Dimensionally Transcendent 12/14 (absolutely, positively 14)
Story: Dimensionally Transcendent
Author: wmr wendymr
Characters: Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness
Rated: PG13
Disclaimer: Only the missing time between The Doctor Dances and Boom Town belongs to me (I wish)
Summary: The Doctor said he'd better be bigger on the inside. But is he?
With huge thanks again to dark_aegis and ponygirl72 for being two of the very best beta-readers around. Early post, but that's because I'm almost finished the final chapter :)
Fic banner by the very talented and generous laurab1. Thank you! *bows and genuflects most humbly*
Chapter 1: Stray l Chapter 2: Tea and Sympathy l Chapter 3: Out of Time l Chapter 4: Learning to Trust l Chapter 5: Failing the Test l Chapter 6: Judgement l Chapter 7: Bonding l Chapter 8: Déjà Vu l Chapter 9: Chasing the Colonel l Chapter 10: Truth and Lies l Chapter 11: Digressions
Chapter 12: Betrayal
So it was a trap. His source, Peter DeJong, the man he trusted, set him up. Set them up. And he walked right into it, bringing Jack and Rose with him.
Stupid, stupid. He didn’t even check for activity in the area, other ships, cloaking mechanisms or anything like that. For all he knows, too, this probably isn’t even where deleted memories are stored.
Next to him, Jack’s gone rigid with tension and, almost as if choreographed, the two of them move to stand in front of Rose.
DeJong’s talking again. “And Captain Farrell. Quite a little troublemaker you’ve turned out to be, haven’t you? A thorn in our side ever since you stumbled onto something you shouldn’t on Aritrambe. We really should have killed you when we had the opportunity. Still -” He smiles. “- there are advantages. You saved us from having to dispose of the Colonel - he was becoming something of a nuisance. And now we can deal with you anyway.”
Before Jack can answer, the Doctor starts clapping, slowly and loudly. “Very good. Very clever. You had me fooled, an’ it’s not often that happens. Ten out of ten. S’pose this isn’t even the right place?”
DeJong’s disconcertion lasts only a couple of seconds. “Oh, it’s the right place. I couldn’t risk you confirming my information with someone else and realising I’d lied. This is it.” He gives an expansive wave at the building with the hand not holding the blaster. “All wiped memory data is kept here - including Captain Farrell’s. Shame he’ll never get his hands on it, though. Oh, and Captain? Don’t even think about teleporting away.” DeJong holds up a small metallic device. “I’ve disabled your manipulator.”
Again, Jack’s about to speak, but he flags him to stay silent. “So, how’d you know we were comin’, then? Can’t have been standing behind this door since I left Aritrambe.”
That’s the strategy. Keep the bad guy talking. Get him explaining how brilliant he is. Delay him and buy some time to come up with an idea.
As DeJong smiles in evident enjoyment of the situation, he hides his own satisfaction. “Captain Farrell really has forgotten too much about Time Agency procedures. We’ve had an alarm on this facility set to go off if his computer is detected in the area. We were pretty certain you wouldn’t be able to part with your computer, Captain. You always were very attached to it, and now it’s become your downfall.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Jack comments in a lazy, unconcerned drawl. “But you seem to be forgetting something, don’t you?”
“Oh?” DeJong trains his blaster directly at Jack.
“One of you. Three of us. You really think you can take us? Oh, you could kill me, but by the time you’ve fired the Doctor’ll have killed you. That really what you want?”
There’s a steel note in Jack’s voice he’s not heard before. This isn’t the conman, the flirt or the engaging companion. This, now, is the trained, confident Time Agent, a very dangerous man.
“You’re very sure of yourself, Captain Farrell,” DeJong comments, and the Doctor really doesn’t like the smile he’s wearing now.
And then Rose, from behind them, gives a faint yelp, and the two of them turn in unison to see another man in body armour holding a blaster to her head.
***
She’s practically holding her breath, not moving a muscle, as the muzzle of the gun presses against her temple. Though the fact that the holder of the gun isn’t making any other attempt to subdue her - no arm fastened around her waist or grabbing her arm - gives her the faintest prospect of a plan. Maybe, just maybe...
“Drop the gun, Farrell.” The man at the door - the Doctor’s source, who betrayed them - has dropped all pretence of amusement now. His voice is crisp and commanding.
Jack lets his blaster fall to the ground. The other man, her captor, moves around to pick it up. And here’s her chance.
She flails a bit, and then stumbles to the side, as if making an uncoordinated attempt to get away. Absolutely intentionally, she lands at the Doctor’s feet. He looks down, concern on his face. She mouths just one word at him, before the agent grabbing Jack’s gun jabs at him with his blaster and orders him back.
“All right, all right!” the Doctor grumbles, taking a step backwards and then, one after the other, putting his hands in the air. And she grabs the sonic screwdriver as it falls to the ground, immediately stuffing it down the front of her top.
“You never said anything like this would happen. See the universe, join the Mile High Club, that’s what I signed up for,” she complains, loudly enough so that the Time Agent can hear her. “Think I’m sticking around for this crap? I’m out of here.”
She’s been carefully keeping the Doctor between the Time Agent and herself as she talked, getting to her feet again at the same time and preparing to run. She’s already got a head start of a few dozen yards, keeping her body as low as she can, before he’s pushed the Doctor out of the way and is training his gun on her.
She’d hold her breath, only she needs it for running. Relief floods her as the Doctor’s contact shouts, “Leave her. You’re supposed to be guarding that one!”
And then she’s rounded the side of the building and - once another sigh of relief’s escaped her that there’s no-one there - she’s safe. For now.
Next step: figure out a way to rescue Jack and the Doctor, find Jack’s memories and get all three of them safely to the TARDIS.
Right. Easy.
***
He should have known it would be a trap. He knows the Time Agency too well, far better than the Doctor. It should have been obvious, shouldn’t it? Retired agent with enough of a grudge against the Agency to be willing to spill secrets? Wouldn’t happen. The guy would have had his memories replaced long ago, always assuming he was allowed to live.
Rose got away. That’s something to be thankful for. She’s going to try to rescue the two of them, of course, though he’d much prefer it - and he suspects the Doctor would too - if she’d just make for the TARDIS and lock herself safely inside. But then she wouldn’t be Rose if she did that.
Clever bit of play-acting too, that was. He’ll have to compliment her on it later. And it provides the perfect opportunity to continue the appearance of dissension in the ranks. After all, they haven’t been killed yet. Nothing could be simpler than just to shoot them where they stand, so there’s got to be a reason Mr Arrogant by the door doesn’t want them dead yet. Either he wants information from them first, or there’s some reason why he doesn’t want dead bodies, or maybe blaster fire, out in the open.
Lunging forward, he shoves the Doctor hard in the chest. “Moron! Told you she was bloody useless. You’re fucking thinking with your dick again!”
The Doctor stares at him in disbelief, but then obviously catches on, shoving back at him. “You’re just jealous cause I wouldn’t share.”
“Yeah, well, see where your selfishness got us. So wrapped up in a bit of skirt you can’t even see when someone’s double-crossing you!” He pretends to strike out at the Doctor again. “Now I’m never gonna get my memories back. I can’t wait to get as far away from you -”
He gets a knee shoved roughly in his back, his arm twisted behind him and a blaster held to his head for his trouble, but it’s worth it. They bought more time for Rose to get away, and also some thinking time. Communication, too; the Doctor will have read his message loud and clear.
And he did. As they’re shoved and bundled into the storage facility, the Doctor’s protesting loudly. “Don’t care what you do to me, DeJong, just keep him away from me. Never should’ve got mixed up in his business. Once a Time Agent, always a Time Agent.”
“Dear me, Doctor,” DeJong drawls, “you wouldn’t be insulting the Time Agency, would you? But then your people always did think we were just amateurs and a nuisance. Interesting that they’re all dead and we survived, isn’t it?”
Jack grits his teeth to keep from retorting in a way that really wouldn’t help either of them. His fists clench, too, from the effort of stopping himself from reaching out to punch DeJong. He’d be dead in the same instant the blow connected, but it’d be so worth it. How does the man know exactly where to strike for maximum effect? The Doctor’s most vulnerable point, and one, so far as he’s seen, that he only reveals to those closest to him.
“He insults everyone,” he says instead, with a curl of his lip. “Thinks he’s so important, so superior to us humans. Calls us stupid apes. Hey, you know what?” he adds abruptly, as if the idea’s only just occurred to him. “How about a trade? You wanna know more about Time Lords? Give me my memories back and I’ll tell you everything I know.”
The look the Doctor gives him in response is so filled with hate and contempt he actually wonders if the Time Lord believes he’s serious. He has to trust otherwise, though. This is buying time. Keeping the two of them alive for now. And, if they do get split up, which is what he’s hoping for, they’ve got much better odds. One against one. He rates his own chances again one man easily, even if that man does have a gun. As for the Doctor, he’s got his time-manipulation skills. Maybe that’s a way out for them.
“What an excellent idea, Captain,” DeJong comments, a nasty smile on his face. “I knew there had to be some reason your superiors promoted you. Oh, you’ll tell me. No deal, though. I think you know very well what the alternatives to talking will be. And as for the Doctor, I think we’ll make him listen. Let him hear for himself as the man he was foolish enough to help betrays him.”
Damn. That was definitely not what he had in mind. And DeJong’s right: he knows Time Agency methods only too well.
On the other hand, he also knows his own level of endurance. They’ll get nothing out of him - nothing truthful, at any rate.
“Move!” DeJong knees the Doctor brutally in his lower back, and he’s given another rough shove. The door slams shut behind them. They’re trapped.
***
Five minutes later, and one question’s been answered. This place may be a top-security storage facility and all that, but it’s like every other commercial building known to humans all the same. It’s got a service entrance.
Had to be one. The door at the front is just a normal-sized one, and if they’re moving any equipment in and out of here they need something bigger. Like this one. Double doors, each the size of the door on Mickey’s lockup. Just as well the Doctor taught her a few settings on the sonic, isn’t it? Couple of seconds later, she’s pushing one of the doors open.
As soon as she’s in, she closes the door silently, then leans against it, thinking furiously. Getting inside is the first step, sure, but what now? Should’ve thought of that before, the Doctor’d say - but he can hardly talk, Mr-never-thought-of-that, can he?
Okay. Priority objective: find the Doctor and Jack, free them if they’re prisoners, and get all three of them out of here alive. Secondary objective, if it’s possible: find Jack’s memories. Oh, and achieve all of that without getting caught or killed herself. Right.
Just because she’s only seen two people here doesn’t mean that’s all there are. And it certainly doesn’t mean that all the guards in this complex are human, either. At least the Doctor disabled the security devices - unless the Time Agents managed to turn them on again. In which case she’s already as good as dead...
In which case, there’s nothing for it but to get on with what she’s here for. And she’s just had an idea. Because there’s something else all commercial buildings she’s ever known have, and she’d just bet that this one does too.
Okay, right or left? Right.
Screwdriver in hand, an anticipatory grin on her face, she sets off along the darkened hallway in search of that all-important button.
***
“Whatever he tells you, he’s lyin’.”
Of course Jack’s going to lie, but what better way to make them believe him than to tell them he’s lying?
“He would say that,” Jack retorts, ignoring what he knows is the gun pressed against his back to lean closer and glare at him. “He doesn’t want you believing what he knows I know about him.”
“Yeah?” DeJong affects a bored expression, but the Doctor, glancing back at the man walking just behind him, can see avid interest in his eyes. “Like what?”
“Well, first thing you gotta know is Time Lords are telepathic. So you wanna watch it.”
“What?” the other agent, the one with the gun to Jack’s back, asks. “He can read our minds?”
Oh, so not a good idea, Jack. If he was able to read minds that easily, DeJong would never have fooled him, and he’ll know it.
“He doesn’t always,” Jack says with a shrug. They’ve stopped walking now, and the two agents step out from behind himself and Jack, keeping their guns trained on them. “Not if he trusts you. Says it’s too tiring to do it all the time. Right now, though? You bet.”
Ah, is that what he’s up to? With some effort, he reaches out. It’s normally impossible to do this with humans if he’s not touching them, but Jack’s mind is unusually susceptible, and of course he’s already been inside Jack’s head.
And there it is. Jack’s voice. “Your nose. If you can hear me, rub your nose. If you can...”
He reaches up to rub his nose. The voice in his head falls silent.
He shrugs, holding DeJong’s gaze. “Maybe I am, maybe I’m not. Doesn’t take mind-reading to know what you’re gonna do with us, though, so he’s not told you anything useful.”
“He’s right, Captain,” DeJong says, looking at Jack with a curl of his lip. “Good thing I didn’t take your deal, isn’t it?”
Jack shrugs, seeming unconcerned. “That? That’s practically common knowledge. Think I’d tell you anything important without any kind of guarantee?”
The voice is in his head again. “Try to move if you can. Make sure neither of them can get a clear shot at both of us.”
Jack’s moving as he speaks, hand raking through his hair, his body language agitated. Though he can see exactly what his friend’s up to - positioning himself, and making DeJong’s accomplice follow, so that Jack’s between the accomplice and himself. Right. All he has to do is block DeJong’s direct line of sight of Jack.
Walking in a slow, careful prowl to face Jack, his back now to DeJong, he says, filling his voice with contempt, “Changed my mind. I’ll stay right here an’ keep an eye on you. On what’s goin’ on inside that traitorous head o’ yours, to be precise.”
There’s a smile in Jack’s voice inside his head this time. “Nice. Now, think you can do that slow-time thing of yours? If you can take out one of them, I can manage the other.”
It won’t work. He has to keep his eyes closed to manipulate time, and without touching Jack - and he can’t risk getting close enough for that - he can’t hold him out of time with him. Jack should have remembered that.
“Shit. You’re right. I should have.” It’s with great effort that he stops himself betraying a reaction. Jack can read his thoughts without being in contact? Right; the sooner he gets started on that training, the better. Though they have to get out of here first, of course. And find Rose, too, wherever she got to. She just better have had the good sense to go back to the TARDIS.
“Enough!” DeJong moves forward suddenly, bypassing him and moving to stand beside Jack - so much for making sure the man didn’t have clear sight of both of them. “Let’s see how much of this is bluff and how much is real, Doctor. You did go to all this trouble to bring Farrell here to Chiron, after all.”
He presses the nuzzle of his blaster to Jack’s temple. “I want your ship, Doctor. So here it is: a simple decision. His life, or your time-ship?”
***
They really need more signs in this place. This is the third long corridor she’s turned down, and she hasn’t a clue where she’s going. Closer to the centre of the building, she’s guessing by the warmer temperature; it was definitely cooler closer to the outside walls.
So far all she’s passed is blank wall after blank wall, with only a couple of doors. Neither of them had signs on them, or windows to allow her to see inside. And both were locked. She could have used the sonic screwdriver, but she listened outside each for a second or two and heard only silence. Unless the rooms are completely soundproofed, Jack and the Doctor weren’t in them.
A strange metallic clinking makes her freeze. It’s coming closer.
She flattens herself behind a support pillar that extrudes from the wall a bit and waits, heart in her mouth as the sounds get closer still.
She almost cries out when they walk right in front of her. Hand clasped over her mouth, she doesn’t let herself breathe until they’ve gone by and rounded the corner.
Robots. Robots that look almost exactly like the one from Star Wars, the first films, the ones her cousin insisted she had to watch on DVD with him. What was that one called? Oh, yeah. R2D2...
It’s the unfocused nature of her thoughts that alerts her that she’s shaking. Okay. Deep breaths. Seconds later, she’s calm again and thinking. Robots. Worker droids? On the other hand, she’s seen a metallic creature before that was a living thing, able to see, hear, talk and think. Are these aliens too, not robots? Or, even if they are robots, are they sentient?
Well, there’s no way of knowing right now. Best keep out of their way.
Sure that they’re gone, she carries on and, a few seconds later, turns down another corridor. And here’s another room, this one with double doors and, surprisingly, a window. There’s also a lot of noise coming from within, clanking and whirring, grinding and drilling.
Carefully, she peers through the window. It’s some sort of manufacturing process, on a small scale, and totally automated, from what she can see. There’s not a human or a robot in sight.
Very gently, she tries the handle. It turns, and she edges forward, body flattened against the door. Just to the right of the entrance, there’s an area marked Quality Testing. Cautiously, she moves towards it, then squashes herself back against some shelving as she sees two robots beside what looks a little like a dentist’s chair, only with some kind of weird apparatus above it. As her breathing returns to normal, the purpose of the apparatus dawns on her. It’s the perfect size and shape to clamp down over a human head. This has to be memory-wiping equipment.
They’re making it here. Even more of the devices.
Swallowing bile, she tiptoes back to the doors and leaves as silently as she entered.
***
“My ship?” He laughs. “I could let you inside myself an’ you still wouldn’t be able to do anything with her. You can’t fly her. Only a Time Lord can. Could.” He jerks his head towards Jack. “An’ don’t imagine he can show you. Maybe he knows one or two things, cause I was stupid enough to teach him, but the TARDIS won’t fly for him. Not without me, an’ even if I’m there not unless I tell her to.”
DeJong sneers. “Oh, I don’t want to fly it. I just want to rip it apart and see how it works.”
He blanches. “Never.”
The gun’s shoved hard against Jack’s head again. The Captain’s not looking at him; his gaze is rigidly focused on the wall in front of him, and what the Doctor can see of his face is expressionless. And, the Doctor realises as he probes, he’s closed off his mind to enquiry.
Jack thinks he’ll choose the TARDIS over him.
He forces his gaze back to DeJong. “If that’s what you want, why d’you need me? You could just kill me - kill him, for that matter - an’ steal the key.”
“Because I’m not as ignorant as you think about Time Lords, Doctor,” DeJong says, an unpleasantly amused smile on his face. “I know if I kill you your ship will die too. Alive, you can block me from getting anywhere inside its computers. I need you co-operating to get what I want. So, like I said, Doctor, what’s it to be? Your ship, or do I shoot Captain Farrell right here?”
***
Another room. What is it with this place? Nothing for what feels like miles of corridor, and suddenly two marked rooms within a few yards of each other?
This one - oh, she’s bringing Jack here when she finds him, if they get a chance. Because the sign on the door says, clear as day, Memory Storage Area One.
Area One - which means there are others, and there’s no clue as to how many, so it could be a long search. But this is what they came for, isn’t it? Well, until they ran into the Time Agents.
Okay. Focus. Priority task: rescuing the Doctor and Jack.
And there it is: what she’s been looking for.
Just a simple button, no more. But it’s more than enough.
She hurries over, lifts the protective guard and presses the button. Instantly, the loud clanging of a fire alarm resounds through the building.
***
Of course the Doctor’s not going to hand over the TARDIS. Not for anything, or anyone. He understands that, and it’s why he’s not making any attempt to look at the Doctor. He doesn’t need apologies or anything like that. Better him dying than the TARDIS ripped to pieces.
The last thing he expects to hear is the Doctor laughing.
“You really think I’m that stupid?” he says, in his best superior-Time-Lord voice. “Let you have my ship or you’ll kill him?” He has to look at the Doctor now. God. He really is amused. “You’re going to kill us both anyway once you’ve got what you wanted. Him first - he’s the expendable one, after all. I’m the one you need. If I give you the TARDIS to save his life, what’ve I won? A few more hours, maybe days at most.”
The Doctor’s right. Of course he is. And if he’d only thought for a moment he’d have realised it.
DeJong’s about to say something, but his words are drowned out by a sudden shrill ringing. A fire alarm. God. A fire alarm!
DeJong curses. “The girl. Damnit!” He gestures roughly at his associate, and the gun’s not pressed so tightly against Jack’s temple any more. “Yallan. Find her. And shoot on sight.”
The other agent runs off. It’s just DeJong now; even armed, it’s still two against one. But, as he catches the Doctor’s eye and sees the fear there, DeJong’s words sink in. Rose. She’s unarmed and, he can only suppose, somewhere inside this complex. And Yallan’s just been sent off to kill her.
“We’ll get to her, Doctor,” he says silently, hoping that the Doctor’s listening. “We just need to sort out DeJong, okay?”
The Doctor gives what could just about be a nod. And then he hears, “Now.”
He kicks out sideways, and at the same time the Doctor launches himself at DeJong.
The agent stumbles, tries to save himself, clutching at Jack, but the Doctor’s momentum pushes him back to the ground. He’s still got his blaster and, as Jack tries to pin him down, he’s wrestling back and trying to get it in position. It’s the struggle with Ross all over again.
DeJong catches him a sidelong blow to the head, and he jerks backwards, seeing stars. “Jack!” the Doctor shouts, and he blinks, focusing just in time to see the blaster pointed at him.
The Doctor moves, he moves, the blaster fires.
There’s the sound of collapsing steel and concrete, and the Doctor’s dragging him, he’s dragging the Doctor and the two of them are scrambling out of the way.
Then the ceiling’s falling on top of DeJong, and before they can pull him to safety there’s a jagged piece of steel piercing his throat.
He feels nothing but cold satisfaction as he bends down and takes DeJong’s blaster out of his limp hand.
***
She’s running now, because she knows the Doctor and Jack. Create a distraction; they’ll use it. They’ll be free, or fighting their way free, and she needs to find them.
If only she knew how! They need tracking devices. Bloody stupid morons that they never thought of something as simple as that. Okay, Jack’s got his computer and she knows he has their biodata stored in it, but that doesn’t help her, does it?
Reaching another turning, she hesitates, her heart thumping. Left or right?
This time, she goes left. And immediately is face to face with one of the Time Agents, his blaster pointed straight at her.
***
“I’ve got a trace on her!” Jack exclaims, and grabs his hand. “Come on!”
Even as he’s relieved as hell that Jack knows how to find Rose, he blinks a bit at having his hand held - but allows himself to be pulled along all the same. It’s not fast enough, so he shifts into sprint mode as Jack shouts directions. “Hurry!”
“She’s just... around the next... corner,” Jack puffs.
His hearts are pounding, fear and worry mingling with relief again that they’ve almost got to her. Just another couple of seconds, and she better be alive, she has to be, because if she’s lying dead on the floor...
They’re almost at the corner when the sound of a blaster firing echoes around them.
***
tbc