Out There ✿ The Doctor [1]

11- Father's Day (pt. 1)

"Peter Alan Tyler, my dad. The most wonderful man in the world. Born 15th of September, 1954." Rose tells the Doctor as she leans against the console and he sits in the jump seat, fiddling with some sort of ball as he listens, "Growing up, my mum would always call Avery and I over to look at this little photo album and show us pictures of Dad. She'd always remind me how I wasn't old enough to remember when he died. 1987, 7th of November. The day Stuart Hoskins and Sarah Clarke got married. She would tell us how he was always having adventures and how he would have loved to have seen us now. That's just what Mum always says."

"You miss him." The Doctor says and Rose nods, causing him to wonder, "Does Avery feel the same way?"

"Avery tends to shut down whenever we talk about Dad." Rose admits, "I think his death makes her feel a mix of emotions that cause her to spiral a bit. I mean, she's always been a bit more... indifferent to his death and I think that scares her."

The Doctor nodded in understanding. If there was one thing he knew about Avery, it was that she was full of love that she extended to those around her until they did her wrong in some way. And, the idea of her not being able to care as much about something she feels she should care about must scare her. However, it's hard to miss someone you never knew.

As if she knew they had been talking about her, Avery wanders into the room, taking a seat beside the Doctor and asking, "Whatcha talking about?"

"Dad." Rose told her, straightforward in her answer.

Avery tensed slightly, "Why?"

"Because I was thinking, could we...?" Rose trailed off slightly, moving her eyes back to the Doctor, "Could we go and see my dad when he was still alive?"

Avery's eyes widen and her mouth opens slightly, wanting to say something but not knowing what. Her sister's name sits on her tongue but she doesn't make a sound. "Where's this come from, all of a sudden?" The Doctor asks, sparing Avery a small worried glance.

"All right then, if we can't, if it goes against the laws of time or something, then never mind, just leave it." Rose tells him, but Avery feels like it's more of her trying to guilt him rather than genuinely telling him to forget about it.

"No, I can do anything." He jests lightly, causing Avery's lips to quirk into a small smile, "I'm just more worried about you two." He looked at Rose for a moment before his eyes drift to Avery beside him, who is still sitting stiff as a board with her fingers curled tightly around the fabric of her skirt.

"I want to see him." Rose told him. He looked at Avery, who merely shrugged and kept her head down, not wanting to stop her sister from doing something that might give her closure.

The Doctor feigned a smile as he told Rose, "Your wish is my command. But be careful what you wish for." He stands up and pulls a switch and begins flying the Tardis, however there is a nagging concern in his mind for Avery as they take off.

***

"I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Angela Suzette Prentice." Avery listens to the registrar give the vow for her father to say as she keeps her head down a little bit, tracing small patterns on the Doctor's palm to try and keep the overwhelming nervousness in her body at bay. Part of her was stunned and overjoyed to be watching her parents get married, but another part was shaken just by being near her father.

"I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Suzanne... Suzette Anita..." Peter stutters out, struggling to remember all of Jackie's middle names as nerves fill him, his thumb tracing nervous patterns over Jackie's hand in a way that has Avery stalling her own movements. Her eyes were wide as she realized her nervous quirk was matching her father's.