Doctor Who fic: Second generation (2/?)
Chapter 2 of this fic, however long it will be ... In which Maxie gets the Doctor home, and there is a joyful reunion.
Header info
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Her mother’s car was parked outside the house when they arrived. Maxie pulled out her door key and let herself in, the Doctor following her.
“Mum!” she called. “Mum!”
“Kitchen!” came back the shout.
“Wait here,” Maxie told the Doctor, and went into the kitchen.
Her mother was chopping tomatoes for a salad, and she looked round as Maxie came in. “Goodness, you’re soaked,” she said.
“It rained,” said Maxie. “Then it stopped. Erm, Mum, I met this guy …”
Martha put down her knife and turned around. “At school? What’s he done?”
“Not like that.” Maxie put down her bag. “It was raining, right? And I was walking along, and there was this box, right in the middle of the street. A big, blue, wooden box.”
Her mother had gone very still. “A blue box? About eight feet high?”
“Yeah.” Maxie nodded. “And there was this man.”
Rolling down her sleeves, Martha pulled over her handbag and began searching for something. “How long ago?”
“Half an hour,” said Maxie. “But, you see …”
She never got to finish her sentence, and her mother never found whatever she was looking for, because the Doctor chose that moment to come into the kitchen.
“Hello, Martha Jones,” he said, leaning against the doorframe.
Martha gave a gasp, dropped her handbag and in two steps was across the room and hugging the Doctor, who picked her up and swung her round, laughing.
“Doctor Jones!” he said, eventually, putting her down and examining her intently. “Still saving the world.”
“Not quite,” Maxie’s mother returned. “One person at a time, these days.”
“It counts,” said the Doctor. “Never forget it counts. But here you are, and here’s a daughter - looks just like you - and how’s Tom?”
“You know my dad too?” asked Maxie, feeling a bit left out and wondering why her parents had never even mentioned this man. “This is getting crazier. Mum, he said you went to the moon!”
Martha smiled warmly at the Doctor. “We did.”
“A platoon of Judoon on the moon,” said the Doctor, cryptically. “Good times.”
“You died!” exclaimed Martha.
“You brought me back to life,” the Doctor replied, grinning at her again. “Like I said. Good times. Oh, it’s wonderful to see you, Martha!”
They launched into what sounded, to Maxie, like over-excited gobbledegook; full of “do you remember” and “what about” and “I thought I was going to die!” She sighed, picked up her bag, and went to put dry clothes on.
By the time she was back, Martha had made a cup of tea and was showing the Doctor Maxie’s childhood picture album. Maxie stood and watched them for a moment, and then decided she had had enough.
“I’ve had enough!” she informed them. “A man in a blue box tells me he’s fought off library books …”
“Bibliosks,” said the Doctor.
“Whatever. Things, from another planet. Then he tells me he knows my mum. Then he tells me my mum saved the world. And went to the moon. And met Shakespeare. And I never knew any of this?”
“Darling,” said Martha, “I’m sorry. I’d’ve told you, only … well, when you put it like that it all sounds a bit mad.”
“It sounds a lot mad!” said Maxie. “Who is this guy, anyway? What sort of name is the Doctor? Where are you from?” she demanded, turning on him.
“Oh, nowhere and everywhere,” he said lightly; but Maxie caught the look her mother gave him, and wondered what it meant. “Another planet,” he went on. “A long way away.”
Maxie threw her hands in the air. “Mum!” she said. “Are you sure you didn’t meet him on your psych rotation?”
Martha stood up, and went to the black medical bag sitting in the corner of the room. She pulled out a stethoscope, and passed it to Maxie. “Listen,” she said, drawing Maxie over to the Doctor and placing the stethoscope over his heart.
“He has a heart,” said Maxie.
“Shhh. Keep listening.” Martha moved the stethoscope across to the right-hand side of the Doctor’s chest. Maxie listened, to the steady thump-thump, thump-thump, of a heartbeat. A second heartbeat. She looked up, and caught his smile.
“Oh,” she said, and sat down on the floor. “You have two hearts,” she added.
“Much more efficient respiratory system,” said the Doctor cheerfully.
Putting the stethoscope away, Martha looked at him sternly. “Don’t knock the human race, Doctor,” she said. “We’re tougher than we look.”
“I know; oh, I know!” he said. “Core of steel. Metaphorically.”
Martha cleared away the empty mugs and came back to the lounge, perching on the sofa next to the Doctor.
“How long has it been, for you?” she asked. “Is there … anyone, at the moment?”
“Not right now,” said the Doctor. “There was, for a while. But they left. Couldn’t say how long it’s been - time isn’t linear, you know …”
“It’s a big ball of timey-wimey stuff!” Martha said, and they both laughed. Maxie shook her head at them, thinking they were both acting like children despite Martha being her mother and the Doctor, apparently, being an alien. “Last I saw you was at the wedding,” Martha said. “Has that happened yet? You brought that redhead.”
“Donna!” said the Doctor. “Yes, that happened.”
“What happened to Donna?” asked Martha.
The Doctor felt in a pocket and pulled out a photo. Maxie got up and went round the back of the sofa to look over her mother’s shoulder. The picture showed a buxom woman with red hair and a man - at least Maxie assumed it was a man - with his arm around her shoulders. The man had purple skin.
“She fell in love,” the Doctor said. “That’s Ash. She’s working as a receptionist on his planet. Said she was happy, didn’t want to come home.” He rubbed his cheek. “Her mum slapped me when I told her.”
“Her mum was right to slap you,” said Martha. “I’m glad she’s happy, though.”
He nodded. “So’m I. And in the right universe.”
Maxie thought she saw a wave of emotion flicker across her mother’s face, but it was gone straight away. “So, Doctor, now you’ve dealt with the latest alien threat, what next?” Martha asked.
The Doctor sat back, putting his arms behind his head and his feet on the coffee table. “Same old,” he said. “Time, space, blah de blah.”
“What about the TARDIS?” asked Martha.
“Oh, she’s fine,” said the Doctor airily. “Runs like a dream.”
“What’s a tardis?” Maxie put in.
“My ship,” said the Doctor, “the best ship in the universe. You saw her.”
Maxie thought back. “You mean the blue box?”
“That’s the one!” he said.
“The one that you left in the middle of the street?” Maxie pursued.
He leapt to his feet. “I did, didn’t I?” He looked at her. “Want to come and see her?”
Maxie glanced at her mother, who was smiling indulgently at the Doctor. “Yeah,” she replied.
“Martha?” asked the Doctor. “TARDIS rescue mission? Well, not rescue … salvage. Before one of your over-zealous parking wardens tries to take her away?”
Martha seemed to need little persuading, and in a short time the three of them were walking back the way Maxie and the Doctor had come. There was a note on the fridge for Maxie’s father, in case, Martha said, they were late home. As Tom was not due back from his night shift until the morning, Maxie thought this was rather unnecessary. But then the whole situation was odd.
The Doctor talked incessantly on the way back to his ship, rattling off streams of information, naming places and people that made no sense to Maxie - and mostly no sense to Martha either, judging by her expression. Half-trotting to keep up with the Doctor’s rapid pace, Maxie reflected that this was not how she had planned to spend the evening; she was unsure that her English teacher would accept the excuse of visiting an alien spaceship if her essay on Pride & Prejudice was not handed in.
The blue box was still in the middle of the street, and the Doctor stroked its side with a gentle hand as they arrived before turning and spreading his arms.
“Maxie Milligan, may I present to you the TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space.” He took out his key and unlocked the door. “Go on.”
Maxie looked at him, and then walked around the box once. “It’s not very big,” she pointed out.
Her mother was smiling broadly. “Go on,” she encouraged.
“If this is a joke,” Maxie warned, “I’ll … well, I’ll think of something.” She put out a hand and pushed open the door of the box.
Later in her life, Maxie would remember the moment she first stepped inside the TARDIS, although it always seemed like some sort of incredible dream. Above her head there were high arches of some unknown material, and a soft golden light suffused the room. There was a tall column, glowing gently green, in the centre of the room, and a console covered in levers and buttons and dials and screens surrounding it.
She turned around and went out again, to double-check that she had just walked into a small blue box. The Doctor seemed to be smirking slightly. Maxie went back in, followed by Martha and the Doctor.
“It’s … okay, this is going to sound obvious, but …” she looked at the Doctor. “It’s bigger on the inside.”
Martha let out a laugh, and put her arm around Maxie’s shoulders. “We thought you might say that.”
“Almost everybody says that,” added the Doctor. “You lot, you’re so predictable.” He flung off his coat, and crossed to the console, running his hand along the edge. “But it’s all right, we’re used to it. And she is bigger on the inside.” He began throwing switches. “Where shall we go?”
“Home,” said Martha. “You can park in the back garden.”
“Oh, but that’s so boring!” the Doctor exclaimed, pausing in his switch-flicking. “We could go anywhere, see anyone!”
“Thanks, but not now,” said Martha. “I had a long day at work - a lot of very tricky cases - and Maxie has an essay to write.”
They both looked at Maxie, who shrugged. “Nobody else will have finished it.”
“Not the point,” her mother said.
The Doctor sighed. “All right, then, home it is.” He pulled a lever, and the central column began to move. A short while later, the ship lurched, and the Doctor seized a hammer and began hitting the console with enthusiasm.
“There we go, safely back!” he said. “Sorry about the landing. She prefers long distances.”
“He never could drive this thing,” Martha said to Maxie. “First trip, he promised me an alien planet and we ended up underground.”
“Hey! I rescued you from there,” the Doctor put in, with an aggrieved look. “And you got to see the planet. New New Earth,” he added, to Maxie. He put down the hammer, and pressed a few buttons; the background hum faded.
Martha crossed to the door, pushed it open, and put her head out. “For once, perfect landing,” she said. “Now, come in, and eat something. You’re skinnier than ever.”
“Mothers!” said the Doctor, but he followed Martha out of the TARDIS dutifully.
There were more incredible tales over the dinner table, of aliens and far-off planets and long-gone times. Maxie made them describe Shakespeare several times, and wondered at the Doctor’s strange reluctance to say much about the mysterious Daleks - although her mother did her best to fill in the gaps. All too quickly, dinner came to an end.
Maxie took her plate over to the sink. “Well,” she said, “essay.”
“Essay,” agreed her mother.
“Good to meet you,” Maxie said to the Doctor, thinking it was a rather inadequate thing to say to an alien.
“You too, Maxie Milligan,” he said, warmly. “You too.”
Maxie headed up to her room.
Header info
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Her mother’s car was parked outside the house when they arrived. Maxie pulled out her door key and let herself in, the Doctor following her.
“Mum!” she called. “Mum!”
“Kitchen!” came back the shout.
“Wait here,” Maxie told the Doctor, and went into the kitchen.
Her mother was chopping tomatoes for a salad, and she looked round as Maxie came in. “Goodness, you’re soaked,” she said.
“It rained,” said Maxie. “Then it stopped. Erm, Mum, I met this guy …”
Martha put down her knife and turned around. “At school? What’s he done?”
“Not like that.” Maxie put down her bag. “It was raining, right? And I was walking along, and there was this box, right in the middle of the street. A big, blue, wooden box.”
Her mother had gone very still. “A blue box? About eight feet high?”
“Yeah.” Maxie nodded. “And there was this man.”
Rolling down her sleeves, Martha pulled over her handbag and began searching for something. “How long ago?”
“Half an hour,” said Maxie. “But, you see …”
She never got to finish her sentence, and her mother never found whatever she was looking for, because the Doctor chose that moment to come into the kitchen.
“Hello, Martha Jones,” he said, leaning against the doorframe.
Martha gave a gasp, dropped her handbag and in two steps was across the room and hugging the Doctor, who picked her up and swung her round, laughing.
“Doctor Jones!” he said, eventually, putting her down and examining her intently. “Still saving the world.”
“Not quite,” Maxie’s mother returned. “One person at a time, these days.”
“It counts,” said the Doctor. “Never forget it counts. But here you are, and here’s a daughter - looks just like you - and how’s Tom?”
“You know my dad too?” asked Maxie, feeling a bit left out and wondering why her parents had never even mentioned this man. “This is getting crazier. Mum, he said you went to the moon!”
Martha smiled warmly at the Doctor. “We did.”
“A platoon of Judoon on the moon,” said the Doctor, cryptically. “Good times.”
“You died!” exclaimed Martha.
“You brought me back to life,” the Doctor replied, grinning at her again. “Like I said. Good times. Oh, it’s wonderful to see you, Martha!”
They launched into what sounded, to Maxie, like over-excited gobbledegook; full of “do you remember” and “what about” and “I thought I was going to die!” She sighed, picked up her bag, and went to put dry clothes on.
By the time she was back, Martha had made a cup of tea and was showing the Doctor Maxie’s childhood picture album. Maxie stood and watched them for a moment, and then decided she had had enough.
“I’ve had enough!” she informed them. “A man in a blue box tells me he’s fought off library books …”
“Bibliosks,” said the Doctor.
“Whatever. Things, from another planet. Then he tells me he knows my mum. Then he tells me my mum saved the world. And went to the moon. And met Shakespeare. And I never knew any of this?”
“Darling,” said Martha, “I’m sorry. I’d’ve told you, only … well, when you put it like that it all sounds a bit mad.”
“It sounds a lot mad!” said Maxie. “Who is this guy, anyway? What sort of name is the Doctor? Where are you from?” she demanded, turning on him.
“Oh, nowhere and everywhere,” he said lightly; but Maxie caught the look her mother gave him, and wondered what it meant. “Another planet,” he went on. “A long way away.”
Maxie threw her hands in the air. “Mum!” she said. “Are you sure you didn’t meet him on your psych rotation?”
Martha stood up, and went to the black medical bag sitting in the corner of the room. She pulled out a stethoscope, and passed it to Maxie. “Listen,” she said, drawing Maxie over to the Doctor and placing the stethoscope over his heart.
“He has a heart,” said Maxie.
“Shhh. Keep listening.” Martha moved the stethoscope across to the right-hand side of the Doctor’s chest. Maxie listened, to the steady thump-thump, thump-thump, of a heartbeat. A second heartbeat. She looked up, and caught his smile.
“Oh,” she said, and sat down on the floor. “You have two hearts,” she added.
“Much more efficient respiratory system,” said the Doctor cheerfully.
Putting the stethoscope away, Martha looked at him sternly. “Don’t knock the human race, Doctor,” she said. “We’re tougher than we look.”
“I know; oh, I know!” he said. “Core of steel. Metaphorically.”
Martha cleared away the empty mugs and came back to the lounge, perching on the sofa next to the Doctor.
“How long has it been, for you?” she asked. “Is there … anyone, at the moment?”
“Not right now,” said the Doctor. “There was, for a while. But they left. Couldn’t say how long it’s been - time isn’t linear, you know …”
“It’s a big ball of timey-wimey stuff!” Martha said, and they both laughed. Maxie shook her head at them, thinking they were both acting like children despite Martha being her mother and the Doctor, apparently, being an alien. “Last I saw you was at the wedding,” Martha said. “Has that happened yet? You brought that redhead.”
“Donna!” said the Doctor. “Yes, that happened.”
“What happened to Donna?” asked Martha.
The Doctor felt in a pocket and pulled out a photo. Maxie got up and went round the back of the sofa to look over her mother’s shoulder. The picture showed a buxom woman with red hair and a man - at least Maxie assumed it was a man - with his arm around her shoulders. The man had purple skin.
“She fell in love,” the Doctor said. “That’s Ash. She’s working as a receptionist on his planet. Said she was happy, didn’t want to come home.” He rubbed his cheek. “Her mum slapped me when I told her.”
“Her mum was right to slap you,” said Martha. “I’m glad she’s happy, though.”
He nodded. “So’m I. And in the right universe.”
Maxie thought she saw a wave of emotion flicker across her mother’s face, but it was gone straight away. “So, Doctor, now you’ve dealt with the latest alien threat, what next?” Martha asked.
The Doctor sat back, putting his arms behind his head and his feet on the coffee table. “Same old,” he said. “Time, space, blah de blah.”
“What about the TARDIS?” asked Martha.
“Oh, she’s fine,” said the Doctor airily. “Runs like a dream.”
“What’s a tardis?” Maxie put in.
“My ship,” said the Doctor, “the best ship in the universe. You saw her.”
Maxie thought back. “You mean the blue box?”
“That’s the one!” he said.
“The one that you left in the middle of the street?” Maxie pursued.
He leapt to his feet. “I did, didn’t I?” He looked at her. “Want to come and see her?”
Maxie glanced at her mother, who was smiling indulgently at the Doctor. “Yeah,” she replied.
“Martha?” asked the Doctor. “TARDIS rescue mission? Well, not rescue … salvage. Before one of your over-zealous parking wardens tries to take her away?”
Martha seemed to need little persuading, and in a short time the three of them were walking back the way Maxie and the Doctor had come. There was a note on the fridge for Maxie’s father, in case, Martha said, they were late home. As Tom was not due back from his night shift until the morning, Maxie thought this was rather unnecessary. But then the whole situation was odd.
The Doctor talked incessantly on the way back to his ship, rattling off streams of information, naming places and people that made no sense to Maxie - and mostly no sense to Martha either, judging by her expression. Half-trotting to keep up with the Doctor’s rapid pace, Maxie reflected that this was not how she had planned to spend the evening; she was unsure that her English teacher would accept the excuse of visiting an alien spaceship if her essay on Pride & Prejudice was not handed in.
The blue box was still in the middle of the street, and the Doctor stroked its side with a gentle hand as they arrived before turning and spreading his arms.
“Maxie Milligan, may I present to you the TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space.” He took out his key and unlocked the door. “Go on.”
Maxie looked at him, and then walked around the box once. “It’s not very big,” she pointed out.
Her mother was smiling broadly. “Go on,” she encouraged.
“If this is a joke,” Maxie warned, “I’ll … well, I’ll think of something.” She put out a hand and pushed open the door of the box.
Later in her life, Maxie would remember the moment she first stepped inside the TARDIS, although it always seemed like some sort of incredible dream. Above her head there were high arches of some unknown material, and a soft golden light suffused the room. There was a tall column, glowing gently green, in the centre of the room, and a console covered in levers and buttons and dials and screens surrounding it.
She turned around and went out again, to double-check that she had just walked into a small blue box. The Doctor seemed to be smirking slightly. Maxie went back in, followed by Martha and the Doctor.
“It’s … okay, this is going to sound obvious, but …” she looked at the Doctor. “It’s bigger on the inside.”
Martha let out a laugh, and put her arm around Maxie’s shoulders. “We thought you might say that.”
“Almost everybody says that,” added the Doctor. “You lot, you’re so predictable.” He flung off his coat, and crossed to the console, running his hand along the edge. “But it’s all right, we’re used to it. And she is bigger on the inside.” He began throwing switches. “Where shall we go?”
“Home,” said Martha. “You can park in the back garden.”
“Oh, but that’s so boring!” the Doctor exclaimed, pausing in his switch-flicking. “We could go anywhere, see anyone!”
“Thanks, but not now,” said Martha. “I had a long day at work - a lot of very tricky cases - and Maxie has an essay to write.”
They both looked at Maxie, who shrugged. “Nobody else will have finished it.”
“Not the point,” her mother said.
The Doctor sighed. “All right, then, home it is.” He pulled a lever, and the central column began to move. A short while later, the ship lurched, and the Doctor seized a hammer and began hitting the console with enthusiasm.
“There we go, safely back!” he said. “Sorry about the landing. She prefers long distances.”
“He never could drive this thing,” Martha said to Maxie. “First trip, he promised me an alien planet and we ended up underground.”
“Hey! I rescued you from there,” the Doctor put in, with an aggrieved look. “And you got to see the planet. New New Earth,” he added, to Maxie. He put down the hammer, and pressed a few buttons; the background hum faded.
Martha crossed to the door, pushed it open, and put her head out. “For once, perfect landing,” she said. “Now, come in, and eat something. You’re skinnier than ever.”
“Mothers!” said the Doctor, but he followed Martha out of the TARDIS dutifully.
There were more incredible tales over the dinner table, of aliens and far-off planets and long-gone times. Maxie made them describe Shakespeare several times, and wondered at the Doctor’s strange reluctance to say much about the mysterious Daleks - although her mother did her best to fill in the gaps. All too quickly, dinner came to an end.
Maxie took her plate over to the sink. “Well,” she said, “essay.”
“Essay,” agreed her mother.
“Good to meet you,” Maxie said to the Doctor, thinking it was a rather inadequate thing to say to an alien.
“You too, Maxie Milligan,” he said, warmly. “You too.”
Maxie headed up to her room.