Taking The Slow Path, 3/6, PG-13
Title: Taking The Slow Path
Author: paiger1218
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Rose
Disclaimer: The only character I can claim is David. BBC owns all the rest.
Summary: Reunion fic, baby fic. Torchwood/Dr. Who Crossover. Oh, and a really long response to the Time and Chips October Pic Prompt number 19 which doesn't get addressed until the epilogue! Special Thanks to my beta, Liz, for editing, and generally just moving through all the stages poor Rose went through in teh writing of this fic! I am forever indebted to you! Previous posts can be found at my journal.
~ ~ ~
“What happened?!” Jack asked, trying desperately to get Rose to wake up, but it was all in vain. Everything happened so fast.
“The baby’s cord was wrapped around his neck,” Martha said, cutting the cord free from the baby, who was blue. She worked to revive the baby, as Owen worked frantically on Rose.
“Jack, I have no idea what’s going on here, but Rose has lost a lot of blood. She’s in a coma, I’ve got to try to stabilize her,” Owen said, working.
Jack was torn, watching Martha with the baby, and then staring at Owen with Rose, whose heartbeat was erratic.
Finally, he heard the tell-tale signs of the baby crying, and was relieved to see Martha with a very pink and healthier looking baby in her arms.
“He’s stable,” Martha said softly, her own relief apparent in her voice.
The baby, deathly silent before, was now making his presence very well-known. Martha wrapped him up and handed him to Jack.
“Let me help Owen, take the baby and get him fed. And then call the Doctor… again,” Martha said, handing Jack a bottle of formula.
“You’ll let me know?” Jack asked, nodding his head to Rose’s still form.
“As soon as we know anything,” Martha said, Owen looking up and nodding.
With that Jack, left the room, carrying the screaming infant towards his office. He sat down, propping the baby up in his arm, and placed the bottle in the baby’s mouth, who took it lazily, before spitting it out and screaming again. Jack lifted the phone up with his free hand, pressed redial, and waited.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Doctor woke to find he was still on the couch in the Tyler mansion. It was dark out, and the lights had all either been dimmed or shut off. A blanket had been draped over the Doctor, and a pillow placed under his head. He was grateful, and yet he was frustrated from not having been able to stay awake and find Rose.
He slowly sat up, when he heard the unmistakable sounds of a baby - Ruby Tyler, Rose’s baby sister, of course. The Doctor followed the sounds up the stairs and to what must have been the nursery. He entered the room, and looked down at the crying baby, smiling as he lifted her from her bassinet.
“Hello, Ruby Tyler. I’m your sister’s - I’m her - I’m a friend of the family,” The Doctor said, rolling his eyes. He’d always been a little aloof when it came to explaining his relationship with Rose to others, and to an almost eight-day old infant, he was no different. The baby calmed in his arms, and he felt almost at peace holding the infant, as if it was the most natural thing in the universe. He sat down in the rocking chair and rocked Ruby in his arms, quietly telling her stories about his and Rose’s travels, watching as the sun began to rise.
“Your pocket is glowing,” Donna whispered, standing in the doorway of the nursery.
The Doctor grinned, looking down at Ruby who was now happily asleep, and then pulled the small triangular object out of his trouser pocket to see that it was, indeed, glowing brightly.
“The TARDIS is recharged, and ready to go,” The Doctor whispered.
“You might need these,” Pete Tyler said as he and Jackie stood in the doorway. Pete walked over to the Doctor and handed him what appeared to be a file full of papers.
“This is everything we’ve got about Rose’s disappearance,” he added.
“You leaving then?” Jackie asked, walking across the room and lifting her sleeping baby from the Doctor’s arms.
“Most likely,” the Doctor said, as he closely scrutinized the papers Pete had handed him. The readings he looked at suggested a rift had somehow opened, allowing Rose to come through to the other universe.
“What do you make of it?” Pete asked.
“A temporary rift in the space-time continuum. Rose walked through it and then it appears from the readings you took that the rift closed. I’m sorry, I can’t tell much else. But it looks isolated, which is good, considering we know what happens when there’s a hole in the universe for a prolonged period of time… strange, though. Either the rift itself was a fluke, or…” The Doctor broke off, his brows furrowed.
“Or?” Pete pressed.
“Or something could have pushed or pulled Rose through on purpose,” The Doctor replied.
He looked up to see Pete and Jackie, gazing at him in alarm.
The Doctor regarded Jackie and the baby for a moment, and it was as if a light bulb lit up before his very eyes. “Jackie Tyler, you’re a genius!” The Doctor exclaimed.
“What?” Jackie asked.
“I know where Rose is. Parallel universe couldn’t possibly keep her here, not when she was already on her way,” The Doctor rambled, looking at the baby and then at Jackie.
“What?” Jackie and Donna asked in unison.
“Jackie, you and the Pete from this world, you had a baby. This universe’s Rose Tyler. That’s why she’s not here. This universe pushed her back out to the universe she was born in because there couldn’t be two Rose Tylers, it’d be a paradox!” The Doctor said.
“So…my Rose?” Jackie asked, her eyes watering.
“She’s back, in the other universe, I’m sorry Jackie, most likely she’ll never be able to get back here, though my being here just shows it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibilities,” The Doctor said softly, hugging Jackie.
Jackie pulled away, eyeing the Doctor carefully.
“She’s not a child anymore. That was my biggest mistake, treating her as such. She’s grown up now, choosing her own path, an’ that’s with you now,” Jackie said.
The Doctor was struck by her words and pulled her into another hug, overcome by emotion.
“You’ll give her a message from her family, before you leave?” Jackie asked.
The Doctor nodded solemnly. “I promised you once that I’d take care of her. And I’ll do it when we get back to our universe, you have my word,” The Doctor said, his voice strong with emotion.
Jackie nodded. “I know you will. She loves you, you know,” Jackie said, Pete nodding as he added “’S always been you.”
“I know. And I love her,” The Doctor said, Donna smiling behind him. “Right, well, things to do, a TARDIS to prep, gotta go,” The Doctor said, but turned to look at Jackie and Pete.
“Bring your message by in the next ten minutes. I’ll see that she gets it,” The Doctor said, kissing Ruby Tyler’s forehead and then kissing Jackie’s cheek and shaking Pete’s hand as he turned and bounded down the stairs, Donna on his heels.
“Wait! Doctor, there’s something you’ve got to know!” Jackie said, but he was already out the door. Donna, however, heard Jackie, and turned back to look at her.
“Oh he’ll know soon enough,” Jackie said. “Here, make sure he gives this to Rose,” Jackie said, handing Donna a small photo album and a letter that Jackie had obviously written the night before.
“You knew this would happen?” Donna asked.
“Smarter than I look,” Jackie said, winking at Donna, who laughed.
“I’m sad we didn’t have more time to get to know each other,” Donna said, softly.
“Me too. I think we would have become good friends. Watch after him and my Rose, will you?” Jackie asked, sniffling, Pete holding her in his arms.
“Of course. Thank you both, for everything,” Donna said, turning and leaving the house to head off for the TARDIS.
Pete and Jackie watched as it began to dematerialize, and Jackie looked down at her baby girl. “Someday, I’m going to tell you all about them, Ruby, and I’ll tell you all about Rose, your sister. She’s so very brave and wonderful,” Jackie said, turning to head back into the house with Pete, the ‘whoosh whoosh whoosh’ of the TARDIS now long gone.
~ ~ ~
The Doctor was fussing with controls, trying to decipher where Rose would be in the other Universe, when Donna came back into the control room, carrying a buzzing phone in her hand.
“What’s this?” she asked, handing the Doctor the phone.
“Martha’s cell phone,” he said, taking it from Donna, and reading ‘18 Missed Calls’ on the screen, “I’ll call her back as soon as we find Rose,” he said, turning off the cell phone and focusing on the dials, trying desperately to establish a psychic link between the TARDIS and Rose.
“Come on, old girl, help me find her,” he said in a soft, pleading way.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jack was still trying desperately to call the Doctor on the fourth day since the world inside the Torchwood hub had been turned upside down, when Owen approached him hurriedly.
“Jack, we have a problem,” Owen said softly.
“Is it Rose? Is she getting worse?” Jack asked, springing to his feet.
“No, it’s the baby. He isn’t eating,” Owen said.
Jack’s face fell. “Let’s walk and talk,” Jack said, rushing to the makeshift nursery, Owen on his heels.
When they entered the room, Martha was sitting in a chair, holding the tiny baby in her arms, desperately trying to get the crying infant to eat. Jack looked to his right and felt his heart drop as he saw Rose’s unconscious form lying in bed; numerous tubes coming out of various spots on her body, hooked up to IV’s. She looked peaceful, but Jack knew it was unnatural. He walked towards Martha, remaining focused on the issue at hand.
“Martha?” Jack asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.
She had tears in her eyes as she looked at Jack.
“It’s been four days. He barely ate anything the first two days. Now he hasn’t eaten since yesterday, Jack. Where is he?” She asked desperation in her voice.
“I’ll try calling him again, just keep trying to get the baby to eat,” Jack said, moving to leave. Owen stopped him.
“If he doesn’t eat tonight, we’re going to have to put in a feeding tube,” Owen said.
“You do whatever you have to do to keep that kid alive,” Jack said, his eyes falling on the still form of Rose as he left the room.
~ ~ ~
Jack frantically dialed Martha’s cell phone number again, cursing when he got the busy signal.
“Damn it, Doctor! Answer!” Jack yelled, pressing redial again.
In the distance, he could hear the baby screaming.
“Please, please, please! Get through to him!!” Jack pleaded with the phone, calling again.
It was then that he heard the familiar sounds of the TARDIS landing in the hub.
~ ~ ~
When the Doctor and Donna stepped out of the TARDIS, chaos had literally materialized in the form of Jack Harkness, who was physically hauling the Doctor out of the blue box by the lapels of his long brown coat.
“WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!” Jack yelled, shaking frantically.
“Oi! What’s going on?” the Doctor asked. Donna jumped in surprise at the bellowing.
Jack let out an exhausted laugh, shaking his head.
“I’ve been calling you, for days. On Martha’s phone,” Jack said, his voice a tired croak.
“I didn’t know you were calling, Jack, really, what’s going on?” the Doctor asked, puzzled. The hair on the back of his neck was standing up though, and he could sense something bad about the hub.
“Doctor, it’s Rose. Rose came through the rift. She’s here,” Jack said, his voice barely a whisper.
“Wha-WHAT? Rose?! Where is she?” the Doctor started to run, anywhere in the hub, to find her, but Jack pushed him back.
“Let. Me. Finish,” Jack said, his voice tense and desperate.
“Something’s wrong, isn’t it,” the Doctor said, feeling the heavy silence surrounding them, which was soon punctured by the sounds of a tiny baby screaming.
Jack was breathing heavily, looking at the Doctor sorrowfully.
“Jack?” the Doctor croaked, as the screams continued.
“Doctor, Rose came through the rift approximately eight days ago. She was pregnant. She gave birth four days later, and there were complications,” Jack said, trying with all his might to stay focused.
The Doctor’s eyes fell, and Donna placed a reassuring hand on his arm as he let out a pained sound, somewhere between a gasp and a sob.
“Jack, please,” the Doctor said, his voice strained, urging Jack to continue.
“Rose lost consciousness, and the baby was born with the cord around his neck. We thought he was dead, and then Martha cut the cord and he started screaming. And he never stopped,” Jack said, his eyes filling at the memory of that awful day.
“Is she okay?” the Doctor asked, so softly Jack barely heard it.
“She’s in a coma,” Jack said, looking away from the Doctor.
The baby’s screams continued.
“We’ve been doing everything we can to keep your son alive, but he’s been weak since birth. He stopped eating,” Jack added, gravely.
The Doctor looked up from the floor, tears silently streaming down his face. “I have a son?” he asked quietly.
Jack nodded.
The baby let out another pained scream, and the Doctor looked up at the direction of the cries, and then back at Jack.
“Jack, please, take me to see them,” the Doctor said, his voice strained.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Donna asked the Doctor, softly.
The Doctor nodded slowly, giving Donna a brief hug.
The three headed up the steps to the makeshift nursery, the baby’s cries getting louder each time.
Author: paiger1218
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Rose
Disclaimer: The only character I can claim is David. BBC owns all the rest.
Summary: Reunion fic, baby fic. Torchwood/Dr. Who Crossover. Oh, and a really long response to the Time and Chips October Pic Prompt number 19 which doesn't get addressed until the epilogue! Special Thanks to my beta, Liz, for editing, and generally just moving through all the stages poor Rose went through in teh writing of this fic! I am forever indebted to you! Previous posts can be found at my journal.
~ ~ ~
“What happened?!” Jack asked, trying desperately to get Rose to wake up, but it was all in vain. Everything happened so fast.
“The baby’s cord was wrapped around his neck,” Martha said, cutting the cord free from the baby, who was blue. She worked to revive the baby, as Owen worked frantically on Rose.
“Jack, I have no idea what’s going on here, but Rose has lost a lot of blood. She’s in a coma, I’ve got to try to stabilize her,” Owen said, working.
Jack was torn, watching Martha with the baby, and then staring at Owen with Rose, whose heartbeat was erratic.
Finally, he heard the tell-tale signs of the baby crying, and was relieved to see Martha with a very pink and healthier looking baby in her arms.
“He’s stable,” Martha said softly, her own relief apparent in her voice.
The baby, deathly silent before, was now making his presence very well-known. Martha wrapped him up and handed him to Jack.
“Let me help Owen, take the baby and get him fed. And then call the Doctor… again,” Martha said, handing Jack a bottle of formula.
“You’ll let me know?” Jack asked, nodding his head to Rose’s still form.
“As soon as we know anything,” Martha said, Owen looking up and nodding.
With that Jack, left the room, carrying the screaming infant towards his office. He sat down, propping the baby up in his arm, and placed the bottle in the baby’s mouth, who took it lazily, before spitting it out and screaming again. Jack lifted the phone up with his free hand, pressed redial, and waited.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Doctor woke to find he was still on the couch in the Tyler mansion. It was dark out, and the lights had all either been dimmed or shut off. A blanket had been draped over the Doctor, and a pillow placed under his head. He was grateful, and yet he was frustrated from not having been able to stay awake and find Rose.
He slowly sat up, when he heard the unmistakable sounds of a baby - Ruby Tyler, Rose’s baby sister, of course. The Doctor followed the sounds up the stairs and to what must have been the nursery. He entered the room, and looked down at the crying baby, smiling as he lifted her from her bassinet.
“Hello, Ruby Tyler. I’m your sister’s - I’m her - I’m a friend of the family,” The Doctor said, rolling his eyes. He’d always been a little aloof when it came to explaining his relationship with Rose to others, and to an almost eight-day old infant, he was no different. The baby calmed in his arms, and he felt almost at peace holding the infant, as if it was the most natural thing in the universe. He sat down in the rocking chair and rocked Ruby in his arms, quietly telling her stories about his and Rose’s travels, watching as the sun began to rise.
“Your pocket is glowing,” Donna whispered, standing in the doorway of the nursery.
The Doctor grinned, looking down at Ruby who was now happily asleep, and then pulled the small triangular object out of his trouser pocket to see that it was, indeed, glowing brightly.
“The TARDIS is recharged, and ready to go,” The Doctor whispered.
“You might need these,” Pete Tyler said as he and Jackie stood in the doorway. Pete walked over to the Doctor and handed him what appeared to be a file full of papers.
“This is everything we’ve got about Rose’s disappearance,” he added.
“You leaving then?” Jackie asked, walking across the room and lifting her sleeping baby from the Doctor’s arms.
“Most likely,” the Doctor said, as he closely scrutinized the papers Pete had handed him. The readings he looked at suggested a rift had somehow opened, allowing Rose to come through to the other universe.
“What do you make of it?” Pete asked.
“A temporary rift in the space-time continuum. Rose walked through it and then it appears from the readings you took that the rift closed. I’m sorry, I can’t tell much else. But it looks isolated, which is good, considering we know what happens when there’s a hole in the universe for a prolonged period of time… strange, though. Either the rift itself was a fluke, or…” The Doctor broke off, his brows furrowed.
“Or?” Pete pressed.
“Or something could have pushed or pulled Rose through on purpose,” The Doctor replied.
He looked up to see Pete and Jackie, gazing at him in alarm.
The Doctor regarded Jackie and the baby for a moment, and it was as if a light bulb lit up before his very eyes. “Jackie Tyler, you’re a genius!” The Doctor exclaimed.
“What?” Jackie asked.
“I know where Rose is. Parallel universe couldn’t possibly keep her here, not when she was already on her way,” The Doctor rambled, looking at the baby and then at Jackie.
“What?” Jackie and Donna asked in unison.
“Jackie, you and the Pete from this world, you had a baby. This universe’s Rose Tyler. That’s why she’s not here. This universe pushed her back out to the universe she was born in because there couldn’t be two Rose Tylers, it’d be a paradox!” The Doctor said.
“So…my Rose?” Jackie asked, her eyes watering.
“She’s back, in the other universe, I’m sorry Jackie, most likely she’ll never be able to get back here, though my being here just shows it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibilities,” The Doctor said softly, hugging Jackie.
Jackie pulled away, eyeing the Doctor carefully.
“She’s not a child anymore. That was my biggest mistake, treating her as such. She’s grown up now, choosing her own path, an’ that’s with you now,” Jackie said.
The Doctor was struck by her words and pulled her into another hug, overcome by emotion.
“You’ll give her a message from her family, before you leave?” Jackie asked.
The Doctor nodded solemnly. “I promised you once that I’d take care of her. And I’ll do it when we get back to our universe, you have my word,” The Doctor said, his voice strong with emotion.
Jackie nodded. “I know you will. She loves you, you know,” Jackie said, Pete nodding as he added “’S always been you.”
“I know. And I love her,” The Doctor said, Donna smiling behind him. “Right, well, things to do, a TARDIS to prep, gotta go,” The Doctor said, but turned to look at Jackie and Pete.
“Bring your message by in the next ten minutes. I’ll see that she gets it,” The Doctor said, kissing Ruby Tyler’s forehead and then kissing Jackie’s cheek and shaking Pete’s hand as he turned and bounded down the stairs, Donna on his heels.
“Wait! Doctor, there’s something you’ve got to know!” Jackie said, but he was already out the door. Donna, however, heard Jackie, and turned back to look at her.
“Oh he’ll know soon enough,” Jackie said. “Here, make sure he gives this to Rose,” Jackie said, handing Donna a small photo album and a letter that Jackie had obviously written the night before.
“You knew this would happen?” Donna asked.
“Smarter than I look,” Jackie said, winking at Donna, who laughed.
“I’m sad we didn’t have more time to get to know each other,” Donna said, softly.
“Me too. I think we would have become good friends. Watch after him and my Rose, will you?” Jackie asked, sniffling, Pete holding her in his arms.
“Of course. Thank you both, for everything,” Donna said, turning and leaving the house to head off for the TARDIS.
Pete and Jackie watched as it began to dematerialize, and Jackie looked down at her baby girl. “Someday, I’m going to tell you all about them, Ruby, and I’ll tell you all about Rose, your sister. She’s so very brave and wonderful,” Jackie said, turning to head back into the house with Pete, the ‘whoosh whoosh whoosh’ of the TARDIS now long gone.
~ ~ ~
The Doctor was fussing with controls, trying to decipher where Rose would be in the other Universe, when Donna came back into the control room, carrying a buzzing phone in her hand.
“What’s this?” she asked, handing the Doctor the phone.
“Martha’s cell phone,” he said, taking it from Donna, and reading ‘18 Missed Calls’ on the screen, “I’ll call her back as soon as we find Rose,” he said, turning off the cell phone and focusing on the dials, trying desperately to establish a psychic link between the TARDIS and Rose.
“Come on, old girl, help me find her,” he said in a soft, pleading way.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jack was still trying desperately to call the Doctor on the fourth day since the world inside the Torchwood hub had been turned upside down, when Owen approached him hurriedly.
“Jack, we have a problem,” Owen said softly.
“Is it Rose? Is she getting worse?” Jack asked, springing to his feet.
“No, it’s the baby. He isn’t eating,” Owen said.
Jack’s face fell. “Let’s walk and talk,” Jack said, rushing to the makeshift nursery, Owen on his heels.
When they entered the room, Martha was sitting in a chair, holding the tiny baby in her arms, desperately trying to get the crying infant to eat. Jack looked to his right and felt his heart drop as he saw Rose’s unconscious form lying in bed; numerous tubes coming out of various spots on her body, hooked up to IV’s. She looked peaceful, but Jack knew it was unnatural. He walked towards Martha, remaining focused on the issue at hand.
“Martha?” Jack asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.
She had tears in her eyes as she looked at Jack.
“It’s been four days. He barely ate anything the first two days. Now he hasn’t eaten since yesterday, Jack. Where is he?” She asked desperation in her voice.
“I’ll try calling him again, just keep trying to get the baby to eat,” Jack said, moving to leave. Owen stopped him.
“If he doesn’t eat tonight, we’re going to have to put in a feeding tube,” Owen said.
“You do whatever you have to do to keep that kid alive,” Jack said, his eyes falling on the still form of Rose as he left the room.
~ ~ ~
Jack frantically dialed Martha’s cell phone number again, cursing when he got the busy signal.
“Damn it, Doctor! Answer!” Jack yelled, pressing redial again.
In the distance, he could hear the baby screaming.
“Please, please, please! Get through to him!!” Jack pleaded with the phone, calling again.
It was then that he heard the familiar sounds of the TARDIS landing in the hub.
~ ~ ~
When the Doctor and Donna stepped out of the TARDIS, chaos had literally materialized in the form of Jack Harkness, who was physically hauling the Doctor out of the blue box by the lapels of his long brown coat.
“WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!” Jack yelled, shaking frantically.
“Oi! What’s going on?” the Doctor asked. Donna jumped in surprise at the bellowing.
Jack let out an exhausted laugh, shaking his head.
“I’ve been calling you, for days. On Martha’s phone,” Jack said, his voice a tired croak.
“I didn’t know you were calling, Jack, really, what’s going on?” the Doctor asked, puzzled. The hair on the back of his neck was standing up though, and he could sense something bad about the hub.
“Doctor, it’s Rose. Rose came through the rift. She’s here,” Jack said, his voice barely a whisper.
“Wha-WHAT? Rose?! Where is she?” the Doctor started to run, anywhere in the hub, to find her, but Jack pushed him back.
“Let. Me. Finish,” Jack said, his voice tense and desperate.
“Something’s wrong, isn’t it,” the Doctor said, feeling the heavy silence surrounding them, which was soon punctured by the sounds of a tiny baby screaming.
Jack was breathing heavily, looking at the Doctor sorrowfully.
“Jack?” the Doctor croaked, as the screams continued.
“Doctor, Rose came through the rift approximately eight days ago. She was pregnant. She gave birth four days later, and there were complications,” Jack said, trying with all his might to stay focused.
The Doctor’s eyes fell, and Donna placed a reassuring hand on his arm as he let out a pained sound, somewhere between a gasp and a sob.
“Jack, please,” the Doctor said, his voice strained, urging Jack to continue.
“Rose lost consciousness, and the baby was born with the cord around his neck. We thought he was dead, and then Martha cut the cord and he started screaming. And he never stopped,” Jack said, his eyes filling at the memory of that awful day.
“Is she okay?” the Doctor asked, so softly Jack barely heard it.
“She’s in a coma,” Jack said, looking away from the Doctor.
The baby’s screams continued.
“We’ve been doing everything we can to keep your son alive, but he’s been weak since birth. He stopped eating,” Jack added, gravely.
The Doctor looked up from the floor, tears silently streaming down his face. “I have a son?” he asked quietly.
Jack nodded.
The baby let out another pained scream, and the Doctor looked up at the direction of the cries, and then back at Jack.
“Jack, please, take me to see them,” the Doctor said, his voice strained.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Donna asked the Doctor, softly.
The Doctor nodded slowly, giving Donna a brief hug.
The three headed up the steps to the makeshift nursery, the baby’s cries getting louder each time.