DIARY OF A HALF HUMAN TIME LORD

Chapter Twenty Six

Louise looked up from her paperwork when the front door opened and the man and woman strolled inside. She smiled at them when they stopped in front of her desk.

"Rose, I thought you went home, love," Louise said.

"I came back, I have to see my father, it's very important," Rose said.

"Um…he's in a meeting at the moment, I'm afraid," Louise said.

"Then ring him and tell him to come out of the meeting," the Doctor said, leaning over into her face. "I'm here to see him and I'm sure he's waiting for me."

"I'm sorry, Mister Smith, but…"

"I'm not Jonathon; my name is the Doctor and Pete wants to see me, trust me so please ring him and tell him the Doctor is at the front desk."

Louise shrugged and picked up the phone receiver. She dialed an in-house number and let it ring several times before she hung up.

"I'm sorry, he's away from his phone," Louise said. "As I told you, he's in a meeting and…wait, where are you going?" she said when they walked past her desk and headed towards the lift.

"We have to see him, Louise, I'll take responsibility for the Doctor being in restricted areas," Rose said over her shoulder while the Doctor pushed the up button.

Thirty seconds later the lift doors opened and Rose and the Doctor stepped inside. As the doors closed, the Doctor adjusted his rumpled blue suit and straightened his trench coat.

"Have to look my best if I'm going to be captured," he explained to Rose as they went up.

"Yeah, well they'll have to get through me first before that happens," Rose said.

The lift stopped, they walked inside and the Doctor put his hands in his trouser pockets while he casually strolled around the big oak desk. He looked down at the paperwork on Pete's desk while Rose picked up the phone receiver and dialed an in-house number. While she waited for someone to pick up the Doctor picked up a piece of paper and scanned it.

"Acquisition for Sylon plasma blasters, eh?" he said to Rose after reading it. "Wonder what Petey boy wants to do with those?"

"They study them and reverse engineer the alien tech so they can build more and…Neal?" Rose said when the man on the other phone picked up. "It's Rose. Where is Pete? I need to speak with him and it's very urgent."

"Does reverse engineering include Time Lords?" the Doctor said while Rose waited for Neal to reply. "Because I can see Petey making more of me and Jonathon and engineering us for his own personal army."

"Yes, okay, thanks," Rose said before she ended the call.

The Doctor noticed the grim look on Rose's face.

"Let me guess, the meeting is between two people and one of those people looks just like me," he said.

"Yeah, he's interrogating Jonathon. Follow me, I know where they're at," Rose said.

The Doctor nodded and put down the piece of paper before following her out of the office. They went back to the lift and went down to the sixteenth floor. While they were going down, Rose fought to keep her anger under control, breathing heavily while she clenched and unclenched her fist. She felt the Doctor's hand on her shoulder and looked at him.

"Calm down, let me handle this," he said to her.

"I'm just sick and tired of him never giving Jonathon a chance," Rose said, shaking her head. "He's a nice guy but Pete is too thick to see it and now he's gotten you involved in all of this."

"Who? Pete or Jonathon?"

"Pete. Jonathon only wanted you to come back to save Suzanne, that's all," she said. "But now because of Pete, you're forced to sort all this out and waste time while you risk being stuck here forever."

"Nah, plenty of time," the Doctor said, shaking his head. "Pete won't be that much of a threat to me, neither will Torchwood. Plenty of time to sort this out, cure Suzanne and take you and Jonathon back to the TARDIS with me."

The lift stopped and the doors opened but Rose stood there, stunned at what the Doctor just said. The Doctor grinned as he stepped out, turned and offered her his hand.

"I assume this is the correct floor?" he said to her.

"Uh…yeah," Rose said, finally finding her voice as she took the Doctor's hand. "Sorry, I just…"

"Was shocked that I said I'd take you with me?" the Doctor said as the lift doors closed behind them. "After all you've been through and how badly you and Jonathon's been treated, you don't think I'd let you stay here and continue to bear the brunt of his abuse, do ya?"

"But you wanted Jonathon to stay here," Rose said.

"Yes, but not if he's going to be abused and subjected to anal probes and whatever else Torchwood does to alien prisoners," the Doctor said. "From what I've heard, he seems to have mellowed out and adjusted and I think he's not a threat anymore. Besides, I'd rather he be inside the TARDIS than a pizza shop, what kind of life is that for a Time Lord? So yes, once this is sorted out, you and him and your mum and brother are welcome to come with me."

He chuckled when Rose flung her arms around him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Aw, I love it when I say things that get me kisses, hugs too," he said. "Well, now that we've cleared that up, lead the way to Pete."

Rose nodded. The Doctor put his hands back in his pockets while he followed her down the hallway. She stopped him halfway in front of a white wooden door that had a little PRIVATE plaque on the door. Rose raised her fist to knock on the door but the Doctor stopped her, shook his head and put his finger to his lips. He put his hand on the doorknob, slowly turned it and when he realized it was unlocked, he paused for a moment and then flung the door open. He strolled into the room while Pete gasped and leapt up from his chair.

"Sorry, I know it's rude to just barge in like this but I can't help it when I see a door marked private," the Doctor said to Pete as Rose came in behind him and shut the door. "Besides, a little bird told me that you were looking for me."

He stared intently at Pete while Rose rushed over to the cage and knelt down beside it. The Doctor looked at Jonathon while Rose reached through the bars and took his hand. He gave his clone the once over and then turned his attention back to Pete who had recovered and was now glaring at him silently.

"I don't see any visible wounds but that doesn't mean you've been torturing him and for your sake, you better not have," he said ominously. "What do you want with him?"

"He's under arrest for illegally trespassing in here," Pete said. "Rose brought him in here without my authorization."

The Doctor smirked at that.

"Pete Tyler, the former king of pop lands up the head of a terrorist group, you're moving up in the world."

"We are not a terrorist group, Doctor," Pete snarled.

"Oh really? How many innocent aliens have you captured and tortured and killed over the years? Rose told me you're taking alien tech and reverse engineering them. For what purpose? Eradicating more aliens who happen to fly too close to Terra Firma?"

"And what are you?" Pete said. "Aren't you a terrorist yourself? Rose said that many aliens know you as the Oncoming Storm and that they fear you. Sounds like a terrorist to me. And because of that you're public enemy number one. Isn't that why you had to destroy the other Torchwood, Doctor?"

"And I s'pose capturing me will earn you a promotion, eh?" the Doctor said, calmly gazing at him. "And what of Rose and Jonathon? Are they terrorists as well?"

"Rose isn't, but that thing is," Pete said, pointing to Jonathon.

"He's not a thing, he's a person," Rose snarled at him.

"No, he's a clone, a copy of him," Pete said, pointing to the Doctor. "He's exactly like him no matter how much he tries to set himself apart from the Doctor. The Doctor is dangerous and so is he."

"Oh yes, we've both had our eyes on this place for years," the Doctor said. "The pizza shop was just a diversion while Jonathon planned how to attack you and I headed back to the other universe so I could return with my vast alien army. Unfortunately for me, the army got left behind because I came here to help cure Jonathon's friend. Yet another dastardly diversion while I plotted and schemed to bring this place down, I might add. So now that I'm here, call your dogs in to attack and restrain me lest I leave the building and cause Armageddon. In the meantime though…"

The Doctor whipped his sonic screwdriver out of his jacket pocket and unlocked the cage door. Jonathon stood up and hesitated as he stared at the Doctor's face. The Doctor smiled at him.

"Come out, I'm not angry at you any longer," he said.

Jonathon smiled and nodded as he stepped outside. Rose hugged him and Jonathon hugged her back while the Doctor turned his attention back to Pete.

"So…I set your captive free, what are ya gonna do about that?" he said to Pete.

"You can't leave here," Pete said.

"Oh? Just watch me," the Doctor said, folding his arms over his chest. "I came here because Jonathon's friend is dying and I intend to help her in any way I can. Now, you can either go to the hospital and bring her here or you let us go. I recommend you do the latter before I become that Oncoming Storm you mentioned."

He stood there, silently challenging Pete with his eyes. He smirked when Pete stepped back away from the door.

"Good choice," the Doctor said. "Now if you'll excuse us, a friend needs my help and then once that's sorted out, I'm taking Rose and Jonathon and anyone else that wants to go with me and go back to the other universe where we'll be out of your hair…or what's left of it…forever. Rose, Jonathon, come. We have business to attend to."

Rose took Jonathon's hand while the Doctor fixed his stare on Pete. Once they went past the Doctor and were out the door, the Doctor gave Pete a look of warning.

"Don't follow us…" the Doctor said in a low, menacing voice as he walked to the door.

Pete gritted his teeth and clenched his fists while the Doctor waved cheerfully at him, walked out and slammed the door behind him.

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