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Title: The Skies Turn Dark 7/7
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
katherine_b
Rating: PG
Characters: The Doctor, Jack Harkness, Martha Jones, (eventually) Donna Noble
Summary: The Doctor needs help.
Part VII
“No, Jack!”
The cry comes from the Doctor in the parallel universe and stops Jack from resuming his attempts at resuscitation.
And even as he watches, the alarm stops and Donna's heart beats again.
And again.
Jack only lets himself breathe freely when the beats seem to become more regular and stronger.
But he's only relaxed a fraction when they begin to falter once more.
“Doctor?”
Martha's voice is a stifled sob, but the Doctor turns to look at her, his hand maintaining contact with the other version of himself.
“What is it?” he asks gently, and Jack is relieved to see that the pain is no longer visible on his face.
“Is she all right?” Martha asks.
Jack sees for the first time that tears are silently streaming down Martha's face.
“Martha, her heart is beating,” Jack reminds her, trying to be positive, but the Doctor replies to her question as if Jack had never spoken.
“Donna's mind is strengthening,” he tells her. “I've been able to use the energy from him,” and here he nods at the man in the parallel universe, “to draw her energies together. She's whole again, but she isn't strong. I don't know if I've got the balance right for her to recover.”
“What does that mean?” Jack demands impatiently.
“It means she could still die,” the other man admits with an obviously reluctant sigh. “If I return her mind to her body before she's stable, she could still react the way she did when she was affected by the metacrisis.”
“But you saved her then,” Jack reminds him. “Didn't you?”
“I blocked her memory, yes,” the Doctor agrees.
“So you could do that again if you had to,” Martha suggests almost hopefully.
“No!” Jack's protest is almost vicious and he slams a hand down on the bed where Donna is lying to demonstrate the force of his objection. “Doctor, you can't! She's just given so much – everything! – to save your life!”
The Doctor turns, tragedy in his eyes, and studies Jack for a moment before speaking. “Which is better, Jack?” he asks softly. “Forgetting or death?”
Jack stares at him, momentarily lost for words, unable to think of a response and becoming rapidly aware that there isn't a 'right' answer. The Doctor waits for a moment before giving a tiny nod and directing his gaze to Donna's body.
“Besides,” he says in a business-like tone, “that process is always risky, and repeating it on Donna, particularly as she is now, would leave her even more fragile than it did then. She would have much greater danger of remembering, and if she did, nobody and nothing could save her.”
The room is full of a terrible, miserable silence, broken only by the intermittent, irregular and, Jack can’t help thinking, gradually slower blips of the cardiac monitor.
“And then,” the Doctor adds, his voice softening, “Donna herself doesn't want me to do it. She knows she wouldn't survive that later process of remembering, even if she somehow manages to survive this.”
“What do you mean?” Jack demands almost desperately.
For answer, the Doctor simply nods at the cardiac monitor. Jack stares at him, seeing for the first time that he’s broken contact with the other Doctor. Suddenly frightened, slowly, almost reluctantly, Jack turns his eyes to the small screen attached to the nearby wall.
As he stares at it, the line on the cardiac monitor gives one final twitch before going flat.
And this time it's the Doctor who steps forward and silences the alarm before flicking the switch that will turn off the machine itself and beginning to remove various pieces of medical equipment from Donna’s lifeless body as gently as if she could break.
“But... you can't...” Jack protests weakly.
“Jack,” the Doctor turns and steadily meets his gaze, “she can't.” He pauses for a moment before reaching out to place a gentle hand on his arm. “I'm sorry,” he adds, and Jack blinks to clear his eyes from the tears that are dimming them.
Martha sobs, sinking onto the empty chair next to the bed and finally letting her arm and the sonic screwdriver drop so that the image of the other Doctor disappears.
The Doctor crosses the room and bends down in front of her.
“Martha,” he directs gently “close your eyes. Close your eyes and open your mind. That’s right. Let me show you.”
He places his hands gently on her face, his fingers touching her temples, and he meets her gaze for a moment before closing his eyes and concentrating.
The next moment, Martha begins to cry in earnest, sinking her face into her hands as she sobs. The Doctor straightens, one arm dropping to his side and the hand remaining on her face sliding around to rest on the top of her head, gently stroking her hair.
“What's going on?” Jack demands, taking a step forward.
The Doctor sighs and turns to him, keeping his contact with Martha. “It's Donna,” he replies. “She's – her body might be dead, but her mind isn't. She's still inside me. Her mind is whole again; it's just not strong enough to maintain her body anymore.” He smiles a little, although his eyes are dark pools of sadness. “She's filling the space where I used to hear all those voices of people I loved when Gallifrey still existed.”
Jack stares at him, struggling to understand what he's being told. Finally, only one phrase works itself out of his mouth.
“Show me.”
Nodding, the Doctor repeats the instruction he gave Martha and then, as Jack does his best to comply, he feels the light touch of the Doctor's thumb and index finger on his temples. The next moment, the strangest sensation creeps over him, as if a second mind has stepped into his. There's an instant of silence, as if someone is waiting for him to react, but for a moment, he doesn't feel like he can.
Jack realizes that he’s still numb, in a state of shock from realizing that, for the first time, the Doctor has failed.
He didn’t fail.
Starting violently at the sound of Donna’s voice so clearly in his mind, Jack nearly exclaims aloud, before feeling that the Doctor’s hold has tightened as an obvious reminder to stay still or risk losing the connection.
Donna? he thinks tentatively, wondering if she’ll hear him.
Hi Jack. Oh, sorry, there’s a smile in her voice, that’s ‘Captain’ Jack.
There’s a faint chuckle on the edge of his subconscious that Jack realizes has come from the Doctor, but he’s too busy focusing on the voice in his mind to try and understand the reason for that man’s response.
He did fail, he offers slowly. He couldn’t save you.
Jack, I’m here. Her voice is so close and so real that he almost opens his eyes, expecting to see her standing in front of him, but she continues before he can give in to the urge. Still here. Maybe not quite the same as before – okay, definitely not – but I’m not dead, the way I might have been if you and Martha and the Doctors hadn’t worked together to save me.
What did we do? he asks sadly, almost mockingly. Nothing!
You brought me here, she reminds him gently. You let me save the Doctor. And most importantly, you let me keep my promise.
What promise was that? Jack asks, but it’s the Doctor, not Donna, who replies, and Jack opens his eyes as the other man speaks, feeling a strange sense of emptiness, as if the other mind that was so briefly inside his has vanished. The Doctor, he sees a moment later, has released his hold on both himself and Martha.
“She promised…”
The Doctor’s voice trails off, and Jack isn’t surprised to see tears sparkling in his eyes. The smile on his lips, however, isn’t what he would have expected considering what they’ve just witnessed.
“She promised to travel with me forever.”
He reaches out a gentle hand to close the lids over Donna's dull, lifeless blue eyes and then smooth her ginger hair one last time before he turns back to the others, his voice soft.
“And now she can.”
Author:
katherine_bRating: PG
Characters: The Doctor, Jack Harkness, Martha Jones, (eventually) Donna Noble
Summary: The Doctor needs help.
Part VII
“No, Jack!”
The cry comes from the Doctor in the parallel universe and stops Jack from resuming his attempts at resuscitation.
And even as he watches, the alarm stops and Donna's heart beats again.
And again.
Jack only lets himself breathe freely when the beats seem to become more regular and stronger.
But he's only relaxed a fraction when they begin to falter once more.
“Doctor?”
Martha's voice is a stifled sob, but the Doctor turns to look at her, his hand maintaining contact with the other version of himself.
“What is it?” he asks gently, and Jack is relieved to see that the pain is no longer visible on his face.
“Is she all right?” Martha asks.
Jack sees for the first time that tears are silently streaming down Martha's face.
“Martha, her heart is beating,” Jack reminds her, trying to be positive, but the Doctor replies to her question as if Jack had never spoken.
“Donna's mind is strengthening,” he tells her. “I've been able to use the energy from him,” and here he nods at the man in the parallel universe, “to draw her energies together. She's whole again, but she isn't strong. I don't know if I've got the balance right for her to recover.”
“What does that mean?” Jack demands impatiently.
“It means she could still die,” the other man admits with an obviously reluctant sigh. “If I return her mind to her body before she's stable, she could still react the way she did when she was affected by the metacrisis.”
“But you saved her then,” Jack reminds him. “Didn't you?”
“I blocked her memory, yes,” the Doctor agrees.
“So you could do that again if you had to,” Martha suggests almost hopefully.
“No!” Jack's protest is almost vicious and he slams a hand down on the bed where Donna is lying to demonstrate the force of his objection. “Doctor, you can't! She's just given so much – everything! – to save your life!”
The Doctor turns, tragedy in his eyes, and studies Jack for a moment before speaking. “Which is better, Jack?” he asks softly. “Forgetting or death?”
Jack stares at him, momentarily lost for words, unable to think of a response and becoming rapidly aware that there isn't a 'right' answer. The Doctor waits for a moment before giving a tiny nod and directing his gaze to Donna's body.
“Besides,” he says in a business-like tone, “that process is always risky, and repeating it on Donna, particularly as she is now, would leave her even more fragile than it did then. She would have much greater danger of remembering, and if she did, nobody and nothing could save her.”
The room is full of a terrible, miserable silence, broken only by the intermittent, irregular and, Jack can’t help thinking, gradually slower blips of the cardiac monitor.
“And then,” the Doctor adds, his voice softening, “Donna herself doesn't want me to do it. She knows she wouldn't survive that later process of remembering, even if she somehow manages to survive this.”
“What do you mean?” Jack demands almost desperately.
For answer, the Doctor simply nods at the cardiac monitor. Jack stares at him, seeing for the first time that he’s broken contact with the other Doctor. Suddenly frightened, slowly, almost reluctantly, Jack turns his eyes to the small screen attached to the nearby wall.
As he stares at it, the line on the cardiac monitor gives one final twitch before going flat.
And this time it's the Doctor who steps forward and silences the alarm before flicking the switch that will turn off the machine itself and beginning to remove various pieces of medical equipment from Donna’s lifeless body as gently as if she could break.
“But... you can't...” Jack protests weakly.
“Jack,” the Doctor turns and steadily meets his gaze, “she can't.” He pauses for a moment before reaching out to place a gentle hand on his arm. “I'm sorry,” he adds, and Jack blinks to clear his eyes from the tears that are dimming them.
Martha sobs, sinking onto the empty chair next to the bed and finally letting her arm and the sonic screwdriver drop so that the image of the other Doctor disappears.
The Doctor crosses the room and bends down in front of her.
“Martha,” he directs gently “close your eyes. Close your eyes and open your mind. That’s right. Let me show you.”
He places his hands gently on her face, his fingers touching her temples, and he meets her gaze for a moment before closing his eyes and concentrating.
The next moment, Martha begins to cry in earnest, sinking her face into her hands as she sobs. The Doctor straightens, one arm dropping to his side and the hand remaining on her face sliding around to rest on the top of her head, gently stroking her hair.
“What's going on?” Jack demands, taking a step forward.
The Doctor sighs and turns to him, keeping his contact with Martha. “It's Donna,” he replies. “She's – her body might be dead, but her mind isn't. She's still inside me. Her mind is whole again; it's just not strong enough to maintain her body anymore.” He smiles a little, although his eyes are dark pools of sadness. “She's filling the space where I used to hear all those voices of people I loved when Gallifrey still existed.”
Jack stares at him, struggling to understand what he's being told. Finally, only one phrase works itself out of his mouth.
“Show me.”
Nodding, the Doctor repeats the instruction he gave Martha and then, as Jack does his best to comply, he feels the light touch of the Doctor's thumb and index finger on his temples. The next moment, the strangest sensation creeps over him, as if a second mind has stepped into his. There's an instant of silence, as if someone is waiting for him to react, but for a moment, he doesn't feel like he can.
Jack realizes that he’s still numb, in a state of shock from realizing that, for the first time, the Doctor has failed.
He didn’t fail.
Starting violently at the sound of Donna’s voice so clearly in his mind, Jack nearly exclaims aloud, before feeling that the Doctor’s hold has tightened as an obvious reminder to stay still or risk losing the connection.
Donna? he thinks tentatively, wondering if she’ll hear him.
Hi Jack. Oh, sorry, there’s a smile in her voice, that’s ‘Captain’ Jack.
There’s a faint chuckle on the edge of his subconscious that Jack realizes has come from the Doctor, but he’s too busy focusing on the voice in his mind to try and understand the reason for that man’s response.
He did fail, he offers slowly. He couldn’t save you.
Jack, I’m here. Her voice is so close and so real that he almost opens his eyes, expecting to see her standing in front of him, but she continues before he can give in to the urge. Still here. Maybe not quite the same as before – okay, definitely not – but I’m not dead, the way I might have been if you and Martha and the Doctors hadn’t worked together to save me.
What did we do? he asks sadly, almost mockingly. Nothing!
You brought me here, she reminds him gently. You let me save the Doctor. And most importantly, you let me keep my promise.
What promise was that? Jack asks, but it’s the Doctor, not Donna, who replies, and Jack opens his eyes as the other man speaks, feeling a strange sense of emptiness, as if the other mind that was so briefly inside his has vanished. The Doctor, he sees a moment later, has released his hold on both himself and Martha.
“She promised…”
The Doctor’s voice trails off, and Jack isn’t surprised to see tears sparkling in his eyes. The smile on his lips, however, isn’t what he would have expected considering what they’ve just witnessed.
“She promised to travel with me forever.”
He reaches out a gentle hand to close the lids over Donna's dull, lifeless blue eyes and then smooth her ginger hair one last time before he turns back to the others, his voice soft.
“And now she can.”
numb