult regenerations before, but most of those had been in the minutes or hours after the change. He couldn’t remember any being so uniquely painful or drawn out in the time preceding the regeneration. Not that coherent thought or analysis of the situation was particularly possible at that moment.
The regeneration energy flared as he knew it would, bright, brilliant and agonising in its intensity. Resigned to what was about to happen to him he didn’t fight it as it drove him to his knees. Then at the last moment, as he was all but engulfed by it, the impossible happened: it started to falter, the energy sparking and shorting along raw nerves, flickering erratically like a guttering candle, until finally it was snuffed out.
An agonised cry escaped him as the realisation of what had happened overwhelmed him. The regeneration had failed. He was going to die. Perhaps the damage from the vortex energy had been too great or maybe without Gallifrey, without the rest of his kind, regeneration was no longer possible, he didn’t know. How could anyone know? Whatever the answer was it was bitterly unfair.
A harsh, wracking sob shook him. He didn’t want to die. He wasn’t ready, not now, not like this. Not with Rose watching him with wide, terrified eyes. Yet he had no energy left to fight against it and he felt himself start to topple forwards.
Ignoring what he had told her earlier about keeping her distance, Rose ran in front of him, catching him before he fell and letting him slump forward against her.
“’M sorry,” he slurred. Clinging to her, he tried and failed to ride out another wave of pain in silence.
“Doctor?” Rose looked at him her eyes filled with tears. “What’s happening? What’s wrong?”
It broke his hearts to look at her and he turned his face against her shoulder. At least he could spare her the sight of his own tears, it was all that was left that he could do for her. “Dying, I’m s-“ He stopped choking on emotions that were as strong as the pain itself.
“You’re not dying. You're not.” It was as much a sob as it was an order, but there was fierce determination behind it was as strong as the time vortex itself. “I’m not gonna let you. Now get up.”
It seemed an impossible request, but somehow with Rose’s support the Doctor found himself on his feet once more. Breathing hurt, the air he needed seeming to scour his lungs like ground glass, but for her he’d try to keep breathing. Rose had a plan. She’d already saved him in more ways than she could ever know. He trusted her, had to trust her, he had nobody else. So when she told him to walk, somehow he found the energy to force himself to keep moving.
“In here,” she said, halting outside a door.
Through a growing haze, he recognised the zero room. He wanted to tell her that it had never been meant for this, that it held almost no hope of success, that even if she knew how to activate any of it, the chances were it was too late, but the words wouldn’t come. None would. He was vaguely aware that his temperature had been steadily climbingn from a perfectly normal Gallifreyan 15C to a delirium inducing 41C. Even with his species’ ability to withstand substantial ranges of body temperature this was reaching the upper limits of what could be withstood for more than a few minute without serious consequences.
A muscle twitched in his neck, then his whole body seemed to seize, pitching him forwards out of Rose’s grasp and onto the floor. He was barely conscious as his arms and legs spasmed, pain and fever spiking higher and higher until it engulfed him, toppling him over the edge into oblivion.
Notes:
The Zero room is borrowed from Classic Who and from the 8th Doctor novels. While the normal Gallifreyan body temperature is from an 8th Doctor audio adventure. They are not outright contradicted in New!Who and they work for this story so I have chosen to use them.
TBC