THIS STORY IS MARY SUE! IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT!
Author's Notes: Ah, this is what came out one night when I was thinking about V's original "the Doctor is Doc's father" idea. I thought that, maybe, I could write it out as a dream/nightmare of AL's. Heck, she'd dreamt of Data's death, so… :)
Trivia and In-Jokes: A fob watch is simply a different name for a pocket watch. The term was used in Doctor Who "Human Nature", "Family of Blood" and "Utopia". The refrigerator time machine was the early concept in the very first draft of Back to the Future. The laser and the lever with plus and minus were included on that first time machine. 23 NOV '63 is, of course, the day Doctor Who first aired, as well as the "present" day in said episode. I decided to write the date the way the British do, just to nod to the Time Lord-ness. Doc's mansion burned down on August 2, 1962, hence the year and 3 months. Doc hadn't met the Doctor until the 90s in my story The Wrath of Caan (which will be posted after some editing). November 23rd, 1963 was the day they'd picked up Susan's teachers from Coal Hill School in London in the Doctor Who episode "An Unearthly Child". The ordeal with the Chameleon Arch and the watch is from Doctor Who "Human Nature", "Family of Blood" and "Utopia". The fiasco with the Master is from Doctor Who "Utopia", "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords". Aislin's dream-tampering is in my story Dreaming of You, which is elsewhere on . The visions of the nightmare was originally a drabble written by V. She said I could use it. Timothy Latimer is from Doctor Who "Human Nature" and "Family of Blood". "Emmett" is supposed to be "time" backwards according to some Back to the Future trivia I read once, so I just used the real spelling. The Un-tempered Schism was mentioned in Doctor Who "The Sound of Drums". The Data Extracts are info on Time Lords. Mentioned in Doctor Who "The Deadly Assassin". The line "I was a dad once…" the Doctor said in the Doctor Who episode "Fear Her". Susan's fate is from Doctor Who "The Dalek Invasion of Earth". I'm a firm believer in the "If it didn't happen on screen than it's not canon" way of thinking and it was never specifically mentioned that Susan died, so, yeah. She's still alive in my fanon.
"Doc, you're a packrat." Lisa commented from beneath a stack of boxes. She was helping Doc Brown go through the collection of stuff he'd accumulated over the years.
"Look who's talking," he countered.
She had to laugh. It was true that she, also, could never bring herself to throw anything away. That was why her house on Alnilam had a very, very large basement. Sitting on the floor, she started to poke through the boxes of junk, looking for anything worth keeping. One was a heavy fireproof box that looked to have survived the burning down of the old mansion. A lot of the contents were old notes and drawings for old and failed inventions and she was sure Doc wouldn't be able to throw them away, so she started creating a neat stack so she could file them later. Clara had appointed her to help keep Doc organized. Hah.
One sketch in particular drew her attention. It looked, quite simply, like a refrigerator, though it had a number of the bits and bobs the old DeLorean had when Doc first invented the time machine.
"Hey, Doc, what's this?" Lisa asked, holding up the sketch.
"Mmm?" he said, standing behind her and gazing at the paper in her hands. "Oh, that was my original idea for the time machine."
"A fridge?"
"Yes. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite figure out the power source. That was drawn before I hit my head on the sink, obviously. I elaborated on the design a little after that. I'm sure those sketches are in there, too."
"You want me to keep 'em?"
Doc shrugged. "Why not? It's a bit of nostalgia for me and shows the evolution of the time machine."
Satisfied, Lisa nodded and continued to go through the stuff while Doc walked away to some other task. Sure enough, she found more detailed sketches and diagrams of the fridge time machine. One had a laser mounted on it, one had a lever with a plus and minus sign on it, one was the DeLorean itself, one looked like a police box…
Lisa blinked and picked up the sketch again. No, she hadn't been imagining things. This drawing was of her old friend's time machine, the TARDIS. That couldn't be, though. The diagram was dated 23 NOV '63, a year and three months after the mansion burned down. Doc hadn't met the Doctor until the 90s –
Her hearts leapt up into her throat. November 23rd, 1963 was the day they'd picked up Susan's teachers from Coal Hill School in London. She shook her head. No, this had to be a coincidence.
Clearing her throat, she set the TARDIS-like sketch to the side and turned to the box again. There underneath the papers was a silver pocket watch. Her hearts were pounding as she reached for it, voices echoing indistinctly in her head. It felt odd in her hand and her eyes roved over the circles on the underside, almost afraid to flip it over. Swallowing hard, she turned the watch in her hand and she nearly dropped it when she saw the elaborate design on the top. The Gallifreyan design.
No…no… she thought, carefully shielding her thoughts from Doc. He can't be…they're dead…
She looked up to see what Doc was doing and he seemed to be oblivious to her actions at the moment. Quickly, she shoved the watch in her pocket and stood, muttering something resembling, "I'll be right back" to Doc and she disappeared in a flash of light.
Lisa had teleported home to Alnilam, flying as fast as she could to the side of her house where she'd left the TARDIS the day the Doctor died. She could have kissed the machine when she saw it was right where it belonged. She landed beside it and, breathing hard, leaned against the doors, resting her head against the wood.
Pulling the key from beneath her shirt, she opened the doors and went inside where she was immediately greeted by the low hum of the ship. The lights were low, as she'd been powered down for ages, yet she was still active. Lisa was firmly convinced that the TARDIS was alive.
The voices started to echo in her head again and she took the watch out, sitting heavily on the seat beside the console. It was more than just a watch. It was part of the Chameleon Arch, a device that rewrites biology. Makes a Time Lord a human. The Doctor used it to hide from the Family of Blood; the Master used it to run from the War.
Part of her wanted to open it, but the other part was afraid to. The Time Lords were dead, burned in the last great Time War. If Doc was a one, hidden here on Earth…there were a number of them he could turn out to be and a lot of them weren't very friendly. She didn't need a repeat of the fiasco with the Master, especially since she'd have to face it on her own.
"Doctor, I wish you were still around…" she said, sniffling. "I can't do this by myself."
The TARDIS' hum seemed to get louder, as if responding to her, but there was nothing the ship could do to bring the Doctor back. Lisa would have to go it alone.
With trembling hands, she held the watch and, with a deep breath, opened it. A golden glow emanated from the face and the voices got louder, but she still couldn't understand what they were saying. Blurry images assaulted her brain and she could swear she saw the Doctor…well, it could have been the Doctor. Maybe it was just that she wanted to see him again so badly.
She could keep the watch and never mention it to Doc. There was probably a perception filter on it so he didn't give it much of a thought, plus it had been buried in that box for Orion knows how long. That would keep anything from happening.
But could she? Could she hide the watch from her friend? Maybe. There was a chance he could forget about Clara, Jules, Verne and Marty if he opened it. Even about her. She couldn't do that to him after it'd taken him so long to find love and friendship.
So he said. He would've gotten put on Earth and had a life story invented for him, which begged the question: If Doc was a Time Lord, where was his TARDIS? It certainly wasn't the DeLorean, nor was it the train. She thought hard but just couldn't come up with a possibility.
Sometimes the process will cause dreams of what they once were. The Doctor's "John Smith" dreamt of her constantly, of their past adventures, past companions, even his past incarnations. Doc's never mentioned anything of that sort. He would have said something, she would have sensed it and even Clara probably would have told her.
Doc's voice suddenly spoke in her head. He was contacting her through their link. Lisa? Are you all right? Where did you go?
She jumped in surprise and quickly tried to think of a cover story. I…have some old folders I can use for your papers. I went to try to find them.
I see. Have you?
Uh, yeah. I'll be back in a few.
All right, then.
The connection cut and Lisa shook her head as if trying to clear it. Hastily shoving the watch back into her pocket, she left the TARDIS and went into her house, grabbing a stack of manila folders from the desk in the upstairs library. With another deep breath, she teleported back to Earth.
When Lisa reappeared, Doc was waiting for her. With a wan smile, she held up the folders. "Found 'em," she said.
He looked at her with an odd expression on his face. "Are you all right?" he asked again, probably sensing something off about her.
"Fine," she replied, turning away from him and purposefully heading for the stack of papers she'd been going through, making if she was going to begin filing them. Unfortunately, the watch wasn't sitting securely in her pocket and fell out, clattering to the floor. Before she could make a move, Doc had picked it up.
"Lisa you dropped…" His voice trailed off as he looked at it in his hand. "Huh…" he said. "Where did you get this?"
"I found it…" she said tentatively. "In your fireproof box." The TARDIS sketch hovered into her hand. "Along with this…"
He took the drawing and stared at it. "Isn't this your friend's time machine?"
She nodded. "But…look at the date. November '63. You haven't met him, yet. You were never in London, were you?"
"Could never afford…" His voice died again as the sounds from the watch started again.
"Have you been having dreams that you're someone else?" she asked, unable to hide anything now. "Like, an adventurer or something?"
Doc's liquid-chocolate eyes were clouded. "I've had a few nightmares…but I never remember them when I wake."
This shocked her. "You never told me that."
"Why would I? They're just dreams."
"Were the dreams you had of me 'just dreams'?" She was referring to the handiwork of Aislin, a unicorn stallion who could influence dreams. It was because of him that Lisa and Doc reunited last year.
Images suddenly were in her head. Feelings. She was inside a ship and things were exploding. No control, nothing responding. Blackness, then light. Voices. A sign: ROSWELL, NM. Chaos. Hill Valley. The ship's power was almost completely gone. No choice. Had to use it. The Chameleon Arch. But something was wrong. It was damaged. Pain! Stop the pain!
Both Doc and Lisa were gasping for air. They'd both seen the visions.
Doc was the first to speak after a long moment. "My nightmare…" he said hoarsely.
There were tears in Lisa's eyes. "You are a Time Lord…you became human and hid here…"
"Don't be ridiculous," said Doc, though he was running his thumb over the watch. Its voices got louder.
"I want to hide…I cannot go home, I cannot contact the others; my TARDIS is dying…let me hide…"
This was the first time she'd understood what it was saying. She remembered young Timothy Latimer, the boy in 1913 who had taken the Doctor's watch. He'd been born with a low-level psychic ability and so he was able to hear the voices of the watch. Lisa, who was fully telepathic, could hear it, too.
"You have no home to go to…" said Lisa softly, though if she was speaking to Doc or the Time Lord essence within the watch, it was uncertain.
He'd done it before she'd even noticed. The watch was open and golden light engulfed the inventor. Lisa back stepped, shielding her eyes, only removing her arm when all was still.
Doc looked up from the watch and at Lisa. She forced herself to look at his eyes. If his personality had changed, that's where she'd see it.
She didn't. Not really, anyway. At least there wasn't anything malevolent. That was a good sign.
"Who are you?" she asked him.
"Emit," he replied. "You…I recognize you. You were with him."
She didn't have to guess who "him" was. "You mean the Doctor."
"Yes…I saw you…at that junkyard. That was…before."
"Before what?"
"Before my TARDIS started malfunctioning. There was something going on on Gallifrey. There were explosions everywhere. Chaos. I had to escape. My TARDIS took damage. She was old, but I didn't expect…"
"The Time War," said Lisa. "Between the Time Lords and the Daleks. Gallifrey is gone. It burned."
His eyes grew wide. "What? No, that's impossible. The transduction barriers…"
"Destroyed. They came in swarms. The defenses fell. The Doctor and I…he was on the frontlines. Caused the destruction of both. We barely escaped. But the Daleks…the Time Lords…Gallifrey…gone."
"And the Doctor, now…no, I remember. He's gone, too."
Was it her imagination or were there tears in his eyes? Who was he? She'd never known of a Time Lord named Emit.
"I've heard stories," he said. "Tales of the Doctor. On Gallifrey, I was in charge of compiling all the information for the DE's. Those are the Data – "
"Data Extracts. I know. I've never heard of you before, though. He never mentioned you."
The laugh he made was almost bitter. "No, he wouldn't have. I think he thought I'd run from the Un-tempered Schism like he did." Another indignant laugh. "I suppose he thought, 'Like father, like son'."
This stopped Lisa cold. She could hear the Doctor's voice in her head.
"I was a dad once…"
"You're…"
"There was a reason Susan called him 'Grandfather'." He suddenly grew frightened. "Susan! What became of her?"
Lisa quickly wracked her brain. "She's fine. She fell in love and got married. His name was…David, I think. She's fine."
Relief passed over his face. "Good…"
She was suddenly thinking of Clara, Jules and Verne. "You know you have a wife and two sons, here, right?"
It took him a moment to respond. "Yes…I do, don't I?"
There was a question she simply had to ask. "Do you love them?"
Time Lords weren't incapable of the emotion. The Doctor had proved that, not to mention that Emit had seemed to be worried about Susan's fate. However, she didn't know too many Time Lords that had fallen in love.
Thinking it would help, she brought over a photo of Clara and the boys Doc had in the lab and showed it to him. Hopefully the "love at first sight" would still work.
When he didn't answer right away, Lisa started to panic. "You can't not!" she said. "There's no way you could leave them! You don't have a TARDIS and I can't fly the Doctor's! You have to love them!"
Suddenly, her surroundings were blurring and melting together. Something was wrong, but she continued to shout.
"You can't leave them! They need you! Marty, too! They love you! They love you, you can't leave, you can't you can't you can't…"
"Lisa, wake up!"
"Aah!" she yelped, jumping, startled, and coming face to face with Doc Brown. She was still inside the lab, but the fireproof box hadn't been opened yet. "What's going on?"
"I went to get the key to that box and found you asleep."
She blinked. Had it all been a dream? She always knew when she was dreaming. Seeing the key dangling from his hand, she snatched it and hurriedly opened it, sifting through its contents.
"Lisa, what's wrong?"
She searched the papers for the TARDIS sketch and the watch. There were none. In fact, there weren't even any invention-related papers in here. His birth certificate was, however, and some aged photos of him and his parents.
"Doc…what was the original design for the time machine?" she asked.
He canted his head. "A refrigerator, but you knew that."
"I did?"
"Yes. I told you back in 1983 when I was discussing the project with you."
He had. She remembered, now. That must have been where those images had come from. And time travel always made her think of the Doctor, so that could have been why a sketch of the TARDIS had appeared, then it progressed to remembering when he'd become human and her subconscious wrote in that the Doctor was Doc's father.
But it had been a dream. Just a dream. Doc was human and had been all his life. He was in love with Clara and he loved Jules and Verne. He loved Lisa. He loved Marty. All was right with the universe.
Although, there had been one point…she never had asked who Susan's parents had been.
The End