Come Fly with Me
Title: Come Fly with Me
Author: flash_of_ginger
Rating: G
Prompt Word: Anywhere
Author’s Note: Response to Weekly Drabble Challenge #27 at doctor_donna
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.
My good friend, onthetardis, wanted to see Alice flying the TARDIS, and this is what I wrote.
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"Okay, now for a bit of time travel." He announced in a proper manner, his months spent as John Smith had certainly stayed with him, "Anywhere you want to go; past, future. Donna? Anywhere specifically?"
"How about, visiting good old Shakespeare."
The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Been there, done that."
Donna scoffed, "Well, I don't think that there isn’t a place you have been or people you haven't met."
"Fine," He gave in to his wife, "Shakespeare it is."
She smiled as she relaxed back into the jump seat, picking up her magazine once more.
Alice and Ben were at the helm of the controls, their eagerness brimming and their hands poised above the different levers and buttons.
"Now before we do anything, who can locate the Hydraulic Stabilizer?"
Brother and Sister looked at each other before their eyes went to the array of controls; Alice was biting her bottom lip as her fingers outstretched towards a round, green button.
"Is this it?" She asked timidly, her brown eyes staring up at her father for a 'yes' or 'no'.
A grin broke out over the Time Lord's face, "Very good, Alice."
Ben grumbled out an 'I knew that' as his sister beamed at him.
"Now, don't touch Alice," The Doctor lectured once more, "when we are in flight, we do not, under any circumstances, press that button."
His children watched him as he circled the console, "And do we know why we don't press that button?"
Ben's hand shot in the air, "Cause we will blow up!" He said proudly looking at Alice, his smile stretched from ear to ear.
"Exactly!" The Doctor said as he made his way around the controls and patted his son's shoulder, "Now, everybody got that?"
Alice and Ben nodded.
"And you dear?" The Doctor asked looking over to his wife, watching as she idling flipped through the magazine she was reading.
"Yeah, yeah." She said as she turned another page, not looking up at him, "No pressing of the red button or we all go 'Boom'."
"That's green button." The Doctor corrected as his children snickered.
Donna nodded her head, glancing up at him, "That's what I said." She defended lightly as she looked back down at the reading material.
The Doctor shook his head and turned back towards the console.
"Dad." Ben began, drawing out the word in an almost whine, "Can we please go see Shakespeare now?"
The man in the brown pinstripes crossed his arms over his chest, he had tried to prolong this moment the best he could, but after days; weeks, of constant pleading from his daughter and son, he had to give in, provided that they had gone through extensive step by step instructions and training. After all, the TARDIS was his ship, and as much as he loved his children, the TARDIS held an affectionate place in his hearts. But, in the end, even the TARDIS seemed please that his children were at her controls, and the Doctor could not find any more reasons to not let them try.
"Okay," He said as he stood in the middle of them, wanting to be right there in case they could not handle the complexity of the controls, "now want we want to do is make sure we know the correct order in which we much maneuver her. So listen carefully."
He told them the sequence again and again, until they both could repeat it back in perfect order and in unison.
When he was satisfied, he allowed them to continue, he watched in almost amazement how coordinated they were, even with practice, the sister and her brother managed to dance around the controls with perfect fluidity and the TARDIS flew them through the Vortex and landed a moment later without any sharp or jerky movements and with all of them still standing, aside from Donna, who was still sitting on the seat.
Pulling on the so called parking brake, the Doctor stood agape at what had just transpired right in front of him.
"I think that they flew her better then you, love."
The Doctor looked over his shoulder at his wife's remark and could not find any retort.
"How was that, Dad?" Alice asked as she and Ben looked up at him with cheeky grins.
The Doctor clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, as he double checked their location, hoping that they had managed to land in some frozen tundra or sweltering desert and found that they were in fact a few blocks from William Shakespeare’s' house.
"Not bad." He said shortly, though pride was pouring out for his children, "Not bad at all."