for rude_not_ginger: Invasion at the Rigaldi Institute

[quitehomoerotic]

Follows this.

The console in front of Jack lit up with a rainbow of colours. The different sectors were flashing on and off with a sequence of alarms and alerts, one after the other.

"Doctor we've lost the whole of sector six!" Jack called out. He was only just about getting enough time to cancel out and work out what was alerting before it started all over again. Above him, he could hear the explosions inside the building, and they seemed to be getting ever closer to the control room. Another one, and the roof shook and plaster started to fall.

"We're running out of time here!" he shouted.

"Sector nine has been breached. Doctor, get out of there!"

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[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor leaped out of the sector just as the next door slammed closed behind him. He looked back at the charred door.

"Made it out," he breathed, reaching up to touch the earpiece. "Now, I'm going to head on to sector ten. Should be safe there!"

He pulled the door open to reveal a hallway full of writhing darkness.

"Or---not! Right, trying on to sector eight."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Right," Jack breathed out a sigh of relief and moved back to the panels in front, watching and waiting as the next sequence of alarms sounded.

"Okay, eight that should be--" but he stalled, another three alarms and a red alert. It seemed to be never ending. "Doctor wait!" he called. "There's a radiation leak all through sector eight. Kritor radiation, can you bear it? If you can it should be clear for you to get through the whole sector--"

The ceiling above shook again, and around him more plaster fell. He glanced up, giving it an ominous look.

They were closer.

He cleared his throat.

"If you can get through eight there should be a lift shaft. Send you right down to the basement level."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Just about," the Doctor said. Kritor radiation did terrible things to him, but if he ran for it, he should be fine. But it would have to be a quick run. The corridors were long.

"Is the lift shaft open? Can you see that?" the Doctor asked. He patted his sides and swore under his breath. "The sonic. Right, I'll need to do this by hand."

He tugged on the door roughly and tried, desperately, to get it open. The first wave of radiation hit him like a ton of bricks, but he held himself steady.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"You be careful in there!" Jack shouted to him like a warning.

"The alarms are locking down the doors, I'm trying to get it open for you. You just do your bit and I'll do mine, okay. The lift shaft will be fine."

He frantically keyed away in front of him, trying to overwrite protocols he had barely 30 minutes worth of knowledge of. Good job he was good at this sort of thing.

Above him again the ceiling cracked. Oh they were even closer. But he couldn't let the Doctor know. He couldn't let him worry about that.

"The basement should give you access to the main control tower. I'm trying to crack the access codes for you. I'll do as much as I can."

And again, they were closer.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

He darted through the corridor, one hand over his mouth. It didn't stop the radiation, but it at least cut out on the smoke. His legs felt rubbery, but he kept moving. He could see the shaft at the end.

"Quickly Jack," he coughed. "Not particularly pleasant down here."

He slipped and fell, landing facefirst onto the ground of the corridor. Not pleasant. He dragged himself along the corridor. Almost there. Almost there.

"Jack!"

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

One attempt; wrong. Another; wrong. Another; almost.

He kept keying in different sequences, trying to crack the information he needed to free up the doors. It couldn't be this hard. Basic medical facility security systems... okay well maybe not basic, but come on, he could do this, right?

"Doctor!" he called back, panicked and worried as he heard the scuffing noise of him falling just as Jack keyed in the right sequence, opening up the doors ahead, but clearing the doors nearer to him in the process.

They'd have to be even quicker.

"I've got you, Doctor, straight down the shaft. The tower access should be open. You'll need pattern delta delta alpha slash kiwi. That'll secure it beh--"

The ceiling shook again. Oh they were so close this time, and so close that the disturbance shook him from his feet and to the floor.

"Secure it behind you. They won't be able to get in. Triple dead lock seal," he said, trying to finish his sentiment, but there was pain in his voice, and it was a little strained. A large piece of the ceiling had fallen on him, and it was hard to hide.

"Just get there. Before you're too late!"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor dragged himself up. He could get out. He could. He dragged himself up and out of the shaft and fell back, pulling the door closed. The radiation wasn't nearly so harsh here. Still, he needed to get his legs back together first so he could run faster.

"Right, okay. Up. Heading up towards the tower. How's the door holding there, Jack?"

He gripped the ladder and began to pull himself up.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack's heart was beating ten to the dozen. The room around him was crumbling and the lights were flickering, but it wasn't that he cared about. He just wanted to make sure the Doctor was safe.

"You've cleared the radiation?" Jack asked as he pulled himself up to the console in front of him, ignoring the question about himself.

The roof shook again.

Jack took a deep breath. "Not too good," he said shortly. "Just get yourself to the tower, we'll have a clearer picture. You can give me the co-ordinates and clear the teleport block. We'll meet there, it'll be fine. The path should be clear for you now, just hurry."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, hurry, right."

He pulled himself up the ladder slowly, his legs dangling off the edge as he struggled to support his weight with his arms. As he neared the top, he felt his fingers slip, and one hand lost its grip, leaving him hanging precariously from the top of the ladder.

"Come on, Doctor," he told himself. He swung his body back and grabbed onto the side. Up. Up. He felt his legs begin to work again, and he pulled his body upwards, reaching the latch.

"Tower, right, I'm here. I'll get to the teleport block, Jack, you just get yourself on it."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack rest his arms forward against the panel, working on decoding the access to try and deadlock the room around him. It would cause him trouble later, but it would buy him a little time now.

He breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he heard the Doctor confirm he was there, and he nodded to himself.

"Good. If you use the code gamma delta tau, it should lock the doors behind you as you go and--"

And there it was. His head seemed struck, but nothing had fallen from the ceiling. He'd been doing so well, and they'd got this far, but it was like a train rushing towards him.

"Oh no," he said, leaning himself forward, trying not to let it take him. "Doctor I'm sorry I'm going to---"

He stopped. And there was the sound of a thud as he fell to the floor.

And he blacked out.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor did as instructed. Gamma delta tau. He pulled himself up to his feet as the doors locked behind him. Safe for now, just had to get Jack in with them---

"Jack?" he asked, hearing the change in his voice.

"Jack?!" he shouted, darting to another control panel. What happened to him? Was he overtaken? Was he dead? Was it something far worse that he hadn't seen before?

He tugged on a few levers and slammed a few buttons, but he couldn't get a fix on Jack's position. Of course, that was the idea originally, to keep them off of the monitors for the people chasing them.

"No, no, no, we've come to far for this!" he half-shouted to himself. "Come on, Jack! Talk to me!

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

8 minutes and 42 seconds. That's how long he was out.

He opened his eyes or-- he thought he opened his eyes. He felt a dull ache in his head and he lifted his hand to it. It hurt, and he couldn't tell if it was from the black out or from the fall.

"Doctor?" he called a little weakly.

Again, he tried to open his eyes.

But he couldn't. No- no that wasn't right. He could. His eyes were open.

He simply couldn't see.

"Doctor?" he called again, panicked. "Doctor are you there?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"There you are!" the Doctor said, his voice manic with false cheeriness. "Thought for sure we'd lost you that time."

He was buried under the control panel of the teleport pad, trying desperately not to panic. Jack had been off the comms for at least eight minutes, and that, to the Doctor, was the sign that something very, very wrong had happened. His attempts to reverse the polarity weren't working out, and the machine refused to send the Doctor to Jack or even acknowledge where Jack was.

"Remember how they say comms are supposed to only be used in emergencies, Jack? This is an emergency, don't switch it off, eh?" he added. But there was something in Jack's voice, a fear that wasn't there before.

"Is something wrong? Did something happen?"

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack was glad to hear the Doctor's voice, but it didn't allay his fears. He kept questioning himself. Were his eyes open? Was it just dark and they hadn't adjusted? No, no that couldn't be right, there were no shapes, nothing, no colours or light. It was as though his brain just wasn't receiving the images from his eyes.

"I didn't switch it off," he said with an almost huff as he reached out for something to pull himself upright, knocking his head on the bottom of the control panel in the process. "I blacked out it--" he shook his head and rubbed his hand over his face.

He tried to blink a few times as though it would clear it up; make it return.

But it didn't.

"I've got a slight problem," he said, trying not to sound as worried as he was. "I can't see."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"That might be me," the Doctor said. "I've been doing some rewiring of the electrical system, trying to get this teleport to home in on you. Something must've gone out. Doesn't seem to be working."

He hopped out from under the teleport pad and went to the controls.

"Sorry to do this to you, Jack, but you're going to have to feel your way to the pad. It should be the only thing lit up in the room, but if the power's been drained from the light source, it might be dark, too."

Jack had blacked out again. In a way, this was good. This meant they were closer to the TARDIS. In other, very important ways, this was bad.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"No, Doctor, I don't think you understand what I'm saying!" he stressed. "I can't see! No light, no dark, no anything. I'm trying but I can't, I just can't."

He was still trying to remain without panic, but then at the same time he was terrified something had happened.

Above him, he heard the room shake again, and he felt as debris started to fall. They were closer than ever.

He wasn't about to just sit and let them come though, he stood up and reached his hands out, grasping for anything, but it just affirmed what he already knew was true.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"It's just dark, Jack, you can see," the Doctor said. "You're a bit disoriented from the blackout, but you can see. I'll see if I can turn on a few lights."

He fumbled with a few switches and pulled a lever.

"Anything?"

Jack wasn't blind. It was just dark. There was no way Jack could suddenly be blind. Of course, there was no way Jack could suddenly black out, either.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack felt his way over the panel. He could feel the buttons and switches and little dials he's been manipulating earlier, but he couldn't see them, not a all.

"I think I know the difference between dark and not seeing!!" Jack snapped, his panic manifesting in anger.

"Doctor, I. Can't. See. Not even my hand, not even the light, nothing at all. I can't see. You get that? No light, no dark, no shadows, no strange little shapes in the corner of my eye. Nothing. Absolutely nothing! Got it?!!"

The slam came again, but this time, it was from the same floor. He took a deep breath.

"Doctor, just... just find a way out. You're going to have to go without me. Just leave me here. They're going to be here any minute now."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"I'm not leaving without you, Jack."

The words came out without thought, because there was no choice, not when it came to this. He left Jack once---well, twice---and he promised himself and Jack that he'd never do it again. Ever.

"Arguing about the dark isn't going to get you out of there," he snapped. "So just feel your way towards the panel. Do you remember where you collapsed?"

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack could argue the fact, but then he knew that would be pointless. It would just waste time, and he wouldn't change his mind. He never could.

"I'm there," he said, and a little more of the worry shone through. "I'm at the panel, it's in front of me. But... Doctor I can't see the monitor, I can't do anything here."

Again he took a breath, his heart seemed to clench in his chest, and they were closer still.

"But..." he took another breath. "Since when did that stop Captain Jack Harkness, right?" He held his hands out flat on the panel. "I'm going to need your help here. Lets do this."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor found himself grinning. That was more like the Jack Harkness he knew. He stretched his own hand in front of the panel. He could talk Jack through this. He would talk Jack through this.

"Thumb up three inches, press down. Forefinger upper left hand corner, then feel for the lever and pull," he instructed.

He hoped the touch pad on Jack's side was identical to his own. If it wasn't...well, that would be very bad.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Yes, Sir," Jack responded quickly, and smirked a little to himself. Best to do that, focus on other things, and not his distinct lack of sight.

He did as instructed, pushing and pulling as told. An alarm started ticking somewhere in the distance.

"Okay ticking. I have ticking. Please tell me ticking is good?"

Another shudder, almost making him fall.

"They're close. I think they're found me."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Ticking is not good, Jack, are you sure you're three inches over the touch screen and not four?" the Doctor cried, looking at the screen. "I think you may have set the room to self-destruct. Which is---potentially problematic, but we'll make it work. finger back on the panel, far right upper corner, drag down, then hit right about the middle of the screen and pull the lever again. And then, no matter what you hear, get on the teleport pad, I'm getting you out of there."

He went back under the pad and yanked out a few fresh wires, twisting them and bonding them together with his sonic.

He was not losing Jack to this. He was not.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"No I'm not sure, I can't see!" he said back, a little sarcastically. "Okay okay, got it," he went back to the panel, trying to make certain his fingers were in the right places as well he could.

"Far right, drag, hit, and pull," he said aloud as he followed the instructions.

Now to get to the pad. But where was it? Somewhere the other side of the panel. A raised circle on the floor; he just had to find it.

He moved around but he tripped on a piece of debris that had fallen from the ceiling. Something as he fell cut his cheek and he let out a small noise as he tried to pull himself along. The door slammed on the other side. They were there, trying to get in.

"I can't find--" he reached his fingers against the floor and there it was, a slight lip. He dragged himself up and over, standing and moved quickly towards the pad.

The door smashed.

"Doctor I'm on it, they're in!"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Hang on!"

The Doctor pulled a lever on his side with force and it came off in his hands. No teleportation.

He cleared his throat. "Hold please."

He slammed it back into the machine and tried again. Same result.

He swore, then shoved the tip of the sonic into the empty lever slot and turned it on as he pulled. The sonic stuck to the lever mechanisms and the teleport fired up, pulling Jack away just as the countdown to the room's destruction neared zero.