The Earth Will Be Burning [Doctor Who Fanfiction]

The Stranger That is My Father

1 Year Later

My Mother had gotten sick. It was on a Torchwood mission, just a week ago. An alien disease, for which the universe had not found a cure for. I was running errands, and picking up pain killers for my Mum, when I saw this man running. But the strange part was, he looked exactly like my father, so I ran after him.

I didn't see much of him, but from what I did see, he had a billowing coat, over a brown suit. Other than that, I didn't see anything besides his spiky brown hair. So much like my father's.

We soon came to an empty street, were there was a large blue box that the man ran inside of. I wondered why it was there, it seemed out of place. I ran in after the man, soon discovering that the box was not as small as it appeared. I stared wide eyed at the ginormous room before me. The man seemed occupied and appeared to not notice my entrance, even though the door slammed shut loudly behind me.

Since he was no longer running, I got a much better look at his face and it was indeed my Father.

"Dad?" I whispered.

The sound of my voice must have filtered towards the man, because his head quickly lifted up to see me.

"Who are you?" he yelled, which made me flinch.

"Dad?" I asked louder.

"What?"

"Do you remember me?"

"I asked who you are."

"My name is Koschei, your son."

"Koschei?"

"Yes, your son. Do you remember me now?" I asked hopefully. "I couldn't have changed that much in a year."

"Whose your Mother?"

"Rose Marion Tyler." he stiffened at the name, like it brought him pain.

"Rose?" he said it as if the name was sacred.

"Yes, that's my mother. Do you remember her?"

"How could I forget?"

"So are you going to come home then?"

"I-I can't," his voice quivered, as he said the cursed words.

"Why not?" my breath was raspy.

"I'm sorry, Koschei, but I am not your Father."

"Oh come on, Dad! This is not something you can joke about. Normally I would laugh, but this is a much more serious situation." No movement was made. No smile that usually came after a joke. I wanted to run up and hug him to death, but quickly found I could not move my feet.

"I'm not joking, Koschei. If you'll just sit down, I'll explain everything to you."

"There's no need. If you don't want to come home, just say it." I could feel my eyes stinging.

"No, no Koschei. That's not it at all. I would love more than anything to see your mum again, I am sorry. I am so, so sorry, but I am not your Dad," he said with true sincerity. The man slowly walked toward me, as if trying not to scare a skittish animal.

"What do you mean you're not my dad? You look exactly like him."

"If you'll just sit down, I'll explain everything." The man gently put his hands on my shoulders.

"Alright. But first, tell me who you are."

"My name is The Doctor. I'm a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey and your Father is a Time Lord-Human mete-crisis of me."

"That's what Mum said. That's all she said," I sighed, looking down a bit.

"What do you mean 'that's all she said'?"

"That's all she said about Time Lords," I cleared up.

"You mean... she's never mentioned me?"

"No. Not if you aren't my dad." His eyes gained a far away look, before he seemed to shake himself out of the mood and draw a curious expression.

"How old are you?"

"I'm seven years old."

"Seven? Almost old enough to go to the academy...."

"What academy?" I questioned.

"Oh, nothing. Just an old Time Lord thing. So, Koschei. Why were you named that?"

"My dad said he named me after his best friend." His eyes gained that faraway look again. Drawing in a breath, he spoke again.

"Well let's go find your Mother again, shall we?"

"I have to pick up her pain killers first, though." His eyebrows drew together in concern. It was that look Dad always got when he was trying to hold back tears.

"Pain killers. Why do you need pain killers?"

"Mum's very sick. Apparently she got some alien virus... and it's very deadly to humans." His expression got worse, and it seemed as if he was in pain himself.

"Let's go pick up her pain killers and then we'll go see her."

"You still haven't explained anything to me."

"Well then, figured out my trick, didn't you," he said, smiling a bit.

"Avoidance tactic? Mum does it all the time."

"Yeah, basically. Come on, I'll tell you on the way."

. . . .

"I met your Mum in Henrik's Department Store. There was an alien invasion. I saved her life and she saved mine in return, in more ways then one. As hard, as it is for me to admit, I fell in love with her. Don't tell her though," he added as an afterthought. "We got separated while saving the world. She got trapped in a parallel universe, and the walls were sealed for good. But, my impossible Rose Tyler, she came back anyway. Unfortunately for me, my friend Donna accidentally created a Time Lord-Human mete-crisis of myself. One that would age like a regular human. I wanted Rose to have a normal with me, so I left her and my mete-crisis in this universe," he finished.

"Now he's dead," I replied sadly.

"What?"

"My Dad, he's dead." I looked down at the concrete beneath my feet.

"I'm so sorry."

"It's alright, it was a year ago. I'm over it now," I was obviously lying, but the Doctor decided not to press the matter. "This is where we pick up Mum's pain killers." We walked into the almost empty structure. There was a nice looking lady behind the counter.

"Hello," she said, as we came in. "What can I do for you?"

"My name is Koschei Tyler, I've come to pick up some pain killers for my Mum, Rose Tyler. I have a note here from her doctor saying I can pick them up." I pulled the paper from my pocket and handed it to the nice lady. She read the note, and afterwards looked up at me and smiled.

"Alright then, Mr. Tyler, if you'll just excuse me, I'll go and get the pain killers." Then she walked into the back, smile still bright on her face.

. . . .

We walked into my Mum's flat, only to hear coughing. When the terrible fit was over, I heard my Mum's wonderful voice.

"Koschei, is that you?" her voice sounded hoarse. But even worse, she sounded fearful and in pain. I quickly ran into her room.

"Mum!" I called, holding the bag from the pharmacy in my hand.

What I saw, I will never, ever forget.