Hope you like. It's nearly over! sobs Enjoy.
Chapter Nine
"Doctor!" Rose screamed as she felt a wave of pain overcome her.
Hold on Rose.
I can't, it hurts…
I am sorry Rose. So sorry. Just hold on.
Tell him, tell him I love him.
Hold on Rose, you can tell him later.
Tell him!
…I shall tell him.
The pain continued. She felt a hint of golden energy try to push at the dark energy that was pushing wave upon wave of agony into her, trying to tear her apart, but it wasn't enough. She could feel her hold slipping. It was as though there was oil underneath her fingers, her barriers crumbling under the continued onslaught.
Hold on Rose!
I… can't…
You must!
The reply seemed faint, or was it just her hold slipping that was taking her away from everything? She couldn't feel or hear anything now – was just surrounded and enveloped in the pain. Her mind was tearing apart…
Numb now, she fell over the edge, not even noticing that the pain had gone. She seemed to fall slowly, like through a viscous liquid, into darkness from darkness. It was peaceful, but suddenly, she felt a hand grasp hers, familiar fingers interlocking. Looking across, she saw the Doctor, pyjamas and all, and he was staring at her. The grasp on her hand was tight, and she returned it as well as she could, feeling herself stop in mid air. Rose could see something glistening on his cheeks, but the next moment he was grinning, and leaning forwards to whisper one word.
Run!
Hand in hand, like so many times before, she responded automatically to the command and ran, not caring or noticing that they were running on air, or that they were running from darkness into darkness.
Then, with a rushing sound, she felt herself vanish, and she was suddenly sat up, coughing, his hand still locked tightly with hers.
"Easy, easy," the Doctor was saying, holding her up carefully as Jack sat back in relief. "It's all right, deep breaths."
Rose did as she was told, and finally she stopped coughing and was able to breathe normally. Looking up, she glanced between the Doctor and Jack.
"You had us going for a moment there," Jack said smiling, his eyes shining with concern.
"Me too." Rose replied seriously, leaning back slightly on the Doctor's steadying arm.
"You OK to get up?" The Doctor asked gently, and she nodded, before being pulled up by the two of them.
"Yeah, we'd better get out of here before someone figures out the boss is, well, indisposed." Jack said, glancing over at the unmoving form of the still-alive Haverlake in the corner. The Doctor's eyes flashed, and Rose glanced at him in concern, but she decided to ask later.
"Come on then," the Doctor replied, keeping his grip on Rose's hand and leading the way, Jack bringing up the rear and checking for any sign of threat.
For once, they had no difficulty getting back to the TARDIS, and leapt in while they could, shutting the doors behind them. The Doctor bounded up to the console, and frowned before starting the dematerialisation sequence, leaving Rose and Jack to grab onto the rails.
"Right," the Doctor said eventually, bringing the ship to a stop in the safety of the vortex. "Medical bay – no complaints."
Surprisingly, there were none, and once inside the familiar room, they were finally able to take stock of their injuries. The Doctor carefully checked over Rose, before running a device over her wrists to repair the broken skin. Then he turned to Jack, who raised an eyebrow.
"I think I can heal myself."
"And I think that you should have nothin' to hide." The Doctor replied, in all serious-ness. Jack waited for a moment, before giving in and lying down, letting the Doctor clean up his face wounds, wincing as he ran cool fingers over painful cuts. When he had done, Jack sat up, but the Doctor hadn't finished.
"Shirt off."
"Why Doctor, I thought you'd never ask," Jack joked, but didn't move. Rose watched this with confusion, but stayed silent. The Doctor always did something for a reason. This time Jack crumbled quicker, and slowly pulled the grubby white t-shirt over his head.
Rose gasped. Jack looked away, but the Doctor looked on with unreadable eyes at Jack's torso, now mottled purple and yellow with bruising. The tension in the room was thick and uncomfortable, but eventually the Doctor reached for the cloth and gently wiped over the wounds, before bandaging them gently.
"Done." The Doctor announced, stepping back. For a second, Rose looked at Jack, before turning to the Doctor, who shifted his hands into his pyjama pockets.
"Right," Jack said, gathering his usual mood back a bit, "is someone going to explain what on Earth just happened?"
"I'll second that," Rose added, sitting down on one of the beds.
"OK then, who wants to go first?" the Doctor agreed, perching on a stool. It was bound to be a long set of stories.