A/N: This scene was begging to be written…ah, you'll know what scene it is when you see it. =P

Chapter Fourteen: A Nasty Shock

Despite the Doctor's pleadings, Rose remained still. Jack had nearly fainted from blood loss multiple times, and he was sure that only his self-healing immortality was granting him consciousness.

Minutes passed, and the Doctor lapsed into despondency. Rose's skin was nearly completely free from the muck, but she still hadn't stirred.

"She's breathing," Jack pointed out hopefully, "She's definitely alive."

"Her mind's gone," the Doctor mumbled hollowly, "She's gone."

Jack swallowed painfully, a familiar feeling of loss growing in his chest. He blocked out Rose for a moment, and wondered when the dark circles had developed underneath the Doctor's haggard, yellowed eyes. At this moment, he almost looked his age. "Doc, you look worse than she does. Go get some rest, get that virus out of your system, something. If I've already lost Rose today, I don't want to lose you too."

The Doctor choked on a dry laugh. "I don't have a way to cure me. It's taking all my energy to keep it contained so it won't spread to you, which means no healing comas. And I'm not sure that would work anyway. The only solution I've got is what I did to Rose, and we can see how well that's worked."

"I can't die; who cares if I'm infected?" Jack said desperately.

The Doctor shook his head. "You're immortal, and this thing is time-sensitive. Think of what it did to Yenson, aging him that quickly in a matter of months. It'll thrive on you and never kill you. And you'll spread it to every single human you ever meet for the rest of eternity. And in the rest of eternity, I'm sure it'll mutate."

"There's got to be something!" Jack protested.

The Doctor ignored him. He caressed Rose's cheek, leaned over, and gently pressed his lips to hers. Then he moved towards her ear, and whispered something Jack couldn't quite discern. Finally he straightened and turned to Jack. "Hold the top-left black button down for seven and a half seconds. That will activate Emergency Programme One. It'll take you to Rose's mum. Tell her what happened, and tell her I'm sorry." He turned for the door. "Have a fantastic life, Jack."

"Where do you think you're going?" Jack demanded, yanking the Doctor back by the shoulder.

"I'm going back to the platform," the Doctor said firmly. "Goodbye, captain." He forced Jack's hand off his shoulder and turned for the door again.

"Doc…tor?"

The Doctor and Jack both whirled on the spot, crying "Rose!" in unison.

Jack scooted away before the Doctor elbowed him in the face in his rush to get to Rose. "You're alive!" he cried in relief, "Are you okay? Are you sick? Nauseated? Disorientated?"

"Wet." Rose blinked in confusion. "Am I…wet?" She gazed down at herself.

"Er, yes," the Doctor answered sheepishly.

"I wet my pants?"

"And spewed all over yourself, and leaked all over your shirt, and dripped rather disgustingly – I should stop talking now, shouldn't I?"

"Yeah," Jack snorted.

"Oh." Rose blushed. "Sorry."

"Good to have you back, Rose," Jack said weakly.

"Back from what?" she wondered. Her eyes went wide as she tried to sit up, "The virus – !"

"Shh, it's alright," the Doctor gently shoved her back down, "I took care of it."

"What?" she scrunched up her nose. "You look awful."

The Doctor smiled hoarsely. "I've looked worse. There was this time when – "

"You look like you're dying," she stressed. "You're not, are you?"

"I'm – " the Doctor started. He blinked. "Oh. Oh, dear me. That's not very good. Not at all."

And with that, he collapsed to the floor.

"Doctor!" Jack knelt next to him, and Rose weakly lurched off the stretcher.

The Doctor's eyes flew open. "Rose!" he gasped between coughs. He snatched her by the arms, and breathlessly managed a triumphant smile. "In – hibiting – enzymes!"

"What's that mean?" Rose demanded, eyes frightfully wide at the sight of him grinning.

"Means I can – fix it!" the Doctor sputtered, still seizing. "Kitchen!"

Electrified by this new good news, Jack scooped his arms underneath the Time Lord and rushed towards the kitchen, Rose struggling to keep up.

"You can fix it?" Jack exclaimed as they dashed.

"I can stimulate the inhibited enzymes into reversal and expel the viral inhibitor," the Doctor said in one quick breath.

"What?" Jack blinked, uncomprehending.

The Doctor opened his mouth to reply but choked and convulsed again, almost making Jack drop him.

"Just get him to the kitchen!" Rose wheezed, lagging behind.

"Rose," the Doctor rasped as Jack kicked open the door of the kitchen. "Ginger beer."

"Ginger beer," Rose repeated, whirling and yanking open cupboards at random.

Jack plopped the jerky Doctor onto the kitchen table. "Now what?"

Gasping, the Doctor shoved himself off the table. "I'm going to – expel it – Need protein and some – something salty."

"Expel it?" Jack reached a hand forward to steady the Doctor, but he waved Jack off. "Right then, salt it is," Jack dashed towards the cupboards.

"Not salt," the Doctor corrected with a grimace, doubling over and leaning on the table. "Salty."

"I've got it!" Rose cried, running back to the Doctor and holding a bottle out.

The Doctor snatched it from her hand, yanked off the top, took a huge gulp, and swished it in his mouth.

"Fine time to take a shower, Doc!" Jack yelled incredulously as he scanned the cupboard, casting glances over his shoulder at the Doctor pouring the beer over his head and shoulders and drenching his hair.

The Doctor spit the ginger beer onto the floor and reached a hand toward Jack, chest heaving. "Protein!"

"Salted peanuts," Jack offered, holding out a bag, "Protein and salt. Really stale but…"

The Doctor had already swallowed half the bag. As he dumped the bag into his eager mouth, the other hand opened and closed rapidly.

"Your brain's exploding?" guessed Rose in alarm.

The Doctor gulped down the peanuts. "Shock, need a shock!"

"Shock?"

"Yes," the Doctor snapped impatiently, "Surprising, confusing, unexpected, packs a punch, a real whammy – " He convulsed again, wrapping his arms around his stomach as he dry-heaved.

"I'm madly in love with you," Jack tried.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, still choking.

Rose took a deep breath. "Doctor, I meant to tell you sooner but – "

"I'll prove it!" Jack reached forward eagerly. The Doctor stepped back, shaking his head and still coughing. Flecks of red splattered on the floor.

Furiously, Rose elbowed Jack out of the way. "Doctor, I'm pregnant!"

The world seemed to stop as both men gaped at her. The Doctor froze open-mouthed where he stood, bulging eyes rocketing from her desperate face to her belly.

"And," Rose finished, peering straight into his eyes, "They're twins."

"But that's – that's imposs – " He broke off as his body shook in a heavy groan. A golden fog spewed from his lips up to the ceiling.

He collapsed onto the ground, chest still heaving, and Rose and Jack both rushed to kneel next to him.

"Are you alright?" Rose asked breathlessly, wrapping her fingers around his hand.

"Detox – all better," the Doctor gasped cheerfully. The smile dropped off his face almost instantly. "Are you – "

"No," Rose shook her head apologetically. "Thought it'd be a shock."

"Oh," the Doctor replied. He sounded vaguely disappointed. "It was."

"Shocked me anyway." Jack offered him a hand up.

The Doctor stood and brushed himself off. "Now, then…"

"Are you really alright this time?" demanded Rose.

"Yes, really! Tip-top shape, that's me." He frowned. "You on the other hand…"

She flicked a strand of hair off her face. "What's wrong?"

"You should be dead," Jack said bluntly.

"Oh." She scrunched her eyebrows together. "I thought you'd found a way around it at the last minute."

"I didn't," the Doctor said heavily.

"Then what happened?"

"The Doctor fried you with the relkan radiation to kill the virus," Jack supplied before the Doctor could say anything.

She blinked. "And I survived?"

"Yes," the Doctor whispered, "You…" His voice strengthened. "You came back. The Strain absorbed most of it, and I was able to flush the rest of the radiation and the virus out of your system."

"Which is why I'm…?"

"Covered in your own excrement? Yes."

Rose wrinkled her nose. "Mind if I change before we go anywhere else?"

The Doctor glanced down at his own grimy suit and skin and winced. "If you insist."

Jack fingered his filthy, tattered jumpsuit for a moment. Then his eyes lit up, and he shot both his friends a grin. "So who wants to shower with me first?"

Both the Doctor and Rose groaned and pushed past him without an answer.

A/N: One more chapter left...