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Chapter 41 - The Odd Plant

The Doctor walked out of his office into the control room. Licis continued to look at the screen he had been standing in front of before. He glanced over to him. "About 38 minutes, John."

The Doctor stepped over to the control panel that navigated the ship. "Change of plans. This isn't something we can solve in a day. We're going to Andromeda. The Queen and Tectus will meet us there so we can sort out what we need to do."

Licis nodded his head. "Alright. So…. Two, three hours, then?"

"There's no need to be in a hurry. I'm reducing our speed. Five hours and 34 minutes." He stood up and looked at Licis. "Want me to take the helm?"

Licis smiled, "Nah. Go watch your football game. I'm fine."

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Pete sat on the sofa in the Doctor and Rose's suite. He had his arm propped up on the armrest and was unconsciously rubbing his head.

Lewis sat at the bar, eating a meat pie. "These are wonderful."

Tony sat next to Pete with Summus on the other side of him. He laid his head on the back of the sofa and closed his eyes.

Pete looked at him, "Long day?"

Tony rose his head up and rubbed his face in both of his hands. "I'm fine."

Summus was still holding Arles, who had fallen asleep in his large hands.

The Doctor walked into the room. He looked around and put his hands on his hips. "Where is everyone? What happened to the game?"

Pete continued to rub his head, "Severe weather delay. They will replay tomorrow."

"Shit. We'll be at that dinner-"

"You'll be at that dinner. My ass will be here, watching the game." Pete informed him.

Lewis laughed, "I'm with Pete. He might need protection, you know. Vicious footballers."

Tony's ears must have been bothering him because the Doctor noticed he put his finger in his ear and shook it.

Summus stood up and walked over to Lewis. "I'll take your son back to his cot."

Lewis nodded, "Luce should be there. Thank you. He's probably ready for a bottle."

"Good night, all." Summus walked out of the room.

The Doctor picked up a bag of crisps off of the bar. "Well this is…. Ugh. Anyway. Where did Legate and Logan go?"

Tony leaned up and grabbed his beer. "To work on that ship. They took midget Tony with them."

Pete laughed, "Midget Tony. He won't like that."

"He'll cuss me out about it I'm sure." Tony laughed.

"Is he still swearing?"

Tony nodded his head, "And I honestly have, no damn idea where the hell he gets that shit."

Pete looked at Tony and shook his head as he began to laugh under his breath. "Shit."

The Doctor walked over and sat down on the sofa with Tony and Pete, eating from the bag of crisps. "Well, we're headed to Andromeda. I have a meeting in the morning with Queen Ashena and the Baumeisters."

Tony chuckled, "Baumeisters. That's one species that look like what you would expect. Is Summus part of them?"

Lewis laughed, "I've wondered that myself. I dare you to ask him."

Tony shook his head and laughed. "You win. No way."

Pete and Lewis chuckled.

The Doctor groaned, "No. Summus is a Quauhtin. Idiots."

"A big ass Quauhtin." Tony insisted.

Lewis picked up his phone and looked at something on it.

Pete complained, "When is it going to stop being so uncomfortably bright?"

The Doctor continued to eat the crisps, "Not long. That's from the medicine." He then yelped and sat down the bag in his lap. "That crisp cut my lip a bit. Aw."

When Lewis looked up at the sofa, he saw Pete covering his eyes to shield them from the light, Tony with both hands over his ears, and the Doctor rubbing his lip. He laughed and quickly took their picture.

"And that's one to send to everybody. Brilliant!"

Tony pointed at him, "I might have to kick your ass. Don't think because you are hurt, I won't."

Lewis didn't look up from the phone. "You are welcome to try, Tony. I'm certain I'd give you a good work-out."

The Doctor smiled, "Feeling better then?"

He put his phone in his pocket. "I'm still weak. It took a lot to get in here. But, I'm seeing improvement."

"How's the leg?"

"Sore. And yes. I've been walking on it."

"You are going to hate that tomorrow. Stay off of it." The Doctor told him as the door opened and Tony Tyler came back into the room.

"Legate and Logan are nutters!" He declared.

Pete smiled, "Oh boy, what have they done?"

Tony shook his head. "They have this ship down in the hanger. Legate says he beat up Han Solo for it."

Pete smiled, "Well, he might have."

Lewis smiled, "I see Lance winning it in a card game before Legate beating Solo up for it."

The Doctor smiled, "I can see that. Yes."

Tony shook his head, "Guys. Han Solo isn't a real person. See? Legate is just full of-"

"Ah!" The Doctor insisted.

Tony Stark laughed.

Tony Tyler shook his head. "Anyway. Oh, John. I made a drawing for you!" He ran down the hallway into his bedroom.

Tony Stark chuckled, "I love his accent. Drawing." He mocked.

Pete smiled. "How do you say it?"

Tony looked back at him, "Drawing." He said with his American accent.

Pete and the Doctor laughed.

Pete pointed at him. "I have heard that before. I like how you say it. That's….. plain."

"Plain? What?"

The Doctor and Lewis laughed.

Tony brought a piece of paper back into the room and climbed onto the sofa to sit next to the Doctor. He held the drawing out and pointed at it. "This is a timeline. See? Like what you talk about. This is when we were on Earth. Then we left and came out here. You went to get that other ship, and then came back. Then Daddy woke up and we watched our football game."

He smiled, "Yes. This is great! When did you do this?"

"Today, when you were getting the ship."

The Doctor smiled as he looked at the line on the bottom of the page. He ran his finger across it. "See, this is where so many people get this wrong. Time is not a straight line. It looks more like…." He rose his finger in the air and twirled it around. They all watched him.

Tony Tyler smiled. "John, that's not correct."

The Doctor pointed at himself. "I'm a Time Lord. I know about these things. See, this is how you see it. And that's alright, because most everyone sees it this way. As the straight line. But…" He rolled the paper up and held it in his hand, "So, now this is better. See, the line is overlapping. Around and around. Like a ball. Imagine you have a way to walk through the paper. You could jump from this point in time, to another. Or…a better explanation." He unrolled the paper. Then he folded it in half. "You can leave the game and tell yourself that you need to get more crisps before you leave Earth. You just bend time and space. Then you pop out where you need to be."

Tony Tyler smiled and looked back at him. "That actually makes sense."

He kissed his ginger head. "Go hang it on the refrigerator for me. I love it. It's just what the kitchen needs."

The small boy jumped off of the sofa and took his drawing to the kitchen. Pete was interested in the conversation. "Well…. What drives you through the paper? How do you do that?"

"It's complex. Time Vortex. Systems on board, short-range guidance, just…. A hundred things."

Tony Stark pointed at him, "You are talking about your ship. The one you lost."

He bit his lip and nodded his head. "Yeah."

Tony Tyler walked back into the sitting room with them. "The TARDIS. That was what it was called. Rose says it meant, 'Time and Relatives in Dimensions of Space-'"

The Doctor closed his eyes and shook his head. "That's so not it. Tony. Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It's all relative, as Einstein said all of the time."

Tony shook his head. "That's just what I said."

The Doctor shook his head. "Not really."

Tony Tyler climbed back on the sofa and took the crisps bag from the Doctor.

Pete shielded his eyes. "What actually was your ship? What was it called?"

"She was a TT Type 40, Mark 3. Older than me, if you can imagine that."

Tony Stark asked. "Can you get those here?"

"No. They were unique to where I'm from. The sort I had, they didn't even make anymore. Well….make…. that's not right."

Tony Tyler stopped eating crisps and pointed at him. "It wasn't made. You told me they were grown. That's how they were alive and could talk to the people who owned them. Like how you and Rose talk to one another in your heads."

Lewis crossed his arms, "Now, I didn't know that. It was telepathic?"

The Doctor nodded, "She was. It was like this….consent hum…in my head. When I first came here, I didn't know Rose was telepathic. It was extremely painful for a while not hearing that. Feeling that… connection."

Lewis nodded, "I can relate. Since I was hurt, I've not heard anything in my head but me. It's an odd….void."

"That's the reason I have you on some the medicine I do. Hopefully, yours will return. And the pain won't begin. Although, I thought I heard you today when we were getting that ship. Are you able to hear anyone?"

Lewis shook his head. "I was asleep when you lot went out to get the ship. I don't remember that."

Pete asked, "So, Rose being telepathic helped?"

He rubbed his face and looked back at Pete, "I'm certain I would have completely lost my mind had it not been for her being able to talk to me that way. It is amazingly soothing for us both. Us being joined, and I can feel her in my mind all of the time, has replaced that."

Tony Stark smiled, "That is so cool. What is she doing?"

He listened, "She's laughing. She feels…. Excited about something. Clever. She must be working on her book, or something."

Pete rubbed his head, "So, these ships were grown? How long does it take to grow a ship?"

"A long time. You can speed it up, but it's risky. It's best to let it take it's time, and grow up slowly. It's a living thing. It needs to be entertained. Hear people talking."

Pete nodded, "Right. Put a telly on for it. Like what you've done for your little plant."

Lewis stopped drinking his beer and looked at them.

Tony Stark held up his hand. "Hold on just a damn minute! You have one of these? You are growing one of these now?"

The Doctor shook his head, "I didn't say that-"

Tony pointed at Pete, "Pete said a little plant. Where the hell is this? You're growing a ship?"

The Doctor looked back at Lewis, who shook his head and laughed, "And you wasn't even drinking, John. That's rather sad."

Tony Tyler had stopped eating the crisps and looked at him.

The Doctor looked at the small boy and groaned. "I really need to learn to shut up. I'm not used to being around such clever people. No apes in this room."

Pete smiled and rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry, son. I shouldn't have said anything. I didn't realize that's what that was. I thought it was just an odd plant."

Tony Stark pointed at Pete. "So, you've seen it?"

Pete nodded his head. "I had to take care of it when he was gone. Who's caring for it now?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Rose."

Tony snapped his fingers, "It's in that room. The one with all of your movies." He covered little Tony's ears, "You're letting it watch porn, man?"

"What?! No!"

Pete laughed and slapped the arm of the sofa. "Oh, shit."

Lewis ran his hand through his hair and laughed. "See, my mind wouldn't have even gone there. That's hilarious, Tony."

Tony Tyler slapped his hands off of his ears. "That really doesn't work, Mr. Stark."

"It makes Mr. Stark feel better, Mr. Tyler." Tony told him.

Pete pointed at Lewis, "Lewis. Did you know that's what this was?"

Lewis smiled, "I did. But, he had asked me not to say anything."

The Doctor nodded his head, "Yeah, Lewis figured it out months ago. He's bond by oaths not to say anything."

Tony Stark pointed at himself. "But you haven't told me. Or Pete. Why are you growing a ship?"

Tony Tyler had heard enough. "Because he's going to leave. That's why."

He quickly shook his head. "No! That's not it."

"Why are you going to leave, John? Are you going to take Rose?" Tony Tyler asked him.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"But, you have one of your…. Time machines-"

"It doesn't work. It won't for a long time."

"But, when it does, you'll leave."

"It's nothing you should worry about, Tony."

Tony started to cry. "I'm not stupid! You left Rose for all of those years! You plan to take her and leave us, don't you?"

"No. I don't."

"You do!" Tony insisted and ran out of the room.

"Tony!" Pete yelled to his son. He didn't slow down.

The Doctor sighed and sat back. "Well, that went….."

"Like shit." Tony Stark finished his sentence.

Pete groaned. "He's been so….angry lately. I don't know what's going on in his head. Ugh. I'll go talk to him."

"No, this is my mess. I've got this one." The Doctor exhaled and stood up. "I have a good idea where he went. Tony, help Lewis back to his room-"

Lewis shook his head. "I'm fine-"

"Stay off of that leg. Help him back. I'll be a while. Pete, you need to ring Jackie."

Pete nodded his head, "Right. Good luck with that. Call me if you need backup."

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