Disclaimer: I don't own "Doctor Who" or "Twilight", and the essential details of the original concept of this fic came from a video posted on YouTube by heroesdwtw- which has unfortunately now been taken off YouTube- and is used with their permission
Feedback: Much appreciated
AN: Hope you like this chapter; this close to the end, there are scenes that obviously had to happen, but this first talk with Jacob was trickier than I expected it would be, to say nothing of things with Charlie
AN 2: In advance, the Doctor decided not to use 'John Smith' as his alias when talking to Charlie because he worried that it would sound too obviously fake when dealing with a professional police officer with clear reasons to be suspicious of him from the moment they met
New Dawn
When Charlie opened the door, I was struck by how stupid it was to suddenly be afraid to speak; I'd just gotten away from a confrontation with the leaders of the most physically powerful vampires the Doctor had ever encountered, and had spent the last few months facing all kinds of dangerous situations ranging from flying alien mantas to a world where my friend had never existed, and now I was scared to see my dad again.
When Charlie saw me, standing at the door beside a strange man, I briefly wondered if he was going to punch the Doctor before he pulled me into his arms, his body shaking as he held me before he pulled back to look me over.
"What the… where were you?" he said, staring at me incredulously. "It's been… I was…"
"Tricky story," the Doctor said, smiling politely at my father as he held up the psychic paper. "Doctor Jonas Taylor, Chief Swan; I'm the psychiatrist responsible for your daughter's treatment."
"Treatment?" Charlie repeated, looking between me and the Doctor incredulously. "You… who are you?"
"Doctor Jonas Taylor; like I said, I'm a psychiatrist," the Doctor explained. "I was out for a walk a few days ago when I found this young woman… well, drifting in the sea."
"The sea?" Charlie repeated, looking at me in shock. "What were you-?"
"I was… cliff-jumping," I explained awkwardly, glad that I could give my dad at least a partly honest explanation. "It went a bit wrong… I hit a current… and… well, the Doctor saved me."
"You did?" Charlie looked back at my friend, tension in his manner faltering slightly even if he was clearly still suspicious.
"Oh, getting her out of the water was the easy part," the Doctor smiled at me and Charlie. "The hard part was finding who she was."
"Who she was?" Charlie repeated in surprise.
"She was unconscious by the time I got to her, she had no ID, and when she woke up in my hospital a couple of days later, she didn't immediately remember who she was; I speculated trauma-induced amnesia," the Doctor explained nonchalantly. "I had to spend a few days in therapy with her before she was even able to remember her name, never mind anything else."
"And you didn't notice the Missing Persons' reports?" Charlie looked at the Time Lord in a more probing manner.
"I… get caught up in my work, and I actually work a couple of towns over," the Doctor explained, actually looking sheepish as he looked at my father. "As for the reports… maybe my office missed them?"
"Does it matter?" I smiled awkwardly at my father. "Carlisle already dealt with all the bills; there's nothing more for you to worry about…"
"Carlisle," Charlie said, looking at me for a moment before his gaze shifted to the Doctor. "You know Doctor Cullen?"
"Worked with him once or twice; he treats the body, I treat the mind, it all comes down to saving people in the end," the Doctor shrugged. "I appreciate that this has been a… difficult experience for you, Chief Swan, and I'm sorry I couldn't get back to you earlier, but can you accept that I never would have left you to worry like this if I'd been able to come here sooner?"
"Doctor Taylor," Charlie looked at my friend, "you have to understand that this… I mean, I thought I lost my daughter…"
"I understand," the Doctor said, his tone surprisingly serious and sympathetic for the Time Lord's usual nonchalance. "I'm a dad myself, Chief Swan; believe me, I'd never do something like this to another father on purpose."
"Right…" Charlie said, nodding in understanding at the Doctor before he looked at me. "Bella… if Doctor Cullen paid for your treatment…"
"Edward has nothing to do with this." I still wanted to talk with Edward before I said anything definite one way or the other, but right now I wanted Charlie to be clear that my ex had nothing to do with anything that had happened to me since we'd last seen each other. "The Cullens are… they were in the area, and as Doctor Taylor said, he's worked with Carlisle before; he dropped in for a visit after I remembered my name, offered Doctor Taylor some help in putting together what happened, and it all came together."
"Maybe it would be easier if we talked this out in private?" the Doctor asked, smiling at Charlie. "Bella can wait upstairs or something; I think we can all agree that someone who's been in her position shouldn't have to relive it."
"Uh… right…" Charlie said, looking uncertainly at me for a moment before he nodded in understanding, turning to indicate the stairs. "If you... I mean…"
"Sure," I smiled at Charlie, understanding his concern; he appreciated the Doctor's official argument that I shouldn't have to listen to him talking about my fictional psychological breakdown, but he wasn't entirely comfortable with sending me out of the house. Struck by the surrealness of the situation, I headed for the back door and headed out to the garden, turning back to look at the familiar building with a smile.
My room in the TARDIS had been nice, but even if it had recreated itself based on my own memories of this, that didn't mean it had been exactly the same. All the little details of the room waiting for me up these stairs, such as the smell of the bedding or the view out the window… the TARDIS could give me something similar, but there was still something to be said for the original.
My train of thought was cut short as I found myself looking at Jacob, standing at the edge of my garden, panting heavily as though he'd just run a great distance, dressed in shorts that made it clear he'd just shifted back from his wolf state.
"You're alive," he said, staring at me as though nothing else mattered. "You're alive… you're alive…"
He had come up to me and wrapped me in his arms before I could do anything to try and get away from him, leaving me to give him a few awkward pats on the back before he stepped back.
"What the Hell happened to you?" he said, looking urgently at me. "You just… you vanished-"
"I… went travelling."
"'Travelling'," Jacob repeated, urgency replaced by incredulity. "You went 'travelling' for a few days-"
"It's a bit more involved than that," I said, giving him a brief smile; I'd stick to the story the Doctor was giving Charlie for everyone else, but whatever my feelings about Jake right now, I knew that he could keep a secret so long as I wasn't endangering anyone else. "I've actually been away for the last few months."
"Months?" Jacob repeated incredulously. "But-"
"That's… a long story," I said, wishing I'd thought about what I was saying before the words came out. "Let's just… would you accept that things in the world are weirder than even we thought they were?"
"Weirder than the leeches-"
"Don't," I cut him off, mind already made up on that area in particular.
"What?" he looked at me in surprise.
"Stop calling them leeches. I just… I mean, would you like it if I called you all 'dogs'?"
"Us all?"
"Everyone in your tribe, I mean, but seriously, have you ever stopped to think about how you sound when you define the Cullens like that?" I asked him, privately grateful that I was able to get this out despite my earlier concerns that I wouldn't have the strength to stand up to Jacob or Edward like this. "I mean, I can understand that you consider them your natural enemies, but frankly you're just coming across as a racist git."
"Racist?" Jacob repeated incredulously.
"OK, maybe 'speciest' would be a better term, considering that the Cullens are genuinely not human, but you're still judging people because of something they can't control and assuming that you can just… pigeon-hole them because of that; it's basically racism when I look at it like that."
"They aren't human-!"
"Neither are you!"
When Jacob looked at me in shock at that last comment, I briefly wondered if I'd crossed a line, but forced that down; sometimes you had to be harsh if you wanted to make sure people got the point you were trying to make to them.
"I'm not saying that you not being human is a… a bad thing," I looked apologetically at him. "It's just… my point is, if you're going to start judging something as being bad because it's not human, than you need to recognise that you're… well…"
"That I'm just as 'guilty' as everyone else I'm pigeon-holing like that?" Jacob countered bitterly.
"That is not what I meant; I'm not saying you're a bad person because you think anything non-human is automatically a threat, I'm saying that you need to get over that attitude and be more open-minded!" I countered. "The best man I've ever met isn't human-"
"The leech?"
"Actually, it's not Edward, but thank you for proving my point," I said firmly. "I was talking about the Doctor."
"'The Doctor'?" Jacob repeated incredulously. "You know a guy called 'The Doctor'?"
"Yes," I nodded, feeling no qualms about telling Jacob the truth; I might not have those kind of feelings for him, but I trusted that he wouldn't give anything I told him away to anyone else. "He's the reason I've been travelling for months."
"What is he?"
"He's an alien."
"Alien," Jacob repeated, once a few moments had made it clear I wasn't going to amend or clarify that description. "As in… an actual alien? Like… from Mars?"
"Yes," I replied firmly. "And before you start pointing fingers and making accusations, firstly, you can't criticise someone for not being human when you turn into a massive wolf when you're annoyed, and secondly, before you start acting all jealous, I'd like to make it clear that the Doctor and I are just friends; he's way too old for me-"
"The leech was over a century-"
"And the Doctor's older than most of the official countries on this planet; believe me, there are several reasons why he and I are fine as friends and nothing more," I countered resolutely. "You know your real problem, Jacob? It's not that you're a werewolf; it's that you're racist!"
"Excuse me?" Jacob said incredulously.
"Or maybe speciesist is the better term here; you've spent all this time judging the Cullens just because they're vampires," I clarified. "I'm not saying that you're not right to at least be cautious around them, but you can't-"
"What are you even thinking here?" Jacob cut me off, looking indignantly at me. "What has that Martian done-?"
"Actually, the native Martians look more like giant lizards; as you can see, I'm not that extreme," the Doctor's voice cut in, the two of us turning around to see my friend nonchalantly strolling out of my house. "We spotted what was going on out here and I convinced Charlie that it would be best to let me explain things in case he says something he'll regret later, considering that he identified you as the Jacob Black I'd heard a few things about from Bella?"
"Yeah…" Jacob said, looking uncertainly at the Doctor for a moment before his nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed. "What are you?"
"Like Bella said, I'm not human," the Doctor shrugged nonchalantly. "I can guess how you might think Mars, but I'm actually from the planet Gallifrey; is that a problem?"
Looking at Jacob right then, as he looked at the Doctor with near-visible unease just because the man he was talking to wasn't entirely human, I realised that any feelings I'd been thinking about before I left with the Doctor were over and done with.
It wasn't that I hated Jacob, but after seeing how the Doctor had been willing to give his people's most ancient enemies a chance to live because I'd told him that at least some of them would be better than what he believed they'd become, to say nothing of the stories he'd told me about his history with the Daleks where he'd actually worked with them in certain extreme circumstances, it was hard to think of Jacob as a good person when he was so clearly blinkered by prejudice against the Cullens just because they were vampires.
"How's Charlie?" I asked, wanting to give myself something else to think about.
"A bit anxious about anything relating to Eddie-boy or his family, but no more than I'd expect given what you told me about your history with him," the Doctor smiled, before looking back at Jacob. "By the way, heard some interesting things about your tribe from Bella; you really turn into wolves?"
"You told him-?" Jacob looked at me indignantly.
"The Doctor's keeping government secrets; you can trust him with this!" I protested.
"Government?" Jacob looked at the Doctor, surprise replacing unease even as confusion remained an obvious issue.
"Scientific advisor to a special branch of the United Nations in dealing with… let's just call them 'unconventional threats' to the general populace," the Doctor smiled. "I'm working on getting the Cullens and their ilk classified under those rules; I can do the same for you if you-"
"We are nothing like them-!" Jacob began, even as his rippling skin made it clear that he was fighting down the urge to change into his wolf state.
"Didn't intend to imply that you were like them in the context you're clearly thinking of," the Doctor said, looking at Jacob with a brief smile before his expression became firmer. "That said, Bella's right; judging something just because of its species isn't going to do you any favours."
"What would you know about that; you aren't even human-"
"Maybe not, but I'll have you know that some of my best friends are human," the Doctor smiled. "I've been coming to Earth on a regular basis for over a millennia ever since I spent a few months in 1963, and I've never regretted the bonds I've formed, but I've been through too much to overlook the idea that people can't be defined by their species. I'm not denying there are quite a few beings out there that can't be trusted just because of what they are, but on the other hand, even the worst species I've ever met has thrown up a couple of exceptions under exceptional circumstances."
"Like the Cullens?" Jacob asked. "You seriously expect me to believe that?"
"The Cullens?" the Doctor countered, looking back at Jacob with a cool stare. "Jacob Black, I have seen and defeated monsters that would make even the most twisted of the Cullens' race look like fluffy kittens asking for a saucer of milk, and I have also seen members of that species genuinely reject their peoples' most twisted philosophies because they recognises that what their people were was wrong. I'm not saying you should blindly accept them, and even in the cases I mentioned they were subjected to uniquely extreme circumstances, but I'm also saying that you shouldn't keep watching them for the moment when they'll let you down because then you'll just end up missing out on everything."
"They're killers-"
"They have the potential to be killers," the Doctor corrected, looking firmly at Jacob. "If you're going to condemn someone because of what you think they might do, then you should just follow the words of the Wise Woman and get it over with."
"The Wise Woman?" Jacob asked.
"Kill everybody in the whole world!" the Doctor smiled, raising his hands and putting on a funny voice before sighing and lowering his arms as he registered Jacob's confused expression. "Seriously, does nobody on this side of the pond watch Blackadder?"
"Uh… isn't that a British TV series?" I asked.
"Good enough," the Doctor shrugged, before looking back at Jacob. "OK, maybe you missed my quote, but the point still stands; thinking everything has to be that black and white isn't going to get you anywhere."
"It's kept us alive-"
"It's kept you isolated," the Doctor cut Jacob off. "You need to let people grow, Jacob; my own people had similar rules and codes to what I've heard about your tribe, dedicated to protecting their area from a specific threat but unconcerned about anything else, and with some very… fixed ideas that I'm not entirely sure I approve of."
"We don't need your-"
"Maybe you don't, but I'm withholding it for the moment anyway," the Doctor cut in solemnly. "Bella and I have a few things to discuss with the Cullens later- which you will not interfere with, on that topic- and then… well, that's up to you and her."
Jacob glared at the Doctor in silence for a few moments, but then he turned and walked away, leaving me to look briefly after my older friend before turning to look at my newer one.
"Sorry about him," I said, shrugging awkwardly even as I knew I didn't have to feel responsible for anything Jacob did. "He was a good friend when I needed it, but…"
"Sometimes we don't consider the flaws until they're a problem," the Doctor reflected solemnly, an edge to his manner that made it clear to me that this wasn't a topic I should ever ask him about.
Besides, I could understand what he meant by that; I still wanted to have a final talk with the Cullens and the Doctor as a whole before I told them my final decision, but before that, I also had to have one particularly awkward conversation with Edward.
I had a couple of nagging ideas already, but I had to let him confirm it or I'd just end up looking ridiculous…
