I was sitting locked away like the rest of the world when I thought, what it would be like if the Doctor had to be quarantined?

Chapter 1

The days passed by slowly when she was alone. When she had an errand or something to accomplish she didn't mind. The TARDIS was infinite, and although the maintenance required to upkeep an infinite machine was relatively low, it needed fixing now and then. This was not one of those days.

This day, there was no maintenance required. This day there were no errands to run. And so started a typical routine the Doctor had of letting her friends go back to their lives- their lives without her.

Give them a few weeks to rest. Recuperate. Catch up with family and friends. Get back to jobs, their homes- their routine. And then, she hoped, get bored. Become restless and wish for a magical adventure- just in time for her TARDIS to appear. She looked forward to their faces- anxiously anticipating the experience that awaited them. The look that said "I WANT to be here. I look forward to this part of my life." And, of course, the look that said, "I missed you."

She fed off their excitement, and she needed to be around the only people who cared about HER- who thought about what she was up to when they weren't around. Having lost so many others, and having no family of her own, she knew the value of surrounding herself with people who really cared.

Which is why typically as she waved her friends off with a forced smile, she knew what would happen.

"I'll pick you up in… 3 weeks?" she'd ask.

"Sounds good," one would say.

"Are you going to be okay on your own?" another would ask.

"Oh, yes," she'd lie. "Loads to do… Always something to see…A TARDIS to maintain. Maybe I'll invent a new way to arrange the periodic table of elements! That could be fun."

Satisfied that she had plans enough to keep herself busy, her friends would walk out of the TARDIS doors and back into their daily lives. But instead of all the things she told them she would do, the Doctor would head straight toward the console, type in the date for 3 weeks' time, and head back to her friends. She couldn't help it- she was a people person. She genuinely liked being around others, but it was also more than that. They were what made her life worth it. They were her family now.

She KNEW this routine. "How did it go?" She would ask a minute later, as she opened the doors for her fam.

"Great, but such and such became dull" one would say, or "So and so was starting to get on my nerves…"

"Oh, that's too bad," she would fib. "I'm sure when you give it another go in a few weeks' time it will better."

"And you?" someone else would say. "How did you spend your time?"

"Oh, this and that," she would lie again as she shut the TARDIS doors, waiting for her chance to change the subject. "How about a trip to the oldest museum in the universe?! It's built at the very top of the moon of Shinar. I've always wanted to go there."

Her friends would look at each other for approval and smile. "Let's be off!" someone would finally say. And they would be.

So a minute ago when she dropped her fam off to live out another 3 weeks of their lives without her, she fully anticipated the same routine to happen. With a grinding noise so familiar to her and a thud, she landed. This was her favorite part. When she dropped them off they were almost tired of their life of adventure- their life with HER. When she picked them up, they were eager. They were ready. And she was wanted. She opened the doors to find her three friends standing nearby. Ryan and Graham were grinning. Yaz was not, she noticed, but the Doctor would change that soon.

"How did it go?" she asked, as she always did.

"Great!" Ryan said enthusiastically as he walked inside. "You are looking at the world champion of Mario Cart." Graham also stepped inside.

"The world champion?!" The Doctor said lively, knowing he was exaggerating but not minding anyway. "That's a pretty big feat! Did I ever tell you about the time I was trapped inside of Mario Cart?" She asked as she moved toward the console, delighted at the inquisitive faces her friends were making. "Now THAT was night to remember…"

Small talk and chatter commenced as she caught up on the 504 hours of their lives she had missed, and she loved every moment of it. Suddenly, though, the console room didn't feel right… something- or rather, someONE- was missing. The Doctor made her way to the still-open doors of the TARDIS. "Yaz?" she asked.

Yaz, who was leaning against a tree nearby, looked up nervously, as if she didn't quite know what to say.

No, the Doctor thought. This can't be it. I'm not ready for it… "You coming?" she asked, forcing her voice to become light and hoping her facial expressions matched it.

Yaz paused. "I can't this time, Doctor." Yaz looked down at her feet.

"No. Not now…" The Doctor thought, feeling the rate her hearts rising fast. "It's alright, Doctor…" she told herself, trying to abate the panic. "You can talk her out of this."

"What do you mean?" the Doctor asked Yaz. Her eyes furrowed in worry. "Are you all right?"

Yaz suddenly looked up from the ground. "Yes, I'm fine," she said quickly, not wanting to worry her best friend and mentor. "Sorry. It's just… I don't think I can leave right now."

A flood of relief filled the Doctor. It's situational. I can do situational. I was MADE for situational. "What's going on?"

Graham and Ryan now joined the Doctor at the TARDIS doors.

"It's just… with the quarantine…"

"Quarantine?" the Doctor interrupted, more worried this time. "Wait…" she said, her mind visually skimming through all her knowledge of Earth history. Her face became more hardened. "2020… this is COVID-19." Graham and Ryan looked at each other questioningly. The Doctor quickly hurried out of the doors. Grabbing Yaz's hand, she yanked her back inside the safety net of the TARDIS, closing the doors behind her. The Doctor took out her sonic screwdriver and started scanning Yaz.

"How come you didn't warn us against this, Doc?" Graham asked.

"Negative. Thank goodness!" The doctor said, reading the results of Yaz's bioscan. She started on Ryan. "I'm over 2000 years old, Graham. I can't remember every pandemic that falls upon every world in the universe now, can I?" she defended. The Doctor looked at her sonic. "Negative again," she sighed in relief. Then she scanned Graham.

Graham eyed the sonic wearily, but decided banter was the best way to ease the tension the Doctor was feeling. "Well maybe not EVERY pandemic, but come on, it's us- can't you remember the ones that affect your favorites?"

The doctor looked at the sonic, holding her breath. "Negative." she said.

"We're not your favorites?" Graham asked, pretending to be hurt.

"You're negative for the disease," the Doctor chided as she walked toward the console. She started to pull levers. "All right, 4 months time," she started punching coordinates into the tardis as she spoke.

"Doctor!" Yaz said urgently.

The Doctor continued. "That should give the powers that be time enough to come up with a treatment and get this outbreak somewhat under control." She was finished computing. All that was left was to pull the lever. She reached for it, but Yaz's hand got in the way.

"Doctor!" this time she shouted.

The Doctor, keeping her own feelings in check, responded calmly. "Once you three are in the clear, I can pop back in time and give a reason for your disappearance. I can send your jobs documentation stating that you were needed elsewhere." She forced herself to become even more animated. "I could even have MI6 state that your presence was vital for national security! That's impressive! With documentation like that, no one will question anything!"

"I'm pretty sure EVERYONE at my work would question why a kid from assembly was recruited by MI6…" Ryan countered.

"Well fine, I can come up with something else," the Doctor responded, not missing a beat. "Just let me remove you from this contagion and give me some time. Get it?! Because it's a TIME machine?!"

Graham and Ryan rolled their eyes at her joke.

The Doctor's face fell. "I thought that was quite funny," she defended.

"I can't let my family deal with this on their own," Yaz stated, turning the Doctor's attention back to her. "What if I were to come back in 4 months to find my grandmother didn't make it? Or that my parents were infected? What kind of sister would I be if I left Sonja to deal with taking care of them by herself?"

The Doctor's determination started to fade. "Of course Yaz couldn't…" she thought.

"What kind of police officer would I be to leave my fellow officers to fight this pandemic on their own?" Yaz asked again.

"THAT'S the point, Yaz," The Doctor jumped back with newfound determination. "Your chances of being exposed simply because of your job puts you at risk. You can't possibly believe I'm okay with that."

"Doctor," Yaz looked at her incredulously. "We've fought Daleks… and Cybermen…"

"Exactly! You survived those- why press your luck?!" she asked, hoping to gain some ground. She had to gain some type of control- some type of authority- to keep her friends safe.

Yaz was not deterred. "What's the difference? The moment you pull that lever you know that danger will find us."

"The difference is out there you have ME," the Doctor shouted.

The room was quiet. Only for a few seconds, but the quiet could be felt.

"You have to admit, that's a pretty big difference…" Ryan stated, breaking the silence.

They all looked at each other, shifting uncomfortably. Resignation was starting to appear on both Yaz and the Doctor's faces. Yaz spoke first. "I know you're worried. And I appreciate that. I'll look after myself. I'll be careful" She turned toward the other two. "Take Graham. HE is at risk."

"Excuse me?" Graham stated. "I may be no spring chicken, but…"

"With your health history, it'd be wiser to have you skip these next few months." Yaz interrupted. "Ryan can keep you company."

"By MYSELF?!" Ryan started to protest.

"Oi, I'm here!" the Doctor stated, pretending to be offended.

"Or you could just pop forward 4 months from now and pick me up." Yaz offered. "It would be minutes for you, and just 4 months for me."

"Hey, hold on!" Graham protested. "I have people I love out there, too, you know." The Doctor's gaze shifted toward Graham. She didn't like where this was going. She was losing control of the situation fast. "And as Yaz has so straightforwardly stated, many of my people are at risk. I'm not going to let them go through this alone, and I can't let Yaz show me up now, can I?"

"Graham, I really don't think that's a good idea." the doctor fought. "For you especially. I can't guarantee your safety in this."

Graham considered that. "Well, that's all right. I have to be there for my mates during their struggles, don't I? Even if it's just cheering them up with a phone call while being quarantined…"

"Does anyone want to know what I want to do?" Ryan asked.

The Doctor turned around and put both hands on the console, her back to her three friends. She could take off now. She could ask for forgiveness later. Every instinct inside of her said to protect her friends, consequences be what they may. They'd be angry, but surely they'd understand eventually. They may be upset now… they may even want to stop traveling for a while, but they'd come around. She COULDN'T lose them. Not them…

Resignation fell upon her face again. The whole 'forced alien abduction' thing had never been her style. She had to respect her friends' decisions, right? Or did she, if it meant risking the lives of the ones she loved? She clenched her fists, debating in her own mind.

"Fine," she finally stated, turning towards her fam.

Ryan started, "Okay, I want to…"

"Under one condition…" the doctor interrupted.

"You weren't talking to me then…" Ryan stated.

"I'm staying, too." The Doctor stated decisively.

The room went quiet. The Doctor FELT the quiet. It was more quiet than when her friends weren't on the TARDIS. They looked at each other uncomfortably. "What?" she asked.

"You're going to stay here?" Ryan said in disbelief.

"Yeah." the Doctor responded.

"HERE…" Ryan tried again, as if the Doctor hadn't heard him the first time.

"Yes, here…" she said.

This time Graham spoke up. "YOU are going to be in one place… for four months?"

"And when we say one place," Yaz added, "we mean quarantined… literally ONE place…"

The doctor looked offended. "I can stay in one place! I'd be good at staying in one place. Brilliant at it, actually. I'm so old that four months to me would be like blinking. I actually stayed on earth for a whole year once, just waiting for a bunch of tiny boxes to move. This will be nothing compared to that…" The fam looked at each other, a little unsure. "Besides," the Doctor continued, "I won't be 'literally' in one place. I'll be with you!" she said energetically towards Yaz.

"Me?" Yaz asked in surprise.

"Yeah! I'm a DOCTOR. Where else would I be during a worldwide plague, except with my bestie, PC Khan, on the front lines?"

"Why didn't you stop the black death, then?" Ryan asked. "Or the Flu of 1918?"

"It's because they didn't have her favorite people in them," Graham said, trying once again to lighten the mood.

"She still hasn't said we're her favorites…" Ryan responded.

"I can't just go changing history, now, can I?" the Doctor defended. Then, suddenly more serious and firm, she said, "But I CAN make sure the three of you get through this unharmed. And I will."

It was quiet again, but the three humans smiled slightly at her, feeling her care. I will, the Doctor thought. I HAVE to. She looked up at Graham, especially worried now that she made the wrong decision. I can't lose these three. Not these three…

"Well then," she said, forcing her tone to be happy and energetic again. She slid her right arm over Ryan's shoulder and her left arm over Graham's. "Looks like I'll be staying with you boys!"

"You're staying with us?" Ryan asked, a little surprised.

"Well yeah, Yaz's flat already has 4 people," the Doctor explained.

"And a family who is way too curious about what we do already," Yaz added.

"I can't be seen roaming the street to get back and forth to the TARDIS. There's a quarantine, after all!" the Doctor finished.

"You can have Ryan's room," Graham stated. Ryan looked at Graham in offence. "Ryan will take the couch." He eyed Ryan like a parent would.

Ryan backed down. This is the Doctor. She had done so much for them- for everyone. The least he could do is give up his room for a few months. "Yeah, of course you can."

"Thanks, boys, but if you remember I don't actually need to sleep." The Doctor started punching in new coordinates. "I can just move the TARDIS into your living room." She stopped and looked up at Graham. "You don't still have furniture in there, do you?"

"What, furniture In my living room? Yeah! Yeah, I still do!"

The Doctor frowned. "I'll try to navigate around it… Hopefully you haven't rearranged anytime recently, I'm doing this from memory. Anyway- this way Ryan can still have his privacy. Privacy's important to young humans, I'm told." She looked up at her friends and beamed. "But love the offer, thanks!" Her hand reached toward the final lever.

"Doctor…" Yaz said, nervously.

The doctor held out a hand, stopping her. "Not a trick, I promise. I'm just popping her up to the boys' flat." She pulled the lever and smiled. "This will be fun!" she said, energetically. And this time, she meant it.

Ryan leaned over to Graham. "She still never said we were her favorites…"