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Chapter 2 – Pete's Memory Restored

The Doctor and Pete were sharing a large suite with Shakes and John. The walls were white and sterile looking. There was a bedroom for each of them, and a large sitting room that connected everything together. The windows went from the top of the room, to the floor. They were high up on the 84th floor. The view outside of the flying cars and strange buildings across the city had been all Pete had looked at since they had arrived.

The Doctor sat on the sofa wearing a pair of jeans and a blue jumper. He tossed the tablet on the table beside the sofa as Pete walked in.

Pete was wearing khaki trousers and a white oxford shirt. A cat nun was with him.

"Hey!" The Doctor greeted him as they came in.

Pete walked over to the chair near the sofa and sat down. He ran his hand across his head. "Did you speak with Rose?"

He nodded. "Yep! It worked! They are all fine. I told her to just go to Greece with Jackie. Take the children. I might be able to get us out of here tomorrow afternoon, but I need to wait on Shakes and see what he is doing. John probably won't return. If he finds his family, I don't expect him back."

Pete patted the arm of the chair. "Nah, I can't blame the man there. What else did Rose say?"

The Doctor smiled, "She asked me to relax while we are here. Honestly, I wonder if that woman knows me sometimes."

Pete laughed.

The cat nun sat in a chair. "We think we might have some progress! The scans are looking better."

The cat nun handed the Doctor a tablet looking device. He looked over the scans and smiled. "Pete! That's great! These are more like it!"

Pete shrugged his shoulders. "I don't feel any different. Everything here seems, strange."

The Doctor leaned up, sat the tablet next to him, and put his elbows on his knees. "I assure you, Pete. That's normal. You've never been here before. I have brought you to a place far from home. They can help you."

Pete nodded his head. "I remember us going into space for that. It's really cool. I mean, everything else is just….strange."

The Doctor looked confused, "How is it strange, Pete?"

Pete shook his head. "I can't explain it. It's like everything is…. Jumbled together. It makes it hard to think."

The Doctor moved closer to him. "Let me see, Pete. This won't hurt."

Pete nodded as the Doctor put his hands on both sides of Pete's face and closed his eyes. The cat nun watched them. When the Doctor removed his hands and opened his eyes, she said, "I didn't know humans were telepathic."

The Doctor smiled back at her, "Some of them are. It's rare, but yes."

The Doctor looked back at Pete. "Is that better?"

Pete shook his head, "Yes! It's like everything is in the right lines now! Does that make sense?"

The Doctor smiled. "Yes. Good! Tell me, do you remember when we played football on the White House lawn? That first time?"

Pete smiled at the memory. "Oh, man that was so much fun! I was wearing a suit! And so were all of the rest of us. We didn't care and went and played. Like a bunch of boys in school!"

The Doctor chuckled, "Right! What did Tony do? Do you remember?"

Pete laughed, "Yes! He was our referee. I went to help him. He loved it!"

"Brilliant! How about Zeus? Where did you get him?"

Pete rubbed his chin. "I researched that for weeks. I wanted something that would protect my Tony. I think I went to Cambridge? I honestly don't remember."

"I don't either. That was a hard one. How about…..Jack. Where did he come from?"

"I'm not sure. From where you came from, I think. I remember you telling me he fell through the Void. I've honestly not properly met the man." Pete explained.

"That's true. I've not thought about that." The Doctor said, "And being Director. Why did you step down?"

"You would do such a better job than I could do. I was ready to leave. After we went into business together, I didn't have time to do anything but manage that and my other business. I knew you would never agree to it being permanent, but knew you would agree to do it temporarily. I hope you will keep it up. I'm hearing great things already!"

The Doctor looked shocked, "So, you tricked me into being Director?"

Pete smiled, "Yes. I totally did! And I can remember doing it now!"

The Doctor ran both of his hands through his hair and laughed, "Fucking hell. Pete, you just suck."

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With Pete's memory restored, Pete was encouraged to leave the hospital by the cat nuns. The Doctor and Pete decided to explore the rest of the city where they were staying on Plentitude. The Doctor teased Rose telling her that she was bleeding into him because he had the overwhelming desire to wander off as she had always done.

They went to the roof to flag down a taxi. A flying car quickly landed on the platform and The Doctor turned to see Pete's stunned face. "Come on, Pete. It's totally alright."

Pete smiled as he climbed in the car. The Doctor followed him. The driver had grey skin with long tentacles coming out of his face. The Doctor greeted the driver in a strange language. He then asked him a question. The driver nodded and drove off.

"I asked him to take us this large, shopping area nearby. We can waste some time there. Get something to eat, and maybe find something to fix this damn thing that's left us stranded here." He complained.

Pete smiled, "This is amazing! I never thought I would ever travel like this! Is this what it was like when Rose and you traveled all of the time?"

The Doctor nodded and smiled, "Yes. Man, I miss it. I'm sure she does too, she just won't tell me. When Rose met the Sisters of Plentitude, I was visiting a friend in the hospital. We ran into a spot of trouble. But, that was way in the future. These Sisters are alright."

"What did Rose think of the Cat Nuns?" Pete asked.

The Doctor chuckled, "Rose was always extremely accepting of how anyone looked. Anywhere I took her. I usually just explained where they were from, and she would nod her head and move on. The Cat Nuns, were a bit much. She was shocked at that. It was the first time I had ever seen her really be surprised. I suppose it's because they look so similar to something you are already familiar with. See, the octopus is that way for me. Looks like about four different species, all rolled into one. Very strange. That surprised me when I first saw one."

Pete chuckled. "I want to go someplace and have a drink. I feel better than I ever have! And wow! What a place!"

The Doctor smiled, "I know just the place, Pete! You'll love it!"

They landed on the platform on top of a large building. The Doctor paid the taxi driver and they stepped out of the car. The Doctor grabbed Pete's shoulder and directed him to the door. Pete noticed that the Doctor walked with a bounce in his step.

The Doctor pointed out, "See these orange lines on the ground here? That's where the cars land. We have to be careful crossing here so we don't get ran over. When you are driving those cars, you can't see too far below in front of you. There's a blind spot there. I've nearly ran over things accidently a million times."

Pete looked surprised, "You can drive one of those?"

The Doctor nodded, "Yep! It's really not much different than flying. Well…you are flying."

The glass doors opened to a large room. A reception desk was immediately in front of them with what looked like a large, blue octopus sitting in front of them. The Doctor nodded at it, "See, what I was talking about?"

Pete chuckled as the Doctor walked up to the octopus and spoke in a strange language. The receptionist octopus creature waved four of her tentacles in the air and light appeared. The light became lines and writing of some strange sort. The Doctor looked at Pete and explained, "I asked her for a place where we might get some parts for repairing something. She's looking up directions to the shop."

Pete nodded. "Brilliant!"

The octopus gave the Doctor directions in the strange language and handed him a clear piece of plastic. He seemed to thank her as he started to walk down the hall. They passed shops of all sorts, with all sorts of creatures that you could imagine. The Doctor smiled at Pete's face. "See, things are really the same in most places in the universe. I mean, look here." The Doctor pointed out something on the clear sheet of plastic the octopus had given them. It was a map. "This bit here is clothing. Well, they wouldn't anything for us in there. Clothing for species like us would be a few floors down."

He tapped the plastic paper and the image on it changed. "Yes, see? Two floors down. We should go down there and get some new shirts."

Pete was amazed it had changed. He watched as the Doctor tapped it again and continued, "And, over there is jewelry. There are clocks and watches. Here is a shop that might have what we need. Let's head there first, then we can look at whatever you would like. Maybe pick up something for Jackie and Rose!"

Pete smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever! I'm overwhelmed just to be here. Lead on!"

The Doctor put his hand around his shoulder, "Damn, I'm glad you are back, Pete! I see where Rose gets her sense of adventure! That's her spirit!"

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The Doctor and Pete went into a shop full of strange gadgets. The Doctor ran his hand through his hair and looked around. "Where would something like that be…? Ah! Over here!" He said as he walked to a shelf with a lot of small pieces. He put on his glasses, picked up several small pieces and looked them over closely.

Pete looked around. The store was full of shelves with little pieces of parts of all shapes and sizes. The shelves went all the way up to the ceiling and the aisles were extremely narrow. Pete was grateful he wasn't claustrophobic.

After the Doctor looked and put back several different things, he stood up and declared, "I think this might work. Maybe. While I'm here…. Let me see if they have something else."

He walked around to the other side of the store. Pete followed him, "What are you looking for?"

The Doctor, completely focused on what he was looking for, said, "Something…..really hard to live…without…Ha! They do have it! I'll get this entire box!"

The Doctor picked up a small box full of parts. The tiny parts were not any bigger than grains of rice.

Pete looked curiously at them. "What is that?"

"Tiny regulators. I use them in my sonic screwdriver. They are bad to burn out. I've been purposely not using as much because I didn't have any more. This is great! I can even make another screwdriver that works proper!"

The Doctor grabbed another box of the tiny regulators and smiled. "Fantastic!"

Pete asked him, "Don't need fuses? Seems like those would pop, too."

The Doctor pointed at Pete. "Brilliant! Yes! Thank you! That's a great idea." He looked around on the shelves. "Ugh. I don't see them here. Hang on, snap your fingers."

Pete looked confused, but snapped his fingers. Immediately, three salesmen were right in front of them, just like they had popped in from nowhere. They stood waist high, and had big heads and large eyes.

Pete gasped.

The Doctor grabbed his forearm and held it. "It's alright. They are Porrima. Brilliant! I feel better getting these parts here, now!"

Pete watched as the Doctor spoke to them in a strange language. One of them nodded and directed the Doctor to another aisle. Pete followed and watched as the Porrima spoke to the Doctor and nodded his head. He looked up on the shelf and handed the Doctor two small boxes.

"Perfect! Oh, I couldn't be happier at the moment, Pete! Thank you for reminding me about fuses!" he smiled.

The Doctor had the Porrima help him find a few more things that Pete helped him carry to the front of the store. The Doctor seemed thrilled at the items he had found.

"Oh, Pete! This is fantastic! Wow!" the Doctor exclaimed.

The Doctor bought his parts and put the bag in his 'bigger on the inside' pockets. They walked down the hall, looking in the windows of the stores. They visited several toy stores, jewelry stores and a store that Pete loved. It had robots doing all sorts of everyday chores.

"Wow! Robots! I'm surprised there are not more of these out here." Pete told him.

The Doctor shook his head. "Nah, it never really catches on. The programming is just too difficult. I did have a dog once that was a robot. K9 Mark I. He was a good boy. Great at chess. Very cheeky."

Pete laughed at the Doctor. "Cheeky? A dog?"

They continued down the hall. The Doctor pointed out one place, "You can buy John Wayne movies in there."

Pete laughed, "You are kidding me!"

The Doctor put his hands in his pockets, "Nope! They love him out here."

"Was he an alien?" Pete asked.

The Doctor looked surprised, "What? No! Some of those guys that played James Bond were though. You can get those movies in there, too."

Pete shook his head and laughed. "Madness."

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "What? You can! Anyway. I know a great place we should eat." He took out the paper and tapped it several times. "Oh! Fantastic! It is here! This was one of my favorite restaurants. You'll love it, Pete. You're not scared of heights, are you?"

Pete smiled. "No. Although I worry why you are asking me that?"

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