You Are Not Alone: The Search For The Other Time Lords (Doctor Who fanfiction) - Chapter 2

Note: this chapter happens after my fic The Once And Future Time Lord, so you may want to read that if you haven't already (you don't have to read it to understand this chapter, but it does help).

Chapters: 1 2

"You're not the only one."
"Well, yeah, there's you and River..."
"No, I mean besides us."
The Doctor jumped up in shock. "What do you mean?!"
"I'm getting all sorts of readings, all over the universe," Jenny told him, pointing to her watch.
"Does that mean..." the Doctor hardly dared hope. "Does that mean we can find them?"
"We can certainly try," Jenny told him. "So," she said, smiling eagerly, "you ready?"
"You bet," said the Doctor, going to the console.
"Wait!" Jenny said, and the Doctor turned to face her. "Can I drive?"
"Do you even have a liscence?"
"Do you?"
The Doctor sighed. "Oh, all right, but if you get us lost or hurt or anything like that..."
"I won't," Jenny insisted, flipping switches.
"...it will be your fault."
"You don't need to worry about me, Daddy. I'm perfectly capable."

What ensued was a rather rough ride, but the Doctor restrained his chastisement, as they did reach their destination safely.
"So, where are we?" the Doctor asked, walking to the door.
"I don't know," Jenny admitted. "I just punched in the coordinates on the watch; I don't know what they mean. Why don't we find out?" she asked, raising her eyebrows and grinning.
"You first," the Doctor said.
***
Arthur honestly didn't know how he survived these council meetings. Oh, right - he had Merlin. They would always make faces at each other across the round table. In anyone else, such behavior would be frowned upon, but Arthur was the king, so nobody could stop him. And Merlin was the Court Warlock (Arthur had wanted to call him the Court Sorcerer, but Merlin had insisted on "Warlock" as it was the correct term), so he was an important person, too. Even with the incessant face-making, Arthur was getting bored out of his mind. But he didn't have to be. Not for long, anyway.

A whooshing sound got the attention of the council members. The man who had been speaking stopped midsentence. They all turned to find the source of the noise - and saw a strange blue box materialize.

"Sorcery!" a council member cried.
"You do remember that sorcery is legal now, I hope."
"Oh," the man said sheepishly. They could have gotten into an argument about the controversy of that decision (it was a rather frequent occurrence; Merlin wondered that Arthur didn't just fire all the magic-haters, but Arthur insisted that he couldn't just get rid of all who opposed him), but thankfully they were interrupted again.

Jenny stepped out tentatively, looking around. She gasped and her eyes went wide. All the things that she had meant to say disappeared with the realization that she was here with King Arthur, and Merlin!
"Greetings, fair maiden!" said Arthur, breaking the silence. "What brings you here, and how did you come? Camelot could make great use of such magic." Jenny opened her mouth, but was still too startled to speak. "Are you mute, milady? Can you perhaps write for us, that we may know what you desire to say?"
"Oh, she can speak just fine, she's just a little nervous," the Doctor said, stepping out of the TARDIS. After a few seconds, he realized who he was meeting, and wonder struck him.
"You seem surprised to see us. Have you not heard of Camelot?"
"Oh, give them a break, Arthur," Merlin broke in. Arthur glared at Merlin, but said nothing. "Sorry about him, he's still not used to visitors. I'm Merlin, by the way," he said, shaking the travelers' hands.

"But... you're so young!" Jenny said.
"Jenny, you've seen me; you can't honestly say..."
Jenny laughed. "Good point, Doctor." (she almost called him "Daddy", but thought better of it) Jenny shook Merlin's hand, then Arthur's. "I'm Jenny, and this is the Doctor. Sorry about uh... momentarily being unable to speak earlier. See, we have heard of Camelot... quite a lot, actually... and we were just surprised to actually get here." Jenny gave the Doctor a questioning look.
Picking up on the cue, the Doctor took over. "We are... travelers. We came from a long way. We are looking for someone, but we didn't know exactly who we were looking for, just that our... transportation would take us to them."
"What sort of person are you looking for?" asked Arthur suspiciously, gesturing for Gwaine and Percival to stand next to the "travelers" (just to be safe).
Jenny opened her mouth to speak, but the Doctor beat her to it. "I'm not sure you would know that of which we speak."
"Sorry, he's really condescending," Jenny whispered to Merlin.
"Trust me, I know the type," Merlin replied, looking at Arthur. Jenny giggled, until Arthur glared at the both of them.

"How can I know that of which you speak if you will not speak of it?" Arthur asked.
But before the Doctor could start with some lengthy circumlocution, Jenny spoke. "We're looking for a Time Lord." The room collectively gasped. "So you do know what a Time Lord is."
"Before we go any further," the Doctor interjected, "I should point out that we mean no harm. I am a Time Lord, and my daughter here is half-Time Lord, half-human." Jenny shot the Doctor a curious look.
"What do you want with this Time Lord?" Arthur asked, still suspicious."
"We are merely looking for our kin. Dad thought all his kind were gone, but I found otherwise. See, I got this sort of... locator thing... and it helps me find people with Time Lord DNA." She looked at their blank faces. "It helps me find other people like me and my dad." The confusion disappeared. The people of Camelot said nothing, unsure of what to do.

"Fine, I can do it this way, too," Jenny said, pressing a button on her watch. She walked around the room. She stopped when she reached Merlin. "Interesting reading, but not what we're looking for."
"I'm a warlock. I have magic," he said.
"Ah, that explains it," Jenny replied, smiling brightly.
"You... you don't hate me?" Merlin asked.
"Of course not! Why would I?" Jenny continued walking the room. She stopped again when she reached Arthur.
"Yes, it's me," Arthur acknowledged, standing up. "If you were looking for traveling companions, I'm afraid you'll be sorely disappointed."
Jenny shook her head. "That may be, but we are still delighted to have met you. Come, Daddy, we've got many more people to meet. He's not the only one giving off a signal, you know. We've got the whole universe!" She skipped towards the TARDIS, but she soon stopped. "Can I?" she asked the Doctor.
"Can you what?" Jenny leaned over and whispered in his ear. The Doctor's eyes widened and a smile crept onto his face. "Now why didn't I think of that?"
"Because you're all full of Time Lord pompousness with no human genius?"
"Careful, Jenny, I do believe they have stocks here, and I'm sure Arthur wouldn't mind if I wanted to put you in them for a little while," the Doctor said jokingly. Jenny just rolled her eyes and walked into the TARDIS.

"Isn't that a little small for the both of you?" Arthur asked.
"Oh, I'm sure they've got some sort of spell on it, Arthur," Merlin said. "It's probably bigger on the inside." The Doctor nodded, smiling.

Jenny returned a few minutes later with the psychic paper and a piece of parchment. She passed the parchment to Merlin. "Use this to communicate with us," she told him.
"What spell does it need?" he asked.
Jenny shook her head. "It's already got a magic on it. Just write on it, and it'll work. Try it now."
Merlin looked doubtful, but he dipped a quill in ink and wrote a message. Hello, Jenny. Nice to meet you. The ink disappeared from the parchment and the message appeared on the psychic paper. "And we can respond, too," Jenny said. "Nice to meet you, too, Merlin," she said, holding the psychic paper. (She said this only for effect; all she had to do was think it.) The message disappeared from the psychic paper and appeared on the parchment. "So if you ever need to get ahold of us - or just want to keep in touch - you know what to do." Merlin and Arthur nodded and smiled, and they waved as the Doctor and Jenny went into the TARDIS and disappeared.
***
"So, what do you think of Merlin?" Jenny asked.
The Doctor shrugged. "He seems like a decent man, I suppose. Why do you ask?" Jenny stared at him, as if the answer was obvious. "Oh! You're... you're in love with him?"
"Don't say that like it's shameful! Yes, I may possibly have a tiny bit of a crush. He's smart, gorgeous, magical (literally)..."
"Yes, I get the idea," the Doctor interrupted. "So who's next?"
"Isn't one love at a time enough?" Jenny asked. "Oh, you mean who's the next Time Lord?" She blushed.
"We're about to find out," Jenny said, turning dials.
"Can you try not to get us killed this time?" the Doctor asked.
"My driving was perfectly satisfactory," Jenny insisted.
"Yes, for a dead body!"
"Shut up!"
"Make me."
Jenny just rolled her eyes and kept working.