A/N: Be warned, this chapter is a bit longer than a normal chapter.
And I've decided one chapter a week is stupid because I get too much done. I'm on chapter 16 - can you believe that?! I don't like being ahead. I like working on the edge :P Think I'll go back to my old system...
Quick edit: I forgot (for the fifth time in a row) to remind you that the entire Ramble series is A/U pre-Army Of Ghosts, and takes account of the Eighth Doctor telemovie so the Doctor is half-human on his mother's side and all that. So Torchwood are still hanging around, doing their thang. And my original hypothesis on how Jack got his Torchwood was Yvonne rewarding him for his 'good work' (on when Yvonne first captured the Doctor in Ramble 1) and putting him in charge of his own Torchwood base (Ramble 1 was pre-Torchwood series 1, THAT'S how long I've been doing these things!). Does that make sense? No? Well the sum of it is: Eighth Doctor telemovie included, set pre-Army Of Ghosts in an Alternate Universe and Jack has his Torchwood base at the same time as Yvonne.
Chapter 12 – Just When You Think It's All Dandy…
The world was fuzzy, but at least now Rory could see. Someone was standing over him so he called out, "mum? Is that you?"
"Honey," Rose's voice replied, and he felt a warm hand rest against his cold skin. "How you feelin'?"
He gave a half-smile, a shiver of coldness running through him. "Pretty lousy…where are we?"
"In the TARDIS, your dad didn't wanna move you. You warm enough? You're so cold."
He nodded. "Well glad to see the plan is to crush me with blankets," he said with a grin, raising his head to look at the dozen or so blankets that covered him.
"Watch it, cheeky," Rose replied with a smile, tucking him in affectionately as the door to the bedroom suddenly opened and the Doctor stepped through, holding a tray of medical instruments with a stethoscope slung around his neck. Jackie was close behind him.
"The Doctor is in!" his father declared, moving over to them both as Jackie engulfed Rory in a suffocation hug. "Hold this, would you?" he offered the tray to his mum who took it carefully. His father dropped down onto the edge of the bed and took off the stethoscope, checking Rory's hearts rate. A moment's silence.
"How long I got?" Rory asked jokingly, resting his head back on the pillows as the effort of looking up rid him of his energy.
"Still beating a bit slow," the Doctor said, frowning as he slung the stethoscope back around his neck, reaching for the medical scan on the tray Rose held. "Anything happened to you recently that could've caused this? Like, something weird or not usual?"
Instantly thoughts of Amylia flooded his mind as his eyes eased open to let in a slice of vision.
"N-no…" he stuttered out. Could his relationship with Amylia have caused this? Either way, his gran couldn't find out… She'd blow a fuse. Infact, several. His father was watching him closely now, checking the scanner to interpret the results.
"Blood pressure's low too. Your antibody count has plummeted to almost nothing," he said, before looking up at Jackie Tyler hovering at the side. "Couldn't get us a cuppa, could ya?" She looked as though she were about to explode, but still nodded and disappeared out the door. The Doctor turned back to Rory, expression serious. "What is it?"
Okay, this was the height of embarrassment.
"Umm…Amylia," he said, like it explained everything. The Doctor nodded, understanding.
"And I'm presuming it was more than just a kiss?"
Rory glanced over his father's shoulder to his mother beyond, and then nodded.
"Well, I'm pretty sure it's not that," his father assured him with a charismatic smile. "No… It's like something's been draining your energy, and now you're back with us it's being put back again." He hummed for a moment, clicking his tongue thoughtfully.
Then he realised.
"YES!" he yelled, bolting up onto his feet with his arm raised in the air, "I'm so thick!"
"Doctor…" Rose poked him in the shoulder to get his attention. "What is it?" The Doctor raised and pointed his finger at Rory.
"You're a rechargeable battery!" He beamed. Both his wife and son stared at him blankly. He sighed, backtracked his mind and retook his seat next to the bed. "The TARDIS is keeping you alive," he said simply and clearly.
"What? Why? How?" Rose instantly asked, and the Doctor waved a hand to bat her comments away.
"Getting there," he assured her. "To be totally honest with you, I was frankly surprised that you got pregnant at all, Rose. I would've probably talked you into aborting if I'd been around at the time because I wouldn't have believed any child that we ever had could've survived more than a few days. Reproduction with other species was forbidden by the High Council because of the loss of life it caused when babies died just a few hours after birth. They weren't strong enough to survive because they were hybrids from two different species and as a result usually something important was missing like the second heart."
"But I didn't have a second heart till I regenerated," Rory pointed out validly.
"No, neither did I," the Doctor answered, leaning forward in his chair. "I mean throughout all their regenerations they'd have one heart. Causes chaos on the internal system until it all finally falls into complete internal failure and the hybrid dies, not having the capacity to regenerate in their genes. I'm almost glad you regenerated early – saved you a whole world of bother." He merged the subject back into the original question. "So the TARDIS saw this and started to 'charge' you with some kinda timey-wimey-vortex-stuff, ensuring that you'll survive until you're strong enough to cope on your own. See those?" He waggled his fingers in front of Rory's golden eyes. "Like a light to say it's recharging."
"That makes me feel really important, dad," Rory commented lightly. "So to summarise?"
"Well…" the Doctor began. "Basically if you stay out of the TARDIS' range for too long you'll slowly pine away and die, but only until you're properly and physically mature. And also your immune systems are very weak so I don't want you stepping outside the TARDIS, okay? You could catch something and your body can't take it right now."
"Tea for everyone!" Jackie's voice suddenly came from the doorway, and the woman in question entered holding a tray off assorted mugs. The Doctor grinned and bounced to his feet.
"Top banana," he said, taking the largest mug on offer. "Well, I think we're done here."
"What was it?" Jackie queried, setting the tray down on the bedside table.
"Nasty alien form of the flu," the Doctor answered, taking a sip. "Be gone soon enough."
Then Rory asked the question. "Where're Lottie and Zoë?"
"Lottie's at Granddad Howard's sweetheart," Jackie answered as she saw her daughter about to launch into tears, and the Doctor standing absolutely rigid.
"And Zoë?"
Silence.
Knock, knock, knock.
"I'll get it," the Doctor suddenly burst back into life, setting his tea down on the side and bolting out the door towards the TARDIS entrance. The second he opened it he heard a loud shriek and was promptly knocked over by a hysterical Lottie Sigma-Tyler jumping onto him.
"Daddy!" she yelled, sitting on his chest as he was sprawled out on the floor.
"Hey Lottie," he gasped, trying to sit up so he could breathe again.
"I missed you," she said into his chest and he laughed out loud, holding her tightly.
"I missed you too," he said, pushing himself onto his feet one handed with the other cradling his daughter. "Did you have fun at Granddad's?"
"We gotted ice cream!" Lottie replied, refusing to let go of him. "It was chocolate!"
"Mmm," the Doctor replied, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm jealous of you now. Think I've got some banana ice cream somewhere…"
"More ice cream!" Lottie yelled in delight. He grinned, looking up to Howard O'Hanon.
"Thanks for looking after her. Want a cuppa tea?"
"No thanks Doctor," Howard replied in that familiar Irish accent. "Is Jackie in?"
"Yeah, I'll just get her for you," the Doctor answered, turning with Lottie still clinging onto him tightly as he made his way back through the TARDIS, finally meeting Jackie and Rose both now in the kitchen sipping their tea.
"Hey honey!" Rose exclaimed upon seeing Lottie in the Doctor's clutch. "Granddad Howard been treatin' you well?"
"Tell 'em daddy!" Lottie yelled.
"They had ice cream," the Doctor supplied, taking a seat and drinking his tea one handed as Lottie still refused to let go of him. "Howard's at the door, Jackie."
She nodded, finishing off her cup before getting onto her feet, kissing Rose, Lottie and the Doctor goodbye (the Doctor had provided his customary resistance) before exiting to Howard.
The Doctor glanced at the clock – 8:00pm. No wonder Lottie was being so quiet. Zoë seemed to be the only child who went to bed when she was told with no resistance. Zoë… The thought made his angry and depressed so he decided he'd be better off thinking about something else instead.
"Hey, guess what time it is Lottie?" he began, but she remained quiet. He looked down, but was surprised to find she was already asleep. He raised his eyebrow at Rose, who silently giggled.
He put Lottie to bed before returning to Rose, and he surprisingly agreed to watch a film. After two hours of watching the Titanic and Leonardo DiCaprio sink with Rose asleep in his arms the Doctor found he'd slotted neatly back into the domestic hole he'd left. If only his Ninth self could see him now…
As the ending credits began to roll Rose stirred, and awoke to the Doctor staring down at her.
"Have you got some hankies? I just might cry," he said without a hint of seriousness in his voice. Rose sighed contentedly, patting her pockets down to go with his joke.
"No, I ain't got them today, sorry," she said with a giggle, before it suddenly turned into a frown. "Tell you what I haven't got, though."
"Your brain?" the Doctor suggested casually, and she promptly whacked him on the arm, a little harder than usual. He whimpered.
"My mobile. I musta left it at mum's."
The Doctor nodded. "Want me to go get it?"
"I'll come," she said, trying to get onto two feet but kept failing dismally as her belly seemed to 'get in the way'. She felt like an upturned tortoise. Finally the Doctor lost his amusement when she whacked him again and he helped her to her feet.
But as he opened the TARDIS blue doors he couldn't prepare himself for what was coming next.
"Hello, Doctor," Yvonne Hartman's cold, clear voice said from somewhere behind the barrel of the gun pointing straight at his face. "I believe we have some unfinished business."
"Yvonne Hartman," he spat the name, pushing the gun out of his face angrily. "I have no quarrel with you. Please leave us alone." He took Rose's hand, slamming shut the TARDIS door before leading her away from them.
"Oh, but I have something that might be of interest to you," she carried on, but the Doctor continued to walk on. "She's got blonde curls and really is very pretty."
The Doctor froze, silence reigning supreme for a moment before he slowly turned back around, fixing her with a cold, hard stare.
"You bitch!" Rose screamed in fury, making forward towards the woman but the Doctor grabbed her arm, holding her back.
"You'd better not have hurt my daughter," he grated, gritting his teeth with fire dancing in his eyes, "give Zoë back to me or you'll regret it."
"On the contrary Doctor, I have the advantage." She nodded at one of the UNIT guards on her left, who obediently stepped forward holding up what looked like a tranquilliser gun. "Care to guess what's in there?"
"Your sanity?!" Rose yelled back, tensing against the Doctor's grip. He was staring at Yvonne, reading her face and mind.
"Penicillin. Good old penicillin."
Rose stared at her, eyes wide. The Doctor was practically anaphylactic to penicillin… "You wouldn't."
Yvonne's cold smile broadened. "Shoot him." The guard took aim, and fired.
"No!" Rose yelled, but it was too late to do anything as the dart flew through the air and implanted itself into his left shoulder. The Doctor grabbed the dart, wrenching it out of his skin before dropping to his knees, fervently scratching the area of entry. He looked up at Yvonne Hartman who was now laughing heartily like a true megalomaniac. Rose was holding him tightly whispering reassurances in his ear.
"These soldiers are UNIT and you're commanding them! Torchwood and UNIT are working together!" the Doctor yelled with a slur on his words, feeling his blood pressure starting to drop… "How?!"
"Easily. By the elimination of Jill Lethbridge-Stewart, the main connection of the Doctor to UNIT…"
"You bastards!" Rose cursed again, the Doctor beginning to go limp in her arms. "You tried to murder her and her baby!" Rose could hear the Doctor start to wheeze as he no longer had the strength to hold his own body up and he slipped, hitting the floor. Rose heard some people move forward, but she knew if they touched him they'd take him away…
"Stay the hell away from him!" she screamed, and with a single command from Yvonne Hartman they stood still. The Doctor's face was beginning to swell, sweat clinging to his forehead…
"We can treat him, Rose," Yvonne was saying from a distance. "If we don't, he'll die…"
"Doctor, please," Rose whispered, voice shaking, "please…" He was convulsing beneath her now as the penicillin took full control. Tears began to fall down Rose's face. If Torchwood treated him he would be taken away, but if they didn't he'd die…
"Time's ticking Rose, it's your choice. Will he live or die?"
Rose's thoughts turned to regeneration. Could he regenerate under penicillin? Surely it would just continue to infect his next body? It was a lose-lose situation… Rose kissed him fully before his eyes slipped closed and he fell into unconsciousness. She gathered him up in her arms, cradling his body.
"Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock…"
She held him tightly, somehow willing the process to reverse but already knew it would do no good. She had no choice. She looked up at Yvonne Hartman with hatred in tear-filled eyes, slowly lowering him back down to the ground as carefully as it was possible. She got onto her feet with an arm around her pregnancy bump, stepping away from him to allow them in.
"Good decision, Rose," Yvonne said in a voice that oozed triumph, the medics moving forward to the Doctor on the ground as one crossed over to restrain Rose. Rose couldn't even see what was happening but minutes the medics confirmed the Doctor was as stable as he could be and she breathed a sigh of relief. He was on the way back to consciousness as well; a medic moved slightly and Rose could see his head moving from side to side accompanied by weak, nonsensical mutterings into the Oxygen mask over his face.
"Sedate him. I don't want him causing trouble on the way," Yvonne Hartman ordered to which the medics obeyed, and Rose watched them plunge a needle into him. Seconds later he stopped moving altogether. It was Sedate-The-Doctor Week again, apparently.
He was hoisted onto a gurney, straps fastened around him to prevent any kind of movement. Seconds later he'd disappeared into the back of a truck and it drove off down the road, leaving Yvonne and Rose to confer.
"As for you, we've got something else in mind…" Yvonne cast her gaze down to Rose's womb. Rose's eyes narrowed.
"Don't you fucking dare," she cursed for third time in the space of two minutes, pregnancy hormones flaring. "Don't touch my baby. Don't even think about it because if you do…" she paused, the same fire dancing in her eyes that had occurred in the Doctor just a couple of minutes previously. Rose suddenly half-laughed, humourlessly. "I don't even need to say the rest."
Fear flickered through Yvonne's eyes and Rose couldn't help but feel slightly satisfied as the UNIT soldiers took her away.
A/N: I wanna do that thing that rosie-bec does, y'know? The 'coming soon' thing. But I wouldn't know where to start O.O Are there any rules to that?
Yeah, I'll review reply this chapter coz it was an epic one. Get your questions and interesting reviews at the ready!
Chapter 13 – Unlucky Number Thirteen
Thankfully the head section of his bed had been raised so it didn't take any effort to look at the person who'd just entered: Yvonne Hartman. He heard and felt his hearts rate increase considerably at the sight of her. But who was that behind her? Tall… black hair…
It was Jack.
"Hello, Doctor. I trust you slept well?" Yvonne's voice came.
He was too tired to reply, eyes following Jack as he moved over to him and began to 'adjust' a few of the tubes attached to him. Surely… Jack… He hadn't betrayed them, had he? He had disappeared at the most 'convenient' of moments…
