A/N: I'll reply to all reviews this chapter, promise :D And, as far as you put, no one noticed the little err...drop. Good. That's good.
Oh, oh, oh, and anyone who hasn't listened to The Stowaway, get it right now! Absolutely awesome soundtrack to Voyage Of The Damned and sooooooo many spoilers... :P
Chapter 25 – My Missing Wife
The Doctor woke up.
He'd somehow expected to awaken in a dungeon of some kind; chained up in a cold, damp basement with no means of escape…but as he opened his eyes, expecting to see Her…he instead came across an entirely different and welcoming site.
"Jack?" he murmured, pushing himself onto his elbows and looking around the bedroom – he was back in Jackie's flat, lying on the double bed in Jackie's bedroom whilst his son lay on the other side, Jackie tending to the boy's wounds whilst Jack dealt with his own.
"Doctor," Jackie said softly as he watched her continue to dab gently at Rory's head wound. "Everythin's gonna be fine, just relax."
"What happened?" he pressured, pulling himself up and expecting resistance – but the only thing he got was a small pain from midway down his abdomen from the graze shot.
"I'm so sorry," she sighed, and the Doctor's eyes widened in alarm.
"What?" he asked instantly, "what is it? Where's Rose?" He turned over on the bed to Rory, checking his son over.
For some reason the room had an air – an air of silence and tension between its occupants as the question the Doctor had reeled off almost automatically suddenly became a whole lot more relevant.
"Jack, where's Rose?" the Doctor asked slowly after he was satisfied with the boy's health, turning to the other man. Jack didn't seem inclined to reply in a hurry. The Doctor got onto his feet and straightened up to full height, his full advantage of one inch over Jack really coming into play now.
"Sh…she…we…I couldn't stop her, Doctor, Rose wouldn't let Her take you so She took Rose instead."
The Doctor didn't seem to be able to say anything as his eyes disconnected from Jack's, and dropped to the boy on the bed.
"Stupid!" he suddenly burst out, fists tightening. "Stupid, stupid human!" He glanced between Jack and Jackie for a moment with a fixed expression of determination. "I have to get her back."
"She'llkill you," Jackie said instantly stepping forward to confront him. "Doctor, She'sdangerous."
"All the more reason why I can't let Rose stay there," the Doctor replied simply, glancing over at the crib in the corner where his unnamed baby girl slept soundly. "I can't…guarantee for your daughter's safety right now Jackie, but I'm pretty sure she'll be okay until an ultimatum is established. Besides, She doesn't want me dead. If She wanted me dead She would've killed me long ago." He paused for a moment, leaning on the end bed pole and staring at the ground, absorbed in his calculations. Suddenly his head jerked up as something clicked. "Can you show me what point they were teleported from, Jack?"
Jack shrugged "Sure. But watcha gonna do?"
"Check for residual energy. If I can find a reading I might be able to trace it and determine where they were both teleported to."
Jack didn't want to stop him. "Okay," he said with a nod, starting out the doorway as the Doctor closely followed.
The Doctor was currently walking around in circles near the TARDIS with his Sonic Screwdriver held aloft in his palm, buzzing away constantly as he had been for quite a long time now. Every now and then he would stop, shake the tool and whack it a few times before raising it once again and resuming his repetitive parade. There had to be somethingwrong with it. He wasn't getting any feedback at all.
"Doctor," he heard Jackie Tyler's voice, but didn't bother looking up.
"Hmm?" he asked, brow furrowed and tongue sticking out in concentration.
"It's ten o'clock."
"Uh huh," he agreed, jumping excitedly as the Sonic Screwdriver issued a loud beeping noise, but sighing dejectedly when he found it wasn't what he was looking for.
"You 'ave to stop sometime."
"Not until I find a reading," he replied resolutely, eyes stuck firmly to the ground.
"You've been lookin' since five. Come inside, please."
"I can't do that. I need to get a reading."
"Doctor," she said in such a longing voice the Doctor just had to look up. His hands lowered for a moment, gazing into her eyes. "Please."
He sighed. "I'm sorry Jackie. I'm just…it's all a bit chaotic right now."
"I know sweetheart, come inside and get some rest, you can carry on looking in the mornin'."
He paused for a moment before inclining in a nod, needing no gesture to follow Jackie back to the flat.
Once there she gave him a mug of hot chocolate and sat him on the sofa she'd already made a bed on, the television ongoing with some kind of late night chat show. The three adults talked for a bit on matters not concerning Rose. Soon came the sound of a distant baby's wails, and the Doctor immediately rose. He jogged over to Jackie's room and slipped inside, making for the crib. She was crying loudly, waving her arms and legs around to get attention from anyone that happened to be nearby.
He shushed her gently as he picked her up, but it didn't seem to be having any effect. A quick sniff told him she didn't need a nappy change; she probably needed feeding, and Rose wasn't here to supply. He turned and headed towards the door.
"Daddy?"
He stopped dead at the sound. "Rory?"
"Daddy…"
He turned back to the bed, seeing his son sitting gingerly up in the bed holding his head. He gave him a smile as he called for Jack.
"How you feeling?" he asked over the baby girl's quiet cries, keeping her sturdy in one arm as he sat on the edge of the bed, reaching up and affectionately brushing through his son's hair.
"My head hurts…"
"I'll bet it does," he said as Jack appeared in the room, moving towards them. "How about you come into the sitting room with us?"
Rory nodded and reached up to Jack as he took the boy into his arms.
As they emerged into the sitting room Jackie practically exploded with joy at the sight of her grandson awake. Jack set Rory down onto the sofa as Jackie felt the need to hug and kiss the life out of him whilst the Doctor went to put on some warm milk for the baby girl.
"Tch!" Jackie was saying, still holding him tight. "What're we gonna do with you and your daddy, eh? You're nothin' but a pair of troublemakers!" She looked over to where the Doctor was currently trying to not drop the baby whilst simultaneously pouring a measure of milk. She rolled her eyes. "Doctor sweetheart, you're bloody useless. Give 'er to me."
Jack sniggered as the Doctor assumed his innocent pout look and handed the girl to Jackie, who expertly held her in the crook of her arm as she warmed the milk the Doctor had managed to half slosh into the container.
Then it came.
"Daddy, where's mummy?"
The Doctor stopped dead in his tracks and the entire room lapsed into silence; even the baby girl seemed to go quiet for a moment as the Doctor's eyes connected with his son's. He sighed, realising this was not going to be easy.
"Rory…" He took a seat next to the boy. "I'm not going to lie to you, because you're my son and frankly if I know the truth then you deserve to know too." He paused for a breath. "She isn't here. We're not even sure if she's on this planet."
Rory stared blankly at him. "Her?"
The Doctor nodded. "She took her, there was nothing anyone could've done…" – he caught the boy's distraught expression and drew him into a hug – "…but don't worry, we're going to get her back."
"Doctor you're gonna 'ave to feed 'er, she's not takin' it from me," Jackie said suddenly from above him and before he knew it the baby was unloaded into his arms complete with a fresh, warm bottle of milk. He lowered the bottle to the girl's lips but she just shied away from the pacifier atop the bottle, crying her eyes out.
"C'mon," the Doctor muttered, drawing her closer and moving the bottle back towards her mouth. Still she refused. He sighed loudly. "Okay, look, I know you want your mum's but this really isn't time to be picky…" He gestured at his chest, "I can't exactly give you any so you've just got to make do with this for now. I swear we'll get her back, we will get her back and you can suck her dry, but you've got to go along with me for now, okay? And just to disprove any thoughts, I'll drink a little first myself."
True to his word he raised the bottle to his lips and took a short gulp, frowning a little as he lowered it once more.
"Y'know, that's pretty good," he admitted, lowering the bottle back down to her mouth and venturing forward, until slowly, she began to suck. He grinned.
"See? Nice, isn't it?"
"You're incredible Doctor," Jackie confessed, if but a little defeatedly. For a moment they just watched as the girl drained the bottle, and then Jackie finally spoke, "we need to all get some sleep."
"Agreed," the Doctor said with a nod, settling the girl down into Jackie's already extended arms. "Then tomorrow we can get started."
He turned to confront Rory, who was holding onto his jacket a little more desperately than usual. He read him like a book.
"Sure, you can stay with me."
And it wasn't shortly after that the flat was still and silent, its five occupants in sleep state.