Of the Vortex Born: Chapter Nine
Jul. 21st, 2008 09:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amberfocus
A/N: A bit with Jamie and Luke at school and Rose explains herself to the Doctor. Spoilers for the Sarah Jane Adventures episodes Invasion of the Bane and Eye of the Gorgon 1 and 2.
Chapter Nine: I Save the World
Jamie watched Luke as his eyes devoured everything around them. The school had impressed him so far. He had impressed her. She wasn’t used to other kids being able to keep up with her, though she wasn’t the only one in Track 17. The other kids in her track were all seventeen or eighteen and she had always left them in the dust. Luke was keeping up. In fact, Luke had passed her at one point.
When it came time for lunch she showed him to the cafeteria and they sat together in a little alcove. They were happily chatting about an adventure Luke had had with his friends Maria and Clyde that had left Maria’s father a stone statue for several hours, when a shadow fell over their table.
“Hey, Jamie. I looked for you this morning.”
Shoot. It was Evan Cassidien. “I was busy.”
"Who’s your friend?” Evan’s voice had gotten a little less friendly as he looked over Luke.
“This is Luke Smith. He’s a friend of the family, visiting the moon for the first time,” she said. “Luke, this is Evan Cassidien. My friend.” She tried not to put an emphasis on the last word, but she knew she’d failed at the sudden flat expression on Evan’s face.
“Did you ask your mother about the prom, Jamie?” Evan asked, running his fingers through his short blond hair.
“Oh!” said Jamie. “I completely forgot!”
“You forgot?” Evan’s blue eyes turned dark, his expression turning slightly hostile as he glanced at Luke.
“Sorry. A lot happened yesterday, Evan. My…my father showed up.”
“Your dad?” His temporary hostility forgotten, Evan snagged a nearby chair, turned it around, and sat on it backwards next to Jamie. “I thought he was out of the picture.”
“Me, too, but surprise, he’s not. He’s here.”
“How’s Dr. Tyler taking it?”
Jamie blushed as she recalled walking in on her parents that morning. “Rather well, actually.”
A sudden thought occurred to Evan. “Does this mean you’ll be leaving the moon, Jamie?” he asked, his hand covering hers.
Jamie felt stricken. “I…I hadn’t thought of that. I don’t know,” she said. She pulled her hand away from Evan. The thought of leaving her home filled her with doubt and uncertainty. But…her father was here for the first time in her life and her mother loved him so much.
As she thought about that morning she realized there was no way her mother wouldn’t go with him. And even more importantly, she realized there was no way she wouldn’t go with him, either, even if it meant leaving behind everything she’d ever known.
Suddenly a klaxon sounded. “What’s that?” Luke asked as Evan stood up and tore across the cafeteria.
“It’s the emergency siren. Come on.” Jamie stood up and he leapt to his feet. She grabbed his hand. “Follow me.” The two took off running.
He had been expecting this. Not because he thought Rose didn’t love him, but because she would feel the weight of leaving this world behind her too keenly. It was who she was, what she was, and part of why he loved her. She cared. She cared so much and this sad adopted world of hers had allowed her to dig in and build a life that made her want to fight for it. He waited, knowing she would go on when she was ready.
“In the beginning, all I did was wait for you to come back. All I wanted was to leave this place behind me forever. It wasn’t my world. I thought it would never be my world. I didn’t care about it. It was just some place I was trapped. Some place that was keeping me away from you,” Rose began.
“I don’t know when that changed. Maybe it was after Landon was born. I woke up, realized you weren’t coming back and I knew I couldn’t spend the rest of my life moping because we were separated. It took me a bit of time to match my realization to my actions. In the beginning it was a severe force of will. But I had him. I had my baby, my piece of you and I wanted him to have a fantastic life. And I knew he only would if I could figure out a way to have a good life myself.”
“One day it clicked with me. Jake and I had just finished a mission that had literally saved the world. It would have been gone, completely destroyed, blasted to bits, if it hadn’t been for what the two of us did that day. I never realized how important I could be to the fate of the universe, even a universe that didn’t belong to me. Without what we do, this world is defenseless.” Rose sighed heavily.
“You taught me too well to stand up, to make that stand. This world needs me, Doctor. They don’t have anyone else like me. They don’t have anyone like you. I have responsibilities. Who is going to protect this Earth if I go?” Rose said.
“Rose Tyler: Defender of the Earth,” the Doctor said softly.
“And I have been, you know. With Jake and U.N.I.T. and Landon. We’ve done so many things to protect this planet, to keep it safe when no one else could. I know it’s not my world by birth, but this planet and this moon, they need me.”
“And what about what you need?” the Doctor asked. “You’ve been defending this planet for thirty years. When is it time for you?”
“You know better than that, Doctor. This is what people like us do. It’s what we were born to do. I can’t leave Earth defenseless no matter how much I want to run off with you,” she told him.
“What about Landon? Can’t he take over for you?” the Doctor asked.
“And if he does, then you’re asking me to leave my son and possibly my eldest daughter behind me forever, because Mairi loves this work, too. My children. Our children. I saw what losing me did to my mum. Just my being gone that year nearly killed her with worry and grief. And I’d never see them again. Can’t you stay here?” Rose asked.
“I have to take Luke back home to Sarah Jane. You know that. He’s just a boy and I promised Sarah.”
“But you could come back. After you take him home, you could come back.”
“Rose, if I manage to find a way back, you know we’ll have to close the gap behind us. We can’t take the chance of the universe imploding.”
“Why? Why did this have to happen now? How can fate give you back to me and then turn around and yank you away again? How is that fair?” Rose demanded.
“It’s not fair. Nothing about you and me being apart has ever been fair,” the Doctor told her. He brushed a loose strand of her hair back away from her face then dropped his hand into his lap again.
“Well, we’ll have to think of something, some way for us to stabilize the two worlds so that you can get back. You’re a genius and so am I now. Landon, Mairi, and Jamie are all off the charts. There’s got to be something we can do. Some way to fix this! I can’t believe life would be so cruel as to rip us apart again.”
“And we have Luke,” the Doctor said.
“Luke?” queried Rose. “What about Luke?”
“He’s not just a child prodigy, Rose. He’s not just Sarah’s child. He’s got the brainpower of 10,000 human beings downloaded into his mind. He’s beyond brilliant. Maybe it’s not an accident his being here when I came through. Maybe it didn’t happen before because he wasn’t with me.”
“You really think he might have the answer?” Rose asked.
“I think if anyone can come at the problem from an angle the rest of us don’t see it’s going to be Luke.”
“That’s a lot of pressure to put on a sixteen-year-old boy,” said Rose.
“I know. But I don’t think he’ll see it that way. To him it’ll just be an interesting problem to solve. Between him and the rest of us, we’ll figure it out,” the Doctor said.
“Do you really think so?” Rose asked.
“We have to. I am not losing you again, Rose Tyler.” He put his hand under her chin and tilted her face up to look at him. “I am not losing you,” he repeated. His hand moved to the back of her neck and he closed the distance between them, kissing her with an urgency that had not been in his earlier kiss. Rose responded to him eagerly, her hands creeping up to work at the knot of his tie.
Just then a klaxon sounded. Rose pulled away from him and stood up. “Sorry, Doctor,” she said breathlessly. “We’ve got incoming.”
“Hey, Jamie. I looked for you this morning.”
Shoot. It was Evan Cassidien. “I was busy.”
"Who’s your friend?” Evan’s voice had gotten a little less friendly as he looked over Luke.
“This is Luke Smith. He’s a friend of the family, visiting the moon for the first time,” she said. “Luke, this is Evan Cassidien. My friend.” She tried not to put an emphasis on the last word, but she knew she’d failed at the sudden flat expression on Evan’s face.
“Did you ask your mother about the prom, Jamie?” Evan asked, running his fingers through his short blond hair.
“Oh!” said Jamie. “I completely forgot!”
“You forgot?” Evan’s blue eyes turned dark, his expression turning slightly hostile as he glanced at Luke.
“Sorry. A lot happened yesterday, Evan. My…my father showed up.”
“Your dad?” His temporary hostility forgotten, Evan snagged a nearby chair, turned it around, and sat on it backwards next to Jamie. “I thought he was out of the picture.”
“Me, too, but surprise, he’s not. He’s here.”
“How’s Dr. Tyler taking it?”
Jamie blushed as she recalled walking in on her parents that morning. “Rather well, actually.”
A sudden thought occurred to Evan. “Does this mean you’ll be leaving the moon, Jamie?” he asked, his hand covering hers.
Jamie felt stricken. “I…I hadn’t thought of that. I don’t know,” she said. She pulled her hand away from Evan. The thought of leaving her home filled her with doubt and uncertainty. But…her father was here for the first time in her life and her mother loved him so much.
As she thought about that morning she realized there was no way her mother wouldn’t go with him. And even more importantly, she realized there was no way she wouldn’t go with him, either, even if it meant leaving behind everything she’d ever known.
Suddenly a klaxon sounded. “What’s that?” Luke asked as Evan stood up and tore across the cafeteria.
“It’s the emergency siren. Come on.” Jamie stood up and he leapt to his feet. She grabbed his hand. “Follow me.” The two took off running.
He had been expecting this. Not because he thought Rose didn’t love him, but because she would feel the weight of leaving this world behind her too keenly. It was who she was, what she was, and part of why he loved her. She cared. She cared so much and this sad adopted world of hers had allowed her to dig in and build a life that made her want to fight for it. He waited, knowing she would go on when she was ready.
“In the beginning, all I did was wait for you to come back. All I wanted was to leave this place behind me forever. It wasn’t my world. I thought it would never be my world. I didn’t care about it. It was just some place I was trapped. Some place that was keeping me away from you,” Rose began.
“I don’t know when that changed. Maybe it was after Landon was born. I woke up, realized you weren’t coming back and I knew I couldn’t spend the rest of my life moping because we were separated. It took me a bit of time to match my realization to my actions. In the beginning it was a severe force of will. But I had him. I had my baby, my piece of you and I wanted him to have a fantastic life. And I knew he only would if I could figure out a way to have a good life myself.”
“One day it clicked with me. Jake and I had just finished a mission that had literally saved the world. It would have been gone, completely destroyed, blasted to bits, if it hadn’t been for what the two of us did that day. I never realized how important I could be to the fate of the universe, even a universe that didn’t belong to me. Without what we do, this world is defenseless.” Rose sighed heavily.
“You taught me too well to stand up, to make that stand. This world needs me, Doctor. They don’t have anyone else like me. They don’t have anyone like you. I have responsibilities. Who is going to protect this Earth if I go?” Rose said.
“Rose Tyler: Defender of the Earth,” the Doctor said softly.
“And I have been, you know. With Jake and U.N.I.T. and Landon. We’ve done so many things to protect this planet, to keep it safe when no one else could. I know it’s not my world by birth, but this planet and this moon, they need me.”
“And what about what you need?” the Doctor asked. “You’ve been defending this planet for thirty years. When is it time for you?”
“You know better than that, Doctor. This is what people like us do. It’s what we were born to do. I can’t leave Earth defenseless no matter how much I want to run off with you,” she told him.
“What about Landon? Can’t he take over for you?” the Doctor asked.
“And if he does, then you’re asking me to leave my son and possibly my eldest daughter behind me forever, because Mairi loves this work, too. My children. Our children. I saw what losing me did to my mum. Just my being gone that year nearly killed her with worry and grief. And I’d never see them again. Can’t you stay here?” Rose asked.
“I have to take Luke back home to Sarah Jane. You know that. He’s just a boy and I promised Sarah.”
“But you could come back. After you take him home, you could come back.”
“Rose, if I manage to find a way back, you know we’ll have to close the gap behind us. We can’t take the chance of the universe imploding.”
“Why? Why did this have to happen now? How can fate give you back to me and then turn around and yank you away again? How is that fair?” Rose demanded.
“It’s not fair. Nothing about you and me being apart has ever been fair,” the Doctor told her. He brushed a loose strand of her hair back away from her face then dropped his hand into his lap again.
“Well, we’ll have to think of something, some way for us to stabilize the two worlds so that you can get back. You’re a genius and so am I now. Landon, Mairi, and Jamie are all off the charts. There’s got to be something we can do. Some way to fix this! I can’t believe life would be so cruel as to rip us apart again.”
“And we have Luke,” the Doctor said.
“Luke?” queried Rose. “What about Luke?”
“He’s not just a child prodigy, Rose. He’s not just Sarah’s child. He’s got the brainpower of 10,000 human beings downloaded into his mind. He’s beyond brilliant. Maybe it’s not an accident his being here when I came through. Maybe it didn’t happen before because he wasn’t with me.”
“You really think he might have the answer?” Rose asked.
“I think if anyone can come at the problem from an angle the rest of us don’t see it’s going to be Luke.”
“That’s a lot of pressure to put on a sixteen-year-old boy,” said Rose.
“I know. But I don’t think he’ll see it that way. To him it’ll just be an interesting problem to solve. Between him and the rest of us, we’ll figure it out,” the Doctor said.
“Do you really think so?” Rose asked.
“We have to. I am not losing you again, Rose Tyler.” He put his hand under her chin and tilted her face up to look at him. “I am not losing you,” he repeated. His hand moved to the back of her neck and he closed the distance between them, kissing her with an urgency that had not been in his earlier kiss. Rose responded to him eagerly, her hands creeping up to work at the knot of his tie.
Just then a klaxon sounded. Rose pulled away from him and stood up. “Sorry, Doctor,” she said breathlessly. “We’ve got incoming.”
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-07-22 05:38 am (UTC)I wanna know what happens :)
driving me nuts hehe
no subject
Date: 2008-07-24 06:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-22 05:49 am (UTC)Great chapter! Their conviction is encouraging.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-24 06:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-22 05:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-24 06:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-17 11:10 pm (UTC)