𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔗𝔞𝔯𝔡𝔦𝔰 ℑ𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔬𝔯
𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔙𝔬𝔯𝔱𝔢𝔵
EJ Thompson was the beholder of many secrets, just the same as anyone who stepped through the Tardis doors. There was more to him that first met the eye, with his arms of messy tattoos and baggy, mismatched clothing. He knew that his appearance was misleading, and yet, he never bothered to change it. It was the one thing which allowed him to forget.
Whilst he was blissfully unaware of how much time had passed whilst they were travelling, there was a nagging in the forefront of his mind. There were still responsibilities he held, and scars which hadn't healed enough to stay hidden. The Doctor already knew more than EJ would have ever said, and he was sure that Rose was beginning to catch on.
Everyone in England knew about his father, and his family's tragedy. He could only be glad that when everything was revealed to the public, he was underage, and the papers weren't legally allowed to release his name. Anyway, Thompson was a common surname. No one ever suspected that it was him. It allowed him a normal life.
This, however, was not normal, and he shouldn't have expected the same rules to apply. Nothing worked the same.
EJ had to say something, he had decided, he just didn't know when. It had to be the right time. It couldn't be out of the blue, or blunt, or overshadowing. This was his childhood and teen years amalgamated into a series of unfortunate events sculpted by the media. He was a story, and yet, he'd never had a say in any of the things they said about him.
After they left Adam on Earth in his time, the Doctor had yet to decide their destination, so the three of them were gathered in the console room. Rose was sat on the odd beige springy chair, as EJ leant against one of the support beams. He was becoming increasingly fond of them. The Doctor just wandered around and flicked buttons; he watched the intricacies of his movements. They were fascinating.
Despite the time having passed, an expression of deep anger and frustration has stayed plastered to his face. And whilst he did not know this until Rose pointed it out, he still wouldn't have changed a thing about it. He had every right to be upset; they just didn't know why.
"Are you alright?" Rose asked for the third time, with raised eyebrows and genuine concern.
"For the last time, Rose," EJ sighed, jokingly. "Yes. I'm fine."
"But you don't look fine." She observed. "You should tell your face."
He scoffed, shaking his head. "Wow."
"What?"
"Nothing." The Thompson boy laughed lightly, if nothing but to distract her for a moment as he allowed his thoughts to finally filter through. "Only..."
Eagerly, Rose repeated. "What is it?"
"Doctor." EJ stated bluntly, capturing his attention. Without speaking, he turned to the blonde and offered his full attention. "Is it always... you know... like this?"
"Is what always like what?" He blanked, genuinely. It did seem like he was mocking the boy, but he didn't have that in him. His constant grin was far too goofy to ever count as malice. "Seriously."
He sighed, loudly. "I don't know... filled with death?"
"Yeah." His smile fell, and quickly, he came serious. "Is that okay?"
"No."
"No?"
"No. It's not okay." EJ laughed, but it was filled with discomfort. His skin was crawling, just a little bit. "But I don't know what's gonna happen if we're not there... and we can save people, so I'll just have to live with it."
"What?" The Doctor hadn't expected this sort of response. "You're staying?"
"Like fuck I'm ever giving something like this up." He shook his head. "No ever."
"Fantastic!" His enthusiasm was sickening, and yet, brought a smile to his face. "Absolutely fantastic!"
"Just..." The small bout of hesitation made him uneasy, and yet, EJ couldn't stay unless something changed. "Is there a working phone?"
"A phone?"
"Well," The boy closed his eyes for a moment, and sighed. It stopped the dizziness, even if it was just for a moment. "I'm a little out of range, aren't I?"
"Yeah." Rose sniggered, raising an eyebrow. "Just a bit."
"And there's a couple people out there who sort of need to know that I'm not dead."
The Doctor outstretched his hand, and said, expectantly. "Well, give it here, then."
"Hmm?"
"Phone." He stated, again. "Here. Come on."
"Alright..."
EJ fumbled around in his pockets for a moment, searching for his mobile. It was a small, black flip phone which quite often went missing. He wasn't very good at keeping it on hand, but he would have to now, especially when he couldn't go and buy a new one every time he lost one.
When he found it, he passed it to the Doctor, who instantly removed the back to reveal the battery. He used his sonic to zap it, and that was it. He put the back on again before passing it back to EJ.
"There you go." He said, nonchalantly. "That should do it."
"Seriously?" EJ deadpanned.
"Just try it." The Doctor coaxed. "Go on."
Taking his word for it, the Thompson boy flipped open the phone, and scrolled down until he found a name which made him stop. Zoë. Without thinking, he pressed her name, and waited for the rings to start. The buzzing was an agony unknown to him until now.
EJ didn't have a backup plan either. If she didn't pick up, he didn't know what he was going to do. All he wanted was to talk. He wasn't trying to hurt anyone.
"EJ?"
His eyes widened and his voice sprung to life. "Zoë! Hi!" He avoided the gaze of the Doctor and Rose. They didn't need to look at him so intently.
"What happened to you? Are you okay?" She sounded genuinely concerned. It wasn't often she expressed such care for him. "Everyone's been worried about you!"
"I'm fine." He smiled to himself. "I'm great, actually."
"Have you talked to Angel, yet? He's going out of his mind."
EJ shook his head, but she couldn't see so it didn't matter. "I'll call him next. I just..."
He could practically hear her smile. "You miss him."
"Yeah." A lump appeared in his throat at the very mention of him. "I... uh... I do. A lot."
"You know if you just came around more, he'd love it." Zoë told him, honestly. "He loves you so much."
"You don't let me come around more." EJ responded, sniffling. "I came around every day and you told me not too."
"That's too much."
"It's not too much."
"EJ." She sighed, and he could just imagine the look on her face. It would be more unimpressed than he had ever seen her. "I've got a life without you, and I can't spend my time-"
"Mummy!" A small voice rang through the line, and EJ would have sworn his heart stopped for just a moment. He knew it was Josh. He sounded exactly the same as he had the last time he saw him. It was only three days before her left."Who're you... uh, calling?"
"It's your daddy, Sweetheart." Zoë replied, faintly, clearly leaning away from the phone. "Do you want to talk to him?"
"Yeah!" There was a little muffling sound as the phone was passed over, in which, EJ knew that he would be making grabby hands until it was given to him. "Daddy?"
"Hi, Baby." He beamed, covering over his free ear so that any residue noise didn't ruin the moment. "How are you?"
"Good! I- I made a daisy chain! All by my own!"
"Oh, I bet it looks great." EJ chuckled. "Did you have fun?"
"Yep." He paused. "When are you coming home?"
"Soon, I hope."
He'd never sounded so excited by something. "Really?"
"Of course. You're the first person I'll come and see."
"Wow..." Josh didn't know what to say for a minute, so stayed silent until he knew exactly what he wanted to come down. "Love you, Daddy."
"Love you too, Baby." EJ whispered as he heard his son run away. "Love you loads."
Zoë picked the phone up, continuing not as if there hadn't been an interruption. "I've got to go, EJ."
"Okay."
"Call us soon, though. You've just made his day."
Zoë was the one to hang up, and EJ could hardly believe himself. It worked, and it was real. His phone was calling present day Earth from the middle of space. The universe was an interesting place to say the least.
He could've cried. He was repressing the floods of emotions threatening to break through. It felt like forever since he had heard Josh's voice. It calmed him like nothing else. The ultimate leveller.
"Who was that, then?" Rose queried, peering over from her comfortable spot in the chair.
EJ was doing his best to hide the redness of his eyes. His hands bunched up his jumper and wiped against his skin in hope that it might just make him look tired. "My friend."
"Really?" She scoffed, with a chuckle. "You talk to your friends like that? They're not babies."
"I was talking to my friend." EJ insisted, frustrated.
"Who else?"
The blonde boy's eyes darted back and forth between the Doctor and Rose. Whilst she was intense, and needed all of the information, he just stood there and waited. He didn't mind whether he got the truth or not. He just stayed with a quiet curiosity which dwindled when nothing happened.
EJ shrugged as he realised how much it didn't matter. "My son."
"Y'what?" Rose did a double take, her eyes widening substantially. He grinned.
"I was talking to my son." He reiterated as though he were talking to a young child.
"And the woman? Your friend?"
EJ clarified. "His mother."
The Doctor smiled, softly, before returning back to the Tardis console and pulling on a lever to stabilise them, slightly. "How old is he?"
"Four." He said. "Almost five."
"You must've been so young when you had 'im." Rose sighed, shaking her head in a sort of disbelief. "Why aren't you at home with 'im?"
"He doesn't have to talk about it if he doesn't want." The Doctor nodded, implying that Rose shut up.
"Alright." She frowned. "I was only asking.""
"It's fine." EJ shrugged, though secretly thanking the Doctor. "Really, don't worry about it."
"Can I just..." Rose raised a question, which came as no surprise. "Say something."
He nodded. "Yeah." Though he hoped that it would not be something horrendous and uncomfortable.
"Go see him."
"What? Now?"
"If you like." Shrugged the Doctor.
"No." EJ dismissed. "Why?"
Rose looked as if she was going to cry, but she didn't. Her eyes were slightly red. "Cos you still can."
"I don't..."
"My Dad died when I was a baby." She shuffled uncomfortably, standing up to shake away the feeling. "I never knew him. Mum told me stories, but that doesn't change the fact that I didn't know him."
"I'm sorry." EJ empathised, though he refrained from mentioning his own father's death. They didn't share the same sort of feelings towards their deaths, of course, because they were in much different circumstances. "It's awful you went through that."
He stepped around the the chair to take her spot, the Doctor joining him there. In all honesty, he felt much more at easy knowing that they knew about Josh. It meant that moments like these didn't give him that anxious sickness in his stomach.
Tenderly, EJ queried. "Do you mind me asking how?" It might have been a little bit of morbid curiosity too.
"It was the day Stuart Hoskins and Sarah Clark got married." Rose recalled as if it were yesterday she heard it. "He was always having adventures. That's what Mum always says. So I was thinking... could we? Could we go and see my dad he was still alive?"
"Where's this come from, all of a sudden?" The Doctor asked, musingly.
Just because it didn't answer her question, she retorted, defensively. "Alright then, if we can't, if it goes against the laws of time or something never mind, just leave it."
Swiftly, he responded. "No, I can do anything." It was rather sweet, really. "I'm just more worried about you."
"Cute." EJ commented. "I mean, unbelievably cute. I didn't think you were the caring sort, Doctor."
"Oi. Shut up, you."
Rose affirmed. "I wanna see him."
"Your wish is my command." Shrugged the Doctor with little distain, which made EJ feel a little odd inside.
He would never say that he was an expert on time travel, most of his knowledge coming from the famed Back To the Future trilogy. However, he could say he was sure that you weren't supposed to meet your parents. It felt like the number rule. It was either that or don't fall out of Tardis.
Still, he spoke, goofily. "But be careful what you wish for..."
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Disclaimer!!!
I do not own Doctor Who, it's characters and original storylines. The only things I do own are my own characters, my addition to the series and my own storylines. Any similarities to real life are purely coincidental.