The Feast of Fools

Chapter Seven: Ravenous Aboard

By Lumendea

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any spinoff material, and I gain no income from this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.

AN: I really hope this chapter makes sense. I had a cold most of the week and was taking a lot of medication. I was often as loopy as the Tenth Doctor during this episode.

….

Jack was struggling to focus on the extrapolator. Between his Time Vortex Manipulator, the extrapolator, and the knowledge that he needed to disable something, he had plenty to worry about, but his eyes kept moving over to Rose. He'd given her the task of coiling up the various wires that the Doctor had been using to attach the extrapolator to the TARDIS just to give her something to do.

He had a good sense for people. Always had. The Time Agency recruiter had gone after him hard for that as well as his classic good looks. Jack could remember that man telling him about how an attractive face could serve him well no matter where or when he went but that reading people would always be his best tool. Jack didn't really remember much about that man, but the words had proven true time and time again for him.

Rose was a wreck. She was holding herself together pretty well, but she was jumpy, and her usually sharp mind seemed dull and distracted. Regeneration was certainly a lot. Jack was having difficulty reconciling the Doctor he'd been travelling with and the man who had taken his place, but it was coming together pretty well already for him. Rose had known about regeneration for years and years. He'd overheard a conversation or two between her and the Doctor about it.

Yet, she was jumpy and forlorn. Part of him thought it might be due to what had happened on Earth with the rips. He still needed to get the full story rather than the jumble of details he was working with, but Jack's instinct was that Rose's emotional turn was based on something else. He looked back at her again with a slight frown. After a moment of debate, he decided that enough was enough.

"I'm your disciple," he reminded her.

Rose looked over and blinked at him. "I'm aware." Her lips quirked into a tiny smile.

"Yours," Jack stressed. "I might be the Doctor's companion; Guardians know that I love that man, but my loyalty is primarily to you." He paused and gave that a moment to sink in. "If you need to talk to me about something, anything, I'll keep any secrets you need me to." Rose didn't react, and Jack held back a sigh. "Such as you knowing something about this new Doctor's future that has you so sad and worried."

Now Rose grimaced. She stopped her movements and glanced at the corridor. Jack watched her bite her lip and drum her fingers on the console. There was something. That much was obvious from her reaction.

"Jack… at some point in this regeneration, I'm going to disappear," Rose confessed very softly. It was just above a whisper. "I'll be back," she rushed to assure him. "I think… I assume it's a Guardian thing, but there won't be any warning. The Doctor will go back and meet me when I'm younger. I'm not sure how long I'll be missing." She sighed again and shook her head. "I was… dating him for lack of a better word for three years during my university days, but it was probably a much shorter period to him."

"Probably," Jack agreed carefully. He'd known that things were a bit complicated from Rose's point of view. "So, now that he's in this body, you know it's coming." Rose nodded, and Jack held back a sigh. "Sorry, Rosie. That's tough."

A laugh escaped Rose, and she found herself smiling at Jack. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting. Her friends usually found her life strange, but Jack… well, her romantic life was still simpler than his. He offered her a smile and shook his head.

"That's a lot to suddenly be dealing with," Jack said in a softer tone. "I'm sorry you can't just go and sleep."

"Oh, when this is done, I'm going to go and sleep for at least nine hours."

"Ah, can't we stay and have some fun?" Jack nodded towards the door. "I gotta say, I look very, very good in this." He gestured at the priest robe he was still wearing and winked.

Rose snorted and laughed out loud. "Maybe. I don't care. It does last for a few days, I suppose." She paused. "Do you… do you really not have any questions?"

"I know that I shouldn't ask too much," Jack said gently. "Timelines and all that. Though… I'm guessing, based on the things you said, that I'm supposed to go back into your past then too?"

Rose paused to consider the question and then shook her head. "No, not yet. There will be… an event in your life that will signal to me that it's time to tell you about what you do in my past." Rose held back telling Jack that she didn't know what his situation would be when she was gone. "I don't think you'll be travelling with the Doctor then. You might be on a mission for me or helping the Guardians look for me. I really don't know."

A storm of emotions washed over Jack's face, and Rose grimaced. That was probably more than she should have told him. She felt ill. Jack slowly nodded and exhaled. He turned all of his focus back to his Vortex Manipulator for a few long moments. The Extrapolator flashed.

"I suppose that while I don't like the idea of leaving the TARDIS, that life is about change. Pretty sure you've said things like that. I guess there will be good reasons in the future why I leave you and the Doctor. Though, I hate leaving him knowing that he'll be alone without you."

"You will always be a part of our lives," Rose promised him, letting her certainty and fierceness echo in her voice. "That is a promise. You're family."

Jack brightened at the word, his tight smile melting into something painfully real and warm. "Thanks, Rose. Look, I know telling me things like this is dangerous, but I can understand needing to talk about it. I'll always be careful and help you as much as I can. If you need to confide in someone, I'm happy to make sure you have that."

"I need to stop worrying," Rose said. "That's what I need." Shaking herself, she exhaled. "I mean…. I don't think I'll age normally anymore. It could be centuries away, not next week. I can't obsess over it."

"No," Jack agreed. "You can't. That's part of why knowing your own future can be so dangerous." Then he smiled again. "But seriously, you two make good-looking babies if Adam is anything to go by."

Rose laughed and then shook her head. Keeping her voice low, she said, "Grandchild, remember, Jack. But Alice, the Curator at the Museum, is our daughter."

A squeal escaped Jack, and he grinned broadly. "Yes, very good-looking babies. I thought she might have the same blue eyes as the Doctor."

"Keep your voice down. And never tell him."

"I won't." Jack nodded seriously, even though he was still grinning. "I won't, promise." Then he looked down at the extrapolator and grimaced. "Well… it's ready. At least, I think it is, though I'm not sure what the Doctor was worried about." Jack shook his head. "I disabled the jump protocol as that's the only thing that I could think of… my thought process was that a potential energy backlash could trigger a jump which would obviously be bad since it would take the controls of the Extrapolator away at the worst time." He forced a smile and rolled his shoulders. "So I think we're ready."

"Alright." Rose nodded slowly and dusted off her hands. "So, do we want to try this in the console room or open the door and retreat into the corridor?"

"That's a question about how vulnerable the TARDIS is to them." Jack hummed thoughtfully. "She's a living thing. Are TARDISes attractive to them, or will they immediately bypass her to get to you?"

That was a good question and an important one. Rose eyed the corridor opposite the main door carefully. It would be easier to catch both of the Ravenous there. The space wouldn't allow them to spread out. Then again, if they had too much of a gap between them when coming down the corridor, they would still have a problem. They had one Extrapolator. One force field that they could deploy and two Ravenous. Rose reached out to touch the console and lowered her shields, silently begging the TARDIS to give her a hint. There was a soft hum that warmed her, but no sense of what opinion the TARDIS had. Not for the first time, Rose wished that there was an easier way to communicate with the TARDIS.

"There's two of them," Rose said slowly. "We only have one Extrapolator. We really need to trap them both at once." She eyed the corridor and touched her hand back to the console. "Hey, beautiful, if you can manage, please give us an empty room that we can use as a cell. Once the Doctor is awake, we can build a better plan, but we need a place to stash them."

There was a faint hum, and the lights flickered. Rose and Jack exchanged a look. "I think she heard you," Jack offered gently. He gently set the Extrapolator down on the jumpseat. "I'll check and see if there are any new doors."

Rose nodded as Jack breezed past her. Looking at the main front door, Rose crept towards it and summoned her sword. She peeked out the swirling panes. They were too cloudy for Rose to see anything clearly, but there were no blobs of colour close to the door. She didn't like that. If it was accurate, then it meant that the Ravenous had moved on to other prey. They needed to do something and fast.

"There's a new door," Jack said. "Lead into an empty white room. Looks a bit like the Zero Room. Small, but it should work." He grinned at the console. "Guess the gorgeous girl is still hearing us."

"That's a relief." Rose immediately felt better and took a deep breath. "Okay, so… we open the TARDIS doors and try to lure them into the console room. Then we fall back into the corridor. We have the Extrapolator in front of the door and ready to activate. When they're in position, we use it to trap them and shift them into the room. Is that last part possible?"

"Yeah." Jack nodded. "With my Vortex Manipulator, I'll be able to shift the field a bit to force their movement." He grinned at her. "Then, the Doctor can do what House tried to do and just eject that room."

Rose nodded. It sounds good. It was a solid plan and didn't rely on her Guardian powers. That made her much more confident. Jack picked up the Extrapolator and took it a few feet into the corridor. The new door was standing open, and Rose could see the white room beyond that was just like what Jack had described. There were still things that could go wrong. If the Ravenous split up once inside the TARDIS, then they'd have trouble.

They shared one more look with each other and then turned their attention to the door of the TARDIS. Jack shook his head when Rose stepped forward and hurried in front of her. Letting out a soft huff of irritation, Rose nonetheless allowed Jack to go first. She hung back, just in case, as the door of the TARDIS opened. No Ravenous came barreling in.

But there was a scream. Both Rose and Jack jumped at the sound. Jack rushed outside, and Rose was right behind him, looking around frantically for the source of trouble. Shouts and screams were coming from further in the square. Rose watched in horror as part of the crowd surged in one direction, fear of a human stampede surging through her. Then suddenly, the rush eased. She could see people scattering at the far edges with looks of surprise and confusion on their faces.

"I can't see them!" Jack stepped out in front of Rose, his whole body tense. "They must have started attacking the population when they couldn't get into the TARDIS."

"We have to get their attention!"

The crowd was parting quickly as the population drew back, making things much easier than earlier. Jack and Rose pushed forward only to stop only a few feet from the TARDIS. One of the Ravenous was near the centre of the square, a man grasped between its hands. Its mouth was stretched open a little too widely, and Rose could see a strange glimmer over the man's skin. He was twitching and jerking, his face awash with pain. His skin was growing pale. Every instinct screamed at her that this was very bad. Before Jack could stop her, Rose dashed forward.

"Hey! Pick on someone your own knowledge level."

Not her best, but the Ravenous sniffed at the air and then slowly turned towards her. In the corner of her eye, she saw the crowd shift and the second one step into view. The first of the Ravenous lunged towards Rose. On reflex, she summoned her sword and slashed at the creature as she dodged away from its grasp. A long dark slice appeared on its chest, cutting through the layers of what looked like a costume. Dark blood, several shades darker than Rose's, oozed out. It was unclear if the costume was some kind of outfit or just oddly coloured flesh. Rose wasn't going to linger, staring to figure it out, and hurriedly moved back.

Cheers from the crowd were both worrying and reassuring. If people believed this to be some kind of strange show, then that was to their advantage. In the corner of her eye, Rose saw another Ravenous lumbering towards her. Jack ran forward and pulled the man that had been being attacked back. Rose saw him check the man's pulse, but she already knew the result. On instinct, she ducked under the arm of the Ravenous and rushed over. Grabbing the man's arm, Rose felt a pull in her gut, and everything went fuzzy for a moment.

"Rose! You're-"

It passed as quickly as it had started, leaving Rose dizzy and stumbling. Jack grabbed her as the man coughed and groaned. Rose was pulled back from him as the man opened his eyes, and a fresh cheer rose from the crowd. If they thought it was a show, Rose could only be grateful for that. She was only partially aware of Jack dragging her back towards the TARDIS as the two Ravenous followed.

She was mostly recovered and moving on her own power as they raced into the TARDIS. Rose was suddenly very aware that they had to leave the door open behind them. The Doctor was not going to be happy that they allowed the Ravenous aboard his ship. Already Rose wasn't happy about it. But this was an emergency.

As her feet hit the grating, Rose looked over her shoulder to see the Ravenous entering the TARDIS. Both of them were staring at her, unblinking and with their jaws dropped open. Unsettling was too light a word for it. She looked ahead. Jack was already messing with his Vortex Manipulator. The Extrapolator was in the corridor in front of the door, waiting and ready. Light flashed discreetly on its side, but it otherwise appeared unimportant. They stepped across it, past the open door, and suddenly stopped and turned back to the Ravenous.

Both of the creatures had followed them through the console room. Light poured in opposite them, and Rose could see the square beyond. There was much time. People would start peering into the blue box that people had vanished into any second. She kept her eyes from dropping down to the Extrapolator, staying close to Jack. The pair of Ravenous was moving towards them still, jaws dropping further open and their hands extended.

But then, both stopped just shy of the Extrapolator.