on my own
On My Own, Nine/Rose, G
Rose wanders off. Again., 788
Rose’s breaths quickened despite her attempts to quell her rising panic. The narrow stairway seemed to shrink as she stood there. Her hands came up to push at the immobile walls on either side of her. To her right, the wall was white, slightly rough, unfeeling; the left: glass, slippery, opaque. She couldn’t get off this floor. She’d gone up the stairs and down and ended up exactly where she started. The door that had led her to this godforsaken empty place.
As she looked down at the landing below, she knew that once she turned that corner, she would be right back up at the top of the stairs. She couldn’t get her mind around it, but she’d walked the route enough times to know it was true.
She placed her hands on either side of her head, fingers gripping her hair as she tried to think of what to do. She knew she shouldn’t have left him to go exploring on her own. How many times had he told her? Part of her reared up in defense, knowing that she could and had handled things on her own many times in the past. It was just that this was not one of those times.
A growl of frustration escaped her gritted teeth as she threw her fists back to her sides. It seemed like it’d been hours since she’d gone through the innocuous white door in the middle of the Hidar shopping center. It’d only caught her attention due to being the only colorless thing amidst the rainbow-happy species. And it was only supposed to be for a moment but there’d been stairs and they’d led somewhere and she couldn’t help it! Wasn’t fulfilling her curiosity the main reason she was travelling with the Doctor? Well, maybe not the main reason but that wasn’t something she was going to get into just yet.
Willing herself to calm, she assessed her surroundings with a new eye. Though she’d walked the steps at least a hundred times now in both directions, she decided to do it once more, this time, carefully trailing her fingers on either wall, noting the contrast in the surfaces. No secret door opened, no trap door revealed itself, it seemed that there really was no escape.
She refused to get weepy. She’d been in plenty of hopeless situations before and she’d gotten out of them. A frown crept up on her. She’d wanted to handle this without having to rely on him but at this point, she’d be here until she was old and gray. Falling back on the one thing that had always come through she shouted at the top of her lungs, “Doctor!”
His name echoed off the empty walls until silence swallowed up the call. She let some minutes pass before acknowledging that he hadn’t heard her. The oppressiveness of the place weighed on her, making her hesitate to call out for him again. Wearily, she started walking down the steps again, letting her feet fall heavily, if only to hear something else besides her breathing.
Eventually she heard a double step, a slight echo of her own.
“Rose?” the faint voice cut through her daze. Stunned, she looked around, trying to figure out where the voice came from.
“Doctor?” she responded eagerly.
“Rose!”
Still her ears couldn’t locate where his voice was coming from. “Where are you?”
“I’m right above you…I think.” He paused. Rose could picture him pulling out his sonic screwdriver to gather more data. Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. He’d said he was above her but she’d finally thought she’d heard him from below and told him so.
“Yes. You would think that.” Rose tried not to flinch, knowing that his “You’re an ape” inflection only appeared when he was concerned or worried about her. “You’re in a perception drifter room. It’s a training space for the Hidar police. Proofs them up again psychic attack. Rose, you’re going to have to jump down to get up.”
“What?”
“Just jump down and you’ll come on up,” he repeated, as if what he’d just said wasn’t confusing.
“Doctor, this sounds even more crazy then usual.” She wasn’t keeping the annoyance out of her voice.
“Rose, the room’s meant to mess with your sense of direction. Just trust me, all right? Jump down to get up.” His tone had gentled, soothing her ruffled feathers.
Shrugging, she pictured herself jumping down to get up and leaped off the top landing-
-and landed in a pair of leather clad arms. Her hands clasped his elbows and she inhaled deeply before leaning back and meeting his concerned blue eyes.
She grinned, happy to see him. He grinned back and her world righted itself.
Author’s Note: Don’t usually write Nine/Rose so this was kind of fun. Not my best, but had to get something out. Feel like doing one more prompt so stay tuned.
Rose wanders off. Again., 788
Rose’s breaths quickened despite her attempts to quell her rising panic. The narrow stairway seemed to shrink as she stood there. Her hands came up to push at the immobile walls on either side of her. To her right, the wall was white, slightly rough, unfeeling; the left: glass, slippery, opaque. She couldn’t get off this floor. She’d gone up the stairs and down and ended up exactly where she started. The door that had led her to this godforsaken empty place.
As she looked down at the landing below, she knew that once she turned that corner, she would be right back up at the top of the stairs. She couldn’t get her mind around it, but she’d walked the route enough times to know it was true.
She placed her hands on either side of her head, fingers gripping her hair as she tried to think of what to do. She knew she shouldn’t have left him to go exploring on her own. How many times had he told her? Part of her reared up in defense, knowing that she could and had handled things on her own many times in the past. It was just that this was not one of those times.
A growl of frustration escaped her gritted teeth as she threw her fists back to her sides. It seemed like it’d been hours since she’d gone through the innocuous white door in the middle of the Hidar shopping center. It’d only caught her attention due to being the only colorless thing amidst the rainbow-happy species. And it was only supposed to be for a moment but there’d been stairs and they’d led somewhere and she couldn’t help it! Wasn’t fulfilling her curiosity the main reason she was travelling with the Doctor? Well, maybe not the main reason but that wasn’t something she was going to get into just yet.
Willing herself to calm, she assessed her surroundings with a new eye. Though she’d walked the steps at least a hundred times now in both directions, she decided to do it once more, this time, carefully trailing her fingers on either wall, noting the contrast in the surfaces. No secret door opened, no trap door revealed itself, it seemed that there really was no escape.
She refused to get weepy. She’d been in plenty of hopeless situations before and she’d gotten out of them. A frown crept up on her. She’d wanted to handle this without having to rely on him but at this point, she’d be here until she was old and gray. Falling back on the one thing that had always come through she shouted at the top of her lungs, “Doctor!”
His name echoed off the empty walls until silence swallowed up the call. She let some minutes pass before acknowledging that he hadn’t heard her. The oppressiveness of the place weighed on her, making her hesitate to call out for him again. Wearily, she started walking down the steps again, letting her feet fall heavily, if only to hear something else besides her breathing.
Eventually she heard a double step, a slight echo of her own.
“Rose?” the faint voice cut through her daze. Stunned, she looked around, trying to figure out where the voice came from.
“Doctor?” she responded eagerly.
“Rose!”
Still her ears couldn’t locate where his voice was coming from. “Where are you?”
“I’m right above you…I think.” He paused. Rose could picture him pulling out his sonic screwdriver to gather more data. Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. He’d said he was above her but she’d finally thought she’d heard him from below and told him so.
“Yes. You would think that.” Rose tried not to flinch, knowing that his “You’re an ape” inflection only appeared when he was concerned or worried about her. “You’re in a perception drifter room. It’s a training space for the Hidar police. Proofs them up again psychic attack. Rose, you’re going to have to jump down to get up.”
“What?”
“Just jump down and you’ll come on up,” he repeated, as if what he’d just said wasn’t confusing.
“Doctor, this sounds even more crazy then usual.” She wasn’t keeping the annoyance out of her voice.
“Rose, the room’s meant to mess with your sense of direction. Just trust me, all right? Jump down to get up.” His tone had gentled, soothing her ruffled feathers.
Shrugging, she pictured herself jumping down to get up and leaped off the top landing-
-and landed in a pair of leather clad arms. Her hands clasped his elbows and she inhaled deeply before leaning back and meeting his concerned blue eyes.
She grinned, happy to see him. He grinned back and her world righted itself.
Author’s Note: Don’t usually write Nine/Rose so this was kind of fun. Not my best, but had to get something out. Feel like doing one more prompt so stay tuned.