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Chapter 14 - Torchwood Office

Shakes knocked on the door. Rose gathered her robe around herself and answered it. Shakes stepped in. "Good morning. Is the Doctor ready to go?"

"On my way!" the Doctor shouted as he walked down the hall. He was wearing his black three-piece suit with a blue tie and blue trainers. He had gelled his hair and it was sticking up just like he liked it.

"Alright. I'll be just outside." Shakes said as he stepped out.

"Wow, Daddy. You look handsome!" Genie told him.

"Well, thank you little one. I have to try more than you two lovely ladies." he laughed at them.

Rose's brain had shorted out. He was stunning.

Genie ran up to him and he picked her up. "Listen, I've got to go to some meetings. I'm going to help some people, alright? You have an entire room of new toys that need to be played with. Help our Rose try to get some rest because I want to take her out to celebrate something special tonight. This afternoon, Rose is going to take you to Gran's. Tony misses you and wants you to come see his house. So, I'll see you tomorrow morning. Would that be okay?"

Genie smiled and started to dance in his arms. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

He kissed her quickly and sat her down. "If you need me, just have Gran ring me. I'll be right there."

She called, "Okay, Daddy!" as she ran down the hall to her room.

Rose walked over to the Doctor and wrapped her arms around him. "Trainers with that suit. Really?"

He held her and smiled like a loon. "You like my trainers and this suit. You try to get some rest if you can today. Genie has a million new toys to play with. We have a big night of celebrating to do."

"Still not telling me what we are celebrating?" Rose asked him.

"No. And Jackie won't tell you either. I made her swear. She thinks it's hilarious you can't figure it out."

"Mum is in on this?" Rose exclaimed.

"Oh yes! And I have to say I'm enjoying it so much." he laughed at her. "Jackie is my comrade."

"Is there any way you will tell me?" Rose asked him.

"Yes! Let me read that paper." he teased her.

She tossed her hands in the air. "You are impossible. No!"

He let go of her and laughed. "Alright, woman. You had your chance. You just have to be surprised then. I'll see you tonight."

He kissed her. What was going to be a quick kiss turned into a long snog. He leaned back and laughed at Rose's dazed look on her face.

"I know, me too. You are a mean woman sending me off like this." he gritted his teeth.

Rose laughed at him. "Glad to know I'm not alone."

"Be careful today. I love you." he told her as he walked away rubbing his head. He put a lollipop in his mouth.

He mumbled as he walked out of the door."Oh the gods! A mean woman who's a great kisser. What have I gotten myself into?"

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The meeting with J.K. Rowling went great. Pete's friend, who worked in publishing, met with them as well. Michelle had arranged it. By the end of the meeting, the Doctor had convinced him to publish all seven books in the series. The publisher was as excited as J.K. Rowling was. She insisted on sharing the profits, if they made any money on her story, with him. He walked away from the table with 25% of the gross profits. He didn't care. He was just excited he could finally read the stories again. He smiled all the way to Torchwood.

Jake met him in the lobby. He still had his arm in a sling. Jake walked the Doctor up to his office since he had no idea where it even was. The doorplate said the office belonged to "Albert Crowe."

"Who's Albert Crowe?" he asked Jake.

"Your alias." Jake told him. We figured this would help a bit.

"Clever." he agreed. He opened the door and a woman with long, brown hair stood up that sat at a desk. Picture of six boys holding a football was in a frame behind her.

"Michelle. Meet Doctor Johnathon Smith." Jake introduced them.

The Doctor held out his hand. He felt immediately how motherly, strict, yet friendly Michelle was.

"Wow! I feel like I'm meeting a movie star!" Michelle confessed. "It's so nice to finally meet you in person, Doctor Smith!"

"Nah, just the Doctor. That's what everyone calls me." he smiled at her. "It's so very nice to finally met you as well!"

He turned and pointed at Shakes. "This is my main personal security officer and friend, William Shakes. You can call him simply, 'Shakes.' Him and his guys are amazing."

Shakes gently shook Michelle's hand.

"Lovely to meet you, Shakes."

Shakes smiled at her. "Ma'am."

"Was everything satisfactory at your flat?" she asked him. "I worry I got carried away with buying toys. I've never been able to buy for a little girl."

He waved his hand. "Not at all! Genie loved it! She asked if Father Christmas had been there."

They all laughed.

"No, really. Thank you. You did a hell of a job! Made it seem like home. Did you even bring the flowers?"

She smiled. "That was my oldest son's idea. They came and helped me. I hope that's alright."

"That's fine. It was wonderful! I can't tell you how much we appreciate it. Do your boys play football?" he asked looking at the picture.

"Two of them do. That was taken at a game."

"Are they any good?" he asked her.

"Ah. I'm their mother. They are the best in my eyes." she shrugged.

He smiled, "Right. We might need to chat about that later. Jake's on our injured list and I have a feeling we are going to get a rematch with some tough opponents this afternoon."

Jake shook his head. "Oh, those guys again."

He laughed at his friend. "I have a couple of things I need to talk to you about before I go in with Jake. Here, I've written it all down on this list." he handed it to her.

She read the list and smiled. "Oh, it would be my genuine pleasure. I love things like this."

"Oh, me too. And she has no idea." the Doctor smiled.

Michelle pointed one of the items on the list. "And this? Really?"

He looked over at it. Shakes and Jake looked over and saw the writing as well.

"You have to be shitting me. Really?" Jake asked him.

Shakes was laughing under his breath. He exclaimed something in Quauhtin.

The Doctor rolled his eyes at the men. "You two see how many women you have right now, right?"

Jake laughed. "Don't ride that bus, Doc! You know that."

Shakes laughed and said something else in Quauhtin.

Michelle pointed her finger at Jake and Shakes. "You two just aren't romantics! You get off his back, or you will have me to deal with!"

They looked shocked at her.

The Doctor laughed. "Thank you, Michelle! Nice to know there is someone in my corner. If you have any trouble with that, let me know. I know they might speak German. Do you speak German?"

She waved it off. "Oh, it's not a problem. My phone here is equipped with a universal translator."

The Doctor looked impressed. The technology in this dimension was really years ahead of the Prime Dimension.

Michelle continued. "I put those files you asked for on your desk. Here's some messages for Miss Tyler, and Life magazine called wanting to know if they can do an interview with you and Miss Tyler."

Jake looked surprised. "Life magazine?!"

The Doctor was already shaking his head. "Oh, no. No way. Rose is in the damn paper enough."

Jake reasoned, "Yeah, but that's crap. This is Life magazine!"

"Time also rang." Michelle told them.

"Ugh." the Doctor complained. "I'll talk to Rose and see what she wants to do. I don't want to do it. Also, there is a delivery I'm expecting today. Has it came yet?"

She handed a box to him.

"Perfect." He exclaimed. "Michelle, I'm giving you raise. I have no idea how I would do this without you."

He walked into his office with Jake and Shakes. Jake shut the door behind them.

The Doctor opened the box and looked inside. He seemed pleased as he put it in his pocket.

The Doctor's office looked almost exactly like Pete's. Windows everywhere with a view of the city around him. A blank corkboard hung against a wall. A sofa and four chairs were over in a sitting area to the side. A bottle of the damn whiskey and glasses sat on the coffee table.

The Doctor lead Jake and Shakes over to sit in the sitting area instead of the desk. He poured them all a drink. Shakes politely refused.

Jake was laughing still under his breath. "Okay, so I know it's probably a date tonight. But can I please tag along and watch? I'll do anything!"

Shakes laughed. "All of the detail know. They all want to come as well."

Jake looked surprised, "How in the hell do they already know?"

The Doctor ran his hand through his hair and took a drink. "Quauhtin have a collective conscious. Like telepathy, but not telepathy. It just works within their units. It makes them more effective as soldiers. You didn't know that?"

Jake shook his head. "Well, anyway. Can I come? I'll sit in the back. You'll never know I'm there. Oh, please. I'll do anything to see this."

Shakes smiled. "John, Sam and Lewis have got the backup guard to watch Genie so all four of us can go. You might need extra protection."

Jake pointed at Shakes. "Hey, that's true! This is a really dangerous environment. I should probably tag along to make sure you have enough help if someone wears a tux!"

"No, tux's! I'm not taking Rose to a tux thing. No!" he told them.

Shakes looked at him and spoke in Quauhtin.

The Doctor took a drink. "Well, I imagine I'll have to be drunk as hell. But, rest assured. I'm going to get something I want before I agree to anything."

Jake continued to smile. "What's that?"

The Doctor poured him another drink. "Oh, nevermind. I don't care. Everyone come. Watch me make a fool of myself over a woman. You might learn something. No videos."

Jake exclaimed, "Oh, I can't wait." Shakes laughed and nodded his head.

Just then, Pete popped into the room. He looked around and smiled at the men. "I love this damn watch! Are you lot getting started without me? Catch me up!"

The Doctor looked surprised at him, "I thought you would be here later."

Shakes handed Pete his drink as he took a seat in a chair next to the couch. "Nah, Jake called me and I decided I'd go ahead and pop over. I know you are probably trying to get out of here as fast as you can today."

The Doctor smiled. "Yeah, and apparently. I have lots of company now."

Pete looked surprised. "What? Why?"

Jake started, but the Doctor held up his hand. "No. No. No. Let me tell him later. I'm not entirely convinced I'll even do it."

Pete was looking wildly at all of the men. "What? Oh, you can't be like that."

The Doctor took another drink. "Oh, I can."

"Alright, fine." Pete pointed at Jake. "Now, your turn. What's going on?"

"Here's all of the threats I was telling you about." Jake handed him a file. The Doctor sorted the threats he had sent against the ones that were real. He drank his glass as he realized there were nearly three times more now.

"Damn. Insistent aren't they?" the Doctor said. "Some of this is just mindless chatter, not really even threats. Advertising for hit men." One of the papers caught his eye. "Huh. Now this one is interesting."

Jake agreed. "Yeah, what do you make of that?"

Pete asked, "Mind sharing with the class, Doc'?"

The Doctor looked up at them. "Well, it looks like a message back to someone explaining why a mission didn't take place. Apparently, the men sent out to take out Doctor Smith, dissolved."

"Dissolved?" Pete asked. "But, Rose has been with you the entire time, right?"

The Doctor handed him the paper.

Jake asked, "Could Rose be doing that now? Without knowing?"

The Doctor rubbed his beard and sat back with his drink. He looked around the room, deep in thought. "Well, that's a new problem." he mumbled.

Shakes looked at the paper. "Where did this come from?"

Jake said, "Intercepted by MI-6, yesterday."

"At least the target is me, and not Rose." the Doctor pointed out.

Pete looked at him seriously. "Still not a comfort to me. Not at all."

The Doctor smiled as he waved his hand. "Ah. Someone is always trying to kill me. I'm used to it. I just worry about the rest of the Tyler family."

Pete drank his whiskey and rubbed his head. "Still doesn't help."

Shakes chuckled at the men. "Rose and Genie have three Quauhtin with them today. They will be alright. Poltoius and Aemilius are traveling back with Jackie and Tony."

The Doctor turned to Pete, "I thought you traveling back with them?"

Pete shook his head. "Nah, I'll fill you in later."

"You said there was a video?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah, here." he handed him the tablet he held.

The video showed exploding cars. One right after another one. A voice said, "Eliminate the Alien Threat before they kill your children. Our future is in your hands." as the video ended.

"Well, that was half-assed." the Doctor complained.

"Well, I thought so too. Then I found out that all of the cars had actual victims inside."

"Oh. Damn." Pete said as he poured himself another drink.

The Doctor stood up and ran his hand through his hair.

Pete asked, "How many?"

"Seven." Jake told him.

"Damn." Pete said under his breath. He drank his damn whiskey.

Shakes said, "That's where we should concentrate our attention. Where was this message being sent? Why is he saying children will be harmed? Could it be that his child was killed during the Cyberman invasion? That would make sense."

The Doctor looked at Shakes. "Summus the Quauhtin! You might be onto something!"

Pete asked Jake, "Is there anyway to get a list of parents who lost children in the Cyberman attacks?"

Pete looked surprised. "Worldwide? Probably not. There were so many killed."

The Doctor put his hands on his hips as he looked out of the window. "That was the first big proof to this world that they were not alone in the universe, and now we might have scared father looking to avenge the death of his child. Or even more than one. Damn. Even if it's not true in this case, it's someone's story here. Probably many people's story. No wonder there is so much hate fueling this."

Jake spoke to the Doctor. "We have you and Rose in New York again...according to the press. All agents and body guards have been told to keep an eye on all cars, in case they are being literal with the video and threatening car bombs. Triple check before any one gets in." Jake poured himself another drink.

The Doctor complained. "This still just doesn't make sense. It's like fighting a faceless enemy. I hate this. With anything I've ever fought, I knew what I was facing. This is completely unknown. It's like fighting a ghost."

Jake nodded.

"How's the shoulder?" the Doctor asked him.

"Not bad. Pain pills help." Jake laughed.

"Two more drinks and that's it then!" the Doctor told him. His phone buzzed on his desk. He stepped over and clicked the button.

"Yep."

Michelle's voice came into the room. "Malcolm wonders if he can have five minutes."

"Sure! Send him in. Thanks." he said.

Malcolm walked in and shook the Doctor's hand. "Thank you for seeing me. I'm sorry to interrupt."

"Nah, not at all Malcolm! Come in and have a drink! It's good to see you!" the Doctor slapped his shoulder. The Doctor was happy to have someone come in to break the tension that had filled the room.

Malcolm looked like he had too much coffee again. He was shaking a bit.

"Jake. Pete. Shakes, you know Malcolm, right?" the Doctor asked.

Jake stood up. "Of course. Good to see you, Malcolm."

Shakes shook his hand. Pete offered him a drink.

Malcolm took the drink. It seemed to calm him down a bit.

"So, what 'cha need?" The Doctor asked Malcolm as they sat down.

Malcolm asked. "Well, we got a transmission last night. I can't work it out and wondered if you would look at it."

"Certainly! I need a distraction right about now. You have perfect timing." the Doctor told him.

Malcolm handed his tablet to the Doctor. He listened to the transmission. He looked confused at the strange language that was on the recording. There wasn't a lot of it left. It was breaking up and full of static.

He listened again and ran his hand through his hair. "Oh hell. Like we don't have enough damn problems to deal with today! I have a date I'm not missing tonight, damn it!" he complained. He dug around in his pocket and took his sonic screwdriver out.

The men seemed grow concerned.

The Doctor sonic'ed the tablet and listened again. "Malcolm, what time did you get this message yesterday?"

"9:23 pm."

"P.M.? Geez, Malcolm. Don't you ever go home?" the Doctor asked.

He listened again to the message. "Wait. That bit there. Hang on. Let me clear my head a minute. I might be mistaken, I want to make sure." He sat down the tablet and rushed to the window and looked into the sky. He then took his phone out of his pocket. Rose had taken a picture of her and Genie and made it his wallpaper without him knowing. He smiled at the sight.

He clicked around on his phone and breathed out dramatically.

"Well?" Jake asked.

"It's alright. Some wedding ceremony over in the La Superba galaxy. It's just barely close enough for you to pick up this time of year. It scared me because the man called the woman he was marrying an angel. I thought we had a really big problem. But, it's alright. Just ignore it, Malcolm. Unless you feel the need to send a wedding present." he told him as he handed back the tablet.

"Woo...thank goodness for that!" Malcolm said.

"Wait. Angels are bad?" Jake asked.

"Oh yes. The worst. Trust me." the Doctor said as he poured himself some more whiskey.

Malcolm thanked the Doctor and drank some of the whiskey. He coughed and sat down the glass.

The Doctor sat in the chair and propped his feet up on the table. "I tell you what shocks the hell out of me, Malcolm. Do you know that Rose has been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics and she will not let me read her paper? What the hell is that about?

Malcolm looked at him, "Well. It's you! Would you let you read a paper you had written in Physics?"

"Malcolm. She says you have written a paper about this unit of measurement you have cooked up. Would you let me read that?"

Malcolm thought for a minute. "Ummm... maybe."

"Maybe! What the hell? Why is everyone so damn scared of what I think?" he tossed his hands in the air.

Pete offered. "Hell, if it's such a big deal, I can have Michelle get you a copy of it. It's in public domain. You can look it up on the internet."

The Doctor shook his head and bit his lip. "Oh, no way. She's told me not to look at it. I'm not going to do it without her permission."

Jake laughed at him. "Oh, but you thought about it."

"Oh, hell yeah I did! It's driving me crazy!" he admitted as he ran his hand through his hair.

Shakes smiled. "That's what you should use as your leverage for tonight."

The Doctor smiled. "Summus, you are the master strategist! That is my plan."

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