Chapter Five:

The Damage

Quietly, without having to be loud, Andie rose from her bed. When did she get there? How'd she get home? The last thing she remembered was being in the hospital, crying over her grandmother. Her chest ached.

Her grandmother…

The Doctor paced the floor in front of Jack. "You completely took away all her knowledge! Her knowledge and memory. She could have found me before this. She could have saved lives."

Jack stood up to look outside, listening to the Doctor. "But you told me to protect her. You told me to make sure she was safe. With knowledge of the universe and the deeper understanding of everything, how was I supposed to keep her safe? She had headaches! For months upon months, she would shed tears of pain because her head burned. Doctor, I can't watch a small child cry just for knowledge. It would be unfair to her. Andie is a bright child anyway. She's so smart and witty and beautiful - it wouldn't have mattered. She excels. She's a genius without that knowledge. And how am I supposed to explain things? How was I to teach her? If she had a question, Doctor, I'm smart, but I don't know everything. I am not a Time Lord!" Jack took a deep breath and turned around, his face in pain. He reached out to the Doctor and took his sleeve in his hands. "I can't answer her every question. She needs someone more. Someone stronger than I am."

The Doctor's hazel eyes fell to the ground before they rose and looked towards the door. "Andie, come out of the doorway." His tone wasn't angry. It was gentle and calm, an understanding tone that demanded her to come out. He wasn't harsh with her.

Jack sighed deeply, his face falling in sadness. "How much of that did you hear?" His clothes were wrinkled and his eyes were dark with bags slowly forming under them. If the Doctor didn't think too much, Jack would look just like he had when the Master had him under his finger tips.

She shrugged, her body smaller and slightly more fragile than Donna was and Sylvia had become, her eyes taking in her adopted uncle. "I tried to ignore most of it. Courtesy, you know? I know how to be polite, Jack."

Both men grinned at that. The Doctor quietly sat down and patted the seat next to him. "Come here, Andie. I want to know how much is in your head."

She cleared her throat, her eyes falling to the ground. "With all due respect, Doctor, I'd prefer to just let the headache die down. I'm awfully tired and I have a funeral to arrange. I'm the only Noble left, and as such, I have to make sure my grandmother's taken care of. I also have school and-"

"Yeah, yeah. Right. I'm sorry. I forgot. Funeral. Sylvia. Yes. I don't know what I was thinking. Forgive me, Andie. Anything I can do?"

As Jack was watching this, amusement clearly in his eyes, he plucked the cellular phone from the mantle and tossed it to Andie. "Go ahead and call UNIT. They'll help you out. Don't mention the Doctor. I'll fix you something to eat. What would you like?"

Distantly, fingers already dialing and lifting it to her ear she answered, "Tea. Something light to snack on. Thanks, Jack." She tried to manage a smile as she walked away, leaving the Doctor sitting on the couch watching after her.

Out of character, he fell back against the sofa with a frustrated sigh. He had dealt with young ladies. Just look at Amy, but he had hurt her just as much. His frustration at himself, the secrets that zoomed through the world, drifted quietly before they settled enough for him to open his eyes once more as someone sat next to him.

"Hey, Doc, want to help me in the kitchen? I make good tea, but I'll be if I can't make anything sufficient enough for a Noble woman." Jack was grinning as he spoke and kept his eyes alight in joke.

"I make a pretty good omelet, I guess. I can make crepes, too. Anything, if I try hard enough. Sure! It'll get my mind off of a… funeral. Last funeral I went to was the Master's." He paused a moment, thinking about it and the last time he had actually seen the Master before adding: "Let's not talk about that, eh, Jack?"

They were cooking, nearly finished with the dinner-snack Andie had requested. Jack was sort of trailing behind the Doctor as he cooked, laughing as he mumbled about how someone didn't like the way he did something or about how Amy taught him how to make 'proper smoothies'.

"This Amy girl, she your latest companion?" Jack's voice was quiet, but he looked at the Doctor intensely. He had tried to keep the young looking elder happy, but Jack was never one to keep his mouth shut for long.

The Doctor nodded, hair flipping with the movement. "Yeah, yeah, and she was good. She was sweet and smart. Nice, young and nice. She was ginger and smart- I said that, didn't I? Anyway, yeah, but I sort of- I mean, there were these cracks in time and I let her get hurt. Her fiancé and I couldn't really stop it all. Anyway, yeah. She's with him now, and happy. Amy Pond. Amelia Pond. Nice name, don't you agree? Eh, Andie?"

Andie, not surprised by the question nodded as she walked into the room and hopped on the counter. "Amelia Pond. Better than Andie Echo Noble. Echo was added into my name after a little while. What exactly are you doing, though? Cooking more food than any of us could eat? Oh, I know! Cooking therapy." She grinned much like his former self, that grin of brilliance that had a touch of personality and suave to it.

The Doctor didn't show his hesitance, instead just sorta gave a half smiled and nodded. "If that's what you want to call it. Cooking Therapy. I say I'm giving you choices of food."