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Rating: Teen
DISCLAIMER: Other people have actually read this one before the internet. Yes, I know. It's weird.
Summary: This is a rewrite of the Human Nature/Family of Blood two-parter, because I really liked Latimer. It's long. I liked it pretty well at the time, as did the other readers, so let's see how well it held up. ...so far, so good. also I actually bothered to tab for once on this one.
“Martha, this watch…is me….” As always, Martha wakes with a scream. The Doctor’s scream in her ears, that is. As it is, she thinks with a slight smile as she gets in her maid’s uniform for the umpteenth time (a term that the Doctor assured her was a scientific one before he went and turned himself into a human), she’s surprised she can walk into Mr. Smith’s rooms all cheerful and happy every morning, despite the chores she’s being forced to do, the way everyone treats her, and the fact that there’s no Doctor anywhere in sight. She reminds herself that it’s better than him being dead forever, instead for only a few months, and picks up her tray of food that she’s supposed to take into the D-Mr. Smith’s rooms. Hopefully, this day will be better than the rest. Hasn’t happened yet, but there’s always the chance…
The Doctor woke up slowly. He felt funny, quite apart from the fact that his head was fuzzy and he couldn’t figure out what he was doing in this particular room in the TARDIS…
And then he sat up bolt upright. He shouldn’t be here, which quite possibly meant…
“You…” he growled at his ship, running his fingers through his hair. An observer might have been able to notice a reply, and then again perhaps not. After all, it was a ship, and no casual observer should be expected as a matter of fact to know that the ship was alive as well.
“Yes, I know…you did this because you were lonely?...” He continued his monologue while rushing towards the control room, where he might get down to the bottom of this. He couldn’t fault her thinking-after all, in some parts of the galaxy, he was known as the Lonely God. He just wished that sometimes-sometimes-she’d actually obey his instructions.
As if in answer, the TARDIS shifted, knocking him off his feet.
“Yes, I get it, you’re really glad to see me, but please don’t act like a giant puppy dog. It doesn’t help. You’re a ship, you’re supposed to do…shippy things, not just jumping around like an oversized grasshopper!”
An unearthly groan was his only answer.
“And don’t try to help me either. You’re overeager, and I’m afraid you might have done the timelines a mischief…”
The silence was a bit unnerving after how chatty she’d been, and he was afraid he’d badly hurt her feelings. Enough that she might not want to help him out of the situation she’d gotten him in. “Oh, all right. I missed you too. Although not for long. I haven’t been alive for a while. It’s been, what…” he stared down at his watch, “Five hours forty seconds. Oh, you really are clever. Creating the clothes and everything. Can’t do this outfit, though. It’d stand out, what with me going to be going to school and all. Have to have something more…schooly. Anything you know of in the clothes room?”
He knew she didn’t, but the steady humming-rather like a purr, now that he thought about it, told him that she had, indeed, missed him, and his yammering on about anything that took his fancy. He reached out and stroked the wall, just for a second, to calm her down even more, before rushing off again, long legs speeding him on his way.
“I thought you’d be all right. You’ve had Martha to keep you company, and I’m sure that could never go wrong…” His voice trailed off, as he noticed the affection had gone a note higher since he’d last been here. “You’ve been messing around with my biology!” he stated accusingly, coming to a standstill and glaring at the wall as if he could see the TARDIS’ spirit in it.
The humming, if anything grew a touch louder, as if she was actually proud of what she’d done.
“Never mind that, you…never mind. Although, wait ‘till I get my hands on the console. No choosing the destination for another six months.”
A discordant note entered the mix, and the Doctor had to make an effort not to smile. He was only teasing her, but it was only fair. If she’d created a paradox or anything…well, she was in more deep trouble than he could ever threaten her with.
“Well…you might get time off for good behavior. We’ll see.”
The Time Lord got off to another running start, only to be struck by something seen out of the corner of his eye. A mirror. He approached it with trepidation. It was like just after a regeneration, and just as strange. He still wasn’t completely at ease with this new body, and, as he’d said before, you never knew what you were going to get. Especially when your timeship took it into her head to go in and rearrange things a little-a bit disconcerting.
He was younger. He still had the spiky hair, the dark, deep brown eyes, the thin face, the freckles…but he looked like a seventeen-year-old, give or take. At least on Earth. And he was actually only about five hours old, so…yes, as he knew quite well, appearances could be deceiving. Then he realized something. The voice had changed, just slightly, just enough…
It was a mix, he decided as he started running again, between his own and Tim Latimer’s, who was probably at close to this temporal location right now.
“Blimey-as if things weren’t weird enough…” he muttered to himself as he changed angles, just barely avoiding the wall and making the turning at this particular junction in the TARDIS.
