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The Doctor stands at the console, drumming her fingers against the surface and breathing through her nose.
Her first tea at Yaz's...as her girlfriend.
She blows the air out of her cheeks. She almost missed this chance. She almost blew the chance to be Yasmin Khan's girlfriend.
She thinks back to how she sat on that beach with Yaz and told her that she couldn't fix herself to her.
That had lasted until Dan figured out what happened. He'd sat her down and very politely ripped her a new one. That, and seeing Yaz so heartbroken over it had finally gotten through to her.
And now, time to meet the parents. Hence her anxiety.
Footsteps on the stairs announce Yaz's arrival. "Ready to go?" she asks.
The Doctor exhales and nods.
Yaz laughs and wraps an arm around the Doctor's waist as they head out. "You look terrified," she says. "It'll be fine. My family loves you. Especially my dad. Though I think that's just because you like his cooking."
"I do like your dad's cooking!" the Doctor protests.
"Coming from the one who's eaten soil and bone dust..."
"All right, all right. Point taken."
They take the lift up to the flat and walk inside.
"Doctor!" Hakim calls out. "Good to see you!"
The Doctor shakes his hand, trying to remember how to do social interaction.
"Dad, let her get settled, at least," Yaz says.
"Fine, fine," Hakim says. "I'm making food, then."
Yaz takes the Doctor's coat and hangs it up, then leads her into the living room. The two of them sit on the sofa, completely ignored by Sonya, who's curled up in a chair and texting.
"What, not even a 'hi, loser'?" Yaz says.
Sonya sniffles but doesn't look up.
The Doctor hasn't spoken to Sonya that often, but she knows that this is unlike her. A quick glance at Yaz confirms it.
"What's going on?" Yaz asks, quietly, so their parents don't hear.
"It's Rowan," Sonya says. "Things are getting real bad, Yaz."
"Who's Rowan?" the Doctor asks.
"My friend, Rowan," Sonya says. "He's come out to his parents, and…they're not taking it very well."
The Doctor still doesn't understand and turns to Yaz for help.
"Sonya has a friend who's a transgender man," Yaz says. "Assigned female at birth, but actually a man. And his parents are…bad."
"They're massive fucking bigots, is what they are," Sonya snaps.
"Sonya!" Najia's voice comes from the kitchen. "Language!"
Sonya rolls her eyes. "Sorry, mum."
"So what do you mean, it's gotten bad?" Yaz asks.
"They've cut him off from all of us," Sonya says. "His only support network. We had to sneak him a burner phone. His dad beat the shit out of him a couple of weeks ago. And now they're talking about sending him to conversion therapy."
The Doctor still doesn't quite get it. "Yaz?"
Yaz sighs. "Right now, there's this...hysteria going on about transgender people," she says. "It's not really seen as socially acceptable to attack gay people anymore, so they've moved on to attacking transgender people."
The Doctor curls her lip. "That's awful," she says.
"Yeah," Yaz agrees. "These people are so disgusted with themselves that they have to take it out on innocent people who are just trying to live their lives." She turns back to Sonya. "Is there a plan to get him out?"
Sonya nods. "He's got mates in London who are willing to hide him until he's of legal age," she says. "But none of us can get him there."
The Doctor and Yaz share a look. "I think you'll find that we can," Yaz says.
Sonya frowns at the two of them. "What?"
"Girls? Food's ready!"
"Meet us outside after we go," Yaz says. "We'll tell you everything."
"Okay, so what's the big secret?" Sonya says as she walks up to them, tugging her coat around herself to protect against the chill.
Yaz smiles conspiratorially. "We can get Rowan to London," she says.
"I mean, yeah, I'd think so, considering you two are always off traveling," Sonya says. "But the problem is getting there and back with as few people as possible noticing. Preferably so we can all have alibis when his parents decide to be cunts about not being able to abuse their kid anymore."
Yaz nods at the Doctor, who opens the door of the TARDIS.
Sonya's mouth falls open. "What the—"
"Go on," Yaz says. "Step inside."
Sonya follows the two of them into the TARDIS. "I don't get it," she says, looking around.
"It's a spaceship," Yaz says. "And a time machine."
Sonya looks at her, eyes wide. "How?"
"The Doctor's an alien," Yaz says. "It's her ship."
"You're kidding," Sonya says, whirling around to look at the Doctor. "She's kidding, right?"
The Doctor shakes her head. "Nope," she says. "One hundred percent alien here."
She throws a switch on the console. "But let's save that discussion for later. Right now, I need your mate's address so we can go get him."
A few minutes later, they land on a street corner, surrounded by opulent houses.
"Follow me," Sonya says in a hushed voice, pulling her hood over her head and a mask over her face.
"Thanks for doing this," Yaz whispers to the Doctor they follow Sonya.
The Doctor nods. "You know, by human standards, I'd be considered transgender," she says.
"Yeah, you've said you used to be a man."
"It's not quite the same," the Doctor says. "Because I became a woman when I regenerated, not because I transitioned. But I don't really have a gender the way humans see them, so I guess that would make me some kind of nonbinary."
Yaz says, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. "I love you," she says. She gasps and points to the window. "There! The signal!"
The Doctor hangs back as Yaz hurries to join her sister, climbing a short ladder to get to Rowan's window.
Sonya pokes her head out. "Doctor! Catch!"
The Doctor holds her arms out just in time to catch a large duffel bag.
Next, a young man with bright blue hair poking out from underneath a black hoodie climbs down the ladder. He looks at the Doctor with the fear of someone running for his life.
"It's going to be all right," the Doctor says as she hands him the bag. "Make a right turn as soon as you get over the garden wall. Look for the blue police box."
Rowan hesitates.
"I promise you'll be safe," the Doctor says, because she's just heard a door open inside the house and she needs to get him out of here as soon as possible. "Yaz and Sonya will explain. Just go."
Sonya lands on the ground beside them and grabs Rowan's arm. "For real," she says. "Go!"
Yaz emerges next.
The Doctor definitely hears footsteps. She looks at Yaz, holding her gaze. "Get the TARDIS ready for takeoff," she says. "If I'm not there in five minutes, or if you hear someone else trying to get in, take off. Land at your flat and I'll come get you."
A yell sounds from inside the house.
Yaz nods and takes off running.
The Doctor turns and squares her shoulders, preparing for the onslaught.
A man who looks like a large thumb and a woman who looks like she'd be the picture beside the term Karen emerge from the house.
"Who are you?" the man bellows. "And what have you done with our daughter?"
The Doctor's hackles rise, but she does her best to stay calm. "I'm the Doctor," she says sweetly, hands folded in front of her. "And I'm here to help rescue your son."
The man takes a threatening step foward.
"Move out of the way."
"No." The Doctor stands firm, feet plated, hands folded in front of her. She's a good head shorter than him but she doesn't falter for a second. One thing that absolutely infuriates her about humans is how they cling to these disgusting prejudices. She decked a man in the face in her last body for being racist to Bill, and she thinks it's about time she extends that courtesy to other bigotries.
"We are not letting you take our dau—"
"Your son," the Doctor says, placing careful emphasis on the word, "is going somewhere safe, where he can live and thrive without the unbearable weight of your mindless, despicable ignorance."
"Don't you dare talk to me like that," the father snarls.
"I'll talk to you however I choose," the Doctor says. "And right now, I choose to talk to you like you're an ignorant fool who's so obsessed with clinging onto your bigotry, so terrified of anything different than you, that you'd rather kill your son than see him happy."
"He's not our son," the mother says.
"Damn right, he's not," the Doctor retorts. "You don't deserve him. And I hope, every single day for the rest of your lives, you have to live with how you utterly failed as parents."
"We'll find her," the father snarls. "We'll find her and we'll bring her back."
The Doctor takes a big step forward, and even though she has to crane her neck to meet his gaze, the man flinches. "No, you won't," she says. "You'll never see him again. Because I'll stop you. Every time." She whips out her sonic then and points it at the garden lights. One by one, they explode, spitting sparks into the air and plunging the garden into darkness.
The Doctor takes advantage of their shock and runs for it. Not because she's scared of them—she knows in her hearts that they, like all transphobes, are cowards—but because she wants to make sure that they make a clean getaway. She wants Rowan to never have to see these people again.
The TARDIS is ready for takeoff as she charges through the doors. The Doctor nods to Rowan, who's in typical TARDIS-induced shock, and runs to join Yaz at the console. "Next stop, London!"
They land without incident and there's much tears and hugging when Rowan's mates realize he's there. They grab his duffel bag, filled with all the things he could grab before fleeing—and bring it into the house.
Rowan turns to face the Doctor. "I don't understand how you did it," he says. "But you did, and I…I don't have words to express how grateful I am." He offers a hand.
The Doctor shakes his hand. "You take of yourself, okay?" she says. "Live a great life."
"I will. Thanks again."
The Doctor watches him disappear into the house and turns to the two women in the doorway of the TARDIS. "Well?" she says. "Shall we get back before anyone realizes we're gone?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Najia snaps as she storms out of her bedroom, phone pressed to her ear. "Both of my daughters have been home all night. And from what I understand, you're just calling everyone that your son—yes, I said son and you can bloody well cope with it—associated with and threatening them. I'm going to hang up now, save all of the texts and voicemails you've sent me, and if you make even the slightest attempt to contact me after I've blocked your number, I will file charges for harassment."
The three of them hear muffled shouting on the other end of the line.
"You've got no one to blame but yourselves," Najia growls. "These are the consequences of your actions. Deal with it." She ends the call and tosses the phone onto the table. Then she turns to face the three of them. "You didn't have anything to do with Rowan disappearing tonight, did you?"
"Mum, how on Earth are we supposed to get from Sheffield to London and back before you even noticed we're gone?" Sonya says, the picture of innocence.
Najia's eyes flicker from her, to Yaz, to the Doctor, narrowing slightly as she looks at the Doctor. "At least he's safe," she says. "That's all that matters." She walks over and kisses Sonya's cheek.
"Ugh, mum!" Sonya complains.
Najia chuckles and does the same to Yaz, lingering ever so slightly on her. "I love you," she whispers. "No matter what, okay?"
Yaz knows that she's talking about her relationship with the Doctor, and however she might choose to label her sexuality because of it. "Love you, too, mum."
Najia stands in front of the Doctor. "I still don't understand you," she says. "But my daughter loves you, and that's good enough." And then she kisses the Doctor's cheek as well before she heads off to her bedroom.
Yaz can't help but laugh at the stunned expression on the Doctor's face. "C'mon," she says, taking her girlfriend's hand. "I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."
Sonya raises an eyebrow. "Exhausted," she says. "Sure."
"Fine," Yaz retorts. "I'm going to go have sex with my girlfriend. Weirdo."
Sonya snorts. "You're shagging an alien and I'm the weirdo?"
"Shut up."