Mandy Tanner Meets The Doctor's Wife

"Where are we going now?" asked Mandy as she and the Doctor sat in the kitchen of the TARDIS.

"Anywhere you want to, Mandy" he replied as he sipped his tea.

"Well… I was reading about this place called Venice" the girl said between mouthfuls of fish and chips.

"Nice place that" the Doctor smiled. "Full of different people, cultures and art you wouldn't believe"

"Can we go there?"

"I don't see why not" the Doctor shrugged, "But in the morning"

"Why not now?" asked Mandy.

"Because I'm fairly sure you need to go to bed in a little while"

"Isn't bedtime useless in a time travelling spaceship?" Mandy giggled.

"Oh! Oh! Oh, you little Dalek… I knew there was a reason I loved you" the Doctor chuckled as he finished the last of his dinner. "We'll go in the morning because I have to do some repairs to the TARDIS and I need to lower the temperature"

"I can hold a screwdriver" Mandy protested.

"Including mine?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow in amusement. Mandy had tried to fix a cabinet without the help of the TARDIS – resulting in several tennis courts now orbiting Mars.

"It was an accident" said Mandy.

"The TARDIS disagrees" and the time machine rumbled with what Mandy guessed was laughter.

"Humpf… Are we still going to go horse riding?" the girl asked.

"Not tonight, but maybe tomorrow" the Doctor shrugged. "Why don't you finish your tea and then we'll go and watch some TV?"

"Alright…" Mandy hesitated. "Doctor? Can I ask you something?"

"Well you just did, but go right ahead" he replied as he finished a fifth bowl of fish fingers and custard.

"Where did you everybody else go?"

"Everybody else?" the Doctor blinked.

"Your other companions"

"Ah… Yes…" the Doctor put down his things and rubbed his hands over his face – sighing as he did so. "Some left me, some got left behind and some, not many but some, died… They leave. Because they should or because they find someone else. And some of them, some of them... forget me"

"I'll stay with you forever!" Mandy hurried over to the Doctor and gave him a massive hug.

"Oh, Amanda" the Time Lord shook his head sadly. "You will never live as long as I do – one day you will find someone to live with and stay with them"

"But I want to stay with you"

"You can, but one day you will grow old"

"Maybe if I stayed in the TARDIS I could become a Time Lord" Mandy laughed.

"Oh, Mandy… if only it worked that way! Now then, where would you like to go this time?"

"Wales… I've only ever seen it in books and holos" the girl shrugged. "It would be cool to actually go there and explore"

"Wales or Venice?" the Doctor frowned – he was sure she had mentioned both.

"Why can't we go to them both?" Mandy's giggles were infectious not just to the Doctor, but also the TARDIS which made a few rumbling noises like laughter.

"We could do that I sup–" the Doctor was cut off when he heard a loud knocking noise coming from down the corridor.

"Is that normal?" asked Mandy.

"Not normally, no" the Doctor muttered as he set his tea down and picked up his screwdriver. He went to the console room with Mandy following and they saw a flashing light outside the doors to the TARDIS. "Anything the matter, old girl?" he asked the TARDIS. The machine hummed gently and flashed up a few things in Gallifreyan on the screens which the Doctor took time to examine.

"Everything ok?"

"The scanner says it's a messenger cube. Its kind of like an message but its Time Lord technology"

"Uh… Does this mean there are others of your kind still alive?" Mandy frowned in confusion.

"Maybe… One way to find out" and he crossed over to the doors and opened them. At once, a flashing cube came inside and nearly knocked the Doctor out – whizzing past his head and was caught by Mandy's quick reflexes.

"Got it" she cheerfully said. "Its talking to me"

"That's the sciencey bit, Mandy – it's a single thought wrapped up in a message" the Doctor seemed to be so full of energy that Mandy was sure he'd explode. "And it must mean that at least another Time Lord has survived!"

"Oh good" the pre-teen replied, "I'll go and sort things out for a party"

"I don't know exactly who it is or where they are… Why don't you go and pack up some food and some fizzy pop?" and Mandy nodded as the Doctor placed the cube on one of the panels of the TARDIS console. "What have you got yourself into, old friend?" he sighed sadly as he pressed a button. The TARDIS scanned the cube and got a series of long number strings which made the Time Lord frown with confusion and puzzlement. "Do you think you can make it?" he asked the TARDIS. In reply, the machine hummed for a long time before gurgling and making a couple of positive sounding noises. "I thought you could…"

#

"Of course"

"Of course what?" Mandy asked.

"I should have known things would never go this well" the Doctor flipped a few levers but nothing except a faint groaning noise was heard. "TARDIS is recharging, so why don't we go and find my friend?" and Mandy smiled and picked up the picnic basket.

"I hope I packed enough sandwiches" she said, glancing into the basket.

"Oh, I bet you did. Now, onwards!" and the two left the TARDIS and looked upon a dark world that was filled with dirt, debris, broken machine parts, wisps of smoke and a strange smell – a combination of rotting food and dust.

"I'll leave the picnic here" Mandy said slowly, setting the basket down inside the TARDIS and closing the door.

"Hello?" the Doctor called, but there was no answer back.

"I can't see anybody around" Mandy said as she turned round on the spot.

"Some sort of building over there, so lets head in that direction and see what's going on" the Doctor took Mandy's hand and they set off towards a half ruined building.

"I don't like this place" the girl shivered. "It feels creepy"

"I'm not too fond of it either – its certainly no land of Oz" the Doctor replied and then suddenly stopped. "Mandy, hide behind that pillar" he said firmly. The girl blinked before hiding behind a fallen pillar and crouched as low as she could. Seconds later, she heard footsteps and two filthy figures dressed in rags came running after a tall woman dressed in an old fashioned dress she'd seen in history lessons.

"My thief!" she called and then bit the Doctor on the finger. Mandy barely suppressed a giggle as she watched the Doctor become rather cross before a half man and half shrimp also appeared and grabbed the woman and carried her, struggling madly, away and out of sight – all the time shouting for her thief.

"Watch out. Careful. Keep back from her. Welcome, strangers. Lovely. Sorry about the mad person" the partly hunched over man said.

"Why am I a thief? What have I stolen?" the Doctor frowned in confusion.

"Me!" screamed the old dress woman.

"Oh. Oh, we are sorry, my dove. She's off her head. They call me Auntie" the filthy woman said.

"And I'm Uncle. I'm everybody's Uncle" the man said.

"I'm the Doctor… Mandy, you can come out" the Doctor smiled. She hesitated before getting to her feet and trying to dust herself off as best as she could. As she looked up, she noticed the woman had an odd tattoo on her arm which gave her a funny feeling of having seen it before.

"Hello, dearie"

"Hello there, sweetheart"

"Hi" Mandy was sure to stand very close to the Doctor as she was bothered by them. Her far older companion, though, seemed delighted to meet them although one could never really tell with the Doctor… "We've come looking for a friend of the Doctor's" she said helpfully.

"Oh, I hope not Idris"

"Idris?"

"The woman that just bit the Doctor… She's always doing that you know" Auntie said.

"I don't think she bit off more than she could chew" cackled Uncle.

"Well, have you seen any other Time Lords?"

"Oooh… You'd have to ask House about that" Auntie said.

"Who is House?" asked Mandy. She was beginning to get that feeling when either something was badly wrong of the cheese grater had ended up in the TARDIS engines again.

"House is all around you, my sweets" Auntie said. "You are standing on him. This is the House. This world... Would you like to meet him?" she asked.

"Meet him?" Mandy blinked – she'd not been expecting that.

"I'd love to!" the Doctor declared with a huge grin on his face.

"Hmpf… Right, well this way. Come, please. Come" Uncle gestured widely and then shuffled off down another path of filth and debris. "Come… You can see the House and he can look at you" Uncle added as he brought them to where two small beds were covered in rags and some sort of medieval torture device sat slightly tilted in one corner with old leather straps dangling from the arms.

"Interesting decorations" the Doctor noted.

"Thank you, Time Lord" a voice called. Mandy and the Doctor looked around wildly before noticing that Auntie and Uncle both had slightly strange looks to their eyes – both glowing green.

"I see. This asteroid is sentient"

"I speak through Uncle and Auntie as if they are marionettes - they do my will. You are most welcome, travellers"

"Doctor, that voice. That's the asteroid talking?" Mandy asked, getting that troubled feeling again inside her.

"Yes" he said to her casually, "So you're like a sea urchin. Hard outer surface, that's the planet we're walking on. Big, squashy, oogly thing inside, that's you"

"That is correct, Time Lord" House replied.

"Ah..." and Mandy noticed he winced slightly. "So you've met Time Lords before?"

" Many travellers have come through the rift, like Auntie and Uncle and Nephew. I repair them when they break"

"So there are Time Lords here, then?"

"Not any more, Doctor, but there have been many Tardises on my back in days gone by"

"Well, there won't be any more after us. Last Time Lord. Last Tardis" the Doctor said sadly.

"A pity. Your people were so kind. Be here in safety, Doctor. Rest and feed if you would like"

"We're not actually going to stay here, are we?" whispered Mandy.

"Well, it seems like a friendly planet. Literally. Mind if we poke around a bit?" he asked House.

"Explore until your hearts are content" House said and then it seemingly released its hold on Auntie and Uncle.

"If there's anything you want, dearies, then just ask us" Auntie said.

"We will" the Doctor said and took Mandy by the hand and walked off. "I can read your mind… I don't like this one bit" he told the girl. "If the distress calls had been answered already, the cubes would have been deactivated"

"So House is lying?" Mandy frowned.

"Maybe" the Doctor said. "Wish I had my screwdriver but I left it in my jacket"

"You're wearing your jacket"

"Other one"

"Oh" Mandy said. "Do you want me to go back and get it for you?" she asked.

"Yeah – just go straight there and straight back. I'm going to have a look around this bit and see what I can find" the Doctor was about to let her go when he reminded her about the mobile phone she carried. "Call me when you get to the TARDIS"

"I hope the number works this time" Mandy smirked.

"What do you mean?"

"Your number is on my phone as '0800-TIMELORD"

"Ring me through the TARDIS console… Should be enough power for that" and he made shooing gestures and the girl hurried off.

#

"Doctor?" five minutes later, Mandy was inside and calling from the TARDIS.

"Yeah?"

"The doors just locked and I can't get out… Also, there's a weird green gas coming through the doors"

"What?"

"I don't know what to do, Doctor"

"Mandy, listen to me… Hang up the phone and run as far as you can into the TARDIS – find a safe place and hide"

"Okay" and the girl slammed the phone down and ran as fast as she could. Turning a corner, she heard the engines start up and the TARDIS take flight. "This is not good" she muttered and ran to hide.

#

"Tell me exactly who you are and what you want with Mandy. If you don't, I'll forget I'm the Doctor" he snarled. He'd watched as the TARDIS vanished before his very eyes with Mandy onboard. He'd gone looking for Auntie and Uncle and discovered many message cubes – the perfect trap for the last of the Time Lords. Brimming with anger, he confronted the two patchwork people and discovered they had been repaired using Time Lord body parts before the pair promptly died. Without Nephew being around, the only other living person was the mad bitey women held captive in a metal cage.

"Do you not know me? Just because they put me in here?"

"They said you were dangerous" the Doctor was getting more and more angry.

"Not the cage, stupid" Idris replied which caused the Doctor to pause in his pacing and feel a chill go through his old bones. "In here. They put me in here. I'm the. Oh, what do you call me?" Idris sounded frustrated. "We travel. I go" and the Doctor's eyes widened as she pursed her lips together and made the sound of the TARDIS engines.

"The Tardis?" he half whispered.

"Time And Relative Dimension In Space" Idris said in a far off voice before focusing. "Yes, that's it. Names are funny. It's me. I'm the Tardis"

"No, you're not. You're a bitey, mad lady. The Tardis is up and downy stuff in a big blue box"

"Oh, its me… House killed the original personality of this body and put me inside so he could safely use the TARDIS"

"Prove it" the Doctor growled. "Prove to me that you are the TARDIS – tell me what the override code for all functions is"

"Susan" was the simple one word reply. The Doctor blinked before bringing up his sonic screwdriver and opening the cage.

"Are all people like this?" Idris, the Doctor found it was easier to call her that despite the fact he knew for certain it was his TARDIS in human form, enquired.

"Like what?" he asked.

"So much bigger on the inside. I'm, oh, what is that word? It's so big, so complicated. It's so sad" she added.

"But why? Why pull the living soul from a Tardis and pop it in a tiny human head? What does it want you for?"

"Oh, it doesn't want me" Idris gave a part shrug of her shoulders.

"How do you know?"

"House eats Tardises"

"As in their shells?"

"House feeds on rift energy and Tardises are bursting with it"

"And not raw, all lovely and cooked. Processed food. Mmm, fish fingers" the Doctor shook himself from his wondering thoughts.

"Do fish have fingers?"

"But you can't eat a Tardis. it would destroy you. Unless, unless…"

"Unless you deleted the Tardis Matrix first"

"So it deleted you"

"Yes, but House can't just delete a Tardis' consciousness. That would blow a hole in the universe. So he pulls out the Matrix, sticks it in a living receptacle and then it feeds off the remaining Artron energy"

"How do we get back inside the TARDIS to rescue Mandy?" the Doctor demanded. "She'd have to lower the shields, but that would only last a few seconds. The difficulty comes in getting into the time vortex" he added.

"We need to go to where I landed, Doctor, quickly"

"Why?"

"Because we are there in three minutes. We need to go now. Ow!" she grabbed her side and grimaced in pain. "Roughly how long do these bodies last?" Idris looked at the Doctor with a sad expression.

"You're dying" he half whispered.

"Yes, of course I'm dying. I don't belong in a flesh body. I could blow the casing in no time. No, stop it" she looked sharply at the Doctor. "Don't get emotional. Hmm. That's what the red jumper girl says. You're the Doctor – focus" she smiled gently.

"I'm stuck down the plughole at the end of the universe on a stupid old junkyard"

"Wouldn't be the first time, would it?" Idris gave off a chuckle before wincing again.

"Except it's not just any old junkyard – it's a TARDIS junkyard!" he grabbed her hand and dragged her along until they stood on a rocky ridge and looked over an endless valley of broken parts. "A valley of half eaten Tardises. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I'm thinking that all of my sisters are dead. That they were devoured, and that we are looking at their corpses" and the Doctor cringed at the thought of the TARDIS, albeit in human form, looking at what was basically the desecrated corpses of all her sister TARDISes.

"Ah. Sorry. No, I wasn't thinking that" he apologised.

"No. You were thinking you could build a working Tardis console out of broken remnants of a hundred different models. And you don't care that it's impossible…" she wiped a tear from her eye and spun around. "Doctor, I appear to be leaking"

"They are called tears… It what happens when people are very happy or very sad"

"I wish I could stay like this forever" Idris sniffed. "Its one thing to know all the processes of life, but to get actual data from external sensors…" she looked around in wonder. "A pity it has to end"

"One of my companions once said that everything has its place and that everything must end"

"That's life… Oh" Idris blinked. "Well, anyway, building a TARDIS is impossible with what we have here"

"Nothing is impossible as long as we're alive. Mandy needs me. So yeah, we're going to build a TARDIS"

#

Mandy was afraid…

Very afraid…

She was so much afraid that the girl decided she needed to speak to that Doctor she thought was called Martha…

After being trapped by House inside the TARDIS, she'd managed to talk her way out of trouble and run deep inside the TARDIS to look for somewhere to hide until the Doctor came back. When the creepy looking shrimp man came after her, she'd managed to get to the kitchen where she armed herself with knives – knowing she could because even the Doctor had told her it was alright to hurt somebody in self-defence…

"Run, little girl… Run and hide" House mocked her.

"Just wait until the Doctor comes back!" she yelled back.

"Oh, he's never coming back – he will die in about two hours or so. That is more than enough time for me to have fun with you and Nephew"

"Like hell!" Mandy screamed, jumped over the kitchen counter and stabbed the strange creature in the left hand, pushed it to one side and then ran down a corridor that suddenly went dark.

"You left me" the sound of the Doctor's voice made her turn around to see him look so thin and old that she shivered.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm going to die, and it is all your fault"

"What? No! House kipnapped me and the TARDIS" Mandy felt tears come down her face at the thought of her betraying the Doctor – the man she had come to love as much as her father.

"You left me alone to die, Amanda Tanner"

"You are not the Doctor" she suddenly realised it was another trick by House. The Doctor, even when upset about something, would almost never use her full first name.

"Does it matter?" asked House. "I am growing bored of this game" he added, "So entertain me more or I will kill you" and there was the sound of an explosion, a gigantic blast of wind and then a flash of light

"Over my rotting corpse!" the Doctor spoke. His clothes were all torn in many places, he had bruises and massive cuts and was bleeding over the floor, but his eyes held a fire of defiance.

"Nephew, kill them all" House said simply.

"Don't think so" and pulled out a device and shot the Ood right between the eyes with it – killing it suddenly and silently. Mandy blinked for several seconds and then saw the mad woman leaning heavily against the TARDIS's walls.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm dying"

"We all die" Mandy said.

"But I am going to die sooner than one might expect" Idris replied. "You know, the Doctor's sole aim was to get back to save you. He ended up ramming a cobbled together TARDIS console into this one – risking his entire lives to see your face once more. He didn't care if it was impossible" and she gently pushed Mandy away and stood up straight and tall.

"Where are you going?"

"I am the soul of the TARDIS in human flesh, this is my home and House is not welcome here anymore" Idris said and marched off in a great amount of pain towards the main control room.

"Is she really going to die?" asked Mandy to the Doctor who seemed determined to check her for injuries.

"I'm afraid so… Well the body will die, certainly… The TARDIS's matrix, her soul if you will, will just return to the systems and work again" the Doctor frowned before shrugging and helping Mandy to her feet. "Come on, we're going to help"

"But if House is powerful… I'm scared"

"So am I"

"Really?"

"Oh yes. I made a promise to your parents to try to keep you safe" the Doctor commented he and Mandy headed to the control room where they could hear shouts.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure"

"Why did you kill the squid person?"

"Ood… And as for why, well the Ood was already dead – I just put him out of his misery"

"So an act of mercy?"

"Yeah"

# # # # #

They turned the corner and saw Idris standing there with arms outstretched and head tilted right back. Her mouth was opened in an almost silent but high pitched whine and all House could was yell out in agony and demand that somebody stop the TARDIS from taking back her rightful place.

"Doctor, I demand that you do something about this! I order you to stop"

"For all your intelligence, you forgot one simple thing – the TARDIS can never be defeated or destroyed. Where you bring death and despair, the TARDIS brings hope and life. Where you bring suffering, it brings peace. Where you bring hunger and famine, it brings fish fingers and custard… Finish him, old girl" and there was a flash of light which blinded the pair before it quickly faded and the darkness changed back to the bright lights they were used to. The TARDIS started to hum happily and quiet little whirls came from the corners of the main control room – the TARDIS was back and in control.

"Doctor, Idris is dead"

"What made Idris was already dead – House extracted the personality which made her more or less brain dead. We need a rest after this – we'll take her to the Eye of Orion… She… We'll bury Idris there then sit and relax for a few days"

"Actually…" Mandy hesitated.

"Did you think of somewhere else?" the Doctor asked distractedly as he busied himself at the console.

"I just wanted to see that Doctor woman again" she bit her lip as if the Doctor was going to be mad with her or something.

"Mandy, don't be like that – I will never ever be mad at you for something that was never your fault" the Doctor stopped working and looked at his young companion. "Look, how about we give Idris's body a quiet burial in a nice spot, I do a few hours' work and then we'll pop off to see Martha again?" and the girl nodded before kneeling down and closing the body's eyes and folding her arms over her lower stomach.

"I'm sorry you died" Mandy said the words and then cursed inside – why did the words feel so hollow? The Doctor, for his part, watched quietly before walking over and wordlessly picking her up into a tight hug and carried her to her bedroom where he let her get ready for bed before tucking her in. Once her breathing had become restive, he went to the kitchen for a cup of tea and to think about the events of the last few hours. He began to wonder if he shouldn't leave her on Earth with one of his companions, but then decided that it would count as abandoning her. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost missed the heavy sniffing. He looked round to see Mandy in her pyjamas trying bravely to hold back the tears.

"Come here" he gestured to the small sofa in the adjoining parlour and sat down himself. Mandy simply ran over and jumped into his arms before starting to sob. The Doctor was unsure what to do, having not comforted a crying youngster since Nyssa had seen Adric die shortly after losing her own father. He just sat there and made the right noises, stroked her hair as she sobbed – using his telepathic link with the TARDIS matrix to set course for the Eye of Orion and a quiet and somewhat remote place too.

#

He ended up doing the same thing four times in a row before Mandy finally settled to some form of sleep. The Doctor, feeling the strain of deaths he could not prevent, drank another cup of tea and then set to work on finding his best suit – he thought it might be with his other Third clothes, but wasn't entirely sure. He'd already telephoned Martha through the TARDIS console and asked if she could contact UNIT and arrange for some help for Mandy – perhaps a few weeks of sitting on Earth for a while might help to settle the TARDIS herself down after everything the old girl had been through. Leaning back on one of the rails around the console itself, the Time Lord thought about the most recent adventure and all that he could have said to the TARDIS if she'd been able to stay in human form. If he could have had just one more minute, he would have said thank you for always being with him through thick and thin.

"Perhaps" he muttered to himself as he stood and headed off towards his own room, "Perhaps a Time Lord lives too long"

A/N:

Reviews in the normal manner, please

Regards,

Pixel