Dr. Daniel Jackson (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hi_there_aliens) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
trans_92011-09-16 12:15 am
hi_there_aliens) wrote in trans_92011-09-16 12:15 am
Archaeology, Natural Disasters and You [Closed]
The trip down revealed that Taleen was going to be of several things, none of which were pleasant. Arid, pale with a light dusting of red from the rocks, and yellow-white grass that extended in plains all the way towards far off mountains . There was a giant gash in the land near the orb landing area, which resolved itself into a massive canyon as the party drew closer. Spider webbing out across the top of the canyon were signs that a civilization had once flourished here. Traces of broken pillars and half submerged buildings, as well as what looked like a downed ship that had embedded itself in a massive building. There was no movement visible amongst the ruins now. As the dry wind blew through the stonework, it would became clear that they were walking into a mass graveyard.
Not somewhere you'd want to spend your vacation.
For some people, this was going to be a field day.
According to the scans and what little records they had, there hasn't been a sentient being around for hundreds of years. The majority of native wildlife had moved out of the area, seeking refuge. The land looked dead already. In the sky above, several specks of light twinkled in the sky, growing bigger with each passing hour. In a few days, it will be raining fire.
[Closed to Daniel, Eleventh Doctor, Sofia, Jamie, Hoshi, Howard, Billy, the Master, River Song, Cassie, Tom]
Not somewhere you'd want to spend your vacation.
For some people, this was going to be a field day.
According to the scans and what little records they had, there hasn't been a sentient being around for hundreds of years. The majority of native wildlife had moved out of the area, seeking refuge. The land looked dead already. In the sky above, several specks of light twinkled in the sky, growing bigger with each passing hour. In a few days, it will be raining fire.
[Closed to Daniel, Eleventh Doctor, Sofia, Jamie, Hoshi, Howard, Billy, the Master, River Song, Cassie, Tom]
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
The drumbeat was there, faint but strong. He could feel it resonating through Daniel like a second pulse. It shouldn't have been possible. Perhaps the Doctor's memories would tell him how. Perhaps his future self had worked out what the drums were. The Master dug in deeper, mentally and physically, searching with greedy haste for news of his own destiny.
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
Drums. The first thing he was aware of. Rising up from the soothing wind chimes, overtaking them. The drums moved through like a pulse in the air.
Surprisingly enough, the first memory that came up to the Master was embarrassment. Intense, short, squeaky voice, high-pitched embarrassment in the form of that bad, bad girl, Minnie Hooper, who just goosed his rear. The Doctor jumped a mile in the air. He came back down to find Minnie's hand waiting to cup his butt. She smiled at him innocently. Maybe not so much innocent as knowing. And maybe not so much knowing as saying with her eyes 'I'm a cheeky old lady and there's nothing you can do about it, so be a dear and smile for the photo'.
He didn't have time for this. The Doctor smiled uncomfortably. The Master was out there. Alive but hurt. Burning himself from the inside out. He needed help. And the Doctor needed to find him not- not waste his time getting his photo taken! And with his luck, he'd have Torchwood, what was left of it anyway, on his heels or UNIT trying to get him to come back if they knew he was here.
How did Wilf track him down anyway?
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
Such bright light in his eyes. Confusion. Shouting. Gunfire. The drums, again, so very faint now, a different thread weaving through Daniel's head. It took the Master a moment to realize that these weren't his drums... but a memory of them.
The Doctor's memory.
On a hillside, a small, wretched figure, bathed in a spotlight. His arms open to the sky, screaming nonsense, encrusted with dirt. Disheveled.
This was what his oldest enemy had become.
The Master's brow furrowed. Rassilon, that was supposed to be him? It couldn't be him!
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
"The Noise in my head! Stronger than ever before, can't you hear it?" he thought he heard something foreign in the other Time Lord's voice. It wasn't there before. Desperation. The Master was pleading with him, trying to find a common ground. The Doctor tried, he did, he really did. He didn't hear anything. Time moving and flowing and tangling in on itself around them. Heart beats. A cricket somewhere. But no drums. It was all in the Master's head. "I'm sorry, I can't hear anything."
The Master crawled over like a wild thing. Dark eyes stared into his.
"Listen." The Master hissed and this time it was a command. He put his hands on the Doctor's head and pressed their foreheads together.
The Doctor listened.
Thud-thud thud-thud. Over and over. An actual sound. The Doctor jerked back in shock, and so did Daniel slightly in response.
What's inside your head?!
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
One-two-three-four. One-two-three-four. But that could only mean...
The Master laughed again, almost triumphantly, not even noticing Daniel's shift away. "They're real!" he whispered to himself... just as his future self in the Doctor's memory crowed the same thing.
Now it was his turn to jerk back, disoriented by the sense of doubling, present and future. So the drums weren't just a symptom of his madness, as the Doctor had preferred to think. But would he work out what they were? Why they were?
The Master pulled Daniel back toward him by the hair to renew the connection, mentally sifting through the debris in his head. Looking for the next piece to this puzzle. The continuation of the memory...
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
For all his time roaming the universe, seeing the impossible, it was astounding how much time the Doctor spent untangling wires and trying to hot wire something. It was equally amazing how similar the act of hot wiring anything was across the known universe, just as amazing how badly wires would tangle themselves if left to their own devices. This time, it was to get the heating working. Then he'd figure out what to do with the Master.
He lied even to himself. The Doctor was never very good at keeping to a proper list of things to do. Chaotic multitasking, that was what he preferred. He looked out over Earth. Everyone was the Master now, and as horrific as the idea was, a tiny part of him was impressed. The Master had outdone himself. But why couldn't he have tried to do something useful instead, like try to save himself with the machine? And those drums. The Doctor could still hear them. Not as intimately as the Master did, but he could remember them like a bad dream that didn't fade all the way over time. Persistent and pounding on. How did he live all this time with them?
A flicker of white shot into view. What was that?
It looked like a comet, a white point in space hurtling down towards Earth.
The Doctor got to his feet.
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
"No," the Master whispered slowly, here and now, but he was grinning. How? The Doctor had destroyed them. He'd destroyed Gallifrey...
Before he could find out, the memory began to fade, maddeningly, into something else. A circle of Ood... The Master cursed, the syllables thick in his mouth, and grasped the tail of it, yanking viciously and heedless of the damage he might do. There was more to be learned here, and he wasn't willing to wait any longer.
He couldn't believe he was still alive. He hadn't really thought when he'd jumped, hadn't looked before he leaped. Not that he ever did. Though the fall hadn't killed him, he had a feeling he knew what might.
A pure white light again, even brighter than before, and a group of silhouetted figures he couldn't quite make out. He squinted and struggled to get to his knees, grinding glass into his palms, every last bit of his body aching. Everyone must be staring at him, but he was really only aware of the Master's attention. The familiarity of his presence somehow made this more bearable, even knowing what he had to do.
He didn't want to kill him. But what choice did he have?
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
He'd almost expected the fall to kill him. He'd never been good with heights. The last time the Doctor had fallen from a great height, he'd ended up in a new body. The Master had been involved back then too. Either it was a staggering coincidence the same was going on now or there was something more at work. When it came to the Master, the Doctor threw every oddball coincidence out the window. And he knew it was coming. He'd knock four times, and the Master had already. At least the universe let him know it was coming. Rather kind if morbid of it.
The Doctor got to his feet. The gun felt so heavy in his hands. Foreign. The Master had helped bring the Time Lords from the time lock, and something even worse with it. The Master had to have figured it out. He'd brought his own death. Gallifrey was coming through and every horror and travesty of the war. It would rip everything apart.
Taking a look around, he thought knew most of the Time Lords on all sides. The Master he knew intimately. And the others...he knew them most of them. At least the two guards. Fought alongside some back when he'd fancied a cravat and a good frock. And the one in the center...
"Rassilon..."
The Lord President surveyed them all with a barely restrained sneer, as if amused by the gathering of all the players.
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
But ah, Rassilon. He should have known. If there was anyone who came close to matching the Master's triumph over death, it would be him. The so-called Lord President. Oh, but to watch himself grovel like a dog at the sight of him! To be nothing more than a beacon for the Time Lords, something to be used and tossed aside as 'diseased'.
Worse, to watch himself plead with the Doctor, beg silently and tearfully to be spared. It was far too much. The Master growled, a sinister and throaty sound that was more fitting of his future counterpart. No human should be allowed to have a memory of this.
He lashed out mentally, losing his focus. Losing himself in the rage and the panic and the drums, the never-ending drum beat, the curse he'd been plagued with all his life. Not even attempting to call up memories anymore, the Master rampaged through them. He'd make the Doctor pay for this. But first, he'd rip Daniel's mind to shreds.
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
It was sudden and terrifyingly fast, like a dog turning on someone in less than a second and trying to tear their hand off. He didn't even have time to react before the Master was on him, right along with the drums, loud, thundering, and deafening that it made his ears hurt. The Master sank into him and ripped at whatever he could find. Daniel wasn't even aware of the fact that he tried to jerk out of the grip, only knew that he was shaking violently, and every instinct needed him to get away.
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
"I have this thing about death," he says to himself, trying out how it sounds. He wants to sound reasonable and sympathetic but not vulnerable and damaged.
'I had a zombie in my basement. Also, I got stuck in a corpse trench on a mission. And helped bury kids after animal attacks on my world. And one of my friends on the ship is a zombie, but uh, it's okay when she does the whole undead thing since she takes it in stride.'
He pushes his med kit through the crack ahead of him, having vowed to never travel unprepared. Besides, it has granola bars and shoelaces in it, which are perfect for chewing on when things get stressful. He thinks he might have left Daniel's pencil in the room with the life-death torture machine, which might constitute reason enough to return on its own. It wouldn't do to waste that.
"I have this thing about death because my life is really weird," he says out loud. He twists his way out of the crack again and unclips himself from his rope. He realizes that he's not quite sure how Daniel got in here, although he suspects it was from higher up, from the collapse in the wall a way up.
And then he remembers that he's wasting time looking around the main chamber because some basic instinct of his doesn't want him to go back in the same room with a torture machine. Or near the tower with the mummy right behind the door. He runs a hand over his forearm and feels goosebumps there. His mouth feels dry and sticky.
"Daniel? Dr. Jackson? Yo, Indiana Jones in Space, you here?" He takes a deep breath, slings the med kit over his shoulder and, walking as lightly and tentatively as a deer would towards water, heads into the hidden chamber with the sarcophagus.
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
His mind racing, he jerked back from Daniel, breaking the connection with a snap that almost could have been audible. Then he took his hands away from Daniel's temples and left the convulsing man to stand or fall on his own.
"Help!" the Master cried loudly, watching the entrance. "Somebody, help!"
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
And then, just as suddenly, he was gone. Just like that. The absence was just as terrifying. No drums, no one else.
It was like someone pulled the plug. Daniel teetered on his feet and then dropped, cracking his head on the edge of the sarcophagus before landing in a heap on the floor.
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
It's fortunate for Daniel that the Master decided to play innocent. If Howard had walked in on a murder being committed, he almost definitely would have turned tail and tried to forget it. Tried to rationalize it, about how someone who could overpower Daniel could easily overpower Howard, and how witnesses who said anything were always next on the hit list. Howard's capable of saving a life; he is not yet, and may never be, capable of putting himself at risk to stop a random crime.
He runs in just in time to see - and hear - Daniel's head crack against the edge of the sarcophagus. "Shit!" He rushes to Daniel's side and pulls him towards the open floor, turning him onto his side as soon as he recognizes he's unconscious.
He glances up at the Master, pieces starting to fall together. His first impulse is to yell at the Master to go alert Eneesh, as much as Howard fears those bugs, but the way the Master didn't even bother to catch Daniel sticks out in his mind.
"Do you think he's having a seizure?" Howard asks in a very level tone, trying to heavily imply that if the Master says yes, Howard won't ask any further questions. Or mention the Master was here. "You can go get help. I got this."
Howard crouches over Daniel to check his pulse and make sure his airway's clear. The head wound is bad; it'll need stitches, at least, and like any injury to the head, it's bleeding fast. He pulls winds of gauze and bandages out of his kit and presses them again Daniel's head, trying to staunch the flow. Using his free hand, he pulls an adrenalin capsule and hypospray from his kit and doses Daniel with half. That should be enough to rouse Daniel back after a few moments, unless there's some injury impeding Daniel's ability to regain wakefulness.
He starts to cut Daniel's shirt open so he can check for external injuries, but he probably won't be able to tell if there's internal damage until Daniel wakes up.
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
"I don't know," he said, his brow crinkling with false concern. "He just... dropped. Thank goodness you're here. I wasn't sure what to do."
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
It took him a second to realize he was on the ground. His chest felt cool, like there was a draft, which was funny because there shouldn't be one this far in the building... Oh. Probably because someone was trying to pull his clothes off, and that was stupid because Daniel really preferred not to do the rest of the dig in rags. He bat at the hands cutting at his shirt. Then it registered that those hands belonged to someone and that there were two people standing over him.
"Howard?" Daniel mumbled fuzzily. Glassy eyes found his face. Drifted past. Howard and John. What were they doing here? "What's goin' on?"
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
He finishes cutting Daniel's shirt off and looks back up at the Master. "Alright. We'll run him for arrhythmia and all when we get him back to the ship, try and figure it out." Howard hopes it's some health problem with Daniel. At least then his hands are clean of this.
Some reddening on the torso, no crackling of air under skin, no change in breathing. Not enough to rule internal injuries out, but if they exist they're probably musculoskeletal and not organ damage. Which means they deal with the head wound first.
Howard puts another handful of gauze in Daniel's hand and guides Daniel's hand up to the injury. "Okay, keep pressure on here, Daniel. Do you remember where we are?"
Do you remember what day it is? Yeah, right.
"Do you feel nauseous, Daniel? Does anything hurt besides your head, Daniel?" It's a lot of questions, so Howard tries to ask them clearly and slowly and repeat Daniel's name to keep his attention.
He turns back to the Master, slightly peeved that the Master isn't even offering to help, but for all he knows the Master doesn't know the first thing about first aid and doesn't want to make anything worse. But Howard doubts that. "I'm not going to be able to haul him out of here on my own, if I have to. You gonna help or should we get the," his voice goes a bit dry, "the bugs upstairs?"
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
For one thing, he needs to be sure Daniel truly remembers nothing; if he does point fingers at the Master, however confused and concussed, the Master will need to deal with both of them as quickly and quietly as possible.
"What would you like me to do?"
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
There went his shirt. Daniel watched Howard work, his own hand with the bandage wilting in his distraction. Howard performing first aid was a completely different Howard than the one in the mummy chamber. Confident, assured, completely in his element. Daniel wished he could believe him on the bad fall. He didn't just faint. Maybe once in the library, but that was something with the TARDIS.
Daniel looked up at John when he spoke. How weird was it that out of the two of them, it was John who knew what Daniel would've wanted, not Howard? He never would've expected empathy from John. The last thing Daniel had in mind was stopping the dig or interrupting progress, and especially for himself. He wasn't more important than saving what they could. "John's right. Don't bring the others. I don't want to pull hands off the dig just because of me. The dig matters more."
First trying to tell John that he didn't faint earlier, and now he came in to see him on the ground. Daniel flushed. Ducking his head so he didn't have to see John's look, Daniel tried to get his bearings back. He looked around the room, eyes stinging. His head still felt stuffed. Heavy. Breathing hurt too. Things were coming back together, if sluggishly, but better than nothing at all. He remembered standing at the sarcophagus. Then he was on the floor, bleeding from a head wound, probably from hitting the only other thing in the room. The sand looked scuffed around-
Where was he? What a stupid question. "I'm on the floor." And wishing he could get up. And get a new shirt. "In the sarcophagus room." Maybe he was getting used to Janet and her staff shooting the round of questions after half their gate missions. Daniel tried to sit up and then, flinching, decided it wasn't such a good idea just yet. His hand went to his side. "My chest feels kinda tight." Maybe he was putting it just a little mildly.
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
And Daniel's not doing that great a job applying pressure. Howard ignores the Master's little smile - he half expects its at his fear of Eneesh, and in that case Howard has more important things to do than get into a petty fight about irrational fears.
It occurs to Howard that Rory will be proud of him, that Rory taught him well. Something deep and buried in Howard feels excited to tell Rory and have someone congratulate him like that and look at him like he's moving and growing towards success. But Howard smothers that feeling under resentment that he'd think of Rory like some kind of arbiter of accomplishment in the first place. Rory's not his father.
"I told you not to move," he reminds Daniel. Chest pain, no, chest tightness. That's not good, but it doesn't seem to stop Daniel from taking steady, substantial breaths, and Daniel isn't coughing. Howard rests a hand on Daniel's sternum, so much less afraid of physical contact in a medical scenario than he is in his day-to-day action.
"Alright. Daniel, I think you got a broken rib, but I need to make sure it's not a collapsed lung. If you do have broken ribs, this is going to hurt a lot, but only for a second, and I need you to communicate with me and not move, alright?"
His training always told him to communicate with the patient. That's always been the hardest part, for him. Memorizing technique and procedure comes naturally, but empathizing with others and their pain has always been more difficult. It's like remembering how to conjugate verbs in a second language.
"And if you got broken ribs, I'll give you some numbing agents in a minute to help with the tightness. Just bear with me."
He moves his hand over two inches towards the side Daniel's clutching, over Daniel's collarbone, and presses down slightly. If Daniel's ribs are broken it'll feel like being stabbed, but only for a moment.
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
As soon as Howard's examining the ribs, however, he rolls his eyes just the slightest bit. All this fuss over a simple fall. And then he concentrates, his eyes looking past Howard and Daniel's ribs, checking in with the human's memories. Making sure he did a thorough job protecting himself. If he does it right, Daniel shouldn't notice a thing. Or at least, anything that wouldn't be associated with normal head trauma.
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
John joined them, crouching on the other side of him and for a second, Daniel felt strangely crowded. He cocked his head curiously at the man. Actually, what was surprising was the fact John hadn't made any snide comments or even argued with Howard. From what Daniel saw of him, he certainly expected him to do something like it. Or anything that wasn't actually helpful, like be his normal pain in the ass self.
"I think Howard can handle this, John," Daniel wanted to say, anything to spare himself from what came next in front of John, but then John's thumb skimmed over and settled on his skin. Daniel's mouth closed. He looked away, back to Howard. No problems here. Maybe Daniel was wrong about John. Maybe there was something more than the massive chip on his shoulder.
Howard chose that moment to press down on his collarbone. It wasn't the first time he'd had this kind of injury. He'd gotten one on Chulak, and he wasn't anymore prepared for this kind of test this time either. Daniel's face instantly closed. His jaw clenched, eyes squeezing shut for a moment to keep back the groan. It was like someone drove a railroad iron into him. A hiss of pain squeezed past his teeth. It lasted forever and then was over in a flash.
"That was fun. Can we not do it again?" Daniel kept his eyes closed. He could feel them watering. Yeah, better to keep them closed a little longer. How long was this going to take? And did either of them see anything? He'd ask the moment Howard stopped trying to collapse his chest.
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
"You got a broken rib, Daniel, maybe more than one, but no organ damage as far as I can tell. I don't want you to move around none until we can get you through an X-ray and make sure you aren't going to puncture anything. When you stand, I want you to keep a stiff back, okay?"
He gets another hypospray out of the kit and fills it with a local anesthetic. He doses Daniel's side with it. Within a few seconds it should numb the area around the broken ribs and let Daniel breathe easier. He waits for Daniel to open his eyes, then gets his flashlight out and checks Daniel's eyes again - this time, they respond.
"You got a concussion, too. Once we get you up top, I'm going to want someone with you the whole time until we get you up to the ship. I don't want you sleeping for more than three hours at a time, or moving too much. We don't want you to puncture any internal organs." The snarky teenager side peeks back out when Howard follows that up with "because if you think this vacation's ruined now, just wait until you're hemorrhaging from the inside."
He takes the gauze from the Master, though he doesn't touch John's hand as he does so. Now that he's slipping out of first responder mode his uneasiness with touch is coming back. "I'm going to need to get you into better light before we get you stitches. John, can you help me get him up and out of here?"
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
"Ready when you are, Howie."
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
"What if I want to stay here and keep working?" Daniel complained. He tried to stay patient as Howard stuck the light in his eyes, blinking rapidly once it was away. Maybe he'd been out for who knew how long, but it didn't suddenly render him invisible, and or give them the right to make decisions for him over his head. He was concussed, not brain damaged. He looked to John, hoping that John didn't want to lug him around anymore than Daniel wanted him to. If John backed out, Howard couldn't carry Daniel himself. "You have a light. I've had field stitches before. Can't we just get it over with right now?"
The injection helped. It took some time but he felt the constriction around his chest fade. Now he could actually try concentrating. Daniel didn't think he triggered a trap. He'd been very careful with the sarcophagus, and besides, how did it explain the disturbed sand? One of them had to know. One of them had to have seen something.
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber
Re: Daniel Jackson || Sub Temple B - Sarcophagus Hidden Chamber