Bill Pott's Graduation, a doctor who fanfic

Graduation

Bill was making breakfast one morning with one thing on her mind: Graduation. The Doctor had been saying for past two weeks that July the fourth was Graduation Day.

Bill was both excited and nervous for today because she had no idea what this meant for her. Where were they going? What were they going to do? Where was this going to put her in life?

With The Doctor it was hard to tell. His grumpy persona wouldn't even give her a hint what the graduation ceremony involves.

After breakfast, she got dressed into her dark jeans and rainbow striped shirt. She left her apartment imagining what was expected of her. Was she going to have to do some ancient alien ritual? Was there going to be an audience? Was she going to wear a ceremonial gown? What was she going to have do?

By the time she was at the doorway to The Doctor's office she asked and guessed every answer she could think of in the universe. Before she went in she decided to put all those answers and questions away for now and just prepare for whatever awaited her.

As she opened the door, she saw The Doctor standing there holding what looked like a watch, maybe. Again knowing The Doctor it could a machine that grows plants. The Doctor gave Bill a smile and said "Welcome Bill, to your graduation." Bill couldn't help but be a little cautious, she was still a little nervous. The Doctor noticed this and said "You're nervous?"

"Yea, I don't know what this is for."

The Doctor nodded his head. "Fair enough. I wanted this to be surprise but maybe I should've at least dropped a hint."

"What is this for?"

He held up the pocket watch "This is a fog watch. Time Lords use it when they want to hide from their enemies. I even used one to hide once. Lived my life as a teacher named John Smith."

Obviously was going somewhere with this so Bill asked "And that the fog watch you used."

"No, it isn't mine. I found this watch… in your mother's bed room."

Bill stood there in shock. Eyes wide and mouth open.

"Hold on, you're not saying that my mom was-"

"I believe that your mother was Time Lord hiding from Time War."

"Um, wow." Bill needed a moment to process this new information so neither of them said anything for them said anything for ten minutes.

Bill broke the silence with "Do you know who she was?"

"No, but this fog watch carries everything your mother was, including her memories as a time lord… so if you want to find out todays is your chance."

"What do you mean?"

"I have a theory that we can pass on who she is to you. All you have to do is open the watch. That's why we're here today."

Bill was stunned.

"Uh- you want me to be a Time Lord?"

"Of course, it's your decision, but I believe you would make a great Time Lord."

This was the biggest decision of Bill's life. She had never thought of the idea of becoming a Time Lord. Why would she? She never even thought it possible; but now that she does have this opportunity…. She thinks about all the people she could save. The world's she could see and the journeys she could go on. But that's not the thing that matters to Bill, what really too her is the opportunity to know her mother.

"So what do you say?" She hears The Doctor say and she comes back to reality.

She gives The Doctor a smile and says "Okay, let's do it."

"Great! We're not doing it here though."

"Where are we going?"

"Galifrey."

As the Tardis landed on in the catacombs of Galifrey, The Doctor was praying that the Time Lords hadn't beefed up security since his last visit. It had been fifty two years since his last "visit" and he did not leave it on good terms. All he could do was step outside and find out for himself. It was best that Bill stayed in the Tardis for at least five minutes The Tardis finally landed and stuck his head out of the door.

He didn't see or hear anyone, the catacombs seemed to be empty. He stepped out of the Tardis. After few minute, The Doctor came to the conclusion that the Time Lord hadn't put security up to prepare for The Doctor.

Perplexed, Bill stuck her head out of the Tardis and asked "Why are we sneaking around, aren't you welcome her?"

"No." The Doctor said, just to make sure, he scanning the catacombs with sonic screwdriver, after he finished scanning he turned it off. . He motioned for Bill to come out with him. "Okay, it's safe, let's go."

They ran through the catacombs until they found a set of stairs that led up to, what the doctor assumed was President Rassilon's building. When they reached the top of the stairs they hit a wall.

"We his a secret door, just give me minute." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver again and scanned edges between the walls and the secret door. It took only a few seconds for the door to open.

They entered the door to reveal a lobby filled with busy Time Lords walking across the floor from left and right.

He pushed Bill back into the secret room.

"Okay, before we go out there, put this on." He handed her a chain with a key and junk on the end of it.

"A perception filter? What did you do to these people?"

The Doctor hesitated for a moment, then he realized he could trust she wouldn't berate for what happened. "Last time I was here I kicked the President off of the planet and dismantled the council."

"Oh," Bill was only a little surprised "Why'd do that?"

The Doctor put his perception filter around neck and he thought about the reason for a moment, then he responded with "I don't remember. I mean do remember doing it. I was desperate to protect someone named Clara but I don't remember who she is. Look I've spent good amount of my life trying figure that mystery out, so I would like to move now if that's okay with. Now come on, we need to find where they the new Tardis."

"Okay." Bill said defensively

The Doctor opened the secret door again with his sonic screwdriver. When the door opened they put their hands in their pockets so there was as little contact as possible with anyone or anything. There were a number of people running through the crowd so they had to pay attention but Bill would take glances of her surroundings. She never thought she be on The Doctor's home world, so she had to take every opportunity to see what Galifrey looked like. The building was grand, judging by the balconies there had to be over a hundred floors, there was a Time Lord Symbol on the walls above the door her and The Doctor were about to exit through. She didn't know what they meant but she figured she would find out when this is all over.

After exiting the build, they noticed that there were fewer people on the streets and debated taking off the perception filters but The Doctor advised against because he still didn't want to risk being seen by someone he knew. Even if the chances were minimal. As they walked down the street Bill looked up at the orange sky. She wanted to comment on the sky but there were people walking by, so she kept quiet. She hadn't noticed in the building because she was too busy admiring the architecture but the Time Lord's clothing where kind of weird. It was hard to describe but they were wearing what looked like gowns and green tinted hats. She imagined The Doctor wearing these clothing, which was easy but it was also easy to imagine him frowning in those clothes. It wasn't long after this imagination this that The Doctor stopped in front of a building that wasn't as nearly as tall as the one they exited from but still fairly tall. Unfortunately there were two guards standing in front of the entrance. How they were going to get past them, Bill had no idea.

The Doctor handed Bill a piece of paper to her and took off Bill's perception filter; then he indicated for Bill to hand the piece of paper to one of the guards. Accepting her orders Bill walked the stairs until one of the guards stopped her before she reached the door.

"Who are you? This a restricted area."

"Just, take a look at this." Bill handed the guard the paper to him.

The guard looked at what Bill handed him for only a minute. The Guard looked up at Bill and in a monotone voice he asked:

"And where is your teacher?" His voice was so bland it was borderline robotic. Bill half expected him transform his arm into a machine gun out of defence.

Bill wasn't sure what to say, clearly The Doctor had a plan for this (why wouldn't he?) but was he prepared?

She was about to respond to the guard when she was, thankfully, interrupted by a deep menacing voice that said:

"I'm her teacher."

Bill looked to her right to see a tall, dark skinned man standing next to her. The man had a scowl that was so intimating that even guards were shaking in their boots.

"Is there a problem?

"No sir, we just had no idea you were bring a cadet here today."

The guard took in a deep breath through his nose, so he could gather his courage.

"But I must ask why you have brought your student."

The man took in a deep breath and exhaled sound of annoyance. He leaned into the guard so hard that he to press into the back wall hard.

In a low, angry whisper he said "My student is on a mission of the up most importance. So stop wasting my time!"

In a nervous nod the guard said "Of course sir." He pressed a button on wrist and the doors opened. As soon as they got the other side of the doors, Bill turned to the man with a big grin on her face.

"How'd you do that?"

The man open his right hand to reveal a small tube device about no bigger than a small sonic screwdriver. He pushed on center of the device, removing hollo projection of the man to reveal The Doctor. "Portable DNA hologram, just get a piece of someone's DNA and you can put that person's entire face and body over your own."

"Who was that? That guard couldn't stop shaking."

"The Wrath, he's a general here on Galifrey, and one of the most intimidating Time Lords on the planet."

"His name is The Wrath? Seriously?"

With a nod The Doctor says "Seriously. Trust me he lives up to that name. Let's hope we don't run into him today." The Doctor started walking down the hallway to his right. Bill followed him but she still had questions.

"What do you mean he lived up the name?"

"We don't have time for the stories. Just know that the Santarons are even more scared of him than they are of me."

The Doctor wanted to move on to the ceremony and was looking for the entrance to the Time Vault, while Bill was imagining what The Wrath could have done to scare the Santarons, the race that love war. She couldn't help but imagine him killing a Santaron with bloody knife and mailing the dead corps at their front door but he probably did something worst.

After a half hour of walking down hallway after hallway and walking up several staircases they finally reach the Time Vault. The door wasn't any different from any of the other doors they passed, silver and a foot taller than any average human, but Bill felt nervous. Behind these doors was the next in her life. She had no idea what to expect.

"Are you ready?" The Doctor asked with excitement in his voice.

Bill took in a deep breath and said "Yea, I think I am."

They stepped through the doors together to reveal a large room full of tall cylinder with doors on them.

"Are those Tardis's?"

"Yep, once we're done with ceremony you'll choose one."

She was about to say something like "sounds good" when she spotted a Tardis standing in the middle of a long line up in front of them. She didn't know why but seemed like this one in particular was calling out to her. The Doctor noticed what Bill was looking at; he wasn't expecting this to happen. Bill started walking to the Tardis but then she remembered what the Doctor said, she turned towards him with an apologetic look.

The Doctor just said "Go ahead There's no point in waiting now." He didn't expect Bill to find a Tardis already but since she did, he didn't see any point in stopping her.

She walked to the Tardis and put her hand on the smooth metal. She wasn't really sure what she was looking for but this felt natural.

"Is this how you found your Tardis?"

"Sort of, I didn't really have time to think about why though."

There was a slight pause before the Doctor said "Are you ready?"

"Yea. I'm ready."

"Okay, Stand in front of the Tardis and face me."

Bill did as she was told and waited in anticipation. The Doctor held out the Fog Watch in between them both.

"Repeat after me." And opened the watch to face Bill. "I, Bill Potts,"

The watch revealed a gold dust that came out and started to surround Bill in its glow.

Bill repeats "I Bill Potts,"

"Promise to protect time and space,"

"To protect the innocent,"

"To never be cruel or cowardly."

"I will never give up and never give in."

And with that, Bill was in engulfed by light, it was so bright The Doctor had to cover his eyes. After a minute the light died and The Doctor could lowered his arm to Bill standing there examining herself.

"Still got legs. Good. Actually, my body is the same. That's good, I'm not ready for a full regeneration yet." The Doctor caught eye and she looked at The Doctor with a serious expression. "Well."

"Well, how do you feel?"

"I feel…" everything started to sink in. "the planet turning. It's slow but I can feel it turn in the middle of space. Is that normal?"

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it. What else?"

"I feel, the universe inside of my head. Knowledge about creatures and civilizations beyond the stars. It's too much, feels like my brain is on fire." She started to hyperventilate and panic, she thought she was going explode, but The Doctor grabbed her hand.

"Bill, concentrate on me. It will take minute for everything to settle. Just breathe with me." Bill followed the Doctor by breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. Minute by minute, the fire started to calm down, and eventually the fire died completely; and Bill could breathe easy.

"Why did that happen?"

"Your brain must not have finished adjusting to the new information. Are you okay?"

"Yea, yea I'm good. Wow that hurt." Bill massaged her sore head.

"Good, now let's get the most important of this ceremony. What you name?"

Confused, Bill looked at the Doctor. "What are you talking about Doctor? I'm Bill."

"You know what I mean Bill. What's your name?"

All of the sudden a memory of her mother came her. Her mother was fighting off a group of Daleks. They were killing civilian left, right, and center. One Dalek shouted "We must find the-"

"Teacher. My name is The Teacher."

"Welcome, Teacher." The Doctor said with pride.

"So what do we do now?"

"Now? Now we steel your Tardis."

The Teacher gave a nod in agreement and took a step towards her Tardis. As soon as she the Tardis, the doors opened automatically. The Teacher was excited and confident because she this going to much better than the last Tardis she took. The Last one she drove actively rejected her but she had to take it to avoid the Trial for a crime she didn't commit. She wondered what different circumstances could have brought her to this Tardis instead of the one she got. Maybe if she didn't wait to sneak past the guards and ran a little further into the Time Vault, maybe she could have found it. Maybe, but there was no point in dwelling on it. The Teacher decided move on from this, there was no point in dwelling on the past. Fortunately something caught her eye: "Oh, look, the round things!" The Teacher said excitedly looking at the wall.

"Oh, I love the round things."

"What are the round things?"

The Doctor gave her a shrug. "No idea."

Judging by console this Tardis was young, about 500 hundred years old, which was only a little bit older than The Teacher. The walls were bright blue, which highlighted the white light coming main power battery of the Tardis that was sitting on top of the Tardis console. The main console itself looked inside of a clock, with connecting gears, with levers to turn the gears, there was a big screen sitting against the center of the wall across the room from Bill. The Teacher was impressed, she had never seen a Tardis with a blue interior. It was rather pretty.

It was in that the moment The Teacher realized the sad truth.

"This is good bye, isn't it?"

The Doctor gave her a small, yet sad, smile. "This is moment I have prepare you for. It's time the universe had another Time Lord looking after it."

The Teacher was going to protest but this realized this is point of a graduation. Once you graduate you go out on your own, but she hoped she could spend some more time with tutor.

"Do you want me take you back to your Tardis?"

"No, I'm fine. I still have my perception filter, remember?"

"Right." Since this was going to be the time she sees the Doctor, she gave him a big hug. The Doctor was prepared for this, Bill had always been kind of person to treasure her connections; and he had been a part of her life for two years. He was going to miss her.

"I'm going to miss you." She said with her head pressed against his chest.

"I'll miss you too… Bill." It was nice to hear her old name from the Doctor. After a few moment, the Doctor released the Teacher and she backed away.

With a smile she says "Goodbye, Doctor."

Doctor returned the smile "Goodbye, Teacher." And with that, the Doctor leaves the Tardis.

As soon as the Doctor left her Tardis, Bill turned to her console. So where do I go first... And planet came to her mind. Trensilore, I've never seen the singing towers before.

The Doctor watches as the Tardis fades out of existence, traveling to a new planet. "The universe will be happy to have you Teacher." The Doctor said with great pride. "Well, it's best I start heading back." The Doctor put on his perception filter and walked out the door. As before, walking through Galifrey unnoticed was easy. The Doctor was about to reach the catacombs when he felt a tug on the back of his open sweater. He turned around see a child, no older than ten years old, with an expression of desperation of his face.

"Sir, can you help my mom."

Who was this child, and how did he see the Doctor. While the perception filter doesn't make you invisible, you should be noticed. The Doctor didn't make a noise or bump into anyone. So how did this boy find him?

There was only one way to find out.

"Sure, how did you lose you?"

After the child was done explaining his situation, The Doctor took off his perception filter and took the child's hand and said with comforting smile: "Don't worry, we'll find your mother."

Just like that The Doctor off on a whole adventure.