Tell Me About Her

by ninewood

Set after Old Enemy, New Friends, Adam's Doctor, now called Theta, talks about his TARDIS.

Tell Me About Her.

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Theta softly hummed while he sat on the captain's chair and looked at the ceiling. Placing his feet on the console, Theta closed his eyes and folded his hands over his stomach.

"My Doctor?" asked Adam's TARDIS as he sat up and watched the lights behind the glass moving. Even though he had changed his name to "Theta" so no one could mix him up with the Doctor, she still called him "My Doctor" and he didn't have the hearts to correct her.

"Yes?" asked Theta.

"Tell me about My Mother."

A year ago Theta's TARDIS had been destroyed in a time storm and he now had to rely on his brother's TARDIS to travel through time and space. He never thought in all his lives he would call Adam his brother but that's who he was. Not some human meta crisis that shouldn't exist. Theta placed his feet back on the console as he rested back on the captain's chair and smiled.

"Well, she wasn't just my ship but my one true friend. I mean Time Lords bond with their TARDIS but none of them had a TARDIS like her. She knew my moods and did her best to help me when I was in a bad one."

"How did you meet?"

"I found her in a salvage yard on Gallifrey. See, she was an older model and her last owners didn't want her anymore."

"What were they going to do with her?"

"Dismantle her for parts then get rid of the rest."

"They were going to kill her?"

"Yep, anyway, I was running away when I came to the salvage yard and ran inside her. See, I was a bit of a rebel back then. Never following the rules and did things my way. I did have a TARDIS but it was such a drone. Followed the rules and never wanted to bond with me. It, I won't call it a "her" because of how it acted, thought I was damaged goods and would never touch someone like me. Now, your mother, she liked me from the start and agreed to go traveling with me. Well, me and Susan."

"Susan?"

"She was my granddaughter. Well, not really. She lived in the same house as I did and called me "grandfather" as a term of endearment. She, like me, was a rebel and agreed to come with me when I ran away."

"What happened to her?"

"She met someone and fell in love. Now, truth be told, I didn't want her to leave behind but she was starting a new chapter in her life and I thought she'd be happier without me."

"Do not take offense, My Doctor, but that was stupid."

"None taken and you're right."

"Was she the only one that traveled with you?"

"No, Ian and Barbara traveled with us as well."

"Who were Ian and Barbara?"

"They were Susan's teachers."

"Tell me about the others who traveled with you."

"Well, there was Ben and Polly. Ben was a sailor and Polly was a secretary. I met them in my first life when I was fighting WOTAN," said Theta as he told her about WOTAN and she hummed around him. "I wasn't sure that I wanted them to come with me but they turned out to be good people and your mother had to keep them separated at night because they were falling in love with each other."

"Like you and My Frankie?"

Frankie Douglas was the nurse that Lucy Saxon hired care for him while he was recovering from his accident and they had started developing feelings for each other. She had agreed to stay with him after she helped him defeat the Master and he was helping her find his brother, Cameron, who was working for the Master but vanished afterwards.

"Um, yeah, something like that," said Theta, getting flustered. "Now, there was Victoria. She was this refined young lady from the eighteen hundreds and she traveled with me for a bit. She left because she couldn't handle the things we were facing and went to stay with a very nice family. Then I ran into some trouble and the Time Lords forced me to regenerate."

"Why did they do that?"

"Because I was interfering with things," said Theta, smiling.

"I do know what regenerate means but how do you do it?"

"Well, Time Lords, when they are near death…." said Theta then explained regeneration to her and the lights flickered behind the glass.

"I see. That would explain why My Mother gave me a copy of her matrix."

"Yep, can't regenerate without it."

"Please explain why I detect a tone of sadness in your mind and voice when you talk about the Time Lords forcing you to regenerate."

"I guess it has to do with Jamie and Zoe."

"Who are they? I mean My Adam told me that he named My Jamie after a James Robert but he never said who that was."

"James Robert McCrimmon, or Jamie, was a young Scottish highland piper from the year seventeen forty-six. I met him during the Battle of Culloden and he agreed to come traveling with me. Your mother took very good care of him, seeing that he was so confused most of the time, and even repaired an old bagpipe that he found so he had something to play when we had down time. He was a brave, clever and loyal lad and we had a very special relationship."

"Please explain."

"Well, I had a son once. His name was Dex. He died a long time ago and I guess Jamie took his place. I depended on Jamie like any father would and he, in turn, depended on me because he had lost his father at a young age. Now, Zoe, I met her on a space station called "The Wheel" and she snuck onboard to come traveling with us. I wanted to turn around and take her home but she fluttered her eyelashes at me and I let her stay. She became like a daughter of sorts and I enjoyed our talks about science and other things. When I got into trouble with the Time Lords, they not only forced me to regenerate but they sent Jamie and Zoe back to where they came from…minus their memories of me."

"But that is not right!"

"I know that. They didn't care. They were punishing me and that was a part of it. You should have heard your mother shouting at me not to let them do it."

"What happened to Zoe?"

"I did pop in on Zoe in my….seventh life, I think. She had recently gotten married and was running the science department on the space station. She had no idea who I was but we did have a nice chat."

"What happened to Jamie?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"I understand. Did My Mother like them?"

"She adored them and was crushed when they had to leave."

"What happened next?"

"We were stranded on Earth. Your mother was furious as I was. Imagine not being able to travel through time and space. It was maddening."

"So you didn't have any companions during that time?"

"Oh, no, I had friends helping me out. There was Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, who knew me in my other life, Jo Grant, Liz Shaw, Harry Sullivan and Sarah Jane Smith."

"I sense great happiness when you said her name. Why is that?"

"Well, I guess it has to do with our friendship. It was starting to grow into a relationship, like what I'm having with Frankie, but I had to leave her behind when the Time Lords sent for me. Humans were not allowed on Gallifrey. Lucky for me, when I saw her again, she still wanted to be friends."

"Did My Mother like her?"

"Oh, yes, she liked her very much! Now, after I regenerated for the third time, the Time Lords decided that I learned my lesson and let us travel again. Along the way, we traveled with Leela, Nyssa, Romana, who was a Time Lady, Tegan Jovanka, K-9…"

"K-9? That is an odd name."

"Not really. K-9 is a robotic construct that was in the shape of a dog."

"I sense sadness in your mind again. Why?"

"That would be Adric. I met him in E-space and he traveled with us. See, where Jamie was a replacement for Dex, Adric was a replacement for Jamie. Though he was smarter than Jamie, he was a wiz a math, it wasn't the same. Maybe it had to do with me not being the same."

"What happened to Adric?"

"He died. He wasn't the first to die helping me. That was Katarina. She died in my first life. He didn't die until after I regenerated for the fourth time."

"Did My Mother like him?"

"Oh, yeah, they got along very well. She would make up these math games for him and she swore he must have cheated, seeing how he solved them so quickly.

"Did you have new companions in your fifth life?"

"Yep, there was Turlough, Peri Brown, and Kamelion, he was a shape changing robot that I freed from the Master but was destroyed when the Master tried to get him back. Peri was with me when I regenerated again."

"Did My Mother like them?"

"I think so. She did like talking with Kamelion. She was very sad when he was destroyed."

"My Mother told me that she didn't like your sixth life very much. He was too violent and nasty. Did anyone travel with you then?"

"Well, there was Frobisher…"

"Frobisher?"

"He was an alien shape shifter who liked being a penguin," sighed Theta and blushed, hearing Adam's TARDIS giggling. "It's not that funny. Anyway, there was Melanie Bush, or Mel. Your mother liked her but not Frobisher because he kept on insisting we keep fresh fish in the pantry. Then I regenerated into my seventh life. I had a few companions but my favorite was Ace McShane. Your mother didn't like her that much because Ace kept blowing things up."

"Why did she do that?"

"She had made this explosive, Nitro-9, and used it…a lot. She used to call me "Professor" and she became another daughter of sorts. We parted as friends and I had to regenerate again. Though, truth be told, the way it happened was embarrassing. I got shot during a drive by shooting in San Francisco. I woke up in the freezer in a hospital morgue and scared this poor guy when I came charging out of the room."

"Did anyone travel with you then?"

"Not really. I did get close to Doctor Grace Holloway. She helped me when I woke up. It was during that time that the Time Lords called me back to Gallifrey to help them capture the Master and aide in the Time War."

"My Mother told me about the war. Both of you fought so hard and saw so much death and destruction."

"Yep, we did. There were times I didn't know if either of us would live to see the dawn. She fought on even when I wanted to give up. At the end, when I had to destroy Gallifrey to stop the daleks, she was the one that talked me into regenerating even though I just wanted to die. After I regenerated into my ninth life, we came back to Earth and found…"

"My Rose!"

"Yep, she not only healed me but your mother. In fact, they used to love to play pranks on me. I can't count the number of times your mother would change rooms around so I'd end up lost and Rose had to come find me," said Theta, rolling his eyes.

"My Mother told me that My Rose looked into her heart."

"Yep, and it nearly killed her. Oh, I never blamed your mother for it. She was just trying to help Rose get back to me so we could stop the daleks. I had to take the power back and that's why I had to regenerate into this body."

"It made My Mother laugh when you were strutting in front of the mirror."

"I was NOT strutting! I was just…Ok, I was strutting. I know she loved Rose. We were both heart broken when she was stranded on this world. Both of us just drifted until that trouble at that hospital and we met Martha."

"Did My Mother like Martha?"

"I think so. Though, truthfully, Martha tried too hard. Oh, I know now that she was falling in love with me but I was still in love with Rose. I feel terrible for allowing her to yearn for me because there was NO way I was ever going to love her. I do admit I was very impressed with her when we were captured by the Master."

"My Mother didn't want to talk about the Master even though I have files of him in my data files. What did he do to her? Is it the same thing the Master in My Other Doctor's dimension did?"

"What did he do?"

"My Aunt said he turned her into a paradox machine and made her do terrible things."

"Yep, that's what he did. After we defeated him, your mother was still in shock and it took a lot of love and care to get her back on her feet, as it were. Martha left and I went off on my own. It was while I was looking for the adipose that I found…Donna."

"Did My Mother like Donna?"

"Your mother adored Donna and so did I. She was my best friend. Then Rose, Davros and the daleks returned and…"

"My Adam was born. I'm still not sure how. He won't tell me."

Theta explained how he lost his hand fighting the Sycroax leader, how it grew back and how he got it back from Jack after Jack had brought it with him when they went to Utopia.

"But how did he get hold of it?"

"I never asked," said Theta then explained how the Master used it when he captured him, how he got it back then placing some of his regeneration energy into it. He then explained what happened after Davros stranded Donna on the TARDIS and Adam's TARDIS shuttered.

"He injured My Mother?!"

"Yes, he did but she was all right. Donna and Adam were able to save her. The thing was Adam destroyed Davros and the daleks and, being too angry to think straight, I abandoned him and Rose on this world. Your mother was furious! She yelled and screamed at me to take them back but I couldn't. Not then. She begged me to give them a piece of her so they could grow their own TARDIS."

"Which you did but My Mother made sure that it didn't take ten years for me to grow."

"Yep, that was really sneaky," said Theta, smiling.

"My Doctor, may I ask you something?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"Is it all right that I miss her?"

"Of course it is. She was your mother. I miss her."

"Then would you do me the honor in allowing me to bond with you?" asked Adam's TARDIS and he felt his hearts racing. He looked at the lights moving behind the glass as tears trickled down his face and he blinked. He never thought she would accept him like she had Adam and he stood up, placing his hands on the console. "Are you all right? Your hearts rate is increasing."

"I'm…fine. Yes, I would be honored if you would do that," said Theta, closing his eyes and opening his mind. He let her into every corner of his mind, even the parts he never wanted to see or think about again, and she gently stroked his mind. Shivering, he opened his eyes and the tears dripped onto the consol. "Thank you."

"Would you like to go somewhere? My scanners indicate a new sun is about to be born in the Dragonalli Galaxy."

"Oh, that would be…"

"Fantastic?!" asked Adam's, no, his TARDIS as he laughed and started pushing buttons, turning switches and walked to the main lever. Looking at the lights dancing behind the glass, he smiled and pulled the main lever.

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The End….