RP for rude_not_ginger The morning after...

[quitehomoerotic]

Follows on from this

When Jack woke it took him a while to realise where he was, a while to catch up with the night before.

But it soon came rushing back.

The sleep, what little he'd had, had still been more than he'd had in weeks. Though it still wasn't enough to relieve the ache he felt inside. An ache that only seemed to grow when he thought about the night before.

He felt like a fool. A fool for attempting to push aside pain. Guilty for it too. Guilty for trying. Guilty too for making a fool out of himself in front of the one person who might understand.

One thing he knew though, almost immediately; he should leave. The TARDIS wasn't the place for him. Not any more. It was once, when he was a man who could die, a man who could sleep a dreamless sleep. But he wasn't that man now. And besides, the Doctor had hardly asked him to stay, had he? If he left it would remove the need for the inevitable conversation that would only leave them both feeling awkward. And besides, Jack didn't want to have to hear the Doctor asking him to leave.

So he washed and dressed (and he had to admit he was thankful for the shower), and he made his way back to the console room. His feet padding as quietly as they could along the endless corridors.

He took one last look around the room, touching a light hand against the walls as he took his coat and put it back on. He smiled at it, at the memories this place and the man who owns it hold.

And he walked to the doors to leave.

Comments

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor slipped on his glasses and leaned towards the display. "I never take the easy way out," he said. "I just think it would be a little less destructive if we---hello..."

He pressed a few keys and the back display of the ship zoomed in. "That's a positrionic drive subsectation core. With a solar-store time refractal added in. Those are highly illegal and with good reason. Look at the rutgen radiation it's leaking all over the back section of the ship."

The Doctor zoomed the image out and began counting the number of escape pods. A good number were already logged out, the rest looked inactive.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Rutgen radiation?" Jack repeated with an incredulous tone. "God just a cup full of that stuff is enough to blow a hole the size of Milton Keynes. I mean, not that anyone really needs Milton Keynes, but that's hardly the point."

He pulled aside another panel to reveal a similar keyboard, pressing a button or two. "A leak like that I'm surprised the ship's still in one piece. If anyone is still alive on it it'd be a miracle."

As he pressed away on keys in some seemingly random panel a frown etched into his face. "Doctor..." he started, glancing over, "a lot of it seems corrupted, but, if this is right, I'm reading five life signs in a starboard access corridor."

His gaze settled up from the screen and back to the other man; a soldier waiting for instruction.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Milton Keynes? That's a bit undramatic, isn't it?" the Doctor chided. "Still, you're very right. Shouldn't affect me, Gallifreyan biology circumvents the radiation, but for those survivors, assuming they're humanoid..."

Which was a big assumption. For all the Doctor knew, they could be pirates. And, really, if he were a betting man (which he was, but only on occasion) he'd bet on some sort of an attack. Maybe even piracy.

But they could be survivors. That meant there was really no choice. He nodded to Jack, then bolted towards one of the main access doors.

Opening door 55.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Undramatic, maybe. But on a ship like this? Not so good." He nodded at the Doctor's confirmation that he'd be unharmed and went on, "And I'd like to see it even try and harm me."

He barely had to wait a moment and the Doctor was gone, off, dashing away. Jack followed as he always would.

"Why do the doors always have that same voice. Seriously, any craft, any planet, always the same voice!" He went on, rather inappropriately. His wrist strap still open to monitor the life signs.

"Take the third access corridor on the left, then the stai-- oh," he paused, frowned, "Doctor I'm picking up a secondary energy signature. Looks like it originates from outside the ship."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"I wouldn't, Jack," the Doctor said, not looking behind himself (Jack would follow, he trusted that). "It might not kill you, but it'll hurt a lot." And, for all the Doctor knew, it might kill him. There was no real knowing where the Fact ended and the universe took over.

Opening door 54. "They're all in kits, these ships," he said. "Little blocks that stick together so they're easier. Generally, the ones who build them have no creativity, no panache. So they pick the default voice." As he spoke, he gave a gentle rap to the doorway panel. Opening Exterior Sun Visor.

There was no sun outside, but there was light, bouncing off of the ship and onto debris, corpses. But no lifeform. Not that the Doctor could see, anyway. Just a dark emptiness.

"Jack," the Doctor said, his voice low and concerned. "What region of space are we in again?"

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Doctor," Jack said, dryly, "Do I really need to list the ways I've died? Not forgetting that time I blew up. I think I can handle a bit of pain." He did used to wonder if anything could finally kill him. It was perhaps that which had been the last straw. Blowing up and coming back from it. Blowing up and remembering it. There couldn't really be a lot worse, could there?

Jack's demeanour stiffened a little as the visor rose and he looked at the floating bodies outside. It was a terrible way to go.

At the question his eyes tilted in the Doctor's direction before down at his wrist strap. "When we boarded the craft it was, give or take, about three thousand kilometres due east of the surface of the Eye of Orion. Average speed I registered back in the other room I'd say were about... ooh, another, three point two, three point three thousand further in the same direction?" He frowned a little and shook his wrist strap as though that would fix a problem.

"Weird though, the sensors aren't picking up a location like they should be. In fact... they're not picking up anything."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Three thousand kilometres to six thousand kilometers east of Orion would put us right along the belt," the Doctor said. He turned to look at Jack. "Which would mean we would be looking at the belt of Orion right now, along with three more planets in that system."

But outside the window was nothing, just that stretch of blackness.

He straightened and sniffed, for all the world appearing to be completely relaxed.

"How large was that energy signature, Jack?"

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack felt his heart rate increasing as the harsh facts dawned on him. Something was wrong, something was very very wrong. He didn't show it either, he was far too well practised than to wear his heart on his sleeve. No change but a deeper breath.

He reached down to his wrist strap again to recall the readings from before. He didn't like what he saw. "At the time of reading? It had a circumference of twenty thousand four hundred and ninety eight kilometres. Doctor... that's about half the size of Earth."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Yep," the Doctor agreed with a nod. "Half the size of Earth but---if my guess is right---about as hungry as all of the people on it combined."

The darkness rippled, but any sound made was lost in the vacuum of space. The Doctor swallowed, but his voice went a little squeaky with worry as he spoke again.

"Space walls, they're called, but they're living entities out in the vastness of space, usually around uninhabited systems. They basically sit like fly paper on a path and wait for ships to fly on through." He bit his lip. "They even admit their own gravitational pull, that's probably what's propelling the ship after all that damage. The black color is a digestive sludge. Provides a perfect camouflage. Well, almost perfect. Would be perfect if we weren't in such a starry sector."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"So what?" The pitch of Jack's voice hitched up a little, a bed of urgency underneath. "They just sit there like great big moving black holes? You're telling me that whatever this is... this space wall, it's consumed the belt?"

The thoughts of the TARDIS and whatever may have taken it bore into Jack's mind, but he wouldn't let that settle, wouldn't let the worry cement itself.

"Okay," he breathed out, evaluating the new information. "Now we know what it is... How do we stop it?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"And everything that's gone through its path, yep," the Doctor said. He struggled, holding back a sudden wave of despair. "But the TARDIS wouldn't have gone through that," he added, more for his own benefit. "It would've taken the Vortex, which circumvents the path of the Wall."

Jack's other question was more difficult. "Stopping a Space Wall isn't like knocking down a garden brick pile. It's a planet-sized killing machine that will stick and consume you with the slightest touch. But..."

He went through a few calculations in his mind, then turned to make a run for it. "We've got to get the survivors off of this ship!"

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack opened his mouth to speak, perhaps to question further or to clarify something already said. But then the Doctor was gone and he was following.

"How exactly," he asked as he started his run a step or two behind him, "do you propose to do that? The ship is leaking radiation, remember? I could take them back down to the planet's surface, but this thing can't take more than three people at a time, and-" he pauses, still running, "You know what? I'm just going to shut up and let you solve things."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"I can relay link the transporter to one of the damaged pods," the Doctor said. "Should be large enough for six. It'll probably burn out your manipulator, but I'll get you a new one for your birthday, I promise. One quick trip, get everyone to safety."

Door 48 non-responsive.

"Non-responsive? What's that supposed to mean?" He waved the sonic over the box, but the door repeated itself. "Any other way down to them?"

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"You have any idea how old this thing is?" Jack huffed out. It had been through a lot with him. It had been through an explosion with him and somehow managed to still survive. Truth was it had sentimental value. It was all he had. All right it wasn't much. It was certainly no TARDIS. But it was the only thing that Jack owned.

Having said that, if people could be saved, it didn't matter.

"I don't have a birthday," he huffed, ever so slightly petulant as he poked at a button or two.

"There's an access shaft above us. Take a bit of a detour but it would get us there. Only problem is... it goes right through the heart of the radiation leak."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

Right through the radiation leak. The leaking radiation didn't affect either of them at this level, but it would kill the Doctor at that high a density.

"There's another way," he said. "We could rig up a few suits, climb our way along the outer shell of the ship. There's an escape hatch there, suits can't be too far away."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"You want me to get into a space suit? You know they really don't do anything for me, especially if they're those orange things they usually carry on this sort of craft. They clash something awful with my skin tone." He grinned, making light of the situation, though it really wasn't the time or the place.

"Fine," he said, sighing as though it was a great chore. "But I'm not leaving my coat behind!" He pointed his finger at him, adding emphasis.

"Right. Where are these suits then?" He turned and walked along the corridor, looking out for a supply door.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"You think I'd leave mine behind, either?" the Doctor said with a laugh. He slid open a cabinet and produced a suit. "Blue? I prefer the orange. Works best with my skin tone in space." He passed it to Jack, then shrugged off his own coat to pull his on.

"Now, we need to get to the survivors, figure out what happened on board, then get everyone to safety. Meanwhile, I'm going to rig this ship to leak radiation as it flies into that wall."

He zipped up the suit and then grinned. "Think a few thousand Milton Keynes-sized holes would do it some good."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

As the Doctor produced the blue suit Jack grinned far wider than the situation warranted. "Now that's more like it!" He took it with a smile and shrugged out of his coat, leaving it slumped on the floor as he manoeuvred himself into the flight suit. He held the helmet under his arm and turned to the Doctor with a grin.

"Right, how do I look?" He laughed a little as he slid the helmet to his head and locked it into place.

"And Milton Keynes could do anyone damage. I mean, seriously, have you ever drove around that place? It's a living hell."

He took a stride over towards the outer hull of the ship, poking around at the buttons that pressurise the air lock. "Okay, this shouldn't be too hard. Famous last words."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"You'll put the pressurized suit models to shame," the Doctor complimented with a grin. He snapped his helmet on his own head, flipped on the side lights, then grabbed his coat. "Right. Not hard at all. Everything goes to plan, we should just have to crawl across that---" He pointed, then reconsidered and pointed another way. "That section of the hull."

He grabbed one of the levers to unlock the hatch. "On three?" He paused. "Other famous last words. One, two---"

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Careful, Doctor," Jack said, teasingly, "Any more like that and I might think you're flirting with me." He winked from behind his glass visor as he held tight onto the handle on the hatch.

"You know," he added, seeped in sarcasm, "your certainty really fills me with confidence." He laughed and nodded at the Doctor's instruction. Counted out the numbers with him in his head and yanked hard on the hatch, the combined energies of the two men pulling it away with relative ease.

As it was removed Jack could already feel the gravitational pull of the space wall, a gentle tug away from the hull of the ship. "Right. Looks like we might want to hold on tight," he offered unhelpfully as he threw one leg outside and grabbed hold of a bar on the outside of the hull to begin his shimmy across."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"You know, I might be," the Doctor said, casually. "We discussed your flirting techniques, but we never did discuss mine."

He gripped the walkway bars along the hull of the ship and began to climb, keeping his coat firmly under his other arm.

One out of the ship, it was much easier to see the full girth of the Space Wall. It extended like a net, the glowing light of a sun behind it like a halo. The black digestive liquid shone at the top as it rippled and dribbled down the sides. The Wall was almost entirely square, with pointed claws at the end. Despite how mobile they looked, the wall stood there, flat and silent, as asteroids hit its sides, rippling and vanishing within. And it was massive, clearly overwhelming the ship.

The Doctor could only hope this little ship could cause enough damage.

"Nearly there," he said into the comm. "Try not to look at it."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Well, Doctor," Jack grinned to himself as he gripped his way along the side of the hull, kicking aside his coat which he'd hooked around like a makeshift waistband. "If this is your idea of a date, it's inventive, I'll give you that."

He laughed slightly and tilted his head to the side to briefly check on the other man and added, "Though if that's an offer of a demonstration, I'll remember that for when we get back on the TARDIS."

Though it might not seem like it, Jack was concentrating on moving along the hull of the ship. His head turned to get a look at the Space Wall, vast and consuming as it was. It was beautiful, as so many catastrophic things were. He looked away.

"Yes, sir."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Ooooh, I get 'sir', now," the Doctor teased, pulling out the sonic to loosen the holds on the next hatch. "Been a while since anyone's thought of me so highly. I may have to wear a proper tuxedo on our date."

He gave a wave at the hatch, but nothing altered. He sighed. "Sonic waves in the vacuum of space. We'll need to loosen this the old fashioned way."

He gripped the handle of the hatch and pulled. It was stuck but good.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Oh you know, I'm a military man. Respect where it's due." And all too flippantly, just backing up its truth, "I've always thought of you that highly."

"Well in that case it's good you've got me here. I'm not just a pretty face, you know." He took hold of the hatch at the other end and tugged hard, letting out a slight grunt. "Okay, yeah, this was fitted well. There's got to be an emergency release or something around here?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor struggled again, then shook his head. "It's jammed. The extent of the damage from the ship."

He looked across the hull. "If we go to that entrance, we'll have to pass the leak as well. The sonic needs a sealed area to work..."

And the ship was moving closer to the Wall. There wasn't time to worry about things like this or coming up with another plan. He tied his coat around his forearm and took in a few steady breaths.

"I should be all right for a few minutes, but if I go unconscious, don't let me float off. I don't plan on being a meal for that Wall." Yet. Without giving Jack time to protest, he let out a breath of air and unpressurized his suit. The helmet disconnected immediately and he worked to seal it around the latch and the sonic.