Like Father Like Daughter
By: Cora
Chapter 1
The TARDIS lurched and sputtered to a halt as the tall, skinny doctor grinned, adjusting his tie and smoothing out his brown pinstriped suit. "We're stoppin' here are we? Thought I set you to New Delhi... I was in the mood for a curry. Real authentic one! Oh well, whatcha got in store for me this time, you sexy thing?" There was one positive for traveling on his own. He could at least talk to his beloved time and space-traveling machine in any way he pleased.
However, he wasn't one for standing around and talking to the machine, no matter how sexy. She brought him there, wherever they were, and there was obviously a job to be done. He checked the screen, decided to leave his trenchcoat in the TARDIS, grabbed his trusty sonic-screwdriver, and opened the doors to paradise.
"Waimanalo, Hawaii!" he announced to no one in particular. The TARDIS had landed on a beach with sand soft enough to make the Doctor kneel down to take off his white Converse and socks. As he undid the laces, he looked out over the bright blue-green Pacific, waves crashing into the mountain of an island far out into sea. The tide-pool in front of him was much calmer with a large square rock just barely above the water, closer to shore. Letting his eyes adjust to the sunlight, he noticed a sun-kissed brunette, laying on the big square rock in a bright yellow two-piece and aviator sunglasses, seemingly undisturbed by the sound of the TARDIS. He was about to call to her, maybe introduce himself so as not to startle her, when he heard a snarl coming from behind him.
The Doctor darted around, jumping up and leaving his shoes in the sand. A new pair of Converse were only a quick trip to the discount merchandise satellite off Margadh, but new limbs weren't as accessible, even for him. "Nice doggies. I'm friendly. Not gonna hurt anyone. Honest! I usually do the saving thing. Well, usually. Much like you guys I'm sure...doggies?" They growled some more, baring their teeth. They were young, strong dobermans, and even for someone who had fought off Daleks more than a time or two, they were intimidating as hell. The Timelord slowly reached into his jacket for his sonic screwdriver, but wasn't slow enough. The dogs barked and were ready to pounce.
"Medusa! Pandora! Heel!" The dobermans retreated a bit, but stayed alert as the brunette jumped into the water and made her way to shore. "I would say I'm sorry about them, but they're doing their job..." she was trying to be intimidating, but wasn't nearly as good at it as the dogs.
"Yes well...about that...thank you...hi. I'm the Doctor," the Doctor grinned and stuck out a hand to shake and the girl just looked at it awkwardly. "Ah, hold on a tic." He carefully grabbed his shoes from under the dogs and disappeared back into the TARDIS.
The girl hadn't moved an inch when he returned with a towel. Of course, when he stuck out the towel for her to take she didn't even move to grab it. "You need a minute?"
"What the hell is that, who the hell are you, where did you come from, and what the hell is going on?!" She had permanent dimples, dark skin, and an obvious runner and swimmer's body. When she pushed her sunglasses up, her eyes matched the deep brown of her dark wet hair that hung to her belly button, and a black and gold Cross of Lorraine pendant hung around her neck.
"If you're up for an answer now," he tried handing her the towel again, still smiling, pointing behind him "That's the TARDIS, I'm the Doctor, from the TARDIS, and she landed here. And who might you be? Live here?"
She finally grabbed the towel and started squeezing the water from her hair. "Lily. What's a TARDIS, and Doctor...what...Higgins?" The British accent immediately made her think of the estates aging care taker.
"Higgins? No, just the Doctor. No second name. Though sometimes I do go by John Smith, but not normally. Just the Doctor. That's me. Lily you said your name was?"
She nodded, "Yeah, uh...Lily...Magnum. What's a TARDIS?"
"Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Takes you anywhere and anywhen you'd wanna go. Me, I was shootin' for India. Fancied a bit of curry, but instead the old girl brought me here. What year is it anyway?"
"You're kidding right?"
"Not that I know of."
"Um...'02."
"Century?"
"Twenty-first...?" she raised an eyebrow, simultaneously looking down at the dogs to make sure they were still on alert. "So forgetting that you think you traveled in that...thing," she motioned to the blue police box against the ivy-covered retaining wall, "who exactly let you in?"
"Like I said, just landed here. You ask a lot of questions, you realize that?"
"It's genetic." She threw the towel back to the tall, lanky, unwelcomed visitor and started up the stairs off the beach. "Come on girls," she called to the dogs.
The Doctor followed the dogs, feeling a bit silly for following when she said 'girls', but Lily managed to shut and lock the gate before he had the chance to get through. "Aw, come on! Lily! I'm a good guy! Honest!"
She didn't hear. She was already running up the stairs to the guest house and plowing through the door. "Dad? Dad!"
Thomas Magnum sat at the kitchen table, having a cup of coffee with Rick and T.C., talking about a case he'd picked up since he'd started his private investigating business again after his retirement from the Navy the previous August. "What's up Lil?"
She leaned on the railing, trying to catch her breath, "Uh...I don't...I don't know how to say...there's a...a...guy...beach...box..."
"Would saying it in French help?" Rick looked up at her and winked. Her dad still looked basically the same as he had the first day she'd met him when she was five, but Lily's 'Uncle' Rick had aged a bit less gracefully.
Lily hurried down to her room, added when Higgins, or supposedly Robin Masters, had the guesthouse remodeled for the small family shortly after her arrival to the states, and threw on a bright pink sundress over her swimsuit. "Very funny. Just...come on. Dad, bring your gun."
"Is it an ex booooooyfriend?" T.C., her other less-gracefully aging, slightly balding 'uncle' teased her as she ran back up to the door.
She was in a hurry, but still turned around once she got to the door to yell back down to the three guys, "I can barely speak French anymore, still don't have a boyfriend, and DAD! GUN! Let's go!"
"I'll be back guys," Thomas went to his room and grabbed his gun from its place in the nightstand, purposely neglecting to grab the magazine, and tucked it where he usually did, down the back of his pants.
"Dad!" Lily was growing impatient, but her dad finally came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Alright, what's going on, Sweetheart?" he reached around her and opened the door. Before she even had time to answer, however, the man who asked had his gun drawn on the Doctor who looked like he was only a fraction of a second away from knocking.
"What is it with Americans? Everyone's got a gun. Oh, but that's a nice mustache. I've been thinking about growing one of those, but I don't know how it would look. What do you think, Lily? From a woman's point of view." With the hand he was going to knock with, the young-looking man pushed the stunned private investigator's gun down, noticing the ring on his finger that matched the girl's necklace, and shook his other hand. "I'm the Doctor. I take it you're her father? Looks like it anyway. Gosh I'm chatty today. Must be the weather. It's beautiful out there."
Shutting the Timelord up, the girl just stuttered, "H-how did you? I locked the gate!"
"Sonic screwdriver." He held up the grey and blue gadget in his hand, "Works wonders for locks."
Seeing that he wasn't much of a threat to their immediate safety as maybe he was to their sanity, Magnum returned his unloaded gun to the back of his pants and folded his arms, "Who are you and how did you get on the estate?" he asked, keeping calm.
"Didn't I already say? I'm the Doctor. Had to tell her twice as well though," he motioned toward Lily. "Course she did say interrogation was in her genes."
"What are you doing here?" as her dad asked, Lily looked behind her to see that her two 'uncles' had joined them in the little entryway, up the stairs from the kitchen and living room.
"How'd you get on the property without Higgins noticing you?" Rick asked, joining the interrogation.
The Doctor ran his long fingers through his shaggy, messy hair, "To answer Mr. Mustache here, I'm not entirely sure, and to answer you, I landed here. Well, down there. On the beach." He looked down at his feet and wiggled his toes, "hence the lack of trainers."
"You landed here and Higgins didn't notice?" T.C. laughed, "What'd you land, a bubble?"
"No, the TARDIS. Rather surprised you didn't hear it though," he looked at the girl again, "kind of a herreeek noise, four times. Course I guess it does kinda sound like waves..." Everyone just stared at him. "Well...this is a tad awkward. I'm honestly just here because she decided to land here. I was aiming for India in 2007 for a curry when I ended up in Hawaii in 2002. She does that now and then. Usually means there's something here I'm supposed to do or someone I'm supposed to meet."
"Is a TARDIS a brand of chopper or something, T.C.?" Thomas asked the Veteran Vietnam helicopter pilot, keeping the Doctor in sight.
He shook his head and Lily spoke up, "It stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Supposedly it's a...time machine."
"And space," the Doctor interjected.
"And space," she added, correcting herself.
Rick and T.C. were both smirking by this point, but the girl's dad stayed a bit more serious. "You don't believe him?"
"Well..." she thought about the towel the Doctor had retrieved for her from inside the small blue box and the fact that he hadn't set off any alarms from getting on the property in a normal way. "I don't know..." There was something about him too. Granted he had to be crazy to be saying he was shooting for India, five years in the future, but aside from that he just seemed so honest and committed to doing what he was supposed to do, whether he really knew what that was or not. She'd never seen him before, and with a face like that she knew she'd remember. Even though, he seemed familiar.
Rick had pulled out his bulky Nokia cell phone, "Should I call the cops or not, Thomas?"
Magnum just looked at his little girl and back to the Doctor, "No. No, he's fine. Maybe."
The short guy with the 80's hairdo put his phone in his breast pocket to keep it close. Lily noticed the subtle gesture and bit her lip in frustration. "Maybe we'd be able to believe you more if we saw this...TARDIS...?"
"Well, I don't usually just show people all willy-nilly blippity bloppity, but I could show you as a sort of...thank you for trusting me." The Doctor looked at Lily, stuck his hands in his pockets, and shrugged, "If that'd be okay with Mr. Mustache that is."
"Thomas. And I'm coming with." He put his hands protectively on his daughter's shoulders.
"Dad, I'll be fine. I think he's alright," the brunette reached up and patted her dad's hand while the stranger nodded toward the three men with a small, reassuring smile, and headed back down toward the beach and his mysterious mode of transportation. He held on for a second more before letting her follow him.
As soon as she crossed the threshold, he was in his room, grabbing the magazine for his gun and running as fast as he could in his 30's toward the beach. He stopped when he saw the big blue box with the light on the top and used his private investigating, NIA skills to watch over his daughter without being noticed, even by the girl he'd taught to be maybe a little too observant.
Soon after, T.C., Rick, Medusa, and Pandora joined the worried father behind the ivy-covered fence, along with the now 82 year old Higgins who noticed the strange gathering and had to see what was going on. "That can't be..." Higgins whispered, barely audible.
Thomas shushed either the caretaker or the owner of the estate, he still wasn't sure. "What, Higgins? We have no idea how he got that thing on the beach."
"The TARDIS..."
All three men turned to look at their resident adventurer, "What?!"