PARENTHOOD
Chapter One Hundred and Ninety Eight Hope staggered back when the teleport finished. She shook her head. "I don't like when that happens," she said to the Doctor. "It makes me wobbly." "Yes, well, it takes awhile to get used to that sort of travel," the Doctor said, patting her head. "Don't worry; it took awhile for me to adjust to teleportation as well." They looked around and noticed they were in a large square metal room that had huge rectangular windows on every side. When the Doctor walked to the window, he noticed that they were high up in the air in a metal observatory tower. Hope walked up beside him while everyone else looked out the windows. "Wow, we're up above the trees," Hope said, looking down at the treetops. "Are you scared?" the Doctor asked her with wide eyes. "No. Are you?" Hope said. The Doctor gave her a scared look as he nodded his head rapidly and grinned when Hope hugged his middle. He patted her shoulder and turned to Belock. Behind Belock, he saw a metal table with computer, binoculars and assorted papers and books on top of it, a metal filing cabinet and a metal chair in front of the table. "So, how long have your team been here then?" the Doctor asked him. "For about six months. We've been documenting the wildlife and taking samples," Belock said. "The ship was damage about a week ago, right when we were planning to go home. Unfortunately, this is mating season on the planet and the dinosaur population has increased around here and around the ship. "But you said sonic vibrations scare them off?" the Doctor said. "Most of them. Some of the larger ones aren't fazed but those keep to the densest part of the forest and..." The Doctor jerked his head around when he heard a bang and Hope's startled scream. A pterodactyl had flown up to the tower and was now hanging on the roof in front of the window. "And those, are there a lot of those at this time?" the Doctor asked Belock as he pointed to the pterodactyl. "Unfortunately, yes," Belock said. "And being amphibious, we're obviously afraid to do repairs with them flying overhead." "Well, you can come with me. I have my TARDIS here and I can get you lot home," the Doctor said. "We just have to get back to the path we were on and hey presto, you're home free." "Hey!" Hope said. "Hey, Uncle Jack, he looks like Myfanwy. Maybe Myfanwy wants a friend?" "Uh...no, Myfanwy is a big enough handful without adding a friend," Jack said while his family laughed. "We'll leave Myfanwy Part Two here in the forest. But the Doctor is right, we can get you back to our TARDIS and you won't have to deal with creatures like this." "Actually, we do need to get inside the ship for a few minutes so we can gather up our research," Belock said. "Sorry about that but we have computer discs that contain vital information on them." "Then let me retrieve them," Jack said. "If someone happens, I can come back to life as I am. If there are dinosaurs around, I'll take the risk." "What do you mean come back to life as you are?" Belock asked. The Doctor explained about his immortality while Belock stared at Jack in a stunned silence. Jack blushed a bit when Belock kept staring at him. "And do you have the secret of this immortality, this Bad Wolf. Where can we find it?" Belock asked him. Everyone laughed when Jack jabbed his finger back at Rose. "Meet the Bad Wolf," Jack said. "She's responsible for my immortality." "Really?" Belock said, walking over to her. "Dear one, would you mind bestowing immortality on us?" "Well, um..." Rose said while her family laughed, "I'd love to but the Bad Wolf is a part of the TARDIS, at least I think it is, and the power was taken out of me by him," she said, pointing to the Doctor. "So I can't give you immortality, sorry." "Trust me, pal, you don't wanna live forever," Jack said. "It sounds good on paper but when you're living it, it's a bitch. But if you need me to brave the dinos to get your research, I'll be happy to do it." "And I'll go with you," Hope said. "Oooohohoho no, you don't," the Doctor said. "You can't come back to life so you're staying at my side and helping me. Uncle Jack will be fine. Anyway, I must admit I've never met your species before so if you don't mind my asking, what is your species and where do you live?" "We are Amphors from the planet Springwater. It's on the other side of the galaxy," Belock said. "We recently developed lightspeed travel so we've been visiting other planets in an effort to learn about them." "And why are you still wearing your spacesuit?" the Doctor said. "Pangea has an atmosphere and the air is breathable." "Yes, but this suit keeps my body moist," Belock said. "Our skin dries out easily plus I was disguising myself when I thought your brother might be hostile. Can't be too careful." "Don't I know it," the Doctor said, nodding. "Daddy!" The Doctor turned and saw Hope pointing out the window. "Dinosaur, Daddy, down there!" Everyone walked up to the window and Hope turned back but when she looked down the dinosaur was gone. "Hey! Come back, I want my family to see you," Hope said, putting her hands against the window. Jack glanced at the pterodactyl that was still hanging off the roof. "Boo!" he said to it. Everyone laughed when the pterodactyl was unfazed. The Doctor put his hands on his daughter's shoulders and Rain came up beside him while she and everyone else looked out the window. "Awww, it's gone," Hope said mournfully. "Don't worry, baby, I'm sure we'll see it before too..." "There it is!" Hope said, interrupting her as she pointed. They looked down and Jack groaned when a T-Rex suddenly walked into a clearing. "Great. Have to be one of those down there," Jack said. "Remember, vision's based on movement. Jurassic Park, ya know," Alan said to him. "Yes and I never thought I'd be living that movie. Still, I agreed to go and I'm going. Just point the way." Belock nodded. He motioned for everyone to get close to him so they could teleport back underground. Once they were back underground, Belock led them to a control room where they found the other two members of the team. Belock informed Jack on what to look for and strapped a camera to his neck. The camera was a small one on a leather strap and Belock turned it on before telling him that they could also access ship cameras so they could watch him. Once he was finished, they teleported him up to the ship and everyone gathered around a large monitor to watch while Pelema worked the controls and switched between camera views. While they watched Jack warily approach the big metal black and white space shuttle, the Doctor felt Hope tug on his hand and he looked down at her. "I'm having fun," she said. "Me too. Always nice to land somewhere different. Keeps time travel interesting for me," he said, laying his hand on her hair. "If I saw everything in the universe, I wouldn't want to travel." "I'm glad I'm your daughter so I can travel with you and Mummy and everyone else," Hope said. The Doctor grinned from ear to ear and bent over to kiss the top of her head. He went back to watching the screen while Hope walked over to Rose. She was standing beside Rain while Alan stood behind her, rubbing her back while she watched the screen. Alan showed Hope his index finger when she reached Rose's side. "I had an owie here but Rose kissed the owie and made it better," he said. "So?" Hope said. "So...I had an owie and Rose kissed the owie and made it better," Alan said smugly. "Good for you. Go away now." Rose laughed when Alan's mouth dropped open. "Fine, see if I give you any more love and smiles and sunshine sunny hugs," he said with a sniff. Hope stared at him for a moment and then tugged on Rose's shirt hem. Rose looked at her. "How do you put up with him?" Hope asked, pointing to Alan. Alan's mouth fell open again as his family members laughed. Rose put an arm around her niece. "Well, it takes a lot of valium, a fair amount of alcohol and earplugs but I've also learned to live with him over the past few centuries," she said. "Heh, heh, heh, yeah, that's funny, Rose," Alan said while everyone laughed. "See if I give you anymore snugglebumpkins." "That's okay, I'll get snugglebumpkins from my niece," Rose said, squeezing her around the middle. Everyone's attention was turned back towards the monitor when Jack suddenly let out a loud yelp. He was coming back out of the spaceship with the discs when a pack of velociraptors surrounded him and began to close in. "Um...about that whole dying thing, I have a feeling that could become a real possibility now," Jack said to the camera behind him as the raptors closed in.
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