The Hidden Well, Chapter Twenty
Oct. 4th, 2007 09:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kalleahPairing: Ten/Rose
Rating: PG
Betas:ivydoor , np_complete , platypus , and sensiblecat
Previous Chapters
In this chapter: The Doctor and Emelia face the unknown intruder in the Trabanes' flat, and Rose tells Connor what she saw in Jonah's memory.
Rating: PG
Betas:
ivydoor , np_complete , platypus , and sensiblecat Previous Chapters
In this chapter: The Doctor and Emelia face the unknown intruder in the Trabanes' flat, and Rose tells Connor what she saw in Jonah's memory.
--
Emelia and the Doctor crouched around the corner from the Trabanes' flat, heatedly debating their course of action. Asius, one of Arisbe's twin moons, had risen just over the horizon. The moonlight left shadows underneath his nose and brows, casting his features into sharp relief.
"You should go to the shelter," he warned. "If the tethers fail, you'll be incapacitated within minutes."
"What about you?" she challenged back, careful to keep her voice low.
"Concerned about my welfare? I'm touched, but I can function in a low-oxygen environment significantly longer than you can. Besides, you've got responsibilities."
Connor has the boys. Tom will take care of the project. "You've got Rose," she pointed out.
That clearly struck a nerve. His features hardened into granite and his voice was deceptively soft when he answered. "She's safe where she is." That hadn't been what she meant, and he was too smart not to know that. Well, she thought, that's their own business.
She had to know who was snooping inside her flat. She raised her head slightly and squinted at the darkened section building, and saw no evidence of movement or even of life. For a moment, she felt doubt; was there really anyone inside, and was her family safe? The Doctor had said so, but was that enough for her?
Jonah trusted him. Jonah, who had been left an orphan at the hands of these bastards, had opened up to this man.
Her breath caught and she lifted her chin, resolved. "I'm staying. Two of us have a better chance than one."
She braced for the onslaught of objections, but to her surprise, he voiced none. When he stood, she followed suit, and they crossed silently to the closest window into the flat.
The Doctor motioned for her to keep her head down, and they both waited silently for some sound or sign. His head cocked to one side in response to a sound she didn't hear, and then he moved in a crouched run toward the door of the flat, with Emelia right behind him.
He moved his mouth close to her ear and said, in a low murmur less sibilant than a whisper, "I'm going in. Stay hidden, no matter what." He aimed a long finger at her and said, more emphatically but just as quietly, "You'll have to trust me."
Her eyebrows shot up, but she had come this far, and she would stay the course. She nodded.
He stood tall, straightened his lapels and smoothed a hand through his hair, and opened the door. "Hi honey, I'm home," he called cheerfully, stepping into the flat, and Emelia felt her stomach sink. Is he completely daft?
The door closed behind him with a soft click, and she strained to hear any further sounds from inside. She could hear the Doctor's voice, still upbeat and free of any tension, although she expected that he would continue to mouth off until someone put a gag in his mouth – or killed him. As long as he was talking, she reasoned, everything was fine.
She hoped.
…
"Hi honey, I'm home," came the jovial voice. The front door of the Trabanes' flat closed behind its owner. The moonlight streaming in behind him silhouetted his tall, lanky form and spiky hair clearly. The Doctor. Of course. He looked around the flat with boyish wonder.
"Love what you've done with the place," he gushed. "All that nasty electricity definitely had to go. And I'd say, really, that the wall colour is much improved by darkness. Sorry, I'm being rude." He gave a short, self-deprecating smile and extended his hand. "I'm the Doctor. I don't believe we've formally met."
The other man gaped at him and didn't accept the outstretched hand. The Doctor put it into his pocket and shook his head. "What is it with this planet and hand shakes? I suppose they don't teach manners like they used to. There was a time – but I didn't come all the way over here to talk about manners, did I? It's Wilson, isn't it? Wilson Wittener." He moved his lips exaggeratedly around each "w" and waggled his eyebrows. "I've met your wife. Lovely woman, talks a bit much, but I suspect you know that much better than I do." His exposed teeth shone whitely as he grinned.
"How do you –" began Wilson.
"Your photo in the personnel manifest," interrupted the Doctor in the same upbeat tone. "Although you're much better looking in person, if you don't mind me saying so. Now, I have to ask." He paused for a fraction of a second, wrinkling up his nose. "Would you mind terribly if we just skipped the formalities? You're up to no good, and I'm going to stop you. That's inevitable." He gestured almost apologetically with the hand that wasn't in his pocket. "For once, can we just move straight to the endgame? It would make it so much easier."
Wilson raised a blaster and aimed it squarely at the middle of the Doctor's chest. "Hands up," he ordered.
"Oh bother," said the Doctor, still cheerful. "I had hoped we could skip all this unpleasantness." He carefully removed his hand from his pocket and raised both his hands above his head. "See? Hands up. Although," he chided, "this doesn't change the fact that I'm going to stop you."
"I think it does," said Wilson. He shifted the blaster to his right hand and crossed to the Doctor, awkwardly patting him down with his left. He stopped and stuck his hand into one of the long coat's many pockets, then pulled out a banana.
At his puzzled expression, the Doctor said "What? Bananas are an excellent snack food. You can keep it." He looked pleased with his own generosity.
Wilson tossed the banana away and stood still for a moment. At last, he came to a decision and waved the Doctor toward the hallway. "Get over there." The Doctor emitted a dramatic, long-suffering sigh and complied.
When he stopped, Wilson gestured at the bathroom door. "In."
Hands still in the air, the Doctor bent his head toward his right shoulder and sniffed delicately. "I apologize. Do I offend?"
"In," said Wilson, and knocked him on the head with the butt end of the blaster. "Now." The Doctor made no move to wipe the blood trickling from the split above his right eye and stepped without further comment into the small room. "Close the door." He did.
Wilson aimed the blaster and fired.
…
Connor put his hand on Rose's shoulder, pressing down gently to keep her sitting on the couch. "Slow down," he said. "You say you know who it is?" He sat down beside her and leaned in close, pitching his voice for privacy. With all the commotion of the emergency shelter around them, it was easy to make sure no one else would hear.
Rose's eyes were huge and she panted for breath, like she had been running. "Frances," she choked out. "It's Frances. I saw the – I mean Jonah saw the communications thing in the nursery."
"Frances? The nursery? What?" Connor was taken aback. Frances Wittener was a busybody, and not the most enjoyable of companions at the best of times, but sabotage? Killing people?
"It was in her office. She was taking Jonah to the classroom and he saw it for a moment. We were playing this game –" She stopped and visibly collected herself. "It doesn't matter. I saw it."
This time, when she stood, Connor stood with her. "Rose, wait. You can't go rushing off. We have no way of knowing where the Doctor is. He could be still on the ship –"
"He's not," she said, shaking her head emphatically. "If he was, then he'd have just come straight to the flat when the power went out. What about Emelia?"
Emelia would of course be one of the last to arrive, making sure that her charges all made it safely to the shelter. As the trickle of refugees to the shelter slowed, he had started to worry. Now, it had dropped off entirely, he realized.
"Just a minute," he told Rose. He half-walked, half-ran to Tom Attoway, who was in Emelia's absence trying to keep everything from descending into utter chaos. "Tom, who is still missing?"
Tom looked down at a handheld display and scrolled through the names. "Emelia," and at that, his gaze flicked up to Connor's face and then back to the display, "Frances, Wilson, and your Dr. Tyler. Howard said that he and Emelia ran into Dr. Tyler before he brought Meg and Rebecca over here. They were right behind him, he thought."
Rose, who had followed behind Connor, didn't look surprised. "He must have found something," she said. "But if the power's still out …" Her voice trailed off. "Connor, you have to get the power back on."
"But if Emelia –"
"If the Doctor's with her, he'll look after her. They didn't come here, so he must have found something," she reiterated. "We don't know where they are, so the best thing to do is get the power back on. Then the danger's gone, right?"
He nodded. His plan had been to see everyone safely settled in the emergency shelter and then go straight over to the labs. What his heart told him now was that he needed to cast everything else aside and save his wife, but his brain disagreed. Rose was right.
"Look," she said, placing a hand on his arm. "I want to rush out there and find them as much as you do, but that's not the right thing to do. You know that."
He did, and her unwavering stare pinned him down and held him to the rational assessment. "All right," he said. "I'll go now."
"I'm coming with you," said Rose.
Emelia and the Doctor crouched around the corner from the Trabanes' flat, heatedly debating their course of action. Asius, one of Arisbe's twin moons, had risen just over the horizon. The moonlight left shadows underneath his nose and brows, casting his features into sharp relief.
"You should go to the shelter," he warned. "If the tethers fail, you'll be incapacitated within minutes."
"What about you?" she challenged back, careful to keep her voice low.
"Concerned about my welfare? I'm touched, but I can function in a low-oxygen environment significantly longer than you can. Besides, you've got responsibilities."
Connor has the boys. Tom will take care of the project. "You've got Rose," she pointed out.
That clearly struck a nerve. His features hardened into granite and his voice was deceptively soft when he answered. "She's safe where she is." That hadn't been what she meant, and he was too smart not to know that. Well, she thought, that's their own business.
She had to know who was snooping inside her flat. She raised her head slightly and squinted at the darkened section building, and saw no evidence of movement or even of life. For a moment, she felt doubt; was there really anyone inside, and was her family safe? The Doctor had said so, but was that enough for her?
Jonah trusted him. Jonah, who had been left an orphan at the hands of these bastards, had opened up to this man.
Her breath caught and she lifted her chin, resolved. "I'm staying. Two of us have a better chance than one."
She braced for the onslaught of objections, but to her surprise, he voiced none. When he stood, she followed suit, and they crossed silently to the closest window into the flat.
The Doctor motioned for her to keep her head down, and they both waited silently for some sound or sign. His head cocked to one side in response to a sound she didn't hear, and then he moved in a crouched run toward the door of the flat, with Emelia right behind him.
He moved his mouth close to her ear and said, in a low murmur less sibilant than a whisper, "I'm going in. Stay hidden, no matter what." He aimed a long finger at her and said, more emphatically but just as quietly, "You'll have to trust me."
Her eyebrows shot up, but she had come this far, and she would stay the course. She nodded.
He stood tall, straightened his lapels and smoothed a hand through his hair, and opened the door. "Hi honey, I'm home," he called cheerfully, stepping into the flat, and Emelia felt her stomach sink. Is he completely daft?
The door closed behind him with a soft click, and she strained to hear any further sounds from inside. She could hear the Doctor's voice, still upbeat and free of any tension, although she expected that he would continue to mouth off until someone put a gag in his mouth – or killed him. As long as he was talking, she reasoned, everything was fine.
She hoped.
…
"Hi honey, I'm home," came the jovial voice. The front door of the Trabanes' flat closed behind its owner. The moonlight streaming in behind him silhouetted his tall, lanky form and spiky hair clearly. The Doctor. Of course. He looked around the flat with boyish wonder.
"Love what you've done with the place," he gushed. "All that nasty electricity definitely had to go. And I'd say, really, that the wall colour is much improved by darkness. Sorry, I'm being rude." He gave a short, self-deprecating smile and extended his hand. "I'm the Doctor. I don't believe we've formally met."
The other man gaped at him and didn't accept the outstretched hand. The Doctor put it into his pocket and shook his head. "What is it with this planet and hand shakes? I suppose they don't teach manners like they used to. There was a time – but I didn't come all the way over here to talk about manners, did I? It's Wilson, isn't it? Wilson Wittener." He moved his lips exaggeratedly around each "w" and waggled his eyebrows. "I've met your wife. Lovely woman, talks a bit much, but I suspect you know that much better than I do." His exposed teeth shone whitely as he grinned.
"How do you –" began Wilson.
"Your photo in the personnel manifest," interrupted the Doctor in the same upbeat tone. "Although you're much better looking in person, if you don't mind me saying so. Now, I have to ask." He paused for a fraction of a second, wrinkling up his nose. "Would you mind terribly if we just skipped the formalities? You're up to no good, and I'm going to stop you. That's inevitable." He gestured almost apologetically with the hand that wasn't in his pocket. "For once, can we just move straight to the endgame? It would make it so much easier."
Wilson raised a blaster and aimed it squarely at the middle of the Doctor's chest. "Hands up," he ordered.
"Oh bother," said the Doctor, still cheerful. "I had hoped we could skip all this unpleasantness." He carefully removed his hand from his pocket and raised both his hands above his head. "See? Hands up. Although," he chided, "this doesn't change the fact that I'm going to stop you."
"I think it does," said Wilson. He shifted the blaster to his right hand and crossed to the Doctor, awkwardly patting him down with his left. He stopped and stuck his hand into one of the long coat's many pockets, then pulled out a banana.
At his puzzled expression, the Doctor said "What? Bananas are an excellent snack food. You can keep it." He looked pleased with his own generosity.
Wilson tossed the banana away and stood still for a moment. At last, he came to a decision and waved the Doctor toward the hallway. "Get over there." The Doctor emitted a dramatic, long-suffering sigh and complied.
When he stopped, Wilson gestured at the bathroom door. "In."
Hands still in the air, the Doctor bent his head toward his right shoulder and sniffed delicately. "I apologize. Do I offend?"
"In," said Wilson, and knocked him on the head with the butt end of the blaster. "Now." The Doctor made no move to wipe the blood trickling from the split above his right eye and stepped without further comment into the small room. "Close the door." He did.
Wilson aimed the blaster and fired.
…
Connor put his hand on Rose's shoulder, pressing down gently to keep her sitting on the couch. "Slow down," he said. "You say you know who it is?" He sat down beside her and leaned in close, pitching his voice for privacy. With all the commotion of the emergency shelter around them, it was easy to make sure no one else would hear.
Rose's eyes were huge and she panted for breath, like she had been running. "Frances," she choked out. "It's Frances. I saw the – I mean Jonah saw the communications thing in the nursery."
"Frances? The nursery? What?" Connor was taken aback. Frances Wittener was a busybody, and not the most enjoyable of companions at the best of times, but sabotage? Killing people?
"It was in her office. She was taking Jonah to the classroom and he saw it for a moment. We were playing this game –" She stopped and visibly collected herself. "It doesn't matter. I saw it."
This time, when she stood, Connor stood with her. "Rose, wait. You can't go rushing off. We have no way of knowing where the Doctor is. He could be still on the ship –"
"He's not," she said, shaking her head emphatically. "If he was, then he'd have just come straight to the flat when the power went out. What about Emelia?"
Emelia would of course be one of the last to arrive, making sure that her charges all made it safely to the shelter. As the trickle of refugees to the shelter slowed, he had started to worry. Now, it had dropped off entirely, he realized.
"Just a minute," he told Rose. He half-walked, half-ran to Tom Attoway, who was in Emelia's absence trying to keep everything from descending into utter chaos. "Tom, who is still missing?"
Tom looked down at a handheld display and scrolled through the names. "Emelia," and at that, his gaze flicked up to Connor's face and then back to the display, "Frances, Wilson, and your Dr. Tyler. Howard said that he and Emelia ran into Dr. Tyler before he brought Meg and Rebecca over here. They were right behind him, he thought."
Rose, who had followed behind Connor, didn't look surprised. "He must have found something," she said. "But if the power's still out …" Her voice trailed off. "Connor, you have to get the power back on."
"But if Emelia –"
"If the Doctor's with her, he'll look after her. They didn't come here, so he must have found something," she reiterated. "We don't know where they are, so the best thing to do is get the power back on. Then the danger's gone, right?"
He nodded. His plan had been to see everyone safely settled in the emergency shelter and then go straight over to the labs. What his heart told him now was that he needed to cast everything else aside and save his wife, but his brain disagreed. Rose was right.
"Look," she said, placing a hand on his arm. "I want to rush out there and find them as much as you do, but that's not the right thing to do. You know that."
He did, and her unwavering stare pinned him down and held him to the rational assessment. "All right," he said. "I'll go now."
"I'm coming with you," said Rose.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-10-05 01:48 am (UTC)While I adore the plot and how it's unfolding, I still can't wait until you get Ten and Rose back together again!
no subject
Date: 2007-10-05 01:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-05 01:56 am (UTC)Boo danger!
I'm deep tonight. Can you tell?
no subject
Date: 2007-10-05 02:06 am (UTC)I'm with you. But c'mon, you like the danger. You know you do. ;)
no subject
Date: 2007-10-05 02:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-05 02:53 am (UTC)"Prattle" is such a terrific word, and entirely apropos here.
I'm hoping to draw some parallels between the Doctor and Rose and Connor and Emelia -- they both have a very empathetic partner and a very volatile one. Rose and Connor have bonded and seem to understand each other, and well, the Doctor and Emelia may have a grudging respect but I suspect they would both like to club the other from time to time. ;)
no subject
Date: 2007-10-05 02:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-05 02:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-05 04:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-05 07:45 pm (UTC)All that's left now is for you to start dispatching out your clone Tens! I'm first in line, ok? :P Ooh, and add an extra dash of wit for me, I love witty Doctor! :)
no subject
Date: 2007-10-07 12:12 am (UTC)