Colder...
Title: Colder...
Author: fate_incomplete
Rating: PG
Warnings: Angst
Spoilers: None.
Characters: Jack Harkness, Eleven
Word Count: 400
A/N: Written for the who_contest prompt - Cold
Set during the time Eleven was alone and running from his death at Lake Silencio, and an indeterminate point in Jack's timeline. Also now a prologue for I'll stop running for you...
Summary: Each death leaves him a little colder...ironically, this one was actually from being too cold. He died saving lives...who will save him though?
.........................
Fingers fumbled, numb, nerve endings unresponsive. Hands shook violently, three attempts to enter the right combination. Sight blurred, higher brain function shutting down. Several numbing breaths to realise the lights on the panel were all green, and to hit the button to activate the final command.
The rush of frozen air from the jammed airlock lessened, as the inner door finally closed, leaving him on the wrong side. Ice particles swirled, stinging eyes, clinging to skin. If it was even possible, the temperature dropped further, beyond human endurance.
Muscles locked, pain seared, joints resisting, despite stubborn determination. Sheer will power forced feet to move. Eyes locked on the door, so close, a million miles away. Knees gave way, more pain as they met the grated floor, blood barely oozing, heart barely beating.
Eight seconds until oxygen vented. Nine steps, and one door latch between safety and death.
Screaming with one last effort, wasting oxygen, but firing senses to alertness. One more stumbled step, collapsing, crawling.
Three seconds, four steps. So close, a million miles.
Oxygen low, breath freezing, muscles no longer responding. Eyes still locked on the door, noting with one last, half formed thought...life support to the station restored...they were saved.
The air stilled, last of the thin atmosphere in the airlock vented.
Eyes closed, consciousness lost, heart beat its last.
Oblivion, not for the first, nor last time....
...he woke with a gasp of air, body jerking back to life, not for the first, nor last time.
"You saved them," a voice said from somewhere to his side. "They thought you were dead."
The face, the voice, was unfamiliar. The blue box standing in the corner wasn't.
"I was."
Jack looked around. He was in a morgue, again. It was full of warmth compared to the airlock, the emptiness inside of him growing colder though.
Silence for a moment, while he studied this new version of the man he had known.
The Doctor finally looked at him. So much was different, so much wasn't. Probably never enough difference for the Doctor to ever accept him. The coldness inside of him deepened further.
Jack rolled off the slab, feet sure, heart unsteady. He spared the Doctor one last glance, old eyes, meeting old eyes, both in bodies belying their age.
Jack walked out, refusing to look back.
A whispered, "Jack...I'm sorry," followed him.
A crack formed in the coldness...
.........................
I'll stop running for you Part 1...HERE
.
Author: fate_incomplete
Rating: PG
Warnings: Angst
Spoilers: None.
Characters: Jack Harkness, Eleven
Word Count: 400
A/N: Written for the who_contest prompt - Cold
Set during the time Eleven was alone and running from his death at Lake Silencio, and an indeterminate point in Jack's timeline. Also now a prologue for I'll stop running for you...
Summary: Each death leaves him a little colder...ironically, this one was actually from being too cold. He died saving lives...who will save him though?
.........................
Fingers fumbled, numb, nerve endings unresponsive. Hands shook violently, three attempts to enter the right combination. Sight blurred, higher brain function shutting down. Several numbing breaths to realise the lights on the panel were all green, and to hit the button to activate the final command.
The rush of frozen air from the jammed airlock lessened, as the inner door finally closed, leaving him on the wrong side. Ice particles swirled, stinging eyes, clinging to skin. If it was even possible, the temperature dropped further, beyond human endurance.
Muscles locked, pain seared, joints resisting, despite stubborn determination. Sheer will power forced feet to move. Eyes locked on the door, so close, a million miles away. Knees gave way, more pain as they met the grated floor, blood barely oozing, heart barely beating.
Eight seconds until oxygen vented. Nine steps, and one door latch between safety and death.
Screaming with one last effort, wasting oxygen, but firing senses to alertness. One more stumbled step, collapsing, crawling.
Three seconds, four steps. So close, a million miles.
Oxygen low, breath freezing, muscles no longer responding. Eyes still locked on the door, noting with one last, half formed thought...life support to the station restored...they were saved.
The air stilled, last of the thin atmosphere in the airlock vented.
Eyes closed, consciousness lost, heart beat its last.
Oblivion, not for the first, nor last time....
...he woke with a gasp of air, body jerking back to life, not for the first, nor last time.
"You saved them," a voice said from somewhere to his side. "They thought you were dead."
The face, the voice, was unfamiliar. The blue box standing in the corner wasn't.
"I was."
Jack looked around. He was in a morgue, again. It was full of warmth compared to the airlock, the emptiness inside of him growing colder though.
Silence for a moment, while he studied this new version of the man he had known.
The Doctor finally looked at him. So much was different, so much wasn't. Probably never enough difference for the Doctor to ever accept him. The coldness inside of him deepened further.
Jack rolled off the slab, feet sure, heart unsteady. He spared the Doctor one last glance, old eyes, meeting old eyes, both in bodies belying their age.
Jack walked out, refusing to look back.
A whispered, "Jack...I'm sorry," followed him.
A crack formed in the coldness...
.........................
I'll stop running for you Part 1...HERE
.