The Empty Child
The trip to Woman Wept lightened Rose Tyler's attitude considerably. She had come back into the TARDIS with a distant but thoughtful expression on her young face. It had been stunned as well, rapid blinking and furrowed brows as she carefully closed the TARIDS's door behind her. When she had looked at him, he found his ears growing hot at the fact that he had been staring. She had smiled and whispered a soft good night, and gently kissed him on his cheek after a moment, and then walked off to her room. It was instinct, easy and it seemed to be an afterthought for her, just a soft little bit of pressure near the corner of his mouth, her hands against his chest to reach his cheek as she went on the tip of the toes.
She hadn't even look back to gauge his reaction as Porco had trotted behind her as she headed off to her room. It would have made the Doctor feel better if she had looked back, given him a reason to snap out of the rush of paralyzing emotions that had stormed him. The Doctor had just stood frozen, staring after her for a long time. He had moved only when his legs had gotten numb, and sat on the jump seat, staring as the TARDIS had hummed to him, the ebbs and flow of her song trying to ease his turbulent thoughts. He had stayed like that, for a while, eyes seeing nothing as his mind wandered inward.
He had actually fallen asleep, sprawled across the jump seat.
No nightmares, nothing. Just eight hours of peaceful oblivion and faint dreams of gold glowing eyes and Rose's face, filled with a light that was so familiar- He had woken with a start after his latest dream, her voice echoing in his ears:
"I want you safe, My Doctor."
Something about those words… Just chilled him to the bone and made his heart's warm beyond anything he had ever experienced since the Time War. Unlike his last incarnation, the Doctor had a very weak time sense. His mind was too damaged from the Time War, the force of ejection and the effect of the Moment had burned so brightly, had convulsed the Web of Time so violently that he had instantly regenerated away from that Poetry loving man he had once been.
For nearly ten years, his time sense had been too raw, too sensitive to use at all. With disuse, it had become weaker, muscle atrophy in a sense. Now, he avoided using it like the plague unless his curiosity got the best of him. It was irritating to use in a Universe so disorderly without the aid of the Time Lords to keep it in perfect balance. It was still trying to find order in the subsequent chaos that had evolved as a catalyst of that portion of the Universe being locked away. Sometimes, though, sometimes it opened without his consent, like a twitching limb because of faulty nerves.
So what he had seen, what he had heard was a possibility. Or a certainty. Something about Rose… He blinked. Future, Past, never to be? He could not know. He didn't want to know(he usually always want to know, but something prevents him), he just shrugged it off and headed off to tinker on one of his projects.
~BW~DW~BW~DW~BW~
The Doctor rather approved of Rose's new, more eager attitude, he thought. Of her lighter eyes and the more frequent appearance of that tongue-in-teeth-smile that he was rather sure he was addicted too(not that he would ever dare admit that to anyone, least alone her). That or he attributed to good things because it never failed to make his hearts speed up, or the warm flush that reached the tips of his ears. Next time they stepped out of the TARDIS, Rose had bounded ahead, earlier enthusiasm and painful caution went with her ill mood. She had nearly reverted back to her old self. There was still a slight hesitation, but with each and every time it lessened and lessened.
She was not foolhardy or cavalier(she had never been, much as he nagged her about it), but she had gained some wisdom after her father's death. He was saddened he had caused such a painful moment in her life, but he was also glad that she was being more cautious. She wasn't simply Jeopardy friendly, as he called her in his mind, but actually, she courted Jeopardy to try her on for size. The fact that he hadn't already regenerated from the stress of her 'balls' to the wall tendency in the face of some sort of injustice was a miracle.
She approached him today, Porco at her heels, in her night clothes, some little shorts that made him take extra measures to look at her face, and force himself to ignore the slipping sleeve of her dressing gown. Part of him dwelled on the possibility that she was so comfortable around him that she would wear so little, with her face bare of cosmetics, another wondered if it was because she simply did not care enough to make an effort. Neither answer pleased him on some level, though the former sent his hearts in a tizzy(how undignified was that?). The young woman yawned, walking unsteadily but confidently with the rocking of the TARDIS. Another thing she had gotten the knack of after a month or so she had been aboard the TARDIS. The girl would be wonderful on a boat, he thought, and he made a quick note to take her sailing somewhere. She liked the ocean anyhow.
"What's all the fuss?" makeup freeshe said pushing back her long hair as it fmakeup-freeface, making a gesture upwards to the flickering mauve lights on the console. The Doctor grimaced.
"It's mauve." he said seriously, moving about the Console, following the ship as closely as he could.
The TARDIS didn't tend to fly like this, made her grumpy, to push forward and rocket about. She rather follow the tide of the Vortex, but right now it was all about moving against the current. He didn't blame the Old Girl for being annoyed, but duty called. She gave a faint growl in her song in the back of his head, and he was tempted to grab his trusty mallet to make the stubborn girl behave.
"Mauve?" asked Rose, frowning as she took in his quick, and grime demeanor.
"The universally recognized color for danger." he said quickly, pressing a button here and jerking a lever down quickly.
"God, how long did it take for humans to switch from red then? "she asked, and she sounded morbidly amused.
He snorted.
"Red's camp. Oh, the misunderstandings. All those red alerts, all that dancing. It wasn't until the early thirtieth century that your lot decided that everyone else wasn't going to follow your lead. The thing was following has a very basic flight computer. I've hacked in, slaved the TARDIS. Where it goes, we go." he said proudly, stepping back for a tick.
Rose's brow furrowed and she took a careful seat on the Jump Seat, clutching the armrests.
"And that's safe, is it?"
"Totally."
The Doctor was nearly thrown off his feet at the resulting bang of the TARDIS hitting something, and he looked back sheepishly as Rose gave a small yelp. Her hair flopped back into her face, Porco squealed and snorted in annoyance as he tried to steady himself against one of the railings surrounding the console.
"Okay, reasonably. Should have said reasonably there. No, no, no, no! It's jumping time tracks, getting away from us." centrehe cried, and she gave out a slight laugh.
"Right." she leaned forward, bare feet hitting the grating with a slight smack as she went to grip the console, "What exactly is this thing, who's in trouble?"
"No idea." he said cheerfully, eyes squinting at one of his monitors.
"Then why are we chasing it?" she asked, raising her brow.
"It's mauve and dangerous, and about thirty seconds from the center of London."
She gave him a heartfelt laugh:
"Isn't always?"
A chuckle bubbled in his throat rumbled in his chest and it felt so odd because he hadn't done such a genuine one in so long.
"Cheeky!"
Even if it was somewhat true.
~BW~DW~BW~DW~BW~
Rose deliberately wore the Union Jack top once she went to the wardrobe room, after telling the Doctor that she needed to at least be wearing pants before she went about London. It's the little ironic things that make her smile in the terms of her odd life. The TARDIS giggled as she pulled it over her head, a thrilling note to her lovely song. She was just as eager as she, she thought, excitement bubbling in her stomach over who they would pick up today. Rose also made sure to pull her hair back, lace her Victorian-esque boots from the future(quickly becoming a staple in favor of trainers simply because they had excellent ankle support) extra tight for the running ahead, and to wear a jacket that goes over her hands, a hole to put her thumb so as to limit the chances of skin exposure.
She rather not turn into a gas mask zombie who just wants their mother. Cute and endearing to remember and look back on, a child who just wants answers searching desperately for them, but creepy to experience, truthfully. The less she saw of gas masks, the better really. With a quick addition of a little more mascara than usual(she had a Captain to be gorgeous for after all), Rose was ready and bid the Old Girl goodbye with a lovely little hum. She stepped out into London, lips pursed and eyes wary against a city just about to experience the Blitz.
"Do you know how long you can knock around space without happening to bump into Earth?" said the Doctor, frowning as he looks around. He came to stand behind her, a mere inch or so away from being flushed against her back.
She snorts, turns towards the man. She looks up at his beloved face and raises a brow at his furrowed ones.
"Five days? You promise a girl all of Time and Space and you just happen to show me the planet I'm from, the city I lived practically all my life, again and again. Or is that just when we're out of milk?"
The Doctor boldly rolls his eyes, turning his own head towards her's. She could count the flecks of the slightly paler shade of blue near his irises.
Thirteen in his left eye, fourteen in his right.
"Of all the species in all the Universe and it has to come out of a cow." his nose wrinkles in mock disgust.
She purses her lips and rolls her eyes.
"It isn't just me who drinks it, Doctor."
She knows for damn sure that the majority of their milk was going into his banana milkshakes. She made them for him, after all, and she made at least one a day. He ignores her, turning away. A spare hand touches her shoulder, gives it a brief squeeze as he looks about.
"Must have come down somewhere close. Within a mile, anyway. And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago. Maybe a month."
"Blimey, how much of difference a few meters have on time in the Vortex." she says, looking about the 40's alley of her former home.
"It was jumping time tracks all over the place." says the Doctor, defensively crossing his arms, "We're bound to be a little bit out. Do you want to drive?"
Rose smirked, even as something in the back of her head gave a little howl. She may have flown once, but she didn't arrive too late. Better track record than him when he had started out, she reckoned.
"Up to teach me, Doctor? 'Fraid the Old Girl would like me touching the console better?"
He squinted at her.
"Don't make it sound dirty. I swear hormones and apes."
"Says the man who calls her Sexy."
The way the tip of his ears pinked was much more adorable than it should have been. She supposed she was just biased, love is blind and all that. She smiled, tongue-in-teeth.
"I have done no such thing."
She raised a brow.
"Have too, heard you cooing at her when you think I've swanned off." she laughed at his sheepish expression, "But she is Sexy. Most gorgeous creature I've ever seen."
She placed a gentle hand on the soft, wood like disguise the TARDIS had adopted. She hummed softly, and the TARDIS trilled back at her happily and she felt a flush of warmth. The Doctor squinted at the police box disguise.
"She likes you." he says faintly, and he turns to look at her strangely.
Rose knows the Doctor is brilliant. Knew that the minute he told her how the world felt like to him, all that spinning and gravity holding him to the skin of her tiny little world. She also knew that her relieving her timeline was not going to go completely unnoticed. Neither she nor even the TARDIS were that good. She prayed to whichever deity or force that she had come across in her strange life, she tried to restrain herself, keep timelines intact and toe the line to correct the mistakes of the past without drastically affecting the future that needed to past. But she was just one person, just a human and things slipped. Her memory wasn't always the best. Her facade was not perfect because she refused to temper herself. Refused to deceive even more than she had to because it wasn't fair to manipulate the events to be selfish, as easy and as tempting it was to do so(it was the equivalent of getting a door in her head, and she rather avoid that).
The Doctor would get her, all of her, this confusing mix of nineteen and twenty-two that made up Rose Tyler.
And she knew the Doctor knows that there is something off about her. That she acts a little too well or was a bit quicker than average. She just hoped that a, he would trust her, and b, not come to the exact right conclusion until after all their old adventures ran out completely. She grinned at him, in what she hoped was a disarming way. After all, she wasn't there to harm him, she was just there to live her life and hopefully prevent the end of it(Amelia and Jack aside, things weren't set in stone, time was constantly in flux and she could end up in that hospital bed dying all over again).
"Really? Good. I rather have our sentient Timeship like me than not." she placed her hands deeply in her pockets, "What's the plan, then? Are you going to do a scan for alien tech or something?"
"Rose, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang. I'm going to ask," he said, rolling his eyes, taking the bait perfectly.
He takes out his psychic paper, waving it about. Perfectly solid plan, In nearly every decade but this one, she thought with a suppress snort. Honestly, why he hadn't checked the console for the date was beyond her.
"Doctor John Smith, Ministry of Asteroids." she read helpfully, "Physic paper, lovely."
Deliveries Only, read a sign on a door, music and singing heard from behind the door. She found herself wondering what was beyond it, swanky party, low-brow club? She had never gotten that far, but well, she couldn't change that. Even if breaking away would be interesting, she rather not fail to get the information that the Doctor needed… After all, it wasn't always that they got days like this, the days where everybody lives.
Besides that, she had a con-man to catch.
"Not very Spock is it, just asking?"
"Door, music, people. What do you think?" said the Doctor, ignoring her completely.
She pursed her lips.
"I think you should do a scan for alien tech. Give me some Spock, for once. Wouldn't it be more effective?"
The Doctor whipped out his sonic, its whirl popping the metal door open. He turned to her with a grin.
"Where's the fun in effective? Are you sure about that t-shirt?"
She smirked.
"Too early to say. But it is London, should be fine enough."
"Mummy? Mummy?" the voice was faint, and Rose wondered at the fact that the Doctor had not heard it.
But still, Rose heard it, non-superior senses and all. Despite knowing the source, the hairs at the back of her neck still stood on end at the faint, high voice of Jamie. Rose clenched her fingers, deep in her pockets.
"Come on if you're coming. It won't take a minute."
The Doctor walked inside, not looking back to see if Rose followed.
"Mummy?"
Rose turns to the sound of Jamie's voice, looking up on the fire escape on the building across the one she had been facing. She is struck by how small his form is- and she remembers how much terror the little boy had provoked in her. And the horror when she realized what had happened to the child. Her heart ached.
"Doctor? Doctor? There's a kid up there!" she calls for effect, not knowing or not if the Doctor had her shout this the last time.
She runs after the boy in the dark, shivering, tugging at the sleeves of her jacket, just in case.
"Mummy, are you my mummy?" called out Jamie's voice, haunting, pleading and insistent.
Rose's stomach turned, and she felt her heart go out to the child. She knew what it was like, being without answers. She had died without answers, hell, she still doesn't know what it was about Pete's World that had killed her. Rejection of a Universe she hadn't lived in? A side effect of the Bad Wolf incident that the Doctor had overlooked? She didn't have an answer for that, she wondered if she ever would. She licks her lips, pushing back the tears in her eyes. She looks at the poor boy, and wonders morbidly if he's in pain being in that state as the nanogenes force him to be that:
Broken bones, lacerations, gas mask burned to his face at the force and sheer heat of the explosion.
"Don't worry, sweetheart. You'll find your mummy." she said softly, and her voice is thick with suppressed tears, "It'll be over soon."
"Mummy?"
Not wanting to be caught unawares, she scampers to the roof, looking for the rope and keeping an eye out for Jamie.
"Mummy?" the voice is above her, Jamie's tiny form on some sort of doorway from the flat building.
She eyes the rope she had not checked to see what it had been attached to the first time around as it drops in front of her. She purses her lips.
"The things I do for you Captain Jack Harkness, I bloody hope when I tell you this story with Doctor Jones that I either A, get a big o' wet kiss or b, some hyper-vodka." she says aloud, seriously, trying to ease her distress at Jamie's state.
She starts to climb, and just as the dangling rope starts to move, she tangles her legs up, wrapping loosely, and for good measure she finds herself reaching down: flipping herself in a practically flexible gymnastic move that would ache in the morning to tie a knot so she can stand on it. It's a bit tricky, but she's quick so she doesn't slip off. She clings for dear life as the balloon starts to gain more speed, further and further across the rooftop.
"Mummy. Balloon!" cried Jamie, reaching out for her. She flinches without meaning too, swinging away from the boy's outstretched hand.
The balloon clears the roof area, and Rose grits her teeth, wrapping her arms carefully around her only support, rope burns be damn, after all, she has both the TARDIS and nanogenes ready to patch up her skin. Searchlights comb the sky, a hellish, firey glow starts up, setting the entire city ablaze. She feels her throat constrict as bombs drop on London in the infamous Blitz. German Fighter planes head straight for her balloon.
"I really, I really, love you Jack," she mutters, and she tries to make herself as comfortable as possible in what she knew was a long ride.
~BW~DW~BW~DW~BW
The Blonde falls. She doesn't scream, she only gives a small grunt as she let's go of the rope, hands reaching as she falls in a graceful spiral towards the ground. Captain Jack Harkness, as he calls himself, grins as he catches her(and her sweet, rounded behind) easily in a tractor beam. It seems, he thinks with narrowed eyes, That I've found the Time Agents I lured. Took them long enough. He lowers his lips to the mic, grinning widely:
"Okay, okay, I've got you."
The Blonde gasped, moving about carefully, as she was testing the gravity of the tractor beam.
Not very low-level then, knows her way around with more than standard weapons and equipment to a typical Time Agent. Proceed with caution. Harkness.
"Who's got me? Who's got me, and you know, how?" she says, and her voice is steady, only a small hint of panic there that emphasis the slight accent that she has.
Dedicated, chose a twentieth-century persona and integrated it very deeply. Almost as good as me.
"I'm just programming your descent pattern. Keep as still as you can and keep your hands and feet inside the light field."
"Oh, well, that's a real load off, that is. I'm hanging in the sky in the middle of a German air raid with
the Union Jack across my chest, but hey, my hands and feet are inside the vehicle at all times!" snapped the woman.
Firecracker. Good. If all goes well I'll dupe her and have a nice roll around with her as well.
"Be with you in a moment. Hold tight!"
"To what?"
A sense of humor too. Jackpot. Love a funny and fiery lover.
"Fair point." he extends his hands and watches her fall closer and closer for her to land perfectly in his arms. She is warm, and oh so deliciously curvy flushed against his body, and his entire body starts an electric buzz at the mere feel of her, "I've got you. You're fine, you're just fine. The tractor beam, it can scramble your head just a little."
She stares at him. A telescope had not really done the woman's face justice. Oh sure, her body is all curves and soft and feminine, but her face- big kissable lips, long hair to tangle his fingers in, and oh, her eyes. Large wide hazel eyes threaded green and with flecks of gold… Shame she was a Time Agent, he thought as she stared at him, eyes dazed and warm on him.
"Hello." her voice is very pleasant without the panic, accent, while not quite lilting, giving it a sort of grabbing quality.
Not even entirely faking it, Jack smiles.
"Hello."
"Hello. Sorry, that was hello twice there. Dull, but you know, through." she laughs, and her laugh is a cute thing of tinkling sounds and Jack feels that faint twinge of guilt somewhere in his throat, making him look at her open eyes and oh so kissable lips.
All he has to do is remind himself of two lost years and it's enough to push past it.
"Are you alright?" he cooed, and he is pleased by the faint flush that covers her slightly tan skin.
"I'm 'lright. Would you mind terribly putting me down?"
Jack went to do so, hands hovering.
~BW~DW~BW~DW~BW~
Her heart's still pounding when Jack puts her on her own two feet. Despite the foreknowledge that she wouldn't be falling to her death falling into the inferno that was some parts of London, the freezing ride frankly had left her irritated, tired and the beam had more or less screwed her head up. It was worse than the exploding jelly incident. She blinked rapidly, taking deep breathes to try and steady her head. She was the Valiant dammit, one little beam would not make her swoon into Jack's arms.
"Are you expecting me to faint or something?" she snaps as Jack stares at her, she places a steadying hand on his chest, blinking.
"You look a little dizzy." he mentions.
"What about you? You're not even in focus," she says and she giggles at the repeat of her words because that was funny.
Rose thought for a moment that she would be fine- After all, it must have been a shock that got her swooning in Jack's arms the first time. But no, it's the thin air, she thinks, as she blinks at the double-image of Captain Jack Harkness(now isn't that a deliciously terrible thought, two Jacks). And the cold. She forgot how cold it had been, the cold, cold feeling and thin air don't exactly make for the best atmosphere for a human being. Plus tractor beams. Oh, how those makes her head spin. She blinks one more time than falls into a dead faint into Jack's arms like last time.
~BW~DW~BW~DW~BW~
Rose wakes as she did her first time around, in the dark, head slightly sore, and sitting up carefully.
"Better now?" says Jack, American accent sharp and distinct.
Rose blinks at the looming shadow that he forms.
"You got lights in here?" she asks, pushing her hair back carefully.
Jack turns on the lights. The Chula and the gleefully stolen ship is much smaller then she remembered. It's also a mess- functional but a mess of wires dangling from the ceiling. It is also frightfully cold inside the ship, and she wonders at it as Jack makes his way over to her. He is all charming smiles and handsome swagger as he sits across from her. His blue eyes are intent on her, lingering the most on her face, they do wander to her breasts and hips but it's Jack so she doesn't take too much offense. She sees a distinct hint of distrust behind his smiling, charming and handsome face.
She looks back and struggles not to burst into tears. Much as she loved her Doctor and Mickey, Jack had become her confidant during his stay on the TARDIS. There were just things you didn't tell the man you loved, nor to your ex, and Jack had been a surprisingly good listener. And, sympathetic at the sexual frustration(after all, he felt something very similar to the Doctor 'And you, Rosie, dead sexy blond minx that you are doesn't help at all. Between you and the Doctor looks... And the sexual tension between the pair of you leaves me in agony!'). Not to mention, he had taught her some self-defense, and how to handle a gun, even if the Doctor had not approved. He had been adamant that she learn just in case. He had been her foundation when she had become the Defender of Pete's Earth, just as much as her cardio running with the Doctor.
"Hello." he said simply.
Rose struggled not to beam at him. But she was already a fantastic actress thanks to her time with the Doctor, so she was able to maintain a somewhat neutral face.
"Hello."
"Hello." he echoed.
Rose allowed herself to have a smile at that.
"Let's not start that again." she says, and she also allows a fraction of the warmth she felt to leak into her voice.
"Okay."
She eased herself, straightening her hair, and keeping an eye on the conman.
"First of all, thank you for saving my life. Second, mind telling me who're you supposed to be, then?"
He grins.
"Captain Jack Harkness, One Three Three Squadron, Royal Air Force. American volunteer."
He hands her his ID card with a flourish that is all Jack. The way he said it, so cock sure, so easily, made her tears prick at the corner of her eye. If she wasn't careful, she'd launch herself at this man. While Jack certainly wouldn't mind, per say, it doesn't mean that he wouldn't think her insane or cope a feel. She blinked as she looked down at the paper, and smirks:
"Liar. This is psychic paper. It tells me whatever you want it to tell me."
"How do you know?"
"Two things. One, I have a friend who uses this all the time."
"Ah.".
"And two, you just handed me a piece of paper telling me you're single and you work out," she says, and she laughs, lifting it with tongue-in-teeth smile. Jack chuckles with her.
"Tricky thing, psychic paper."
"Yeah. Can't let your mind wander when you're handing it over."
She gives it back, stares him straight in the eye. His eye flickers downwards, and oh, the smirk is there. Trademark Jack right there.
"Oh, you just got of a relationship but you're madly in love with a Doctor. "
She blushes despite herself.
"Actually, the words you use is he is 'your' Doctor."
She smiles and pushes a stray lock of her hair behind her ear.
"Well, let's not shout that about."
She snatches the paper up, crumples it and places it in his breast pocket. She is deliberate to linger, feeling the steady rise and fall of his chest and the thump of his heart through his uniform. While things had never escalated with Jack beyond the occasional peck stolen on his part over nearly dying on several occasions together, their relationship had been incredibly touchy. Not to mention, she had missed Jack.
"It's alright. I like a medical man, myself."
She giggled.
"Oh, sorry, was it a man? Some people are sensitive to that implication."
"Yes, he is a man."(alien, but still a man)she smiles, trying to contain her outright 1.21 gigawatts of a smile she wanted to let loose, "Shall we try and get along without the psychic paper?
"That would be better, wouldn't it?"
She smiles, and leans forward, arms resting on her thighs. Jack copies her posture with an easy smile.
"Nice spaceship." she says simply, giving him a once over.
Part of her admiring(she is not a saint, and yes she's very much in love with the Doctor, even more so than last time she met Jack, and yes, she would never act on simple lust anymore, but it's Jack and she is by no means dead). Most of her, however, is wondering how the hell she had managed to turn him into the Face of Boe- A giant and bleen' head in a jar. She saw bits and pieces of Jack in Boe, the hint of his handsome smile, the twinkle, and beauty of his blue eyes- But that's it. The man in front of her gives no indication of what he will become a giant head in a jar, because of her and she pushes that guilt away. After all, Boe had existed in her previous timeline. Even if it was her fault, it would be constant and she really couldn't fault herself too much.
"Gets me around."
His eyes deliberately do a measured look of his own.
"Very Spock." she says, winking.
He stares at her blankly.
"Who?"
"Guessing you're not a local boy, then."
Before, she had been more dizzy, looking around in confusion. Now she is looking him straight in the face, paying attention and she sees the sudden stiffness in his face as he leans forward, the slightly narrowed eyes even as he smiles pleasantly.
"A cell phone from the early twentieth century, fabrics from the late thirtieth century, boots from a lot later, cute by the way... Guessing you're not a local girl."
He makes a deliberate move to place his hand over his.
"Guessing right."
He lifts her hand, rolls up her sleeves to show the trail of rope burns from clinging so hard to the rope. She winces. She scoots away, forcing her sleeve down.
"Burn your hands on the rope?"
"Yeah. Now, I hate to ask, but can anyone see us from the ground?"Despite knowing that the ship is not in the path of anything, the whistle of a bomb near them makes her flinch.
"No. Can I have a look at your hands for a moment?"
"I'm fine." .she mutters, getting up carefully.
The ship has a relatively low ceiling, nearly touching Jack's head. She looks around, carefully. And admiring. Shame the thing had to be blown up.
"Please? You can stop acting now. I know exactly who you are. I can spot a Time Agent a mile away." said Jack, and he is ever charming even if he trying to cheat her.
Oh, my con-man with a heart of gold.
"Time Agent?" she tries her best to sound confident, raising a brow at his assumption.
"I've been expecting one of you guys to show up. Though not, I must say, by barrage balloon. Do you
often travel that way?"
She smirked. Considering the hijinks they would get into- Well, balloons were pretty mild.
"Sometimes I get swept off my feet. By balloons. What are you doing?"
Jack wraps his scarf around her wrists, winding the long fabric so that covers her arm.
"Try to keep still."
With a flourish of a musician, he presses a button. A glowing bundle zooms and covers the entirety of her arms, and it is a warm tingling sensation. It is not as rapid nor as easy as when the Doctor uses the dermal regenerator setting on the sonic screwdriver or the Healing tube or even the Doctor's ever handy creams and strips. But they work just as well and leave her blemished skin clean. She smiles.
"Nanogenes. Sub-atomic robots. The air in here is full of them. They just repaired three layers of your skin." he says smartly.
The Nanogenes go away, glow streaming away.
"Well, tell them thanks." she says softly, rolling down her sleeve again.
He smiles, and it looks genuine. Then it gets wider, straining, going extra charming.
"Shall we get down to business?"
"Business?"
She applauds the fact that all of Jack's moves are all economical- he doesn't give away the fact he's conning her. Even as he gathers up his arsenal against her defenses: champagne and flute glasses.
"Shall we have a drink on the balcony? Bring up the glasses," he says cheerfully handing her the glasses.
Rose follows after jack as he crawls out of the ship, and she takes a deep breath at the sight in front of her. London is ablaze against the night sky, searchlights go over head.
"So you have an invisible up to Big Ben," she said simply, stepping out onto the hull of the ship. A faint breeze whipped her hair about.
"First rule of active camouflage. Park somewhere you'll remember."
She laughs, watching as he pops the champagne, and fills the glasses.
"This isn't business. This is champagne," she mentions, taking the glass from him easily. The ride over had shaken more than she cares to admit, so she downed the bubbly drink easily.
It was a good year at least, just as sweet as she liked it.
"I try never to discuss business with a clear head. Are you traveling alone? Are you authorized to negotiate with me?"
"What do you have for the Time Agency?" she asked, taking another sip of her drink. It settled her nerves somewhat, and she made a mental note not to get drunk in front of her boys.
She was stupidly close to blurting out everything to either of them, the Doctor, whom she loved, to Jack her confident once-upon a memory. She sighs and wishes that she could speak now, say something- He slides closer, bottle tipping over to give her more bubbly. She smiled and tossed it over the side when his gaze flickered to her chest.
"Something they'd like to buy. Are you in power to make payment?"
"Well, I should talk to my companion."
This brings up Jack short, blinking at her. He sets the bottle down and takes a heavy swig from his own glass.
"Companion?"
She smiles, pushing her hair behind her ear.
"I should really be getting back to him."
"Him?" the way his voice dipped, it was both wary and eager, which had her suppressing a smirk.
She leaned forward, hands on his chest. Yes, she was laying it on a bit thick, but hey, he had done the same on her.
"Do you have the time?"
Jack uses his remote and the clock face lights up and Big Ben strikes nine thirty.
"Good timing." she mentions with a hum.
His hands come over, gripping her waist before they do a leisurely crawl over her sides. Then they go to her hands, lifting her up in an easy motion. Smooth, Jack.
"So when you say your companion, just how disappointed should I be?"
"We are on a spaceship, during a German air raid. Do you really think now's a good time to be coming on to me?" she asked, amused.
Jack smirk was nice and flirty, reminded her vividly that she was in a younger body with all the hormones to go with it.
"Perhaps not."
"It was just a suggestion."
She was in love with the Doctor. Had been for years, mentally at least. It didn't mean she was dead(even if she had died once) and it was Jack, even the Doctor flirted with him and as far as she could tell he was mostly heterosexual. But then again Jack Harkness was a whole different kettle of fish. Sexy fish. She was sure, despite his grumpiness when it came to this form that Jack was just too naturally charming.
"Do you like Glenn Miller?"
The magic remote again. Moonlight Serenade plays. Our song. Jack pulls her closer, flush against a very fit body. She presses back, smiling at his eagerness and ease. They swayed to their song, Rose smiling at him and his answering one was sweet and sinful all at once.
"It's 1941, the height of the London Blitz, the height of the German bombing campaign, and something else has fallen on London. A fully equipped Chula warship. The last one in existence, armed to the teeth. And I know where it is because I parked it. If the Agency can name the right price, I can get it for you. But in two hours, a German bomb is going to fall on it and destroy it forever. That's your deadline. That's the deal. Now, shall we discuss payment?"
He dipped her, and she laughed.
"Do you know what I think?"
"What?"
She narrowed her eyes, hands coming up to cup his handsome face. His chiseled jaw and startling blue eyes(so much like the Doctor's, only his are an icy fire, so starling hot and piercing it was hard to look at and Jack's are a deep, deep lake you can drown in), she remembered his face in a giant jar, looking at her with those eyes. Comforting in the same swagger of his grin that he was giving her now. She would cause it, and he said he didn't want him to stop such a thing. She smiled.
"I think you were talking just then."
He leans closer, licking his lips. She knows his eyes are not in her's, but on her lips.
"Two hours, the bomb falls. There'll be nothing left but dust and a crater," he whispers, and he hovers, lips touching at her ear.
She doesn't stop her light shutter and bites her lip to prevent a snort from escaping her.
"Promises promises." she mummers back, and pushes off his chest slightly.
Jack was always a gentleman, despite being raised in a century were sex and touch were causal to the extreme, he knew boundaries when he saw them. He loosened his hold, swung her out in a gentle swing. Twirling her gracefully.
"Are you listening to any of this?"
"You used to be a Time Agent, now you're some kind of freelancer." she said pointedly and she makes a show of letting her hands drop.
Jack backs up and suddenly, so quickly she almost misses it, his eyes are dark and calculating. Despite the fact that her conman is a good man, there's a hardness to him that she could never deny. They had spoken a lot about their pasts- at least they would, so Rose knew he had done things he had not been proud of. And two years are blank, he could have done worse things. But she also knew that his actions before the Game Station and even during that fateful day she took on the name Bad Wolf, that he was a man looking for redemption and she loved him for that. She couldn't be in love with the Doctor and not see the good in Jack without being a hypocrite.
"Well, that's a little harsh. I like to think of myself as a criminal." he smile was a bit harder, as he said this, but there nonetheless.
She smiles.
"Regular Robin Hood, eh?"
He purses his lips, before he grins again, a stiff thing that speaks of his sudden unease and nerves.
"So, this companion of yours, does he handle the business?"
"Well, I delegate a lot of that, yeah. But he makes everything final," she said and she kept her tone light and easy. Harmless and vague.
"Well, maybe we should go find him." said Jack, and his hands goes to his pockets.
"And how're you going to do that?"
"Easy. I'll do a scan for alien tech."
Despite herself, Rose couldn't stop her snort this time.
"Oh, you and Mister Spock are going to get on like a house on fire.'
~BW~DW~BW~DW~BW~
The Doctor expected many things after Rose had gone and disappeared on him. He should've known that she would find him as quickly as she accidentally ditched him. But he didn't really expect for her to make a friend. He should've really. Rose was that type of person, Jeopardy Friendly to the max, and just plain friendly otherwise. He knew she still kept in contact with Harriet and Ganesh, and he wondered if she kept in touch with anyone else in their adventures. The man that was walking with her, towards him, was tall and much to the distaste of the Doctor, aesthetically pleasing to the point that even he had to admit it.
Of course, she brings back a pretty boy. They flock to her.
"Good evening. Hope we're not interrupting. Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you on the way over." said the pretty boy, all smiles and easy charms. He extends a hand for a shake.
The Doctor is not impressed. And he most certainly ignores the hand.
"He knows. I had to tell him about us being Time Agents."chimes in Rose, smiling at him, a sparkle in her eyes. She reaches out, hand on his arm, easy as she wraps herself around it.
Cheeky girl.
"And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Mister Spock."
The pretty boy walks ahead, and the Doctor turns to his companion.
"Mister Spock?"
Rose smiles, tongue-in-teeth.
"What was I supposed to say? You don't have a name. Don't you ever get tired of Doctor? Doctor who?" she says in defense, laughing at his less than pleased expression.
"Nine centuries in, I'm coping. Where've you been? We're in the middle of a London Blitz. It's not a good time for a stroll." he responded, a little snappy, but, he figured it was more than justified. She smirked.
"Who's strolling? I went by barrage balloon. Only way to see an air raid."
That, of course, was not what the Doctor was expecting. He freezes and looks down at the girl with a mouth falling to the ground.
"What?!" he had not squawked that, of course. The Doctor did not squawk
Rose, being Rose, of course, just rolled her eyes at his reaction. And waved a dismissive arm.
"Never mind that, listen, what's a Chula warship?"
"Chula?"
They head to the ward, the Doctor's mind going a mile a minute. He stumbles into Captain Pretty Boy, a tricorder analysis in hand. Weak, crude thing. The Doctor could make better things out of a toaster in Rose's Mum's flat. Rose herself is looking over the Patients with a mixture of horror and empathy. Her hand on his arm tightened, and she pursed her lips in distress.
"This just isn't possible. How did this happen?" muttered the idiot. The Doctor narrowed his eyes.
"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" he demanded sharply.
The pretty boy just gaped at him.
"What?"
Rose stepped forward, hand on her hip.
"He said it was a warship. He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's going to fall on it unless we make him an offer."
"What kind of warship?"
The Doctor knew he wasn't exactly the type to spourt poetry and flounce around in Victorian get up. He had been reborn harder, meaner, more demanding than ever before. He had always had a sort of authority to him, but leather and big old ears made him that much more intimidating. The Oncoming Storm was here now, towering over Jack Harkness and the man was rightfully reacting, stepping back with his arms raised.
"Does it matter? It's got nothing to do with this." he cried, wary, looking towards Rose as if she could leash in the man across from him.
In all honesty, the Doctor could say that Rose could quell his anger if she so chose. She had done it before when he had faced the Dalek. But she made no such move here, brown eyes still, watching and bright with those wonderful golden specks.
"This started at the bomb site. It's got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?" he growled.
"An ambulance! Look." screamed the man, face pale, lifting his Time Manipulator in a desperate tug.
It was a Class One Chula Ambulance, the standard class that showed up in the hologram. Something twisted in the Doctor's stomach. If it was unprogramed-
"That's what you chased through the Time Vortex. It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty. I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your time travel vehicle, love the retro look, by the way, nice panels. Threw you the bait."
"Bait?" Rose's voice was soft, not accusing nor confronting. Just soft.
Jack looked at her, a frown on his lips.
"I wanted to sell it to you and then destroy it before you found out it was junk. It was a con. I was conning you. That's what I am, I'm a con man. I thought you were Time Agents. You're not, are you?"
She smiled, a soft thing that the Doctor did not like directed at the handsome conman.
"Just a couple more freelancers." she said and then she narrowed her eyes, tilting her head to the side at the man, "But what's that matter to you, Captain Jack Harkness?"
He groaned.
"Oh. Should have known. The way you guys are blending in with the local color. I mean, Flag Girl was bad enough, but U-Boat Captain? Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship."
She turns to the Doctor, face concerned and steady.
"What is happening here, Doctor?" she asked pointedly.
The stupid pretty looks stunned, looks at him, a clear measure crawl up and down his body.
"Doctor? Oh."
Rose glares at Jack, frowning a warning for him not say another Doctor ignores it and turns to look at the Patients.
"Human DNA is being rewritten by an idiot." he hissed, stomach twisting.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. Some kind of virus converting human beings into these things. But why? What's the point?"
The Patients suddenly sit up. It's an eerie, easy movement. All done in one jerking motion that is synchronized,
"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy? Mummy?" they chant, together, pleading in the voices of children.
The Doctor moves back, hand outstretched. Rose echoes him, warm digits tangling with his. The Pretty boy follows suit, hands drifting to his waist.
"What's happening?" Rose's voice is steady, but he can hear a slight tremble to it.
"I don't know."
The Patients all stand, turning towards them. The Doctor, despite facing terrors that have killed lesser men, cannot stop the shiver that goes down his spine.
"Mummy."
"Don't let them touch you," he says sharply. Rose is trembling and he tries his best to reassure her, pressing her close and holding her hand.
"What happens if they touch us?"
He squeezes her hand.
"You're looking at it."
The Patients close in.
"Help me, mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy."
AN: I do not own Doctor Who. It belongs to its publishing and broadcasting companies. As well as the writers who write the show and the thespians who give us the faces of these characters.
This is just me, making misshapen sandcastles in its sandbox. Hopefully for our mutual enjoyment.
And whooo. New chapter! Over 8,000 words! I think I did well c:. Of course, writing Jack was the highlight of the chapter. So much fun. It was difficult writing it towards the end and I think that shows /: . Still, I tried my best and I hope the next 'episode' The Doctor Dances, while be done in less time. No promises but my effort is there folks! And after that, I'm going to write a couple bits in-between. Why? Because Jack damn it. I love that man and I was disappointed when I first watched it that he was written out for the second season. Don't get me wrong, I adore the second season... But... Jack.
He is hilarious.
So, I hope you can look forward to that. I wanna say a chapter or two before Boom Town and then, of course, the end of serial one. Bad Wolf... Which I hope won't get tar and feathered for. I have a plan. And I don't think my plan is going to make many happy. But it makes me happy character and plot wise C;.
Happy reading, please review and peace,
Moon Witch '96
