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isabrella898/4759 words by isabrella
Chapter: 2/4
Fandom: Doctor Who (2005)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Donna Noble & Amy Pond
Characters: Thirteenth Doctor, Twelfth Doctor, Eleventh Doctor, Yasmin Khan, Sarah Jane Smith, Bill Potts, Martha Jones, Amy Pond (Doctor Who), Donna Noble
Additional Tags: Humor, Case Fic, Canon Compliant, four times fic, Companions helping other companions, Fandom Trumps Hate 2021
On SqWA / Tumblr.
Chapter summary:
3. Yaz and the (Thirteenth) Doctor run into Bill and Heather on an alien planet and the Doctor takes them for a spin.
Set in between seasons 12 and 13. The Doctor and Yaz run into Bill and Heather after the Doctor takes Yaz on a sightseeing trip to a beautiful alien planet.
This is technically canon compliant, in the way that most Doctor Who fic is canon compliant if you squint.
It is implied that Yaz is romantically interested in the Doctor but it's unclear if this is reciprocated.
"Oi, look at this!" Yaz calls, pointing to where the waves are lapping at the shoreline. The Doctor abandons her inspection of the – possibly sentient – sand granules and bounds over.
"Wow," she says admiringly. The waves buff the sand just right so that it forms a gentle, sparkling curve, like a sheet of glass. As they watch, the sand begins to shape itself into a miniature landscape, millions of single-celled organisms communicating to form a cohesive whole.
"Man, I never knew so many things could be alive," Yaz marvels.
"It is pretty incredible," the Doctor says, pushing her hair out of her face. "But it's getting late…." The two suns are setting in unison on opposite sides of the planet, casting a dull orange glow over the land and scattering long, half-hearted shadows on both sides of the Doctor. Yaz thinks it might be one of the most beautiful planets yet, but then again, she thinks that about most of them.
"We should get back," Yaz agrees. She's told herself she has to get back to work on Earth tomorrow… but knowing the Doctor, they'll probably end up landing on the other side of Sheffield five minutes before she's due at the precinct.
The Doctor heads up the beach, feet slipping and sliding in the mercurial sand, arms out and coat flapping. Yaz follows suit, catching up as she ascends over the grassy knoll adjoining the beach. The Doctor shakes her feet over the sand and watches the sand particles jump off her feet, back onto the beach. Yaz does the same, then pulls on her socks and boots.
They're almost back at the TARDIS, Yaz ribbing the Doctor about her below-average TARDIS navigation skills, when the Doctor stops short. Two (apparently) humans are standing outside the box. The taller one has a hand on the door. Yaz's breathing stills – humans on an empty planet almost always mean trouble, or at least an adventure. Maybe Yaz can fit in a few more tomorrows before her shift on Earth.
"Hello?" Yaz calls out. The woman touching the door jumps, turning around.
"Hi," she says. "Do you know where the man who owns this is?"
The Doctor steps around Yaz before she can say anything. "It's me. Bill," she says, voice a little tight. "Not a man," she adds.
"Not a man indeed!" Bill's jaw drops dramatically open, then she flings her arms around the Doctor. "Nice upgrade," she says, leaning back and letting the Doctor go, nodding her head around to see the Doctor from every angle.
"That's what I always say," the Doctor says, mouth turned up in a grin that doesn't quite reach her eyes.
"And who's this?" Bill adds, locking eyes with Yaz.
"Ah, forgetting my manners," the Doctor says. "Bill, Heather, this is Yaz. Yaz, Bill, and Heather." Bill looks her up and down, somewhere between judgemental and flirty. Yaz flushes.
"I used to travel with the Doctor too," Bill says, like it might be a loaded topic. The Doctor can't seem to figure out who to look at.
Yaz nods, eyes flickering between Bill and the Doctor too.
Yaz and Bill naturally congregate together. In the meantime, the Doctor shows Heather how some parts of the TARDIS have been updated, and Heather teases her, "I could still drive this with my eyes closed."
Yaz laughs, turning to look at Bill. Yaz doesn't know her well, but if she knows anything, it's how to read people. She seems saddened by their encounter.
Bill glances between Yaz and the Doctor for a moment. "You love her, don't you?" she blurts out, then winces. "Sorry, I can be pretty direct."
Yaz freezes, her mouth half-open in an aborted reply. She swallows and gathers her thoughts, a flush rising to her cheeks. "I- Maybe. She's, like, the best person I've ever met."
Bill tilts her head in the Doctor's direction. She's now showing Heather the custard cream dispenser with an infectious laugh. "I don't know if I would've been immune to that, if the Doctor had been a woman when I met her," she says pensively.
Feeling a slight flush of jealousy, Yaz swallows and says, "What was she like… before?"
Bill laughs. "Oh, a rugged old Scottish man. Much grouchier."
Yaz tries and fails to imagine this. She can't see the Doctor any way other than she is right now. Although the grouchy old man thing… she can maybe see that. The Doctor can be prone to snappishness, in certain situations.
"Hard to picture, isn't it? I never in a million years would've thought of the Doctor like this," Bill says.
Yaz just nods. Something is swimming under the surface of Bill's conversation, but Yaz can't quite work out what it is.
Bill stands up, patting Yaz's knee as she does. "You know… there's a lot of women in the universe. They might not take you across all of time and space, but they might be fun anyway."
Yaz doesn't have a good response to that. Bill's words hit uncomfortably close to home. Bill shrugs, hands up near her shoulders, mouth half-turned down.
The Doctor spins around from the console, grinning widely. "One last trip, then, Bill?"
Bill's face splits into an equally manic grin, and she jumps down to the TARDIS console.
"You know it, Doctor," she says, turning to beckon Yaz down too. "Surprise me."
