Disclaimer: I own only the daughter; all other characters belong to the Beeb.

Spoilers: The End of the World and Dalek, but very mild ones.

Inspiration: I was reading Lunar1's fanfic, Rose in Bloom, and the lines, "I want to go home," "Doctor…your home's not there anymore," jumped out at me. What would it feel like to wake up every morning, knowing the place you were born no longer existed? If the Doctor lost the escapism of travel, could he cope with living in one place? I went through several ideas, before deciding to attempt my first one.

Plotline: Set in the future, a drunken Doctor reveals parts of his past to his unknowing daughter. Possible longer story of his daughter discovering the truth about her father, finding the TARDIS and all of them going traveling. That all depends on the fans' response so please R + R.

I want to go home

Lilly Tyler was just returning from a late-night visit to the bathroom when she heard the sobbing. It appeared to be coming from downstairs. It was late and if her mother caught her awake, she knew she'd be in trouble. Her father probably wouldn't mind. He wouldn't care if I died tomorrow, the ten-year-old thought bitterly. He couldn't care less about any of us anymore. He used to be fun, but now he just sits downstairs, staring into space and drinking. It was the drinking Lilly hated the most. Her father always smelt of booze and once, he'd even picked her up from school drunk. That humiliating experience was still burned into her mind, and she suspected it always would be. The crying appeared to get louder and Lilly made up her mind. Creeping down the stairs and trying desperately not to be heard, she went to investigate. Pushing open the living room door, she walked in and froze.

He's never been this bad before, was her first thought. Her father was sat in his armchair, looking into thin air with a bottle of whiskey in her hand and sobbing. He slowly turned his head to look at Lilly and beckoned her closer. Nervously, she approached him, wincing at the strong smell of stale drink around his body.

"Got shummit for shu," he slurred as she crept closer and she nearly bolted to the safety of her room. Only the sight of fresh tears rolling down his cheeks was enough to keep her walking closer. Her father put his hand into the pocket of his leather jacket, which she'd never seen him without, and pulled out a key. He leant forward and pressed it into his daughter's hand.

"TARDIS key," he said, by means of explanation, "'Bout thime shu had one."

"A what?" she replied, in a voice barely above a whisper.

"TARDIS. Shu never sheen my girl, have shu? My TARDIS, my ship, my girl…" With that, he trailed off and took another long gulp of whiskey.

"Wh-What's a TARDIS?" stammered Lilly.

"Thime ship," he slurred, "My girl, she been everywhere. All shover time."

"T-T-Time ship?" Lilly asked, he courage starting to wane. Her father must be going mad. Time travel was just something you read about in books. Time machines didn't really exist. She decided to risk another question. "W-Where'd you get her?"

"From shome," he said, and the tears really began. "Shomes gone now. All gone. No shome left. Daleks got it."

"Daleks?"

"Kill everyshing. Everyshing in sight. Burned my planet. Time Swars."

Now Lilly was really getting worried. Her father was saying he came from another planet and that his planet had been destroyed. She decided to play along and see what happened.

"If you're from another world, how'd you and mum meet? Is she an alien too?"

"Sno, all human, smy Rose. Smy gorgeous Rose. All human. Shust me who's alien. Shust me. Last of smy kind," he replied, sobbing freely. "Shmet her when she was 19. Shmew up the shop where she shworked."

Panic began to set in. Lilly's mother had once told her, in answer to her constant questioning about how her parents met, that the shop she'd worked in had been blown up on the day she met Lilly's father, but refused to say by who. Could her father be telling the truth about that? And if so, what about everything else?

"What happened next?" she asked.

"Gravelled the tallaxy. Fell in shove. Told sme we had to come back to Shearth when she shfound out shu were on sher way, shettle down. Sho more travel. Shay here, in this dump, have kids. Shay here forever!" His sobs became howls and Lilly heard movement from upstairs. Her brothers and sisters had been woken by the noise and were demanding her mum to tell them what was wrong. Quickly, Lilly stuffed the TARDIS key in the pocket of her pajama bottoms as the sound of running feet on the stairs were heard. Seconds later, Rose Tyler burst into the room.

"Sho more thime travel! Shay here forever!" the Doctor howled, his shoulders shaking and tears pouring down his cheeks, and Rose's face went white. How much had he inadvertently told their young daughter, the daughter whom she had craved a normal life for? Did her daughter know about the Time Wars, the Daleks, the fact that death was her father's constant companion? Despite all her best efforts, all of their sacrifices, would the circle of death around the Doctor reach out and ensnare the next generation?

"Go to bed, Lilly," she yelled, out of panic rather than anger.

"But-?"

"Just go to bed!"

Laying in bed, Lilly could faintly hear her father's sobs and her mother's attempts to calm him. She mulled over what she had heard, her little hand clutching the TARDIS key. Her mother's screaming at her hadn't just been because she was downstairs in the middle of the night. She hadn't seen anger in her mother's eyes, she had seen…fear? What was her mother afraid of? What didn't she want Lilly to know? Somehow, Lilly vowed, she would find out.

So, what do you think? Should I write more? If so, R + R. If you like it, tell me. If you don't, constructive criticism only please. Also, if you can think of a better title, please say so. The plot's changed a bit so the title doesn't really work anymore.