Body Language (1/3)

[amberfocus]

Title: Body Language
Author: storm_and_wolf  ficathon. The picture prompt will be posted in the relevant chapter. This is the fourth entry to my Bodies in Motion series, but stands alone fine without having read those. Dedicated to lostwolfchats as a belated birthday gift.

Previous Stories:
Body Paint: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/174548.html
Body Glitter: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/184335.html
Body Heat: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/218394.html

Chapter One: Of Sight and Sound

It couldn’t have been a more beautiful day. The Doctor had taken them to one of the most idyllic planets Rose Tyler had ever been to. The streets were clean, she’d never seen London streets even pretend to be this clean, and the front windows of the shops all gleamed brightly in the warm afternoon sunshine. Even the weather on Janesta was perfect. Not too hot, not too cold and with just the right strength of a warm breeze rippling through the not too crowded shopping district.

The Doctor had gone looking for spare parts at a likely looking second-hand shop. He didn’t really need anything at the moment. The TARDIS was holding together nicely, but he figured it didn’t hurt to have backups. He’d sent Jack and Rose off to find somewhere that smelled fantastic for lunch. They’d scouted around until they’d found the perfect place, an outdoor restaurant with big tables on the patio covered with bamboo and woven grass umbrellas and big, fruity drinks in glasses the size of her head with silly decorations sticking out of them.

On their way back to fetch him, her eye had been caught by some indigo fabric glistening with golden threads woven throughout. She’d stopped to look at it and was fingering the credit stick in her pocket, wondering if she had enough both to buy it and to have it made into something nice to wear at the nearby tailor’s stall. Maybe if she bartered some of her jewelry, too. Several of the shopkeepers had been eyeing the turquoise and silver ring she was wearing.

It was because she paused that Jack halted and as was his wont, surveyed the area. It was all that saved them. One minute she was debating her purchase and the next Jack had hurled himself on top of her, bringing them both down to the ground as an explosion rocked the town and debris rained down on them, smashing the fabric stall to bits. As she pushed at Jack to get off of her she realized there was a loud ringing in her ears. She managed to sit up, shaking her head to try to clear the noise.

“Are you all right?” she asked Jack who was checking himself, or possibly just his clothing, for damages. He was particularly fond of that pair of leather pants. She could barely hear herself speak and when Jack cupped a hand to his ear she realized that he couldn’t hear very well either. She repeated herself on a shout and Jack replied that he thought so.

He jumped to his feet and helped her up. “We better find the Doctor,” Jack shouted. “I don’t know what that was about, but if I know him, he’ll be in the thick of it.”

Rose nodded and they began to thread their way through the stunned townsfolk. It was as if they’d never seen a bomb go off before. Perhaps they hadn’t. Perhaps this perfect little world had escaped that sort of thing until now. If so, it was no wonder the people looked shell-shocked. She almost came to a halt when she realized that she wasn’t.

When had it become natural for her to expect things like explosions as a part of everyday living? She supposed when she’d met the Doctor. Everything had changed that day. Not that she regretted a single day of it, but she knew this probably wasn’t a normal human reaction. Or maybe it was. Maybe it was part of the makeup of her species to adapt to things like war and violence and bombs going off nearby, because if they didn’t, as warlike as humans were, they wouldn’t go on.

She wanted to question Jack on what he had seen, but with them both unable to hear very well and the fact that they were on the move, it wouldn’t do much good. She needed to stifle her curiosity at least until they found the Doctor and the three of them could get to the bottom of this. Something must have tipped him off. He’d thrown them both to the ground before the explosion had ripped through the area.

Her heart stopped as the little second-hand shop, where the Doctor had been browsing, came into view. Then she was running; running faster than she’d ever run before in her life. She saw the edge of black, realized it was leather under rubble, and the next thing she knew she was digging until her fingers started to bleed. In the distance someone was crying, screaming out something. She couldn’t make it out. All she could do was dig in her muted little universe of stone and dust. Then strong arms were pulling her back and away.

She turned accusing eyes on that person and looked in utter betrayal at Jack. “Rose, they’re bringing in professionals,” he hollered. She stared at him blankly for a moment then turned to look where he indicated.

“That’s the Doctor,” she said stupidly.

“I know, love,” Jack said. She moved to start digging again but Jack stopped her. “Let them do their jobs.”

“I can’t just stand here!” she said.

“They can do it faster. You’re just in the way. You don’t want to prevent him getting treatment as fast as possible, do you?” Jack reasoned.

Rose shook her head and stepped out of the way of the men and women with levers and shovels and pickaxes. A sympathetic looking nurse approached them and said something that Rose couldn’t understand. She indicated her ears and the nurse nodded then took Rose’s arm and slowly led her to the side, but within sight of the work of the recovery team.

A moment later the woman put drops in Rose’s ears and shook her own head. Rose followed suit and a moment later normal hearing returned. She watched as Jack received similar treatment and when he could hear properly again she asked, “What was that?”

“Ocsontin. It speeds the repair of nerve damage if it’s given quickly enough after an incident. There should be no permanent loss to your hearing,” the nurse said.

“How soon does it need to be given?” Rose asked curiously.

“Within an hour.”

She turned back to look at the rescue party that was working to carefully remove the ruined building from its living captives. “We were one street away, but he...” She broke off a strangled sob and took a deep breath. “He was right here.” She looked at her watch. “How long’s it been?”

“I don’t know,” Jack said. “But he’s not human. You’ve seen injuries heal much faster on him than they would do on you, or even me with my revved-up immune system. Anyway, hearing damage is gonna be the least—.” Jack broke off at the look Rose directed at him. In a more gentle tone he said, “Sweetheart, we don’t even know if he’s alive.”

“Don’t you dare!” she said fiercely, whacking him on the arm. “Don’t you dare, Jack Harkness! He’s not dead. You better not even think it.”

“Rose, you have to prepare yourself. He’s under a good four hundred pounds of rubble. He very well may not survive.”

“Shut up,” Rose told him. He opened his mouth to say more and she shouted him down. “Shut up, shut up, shut up!” She couldn’t stand to see the look on his face, didn’t need to see his pity and regret and far too sympathetic eyes. “He’s the Doctor and he’s gonna make it. He has to.”

“Rose.”

“He has to, Jack! I love him.”

“I know, sweetheart. I know. He loves you, too.” And then she couldn’t take it anymore and flung herself at him, burying her face in his shirt and giving in to the possibility that maybe just this once, it wasn’t all going to be okay.




The Doctor was sure he could hear Rose crying. Sometimes she had nightmares. This life hadn’t always been easy for her to adapt to, as strong as she was during her waking hours. Her human mind would cope by shattering her dreams. It was rare since they’d become lovers, but it still happened. He moved to comfort her, his automatic reflex, and found that instead of a soft, warm body in the bed beside him, he was held down by some oppressive force. He wasn’t quite being crushed. Some kind of beam had saved his legs and torso from the full weight above him. His head and neck seemed all right. He was pretty sure his left arm was broken, though.

He tried to take a breath and realized that he hadn’t been breathing. His lungs ached and his respiratory bypass system must have kicked in a while ago. He pushed upwards against whatever was holding him down and it shifted. The burden began to get lighter and lighter and he heard what sounded like rescue equipment somewhere above him.

Suddenly he felt warmth on his face and he went to open his eyes, only to realize they already were open. He blinked. It was pitch black. How long had he been out? Why couldn’t he see any stars? The sky here should be riddled with them. He tried to sit up and realized something, no, someone was still holding him down.

“Don’t move, Doctor. They’re getting a stretcher to get you out, but it’s important you don’t try to move on your own.” It was Jack’s voice and he was relieved that one of his companions was safe.

“Rose?” he asked. His voice didn’t even sound like his own.

“I’m here,” she said. Her voice sounded like she’d been screaming and he could hear how scared she was. He jerked as he suddenly felt her hand touching his, but as the familiar fingers wrapped in his he began to relax. “You gave us quite the scare, Doctor.” She was trying to sound brave and he couldn’t help but smile to soothe her fears. He felt fingers on his lips then, tracing the expression.

“I thought I might not see that smile…” She trailed off and he thought she was fighting back her tears.

“How long was I under there?” he asked. He knew it had to be a long time since the sun had set and they’d been getting ready to have lunch.

“Just a couple of hours, Doc,” Jack said and he frowned. “What’s with the face?”

It was then that it began to dawn on the Doctor that it wasn’t dark out. He blinked hard. “It’s not night?” he asked just to be sure.

“No, of course not. It’s half one local time,” Rose said. “In the afternoon.”

“Oh,” he said. He hoped his voice didn’t sound too odd. Well, best not to frighten them until they knew what the true damage was. If he could get back to his ship he could take them to a place that had a chance at healing him, he was sure. But he hurt too much to walk back and he knew he wasn’t going to be able to get there under his own power.

“We need—.” He coughed suddenly as the words gurgled in his throat. Blood. Damn. He tried again. “We need to get back to the TARDIS.”

“Don’t be silly, Doctor. They’re taking you to their main hospital,” Rose said.

“Rose—.”

“They’ve got state of the art equipment, Doctor. I know the TARDIS is pretty advanced but I don’t think it beats the medicine they have here,” Jack said.

“I don’t care what they have here, Jack. I have to get back to the TARDIS.” He coughed again and a searing pain shot through his ribs.

“I’m afraid going anywhere is out of the question.” The Doctor startled at the new voice and turned his head in that direction. “You’ve got a collapsed lung and three broken ribs. How your neck and spinal column didn’t get broken is beyond me. That you survived at all is shocking. You’re the only living victim we’ve pulled from the ruins.”

“Who the hell are you?” the Doctor asked belligerently. “And how can you know what’s wrong with me? You haven’t even examined me.”

“Doctor, he’s holding a scanner right over you,” Jack said.

It was Rose who figured it out first. “Doctor, look at me.” He refused to turn his head. “You said his neck and back are okay?” She was obviously addressing the medic now.

“Yes.”

He felt gentle fingers on his chin turning his head in her direction. “Open your eyes, Doctor,” Rose said. “Look at me.”

He didn’t want to, but finally he did. “I’m afraid I’m quite blind,” he said.

Ch. 2: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/307467.html