Fic: The Powerless God (3/3)
Title: The Powerless God (3/3)
Author: Mary (stillxmyxheart)
Beta: Rebekah (mirimeneume)
Rating: PG-13 (violence)
Genre: Drama, Angst, Romance, AU
Word Count: 2,192
Characters: Rose, Ten, Original Character; Rose/Ten
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize? Ain't mine.
Summary: The Doctor and Rose arrive on a planet that at first glance appears to be simple and primitive, but they soon discover things aren't quite what they seem.
The sun was low in the sky and the forest was rapidly darkening by the time Rose reached the temple again.
She hurried up the steps, bursting into the main room. The Judge looked momentarily surprised at her entrance, but his face quickly slid into a neutral expression.
"Back again, I see."
"You need to stop all this, now," Rose said firmly.
The Judge laughed. "Sorry, little girl. I don't think you're nearly smart enough or strong enough to stop me."
"Maybe not," Rose said, "but I'm clever."
"Clever? You think you're clever?"
"I know I am. More than you."
The Judge stood and Rose swallowed as she grasped the full scale of his size.
"I'm not afraid of you," Rose lied, standing her ground.
"You have to audacity to stand up to me?" the Judge said loudly, his voice echoing in the chamber.
"You think you're intimidating? You're weak," Rose said, keeping the tremor from her voice. She had a plan but she had to try very hard to make sure things didn't get too out of control.
The Judge grabbed Rose's already bruised wrist and she winced, but didn't cry out. He shoved her and she fell to the floor, landing hard on her hip and rolling out of the way as he raised his foot to kick her.
She pulled herself to her feet, grabbing one of the vases near the door and heaving it at the Judge.
His lip curled, his eyes flashing angrily, and he went after Rose, who managed to stumble over her own feet as she tried to move back. He backhanded her, curling his hand into a fist as he connected with her cheek, knocking her to the floor.
Rose gasped, thinking he might've actually broken her cheekbone. She didn't have much time to dwell on it as he crouched over her, his hands going around her neck. Rose slapped at his arms, her fingernails raking across his skin more than once, to no avail.
She reached blindly behind her, looking for something, anything, that she could use as a weapon. Her hands found something smooth and solid and she picked it up, spots appearing in front of her eyes, and brought it down on his head. He released her, stunned by the blow, and Rose gulped in air, using this moment of surprise to bring her foot up, kicking him square in the chest. He fell back and she pulled herself up, backing away, glancing behind her as she did.
She stopped and smiled suddenly, even though it hurt like hell to do so.
"Why are you smiling, you stupid bitch?" the Judge snarled.
"Because I'm clever," Rose said, and reached up, pulling on the tapestry behind her. It fell to the floor, revealing shelves lined with orbs identical to the one Rose had seen him pull out earlier that afternoon.
The Judge stopped suddenly, staring at Rose.
"What's this?" Rose said, raising her eyebrows. "Fear? Of little ol' me?"
She reached up, pushing an entire set of the glowing blue orbs off the bottom shelf. They fell to the floor, shattering into a million tiny pieces. The Judge jerked, his jaw clenching.
"You see, I don't care who you are or where you're from." She pushed another shelf of orbs to the floor and the Judge winced, taking a step towards her.
"I order you to stop!"
Rose scoffed, tossing another few orbs to the floor.
"Please. I told you, I'm not afraid of you, and I'm certainly not going to obey you. You're just a man. You don't have any real power beyond your ability to intimidate through violence."
Rose knocked some more orbs down and the Judge fell to his knees.
"I'm young, I know," Rose continued, "but I've seen a lot of things. And anyone who relies on objects as their source of power has no real power. Because eventually some stupid little girl, just like me, comes along and does something like this."
Rose pulled the sonic screwdriver from her pocket and aimed it at the topmost shelf. The glass cracked and then shattered. Rose ducked out of the way as the glass rained down and then jumped as the Judge roared in pain.
The building shook and Rose looked up, alarmed. A crack appeared in the ceiling and she realized the temple was falling apart now.
She looked down, making sure all of the orbs were broken, then back up to see the Judge, on the floor now, grinning maniacally at her, holding something out.
"I've still got your lover's orb," he said, taunting her with the one remaining ball of glass, clutched in his hand.
Rose squared her shoulders and walked right over to him, kneeling down beside him.
"Maybe so, but I've got all the power."
She straightened and brought her foot down hard on his wrist. He yelled and released the orb.
Rose scooped it up and hurled it against the wall as hard as she could, closing her eyes against the Judge's final scream of pain.
The temple began to fall down all around her and Rose ran outside, crouching to the ground as the building collapsed in on itself.
She stared at the ruins for a moment and then turned and ran back through the woods, towards the TARDIS.
She fumbled the key from her pocket and pushed open the doors, rushing inside.
The Doctor stared at her, horrified, his eyes red.
"Rose? Oh, God, Rose... I remember everything."
Rose walked slowly forward and fell to her knees beside the Doctor. He stared at her, unable to speak, and she moved to untie him, using the sonic screwdriver to remove the deadlock from the handcuffs. She tossed the rope and cuffs aside and burst into tears, slipping her arms around the Doctor's neck.
He sat for a moment, stunned, before putting his arms around Rose and hugging her fiercely to him.
"How's your head?" Rose asked a few minutes later as the Doctor scanned her cheek using the sonic screwdriver. He frowned slightly.
"Don't you dare worry about me. And don't talk."
He slipped the screwdriver in his pocket and tilted Rose's head carefully to the side, gently running his fingers along the line of her jaw and over the bruises on her neck. He shook his head and moved his hand up to stroke Rose's hair. She raised her hand to cover his, trying to smile.
"Well, nothing's broken, just very badly bruised. Rose, I can't even-"
"Stop, please," Rose said, holding up her hand. "It's not your fault, it was him, it was all him."
"How did you figure it out?" the Doctor asked, leaning against the console, crossing his arms over his chest.
"When we left earlier this afternoon, I saw him take one of the orbs out of his robes. It was mostly a hunch, but it turned out to be right."
The Doctor allowed a small smile. "You're brighter than you give yourself credit for, no matter what he or... I might've told you." He sighed and straightened. "I'll be right back."
Rose waited, staring at her bruised wrist, lightly touching it, until the Doctor came back, a bandage in his hand.
He grabbed Rose's arm and she gasped, jerking her hand back. He withdrew his hands, taking a step back, a pained expression on his face.
"I'm sorry," Rose said softly. "You just surprised me."
"No, I shouldn't have grabbed you, that was stupid."
Rose held her arm out and the Doctor gently took her hand, unrolling the bandage and beginning to wrap it around her wrist. He secured it in place and started to let go of Rose's hand but she tightened her grip and pulled him to her, wrapping her arms around him and holding him tightly.
"I love you," she said softly, "and nothing will change that. We're gonna be okay, you and me."
Rose pulled back, staring intently at the Doctor. She kissed his lips lightly and they rested their foreheads together for a moment, hands clasped together.
"We need to check on Sarina and everyone else," Rose murmured, leaning back. The Doctor nodded, kissing her forehead before stepping back to allow her to slide off the jump seat.
They headed to the village and found Sarina anxiously waiting for them.
"I've been so worried!" she exclaimed, rushing over to them. She hugged Rose, shook the Doctor's hand, beaming.
"They're all better, all of them! We've been celebrating, but I was worried about you. What happened?"
"It was all Rose," the Doctor said, hands in his pockets. "I was, uh, affected."
Sarina looked at Rose, now seeing her bruises and bandaged wrist, and her smile faded.
"No, this wasn't- we fought, the Judge and me," Rose said quickly. "Put up a good fight, but I won in the end."
Sarina nodded, her smile returning, though there was still a bit of skepticism in her eyes.
"Would you like to stay a bit?" she asked, looking hopeful. "I think we'll be carrying on for a few hours yet."
The Doctor and Rose shook their heads.
"We've got to be going, we just wanted to make sure everything was all right."
Sarina nodded. "Everything's wonderful. If you'll wait, I've got your bag at home," she said to Rose. They nodded and Sarina hurried off.
While they waited, Rose and the Doctor watched the villagers celebrating. There was music and dancing, and lots of food; the atmosphere had already changed so much from the way it was when they had first arrived.
Sarina returned after a few moments, Rose's bag in her hands.
"Here you are. I've also got this," she said, holding out a small ceramic jar. "It'll make your bruises feel better and heal faster. And this, it's a scent made from the oils of the flowers you picked." Sarina handed Rose the small vial and smiled.
Rose hugged her. "Thank you, Sarina. For everything."
"And I thank you. You don't know what you've done for us."
Sarina took the Doctor's hand one final time and stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. He grinned, pleased, and took Rose's bag from her so he could hold her good hand as they walked back to the TARDIS.
Not long after they returned, they were in the bathtub together, cleaning up and relaxing after the events of the last two days.
Rose's head was tilted back and the Doctor was gently shampooing her hair.
"That feels good," Rose murmured, smiling.
The Doctor grinned and rinsed her hair, then lathered up her loofah and began to scrub her back.
"Feel better?" he asked. Rose nodded.
"Just being with you makes me feel better."
The Doctor rinsed Rose's back and Rose turned around carefully so as not to splash too much water around.
"I just can't believe you want to stay with me," the Doctor said, frowning down at the loofah in his hands.
"I told you, it's not your fault. You weren't yourself," Rose said, gazing at him, her brow furrowed slightly.
"But I remember everything," he said, looking up at Rose, his eyes pained. "I remember hurting you and... and hitting you." The Doctor closed his eyes and Rose reached up to touch his cheek.
"Look at me."
The Doctor opened his eyes and Rose gave him a small smile.
"I don't blame you. You have to believe me when I say that, I don't blame you. You remember the talk we had, after the battle? We don't let our feelings for each other affect what we do when it comes to helping others. You can't let this bother you." Rose's smile widened and she stroked the Doctor's cheek with her thumb. He turned his head to kiss her palm and smiled at her.
Rose grinned and moved forward, pressing her lips to his.
"Now do the front," she said softly, her lips brushing against his. The Doctor grinned and pulled her closer.
Later on, long after Rose had fallen asleep, the Doctor lay, watching her once more. She smelled faintly of body wash and more strongly of the cream Sarina had given her, which the Doctor had carefully applied to all of her many bruises after they'd checked her over.
Rose had dressed for bed and fallen asleep almost immediately, the Doctor's hand clutched loosely in her own.
And now he lay, propped up on one elbow, watching her sleep, listening to her deep, even breathing, in harmony with the low hum of the TARDIS engines.
He gently removed his hand from hers and reached up to brush her hair back, his hand lingering on her unhurt cheek. He did believe what she said, knew she didn't blame him, but that didn't stop the guilt gnawing at his stomach, guilt he knew would always be there.
The Doctor leaned down to whisper in her ear, something he said only rarely and only in quiet moments like these.
"I love you."
Rose sighed, turning her head toward him slightly, and he kissed her shoulder, taking her hand again as he lay down to sleep.
Author: Mary (stillxmyxheart)
Beta: Rebekah (mirimeneume)
Rating: PG-13 (violence)
Genre: Drama, Angst, Romance, AU
Word Count: 2,192
Characters: Rose, Ten, Original Character; Rose/Ten
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize? Ain't mine.
Summary: The Doctor and Rose arrive on a planet that at first glance appears to be simple and primitive, but they soon discover things aren't quite what they seem.
The sun was low in the sky and the forest was rapidly darkening by the time Rose reached the temple again.
She hurried up the steps, bursting into the main room. The Judge looked momentarily surprised at her entrance, but his face quickly slid into a neutral expression.
"Back again, I see."
"You need to stop all this, now," Rose said firmly.
The Judge laughed. "Sorry, little girl. I don't think you're nearly smart enough or strong enough to stop me."
"Maybe not," Rose said, "but I'm clever."
"Clever? You think you're clever?"
"I know I am. More than you."
The Judge stood and Rose swallowed as she grasped the full scale of his size.
"I'm not afraid of you," Rose lied, standing her ground.
"You have to audacity to stand up to me?" the Judge said loudly, his voice echoing in the chamber.
"You think you're intimidating? You're weak," Rose said, keeping the tremor from her voice. She had a plan but she had to try very hard to make sure things didn't get too out of control.
The Judge grabbed Rose's already bruised wrist and she winced, but didn't cry out. He shoved her and she fell to the floor, landing hard on her hip and rolling out of the way as he raised his foot to kick her.
She pulled herself to her feet, grabbing one of the vases near the door and heaving it at the Judge.
His lip curled, his eyes flashing angrily, and he went after Rose, who managed to stumble over her own feet as she tried to move back. He backhanded her, curling his hand into a fist as he connected with her cheek, knocking her to the floor.
Rose gasped, thinking he might've actually broken her cheekbone. She didn't have much time to dwell on it as he crouched over her, his hands going around her neck. Rose slapped at his arms, her fingernails raking across his skin more than once, to no avail.
She reached blindly behind her, looking for something, anything, that she could use as a weapon. Her hands found something smooth and solid and she picked it up, spots appearing in front of her eyes, and brought it down on his head. He released her, stunned by the blow, and Rose gulped in air, using this moment of surprise to bring her foot up, kicking him square in the chest. He fell back and she pulled herself up, backing away, glancing behind her as she did.
She stopped and smiled suddenly, even though it hurt like hell to do so.
"Why are you smiling, you stupid bitch?" the Judge snarled.
"Because I'm clever," Rose said, and reached up, pulling on the tapestry behind her. It fell to the floor, revealing shelves lined with orbs identical to the one Rose had seen him pull out earlier that afternoon.
The Judge stopped suddenly, staring at Rose.
"What's this?" Rose said, raising her eyebrows. "Fear? Of little ol' me?"
She reached up, pushing an entire set of the glowing blue orbs off the bottom shelf. They fell to the floor, shattering into a million tiny pieces. The Judge jerked, his jaw clenching.
"You see, I don't care who you are or where you're from." She pushed another shelf of orbs to the floor and the Judge winced, taking a step towards her.
"I order you to stop!"
Rose scoffed, tossing another few orbs to the floor.
"Please. I told you, I'm not afraid of you, and I'm certainly not going to obey you. You're just a man. You don't have any real power beyond your ability to intimidate through violence."
Rose knocked some more orbs down and the Judge fell to his knees.
"I'm young, I know," Rose continued, "but I've seen a lot of things. And anyone who relies on objects as their source of power has no real power. Because eventually some stupid little girl, just like me, comes along and does something like this."
Rose pulled the sonic screwdriver from her pocket and aimed it at the topmost shelf. The glass cracked and then shattered. Rose ducked out of the way as the glass rained down and then jumped as the Judge roared in pain.
The building shook and Rose looked up, alarmed. A crack appeared in the ceiling and she realized the temple was falling apart now.
She looked down, making sure all of the orbs were broken, then back up to see the Judge, on the floor now, grinning maniacally at her, holding something out.
"I've still got your lover's orb," he said, taunting her with the one remaining ball of glass, clutched in his hand.
Rose squared her shoulders and walked right over to him, kneeling down beside him.
"Maybe so, but I've got all the power."
She straightened and brought her foot down hard on his wrist. He yelled and released the orb.
Rose scooped it up and hurled it against the wall as hard as she could, closing her eyes against the Judge's final scream of pain.
The temple began to fall down all around her and Rose ran outside, crouching to the ground as the building collapsed in on itself.
She stared at the ruins for a moment and then turned and ran back through the woods, towards the TARDIS.
She fumbled the key from her pocket and pushed open the doors, rushing inside.
The Doctor stared at her, horrified, his eyes red.
"Rose? Oh, God, Rose... I remember everything."
Rose walked slowly forward and fell to her knees beside the Doctor. He stared at her, unable to speak, and she moved to untie him, using the sonic screwdriver to remove the deadlock from the handcuffs. She tossed the rope and cuffs aside and burst into tears, slipping her arms around the Doctor's neck.
He sat for a moment, stunned, before putting his arms around Rose and hugging her fiercely to him.
"How's your head?" Rose asked a few minutes later as the Doctor scanned her cheek using the sonic screwdriver. He frowned slightly.
"Don't you dare worry about me. And don't talk."
He slipped the screwdriver in his pocket and tilted Rose's head carefully to the side, gently running his fingers along the line of her jaw and over the bruises on her neck. He shook his head and moved his hand up to stroke Rose's hair. She raised her hand to cover his, trying to smile.
"Well, nothing's broken, just very badly bruised. Rose, I can't even-"
"Stop, please," Rose said, holding up her hand. "It's not your fault, it was him, it was all him."
"How did you figure it out?" the Doctor asked, leaning against the console, crossing his arms over his chest.
"When we left earlier this afternoon, I saw him take one of the orbs out of his robes. It was mostly a hunch, but it turned out to be right."
The Doctor allowed a small smile. "You're brighter than you give yourself credit for, no matter what he or... I might've told you." He sighed and straightened. "I'll be right back."
Rose waited, staring at her bruised wrist, lightly touching it, until the Doctor came back, a bandage in his hand.
He grabbed Rose's arm and she gasped, jerking her hand back. He withdrew his hands, taking a step back, a pained expression on his face.
"I'm sorry," Rose said softly. "You just surprised me."
"No, I shouldn't have grabbed you, that was stupid."
Rose held her arm out and the Doctor gently took her hand, unrolling the bandage and beginning to wrap it around her wrist. He secured it in place and started to let go of Rose's hand but she tightened her grip and pulled him to her, wrapping her arms around him and holding him tightly.
"I love you," she said softly, "and nothing will change that. We're gonna be okay, you and me."
Rose pulled back, staring intently at the Doctor. She kissed his lips lightly and they rested their foreheads together for a moment, hands clasped together.
"We need to check on Sarina and everyone else," Rose murmured, leaning back. The Doctor nodded, kissing her forehead before stepping back to allow her to slide off the jump seat.
They headed to the village and found Sarina anxiously waiting for them.
"I've been so worried!" she exclaimed, rushing over to them. She hugged Rose, shook the Doctor's hand, beaming.
"They're all better, all of them! We've been celebrating, but I was worried about you. What happened?"
"It was all Rose," the Doctor said, hands in his pockets. "I was, uh, affected."
Sarina looked at Rose, now seeing her bruises and bandaged wrist, and her smile faded.
"No, this wasn't- we fought, the Judge and me," Rose said quickly. "Put up a good fight, but I won in the end."
Sarina nodded, her smile returning, though there was still a bit of skepticism in her eyes.
"Would you like to stay a bit?" she asked, looking hopeful. "I think we'll be carrying on for a few hours yet."
The Doctor and Rose shook their heads.
"We've got to be going, we just wanted to make sure everything was all right."
Sarina nodded. "Everything's wonderful. If you'll wait, I've got your bag at home," she said to Rose. They nodded and Sarina hurried off.
While they waited, Rose and the Doctor watched the villagers celebrating. There was music and dancing, and lots of food; the atmosphere had already changed so much from the way it was when they had first arrived.
Sarina returned after a few moments, Rose's bag in her hands.
"Here you are. I've also got this," she said, holding out a small ceramic jar. "It'll make your bruises feel better and heal faster. And this, it's a scent made from the oils of the flowers you picked." Sarina handed Rose the small vial and smiled.
Rose hugged her. "Thank you, Sarina. For everything."
"And I thank you. You don't know what you've done for us."
Sarina took the Doctor's hand one final time and stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. He grinned, pleased, and took Rose's bag from her so he could hold her good hand as they walked back to the TARDIS.
Not long after they returned, they were in the bathtub together, cleaning up and relaxing after the events of the last two days.
Rose's head was tilted back and the Doctor was gently shampooing her hair.
"That feels good," Rose murmured, smiling.
The Doctor grinned and rinsed her hair, then lathered up her loofah and began to scrub her back.
"Feel better?" he asked. Rose nodded.
"Just being with you makes me feel better."
The Doctor rinsed Rose's back and Rose turned around carefully so as not to splash too much water around.
"I just can't believe you want to stay with me," the Doctor said, frowning down at the loofah in his hands.
"I told you, it's not your fault. You weren't yourself," Rose said, gazing at him, her brow furrowed slightly.
"But I remember everything," he said, looking up at Rose, his eyes pained. "I remember hurting you and... and hitting you." The Doctor closed his eyes and Rose reached up to touch his cheek.
"Look at me."
The Doctor opened his eyes and Rose gave him a small smile.
"I don't blame you. You have to believe me when I say that, I don't blame you. You remember the talk we had, after the battle? We don't let our feelings for each other affect what we do when it comes to helping others. You can't let this bother you." Rose's smile widened and she stroked the Doctor's cheek with her thumb. He turned his head to kiss her palm and smiled at her.
Rose grinned and moved forward, pressing her lips to his.
"Now do the front," she said softly, her lips brushing against his. The Doctor grinned and pulled her closer.
Later on, long after Rose had fallen asleep, the Doctor lay, watching her once more. She smelled faintly of body wash and more strongly of the cream Sarina had given her, which the Doctor had carefully applied to all of her many bruises after they'd checked her over.
Rose had dressed for bed and fallen asleep almost immediately, the Doctor's hand clutched loosely in her own.
And now he lay, propped up on one elbow, watching her sleep, listening to her deep, even breathing, in harmony with the low hum of the TARDIS engines.
He gently removed his hand from hers and reached up to brush her hair back, his hand lingering on her unhurt cheek. He did believe what she said, knew she didn't blame him, but that didn't stop the guilt gnawing at his stomach, guilt he knew would always be there.
The Doctor leaned down to whisper in her ear, something he said only rarely and only in quiet moments like these.
"I love you."
Rose sighed, turning her head toward him slightly, and he kissed her shoulder, taking her hand again as he lay down to sleep.