"Are you alright?" Jackie asked the Doctor.
"Dockor fall down," Tony reported.
Jackie shook her head. "Tony, you're supposed to come get me if he's sick,"
"Dockor say no, say tired."
Jackie sighed. "That's alright Tony. He is convincing when he wants to be." She went over to the Doctor and put her hand on his forehead. "Pete thinks she's made another dimension cannon and fired it. Did you hurt yourself when you fell?"
Tony piped up. "See, Dockor, Mum hand on head, make better."
"No, I didn't, I didn't really fall, I just sat down suddenly," the Doctor responded. "I worried Tony I guess, I told him I was alright. More importantly, why does Pete think she fired a dimension cannon?"
"I don't know, something about a power surge. It won't happen again. Pete had maintenance turn off the power." Jackie dismissed the details with a wave of her hand. "I am more interested in you. You feel a little warm. I don't want you catching a chill."
"My body temperature is always a little warmer now," Stated the Doctor as he ducked out from under Jackie's hand. "It's nothing. Honestly I'm fine." To prove his point, he stood up and put the tea cup back by the pot. He rolled the chair over to the computer, hoping she didn't notice that he was leaning on it.
He sat down, facing Jackie. "I really have some work I need to get done. I'll be alright. Don't worry."
"Well, if you're sure." Doubt evident in her voice.
"I'm sure."
Jackie turned to her son. "Tony, you come get me if he falls down again. No matter what he says."
"Yes, Mum, I sorry. I get you."
"Good, and you," she said, rounding on the Doctor. "Behave yourself and don't get my son in any more trouble. I think your soup will be ready soon I'll send it down when it is."
"You don't need to bother."
"It's no bother at all and this way you can eat your main course with the rest of us."
"Alright then, thank you." The Doctor smiled briefly.
She bent down and gave Tony a hug. "You take care of him okay?"
"Yes mum, I helping." He pointed to the papers on his desk.
"That's good." She ruffled his hair. On the way out of the room she checked the teapot. "This is getting a bit cold. I'll send down some more."
The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief when she left the room. "Tony do you want to show me your drawings?" He asked, curious as to what the boy had done.
Tony gathered up his drawings in a messy bundle and brought them over.
The first few were what the Doctor had expected, blue scribbles over the ice dam. As Tony had continued a pattern started to develop with the blue heavier in the same spots on each picture.
It gave him an idea. He ran the computer model of the dam several times. Each time the same locations were the ones to break first. He kicked himself for not seeing it earlier. He started changing the design of the dam and its construction, making a series of smaller dams at the failure points that could eventually be connected creating one large dam. He ran the simulation. Using that plan it bought him another three weeks. Not as much as he wanted, but still much better than he had.
He turned to the young boy. "Good job, you may have saved the day." and gave him a hug.
"I draw good?"
"Yes, you draw very well. Let's go get you some more milk and biscuits."
His mood better and the effects of the dimension cannon being fired diminished he tried walking over to where the refreshments had been left. He pulled the chair along, just in case he needed a break on the way. It turned out the chair was unnecessary for that purpose. It was however quite convenient for sitting in while eating the soup that had been delivered.
He gave Tony more milk and a couple biscuits. He sat down to his soup, enjoying its flavor and the multiple textures of the contents. It always did make him feel better. Refreshed and cheered by his progress he closed his eyes and asked of himself the question whose answer he feared.
His energy level was lower. Lower than he would have liked, but it should be enough. He just had to be careful, stay calm, not push himself. Rose should have no problem with testing the modified cannon first thing in the morning, He checked the coral, amazingly it had suffered no drop in energy. He smiled like a proud father, it must have figured out how to shield itself. "Hey, you learn a new trick?" he asked.
"Mum, help," was the response. It made no sense, Jackie helped him, nothing she did could help the coral. It must have misunderstood him. Well he was glad it hadn't been affected by the assault. He needed to get back to working on reducing the planet's temperature. The ice dam was the most urgent problem but not the only one.
He finished his soup and gave Tony more tools to draw before he went back to work on the computer. He had several ideas and ran them through his models, the radiation reflectors had the most impact for funds required to implement. It was also easy to adjust them so the drop in temperature wouldn't occur too quickly, causing its own set of problems.
Soon he had a course of action set up for Pete, complete with how to deal with various contingencies. The Doctor would save the universe. He would have to leave it to Pete to save the world. He was putting the finishing touches on the plan and about to do a final assessment of all the computer models he had built when he heard a familiar footfall. With dread he turned to face the latest occupant of the lab.
"I thought you were too tired to work today. What are you doing down here?" accused Rose as she stood in the doorway, hand on her hip, her casual attire a contrast to her officious manner.
"Tony, you been a big help today, now why don't you go see if your mum needs you?" asked the Doctor, wanting to get the young boy out of the line of fire. The boy looked at the Doctor indecision showing on his face, the Doctor nodded and gestured to encourage him to get on his way. Tony took off at an unsteady run, trying to avoid touching Rose as he made his way out the door.
The youngster safe, the Doctor answered Rose "I never said I was tired, I said I needed to have my mind in top shape. Doing the kind of statistical analysis Pete does here is a nice low key work out for my brain, exactly what I need to get ready."
She snorted at that and entered the room. "Oh, I'm sure. Admit it, just another one of your lies."
The Doctor briefly closed his eyes. This is not what he needed today. "What else am I supposed to have lied about now?" He was unable to keep the exasperation out of his voice.
"That you are dying, that firing the dimension cannon was killing you. All that stuff you have been saying to get sympathy and stop me from going back."
The Doctor took a deep breath, reminding himself it was essential he stay calm. He opened his eyes and looked Rose square in the face. "I am just as surprised that I am still alive as you are apparently annoyed by that fact. The dimension cannon does affect me, your little test today caused quite a drama here and wasted a lot time I can ill afford. And whether you believe it or not, I am doing everything I possibly can to try to get you back safely, without tearing up the time space continuum."
"Oh, I bet it caused a drama. A little bit of play acting on your part no doubt. You and your brother are both so good at pretending. Well you had better be prepared to deliver on your promises tomorrow. I have managed to duplicate the dimension cannon. So I have a back up if you have made a hash of the old one. I even tested it today and it works just as well as the old one did before you started mucking about with it."
"Yes, it apparently does, I suppose I should thank you for not firing it at full power."
"Don't thank me. Thank Pete. He came up with some lame excuse to cut power to the lab."
The Doctor definitely felt he, and perhaps the whole planet owed Pete their thanks. "Well you won't need it. I promised you tomorrow would be the day. In fact I would prefer if we did it early before too much is going on that could interfere with the power flows. We can leave before sun up and have breakfast on the way, no need to disturb anyone here."
"I'll have no such thing!!" exclaimed Jackie as she entered the lab. "Tomorrow of all days you are to have a proper breakfast. I'm not letting you go out of here on an empty stomach, having to endure some premade rubbish that has been sitting under a heat lamp for six hours! I'll get up and make you a real breakfast myself. And you, young lady, where do you come off being so reckless? You could have killed him today."
Rose smirked at her mother and laughed. "Boy, has he got you snowed with his little act. I can't believe it. First that Elton guy having you think he was all interested in you. Now you buy this tall tale. I'm surprised there isn't a line of con men from here to London waiting to fleece you as gullible as you are."
The Doctor was about to speak, to try and defuse the situation before it was too late. Too late arrived before he could get a word out. Jackie hauled off and slapped Rose. The coral was getting agitated from the intense emotions in the room. The Doctor tried to calm it while Jackie proceeded to give Rose a piece of her mind.
"Just because I don't think what I want is more important than everything else in the universe, or should that be universes. Doesn't mean I am gullible or soft or easy. If you could ever get past your own selfishness you would see what a kind, generous and gentle man he is and what a complete and total idiot you were to reject him."
"Jackie no, please no, just… just... let it be." The Doctor pleaded with her to not bring up things from the past that would only add fuel to the already out of control emotional fire.
Rose took the opportunity to berate him further. "Yeah, that's right. You don't want her to find out how you tricked me. Made me think you were something you're not."
The Doctor looked down at the floor and shook his head. Knowing nothing he could say would ever get her to see the truth. He wondered if he should tell her he had managed to destroy the brown suit that morning. She would never have to worry about him 'tricking' her again.
He looked up to see Pete had joined them. "Great just what we need, one more player added to this deranged soap opera." mused the Doctor. "More fuel for the fire."
Fortunately Pete had no intention of adding to the situation. "Jackie, Rose, both of you. Shut up!! I want you to take it out of here. And by out of here, I mean out of the house, down the road, and past the post office before either of you say another word."
"What, why?" asked Jackie, confused by Pete's demands.
Pete lowered his voice keeping it calm. "Because these kinds of emotional outbursts are almost as hard on him as that cannon is. Look at him, surely you can see it."
Jackie turned to the Doctor the expression on her face going from confused to horrified as she studied him. The Doctor could only imagine what he must look like to her. By now his breathing was labored, he was feeling feverish, and just plain tired. His throat was tight, causing saliva to back up in his mouth; he swallowed hard trying to clear it.
Jackie started to move toward the Doctor. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know." Pete grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"No, Jacks, he doesn't need that now either. You and Rose clear out of here for a while and get control of yourselves. If you have to fight fine, but do it away from here. Go down to the pub and have a row if you must. That's what they're there for. You can entertain the locals while you are at it." Pete took a deep breath. "Now go. I'll take care of him."
Rose started clapping slowly and loudly, smirking at the Doctor. "Oh, bravo, well done, you even have Pete conned. You'll get that Olivier award yet. Best long suffering death scene outside of Camille." Jackie grabbed her arm and yanked her roughly out of the room telling her to shut up.
Pete closed the lab door and locked it. The Doctor could tell he was forcing himself to relax as he went over to the teapot. "I hope they do take it down to the local pub. I would love to hear how that fight ends. This stuff work when it is cold?" He asked as he held up the teapot.
The Doctor laughed softly. "Seems to, though Jackie seldom lets it get that way. How did you know?"
"Know what?" asked Pete as he poured the cold tea.
"That being around intense emotions, especially negative ones …" The Doctor fumbled around in his mind for the right words that wouldn't make him sound like a total wimp.
"Oh, that was easy," replied Pete as he took the Doctor his tea. "Once I knew what to look for. Heck, even I can feel the energy those two generate when they are in a row. I knew it couldn't be good for you."
Pete leaned against a table, arms crossed, considering the Doctor carefully. "She could have killed you today couldn't she? I should have been paying better attention. I knew she was getting impatient. I'm sorry."
"Don't be, as far as I am concerned you saved my life and more. She told me she was planning on a second run before you cut the power."
"I didn't save much though, did I?"
"What do you mean?"
"Your life, you've just about packed it in, haven't you?"
"Is it that obvious?"
"Well, considering even the security guards at Torchwood are asking how you are, I would say it is. George in particular is asking after you. He says he misses your little jaunts around the city. I think Jackie and Rose are the only ones who don't see it."
The Doctor took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I used to think Jackie didn't see it, but today she threw a fit that I would try to leave early tomorrow without having a proper breakfast. She said it in such a way that I could tell she knew it would be a last meal. She's just been keeping up a front."
"Well that would explain the flurry of activity in the kitchen tonight. You would swear they were preparing for a Christmas feast," Pete's voice took on a more serious tone. "You're not cutting it a little too close are you?"
The Doctor furrowed his brow at the question and pulled on his lower lip. "As of this morning I wasn't, I was going to start out tomorrow at the normal time, but after this afternoon, I've had to change things."
"So your last night, you don't even get a full night's sleep."
"That's hardly important." The Doctor put down his now empty teacup next to the monitor.
"Here let me get you some more of that. Pete took out his cell phone and made a call. He told the person on the other end to bring down more tea and a couple of blankets.
"I don't need those really," protested the Doctor.
"Yes, you do, you're shivering. I may not have Jackie's nursing skills, but even I can see that much." The kitchen staff must have anticipated the order or more likely Jackie had told them to prepare it before she left. Pete had just finished putting his phone in his pocket when there was a knock at the door.
Pete opened it revealing two servants. One carrying a large tray encumbered with two teapots and two cups. The other was carrying two thick wool blankets. The servant with the tray spoke up as she put the tray down and cleared off the used dishes. "The blue pot is for the Doctor, sir. The misses sent down the other pot for you."
"Thank you," Pete replied as he took the blankets from the other maid. "We won't be needing you any further." He closed the door but didn't lock it when they left.
He brought the blankets over to the Doctor who was not very pleased about the attention he was about to get. "Now don't look at me like that," Pete objected. "Jackie's been pouring tea down you and heaping on the throws since she knew you were ill. You have lived even longer than you thought possible. I'm not about to change a successful treatment. Especially when from what I can tell, every extra second may count." He laid one of the blankets over the Doctor's lap and draped the other over his shoulders. He poured the Doctor a cup of tea and brought it over to him.
"What, no pail of hot water to put my feet in?" the Doctor asked lightheartedly.
Pete called his bluff. "You want one? I can have one brought here in a few minutes."
"No, no, don't bother, I'll manage without it," the Doctor joked. Then his voice became serious. "Why don't you get yourself some tea. We have a lot to go over and I want to make sure you understand it all while we still have time."
Pete complied and sat down on a lab stool near the Doctor, nodding to him, indicating he was ready to get down to business. The Doctor considered where to begin and decided he might as well start with the latest addition to the list of thing he needed to take care of. "So tell me, Pete, do you know where she keeps that duplicate dimension cannon?"