Just Another Shop Girl (8/18)
Jan. 23rd, 2009 10:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amberfocus Chapter Eight: Base Camp
As the Doctor and Jack dossed down for the night in one of the survivors’ spare tents, Jack was quiet, utterly lost in thought. The Doctor brought him back to reality rather abruptly with a terse, “Do you really think you should have told them so freely that you’re a time agent?”
Jack shrugged, unconcerned. “Does it matter?”
“Might do. Seems to me you’re showing off a bit.”
“And that’s your domain?” Jack asked. The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “Look, seems to me these people need hope. What’s the harm in giving it to them and letting them know what these creatures will turn into one day? I’ve seen what they become. These people need to know what they’re dying for. What they’re fighting for.”
“I just think you should be more careful,” the Doctor replied. “You say the wrong thing to the wrong person and you could find yourself in an awkward situation.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time, Doc. Besides, I’m flexible. I like awkward situations,” he said with a lascivious grin. The Doctor rolled his eyes. “Are you sure it’s not just that I stole your thunder? Big, bad Time Lord, always sweeping in to save the day and here comes this upstart human always getting in your way?” Jack questioned.
“Hardly. If I thought you were in my way I would have dropped you off weeks ago. You wouldn’t still be travelling with us. You’re the first one of Rose’s pretties worth keeping about. You hold your own.”
“High praise,” said Jack looking pleased.
“Don’t get used to it. You’ve still got a lot to prove to me,” the Doctor grumbled. “Have you got any sort of plan?”
“Don’t you?” Jack challenged.
“Other than drop kicking that group of killers into a black hole somewhere, no,” the Doctor admitted.
“Well, the first thing is reconnaissance. We need to set up watch on the enemy's base camp and learn their patterns and habits. Then we need to figure out a way of getting to the device that opens the pathway between the two worlds without getting killed, disabling it so that people on Earth can’t send any more hunters through and then getting this lot,” he gestured round the camp site, “back home safely. Not to mention finding the two Tirawls on Earth and getting them back here.”
“If worst comes to worse, we can take the scientists back home in the TARDIS. But we’ll need the gate to transport the Tirawls back here,” the Doctor said.
“Yeah, I don’t suppose they’d fit through the front door of the TARDIS, now would they?” Jack asked.
“If push comes to shove I can figure a way, but it won’t be easy. Not with the chameleon circuit stuck the way it is. The door is the size the door is as long as the ship is stuck in this form. If she had enough motivation I could probably convince the TARDIS to let me jigger a way to have her materialize around the Tirawls, presuming we can even find them,” the Doctor said.
“I can always sweet talk her a bit,” Jack volunteered.
“I won’t have you trying to seduce my ship again, Harkness,” he growled at Jack. Jack threw back his head and roared with laughter. “I’m serious,” the Doctor insisted. “She may be willing enough to help, being as she got us into this mess in the first place.
Jack nodded. “Let’s hope so.
“Rose?” Tessa’s voice drifted across the tent in the darkness.
“Yeah?” Rose asked on a yawn.
“Are you asleep?” Tessa asked.
“Don’t think so, unless this is a really vivid dream,” she replied.
“Sorry. Dumb question, I know.”
Rose smiled in the dark. “It’s all right. What’s on your mind, Tessa?” she asked.
“Your friends. How likely are they to get us out of this mess? Are we going to die out here?” Tessa sounded so uncertain, so different from the girl who had staunchly given the Doctor a hard time since the moment she woke up from her faint.
“We’re not gonna die,” Rose said sternly. “I’ve never seen the Doctor in a situation he couldn’t handle before and I’ve lived with him for nearly a year now. He’s fantastic at solving problems.”
“And Jack?” Tessa wanted to know.
“He can handle himself. They’ll get you back to Earth and if they don’t, well, I’m pretty good at finding ways of doing things the others never think of.”
“I’m not so sure it’d be too awful leaving Earth behind,” Tessa mused. “I’m more worried about the animals.”
“Oh, you must have people who would miss you,” Rose said.
“I was brought up in a children’s home,” Tessa said. “I’ve only been out on me own for a bit. I’ve got flat mates, sure, but no one I’m close to. No one to look for me if I go missing,” Tessa said. “Getting stuck here doesn’t seem so bad. It’s beautiful.”
“We wont’ get stuck here. The Doctor can get you home in his ship the same way he brought us here,” Rose said. “He’ll take care of this just fine and then zip you back home quick as you please.”
“You seem to have a lot of faith in this Doctor of yours,” she said wistfully. “Be nice to trust someone like that.”
“He’s saved my life and I’ve saved his on more occasions than I can count,” Rose said. “I believe in him.”
“You love him.” It was a blunt statement of fact.
Rose rolled over onto her side. “What?”
“Don’t you?”
“He’s my best friend. Of course I care about him,” Rose said.
“Now what I said,” Tessa replied. “You love him. And he feels the same way. You two, you just have that look between you,” Tessa continued. “I can see how much he loves you, how much your world revolves around each other. You’re lucky to have that.”
“It’s not like that with us,” Rose protested.
“It could be,” said Tessa. “If you wanted it to be.”
Rose sighed. “We’re not even the same species.”
“Well, you each have a heart, don’t you? Why can’t you be in love and still be different species?”
“I have a heart,” Rose said. “The Doctor has two.”
“Two?” Tessa sounded very surprised.
“Alien, remember?”
“I can’t believe I’m having this conversation.”
“It does take some getting used to,” Rose admitted. “He’s a good man, the Doctor. And Jack’s a good man, too, and together we’ll come up with a plan, pull it off, and live to fight another day.”
“I hope your faith in them is not misplaced.”
“It isn’t,” Rose said firmly. “Trust me, it isn’t. We’ll be fine. I promise.”
“If you say so,” Tessa answered. She rolled over facing the wall of the tent. “Night, Rose.”
“Night.” They settled into silence letting the rushing of the stream soothe them both down into sleep.
In the morning they ate a light breakfast. Jack, the Doctor, Rose, and two of the scientists set off to spy on the hunters' base camp. Tessa stayed behind at the scientists’ camp, talking to Vincent and assisting him with his research. Rose was a little bit relieved. She liked Tessa well enough but the girl was a lot of work. It was nice just being back with the Doctor, Jack trailing behind them and watching their backs. Or likely our bums, thought Rose with an internal snort.
As the little party made its way through the jungle there was not a lot of conversation going on. The two men that were their guides were stoic, but they’d lost so many of their teammates it was understandable if they didn’t want to chatter. Jack’s normally garrulous nature was subdued and the Doctor was thinking hard. Rose let her mind wander off to her friends back home, wondering what they were up to and if it in anyway could ever compare to the life she was leading now.
It took them a half day to arrive and then they ate a quick meal before getting down to the business of spying, carefully encircling the camp and observing all of the comings and goings. It was hot, boring, and dirty work and they knew they’d have to stay at it for several days to establish any sort of patterns and habits they could take advantage of. As they did so they became very aware that the men were lacking in discipline. It would be possible, just, to overcome their numbers by surprise if they had all of their ducks firmly in a row and did everything precisely right.
Jack had wanted to go back to the TARDIS for some of his weapons, but the Doctor was adamant about not using guns. “But they’ve got ‘em,” Jack had protested. “We need to be able to defend ourselves, Doc.”
“No guns, Jack. We can manage this without them. We will. We just have to use cunning and their own blood lust against them. And I think if we can get the Tirawls help on this, I might just have a plan.”
As the Doctor and Jack dossed down for the night in one of the survivors’ spare tents, Jack was quiet, utterly lost in thought. The Doctor brought him back to reality rather abruptly with a terse, “Do you really think you should have told them so freely that you’re a time agent?”
Jack shrugged, unconcerned. “Does it matter?”
“Might do. Seems to me you’re showing off a bit.”
“And that’s your domain?” Jack asked. The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “Look, seems to me these people need hope. What’s the harm in giving it to them and letting them know what these creatures will turn into one day? I’ve seen what they become. These people need to know what they’re dying for. What they’re fighting for.”
“I just think you should be more careful,” the Doctor replied. “You say the wrong thing to the wrong person and you could find yourself in an awkward situation.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time, Doc. Besides, I’m flexible. I like awkward situations,” he said with a lascivious grin. The Doctor rolled his eyes. “Are you sure it’s not just that I stole your thunder? Big, bad Time Lord, always sweeping in to save the day and here comes this upstart human always getting in your way?” Jack questioned.
“Hardly. If I thought you were in my way I would have dropped you off weeks ago. You wouldn’t still be travelling with us. You’re the first one of Rose’s pretties worth keeping about. You hold your own.”
“High praise,” said Jack looking pleased.
“Don’t get used to it. You’ve still got a lot to prove to me,” the Doctor grumbled. “Have you got any sort of plan?”
“Don’t you?” Jack challenged.
“Other than drop kicking that group of killers into a black hole somewhere, no,” the Doctor admitted.
“Well, the first thing is reconnaissance. We need to set up watch on the enemy's base camp and learn their patterns and habits. Then we need to figure out a way of getting to the device that opens the pathway between the two worlds without getting killed, disabling it so that people on Earth can’t send any more hunters through and then getting this lot,” he gestured round the camp site, “back home safely. Not to mention finding the two Tirawls on Earth and getting them back here.”
“If worst comes to worse, we can take the scientists back home in the TARDIS. But we’ll need the gate to transport the Tirawls back here,” the Doctor said.
“Yeah, I don’t suppose they’d fit through the front door of the TARDIS, now would they?” Jack asked.
“If push comes to shove I can figure a way, but it won’t be easy. Not with the chameleon circuit stuck the way it is. The door is the size the door is as long as the ship is stuck in this form. If she had enough motivation I could probably convince the TARDIS to let me jigger a way to have her materialize around the Tirawls, presuming we can even find them,” the Doctor said.
“I can always sweet talk her a bit,” Jack volunteered.
“I won’t have you trying to seduce my ship again, Harkness,” he growled at Jack. Jack threw back his head and roared with laughter. “I’m serious,” the Doctor insisted. “She may be willing enough to help, being as she got us into this mess in the first place.
Jack nodded. “Let’s hope so.
“Rose?” Tessa’s voice drifted across the tent in the darkness.
“Yeah?” Rose asked on a yawn.
“Are you asleep?” Tessa asked.
“Don’t think so, unless this is a really vivid dream,” she replied.
“Sorry. Dumb question, I know.”
Rose smiled in the dark. “It’s all right. What’s on your mind, Tessa?” she asked.
“Your friends. How likely are they to get us out of this mess? Are we going to die out here?” Tessa sounded so uncertain, so different from the girl who had staunchly given the Doctor a hard time since the moment she woke up from her faint.
“We’re not gonna die,” Rose said sternly. “I’ve never seen the Doctor in a situation he couldn’t handle before and I’ve lived with him for nearly a year now. He’s fantastic at solving problems.”
“And Jack?” Tessa wanted to know.
“He can handle himself. They’ll get you back to Earth and if they don’t, well, I’m pretty good at finding ways of doing things the others never think of.”
“I’m not so sure it’d be too awful leaving Earth behind,” Tessa mused. “I’m more worried about the animals.”
“Oh, you must have people who would miss you,” Rose said.
“I was brought up in a children’s home,” Tessa said. “I’ve only been out on me own for a bit. I’ve got flat mates, sure, but no one I’m close to. No one to look for me if I go missing,” Tessa said. “Getting stuck here doesn’t seem so bad. It’s beautiful.”
“We wont’ get stuck here. The Doctor can get you home in his ship the same way he brought us here,” Rose said. “He’ll take care of this just fine and then zip you back home quick as you please.”
“You seem to have a lot of faith in this Doctor of yours,” she said wistfully. “Be nice to trust someone like that.”
“He’s saved my life and I’ve saved his on more occasions than I can count,” Rose said. “I believe in him.”
“You love him.” It was a blunt statement of fact.
Rose rolled over onto her side. “What?”
“Don’t you?”
“He’s my best friend. Of course I care about him,” Rose said.
“Now what I said,” Tessa replied. “You love him. And he feels the same way. You two, you just have that look between you,” Tessa continued. “I can see how much he loves you, how much your world revolves around each other. You’re lucky to have that.”
“It’s not like that with us,” Rose protested.
“It could be,” said Tessa. “If you wanted it to be.”
Rose sighed. “We’re not even the same species.”
“Well, you each have a heart, don’t you? Why can’t you be in love and still be different species?”
“I have a heart,” Rose said. “The Doctor has two.”
“Two?” Tessa sounded very surprised.
“Alien, remember?”
“I can’t believe I’m having this conversation.”
“It does take some getting used to,” Rose admitted. “He’s a good man, the Doctor. And Jack’s a good man, too, and together we’ll come up with a plan, pull it off, and live to fight another day.”
“I hope your faith in them is not misplaced.”
“It isn’t,” Rose said firmly. “Trust me, it isn’t. We’ll be fine. I promise.”
“If you say so,” Tessa answered. She rolled over facing the wall of the tent. “Night, Rose.”
“Night.” They settled into silence letting the rushing of the stream soothe them both down into sleep.
In the morning they ate a light breakfast. Jack, the Doctor, Rose, and two of the scientists set off to spy on the hunters' base camp. Tessa stayed behind at the scientists’ camp, talking to Vincent and assisting him with his research. Rose was a little bit relieved. She liked Tessa well enough but the girl was a lot of work. It was nice just being back with the Doctor, Jack trailing behind them and watching their backs. Or likely our bums, thought Rose with an internal snort.
As the little party made its way through the jungle there was not a lot of conversation going on. The two men that were their guides were stoic, but they’d lost so many of their teammates it was understandable if they didn’t want to chatter. Jack’s normally garrulous nature was subdued and the Doctor was thinking hard. Rose let her mind wander off to her friends back home, wondering what they were up to and if it in anyway could ever compare to the life she was leading now.
It took them a half day to arrive and then they ate a quick meal before getting down to the business of spying, carefully encircling the camp and observing all of the comings and goings. It was hot, boring, and dirty work and they knew they’d have to stay at it for several days to establish any sort of patterns and habits they could take advantage of. As they did so they became very aware that the men were lacking in discipline. It would be possible, just, to overcome their numbers by surprise if they had all of their ducks firmly in a row and did everything precisely right.
Jack had wanted to go back to the TARDIS for some of his weapons, but the Doctor was adamant about not using guns. “But they’ve got ‘em,” Jack had protested. “We need to be able to defend ourselves, Doc.”
“No guns, Jack. We can manage this without them. We will. We just have to use cunning and their own blood lust against them. And I think if we can get the Tirawls help on this, I might just have a plan.”
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-01-23 10:59 pm (UTC)It's so canon that Rose and the Doctor's love for each other is so obvious to everyone but them. I'm endlessly entertained by that.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-27 08:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-23 11:05 pm (UTC)I like the fact that it's so obvious that Rose and the Doctor are in love with each other, even if they won't admit it.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-27 08:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-23 11:13 pm (UTC)The Doctor saying he wants to drop kick the bad guys made me giggle. XD
Thanks for the update!
no subject
Date: 2009-01-27 08:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-24 02:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-27 08:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-25 02:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-27 08:07 pm (UTC)