Two Of A Kind

A Day With Ten

They got out of the Sontaran ship seconds before it flew off. They stared at it as it disappeared into the sky. "Seriously Ast?" Jack questioned.

"What?" She asked.

"Nearly getting yourself killed." The Doctor voiced.

"Saying you life is worthless. You know who would find a way to kill me if he found out you were dead." Jack argued.

"Well it's true Harkness. My life is a curse. It's a wonder the people I travel with hasn't been harmed yet!" Astrea yelled storming off.

"Astrea!" Jacked yelled running after her.

She turned around to face him. "It's true Jack. If I wasn't here then the people who died, because of me, would still be here. Even my..." Astrea trailed. She started looking back to when she was a child on Gallifrey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"If you were never born your mother would still be here." a man slurred.

"It wasn't my fault. I didn't ask to be born." Astrea whispered.

"Well you were and now she's dead!" He shouted striking Astrea across the face.

"No! Daddy stop!" Astrea cried.

"You have no right to call me 'daddy'. Why do you think you have no name." he said striking her again.

"Stop daddy!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Astrea started to shake. She was about to fall to her knees when Jack caught her. "Astrea? Astrea it's alright." He soothed.

"What's wrong with her?" The Doctor asked.

"She's looking back on her past. I've only seen this happen once and when she comes back round she doesn't like to talk about it. She prefers to stay as far away from her past as possible." Jack explained.

"Don't let me go back there." Astrea whispered.

"We promise." The Doctor said rubbing a hand up and down her arm.

Astrea shook her head putting the thought to the back of her mind. She put a false smile on her face asking, "Where's the nearest chippy at, Jacky? I'm hungry and craving chips."

"Five minutes down the road. C'mon." He said leading them down the road. "You know you can't run away forever. You have to tell someone someday."

The Doctor thought best to stay out of the conversation and say nothing.

"Today isn't that day." She said bluntly. "And yes. I can. I've been running for a long time." She turned around to face him. "Running from secrets. Running from people and aliens. Running from everything. It's one of the things I'm good at. Another is suppressing thoughts and memories for as long as I want. So don't say I can't run forever, Harkness."

"It's true, Ast. You may not see it, but I do. It's tearing you apart. You can plaster on as many false smiles as you want but I see right through them. Even...you know who sees it but he knows what your like when it comes to your past so he doesn't mention it."

Astrea let out a sigh. "Lets just drop it, Jacky, and head to the chippy."

Jack put an arm around Astrea's shoulders. "Alright, but what's up? You only call me 'Jacky', the most despised name you've ever given me, when your irritated."

Astrea shrugged his arm off and gave a small laugh. "Well who do you think that irritations put towards?"

"Um. The Doctor." Jack answered.