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Chapter 16 - Dinner with an Old Friend

After a shower and a quick bite to eat, or pre-nibbles as the Doctor called it, they both got ready to meet Rose's friend for dinner. She had asked the Doctor to let her know who it was over and over, but he was determined it was a surprise. He shaved and put on his brown suit and blue shirt. He picked out Rose's dress which was a blue, spaghetti-strapped top with a skirt that flared out when she spun.

"Ah, perfect for dancing," he told her when she spun around for him.

She smiled and asked, "No tux?"

"No way! I'm determined to have a trouble-free night. Hopefully, a trouble-free cruise! The tux is bad luck. I figure as long as I can stay out of it. The better off we'll be. Oh! I want to run by the little shop real quick. I need to pick something up. Is that alright?"

"Sure!" she agreed.

Their bodyguards escorted them as they walked around the ship. They got to the little shop, and Rose was surprised to find that the Doctor went to pick out some books for small children.

"What do you need these for?" she asked him.

"It's a surprise." he grinned as took his index finger and bopped her on the end of the nose.

After he paid for the books, they went to dinner in the lavish dining room. He slipped the books into his bigger on the inside pockets. After they checked in with the hostess, she led them to a table in a private room. The Doctor took Rose's hand and leaned in to ask. "How do I look? Alright?"

She smiled at him. "You look very handsome. Who are we meeting?"

They were shown into the room to be greeted by an older lady, with short curly hair. She turned to greet them. "Rose, you precious thing! How are you?"

Rose looked surprised back at the Doctor, and laughed. She ran over and embraced her. "I had no idea you were on the ship!"

The older lady smiled and kissed Rose on the cheek. When they broke apart, she inquired, "Who's your gentleman, Rose?"

"We've not met. I'm Doctor Johnathon Smith. It is my extreme pleasure to meet you!" the Doctor beamed as he shook her hand.

"President Harriet Jones of the People's Republic of Great Britain."

"Yes, I know who you are." he replied with a smile.

As they exchanged greetings, the Doctor's phone rang. He looked down at it to see that it was Tony. He accepted the call and addressed the women standing around him. "Ladies, I'm so, so sorry. But, I have to take this phone call. Please excuse me, I'll be right back."

The Doctor stepped out of the room, followed by one of his bodyguards.

President Jones and Rose sat down next to one another, completely beaming. It was a small table, perfect for the three of them.

As it turned out, Harriet Jones had been a long-time friend of Pete's in this dimension. She hadn't been President when Rose had first come to this dimension but was still working in politics. When Rose was at her darkest, it was Harriet Jones who had marched into her bedroom one day, back at the mansion, and pulled her out of the bed. Harriet told her that it was "her choice to be miserable or not" and it was "time she rejoined the living."

The Doctor would have probably not agreed, but Rose had told Harriet everything. Harriet knew he was an alien. She knew that Rose and Jackie were from another dimension. She even had been told about the TARDIS.

Rose guessed she had told her everything then because she wanted her to think she was mad, and that would make Harriet leave her alone. Instead, Harriet had believed every word she had said and has become one of her closest friends. She had become something like a grandmother figure to Rose and insisted that Tony call her Nanna Jones. Harriet had always had her attention on her career and never married or had children of her own.

"Pete told me that you were on this cruise when I spoke to him this morning. I'm so pleased you could join me for dinner! Who's your gentleman friend? Is it the Doctor?" President Jones asked as a waiter poured them both wine.

"Yes, that's him." Rose told her, blushing.

"The Doctor? The one you told me so much about?" Harriet smiled. "Oh, Rose. I'm so, so happy for you." She told her as she took her hand. "He's even more handsome than his pictures!"

They both laughed. It was so wonderful for Rose to see Harriet. She had no idea how much she had missed her.

"Pete tried to explain to me that he isn't the same one and that there are now two?"

Rose smiled, "Yeah, it's rather complicated. He is mixed with human, and is mostly human now. I'm not even sure I understand it completely." she said as she laughed.

"But, he's here, and you are both happy. Right my darling?"

Rose looked at her and smiled. "Very happy."

Just then the Doctor re-entered the room. "I'm so incredibility sorry ladies. I had to take that."

"Is everything alright?" Harriet asked.

"Oh, yes ma'am...Madam President... I'm sorry, how do I address you?" the Doctor asked Harriet.

"You, Doctor, are welcomed to call me Harriet. I've known Pete for years and I'm perfectly delighted that you have finally found Rose and that you are so happy together." She smiled.

The Doctor looked confused at Rose.

Rose told him, "She knows everything. She's a close, personal friend of the family. You can speak freely around her."

The Doctor was shocked.

Pete was this well connected?

"Really?" he squeaked.

"Yes, Doctor. I only wish you had been able to bring your, what was it called Rose? The TARDIS. I'd love to have seen it." Harriet told him.

The Doctor was amazed. He smiled at both of the ladies as he sat down next to Rose at the table. "I wish I had it as well, ma'am." He thought of his growing TARDIS hidden in his bigger on the inside pockets.

He turned to Rose and smiled, "Rose Tyler, you are full of surprises you are!"

"Now, hang on. Pete told me you had a broken arm." Harriet inquired.

"Oh, I did!" the Doctor assured her. "It's all better now." He told her through a smile.

"Yeah, now Tony has a broken wrist!" Rose told her.

"What? How did he do that?" Harriet replied shocked.

"He was climbing a tree in the backyard and fell out." the Doctor explained. "It's a minor break. He probably won't have the cast but a couple of weeks."

"I should call him, tomorrow so he can tell Nanna Jones about it." Harriet told them. "My first thought was that something had happened that I hadn't heard about yet. Pete told me that your arm got broken during the kidnapping."

"Well, not really. But...well... close enough." the Doctor explained.

"Yes, nasty business. All of these kidnapping and assassination attempts. The United States has even been helping us try to get some information on the people responsible. I'm hoping that between the CIA, SS6, Torchwood and Mr. Simmons, we will have some answers for us all soon. There are a great many lives at stake here, not to mention several of my favorite people." Harriet told them as their salads arrived.

The Doctor couldn't hide his surprise. He hadn't even thought that Torchwood would have brought in outside help with the recent situation. He just figured they would be idiots and try to handle it themselves. But, with them going to the United States, of course, they would have to have made the security there aware of what was happening. That eased his mind more than anything had. With that many people working on it, it was just a matter of time before they were caught.

"I'm truly honored, ma'am-" the Doctor started.

"Harriet" she corrected him.

A smile broke across his face. "Alright. Harriet. I'm truly honored. Thank you for everything you are doing to help with this. Hopefully, we'll have some answers soon." he smiled as he looked back at Rose. Just seeing her look back at him made him tingle all over.

"Who was on the phone?" Rose smiled at him.

"Tony." the Doctor replied.

Harriet looked back up at them. "Oh, how is my little Tony? He is the cutest little thing. I love his red hair."

"He's wonderful." the Doctor told them both. "He called me earlier today and asked if I would help him learn how to read. I've been giving him lessons since then."

"Gosh! How old is he now? Three, right?" Harriet asked.

"He'll be four in two weeks," Rose told them both.

"Oh, he will be starting school soon then!" Harriet said. She turned to the Doctor and patted his hand. "I think it's precious that you are teaching him how to read. Although, I don't know how you are doing it over the phone."

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. "He's really clever. He already knows a lot. He just needs someone to help him put a few things together. That's all. I'm barely helping."

"Oh, I assure you it's not 'nothing' to Tony. That you are taking the time to help him is wonderful." she smiled.

Rose was so proud of her Doctor. "Their bond is adorable, Harriet. I can't wait for you to see them together. Tony calls the Doctor his 'big brother.' "

The Doctor smiled with embarrassment. "Yeah, he's a bit confused. But, it's alright."

"Reasonable confusion from a young boy. Have you two thought about getting married?"

The Doctor spit his wine back out on his glass and nearly choked.

"Sorry, I had to ask. Jackie would never forgive me if I didn't." Harriet smiled, clearing delighted in embarrassing the Doctor so badly.

He covered his mouth with a napkin as he coughed, and laughed at the same time. Rose patted him on the back and laughed.

"Damn that Jackie Tyler." the Doctor thought to himself.

"No, no, no." Rose assured her as she continued to pat her Time Lord on the back. "We've both been through a lot. We're trying to get to know one another. We only started dating...what? Last week?"

The Doctor coughed and nodded.

"Oh! Then yes. By all means. Way too soon. I apologize." Harriet told them.

The Doctor waved his hand as he gathered himself back together and drank some wine.

"What sort of Doctor are you?" Harriet asked the Doctor.

"A strangled one." He coughed again.

Rose rubbed his back.

Delighted the conversation was turning, the Doctor replied, "A little of every sort. Astrophysics mostly, but I am a medical Doctor as well. I dabble in a lot of stuff. I have to, in order to keep up with how clever Rose is."

Rose was taken aback. She'd never heard him sell himself short as if that was a short sale.

"Did you know that she has taught herself everything she knows about physics? And it's amazing her knowledge! It astounds me!" He looked back into Rose's surprised face. "It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves. She's an amazing creature." He looked into her eyes with such dreamy lust.

Harriet smiled at the two lovers. "Amazing, she is. Takes after her mother I think. And I know about the two Jackie Tylers. I prefer this one. She's so much more "down to earth." "

The Doctor said nothing. Rose was pleased he was behaving himself.

Their main course arrived. Each one had an assortment of lobster, scallops, and steak. There were also potatoes and some sort of green vegetable.

"Wow! Look at all of this!" the Doctor exclaimed.

They continued to chat about this and that while they ate. Rose told Harriet about Tony's new dog, Zeus. And Harriet told Rose all about plans while in Washington.

"Oh! We'll be in Washington as well!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Will you be at the State Dinner with us?"

"Yes!" she said.

"Dad has arranged for us to have a private tour of the Smithsonian Museum while we are there. You should join us!" Rose told her.

"He has?" the Doctor's eyes lit up. "I didn't know about this! Oh, that's wonderful!"

Harriet laughed at his expression. "I'm sorry. I bet you feel like you are completely out of the loop tonight, don't you?"

The Doctor laughed and told her, "A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool."

"Right." Harriet laughed with Rose.

"Let me check my schedule. All of my duties leave me little time for pleasure." she told them.

"Have you two done anything fun on the ship, yet?" Harriet asked them.

The Doctor blushed, but Rose ignored him.

"We found a candy store yesterday which he loved," she said as she pointed at the Doctor.

"Yeah, I need to go back there tomorrow, and get Tony some candy!" he told the ladies.

"Jackie will appreciate that." Harriet laughed.

"And, we're going dancing tonight." Rose continued.

"Dancing? Oh, that will be lovely fun!" Harriet told her.

"I often worry that my bodyguards must feel that I'm the dullest person on the planet. I enjoy nothing more than reading a good book and staying in. I think if I went out more, they would be able to get out more themselves."

"Interesting thought, Harriet." the Doctor interjected. "You know, I'll admit I really don't even know our bodyguards' name. Other than Shakes'. Why don't I know that? I should know that." he turned and looked at Rose.

Rose looked confused. "You don't know their names? How is that possible?"

"You do?" he asked.

"Well, yeah! They are all friends of Mickey's. He met them when he first came here." Rose told him.

"How is Mickey?" Harriet asked. "Did he return? I know he told me good-bye in case he had the chance."

"He did return to the Prime Dimension." the Doctor told her. "I wouldn't be surprised if Jack didn't recruit him for their version of Torchwood."

They chatted for a while longer about things through dessert. It was a lovely chocolate mousse.

Harriet told them. "Well, if you two are going to go off dancing, I better let you go. If you are available, join me for dinner again tomorrow. I'd love to have the wonderful company."

They all rose and thanked her. Rose hugged her as she told her, "Have a wonderful time my dear." The Doctor leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Have a great time, Doctor. See you tomorrow."

As they walked down the halls of the ship, flanked by their bodyguards, the Doctor took Rose's hand. She hugged his arm as they walked together. He leaned in to whisper to her. "I thought you two were just friends?"

"We are." she agreed.

"Nanna Jones?" he questioned.

Rose just smiled and shook her head as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, if that is what 'just friends' are in your book, I'm very good with just being 'your boyfriend.' " He told her.

She smiled and looked at him with her tongue in her teeth. "Has Time Lord engineering in the meaning doesn't it?" she whispered to him as they walked down the hall.

He smiled, but looked confused, "What do you mean?"

"A meaning that is even bigger than you imagined."

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They walked for a while, taking a lift and a staircase or two before they arrived in a huge ballroom. They heard the beat from the music before they got there. The ballroom was very dim but was lit with small white and blue lights. The effect was lovely. It made the ceiling look like the night sky. There were about one hundred people there, dancing to DJ. They were playing a slow song.

The Doctor turned to Shakes. "Is this alright?"

"Yes, sir. Don't worry about anything. Go have a good time." he told them.

He took Rose by the hand. "Ugh, dancing. The things I do for you, Rose Tyler. "

"Nope!" she told him, popping the 'p.'

He was confused. "What? What's wrong?"

She put her hands on her hips. "I'm not dancing with you like that. You've not even asked me yet."

He laughed as he crossed his arms. "You're right. I'm sorry. Rose Tyler, may I have this dance?"

She smiled like a loon, which just made him smile. "Sure!"

He took her hand and led her out to the dance floor. Just as he pulled her in close to him, he realized that it was the middle of a song playing. He recognized it as John Mayer's 'Dreaming with a Broken Heart.'

He lay his head on her shoulder. "It would be this song. The universe is being cruel to me tonight, Rose Tyler."

"What is this song?" she asked him.

He had started dancing with her. "A song I used to listen to a lot after you left."

After Rose listened to the lyrics, "Gosh, during daily Doctor torture time? Did you write these lyrics?"

He pulled his head back and looked her in the eyes. "I could have, right?"

She pulled him back in close. "I'm here now. Not going anywhere."

Just then, the DJ faded into a new song. It was Elvis singing 'A Little Less Conversation.' But, not how Rose had ever heard it before. It was the modern remix that JXL had done. The Doctor had already picked up his tempo and was smiling like a loon. "Oh, I love this version! Have you heard this one before, Rose?" He took her hand and spun her around and started doing the jitterbug.

The Doctor could do the jitterbug?! Rose just started laughing hysterically at her surprise. He grabbed her hands and before she knew it, he was spinning her all over the place. She made a mental note to smack him for all of the years he told her he couldn't dance and lead her to believe it was true.

Rose had a blast getting spun around in every direction by the Doctor. Everyone else dancing stopped to watch them. Normally, the Doctor would have been way too shy to dance in front of everyone, but especially a dance like this. Maybe, he had one too many glasses of wine at dinner.

They danced for hours together. Rose couldn't remember ever having a better time. They both laughed so hard at one another that their faces hurt.

They returned to their suite that night, exhausted.

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Rose woke up to find herself alone in the bed. It was dark in the bedroom. She rolled over to check the time on her phone. It was 3:45 am. Where was her Doctor? She calmly climbed out of bed, put on her dressing gown, and walked into the sitting room. She looked around and saw a figure sitting on their private promenade deck.

The Doctor's back was turned towards her. He was sitting in a chair facing the ocean. The full moon lit up the deck brighter than she would have imagined. In that moment, she could see all 900 years of age on his shoulders. Even though she couldn't see his face, she could see he was deep in thought about something. She walked over to the dining table that was behind him, and saw sheets of paper with circular symbols all over them. She remembered seeing that writing all over the TARDIS. She wondered how anyone could ever draw such perfect circles without a compass. On one sheet of paper was written 'Tony', 'dog' and 'toothbrush'. She figured that something to do with Tony's reading lessons. She also saw a small drawing in one corner of the page of a woman who looked like her. Actually, it looked a lot like her! The Doctor could draw? She never knew that.

She walked around to the side of him.

"Oh, hey!" he told her as soon as he realized she was there.

"Are you alright?" she asked him as she sat down in his lap.

He wrapped his arms around her.

"Oh, Rose. I'm always alright," he told her as he smiled.

"No, you aren't. In fact, I'm beginning to hear that as the opposite of alright now when you say it."

He rubbed her hand in his. He didn't meet her gaze. "Yeah, I suppose you know me too well for that to ever work again, huh?"

"What's the matter?"

"I just had a nightmare. Dreams... I've not had in years. Centuries. It reminded me of some stuff that happened that I had forgotten. Wish I could forget again."

"I'm sorry. "

She stroked his face with her hand. She could feel his extreme sadness, heartbreak, and disappointment with himself.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she whispered to him.

He was quiet for a while. "Just holding you is very soothing." He kissed her lightly. "Listening to the ocean is soothing, too. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this. Just sitting still and listening to the waves crash against the ship."

She rose her eyebrow at him, "Have you ever sat still long enough to listen to the ocean? Doesn't sound like you."

He rubbed his face in embarrassment. "I'm sure I did it at some point in my life."

She made herself comfortable against him. "It's funny. You look at the ocean, and I look at the stars. I suppose the stars remind you of too many things, though. Right?" she quietly asked him.

"I suppose. Like over there," he pointed to the sky, "is where Jack got me drunk as hell off that stuff that makes your urine glow in the dark for about a month."

Rose laughed at him. "He did not!"

The Doctor was laughing now, "Oh, yes he did. The local people thought I could tell the future by taking a wee on the ground. Ugh. That guy!" He rolled his neck back in frustration and closed his eyes. Rose continued to smile. She wondered briefly what Jack was up to at the moment.

The Doctor was listening to the waves again.

"I've not asked you. Is your head okay?" Rose asked him quietly. "Like really alright. Not your version of alright."

He smiled without opening his eyes. "Oh, that's going to become a thing now. I can see it."

Then realizing what he had asked her, "What? My head? What's wrong with my head?" he asked confused as he opened his eyes to look at her.

"When you first came here, your head had hurt you so badly because you were cut off from the TARDIS and ..."

"Ohh..." he figured out what she was talking about. He lay his head on the back of the chair and closed his eyes again. He held her tighter in his lap.

"I've managed to fill it up with enough of my thoughts to knock about in there, that it's kept the emptiness quieter. Being able to connect with you has helped more than you'll ever know. I'm sure I'd already lost my mind without that." He opened his eyes and looked at her seriously. "And that's really losing my mind, not just saying it. I'm sure I'd properly be mad by now."

She leaned down and kissed him.

They sat there together listening to the sea. "This is nice." Rose told him quietly.

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A few hours later, Rose woke up. Her and the Doctor were back in bed. The sun still hadn't come up, yet. She had been lying on the Doctor's chest. It was clear to her that he was having another nightmare. He was sweating and gritting his teeth. It was awful to see him that way. She lay her hands on his forehead. She could tell his shields were down enough that she could telepathically tell him, 'It's Rose. I'm here. You're safe. You're having a nightmare. Come back to me.'

He never woke up, but he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace and rolled onto his side. He wrapped his leg on hers.

"Rose," he whispered in his sleep.

"I'm here. I've got you. Just sleep my Doctor."

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