A/N: This is the second in a trilogy of stories Carol and I are planning that centers around the Doctor, Theta and Amato being tried and sent into exile in other universes. This first part is written by me and as usual, Carol and I will alternate chapters.
Chapter One
(One month later…)
OKAY, DADDY, I LOVE YOU, TALK TO YOU LATER.
Namid finished texting her father, closed her mobile phone and laid it on the bedside table beside her. It was a month into his exile and she missed him terribly. After they were sent away, everyone else had been sent back to New Gallifrey to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. Alan, concerned for Rain and the children's welfare and mental wellbeing, moved back into their house and divided his time between there and his house while Adam did the same for Frankie and Cam. The first few nights were unbearable for everyone. Alan let everyone grieve, knowing how important it was but he and Rose also took them places, knowing that they couldn't lie in their beds and cry forever. He also dropped most of his teasing with Rain, instead becoming a shoulder to cry on and a confidant like he had been when they first met her. He knew it was hard for them to see him day in and day out since he now possessed his brother's former face but Rain took it in stride and after a week felt well enough to cook for the family again. But then she realized she didn't have to since the rest of the family pitched in and brought over food and helped in any way they could while they all gave her and Frankie support.
In the meantime, Rain and the children called the Doctor as much as they could. They found out that his rocket ship had crash landed on a planet called Violet Sky, named because of the purple color of the atmosphere. To their relief, he had found life, some colonists who had arrived on the planet five years before him and were trying to build a civilization after fleeing their war torn and doomed planet. The Doctor had taken a job as a university professor to keep himself busy and earn a little income for himself. He was amused when he found the outfit the Eleventh Doctor had worn in a clothing shop and quickly adopted it, finding it quite comfortable. To everyone's relief, his mobile was a camera phone and he discovered he could send photos across the void along with text messages. At first, the family and especially Namid called him constantly, hungry for the sound of his voice. But finally the Doctor had to gently tell them not to call so much because it was interfering with his job and his life in general.
"I love you so much, Rainbow, and I love that you call me and I can hear your voice," he'd said to his daughter. "But I can't stop to talk to you every five minutes. I'm alright, I promise, but we have to limit these calls to once or twice a week, otherwise none of us will have a life."
Namid and the others reluctantly agreed to that and after discussing it among themselves, they agreed that they would call the Doctor on Wednesday and Saturday nights. However, the Doctor did allow texting with the warning that he might not be able to answer back right away and told them that he certainly wasn't going to spend hours with his eyes glued to a teeny tiny screen. So all of them got in the habit of sending him messages and waiting for his reply when he got the time to answer back. Once they found out that they could send photos to each other, they did that as well and Rain was overjoyed since now she would have a way to show him their baby when it was born.
Namid smiled. She and Frankie were both pregnant and both Martha and Grace took turns with prenatal care and making sure the fetuses were alright. So far, neither one had any idea what sex the baby was, only that each one of them was going to have a single baby this time. When Rain told the Doctor, he was ecstatic.
"Be sure to ring me when you're in the middle of labor, Latara, I don't wanna miss a moment of your screaming!"
"Oh, ha ha," Rain said while the Doctor snickered.
With the frequent calls, texts and photos, the depression and the heartache of missing their loved ones was lessened and knowing they were safe allowed them to get on with their lives.
As for Theta and Amato, they also spoke with them and sent them text messages and photos. Both Theta and Amato also had to stop the frequent calls and they set up another schedule for them. They called Theta on Mondays and Fridays and Amato on Tuesdays and Sundays. So except for Thursday, each night was devoted to calling one of their family members and talking with them. To their relief, both of them had crash landed on planets with life on them. Theta was on a planet called Solis, a planet he had visited before in his original universe and for the most part it was the same as the other one so he was able to adapt to living there. The planet was much like Earth and just as crowded, so Theta had no trouble finding a place to stay, clothes and food. Unlike his brother, he didn't find anything resembling the college professor's outfit and instead settled on wearing black pants, shirt, a black leather jacket and black trainers. The moment Frankie saw the photo he sent to her, she remarked to Rain how suddenly she was married to a Goth.
As for Amato, his ship crash landed on what he thought was a barren desert planet. He had been hurt during the crash and while he was unconscious was found by a race of desert people who called themselves the Sand Rats because they lived deep under the sand in a series of tunnels and large rooms that had been dug by hand.
"Kinda reminds me of Fraggle Rock," he had said to his family.
Using his medical knowledge, he had treated a young girl named Jana who had been attacked by the Sand Rats' enemies, a snake-like people they referred to as the Hissers from the way they communicated with each other. No one had any clue how to translate the Hissers' language and Amato admitted to being stumped since he had never come across them before and had no TARDIS to translate their language. He managed to study the notes the Sand Rats had compiled on the creatures and some drawings they had of them. The Hissers were humanoid snakes who appeared to dress in black body suits that regulated their body temperature so they didn't have to rely on sunning themselves and exposing themselves to danger, both from the Sand Rats and from other creatures that ate them when they got the chance. They relied on stealth and the use of primitive weapons like rocks and spines from the Gargeion, a cactus-like plant, that were dipped in their venom. The venom was slow acting and deadly and most of the Sand Rats who had been exposed to it, both from the spines and direct bites from the creatures, had perished, slowly going insane from the intense pain. Jana had been bitten and was dying when Amato was brought to her. However, after examining a sample of the venom, he realized he had seen a similar toxin before and was able to synthesize an antidote. Once Jana's life was saved, the grateful population decided to let Amato stay with them. Everyone was worried about the Hissers since they attacked the Sand Rats frequently but Amato assured them he was alright and the underground tunnels were heavily defended, not only by the populace but by a series of booby traps that could be turned off and on with special codes that were punched into a keypad before entering them.
The other thing they found amusing was Amato was forced to ditch his tenth incarnation's outfit for the protective garb the Sand Rats wore. It was a bodysuit similar to what the Hissers wore that regulated body temperature. The only difference was that the Sand Rats' bodysuit included a tight fitting cap for the head that came down around the sides of his face and fastened under his chin. Whenever he went out with them, he was forced to wear a large ventilator around his nose and mouth and heavy goggles since there were frequent sandstorms. In addition to that, everyone wore a cloak and cowl which was sand colored in order to camouflage their bodies. Their weapons were blasters that they carried in a holster on belts around their hips and sharpened stone daggers that they threw as hard as they could at the Hissers' bodies. Amato practiced with large targets and soon became adept with the stone weapons. They also used the Gargeion spines that had been dipped in Hisser venom and used blowguns made out of metal to shoot them, something else Amato became adept at doing. Once he was settled in, Amato sent a photo of himself in full Sand Rats garb and Namid passed it around so everyone could look at him and have a laugh. They also sent the photo to the Doctor and Theta who managed to call Amato and tease him about looking like a cross between a seal and an insect.
"Yeah, well at least I don't look like a university professor and a Goth," Amato told them.
Namid sighed while she lay on her stomach on her bed. She had her lavender duvet pulled up to her shoulders and stared at the mobile lying on the table, wishing her father would text her back and say something. After five minutes, she opened it up and found the photo he had sent of himself. She stared at his smiling face in the photo. He was wearing his new outfit and Namid could see the collar of his shirt, his tweed jacket and red bow tie that she thought looked cute on him. She swallowed hard as she stared at his smiling face. After a month, she'd finally gotten used to his new body and she thought he was very handsome. The mass of hair he had gotten when he regenerated had been trimmed back and now it lay to the right side of his head while the back of his hair had been cut short. She reached out and touched the screen as tears came to her eyes.
"Hey there."
She glanced up and saw Alan standing in the doorway staring at her lovingly.
"Looking at the university professor again?" he said as he came over to her bed.
He sat down beside her and laid his hand on her head when she swallowed hard and nodded.
"How is he? Have you texted him today?"
"Yeah, he's fine. He's teaching his class right now and he sent me a message just before he started. He was telling me a couple of the kids are snot-nosed brats and he'd like to punch them and there's a few women who fancy him and try to corner him in his office after class so they can ask questions but really all they want to do is stare at him."
"Oh, so he is like Indiana Jones then," Alan said while Namid giggled.
"He also said there's a quiz in class today so he has a heap of paperwork to grade tonight and he's not looking forward to it."
Alan chuckled.
"Glad it's him and not me. Paperwork, ugh! Oh, my poor brother, gets exiled to a planet where he has to play schoolteacher for three hundred years. But then again, he's not crawling around in the sand like Amato is, that would be even worse."
He glanced down when he heard a sob and laid his hand against the back of Namid's head when he saw she was in tears.
"I miss him, Daddy. I miss them all."
"I know, my treasure. I miss them too," Alan said softly as he tried not to cry along with her. "But at least we can communicate with them and know they're alive and well."
"I don't know if I'll be able to make it to three hundred years," Namid said.
Alan bent over and kissed her temple.
"You will because me and everyone else here will help you," he said gently. "Trust me; the three of them are more than capable of taking care of themselves and fighting any danger that comes along. And…your dad and Theta are building rockets so they won't have to be stuck on one planet and Amato is trying to do the same. If there's one thing I know, you can't keep the three of them down."
He rubbed her back while tears ran down her face.
"Listen," he said. "Why don't we all go somewhere tonight and have some fun? Me and your brothers and sister and Rain and Rose. Let's go somewhere where we don't have to lie around and worry about Brother the rest of the night, what d'ya say? Are you up for a little fun?"
Namid nodded and Alan brushed her tears away with the pad of his fingers. While he was doing that, Namid's phone vibrated and she snatched it up, knowing her father had sent another text message.
"What does he say?" Alan said while she read it with a smile on her face.
She laughed in spite of her tears.
"Got your message," she read to him. "Love you too. Have heaps of papers to check over. Damn snot-nosed brats and their need to be educated. Why me?"
They both giggled at that.
"Gee, I don't recall him mentioning someone putting a gun to his head and making him be a university professor," Alan said.
The mobile rang and she hit the talk button.
"Hello?" she said.
"Why me?" the Doctor whined to her.
Namid let out a sobbing laugh.
"Oi, are you crying?" the Doctor said. "I didn't think my message was that disturbing."
"I miss you, Daddy, I miss you so much!" Namid said while Alan leaned over and kissed her temple.
"I miss you too, Rainbow, I wish you were here with me so I could go out and have fun while you graded all these papers."
Namid laughed at that.
"There we are, a bit of a smile, eh?" the Doctor said cheerfully. "I know it's not our usual night to chat but sometimes I just need to hear the wonderful voice of my daughter so she can chase the blues away. Are you alright, apart from pining for me?"
"I'm okay, Daddy, we're all okay," Namid said.
"How are your studies? Are you still doing well at the academy?"
"Yes, I'm doing okay. I'm still getting full marks on everything."
"Good, I expect it to stay that way," the Doctor said. "I don't wanna have to come back there and grade your papers as well."
"I wouldn't mind if you did," Namid said.
"Nor I, since you always get full marks. Grading your papers would be easy-peasey," he said. "Still, it's something to do to keep my mind occupied and fill the time in between my rocket building sessions. I think I might be able to construct a very crude time traveling device for it as well. I have an idea that I've been sketching out and I think I might be able to find the materials I need to build it. If I can, I'll call Theta and Amato and tell them how to build it so they can get away too."
"I hope you can, Daddy. I don't want you stuck there the whole three hundred years."
"Same here, it's a nice planet but if you lot aren't around, I don't wanna be Mister Domestic. Besides, apparently I have things to do in this universe so I'm betting I'll be able to find the things I need and even Amato will be able to construct a rocket and time traveling device. How is everyone else? Are they alright?"
"Yeah, Alan's right here with me and everyone else is fine."
"Let me speak to my brainless bro for a mo," the Doctor said.
Namid laughed and looked up at Alan.
"Daddy wants to speak to brainless bro for a mo," she said, giggling when she heard the Doctor laughing through the phone.
"Excuuuuse me!" Alan said, taking the phone from her.
He put it to his ear.
"Who you callin' brainless, Doctor Professor?" he said while Namid laughed.
"Doctor Professor? That's the best you could come up with?" the Doctor said.
"Yeah, I'm betting it's what Ace would have called you if you'd let her get away with it. So…Uni Loony, how's tricks?"
"If by tricks, you mean my life, my life is going along swimmingly," the Doctor said.
"I see and the forty trillion students under your command haven't rebelled and strung you up by your bow tie yet?"
"Nope, they respect and fear me, not necessarily in that order," the Doctor replied. "How's my crazy wife and kids?"
"Well, they're fine except they're a little down in the old dumps since you're over there and they're over here," Alan said, stroking Namid's cheek when another tear ran down it. "Mi-mi's waterworks have turned on again and she's here in her room, waiting for your text messages and phone calls like some kind of eager date so I'm going to take them somewhere tonight where they can all have fun."
"Yes, please, I don't want them lying there constantly pining for me. That's why I took this job; otherwise I'd be doing the same thing. I know this is sheer hell on all of us, but I keep telling them they have to live their lives and not wait for me to call or text. It tears me up inside whenever I hear that Namid is just lying on her bed crying and waiting for me. That's why I told Rose to go have a life the first time she was trapped in Pete's World. So yes, please, anything you can do to cheer them all up will be greatly appreciated. Have you spoken to Theta and Amato?"
"Not today but as far as I know, General Goth and the Sand Rat are both fine," he said while the Doctor chuckled.
"Ha ha, I was the one that found the correct outfit, go me!" he said while Alan snickered. "Granted, I think Theta will have it easiest since he landed on a fully inhabited planet. This lot here are still trying to get their city off the ground and Amato has to breathe sand for a living. But at least my rocket ship didn't fall into a supernova and yours truly ended up crispy and black. Wish the damn thing hadn't blown up shortly after I got out of it but of course, the Amalashians wouldn't want me having a fully functioning rocket ship, would they? Might give me ideas about escaping. And believe me, I've been fighting the urge to build one just so I can go back and ring their furry necks."
Alan heard someone knocking on a door.
"Bloody Hell, I'm in my office and here comes a few of the randy little females who supposedly have questions about their homework. Keep the mobile with you when you go out because I wanna talk to my wife and the rest of the clan after this gets sorted out. Tell Mi-mi I love her and…just a minute, please, I'm on the phone! Anyway, tell her I love her and tell the rest of my family I love them and I'm thinking about them constantly. And for the love of God, get that child up off the bed and get her out the door before she floods the house with her tears."
"I will, Brother, she's going to be moving off the bed in five minutes or less if I have something to say about it," he said, poking Namid in the side while she giggled.
"Good. Now, gotta go before the students beat down my door. I'll talk to you later. Bye."
"Bye, Brother."
Alan hung up and folded up the phone while he repeated what the Doctor said to him.
"Now," he said after he finished relaying the message. "I believe I promised you all a night of fun and merriment. So get your arse up out of that bed and do your female things while I go and get your mum and your other mum and your brother and your other brother and your sister so we can have a grand old time. Okay?"
"Yes, Daddy."
He smiled and kissed her temple.
"Ten minutes and then I'll be back in here and if you're not dressed, I'm paddling your be-hind with a big old tree and don't think I'll be able to uproot one and hit you with it because I will."
He kissed her again when she giggled at that, sent love into her mind and rose from the bed after he gave her back her phone. Namid watched him go with love in her eyes and when he shut the door behind him, she took one more quick glance at her father's photo, kissed the screen and then put the mobile back in her pocket while she hurried and got ready to go out.
