FIC: Flipped, Book 2 (5/10)
Title: Flipped, Book 2
Rating: heavy T for most contents, but it earns an M for occasional scenes and subject matter
Author: tkel_paris
Summary: David Noble has the biggest challenge of his life ahead - taking care of the new Tenth Doctor. Of course, it's harder because his male friend who was in love with him is now a gorgeous ginger woman... who's caught his eye. Sequel to Flipped, Book 1. Written for tardis_mole.
Required Disclaimer: The summary should be enough to tell you I own nothing.
Dedications: My good friend tardis_mole, for helping me discover my talent at editing and for being an inspiration. You've challenged me to go beyond what I previously thought I would like, and so this is the farthest I've gone from my comfort zone so far. Who knows where I'll go next?
And another important shout-out: sykira, whose LJ post about John Barrowman's comments about how Doctor Who could eventually go was the ultimate spark for this idea. So I suppose that means the ultimate blame for this lies with the Barrowman. I can only imagine what he would think, although I suspect he would heartily approve. :P
Author's Note: Originally spawned from a different idea that split into three, this is a new version of one of those ideas revived as a birthday present. And it's spawned a slightly AU version as a future present. The original prompt from TM boiled down to this: “The Doctor and Donna in a situation that's never been done before.” Ask and ye shall receive, my friend. Enjoy the sequel. :D Happy Belated Birthday, TM! :DDD I really jope you like this. I finally had to start posting because the uncertainty of whether I did well enough was getting to me.
Oh, and if you haven't read Flipped, please go back and do so. As in right now. :)
Special Disclaimer: I refuse to be held responsible for any $2000/₤2000 lattes, spit-takes, fainting spells, workplace/school gaffes, or falling against/from things that might happen if you're not careful while reading this story. Especially in certain chapters. Read at your own risk. (I put this in because I was warned by one of my betas, cassikat, that my emails should come with a spit-take warning. So I'm looking out for y'all. ;D)
Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four
CHAPTER FIVE: AN AWKWARD REUNION
Mickey Smith pulled up to Dr. David's house. No other cars were there, so he assumed that there wouldn't be anyone else for while they had their bimonthly meeting about his future and what else he could do for Dr. David's computers. This had been in effect since they had met, and it was something he looked forward to every time.
Since Dr. David started traveling with the Doctor, the meetings sometime had to be over the phone instead. But the timing had always been honored, so he never took offense at it. Today Dr. David said he could meet in person, for the first time since early December - over four months ago.
He wondered if something was wrong with the Doctor, and the alien had been too proud to let any other humans see him. He supposed that could be expected, since who knew how aliens would react to a less technologically advanced species seeing them at less than peak condition.
So he was shown in, and greeted eagerly by Curie. That much hadn't changed. What did seem different was Dr. David's quiet, uneasy tone. With the door closed, Mickey had to ask. “What's going on? You almost seem nervous. What do you have to be nervous about?”
David almost vibrated from trying to keep still, like a high performance motor on idle. “Well... the Doctor's here.”
“Well, I half expected that. Where's the TARDIS?”
“In the back.”
“Is he okay? Is that why you haven't been able to see me in four months? Is he going to throw a fit because I'm here? He don't have to see me.”
David cleared his throat. “Um... well, the Doctor was unwell. All better now, I promise.”
Mickey narrowed his eyes. “So what's the problem?”
“Mickey!”
Both men startled. Mickey didn't recognise the woman's voice. She sounded like she was from West London, but that was as far as he could isolate her accent. The woman came into view. She was ginger, probably around Dr. David's age, and had what looked like considerable curves - all in a good way. She wore a blue dress with a thick brown belt over it, and trousers. Some of her hair was clipped back to keep out of her face, but her long locks flowed otherwise freely behind her head and her bangs helped frame her face. She seemed friendly, and she warmly greeted him with a handshake - which Mickey numbly permitted. “Well, how are you?! Haven't seen you since we had that little mess in Cardiff. Blon was sent back safely, in case you didn't know. She's got herself a new family by now, I bet. A second chance, which was good to give. Bit of a spot sneaking the egg into the hatchery, but I managed. Bilbo Baggins' reputation as a burglar has nothing on me!”
“Um... how do I know you?” Mickey looked at Dr. David, and noticed he had paled. “I don't remember you from that time. How can you know about what really happened in Cardiff?”
“Oh... Right.” She cleared her throat. “Oh, this is shaming. Well... I'm the Doctor.”
“No, you're not! The Doctor's a bloke a little shorter than Dr. David here, northern accent, big nose and ears, different eyes, and he wore submariner trousers and a jacket! How can you be the Doctor? He said he was the last of his kind!”
“And that's still true,” David quietly said.
“What?!”
David touched his shoulder and looked right in his eye. “I swear, Mickey, as hard as it is to believe, she's telling the truth. The Doctor you and I first met died and turned into her.”
Mickey thought his eyes were about to spring from his head. “You're joking!”
The Doctor, whose smile faded as soon as Mickey first expressed disbelief, sighed. “No, Mickey, I'm still the Doctor. I just have a different body now. If I hadn't been that alien you met in the chamber of the Nestene Consciousness, how would I know that you needed David's help to get back to your feet or that he was going to have his mum and gran introduce you to young ladies?”
Mickey blinked hard and rapidly. That wasn't something David would speak about, out of male solidarity. So... it was the first time something he never wanted to think about again turned into proof. “Oh my god! You... you can change?!”
“Well, I had no control over the process. Some time lords can to an extent. Maybe now that I'm female I might be able to control the process next time, but I'm not sure how much is unique to people originally born as females and how much can be learnt. After all, I'm the last of my kind, and I don't know how much information I could dig out of the TARDIS' database.”
David gently tugged Mickey into the kitchen. This was going to need a delicate touch, and Mickey would need some time to recover.
Mickey drank a lot of tea, and was plied with a sandwich. Only when he finished did he finally look back up at the Doctor, who had polished two sandwiches already and was working on a third. “How can you manage to eat that much?”
“Energy deficit. I... had to recover from something else recently.”
David flinched. That was one way of putting it... when talking about something a woman dealt with monthly.
It was only a few days into the New Year, or so it seemed. Time had blurred together since the female Doctor had been born, and David was shocked to realise that it had been nearly a month since Christmas. They had already had two adventures: New Earth and the Werewolf mess. Both had been on par with the prior adventures for danger levels, but the Doctor seemed to be hitting her stride as a woman taking command of events and people. So it seemed to be turning out well.
But a few days ago the Doctor had started acting strangely.
David had turned the telly on for background noise, which he sometimes found helped him with his work. The Doctor had been curious about the current events, and he'd banned her from watching over his shoulder so this had been a compromise.
It wasn't merely because the Doctor liked to interject comments. She was distracting enough as it was.
He had been working for about twenty minutes when suddenly she had started crying.
Hurrying back into the room, David saw something about a local animal centre was airing. He knew a number of people who could not stand to watch news about animals because the news tended to be not good for the animals shown, but seeing the Doctor react so strongly?
Worse, she couldn't understand why she was reacting so strongly. “This hasn't happened before! Not in any body! And I have always respected animals!”
Comforting and calming her had required turning off the telly and holding her in a hug for a long moment. He murmured to her, although he could not remember what he said. He also made her go to her room in the TARDIS to sleep, since he argued, “You never get enough sleep. Not as your last self, and not now. I won't see you relapse!”
She'd resisted until he resorted to outright pleading, even including puppy eyes. That last touch seemed to do the trick, but he didn't want to think about why.
The weird emotional moments - weird mostly because this was the Doctor - continued for a few days, but she had not had an episode since last night. He was about to take a deep breath of relief.
Then the Doctor screamed.
He ran to her bedroom. The Doctor screaming inside the TARDIS? Unheard of! Which made checking on her all the more urgent. “Doctor?!” he shouted as he burst into her room.
“Rassilon, what's wrong with me?!?!”
The screams were coming from the loo, so he burst in. He stumbled to a halt at the sight before him.
There was the Doctor, bent over the toilet with her trousers and pants to her ankles. She was staring at the junction between her legs, and from his angle David could see blood dripping from her. There was also blood on her pants that had probably leaked to the trousers.
She looked up at him in terror. “I need the Bekkram scanner! I've been injured, but I don't know how it happened!”
David closed his eyes and exhaled in relief as he hurried over to touch her shoulders in support. “You might not have been. Looks like Humans and Time Lords have one more thing in common.”
“What?! How can this be normal?!”
“It's called menstruation, Doctor. You're having cycles which are geared toward making a baby.”
She blinked at him in confusion, but the terror lessened. “But... my people have been sterile for practically a billion years.”
“Didn't you say that the Curse was lifted before the end? What happened then?”
“I... I don't know. I didn't ask any of the women. Never occurred to me. Probably wouldn't have even if things weren't starting to go pear-shaped.”
“Maybe they all started having periods again. Assuming there wasn't a rush to mate first.”
She paled. “I do know there was one. I'm not sure there was a woman of marriageable or reproductive age who wasn't already bonded.” She looked back at her blood-soaked pants, and then she looked up at him like he had all the answers in the universe. “You mean this could be normal?”
David went firmly into physician mode. “It might be. We'll need to see if there are any references to the original cycles of your species. Meanwhile, sit down and rest a moment.” He gently pushed her to settling on the seat, probably because she was in shock. He was prepared to use his medical expertise to command her compliance if need be. “Now, I'll go and locate a few clean rags we can use until I get hold of some feminine hygiene products. Might be able to get some through Nerys and Emily - they can get supplies for you without raising too much concern. I'd be talked about if I went and got them for you. And I'll find you a change of clothes.”
The Doctor calmed considerably. “Well, I guess I'll need some tampons, too. Oh, Rassilon, there's one more thing I never thought I'd say!”
He thought a moment, and then grimaced. “Maybe you should stick to pads this first time. Tampons might be a problem if you've never used them before. After all, you're... sticking something inside you when you're not used to anything being inside you. Besides, you might need to rest a lot. This is the first time for you.”
And he was right. Soon she was feeling cramp in her hips, and needing to lie down to not faint from the pain. “Oh, Rassilon!” she screamed. “Is this what women of all species go through?! I am never mocking anyone for complaining of monthly pain again! Could this be my penance for all the times I was unfeeling to someone?!”
David tried to reassure her that maybe it was just normal for a female Time Lord to deal with such things. And the shock of suddenly having this happen couldn't be helping her. They found from using the laptop that the TARDIS provided for him that all records of Gallifreyan mating and reproductive cycles had vanished some thousands of years after the Curse had come into being. The Doctor had groaned loudly, not entirely from pain. “Probably because the elders wanted to conceal how much magic was really involved in our past, since my ancestors exiled the Keepers of Magic.”
The story sounded interesting, but David had to push his curiosity aside to help his friend. He located additional supplies, since she apparently flowed harder than anyone else he had ever heard of. And it took Nerys and Emily over an hour to reach them with the boxes of pads he requested. They had the twins with them, and David decided to invite them inside the TARDIS since he was feeling out of his depth to help the Doctor with this mess.
Emily had taken one look at the Doctor's pained face and promptly sent David out of the room. “We'll sit with her for a while, help her change pads, and talk about what the normal range is for human women. I can be debilitated by menstruation for days, and I know my mother was the same way.”
So he spent a few hours showing off the TARDIS gardens to Josh and Ella, explaining anything and everything he could about the imported plants. What he didn't know, the TARDIS provided the answers through the laptop she had made for him. They adored the sights, and were happy to know that the only people who knew about it were his dad, gran and granddad. He supposed he would have to eventually show their mothers, no matter what the Doctor felt. Of course, if they helped her learn how to handle her symptoms, then he figured they would be shown more of the ship.
He doubted either would be willing to actually travel, though.
The Doctor did better after the visit, and even accepted a few cuddles from the twins before they and their mothers left. She seemed better, but only until the hot water bottles lost their heat and she had to change pads again - an act that was awkward since it hurt to bend over. So David took the step of sending the TARDIS into the Vortex. He hoped that no matter how long it took the Doctor to recover, the rest of the world would never have to know he was devoting all his time to helping his best friend.
It was a long several days. No pain medication seemed to help, and the hot water bottles only went so far. The only thing that worked as a distraction so she could rest they discovered by accident. He was putting the latest round of bloody pants and jim-jams and sheets into the laundry chute the TARDIS set up for them, blinking away his own exhaustion, when the Doctor let out a moan louder than he'd heard so far.
He hurried back over, and ran the scanner over her again. “1-10, how bad?”
“11,” she whimpered. “Dying has been less painful than this.”
Putting the scanner back on the nightstand, David ran a hand through his hair and rubbed his neck. With his other hand, he rubbed the Doctor's lower back - what he could reach that wasn't covered by one of the hot bottles - as he tried to think of something else. After a moment, he realised that something was different. “Doctor?”
“Yeah?” she whispered.
“You're breathing easier. And you're calmer when you're touched.”
She blinked, taking stock. “You're right. I hadn't noticed. Seems a supportive hand can create a psychological buffer against the pain.”
“I think there have been studies on the subject in humans. Um... I have an idea, which I'm mostly doing because I need sleep and I'm positive you do, too.”
“What?” She looked slightly baffled, but mostly ready to try anything.
He grabbed a pillow and placed it directly behind her hips, covering the hot water bottle. Then he took a second pillow and placed it near her head. He lay down behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist, taking one of hers hands in his.
She froze. “David?”
“The more contact, the better you handle the pain.”
He could hear her gulp. “It's a bit...”
“Different?” He knew she had other words on her tongue, but none of them would help either of them sleep. “Yes, but let's see if it works. Maybe we can each get a few hours before the next round of changing.”
She paused a long moment, thinking, before she sighed and gently squeezed his hand. “Okay.”
David shook himself out of the memory. It had worked, but the morning after had been a little embarrassing for him. One unfortunate reality of human males surprised them both, and he'd never been happier that the Doctor would gladly ignore certain things in the interest of getting on with the day. Although they quickly discovered one thing more effective: her spooning him. Seemed a warm bum resting against her front worked better than any heat source, with the added benefit of touch.
“Hope it wasn't anything bad,” Mickey commented.
The Doctor shook her head. “No, but you'd rather not know. Trust me.”
A glance at David's suddenly blushing face told Mickey that it was a wise move.
/=/=/=/
The Doctor enjoyed a good mystery, and Mickey Smith had found them a big one. A school suddenly performing so well that there had to be something wrong. If one curious human had noticed, why had the authorities not investigated?
Then again, the Doctor had little use for certain type of authority. School officials had been a problem even since Susan had been enrolled in Coal Hill, but it could have been worse - they could have landed in America, which was so far behind it should be no surprise that a sizable fraction of parents were choosing to educate at home instead.
With a good cover story crafted, the three had set out to launch their own investigation. They had parted ways to catch different perspectives on what might be going on. Mickey was sadly stuck serving lunch (which included chips that he thought tasted rancid and yet the kids loved them), David was too well known in the area to do more than his rounds of checking for possible medical innovations and to assess the school medical facilities, and the Doctor had to teach. David and Mickey had worried whether the Doctor could pass muster, and prayed their investigation didn't take too long.
The Doctor actually enjoyed teaching, even though she wondered about whether some of them paid more attention to her figure than to her lessons. Sometimes being a woman was a right pain. Although she always looked for information. It was walking through the halls that she ran into someone else investigating the school. “Oh, hello,” the woman said. She looked older than the human age range the Doctor could pass for now, but her features still shined with beauty that age had granted additional dignity to.
The Doctor was nearly silenced. This was a face she knew. Well, two previous selves knew. And while the human woman was thankfully not known at the school, but nothing but a mind-wipe could make the Doctor forget this face.
Sarah Jane Smith. Dearest Sarah Jane.
“And... who might you be?”
“Oh! I'm... Donna Smith.” It was the name that David came up with when he had pointed out she could not go by 'John Smith' anymore. She had discussed 'Jane Smith' and variations on the feminine of 'John', but neither David nor his friends had approved on Christmas Eve. She had thrown up her hands and let them choose a name.
It took David only seconds to come up with one. It was the name his father had selected for a girl, had one come along. She liked the sound of it, and so it stuck. Besides, she had thought it would probably make it easier for David's parents to see her next time.
That had been an unpleasant experience. Sylvia Noble had been worse than usual, but mostly kept to being coldly civil. It made the Doctor wonder if Mrs. Noble had lost a daughter and the name was a painful reminder. Although the rest of the family had accepted her, at varying speeds.
“And what do you do here?”
“I'm a teacher.”
“Ah, you do the most important work, then. And I like your name.”
“Well, I might have a common last name, but at least I got a good given name. Although my parents did consider a feminine version of 'John' since I was expected to be a boy. They had to think of a girl's name in a hurry. I had to have a name after all.”
It dawned on her that the babble was a bit like her fourth self.
Sarah Jane smiled wryly, like it brought back memories. “Oh, yes. Lucky you. Common names can belong to interesting people. I knew a 'John Smith' once. Many years ago.”
“Well, we both know it is a common name,” the Doctor said, knowing now was not the time to even hint at the truth. Sarah Jane had witnessed regeneration and might have noticed some behaviors in common, but would she believe that the bohemian she'd last seen had become a curvy ginger?
“He was an uncommon man.” And Sarah Jane left it at that. She was discrete, only giving enough personal information to establish common ground and to help someone warm up to her.
Their banter continued a moment before Sarah Jane went along, on the pretense that she was a reporter to bring the news of what the school had accomplished to a wider audience. Watching the former companion - who had been called an assistant then - go down the stairs, the Doctor wasn't sure how to ask David for advice. If she had turned into another male, then David would probably have given him ideas on how to act. But... since David knew about the Doctor's former great secret where he was concerned, she wasn't sure how to act.
/=/=/=/
So the Doctor waited in a corridor, smelling and sensing that Sarah Jane would be by shortly. She was glad that David's friend Mickey had told them about the school and come along. Thankfully without that blonde. How that meeting might've been handled, the Doctor didn't want to think about. That girl had had enough problems with aliens that they didn't need her reactions to a newly female Doctor. Never mind how she might have tried to distract David, getting underfoot and being a problem altogether.
But she trusted Mickey to keep quiet, mostly because David trusted him. And she had noticed that David was pretty much spot on with his instincts about people. Well, they were both fooled by the Gelth, so that did not count.
Finally, Sarah Jane Smith was walking by, and the Doctor took a deep breath. Here goes. “Hello, Sarah.”
Sarah Jane turned, blinking. “Miss Smith, I don't think you know me well enough to call me that. I might be old enough to be your mother.”
She walked closer, stopping a metre away as she laughed. “Actually I do know you. Or I did. Many, many years ago for me. Had a big scarf that you always wondered how I wouldn't get myself strangled by it. Before that there was a cape and Bessie, the yellow roadster.”
“But... those were men. You're...” Sarah Jane waved her hands, motioning at the obvious curves.
The Doctor shrugged uncomfortably, clearing her throat. “I know. The last regeneration was rough, and I had quite a bit of extra energy to burn. And you know how much of a shame my people considered the fact that we could. Imagine how we felt if we switched genders during one, which happened. Thought I was safe from it since it hadn't happened yet, but... Well, I did get to be ginger at least. Took me far too long.” She managed a big quirky grin, hoping that it looked enough like the men she'd known.
Sarah Jane looked at the woman before her. She spoke of things that only one man could know. But she'd seen so many incredible things with him - with both hims - that it couldn't be entirely impossible. Her eyes widened. “Doctor?”
Her smile widened in joy. “Hello. I've found you at last. The Time Lords took away the TARDIS' knowledge of where I dropped you off, and made it impossible for me to find you. Now I can. And you look almost exactly like you used to.”
The words made her shake her head, blinking rapidly. “I can't believe my eyes.”
There was an odd sound. It made the Doctor think of trouble.
Sarah Jane quirked a tiny grin through her shock. “Okay, perhaps now I can believe it. My ears, at least.”
“Come on, I have to get my companion and his friend out of trouble.” She led her along. “They're both good at avoiding it, but you know what kinds of trouble I attract no matter what.”
Moments later, the danger was passed, and introductions had to be made while they walked along. “Sarah Jane Smith, meet Mickey Smith, computer genius and a young man going places. And his friend and mentor, my companion and the best friend anyone could ask for, Dr. David Noble.”
David blinked. “Wait... Sarah Jane Smith? She's the same companion your people forced you to leave behind?”
“Yes.” The Doctor's voice was quiet, weighed down by the memories.
“My god, you look virtually the same as the pictures I've seen.” David had to beam as he shook her hand. “You know, it's hard to get this daft alien to talk about the past, but what's been said about you has been extraordinary. Did you really raise an army to rescue him soon after you'd met?”
“Well, he was my way home, and he did help me find my aunt. What else could I do? And he's spoken of me? Now and in his last body?”
“Well, I did have to work for much of the information. The Doctor talks all the time but hardly says anything. Were the ones you knew like that?”
Sarah Jane had to laugh, as shocked as she was even as they continued walking. “To varying extents. I travelled with two Doctors, but I saw three others in what they called time crashes.”
He laughed, delighted as he offered an arm to escort her along. “Oh, I want to know about those Doctors you knew and saw. What did they sound like? How did they act? Did any of them like jelly babies?”
Watching as the two walked ahead, Sarah Jane laughing at the enthusiasm shown and happy to answer the questions, the Doctor blinked. She hadn't been concerned about the two companions meeting, but David was all but acting like he'd met a hero of sorts.
Mickey looked at the Doctor. When he'd dropped by earlier, he'd expected to see the goofy-looking alien David had befriended. Instead, there was this rather lovely ginger wielding that screwdriver thingy that the Doctor had been so proud of. And even though he'd never laid eyes on her before, she knew him and knew things from that night with the living dummies. He'd nearly pissed himself as it sank in that the male alien had become a female alien. He'd made some comparison to a fish species that went from male to female, and the Doctor had reluctantly explained regeneration.
Now that he'd had a chance to let that sink in, he'd noticed all sorts of interesting things. The Doctor was especially interested in knowing where David was at all times. It seemed more than just someone who'd lost everything trying to keep their friends safe. He'd seen looks dropped David's way that suggested that the Doctor was harbouring feelings that went beyond friendship.
Which raised the question of whether those feelings existed when the Doctor was a man. There was something strange about that. Was it his own particular humanness talking, or was there something sort of... weird about it?
Still he had to ask. “Who was Sarah Jane to you, mate? You're looking like you're looking at your husband and your ex.”
The Doctor cleared her throat, but her voice wouldn't work.
“Well, I didn't know aliens could blush. Your face is trying to match your hair.”
She really couldn't speak after that.
/=/=/=/
Later, with the danger passed, the Scrolls condemned to remain unlocked, the Krillitanes stopped (oh, had Mr. Finch had things to say that made her uneasy!), and the school under the proper authorities, the Doctor stood at the sidelines of her TARDIS control room, Mickey Smith at her side. All she could do was stare in bewilderment. He on the other hand was highly amused.
Since meeting, David and Sarah Jane had traded story after story about their adventures. There was no trying to one-up the other, but genuine banter over the things they'd each seen. Sarah Jane was impressed that they met Charles Dickens, and David marveled that Sarah Jane had actually seen the Loch Ness Monster. He'd been positive that was just overactive imaginations at work.
“David, now that the Doctor's female... does she still stroke the TARDIS?”
“Yes!” He chortled. “So that's always been a habit? Good to know some things never change.”
“I thought I'd had difficult time adjusting to the new Doctor after the one I first met, but... I can't begin to imagine what it was like for you.”
David blushed suddenly. “Yeah.” He coughed. “Well, it wasn't easy explaining it to my family. I think my mother, who was never terribly keen on the Doctor to begin with, has become a bit frostier.”
“Oi! What about me?!” cried the Doctor, ignoring Mickey's contemplative look. “I spent years as a man, feeling lucky that I always came out of regenerations with a human-looking body! Now I have to wear a bra! And do you know how hard it is to find clothes with good pickets to begin with? I've had to have the TARDIS modify much of what I had to buy! And there's all the things that come with being female that I had no knowledge happened to Time Lords since all the information was lost! I've had to start using pads! And all those mood and hormone swings! How do you do it, Sarah?”
Sarah Jane tried very hard not to laugh. “Welcome to my world, Doctor.”
As uncomfortable as the Doctor was admitting to the truth, that was not quite the reaction she was going for. Still, there was more of a teasing nature to the retort. A 'now you know what it's like, Doctor' element. Perhaps it was a little payback for the times that the previous selves had failed to respect Sarah's own feminine difficulties.
Well, at least she now knew where to find Sarah, and had given her a new K-9. Small comfort given all the chances ripped from them. She wondered how long it would take David to figure out that something major had happened in the past, and gently pry for answers.
Rassilon knew how long she would be able to hold out. If he ever started using the puppy eyes on her when he asked, she did not know what she would do.
Chapter Six: French Royal Mistress Wisdom
Rating: heavy T for most contents, but it earns an M for occasional scenes and subject matter
Author: tkel_paris
Summary: David Noble has the biggest challenge of his life ahead - taking care of the new Tenth Doctor. Of course, it's harder because his male friend who was in love with him is now a gorgeous ginger woman... who's caught his eye. Sequel to Flipped, Book 1. Written for tardis_mole.
Required Disclaimer: The summary should be enough to tell you I own nothing.
Dedications: My good friend tardis_mole, for helping me discover my talent at editing and for being an inspiration. You've challenged me to go beyond what I previously thought I would like, and so this is the farthest I've gone from my comfort zone so far. Who knows where I'll go next?
And another important shout-out: sykira, whose LJ post about John Barrowman's comments about how Doctor Who could eventually go was the ultimate spark for this idea. So I suppose that means the ultimate blame for this lies with the Barrowman. I can only imagine what he would think, although I suspect he would heartily approve. :P
Author's Note: Originally spawned from a different idea that split into three, this is a new version of one of those ideas revived as a birthday present. And it's spawned a slightly AU version as a future present. The original prompt from TM boiled down to this: “The Doctor and Donna in a situation that's never been done before.” Ask and ye shall receive, my friend. Enjoy the sequel. :D Happy Belated Birthday, TM! :DDD I really jope you like this. I finally had to start posting because the uncertainty of whether I did well enough was getting to me.
Oh, and if you haven't read Flipped, please go back and do so. As in right now. :)
Special Disclaimer: I refuse to be held responsible for any $2000/₤2000 lattes, spit-takes, fainting spells, workplace/school gaffes, or falling against/from things that might happen if you're not careful while reading this story. Especially in certain chapters. Read at your own risk. (I put this in because I was warned by one of my betas, cassikat, that my emails should come with a spit-take warning. So I'm looking out for y'all. ;D)
Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four
CHAPTER FIVE: AN AWKWARD REUNION
Mickey Smith pulled up to Dr. David's house. No other cars were there, so he assumed that there wouldn't be anyone else for while they had their bimonthly meeting about his future and what else he could do for Dr. David's computers. This had been in effect since they had met, and it was something he looked forward to every time.
Since Dr. David started traveling with the Doctor, the meetings sometime had to be over the phone instead. But the timing had always been honored, so he never took offense at it. Today Dr. David said he could meet in person, for the first time since early December - over four months ago.
He wondered if something was wrong with the Doctor, and the alien had been too proud to let any other humans see him. He supposed that could be expected, since who knew how aliens would react to a less technologically advanced species seeing them at less than peak condition.
So he was shown in, and greeted eagerly by Curie. That much hadn't changed. What did seem different was Dr. David's quiet, uneasy tone. With the door closed, Mickey had to ask. “What's going on? You almost seem nervous. What do you have to be nervous about?”
David almost vibrated from trying to keep still, like a high performance motor on idle. “Well... the Doctor's here.”
“Well, I half expected that. Where's the TARDIS?”
“In the back.”
“Is he okay? Is that why you haven't been able to see me in four months? Is he going to throw a fit because I'm here? He don't have to see me.”
David cleared his throat. “Um... well, the Doctor was unwell. All better now, I promise.”
Mickey narrowed his eyes. “So what's the problem?”
“Mickey!”
Both men startled. Mickey didn't recognise the woman's voice. She sounded like she was from West London, but that was as far as he could isolate her accent. The woman came into view. She was ginger, probably around Dr. David's age, and had what looked like considerable curves - all in a good way. She wore a blue dress with a thick brown belt over it, and trousers. Some of her hair was clipped back to keep out of her face, but her long locks flowed otherwise freely behind her head and her bangs helped frame her face. She seemed friendly, and she warmly greeted him with a handshake - which Mickey numbly permitted. “Well, how are you?! Haven't seen you since we had that little mess in Cardiff. Blon was sent back safely, in case you didn't know. She's got herself a new family by now, I bet. A second chance, which was good to give. Bit of a spot sneaking the egg into the hatchery, but I managed. Bilbo Baggins' reputation as a burglar has nothing on me!”
“Um... how do I know you?” Mickey looked at Dr. David, and noticed he had paled. “I don't remember you from that time. How can you know about what really happened in Cardiff?”
“Oh... Right.” She cleared her throat. “Oh, this is shaming. Well... I'm the Doctor.”
“No, you're not! The Doctor's a bloke a little shorter than Dr. David here, northern accent, big nose and ears, different eyes, and he wore submariner trousers and a jacket! How can you be the Doctor? He said he was the last of his kind!”
“And that's still true,” David quietly said.
“What?!”
David touched his shoulder and looked right in his eye. “I swear, Mickey, as hard as it is to believe, she's telling the truth. The Doctor you and I first met died and turned into her.”
Mickey thought his eyes were about to spring from his head. “You're joking!”
The Doctor, whose smile faded as soon as Mickey first expressed disbelief, sighed. “No, Mickey, I'm still the Doctor. I just have a different body now. If I hadn't been that alien you met in the chamber of the Nestene Consciousness, how would I know that you needed David's help to get back to your feet or that he was going to have his mum and gran introduce you to young ladies?”
Mickey blinked hard and rapidly. That wasn't something David would speak about, out of male solidarity. So... it was the first time something he never wanted to think about again turned into proof. “Oh my god! You... you can change?!”
“Well, I had no control over the process. Some time lords can to an extent. Maybe now that I'm female I might be able to control the process next time, but I'm not sure how much is unique to people originally born as females and how much can be learnt. After all, I'm the last of my kind, and I don't know how much information I could dig out of the TARDIS' database.”
David gently tugged Mickey into the kitchen. This was going to need a delicate touch, and Mickey would need some time to recover.
Mickey drank a lot of tea, and was plied with a sandwich. Only when he finished did he finally look back up at the Doctor, who had polished two sandwiches already and was working on a third. “How can you manage to eat that much?”
“Energy deficit. I... had to recover from something else recently.”
David flinched. That was one way of putting it... when talking about something a woman dealt with monthly.
It was only a few days into the New Year, or so it seemed. Time had blurred together since the female Doctor had been born, and David was shocked to realise that it had been nearly a month since Christmas. They had already had two adventures: New Earth and the Werewolf mess. Both had been on par with the prior adventures for danger levels, but the Doctor seemed to be hitting her stride as a woman taking command of events and people. So it seemed to be turning out well.
But a few days ago the Doctor had started acting strangely.
David had turned the telly on for background noise, which he sometimes found helped him with his work. The Doctor had been curious about the current events, and he'd banned her from watching over his shoulder so this had been a compromise.
It wasn't merely because the Doctor liked to interject comments. She was distracting enough as it was.
He had been working for about twenty minutes when suddenly she had started crying.
Hurrying back into the room, David saw something about a local animal centre was airing. He knew a number of people who could not stand to watch news about animals because the news tended to be not good for the animals shown, but seeing the Doctor react so strongly?
Worse, she couldn't understand why she was reacting so strongly. “This hasn't happened before! Not in any body! And I have always respected animals!”
Comforting and calming her had required turning off the telly and holding her in a hug for a long moment. He murmured to her, although he could not remember what he said. He also made her go to her room in the TARDIS to sleep, since he argued, “You never get enough sleep. Not as your last self, and not now. I won't see you relapse!”
She'd resisted until he resorted to outright pleading, even including puppy eyes. That last touch seemed to do the trick, but he didn't want to think about why.
The weird emotional moments - weird mostly because this was the Doctor - continued for a few days, but she had not had an episode since last night. He was about to take a deep breath of relief.
Then the Doctor screamed.
He ran to her bedroom. The Doctor screaming inside the TARDIS? Unheard of! Which made checking on her all the more urgent. “Doctor?!” he shouted as he burst into her room.
“Rassilon, what's wrong with me?!?!”
The screams were coming from the loo, so he burst in. He stumbled to a halt at the sight before him.
There was the Doctor, bent over the toilet with her trousers and pants to her ankles. She was staring at the junction between her legs, and from his angle David could see blood dripping from her. There was also blood on her pants that had probably leaked to the trousers.
She looked up at him in terror. “I need the Bekkram scanner! I've been injured, but I don't know how it happened!”
David closed his eyes and exhaled in relief as he hurried over to touch her shoulders in support. “You might not have been. Looks like Humans and Time Lords have one more thing in common.”
“What?! How can this be normal?!”
“It's called menstruation, Doctor. You're having cycles which are geared toward making a baby.”
She blinked at him in confusion, but the terror lessened. “But... my people have been sterile for practically a billion years.”
“Didn't you say that the Curse was lifted before the end? What happened then?”
“I... I don't know. I didn't ask any of the women. Never occurred to me. Probably wouldn't have even if things weren't starting to go pear-shaped.”
“Maybe they all started having periods again. Assuming there wasn't a rush to mate first.”
She paled. “I do know there was one. I'm not sure there was a woman of marriageable or reproductive age who wasn't already bonded.” She looked back at her blood-soaked pants, and then she looked up at him like he had all the answers in the universe. “You mean this could be normal?”
David went firmly into physician mode. “It might be. We'll need to see if there are any references to the original cycles of your species. Meanwhile, sit down and rest a moment.” He gently pushed her to settling on the seat, probably because she was in shock. He was prepared to use his medical expertise to command her compliance if need be. “Now, I'll go and locate a few clean rags we can use until I get hold of some feminine hygiene products. Might be able to get some through Nerys and Emily - they can get supplies for you without raising too much concern. I'd be talked about if I went and got them for you. And I'll find you a change of clothes.”
The Doctor calmed considerably. “Well, I guess I'll need some tampons, too. Oh, Rassilon, there's one more thing I never thought I'd say!”
He thought a moment, and then grimaced. “Maybe you should stick to pads this first time. Tampons might be a problem if you've never used them before. After all, you're... sticking something inside you when you're not used to anything being inside you. Besides, you might need to rest a lot. This is the first time for you.”
And he was right. Soon she was feeling cramp in her hips, and needing to lie down to not faint from the pain. “Oh, Rassilon!” she screamed. “Is this what women of all species go through?! I am never mocking anyone for complaining of monthly pain again! Could this be my penance for all the times I was unfeeling to someone?!”
David tried to reassure her that maybe it was just normal for a female Time Lord to deal with such things. And the shock of suddenly having this happen couldn't be helping her. They found from using the laptop that the TARDIS provided for him that all records of Gallifreyan mating and reproductive cycles had vanished some thousands of years after the Curse had come into being. The Doctor had groaned loudly, not entirely from pain. “Probably because the elders wanted to conceal how much magic was really involved in our past, since my ancestors exiled the Keepers of Magic.”
The story sounded interesting, but David had to push his curiosity aside to help his friend. He located additional supplies, since she apparently flowed harder than anyone else he had ever heard of. And it took Nerys and Emily over an hour to reach them with the boxes of pads he requested. They had the twins with them, and David decided to invite them inside the TARDIS since he was feeling out of his depth to help the Doctor with this mess.
Emily had taken one look at the Doctor's pained face and promptly sent David out of the room. “We'll sit with her for a while, help her change pads, and talk about what the normal range is for human women. I can be debilitated by menstruation for days, and I know my mother was the same way.”
So he spent a few hours showing off the TARDIS gardens to Josh and Ella, explaining anything and everything he could about the imported plants. What he didn't know, the TARDIS provided the answers through the laptop she had made for him. They adored the sights, and were happy to know that the only people who knew about it were his dad, gran and granddad. He supposed he would have to eventually show their mothers, no matter what the Doctor felt. Of course, if they helped her learn how to handle her symptoms, then he figured they would be shown more of the ship.
He doubted either would be willing to actually travel, though.
The Doctor did better after the visit, and even accepted a few cuddles from the twins before they and their mothers left. She seemed better, but only until the hot water bottles lost their heat and she had to change pads again - an act that was awkward since it hurt to bend over. So David took the step of sending the TARDIS into the Vortex. He hoped that no matter how long it took the Doctor to recover, the rest of the world would never have to know he was devoting all his time to helping his best friend.
It was a long several days. No pain medication seemed to help, and the hot water bottles only went so far. The only thing that worked as a distraction so she could rest they discovered by accident. He was putting the latest round of bloody pants and jim-jams and sheets into the laundry chute the TARDIS set up for them, blinking away his own exhaustion, when the Doctor let out a moan louder than he'd heard so far.
He hurried back over, and ran the scanner over her again. “1-10, how bad?”
“11,” she whimpered. “Dying has been less painful than this.”
Putting the scanner back on the nightstand, David ran a hand through his hair and rubbed his neck. With his other hand, he rubbed the Doctor's lower back - what he could reach that wasn't covered by one of the hot bottles - as he tried to think of something else. After a moment, he realised that something was different. “Doctor?”
“Yeah?” she whispered.
“You're breathing easier. And you're calmer when you're touched.”
She blinked, taking stock. “You're right. I hadn't noticed. Seems a supportive hand can create a psychological buffer against the pain.”
“I think there have been studies on the subject in humans. Um... I have an idea, which I'm mostly doing because I need sleep and I'm positive you do, too.”
“What?” She looked slightly baffled, but mostly ready to try anything.
He grabbed a pillow and placed it directly behind her hips, covering the hot water bottle. Then he took a second pillow and placed it near her head. He lay down behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist, taking one of hers hands in his.
She froze. “David?”
“The more contact, the better you handle the pain.”
He could hear her gulp. “It's a bit...”
“Different?” He knew she had other words on her tongue, but none of them would help either of them sleep. “Yes, but let's see if it works. Maybe we can each get a few hours before the next round of changing.”
She paused a long moment, thinking, before she sighed and gently squeezed his hand. “Okay.”
David shook himself out of the memory. It had worked, but the morning after had been a little embarrassing for him. One unfortunate reality of human males surprised them both, and he'd never been happier that the Doctor would gladly ignore certain things in the interest of getting on with the day. Although they quickly discovered one thing more effective: her spooning him. Seemed a warm bum resting against her front worked better than any heat source, with the added benefit of touch.
“Hope it wasn't anything bad,” Mickey commented.
The Doctor shook her head. “No, but you'd rather not know. Trust me.”
A glance at David's suddenly blushing face told Mickey that it was a wise move.
/=/=/=/
The Doctor enjoyed a good mystery, and Mickey Smith had found them a big one. A school suddenly performing so well that there had to be something wrong. If one curious human had noticed, why had the authorities not investigated?
Then again, the Doctor had little use for certain type of authority. School officials had been a problem even since Susan had been enrolled in Coal Hill, but it could have been worse - they could have landed in America, which was so far behind it should be no surprise that a sizable fraction of parents were choosing to educate at home instead.
With a good cover story crafted, the three had set out to launch their own investigation. They had parted ways to catch different perspectives on what might be going on. Mickey was sadly stuck serving lunch (which included chips that he thought tasted rancid and yet the kids loved them), David was too well known in the area to do more than his rounds of checking for possible medical innovations and to assess the school medical facilities, and the Doctor had to teach. David and Mickey had worried whether the Doctor could pass muster, and prayed their investigation didn't take too long.
The Doctor actually enjoyed teaching, even though she wondered about whether some of them paid more attention to her figure than to her lessons. Sometimes being a woman was a right pain. Although she always looked for information. It was walking through the halls that she ran into someone else investigating the school. “Oh, hello,” the woman said. She looked older than the human age range the Doctor could pass for now, but her features still shined with beauty that age had granted additional dignity to.
The Doctor was nearly silenced. This was a face she knew. Well, two previous selves knew. And while the human woman was thankfully not known at the school, but nothing but a mind-wipe could make the Doctor forget this face.
Sarah Jane Smith. Dearest Sarah Jane.
“And... who might you be?”
“Oh! I'm... Donna Smith.” It was the name that David came up with when he had pointed out she could not go by 'John Smith' anymore. She had discussed 'Jane Smith' and variations on the feminine of 'John', but neither David nor his friends had approved on Christmas Eve. She had thrown up her hands and let them choose a name.
It took David only seconds to come up with one. It was the name his father had selected for a girl, had one come along. She liked the sound of it, and so it stuck. Besides, she had thought it would probably make it easier for David's parents to see her next time.
That had been an unpleasant experience. Sylvia Noble had been worse than usual, but mostly kept to being coldly civil. It made the Doctor wonder if Mrs. Noble had lost a daughter and the name was a painful reminder. Although the rest of the family had accepted her, at varying speeds.
“And what do you do here?”
“I'm a teacher.”
“Ah, you do the most important work, then. And I like your name.”
“Well, I might have a common last name, but at least I got a good given name. Although my parents did consider a feminine version of 'John' since I was expected to be a boy. They had to think of a girl's name in a hurry. I had to have a name after all.”
It dawned on her that the babble was a bit like her fourth self.
Sarah Jane smiled wryly, like it brought back memories. “Oh, yes. Lucky you. Common names can belong to interesting people. I knew a 'John Smith' once. Many years ago.”
“Well, we both know it is a common name,” the Doctor said, knowing now was not the time to even hint at the truth. Sarah Jane had witnessed regeneration and might have noticed some behaviors in common, but would she believe that the bohemian she'd last seen had become a curvy ginger?
“He was an uncommon man.” And Sarah Jane left it at that. She was discrete, only giving enough personal information to establish common ground and to help someone warm up to her.
Their banter continued a moment before Sarah Jane went along, on the pretense that she was a reporter to bring the news of what the school had accomplished to a wider audience. Watching the former companion - who had been called an assistant then - go down the stairs, the Doctor wasn't sure how to ask David for advice. If she had turned into another male, then David would probably have given him ideas on how to act. But... since David knew about the Doctor's former great secret where he was concerned, she wasn't sure how to act.
/=/=/=/
So the Doctor waited in a corridor, smelling and sensing that Sarah Jane would be by shortly. She was glad that David's friend Mickey had told them about the school and come along. Thankfully without that blonde. How that meeting might've been handled, the Doctor didn't want to think about. That girl had had enough problems with aliens that they didn't need her reactions to a newly female Doctor. Never mind how she might have tried to distract David, getting underfoot and being a problem altogether.
But she trusted Mickey to keep quiet, mostly because David trusted him. And she had noticed that David was pretty much spot on with his instincts about people. Well, they were both fooled by the Gelth, so that did not count.
Finally, Sarah Jane Smith was walking by, and the Doctor took a deep breath. Here goes. “Hello, Sarah.”
Sarah Jane turned, blinking. “Miss Smith, I don't think you know me well enough to call me that. I might be old enough to be your mother.”
She walked closer, stopping a metre away as she laughed. “Actually I do know you. Or I did. Many, many years ago for me. Had a big scarf that you always wondered how I wouldn't get myself strangled by it. Before that there was a cape and Bessie, the yellow roadster.”
“But... those were men. You're...” Sarah Jane waved her hands, motioning at the obvious curves.
The Doctor shrugged uncomfortably, clearing her throat. “I know. The last regeneration was rough, and I had quite a bit of extra energy to burn. And you know how much of a shame my people considered the fact that we could. Imagine how we felt if we switched genders during one, which happened. Thought I was safe from it since it hadn't happened yet, but... Well, I did get to be ginger at least. Took me far too long.” She managed a big quirky grin, hoping that it looked enough like the men she'd known.
Sarah Jane looked at the woman before her. She spoke of things that only one man could know. But she'd seen so many incredible things with him - with both hims - that it couldn't be entirely impossible. Her eyes widened. “Doctor?”
Her smile widened in joy. “Hello. I've found you at last. The Time Lords took away the TARDIS' knowledge of where I dropped you off, and made it impossible for me to find you. Now I can. And you look almost exactly like you used to.”
The words made her shake her head, blinking rapidly. “I can't believe my eyes.”
There was an odd sound. It made the Doctor think of trouble.
Sarah Jane quirked a tiny grin through her shock. “Okay, perhaps now I can believe it. My ears, at least.”
“Come on, I have to get my companion and his friend out of trouble.” She led her along. “They're both good at avoiding it, but you know what kinds of trouble I attract no matter what.”
Moments later, the danger was passed, and introductions had to be made while they walked along. “Sarah Jane Smith, meet Mickey Smith, computer genius and a young man going places. And his friend and mentor, my companion and the best friend anyone could ask for, Dr. David Noble.”
David blinked. “Wait... Sarah Jane Smith? She's the same companion your people forced you to leave behind?”
“Yes.” The Doctor's voice was quiet, weighed down by the memories.
“My god, you look virtually the same as the pictures I've seen.” David had to beam as he shook her hand. “You know, it's hard to get this daft alien to talk about the past, but what's been said about you has been extraordinary. Did you really raise an army to rescue him soon after you'd met?”
“Well, he was my way home, and he did help me find my aunt. What else could I do? And he's spoken of me? Now and in his last body?”
“Well, I did have to work for much of the information. The Doctor talks all the time but hardly says anything. Were the ones you knew like that?”
Sarah Jane had to laugh, as shocked as she was even as they continued walking. “To varying extents. I travelled with two Doctors, but I saw three others in what they called time crashes.”
He laughed, delighted as he offered an arm to escort her along. “Oh, I want to know about those Doctors you knew and saw. What did they sound like? How did they act? Did any of them like jelly babies?”
Watching as the two walked ahead, Sarah Jane laughing at the enthusiasm shown and happy to answer the questions, the Doctor blinked. She hadn't been concerned about the two companions meeting, but David was all but acting like he'd met a hero of sorts.
Mickey looked at the Doctor. When he'd dropped by earlier, he'd expected to see the goofy-looking alien David had befriended. Instead, there was this rather lovely ginger wielding that screwdriver thingy that the Doctor had been so proud of. And even though he'd never laid eyes on her before, she knew him and knew things from that night with the living dummies. He'd nearly pissed himself as it sank in that the male alien had become a female alien. He'd made some comparison to a fish species that went from male to female, and the Doctor had reluctantly explained regeneration.
Now that he'd had a chance to let that sink in, he'd noticed all sorts of interesting things. The Doctor was especially interested in knowing where David was at all times. It seemed more than just someone who'd lost everything trying to keep their friends safe. He'd seen looks dropped David's way that suggested that the Doctor was harbouring feelings that went beyond friendship.
Which raised the question of whether those feelings existed when the Doctor was a man. There was something strange about that. Was it his own particular humanness talking, or was there something sort of... weird about it?
Still he had to ask. “Who was Sarah Jane to you, mate? You're looking like you're looking at your husband and your ex.”
The Doctor cleared her throat, but her voice wouldn't work.
“Well, I didn't know aliens could blush. Your face is trying to match your hair.”
She really couldn't speak after that.
/=/=/=/
Later, with the danger passed, the Scrolls condemned to remain unlocked, the Krillitanes stopped (oh, had Mr. Finch had things to say that made her uneasy!), and the school under the proper authorities, the Doctor stood at the sidelines of her TARDIS control room, Mickey Smith at her side. All she could do was stare in bewilderment. He on the other hand was highly amused.
Since meeting, David and Sarah Jane had traded story after story about their adventures. There was no trying to one-up the other, but genuine banter over the things they'd each seen. Sarah Jane was impressed that they met Charles Dickens, and David marveled that Sarah Jane had actually seen the Loch Ness Monster. He'd been positive that was just overactive imaginations at work.
“David, now that the Doctor's female... does she still stroke the TARDIS?”
“Yes!” He chortled. “So that's always been a habit? Good to know some things never change.”
“I thought I'd had difficult time adjusting to the new Doctor after the one I first met, but... I can't begin to imagine what it was like for you.”
David blushed suddenly. “Yeah.” He coughed. “Well, it wasn't easy explaining it to my family. I think my mother, who was never terribly keen on the Doctor to begin with, has become a bit frostier.”
“Oi! What about me?!” cried the Doctor, ignoring Mickey's contemplative look. “I spent years as a man, feeling lucky that I always came out of regenerations with a human-looking body! Now I have to wear a bra! And do you know how hard it is to find clothes with good pickets to begin with? I've had to have the TARDIS modify much of what I had to buy! And there's all the things that come with being female that I had no knowledge happened to Time Lords since all the information was lost! I've had to start using pads! And all those mood and hormone swings! How do you do it, Sarah?”
Sarah Jane tried very hard not to laugh. “Welcome to my world, Doctor.”
As uncomfortable as the Doctor was admitting to the truth, that was not quite the reaction she was going for. Still, there was more of a teasing nature to the retort. A 'now you know what it's like, Doctor' element. Perhaps it was a little payback for the times that the previous selves had failed to respect Sarah's own feminine difficulties.
Well, at least she now knew where to find Sarah, and had given her a new K-9. Small comfort given all the chances ripped from them. She wondered how long it would take David to figure out that something major had happened in the past, and gently pry for answers.
Rassilon knew how long she would be able to hold out. If he ever started using the puppy eyes on her when he asked, she did not know what she would do.
Chapter Six: French Royal Mistress Wisdom