It's Gone Wrong

Rose felt the same mixture of fear and desperate need of approval that washed over her every time she saw this man enter the room. Caleb's voice broke her demeanor, his recognition of her enough to thrill her and make her feel worthy.

"Rose, I need to speed things along. Your ex, he's here and he's hunting you down. We can't let him get his hands on you, or our precious treasure. But it'll be easier for you if this happens." He never spoke in direct terms. He knew that Rose was always wavering and being too strong would spook her. Caleb knew what to say to convince her what to do for him.

As he drew nearer with the needle, her heart raced and her stomach churned. She didn't know exactly what this meant. Fear overwhelmed her ability to ask. Her arm limply hung in his left hand as he pushed the fluid out with his right. Tears pricked at her eyes as her anxiety grew, but his soft tug drew her near and comforted her.

His hands drew soft patterns on her back and confusion swept through her once more. He was being so kind. He was only like this after he had been angry for her for doing something wrong. He did this when he was apologizing, even if she had deserved his wrath. It was a pleasant surprise but she wondered why it was happening. The confusion ended quickly with a brush of pain through her body, and her collapsing to her knees.

Rose knew what the needle was for, now.

***

The Doctor rushed away from his vehicle. He could barely see two other Torchwood vehicles, safepoints, hidden in the distance. He knew it would be radio silence after he got this close to the Station. He couldn't have their tracking or interception tech interfering.

All of the traps and triggers were memorized as he dodged them to get inside. His timing was impressive today, he had chosen the perfect time for his rescue. Only four people remained in the building- three junior tech advisors and Caleb, the man identified to be holding Rose captive. He had the element of surprise on his side, and now he had the best of timing.

The Doctor's new sonic was in hand as he made his way to the security room. After following the carefully directed method of dismantlement, he finally triggered the alarm in the room next to Rose's. This would make it less suspicious than across the building, but also easy to hear if the men were escaping once they were trapped. He was two minutes from the room it had been confirmed from Jason, their own captive who had been found after six months and paid off, that Rose was staying in. He saw the camera label for the room and was then sure he had been told the truth.

Once all the men had raced into the decoy room, he used his sonic to secure the locks of the doors so that no one could escape it.

He could barely hear anything but his heartbeat over the blood rushing in his ears. Adrenaline seared his veins as the Doctor slammed the door open to the room he had planned this rescue from. A demented laugh escaped him as he caught a glimpse of a gorgeous blond in the corner.

"Rose," he breathed as he rushed over. She gasped as she looked at him. Her makeup was all over her face as she locked her eyes on his, almost not breathing at all.

"You… You're who I remember." Her gaze was full of wonder, her voice aching with the need to understand.

"Rose, Rose, Rose. I'm your husband. The Doctor. John?" He let his eyes wander over her, taking in all the changes as he let her sort through everything. There was no way to tell if she remembered him at all, or what they'd done. It wasn't until he followed the lines of the loose gown to her midsection that he had at least one more puzzle piece.

At the exact moment of his notice, her scream filled the air and she grabbed his forearm. She started heaving long, scraping breaths and tears fell faster from her eyes.

"You aren't who he said. You're my Doctor, not some terrible man?" He didn't understand what could have gone wrong that she would ever forget him and replace him with some evil figure.

"Rose, I love you. I'm your Doctor, I've never changed." His throat was tight, but he reached to rest a hand gently on her round abdomen. "You need to trust me right now. We only have a five minute window to get out of here."

Rose offered almost no response as he looked deeply at her. He lifted her gown slowly as she lay against the wall. She was already partially dilated, having contractions, and her water was broken.

"Can you stand? We need to leave right away. I have a medical team waiting, ok? People you knew and trusted. I love you, I promise you'll be alright." The Doctor lifted her as she didn't respond, only moaned at the pain she felt.

Good, she could stand. He tried his best to walk with her quickly to the doors to leave. He knew there would be a catch to his seemingly perfect escape. She slowed them down excessively, muttering something about taking the baby and needles. They barely made it out of the doors before he could hear Caleb and his crew burst from their cell of a room. He quickly sonicked the door and set the alarms to an internal lockdown.

Rose stumbled through the grass while he pulled her along. She folded over, a feral groan coming from within her as she grasped her stomach. He waited as patiently as he could before squeezing her hand, a silent plea to move again.

When her eyes met his, he was shot with concern about what had happened to her psychologically. She was not trusting him to take care of her. She feared him, and was confused.

"Rose, no one will ever take this baby from you. You will never be hurt again, love. Please, for everyone's sake just wait until you're somewhere safe and we can talk. I love you, we need to go!" Her hand held his firmly as she waddled as quickly as she could.

Twice more, Rose had to stop for contractions. They were growing dangerously close to each other as he finally got close to his Torchwood car. His heart stopped as she sat next to the vehicle to coast another contraction. He scrambled for his radio, radioing immediate medical assistance.

As he heard the medical trucks start revving to get to him, the Torchwood teams went to the Station to arrest the men inside. Now that Rose was safe, it was safe for other members to enter.

"Rose, I'm going to check again, is that alright?" His voice wavered heavily as she winced. More pain coursed through her and he waited until it subsided before lifting the gown again. He could already see the head of the baby.

"I can see it! The head, Rose it's -" Rose cut off her howling moan to scream and cut him off. The Doctor was stunned as he looked back up to meet her eyes.

"Don't, don't tell me anything." Her voice was strong for how much else was going on.

The Doctor's heart burst as he was interrupted by a medical team and couldn't get another look at his baby being born. He counted back the months. Nine months since she had been stolen from him. He grinned as he heard the medics shout to each other, thinking it was so unlike his luck that he would be given back his wife and a baby on top of it.

Minutes later, the Doctor was handed an incredibly tiny infant covered in slime and a soft blanket. His vision blurred as his eyes stung with tears, looking on at the mere handful of babe. He went to sit next to Rose's tired form, but she slammed her eyes shut and turned her head away. He brushed his finger down the baby's nose as it squirmed in his arms. A soft coo, instead of cry, accompanied it. It's eyes weren't opening much, but its hair was downy and colourless.

"Hello, you incredibly tiny miracle." The Doctor's whisper managed to rouse it slightly and the baby twisted again.

It was as the medics were finishing their work on Rose that she murmured something. She tried to repeat it but instead muffled it more through tears and a soft, shocked wail. Rose sucked in another dry, scratching gasp of air before recovering enough to try again. What she said made the Doctor's heart tear in two, and his blood turn to ice.

"It isn't your baby."