"As the stars wither" for livii | Doctor Who, G
Title: As the stars wither
Author: shadowbyrd
Recipient: livii
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: G
Pairing: Rose/Donna
Spoilers: Series four episode "Turn Left"
Summary: The end is inevitable but so is the beginning.
A/N: Thanks to laligin for the once over!
"So...is this it?" Donna asks.
At the other end of the bench the blonde girl lounges back. Confident, like it's all been taken care of and all they have to do is wait. Donna would like to believe that - this whole end-is-nigh bit has made an optimist of her. She can't help thinking that it's probably more the fact that the girl's stopped caring.
The girl tips her head back, staring at the sky. It’s the middle of June, only just gone seven, but the clouds are already sinking into a deep indigo. The soldiers have started imposing a curfew so they can switch the street lamps off earlier, to conserve power. However, they still have a while before they are to be hustled indoors and Donna wants some answers while they can talk. She doesn’t want her Gramps hearing any of this - his cautious cheer is one of the few things keeping her going - and knowing any of this would just make her mum sink deeper. They have enough trouble getting her to eat already.
In the weak yellow glow Donna looks across at her. She's pretty - young under the heavily made up eyes, younger than Donna first took her for with her calm demeanour as she set about changing the fate of the world - the universe maybe - and the way she talked about her Doctor; like she was a woman, years in love. The girl sighs, blowing her fringe out her eyes.
"I always thought it would be different somehow," she says. She isn't talking to Donna. She does that every now and then since their attempt with the mirrors and the gutted remains of the space ship died in the water. Just starts talking to herself, like a kid narrating an imaginary game they're playing, or an actress reciting her lines without a camera. "I saw the end of the world once. It was the first place he ever took me. The End of the Earth.” She smiles wryly, too bitter and wistful for her age. “It was like it was in all the films; big explosions, all the fire and the noise..."
Donna looks up at the sky with her. She remembers sitting here only a few days ago, when they watched the atmosphere burn up. Captain Harkness and his two friends apparently didn't do it right - not like the Doctor would have done, Rose assures her. And now the air's slowly thinning out and it's getting difficult to breathe. Soon it will just be a matter of time.
The way that the girl talks about him, Donna sometimes wonders if she made him up; some hero who, in a parallel dimension, saved the whole world again and again, keeping them safe. On bad days, when she’s been turned away from yet another job, when Mum won’t have anything eat, she has to bite her tongue to keep from asking if he managed to do anything about the economy or the famines that seem to constantly ravage Africa.
The girl smiles fondly. "I remember when we came back, and he said to me you think it'll last forever; the concrete and the cars, but it all comes to an end, even the sky." The smile slips and falls away completely. "I never thought that this was what he had in mind. Whole world just grinding to a halt and huddling together, waiting for the end."
Donna huffs a bitter laugh. "You'd rather we all went out with a bang, did you?"
The girl smiles at her wryly. "It would have been nice." She shivers, pulling her flimsy jacket closer to her. "Certainly would have saved some time. Couple of bangs, few screams and that would have been it." Any trace of humour has since abandoned her voice, leaving the bitterness to it.
Donna sighs, her breath clouding the air before her and shuffles closer to her. "You never told me. What's your name?"
The girl sighs too, shifting closer until she’s leaning against Donna’s side, her head resting on Donna's shoulder. "I don't suppose it matters now.” She glances up at Donna. “It's Rose. Rose Tyler."
It rings a faint bell in the back of Donna's head, but nothing more. She smiles into Rose's hair and takes one of her hands. "Nice to meet you, Rose Tyler," she says, giving it a tired little shake.
Rose laughs. It's so beautifully carefree. "My pleasure, Donna Noble," she says grandiosely, and Donna joins in the laughter.
Neither of them pull their hands away; they're both too warm to move.
“You say I went with him,” says Donna after a while. “This Doctor. Did I ever help him save the world?”
“Loads of times,” says Rose, trying to sound enthusiastic, but faltering. Donna wonders fleetingly if it’s jealousy, but she sounds too sad. “You did better than that, even. You managed to stop him from destroying things.”
“And you never managed that?”
Rose sighs again, turning her face into Donna’s coat. “We…I got too involved. Carried away with the fun of it. He didn’t - it wasn’t that I let him do anything like that.” Donna squeezes her hand of course not. “Just - somewhere along the way I stopped taking it seriously. I cheated death, he had too…it was almost like there weren’t any consequences, not for us.”
“That’s what happens when you’re young,” Donna says. “How old was the Doctor supposed to be?”
Rose grins. “Nine hundred years old.”
Donna snorts. “He’s got no excuse.”
Rose laughs again. “He could be a bit of a kid sometimes,” she confides. “But you kept him in line. Proper big sister.”
“Well, of course,” says Donna - it’s taken the end of the world to make her anything like meek. “Not sure about the big sister bit, mind.”
Rose pats her arm in a condescending manner. Donna rolls her eyes, but lets it slide.
“You got anywhere to stay?” she asks.
Rose shakes her head slowly. “Probably not. I’m not sure UNIT will want to put me up. Not since the experiment with the TARDIS didn’t work.”
Donna gets to her feet and tugs Rose up after her. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?” asks Rose, still shivering.
“My place.” Donna shrugs out of her coat and swings it around and on to Rose’s shoulders. “It’s gonna be a bit of a squeeze, but hey, what’s one more, eh?”
Rose smiles and kisses Donna on the lips with un-sisterly enthusiasm before pulling her into a tight hug. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to -”
“No, I mean it.” Rose looks horribly earnest and helpless. “For everything you did for him. For giving my mad idea a try. For -”
Donna cups her face. “Shut up,” she says softly, pressing her lips again to Rose’s. She doesn’t want to hear about how they nearly brought back this space-man of Rose’s and how in doing so they had nearly saved the world, but hadn’t quite managed. They had had the chance to pull this choking, stinking world back from the brink - but then maybe not. Maybe they had never stood a chance.
Rose’s hands pry Donna’s from her face and twine their fingers together. Donna squeezes her hands back. They pull apart a few seconds later, staying close.
“It’s all going to kick off now,” Rose murmurs against her lips. “The darkness is going to spread, reality across reality. They’re all going to fall like dominoes.”
“Or maybe another Donna and another Rose have a Doctor,” says Donna. She steps back and slings an arm around Rose’s shoulders. “C’mon, you. Let’s go home.”
Rose smiles at her and snags Donna’s right hand with her right, and they walk out of the park and into the night.
Author: shadowbyrd
Recipient: livii
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: G
Pairing: Rose/Donna
Spoilers: Series four episode "Turn Left"
Summary: The end is inevitable but so is the beginning.
A/N: Thanks to laligin for the once over!
"So...is this it?" Donna asks.
At the other end of the bench the blonde girl lounges back. Confident, like it's all been taken care of and all they have to do is wait. Donna would like to believe that - this whole end-is-nigh bit has made an optimist of her. She can't help thinking that it's probably more the fact that the girl's stopped caring.
The girl tips her head back, staring at the sky. It’s the middle of June, only just gone seven, but the clouds are already sinking into a deep indigo. The soldiers have started imposing a curfew so they can switch the street lamps off earlier, to conserve power. However, they still have a while before they are to be hustled indoors and Donna wants some answers while they can talk. She doesn’t want her Gramps hearing any of this - his cautious cheer is one of the few things keeping her going - and knowing any of this would just make her mum sink deeper. They have enough trouble getting her to eat already.
In the weak yellow glow Donna looks across at her. She's pretty - young under the heavily made up eyes, younger than Donna first took her for with her calm demeanour as she set about changing the fate of the world - the universe maybe - and the way she talked about her Doctor; like she was a woman, years in love. The girl sighs, blowing her fringe out her eyes.
"I always thought it would be different somehow," she says. She isn't talking to Donna. She does that every now and then since their attempt with the mirrors and the gutted remains of the space ship died in the water. Just starts talking to herself, like a kid narrating an imaginary game they're playing, or an actress reciting her lines without a camera. "I saw the end of the world once. It was the first place he ever took me. The End of the Earth.” She smiles wryly, too bitter and wistful for her age. “It was like it was in all the films; big explosions, all the fire and the noise..."
Donna looks up at the sky with her. She remembers sitting here only a few days ago, when they watched the atmosphere burn up. Captain Harkness and his two friends apparently didn't do it right - not like the Doctor would have done, Rose assures her. And now the air's slowly thinning out and it's getting difficult to breathe. Soon it will just be a matter of time.
The way that the girl talks about him, Donna sometimes wonders if she made him up; some hero who, in a parallel dimension, saved the whole world again and again, keeping them safe. On bad days, when she’s been turned away from yet another job, when Mum won’t have anything eat, she has to bite her tongue to keep from asking if he managed to do anything about the economy or the famines that seem to constantly ravage Africa.
The girl smiles fondly. "I remember when we came back, and he said to me you think it'll last forever; the concrete and the cars, but it all comes to an end, even the sky." The smile slips and falls away completely. "I never thought that this was what he had in mind. Whole world just grinding to a halt and huddling together, waiting for the end."
Donna huffs a bitter laugh. "You'd rather we all went out with a bang, did you?"
The girl smiles at her wryly. "It would have been nice." She shivers, pulling her flimsy jacket closer to her. "Certainly would have saved some time. Couple of bangs, few screams and that would have been it." Any trace of humour has since abandoned her voice, leaving the bitterness to it.
Donna sighs, her breath clouding the air before her and shuffles closer to her. "You never told me. What's your name?"
The girl sighs too, shifting closer until she’s leaning against Donna’s side, her head resting on Donna's shoulder. "I don't suppose it matters now.” She glances up at Donna. “It's Rose. Rose Tyler."
It rings a faint bell in the back of Donna's head, but nothing more. She smiles into Rose's hair and takes one of her hands. "Nice to meet you, Rose Tyler," she says, giving it a tired little shake.
Rose laughs. It's so beautifully carefree. "My pleasure, Donna Noble," she says grandiosely, and Donna joins in the laughter.
Neither of them pull their hands away; they're both too warm to move.
“You say I went with him,” says Donna after a while. “This Doctor. Did I ever help him save the world?”
“Loads of times,” says Rose, trying to sound enthusiastic, but faltering. Donna wonders fleetingly if it’s jealousy, but she sounds too sad. “You did better than that, even. You managed to stop him from destroying things.”
“And you never managed that?”
Rose sighs again, turning her face into Donna’s coat. “We…I got too involved. Carried away with the fun of it. He didn’t - it wasn’t that I let him do anything like that.” Donna squeezes her hand of course not. “Just - somewhere along the way I stopped taking it seriously. I cheated death, he had too…it was almost like there weren’t any consequences, not for us.”
“That’s what happens when you’re young,” Donna says. “How old was the Doctor supposed to be?”
Rose grins. “Nine hundred years old.”
Donna snorts. “He’s got no excuse.”
Rose laughs again. “He could be a bit of a kid sometimes,” she confides. “But you kept him in line. Proper big sister.”
“Well, of course,” says Donna - it’s taken the end of the world to make her anything like meek. “Not sure about the big sister bit, mind.”
Rose pats her arm in a condescending manner. Donna rolls her eyes, but lets it slide.
“You got anywhere to stay?” she asks.
Rose shakes her head slowly. “Probably not. I’m not sure UNIT will want to put me up. Not since the experiment with the TARDIS didn’t work.”
Donna gets to her feet and tugs Rose up after her. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?” asks Rose, still shivering.
“My place.” Donna shrugs out of her coat and swings it around and on to Rose’s shoulders. “It’s gonna be a bit of a squeeze, but hey, what’s one more, eh?”
Rose smiles and kisses Donna on the lips with un-sisterly enthusiasm before pulling her into a tight hug. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to -”
“No, I mean it.” Rose looks horribly earnest and helpless. “For everything you did for him. For giving my mad idea a try. For -”
Donna cups her face. “Shut up,” she says softly, pressing her lips again to Rose’s. She doesn’t want to hear about how they nearly brought back this space-man of Rose’s and how in doing so they had nearly saved the world, but hadn’t quite managed. They had had the chance to pull this choking, stinking world back from the brink - but then maybe not. Maybe they had never stood a chance.
Rose’s hands pry Donna’s from her face and twine their fingers together. Donna squeezes her hands back. They pull apart a few seconds later, staying close.
“It’s all going to kick off now,” Rose murmurs against her lips. “The darkness is going to spread, reality across reality. They’re all going to fall like dominoes.”
“Or maybe another Donna and another Rose have a Doctor,” says Donna. She steps back and slings an arm around Rose’s shoulders. “C’mon, you. Let’s go home.”
Rose smiles at her and snags Donna’s right hand with her right, and they walk out of the park and into the night.