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Not The Last. (4/6)
Look, more of this fic! And I'm hoping to have the whole thing posted within the next week (take that with a pinch of salt btw).
Previouslies here if anyone would like to catch up... Pretty please?
Setting: AU-post 'Sound of Drums'. (It's now 4 years later.)
Spoilers: End of S3 and also minor spoilers for Torchwood in this chapter.
Rating: PG.
Characters (in this part): The Doctor, Lucy, Jack, OCs.
Thank you's: To![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kathyh for the look-through.
Feedback: *begs*
Part 4a
Spring 2011
The headmistress looked from the Doctor, to Alexander, and finally settled on Lucy’s face.
“Well this is... quite incredible. I’m still somewhat shocked that Harold Saxon has a son.” She shook her head. “If he’s 4 now, he must have been born before the election, but that’s... I cannot recall you being pregnant, Mrs Saxon...”
Lucy swallowed nervously, and the Doctor leaned forward.
“It’s... a little complicated. Just take our word that he really is his father’s son.”
“Of course Mr Smith, but...” Mrs Netherton’s eyes drifted towards the boy again, and she frowned a little. “Actually - how much does he know about his father?”
“Oh we’ve not kept anything from him!” the Doctor replied immediately, thinking to himself that this would also have been impossible, the boy being what he was.
“My Daddy was an evil overlord!” Alex suddenly announced, with all the innate eagerness of his 4 years.
Lucy gasped. “Alexander!”
“But he was mummy! You were there too!”
Lucy swallowed, and sent the Doctor one of those looks that said: ‘You deal with him!’
The Doctor hated those looks - he always ended up as ‘The wicked step-dad’ when that happened.
“Alex...” he began, voice stern, but the boy knew what was coming and held his head high. “Daddy told me never to be ashamed of who I am!”
“Of course you shouldn’t be ashamed,” The Doctor replied carefully. “But that doesn’t mean you should boast.”
“Oh,” he answered, a little put out. “Sorry Uncle.”
“Hey, no worries, I just think you confused poor Mrs Netherton.”
He turned his head and smiled at the headmistress again.
“As you can see, it’s... a bit of a tricky situation, and were hoping to be able to keep his parentage as secret as possible. If the press found out about him we would never get a moment's peace. Which is what we want. Peace. So he can grow up like a normal child...”
Mrs Netherton nodded, and Lucy, eyes bright, took over.
“Of course that doesn't mean that he's ordinary at all. He’s incredibly gifted, you see - just like his father. Really remarkable, even compared to the sort of children you teach here. We did consider just letting him do a university course, but he really could do with friends his own age.”
Despite obviously being somewhat thrown by the oddness of the situation, Mrs Netherton was clearly thrilled to have someone this famous at the school.
“Well... we are the foremost school for gifted youngsters, and would certainly be proud to have young Alexander amongst our pupils. He would have to do the standard entrance test of course - a mere formality, I’m sure, but we do need the paperwork to be in order - and you can count on our discretion.”
Lucy smiled, pleased, and the Doctor allowed himself to relax somewhat.
Then the headmistress leaned forward, smiling.
“So tell me Alexander, what do you want to do when you grow up?”
Alex’s eyes lit up. “I want be a fireman, or a space adventurer, or the ruler of the world!”
Mrs Netherton’s eyes widened, and Lucy looked like she was going to faint. The Doctor dragged a hand through his hair.
“Alex, we've talked about this. The answer is still no, you can’t!”
Alexander lifted his chin defiantly. “But Daddy said I could! Daddy promised!”
“Yes, but that was a long time ago, and he's no longer in the position to make such promises, is he now?” He caught the boy’s eyes, and looked at him sternly. The Master had surprised him by following every rule to the letter, but sadly the Doctor had not been able to stop him filling the boy’s head with dangerous dreams... He had not foreseen the Master fighting over the boy through the boy, and there was nothing he, the Doctor, could do. The child was still too young to understand the darkness of his father's actions, and not for all the world did the Doctor want to ruin his innocence.
Alex didn’t give up easily and kept arguing his case. “But I'd be really nice! I don't like burning things - I'd look after everyone.”
The Doctor shook his head. Time to lay down the law. “You can't. Humans need to look after themselves.” Even as the words came past his lips, he felt ready to bang his head against a wall, because he could almost hear all the questions welling up in the headmistress who was studying them, eyes narrowing. Alex however was now sulking.
“Daddy said I could rule the whole universe! And we’d have a castle! You’re not fair!”
Lucy appeared to have regained her composure, and carefully asked, “When did Daddy say that?”
“The day I was born.”
She stared at him, and the Doctor saw the familiar look of awe come over her face again. It was obvious that her son was now the centre of her world, the way her husband had once been, and the Doctor worried what effect such single-minded devotion would have on the child in the longer term. But there was not much he could do...
He sighed again.
“You know what he is, Lucy. And Alex - what is your father?”
Alexander pulled a face, then answered resignedly. “Daddy is an evil psychotic megalomaniac.”
The Doctor nodded. “Good boy. Never forget that, OK?” He looked up and smiled widely at the lady in front of him. “Dear Mrs Netherton. Why don’t you find that test, and while the boy is busy we have a little talk?”
She nodded eagerly, and the Doctor stretched, trying to get the tension out of his limbs. He didn’t like mind wipes, but what other option was there?
Knowing that the Master would laugh his head off when he heard about his slip wasn't exactly cheering, and the Doctor wondered yet again what had happened to his life. Responsibility had never really been his thing...
Oh he could save the world, easily, could cope in the most heated of situations, but this day-to-day stuff, juggling all these people and trying to raise a child without letting his parents ruin him was incredibly difficult and frustrating - as was constantly having to hold him back. Growing up in a world not his own was fraught with compromise, but hopefully having peers his own age would be good for him.
Mrs Netherton got up and held out her hand. “Well Alexander, are you going to come with me and do a little test?”
Alex got up and happily took her hand.
“Does it have astrophysics? I love astrophysics!”
Mrs Netherton chuckled. “So you like astronomy, is that right?”
Alex nodded eagerly. “My uncle has promised to show me a black hole on Saturday if I’m good! Our people invented them!”
Lucy paled for a moment, but as soon as the door closed she turned to the Doctor and pointedly said, "Well you're obviously going to have to sort that out!" - as if the situation was all the Doctor's fault and didn't have her husband's fingerprints all over it.
He glared back silently, yet again thinking to himself that the Paradox Machine might have been the Master's masterpiece, but that in his opinion Lucy came a close second. Times like these he often felt like asking her if she honestly thought her husband would still be so devoted if it wasn't for their child - he knew the Master to be notoriously careless with his toys, and he felt sure that Lucy would have gone the same way as all the rest if things had been different. But he didn't say that, because that would mean lowering himself to their level, and that was the one thing he couldn't do.
And things were bound to be easier once Alex started school. He'd get away from his parents' influence, would be able to see what normal families were like and hopefully get some real friends - the children here ought not to think his soaring intelligence something strange...
Like that time at the local toddler group, when - after being asked if he 'could draw a pretty picture?' - had proceeded to write down pi to a thousand decimal points 'because pi was the prettiest number he knew'; not understanding why all the mums were looking at him so oddly... he'd used human numbers after all.
No, in this instance the Doctor just needed to have a long talk with him before he started, and everything would be fine. It had to.
Sometimes he felt that it was a crazy idea, enrolling a Timelord in a human school, but he was willing to do anything he could to make sure that Alex's childhood wasn't a lonely one.
Part 4b
Autumn 2011
“Here he is!” Jack announced, closing the TARDIS door behind him as Alex happily ran around the rotor and climbed onto the old seat, before beginning to type something into the TARDIS screen.
“Thank you!” the Doctor umphed, being stuck somewhere underneath the console, wrapped up in wires. “Could you find my screwdriver? It rolled away and I can’t see it.”
Jack swiftly located it, and, as he handed it over, tried to squint at all the cables. “Does this have something to do with the TARDIS looking like it was dipped in gold?”
After some buzzing the Doctor stuck his head up “Yes. Can you go check what it looks like now?”
Jack took a few steps out the door, and the box was nicely blue again.
“Yep! Back to normal,” he reported as he came back inside. “Gonna tell me what happened?”
The Doctor uncurled himself unto the floor.
“The Master. He was bored and decided to fix the chameleon circuit. I told him it was probably useless and that I like it looking the way it does, but he had to mess around until he did something.”
He replaced the grates and looked up. “Thank you lots much for picking him up, but I couldn’t travel looking like a Fabergé egg. And Lucy insists I pick him up whenever I'm here - something about the traffic...”
”You know she's got a point - I think it would have been quicker to walk. Although Alex likes my car, don’t you little fella?”
“I want a car just the same when I get big enough to drive! And pleeeeeeeease Uncle Jack can I come Weevil hunting with you soon?”
“No!” Jack replied immediately. “Much too dangerous for little boys - even if they are as smart as you.”
Alex sighed audibly, tapped a few more keys, then looked up. “Uncle, what do I do next?”
The Doctor walked around the console and studied the screen. “Well you can do the Millennium Falcon now if you like. Try to work out what modifications Han made to the hyperdrive - you've got a couple of hours before you have to be home.”
“Wicked!” Alex grinned, and started typing avidly.
“He’s playing Star Wars games?” Jack asked, amused, and the Doctor shook his head, smiling. “Oh no, it’s his homework. Not his school homework, the stuff that I set up for him. These last few weeks he’s been working on calibrating how the spacecraft in Star Wars propel themselves. He’s come up with some very inventive ideas.”
“O-kay” Jack replied, then suddenly remembered what the teacher had told him. “And by the way - Miss Rimmauld took me aside, saying what a wonderful calming influence Alex is. They’d been a bit worried, what with talented kids often being bitchy and competitive, but apparently there’s hardly a single argument when he’s around.”
He smiled happily, being very fond of the boy, but the Doctor frowned, then pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, before leaning against one of the supports, the green lights suddenly making him look very tired.
“Just what I need... and here I was, thinking that just making sure he didn’t let slip that he wasn’t human would be enough...”
He briefly closed his eyes, and Jack shook his head. “I’m sorry - but was that supposed to make sense?”
The Doctor sighed. “Never thought about the fact that he might use any of his powers...”
Seeing that Jack was obviously still confused, he added, “He’s making them behave. Probably because I told him not to get into trouble...” Shooting the engrossed boy a glance, he smiled wryly. “At least his dad will be pleased.”
Jack suddenly got it. “You mean he’s hypnotising them?” He stared at Alex, the young boy’s brow furrowed in concentration.
“Oh no,” the Doctor replied, waving away the accusation, “it's more like he's leaning on them mentally - subconscious suggestion might be the best description. It’s child’s play - literally. He probably doesn’t even realise that he’s doing it.”
“So... it’s a Timelord thing,” Jack established.
The Doctor nodded. "You could say that. I've training him mentally, obviously, but this never occurred to me. It's been so long since-"
He cut himself off abruptly, eyes fixed on the blond child who was now biting his lip and tilting his head; clearly thinking hard about what he was doing.
Taking a deep breath the Doctor slowly peeled away from the beam he was leaning on, obviously unwilling to discuss whatever memories had come back to haunt him. “Think I’ll save that talk for later, I’m tired of being the no-fun-parent. And I meant to ask you, have you heard from Martha recently?”
“Oh yes - she came down to visit a couple of months ago, bringing her fella with her. Think that might be getting quite serious by the way - he took the Torchwood tour rather well and she didn’t ask for any retcon!”
Alex suddenly looked up from his work. “Uncle?”
“Yes Alex?”
“PleasecanIbringMyfanwyforShowAndTellonFridayJacksaidIcould!”
The Doctor looked puzzled, and Jack smiled apologetically.
“The pterodactyl. It’s called Myfanwy. I said he was allowed if you agreed - I mean it’s not like the world is unaware of aliens and things. It's kinda big though...”
There was a pause as Jack and Alex waited for the Doctor’s verdict. Slowly he shook his head. “I... don’t think it’d be a good idea...”
Jack shrugged, and Alex’s face fell. The Doctor looked from one to the other, and suddenly the familiar devil-may-care smile lit up his features.
“But... if you like, we could go try to catch a pterodactyl to keep as your own pet... would you like that? Just a little one that'd fit in the TARDIS.”
Alexander’s eyes grew to the size of saucers. “Really? Really truly?”
“Yeah, why not? They’re easy enough to look after, aren’t they?”
He looked at Jack for confirmation, and Jack grinned back. “Never had any problems. Eats anything.”
“Okay!” The Doctor said happily. “Alex - if you can remember in what period you find Pteranodon, you can set the TARDIS controls...”
Alex’s squealed with joy and after some intense thinking started typing, then jumped off the seat and started pulling levers.
“Can Daddy come too?” he asked, excitedly, and the Doctor spread his arms. “Why not? Chasing flying lizards ought to stop him being bored.”
The boy laughed and ran off. “Daddy! Daddy! Guess where we’re going?”
Jack looked at the Doctor and raised a quizzical eyebrow.
“Weeeeell...” the Doctor smiled, carefully checking the settings, and adjusting a few. “What's the point of being a Timelord if you never travel in time?”
Part 5.
ETA: There is a short (standalone) FitB that (timewise) follows this part: A Christmas Carol for The Master.
(A/N: First,kathyh made a lovely picture of what the Tardis looked like after The Master messed around with it (minus the bow, obviously). Second, I know that pterodactyls are reptiles, not dinosaurs, and so does the Doctor. But 'chasing reptiles' didn't sound as good! *g*)
Previouslies here if anyone would like to catch up... Pretty please?
Setting: AU-post 'Sound of Drums'. (It's now 4 years later.)
Spoilers: End of S3 and also minor spoilers for Torchwood in this chapter.
Rating: PG.
Characters (in this part): The Doctor, Lucy, Jack, OCs.
Thank you's: To
kathyh for the look-through.Feedback: *begs*
Spring 2011
The headmistress looked from the Doctor, to Alexander, and finally settled on Lucy’s face.
“Well this is... quite incredible. I’m still somewhat shocked that Harold Saxon has a son.” She shook her head. “If he’s 4 now, he must have been born before the election, but that’s... I cannot recall you being pregnant, Mrs Saxon...”
Lucy swallowed nervously, and the Doctor leaned forward.
“It’s... a little complicated. Just take our word that he really is his father’s son.”
“Of course Mr Smith, but...” Mrs Netherton’s eyes drifted towards the boy again, and she frowned a little. “Actually - how much does he know about his father?”
“Oh we’ve not kept anything from him!” the Doctor replied immediately, thinking to himself that this would also have been impossible, the boy being what he was.
“My Daddy was an evil overlord!” Alex suddenly announced, with all the innate eagerness of his 4 years.
Lucy gasped. “Alexander!”
“But he was mummy! You were there too!”
Lucy swallowed, and sent the Doctor one of those looks that said: ‘You deal with him!’
The Doctor hated those looks - he always ended up as ‘The wicked step-dad’ when that happened.
“Alex...” he began, voice stern, but the boy knew what was coming and held his head high. “Daddy told me never to be ashamed of who I am!”
“Of course you shouldn’t be ashamed,” The Doctor replied carefully. “But that doesn’t mean you should boast.”
“Oh,” he answered, a little put out. “Sorry Uncle.”
“Hey, no worries, I just think you confused poor Mrs Netherton.”
He turned his head and smiled at the headmistress again.
“As you can see, it’s... a bit of a tricky situation, and were hoping to be able to keep his parentage as secret as possible. If the press found out about him we would never get a moment's peace. Which is what we want. Peace. So he can grow up like a normal child...”
Mrs Netherton nodded, and Lucy, eyes bright, took over.
“Of course that doesn't mean that he's ordinary at all. He’s incredibly gifted, you see - just like his father. Really remarkable, even compared to the sort of children you teach here. We did consider just letting him do a university course, but he really could do with friends his own age.”
Despite obviously being somewhat thrown by the oddness of the situation, Mrs Netherton was clearly thrilled to have someone this famous at the school.
“Well... we are the foremost school for gifted youngsters, and would certainly be proud to have young Alexander amongst our pupils. He would have to do the standard entrance test of course - a mere formality, I’m sure, but we do need the paperwork to be in order - and you can count on our discretion.”
Lucy smiled, pleased, and the Doctor allowed himself to relax somewhat.
Then the headmistress leaned forward, smiling.
“So tell me Alexander, what do you want to do when you grow up?”
Alex’s eyes lit up. “I want be a fireman, or a space adventurer, or the ruler of the world!”
Mrs Netherton’s eyes widened, and Lucy looked like she was going to faint. The Doctor dragged a hand through his hair.
“Alex, we've talked about this. The answer is still no, you can’t!”
Alexander lifted his chin defiantly. “But Daddy said I could! Daddy promised!”
“Yes, but that was a long time ago, and he's no longer in the position to make such promises, is he now?” He caught the boy’s eyes, and looked at him sternly. The Master had surprised him by following every rule to the letter, but sadly the Doctor had not been able to stop him filling the boy’s head with dangerous dreams... He had not foreseen the Master fighting over the boy through the boy, and there was nothing he, the Doctor, could do. The child was still too young to understand the darkness of his father's actions, and not for all the world did the Doctor want to ruin his innocence.
Alex didn’t give up easily and kept arguing his case. “But I'd be really nice! I don't like burning things - I'd look after everyone.”
The Doctor shook his head. Time to lay down the law. “You can't. Humans need to look after themselves.” Even as the words came past his lips, he felt ready to bang his head against a wall, because he could almost hear all the questions welling up in the headmistress who was studying them, eyes narrowing. Alex however was now sulking.
“Daddy said I could rule the whole universe! And we’d have a castle! You’re not fair!”
Lucy appeared to have regained her composure, and carefully asked, “When did Daddy say that?”
“The day I was born.”
She stared at him, and the Doctor saw the familiar look of awe come over her face again. It was obvious that her son was now the centre of her world, the way her husband had once been, and the Doctor worried what effect such single-minded devotion would have on the child in the longer term. But there was not much he could do...
He sighed again.
“You know what he is, Lucy. And Alex - what is your father?”
Alexander pulled a face, then answered resignedly. “Daddy is an evil psychotic megalomaniac.”
The Doctor nodded. “Good boy. Never forget that, OK?” He looked up and smiled widely at the lady in front of him. “Dear Mrs Netherton. Why don’t you find that test, and while the boy is busy we have a little talk?”
She nodded eagerly, and the Doctor stretched, trying to get the tension out of his limbs. He didn’t like mind wipes, but what other option was there?
Knowing that the Master would laugh his head off when he heard about his slip wasn't exactly cheering, and the Doctor wondered yet again what had happened to his life. Responsibility had never really been his thing...
Oh he could save the world, easily, could cope in the most heated of situations, but this day-to-day stuff, juggling all these people and trying to raise a child without letting his parents ruin him was incredibly difficult and frustrating - as was constantly having to hold him back. Growing up in a world not his own was fraught with compromise, but hopefully having peers his own age would be good for him.
Mrs Netherton got up and held out her hand. “Well Alexander, are you going to come with me and do a little test?”
Alex got up and happily took her hand.
“Does it have astrophysics? I love astrophysics!”
Mrs Netherton chuckled. “So you like astronomy, is that right?”
Alex nodded eagerly. “My uncle has promised to show me a black hole on Saturday if I’m good! Our people invented them!”
Lucy paled for a moment, but as soon as the door closed she turned to the Doctor and pointedly said, "Well you're obviously going to have to sort that out!" - as if the situation was all the Doctor's fault and didn't have her husband's fingerprints all over it.
He glared back silently, yet again thinking to himself that the Paradox Machine might have been the Master's masterpiece, but that in his opinion Lucy came a close second. Times like these he often felt like asking her if she honestly thought her husband would still be so devoted if it wasn't for their child - he knew the Master to be notoriously careless with his toys, and he felt sure that Lucy would have gone the same way as all the rest if things had been different. But he didn't say that, because that would mean lowering himself to their level, and that was the one thing he couldn't do.
And things were bound to be easier once Alex started school. He'd get away from his parents' influence, would be able to see what normal families were like and hopefully get some real friends - the children here ought not to think his soaring intelligence something strange...
Like that time at the local toddler group, when - after being asked if he 'could draw a pretty picture?' - had proceeded to write down pi to a thousand decimal points 'because pi was the prettiest number he knew'; not understanding why all the mums were looking at him so oddly... he'd used human numbers after all.
No, in this instance the Doctor just needed to have a long talk with him before he started, and everything would be fine. It had to.
Sometimes he felt that it was a crazy idea, enrolling a Timelord in a human school, but he was willing to do anything he could to make sure that Alex's childhood wasn't a lonely one.
Autumn 2011
“Here he is!” Jack announced, closing the TARDIS door behind him as Alex happily ran around the rotor and climbed onto the old seat, before beginning to type something into the TARDIS screen.
“Thank you!” the Doctor umphed, being stuck somewhere underneath the console, wrapped up in wires. “Could you find my screwdriver? It rolled away and I can’t see it.”
Jack swiftly located it, and, as he handed it over, tried to squint at all the cables. “Does this have something to do with the TARDIS looking like it was dipped in gold?”
After some buzzing the Doctor stuck his head up “Yes. Can you go check what it looks like now?”
Jack took a few steps out the door, and the box was nicely blue again.
“Yep! Back to normal,” he reported as he came back inside. “Gonna tell me what happened?”
The Doctor uncurled himself unto the floor.
“The Master. He was bored and decided to fix the chameleon circuit. I told him it was probably useless and that I like it looking the way it does, but he had to mess around until he did something.”
He replaced the grates and looked up. “Thank you lots much for picking him up, but I couldn’t travel looking like a Fabergé egg. And Lucy insists I pick him up whenever I'm here - something about the traffic...”
”You know she's got a point - I think it would have been quicker to walk. Although Alex likes my car, don’t you little fella?”
“I want a car just the same when I get big enough to drive! And pleeeeeeeease Uncle Jack can I come Weevil hunting with you soon?”
“No!” Jack replied immediately. “Much too dangerous for little boys - even if they are as smart as you.”
Alex sighed audibly, tapped a few more keys, then looked up. “Uncle, what do I do next?”
The Doctor walked around the console and studied the screen. “Well you can do the Millennium Falcon now if you like. Try to work out what modifications Han made to the hyperdrive - you've got a couple of hours before you have to be home.”
“Wicked!” Alex grinned, and started typing avidly.
“He’s playing Star Wars games?” Jack asked, amused, and the Doctor shook his head, smiling. “Oh no, it’s his homework. Not his school homework, the stuff that I set up for him. These last few weeks he’s been working on calibrating how the spacecraft in Star Wars propel themselves. He’s come up with some very inventive ideas.”
“O-kay” Jack replied, then suddenly remembered what the teacher had told him. “And by the way - Miss Rimmauld took me aside, saying what a wonderful calming influence Alex is. They’d been a bit worried, what with talented kids often being bitchy and competitive, but apparently there’s hardly a single argument when he’s around.”
He smiled happily, being very fond of the boy, but the Doctor frowned, then pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, before leaning against one of the supports, the green lights suddenly making him look very tired.
“Just what I need... and here I was, thinking that just making sure he didn’t let slip that he wasn’t human would be enough...”
He briefly closed his eyes, and Jack shook his head. “I’m sorry - but was that supposed to make sense?”
The Doctor sighed. “Never thought about the fact that he might use any of his powers...”
Seeing that Jack was obviously still confused, he added, “He’s making them behave. Probably because I told him not to get into trouble...” Shooting the engrossed boy a glance, he smiled wryly. “At least his dad will be pleased.”
Jack suddenly got it. “You mean he’s hypnotising them?” He stared at Alex, the young boy’s brow furrowed in concentration.
“Oh no,” the Doctor replied, waving away the accusation, “it's more like he's leaning on them mentally - subconscious suggestion might be the best description. It’s child’s play - literally. He probably doesn’t even realise that he’s doing it.”
“So... it’s a Timelord thing,” Jack established.
The Doctor nodded. "You could say that. I've training him mentally, obviously, but this never occurred to me. It's been so long since-"
He cut himself off abruptly, eyes fixed on the blond child who was now biting his lip and tilting his head; clearly thinking hard about what he was doing.
Taking a deep breath the Doctor slowly peeled away from the beam he was leaning on, obviously unwilling to discuss whatever memories had come back to haunt him. “Think I’ll save that talk for later, I’m tired of being the no-fun-parent. And I meant to ask you, have you heard from Martha recently?”
“Oh yes - she came down to visit a couple of months ago, bringing her fella with her. Think that might be getting quite serious by the way - he took the Torchwood tour rather well and she didn’t ask for any retcon!”
Alex suddenly looked up from his work. “Uncle?”
“Yes Alex?”
“PleasecanIbringMyfanwyforShowAndTellonFridayJacksaidIcould!”
The Doctor looked puzzled, and Jack smiled apologetically.
“The pterodactyl. It’s called Myfanwy. I said he was allowed if you agreed - I mean it’s not like the world is unaware of aliens and things. It's kinda big though...”
There was a pause as Jack and Alex waited for the Doctor’s verdict. Slowly he shook his head. “I... don’t think it’d be a good idea...”
Jack shrugged, and Alex’s face fell. The Doctor looked from one to the other, and suddenly the familiar devil-may-care smile lit up his features.
“But... if you like, we could go try to catch a pterodactyl to keep as your own pet... would you like that? Just a little one that'd fit in the TARDIS.”
Alexander’s eyes grew to the size of saucers. “Really? Really truly?”
“Yeah, why not? They’re easy enough to look after, aren’t they?”
He looked at Jack for confirmation, and Jack grinned back. “Never had any problems. Eats anything.”
“Okay!” The Doctor said happily. “Alex - if you can remember in what period you find Pteranodon, you can set the TARDIS controls...”
Alex’s squealed with joy and after some intense thinking started typing, then jumped off the seat and started pulling levers.
“Can Daddy come too?” he asked, excitedly, and the Doctor spread his arms. “Why not? Chasing flying lizards ought to stop him being bored.”
The boy laughed and ran off. “Daddy! Daddy! Guess where we’re going?”
Jack looked at the Doctor and raised a quizzical eyebrow.
“Weeeeell...” the Doctor smiled, carefully checking the settings, and adjusting a few. “What's the point of being a Timelord if you never travel in time?”
Part 5.
ETA: There is a short (standalone) FitB that (timewise) follows this part: A Christmas Carol for The Master.
(A/N: First,
kathyh made a lovely picture of what the Tardis looked like after The Master messed around with it (minus the bow, obviously). Second, I know that pterodactyls are reptiles, not dinosaurs, and so does the Doctor. But 'chasing reptiles' didn't sound as good! *g*)