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Link to Part 2
http://amythest-n-ice.livejournal.com/19222.html
Link to Part 4
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I was trying to write a chapter around Boomtown, as I said I would, but it was entirely too stilted, and wouldn’t behave, so I’m skipping directly to the game station, and missing out
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The Doctor swallowed hard, feeling the sting of tears as he heard Jack die, and he wished desperately that he could have sent Jack to safety along with Rose. They had been given so little time as a couple, they hadn’t even made love, and now Jack was gone. He forced his mind back to the last few preparations for the delta wave, grief was a luxury he couldn’t afford right now. Looking up at a faint sound just as he finished, he saw Daleks gliding into the room, surrounding him.
“Are you a killer or a coward?” The Emperor Dalek taunted him as he stood with his hands on the switch that would wipe out the Daleks, along with the entire population of Earth.
The Doctor tried to force himself to push down the switch, Jack and a handful of others had died to give him time to do this, along with those who had been stranded on the station. His muscled tensed, a little pressure, and it would all be over, his love wouldn’t have died for nothing.
“A coward, every time.” He choked, releasing the lever and stepping back. He couldn’t do it, he couldn’t kill billions of people, not even to destroy the Daleks.
He stood with his head held high as the Daleks moved in for the kill, this would be it, the end, there was no coming back from extermination. He closed his eyes, waiting for the beam to strike him, then his heart froze as he heard the familiar sound of his TARDIS engines. Rose must have found a way to make the old girl bring her back, despite what he had said in his message about not letting the TARDIS technology fall to the Daleks.
He turned as the door opened, expecting to see Rose step out to her death, and fell back at the glowing vision that came through the doors.
“What have you done?” He asked in shock. She looked at him, and it made him feel very young, seeing the ancient light in her eyes.
“I looked into the TARDIS, and the TARDIS looked into me.” She intoned, her voice distant.
He watched, disbelieving, as she wiped the Daleks from existence with a wave of her hand, sending them to dust.
“You’ve done enough Rose, let it go. It’s going to kill you.” The Doctor stepped closer to her as he spoke. Bad enough that Jack had died needlessly, he wasn’t going to take Rose’s body back to Jackie.
“How can I? I bring life,” she said, but she was starting to show the strain now.
“I think you need a Doctor.” He put his hands to her face, pulling her closer and kissing her forehead. He pulled the power of the vortex from her, feeling her go limp in his arms as she passed out. He lowered her gently to the floor, and stood to face the TARDIS, sending the awesome power back where it belonged.
He hesitated for a moment then, torn, he could feel he was dying, the cells in his body breaking down, and he knew he should get Rose into the safety of the TARDIS, she was still alive, she needed to be protected, but his heart wanted to go and find Jack, to bring his body home. He didn’t want to leave him on this huge orbital cemetery.
Running footsteps made him swing unsteadily in the direction of the door, and he thought he had to be hallucinating. Jack ran in, pale, exhausted looking, but seeming to be very much alive.
“Jack? I thought you were dead. I heard you die.” He stammered, his head spinning.
“Yeah, I thought I was dead too, they mustn’t have got me with the full beam. Are you OK? You don’t look so good.”
“I… just help me get Rose into the TARDIS, please.”
“I thought you sent her home?” Jack asked as he came over and scooped her up in his arms.
“I did, silly girl came back.” The Doctor opened the door so that Jack could carry Rose inside. He really needed to get them safely into the vortex before he regenerated, and he hoped that Jack could accept his new form.
“What’s wrong with you?” Jack asked as the Doctor staggered against the console as he set the coordinates and launched them. He set Rose gently down on the deck and hurried over to the older man.
“I’m dying. Don’t touch me, please.” The Doctor begged, not wanting Jack to be killed by the energy surge that his transformation would produce.
“Dying? No.” Jack grabbed the Doctor by the arms.
“You can’t die.”
“Jack, please, I don’t want to hurt you, please, you have to let go of me.”
Some instinct, a tiny little voice in the back of his head told Jack different, and he pulled the Doctor closer.
“I love you,” he whispered, then he kissed the Doctor.
The Doctor tried to struggle, but he had been right on that first night, Jack was even stronger than he looked, and the sensuous nature of the kiss made him unable to fight for too long. Both lost in the kiss, neither of them was aware of the Doctor starting to glow slightly gold, the precursor to the energy surge that would alter him. Neither of them noticed either when Jack started to glow in response, and pure, white ribbons of energy started to flow from him.
The Doctor slowly became aware that something was happening, something was changing, the cellular degeneration was slowing, then reversing. He broke from the kiss, still tightly held in Jack’s arms, and was stunned at the sight before him then. Light, energy was pouring from Jack, pushing back the regeneration, healing the Doctor. He felt Jack start to slide away from him as the light faded, and tightened his own grip, holding his love upright.
“Jack?” He switched his grip to one arm, and carded his fingers through Jack’s hair.
“Come on Jack, wake up.” He begged, but he knew there was going to be no answer. Jack’s lips were already tinting blue, and his chest was still against the Doctor’s own. He slid to his knees, carrying the pliant body down with him. He cradled the still warm body against his chest, not even aware that he was sobbing as he rocked him back and forth.
“Not fair, not fair.” He murmured over and over.
He was vaguely aware that Rose had woken up, and was shaking him, sounding scared, but he couldn’t spare any attention for anything other than the body of the man he loved in his arms.
tbc
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Just a short one for you.
