Christmas at UNIT
Author's Note: Okay, general silliness, with some upsetting bits. Welcome to Christmas at UNIT when the Doctor decided to convince Kate to let the UNIT Christmas party happen in the TARDIS. Originally a gift for a friend of mine for his birthday. My first Doctor Who fic in a while, also the first one to ever be posted online.
Kate Stewart sat at her desk at UNIT HQ. Christmas was fast approaching and she could hear some of the staff putting up Christmas decorations. Let them have their fun, she thought. It won't hurt. She continued to work for a while until there was an urgent knock at her door. Kate sighed and looked up from her paperwork. What now? "Who is it?" she asked.
"Ma'am, it's me. Could I come in?" Osgood's voice came from the other side of the door.
"Yes, I suppose so," Kate replied, looking down at her work again. "What is it Osgood? It sounded urgent."
"Kate Lethbridge-Stewart," said a voice that she had only heard on two occasions, a voice that was becoming familiar to her. "Is that how I'm greeted by you at Christmas?" Kate smiled slightly and looked up.
"Doctor," she said. "I dropped the Lethbridge, you know this. Second, no, Happy Christmas Doctor."
"Happy Christmas Kate," he said, walking towards her and pulling her in for a hug. "I had an idea. How about the UNIT Christmas party takes place in the TARDIS this year? UNIT HQ is a boring place for a party, since the staff work here. The TARDIS is fun and exciting, like a Christmas party should be."
"No Doctor, that's not a very good idea," Kate replied.
"We did it once when your father was in charge," he retorted. "Come on Kate, it will be fun."
"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you," she smiled.
Four Hours Later
The TARDIS' doors were open outside of UNIT HQ for the Christmas party. Kate and the Doctor were standing by the console which had been decorated for the holidays. UNIT staff was flooding the interior of the TARDIS, itching to explore how big the time and space travelling machine really was. "Doctor, do not give them too much freedom," Kate warned as he looked around to see how many people were in his TARDIS.
"Why not Kate?" he asked. "I could give a tour for those who want one."
"No," she said, her mouth forming a straight line, like her father's had sometimes done.
"Oh, alright," he replied. "But I'm going to turn on some music then."
"Fine." The Doctor held out his hand for Kate's smart-phone. She reached into her pocket and pulled it out and dropped it into his hand. He plugged it into the TARDIS to play some of her music. He couldn't be caught playing music that hadn't been released yet. His mind briefly thought if that ridiculous song "What Does the Fox Say?" was out yet. He hit the shuffle button on Kate's phone, and sure enough, "What Does the Fox Say?" started playing. He looked at Kate who avoided his eye. "Kate, you have this song?" he asked in utter shock.
"No," she denied quietly. One of the UNIT staff members walked up to the Doctor.
"Who's music is playing Doctor?" he asked.
"Your boss'," he replied, pointing at Kate, who blushed slightly and looked away. It wasn't as if she had actually bought the song, she downloaded it online because she had been bored and wanted to simply drown out the world. Not in the best way though. Oh, why won't he change the song. This is bloody embarrassing. My staff will not be able to take me seriously after this. Why was my music chosen in the first place? She thought.
"Doctor, could you please change this song?" she asked, poking him in the chest.
"Never, Kate," he replied. "Everyone, let's dance and embarrass your boss." A cheer erupted from the UNIT staff as they all started dancing like crazy people. Kate sighed and leaned against the console, trying to ignore The Doctor dancing with her staff. She took a drink of her iced tea. There was no alcohol at this party since the Doctor didn't want drunken behaviour in the TARDIS. Iced tea in place of alcohol. Well, it didn't stop crazy behaviour, but at least she wouldn't have to worry about anyone getting themselves home afterwards.
Finally, the song ended and the next song was not much better than the previous track, but it was an improvement. "Tik Tok" by Ke$ha wasn't the most embarrassing, nor the last embarrassing part of Kate's music. But she let it go on, going to dance with the Doctor, who had once again, started dancing like a, well, the only way Kate could describe it was a moose in pants, whose pants were on fire. She laughed at him, but joined in nevertheless.
Sometime Later (No one can keep track of time in the TARDIS, even though it's a time machine.)
UNIT was completely worn out from both dancing and mocking their boss' taste in music. Most of the staff had left. Osgood and a few others, along with Kate, still remained in the TARDIS. The Doctor leaned down and whispered in Kate's ear: "If you send them away, you and I can spend some time together. If you want."
Kate looked up at the Doctor in shock. She nodded. "Osgood, you and the others can go home, The Doctor and I will clean up," she said in her most authoritative voice. The Doctor smiled at her softly. Osgood nodded and came to wish the Doctor goodnight and Happy Christmas, even though she had done so quite a few times already.
"Happy Christmas Osgood," The Doctor said, hugging her. When the hug broke, Kate mouthed "inhaler" at Osgood, who obeyed her boss before leaving the TARDIS. The other UNIT staff that had remained had left and the Doctor snapped his fingers, shutting the door.
"Since when does it do that?" Kate asked in awe. "Dad never told me about that."
"It's fairly recent actually. I only just discovered I could do it, maybe about a year ago. But, what about you. How are you?" he asked.
"I'm alright," she replied, looking down at her hands.
"I have another idea that you might enjoy more than this one," he said. "Out of curiosity, how many Christmases were you and your father separated for?"
"From 1976 until 1995," she said. "So, 19 years."
"Come on," he said, going to one of the controls and pressing a few buttons and walking back over to her, pulling a level, making the TARDIS jerk.
"What are you doing?" she asked in shock.
"I'm taking you to Christmas," he replied, smiling at her. "Christmas with your father."
"Thank you Doctor," Kate whispered.
Christmas Eve, 1980
The TARDIS landed in the Brigadier's office at UNIT HQ. The Brigadier looked up from his work at the time and space machine and sighed. He didn't exactly want to see the Doctor, instead he wanted to see his daughter, Kate. This was their 5th Christmas separated by Kate's mother, his ex-wife. It seemed that work was all he had left these days. Kate stepped out of the TARDIS and smiled at her father. The Doctor followed soon after.
"Hello Brigadier, I brought you a Christmas present," The Doctor said, pointing at Kate.
"I don't consider Fiona a Christmas present, thank you Doctor. I consider it gloating that she gets to spend Christmas with Kate and I don't," he replied, looking back down at his paperwork.
"Great, so I do look like mum. That's highly disappointing," Kate muttered. "I never did like her all that much."
"What?" The Brigadier asked.
"Come on Brigadier," The Doctor said. "Time travel. I brought Kate, from the future to spend Christmas with you. That should be a Christmas present."
The Brigadier looked up and beckoned Kate to approach him. He looked into her eyes. "Oh my God, Kate, it is you," he said. "Your smile has always been much better than your mother's." Kate smiled brightly at him.
"Dad, I've missed you so much," she said. "It's been so long."
"Have I really not seen you since your mother left? Is that the last time I ever see you?" he asked, a worried look reaching his eyes, his jaw dropping slightly in shock.
"No, dad, we meet again, but in my timeline, I can't see you anymore," she said.
"Why not dear?" he asked, taking her hand in his.
"Well, I visit you in my timeline, but you don't talk to me. I talk to you, but you only reply in my heart," she said. She looked into her father's eyes as tears began to fall from both their eyes. "I love you so much daddy."
"I love you too Tiger. I'll never forgive your mother for taking you and never letting me see you," he said, standing up and pulling Kate into his arms for a hug. Kate held onto her father and sobbed into his chest.
"If I hadn't learned at a young age that changing history is a bad thing, I would tell you where mum and I are, so that you can come and see me. You are my hero dad, that will never change. I know now that all the stories you told me about aliens are real. And I do follow in your footsteps," she whispered quietly.
"Oh, Kate," The Brigadier whispered into her hair. "Even if you could tell me, I would want to take you from your mum for taking you from me. I never wanted you to go. But I understand why."
"Yet, I never will," she replied. "Happy Christmas dad."
"Happy Christmas Tiger." Kate smiled as she, her father, and the Doctor left the Brigadier's office to spend Christmas together.