Hello, wonderful people of the world!
This was written sometime after midnight, and I think I intended to make it a drabble. But as you can see, it's longer than a drabble. A maxi-drabble. ;)
Thanks for reading, and please review!
There are five of them now. Jackie, Pete, Tony, Rose, and the Doctor.
Tony was still a toddler when it happened. His parents rarely recount the details of that day to anyone except the Doctor.
A doctor of what, Tony asks. They always try to avoid the question.
His sister, Rose, married the Doctor when Tony was four; he was the page-boy, dressed in a suit, attracting the attention of every female at the reception.
He likes visiting the Tyler-Smiths, there's always something to do there. The Doctor frequently builds models of space-ships that can fly, and Tony's fascinated by the Doctor's explanations of using radioactive energy to burn through the time vortex thus rendering the ship to seemingly dissipitate and lower its neutrino levels by infusing carbon into the atmosphere.
He wants to be a scientist when he grows up, and the Doctor is the most supportive in that. Mum thinks it's a waste of time, and he'd be better off doing something small, but Rose tells him not to listen to mum, and that even the most ordinary people can change the world. She smiles at the Doctor as she says this; one of those smiles they always share, and no-one can interpret.
Tony decides to ignore it for now, and asks for a story. He doesn't want a fairy-tale, he thinks they're boring. He looks imploringly at Rose to tell him about something new, and true. She looks at her mum questioningly and when Jackie reluctantly nods her head, signalling her approval, she catches the Doctor's eye and smiles.
"OK, Tony. I'm going to tell you a story about a girl who met a man and they fell in love.."
Tony shakes his head.
"No, I don't like those stories. I want something with fighting and monsters in it."
"Well," the Doctor interrupts. "There is an awful lot of running involved.."