A/N: Thanks to all you reviewers! You make my day, you really, really do! As an answer to your requests, here's the next chapter of If Only I could just touch Your World Upon A Whisper… completely unplanned, with me sitting here with no idea what I'm about to write. I'll tell you what I think of it at the end. And hopefully, you will too!
Thanks again, Strange Principles
Disclaimer: I don't know anything. But I would LIKE to own Doc10 for my birthday coming up. Whoo – 14 soon! So if you get my present, I'd prefer it to be around 6 foot 4 in height, just so he can, you know, fit in… thanks!
The Skarian Galaxy, Kastal Headquarters
Rose woke again to find that she was in some kind of white walled cell, and that she was not alone. However, she did not find this wholly discomforting, because her manacles were off, and although there were guards at the heavily bolted steel door, she recognised the faces around her to be the crew from the K37 Gem 5 mission. Hell, had she wanted to see them! They were all like her; looking around bewildered and scared, but pleased with the company of each other.
She stirred in her position so their attention directed at her. Mickey, her faithful Mickey, jumped up immediately and ran to her side, with a happy cry of: "Rose!"
"Mm," moaned Rose slightly as she got into a sitting position, and held her head with one hand. "Where are we?"
Mickey, still standing, looked around and shrugged, sniffed – a new habit of his, it seemed – and sat down next to her. "You tell me. I thought we were dead after we flew into that thing."
"Yeah, well. Nothing's impossible," she said, with that distracted air that Mickey knew to be telling him she was thinking. Good old Rose. Always prepared. "And I think I've got an explanation, too…"
"So spill," said Mickey, beckoning the others closer. One who was missing was Zack, otherwise there would have been the regular routine check on members of the mission present. But Rose didn't really worry about this. The words were falling over her tongue to get out.
"Mickey, so you know… where we came from," said Rose carefully, hinting at her past. Torchwood had never known exactly where this blonde fighter had come from. "Back then, we went to Krop Tor, years into the future. The Black Hole there was… it was just an eater, it destroyed everything, sort of… we had to leave when the planet got sucked in. We nearly all died in the process, too, but in this universe, everything's different, right?"
The crew all nodded as she made diagrams with her hands. They were used to Rose talking very oddly about different universes, different dimensions – and although it was beyond all possibilities, they had to believe her because she carried what she said with such a deep conviction.
"So, what if the Black Hole we went through really is a gateway? Different dimensions, different superstitions, and different possibilities, right? What wasn't possible in that universe can become possible here… well," Rose suddenly stopped and bit her lip, glancing around at the others as if they were looking at her like she was mad. She missed the fact that they were hanging on her every word. Mickey made a vague hand gesture, motioning her to carry on, but Rose didn't have any more to say, really. He would have been so much better at explaining this…
"…Well, that's what I think…"
Her announcement was greeted with silence, where thoughts were thick and fast and her friends, the crew, considered. Then Jefferson looked up and nodded bluntly. It was possibly the best thing he could have done for Rose at that moment.
"I don't know how you get all your knowledge, but that seems to cut the dust, and I don't see any alternate explanation."
Rose smiled in gratitude and delight, and quite a bit of pride for herself.
"So…" said Mickey. "Yeah, I agree… I think. But we still have a problem."
"What's that?" Said Rose, intrigued.
"We reckon Zack was killed in the flight. We don't have a captain and the next person he requested command to be given to was… well, it was you."
Rose just stared blankly at him for a moment. "So… what're you saying? I'm captain?"
"Yeah."
Rose directed her gaze onto nothing in particular, but something twisted inside her. She was a Captain now. These people were her responsibility.
That was just great. Really, really great. A Captain pressing buttons and throwing her weight around.
No, hang on… was that such a bad thing?
The Skarian Galaxy, Pavar, Outside the TARDIS
The Doctor put the sonic screwdriver in between his teeth and looked out onto the bustling street of steam powered and hydrogen fuelled cars that sped two feet above the blackened roads. Pulling his overcoat on he took the psychic paper out of his pocket. He always had problems with that. So often people had psychic training and it got taken away. But he had loads to spare. In fact, he had two hundred A4 sheets of it which he had purchased just a month ago at the alien version of a Tesco's.
He wouldn't use the TARDIS. He was part of events and even if he did, it would mean he'd miss out on the most exciting part of everything. Fighting the fight. And it could only bring him quicker to what he both wanted and dreaded to find.
No… not the TARDIS this time.
He jogged over the street regardless of the hologram above him that represented a blue traffic light, to one of the places he loved most. Well, second most. If it didn't sell processed meat then it certainly wasn't a compulsory part of life, but Information centres were always… quite… useful.
"Hello there," he said, leaning over the illuminated Perspex desk. An alien form turned around, a traditional Pavarian. One eye in the middle of the head, a humanoid figure except for its extraordinary slimmed form and bulbous head. It's fingers were long and skeletal, never different from the twin race, from Kastal.
Something clicked and vibrated within… her… voice. "Good evening, Sir. How may I be of service?"
"Righty-ho, just to cover the first bits, I guess the necessities… Pavar and Kastal are at war."
The woman's charming smile faltered slightly but then resumed back to it's normal state. "Confirmed, however the authorities have not declared war just yet."
"Oh good, I hate it when it's official," grimaced the Doctor. "Either way I'm guessing you really are at war, whatever they say. Right. So. Second thing I want to know. Who's the main force exploring Kastal at the moment? Any squads dispatched?"
"Confirmed. The Pavarian Government has initialised a squadron to explore Kastal and to… infiltrate its barriers."
The Doctor grinned. "Right, sign me up. Where do I go?"
This time the alien did not prevent the surprise on her face. "But sir…" She faltered yet again as the Doctor increased the intensity of his eager grin. "Go to the Central Octagon, into the old National Mapping Systems building. People are signing up from there."
"Brilliant," said the Doctor, smacking a hand down onto the surface before turning away, and just as abruptly turning back again.
"You don't happen to sell Hot Dogs, do you?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Three hours later, a bit of work with the psychic paper and filling out needless forms, and the Doctor was in. He could see, all around him, the scared faces of other volunteers around him, most pure Pavarian. The system of the war reminded him of old earth and the first world war, where people who did not sign up were given white feathers by women to encourage them to. The system was not completely alike but it was just as wrong. If they didn't try, they might as well have jumped off a bridge into a busy motorway rather than walk down the street.
It was all too obvious the Government were desperate. Volunteers were being taken off on missions almost as soon as they joined up. The Doctor himself had volunteered for everything. Anything to get him on that planet. He loved adrenaline, and he loved trying to save innocent people. It was the sense of calm he got at the end. But right now his two hearts were pumping fast for a reason, and none of these factors could explain it.
"Would Recruit number 77509 please report to the main desk."
The Doctor looked at his tag and smiled as he jumped up, waving at everyone in sight, who all looked back at him with bemused stares.
"That would be me then! Turrah! Bye! Don't miss me!" He walked off and smiled at the ceiling. "Too much," he muttered as an afterthought.
The formal looking people at the main desk nodded formally at him, exchanged no words, and handed him papers, an ID card, and motioned him to follow them. The Doctor, of course, wasn't one to follow after, and overtook the disapproving receptionist, or whatever the hell he was, with a happy stride. He did, however, stop, look around and scratch his head before taking the wrong turning at the first fork. It was just a habit. He didn't have much of a sense of direction, really.
After finally taking the right route, he pulled the crumpled papers out of one of his many pockets. The runes on the paper translated inside his head automatically, despite the fact that the Doctor could have read it without the help of the TARDIS.
Recruit 77509 Rank: Soldier
Mission Infiltrate Kastalian Headquarters
Vessel Number 3/MK27/Pav.
To infiltrate Kastalian Headquarters and review the weaponry status, and decommission and disassemble any dangerous weapons. Dispatched: 4800 hours, Pavarian Time. Co-ordinates: K22334, 00678 Skarian Galaxy.
Kastalian Headquarters. He'd been hoping for the easy ride to try and rescue the hostages but no, nothing in his life was easy. However, it had to be better than nothing. He was going, and even if it meant he had to abandon his mission he'd get there. There were people to be saved, and one person in particular…
"You know, they keep trying to split us up, but they never ever will…" The happy blonde linked her arm with his cheerfully. He was content as he could be just now, just travelling around with her and at first he felt like smiling, but oddly he didn't. He could feel something in the air. See something in the stars. Sense something in the future.
"Never say never ever," he said quietly, eating the last of his precious cake with ball bearings.
"Nah," said Rose in that care-free way… "We'll always be okay, you and me." She looked up in such awe at the simple fireworks, but when he didn't answer, she looked concerned. There was something in her eyes that asked him to reassure her. But there it was. That thing in the air, that foreboding sense, and the Doctor couldn't say it.
"Don't you reckon, Doctor?"
"Something in the air, something's coming," he said, looking up at the sky, full of fireworks and stars and beauty. It was a moment to be enjoyed but something or someone wasn't letting that happen.
"What?"
He carried on looking at the sky, cake forgotten. "A storm's approaching," he said softly.
The Doctor suddenly realised he was just staring blankly into space. All those times he'd had opportunities to reassure her, or say what she wanted to hear and equally what he wanted to tell her, and he never ever had the chance.
Of course, this moment of loss didn't last long, where the Doctor just felt alone in the universe again, because a spindly finger poked him forcefully in the back and the Doctor fell head over heels in what seemed to be some kind of small compartment. Falling flat against the window of the small pod, the Doctor saw that he was about fifty floors up and in a space craft at one of the unloading bays on the building. Gulping, he fastened his seatbelt hastily on the only chair in the craft.
What had the psychic paper said? Competetent flier. Previously a member of the Pavarian Space Racing Team and Experienced Fighter. Oh, cake without ball bearings, he'd never thought he'd have to fly alone. That was the ingenuity of the TARDIS. It was alive, and he'd had it for years. He knew which buttons to press because such was the link that the TARDIS identified every control for him. This? He had a steering wheel, something akin to a gear stick and no breaks. Oh, and numerous flashy lights.
For a moment he looked bemused, then grabbed the steering wheel and glared at it. "It's just a piece of machinery," he said aloud to himself. "Easy," he added, and then pressed down hard on the accelerator.
The engines flared so fiercely he was flung back in his seat, and the craft flashed so quickly by it was almost a blur to pedestrians below. Trying to gather himself with the sheer speed of it, the Doctor tried to steer, and with his other hand, tapped in the coordinates that had been given to him. Looking out of the small window in front of him all the Doctor could see was night sky. The ship was now doing the directions for him. He just had to steer away from any obstacles.
That had to be easy… right?
Either way, he was on his way. And he planned to find the person who he'd loved so long ago and still did.
Kastalian Galaxy, HQ, Hostage Base
Boredom ensued for Rose and the crew. So many thoughts were running through her head, however, there was hardly time to feel it. Where was she? There were so many parallel universes, she could be any. Or… she could still be in the one she'd dwelled in for seven years. There was no way of telling. Kastal. She'd never heard of it in her life, but surely if this was a parallel universe, she'd have ended up on Krop Tor again? Near the Black Hole. And where was the rocket? Had their been a crash landing? A capture? What? And there was something much more important than that. She didn't know the date. The 19th of Gesmin was to be her execution. So what was the goddamn date? How long did she have to live?
"Mickey," she uttered quietly. He was sitting next to her, in the circle the old crew of K37 Gem 5 had adopted.
He nodded quietly, and listened.
"When you came here, did you have to read anything? A ransom note? Anything?"
Mickey shook his head and Rose bit her lip.
"But they did tell us… well, me something when we got here. Something about using us as hostages until the… Pav – something did what they said, something like that. They also said, that well, I don't wanna scare you or anything but…"
"We've got an execution date, right?"
"Yeah," said Mickey distantly, nodding his head solemnly. "Yeah… One day's time by now. Two when they told us."
"God, they don't leave the Pavarians much time to consider, do they?" Said Rose, but the words didn't carry much humour at all. She, Rose Tyler, twenty seven, had about one day to live, and this time there was no escape. She was trapped. Other times, she might have had a glimmer of hope but this time, there was nothing. There was no one to help.
So rose Tyler lay down on the sterilised white floor, looked up at the ceiling, closing her eyes, and thought. She thought about nothing in particular. Ways of escaping, memories, curiosities, they all flashed past, overwhelmed by a feeling of utter hopelessness.
If she could have seen the skies above she would have noticed something, though. A speck on the horizon; an insignificant dot. A rescue ship, accompanied by thousands of others. If she could have seen it, then she would have had hope. But she couldn't. And even if she could, she would have never known that it carried the one man who could always save the day.
But she was captain, and she was with people she loved and trusted… so she guessed, there was always hope. The frown on her face slowly turned to a thoughtful smile.
A/N: Until next time, and thanks for all your reviews, they are greatly appreciated. I hope this chapter was less angsty, as I've written enough angst-ridden stories and to be honest, I don't get any joy from writing complete misery. A bit here and there can be good to raise the quality but who wants to read stuff that just makes you feel like you've been put through the tumble dryer? Anyhow, I hope this made you happy and I am writing Chapter four because I'm really enjoying writing this.
Special Thanks to: Eeveekitty85, jessa7 ("review buddy"!), Fanficer Lore, Lariel Romeniel, I-Confuse-Everyone, Black Sorceress, Give My Socks Back – yes you, Ellie, and I think there were more people who reviewed. Your reviews aren't showing yet, so you'll be mentioned next chapter!
All reviews are very welcome and I am extremely grateful for ANY criticisms or input! I also encourage you to look at my poem, "Good bye, Rose Tyler", which I am afraid is very angsty… sorry, I really did feel like I'd been put through the tumble dryer at the time!
Yours, StrangePrinciples
PS: If you have a David Tennant going spare, I really would like one for my 14th birthday… heheh, only kidding!
