Fic - Alternate Partings 1/1
A while back, wendymr asked me what I thought the Doctor would do if Jack and Rose's positions had been reversed in Parting of the Ways.
The answer is, pretty much this.
TITLE: Alternate Partings
RATING: G/all ages
CHARACTERS: Nine, Jack, Rose
DISCLAIMER: Not an authorized tie-in to BBC property
SPOILERS: allusions to conversation from Utopia
Defeated, the Doctor looked at the Emperor Dalek and waited for the relief of death.
He could have stopped the daleks lifetimes ago; crossed a pair of wires and spared the universe, his own people. He could have stayed on Satellite Five and made sure that history went back on track instead of buggering off to punish Adam. He could have kept Rose by his side, or better yet, tricked her into the TARDIS and sent her home rather than let her take Lynda’s place in the observatory.
She’d died like a warrior. No screaming, just a quiet status report - “They’re he-“ cut off by the sound of dalek weaponry. He’d promised Jackie he’d keep her safe and then he’d let her die millions of years from home in a war he couldn’t manage to end.
Jack had gone crazy when he heard her commlink dissolve to static. First he’d thrown everything he had at the daleks, but when he was down to the last man standing he’d cut and run, bolting into the TARDIS. He’d tried to take the Doctor with him, but was shrugged off. A distant part of him could still hear Jack coaxing the TARDIS for something and feel his ship’s fear and uncertainty.
Take him away he told it. Save him. If Jack was in the TARDIS, he would survive the blast that would scramble every living brain for lightyears around. He felt the TARDIS reach a decision and calm down. Two less things to worry about.
For a moment, he wasn’t even on the Space Station. He was back on Skaro, looking at two little wires and the biggest decision of his lives…
Once again, he couldn’t do it. He’d burned Gallifrey. He couldn’t burn Earth as well.
He wondered what real death was like.
The sound of doors slamming open distracted them all. White light was pouring out of the TARDIS, the pure light of the unfiltered vortex. Terrified but with nowhere to run, the Doctor went to his knees. “What have you done? JACK, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”
“This war ends.” Jack’s voice was rippling, strange, overlaid with a higher note. “The daleks lose.”
The daleks in front of them screamed. “We are the su-per-ior speeeeeecies!” “Exterminate!” “Ex-teeeerrrrrrm-“
Jack waved a hand, sending the lasers heading their way back into the guns. With a snap of his fingers the daleks exploded. He pointed at the stunned Emperor and snapped again. The viewscreen showed flying metal and flesh in the few seconds before blacking out.
The station rocked beneath the Doctor, its engines struggling to hold steady orbit against the force of ship after ship detonating.
“Jack, what have you done? You’ve looked into the heart of the TARDIS, the vortex, nobody’s meant to see that!”
Jack looked at the Doctor, his eyes shining with unearthly light. “I wanted to keep you safe. My Doctor,” the TARDIS said.
“You’re killing him! Go back!”
Jack faltered, one hand going to his head. “I… I… I can see all of time. They’re all gone. Forever. Anywhere. Anytime. I got them. It’s okay.”
The Doctor was climbing to his feet, shakily moving towards him. If the TARDIS didn’t pull the vortex back out of him soon, his head would go the way of the daleks. “Well done, Jack,” he said. “Now put it back. That’s an order.”
Jack tried to salute and missed. His brain was already starting to boil in his skull. Wait!” he said fuzzily in his own voice. “Rose! We can save Rose first!”
“No!” But it was too late; the Doctor felt the burst of huon energy moving over his shoulder, away from the TARDIS, as Jack turned obediently back to face the console. The TARDIS was drawing her energy back into herself; shining huon particles were streaming back to the central column as Jack went to his knees. When the last light flickered out, Jack fell on his face.
The Doctor turned him over. Not breathing. Stupid, fragile apes, no respiratory bypass, now what was it you did when they stopped breathing? Breathe into them. Right. He puffed into Jack’s slack mouth.
On the second breath, Jack tried to slip him tongue.
“Right, into the TARDIS with you.” Focus on Jack. Only on Jack. Jack the human, the stupid, stupid ape who had created the abomination that was already running towards them.
He should leave her. His flesh didn’t just crawl at what Rose had become, his very marrow rebelled. She was a fixed point in time. If their positions were reversed, if it was Jack pelting towards them, he’d shove Rose into the TARDIS and take off without looking back. He was hauling Jack upwards to do just that when for once in his lives he thought about the consequences.
Rose. Never aging, never changing, stuck on a satellite with nothing but corpses and dust. She’d go insane and wouldn’t even have the escape of dying.
He couldn’t do that to her.
“Doctor!” She burst in, grinning with relief, and he couldn’t even look her in the face. He couldn’t look at either of them; her for what she'd become, Jack for doing it. “Let’s get out of here,” he grunted. She came to Jack’s other side, helped lift him to his feet and guided him back in.
She never noticed the TARDIS shiver as she stepped onto the deck. The Doctor frowned sternly at the central column, but it had sealed itself, the heart safely hidden away.
“Doctor, what happened?” she was asking. “The last thing I saw was the daleks and they…”
He couldn’t bear the sound of her voice, rattling on, not knowing what had been done to her. Eyes on the console, he said, “Quiet, I have to concentrate. Look after Jack.” He was throwing switches just for the look of the thing, trying to think of what to do.
She shushed instantly. She’d been one of his more obedient companions. He was going to miss that.
The TARDIS was uncertain under his hands. It knew he was angry at it, and it was afraid of the thing talking quietly to Jack in the corner. When he started to set the coordinates, the switch broke off in his hands.
Great, something else he had to replace. Wait, that gave him an idea.
They looked up at him when he approached. “I need your keys,” he said, holding out the broken switch as explanation. “They’ll fit into the console.”
Trusting little apes, they gave the keys back right away. He pushed Jack’s into the switch slot. Rose’s felt wrong, tingling in his hand, tainted by what had happened to her. The TARDIS sparked warningly when he put it near the console, so he put it in his pocket.
It wasn’t until the console was rising steadily that Rose got enough courage to speak again. “Where we going next?” She smiled shakily when he glanced in her direction. “Somewhere relaxing, I hope!”
“I know this system of pleasure planets…” Jack started. The Doctor tuned him out. Good, keep her occupied. This was going to be a very, very tricky maneuver.
Should he warn her, let her collect her bits and bobs? Not his style, and then she’d whinge and argue and then he’d have to tell her what had happened and then Jack would be whinging and apologizing and…
No, he couldn’t bear that. Better to do it this way. Quick.
The central console stopped. Monitor, sensors, all said that he had hit his target exactly. The TARDIS must be trying to make up for its part in this whole mess.
Jack and Rose were looking at the door. “It’s okay,” he told them before they could ask. “Safe as houses. Go on. Right behind you.”
They had barely opened the door before he could hear Jackie’s squeal of surprise! “Darling! He’s brought you back!”
“It’s just a quick visit, Mum.”
“And who’s this handsome lad?” Even as his eyes started to water a bit, the Doctor couldn’t help smirking. He could hear the note of tentative flirtation.
“He’s a friend of ours. The Doctor can explain…” But as Rose turned to him, he pulled the door shut in her face, starting the central column. He could hear muffled cries and some pounding on the door, but didn’t pay heed. Getting the ship to dematerialize while leaving all their things in Jackie’s living room was going to test his jiggery pokery skills to the limit. But he wasn’t a thief, he should let them have their stuff.
He didn’t want the reminders.
The sounds outside faded and ended. He and the TARDIS were back in the vortex. He triggered the door open, threw Rose’s key into the void, and thought he heard the TARDIS sigh with relief.
“I kept my promise, Jackie,” he told the empty room. “Nothing can hurt her now. I’m so, so sorry.”
To be put on who fic & Teaspoon at the end of the day. Do I dare put it on T&C? I am still a member...
The answer is, pretty much this.
TITLE: Alternate Partings
RATING: G/all ages
CHARACTERS: Nine, Jack, Rose
DISCLAIMER: Not an authorized tie-in to BBC property
SPOILERS: allusions to conversation from Utopia
Defeated, the Doctor looked at the Emperor Dalek and waited for the relief of death.
He could have stopped the daleks lifetimes ago; crossed a pair of wires and spared the universe, his own people. He could have stayed on Satellite Five and made sure that history went back on track instead of buggering off to punish Adam. He could have kept Rose by his side, or better yet, tricked her into the TARDIS and sent her home rather than let her take Lynda’s place in the observatory.
She’d died like a warrior. No screaming, just a quiet status report - “They’re he-“ cut off by the sound of dalek weaponry. He’d promised Jackie he’d keep her safe and then he’d let her die millions of years from home in a war he couldn’t manage to end.
Jack had gone crazy when he heard her commlink dissolve to static. First he’d thrown everything he had at the daleks, but when he was down to the last man standing he’d cut and run, bolting into the TARDIS. He’d tried to take the Doctor with him, but was shrugged off. A distant part of him could still hear Jack coaxing the TARDIS for something and feel his ship’s fear and uncertainty.
Take him away he told it. Save him. If Jack was in the TARDIS, he would survive the blast that would scramble every living brain for lightyears around. He felt the TARDIS reach a decision and calm down. Two less things to worry about.
For a moment, he wasn’t even on the Space Station. He was back on Skaro, looking at two little wires and the biggest decision of his lives…
Once again, he couldn’t do it. He’d burned Gallifrey. He couldn’t burn Earth as well.
He wondered what real death was like.
The sound of doors slamming open distracted them all. White light was pouring out of the TARDIS, the pure light of the unfiltered vortex. Terrified but with nowhere to run, the Doctor went to his knees. “What have you done? JACK, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”
“This war ends.” Jack’s voice was rippling, strange, overlaid with a higher note. “The daleks lose.”
The daleks in front of them screamed. “We are the su-per-ior speeeeeecies!” “Exterminate!” “Ex-teeeerrrrrrm-“
Jack waved a hand, sending the lasers heading their way back into the guns. With a snap of his fingers the daleks exploded. He pointed at the stunned Emperor and snapped again. The viewscreen showed flying metal and flesh in the few seconds before blacking out.
The station rocked beneath the Doctor, its engines struggling to hold steady orbit against the force of ship after ship detonating.
“Jack, what have you done? You’ve looked into the heart of the TARDIS, the vortex, nobody’s meant to see that!”
Jack looked at the Doctor, his eyes shining with unearthly light. “I wanted to keep you safe. My Doctor,” the TARDIS said.
“You’re killing him! Go back!”
Jack faltered, one hand going to his head. “I… I… I can see all of time. They’re all gone. Forever. Anywhere. Anytime. I got them. It’s okay.”
The Doctor was climbing to his feet, shakily moving towards him. If the TARDIS didn’t pull the vortex back out of him soon, his head would go the way of the daleks. “Well done, Jack,” he said. “Now put it back. That’s an order.”
Jack tried to salute and missed. His brain was already starting to boil in his skull. Wait!” he said fuzzily in his own voice. “Rose! We can save Rose first!”
“No!” But it was too late; the Doctor felt the burst of huon energy moving over his shoulder, away from the TARDIS, as Jack turned obediently back to face the console. The TARDIS was drawing her energy back into herself; shining huon particles were streaming back to the central column as Jack went to his knees. When the last light flickered out, Jack fell on his face.
The Doctor turned him over. Not breathing. Stupid, fragile apes, no respiratory bypass, now what was it you did when they stopped breathing? Breathe into them. Right. He puffed into Jack’s slack mouth.
On the second breath, Jack tried to slip him tongue.
“Right, into the TARDIS with you.” Focus on Jack. Only on Jack. Jack the human, the stupid, stupid ape who had created the abomination that was already running towards them.
He should leave her. His flesh didn’t just crawl at what Rose had become, his very marrow rebelled. She was a fixed point in time. If their positions were reversed, if it was Jack pelting towards them, he’d shove Rose into the TARDIS and take off without looking back. He was hauling Jack upwards to do just that when for once in his lives he thought about the consequences.
Rose. Never aging, never changing, stuck on a satellite with nothing but corpses and dust. She’d go insane and wouldn’t even have the escape of dying.
He couldn’t do that to her.
“Doctor!” She burst in, grinning with relief, and he couldn’t even look her in the face. He couldn’t look at either of them; her for what she'd become, Jack for doing it. “Let’s get out of here,” he grunted. She came to Jack’s other side, helped lift him to his feet and guided him back in.
She never noticed the TARDIS shiver as she stepped onto the deck. The Doctor frowned sternly at the central column, but it had sealed itself, the heart safely hidden away.
“Doctor, what happened?” she was asking. “The last thing I saw was the daleks and they…”
He couldn’t bear the sound of her voice, rattling on, not knowing what had been done to her. Eyes on the console, he said, “Quiet, I have to concentrate. Look after Jack.” He was throwing switches just for the look of the thing, trying to think of what to do.
She shushed instantly. She’d been one of his more obedient companions. He was going to miss that.
The TARDIS was uncertain under his hands. It knew he was angry at it, and it was afraid of the thing talking quietly to Jack in the corner. When he started to set the coordinates, the switch broke off in his hands.
Great, something else he had to replace. Wait, that gave him an idea.
They looked up at him when he approached. “I need your keys,” he said, holding out the broken switch as explanation. “They’ll fit into the console.”
Trusting little apes, they gave the keys back right away. He pushed Jack’s into the switch slot. Rose’s felt wrong, tingling in his hand, tainted by what had happened to her. The TARDIS sparked warningly when he put it near the console, so he put it in his pocket.
It wasn’t until the console was rising steadily that Rose got enough courage to speak again. “Where we going next?” She smiled shakily when he glanced in her direction. “Somewhere relaxing, I hope!”
“I know this system of pleasure planets…” Jack started. The Doctor tuned him out. Good, keep her occupied. This was going to be a very, very tricky maneuver.
Should he warn her, let her collect her bits and bobs? Not his style, and then she’d whinge and argue and then he’d have to tell her what had happened and then Jack would be whinging and apologizing and…
No, he couldn’t bear that. Better to do it this way. Quick.
The central console stopped. Monitor, sensors, all said that he had hit his target exactly. The TARDIS must be trying to make up for its part in this whole mess.
Jack and Rose were looking at the door. “It’s okay,” he told them before they could ask. “Safe as houses. Go on. Right behind you.”
They had barely opened the door before he could hear Jackie’s squeal of surprise! “Darling! He’s brought you back!”
“It’s just a quick visit, Mum.”
“And who’s this handsome lad?” Even as his eyes started to water a bit, the Doctor couldn’t help smirking. He could hear the note of tentative flirtation.
“He’s a friend of ours. The Doctor can explain…” But as Rose turned to him, he pulled the door shut in her face, starting the central column. He could hear muffled cries and some pounding on the door, but didn’t pay heed. Getting the ship to dematerialize while leaving all their things in Jackie’s living room was going to test his jiggery pokery skills to the limit. But he wasn’t a thief, he should let them have their stuff.
He didn’t want the reminders.
The sounds outside faded and ended. He and the TARDIS were back in the vortex. He triggered the door open, threw Rose’s key into the void, and thought he heard the TARDIS sigh with relief.
“I kept my promise, Jackie,” he told the empty room. “Nothing can hurt her now. I’m so, so sorry.”
To be put on who fic & Teaspoon at the end of the day. Do I dare put it on T&C? I am still a member...