Chapter Text
Jamie woke up in the middle of the night. At least, he thought it was the middle of the night. In the Tardis it was difficult to tell, but the lights were off, and everything was quiet.
Until his stomach growled.
The good thing about the lack of time in the Tardis, he reasoned, was that there was no one to tell him he couldn’t eat till dinner. Dinner was whenever he wanted it to be. Of course, that meant operating the food machine, but surely it couldn’t be that difficult.
He got out of bed and began wandering through the halls. He had a pretty good idea of where the kitchen was at this point, but he swore the Tardis moved rooms around. The Doctor thought he was ridiculous. The Tardis seemed to take pity on him though, and he was able to get to the kitchen without too much trouble.
He frowned; the light was on. Leaning around the corner he saw the Doctor sitting at the table, chin in his hands and lost in thought.
He waved to get the Doctors attention, the last time he had snuck up on him it hadn’t ended well.
“Jamie? What are you doing up?”
“I came to get some food,” he said, “What are you doing up?”
“Well time lords don't need sleep as much as you humans do. One of the benefits of having two hearts I suppose.”
Jamie grunted noncommittally. He was trying to get the food machine to work but the bloody thing kept beeping annoyingly.
“Jamie,” the Doctor said after a while, “I’ve been thinking.”
“Aye well that’s nothing new,” Jamie said. The Doctor spent more time thinking than anyone he knew.
“Yes, well,” The Doctor shifted in his seat, “I wanted to ask, you like living in the Tardis, don’t you?”
Jamie turned to look at him. The Doctor seemed unsure, which didn’t make sense. “Aye,” he said, wondering where this was going, “I love it here.”
“So you like the,” the Doctor waved his hand vaguely, “the running around, saving people, and fighting monsters?”
Jamie shrugged, “I’ve never liked stayin still, and it feels good to help people.”
“What if,” the Doctor hesitated, “Do you think you would still like it if we didn’t do any of that stuff? If we stopped for a while?”
“Doctor if you want to go on a vacation than that’s up ta you.”
The Doctor shook his head, "No, no that’s not what I mean at all.”
“Well what do you mean?”
The Doctor fell silent.
“Doctor,” Jamie said, moving beside him, “What do you mean?”
The Doctor sighed, “I’m worried about Victoria.”
“Victoria?” Jamie was thoroughly confused now, “What about her?”
“I don’t think she takes to this life like we do,” the Doctor said, “All the running around and fighting monsters. It’s not good for her. What we do is scary, especially for someone from her time. She just lost her father and then to be thrown into this life… She’s only fourteen after all.”
“So, what do ye want to do?” Jamie said, sitting down beside the Doctor. He saw the truth in what he was saying. They did their best to protect Victoria, but it wasn’t always enough. He was a Scot, a warrior. A girl couldn’t be expected to handle the things he and the Doctor faced every day. He couldn’t really see a solution though, short of leaving her on the Tardis every time they went out, and there was no way she would agree to that.
“Victoria needs stability,” the Doctor said, “And I think we can give that to her, but it will mean sacrifices.”
“What kind of sacrifices?”
“We’d need to stay in one place for start,” the Doctor said, “Preferably Earth, and in a time not too distant from her own. We wouldn’t be able to go on adventures anymore. We would probably have to get jobs. We could still go on the occasional trip, but nothing drastic. No danger. We couldn’t risk leaving her on her own.”
There was silence as Jamie processed what the Doctor said, “Ok.”
“I know it’s asking a lot of you,” the Doctor said, “And if you want me to bring you home, I understand-”
He paused, registering Jamie’s words. “Ok?”
Jamie shrugged, “It’s what’s best for her right? We promised we’d take care of her, and a McCrimmon keeps his word.”
The Doctor smiled, “Thank you Jamie.”
“Ah well, it will be good to rest for a while, I feel like I haven’t had time ta think since I met ye.”
“So, what time shall we go to?” The Doctor said, leaping up, “Earth obviously. We can’t go too far in the future, but I also don’t really want to spend the next six years in Victorian England.”
“Why not?” Jamie asked.
“Reminds me of my people, and that’s not a good thing,” the Doctor said, “Plus all the diseases and lack of medical care… no it’s best if we go a bit into the future. New ideas, new inventions.”
He was pacing back and forth now, muttering to himself, “1900’s would be good, but we can’t stay in any time from the 1910’s to the 40’s… Don’t want to go too far though the 2020’s are a disaster.”
“Doctor?” Jamie interrupted, “What about Ben and Polly?”
“What about Ben and Polly?”
“Well we could go to their time, couldn’t we? That way we’d have friends there.” It would be good to see them again, Jamie thought, and that way if something happened to them there would still be people to look after Victoria.
“Brilliant idea Jamie!” the Doctor said, “We’ll have to be careful, too soon and there will be two of me at once. I think 1968 should be just about right, don’t you?”
“Whatever you say Doctor,” Jamie said, yawning.
The Doctor looked abashed, “Oh yes I’ve kept you from your midnight snack haven't I.”
“Eh I’m too tired ta eat now,” Jamie said, leaning on the Doctor's shoulder.
“Are you going to go back to your room?”
“Nope.”
“Right,” The Doctor said. Jamie breathed, slow and deep, and the two men fell asleep.