Chapter 2

Experimentation

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The media room was cozier than any other place of the house. Thanks to the oak paneling and plush carpet, it radiated a warm atmosphere which the harkened back to an earlier century. The deep leather couches and shelves lined with DVDs spoke of modern living with equally modern tastes. From the servant's gossip floating through the halls, it hadn't been used much at all since Pete Tyler bought the place.

He'd been too busy working to really appreciate the room, he explained to Jackie as they sat down. Movies didn't fit well into a hectic Vitex business schedule. And he was at a loss of what to watch, really. He hadn't gone to the movies in years.

Jackie spied Britannic on the hardwood shelf and waved the case up in the air. "This any good?" she asked.

Pete put down his bottled water and kept his face perfectly blank. "It's about a ship. It sinks, you know. Not much of a plot, I imagine."

"I know that," Jackie shot him an 'I'm not daft' look. "Somehow they managed to squeeze 260 minutes into this thing." She stopped to read the movie description.

Diligent English nurse Violet Jessop (Victoria Beckum) finds true love with an injured soldier (Guy Pierce) and escapes certain death when their hospital ship 'Britannic' collides with a submarine mine. With superior special effects and a vivid storytelling, "Britannic" broke box office records world wide before being banned in Germany for 'anti-German sentiment".

"Looks alright," she said aloud.

"I think a bloke in that film got a BAFTA for his death scene." Pete commented, secretly enjoying the disgusted look forming on Jackie's face.

That did it. The film was as good as ruined. "He dies in the film?" She chortled. "Guy Pierce? Why did you tell me? I thought you hadn't seen this one."

"Met him at a party once," Pete explained, his memory sifting through the barrage of notables he'd met in the past few years. "At least, I think it was him. Here, show me the cover."

Jackie masked her surprise. Movie star? Pete Tyler ran in the same circles as movie stars? He never seemed to take much interest in life beyond his work with Vitex and Torchwood. It contrasted sharply with the Pete she'd married. More pie in the sky and dwelling in a world of his own making. But as she was getting to know this Pete, it wasn't hard to imagine him mingling with film stars, politicians. He seemed aloof, as if he was above all that hubabllo.

She tossed him the DVD case, which he caught easily. On the well designed cover, a very suave Guy Pierce embraced a rather stunning Victoria Beckham. Behind them, the doomed passenger liner cum short-term hospital ship was slipping under the waves in a dramatic angle.

Pete pondered the illustration for a moment. "Yeah, that's him. Seems to die a lot in the movies. He had a good attitude about it though."

Jackie cocked her head and eyed him quizzically. "How many times has he..?" She couldn't quite finish the sentence. There wasn't any real tension in her voice, more like an uncertain sort of curiosity.

Pete downed another swig of water, and in the act of thinking, rubbed his forehead. "Let me see, I think he was shot, fell off a cliff, trampled by horses, poisoned, strangled, run through with a javelin, and in this film, death by drowning."

"That's harsh." Jackie said as she took the film back. Talking about death with a man who had been as good as dead to her for 20 years was surreal.

"Not that harsh if the money's good," Pete reasoned, not unaware of the implications this topic was taking. To keep her thoughts from turning dark, his voice adopted a tone rich with sly humor. "Top end suits, Oban whiskey, posh friends. Acting keeps his type busy and well moneyed. And the money keeps him and the boyfriend living the high life London."

"Boyfriend?" The uneasiness in Jackie's voice fizzled in light of a new and interesting topic. "Guy Pierce?" It was an intriguing prospect. "He's gay?"

Pete shook his head while an amused smile spread across his face. "Riding the other zeppelin. That's what some people call it, anyway. In the other world does he like women?"

"Yeah. But he's married. Kids. All that stuff." She pushed Britannic back onto the shelf and grabbed The Pirates of Penzance. A Gilbert and Sullivan musical starring, hold on a minute, Johnny Depp? Didn't they have Pirates of the Caribbean here?

"Pirates of Penzance," Jackie stated while she looked at the cover. "This guy, Johnny Depp, he starred in a slew of pirate movies. The first one wasn't bad. He didn't sing in them, though. It was pirate slapstick with swords. Didn't know he could sing."

"It's a comedy. Let's watch it." Pete replied. "Unless you want something like East Enders."

"You have East Enders here?" Jackie asked flying through the DVD collection with renewed fervor. The oak shelves seemed to stretch like miles from one wall to the other. "I didn't think you would. Thought people might have some yen for soap opera zeppelin captains or the like. Oh damn, where is it?"

Jackie looked back at Pete, fully intending to bring him in on the search, when she saw the way he was wiggling the remote in a half taunting yet tempting fashion. So, he could be playful. Interesting.

"Command telly." He explained, flicking a series of buttons on the remote until he brought up the appropriate menu. "A year's worth of any show with the push of a button." He waited until she'd joined him on the couch. "Just about anything you want." The picture jumped to a screen with scrolling options. Large motion icons represented each show, giving mini previews of an episode. "Here," Pete said, handing her the remote, "You take it."

She looked down at the remote in her hands, glanced at the screen, and then to Pete. She understood, of course, that hell had just frozen over when a man willingly handed over the telly remote. Bloke wise, it was right up there with sharing the last beer from the fridge.

Jackie hadn't shared this kind of thing before. She only owned a few remote controlled electronics in her lifetime, and many of those were within the past few years. And none of them were this high tech. It had been an accomplishment when she'd learned to text message last year. This was an all together different technological animal.

"How's this thing work?" She asked, pointing the remote and holding it sidewise so she had a clear view of the buttons. "What? Do I move up and down if I don't see anything I like?"

Pete was patient. He was clearly amused, but was sweet about it. He didn't taunt her once through the slow process of choosing the show she wanted, how to transition to the previous menu, how to find her way back to the selection screen. It wasn't long before she was skimming through each menu screen with ease. They hadn't watched much of any one show or episode for that matter, but the experience of navigating the system seemed to absorb much of their attention.

Nearly two hours later, they were into the first nine minutes of some sort of MI-5 show starring Alan Rickman when she realized Pete's arm had found a comfortable home around her shoulders. Her body tensed for a moment, realizing she'd almost forgotten the world outside while absorbed in the dark shadows o the media room.

Pete stared at her for a second, and began to move away when she stopped him. She moved her shoulder to fit into the crook of his arm, and flashed him a smile. A darling smile. A smile which warmed one of hard places of his heart.

He was surprised and looked more than a bit grateful. "Ok then." He said wrapping his arm around her once more. Through the rest of the show, he couldn't keep the smile from his face.

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Three days passed with them walking around the Tyler estate, watching movies in the media room, and dining alfresco as the weather cooperated. They took tea together with Rose and Mickey outside everyday, and lingered over the remnants of their cups as the younger pair retreated to walk the back lawn like an Olympic event.

Rose was trying her best not to sink into a deep depression, and it showed. She still stayed awake well into the night, but she forced herself to keep going. Mickey stayed at her side the entire time. They had been best friends since childhood, and as they'd traveled together with the Doctor, he understood her longing better than anyone. He knew when she wanted to be coddled, and when she needed space to rail against the unfairness of the world.

She wouldn't stop believing the Doctor would come for her. Even if it meant leaving her mother and her friend behind forever. It was a world she wasn't committed to living in, and she couldn't fathom staying.

Jackie, on the other hand, felt as if her body was branching out and had sprung roots in the ground and around the body of Pete Tyler. And to her astonishment, it was easy. Simple. Effortless.

Saying goodnight each evening usually involved a few sincere words of parting. But the evening before he was scheduled to begin work, there had been a strange tango of kisses. They were each holding back, exchanging lips and shallow breaths but nothing too deep. Pete's practicality and Jackie's far stretching pride kept their hands from wandering too far. But it was becoming a painful balancing act.

When she studied her kiss-reddened lips in the bathroom mirror that night, a few more pieces of her resistance fell away. Pete had saved her life. Saved her daughter. He kept their lives sheltered and secure. He was everything he had ever really wanted. So, she thought, if Pete Tyler was her husband, it was time she invested as much as he and started being his true wife.

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