A/N: Thank you all your loving reviews :) I did research PTSD a bittle bit but the whole Floppy thing just sounded like it'd be something good for traumatised people to express their feelings. I wasn't aware they actually did that... Shoulda been a psychiatrist :P
Five chapters after this one! We're almost there, people! :D Almost nearly!
Chapter 34 – The Day The Doctor's Libido Died
"Jack," Rose began, walking into his office with one hangar in each hand of some quite sexually provocative negligée. "Red or white?"
Jack looked up, considering the two options. "Well, I'd say red, but the Doctor would like the white better."
Rose looked at them again. "He would?"
"I'm a boob man, but he likes thighs," Jack said offhandedly.
Rose blinked.
He looked up. "What? You didn't know?"
"No..." she paused, and took a moment to think about that. "That explains a lot."
Jack grinned. "Trust me, white. But you won't fit in that," he said, looking pointedly at her pregnancy.
"It's a surprise for after," Rose said. "He doesn't like doin' it when I'm this far along anyway so it won't be till near Christmas."
Jack frowned. "When was the last time you...?"
"The hearin'."
It was Jack's turn to realise now. "That's why it took him so long!"
Rose beamed. "I wanna get everythin' perfect for him, he deserves it."
Jack couldn't hide his grin. "I'll help you plan it out. Promise, it'll be a killer."
Suddenly the door opened, and Jackie appeared. In a blink Rose quickly hid the negligée behind her back.
"Hi, Mum," she said, smiling. "How are you likin' Wales?"
Jackie looked between her daughter and Jack's guilty faces, and ignored the question. "What're you talkin' about?"
"Oh, I was just askin' for Jack's opinion."
Jackie's eyes moved to Rose's hands hiding something behind her back. "What're you 'olding?"
"Nothin', don't worry," Rose said quickly.
"Come on, Rose, I'm your Mum," Jackie insisted. "What can't I answer?"
"Well, okay then," Rose began insincerely as she lifted the two pieces of lingerie. "Which one would make your daughter look sexier so that the 900-year-old alien man would wanna nail her brains out?"
There was a pause.
"White," Jackie said lamely, then left. Rose grinned at Jack and quickly followed her mother out the door.
"Did you say hi to Leah, yet?"
Jackie nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, she's beautiful, isn't she? She's bloody intelligent too, talks way beyond her age. That's a good nursery."
"She doesn't go to a nursery."
"Oh?"
"The Doctor home educates her."
Jackie looked incongruously at her daughter, pausing outside the TARDIS door. "But she will go to school, won't she?"
Rose stared at her. "No, Mum. When I was pregnant the Doctor planned out everythin' he'll teach her until she's eight. School will only drag her back."
"Well, if you think that's best for her, sweetheart," Jackie said, a little unconvinced.
Rose laughed at her expression. "Come on, she's already subtractin' two-digit numbers, she wouldn't be doin' that in school for ages."
Jackie considered that. "I s'pose so."
There was a slight pause as a thought suddenly occurred to Rose, and she looked at the floor. "And... Do you know about her..."
Jackie nodded, saving her the pain of saying it. "The Doctor told me this mornin'. Poor guy, I've never seen him so close to cryin'. Bit surprisin', actually."
Rose frowned. "He does have feelings, Mum."
"I know," Jackie assured her. "He's just always used to be a bit of an... enigma, y'know?"
Rose smiled at that. "He's changed a lot."
Jackie nodded again. "I can see it."
"Where is he, anyway?" Rose wondered.
"He introducin' himself and Leah to Tony."
"Tony, I'm your... Uncle... Umm... You know what, just called me Doctor. Or Uncle. But not Uncle Doctor or Doctor Uncle. Because that would be odd."
Tony stared back at his Uncle Doctor across the kitchen table blankly.
The Doctor winced as he'd considered what he'd just said. "What I meant was Uncle or Doctor is fine. And of course, you know Auntie Rose. But..." He pointed at Leah sat next them at the table currently sucking her thumb and staring at her Father as he ranted. "This is Leah. Leah, meet Tony. Tony, Leah."
Leah put on her best smile, looking at Tony. "Nice to meet you, I'm Leah," she said politely, extending the hand that didn't have the spit-laden thumb.
Tony didn't take it, instead staring at the girl. "You're small."
"She's a little younger than you," the Doctor said gently, glancing at Leah who still had her thumb in her mouth, looking up at him with wide brown eyes. "But only by a couple of years, so there's not much in it. It doesn't mean that we can't all get on famously."
"But she's..." Tony began.
"You know what I like?" the Doctor interrupted smoothly, seeing where the conversation was heading. "Ginger hair! I love your ginger hair," he told Tony. "I wish I had your hair. I'm a bit jealous."
"I don't like it," Tony said. "Mum says I got it from my Dad and she said he was a nut-case."
"Oh, your Dad wasn't a nut-case," the Doctor said quickly. "He was just scared of the things he didn't know, and that in turn made him a bit... Unpredictable. But either way, he's not anywhere near here, so there's nothing to worry about."
It was at that moment he realised Leah was tugging on his jacket. He looked down to the girl, who was still sucking her thumb.
"Daddy, can I get a drink?"
"I'll get one for you," he replied, kissing her forehead. "You and Tony can get to know each other. Tony, do you want anything?"
Tony shook his head, and with that the Doctor got up and went out of the room, leaving Leah and Tony sitting on the TARDIS living room floor staring at each other.
Tony's face instantly turned. "Why are you suckin' your thumb?"
Leah just shrugged.
"Only babies suck their thumbs!" Tony said maliciously. "Baby! Baby!" he mocked.
Leah just stared at him curiously for a moment, still sucking on her thumb. Tony seemed to seethe slightly at the fact he was getting no reaction, so instead his eyes averted to Floppy sitting next to her and he dived to grab the rabbit. Leah's superior Gallifreyan reflexes meant she managed to grab Floppy, but she didn't have the strength to hold on as Tony yanked Floppy out of her grip.
"And you've got a teddy!" he yelled, jumping onto his feet and waving Floppy around. "Only babies have teddies too!"
Leah finally drew her thumb out of her mouth, trying to decide what to do. "Please can I have Floppy back?" she tried.
"No!" Tony yelled, jumping onto the sofa. "I'm gonna rip your teddy's legs off!"
"Please don't," Leah begged, tears in her eyes.
"I'll do it!"
"No, Tony!"
"Baby, baby, gonna cry!" he mocked, taking one of Floppy's legs in one hand and her body in the other...
"Daddy!" Leah suddenly screamed, tears flooding her face.
"Screamin' for Daddy? Baby, baby!"
"DADDY!" she screamed at full lung capacity.
The door burst open, and instantly Tony jumped off of the sofa and dropped Floppy. The Doctor entered holding a cup of orange juice followed by Jackie and Rose.
He saw Leah standing there crying, Floppy on the floor, and he quickly set down the cup of orange juice to pick her up. "Hey, what's wrong?"
Leah sniffed, glancing at Tony, who was staring up at Jackie innocently. "Tony took Floppy and was gonna rip her," she gasped through sobs.
"Is that true, Tony?" Jackie demanded to know, staring down at the boy with her hands on her hips.
"No!" Tony yelled instantly.
"He was!" Leah sobbed, frustrated.
The Doctor held her close as Rose picked up Floppy and gave her back to Leah.
"It's okay, we believe you," Rose said gently, looking at her Mum, who was still staring at Tony.
"Nobody likes lyin' little boys, Tony!" Jackie yelled. "I've got 'alf a mind to smack you right now!"
"No, Mum, I'm sorry, Mum!" Tony said quickly in a terrified shriek.
"Say sorry to Leah, right now!"
"Sorry, Leah," Tony mumbled.
"Louder!"
"I'm sorry, Leah!"
"What are you sorry for?" Jackie yelled.
"I'm sorry for callin' you a baby and stealin' your rabbit and threatenin' to rip it up, I'm sorry!" Tony squeaked.
"Better," Jackie said. "Now go and sit in the corner and think about what you've done!"
Tony ran off instantly to the corner, sitting down and hugging his knees, staring into the wall. The Doctor looked at Rose, who just hid a giggle as Jackie swept passed back out into the corridor. They followed out, closing the door behind them.
"I just had a flashback," Rose admitted.
"Are you okay, Leah?" Jackie asked her granddaughter anxiously, who was still clinging onto her Dad and Floppy in equal measure. She nodded silently with teary eyes. "Don't listen to anythin' that boy says, love. Any problems with 'im, you tell me right away, all right, sweetheart?"
Leah nodded again.
"Good," Jackie said, smiling at the girl. "Now c'mon, Rose, let's go shoppin'."
"Mmm?"
"Holiday clothes for our trip!" Jackie insisted. "I need a new bikini and hair trimmer!"
She turned, and left. Rose looked at the Doctor, who was staring after Jackie, his expression slowly turning into one of utter and complete horror...
"Are you imaginin' my Mum in a bikini?" Rose wondered.
He nodded without a word, still not having blinked.
"Have you got to the hair trimmer bit yet?" Rose wondered, grinning cheekily.
The Doctor's eyes widened even more, his mouth twisting with the pure imagery.
Leah was still in his arms, looking up at him a little worried. "Mummy, what's wrong with Daddy?"
"Leah," Rose began, struggling not to burst out laughing. "A little part of Daddy called his 'libido' just died a horrible, horrible death."
"Rose!" came Jackie's call from down the hall. The Doctor didn't react when Rose quickly kissed him and Leah good bye, leaving him staring at the wall as she left to follow Jackie.
"Jack!" the Doctor called as he stepped into Jack's office a few hours later. "You got a minute?"
Jack looked up from where he sat at his desk, seeing the Doctor standing there in a pair of swimming trunks, a white shirt, flip flops and some sunglasses on his head.
Jack grinned, putting down the pen. "Sure, you off then?"
The Doctor nodded. "Leah wanted to say bye."
Instantly the toddler darted out from between the Doctor's legs, running over to her Uncle Jack who grabbed her in both arms, lifting her up and hugging her tightly.
"I'm gonna miss you," Jack said, looking at her. "You have fun on Lix, won't you?"
Leah nodded enthusiastically. "I'm gonna bury Daddy in the sand!"
"Please take photos," Jack said with a laugh, setting her back down. "And show 'em all to me when you get back."
"I will. Bye, Uncle Jack!"
"Bye bye, Leah," Jack replied, waving to her as she ran back to her Dad.
"Go and wait with Mummy, I'll be down in a minute okay?" the Doctor said gently. She nodded and ran through his legs back down the stairs to the TARDIS.
"She looks a lot happier," Jack commented.
The Doctor's face dropped slightly. "We're spending more time with her. Time we should have spent with her before. It... won't be an instant heal, there's still a lot of hurt."
"In all of you," Jack finished.
The Doctor nodded, staring at the floor for a moment before looking back up at Jack. "I just wanted to say thanks for looking after us."
"No thanks needed," Jack assured him, moving forward to meet him in a hug, remaining that way for quite a few moments before pulling back.
"And if you see the others let them know I'm grateful too," the Doctor said.
"Of course," Jack replied. "You go and have some fun being buried in sand. And you look after yourself, you still look like hell."
The Doctor's smile restored, before a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Oh, and if the Master comes sniffing around I give you permission to do whatever you want with him. He's not my concern anymore."
Jack nodded quickly. "Yeah I probably would put some bullets into him anyway. Now go!"
"All right, all right," the Doctor said, backing off and sketching a half-wave before moving off down the steps.
He met Ianto at the bottom, obviously having been waiting for him. As the Doctor approached he saw Ianto was clutching a package.
"This just came through for you," Ianto said, holding it out to the Doctor.
The Time Lord took it, looking a little apologetic. "Sorry... I honestly don't know why Torchwood are getting all my post."
Ianto paused to consider this for a moment. "Perhaps it was the order you placed in March for the alien adult..."
"Hey," the Doctor interrupted, hand in the air. "Rose wanted that to see what it was like, we needed a delivery address, she didn't like it... How did you and Jack find it, by the way?"
"Both insightful and pleasurable, sir," Ianto assured him, smiling slightly.
"Good," the Doctor replied. "You know it's got two sides, right?"
"I'll keep that in mind, sir," Ianto said with a slight bow.
"And Ianto, what did I say about the sir thing?"
Ianto thought for a moment. "Not to say it, sir?"
The Doctor sighed, looking at him. "I'm not going to get anywhere, am I."
"No, sir," Ianto replied, as polite as ever.
The Doctor rolled his eyes, moving to the TARDIS and waving a farewell hand over his shoulder.
"Have fun, Doctor," Ianto said.
The Doctor spun around to look at him, raising an eyebrow.
"Sir?" Ianto wondered, still smiling.
The Doctor rolled his eyes again. "Bye, Ianto. Take care of Jack. See you all in a couple of months."
He stepped into the TARDIS, closing the door behind him. He could hear everyone's stampede of footsteps from somewhere in the far corridor. He looked at the package without really thinking about it, then absently put it into a cavity under the TARDIS and turned to the console, programming for Lix.