badly_knitted (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
badly_knitted) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomweekly2025-09-12 04:41 pm
badly_knitted) wrote in fandomweekly2025-09-12 04:41 pm
Entry tags:
[#273] Imprisoned Again (The Fantastic Journey)
Theme Prompt: #273 – Bad Timing
Title: Imprisoned Again
Fandom: The Fantastic Journey
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes.
Word Count: 1000
Summary: Once again, two of the travellers find themselves taken prisoner…
Getting themselves thrown in prisons of various descriptions was becoming a recurring theme of this journey, Jonathan mused to himself. Every one of them had been locked up or tied up, and in some cases both, at least once, most of the time through no real fault of their own. The people locking them up had their own agendas, and the small group of travellers just seemed to have the misfortune of arriving in the wrong place at the wrong time, unintentionally getting caught up in whatever was going on.
They’d barely made it out of the previous time zone in one piece, having escaped from a group of people planning to enslave them, and they’d hoped to find refuge here, only to be accused of spying for the enemy, whoever or whatever that might be, and imprisoned once more.
So here he and Varian were, locked in a cell that… wasn’t too bad as cells went. At least it was warm, dry, and clean. Varian even still had his sonic energiser, for all the good that would do them, since he was the only one capable of using it, and he was currently out.
Sitting down beside his friend, Jonathan gave an annoyed huff. “You’re asleep at a time like this? We should be trying to get out of here! Scott and Fred could be in trouble.” Although, as things stood, how could their two other friends be in more trouble than he and Varian were? “This is a fine time to take a nap!”
There was no response, of course, which wasn’t surprising, but it WAS inconvenient. Of all the times for Varian to simply run out of energy… Jonathan supposed that was something that wouldn’t happen to healers back in Varian’s own time. No healer would find themselves having to expend all their own energy healing and helping others, with little opportunity to rest and recover their strength.
“I should never have agreed to scout around with you. Maybe if we’d stayed with the others at our campsite we wouldn’t be locked up now,” Jonathan grumbled, fussily adjusting the blanket he’d spread over the sleeping man. Then again, maybe all four of them would be in prison if they’d stayed together. At least for the moment there was hope that the other two were still free, although what could they possibly do to help when in all likelihood, they didn’t know where their friends had been taken?
Jonathan sighed, shaking his head. “Why you had to try to heal that man we found…” He trailed off, shaking his head again. “You’re a healer. Of course you had to try. It’s not your fault he was too badly injured to be saved. Why do we have to keep blundering into other people’s wars? Why, even here, are people so determined to kill one another? And why did those soldiers have to automatically assume you’d killed one of their own when you were only trying to help him? If they knew you at all… Which of course they don’t.”
Propping his chin on his hand, Jonathan stared down at the other man’s too pale face. He was so still. This was almost worse than the time Varian had been poisoned. At least then he’d been trying, however fitfully, to regain consciousness. Now, he was as still as death, only the slow rise and fall of his chest to prove that he was breathing.
“How long are you going to sleep? You know, if you were awake, you’d have us out of here in less than a minute. It’s just an ordinary lock, not even any electronics. It wouldn’t take much effort on your part. Once we were away from here, you could rest for as long as you want.”
There was no reply, but Jonathan hadn’t expected one. Varian was no doubt too deeply asleep to even be aware someone was talking to him.
“If they decide to have us executed, I’m blaming you. It could happen, you know. These are the kind of people who’d have a firing squad on standby. I’m sure you don’t want to die any more than I do, especially not so senselessly. Just goes to prove that no good deed goes unpunished.”
Jonathan adjusted the blanket again. There was no need to, but sitting there doing nothing wasn’t helping. He should, perhaps, try to get some sleep himself, except that would leave them both too vulnerable. If someone came to interrogate them, or worse… As a pacifist, Varian was all but defenceless even when he was awake and at full strength. Right now, he was neither. Even so, he wouldn’t physically fight, even to protect himself, although he could use the sonic energiser to send his attackers to sleep. That effect wasn’t instantaneous though; it took precious seconds, during which anything could happen.
Time passed slowly, and Jonathan had no way of measuring it. He was worried about Scott and Fred as well. Fred was more than capable, but Jonathan doubted he and Varian could count on being rescued.
“Maybe I should try to pick the lock,” he muttered to himself.
“D’you know how?”
The unexpectedness of the reply made Jonathan jump, turning to glare at Varian. The healer still looked worn out, but he was awake; that was a step in the right direction.
“Finally! I was beginning to think you’d never wake up.”
“Sorry.”
“No, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. Are you alright?”
“Good enough, for now. Has anyone checked on us?” Varian slowly levered himself upright.
“No, and there aren’t any cameras. No electronic equipment of any kind that I can detect, so I don’t think we’re being monitored.”
“Alright.” Varian took the sonic energiser from its pocket on his belt. “Perhaps we should leave before anyone does decide to pay us a visit.”
“Are you sure you’re up to using that?”
“We don’t have a choice.”
“I suppose not. The sooner we find our friends, the better.”
The End
They’d barely made it out of the previous time zone in one piece, having escaped from a group of people planning to enslave them, and they’d hoped to find refuge here, only to be accused of spying for the enemy, whoever or whatever that might be, and imprisoned once more.
So here he and Varian were, locked in a cell that… wasn’t too bad as cells went. At least it was warm, dry, and clean. Varian even still had his sonic energiser, for all the good that would do them, since he was the only one capable of using it, and he was currently out.
Sitting down beside his friend, Jonathan gave an annoyed huff. “You’re asleep at a time like this? We should be trying to get out of here! Scott and Fred could be in trouble.” Although, as things stood, how could their two other friends be in more trouble than he and Varian were? “This is a fine time to take a nap!”
There was no response, of course, which wasn’t surprising, but it WAS inconvenient. Of all the times for Varian to simply run out of energy… Jonathan supposed that was something that wouldn’t happen to healers back in Varian’s own time. No healer would find themselves having to expend all their own energy healing and helping others, with little opportunity to rest and recover their strength.
“I should never have agreed to scout around with you. Maybe if we’d stayed with the others at our campsite we wouldn’t be locked up now,” Jonathan grumbled, fussily adjusting the blanket he’d spread over the sleeping man. Then again, maybe all four of them would be in prison if they’d stayed together. At least for the moment there was hope that the other two were still free, although what could they possibly do to help when in all likelihood, they didn’t know where their friends had been taken?
Jonathan sighed, shaking his head. “Why you had to try to heal that man we found…” He trailed off, shaking his head again. “You’re a healer. Of course you had to try. It’s not your fault he was too badly injured to be saved. Why do we have to keep blundering into other people’s wars? Why, even here, are people so determined to kill one another? And why did those soldiers have to automatically assume you’d killed one of their own when you were only trying to help him? If they knew you at all… Which of course they don’t.”
Propping his chin on his hand, Jonathan stared down at the other man’s too pale face. He was so still. This was almost worse than the time Varian had been poisoned. At least then he’d been trying, however fitfully, to regain consciousness. Now, he was as still as death, only the slow rise and fall of his chest to prove that he was breathing.
“How long are you going to sleep? You know, if you were awake, you’d have us out of here in less than a minute. It’s just an ordinary lock, not even any electronics. It wouldn’t take much effort on your part. Once we were away from here, you could rest for as long as you want.”
There was no reply, but Jonathan hadn’t expected one. Varian was no doubt too deeply asleep to even be aware someone was talking to him.
“If they decide to have us executed, I’m blaming you. It could happen, you know. These are the kind of people who’d have a firing squad on standby. I’m sure you don’t want to die any more than I do, especially not so senselessly. Just goes to prove that no good deed goes unpunished.”
Jonathan adjusted the blanket again. There was no need to, but sitting there doing nothing wasn’t helping. He should, perhaps, try to get some sleep himself, except that would leave them both too vulnerable. If someone came to interrogate them, or worse… As a pacifist, Varian was all but defenceless even when he was awake and at full strength. Right now, he was neither. Even so, he wouldn’t physically fight, even to protect himself, although he could use the sonic energiser to send his attackers to sleep. That effect wasn’t instantaneous though; it took precious seconds, during which anything could happen.
Time passed slowly, and Jonathan had no way of measuring it. He was worried about Scott and Fred as well. Fred was more than capable, but Jonathan doubted he and Varian could count on being rescued.
“Maybe I should try to pick the lock,” he muttered to himself.
“D’you know how?”
The unexpectedness of the reply made Jonathan jump, turning to glare at Varian. The healer still looked worn out, but he was awake; that was a step in the right direction.
“Finally! I was beginning to think you’d never wake up.”
“Sorry.”
“No, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. Are you alright?”
“Good enough, for now. Has anyone checked on us?” Varian slowly levered himself upright.
“No, and there aren’t any cameras. No electronic equipment of any kind that I can detect, so I don’t think we’re being monitored.”
“Alright.” Varian took the sonic energiser from its pocket on his belt. “Perhaps we should leave before anyone does decide to pay us a visit.”
“Are you sure you’re up to using that?”
“We don’t have a choice.”
“I suppose not. The sooner we find our friends, the better.”
The End