Another Christmas Who fic! Whoohoo!
Title: The Biggest Family on Earth
Author: Sue DeNimme
Characters/Pairing: Ten, Sarah Jane, various companions
Rating: G
Spoilers: None
Summary: The Doctor's companions living on Earth get together for Christmas Eve.
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and its characters are the property of the BBC. No copyrights were harmed in the making of this fanfic.
Note: I only included onscreen companions. I actually haven't read any of the novels, but I'm aware that Dodo and Liz were killed off in them, so I left them out. I also know that in one novel, Tegan was terminally ill, but I chose to ignore that. I also didn't include Barbara and Ben because their actors have passed on, but I did include Harry even though his had as well. If any others aren't mentioned, it's because they didn't end up back on modern-day Earth.
The party is Sarah Jane's idea.
The legwork takes months. But that's only to be expected. After all, no one has ever really been sure how many people have traveled with the Doctor, let alone who they all are. She could always try to arrange a meeting through Martha and ask him, but that would be something of a giveaway, not to mention there's no guarantee he would cooperate.
First she tries the old crew who were around during the Doctor's UNIT days, but they don't know much. He was just as tight-lipped about his past back then as he is now, if not more so.
It gets a little easier when she finally gives in to Luke's suggestion and talks to Jack Harkness. Fortunately, Jack thinks it's a great idea, and between the two of them and their respective resources, not to mention the Internet, they finally manage to come up with what they're reasonably sure is as complete a list as possible.
After that, with Mr. Smith's aid, Sarah is able to find out which ones are still alive (and on Earth), track them down, and contact them.
Those are some interesting conversations. The ones who were never affiliated with UNIT are all shocked at first to learn that someone knows their biggest secret, that they once gallivanted through time and space in a police box piloted by an alien. A few try to deny it, but Sarah uses every ounce of charm she possesses to convince them that they're not being sought out for any dark purpose. It helps when she reveals that she too was with the Doctor. For some, it's the first time they'd had any idea that there were others. A couple of them decline the invitation. Then in both cases, they phone back a week or two later and accept.
In the end, the guest list comes in at twenty-one people all told. Twelve are former companions or associates of the Doctor; the rest are plus-ones. And then, of course, there's the Doctor himself, which makes twenty-two.
Once the party is set for Christmas Eve of 2008, to be held at Sarah's house in Ealing, she calls Martha. Naturally, that's when the first doubts even begin to occur to her. What if the Doctor doesn't come? What if he's decided to avoid Earth for a while, given all the recent less-than-happy associations he's likely to have now? No one's seen him, to her knowledge, since not long after they'd towed the planet back to its proper place. He had passed the word through Martha that Donna Noble was back with her family, and it was imperative that none of them must ever remind her of him or the TARDIS. Since then, nothing.
Martha assures her, however, that this particular incarnation -- who Sarah admittedly doesn't know nearly as well as Martha does -- happens to be a very sociable one. "Him, miss out on a party? No way!" And indeed, when she calls Sarah back later that night, it's with the news that he has promised to be there.
Christmas Eve finally arrives. K9 isn't about (he's still on black hole duty), but Luke is. Sarah has allowed him to be at the party, and he eagerly takes on the role of host, hanging up coats and pouring refreshments. He has been beside himself for weeks, talking of almost nothing else but having a chance to finally meet the Doctor properly instead of merely through a comm screen. Sarah rather suspects that he'd stow away on the TARDIS in a heartbeat if given the opportunity, and she devoutly hopes that the Doctor locks the doors this time.
Four of the guests Sarah already knows quite well: the Brigadier, Benton, Yates, and Harry. She has met Josephine Jones, nee Grant, once at a UNIT reunion. And Tegan Jovanka is one of the ones who were present that time when four of the Doctor's incarnations were drawn into the Death Zone on Gallifrey. She is the only one here (besides Martha and Jack) who had associated with a later incarnation than the second one that Sarah traveled with.
The ones Sarah is especially looking forward to meeting are the ones who knew the Doctor's first incarnation. They are Ian Chesterton (a tall white-haired man in his eighties, the oldest one there), and Polly Jackson (a still-attractive woman in her late sixties). Both of them had been married to others who had been with the Doctor, but Barbara Chesterton and Ben Jackson have passed on since.
The one with the most interesting background is Victoria Waterfield, now in her late fifties, who knew the incarnation just prior to the first one Sarah met. She had been born in 1849, but when she left the Doctor, it was 1968.
Everyone seems to hit it off easily. Sarah has the impression that it's a huge relief to some of them to finally be with others who have carried the same secret for so long. Naturally much of the conversation consists of comparing notes on their adventures, and of course the Doctor (who hasn't shown yet). The most frequent ice-breaker question is "What was yours like?", though it turns out that Ian and Victoria hadn't even been aware that the Doctor could change his face -- they weren't present during regenerations, and of course he had never mentioned it to them.
"I wonder what he'll look like when he turns up tonight?" Jo wonders.
"*If* he gets the time right," Tegan adds in a meant-to-be-overheard aside to Victoria, and everyone laughs knowingly.
"Oh, he usually does these days," Martha says. "When he wants to. And he's quite the party animal now. He'll be here."
It's Sarah who answers Jo's question. "The latest incarnation I'm aware of -- the one Martha and Jack know -- is a bit of a tall drink of water. Though not quite as tall as ours, and he looks a lot younger. Rather thin, and a much snappier dresser." She grins. "And -- "
She is interrupted by that still-so-familiar sound of metal on metal, a beautiful grinding, scraping, groaning noise which can mean only one thing. A sudden breeze blows through the room, billowing drapes, scattering napkins and other loose objects. There are more than a few moist eyes as everyone watches the TARDIS form itself and solidify. The breeze dies down. And the door opens.
It is indeed the incarnation Sarah was just describing, the one she first met at the school -- the pinstripes, the Chucks, and the hair that he no doubt has spent half an hour getting to look as if he has just rolled out of bed. He looks slightly wary, his brown eyes sweeping around the room as if to ascertain that he's in the right surroundings. Everyone looks back at him, some with mouths open in surprise at his appearance, others smiling through tears, a few (the plus-ones) boggling with wonder. His eyes widen as he recognizes faces he probably had neither expected nor intended to see again. Sarah can only imagine what he must be thinking.
"Oh," is all he says.
Slowly, very slowly, Ian walks toward him.
"I touched the alien sand, Doctor," he says softly. "I heard the cry of strange birds, and watched them wheel in another sky. And no, it didn't satisfy me. But I have never forgotten it. Neither did Barbara. Thank you."
There is a gentle smile on his wrinkled face as he reaches out his hands. The Doctor studies them for a moment, then takes them in his own, long strong youthful fingers wrapping around aged and gnarled ones. "Chesterfield," he says.
"Chesterton."
"I know." With a huge grin, the Doctor flings his arms around the old man.
***
Some time later, Sarah is sitting beside the punch bowl, smiling, watching Luke being regaled by Benton with the tale of the time when dinosaurs invaded London. Something moves in her peripheral vision, and she looks up to see the Doctor sitting down beside her. He offers her a cup, which she accepts.
"You know," he says quietly, "there's a reason why I normally don't go back and visit former companions."
Sarah nods. "I figured as much. Probably something along the lines of keeping the past in the past, with perhaps a dash of wanting to hold that image in your head of us when we were young and strong. You don't want to see us age, so you stay away."
He leans forward, elbows on knees. "Something like that, yeah."
"Did I do the wrong thing? Looking them all up, putting this party together?"
"What?" The Doctor straightens, and finally looks at her. "No, it was brilliant!" He beams, and though it's a different face from the one she used to know so well, there's the same sparkle in his eyes that tells her he means it. And she thinks she realizes why. Every time he leaves someone behind, it must leave another little scar of regret on his soul. Was there something he should have done differently? Did they really find somewhere they wanted to be, or could they simply not take it any more? Will they be all right? He doesn't want to find out that they're not. So he doesn't go back, and he tells himself it's because he wants to remember them as they were.
Maybe they spend thirty years waiting for him. Maybe they get on with their lives. Maybe they do both, as she did. But now he's seen that he doesn't have to be afraid to look.
"Thank you," he adds after a moment.
"It was my pleasure. And it was worth it just to see the expression on your face when you came out of the TARDIS and saw us all there." She nudges him, smiling.
He gives her a little hug, something she thinks she'll never get used to. Neither one of her Doctors was anywhere near so free with the hugs as this one is. Nor would they probably have let her rest her head on their shoulder.
"I meant what I said before," she tells his jacket. "About you having the biggest family on Earth. It's not just us, it's everybody. We're your family now, whether you like it or not."
His voice is barely a murmur. "I like it."
"Merry Christmas, Doctor."
"Merry Christmas, Sarah Jane." And she thinks she feels a swift brush of lips against her forehead before he jumps up and strides over to where Jack is flirting with Tegan. "Jack! Don't. Just don't."
Sarah shakes her head, listening as Jack good-naturedly protests his innocence, and Tegan tells the Doctor to shove off. She raises her cup.
~end