thasmin <3

~ escaping the daquilax ~

context: team tardis are attempting to escape an angry alien race on a deserted ship

<yaz's pov>
darkness surrounded me as my feet thudded against the vibrating metal floor of the ship. the deep darkness of space, littered with stars, swam through my peripheral vision as my heart pounded against my chest. my breath coming out in rapid, shaky gasps, i pushed myself forward, desperate to put as much distance between myself and the creatures i'd encountered. of all the things i'd seen on my trips with the doctor, this was something else. something terrifying, something repulsive. i felt my stomach twist as the image of hard skin and drooling mouths flashed across my eyelids, forcing myself to focus on the figure running in front of me. the doctor. she'd get us out of this, away from them, of course she would. i just had to focus. PC Khan. PC Khan is focused. if only my training had included how to escape bloodthirsty aliens. i listened for the sound of ryan and graham behind me amidst the screeching sound that overwhelmed the corridors, praying that the wound on ryan's calf wasn't slowing him down too much. i wondered what it could be; i'd never seen any injury like it before.

the swishing sound of a long grey coat slicing through the air as the doctor flashed around a corner brought me back to the moment and i followed, almost crashing into the walls of the ship as i squinted to see through the darkness and the burning in my thighs increased.
"doctor.." i panted, "do you..have a.. plan", my lungs seared in agony as i forced the words out, "or did you just... tell us to run so you could... think of one?"
"oh come on, yaz!" she yelled, the usual lightness of her voice not completely masking her difficulty breathing, "you know me... well enough... by now"
yes, i do, i thought, so probably the latter.
"last minute plans...are always the best!" she called, as if in reply to my thoughts. i wasn't sure how much longer we could run, how running would help at all if we had no end point. they would get us in the end, whether we ran or not.
suddenly, the doctor skidded to a stop as we turned a corner. six feet away was a wall. solid. no door. no window. nothing. a dead end. i slowed beside her, my feet numb and my body throbbing. i wanted to ask questions, to help her figure it out but i had too little breath for words.

my head spinning, i turned to face ryan and graham behind us, the former's jeans stained with dark blood.
"doc.." graham stammered, "how are we gonna do this? we... we can't go much longer... he can't go much longer". panic etched in his voice, he held onto ryan's arm.
"listen," she said and spun to face us. i could see her eyes flicker down the corridor, searching for shadows. "we haven't got much time before they catch up but if i've got my directions right, and well, you'd think i'd be able to do directions after this many years of-"
"doctor!" we exclaimed in unison.
"right.. yes.. no time for rambling. got to stop the rambling. okay gang, fam, we know that the
daquilax don't like light, yes? but we're in deep space on a ship with a power outage. so, we need to do something about that!"
her blonde hair swished as she spun around again and raised her arm. even in the darkness i could see the way her cheeks flushed and her eyes lit when she had this much faith in a plan. even watching her thrive, though i always found comfort in it, my stomach twisted. the daquilax had beamed us onto this darkened ship and driven us away from the TARDIS, attacked us, done something to ryan's leg, and chased us through the dark. and now they weren't far behind. i focused on the doctor, her twiddling fingers, her half formed smile. i stepped closer as she raised the sonic to the wall, pushing down on the sides of it and twisting. it whirred and glowed in the darkness, the doctor muttering as i heard the sound of crashing footsteps grow louder behind us. but nothing happened.
"come on... come on please... i need to be right," she whispered. i heard the desperation in her voice and something took over me. the strings of my heart seemed to pull at my arm like puppet strings and i felt through the darkness in front of me, finding her other hand. she twitched slightly at the sudden touch but seemed to relax as she realised who it was. i heard her breath falter with anticipation and my heart beat even faster than it already was. i slid my fingers through hers and stepped closer, both of our eyes still fixed on the wall. the warmth from her hand on the cold spaceship coursed through my body and my fingertips tingled, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.