Doctor Domestic
The TARDIS had to make a quick stop in Cardiff to get refuelled, though the Doctor had been reluctant to open the doors until he decided that he might as well glance through the shops with Mandy to see if anybody noticed they were not related. Nobody had, and a little chiming noise from the sonic screwdriver told him that the five hours refuelling was complete.
"Doctor?" a voice called out and made the pair turn around. A guy in jeans, blue shirt and white trainers was walking towards them with a grin on his face.
"Jack" the Doctor replied, "I can't stay to chat. Got people to see, babies to shake and hands to kiss"
"Why would you shake a baby?" asked Mandy.
"Whoops" the Doctor grinned. "I mean I have babies to kiss and hands to shake"
"Better" Mandy declared. "Who is this?" she asked.
"Captain Jack Harkness" the Doctor told her.
"Hi" Mandy held her hand out which Jack shook. "What are you a Captain of?"
"The innuendo squad"
"Whats that mean?"
"Its... Its an adult thing" Jack said, glaring at the Doctor. "I presume you are refuelling?"
"Just finished" the Doctor said.
"Ah... So who exactly are you?" Jack asked Mandy.
"I'm Amanda Tanner, but I hate Amanda so I like to be called Mandy" Mandy said. "I'm living with the Doctor"
"Its complicated" the Doctor said. "Mandy, why don't you go into the TARDIS and ask her to make some tea? You can cut the sandwiches with her supervision"
"Okay" and the girl skipped inside.
"So you've regenerated"
"Yep"
"Huh... So whats the story with the girl?"
"Complicated and a very long story, Jack. Suffice to say that Mandy has to live with me now, her parents do actually know about it, they're alive and no I am not helping you at Torchwood"
"Awww, come on - you have to give me something better then that"
"What if I told you I saved her life at the cost of others and then broke the laws of time to save her family and a few close friends?"
"You broke the laws of time? I'm no Time Lord, but I know that's bad and downright dangerous. What made you do that?" he asked.
"Because Mandy is a child, crying and asked me for help" a sad look came over the Doctor's face. It was, Jack decided, that exact same look when he had briefly travelled with the Time Lord when he had mentioned about his Granddaughter, Susan.
"She's human?"
"Yeah"
"I don't recognise her name from anything I've seen or heard about"
"This isn't the time" the Doctor said. Jack knew enough about timelines to know he shouldn't ask much more about what happened when Mandy came onboard the TARDIS. "Look, I really have to get going, Jack - you've..." the Doctor glanced around as if looking for something or someone. "You've got an issue with 456 waves"
"Huh?"
"Just that - four five six" and Jack's eyes widened.
"What happened to not breaking the laws of time?"
"You've already dealt with them" said the Doctor, "So you're well aware of them. Besides, no other Time Lords to deal with me for letting slip a few things. You know, that Gwen of yours is going to have kids... Might want to take her on a visit to Sarah-Jane Smith"
"Right" Jack knew the Doctor was giving him as much information as was thought safe. "Will I see you again?" he asked.
"Oh, of course you will" the Doctor grinned as he tugged his bowtie.
"I'll look forward to it" Jack straightened and saluted - the Doctor rolling his eyes in return. After exchanging goodbyes, the Doctor stepped into the TARDIS which vanished with its normal wheezing and groaning noise - with a little blast of wind coming from the ship itself. 'I hate you' Jack said. The TARDIS, it seemed, was still annoyed at Jack.
#
"Doctor?"
"Hmm?"
"If your money only works on Earth, then how are we going to buy stuff on the place we're going?"
"The TARDIS has a room just filled with money" the Doctor said in reply. He played around with a few controls here and there and briefly wondered about training Mandy to do some of the tasks. Nothing too serious, he went on thinking, but at least enough to give her something to do. The panel he had in mind did, after all, have at least several shiny buttons...
"Really?"
"Yup! Now, why don't you get out of that uniform and we'll have dinner"
"Are you cooking?"
"Yep"
"What are we having?" Mandy asked, watching the Doctor make a last adjustment or two.
"Food that I thought we'd both like – Fish and Chips with mushy peas"
"Mushy peas?" Mandy frowned.
"Like custard, only its thicker and got peas in it and its green"
"Sounds cool"
"Oh, its one of the best foods you're people ever made. I'm surprised you never had it before"
"Not enough space for fish to grow and live on a spaceship" Mandy said. "Almost any ship" she added quickly so she didn't offend the TARDIS. "Can I ask you something?"
"You already have, but something else can't hurt" the Doctor replied.
"Can I hear what you sound like?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well I want to hear you speak Doctorish"
"Doctorish?" the Doctor blinked for several seconds. "Oh" he realised, "You want to hear me speak Gallifreyan" and Mandy nodded. "Okie dokie... Can you turn off the translation circuits for a few seconds, old girl?" and the screens flashed up TRANSLATION CIRCUITS OFFLINE. "Hello, Amanda Tanner. It is very nice to meet you and I hope you are enjoying your stay on the TARDIS" and then the screens flashed TRANSLATION CIRCUITS ONLINE.
"Wow..." Mandy breathed. A look of awe was on her face as if God had suddenly come down from the sky, looked at the girl and asked if she wanted to go down to the park for a kick around.
"You okay?"
"That... That was cool" Mandy said. "It was musical and everything" she added. "Excuse me, but are you God?" and the Doctor chuckled.
"Some people do seem to think so" he replied. "No, I'm not a God. Do you happen to believe in God or Gods or Godess or Godesses?" and Mandy laughed a little at the Doctor's pattern of speach.
"I do believe in God" she nodded. "Does that bother you at all?" and the Doctor shook his head.
"Doesn't bother me what people believe in, Mandy. If you want to believe in God, then thats just fine... I'm sure the TARDIS can whip you a Church or something"
"Why do that?" asked Mandy.
"Because I want to do as much as possible to give you a normal life, Mandy. When Susan and I left, it... was awkward"
"I understand. It was a bad day"
"Bad day" the Doctor agreed. "Now, howabout we get dinner and then we'll go to your first adventure" and Mandy nodded and skipped out of the console room and to the kitchen. Most of the things in there either the Doctor or the TARDIS herself refused to let her use, but they did agree that the fridge, kettle, toaster, status cupboard and the alien version of the microwave was harmless enough.
#
"Excuse me, TARDIS, but may I please have the bread and the butter and a knife?" Mandy asked. There was a pause before a small breeze whipped round her legs and the girl giggled before making opening a drawer and taking out a small knife. Moving over to the fridge, she took out the butter which she opened before reaching into the status cupboard and removing the bread. Taking out a few slices, she used the knife to spread the butter over each slice, cutting them into triangles as she went along.
"Ah, that is good work there..." the Doctor said. He'd come in without his normal jacket on and instead was wearing a blue woollen jacket with leather shoulders and around the neck. His bow tie was missing and his top shirt button was undone too - Mandy could not help it but laugh.
"Oi!" the Doctor protested. "I can do casual... Now, I'll get the fish and the chips ready to go while you make the cups of tea. I should have some English teabags somewhere in one of these cupboards, but I am sure the TARDIS knows better then me" and there was a sound that Mandy took to be the TARDIS agreeing that she knew better. Once the fish and chips were cooked, the pair sat at the kitchen table and ate – talking in-between mouthfuls about Tiaanamat and how the Doctor had visited hundreds of years ago with Susan. On his last visit, they had discovered that things were traded not with money but with things that had great sentimental value. Mandy had instantly said she didn't want to give away anything that belonged to her that reminded her of her family.
"Oh, I am sure that that can not happen" said the Doctor, sipping his tea.
"But how are we going to buy anything?"
"I'll think of something" the Doctor said. "I've got rooms of stuff we can trade, so you'll be fine. Now, I've set the TARDIS to hang around deep space for a while until you have woken up in the morning and had breakfast"
"Thanks"
"You are welcome. Now, what do you want to watch after dinner?"
"Can we go to the movie room please and watch the one with the woman and the little people?" Mandy finished her bread and butter before draining the last of her tea.
"You mean 'Snow White'? I haven't watched that in ages... Tell you what, I know somewhere I have some popcorn. You go and finish packing your new clothes away and I'll get that ready. Martha told me you shouldn't eat sweets right after dinner, and she is a Doctor so she should know"
"So are you"
"Good point – popcorn after dinner!" the Doctor grinned as he stood to take the plates to the sink. The TARDIS would take care of them, but the kitchen had long ago been designed by one of his previous human companions and they'd deigned it necessary to have a sink in the kitchen – and the Time Lord had got into the habit of using it when he had companions and slash or assistants.
"Then can you tell me more about Teiranrat?"
"Tiaanamat" the Doctor corrected gently. "Not much to really say actually. Standard little asteroid colony and space station. It sits in the rings of a Class T gas planet and has a few other asteroids big enough to have a few things on it – but Tiaanamat is the best one out of the lot. Species from every part of the Galaxy go there from Humans to Hath. Most of the time, people go there to meet new races, exchange navigation charts, swap tall tales and just make new friends"
"Sounds cool"
"Susan certainly thought so. It was her that got me my old cane, after all..."
"Past life?"
"My very first, actually" the Doctor replied.
"You must have seen loads of cool stuff"
"Oh yes, Mandy, but I have also seen some not-cool stuff"
"Like what?"
"Like a lot of stuff you are too young to know about yet. Hopefully, you'll never have to experience it but I will tell you when you are older"
"Okay – I can wait I suppose" and the girl smiled and hugged the Doctor to cheer him up. He seemed, at least to her, in desperate need of a hug and a smile very quickly. "Maybe we could get the TARDIS something" she said.
"And what do you get a Type 40 Time Travelling Capsule?" the Doctor chuckled. Past companions had had this argument and discussion with him before and almost all had come back with tapestries, silk wall hangings, curtains and all manner of things.
"A door mat"
"I beg your pardon" the Doctor blinked. He had certainly not been expecting that for an answer.
"Well I bet the TARDIS hates it if we bring in out muddy shoes without wiping them, so why not buy it a door mat?" and the Doctor was stunned at being out witted by his miniature human.
"What do you think, old girl?" he asked. The TARDIS instantly issued a musical series of notes that sounded like laughter and then warm air swirled around them. "Fine, we'll buy you a door mat as soon as we can find one. Now, Mandy, you go get the movie ready whilst I sort out the popcorn"
"Yes, daddy" and Mandy left the kitchen as the Time Lord felt both his hearts skip several beats at the seemingly accidental slip of the tongue. The TARDIS made some comforting noises and the Doctor felt a pressure on both shoulders – the best the time travelling capsule could do in lieu of a hug.
"Thanks" he said quietly. He rummaged around a cupboard before pulling out an oversized bowl and a large bag of popcorn left over from when Ace had travelled with him.
#
They ended watching two films before Mandy yawned which, according to a parenting manual the Doctor had reviewed in the TARDIS memory banks, meant it was time for the girl to go to bed. After letting her change into her pyjamas, a sort of deep purple with gold flecks combination, he tucked Mandy into the bed and sat beside it as he read her a bedtime story from his own childhood - 'The Adventures of Rassilon'. By the time he'd finished, she was asleep and so he gently closed the book, mentally asked the TARDIS to lower the lighting level to minimums, switched on the night-light that also was a bad dream eliminator and left the room.
I am the Doctor
I am a Time Lord
I'm from the planet Gallifrey, in the constellation of Kasterborous
I am the Oncoming Storm
I am a father again...
The father to a girl you essentially kidnapped
"Oh be quiet" the Doctor said as the TARDIS brushed his mind.
You did you know
"Okay then... If you want to go on about kidnapping, I seem to remember a Type 40 TT that kidnapped a Time Lord a fair few hundred years ago"
I don't know the TARDIS you are on about the TARDIS almost sniffed.
"Really? Well it was last seen pretending to be a police telephone box from Sol III. Ring any bells?"
I'll ring yours you cheeky Time Lord
"I'd like to see you try" the Doctor chuckled as he walked back to the movie room to clear up. "Sexy?"
Yes?
"Thanks"
You are most welcome, My Lord Doctor
"Oh stop being so formal, you daft old thing... Disengage alarms for Mandy's room. I'll be in my room for some rest if you want me"
If I want you? My dear, Doctor, why did you think I stole you all those years ago?
A/N:
Okay, ladies and gentlemen, thats it for another chapter, and now I am off on my month long break from writing. As mentioned in my other update, I will still reply to any and all reviews and private messages posted...
Pixel and Stephanie