Fic: Time Lords and Humanity
Title: Time Lords and Humanity
Fandom: Doctor Who/The Sarah Jane Adventures (minorly)
Rating: T
Words: 2963
Summary: The Seventh Doctor and Ace appear in Sarah's attic with two little girls in tow.
Notes: Merry Christmas spydurwebb! Lord only knows how many things I referenced in this. lol.
--
Having heard the sounds of the TARDIS, Sarah entered her attic to find yet another version of the Doctor in front of her. He was closer to her height, looking much older than his other selves. While the sight of another face didn't surprise Sarah, there were other things she hadn't expected. Namely, his teenage-looking companion in her office chair with her feet up while the Doctor appeared preoccupied with two little girls in front of Mr Smith.
"Oh-do stop crying. I hate tears." With his Scottish lilt, the Doctor remained bent on one knee. He reached out to wipe the smaller one's tears away before looking up. "Ace, why can't you be helpful and do something?"
"I've been trying to tell you for fifteen minutes, Professor." Ace dropped her feet and stood. "They've missed their nap, and just want a snack. They're little girls, not supercomputers."
"Yes, well, I've been trying to figure out what kind of snack they'd like, and all they do is cry at me." The Doctor stood. "Sarah, I don't suppose you have any useful hints."
Sarah took a second to study the girls in front of her. One was slightly taller, with hazel eyes and rather fluffy light brown hair not unlike his third incarnation while the other was shorter with dark eyes and equally as dark straight hair and fringe.
"Doctor, what on Earth are you doing with two little girls?"
"It's a bit complicated," he replied. "Needless to say, these two are quite the handful. The taller one decided that she needed to pull every lever on the console while the second one went behind her and pushed all the buttons. We're just lucky we didn't end up in the 51st century the way these two had us whizzing about."
"They do have names you know." Ace reminded him. He waved her off.
"Why could we have picked up someone else's offspring? Surely, anyone would have been more quiet and introspective than these two monkeys." The Doctor plopped down in Sarah's office chair, sticking his tongue out at the two girls. Sarah laughed as the girls giggled and waved back at him.
"Obviously, you haven't been around children lately," Sarah said, glad that for once, Mr Smith was put away. "I have teenagers who make more than enough trouble."
Sarah and the Doctor watched as Ace bent down to the girls' level.
"You donuts are still hungry, aren't you? C'mon, I'm sure there's something in there we can scrounge up for the two of you." Ace stood. "Grab a leg and hold on tight."
Both girls wrapped themselves around each of Ace's legs, as she mechanically moved them towards the nearby TARDIS, making robot sounds the entire way. The girls laughed and shrieked as they entered the TARDIS.
"Remind me never to offer to babysit, Sarah." The Doctor stood and came towards his old friend, holding her by the shoulders. "It mucks up everything. Thank heavens I have Ace."
"I'm still wondering who they are, what they're doing with you, and why your companion looks all of fifteen. How long has she been travelling with you? Did she even finish school here on Earth before you started adventuring?" Sarah crossed her arms as the Doctor reached over and kissed her forehead.
"You worry too much."
"A pertinent character flaw, I'm afraid."
"Come on, let's go see how the children are faring. I'll introduce you properly to Ace. Who knows? Maybe they'll like you better than they like me." He took her by the hand and led her towards the TARDIS. Sarah wanted to pull away and protest, but the Doctor had her inside before she could even blink.
The TARDIS's white décor told Sarah this was a past Doctor from the one at Crimson Heart. She knew she should tread carefully about his personal timeline. As she passed the console, she reached out to touch it.
"She's glad you're here," the Doctor smiled, and despite the odd nature of his smile, Sarah felt more at ease as they moved past the console room and through several corridors. He held onto her hand as though she might run back out the doors if he let go. "And so am I. The Doctor and Sarah Jane, just like old times."
As they grew closer to what Sarah could assume was the current TARDIS kitchen, she could hear the girls' shrieks.
"Ace must have found something to occupy them," he said as they came around another corner to where the kitchen was. They entered to see that the kitchen was much larger than originally intended, with the kitchen part remaining between two walls as the room let out at the far wall to exceed the highest point Sarah could imagine. Mostly because the ceiling was covered in trees.
"Would you look at that," the Doctor said, peering up.
"You're telling me." Ace was standing nearby, with a glass of juice. "One minute, they're sitting here quietly eating their cookies, the next minute, the entire room shifted into a jungly mess and they ran off. I still don't know what's out there, Professor. I'm just hoping it's nothing with four legs or spots."
Ace was right, Sarah thought. The kitchen now looked like a leafy jungle for the girls to play in. Off in the distance, she could even see the two opposing treehouses that the TARDIS had constructed.
"The TARDIS doesn't just grow things for people." From experience, Sarah knew the TARDIS always provided for her, even when she was angry or upset with the Doctor. She suspected it was always the case with the Doctor's companions. "Or provide ambience."
"That's a relief," Ace said. "I'm Ace, by the way. In case, the Professor hadn't told you."
"Sarah Jane Smith." Sarah could see the younger girl sticking over the railing of one treehouse, holding what looked to be a can with a rope up to her ear. She smiled as the Doctor took a few steps into the children-made jungle.
"He's told me quite a bit about your adventures," Ace replied, watching how Sarah's eyes remained on the Doctor. She hadn't ever seen someone watch him like Sarah before. "They're quite impressive."
"Hmm? Oh, I'm sure they're nothing like what you've seen." Sarah broke her attention away from the Doctor. "We could compare notes."
"I'd like that." Ace smiled, as the Doctor came back towards them.
"Well, the good news is she'll absorb the excess of this room once they've gone."
"And the bad news?" Ace asked.
"The bad news is that one or both of them can communicate with the TARDIS more than I originally predicted. Given their parents exposure to artron energy, it's more than likely both of them have that bond at an extremely high frequency."
"Doctor, who are they, really?"
"Their names are Evie and Zoe." The Doctor's sudden solemn face didn't sit well with Sarah. "Evie's the younger one, looks more like you than me, really. The older one is Zoe, who looks more like the first me you remember than you."
"Wait, they're your children? You and Sarah Jane's? Why didn’t you say that in the first place, Professor?" Ace asked, and the Doctor shook his head.
"I didn't know they were ours, at first." He watched Sarah's face fall. "In this universe, Jo's been taking care of them. What's two more with all her little ones?"
"Isn't she one of your former companions too?" Ace had resorted to asking the questions that Sarah knew she couldn't. Sarah swallowed the lump in her throat, and looked off towards the treehouses. He was telling her those were her girls out there.
"I-I never had children." Sarah's voice quivered.
"Not in this universe, at any rate," the Doctor said. "But in other universes, my Sarah Jane, in other universes you were a wife, a mother, an extraordinary hero just like you are here. Your life was never meant to be anything else."
The Doctor watched Sarah's breath catch.
"A millennia before you were born, Sarah, the Time Lords discovered a flux in the universes. They didn't quite know what it was until it almost happened in this timeline."
"What was it?" Ace asked, and the Doctor took a second before answering. She could see the Doctor and Sarah were reaching a rather tender point, and rather than leaving, stayed so that she could hear the story till the end.
"It was always you and I," he said softly, and Sarah felt the blood drain out of her face. She could see past the Doctor, to where Zoe was climbing down from her treehouse as Evie jumped up and down waiting for Zoe to join her in hers. "I always had to go to Gallifrey, Sarah, but in their universes, I always came back."
There was a moment of silence.
"You said Zoe looks like the first you." Sarah licked her lips as she stared at Zoe climbing up into Evie's treehouse. She wished for Luke, so that she wouldn't feel as disconnected from her own body.
"In Zoe's universe, Aberdeen was delayed." The Doctor turned to see Zoe making imaginary binoculars by making circles with her hands around her eyes. He felt a pang of sadness towards his other third self not being able to see Zoe now. "Liz Shaw was my travelling companion, and the Time Lords tried to prevent our meeting. In Evie's universe, the Time Lords intervened early. Jo never went to the Amazon, but I regenerated early. Jo went on and travelled with my fourth self and Harry Sullivan. A very strange coupling indeed."
This time, the Doctor's smile felt out of place as Sarah saw the laughter that crossed Evie's face. Evie flapped her arms several times before they both disappeared into the treehouse.
"Why were the Time Lords so hell-bent on keeping you two apart?" Ace asked, and the Doctor's smile faded once more.
"They never thought a human could understand what it means to love a Time Lord." He looked away. "But, in all cases, Sarah proved the exception. I think it scared them, more than they'd probably ever admit."
With tears in her eyes, Sarah found her voice. "So then, what made this go round so incredibly different that you did exactly what they wanted you to do?"
The Doctor had known when he looked into the Matrix as his fourth self that he could only be a fractional part of Sarah's life before the universe would try and balance his choices. It was all he could be for any of his companions, no matter how much they meant to him.
Sarah didn't allow him to answer. Instead, she walked towards the treehouses. The Doctor and Ace followed at a safe distance.
"So, how did the donuts end up with Jo?" Ace motioned, and the Doctor sighed.
"Their universes were on the edge of collapse and I made a promise," he replied, keeping his eyes on Sarah. He remembered seeing her other selves twice, and his hearts nearly broke all over again. "I would have thought you knew the story, Ace, you were in the TARDIS when we picked them up. Poor Evie was in hysterics for a good hour and a half before we dropped her off at Jo's."
"Only because you couldn't understand her request for a red popsicle, a cup of orange juice, and Reading Rainbow. She loves the actor Levar Burton, you know." Ace crossed her arms.
"And Zoe?"
"Zoe's really the more quiet of the two. If you teach her, she'll fix your TARDIS faster than you can say Ganymede. Hence, why she wanted to pull all the levers. She's a gadget and gizmo kind of kid."
"I sincerely hope you didn't let her near your Nitro."
"Hey, it was supervised. Kept her distracted while you were dealing with Evie. Plus, she knows how to tie shoelaces. She has the perfect sized hands to tie on the fuses."
"Ace-" The Doctor slung an arm across her shoulders, pulling her close enough to almost give her a noogie. Ace laughed as he let her go.
They reached the base of the treehouse, and the Doctor saw that Sarah had climbed up into the opposite treehouse to watch the girls.
"Evvviiee-" Zoe whined. "Whear's the pwone?"
Evie pulled the two cans with red yarn up and around her neck much like her father's scarf, but pouted when all she could find was more yarn. "I don't know where the cans are."
"They're on the ends, see? You just hawve too feend them." Zoe picked up one can end of the telephone as Evie rubbed her eyes. Zoe motioned to Sarah, who could see both girls were getting tired but still wanted to play. "The piwate queen wants to talk. Wee at least oo her dat much."
Ace and the Doctor watched the exchange as Zoe detangled Evie from the red yarn. Evie almost fell, but Ace smirked several times as Zoe helped her up and dusted her off.
"Professor, do the donuts recognize Sarah?" Ace asked, and the Doctor shook his head.
"I don't know. It's only been a few months. Maybe. After all these years, Sarah still looks nearly the same and Zoe's a little older. She might remember more of her father and mother right off the bat than Evie. They haven't recognized me yet." He watched as Evie climbed down and crossed over to the second treehouses to climb up halfway and hand Sarah a can. "And, at least they didn't try to throw the can."
"Hewwo? Piwate Qween?" Zoe spoke into the can as only a mature five-year-old could as Evie resumed her post of being Zoe's sidekick. "State your demands."
"I am the evil Pirate Queen." Sarah's voice changed as she cackled into the can, and both girls jumped at her voice. "I will feed you to the sharks."
"Pwepawe the weppins." Zoe shouted, throwing her can to the ground as both her and Evie ran into the treehouse, coming back out with two tubes of foam. Apparently, inside the treehouses were just as many props as outside the treehouses.
"Zoo-ey, I don't wike sharks," Evie replied with her tube of foam, as Ace and the Doctor shrugged, willing to go along with their game. The Doctor headed for Sarah's treehouse as Ace started flapping her arms together, imitating a shark.
"Well, thewre is that. Don't concetwate on de teef. Concetwate on dair teeny widdle bwains," Zoe replied. "At lweast it's not a powlar beawr or whale. You know how Julwee feels about dem."
"Sound the cannons," the Doctor said, from his spot next to Sarah. "If we can't feed them to the sharks, we'll find another way. Ramming speed. Brace for impact."
"Playing their game?" Sarah whispered, almost smiling.
"These are our children, Sarah, is there any other way?" He whispered back before shouting again at the girls. "That's it, you sly dogs. We're going to run right into your ship before you can say otherwise. The Pirate Queen and I will rule your small country before you know it."
"Oh noes," Evie replied, starting to climb down from the treehouse.
"Evie, whear err you going? There's SHARKS." Zoe nearly squeaked on the last word.
"But Ace will bwoah dem up. POOF." Evie made an explosion motion with her hands, not realizing that Ace was being the shark. As she got to the ground, she made swim motions with her hands towards Ace. "Aceeeeeee, you need to bwoah up the shark!"
Ace circled around, chasing Evie while flapping her arms and clenching her teeth. "I-am-the-shark."
"Hold on, Evie, I will save you." Zoe climbed down to help Evie out as Ace chased both of them.
"They're beautiful, you know," Sarah said, as the Doctor brought her close. "A little like me, a lot like you."
"If we got to have nothing else, somewhere in this galaxy, we had them," the Doctor said, as Sarah touched his cheek. "And, I couldn't just let them go. They belong to us, Sarah Jane. Somewhere, we're a family."
Their foreheads touched as tears fell down Sarah's face. She leaned in enough to kiss him as the girls fell to the ground, and Ace tickled them relentlessly.
"Oy, you two. No k-i-s-s-i-n-g until later when these donuts are in bed." Ace stood up enough to see them pull apart and hang over the rail, the Doctor's arm across Sarah's shoulders. "Unless you know something I don't?"
"We'll be right down, Ace," the Doctor said. They both climbed down and were greeted with armfuls of crazy children. Ace stood back with her arms crossed, grinning as the Doctor and Sarah each lifted their perspective child.
"You rwemind me of my daddy." Evie traced the Doctor's nose with her finger. "Cept, he has a rweally big nose and lots o hair."
She motioned to her own nose.
"My daddy has big hair wike me." Zoe grinned, and Sarah could see the motion she tried to make with her hands without letting go of Sarah's neck or having her cheek leave Sarah's.
Both Sarah and Ace laughed as the Doctor reached up to hold Evie's nose between two fingers.
"And what if I told you, young lady, that I am your daddy? Hmm? That I have always been and always will be your daddy, no matter how I change or what I look like?"
"That's just silly, Daddy. Mommy doesn't wike all your faces."
"I agwee," Zoe replied as they all starting walking back towards the kitchen. The Doctor and Sarah exchanged looks.
"You both have a lot to learn about Time Lords and humanity. C'mon," Sarah said.
--
Fandom: Doctor Who/The Sarah Jane Adventures (minorly)
Rating: T
Words: 2963
Summary: The Seventh Doctor and Ace appear in Sarah's attic with two little girls in tow.
Notes: Merry Christmas spydurwebb! Lord only knows how many things I referenced in this. lol.
--
Having heard the sounds of the TARDIS, Sarah entered her attic to find yet another version of the Doctor in front of her. He was closer to her height, looking much older than his other selves. While the sight of another face didn't surprise Sarah, there were other things she hadn't expected. Namely, his teenage-looking companion in her office chair with her feet up while the Doctor appeared preoccupied with two little girls in front of Mr Smith.
"Oh-do stop crying. I hate tears." With his Scottish lilt, the Doctor remained bent on one knee. He reached out to wipe the smaller one's tears away before looking up. "Ace, why can't you be helpful and do something?"
"I've been trying to tell you for fifteen minutes, Professor." Ace dropped her feet and stood. "They've missed their nap, and just want a snack. They're little girls, not supercomputers."
"Yes, well, I've been trying to figure out what kind of snack they'd like, and all they do is cry at me." The Doctor stood. "Sarah, I don't suppose you have any useful hints."
Sarah took a second to study the girls in front of her. One was slightly taller, with hazel eyes and rather fluffy light brown hair not unlike his third incarnation while the other was shorter with dark eyes and equally as dark straight hair and fringe.
"Doctor, what on Earth are you doing with two little girls?"
"It's a bit complicated," he replied. "Needless to say, these two are quite the handful. The taller one decided that she needed to pull every lever on the console while the second one went behind her and pushed all the buttons. We're just lucky we didn't end up in the 51st century the way these two had us whizzing about."
"They do have names you know." Ace reminded him. He waved her off.
"Why could we have picked up someone else's offspring? Surely, anyone would have been more quiet and introspective than these two monkeys." The Doctor plopped down in Sarah's office chair, sticking his tongue out at the two girls. Sarah laughed as the girls giggled and waved back at him.
"Obviously, you haven't been around children lately," Sarah said, glad that for once, Mr Smith was put away. "I have teenagers who make more than enough trouble."
Sarah and the Doctor watched as Ace bent down to the girls' level.
"You donuts are still hungry, aren't you? C'mon, I'm sure there's something in there we can scrounge up for the two of you." Ace stood. "Grab a leg and hold on tight."
Both girls wrapped themselves around each of Ace's legs, as she mechanically moved them towards the nearby TARDIS, making robot sounds the entire way. The girls laughed and shrieked as they entered the TARDIS.
"Remind me never to offer to babysit, Sarah." The Doctor stood and came towards his old friend, holding her by the shoulders. "It mucks up everything. Thank heavens I have Ace."
"I'm still wondering who they are, what they're doing with you, and why your companion looks all of fifteen. How long has she been travelling with you? Did she even finish school here on Earth before you started adventuring?" Sarah crossed her arms as the Doctor reached over and kissed her forehead.
"You worry too much."
"A pertinent character flaw, I'm afraid."
"Come on, let's go see how the children are faring. I'll introduce you properly to Ace. Who knows? Maybe they'll like you better than they like me." He took her by the hand and led her towards the TARDIS. Sarah wanted to pull away and protest, but the Doctor had her inside before she could even blink.
The TARDIS's white décor told Sarah this was a past Doctor from the one at Crimson Heart. She knew she should tread carefully about his personal timeline. As she passed the console, she reached out to touch it.
"She's glad you're here," the Doctor smiled, and despite the odd nature of his smile, Sarah felt more at ease as they moved past the console room and through several corridors. He held onto her hand as though she might run back out the doors if he let go. "And so am I. The Doctor and Sarah Jane, just like old times."
As they grew closer to what Sarah could assume was the current TARDIS kitchen, she could hear the girls' shrieks.
"Ace must have found something to occupy them," he said as they came around another corner to where the kitchen was. They entered to see that the kitchen was much larger than originally intended, with the kitchen part remaining between two walls as the room let out at the far wall to exceed the highest point Sarah could imagine. Mostly because the ceiling was covered in trees.
"Would you look at that," the Doctor said, peering up.
"You're telling me." Ace was standing nearby, with a glass of juice. "One minute, they're sitting here quietly eating their cookies, the next minute, the entire room shifted into a jungly mess and they ran off. I still don't know what's out there, Professor. I'm just hoping it's nothing with four legs or spots."
Ace was right, Sarah thought. The kitchen now looked like a leafy jungle for the girls to play in. Off in the distance, she could even see the two opposing treehouses that the TARDIS had constructed.
"The TARDIS doesn't just grow things for people." From experience, Sarah knew the TARDIS always provided for her, even when she was angry or upset with the Doctor. She suspected it was always the case with the Doctor's companions. "Or provide ambience."
"That's a relief," Ace said. "I'm Ace, by the way. In case, the Professor hadn't told you."
"Sarah Jane Smith." Sarah could see the younger girl sticking over the railing of one treehouse, holding what looked to be a can with a rope up to her ear. She smiled as the Doctor took a few steps into the children-made jungle.
"He's told me quite a bit about your adventures," Ace replied, watching how Sarah's eyes remained on the Doctor. She hadn't ever seen someone watch him like Sarah before. "They're quite impressive."
"Hmm? Oh, I'm sure they're nothing like what you've seen." Sarah broke her attention away from the Doctor. "We could compare notes."
"I'd like that." Ace smiled, as the Doctor came back towards them.
"Well, the good news is she'll absorb the excess of this room once they've gone."
"And the bad news?" Ace asked.
"The bad news is that one or both of them can communicate with the TARDIS more than I originally predicted. Given their parents exposure to artron energy, it's more than likely both of them have that bond at an extremely high frequency."
"Doctor, who are they, really?"
"Their names are Evie and Zoe." The Doctor's sudden solemn face didn't sit well with Sarah. "Evie's the younger one, looks more like you than me, really. The older one is Zoe, who looks more like the first me you remember than you."
"Wait, they're your children? You and Sarah Jane's? Why didn’t you say that in the first place, Professor?" Ace asked, and the Doctor shook his head.
"I didn't know they were ours, at first." He watched Sarah's face fall. "In this universe, Jo's been taking care of them. What's two more with all her little ones?"
"Isn't she one of your former companions too?" Ace had resorted to asking the questions that Sarah knew she couldn't. Sarah swallowed the lump in her throat, and looked off towards the treehouses. He was telling her those were her girls out there.
"I-I never had children." Sarah's voice quivered.
"Not in this universe, at any rate," the Doctor said. "But in other universes, my Sarah Jane, in other universes you were a wife, a mother, an extraordinary hero just like you are here. Your life was never meant to be anything else."
The Doctor watched Sarah's breath catch.
"A millennia before you were born, Sarah, the Time Lords discovered a flux in the universes. They didn't quite know what it was until it almost happened in this timeline."
"What was it?" Ace asked, and the Doctor took a second before answering. She could see the Doctor and Sarah were reaching a rather tender point, and rather than leaving, stayed so that she could hear the story till the end.
"It was always you and I," he said softly, and Sarah felt the blood drain out of her face. She could see past the Doctor, to where Zoe was climbing down from her treehouse as Evie jumped up and down waiting for Zoe to join her in hers. "I always had to go to Gallifrey, Sarah, but in their universes, I always came back."
There was a moment of silence.
"You said Zoe looks like the first you." Sarah licked her lips as she stared at Zoe climbing up into Evie's treehouse. She wished for Luke, so that she wouldn't feel as disconnected from her own body.
"In Zoe's universe, Aberdeen was delayed." The Doctor turned to see Zoe making imaginary binoculars by making circles with her hands around her eyes. He felt a pang of sadness towards his other third self not being able to see Zoe now. "Liz Shaw was my travelling companion, and the Time Lords tried to prevent our meeting. In Evie's universe, the Time Lords intervened early. Jo never went to the Amazon, but I regenerated early. Jo went on and travelled with my fourth self and Harry Sullivan. A very strange coupling indeed."
This time, the Doctor's smile felt out of place as Sarah saw the laughter that crossed Evie's face. Evie flapped her arms several times before they both disappeared into the treehouse.
"Why were the Time Lords so hell-bent on keeping you two apart?" Ace asked, and the Doctor's smile faded once more.
"They never thought a human could understand what it means to love a Time Lord." He looked away. "But, in all cases, Sarah proved the exception. I think it scared them, more than they'd probably ever admit."
With tears in her eyes, Sarah found her voice. "So then, what made this go round so incredibly different that you did exactly what they wanted you to do?"
The Doctor had known when he looked into the Matrix as his fourth self that he could only be a fractional part of Sarah's life before the universe would try and balance his choices. It was all he could be for any of his companions, no matter how much they meant to him.
Sarah didn't allow him to answer. Instead, she walked towards the treehouses. The Doctor and Ace followed at a safe distance.
"So, how did the donuts end up with Jo?" Ace motioned, and the Doctor sighed.
"Their universes were on the edge of collapse and I made a promise," he replied, keeping his eyes on Sarah. He remembered seeing her other selves twice, and his hearts nearly broke all over again. "I would have thought you knew the story, Ace, you were in the TARDIS when we picked them up. Poor Evie was in hysterics for a good hour and a half before we dropped her off at Jo's."
"Only because you couldn't understand her request for a red popsicle, a cup of orange juice, and Reading Rainbow. She loves the actor Levar Burton, you know." Ace crossed her arms.
"And Zoe?"
"Zoe's really the more quiet of the two. If you teach her, she'll fix your TARDIS faster than you can say Ganymede. Hence, why she wanted to pull all the levers. She's a gadget and gizmo kind of kid."
"I sincerely hope you didn't let her near your Nitro."
"Hey, it was supervised. Kept her distracted while you were dealing with Evie. Plus, she knows how to tie shoelaces. She has the perfect sized hands to tie on the fuses."
"Ace-" The Doctor slung an arm across her shoulders, pulling her close enough to almost give her a noogie. Ace laughed as he let her go.
They reached the base of the treehouse, and the Doctor saw that Sarah had climbed up into the opposite treehouse to watch the girls.
"Evvviiee-" Zoe whined. "Whear's the pwone?"
Evie pulled the two cans with red yarn up and around her neck much like her father's scarf, but pouted when all she could find was more yarn. "I don't know where the cans are."
"They're on the ends, see? You just hawve too feend them." Zoe picked up one can end of the telephone as Evie rubbed her eyes. Zoe motioned to Sarah, who could see both girls were getting tired but still wanted to play. "The piwate queen wants to talk. Wee at least oo her dat much."
Ace and the Doctor watched the exchange as Zoe detangled Evie from the red yarn. Evie almost fell, but Ace smirked several times as Zoe helped her up and dusted her off.
"Professor, do the donuts recognize Sarah?" Ace asked, and the Doctor shook his head.
"I don't know. It's only been a few months. Maybe. After all these years, Sarah still looks nearly the same and Zoe's a little older. She might remember more of her father and mother right off the bat than Evie. They haven't recognized me yet." He watched as Evie climbed down and crossed over to the second treehouses to climb up halfway and hand Sarah a can. "And, at least they didn't try to throw the can."
"Hewwo? Piwate Qween?" Zoe spoke into the can as only a mature five-year-old could as Evie resumed her post of being Zoe's sidekick. "State your demands."
"I am the evil Pirate Queen." Sarah's voice changed as she cackled into the can, and both girls jumped at her voice. "I will feed you to the sharks."
"Pwepawe the weppins." Zoe shouted, throwing her can to the ground as both her and Evie ran into the treehouse, coming back out with two tubes of foam. Apparently, inside the treehouses were just as many props as outside the treehouses.
"Zoo-ey, I don't wike sharks," Evie replied with her tube of foam, as Ace and the Doctor shrugged, willing to go along with their game. The Doctor headed for Sarah's treehouse as Ace started flapping her arms together, imitating a shark.
"Well, thewre is that. Don't concetwate on de teef. Concetwate on dair teeny widdle bwains," Zoe replied. "At lweast it's not a powlar beawr or whale. You know how Julwee feels about dem."
"Sound the cannons," the Doctor said, from his spot next to Sarah. "If we can't feed them to the sharks, we'll find another way. Ramming speed. Brace for impact."
"Playing their game?" Sarah whispered, almost smiling.
"These are our children, Sarah, is there any other way?" He whispered back before shouting again at the girls. "That's it, you sly dogs. We're going to run right into your ship before you can say otherwise. The Pirate Queen and I will rule your small country before you know it."
"Oh noes," Evie replied, starting to climb down from the treehouse.
"Evie, whear err you going? There's SHARKS." Zoe nearly squeaked on the last word.
"But Ace will bwoah dem up. POOF." Evie made an explosion motion with her hands, not realizing that Ace was being the shark. As she got to the ground, she made swim motions with her hands towards Ace. "Aceeeeeee, you need to bwoah up the shark!"
Ace circled around, chasing Evie while flapping her arms and clenching her teeth. "I-am-the-shark."
"Hold on, Evie, I will save you." Zoe climbed down to help Evie out as Ace chased both of them.
"They're beautiful, you know," Sarah said, as the Doctor brought her close. "A little like me, a lot like you."
"If we got to have nothing else, somewhere in this galaxy, we had them," the Doctor said, as Sarah touched his cheek. "And, I couldn't just let them go. They belong to us, Sarah Jane. Somewhere, we're a family."
Their foreheads touched as tears fell down Sarah's face. She leaned in enough to kiss him as the girls fell to the ground, and Ace tickled them relentlessly.
"Oy, you two. No k-i-s-s-i-n-g until later when these donuts are in bed." Ace stood up enough to see them pull apart and hang over the rail, the Doctor's arm across Sarah's shoulders. "Unless you know something I don't?"
"We'll be right down, Ace," the Doctor said. They both climbed down and were greeted with armfuls of crazy children. Ace stood back with her arms crossed, grinning as the Doctor and Sarah each lifted their perspective child.
"You rwemind me of my daddy." Evie traced the Doctor's nose with her finger. "Cept, he has a rweally big nose and lots o hair."
She motioned to her own nose.
"My daddy has big hair wike me." Zoe grinned, and Sarah could see the motion she tried to make with her hands without letting go of Sarah's neck or having her cheek leave Sarah's.
Both Sarah and Ace laughed as the Doctor reached up to hold Evie's nose between two fingers.
"And what if I told you, young lady, that I am your daddy? Hmm? That I have always been and always will be your daddy, no matter how I change or what I look like?"
"That's just silly, Daddy. Mommy doesn't wike all your faces."
"I agwee," Zoe replied as they all starting walking back towards the kitchen. The Doctor and Sarah exchanged looks.
"You both have a lot to learn about Time Lords and humanity. C'mon," Sarah said.
--