[SNEAK PEEK] - DOCTOR WHO - MISSING SOMEONE YOU LOVE (G)

AUTHOR'S NOTES: sneak peek from a much larger and complex story, currently in its planning stage, featuring the 13th Doctor, Yasmin Khan, Kate Stewart, UNIT and a new character known as the Archivist. This excerpt could be modified once it is included within the main story.

For other notes, see the bottom of the story.

The blond woman sitting alone at the table of one of the biggest café in Millenium Square, Sheffield, wore strange clothes (a vibrant rainbow-striped shirt of an intense blue, high-waisted petrol blue trousers, gold suspenders, brown boots and rainbows socks) while a navy blue coat was draped awkwardly behind her, alongside a rainbowed scarf.

She was clearly waiting for someone or something particularly special, otherwise no one would have ever been able to see her so still for more than a few seconds at a time, bustling with energy and projects and things to do that would have normally drained a normal person’s energy for at least a month. Not in her case, though, so the fact she was so still - a part for drumming the fingers of her right hand on the table next to her - was very intriguing, especially in the eyes of those who knew her very well. That doesn’t mean she found it easy to be patient and wait for her date to finally show up. It was taking a while, but the Doctor knew that the place wasn’t around the corner for the person she was waiting for and that she needed to be patient - at least, more patient than usual. After all, it’s really the minimum effort required from her, right now, after what she had asked to whom she was waiting for. She looked around, though, as if she seemed to be able to pick her presence in the multitude even if she didn't see her yet.

In the crowd of people crossing the square in that moment, a woman in her thirties, with a brown leather jacket, paired with a pair of button front skinny jeans and a sheer orange floral shirt, was slowly walking, looking at the Doctor from her vantage point in between the people who were crowding Millennium Square. She knew perfectly well that the Gallifreyan seemed able to feel her presence, as she had always been able to do in the past, but Yasmin Khan thought that she needed a bit more time before approaching the Doctor. Her Doctor. And, strangely, the Time Lady was trying not to fret in her waiting for her, not to spot her right away, even if Yaz knew the other woman was able to tell she was there, coming. What had changed since last they saw each other? A part two regenerations in such a short time, relatively speaking? But not only that, of course, so much more. And why, most of all, this face was there? Was really the Doctor she was so fond of, so in love with? Her Doctor, to be precise? Was she really here?

And then, there was no more time to think, no more need to think, no more reason to. Following what, wisely, her Nan had told her a few years back - from Yaz’s point of view, at least (courage is knowing something will hurt and doing it anyway) - Yasmin found herself near the table in which sat the Gallifreyan. Who locked her hazel eyes with Yaz’s darker ones, while slowly standing up to be at the same level of the other woman.

«Yasmin Khan… I’ve missed you,» she whispered, helding up tentatively her right hand, immediately grabbed by Yaz’s left, who brought it to her face with a sad smile: «I’ve missed you too.»
«How long has it been, for you?»
«A few months…»
«How long, Yaz? I know you kept count…»
«14 months, at least. I’ve started working for UNIT after three months since you left, but it was never the same without you.» Yaz looked at the Doctor,  with fresh tears in her eyes: «Is it really you, Doctor? How is it possible? You… you regenerated. At UNIT they saw not one, but two of your new incarnations…»

The Doctor took Yaz’s free hand with her left, then guided it to her chest, firmly: «I couldn’t not regenerate, Yaz, my time was at an end. But I’m really here, though. Right now, at this moment, I’m really here. With you. I’ve got a second chance. We’ve got a second chance. I want to fix myself to someone. To you. Even if it’ll hurt, in the end, I really want to do it.»

«How is it possible, Doctor, that you are… you?» Yaz asked, one hand holding onto the Time Lady’s chest, the other now clinging to one of the woman's shoulders, while the Doctor’s right hand was gently wiping the tears from Yaz’s cheek.
«It is a long story. And not the only thing we need to talk about, if I am not mistaken. I want to tell you everything, remember?»
Yaz nodded, before breaking free and throwing herself into the Doctor’s arms, in a much needed hug, for both of them. Clinging at her, she first whispered «I’ve been really missing you,» and «I love you.» The Doctor strongly held Yaz to her chest, never wanting to let her go.

This version of the Doctor wasn’t one inclined to open up - although with Yaz she had tried to do so more than once, especially towards the end - mindful of the suffering and pain experienced each time after losing loved ones in the past, but now, with a second chance… hugging the human with whom she had traveled for much of her time wearing that face, she said, tentatively: «I love you too.»

And everything immediately seemed easier and more bearable, for both of them.

Not far from them, a figure in a sand-coloured coat, black trousers and calf-high boots was watching them, unseen. Despite the eccentricity of the clothes they wore - a rainbow scarf over a white shirt and a black cardigan, which concealed golden braces - no one seemed to take any notice of her presence.

«If the space-time fabric doesn't fall apart after this... it'll be fine,» observed wryly the figure, in a scratchy, feminine voice. At her side, equally indifferent to the crowd, Kate Stewart made her appearance, looking at her with an arched eyebrow: «We're still talking about the Doctor...»

The woman at her side gave her a sidelong glance: «All of them are out there in space-time, Kate. All of them. Familiar and unfamiliar faces. The same goes for me, of course.»

Shaking her head in exasperation, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart made to turn away, heading for one of the red cabins so common in England, even in 2024: «You Time Lords... you give me a headache, Archivist.»

The Archivist caught up with her in a few wide strides, casting one last glance behind her, before turning to look into the future. «My TARDIS isn't that one, Kate,» she pointed out to the human, pointing first at the booth the UNIT leader was heading towards, and then another one a little further away, «but that one.»

AUTHOR'S NOTES

• The 13th Doctor and Yasmin Khan are the main characters of this sneak peek.
• 13 is back, but it isn't explained how or why in this excerpt.
• The 14th Doctor and the 15th Doctor are mentioned.
• Story set after the 2023 Christmas Special (The Church of Ruby Road). The Power of the Doctor and The Giggle are slightly mentioned.
• There are references to the Companion Support Group. UNIT is mentioned; Yaz is, now, one of their agents.
• Both the Archivist and Kate Stewart make a brief appearance towards the end. The clothes worn by the Archivist are an homage to the costumes used by Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker in Twice Upon a Time and in The Woman Who Fell to Earth. They're not the only ones this character will use (and they won't be the only ones inspired by the Twelfth and Thirteenth Doctors).
• You can also find the sneak peek on my Archive of Our Own account.