BHENA; Avi / The Doctor (definitearticle) wrote in thereincarnates, @ 2011-09-25 17:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | avi bhena, caitlin burns |
Who: Lin Burns and the TARDIS, with a mention of Avi Bhena and Torchwood.
Where: Outer space. Torchwood Three. A tiny apartment in London.
When: Uncertain location in time (Lin). September 25, 2011 (Torchwood Three). August 2011 (London).
What: One Doctor passes and another is born.
Rating: PGish. Low.
His body was burning up. Not literally, but Lin could feel the contagion tearing through his cells like a wildfire on dry land, consuming everything that it touched. He had minutes, maybe, two or three minutes to leave a message and set events into motion. The human inside the body was panicking, both with fear of death and immense guilt over leaving people behind. He'd never meant to be gone forever, but sometimes events didn't work out as one might wish. So, the Doctor worked the controls. He brought a hand down on a button, sloppily and much harder than necessary. The body's motor skills were going. "Hello." In spite of the pain, Lin put on a wide smile and tried to mug for the camera. Everything's fine, the smile said, even though it clearly was not. He was sweating. The fabric around his collar was damp with it, and his red curls stuck to his forehead. "There's been a bit of trouble. You can't come after me; I won't bring more danger to your doorstep and I think it might be catching, anyhow. I'm--" There was a wince. Lin ducked his head to hide it. "I promised myself I'd never invite you lot to my wake, and I mean to keep that one, even if I can't keep the others. I owe you that. You're all brilliant; ahhhhh." There was no hiding the grimace this time. Lin shut his eyes and pushed through, speaking to the camera even if he couldn't look at it. "You're all gorgeous. Keep on being wonderful. And look after the TARDIS for me, please? She's a darling and she's dangerous in the wrong hands. I can't think of a better group of guardians." An alarm went off in the background. The blaring noise caught Lin's attention and he opened his eyes. Something was wrong with them - he ducked his head to hide whatever was happening in an attempt to keep from frightening the viewers who would see his message. (Watching the 'farewell' would be bad enough. Seeing the gruesome sickness reaching its end stage would be unnecessarily disturbing. Lin wouldn't make them see if he could possibly help it.) "The TARDIS will scrub herself down for contaminants once I'm out. It will be safe to be inside and to breathe the air once I'm out and she's clean. I -- I have to go. Just know that you were all brill--" He slammed his hand back on the button mid-word as another wave of pain hit him. Lin managed to flip a lever, which initiated the time-delayed de-materialization. Before he could lose his nerve, he rushed for the door, threw it open, and leaped out. The star would kill him as soon as he passed through the TARDIS's protective shields, much faster than his brain and body could register the pain. His cells would burn away, taking any plague and any potential Time Lord DNA along with them. In other places, at other points along the length and breadth of space and time, two events occurred. First, in August 2011, a man in a cramped London apartment woke from a dead sleep. He felt as if he'd just had an extraordinary dream, something vivid and nightmarish and yet wonderful in an old 'awe-inspiring' sense; the man was terrified and sweating in spite of the rattle of his fan, but felt as if he'd just seen something completely astounding. Even fearsome things could take the breath away. It was on the edge of his mind, hovering where dreams lived just before they were forgotten. The TARDIS was meant to materialize at the exact same time, somewhere deep in the hub of Torchwood Three. Of course, programming coordinates sometimes gave Eleven a bit of trouble when he was distracted, and dying was (in fact) very distracting. Instead, a month or so ahead into the future, the tell-tale VROOSH-VROOSH warned one Sterling Swift that the Doctor's long absence was about to be explained. A button on the console blinked with a demanding red light; push me, push me. When someone eventually laid a hand upon it, a message would begin to play. A hologram, ginger-haired and damp with perspiration, spoke. "Hello. There's been a bit of trouble..." |