Chapter 7 - Telepathic Screams

Jake saw Pete walking down the hall of the White House.

"Hey, Pete!" he called.

"Hey, what you need?" Pete smiled.

"I'm going to head over to Langley. See if I can be some help to these interrogations. Then, I'll pop back to Torchwood. Do you need anything before I go?"

Pete shook his head. "Nah. Take some security with you though."

"Right then."

Jake ran off down the hall, arm still in a sling.

Pete continued to walk slowly, rubbing his head. He was deep in thought. He didn't even hear the Doctor call his name. He jumped when he ran up to him and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Hey! Pete. Got your watch finished." he said as he smiled.

The Doctor lay it in his hand. When he touched his skin, he could feel sadness from Pete.

"Well, hey. What's wrong?" the Doctor asked him.

"Damn. I should have known better than to be around you right now. You and that damn sense of yours that keeps me from keeping things from you." he forced a smile.

The Doctor put his hand on his shoulder. "Let's take a walk and chat. Sounds like-"

Just then, the Doctor heard Genie's voice scream. His head shot up as he looked around, "Where is she at?"

Pete was confused. "Who?"

The Doctor started running. "Genie! Didn't you hear her?"

Tony and Zeus came running out of Jacob's room. The Doctor and Pete were already running towards the room.

Tony was nearly in a panic. "Doctor! She was on the top bunk and just fell in the floor!"

Genie was laying in the floor. The Doctor and Pete knelt beside of her. Her eyes were as big as saucers.

Pete asked, "Is she holding her breath?"

The Doctor scanned her quickly with his screwdriver. "No, she's alright." he said with a great deal of relief.

Rose came running in the room right behind them. "I heard her scream. What happened?"

Genie had began to cry.

The Doctor picked her up and held her. "She fell off the top bunk and knocked the wind out of herself. Scary for a little one. She's alright." He kissed her as she cried.

Pete rubbed her back and smiled at his relief. "I never heard her scream."

Tony shook his head. "She didn't scream. She just fell, and then she couldn't breathe."

The Doctor and Rose looked at one another.

Pete fussed at the children. "You lot need to be more careful in here! You could have broken your neck."

Rose asked Genie if she wanted to come to her. Genie shook her head and held her arms around the Doctor's neck tighter. Rose laughed as she saw the Doctor's face.

"Can you breathe?" she asked him.

"I'm very thankful for my respiratory bypass system." he choked.

Pete laughed at him as he rubbed Genie's back and told her to stop strangling the Doctor.

The Doctor choked. "I'm not going to set you down until you tell me you want down. You are alright. Calm down."

She continued to cry and hold him tightly. He walked with her out into the hall, bouncing as he walked. "Look at me. Sara Genevieve. Look at Daddy."

She leaned back so she could see his face as she continued to cry. He put his finger to his lips and said, "Shhhhh."

She stopped crying immediately and looked at him.

He smiled at her. "That never gets old."

Rose and Pete walked out of the room.

Rose asked, "What did you do?"

"Oh! Why is it something I did? Really, Rose. She's fine." he playfully fussed at her.

Genie lay her head back on his shoulder and whimpered.

"Are you alright, my Sara Gene?" he asked her.

She nodded her head as he rubbed her back.

The Doctor nodded at Rose. "She's fine. I'll keep up with her. I'm going to take a walk with Pete. I'll be back in a bit. Is that alright?"

Rose nodded that it was and raised up to kiss him.

The Doctor carried Genie as he walked down the hall with Pete.

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By the time Pete and the Doctor had gotten outside, Genie was sound asleep on the Doctor's shoulder.

Pete noticed and told the Doctor.

He pulled his head back, but couldn't see her face. "That probably explains a great deal. She's had a long day already. "

Pete smiled as he rubbed her back and started walking in the grass next to the Doctor. "She probably doesn't need to hear what I'm going to say anyway."

"I'm here if you need to talk, Pete. But, don't think you have to." he told him.

"Nah, you'll find out anyway. Jackie wants me to move out. She told me to not even come home with her and Tony tomorrow." he gritted his teeth and shook his head.

The Doctor was floored. He just stood there for a moment. He ran his free hand through his hair.

"Damn. I had no idea. Do you have a place to stay?" the Doctor asked.

Pete nodded his head. "Yeah, my office at Torchwood has a suite. I use it on long nights. Granted, I've not stayed there in years. Funny thing is, the other Jackie and I had just split before she died. We just hadn't told anyone to keep up appearances through her birthday party."

The Doctor shook his head, "I really had no idea. Wow."

"Yeah, I think she would have left me long ago, had it not been for Tony. I should have known better. I talked to her this morning about his education and how I wanted to send him to the school I attended. She got angry and told me I wasn't going to send him away. That he was too little."

The Doctor nodded. "I have to say I agree with Jackie on that! "

"Well, it wouldn't be until next year." Pete reasoned.

"Nah, still too young. I wouldn't do that." the Doctor started walking again.

Pete shook his head. "And then this medical business of ours. Everyone wants meetings all over the world. I've probably got at least a month and a half of trips I need to make just for that. I told Jackie about it, and she got really pissed."

"Did you offer to take her with you?" the Doctor asked.

Pete looked at him, "Why do you think she got pissed? I told her she needed to stay home with Tony."

The Doctor rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Pete, tell me. What happened with you and the other Jackie? Why did you two separate?"

"Ah, it was my fault. Working all of the time. She was always alone. We didn't have any children to distract her. It was just us." Pete shrugged his shoulders.

"When this Jackie came here, did you two date? Or just pick up where you and the other Jackie left off?"

Pete pointed at the Doctor. "B. It was what felt right at the time. She had been a widow for all of those years, I had back the woman I had lost. We just honestly jumped into a relationship."

The Doctor put a lollipop into his mouth. He handed Pete one, which he thanked him for.

The Doctor was reminded of when he first came to this Dimension and him and Rose had drank too much back in Bergen. They had only known one another for a few hours and had came very close to ripping one another's clothes off then. He had regretted that they had waited those few weeks. He thought they had wasted time. But, now standing next to Pete, he was so grateful they had.

They continued to walk. Genie slept on as the men talked. Pete offered to take her for a while to give the Doctor a break from her load. The Doctor politely refused. "Nah, she's light. I promised her I wouldn't put her down until she told me. She's not told me yet."

Pete smiled at him. "And you. You are honestly such a better father than I've ever been."

The Doctor laughed. "Oh no, I don't see that at all."

Pete turned to him and crossed his arms. "Yeah, I do. Genie doesn't want anyone but you. Not even Rose. Yesterday, when you were asleep, she was just beside herself without you. It took everything we could do to keep her distracted. She ended up laying down beside of you for hours, just holding her doll and watching you sleep."

The Doctor sighed. "Ugh. The coughing probably didn't help. Genie's Dad died after he had been sick. I'm not sure with what, but I bet that was on her mind as she saw me there in a near coma. I still can't believe I slept all day like that. I didn't think I would."

"Why did you? Rose said it was something to do with something that happened at the kidnapping, but she wasn't sure what."

They started to walk again. "Yeah, she didn't know what happened until this morning. I showed her, granted I don't remember it either. Jake had to show me."

"Wait, what do you mean 'showed you'?" Pete asked, confused.

"Rose and I are both telepathic."

"Yeah, but Jake isn't."

"Yeah, but he can think about something he saw and I can enter his mind and see it." the Doctor explained.

"Oh. Right. Makes sense. Carry on. Sorry." Pete said.

"I was shot. Fatally wounded that night the boys were kidnapped."

Pete stopped walking and looked at him. "No way. That's impossible. You are standing here in front of me. Daughter strangling you in the hallway."

The Doctor chuckled. "Yeah, I am. Only because Rose brought me back. But, there is more. I was a part Time Lord, part human before. My human part was dying. I didn't really have very long left. That's why I went to the hospital to run those tests. I thought I had something that was bad. But in the end, what I really was suffering from was way worse. The Time Lord part was killing the human part. A piece of me died every day. I lost so much. My senses. Abilities to do things I took for granted. Things like that. Then, I started to realize it was progressing much faster at the State Dinner. I became extremely angry and honestly thought about shooting that weapons developer. That's just not like me at all. Looking back at it, I see a lot of strange things I did."

"Ah, he's a pain in the ass, anyway. Rose knew about all of this?"

He looked at Pete. "No. None of it. I couldn't tell her."

Pete nodded. "Yeah. I understand why. But, you are alright, now? Truly?"

"Truly, I am. Rose not only brought me back to life, but turned me into a full on Time Lord. Everything is fine now. I will probably end up having an extended life span like Rose."

Pete smiled, "How the hell did she do that?"

"The entity that took over her body when we were traveling, it's still there. She can't control it, and honestly, I never even see it unless she's extremely emotional about something. It's not going to hurt her, but it is frightening to her to admit they are one. That night, at the warehouse, she evaporated Stacy and twelve other guys. Just into dust. She's upset about it."

"Yeah, Jake filled me in about that. Can you help her?" Pete asked.

"I'm doing the best I can with it, but it's all new to me."

"New to you, huh? Not like this." Pete smiled as he pointed at Genie.

The Doctor sighed. "Rose told you, huh?" he asked.

"She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it was true. She told me you had a granddaughter, and great grandchildren that you had told her about. She said you didn't like to talk about it, so don't think you have to. Don't let me intrude." Pete told him.

"Who else knows?" he asked him.

"No one. Just me. She asked me not to tell. It slipped out last night. But, I thought I should tell you I knew. She was upset because she was worried about you. Don't worry. I won't say anything. Makes sense now how you have been coaching me into this Grandfather business."

"I was right though, wasn't I? Best job in the world?" he smiled at him.

"Oh yeah. Genie is something. I know she's only been with us for a matter of hours, really. But, it's like I've always known her."

"Yeah, understand that." the Doctor said as he kissed Genie's head. She continued to sleep on his shoulder.

They continued to walk on the lawn. "Well, any advice about this mess with me and Jacks?"

The Doctor rolled his lollipop around in his mouth. He stopped walking and faced Pete. "Honestly, Pete. Yes. First, you are absolutely brilliant. I have never met anyone, in all of my lives that has accomplished as much as you have."

"Well, thank you Doctor." Pete smiled.

"And second. You are an idiot! And the only difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. You are unlimited with how stupid you have been with this."

Pete laughed and pointed at him. "Only you, well and Howie, could say that to me without me getting pissed. But, you are right."

"Of course, I'm right! I've seen this a trillion times. Done the same, stupid thing. Many times. Rose wasn't the only one that ever fancied me." he confessed.

"Oh, I don't think I want to hear this." Pete told him.

The Doctor laughed. "Don't worry. I won't get into the details, but I will tell you that when you are as old as I am, there are things you find that work with these women. And what worked today, will blow up in your face tomorrow. Women are the same in nearly every species when it comes to that. Trust me."

"How many species have you dated?"

"Ah. No details! No!" he told him. "I'm marrying your daughter. Or step-daughter or whatever. You don't need that information."

"This mess with you and Jackie. Sounds to me like you two need to date one another. Get to know one another. Woo this woman of yours, Pete. To be kept strong, a relationship must be attended to regularly, like a plant. It doesn't need constant attention, but it does need regular attention. If not, it will wither after a while, but can revived. If neglected too long, then no matter how much you water you put on it, or how much care you show, it's just not coming back."

Pete nodded his head. "You are right."

"This is what I suggest. Move into the suite. Tell Tony you are working a lot, and just need to be there. He won't question that. Meanwhile, send her flowers. Invite her to dinner. Take her on trips. Women love to travel. Take her with you on your business trips. She can stay at the hotel and get a massage or whatever while you are at your meeting. In everything you do, find a way she can be there with you. "

The Doctor continued, "Go and love someone exactly as they are. And then watch how quickly they transform into the greatest, truest version of themselves. When one feels seen and appreciated in their own essence, one is instantly empowered. And your problem will be solved. But, let her ask you back to the house. And... ummm... well..."

Pete looked at him. "What?! This is all great advice! What?"

He looked away and ran his hand through his hair. "No sex. Not for at least a month. Build up that tension. It will help as you try to court her."

Pete rubbed his hands on his face. "Oh Jesus. Englishmen don't talk about things like this, Doctor!"

He threw his hand into the air. "Good thing I'm not English! That's important though. I'm serious. It will help."

Pete stood there with his hands on his hips in complete disbelief as to what he was being told. He laughed quietly under his breath. "Is that? Oh, nevermind. I really don't need to know."

"No, you don't!" the Doctor laughed.

"Okay, while we are talking about it anyway, there is one question I do want to ask." Pete put his hand on the Doctor's shoulder as they walked back to the White House. "The other night, during the drinking game..."

"Oh, the gods! That damn question of Rose's!" the Doctor laughed at his own embarrassment. "Damn, I'm glad my daughter is sleeping through this damn conversation!"

"Tell me. Royal family? There is a royal family still in the Prime Dimension? There's not one here." Pete said.

The Doctor stopped walking and looked at Pete. "That's what you got out of that? Thank god."

"No. It was pretty clear what the question and answer was. Howie, Jake and I have a bet. Come on. Man to man. How many? Help me win some money."

The Doctor rolled his eyes in his head and started walking. "Oh the gods, Pete. I'm not telling you that!"

Pete laughed. "Oh, one day you will. I just have to remember my number until then!"

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