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Chapter 30 - Chapter 30 - Numbers

The adult Tony Tyler looked at a panel he worked on, inside of Tony Stark's new ship, inside of the Doctor's hanger. He lay back and the sound of him attaching something could be heard.

Pete walked up the gang plank and knelt down next to him. "Hey."

Tony didn't look up. "Hey Dad. Hand me those pliers just there."

Pete looked in a toolbox and got the pliers. He handed them to his son. "These?"

"Yep! Cheers." Tony told him as he continued his work.

"Ummm. We're back, and I wanted to come speak to you."

He climbed out of the panel and leaned against the wall. "Mum send you?"

"No. Well, yes." Pete laughed.

Tony shook his head and lay back in the panel. "I'm not coming home. It's….not really home, Dad."

Pete knelt down and sighed. "It is your home. And if you want to come, you are welcome."

"And how would that even work? Two of me in the same place?"

Pete considered, "Well, there would certainly be a lot of swearing."

Tony Tyler laughed, "Oh hell, I didn't swear when I was a kid-"

"You forget how much you swore as a kid. Lance has finally given up on stopping you."

Tony spoke in a deep voice to imitate Lance. "Don't swear in front of the ladies."

Pete laughed under his breath. "Yeah."

Tony continued to work.

Pete sighed, "Where will you go?"

Tony climbed back out of the panel and faced his Dad. "Genie offered me a place. There at the school. Arles needs a flat mate since Sammy and Karen are together."

Pete nodded. "Well, that would be alright."

"I believe she has it on her mind to rope me into a teaching position."

Pete grinned, "I can't imagine you teaching."

"That's what Sammy said. He says I swear too much."

Pete laughed. "That's what I think."

Tony chuckled. "Dad. I'll be around."

"It's just….I feel like I need to help you."

"Why?"

"Because, you're my son and-"

"Dad. I appreciate it. I really do. But, I'm really alright."

Pete nodded. "Okay. Are you feeling alright?"

"John told you?"

"No, you did. Son, no one goes through all of this stuff without a mark on them. You're planning on staying, even after you recover, right?"

Tony bit his lip. "Dad. I have to finish this."

"Tell me what there is to finish."

"Ugh. Dad! They might be going to war. I need to be-"

Pete pointed at him. "You do not need to be at the front of that! That's who gets shot at first!"

"You'd have any of the Quauthin up there-"

"None of them are you!"

Tony sat back and groaned. "Dad, you don't understand-"

"No, I don't think you do. You came back to save me and your mum. And are running, as fast as you can, into danger. What if you hadn't made it back from the Vesuos?"

Tony closed his eyes and sighed. "Dad. Believe me, I've thought about that."

Pete stood up and put his hands on his hips. "Listen. It's not my intentions to come in here and make demands. I realize you are an adult and are really going to do what you want anyway."

Tony stood up. "But?"

Pete crossed his arms. "Could you, just….give us some time with you? Is that too much to ask?"

Tony looked at the floor of the ship. "It's not."

"Good! Sunday dinner, tomorrow. See you there!" Pete turned and walked out of the ship before Tony could object.

"Damn it, Dad! You planned that entire thing!"

"Yes, I did!" Pete laughed hysterically as he walked down the gang plank.

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The Doctor sat at the bar of his island kitchen, sipping a cup of tea and looking over a notebook. It was night and the cool breeze from the ocean blew in through the open windows.

Jake sat next to him and Lance stood on the other side of the bar. He pointed at the paper.

"So, this is the schedule. As you can see, we either need to bring in a minimum of eight agents to cover everyone, or…."

He turned the page. "Put everyone on a 12 hour rotation, with four agents. Or….and this is my recommendation…put a Quauhtin in charge of each location. One here."

The Doctor nodded and adjusted his glasses on his nose. "Me. Or Lewis."

"Right, Stark's is me. But, Exton lives with him, so I think he's the better choice for that. He also needs experience with that to help him with his next promotion."

He Doctor nodded. "Agreed."

"The school is Legate." Lance continued, "Howard's is Aemilius and Harriet Jones has Bassanio. We can put recruits with them. Like Arcite with Stark."

The Doctor sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, that still spreads everyone too thin."

Lance nodded. "I agree."

Jake pointed at the paper. "What if, we took Quauhtin off of the Shepherds and Harriet? They both have their own security. That would lighten the load."

The Doctor nodded and looked at the paper. "That would work, and make Howie very happy. Howie says Quauhtin creep him out."

Lance grinned. "I want that assignment just so I can jump out at him. Once."

The Doctor smiled. "You'd give that man a heart attack. No."

Lance grinned and took a drink from the bottle of beer he held.

Jake pointed at the notebook. "Okay. Let me see what we're talking about here. Less agents?"

"Less Quauhtin. If Lartius needs these guys, we need to be able to send them."

"I don't want a planet full of recruits." The Doctor began.

"No. I agree. But, we could use some more recruits and it would help everyone with their promotions. That's where we need to be thinking. We've gotten away from that, and it's very important."

The Doctor nodded. "Well, without Lewis…there are: me, you, Mortimer, Talbot, Adriano, Bassanio, Aemilius-"

"And he's with the Tylers. Aemilius." Lance pointed out.

"Right. And Varro, Legate, Exton and Arcite and Chiron. Wow. Is that really it? Where is everyone?"

Lance nodded. "Lewis is with Luce, of course. Gobbo is overseeing that space station construction…."

The Doctor nodded, "Yeah. He'll probably be recalled to the homeworld afterwards. Poltious is with Lewis, but he's not going to stay one he returns here. Well, I don't think he's planning on it."

Jake looked over the notes. "Twelve Quauthin to protect…."

Lance pointed at the paperwork, "Eighteen people. Fourteen without the Shepherds, or Harriet Jones."

The Doctor shook his head. "That can't be right."

Lance counted on his hands, "You, Rose, Genie, Sam, Pete, Jackie, Tony, Tony, Tony…"

The Doctor laughed.

Lance smiled and continued. "And Pepper, Soli, Genie again, Samuel again, Arles again, Baby Arles, Jane…and, I'm forgetting someone."

"Karen." The Doctor told him. "And that's sixteen. Don't count me."

Lance nodded, "Right, Karen."

The Doctor groaned, "Damn. This is my fault. With everyone coming and going, and us losing those other two guys, I didn't realize how thin the Guard had become. Good work spotting this, Lance."

Lance sipped his beer and shook his head. "It was really Jane. I can't take credit for this."

"We could make Jane a Quauhtin." Jake suggested.

The Doctor grinned, "It's been discussed."

Lance rolled his eyes. "She would be the Primus over all of us within months."

The Doctor laughed under his breath and looked at the paper again. "Damn. Twelve on sixteen. How the hell have we been doing this for so long?"

Jake pointed at the paper. "More agents might be the answer."

"I don't want to take any more resources away from Torchwood. If people are here on the island, they are safe."

"Too bad we can't use that other island for something." Lance suggested.

"Like what?" Jake asked.

"Moving the school there!" The Doctor realized. "Oh! That would work. That is as safe as here. Has a dome, no one knows it's there."

"It's just sitting there. Unused." Lance nodded.

"Oh, but….everyone has made such a huge deal of that school being in New York." Jake groaned.

"So?" The Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "The property is there, but that could just be a front for the press. I think the other island is the way to go about this. We can transport that house out of there, put the school there, add some of the things we have here. Oh, that's BRILLIANT! Genie will love it!"

"Daddy!" Little Genie sang as she skipped into the room wearing her purple pajamas with her Goofy doll in her hand.

The Doctor spun around and clapped his hands together. "My Sara Gene! Come here."

She giggled as he picked her up and sat her on the bar in front of him. "Oh, you're nearly too big to sit up here. Are you growing again?"

She covered her mouth and laughed.

Lance leaned over and kissed her head. "Hello, sweet Genie."

Jake smiled at her. "Hello, Genie."

"What are you doing?" Genie asked and shrugged her shoulders.

"Working." The Doctor told her.

"That's what Mummy said. Can you tell me a story before I go to sleep?"

The Doctor smiled at her. "Of course. We're nearly finished. Go on upstairs and see if Mum needs help with Samuel. I'll be there in a bit."

She smiled and held her arms out. The Doctor hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek.

He helped her back to the floor. She waved to Lance and Jake. "Good night!"

They both wished her good night and she skipped back out of the room.

The Doctor took the Goofy doll she had left on the bar. "And he's lost again."

Lance laughed. "How many of those do we have?"

"I don't even know. Rose ordered some more. It may be in the twenties, now."

Jake laughed under his breath. "Well, have a think about this John, and just tell me what you want to do. You're still a Torchwood Director and-"

"I am not!" He insisted.

Jake stood up and smiled. "Yes, you are. Pete will accept that resignation before I will."

The Doctor groaned and looked back at Lance. "Don't ever work for Torchwood, mate."

Lance laughed, "The job you can never leave."

The Doctor nodded. "Exactly. I'll chat with Genie about moving the school to the island."

Jake smiled and tapped something on his wrist. "Alright. Good meeting, gentlemen."

He popped away.

The Doctor's attention turned back to Lance. "This is very interesting, Lance. Why did Jane get involved in this?"

Lance shook his head. "She wanted to be helpful. We sat down, looked over the numbers, and it just became oblivious."

He looked back at the notebook. "And I'm curious how many of this twelve were involved in that bar fight?"

Lance sipped his beer and looked back up at the Doctor. "You know about that?"

"Don't think you can ever keep anything from me. I know everything. Even that my sons are ridiculous potheads."

Lance laughed. "I know nothing about that."

"Yep." The Doctor sighed. "I have no idea what I'm going to do about that. They think they have gotten away with it for the moment."

Lance laughed, "Well, anyway."

The Doctor sat the notebook down. "Talk to me about you and Jane."

Lance rose his eyebrow. "What about me and Jane?"

"You two, with your relationship…."

"Is that allowed? I know Summus has rules against it."

"I'm fine with it. I just want to make sure you know what that involves."

Lance sat his beer down and crossed his arms. "What is on your mind? You wouldn't have brought this up normally."

"Look. It's completely your business. I'm not getting into that. I want, all of you guys, to have your own lives and if a relationship comes from it, brilliant."

Lance narrowed his eyes. "Have you been speaking to Lewis about me?"

"He says you wanted to leave the Guard before the invasion. You aren't interested in entering the Trials. Be straight with me. Is leaving still something you are thinking about?"

Lance sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "It's been on my mind."

The Doctor nodded. "Well, I can't say I blame you. What, with Jane-"

"What about Jane?"

"She's human-"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

The Doctor sat back and looked at his friend.

"She's fine with me being something else."

The Doctor pointed at him, "That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about her life expectancy."

Lance looked surprised, "We've never talked about that. How long do humans live? Pete's at least….300?"

The Doctor shook his head sadly. "No, he's not. Humans don't live but...maybe 100 years? At the most."

"Nah. You're misinformed-"

"I'm not."

Lance head out his hand. "You're telling me, that Jane will only live to age 100?"

"Most never make it that long. It's a rarity."

Lance covered his mouth and looked like he had been punched in the gut. He sighed. "I didn't know that. Thank you for telling me, John."

The Doctor looked sympathetically at his friend. "I'm so sorry, Lance."

Lance fought back tears. "I can't believe this. Are you sure? This wasn't in the briefing of Terra."

"It should be. In fact, Lartius didn't even know this. I'm going to work through all of those briefings. The ones I have read, are really lacking in information."

Lance shook his head in disbelief. "I had no idea."

"I don't want to discourage a relationship-"

"No. I know. I get it." Lance sighed. "I really need to do some thinking."

The Doctor sipped the rest of his tea. "There is another option."

Lance looked back at him. "What's that?"

"You could put your status as a Quauhtin, on hold. You stay where you are. Enjoy the few years you will have with her. And pick it back up again."

Lance sighed and crossed his arms. "She would never agree to that. Gosh, only 100 years?"

The Doctor stood up, "Talk to Jane about this. I'll support anything you want to do."

"Phhh….we're already spread so damn thin. Eleven on sixteen? John, those are terrible numbers."

"If I can get the school moved to the island, it will be on eleven on eleven. Legate would remain there, but Samuel, Arles and Tony Tyler have all had training enough to spot talent and train them, too. They could be on their own, without a Quauthin, if we needed Legate for something."

Lance nodded. "Okay."

"Lance. I'm so sorry."

Lance shook his head. "Thank you. I'm going to go home. Jane was cooking when I left."

The Doctor smiled, "What is she cooking?"

"I have no idea." Lance laughed under his breath. "Made my eyes burn. I told her it was some sort of, bomb that I was going to sell to Stark."

The Doctor laughed. "Have a chat with her. And let me know."

Lance nodded. "Right."

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