ALAN AND TARA'S DAY IN THE CITY

Chapter Nineteen

Alan drove the van out to his TARDIS. They parked it in a parking lot a block away and Alan put the keys underneath the front seat. They gathered all their things together, locked it and walked the block to the TARDIS. On the way there, the Doctor explained in more detail about the ship so she wouldn't be shocked when she saw it.

"Alan's TARDIS has a functioning chameleon circuit," he was saying to her as they walked. "So it can disguise itself. Mine looks like a police box that used to be everywhere in London and mine's stuck so you can always tell where it is. Mine's better though."

"No way, Daisy is much better than your TARDIS."

"He named his TARDIS, Daisy. I don't name my TARDIS," the Doctor said to Juliet while they giggled. "And the TARDIS is much, much better than a people carrier or any other car for that matter."

They walked into the alley and Alan walked up to a trash dumpster. He opened the side of it and gestured inside to the TARDIS."

"Shit!" Juliet said when she looked inside at the console room, "ya'll weren't kidding."

"Just step right through," the Doctor said to her.

Juliet followed the Doctor. She ducked her head along with everyone else and stepped into the metallic console room. Her mouth dropped open as she looked around it. She glanced at the others and noticed they were calmly putting their stuff by the wall on the right side of the room. She felt someone pat her shoulder and she turned to see Alan smiling at her.

"You'll get used to this, trust me," he said.

She nodded and followed him up to the console. Rose was already there powering it up and Alan helped her while Juliet stood a few feet behind him and watched.

"Where we goin' next, Daddy?" Tara asked him as they and Rain stood off to the side.

"We are going to go home and have a rest. I have to get Juliet sorted out before we do anything else my Eager Beaver," he said. "Why? Did you have something in mind?"

"I wanna go somewhere exciting."

"Okay, I'll drop ya right down in the middle of the Battle of Gettysburg. How's about that?"

"Okay."

She laughed when the Doctor gave her an odd look. With a grin, he poked her side.

"Quit," Tara said.

"Quit," the Doctor aped her.

"Weirdo," Tara said.

"Geek!" the Doctor retorted.

His eyes widened when Rose, who had snuck around them, ran up and snorted the back of his hair again.

"THAT IS IT, ROSE TIMELORD!" he said, spinning around.

He snatched Rose before she could get away. Rose squealed with laughter as he held her tight and put his nose in her hair, snorting like a pig as he moved it all around her head.

"Here, Brother, let me!" Alan said, running around the console towards her.

Juliet's eyes bulged out and she looked at Jack.

"No one's flying the ship," she said to Jack, pointing at the unmanned console.

He chuckled.

"This isn't like a car. You can actually leave the console there and it flies itself."

"Damn, that's really handy."

Both of them laughed as they watched both men snorting all over Rose's head as she struggled to get free of the Doctor's iron grip.

"HELP!" Rose screamed to the women.

"Stay back!" the Doctor said to them in an ominous voice, "or you'll suffer the same fate as she! Now where was I? Oh! Yes, right about here…"

He put his nose in Rose's hair and began to snort again while Rose laughed and tried to wriggle away. After a few minutes they finally let go of her and walked away.

"There! That'll teach her to quit putting her nose in my hair," the Doctor said to Alan.

"Fat lot of good you were," Rose said to the other women.

"He said he kill us if we tried to help," Tara said, shrugging.

The TARDIS landed and powered down. Juliet looked around as the lights dimmed.

"What happened?" she said with sudden panic.

"S'alright, we've landed," Jack said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "It does that."

Juliet nodded. She grabbed her bags of clothes and headed out the door with everyone else. She noticed they were in a garage the moment she stepped out and the was a blue box next to the TARDIS.

"My baby!" the Doctor said to Juliet as he patted the side of his TARDIS. "This is mine and Alan's home. We live here with our wives, his children, Madison, Tara and Dorothy and our three dogs, Blizzard, Rory and Barney."

She followed them into the house and grinned when three dogs immediately ran to greet them.

"And these are the household pests," the Doctor said to Juliet as he bent down to greet them.

He smiled when they licked his face. Suddenly they spied Jack and Ianto who were hurrying past with the white castles. Everyone laughed when the two men sped up to avoid the hungry dogs who were now trying to stop them from moving.

"Sit!" the Doctor said loudly.

Juliet was impressed when the three of them immediately sat down.

"We had them trained. They travel in the TARDIS with us from time to time and it's not safe for them to be untrained, especially if we land on a hostile planet," the Doctor explained. "Now if you follow me, I'll show you around starting with across the street because I need to collect my other child."

"Mine as well," Rose said.

She giggled when the Doctor shot her a warning look and snorted like a pig.

"I'm not gonna, I learn my lesson," Rose said.

"Good!" the Doctor replied.

Rose gave Juliet a mischievous grin.

"For now, anyway," she said.

Juliet laughed when the Doctor tried to grab at her.

"Sisters," he said, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, follow me and…"

He paused when Tara took his hand.

"I wanna come along," she said.

The Doctor looked at Juliet.

"Just so you know, if you wanna do something she wants to do it too. The girl is inexhaustible," he said while Tara giggled. "Always gotta be in the thick of things. Gotta sneak off if you want to be by yourself, so be warned."

"I wanna see everyone," Tara protested.

"I know! You always wanna see, wanna do, wanna feel, wanna taste. You're definitely my daughter," he said.

"You lot have fun, I'll be in here eating mine and Tara's Chinese food!" Alan called from the kitchen.

"You better not!" Tara yelled as they and Rose went out the door. They walked off the porch and Juliet blinked at the bright sunny day.

"It's day here, we just came from nighttime," she said to the Doctor.

"Yeah, that's another thing you have to get used to when you travel. We don't always land in the same time frame that we leave from. We don't mind it because most of us only sleep every two weeks or so but for the non-Time Lords in our group, it can be bit jarring at first."

Juliet looked around at the housing development and up into the sky at the twin suns overhead.

"This is bizarre. I can't believe I'm on another planet!" she said.

"Not only that but you're on in the year 4181," the Doctor said to her.

The Doctor waved at John and Tim who were sitting on their porch.

"Make a new friend?" John yelled.

"Yeah, I'll introduce you to her in a moment. Gotta get my kid!" the Doctor said.

They nodded and waved to Juliet. She smiled and waved back. As the climbed the steps to Jackie's house, she opened the door and Dorothy, Elizabeth and Angel went past her.

"Daddy!" Dorothy said, running to him.

The Doctor stopped and bent down to hug her while Rose did the same for her children. The Doctor picked Dorothy up when she threw her arms around his neck.

"This is my youngest, Dorothy or Dot as we call her. This is Maddie's daughter," the Doctor said to Juliet as Jackie came down the porch steps with Tony behind her.

"And these are our daughters, Angel and Elizabeth or Lizzy as we call her," Rose said, pointing to her daughters who were staring at Juliet with curiosity.

"And I'm Jackie Tyler," Jackie said, extending her hand to Juliet. "I'm Rose's mum and this is my son, Tony."

"Nice to meet ya'll," she said.

"Juliet's gonna be staying here. I'm gonna see if the house across from Linus is still empty," the Doctor said.

"Oh, so you don't have anyone? Usually that's what happens when the Doctor brings someone here."

"Not really. I'm homeless and my family doesn't want anything to do with me."

Jackie sighed angrily.

"Well, we'll take ya in then," she said with a warm smile and wink. "This entire street is our family and we have good friends who live in here and close by. You'll find plenty of love and acceptance here."

Juliet beamed at that.

"So you're showing her around then?" Jackie said to the Doctor.

"Yeah, letting her meet everyone before checking to see if the house I want is empty."

"Well, Donna's been looking for ya. I think she wants to talk to you. She came over about a half hour ago after she realized you'd gone."

The Doctor nodded.

"Oi!"

Jackie shrugged when they turned and saw Donna coming out of her house.

"Like I said, she's been lookin' for ya," Jackie said.

"Oi! Wait there, I need to talk to ya," Donna said, coming down the steps and heading for the street.

She hurried across the street towards them while they waited for her.

"Where'd you go?" Donna said as she climbed Jackie's steps.

"We went to Detroit and we actually found a new friend that's going to be living here with us," the Doctor said to her. "This is Juliet. Juliet, this is my sister, Donna."

"Hi, nice to meet you, welcome to the neighborhood," Donna said, shaking her hand.

"Thank you," Juliet said.

Donna turned to the Doctor, her face aglow.

"You'll never believe this; Lee wants to get married as soon as possible!"

The Doctor's grin nearly split his face and he gathered Donna in a tight hug.

"Ah! At last, now everyone else is following Jack and Ianto's lead. Te'lesu, that's wonderful. When?"

"As soon as we can," Donna replied.

"Let me know and we'll make preparations then," he said.

Donna hugged Rose, Tara and Jackie.

"Congratulations, Sweetie," Jackie said.

"Thanks, Mum," Donna said.

"Is he over there now?" the Doctor asked Donna, hooking his thumb back at their house.

"No, he and Jake went out to see a film but he'll be back later on. Awinita, Nelak and Julie are over there though."

"Good because I wanna introduce Juliet to them," he said. "So, I s'pose we'll start down at the Torchwood House and work out way over to Linus."

Donna followed them as they went down the steps. Tony started to follow them but Jackie stopped him.

"No, you've played all day with the girls, now you need a bath and a kip."

"Noooo!" Tony howled as Jackie picked him up.

Everyone else paused and turned to look at him when they heard him yell.

"It's okay, I'm just giving him a bath and he needs a nap, that's why he hollarin'," Jackie said to them.

She took him back inside the house as the Doctor led the way down the street. On the way there, the door to Donna's house and Awinita, Nelak and Julie came outside.

"Did she tell you, Bro?" Awinita said as they walked down their steps.

"Yup, she did and I'm glad you came outside because I have something to tell you lot."

He introduced them to Juliet and they laughed when Juliet stared at Nelak's hair.

"Yeah, I know, it's quirky but I like it," Awinita replied.

"So…now that Donna's gettin' married, are you gonna do the same?" the Doctor asked Awinita and Nelak.

"Well, we want to but we don't wanna ruin Donna and Lee's day," Awinita said.

"And I keep on tellin' em they won't," Donna said. "I told them a double weddin' will be fine with us."

"Are you sure, Donna?" Awinita said.

"Of course I'm sure, go ahead, I'd rather have someone else going through it at the same time anyway," Donna replied.

"Okay, you twisted our arms, we'll go through with it," Nelak said.

Juliet grinned when everyone cheered and hugged them tightly.

"Wow, you came at the right time," Tara said to Juliet while she held on to Dorothy's hand.

"I know, this is wonderful," Juliet replied.

Everyone walked with the Doctor as they went down to the Torchwood house. They walked up the steps and knocked on the door. Rhys answered it.

"Ought-oh, is there an emergency of some sort?" he said, looking at everyone.

"Nope, just the opposite we have some happy news and a new member of the community. Are you the only one here?"

"No, Martha, Mickey and Gwen are here. Jack and Ianto are with you, I thought, and Jack and Lee are in the city," he said to him.

Martha came up behind him and smiled.

"What's going on?"

They introduced Juliet as Gwen and Mickey came up behind Martha. All of them stepped outside on the porch and shook her hand, greeting her warmly.

"Doctor, could you wait here a minute before you say anything else, I need to give you something," Martha said.

He nodded and she hurried back inside. Mickey came up beside him.

"Got somethin' to tell ya as well. After watching Jack and Ianto, Martha and me discussed gettin' married and we wanna do it now."

The Doctor let out a joyful laugh.

"Now see, I figured watching Jack and Ianto get married would rub off on everyone. Well, Donna and Lee and Awinita and Nelak wanna get married as well so how about a triple wedding?"

Mickey looked at Donna, Awinita and Nelak.

"Would you wanna do that?" he asked them.

"I wouldn't mind, I think It'd be fun," Awinita said.

"Yeah, might as well get it over with, mate, since all of us want to take the plunge," Nelak added.

"I'd be thrilled and I'm sure Lee won't mind," Donna said.

"Brilliant, I'm so guy you lot are finally going to get married," he said.

He looked at Martha when she walked up to him holding a tiny plastic container filled with a blue substance. The Doctor's eyes widened when he took it from her.

"Is this…"

"Bogangia? Yes, it is," Martha said. "Grace got some from the hospital and gave me a heap of it so I'm giving some to you for you med bay."

"Grace? You mean she nicked this stuff?"

"No," she said when the Doctor snickered. "They had a surplus and allowed some of the employees to take some home. She thought of me and brought me some."

"And she didn't think of me?" the Doctor said.

"Doctor, you've always got a fully stocked med bay, she probably thought you had enough of it. I just figured you could use a bit more since you get into dangerous situations all the time."

The Doctor noticed Juliet's confusion.

"Bogangia is a type of blue flower that is ground up and turned into a liquid. It helps to counteract some poisons."

Juliet nodded.

"You get poisoned a lot then, do ya?" she asked with amusement.

"Well, you never can tell," he said, shrugging.

Donna turned to Juliet.

"You oughta seen him the last time he did get poisoned. Stupid git was talking to me and Agatha Christie and…"

"That'll do, Donna," the Doctor said as everyone giggled.

He smiled at Martha.

"We were just discussing the possibility of you having a triple wedding with Donna and Lee and Awinita and Nelak," he said.

Martha's mouth dropped open and she squealed with delight as she went and hugged her friends. The Doctor looked at Gwen and Rhys.

"I think she's all for the idea," he said while they chuckled.

After leaving Martha, Mickey, Gwen and Rhys, the small group headed across the street to John and Rosie's house. They climbed the steps and the Doctor rang the doorbell. A moment later, the door opened and Simon smiled at them.

"Hello, son, your parents in?"

"Pa's home, but not Ma. Ma went with Donna and Jenny to the store. Wait a minute and I'll get Pa for ya," he said.

They nodded as he closed the door. A moment later, John opened the door, smiled at Tara and gave the Doctor a stern look.

"I trust my property has been returned to me undamaged," he said while Tara giggled.

"I keep MY property safe at all times unlike you, now where's the alimony check?"

"In my davenport. I keep it there and take it out occasionally to laugh at the fact that you don't have it," he said, his nose in the air.

He grinned and patted him on the shoulder before he hugged Tara.

"Ya'mer'la, you okay?"

"I'm fine, A'ner'ra!"

John smirked at the Doctor.

"She says I love you every time she says my name," he said, smugly, as Tara giggled.

"Yes, I keep meaning to discipline her about that but it keeps slipping my mind, funny thing that," he said. "We have a new neighbor here. This is Juliet. Juliet, this is John and his son, Simon."

"Pleased to meet you," John said, shaking her hand. "My wife, Rosie is gone with my daughter and best friend. Went down to the shops to buy some clothing they don't need. I didn't fancy going with them so my son and I are watching the telly. Where are you living?"

"I haven't gotten the house yet but I think down the street from ya'll."

"I'm gonna try to get the house across from Linus," the Doctor said to him.

"It's nice to have you here then," John said. "I'm from another universe originally. I was the Doctor's clone there, don't know how much he told you about us…"

"He's explained to me about Alan being his clone," Juliet said.

"Ah, well, there are different universes, hundreds and thousands of them and I was the Doctor's clone from another universe. My Doctor turned evil so I assumed his job as protector. But while we were there, we fell in love with Snug-a-bug here and she fell in love with us and asked to be our daughter so we adopted her and unfortunately we have to share her with this thing here."

Tara giggled when he and the Doctor eyed each other before John continued.

"At first we stayed in our other universe but we missed Tara too much so we decided to come live here full time so we could be close to her. We want to make sure certain undesirables don't taint her and ruin her fragile mind."

Tara giggled harder when the two men eyed each other again before they grinned.

"But we have our own version of Donna living with us and our own version of Jenny and the version of my son and his children stay here as well but they're off travelin' for the moment but it's nice to meet you and I hope you'll be happy here."

"I think I will," Juliet said.

"Come with us, A'ner'ra," Tara said, tugging on his jacket sleeve.

"Why? Is he beating you again?" John said, pointing to the Doctor.

The Doctor swatted Tara's head lightly and John's mouth dropped open.

"How dare you abuse my daughter. It's child services for you, Boy-o!" he said, stepping in front of Tara.

"Go ahead, you got nothin' on me, Girl-o!" the Doctor said, folding his arms over his chest.

John giggled and shut the door.

"Don't mind us, we joke about sharing Tara," he said to Juliet as they went down the steps. "We pretend we're a divorced couple who has to share custody of her."

"How can ya'll tell them apart? Not just you two but Alan?" Juliet said.

"Alan? Alan, you can tell him apart from us in a heartsbeat," John said while they laughed. "Don't know how long you've been with them but Alan's unique. Clothing wise, he always wears t-shirts and we don't. Now as for us, well, it's a little bit harder but Tara seems to know who's who."

"Yup," Tara said, nodding.

"So does Rain. Rain can smell the difference in me and see it in my eyes since I'm a lot older than him and Alan," the Doctor said.

They took her around to meet everybody else and spoke with each person briefly. They managed to speak to everyone except for Sarah Jane and the teens who were down in Ealing and Lee and Jake. After the Doctor introduced her to Linus, they went next door to check on the house before going to see Sheeva, Patty, Serena and Tobey. They walked up to the house and the Doctor peered inside.

"Looks empty," he said as he scanned the living room. I don't see any magazines or other doodahs in there. Brilliant. We'll go into town in the morning and I'll get you this house."

"Thank you so much, I'm so glad you're doing this for me," Juliet said.

Everyone smiled at her.

"No problem," the Doctor said. "Now if you'll follow us up the street, we'll introduce you to our friends that live back this way."

After they finished introductions, Serena, Patty and Sheeva followed them back to the house for a barbecue in her honor. While they walked, Juliet marveled at her luck and the fact that she now knew so many wonderful people. Once they reached the house, the Doctor, Alan and John went out to start up the grill while Juliet sat in the house with the women and children. The dogs ran around and played with the children while they giggled. Rose had fetched Juliet some tea and now she, Rain, Serena, Patty, Sheeva and Madison were sitting with them.

"I'm so glad we might have a triple wedding and have the last of our couples finally get married," Rain said as they sipped the tea.

"I know, bad thing is we'll have to wait till someone else becomes a couple before we can have more weddings," Rose said.

"Ya'll like weddings?" Juliet asked.

"We like any sort of celebration," Rose said. "Any excuse for a party. That's why we're having the barbecue now."

"How'd ya'll change if you used to be human?" Juliet asked Rain.

Rain explained about Imiko and what she did and finished by telling her about the crystals. Juliet was intrigued. She asked what the advantages were and was even more intrigued by what they had to say.

"So you're all Time Ladies?" she asked when Rain finished.

"I'm not," Patty said. "They gave me an open invitation to become one if I want but I'm still debating it."

"I'm not either," Sheeva said. "Don't think I wanna become one. I'm old and I don't feel like living multiple lives."

"I'm not because I'm a vampire," Serena said. "Although the Doctor is trying to find a cure and maybe if I become human then I'll change because I love everyone here so very much. Trust me, Juliet, you won't find a more loving group of people."

"I was just wonderin' because it sounds like a nice thing," Juliet said.

Tara perked up while she played with Blizzard.

"You wanna become one? My daddy's got crystals!" she said excitedly.

Everyone else bent over laughing.

"You had to say that in front of her," Rain teased as she pointed to Tara.

"You should. It's wonderful," Tara said. "I'm a Time Lady but I won't get my full Time Lady mind until I'm twenty. All the kids are like that. We have to wait till we're twenty to become super smart but I have everything else my daddy has."

"Does it hurt?" Juliet asked.

They shook their heads.

"Nope, totally painless. You feel your second heart growing while it happens but it doesn't hurt," Madison said.

They laughed when Tara got up, ran to the patio door and went outside.

"Daddy!" she yelled as they laughed harder.

The Doctor and John turned towards her. The women watched while she gestured towards Juliet and explained the situation to him. The men looked at each other and then stared at Juliet with grins on their faces.

"Mind the grill a moment, will ya?" the Doctor said to Alan and John.

The women laughed as he strolled through the patio door whistling cheerfully. He didn't say anything to anyone as he went to the garage door, opened it and went through. He came back through five minutes later, holding a crystal in his hand. He smiled as he walked over to Juliet and showed it to her.

"This transforms you into a Time Lady," he said. "If you want to do it, you break it open and let the light do the work but be sure it's what you want since the change can't be reversed without a lot of pain involved."

Tara, Alan and John came inside, stood and watched as the Doctor gave it to her. Juliet stared at it for a moment, marveling at the light inside the crystal. Then with a smile, she broke it open and let the light wash over her. Everyone cheered when it finished and Juliet blinked in surprise.

"Damn, that was bright," she said as they laughed and gave her hugs.

"Welcome to our family," the Doctor said. "Now we really have a reason to celebrate."

He let out a sigh.

"If only others would be so brave," he said wistfully, turning as he talked to focus on Patty.

"Yes," he said, giving her a pointed stare, "not everyone has the guts to do what you just did."

"I'm still thinking about it!" she said as everyone else laughed.

"You're always thinking about it, you're like Rhys," the Doctor said to her.

Patty sighed and looked at Rose beside her.

"You're not gonna stop until I change, are you?" she asked.

"Mmmm, probably not!" the Doctor said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Patty let out a long sigh and held out her hand.

"Give it here, Alien Boy," she said as everyone laughed.

"Bout bloody time!" the Doctor yelled, running back to the garage as everyone laughed harder.

Patty looked at Rose and shook her head.

"Hey, it was inevitable, you know that," Rose said, shrugging.

Sheeva looked at Alan when he bent down next to her with a hopeful look on his face.

"No thanks," she said.

"Awww, why not? Might be fun. Tim's available," he teased.

"No, I don't want Tim and I'm looking forward to meeting my husband again in the afterlife, thanks," Sheeva teased back.

Alan wrapped his arm around her and pressed his cheek to hers as the Doctor ran back to them, making exaggerated gasping noises. He bent over and breathed heavily as he raised a trembling hand and dropped the crystal in Patty's palm.

"Right, I know you had to run a million miles to get this and it wasn't lying there just inside your doorway," she said as they laughed.

She hesitated a moment and then broke it open. Juliet watched as the white light surrounded her.

"Oh so that's what it looks like from the outside," she said as they laughed.

When she was done changing, they gave her hugs and kisses.

"Welcome, fellow Time Ladies, to our clan," the Doctor said. "And now that that's over with, leave us alone, we're grillin'!"

He winked at them as he walked back outside with Alan and John.

(Two days later…)

"Mornin' Juliet," Grace said as she came out of her house onto the front porch.

"Mornin' Grace," Juliet said, waving. "How you doin' this mornin'?"

"Fine. I'm getting ready to go into work. Just getting a bit of morning fresh air, you?"

"I'm fine. Still adjusting to being a Time Lady," she said.

"Don't worry, I had to do the same but I don't regret it one bit," Grace said.

The door opened behind Grace and Jenny stepped outside. She grabbed a hold of her pony tail and tightened it before she stretched her back. She waved to Juliet before she went down the steps towards the Doctor's house. Juliet shut her door when she decided to take a little walk around the housing development. Jenny was ahead of her and she bounded up the steps to the Doctor's house. Juliet passed by as she knocked on the door.

"Good morning, Angel," she heard the Doctor say to her. "Ready?"

"Ready when you are, Dad," Jenny replied.

"Juliet! Wait up!"

Juliet turned to see Tara coming down the steps towards her. The Doctor smiled and waved.

"Good morning," he said.

"Morning, Doctor," she replied.

Jenny waved and went inside the house to greet everyone else.

"I'm gonna be gone for a bit. The wife and I are taking Jenny to the twelvth moon of Apocrypha for a little holiday. Rose and Alan are taking the kids to a funfair in London and Madison is taking Dorothy to the Nova Children's Museum, so everyone will be gone for a bit but we should be back later on if you need us."

"Okay but what about Tara," she said as Tara came up beside her.

"The other husband is getting her today."

Tara laughed when the Doctor grabbed his throat with his hands and mimed gagging.

"Only joking, but that's where she's headed to."

"Wanna come with us? We're going to see the purple waterfalls in this nature preserve and then we're gonna go get something to eat."

"Baby, I don't wanna be a bother if that's your time with your father," she said.

"You won't be a bother. Come and see them. You're a Time Lady now so you oughta get used to traveling in the TARDIS. Come on!"

"It's useless to resist her, trust me," the Doctor said.

Tara took her hand and the Doctor waved before he went back inside. Juliet turned and walked with Tara, excited about the new life she had and the traveling that she would be doing from now on.

THE END.

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