Subplot :
House of Lungbarrow,
( Boekind of S'mouth' Realm. )
CHAPTER :
Gallifreyians are largely asexual, but their females do experience the odd heat.
Once every thousand years, Female Gallifreyians feel physical pain with the need to conceive a child. While most children are born from careful breeding, through genetic engineering "Looms", these rare children, born from heats, are treasured by their parents.
Smartholomew is one such child, as was Susan. While Smartholomew's body got it's wires crossed. Having a "Heat" despite being male, during his first lifetime. While this does happen on rare occasion, it was blamed on his human blood.
These heats, normally, don't start until their first regeneration. With the very first face of a Gallifreyian, not experiencing this period of overwhelming desire. Never in that entire lifetime. It is in part why that whole lifetime is considered their "Childhood".
The Doctor's mother... had disgraced this holy time, by laying with a "primitive creature". But she could have redeemed herself, if she had only aborted the child... if the Doctor had never been born... his clutch would have forgiven her for the "scandal"...
His mother had been kicked out of the clutch... because she wanted to keep the Doctor... because she loved him... she had raised him herself, without the help of a clutch... until she died in poverty.
The Saxon Master, for all the pain the Doctor had caused him... could only now admit he was thankful the Doctor had been born.
• S'mouth's Realm, lower levels of the Ring's station. The Boekin Deck.
The Saxxon Master was currently explaining all this to the Doctor's companions. Regaling them with detailed stories about The Doctor's early life, that the hybrid didn't want anyone to know.
The 10th Doctor, sat in the lounge of the Boekind capital building... with all his past, and future, companions.
The Doctor remembered everyone here, even the ones his current face never met. He shared his future faces memories, remembered their emotions, but he looked back at the memories with his own eyes.
Regardless. . . He remembered these people, loved these people like his own family. They were all here. . . all of the Doctor's companions... even Astrid Peth, whom had only joined him for one adventure... They were all here. All safe and sound... and all wrong.
They looked just as he remembered them. Just as young as when he first met them... but with the minds of their final moments.
But something about them felt... wrong. It was hard to even look at them... Much like when he first discovered Jack, all those millenniums ago. They were fixed points, living fixed points in time, that were somehow constantly being defied.
The Doctor's companions, each had their own city state, which they ruled over with their own family and friends.
However, the companions also had this city, which they used just for them... to reminisce about their time with the Doctor.
The Saxon Master, must have caught wind the Doctor was spending his own shore leave here, as he arrived seconds later... and after Rassillion assured the Boekind that the Master wouldn't cause trouble, they sat back... and listened to their villains stories. Enthralled by hearing the secrets of the Doctor's past.
The 10th Doctor, or "Pin Stripe" as his companions affectionly called him, was currently sitting in a lounge, were his companions liked to mingle. Rassillion was nearby, making sure the Master really didn't start anything.
The Saxon Master continued with his stories, "then the Doctor spent a year in an orphanage, with other clutch-less children. They are put through fast track programs, either apprenticing for the military, or the Time Lord Institute.
"After graduating the Academy of course. Which usually isn't finished until the Kid's first cycle. That's 42 years old. But for Gallifreyians, and indeed most Sapient races, that's the human equivalent of 25.
"And the Doctor managed to absorb everything by the time he was 12."
"Regardless how extraordinary that was, the Time Lords wouldn't have him. The official reason was, he was too young, but the actual reason was his human taint.
"So our Doctor dearest, on account my Sensei was a Time Lady, convinced me to help "Borrow" the woman's Time Capsule "only for a second". As the boy wanted to meet his human father. Needless to say we crashed and were stuck on Earth for a few decades.
"The Doctor's primitive father, thought he bedded a god, and waved away our slower aging, as a result of that. The next 30 years were quite fun, as our Divine status got us spoiled a good deal."
The Doctor felt compelled to add. "Father tried to keep my existence a secret, to anyone outside the palace. Until I was an adult."
Saxxon snorted, "He means by human standards. Time Lords aren't legally adults until we regenerate. The first few thousand years, with our first face, is considered our "Childhood". Which the Doctor robbed me of, by the way."
"It wasn't my fault you died," The Doctor insisted.
"It was so!" Saxxon glared, pouting childishly. "You were on that kick of creating world peace. It was downright shameful. No idea why I followed you in that."
"World peace?" Martha asked, and the Doctor could feel her real question.
"I failed," Was his short explanation. As they were getting too close to the humans discovering his real name. Something Time Lords treasured, and keep hidden... the Doctor's own, getting out, was a source of tension with his human father... and made it all the more important humans never make the connection to the historical figure.
"I'm still stuck on "Palace"." Commented Jack. "Seriously, did no one else catch that?"
Saxxon waved off, "The Doctor's father was some kind of chief, over this tiny tribe." Saxxon would consider the City State of "Macedon" a "tiny tribe". But it did stop the questions. As it made it seem the story happened during "Prehistoric" times... instead of the height of the Greek Empire... which the Doctor helped build.
The Doctor already wasn't happy with how much of his life Saxxon was sharing. These were bloody traumatic memories for him.
The Narrator Rassillion wandered over. Along with his Mate, Omega, and their childhood friend "The Monk".
Rassillion was more comfortable with the Boekin then more traditional humans. Thinking of them as Higher Beings that came from primitives. Like Vampires or Werewolves.
Rassillion interjected, "I'm grateful I was able to track the Doctor down, while he still had his first face, although it took a couple hundred cycles. So I was really pushing it. Regardless, this meant I was able to convince the Council the Doctor deserved a child's punishment...
"Although I regretted I was unable to do the same for The Master. She, as he was a she back then, might only have been 8000 years old, at the time of her capture, but she had already regenerated. That meant she was legally an adult, and should know better... I was unable to convince the Council to show her leniency... They forced her to regenerate, our harshest punishment."
Saxxon snorted, "Is it any wonder I went a little crazy? I had been forced to regenerate twice, when I was still old enough to be a child. Then raising Smart Mouth from infancy, only to lose him before his first regeneration... I was absolutely terrified of death."
"You stole the lives of several dozen Gallifreyians," The Narrator glared. "Be thankful we have need of your savagery. Or else we would have left you dead, by your own hand. Was a rather poetic death."
Saxxon waved off, "I'm just glad I'm legit immortal now."
The Doctor managed to wander away from the Master... and found Donna wandering with him. She had been, one of the few later companions, not to hit on him.
She'd been more like a sister, although he could never tell who was the younger or older sibling... maybe they were a bit like twins?
"You know." Donna made small talk. "Letting your fairy son feed on me, strange you have a literal fairy for a son, by the by." She spoke with that traditional Donna bluntness he respected so much. "While I don't have to tell you. For us mere mortals, it was fairly terrifying." The Doctor smiled at her terrible pun. "But I don't even notice it. Just standing in his realm is enough to feed him, due to the temporal backlash of my sheer existence."
"Although the fairy boy, once told me, I might be edible, but I don't taste very good. You know, I should be insulted, insulted, insulted, insulted, insulted, insulted-" Donna suddenly gasp, as her body gave out.
The Pin Stripe Doctor, just barely managed to catch her. As he kinda expected, and feared, this would happen. "You still have an echo of my mind in your head..." He mournfully acknowledged.
"I let myself die," Donna spoke slower, more serious. "I stopped you from taking this from me. As I told you, I'd rather die as I am, then return to what I was... Your dad was kind enough to respect that."
"He's more a sensei then a dad," The Doctor distracted.
Donna smiled, but wouldn't let him get away with it. "Yes Doctor, my brain implodes occasionally, but my Boekin Biology makes it so I recover quickly. It's more like a spasm of rambling, a killer migraine, then I'm fine for another few days.
"Honestly I probably should have just stayed in my estate, as it happened... but I wanted to see you... let you know I'm alive again... so, so, alive." She smiled.
The Doctor nodded, then tried, once again, to move on... hoping Donna let him this time. After all, he knew enough about Boekin ,and Human Meta Crisis, to figure all that out on his own... and didn't want to talk about it.
Donna decided to have mercy on him. Slowly reaching out, to not startle him, and grabbed hold of the Doctor's face. Then jerking his head to the side... and letting him get a good look at a woman in the corner.
The Doctor went numb, and hesitantly left a smug Donna's side.
It wasn't until Pin Stripe was right next to this new companion, that he noticed he had rudely walked away from Donna, without a word. Looking back, it seemed her smug smile was proof she understood. Donna even made shooing gestures with her hands, to tell him to get his attention back where it belonged.
The Doctor turned his head back to his other companion, someone he had no hope of ever seeing again. Not even Rassillion should be capable of getting her back.
Here, was Rose Tyler, his first real girlfriend, after he finally got over the Master... about ten lifetimes after they split paths.
Rose had first met his "War Doctor" face, and was later abandoned by that Doctor for using him to save her father... The Doctor had been so distraught by the percieved betrayal, he forced himself to regenerate into his 10th face... he'd killed himself over her... only for her to find him, and save him all over again...
The War Doctor had seen himself as a grandfather to Rose... which is why her moment of weakness hurt so much... but the Tenth Doctor had seen her in a new light, with his new face... and realized he felt love for her in a different way...
Rose later sacrificed herself, to save the Doctor from yet another Dalek attack. Even if they had lost their ability to travel in time, the Daleks had remained a threat for trillions of years... and Rose sacrificed herself to the Time Vortex to save him, the rest of the universe was more an afterthought.
Rose smiled looking at him, her eyes glowing regeneration yellow.
"About time our shore leaves lined up," She smiled, draping her arms over his shoulders.
"H-how?" He asked.
"does it matter?" She returned. But answered anyway. "Rassillion fished my conciousness out of the Time Vortex. Gave me back my body. I'm pretty much a God over time, now." She twirled a finger in his hair, and he could feel literal sparks dance from her fingertips. "So he's been really putting me to work. Preserving Timelines."
"You're a Kami," The Doctor realized. A mortal, that had access to Divine ki.
"Does it matter," Rose, for a second time, didn't really ask. "I now see the universe as you do, and it's more beautiful then I could ever dream. I've even met a Q version of you... and no offense, but that guy makes me thankful your as well adjusted as you are."
Before the Doctor could inquire, his former companion pulled him closer. "Oh just shut up and kiss me," she demanded, before roughly grabbing him, and pressing her lips to him.
The Doctor did his best not to squirm in discomfort. Time Lords don't really do much kissing, or any physical displays of affection really. But most humans need it for comfort, and there own version of passion... and part of the Doctor did like being forced into the display.
Suddenly Elizabeth the First broke the tension, along side Astrid, River Song, and Madame de pompadour.
"You know the Doctor doesn't like that," Elizabeth commented. "Can't say I care for the experience either."
"Sorry," Rose parted. "Got lost in the moment."
Astrid grinned, "He is a terrible kisser, so not much of a loss there."
"One does not court the Doctor, for his kissing prowess." Smiled the Madam. "But the kindness of his soul."
River teased, in that flirty way she always does. "I've found the Doctor does enjoy a bit of... consensual non-consensual... he's rather kinky like that."
The Doctor blushed, knowing that was true. He honestly didn't mind being forced into kisses, nor the near constant flirting of River. But River was implying it went deeper then that. Which they both knew it didn't. Just liking having kisses stolen, was as Kinky as Time Lords got.
Seeing all 5 of his girlfriends... At least... for this face. The other ladies were around, as were the occasional gentlemen he fancied, but they were more interested in their Doctor, not the 10th face.
Time Lords might be open to polygamous relationships, given the arrangement was more for emotional connection... but humans...
"I have spoken with your other romantic partners," Elizabeth smiled. "And have accepted them as concubines on your behalf... so long as you remember who is your Queen."
The Doctor blushed, but nodded. He might not have lived with Elizabeth the First. But they were properly married, and he visited her often, up until the day she died. She always understood his need for travel and adventure... while he understood her obligations to her Kingdom.
Now she ruled over a much smaller village, as opposed to her former country... while having to bow down to a new set of laws and acceptable punishments, but she still took her duty, as newly appointed Clan Head, seriously.
In the Main Universe, River met the first Doctor, at the Library, and survived the encounter. She went on to have many more adventures with all his regenerations.
When the Time Lords tracked down the Doctor's companions, they were unable to graft Fixed Point Energy to River, due to her modified DNA channeling Regeneration Energy.
So they modified a Loom to work with her human Biology. Making her a "Time Omnian", or rather a "Time Lord Mark 2". The Time Lords separated her into 13 bodies... but because of her unique biology, and yes they knew this would happen before she underwent the procedure, she maintained the same bone structure, and personality. Essentially she cloned herself, with her soul connected 13 ways.
She did this, instead of just grafting the new regeneration energy into her body, so she could be with each Doctor simultaneously.
After River went through her own Loom, all her faces Bound themselves to S'mouth. But because she wasn't Boekind, S'mouth actively had to feed on her. Which he did once a week.
This in turn helped her fight the Daleks. As she wasn't bound by the Fate's designs.
Each of River's "Echoes" had a "Storage Crystal" (From Phantasy Star). Which is a crystal, normally attached to the back of a sports bra, that not only materializes clothes on herself, but can hold all her belongings.
The Time Lords Duplicated this Crystal, so each River had a copy of all their belongings. Then bound them to her magical pathways. So that if she died, and reincarnated herself, she's still be able to keep all she owned.
One of these belongings, bound to her crystals, was a Omnitrix knockoff. A watch like dial, she wears on her right wrist. It let's her collect DNA from any lifeform, and transform into their species. River has unlocked "The Master Code", allowing her to stay as any race indefinitely. With access to all their abilities.
She stole this device, from the distant future, where Elite Space Forces Agents were trusted with the device. And it was duplicated for each face.
While on her left wrist, is a Vortex Manipulator. Allowing for limited time travel, and teleportation.
Her most notable items, are their large selection of guns and weapons. Each with a special magazine. There is only one bullet, which is magically cloned by the magazine, each time the Gun fires. Charged by a Legendary Lyrium Crystal.
Essentially meaning each magazine, from regular bullets to Incendiary Rounds, has infinite Ammo. She even has stun bullets, for the rare occasion she wants to leave someone alive. As the Bullets are conjured, they will disappear within 1 minute. But the damage they inflict is real.
The 10th Doctor fidgeted as he found a place to sit with his wives.
Astrid smiled, as they sat around each other.
While Rose complained, "Soooooooo, when you giving us Time Tots of our own."
The Doctor blushed.
"This is not the time," insisted the young Reinette, the Madame de Pompadour. "We have many options for children, but that can wait until our dear husband has acclimated. There is no need to rush. We are, after all, immortal."
"Quite," Elizabeth agreed. "Although, just too put it out there, I don't particularly care for the idea of baring a child. So I would prefer to use one of the more personalized Looms, in order to create an offspring of all our bloods."
The Doctor blushed deeper, despite mentally agreeing he would prefer that option. The Doctor continued to fidget. Desperately wanting to get the conversation away from babies.
Once the baby talk ended, a good thirty minutes later, the conversation turned to the war... and the Boekin's role within it.
River answered the Doctor's question, about how the Boekind Government was progressing. "Each of your Companions, rules over their own island. Kept in check by a council of elected officials. There are 14 Political parties, each with three elected Governors. With an elected Mayor, acting as Chairman over the Council. Then Ourselves, outside this council, but capable of vetoing their bills. With the Council able to veto our own bills. However, they need a 70% majority vote to do so.
"Each of our shore leave last for dozens of years. With hundreds passing in between our return to this realm. The Boekind that were spawned from the loom, are long since grown, and have grown great great great grandchildren of their own... whom are also fighting in this war. Our Civilians are few, and currently governed by S'mouth directly. With aid from an elected council."
Rose sighed, "We're basically second class citizens."
Astrid corrected, "Time Omnians are the Elite of the Elite. It makes sense we would be below them.
"We are citizens of S'mouth," Reinette confirmed. "Not Gallifrey."
Elizabeth nodded, "We are a colony of Gallifrey. So we are expected to obey their laws, but remain largely independent... think Scotland. Technically a part of Britain, but still it's own nation."
"How do you know about Scotland?" Rose blinked, "Didn't we unite with them as a direct result of your death?"
Elizabeth smirked, "I took the time to study what became of my beloved England. I'm still reading the history of several worlds beyond Earth. We will need to know these things, for our travels."
Rose blushed, "I've always been more of a "Wing it" girl."
"It couldn't hurt to learn the History," Reinette agreed. "I've been studying up on the various cultures, and new Sciences, as well."
Astrid blushed, "I've always loved studying other planets."
Rose groaned, seeing herself outnumbered. She liked learning about worlds to... she just liked doing it by visiting the planets, and immersing herself in the cultures... she just liked being surprised, by what the planets had to offer.
The Doctor smiled. Being reminded why he had fallen in love, with each of these women.