Times Change
AN: Thank you to; animemonkey13 for the review.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who or Torchwood.
Chapter 4-
I land with a dull thud on the sodden ground, there's a crack emanating from my right arm and I screw up my face in pain. I lay there for a few seconds, breathing hard and shaking slightly. My head's spinning and I can no longer feel my legs. Wet drizzle gently assaults my face as I stare up at the grey sky. I groan as I build the strength to heave myself off of the dirt. I sit up and look around; there's no civilisation near, as far as I can see anyway. I've landed in a large bushel of heather. So, I'm on a moor? A guess, but it seems logical. Feeling the sodden mulch of the ground soak through my jeans, I stand. A little quicker than I should and soon, I'm leaning on a nearby rock for support. My knees weaken and my head spins.
"Doctor?" I choke.
Looking around, I see no one. My hope is dying fast.
"Jack?" I'm near to sobbing now.
The rain patters my back as I try one final attempt-
"Gwen?"
Okay, so I am alone. On a moor, in the rain, in the middle of nowhere.
I turn and lean my back against the rock. My arm aches from the fall and my legs feel like jelly. For a moment I just stand there, my arms hugging my body; trying to keep what little warmth I have. My jacket is, of course, useless; it's the second time in less than twenty four hours that I am soaked through to the skin. I peel off the wet fabric and throw it to the ground, in a slight tantrum. I growl, a childish sound that appears in my throat; I could have been teleported anywhere, why here? Of all places, why not somewhere warm and cosy?
The sudden movement of throwing my jacket to the ground has caused a large amount of pain in my right elbow and I wince as I wrap my hand around it; supporting it. With a huff, I begin to move forward, painfully slowly at first as my legs are still weak.
I've decided that I hate teleportation.
Little by little, my feet move. I trip several times on the muddy, uneven ground but force myself to carry on. Occasionally I call out, mainly for The Doctor; wondering if he was transported nearby. Although, I never was a particularly lucky person, so the chances that he was near were miniscule.
As I walk, I try to look on the bright side; at least there was no mist here, and no severe, deadly drops close.
It's not long before I find myself walking up a hill, the incline is gradual at first but the path on which I walk soon becomes steep. I stop for a moment to catch my breath which hangs in the chilled early evening air and I turn to study the area around me; a large plain of heather and dull green grass stretches before me and although I feel as though I have walked miles, I can still spot the rock of which I landed next to. Another wave of pain shoots through my arm and I swear under my breath and grimace, tears appearing in the corner of my eyes as I shiver; taking off my jacket has left me in nothing but a vest top and a pair of grey fingerless gloves covering my upper body and my jeans are so wet and cold that I may as well not wear any, I do, however, decide to keep them on.
I turn on my heels and walk a few more paces before I reach the summit of the grassy bank. Orange lights glow from the bottom of the small y shaped valley that I am standing above, there is a field full of sheep between myself and the small village but I see this as an easy obstacle and keep moving. Upon coming to the wooden fence, I climb- rather ungracefully- over it and land in ankle-deep mud. A few of the animals chance their heads lazily towards me before turning back the grass and taking a bite, clearly deciding that food is more interesting.
Trudging through the field, I notice a pub on the corner of the small street that I am now standing opposite. I decide to head towards it. I dodge around the knee high animals that do not move and, once again, climb the damp, slightly wobbly wooden fence.
It takes a total of about one minute and thirty seconds for me to get to the front door of the pub. The rain is harder now and the wind's got up. This makes up my mind; I push forward and enter the building. A shiver of pleasure makes its way up my spine as warmth washes over me, I notice a large log fire in the corner and fight the urge to go over and warm myself. Instead, I make my way up towards the bar. The barman is serving someone else and so I wait, tapping anxiously on the glossed wood.
"Y'allright, love?"
I turn to him,
"Yeah, uhh…"
I trail off, not really knowing what to say.
"I'm looking for the… uhh… Doctor?"
He raises a slightly confused eyebrow before tilting his head to the left.
"There's Doctor Barrette down the road."
I shake my head and try again-
"Jack Harkness?"
The barman freezes and slams the glass of which he was holding on the bar. The sound of glass shattering on wood makes everyone in the room turn to us. I bite my lip, nervous.
"Get out."
My eyes widen in confusion, what had I done?
Everyone is still staring at me, either shocked or angry.
"I said; get out!"
His face is red with anger as he bellows at me now. I stare at him blankly; completely dumbfounded. He steps closer and leans over the bar.
"Are you deaf?"
I shake my head.
"Then shift it!"
I do so, holding my hands up in defence. Before opening the door I stop, not wanting to go back out in the elements. The fact that it is pitch black out there is also a bit of a turn off. I look back over my shoulder to see the barman glaring at me. I obey solemnly and step out into the weather.
()()()()()()()
Walking next to a tall hedge, I shiver once again. It must be below zero degrees and all I'm wearing is a vest and a pair of damp jeans. This day couldn't possible get much worse. I'm heading out of the small village when the heavens truly open and I am completely drenched within about two seconds. It is now when I feel myself begin to break down. I stop as several sobs rack through my body. What on earth was my plan? There was nothing that I could possibly do. I wrap my arms around myself in attempt to keep calm, this, of course, fails and the movement only sends more pain shooting through my arm. This, in turn, causes more sobs to escape my mouth and I consider just curling into a ball and staying there.
I blink, hard, and keep my eyes shut for several seconds, forcing no more tears to escape my eyes. This works and I stand up straight, taking a shaky breath and trying to console myself. Light suddenly appears behind me and I spin slowly; a large four by four is coming towards me, the headlights are blinding and I squint as it pulls up beside me. The window winds down to reveal a brunette man in the driver's seat. I look at him blankly, not really knowing what to say. Luckily, he speaks first-
"Everything alright?"
I say nothing but shake my head slightly, lost for words.
"You look lost."
I nod, "I am a bit, yeah."
He smiles and gestures behind him, into the car-
"You need a lift?"
I freeze; I could either severely regret the decision I'm about to make or it could be the best one I ever make. I go with the second possibility and nod.
"Yeah, please."
"In you get then."
I hesitate for a second before seeing a head of curly blonde hair in the back; a child, only about three or four, he's sleeping peacefully and this calms me slightly. I pull the door open gently and slip in. it is now that I notice the woman in the passenger seat, she's heavily pregnant and my eyes widen slightly in shock; I honestly hadn't seen her before getting in the car. I faze back into reality, muttering an apology. She smiles at me and the man speaks again-
"What are you doing outside on a night like this, then?"
I run the past few hours quickly through my head before getting close to breaking down again. I shake my head and bite my lip; determined not to cry. I open my mouth to answer him but no words come out, just an odd strangled sound of grief. He waits patiently but after seeing that I had no words to describe my situation he calmed me and asked my name.
"A-Adelaide," I manage to stutter, "Adelaide Quinn."
He looks in the mirror, catches my eye and smiles, "Nice to meet you, Adelaide. I'm George Partridge, this is my wife; Amelie." He gestures to the child at my side, "That's Charlie."
Amelie speaks up, with a graceful French accent-
"Are you staying nearby?"
I shake my head.
"I don't even know where I am."
Here come the waterworks again. She reaches back and pats my knee gently before noticing that I am cradling my arm.
"What have you done?"
I look up.
"I-I fell." It wasn't a complete lie.
"We will sort that out."
I decide that I don't have much of a choice, and so, I trust them.
