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Bill stepped into the Doctor’s office with a smile on her face. She couldn’t help but feel like for once in her life, everything seemed to be going right. Adventures in the TARDIS with the Doctor, her lessons with him, making new friends from the university, and finding a new place to live where she would finally be free from her foster mum, free to make her own home.
Bill glanced over the office, but on finding the Doctor absent, she walked over to the TARDIS and knocked on the door. “Hey, it’s me,” she said.
A moment later the door creaked open and the Doctor’s smiling face appeared. “Hello!” He left the door open and walked over to the console. “You’re early.”
“Yeah, I wanted to ask you a question.”
The Doctor turned and leaned back against the console, bracing his arms against the edge. His eyebrows were raised in expectation.
“Could you…help me out a bit with something?”
His eyebrows dropped and furrowed over his eyes as he asked, “What sort of something?”
Bill hesitated. She had been considering his reaction to her request all day. She didn’t think he’d be mad, just offended, saying, “The TARDIS isn’t a moving van, Bill.”
But she had to try. And the Doctor often surprised her, anyway.
“Remember how I told you my mate Shireen and I were looking for a place to live with some friends?”
“Ah, yes. The plight of too little money and too little space.” He patted the edge of the console. “That’s why I have the TARDIS.”
“Well,” Bill said, crossing her arms over her chest, “we actually found a pretty cool house. It’s got tons of space and the price is perfect.” The Doctor nodded, obviously waiting for the part where he came in. “I was…well, sort of wondering if you could help me move my stuff.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “You mean use the TARDIS?”
Bill shrugged. “Yeah. I don’t really have any way to move it all, and my foster mum’s gone all week…” She trailed off and looked at the ground. She wasn’t sure why she hated asking the Doctor to do this; maybe it was because he had done so much for her already. He had completely turned her life upside down in the best way imaginable.
“Of course I’ll help.”
Bill looked up at him and saw a warm look in his eyes. It was a look he gave her seldom, but whenever he did, it reminded her just how much he really cared. “You will?”
He turned around and began managing the controls. “There’s no need for you to walk across London carrying armloads of boxes when the TARDIS could carry it in no time at all.” He glanced over at her. “Literally.”
Bill grinned at him. “Thank you!” She stared at the moving column in the centre of the console as the TARDIS began to make its noise. “Where are we going?”
He pointed at her. “Your place.”
“I don’t have everything packed yet. I’m not moving into the house for a couple more days.”
“Yes, but I need to know where to land.” The TARDIS announced its arrival with its telltale racket and the Doctor strode out the doors.
Bill followed him outside and found herself in her room back home. She had been going to inquire about the Doctor’s statement, but a much more pressing matter came to her mind.
“You know where I live?” She looked back at the TARDIS, and then at the Doctor. “You know the exact coordinates of my room?”
Completely ignoring her, the Doctor looked at the TARDIS. “Is that a good spot?”
She was not letting him get away with this. “Doctor?” she insisted, standing in front of him and giving him a hard stare.
He sighed. “I may have…checked up on you.”
Bill raised her eyebrows, waiting for more.
He finally met her gaze, his eyes wide and innocent. “I needed to make sure there weren’t any side effects after what happened with Heather.”
Bill pushed the incident from her mind and instead focused on the Doctor’s words. “So you, what, scanned me with the screwdriver without my permission?”
“I didn’t actually do anything, I was just making sure you were okay!” he said, spreading his arms wide to emphasise the statement.
“Just that once, then?”
His eyes shifted away from hers.
Bill sighed. “Doctor, I know you’re used to aliens and danger and everything, but you don’t have to protect me every second of every day. I’m okay on my own.”
“I know.” His jaw tensed and he let out a sigh through his nose before continuing. “Bill, this world is more dangerous than you could ever imagine, and I make it even more dangerous still. When people travel with me…”
Bill swallowed, wondering how many people had traveled with him before. “It doesn’t end well,” she finished, finding the words in his eyes.
“I’ll keep you safe.” His expression was more sincere than she thought she had ever seen it. “I promise.” His eyes shifted past her and he nodded at the TARDIS. “Is that a good spot?” he asked, repeating the question from earlier.
Bill let his words sink in. I’ll keep you safe. No one had ever told her that before. No one had ever looked after her as faithfully as the Doctor had.
She wondered if he was a dad, or had ever been one. He would be a good father.
The Doctor gave her an expectant look, so Bill turned and looked at the TARDIS. “Good spot for what?”
“For all your things once they’re packed. I’ll materialise the TARDIS around them.”
“You can actually do that?”
“Of course I can!”
Bill looked at the TARDIS again. “Yeah, that’s a good spot. I’ll just stack everything up there, then?”
The Doctor nodded once. “Yes. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Bill grinned over at him, though he was still looking at the TARDIS, She nudged his arm with her elbow. “You know, you’re the best tutor ever.”