Part 02 - Chapter 17 - Buried Alive
When she hadn’t materialized as promised the Doctor knew they were in bad trouble. As he couldn’t feel her anywhere it could only mean one thing: she was too far away either in time or space for him to contact her and in these circumstances nothing about that could be considered even remotely good.
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Rose felt ill. Her head hurt, her leg hurt even worse and, to top that off, now the Doctor was practically screaming panic at her. “Doctor what’s wrong?” Rose asked quietly as she looked up from where he had pulled her partially into his lap. She could tell he was debating what to tell her and said, “Please Doctor I need to know”.
For a long moment he debated telling her everything about what was going on. The last thing she needed was to know how deadly their situation had become but when she looked at him with such pleading in her eyes he knew he was sunk. But there was no way he was going to tell her that unless the TARDIS reappeared soon she was in all likelihood as good as dead. Because of his Gallifreyan physiology he would probably make it to morning, albeit he would be one damn cold Gallifreyan, but Rose… Rose would die. Exposed as they were, there would be no way that Rose would be able to stand the freezing temperatures that this planet would plummet to in the darkness. “Rose, something has happened to the TARDIS. I asked her to move nearer to us so I could get some equipment to get us out of here, but she didn’t return”.
Realizing she was whining, but in the confusion and pain it just didn’t seem to matter, she responded, “Why? Why would she take off and just leave us here? What are you not telling me Doctor?”
His hearts clenched as she asked what he was hiding. He just couldn’t tell her what would become of her if they didn’t get out of there so instead replied, “I am sure it’s just a temporary delay she got buried by that ice wave that was close to us when we landed and I am sure it’s just something temporary that she will fix and will be back real soon. Nothing to worry about. Just rest.”
“I’m cold, Doctor,” she said in that small and helpless sounding voice he knew she only used when she was feeling really bad. That voice that he would do virtually anything to never hear because it meant that something was hurting her. Gently readjusting her in his arms, he pulled her more fully into his lap so that only a minimal part of her body was in direct contact with the icy surface beneath them. He unzipped his jacket and, pulling her closer to his chest, he wrapped his coat around her. As he got her as close to his body warmth as he could he cursed the fact that his body was so much cooler then hers. He would much rather have the extra body warmth of a human to share with her so that she could at least have as long as she could, even if it meant he to would die of exposure in this frozen hell. The idea of her dying here and him surviving made him ill. He would much rather die than go back to the way he was before Rose brought light back into his darkness, a darkness that was already beginning to descend and would herald her death if he wasn’t able to get her out of here soon.
He said it would be all right, Rose thought, but no wonder he was panicking if the TARDIS had disappeared from his senses. Rose knew the TARDIS and he were in telepathic communication most of the time and his panic seemed perfectly natural to her concussion-addled mind. He said it would be all right so she trusted him, snuggled into his additional warmth and let sleep overcome her.
Even as grim thoughts enveloped his mind, the Doctor pulled up his legs to try to shelter Rose as much as possible from the increasing cold. But fate wasn’t done with them yet; he felt an odd warping twisting sensation of time distorting near them, not in the manner of the appearance of a TARDIS but in a way that felt like time itself was twisting. He hadn’t felt anything like this for hundreds of years, not since his first incarnation when he was a young child and had been shown the untempered schism. The feeling left him shaking, nauseous and wanting to run just as much as it had all those years ago. Just when he thought he couldn’t take the sensation any longer it stopped, replaced by the roar of a strong aftershock surrounding him. Understanding how precarious their position was in this cave he scooped up Rose and made for the slippery slope that lead to the surface. Pieces of ice were pelting him as he desperately scrambled to get out before they were trapped in the cave. Just as he neared the top of the slope what he had most feared would happen did and the boulder that had been so close to the lip of the entrance collapsed forward sealing them in; they were buried alive.
Now even if Verity did manage to materialize near the entrance there would be no way for them to get to her.
Chapter 18 - Tug of War
Moving Forward Index 1
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Rose felt ill. Her head hurt, her leg hurt even worse and, to top that off, now the Doctor was practically screaming panic at her. “Doctor what’s wrong?” Rose asked quietly as she looked up from where he had pulled her partially into his lap. She could tell he was debating what to tell her and said, “Please Doctor I need to know”.
For a long moment he debated telling her everything about what was going on. The last thing she needed was to know how deadly their situation had become but when she looked at him with such pleading in her eyes he knew he was sunk. But there was no way he was going to tell her that unless the TARDIS reappeared soon she was in all likelihood as good as dead. Because of his Gallifreyan physiology he would probably make it to morning, albeit he would be one damn cold Gallifreyan, but Rose… Rose would die. Exposed as they were, there would be no way that Rose would be able to stand the freezing temperatures that this planet would plummet to in the darkness. “Rose, something has happened to the TARDIS. I asked her to move nearer to us so I could get some equipment to get us out of here, but she didn’t return”.
Realizing she was whining, but in the confusion and pain it just didn’t seem to matter, she responded, “Why? Why would she take off and just leave us here? What are you not telling me Doctor?”
His hearts clenched as she asked what he was hiding. He just couldn’t tell her what would become of her if they didn’t get out of there so instead replied, “I am sure it’s just a temporary delay she got buried by that ice wave that was close to us when we landed and I am sure it’s just something temporary that she will fix and will be back real soon. Nothing to worry about. Just rest.”
“I’m cold, Doctor,” she said in that small and helpless sounding voice he knew she only used when she was feeling really bad. That voice that he would do virtually anything to never hear because it meant that something was hurting her. Gently readjusting her in his arms, he pulled her more fully into his lap so that only a minimal part of her body was in direct contact with the icy surface beneath them. He unzipped his jacket and, pulling her closer to his chest, he wrapped his coat around her. As he got her as close to his body warmth as he could he cursed the fact that his body was so much cooler then hers. He would much rather have the extra body warmth of a human to share with her so that she could at least have as long as she could, even if it meant he to would die of exposure in this frozen hell. The idea of her dying here and him surviving made him ill. He would much rather die than go back to the way he was before Rose brought light back into his darkness, a darkness that was already beginning to descend and would herald her death if he wasn’t able to get her out of here soon.
He said it would be all right, Rose thought, but no wonder he was panicking if the TARDIS had disappeared from his senses. Rose knew the TARDIS and he were in telepathic communication most of the time and his panic seemed perfectly natural to her concussion-addled mind. He said it would be all right so she trusted him, snuggled into his additional warmth and let sleep overcome her.
Even as grim thoughts enveloped his mind, the Doctor pulled up his legs to try to shelter Rose as much as possible from the increasing cold. But fate wasn’t done with them yet; he felt an odd warping twisting sensation of time distorting near them, not in the manner of the appearance of a TARDIS but in a way that felt like time itself was twisting. He hadn’t felt anything like this for hundreds of years, not since his first incarnation when he was a young child and had been shown the untempered schism. The feeling left him shaking, nauseous and wanting to run just as much as it had all those years ago. Just when he thought he couldn’t take the sensation any longer it stopped, replaced by the roar of a strong aftershock surrounding him. Understanding how precarious their position was in this cave he scooped up Rose and made for the slippery slope that lead to the surface. Pieces of ice were pelting him as he desperately scrambled to get out before they were trapped in the cave. Just as he neared the top of the slope what he had most feared would happen did and the boulder that had been so close to the lip of the entrance collapsed forward sealing them in; they were buried alive.
Now even if Verity did manage to materialize near the entrance there would be no way for them to get to her.
Chapter 18 - Tug of War
Moving Forward Index 1