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]

"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.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

And of course Jack would have protested, or at least he would have if the Doctor had given him even a moment's breath of a chance. Instead all he had time for was a glare. But it was a very well placed glare.

One of his hands shifted from the hull to the Doctor's shoulder, gripping into the orange fabric to keep a hold of him. "If you die you'll have me to contend with," he warned.

His eyes turned towards the black expanse of the wall, steadily approaching, and back to the Doctor. "Might want to get a move on with that thing!"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

Jack's voice was lost to the immeasurable silence of space, but he had a feeling Jack wasn't pleased with him. It wasn't the first time the Doctor had been in space without a suit, and the sensation hadn't improved with time. He finished up the seal and unlocked the hatch. For good measure, he vibrated back a dent across the top, ensuring a smooth open.

His ears had begun to ring and he could feel air in his blood vessels pulling them to the surface.

He gestured to Jack to open the hatch and struggled to keep himself awake.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack knew he was arguing into nothing, but then he'd rather do that than just pretend he was okay with the Doctor putting himself in such abject danger.

Right on cue Jack released his hand from the grip he held on the Doctor reached an arm around him to grab the hull on the other side of him, pinning him between the ship and himself. He took his other hand and released it from the hull to take hold of the hatch, and with one swift tug it opened.

Jack hooked his leg inside and all but fell in, pulling the Doctor along with him. He didn't give himself even a moment to catch his breath. Up immediately, closing the hatch behind them before turning his full attention to the Doctor on the floor beside him.

"Doctor?!" He called his name as he kneeled down. "Doctor, you with me?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The hatch pressurized and the Doctor took in a deep lungful of air. It burned, like breathing in acid. The radiation must've been much higher here, permeating the oxygen. High, but not terrible enough to really do him, or He felt blood trickle from his right ear from a few broken blood vessels, but he nodded.

"I don't remember it being that bad a few centuries ago," he said, struggling to unzip the suit. "I must be going a bit soft in my old age."

He grinned up at Jack. "Thanks."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. Any time."

Jack just kneeled there for a moment or two, catching his breath. He flicked his helmet off and discarded it to the side, staring at the Doctor with an open mouth. He stood, following him a step or two.

"You know the guy around here with the death wish is supposed to be me, not you." He scowled slightly, then softened his voice, "You okay?"

Stretching a little he pulled himself from his suit and reinstated his coat in its rightful position. "So, after that little diversion..." he opened his wrist strap and nodded, "Should be just two doors away."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor did the same with his own coat, feeling a bit more like himself with it around his shoulders. It was good that Jack understood that sentiment.

"I'll be all right," he said. "Nothing quite like a few minutes of spacewalking to remind you to love life. Read those books you never read, go to those places you've never been to. 'Course, that's how I try to live. Let's give these doors a go, shall we?"

He waved the sonic over the next door's panel.

Open door 5.

The Doctor opened the door, and behind was nothing short of carnage. The bodies of dozens of medical personnel, skewered alive or strangled. Piled on top of each other in stacks, with a thin path to walk through. The strong stench of decaying bodies assailed the Doctor's nostrils immediately.

"Think I preferred space," the Doctor said. "Explains why there weren't any bodies along any of the hallways. They were being stored.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"You know I'm sure there are safer ways of giving yourself a jolt," Jack said, a little hypocritically given his own situation. He chose to gloss over that.

Clearing his throat he advanced through the open door, his hand immediately raising to his mouth to mask the stench. "You know and I thought I'd never miss Weevils."

He trod carefully around the piles of bodies, shaking his head at whoever or whatever would have done this. "You know, Doctor, I've seen a lot, but some things never fail to make me sick to my stomach. The universe would be better without some people."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"That's not our decision to make," the Doctor said, deftly manuevering around them as well. "And whoever is being that door are either perpetrators or victims."

He wanted to think that they were the latter, at least. It would be easier that way. He could just save them, not worry about justice for these people. There were so many of them. None alive.

The Doctor gave the side panel a wave with the sonic.

"In either case, we can't leave them to die."

Open door 4.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack pulled a face. His opinion on justice was a little harder than the Doctor's. It changed with time but recently he'd become harsher again. The world had made him harsher. He thought it was best not to voice it.

The door opened and he took a step through. His hand went to the gun in the holster at his waist, discreet so the Doctor didn't notice. It made him feel more comfortable that way.

On the other side were four people and one body. They were too late for that one. A young man huddled in a corner with his arm around his shipmate, whimpering and pleading Please don't hurt us, it wasn't out fault!

Jack glanced at the Doctor and then back to the frightened people in the corner. "We're not here to hurt you. Just wanna find out what happened, that's all."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"It's all right," the Doctor said. "I'm a Doctor, we're here to help."

He stepped forward and pressed his fingers to the pulse of the man on the ground. Oh, long since dead, his skin was cold to the touch. "Radiation sickness?" he asked.

One woman nodded. "We've been locked up here for days while he---" She looked like she might burst into tears again.

"He?" the Doctor demanded. "Who is he?"

The Doctor looked down at the body, then at the four frightened people. "Jack. You said there were five life signs on board?"