Author's Notes: This is a little tribute to the 70th anniversary of John Lennon's birthday, which is today. And, incidentally, this is the first fic I'm posting here at . Hope you enjoy! :)
9 October 1940
"So, where do you want to go next?" the Doctor asked.
The TARDIS hummed slightly as he strode around the console, punching a key here, spinning a wheel there. Amy followed him, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.
"A planet," she stated, grinning.
He glanced at her. "Earth is a planet."
"Yeah, but you know what I mean," Amy said, rolling her eyes. "An alien planet. Full of... aliens and stuff." She made a puppy-eyed face. "Come on, gimme a planet!"
The Doctor chuckled. "All right, a planet it is, then."
He punched in more keys, pulled a lever, and the console room started to shake, filled with the familiar noise of the TARDIS dematerialising.
Amy clutched the railings for support. "Does it always have to be this bumpy?" she yelled at the Doctor over the noise.
"It's more fun this way!" he shouted back and grinned manically.
With a violent jerk, the TARDIS landed and Amy ran excitedly towards the door.
"Is it safe to go outside?" she asked, one hand on the door handle.
The Doctor was frowning at the screen. "Yes... no, hold on. This isn't right." He slapped the screen. "Nope, still not right."
Amy sighed impatiently. "Come on, Doctor, don't tell me you got it wrong again."
He strode past her and opened the door, peering out. It was night time, but somewhere there was a light flashing. He stepped outside, Amy following. They were standing in the middle of a deserted street; all the buildings around them had blacked out windows.
Suddenly, there was a wail of sirens and soon afterwards they heard planes flying overhead. There was an big explosion nearby that shook the ground beneath them.
"I thought we'd just left this place!" Amy shouted and cowered. "It's the London Blitz again!"
"No, this isn't London!" Doctor replied, looking around wildly. "We're somewhere in the North of England, by the looks of it." He sniffed the air. "Liverpool, actually. But yes, you're right, it's the World War Two again. The TARDIS must've picked up our last coordinates by mistake."
He glanced at his watch. "The ninth of October, nineteen-forty." His eyes narrowed. "Why is that familiar?"
Amy glared at him. "Some pilot you are," she said. "The whole wide Universe and you land us at the almost exact same spot as..."
She paused. A figure was hurrying down the road, seemingly ignorant of the roar of the planes above and the sound of bombs exploding near and far. One must have fallen quite nearby, because there was a deafening explosion and the ground shook again. The figure gave a small cry, stumbled and fell down.
"Amy, no, wait!" the Doctor hissed, but Amy was already hurrying towards the fallen figure, who turned out to be a small, dark-haired woman.
"Are you all right?" she asked, offering her hand.
The woman looked at her. "Yes, of course, I'm fine," she said curtly, and rather impatiently, but she took Amy's hand and pulled herself up. "Thank you very much for your help, but I'm rather in a hurry."
The Doctor joined them. "You shouldn't be outside, there's an air raid going on," he said.
The woman raised an eyebrow. "You're outside, too," she pointed out. "And I'm not just taking an evening stroll. I need to get to the hospital."
She motioned towards a large building at the end of the street and started walking briskly towards it. Amy and the Doctor followed.
"Is someone from your family wounded?" asked Amy.
"Don't be silly," snapped the woman. "It's the Maternity Hospital. My sister is giving birth. Hopefully I'll get there before it's all over..."
There was another explosion nearby and they all broke into run, ducking into doorways along the road to avoid flying shrapnel and debris. They reached the hospital within a few minutes.
The woman strode over to the reception desk. "My name is Mary Smith," she said sharply to the nurse sitting there. "I'm here to see my sister Julia. She is giving birth now. Julia Lennon."
The Doctor stopped dead and stared at the small, dark-haired woman, as she was lead down the hallway by a nurse. Amy frowned.
"Did she just say..." she asked.
"Yes," he replied, in an awestruck voice. "Mary Smith... Mimi... And it's the ninth of October... Oh, Amy, you definitely want to see this! Come on!"
He started down the hallway after the woman, but a tall, strict-looking nurse blocked his way.
"And where do you think you're going, young man?" she asked.
The Doctor took out his psychic paper and waved it at her impatiently. "I'm Dr. John Smith," he said, "and you'd better let me pass, because there's a very important birth going on."
The nurse was taken aback. "Of course, I'm sorry, Doctor," she apologised, stepping aside and letting them pass.
They hurried down the hallway, the Doctor peeking through the glass panels in the doors, trying to find the right ward. It turned out to be in the second hallway, almost at the end of it. The Doctor stopped in front of the door and motioned for Amy to come closer.
"Look," he whispered excitedly.
She peered inside through the glass panel. A young woman was lying in the bed, visibly exhausted by the recent birth. The woman called Mimi stood next to her bed, and in her arms she held a newborn baby wrapped in blankets.
"That baby," said the Doctor quietly, his eyes twinkling, "is John Winston Lennon. In twenty years, he and three mates of his will throw the entire country, into a mad screaming frenzy."
Amy stood there with her eyes wide and her mouth open. The Doctor grinned at her.
"John Lennon!" she whispered. "This is just... wow..."
Inside the ward, Mimi cradled little John, while Julia watched them, smiling weakly. Amy watched them in fascination.
"It's strange," she remarked after a while, "somehow Mimi looks more like his mother than his real Mum."
The Doctor nodded. "In a way, she was. She brought him up... will bring him up. His parents will separate when he's five years old, and Julia, his mother, simply won't be able to cope."
There was a sound of sirens again and the Doctor glanced at his watch.
"Come along, Pond, we should be going." He beamed at her. "Let's get you that planet."
~*~
Happy birthday, John. :)
