FIC Doctor Who: The Edge of Time

[fajrdrako]

Title: The Edge of Time
Author: fajrdrako
Characters: Ten/Jack/Rose
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, no claims, all property of the BBC.
Notes: No spoilers. Written in answer to a 'first kiss' challenge from manticoran, who asked that I write a Ten/Jack/Rose kiss. "I can't do that," I thought. "It makes no sense." And then I realized that of course I could do it. Cross-posted to my LJ, and better_with_3 and dwfiction.


The Edge of Time

It was impossible to know whether the pirates of Korelas would actually kill them; neither Rose nor Jack stopped to ask. "Don't like the look of those blunderbusses," murmured Jack, holding Rose's hand as they ran through a labyrinth of alleyways, dark, smelly and twisting. The Doctor and the TARDIS couldn't be far away. Rose hoped Jack knew where they were; she was hopelessly lost.

"It's the knives that scare me," she growled back.

"Knives? Those are cutlasses."

"And broadswords."

"And bloody laser-blades." The darted around a corner. Sharp-eyed Jack saw a gate and kicked it open. "This way!"

Rose ran through and Jack slammed the gate behind them; it might buy them a few minutes.

Then time stopped.

Suddenly they stood in bright sunlight, in an open, empty space, paved like a city plaza with towers of crystal in the distance, and the TARDIS sitting on the fine-polished granite of the paving stones. The Doctor was nowhere in sight. There was just one man with tousled hair in a pin-striped suit, long coat, and sneakers, standing between them and the TARDIS, legs planted apart, his hands in his pockets. "What happened?" asked Rose, getting her breath back. "There's the TARDIS. Where's the Doctor? Who is that?"

Jack consulted his wristband. "External temporal shift. Coordinates indeterminate. We've been hijacked."

"Wonderful."

The stranger approached. He did not smile. His grim face put a chill down Rose's back.

"At least he isn't waving weapons," said Jack in an undertone.

"No," said Rose. "He's scarier than that."

"Hi!" Jack smiled his most charming smile. He held out his hand. "Captain Jack Harkness."

"We've met," said the stranger. Instead of shaking Jack's hand, he waved his own in a vague gesture, and smiled apologetically. "Sorry to interrupt whatever was going on there. They'll give up the chase in a few minutes anyway. I didn't think you mind missing the bit in the middle, with a lot of shouting and cursing and aimless shooting. Rather tiresome, all that, after a while."

Rose said, "I'm Rose Tyler. And you are?"

Jack was looking at his wristband again. "Impossible!" He snapped it shut, his eyes cold. "He's a Time Lord."

"Can't be," said Rose. "There's only one of them left." She wondered if she could tell one TARDIS from another, if there were others, which there weren't.

"Quite right," said the stranger. "And I'm him, I really am, but I don't have time to explain and I don't really know what would make you believe me, anyway. Not that you should. Not that it matters, in the grand scheme of things, because I've seen you now, both of you, and that's all I really wanted - all I really needed - just to see you again. You don't know how very beautiful to me you are, and it's just as well you don't."

"What?" said Rose.

"Where are we?" asked Jack.

"Think of this as the graveyard of my memories. This is the last outpost of the last survivor of Gallifrey. I made this place long ago, before history, before I met Rose, and I made it in anger and grief and penance. It seemed necessary to me at the time. I have done things that I should never have done, to bring you here, to see you again. This place is a tribute to my fractured past."

Rose looked around. "But there's nothing here!"

"No. Nothing. Just us."

Rose met his eyes. Her own were puzzled. "But who are you?" and then, before he could answer, "Jack, it's him! It's the Doctor! It really is!" And she threw herself into the arms of the man who was not a stranger, however much he might look like one.

He hugged her tight, smiling. He was always good at hugs.

Jack murmured, "Dammit all to hell, it is him," and moved in for his own hug.

"What's going on?" asked Rose. "Are you rescuing us from the pirates? What are you doing in the wrong body?"

"It isn't so much wrong as different. I can't explain, Rose, and even if I could I wouldn't. This goes way beyond simple temporal cheating... we shouldn't be here, any of us, least of all together, but I wanted to see you. I needed to see you. I have been so very lonely... I couldn't bear it. So I found a way."

"Silly," said Rose. "We aren't going anywhere. You're stuck with us."

"I know," he said, his voice odd, just for a moment. But his smile, when he smiled, was as warm and familiar as ever. "A kiss, then, before we say good-bye."

She kissed him, laughing a little because it felt strange to be kissing her very own Doctor in this odd different body. He tasted different, but there was something about him that was just the same as ever.

Then he was kissing Jack, and it was sensuous and sweet and the sight made Rose's limbs melt, like it always did. Then Jack kissed her too, and the Doctor stepped away from them both, his face serious, expressionless, except that Rose thought she saw the glitter of a tear.

"I will remember this," the Doctor said, and he disappeared.

Rose gasped. Jack put an arm around her. "Sayonara," he said dryly, and then the sunlight was gone and they were back in the alley with the gate, and the pirates close on the other side, and the Doctor - their own Doctor, with his beautiful ears and his neat short hair, standing leaning casually against the TARDIS - was saying, "Hurry up, now, you don't want to miss the finale!"

They tumbled through. The Doctor slammed the doors behind them. Rose, who had landed on the floor, jumped up and kissed him.

"Eh? What's that all about?" he asked, and Jack kissed him too, smiling.

"Just in case you were lonely," said Rose. "Just in case you missed us."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, but Rose could tell he was pleased. "There's a time and a place," he said sternly, but the curve of his mouth implied that the place might be here and the time might be any minute now.

The Doctor set the TARDIS controls to elsewhere, and they churned back into the timestream.

Comments

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

Awwwwwwwww... his beautiful ears! :-)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Well - yes, of course!

Glad you enjoyed.

[atheneunknown.livejournal.com]

Thats so nice, because its not typical.

You acknowledged the fact that it couldn't happen, unlike most who just kinda go...yah, in my world there all still together, deal with it. LOL

I love the way you did it too, the very idea of it, and the kiss, while it was the prompt for the story, wasn't the ONLY thing going on, and I loved that as well.

:)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thats so nice, because its not typical.

I generally try to do things in different ways, or if I've seen something done a certain way, I'll be careful not to do it the same way.

I also find, at least with Doctor Who, the canon is so wonderful I want to play within its limits, rather than straying outside.

I also like the Doctor playing with the edges of the possible, and flirting with the forbidden.

Thanks for the very nice comments. I'm delighted that you liked it.

[damalan.livejournal.com]

Very, very clever. There are a few advantages to the Time Lords no longer enforcing the Laws of Time, and I can understand why the Doctor would feel drawn to do it. You make their little sharing so sweet. And the little exchange at the end - just lovely! :-)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

There are a few advantages to the Time Lords no longer enforcing the Laws of Time

Yes. The Doctor gets few enough perks from being the last of his kind, he might as well use the (relative) freedom it gives him. And one of the themes I see in the show, is the Doctor testing the limits of what is possible and what isn't, and what is only possible with consequences.

And desperation can lead people to do uncharacteristic things.

As for the exchange at the end - I was trying to highlight the external (but misleading) apparent differences between Nine and Ten.

[raissad.livejournal.com]

That was really dear. :) Great dialogue!

Btw, do you have a high-speed internet connection? If so, there's a series of DW: Behind-The-Scenes radio shows, starting tomorrow, the 9th. Those with high-speed connections can listen to the shows on-line for seven days after broadcast here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/radiowales/sites/doctorwhobackintime/).

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, I have high-speed. This is fantastic! How exciting! Thanks for letting me know.

And thanks also for the kind words about my story.

[raissad.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. Here's something else for you to check out when you can -- a lovely, surreal dreamscape of cult British sci fi called Sapphire & Steel. It's available on DVD. Five of the six stories were written by P.J. Hammond, who penned TW's "Small Wonders." I've seen four of the six stories, so far, and the S&S universe is perfect for DW and/or TW crossovers. Click here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphire_&_Steel) for details.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Looks good! Thank you.

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

Awwww! Thank you for bending time and space for Ten.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

You're welcome

It's the least I can do, when he entertains me so much.

Love your Starbuck icon!