Of the Vortex Born: Chapter Seventeen
Aug. 23rd, 2008 07:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amberfocus
A/N: This chapter gets somewhat dark. Adult themes. Implied sexual assault of a minor.
Chapter Seventeen: Waking Up in Fear
Jamie groaned as consciousness found her. Her eyes opened and she had to shut them and open them again before she could believe what she saw around her. She was in a cold, though much warmer than the last room she remembered being in, sterile white room. The light above her was extremely bright. If she’d have been human she would have been blinded by it.
She tried to move and realized that she was strapped down to some sort of table. Her eyes struggled to make sense of the room, forcing adrenaline through her system, and clearing whatever gas had knocked her out from her body. She focused. The table beneath her was cold, metallic, and she identified it as a gurney. Straps ran across her thighs, her ankles, and her upper arms, but her lower arms and hands were free.
She tried to raise her head and stopped, realizing a restraint ran across her neck as well. Fear shot through her at the inability to move her head and she had to force it back down as she took stock of her body. She had several new aches and pains. She felt something pinching her left index finger and identified it as a pulse monitor. Leads were glued to her chest and a machine next to the gurney was recording her double heartbeat. The bend of her left elbow was sore and she could tell blood had been drawn. A cottony taste in her mouth made her aware that a DNA sample had been taken from the inside of her cheek.
As far as she could tell she was alone in the room. She was grateful for this, because someone had stripped her of her clothing. A ding sounded from behind her head and she heard the click of a door opening. She tensed.
“You’re awake.” The voice was female and she relaxed slightly.
“Are you alone?” Jamie asked.
“I am,” said the woman walking into view. She reached for a nearby blanket and Jamie tensed, cringing away. “I’m not going to hurt you,” she said gently, laying the blanket over the girl. The woman’s voice was almost melodic and Jamie recognized the accent as having once been Welsh, but fading now towards the standard British mostly spoken by people who lived in space for most of their lives.
“What are you doing?” Jamie asked.
“I’m disconnecting the leads. I’ve brought your clothes back. Gave them what for, too for taking them away, mind. Don’t care if you are an alien, you’re still a teenage girl and you don’t need to be ogled by a bunch of grotty old men, doctors or no.”
“They were...?” Jamie broke off as anger and humiliation flooded her face, turning it dark crimson.
“I put a stop to it,” the woman told her. “My name’s Gwen.” Her hands worked quickly, removing the leads from Jamie’s chest and then using a cold alcohol solution to remove the stickiness of the glue. She pulled the blanket off of Jamie and started removing the restraints. When she was done she handed Jamie her clothing. Jamie sat up, cringing at the sudden soreness that caused, the unfamiliar sensation filling her with fear.
“What was done to me?” she asked Gwen, who had seen her wince.
“You were given a full physical exam,” the woman said, unable to meet her eyes. “Including a pelvic exam. And I don’t think they were very gentle about it, since you weren’t awake to protest. They wanted to see how different you were from a human female.” Gwen kept her face very much under control. She wasn’t entirely sure that that was all that had been done to the pretty young girl, but she didn’t want Jamie to get even more upset by voicing her suspicions.
Tears came into Jamie’s eyes. “I’m sorry,” Gwen said with a tinge of anger in her voice, but her soft eyes told Jamie the anger wasn’t directed at her. “My husband and I weren’t on station when you arrived. Usually we’re here to advocate for humane treatment of alien detainees, but we were sent on a wild goose chase.” Her voice very clearly said that someone was going to face her wrath when she found out who was interfering in her job.
“Come on. I’m to take you back to your cell.”
Jamie stood up and winced again as she took her first steps. “It hurts,” she said.
Jamie heard Gwen mutter a Welsh curse under her breath and turned to see the woman looking at the blood stain on the paper where Jamie had been lying. “Believe me, someone’s going to pay for hurting you like that, Jamie. Just as soon as I find out who’s responsible for all this in the first place. Your people are supposed to be off limits and someone’s gone over my head.”
“I want my mother,” Jamie said.
“I’ll do what I can, but…” Gwen shook her head. “There’s more than one rat in this maze.”
“Luke!” Jamie suddenly exclaimed.
“What?”
“Luke. I was with a boy. In the cell on the Ganyites ship, I was with a boy. What happened to him?” she asked anxiously.
“He’s in holding.”
“They didn’t test him?”
“Why should they? His DNA scan came back human,” Gwen said. “He’s just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. They’ll wipe his memory and he’ll forget everything that happened in the last week.”
“No, they can’t!”
“What?”
“They can’t wipe his memory. Don’t let them. Please, Gwen!” Jamie pleaded.
“It’s just a week, sweetheart,” Gwen said. “He’ll be okay.”
“But he won’t remember,” she said. “Meeting me or knowing me or what we went through. He won’t remember me!”
“I’m sorry, Jamie. It’s standard operating procedure. There’s nothing that can be done. Here we are.” Gwen swiped a card through a lock and the door in front of them clicked open. “In you go. I’ll see what I can do to get you out of here.”
Jamie entered the room only to find Luke flying at her and pulling her tightly to him. “You’re okay? Jamie? Are you okay?” he asked. “Did they hurt you?”
Everything that had happened suddenly overwhelmed her and she burst into tears. Luke walked them backwards to a cot and sat her down on it, keeping his arms securely around her while she leaned against him and cried. When her sobs finally subsided he leant across the cot to a small stand that held a box of tissues. He grabbed the box and handed it to Jamie who blew her nose and wiped her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she told him. “It’s just been…” She couldn’t finish, instead shrugging helplessly.
“What did they do to you?” He asked, an edge coming into his voice. Haltingly she told him what little she knew.
“I’m fine. Really, I’m fine. I just…it was embarrassing to find out they’d been looking at me like that and touching me I’m not even sure how. But I’ll be okay, Luke. I’m strong.”
Luke raised his eyebrows at her. “I know I just fell apart, but that was with you. Not them. I’m not going to give them that kind of satisfaction.” She sighed. “They don’t know about you,” she added. “The woman told me you scanned as human, so they don’t know what you really are.”
“We’re going to get out of this, Jamie. The Doctor will come and he’ll rescue us. And he’ll make them sorry they ever took us.”
Jake Symmonds forced his way onto the alien ship, a troop of soldiers behind him as they stormed the Dark Heart of Jupiter. The Doctor had transmitted details of the Ritauel weapon back to the Moon before they had docked and a team of scientists had been busily perfecting it as the shuttle Jake had commandeered had made its way after Rose and her children.
He made short work of the alien threat, taking no prisoners. Rose would be angry with him, he knew, but Rose had no idea of the level of betrayal that had led to this moment. There was more going on than an alien conspiracy with Torchwood. So much more. And it had all led down to one thing: allowing Torchwood the opportunity to get their hands on a Time Lord or Lady.
His soldiers burst open the cell his family had been detained in and he made short work of hauling his people off the alien vessel. He sent half of his crew to pilot the other shuttle and the two vehicles began making their way towards Torchwood station.
Landon was the first to regain consciousness. Jake watched as his surrogate son became fully aware and sat up with a start. “What is it?” Landon asked, his eyes searching Jake’s.
“There’s been a betrayal. This is beyond Torchwood, beyond the aliens even. It reaches into the highest ranks of U.N.I.T. and its only goal was to capture a member of your family,” Jake said.
“Someone attacked the Moon, killed all those people, just to kidnap one of us?” Landon asked in horror.
“Yes,” said Jake tightly. “And what’s worse is that they’ve succeeded.”
Landon’s eyes flew about the passenger hold of the shuttle. “Where’s Jamie?” he asked. Jake blew out a breath harshly, trying to compose himself. “Jake, where’s Jamie?” Landon said angrily.
“Torchwood has her,” he said, his voice breaking momentarily as he thought of rambunctious, feisty Jamie in the hands of some of the men he had once worked with. He knew he shouldn’t have, but Jake had always favored Jamie out of Rose’s three children. He’d been wrapped around her finger from the time she was two. And to think of her in the clutches of men who had no conscience hurt.
“How can you be sure?”
“After you were taken as a baby and Rose and I got you back, we injected a tiny microchip tracking device. Did the same to Mairi and Jamie when they were born. Her locator says she’s on Torchwood station,” Jack said.
“You Lo-Jacked us?” Landon asked in shock.
“We disabled it when you came of age,” Jake said. “Don’t look so surprised. You don’t know what kind of torture your mother went through not knowing where you were for eight days. I thought she was going to go out of her head. It wasn’t a risk either one of us was willing to take again. Besides, it means we know exactly where your sister is.”
“And what do you propose to do about it?” Landon said. “Go in with guns blazing?”
“Won’t have to,” said Jake. “I still have friends inside Torchwood. I received a communiqué early this morning. They’re going to help us in whatever way they can.”
“And just what does that mean?” Landon asked. “Are you sure you can trust them?”
“Yeah. I’ve known Gwen most of my life. She’s very distantly related to me. We had the same great, great grandfather. But our mothers went to boarding school together and were great friends. Gwen and her husband are both very honest, trustworthy people. And clever. If anyone can get to the bottom of this and help us get those kids out of there, it’ll be Gwen and Owen Harper.”
“What about Luke? Can you be sure he’s with Jamie?” Landon asked.
“I can’t be sure of anything. But I’ve got a feeling Jamie would protect him with her life and I can’t see her letting them leave him behind if they tried,” Jake said.
“Unless they killed him,” said Landon.
“Aye,” agreed Jake. “There is that.”
She tried to raise her head and stopped, realizing a restraint ran across her neck as well. Fear shot through her at the inability to move her head and she had to force it back down as she took stock of her body. She had several new aches and pains. She felt something pinching her left index finger and identified it as a pulse monitor. Leads were glued to her chest and a machine next to the gurney was recording her double heartbeat. The bend of her left elbow was sore and she could tell blood had been drawn. A cottony taste in her mouth made her aware that a DNA sample had been taken from the inside of her cheek.
As far as she could tell she was alone in the room. She was grateful for this, because someone had stripped her of her clothing. A ding sounded from behind her head and she heard the click of a door opening. She tensed.
“You’re awake.” The voice was female and she relaxed slightly.
“Are you alone?” Jamie asked.
“I am,” said the woman walking into view. She reached for a nearby blanket and Jamie tensed, cringing away. “I’m not going to hurt you,” she said gently, laying the blanket over the girl. The woman’s voice was almost melodic and Jamie recognized the accent as having once been Welsh, but fading now towards the standard British mostly spoken by people who lived in space for most of their lives.
“What are you doing?” Jamie asked.
“I’m disconnecting the leads. I’ve brought your clothes back. Gave them what for, too for taking them away, mind. Don’t care if you are an alien, you’re still a teenage girl and you don’t need to be ogled by a bunch of grotty old men, doctors or no.”
“They were...?” Jamie broke off as anger and humiliation flooded her face, turning it dark crimson.
“I put a stop to it,” the woman told her. “My name’s Gwen.” Her hands worked quickly, removing the leads from Jamie’s chest and then using a cold alcohol solution to remove the stickiness of the glue. She pulled the blanket off of Jamie and started removing the restraints. When she was done she handed Jamie her clothing. Jamie sat up, cringing at the sudden soreness that caused, the unfamiliar sensation filling her with fear.
“What was done to me?” she asked Gwen, who had seen her wince.
“You were given a full physical exam,” the woman said, unable to meet her eyes. “Including a pelvic exam. And I don’t think they were very gentle about it, since you weren’t awake to protest. They wanted to see how different you were from a human female.” Gwen kept her face very much under control. She wasn’t entirely sure that that was all that had been done to the pretty young girl, but she didn’t want Jamie to get even more upset by voicing her suspicions.
Tears came into Jamie’s eyes. “I’m sorry,” Gwen said with a tinge of anger in her voice, but her soft eyes told Jamie the anger wasn’t directed at her. “My husband and I weren’t on station when you arrived. Usually we’re here to advocate for humane treatment of alien detainees, but we were sent on a wild goose chase.” Her voice very clearly said that someone was going to face her wrath when she found out who was interfering in her job.
“Come on. I’m to take you back to your cell.”
Jamie stood up and winced again as she took her first steps. “It hurts,” she said.
Jamie heard Gwen mutter a Welsh curse under her breath and turned to see the woman looking at the blood stain on the paper where Jamie had been lying. “Believe me, someone’s going to pay for hurting you like that, Jamie. Just as soon as I find out who’s responsible for all this in the first place. Your people are supposed to be off limits and someone’s gone over my head.”
“I want my mother,” Jamie said.
“I’ll do what I can, but…” Gwen shook her head. “There’s more than one rat in this maze.”
“Luke!” Jamie suddenly exclaimed.
“What?”
“Luke. I was with a boy. In the cell on the Ganyites ship, I was with a boy. What happened to him?” she asked anxiously.
“He’s in holding.”
“They didn’t test him?”
“Why should they? His DNA scan came back human,” Gwen said. “He’s just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. They’ll wipe his memory and he’ll forget everything that happened in the last week.”
“No, they can’t!”
“What?”
“They can’t wipe his memory. Don’t let them. Please, Gwen!” Jamie pleaded.
“It’s just a week, sweetheart,” Gwen said. “He’ll be okay.”
“But he won’t remember,” she said. “Meeting me or knowing me or what we went through. He won’t remember me!”
“I’m sorry, Jamie. It’s standard operating procedure. There’s nothing that can be done. Here we are.” Gwen swiped a card through a lock and the door in front of them clicked open. “In you go. I’ll see what I can do to get you out of here.”
Jamie entered the room only to find Luke flying at her and pulling her tightly to him. “You’re okay? Jamie? Are you okay?” he asked. “Did they hurt you?”
Everything that had happened suddenly overwhelmed her and she burst into tears. Luke walked them backwards to a cot and sat her down on it, keeping his arms securely around her while she leaned against him and cried. When her sobs finally subsided he leant across the cot to a small stand that held a box of tissues. He grabbed the box and handed it to Jamie who blew her nose and wiped her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she told him. “It’s just been…” She couldn’t finish, instead shrugging helplessly.
“What did they do to you?” He asked, an edge coming into his voice. Haltingly she told him what little she knew.
“I’m fine. Really, I’m fine. I just…it was embarrassing to find out they’d been looking at me like that and touching me I’m not even sure how. But I’ll be okay, Luke. I’m strong.”
Luke raised his eyebrows at her. “I know I just fell apart, but that was with you. Not them. I’m not going to give them that kind of satisfaction.” She sighed. “They don’t know about you,” she added. “The woman told me you scanned as human, so they don’t know what you really are.”
“We’re going to get out of this, Jamie. The Doctor will come and he’ll rescue us. And he’ll make them sorry they ever took us.”
Jake Symmonds forced his way onto the alien ship, a troop of soldiers behind him as they stormed the Dark Heart of Jupiter. The Doctor had transmitted details of the Ritauel weapon back to the Moon before they had docked and a team of scientists had been busily perfecting it as the shuttle Jake had commandeered had made its way after Rose and her children.
He made short work of the alien threat, taking no prisoners. Rose would be angry with him, he knew, but Rose had no idea of the level of betrayal that had led to this moment. There was more going on than an alien conspiracy with Torchwood. So much more. And it had all led down to one thing: allowing Torchwood the opportunity to get their hands on a Time Lord or Lady.
His soldiers burst open the cell his family had been detained in and he made short work of hauling his people off the alien vessel. He sent half of his crew to pilot the other shuttle and the two vehicles began making their way towards Torchwood station.
Landon was the first to regain consciousness. Jake watched as his surrogate son became fully aware and sat up with a start. “What is it?” Landon asked, his eyes searching Jake’s.
“There’s been a betrayal. This is beyond Torchwood, beyond the aliens even. It reaches into the highest ranks of U.N.I.T. and its only goal was to capture a member of your family,” Jake said.
“Someone attacked the Moon, killed all those people, just to kidnap one of us?” Landon asked in horror.
“Yes,” said Jake tightly. “And what’s worse is that they’ve succeeded.”
Landon’s eyes flew about the passenger hold of the shuttle. “Where’s Jamie?” he asked. Jake blew out a breath harshly, trying to compose himself. “Jake, where’s Jamie?” Landon said angrily.
“Torchwood has her,” he said, his voice breaking momentarily as he thought of rambunctious, feisty Jamie in the hands of some of the men he had once worked with. He knew he shouldn’t have, but Jake had always favored Jamie out of Rose’s three children. He’d been wrapped around her finger from the time she was two. And to think of her in the clutches of men who had no conscience hurt.
“How can you be sure?”
“After you were taken as a baby and Rose and I got you back, we injected a tiny microchip tracking device. Did the same to Mairi and Jamie when they were born. Her locator says she’s on Torchwood station,” Jack said.
“You Lo-Jacked us?” Landon asked in shock.
“We disabled it when you came of age,” Jake said. “Don’t look so surprised. You don’t know what kind of torture your mother went through not knowing where you were for eight days. I thought she was going to go out of her head. It wasn’t a risk either one of us was willing to take again. Besides, it means we know exactly where your sister is.”
“And what do you propose to do about it?” Landon said. “Go in with guns blazing?”
“Won’t have to,” said Jake. “I still have friends inside Torchwood. I received a communiqué early this morning. They’re going to help us in whatever way they can.”
“And just what does that mean?” Landon asked. “Are you sure you can trust them?”
“Yeah. I’ve known Gwen most of my life. She’s very distantly related to me. We had the same great, great grandfather. But our mothers went to boarding school together and were great friends. Gwen and her husband are both very honest, trustworthy people. And clever. If anyone can get to the bottom of this and help us get those kids out of there, it’ll be Gwen and Owen Harper.”
“What about Luke? Can you be sure he’s with Jamie?” Landon asked.
“I can’t be sure of anything. But I’ve got a feeling Jamie would protect him with her life and I can’t see her letting them leave him behind if they tried,” Jake said.
“Unless they killed him,” said Landon.
“Aye,” agreed Jake. “There is that.”
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-08-24 04:40 am (UTC)D:
Well thank god for Gwen! Though that's still really horrible. Jesus, a teenager doesn't deserve that.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-28 10:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-25 01:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-28 10:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-17 11:48 pm (UTC)