Chapter 2 – Lollipops and Social Services
"Right, let's see where we are!" the Doctor said, yanking Kate up off of the floor and throwing his coat on. "Is it always like this?" Lily whispered as she and Anne followed the other two to the door. Anne laughed and took her hand. "Oh yes, always."
The Doctor opened the door and he grabbed Kate as he went bounding out, but the minute Kate stepped outside she froze.
She stood in shock as she was outside her old house in England. So many years before she had even met Anne, definitely before she had met the Doctor.
She stood there for Rassilon knows how long and then quickly ushered everyone back into the TARDIS. "We must've come to the wrong place. Nothing interesting out there," she said, her voice frantic even though she tried to hide it. She looked down at the floor, feeling hot tears starting to fill her eyes. "Sweetie, what's wrong?" Anne asked her face screwed up in worry as the three of them rushed to her side. Lily looked grim. She wasn't sure what was going on but she had a feeling that it had something to do with what Kate had told her in the closet yesterday.
But it was the Doctor who looked the most concerned. He pulled her into a hug and then stared into her eyes with one hand on either side of her face. "Please, tell me. What is it?"
"Nothing's wrong," Kate said, pulling away from him. "Then why are you crying?" the Doctor asked, stepping closer to her. Kate wiped her eyes, trying to smile. "I just got some dust in my eye." She looked over at Lily and looked into her eyes, pleading her to not tell them. Lily nodded behind Anne and the Doctor's backs while Anne frowned severely and turned Kate to face her. "That's a load of crap and you know it, Kate. Please tell us what's wrong. What freaked you out so badly? Let us help you, you helped me." Lily smiled encouragingly but otherwise didn't move.
"There's nothing to tell! Can you guys just leave it?" Kate snapped, totally out of character and stormed off deeper into the TARDIS. The Doctor wavered, not sure whether to follow her or not.
Anne ran after her, leaving the Doctor and Lily in the console room. She heard Kate's bedroom door slam shut and she stopped right outside it thinking hard. Turning back to the kitchen she whipped up some tea quickly before knocking on the door. "Go away," Kate's muffled voice called out. She ignored this and opened the door to see Kate's face buried in her pillow. She walked over quietly and sat on the edge of the bed next to Kate. "I made tea…" she whispered cautiously. Kate looked up slightly from her pillow, her eyes red from crying. "Did you bring biscuits?" she asked quietly. When Anne waved them in front of her, Kate smiled a little, sniffling. She took the tea and biscuits with a grateful nod and sat silently sipping at the tea and occasionally munching on the biscuits. Anne slipped an arm around Kate's shoulders and stole one of the biscuits she had been about to pop in her mouth. "Hey, I was eating that!" Kate grumbled.
"So?" Anne laughed through her mouthful of biscuit. "There are more. Though I should probably leave most of them to you. You are drinking my awful tea after all…"
"It's not that bad," Kate said, slurping on the tea, looking anywhere but Anne's eyes. "Sorry I shouted at you," she said quietly, tapping her fingers against the mug. Anne gave her a tight one-arm squeeze and kissed the side of her head. "You were upset. Just like I was yesterday, I had no idea what was going to happen. I'm sure you have a perfectly good reason to not tell us," she said, pretending to be interested in her nails as the unanswered question lingered in the air. Kate rested her head on Anne's shoulder, sighing. "You know you're my best friend, right?" she asked and Anne nodded happily. "I tell you everything else. Just not this, okay?"
Back in the console room the Doctor was pacing the room, running his hands through his hair. Lily sat awkwardly on the jump-seat, knowing she should say something, but it didn't feel her place to. "They've been down there a long time," the Doctor said, stopping for a second and leaning against the console. "I'm sure Anne's just trying to calm her down. She probably made her tea or something. Though if she did I pity her…" Lily smiled thinking of the times Anne had made her tea in an effort to cheer her up. Not exactly her best remedy.
Just then there was a loud pounding on the TARDIS doors, a noise that made both of them jump up nervously and look at one another. "Keep back," the Doctor said quietly to Lily, holding his hand out. "Go get Kate and Anne."
Lily nodded, not sure that it was right to leave him, but she ran off down the corridor. The Doctor stared at the door, thinking maybe they had just imagined it. Nobody ever noticed the TARDIS. Stick it in the middle of London and what do people do? They walk right past it. The noise repeated, louder and a muffled voice shouted through the door.
The Doctor walked up to it and opened it cautiously to find a woman stood there. Now, the Doctor was a good, no, excellent judge of character and as soon as he saw this woman, his spine tingled. Not in a good way, in a bad way. She had twisted features and her mouth was curled up in a snarl. "'Ere, what d'you think you're doin' puttin' that there?" she asked in a rough voice. "Oh hello, sorry about that. I had nothing to do with it really. Terribly sorry though." He sounded cheery enough but the Doctor had to fight to keep his voice polite. Something about her wasn't right and he was going to find out exactly what it was. The woman grumbled, waving a hand as she walked away.
"Get it off my property before I call the police," she said, walking into the house. The Doctor frowned, and closing the door behind him, he followed her out.
The girls had just reached the console room as they saw the Doctor close the doors. Kate ran to the screen, seeing what, or rather who was outside. Her breath caught in her throat, and she felt sick to her stomach. She wanted to go out there, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Anne took a hold of Kate's shoulders and led her to the bench, making her lie down. "Can you grab a bucket from the first cupboard on your right and keep an eye on her while I see what the hell the Doctor is up to?" Anne asked Lily quickly. She bent over and stroked Kate's hair soothingly. "Stay here, it'll be okay." She whispered, not even sure what she was talking about.
She kissed Kate's forehead and quickly ran after the Doctor. The woman turned around, shooting a glare at the Doctor. "Why're you followin' me?" she asked sharply. The Doctor shrugged. "I need to use your phone," he said, his politeness quickly flying out of the window. She audibly growled, something he had rarely heard a human do. "Fine. If it'll get you out faster," she said, leading them into the house. The Doctor shook his head, keeping his voice low. "There's something Kate's not telling me. And she tells me everything so there's something bad about this place. And I've got a feeling it's to do with this woman." Anne raised an eyebrow at him and scratched the back of her head nervously. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Doctor?" She asked. "Kate seems to want to keep this private. Maybe we should respect that." The Doctor shook his head. "Normally I'd agree but there's something very wrong about this woman and if she's what is scaring Kate then I'm going to put a stop to it." He looked so determined that Anne knew it was pointless to argue any longer. She bit her lip and followed him inside, just hoping Kate wouldn't be angry with them when they got back.
When they got in, the house was perfectly normal, not fitting the woman's personality at all. The woman had scuffled off to the other end of the room, cursing as she couldn't find the phone.
"Visitors?" a joyful voice called from behind them, making them turn around quickly. "I'd never thought I'd see the day!" In front of them, Anne and the Doctor could see a cheerful, albeit big man standing with his arms open wide, chuckling like Father Christmas. "Kate, dear! Come down a minute and say hello!" he shouted upstairs. As she inspected the pictures on the wall Anne's jaw dropped audibly as her eyes fell on one in particular. The girl in the photo was younger than the Kate she knew but it was still quite obviously her. "Holy crap." She whispered as she pulled on the Doctor's sleeve and pointed at it.
The Doctor's eyes widened when he saw the photo, and he was about to make a run for it when petite steps could be heard making their way down the stairs. When they turned around to face her, she was definitely Kate, but far from the girl they knew. Her face was crestfallen, almost as if it had no life in it at all, not the same spark in her eyes or anything. She was wearing a long jumper that went down and over her hands, and her hair was vastly longer than now, her fringe covering one of her eyes. "Hello," she said, quietly, not looking up at them. Since she hadn't looked at them yet the Doctor took this opportunity to hand Anne a weird button from one of his pockets and he placed one on his lapel as well. "Oh hullo!" He said extending his hand towards her. "I'm, the D-, I mean…I'm John. John Smith." He nudged Anne with his elbow and she looked up from attaching her button. "Oh, yeah. I'm, uh…Marie. Hi!" Kate smiled a little at them, about to shake the Doctor's hand when a stern shout came from the lounge.
"What're you doin' down here?" the woman shouted, squaring up to Kate and shouting directly in her face. "I told you never to come down here when there are other people around!"
The woman raised her hand, ready to strike, but Kate was too quick and was upstairs like a shot. The Doctor stepped forward and grabbed her wrist roughly. "Excuse you, but what the hell do you think you're doing?" Anne snarled as she curled her hands into fists. "Go check on Kate." The Doctor said in a steely tone. "But-" Anne protested.
"Now." He insisted, his voice even and cold.
She nodded and began up the stairs quickly. The woman pulled her hand away from the Doctor. "What business is it of yours?" she asked sharply, shoving the phone into his hand. "Hurry up and make whatever call it is you need to and get the hell out of my house." From the way she was talking, this wasn't a big thing for her. She didn't think twice about it.
Upstairs Anne knocked carefully on the bedroom door that she saw Kate disappear into. "Kate?" she said softly, opening the door. She found Kate curled up in a ball on her bed, but she wasn't crying. She was barely shaking. Anne knelt down next to her. She wanted to reach out and hold her but this wasn't her Kate. This Kate was hurting and vulnerable and if she made one wrong move then she would never gain her trust. "Hello again." Anne whispered smiling at her gently. Kate sat up crosslegged, blowing her fringe out of her face to reveal that she had a black eye. Noticing that Anne saw it, she quickly pulled her hair back over it, looking away.
Downstairs The Doctor was in the lounge, still pursuing the woman as she sat on the sofa, smoking. "Do you hit her a lot?" he asked, anger in his eyes. The woman shrugged. "The little brat asks for it. Anyway, she's my charge, I'll do what I like!"
"Please explain to me how a little girl 'asks' for someone to hit her, because I am drawing a blank on this one. Which is impressive seeing as I'm quite clever." He stared at her, his eyes boring into her face and his jaw clenched. The woman got up, stepping closer to him. "If you're so clever, you can find your way to the door. Get. Out," she said, shoving him. He took one step back and cocked his head. "Now that was not a good idea and let me tell you why," He leaned down and got in her face, his expression furious. "I am the only person who will show you even the tiniest bit of mercy. But let me warn you, you do not want to make me angry as I am horribly close to getting. You will sit back down, you will listen to me, and you will stop with the attitude. Now am I making myself perfectly clear?"
The woman looked like she was about to protest, but judging from the look in his eyes she thought it not the best idea. Reluctantly she sat down, scowling like a school-child being caught eating in lesson. "Much better. Now, tell me, how exactly are you related to this girl?" He was smiling but it had a threatening edge to it, warning her not to lie to him. "My husband adopted her before I married him from the local orphanage," the woman said, leaning back into the sofa. "Nobody knows where she came from, and he took pity on her. She was only a toddler then." He took a step forward and glared at her. "And you just thought it was a good idea to treat her like an animal?" He stopped and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "No, don't answer that. I'm not in the mood for excuses. How about this instead, does she have any other family?"
"Are you Social Services or somethin'?" the woman asked, tensing slightly. His hesitation was so quick that she didn't even notice it. "Yeah, I am." He flashed the psychic paper at her. "And you are not fit to be a guardian. We are taking the girl and placing her in a more suitable living situation. Now, answer my question: does she have any other family?" The woman grumbled, frowning. " But I guess my husband's ex whom he adopted her with. But she's all the way in Ireland. You can't just take her away from me! " The Doctor smiled remembering the times he had spent with Kate's mother. She was an amazing woman and it comforted him to know that the reason Kate was safe was partially because of him. "That's all the information we need, thank you. And I think you'll find that we can take her from you, quite easily."
The Doctor ran up the stairs, gently knocking on the door before entering Kate's bedroom. Kate and Anne looked up from the game of cards they were playing. "Come in." Kate said quietly. Anne smiled as he walked beaming into the room. "And why are you so happy?" She asked, silently guessing the answer. "Kate pack your bags, we are off to your mother's!" He was so excited that he was bouncing slightly as he walked. Kate's eyes widened happily, the biggest smile Anne had seen since she had been with her on her face. She popped off of the bed and dragged out an already-packed suitcase. "Are we really going?" she asked quietly. She had dreamed so many times that something like this would happen, and it felt surreal that it actually was. He bent over so he was at her height and smiled. "Yes, we're really going." Kate laughed happily and grabbed her pillow as well. Anne leaned over into the Doctor's ear and whispered. "How are we going to get her there without here seeing herself or the inside of the TARDIS before she's supposed to?" The Doctor frowned, thinking. "Ah. I hadn't thought of that," he said, running a hand through his hair, fluffing it up. Seeing herself would be bad enough, but seeing the inside of the TARDIS would be disastrous. It could change so much.
Anne thought for a moment. "How far are we from her mother's anyway? I have a license, I could drive."
"Fancy driving to Ireland?" the Doctor asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Kate had finished packing her suitcase and was looking back and forth between them. "Well how far could it be?" She shrugged and looked at Kate.
"Oh sweetie, do you have your toothbrush?" She ushered her out the door to get it and turned back to him. "To be honest, I'm not sure where we are now…Of course we could put her to sleep and just make sure our Kate stays in her room." The Doctor hit himself on the head.
"Why didn't I think of that?" he said and moved back to let Kate back into the room. He smiled at how she was so different and yet entirely the same. "You ready to go?" he asked, bending down and slapping his knees. "Oh yes please." She said nodding vigorously. The Doctor smiled and pulled a lollipop out of his pocket. "You might feel you're getting too old for these…" He started, smiling at her. "But if you want it…" Kate eyed it carefully but Anne smiled encouragingly. "It's alright, go ahead." Kate took it cautiously, smiling up at him in thanks. She unwrapped it and popped it in her mouth, picking up her suitcase with one hand and holding Anne's hand with the other. She didn't know what it was, but she automatically trusted Anne, and that was an achievement in itself due to her trust issues.
Anne smiled happily and began down the stairs with her as the Doctor ran ahead to get Lily to hide their Kate. "Um, I'm getting sleepy." Kate mumbled, her eyes half-closed. Anne knelt down next to her. "Don't worry sweetie, I'll carry you. You'll be at your mum's when you wake up." As she spoke she picked her up and Kate nodded into Anne's shoulder.
The Doctor opened the TARDIS doors, finding Lilly sat next to Kate, who was asleep. "How ironic," the Doctor thought to himself, walking over to her and picking her up gently. "Is everything alright?" Lilly asked. The Doctor nodded, smiling at her. "It is now. Thank you for looking after her," he said. "Anne will be back in a minute."
He walked with Kate in his arms down to her bedroom. "Actually if you could give her a hand, that would be great." He called out behind him.
Lily stood there for a moment looking completely confused before running outside and finding Anne standing there with a young girl in her arms. "Oh, Lily, thank Gallifrey. I need to get her inside. Can you grab her bag?" Lily nodded, running over and picking up the bag. She looked at the girl in her arms.
"Is that Kate?" she asked as they walked into the TARDIS. Anne nodded as she gazed down into the girl's sleeping face. "Yeah, isn't she adorable this age?" Anne couldn't help it, she was never much of the maternal type but something about this young vulnerable version of her best friend made her want to coo over her and protect her forever.
"We should put her in our room until we get there…" Anne said as they walked together down the hall. "She shouldn't wake up before we get there but if she does then don't use your real name. Call me Marie and the Doctor is John Smith. Okay? We need to keep the timelines from crossing incorrectly. The Doctor will give you a perception filter." Lily laughed softly as she held the door open for Anne. "Isn't Marie your middle name?"
"Yeah, so?" Anne asked as she lay Kate down in their bed. "Nothing, I like it. It's cute." Lily smiled as she placed Kate's bag on the floor. "Shut up. You're making fun of me! It's the first thing I could think of!" Anne said as she turned around. "I am not making fun of you! I really do like it." Lily giggled as she took her hand and they walked out of the room.
When they reached the console room, the Doctor's voice came over the speakers. "Anne, I'm gonna stay here with Kate during the journey, but I've set the coordinates to her house, all you need to do is pull the wibbley lever," he said. Anne moved towards a lever, reaching out for it when his voice boomed out again, "Not that one! The one next to it!" Anne nodded as Lilly smirked, and she pulled the lever.
The shaking sent Lily flying into one of the seats, the room shuddering violently before coming to a halt. "It's not my fault you don't label them!" Anne said as she let go. "Why would you need so many 'wibbley' levers?"
"Because they're brilliant." His voice called back.
"Ooh, I like that. I might save that for later…" Anne rolled her eyes and helped Lily stand again.
Anne started walking back to the room where the younger Kate was sleeping, calling out as she did. "We should both go, it'll be weird if you've magically disappeared while she slept." When Anne walked into her bedroom, the Doctor was already in there, knelt next to the younger Kate. "One step ahead of you," he whispered, smiling up at her.
"I'm guessing we've landed a few days later, so we're not just popping up five second after she left her dad's." He nodded and picked her up gently. "She should wake up after we walk out of the TARDIS. Though I think she'll have some kind of memory of it, because one of the first things she said when she walked in here the day we met was that it felt familiar. She also said I reminded her or someone. I should have known then…" Anne smiled at the peaceful look Kate had on her face as they carried her through and out of the TARDIS.
As they walked down the road, Kate slowly started to wake up in the Doctor's arms. "Hello, sleepyhead," the Doctor said gently, smiling down at her. "Are we there?" Kate asked sleepily, snuggling deeper into the crook of his arm. Anne smiled and lugged Kate's bag into a more comfortable position. "Yes, you slept the whole time. It was quite impressive, if I do say so myself." Kate smiled hazily, yawning and rubbing her eyes. She winced when she rubbed her black one, but didn't make a big deal out of it. The Doctor's brow furrowed but before he could say anything Anne jostled him with her elbow, a finger to her lips. He nodded and looked up, stopping suddenly.
In front of them, there was a homely cottage, with a woman standing in the doorway. The Doctor recognised her straight away as Kate's mum, who had knitted him enough itchy jumpers to last all his lifetimes. She walked into the front garden, not acknowledging them. The Doctor remembered that they actually hadn't told her they were coming, but he thought maybe it was better that way. It was more of a surprise for her. Anne took the lead, slightly nervous because she had never actually met Kate's mum but thanks to the perception filter she wouldn't recognize her if she ever did again. "Um, hello. You're Kate's mum, yeah?" Kate's mum looked up, smiling a pleasant smile. Her face fell a little when Anne mentioned Kate's name. "Yes, yes, I am. Is she alright?" she asked, worriedly. Anne smiled warmly at her. "Yeah, actually. More than alright really. We're from, er, social services and we're here to put Kate in your permanent care."
As she spoke she stepped aside to reveal Kate, who the Doctor had put down while she had been speaking. Kate hugged both Anne and the Doctor as high as she could reach. "Thank you, Marie and lollipop man," she said, having forgotten his name. "You are absolutely welcome, sweetheart." Anne said kneeling down to hug her properly. The Doctor did the same and whispered something in her ear as he did.
Reluctantly they walked away towards the TARDIS, arm in arm and smiling back at Kate and her mum as they went. When they finally were out of sight, Anne pulled him aside. "What did you tell her?" The Doctor smiled again looking back over his shoulder and down the street. "I told her someone very important would be coming one day and that she'd need to be ready for them."
They heard the familiar sound of the TARDIS door creaking open and heard an also-familiar voice say, "Hello, Lollipop man." Anne doubled over in laughter while the Doctor stood there looking thunderstruck. "You knew this whole time and never told me?" Kate giggled, stepping out of the TARDIS towards them. "The perception filter didn't work on me for some reason. Plus if I'd have told you, you would have done something stupid like dressed up as a lollipop or something."
"And you just knew not to mention it?" He said pointing at her as Anne, still laughing, collapsed on the ground. Kate rolled her eyes. "Of course not, silly. You're about to run back and tell me right…" She checked her watch. "Now."
The Doctor looked around and quickly sprinted off towards the house again while Anne finally managed to contain herself and got up off the pavement, smiling at Kate widely. Kate laughed as the Doctor ran off faster than she had seen him run before.
Kate smiled and pulled her into a tight hug. She buried her face in her shoulder, squeezing her. "Thank you," she whispered. Anne hugged her as tightly as she could."Hey, for you? Anything. Remember that." She stopped for a moment and pulled back looking confused. "But are you sure you remember me like this? Because you didn't seem to recognize me when we met…" Kate frowned confusedly for a moment, drifting off. "I guess, I mean how else would I know? I remember we played cards. You won. Typical," she said, shaking her head. Come to think of it, everything had seemed so familiar with Anne. Even from when they had first met.
She was about to ask whether Anne felt the same when the Doctor came bounding up to them. "Right! That's all sorted!" he said, grinning. Kate smiled at them. "Sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner about...everything," she looked down at the floor. They exchanged a look and then tackled her together. "Lily, we need your help crushing Kate with love!" Anne shouted into the TARDIS.
She jumped out eagerly and joined in causing them to topple over onto the ground in a heap. As everyone tried to pull themselves out of the wreckage of arms and legs the Doctor managed to find Kate's face and he held it smiling. "I'm glad you're okay now." He whispered before kissing her. Kate bit her lip when they pulled away, smiling at him. "Ditto," she whispered, pulling herself up and holding out her hand for him to take.
They all walked back into the TARDIS in the two couples and stood on either side of the console.