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Chapter 2 – Rose's Birthday Gift

It was the middle of the night. Tony lay between Rose and the Doctor. All three of them slept peacefully. Suddenly, Tony sat up and shouted, "John!"

Rose sprang straight up in the bed, "Lights at 25%!" The lights came up in the bedroom.

She looked back and the Doctor had his arms wrapped around Tony. "I'm here. You're safe."

Tony cried in his sleep and held the Doctor tightly.

Rose covered her mouth as tears formed in her eyes.

The Doctor glanced up at her. "He's going to be alright." He kissed his forehead. "Let's keep the lights up. That will help."

Sam started to cry from his cot. Rose got out of bed and picked him up. He calmed down as soon as she picked him up and sat down in the chair to rock him again.

She looked back over at the bed and saw the Doctor had pulled Tony onto his chest. He cupped Tony's face and held up his head. Rose watched as he closed his eyes and telepathically joined with Tony. She looked confused back at him, but didn't want to interrupt him. Every so often, he would raise his head up and kiss Tony's forehead. He would whisper, "You are safe."

Rose watched Sam sleep and must have dozed off herself. She woke up and the Doctor was taking Sam out of her arms. He lay him down in his cot and helped her stand up. He held her as her legs began to wake up.

He chuckled at her. "I've got you. The tingling will stop in just a minute."

"I can't believe I fell asleep in the chair." She told him quietly.

He carried her to the bed and laid her down. Tony slept peacefully again. The Doctor lay down and she positioned her head on his chest. "I feel like entire body had fallen asleep." She groaned.

"Falling asleep in a chair does not promote a restful sleep."

She rolled her eyes. "I would have married a Doctor."

"The Doctor. There is a difference." He told her as he held her with his eyes closed.

She ran her hand across his chest. She mocked him, "The Doctor."

He laughed at her.

"What were you doing to my little brother? He's not telepathic."

He didn't open his eyes. "I was looking in his mind. He was dreaming he was back there, so I came back to rescue him again. He's dreaming he's at Disney World with me and you now. He needs to get his adrenaline down."

Rose smiled. "He's lucky to have you."

He kissed the side of her head. "You are wide awake now. I'm sorry that I woke you, but I couldn't let you remain in that chair."

She rubbed his chest, "I wish I could go for a run. That's what I would love right now."

His face broke into a smile. "A run. That does sound good."

She rose up and looked at him. "I feel that. What are you up to?"

He continued to smile like a loon. "Oh, I'm not telling. It's a surprise. Put on your running clothes. Lance and Legate will be down to get you. Timon is on the ship and he'll show you how to use it."

She smiled at him, "You got me a surprise?"

"I've had the engineers working on it since we docked. It's something I think you will love. Happy birthday."

She leaned down and kissed him. "You are full of surprises. I love you, Baby."

He laughed under her kiss. "The oldest baby there ever was. Go ahead, I need to stay with Tony. These rotten children of ours will probably be awake in about an hour. Take your time. Have fun."

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Legate, Lance and Rose appeared on the transport pad of the Doctor's Ship. Rose could feel that Legate was nervous about something he wasn't speaking of.

He clapped his hands together, nervously when they arrived. "Alright! Let's do this."

He ran out of the transport room. Timon stepped out from behind the panel and laughed. "He's wound up."

Lance smiled. "I would be, too. John's never paneled before. No one knows what to expect."

Rose held up her hand. "I'm sorry, what?"

Lance pointed at the door Legate had just disappeared though. "Quauhtin are relieved of duty in the event one of their charges are injured or taken. It's left up to the Primus in charge to decide the punishment."

"Tony being taken wasn't Legate's fault." Rose told them.

Timon shook his head. "He was his primary charge last night. Now, he is John's. Summus told Legate to wait to report it. He thought they would be able to find him quickly. But…."

"None of us know Tony's GPS number. John won't give it to us."

"Why not?" Rose asked.

Timon shook his head. "I don't know."

Rose smacked Lance in the chest. It caused him to jump. "Well, I would think that would be oblivious! He knows you are going to keep it from him if something happens."

Lance was at a loss for words. "Well….. uh…."

Rose rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. "Idiots."

Timon pointed at Lance. "She has a point."

Lance shook his head. "I have no opinion with this. Neutrality is going to keep me out of trouble."

Timon laughed, "Says the man running the pool. I want in on that."

Lance nodded his head and laughed. "Right." He called out of the doorway. "Oh! Rose! Wait a bit. Timon needs to show you how to use that!"

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Rose walked into the exercise room with Timon and Lance. She walked over to the treadmill she had always used before. Timon shook his head. "Rose. This is your new treadmill over here."

She turned to see a large indention in the wall. There was a dark track system on the floor. Timon stood next to it. It didn't look like much, but she went ahead and stepped inside. Timon pressed a panel in front of her. "Alright. Let me explain. The engineer took some plans that John had drew up. It's rather neat. I've already been playing with it. You press here to turn it on and select your environment."

"My what? Environment?"

Timon pressed a few buttons on a screen in the wall in front of her and the walls to her sides and in front of her lit up to revel they were actually screens. She felt as if she was standing on a trail in a forest. Wind gently blew in her face.

"Oh, this is ridiculously cool." She smiled.

Timon smiled, "You can adjust everything. The weather, so if you like to run when it's misty, or hot, cold. Whatever. It won't rain or snow, but John didn't think you would like that anyway."

"This is so great."

Timon continued, "These buttons here have preprogrammed tracks to run. So, if you want to run….say in a city. You click this." A city appeared on the screens in front of Rose. "You can adjust the time of day…" He clicked something else and night turned to day. "The track resists with the trails when you go up a hill, and the artificial gravity here will be stronger to make it feel real."

Rose was thrilled. "I may never get off of this thing. Wow."

Timon smiled. "Try it out. I'll just be over here in case you need help with anything."

Rose clicked a few buttons and started running through a cavern. The cool air and mist made her forget she was on a ship. She giggled, "This is so amazing."

She reached out and spoke to the Doctor, 'Baby, this is so amazing. I love it.'

She could feel him smile. 'You are so amazing. I know you prefer running through a forest rather than on a treadmill.'

She giggled, 'Oh, I do. I'm running through a cavern now.'

'Oh, that would be fun. Enjoy it, sweetheart.'

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