A/N: Tuesday afternoon quickie!

Hoping to pull together the next bit to post today as well... wish me luck, though, because when I let the Doctor get technical - which he will be here - it can sometimes take a minute... I'm as tech retarded as they come... sigh... My IT support is 14 years old and has a bedtime of 10:00pm...

I know you probably wanted freakout Doctor and all ... but really, I'd much rather leave a scene like that to the imaginations of my readers. I'd rather fill in the aftermath, myself ...

Let's see if you can see the special call-out I added in there... :)

I sinceriously hope you enjoy

~~oooOOOooo~~

Her hand was warm, but so limp inside of his. Her breaths, drawing in deeply every three seconds were steady and in perfect rhythm. The beep of her single heart on the monitor bleeped slowly, but not enough to trigger off any alarms – Well that isn't to say that in the beginning the PA system wasn't belting out Code Mauve alerts every minute or so – but with a quick flip of his sonic screwdriver on the advanced and expensive monitor he quickly recalibrated it to measure only a single heart beat.

A secondary monitor secured on the highest rise of her belly pinged rapidly with their child's double hearted rhythm, every once in a while pinging out an alarm when the little one shifted or kicked and the monitor lost signal. Each ping made him smile. It seemed that his youngster was actively trying to evade the invisible soundwave signals to make his father panic.

An apple off the tree if you will…

In all, despite the frenzied terror he felt at seeing his wife bloody, pale, and unconscious on a transport gurney, everything was calm and serene for now. Rose was alive, and her prognosis excellent. Aside from a concussion that was being effectively treated by Gallifreyan technology as she slept, she and their child were healthy.

The greatest of concerns was the high saturation of Huon energies registering on the imaging scanners. The levels she was brought in with should have been fatal for a human, but Rose seemed to be tolerating it quite well. The levels had dropped significantly over the 24 hours she'd been under observation, but they were still high, and still piquing the interests of several members of the outlying radiation regulatory groups. Questions were being asked, and he certainly had no answers for them. He was rather insistent that Rose wouldn't be answering any of them once she was awake, either. No. he would keep her away from any and all of the marauding vultures that circled her in search of answers. The most important thing was that the levels had fallen, and that she was going to be fine. The where and how of the exposure, well. The two of them would work it out together and then deal with it together - without any curious council agencies sniffing around.

He ran his thumb over her knuckles and then dropped to press a kiss against them before lowering his forehead against his hand. He hadn't left her side since the moment she was admitted. He still wore the messy, dirty, bloody, crimson and gold surgical scrubs from the day before. His hair was a frightful mess, and he was quite sure that the lack of showering over the past 48 hours was lending him a rather unpleasant odour. A change of underwear was definitely in order if nothing else, but so far his request to Braxiatel to have fresh clothing sent to the hospital had yet to be answered.

A sigh against her knuckles, and a soft phrase of adoration in his native language drew a sigh from the doorway. The Doctor didn't have to shift his eyes to see who was at the door. The scent of Farrionville blossom was an immediate giveaway.

"Romana," he greeted quietly, still not looking at her. He cupped Roses hand in both of his and set his chin atop them to look at the face of his mate. "Thank you," he breathed. "For saving her."

"I'm just sorry we didn't get your message until it was too late," she offered gently, walking into the room and taking position at the other side of Rose's bed. She set a vase loaded with Schlenk blooms and silver Cadonwood leaves on the side table. "Had Brax and I been able to make it to the cottage a short time earlier, we could have prevented this."

The Doctor blinked his eyes. "If I hadn't spent so much time trying to phone her and apologise, I would have sent my message earlier," he huffed. "I don't blame you in any way, so please don't feel the need to defend yourself."

"I do feel partly to blame," she admitted. "It was me who decided that you were the one to handle the Cerulean emergencies and the call from Council." She huffed. "You're the best we have on staff, and it was a very…" she cleared her throat. "A very sensitive case."

"Of a self inflicted manner," the Doctor ground out. "And hardly something I want to waste my time on. Any doctor could have dealt with that and offered you the appropriate privacy considerations." He flicked his eyes to her, his annoyance melting into regret. "I haven't been able to spend any time with her at all, Romana. I see more of this place than I do my home and my wife. You know this. I've complained repeatedly about it." He sighed. "You could have given me the courtesy of being able to keep a promise to her."

Romana nodded. "And going forward, I guarantee that you will."

"I've taken your grounding here on Gallifrey without argument," he continued with frustration in his voice. "I set up a life and become domesticated in a manner I promised myself I never would." He sat up straight, but didn't release Rose's hand. "I took this job at the hospital with the assurance that I would still have the freedom to come and go as I please, and with the promise that I would be free to travel again by TARDIS sooner rather than later." His eyes narrowed. "Funny how none of those assurances or promises have been honoured."

"Doctor," she tried.

"Don't Doctor me," he growled. "One of the reasons I left Gallifrey in the first place is because of how I get pushed and ordered around by council." His eyes flashed angrily. "And every time I answer Mother Gallifrey's call nd do what's asked of me, council always decides they want more."

Romana was in no way intimidated nor upset by the Doctor's rant. She understood his point perfectly – How couldn't she? Their very friendship was one engineered by council design: forced together, two strangers, teacher's pet and renegade bad boy…

She held no regret for that at all, no harsh feelings toward anyone. Her friendship with this man was most prized by her. But she had to admit that they were quite fond of controlling the man, and they took whatever they could get from him.

"I'm very sorry," she murmured. Her eyes swept across the monitors. She didn't understand all of the readings, the lights, nor the beeping. "How is she?"

"Concussion," he answered simply. "Head lacerations."

"But she'll be fine?"

He shrugged. "Still monitoring the Huon exposure, and what potential long-term effects it will have on her, but I'm hopeful…" He sighed. "Based on the current readings, I'm fairly confident she'll make a full recovery."

"And the baby?"

At that he smiled. He reached out a hand to circle the bump ahead of him. "No ill effects at all. Scans show him healthy and boisterous in there."

"Him?"

He found himself grinning widely. "Rose assumed she was carrying a boy. Scans confirm it."

Her smile was warm. "Congratulations, Doctor."

Save the beeping of monitors, and the audible open-mouthed breathing of the patient there was silence in the room. They didn't speak again for a long few moments, with neither knowing what needed to be said. Finally, however, the Doctor inhaled a deep breath and sat up straight in the chair. His hands still cupped that of his wife.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

Romana chuckled softly. "I wondered at what point you may ask," she said with a smile. The smile fell quickly however. "I wish I had an answer for you. Brax and I were only there during the aftermath."

"I was told it was a crash," the Doctor muttered. "A ship from outside Gallifrey."

She nodded, but said nothing.

"Which I find rather curious," he continued. "Considering she seemed to be the only casualty." His eyes lifted to hers. "I would imagine that we would have far more patients than what was brought in." His head tilted to one side. "Were they sent to other hospitals?"

She shook her head slowly. "Rose was the only one there." She caught the mistrust in his eyes. "I assure you, Doctor, I wouldn't mislead or lie to you about this." Her eyes flicked toward Rose. "Especially when it concerns her. I know better than that."

He nodded and expressed a very quiet thanks.

"The ship was abandoned," she continued. "Not a soul – dead or alive – was detected anywhere in the craft." She blinked worriedly. "It was completely abandoned."

He lifted his head to analyse her face. Her voice wavered to the point of worry. "And yet, you're concerned?"

Her voice was a mere breath. "I am."

"What ship was it?" He asked curiously. "From what planet?"

She inhaled a deep breath before asking, wondering just what reaction she might get from him. She surely didn't want to say "Skaro". The Doctor had a very long history with the Daleks – to that point, so did she.

"I wonder, Doctor, if you would be willing to offer me some assistance?" she managed instead.

His eyes pinched. Romana refusing to answer a direct question was unheard of; therefore it was worrying. Normally he wouldn't hesitate to offer her any assistance she might need, but he was forming the impression that any assistance might require he move from this bedside – he had zer intention of doing that.

"I'm not leaving her," he warned darkly. "So don't ask."

"It's important," she ventured. "I can't trust anyone else with this."

His eyes narrowed. "I almost lost her today – my wife – because you couldn't trust anyone else with a self induced minor medical ailment of a council member. I left her alone at your request, and she almost died." His breathing was hard and his glare an unspoken threat. "I am not leaving her again."

Her head shot up at the sound of excited movement at the front entrance of the hospital. She could hear excited yaps and huffs and the ticka ticka of sharp claws on ceramic tile. "Sounds like Brax is here."

The Doctor looked toward the doorway. "And I hope with a fresh change of clothing as I requested," he huffed. "Rassilon knows I'm getting on the nose here. Hardly the condition I wish to be in when Rose wakes."

Romana gave him a smile. "You smell fine. Rose won't mind at all what condition you're in, as long as…"

"As long as I'm here," he reminded her firmly. "As in not leaving her again."

"This will be discussed," she warned as the flurry from the entrance doors finally made it into Rose's room. She jumped backward with eyes as wide as her mouth, when two large white beasts burst noisily into the room. The Male immediately sought out the Doctor, and snuffled his hip and lap excitedly in greeting. The female was at Rose's side, her front paws up on the mattress, and her snuffling nose sniffing desperately at her prone form. Up her chest and then down, past her hip. When satisfied, the wold let out a short whuff to her mate.

Together they let out a howl that swam and echoed throughout the hallways.

"Will you quiet the both of them down. Rassilon if they aren't a boisterous pair." Braxiatel snarled from the doorway. Although pristinely attired, he looked frightfully exhausted and roughened. He held up a garment bag. "As requested, Thete. A change of clothing. Not what I would have selected for you, of course, but your TARDIS was quite insistent on this outfit."

His face broke into a relieved grin. Moving around his still excited pair of wolves, he approached his brother and took the garment bag from him. "Thank you," he said with honest relief. He unzipped the bag and noticed that the TARDIS had provided him with the grey pants, silk vest and green velvet jacket that he preferred. Far more preferable, indeed, than the tailored pinstriped suits worn by his brother. "Perfect," he purred out.

There was a small dividing screen at the side of the room, and the Doctor quickly disappeared behind it to get dressed. He thankfully threw his dirty scrubs over the top of it as he undressed, scrubs that were swiftly joined by a pair of worn boxer briefs. Now naked, but wriggling into a fresh pair of boxers, he popped his head around the screen. "Can't help but notice she's wearing a pink bow," he remarked with a just of his chin toward the female wolf. "Care to explain?"

"I would not like to explain," Braxietel muttered with a lift of his hand to smooth out his hair. "But as I know that your curiosity will eat you alive, I bathed them before bringing them here."

"You did what?" the Doctor exclaimed as he walked around the screen wearing only his trousers and an undershirt. He continued talking as he slipped his arms into a white cotton button-up shirt. "How in Rassilon did you manage to give a pair of Dahramas a bath?"

"By standing behind a shield and holding a pressure washer at them," he huffed. "They were filthy, and there was no way I would be bringing them here in that horrendous state." He smiled toward the female. "I thought a pretty pink bow would finish off the look." He smiled at her. "And she likes it, look at her."

The Doctor pursed his lips and looked toward the Wolf, who was actively scratching at the bow with her paw to get rid of it. He leaned in toward his brother as he finished buttoning his waistcoat. "How many times were you bitten?"

Braxiatel moaned. "You truly don't want to know."

"Actually," he corrected with an open mouthed grin. "Yeah, I do."

Braxiatel simply rolled his eyes in response and assisted his brother in pulling on his jacket. With a sniff as the jacket was seated properly on form, he brushed across the Doctor's shoulders. "There. Now that you are dressed more appropriately for your station, shall we be off?"

The Doctor frowned. "Shall we be what?" Before Braxiatel could answer he held up a hand and shook his head. "I've already informed Romana that I am not leaving Rose's side. I don't' quite care how important you think this favour of yours is, I'm not leaving her alone."

"You won't be leaving her alone," Braxiatel argued, thrusting a hand toward the two wolves who were settling themselves quite nicely on the gurney and the chair beside the gurney. "She's got those two keeping an eye on her."

The Doctor shook his head.

Braxiatel didn't let him argue. "I had to seek very special permission to have these two brought in," he growled. "Dahramas are not exactly welcome in hospitals due to the fact they're quite frequently the reason people are here in the first place."

And I thank you for delivering them to us," the Doctor answered with a small bow. "Rose will be thankful to see them when she wakes." He lifted out of his bow. "But I'm still not coming with you. My wife – my pregnant wife – needs me, and I'm not leaving her."

Braxiatel looked around him at Rose sleeping silently on the gurney. "She's asleep," he remarked. "It's not like she's going to miss you."

The Doctor's mouth dropped. "Be Rassilon, Brax. Are your really that insensitive?"

"Indeed I am," he answered with a shrug. "And I must remark that I am somewhat stymied by your unwillingness to participate in the examination of the wreckage in which we found your wife – especially considering it was a Dalek warship."

Romana dropped her forehead into her palm, breathing out her husband's name in a long suffering manner. Across the other side of the bed, the Doctor took on a more darknened and dangerous expression. "I'm sorry," he seethed. "Did you say Dalek?"

Braxiatel looked toward the Time Lady at the other side of the room. "I thought Romana explained that to you," he half queried with a look of apology toward his wife. "Didn't you?"

"I was getting to it,' she breathed out in reply. Her eyes shifted toward the Doctor. "Rose was found inside a Dalek battle craft," she advised him as gently as she could. "She was shackled inside the main command deck…." She paused to inhale. "Alone."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean alone?"

"As in there were no Daleks onboard," she answered carefully. "You and I both know that a Dalek ship is never left unmanned. Even when docked, there is always at least one soldier onboard."

Braxiatel took up the explanation from there. "When we found Rose, there wasn't a Dalek to be found onboard at all. Search and rescue did perform scans of the entire ship, and no signs of life were present." He huffed. "Thete, there weren't even any dead or injured ones. It was empty – except for Rose, completely empty."

The Doctor's brows pinched together and his eyes narrowed. "Surface scans around the crash site?"

"Have yielded nothing," Romana answered quickly.

The Doctor started to pace. "If what you're saying is true, then there is a very high probability that we have Daleks loose on Gallifrey?"

Romana nodded. "That's my fear at any rate." She walked around the gurney and moved toward him with what looked to be a smooth glide. Once in front of him, she put her hand on the doctor's elbow. "I understand your need to be with Rose right now, Doctor. I truly, truly do." She exhaled a shaking breath. "But we are at risk of our people being attacked by Daleks. Worse, that the ones loose on Gallfrey have notified their mothership of Gallifrey's location."

"No one knows them like you do," Braxiatel added. "They fear no one like they do you."

The Doctor shot his brother a look, but said nothing.

"Romana and I need your help in analyzing some of the ships main communication components in the hope that we can find out just what we might be up against here." He sighed. "We need to find some way of being able to know what's coming, and hope to Rassilon we have enough forces to be able to stop them."

The Doctor looked toward the bed where his wife lay. His eyes fell into a soulful expression at her silent and unmoving condition under the sheets and thin blanket. His eyes shifted to the bruising around her wrist, the purple and red mass that encircled it almost completely – a perfect replica of the shackle that had caused it. Anger rushed into him at that moment.

"I'll help," he breathed out darkly. "But I have one condition."

Braxietel remained firm as his brother's furious eyes dragged across the room to look at them both, and his lips curled with disgust. "Name it,' he vowed. "And it's yours."

"You will let me destroy every last stinkin' one of them."

~~oooOOOooo~~