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Chapter 55 - Revelations

The Doctor and Genie popped into a room at the White House with Jacob, Caroline, Lewis and Shakes. Genie saw Jacob and jumped down from The Doctor's arms and ran over to him. "Jacob! I didn't know Daddy was bringing me to see you!"

Jacob sat in the floor, playing with Legos. He hugged her quickly then returned to playing. Genie sat down next to him and started building, too.

The Doctor turned to Caroline. "Thank you for letting us meet here, Caroline. I'll keep an eye on everything. Don't worry."

Caroline smiled at him. "I have a meeting to go to myself. If Jacob gets in your hair, just call the Nanny."

He smiled, "He'll be fine."

Caroline walked out of the room. The Doctor knelt down next to Genie. "My Sara Gene. I'm going to talk to a man in here. Remember when we talked about people being honest?"

She looked at him, "Yes, Daddy."

"Now's that time. Okay? Don't worry about what I say, just listen to what this man says and let me know if he's being honest with me. Alright?" he asked her.

She smiled, "Sure, Daddy. Can I build with the blocks, too?"

He sat down next to her. "I think I'll build with blocks, too. What a swell idea. I love these."

He looked up at Shakes and Lewis and told them in their heads. 'I'll tell you if I suspect trouble. Lewis, take Jacob immediately to his Nanny upstairs. Summus, take Genie back to Rose. Alright? Don't alarm them.'

'What about you?' Lewis asked.

'Gobbo is in the shadows. We've be fine.' He explained.

A White House aide showed Ryan Ard and Deputy Director of the CIA, Richard Crowe, into the room. The Doctor stood up and shook both of the men's hands. He stood facing Genie, with Richard and Ryan on either side of him.

"Good to see you both again." He smiled at them. "Thank you for agreeing to come over to meet me today."

Richard Crowe nodded his head and smiled. "Happy to do it. Anytime I can get a meeting close to home, I'm very pleased."

The Doctor smiled, "Don't worry. I don't think this will take long. We'll have you home for dinner."

Ryan smiled at him. He pointed at Genie and Jacob. "Are you alright with the children hearing this?"

The Doctor shook his head. "You don't have some sort of report? That's what I was aware of."

Ryan nodded his head as he handed The Doctor a folder. He looked it over. It was an intelligence report explaining the hit Idles had taken out for The Doctor. "Yes. I'm aware of this." He handed Ryan back the folder.

"So, you are taking steps to prevent it?" Richard asked.

"Of course. I'd like a copy of that, if you don't mind." The Doctor pointed at the folder.

Ryan nodded and handed him back the folder. "Full cooperation. President Shepherd's orders."

The Doctor held the folder and nodded his head. "See, I'm a bit fuzzy on some things. That's the reason I was so grateful when you called a meeting with me, Ryan."

Ryan shrugged his shoulders. "Sure. Let me help you clear some things up."

"The incident at the hotel. With Pete Tyler. The suspect was injured. Did you know that?" He asked him.

Ryan nodded his head. "Yes. His left arm I believe."

The Doctor looked at Genie who was sitting in front of him on the floor. She nodded her head.

The Doctor rubbed his beard. "Did anyone ever look for someone with an injured arm after that? Or was it just assumed it was Idles?"

Richard Crowe crossed his arms. "It was reported it was Idles. He purchased a new arm from Justin Hammer the next day."

He glanced at Genie who nodded her head.

"Ugh. See, I didn't know that. Now, Hammer is arrested. Is there more to this? Something Idles wants and Hammer won't give him?"

Ryan shook his head. "No, not that I know of."

The Doctor looked quickly at Genie who shook her head to let him know Ryan was lying.

The Doctor rubbed his beard. "Ugh. Really. Interesting."

Richard Crowe asked him. "What's this about?"

"This is about keeping my family safe. I'm sure you understand that you have to be very careful about who you can trust in situations like this. Like for example. I know there is also another incident planned for the Tyler mansion. Do you know anything about that?"

Richard shook his head. "That is news to me."

The Doctor looked back at Genie. She nodded her head, quietly as he held up a block.

The Doctor smiled at her as crossed his arms. Richard Crowe looked back at Genie and waved his fingers at her. "How about you, Ryan. Have you heard anything about that?"

Ryan shook his head as Richard turned back to face him. "No. Where did you hear that from, Doctor Smith?"

Genie shook her head. Ryan was lying yet again.

"Oh, I'd rather not tell my sources. My worry is that this Idles knows where to find me. I've given him my card and asked him to call my secretary to arrange a meeting if he feels the need to…ummm…. have a chat with me. I was forced to cancel the last one. You remember, that problem we had at the ballet."

Richard nodded. "Yes. It's my understanding he was questioned about it."

Ryan spoke, "Yeah, nothing we have shows he was behind that."

Genie shook her head. Ryan knew something he wasn't telling.

The Doctor rubbed his beard. "I suppose the million dollar question, that you would understand is on my mind, is does he know where I live?"

Richard shook his head. "I honestly have no way of knowing that."

Genie nodded.

Ryan crossed his arms. "How would he know that? You've always been very secretive about that. Hell, I don't even know. I was popped in by your bodyguards everytime we had a meeting. And I worked on this island you live on now for months. I never knew where it was. There's no way he could know that."

The Doctor looked back at Genie. She smiled and nodded her head.

The Doctor smiled, "Got it. Okay. Well, that's all sorted. Thank you gentlemen for your time! If you don't have anything else for me, I need to get my daughter back to her Mum. They are doing their nails later today. You know. Girl's afternoon."

The men all shook hands and Ryan and Richard left with a White House aide. As soon as they were gone, The Doctor sat back down on the floor with the children and played with the blocks. Lewis sat down next to him.

'I'm not sure why you had Genie brought here, but I feel like Ryan isn't telling us the entire truth. Are you doing something I need to be aware of?' Lewis asked him.

The Doctor turned and looked at Lewis. "I'm sitting here playing Legos with two of my favorite children. That's all I'm doing."

Lewis pointed at him. "I know you, mate. I'll get it out of you."

"All in good time, my friend." The Doctor assured him.

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Rose was putting Sam down in his crib when Genie ran into the bedroom to her. "Mummy! Daddy asked me to give this to you."

Rose turned around and put her finger to her lips. "Shhh….just got him asleep."

Genie whispered, "Sorry."

Rose took what Genie had in her hand. The Doctor had made her a small, blue TARDIS out of Legos. Rose smiled at the gift. She opened the door and found a note inside. She sat the Lego TARDIS on the bed and unfolded the note.

"So sorry to drop Genie off and pop away. I'm late for my meeting with Pete. I'll be home as soon as we're finished. Love you. – John."

Rose rolled her eyes at seeing John written down.

Genie looked up at her and whispered. "Daddy told me to see if you wanted to do our nails. We can also eat ice cream and watch cartoons since its still raining."

Rose smiled at her. "Or. We can do this. Have you ever made a doll house out of a box, Genie?"

Genie looked confused. "No. That sounds fun! Can we do that?"

Rose smiled at her. "Of course. Let me show you how to do it. It used to be one of my favorite things to do. And I think you have little dolls that will fit inside of the houses, perfectly."

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The Doctor and Lewis popped into a restaurant in Tokyo. Pete and Aemillus sat at a table in a small private room, alone. The room was modern. The walls were beige with bright red light fixtures that hung overhead. The walls had paintings of samurais painted on the walls. The table was dark wood and had bright red, cloth napkins laid out for them.

The Doctor put his hand on Pete's shoulder as he sat down next to him. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Pete shook his head. "We're good. I went ahead and ordered for you. They are bringing it out in a bit."

The waiter brought them their drinks. Pete and The Doctor had a beer, while Lewis had coffee and Aemillus had a water. The Doctor looked at Pete and nodded, "Oh, if you only knew how bad I needed this beer." He pointed at the waiter and asked him to bring him another one.

Pete laughed at him. "Trouble, son?"

"It's been a hell of a day already." He said as he drank the entire beer in three swallows.

Lewis laughed at him. "First day back to reality is hitting him pretty hard."

"Dalek on the loose someplace, I just found out that Ryan Ard is in with Idles, and Rose is pissed at me for something." He told them.

The waiter brought him another beer and said, "Another one, sir?"

The Doctor nodded his head. "Yes. Two more. Then, that's it."

Pete looked surprised. "Ryan Ard is in with Idles? Does he know where the island is?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No. I'm sure of it. I was careful never to tell him. It was always just too convenient he was there right when I needed him. But, it explains a great deal of how Idles knew so much about what we were doing and where we were and when."

Lewis nodded his head. "It does make sense. But, how can you be for sure?"

The Doctor handed the waiter his empty glass and sat down the other two glasses on the table. He held up his finger as the waiter walked out of the room.

"My Genie is half Rixalarian. She can tell when someone is lying. It's in her blood. I've not told you lot this before, well… except Pete. I told him several months ago."

Pete nodded his head. "Yeah. I knew."

Lewis looked serious, "That makes so much sense. Wow. How did I miss that?"

Aemillus shook his head in disbelief. "Wow. That really explains so much."

Pete sipped his beer, "Except why you bring this up when you're talking about Ryan Ard? What did you do? Question him with her there to tell you if he was telling you the truth or not?"

The Doctor looked back at Pete and drank the entire glass of beer.

Pete laughed in disbelief. "Rose is going to kick your ass. Oh, is that why she's pissed?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No. She doesn't know about it. She says I treat her like a child. That I keep things from her."

Pete sat back in the chair, crossed his arms and smiled in amusement. "You don't agree?"

He sipped his beer. "No. I don't."

Pete shook his head and smiled. "You are in really deep shit then, son."

The Doctor looked confused. Lewis and Aemillus laughed at him. "Okay. Explain this to me."

Pete held up a finger. "First. She's right. Even if she's wrong. But, I honestly don't think she is in this case. I've been waiting for her to nail you to the wall about this. I've heard how you talk to her. I know you haven't told her half the shit that's been happening in the past few months. You just admitted you didn't tell her you took Genie to meet with Idles!"

"She didn't need to know! She was recovering from that blast." He reasoned.

Pete shook his head. "She won't see it that way. I told you that wasn't a good idea in the beginning. She would find out, and then it's your ass. Did you not learn anything from me keeping shit from Jacks? Rose is a trained agent. She's been a completely different person since you came. Am I right, Aemillus?"

Aemillus nodded his head. "Oh, yes. She was always very umm…. How would you say it, Pete?"

"Independent? Scary? Determined?" Pete helped.

Aemillus nodded. "Yeah, we'll go with that."

The Doctor drank the rest of his beer. "Maybe I need a couple more of those. What are you saying, Pete? Do you think I treat her like a child?"

"Son, you treat everyone like a child. Even me. And I understand why you do, but Rose isn't going to put up with it where others will. Now, I understand where you have been coming from. Especially lately. You have been in….. protection mode. The caregiver. You don't want to see her worried or upset because of Sam. But, she's just not going to see it that way. And I worry you've done it for so long, that it's going to be a hard habit to break now."

The Doctor groaned. "Ugh. Oh, this sucks. Fucking hell. Like, give me an example."

Pete sighed, "Imagine speaking to Genie. Then imagine how you speak to Rose. Is it the same? Or is it different?"

"Well, I do that because I know what's coming. I know what's best-"

"That sounds like parent. Not a spouse. Rose gets an equal share in the decision." Pete explained to him.

He covered up his face and groaned. "Damn it, Pete. Why didn't you tell me about this before she got pissed? You saw this coming!"

Pete pointed at himself and smiled, "I should have. I didn't know how to approach the subject."

"Simple! You say, 'Son, you're screwing this up. This is where you are going wrong.' See, I'll do it now." The Doctor turned to Lewis. "Lewis, mate. Arla is right, even when she's wrong." He turned back to Pete, "See! Not hard. I just saved Lewis some misery."

Pete laughed as he slapped him on the back. "Son, you should know that you can't learn from someone else's mistakes. You have to make them yourself for some reason. Wasn't it you who told me that?"

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't remember saying that. Sounds like me, though."

Pete laughed, "Don't worry about it. Being aware of the problem is the biggest step in solving the problem."

The Doctor pointed at Pete as he looked at Lewis. "Are you hearing this, mate?"

Lewis shrugged his shoulders, "I don't have any problems, man. My relationship is a walk in the park."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Yeah. While mine has become a walk in Jurassic Park."

Aemillus spit his water back into his glass as he laughed. He looked at their stunned faces and waved his hand. "My apologies. That just painted a very clear picture. I only saw that film last night."

Pete laughed as he turned back to The Doctor. "Surely you know that every relationship has its ups and downs. It's something you have to work at everyday. You always seemed to enjoy the dating part better anyway, maybe because you weren't sitting in one place like you are now. Do that again. Didn't you tell me to date Jackie when we were having our problems? Take her on some dates. Do something with her. I'm sure she's ready to get out of the house after being on bed rest for months."

The Doctor rubbed his face. "Got it. Understanding now. Lewis. Take notes here."

Lewis smiled at him. "You can't blame yourself, mate. You were left unsupervised."

Pete laughed at his words. "You two will work it out. Just try not to get your ass kicked in the process, son. Rose can really do it. If you need a place to stay, there's always my place."

"That reminds me. Pete. You and Jackie talked about getting a vacation home someplace. Moving out of the mansion full time. Are you still on about that?"

Pete shook his head, "Haven't really thought about it in a while. Been distracted."

"Do me a favor and look into it again. I can't say for sure but, I feel like the mansion just might not be the safest place for the family in the next few years. Alright? Just anywhere. Find a place."

Pete looked surprised. "Alright. I'll take care of it."

The waiter brought in their food.

Lewis laughed in surprise. "Hamburgers? Really?! In Tokyo? I thought you were kidding about that, Pete!"

Pete laughed at him. "Best in the world. We need to eat quickly so we can get to our meeting."

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