Chapter 12

Jon settled in that evening expecting a lonely night in front of the telly. It was the very first time, since being stranded here by his brother, that he and Rose had been separated. He wasn't sure who he felt worse for – Rose, or himself. She'd faced his request to remain at the Torchwood Med Bay bravely, seeing the sense in having medical personnel to keep an eye on her. Frankly, he'd expected more of a fight on her part. Although he'd initially been relieved, he was now wondering if she hadn't told him something. Was she, perhaps, more tired or sick than she'd told him? He almost panicked, before realising that Torchwood would have contacted him if anything had happened.

He was just starting to think about snacking when the buzzer sounded, alerting him to someone at the security gate. It was Pete and David.

"Hey you git," David's voice came over the intercon, "We have pizza and beer. Let us in!"

Never one to argue with the offer of free food and beer, even though he had earlier already had pizza, Jon pressed the button and let them in. Soon they were all gathered 'round the telly. All three of them wolfed down 2 slices of pizza, one beer, and let loose a good belch before getting to the point.

Jon started. "So," he began, "I expect this isn't strictly a social call."

"Well, mostly it is personal," Pete started. "Jax was concerned about you, and wanted us to talk to you."

"Oh?" Jon was a bit startled. Jackie was more concerned about him than she was about Rose?

"Yeah, she said you were frustrated about not having a sonic screwdriver or a TARDIS."

"Well," Jon admitted, "I am. As much as I have helped Torchwood improve their facilities, they are not, and never will be, a match for a sentient TARDIS."

"OK," Pete allowed, "but why don't you build another sonic screwdriver? I mean, how hard can it be?"

Jon gave him a look that was both rather disdainful and pitying. "Being a sonic screwdriver was the least of its abilities," he tried to explain. "It was really so much more, I built magnoencephalographic abilities into it, so that it could literally read my mind, it also housed periodic tables of every known solar system, entire medical libraries of every known species, plus technological libraires for each of them, enabling me to use, unlock, diagnose, and fix just about every bit of biomatter or technology in the universe. Have you any idea how very complex such an instrument is? No, of course not, you're much too immature a race to fathom such things, but trust me, it isn't as easy as I made it look." He stopped, realising he'd probably said too much. Had Rose been here, she'd have given him a subtle kick to let him know when to shut up. Rassilon, he missed her!

"I stand corrected," Pete said, with just enough of a cheeky grin to make Jon wonder if he didn't already have a grasp on the complexity of a sonic screwdriver.

"So David," Jon asked, "have you learned anything more about Rose's condition?"

David nodded. "She is still in a state of flux. Her DNA is becoming more Gallifreyan every minute. I don't know how far it will go, or if it will last after childbirth. If she were fully human, I'd be worried about her low body temperature and higher blood pressure. But, she seems to be adapting rather well, except for the odd bout of severe nausea."

Jon nodded. "And what about the amniocentesis?"

David hesitated, taking time to construct his reply carefully, something which was not lost on Jon or Pete. "The baby appears to be fully Gallifreyan, at least according to all the data we have at our disposal." Which, Jon thought, is the data they have gathered from samples of my own DNA and that of my brother's when he was here. How they had gotten his brother's DNA was still unknown to him. He knew, of course, of the sample he'd gotten from Rose after her dream-state encounter with his brother, but he'd gathered more than just a hint that they had gotten a previous sample as well.

"How is that possible?" Pete asked. "Her mother is human – or at least mostly so, at least she was when she conceived this baby."

David looked at Jon when he answered, "We can't say, not without a better understanding of Gallifreyan reproduction."

Jon shook his head. "I don't have a good grasp on Loom technology, I'm sorry. If I had a TARDIS I could probably have that data pulled from its genetic memory, but I don't. Hence my frustration that Jackie told you about."

"But you've had children before, didn't you ask, or didn't you take it upon yourself to learn about it?" David insisted.

Jon just shook his head as he tried to explain. "You have to understand Gallifreyan society. At the time, I approached fatherhood much as my father before me did. Which is to say, I was abysmally lacking in concern." He registered the surprise in both Pete and David's features. "It wasn't until late in my first life that I realised what an idiot I'd been, and what an opportunity I'd missed. That's essentially why I stole the TARDIS and my granddaughter Susan, and took her travelling with me. I wanted her to see that there was - " he paused, searching for the right word, but unable to find it, " ... more," he finished lamely.

"You stole your TARDIS?!" Pete exclaimed, David's wide eyes echoing his sentiment.

Jon grinned cheekily. "Yep -p!"

Pete and David grinned simultaneously. Jon was relieved to realise he'd just risen even higher in their estimations – which were pretty high to begin with. He let out a long-needed breath and grabbed another piece of now-cold pizza, needing something to occupy himself with while he calculated the risks and benefits of what he'd just admitted to.