Watson's Ghost. Part Three, Ten/Rose.
May. 27th, 2006 09:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
misscamWatson's Ghost 3/?
by Camilla Sandman
Disclaimer: Just written for my own and other's amusement, BBC. Please not be suing me.
Rating: Mature, eventually.
Summary: Wherein the Doctor and Rose face a murder charge, Rose walks with ghosts, the Doctor tries for life and an alliance changes its nature. [Ten/Rose]
Author's Note: Prompt 029 for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
50lyricsfanfic (just give me one more moment, another walk out in the sun; one more day to find some justice with your shadow by my side - As One - Dropkick Murphys). Written for an anon request in my LJ. Thanks to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lotus79 for beta-ing and being awesome. Love ya, darling.
Table of Prompts
Part One
Part Two
II
A Related Tale: Wherein Wenhor made a promise to Milekka
Young love, it is known, has no fear. The young laugh at death, but it doesn't haunt their every breath, and it's easy to have courage then. Easy to be a little foolish. Easy to think the future very distant. Easy to make a little promise.
"Would you?" Milekka asks, dancing around him, her face as ice and even more beautiful. He laughs, because she is joy. "Would you, beloved Wenhor?"
"You know I would, beloved Milekka."
"Say it!"
He holds out a hand, and she captures it, and he's dancing with her, smiling at her, and he loves, loves her more than he loves life, he thinks, he's sure of.
"I would," he says. "If you died, I would walk with ghosts and bring you back with my breath."
"I would too!" she breathes, and it sounds like a promise.
But it is she who dies, and his promise that ends up haunting unfulfilled. Milekka waits. Wenhor doesn't dare come. He takes a job as a guard at the gate, thinking it a way to build his courage, but he knows, he knows he'll never be brave enough.
Easy to make a little promise until you know the weight of it.
Milekka waits. Wenhor isn't coming.
II
Part Three: Wherein the fate of many is touched upon, deaths are relived, a name is of importance, a killer is remembered, the Doctor is angry and Rose gets her ghost
Rose thinks herself brave, but she's beginning to think a coward's life might be better. Her light feels pale, and everything else is so dark. Sometimes she thinks she sees something moving, but whenever she lifts her light for a closer look, nothing's there. Just shadows and whispers and her own shadow.
"Hello?" she tries.
Hello hello hello hello.
"I'm looking for someone..." she goes on, and almost screams as she steps into a cold wind. But it's not a wind, it's a presence, it's something, almost alive, almost dead.
She breathes...
and she's Revlan, young pretty Revlan with so much to live for, young pretty Revlan being strangled to death by her own father, trying to scream, but finding no breath, dying but finding no peace, young pretty Revlan not wanting to let go, young pretty Revlan so desperate, so desperate and her father killing her, father, father, father...
"Father!" Rose screams, and gasps, her head clearing again and her own. The wind lets go, moving on, still screaming for father, and Rose realises with a pounding heart that was Revlan's ghost, waiting for someone that isn't her.
"Oh God," she breathes, clutching her own neck, assuring herself there are no other hands there, no one trying to kill her. She's Rose, she's not Revlan. She's alive, she's not a ghost. She's alive. Letting out a long, shuddering breath, she steadies herself and walks on.
She can do this. She can, for herself and the Doctor. He'll be waiting for her, and he's hardly a patient waiter, so she better hurry up and just get this done. Right. She can do this.
"I can do this," she says, and the wind comes, and she has just enough time to know what's coming this time, breathing in...
and she's Kunnskir, old and alone in his bed, waiting for his family, waiting for the traditional goodbye, waiting to pass on the last words of his generation, giving up the last responsibility, but no one comes, no one is listening and he can't die like this can't die alone can't die in silence silence silence silence...
She stumbles and Kunnskir is gone, but there's already someone else there and she gasps...
and she's Hurran, pleading for his life, but no mercy in the faces looking down at him, no mercy in the kicks and punches that never end, no mercy for Hurran, killer of their daughter, no mercy please please have mercy, he doesn't want to die oh please please please...
"Please," she whispers, but they're all coming now...
and she's Milhor, not wanting to live, not wanting to endure the shame any longer, just wanting to die die die, and throwing himself off his beloved childhood house, falling falling falling and only then realising he doesn't want to die after all, that he's so scared and the ground is coming so fast and he's falling falling falling...
and she's Revgot screaming in pain and the war is all around and he wasn't meant to die like this, wasn't meant to stain the uniform Meilan found so beautiful, wasn't mean to return to her a corpse, wasn't meant to die wasn't wasn't wasn't...
"I can't help you," she whispers, and she hurts, they all hurt, and they're all coming, looking for something, and she can't take them all, can't take all their pain...
and she's Dogna, and her children are burning and everything's burning and she's stumbling through her house trying to find them, and she loves them, loves them and she has to get to them and she's running running running...
She runs, and there's more of them, a hundred, a thousand, a million...
and she's Giergny, last of his kind, survivor and the last knowing and he has to remember, all the others are gone and there's just him remembering remembering remembering...
Remembering... Remember, remember, remember what?
and she's Genna, all future in her mind and not looking when the wagon comes down the street, not looking when it hits her, not looking when her legs are crushed, only screaming screaming and so much future in her mind and it can't end, screaming screaming screaming...
"I'm Rose!" she screams, and her breath is her own, echoing back and forth. She's Rose. She remembers that.
Rose Rose Rose Rose RoseRoseRose
"I'm..."
and she's everyone and Fregna and Gerhol and Revikki and Rose and Takhal and and and...
and she's Berho and the knife is slamming into him, so much force and Virgot is killing him and it hurts and he doesn't want to die, doesn't want to be killed and Virgot is running away and there's someone else there, a stranger, a stranger and he asks her name and Rose she says, Rose Rose Rose...
"I'm here," the voice of Berho says, and she's speaking it. "Let's walk out, living Rose."
They walk.
II
She doesn't know how they know she's coming, but the gate is open as she approaches it, and the aliens all stand to attention, looking grieved and awed too, and maybe just a little scared. No one quite dares meet her eyes, not until she sees the Doctor, still being held back, but his gaze is not letting go of her, staring helplessly as she walks in the last few steps, and the gate is slammed behind her.
She's done it, but she can't even feel any sort of relief.
"Rose?" he calls, and she nods.
"Do you bring the ghost, walker Rose?" the alien she knows is Kunnskir's son now asks, and she nods again, numbly.
... stabbing stabbing oh god the stabbing and it hurts and Virgot is killing him killing him...
"Virgot killed me," Berho says with her breath, and his voice is steady. "Friend Rose offered me her name. She did not take my life."
"As the dead have spoken, so is the truth," the alien intones, all ritual again. "We're... We're sorry, walker Rose. We had to know."
"You're sorry?" the Doctor says, voice low. "You're sorry?!"
The guards let go of him finally, and he's running, not even slowing down before he slams into her, picking her up and clutching her to him. He's warm, so warm, and she buries her head against his neck, clinging to him.
"They all died," she whispers. "Hurran and Genna and Revgot and Berho. They died. They're dead and they're still there."
"Why'd you let her do it?!" he screams at the aliens, and they say nothing. "Why'd you have to let her do it?!"
"I'm sorry," she whispers, and she's not quite sure who she's speaking for. "I'm so, so sorry."
"You're so cold," he whispers back. "Oh, Rose, why'd you have to do that? You have nothing to prove to me."
Maybe she had something to prove to herself, she considers. But she says nothing, and Berho is silent too, just a ghost in her mind now. Just a ghost, but her ghost now.
The Doctor lifts her up, and the aliens part way before him, looking a little shamed and a little afraid too. She knows the Doctor is not done with them, but right now his mind is all on her. She doesn't even have the strength to feel glad for it.
Turning her head slightly, she sees the young guard, the one she's almost certain is Wenhor, looking at her with a plea in his eyes. She knows what he's hoping for, and she shakes her head. She can almost see him age before her eyes, and she knows, oh she knows the dead's grip on the living is ever strong.
And in her mind, Berho is humming a lullaby Jackie used to sing to her.
(To be continued...)
by Camilla Sandman
Disclaimer: Just written for my own and other's amusement, BBC. Please not be suing me.
Rating: Mature, eventually.
Summary: Wherein the Doctor and Rose face a murder charge, Rose walks with ghosts, the Doctor tries for life and an alliance changes its nature. [Ten/Rose]
Author's Note: Prompt 029 for
50lyricsfanfic (just give me one more moment, another walk out in the sun; one more day to find some justice with your shadow by my side - As One - Dropkick Murphys). Written for an anon request in my LJ. Thanks to lotus79 for beta-ing and being awesome. Love ya, darling. Table of Prompts
Part One
Part Two
II
A Related Tale: Wherein Wenhor made a promise to Milekka
Young love, it is known, has no fear. The young laugh at death, but it doesn't haunt their every breath, and it's easy to have courage then. Easy to be a little foolish. Easy to think the future very distant. Easy to make a little promise.
"Would you?" Milekka asks, dancing around him, her face as ice and even more beautiful. He laughs, because she is joy. "Would you, beloved Wenhor?"
"You know I would, beloved Milekka."
"Say it!"
He holds out a hand, and she captures it, and he's dancing with her, smiling at her, and he loves, loves her more than he loves life, he thinks, he's sure of.
"I would," he says. "If you died, I would walk with ghosts and bring you back with my breath."
"I would too!" she breathes, and it sounds like a promise.
But it is she who dies, and his promise that ends up haunting unfulfilled. Milekka waits. Wenhor doesn't dare come. He takes a job as a guard at the gate, thinking it a way to build his courage, but he knows, he knows he'll never be brave enough.
Easy to make a little promise until you know the weight of it.
Milekka waits. Wenhor isn't coming.
II
Part Three: Wherein the fate of many is touched upon, deaths are relived, a name is of importance, a killer is remembered, the Doctor is angry and Rose gets her ghost
Rose thinks herself brave, but she's beginning to think a coward's life might be better. Her light feels pale, and everything else is so dark. Sometimes she thinks she sees something moving, but whenever she lifts her light for a closer look, nothing's there. Just shadows and whispers and her own shadow.
"Hello?" she tries.
Hello hello hello hello.
"I'm looking for someone..." she goes on, and almost screams as she steps into a cold wind. But it's not a wind, it's a presence, it's something, almost alive, almost dead.
She breathes...
and she's Revlan, young pretty Revlan with so much to live for, young pretty Revlan being strangled to death by her own father, trying to scream, but finding no breath, dying but finding no peace, young pretty Revlan not wanting to let go, young pretty Revlan so desperate, so desperate and her father killing her, father, father, father...
"Father!" Rose screams, and gasps, her head clearing again and her own. The wind lets go, moving on, still screaming for father, and Rose realises with a pounding heart that was Revlan's ghost, waiting for someone that isn't her.
"Oh God," she breathes, clutching her own neck, assuring herself there are no other hands there, no one trying to kill her. She's Rose, she's not Revlan. She's alive, she's not a ghost. She's alive. Letting out a long, shuddering breath, she steadies herself and walks on.
She can do this. She can, for herself and the Doctor. He'll be waiting for her, and he's hardly a patient waiter, so she better hurry up and just get this done. Right. She can do this.
"I can do this," she says, and the wind comes, and she has just enough time to know what's coming this time, breathing in...
and she's Kunnskir, old and alone in his bed, waiting for his family, waiting for the traditional goodbye, waiting to pass on the last words of his generation, giving up the last responsibility, but no one comes, no one is listening and he can't die like this can't die alone can't die in silence silence silence silence...
She stumbles and Kunnskir is gone, but there's already someone else there and she gasps...
and she's Hurran, pleading for his life, but no mercy in the faces looking down at him, no mercy in the kicks and punches that never end, no mercy for Hurran, killer of their daughter, no mercy please please have mercy, he doesn't want to die oh please please please...
"Please," she whispers, but they're all coming now...
and she's Milhor, not wanting to live, not wanting to endure the shame any longer, just wanting to die die die, and throwing himself off his beloved childhood house, falling falling falling and only then realising he doesn't want to die after all, that he's so scared and the ground is coming so fast and he's falling falling falling...
and she's Revgot screaming in pain and the war is all around and he wasn't meant to die like this, wasn't meant to stain the uniform Meilan found so beautiful, wasn't mean to return to her a corpse, wasn't meant to die wasn't wasn't wasn't...
"I can't help you," she whispers, and she hurts, they all hurt, and they're all coming, looking for something, and she can't take them all, can't take all their pain...
and she's Dogna, and her children are burning and everything's burning and she's stumbling through her house trying to find them, and she loves them, loves them and she has to get to them and she's running running running...
She runs, and there's more of them, a hundred, a thousand, a million...
and she's Giergny, last of his kind, survivor and the last knowing and he has to remember, all the others are gone and there's just him remembering remembering remembering...
Remembering... Remember, remember, remember what?
and she's Genna, all future in her mind and not looking when the wagon comes down the street, not looking when it hits her, not looking when her legs are crushed, only screaming screaming and so much future in her mind and it can't end, screaming screaming screaming...
"I'm Rose!" she screams, and her breath is her own, echoing back and forth. She's Rose. She remembers that.
Rose Rose Rose Rose RoseRoseRose
"I'm..."
and she's everyone and Fregna and Gerhol and Revikki and Rose and Takhal and and and...
and she's Berho and the knife is slamming into him, so much force and Virgot is killing him and it hurts and he doesn't want to die, doesn't want to be killed and Virgot is running away and there's someone else there, a stranger, a stranger and he asks her name and Rose she says, Rose Rose Rose...
"I'm here," the voice of Berho says, and she's speaking it. "Let's walk out, living Rose."
They walk.
II
She doesn't know how they know she's coming, but the gate is open as she approaches it, and the aliens all stand to attention, looking grieved and awed too, and maybe just a little scared. No one quite dares meet her eyes, not until she sees the Doctor, still being held back, but his gaze is not letting go of her, staring helplessly as she walks in the last few steps, and the gate is slammed behind her.
She's done it, but she can't even feel any sort of relief.
"Rose?" he calls, and she nods.
"Do you bring the ghost, walker Rose?" the alien she knows is Kunnskir's son now asks, and she nods again, numbly.
... stabbing stabbing oh god the stabbing and it hurts and Virgot is killing him killing him...
"Virgot killed me," Berho says with her breath, and his voice is steady. "Friend Rose offered me her name. She did not take my life."
"As the dead have spoken, so is the truth," the alien intones, all ritual again. "We're... We're sorry, walker Rose. We had to know."
"You're sorry?" the Doctor says, voice low. "You're sorry?!"
The guards let go of him finally, and he's running, not even slowing down before he slams into her, picking her up and clutching her to him. He's warm, so warm, and she buries her head against his neck, clinging to him.
"They all died," she whispers. "Hurran and Genna and Revgot and Berho. They died. They're dead and they're still there."
"Why'd you let her do it?!" he screams at the aliens, and they say nothing. "Why'd you have to let her do it?!"
"I'm sorry," she whispers, and she's not quite sure who she's speaking for. "I'm so, so sorry."
"You're so cold," he whispers back. "Oh, Rose, why'd you have to do that? You have nothing to prove to me."
Maybe she had something to prove to herself, she considers. But she says nothing, and Berho is silent too, just a ghost in her mind now. Just a ghost, but her ghost now.
The Doctor lifts her up, and the aliens part way before him, looking a little shamed and a little afraid too. She knows the Doctor is not done with them, but right now his mind is all on her. She doesn't even have the strength to feel glad for it.
Turning her head slightly, she sees the young guard, the one she's almost certain is Wenhor, looking at her with a plea in his eyes. She knows what he's hoping for, and she shakes her head. She can almost see him age before her eyes, and she knows, oh she knows the dead's grip on the living is ever strong.
And in her mind, Berho is humming a lullaby Jackie used to sing to her.
(To be continued...)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-05-27 08:11 pm (UTC)Having a ghost in your head? Sounds extremely creepy.
Though most of those encounters sounded...terrible, but you want to go there...
no subject
Date: 2006-05-27 08:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-27 08:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-27 08:23 pm (UTC)So I think I need more... especially as this part was way too short! *grin*
no subject
Date: 2006-05-27 08:40 pm (UTC)And all those other ghosts, all with their own pain...Chilling.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-27 09:27 pm (UTC)Truly brilliant - I can't wait for more. :)
*feels sorry for Milekka*
no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 01:37 am (UTC)Rose has a ghost in her head? This should be very interesting. And the Doctor! He's just so... him!
Creepily wonderful. Can't wait for more!
no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 11:41 am (UTC)This is just getting better and better with each chapter. I can't wait to see how this ends!
no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 05:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 10:23 pm (UTC)Still loving this.
x