DW Fic: Haunted (1/1)
Title: Haunted
Author: lizzledpink
Rating: G
Pairing: Eleven/Rose
Summary: Prompt: Five times the Doctor hallucinated about Rose (for the TTU ficathon). Oneshot.
Warning: Spoilers for all of Series 5.
Haunted
I.
For a while, he'd thought he was finally free of her. After all, that's why regenerations exist - to heal those wounds which cannot be healed, except by pain of death.
But apparently, some wounds go beyond even that. And standing behind him is the lie of living proof.
"It wasn't your fault."
"I thought you were gone," he says harshly. He's still flipping random, useless switches on the TARDIS, distracting himself while Amy heads to a bed.
"It wasn't, though. You know that. She knows it."
"You're gone," he tells her harshly. He knows he's being harsh. This incarnation has a temper, and isn't afraid to
wield it. Particularly when he's cross.
"Of course I'm gone, but you're not, now are you?" she retorts. "Doctor, you saved the Earth. That's more important than destroying the Daleks, always is. They got away, yeah. But that's alright. They'll be there again, and you'll stop them again. But for now, the Earth is safe."
"The universe isn't safe, and you," he says, turning around with a cold glare, "aren't here."
And she isn't.
II.
It's very cold.
And then, it isn't.
Imagined warmth. Arms around him, holding him, soothing him, and yet filling him with new life. He can't keep from dropping asleep, but he feels safer.
"This is the dream, then," he whispers tiredly.
She doesn't reply except to pick up his hand, and squeeze it. It still fits perfectly. He wonders if someday he'll regenerate and it won't, but he'd like to think that every hand will fit hers, no matter how much he changes.
"I'd like it to be real, but you're here in this, so this must be the dream."
"Sleep. You'll be safe. They can't get to you in here, they're only old people." There's a hint of laughter in her voice.
And he's so soothed that he falls asleep.
When he wakes up, it's even colder, but she's still warm.
"T-two dreams," he mutters through frosted lips. "Neither... real."
"Took you long enough," she says with faint amusement.
He opens his eyes, and she isn't there. Of course she isn't. But at least now he knows.
III.
He knows she's there (and so very much not) before she even speaks this time.
"I'm never going to lose you, am I?" He asks.
"You have an overactive imagination, you're more than a bit mad, and you're madder than usual, with all the domestics that went on in this house," she teases. He chuckles, because she's right, of course. This is fun. Humans are fun.
But these days, he seems to be surrounded by couples. Life is simply swarming with them.
"That's a no, then," he replies, smiling. "Well, that's alright then. I don't mind a bit mad. It's a lot mad that worries me; you know how I can get. And you're completely right, too. The domestics have gone to my head. Perhaps I'll wake up in the TARDIS one day and cook breakfast, or watch telly, maybe play a bit of football. Not the one with the sticks," he clarifies.
Rose rolls her eyes. (He can't see her, what with his eyes closed, but it's Rose, after all.) "You, all domestic. I don't see it."
"Yeah? Well, maybe." He gives her a barking laugh. "I could see the point of domestic, if you were there with me," he says.
"You stole that from Craig."
"It's true."
There's no reply. He opens his eyes. Slowly, the shine in them fades away, and then he's walking away from the one-story building, as if nothing had happened at all.
Because really, nothing had.
IV.
A goblin, a trickster, a warrior. Soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. He should've known, really. It made sense. Perhaps a bit too much sense, actually.
"You're not."
"Are too."
"Are not."
"Are too. And can we not do this? I like to think I'm more mature this time around, thank you very much."
If he could see anything but darkness, maybe he'd see her stick her tongue out at him. Or maybe not.
"Please go. Just leave me here in peace. The universe has decided I'm it's enemy, and maybe it's right, so how about you and everything else in this world just leave me alone?"
"But I'm not in this world. I don't count."
"Technicality," he says coldly.
"Doctor. Look back on every moment you've had with me, every last one. Look at what you've done. Look at what you've always tried to do. For every life you take, you save so many more. And always you find a way."
"Not this time," he says. And he feels the fear begin to set in, as the dark creeps around him, and the realization slowly dawns that he will be stuck in this box for all of eternity.
"But you can. I know you can. You once said if there was one thing you believed in, it was me."
"Obviously," he says dryly. "I believe in you more than I should."
"You believe in me," she says, cutting through. "So believe what I say. There is a way. You just need to find it. I believe in you, Doctor, always. Here, or not."
"No. No, because there's only one way out, and that's if somebody else got me out, somebody who knew how, somebody with equal intelligence, smarter than me, but out there. I'm the only person in the universe right now with the ability to-"
He cuts himself off. She smiles.
"Me. Future me. Ah."
Suddenly, the gears of the box move, and light shines through, and she's gone.
He's free.
V.
I don't even care, he thinks. Reality, non-reality, new reality... It doesn't matter... I just need to believe that you are here. He smiles briefly, and drops the communicator, knowing they've gotten his final message.
Phantom lips kiss his in a final, tormenting goodbye. It's a shame he's bound in place, unable to move his arms, or anything really, or perhaps he'd hug her, whether she's there or not.
It's the end either way.
Big Bang Two.
And there is light.
Author: lizzledpink
Rating: G
Pairing: Eleven/Rose
Summary: Prompt: Five times the Doctor hallucinated about Rose (for the TTU ficathon). Oneshot.
Warning: Spoilers for all of Series 5.
Haunted
I.
For a while, he'd thought he was finally free of her. After all, that's why regenerations exist - to heal those wounds which cannot be healed, except by pain of death.
But apparently, some wounds go beyond even that. And standing behind him is the lie of living proof.
"It wasn't your fault."
"I thought you were gone," he says harshly. He's still flipping random, useless switches on the TARDIS, distracting himself while Amy heads to a bed.
"It wasn't, though. You know that. She knows it."
"You're gone," he tells her harshly. He knows he's being harsh. This incarnation has a temper, and isn't afraid to
wield it. Particularly when he's cross.
"Of course I'm gone, but you're not, now are you?" she retorts. "Doctor, you saved the Earth. That's more important than destroying the Daleks, always is. They got away, yeah. But that's alright. They'll be there again, and you'll stop them again. But for now, the Earth is safe."
"The universe isn't safe, and you," he says, turning around with a cold glare, "aren't here."
And she isn't.
II.
It's very cold.
And then, it isn't.
Imagined warmth. Arms around him, holding him, soothing him, and yet filling him with new life. He can't keep from dropping asleep, but he feels safer.
"This is the dream, then," he whispers tiredly.
She doesn't reply except to pick up his hand, and squeeze it. It still fits perfectly. He wonders if someday he'll regenerate and it won't, but he'd like to think that every hand will fit hers, no matter how much he changes.
"I'd like it to be real, but you're here in this, so this must be the dream."
"Sleep. You'll be safe. They can't get to you in here, they're only old people." There's a hint of laughter in her voice.
And he's so soothed that he falls asleep.
When he wakes up, it's even colder, but she's still warm.
"T-two dreams," he mutters through frosted lips. "Neither... real."
"Took you long enough," she says with faint amusement.
He opens his eyes, and she isn't there. Of course she isn't. But at least now he knows.
III.
He knows she's there (and so very much not) before she even speaks this time.
"I'm never going to lose you, am I?" He asks.
"You have an overactive imagination, you're more than a bit mad, and you're madder than usual, with all the domestics that went on in this house," she teases. He chuckles, because she's right, of course. This is fun. Humans are fun.
But these days, he seems to be surrounded by couples. Life is simply swarming with them.
"That's a no, then," he replies, smiling. "Well, that's alright then. I don't mind a bit mad. It's a lot mad that worries me; you know how I can get. And you're completely right, too. The domestics have gone to my head. Perhaps I'll wake up in the TARDIS one day and cook breakfast, or watch telly, maybe play a bit of football. Not the one with the sticks," he clarifies.
Rose rolls her eyes. (He can't see her, what with his eyes closed, but it's Rose, after all.) "You, all domestic. I don't see it."
"Yeah? Well, maybe." He gives her a barking laugh. "I could see the point of domestic, if you were there with me," he says.
"You stole that from Craig."
"It's true."
There's no reply. He opens his eyes. Slowly, the shine in them fades away, and then he's walking away from the one-story building, as if nothing had happened at all.
Because really, nothing had.
IV.
A goblin, a trickster, a warrior. Soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. He should've known, really. It made sense. Perhaps a bit too much sense, actually.
"You're not."
"Are too."
"Are not."
"Are too. And can we not do this? I like to think I'm more mature this time around, thank you very much."
If he could see anything but darkness, maybe he'd see her stick her tongue out at him. Or maybe not.
"Please go. Just leave me here in peace. The universe has decided I'm it's enemy, and maybe it's right, so how about you and everything else in this world just leave me alone?"
"But I'm not in this world. I don't count."
"Technicality," he says coldly.
"Doctor. Look back on every moment you've had with me, every last one. Look at what you've done. Look at what you've always tried to do. For every life you take, you save so many more. And always you find a way."
"Not this time," he says. And he feels the fear begin to set in, as the dark creeps around him, and the realization slowly dawns that he will be stuck in this box for all of eternity.
"But you can. I know you can. You once said if there was one thing you believed in, it was me."
"Obviously," he says dryly. "I believe in you more than I should."
"You believe in me," she says, cutting through. "So believe what I say. There is a way. You just need to find it. I believe in you, Doctor, always. Here, or not."
"No. No, because there's only one way out, and that's if somebody else got me out, somebody who knew how, somebody with equal intelligence, smarter than me, but out there. I'm the only person in the universe right now with the ability to-"
He cuts himself off. She smiles.
"Me. Future me. Ah."
Suddenly, the gears of the box move, and light shines through, and she's gone.
He's free.
V.
I don't even care, he thinks. Reality, non-reality, new reality... It doesn't matter... I just need to believe that you are here. He smiles briefly, and drops the communicator, knowing they've gotten his final message.
Phantom lips kiss his in a final, tormenting goodbye. It's a shame he's bound in place, unable to move his arms, or anything really, or perhaps he'd hug her, whether she's there or not.
It's the end either way.
Big Bang Two.
And there is light.