Little Fool \-|-/ Doctor Who Fanfiction

The Encounter

“Here we are! 2021, North Carolina, U-S-A!” Flipping a few switches and glancing at the monitor, the Doctor grinned at the two as he pulled his coat on. “Well, allons-y!” He threw the TARDIS doors open and took a deep breath of the fresh air — they had landed in a forest.

       “C’mon Grace, let’s go find your daddy!” Rose said, the child holding her hand as they ran out. “A forest? Why would the TARDIS bring us here…?” She looked about the area, perplexed.

       “That, my dear Rose, is because Grace lives here,” the Timelord replied as he walked about, turning himself in circles to marvel at the place. His companion still couldn’t make any sense of it.

       “But if she lives here, then-”

       “Rose, you’ve got nothing to fear!” He smiled as he turned about to face forth again. A few feet from him, a rouge wolf bounded forth, pouncing on the Doctor. Its fangs glistened as they were bared, snarling fiercely at the man beneath him. It was quite a heavy beast, and larger than most of its kind.

       Rose shrieked. “Doctor!”

       “Daddy!” Grace grinned widely.

       “Daddy?!” The Doctor craned to his neck to look behind himself as both he and Rose questioned the strange girl.

       Looking up, the wolf set his eyes on the child, and leapt forth. Rose held onto Grace to back away, but she wriggled away with open arms to the wild canine, which shifted into a man that scooped the girl into his arms.

       “I thought I’d never see you again!” he said after a sigh of relief. He had similar red hair and golden eyes as Grace, and wore a casual attire of a t-shirt with jeans.

       “So, you’re Grace’s dad?” Rose asked with a raised eyebrow, eyes wide as she was still in shock of the transformation. The Doctor had gotten back onto his feet and brushed himself off.

       “What a rush! Now that’s what I call an entrance!” The Doctor grinned as Grace’s father eyed them suspiciously, taking cautious steps away.

       “Who are you people? Why did you take my daughter?” he demanded, his pupils drawn to narrow slits of hostile anger. Grace rested her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms about his neck.

“I’m the Doctor! And this her is Rose Tyler.” The Timelord rocked on his heels as he spoke.

“And we didn’t take Grace,” Rose clarified matter-o-factly.

“She came to us,” the Doctor continued, walking a bit in a sort of light pace. “She told us what she was, that she was shifting and what not—I concluded that when she dissolved, or whatever you Shadows do, her unstable molecular levels brought her into the TARDIS. We’re just here to return her.”

The wolf man tilted his head at the earlier term. “Well,” he began, dismissing whatever a ‘TARDIS’ was, “thank you for bringing my daughter back.”

“Not a problem.” Rose smiled; another issue solved, another day saved.

With nothing else left to say, the father turned about and left the dynamic duo, Grace watching over his shoulder as they went. That man and woman in the strange blue box began to bob away further and further. In the old eyes of the Timelord, he watched the girl’s golden eyes hover from side to side with every step her father took; a sort of forlorn and lost look in the child.

“It’s not the only her you wanted back, isn’t it?” he called out, unable to resist the feeling that there was something wrong

The wolf man stopped and turned about-face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied.

“No offense, but in the animal kingdom, isn’t the mother that takes care of her offspring — where’s your wife?” By this time, knowing his gut instinct had been correct, the Doctor ambled closer, Rose trailing behind him.

“You mean like a mummy wolf or bear?” she asked, making sure they were on the same page.

“Exactly,” he replied, raising his chin a bit as he awaited an answer.

Averting his golden eyes from the knowing man, the father sighed. “They took her four years ago…”

Rose frowned. “Who took her?”

“The government; to experiment on her, use her as bait to draw me out of hiding, ‘to keep the people safe,’ as they said. They fear us, Doctor. We’re peaceful, but they’re overly curious and uncertain. There is no sanctuary but in hiding…” He shook his head sadly, Grace planting a small kiss on his cheek to cheer her daddy up. She had been too little to remember her mama, but she had faint memories, and knew daddy missed her.

“What was her name?” the Doctor asked solemnly with gentle expression.

“Belle.”

“And what’s yours?” Rose asked, since they were on the topic.

“Aster, Aster Etoilles.”

       The Doctor smiled with a light chuckle. “Star star, eh? Well, I’ll tell you this Aster,” he put a hand on the Shadow’s shoulder, “I’m going to make peace between you and the humans, and we’re going to get Belle back.”