Date: Tue, 03 Jul 2007 16:27:57 -0400
From: J
Subject: DOCTOR WHO, JESSE AND JEREMY 69

Jesse breaks the fourth wall, "Ha ha, hee hee, snigger snigger, huh, that
said 69. Get it, 69?"

Jeremy pulls him, "Hey what are you doing breaking the fourth wall. Didn't
the Doctor ask you not to do that?!"

"Yeah but he's not here, is he? So what's he gonna do about it?"

"Shut up!"

"Nice number, though...whoa, don't pull so hard!  69, heehehe, yeah yeah!"

"Grow up!"

"This from Peter Pan!"

"I was an actor who played Peter Pan, there's a difference, schmuck!"

"Oh, yeah, right!"

It is late afternoon as Collinwood stands illuminated in the summer sun,
looking dark even at this time of the year. The darkness is brought out
even more as the sun stands behind the mansion on the great estate...

"My name is Jeremy Sumpter. I and my friend and lover Jesse McCartney now
live in what the townspeople, here in Maine, say is slightly haunted. The
pair of us are trapped in the past, in the year 1976. We've been here for a
day and a half and already we've been followed and warned by several
ghosts, stuck in an old part of the Collinwood mansion with specters,
threatened at sword point by a man who is apparently over 106 years old and
doesn't look a day over 35, old I know but not as old as 106, and we've
been nearly drowned supernaturally. I'd say that's more than a slightly
haunted house!"

"Will you get to the..."

"Oh, you have to say it..."

"Oh, for Pete's sake! My name is Jesse McCartney. To get to the point,
Jeremy and I are in the year 1976, just days before the 4th of
July...living in a house with a crazy family and a lot of
ghosts...something strange is going on here and it's hampering our search
to find the Doctor, who may be regenerated into someone or something we
can't recognize...our new friend, a wizard named David invited us to live
here as long as we'd like...and he's one of the Collins family, who are
giving a party tonight of all the guests who are staying here since the
Collinsport's hotel is overbooked...a party where we both hope, perhaps
foolishly, to find the Doctor, hoping against hope that he managed to land
here in the same time and place as we did... this hope, like the rest of
the guests may just soon DIE..."

It was about five forty five pm, when the two descended the steps to the
drawing room.  They heard the sounds of many people and could trace it to
the drawing room.

Not unlike Rodney Dangerfield, Jesse tugged at the collar of his suit which
irritated his neck as it chafed, "I feel like bleeding, bloody, blond,
Americanized James Bond."

Carolyn, dressed in a formal skirt, opened the doors more fully, "Oh, come
on in, you two, this house isn't all doom and gloom you know..."

As they stepped inside, Jeremy took in the sheer numbers of guests and
didn't look at Jesse as he said, "Don't be surprised if the real James Bond
is here. I mean...well, everyone else is..."  Jeremy spread out his arms to
take in the whole room...

Inside and in various stages of mingling were over fifty people...

At the party were David Bruce Banner (age 42) and his wife. The wife looked
a great deal like Angelique.  John Drake, a former secret agent, aged 48,
he had escaped some time ago from a penal colony called the
Village. Richard Kimble now 45 and his wife Jean Carlise, age 38. They had
several kids they were running around looking after. The man seemed to be
turning gray but he seemed guarded but happy. He had been on the run for
about five and a half years as a fugitive, falsely convicted for the murder
of his wife. Also there was the heavy set, Timothy Elliot Stokes, 49.
Maggie Evans, a petite, brunette, smiling but also guarded about this house
and her age---31--- and with her new husband, Joe Haskell, age 35. There
were also some older people there. 54 year old Alexander O'Connell, son of
the couple that destroyed the Mummy. There was an FBI agent, Frank Black,
aged 29. Serious faced, po faced even. And a very, tall, Doctor-esque woman
would turn out to be Penelope Halliwell age 47 and holding a baby of 8
months, named Phoebe. Burke Devlin was also there, a good looking but older
man, possibly in his early 60s. A younger man was at his side---
stockbroker Daryl Devlin, a British cousin of Burke's. Daryl had angular
sloping shoulders, curly long hair, and sharp nose but chiseled chin, not
fat but not skinny either. He was most handsome and wearing a sharp brown
suit and tie. They would later find out more about Carl Kolchak, age 54,
than they cared to know. Born in NY, NY to Janos and Fanny, his real name
is Karel Michail Kolchak born Oct 31, 1922. Janos is the same name as the
vampire that Carl killed in 1971. Carl was looking for a vampire here.
They also met Jonathan age 46 and Jennifer Hart age 38 here with their dog
Freeway. Max, their Man Friday was at their side. Max seemed to be one of
the oldest in the room at age 68.

Jesse gasped, and quietly whispered, "Any one of them might be the Doctor."

"Keep your eyes on their eyes. Looking into their eyes might help us detect
the Doctor."

"Cock..."

"Yes, always..."

"...tail."

Jesse took the drink off the tray of one of the hottest waiters, "Yeah,
sometimes."  He took a sip.

Jeremy took the drink from him and put it on a passing tray held by a hot
waiter. "We need to be alert..."

"I'm always alert..."

"Yeah," Jeremy smiled and said in a semi sarcastic manner. Jesse watched
him as he walked away and frowned. Jeremy moved to the longest couch and
saw a man hunched over, a small bit of food on a toothpick in his hand. The
man seemed preoccupied, lost in his own thoughts. Very Doctor-ish, Jeremy
thought. "Maybe I'll hit a home run on the first try."

The man stirred, "Uh, huh? You play...uh, ball?"

Jeremy was startled the man noticed him first and put his hand out, "A
bit. Actually, I starred in...I mean I want to star in a TV show about
baseball. I'm...I'm an...I mean I'm going to be an actor..."

"Frank Black," the man said, his voice grave and gravel-like. "It hopes to
have dreams."

Jeremy looked into his eyes. They were blue gray. His hair which was
slicked back and black, had a touch of gray in them already. Even though
the man was probably only just 30 or even in his late ...very late 20's,
Jeremy thought.  "Jeremy S..."  he thought better of telling anyone his
last name. Stuck in a past time, that might create problems if someone made
connections. And this man looked...smart in that way. "I'm a friend of
David's..."

"Maybe we could throw a ball around some time," Frank forced a smile.

"I'd like that," Jeremy said, "Plan to stay longer than the fourth of
July?"

"Maybe," the man blinked and shrugged a bit, "I'm here for a rest before
amp-ing up my new training."

"What do you do?"  Jeremy asked innocently.

"Pretty top secret stuff."

Jeremy stiffened. He had been exploring the man's eyes, soaring into them
with his own eyes.

"Oh, it's just a joke," Frank smiled, then dropped it. "I work in the FBI."

Jeremy's stiffening didn't drop. The Doctor wouldn't be doing that. This
man, while having some of the brooding characteristics of the Doctor was
also far removed from some of the Doctor's lighter moments and
temperament. "Are you...are you supposed to tell me that?"  Jeremy looked
around.

Frank laughed, "Well, you don't look like a terrorist..."

"What?"  While terrorism was a common fear in 2007, in 1976, it wasn't that
prevalent, at least not in the US. Jeremy gulped, "Is that what ..."  he
sat down next to Frank Black, who bristled at the closeness. Perhaps,
Jeremy wondered, I sat too close to him?  "...is that what you do?"

"No, well, not yet. There's always the fear the IRA might come here or
target America but it's hardly likely. Seems like..."  Frank ate the
or-durb on the toothpick. "...that war will go on forever..."

Jeremy couldn't tell him that in his time, that war, between the Catholics
and Protestants, or between Irish State and England Ruled, would
end. Another war, far from Frank's mind at this time, would loom large in
the 2000s. "You might be surprised," Jeremy said, "Human beings can stop
wars..."

"While starting others?"

"Hmmm?"

"That seemed to be what you were thinking..."

"Do you read minds, sir?"

"My father's sir. I'm just Frank to you, kid."

Jeremy smiled, "Have any kids of your own?"

"Not yet," Frank said, "But I hope too."

"A wife too I suppose?"  Jeremy fished.

"Yes, and a big yellow house to live in, safe from all," Frank blinked and
stared away again.

Boy, this really wasn't the Doctor. Jeremy wanted to stay and chat with
Frank all day...he seemed really interesting but he knew he had to move on
if he were to investigate whether or not the others in the room were the
Doctor. "Sounds great," Jeremy said, "For some. So what is this new
training they have you up for?"

"Well, with the rise of ...and I don't mean to scare you...but there's been
an increase, ever so slightly, in serial killings."

"And..."

"You don't seem surprised by that at all. Most people don't even know what
serial killings are..."

"Oh, I...ahh, I read a lot," Jeremy flustered. He swallowed. "I'm glad that
there're guys out there like you stopping guys out there like them."

"Yeah, me, too," Frank smiled, "Now, if I could just meet the right
girl..."  He smiled again. Must be a record for this guy, Jeremy thought.

"Will you excuse me, I'm going to see if my friend, if David needs me to
help him with anything...Nice meeting you, maybe we can throw around that
ball some time..."

"I'd like that," Frank nodded, absent in thought about the boy who was
leaving him so suddenly. Frank stared after Jeremy.

Jeremy moved away. This was hard work. He wondered if he remembered reading
something about that Frank Black in the newspapers but if he had it was
buried in the back of his mind.

After trying a few more people, Jeremy returned to Jesse. "Anything?"

"No, I talked to a guy over there, name of Richard Kimble. Nervous dude. He
seemed to think I might be a cop or something. Me, looking this young. What
am I from 21 Jumpstreet? Anyway, he's happily married and all. Lotsa kids."

"I think he was once accused of killing his wife."

"Yeah, she's with him. Told me the whole story. I remember hearing about
that on the net. What about you?"

"I don't know. I found this guy named Drake. He just broke out of some spy
Village or something. He says if he's in lots of rooms with lots of people,
they won't be able to get him back there. If it still exists. He thinks he
blew it up or something. Somewhere off the coast of Scotland or somewhere."

"Jeremy, there sure are a lot of strange people in this room."

"Most of em are pretty nice," Jeremy said.

A foxy stud waiter passed by with a plate. Jesse took a drink off the foxy
stud's plate and downed it. David Collin's came between them.

David asked, "Anyone?"

"Not yet," Jeremy answered, his eyes still scanning the crowd.

"I think Jesse and I would have better luck if we stay split up."

"Hope it's not the red head splitting us up," Jesse said and smiled.

The other two did not smile. David frowned, "Try not to make a scene. Aunt
Elizabeth doesn't like scenes in crowds."

"Kinda diva Hollywood-ish type, huh? Like Joan Blondell or Joan Bennett?"

"Shut up and remember to get a good look at their eyes."  Jeremy reminded
him.

"As if that's gonna help us really tell? Not exactly scientific, is it?"

David chimed in, "It could be. They say the eyes are the window to the
soul..."

"It's all we've got right now. Come on," Jeremy nodded and moved off.

David shrugged, "It's what they say..."

David followed Jeremy as Jesse said, "Ah, ha ha, hah ha. Who's they, is
what I wanna know, who is they?"

"Weenie?"

"Always," Jesse said, before turning to see where that question came
from. He stared at the tray of little frankfurters. "of course where I cum
from and to, they're a bit bigger..."

"Would sir like that I get him a larger weenie?"

Jesse bit into a small frank, "No, I have one that's large enough, thanks."

The hot guy moved away. Jeremy returned, "And remember to watch the gay
jokes, okay? This is only 1976."

Before Jesse could answer, Jeremy moved off again, to talk to another
suspect.

Jesse had moved over to some good looking people. Two seemed to be in their
early 40s but looked younger. One was a beautiful young woman with blond
hair and the most engrossing, bewitching eyes anyone had ever seen. Jesse,
if he had not been gay, mused he'd like to get lost in them. He examined
them. "Doctor?"

"Oh," the woman laughed and even her laugh seemed bewitching. "Not
me. That's my husband, Dr. David Banner..."

"Oh, stop it," David said. He was soft spoken and Jesse smiled as he
detected that this man loved this woman so very much.  "I'm not so much a
show off as my wife is, yes, I'm David Bruce Banner..."

Jesse's eyes went wide. He recalled reading about this man in the papers a
few years back. He had been cured of some affliction that turned him into a
giant green raging Hulk. He always had a fondness for the reports the
monster seemed to spur. Someone was always saved or had their lives turned
around in a good way by the creature. "Jesse...Mc...McDonald..."

"Not of THE McDonalds?"  The wife said.

"Oh, no," Jesse laughed. "Afraid I'm not really rich in this...at that
time. I'm just staying here at my friend's house. His name is David, too."

"Ahh, yes, David Collins," the wife said, "I see that the name David's in
vogue here in Collinsport."  She was most jovial and happy.

Jesse wondered, if this were the Doctor, this woman. How could it be? The
Doctor he loved so much, was so obviously homosexual, if he had changed
that much...he stared into her eyes. "Yeah, I like the name David...you're
...I think the caretaker of the grounds has a son David, we just call him
Dee to stop all the confusion...I mean he's a David, you're a David, David
Collin's a David..."

A younger man, barely 18, jet black hair, great eyes, a lean, slim body,
and a bit taller than Jesse, came to them from the corner, holding of all
things, a glass of milk. "I'm a Dick..."

Jesse stammered, "What? I'm sure you're not all that bad..."  He tried to
hide his obvious fascination with the new man's beauty.  He stared deeply
into deep light blue eyes. The man shook his hand. "Although, I'm sure you
have one..."  he added more quietly.

"No, stupid, that's my name, Dick Grayson," the man shook his hand with
vigor.

Now, Jesse thought, this one is definitely gay. He found the man to be
decidedly rugged, despite his pretty boy looks and obviously worked out on
body. And probably too macho to be the Doctor. The hyper-ness fit
though. "Dick..."

"You can call me that. Everybody I like does," Dick said, "I'm on break
from college so I'd thought I'd spend some time here. It seems relaxing
enough and besides, I hear the place..."  he leaned in to the trio, "Has a
number of mysteries and boy, I love a mystery."

Doctor? Loves mysteries. Check.

Hyper. Check.

Sizzling hot like the Doc? Check.

Ready for action? Check.

Clothes: very campy. Sporty tennis shirt, white; yellow shorts, very geeky
looking shorts; scarf tried around: CHECK. Doctor and Scarves: just
automatically check. Even though his Doctor didn't wear scarves all the
time or hardly at all, he remembered images he'd seen from K9 and TARDIS's
banks. Most of the Doctors wore scarves at one time or another and some of
them wore them all the time, especially that one with the floppy hat and
long brown jackets. This Dick had great muscled legs, Jesse looked him up
and down and detected a bulge dead center of the shorts.

Eye test. He just seemed TOO youthful to be a 2000 plus or was that a 4000
plus Time Lord.

Banner's wife asked, "Where are from?"

"Gotham City, originally but...."

Robin. This guy's Robin. Jesse wanted to shout it out. He'd have to ask
Jeremy if they could be in some kind of parallel universe. As far as he
knew, their universe had a David Banner and a Hulk but not a Gotham City
and a real Robin the boy wonder, let alone a Batman. He made small talk
with them but as he tried to leave them, Dick kept talking him up.

Banner and his wife left the area to go talk to Carl Kolchak, excusing
themselves politely. Jesse smiled at Dick, wanting to stay with him all day
and night but he knew he had to find the Doctor.  He wondered if that
mission could wait. In the end, and he wanted it in his end..he told Dick
he'd see him later and he moved on. But he was more confused now than ever.

"Maybe we can get together sometime if you ever get to Gotham City," Dick
repeated.

"I detect some sense of restlessness," Jesse smiled and put a hand to a
stray hair that was bothering him. His own stray hair. Not that he wasn't
tempted to run his fingers through this hot boy's jet black strands.

"Yeah, I still haven't found myself really. Where're you from?"

"Oh, originally? New York City, thereabouts."  Jesse smiled, "You're pretty
young, you'll..."

"Same age as you..."  Dick laughed.

"Listen," Jesse said, "Let's not get into my age."

"That's not all I wanna get into."

"Dick, why we just met and..."

"Oh, I was just...I might be moving to New York some time soon..."

"Oh yeah?"  Jesse tried to sound interested...not that he was
disinterested...he just couldn't focus or give this guy the undivided
attention Jesse was sure the wonder boy deserved. And Jesse was sure Dick's
move was because Jesse lived there. "Why?"

"I might have an important leadership job set up there."

"Dick, that's great..." Jesse touched his shoulder and Dick winced.  "I'm
sorry..."

"Oh, it's nothing. I was shot recently...."  Dick shrugged it off.

Jesse could tell this was not something Dick had totally been successful at
shrugging off. "What happened?"  Probably some super villain shot him,
Jesse thought.  "Were you mugged?"

"Yeah, just some Joker."

Jesse looked concerned.

"Oh, stop. It's nothing. I've been hurt much worse than that..."  Dick
swallowed. Then he realized he had too much. "But the scars will heal but
the mental scars will stay with me for the rest of my life."  Not
untrue. Batman had deemed life as a crime fighting boy too dangerous for
Robin and disallowed Dick to stay on as Robin.

"You're not really on break from college are you?"

"Recovering from my attack."

"More to it than that."

"Seems you are as perspective as you appear to be."  Dick looked down and
then directly into Jesse's eyes. "You...no, I, ahhh, I tried college for a
few months. Hudson U."  He shook his head, "Wanted to be a lawyer or
something. Maybe become ambassador to South Africa, I mean that's where all
the trouble is right now."

"Yeah, sounds like a good plan but..."  Jesse dipped his body when he said
the word, "But..."  And smiled again.

"But it was just, books and stuff are really cool but...I just like action,
you know. I want some movement to go along with those books."

"I guess I know what you mean," Jesse nodded and then looked as Jeremy
moved to Jonathan Hart and Jennifer Hart. "I'm sure...you will find your
thing."

"Speaking of things, hear of the weird stuff that goes on here?"

"Giant bats and all that? Witches? Yeah a bit. Probably just some stray
vampire bats up here from Mexico, you know on the wings of the
night. Nightwings, you know."  Jesse raised the left side of his mouth. Of
course, Dick wouldn't know Jesse's joke about his next persona Nightwing,
as he hadn't decided to become Nightwing. Jesse figured Dick wasn't too far
off becoming leader of the Teen Titans in New York and beyond that in the
future, becoming Nightwing.

"Cool name."

"Yeah, I thought you'd like it."  Jesse spotted the Hart's chauffeur and
Man Friday Max moving away from them toward an older woman who held a baby
girl.  "Look, I have to make sure David's aunt's guests are okay and no one
needs anything."

"You a servant?"

"No, but you know, good help is hard to find."

Dick leaned in on Jesse's shoulder and whispered, "But they are foxy
enough..."

Good heavens, Jesse thought. A gay Robin. On his shoulder. And he had to
walk away. Jesse winked, "That they are. Look, if you're ever in New York
City...look me up in the future..."

"I'll look you up in the future...Jesse McDonald..."

"Uhh, yeah," Jesse said, "Maybe I'll try to contact you in the future,
Rob."

"Uhh, my name..."

"I know. Dick just doesn't suit you, you know..."

"If you saw me in the buff..."

"I'd love to but we have to be careful about that sorta thing."

"Okay," Dick whispered. "I'm used to hiding my real identity."

"There might come a day when we don't have to."  Jesse patted Dick on the
shoulder and said, "See you later, chum."

"Later," Dick stared after Jesse.

Jeremy had moved over to a good looking older gentleman. This man was
dressed in a formal business suit. He could be the Doctor. Good
looking. "Excuse me, I don't think we've met."

"Jonathan Hart," he put his hand to shake Jeremy's.

Definitely Doctor-ish. Determined. Old but young. Jeremy tried to look him
in the eyes but the man kept straining to see through the crowed. Absent
minded? Certainly the Doctor could be that but this man seemed to be less
so. "Looking for someone?"

"My dog..."

"Is he ..."  Jeremy wanted to answer if the dog was made of
metal...K9. "...lost?"

"Oh Darling, I found him."  A beautiful redhead female joined them, holding
a scruffy but very cute and small dog in her arms.

"Great, darling."

Jeremy faked a smile at the pretty woman but his hopes were dashed. Most
likely the Doctor would still be gay. Or would he?  "I'm a friend of David
Collin's. My friend and I are staying with him while we...we're between
jobs..."

"Are you looking for work?"  Jonathan asked.



Elsewhere in the room, near an old wood paneled wall, Jesse feigned a bump
into Max, "Oh, excuse me..."

"T'is okay, young man," the well dressed Man Friday turned to him, "Not a
problem."

Jesse noted the cigar, the gravelly voice, a Bronx accent, and the great
blue gray eyes. This man was old, too. But he knew the Doctor, in any of
his forms, just would not smoke. Anything except man meat between some
hunk's legs. "I'm a friend of David Collin's. Need anything?"

The tall statuesque brunette woman, who held a baby, smiled at him, "I'd
like a map."

"A...a map?"

"Yes to prove to this man here," the woman said, "My theory of the lay
lines."

Jesse waved away some smoke, "Lay lines?"

Max smiled, "Yeah, this really dainty, really classy lady here..."

"Well, thank you, Max..."

"You're welcome..."

"She thinks most of the guests here came because they were lured..."

Jesse's eyes showed deep interest. The woman saw it. "I'm sorry, you do
believe such things, don't you?"

Jesse tried to show disinterest, nodding his head, "Oh, no, I,
ahhh...what's your name, Miss?"

The woman eyed him suspiciously. "Penelope Halliwell but my friends..."
she eyed Max...  "Call me Penny."

As Max kissed her hand, "May I?"....Jesse played with the baby, making
faces to make her laugh.

"And this is?"

"My grand daughter. Little Phoebe. She was born not too long ago."

"She looks about eight months old."

"Why, Jesse, you have a good sense of how old someone is..."

"Oh, that's just..."  Jesse smiled at the smiling baby girl, "My good sense
of time...and I don't remember telling you my name..."

Penny winked. "Frankly, I came here to expose Phoebe to the lay lines. But
I was hoping for something a bit more private. I didn't realize there'd be
so many people here."

Max spoke in that great gravel voice. "Even on Fourth of July?"

"Frankly, yes. The town is not known for its tourism any longer. Other
things, supernatural things...."

"And you wanted your grand daughter to be a part of that?"  Jesse asked.

"Yes, of course. Not all supernatural things are evil or negative, you
know."

"Yes, I do know."

Max chimed in, "Well, I for one, believe in none of it."

"Shame," Penelope stated, "You seemed like a good catch."  She
laughed. Jesse looked around the baby to get at eye level with the grand
mother.  Now, SHE could be the Doctor. He stared deeply. "Young man? Young
man?"  She had to say this a few times to get him to stop his staring. "Are
you alright?"

"Yes," Jesse blinked, and blinked himself clear. "You just have the most
...beautiful eyes."

Max laughed, "I do believe he's trying to chat you up."

"What?"  Jesse blinked again, "Oh. Oh. No. No, not really...not that I
wouldn't like too, of course..."

"But you have others...on your mind."  Penelope smiled, "I fully
understand."

And Jesse was convinced that Penelope not only knew he was gay but also
knew, somehow, that he had traveled in time. "Thanks," Jesse said, "Sorry,
I stared...it was rude."

"I'm quite flattered that you would think I was this person...the person
who would...reciprocate those stares..."  Penelope said, "You like
older...people..."

Jesse thought: if only you knew how much older. Like 4000 years. "Uhh,
yeah..."

Max laughed, "At my age..."  the sound of rocks in his throat, "There ain't
many women older than me."  He laughed. Penelope laughed along but kept
looking at Jesse. Jesse laughed but nervously.

"Max, you're not that old," Penny giggled.

"Only about 68," Jesse said and the other two stared at him. "Uh, yeah,
I'll go mingle some more. Nice to meet you two..."  he put his hand on
Phoebe's. "Bye, bye baby. Nice meeting you."  Jesse winked and moved off.

"What a strange kid," Max said.

Penny shrugged, "I quite liked him. Besides, I've seen stranger."

"I bet you have," Max smiled.

Jesse went behind Jeremy, who was near Jonathan Hart. "How's it going?"

Jeremy introduced him to Jonathan and Jennifer, who held a little
dog. "Freeway was a bad dog. He was not supposed to come down with us."

"Love will find a way," Jeremy offered up.

Jon looked at Jennifer and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Too true."

"Mr. Hart just offered me up a job," Jeremy said, "In case my acting
doesn't work out in the future."

Jesse whispered, "Yeah, in 32 years time, I know for a fact that his
businesses have more than multiplied five times over."

"Shh," Jeremy said, "We thought you might be a doctor..."

"No, no, doctorate," Jonathan smiled, "But didn't need that to make money."

"Darling."

"I'm sorry, that sounded so...so..."

Raising his eyebrows, Jesse piped up, "Rich?"

"Well, now that you mention it, yes, yes, it did."  Jonathan said, "But
you're a delightful young man, Jeremy and I'm sure you are, as well Jesse."

Jennifer petted the dog on the head and then the back, "Jonathan's usually
not so self indulged..."

"Of course, I am, honey," Jonathan smiled at her and put a hand on her
chin. "It's how I became so rich."  He kissed her again. He had a way of
saying these things in a manner that made him seem totally friendly and
happy. He was sort of the average man's rich friend. The way he said what
he did was not off putting but made them like him even more. And the man
certainly loved his wife. He was kissing her right in front of both Jeremy
and Jesse.

"He can't be the Doctor," Jesse whispered over Jeremy's shoulder, leaning
closer to him.

"Oh why?"

 Jesse put both hands out and palms up, pointed them at the Harts, who were
kissing again.

"We have to go get Freeway upstairs," Jennifer said.

"Yup," Jonathan said, "That's exactly why we have to get ourselves
upstairs. Yes, that's it."  Before he followed his wife out, he stopped and
she stopped in front of him, as if they were one. Either of them could be
contenders for the Doctor. "Oh, nice meeting you," he put out to Jeremy and
quickly added, "Both. You have my card. If either of you ever want for
work, I could use too enterprising young men in my company. We train you
after you leave school. I like to get them young..."

Jennifer put a hand to her mouth to block what she said to the boys from
Jonathan, "He certainly did with me."

Jeremy laughed. The couple left with their dog and Max left Penny's side to
go with them.  Jesse shrugged, "They seem nice."

"They are," Jeremy said.

Jesse took another drink off a passing plate. As he drank, he said, "Let's
face it. This is useless and hopeless..."

"No, it's not..."

"There's so many people here...and all of them might be here because of
what Ms. Halliwell calls the lay lines. Lured here supernaturally by these
invisible energy rays...they don't even know it. Driven to see strange
things. Just like the Doctor. I mean, for Pete's sake, I met like four
superheroes. Including that hunk Robin. And I'm not surprised Kyle fucking
XY isn't here, too."

"He's over there," Jeremy pointed.

Jesse nearly spat his entire drink up and some did spat out.  "What?"

"Well, not really. The guy who was the master copy. Kyle was a clone. I met
the guy who clones himself and makes Kyle and a few others. I think his
name was Baylin or something..."

"Fuck me."

"Love too."  Jeremy puffed, "Listen, you can go back to our room if you
want to. You've done enough. For now, if you wanna give up for the moment,
you can. I...I have to stay here and keep looking."

Jesse put a hand on Jeremy's hand, "I'll stay. And hope."

Jeremy whispered, "I love you."

"Ditto."

"Ghost."

"Have you seen another one?"  David came up to them.

"No, it's a movie," Jeremy said.

"In our time," Jesse shrugged, "Well, more like the late 80s I think."

"Who else did you meet?"

"Your friends Maggie and Joe Haskell, happily out of the asylum Wind cliff,
was it? And married now. Not the Doctor, either of them."  Jesse
frowned. "I don't think he's gonna be a part of a couple."

David nodded, "Wishful thinking?"

"I met Professor Elliott Stokes."  Jeremy put in, "Nice guy and my top
candidate for Doctor..."

"But?"

"I don't think so. He's very intelligent though. And he seems to see more
than just our world around us. Deeper as if he's been to other realms but I
don't think it's him, the Doctor, I mean."

Jesse finished his drink, "Okay, so, what's our next move? We keep working
the room?"

David nodded, "From what you told me, there's only a few people left. Carl
Kolchak. Who's talking to Dr. Banner and his wife. His wife..."

"What about her?"  Jeremy wondered.

"She reminds me of my step mother. The evil witch Cassandra. Cept Cassandra
had black hair."

"Could be a wig."  Jeremy guessed. "You think she might be a ...a witch?"

"Cassandra was really an much more evil witch named Angelique..."

"Is she the one you told us about earlier?"  Jesse put his drink onto a
passing waiter's plate.

"A bit about, yeah," David said, thinking of past horrors.

Jesse clicked his fingers in front of David's eyes to snap him back to the
present. "David, c'mon, don't wimp out on us now."

"Huh? Oh, oh, no."  David smiled, "And I think neither of you spoke to
Daryl Devlin. He's new in town I think. Or rather I think he's been around
a few times. He's Burke Devlin's cousin..."

"He's hot," Jesse said as David pointed him out.

"From England," David added.

"I bet he's the one. He must be the Doctor..."  Jesse put forward.

"Oh but there's another guy from England here, too. That blond guy over
there. Alexander O'Connell. 54. Adventurer. Claims he stopped a mummy or
two once."  David looked at them.

"Okay, I'll take the cousin," Jeremy stated, "Jesse, you take the
adventurer...and David, talk to that Kolchak guy...but be careful, he's a
famous reporter in our time...we'll meet at the one we stay with the
longest..."



TBC