Fixed in Time (Doctor Who Fanfiction)

Koschei and the Doctor

It wasn't long before the Doctor and I became close friends. I played with him during our break time every day at school. Eventually I told him why I had been upset the day we met, especially the fact that I was half human. I'd noticed that the kids my age didn't care that much about my mixed species DNA as the adults did, and the Doctor wasn't bothered by it at all. He treated me the same open way he treated everyone else.

Apart from the Doctor, I did have a few other friends, mainly girls, but none of them as close to me as the Doctor was. The Doctor's best friend was a dark haired boy called Koschei, and often the three of us would hang out together, playing or chatting. Koschei was a little strange, almost the opposite of the Doctor as he loved playing tricks on people and was generally mischievous, but they were still best friends. Although I was his friend as well, Koschei's original reaction to me was quite mean.

"This is my friend Susan." The Doctor had introduced me to him, and I'd given a shy wave.

Koschei looked at me with scorn. "Isn't that a human name?" he spat.

"It's a name my father liked." I replied, crossing my arms defiantly.

"He's an idiot then." Koschei retorted.

"Stop it Koschei." The Doctor warned. "Susan is my friend."

Koschei looked between the two of us. "You're friends with someone like her?"

"Yes." The Doctor answered, crossing his arms stubbornly.

Koschei then sighed. "Alright then. Nice to meet you Susan." He gave me a gesture of welcome.

Koschei's father owned a large estate near the mountains of Perdition, and outside of school the three of us would play on his field's there, just running around and enjoying each other's friendship.

One such day we were lying down together there, holding hands in a circle on the grass.

I was almost seven years old, and the boys were almost eight, so they would be going through time lord initiation during the next year.

"What do you think the time vortex is like?" the Doctor asked as we stared up at the darkening orange sky.

"I don't know." I replied, somewhat sadly. "And I never will."

"Oh, don't talk like that Susan." Koschei said to me assuredly. "We'll find some way to smuggle you in and then you can see it at the same time as us."

"That would be awesome." I laughed at his enthusiasm. I knew in my heart though, that that would never happen, as I'd accepted by now that I would never be a time lord, but merely a plebeian who went about the everyday work of a normal Gallifreyan.

We lay in the pastures a while more and then Koschei's mother called us back to the house. As we walked, the Doctor started talking about regeneration, a subject I tended to avoid.

"Isn't it cool, how we get to live thirteen times?" he started, with elaborate hand gestures towards both Koschei and I.

Koschei nodded enthusiastically and launched into some story about Rassilon and the grand way he spent his thirteen lives.

I just stared quietly at the ground. This subject was not one I enjoyed talking about, ever. The Doctor didn't know that of course, it was something I'd kept from him, not wanting to be left out, rejected.

"What do you think your next regeneration will be like, Susan?" the attention was unfortunately turned to me.

I tried to act distracted, as I ran my hand through my hair nervously and my eyes shot from side to side.

"Hum, well, I don't know." I mumbled my eventual answer, still not looking straight at the boys. "I like this body so much, I never really want to change."

The Doctor furrowed his brow, glancing at me worriedly, but thankfully Koschei created a distraction before anything more could be said about me.

"Well I'd love to change!" he rambled. "I mean, this body is so boring. I'm so small and my hair is weird and it would be so cool to try out different bodies."

The Doctor laughed at him. "You're not even eight yet! How can you say your body is boring already?"

Koschei laughed too, then smiled deviously.

We reached his house, had a bite to eat at his mother's insistence, then the Doctor and I headed off down the incredibly long front lawn. We were both being picked up by my mother out of the front gates

As soon as we were out of sight of Koschei's insistent waving, the Doctor turned to me.

"Why don't you like talking about regeneration?" he interrogated me.

I bit my lip worriedly, neglecting to answer as I stared at the Doctor in silence.

"I didn't want to ask you before, because of Koschei, but can you tell me now?" he continued in exasperation.

I knew it wasn't fair to keep secrets from him, so I gave in. "I only have one heart." I mumbled quietly.

I was obviously too quiet, because the Doctor didn't hear me.

"What?" he asked, eyebrows creased.

"I only have one heart!" I snapped, looking him right in the eyes.

The look on his face showed everything. "Oh." Was his eventual shocked response.

I stared down at the ground in shame. The reason my one heart was such a shocking thing was that other Gallifreyans had two. This binary vascular system (as having two hearts is called) enables a Gallifreyan who is dying to heal their body completely and cheat death, at the cost of a new body. Gallifreyans, and time lords as they are basically the same thing, can 'regenerate' twelve times, giving them thirteen bodies and lives. Because I only had one heart I would never be able to regenerate. I only had one life.

"I'm sorry." The Doctor said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "That's horrible."

I nodded, tears somehow finding their way out of my eyes. The Doctor quickly pulled me into a hug and I cried into his chest.

I instantly pulled back, ashamed of my own weakness, and wiped my face furiously with my sleeve.

"Never mind that, though." I told him, and then we stood awkwardly in silence for a while, before my mum turned up and took each of us home.

I next saw the Doctor at school lessons. I had decided to act like nothing had happened, as if I'd never cried or told him about my one heart. I was just a kid, and not at all prepared for any kind of drama. He followed suit, and we shifted back to our usual easy friendship.

The year after that passed with a few significant changes. The Doctor became increasingly more popular, my mother signed me up for a rudimentary Gallifreyan education course, and Koschei and the Doctor both turned eight years old and were approaching their day of initiation.

I was incredibly depressed at the fact that soon they would be going to the time lord Academy situated inside the Capitol, while I would be left behind. It wasn't fair, not one bit.

As the days to their initiation drew closer, I began to spiral downwards into sadness, not wanting the life I had ahead of me.

It seemed that there was no hope for me at all.
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Hmm, so here Susan meets Koschei and we're building up to initiation. What do you guys know of time lord society? The show teaches us a bit bit theres still so much more to wonder about. I hope the way I write it is acceptable.

Thanks for reading :)