Child of Nowhere

The Secret Sister

Carolina gasped. Jack let go of me, so I could see their happy faces. "It's your what?" Magoo asked.

"It's my birthday!" I replied, dancing around the console. "One hundred eighty years of me!"

"You're sure?" Jack asked, blue eyes glinting with mirth. "How can you keep track of time in here?"

"Please don't kill my buzz. I worked all week to get on this level." I motioned to myself. My smile hadn't faded.

The Doctor stopped looking so surprised. He grinned at me, giving me a happy nod. "Happy birthday, Terra."

"Oh Story." I let my jaw fall into a melodramatic look of shock. "Did he just grin? Him? The grinch of the TARDIS grinning?"

He rolled his eyes, though his happy familiar smirk betrayed him. He flicked switches on the console to change focus from himself. "I'll let that slide since it's your birthday."

"I'm fine without a big party." I assured all three of them. "Really. I wouldn't say no to just kicking around in the TARDIS. She's got a bowling rink!"

Jack shook his head. "Not a chance, TJ. You are going to have the best party ever. I've even convinced Doc here to help."

"And I convinced Jack to let me get your gift." Rose chirped. She gave me a tongue-on-tooth smirk.

"The Captain had promised it'll be the best birthday ever." The Doctor recounted, in obvious sarcasm.

"Well, last year I spent in fighting in the Civil War, the year before I was in a bug's house, and the year before that I was fighting a Soviet scientist that used electronic whips to try and kill me." I mused. Rose gaped, while the men laughed. "So today better be good."

Jack bumped my shoulder. "If those were the birthdays, I shudder to think about what you did the rest of the year."

"No strippers!" I added. I'd been in How I Met Your Mother, and Barney has different way of celebrating my birthdays. Ever since, I'd made a point of keeping men in thongs away from my birthday parties. "At all. I mean it, Jack!"

The twenty-first century man only smiled at me.

How was I to know that the biggest stripper I knew wanted to crash the party?

==CON==

Carolina Rose convinced me to change outfits.

The one we agreed one wasn't purple, wasn't a dress, and wasn't sparkly enough to attract ships from outer space. It was a black shirt with long sheer sleeves, a pair of dark purple jeans, and black mary janes. I managed to keep my necklace with the lollipop charm and the TARDIS key.

It looked a lot like my usual outfits, except Rose promised I looked like a model in this. She said it showed off 'the curves I had been hiding', or something.

Apparently this added as my gift to them: dressing outside my usual hoodie.

Jack's first step was complete.

The second was the location. Even the Doctor had to admit Jack found a half decent place for our celebration.

It was an outer space bar, in the year 3860, called Moonshine.

"You're taking me to a bar in the future for my birthday?" I laughed.

"Yep." Jack agreed in a matter-of-fact voice. "And I picked the perfect year. Moonshine was at it's prime. The best music, best drinks." His smirked widened. "Best looking people."