taxonomites | [Location: Castle Summers]/[Accidental Visual]

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[Location: Castle Summers]/[Accidental Visual]

It's safe to say that no one who hasn't made a concerted effort has seen Tara since her rescue from the Master. Tamper and Trick has been closed, and she hasn't been much leaving her room. At first, this was due to physical healing; she'd gotten off lighter than some, but she'd still hurt all over, and hadn't wanted to move for awhile. There'd been a lot of sleep.

Now, the bruises are still present, but fading, and the smaller cuts are almost healed. She could go back to work, but she can't quite seem to find the will to do so. And as for lessons with Piper and DG... that brings up another problem.

Tara looks at herself in the mirror. She's still pale. She could do something to cover up the bruises; she knows how. But she'd rather just stay in. The idea of talking to much of anyone is a little overwhelming. She should check on the others, Rose and Morgana and their fellow captives.

Tara puts her head down on the desk, for just a moment.

There are a lot of things she feels like she should be doing. But she hasn't done any of them. She doesn't feel like she knows how to even move anymore.

Of course, she can't control the fact that her table decided to turn itself on, in the meantime.

[I am also still willing to backtag with her on older, more immediate aftermath threads, so feel free if you prefer more immediate post-rescue.]

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The Doctor finds a few moments away from Rose and flips on his tablet, scanning over to Tara's name. He chickens out calling her a few times, then finally takes a breath and sends her a private message. He's far too cowardly to go looking for her.

"Tara, it's the Doctor," he says. "I just---I wanted to check on you. See how you were."

She hesitates a moment, then picks it up. "Doctor. He didn't hurt you?" Her memories of exactly how the rescue happened are a little fuzzy. She was conscious, but not exactly lucid.

She still looks pale and battered and maybe a little smaller than normal.

He did, but not physically. The Doctor looks back to where Rose's room is, and thinks about his other friends, healing in different parts of the city.

"I'm always all right," he says. "How are you?"

She looks down. For a long moment it seems like she might not answer. "Better," she says, finally, quiet. After a short pause, she adds, "How are the others?"

"They'll be all right," he says. He hasn't talked to everyone yet. He's afraid to, though he won't admit that aloud.

He looks away from the tablet again, then back to Tara.

"I'm sorry," he says. "Tara, I'm so sorry."

"It's done now," she says, still very quiet. "Are the Extras back to normal?" She isn't quite looking directly at him. She knows how she must look, and things with the Doctor are still so very complicated right now.

"Yeah," he says. "The signal the Master sent out was disrupted, everything should be falling back into place."

And, he adds: "He's been contained. Captured. He won't hurt you again."

Softly, she says, "You can't promise that, Doctor." Just like he can't promise she won't die. Usually she'd let it go, but she's too tired still.

"Yes, I can," he says. "He's locked up, Tara. He's contained. They won't let him out, I won't let him hurt you."

"You can't be everywhere, Doctor, all the time. You can't control everything." She closes her eyes. "I'm just glad everyone's alright."

"I can do anything," he says, and the desperation makes his voice break with emotion. He can, he can save them. He can save all of them, he can make sure this never happens to anyone he loves ever again.

A few tears slip out, but then she opens her eyes again. She doesn't know how to have this conversation with him, especially now. "It's okay, you know. If you can't."

"No," he says, "No, it isn't."

He runs a hand across his face as though he could wipe away his emotions.

"Been one very long day."

"Doctor - " She wants to comfort him, but doesn't know how. She finally offers, softly, "How's Rose holding up?"

He looks back over his shoulder.

"I think she blames herself," he says. "Because he didn't really hurt her. Course, that was his plan. Make her see everything. Probably singled her out because---well, he singled everyone out because of that, didn't he?"

"Everyone felt like they should be able to help the others. It's - it's not like the people he picked were helpless. Just with the Extras, there were way too many."

"The people he picked were my friends," the Doctor says, very serious. He shakes his head. "You're right, Tara, I should've left him alone."

"Hindsight," she says, faintly. "At least no one is dead," she adds, faintly.

The situation was a mess, and they both knew it.

The Doctor thinks back to John and Arthur. He's never lucky enough that everyone lives.

"Right," he says.

"Doctor, I'm sorry, I just..." She trails off, not sure how to finish the sentence. "I don't blame you," she adds to the unfinished thought.

"You should," he says, firmly. "He didn't do this because of you, Tara, he did this because you're friends with me."

"Unless you told him, 'hey, maybe you should hurt my friends,' then it's still his fault, not yours." It sounds like she's had this argument before, not just with him.

"Yeah," he says, resigned, and he sounds like he's had this argument before, just not with Tara.

All the same, he says, again. "I'm so sorry."

"I know." She wraps her arms around herself. "If I were stronger, I could have done something."

"No, you couldn't," the Doctor says. "He planned this. He's been planning this for a long time. He knew all your weak spots."

[Location: Castle Summers]/[Accidental Visual]

[visual | private to Tara | not long after the rescue]

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