Just Imagine...

Father Figure

There were some days when Rose and the Doctor attended meetings at Torchwood. This was one of those days. Or well, Rose was here, they were still waiting for the Doctor to arrive.
"Should we start without him?" Owen asked finally when the silence had gone on long enough.
"No," Jack answered, "we need him here."
"Rose could catch him up." Gwen murmured slyly.
"Oi!" Rose exclaimed, "I'm not his mother!"
"She's right," Sam laughed, "we should definitely wait until Dad gets here."
The boardroom went dead quiet as all eyes turned to her. It took Sam a second to realize she was being stared at but when she did, her brow creased into a confused frown.
"What?" She asked.
"Dad?" Tosh echoed.
"'Scuse me?" Sam demanded.
"You just called the Doctor 'dad'." Ianto said.
"No I didn't," Sam argued, "I said 'Doc', 'we should wait until the Doc gets here'."
"You said 'dad'." Ianto mumbled.
"I did not!" Sam exclaimed indignantly, though now that she thought about it... had she? No, she wouldn't let herself slip up like that so easily, she was certain.
"Oh my God." Rose giggled, beaming ear to ear.
"What?" Sam sighed in irritation.
"You see the Doctor as a father figure!" Rose practically sang, causing everyone else in the room to burst out laughing.
"What? No! Shut up!" Sam protested, standing up, but it was already too late.
"That's so cute!" Gwen exclaimed.
"No it's not!" Sam argued.
"Does that mean you're her mum, Rose?" Tosh put in.
"Be quiet, Tosh!" Sam snapped.
"Aww, Sammy, come to Mummy!" Rose cooed, opening her arms. Sam felt her face turning bright red and she turned her back on the others.
"Lay off me, would yas?" She growled, gripping her shoulders so tightly it hurt.
"C'mon, Mom," Jack murmured, "they're only teasing."
"Ianto, are you crying?" Owen demanded.
"NO!" Ianto replied quickly, covering his face with one hand.
"Sam, don't be mad," Rose murmured, and Sam felt her come to stand at her side, "I was kidding. I would much rather be your friend than your mum. That would be weird. I'm younger than you."
Sam let out a small huff of laughter.
"Plus, I think looking after you would be a hard job." Rose added with a chuckle.
"Ey!" Sam exclaimed, grinning as she whipped around to point at Rose, "easy, Rosebud!"
The Doctor entered the boardroom at that moment and looked around in confusion.
"Did I miss something?" He asked.
"Nothing," Sam murmured, giving Rose and Gwen stern looks, "just waiting for you, Da- DOC."
Tosh slapped her hand over her mouth to contain a giggle fit while Sam silently cursed herself.
What is WRONG with me?!?
"Alright then," the Doctor murmured, oblivious, "let's get started. Ooh, we've got doughnuts today? Fantastic."
Gwen and Rose gawked at each other as he sat down and shoved half a doughnut in his mouth.
"He's completely unaware!" Gwen mouthed.
"Don't get me started." Rose mouthed back, shaking her head and rolling her eyes as she and Sam both sat back down in their seats.
As Jack started the meeting, Sam found her gaze wandering to the Doctor as he devoured his second doughy treat. She smiled. Travelling with the Doctor at age sixteen had made him feel like a father to her, even though she had a biological father and her time spent with the Doc was short. But admittedly Sam hadn't been very close with her father at that time, and she had still been grieving over the recent loss of her Abuelo. Maybe she'd just needed someone to fill the hole in her heart, someone to look up to in a time of turmoil.
And the Doctor? He was more than a good enough fit.