Into the Howling: Chapter 4

[timelord1]

Title: Into the Howling
Rating: Teen
Pairing: 10/Rose
Category: Drama, Romance, Humor, Action/Adventure
SPOILERS: AU on end of Doomsday and points west.
Summary: What if things had happened just a bit differently there at the end, with the levers?
Notes: Sorry for the delay in getting this next one out - had to iron out some plot issues that were driving me insane. Thanks to onabearskinrug for another emergency "Help! This whole thing's terrible!" beta, and to my longtime friend bitchblossom for spending a Sunday with me, several pots of tea and a dry-erase board ironing this out.


The Doctor drew in deep, nasal breaths to calm his pain receptors in between rounds of torture. He could bear the pain as long as was necessary until he was presented with the opportunity to escape, but if Rose was subjected to an instant of what he was being put through, he would do far more than escape given the chance. The verb that came to mind was massacre.
 
“You have proven a most fascinating subject for study,” the voice said in his ear. “Thank you for your participation. You will now be processed and rendered.”
 
One of the creatures approached the table holding an injection gun. The chamber held a phosphorescent liquid. The voice went on. “Our vessels weaken. They are the last available vessels on this planet, but we must endure. You will be the host that perpetuates our species. Through you and your ship, we will thrive on every planet in the galaxy.”
 
So that had to be the creatures’ true form – the liquid in the chamber. What was that, a virus? A virus with intelligence, or at least enough intelligence to borrow the intelligence from the bodies they inhabited and evolve. They would get a wealth of knowledge from him if they took him over. When they took him over, which looked like it was about to happen in the next few seconds.
 
The barrel was cold against his neck and the Doctor cringed when, suddenly, the creature holding the injection gun gasped for breath and dropped the gun to the floor. The door to the torture room swung open and Rose Tyler stepped inside, holding one of the creatures out in front of her by the throat like a bag of trash. The light shining in from the hallway lit her from behind, illuminating her silhouette like she was a seraphim entering battle. The aliens surrounding the Doctor’s table were all choking and gasping the same as the one in her hand. Nothing like the nick of time.
 
“Right,” Rose cried, striding in past the creatures that were now variously backing away and going to their knees. “I don’t know about you, Doctor, but I didn’t find my accommodations to be up to my usual standards, so I complained to the front desk.” She walked up to the table, kicking the ones that were in her path out of her way as she went. When she got close she looked at him with such tenderness that the Doctor couldn’t help smiling at her.
 
“Hello,” she said. “I missed you.” She turned her attention to the thing in her grip and gave it a shake. The bodies lying on the floor jerked as if they’d been shaken themselves.
 
“Abzath – That’s what you’re called, right? Let him out of there,” she said.
 
“We cannot,” the voice sputtered through her grip. “We need him.”
 
She shrugged. “Well, you can’t have him because I need him more.” She looked back at the Doctor. “How do I get you out of here?”
 
He looked pointedly at the light and Rose nodded her understanding. She looked around for some sort of control to turn the light off, but found nothing. The Abzath were gasping and gagging at her feet and she looked down at the one in her hand as if she hadn’t remembered she was still holding it. She studied it, then looked up at the light and clamped down on the creature’s throat with both hands, hauled back and swung its body at the light as hard as she could.
 
There was a wet cracking sound and an explosion of sparks as the light went flying off its mount and crashed to the floor. The Doctor sat up, beaming at her, and waggled his fingers in greeting. He looked around the room and spied his helmet on a table in a far corner. He took a deep breath, ripped off the oxygen mask, and headed over to the table. The helmet was next to a waiting array of torture implements that he was very glad the creatures hadn’t had a chance to use on him, and would never get the chance to use on Rose. Luckily, the Abzath had been able to disconnect the helmet hoses but hadn’t been strong enough to tear them or damage them, so he was able to snap them back into place and put the helmet on to get a fresh air supply.
 
After another deep breath, he dug into the pocket of the spacesuit and pulled out the sonic. Taking off his helmet, he flipped the setting to the gentlest one he could find and slit the stitches like a pro, not even singeing his lip in the process.
 
“Oh, better,” he said. He licked his lips and stretched his jaw, then smiled in her direction. “You were splendid. Now, we should quickly-”
 
Rose was standing still, looking at the creature still in her grasp. It was slumped at a gruesome angle, its neck broken. The Abzath lying on the floor were as dead as the one in her hand.
 
“I killed ‘em,” she said, looking at the pile of bodies on the floor. She looked at the Doctor, letting the lifeless husk fall out of her hand. Her face was frozen in a tight rictus of shock, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I never killed anything before, except the Daleks and that wasn’t even me doin’ it. And, you know, Satan – but he was askin’ for it. How could they die? Those aren’t even their real bodies – they take dead bodies and make like puppets outta ‘em. How could I kill something that’s already dead?”
 
“No,” he said, pulling her close and resting his helmet on top of hers. “You did not kill them. You are correct – they are already dead. I sound like K-9. And Satan was asking for it. We really must focus our attention on escaping now, my lacraidh.”
 
She blinked up into his face. “What was that last word?”
 
“There is not time now for a language tutorial,” he whispered, taking her hand and leading her towards the door. He poked his head into the hallway to have a look, and heard the scraping of flesh on stone behind him just as Rose grabbed him by the arm.
 
“They’re waking up,” she whispered, squeezing his elbow. He looked back and saw the little beasts sitting up and shaking their weird little heads and he sneered at them. Monstrous things; as far as he could tell, they had only tortured him to find out what would happen if they tortured him. Curiosity combined with borrowed intelligence with no intent or compassion to temper the darker impulses that might reside in the brains of the things they overtook. He was not going to wait around to find out how long it took for them to return to their original intensity of purpose. He slid his arm out of her grip so she ended up holding his hand and he raised his eyebrows at her.
 
“Run!”
 
They tore into the hallway as the creatures behind them got to their feet and came shambling after them. Rose screamed, but the Doctor detected the slightest hint of glee in her voice as they sprinted side by side down the labyrinthine hallway as if they knew exactly where they were going. No one had ever been able to best the Doctor and Rose when they were running. Hope and Glory; Mutt and Jeff; Shiver and Shake. He was most decidedly Shake, but she was the most wonderful Shiver he’d ever had the pleasure of getting captured and almost killed with. He laughed despite the danger, or perhaps because of it, and they doubled their speed, still clutching hands.
 
“They brought us down a big flight of steps,” she cried. The Doctor looked behind them and saw the creatures gaining ground. They were using their arms and legs, galloping like dogs at the hunt. Their heads flopped uselessly at their necks and the voice was echoing through the hallway, demanding that the prisoners stop. He was still looking back and almost fell flat on his face when Rose did as she was told, stopping dead in the middle of the hallway. He looked up and saw a phalanx of creatures in front of them, blocking their escape. He looked behind and saw that the twenty creatures from the torture room had been joined by perhaps two dozen more.
 
“Oh dear,” he said, looking at the two converging groups of creatures. He closed his eyes, searching for the right word. It escaped him. “If I could recall a proper English curse, I would say it now,” he said to Rose.
 
“Oh, you could say ‘bollox,’ or ‘blimey’ if you wanted to be a bit more mild. I can think of a couple others, but like you said this isn’t the time for a language lesson,” Rose said. More and more of the creatures were coming into the hallway, so that now there were at least a hundred pressing in on the two of them.
 
“We will take the weaker subject for testing,” the voice said. A few of the creatures stepped up and grabbed Rose by the wrists. She pulled free, but more piled on top of her until she was on her knees, the barrel of the injection gun pressed to her upper arm.
 
“Do not resist,” the Doctor cried, putting up his hands. Rose looked at him with terror in her eyes.  He turned his attention to the creatures, speaking to them in Default. “Don’t do this to her, please. Her body is too fragile to withstand your testing – you’ll kill her.”
 
“You will submit, then,” the voice answered. “You will become the host, or your companion will be tested and processed.”
 
The worst of the torture had been the electricity. The thought of Rose pinned to that table, shrieking as they ran thousands of volts through her nervous system filled him with icy nausea. He would not let that happen, no matter the cost.
 
“If I submit,” the Doctor said, “you’ll let us go?”
 
“What are you saying?” Rose shouted. “Talk so I can understand you – they speak English now!”
 
“This conversation will only continue in my language,” the Doctor snapped at the creatures. “What will you do with us if I submit?”
 
“You will be ours. We will leave the planet through you and your ship.”
 
“And my companion?” he asked.
 
“You will do with her what you decide best.”
 
Viruses, no matter how intelligent, had to have time to incubate inside a host. That would give him time to get Rose someplace safe. After that, he could work to find a cure, if there was one. If there wasn’t, he would know how to handle that, too.
 
“I submit,” he said at last.
 
“What are you saying?” Rose shouted, her words tinged with hysteria. The creatures let her go and she got to her feet. “What did you do? Doctor!”
 
“To your knees,” the voice said. The Doctor avoided Rose’s gaze as he did as he was told. The creatures surrounded him, their horrible eyes rolling at him with expectant joy. The bodies they inhabited were long dead, and up close he understood why the mouths were sewn shut. There was no muscle tone to keep the jaws from hanging open. They liked to be tidy. He was looking at his future. It would not be Rose’s.
 
“What’s happening?” Rose cried. She tried to come to his side, but there were so many creatures crowding in that she couldn’t move. The look of desperate fear on her face broke his hearts.
 
“Remove your exoskeleton,” the voice said.
 
“It’s a helmet,” the Doctor corrected, “For life support.”
 
“You will not require it much longer,” the voice said.
 
He looked Rose in the eye as he took a breath and unsealed his helmet. She was crying again.
 
“What are you doing?” she moaned, the words smearing into each other.
 
He smiled at her. “Saving you.”
 
He closed his eyes and removed his helmet, raising his chin with all the dignity he could muster, just as he’d done so long ago on the game station when he’d been surrounded by Daleks. Except this time the TARDIS and the Bad Wolf would not appear at the last second to save him. There was always the chance that once the virus killed this form he would regenerate and be right as rain again, and that was the last hope he was clinging to as the cold metal barrel of the injector pressed against his neck and with a sharp jolt of icy, hissing air, the virus was blown into his bloodstream while Rose screamed for the creatures to stop.
 
He felt it burning in his system, but there was no immediate effect on him. He put his helmet back on and got to his feet. “We can leave now,” he said to Rose. “They will not stop us.”
 
“Why did you do that?” she sobbed, kicking her way through the crowd of creatures to get to him. Once they were together, holding hands again, the creatures led them towards the exit. They had made it almost all the way to the stairs when they were caught. Two more turns and they would have been in the stairway, halfway to the ship.
 
“That word you asked me of; lacraidh,” he said as they climbed the stairs. “It is Gallifreyan. There is no word in English that is the same. No word in Earth languages comes quite right to the same meaning.”
 
“What’s it mean?” she asked, sniffling. She brought her hand to the faceplate of her helmet, then remembered it was there and she couldn’t wipe her eyes.
 
“It is the top of…the most…” he sighed with frustration and started again. “Of all the people someone knows and has loved, the lacraidh is the highest among them. For me, that is you. That is why I did it.”
 
Rose said nothing more as the creatures led them back to the Void ship and the Doctor let them inside with the sonic. He closed and locked the doors and then the Doctor turned on the airlock to normalize the ship to Rose’s atmosphere. Rose was still crying, and when the airlock indicated the ship air was safe to breathe, he started them on their way.  If he could get them to New New York Hospital in their home universe shortly before he’d shut them down, he would throw himself on the mercy of the Sisters of Plentitude and probably be rid of the virus within an hour. As it was, he already felt a slight chill inside his suit. There was no point lingering in the wrong universe; he could at least try to get Rose home before the virus took hold.
 
“What are we going to do now?” Rose asked as she got out of her suit and hung it back up in the cupboard. “Are we going to go somewhere to get you cured?”
 
He smiled at her. “Ohyes.”
 
“Why don’t you take your suit off?” she asked. The gap locator found the opening in this universe and they passed into the Void again. The pressure on the outside of the ship made him more aware of the ever-increasing achiness he felt. The speed with which the virus was working made him nervous. He had to at least have time to get her to safety.
 
He shrugged. “It is best to keep the virus contained until we can find a cure.”
 
“Right,” she said. She stared at him. “How do you feel?”
 
Achy, tired, cold. Too much, too fast. “Fine,” he said, winking at her. He could feel the strength draining out of his limbs and his fingers hurt when he touched the controls to pilot the ship. All he wanted to do was lie down on the MRFI and sleep until he felt better. Given the speed of the virus, he was probably never going to feel better again, but that was beside the point. He yawned and let his head droop a little. He had to get them out of the Void, at least. He could taste the thick bitterness of sick in his mouth and his face was starting to get very hot while the rest of him was icy. Please don’t go this fast – I need more time.
 
“Doctor?” the girl asked. Her voice was tight. She poked him gently in the shoulder and soreness radiated from the spot she’d touched. “Do you want to rest?”
 
“I’m all right for the moment, Susan,” the Doctor snapped in Gallifreyan, clutching the edge of the control console. Sweat dripped from his forehead onto the inside of his faceplate. The virus bloomed into fullness and he threw up inside his helmet and sank into the girl’s waiting arms as she helped him to the floor.
 
*****
 
He felt a gentle tug on his upper lip and opened his eyes. He was in one of the MRFI pods, stripped of his spacesuit, and Rose was wearing a pair of green gloves and was pulling out the remnants of the stitches in his face. Her attention was so fixed on the stitches that she hadn’t noticed he was awake.
 
“Rose,” he whispered. She jumped, gasping, clapping her hand to her chest.
 
“Don’t scare me like that,” she said. “I coulda pulled your lip off.” She dabbed something cool on his face and blew on it. It was the only part of him not in pain at that moment. “I found a medkit in one of the cupboards,” she said. “Hope I’m doing this right.”
 
“The suit – the virus must be contained,” he said, reaching for the helmet. “Put it back on.” Even if he could have reached it, there was no way he could have lifted it back onto his head.
 
“Sorry, my lacraidh,” she murmured, kissing his forehead. “I can’t understand you very well. You just lie there and rest until you get better.”
 
He tried to tell her that he would not be getting better, but the words came out in a clutter of different languages and he closed his eyes, lulled into fevered drowsiness by the sound of Rose’s humming as she worked. When she was finished, she put the med kit away and climbed into the pod to lie beside him. He had to admit, if he had to die, this was how he wanted to do it. He fell asleep to the rhythm of her hand stroking his hair and the feeling of her arms around him.

Chapter 5

Comments

[kelkat9.livejournal.com]

Ack! Don't stop there you cruel TL1 you! Awesome chapt!!!!! Now, chop chop, get a writing as Rose needs to save him!

P.S. love the Gallifreyan!

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry - it's literary sadism and I can't stop myself!!! I'm working on it straight away!!! :)

Thank you - more words to come here and there! :)

[wander-realtai.livejournal.com]

Yay! Another chapter!!!

BAMF!Rose for the win :D

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

Yeah it was about time she had the chance to kick some ass. :)

[larxene-12.livejournal.com]

How could you do that to us?!

I'm cringing right now. That has got to be an awful, awful way to die.... Please, please, please, don't let all that bragging about superior biology fail at this point!

Update ASAP. I don't wanna wait for the next chapter D:

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

Update coming soon!!! I'm working on it, I swear! :)

[lauraxtennant.livejournal.com]

Okay, so this:

“It is the top of…the most…” he sighed with frustration and started again. “Of all the people someone knows and has loved, the lacraidh is the highest among them. For me, that is you. That is why I did it.”

is probably the most perfect thing I've ever read concerning the Doctor and Rose. Just so you know.

This story is slowly breaking my heart but it's OH SO GOOD so please, please write more soon, I can hardly wait to see what happens next :D

p.s. Loved the Shiver and Shake reference, too.

(p.p.s. I really want them to have a happy ending...)

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

Wow - thank you very much!!! :) That is a very nice thing to say. :) More is coming soon soon soon!!! :) I'll try not to make the wait between chapters be too terribly long. :D More anguish and heartbreak, coming up!

Happy ending? Hmmm.... ;D

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

wow! scary!!! let's have superior time Lord physiology STAT!!!

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

I'm working on the STAT!!! :D I swear!!!

[who-in-whoville.livejournal.com]

And this is the Rose that I remember and love. Oh how I miss seasons 1 and 2. This is Swinging on the Chain Rose, Satan Pit Rose and Fear Her Rose all rolled into one package.

“Well, you can’t have him because I need him more.”

Oh Doctor, you are so so sick... Please get someplace where you can be healed!

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

BAMF Rose kicks so much butt. I love writing her like that. Donna and Martha were great, but nobody could do it like our Rose.

[onabearskinrug.livejournal.com]

AWWWW! I love this, I love you, I can't wait for more!!!!

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

Aw I love you back!!!! :D More pain and suffering coming soon!!!

[jonna594.livejournal.com]

Oh God, this story just gets better and better. I love the Gallifreyan language and that the doctor has problem speaking English - making him sound like K-9.

Waiting eagerly for the next update :)

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much - I have quite a twist coming up, so hang on tight!!! :D

Next update should hopefully be up tomorrow - that's my goal. :)

[country-who.livejournal.com]

Nooooooooooooooooooooo! Doctor, you're really sick aren't you?

Rose will take good of you, I know she will, she's brilliant, and you know that, right?

Did I just have a one sided conversation with a fictional character?

No? just making sure. :P

Brilliantly done TL! I love this so so so much. Poor poor poor poor Doctor. He will get better though right? You won't kill him off?

And, what about Rose? Is she gonna get infected too?

So many questions!!

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

All questions will be answered...

one of these days lol!!! :D

Thank you - I hope you enjoy as it goes on...

And if you're going to have a conversation with a fictional character, that's a good one to pick. :)

[spiritofeowyn.livejournal.com]

AHHH! Great writing. The language bit was a great touch. :) But Poor Doctor! :( And gooshy feelings for the better than I love you statement.

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :) More to come soon...got a few more ideas tonight for the next chapter, so it should be up tomorrow late (I hope) :)

[monkeyprincess7.livejournal.com]

Blarg I'm crying a bit after reading that :(

I wanted whump but... but that's too much! I feel like jumping through the computer screen and snagging him away to find a cure. He will get better right, RIGHT? And Rose will save him, even if she has to fly that void ship herself.

We haven't seen the last of these Abzath's though have we? While it would be interesting to see Abzath!Doctor for awhile, I just can't go through the emotion turmoil of seeing him become one without Rose saving him!

Love love LOVE the Gallifreyan though, very beautiful *wipes another tear*

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

Aw you're fantastic! :) Thank you!!

There will be more Gallifreyan tidbits coming up in subsequent chapters.

And I'm not ashamed to say you have given me food for thought. Very, very interesting food for thought. I have notes to make now.

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Ohhhh!! Ohhh Doctor..dammit!!

*Cries*

Beautiful ending to this chapter, lovie...

*Clings to you*

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Ohhhhhhhhh my friend. :)

Just.

You.

Wait!!!!

Not accustomed to being so outwardly appreciative of my own writing, but oh, what's coming next! OH MY! :D

*hugs*
Bring tissues. :D

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

GUH. WICKED TEASE.

*Loves you for it*

BRING. IT. ON!

*Is armed with tissues and chocolate*

[freaky-anomaly.livejournal.com]

That scene where the Abzath were running them after them like dogs made me think of the show The Walking Dead. Very shiver-worthy.

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :) I like to keep it creepy when I can. I still need to watch that show, too. It's on the netflix, so I can get it. Just have to sit down and watch it.