Into the Whirlwind
Title: Into the Whirlwind
Beta: canaana
Characters: Jack, Ten, OCs
Rating: All Ages
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction; the characters are the property of the BBC and used here without permission. No money was made.
Wordcount: ~750
Summary: Jack's learned to expect the unexpected.
A/N: Originally written as a stocking stuffer for dameruth. This is somewhat AU in that it has Jack meeting the Doctor after End of Time on Jack's timeline, but before it on the Doctor's.
Into the Whirlwind
Jack stands morosely in the middle of the chaos. He tried, he really did - not for his sake but for that of those around him - but the station is doomed. Something - and he still hasn’t figured out what, though whatever it is has made the Vortex manipulator go nuts - has thrown the station out of orbit and knocked out most of its systems. All attempts to fix them have come to naught, and the escape pods don't have enough thrust to reach escape velocity from the station's current position, slowly spiraling towards the star.
It'll be about nine minutes until they crash into the white dwarf. Even if he could get the systems back online, half of them are fried, and even at their best they wouldn't be strong enough to get them out at such close range.
At least Alonso left on his new posting as first mate on a freighter yesterday. The boy's barely more than a child. He deserves to have a shot at making something of himself.
Most of the crew are running and screaming, trying so hard to believe in a miracle. Some are more realistic, recording messages for their loved ones and fighting for a place at the transmitters to beam them out into space before it's too late.
Jack stands by the console, watching Banks, the station commander, who's doing an admirable job of keeping calm and encouraging his crew with empty promises.
So, this is the end.
Well, for everyone else on the station, poor sods. He will go on, in an endless circle of burning and reviving, burning and reviving, until the star burns out and he gets to die in the freezing cold of absolute zero on the surface of a black dwarf again and again.
He hopes he's lucky enough not to regain consciousness. But lucky's never been a concept that applied to him much.
Typical. Just when he'd started to enjoy life again.
And then a door opens in the control room's central support column. Which would hardly be remarkable in all the hustle and bustle, if it weren't for a simple fact: there is no door there.
Except now, there is. A wooden door. A blue wooden door. Jack grins.
"Hello there! Saw you had a spot of trouble and thought - Jack!" The Doctor bounces over to him. "Jack, Jack, Jack!" He frowns and cocks his head. "Why haven't you fixed the stabilizers?"
"The stabilizers?" Always with the criticism.
"Yes, yes, the stabilizers! Of course the stabilizers! Don't want this thing to shake and tilt all over the place, do we?"
"It hardly seemed to matter seeing how we're crashing into a sun. I was focusing on the thrusters."
The Doctor shakes his head. "Well, then, hop to it, spit-spot! Can't do everything myself, can I?" He tosses him the sonic screwdriver and hurries back into the TARDIS.
"Who the hell-?" Commander Banks looks from Jack to the TARDIS door and back. "Harkness, can you explain this?"
"Nah. Don't think anyone can." He grins. "Help me get the stabilizers back."
"What bloody good are they gonna do us?"
"No idea. But the Doctor said to fix them."
"So you're just going to do what he says? Without an explanation? With minutes left to live?"
Jack shrugs. "Story of my life." He reroutes energy from the thrusters. "Need your authorization for this, Commander."
Banks hesitates. Jack smiles winningly. "What have you got to lose?"
"Point." He enters his command codes.
Suddenly, the Doctor's back. "Ready?" he asks.
Jack nods. "Yes, sir."
The Doctor squeezes his shoulder. "Good man." He smiles. "Come on then. Could use your help with her." Jack lets himself be steered towards the TARDIS.
In the doorway, the Doctor looks back to Banks. "Ah, right. Commander - Jack and I are going to tow you to the nearest planet with a decent space dock. And then he's coming with me."
"I am?"
The Doctor turns and smiles at him brilliantly. "Of course you are." He frowns in sudden worry. "Aren't you?"
Jack grins and closes the door behind them.
The End
Beta: canaana
Characters: Jack, Ten, OCs
Rating: All Ages
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction; the characters are the property of the BBC and used here without permission. No money was made.
Wordcount: ~750
Summary: Jack's learned to expect the unexpected.
A/N: Originally written as a stocking stuffer for dameruth. This is somewhat AU in that it has Jack meeting the Doctor after End of Time on Jack's timeline, but before it on the Doctor's.
Into the Whirlwind
Jack stands morosely in the middle of the chaos. He tried, he really did - not for his sake but for that of those around him - but the station is doomed. Something - and he still hasn’t figured out what, though whatever it is has made the Vortex manipulator go nuts - has thrown the station out of orbit and knocked out most of its systems. All attempts to fix them have come to naught, and the escape pods don't have enough thrust to reach escape velocity from the station's current position, slowly spiraling towards the star.
It'll be about nine minutes until they crash into the white dwarf. Even if he could get the systems back online, half of them are fried, and even at their best they wouldn't be strong enough to get them out at such close range.
At least Alonso left on his new posting as first mate on a freighter yesterday. The boy's barely more than a child. He deserves to have a shot at making something of himself.
Most of the crew are running and screaming, trying so hard to believe in a miracle. Some are more realistic, recording messages for their loved ones and fighting for a place at the transmitters to beam them out into space before it's too late.
Jack stands by the console, watching Banks, the station commander, who's doing an admirable job of keeping calm and encouraging his crew with empty promises.
So, this is the end.
Well, for everyone else on the station, poor sods. He will go on, in an endless circle of burning and reviving, burning and reviving, until the star burns out and he gets to die in the freezing cold of absolute zero on the surface of a black dwarf again and again.
He hopes he's lucky enough not to regain consciousness. But lucky's never been a concept that applied to him much.
Typical. Just when he'd started to enjoy life again.
And then a door opens in the control room's central support column. Which would hardly be remarkable in all the hustle and bustle, if it weren't for a simple fact: there is no door there.
Except now, there is. A wooden door. A blue wooden door. Jack grins.
"Hello there! Saw you had a spot of trouble and thought - Jack!" The Doctor bounces over to him. "Jack, Jack, Jack!" He frowns and cocks his head. "Why haven't you fixed the stabilizers?"
"The stabilizers?" Always with the criticism.
"Yes, yes, the stabilizers! Of course the stabilizers! Don't want this thing to shake and tilt all over the place, do we?"
"It hardly seemed to matter seeing how we're crashing into a sun. I was focusing on the thrusters."
The Doctor shakes his head. "Well, then, hop to it, spit-spot! Can't do everything myself, can I?" He tosses him the sonic screwdriver and hurries back into the TARDIS.
"Who the hell-?" Commander Banks looks from Jack to the TARDIS door and back. "Harkness, can you explain this?"
"Nah. Don't think anyone can." He grins. "Help me get the stabilizers back."
"What bloody good are they gonna do us?"
"No idea. But the Doctor said to fix them."
"So you're just going to do what he says? Without an explanation? With minutes left to live?"
Jack shrugs. "Story of my life." He reroutes energy from the thrusters. "Need your authorization for this, Commander."
Banks hesitates. Jack smiles winningly. "What have you got to lose?"
"Point." He enters his command codes.
Suddenly, the Doctor's back. "Ready?" he asks.
Jack nods. "Yes, sir."
The Doctor squeezes his shoulder. "Good man." He smiles. "Come on then. Could use your help with her." Jack lets himself be steered towards the TARDIS.
In the doorway, the Doctor looks back to Banks. "Ah, right. Commander - Jack and I are going to tow you to the nearest planet with a decent space dock. And then he's coming with me."
"I am?"
The Doctor turns and smiles at him brilliantly. "Of course you are." He frowns in sudden worry. "Aren't you?"
Jack grins and closes the door behind them.
The End