Sadness Seen 7/8
Eventually the Doctor's head raised, he stiffly straightened up in the mechanical arm and stopped. Then came a voice, not from the Doctor but from the TARDIS.
'We are the Doctor and we are the TARDIS.' The voice was the Doctor's but with a rich hum around each syllable. 'We are one.'
Jack and Martha looked at each other in surprise at the odd new voice echoing through the TARDIS's corridors.
'We are beginning. Do as you have been taught.' The time rotor began to slide up and down in the central column. Jack and Martha ran back to the console and took up their positions. Their eyes carefully watched the controls they had been told to watch and their hands moved quickly through the sequences that would correspond to the changes in lights.
The Doctor hung in the time vortex. He spun as he flew through the swirling colours, faster and further. The pain was long forgotten and now belonged to the body, which hung in the control room, not to him. He was the TARDIS. His ship, his beautiful ship. She was stronger and closer in his mind than ever before. She sang sweetly and happily to have her mind so entwined with her wonderful Doctor. Soon their minds calmed, peaceful and clear. They needed to think very clearly. His new eyes were sharp and bright and saw everything. The Doctor searched the vortex for the tiny niche he knew would be there.
There it was a tiny flash of silver. He dove towards it faster and faster — and stopped. He paused motionless before the sliver that was only half the width of the TARDIS and a third her height. He gave the order to Jack and soon a stream of similar silver flowed from the TARDIS into the hole. Gradually, the gap grew. The TARDIS softly swayed, nudged by the eddies in the vortex. The silver stream continued until finally it was just larger than the TARDIS. They couldn't risk anymore.
'Now the supports.' The Doctor/TARDIS said into the control room. Martha and Jack both pushed several buttons and millions of tiny gold spheres flew towards the gap. They settled themselves into its edges and connected with each other. Satisfied that it would hold, the Doctor began to move towards the gap between the universes. Gently, gently he inched his way through. This was why he and the TARDIS had to merge. Neither of them could have done it separately. The Doctor's reflexes weren't quick enough and the TARDIS's mind and sight weren't sharp enough. But together, and with Martha and Jack keeping an eye on the controls, together it was possible. The four of them together, oh yes! They could do it. They were doing it.
The Doctor felt the TARDIS getting excited and sent a gentle warning thought. He needed calm and if she grew too excited it would spill over into his mind and they were all lost. She apologised and began to hum peacefully. He mentally nodded. They were halfway through now. Almost there. Inch by inch by inch. Martha and Jack waited anxiously inside, their eyes still watching the controls, ready to push buttons and pull levers at a moment's notice. But still, it was taking a while. Martha began to almost imperceptibly rock back and forwards on her heels, her hands gripping the console. Jack smiled a little at her.
And they were through! The TARDIS broke free of the carefully crafted doorway and flew through the new vortex towards a different, but very familiar, Earth. After a brief scan of the planet they found the TARDIS's lost key and the young woman attached. They rematerialised the TARDIS in a dark corridor five floors below ground level in an abandoned apartment building.
Noticing the time rotor had stopped moving Jack looked at the door and whispered 'We're here.'
'Yes we are, Jack.' The Doctor/TARDIS agreed. 'When you leave the TARDIS there will be a door in front of you. Through that you will find a long corridor with many doors. Go to the end of the corridor. There will be a door on either side. Through the door on the left is Rose.' The Doctor/TARDIS paused. 'The Doctor cannot go with you. You must do this alone.' As much as he wanted to storm into the building and rain vengeance down on the twisted creature, the Doctor could not be separated from the TARDIS. He would not survive a second joining so soon after the first and they must be joined in order to return through the void. He had to trust the rescue to Jack and Martha.
'We'll find her.' Jack nodded.
'Remember his cane, Jack. You have to break the cane.'
Jack nodded again. He knew wraitreths. They looked like weak little old men but in reality they were very fast and reasonably strong. The cane would be linked to the wraitreth's life, break that and the wraitreth dies. If he didn't get the cane then he and Martha could very easily end up as caught as Rose was.
Jack and Martha moved a little apprehensively towards the door.
'Martha.' The Doctor/TARDIS called and Martha turned back. 'Take the letter. Leave it where you find Rose.' On the console was a cream envelope she hadn't noticed before. She picked it up and turned it over. 'Jackie Tyler' was written in swirling letters across the front. The Doctor had written while he'd been teaching them how to pilot the TARDIS. Martha had wondered what he'd been writing. Inside he explained what had happened to Rose and that she was okay now and that she was with him. He'd included a short note to Mickey as well. Then before sealing it he slipped a tiny beacon inside. It would send out a signal no one but Torchwood would be able to find, but compelling to them.
'We'll save her Doctor.' Jack said and taking Martha's hand he pulled her out and shut the door, leaving the Doctor and the TARDIS to wait in anxious silence.
Jack and Martha stepped out into the dark corridor. The only light came from a flickering exit sign at the far end and from the shining police box sign above them. Martha shifted her hand in Jack's and tightened her grip. With his other hand Jack pulled out the gun he'd hidden in the waistband of his trousers and held it ready. He'd wisely attached a silencing device to it. The pair looked at each other nervously and began down the corridor. Their footfalls sounded horribly loud to them in the stale stillness. Martha swallowed and fought to keep a tight reign on the fear that was creeping up her spine. To do this was bad enough but to do it without the Doctor was terrifying.
At long last they reached the end of the corridor and stood under the exit sign. Turning to the left as they'd been instructed they found themselves in front of an old door. The green light cast an eerie glow over the peeling paint. Two brass numbers were attached announcing it to be apartment twenty-three. The top screw of the three had long since fallen out and been lost, its number hung upside down. Jack let go of Martha's hand and slowly turned the round dirty handle. It squeaked loudly and they both winced. The sound echoed a little and they held their breaths until it had died away and not been followed by any sound that might indicate approaching footsteps.
Jack pushed the door open as quietly as he could. The room was of a medium size and dimly lit. Dirty carpet that had once been blue covered the floor, peeling away from the walls in places. A table was covered in instruments that Martha really didn't want to know the use of. There was a door at the far end of the room. The wraitreth was nowhere to be seen.
Directly in front of them was a tall metal structure with a body strapped to it. Martha quickly ran to the other side of it and gasped in horror when she saw Rose, her hands flew over her mouth. Jack stood beside her, his jaw clenched in fury. He motioned for her to quickly release Rose. He kept his eyes on the far door. Martha began to work the buckle holding Rose's hands and Rose jerked awake. She looked about in fear until she saw Martha and Jack then she gave a half smile.
'Jack. Hi.' She smiled at Martha as well.
'Hi yourself.' Jack whispered back and took his eyes off the door for a second to smile at her. It was a mistake. By the time he turned back the wraitreth had bounded halfway across the room towards them.
Jack swiftly shot the creature. It was cheating and the Doctor wouldn't approve but this was Jack's call. The gun wouldn't keep the wraitreth down forever, nor would it kill him. But it would keep him twitching on the ground just long enough for Jack to grab the cane from him and break it over his knee, which is what he did. The wraitreth stopped twitching and began convulsing instead. It let out a scream and then fell silent. Jack nudged it with his toe and it slumped, dead on the floor. He kicked the body once for his own satisfaction and once more for the Doctor and then two larger ones to the creature's head for Rose. At Martha's urgently whispered 'Jack!' he shoved the gun back into the waistband at the back of his trousers and turned to help her finish releasing Rose. They moved swiftly just in case there was more than one wraitreth around.
As they released the band that held her hips in place Rose fell forward. Jack caught her and lifted her gently into his arms, trying not to cause her any more pain than necessary. Martha securely hid the letter under the metal structure and ran to the door they'd come through. She pulled it open and looked back at Jack and Rose. Jack cast another glance at the far door and, seeing all was quiet and still, he hurried after Martha.
He shifted Rose to a better position in his arms and moved her carefully through the doorway. He motioned for Martha to take the gun which she did. She held it as she'd seen him do. He motioned to her again, this time to tell her to begin down the corridor and followed her as she walked as quickly as fear and caution would allow back towards the TARDIS. The idea that at any minute a wraitreth or ten could enter the corridor from any one of the doors they passed and that Martha held their only weapon did nothing for Jack's sense of protection. He held Rose a little tighter and focused on the police box sign ahead of them.
They reached the TARDIS without incident and for several agonizing seconds Martha fumbled with her TARDIS key before the door swung open. Jack breathed a sigh of relief as he carried Rose through the console room into the medical room. He gingerly laid her on the bed and after gently squeezing her less injured hand and grinning at her with the joy of having her back again he bounded from the room and took up his place at the console.
The Doctor/TARDIS took them back into the void and in silence they completed the journey home. As soon as they broke through into the time vortex of their own universe the Doctor separated his mind from the TARDIS who settled into a calm spinning pattern. The Doctor's body was again held erect while the thin wires swiftly and painfully withdrew from his body. He fell limp once more.
'Jack.' He called. Jack moved to his side and caught him when the mechanical arm released the Doctor's exhausted body. Jack lifted him easily into his arms and carried him into the medical room as he had done with Rose. Martha anxiously followed close behind.
As there was only one bed in the room he laid the Doctor on a wide bench against the opposite wall to where Rose lay. Martha had hastily lain a few blankets on the bench so he wouldn't have to lie directly on the hard surface. She held his head in her hands and moved it from side to side, inspecting the marks left by the threads. They were clean and small and she couldn't see that there was anything she could do for the Doctor other than let his tired body recover so she moved to Rose.
When she'd first arrived on board and begun exploring this was the first room the TARDIS had shown her, after her bedroom. She took the box of cleansing cloths she'd found that first day and began to wipe Rose's injured skin clean. Rose's eyes opened, small bruised slits, when she felt the touch and she jumped, afraid it had all been a dream and she was back in the metal structure. When Martha placed a soothing hand on the top of her head and smiled at her she breathed a sigh of relief. She looked around her, as much as she could turn her head. Jack stood just inside the doorway, leaning against the wall with his arms comfortably folded across his chest.
He smiled at her and said 'Hey, honey.'
Rose smiled back. 'Jack,' her voice was a soft croak 'Thank you.'
Her gaze moved on around the room, searching for someone. When she found him lying across the room her face lit up and a few small tears stung her eyes.
'Hello.' He grinned. His eyes were only barely working, the room appeared dim with bright yellow splotches here and there, but he could see her. He could see the outline of her and knew that she was Rose. Rose bit the inside of her lip and tried to keep from crying in relief and joy, she wasn't very successful and a small sob escaped her.
Martha quickly finished cleaning the upper half of her body and moved to her legs. Whatever her feelings about this woman the caring side of her that had prompted her to become a doctor in the first place just couldn't see Rose's injuries and not try to help.
After a few moments of quiet with only the sound of Martha's washing and the soft hum of the TARDIS Jack felt he'd waited long enough.
'So, how'd you do it Rose?'
Rose tore her eyes from the Doctor and looked at him puzzled.
'How'd you appear to the Doctor?'
Rose smiled and began to explain, pausing every now and then to draw deep breaths into her lungs. 'Helped a race of aliens a while back. The sephiri. They were beautiful.' She smiled in memory. 'When the wraitreth caught me they came. Said they couldn't interfere or free me but they could help. They could help my mind to fly away.' Rose paused again. 'They said they'd seen the sadness in me.' She looked back at the Doctor, 'said they'd seen yours too. So they connected us.' She fell silent and watched the Doctor who'd yet to take his eyes from her.
Martha finished making Rose a bit more comfortable and began to search for more instruments that could possibly help. She didn't yet understand how to use all the complex equipment the Doctor kept in here but something was sure to be of use.
'Martha.' The Doctor called gently. She turned to look at him, his gaze still on Rose. 'I'll do it later.'
Martha began to protest but stopped when Jack shifted purposefully by the door. He motioned with his head to indicate they should leave. She nodded and they quietly left the room.
The Doctor and Rose watched each other until their tired eyes could stay open no longer and they drifted into dreamless sleep.