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Chapter 56 – A New Plan

The Doctor popped back into his island home.

"Daddy's home!" He shouted.

There was no answer.

He put his hands on his hips. 'Where is everyone?' He asked Rose through their connection.

She laughed, 'Come up here and see this.'

He left the sitting room, where he had arrived. After he walked down the hallways and jogged up the steps, he arrived into the nursery. Rose sat in the rocking chair holding baby Arles. Young Samuel was wearing a pair of green trousers with large dinosaur feet and a long tail.

Rose pointed at the doorway and giggled. "Be careful. There's a dinosaur in here."

Samuel turned around and held his hands up. "Grrr. Daddy. Sam. Di-saur!"

The Doctor laughed proudly. "Are you a friendly dinosaur?"

"No." Samuel told him quickly.

"So, you eat people?"

"No." Samuel growled. "Sam eat ice dream."

The Doctor smiled, "Of course. The scary Sam-a-saur. If I feed you ice cream, do you promise to not eat me?"

Samuel stood up and promptly fell back on his knees. "Sam. Boom."

Rose laughed, "How was Arles? Everything alright?"

"I may have done a terrible thing. I introduced myself to this girl's father as Arles' Dad."

"You are Arles' Dad."

"But, we're going to let them start calling us by our first names. Now, there's all of this confusion."

Samuel pulled himself up using his Dad's legs. "Up, pleze."

The Doctor picked Samuel up and kissed his face. "And Daddy's favorite dinosaur."

Samuel threw his hands out and began to babble at top speed.

The Doctor sighed. "Well, no. That's not what happened."

Samuel continued to babble.

The Doctor looked surprised back at Rose. "Jackie isn't having her party?"

Rose groaned. "No. She's proper cross about it, too."

Samuel looked back at his Mum and babbled.

The Doctor laughed and kissed the little boy's face.

Rose rose her eyebrows. "What was that?"

"He says that she won't be cooking."

Rose rolled her eyes.

The Doctor pointed at his son. "Don't be cheeky about your Grand's cooking. That's my job."

Samuel clapped his hands, "Daddy. Ice dream!"

The Doctor grinned, "Ice cream. Sure."

Rose held Arles close to her as he started to drift off to sleep. "Is it normal for him to sleep this much?"

The Doctor nodded, "Yeah. He's half human, Rose."

"Yeah, but the older version doesn't sleep like this."

"According to Samuel, he sleeps a lot. Quauhtin normally don't sleep much at all."

Rose kissed Arles' sleeping head. "Okay. Well, just seems like a lot. And he feels warm."

The Doctor quickly walked over to her and felt of Arles' head. "He is a bit warm. But, that could be a reason he's sleeping, too. He's fighting something."

Rose asked Samuel, "You seem to feel alright. You're not getting sick, are you?"

Baby Samuel clapped his hands together. "Ar-wess play sleep. Sam eat ice dream Daddy!"

Rose looked back at Arles. "Arles needs to sleep. Mum Mum will stay with him. Baby, tell Lance we'll keep Arles' tonight. It's fine."

"We had a date tonight."

She closed her eyes and sighed. "Damn it, we did."

"Jackie here?"

Rose nodded. "She is. Go say something nice about her cooking and maybe she'll babysit for us."

He groaned. "Must I?"

Rose turned and looked at him. "Yes."

"Phhh." He laid his forehead to Samuel's. "Are you old enough to babysit yourself?"

Samuel clapped his hands. "Ice dream, Daddy!"

The Doctor was struck by a sudden thought. "Yeah! Samuel could babysit!"

"No."

"Yeah! They are going to have a baby. They need to practice. Perfect two to practice on! Make them thankful they aren't having twins. Oh, that's…..madness."

Rose groaned, "You could just say something nice to Mum-"

"Ah. Hell. I'm ringing Karen and Samuel. He can sit, himself."

Rose rolled her eyes as he walked out of the room with the baby.

Little Samuel waved over his Dad's shoulder. "Bye bye, Mum Mum!"

She blew him a kiss.

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The Doctor walked back downstairs to the kitchen, carrying little Samuel in his arms.

"And ice cream for you. And me."

Samuel clapped his hands. "Yay! Ice dream!"

The Doctor reached in the freezer and pulled out a container. He sat Samuel on the cabinet top and they both shared a spoon as he carefully fed him the vanilla ice cream.

He leaned on the cabinet. "And there we are. If we're really careful, we won't have to give a dinosaur a bath."

Samuel clapped his hands. "Bath!"

"No. No bath." His Daddy told him. "We're trying not to get in a mess."

He fed Samuel another spoonful just as Friday spoke. "Tony Stark wants to know if you are available."

The Doctor smiled proudly at his son and fed himself a spoonful of ice cream. "Samuel and I are both available."

Samuel clapped his hands. "More, Daddy."

"Please."

"Pleze." Samuel said.

The Doctor grinned at him and fed him another spoonful of ice cream. "You're going to get a stomachache with all of this ice cream."

Tony popped into the kitchen. He was wearing a long sleeved, tight black shirt and a pair of dark trousers. He threw his hands out. "And this is some shit."

The Doctor pointed towards the drawer, "Grab a spoon."

Tony groaned and walked over to the cabinet where the Damn Whiskey was kept. He poured himself a drink. "And I'm only having two, John. Don't let me have more than that."

Samuel clapped his hands together. "More Daddy, pleze."

The Doctor fed Samuel another spoonful. "Poltious came to see you?"

Tony drank the whiskey and sat on the cabinet. "This negotiation thing was an entire waste of time. Remember, I told you that I felt like it was? I hate being right all of the time."

The Doctor fed Samuel another spoonful. "It does get annoying."

Tony pointed at Samuel. "Don't let that stop you from being right though."

Samuel laughed at him.

Tony asked, "What are you two overdosing on sugar about?"

"We're not overdosing on sugar-"

"That's right. He's your kid. He probably needs a five pound bag a day to function properly."

The Doctor shook his head at Samuel. "Don't listen to Uncle Tony."

Samuel clapped his hands together again. "Ice dream. Good."

Tony sipped the drink and grunted. "And I'm running a program to crack back into the CIA. I somehow got, bounced out."

The Doctor looked surprised. "CIA?! What the hell for?"

"I'm looking into this Commander. I'm not 100% sure Karen is safe. I told Sammy that I'd look at it for him."

"CIA is rather a hard place to crack open-"

"Ah. Not really. Just takes time."

"And it's illegal-"

"You forget. I have a 'Get Out of Jail Free Card'."

The Doctor looked back at him. "What is that?"

"Never mind. The State Department had nothing."

"Well, they wouldn't. Something like that would be classified probably past even the CIA."

"So, you're suggesting…."

The Doctor fed Samuel another spoonful as he said slowly, "I would look at where the CIA puts their classified information."

Tony sipped his drink and nodded. "Good advice. Thanks, John."

The Doctor realized something and looked back at Tony. "Are you also hacked into Torchwood?"

Tony sipped the drink and looked serious, "Probably the less you know, the better. Director Smith."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and went back to feeding Samuel. "I worry about this influence on you."

Tony grinned proudly. "He turns out fine in spite of my influence. Sammy is a great guy. Aren't you, Sam?"

Samuel got another spoonful of ice cream and clapped his hands together.

Tony tossed the drink to the back of his throat. "Gives me hope with Soli."

"Soli will be fine."

"Do you know of this shit with him? Gathering all of the Khrele?"

The Doctor looked at Tony in surprise. "Who told you that?"

"Sam. When we were on the ship."

The Doctor fed Samuel another bite. "Umm…well. Yeah."

"And you didn't feel this is information I need-"

"It's not. It would just wind you up-"

"That it has."

"What did he tell you?"

"Fuck that, I know about it. You tell me your version."

The Doctor nodded. "Alright. The Khrele, we're I'm from, are of Legend. People claim to have seen them, and each story seems as outlandish as the other. But, Mageer of Chaomlean had a ship of unbelievable power-"

"Which was actually him-"

"And his crew, but most likely him. He was also a….ummm…..he built things. Had to. Ships aren't made to channel that sort of power that he was able to use."

"So, he created things?"

"Yeah. Just like you do. His machines were powerful. They drew the power they needed from the individuals that used them."

Tony looked impressed. "Well, that's fucking cool."

The Doctor continued to speak as he fed Samuel ice cream. "And it was said he was bringing them out of hiding, to live in the universe with everyone else, when his son was taken."

"Soli. Soler."

"And he was never seen again. Mageer lost his mind over the loss of his son. The Khrele went back into hiding and you heard whispers of them, but….."

"So, let me get this straight. In your reality, my Soli died."

"As far as anyone knows."

"But, that doesn't mean that it has to happen that way here. Right?"

The Doctor grinned. "No. Samuel and Arles have both spoken to me about him. He's a Quauhtin Warrior."

"Yeah, they've told me that, too."

"And apparently looking to finish the work Mageer started. Rebuild the Kingdom that was lost in the other Dimension."

"Kingdom?"

The Doctor turned and pointed at him with the spoon. "And you already know too much."

Tony poured himself another drink. "Agreed."

The Doctor ate another spoonful, "War has been declared on the Quauhtin-"

"Yeah, Poltious told me that, too. Fan-fucking-tastic."

The Doctor groaned. "I need to go, sort this out."

"That's the reason I came to see you. I want you and me to go. Talk to this….woman."

The Doctor looked at him in surprise. "What woman?"

"This woman who is telling everyone she's Soli's mother-"

"She'll kill you as soon as she finds out who you are."

Tony finished his drink and poured another one. "It's like this, John. He's my One, but also my son. So, I can't ask him."

The Doctor groaned.

"Lartius is busy with this damn war now, and he's Two. I can't ask him."

The Doctor looked back at him. "And I'm Three."

Tony grinned, "Simple. Math. Lance is Four and I've already asked him."

"He's onboard with this?"

Tony finished his drink and started to pour another one. "If Jane lets him off the leash-"

"Ah! Two."

Tony lifted his hand and nodded. "Right. Thanks. Ummm. Yes. He is."

"What exactly are we doing?"

"John, I'm fucking going. Whether you go with me, or not. But, I hope you will. I feel, that I'm going to need you."

"What about Soli and Pepper?"

"I'm going to have them stay here. On the island. Sammy will keep an eye on them for me."

"Sammy is busy with-"

Tony waved his hand. "And Arles and Legate."

The Doctor groaned. "Legate."

"I'm not worried. Sammy has my back. Right, Samuel?"

The baby clapped his hands. "More ice dream, pleze."

The Doctor gave him another bite. "I don't want Rose to go. Nor the children-"

"And I agree. I'm leaving mine here, where I know they are safe."

The Doctor sighed. "This is such a bad idea. Quauhtin War. Ashena here and a possible war there-"

"I'm sorry, but the safety of my family is the first thing on my mind. Then, we'll go to war. I have to talk to her."

"Talk?" He said in disbelief.

Tony bit his lip and poured himself another drink. "John, I'm having two more."

The Doctor gave Samuel another spoonful of ice cream. "I have never told someone 'no' who has asked me for help."

Tony coughed and grunted, "You starting now?"

The Doctor looked back at his friend and shook his head. "Not today. Let me talk to Rose."

Tony clapped his hands together in excitement. "Hell yeah-"

Samuel pointed at him, "No, Tony."

Tony stood in front of Samuel and looked at his dinosaur trousers. "What happened to you, man? A dinosaur try to eat you?"

Samuel babbled at top speed.

The Doctor translated. "His Mum ordered him a dinosaur costume and Genie read him a book. Where is Genie?"

Samuel babbled again.

The Doctor nodded. "Oh. At the school with Tony Tyler. Okay. Good. Hey, want to babysit tonight?"

Tony laughed, "Hell no! I don't do babysitting. Besides. If we're going for a while, I need to….tell Pepper bye."

He typed something in on his bracelet and popped away as he waved to baby Samuel.

Samuel laughed, "Tony! Go!"

The Doctor put the ice cream away and wiped Samuel's mouth off. "And look at that! No bath needed! Well done!"

"Di-saur. No bath."

He leaned onto the cabinet. "Oh, dinosaurs took baths. They liked to swim, too. Just like you."

Samuel babbled.

The Doctor grinned. "Yeah, the one with the long neck could go deep in the lakes and such. His head would hang out and he could breath. It was something."

"Daddy. Sam see di-saur?"

The Doctor smiled sadly. "Daddy would love to take you to see a dinosaur. I promise I will."

"No eat Sam."

The Doctor picked him up and kissed his face. "Nope! And Daddy won't feed you to a dinosaur. Your Uncle Tony, maybe."

Samuel hugged his Daddy's neck as they left the kitchen together.

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