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Callie:
"Ow, ow, ow!" I cried as dad started to wipe at the wounds on my side, getting rid of the excess blood and sand still in there, before spraying it with an antiseptic and sewed it back up. "So much for this thing not hurting."
Dad slapped my hand away as I went to touch it, and put another plain white bandage over it. "You were in shock, and you were not focussing on it. Trust me, Callie, this will hurt as it heals, which is why, dear daughter, you are going to curl up on the sofa, with some food, and watch TV."
"Dad, I'm fine." I tried to protest, but he just ushered me into the living room and put me on the sofa, before bundling me into a big ball of blankets and cushions. "OK, I have become a marshmallow. Oh my God, do we have marshmallows?"
He laughed a little, shaking his head as he went to a wall panel, typing something into the screen before the panel opened and there was a massive load of marshmallows, and other junk food that I had previously hated, either because it was gross, or because of the animal fat. I liked meat now, but yeah. "Eat, you're good now. Food isn't a problem with you now."
Yeah, I knew that. Trust me, I was hungry all the time, I just didn't feel comfortable eating around anyone but dad. "Fine. So, are you going to sit with me the whole time to make sure I don't wander off to the music room or something?"
"Something like that, Cal." He sighed, sitting down next to me on the sofa. "How you feeling, love? I mean, there's no Rose, no Mickey. You've never been with just me this long, didn't know if you still approve of who your dad was."
"Why wouldn't I? You're just the same as you were before I left, if a little off. But you lost a lot, you lost Rose, Donna, even Martha. Loss is difficult." I told him, nibbling a marshmallow, not looking him in the eye. "Trust me, I know. Lost mum, dad, Katie, then lost them all again when I found out I was adopted. Lost my family twice in different ways."
Dad shook his head, wrapping his arms around me. "No, you didn't. Well, you did lose them once, but that happens. I lost my parents young too. It even happens to Time Lords, Callie. But they were still your family, even though you were adopted."
I rested into him, leaning on the side that wasn't currently a colander, several holes in my side from where I had safety glass embedded in there. So much for it not being able to pierce skin. "I know, dad. I just... You're my dad, my biological father, but why would you give me up? You and your partner at the time, whoever she's going to be, you gave me up, and, part of me wonders why you'd do that, what possible reason you could have?"
"I don't know." He admitted, kissing my long hair, tucking it behind my ear. "I know you, you're just scared of being abandoned, which isn't going to happen. I won't leave you, Calliope. When we at long last meet your mother, we'll work it out, OK, Cal?"
Nodding, I sighed, eating another marshmallow as dad did too, before frowning. "Ever done exploding penguins?"
With that, he carefully got up again, making sure my side was OK, before typing more things into the monitor, and took out two mugs of hot chocolate, as well as a few bars of chocolate. "Right, bite alternative ends." He demonstrated, biting opposite corners. "Then use it as a straw, getting a small mouthful, before shoving the whole thing into your mouth." Which he did, and got chocolate all around his mouth, and it dripped on his shirt.
"You are so, so messy." I laughed, copying his movements, and taking a small mouthful of the drink, before putting it all in my mouth, managing to not get any, anywhere. And then the chocolate fell apart into a warm, gooey mess in my mouth. "Wow... That's good, really good. How did you discover that?" I asked him, wiping my mouth carefully, just in case there was chocolate.
"Because I once had to baby sit a load of Brownies." I stared at him. "Not the edible type, those would have been eaten. Brownies as in Girl Guides. I was protecting them from a Silurian Hoard, and there was a whole load of things for their camping trip. So, they taught me some things, and I taught them how to make fires."
I frowned a little, sipping my hot chocolate. "What happened to their leaders?"
Dad shrugged. "Ran off screaming. I was in charge of 8 girls, and they taught me more than I taught them for the night. Good fun though, training for have you on my own, Callie."
Couldn't really argue with that, as it was awesome, and tasted really great. "Sweet. Can I go play my guitar now?"
"No, you're still a walking wounded." He replied, patting my shoulder. "So, how was it in the other universe, besides you constantly trying to break physics to get back?"
Lying back on my right side, the non holy one, I let my hair fall over my face, playing the piano softly with my fingers on the sofa cushions. "Don't. I don't want to talk about it, dad."
He moved in front of me, sitting on the floor as I just stared at the mug of hot chocolate on the table. "Callie, why don't you? What happened?"
"Leave it." I told him harder. "Please, dad."
"Calliope, seriously?" His hand moved to my hair, brushing it off my face. "You need to listen to me, talking will help. Didn't it help you, last time, when you first opened up to me? Please, Callie, tell me."
Oh, I hated this... But he was right, telling him about what happened last time, it really helped. So, I had to tell him. "It felt like there was acid around me, for the first two years. The neon was something I wasn't used to, the pastel was something I loved about this universe, how soft the colours were, and how they felt on my skin, the sounds and the songs of the universe. And that one... Polar opposites."
Dad kept stroking my hair, pulling the duvet further around me, until only my hair and face were on show. "I see why you did all this." He said softly. "Why you became like this during the regeneration, Callie. Because like this, you're free, aren't you? Back before, when you were just Jace, you felt trapped, stuck as that little girl with people not taking you seriously, because you were small, you were blonde, you were broken, and you were thinking like that, that you were useless."
"You don't get to choose." I told him softly. "You told me that. You said, it's a risky process, you don't quite know what you're gonna get. I'm some gangly girl now, with a weird accent I can't place, and my hair is amazing, and I love my body now, it's finally proportionate."
"And the colours?" Dad asked, his hand pausing on my shoulder, his thumb rubbing absently, that small comfort that I'd always loved, and he'd always done, even when I first met him. "Do they still hurt, Callie? Like they did before, and with your regeneration?"
I shook my head, closing my eyes to just let the darkness wash over me for a moment, the absence of the colourful sounds letting my body rest for a moment. "No. No, it's good, so good to be back here, to be back in the warm bath instead of the boiling pan. It hurt so much there, and here is perfect, like I'm perfectly home."
He smiled at that, my eyes seeing the brightness in his own, the dark brown really brightening to a honey chocolate that I loved seeing, that told me I was with someone who really loved me, cared about me. "Good, Cal. Now, I missed 5 years of your life, I want to know if you, I don't know, met someone?"
Oh, God. Really? "Dad, guys suck, most girls are complete bitches, and most aliens do try to kill me." I sighed, rolling onto my back, wincing as I pulled my stitches a little. "Besides, I really don't ever see anyone as attractive, or appealing in any way shape or form. I just, I don't really like people all that much."
"Well, yeah." Dad laughed, leaning back against the table. "People do suck, but at some point there'll be someone who sucks less than someone else, be they male, female, both or alien."
"I guess." I muttered, rubbing my eyes, the comfortable weight of the blanket over me starting to make me drowsy. Except I normally only had a thin blanket. "Dad... Did you, did you... Hot Chocolate..."
"Sorry, but you weren't going to sleep, Love." He told me softly, as I then fell asleep.
DW
When I woke up, I was still on the sofa, and dad was asleep on the floor next to me, his coat over him instead of a blanket. "T, thanks, dad." I muttered, seeing that the colours of the TARDIS was now a dark green instead of the lavender it had been when I fell asleep. About 18 hours had passed. But at least my side felt a lot better, and now, there was a guitar in the corner of the room.
"Well, I didn't put it there." I laughed softly, getting up to grab it before dad groaned, sitting up. "Morning, sunshine."
"Is it? Morning, I mean." Dad muttered, sitting up. "I swear I only had the sleeping powder put in your hot chocolate."
I smiled, shaking my head as I strummed the guitar lightly. "Maybe the TARDIS prefers me, as I haven't been known to whack her with a mallet, dad. Give me a song, I'll see if I remember the chords."
Which made him frown slightly. "Remember? What do you mean, remember? Callie, you love playing guitar, why weren't you playing it in the other universe?"
Didn't we already go through all of this? I swear we did, before I went to sleep. "Uh, the sounds hurt, dad. Every note, it hurt like a searing hot poker was pushed through my bones, even on the piano, or violin. Especially the violin, my favourite instrument. It's, it's why pain tolerance is suddenly a lot higher with me, because I kept practicing the violin."
"You did that to yourself? Why?" Dad asked me softly, his eyes so warm and compassionate. "Because no one in their right minds would put themselves through that pain, Calliope. I mean, you're my daughter, you're going to be a bit crazy, but not even I'm that crazy."
"Well, we don't know how crazy my mum is, do we? But no, I, I needed it, to keep me fighting. Told me what I was trying to get away from, more than the rest of it. Now, give me a song."
Instead, he just took the guitar. "Bad Callie. No music until you heal. But, is it actually morning?"
Shaking my head, I pouted. "No, it's mid-afternoon, about 3. Why?"
"Wanted banana pancakes. But oh well. And no pouting, just pull up your shirt, and let me see how they're doing, its been nearly a day, the bandage needs changing."
I did as he said, wincing as he pulled back the sticky plaster, before cleaning his hands with an antibacterial hand wipe, and then wiping my stitches., making me hiss in pain. "Sorry, sorry, it feels like it's icy. Polar opposites of what it should, yeah, but oh well."
"Don't worry about it. So, um, yeah. They're almost dissolves, you're healing fast, just like before. You'll be right as rain in another day, Cal." He told me, and then wrapped his arms around me, kissing my long silky curls. "Even better than you are now. Callie, when we meet your mum, we'll get answers, OK? But for now, forget about it. There is nothing wrong with you, Calliope, and there would have been an amazing reason for you being put up for adoption."
Yeah, of course. Except that I was used to being abandoned. I wanted to know why my dad would give me up, when he loved me so much. Guess my mum wasn't ready to be a mum, though her Song created mine.