Doctor Who Fic
Jan. 8th, 2008 05:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmatonakTitle: I'll Be Right Beside You, Dear
Characters: Rose, the Ninth Doctor, the Tenth Doctor
Rating: G
Spoilers: The Parting of the Ways, Doomsday
This is a little self-indulgent, but I think it could have been worse.
It took the Doctor a moment to collect himself. He felt his body expelling the energy of the Time Vortex, and (ironically) pulling some of it back in, as regeneration always did. He waited for the moment, always familiar and always strange, when his consciousness shifted and he was someone else.
It never came. Instead, he watched incredulously as his body changed faces and "he" started to babble about teeth and moles and being ginger. He looked down at himself, black jeans and jacket, and over at his other self swaggering. At first they had been standing in the same place; now they were separate. He raised his voice.
"Excuse me- if you could stop your prancin' about..." Neither his tenth incarnation- for that was who it must be- nor Rose gave any indication of hearing or seeing him. When he looked at Rose, he saw she was terrified. Apparently, the other Doctor realized it too- he finally- about time!- began to calm down and explain properly. The Doctor reached out for the other Doctor.
As soon as he touched his new self's mind, he realized he'd made a mistake. There were no points of stability there, just a roiling chaos of thought. He instinctively recoiled, drawing a bit of his other self's mind with him- and his other self began to play with the TARDIS controls like a manic child.
"The regeneration- something's gone wrong..." Got it in one, the Doctor thought, sourly.
The TARDIS crashed.
He spent the next long while drifting in and out of awareness, watching Rose and his new self. Despite himself, he was glad when the two of them started to get on. He watched them meet Cybermen, that horrible woman who was nothing but a flat piece of skin, and all the other disagreeable sorts he inevitably seemed to run into in his travels. He tried talking to Sarah Jane, but she couldn't hear or see him either. Still, seeing her made him smile.
He was his ninth self's ghost, unable to move so much as a teacup. He had enormous trouble focusing his attention, especially if he tried to move away from the two of them. When Rose and the ersatz Doctor really started to bill and coo, he was glad of that. He drowsed- until there were Daleks again.
He had long since proven to himself that he could not be seen or heard, but he screamed a warning anyway. It did no good. He became moderately less frightened when he saw there was more than one. In groups, the Daleks could keep their minds off the joy of exrermination. But there were only four...
"Don't you want to know what happened to the Emperor?" Rose asked. "I took the Time Vortex, and I poured it into his head, and I turned him into dust. The god of all Daleks, and I destroyed him. Ha!"
You tell 'em, Rose! Who's afraid of the big Bad Wolf? Suddenly, he was less afraid.
He was impressed with his- his tenth self's- plan to resolve the situation, but not with the boasting about it. Why are my other selves always such prats? And when Rose was sent away, he was sad to see her go.
He was shocked to go with her. Even as she went back, and events began to race toward disaster, he had trouble keeping his thoughts away from one refrain- how can this be happening? He snapped out of it when he saw Rose falling into the Breach between worlds. He could sense the terminus of one of Pete's trips, a few minutes in the future, and he knew with a sick feeling that Pete would arrive just too late, and be stuck here. Pete would be too late, and Rose would fall into Hell.
Oh no, none of this!, he thought. He might be a ghost, but he was still a Time Lord, with a Time Lord's gifts. He strained. Briefly, he felt the power of the Vortex again. And Pete's trajectory through the strange spacetime between the worlds shifted, just enough.
Pete caught Rose, and blinked away.
The Doctor sagged, and closed his eyes. He didn't expect to be around long enough to open them again, but eventually he did. He saw Rose settle into her new world, both like and unlike her old one. He had even more trouble keeping himself focused. His thoughts were slow.
Eventually, he heard the voice whispering to her. He knew what it was- who it was- and he did his best to make it stronger. And eventually Rose packed up and went off to Bad Wolf Bay. It seemed like intruding to watch them say goodbye, so he didn't, but he heard some of it anyway.
That night, he could feel himself slipping away, unraveling. That was all right. He went into Rose's room and stood at the foot of her bed.
"Doctor?" Her voice was trembling, and she was staring right at him.
"Rose? Can you... see me?"
"Yeh. You're you- the first you, I mean. How...?" Her voice trailed off.
"Haven't a clue. I don't think I'll be here long. But..." He swallowed the lump in his throat, walked to her, and cupped her face in his hand. His ghost thumbs couldn't brush away her tears, but he imagined she could feel his hand, a flicker her nerves like a phantom limb.
"Rose, I love you. And he does too, the new me. No one knows me better than me, and he does, even if he couldn't say it in time. I told you, a long time ago- I'm so happy I met you. I still am."
"Are you really here?" Her voice was high and warbly. He couldn't blame her. He shrugged.
"After a fashion. And I have to leave soon, again, and it's not fair, and I'm sorry."
"Will I see you again? Either of you?"
He grinned. "No idea. I wasn't even supposed to be kickin' around this long, you'll recall. Think of me as a dream, if you like. But believe me when I tell you, I love you." He leaned down and whispered in her ear.
"Have a fantastic life." He looked in her eyes, grinning his widest grin.
And he was gone.
Characters: Rose, the Ninth Doctor, the Tenth Doctor
Rating: G
Spoilers: The Parting of the Ways, Doomsday
This is a little self-indulgent, but I think it could have been worse.
It took the Doctor a moment to collect himself. He felt his body expelling the energy of the Time Vortex, and (ironically) pulling some of it back in, as regeneration always did. He waited for the moment, always familiar and always strange, when his consciousness shifted and he was someone else.
It never came. Instead, he watched incredulously as his body changed faces and "he" started to babble about teeth and moles and being ginger. He looked down at himself, black jeans and jacket, and over at his other self swaggering. At first they had been standing in the same place; now they were separate. He raised his voice.
"Excuse me- if you could stop your prancin' about..." Neither his tenth incarnation- for that was who it must be- nor Rose gave any indication of hearing or seeing him. When he looked at Rose, he saw she was terrified. Apparently, the other Doctor realized it too- he finally- about time!- began to calm down and explain properly. The Doctor reached out for the other Doctor.
As soon as he touched his new self's mind, he realized he'd made a mistake. There were no points of stability there, just a roiling chaos of thought. He instinctively recoiled, drawing a bit of his other self's mind with him- and his other self began to play with the TARDIS controls like a manic child.
"The regeneration- something's gone wrong..." Got it in one, the Doctor thought, sourly.
The TARDIS crashed.
He spent the next long while drifting in and out of awareness, watching Rose and his new self. Despite himself, he was glad when the two of them started to get on. He watched them meet Cybermen, that horrible woman who was nothing but a flat piece of skin, and all the other disagreeable sorts he inevitably seemed to run into in his travels. He tried talking to Sarah Jane, but she couldn't hear or see him either. Still, seeing her made him smile.
He was his ninth self's ghost, unable to move so much as a teacup. He had enormous trouble focusing his attention, especially if he tried to move away from the two of them. When Rose and the ersatz Doctor really started to bill and coo, he was glad of that. He drowsed- until there were Daleks again.
He had long since proven to himself that he could not be seen or heard, but he screamed a warning anyway. It did no good. He became moderately less frightened when he saw there was more than one. In groups, the Daleks could keep their minds off the joy of exrermination. But there were only four...
"Don't you want to know what happened to the Emperor?" Rose asked. "I took the Time Vortex, and I poured it into his head, and I turned him into dust. The god of all Daleks, and I destroyed him. Ha!"
You tell 'em, Rose! Who's afraid of the big Bad Wolf? Suddenly, he was less afraid.
He was impressed with his- his tenth self's- plan to resolve the situation, but not with the boasting about it. Why are my other selves always such prats? And when Rose was sent away, he was sad to see her go.
He was shocked to go with her. Even as she went back, and events began to race toward disaster, he had trouble keeping his thoughts away from one refrain- how can this be happening? He snapped out of it when he saw Rose falling into the Breach between worlds. He could sense the terminus of one of Pete's trips, a few minutes in the future, and he knew with a sick feeling that Pete would arrive just too late, and be stuck here. Pete would be too late, and Rose would fall into Hell.
Oh no, none of this!, he thought. He might be a ghost, but he was still a Time Lord, with a Time Lord's gifts. He strained. Briefly, he felt the power of the Vortex again. And Pete's trajectory through the strange spacetime between the worlds shifted, just enough.
Pete caught Rose, and blinked away.
The Doctor sagged, and closed his eyes. He didn't expect to be around long enough to open them again, but eventually he did. He saw Rose settle into her new world, both like and unlike her old one. He had even more trouble keeping himself focused. His thoughts were slow.
Eventually, he heard the voice whispering to her. He knew what it was- who it was- and he did his best to make it stronger. And eventually Rose packed up and went off to Bad Wolf Bay. It seemed like intruding to watch them say goodbye, so he didn't, but he heard some of it anyway.
That night, he could feel himself slipping away, unraveling. That was all right. He went into Rose's room and stood at the foot of her bed.
"Doctor?" Her voice was trembling, and she was staring right at him.
"Rose? Can you... see me?"
"Yeh. You're you- the first you, I mean. How...?" Her voice trailed off.
"Haven't a clue. I don't think I'll be here long. But..." He swallowed the lump in his throat, walked to her, and cupped her face in his hand. His ghost thumbs couldn't brush away her tears, but he imagined she could feel his hand, a flicker her nerves like a phantom limb.
"Rose, I love you. And he does too, the new me. No one knows me better than me, and he does, even if he couldn't say it in time. I told you, a long time ago- I'm so happy I met you. I still am."
"Are you really here?" Her voice was high and warbly. He couldn't blame her. He shrugged.
"After a fashion. And I have to leave soon, again, and it's not fair, and I'm sorry."
"Will I see you again? Either of you?"
He grinned. "No idea. I wasn't even supposed to be kickin' around this long, you'll recall. Think of me as a dream, if you like. But believe me when I tell you, I love you." He leaned down and whispered in her ear.
"Have a fantastic life." He looked in her eyes, grinning his widest grin.
And he was gone.
