Alternatively - 4/?
I had thought that my plan was foolproof. I had thought that the alternate Doctor would just drop her off back home and go on with his life. I had thought...
Well. I never did truly understand mortals.
I hadn't taken into account how much the Doctor needed Rose just to maintain his sanity. Oh, I knew he shattered the moment she wasn't by his side, but I thought that that was just because he loved her.
No, it runs more deeply than that, so deeply that even I hadn't fully appreciated the nuances of his adoration. Even in the alternate Doctor. He needs her like he needs to breathe. Always has, although none of his selves would admit it, and he always will. The poor alternate Doctor had never met Rose; she had never existed. I thought that this would assist my plan; the more his wounds festered untreated, the more he would want to be left alone. But he's clever enough to know the cure for his pain when he sees it- or her, rather.
And he was hurting enough to be selfish, to want to keep her all for himself. I suppose I don't blame him, really. He's clever- too clever, sometimes. And this Doctor has more common sense than the one Rose and I know and love. He knew the moment he talked to her for the first time that there was something in this girl that could save him.
Have you ever lost everything you ever thought you had? Was it then destroyed with no hope of return?
Multiply that by a million. Try having its destruction be your fault, and then living with it, all on your own, for centuries.
And then try having to be responsible for the death of one species and the decimation of another, all in one second- again.
Now. Imagine that you've found someone who can help you, heal you.
Would you not take the opportunity for painlessness no matter the cost?
This is the detail I overlooked; that Doctor had undergone too much pain, with nothing to stop it from destroying him, and it had driven him nearly mad.
This is where my plan went wrong.
This is where I was forced to watch, helpless- me, helpless!- as the alternate Doctor refused to let Rose go, and be powerless to stop him.
This is where promises break and lies take their place.
This is where sanity flees and madness flourishes.
This is the point of no return.
This is where I lost control.
-BAD WOLF-
Rose hadn't had such a boring walk in a very long time. She'd been taken prisoner before, yes, but never in a ship this big, and never this far from where she was being transported.
She had never really been looked at and recognised as anything particularly interesting or useful, either. Maybe this was normal for the Doctor when he was captured.
She wondered how he could stand it. Gallifreyan or no, he had to get tired sometime, and "sometime" for her had passed a very long time ago.
If she was running, the adrenaline would have kept her from noticing the little aches and complaints of her legs and feet, but this was just... Frightening, yes, in a way. Frightening because she had no idea what to do once the Racnoss saw through the not-quite-Doctor's lies. Make it up as she went along, she supposed, but that assumption hardly helped. Months with Torchwood, where almost everything was very carefully planned in advance, had ruined her. And yet this mild worry was nowhere near enough to properly scare her.
Maybe a few years ago. Maybe the innocent shop-girl who had never known excitement or the pain which went hand-in-hand with it would have been frightened. But people changed- those connected with the Doctor most of all-and she wasn't that person any more.
She winced and stumbled as pain shot through her foot and the not-quite-Doctor pulled slightly at her hand to help her regain her balance.
He had been holding her hand for at least half an hour now, and she still wasn't sure how she felt about it. If she didn't think about it, she could pretend that it was her Doctor's and be comforted, even if her heart raced at even such a harmless contact. If she did think about it, her head spun and her heart raced from fear. What if she became attached to this Doctor in this one adventure- she of all people should know that it could very easily happen-and he just dropped her back on this Earth? What would that do to her? But he had taken her hand... He had to at least pity her, then. So... What if it was more than that? What if he asked her to come with him? What would she say? What would it do to her if she said yes? Would it drive her mad, having the Doctor so close and yet still so very far away? What if this Doctor wasn't the same as her Doctor and she went with him? The rest of this universe was cruel. Was its Doctor the same, or was he the one respite from the harshness? What if...
She decided to just not think about it.
The not-quite-Doctor squeezed her hand briefly, as if sensing her inner turmoil, before letting go of it as the passage finally opened up and light prevented the gesture from going unnoticed by the Racnoss- although why the spider-like creatures would care, Rose had no idea.
Speaking of the Racnoss, Rose could see why they hadn't seen any on their way here. The massive red-and-black arachnids were all over the room. "Room" didn't quite do it justice, though; it was more like a tower, several storeys high, with webs creating ladders and pathways of sorts across the open space. On every pathway, there was at least one Racnoss. One of the hastily built spans of web creaked ominously under the weight of three of the creatures and Rose glanced up nervously, but one of the arachnoids stepped off and the webbing stopped its noise.
"Nice place," said the not-quite-Doctor flippantly, running his fingers through his hair to keep it from his face in a painfully familiar gesture.
Several of the Racnoss turned to face them at his speech, and the Doctor paused, looking almost nervous for a moment.
"Who are these people?" demanded one of the creatures, larger than the rest, as she laboriously turned her massive body around to face them.
"They escaped the cage, Empress," said one of their Racnoss. "This one says he can fix our transmat."
"Hello," said the not-quite-Doctor cheerfully.
"The transmat is broken?" hissed the Empress.
"They witnessed an error."
"Explain," said the Empress, turning her black eyes on the not-quite-Doctor.
"Ah, yes. See, your transmat didn't wait until we were out of the way before trying to shove other people in on top. Should be easy to fix, for humans. Dunno how it got that way, though, unless this is a battleship. Is this a battleship? You wouldn't happen to have been in a fight recently, would you?"
His eyes had hardened, and Rose could sense the hatred behind them.
So this Doctor was as cruel as his universe.
Rose thought she would scream at the sheer unfairness of it all. Maybe later, when she was alone in the bedroom she still couldn't bring herself to call hers, she could bury her head in the pillow and do it then.
It wouldn't be the first time.
"Stuff gets knocked around in space battles," he added quietly. "Things break. You never really know what might happen."
The Empress glared at him. "And what is the other human here for?"
"I need her," said the not-Doctor.
Those same words would have completely enchanted her... if they had come from the Doctor.
The Empress hissed. "Very well," she said before pointing a leg in the direction of a mass of wires and controls which looked like some kid's science project.
The not-Doctor grinned his thanks and wandered over to it, squinting momentarily at it before sitting down beside it. Rose crouched next to him, close enough to whisper but not too close.
"She just bought it? Like that?"
"Time Lord mind trick. Like the Jedi mind trick, only more subtle." He took a handful of wires and winced at them. "Here, hold these. Untangle them if you can."
She obeyed, narrowing her eyes at the mess before trying to isolate the wires into some semblance of neatness. She wondered for a moment if this Doctor had a neat streak or whether he was just trying to make her look useful so she wouldn't get eaten.
She wondered if she cared, and realised she didn't.
"There's nothing wrong with the transmat, is there?" she murmured under her breath as a Racnoss passed by, hissing at them before moving on to a more reassuring distance.
The not-quite-Doctor glanced up at her. "No."
"Aren't they going to figure it out soon?"
"Probably," he said, blowing dust off of a receptacle of some kind.
"Right. So how are we going to get out once they find out you lied?" She paused. "Why are we here anyway? Why'd you use the transmat as an excuse to get them not to eat us?"
"One, it was handy. Two, I wanted to stop it from working so that they won't take anyone else. Three, if I am very very clever-"
"And you're brilliant," she said automatically.
He grinned momentarily. "Exactly. And if I can figure out how to reverse it, that'll send everyone back."
"Does that include us?"
The not-quite-Doctor frowned at the no-longer-dusty receptacle before using the screwdriver on it briefly. "Maybe. Hope so."
"What about the Racnoss?"
He glanced up at her. "What do you mean? What about them?" He took one of the wires from her, very effectively tangling the entire bunch again.
"Will they get caught in the transmat too?"
"Nah. Well, they would normally, but I can change that." He handed her the receptacle and used the screwdriver on the wire he had just inserted into it.
It sparked momentarily and Rose flinched, glancing up nervously, but the Racnoss hadn't seen it.
All was silent for a time apart from the clicks of the arachnoids' legs on rock-solid webs, the creaks of the hastily woven pathways and the buzz of the screwdriver.
"By the way," said the not-quite-Doctor without warning, "I've no idea how we get out of here."
"The transmat doesn't cover us?"
"Nope." He turned the receptacle over in his hands and took another wire from her.
Rose nodded slowly before pulling out her mobile, unconsciously slipping her tongue between her lips as she selected the correct number and dialled.
Yvonne answered. "Rose, at last! You've been missing for weeks. What happened?"
Rose winced as a Racnoss came a little too close for comfort. "Yeah, can't explain right now," she murmured. Yvonne could probably only just hear her, but she'd rather be misheard than found out at this point. "Can you see me, or locate me, or find the phone or something?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Well..." She paused. "A friend of mine and I are currently trapped on a spaceship with a bunch of spiders who are really loving the idea of eating us as soon as we fix their transmat which isn't actually broken, so when he manages to send everyone back could you teleport us down?"
"Depends what species your friend is."
"He looks like us. Same size, shape, everything."
Yvonne paused. "I can try to get you both. Is he safe? Does he know about Torchwood?"
Rose barely smirked. "You could say that, yeah."
Yvonne's voice became muffled. "Matt, locate Rose's phone. We need to lock on to her with a teleport and get her down here when she says so. She's got a friend with her, looks human but apparently isn't." A pause. "I know. Can you just try?" Another pause. "All right. Rose, we're getting there," she said, her voice clear now.
Without warning, the Doctor grinned. "Oh, brilliant," he murmured, taking the receptacle back from her, turning it over and flipping a switch. Power hummed throughout the spaceship suddenly, then died down.
"Did you do it?" inquired Rose breathlessly.
"What?" asked Yvonne. "What's happening?"
A Racnoss clicked. "Empress, the prisoners are gone!"
The Empress turned to the Doctor. "He tricked us!" she shrieked, clicking slowly towards them.
"Ah, now," said the Doctor, getting up and backing away from the creatures.
Rose mimicked his movements, unconsciously inching closer to him. "Yvonne, now would be a really good time..."
"It would help if you'd stop moving," she said crossly.
"Yeah, well, I'm being stalked by giant spiders right now, so..."
"Now, um," said the Doctor. "You really can't kill us now. I mean, really..."
"You tricked us!" hissed the Empress, reaching out to them, her clawlike forearms glinting evilly in the light. Rose absently wondered if she had gotten bigger, and why the light suddenly didn't seem quite as bright as it did before.
The Doctor opened his mouth, then paused. "Yeah, you've got me there," he acceded. "Rose, when's Torchwood coming to get us?" he inquired, his voice oddly tight.
"Soon, I hope," she replied shortly, flinching as the Racnoss advanced, their bulk making them thankfully slow. The Empress was near enough to catch them, her claws raised for the blows, while the other Racnoss hemmed them in, pinning them between the transmat system and the wall of arachnoid.
"Well," said the Doctor, "it was nice meeting you, Rose."
She gave a mirthless laugh. "Nice meeting you again, Doctor."
"Almost there," said Yvonne.
"Too late," muttered Rose quietly. She looked at the talons and wondered if her death would be painless.
She supposed she wouldn't care once she was dead.
She grabbed the Doctor's hand and closed her eyes as the Empress came down, claw-first.
Searing pain tore through every cell and she couldn't even scream as the world faded to black around them.
Well. I never did truly understand mortals.
I hadn't taken into account how much the Doctor needed Rose just to maintain his sanity. Oh, I knew he shattered the moment she wasn't by his side, but I thought that that was just because he loved her.
No, it runs more deeply than that, so deeply that even I hadn't fully appreciated the nuances of his adoration. Even in the alternate Doctor. He needs her like he needs to breathe. Always has, although none of his selves would admit it, and he always will. The poor alternate Doctor had never met Rose; she had never existed. I thought that this would assist my plan; the more his wounds festered untreated, the more he would want to be left alone. But he's clever enough to know the cure for his pain when he sees it- or her, rather.
And he was hurting enough to be selfish, to want to keep her all for himself. I suppose I don't blame him, really. He's clever- too clever, sometimes. And this Doctor has more common sense than the one Rose and I know and love. He knew the moment he talked to her for the first time that there was something in this girl that could save him.
Have you ever lost everything you ever thought you had? Was it then destroyed with no hope of return?
Multiply that by a million. Try having its destruction be your fault, and then living with it, all on your own, for centuries.
And then try having to be responsible for the death of one species and the decimation of another, all in one second- again.
Now. Imagine that you've found someone who can help you, heal you.
Would you not take the opportunity for painlessness no matter the cost?
This is the detail I overlooked; that Doctor had undergone too much pain, with nothing to stop it from destroying him, and it had driven him nearly mad.
This is where my plan went wrong.
This is where I was forced to watch, helpless- me, helpless!- as the alternate Doctor refused to let Rose go, and be powerless to stop him.
This is where promises break and lies take their place.
This is where sanity flees and madness flourishes.
This is the point of no return.
This is where I lost control.
-BAD WOLF-
Rose hadn't had such a boring walk in a very long time. She'd been taken prisoner before, yes, but never in a ship this big, and never this far from where she was being transported.
She had never really been looked at and recognised as anything particularly interesting or useful, either. Maybe this was normal for the Doctor when he was captured.
She wondered how he could stand it. Gallifreyan or no, he had to get tired sometime, and "sometime" for her had passed a very long time ago.
If she was running, the adrenaline would have kept her from noticing the little aches and complaints of her legs and feet, but this was just... Frightening, yes, in a way. Frightening because she had no idea what to do once the Racnoss saw through the not-quite-Doctor's lies. Make it up as she went along, she supposed, but that assumption hardly helped. Months with Torchwood, where almost everything was very carefully planned in advance, had ruined her. And yet this mild worry was nowhere near enough to properly scare her.
Maybe a few years ago. Maybe the innocent shop-girl who had never known excitement or the pain which went hand-in-hand with it would have been frightened. But people changed- those connected with the Doctor most of all-and she wasn't that person any more.
She winced and stumbled as pain shot through her foot and the not-quite-Doctor pulled slightly at her hand to help her regain her balance.
He had been holding her hand for at least half an hour now, and she still wasn't sure how she felt about it. If she didn't think about it, she could pretend that it was her Doctor's and be comforted, even if her heart raced at even such a harmless contact. If she did think about it, her head spun and her heart raced from fear. What if she became attached to this Doctor in this one adventure- she of all people should know that it could very easily happen-and he just dropped her back on this Earth? What would that do to her? But he had taken her hand... He had to at least pity her, then. So... What if it was more than that? What if he asked her to come with him? What would she say? What would it do to her if she said yes? Would it drive her mad, having the Doctor so close and yet still so very far away? What if this Doctor wasn't the same as her Doctor and she went with him? The rest of this universe was cruel. Was its Doctor the same, or was he the one respite from the harshness? What if...
She decided to just not think about it.
The not-quite-Doctor squeezed her hand briefly, as if sensing her inner turmoil, before letting go of it as the passage finally opened up and light prevented the gesture from going unnoticed by the Racnoss- although why the spider-like creatures would care, Rose had no idea.
Speaking of the Racnoss, Rose could see why they hadn't seen any on their way here. The massive red-and-black arachnids were all over the room. "Room" didn't quite do it justice, though; it was more like a tower, several storeys high, with webs creating ladders and pathways of sorts across the open space. On every pathway, there was at least one Racnoss. One of the hastily built spans of web creaked ominously under the weight of three of the creatures and Rose glanced up nervously, but one of the arachnoids stepped off and the webbing stopped its noise.
"Nice place," said the not-quite-Doctor flippantly, running his fingers through his hair to keep it from his face in a painfully familiar gesture.
Several of the Racnoss turned to face them at his speech, and the Doctor paused, looking almost nervous for a moment.
"Who are these people?" demanded one of the creatures, larger than the rest, as she laboriously turned her massive body around to face them.
"They escaped the cage, Empress," said one of their Racnoss. "This one says he can fix our transmat."
"Hello," said the not-quite-Doctor cheerfully.
"The transmat is broken?" hissed the Empress.
"They witnessed an error."
"Explain," said the Empress, turning her black eyes on the not-quite-Doctor.
"Ah, yes. See, your transmat didn't wait until we were out of the way before trying to shove other people in on top. Should be easy to fix, for humans. Dunno how it got that way, though, unless this is a battleship. Is this a battleship? You wouldn't happen to have been in a fight recently, would you?"
His eyes had hardened, and Rose could sense the hatred behind them.
So this Doctor was as cruel as his universe.
Rose thought she would scream at the sheer unfairness of it all. Maybe later, when she was alone in the bedroom she still couldn't bring herself to call hers, she could bury her head in the pillow and do it then.
It wouldn't be the first time.
"Stuff gets knocked around in space battles," he added quietly. "Things break. You never really know what might happen."
The Empress glared at him. "And what is the other human here for?"
"I need her," said the not-Doctor.
Those same words would have completely enchanted her... if they had come from the Doctor.
The Empress hissed. "Very well," she said before pointing a leg in the direction of a mass of wires and controls which looked like some kid's science project.
The not-Doctor grinned his thanks and wandered over to it, squinting momentarily at it before sitting down beside it. Rose crouched next to him, close enough to whisper but not too close.
"She just bought it? Like that?"
"Time Lord mind trick. Like the Jedi mind trick, only more subtle." He took a handful of wires and winced at them. "Here, hold these. Untangle them if you can."
She obeyed, narrowing her eyes at the mess before trying to isolate the wires into some semblance of neatness. She wondered for a moment if this Doctor had a neat streak or whether he was just trying to make her look useful so she wouldn't get eaten.
She wondered if she cared, and realised she didn't.
"There's nothing wrong with the transmat, is there?" she murmured under her breath as a Racnoss passed by, hissing at them before moving on to a more reassuring distance.
The not-quite-Doctor glanced up at her. "No."
"Aren't they going to figure it out soon?"
"Probably," he said, blowing dust off of a receptacle of some kind.
"Right. So how are we going to get out once they find out you lied?" She paused. "Why are we here anyway? Why'd you use the transmat as an excuse to get them not to eat us?"
"One, it was handy. Two, I wanted to stop it from working so that they won't take anyone else. Three, if I am very very clever-"
"And you're brilliant," she said automatically.
He grinned momentarily. "Exactly. And if I can figure out how to reverse it, that'll send everyone back."
"Does that include us?"
The not-quite-Doctor frowned at the no-longer-dusty receptacle before using the screwdriver on it briefly. "Maybe. Hope so."
"What about the Racnoss?"
He glanced up at her. "What do you mean? What about them?" He took one of the wires from her, very effectively tangling the entire bunch again.
"Will they get caught in the transmat too?"
"Nah. Well, they would normally, but I can change that." He handed her the receptacle and used the screwdriver on the wire he had just inserted into it.
It sparked momentarily and Rose flinched, glancing up nervously, but the Racnoss hadn't seen it.
All was silent for a time apart from the clicks of the arachnoids' legs on rock-solid webs, the creaks of the hastily woven pathways and the buzz of the screwdriver.
"By the way," said the not-quite-Doctor without warning, "I've no idea how we get out of here."
"The transmat doesn't cover us?"
"Nope." He turned the receptacle over in his hands and took another wire from her.
Rose nodded slowly before pulling out her mobile, unconsciously slipping her tongue between her lips as she selected the correct number and dialled.
Yvonne answered. "Rose, at last! You've been missing for weeks. What happened?"
Rose winced as a Racnoss came a little too close for comfort. "Yeah, can't explain right now," she murmured. Yvonne could probably only just hear her, but she'd rather be misheard than found out at this point. "Can you see me, or locate me, or find the phone or something?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Well..." She paused. "A friend of mine and I are currently trapped on a spaceship with a bunch of spiders who are really loving the idea of eating us as soon as we fix their transmat which isn't actually broken, so when he manages to send everyone back could you teleport us down?"
"Depends what species your friend is."
"He looks like us. Same size, shape, everything."
Yvonne paused. "I can try to get you both. Is he safe? Does he know about Torchwood?"
Rose barely smirked. "You could say that, yeah."
Yvonne's voice became muffled. "Matt, locate Rose's phone. We need to lock on to her with a teleport and get her down here when she says so. She's got a friend with her, looks human but apparently isn't." A pause. "I know. Can you just try?" Another pause. "All right. Rose, we're getting there," she said, her voice clear now.
Without warning, the Doctor grinned. "Oh, brilliant," he murmured, taking the receptacle back from her, turning it over and flipping a switch. Power hummed throughout the spaceship suddenly, then died down.
"Did you do it?" inquired Rose breathlessly.
"What?" asked Yvonne. "What's happening?"
A Racnoss clicked. "Empress, the prisoners are gone!"
The Empress turned to the Doctor. "He tricked us!" she shrieked, clicking slowly towards them.
"Ah, now," said the Doctor, getting up and backing away from the creatures.
Rose mimicked his movements, unconsciously inching closer to him. "Yvonne, now would be a really good time..."
"It would help if you'd stop moving," she said crossly.
"Yeah, well, I'm being stalked by giant spiders right now, so..."
"Now, um," said the Doctor. "You really can't kill us now. I mean, really..."
"You tricked us!" hissed the Empress, reaching out to them, her clawlike forearms glinting evilly in the light. Rose absently wondered if she had gotten bigger, and why the light suddenly didn't seem quite as bright as it did before.
The Doctor opened his mouth, then paused. "Yeah, you've got me there," he acceded. "Rose, when's Torchwood coming to get us?" he inquired, his voice oddly tight.
"Soon, I hope," she replied shortly, flinching as the Racnoss advanced, their bulk making them thankfully slow. The Empress was near enough to catch them, her claws raised for the blows, while the other Racnoss hemmed them in, pinning them between the transmat system and the wall of arachnoid.
"Well," said the Doctor, "it was nice meeting you, Rose."
She gave a mirthless laugh. "Nice meeting you again, Doctor."
"Almost there," said Yvonne.
"Too late," muttered Rose quietly. She looked at the talons and wondered if her death would be painless.
She supposed she wouldn't care once she was dead.
She grabbed the Doctor's hand and closed her eyes as the Empress came down, claw-first.
Searing pain tore through every cell and she couldn't even scream as the world faded to black around them.