Fragments of a Shattered Life 13
Title: Fragments of a Shattered Life
Part: 13/28-ish
Rating: 18+
Warnings: Explicit violence, non-con
Genre: Angst
Characters: Jack Harkness, Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones, Rose Tyler
Summary: The Doctor and Rose run into Jack after POTW but all is not as it seems. Note that this is a very dark fic.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N:
Again I'm using the quote I discussed in the author's notes for chapter 3
Chapter 13: Jack's Story
When Martha had recovered from her shock and Jack had calmed down enough to return to her side so they could both stay warm they started to talk again. Martha asked Jack to tell her how the Doctor had abandoned him and how he had ended up on the research station.
Huddling close to Martha for warmth, Jack began his story.
“The Doctor, Rose and I were on the Game Station, a Satellite orbiting Earth. The Daleks were attacking the Satellite and Earth itself and the Doctor asked me to hold them off long enough so that he could build a weapon to destroy them. I did my best. I organised the people on the station to fight and we slowed them down a little. But they were all killed.”
Even after all the years Jack still felt guilty about that.
“He sent Rose home to safety in the TARDIS, but everyone else died. I could have left at any time using my vortex manipulator but I wanted to buy him as much time as I could. I was the last man standing but they got me eventually. That was my first death. You can imagine my confusion when I woke up again. I don't know how it happened but it had to be something to do with the Doctor, and it's been happening ever since.”
“And did you buy him enough time?” Martha asked.
“I don't know,” Jack replied, “the weapon was never used but when I revived the Daleks were all just piles of dust. I never found out what happened.”
It was difficult for Jack to discuss his heartbreak at seeing the TARDIS disappear before his eyes, but he forced himself on.
“When I got back to the TARDIS it was already leaving. They hadn't even checked to see if I was alive. I waited for them, not that I had much choice since the Dalek blast had fried my vortex manipulator and they had destroyed all the communications electronics on the station. I thought the Doctor and Rose would come back at least to retrieve my body if they thought me dead but they didn't come.”
“How long did you wait?” asked Martha tentatively.
“Four months,” Jack replied. “It took that long for Earth to send a shuttle up to check. For the whole time I was trapped on the top 5 floors. The Daleks had opened the levels below that to space. The automatic environmental systems up there still worked so there was air and heating and there was plenty of water in a bathroom but there was no food. Well, unless you count the bodies. The Daleks had turned to dust but the humans were still there.”
“Oh god,” gasped Martha, “tell me you didn't eat them.”
Jack smiled wryly, “No I didn't. I spaced the bodies in the first couple of days. Though, if I hadn't got rid of them, later on I think I might have eaten them.”
“So how did you survive?” Martha asked.
Jack just looked at her. “You're a doctor Martha, you must have some idea how long it takes a human to starve to death. Do the maths.”
She thought for a minute, “about 6 weeks,” she said. Then looking horrified she carried on, “but you were there for 4 months which is about 17 weeks,” she trailed off.
“That's right,” Jack confirmed. “I starved twice and was well on my way to a third time when the Earth shuttle arrived. I was pathetically grateful to them for getting me off the satellite. It never occurred to me that things would actually get worse.”
It was only the dimming that 135 years gives a memory that allowed Jack to talk so calmly about events that had been utter hell to live through at the time. Heartbroken, betrayed, losing hope of the Doctor returning for him, and dying slowly he had been glad for the end the first time he starved. Finding himself resurrected again afterwards had plunged him into the depths of despair.
Martha was the only person he had told his story to, ever. He was finding it strangely cathartic. It was good to know that someone cared enough to listen and that there was someone else who knew what had happened to him.
“The Earth government had blamed the entire Dalek attack on terrorists, including the massacre of everyone on Satellite 5. The fact that no Daleks remained after they were defeated backed that up.
No one believed me when I told them what had happened. All the records on the Satellite were destroyed during the battle so I had no evidence. In the end I don't think they believed it themselves but they accused me of killing all 256 people on Satellite 5 and organising terrorist attacks on Earth.
It was convenient for them to have a scapegoat and a conviction would make them look good to the general public. The only thing they needed was some evidence.”
“But there was no evidence,” Martha interjected, “because you didn't do it.”
“No,” Jack agreed, “so they decided to go for a confession in a live broadcast.”
“But there's no way you would have agreed to do that.”
“You'd think that wouldn't you,” agreed Jack. "But they were very persuasive. During one of the interrogation sessions they went too far and discovered that I couldn't stay dead. After that it was only a matter of wearing me down. You've seen the type of thing this curse allows. Could you resist that for long? I did as they wanted in the end and confessed live on TV. They convicted me very quickly after that and I was sentenced to life imprisonment (they could hardly execute me for it). But at least they left me alone after that. It was very peaceful.”
To Martha's horror Jack smiled wistfully when talking about being locked up for life. What kind of a life had he led since then that he looked back on that as a pleasant interlude?
Jack shook his head. “It didn't last though,” he explained. “Earth was a mess, the Daleks did a lot of damage. So when the Consortium from Nirvana came offering to buy up life prisoners they didn't hesitate. Didn't ask what they wanted them for either. They got a lot for me. Not dying was a big selling point.”
“And what did they want the prisoners for?” asked Martha.
“Oh the usual. Manual labour or the Pleasure Palaces. I was assigned to the Pleasure Palaces. That's how I ended up as a petaq.”
Even if Martha hadn't already known that Jack had been a prostitute he was stunningly good looking and she would have guessed they would send him there rather than for manual labour. “So you were a slave,” she stated.
“Oh no,” Jack contradicted with a grimace. “The Nirvanans would never admit to slavery on their planet. We were criminals sentenced to penal servitude and this was the service.”
Glossing over his time as a whore (there were things Martha definitely did not need to know), Jack skipped 104 years to the day when the Doctor showed up as his client.
“The Doctor booked me. I didn't know who he was at first because he'd regenerated.”
“He'd what ?” asked Martha.
“Regenerated. That's what Time Lord's do when they die. They essentially get a new body.” Jack explained. “So they look completely different.”
“Right, so you didn't recognise him.”
“No,” Jack confirmed. “When I realised I thought that finally he'd come for me. I'd always convinced myself that he didn't leave me on purpose, that he must have thought I was dead. But he admitted that he had always known I was alive and he had abandoned me deliberately because I'd been resurrected and that I was wrong, an abomination.”
Jack's voice broke at this point, and he clamped fiercely down on his emotions.
“He had heard that I was convicted of mass murder and he seemed to believe it. He never even asked if I was guilty. He refused to get me away in the TARDIS and the last I saw of him he was demanding a refund. Apparently Rose sent him, but to this day I don't understand why he came just to abandon me again. Or why Rose let him do it.”
“They sent him a vid of part of my punishment. But it didn't make any difference, he still left me there.”
“Anyway,” he continued. “After that I refused to cooperate and the Consortium eventually got fed up with me and sold me off to the highest bidder. That was the Astratech Research Corporation and here I am.”
Martha was aware that this was the extremely sanitised version of events. Jack hadn't wanted to go into the graphic, gory details of his life but Martha had seen enough in the few weeks she had known him to know that he was leaving out acres of pain and grief from his story. She honoured that decision by not asking difficult questions. Her main focus anyway was the Doctor and his treatment of his former companion.
“No matter what he did in the past, Jack, I will make sure that he doesn't abandon you again. When he comes to get me, we will take you with us.”
Jack shook his head sadly. “I believe you will try, Martha. But the Doctor will not want to do it. He'll leave me behind again and probably blame me for the rift research they are doing here as well.”
“We're family. We will always come for you.” Jack quoted. “That's what the Doctor and Rose said to me once when they rescued me from a prison. I believed them, but less than two months later I was left behind and they did not come. So forgive me if I lack faith in him. In fact you should be wondering if he'll even come for you!”
Martha was wondering, and worrying. It had been weeks. And Jack's story rang true. If the Doctor could do that to him, what was to prevent him doing the same to her.
Finally they both fell into an uneasy sleep, snuggled together for warmth.
Chapter 14 is here ohinyan.livejournal.com/4551.html
Part: 13/28-ish
Rating: 18+
Warnings: Explicit violence, non-con
Genre: Angst
Characters: Jack Harkness, Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones, Rose Tyler
Summary: The Doctor and Rose run into Jack after POTW but all is not as it seems. Note that this is a very dark fic.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N:
Again I'm using the quote I discussed in the author's notes for chapter 3
Chapter 13: Jack's Story
When Martha had recovered from her shock and Jack had calmed down enough to return to her side so they could both stay warm they started to talk again. Martha asked Jack to tell her how the Doctor had abandoned him and how he had ended up on the research station.
Huddling close to Martha for warmth, Jack began his story.
“The Doctor, Rose and I were on the Game Station, a Satellite orbiting Earth. The Daleks were attacking the Satellite and Earth itself and the Doctor asked me to hold them off long enough so that he could build a weapon to destroy them. I did my best. I organised the people on the station to fight and we slowed them down a little. But they were all killed.”
Even after all the years Jack still felt guilty about that.
“He sent Rose home to safety in the TARDIS, but everyone else died. I could have left at any time using my vortex manipulator but I wanted to buy him as much time as I could. I was the last man standing but they got me eventually. That was my first death. You can imagine my confusion when I woke up again. I don't know how it happened but it had to be something to do with the Doctor, and it's been happening ever since.”
“And did you buy him enough time?” Martha asked.
“I don't know,” Jack replied, “the weapon was never used but when I revived the Daleks were all just piles of dust. I never found out what happened.”
It was difficult for Jack to discuss his heartbreak at seeing the TARDIS disappear before his eyes, but he forced himself on.
“When I got back to the TARDIS it was already leaving. They hadn't even checked to see if I was alive. I waited for them, not that I had much choice since the Dalek blast had fried my vortex manipulator and they had destroyed all the communications electronics on the station. I thought the Doctor and Rose would come back at least to retrieve my body if they thought me dead but they didn't come.”
“How long did you wait?” asked Martha tentatively.
“Four months,” Jack replied. “It took that long for Earth to send a shuttle up to check. For the whole time I was trapped on the top 5 floors. The Daleks had opened the levels below that to space. The automatic environmental systems up there still worked so there was air and heating and there was plenty of water in a bathroom but there was no food. Well, unless you count the bodies. The Daleks had turned to dust but the humans were still there.”
“Oh god,” gasped Martha, “tell me you didn't eat them.”
Jack smiled wryly, “No I didn't. I spaced the bodies in the first couple of days. Though, if I hadn't got rid of them, later on I think I might have eaten them.”
“So how did you survive?” Martha asked.
Jack just looked at her. “You're a doctor Martha, you must have some idea how long it takes a human to starve to death. Do the maths.”
She thought for a minute, “about 6 weeks,” she said. Then looking horrified she carried on, “but you were there for 4 months which is about 17 weeks,” she trailed off.
“That's right,” Jack confirmed. “I starved twice and was well on my way to a third time when the Earth shuttle arrived. I was pathetically grateful to them for getting me off the satellite. It never occurred to me that things would actually get worse.”
It was only the dimming that 135 years gives a memory that allowed Jack to talk so calmly about events that had been utter hell to live through at the time. Heartbroken, betrayed, losing hope of the Doctor returning for him, and dying slowly he had been glad for the end the first time he starved. Finding himself resurrected again afterwards had plunged him into the depths of despair.
Martha was the only person he had told his story to, ever. He was finding it strangely cathartic. It was good to know that someone cared enough to listen and that there was someone else who knew what had happened to him.
“The Earth government had blamed the entire Dalek attack on terrorists, including the massacre of everyone on Satellite 5. The fact that no Daleks remained after they were defeated backed that up.
No one believed me when I told them what had happened. All the records on the Satellite were destroyed during the battle so I had no evidence. In the end I don't think they believed it themselves but they accused me of killing all 256 people on Satellite 5 and organising terrorist attacks on Earth.
It was convenient for them to have a scapegoat and a conviction would make them look good to the general public. The only thing they needed was some evidence.”
“But there was no evidence,” Martha interjected, “because you didn't do it.”
“No,” Jack agreed, “so they decided to go for a confession in a live broadcast.”
“But there's no way you would have agreed to do that.”
“You'd think that wouldn't you,” agreed Jack. "But they were very persuasive. During one of the interrogation sessions they went too far and discovered that I couldn't stay dead. After that it was only a matter of wearing me down. You've seen the type of thing this curse allows. Could you resist that for long? I did as they wanted in the end and confessed live on TV. They convicted me very quickly after that and I was sentenced to life imprisonment (they could hardly execute me for it). But at least they left me alone after that. It was very peaceful.”
To Martha's horror Jack smiled wistfully when talking about being locked up for life. What kind of a life had he led since then that he looked back on that as a pleasant interlude?
Jack shook his head. “It didn't last though,” he explained. “Earth was a mess, the Daleks did a lot of damage. So when the Consortium from Nirvana came offering to buy up life prisoners they didn't hesitate. Didn't ask what they wanted them for either. They got a lot for me. Not dying was a big selling point.”
“And what did they want the prisoners for?” asked Martha.
“Oh the usual. Manual labour or the Pleasure Palaces. I was assigned to the Pleasure Palaces. That's how I ended up as a petaq.”
Even if Martha hadn't already known that Jack had been a prostitute he was stunningly good looking and she would have guessed they would send him there rather than for manual labour. “So you were a slave,” she stated.
“Oh no,” Jack contradicted with a grimace. “The Nirvanans would never admit to slavery on their planet. We were criminals sentenced to penal servitude and this was the service.”
Glossing over his time as a whore (there were things Martha definitely did not need to know), Jack skipped 104 years to the day when the Doctor showed up as his client.
“The Doctor booked me. I didn't know who he was at first because he'd regenerated.”
“He'd what ?” asked Martha.
“Regenerated. That's what Time Lord's do when they die. They essentially get a new body.” Jack explained. “So they look completely different.”
“Right, so you didn't recognise him.”
“No,” Jack confirmed. “When I realised I thought that finally he'd come for me. I'd always convinced myself that he didn't leave me on purpose, that he must have thought I was dead. But he admitted that he had always known I was alive and he had abandoned me deliberately because I'd been resurrected and that I was wrong, an abomination.”
Jack's voice broke at this point, and he clamped fiercely down on his emotions.
“He had heard that I was convicted of mass murder and he seemed to believe it. He never even asked if I was guilty. He refused to get me away in the TARDIS and the last I saw of him he was demanding a refund. Apparently Rose sent him, but to this day I don't understand why he came just to abandon me again. Or why Rose let him do it.”
“They sent him a vid of part of my punishment. But it didn't make any difference, he still left me there.”
“Anyway,” he continued. “After that I refused to cooperate and the Consortium eventually got fed up with me and sold me off to the highest bidder. That was the Astratech Research Corporation and here I am.”
Martha was aware that this was the extremely sanitised version of events. Jack hadn't wanted to go into the graphic, gory details of his life but Martha had seen enough in the few weeks she had known him to know that he was leaving out acres of pain and grief from his story. She honoured that decision by not asking difficult questions. Her main focus anyway was the Doctor and his treatment of his former companion.
“No matter what he did in the past, Jack, I will make sure that he doesn't abandon you again. When he comes to get me, we will take you with us.”
Jack shook his head sadly. “I believe you will try, Martha. But the Doctor will not want to do it. He'll leave me behind again and probably blame me for the rift research they are doing here as well.”
“We're family. We will always come for you.” Jack quoted. “That's what the Doctor and Rose said to me once when they rescued me from a prison. I believed them, but less than two months later I was left behind and they did not come. So forgive me if I lack faith in him. In fact you should be wondering if he'll even come for you!”
Martha was wondering, and worrying. It had been weeks. And Jack's story rang true. If the Doctor could do that to him, what was to prevent him doing the same to her.
Finally they both fell into an uneasy sleep, snuggled together for warmth.
Chapter 14 is here ohinyan.livejournal.com/4551.html