Chapter 10

As the Seventh Doctor prepared to throw the switch that would activate the Tardis and send him back to Ace, he looked at his Twelfth incarnation as hope shone in his eyes.

"Thanks for helping me grab another twenty years. It's not long to us but it will be to her and my son. And it's better than no time at all. I get to see Nat grow up."

"And Samantha," the Doctor reminded him, and Clara noticed the softness in his eyes as he said his daughter's name. She smiled as she looked away and walked over to the window, where she took a look at the earth set against a blanket of night sprinkled by stars. He had said to her that it was only DNA. She doubted he meant that…

The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a mobile phone.

"Do you have one of these?"

And Clara looked around, wondering why he had lowered his voice.

The Seventh Doctor shook his head.

"I won't need a phone where I'm going."

"I've got a spare, I've set it up for you," he drew a second phone out of his pocket and handed it to him.

"But I won't be calling anyone," he told him.

The Twelfth Doctor explained quickly:

"You can use it to link to the rest of us. It was my Tenth regeneration's idea. He set up a private network called the Space And Time Transcendence Gateway – it's a way for any of us to communicate with another of our regenerations anywhere, at any time. I've set you up as Seven and your password is the names of your kids but you might want to change that – I don't think you'll get hacked, we keep the security tight…"

Clara looked at him in surprise.

"It's like a social network for Timelords?"

"Just the versions of myself," he told her.

Clara smiled hopefully.

"Can I join?"

"You're not a Timelord."

He turned back to the Seventh Doctor.

"We've been using it since we saved Gallifrey. It's a way for us to keep in touch without anyone else in the universe knowing about it."

The Seventh Doctor took the phone from him and put it in his pocket.

"Thanks, I'll take a look at that later on," he said, and then he turned back to the controls as he smiled and his eyes shone with joy.

He thought of the woman he loved, left on earth and heartbroken.

"Don't cry Ace," he said softly, "I'm coming to get you."

And he threw the switch and the Tardis took a brief flight back to earth, one hour after he had left.

Ace was sitting by the fire with her son as she tried to comfort him.

"Daddy will always love us," she said quietly, "He just can't be with us any more. And he misses us as much as we miss him."

And as the firelight flickered, her heart ached as she wondered if he was still on his final journey, or if his death had already occurred.

And then as the whoosh and groan of the Tardis echoed outside, she turned her head, staring as a glow shimmered and the blue police box reappeared in the garden.

"Daddy's back!" Nat exclaimed as he jumped up from the chair.

Ace got up and ran to the door and opened it, hurrying out through the falling snow as the door of the Tardis opened. And then she stopped, blinking through heavy snowflakes that drifted down illuminated by the light that shone from the open doorway of the police box.

He was standing there.

The professor was standing there as the snow fell, and he put up his umbrella and walked towards her…

Ace was aware that her son had joined them and he shouted Daddy again, but she could not take her eyes off the sight of her Professor, standing there in the snow as he looked into her eyes and held out his hand.

"I've cut ties with Gallifrey," he said, "The Time lords will catch up with me eventually, but it could take twenty years. And that's time enough for you and me to slip through a crack in time, and go on a trip around the twelve galaxies. And I'll still be back in time for…what ever destiny has planned."

He was still holding out his hand.

"Ace," he said softly, "Come with me. We still have time."

And she reached out and took his hand, and as he caught her and pulled her close, she blinked away tears of joy as the feel of his hand in hers proved this was no dream.

"But how did you manage to do this?" she asked.

The Twelfth Doctor and Clara had slipped out of the Tardis and made their way around to the side of the house, and as the Seventh Doctor looked over Ace's shoulder, he smiled, and then he looked back at Ace.

"Let's go home," he said, and as he held her hand she in turn took hold of their son's hand, and they went into the Tardis together and the door closed.

The Twelfth Doctor was still looking towards the Tardis.

"It's going to work out just fine," he said thoughtfully, "He's got years before they find him. He can outrun them for a very long time – maybe more than twenty years. It's going to be just fine, I know it is."

He could feel those pieces of time still floating around in the air, and he smiled as he tuned in.

"He's got no regrets now. One day, the Timelords find him. They have to because it's his destiny to regenerate, and they return him to the place and time where he dies. But it won't happen for a long, long time. He's going to take her hand and run away and never look back."

"I wish we knew that for certain." Clara replied.

"We do," he said, briefly showing her his phone, "He's linked to all of us now. Messages can come from any time or dimension anywhere at any time from any one of me at any given moment in time – because every version of me is out there somewhere, and he's no exception. He's with her, and they're going to be happy. They finally get what they wanted –more time."

Nat looked around wide eyed at the bright console room, and then he looked up at his father, who had put down his umbrella and brushed snow flakes from his jacket.

"It's all true, everything Aden told me – you're a Time lord, you're the Doctor!"

And the Seventh Doctor looked down at his son.

"There are three rules in here," he said sternly, counting them down on his fingers, "One, I'm in charge. And Two…you don't call me Doctor or Professor, you call me Daddy because I'm your father! And Three…"

He started to smile as warmth crept into his voice. Then glanced at Ace who smiled back at him as love shone in her eyes and she recalled a day long ago when he had made a similar speech to her.

He turned back to his son.

"Well, I'll think up the third eventually."

And then he turned back to the console and keyed in a new flight plan.

"Are we ready?" he said to his family.

"Yes!" Nat exclaimed excitedly as Ace smiled and nodded.

"Let's go, then!" he said, and he threw a switch, and the Tardis began to whoosh and groan as it shimmered and shifted, and began to disappear.

As The Twelfth Doctor and Clara were leaving the garden, they heard the sound of the Tardis as it departed and the Doctor turned back, looked to the sky and smiled.

"He's done it. He's free to be with her now."

"Run you clever boy," Clara whispered, feeling certain she could sense the joy the two of them shared somewhere in another time and place.

The Doctor looked at her and smiled.

"It really has gone. All that pain and regret, it doesn't exist any more."

And he took her by the hand and they walked back to the Tardis together.

As he closed the door and the warmth and familiar hum of the Tardis greeted him, the walls seemed to glow that little bit more as if to welcome him home.

"I'm glad it all worked out," Clara said, "It couldn't have been easy for you to be haunted by old memories like that."

He looked at her, and in the glow of the Tardis, for a moment seemed unearthly as his eyes reflected years of old memories of other lifetimes that passed fleetingly through his mind.

"I'm full of old recollections," he replied, "But I'm used to living with it – I'm just not used to having the past touch so closely with my own life…well, I mean in such a direct way. I was seeing those flashbacks like it was yesterday. Now it's all lifted, it's fading away like a bad dream."

And then he paused, and a flicker of surprise registered in his eyes.

"I think we might be seeing them again on our travels. And quiet possibly meeting the kids too."

"I wouldn't be surprised," she told him, "I think that might happen too."

And then the Doctor's phone bleeped.

He drew it from his pocket, turned his back to Clara and took a look at the message, and then he began to write something back.

"Who is it?" she asked him.

"It doesn't concern you, it's just a notification."

"From your gateway that links your other selves together?"

He paused in the middle of the message and glanced at Clara.

"Yes, and its private. Only for Timelords."

"Right," she replied, "I see, only for you and all the rest of you. Well I hope it's an important message."

"Not exactly," he replied, sounding distracted, "That was the intention when we set it up but mostly we just…" he hesitated.

She started to smile.

"You just chat?"

He finished his message.

"You're not wrong," he replied, and then he remembered something and he snapped his fingers.

"I won't be a minute, I've got something for you…just wait here."

And he walked out of the control room, leaving his phone on the console.

Clara's gaze fell on the phone.

She looked back to the doorway that led into the corridor beyond.

There was no sign of the Doctor…

She stepped forward and picked it up, touching the screen to illuminate it.

And then Clara saw the picture that had been posted far from the future in another time and place:

The Seventh Doctor was gazing adoringly at a baby girl he cradled in his arms.

'It's different this time', he had written, 'No more mistakes. I'm with my kids forever. And I love my Ace so much. She is amazing. Thanks Twelve, you saved my life and so much more besides .I'm so proud of all of them, especially my baby girl.'

And then as she read the Doctor's response, she felt her heart warm through with love for him.

The Doctor had written a short reply, 'Me too. It's more than DNA,' and then he had simply added, Hashtag proudfather.

Notifications were popping up – from some of the other Doctors.

"Oh my God..." she whispered, "They are all there…"

The picture of the Seventh Doctor and his baby daughter had been liked by Doctors Four, five and six. Nine had left a comment that simply said Fantastic! and Ten had written Happy for you, and more comments were coming through and she wanted to read them all - but she heard the Doctor approaching and quickly put the phone back on the console.

He went straight up to it and checked it again, smiled and then put it back in his pocket.

Clara smiled too, covering her guilt as she felt sure he wouldn't have expected her to pry like that when his back was turned.

"I just wanted to say thank you for being so helpful. This hasn't been an easy time for me and you really helped a lot."

And he gave her a small bouquet of flowers.

She looked at him in surprise.

"I wasn't expecting this…thank you."

The Doctor smiled back at her, and then he leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

"I think I saw a vase in your bedroom," he said, and she looked into his eyes and felt her face flush all over again.

"My bedroom?"

"Yes," he replied, "I'm sure it was in there. You'd better go and do it now - put them in water before they die."

And then he turned back to the console and set about plotting a course for their next journey.

Clara walked out of the room and down the Tardis corridor, smiling down at the bouquet. All trace of romance had vanished from his eyes after he kissed her, but now she knew he was certainly far softer than he cared to admit. Perhaps one day he would get closer to her, only time would tell, as it did with all things…

Clara was still smiling as she took the flowers into her room.

And in the console room the Doctor finished keying in their next destination, and then the Tardis disappeared, travelling on through time and space.

End