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Chapter 38 - A New Business Adventure

The Doctor woke up to a little finger poking him in the chest. The Doctor opened his eyes to find Tony and Zeus sitting in the bed with him.

"Where's Rose?" the Doctor asked.

Tony shrugged. "Running with Shakes. She was excited because they were going outside to run around in the grass."

"How long ago was that?" the Doctor asked.

"How do I know? I can't tell time!" Tony tossed his hands in the air.

The Doctor laughed at the little boy. He lay back on his pillow and put his hands to the side of his head. Tony watched him, suspiciously. The Doctor shut his eyes and within a few moments, exclaimed "AH!" as he popped open his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Tony asked him in disbelief.

"Waking up. Some mornings it can be a difficult thing."

"I'd say. You say some crazy stuff when you are waking up." Tony told him.

The Doctor looked surprised. "Like what sort of things?"

Tony shrugged. "I don't know. Sounded like you were singing, but you were talking."

"Like that song I sung you?"

"Yes! It sounded like that."

The Doctor rubbed his face. He had apparently been speaking Gallifreyan to the small boy. He lay his arm behind his head to see Tony better.

"So, what else did your sister say before she left?"

"She told me to go back to sleep. I could sleep with you if I wanted. Just to not disturb you. You were up late last night and needed your rest."

The Doctor chucked at the boy. "Hmmm. Tony. Do you know what disturb means?"

"No."

The Doctor laughed, "Okay, that explains it."

He rolled over to look on the nightstand and found the familiar note from Rose.

He smiled and looked back at Tony. "Well, I'm awake now. What should we do until Rose gets back?"

Tony smiled.

"We could jump on the bed!"

The Doctor laughed at him. "No, let's not do that. We might wake up some more people."

"Then what should we do?"

The Doctor noticed Zeus was laying in the bed with them. "Well, hey Zeus. Are you part of the wake up party as well?"

Tony laughed. "He's a dog. He can't talk."

The Doctor smiled. "Of course he can. Come here, and we'll talk to Zeus."

Tony lay down on the Doctor's shoulder. "You Tyler's love laying right there on me." the Doctor smiled.

He covered Tony up with the duvet. "Okay, ask Zeus something and I'll tell you what he says."

Tony turned his head and looked at the Doctor. "Is this a game?"

The Doctor laughed and kissed the boy on the side of his head. "Of course it is. Now, ask him something."

Tony thought. "What's your favorite food, Zeus?"

Zeus lifted his head and looked at them both.

The Doctor said, "He says the little squares you and Jacob ate at Howie's. What was that?"

"Oh, those were pieces of steak!"

Zeus panted. He looked like he was smiling.

"Have you had a good time here in the States with Tony and Jacob?" the Doctor asked Zeus.

Zeus quietly barked.

Tony covered his face and laughed. "He does talk!"

The Doctor laughed with the boy. "Of course he does! Every living thing in the universe talks. You just have to figure how to speak to them. It helps solve a lot of problems. Well...most problems. Well...some. But it's always a good idea."

Tony laughed at him. "You're silly."

"Your sister tells me that, too. Has anyone told you that I'm going to marry your sister?"

"No, what does that mean?"

"Well, Comrade. It means that I'll be a member of your family. You and I will be brothers."

"Aren't we already brothers?" Tony asked him.

The Doctor laughed. "Yes, we are. Always. My little ginger brother, Tony."

Tony laughed. "It's like you said. 'To be, or not to be.' You be my brother!"

The Doctor looked surprised. "My ginger brother is quoting Shakespeare! Oh, I love this kid!" he said as he embraced him tightly and kissed him on the head.

"What does that even mean? 'To be, or not to be'? It sounds crazy."

"Well, it is a speech that Hamlet gives when he is trying to decide what to do. It's part of a much bigger speech that is very well known. It's one of the best!" the Doctor told him.

"Can you teach it to me?" Tony asked.

"I'd be happy to!"

The Doctor lay in the bed with Tony for a while longer teaching him Hamlet's soliloquy. The Doctor was amazed at how quickly Tony picked it up. After he was satisfied with how Tony said it all, he decided it was probably time to get up.

The Doctor scratched his chin. "Well, I'm going to get up and brush my teeth. Have you brushed your teeth, yet?"

"Nope!" he announced.

"Well, go get your toothbrush and we'll do it together." he told Tony. "We need to shave, too. I'll help you with that."

Tony laughed at him as he ran off to fetch his toothbrush.

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Rose returned to the room from her run. The Doctor stood in the sitting room. He wore a black pinstriped suit with a vest an red tie. Rose noticed he looked a bit more tan than he had yesterday. He had also trimmed his beard. It was now thinner than his sideburns.

She couldn't help but stand there and stare at him a minute. He was a vision. She couldn't remember ever seeing him wearing a suit like that one.

He was currently talking on the phone with one of his hands in his pockets.

"Yes, ma'am." he said smiling. He looked over at Rose and motioned for her to come over to him. She shut the door and walked over. He pulled her into his free arm and kissed her quietly on the lips.

She looked confused as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Yes, ma'am. That's what I had heard. How many do you have?"

Rose could hear a voice on the other end of the call, but couldn't understand what she was saying.

"Who is that?" Rose asked quietly.

The Doctor put his finger over her lips very softly. Then kissed her head.

"Yes ma'am. Wow. Seven. Well, don't do anything to them. No editing or anything. Just what you already have done. I've heard they are brilliant. Bring the first one to our meeting. I'd like to see if I can help you."

The Doctor ran his hand up and down Rose's back unconsciously as he continued his conversation.

"Yes ma'am. Let's see, today is Saturday. I won't be leaving until tomorrow. But, I should be available in London on Tuesday. Would that be alright?"

The voice agreed.

"Fantastic! I'll have my secretary call you to arrange everything. Her name is Michelle. She's brilliant. Alright? See you then! Good-bye."

The Doctor hung up the phone and started dancing with Rose around the room.

"Oh, this is going to be a great day, my darling. How sweet life is. I'm not sick, you wouldn't believe the phone call I just had."

Rose laughed as he spun her around the room.

"What was that about? You have a secretary? Michelle who?"

"Why, Rose Tyler, are you jealous?"

"No, I just find it all surprising." she admitted.

"The Doctor has a secretary. I suppose that is surprising. I don't know. I'm used to her now. I've had her a week."

"Michelle who? Do I know her?" Rose asked him.

"I don't know. Pete hired her. She's his secretary's sister in law." he continued to dance with her as he leaned in and kissed her on the end of the nose.

"Chelsea Grammer!" Rose exclaimed.

"Yeah! That's her name! I couldn't think of it for some reason today. Oh! I better call her. Just a second." the Doctor spun Rose around one last time and took his phone back out of his pocket and made a call.

He had the phone back up to his ear. He was smiling like a loon.

Rose laughed at him. "You goofball. I can't wait to hear this."

"Hi, Michelle. It's me. I got in touch with her and she says Tuesday will be fine. Did you get those tickets? Beautiful. Thank you so much. I'll be in touch. Bye."

He looked back at Rose and laughed at her.

"You did that on purpose so I wouldn't know what you are talking about!" she accused him.

He nodded his head and laughed. "Yep. I sure did!"

She put her hands on her hips. "Out with it. What's going on?"

"How was your run?" he teased her.

"Damn it. You slippery old man. What is going on?"

He stood smiling at her with his hands on his hips, not answering. He made no effort to hide the fact that his eyes were busy running up and down her body. She was wearing her tight, running clothes. "Your run...?" he asked as he raised his eyebrows at her.

"It was fine. Now what the hell?" Rose demanded.

He threw his head back and laughed. "I found her!"

"Who?! An old girlfriend?" Rose teased him.

"No. Hell, I don't know anyone here but you. And your family."

"Our family." Rose smiled at him.

He stopped and nodded his head. Smiling he said, "Right. Our family."

"Anyway... and?!"

"Oh! Yes. I asked Harriet if she could help me find her. She called MI6 and got me a number for her!" he was smiling like a loon. "I can fix this!"

"Who on earth did Harriet use MI6 for you to find?"

"J.K. Rowling!" the Doctor almost screamed.

Rose doubled over laughing. "Are you kidding me?!"

The Doctor laughed, "Nope! Apparently I asked her about it last night. I don't remember it, though. "

"What do you remember from last night?" Rose asked.

He waved his hand at her. "Oh, don't worry. I remember us going to the island and coming back here. I didn't drink that much. I just have spots that are empty. Who won the bowling game?"

"The girls did. Jake sucks at bowling. Do you remember putting Tony to bed?"

"Yeah, I remember that. Anyway. Here she's known as Joanne Murray. That's the reason you couldn't find her. She married and took his name. I love those books, and now I can read them again. I'm going to help her get them published."

"Going into the book publishing business now, too?" Rose asked.

He nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly! Do you know how much those books made! Plus the movies?! I might not be able to fix this Shakespeare problem, but I can fix this! And as soon as that TARDIS grows up, I'm going back to 1599 and fixing this Shakespeare thing!"

"Well, at least you aren't talking about dying anymore." Rose laughed at him.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" the Doctor yelled.

Pete leaned his head in from the hallway. "They are ready for us. Want to walk down with me?" Pete asked.

"Sure. Just give me a second." the Doctor said.

Pete nodded and closed the door.

"Who is ready for you? What are you doing?" Rose asked him.

He came over to where she stood and took both of her hands in his. "We're going downstairs with some people to decide what to do about the matter of your death and all of the violence and such. Could I ask you to not go to that meeting?"

She could feel his worry.

"Not go?"

"Yeah. I really don't think it would be a good idea for you to hear some of this stuff. I'm sure it will be pretty bad. I've honestly not told you a lot about it, but trust me. It is really bad. But, you are safe. And I'm determined to keep you that way."

"So you want me to sit up here while a room of people I don't know decides my fate?" Rose demanded.

"Yeah." he said seriously. "And you do know us. I'll be there. Pete. Howie. Harriet. Jake. And a few others."

Rose looked away from him. "I don't know, it sounds crazy."

"Trust me, Rose. You know I only want the best for you, as do the others you know that will be there. Howie has called in some people from the CIA and Harriet called people from MI6 as well. We are going to get some good advice on this. But the final decision will be mine and Pete's to make."

He kissed her forehead. "Sweetheart. You trust me, right?"

She nodded. "Well, you haven't even had breakfast, yet!"

"Yes, I have. Tony and I ate together this morning. We need to teach him what the definition of 'disturb' is." the Doctor chuckled.

Rose laughed.

He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Sweetheart. I really think it's best if you don't go. Go on over to the residence with Harriet and your mum and have breakfast. They are all over there getting their hair done for the State Dinner tonight. I'll be back as soon as I can, but I'm only downstairs. If you need me, ring me and I'll come right back upstairs."

"I'll be fine." she told him. "You treat me like I'm a child."

"How about we go to the Smithsonian after I'm done? I had Michelle get us tickets to ride the bullet back to England tomorrow afternoon. Then, we'll go to New Germany and you can get some of those chips you told me about."

Rose laughed. "All the way to New Germany for chips?"

He smiled as he held her. "I was told they were the best!"

"Alright. Go to your meeting. I'll sit it out."

"Thank you, Rose. I really think it's for the best." he told her as he leaned down to kiss her quickly.

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