A/N: If anyone IS confused just PM me…though it should be relatively simple as long as I call myself a writer :P
Oh, and apologies for the out-of-characterness of especially the Ninth Doctor, I've never written as him before so he's a bit of a weak spot, I'll work on it :)
Chapter 28 – Parents To Be
The Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler, Earth,
June 2005 AD.
The Doctor loved Rose Tyler. He loved her enthusiasm for the adventure, the adrenaline in the chase and the overflowing bubbling excitement she got everytime she opened the TARDIS to a brave new world. He was so glad he had decided to go back for her, because one day – even if it wasn't with him – Rose Tyler would become something amazing.
Well, that was what was floating through his mind as he watched the human in question bounce up and down on her heels infront of him excitedly, blonde hair bouncing as she did so.
"Can we go see my mum? Pretty please Doctor? It's been ages."
"Of all the places on all the planets in all the cosmos you want to go to the Powell Estate to see your mother?" the Doctor asked disbelievingly in his Northern accent, folding leather-clad arms.
"Yeah," she answered with a nod. "Please?"
With a sigh, the Ninth Doctor turned to set the co-ordinates, wondering just how hard Jackie was going to slap him this time.
Rory Sigma-Tyler.
Rory had found the lost TARDIS.
Disoriented, he had tried to operate it to get it back to Yechia but he could hardly see the controls for the blurriness. He knew he needed medical treatment but he couldn't do it without his dad, and he was currently over twenty centuries away on a completely different planet in a completely different galaxy within a completely different solar system.
He felt the TARDIS land but who could tell where? He tried to check the monitor – too fuzzy to decipher. Was he concussed or just temporarily disoriented? Either way, he had to get back to his dad.
Stepping out of the TARDIS he blinked to focus his vision, wandering forwards slightly in a daze. He almost walked straight into the blue wood of the second TARDIS he seemed to have conveniently landed by.
Okay, so this wasn't Yechia, but it was the next best thing – his parents. Even if theywere his past parents he could probably get some help, work his way around it. The TARDIS would help; he knew she would. She knew of his existence from the moment she was born, as of every other living being in the Universe.
He pushed against the door, which swung open surprisingly easily. Rory silently thanked the TARDIS, limping along the ramp holding his head before finally looking up to the occupants within.
Okay, he wasn't expecting that.
The man in the leather jacket stepped forward to confront him, just in time to catch the boy in his arms as he collapsed into unconsciousness.
"Whoa!" Rose gasped, running forward towards the boy as the Ninth Doctor turned back to her, quickly setting the body on the ground and checking him over. "I'll call an ambulance!"
"Wait," the Doctor said quickly, whipping out the Sonic Screwdriver and adjusting the setting, pressing the light blue tip against the bleeding area. "There isn't enough time. Severe bleeding – acute subdural hematoma. Quickly get him to the Infirmary; keep the Sonic Screwdriver against his head, I need to check something."
Rose nodded, taking the boy to the Infirmary quickly. She disappeared out the door, and the Doctor turned back to the monitor with a frown evident on his face, tapping at some random buttons. It wasn't…could it be? No…his senses had to be affected by something in some way, they had to…
His eyes widened as he read the results on the monitor.
Not quite sure what he was feeling, the Doctor turned to go to the Infirmary.
Lifeform Scan: Human (x1) Time Lord (x2).
Rory's head hurt.
No, it really hurt.
He groaned as he began to come to, opening heavy eyes to meet his mum's gaze above him. It took him a few moments to recall where he was and what had happened, watching her reel slightly at the sight of his golden eyes before reasserting herself.
"Feeling better?" she asked, smiling down at him. She was holding his hand, and for that he was grateful. He opened his mouth to speak but found it impossible, so he settled for just blinking directly at her. She smiled. "Good. Don't be scared, we're gonna take good care of you, okay? The Doctor's checking your scans now.
If it was anyone else checking his scans Rory would've jumped up immediately and pelt it to the nearest exit – but this was the Doctor, and so maybe he'd receive the education of another Time Lord a little early, but if needs be Rory could block both his parent's memories at their consent.
"Can you speak?" his mum was asking, "what's your name?"
He concentrated on forming the word. "Rory," he finally muttered weakly, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them once more.
"Can you remember what happened?"
"Crash," he answered, wincing at some more pain. She looked concerned.
"D'you want somethin' to kill the pain? Penicillin? Aspirin?" she questioned, looking up at the Doctor as he wandered towards them both, a sheet of paper in hand.
"No, bad. Dad says we're ana…anaphylactic."
This seemed to grab the Doctor's attention, and he sat down on the edge of the bed staring into Rory's eyes.
"Bad results?" Rory asked tentively, giving a small grin. The Doctor took a deep breath.
"Well, excluding your golden eyes: you've got an extra spleen; your red blood cell count is high enough to be equal to a human's at high altitude; your lungs are smaller than a human's, leaving enough room to grow another organ in your chest; allergy to penicillin...and that's only the beginning."
He gave Rory a long, hard stare.
"You're a Time Lord Human, on your first body."
Rory just stared back for a moment.
"Yes."
Suddenly the Doctor's hard stare turned into a goofy grin, setting the paper aside as he drew the boy Time Lord into a hug. "That's fantastic!" he was yelling in delight, "I knew it!"
Rose was beaming too as the Doctor drew back. "Where you from?" his dad asked.
"The future," Rory answered simply, wondering if he should really be spilling this much information to parents so far in the past his dad hadn't regenerated yet.
"How far?"
He paused. "What ye…year is this?"
"2005 AD."
"Three years. My m…mum and dad are stu…stuck, can you take…me ho…home?"
The Doctor's grin slowly started to melt. "Your…parents," he repeated slowly, and even though he hadn't voiced it, Rory knew it was slotting seamlessly into place in the Doctor's mind.
But for Rose, it wasn't so apparent. "Doctor! That means there's another couple of Time Lords wanderin' about right now!"
"Not quite, Rose," the Doctor said, staring into Rory's golden eyes. "I'd have preferred not to have known that but since I now know, I might as well hear the story. You don't look much like me. Regeneration?
Rose's jaw dropped as Rory affirmed, "yeah. Gran says I lo…look a lot like him." The Doctor suddenly realised 'gran'…implied Jackie Tyler. He struggled not to wince.
Rose's head however, was spinning.
"Re-what? Looks like you? Are you sayin' what I think you're sayin'?"
The Doctor looked up, grinning once more. "Rose Tyler, you're as sharp as a tack." He turned back to Rory. "And I'm presuming…?"
Rory nodded to confirm Rose's impending motherhood. Rose's jaw finally hit the floor with a thud.
"That's…that's…" she stuttered, shocked. "Wow."
"Well until you can walk you're not really gonna be able to do much," the Doctor said, lifting Rory's hurting foot and setting it gently down on top of a cushion resting on the cover before buzzing away merrily with the Sonic. "It's fractured, but with your recovery rate healing should be pretty quick. I'd give you a week until you're well enough to move around."
"Thanks a lo…lot, mum, dad," Rory said with a thankful smile, closing his eyes as slept overpowered him. The Doctor and Rose gazed at each other, the matter of visiting Jackie Tyler suddenly forgotten with this new predicament.
Mum…and…dad?
There was a brief moment of silence between them, before the Doctor turned, and began to treat his son's injured foot.
Rose Sigma-Tyler and family, Earth, March 2007 AD.
The morning after the Rose's husband had left with Herno one felt much like talking.
The Tyler flat was completely silent during breakfast, only occasionally broken by the odd request to "pass the jam". Move on, he had said. But how could she? She had just finished feeding his second child and now Rory wanted to play a game – she supposed it was good in a way to take her mind off of it, but nothing could stop her thinking of that huge, awful gap in her heart where once the Doctor sat forever.
But then at 2:00pm in the afternoon, something extraordinary happened.
First of all there was a knock at the door. Jack was the first to get up, moving to the front door and pulling it open.
And stared at nothing. He blinked, surprised, before he turned, and made to go back inside again.
Then something wailed.
His gaze was instantly ripped down to the floor, surprise and bewilderment at what he saw. He fell to his knees, picking up the small baby lying on the doorstep, crying their heart out.
"Jack, what is it?" Rose called from inside, and he heard footsteps coming up behind him as he rose to his feet, still holding the crying baby carefully. "That sounds like…"
He turned, and she stopped dead in her tracks.
"…One of them," she finished blankly. "Where'd they come from?" she asked, moving inside as Jack shut the door behind them both. She sat down on the sofa for a moment, just holding the child. "Where's the parents?"
Jack was the first to notice the slip of paper tucked inside the blankets, withdrawing it and opening it carefully.
"Her name's Zoë," he read aloud, "please look after her. One day you'll understand."
