Universal Displacement

Some Ends and Other Beginnings

Sutton felt stunned by the Doctor's admission; as if he had spoken the words with the express purpose of harming her.

"Dying? Like, dead-dying? All the way?"

The Doctor wouldn't joke about something like dying, Sutton knew that. But how could she possibly accept the statement as truth? Sure, her muscles and bones felt sore a bit recently, and maybe her stomach often felt queasy, but that wasn't dying. That was just stress. Nothing a nap couldn't fix, right?

"You're strong, Sutton, that's clear enough. But it's too much for anyone. Your heart, your body, it can't take this kind of stress indefinitely. If you want a chance to live you have t' stay."

Sutton's lips were a thin, hard line by the time he'd finished talking. The muscles in her legs were quivering almost uncontrollably and a familiar, nausea rippled through her stomach. Sutton swallowed and tried to steady herself.

Why did it feel like her heart skipped every other beat?

"No matter how I look at it," she said, "I die either way."
"Sutton."

There was a loud alarm sounding from the TARDIS and both Rose and the Doctor seemed surprised by it. The Doctor turned back to Sutton with arms spread in a supplicating gesture.

"Sutton, you need to calm down right now! You're going to force yourself into a-"

But the pounding in her temples and the pulling on her limbs was already reaching an unbearable degree. Few tangible thoughts remained in her mind as she clutched her bag and tried to wait out the pain.

She wanted to go home.

She needed...something...a watch?

The Doctor paced forward and put a hand on her shoulder, his lips were moving but Sutton couldn't hear what he was saying. He was too close; he was touching her. He couldn't follow her, that would be bad! She was able to shake herself out of her almost catatonic state enough to move. The energy was building up and she could feel her blood boiling and she had to move, move, move or someone besides her would be getting hurt. The Doctor obviously wasn't expecting her to act out in her current state; that's probably the only reason she was able to rip the fob watch from his grip and shove him away.

"Sutton!"
Rose rushed forward a few steps, but Sutton held out a hand and she came to a stop.

"Don't come close to me, I-ah!"

Moisture ran down her face and dripped onto her shirt as she breathed through clenched teeth.

"It is- It is getting worse."

Sutton staggered a few feet backwards to put some distance between herself and the couple and then collapsed onto her knees.

Based on the horrified stares that she was getting from the other two, Sutton assumed that she was starting to disappear. There were flashes of light before her eyes and the Doctor and Rose became blurry silhouettes against a bright backdrop.

"-we have to-"

"-'fraid...oo late-"

And then Sutton's vision went dark and all she could feel was the warm metal of the fob watch, the coarse fabric of her treasured bag, and exploding pain.

After an eternity, she finally, finally, felt nothing at all.

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Tony groaned as something ran through his hair and over his scalp. An amused hum sounded in reply and Tony tried to remember how he got wherever he was. Peeling open his eyes he found he was face-to-face with Pepper's radiant smile. She grinned with affection and continued stroking his hair.
"Hello."
"You drugged me. Again."
"You needed to sleep, Tony."