and now for something completely different

[makingsouffles]

[She hadn't even really thought about what she was doing when it had happened.

The abandoned starship they'd landed on had turned out to not be so abandoned as they'd thought, instead overrun with desperate humans who were utterly convinced they were hostile, no matter how hard Oswin and Jenny and the Doctor tried to persuade them otherwise. And now they'd been separated and Oswin had to find him, had to make sure he wasn't-

Oh.

He was.

Tearing around the corner, Oswin skids to a halt, her eyes widening as she catches sight of the Doctor pressed against a wall, the man nearby training a gun to his chest. She screams as the gunshot rings out, some instinct taking over, something so deep within her that even Oswin doesn't even know the source. Without a second thought, she throws herself between the bullet at the Doctor, causing it to find another target.

In Oswin's chest instead of his.

She crumples to the ground with a cry of agony, the man retreating once he's figured out he won't be able to get at what he came for.]

Comments

[makingsouffles]

[Her eyes snap open and Oswin starts, tensed as she looks up at the Doctor.

She sighs in quiet relief as she realizes where she is and who she's with, resting her head back down. Her eyes want to close again, but Oswin won't let them, not now. The last thing she wants is to go back to sleep.]

...Didn't think it'd be that bad. [She admits, quivering faintly still.]

[mrcool]

Just breathe. [He kisses her forehead and gives her a small smile.] It's over now.

[makingsouffles]

[It's always when she thinks she's had the worst of her nightmares that another one hits her hard.

Oswin sighs again, this one more defeated.] Never really stop, does it? [Being with the Doctor usually works as nightmare repellent, but there are still times where one manages to sneak through.]

[mrcool]

[He shakes his head quietly.]

...No. Not really.

[makingsouffles]

[Her eyes finally close, but she doesn't sleep, despite the fact that she's still tired. It's so easy to put behind her sometimes, everything that's happened to her. Oswin can forget the Daleks, forget being alone, forget having her reality shattered into a million tiny pieces when they're out on some other planet, exploring and adventuring and running.

It's only at night that it all catches up to her and it surprises Oswin, just how old she feels. And she's not even twenty yet.]

...Wish it did.

[mrcool]

[The Doctor nods quietly. His own nightmares still have yet to fade after centuries of death and guilt. What he wouldn't give to forget all of that, but in doing so he'd be forgetting everyone that sacrificed something for him, and he can't do that.

He has to live with what he's done.]

Me too.

[makingsouffles]

[Oswin's quiet for a long moment as she wraps her arms around him tightly.]

You going back to sleep? [Because she's not.]

[mrcool]

I wasn't asleep.

[Lies, but. Whatever.]