Author's Notes: Apologizes for the late update - I know it's been almost a month since the last one. Unfortunately I cannot promise better regularity in the future since I am starting uni in less than a week. Therefore I will be very busy and will have much less time to write. I am NOT abandoning this story under any circumstances, it might just take longer for me to turn out chapter. Thanks for understanding.
Rose felt cold fingers on her neck, pulling her slowly upwards, tilting her head gently. It wasn't an entirely unpleasant sensation, but not knowing where she was hindered her enjoyment of the situation somewhat. No matter how hard she tried, her eyes wouldn't open. It sent her into a panicked flurry of motion, hitting, biting, scratching, and kicking, doing whatever she could to preserve her freedom.
"Ow. Ouch. Okay, Rose, calm down. Calm down!" She felt steady hands push her back towards the surface she was lying on, and fought even harder.
"Ouch. Stop it! Rosie, it's me! Jack!"
She stopped struggling and turned her head to the left, where the voice was coming from.
"How do I know you're there? Last I've seen of you, you were unconscious, and in police custody."
"Yeah, about that… I have no idea what I've done this time to get arrested. It was completely unreasonable!"
Rose felt the couch shift next to her and realized Jack - or whoever was pretending to be him - must have sat down. She moved slightly to her right and was ready to spring up and make a run for it when he spoke again.
"What happened with your eyes? Can you open them at all? They look a bit… how do I put it? Purple? Swollen? Slightly unnerving?"
Well, that would explain why she couldn't open them… Still, she wasn't ready to trust him yet.
"No, really, how do I know you're Jack? I can't see, and you're not actually explaining anything, so… Give me some proof!"
"Oh, the Doctor taught you well, didn't he, Rosie? Proof. Okay. What proof? Other than my signature massage, I don't know how I could identify myself."
Rose allowed herself a half smile and shook her head. It definitely sounded like Jack. She could practically see his grin when he mentioned the word 'massage'.
"No thanks, I'm not really in the mood to get naked right now."
"Shame. Ouch!" he cried as Rose smacked him with a pillow.
"Alright, you wanted explanations and I'll give you as much as I can. I don't know a lot either; I only woke up a couple of hours before you."
Rose accepted a glass of water, but made a show of sniffing it before taking a sip, to Jack's great amusement.
"I'm hardly gonna poison you! Alright, alright," he said as Rose opened her mouth to argue, "I know. You don't actually know if it's me."
It was his turn to be cut off as she finally cracked a smile and bumped his shoulder. "Actually, I'm pretty sure it's you since you made the massage comment. And I'm glad you're here."
Jack put an arm around her and pulled her into an embrace, both of them turning in their seats to get closer to each other. Rose realized with a sniffle that quickly turned into a sob that Jack was beginning to mean much more to her than she'd previously realized. Best friend, the eternal third wheel on the Tardis (to both his amusement and frustration), Time Traveller, confidant… But now she couldn't help but feel like there was more to it. She felt like they were connected in some deeper, more significant way. It left her buzzing with anxiety and expectations and she extracted herself from his embrace quickly.
"So then. Tell me how we got here. Where are we anyway? And are you okay? What did they do to us?"
"Woah, slow down. One thing at a time."
Rose felt the couch shift again and startled a bit when Jack covered her in a blanket. She turned around and leaned back against his chest, taking comfort in his nearness. He put his arms around her waist and kissed the top of her head, carrying on, "We're in a very fancy hotel, as far as I can tell. Most probably not in the same town we arrived in - we're up quite a few stories and most houses we've seen there had been two stories max."
"Wait, so we've left the village?"
"It seems so. Can't be sure. No one's come into the room yet and the doors are locked, the windows can't be opened from the inside. I can't see any control panels and even if we could shatter the glass, it's a 50 foot drop to the ground. I wouldn't risk it."
"Okay, so we're locked into a room, and have no idea where we areor who took us here."
"Pretty much, yeah. What I do know is that we've been to a hospital at some point. There's a couple of sheets detailing the medication we were given and the doctor's names that saw us. Apparently I was declared to be in completely good health and released - look, they even got my signature. I don't know how, since as far as I can tell I haven't been conscious since leaving the market." Rose felt the couch shift as he sprang up and heard the rustling of papers. She smiled shrewdly as Jack strode back to her.
"Oh, right, you can't see. On your medical record it says that you were poisoned, but treated accordingly to standard procedure. They don't mention your eyes at all, but on the bottom there's a question mark. Maybe they haven't treated humans before?"
"Lovely. So we don't actually know what is wrong with my eyes or how to fix it. We've been to hospital and then dumped into a locked room for god knows how long. We have no idea who our captors are or what they want with us. And let me guess - you have no idea where the Doctor is."
There was an uncomfortable silence. Rose could hear Jack walking back to her slowly, sighing as he sat down and took her hand.
"I tried to avoid the topic for as long as I could, but you noticed it straightaway, didn't you? No, the Doctor isn't here, hadn't been here at all as far as I can tell. I have no idea where he is. But as soon as they open that damn door, we're going to find out. I promise we'll find him, Rose."
She laid her head on Jack's shoulder and sighed. "If he doesn't find us first."
They were silent for a few minutes, absorbed in their own thoughts. Jack was rubbing her shoulders gently, rocking Rose back and forth, trying to calm himself as much as her. If there was anything they weren't good at, it was sitting still and waiting.
"Do they hurt?" he spoke up after a while.
"Wha'?"
"Do they hurt? Your eyes?"
"Oh. No, not really. They just feel… sort of sticky. But it's not painful."
Not having anything else to say, and unable to do much, Rose leaned back on the couch. Jack snuggled up to her and they listened to each other's breathing, falling asleep slowly, secure in the knowledge that they had each other.
The Doctor groaned and tried to block out the sharp white light that was blinding him. Not a nice way to wake up - unable to see anything. He heard muffled voices from somewhere beyond the sea of white, but couldn't make out what they were saying.
"Where am I?" his own voice was raw and weak, as if he'd been screaming for hours. He didn't remember anything. No, wait. A cell. They were in a cell with Rose. She was… she wasn't well. They took her away and then…
He tried to jump up, but realized he was tied down. Giving a bit more attention to the surface underneath him, he concluded it was a metal table and his wrists and ankles were held by chains. Not good. Not good at all.
He strained against his bindings and asked again, slightly louder this time, "Where am I?"
The words scratched his throat, constricted his chest, and cramped up his stomach, but he needed an answer. "Who are you? What have you done with Rose?"
The end of that sentence dissolved into screams of pain as he felt electricity course through his veins. A torture chamber then. Excellent. Just what he needed. As he struggled to catch his breath and keep his hearts beating, he thought about Rose and hoped she was somewhere else. In the same moment the Doctor realized that he'd failed her. Again.
He managed a half-smile before blacking out.
Good one, Doctor. Fantastic indeed…
"Well, well, well, isn't this cosy?"
Rose tried to scramble to her feet, only to remember she couldn't open her eyes, and fell back against the end table. She managed to shatter the lamp standing on it, and hit her right hip on the edge before Jack grabbed her waist and pushed her behind him. One hand on her thigh, the other presumably held up in front of him, he replied to the intruder, "Who are you?"
"Oh, no need to be alarmed, I'm not going to hurt you. Or your little…" There was a pause and Rose could feel Jack's grip on her tighten. "Accomplice."
The way he said the word sounded dirty and she could feel her skin crawl with disgust, feeling his gaze burn her.
"Hey! I asked you a question!" Jack barked out, trying to nudge Rose further behind him, so the man - whoever he was - could see less of her.
"Yes. You did indeed. And the answers shall come. No need to be so… barbaric." He chuckled and Rose frowned, annoyed at her lack of sight, and not being able to get any information on their visitor from Jack without sounding obvious.
"We shall discuss matters as civilized beings - as we are. Maybe a spot of tea?"
Jack snorted and took Rose's hand, massaging the spot between her thumb and forefinger, trying to reassure her, as he answered, "You offer us tea and yet fail to notice that my friend can't open her eyes, since the bloody hospital staff didn't do their job well enough."
That annoying chuckle again, and quiet clicks of boots. A well-dressed man then, if not very sympathetic. Rose made a mental note to ask Jack later about his appearance. Appearances tell a lot about people and although she couldn't pride herself on always reading them right, she liked to have a go and form her own opinions. From his voice and blatant disregard of their imprisonment and her condition, Rose guessed he couldn't be a very nice person.
"Don't you worry, my dear Captain, your companion will make a full recovery within the next 48 hours. The eye condition is nothing more than the after effect of the aconitine overdose treatment."
The couch they were sitting on before squeaked and Rose realized the man must have sat down. There was a long silence before Jack released her hand, taking her elbow instead and guiding her to a chair. She wanted to ask what was happening, but no one was talking, so she decided to remain quiet and wait.
"You might want to sit down Captain. We've got a long list of matters to discuss. It will be more comfortable."
Rose could practically hear the strained smile that accompanied the statement.
"I'm just fine here, thank you. If you wish to carry on, this might be the time to start telling us why we're here. How do you know I'm a Captain?"
"You've got a ship," came the leisurely reply.
Rose felt Jack stiffen beside her and opened her mouth to correct the stranger, but her friend cut her off.
"That's right. Where's my TARDIS? What have you done with it?"
"We've secured the Police Box, and we'll place it back into your custody as soon as you give us information on its functions."
"You want to blackmail us?"
"Bribing would be a better word, I think. But yes. Knowledge is power, Captain Harkness, and it is my intention to execute that power to the people's best interest."
"What are you, a politician then? You certainly look the part. What's with the cravat?"
"I am a member of the High Council of Yolg'izlik. And you are considered trespassers in the Emerald Palace until I say otherwise. You might want to start listening, Captain."
He spit the last words and Rose shuddered involuntarily. Things didn't look up for them at the moment and she had a terrible suspicion that they were about to get worse.
"Now then. Where were we? Oh, yes. Civilized discussion." There was a clinking of china and spoons, the sound of liquid being poured into cups. "Tea, anyone?"
Author's Note: Okay, so a little disclaimer at the end, in case you're worried: this is not, and never will be a Rose/Jack story. Nor will it be a OT3. Their relationship is on the forefront of the story, and we'll see plenty more of it, but the endgame is the pairing I started out with: Nine/Rose.
I know some of this chapter might have been a bit confusing (which was half my intention), but it will be explained later. We will see jealous Nine and he'll have his reasons too, but I wouldn't like you to think I was deceiving when I said it's a Nine/Rose story. It is. From beginning to end. There's just certain developments in the middle. ;P