Timing is Everything: A Doctor Who Fanfiction

one

After traveling back to Earth in a TARDIS that was not her own, the Doctor found it was quite nice to lean on her own TARDIS' console, and just think. She hadn't had any time to process what had happened yet, and thus was taking this quiet moment to do so.

The first thing that came to her mind was the fact that she was the Timeless Child. She was the child that everyone spoke of, but knew nothing about. She was also technically part of the reason that Gallifrey had been destroyed.

Yes, her home planet, or so she thought was her home planet before what was revealed to her today, had been destroyed. Who better to do it than her best enemy, the Master?

Of course he would, after everything that's happened to him. She still didn't know where his new regeneration came in. She had no clue about what had happened to Missy after she left her....him....that fateful day. Thus, she assumed promptly that this was who Missy had become.

The Master was no more, though. He had been destroyed along with his fleet of 'Cyber Masters,' as he had called them. She hated to think about it, but she was quite upset about the whole ordeal. Since the academy, all she had ever wanted was the best for her friend. That never happened, though.

The Doctor strangely felt barely anything for the other Time Lords that had been massacred. They were ruthless and barbaric people anyways. Plus, now she could add that they were liers to the list of atrocities. Well, most of them were horrible. Some of them were decent. You get that with any developed society.

Suddenly, a strange thought entered her mind. Why didn't the Master just kill her instead? It would have saved him a lot of time. Maybe it was because there was a piece of her in every Time Lord. If the Master had killed them for that reason, though, why didn't he kill her as well? She needed answers, but didn't know where to find them.

The Doctor shook her head and sighed, releasing herself from her thoughts. She stood up, and turned around to face the console of the TARDIS. She needed to find her friends, and make sure they were okay.

The Doctor imputed the coordinates for Sheffield into the TARDIS, and pulled the lever to dematerialize. She was sure that she would find them somewhere in the area, even if none of them were home. That's where she had sent them, after all.

~

The Doctor arrived in the middle of the vast countryside, about a couple kilometers away from where she had meant to land.

She threw her arms in the air. "Ah, wow," she said, aloud.

The Doctor hopped back into the TARDIS. She put the coordinates for the Sheffield City Centre into the console, and pulled the lever. The TARDIS make a loud whooshing noise, and dematerialized once more.

~

The TARDIS landed in the middle of a house, Graham's home, to be exact.

"Still not the right location, but this is fine," the Doctor announced, then added, "actually, this is better than fine, this is great. Now I don't have to go wandering around town, looking for them!"

She locked the door of the TARDIS, and began searching around for any sign that Graham had been home.

"Graham?" She said aloud, after a couple minutes of looking. "You home?"

There was no reply.

"Graham?" She asked again. "Anyone?"

It was still chillingly silent. The Doctor heard a noise from the door. She raced down the stairs. The door opened to reveal both Graham and Ryan.

"Graham! Ryan!" She said, relieved.

Before they had time to react, the Doctor pulled them both into a big hug. Graham and Ryan looked at each other in shock.

Graham placed a hand on the Doctor's back. "Eh, Doc, you're okay...." He responded, in a melancholic tone.

"You're still alive!" Ryan remarked, smiling slightly.

The Doctor pulled away from the hug. "Yes, remarkable, isn't it?" She replied, to both of them.

"How-" Graham tried to ask, but was interrupted.

"No time for an explanation," the Doctor paused, "Where's Yaz?" She asked, abruptly.

Ryan was quick to answer, "She said she was going home, to live a great life, like you said."

The Doctor's smile fell a little. "Oh, well that's good, isn't it?" She thought for a moment. "Yes, well at least she's safe," she paused, "at least you all are safe."

A small, thankful smile appeared on Graham. "And at least you are safe too, Doc." He pulled her into another big hug, leaving Ryan to stand there awkwardly watching the scene play out.

After a few seconds, they both pulled away from the hug. Graham's eyes were glossy. The Doctor noticed, and looked away, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Ryan interrupted the moment, "So, should we go see Yaz?"

The Doctor glanced over at him, careful not to accidentally look Graham in the eyes. "Yes, she should know that I'm okay, as soon as possible."

The Doctor nodded and motioned for her friends to follow her into the kitchen. Instead of them following along, they both just stood there, looking quite confused.

The Doctor smiled, and motioned for them to follow once more. "What are you waiting for? C'mon!"

"Um, Doc?" Graham questioned, sincerely confused.

The Doctor stood wide-eyed in the kitchen doorway. "Yeah?"

"Where are you going? Aren't we going to walk?" He asked.

The Doctor scrunched up her face. "Walk? Why would we walk? Wouldn't you rather take the TARDIS?"

Graham looked as though he had misplaced his keys. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't realize...."

"Don't apologise," the Doctor said, then motioned to the kitchen. "The TARDIS is right in here!"

Graham's eyes grew wide. "Excuse me?!" He rushed into his kitchen, and took notice of the TARDIS, just chilling in the corner.

"You better not have done any damage!" He said, trying to seem furious.

"Hey! I didn't even mean to land here!" The Doctor though for a bit. "Actually, now that I think about it, the TARDIS has been acting weird today....Maybe we should walk...."

Graham shook his head, "No, I'd fancy a trip in the TARDIS, even if it's just to Yaz's place."

"Yeah, I'd like to take the TARDIS," Ryan chimed in.

The Doctor sighed, "Alight, I guess we'll take the TARDIS." She unlocked the TARDIS, and opened the door. The light from inside spilled out as they entered.

"I know it hasn't been long at all," Graham started, "but I missed this."

"I missed this, too." Ryan added.

The Doctor didn't quite know what to say, so she stayed silent. She had missed traveling with her friends as well, but it had only been a couple of days. Maybe they were just a bit shaken up from what had happened. It wasn't much different from their normal adventures, though, except for the fact that she had almost died, and that they had been on Gallifrey. Then again, the entire fate of the universe had been in danger. She could kinda see now why they were acting so strange.

"Doc, you alright?" Graham asked, releasing the Doctor from her thoughts.

She looked to him with confusion in her expression. "Huh?" She replied, then realized what he had asked. "Sorry, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Graham let out a small chuckle. "Well, for a moment there it seemed like you were someplace else."

"Yeah, sorry. Just thinking." She then pulled the lever to dematerialize, and they were off.

~

They landed, and the Doctor basically ran to the door. When she opened it, though, her face fell. They were not anywhere close to Yaz's place, and they were definitely not on Earth.