A/N: Yep, the relationship with his father is going to get a LOT darker thoughout this, warning you now :P
Chapter 10 – CAKE OR BISCUIT?
When Rose woke up the next morning, she found her now wedded husband lying sprawled out over her across three-quarters of the bed with nearly all the cover, quietly asleep. She sighed and shoved him over with a push, sending him flopping onto his back and becoming even more entangled in the covers. She tried salvaging what she could of the cover but it wasn't budging, so she resigned and moved to the middle, wrapping her arm around him.
Then she frowned slightly.
She opened her eyes and straightened up, looking down at him. His face was flushed red, his forehead sweaty...
"Oh god," she muttered, a very deep panic beginning to rise slowly within her... "No, no, no! Doctor, Doctor wake up..."
His brow furrowed, eyes slowly opening to met her gaze through slits.
"Talk to me," she urged.
"What?" he murmured quietly.
"You're feverish and sweaty..."
"And veeery sleepy," he completed, turning back over and closing his eyes.
She shook him again. "No, Doctor, you don't understand... When this happens... Nine months later we get a baby."
That really made him wake up, eyes snapping open and fixing on her.
"How do you feel?" she asked anxiously.
"Umm, sleepy, feverish, headache, weak..." he said quickly. "What do I normally do at the start?"
"Throw up and then faint..." Rose told him. "Do you feel sick? Faint?"
"A little faint..." he muttered, his eyes widening even further.
"Infirmary, now," Rose ordered, quickly out of bed and dragging him onto his feet and out the door.
"Oh god, what are we gonna do if it's another baby?" Rose squeaked as they waited for the results to pop out of the scanner. It seemed as though it was taking hours, and she and the Doctor were just sat there staring at it fidgeting anxiously.
"Well my first question would be how," the Doctor said, staring at her. "I'm infertile now, I can't even make you pregnant anymore..."
"Maybe you healed?" Rose croaked quietly, staring at him.
The Doctor swallowed. "Just... don't say things like that..."
The paper buzzed out of the machine and he quickly grabbed it, looking over the contents... And then he beamed.
"Not pregnant!" he yelled in delight.
"Thank God," Rose breathed, taking the paper to look for herself just to confirm it with her own eyes, before looking up at him. "Then... What's wrong with you?"
"I don't know, but I've got a welly of a headache," the Doctor moaned in reply, but still very relieved she wasn't pregnant.
"Get yourself scanned," Rose told him. "I'll get breakfast."
"What's the diagnosis?" Rose asked when she returned with a stack of toast and two cups of tea.
"I'm not the one that's ill, I don't think," the Doctor said, tapping at a keyboard redundantly. "Every time I try to scan myself the TARDIS gets a power black-out because she can't get the strength..."
"... The TARDIS is ill?" Rose realised, sitting down next to him. "That can happen?"
"I've only heard about it, it's extremely rare, but it can happen. She is a living thing so occasionally she can become ill. And since I'm linked to her in such a powerful way I'm having a bit of a knock-on effect."
"So what do we do?"
"Can't really do anything except letting her rest. No outings or trips until she's better."
Rose nodded. "Better tell Jack we can't do our taxi service," she said.
He nodded in return, taking a piece of toast just as the infirmary door opened.
"Oh, here you are!" Penelope said, Ulysses following on behind her. She frowned at the sight of them sitting half-dressed by the scanner. "What is it?"
"The TARDIS is ill," the Doctor replied. "I'm getting the knock-on effect."
"Oh, dear," Penelope said sadly, moving to him. "How do you feel?"
The Doctor shrugged nonchalantly. "A bit hot and headache-y, but fine," he replied, gobbling down his toast before taking another piece.
"If there's anything you need," Penelope said, hand instantly snapping to his forehead from a temperature check.
"Mum, I'm fine," he insisted, draining his entire cup of tea in one gulp.
"Nonsense, you need rest and plenty of fluids," Penelope told him. "Go back to bed now, since you're not even properly dressed yet and showing the world and Rassilon all you have."
"Mum!" the Doctor yelped like a teenage boy, hunching over to cover his boxer shorts.
"Theta!" Penelope continued sternly. The Doctor glanced at Rose, who giggled at his expense. "Go on!" Penelope insisted, shooing him with her hands.
He sighed, getting to his feet and making to the door, but not before Ulysses raised a hand to stop him.
"Theta, a word," he said. It wasn't a proposal. It was a demand. Then without waiting for a reply he quickly stuck out his hand. The Doctor flinched at the sudden movement again as his father took his arm and pulled him forcefully out of the door into the corridor.
"Do not think for one moment that I am forgiving you," Ulysses grated. "If I had it my way they would be strapping you into the Oubliette Of Eternity for execution right now. But since the situation is as it is and your mother seems to want me to tolerate you, I will make the effort – if you make the effort. Is that understood?"
The Doctor swallowed nervously, his hearts racing. He thought about telling his father about the burning in the pit of his stomach every time he saw him, or about how much he didn't like him. He thought about telling him that this was his TARDIS and he should get the hell out, or even about telling him to shove it. But eventually he rested on:
"Yes, Father."
"Good boy," Ulysses said simply, then turned and left. The Doctor remained absolutely rigid, controlling his breathing until Ulysses footsteps had faded away into nothing, and he finally felt safe to move.
Rose had been watching through the Infirmary door at the Doctor and his father's confrontation. Although it had been soundless, she got the meaning of it very clearly from their facial expressions alone. Even after Ulysses had gone the Doctor just stood there rigid for about a minute afterwards before leaving.
She realised Penelope was looking at her, so she turned and was about to ask a question when Penelope jumped in first.
"Him and his father have never seen eye-to-eye," she said simply.
"The Doctor's terrified of him..."
"Ulysses has always been very strict with Irving and Theta."
Rose sighed, just thinking about this for a moment before she looked up again. "It's just... Why does the Doctor flinch every time Ulysses moves close to him? Cos in my books that only means one thing, and if it's true then I'm not sure I'm comfortable with him bein' in our home."
"Rose," Penelope began gently. "I know this is a very big ask, but I would request that you do not make assumptions of that calibre. Ulysses and I may have very different ideas on raising our children, but I know my husband. He would never even consider laying a finger on Theta. Yes, he has always been very strict with them but he is not a bad man, please trust me."
"What about after the prank?" Rose wondered.
Penelope's eyes instantly welled up on the mere mention of the incident. "In Gallifreyan society it was commonplace to discipline the loomlings and juniors in manners your society considers abusive, but Ulysses and I were very adamant we would not raise Irving and Theta that way. In that case, the Chancellory Guard and High Council took precedence over the matter. It was completely out of our control."
"But you know he didn't do it, yeah?"
Penelope nodded. "I knew, but Theta would never tell us what really happened, and I could not exactly seek a reprieve from the High Council with just my feelings as his mother. Has he said to you what happened?"
"He was protectin' his friend by taking the blame instead of him," Rose told her.
"Koschei?" Penelope wondered. Rose nodded. "I am not surprised. Theta's loyalty has always been his greatest strength... and his greatest weakness. Use it well, Rose."
Rose nodded. "... Sorry for jumpin' to conclusions about your husband."
"That's quite all right," Penelope assured her. "He may come across that way, but that is not who my husband is, it is probably difficult for you to see that and I can understand why. I do not know why Theta flinches, but I am certain it is not to do with Ulysses ever harming him. Now perhaps you should go and talk to Jack? I will make sure Leah is happy."
"Thank you," Rose replied, and then left without another word.
To her utmost surprise, when Rose entered the Hub from the TARDIS she found it full to the brim of tens of happy-looking aliens. Ianto was currently serving snacks, and the second Jack saw Rose he swam his way through the crowd to meet her at the TARDIS door.
"Where the hell have you been?" he wanted to know. "The TARDIS wouldn't let me in and you weren't answering your phone!"
Rose stared at the crowd of aliens, and looked back up at Jack. "Umm..."
"Gee, thankzz Mr Harknezz!" a random alien man buzzed from next to them, holding up his cup of tea and complementary Jaffa Cake. "Thizz izz called 'tea,', yezz? Tazztes nizze!"
"I just don't understand! Is this a biscuit or a cake?" another voice came from the other side, an alien woman staring at the Jaffa Cake on the verge of hysteria. "It defies the laws of cake yet does not class itself as a biscuit!"
"Maybe talk inside?" Rose wondered, stepping inside the TARDIS and pulling Jack over the threshold, closing the door. "Look, we've got a problem."
"You've got a problem?" Jack said somewhat sarcastically. "Mickey's already out on a third Jaffa Cake and teabag run, Martha's getting some more mugs and Gwen's getting repetitive strain injury from stirring tea. We deal with aliens, not catering! Where the hell is the Doctor?"
"Jack," Rose began calmly. "The TARDIS is ill, and that's made the Doctor ill. We can't strain her while she's sick so we can't take her anywhere."
Jack stared at her. "You are kidding, right? Tell me you're kidding."
"I'm sorry, Jack, but the Doctor's in bed and the TARDIS can't move – we can't help you. You'll just have to think of somethin', yeah?"
Jack sighed, then a thought crossed his mind. "Hey... How big is Sarah's house?"
"Jack, you are not loadin' them onto Sarah," Rose said, struggling not to laugh. "I'm sure you'll think of somethin'."
"Easy for you to say," Jack muttered. "But the TARDIS is okay, right?"
Rose shrugged. "Think so, the Doctor wasn't that worried."
Jack nodded. "Good. But if he wants me to check her..."
"I'll yell," Rose assured him.
Suddenly there came a strained yell of, "Rose!" from somewhere in the depths of the TARDIS, and Rose gave an apologetic shrug.
"Back to my tea and Jaffa Cakes," Jack supposed with a small sigh, and left.
A/N: Review reply for this chapter! Any questions, happy to recieve :D