XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxxXxXxx

Chapter 27 - A Ring in the Middle of the Night

It was really early in the morning. The sun had not begun to rise. The Doctor and Rose had went to bed after all of the wine was gone. It had been extremely late, and they had been very drunk. They both had snuggled up to one another still nude. It was one of the most peaceful night's sleep either one of them had enjoyed in a long time.

The Doctor's phone rang on the nightstand.

The Doctor rubbed his face as he leaded over to turn on the lamp and picked up his phone. Rose was sleeping on his chest. She grumbled as he moved.

"Who is it at this hour?" she asked him.

He rubbed his face to make his eyes focus. "It's Tony!" he said, surprised.

Rose pulled the duvet up to her chin. And lay her head on the Doctor's shoulder. He glanced at her to make sure she was covered as he accepted the call.

The image of the little boy filled the screen.

"Hey Comrade. What's the matter?" the Doctor asked him.

"I'm sorry to wake you up. Where is your shirt?" he asked.

"I got hot so I took it off. You don't ever sleep without a shirt?" the Doctor asked him.

Rose giggled.

"I read something. Is it true?" Tony asked him.

The Doctor's heart sank. He knew what he was about to ask him. "I don't know. Ask me and I'll tell you if it's true or not."

"You won't lie to me?" Tony asked him.

The Doctor got very serious. "Tony. I would never. Ever. Lie to you. You are my brother. You can trust me, when you can't trust no one else. Now, what's wrong?"

Tony held up a newspaper. The headline read, "Rose Tyler Dead."

Why hadn't he thought of this? The kid could read after all. Of course, Pete wouldn't have thought to tell him. How can you explain something like that to a nearly 4 year old child?

"Listen, Comrade. It's not true. Rose is just fine. She's right here with me. See?" He turned the phone so he could see Rose.

"She looks dead." he told the Doctor.

The Doctor laughed and moved his shoulder to wake Rose up a bit. "Rose Tyler. Tell your brother that you are alright."

She waved her hand at him and said, "Tony, I'm totally alright. It's the middle of the night. I'm asleep."

"But, the newspaper says that she's dead. Why would it lie?"

The Doctor explained. "Comrade. Newspapers lie all of the time. Some poor girl was killed that looks like Rose. That's all. Everyone is going to make a big deal about it because everyone loves your sister. People might ask you about it."

"What should I say?"

"Oh, these are hard questions, Comrade." he said as he rubbed his face to wake himself up more. "Tell them that you don't want to talk about it. Works for me! Simply, 'I don't want to talk about it'. That should stop the questions."

Tony nodded his head.

"What are you doing up so early anyway?"

"I wanted something to drink. Howie said I could get up and get some Adam's Ale if I wanted in the middle of the night."

"What is Adam's Ale?" the Doctor asked the boy.

"Water. I think. That's what it tastes like." Tony told him.

The Doctor laughed. "That actually sounds good. I might get up and get some myself. Look Tony. And listen to me very carefully. Are you listening?"

"Yes."

"You are going to hear some scary things in the next few days. About Rose. Don't worry about any of it. None of it will be true. I'm here with her and she's safe. Remember, I'm the one that all the monsters are scared of. As long as she's with me, she's alright. And I'm not leaving her. Understand?"

He nodded his head. "But does that mean I'm safe?"

"Damn this kid is clever." the Doctor said under his breath making Rose smile.

"Now, Tony. Do you remember what I told you love meant?"

"That it is a promise." Tony told him.

He smiled. "That's right, Comrade. A promise that you will always take care and protect someone. And what did you ask me after that?"

"I wanted to know if you loved me." he smiled as he started to dance around a bit.

The Doctor laughed at him. "That's right. And I told you, what?"

"You said you did." Tony said as he covered his face up with his hands. He reminded the Doctor of Rose in that moment.

The Doctor smiled. "And I do. A lot Tony. You remind me of someone who was so very important to me. Now, you are the one who is so important. I would never leave you if I thought you were not safe. Not ever. Do you believe me?"

"Yes, Doctor. I do." Tony smiled at him.

"I have some people that are going to introduce themselves to you in the morning, Tony. They are my good friends. One of them is named Poltoius. They are monster hunters, too. Okay? You are safe, but they will help keep you even safer. Understand?"

"Yes." the little boy smiled as he danced around.

"Okay. Go on back to sleep. I'm going to get up and get some water. Call me if you need me."

"Okay, Doctor. I love you." Tony said.

Rose felt her heart melt.

"I love you, Comrade. Everything is going to be okay."

Tony ended the call.

Rose felt anger suddenly from the Doctor.

"Oh my god, calm down." she told him.

"I'm okay." he told her as he got up and put on his dressing gown.

"Oh, no you aren't. I don't think I've ever felt you that mad." Rose told him.

"Damn, I forget you can feel that. That damn Poltoius. What the hell is he doing? How could he let Tony see that? Doesn't he know he can read?"

"Who the hell is Poltoius?" Rose asked him.

The Doctor tied his bathrobe, and stood next to the bed with his hands on his hips. He looked extremely cross, but also deep in thought.

"Tony's bodyguard. He's a Quauhtin. He's been in the shadows. Tony has never seen him."

Rose raised her head and looked at him. "Really? They can do that?"

"Yeah, your Mom, Pete and Jake have them too."

"How do you know that?" she asked him.

"I'm a Time Lord, Rose. Very little gets by me."

He was enraged. He was chewing his bottom lip and running both of his hands through his hair.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked him. "You look crazy!"

"Counting to ten before I go cuss someone out."

"Is it working?" she asked.

"No!" he said as he stormed out of the room.

He went into the sitting room and put on his clothes that still lay in the floor. He walked out into the hallway to find Lewis and Sam.

"Sir!" they both stood up when he came out in the hallway.

"I need to talk to Shakes. Is he asleep?" he asked.

"No, sir. He just came out here." Lewis told him.

The Doctor knocked on the door to the bodyguards' room. Shakes answered the door.

"Doctor! What's the problem? Come in." Shakes told him as he stepped inside.

"I just got a call from Tony Tyler. He just finished reading the headline that Rose had died in a newspaper. He was upset and scared! What the hell is Poltoius doing?" he shouted.

Shakes stood there. "I'll find out. That shouldn't have happened."

"I told Tony that Poltoius was there. He will introduce himself to him in the morning." The Doctor demanded. "He's scared and I can't be there with him!"

"I agree. That will help the boy if he is knows he is there."

The Doctor ran his hand through his hair. "Keep an eye on him. There's no telling what these people are capable of. He's only a toddler. Barely out of the cot!"

Shakes walked over and lay his hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "Warrior. I will take care of this. Go back to your Nehyta."

The Doctor nodded his head as he calmed down a bit. "Alright. Thank you, Shakes."

He left and went back to the penthouse. As he walked back in the bedroom, Rose raised up and asked him. "Better?"

"Yeah, I suppose so. Shakes is taking care of it." He told her as he ran his hands through his hair again.

"Come here, sweetheart. Try to get some more sleep."

"Ah, I'm too worked up for that now." he said.

"Have you checked on the TARDIS? Turned down its' growth yet?"

He snapped his fingers. "No, I could do that! But really Rose. Are you sure you want me to turn it down? I mean, it's going to take forever for it to grow."

"From what you said, it is going to damage it. This is the only shot you have at this. I am not mad about it like you were so worried I would be, but I will be mad if you continue being so reckless with your only shot at having a TARDIS again. So, go turn it down."

He rubbed his beard that was more pronounced than she had ever seen it. "Ugh...alright. I'll do it. For you. But, I don't agree with it. I think we need to get out of here as soon as possible."

"You're not running away, anymore." she reminded him.

"This isn't running away, it's escaping." he told her.

"Same thing!" she yelled at him.

He stopped arguing and looked at her. "It's your TARDIS. I'll do it if you want." he told her.

"And stop talking like that! You are driving me crazy!" she told him as she fell back in the bed dramatically.

He went back into the living room and pulled the box out of his pocket. He took the lid off of the box and climbed inside. Everything looked great. He made the adjustment to the shatterfry of the plasmic shell slightly. He didn't want to change the growth acceleration too much at one time. He didn't want to change it at all! He wouldn't know how much it had affected it for a few days.

He wiggled out of the box and stood up. Rose was standing in the doorway wearing her dressing gown.

He looked at her. "Can you still hear it?"

"Yeah. It sounds like a hum, in my head. It's strange."

"Like my TARDIS? That humming in your head?"

"Yeah, but different. Almost like it has a different voice. Is it supposed to be that way?"

He looked surprised. "I don't know. I suppose so. It is a different TARDIS, after all. Come here. You can see it." he told her.

She walked over and kneeled down on the floor next to him and looked in the box.

"How in the world are you running a computer in there? Do you have power in that box?"

"Oh, sure let's explain everything to take the mystery out of it." He complained. "Rose, the TARDIS is on the table. In the tank. Can you see it?"

"It's beautiful. It looks like the coral that ran through the old TARDIS."

"That's exactly it. You can probably hear it more in your head if you touch it. Go ahead, climb in and touch it."

She laughed. "Oh no way, mister! My ass won't fit into that tiny box!"

He laughed at her. "I fit in the box!"

"You are way thinner than me. Have you seen yourself? You are proper skinny!" Rose told him.

He laughed at her. "Okay, fine. Another time."

He flipped the box back over and put the lid back on it.

The Doctor rubbed his hands together. "You know what? I hate to admit it, but Jackie is probably awake. You need to call her before she sees the news."

"Oh my god, you are right!" Rose told him. She spun around and picked her phone up off the coffee table.

"How's your head?" he asked her.

"It aches a bit. I've been worse."

"On a scale of 1 to 10?" he asked her.

She put her hand to her head, "I think a 6 maybe."

"Come here. Let me do something."

She looked at him apprehensively. She walked over to him and he put his hands on her head and closed his eyes. She felt a strange humming in her head, then it was as if there was a pop in her brain.

"Ah!" she yelled.

He looked immediately concerned, "Are you okay?" His eyes were as round as saucers.

She held her head. "Yeah. That was weird. What did you do?"

"The same thing I did to myself at Howie's yesterday. I forced your liver to push out the extra acetalaldehyde. You should feel better in a few minutes."

He tapped her phone she held in her hand. "Ring your Mum. I'm going back to bed."

He ran his hand through his hair as he walked back into the bedroom. "And I don't want to talk to her! This isn't my mess!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Jackie hadn't gotten out of bed and seen at the news yet. She was extremely grateful that Rose had called her to fill her about the news report. She was angry with Pete, of course. The Doctor was mentioned as she started listing off everyone that she was going to give a proper slap.

"Mum, he got me up and told me to call you so you wouldn't worry! It's the middle of the night here!" Rose sortof lied to her Mum.

"Oh. Then I'll probably forgive him, then. But, oh that Pete is going to get it. This sounds like some crap that Howie dreamed up."

Rose rolled her eyes that her Mum was now determined to slap the President of the United States. Thank goodness she was still in London at the mansion. And from her coughing fits, she was still very sick. Pete and Howie were safe from Jackie for a few more days.

After Rose hung up with her Mum, she turned off the lights in the sitting room and went back to bed. The Doctor was already there, laying on his side. He had taken off his jeans, and was in his t-shirt and pants. Rose climbed into the bed next to him. She only wearing her thin, cotton dressing gown.

"Are you asleep?" she asked him.

"Uhhh..." he grunted.

"Mum is not going to slap you. You're off the hook. She appreciated you having me call her."

He smiled. "She's going to kill Pete. I might help her." he told Rose as he lay there with his eyes closed.

Rose lay down. He wrapped his arms around her and helped her pull the duvet back on her. He never opened his eyes through the entire thing. He pulled her in close to him and then he got still.

"How do you do that without looking? That's weird." she asked him quietly.

"I'm a Time Lord. I'm weird. Now, go to sleep." he told her.

She laughed at him. She noticed he chuckled behind her as well.

XxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXXXxxxx