Glimpse of Truth (chapter 10) The Void Between
Title: The Void Between (10/?) (part of the Truth series)
Author: sinecure - My master fic list
Character/Pairing: Ten, Rose
Rating: Teen
Genre: Angst, hurt/comfort, AU, romance
Summary: There's a distance that sometimes can't be breached.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.
Author's Notes: To momdaegmorgan for the beta and ideas for this series.
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4 (all ages version).
Chapter 4 (adult version), Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9.
Wiping crumbs from her mouth, Rose sighed loudly, heavily, listening to her own voice, feeling... empty now that the other voices were gone. They'd faded in and out for a few days, making her head pound, but disappeared with the Doctor's touch.
Glancing at him, at where he sat at the kitchen table, she set her cup and saucer on the counter with a loud clatter, almost wishing the voices would return; at least they'd talked to her. Sort of.
As she set her plate in the sink, she was startled to hear the Doctor speak for the first time in a few days. "Alishta."
"That a planet?" she asked, feeling relief pour through her. She moved to sit across from him, but came to a standstill, staring at the empty table.
He was gone.
Pulling a chair out with a loud clatter, she lowered herself into it, trying not to feel hurt. She'd ignored him for weeks, put him through the same thing he was putting her through now, but that didn't make it hurt any less.
*~*~*~*~*
Rinsing the last of the soapsuds down the drain, Rose turned off the shower and grabbed a towel. Patting herself off, she climbed carefully from the tub. Aside from a few tumbling runs earlier, the baby was being rather calm today, and she was trying to enjoy it while it lasted. The Doctor was avoiding her, the baby was quiet and still, and she was... bored.
Sighing, she braced her hands on the counter and stared at herself through the steamed-up mirror.
Reading only held her attention for a short time, and eating gave her heartburn. The Doctor spent all his time under the console or in the library, and she was going mental, plum out of her mind. If she didn't find something to occupy her time soon, or if the Doctor didn't start landing on planets again, she'd end up--
Alishta.
Frowning, she jerked her head up. There it was again. That word. It was followed by others--a long string of words that she couldn't understand--but always including that single one; Alishta.
Staring into the mirror, she looked behind her reflection for the Doctor, but he wasn't there. Probably a good thing, she thought a second later, glancing down at her naked belly and swollen breasts.
If he saw her now, he'd most likely run the other way.
As the words--sentences, she thought--continued in her head, she turned sideways in the mirror, examining her belly. It was large. Much larger than Tina's had been when she was pregnant with her daughter. Bigger even than Leanne's, and she'd had twins. The books all assured her that every woman--and species--was different.
But it didn't reassure her any.
He'd seen her naked before when they'd shagged-- sighing, she admitted to herself that she'd been making love to him, not just shagging. She'd thought it'd been the same for him, but these days, she wasn't at all sure.
She'd been a bit thin back then. Now, she was sticking out everywhere and bulging in places and swelling... and it really wasn't attractive at all.
What would the other Doctor, the baby's father, think of her new body? Would he be disgusted, or drawn to her? Some men, she knew, found pregnant women sexy, especially if it was their baby. Probably a possessive feeling, pride that they'd knocked up their girlfriend. Would the Doctor have been that sort of man?
Chuckling, she smoothed her hand over her rounded stomach. Definitely.
*~*~*~*~*
The voice wasn't going away. She'd assumed that it'd fade out just like the others, but it was still there, still as normal sounding as a foreign language could sound, not the jumbled, chaotic swirl of voices that the others had been before. This was different.
She'd considered talking to the Doctor about it, and had even started to. He was in the console room, she knew, and she'd headed in there three or four times before turning around and going the other way.
He wasn't speaking to her. He was throwing a hissy fit and she wanted to keep her distance for a while.
Besides, the voice wasn't bothering her. In fact, it was sort of soothing, this low voice, deep inside her mind. She couldn't understand a word of it, but she felt calmed by it.
Alishta was becoming familiar.
Maybe the baby was soothed by it too. Sliding a hand over her belly, which was still but for the occasional movement, she headed toward the library. As she rounded the corner, she ran straight into the Doctor. Both of them let out startled gasps at the near crash of their bodies and the Doctor's hand reached out to steady her as he regained his own balance.
"Okay?" he asked, slightly breathless.
"Fine," she mumbled, starting to move around him when she noticed his other hand on her belly and his eyes trained there as well. She didn't dare breathe as he stood there, frowning at her stomach. There was a look that was gone when he blinked, a glimmer of something that reminded her of the other him, the other Doctor, and she felt tears burning her eyes.
And then he was nodding and moving around her, heading to wherever he'd been off to in such a rush.
Drawing in a shuddering breath, she felt tears slip down her cheeks.
*~*~*~*~*
The console room wasn't as empty as it looked, not with the Doctor down in the inner workings of it and the voice keeping her company with every step.
Alishta.
She wondered what it was, what it meant.
It was being repeated fairly often, so much so that she felt like she knew it, yet she'd never spoken it aloud. Sitting on the jump seat, she smoothed her hand down the strut beside her, silently asking the TARDIS why it wasn't being translated for her. Could the TARDIS not hear the voice? Did she not know it was there to be translated?
Alishta.
Rolling the word around in her mouth, she silently spoke it.
The Doctor pulled himself out from the lower section of the flooring and replaced the metal grating he'd pulled free. Dusting his hands off, he glanced once at her, then moved around the console, flipping buttons back and forth, testing them out. Sparks flew from a switch near him and he jerked back with a cry of surprise.
Rose sat up, staring at him.
The words in her head were angry now and frustrated sounding. And she realized what she'd probably known all along. The voice was the Doctor's; she just hadn't recognized it because he wasn't speaking in English. He was speaking his native tongue.
"Alishta," she whispered, not even realizing she'd said the word out loud until the Doctor spun around, burnt finger in his mouth, staring at her.
Chapter 11
Author: sinecure - My master fic list
Character/Pairing: Ten, Rose
Rating: Teen
Genre: Angst, hurt/comfort, AU, romance
Summary: There's a distance that sometimes can't be breached.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.
Author's Notes: To momdaegmorgan for the beta and ideas for this series.
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4 (all ages version).
Chapter 4 (adult version), Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9.
Wiping crumbs from her mouth, Rose sighed loudly, heavily, listening to her own voice, feeling... empty now that the other voices were gone. They'd faded in and out for a few days, making her head pound, but disappeared with the Doctor's touch.
Glancing at him, at where he sat at the kitchen table, she set her cup and saucer on the counter with a loud clatter, almost wishing the voices would return; at least they'd talked to her. Sort of.
As she set her plate in the sink, she was startled to hear the Doctor speak for the first time in a few days. "Alishta."
"That a planet?" she asked, feeling relief pour through her. She moved to sit across from him, but came to a standstill, staring at the empty table.
He was gone.
Pulling a chair out with a loud clatter, she lowered herself into it, trying not to feel hurt. She'd ignored him for weeks, put him through the same thing he was putting her through now, but that didn't make it hurt any less.
*~*~*~*~*
Rinsing the last of the soapsuds down the drain, Rose turned off the shower and grabbed a towel. Patting herself off, she climbed carefully from the tub. Aside from a few tumbling runs earlier, the baby was being rather calm today, and she was trying to enjoy it while it lasted. The Doctor was avoiding her, the baby was quiet and still, and she was... bored.
Sighing, she braced her hands on the counter and stared at herself through the steamed-up mirror.
Reading only held her attention for a short time, and eating gave her heartburn. The Doctor spent all his time under the console or in the library, and she was going mental, plum out of her mind. If she didn't find something to occupy her time soon, or if the Doctor didn't start landing on planets again, she'd end up--
Alishta.
Frowning, she jerked her head up. There it was again. That word. It was followed by others--a long string of words that she couldn't understand--but always including that single one; Alishta.
Staring into the mirror, she looked behind her reflection for the Doctor, but he wasn't there. Probably a good thing, she thought a second later, glancing down at her naked belly and swollen breasts.
If he saw her now, he'd most likely run the other way.
As the words--sentences, she thought--continued in her head, she turned sideways in the mirror, examining her belly. It was large. Much larger than Tina's had been when she was pregnant with her daughter. Bigger even than Leanne's, and she'd had twins. The books all assured her that every woman--and species--was different.
But it didn't reassure her any.
He'd seen her naked before when they'd shagged-- sighing, she admitted to herself that she'd been making love to him, not just shagging. She'd thought it'd been the same for him, but these days, she wasn't at all sure.
She'd been a bit thin back then. Now, she was sticking out everywhere and bulging in places and swelling... and it really wasn't attractive at all.
What would the other Doctor, the baby's father, think of her new body? Would he be disgusted, or drawn to her? Some men, she knew, found pregnant women sexy, especially if it was their baby. Probably a possessive feeling, pride that they'd knocked up their girlfriend. Would the Doctor have been that sort of man?
Chuckling, she smoothed her hand over her rounded stomach. Definitely.
*~*~*~*~*
The voice wasn't going away. She'd assumed that it'd fade out just like the others, but it was still there, still as normal sounding as a foreign language could sound, not the jumbled, chaotic swirl of voices that the others had been before. This was different.
She'd considered talking to the Doctor about it, and had even started to. He was in the console room, she knew, and she'd headed in there three or four times before turning around and going the other way.
He wasn't speaking to her. He was throwing a hissy fit and she wanted to keep her distance for a while.
Besides, the voice wasn't bothering her. In fact, it was sort of soothing, this low voice, deep inside her mind. She couldn't understand a word of it, but she felt calmed by it.
Alishta was becoming familiar.
Maybe the baby was soothed by it too. Sliding a hand over her belly, which was still but for the occasional movement, she headed toward the library. As she rounded the corner, she ran straight into the Doctor. Both of them let out startled gasps at the near crash of their bodies and the Doctor's hand reached out to steady her as he regained his own balance.
"Okay?" he asked, slightly breathless.
"Fine," she mumbled, starting to move around him when she noticed his other hand on her belly and his eyes trained there as well. She didn't dare breathe as he stood there, frowning at her stomach. There was a look that was gone when he blinked, a glimmer of something that reminded her of the other him, the other Doctor, and she felt tears burning her eyes.
And then he was nodding and moving around her, heading to wherever he'd been off to in such a rush.
Drawing in a shuddering breath, she felt tears slip down her cheeks.
*~*~*~*~*
The console room wasn't as empty as it looked, not with the Doctor down in the inner workings of it and the voice keeping her company with every step.
Alishta.
She wondered what it was, what it meant.
It was being repeated fairly often, so much so that she felt like she knew it, yet she'd never spoken it aloud. Sitting on the jump seat, she smoothed her hand down the strut beside her, silently asking the TARDIS why it wasn't being translated for her. Could the TARDIS not hear the voice? Did she not know it was there to be translated?
Alishta.
Rolling the word around in her mouth, she silently spoke it.
The Doctor pulled himself out from the lower section of the flooring and replaced the metal grating he'd pulled free. Dusting his hands off, he glanced once at her, then moved around the console, flipping buttons back and forth, testing them out. Sparks flew from a switch near him and he jerked back with a cry of surprise.
Rose sat up, staring at him.
The words in her head were angry now and frustrated sounding. And she realized what she'd probably known all along. The voice was the Doctor's; she just hadn't recognized it because he wasn't speaking in English. He was speaking his native tongue.
"Alishta," she whispered, not even realizing she'd said the word out loud until the Doctor spun around, burnt finger in his mouth, staring at her.
Chapter 11