Three days before a certain Christmas,
Liverpool, Merseyside, UK
The Doctor was never a huge fan of pubs. It wasn't that she didn't like them, in fact she had many enjoyable times knocking back an ale or two with Rose and her mom. Of course that was three bodies, for companions, a Mistress, and an untold number of adventures later. But here she finds herself at a noisy pub in Liverpool, with Jackie Tyler and her fiance, Graham O'Brien. Rose's mum and a member of the fam. The doctor kind of mentioned something about keeping it in the family as the three were working on individual mugs of Guinness.
The stated reason was to help Graham out with the Saturday night quizzer. Graham's nickname was "the MC," because he was the one who usually held court. Jackie was "Hot Mama," and the trio was surrounded by other pub quizzers: a portly, forever-grumpy man whose nickname was "The Beast," a matronly woman who called herself "The Baroness, and a US expatriate who nicknamed himself "the Professor."
Everyone at the table were experienced at answering questions, including the Doctor, she made a lot of the history they were talking about. But she felt a bit lost: her wife was not with her. In fact, Rose insisted the Doctor go with her mum and Graham to the pub. Rose claimed that she and their current companion, Yaz, had to do some work on the TARDIS. And besides, Rose insisted, the doctor needed a break after having to deal with the time-traveling renegade named Krasko. The last time the fam Tangled with him, he tried to change history in 1950s Alabama.they dispatched him to the beginning of time, but somehow he made his way back, along with a companion of his own, a man named Lord, who was dispatched to the same point in time by someone else. The two are still out there and the heroes had to deal with him. But Rose told the Doctor to just relax while she and Yaz worked on the phone booth...
The TARDIS...
Meanwhile, in an abandoned warehouse, the toll booth stands quietly. From the outside it was a standard 1960s BT phone booth, relatively small in size. But that was just an optical illusion. Inside was a massive enclosure, with an immense control desk, many monitors and controls for its true purpose: traversing between many times and universes. Sitting near the console with three young women and an older one. The younger trio consisted of Yasmin, AKA Yaz, a former police officer, a former teacher named Clara Oswald, and Rose Tyler, former shop girl, current second in command, one might say, of the TARDIS, wife of the Doctor, and, when need be, of course known as the Bad Wolf. The older, seemingly mentioning woman, was simply known as Missy, for the female Master. With the exception of Yaz, the powers of each of the remaining women could be labeled as godlike. Together, with that of the Doctor, that level of power was totally indescribable.
They were a close-knit group...very close-knit. They've had each other's backs in many ways, in some cases extremely intimately. But right now the quartet was waiting on a couple of visitors. Not the Doctor, considering Rose arranged for her wife to spend quality time with her mom and soon to be stepdad at the pub. Besides, none of them wanted to spoil the surprise.
There was an attention signal that activated a video screen. The camera that it was attached to was at the entrance of the phone booth. Two female redheaded humans stood waiting, one slightly older than the other. The quartet inside knew the women, and Rose decided to allow them entrance. When they crossed the threshold, Rose was effusive with her hugs.
The wolf was effusive with her hugs as she greeted the two women. By rights, Rose should have been jealous of the pair, but she knew the two were there for the same purpose. They were there at Rose's invitation, after all, and their abilities were needed for what the Doctor's wife had planned... something quite impossible, especially for a woman who was herself beyond impossible...
Back at the pub...
"...and all the color went out of that Sheriff's face when he opened the door!" The Doctor and Graham took turns regaling all seated at the table with the tale of how a certain bigoted sheriff walked in on Rose, adorned in her birthday suit during a visit in the US state of Alabama. Of course, the two managed to leave out a couple of key details...such as the fact that this happened in Montgomery...and the poor peace officer was probably 120 by now if he was still alive. There was also that business of meeting Rosa Parks just before she got on that bus.
The quizzers were laughing hard at the story, while sipping Guinness and Budweiser, with the exception of Graham, on the wagon at the behest of Jackie, and the Doctor, probably after the beast of her Bad Wolf. She missed her wife at the table, because she always got a kick out of the retelling of the story. That, and the fact that she loved her wolf more than anything. And in the back of her head, she knew that Rose sent her pubbing as a ruse. The Holiday was a couple of days away, and the Time Lady knew something was up...
Indeed, something was up. For inside that abandoned warehouse a blast of light, brighter than anything any human had ever seen before, emanated from the TARDIS. The sound that accompanied that blasted light was beyond deafening. A few minutes passed, and then the light subsided, and all was quiet surrounding the phone booth.
The quizzers had all gone home by this time, leaving the Doctor, Graham, and Jackie. The doctor's suspicions that whatever was going on roses mom and soon-to-be stepdad we're knee deep in it. This holiday surprise had to be something: Rose knew that the Doctor was not necessarily fond of surprises, but when they were good ones she appreciated them. And knowing Rose, the surprise had to be a doozy.
To a certain extent, the Doctor's suspicions were correct. Jackie felt the phone in her pocket vibrate three times. Three times was the signal. Anything else was someone else calling. That meant that the next chapter in all this was about to play out. It did win the Doctor's communicator vibrated. It resembled a Samsung flip phone so it wouldn't cause any undue notice. The message was direct and urgent...
DOCTOR... SOMETHING MAJOR WITH THE CAR...COME QUICK...BW.
The fam came up with the code of "car" in case someone was overlooking and was wondering what a "TARDIS" was. Surprise or not, it looked urgent. The Time Lady excused herself and prepared to leave. Graham offered to walk with her to wherever she had the "car" parked, but she refused. Then gave both Jackie and Graham long, tight, loving hugs...she was happy for them, each finally finding happiness with each other, and then headed off. The two watched her go through the door of the pub, both thinking to themselves that they wish they would have been there to see her face. Because they knew exactly what that surprise was...
When the Doctor got to the warehouse and entered, she saw the conveyance standing there quietly, as stately as ever. She did not know at the time that the excitement inside was palatable. She didn't see everyone getting to their places and getting prepared for what was about to happen.
That included the TARDIS herself..
When that Sonic Screwdriver did unlock the phone booth's door, the Doctor's jaw almost hit the floor seeing the two women that the family surrounded, blanking rose on each side. The Time Lady was never this emotional, and she only opened up to a very scant few. Most of them were looking right at her. It was the younger redhead who took the first step in all of this coming from behind the control center and embracing the Doctor, who wept out her response: "Donna...!"
Then she looked in the general direction of her wife, and Rose not it as if to give permission. Her kiss of Donna Noble was a fiery, passionate one, filled with 15 years of worry and wondering and missing one amazing woman, a woman who immediately returned that kiss with equal fury. Everyone was enjoying this, including Rose.
And then after lips separated, Donna reached into her front right jeans pocket and pulled out a rather familiar looking object.
The Doctor (astonished): "A Sonic Screwdriver...?"
Donna: "I think they give you one when you become a Time Lord or something like that..."
The Doctor was overwhelmed. Donna wanted to become the DoctorDonna more than anything, but the damage it would cause would literally kill her at the time. But here she was, 15 years later, a Time Lady herself. The first Doctor moved in for a second kiss, with Rose and most of the assembled multitude cheering and raising fists. With one smirking exception...who coughed to get attention. The Doctor's face was already tear stained when she heard the familiar greeting...
"Hello, sweetie...!"
It is possible that there may be, somewhere, a UK/EU law that states no other being could say those words in that way to the Doctor except River Song. Her second wife left the side of her third and came around to approach the Doctor and Donna. River didn't actually walk or even move. Like her namesake, she flowed. Flowed right up to the golden blonde Gallifian and soundly kissed her.
It was clear that the Green-Eyed Monster was taking a nibble on Rose, understandable since she was the doctor's current wife and River was her second ex. But it was only a nibble, but because whoever made Mildred...the Doctor's real name..happy,..that made Rose happy. And a happy Rose and Mildred made Yaz happy. It didn't make either Missy or Clara miserable either. The quartet loved their Gallifian, and Mildred had enough deep love for more than one.
The words could describe the Doctor's feelings as she separated from River had not been created yet. Neither could they describe her feelings as she looked across the room. Mildred was surrounded by the people she loved. There were a couple of people missing from this tableau. There was Jack, who the Doctor knew was on a mission. There was one other, though. The thought of her passed through her mind for an 18th of an instant. The was an uncharacteristic shiver through the Gallifrian's body, Despite everything, she missed the woman.
"Doctor...?"
Rose's voice broke through the Doctor's brain. A Doctor who looked at her wife with all the love that any creature could have for another. This was an amazing reunion. Rose put it together. The Doctor dashed around the console, enveloped her wife in her arms and kissed her Bad Wolf soundly.
But the big surprise was about to hit. The Doctor thanked everyone for the surprise reunion, and then she said something she thought was a clever aside. Recalling the excuse that sent the Doctor away to the pub that evening: "By the way, I forgot to ask, how's the TARDIS?" The Doctor chortled.
Then she heard it.
"Why not ask me?"
There were speakers surrounding the inside of the TARDIS. The Doctor said that one day she would install that voice synthesizer. Maybe that was the surprised that Rose or maybe Missy put the synthesizer in. No matter what, the voice that was coming out of the TARDIS sounded eerily familiar...in fact she knew that voice. And started getting teary-eyed at what seemed to be a loving tribute. The Doctor looked lovingly and appreciably at her Bad Wolf. "She sounds like..." The emotions were rising... "...Sarah Jane..."
The round, angelic face that the Doctor has kissed countless times smiled back... And shook her head vertically. Then the doctor heard the voice again...
"I'm not a recording. Or...whatever AI is. It really is me...I am the TARDIS now, Mildred. I am Sarah Jane..."
The women in the room look at the Doctor the same way a group of relatives would look at someone who was about to open a gift wrap box to find a diamond ring or something like that inside. The doctor herself, for once, with speechless. But the new voice of the TARDIS was not.
"Hello, tiger..."
Those words and the sound of those surrounding her chuckling where the last sounds the Doctor heard when her knees gave out and darkness around her...
To be continued...
AUTHOR'S NOTES...
I guess, explanations are in order.
This is my kinda, sorta annual "Gift" series. I've done this for many headcanon, this year I'm doing this for DoctorBadWolf, as well as this being the beginning of my own Doctor Who universe. This is been something that has been stuck in my mind for a long time. I just hope that you're kind enough to understand that I simply use Canon as a stopping point and nothing else.
There's also a lot of polyamory in this. You've been warned.
Thanks to the amazing AXEe, whose works of Doctor Who fiction not only inspired this story, but a couple of other works as well. And if they were close, they'll find those Easter eggs.
As much as I like kudos and likes, actual comments are much better, if only to say you like this or you didn't. Let me know truly how you felt about this.
The next chapter will be the last one for this story, so I can send my new fam on new adventures. I intend to get that finished before Christmas, and try to wrap up some of my WIPs in early 2023.
Thank you for your reading, and your support.