ashes ➝ Doctor Who²

IX

Jack swept the corridor they were in, aware of the stray bodies here and there and making sure he didn't touch them.

He could hear the vaguely uncertain breaths of Penelope behind him, and it gave him an all too clear reminder that they truly knew nothing of the Borrowers. No idea where they came from or how they travel from person to person.

And having that kind of lack of knowledge in the field is what kills agents.

They both knew this.

Although it's not like they had much choice, Jack least of all. Penelope made the decision to go in and protect a nearby town, and so he listened.

As they passed through another archway it got a little darker, and neither could distinguish if that was the building or the mist. So they stopped and flashlights went on - Penelope's handheld and on Jack's gun. In this time, Jack grinned back at Penelope who rolled her eyes and shone the torch in his face.

"What do you want, Harkness?" He gaped at her for a moment in jest before they both started moving again.

"I didn't even say anything."

"You don't have to.. your eyes do all the talking."

"My eyes? Have you been staring into my baby blues, boss?" Sighing heavily as her flashlight swept past another dead body, she reminded herself that tripping Jack up would be unprofessional.

It was cold in the ruins, and it had been getting colder as they went in. Felt a bit like a morgue with all the bodies in here. The lowered temperature had started to chip away at their resolve and bite into exposed skin. Even their minds had begun to numb as they got further and further in, talking was helping.

"I would rather let the Borrower's eat me than look at you for longer than I have to." Jack laughed, short puffs of breaths being caught in his flashlight.

"That's harsh, even for you."

"Don't get a choice, god knows what would happen if I appealed to your ego." The cold nipped at Penelope's hands, a slight tremor infiltrating her flashlight.

"Pretty sure the world would end." Jack entered the last archway before finally getting to the main area of the ruins, and the only other intact room left standing. The cold had made that a very long corridor. He had stopped under the arch and she slowly walked up next to him, smiling a little.

"Glad we can finally agree on some..thing."

Sure it had already been cold, but now it felt like ice cutting into her veins. She really hoped that Felicity hadn't made it to this room, she was too young for this.

It looked as though it had started in the corner of the room and just gone everywhere. Thick black fog covered the room and rolled in waves against their legs. It was heavy and almost suffocating, like the cold.

Hundreds of bodies piled on each other, a thick black liquid covered most of the lower bodies and puddled around them.

They were both careful not to step in it.

In fact they didn't even leave the arch, just sweeping the torch across the room. As if trying to really confirm that what they were seeing was real.

But no matter where they looked there was someone else. Someone who used to be a person, who had a family and a life reduced to a host and left to die.

A body close to them shifted slightly and both beams of light were on them immediately. With Jack's gun train on it, both felt a little more relieved as they stood silent. Penelope's hands hovering over her holster, hoping she wouldn't have to use it.

After a while of staring at this man, it became hard to look away. With the black liquid seeping from his eyes and mouth, it seemed almost as if he had died screaming in pain. And it was painful to look away.

Eventually, however, Penelope did, taking a sharp breath and turning away from the scene before them. Facing back towards the hallway, she put her comms in her ear, unsure why she didn't from when they first split up.

"Jasper, do you copy?" There was a hiss of static that she almost thought was from the cold.

"I copy, is everything okay?"

"No, get out right now. It's like they all came here to die, which could mean a lot of things. But right now you need to get out."

"We're nearly to the end-"

"Get out. Now. That is an order." There was quiet on his end and Penelope worried a little. She didn't always like giving Jasper orders, considering how close they had been before she became his boss. But this needed to be done.

"Yes ma'am, returning now." Sighing in relief, she pulled the comm from her ear and turned around to see Jack already grinning at her.

"What now?"

"Not like you to actually get all bossy, boss."

"Shut up and haul ass back to where we came from, American." Jack gave a mock salute and walked past her, back down where they came.

"Yes ma'am." She rolled her eyes and fought the urge to look back before following after him. He honestly drove her insane.

Luckily they seemed to get through the corridor quicker since they had gone down it already. And we're back with Felicity and Jasper in no time.

And it was hard for the other pair to miss Penelope's sigh of relief when the two rounded the corner. Making them wonder what really made them turn back so soon.

The two men made their way out first, so that they could go down and put the guns away. They get heavy after not using them for a while. On Jack's end, he had gotten stiff from the cold and it was starting to cramp his hands.

They didn't talk as they walked down the hill, or as they approached the car and put the guns down. It wasn't until they were leaning against the car, waiting for the other two that Jasper finally asked.

"What was it?" Jack could only sigh, trying hard not to think back what they had found. So many of them had died screaming and would be stuck like that forever, eternally suffering.

"Hell."