To Be a Time Lord

Chapter 14 - A Good Man Goes to War

A Good Man Goes to War, part 2 -

The Doctor entered the control room to find Dorium, the fat blue man who'd sold Astrid and River a vortex manipulator, at the controls.

"You've hacked into their software, then?", he asked him.

"I believe I sold it to them."

"Ooo. So what have we learned?"

"That anger is always the shortest distance to a mistake", Madam Vastra interrupted.

"I'm sorry?", the Doctor turned to her.

"The words of an old friend who once found me in the London Underground, attempting to avenge my sisters on perfectly innocent tunnel diggers."

"Well, you were very cross at the time."

"As you were today, old friend. Point taken, I hope. Now, I have a question. A simple one. Are Melody and Tabetha human?"

"Sorry, what?", he turned around with an uncomfortable laugh, "Of course they are. Completely human. What are you talking about?"

"They've been scanning them since they were born", Dorium brought the scans up on screen, "And I think they found what they were looking for."

"Human DNA", the Doctor identified it.

"Look closer", Vastra told him as Dorium zoomed in, "Human plus. Specifically, human plus Time Lord."

"But they're human", he argued, "They're Amy and Rory's daughters."

"You've told me about your people. They became what they did through prolonged exposure to the time vortex. The Untempered Schism."

"Over billions of years. It didn't just happen."

"So how close are they? Could they even regenerate?", she asked.

"No, no, I don't think so", he muttered.

"You don't sound so sure."

"Because I don't understand how this happened."

"Which leads me to ask when did it happen?"

"When?", he narrowed his eyes at her.

"I am trying to be delicate. I know how you can blush", she seemed just as uncomfortable talking about this as he was, "When did these babies... begin?"

"Oh, you mean-"

"Quite."

"Well, how would I know? That's all human-y, private stuff. It just sort of goes on. They don't put up a balloon, or anything."

"But could the child have begun on the Tardis in flight, in the vortex?"

"No! No! Impossible! It's all running about, sexy fish vampires and blowing up stuff. And Rory wasn't even there at the beginning. Then he was dead, then he didn't exist, then he was plastic. Then I had to reboot the whole universe. Long story. So, technically the first time they were on the Tardis together in this version of reality, was on their w-", he stopped himself.

"On their what?"

"On their wedding night", he realised, "It doesn't make sense. You can't just cook yourself a Time Lord."

"Of course not. But you gave them one hell of a start, and they've been working very hard ever since."

"And yet they gave in so easily", Dorium spoke up, "Does this not bother anyone else?"

"Amy", the Doctor started to mutter to himself, "She worried her baby would have a time head. She said that-"

"Only you would ignore the instincts of a mother", Vastra rolled her eyes.