Chapter Text
Everything, absolutely everything hurt. A lot.
That was the only thing the Doctor could think about: the pain, invading every cell of his body, it burned to the very core, he thought he would regenerate at any moment, that the energy of the timelord, the secret of the Timeless Child would give him a new life, a new breath of fresh air, a restart.
But the moment never came and the Doctor grunted in agony.
"I'm... dying..." he muttered weakly.
He felt a hand, a really cold hand on his cheek and his eyes shot open in an instant: Enemy at the Gates! But, who? Who could attack him with such a low temperature? A silurian? An ice warrior? Maybe...
"You're not dying, Doctor, don't be silly"
The man looked at the place the voice was coming from and smiled faintly. A tall man with a radiant smile, black, curly hair, dressed to the nines, with impeccable posture.
"Rogue... I'm sorry... I'm really dying..."
He heard a giggle and moved his body, Rogue held him in place and the alien realized he was lying on his bed at the TARDIS, he couldn't remember when was the last time he had been in this room, he hardly had any use for it.
"Like Rogue said" Ruby Sunday said and the Doctor smiled when he saw her standing just outside the entrance of the room "You're not dying, you've just got a really nasty cold"
"Are you both sure?" the Doctor said, coughing and feeling his complex respiratory system heating up quickly "Because it feels like dying"
Another cold touch, this time it was Rogue's lips on his forehead and the Doctor tried to move his hands, but his boyfriend held them between the covers, keeping him in place once more.
"Just a cold" the bounty hunter insisted "I've already contacted the Sisters of Plenitude, a representative will be here shortly, in the meantime, you need to rest"
"They usually don't leave the planet..."
The timelord couldn't continue, another cough cut him off and this time, it felt stronger, nastier, something was in his throat and he hated it, so, so much. Ruby was right at his side in an instant and both of the man's hearts melted at the image of his boyfriend's and best friend's concerned faces.
"Yes, the Sisters don't leave their planet, but this is you, Doctor, so they'll make an exception, they gave us instructions to take care of you and..."
"We can just go to New Earth and..."
He tried to get up, but the whole world around him turned upside down and he felt himself falling, gurgling, vomiting, Rogue took him by the shoulders and said sternly:
"Doctor, no, no!"
Both men looked at each other and the bounty hunter rubbed his lover's hands softly, gently.
"Please" he admonished him tenderly "Stay. Rest. We're here for you"
After that, the timelord fell back on the mattress and closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes once again, Rogue was still sitting at the dge of bed, Ruby was nowhere to be found, but she could hear her voice outside the room, he raised an eyebrow and questioned:
"Is Ruby singing?"
"We both were" Rogue said "We put your jukebox on shuffle and did some karaoke, it's a good way to pass the time"
"Oh, that's nice"
The timelord tried to sit on the bed, but immediately surrendered, no, not yet, he was still weak and everything hurted so much!
Rogue offered him a little crystalline vase with water and instructed:
"Drink"
The Doctor shook his head, whatever was happening in his stomach was not good and no amount of water could do any good right now.
"Drink, Doctor, it'll feel good, I promise"
Another negative, Rogue huffed in annoyance, but replied:
"Fine, I'll deal you the same way I've dealt with my most dangerous captives"
"Oh, and which way is that, bounty hunter?"
The timelord tried to sound suave, but flinched as soon as he heard how rough his own voice sounded.
"I'll bargain" Rogue said, offering the vase again as he said "Now, drink, or you won't get any nose kisses for the next two weeks"
The Doctor tried to find any sign that he was lying, this had to be a ruse, he couldn't be serious... But seconds passed by and when he realized his boyfriend was telling the truth, he accepted the water, it burned all the way down his throat, but Rogue was playing with his hair while he drank, so that eased the pain a little.
"Good timelord" Rogue teased him, kissing his nose while the Doctor went back to sleep once more.
The next time he woke up, it was only thanks to that damned cough, he was alone in the darkness, but not five seconds later, the lights were on and both Rogue and Ruby rushed into his room.
"My ears were ringing" the Doctor explained between gasps for air "What were you singing?"
Rogue looked away, flustered and the Doctor chuckled a bit, oh, the last time he acted that way, they were both back at the bounty hunter's messy ship.
"Come on, what was it?"
Silence, broken only by a little chuckle coming from Ruby, the Doctor patted his boyfriend's back and asked:
"Please, tell me what it was... Won't you grant a dying man's last wish?"
"You're not dying" his boyfriend replied, burrowing his brow, the Doctor then looked at his companion and grinned.
"Rubes, what was it? Tell me..."
"Oh, look at that, your tea is getting ready, bye you two!" the human said, exiting the scene as quickly as she could, the Doctor rolled his eyes and poked Rogue's leg, muttering:
"Tell me..."
Rogue gave him a look that said 'I will take the secret to my grave'
"Tell me.... Come on, love..."
Now he was looking directly at him and the Doctor knew it was only a matter of time.
"Tell me, sweetheart..."
And insistence.
"Tell me, pretty please..."
The bounty hunter, with the cool and calculated exterior, fidgeted nervously for a moment, sighed in defeat and:
"My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard... And they're like, it's better than yours..." He sang in a faint voice.
His boyfriend opened his eyes so much, to the point they hurt and started laughing madly, immediately stopping when the coughing became too invasive, too violent, too painful. Rogue's embarrassment transformed into worry immediately and in a flash the Doctor felt his head being cradled by his arms and a cold, wet handkerchief on his forehead he had no idea where the other man got from.
"Sleep now, timelord, the Sister will be here anytime now" Rogue instructed.
"I might need a lullaby"
Rogue looked at him with an infinite amount of love, care and above else, exasperation.
"You're impossible"
"I love you too" the Doctor replied with a grin "Now, lullaby, please?"
"My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard..."
The Doctor fell back into sleep with a smile and a kiss on the lips.
"Hahahaha, yes, yes!"
"Doctor" a cat-like woman said, looking at him amused "You can always count on the Sisters of Plenitude to nurse you back to health, whenever you need it and wherever you are"
The timelord barely heard that, spinning around in circles across his TARDIS, still laughing loudly.
"But I must admit, you two did an excellent job"
Suddenly, the Doctor grabbed his boyfriend's hand and dragged him into an improvised dance, kissing his face as much as he could.
"Beyond health, I have to ask, is he okay?" the nurse asked.
Ruby smiled at her before replying:
"The Doctor never stays in the same place for too long, being sick is not something he enjoys"
"Too long? But I'd barely took four hours to get here, Miss Sunday"
"For the Doctor, that's an eternity" the human replied "He's just..."
But her explanation got cut off when her friend ran up to her, lifting into the air and hugging her as hard as he could.
"He's just insane, Ruby, I know you were gonna say that, he's just insanely happy of being alive"
He then grabbed Rogue's hand, pulling him into the hug too.
"And so happy to be surrounded by so much love and care, join us too, Sister Zena!"
The nurse was going to say she didn't usually do that, but the timelord wouldn't take no for an answer and hugged her too, the smile on his face not disappearing for a single moment.