XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 68 – Jack and Jake's Plan

The Doctor lay in a hospital bed with his arm over his eyes. His injured leg was propped up on a pillow, fresh stitches running all the way down. Rose sat next to him in a chair. He had taken of his wet shirt and shorts.

Shakes popped back to their flat to get him some dry clothes. Shakes had quickly changed into dry clothes while he was at the flat.

As soon as Shakes returned with the Doctor's dry clothes, Shakes walked outside to stand in the hallway.

"They have these paper shorts you can wear." Rose told him.

"I didn't get into that in the '60s and I'm not going to do it now. Hell no!" he demanded as he put on his dry pants with Rose's help.

Rose looked confused at him. "Okay, what are you on about?"

He waved his hand and looked annoyed. "Oh, it was this... fashion craze that happened back in.. umm.. 1966. Maybe 1967. People thought they could just wear clothes made of paper and toss them in the rubbish when they were done with them. It was big. Time magazine even declared it was here to stay. Thankfully they were wrong!"

Rose smiled at him. "Who wore this stuff?"

He rubbed his face. "Oh, hell the Beatles, The Duchess of Windsor, Joan Kennedy, …but, not the Doctor. No way! The Doctor won't be wearing disposable clothing today, either. Nope!"

"What did you slide on that cut your leg so badly? Sixty-one stitches?" Rose asked him.

He lay back with his arm across his face. "A rock. I'm sure that's what it was. I was told to be careful of a rock at football match. I thought it was because someone was going to throw one at me. Freak accident, Rose. No one could have seen this coming."

He sighed. Rose watched him for a moment. She couldn't feel anything from him.

"Is the medicine working, or are you blocking pain?"

"Both." he mumbled.

"I can't feel it hurt, are you shielding me?"

"Oh, yes." he said. "I'm thinking about using some regeneration energy and just be done with this."

Rose shook her head. "Everyone saw you get hurt! How are you going to explain you are better?"

He smacked the bed. "Ugh! I hate this!"

She moved to sit next to him on the bed and rubbed his uninjured thigh. He didn't uncover his face. "Mickey told me that you gave ten years of your life away when we were trapped here before. That was regeneration energy, too. Am I right?"

"Damn it. You are too clever." he complained.

"How many years of your life would that take away to heal your leg?" Rose asked him.

He looked at her, "Another number. Always a number with you."

Rose looked at him seriously. "Tell me."

He looked at his injured leg. "Maybe twelve years."

Rose looked at him. "That would be twelve years I might live on without you. Please don't do it."

He nodded his head. "Very true. Didn't think about that part of it."

"You're not alone anymore. And you won't be alone ever again. Promise me you won't do that. You can heal like everyone else does."

He laid his arm back on his face. "The Doctor on crutches. I should have listened to Tony and made that machine he asked for back when we were in Washington. It would be damn useful right now!"

Rose could feel his irritation. He continued to rub his thigh, "Sweetheart. You scored the goal. Shakes said you guys won."

He smiled as he continued to cover his face. "Yeah, it was a brilliant goal, too. Wasn't it?"

She giggled. "You know it was."

He smiled as he rubbed his face. "Oh, I'm sorry I'm so grumpy. I can't believe this. I don't have time to be hurt! I have to go see Pete tonight, and do a million other things!"

"Maybe it's something trying to tell you to slow down." Rose told him.

He rose up and put on his t-shirt that Shakes had brought him. "Maybe so. Do you think I need to slow down? Pete says I'm staying busy to keep my mind off things. That's what he does."

"Well, are you?" Rose asked.

"I don't know. Maybe. I'm used to having a million things going on at once, in ten different times and places. This has been very strange. Now, I have a million things going on at once… in one place. One time. I never dreamed this much could be crammed into a small space."

Rose giggled, "Bigger on the inside problems?"

He chuckled, "Yes. Exactly!"

Rose rubbed his thigh. "Time Lord problems. I know this has to be hard - "

"Keep rubbing there and it will be."

Rose rolled her eyes, "Deflecting again. You are so good at that!"

"A professional!" he smiled.

"Apparently, the master of it." Rose told him.

He looked at her seriously, "Nah. Never a master. I'll never call myself that. I'll tell you why one day. That's a very long story."

Someone knocked at the door and opened it. Jack and Jake popped their heads in.

"Hey! We came to see if you lived." Jake laughed.

They walked in. Jack immediately noticed that the Doctor was just wearing his t-shirt and his pants. "Damn, Rose! Let the man get better before you shag him. Geez! And in a hospital!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. Rose never faltered. She stood up, faced Jack and Jake and crossed her arms. "You know me, Jack. I can't help myself around a handsome bloke."

The Doctor blushed and ran his hand though his hair.

Jack looked at Rose and then the Doctor in surprise. "Nah... you're kidding me."

The Doctor smiled. "She might not be."

Jack put his hands on his hips. "Shit. I don't believe it."

The Doctor looked back at Rose and smiled. She looked back at him and winked. He smiled proudly. "That's my wife, gentleman! Oh wow."

Jake tossed him his shorts. "Geez. Put on some clothes, mate. We didn't come to talk about that. How many stitches did you end up with?"

"Sixty-one." Rose told them.

"Damn." Jake said as he looked at his leg.

"We found this! The rock in question." Jack said as he dropped it in Rose's hand.

"My gosh, this is as sharp as a razor! How does that even happen?" Rose asked.

The Doctor started. "Erosion. But, that is probably a metamorphic rock. Those change into other bits by a combination of heat, pressure or a chemical alteration -"

"It was a rhetorical question." Rose told him.

"Oh! A French question then!" he teased her.

"Are you ever going to stop teasing me about that?"

He smiled like a loon and said, "Bien sûr que non!"

Rose shook her head and groaned. "You are ridiculous."

He laughed, "Quatre années?"

Jake laughed. "That means four years. What is he on about, now?"

Rose put her hand on her face. "Please. Don't ask. Ugh." She pointed at the Doctor, "You make me crazy!"

The Doctor laughed at her. "Oh, I love this! Thank you for your help with Genie earlier."

Jake shrugged it off. "They didn't need to see that. Neither her, nor Jacob, have a clue what happened. Michelle's son took Tony away as soon as he saw all of the blood. I don't think he even knows what happened."

Rose was impressed, "Wow. What did you tell the children?"

Jake rubbed his chin, "That you twisted your leg. They took you away for an x-ray. They didn't need any of the details. Caroline has them all with her now."

Jack laughed. "Okay, lover boy! Jake and I have been talking and have an idea. But, we need your help."

The Doctor rubbed his head and groaned. "Ugh. Rose, help me on this. I'm about to be ambushed."

Jake laughed, "Not hardly, mate."

Jack clapped his hands together. "Okay, Jake filled me in about all of this stuff and I have an idea. Let me go find where these hits are being hired from. Maybe I can figure out who's bankrolling this."

The Doctor shook his head. "How in the hell are you going to find out that?"

Jake spoke, "Listen to the entire plan first, mate!"

Jack put his hands on his hips. "Come on. You know I've always been the best at finding the wrong side of town. It's the most fun!"

The Doctor laughed, "Can't argue with that. It's a talent you have for sure! Like in Acrab?"

Jack pointed and him and said seriously, "Hey! You know that was brilliant! And they thanked me for it!"

The Doctor chuckled, "Yeah, after I had to come break you out of jail. Twice!"

Jack shrugged his shoulders, "Ah. The ends justified the means. What do you think?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No, not a good idea. You have been seen with me and Rose now. They know you are working with us."

Jake said, "Ah! But that the beauty of this plan. He only got here yesterday, mate!"

The Doctor looked curiously at them. "I'm listening."

Jack clapped his hands in excitement. "What if you fix my vortex manipulator? Jake and I can go back to when some of these events happened and possibility recognize someone or get some answers. We can even go to the bar that was in Atlanta and get some information! Anything is better than what you have now, which is just a ghost image on Tony's machine!"

The Doctor held up his hand and looked at Rose. "Please. Don't upset Rose."

Rose sat back down on the bed next to the Doctor. "Sweetheart, I'm fine. They are right. They could do that. Wouldn't that work?"

"Jake would be crossing his own time stream. Jack could go back by himself, but I'm worried what trouble he will get into."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Geez, Daddy. I'm a grown-ass man! I can behave myself. I know what's at stake. Jake will be crossing his own time stream, but so have we! You know that's a piss poor excuse to say no! This could work!"

The Doctor moaned, "Ugh. What about Jake? He would be recognized!"

Jake shook his head. "No. Not if we go back before the kidnapping at the White House. Back to before you even got here. See who hired out these damn kidnappings and the car acc-"

"Okay, I get it." the Doctor interrupted. He held Rose's hand. She could feel him beginning to get extremely angry with everything being brought up again. She could also feel his concern for her. It became stronger than his anger.

She looked at him and said quietly, "I'm alright. Stop worrying about me."

He looked her in the eyes, "Doctor alright, or Rose alright?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Fine. Doctor alright."

He kissed her hand. "What do you think, Rose?"

Jack insisted, "You could come with us, Doc'!"

The Doctor shook his head. "No, Jack. I told you I can't do that right now. Especially, now that I'm hurt!"

Rose looked at him, surprised.

"Sweetheart, I promised. I meant what I said. I won't do that to you and Genie. No." he told her.

Rose smiled. "Send them. Maybe they can give us some answers. If they don't, we're no worse off."

He rubbed his face. "Hand me your purse, Rose. I need my sonic screwdriver. Jack, hand me that damn vortex manipulator."

Jack handed it over and bounced up and down from excitement. "Oh yes! Ever time traveled, Jake? You're going to love it. Makes you black out a bit!"

The Doctor complained, "That's not the Time Travel, that's just using this damn thing!"

Jack clapped his hands together. "Yeah, cheap and nasty Time Travel! Not as smooth as your TARDIS. Man, I bet you miss that."

The Doctor moaned as he shook his head. "More than you could even imagine, Jack."

The Doctor pushed some buttons and used his screwdriver on the vortex manipulator. He held it up to his ear and listened to it. He used his screwdriver on it a few more times until he was satisfied. He handed it back to Jack.

"Okay. Go look. Do not do anything else! Don't let Jake be seen by the other Jake. Stay out of trouble. I'm the only Time Lord in this entire dimension and I will know if you go anywhere else. Do not make me come get you! I will be proper cross, not to mention what Rose will be. And that's another thing. Do not let Rose see you!"

Rose asked, "Why?"

He shook his head. "That really wouldn't be the best thing at all. Seeing Jack in the middle of all of that mess. Trust me."

Jack put the vortex manipulator back on his wrist and clapped his hands in excitement. "Alright! See you tomorrow morning with some answers, Director Sinatra! Rest the leg, and have us some whiskey waiting! We have a game to play!"

Jack and Jake both popped away.

Rose turned back to the Doctor. "Wow. You are apprehensive!"

He ran his hand through his hair. "There was a reason I had broken that damn vortex manipulator. I hope I haven't made a mistake."

Rose turned so she could look at him easier. "Tell me. What's going on?"

"Like in the world? Well. The stock market is down a bit-"

"No, you daft Old Man. Any other time anyone would have spoken around me about things that happened in my past. The bad things, I would have ... well."

"Gotten upset. Yeah, I know. Don't worry about it." he kissed her hand.

"You've done something haven't you?" she asked him.

"Sweetheart, why would you think that?" he asked her.

"I've lived with this for four years. It was almost a crippling fear whenever anyone made me think about what happened."

"No one should have to live like that. Especially you, Rose."

"You live like that. I've felt it." She told him.

"No, love. That's completely different." he reasoned.

"What have you done? I won't be mad. Just tell me. You've done something haven't you?" Rose asked.

He rubbed his face. "Promise you won't be mad. I don't need a Tyler Punch with this injured leg."

Rose leaned in and kissed him quickly. She whispered to him. "I promise. No punching. Explain what is going on."

He looked down at her hands, "I know something. Something I'm sure you don't want me to know. I don't know how to talk to you about it."

Rose held his hands and looked at him in surprise. "How could you be sure you are right?"

He looked everywhere, but at her. "I've seen your dreams. Nightmares. Since I've been here. But, there's something else."

Rose looked at him in disbelief. "But, you wouldn't have looked in my head without my permission. What are you on about?"

He sighed as he kissed her hands. "You know I didn't do that, Rose. I would never do that to you. When we joined, there were things that rolled out of me, into you. Things you probably saw, and couldn't explain. Things I know, that as quickly as they went into your head I took them out."

Rose nodded. "Yes. I know what you are talking about."

He sighed. Rose could feel his sadness, anger and deep concern for her. She saw tears in the corners of his eyes forming.

Rose put her hands on the sides of his face and leaned in closer to him. "Hey. It's alright. Go on and tell me."

He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. "I purposely went looking for that fear that you have from those events. I didn't want you to suffer from that anymore. I want you to be happy. I took it out of you and put it in me. With all of my fears of my past..." he told her.

Rose was shocked. She leaned back to see him clearer. "Why would you do that? It was too much!"

He shook his head. "No, sweetheart. It wouldn't hurt me as much and it would help you heal from the pain. It all lives inside of me. All of that fear. Everything that happened when you were looking for me. Everything that happened since you have been here. I don't want you to ever have to think of any of that again and feel pain."

Rose's eyes grew to be huge. She whispered, "So, you know everything that happened? When I was looking for you?"

Tears rolled down his cheeks. He kissed her hand and nodded. He spoke quietly. "Yes. Just what caused you pain. Why haven't you told me?"

She shook her head and tears rolled down her cheeks. "I couldn't. You know that."

He nodded his head as he looked away. "Yeah, I do. But, Rose…."

Rose wiped his tears as she cried. She turned his head to look him in the eyes as she rested her forehead on his. She whispered, "You would have blamed yourself. I couldn't let you know. It's not your fault. It was nothing you did."

He rubbed his face as he took a deep breath. "It was my fault, Rose! All of it! You would have never been there if…." He couldn't finish. Rose could feel his heartbreak.

Rose put her finger across his lips as she shook her head. "No. We're not going to do that. It was not your fault. Please, don't ever think that."

He looked up at her as he cupped her face and wiped her tears. "Rose. How could you still love me after that? After all of that. Knowing it was because of me….."

She shook her head and continued to cry as he held her face. "I love you, so much. I've tried to force myself to forget about that. It still haunts my dreams."

He gritted his teeth, "If I ever find them. I will kill them, Rose. You know I will."

Rose could feel his anger. He rose up and held her as they both continued to cry. "I'm so, so sorry. Sweetheart, you are safe. Nothing like that will ever happen again. Not ever."

He put his hands on Rose's cheeks and looked into her eyes. "I'm here. I'm not leaving you. Not ever. I'll always keep you safe. I can't take that memory away from you. It's too deep of a scar. I can block it. And you will never think of it again. Do you want me to?"

She nodded her head as she cried.

He kissed her forehead. He kept his hands on her cheeks and closed his eyes.

Rose felt a snap in her mind and opened her eyes.

"What is going on?" she asked him as he lay his forehead to hers.

He told her quietly, "You asked me to block a memory you had that caused you pain. I did it. Don't go looking for it, Rose. Promise me you won't."

She looked surprised. "I won't. Are you alright? I've never felt you so angry. You have... tears." She said as she wiped them from his eyes.

He grabbed both of her hands and kissed them. "I love you so much, Rose. More than anything in the entire universe. You deserve so much better than me. You are such an amazing woman. I'm so incredibly lucky to be able to hold you in my arms. I love you. I really mean it. Please, never doubt that. I'll love you until the end of all of time, and even longer. I've never met anyone as strong as you. I've never seen anyone love someone as much as you love me. It takes my breath away, everyday that I'm with you. Everything will be alright."

The Doctor wiped the tears from her face. She wondered why she had been crying. "I know you love me. I can feel it. I'm not really happy about you deciding to take all of that fear into yourself. Why didn't you talk to me about that before you did it?"

He chuckled and wiped his face with his hands. "Have you met you? You would have never agreed to that! Rose, it's fine. I'm fine. It's locked away in my mind. Away from yours. You are alright."

She ran her hands through his hair and felt him relax. "Your head is going to be a mess with all of that in there."

He smiled, "No worse than it was before, my dear. Don't worry about me. I know what I'm doing."

XxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxXXxxxxxxxxxxxxXxxxXxx