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Chapter 1 – Bad News from the Doctor

Rose was walking around Jackie's bedroom inside of the mansion. Jackie's suitcase was lying on the bed and they were busy packing for Pete and Jackie's holiday to Greece. They had planned on going the week before, but after Pete had popped back to New York and was in the hotel explosion, plans had been postponed.

After laying in a coma for several days, Pete was finally awake and seemed mostly back to normal. The Doctor done what he called, 'Jiggery Pokery' on Pete's brain and Rose was certain that was the only reason Pete was doing as well as he was. The doctors, with little "d's", had been amazed with his progress. The Doctor still wasn't satisfied, though.

Pete had made The Doctor the Director of Torchwood before the explosion. Their arrangement was supposed to have been a temporary arrangement, but Pete was now certain it was permanent. The Doctor blamed the concussion. After a look at the Director Transfer of Power paperwork, nothing defined it as either.

In the short time that the Doctor had been the Director, he had implemented many changes which everyone was very pleased with. Special teams had been formed for all sorts of special circumstances.

As an Alshain ship passed by Space Traffic Control at Torchwood, the Doctor contacted them to negotiate transportation to a planet called, Plenitude. The doctors there had success with many species' who had suffered brain damage from compression bombs. Jack gave the Doctor and Pete his Vortex Manipulator so they could travel to the planet, have Pete treated, then go back in time a few days and return back to Earth. The Doctor and Rose had agreed that would be easier for everything they had going on, not to mention Tony and Genie. Even though the Doctor had promised Rose he wouldn't travel in time, she had been the one to suggest this solution.

Tony, Pete's son, was now scared of his father. He insisted on staying with Rose and the Doctor. Pete didn't remember that he had gotten Tony's dog, Zeus, for him. But the Doctor had also discovered that he was missing almost an entire year of memories of Tony. For some reason, Pete remembered everything about the Doctor and Rose. That had only happened in the last month.

When Rose asked the Doctor about this, he told her it was normal. "Brain injuries are so unpredictable."

The Doctor and Pete had been gone for four days. They had taken the Quauhtin bodyguards, Shakes and John, with them. Rose had been able to speak with the Doctor through their marriage bond. It had made his absence easier, but she was shielding him from knowing how much she was missing him. She was sure he was doing the same thing to her. She wished she could just see him. Genie and Tony couldn't understand why they couldn't video chat with him. It had been a very difficult time since he had been gone.

Jackie pulled out a skirt and asked Rose, "What do you think? I can take this and wear it over a bathing suit?"

Rose nodded. "Yes, Mum. That's lovely."

"When did they say they would be returning?" Jackie asked.

"Tomorrow morning." Rose told her as she sat on the side of Jackie's bed and sighed.

Then, Rose heard The Doctor's voice in her head. She immediately smiled. 'Rose. Do you have your tablet nearby?'

She turned around and dug her tablet out of her bigger on the inside purse. 'Yes. I have it in my hands. Why?'

She turned it on and saw the Doctor's face looking back at her on it. He smiled and looked relieved. "Rose! Can you hear me?" he asked.

She nodded as she smiled, "Yes! I can see you! What's up with your hair?"

He looked up and ran his hand through his hair. "I had a helmet on earlier. Anyway. Is Jackie there with you? Anyone else?"

Jackie walked over and waved. "Yes, I'm here. How's Pete?"

The Doctor rubbed his beard. "Oh, he's doing better! I think its working! Look, this connection will probably not last long. I have to do some strange stuff in order to get the signal to you."

Rose sat back on the bed as she felt the Doctor's apprehension at the news he was about to give them. "What's wrong? What's happened?"

The Doctor rubbed his beard, "There's no easy way to say this. We're going to be late coming back. Jack's Vortex Manipulator has finally went kaput." He popped the p.

Jackie sat down next to Rose. "How are you going to get back then? Wasn't that you had planned to use?"

He nodded his head. "Yeah. But, all hope is not lost. Shakes and John have gone back to Quauhtin to see if they can make contact with anyone there. We were so close, I sent them back. John has a family on a colony he wasn't sure about, so hopefully he can find them. They are supposed to return tonight to where we are. I'm going to chat with them and we'll work something out. As long as we can get a ship within the Earth's orbit, we can use our watches to pop down. I'm glad I brought it now."

Rose shook her head, "You can't repair the Vortex Manipulator?"

He shook his head. "Oh trust me. I've been through that already. There's nothing here that I can use. As soon as we're back, I can repair it rather easily. I just don't have the right parts I would need. Nothing I would trust."

Jackie tossed up her hands and walked away. "Geez."

Rose asked the Doctor. "How many days are we talking about?"

He rubbed his beard as he looked uncomfortable. "A number. It's always a number, isn't it?"

Rose smiled, "It is nice to see your face. I miss you."

He smiled, "I miss you. We'll make it back, Rose. Don't worry. I wouldn't have left if I didn't know I could get us back."

"How is Dad enjoying his first trip in space?" Rose giggled.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Oh, he's a lot of fun. The Sisters of Plentitude are surprising to him. He likes the food we have here. I think he's having a good time."

"What are you doing to occupy yourself? Why were you wearing a helmet?" Rose asked him.

"Ummm… don't worry about me. I'm keeping busy!" he told her.

"Deflecting?" Rose teased him.

"Oh, yes! Don't worry. We're safe. You'd approve." He chuckled at her. "I need you to call Michelle and have her reschedule everything for me for the next…..hmmm….. five days."

"Five days!?" Rose asked.

He looked serious. "Yeah. Make it five days. I'm trying to get us back before then, but that is a safe bet. Damn, and I have some seriously important meetings going on! Call Howie and Harriet and tell them I might have to postpone that UN Meeting. Can you even do that?"

Rose shook her head, "I don't know. You're meeting with the UN? Is that the-"

He nodded his head, "Yeah, United Nations. I need their permission about something. Don't worry about it. I'll explain later. Damn! Our interview on the telly is in four days, too!" He leaned back and rubbed his face. "I'm sorry, Rose."

Rose shook her head. "Sweetheart, this is not your fault. I know you will do what you can. I'm still not happy about this interview you are insisting we do."

"Pete agrees with me!"

"Dad is brain damaged!" Rose reminded him quietly.

He pointed at her, "Hey, that's mean."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Just saying….."

He nodded his head as he looked down. "I can tell how upset Genie is. It's hard. How is Tony?"

Rose shook her head, "The same. Misses you. Only wants you. Mad because you aren't here."

He rubbed his beard. "This never gets easier. I'll try to call you the same time tomorrow using this. That way I can talk to them."

Rose realized, "Sisters of Plentitude. That's the ….."

He laughed, "Yes. The cat nun people you met that time. That was way in the future, though. We are here with them in this time. Nothing like that is going on. I checked to make certain."

Rose laughed. "What does Dad think of that?"

The Doctor smiled, "I think he finds the green cactus people more interesting. They have a child here being treated. He keeps….ummm…..spiking out uncontrollability? I don't know. I'm even baffled by that."

Rose giggled.

He rubbed his beard. "Rose. You, Genie and Tony join Jackie in Greece. Go ahead, all together. There's no reason you should wait around for us to come back. Go on and enjoy yourselves. It will help the children get their minds off of everything. As soon as we pop back to Torchwood, we can join you lot in Greece."

Rose was confused, "Why do you have to pop back to Torchwood, first?"

He waved his hand, "It's complicated. I don't want to explain it when I can chat with you about things that matter. Did Genie like the ballet school? Wasn't that today?"

Rose smiled, "She loved it, but she'll have to be older to go to school there. It's a boarding school, you know."

He looked surprised, "I didn't know that! No! I don't want her to go, then. No."

Rose smiled, "I knew you would say that. It won't be until she's older."

The Doctor rubbed his beard and shook his head. "No, I don't like it."

"I think Genie should have a choice in this. Everything to do with her isn't just up to you." Rose reminded him.

He tossed his hand up. "You're right. Sorry. Yeah. Of course, she gets a vote. But, so do I!"

Rose laughed, "And so do I!"

He smiled, "Right. You sure do. Sorry. What else did they say?"

I explained to them that we were educating her ourselves and they offered her a position to dance now."

He looked shocked, "Now? She's not even five! Dancing for the Royal Ballet?"

Rose smiled proudly, "Yes. They want her to do 'Swan Lake', and …..Ummm…. 'A Winter's Tale'."

The Doctor shook his head, "No. Not 'A Winter's Tale'. 'Swan Lake' is okay."

"What's wrong with 'A Winter's Tale'? That's Shakespeare, isn't it?"

He looked seriously at her. "Read it and then you tell me if you think that's a good idea. I say, no. Genie doesn't need that to be told that story right now. No way."

Rose smiled, "I'd be crazy to argue with you. I know you have your reasons."

He smiled, "And they are good ones. I assure you."

"You said you needed a holiday a few days ago when we were on the sailboat. Looks like you are going to get it. You should be more careful about what you wish for." Rose teased him.

He smiled, "Yeah, that's true. I've probably watched these movies you loaded on my tablet way too many times now. A man can only take so much John Wayne, Rose Tyler."

"I loaded other movies on there."

He shook his head, "Nah. I don't like things like that. Secret agent stuff. Spy movies. Nah. Too much like my life." He laughed. "I've been drawing up plans. Plans for stuff Pete and I can make. Being here has given me some ideas. We can sell some stuff out here. It's just us getting out here to them."

Rose looked surprised, "Wow. That's a swell idea! Going intergalactic, huh?"

He rubbed his face and chuckled, "Yeah! Intergalactic! Tony will want in on that!"

"Are you sleeping? You look exhausted." Rose told him.

He shook his head, "Don't worry about me. I'm fine. Are you sleeping? You seem exhausted. I can feel it."

She smiled, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

He looked seriously at her. "Okay, fine. I'm lying, too. I can't sleep. I'm worried about you and everyone there."

Rose smiled, "We're fine. We have Lewis, Sam and the rest of the Quauhtin. Jake and Jack are also here."

"What sort of trouble has Jack been in since we've been gone?" he asked her.

Rose looked confused, "How could you possibility guess that?"

He snapped and pointed at the screen. "Oh! I knew it! What did he do? I might have won a bet!"

Rose laughed, "Gosh. Last night, he took Jake and a couple of the Quauhtin to a bar someplace in America. There was a bull riding machine. Something happened, and he says it's not his fault."

The Doctor groaned, "It never is."

"Anyway, there was a fight. He got beat up pretty good. Of course, he's fine now. "

"Jake?" The Doctor asked.

"Hurt his shoulder again. He's wearing a sling today."

The Doctor ran his hands through his hair. "Oh, these guys! Were the police called? What sort of trouble are we looking at?"

Rose waved her hand, "Stop worrying. No cops. No press. They popped right back home and cleaned themselves up."

The Doctor rubbed his beard and looked at the screen. "Well. We've been here four days. I had three days before Jack got into trouble. I clearly won! Yes! Tell Jack I'm going to kill him, though."

"What did you win?" Rose asked.

"Ah, some money. Oh! I got the children something awesome. They will love it!" he said.

"I'm sure they will be happy just to see you return."

"I'll be so happy to get back. I miss my TARDIS worse than I ever have. I could be here, getting stuff done, sleeping in my own bed, running my own experiments, calling my wife without having to make satellites and putting them on the outside hull of ships-"

"You are doing what?" Rose asked him.

He looked at her, "I remember how to fly a ship, Rose! And, I wore a helmet. I've never understood why they insist on you wearing a helmet. Like that's going to help you survive if you crash! I've been in a crash before! It killed me! A helmet wouldn't have stopped that from happening!"

Jackie's face appeared in the corner of The Doctor's screen. "What the hell are you on about?"

He looked surprised, "Sorry, Jackie! Forgot you where there!"

Jackie rolled her eyes and walked away. Rose laughed at him. "At least it was that."

He chuckled as he rubbed his face in embarrassment. "Yeah, I could have been saying something else I've had on my mind since we've been here. You are a mean woman, Rose Tyler!"

Rose looked surprised, "What did I do?"

He smiled at her. "Oh, you know what you did. Shame on you! I can't say it because your mother is there. Shame!"

Rose knew he was speaking like this because Jackie had no idea that Rose had been able to chat with him through their telepathic connection. She had been teasing him with images and dirty thoughts since he left.

Rose bit her tongue as she smiled at him. "Yeah, I know what you are talking about."

He ran both of his hands through his hair. "Mean woman. But, yeah. Keep doing that." He said as he blushed and laughed.

Rose giggled, as the image began to get fuzzy. The Doctor noticed and said quickly. "I'll call tomorrow. Same ti-"

And then he was gone. Rose heard him in her head. 'Same time tomorrow. Five days, but maybe sooner if I can get a transport. I'll let you know things as I know them. Just tell Jackie I've called you again if she asks. Please be careful.'

'Try not to worry about us. Try to relax while you are stuck there.' Rose told him.

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