The Defender of Time

Twenty-Seven

Alessia giggled wildly. She took a running start and her father crouched down, at the ready. She launched herself into his back and he spun her around, before running for the nearest boulder at top speed.

He turned at the last second and started heading for Clara, who was reading on the park bench. "Oh, no you don't," she warned, but the Doctor ignored her and dropped his laughing daughter into her mother's lap with a thump.

"Again!" Alessia urged. She rolled off of the bench and onto the gravel, before picking herself up and running back to her starting spot. "Go onto the rock this time though, Dad. I want to see if we go flying."

Clara scoffed. "I can tell you for certain you will not."

"What if gravity changed, Clara?" The Doctor made a swoop for Alessia and swung her onto his back. "We'll never know unless we test it out."

"It'll put you both in A&E, and then we'll have all sorts of experimenters to deal with, and I'll have to sign all sorts of waivers."

Alessia wrapped her arms around her father's neck and laid her head on his shoulder. "What if we go to the fancy hospital?" She asked. "The cat one where Novice works."

"Nobody's going to any hospitals!" Clara clapped her book shut and used it to do a bit of dramatic pointing. "I swear, it's like I have one little child and one big child."

The Doctor pouted and leaned his head on top of Alessia's. "That's rude to children," he whined. "Because we're so much better than them!" He reached behind his back and pulled Alessia off of his back, twirled her around, and set him on his hip; for eleven, she was still quite small, but it made things easier for all of them.

When the next fit of giggles died down, Alessia leaned against her father's chest to catch her breath. "Is it lunchtime yet?" She asked. "Because Auggie remembers a bunch of Roman recipes and I want to try one."

"Yes, it's lunchtime," said Clara, standing up, "but no, it's not ancient Roman lunchtime." She turned on her heel and led a procession back into the TARDIS. Alessia couldn't help but be nervous someone somewhere else in the park would see them enter a box and never leave it, but nobody was looking anyway. The closest person was a little boy much too short for the basketball hoop he was aiming for, and he was entirely focused on the task at hand.

When the door shut behind them, a figure was sitting on the steps. She stood up and brushed off the front of her pants. She was blonde, and just about Clara's height, wearing a large jacket and a pair of dingy jeans. "I'm looking for the Doctor," she said succinctly. "I know this is his ship. I recognize it."

The Doctor's eyes widened as he recognized the woman in front of him, and he stepped past Clara to give her a hug with his free arm. "Sally Sparrow!" He exclaimed. "Look how grown up you are!"

The woman, Sally, took a step back. "Do I know you?" She asked. "I'm sorry, are you travelling with him? I remember he travelled with a woman."

"Oh, no, no, no," chuckled the Doctor. "It's me! The Doctor! I remember you and the blonde bloke, you were at that spooky house with all the angels! I was in 1969, is that right? You gave me that transcript, and I recorded it for you, and then that just kept going on and on! Time, isn't it wonderful?"

"You... look different," said Sally hesitantly.

"I do that a lot. New face, new me, eh?" He laughed at his own joke before coming back to the present. "This is my daughter, Alessia, and this is..."

"Clara." She stuck her hand out to shake Sally's. "I'm Clara."

"Yes! She's my Clara. Anyway, Sally, how can we help you?"