Recall

By Lumendea

Chapter Four: Recalled by the Third IV

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material, and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.

….

Bessie not having seatbelts had never bothered the Doctor before. She was a classic vintage car and allowed him a little bit of freedom while he was tied to Earth. Feeling the wind on his face and in his hair was no replacement for the TARDIS, of course, but it offered a taste of not being tied down. The fact that Bessie was not, in fact, the safest sort of automobile had never occurred to him before.

"I don't think you've ever driven Bessie so slowly," Jo observed.

He glanced over at his smiling assistant, who was in the passenger seat. Jo's eyes were bright with mirth, and the Doctor held back a huff. There was no point in denying it. He usually took turns a little too quick and toyed with the speed limit. But today, Gaia was in the back seat, and he was beginning to think their little lunch trip was a bad idea. Too much could happen out in the world. UNIT was a safe and controlled space.

"It'll be fine, Doctor," Jo said. Her smile had softened to something more reassuring. "Besides, she was thrilled to 'meet' Bessie."

The Doctor chuckled and glanced back at Gaia. She was grinning and swaying in the back seat with no small amount of excitement. Her blue eyes were taking in everything with interest, and the wind was pulling strands of long ginger hair out of her braid. The little girl certainly didn't seem worried. He'd just need to keep an eye on her.

UNIT HQ was a base not too far from London, but far closer was a small village where the soldiers went to drink and dance. Jo had been there many times, and the Doctor had come along once or twice. What he had in mind was the local chippy. It was nothing fancy, but his little Gaia had outright proclaimed chips to be her favourite. And she'd eaten her morning snack of an apple without complaint, so a treat wasn't out of the question.

"It's pretty, Daddy," Gaia proclaimed as they rolled down the hill leading to the village.

The Doctor smiled. Yes, he supposed it was. At the base of the hill was the small village that he had to admit was rather picture-perfect. There were small fields around it, and even some sheep could be seen. In about thirty years, all of it would be swallowed up by the ever-expanding London. Still, for now, it wasn't a bad little glimpse of English country life.

He brought Bessie to a stop, gaining only a few glances from the locals. At this point, he'd been seen coming into town often enough that his car wasn't much of a surprise. There were a few others like it in town even, something that never failed to make him smile. Jo hopped out of the car and said hello to a few of the locals that she knew. The Doctor, meanwhile, picked Gaia up from the back and gave her a hug.

"I hope you weren't too cold, my dear," he said. Perhaps he should have put the top-up.

"No, Daddy," Gaia said. "It was fun."

The Doctor was pleased by that. He could admit that. While he might not be experienced at this parenting thing, he had yet to traumatize Gaia. Surely that counted for something. Though he did had to admit, his experience with Susan and humans was making this much easier. Then he called for Jo, and they entered the small shop.

There were only a few tables to sit down at, but the shop was clean with golden wooden tables and chairs. Old photos of the village and residents hung on the wall, and the counter gleamed in the light of the lamps. The smell of chips, fish, and chicken hit the Doctor hard as he entered the establishment. Gaia twisted in delight in his arms, and he smiled. He'd told her that they were going out for lunch but hadn't told her about the chips. It was pleasant to know that he could still make her happy without the TARDIS. Things would have been much more difficult if her favourite food was something like Bosulson from Freyr II.

One of the staff appeared beside a table with a red plastic booster seat for Gaia. She settled in nicely, and the Doctor noted the woman was looking over him and Jo, likely trying to sort out the relationships. Humans. There wasn't much resemblance between him and Gaia, not this life at least, and she didn't look anything like Jo. But the middle-aged woman seemed to decide there was nothing to worry about after a moment of consideration.

"Here are the menus for you. There's a child's section on the back for the little one." She smiled at Gaia, and the little girl happily returned the gesture, instantly charming the woman. "The special is fish n chips. Cod was brought in this morning, so it's fresh."

"Oh, that does sound nice," Jo said with a smile. "But give us a moment, please."

"Course, dear. I'll be back."

It was one of the better afternoons the Doctor had enjoyed in a long time, at least since his forced regeneration and exile. Oh, he was fond of the UNIT crew, of course, but sitting in a little local shop with Gaia's soft affection rolling through his head thanks to their connection and Jo laughing here and there as he shared some stories of his past travels was hard to beat. They all settled on fish and chips, with Gaia receiving a much smaller child portion. Nonetheless, the little one proceeded to sneak chips off his plate when she thought he wasn't looking.

Jo smiled at him, and the Doctor knew that she'd noticed. Oh well, she seemed to think it was sweet, and his family members on Gallifrey would have been horrified by the behaviour. That probably meant that it was good. At least, the Doctor was certainly inclined to think that way. Besides, he had to admit that the shop was good at the dishes they did.

"I still can't believe how easy it is for you to slip into a father role," Jo said softly. She smiled at Gaia. "I'm not sure how I'd react if something like this happened to me."

"It is a little strange," the Doctor admitted. "But when you grow up and train with the expectation of travelling through time, there are some complications that you are always aware of as being possible. Meeting yourself, meeting friends before they meet you and potentially meeting family before they are ever born."

"Sounds so complicated to me," Jo admitted.

"Well, many Time Lords never leave Gallifrey," the Doctor explained. "In part because of how complicated it can make life."

"But you did."

"Indeed. Seemed a shame to me not have the whole universe available and never take a look."

"I can understand that." Jo smiled at him. "Well, I'm glad you're on Earth now. Not the circumstances, of course, but I'm happy that I've met you and you've been here to help Earth. But I'm glad that you'll have travelling back in the future." She nodded at Gaia. "At least, it seems that way."

"Indeed," the Doctor agreed.

Then the waitress returned, putting all talk of time travel out of bounds. Gaia grabbed the last chip on the Doctor's plate with a grin, not caring that he saw. Apparently, the cheeky little girl knew that he'd noticed and simply been playing with him. That was amusing all on its own.

"Any dessert?" the waitress asked. Her eyes fell on Gaia. "We have some pie or little sundaes?"

Gaia perked up, and the Doctor held back a sigh. Apparently, his little girl already knew about ice cream. More and more, it was becoming clear that Gaia was going to grow up with a great deal of human food and culture. Then again, humans had given him a home during his exile, so he couldn't bring himself to be annoyed too much by it.

Still, he switched to Gallifreyan as he asked Gaia if she wanted some ice cream. He ignored the surprised and confused expressions from Jo and the waitress. To his great pleasure, Gaia replied that she would in perfect Gallifreyan. It soothed him to know that Gaia was connected to aspects of Time Lord life. Still, he wasn't sure about sending her to the Academy. She'd do well, of course, but right now, she was so vibrant. Life at the Academy did not tend to favour such a personality. Well, that would be a decision for a future him to sort out.

They ordered the ice cream, and it came quickly. Having an adorable and polite child with you in public certainly had advantages. However, the Doctor was already well aware of the advantages of travelling with young people and human women. Their presence immediately made him seem like less of a threat. And people, especially children, were more likely to trust a woman than a man in times of crisis.

"Thank you," Gaia said happily to the waitress.

"You're welcome, sweetheart," the waitress said. "Your daughter is so well behaved."

The Doctor knew that the waitress had likely picked up the relationship thanks to Gaia calling him Daddy, but he liked the idea of people knowing. Gaia didn't look much like him. Maybe a touch around the chin and nose. It was hard to say, given he knew nothing about her mother's appearance. Gaia grinned at the waitress and accepted the spoon with a grin.

Jo had ordered a small slice of pie and ate it in silence while the Doctor and Gaia took turns eating the sundae. Given the smile on Jo's face, she'd noted that he was taking only small bites. The happy noises that Gaia was making with each spoonful were simply adorable. She would be gone soon, and it was such a small thing that made her happy.

Then their spoons clicked together as they went in at the same time. Gaia playfully pushed his spoon to the side. Raising an eyebrow, the Doctor decided that daughter or not, that could not be permitted. He bumped his spoon into hers, drawing a giggle from the girl. A strand of ginger hair fell into her face. Gaia blew it out of her eyes before retaliating.

"Honestly," Jo laughed. "You two!"

The Doctor ignored Jo in favour of continuing his little spoon fight with Gaia. Her coordination wasn't really at the point yet for her to be good at it, but she had potential. The Doctor did hope that he taught her fencing one day. It had certainly come in handy for him plenty of times. And Venusian aikido. Rassilon knows that he has his fair share of enemies. Still, his future self had fitted the child with a recall device, so he had to believe that he took the girl's safety seriously.

Chuckling, the Doctor allowed Gaia to smack his spoon down. There was another laugh from Jo, and he heard their waitress laugh as well. Gaia took another bite of ice cream with her victorious spoon, looking very pleased with herself. She winked at her father, and he felt his own smile widen. Of course, the child already understood physics; it was unlikely that she wouldn't understand that he'd allowed her to win.

"Cheeky," he said once again. Reaching out, he tucked the stray strand of ginger hair behind her ear. "Very cheeky."

"Yes, Daddy."

A few feet from Bessie, against the side of the building, was a very familiar blue box. The TARDIS was here, which meant his elder self had arrived to collect Gaia. The Doctor stamped down a feeling of disappointment. As strange as it always was to care for Gaia, and he had to admit, as stressful as it had been this time due to her young age, he had enjoyed the experience. But he was not equipped to keep her here and knew it. Gaia gasped and immediately squirmed in his arms.

"Figured I'd let you finish lunch," his elder self said. The Doctor was almost inclined to thank him for not interrupting his time with Gaia. But then, he would remember it. "Never get between her or her mum and chips."

The Doctor wasn't sure what to make of his older self. In his incarnation, he enjoyed his elegant jackets and even changed clothes on a fairly regular basis due to the humans constantly around him. His elder-self was rather the opposite of him. There were no soft materials here. The man wore dark jeans, an article of clothing the Doctor had never worn yet in his lives, a dark green wool jumper and a worn dark leather coat. It was rather like the man was allergic to colour.

Bending down, the Doctor released little Gaia before turning his attention back to studying the man he would become. His blue eyes were the same as Gaia but much older and a bit haunted if the Doctor was honest with himself. He wasn't sure how far in his future this man was, but those eyes worried him a little. At least until they brightened when he scooped up little Gaia.

"Hello, sweetheart," the man greeted their daughter in a Northern accent. "Did you behave yourself?"

"She was lovely," the Doctor replied. He eyed his older self. "A bit frightened at first, but we moved past that quickly."

"I remember," his older self replied. He kissed Gaia's forehead, and then her tiny nose making the girl giggle. "But everything worked out. Dictator toppled and daughter safe and sound."

At least their daughter didn't seem to have inherited her father's nose or ears. That was something. But it gave the Doctor hints about her mother. His eyes moved to the open door of the TARDIS despite knowing better. There was no one in sight, and the Doctor wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed.

"Thank you, Jo. I remember how much of a help you were," his elder self said with a broad smile. "Blimey, it's good to see you again."

"Is he really you?" Jo looked at him. "I mean, Benton mentioned that you looked different before-"

"Yes, he is," the Doctor said. "Me from the future." He cleared this throat. "Well, I'm glad to hear that everything worked out. Though, the clothes Gaia arrived with are still back at my TARDIS."

"Just leave 'em in the wardrobe," his elder self said with a shrug. "While it would be nice to see the old UNIT HQ, we shouldn't cross our timelines more than necessary."

"No," the Doctor found himself agreeing. "No, we shouldn't."

He rather feared that would be it. His older self could easily turn and vanish into his functional TARDIS with their child. There was a flash of something like jealously that the Doctor shoved down roughly. He got a knowing look, and then his future self put Gaia down and nodded his way. Gaia immediately spun around and rushed back for another hug.

The Doctor scooped her up with no small sense of relief that he was getting a proper goodbye. The Doctor returned the warm hug. It was… very pleasant. More contact than he usually allowed himself, and he had to admit that it was nice. Gaia then kissed his cheek as he put her down.

"Bye, Daddy," she said cheerfully. "See you in the future," she added with a cheeky smile.

Oh, she was going to be a troublesome one. Given the way his future self chuckled, he was very well aware of that. Then again, he'd already met Gaia a bit older in his past. It seemed very likely that he would meet her in the future as well before she was born. After all, she was only three now, and it would be some time before she was old enough to stay with him during a crisis.

"Until the next time I see you, Gaia," the Doctor said warmly. "Take care of your father."

"Oi," his older self huffed as he picked up Gaia.

It was the closest the Doctor was willing to get to fighting. Meeting himself was always uncomfortable, and everything about this incarnation made him uncomfortable. Even the open affection he had for Gaia and the telepathic bond that was so strong it echoed back to him. Such things were unusual on Gallifrey. It seemed as he grew older, he'd flaunt more and more Time Lord conventions.

But despite that shadow in his eyes and the split he seemed to be taking from proper Time Lord traditions, the man was happy. He held their daughter close and kissed her forehead once more. Gaia waved happily at him and Jo. The Doctor found himself returning the gesture.

"I love you, Daddy," Gaia told him happily. "Bye, Jo. Take care of my Daddy."

"Of course, sweetheart," Jo returned easily.

She didn't understand. The ease with which Gaia said those words was… not alarming but surprising. His elder self smirked, and the Doctor stamped down his emotional reaction. Then the Doctor and he exchanged nods before he vanished back into his TARDIS. The Doctor wasn't sure what to make of it, not of Gaia and not of him. But happy with a family of some kind where there was open affection. Different.

He listened to the familiar wheezing of the TARDIS as it took off and watched as the blue box vanished. It seemed that he would never get around to fixing the Chameleon circuit. Jo leaned her head against his shoulder and grinned when he looked at her.

"Well then," she said. "Back to UNIT HQ. Report to the Brigadier that he no longer needs to worry about our little guest?"

"Yes, and I do have some experiments waiting," the Doctor said. He started the car and allowed himself a small sigh before driving himself and Jo back toward UNIT HQ.