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Chapter 27

Two years in the future…..

Arles stood in the hallway of the med bay with his arms crossed. Rocking his back on the wall, he pushed his weight onto his feet, and then he leaned against the wall again. He closed his eyes and sighed.

He had helped his Dad, the Doctor, bring Soli to the Doctor's ship that currently sat just below the southern axis of the Earth. Soli was such a large man, that Arles had just insisted on carrying him over his shoulder. He knew that if the Doctor had attempted it, he would have most likely thrown his back out. And then he would have heard it from Rose for letting him do it.

Although, since the divorce, he wasn't completely certain of that.

He groaned and rubbed his face just as he heard footsteps coming down the hall towards him. He crossed his arms and smiled at him. "Record time, Tony."

Tony Stark wore a tux. Clearly he had been at some posh party when Arles had rung him. "What's wrong with Soli?"

"Sol is fine. He's at home."

Tony was confused and pointed at the examination door. "Then who does "Doctor Do No Wrong" have in there?"

It was clear they were still not on good terms.

"It's an older version of Soli. He just popped back and passed out."

"Passed out?"

"Yes. Dad's running some tests on him."

"Was Sam with him?"

"No, he was alone."

Tony thought and then looked up at Soli. "Well, that doesn't mean-"

Arles smiled. "I know. Thanks, Tony."

Tony reached to grab the doorknob and stopped to look at Arles. "Does he know you called me?"

"No."

Tony winked and opened the door. "Thanks, kid."

Arles mumbled. "You're welcome."

As soon as Tony stepped into the room, the Doctor looked up at him, "Tony! How did you -?"

Arles stepped in the door and the Doctor stopped talking. "Oh."

Tony quickly stepped over to the bed to look at the unconscious man who lay in it. He resembled the child Soli so much that it made Tony's heart nearly stop. He took his hand. "Pada is here, buddy. John's fixing you right up. You just rest."

The Doctor's attention was on the readings the screens around the room displayed. He smiled, "That helped. Thanks, Tony."

"What's wrong with him?"

The Doctor took a deep breath. "He is wearing a life support system that he shorted out. Thankfully it had a copy code on it, so it's working again now. It was pushing the air that he breathes into his lungs, but I'm not sure of what mixture. The computer is running some numbers."

Tony nodded and didn't take his eyes off of Soli.

The Doctor pointed at Arles. "Go to the Control Room and double-check the orbit settings."

Arles groaned. "You can just tell me to beat it-"

"Beat it." Tony growled.

Arles closed the door behind himself.

Tony looked up at his friend. "Rose was there tonight. Do you two have a new deal where you have stopped coming to shit together, or are you just avoiding me?"

"How did she look?" The Doctor asked still looking at some readings on the monitor.

"She looked good. Happy."

He didn't take his eyes off of the monitors on the wall. "Yeah, I know about this Danny."

"Danny Morgan, Sexiest Man on Earth," Tony said slowly. "Holy shit. How the hell did she snag him? Even I have asked Pepper for a hall pass on that one, myself."

The Doctor groaned.

"But, we'll talk about that later."

The Doctor mumbled, "Thanks."

Tony looked closer at the adult Soli who had a familiar tube providing a mixture of air to his lungs. A dark blue blanket covered his form. His dark curly hair still was styled the way it was as a child. The way Tony's hair had been styled when he found him.

The Doctor typed in some numbers on the wall and some graphs refreshed. He seemed satisfied. "The computer finished its numbers and is giving him the right mixture now."

"He has a scar. Right there." He pointed at the side of Soli's head.

The Doctor couldn't believe that he had missed it. It seemed to disappear down the side of his head to just behind his ear. He looked at it closer and rose his eyebrows. He was clearly impressed. "Blaster fire. He must be a lot older than he looks."

"How old?"

"Hundreds of years." He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. He would have had to have traveled really far off to have been around one. Well, he could have reasonability popped into the future, too…well…..then popped back….well….well..."

Tony grinned, "I've missed you, John. What happened with you and Rose?"

The Doctor groaned and tossed an instrument into a drawer. "It's complicated."

"Most break-ups are."

"How well do you know this Danny?"

Tony shook his head. "Not really. Well. Yeah. I know him. Why wouldn't I think I know him? I've known him for a while." He looked up at the Doctor, "Now what is this shit?"

"You remember it both ways." The Doctor explained.

"Remember what?"

"How did Rose meet Danny?"

"Beats me. They've only just….well, how is that even possible? You two have been married for…oh, that's confusing."

The Doctor explained. "You're at the epicenter. That's the reason you remember it both ways."

"That's weird," Tony said in a matter of factly way. Then he met the Doctor's eyes with his own. "Really weird."

"How's Pepper?"

"Fine. She was dancing with Rhodey when I left the party." Then he stopped and thought, "But, she was-"

Tony stopped speaking at looked up at the Doctor.

"Weird?" the Doctor asked.

"Ah. I'm coping." Tony excused. "So, he must have taken Samuel and Lewis into the past."

"Yep." The Doctor popped. "And now…"

He sighed, "Soli is back to get Arles and Karen."

The Doctor sighed, "And my Halley. Yes."

Tony shook his head. "I'm sorry, man."

"We'll catch back up to them, but it's just this part."

"Yeah." Tony nodded. "But,…"

"Yeah, they have to go back. It's where they are meant to be."

Tony nodded. "Well, that's some good news."

"How's that?"

Tony smiled, "Soli has to take them back. No one else could power that Time Jumper I made plans for."

"And do you now see why Time Travel is so dangerous?"

"You are not the Lord of Time."

The Doctor didn't reply and just held out his hands in protest.

"Sorry." Tony said, "Bad start."

"No, look. It's done now." The Doctor sighed and put his hands on his hips. "Seriously, mate. I don't want to talk about it."

Tony closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "John-"

The Doctor had already opened the door, "I'll keep an eye on his vitals from out here. He just has to wake up, and I have no idea when that will be."

"I'll stay here with him." Tony said.

The Doctor started out the door again when Tony spoke. "John."

He stopped and didn't turn around.

"John, I am so very sorry. And I know there is nothing I can do that will ever fix this. You have to agree it's not something I would have ever imagined happening."

"You're only human." The Doctor smiled.

Tony pointed at him and then decided not to tell him off. "You know what. I deserve that. Worse than that." He took Arles' hand again. After a bit, Tony found his words. "Truly, John. I know I can never-"

The Doctor swallowed hard and nodded, "I know."

"I can destroy the plans for it-"

"No. We're in too deep now." The Doctor told him. "It's already done."

"This is this weird Time Lord thing you're doing now, isn't it?"

The Doctor smiled back at his friend. "Yeah. Might as well. I'm the only one who can."

John's words were like daggers.

Tony could only accept the reality of what had happened. All because of that "great idea" of his.

Tony heard the door close as he stood with his eyes closed, thinking about how much of what had happened in the parallel stream of memories that were flooding through his head.

"Damn, this is so weird."

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Rhodey's number.

Rhodey answered, "Hey man. Where did you go?"

"I'm up here with John." Tony rubbed his forehead. "Soli is up here."

"Is he alright?"

Soli took a deep breath and relaxed.

Tony grinned at him and squeezed his hand, "Yeah, I think so."

"Oh, do you want me to bring Pepper then?"

"Yeah." Tony smiled as he saw Soli's eyes begin to open. "She'll want to see him."

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