PARENTHOOD
A/N: The room with the severed heads comes from the Eighth Doctor novel, The Scarlet Empress. Chapter Sixty Seven After they took the TARDIS back to their house, they carried everyone inside and took them up to their beds, tucking them in so it would seem they spent the night in the house. Then Alan quickly went home, but they figured a few family members must have been watching the house because as soon as he left, Rain's father, Jackie, Pete, Tim, Wilf, Linus and Samuel came to the house asking about them. Rain explained what happened to them as more people came over to get the latest news and check up on everyone. By the time Alan returned with Rose and Christopher, the house was full. "Blimey, I'm glad we put the children and Doc into a deep sleep so they don't hear this kerfuffle," Alan commented as he stepped inside the house. Over time, most of the family members went home except for Alan and his family, Jack and Ianto, Donna and Tara who wanted to accompany everyone else in the morning. They sat up, drinking tea and chatting until it was time for breakfast at which time the Doctor went in to Doc's room and quietly brought him out of his deep sleep into a light sleep so he would wake up naturally. He did the same to the children but went ahead and woke them up while the women helped Rain get breakfast ready downstairs. "Good morning," he said to them. "Are you ready to go to the circus today?" "Yeah," Sokanon said, sitting up. "Are we leaving now?" "Not just yet. I want you lot to get dressed and have breakfast and I have to check the TARDIS databanks for a suitable location. We'll leave soon though, promise." He kissed Namid's lips and looked into her eyes. Yesterday, she had begun to get a haunted look in her eyes, the same sort of look he saw in his own which terrified him. Today though, there was no trace of it and his hearts soared knowing she would no longer remember her terrifying ordeal. He left the children to get ready and went downstairs, salivating as the smell of frying eggs and bacon hit his nostrils. On the way to his TARDIS, he saw Doc coming out of his room and heading towards the bathroom. He knew as soon as he smelled breakfast cooking, he would wake up since that was his routine. "Morning, Brother," the Doctor said to him. "Morning!" He smiled when he noticed that the darkness around his brother seemed to have lifted considerably and he was glad that he decided to take out some of the Valeyard's darker deeds. He continued on into the garage and headed into his ship. "Well, old girl, the memories are gone from Doc and the children's minds and they're happy again," he said as the TARDIS rumbled happily. "Now I need you to find me an ideal place to take them to the circus today." The TARDIS switched on and the Doctor sighed as he slumped down in his jump seat and put his feet up on the rim of the console. He closed his eyes and waited for the TARDIS to let him know she'd found something. While he rested his eyes, he heard movement near him and opened his eyes. He saw Sokanon heading towards the back door. She waved at him. "Hi, wanna get my t-shirt and Swatch watch since Sissy's wearing her jellies," she said. "Okey-dokey," the Doctor said. When the Doctor visited the 1980's, he not only got jellies and an ET for Namid but also a Rainbow Bright t-shirt and a white Swatch watch with red swatch guard for Sokanon and an A-Team shirt and Rubiks Cube for Chaska. He rested his eyes again as Sokanon headed into the back. After a minute, the TARDIS nudged his mind and the Doctor put his feet down. "Whatcha got for me?" he asked as he went to the monitor. He read the location and the summary that the TARDIS had written for him and smiled. "Brilliant, knew I could rely on ya, old girl," he said, patting her rim. Meanwhile, Sokanon finished putting on her t-shirt and putting her watch on. The t-shirt showed Rainbow Bright riding her horse, Starlight across a rainbow. She put on jean shorts and velcroed up her Nikes before she headed out of her room. As she was walking, she paused at a T junction and looked down the corridor to her right at a couple of doors she had never been in. She and her siblings had explored the time ship in the past, at least the parts the Doctor allowed them to see since he had private rooms that were off limits to them. Figuring they had a few minutes and knowing her father was taking the TARDIS anyway, Sokanon decided to see if there was anything interesting in the rooms she saw before heading up to the console room. She went to the first door and tried it and was delighted when it opened but it soon turned to disappointment when she saw it was a cupboard filled with clothes and books. She read a few of the titles on the book's spines but they were mostly about physics and history and the clothes were old, worn and too large for her so she quickly lost interest and closed the door. She walked down to the next door, tried it and opened it up. Inside was a stone room that resembled something in a castle dungeon. Intrigued, Sokanon slipped inside. She saw a stone staircase in front of her that led up to a second level above her head. Off to her left was a stained glass window that had the Seal of Rassilon on it. Artificial light streamed into the room but it didn't do much to dispel the gloom. Sokanon frowned when she heard squeaking coming from somewhere above her head. She took a few tentative steps forward and went around the stone staircase. Then, she halted in her tracks when she saw a gruesome sight. In front of a huge stone Seal of Rassilon that had been carved into the floor were nine wooden poles with nine severed heads on top of them. She stared at the deathly pale heads thinking she'd seen the faces somewhere before and then it occurred to her that they were the Doctor's others lives. Curiosity overcame fear and she came forward to take a closer look. The moment she walked into the seal though, the heads suddenly came to life and began to look around. Sokanon stood rooted to the spot with fear while their eyes settled on her. "I say, who are you?" the fourth Doctor's head said to her. Sokanon was too stunned to speak back. "Don't you know who that is, you nitwit?" the second Doctor said. "That's our daughter!" "Not my daughter, I only had one son and that was quite enough," One said. "Oh for heaven's sake, you're scaring the child," Eight said. Eight smiled warmly at Sokanon. "Don't be afraid, we won't hurt you." "Well, duh, we're sodding heads, you thick git," Nine said. Eight sighed. "You know, I always thought you were too caustic for my liking," he said angrily. "Yeah? Well you were too much of a poncy boy for me," Nine replied. "I am not poncy!" Eight said. "Hey!" Eight and Nine continued to shout at each other while Sokanon tried to get their attention. "Hey!" Sokanon said, waving her arms at them. "Excuse me down there; the child is trying to get your attention!" Three said. He sighed when the two heads ignored him and continued to insult each other. Five smiled warmly at her. "What do you want...Sokanon, is it?" he said. "Yeah, that's me. What is this?" Sokanon said, coming nearer to Five. "We are your father's past lives," Four said. "Yeah, I know but why are you here?" Sokanon said as Eight and Nine finally stopped arguing and fell silent. "We provide direction and advice for our current self," One said. "And believe me; we think he needs it sometimes. The man is far too impetuous and reckless," Six said. "Well at least he isn't a complete loony like you were," Two said. "I was not a loony, you...intergalactic tramp!" "I am not a tramp, you walking eyesore! Least when I strolled around London, my clothes couldn't be seen in California." Five sighed as Two and Six began arguing with each other. "I'm sorry, Sokanon, we don't always see eye to eye on things," Five said to her. "Ain't that the truth," Nine muttered, rolling his eyes. "Daddy talks to all of you?" Sokanon said. "Yes," Seven said. "He comes in here often for advice...whether or not he follows it is a matter of conjecture but we do try to guide ourself in the right direction." "So you know about me and Namid and Chaska?" "We know about all of you," Eight said. "FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S SACRED, WILL YOU TWO PUT A SOCK IN IT?" he screamed at Two and Six who immediately shut up. "We're not only here but we're also inside your father's mind, guarding and guiding him. This room is for when he needs to speak with us face to face." Sokanon got a shiver up her spine. "Will...will Daddy be in here after he dies?" she asked them. "Well, in a technical sense, we're all your daddy," Five said. "But we know what you mean and yes, once he regenerates, your father's head will appear next to the ninth Doctor down there." He grimaced when he saw her horror at that. "But it won't be his real head," he quickly said to her. "These aren't actual heads per say, they're just a fleshly representation of our past lives that the TARDIS made." "And Daddy will be inside the next Doctor's head?" Sokanon asked, losing her revulsion. "Yes," Eight said. "As a voice, mind." "Think of it as his conscience," Six said. "That's basically what we're trying to do is guide him." "How come you don't have bodies?" Sokanon asked. All the Doctors except Two snorted. "That was his doing," One said, jerking his head towards Two. "He requested that we manifest as heads only." "So you wouldn't go swanning all over my TARDIS!" Two said. "Your TARDIS? My boy, it was my TARDIS before you were even thought of!" One said which set off another argument. The other Doctors gave Sokanon a sympathetic smile when she groaned at them. "Now you know how we feel," Four said. "Constant bickering and whinging all day long, it's a wonder I'm still sane." "Who says you are?" Nine said. Four eyed him but decided not to take the bait and spark off another argument. Sokanon was about to ask another question when she suddenly felt someone behind her. "There you are," Ten said as Sokanon nearly died of fright. "Daddy," she said, spinning around as One and Two stopped arguing and listened with the others."I'm...I'm sorry. I got dressed and thought I'd go exploring while I waited for you to leave and I found this room and I'm sorry if I wasn't s'posed to come in here but the door was unlocked and..." "It's alright. It was my fault. I forgot to lock the door the last time but you've done no harm," Ten said, patting her head. "I'm sorry you found this room without me along to explain what it was. Hope you weren't too scared." "She was at first but we calmed her down," Five said to him. "We explained to her what this room was." "In between the arguing," Seven said dryly. "You come in here to talk to them?" Sokanon said. "On occasion. Sometimes it helps to get advice from myself. I can hear them in my head but I like seeing who I'm speaking with," Ten said. "Anyway, I came to find you to tell you that the TARDIS found a location that has both a circus and a funfair on an Earth colony in the year 4360." "Cool!" Sokanon said. "Ah, the circus," Five said with a sigh, "always did love a circus. Lions and tigers and elephants." "Don't you mean bears instead of elephants?" Eight said. "I deliberately said elephants so you wouldn't say oh my and make a tired Wizard of Oz joke," he said. "Anyway, I hope you have fun and I'm glad you found us and said hello. We keep badgering your father to bring you back here to meet us in person." "Well, I didn't think it would sit well with my family if they saw severed heads of my past selves on sticks." "Nonsense," Two said. "Your family members are strong, they can take it. We get lonely back here, haven't seen anyone but him in donkey's years." "Yeah, how's Rose," Nine said. "And Grace?" Eight said. "And Sarah?" Four said. "And Jamie?" Two said. "They're fine," Ten said hurriedly. "I came back here to fetch my daughter because it was time for us to go so if you don't mind, she can visit another day." "Splendid," Five said. "Bring the others. We wanna say hello to them as well." "Okay," Sokanon said. They all said goodbye to her as she waved. Ten took her hand and walked with her out of the room. He looked at her as he closed the door. "Would you like to go back in there some other time. If so, I'll leave the door unlocked," he said. "Yeah, that's kinda cool. They're nice to talk to when they don't argue." The Doctor snorted. "Love, they argue all the time. In my head as well. It's a miracle I don't have constant chronic headaches from their bickering. Anyway, let's go get the others and begin our fun day, yeah?" Sokanon nodded eagerly and the Doctor squeezed her hand as they walked back towards the console room.
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