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Chapter 44- Gifts
The Doctor was in his workshop with Genie. She was sitting on a stool next to him at a table and watching him sonic a long tube that had wires wrapped around it. 'Howlin' for You' by the Black Keys was playing loudly.
The Doctor, wearing his glasses on the end of his nose, was engrossed in his work but was also singing along to the loud song. Genie was smiling at him. He bobbed his head in during the chorus and reached over to kiss Genie on the cheek, causing the little girl to giggle.
They both heard a loud beep. The Doctor turned around and looked at the three monitors on the wall behind him that displayed maps of the world. He pointed at one and told Genie. "Team Echo is headed to Brazil. Tell me something about Brazil, Genie."
Genie laughed and counted on her fingers, "They don't speak Spanish there, they speak Portuguese. It's the largest country in South America, and they drive on the wrong side of the road."
The Doctor laughed, "That's relative. To them it is the right side of the road."
The song 'Have Love Will Travel' by the Black Keys started playing. The Doctor looked at Genie. "Oh, I love this song. I can play it on the guitar now!"
Genie smiled at him. "Does it have to be so loud, Daddy?"
"Yes! It keeps me awake. And don't tell Rose I said that."
"Friday, turn this down." A voice said.
The Doctor looked up and saw Tony from New York standing in the doorway. Genie rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, Daddy isn't going to be happy. He likes his music loud when he works."
Tony walked over and stood on the other side of the table. "Sorry, Doc'. I hear that's damaging to children's hearing."
The Doctor smiled as he continued to use his screwdriver on the tube.
Tony shrugged his shoulders, "I am this child's godfather after all."
Genie giggled at him.
Tony took off his sunglasses and put them on Genie's face. "Here. Those look better on you."
Genie held them up to her eyes. "Thanks, Mr. Tony!"
The Doctor looked back at her and smiled. "You look like an insect."
Genie laughed, "Daddy!"
"Well, you do. Or something from … well, nevermind." He told her.
Tony laughed.
Genie looked at Tony, "He was going to say a foreign planet that he doesn't want me to know about."
"Apparently, he doesn't want me to know about it either." Tony told her.
The Doctor laughed as he continued to work on the tube. "Predcit. An insect from Predcit called a Uazont. Huge eyes."
Tony looked at him. "What is this?"
"Something for the dog. I'm tired of sweeping up sand he brings in. He can walk through this, and it will evaporate the sand, and he can come into the house. I can possibility get rid of my broom." The Doctor told him.
"You have a dog? I didn't know that." Tony said.
Genie shook her head. "No, Tony has a dog. Not you. Daddy's brother, Tony."
"Oh! The German Shepherd. Yes. I remember him." Tony smiled.
"How are you feeling? I'm sorry I haven't called. Things have been busy here." The Doctor told Tony. He raised his hand. "Sorry, Rose." The Doctor thought for a moment, then looked at Genie.
"Genie. Rose needs you. Can you go help her for a bit?" The Doctor asked her.
Genie smiled. "Sure, Daddy! Bye, Mr. Tony!"
Tony smiled and waved his fingers as Genie ran out of the room.
The Doctor put his screwdriver back in his pocket and rubbed his hands together. "You look better. How are you feeling? Your color is good."
Tony nodded his head as he put his hands in his pockets. "I feel great! None of the side effects you warned me about. I do have an odd craving for beer though. What's that about?"
The Doctor laughed and motioned for Tony to follow him. "Don't fight cravings. It means your body needs something." He pulled two beers out of the refrigerator, opened them and handed one to Tony. "This is from a brewery in Germany. Best beer on Earth."
Tony took a drink and nodded, "That's not bad. Best beer on Earth, huh? But, not the universe?"
The Doctor shook his head. "Not at all. That's on Plentitude. I'll have to take you there sometime!"
Tony smiled. "Plentitude, huh? That sounds fun. Get your ship, then?"
"Docked her this morning. She's a beauty." The Doctor smiled as he drank.
"You have been busy." Tony smiled.
"Rose had the baby, too! He's five days old now. Jackie and Pete are in the house with him now. Poor Rose is in hell."
Tony laughed, "That's why you're hiding out here?"
The Doctor smiled. "I'd never admit that to her. She thinks I'm resting."
"Still not sleeping?" Tony asked.
"Nah, too busy to sleep. Enough about me, how are you? Besides craving beer, anything else?"
Tony shook his head. "Nope. Pain's gone! Got good ticker, and I don't have to wear a black bit to cloth on my chest to hide a damn light all of the time. All in all, not bad at all."
"How's the scar?" The Doctor asked.
Tony shook his head. "It's not bad. To have had a hole in my chest for so long, it could be a lot worse."
The Doctor nodded. "Good."
"Are we still on for tonight? Or are you consumed with domestic duties? New baby and all?" Tony asked him.
The Doctor looked confused. "Remind me. What's tonight?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "Friday! Remind the Good Doctor what's tonight."
Friday's computer voice spoke. "Of course, sir. The Expo begins tonight in New York."
Tony held out his hands. "I love that you called him, Friday. That was brilliant with the island and all. Robinson Crusoe, right?"
"Yes, Genie named him." The Doctor told him as he rubbed his beard. "I never asked, where does Jarvis' name come from?"
"It was my smart ass idea. It stands for Just A Rather Very Intelligent System." Tony laughed.
The Doctor rolled his eyes and laughed at him. "Clever."
Tony nodded his head. "So, tonight? You're in?"
The Doctor nodded his head. "Yep! I told you I'd be there. I'll be there. Don't worry about it."
"Brilliant!" Tony waved his hand. "I've got you something. You'll love this."
Tony motioned for him to join him on the sofa. After he sat down with him, Tony took something out of his pocket. It looked like a metal bracelet that was very thin and was only an inch thick. He put it on The Doctor's wrist and pressed it shut. The Doctor looked at it and raised his eyebrow. "Looks like I'm being taken prisoner."
Tony laughed. "Is it too tight?"
The Doctor shook his head. "It's alright. What is it?"
Tony smiled, "An upgrade. I've gotten good at making these damn watches for your Torchwood agents. I took yours and made some modifications. Don't worry. I tested it out."
Tony pointed at it. "Okay. First things first, hold your finger there and state your name."
The Doctor put his finger on the bracelet where Tony instructed and said, "Doctor Johnathon Smith."
The bracelet lit up and locked. The Doctor jumped. "The hell?"
Tony laughed, "Tap there." He pointed at a spot on the bracelet. The Doctor tapped in the spot and a display appeared down his arm.
The Doctor smiled. "Oh wow! This is brilliant!"
Tony nodded his head. "Thought you would like that. It's the same with all of that stuff you had in your old watch program. But, this one also connects directly to Friday. Anything that mutant secretary sends to him will appear here. See, you have a debriefing and an ass chewing meeting tomorrow with someone named Malcolm. It also is waterproof, bullet proof and electromagnetic pulse proof. It even has a space for baby pictures, Daddy. Just ask Friday to load them for you. Whatever you want."
The Doctor smiled, "This is fantastic! Thank you!"
Tony laughed, "And it tells the time. Your old watch didn't do that?"
"I don't need it to tell what time it is. I'm a Time Lord. It's one of my senses."
Tony shrugged his shoulders. "Weirdo. I needed something to do this past week. Now, to take it off, you press in that same spot and state your name again. It's coded to your voice. The only way anyone can get that off of your arm is to cut your arm off. The bracelet is made out of the same shit my suit is, so it's tough."
"Does it have the personal shield in it, too?"
Tony nodded his head. "That is the best part. The shield is now like an airbag. You don't have to have it on, it just automatically detects something like a blast or a gunshot or whatever. In fact, you might want to turn it down when you play soccer. Or football. Whatever."
He laughed as he looked at the bracelet. "Damn, I could have used that this morning. Jackie was hitting me."
Tony laughed, "And, I made one for the misses." Tony handed him a smaller one. "Hers doesn't have the kill switches in it and extra things in it that yours has, but it also connects to Friday. It will help keep her safe. Maybe help you sleep at night."
The Doctor ran his hand through his hair. "Maybe it will. I don't know. I've always had a problem sleeping, but nothing like this."
"I know you don't want to talk about, but maybe it's time to think about neutralizing this Idles problem you have." Tony told him.
The Doctor shook his head, "Don't suggest that. There are things you don't know about me."
"Man to man. This is a problem and he's hurt you and yours. I'm your friend. If you need me to-"
"Don't offer that to me. I don't want to talk about this." The Doctor gritted his teeth.
"You have the best assassins in the world. In the universe! Send them out to get this guy!" Tony reasoned.
The Doctor rubbed his face and walked back to the desk. He crossed his arms and sighed as he looked at the screens.
Tony walked over to him. "After Rhodey died, I decided I was going kill everyone of the bad guys over there in the desert. The ones that hurt me. The ones that took him from me. I knew I couldn't bring every solider home from over there, but I could prevent it from happening to at least one more person. Someone has their friend home because of what I did. Someone lived because of the choices I made."
The Doctor bit his lip and shook his head. "I can't talk about this."
"How is this different from the other stuff you do? Sending teams in to a problem someplace to handle something? Is it because he's human?"
The Doctor shook his head. "No, it's because he's so well connected. He has people in places I don't even know about. While he is alive, I can keep a guy on him and know where he intends to strike. The compression bomb at the ballet was a job he had paid for weeks before we even decided to go, but now the CIA is saying he wasn't even behind it. Makes me wonder if someone is working with him now in the CIA, or if it was just one of those things we wasn't aware of. But, we've been able to avoid Harriet being assassinated, Pete being shot and Genie being kidnapped all in the past four months. He has no idea how. But, we've been able to stay a step ahead of him."
Tony nodded his head. "I get it. Got the snake by the head, huh?"
The Doctor nodded his head. "Yes. That's how it has to be for the moment."
Tony sighed, "Alright. Well, when the moment passes. Think about what I've said."
"Phhhhhh." The Doctor shook his head and looked down at the floor.
Tony pointed to the wall, "What are you monitoring on your screens over there?"
The Doctor looked back, "One is the location of the remainder of those compression bombs. One is the location of all of the watches, and thus agents of Torchwood and the other one varies. Today I have it monitoring terrorist activity worldwide."
Tony nodded, "Tell Friday to download the feeds to your watch. It's just that simple."
The Doctor smiled, "That's amazing. Thank you. Why did you make these for me and Rose?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "Well, hell. Aren't we friends, yet? Besides you won't let me pay you for fixing my damn heart! What sort of Doctor are you that won't let someone pay you?"
The Doctor shrugged his shoulders and laughed, "I find it strange someone would pay someone to make them healthy. It would be cruel to deny someone their health if you could help it."
Tony rolled his eyes. "See, that sort of shit keeps you from fitting in. You're too good of a person. Grow some humanity! Charge people!"
The Doctor put Rose's bracelet in his pocket and smiled. He motioned for Tony to follow him to another part of the workshop. "I've got your suit ready for you. I did a few things to it. Not as much as I wanted to. Sam being born this week and calls to go deal with Torchwood stuff has kept me busy. I've honestly slept for 3 hours and 17 minutes in the past nine days. Bring it back and let me work on it, or a different one, and I'll add some more stuff to it."
The Doctor and Tony went to a doorway. Tony noticed another door right beside of it.
"What's in that room, 'Doc?" Tony asked.
The Doctor shook his head. "Nothing."
Tony narrowed his eyes at him, "Friday! What's in this room?"
Friday's voice said, "That room holds Sexy."
Tony threw his hands up in front of him. "Nevermind! Wish I hadn't asked. Wow!"
The Doctor laughed at his friend. He continued to type in a code and the door slid open to the other door. They walked inside and Tony saw his silver suit standing in the middle of the room.
The Doctor rubbed his face. "Okay. First, I changed these missile launchers here on the shoulders. The reload was too slow. Plus, there wasn't any room to store extra ammo. I made the ammo and reload bigger on the inside, to give it more room."
"How many missiles will she hold now?" Tony asked.
"Phhhhh… 500,000. If I had to put a number on it. It's really limitless. I did that on the forearms and the decoy launchers in the legs. I also put scrubbers on the legs. That's an ummmm….. well, alien technology. It scrambles your flight path of where you have been from radars. I had to use one last night in the United States. I don't think any radar on earth can detect that yet, but they will be able to in a few years, so you're ahead of them on that. Also, personal shielding so you don't have to deal with repairing it when someone shoots at you. And, ummmm….. better speakers so you can play your music louder."
Tony smiled and nodded his head. "Hell yeah! That's great." He shook The Doctor's hand. "Thank you! I think I'll take it out for a test drive. See you tonight?"
The Doctor smiled. "Sure."
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