InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Love that journey for me"

Rose M. Tyler (jeopardysfriend) wrote in vas_captio_rpg,
@ 2009-09-12 21:46:00

Entry tags:

!complete, day 23, location: gym, rose tyler, the doctor (nine)

Who: Rose Tyler and anyone in the gym
What: A very rude awakening
When: Day 23, bright and early
Where: I SAID the gym!
Status: Active
Rating: PG...13!

She may have only known him a couple of days, but Rose was beginning to consider herself close to Chris. To see him so weakened and miserable and ill physically pained her. The man had listened to her babble about complete nonsense, had confided in her about some of his own sufferings, and, well, she could possibly move him up into the makeout buddy category, too. In this place? It didn't hurt to find some comfort, and after the week she'd had, it felt good to know she was wanted, even if by someone who by all rights was a complete stranger. Even if he was a good-looking, green-eyed, good as gold, guardian angel style complete stranger.

Though she'd tried desperately to stay awake by his side, helping however she could, she'd dozed off for what she assumed were just a few moments. But that clearly hadn't been enough for their beloved management, said with sarcasm dripping. They'd moved her from her night watch at some point, plopped her into the area she'd been calling 'home' since she'd retreated to the gym, and given her a giant body pillow. In her sleep, all she knew was there was an additional figure, a tall lanky one that seemed terribly comfortable.

Until the smell reached her.

Rose stirred, knowing immediately something was off. First of all, she hadn't had anyone sharing her bed since Mickey, and this figure was definitely not shaped like his. Secondly, she definitely hadn't in this place, and she knew as soon as she figured out she wasn't in her comfortable TARDIS bed that she was still in that awful glass box. And thirdly...no man she'd ever invited home, even at her drunkest, would smell like that.

With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Rose's eyes flickered open. She turned over and blinked. The dread she'd felt turned to horror and she sat up lightning fast. No. No. They hadn't. They couldn't have! But it was him. And he? Had been presented to her like a gift, all wrapped up in his tattered trench, his ruined suit, and his bruised, beaten, and mangled body.

At that point, she didn't care who she woke up. All sense left her as Rose let out a panicked, desperate scream. Not quite loud enough to wake the dead--the proof lay lifeless beside her.

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jeopardysfriend
2009-09-14 04:31 am UTC (link)

She froze in his arms at the very mention. She didn't want to deal with it. Dealing with it made it real. Both the man in her own bed, and the woman in Chris'. The once brilliant Time Lord looked so pathetic in his current state, and it caused the lump in her throat to build up all over again. She'd done this to him. She wasn't sure how, but she knew she could've helped it. Maybe if she hadn't been so cold to him, if she'd just been more open and willing to listen. And the woman at Chris' side might have been beautiful once, were she not basically torn to shreds. She wondered... His mother had apparently been the one to bite him. Would they honestly... Who was she kidding, of course they would.

"No," she whispered. "I...I can't. I'm sorry, I know I should, for him at least, but I can't." She turned her head again, burying her face in his chest where she couldn't see the lifeless Time Lord or the young witch. The part that scared her the most was this was proof that they could take anyone. A magical woman who should've been able to help herself... And a Time Lord. The strongest, most powerful being she knew. At least, the one she was hiding against was. And if he only grew wiser as time went on, the other him had to be as well.

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so_impressive
2009-09-15 03:40 pm UTC (link)

"Okay." He lifted blue eyes away from the side of that blonde head and looked back at the corpse laying behind her there on the cot next to Chris. "Let's get you sitting down." Was all he'd say about her current state. He wasn't going to ask questions.. of course she wasn't 'okay'. He wasn't going to poke and prod, he was simply going to guide her over to a bench on the sideline of the large court, and urge her to sit down, before shrugging off that warm, comfortable leather jacket, and wrapping it around her shoulders. He'd never know how much the act of wearing his coat comforted her, but he had hoped that it'd give her a little more of a sense of security, having an extra layer on.

He looked up just then, to see Chris startle and wake, jerking back away from that body. He didn't move towards the other man, though, because a second person, another boy he didn't know, was rushing over to his side. Then a younger woman. The boy looked like he was in good hands, and the Doctor was coming to slowly sit down next to Rose, folding his hands uncomfortably in his lap because for all of his traveling with her, he was still unsure how to properly deal with her.

"We're going to be alright." He remarked quietly, even as he watched the scene unfold.

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jeopardysfriend
2009-09-15 04:15 pm UTC (link)

Despite the new and sweltering heat, shock had Rose shivering violently by the time the Doctor urged her down to the bench. The placement of warm leather over her shoulders eased the shivering; it hadn't been caused by cold but by fear, and the familiar scent that drifted from it warmed her from the inside. She'd needed that small bit of comfort more than he could possibly know.

She sat, then, doubled over and curled up into herself, still shaking ever so slightly. "How?" she whispered. "We're not going to make it out of here alive. We're going to..." Her words trailed off but the meaning was obvious. They were going to die. "He...you...you're supposed to live. The body change thing..." That very thing that would turn him from the man beside her to the one who'd so sweetly comforted her when she was down on herself only days before. What if it has been him, the leather-wearing Doctor, the one she knew already? If something happened to him, then what? Would it create a duplicate of the brown-eyed Time Lord? Or would it end his race once and for all?

The thought was devastating, and she gasped for breath as the realization hit her. "Don't...please, just don't leave."

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so_impressive
2009-09-15 05:52 pm UTC (link)

"I'm not going anywhere, Rose." Came the thicker, Northern accent. And for all of his experience, all of his years of phone box travel, and for that extra heart beating in his chest.. he couldn't find a proper way to deal with his young companion at the moment. He wasn't Eight. He wasn't Ten. Even any of his earlier incarnations could have dealt with this better. Which one of these things didn't belong? It wasn't hard to pick him out of a line up. All the nicely dressed Doctors before him, all the suits that had come before, all the dinner coats, the proper outer wear.. even that stupid stick of celery. The ones who'd come before.. the ones who would come after.. there were none like this one. This leather-wearing, revenge-seeking creature. And he couldn't help but wonder.. would he be disgusted with himself as he was now, in later regenerations? He could fathom it right now, really.. but maybe..

He let out a slow breath and turned his head, looking down at his blonde companion once again. A hand slowly came out, to wrap around her furtherst shoulder and tug her in against his side. "We're going to be fine. That wasn't me. It was just a body. I'm sitting right here, Rose. And he's here too." Now that he'd calmed down, now that he'd settled in and leaned back to take a few breaths, he was sure of it. Why? Because he could feel him. He could hear him. That impossible Time Lord.

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jeopardysfriend
2009-09-15 08:16 pm UTC (link)

She knew him better than he knew himself sometimes. No, he wasn't one of the suit-wearing versions. He wasn't a snappy dresser; his idea of dressing up for Victorian Cardiff was changing jumpers. Long, sappy speeches weren't his thing, either. She didn't mind it, really. Honestly, they'd come so very far since he'd grabbed her hand at Heinrik's. The man who'd give her short answers and look at her like she was a unicorn would at least listen to her rants now.

And he could offer comfort. The placement of his arm and the low rumble of his voice were all she needed just then. Rose took several, long breaths before moving her head from its position tucked into his chest to being propped on his shoulder. "Don't be thick," she said with a small hiccup, brought forth from keeping tears at bay. "He's gone. You said... If it's too quick, if you can't re--re--regenerate?" she asked, struggling to remember the word. "And then you'll... Be like him.".

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so_impressive
2009-09-15 08:49 pm UTC (link)

"He's not gone. He's alive. He's here. I can feel him, a nice perk of being a Time Lord, we can feel other Time Lords, we can sense them. He's fine, Rose." He tightened his arm around her shoulder a bit and just continued to hold her there, feeling slightly stupid about the whole thing. Hugging? Hugging he could do, in enthusiastic moments. Even in sad ones, he could manage. But comforting? He'd never really comforted before, and he wasn't adept at it. He didn't know what he was doing. You had to help him, Rose. Help him to help you.

"I'm going to regenerate. I'm going to be him. And you're going to be with him. And that's how things go. That's how it's going to happen, Rose." It was the best he could do for her, he didn't know what else to say.

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jeopardysfriend
2009-09-16 03:46 am UTC (link)

There it was again. The reminder that the bloke holding her just then wasn't going to be him for very much longer. And though it was fascinating and strange and new, it was still a scary thought. No, it didn't infuriate her like it had a few days before. She'd had plenty of time to think and the jolt of fear from the last hour had put things into an entirely new perspective for her. But it was still a lot to accept just then.

"Will I still know you?" she asked quietly, scared to look up at him. What had her future self thought when she looked up for the first time into brown eyes instead of blue? When he changed, was he already wearing that suit instead, or had the longer-haired Time Lord been wearing her beloved leather jacket at the time? "Will you know it's me? When you change?" This hanging out with a Time Lord thing was hard work.

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so_impressive
2009-09-16 08:08 pm UTC (link)

"You'll still know me." He assured her with an easy smile, though she wasn't looking up. The Time Lord would smile anyway, because it was a nice thought. He'd go.. but he'd stay, in a way. It was such a strange transition, the memories would remain, but the personality would change, and it wouldn't really be him. Not like this. "And I'll know it's you, it'll be me, just in a new body, with a new face, new hair. And a new personality. I'll have to relearn the sort of man I am, but I'll still be me. I'll still have all my memories, and you'll have yours."

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jeopardysfriend
2009-09-17 12:27 am UTC (link)

"I'd better have mine!" She challenged, though she was too weak, physically and mentally, to have much fight in her words. Instead, she gave the barest hint of a smile. Despite that, she wasn't about to pull away from his hold. She needed it, even if she wouldn't say so. "I'll have to question him, you know. Other you. Ask him things only you'd know." Like her favourite breakfast, and where they'd met Adam, and her birthday. Silly bloke already knew her middle name. Something this one didn't. It'd be hard keeping track of who knew what.

Assuming, that was, he really wasn't dead. Sure looked dead to her. Watching them die on the screens was one thing. Graphic imagery came a long way over the years, she'd found, and if they really had the TARDIS, there was no reason they couldn't tap that technology. But to make a life-sized exact duplicate of someone? Right down to each individual line and freckle? And she knew them. Oh, she hadn't known him long, but she'd studied him intensely. And, if the body by her side had been a fake, the management was terrifyingly thorough.

"If you can feel him...can you tell where he is? Do you know if he's okay?" She did trust the Doctor. Really. She just wasn't entirely sure she bought it. The regeneration thing was hard enough to wrap her head around.

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so_impressive
2009-09-17 01:02 am UTC (link)

"And what sort of things would those be, Rose Tyler? What color panties your mum wears?" This question came with a smile and lifted eyebrows, yes he was teasing you, but your mother had tried to seduce him that first time she'd laid eyes on him. You know.. right before she smacked ten years off his face. But hey, he'd sort of deserved it, hadn't he? He might not think so.. but he never did.

"I could find a basic direction.. but I'm sure that where ever he is, that he's just fine. I'd be able to tell if he were in any sort of immediate danger." Physically, of course, it certainly didn't count emotional or mental danger.. both of which were plaguing the older (younger looking) Doctor at the moment. "He'll be alright. We always are." The Doctor reminded Rose, with one of those trademark smiles, so sure of himself, this Time Lord was.

With a bit more casual talking and reassurances, the pair managed to pass by a good hour, before the blonde finally checked her journal, just to see... and sure enough, too-familiar handwriting. 'I'm alright'. The Doctor, of course. And this version had sat quietly as the much younger woman at his side had written back to his counterpart. Jealousy bit at him, watching the concern washing over her face as her neat scrawl made its way across the blank page of her journal.

She wouldn't even be finished with that final sentence when the Doctor noticed a person approaching out of the corner of his eye, and lifted his head to look over. Then he lifted his chin some, defensive. Nine had never been fond of the odd-eyed young man.. Ten had told him that he was important, that he meant something to him, and Nine hated the thought that someone else might eventually take Rose's place.. especially when she was still breathing. However.. with the way Ten talked about him, he had to grudgingly admit that the boy seemed to be good for the older, but nicer Time Lord.

But not nearly as good as Rose. Jealous, angry Time Lord that he was, he still couldn't get over that. However, he was rising up to his feet in order to make a proper greeting (or was it a threat?) to the red-head that was definitely not welcomed anywhere near himself, or the pretty blonde behind him. "What do you want?" The Northern accent was harsh, not bothering to take in the much younger man's appearance before he spoke. He couldn't have cared less.

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