Back again! Enjoy the fallout of Rose telling the Doctor she is pregnant and Sarah Jane in the mix. Keep me updated in the comments!
The Surprising Confidant
Rose sat still in the backseat of Sarah Jane's car, barely able to hold back tears. Immediately after the Krillitane attacked them outside the diner, the Doctor had spun into action, announcing that they were going to head to Sarah Jane's to strategize and that he would get the TARDIS over there himself right now. And with that, he had left, leaving Rose standing there dumbfounded, and Sarah Jane looking a bit mollified at suddenly having three unexpected house guests, one of whom she was having trouble bringing herself to accept.
As the older woman ushered them to her car with a shake of her head, Rose found herself stull unable to process the Doctor's behavior, and more than a little mad about it. She had expected some sort of reaction, not that complete ignorance of the matter he had just displayed.
"Are you okay back there?" Sarah Jane asked, breaking the silence that had developed in the car.
"Yeah," Rose murmured, realizing what she had been doing subconsciously for the past few minutes. It didn't seem as if Mickey noticed and she hoped Sarah Jane hadn't either. Sitting with her legs pulled up to her chest, Rose had her hand on her stomach, thinking about the fact that she wanted his baby and its father clearly did not.
There was a silence for a long while as Rose tried to look out the window, but kept on just staring at the back of Sarah Jane's head. She just wanted to know what the older woman was thinking. Was this whole situation as hard for her as it was for Rose?
Thankfully, they pulled up to Sarah's house and all got out of the car, awkwardly shuffling in a single file line to the front door.
"I'm going to put some tea on," Sarah Jane announced. "Knowing the Doctor, we will probably have to wait a bit before he pilots the TARDIS here."
As they waited for the Doctor, Mickey headed to the bathroom and Rose felt the tension fill the room as Sarah Jane studied her. "Must be hard," Sarah Jane said, turning to go to the kitchen as Rose hesitantly followed. "Having a relationship back on Earth while traveling with the Doctor."
Rose tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, her lips puckering. "I don't…" she said, glancing around the room for a moment. "Have one."
"Oh, I must be mistaken then," Sarah Jane announced, clearly not meaning what she said. "Figured you and Mickey were an item."
However, after a silence that was extremely awkward, Sarah Jane turned to actually make the tea. Rose sat down at the kitchen table, examining her nails as she waited for the sound of the TARDIS. Thankfully, it was only a few minutes before the noise sounded, causing Rose to jump out of her seat and Sarah Jane to turn around with a smile on her face.
"The Doctor back yet?" Mickey asked, walking into the room as he scratched his head, carrying a laptop from his bag with him. "I am going to be hacking into the system to find out more stuff tonight and I need a password."
"Cheese," the Doctor said as he walked through the open door to the garden where he had parked the TARDIS. "Uppercase C," he answered Mickey, who nodded and scrambled out of the room, clearly thankful he would be occupied tonight instead of the awkward encounters that were sure to take place between the Time Lord and his companions of both past and present.
"Tea?" Sarah Jane asked, setting three cups down at the table after a moment when no one answered.
Rose just had her eyes trained on the Doctor, wondering if he was ever going to acknowledge her. So far it seemed as if that wasn't true, and that was making her quite upset. "Sure," she mumbled, sitting down next to Sarah Jane and trying hard to blink away the tears that had suddenly started forming in the corners of her eyes. Out of nowhere, the Doctor's head whipped towards her, his expression nothing like the one of apology she was yearning for.
"Rose ate the chips!" the Doctor said, his eyes lighting up as he looked at the blonde.
That statement found confusion forming in both Sarah Jane and Rose as they looked on at the Doctor with blank stares.
"That must be what they are using to enhance the kids intelligence," he asserted. "We both did think they tasted a bit off."
"Umm," Rose began, about to say that she didn't actually eat any of them when the Doctor sent her a sharp look. "Oh yeah," she lied, wondering what the Doctor was up to. "Why does it matter if I ate them?"
The Doctor reached up and rubbed his eyes, speaking up again. "I think I should run a quick test on you, Rose," the Doctor exclaimed. "You know, to make sure the chips aren't negatively affecting anything."
"Oh, yeah," Rose agreed, sure that the Doctor would be instead scanning to ensure she was actually pregnant instead. "Now?"
"Yep," the Doctor answered as Rose got up from her chair and walked towards the Time Lord. The two of them left Sarah Jane sitting in her kitchen and exited the room, though both knew the woman was smart and must eventually realize if she hadn't already that there was an ulterior motive to the scan.
The silence was practically palpable as Rose followed the Doctor out the door towards the TARDIS. However, when they got back inside of the ship, Rose just had to say something. "I didn't actually eat the chips."
"Obviously," the Doctor responded in a cool tone that cut through Rose like a knife. He then beckoned her after him towards what she was sure to be the infirmary. "If you would just sit down there," the Doctor explained as he nodded towards the hospital bed set up once they reached the infirmary.
"Can't you just scan with your sonic?" Rose asked in a whisper, unsure if it was a good idea to talk or not.
"Doesn't have a setting for it," the Doctor explained in a cool tone as he fiddled with things behind Rose. "Never really thought I'd have a reason to make one…" he mumbled to himself.
Rose stayed silent, wondering what she should be saying after all. While she waited, she wondered if the Doctor would act professionally cold like a doctor or actually acknowledge who she was again. She knew the answer would probably be the former, but she could hope couldn't she? His distance was killing her, and she wished he would just grow up already and face her.
"Don't move," the Doctor ordered, coming over next to her with some odd metal device.
Rose sighed, not able to hold her tongue any longer. "How does this work?" she asked just to have something to say. "I mean, how is it so superior to the ones they use in… in my time I guess?"
"Is basically the same thing," the Doctor explained with a sigh, running the scanner over Rose for a moment until a beep sounded. "Just easier without any of that gel…" he stopped, acting like himself for just a moment. "First of all it is actually cold and is just plain messy. And it really isn't as necessary as they think it is. Just wait until the twenty-second century when the whole medical process changes."
After a moment, Rose couldn't help but let out a giggle despite the tense situation. "Yeah I know just how primitive we apes are," Rose commented.
"You aren't all that bad," the Doctor answered, clearly distracted, as he pulled out another metal machine and started scanning it with his sonic. Several minutes later, the Doctor sighed, and sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. "Finished."
"Already?" Rose asked, spinning around to look right at the Doctor. "I mean, what did it say?"
The Doctor stood up, running a hand through his hair as he did so. "Looks like you are almost two months," the Doctor explained. "I'm not really all that specialized in this area, so I don't know as much as I could."
"Well, what else do you know?" Rose mumbled, fiddling with her shirt as she spoke.
"Everything looks fine right now," the Doctor said, averting his eyes from Rose's. "But I really don't know what to expect since I've never heard of a half Time Lord and human being. So we should just keep a tight eye on everything and that is all we can do for now," he paused, shuffling his feet before he spoke again. "And it's a girl."
"Oh," Rose squeaked out, her hand covering her mouth in surprise and tears forming in her eyes at the realization of how real this was becoming beyond just her own secret. "I didn't think you would know that yet."
Looking down at the ground, the Doctor mumbled a response. "Sorry, I should have asked if you even wanted to know yet."
Unable to stand the tension any longer, Rose stood up and wrapped her arms around the Doctor, pressing her face up against his jacket. She wished he had been the one to initiate it, but as long as he didn't push her away she was fine. Still, it would have been nice if he would have done a bit more than pat her back awkwardly.
"Why don't you go drink that tea Sarah Jane made?" the Doctor suggested as he pulled out of the hug a lot sooner than he usually would have. "I'm going to study the results a little longer, make sure you are both okay."
"You don't need me for anything?" Rose asked, sucking in a breath as she looked at him. "Can we just…talk?" she finished, wincing at her terrible word choice. "Please?"
"Not now, okay?" the Doctor responded, playfully pushing Rose away as he turned back to the machines that he was studying. "I need to be alone right now."
Rose paused for a moment, enjoying the image of the Doctor as he put on his sexy specs. Knowing he wasn't going to change his mind, Rose turned and walked out of the TARDIS towards the stranger that the Doctor used to know.
"The Doctor is busy doing science-y stuff," Rose explained as she came up to Sarah Jane and sat down next to her at the table, putting on a fake smile.
"Still spend a lot of time working on the TARDIS?" the older woman asked with a knowing glance in Rose's direction.
"Oh, all the time," Rose huffed out, running a hand through her hair. Perhaps she had more in common with this woman than she thought? "Always complains that I sleep too much but I honestly don't know when he would do all of his so-called repairs if he didn't do them sometimes in the middle of the night."
Sarah Jane cocked her head to the side before she spoke again. "I swear he doesn't sleep."
"Trust me, there have been times when I wake up hours before him and try to be intentionally loud in the room and he doesn't stir a bit," Rose laughed, knowing that was a particular incident when the Doctor hadn't slept in a week and he usually was up running around hours before her.
Making an odd face at something Rose had said, the woman spoke up again. "A mess of contradictions," she laughed.
Right as Rose was about to respond, she felt her stomach turn again. She had been feeling nauseous all day, but in that moment she got up from the table and ran to the bathroom, making sure to lock the door behind her as she got sick.
It appeared Rose's disappearance was barely noticed, as when she returned the trio was all at work: Sarah Jane messing with some buttons on K-9, the Doctor building some sort of technology device, and Mickey frantically typing away on the laptop. Rose felt mildly useless as she sunk into her chair and sipped her now tepid tea, keeping her gaze on the Doctor, but he never even glanced her direction
…
The first thing Rose was aware of was the fact that something cold was touching her face. Swatting that away, she realized someone was screaming.
Oh, she realized a moment later, it was her that was screaming.
Slowly opening her eyes, she only became more panicked. "Stop it," she shrieked, pushing away what she now realized to be the Doctor's hands once more. However, that only caused the alien to wrap his arms around her tighter as she fought against him.
"Shhh," the Doctor crooned into her ear. "It's okay, I'm here. It was just a dream," he repeated like a mantra as she continued to scream.
Eventually her throat got tired and she started sobbing, finally pressing her face against the Doctor's neck as she wrapped her arms around him for what felt like hours until she got control over herself.
"Help me," she whispered with a hoarse voice as she continued to shake. "They are trying to hurt you, Doctor."
"What happened?" the Doctor asked, his hands rubbing soothing circles on her back. "Was it a nightmare?"
Rose glanced up for the first time, noticing Mickey and Sarah Jane hovering a few feet away and the fact that the Doctor had pulled her into his lap. She must have fallen asleep at the table and someone, presumably Mickey, had moved her to the couch. The clock read almost 5 in the morning, but the signs of life and an all nighter of research were evidenced by the tired human eyes and smell of coffee in the air. "These things," she answered, not even able to describe them. "They took me. They took me away from you and trapped me all alone. And it is a trick…it is all a trick."
"Took you where?" the Time Lord asked, concern filling his voice. "Who?" he paused, pushing the hair out of her face. "You are right here, Rose," he finished, his brow furrowing as he tried to comprehend what she was saying. "And I would find out if someone was trying to trick me, okay? If they took you there, how are you here right now?"
"No, no I'm not here," she argued as she thought back, trying to remember more. It wasn't just a dream, she was sure of that. It was a white room, all alone. "I'm not…" she argued, knowing how irrational she was sounding. She couldn't begin to explain it and the whole situation sounded sillier every time she said it out loud. It was like a dream slipping away, the feeling that she wasn't really here. With every passing moment she felt more real and like herself.
"It was just a dream," Sarah Jane countered as she looked at Rose with concern. "I'm getting you some tea, Rose."
Shaking her head, Rose moved impossibly closer to the Doctor. "It was real," she argued. "I know it was," she finished. "But I can't explain it."
"I wouldn't let someone take you," the Doctor answered as he kissed the top of her head. "I promise," he said, his voice saying something altogether different.
No, she wanted to scream at him. You say that but you don't mean it. You'll dump me off at home at the drop of a hat, and the two situations aren't much different really. Both end up the same way. Me without you, and I don't want to live with that.
Her resolve set, she allowed herself to relax back into the Doctor's arms, just for the moment before he released her and she followed him back to the hard kitchen chair. She accepted the tea Sarah Jane gave her and settled in next to Mickey, helping him read the hacking results, all the while thinking "Try as you might Doctor, but you won't be rid of me that easy. I won't let you go without a fight."
So what are your thoughts and theories on what is happening? What is next?
Gabrielle
