Hand in the Dark [RP for aces_are_rare]

[timewill_tell]

It was nearing dusk as the Doctor and and Ace walked away from the small village, home to the Trelek people. It was a small planet, harboring only that small village, and a diverse variety of flora and fauna, but as planets went, it was one of the more unremarkable ones the Doctor had encountered. In fact, he was certain he'd never even been there

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[aces_are_rare]

"Of course it will," she agreed. She wouldn't allow anything else to be true, but the fact that he didn't believe the words himself sent a chill down her spine. He was always so sureWhen he began to tremble she brushed his hands aside, unknotting his tie for him and pulling it free from his collar before undoing the top two buttons and the ones at the cuffs. His pulse, when her fingers brushed his wrist, was too fast

[aces_are_rare]

Ace's sleep, light and troubled, ended abruptly with the flashing lights, moaning, and the certainty that something was wrong. She almost fell out of the chair in an effort to stand up and get the the bed. "Professor

[timewill_tell]

He was closer to wakefulness now, but hardly lucid; the fever was corrupting his thoughts, distorting reality. When the Doctor's eyes opened, slowly, he noticed that the lights were slightly brighter than they had been. And there was another change...someone was holding him. Who...Ace. Ace. The dreams. Were they dreams? He couldn't remember. Everything felt real, nothing felt real. He wanted to turn, to see her, but couldn't summon the strength. Was she even there? Of course she was, those were her arms

[aces_are_rare]

Ace listened to the strange collection of words, trying to figure out if they meant anything or if they were just random fragments pulled from his fevered mind. A dream, she decided, though the last muttering about a berry didn't quite fit in with the rest. Dancing, and jazz music, and... "You're picturing me in a dress?"

She needed to see if he he was awake, and how lucid. Did the berries mean anything? Was he asking for berries or berry flavoured tea or did it mean nothing at all? Rather than try to move him she scouted around him to the other side. His eyes were open, but still clouded.

"Is there something you need? Something I can get for you?" She rested the palm of her hand against his warm cheek.

[timewill_tell]

Ace was in front of him now, his mind registered. She seemed to fill his thoughts, and here she was. Had he summoned her, somehow, simply by thinking so fervently of her? No, that wasn't right, was it? She had been here all along, she'd been holding him. He frowned a bit. Why couldn't he remember anything? What was she asking him? Why would he need anything

[aces_are_rare]

"No one's hurt me, they haven't even tried." Not recently, at least, but she didn't add that part.

"I'm safe and whole, and we're both in the TARDIS where nothing can get to us." Nothing but the toxin ravaging through his system.

"I'm not leaving you, not ever." She placed her other hand on his cheek, framing his face, and leaned in to kiss the tip of his nose. "I'm staying here until you're better. We've a date planned, remember? Poetry and music. And Muffins, apparently. Let me be your memory for now, Professor. You just rest."

[timewill_tell]

Though her words became muddled to him quickly, filtered through the chaos of his fevered mind, they soothed him, reassuring him. She hadn't been hurt, she hadn't left, wouldn't leave. And they had a date. A date? He smiled tiredly, remembering a small part of that discussion from much earlier.

He needed to rest, and she would be there. The Doctor leaned slightly forward, pressing his forehead to hers and trying to breathe evenly. He was starting to have trouble breathing...that hadn't happened before. His breaths were raspier, uneven, but he tried to regulate his breathing. He couldn't even ponder this new development longer, his eyelids slid closed of their own volition. Ace's cool breath felt wonderful on his skin, and he was already dreaming of her again.

[aces_are_rare]

He was wrapped around her, his arm on her waist, his forehead touching hers, even one toes of one foot covering her ankle. He was the one who was sick but it felt as if he was trying to protect her. Or maybe he thought she would leave of her own volition, forgetting, or not believing, that she wanted to stay with him forever. Her forever, which wasn't long enough but it was all she had to give him.

"I'm staying right here," she whispered against his skin. Maybe if she said it often enough it would seep into his subconscious. "I'm not going anywhere."

Ace frowned when she noticed that the Professor's breathing was off. He never breathed heavily, not even when they were running, thanks to his 'superior' respiratory system (she always rolled her eyes when he used the words superior and himself in the same sentence). He was breathing had now, ragged, and she didn't like it. She moved one hand down to his chest, feeling the rattling there. Another symptom, another thing out of her control. "Breath, Professor. Just breath."

[timewill_tell]

He was too deeply asleep to hear her now, but almost unconsciously tried to respond to her voice, his lungs struggling to compensate for the disruption in his normal breathing mechanism. Unbeknownst to Ace, the TARDIS was working fervently to find another way to treat the toxin; in her databanks, all known treatments seemed to indicate that only the symptoms could be treated, until the toxin itself ran through one's system. However, the TARDIS was also fairly certain a Time Lord had never been infected with this before, and his own symptoms seemed to be more severe than all other known cases, his condition deteriorating more rapidly. Which meant...the treatment, likely, had to account for this difference. The TARDIS bemoaned the fact that she was unable to physically comfort anyone, but she did her best to convey her support for Ace by humming a bit more loudly, trying to indicate to the young woman that she was worried, too

[aces_are_rare]

In bare minutes his breathing had worsened, from dry rasping to wet and noisy. He was fighting for each breath and Ace couldn't just lay there and do nothing. Frantically she tried to think of something she could do, any way to help. With one hand she worked all the pillows on the bed into a pile; sitting up, she hoped, might ease his breathing

[timewill_tell]

Luckily, the Doctor's loo was relatively close to his bed; the TARDIS, feeling she had to do something to help, turned the showers on as hot as they could go, helping to create a steam that drifted into the Doctor's bedroom. She hoped it would help him, and by turns, help Ace, who was doing everything she could to help the Doctor. Sitting up seemed to have a positive effect on his breathing as well. Though there was still a rattle in his lungs that wouldn't abate any time soon, he wasn't on the verge of losing air altogether, like he had been such a short time ago. His breaths were still slightly uneven, but he wasn't breathing as violently, wasn't choking

[aces_are_rare]

They sat like that for hours. Ace didn't dare fall asleep, afraid that her hold on the Professor would loosen and he would fall, afraid that his breathing would worsen again. She felt each breath rattling where his back rested against his chest, knew that his lungs were not full of air as they should be. The steam from the loo seemed to be helping the Professor but it was making her own skin warm and sticky and she leaned back a little to make her own breathing easier. The back of her head touched the TARDIS wall and she could feel the humming there, louder and more obvious then she'd ever experienced it before

[timewill_tell]

The hours he'd spent resting had rejuvenated him somewhat, so that when he opened his eyes this time, they were only clouded with fever, not lethargy. He couldn't quite be certain why, either, but while he'd slept, he'd felt...comfort. Not bothering to move from his position, he reached for the mug. He didn't protest when Ace helped guide it to his mouth, and took a few healthy sips of the warm liquid. It had a cathartic effect on him, even in small doses, which was something he'd always appreciated about tea

[aces_are_rare]

Hearing the words, knowing he meant them, set her heart to racing. Although he had shown her how he felt a million times, and she'd understood, this past week, how he felt, it was still a thrill to hear the words spoken. They didn't come any easier for him then they did for her, and for that reason they meant even more to her. There was something, though, a tone in his voice that sounded a little too much like goodbye. She refused to listen to that part, to let it matter

[timewill_tell]

The Doctor smiled at the kiss, knowing the touch conveyed everything she couldn't say. Obligingly, he drank more of the tea, taking slow sips until he'd finished it all. When at last he had drank it all, the Doctor relaxed against the pillows once more. He moved his hand, indicating he wanted her to come closer. When her face was near hers, he pressed his lips tenderly to her forehead, lingering longer than he needed to. It would be the only time she'd ever feel such warmth from one of his kisses, he realized

[aces_are_rare]

Might not make it. Ace's first reaction was to bolt, to run as fast and far as she could, until the words no longer echoed in her mind. Only the fact that her need to stay at his side was a stronger urge kept her where she was, but still she pulled away from his touch, moving as far as she could while still remaining on the bed