(these days it seems that) nowhere is far enough away (companions, gen)
Title: (these days it seems that) nowhere is far enough away
Fandom: Doctor Who (New Series)
Characters: Rose, Martha, Donna, Jack (gen)
Rating: PG
Prompt: #22 - a second @ story_lottery
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, or the title or subheadings in italics, which are taken from the song Leaving Las Vegas, by Sheryl Crow.
Spoilers: For each season finale, up to 4.13 Journey's End.
Summary: Everything changes when you go away with The Doctor. And keeps on changing when you come back.
Author’s Note: Thanks very much to solitary_zero for the beta, all mistakes are mine. I've never written for this fandom before so my apologies if it comes across as a bit ooc or anything, but this has been in my head for a while and was something I needed to get out.
Explanatory Note: This is basically a POV piece for all of the companions, after they’ve travelled with and then left The Doctor in one way or another - but before they meet him again (if they have). So although the whole thing requires you to be familiar with what’s happened up to the end of series 4, each section is only in light of a character’s journey up to a certain point in the show.
prologue: leaving las vegas
When you're travelling with The Doctor, there's always a moment that makes you feel like you could do this forever.
Sometimes it's at the end of an epic adventure, the kind you'd only heard of in books. Many have died, and the sight of each body stings you with a longing for simpler times when sights like this were nothing more than pictures in a newspaper. And yet, many millions more have been saved. There was a period, perhaps when you first met him, when you would have thought it was all because of him. But, today you know, somehow, that it was the both of you. You wouldn't have even known this world existed, let alone been here, without him, but this time (even if it is only this one time), he couldn't have done it without you. And that means something.
For others, it's a quiet afternoon, in a café somewhere in a whole other universe, surrounded by so much that's weird and strange and you could never tell anyone about and it’s absolutely wonderful.
And in that moment you think the trip will never end.
Until, one day, it does.
i: i'm standing in the middle of the desert waiting for my ship to come in
Rose doesn't know how to deal with it at first. The shock is almost paralysing, until it wears off and crying becomes the most natural, persistent reaction. The small part of her brain that still appears to be functioning tells her, there should be a next step in, that God-awful phrase, 'moving on', and yet the more she wallows in the sadness, the less it feels like she'll ever be able to stop. She doesn't know that she wants to. She just doesn't want to be here.
She can tell that they know it too. They don't say it, but it's in their eyes; and as much as she doesn't want to hurt them, she can't deny it. - But she can't keep thinking about only herself either. Her Mum's going to have a baby now and she needs her. Rose does try, really. And still, she runs. At the sight of the slightest movement of dark blue in the corner of her eye, towards the sound of whistling in the air. The more she tells herself not to, the more habitual the action becomes. She can't stop.
Her whole life had been spent waiting for something, anything, to happen - and then, he did. And it was everything.
Until they stood inches apart but worlds away from one another, and didn't have enough time to say goodbye. And the shadow of nothing tells her, in better words than he ever could, that nothing like it will ever happen again.
Rose looks out across the plain of the Bad Wolf Bay, and there is nothing but grey sky as far as she can see.
ii: such a muddy line between the things you want, and the things you have to do
Martha finds it stranger than she expected. Little things, like going to the cinema or driving a car, feel uncomfortably out of the ordinary. She spent the last year trekking across a world in ruins, fighting to stay alive every day (she's still a little unsure how she managed that), and now the biggest daily challenge she faces is manoeuvring London traffic on the way to the supermarket.
They don't speak of that year, except in whispers, and then her mother shudders, shaking hands dropping her plate so that it smashes into pieces, and everyone goes quiet again.
When she met The Doctor the rest of her life became a distant blur, the void filled with time and space and aliens and adventure. Now she's back, but back to what? All she has are memories, and it's the bad ones that haunt her; the rest barely feel like they're her own.
And then one day as she's out walking, Martha catches a glimpse of a long brown overcoat turning a corner. She stands stock still, her body going rigid as her mind whirs with the possibilities. Her mind tells her there's only one way to find out for certain, but she doesn't move. Just as she's convinced herself otherwise, she hears the very slightest of noises as the wind catches in her hair, blowing her scarf up around her face. There are plenty of reasonable explanations for it, one of which is probably true, but, Martha realises, it doesn't matter. She didn't follow because she didn't need to know.
Martha smiles and continues her journey back home.
iii: but now no joker, no jack, no king, can take this losing hand and make it win
Donna doesn't recall being quite this scatter-brained before. They tell her she's being ridiculous, but Donna knows when she's being ridiculous about things and this isn't one of those times. It really is as if random bits and pieces decided to fall out of her brain; dates, special occasions - just exactly how did she and Lance end things anyway? And why did she leave her job again? It couldn't have been that she wanted to return to the glamorous life of temping.
Strangely enough she thinks she's better at work though…she's more efficient somehow. Confident, even. And Mum doesn't complain as much anymore. That's nice. - Still. Sometimes she thinks she preferred the whining. Then at least she could talk back. Now there are just looks, from both Mum and Grandad. It's not even like disappointment. They just look sad. But then, they tilt their head, smiling at her, and the look is gone, as if it was never there.
Donna tells herself she's imagining it and turns on the telly.
iv: and I won't be back (not this time)
Jack has come a long way from the man he was when he met The Doctor.
At least, he thinks he has. He doesn’t always remember the details.
It's been a while.
Fandom: Doctor Who (New Series)
Characters: Rose, Martha, Donna, Jack (gen)
Rating: PG
Prompt: #22 - a second @ story_lottery
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, or the title or subheadings in italics, which are taken from the song Leaving Las Vegas, by Sheryl Crow.
Spoilers: For each season finale, up to 4.13 Journey's End.
Summary: Everything changes when you go away with The Doctor. And keeps on changing when you come back.
Author’s Note: Thanks very much to solitary_zero for the beta, all mistakes are mine. I've never written for this fandom before so my apologies if it comes across as a bit ooc or anything, but this has been in my head for a while and was something I needed to get out.
Explanatory Note: This is basically a POV piece for all of the companions, after they’ve travelled with and then left The Doctor in one way or another - but before they meet him again (if they have). So although the whole thing requires you to be familiar with what’s happened up to the end of series 4, each section is only in light of a character’s journey up to a certain point in the show.
prologue: leaving las vegas
When you're travelling with The Doctor, there's always a moment that makes you feel like you could do this forever.
Sometimes it's at the end of an epic adventure, the kind you'd only heard of in books. Many have died, and the sight of each body stings you with a longing for simpler times when sights like this were nothing more than pictures in a newspaper. And yet, many millions more have been saved. There was a period, perhaps when you first met him, when you would have thought it was all because of him. But, today you know, somehow, that it was the both of you. You wouldn't have even known this world existed, let alone been here, without him, but this time (even if it is only this one time), he couldn't have done it without you. And that means something.
For others, it's a quiet afternoon, in a café somewhere in a whole other universe, surrounded by so much that's weird and strange and you could never tell anyone about and it’s absolutely wonderful.
And in that moment you think the trip will never end.
Until, one day, it does.
i: i'm standing in the middle of the desert waiting for my ship to come in
Rose doesn't know how to deal with it at first. The shock is almost paralysing, until it wears off and crying becomes the most natural, persistent reaction. The small part of her brain that still appears to be functioning tells her, there should be a next step in, that God-awful phrase, 'moving on', and yet the more she wallows in the sadness, the less it feels like she'll ever be able to stop. She doesn't know that she wants to. She just doesn't want to be here.
She can tell that they know it too. They don't say it, but it's in their eyes; and as much as she doesn't want to hurt them, she can't deny it. - But she can't keep thinking about only herself either. Her Mum's going to have a baby now and she needs her. Rose does try, really. And still, she runs. At the sight of the slightest movement of dark blue in the corner of her eye, towards the sound of whistling in the air. The more she tells herself not to, the more habitual the action becomes. She can't stop.
Her whole life had been spent waiting for something, anything, to happen - and then, he did. And it was everything.
Until they stood inches apart but worlds away from one another, and didn't have enough time to say goodbye. And the shadow of nothing tells her, in better words than he ever could, that nothing like it will ever happen again.
Rose looks out across the plain of the Bad Wolf Bay, and there is nothing but grey sky as far as she can see.
ii: such a muddy line between the things you want, and the things you have to do
Martha finds it stranger than she expected. Little things, like going to the cinema or driving a car, feel uncomfortably out of the ordinary. She spent the last year trekking across a world in ruins, fighting to stay alive every day (she's still a little unsure how she managed that), and now the biggest daily challenge she faces is manoeuvring London traffic on the way to the supermarket.
They don't speak of that year, except in whispers, and then her mother shudders, shaking hands dropping her plate so that it smashes into pieces, and everyone goes quiet again.
When she met The Doctor the rest of her life became a distant blur, the void filled with time and space and aliens and adventure. Now she's back, but back to what? All she has are memories, and it's the bad ones that haunt her; the rest barely feel like they're her own.
And then one day as she's out walking, Martha catches a glimpse of a long brown overcoat turning a corner. She stands stock still, her body going rigid as her mind whirs with the possibilities. Her mind tells her there's only one way to find out for certain, but she doesn't move. Just as she's convinced herself otherwise, she hears the very slightest of noises as the wind catches in her hair, blowing her scarf up around her face. There are plenty of reasonable explanations for it, one of which is probably true, but, Martha realises, it doesn't matter. She didn't follow because she didn't need to know.
Martha smiles and continues her journey back home.
iii: but now no joker, no jack, no king, can take this losing hand and make it win
Donna doesn't recall being quite this scatter-brained before. They tell her she's being ridiculous, but Donna knows when she's being ridiculous about things and this isn't one of those times. It really is as if random bits and pieces decided to fall out of her brain; dates, special occasions - just exactly how did she and Lance end things anyway? And why did she leave her job again? It couldn't have been that she wanted to return to the glamorous life of temping.
Strangely enough she thinks she's better at work though…she's more efficient somehow. Confident, even. And Mum doesn't complain as much anymore. That's nice. - Still. Sometimes she thinks she preferred the whining. Then at least she could talk back. Now there are just looks, from both Mum and Grandad. It's not even like disappointment. They just look sad. But then, they tilt their head, smiling at her, and the look is gone, as if it was never there.
Donna tells herself she's imagining it and turns on the telly.
iv: and I won't be back (not this time)
Jack has come a long way from the man he was when he met The Doctor.
At least, he thinks he has. He doesn’t always remember the details.
It's been a while.