Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2016 14:08:05 -0400
From: Tomak <tomak123@aol.com>
Subject: Doctor Who, Jesse and Jeremy 167

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ANGEL AFTERMATH


"I'm gonna kill you. You think some of those angels can rip people
apart..."

"They didn't do that. These aren't those off shoots..."

"Shoots? I'm gonna rip you apart like they never did!"

Jeremy yelled, "JESSE!"

The lights went out again. Someone screamed like Dr. Smith.

Greyson and Jeremy held Jesse back. The Doctor just stood there, holding
his ground. "Look at him. He just stands there like, I don't know, a
stranger..."

"Yeah, Doctor, you scare me to death," Greyson put in.

"That's obvious."

"This isn't about you," Jesse snapped.

"Isn't it?" The Doctor returned. "Isn't it? Aren't I the one to put things
right. To stop the aliens. Repeal the bad laws, repel the invaders, stop
the Autons, kill off the Daleks...bang the heads of the Sontarans
together..."

"You're a big cry baby now," Jesse gasped. "Theon..."

"...is alive. They're all alive, Jesse."

"What?" Greyson asked, "Where?"

"Are they all gone? Is anyone left?"

"Not all of them were taken."

>From the bottom of the far side of the bar, James crawled to their
sight. "Can someone be my designated driver?"  CUE: Goofy "Dr. Smith music"
from LOST IN SPACE's second season. (You know the one, it goes like Wa Wa
Wa Waa Waaa Wa Wa Wa, da da da da dum deeeeee, oh dear).

"I guess I'll..." Jeremy made a move toward him.

"No, you're not. Fuck him. If he wanted to drink himself silly. I want us
to get an explanation from this fucker."

Cavil stood up from behind the curtain, the curtain still on him.

James screamed like Dr. Smith again. "A monster! WHOAAAAA!" And hid behind
a car stool.

"What's going on?" Cavil asked as he threw the curtain off him. "One minute
I was..."

"It was quite a party," Jeremy nodded. "Can you drive...?" He nodded toward
James. "We'll clean up."

"Where is everybody?" Cavil asked. "Where's Frank?"

"I don't know," Jeremy said. "But we'll see...I guess. Can you?"

"Yeah, sure," Cavil said. He moved to James and helped him up off the
sticky floor. "C'mon, James, ole boy. Time to gimme your keys. Again."

After they left, Jeremy moved away from Jesse and Greyson. Jesse looked at
Greyson's hand holding his arm and then directly into Greyson's
eyes. Greyson was intimidated and let go. Jesse forced a smile at him and
patted him on the back. Greyson forced a smile back.

Jeremy leaned over the bar which the Doctor went behind. He
whispered. "What are you ...are we going to tell their families? Theon's
family?"

"Why is it my job...our job...to do that? Isn't it enough I saved them."

"You son of a bitch!" Jesse rammed toward them. "You really are a fucking
bastard, you know that?"

The Doctor moved to the side door which lead to the veranda. The three
others followed him across the empty room to the back. They stood behind
him as he looked down on the steps and the courtyard. "The smokers that
were here?"

"Gone, too." The Doctor said, deep in sad thoughts. "Most of them...would
have died of cancer had they stayed here. Some from poor circulation."

Greyson asked, "What do you mean you saved them? And they're still alive?"

The Doctor turned and ushered them back inside. He motioned to the long,
wooden wall bench on the side near the exit to the back area. He patted
it. Jeremy and Greyson sat down, Jeremy nearer to the Doctor. "Gary? He was
married and divorced."

"We know all that," spat Jesse, "Get to the important shit, fuck face."

The Doctor turned to look at him.


"And by the way. Get to Theon, he's the one we all care ...cared about."

"Care. He's still alive." The Doctor retorted.

Jesse's face lit up. For a moment. "You set this all up. You did this. You
were conferring with the Angels. That's what...that's what all those late
night trips were for?"

Jeremy looked at the Doctor and forced a smile. "We thought...we thought
you were bored of us."

The Doctor looked genuinely surprised. "What?" He looked at Jeremy. "No,
never."  He looked at Jesse, "I'll never get bored with the two of
you. I...it hasn't even occurred to me..."


"Oh, cum off it!" Jesse was still angry.

The Doctor sat down next to Greyson. "I mean it," he looked sideways. "I
can't get bored with the two of you. I'm in it for the long run. I'm all
in."

"That's what..."  Greyson got choked up. "That's what he said. Theon,
constantly said. Maybe trying to convince himself."

Jesse sat down next to him and put an arm around him as he sobbed. "I'm
sure he meant it. You and he were together all summer and up to now. Sure,
he's a wild flirt..."  Jesse looked at the Doctor who was smiling wildly
like an imp and dropped his own smiled. This, in turn, made the Doctor drop
his. Jesse looked away from the Doctor to Greyson's bent head. Greyson had
his face in his hands.

"I would not get bored with you. Any of you," the Doctor put his hand on
Greyson's chin and lifted his tear filled face. "I love you, Greyson. I
always will." He kissed the boy's mouth lightly and pulled back. "I love
all three of you. I always will. I'll never leave you or forsake you."

Jeremy put a hand on the Doctor's arm. "You got to explain what went on
then."

"Okay. As easily as I can. You know the angels ...the ones that turned
...well sorta bad...these guys aren't that evil. They just wanted to go
home. They needed a tremendous amount of energy to do that. I picked up on
them telepathically and had to try to hide it from the rest of you,
especially you, Greyson."

"So you broke up with me?"

"No," the Doctor made another surprised face. "You did with me?"

"I don't...no. I just started seeing Theon as..."

"You disappeared," Jesse said, "Literally."

"That's not fair," Jeremy put in, "He had the whole Montauk conspiracy to
deal with and the motorcycle creature..."

"Not the whole reason. I had to hide the fact because they wanted it that
way. You see..." he quickly said as Jesse started a protest anew. "You see
these angels needed the energy that could only come from the sun and the
TARDIS and I knew it and they knew it...but instead I offered them a
counter offer. They were hanging around here in the cemetery, trying to
find a way back to their own planet...which is...far...oh," he shook his
head and blinked and stared at the ceiling. "Oh, very far off from here."

"Can you fucking get to the fucking point, you fuck?"

Jeremy reached over Greyson's back to touch Jesse's arm. "Jesse, calm
down."

"I'm gonna still fuck him up."

"No, you're not."

"If I have to fight you as well, then I will!"

Jeremy shut his eyes and sighed. "Please stop."

"I'll listen," Jesse said. "If he gets to it."

"When a victim doesn't know what's happening, there's a fright energy that
comes...it's powerful but no one else around them could know either. They
promised me they'd only take the people I designated."

"Great," Jesse said, "You're like an evil designated driver only you're pit
stop is hell like no other."

"They're not in hell," the Doctor said.

Greyson turned to look at Jesse. "Jesse," he said deliberately and
slowly. "Please stop interrupting. I wanna find out what happened to them,
to Theon. I need to know and now, or I'm gonna. Gonna burst."

Jesse nodded. "All right. I'm...I'm sorry. Go on, Dictor."

The Doctor sighed inwardly. "If the victim knew, the deal would be off. The
angels wouldn't have had enough power to leave here anyway and be stuck
here and they'd have to feed. I knew it would be worse for everyone that
way. I had to find a way to get them out of here."

Jeremy thought. "Why couldn't you take them in the TARDIS?"

"Too risky. Once inside, even if we made a deal, the angels might not have
been able to control themselves and taken all its energy anyway. That'd
make them very powerful. They might not have wanted to get home
anyway...the TARDIS would have given them unlimited power. UNLIMITED!" He
rose up and put his hand up, dramatically. He turned back toward them,
having left his sitting. "Even then, I wouldn't even be able to stop them."

"Go on," Jeremy implored.

"They also knew the future. They told me about who had only a short time to
live."

"And you believed them?" Jesse stood up and stepped closer the Doctor.

"You come off it now, Jesse. You know me. Probably better than anybody
other than Jeremy and maybe even more than he does...do you really
think...?"

Jeremy put his head down. He wondered who knew the Doctor best. He wasn't
sure any more than Jesse was about what happened...and the Doctor's
role. "Whatever you did was best for all, I'm sure."

"Thank you, Jeremy. But I can see how it looks. Even worse than I
imagined. You really think I took the Weeping Angel's word for it."

"The late night trips..."  Jesse said, absent mindedly.

"Yes, I checked the near future to see. So for example, this girl who was
stalking Theon...she would have knifed him to death in...oh, about 22 hours
from now...as he left his back door to do his morning yoga in his
backyard."

"Shirtless, I'd imagine." Greyson pursed his lips together.

"I didn't imagine. I saw." The Doctor said.

"And tried to stop it?" Jeremy asked.

"You know what that's like. It doesn't work. The first time I stopped her,
she wounded me so bad, he had to nurse me back to health. She went off and
killed..."  The Doctor looked at Greyson.

Jeremy and Jesse looked at Greyson, too. Greyson finally caught the message
and put both hands on his chest. "Me? Little ole me?"

"She knew the two of you were having sex and dating and would probably
marry. She snapped. She had been stalking him for a number of months. The
second time, I put her in jail with proof. Then, a Theon died crossing the
street. Hit by a truck."

"Let me die," Greyson stood up now.

"What?" Jesse turned on him and put his hands on Greyson's arms. "No!"

"It doesn't work that way...Greyson. Not this time, anyway." The Doctor sat
Greyson back down and sat down himself. Jesse remained standing. "I tried a
few other times. No avail. I checked the list of all the others. I
personally went forward in time to see their little time left. All of them
would have died an early death."  From his pocket, he took out a long list
and unrolled it. It went down to the floor.

"That was...? That was in your pocket?" Greyson asked and pointed.

"Don't concern yourself about my pockets now." The Doctor said and read off
the list. "Gary, brain tumor. Theon, killed by a jealous former
girlfriend. Knife to belly and then heart."

"Oh my God," Greyson said. "She must have seen us..."

"Dan, construction worker and Bay, his lover. AIDS. Full blown.  Not even
the alien cure I had would have helped them. They were immune to it. In
fact, it turned them into monsters that went on a rampage throughout
America. I had some time stopping them. In fact, that timeline is
averted. In it, you all died. As did hundreds more."

"Geeze," Jeremy said. "Now, I see why you took so many trips."

"That's just the start of it. I also had to back into the past. To set up
new lives for them but I'll get to that."  The Doctor continued, "Let's
see, who else? JT, gym trainer. Died breaking up a fight in a straight
club, preventing a gay bashing. He won't be there now, so guess WHO had to
break up the fight and stop the gay bashing."

"Who," Jesse said. "And I'm not laughing."

"In a separate incident, George, would have been gay bashed as he crossed
the street from a dog park to go to the gay LGBT church he attended."

"Church?" Greyson asked.

"Yes. On a bright Sunday morning in October. 10 am."  The Doctor added,
"And there's more. Do you want me to go on?"

"Yes," Jesse superseded Jeremy and Greyson's "no."

"Van would have become rich at 23 but would have committed suicide off a
New York bridge. Not sure exactly why but I tried to find out. He had
money. He had girls. He had boys. He had everything and it still wasn't
enough. I think he felt empty. It might have been that he felt we lived in
too complicated a time. And now...he isn't."

"So how does this save them?" Jesse asked.

"Use your head, Jesse..."

"Don't fucking patronize me or insult me, you dick wad or I'll take your
head off right now," Jesse warned.

"I...if they had stayed in the present, they would have died. There was
nothing I could do even though many of my time trips gave me the way to
try. All of it, and I should have known better because I've done it before
or tried it before, was a waste. Time corrected itself and made things
happen so that they would have died. The only way was to use something as
strong as time itself."

Jesse guessed. "The angels."

"The angels. These types I met some ages ago, they...they sent people back
in time to however long they had to live so if say Sally Sparrow's friend,
Kathy Nightingale, vanished from 2007, ha ha, last year..."  The Doctor
took joy in that fact and saw that none of the others were
laughing. "...and sent her to 1920 they took her 87 years of energy,
effectively she's be dead in the present but alive in the past so she could
still live a life. A very different life, yes but a life nonetheless. It's
particularly difficult if you have no one to set up a life for you there
before you arrive..."

"So you went back in time to set up lives for them before they were taken?"

"Yup. Otherwise they'd have a lot of splaining to do, Lucy. Have to get a
job. I've been through it meself...and it...well, I got Martha a job."

"God forbid you get a job."

"Don't do jobs. Don't go mortgages either. Not at least that I handle
meself."

Jeremy smiled. "You do have a job. The hardest one in the universes."

The Doctor smiled back. "But these types of angels...they...they were
slightly different. They gave more than they took. That makes them
...better for us and our friends. In fact, they can bend time
somewhat. They're not just going back to their home planet but back to it
either before they left or far in the future. I couldn't get that part out
of them. Sneaky bastards."

"Like someone I know," Jesse put in. "Well, that makes it a little
bit...better."

"Mmm. They gave Theon an extra 97 years. 97 years that he would not have
had if he stayed in the present."

After a pause, Greyson asked, "When did...when did he die?"

"Oh...I couple of ...do you really want to know this?"

"Yes!" Greyson snapped now.

"Yesterday," the Doctor told him. "On a farm not far from here. Just a few
seconds after he vanished from the bar."

"Jesus," Jeremy said.

"Yeah, he's with him now and I'm not being facetious." The Doctor
nodded. "He had a good life. They all died. Of course, Dan had to wait a
year for Bay to arrive, they put him in the year before Bay. I think it had
to do with the fact that Dan was going to die one year before Bay."

"We should take down these Halloween decorations," Jeremy looked up at a
cut out bat. "Keeping them up somehow doesn't feel right..."

"No, no." Jesse said, "We should leave them up forever. Remind him of what
he did."

"What did he do?" Greyson stood in front of Jesse now. "He had no choice."

"I'm sorry I had to do it the way I did it," the Doctor said. "But there
was no other way. Really. I tried other ways. None of them worked."

"So you went back in time and set up lives for them?" Jeremy stood up now.

"Yes. Paperwork. Those trips...a lot of those trips I took was to do
that. Once they arrived, they'd find a package for them explaining how to
fit in in the past and in the communities I had the angels send them to. At
first, Theon was sent to his parent's house but before it was his parent's
house. All they have to do is find the message I left in plain sight just
seconds before they arrived and then the package..."

"Great," Jesse snapped. "Your own severance pay. A retirement packet from
life."

"Not at all, Jesse." The Doctor explained. "A few I gave gold to. But most
of them had to have lives in the past. The timeline demanded it. I could
have had them lead lives that had nothing important to do, stay out of the
way of history, live a good life but apart from all else, do nothing
important or affect anyone at all and all that but they're a part of
it. They ...most of them, made history. Affected and effected others in a
good, no, a great way. They all lived better, gooder longer lives."

"And you couldn't tell us any of it," Jeremy repeated.

"If I did, the angels would have taken whomever they wanted and the others
would still die in a short amount of time, including Theon. Plus, even if
they agreed to me telling you, they would not have gotten the energy they
needed from the shock of it all."

"The girl that killed Theon. What about the girl?" Greyson asked. "Where is
she?"

"Unfortunately, when the police caught her trying to kill someone
else...another former girl of Theon's, she managed to kill herself with one
of their guns."

"Oh," Jeremy said, "That's horrible."

"No, it's not," Greyson said.

"Greyson!" The Doctor said. "She was disturbed. It always was going to
happen. If it was not her, something else would have taken Theon from us."
He put a hand on Greyson's back as the boy leaned forward to cry into his
hands. Jeremy looked at the Doctor and put his hand over the Doctor's. The
Doctor smiled at him and nodded.

"I'm sorry. I feel as if it were my fault somehow."

"It was her fault. Really. Well, even she had her issues of course, so she
couldn't control it either, I guess," the Doctor explained.

Greyson sobbed.

After a time, the Doctor moved to go out back. "I want to make sure the
smokers are all gone. Maybe..."

Jesse followed the Doctor outside to the now empty back of the bar. It was
starting to get light as the sun slowly came up. Everything seemed to be
glowing. The Doctor looked away from Jesse as he hopped down the cement
steps to the back of the yard. The smell of Fall leaves embraced him. The
air was crisp but it was becoming warmer as the sun rose further. Behind
Jesse, came Jeremy and then Greyson. They all met in the middle of the
yard, the area between tables and umbrellas, all of which were still
covered in Halloween decorations. The cricket sounds gave way to the bird
chirpings of morning.

"I want to know every detail. About where he is. What he's doing."

"He...?"

"Theon, you moron."

"I didn't realize you and he were as close as he and..."

"Shut up. Tell me. No. No, in fact. In fact, I want to go there."

The Doctor looked surprised, as if he never thought this idea would crop
up. "Go?"

"Right now. My keys are in the TARD. You got yours?"  Jesse moved to him
and got real close. He put his hands in the Doctor's pockets and
searched. "Let's go, all of us. To see that he's all right..."

As this happened, Greyson followed and Jeremy, nearly supporting him
bodily, followed him. The two met the other two out in the courtyard.

"Fraid we can't."

"Oh? And why not?"  Jesse had fished the key out and held it up to the
Doctor's nose.

The Doctor moved back. He'd seen Jesse angry before but this was a new
level of anger.  "We won't be able to until that timeline solidifies."

Jesse looked at the Doctor. Studied his face. He turned away, spun around
and back to the Doctor again. "You don't want to go. You're jealous."

"Jealous?"  The Doctor laughed. This time, the laugh was genuine. "Oh, I
gave that up, pfohpf, in my 12th or was it my 13th, or 14th...I gave it up
in my...I think my 14th or 15th or 16th body...no need for that anymore. It
took me over 2000 years to learn not to be jealous."  He turned and smiled
at Jeremy who had his arm around Greyson's back. "Just call me a slow
learner."

Jesse put a finger to the Doctor's chest. "I don't care about your 14th,
15th or 16th body...your 15 thousandth body or 16th thousandth body. I just
want to make sure he's okay! Get that? In fact, I don't care about you at
all!"

The Doctor looked visibly hurt now and he let it show. He wasn't trying to
cover it up. He tried to recover himself and shook a bit. His voice was
hoarse. As long as Jeremy and Jesse had known the Doctor, they hadn't seen
him like this. Caught between hurt and righteousness, hoarse and not
knowing what to say. Jeremy started to talk. "Jes...se..."

Jesse backed off the Doctor. "Nothing to say. Now, I know you're just
guilty."

"Feeling guilty and being guilty is not the same thing. When the timelines
solidify...my people..."

Jesse threw his hands up in the air and turned to Jeremy and Greyson and
looked up in the air. "Oh, my people! The oh my people speech. They won't
allow it. They can't develop it. They will stop it. They found a way around
it..."  Jesse turned to the Doctor again. "You mention your people...and in
fact, even if you don't...I'm gonna beat the fuck outta you for what you
just did to Theon...to all of em!"

Jeremy put Greyson behind him for safety and moved between Jesse and the
Doctor. "No. No, you're not."

Jesse steamed. "What did you say?"

Jeremy looked down at Jesse. "You're not gonna beat the tar out of him. The
shit out of him. I won't let you. You're not even going to punch him."

"Look, you and I...we've almost never fought so..."

"And we're not going to now. Jesse, if you do anything like that now,
you'll regret it later."

Jesse snorted outward. "Get outta my way."

"No," Jeremy smiled. "Jesse, I'm serious. We both might hate what the Doc's
done this time and it might not even be the right thing to do that he's
done but I am not going to stand here and let you get violent with
him...for all our sakes."

Jesse frowned and turned from Jeremy. "It might even be the right thing but
the way...the way he did it..."  Jesse punched his own palm, one hand
against the other. Fist into palm.  He returned to Jeremy, tried to get
past him. "I'm going to punch him right in the face!"

 "It might make him feel better," the Doctor called to them.

"Oh, just let me get one in. I promise I won't hurt that pretty..."  Jesse
broke past Jeremy who dropped his shoulders.

Jesse looked at the Doctor. "Theon. This was Theon we're talking about."

"He still is Theon."

Jesse seemed to calm down a bit. He controlled his breathing. "Never could
get my tenses right with all this time travel."

"He's all right. I promise."

"I'm sick of all your promises!"

"I'm sorry."

"He was going...I was going to ask him to travel with us. In the TARDIS,
you know. He was going to be one of us."

Jeremy turned to them both and moved closer. "He was one of us."

Greyson was crying. Watching them.

The Doctor corrected both Jesse and Jeremy. "He is one of us. He always
will be. We just...have to be apart for a time."

"Did you even know him?" Jesse asked the Doctor.

"In one timeline, he nursed me back to health."

"That must have been great fun...for you. Not him," Jesse snapped.

Greyson joined in. "Know that he took me to hockey games."

"Hockey? It's summer?"

"When we traveled...in the TARDIS..."

"You and he? In My TARDIS?"

Greyson balked. "Is that all you care about? Did you know him at all? Did
you know that he had Taco Tuesdays."

"Taco Tuesdays? What's that when it's at home?"

"We used to travel up and down Long Island to find every taco place we
could and sample their food. I say sample but..."

"Now look! He might not have those things again..."

"Unless we bring them to him."

"Don't help me, Jeremy."

Greyson was crying . "Know that he liked the Rangers, hated cats, loved
dogs...?"

"What man doesn't like dogs? But what man hates cats?"

"Doctor!" Greyson yelled. "Know that he hated New Year's Eve, loved
Christmas, loved women but didn't get anything out of fucking them...loved
the Rangers...and needed versatility...enjoyed pot brownies from time to
time...?"

"Who does...too. I mean who doesn't?" The Doctor had tears in his eyes,
too. "It had to be done that way. He had to go. If he stayed here...a
stalker would have killed him. A girl, jealous of he and..."

Jesse let out an uncontrolled huff. Jesse put his right hand to his face
and tried to control his grief. A gasp came from his throat. His left hand
went to his face, too. Jeremy raised his eyebrows. The Doctor took a step
at Jesse and then a step back. Greyson stopped his crying when he saw Jesse
start. He raised his eyebrows, too, but wondered why the other two were not
comforting the pop singer. Greyson screwed up his mouth and looked at the
other two and moved at Jesse. He took Jesse into is arms and held him. Over
Jesse's shoulder he looked at the Doctor and shook his head. The Doctor
looked down. Jesse cried some more but into Greyson's hair as he was a bit
taller than the piano player. "It's okay. It'll be okay. HE's okay."  Jesse
let out some more gasps and let out a cry of anguish that none of them ever
heard the likes of before.

After what seemed an eternity to the Doctor, he moved to the two hugging
boys. "I, ahhh, I have a special treat to cheer us all up. A place to
go..."

Jeremy put a hand on the Doctor's shoulder and then forcibly turned the
Time Lord to face him. "I think you should just shut up now."

"Right."  The Doctor put an index finger up and shook his head YES.

"Just let it all out."  Greyson told Jesse and rubbed Jesse's back.

"Why're...are...why are you comforting me..."  Jesse gasped as he cried.

Greyson patted Jesse's back. "Just shut up."  He, too, had tears in his
eyes.


"What about...about this place?" Jeremy asked. "Does it get shut down?"

"I counted on that as soon as I saw Frank was one of the ...the..."

"Victims is the words you're looking for," Jesse finished for him.

"Cavil will get the deed and what he does with it is his
business. Literally. Frank would have wanted it that way. Frank, for all he
got, is now owner of ...get this, what the press will call one of the
wickedest places in New York...the Slide. 157 Bleecker
Street. Slide. Appropriate as he slid through time, doncha think?"

"You're not funny," Jesse commented. "What year is he in?"

"1890."

"I don't care. I wanna know when and where Theon is."

"Not sure I want to tell you. You might be tempted to...whoa, what are you
doing?"

"Listen," Jesse moved up to the Doctor and grabbed his shirt. "You're gonna
tell me if I have to beat it out of you."

"Jesse," Greyson yelled, "Stop it. You heard the Doctor. He'll take us when
we're ready."

"Are you just mad," Jeremy stepped on the side of the Doctor and Jesse and
spoke to Jesse, "...about what happened or just hurt because he couldn't
tell you...or me?"

"Both!" Jesse pushed the Doctor and wheeled him around first to make him
spin, humiliated, in a circle without control.

As the Doctor stopped, he went back to Jesse and out a hand onto Jesse's
chest. "Listen!"

"Doctor!" Jeremy put a hand on the Doctor's back and the other on his
chest. "Don't push it."

"He's alive. He's safe. He has a life. A good, great one. I made sure of
that."

"Get away from me." Jesse said in a quiet tone.

"Oh," the Doctor let go and sagged his head and arms.

Jeremy followed Jesse to the bar. Jesse made a drink for himself. He nodded
to Jeremy. Jeremy nodded. Jesse made a drink for himself. Jeremy nodded to
the sagging Doctor. "If anyone would understand, should understand..."
Jesse screwed up his mouth. He then nodded and poured a drink for the
Doctor. He held it out to the Doctor.

"Is there aspirin in it? To kill me, I mean?"

"No, I was saving it for you for tonight to thank you for saving us time
and time again. Mostly from the Grindr aliens and the time tunnel monster
and the Rani and the..."

"I got it," the Doctor took the glass. He sipped it. "Mmmm. Good. Where'd
you get it?"

"From behind one of the roundels in the TARDIS..."

The Doctor spat some out. "That's been there for...oh, what the heck. It
still tastes good."

"I found you. Doctor, Doctor!" Jim came running in.

"Oh, not this guy," Jesse moaned. "Not now..."

"Doctor," Jim lurched up to the Doctor and made the Doctor spill his
drink. "You...you gotta help me. I was diagnosed on...I forgot when. Doc, I
have AIDS...I got AIDS. Full blown..."

"I...what do you want me to do? Jim, I'm sorry...I..."

"Doctor," Jeremy stepped forward. Jim looked like shit. "He looks like
shit."

"I know but..." the Doctor shrugged. "Maybe if he was here tonight...but he
avoided it...I even tried to get him to come."

"I'm sorry I ignored your calls. I thought you heard. No real secrets in
this gay community."

Putting his drink down, Jesse came around the bar...

Jeremy and the Doctor thought Jesse was going to kick Jim out but...

Jesse sat Jim on a bar stool. "Tell us..."

Jim told how he used to have unprotected sex. With a lot of guys. "I once
grabbed a kid in a bathroom stall in here and grabbed him by his shirt and
lifted it and told him, "you have red hair" and he said, "Yeah," and I
kissed him right there in the bathroom. What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing," the Doctor said. "You like sex."

"Another kid I gave cigarettes to and money to. He always wanted
something. He gave me good sex. He rode my dick. I never got fucked but I
fucked. How could this happen?"

"Jim, lots of people warned you, including Gary and Roger."

"I can't find them. I called them but they didn't answer me."

The Doctor wanted to tell him, "How does it feel?" But he kept that in.

"What am I gonna do?" Jim put his head in his hands.

Greyson came over. "Doctor, what about that AIDS cure you..."

The Doctor went wide eyed and shook his head no.

Jeremy and Jesse were wide eyed too.

Jesse shrugged. "Hey, yeah, why not?"

"Oh. It...oh. All right. All right." The Doctor sighed. "Jim. I might just
have something..." He reached into his deep pockets on his jacket. "Take
two of these and call me in the morning."

Jim snatched the bottle up.

"Jim. Just two," the Doctor said and pointed.

"Thank you," Jim said over and over and over again as he grabbed at the
Doctor's shoulders.

"All righty then," the Doctor gasped as Jim held on and then slid down the
Doctor's body, sobbing. Jim's face found the Doctor's crotch. He seemed to
try to suck it through clothes.

"All right, then, is right," Jeremy took Jim off the Doctor, "That's
enough."

"Will you take him to his car?" The Doctor pointed to the door. "The nice
one. It's the nice one outside. Camaro or something. I don't care."

As they reached the door, Jim turned around and said, "Thank you. Thank you
for forgiving me."

The Doctor shook as he nodded. He reached for his drink as Jeremy took Jim
out. He drank it slowly. Greyson put a hand on the Doctor's arm. "Doctor,
if Bay and Dan turned into monsters from that alien cure you gave them for
AIDS, what about Jim?"

"Hope for the best," the Doctor said. "He might not be immune to it and
maybe it will cure him."

"Might that not change time?"

"Ahh. Who'd believe him? The traces of it after a cure are minor. No one
will be able to detect it unless they're very, very good. Or they're the
Master. Chances of either are slim. I just hope he doesn't turn into a
monster."

"He already is one," Jesse added.

"People can change," the Doctor said. "I've done it meself a few thousand
times." He downed the rest of his drink in one lift.

As Jeremy returned, he heard the Doctor ask Jesse, "Are you ever going to
forgive me?"

Jesse stared.


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