Amber_and_ash: Necessary Deaths (Ten/Jack) [PG]
Title: Necessary Deaths
Author: Amber and Ash
Challenge: Life and Death
Rating: PG
Spoilers/warnings: none
Summary: The Doctor's and Jack's philosophies aren't quite what they let everyone believe.
Necessary Deaths
This was the week that history would later decide was the beginning of the Heartsbane Revolution.
-
The more dismissive of the Time Lords were fond of a particular term for the lesser species - the Massing Pre-Dead. It had nothing to do with their inability to regenerate. It was a reflection of the fact that when working with time travel, the difference between life and death was a matter of coordinates, not concern.
The Doctor was a rebel, different, involved, but still by training a Time Lord. His utter disgust for violence was usually enough that his companions never noticed this particular alien outlook, but every now and again one would glimpse his fundamental indifference to the exact timing of an inevitable death and be appalled. He loved them, and therefore he tried to be a person they'd respect, even if their expectations didn't always make any sense. What was that quote - "Why should I care? Millions of people die every day and you don't care."
-
The Time Agency believed in the sanctity of the timeline. Any single new life or single new death could cause the end of the human race. The only permissible changes were those to return history to its proper script. Lives were just very fragile props, serving their appropriate purpose by living or dying at the appropriate times. Given the typical goals of those who decided to meddle in time, it was inevitable that they spent more time ensuring deaths than saving lives, but they knew their duty. There was 'us' - the people who worked on the problem, 'them' - the bystanders who were to be kept away from the problem, and then there was 'it' - the problem.
Jack was a rebel, different, involved, but still by training a Time Agent. His devotion to his team and to his duty was usually enough that they never noticed, but every now and again one would realise that he it didn't make a difference to him if the 'problem' was an innocent and be appalled. He loved them, and therefore he tried to be a person they'd respect, even if their expectations didn't always make any sense. What made the life of a person you happen to have met more valuable than the lives of thousands you hadn't?
-
This was the week that history would later decide was the beginning of the Heartsbane Revolution.
Only a relative handful would die in the decades of violence; many, many more would die in the centuries of disease and deprivation. It would be generations until Earth finally remembered its humanity again, barely in time to salvage themselves and their reputation as a sentient species.
The Doctor and Jack weren't given to philosophical discussions, but they understood each other to a degree that neither was fully comfortable with. So Jack wasn't surprised when the Doctor stopped off to mention he wouldn't be visiting Earth for a while, and the Doctor wasn't surprised when Jack dissolved Torchwood and came with him. They both took a long lingering look before they closed the door, but neither spoke a word to warn anyone.
Because this was the week that history would later decide was the beginning of the Heartsbane Revolution.
Author: Amber and Ash
Challenge: Life and Death
Rating: PG
Spoilers/warnings: none
Summary: The Doctor's and Jack's philosophies aren't quite what they let everyone believe.
Necessary Deaths
This was the week that history would later decide was the beginning of the Heartsbane Revolution.
-
The more dismissive of the Time Lords were fond of a particular term for the lesser species - the Massing Pre-Dead. It had nothing to do with their inability to regenerate. It was a reflection of the fact that when working with time travel, the difference between life and death was a matter of coordinates, not concern.
The Doctor was a rebel, different, involved, but still by training a Time Lord. His utter disgust for violence was usually enough that his companions never noticed this particular alien outlook, but every now and again one would glimpse his fundamental indifference to the exact timing of an inevitable death and be appalled. He loved them, and therefore he tried to be a person they'd respect, even if their expectations didn't always make any sense. What was that quote - "Why should I care? Millions of people die every day and you don't care."
-
The Time Agency believed in the sanctity of the timeline. Any single new life or single new death could cause the end of the human race. The only permissible changes were those to return history to its proper script. Lives were just very fragile props, serving their appropriate purpose by living or dying at the appropriate times. Given the typical goals of those who decided to meddle in time, it was inevitable that they spent more time ensuring deaths than saving lives, but they knew their duty. There was 'us' - the people who worked on the problem, 'them' - the bystanders who were to be kept away from the problem, and then there was 'it' - the problem.
Jack was a rebel, different, involved, but still by training a Time Agent. His devotion to his team and to his duty was usually enough that they never noticed, but every now and again one would realise that he it didn't make a difference to him if the 'problem' was an innocent and be appalled. He loved them, and therefore he tried to be a person they'd respect, even if their expectations didn't always make any sense. What made the life of a person you happen to have met more valuable than the lives of thousands you hadn't?
-
This was the week that history would later decide was the beginning of the Heartsbane Revolution.
Only a relative handful would die in the decades of violence; many, many more would die in the centuries of disease and deprivation. It would be generations until Earth finally remembered its humanity again, barely in time to salvage themselves and their reputation as a sentient species.
The Doctor and Jack weren't given to philosophical discussions, but they understood each other to a degree that neither was fully comfortable with. So Jack wasn't surprised when the Doctor stopped off to mention he wouldn't be visiting Earth for a while, and the Doctor wasn't surprised when Jack dissolved Torchwood and came with him. They both took a long lingering look before they closed the door, but neither spoke a word to warn anyone.
Because this was the week that history would later decide was the beginning of the Heartsbane Revolution.