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Chapter 9 - A Big Shock

As they were saying good-bye to Howie, he gave the Doctor a case of the damn whiskey. He laughed at his friend when he told him he'd bring him some more the next time he saw him.

"I imagine you probably will need it in the days to come." he laughed as he slapped him on the back. "I can never repay you for your help with Jacob. Anything you ever need, you only have to ask."

The Doctor smiled at him. "Thank you, Howie."

Pete and Jackie acted like nothing was wrong at all. If Pete hadn't told the Doctor of the problems they were having, he would have never known. He hadn't mentioned anything to Rose, and didn't think he would. She didn't need that worry on top of everything else.

Tony, Jacob and Genie insisted on having Shakes take everyone's picture together before they all left.

"We're only missing Nanna Jones!" Genie realized.

"Nanna Jones." the Doctor laughed as he rolled his eyes. President Harriet Jones had given Genie a doll before she left the day before. Genie was holding it in her arms.

Everyone exchanged hugs and kisses. The Doctor even allowed Jackie to hug him quickly.

As they got into the limo, Pete hung his face in the door. "See you tomorrow. Have a safe trip."

They left the White House in the same limo that had brought them there from New York a few days before. Genie had never rode in a limo before and was very excited.

"Next stop, the Bullet! Are you excited, Genie?" Rose asked her.

"Yes!" she said as she smiled.

"Oh, I am, too. I can't wait for this! The Transatlantic Tunnel! Traveling faster than SR-71 Blackbird. Did you know that they only built 32 of those the entire time they were used?"

Genie looked back at the Doctor. "Daddy. Birds are born. Not built."

He laughed as he rolled his eyes at her, "Different sort of bird, Genie."

Rose smiled at the two of them. "I have to say, I'm worried about you."

The Doctor snapped his head back to look at Rose who sat beside of him. She held onto his arm. "Me? Why?"

"Howie giving you all of that damn whiskey. I'm worried about your liver." Rose teased him.

He shook his head and smiled. "Oh, don't worry about me, Rose. I know my limits." He leaned over and bopped her on the nose with his index finger. He whispered, "Besides. I have two."

Rose laughed in surprise. "Do you really?"

He bit his bottom lip and nodded his head. "Sure do! Less impressive than other things, but yes. It's true."

The Doctor's phone rang. It was Jake.

"Jakey-boy! We're on our way to the Bullet. What's new?"

Jake asked, "Have you still been sending threats? Torchwood has a lot here. More than before."

The Doctor looked at Rose and rubbed his head. "Yeah, but only maybe three or four a day. How many are we talking about?"

Jake spoke, "Ah, don't worry so much about it. We'll go over them tomorrow when you get back. We also received a video from the HPA tonight."

"Does Pete know?"

"Yeah, he told me to call you to let you know we'll review everything tomorrow while you are at Torchwood."

"Right. Thanks, Jake."

He ended the call.

"Ugh. Back to reality." he complained.

Rose could feel his tension. "Everything alright?"

He patted her thigh. "That word. Yeah. Everything is fine. Nothing to worry about."

He shouted up to Lewis, who was driving the limo. "Lewis! How long until we get there?"

"About 30 minutes." Lewis called back.

The Doctor raised up and poured him and Rose a glass of wine. He looked around in the small fridge and found a container of apple juice for Genie.

He sat back and drank his wine. Genie smiled at him. "Daddy, tell us a story."

He chuckled, the tension fading at the little girl's smile. "A story. Well, there is a story I told Rose I wanted to tell her, back at the State Dinner about a Harvey Wallbanger."

Rose smiled at him as he handed her a glass of wine. "That's true. What was that about?"

"Well, once upon a time," he began dramatically to make Genie laugh, "there was this man named Spartacus who was traveling with a loud, ginger woman named Donna."

Rose shook her head as she laughed. "I really doubt his name was Spartacus."

He looked at her seriously and said, "Yeah, but the thing is, you don't know what his name is. It could bloody well be!"

Rose rolled her eyes and laughed at him as she drank her wine.

He smiled at her. "Spartacus was trying to find, a murderer." he continued dramatically causing Genie to laugh at him. "Agatha Christie was there and she was helping him, but it was a hard one to crack. It was just like one of her brilliant books."

Rose looked surprised. "Are you for real? Seriously?"

"Oh yes! They were all three sitting in a room going over the evidence. Spartacus was so excited to be around Agatha Christie that he probably more animated that he normally was."

"He had just fell back to Earth, huh?" Rose teased him.

He looked over at her and laughed under his breath. "Oh yeah. I'm pretty sure that was it."

She shook her head at him. "He is ridiculous."

"Someone else thought so too, because they poisoned him!" he said dramatically.

Genie gasped. "What happened?"

Rose stopped laughing and looked at him seriously. "My god. Really?"

He nodded his head. "Yes, for real. It wasn't the first time it had happened. He ran to the kitchens there at the estate. See, he could do this... ummm... thing... where he could detox himself. He hadn't done it in years, but now he found he absolutely had to in order to save himself. He grabbed some ginger beer, drank it quickly and poured it all over his head. The people that worked in the kitchens probably thought he was a nutter."

"Oh, I'm sure!" Rose laughed.

"He was barely hanging on and yelled for Donna to bring him something that had a lot protein in it. She was brilliant, and found some walnuts. He poured his mouth full of them so he wasn't able to tell Donna and Agatha what he needed next. But, he had to do it fast! If he didn't, he would die! So, he started shaking his hand to tell them he needed something salty. Donna was the worst at charades and asked if he wanted her to make him a Harvey Wallbanger!"

Rose laughed at him. "That's the deal with a Harvey Wallbanger!"

He laughed at her. "Yes! He couldn't believe that was her guess! I mean, everyone in the universe knows that shaking motion means salt. But, thankfully Agatha got him something salty. I think it was anchovies, I don't remember. And then he needed a big shock to complete the process."

Genie held her doll and asked. "What did she do to shock him?"

"Well, what would you do to shock someone?"

Genie shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know."

He looked at Rose and asked. "What do you think she did?"

Rose smiled and thought. "She probably hit him, knowing Donna."

"No, that wouldn't have shocked him. She did that all the time. She was a violent woman."

Genie asked, "What did she do?"

He smiled, wondering what Rose would think about this, "She kissed him. Full on the mouth."

Rose looked shocked and whispered, "Tongue?"

"Oh, yes!" he told her.

Rose just looked at him. He laughed and pointed at her. "See. It shocked you, too."

Genie laughed. "That was a good one!"

"I don't believe you." Rose laughed under her breath.

He laughed as he drank the rest of his wine.

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