Part 2 of 3, because there's been something about the future of this family that has been bugging me and I want it to be addressed. Thanks so much for all the support and reviews, they keep me going. Enjoy!
The alien sun was rising in the sky as the family walked along a thin path. As the Doctor had promised, the planet Moira was basically one large forest. Rose had expected to land somewhere and set up camp on the spot, but to her surprise the Doctor had picked up the majority of the bags and began hiking straight from the TARDIS. She'd been a bit confused, but they trailed along after him.
"Shouldn't pirates camp on the beach?" Sherlock asked, huffing under the weight of his small sleeping bag. Redbeard carried Sherlock other small bag around his neck, and looked ridiculously proud of that fact. It freed his master up to ask his normal barrage of questions.
"Not always," Mycroft sighed, resigned to his fate. "Not when their following treasure maps."
"Do we have a treasure map?" he asked.
"Not this time, Sherlock," the Doctor called from the front of the line. "No maps of this place exist. Totally uninhabited, wildlife only."
"Then why is there a path?"
The Doctor pretended he hadn't heard him, but Rose stopped walking. "Wait, Sherlock's right. Why's there a path without people?"
The Doctor bit his lip a moment, trying to keep them walking. "Good job Sherlock, very good. I made the path. I've…been here before. Once or twice. A few times."
"When?" Rose insisted.
"Before. I don't know exactly when. A Tuesday. I've had a lot of those— let's keep going the clearing is not far off from here."
In less than a mile they arrived at a bare clearing on the ground. For about thirty feet all around there were no trees or grass or too many lumps. Right in the center of the circle was a small fire pit, obviously long since abandoned.
They set up two large tents and unpacked a few bags. As soon as they were done Mycroft pulled out a book. "Can I go and read now?"
The Doctor frowned. "We're camping, Mike. We have…camp things to do. Fishing, hiking, roasting things…camp!"
"We just hiked up here, and roasting is done at night."
"One hour," Rose announced. "We've done a lot of work, we can all have an hour to relax. Then everyone get back and we'll fish, okay?"
Sherlock didn't need another word of encouragement—he grabbed his small backpack and went running off toward the trees.
"Wait—Sherlock!" Rose cried. "Stop!"
He froze, turning on his heel. "What? I'm going to look for treasure."
"You're six years old. You can't go running into the forest by yourself. I'll come with you."
He groaned. "Mum, pirates don't take their mothers with them to look for treasure."
The Doctor took her hand gently. "You know, I picked this spot for a reason. It's a fairly small island, no big animals….plus he's got that watch we gave him for Christmas. You know, one button and the TARDIS locates him, just in case?"
Rose scoffed and crossed her arms, but finally sighed. "Fine, but you stay within earshot. If you can't hear me and Daddy, you stop right there and turn around. I want you to check back every ten minutes."
He wasn't paying attention, he'd already spun around and took off into the trees.
"Redbeard, go on," Rose called offhandedly. The dog jumped to his feet and went
chasing after Sherlock.
Breakbreakbreakbreakbreakbreakbreakbreakbreakbreakbreak
Sherlock's small face was scrunched up in frustration. He'd brought a little garden trowel in his backpack, but no matter how many holes he dug he hadn't found any treasure yet. He wrestled with the soil beneath a giant tree, positive that he'd found the right spot this time.
"If I were a pirate," Sherlock announced to his dog, "I would want to bury my treasure under a huge tree like this. So, we'll probably have to dig deep under the roots."
The dog just panted and stared at him.
"I know Dad said that there were no people out here. Maybe he was wrong." His eyes went wide. "Maybe there were space pirates, Redbeard."
Redbeard turned suddenly whining about something in the distance. Sherlock frowned. Redbeard was a good guard dog, especially for a rambunctious boy who tended to get into trouble, but he never whined. If there were something dangerous back there he'd growl or pull Sherlock back towards camp, but he was doing neither.
The boy bit his lip, his curiosity overriding his obedience easily. He could still hear his mother talking to his father in the distance, so technically he wasn't in trouble. Besides, somebody might be in trouble. Dad wouldn't let him get grounded if he saved someone.
"Show me, Boy," Sherlock told him, hopping to his feet.
Redbeard turned deeper into the woods, trotting away from the camp. Sherlock followed him jogging to keep up with the dog. After a few minutes, he couldn't hear his parents anymore. He was just about to tell Redbeard they had to turn around, and then something came into view. He was very confused.
"The…the TARDIS can't be here," Sherlock said, shaking his head. "The TARDIS is parked up the hill on the other side of the clearing."
Redbeard didn't seem to care about the logic of it. The dog recognized his home and walked to the slightly open front door, trotting to lie down in the cool air.
Sherlock pushed open the door. Nothing looked right. Where there should be columns and gratings there were gleaming metal plates of orange and blue. He knew, theoretically, that the TARDIS desktop could change, but he'd never seen it done. He walked up the stairs, examining the new consul.
"Yes, yes, Amy, I understand that they're purple, but what shade of purple? Yes it matters. They have to match the blue ones," a voice said from the other side. The man walked around the consul, then suddenly caught sight of Sherlock. He froze, the phone still gripped in his hand.
The man was tall with dark brown hair. He wore a tweed jacket with a bow tie just above it, and he seemed to have misplaced his eyebrows. He stared down at the boy. "Amy…I'm going to call you back. Tell Rose…no on second thought don't tell her anything. I never called you."
He set the phone on the consul, then leaned down to Sherlock's height. "Sherlock…do you know who I am?"
The boy thought a moment. "This is the TARDIS, and there's only one of those. Mum told me once, about how Time Lords can change. Are you…are you Dad?"
The man smiled. "Yes. Do you want proof?"
Sherlock nodded.
"Here boy!" The Doctor called. "Come here Redbeard." The dog jumped up and trotted over to him, laying at his feet as he patted him. "There we go. Dogs always see right through regeneration."
Sherlock grimaced, touching the man's face experimentally. "I don't like it. Can you change back?"
"I'm afraid not, but don't worry. I'm from far in your future okay? When you go back to wherever you came from, I'll look normal again, okay?"
Sherlock nodded. "What are you doing here? Did you come to camp with us?"
"Nope, that's against the rules of my time line. This is an accident actually. I'm planning…a vacation of sorts. This is one of my favorite planets for a getaway, I just didn't realize it was occupied right now. I'll have to make a note of it in my plans. Now, Sherlock, can you tell me what our number one family rule is?"
"Do whatever Dad says, even if it doesn't make any sense."
"Good boy. What I need you to do is not tell Mummy or the other me that I'm here. It's a secret, but it's a good secret, and Daddy's telling you to do it so it's not a lie, okay?"
"Okay. Why do you like this place so much?" Sherlock asked as the Doctor gently started to usher him to the door.
"I can't tell you just yet, but I think you'll find out tonight."
"Dad, how old am I when you come from?"
"You're all grown up, perfectly okay with me having a new face."
"How did you get a new face?"
"That…that's a secret too, Sherlock." They reached the door and the Doctor peered into the distance. "Mmm…that way. Go straight that way and you'll reach camp in no time. Send Redbeard ahead of you, he'll know where to go. Better hurry, if I remember right Mum's already looking for you."
"Okay Dad," Sherlock nodded as his dog bounded ahead of him to show the way. "I'll see you later!"
"Much later," the Doctor smiled, watching the boy's awkward legs trying to keep up with his dog. His mobile rang.
"Doctor, why does Miss Pond say you told her not to call me? We have things to do before next week." Rose grumbled as soon as he answered.
"I had a bit of an accident. Remember when we visited Moira when the boys were kids? I accidently crossed paths with Sherlock."
"Aww…" Rose sighed. "How old?"
"Six."
"What did he think of the new face?"
"Not a fan."
She chuckled. "So we'll remember to set their trip for another day. Will the nighttime surprise still happen?"
"Happens all season, we'll just put them a few days ahead of our old trip and they should be in the clear. I'll stick around until after they leave and clean up the campsite. The kids loved this trip. This'll be the perfect place for Sherlock's honeymoon."
