Author's Note:
Ha ha! Look! An update, and earlier than I expected too! Not sure exactly when I'll get a chance to get the next chapter up but it won't be until at least this coming weekend, and the weekend after that at the latest… It all depends on work…
Now, enough talking and let's get on with the show! Oh, and please, please, if you're enjoying the story (or if you think there are things I need to work on) let me know! Also, I will answer any questions you may have and take any suggestions into consideration so feel free to drop me a review and ask away!
And to those of you who have left a review, thank you, thank you, thank you! Hog Draconis in particular gets a special mention for being my most consistent reviewer. You're awesome and I hope you continue to enjoy!
Happy Reading!
Chapter Nine
Space, the Final Frontier...
By the time the sun disappeared below the horizon and evening rolled in, Wilfred Mott knew he'd made the right decision. He hadn't felt this excited since watching Donna fly away to touch the stars in the same blue he would soon be calling home. The old man grinned at the thought. If his granddaughter's stories were anything to go by there was so much out there he'd get to see. Other places. Other planets. Other times. And all the aliens he'd believed in even when no one else did. The thought that he had almost allowed this opportunity to pass him by seemed absurd now in his exhilaration.
"Cuppa for the road?" Donna's voice pulled him from his thoughts as she appeared behind him, stepping into his bedroom with the aforementioned cup of tea steaming in her hands. She was still sporting her wedding dress and veil and appeared to be slightly tipsy, her eyes shining just a bit too brightly as she grinned at him.
"Ta," Wilf replied, taking the cup from her before any harm could befall it (or the dress as a result) and taking a sip, "Now, what are you doin' back here? Eh?" he asked, his grin matching that of his granddaughter, "It's your wedding night! Find that new husband of yours and off with ya!"
The redhead smirked. "As if Mum wantin' grandchildren wasn't bad enough, now I got you on me too!" She laughed just a little too loud.
"Now just you wait," the old man exclaimed, waving one finger at the new bride and attempting to keep the smile off his face, "That was not at all what I was implying!"
"I'll bet it wasn't!"
But neither of them could keep up the act any longer and they both began laughing in earnest which caused Donna stumbled slightly. Setting down his tea, her grandfather guided her gently to the edge of his bed and they sat down side by side, both still chuckling.
"That friend of yours," said Donna after the laughter had died down, "John Smith or whatever his name is, the one you're going travelin' with, you're sure I don't know him?"
Yes, you do, Wilfred thought sadly as he swallowed the urge to just give in and tell her as much if only so that he would no longer have to lie to her. But no, he couldn't do that. And he never would. So he lied. "No Sweetheart," he said softly, fighting to keep the sudden sadness out of his voice, "You two had never met before today."
"Hhmm," his granddaughter sighed, leaning her head against his shoulder with a small smile, "Feels like we have…" Her smile grew, "He's a good bloke, though, I think…"
"Aye," Wilf agreed, "He is that… He is that…"
They sat like that awhile, just a grandfather with his one and only grandchild resting happily on his shoulder, until Donna shifted slightly and pulled away to grin at him once more. "You excited?" she asked, her glittering with a combination of playfulness and drink.
Wilf grinned back. "Like you couldn't believe."
A raised eyebrow and incredulous look were sent his way as his granddaughter gestured to her current outfit. "Hello? Wedding day."
The elderly man laughed. "Fair enough."
The sound of someone knocking on the front door interrupted any further conversation and Wilfred felt a strange tingling sensation work its way from his head all the way down to his toes. It was time to go. Time to see the stars. Fueled by his exhilaration he reached out and pulled Donna into a tight hug, just as he had when she was a child, or an angst filled teen or a heartbroken woman who'd just lost her father or a savior of worlds come back home for a tea and biscuits. "You take care of your Mum now," he said gently, "And make sure that new husband of yours does right by you or he'll have your old Gramps to answer to, no matter where I am!"
The redhead released the embrace after a moment and held him at arms' length. "We'll be fine, Gramps, so long as you don't forget about us while you're out there in the big, bright world…" Her voice trailed off and her eyes went distant, as though she were searching for a memory she just couldn't quite reach but a moment later the look was gone and she was smiling brightly again. "You just remember to keep in touch and take care of yourself, ya hear? I don't want any phone calls tellin' me you've fallen off a camel and broken your neck or something just as stupid!"
Wilfred laughed but the knocking rang out from the front door once more, a reminder that the Doctor was still out there, waiting, before he could respond.
"I'm not getting that!" Sylvia shouted over the noise from some other part of the house, her voice loud enough that Wilf was sure she could be heard outside, "I don't want anything to do with your insane plan!"
Grandfather and granddaughter exchanged grins and the younger of the two stood up. "I'll get it," she decided before making her way slightly unsteadily out of the room.
Wilf watched her go before taking a deep breath and standing to collect the duffle bags he'd packed the moment he and Sylvia had returned home from the wedding reception. With a bag in each hand he moved to the door, stopping only briefly to glance back at the room that had been his home on Earth since his son-in-law died, before heading towards the front door.
"Oh, here he comes! About time too!" Donna's voice bombarded him the moment the door came into view. She was leaning against the open door and grinned back at him while the Doctor stood on the front step, a crocked little smile playing on his face.
"You ready?" the Time Lord asked, his voice unusually soft.
Smiling slightly in his own right, the old man nodded. "Absolutely."
The Doctor grinned brightly, his hyperactive personality reappearing in full force. "Well c'mon then!" He clapped his hands together eagerly and hopped from one foot to the other as though he was physically unable to stay still.
Wilfred laughed. "Alright, alright…" he chuckled, pausing on his way out and setting down his bags so he could give Donna another quick hug. "Love you, Sweetheart," he said gently as he pulled away, "Always."
"Love you too, Gramps," the redhead smiled back.
"See, now I know you're drunk," Wilf teased, scooping up the bags again.
Donna swatted him playfully on the arm and sent him the best rendition of her trademark glare she could manage at her current level of inebriation. "Go on. Get out of here," she laughed, pushing him lightly out the door and into the cool evening air.
By the time they stepped into the TARDIS, (which the Doctor had parked a few streets away) Wilfred was bouncing almost as much as the Doctor, a goofy grin lighting up his whole face. Amy was waiting for them just inside the ship with her arms folded tightly over her chest as though she couldn't quite decide what to do with them, and the moment the door opened she poked her head outside.
"We moved," she laughed, pulling her head back inside and snapping the door shut as she stared from one man to the other in amazement, "We actually moved."
Wilf chuckled as he hauled his bags over to the base of the stairs. "That's what I said the first time," he reminisced fondly, setting down his luggage and smiling back at the girl only to catch sight of what she was wearing. "Are you in your nightie?"
But Amy was taking deep breaths and didn't answer. "But what about space…" she said, her voice laced with an odd mix and doubt and excitement, "You said this thing can fly in space too…"
The Doctor, who had already bounced up to the console, grinned brightly. "Your wish is my command, Amelia Pond," he took off around the console, dancing about the controls and hitting buttons and levers seemingly at random and causing the TARDIS to begin pulsing around them. "Well, sometimes. Now and then. On special occasions." He flashed them another blinding grin and pulled on final lever, bringing the ship to a stop before dashing back to the door and leaning his back against it. "Here we are then," he said softly, his eyes dancing in the light of the console room, "Amelia Pond, do you know what I keep in here?"
"What?" the redhead breathed, looking, if possible, even more excited than her host.
The Time Lord smiled, pulling the door open as he replied. "Absolutely everything."
Wilfred felt his breath catch in his throat. He may have found himself in space once before but this… He abandoned his duffle bags and hurried to Amy's side, joining her as she stared out the open door into the inky darkness of space, punctuated thousands of times by stars which formed constellations he'd never seen in all his years of stargazing.
"Anything take your fancy?" the Doctor asked from behind them.
Amy spun around but Wilf kept his gaze focused on the stars which surrounded them, trying to commit each and every one to memory. He wondered if the Doctor knew all of their names…
"We're in space," the redhead whispered.
"Yep," the Time Lord confirmed, "That's space."
"But it can't be!"
"But it is..." Wilf breathed.
Amy didn't seem to hear him, either that or she couldn't process the response through her shock. "But it's like, it's like, it's like, special effects," she argued, trying desperately to rationalize what she was seeing.
"Like what?" the Doctor asked, sounding somewhat affronted at the accusation.
"Is so, isn't it?" the redhead continued, ignoring her host completely, "It's not real."
There was a pause and then… "Get out," said the Doctor softly and Wilf could just hear him smiling.
"What?" Amy demanded.
"Now, seriously, get out!"
"Doctor!" said Wilf sharply as he turned to face them, but it was too late.
The Time Lord gave her a quick shove and with a slight shriek Amy went flying out the open door. Biting back a groan, the old man leaned out the doorway to help the alien grab a hold of their younger companion before her momentum sent her floating out into space.
"Having fun up there?" the Doctor laughed, shooing Wilfred's hands away and allowing the redhead to float up above the TARDIS, held in place only by his hand on her ankle.
But Amy didn't reply, joining him instead in his laughter and staring around in awe, her hair floating around her head like a huge, red mane.
Wilf stared up at the floating girl, allowing the wonder of the moment to wash over him and fill him up for a few seconds before his parental instincts kicked in again. "I think that's enough now, Doctor," he said gently, still unable to keep the smile from his face.
Glancing back at the old man, the Time Lord conceded the point with a shrug before turning back to Amy and giving her ankle a tug. "Come on, Pond." He pulled her easily back into the TARDIS, steadying her against himself as her feet touched down on the time machine's floor. "Now do you believe me?" he asked, grinning from ear to ear.
Amy let out a breathless laugh. "Okay, your box is a spaceship. It's really, really a spaceship." She leaned out the door, still laughing. "We are in space!" she called out, her voice disappearing into the darkness, and then a thought seemed to occur to her and she turned back to the Doctor looking concerned, "What are we breathing?"
"I've extended the air shell. We're fine," the Time Lord explained carelessly, peering out the door himself and squatting down as something caught his eye, "Now that's interesting."
Following the Doctor's lead, Wilfred and Amy squatted down in the doorway and stared down at what could only be described as a city, floating in space. High-rise buildings bearing the names of large British cites sprung up side by side along the surface of a strangely pear-shaped, metal spaceship with a faded Union Flag painted along the side, every one of them with lights shining from their numerous window.
"Twenty ninth century, solar flares roast the earth, and the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves," the Doctor continued brightly, pulling Wilfred out of his observations as he dashed back towards the console. The old human barely had time to pull Amy out of the way before the doors snapped shut. "Whole nations, migrating to the stars. Isn't that amazing?"
Wilf and Amy nodded, following their host towards the center console. "So this is the solution to that there Global Warming' then, is it?" the elderly man asked as they reached it, "Move out when the weather gets bad?"
The alien made a noise in the affirmative, gesturing out one of the round windows through which the floating city could still be seen. "This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. All of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal," a small smile creased his face and wonder lit up his eyes in the same way it did his companions' as he studied the sight, "That's not just a ship, that's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing and shopping. Searching the stars for a new home."
"I suppose that just goes to show ya, there's a new home out there for everyone if you look hard enough," Wilf smiled, giving the Doctor a pointed look.
The Time Lord sighed, still staring at the ship. "Maybe..."
Amy, who had continued to gaze out the ship even while the two men were talking, turned to the Doctor suddenly. "Can we go out and see?" she asked with a grin.
And that was all it took for the alien's happy-go-lucky persona to return in full force. "Course we can!" he said brightly, "But first, there's a thing."
The redhead blinked. "A thing?" she repeated questioningly, watching their host hurry off towards the center console of his ship once more before glancing at Wilf, "What's he on about?"
The old man simply shrugged and followed the Time Lord towards the console with Amy on his heels. There'd certainly been no 'thing' mentioned when he came aboard the first time, though there had been more important things at play at the time... "No idea..."
"An important thing," the Doctor continued seriously, apparently oblivious to his companions' conversation as he came to a stop in front of what Wilfred assumed was a scanner of some kind, "In fact, Thing One. We are observers only. That's the one rule I've always stuck to in all my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets."
Wilf gave an incredulous snort. "You what?" he laughed.
"Oh, shut up, Wilf," the Doctor huffed, going so far as to fold his arms across his chest before something on the scanner caught his eye. "Oooh, that's interesting."
Both companions followed his gaze and studied the screen where the image of a young girl sitting alone on an uncomfortable looking bench stared back at them. She was crying, huddle in her bright red jacket with an air of helplessness that Wilfred hated to see in one so young, yet no one was helping her. Someone should stop, ask her what's the matter at least...
"So we're like a wildlife documentary, yeah?" Amy's voice pulled her fellow human from his thoughts and he glanced towards her, noting as he did so that she too was staring at the girl, "Because if they see a wounded little cub or something, they can't just save it, they've got to keep filming and let it die. It's got to be hard. I don't think I could do that. Don't you find that hard, being all, like, detached and cold?" She broke off abruptly, her eyes going wide and Wilf turned his gaze back to the scanner to see just what had caused her reaction. There, bending down in front of the tearful girl, was none other than – "Doctor?" the redhead asked.
The Time Lord turned, almost as though he heard her, and gestured at the screen for them to follow. Amy grinned and bounded towards TARDIS door while Wilf just smiled and shook his head.
"Here we go again," he muttered before hurrying to catch up.