10 Seconds
Author:
Neth
Rating: PG
Summary: Ten seconds had gone by, and her heart
was going to sink.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, except the
ficlet itself.
Author's Notes: This is beta read by the brilliant Sethoz, so thanks. Also, I wrote this in the ten minutes before A-Level history class at half eight in the morning so it's not too long. Longer than a drabble though.
She stood there, in the dark street facing the place that had just impossibly, been vacated. Part of her mind screamed that her daughter ha just been reassuring her, that she wouldn't really appear again. Another part, the stronger part, remained firm, standing there. Staring. Hoping that in ten seconds her sweet baby girl, no longer a baby, would return. The thing that she'd seen the in the past few days, what she had found out. The world that had been opened to her. Aliens, real. Her daughter, out seeing the universe. Time Travel, happens every day.
It was hard to deal with.
And all she had to cling on to was that the strange whine would sound again, a door would open and Rose would be here again. Safe. Away fro all that danger, from the aliens who would hurt her. Aliens who took her away from her mother. Aliens that wouldn't even turn up for dinner.
Mickey,
she knew, was shifting behind her on the bin. Digging in for the long
haul no doubt. She'd been wrong about that boy, and knew she ought to
say sorry though she couldn't bring herself to do it. He'd know where
she was, had some idea at least, and hadn't said a word. Just stayed
out of sight, searching, researching, through records and picture of
times gone by. He'd never been a brave one, and she didn't think he'd
ever be able to handle stress and danger. How wrong she'd been.
He'd
helped save the world. He'd saved her life.
And just as ten seconds had gone by, and her heart was going to sink, the strange whine sounded again. The screeching of the air, as though something was tearing at it, the gradual fading in of that blasted blue box.
And it was there.
After ten seconds.
Her daughter had kept her promise, had come home. The question was how long had it been for Rose? How long had she been away, what had she seen and what had she been through?
As the door opened, a head of blond hair popped out, looked around and briefly ducked back in again before stepping out fully. Standing there in front of her, Jackie couldn't help but stare. Couldn't keep her gaze off of the young woman's face and eyes. Her eyes, they had changed, so different that even as a mother she had a hard time recognising them.
They held joy and sorrow. Wonder and horror. Contentment and pain. The held so much pain and so much life experience. Her little girl real had grown up now, by years.
But, being honest with herself. All that she cared about, all that her mind could comprehend was that her daughter had returned to her. Safe.