FIC: The Foreseen Wife (3/8)
Title: The Foreseen Wife
Rating: T (with a DVD extra rated MA)
Author: tkel_paris
Summary: In a world where Gallifrey survived the Time War, the Doctor must remarry. Only his wife will bear many responsibilities for helping rebuild and protect time. Not sure where to start, he gives Sarah Jane the power to choose. How will she pick? Written for bas_math_girl's birthday.
Required Disclaimer: This is a humorous twist on several ideas I've seen, built around one I thought of. So I don't own the characters within.
Dedications: BMG, of course! And... I suppose Juno_Inferno because of “Cosmic Love”, which fed a little into Muse's thinking about this story. And my beta for this work: tardis_mole. You really know how to make a girl feel better about what she thought was crack-fic. :D
Author's Note: Utter silliness that would NEVER have been canon. Written solely to amuse BMG. And hopefully my other readers. It clearly entertained TM, who apparently had a late breakfast because it was “compelling”. I don't encourage anyone to skip or have late meals, even if the effort is to my benefit. But I owe you one, TM. Thank you.
BTW, if anyone is a fan of Rose or River... I'm begging you, turn away now. Let's just say that two different Houses of Gallifrey have beefs with them in here. Remember: these are a people who can be ruthless in retribution.
Also, the Doctor's parents are played by Claire Bloom (the Woman from The End of Time) and Darek Jacobi, only a foot taller. Just FYI. :)
Chapter One / Chapter Two
The Foreseen Wife
Started July 23, 2013
Chapter Three: Eliminating the Two Rs
Chapter Finished September 5, 2013
Sarah Jane plopped the papers in her hands down, and dropped her head into her hands. She slumped against her temporary desk in evident exhaustion.
“Rough day?”
The sound of an American accent in the middle of London's UNIT headquarters should have been unusual, but it wasn't. It'd been a presence over the past week, and utterly vital to her sanity in its practicality. Not to mention the irreverence that made him seem like the American he sounded like. The flirting wasn't bad, either. Made her almost feel young again. She looked up, dropping her hands to the desk. “Why did I decide to listen to Mr. Smith?”
Jack Harkness sat down across from her, smiling kindly. Flirting was not what she needed at the moment. Just a friendly voice of reason. “Because he said it was the most efficient idea.”
His presence had at first caused a problem. UNIT, the organization the Doctor had been helping when Sarah Jane first met him, did not get along with Torchwood, the one Jack had joined after ending up on Earth after being left behind at the Game Station. But Jack's loyalty to the Doctor had resulted in him needing a little help to take over the remaining Torchwood branches, as he only had control over Cardiff at Christmas. All for the Doctor's safety on Earth.
He and UNIT had actually been discussing the aftermath of the success in overthrowing the leadership of the London branch, which needed doing as it was the most anti-Doctor branch to begin with and the one who nearly fired on the Sycorax ship, when Sarah Jane came in with her odd request. She needed office space to conduct interviews, and it couldn't be at her house. She needed somewhere that could conduct the medical tests she was sure were needed. And she would need computers and additional help sifting through the applicants.
She'd had no idea how much help she needed. Including drafting the actual ad.
Jack had volunteered part of his Torchwood, since they had possession of some Time Lord technology that would be ideal for the medical scanning, and he even loaned Dr. Owen Harper from his branch. UNIT had bristled, but Jack agreed that UNIT was responsible for the additional personnel and security. Even the final advertisement was drafted by UNIT.
“What if the kind of woman I'm looking for wouldn't respond to that message?”
“Maybe it's less the message itself and more the people it draws to UNIT that's the point.”
“And that's bad enough. We've had well over a million submissions already. We deliberately omitted some of the requirements, like the police do when they release information to the public to make sure they can verify any sources that come forward. We're having to eliminate ones who don't fit those, and the ones who applied despite not fitting the listed requirements. Even worse, the press got wind of it. The poor UNIT operators are working around the clock now, and must be cursing my name. And yet no one's figured out the directions yet, which is a mixed blessing. I used to think that the Christmas mess was good for convincing the world that aliens existed, especially since the Time Lords ended up sending the Sycorax away. Now...”
Jack shrugged. “I'll tell you one group who's happy about this: the Royal Family. Apparently Princes William and Harry are feeling a little relieved not to have the press so interested in them right now. Which means they can relax and go about their lives.”
She wanly smiled. “Good to know that it's benefiting someone. I should be out exploring unusual things happening, not stuck wading through office work to choose a wife for the man I should have married.”
His face fell. “He owes you for this, doesn't he?”
“I don't know what I'm going to demand of him. You don't do that to the Doctor. And yet I need to be compensated for doing this.”
“Yeah, well, he still owes me for leaving me behind. And for-”
The door opened, and Ross, one of the UNIT soldiers assigned to her, came in rather flustered. “I beg your pardon, ma'am, but there's a woman who just walked in and claimed to already be the Doctor's wife.”
Jack's head whipped around. “Can't be. He'd know if his wife survived the War. Never mind that he couldn't marry the woman we're supposed to find. But his last wife died during the War. He's positive saw her body.”
Ross tried to maintain a soldier's appearance, but his face was in shock. “Well, she's arguing with Colonel Mace and the Brigadier.”
Jack's eyes widened appreciatively. “She's got guts.”
Sarah Jane groaned. “Jack, please take care of that. Take her to Gallifrey's High Council if she's unreasonable. I promised to stay here until I find success.” She didn't add that she would likely watch on the security camera, just for the break. She suspected that Jack had guessed that anyway, given her record on snooping. But dealing with someone who made claims as serious as this one was too much for her right now.
He nodded and walked out, bold as brass. Surprise was the best defense. Ross followed, waving a few additional soldiers to accompany them.
He emerged in the waiting area to find a woman with curly blond hair and looking well above the upper age range they had - although Jack knew that was not necessarily certain. She was locked in a clash of words with two UNIT officials, including Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Her black clothes made Jack think of a burglar. But her scent made his nose flinch. Decaying time, with a particular tinge. He didn't know her, but he knew what she was.
Colonel Mace, already unhappy about being forced to monitor the building, was nearly apoplectic. “I don't know who you think you are, but we have specific instructions and you do not fit them at all.”
The door opened, letting in a woman with bright ginger hair who entered calmly even as she hesitated upon overhearing the Colonel's words. But a young blonde blur pushed her way past her - a blur Jack's nose didn't want to meet again. Also decaying time, but it also made his insides cringe from memory. Didn't matter that he hadn't been in the same room with her when she burned him. He sensed the smell anyway.
The curly older blonde narrowed her eyes. “Oh for heaven's sake, this is unnecessary. I am the Doctor's wife.”
“You what?!” Rose shouted, getting into her face. “You can't be. He would've said. And you're too old for him! And what's this whole 'searching for a wife' thing my mum found out about on the news last night?! It's unnecessary!”
“Very few beings would be too old for an alien who claims to be 900 years old,” the woman retorted, looking at Rose like she was gum on the bottom of her shoe.
Rose didn't take the bait. “Well, never mind that! I was here first! I saved the Doctor's life more than once, and if anyone's going to be his wife it's me!”
The older blonde laughed. “You?! You, who killed one of his regenerations? Who brought Reapers onto Earth? Who destroyed where he would've tried to save? You have no basis to be a soldier, let alone wife to the most important man in the universe.”
Jack's eyes widened. This woman knew who Rose was and what she did? That put her from the future, which added a dangerous element to the situation. And potentially fatal to the Doctor and Gallifrey, as well.
“Oi!” the ginger sharply interrupted. “Ladies, in case you haven't noticed this is a centre dedicated to protecting Earth. Would you please take your disagreement outside, without attracting attention? And really, I don't know what it says about the two of you, fighting over the same man when one of you looks young enough to be the other's daughter.”
Jack nearly smiled. Three way bitch fight and he didn't have popcorn.
Rose snapped, not letting her continue. “Keep out of this, ginger cow!”
“Child!” exclaimed the Brigadier. “You have no place in this at all.”
“What do you know, you old-”
“Enough!” roared Jack. He waved two burly soldiers to follow him until he stopped right in front of Rose. “You keep your mouth shut, Rose. This has nothing to do with you at all. And you just insulted an old friend of the Doctor's, someone close enough to be called brother!”
She gaped at him. No one ever told her to shut up. And the Doctor knew yet another person from before he met her?!
Ignoring the surprise on the Colonel's face and the lack thereof on the Brigadier's, Jack turned to face the other combatants, and decided to handle the blonde since the ginger seemed to be the only reasonable one. Bracing himself to touch her, he flashed his most charming smile. “And you are?”
The woman smiled widely and flirtatiously as she held out her hand in response to his. “Dr. River Song, archaeologist.”
Her manners were enough to make his smile drop. “Now why would the Doctor be married to someone whose profession he openly laughs and points at?”
River didn't lose the smile. “Oh, you wish you knew.”
“I don't think I need to. I don't trust you because of how you smell, that you can flirt so easily gives lie to the idea that you're his wife, and I think I can see proof that you can't be trusted.” He ripped something off her left wrist, using his grip on her right hand to keep her from reaching for it even as she tried to get it back. His eyes turned cold. “Ooh, I recognize this Vortex Manipulator. You stole it off a Time Agent's body!”
“He was already dead when I took it.”
“He had to be for you to steal it,” he growled. “Now I really don't trust you. These claims need to be settled by the Gallifreyan High Council.”
The soldiers each grabbed one of the blondes from behind, making them both shout in protest. The soldiers managed to each grab Jack's left wrist, and he pressed a button on it. The five winked out of existence as far as the room was concerned.
Donna gasped. “Where'd they go? Did he say they were going to the 'Gallifreyan High Council'?”
The Brigadier took a deep breath, grateful the event was over. “I do not know what they will do, but I doubt either of those... women... will like it.” He turned to her more fully. “Now, then, who might you be?”
Jack and the others winked into existence in the High Council Room, startling them all. Only Jack and River seemed hardly affected by the method of traveling.
Andred, in charge at that moment, stood. “What is the meaning of this?! One of the males smells of cloning and a wrongful fixed point, the two females of decaying time!”
“Decaying time?!” Rose screamed.
River, who had shaken off her guard, stopped still. “That is not my fault!” she shouted at the same moment.
“Silence, Neverweres!”
At his words, the Gallifreyan guards swarmed them, two each grabbing Rose and River and a third each covering their mouths with gloved hands, shoving the UNIT soldiers aside - with considerably more respect than the blondes received. The soldiers' relief was evident, and they clearly thanked god for Jack's presence.
Jack held up his hands. “Forgive me for intruding, but I must address the High Council as a former companion of the Doctor and someone wronged by one of these females. They have been hindering the efforts of Sarah Jane Smith and her assistants in finding the Doctor his prophesied wife.”
Andred looked on him with widening eyes. “I do not know who you are, but I can sense kinship in your timeline. Name yourself.”
Standing straighter as he began to sense it too, Jack took a deep breath before he lowered his hands and admitted things he had not spoken aloud in years. “I go by the name Jack Harkness, a Captain in command of one of the Torchwood posts in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, on Earth, but my real name is Jaxon Harken Nexus Tempus of Boe-Shane.”
Andred slowly walked over as the Council began to speak energetically amongst themselves. “You are one of my son Sole's descendants.” Named after Leela's father. He had been sent away to help found Boe-Shane as the War raged.
“Grandfather,” Jack added quietly with a bow in respect.
Andred touched his shoulder. “Child. What happened to the colony? We have no records or traces after the Time War began.”
“Our ship was damaged, and many lives were lost. Cloning and other artificial means were our only way to remain reproductively viable. We started the Time Agency in order to find any survivors from the War. Then we were attacked during the last part of the War, happening in the 51st century by Human reckoning. There are only about twenty of us left. It cost me my family at the time.”
More murmuring from the Council as Andred nodded solemnly. “Do you know where they all are?”
“No. But I do have a half-Human daughter on Earth. And she has a son by a Human man.”
More murmuring came from the Council. That news meant they had hope. As much as they detested cloning, the Boe-Kind were fertile. There might be a key to beating the Curse for good.
“Then we must locate the missing, for they all are to be considered descendants of Gallifrey.” Andred raised his voice to a command. “Let it be known that Jaxon Harken Nexus Tempus of Boe-Shane and his descendants are of the House of Red Loom.”
One female member spoke: Carismoranadurindar, the sole Shobogan on the High Council due to her status as Keeper of The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Rasslion. “You would let someone who is somehow a fixed point - one that cannot naturally exist - be part of one of the remaining Houses?” Her voice was not accusing, but it was a reminder of the Time Lord vows to protect Time and Space.
Jack protested, even though he could tell she meant no insult, “That was not something I did. It was done to me. This younger girl, Rose Tyler of Earth, England's East London area, broke into a TARDIS and briefly carried the Vortex energy within her. I had died trying to stop a Dalek invasion, and she did more than bring me back to life. She left me unable to die.”
Heradvoratrelundar of Lungbarrow stood. “This is the girl who cost my son, the Doctor, a life because the Time Demon otherwise known as the Bad Wolf had to be stopped?”
Rose tried to scream, “I am not a Time Demon! I saved him! And who are you?!” But with her mouth covered, it was barely coherent.
“Silence!” the Doctor's father roared as he stood. “Neither of you have any right to speak, for you both smell of the most vile things to any Time Lord, especially any who survived the Last Great Time War!”
“This was not my fault!” River protested, also muffled.
Jack glared at her. “And you shut up! I haven't even named the greatest crime of yours that I know of.” He turned to the Council and showed them his left wrist. “This is a Vortex Manipulator, enabling travel through time and space. The Boe-Kind created them when we founded the Time Agency. Each Time Agent has a specific one made for them." He then showed the other. "This one belonged to John Hart, an old friend. He vanished without a trace before Boe-Shane was attacked. No one knew anything... until I saw it on River Song's wrist.”
The Council nearly erupted in anger.
Andred glared at River. “Desecration of a corpse. One of the worst crimes we know. There is no defence against this! You stole from one of my descendants!”
River tried to shake her head, but the guards didn't let her move.
“The twisted paths of Time work in mysterious ways.”
The Prophetess. The Council stood as one and all faced her as she entered. The guards stood a little straighter. Jack and the UNIT soldiers did not know who she was, only that she commanded respect from the Gallifreyans. Her eyes were fixed on the two females, even as she seemed to see past them.
“They have each persuaded themselves they are special because they know the Doctor,” she spoke. “Many have known him, and some have paid with their lives for knowing him. Nothing makes either of them special. These two have each cost countless lives because they did not think about the consequences, because they prevented the Doctor from thinking of the implications.”
Both Rose and River went still.
“The woman, a Neverwere through circumstances she could not have prevented, nonetheless answered the call of destruction and became a criminal. She thinks she is his wife, but the knowledge is a lie to keep the timelines in place.”
River blanched, the truth starting to sink in.
“John Hart was trying to stop her from taking a valuable artifact, and she killed him, taking his Manipulator. And he is not the only victim of her ruthlessness.”
The guards tightened their hold on River, making her cry.
“The girl stole the Vortex creature at the heart of the Doctor's TARDIS, used it to commit unlawful genocide, turning her into a Neverwere, and prevented the Doctor from sending for help. She denies to herself that he is anything other than a Human with a box for a spaceship. She would horde him for herself, to the detriment of all of Creation. The High Council must punish them both!”
Rose cried out, struggling anew against her captors. Not that she did anything other than injure herself.
Jack held up his hands. “Wait a moment, please. It seems to me that the person who should decide the punishments is not here. The Doctor, as the primary party wronged by both females, should be the final arbiter. Besides, is he not the Lord President and must sign off on punishments?”
The Council turned to face each other, silent to Human ears. But Jack could sense telepathic communication and kept his own blocked out of respect.
Andred turned to the Doctor's parents. “Heradvoratrelundar, Zeusinadtorabi?”
They grimaced, but nodded and closed their eyes. “We are summoning him and will inform him of our resolution.”
Moments later, the sound of ancient engines reached their ears and the air was kicked up by the TARDIS Jack, Rose, and River each knew appearing. Hera and Zeus turned and quickly stood before the doors.
The doors opened, and the Doctor emerged, stopping in the door-frame as soon as he saw his parents. There was a long moment of silence between them. Silence as far as the Human ear could hear. Jack had a sense that Hera in particular was informing her son of what had just happened. Again, he carefully held his manners in check and did not listen in.
At length, the Doctor exhaled heavily and stepped fully out of the TARDIS, hands in the pockets of his overcoat. Mickey Smith followed him slowly, eyes wide as he took in his surroundings.
Strolling toward the two females, the Doctor stopped before them. He looked first at River. “I do not know who you are, which means you are from my future. You have been saying things that I have no business knowing. If you knew me, you'd know that the number one rule of time travel is no spoilers from someone's personal future. The only person who can get away with it is a seer, which you are decidedly not. I sense you're dangerous, and I could never marry someone like you. Not even if my people lost their senses and tried to force me.”
River sank in her shoes.
“As for you, Rose Tyler, the only reason I didn't dump you the instant I'd restored the energy to the TARDIS was because I sensed our timelines could not yet part ways. We were always destined to go on different paths in the end. But now? You've gone so far beyond the pale that I can't justify it anymore. Time will have to be rewritten around the fixed points you were meant to inhabit.” He raised his voice as Andred had. “As Lord President, I put my consent to the punishment proposed for River Song.”
Andred nodded. “So be it.”
The guard covering her mouth stepped away as the other two dragged River to a machine with places to hold hands and head still.
“Wait, what are you doing? Please stop!” she cried.
But they were too quick for her to get anything else out. She was shoved into place, clamped down, and then one guard turned on the machine. It roared to life and a green glow shone into River's eyes. She screamed as golden wisps came out of her eyes and mouth, flowing into the machine. It lasted for over a minute, and then the last of the golden part disappeared and the machine turned itself off. River sagged in place, crying.
Jack's eyes were wide with horror. “She was able to regenerate!”
The Doctor nodded. “The particular event that created her gave her part of the abilities of a Time Lord. Part of her punishment is to be reduced to more like a regular human. The energy can be stored and perhaps cleansed for Time Lord medicine.”
Clamps were placed on River's wrists and ankles as she was pulled to her feet. No chains, but the image was evoked.
“She is now a prisoner of Gallifrey,” the Doctor explained to Jack, the UNIT soldiers, and Mickey.
Mickey had to speak. “What about Rose? That energy didn't give her that ability, did it?”
“No, and I thank the Eternals for that. But she must be prevented from using her talents for manipulation. I consent to the mildest punishment as it has a certain poetic justice.”
Andred spoke again. “The High Council recognises the right of Heradvoratrelundar of Lungbarrow to administer the punishment. Zeusinadtorabi?”
Zeus reached into a nearby cupboard and handed his wife a device that looked like a microphone. She walked to Rose Tyler, who was struggling anew, and waved the one guard's hand away from Rose's mouth.
“Doctor!”
It was the only thing Rose got out before Hera grabbed her head to hold it still and shoved the microphone doppleganger into her mouth. She activated it, letting out a sonic sound and a red glow coming from Rose's mouth.
Rose screamed in agony.
Mickey and Jack cringed, and covered their eyes. Even the Doctor looked away, closing his eyes.
Soon Rose's screams faded to nothing, drawing Jack and Mickey to look again, and then the microphone was removed and deactivated. Hera watched dispassionately as Rose clearly tried to demand, “What did you do to me?!” But no sound came out. Rose tried screaming, still nothing.
“My mother rendered you mute, Rose.”
She stared back and forth between the two in shock, unable to believe either part of the Doctor's words.
The Doctor looked back at her and shook his head sadly. “I tried to help you grow up, saw you as a child to possibly adopt. I saw potential in you to be something amazing. Instead you abused every lesson I tried to teach you, misunderstood my instructions, and caused wanton destruction just so you could be with someone you deliberately forgot was an alien. I'm sorry, but you had to be stopped. You and River are now prisoners of the High Council, to be sent to Shada, the prison of Gallifrey, and will never be freed unless they bid it. No amount of good behaviour will get you out of this punishment. Now get out of my sight. I may instruct that you both be present at my wedding, as an additional punishment.”
The clamps were similarly placed on Rose. But before she and River were led away Andred spoke. “I seek recompense for my family's loss. I ask leave to have both females as a servant in my House to pay their respective debts to my clan for the rest of their natural lives.”
The Doctor thought a moment before nodding. “Agreed.”
With that, the punished were led away.
Mickey rubbed his forehead. “What do I tell Jackie?”
The Doctor paled. “I'll deal with that. I owe her that much.” He looked to the Council. “Jackie Tyler will be permitted to see her daughter on a regular basis, which will be announced later.”
Jack cleared his throat. “My friends and I need to return. Grandfather, will I be permitted to see you again?”
“You may come to Gallifrey whenever you wish. Do leave a message telling us first. And bring your daughter and grandson.”
Smiling at the eagerness, Jack nodded. He waved to the UNIT soldiers, who knew to grasp his wrist again.
Donna held herself up high. “Donna Noble. I'm a secretary in need of employment. I’d apply for the Queen job, but given what I’ve seen of this place so far, I think I’d have my work cut out just being a recption-”
Jack and the two guards blinked back into existence. She jumped when they popped to.
“-ist... What the hell?! And what happened to the blondes?”
Jack let the soldiers have a moment to recover. “Vortex Manipulator. Takes you through time and space. Not as great as a TARDIS, like the Doctor has, but it does the job.” He cleared his throat. “I'm sorry you had to witness that. Rose Tyler and River Song had to be turned over to Gallifrey for crimes committed against time and the Doctor.” He managed a smile and offered his hand. “And what brought you here?”
Donna looked between the three men before her, and assessed that the Colonel and the Brigadier were the ones to speak directly to. Although she accepted the handshake. “Donna Noble. As I said, I'm a secretary in need of work, and I brought my CV in the hope that I can find someone who can direct me to fill out an application.”
“How did you find this place, Miss Noble?” asked Colonel Mace.
“Ah, that would be the press' fault,” the Brigadier. “The fuss over the ad placed seeking ladies to apply to be a Time Lord's wife has put UNIT on the map whether it's a good thing or not. I'll confess that I filled it out myself, but I'm realistic. This lady is more likely to get a job than get that part.”
Donna instantly saw fit to correct him on that, even if he was some old friend of someone important, or something. “No, actually I came as a response to the ad itself. The link gave me the address and here I am. And I didn't follow the map, because it leads straight into the River Thames at the end of the footpath at Canary Wharf Pier. Only an idiot would follow the map. I don't read newspapers and I can't stand the meddling Press. So I suppose I might as well ask, do you need a new Queen or not? 'Coz I'm sure the temping agency had a dozen other applications I can fill out and fail to get.”
Jack was instantly impressed. Feisty and managed to correct a man while respecting his age and office. That was no small feat. Never mind that she had figured out the instructions on how to get there were wrong. That had been the Brigadier's idea as a further test of the intelligence of the applicants. Sarah Jane, Jack, and UNIT - even the Brig - had started to wonder that day if that was a mistake.
“Ask her what reference number she was assigned,” hissed Sarah Jane's voice in Jack's ear, startling him.
He'd forgotten they were wearing earpieces, and that she might have moved to witness what was happening in the hall, via one of the monitoring cameras. Blinking, he immediately did.
Frowning, Donna checked her papers. “0746852.”
In the hall nearby, Sarah Jane was on a computer, checking the information attached to that number. “Tell her to wait a moment.”
That sounded urgent. And then there was the fact that Jack had felt his flirting instincts shut down when he looked at Donna. He could only think of two reasons: either she was already taken and wasn't telling them, or... his time senses were saying that she was meant for someone else. “Please wait a moment, Donna Noble,” Jack asked professionally. “We're collecting what you wrote about yourself as a cross-reference.”
“Well, I would've entered my CV there, but you don't have a spot for it,” Donna noted.
“Why?”
“Because it sounds more like a job than just being married off to some lonely alien, a politician by the title and of the ones I've met I'm expecting more of the same with this one.”
“Which means?” Jack asked guardedly.
“Stuffed shirt, big on himself, needs his ego burst every now and then, and probably a woman to pick up his socks every week, iron his shirts, tell him where he needs to be, get him there and rub his shoulders and call him pretty boy when he's done,” she listed airily.
Everyone's eyes were wide. Especially Jack and the Brigadier. They exchanged a look.
The Brigadier decided to speak. “I believe this Doctor would be offended if you called him that.”
“Oi. I'll call him whatever he acts like.”
Jack laughed. Oh, this one was special! Too bad he couldn't flirt with her, he liked her!
Suddenly, Sarah Jane ran into the front area. “Excuse me.” She held out her hand. “I'm Sarah Jane Smith. I'm in charge of finding the Doctor a wife. He's the alien in question in the advertisement.”
Donna frowned even as she accepted the handshake. “The same one those two were about to fight over?”
Sarah Jane winced. “Well, that wasn't really his fault. It's exactly the sort of thing he could have avoided if he'd had the kind of wife I'm hoping to find for him. Do you have time for an interview right now about the 'job', as you called it?”
Donna's eyes widened, but she nodded and followed the kindly older woman. She had a gentle voice, but the no nonsense character she had come to respect. No one had ever given her an interview on the spot. That raised the stakes and the intrigue. She still didn't believe in aliens, but the teleport and the odd-accented American were beginning to work on that bit. As for Sarah Jane Smith... she wondered why she wasn't up for the 'job'.
Chapter Four: Becoming Mrs. Smith
Rating: T (with a DVD extra rated MA)
Author: tkel_paris
Summary: In a world where Gallifrey survived the Time War, the Doctor must remarry. Only his wife will bear many responsibilities for helping rebuild and protect time. Not sure where to start, he gives Sarah Jane the power to choose. How will she pick? Written for bas_math_girl's birthday.
Required Disclaimer: This is a humorous twist on several ideas I've seen, built around one I thought of. So I don't own the characters within.
Dedications: BMG, of course! And... I suppose Juno_Inferno because of “Cosmic Love”, which fed a little into Muse's thinking about this story. And my beta for this work: tardis_mole. You really know how to make a girl feel better about what she thought was crack-fic. :D
Author's Note: Utter silliness that would NEVER have been canon. Written solely to amuse BMG. And hopefully my other readers. It clearly entertained TM, who apparently had a late breakfast because it was “compelling”. I don't encourage anyone to skip or have late meals, even if the effort is to my benefit. But I owe you one, TM. Thank you.
BTW, if anyone is a fan of Rose or River... I'm begging you, turn away now. Let's just say that two different Houses of Gallifrey have beefs with them in here. Remember: these are a people who can be ruthless in retribution.
Also, the Doctor's parents are played by Claire Bloom (the Woman from The End of Time) and Darek Jacobi, only a foot taller. Just FYI. :)
Chapter One / Chapter Two
The Foreseen Wife
Started July 23, 2013
Chapter Three: Eliminating the Two Rs
Chapter Finished September 5, 2013
Sarah Jane plopped the papers in her hands down, and dropped her head into her hands. She slumped against her temporary desk in evident exhaustion.
“Rough day?”
The sound of an American accent in the middle of London's UNIT headquarters should have been unusual, but it wasn't. It'd been a presence over the past week, and utterly vital to her sanity in its practicality. Not to mention the irreverence that made him seem like the American he sounded like. The flirting wasn't bad, either. Made her almost feel young again. She looked up, dropping her hands to the desk. “Why did I decide to listen to Mr. Smith?”
Jack Harkness sat down across from her, smiling kindly. Flirting was not what she needed at the moment. Just a friendly voice of reason. “Because he said it was the most efficient idea.”
His presence had at first caused a problem. UNIT, the organization the Doctor had been helping when Sarah Jane first met him, did not get along with Torchwood, the one Jack had joined after ending up on Earth after being left behind at the Game Station. But Jack's loyalty to the Doctor had resulted in him needing a little help to take over the remaining Torchwood branches, as he only had control over Cardiff at Christmas. All for the Doctor's safety on Earth.
He and UNIT had actually been discussing the aftermath of the success in overthrowing the leadership of the London branch, which needed doing as it was the most anti-Doctor branch to begin with and the one who nearly fired on the Sycorax ship, when Sarah Jane came in with her odd request. She needed office space to conduct interviews, and it couldn't be at her house. She needed somewhere that could conduct the medical tests she was sure were needed. And she would need computers and additional help sifting through the applicants.
She'd had no idea how much help she needed. Including drafting the actual ad.
Jack had volunteered part of his Torchwood, since they had possession of some Time Lord technology that would be ideal for the medical scanning, and he even loaned Dr. Owen Harper from his branch. UNIT had bristled, but Jack agreed that UNIT was responsible for the additional personnel and security. Even the final advertisement was drafted by UNIT.
“What if the kind of woman I'm looking for wouldn't respond to that message?”
“Maybe it's less the message itself and more the people it draws to UNIT that's the point.”
“And that's bad enough. We've had well over a million submissions already. We deliberately omitted some of the requirements, like the police do when they release information to the public to make sure they can verify any sources that come forward. We're having to eliminate ones who don't fit those, and the ones who applied despite not fitting the listed requirements. Even worse, the press got wind of it. The poor UNIT operators are working around the clock now, and must be cursing my name. And yet no one's figured out the directions yet, which is a mixed blessing. I used to think that the Christmas mess was good for convincing the world that aliens existed, especially since the Time Lords ended up sending the Sycorax away. Now...”
Jack shrugged. “I'll tell you one group who's happy about this: the Royal Family. Apparently Princes William and Harry are feeling a little relieved not to have the press so interested in them right now. Which means they can relax and go about their lives.”
She wanly smiled. “Good to know that it's benefiting someone. I should be out exploring unusual things happening, not stuck wading through office work to choose a wife for the man I should have married.”
His face fell. “He owes you for this, doesn't he?”
“I don't know what I'm going to demand of him. You don't do that to the Doctor. And yet I need to be compensated for doing this.”
“Yeah, well, he still owes me for leaving me behind. And for-”
The door opened, and Ross, one of the UNIT soldiers assigned to her, came in rather flustered. “I beg your pardon, ma'am, but there's a woman who just walked in and claimed to already be the Doctor's wife.”
Jack's head whipped around. “Can't be. He'd know if his wife survived the War. Never mind that he couldn't marry the woman we're supposed to find. But his last wife died during the War. He's positive saw her body.”
Ross tried to maintain a soldier's appearance, but his face was in shock. “Well, she's arguing with Colonel Mace and the Brigadier.”
Jack's eyes widened appreciatively. “She's got guts.”
Sarah Jane groaned. “Jack, please take care of that. Take her to Gallifrey's High Council if she's unreasonable. I promised to stay here until I find success.” She didn't add that she would likely watch on the security camera, just for the break. She suspected that Jack had guessed that anyway, given her record on snooping. But dealing with someone who made claims as serious as this one was too much for her right now.
He nodded and walked out, bold as brass. Surprise was the best defense. Ross followed, waving a few additional soldiers to accompany them.
He emerged in the waiting area to find a woman with curly blond hair and looking well above the upper age range they had - although Jack knew that was not necessarily certain. She was locked in a clash of words with two UNIT officials, including Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Her black clothes made Jack think of a burglar. But her scent made his nose flinch. Decaying time, with a particular tinge. He didn't know her, but he knew what she was.
Colonel Mace, already unhappy about being forced to monitor the building, was nearly apoplectic. “I don't know who you think you are, but we have specific instructions and you do not fit them at all.”
The door opened, letting in a woman with bright ginger hair who entered calmly even as she hesitated upon overhearing the Colonel's words. But a young blonde blur pushed her way past her - a blur Jack's nose didn't want to meet again. Also decaying time, but it also made his insides cringe from memory. Didn't matter that he hadn't been in the same room with her when she burned him. He sensed the smell anyway.
The curly older blonde narrowed her eyes. “Oh for heaven's sake, this is unnecessary. I am the Doctor's wife.”
“You what?!” Rose shouted, getting into her face. “You can't be. He would've said. And you're too old for him! And what's this whole 'searching for a wife' thing my mum found out about on the news last night?! It's unnecessary!”
“Very few beings would be too old for an alien who claims to be 900 years old,” the woman retorted, looking at Rose like she was gum on the bottom of her shoe.
Rose didn't take the bait. “Well, never mind that! I was here first! I saved the Doctor's life more than once, and if anyone's going to be his wife it's me!”
The older blonde laughed. “You?! You, who killed one of his regenerations? Who brought Reapers onto Earth? Who destroyed where he would've tried to save? You have no basis to be a soldier, let alone wife to the most important man in the universe.”
Jack's eyes widened. This woman knew who Rose was and what she did? That put her from the future, which added a dangerous element to the situation. And potentially fatal to the Doctor and Gallifrey, as well.
“Oi!” the ginger sharply interrupted. “Ladies, in case you haven't noticed this is a centre dedicated to protecting Earth. Would you please take your disagreement outside, without attracting attention? And really, I don't know what it says about the two of you, fighting over the same man when one of you looks young enough to be the other's daughter.”
Jack nearly smiled. Three way bitch fight and he didn't have popcorn.
Rose snapped, not letting her continue. “Keep out of this, ginger cow!”
“Child!” exclaimed the Brigadier. “You have no place in this at all.”
“What do you know, you old-”
“Enough!” roared Jack. He waved two burly soldiers to follow him until he stopped right in front of Rose. “You keep your mouth shut, Rose. This has nothing to do with you at all. And you just insulted an old friend of the Doctor's, someone close enough to be called brother!”
She gaped at him. No one ever told her to shut up. And the Doctor knew yet another person from before he met her?!
Ignoring the surprise on the Colonel's face and the lack thereof on the Brigadier's, Jack turned to face the other combatants, and decided to handle the blonde since the ginger seemed to be the only reasonable one. Bracing himself to touch her, he flashed his most charming smile. “And you are?”
The woman smiled widely and flirtatiously as she held out her hand in response to his. “Dr. River Song, archaeologist.”
Her manners were enough to make his smile drop. “Now why would the Doctor be married to someone whose profession he openly laughs and points at?”
River didn't lose the smile. “Oh, you wish you knew.”
“I don't think I need to. I don't trust you because of how you smell, that you can flirt so easily gives lie to the idea that you're his wife, and I think I can see proof that you can't be trusted.” He ripped something off her left wrist, using his grip on her right hand to keep her from reaching for it even as she tried to get it back. His eyes turned cold. “Ooh, I recognize this Vortex Manipulator. You stole it off a Time Agent's body!”
“He was already dead when I took it.”
“He had to be for you to steal it,” he growled. “Now I really don't trust you. These claims need to be settled by the Gallifreyan High Council.”
The soldiers each grabbed one of the blondes from behind, making them both shout in protest. The soldiers managed to each grab Jack's left wrist, and he pressed a button on it. The five winked out of existence as far as the room was concerned.
Donna gasped. “Where'd they go? Did he say they were going to the 'Gallifreyan High Council'?”
The Brigadier took a deep breath, grateful the event was over. “I do not know what they will do, but I doubt either of those... women... will like it.” He turned to her more fully. “Now, then, who might you be?”
Jack and the others winked into existence in the High Council Room, startling them all. Only Jack and River seemed hardly affected by the method of traveling.
Andred, in charge at that moment, stood. “What is the meaning of this?! One of the males smells of cloning and a wrongful fixed point, the two females of decaying time!”
“Decaying time?!” Rose screamed.
River, who had shaken off her guard, stopped still. “That is not my fault!” she shouted at the same moment.
“Silence, Neverweres!”
At his words, the Gallifreyan guards swarmed them, two each grabbing Rose and River and a third each covering their mouths with gloved hands, shoving the UNIT soldiers aside - with considerably more respect than the blondes received. The soldiers' relief was evident, and they clearly thanked god for Jack's presence.
Jack held up his hands. “Forgive me for intruding, but I must address the High Council as a former companion of the Doctor and someone wronged by one of these females. They have been hindering the efforts of Sarah Jane Smith and her assistants in finding the Doctor his prophesied wife.”
Andred looked on him with widening eyes. “I do not know who you are, but I can sense kinship in your timeline. Name yourself.”
Standing straighter as he began to sense it too, Jack took a deep breath before he lowered his hands and admitted things he had not spoken aloud in years. “I go by the name Jack Harkness, a Captain in command of one of the Torchwood posts in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, on Earth, but my real name is Jaxon Harken Nexus Tempus of Boe-Shane.”
Andred slowly walked over as the Council began to speak energetically amongst themselves. “You are one of my son Sole's descendants.” Named after Leela's father. He had been sent away to help found Boe-Shane as the War raged.
“Grandfather,” Jack added quietly with a bow in respect.
Andred touched his shoulder. “Child. What happened to the colony? We have no records or traces after the Time War began.”
“Our ship was damaged, and many lives were lost. Cloning and other artificial means were our only way to remain reproductively viable. We started the Time Agency in order to find any survivors from the War. Then we were attacked during the last part of the War, happening in the 51st century by Human reckoning. There are only about twenty of us left. It cost me my family at the time.”
More murmuring from the Council as Andred nodded solemnly. “Do you know where they all are?”
“No. But I do have a half-Human daughter on Earth. And she has a son by a Human man.”
More murmuring came from the Council. That news meant they had hope. As much as they detested cloning, the Boe-Kind were fertile. There might be a key to beating the Curse for good.
“Then we must locate the missing, for they all are to be considered descendants of Gallifrey.” Andred raised his voice to a command. “Let it be known that Jaxon Harken Nexus Tempus of Boe-Shane and his descendants are of the House of Red Loom.”
One female member spoke: Carismoranadurindar, the sole Shobogan on the High Council due to her status as Keeper of The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Rasslion. “You would let someone who is somehow a fixed point - one that cannot naturally exist - be part of one of the remaining Houses?” Her voice was not accusing, but it was a reminder of the Time Lord vows to protect Time and Space.
Jack protested, even though he could tell she meant no insult, “That was not something I did. It was done to me. This younger girl, Rose Tyler of Earth, England's East London area, broke into a TARDIS and briefly carried the Vortex energy within her. I had died trying to stop a Dalek invasion, and she did more than bring me back to life. She left me unable to die.”
Heradvoratrelundar of Lungbarrow stood. “This is the girl who cost my son, the Doctor, a life because the Time Demon otherwise known as the Bad Wolf had to be stopped?”
Rose tried to scream, “I am not a Time Demon! I saved him! And who are you?!” But with her mouth covered, it was barely coherent.
“Silence!” the Doctor's father roared as he stood. “Neither of you have any right to speak, for you both smell of the most vile things to any Time Lord, especially any who survived the Last Great Time War!”
“This was not my fault!” River protested, also muffled.
Jack glared at her. “And you shut up! I haven't even named the greatest crime of yours that I know of.” He turned to the Council and showed them his left wrist. “This is a Vortex Manipulator, enabling travel through time and space. The Boe-Kind created them when we founded the Time Agency. Each Time Agent has a specific one made for them." He then showed the other. "This one belonged to John Hart, an old friend. He vanished without a trace before Boe-Shane was attacked. No one knew anything... until I saw it on River Song's wrist.”
The Council nearly erupted in anger.
Andred glared at River. “Desecration of a corpse. One of the worst crimes we know. There is no defence against this! You stole from one of my descendants!”
River tried to shake her head, but the guards didn't let her move.
“The twisted paths of Time work in mysterious ways.”
The Prophetess. The Council stood as one and all faced her as she entered. The guards stood a little straighter. Jack and the UNIT soldiers did not know who she was, only that she commanded respect from the Gallifreyans. Her eyes were fixed on the two females, even as she seemed to see past them.
“They have each persuaded themselves they are special because they know the Doctor,” she spoke. “Many have known him, and some have paid with their lives for knowing him. Nothing makes either of them special. These two have each cost countless lives because they did not think about the consequences, because they prevented the Doctor from thinking of the implications.”
Both Rose and River went still.
“The woman, a Neverwere through circumstances she could not have prevented, nonetheless answered the call of destruction and became a criminal. She thinks she is his wife, but the knowledge is a lie to keep the timelines in place.”
River blanched, the truth starting to sink in.
“John Hart was trying to stop her from taking a valuable artifact, and she killed him, taking his Manipulator. And he is not the only victim of her ruthlessness.”
The guards tightened their hold on River, making her cry.
“The girl stole the Vortex creature at the heart of the Doctor's TARDIS, used it to commit unlawful genocide, turning her into a Neverwere, and prevented the Doctor from sending for help. She denies to herself that he is anything other than a Human with a box for a spaceship. She would horde him for herself, to the detriment of all of Creation. The High Council must punish them both!”
Rose cried out, struggling anew against her captors. Not that she did anything other than injure herself.
Jack held up his hands. “Wait a moment, please. It seems to me that the person who should decide the punishments is not here. The Doctor, as the primary party wronged by both females, should be the final arbiter. Besides, is he not the Lord President and must sign off on punishments?”
The Council turned to face each other, silent to Human ears. But Jack could sense telepathic communication and kept his own blocked out of respect.
Andred turned to the Doctor's parents. “Heradvoratrelundar, Zeusinadtorabi?”
They grimaced, but nodded and closed their eyes. “We are summoning him and will inform him of our resolution.”
Moments later, the sound of ancient engines reached their ears and the air was kicked up by the TARDIS Jack, Rose, and River each knew appearing. Hera and Zeus turned and quickly stood before the doors.
The doors opened, and the Doctor emerged, stopping in the door-frame as soon as he saw his parents. There was a long moment of silence between them. Silence as far as the Human ear could hear. Jack had a sense that Hera in particular was informing her son of what had just happened. Again, he carefully held his manners in check and did not listen in.
At length, the Doctor exhaled heavily and stepped fully out of the TARDIS, hands in the pockets of his overcoat. Mickey Smith followed him slowly, eyes wide as he took in his surroundings.
Strolling toward the two females, the Doctor stopped before them. He looked first at River. “I do not know who you are, which means you are from my future. You have been saying things that I have no business knowing. If you knew me, you'd know that the number one rule of time travel is no spoilers from someone's personal future. The only person who can get away with it is a seer, which you are decidedly not. I sense you're dangerous, and I could never marry someone like you. Not even if my people lost their senses and tried to force me.”
River sank in her shoes.
“As for you, Rose Tyler, the only reason I didn't dump you the instant I'd restored the energy to the TARDIS was because I sensed our timelines could not yet part ways. We were always destined to go on different paths in the end. But now? You've gone so far beyond the pale that I can't justify it anymore. Time will have to be rewritten around the fixed points you were meant to inhabit.” He raised his voice as Andred had. “As Lord President, I put my consent to the punishment proposed for River Song.”
Andred nodded. “So be it.”
The guard covering her mouth stepped away as the other two dragged River to a machine with places to hold hands and head still.
“Wait, what are you doing? Please stop!” she cried.
But they were too quick for her to get anything else out. She was shoved into place, clamped down, and then one guard turned on the machine. It roared to life and a green glow shone into River's eyes. She screamed as golden wisps came out of her eyes and mouth, flowing into the machine. It lasted for over a minute, and then the last of the golden part disappeared and the machine turned itself off. River sagged in place, crying.
Jack's eyes were wide with horror. “She was able to regenerate!”
The Doctor nodded. “The particular event that created her gave her part of the abilities of a Time Lord. Part of her punishment is to be reduced to more like a regular human. The energy can be stored and perhaps cleansed for Time Lord medicine.”
Clamps were placed on River's wrists and ankles as she was pulled to her feet. No chains, but the image was evoked.
“She is now a prisoner of Gallifrey,” the Doctor explained to Jack, the UNIT soldiers, and Mickey.
Mickey had to speak. “What about Rose? That energy didn't give her that ability, did it?”
“No, and I thank the Eternals for that. But she must be prevented from using her talents for manipulation. I consent to the mildest punishment as it has a certain poetic justice.”
Andred spoke again. “The High Council recognises the right of Heradvoratrelundar of Lungbarrow to administer the punishment. Zeusinadtorabi?”
Zeus reached into a nearby cupboard and handed his wife a device that looked like a microphone. She walked to Rose Tyler, who was struggling anew, and waved the one guard's hand away from Rose's mouth.
“Doctor!”
It was the only thing Rose got out before Hera grabbed her head to hold it still and shoved the microphone doppleganger into her mouth. She activated it, letting out a sonic sound and a red glow coming from Rose's mouth.
Rose screamed in agony.
Mickey and Jack cringed, and covered their eyes. Even the Doctor looked away, closing his eyes.
Soon Rose's screams faded to nothing, drawing Jack and Mickey to look again, and then the microphone was removed and deactivated. Hera watched dispassionately as Rose clearly tried to demand, “What did you do to me?!” But no sound came out. Rose tried screaming, still nothing.
“My mother rendered you mute, Rose.”
She stared back and forth between the two in shock, unable to believe either part of the Doctor's words.
The Doctor looked back at her and shook his head sadly. “I tried to help you grow up, saw you as a child to possibly adopt. I saw potential in you to be something amazing. Instead you abused every lesson I tried to teach you, misunderstood my instructions, and caused wanton destruction just so you could be with someone you deliberately forgot was an alien. I'm sorry, but you had to be stopped. You and River are now prisoners of the High Council, to be sent to Shada, the prison of Gallifrey, and will never be freed unless they bid it. No amount of good behaviour will get you out of this punishment. Now get out of my sight. I may instruct that you both be present at my wedding, as an additional punishment.”
The clamps were similarly placed on Rose. But before she and River were led away Andred spoke. “I seek recompense for my family's loss. I ask leave to have both females as a servant in my House to pay their respective debts to my clan for the rest of their natural lives.”
The Doctor thought a moment before nodding. “Agreed.”
With that, the punished were led away.
Mickey rubbed his forehead. “What do I tell Jackie?”
The Doctor paled. “I'll deal with that. I owe her that much.” He looked to the Council. “Jackie Tyler will be permitted to see her daughter on a regular basis, which will be announced later.”
Jack cleared his throat. “My friends and I need to return. Grandfather, will I be permitted to see you again?”
“You may come to Gallifrey whenever you wish. Do leave a message telling us first. And bring your daughter and grandson.”
Smiling at the eagerness, Jack nodded. He waved to the UNIT soldiers, who knew to grasp his wrist again.
Donna held herself up high. “Donna Noble. I'm a secretary in need of employment. I’d apply for the Queen job, but given what I’ve seen of this place so far, I think I’d have my work cut out just being a recption-”
Jack and the two guards blinked back into existence. She jumped when they popped to.
“-ist... What the hell?! And what happened to the blondes?”
Jack let the soldiers have a moment to recover. “Vortex Manipulator. Takes you through time and space. Not as great as a TARDIS, like the Doctor has, but it does the job.” He cleared his throat. “I'm sorry you had to witness that. Rose Tyler and River Song had to be turned over to Gallifrey for crimes committed against time and the Doctor.” He managed a smile and offered his hand. “And what brought you here?”
Donna looked between the three men before her, and assessed that the Colonel and the Brigadier were the ones to speak directly to. Although she accepted the handshake. “Donna Noble. As I said, I'm a secretary in need of work, and I brought my CV in the hope that I can find someone who can direct me to fill out an application.”
“How did you find this place, Miss Noble?” asked Colonel Mace.
“Ah, that would be the press' fault,” the Brigadier. “The fuss over the ad placed seeking ladies to apply to be a Time Lord's wife has put UNIT on the map whether it's a good thing or not. I'll confess that I filled it out myself, but I'm realistic. This lady is more likely to get a job than get that part.”
Donna instantly saw fit to correct him on that, even if he was some old friend of someone important, or something. “No, actually I came as a response to the ad itself. The link gave me the address and here I am. And I didn't follow the map, because it leads straight into the River Thames at the end of the footpath at Canary Wharf Pier. Only an idiot would follow the map. I don't read newspapers and I can't stand the meddling Press. So I suppose I might as well ask, do you need a new Queen or not? 'Coz I'm sure the temping agency had a dozen other applications I can fill out and fail to get.”
Jack was instantly impressed. Feisty and managed to correct a man while respecting his age and office. That was no small feat. Never mind that she had figured out the instructions on how to get there were wrong. That had been the Brigadier's idea as a further test of the intelligence of the applicants. Sarah Jane, Jack, and UNIT - even the Brig - had started to wonder that day if that was a mistake.
“Ask her what reference number she was assigned,” hissed Sarah Jane's voice in Jack's ear, startling him.
He'd forgotten they were wearing earpieces, and that she might have moved to witness what was happening in the hall, via one of the monitoring cameras. Blinking, he immediately did.
Frowning, Donna checked her papers. “0746852.”
In the hall nearby, Sarah Jane was on a computer, checking the information attached to that number. “Tell her to wait a moment.”
That sounded urgent. And then there was the fact that Jack had felt his flirting instincts shut down when he looked at Donna. He could only think of two reasons: either she was already taken and wasn't telling them, or... his time senses were saying that she was meant for someone else. “Please wait a moment, Donna Noble,” Jack asked professionally. “We're collecting what you wrote about yourself as a cross-reference.”
“Well, I would've entered my CV there, but you don't have a spot for it,” Donna noted.
“Why?”
“Because it sounds more like a job than just being married off to some lonely alien, a politician by the title and of the ones I've met I'm expecting more of the same with this one.”
“Which means?” Jack asked guardedly.
“Stuffed shirt, big on himself, needs his ego burst every now and then, and probably a woman to pick up his socks every week, iron his shirts, tell him where he needs to be, get him there and rub his shoulders and call him pretty boy when he's done,” she listed airily.
Everyone's eyes were wide. Especially Jack and the Brigadier. They exchanged a look.
The Brigadier decided to speak. “I believe this Doctor would be offended if you called him that.”
“Oi. I'll call him whatever he acts like.”
Jack laughed. Oh, this one was special! Too bad he couldn't flirt with her, he liked her!
Suddenly, Sarah Jane ran into the front area. “Excuse me.” She held out her hand. “I'm Sarah Jane Smith. I'm in charge of finding the Doctor a wife. He's the alien in question in the advertisement.”
Donna frowned even as she accepted the handshake. “The same one those two were about to fight over?”
Sarah Jane winced. “Well, that wasn't really his fault. It's exactly the sort of thing he could have avoided if he'd had the kind of wife I'm hoping to find for him. Do you have time for an interview right now about the 'job', as you called it?”
Donna's eyes widened, but she nodded and followed the kindly older woman. She had a gentle voice, but the no nonsense character she had come to respect. No one had ever given her an interview on the spot. That raised the stakes and the intrigue. She still didn't believe in aliens, but the teleport and the odd-accented American were beginning to work on that bit. As for Sarah Jane Smith... she wondered why she wasn't up for the 'job'.
Chapter Four: Becoming Mrs. Smith