A/N: Based off of the kids in "The Runaway Bride". Because the kids in the back of that Jeep always amused me, and I had to wonder what happened to them after they saw Donna jump into the TARDIS.
Takes place pretty much anytime in S4. Mild, mild reference to the New Who novel Wetworld.
I've tried to keep everything as "British" as possible, but be warned: I am an American, so some of my phrasing may not be correct.
Extra points to anyone who notes the nod to a classic series companion.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. I really don't even own the kids in this fic. Besides, if I did own DW, the atrocity known as Journey's End would have never happened.
They were supposed to just be walking home from school. 'Straight there, straight back, no detours, cause Emma's got a doctor's appointment after school.' Aunt Macy was very strict about those sorts of things. The responsible thing to do would have been just to keep walking, to pretend she'd never seen the blue box in the alleyway, because if they were late then she and Aaron both would get in trouble, and then Aaron would be mad at her and she'd have no one to talk to at recess.
But of course, nothing is ever as simple as that. Because Emma Grace did pause at the mouth of the alley, staring at the blue box that said 'Police' on top, staring at it as though she expected it to fly away at any moment. And to be perfectly honest, she did.
Emma stood there and stared at it, wrestling with the decision to move on, when her brother noticed that she'd stopped and turned around. "What're you lookin' at?" he asked, clearly annoyed, cause he knew that if they were late he'd get blamed for it. His friends Jesse and Troy stopped too, still kicking a football between them. Emma looked at her brother, and instead of doing the responsible thing, waved him over.
"Come here," she said, a smile breaking out across her face. He rolled his eyes and stomped over, knowing that she'd never move otherwise.
"What?" he asked, trying to sound cross, but achieving something that sounded more like a whine.
"Look," Emma insisted, pointing at the box. Aaron looked, and though he tried not to show it, he was as excited as his sister.
"What's the big deal?" Troy asked. He and Jesse had come over as well, but failed to see the splendor of an old police box. Emma began to approach it as Aaron turned to explain.
"It's that thing I told you about. You know, the alien box that was flyin' around a couple of Christmases ago. We saw it flyin' down the motorway, weaving through cars and everything!"
"Oh, come on," Jesse scroffed. "That old thing? That thing wouldn't fly if you put twenty kelos of rocket fuel under it and lit it on fire."
"It did so," Aaron argued, and he might have pressed the matter further, if he hadn't turned to see that Emma was already halfway up the alley, moving towards the strange box. "Emma!" He ran up to her and grabbed her arm. "What'd you think you're doing?"
"I just want to see if it's open," she answered. His eyes went wide.
"But, but…but it's alien," he said. His sister just looked at him as though he were slow, and shifted her rucksack.
"But it belongs to a nice alien," Emma answered. "Remember? He saved that woman from the robot Santa." Before Aaron could protest further, she pulled her arm from his grasp and strode up to the box confidently.
Emma took a deep breath before placing one hand on the right side door and pushing gently. It didn't open, which wasn't much of a surprise now that she was close enough to see the keyhole on the door. She supposed that if she was an alien with a flying box, she wouldn't leave it open when she popped out to…do whatever it was aliens did when they visited London and weren't blowing things up.
What did surprise Emma was that, now that her hand was against the wood, she could feel a subtle vibration emerging from within, and just the tiniest bit of consciousness brushing against her own. It might have caused most people to pause or pull away, but Emma was the sort of child who accepted things as they were. To her, a very simple truth presented itself: that the alien man's flying box was alive.
Keeping her hand on the box, she stepped just a bit closer. "Hello," she said, as if greeting an adult she'd met before. Emma spoke softly so that Aaron wouldn't overhear and jeer her for talking to an inanimate object. "I was hoping…do you think I could come inside? Just for a moment, just to have a look. I won't touch anything, I promise. I'll be good. Just a quick look around…"
Though she might have imagined it, Emma thought as though she could feel someone smiling in her mind, and the door that her hand was pushing against swung open with a soft click.
Aaron had stopped in the alley when Emma pulled away from him, seeing that, yet again, it would be unlikely that he could deter her from her goal. Granted, he was older, and stronger, and he could have dragged her away if he wanted to…especially with his friends there to help. But that would have only made Emma more determined than ever, and she would have been cross with him for days. And when the box had failed to open, he figured that he'd had nothing to worry about. Emma would turn around, discouraged, and they would have traipsed home, back to their ordinary life. But then, after a moment, it did open, and his sister turned for just a moment and shot him a triumphant look before walking inside. Even as he took a step forward to chase after her, even as his mouth opened to call her back, the door slammed shut again with a resounding thunk.
Emma paused when the door shut behind her, not worried that the door had shut on its own, but rather taken aback by the astounding beauty before her. The large room was empty, at least of humanoid life—though Emma could feel the faint presence she'd felt outside a bit stronger now. The fact that the ship was bigger on the inside didn't phase her much—Emma merely accepted it as an alien fact, and focused on the beautiful golden lit room, with its sweeping columns that reminded her of coral. As she slowly walked up the ramp, she started to extend her hand to brush the nearest column, but pulled back after remembering her promise not to touch anything. Again, she felt a small brush in her mind, this time something like a nod of permission. Emma smiled, and lightly stroked the column, marveling at its warmth. After a moment, she stopped, somewhat reluctantly, and continued into the room.
She walked over to the circular consol, with its magpie assortment of buttons and levers. Emma resolutely stuck her hands in her pockets to keep from being tempted into throwing a switch at random. This was an alien flying ship, she reminded herself, and pressing buttons could be dangerous.
Outside, Aaron stared at the doors of the blue box, shifting slightly from one foot to the other, silently willing them to open and his sister to emerge. All sorts of questions ran through his mind. What if it wasn't the same alien's box, and an evil alien was inside, and they caught Emma where she wasn't supposed to be? What if it just took off suddenly, taking her far away, never to be seen again? Some big brothers might have been heartened by that possibility, but Aaron had always been close to Emma, and looked out for her, and honestly couldn't bare the thought of something bad happening to her.
Aaron finally got up the courage to walk up to the box and press his hand against the door as Emma had done. But for whatever reason it failed to open. Aaron pressed harder, to no avail, and finally kicked the box in frustration. "Emma!" he called. "You come out here right now!"
There was no answer. Aaron growled and kicked the box again. "Stupid," he muttered. But then, something caught his ear. Voices, from the top of the alley. Voices that weren't Troy and Jesse. A man and a woman…the alien man, he realized, were walking toward the blue box, talking animatedly. They hadn't noticed Troy and Jesse, and Aaron quickly ducked behind a trash bin to avoid being seen. "Emma," he hissed in warning. But suddenly the alien man and red-headed woman (the same woman in the wedding dress?) were in front of the box, the man pulling a key from his pocket, and they were inside.
Emma had heard Aaron's first call, of course, but she figured that if he was already mad, then another couple of minutes couldn't hurt, right? But then, she heard other voices—grown-up voices—outside the door, and she ducked down behind the seat that was off to one side of the consol. Maybe they wouldn't see her, and she could sneak out unnoticed.
The alien man and a woman strode into the TARDIS, completely unaware of their small guest. He flung his overcoat onto one of the corals, and started towards the controls, still rambling about an adventure with someone named Martha that had involved super-intelligent beavers. Emma edged around the seat, still crouched low, finally getting a clear path to the door. The grown-ups were leaning against the consol, facing inward…maybe, if she ran, she could make it…
"Hello." Emma looked up to see the alien man staring at her, with a mixed look of surprise and confusion on his face. The woman followed his gaze and seemed more amused than anything. Emma stood slowly, keep one hand on the seat beside her. "How'd you get in here?"
Emma was silent for a moment. She still looked as though she was considering bolting for the door. Finally, she took a deep breath and answered. "She let me in."
The man looked at the woman in confusion. "Don't look at me, Spaceman," the redhead replied, rolling her eyes. "I've been with you all day, remember?" The man looked back to Emma, who shook her head.
"No, I mean…she let me in," she said again, this time pointing up. The man followed her finger, and realized that she was pointing at the bright green column in the middle of the room.
"Ah," he answered. "I see." He took a step forward, hands clasped behind his back, and Emma involuntarily backed up. It was one thing to defend the alien to her brother, it was another to trust that he was really so good when you've just been caught trespassing on his spaceship. The man stopped and smiled at her, a nice wide smile that made it hard for Emma not to give a tiny one back.
"Oh, it's alright, sweetheart," the woman said. "There's no need to be scared of this big softy." With that, she slapped the man in the arm. He turned and scowled at her, then turned his attention back to Emma.
"What's your name?" He asked, all smiles again. Emma paused for a moment. Grown-ups always said not to tell strangers your name…but then, she imagined that most of the grown-ups she knew would probably frown upon sneaking on-board alien spaceships too.
"Emma," she said softly. "Emma Jenkins."
If possible, it seemed the man's smile got even bigger. "Pleasure to meet you, Emma Jenkins," he said. "I'm the Doctor. This is Donna."
"Hello," Donna said, giving Emma a little wave. This time, Emma smiled back, a real, relieved smile.
"Hello," she answered.
"Now then, Emma," the Doctor started. "The real question is…how did you get on my ship?"
Emma blinked at him. Hadn't she already said? "I told you," she answered. "She let me in. I asked her, and she let me in."
The Doctor's gaze turned a little more serious, though his tone of voice was still light. "How do you know the TARDIS is a girl?"
Emma shifted her weight from one foot to the other, looking at the floor. "Well…" she started slowly. "She just sort of…feels like a girl." To keep them from thinking she was crazy, she quickly went on. "Besides, my dad used to have a boat. He always referred to it as a 'she'. He said all ships and cars were female." The Doctor and Donna exchanged a look at the sadness that passed over the girl's eyes when she mentioned her dad.
"Course they are. Smart man, your dad," the Doctor said, pulling a small silver tube from his jacket pocket. Emma tried to focus on Donna when he suddenly pointed it towards her and it started buzzing. She didn't feel anything, but that didn't stop her from being nervous.
"Nothing to worry bout, dear. It's just his sonic screwdriver. Won't hurt you," Donna said.
"What's a sonic screwdriver?"
Donna smirked at her. "I know, right?"
"Very intelligent," the Doctor muttered, seemingly to himself. "And oh so slightly telepathic." He pocketed the sonic screwdriver, and Emma looked back to Donna, realization hitting her.
"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Oh, it's you!" Donna and the Doctor exchanged confused glances. "You're the woman in the wedding dress. The one he saved off the motorway from the robot Santa!"
The Doctor and Donna's faces went from confused to surprise. "How'd you know about that?" the Doctor asked, slightly suspiciously.
"We saw you," Emma answered. "Me and my brother Aaron. We were on our way to Gran's for dinner. We saw you and your ship and everything.
"How bout that," the Doctor said with a smile. "I hope you enjoyed the show, cause the TARDIS doesn't do flying very often."
"Oh yes," Emma answered. "It was incredible. That's why we stopped when we saw it today! Well, I stopped. I wanted to see inside. But Aaron was too scared." She smirked a little, in the way that only little sisters can.
"Would that be the bloke outside, with the blue jacket and spiky hair?" Donna asked, looked at the screen on the consol.
Emma poked her head around to see the screen. "Yep, that's him." Looking at the screen a moment longer, she realized that Aaron looked scared. She let out a heavy sigh. It would have been wonderful to stay and talk more with the Doctor and Donna. They seemed really nice. "I'd better go," she said, tightening the straps to her rucksack. "I've got a doctor's appointment today, and Aunt Macy will go bonkers if I miss it."
"What's wrong?" Donna asked, her brow crinkling in confusion. "You seem healthy to me."
Emma took another deep breath. "I have diabetes," she answered. "I had a bad spell last week, so I've gotta go in for a check-up so they can make sure my blood sugar's leveled out."
"That doesn't sound like fun," the Doctor said. Then his face brightened. "Why don't you bring your brother inside, and we can give you a lift!"
"Really?!"
"Of course," the Doctor answered. "Where do you live?"
"McCrimmon Street," Emma said, running over to the door while the Doctor set the coordinates.
Aaron jumped as the door to the blue box sprung open and his sister stuck her head out. "Come on, Aaron!" she commanded. "The Doctor's gonna give us a lift home!" Before he could protest, she reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him inside.
At the top of the alley, Troy and Jesse looked on in amazement at the weird box slowly faded into nothing, while a strange mechanical wheezing sound filled the air.
Macy Rinped sighed, looking at her watch, and then out the window. She tapped her foot impatiently against the hard-wood floor. Aaron and Emma should have been home by now. They needed to leave in just a couple of minutes if they were going to make it to the doctor's office on time. Doctor Smith's assistant always got snippy if a patient showed up late.
Finally, she saw the children running up the drive. They paused, turning to wave at someone or something that was out of her line of vision, before turning and running into the house. She might have paid more attention to the odd wheezing sound in the air, if she hadn't started calling out for them to drop their things and get in the car, otherwise they were going to be late.