Author's note: Written mostly by my sister, JoAmazing, but we're posting it on my account because this story takes place in our headcanon series, known affectionately as the GTTniverse, and we want to keep all stories of that series together in one account. This story is volume 1 in the series, so no prior knowledge of our GTTniverse is needed to understand what's going on here.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, or any characters in Doctor Who. OC's belong mostly to my sister, JoAmazing, with a few character inputs from myself.
Spoilers: Quite a lot, actually, but I can't list them all here. Just be warned, if you missed a few episodes of Doctor Who, there will probably be a few spoilers in ths story somewhere.
"Amy, you should come take a look at this." Rory called to his wife as she came in the door carrying groceries.
"What is it?" Amy asked as she entered the room, setting the groceries on the ground.
"It's about the Doctor." Rory told her. Amy hurried into the room to see her husband typing on the computer. "I saw this weird newspaper add, and I thought I'd check it out."
He handed Amy a newspaper without looking away from the screen. "Page six, article ten."
Amy picked up the newspaper in interest and read the article in question
Have mysterious things happened to you? Have you seen an impossible man or a blue box? Do you have questions about aliens or government cover-ups? Go to badwolfbay.com to get life saving information.
"Blue box?" Amy read out loud, looking up at Rory in confusion. "It sounds like it could be about him. What do you got?"
"badwolfbay.com," Rory quoted with his eyes still glued to the computer. "The Doctor, mysterious threat to society or brave and wondrous hero? We here at BWB believe that he is the defender of the earth, but what do we really know about our secret friend the Doctor or those that he frequently travels with?"
"Is that really what it says?" Asked Amy incredulously, putting away some cans of soup and looking at Rory over her shoulder.
"There's a picture of the Doctor here, though it's kind of faded." Rory said as he inspected the website. "It reads 'Find valuable life changing info in this informative website, run by paranormal investigator Celeste Holt and assisted by Paul Briar."
"I'll call the Doctor and tell him." Amy said, flipping open her cell phone and beginning to make the call.
"Why?" Rory asked her.
"If it's about him," Amy started rationally, holding the phone to her ear and waiting for the Doctor to pick up. "Then he should know about it."
"Get this," Rory told her. "On the 'About Us' page, it reads 'BWB is a friendly, explanatory, website that details different Doctor sightings and provides a safe, judgment free, way to discuss your encounters with the supernatural.'"
"Alright, read it to the Doctor when he gets here." Amy stopped him, thinking that they should wait for him.
"If he gets here." Rory reminded her. "He doesn't always pick up his phone."
"Hello?" The Doctor's voice sounded from the telephone.
"Doctor, it's me, Amy." Amy told him, smirking at Rory, who went back to his website. "Rory and I need to show you something."
"Alright, I was bored anyway, what do you want to show me?" The Doctor asked her.
"It's… actually, it's not that important. But I think you should come check it out anyway. Just come down to our house."
The phone clicked off and Amy looked at it. "He hung up." She told Rory. "Does that mean that he's coming, not coming, or being attacked by aliens?"
Rory looked at her with a far off expression on his face, the kind that he got when she interrupted him from a book. "Um…possibly?" He answered uncertainly. Amy frowned worriedly.
"Maybe we should have waited." She said, biting her lip. "I mean, it's really not that important. We could have just waited until he came by."
"Or told him over the phone." Rory suggested, still inspecting the computer. There was a knock on the door and Amy and Rory exchanged half excited, half worried glances before Amy went to answer it.
"Hello, Pond!" The Doctor said, standing in their doorway as if he'd never left. "How are you?"
"Fine, Doctor." Amy answered, smiling at her friend. "How are you?"
"Oh, you know me, Amy." The Doctor said as he waved an airy hand. "This and that, traveling round in the TARDIS, visiting and all that stuff. So, what did you want to show me again?"
"It's this website that Rory found." Amy told him. "We thought that you might want to see it."
"Is that it?" The Doctor sighed, sounding disappointed. "This has been a very dull week for me, Amy." He whined. "All I've done is capture a sea slug, take out a bomb, meet the original Kris Kringle, almost get abducted by bounty hunting robots on the striped planet Inluk, and rescued the famed Princess Consuela Banana Hammock from a carnivorous mutant saber toothed tiger! I thought it would be something extravagant."
"I told you that it wasn't that important." Amy sighed, laughing at the Doctor's previous adventures.
"Yes, but I just thought that you might have something for me." The Doctor said.
"Well, as long as you're here," Amy said, ushering him inside the house. "You might as well check it out."
They stepped into the living room where Rory was still focused on the computer and Amy crossed over to where he was sitting. "Read the 'About Us' page again." She asked him as the Doctor sat down in the armchair and tried to look interested.
"'BWB is a friendly, explanatory, website that details different Doctor Sightings and provides a safe, judgment free, way to discuss your encounters with the supernatural.'" Rory read to the Doctor.
"BWB?" Interrupted the Doctor as he sat in the free arm chair. "What does BWB stand for?"
"BadWolfBay." Rory told him. The Doctor's eyes widened.
"Is that important?" Amy asked him, looking at the Doctor questioningly. "It is," He answered. "I don't know how they would know about it, whoever 'they' are."
"We believe that the Doctor is an alien from beyond our solar system." Rory continued reading. "Someone who can travel through time using his infamous 'blue box' and rescues people in dire situations."
"Well, at least that's all true so far." Amy commented, grinning at the Doctor, who got up and began pacing. "Read on." He told Rory.
"He and his various companions are spotted throughout time and referenced often, though their presence is never given an explanation. At BWB we work to clear up the confusion surrounding the earth's brave hero and regard ourselves as a sort of help site for those that have seen or met the Doctor, or who have been in supernatural situations."
"So he knows about my companions too." The Doctor said as he paced. "She." Rory inputted.
"What?" The Doctor asked. Rory looked up from the website and blinked at the Doctor. "It's a she." He insisted. "Listen to the next part, 'official president of BWB and paranormal investigator Celeste Holt provides you with stories and truths that the people who run the newspapers don't think to give you. She herself personally investigates every claim posted to this website to make sure that the information is true.' It's a woman who runs this website."
"Interesting," The Doctor said, sitting down again. "After we're done here, we should go check up on Miss Celeste Holt."
"Agreed." Amy said, "How do you think this girl knows about you?"
"I don't know." The Doctor commented, shaking his head. "But it's not like she's given any cold hard facts so far. She's just basically said what is the general common knowledge about me in the government."
"Doctor, there's more." Rory said, his eyes widening as he read. "There is a 'Things to Look Out For' page, with pictures and everything. There's the TARDIS, put down as the flying police box, explanation given that it is your time travel machine and that it is mostly called the Blue Box. Also, the Mysterious Companion, explanation given that a mysterious companion traveled with you for some time, but you removed every trace of her from the internet."
"What?!" The Doctor exclaimed, rushing to look over Rory's shoulder. "How on earth do they know about her?!"
"Who is she, and why did you remove her from the internet?" Amy asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.
"Long story." The Doctor told her. "At least they don't have a good picture. That picture's rubbish." He said soothingly, standing up and starting to pace again. "What else is there?"
"Um, there's - There's Amy too." Rory said.
"I'm up there?" Amy asked in disbelief. Rory nodded. "You're down as 'The Police Woman' and your photo is hardly distinguishable as you, but you're up here." He said. "The website says 'The Police Woman was seen with the Doctor just before another alien threat, she may be traveling with him now'."
"What do they mean 'may be'?" Amy asked in indignation. "I'm the Doctor's best friend!"
"What else is there, Rory?" The Doctor asked, cutting Amy off before she could start ranting.
"Um, there's the Noble Family with a picture of a red-haired woman and a man by a car." Rory continued his inspecting, but the Doctor stopped him again.
"The Noble Family? Oh they are good." He said. Amy frowned at him. "Who are the Noble's?" She asked angrily. "And why don't I know about them?"
"It says here that the family is under the Doctor's protection." Rory said, effectively turning Amy's attention from the Doctor for now. "And that the redhead, Donna, traveled with the Doctor for some time."
"Donna Noble was my companion for a while." The Doctor explained. "I was very fond of her and her grandfather Wilf, but she had to leave me. She got married to a bloke named Shaun. And yes, she, her husband, her mother, and her grandfather are all under my protection. I don't know how Miss Holt knows about them."
"I'm on here!" Rory exclaimed as he looked at the screen of his laptop. "It doesn't give my name, but the picture is really clear! It says 'The Lone Centurion, who was not only listed among the old roman centurions, but also traveled with the Doctor for some time. A man fitting his description also appeared in VeniceItaly's histories. Picture donated.' How would they know about me being a centurion?"
"And who would donate the picture?" The Doctor pointed out. "I wonder if they have a source."
"Wait, I get 'The Police Woman' and Rory gets a clear picture and a 'traveled with the Doctor for some time'?" Amy said, frustrated. "Even the Mysterious Companion got more then I did!"
"The website also puts down Mickey Smith, former writer of the Doctor oriented website Defending the Earth, who now works as a mercenary alien killer and is in constant contact with something called Torchwood." Rory continued, still seeming to be shocked by the information that he was known on the website. "And there is a 'Dr. Martha Jones' who is said to be a former UNIT soldier, it says that she now works to follow in the Doctor's footsteps by defending the earth and healing the people in it at the same time."
"How do they know all this?" The Doctor asked no one in particular.
"I don't know," Amy said. "Maybe you and your big mouth don't know how to keep a secret."
"Hey!" The Doctor said. "I can keep secrets! I'm excellent at keeping secrets! Did I ever tell you Jadoor the Judoon's secret about the escaped prisoner of Metaletaseta?"
"No, what happened?" Amy asked.
"I'm not going to tell you," The Doctor said. "It's a secret! Why are you trying to figure out the secrets of other people?"
"You brought it up, not me," Amy said. "And I still say you just have a big mouth, and if I ever meet Jadoor the Judoon, I'm going to tell him that you almost told us his precious secret."
"What!?" The Doctor exclaimed. "But I wasn't actually going to tell you!"
Amy simply raised her eyebrows at him before leaving to take care of the rest of the groceries and Rory and the Doctor exchanged looks.
"There's a few more." Rory said cautiously. "They put down, L.I.N.D.A., London Investigators N' Detective Agency, it says the members randomly disappeared after actively searching for you."
"Yes, that was rather unfortunate, but Absorbaloff's aren't something you should take lightly." The Doctor said, half joking half sad as he remembered the team of investigators who had been eaten by a monster.
"…Right." Rory agreed after some hesitation, but he obviously didn't know what the Doctor was talking about. "Anyway, after L.I.N.D.A., there's Torchwood Institute, set up in 1879 to protect the empire from extraterrestrial threats by Queen Victoria."
"Stubborn woman." The Doctor inputted. "She was a werewolf." Rory looked up at him in shock.
"No!" He said. "A werewolf?"
"That's right." The Doctor nodded. "She was one, and that's why Torchwood was first made, to protect her from me just in case I ever came back and destroyed her like I had destroyed the other werewolf. She banished me."
"Uh, yeah." Rory said, trying to take it all in. "Anyway, there's also Bad Wolf, which they believe is a message, possibly connected to your 'Mysterious Companion'."
"They are sharp." The Doctor said in disbelief. "A message connected to the Mysterious Companion. Really, how do they think of these things?"
"So, it's true?" Rory asked. "About the Companion? What message was that?"
"Another long, long, long, story." The Doctor sighed. "It's complicated. Anyway, is there anything else?"
"Um, yes. And I really would like this explained to me." Rory said as he inspected what was next on the website. "It reads 'The Caretaker.' And continues to read 'Rumor has reached us of a mysterious space man with his helmet on backwards, who fell from the sky and grants Christmas wishes. His connection to a disappearing blue box leads us to believe that he could be affiliated with the Doctor'."
Rory looked up at the Doctor in confusion and the Doctor started laughing. "Oh, they are really good." He exclaimed. "The Caretaker. That's brilliant."
"Can you explain this to me?" Rory asked.
"Oh, it was after the whole 'all of time happening at once' thing." The Doctor started. "I was trying to save the earth form an alien invasion and ended up plummeting to the surface of the earth at one billion miles per hour, so of course I strapped on a space suit and crashed into a grove, 1943 London. So there I lay, smack bang in the middle of a crater, practically unable to move. But apparently someone heard me crash and came to investigate and then one thing led to another, tree's were alive, Christmas presents turned out to be dangerous, stars came out of the trees, happy tears all humany wumany, I posed as a Caretaker, called the Caretaker, there was lemonade, panthers, acid rain and then Madge Arwell granted her own Christmas wish and we all took a short cut through the Time Vortex and made it home in time for Christmas after all."
"Panthers?" Rory asked, trying to make sense of the Doctor's story.
"Yes, Panthers!" The Doctor said happily. "Very dangerous things, not to be trifled with."
"And the trees came alive, and then stars came out of them." Rory said, nodding his head like he understood perfectly. "It sounds like something alien to me."
"Oh please, they're only aliens if they come here." The Doctor pointed out as he rolled his eyes at Rory. "That forest was their home. You know, technically we were the ones who were alien at that time."
"I thought that you said 1943 London, Earth." Rory said, frowning in thought.
The Doctor grinned. "Its funny how those little things work out isn't it?" He said. "We started on Earth, but thanks to some unforeseen complications and a curious and clever boy named Cyril, we all ended up on a different planet, in a different timeline. You see, I was trying to give the Arwell's the best Christmas that I could, so I opened a gateway to another world and wrapped it up like a Christmas present and was going to lead the family on a very safe and highly chaperoned tour of the forest! Unfortunately, Cyril Arwell is very crafty and he likes to open his Christmas presents before Christmas day. And so me and his sister went in after him, and then Madge discovered that both of her children and myself were no where to be seen and followed us. And then things got complicated."
"…Right." Rory said after staring at the Doctor for a few seconds.
"How do you think they know about that?" The Doctor wondered, biting his lip. Rory shook his head. "I really don't know." He said.
"What do you not know?" Amy asked, walking back into the room and sitting down, not looking at the Doctor.
"We don't know how Celeste Holt knew about the Caretaker." The Doctor told her.
"The caretaker refers to the time that I was posing as a family's caretaker in 1943 so that I could repay a debt." He explained before Amy could ask. "They must have some incredible source."
"Hmm." Amy said thoughtfully. "I didn't hear about that."
"I don't tell you everything, Amy." The Doctor sighed, rolling his eyes at her. "That was after I faked my death."
"Right." Amy agreed, only looking at the Doctor for a second. "You can keep reading, Rory."
"That's it for the 'Things to look out for' page." Rory said. "There are others, though. One with a list of known monsters and aliens. The Daleks, the Cybermen, something called the Sycorax, um, scarecrows." He turned to the Doctor. "Scarecrows?"
"Yes, though they were controlled by the family of blood at the time." The Doctor said. "They were really just made of straw."
"Okay," Rory plowed on. "And uh, Slitheen. Plus, the Toclofane, whom they explain was something that was supposed to make first contact, and then killed the president of the United States."
"I saw that." Amy said, frowning. "That was all over the internet. After that, it was reported that the prime minister was also assassinated. I liked him."
"Of course you did." The Doctor said, rolling his eyes. "Anything else, Rory?"
"Not for monsters and aliens," Rory said. "But there's another page here, saying something about you, Doctor."
"What?" The Doctor said. "Click on it, let's see."
Rory clicked the link, and they came to a page filled with blurry pictures of the Doctor. And the Doctor. And the Doctor.
"Oh, now that's interesting," The Doctor said. "They have pictures of me, several different regenerations. How did they get these?"
"I don't know," Rory said, examining one of the pictures of their Doctor. "But whoever they are, they know an awful lot about us. They've got pictures of you, and of me and Amy-"
"The police woman!" Amy inputted angrily.
"And frankly, these people could be anybody," Rory finished. "How do they know so much?"
"I'm not sure," The Doctor said. "But something tells me we really ought to find out."