The Family Man, Chapter 4
The Doctor followed behind Rose as she opened the door to their room. He tried not to trip over his own feet as she waltzed inside, immediately tugging at the zipper on her dress.
“What a great night!” she sighed as she thankfully made her way to the joined bathroom.
The Doctor heard the sound of water splashing in the sink, and sat uncertainly on the edge of the bed.
“It was nice,” he agreed, just realizing how much he enjoyed it. “I’m glad your parents liked their gift.”
Rose traipsed back into the room with a thin robe on, her dress pooled in a discarded pile behind her. Her face was glowing from a quick scrubbing, and she was smoothing a sweet-scented lotion over her hands.
“Liked it?” she questioned. “They loved it. Makes me think we should get one of our own. It’s certainly more convenient than a video camera, though I love to have footage of everything in the moment. You remember Sammy’s fifth birthday at the Italian restaurant? That scene where she stuck her face in the pasta was priceless…”
“Yeah,” the Doctor laughed along, remembering what the little girl had told him. “My little Ood…”
He froze up as Rose’s hands worked at the bow tie under his chin, and then made short work of the top buttons on his shirt, as if she’d done in a thousand times. His eyes flicked nervously over her long toned legs.
“You know,” she began flirtatiously. “I might have to think of excuses to get you into a tux more often.”
“Rose,” the Doctor warned. “You know bad things happen whenever I put on a tux.”
Rose’s eyes flashed as she pushed her hair back from her face and settled onto her knees beside him.
“Then we should get you out of it as soon as possible…” she hinted deviously, leaning forward so that her robe parted over her cleavage.
The Doctor’s breath caught in his throat at the same time a series of knocks rattled at the door to their room. The Doctor nearly leapt to answer it, leaving a startled Rose behind him. As he turned the doorknob, an equally surprised Pete was revealed on the other side.
“Doctor? You’re not asleep? Good. I need you to come with me immediately!” Pete said in a rush.
The Doctor shot one apologetic look at his wife before following determinedly behind his father-in-law. They walked through the long hallway past numerous doors before ending up in a study of some sort, where Pete made his home office. He closed the door behind them and indicated toward a large screen along one wall. Depicted upon it was a computer-generated radar showing earth amongst the closest relative planets. On the far eastern side of the map, a significant blue patch could be seen moving toward their coordinates.
“What is it?” the Doctor asked, getting down to business as he peered at the screen. Like a meteorological radar, the image continually replayed the last several hours of activity, illustrating a growth pattern.
Pete shook his head and followed suit, coming to stand beside the Time Lord.
“I can’t be sure,” he replied. “I’ve never seen anything like it. And look at these read-outs!”
Pete handed the Doctor a pile of paperwork labeled with Torchwood confidentiality seals, thumbing through the most relevant documents.
“Something massively powerful is heading our way,” Pete explained. “And so far we can’t tell if it’s animate or inert, sentient or volatile… The only thing we know for sure is that if it’s a threat, it could rip through our solar system and cause incomprehensible damage.”
“ETA?” the Doctor demanded.
“It’s coming fast,” Pete replied. “We might have a few weeks…or less. I can’t be sure because we weren’t able to track it until it hit the Milky Way.”
The Doctor stared intently at the screen, tracing one finger over the disturbance with trepidation.
“Based off this information, do you have any idea what it might be?” Pete asked.
The Doctor swallowed, his throat going suddenly dry. He recognized the fluctuating waves from the event leading to his deposition in this strange timeline.
“I might,” he answered. “I need to get back to the TARDIS to be sure, but I think I might have encountered this phenomena before.”
“What happened?” Pete urged. “What was it?”
“I’m still trying to answer both of those questions,” the Doctor admitted. “Rose and I will leave first thing in the morning, and hopefully we’ll have some answers by the end of the day.”
“Good, good,” Pete said, an unsettled tone apparent in his voice. He pulled nervously at the end of his tie before casting a weary glance at his son-in-law. “It seems like every time we get comfortable, there’s another cataclysmic event threatening the universe…”
The Doctor blinked, allowing the smallest smile to play over his face. “A Time Lord in the family is both a blessing and a curse,” he stated. “Trouble seems to follow me wherever I go. How did you ever consent to let me marry your daughter? To let us raise children with the threat of all that could happen?”
Pete was rolling up his shirtsleeves as he leaned back on his desk, throwing a smirk back at the Doctor.
“Well, I certainly meant what I said at the banquet, but the main reason I allowed it was because Rose loved you. And between the two of us Doctor, we know that no one stands between a Tyler woman and what she wants,” Pete joked, even as he peered around the room nervously. “No one…”
The Doctor nodded curtly, taking that advice to heart. There had been so many times when Rose’s will had surprised him…amazed him…terrified him. The thought of her glowing gold with the light of the vortex inside of her was enough to concede Pete’s point. Rose and Jackie were both forces unto themselves, and worth fighting for.
“Pete, we won’t let anything happen to them,” the Doctor reassured as he noticed his father-in-law twisting his wedding band.
He caught Pete’s thankful and inspired nod, and lets himself out of the room, walking slowly back to where he left Rose. He knows that in any version of reality, what he said was eternal. He would never let harm come to her. As he crept silently into their shared bedroom, the Doctor found himself at first relieved, and then disappointed to see her sleeping so softly on top of the bed. He almost wanted to wake her up and tell her that, no matter what came in the future, he would always protect her.
He sank slowly into the thick mattress, barely cognizant of his shoes hitting the floor as he gazed at her face illuminated in the moonlight. She slept peacefully, with one hand outstretched over the space where her husband should be. He picked up her hand and rested it on his chest as he settled onto his back, hearing her sigh contentedly as he intertwined their fingers. Slowly, so as not to disturb her, he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her palm, feeling the sharp edges of her wedding ring graze his skin. Realizing he hadn’t even seen the band, he rearranged her hand and stared at the trinket, curious to know what kind of ring he would have chosen for her. A small sapphire sparkled in the center, surrounded by diamond-shaped stones he identified as agapesso, the rarest and most precious gem in the universe. Along the band was a small inscription that repeated in his head for the rest of the night as he watched Rose sleep.
‘In your heart: mine.’
--
In the morning, the Doctor started to make a number of excuses for their early departure, but Rose interrupted.
“This has to do with what you and dad talked about last night, doesn’t it?” she asked pointedly.
“Er, yes,” the Doctor answered, realizing he’d just tried to deceive his own wife. For what end, he wasn’t sure. “Pete’s located some anomaly on the outskirts of the galaxy. We’re attempting to assess its potential impact on our sector.”
“ETA?” Rose asked professionally, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.
The Doctor blinked, remembering that this was his partner and companion, despite all the strange occurrences of late.
“A few weeks perhaps,” he answered uncertainly.
“Then let’s get back to the TARDIS and organize some preliminary tests,” Rose suggested as she leaned over their suitcase and picked out some fresh clothing. “I’d like to run a gamma scan to coordinate possible outcomes, and a deep search in the beta system to see if we can cull some information from previous activity…”
The Doctor sucked on his tongue uselessly, gobsmacked by her familiarity with the TARDIS’ technical capabilities. “That…yep. Sounds like a good idea.”
“Good and timely,” Rose returned with a half-frown on her face. “Because somebody forgot to pack my knickers. Honestly Doctor, it’s feast or famine with you. Guess I’ll have to go without!”
The Doctor suppressed a gasp as Rose threw off her robe and began to shimmy into a patterned sun-dress, sans panties. He caught one glimpse at her perfect backside and shapely upper thighs before throwing himself out their bedroom door.
“I’ll start the car!” he shouted.
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