Rose's hand fluttered to her stomach, and her eyes growing wide as well.
"Oh. Oh."
"Really?" Rose said. "Are you sure?"
The Doctor glanced down at his sonic screwdriver, fiddling with the dials. Then, he carefully scanned Rose.
"Elevated levels of hormones in the bloodstream. Change in body chemistry. No doubt about it."
"Wow," Rose murmured, her hand splayed out on her still-flat stomach.
"Congratulations. Can we talk about this later?" Max interrupted. "The engines have been shut off, and if my calculations are correct we only have about 80 cubic meters of air between the four of us. Unless you don't breathe air?" He inclined his head towards the Doctor.
"I breathe air," the Doctor said. He held Rose's eyes for a moment, and then turned away. "Max is right. First things first. We have to get the engine going again."
"Why don't you just type in the command to make it go the other way?" Andy asked.
The Doctor made a face.
"If only it were that easy. You see, I can make the thrusters send us back to Earth, but it would take more energy than we can spare to start them up."
He bounded over to the control panel.
Rose stood frozen in her place, her hand not moving from its position against her middle.
Andy touched her arm.
"You ok?"
Rose blinked, and then nodded.
"What do you mean, more energy than we can spare?" Andy asked, gently pushing Rose towards the others, his hand on the small of her back.
"Well, this engine isn't very efficient. One of the many reasons Corellian Worms aren't used much any more. The engine uses a huge amount of fuel getting started. Once it has ignited, it's relatively economical, but to start this thing up, we would have to use more fuel then we've actually got."
"Why didn't you mention that before you shut the thing off?" Max asked, sounding annoyed.
"There wasn't time," the Doctor admitted.
Andy glanced down at the pile of things from their pockets that was still in the middle of the floor.
"Hang on a second," he said. "Seems to me our problem is that we need to get the engine started without using any of our reserved fuels. Right?"
"Right," the Doctor said.
Andy reached down and scooped up a small bottle from the pile.
"Then I have an idea." He held up the bottle of hand lotion. "Did you know that mixed with monohydric alcohol that this can be highly explosive?"
"My hand cream?" Rose asked, surprised.
"Sure," Andy said. "I may not know much about anything else, but I know what stuff explodes."
"Monohydric alcohol? That's beeswax," the Doctor said, a dent appearing between his eyes as he frowned in concentration. "Where are we going to get beeswax?"
Andy held something up triumphantly. It was a tube of Rose's lipstick.
A grin started spreading itself across the Doctor's face.
"Oh, that's brilliant," he said appreciatively.
"When I mix the cream and the lipstick together, and add a spark, the alcohol in the lipstick will react with the ingredients in the cream and start a burn that will ignite the rest of the fuel so the engine won't have to use up any in producing a spark."
"That actually might work," Andy said, looking impressed. "One problem, though. It has to be applied directly to the engine."
"That's not a problem," the Doctor said. "The engine's right under our feet." He pointed down.
"What? They put the engine right under the floorboards?" Max asked.
The Doctor shrugged.
"I told you these Worms weren't very well built."
He knelt down on the ground, pushing the pile of things away. Andy fished his wallet back out, as did Max.
Sure enough, the middle panel had screws on it, and looked like it could be hoisted up. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver.
"You're going to unscrew screws with that?" Rose asked, kneeling beside him.
"Well it is a screwdriver," the Doctor said.
"I've just never seen you actually use it on screws," Rose murmured.
"I have… on occasion."
The Doctor pointed the screwdriver at each screw in turn, and a familiar high-pitched buzzing sound was heard as each screw began to unscrew itself from the floor. When the last screw had fallen out, the Doctor leaned back.
"We're going to need something to hoist it up with," he said.
Max reached behind him to the discarded pile of things, and grabbed the pocket knife. He flipped open the longest knife, and inserted it into the crack. He pushed down on the end of the handle, and the panel began to move upward.
Immediately, Andy got his fingers under and caught it. The Doctor helped him lift it off.
A wave of heat hit Rose. It was stifling! She leaned away from the warmth. The top of the engine, when she was able to look at it, seemed to be only thirty or so centimeters from the panel that they had just lifted out.
"Too hot," the Doctor said. "We're not going to be able to touch it until to cools down."
"How long will that take, do you think?" Max asked.
The Doctor seized a hairpin, and reaching into the hole created by the removed panel he balanced it on the top of the engine.
"While it's still too hot to touch it'll be giving off magnetic impulses. We were shielded before by the paneling. When this pin falls, we'll know that the magnetic impulse has died down, and the engine is cool enough to touch."
"What do we do in the meantime?" Rose asked.
"We wait," said the Doctor.
"I'll get this stuff ready," Andy said, moving to the far corner of the pod with the ingredients. "Can I borrow your hat?"
Max gave a longsuffering sigh.
"The things I do to save our lives," he said. He held out his hat while Andy poured the hand cream out into it.
Rose slid down the opposite wall from them and drew her knees up to her chest.
The Doctor came to sit beside her.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
Rose shook her head.
"No. I'm going to have a baby."
"Is that a bad thing?" the Doctor asked, his face worried.
"No, just… unexpected. And this wasn't exactly how I wanted to find out."
"I know," the Doctor said. "It's a little overwhelming, isn't it?"
Rose gave a short laugh.
"Just a little," she said. She leaned her head against the Doctor's shoulder.
"But brilliant," the Doctor said.
Rose smiled.
"Yeah. Brilliant."
"It'll be fantastic. I'm going to be a father again. Can you imagine it? Little girl with blond plaits dashing around?"
"Little boys with huge hair and a bent for mischief?" Rose asked.
The Doctor smiled.
"Exactly."
"Well, we have to get out of this first," Rose said.
"We always get out of it," the Doctor reminded her.
Rose pressed her face against his shoulder.
"I'm scared."
And the Doctor knew that she wasn't referring to the fact that they were in space and running out of air.
"Me too," he admitted. "But we're going to get through this, together. Being parents isn't our scariest adventure by any stretch."
"Maybe it is," Rose said.
"Come here," the Doctor opened his arms, and Rose slipped into them, accepting his comforting hug.
Silence descended in the pod. Andy was mixing feverishly into Max's hat while Max watched. Rose snuggled deeper into the Doctor's arms, taking comfort from his nearness, while the Doctor rested his cheek on her hair, deep in thought.
There was a tiny metallic ping.
"Ah hah!" the Doctor said. "That's our hair pin falling!"
Rose detangled herself from his arms, and they leaned over the hole in the floor.
The Doctor reached in, laying a long, slim finger on the top of the engine.
"It's cooled down enough," he said.
"Good," said Andy. "Because this stuff's ready. I'm going to pour it into the pan at the top, and then I've got to get a spark. I don't suppose anyone has a lighter?"
The four exchanged wry glances.
"Nope," Rose answered.
Max examined the Swiss army knife that he had used to pry the panel loose.
"This has a light," he said.
"If we can refract the light off of something, we can create a spark," Andy said.
"What about my spectacles?" the Doctor asked, offering them.
Andy shook his head.
"Not reflective enough. We need something hard."
Rose looked down at her hand, and then twisted her ring loose, holding it out.
"The diamond," she said in way of explanation.
Andy looked at her, surprised.
"Something might happen to it," he objected.
"If it does, you can buy me another one. We have more important things to worry about. Like running out of air," Rose reminded him.
The Doctor gave her a small smile.
"Ok, here we go," Andy said. He poured the mixture of hand cream and mashed up lipstick into the small hole at the top of the engine. He stuck a piece of the string in to act as a wick. Max pointed the penlight at the pinkish mixture, and Andy carefully angled Rose's diamond in place to reflect the light. There was a long moment where nothing happened.
Then, the string began to smoke. It smoked more violently, and then it caught fire.
Andy hissed in triumph, then moved back.
"Put the cover back on, quickly," he said. "There's going to be a bit of an explosion."
"Now he tells us," Rose complained as she shunted the missing panel closer to the hole.
The Doctor scooped it up, and pushed it in place just in time. There was a small bang! as the mixture ignited, and a tendril of smoke escaped the cracks of the panel.
The hum of the engine started up again, and the pod lurched into movement.
Max scrambled to the window, and looked out.
"We're moving towards Earth!" he said excitedly.
Rose grinned, and punched Andy lightly in the shoulder.
"Well done," she said.
"You said I didn't warn you before – well, this is your warning. We're going to hit atmosphere again, and it's going to be bumpy. Bumpier than last time, actually, because we don't have enough fuel for shock absorbers," the Doctor said.
"Oh goody," Max muttered, securing himself to a support again. The rest did the same around the various wall supports attached to the smooth paneling of the sides of the pod.
"Doctor, do we even know where we're going to land?" Rose asked, as she clung to the pillar. The Doctor, leaning protectively over her, frowned.
"No. We could end up anywhere."
"So how're we going to get rescued then?" Max demanded. "We could end up in a desert! Or in the middle of an ocean!"
The Doctor suddenly grinned.
"Not to worry. I'll activate the homing beacon. All segments on the Worm have one. Believe it or not, losing a segment is quite a regular occurrence."
"Oh, I believe it," muttered Andy.
The Doctor hurried over to the control panel.
"Doctor, what about when we hit atmosphere?" Rose asked, a little panicked. The pod was already beginning to shake ominously.
"I'll be fine. You just hold on tight. You're more breakable than I am," the Doctor replied.
Rose rolled her eyes, but didn't respond to that comment. Now wasn't exactly the time to argue the point.
The Doctor buzzed the screen with his sonic screwdriver, and typed furiously.
"There," he said. "I've activated the homing beacon. Now I'm going to send out a message so they know it's us." He pressed a button and began to speak. "To anyone who is listening: this is a message for Torchwood One in London England. If you don't know what that is, you probably don't have high enough clearance. Send this message on to the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, and they'll be sure to pass it on. This is Dr. John Smith of Torchwood One. I have with me Rose Smith, Max Davenport, and Andy DiMatto. We've had a little bit of a mishap and we might need rescuing. Please follow the homing beacon I've activated, and send the Valiant to come get us."
The pod began to shake violently. Rose clung to her support, wrapping both her arms around it and interlocking them. The Doctor hung onto the consol, bracing himself against the movement.
For a moment, the pod lost gravity, and Rose felt herself floating up into the air. She hung on tighter, and waited for it to return, which it did in a moment. Then, it was as if they were too heavy. Rose felt herself being pinned to the floor by the force of their speed.
"John, we're going too fast!" Max yelled. "We're going to disintegrate in the atmosphere!"
"Not if I can help it," the Doctor growled. He began frantically pushing buttons. The weight lessened. Rose scrambled to her feet, although she didn't let go of her support beam.
"There," said the Doctor. "I've reactivated a few of the dampners. That should slow our descent down, but it also means we'll have less fuel. The last hundred or so meters of our descent is going to be free fall."
"Let's hope we land in the ocean," Andy said.
"Or a snowdrift," murmured Rose.
Andy shot her a half amused look.
The shaking stopped.
"We're out of the atmosphere," the Doctor breathed.
A crackling noise filled the pod.
"Unidentified craft," it said. "You have entered US airspace. Please identify yourself."
The Doctor lurched forward, pressing down the microphone button.
"Hello? Yes, we need to get a message to UNIT."
"You have entered US airspace," the voice repeated. "You are requested to identify yourself and provide landing coordinates."
"That's the thing," the Doctor said, rubbing the back of his neck. "We don't know where we'll be landing. In fact, we're more than likely going to crash. We're not exactly in control of this vehicle."
"We've been commanded to escort you to a landing place," said the voice.
"That's the thing. We can't land," the Doctor said, frustrated.
"Are you in need of assistance?"
"Yes. We need to contact UNIT immediately. Tell them it's Torchwood."
"I'll talk to my superior," the voice said.
The Doctor ran and hand through his hair, making it stand on end.
"Last time I dealt with you bloody Yanks I ended up getting shot and kissing a doctor. Sorry, Rose," the Doctor said, turning to her.
Rose raised an eyebrow at him.
The voice on the other end of the line crackled to life again.
"You're being transferred to UNIT," it said.
There was a moment of silence, and then another voice came on the line.
"Dr. Smith? This is Brigadier Hopkins. I understand you're in a spot of trouble."
The Doctor grinned.
"Hello Brigadier Hopkins! I think we're going to need the use of your lovely ship the Valiant."
"John?" Andy said. He was at the window again. "The ocean's coming up fast."
"Right," said the Doctor. "Everyone stand at the opposite side from the door. That way, this side will be heavier, and the pod will float with the door up."
Andy and Max joined the Doctor by the control panel opposite the door. Rose squeezed herself at his side, and took his hand. He spared a moment to smile down at her.
"Got your communication. Valiant on her way, Dr. Smith," said Brigadier Hopkins.
The water was rushing up at a tremendous velocity. Suddenly, the gentle thrumming of the engine cut out.
"That's it," Andy said. "She's run out of fuel. Everybody hold on!"
The pod went into free fall. The ocean was suddenly filling the window. And then with a tremendous splash! the pod hit the water.
All four occupants of the pod were knocked off their feet, sent into a sprawling tangle.
"Rose!" the Doctor yelled. "Are you alright?"
"I'd be fine if Max would get off of me," she replied, her voice muffled.
"Sorry," Max said, wriggling off of her.
"Rose," the Doctor said. "You're going to have to be careful from now on."
Rose rolled her eyes.
"Not made of glass, Doctor," she reminded him.
"But you are carrying a child," he replied, helping her to her feet. His eyes roamed over her, looking for injury.
"I'm fine," she insisted.
The Doctor gave her a long look, and then nodded his head.
Andy was craning his neck to see the door of the pod, which was now the ceiling.
"How're we going to get out?"
The communicator crackled to life again.
"Dr. Smith? This is Brigadier Hopkins. We see your craft, and we're attempting to mount a rescue. Hold tight."
"Yes sir," the Doctor said, grinning.
There was a clanking on the side of the ship, and the screech of metal on metal. Then, the door was forced open, and sunlight poured in.
"Hello," said a black-suited figure. "Heard you needed a lift."
-------
One by one, the four were lifted from the pod and into the Valiant by holding on to a black-suited person. The Doctor insisted that Rose go first, and for once she hadn't objected.
It was frightening to be flown through the air clutching the shoulders of a stranger, but no scarier than flying by the rope of a barrage balloon, Rose reasoned with herself. One moment she was on the top of the pod, and the next in the air, and the next being hauled into the opening in the belly of a flying ship.
She was never gladder to be on solid ground (metaphorically speaking) in her life as when her feet set on the floor of the Valiant holding bay.
A smartly-uniformed man, about thirty years of age, with a severe haircut and a large mustache, saluted her.
"Welcome aboard the Valiant, Ma'am," he said.
"Thank you," Rose said. "You're the Brigadier?"
"At your service," he said, with a smile.
Rose held out her hand.
"Rose Smith."
"Please to meet you, Ms. Smith," Brigadier Hopkins said, shaking her hand with a smile.
By this time, Max had been deposited onto the Valiant floor, and the rescue team had gone down for the next person.
Max walked up to Brigadier Hopkins.
"Is there any way to save the ship?" he asked.
"Is it that important?" the Brigadier asked.
"You have no idea how important," Max said ruefully. "Even more so now that we know what it can do."
"I take it there was some sort of accident," the Brigadier said. "And you were airborne?"
"More than airborne," Max said. He pointed up. "Up, up, and away. We nearly passed the moon."
Brigadier Hopkins nodded.
"We'll see what we can do to recover your craft. We'll want a full report from Torchwood of course."
"Of course," Rose said smoothly.
Andy was just being set on his feet behind her.
"Wow, what a ride," he said with a grin.
Rose stood at the edge of the opening, waiting anxiously as the rescuers brought the Doctor up. He had hardly had time to get his balance back and brush off his jacket before Rose ran into his arms.
He hugged her tightly.
"It's over," he murmured.
-------
"Here we are," Brigadier Hopkins said. "We'll deposit your craft here. I understand the rest of the shuttle is here as well?" He glanced over the sea of white tents that the Valiant was hovering over.
"That's right. Thank you for your assistance, Brigadier," the Doctor said.
Brigadier Hopkins saluted him smartly. The Doctor scowled at the military gesture.
"Pleased to be of service. UNIT is always here to help."
"Well if Torchwood can every do anything for you chaps," Max said. "Don't hesitate."
"We won't," the Brigadier assured him. He shook hands with them all, and they walked down the ramp. Behind them, they saw a crane lowering the wayward piece of the shuttle onto the turf.
There were only a few people there, maybe eight or ten of the night crew. Marks came striding past them, relief evident on his sharp features.
"Glad to see you again, Rose," he said, giving her an awkward hug.
Rose smiled slightly.
"Glad to be back."
"Lily's been going frantic," Marks said, frowning. "We all have. We had no idea what happened to you after you just took off."
As if on cue, Lily burst out of a tent, and ran headlong towards them. Without a word, she threw herself into Andy's arms. He extended them just in time to catch her small form. The redhead was dwarfed by him, but that didn't seem to bother her a bit. She yanked his shirt down and kissed him fiercely.
Rose turned away, not wanting to intrude on a private moment between her teammates.
"Well thank goodness that's out in the open," she murmured to the Doctor. "I thought all that unresolved tension was going to make someone explode."
"We know how that, feels," he muttered back.
Rose smiled.
Marks turned to Max.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Well," said Max. "At first we didn't know ourselves. Then…"
The Doctor took Rose's hand and pulled her off to the side, away from the centre of attention. There would be other demands in a second, but right now it was just the two of them.
Gently, he wrapped his arms around Rose and hugged her tightly.
"Well that was an adventure," Rose said into his shirt.
The Doctor stroked her hair soothingly.
"Told you everything would be alright," he said.
Rose laughed.
"You did."
"We're alive," the Doctor said.
"Yeah. And we made it all in one piece," Rose returned.
"Yeah. And you're going to have a baby."
Rose smiled up at him.
"Yeah."
The Doctor leaned down to brush his lips against hers.
"Although," Rose said, breaking away. "If you ever treat me like I'm something breakable again, I swear I'll…"
Rose's words were cut off by his kiss.
Author's Note: Well now. That was fun, wasn't it? It's always hard to write in that breathless, action packed way, but the result is always nice. To be honest, this chapter felt a bit like an episode of MacGyver. What bits of things can we use to save the day today? LOL.
Yay, Rose is pregnant! People have been asking about that since I started this story, and I finally found a way to work it in. It worked out quite well, actually. I was originally thinking of her finding out in the usually fanfic way – feel sick, go the doctor, find out she's pregnant. But then this idea occurred to me, and I like it a lot better.
I made the flammable lipstick thing up, by the way. Don't try this at home :-P
So this is for FebruarySong. She wanted to know what I thought of "The Next Doctor", which I finally got around to watching. I had to wait for my brother and my Dad to be there so they could watch it too. What a letdown! He wasn't actually Eleven! He was just some guy who happened to find a data stamp. I was sort of excited to think we could get a glimpse of Eleven, and then it wasn't him! And I will repeat my complaint about the cybermen: if I never see them again, it will be too soon. Boring! Miss Hadigen, the woman in the red dress, was kinda cool and iconic, being converted but not really. And my brother liked the Cyberking thing. The companion was boring though. She was the worst of all three previous companions: Rose's pikey-ness, Donna's screechy-ness, and Martha's annoying-ness. But, there were some funny lines when the Doctor thought he was talking to a later regeneration of himself, and the part about the TARDIS being Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style was pretty great. All in all, not as good as the first two years, but better than last year because there wasn't a huge amount of death.