Fic: Reunited (12/15)
Title: Reunited (12/15)
Author: aibhinn
Pairings: Jack/Rose, Jack/Ten, Jack/Ten/Rose, Ten/Rose
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: Doctor Who through "Doomsday", Torchwood through "End of Days".
Summary: The Rift is much more active than it was, and has been disgorging aliens and out-of-time people at an alarming rate… including one person Jack never expected to see again.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Everything belongs to Auntie Beeb. I'm stuck here on the far side of the wrong continent, playing in her sandbox.
Betas: dark_aegis, wendymr, joely_jo, larielromeniel, and sensiblecat-all of whom are AWESOME.
Author's note: I've never actually been spelunking, so what I've got is research-based rather than my own experience. If I've got it wrong (or right), please let me know! :)
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI | Part XIII | Part XIV | Part XV
"Doctor, Rose and I can't die."
It was amazing how quickly the conference room cleared after Jack's revelation. It was almost as though an air-raid siren had gone off, Jack thought with amusement. Or worse; during both his stints in the Battle of Britain-or was that 'all three' now?-the sirens had become so commonplace that people had eventually stopped panicking over them and had moved more slowly, and in some cases, almost leisurely. There was nothing leisurely about the way Owen, Gwen and Tosh disappeared down the stairs, though they managed to make it look less like they were running away than Jack would have believed.
The Doctor still looked gobsmacked, though the shock was starting to fade into deep consideration. Jack waited for him to start in with the questions. As he'd expected, it didn't take long.
"This happened on the Game Station, didn't it?" The Doctor's tone almost made it more of a statement than a question. "When she saved me from the Daleks."
Jack nodded. "She saved us both. I was dead, Doctor. A Dalek had exterminated me, and I was dead. But somehow, I'm still here, more than a hundred years later, still looking exactly the same despite more deaths than I can count. Rose, too. She's eighty-six, did you know? Had a whole life in the other world. Two marriages. Both of us have worked for Torchwood for years, her there and me here. Yet we both still look just like we did when we left Kyoto."
"The Bad Wolf was stronger than she realised," the Doctor murmured. He got up and began pacing around the room. "All right," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "She can't die? You've seen it?"
"I've seen her heal right in front of my face, more than once," Jack said. He was trying hard not to remember the last time, when an accident had resulted in two of Rose's fingers nearly being cut off by a shattered pane of glass. Luckily, Rose had been able to pass the blood off as belonging to another injured person when the paramedics arrived. "And I believe her when she says she had injuries in the other universe that should have killed her, and didn't."
"Of course you do," the Doctor said absently, frowning as he paced. "So she brought you back to life and saved me when she opened the console and took the heart of the TARDIS into-"
He stopped, eyes wide, weight balanced forward on his toes. "Ohhhh," he said in sudden comprehension. "Oh, that's it!" He swung round to look at Jack. "Don't you see? 'The Heart she carries'-that's what the Wraith said. It's not Rose it's after. It wants the bits of the Time Vortex that are still inside her! And inside you, of course-that's what's keeping you alive-but more so in her, because she's the one who had it all running through her head."
"What about you?" Jack asked. "You took it from her and gave it back to the TARDIS."
"Yeah, and it killed me. New man, Jack. Every single cell. None of the Vortex remains in me. But you two…."
He trailed off again, and his expression shifted into what Jack could only describe as pure glee. "What?" Jack asked warily.
"If she's still got the Vortex inside her, the TARDIS has a way to fix on her. We don't have to go searching through cave systems for a way into the Shadows. We can go straight to her!"
Grinning madly, the Doctor bolted for the door. "Come on!" he yelled over his shoulder.
"Doctor, wait!" Jack swore at the closing door and ran after him.
The man was insanely fast-faster than he'd been when Jack had known him before. Longer legs, less body mass, Jack thought irrelevantly as he raced down the stairs. "Doctor!" he called, ignoring the looks the others were giving him.
The Doctor stopped and grinned at him again. "Don't worry, Jack. I wasn't going to leave you behind."
"That's not it." Jack slowed and stopped before him. "Just think for a minute. If the Wraith kidnapped Rose because she had a bit, just a bit, of the Vortex in her, what do you think it'll do if you bring in the TARDIS? Right into the Shadows, right into the Wraiths' home turf?"
The Doctor's face registered startled realisation, then shifted to resignation. "You're right," he said with a sigh, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck again. "We'll have to do it the hard way after all." He looked up at Tosh, Gwen, and Owen, who were rather unabashedly watching. "You lot," he called. "Fancy a bit of spelunking?"
***
Rose wasn't sure how long she'd been walking; distances were impossible to judge, and she didn't entirely trust her time-sense-through, she thought with a hint of amusement, given that it was the Vortex whose trail she was following, that was a bit ironic. Perhaps time didn't run normally in this place.
A black, smoky figure erupted from the ground directly in front of her with no more warning than it had done up in the Plass. She leapt backward with a startled yelp.
You seek to leave, Child of Time?
Its red eyes burned into her, but she refused to quail before it. She gathered herself, cocked her hip, folded her arms, and said simply, "Yeah. Don't much like being kidnapped."
The Wraith's mind-voice was amused. Do you believe you can find your way out of this place? These are the Shadows. They were made as a prison for us by the ancient Time Lords. Nothing can ever leave.
"You did," Rose pointed out. "And I was rescued once before."
Oh, yes, the Doctor. We have taken precautions this time.
"All the more reason for me to find a way out of here," Rose said logically. The creature's eyes narrowed, and she suppressed a grin. She had the feeling that the Wraith was unhappy at her lack of fear, but really, she couldn't muster up the proper terror.
And that was odd, come to think of it. The Wraiths fed on emotions, the Doctor had told her. Unless one could completely keep one's emotions under control, the Wraiths had the advantage. While she was much more mature now than she'd been when they'd met the Wraiths before, she certainly didn't have tight, exacting control over what she felt. So why couldn't it take advantage of that fact?
"The Vortex," she said aloud in sudden realisation, and looked up at the Wraith's dark form. "You can't manipulate my emotions because of my link to the TARDIS. But then how are you planning to use me to free yourself?"
We do not need to manipulate your emotions, it said dismissively, though she thought she detected a note of unease in its mind-voice. We require only your presence.
"What could my-" she began, then blinked. The pieces were starting to come together. "Hang on. The Shadows are part of the Vortex, aren't they? So if you have me, the bits of Bad Wolf within me are doing something to the Shadows. Wearing away at them, maybe? Creating a hole? But then why'd you stop me leaving? You could've just followed me out through the hole I'm creating."
The Wraith was silent. There wasn't much expression on its face-Rose wasn't sure it could have much expression-but she got the feeling it wasn't pleased by her train of thought. Good news, as far as she was concerned; it meant she was probably on the right track.
"Getting yourself out isn't the point, is it?" she went on. "You can already get out. But I bet the others can't, can they? The rest of your people. You want me to open up a hole big enough to let all of your kind out." Its eyes narrowed, and she added, "Why can't they all get out the same way you can?"
They can, the Wraith responded. Its voice seemed somehow subdued. We can escape. But we cannot leave.
Rose stared at it as the full understanding of its meaning sank in. "Like Mephistopheles," she said. "'Which way I fly is hell, myself am hell.' You're always here, aren't you? Some part of you is always in the Shadows."
Always, it confirmed. We wish to be free, to fly amongst the stars as we once did. To interact with other species again.
Rose studied the Wraith for a long moment. Years ago, she would've felt compassion for it. She still did, to an extent. But…
"What about André?" she asked.
It didn't answer, just looked at her silently.
"You remember André," she went on. "The little French boy from the Middle Ages that you dragged into the Rift and killed and then possessed. 'Time searches for you.' Ring any bells?"
It was a shot in the dark, purely a guess, but it seemed to hit home. The Wraith stared at her, its form shifting indistinctly. Rose had the feeling that if it was human, it would be shrugging its shoulders. We did not drag him. He fell into the Rift on his own. We only made use of him. His death was an act of mercy; the Rift is no place for a primitive human. He could not find his way out, and so we ended his torment. The use of his body to find you was a small thing, an act of repayment for our kindness.
Rose felt fury welling up in her. That poor kid must have been utterly terrified, and all the Wraiths could think of was how he could be 'of use' to them. "So you hunted me down when you found I had bits of the Vortex lodged in me, and when you couldn't get a good trace on me, you used him to flush me out, is that it?"
We knew you were near the place where the Rift had been torn open. It was only a matter of time before you were discovered. The boy simply sped up the process.
"Well, I'm bloody well not speeding anything up for you," Rose snapped. "I'm leaving. If you think you can stop me, go right ahead, but as you've not done anything to me in all this time, I'm going to guess that you can't. You could drag me in, but you can't hold me here." She started off purposefully, walking right past the Wraith.
For a moment she thought she'd left it behind, but then it erupted from the ground in front of her again. She stopped, glaring at it. You do not have the capability to leave this place, it told her.
"Wrong," she snapped. "I brought a man back to life and destroyed every Dalek outside the Void with a thought, I've come back from death more times than I can count, and I travelled with the Doctor for two full years of my life. If there's a way out-and there must be, because you've used it-I'll find it."
"Rose!"
The call was faint, as though coming from a very long way away, but the voice was also entirely familiar: Jack's. He sounded as though he were searching for her. She grinned at the Time Wraith's sudden consternation. "Oh, look," she said mildly. "There it is."
And she sprinted off in the direction of his voice.
***
"You want me to wear what?" Owen asked, eyeing the safety harness with curled lip.
"Put it on, Owen," said Jack in a purely no-nonsense tone. "You and Ianto are the anchors. We're trusting our lives to you, which may very well be the stupidest thing I've ever done, but it's the only way to rescue Rose."
Owen snarled but stepped into the harness, pulling it up over his legs and securing it around his waist. Ianto, who had been called in, was already in his. It was an odd feeling, Jack thought, to see Ianto in jeans, like seeing the Pope in sweatpants. Still, Ianto seemed perfectly comfortable in them, and Jack couldn't object to what he wore on his days off. Ianto caught Jack's eye, and a corner of his mouth curled in a half-grin. Jack echoed it. No doubt Ianto knew exactly what he was thinking and was amused by it.
"Right," the Doctor said, securing his own harness over his pinstriped trousers. He'd already discarded his trench coat and suit jacket. "Gwen, your job is to monitor the opening and make sure you call us back if it starts to close. Two sharp tugs on our lines will let us know we need to retreat. Ianto and Owen, you need to make sure you stay braced and the line stays taut; if something goes wrong, it's likely to be sudden, and we're going to need your body weight."
Ianto nodded shortly to show he understood; Owen just rolled his eyes. Each rope was wrapped around a thick stalagmite; the rock formations would take most of their weight, but the two men would be able to make decisions that a chunk of rock couldn't. Jack ignored Owen's attitude; not only was it his default persona, it was nothing more than a front. Jack knew damn good and well that Owen both liked and respected Rose (and probably lusted after her as well) and that he wouldn't let anything happen to her if he had the ability to stop it.
The Doctor looked at Jack. "Ready?"
"Damn straight," Jack replied, and the two of them stepped through the glowing crack in the rock that led into the Shadows.
***
The Doctor knew what the Shadows were like, and thought he had prepared himself for the blast of psychic energy that would hit him-but nothing could have equipped him for this. The moment he stepped through the crack in the rock, every sense he had was bombarded with input, sending him to his knees. He cried out, arms over his head in a futile attempt to block out some of the crushing weight of sounds, scents, tastes, sensations and even visions of swirling colours that filled his brain. This is just like it was before, he tried to tell himself. Concentrate!
But it wasn't the way it had been before, that time he'd come into the Shadows to rescue Rose two thousand years ago, when Wraiths had been attacking the Norse tribes. Then, a little basic discipline had brought him through the discordance. Now it was overwhelming, as though the Wraiths had remembered his ability from before and had planned for it.
His head whirled. He was going to be sick; the amount of sensory information was just too much, it was overload. He pressed the heels of his hands to his temples, willing himself to overcome the onslaught. Rose. He had to help Rose. He was so close to seeing her again, touching her again. He couldn't allow the Wraiths to win. He couldn't.
Big, warm hands-human hands-pressed over his own above his temples. "Doctor!" Jack's voice shouted. It sounded as though he'd been calling him for some time. He probably had. "Doctor, c'mon, please, look at me. Look in my eyes. I can help. Just look!"
Carefully, the Doctor cracked his own eyes open. Jack was on his knees before him, right at eye level. The Doctor met the familiar blue gaze with some effort-most of it going toward not being sick.
But it wasn't just blue, that gaze. There were streaks in it-golden streaks, waving and flowing through his irises.
The Time Vortex.
Abruptly the onslaught ceased, and the Doctor found himself on his knees in a perfectly white space, the exact opposite of the sensory feed he'd just recovered from. There was nothing else in sight besides himself and Jack, nothing to give any sense of perspective. Just-white. He sat back on his heels. Jack released his temples and blew out a relieved breath.
"Wasn't sure what was going on, but I knew it couldn't be good. Glad you're back, Doc. I don't much like the idea of being on my own here, trying to help you and find Rose."
The Doctor, who had been looking round, trying to decide where to start, brought his focus abruptly back to Jack. "You didn't know what was going on?" he repeated.
"Not a clue," Jack said, eyebrows raised. "We came through the crack, and then you just fell to your knees and cried out like you'd been injured. Took me four tries to get your attention."
"Then tell me this, Jack." The Doctor leant forward. "How did you know that having me look in your eyes would pull me out of it?"
Jack's mouth opened, then he closed it again and looked pensive. "I don't know," he said, frowning. "I just… knew."
The Doctor looked at him for a long moment. "It's the Vortex still in you," he said at last. "It must be. It's changed you somehow-not just so you can't die, but also so you can hear it in a way most humans never can. It told you what to do. Well, not told-it can't speak-but you get the idea."
"Good to know," Jack said, not quite sarcastically. "It would be better to know how we were going to find Rose-and whether this Vortex thing can get us all out of here."
"Oh, it can," the Doctor said confidently. "The Shadows were created using the Vortex. If you've got control over it, you've got power here."
The moment the words were out of his mouth, he realised their import, and so did Jack. Their jaws dropped open and they stared at each other. "What if the Wraiths are trying to take the Vortex from Rose?" Jack asked.
"They couldn't," the Doctor said, though he wasn't entirely sure of that.
"But if they did, she'd die, wouldn't she?" Jack demanded. "She's eighty-six, and she's been mortally wounded at least twice that I know of. Would the lack of the Vortex be retroactive? Would she die of the wounds she had before?" The Doctor could see his own terror reflected in the other man's eyes.
"We've got to get to her before that happens," the Doctor said firmly.
"But where is she?" Jack turned on his heel, looking all around. "There's nothing to navigate by here. We could just be going in circles!"
The Doctor ran his hand through his hair, making it stand on end. "There's got to be some way," he said, beginning to pace almost without realising it. Something about this body made it almost impossible for him to concentrate if he was sitting still. "What have we got to find her with? The Vortex, obviously. I'm cut off from it in here, but you're not. So…" He looked up at Jack. "There's got to be a way you can use its power to find her, find some link to her."
"Great! How do I do it?"
"No idea," the Doctor admitted, thinking fast as he continued to pace. "But if you've never noticed it before, chances are it's a subconscious thing that's been guiding you all these years." He stopped. "If you were going to pick a direction completely at random, which way would you go?"
Jack frowned, pivoting around. "I don't know," he said, hands on his hips. "They all look the same."
"Don't go by looks. Use your gut feeling. Which way feels right?"
"'Use the Force, Luke'?" Jack said with irony, but closed his eyes anyway and seemed to be concentrating. After a moment his hand lifted and pointed off to the left. "That way," he said.
The Doctor resisted asking him 'Are you sure?' "Right," he said instead. "Let's go!"
He took off at a jog, trailing the rope from his harness behind him. A moment later, Jack was beside him, pacing him. "You really think this gut-feeling thing is going to work, Doc?" Jack asked.
"It's the best we've got, and it's better than wandering around aimlessly," the Doctor pointed out.
"I thought that's what we were doing."
"No, we've got an aim. We're following your gut. By the way, do let me know if the direction feels like it should change."
Jack rolled his eyes. "I don't like this fumbling around in the dark business. Let's see if we can get better odds on our side." He cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed, "ROSE!"
"Jack!" Her voice was faint, but definitely recognisable, and coming from straight in front of them. The Doctor's hearts lifted, and he broke into an all-out run, Jack right beside him.
"We're coming for you!" Jack bellowed again, not even out of breath as they pounded forward. "Follow my voice!"
"I can see you!" she yelled, and sure enough, there was a small figure before them, running their way. The Doctor felt like shouting for joy, until he realised she was being paced by the shadowy figure of a Time Wraith.
The Doctor's face hardened. He was not going to allow that thing to come between him and Rose, not ever again. He reached into his pocket and brought out the sonic screwdriver, thumbing through the settings until he found the one he was looking for. "Rose, Jack, cover your ears!" he yelled, and pointing the screwdriver towards Rose and the Wraith, pushed the button.
The tone it emitted was enough to make his companions wince even with their ears covered, but neither of them faltered in their steps. The Wraith, however, stopped where it was, rearing back like a horse shying from a sudden movement. Its wings curved up over its shadowy head, as though it was trying to protect its own ears, and finally it gave a shriek of distress and dived down into the 'floor' beneath them, vanishing from sight.
***
Rose pelted up to them and flung her arms around the both of them, panting and laughing and holding on for dear life. They held her close, all of them breathless and unable to speak, but allowing their body language to speak for them. After a moment, Jack withdrew from the embrace, and when she gave him a funny look, nodded sideways towards the Doctor.
The Doctor was looking at her the way a man who hasn't seen water for days looks at a crisp, cool stream. His hand was still on her waist, the other on Jack's back, but his attention was all for her. So why was he holding back?
Waiting for her, of course.
"Doctor," she whispered, and they were hugging, his arms tight around her and her cheek against his. He clung to her, burying his face in her hair as she breathed in the familiar, spicy-musky scent of him. She closed her eyes, feeling tears beginning to form. So many years. So many years of waiting, of hoping, of praying she could see him again one day.
And then he shifted and his mouth was on hers, and she was kissing him, kissing him, kissing him, letting her whole self be wrapped up in being with him again. Missed you, she thought, hoping he would pick up on it. Missed you, oh, missed you so much….
They broke apart at last, so Rose could breathe, and the Doctor rested his forehead against hers, looking into her eyes. I missed you too, he said silently, his own eyes brimming. I never stopped looking for a way across the Void, though, Rose. I never stopped looking for a way back to you.
I know, she thought, sliding a hand up to caress his hair. He closed his eyes again, leaned into the touch. I never did, either.
They might have stayed that way for hours, but Jack's voice broke the silence. "Uh, guys?" he said in a tone that made them both look up sharply. "I hate to interrupt, but we've got company."
Rose glanced around them and felt the icy clench of dread around her insides. Surrounding the three of them were a half-dozen Time Wraiths, their burning eyes glaring down at them.
Did you truly think you would be permitted to leave, Bad Wolf? the Wraiths taunted in unison as they drifted closer.
Author: aibhinn
Pairings: Jack/Rose, Jack/Ten, Jack/Ten/Rose, Ten/Rose
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: Doctor Who through "Doomsday", Torchwood through "End of Days".
Summary: The Rift is much more active than it was, and has been disgorging aliens and out-of-time people at an alarming rate… including one person Jack never expected to see again.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Everything belongs to Auntie Beeb. I'm stuck here on the far side of the wrong continent, playing in her sandbox.
Betas: dark_aegis, wendymr, joely_jo, larielromeniel, and sensiblecat-all of whom are AWESOME.
Author's note: I've never actually been spelunking, so what I've got is research-based rather than my own experience. If I've got it wrong (or right), please let me know! :)
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI | Part XIII | Part XIV | Part XV
"Doctor, Rose and I can't die."
It was amazing how quickly the conference room cleared after Jack's revelation. It was almost as though an air-raid siren had gone off, Jack thought with amusement. Or worse; during both his stints in the Battle of Britain-or was that 'all three' now?-the sirens had become so commonplace that people had eventually stopped panicking over them and had moved more slowly, and in some cases, almost leisurely. There was nothing leisurely about the way Owen, Gwen and Tosh disappeared down the stairs, though they managed to make it look less like they were running away than Jack would have believed.
The Doctor still looked gobsmacked, though the shock was starting to fade into deep consideration. Jack waited for him to start in with the questions. As he'd expected, it didn't take long.
"This happened on the Game Station, didn't it?" The Doctor's tone almost made it more of a statement than a question. "When she saved me from the Daleks."
Jack nodded. "She saved us both. I was dead, Doctor. A Dalek had exterminated me, and I was dead. But somehow, I'm still here, more than a hundred years later, still looking exactly the same despite more deaths than I can count. Rose, too. She's eighty-six, did you know? Had a whole life in the other world. Two marriages. Both of us have worked for Torchwood for years, her there and me here. Yet we both still look just like we did when we left Kyoto."
"The Bad Wolf was stronger than she realised," the Doctor murmured. He got up and began pacing around the room. "All right," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "She can't die? You've seen it?"
"I've seen her heal right in front of my face, more than once," Jack said. He was trying hard not to remember the last time, when an accident had resulted in two of Rose's fingers nearly being cut off by a shattered pane of glass. Luckily, Rose had been able to pass the blood off as belonging to another injured person when the paramedics arrived. "And I believe her when she says she had injuries in the other universe that should have killed her, and didn't."
"Of course you do," the Doctor said absently, frowning as he paced. "So she brought you back to life and saved me when she opened the console and took the heart of the TARDIS into-"
He stopped, eyes wide, weight balanced forward on his toes. "Ohhhh," he said in sudden comprehension. "Oh, that's it!" He swung round to look at Jack. "Don't you see? 'The Heart she carries'-that's what the Wraith said. It's not Rose it's after. It wants the bits of the Time Vortex that are still inside her! And inside you, of course-that's what's keeping you alive-but more so in her, because she's the one who had it all running through her head."
"What about you?" Jack asked. "You took it from her and gave it back to the TARDIS."
"Yeah, and it killed me. New man, Jack. Every single cell. None of the Vortex remains in me. But you two…."
He trailed off again, and his expression shifted into what Jack could only describe as pure glee. "What?" Jack asked warily.
"If she's still got the Vortex inside her, the TARDIS has a way to fix on her. We don't have to go searching through cave systems for a way into the Shadows. We can go straight to her!"
Grinning madly, the Doctor bolted for the door. "Come on!" he yelled over his shoulder.
"Doctor, wait!" Jack swore at the closing door and ran after him.
The man was insanely fast-faster than he'd been when Jack had known him before. Longer legs, less body mass, Jack thought irrelevantly as he raced down the stairs. "Doctor!" he called, ignoring the looks the others were giving him.
The Doctor stopped and grinned at him again. "Don't worry, Jack. I wasn't going to leave you behind."
"That's not it." Jack slowed and stopped before him. "Just think for a minute. If the Wraith kidnapped Rose because she had a bit, just a bit, of the Vortex in her, what do you think it'll do if you bring in the TARDIS? Right into the Shadows, right into the Wraiths' home turf?"
The Doctor's face registered startled realisation, then shifted to resignation. "You're right," he said with a sigh, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck again. "We'll have to do it the hard way after all." He looked up at Tosh, Gwen, and Owen, who were rather unabashedly watching. "You lot," he called. "Fancy a bit of spelunking?"
***
Rose wasn't sure how long she'd been walking; distances were impossible to judge, and she didn't entirely trust her time-sense-through, she thought with a hint of amusement, given that it was the Vortex whose trail she was following, that was a bit ironic. Perhaps time didn't run normally in this place.
A black, smoky figure erupted from the ground directly in front of her with no more warning than it had done up in the Plass. She leapt backward with a startled yelp.
You seek to leave, Child of Time?
Its red eyes burned into her, but she refused to quail before it. She gathered herself, cocked her hip, folded her arms, and said simply, "Yeah. Don't much like being kidnapped."
The Wraith's mind-voice was amused. Do you believe you can find your way out of this place? These are the Shadows. They were made as a prison for us by the ancient Time Lords. Nothing can ever leave.
"You did," Rose pointed out. "And I was rescued once before."
Oh, yes, the Doctor. We have taken precautions this time.
"All the more reason for me to find a way out of here," Rose said logically. The creature's eyes narrowed, and she suppressed a grin. She had the feeling that the Wraith was unhappy at her lack of fear, but really, she couldn't muster up the proper terror.
And that was odd, come to think of it. The Wraiths fed on emotions, the Doctor had told her. Unless one could completely keep one's emotions under control, the Wraiths had the advantage. While she was much more mature now than she'd been when they'd met the Wraiths before, she certainly didn't have tight, exacting control over what she felt. So why couldn't it take advantage of that fact?
"The Vortex," she said aloud in sudden realisation, and looked up at the Wraith's dark form. "You can't manipulate my emotions because of my link to the TARDIS. But then how are you planning to use me to free yourself?"
We do not need to manipulate your emotions, it said dismissively, though she thought she detected a note of unease in its mind-voice. We require only your presence.
"What could my-" she began, then blinked. The pieces were starting to come together. "Hang on. The Shadows are part of the Vortex, aren't they? So if you have me, the bits of Bad Wolf within me are doing something to the Shadows. Wearing away at them, maybe? Creating a hole? But then why'd you stop me leaving? You could've just followed me out through the hole I'm creating."
The Wraith was silent. There wasn't much expression on its face-Rose wasn't sure it could have much expression-but she got the feeling it wasn't pleased by her train of thought. Good news, as far as she was concerned; it meant she was probably on the right track.
"Getting yourself out isn't the point, is it?" she went on. "You can already get out. But I bet the others can't, can they? The rest of your people. You want me to open up a hole big enough to let all of your kind out." Its eyes narrowed, and she added, "Why can't they all get out the same way you can?"
They can, the Wraith responded. Its voice seemed somehow subdued. We can escape. But we cannot leave.
Rose stared at it as the full understanding of its meaning sank in. "Like Mephistopheles," she said. "'Which way I fly is hell, myself am hell.' You're always here, aren't you? Some part of you is always in the Shadows."
Always, it confirmed. We wish to be free, to fly amongst the stars as we once did. To interact with other species again.
Rose studied the Wraith for a long moment. Years ago, she would've felt compassion for it. She still did, to an extent. But…
"What about André?" she asked.
It didn't answer, just looked at her silently.
"You remember André," she went on. "The little French boy from the Middle Ages that you dragged into the Rift and killed and then possessed. 'Time searches for you.' Ring any bells?"
It was a shot in the dark, purely a guess, but it seemed to hit home. The Wraith stared at her, its form shifting indistinctly. Rose had the feeling that if it was human, it would be shrugging its shoulders. We did not drag him. He fell into the Rift on his own. We only made use of him. His death was an act of mercy; the Rift is no place for a primitive human. He could not find his way out, and so we ended his torment. The use of his body to find you was a small thing, an act of repayment for our kindness.
Rose felt fury welling up in her. That poor kid must have been utterly terrified, and all the Wraiths could think of was how he could be 'of use' to them. "So you hunted me down when you found I had bits of the Vortex lodged in me, and when you couldn't get a good trace on me, you used him to flush me out, is that it?"
We knew you were near the place where the Rift had been torn open. It was only a matter of time before you were discovered. The boy simply sped up the process.
"Well, I'm bloody well not speeding anything up for you," Rose snapped. "I'm leaving. If you think you can stop me, go right ahead, but as you've not done anything to me in all this time, I'm going to guess that you can't. You could drag me in, but you can't hold me here." She started off purposefully, walking right past the Wraith.
For a moment she thought she'd left it behind, but then it erupted from the ground in front of her again. She stopped, glaring at it. You do not have the capability to leave this place, it told her.
"Wrong," she snapped. "I brought a man back to life and destroyed every Dalek outside the Void with a thought, I've come back from death more times than I can count, and I travelled with the Doctor for two full years of my life. If there's a way out-and there must be, because you've used it-I'll find it."
"Rose!"
The call was faint, as though coming from a very long way away, but the voice was also entirely familiar: Jack's. He sounded as though he were searching for her. She grinned at the Time Wraith's sudden consternation. "Oh, look," she said mildly. "There it is."
And she sprinted off in the direction of his voice.
***
"You want me to wear what?" Owen asked, eyeing the safety harness with curled lip.
"Put it on, Owen," said Jack in a purely no-nonsense tone. "You and Ianto are the anchors. We're trusting our lives to you, which may very well be the stupidest thing I've ever done, but it's the only way to rescue Rose."
Owen snarled but stepped into the harness, pulling it up over his legs and securing it around his waist. Ianto, who had been called in, was already in his. It was an odd feeling, Jack thought, to see Ianto in jeans, like seeing the Pope in sweatpants. Still, Ianto seemed perfectly comfortable in them, and Jack couldn't object to what he wore on his days off. Ianto caught Jack's eye, and a corner of his mouth curled in a half-grin. Jack echoed it. No doubt Ianto knew exactly what he was thinking and was amused by it.
"Right," the Doctor said, securing his own harness over his pinstriped trousers. He'd already discarded his trench coat and suit jacket. "Gwen, your job is to monitor the opening and make sure you call us back if it starts to close. Two sharp tugs on our lines will let us know we need to retreat. Ianto and Owen, you need to make sure you stay braced and the line stays taut; if something goes wrong, it's likely to be sudden, and we're going to need your body weight."
Ianto nodded shortly to show he understood; Owen just rolled his eyes. Each rope was wrapped around a thick stalagmite; the rock formations would take most of their weight, but the two men would be able to make decisions that a chunk of rock couldn't. Jack ignored Owen's attitude; not only was it his default persona, it was nothing more than a front. Jack knew damn good and well that Owen both liked and respected Rose (and probably lusted after her as well) and that he wouldn't let anything happen to her if he had the ability to stop it.
The Doctor looked at Jack. "Ready?"
"Damn straight," Jack replied, and the two of them stepped through the glowing crack in the rock that led into the Shadows.
***
The Doctor knew what the Shadows were like, and thought he had prepared himself for the blast of psychic energy that would hit him-but nothing could have equipped him for this. The moment he stepped through the crack in the rock, every sense he had was bombarded with input, sending him to his knees. He cried out, arms over his head in a futile attempt to block out some of the crushing weight of sounds, scents, tastes, sensations and even visions of swirling colours that filled his brain. This is just like it was before, he tried to tell himself. Concentrate!
But it wasn't the way it had been before, that time he'd come into the Shadows to rescue Rose two thousand years ago, when Wraiths had been attacking the Norse tribes. Then, a little basic discipline had brought him through the discordance. Now it was overwhelming, as though the Wraiths had remembered his ability from before and had planned for it.
His head whirled. He was going to be sick; the amount of sensory information was just too much, it was overload. He pressed the heels of his hands to his temples, willing himself to overcome the onslaught. Rose. He had to help Rose. He was so close to seeing her again, touching her again. He couldn't allow the Wraiths to win. He couldn't.
Big, warm hands-human hands-pressed over his own above his temples. "Doctor!" Jack's voice shouted. It sounded as though he'd been calling him for some time. He probably had. "Doctor, c'mon, please, look at me. Look in my eyes. I can help. Just look!"
Carefully, the Doctor cracked his own eyes open. Jack was on his knees before him, right at eye level. The Doctor met the familiar blue gaze with some effort-most of it going toward not being sick.
But it wasn't just blue, that gaze. There were streaks in it-golden streaks, waving and flowing through his irises.
The Time Vortex.
Abruptly the onslaught ceased, and the Doctor found himself on his knees in a perfectly white space, the exact opposite of the sensory feed he'd just recovered from. There was nothing else in sight besides himself and Jack, nothing to give any sense of perspective. Just-white. He sat back on his heels. Jack released his temples and blew out a relieved breath.
"Wasn't sure what was going on, but I knew it couldn't be good. Glad you're back, Doc. I don't much like the idea of being on my own here, trying to help you and find Rose."
The Doctor, who had been looking round, trying to decide where to start, brought his focus abruptly back to Jack. "You didn't know what was going on?" he repeated.
"Not a clue," Jack said, eyebrows raised. "We came through the crack, and then you just fell to your knees and cried out like you'd been injured. Took me four tries to get your attention."
"Then tell me this, Jack." The Doctor leant forward. "How did you know that having me look in your eyes would pull me out of it?"
Jack's mouth opened, then he closed it again and looked pensive. "I don't know," he said, frowning. "I just… knew."
The Doctor looked at him for a long moment. "It's the Vortex still in you," he said at last. "It must be. It's changed you somehow-not just so you can't die, but also so you can hear it in a way most humans never can. It told you what to do. Well, not told-it can't speak-but you get the idea."
"Good to know," Jack said, not quite sarcastically. "It would be better to know how we were going to find Rose-and whether this Vortex thing can get us all out of here."
"Oh, it can," the Doctor said confidently. "The Shadows were created using the Vortex. If you've got control over it, you've got power here."
The moment the words were out of his mouth, he realised their import, and so did Jack. Their jaws dropped open and they stared at each other. "What if the Wraiths are trying to take the Vortex from Rose?" Jack asked.
"They couldn't," the Doctor said, though he wasn't entirely sure of that.
"But if they did, she'd die, wouldn't she?" Jack demanded. "She's eighty-six, and she's been mortally wounded at least twice that I know of. Would the lack of the Vortex be retroactive? Would she die of the wounds she had before?" The Doctor could see his own terror reflected in the other man's eyes.
"We've got to get to her before that happens," the Doctor said firmly.
"But where is she?" Jack turned on his heel, looking all around. "There's nothing to navigate by here. We could just be going in circles!"
The Doctor ran his hand through his hair, making it stand on end. "There's got to be some way," he said, beginning to pace almost without realising it. Something about this body made it almost impossible for him to concentrate if he was sitting still. "What have we got to find her with? The Vortex, obviously. I'm cut off from it in here, but you're not. So…" He looked up at Jack. "There's got to be a way you can use its power to find her, find some link to her."
"Great! How do I do it?"
"No idea," the Doctor admitted, thinking fast as he continued to pace. "But if you've never noticed it before, chances are it's a subconscious thing that's been guiding you all these years." He stopped. "If you were going to pick a direction completely at random, which way would you go?"
Jack frowned, pivoting around. "I don't know," he said, hands on his hips. "They all look the same."
"Don't go by looks. Use your gut feeling. Which way feels right?"
"'Use the Force, Luke'?" Jack said with irony, but closed his eyes anyway and seemed to be concentrating. After a moment his hand lifted and pointed off to the left. "That way," he said.
The Doctor resisted asking him 'Are you sure?' "Right," he said instead. "Let's go!"
He took off at a jog, trailing the rope from his harness behind him. A moment later, Jack was beside him, pacing him. "You really think this gut-feeling thing is going to work, Doc?" Jack asked.
"It's the best we've got, and it's better than wandering around aimlessly," the Doctor pointed out.
"I thought that's what we were doing."
"No, we've got an aim. We're following your gut. By the way, do let me know if the direction feels like it should change."
Jack rolled his eyes. "I don't like this fumbling around in the dark business. Let's see if we can get better odds on our side." He cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed, "ROSE!"
"Jack!" Her voice was faint, but definitely recognisable, and coming from straight in front of them. The Doctor's hearts lifted, and he broke into an all-out run, Jack right beside him.
"We're coming for you!" Jack bellowed again, not even out of breath as they pounded forward. "Follow my voice!"
"I can see you!" she yelled, and sure enough, there was a small figure before them, running their way. The Doctor felt like shouting for joy, until he realised she was being paced by the shadowy figure of a Time Wraith.
The Doctor's face hardened. He was not going to allow that thing to come between him and Rose, not ever again. He reached into his pocket and brought out the sonic screwdriver, thumbing through the settings until he found the one he was looking for. "Rose, Jack, cover your ears!" he yelled, and pointing the screwdriver towards Rose and the Wraith, pushed the button.
The tone it emitted was enough to make his companions wince even with their ears covered, but neither of them faltered in their steps. The Wraith, however, stopped where it was, rearing back like a horse shying from a sudden movement. Its wings curved up over its shadowy head, as though it was trying to protect its own ears, and finally it gave a shriek of distress and dived down into the 'floor' beneath them, vanishing from sight.
***
Rose pelted up to them and flung her arms around the both of them, panting and laughing and holding on for dear life. They held her close, all of them breathless and unable to speak, but allowing their body language to speak for them. After a moment, Jack withdrew from the embrace, and when she gave him a funny look, nodded sideways towards the Doctor.
The Doctor was looking at her the way a man who hasn't seen water for days looks at a crisp, cool stream. His hand was still on her waist, the other on Jack's back, but his attention was all for her. So why was he holding back?
Waiting for her, of course.
"Doctor," she whispered, and they were hugging, his arms tight around her and her cheek against his. He clung to her, burying his face in her hair as she breathed in the familiar, spicy-musky scent of him. She closed her eyes, feeling tears beginning to form. So many years. So many years of waiting, of hoping, of praying she could see him again one day.
And then he shifted and his mouth was on hers, and she was kissing him, kissing him, kissing him, letting her whole self be wrapped up in being with him again. Missed you, she thought, hoping he would pick up on it. Missed you, oh, missed you so much….
They broke apart at last, so Rose could breathe, and the Doctor rested his forehead against hers, looking into her eyes. I missed you too, he said silently, his own eyes brimming. I never stopped looking for a way across the Void, though, Rose. I never stopped looking for a way back to you.
I know, she thought, sliding a hand up to caress his hair. He closed his eyes again, leaned into the touch. I never did, either.
They might have stayed that way for hours, but Jack's voice broke the silence. "Uh, guys?" he said in a tone that made them both look up sharply. "I hate to interrupt, but we've got company."
Rose glanced around them and felt the icy clench of dread around her insides. Surrounding the three of them were a half-dozen Time Wraiths, their burning eyes glaring down at them.
Did you truly think you would be permitted to leave, Bad Wolf? the Wraiths taunted in unison as they drifted closer.