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Chapter 8

Rose was packing up the few last things around the White House. "How did our stuff get spread out this far?"

The Doctor was watching Disney's Beauty and the Beast with Genie, Jacob and Tony. Genie hadn't told him to put her down yet, so she was sitting in his lap.

"Rose. Do you need any help?" the Doctor asked her.

"No. I'm good. Stay with Genie. I'm just going to put her stuff in our suitcase with ours."

"That makes sense. Rose, have you seen this movie? It's weird." the Doctor asked her with his face all wrinkled up.

She walked in and looked at the movie over his shoulder. "Well, yeah. Probably a million times. Haven't you seen it?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so. I don't think I like it."

Rose laughed at him. "Why?"

Tony had a lollipop in his mouth. "It's probably because of all the singing."

The Doctor shook his head. "Nah, that doesn't bother me. It's just...well...she's a prisoner, and then she's in love with the guy. That's Stockholm Syndrome!"

Rose was laughing at him. "It's a cartoon! Don't read that much into it."

"And what is this? At the end, when he turns into a human? Was he around Jack's ambulance that was full of those nanogenes? I mean, look. It looks like that!" he asked her seriously.

She was bent over laughing at him. "You are an idiot! I can't believe you."

He looked at her, "Hey Rose."

"What?" she asked as she continued to laugh.

"Are you my mummy?"

They both started laughing hysterically. The three children looked at him like they were crazy.

Tony spoke first. "Come on, let's get out of here. Disney songs has made them nutters."

The children all ran out of the room. Even Genie.

Rose noticed. "I guess she finally was better. "

The Doctor looked at her leave. "I guess so. I need to check on the TARDIS, anyway."

He dug around in his pocket and pulled out the box that held his growing TARDIS. He sat it on the coffee table and took off the lid. He flipped it on its' side as he put on his glasses.

Rose saw him working. "Can you hear it?"

"No. Still can't." He sat back dramatically and ran both of his hands through his hair in frustration. "That makes no sense. I know I'm alright. I should be able to hear it!"

Rose patted him on the shoulder.

"You can hear it still, right?" he asked her.

"Of course! If anything, it's louder."

"Damn. Why can't I hear it? I mean, if I touch it I can hear it. But, I should be able to hear it like you and Genie can."

Genie was standing in the doorway. "Like Genie can, what?"

The Doctor waved her over to him. She sat down next to him on the sofa. "Can you hear my plant in my box still, Genie?"

"Yes, Daddy. It hums." Genie told him though a smile.

He threw his hands up in the air. "Rose, I have no idea! There's no reason for it!"

"Reason for what?" Genie asked him.

He turned to face her. "Well, sweetheart. I should be able to hear my plant in the box like you and Rose do. And I can't. And I have no idea why."

Rose leaned on the back of the sofa and explained, "Daddy doesn't like it when he doesn't understand why things don't work."

"But, it should work! I just don't get it." he complained.

"Maybe, it doesn't like you." Genie said.

The Doctor looked confused. "Well, that's strange. Why wouldn't it like me?"

"Maybe, it's scared of you. It heard you are a monster hunter and worries what kind of monster you will make it go find." Genie reasoned.

He shook his head. "Nah, I don't think it works like that."

"Maybe it doesn't know you?" She suggested.

"Nah, we're the only two things from the ...err...same...um...town. It should know I'm here!"

"Maybe it thinks you are angry. Have you ever talked to it when you are cross?"

He rubbed his beard and looked at Genie. "Huh." He couldn't help but think there was more to Genie's questions. Rose became interested, too. She stood behind them and listened.

He smiled at Genie as he picked her up and sat her on his knees, facing him.

The Doctor looked at her. "Genie. Let's try something. Listen to the plant for me. Let it fill your mind with its' hums. Think of nothing else. Alright?"

Genie smiled at him and covered her face. "Alright, Daddy."

He whispered to her, "Close your eyes, little one. Listen to the hums. Think of nothing but the hums."

She closed her eyes as he put both of his hands on the side of her face and closed his eyes.

Rose stood there watching. She saw him listening. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. He continued to listen for a few moments more.

He opened his eyes and rubbed Genie's face with his thumbs gently. Genie opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"Was that weird? What did that feel like?" he asked her as he put his hands on her knees.

"Like you were hugging me in my mind." she told him through a smile.

"Could you understand what I said?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "No, just that you love me. And then you hugged me. That's all."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Huh."

Rose patted Genie on the head. "Go on and play. We'll have to leave in a little bit."

The Doctor sat there in shock. He ran his hand through his hair. Rose sat down next to him. He sat there lost in thought.

Rose put her hand on his upper thigh and kissed him to get his attention. He jumped as if he just noticed she was there.

"Sorry. Just wow! She is a powerful telepathic! Or maybe that is normal for humans at this age. I don't know. But, the TARDIS is talking to her. Actual words!"

Rose looked confused. "How can she not hear the words?"

"Oh, she can! When I listened to what she heard, I can hear the words. I know it's the TARDIS, too because it's in Gallifreyan. She just can't distinguish the different pitches and tones of the words. I told her that I loved her and then projected myself into her mind, hugging her. She can see images and feelings. I wonder if she's an empath, too." He rubbed his beard.

Rose rubbed his thigh. "She's lucky she has you to help her with this."

"Yeah." he said absentmindedly. "But, she's right. It doesn't like me. It's scared of me. It's hiding from me. That's the reason I can't hear it."

Rose looked surprised. "That's what she said. How did she know if she can't hear the words?"

"She could feel it's feelings? It's connected to her? Can you hear any words? Any at all? Images?"

"No." Rose told him seriously.

"I have no idea, Rose. How strange."

"Maybe it's because she's so young? Before, it connected to me because I was the youngest telepath around. Maybe it's a survival thing since it takes so long to grow?"

He snapped and pointed at Rose. "That might be it. Well, one thing is for certain."

"What's that?" Rose asked him.

"I really need to work with her on her telepathic abilities. I'm sure she screamed in our heads when she fell today because she was so scared. She couldn't scream aloud, so she screamed in her head. I don't even think she realizes she did it."

"I wondered about that. Is that common for children who are telepathic?" Rose asked.

"Oh yes! Anytime they fall and get hurt, everyone knows about it. Whenever they get scared and scream. Every single time. Girls are the worse. Every fall is a life changing moment for them. They usually shriek in your head rather than scream. Makes your skin crawl. Creates a lot of heart stopping moments. They don't even realize they are doing it. You just feel the fear and hear the scream. You think they have killed themselves every time. I probably need to ask Howie to send us home with some of that damn whiskey. We're just at the beginning of that stage."

Rose hugged him. "We'll get through it together. Everything will be alright."

He chuckled as he rubbed his face. "Yeah, Doctor alright. Man, I forgot about this."

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