[fic] Back to Normal (DW, 1/1, G)
Title: Back to Normal
Author: Rynne
Rating: G
Fandom: Doctor Who
Summary: There have been a lot of changes, but some things are back to normal. Ten II/Rose.
Notes: Written for the second challenge of round one at writerinatardis, where the prompt was to write a fic around "black box", "toy aeroplane", and a vegetable being used as a weapon.
Another day, another prison cell.
For some reason, Rose had assumed that her new new Doctor wouldn't get into quite as much trouble as the old one. That being not only willing to stay with her on Earth, but happy to do so, would make him lead a...somewhat calmer life. Even once their new TARDIS was ready to fly, she'd thought that being in a new universe, where there weren't old enemies holding grudges, would keep him safer.
She didn't know what she'd been thinking.
"What are you doing with that?" she asked him, torn between curiosity and exasperation. She was used to him being rude and insulting random alien dictators, and ending up thrown in prison because of it, but she would still rather it hadn't happened and they could go back to exploring the Jungle-Gardens of Karlimineri.
"You'll see."
Just as enigmatic when he wanted to be, too. She suppressed a sigh, moving from where she'd been sitting on the cot to look over his shoulder. His hands moved deftly over the paper, the confession they were supposed to sign, with the seal of the dictator of Karlimineri stamped across the top.
He was...folding it.
"What's that for?" she asked again. "I don't think you're supposed to be doing that."
"Pfffft, who cares what I'm supposed to do? Almost done..."
He made a last few folds, then held the paper up proudly. Or rather, the new shape that the paper was now in, which Rose recognized after a few startled seconds.
"Is that a paper aeroplane?"
He beamed at her, his familiar smug, aren't-I-clever grin. "Right in one, Rose!" He scrambled to his feet and carefully carried the paper aeroplane to the bars. She followed him.
"What can you do with a paper aeroplane?" She lowered her voice when he made a shushing motion at her. They both looked out the bars and down the hall, but the guards were at either end, not close enough to see what they were doing in the cell.
"See that box over there?" He gestured with the little toy aeroplane to a black box on the wall opposite them. "That's a scanner. It opens the cell, when this seal--" he held up the aeroplane, the seal still completely visible on one of the wings, "--is scanned. They really shouldn't have left us with this paper, though I suppose they've never considered that anyone would be able to get the seal close enough to the scanner to get free."
"You're going to free us with a paper aeroplane?" Laughter bubbled up from deep within her and she couldn't resist slipping her arms around his waist and squeezing. He was clever, and insane, and adorable, and she loved him more than she had ever thought possible.
When she looked up at his face again, he was looking at her, his eyes so very warm and soft. A corner of his mouth quirked up. "Kiss for luck?"
She giggled again, but even after two years together, she was not about to pass up any chance to kiss him. Still, she wanted to get going, get out of the cell and take care of the dictator, so she pulled away after only a few seconds, and stifled another giggle at the disappointed look on his face.
They glanced down the corridor again, but the guards were still looking away. The Doctor carefully lined the paper aeroplane up, then started shifting around, muttering about proper angles and trajectories. She wanted to ask him to hurry it up, but knew they'd probably only have one shot at this, so she kept silent.
Finally, he stuck his arm out the bars, aimed the aeroplane, and threw it. It sailed smoothly up, then down--then right across the scanner. There was a small beep, a blinking yellow light, and the door swung open.
Grinning at each other, they grabbed hands and walked out, taking care to keep as quiet as possible. As they approached one of the guards at the end of the corridor, Rose wondered what the plan was for getting past them, but then they just walked right past. The guard was asleep, leaning against the wall. The Doctor looked at her, amusement and disappointment mixed in his eyes.
"Not everything needs to be exciting," she muttered against his ear.
"I suppose," he said. "Well, we still have to find--"
A shout went up from behind them. "THE PRISONERS ARE ESCAPING!"
They glanced at each other again, this time the Doctor's smile spread out across his face, and without another word to each other, they started running. They dropped hands to run more easily, and to dodge the guards who tried to catch them. But they were faster, the Karlimineri being much bigger and heavier, and they managed to wind their way through all the guards.
After they'd been running for a few minutes and the guards fell back, Rose spotted a door. "In here!" she said, and the Doctor nodded. Neither of them knew where they were, so it didn't matter where they went, and this might help throw off the guards even further.
They sped through the door and took care not to slam it behind them, but when Rose looked up, about to sigh with relief, she froze. In front of them was a table with a meal laid out and two people eating, who were also frozen. She didn't recognize the one closest to them, but the one across the table was the dictator.
Immediately the Doctor had the sonic screwdriver out and buzzing, locking the door behind them. When he was finished with that, he advanced on the dictator, the screwdriver held up in front of him in a manner Rose thought was supposed to be threatening. It probably was, to those who didn't know it was a screwdriver.
"Now, Duke Tulemin, I think we need to have a little chat about why you shouldn't lock up everyone who disagrees with your policies, hmm?" The Doctor spoke with a calm, coaxing voice.
The Duke raised his eyebrows. "Oh, I don't think so, Doctor." His eyes flicked to the left, and the Karlimineri right in front of them abruptly stood up and sprinted to a desk. Rose tried to stop him, but he knocked her away with one arm, and she crashed into his abandoned chair. The Doctor looked at her, made as if to take a step toward her, but she shook her head at him--she was all right, and he needed to pay attention.
The Karlimineri threw open a drawer in the desk and pulled out something unmistakable--a gun of some sort. Rose almost sighed, but her ribs ached a bit from her impact, so she didn't.
And the gun was pointed at her.
"Now, Doctor," the Duke said, standing up, "why don't you give that to me, whatever it is?" He gestured towards the sonic screwdriver.
The Doctor looked torn, his gaze flicking from her to the gun to the Duke and starting the cycle over. She could practically see the moment when he decided to do as the Duke asked, and suddenly she was furious. No. This was not going to happen.
Before she could think further, she snatched up something off the plate in front of her, something that might have been a vegetable, and threw it at the Karlimineri with the gun. She seemed to have surprised everyone with her action, because no one did anything as the vegetable hit the Karlimineri directly in the face and exploded, splattering him with something messy. The gun barrel dropped just a few inches as he raised his hand to rub at his face, and the Doctor took his chance.
He leapt onto the table, then across it, swiping the gun in one easy motion and tossing it to Rose. She caught it, pleased. He didn't like guns, and didn't even like her carrying any, but at least he trusted her with one. She pointed it at the Duke, not having any intention of firing, but he didn't have to know that.
"You were saying?" the Doctor said to the Duke, the screwdriver up again, this time held close to the other Karlimineri, who stood still.
"I was saying...that I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement," the Duke said eventually, the words low and almost seeming to be ground out of him.
"That's what I thought!" the Doctor said cheerfully. He shifted to look at Rose while still keeping the screwdriver held threateningly in front of him. "Evil dictator, I'm sure there has to be a resistance around here somewhere, don't you think?"
She laughed. "Oh, definitely."
"Right then." He was fairly bouncing. "Come on, you two. We'll let your people deal with you."
He unlocked the door and led them out, Rose following, smiling to herself.
How she loved this life.
Author: Rynne
Rating: G
Fandom: Doctor Who
Summary: There have been a lot of changes, but some things are back to normal. Ten II/Rose.
Notes: Written for the second challenge of round one at writerinatardis, where the prompt was to write a fic around "black box", "toy aeroplane", and a vegetable being used as a weapon.
Another day, another prison cell.
For some reason, Rose had assumed that her new new Doctor wouldn't get into quite as much trouble as the old one. That being not only willing to stay with her on Earth, but happy to do so, would make him lead a...somewhat calmer life. Even once their new TARDIS was ready to fly, she'd thought that being in a new universe, where there weren't old enemies holding grudges, would keep him safer.
She didn't know what she'd been thinking.
"What are you doing with that?" she asked him, torn between curiosity and exasperation. She was used to him being rude and insulting random alien dictators, and ending up thrown in prison because of it, but she would still rather it hadn't happened and they could go back to exploring the Jungle-Gardens of Karlimineri.
"You'll see."
Just as enigmatic when he wanted to be, too. She suppressed a sigh, moving from where she'd been sitting on the cot to look over his shoulder. His hands moved deftly over the paper, the confession they were supposed to sign, with the seal of the dictator of Karlimineri stamped across the top.
He was...folding it.
"What's that for?" she asked again. "I don't think you're supposed to be doing that."
"Pfffft, who cares what I'm supposed to do? Almost done..."
He made a last few folds, then held the paper up proudly. Or rather, the new shape that the paper was now in, which Rose recognized after a few startled seconds.
"Is that a paper aeroplane?"
He beamed at her, his familiar smug, aren't-I-clever grin. "Right in one, Rose!" He scrambled to his feet and carefully carried the paper aeroplane to the bars. She followed him.
"What can you do with a paper aeroplane?" She lowered her voice when he made a shushing motion at her. They both looked out the bars and down the hall, but the guards were at either end, not close enough to see what they were doing in the cell.
"See that box over there?" He gestured with the little toy aeroplane to a black box on the wall opposite them. "That's a scanner. It opens the cell, when this seal--" he held up the aeroplane, the seal still completely visible on one of the wings, "--is scanned. They really shouldn't have left us with this paper, though I suppose they've never considered that anyone would be able to get the seal close enough to the scanner to get free."
"You're going to free us with a paper aeroplane?" Laughter bubbled up from deep within her and she couldn't resist slipping her arms around his waist and squeezing. He was clever, and insane, and adorable, and she loved him more than she had ever thought possible.
When she looked up at his face again, he was looking at her, his eyes so very warm and soft. A corner of his mouth quirked up. "Kiss for luck?"
She giggled again, but even after two years together, she was not about to pass up any chance to kiss him. Still, she wanted to get going, get out of the cell and take care of the dictator, so she pulled away after only a few seconds, and stifled another giggle at the disappointed look on his face.
They glanced down the corridor again, but the guards were still looking away. The Doctor carefully lined the paper aeroplane up, then started shifting around, muttering about proper angles and trajectories. She wanted to ask him to hurry it up, but knew they'd probably only have one shot at this, so she kept silent.
Finally, he stuck his arm out the bars, aimed the aeroplane, and threw it. It sailed smoothly up, then down--then right across the scanner. There was a small beep, a blinking yellow light, and the door swung open.
Grinning at each other, they grabbed hands and walked out, taking care to keep as quiet as possible. As they approached one of the guards at the end of the corridor, Rose wondered what the plan was for getting past them, but then they just walked right past. The guard was asleep, leaning against the wall. The Doctor looked at her, amusement and disappointment mixed in his eyes.
"Not everything needs to be exciting," she muttered against his ear.
"I suppose," he said. "Well, we still have to find--"
A shout went up from behind them. "THE PRISONERS ARE ESCAPING!"
They glanced at each other again, this time the Doctor's smile spread out across his face, and without another word to each other, they started running. They dropped hands to run more easily, and to dodge the guards who tried to catch them. But they were faster, the Karlimineri being much bigger and heavier, and they managed to wind their way through all the guards.
After they'd been running for a few minutes and the guards fell back, Rose spotted a door. "In here!" she said, and the Doctor nodded. Neither of them knew where they were, so it didn't matter where they went, and this might help throw off the guards even further.
They sped through the door and took care not to slam it behind them, but when Rose looked up, about to sigh with relief, she froze. In front of them was a table with a meal laid out and two people eating, who were also frozen. She didn't recognize the one closest to them, but the one across the table was the dictator.
Immediately the Doctor had the sonic screwdriver out and buzzing, locking the door behind them. When he was finished with that, he advanced on the dictator, the screwdriver held up in front of him in a manner Rose thought was supposed to be threatening. It probably was, to those who didn't know it was a screwdriver.
"Now, Duke Tulemin, I think we need to have a little chat about why you shouldn't lock up everyone who disagrees with your policies, hmm?" The Doctor spoke with a calm, coaxing voice.
The Duke raised his eyebrows. "Oh, I don't think so, Doctor." His eyes flicked to the left, and the Karlimineri right in front of them abruptly stood up and sprinted to a desk. Rose tried to stop him, but he knocked her away with one arm, and she crashed into his abandoned chair. The Doctor looked at her, made as if to take a step toward her, but she shook her head at him--she was all right, and he needed to pay attention.
The Karlimineri threw open a drawer in the desk and pulled out something unmistakable--a gun of some sort. Rose almost sighed, but her ribs ached a bit from her impact, so she didn't.
And the gun was pointed at her.
"Now, Doctor," the Duke said, standing up, "why don't you give that to me, whatever it is?" He gestured towards the sonic screwdriver.
The Doctor looked torn, his gaze flicking from her to the gun to the Duke and starting the cycle over. She could practically see the moment when he decided to do as the Duke asked, and suddenly she was furious. No. This was not going to happen.
Before she could think further, she snatched up something off the plate in front of her, something that might have been a vegetable, and threw it at the Karlimineri with the gun. She seemed to have surprised everyone with her action, because no one did anything as the vegetable hit the Karlimineri directly in the face and exploded, splattering him with something messy. The gun barrel dropped just a few inches as he raised his hand to rub at his face, and the Doctor took his chance.
He leapt onto the table, then across it, swiping the gun in one easy motion and tossing it to Rose. She caught it, pleased. He didn't like guns, and didn't even like her carrying any, but at least he trusted her with one. She pointed it at the Duke, not having any intention of firing, but he didn't have to know that.
"You were saying?" the Doctor said to the Duke, the screwdriver up again, this time held close to the other Karlimineri, who stood still.
"I was saying...that I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement," the Duke said eventually, the words low and almost seeming to be ground out of him.
"That's what I thought!" the Doctor said cheerfully. He shifted to look at Rose while still keeping the screwdriver held threateningly in front of him. "Evil dictator, I'm sure there has to be a resistance around here somewhere, don't you think?"
She laughed. "Oh, definitely."
"Right then." He was fairly bouncing. "Come on, you two. We'll let your people deal with you."
He unlocked the door and led them out, Rose following, smiling to herself.
How she loved this life.