InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Takin' care of business..."

so_impressive (so_impressive) wrote in vas_captio_rpg,
@ 2009-08-02 20:12:00

Entry tags:

!complete, day 17, jack harkness, location: in town, the doctor (nine), the doctor (ten)

Who: The Ninth Doctor, the Tenth Doctor, & Jack Harkness
What: Insight, mourning and questions.
Where: The town-- they'll be moving as they talk.
When: Day 17; About 8:25pm
Rating: PG-13
Status: Complete

It was likely that Ten had wanted to be alone after the murder of his friends Ianto, Sarah Jane, Shannon, and Remy LeBeau.. In fact, Nine knew it would be so. And he, really, wanted to be alone too. He'd left Rose in the care of the werewolf child, which he knew Ten would hate, but he was sure she'd be safe there. The damage had been done for the day. And Nine had started out about the town, not to find time for himself.. but rather, to find himself. He wanted to discuss Sarah Jane. He'd known she was here, he'd talked with her over the journals. But he hadn't met with her. He'd known Jack was here, and he'd avoided him, too. He'd avoided them all. Less for his own sanity, and more for theirs. When this was all over, he was gone. It was done. Why get them all confused and tangled up about it? This regeneration was done. Best to let it die.

But he'd found that he simply couldn't, and he'd written that message to Jack, telling him to meet him at the clock tower around nine. He had half an hour to talk with himself, get things straight and settled, then go back for Jack. You had half an hour to get yourself together, Doctor, and help the people who needed you. You were lucky to even get that. If he knew himself, and he liked to think he knew himself well, he'd definitely be alone somewhere. Somewhere familiar.

The drawing had shown that ginger and Ten in the barn, so that was where the Time Lord headed, his mind still lingering on thoughts of Sarah Jane. His beautiful Sarah Jane.

He stepped into the barn a moment later, hands hanging limply at his sides. When had he gotten so in the habit of pushing his hands into his jacket pockets? He'd seen Ten do that nearly every time he'd spoken with him. Hm.

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so_impressive
2009-08-04 10:01 pm UTC (link)

"They could be." He agreed once again, but he let it end there, because he'd seen that look, he knew it well, and he was turning and waiting for John to come up along his side before he began to walk as well, following him out of the barn, then taking a few longer strides to once again walk beside him instead of behind him. If was just his nature, he couldn't walk behind someone.. not even himself. Call it arrogance or pride or loneliness, he just attributed it to wanting to walk beside someone. That's all. He read no further into it.

And as they made their way outside and away from the wooden structure, onto the road, and towards the town, the younger version would speak up again, not really so much for the other Time Lord's benefit.. but for his own. "If they're still alive, they'll be back tonight." Since last time this happened (so he'd heard), everyone had come back hours later. Well, those hours had passed.. that time was up. If they didn't arrive soon, even the Doctors would have to give them up for dead. "If not, tomorrow we go on as usual." Tonight was their time to grieve. Well, the next half an hour, anyway. Because then they'd be meeting up with Jack, and they would have to focus on him and his needs, instead of their own. That was just what the Doctor did, no matter how old he got, he would always put someone else ahead of himself. Always.

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fromgallifrey
2009-08-04 10:09 pm UTC (link)

He knew they could be. There was hope, always hope. He could hold to that hope, right? He could feel it in the back of his mind that strongest thing in the entire universe: hope. He could sense it and touch it and taste it. There could still be hope for his friends.

When Nine came up to walk beside him he understood. Of course it made sense to him that he wouldn't follow well. Ten didn't follow well, either. He might bide his time at the back of the line, but only because he was taking score, and then then he wouldn't be there for long.

"Enough," the Doctor responded quietly to Nine's reminder that if they were coming back they'd be back tonight. He knew. He knew that all too well. He knew they'd be back before dawn or not at all. "We always go on, Doctor." Hands were pushing into his pockets as that road continued on it's merry way. John Smith looked at his shoes as they walked.

"Where's Rose?" Change the subject, Time Lord.

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so_impressive
2009-08-04 10:16 pm UTC (link)

"She's with the werewolf boy. I think they're at the museum. We split up." Right after you'd told him to stay with her and he'd agreed. "She needed some time to think." No, Time Lord, you'd needed some time to think. Some time to grieve alone, silently, and wish for better things. Some time to think about what might happen, what could happen. Try to put it all into perspective. You had to keep them safe, keep the rest of them safe. That was your mission, Doctor. He thought best when he was alone and undisturbed.

So why had he come to find himself?

"Jack's taking the loss of those people hard. Is it any particular one, or just all of them in general?" Because he wanted his questions answered, wanted to know what he could do to fix a broken friend.

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fromgallifrey
2009-08-04 10:36 pm UTC (link)

He wasn't at all happy to hear that the Time Lord had left her. No, that wasn't what was supposed to happen, least of all with a boy. He could have left her with the Winchesters and the Doctor would have been happier. Instead, she was alone with a boy effected by the moon in a place they didn't sure had a moon.

"He lost Ianto... His friend... lover, I suppose," the Doctor paused a moment. The Doctor forewent telling himself the Torchwood bit, spoilers.

"I suppose he and Shannon had become friends, too. Only just met her here, though." His pace was quickening as they rounded a bend, like he was starting to get the feeling back into his legs again.

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so_impressive
2009-08-04 10:54 pm UTC (link)

No, Nine had known that his older self wouldn't be happy. But it was what it was. He had needed this, needed to get away, to escape. To be alone-- well, he wasn't really alone, but he was still by himself. Literally.

"Lover?" He seemed a bit surprised by that, but his face only relaxed back down into that blank, blue-eyed stare. "Captain Jack Harkness with a lover he cares about? Wasn't sure I'd ever see the day." No, he was positive that he wouldn't have. He'd left him on Satellite Five, left him there, where he was unable to die, but it was impossible for him to survive. It was one of the many reasons he'd tried previously to avoid the human. It hurt, to think about him, a fixed point in time. And he was sure Jack wouldn't take well to having been left behind.

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fromgallifrey
2009-08-05 12:40 am UTC (link)

"Yes." He said finally raising his attention to the ground to the slightly taller man. "A lover he cares about greatly." The Doctor had seen the way they looked at each other. Had seen the scribbles in the journals. He wasn't blind after all, he could tell. Couldn't everyone?

They rounded another bend. Buildings were passing them and the Doctor didn't pay too much mind. The road was quiet and they were alone in their grief for a moment. "We get out of here we need to go find Sarah Jane's son." He knew it was a spoiler. However, it was worth saying, worth remembering. It was of the utmost importance now. He couldn't do anything for Shannon, for Gambit, or the rest of them. But her? She could take Luke with him. He could mind that odd child, product of the Bane, and be certain nothing ever befell him.

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so_impressive
2009-08-05 12:52 am UTC (link)

"Oh." The Doctor's eyebrows lifted and he turned his head to look at his counterpart, staring for a moment as they walked, before he looked forward again and stared a moment before finally properly responding. "She has a son. That's fantastic. What's his name?" Talking about things like this was much better than talking about the people dying and what might happen next.

Still, they were coming closer to the clock tower, and it was clearly in sight, maybe five hundred feet off, but they were closing the distance relatively quickly. Jack would be waiting for them when they got there.

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fromgallifrey
2009-08-05 12:56 am UTC (link)

"Luke," the Doctor beamed. "Brilliant like his mother," as if there would be any doubt.

The Doctor trudged along, hands in his pockets, no longer looking down, but up. He had things to do now. He had a modulator to build, a survey device to fabricate, and a boy to find in London before his mother had been gone too long. He had Rose to lose, a friend to mourn, and a heart to lock up tight again. Seemed like a pretty lengthy to-do list, didn't it?

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so_impressive
2009-08-05 01:06 am UTC (link)

It was a lengthy to-do list. And luckily for Nine, he didn't have that much weight on his mind. That much weight would simply be no good for him. Not now. Not with all of the weight from the Time War still on his shoulders.. but he did smile widely for that comment about Sarah Jane's son. "Luke. Luke Smith. Brilliant like his mum." Oh, that was good to hear. Good to know.

And he was slowing his pace down, knowing the other Doctor would follow suit, as they came up closer on the Clock tower. He didn't see Jack yet, he wasn't sure he was there. So he'd give him a bit more time. Give them a bit more time to grieve before they had to stop.

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fromgallifrey
2009-08-05 01:26 am UTC (link)

Nine had enough weight on his shoulders, didn't he? Seeing ones own impending mortality did something to a person that Ten wasn't quite looking forward to experiencing. Even now, Ten wasn't worried about when or why he would regenerate again. He caught sight of that beaming grin and for a moment, Ten was thinking maybe Nine had forgotten his end was nigh. Good.

John Smith mirrored the Doctor's pace, dragging trainers in the dust a little, kicking at stones. "She was brilliant, wasn't she?" He asked quietly. He'd traveled with Sarah Jane longer than most anyone else. He thought maybe she'd turn up in the TARDIS again once upon a time. Apparently she wouldn't.

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so_impressive
2009-08-05 01:36 am UTC (link)

He didn't answer verbally. He only nodded to that statement. Oh, he hadn't forgotten, he thought on it often. And it was the fact that he'd been thinking on it, that he was going to meet Jack at all. He'd never have another chance to talk with him if he didn't do it while he was here.

He should have seen Sarah Jane immediately upon arriving. But he hadn't. He should have done a lot of things, but he hadn't. He hadn't.

Nine allowed the silence to hang between them for the rest of the time, as he reflected on Sarah Jane, and the son she had, that he would never meet. Jack. Jack's lover, whom he'd never meet.

"There he is." The older-looking Doctor finally spoke up, nodding towards the clock tower. He could see Jack now, and picked up their pace into a normal one.. no dragging of trainers, but no rushing, either.

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