AN: This is a ONE-SHOT ONLY. It was originally going to be the first chapter of a fic called Overcoming Monsters but I recently decided that the plot didn't really need this extra complication, and moved it into more of an adoptive-sort-of relationship instead, and turned this into a standalone. I have no plans for a sequel, however I will be writing other (longer and more developed) fics based on this idea; look out for Recovery and Rockabye Doctor/When the Bough Breaks. For more information, drop me a PM.

Canon: Set sometime during series four. AU. Very. Probably.

Breaking the Rules by Alexannah

There were no ordinary days as far as the Doctor was concerned. Even a quick visit to his companions' home always seemed to turn into some sort of adventure. Still, he hadn't expected such a shock from a simple cup of tea.

Wilf and Donna were in the kitchen, chatting about the latest planet they'd visited. The Doctor had only been out of the room a couple of minutes to look at the Nobles' 'malfunctioning' telly (he'd charged the batteries in the remote) and returned to find the subject had changed slightly.

"I swear, I'm not making this up," Wilf insisted. "I just wish you could have met Vera for yourself."

"Who's Vera?" the Doctor asked. "Ooh, tea. Mind if I?"

"Go ahead," Wilf said.

"Vera is Gramps' girlfriend," Donna said.

The Doctor took a sip of tea, his eyebrows raised at Wilf. "Girlfriend?"

"Was my girlfriend," Wilf corrected. "A long time ago. Your mum was just a girl."

"I know the story, Gramps."

"I love a love story," the Doctor grinned. Well, all except his own.

"I dunno about that," Wilf said. "There weren't a happy ending there."

"What happened?"

"She left," Wilf said simply.

"I'm sorry", the Doctor said.

"Are you really sure she was an alien?" Donna asked.

That caught the Doctor's attention. "What?"

"Of course I'm sure," Wilf said. "She told me."

"Vera was from another planet." Donna shook her head. "Call me sceptical, but I'm having trouble believing that."

"Yeah, she was. It's why she had to go, she said."

"I'm sorry, did I hear you correctly?" the Doctor interrupted, staring in intent interest at Wilf. "You dated an alien?"

"Well don't tell me you never dated a human," Wilf said.

"Well ..." The Doctor's thoughts wandered back to Rose, and he shook them off. "Not exactly dated, but ..."

"How come you never mentioned this before?" Donna said, sounding astonished.

"Well you wouldn't have believed me, would you? Not till you met him." Wilf gestured at the Doctor.

"Good point."

"And your mother would never believe me in a million years," Wilf said.

"True," Donna admitted. "Still, Vera an alien … Was she human?—I mean, did she look human?"

"Yeah, she did," Wilf said.

"What kind of alien name is Vera anyway?"

"Well not her real name," Wilf said. "Obviously!"

"What was her real name?" the Doctor asked, taking another sip of tea.

"Pennine."

The Doctor choked. Tea sprayed everywhere. Donna thumped him on the back as he gasped for breath. "What's wrong?" she asked.

A million questions and answers echoed in his head as he stared past her to Wilf, staring at him in innocent concern. After a long moment, he finally managed to croak out an answer—one of them.

"She was—she was a Time Lady."

"What?" Donna gasped. Wilf's eyes widened.

"She never said—I mean, she never mentioned what her species was called. How do you know?"

The Doctor didn't answer, too absorbed in his own whirling thoughts. It took a moment for him to realise that he had stood up and was pacing the kitchen, running his hand through his hair.

"If she's one of your people," Donna said, "does that mean she's ...?"

A lump arose in his throat, and the Doctor turned back to Wilf. Swallowing hard, he finally managed, "I'm sorry, Wilf."

Wilf nodded shakily. "I suppose it would have been too much to hope for that you might have been able to find her."

He couldn't.

Unless ...

A crazy, absurd idea. The Doctor tried to shake it off, but it wouldn't let go. The more he looked at Wilf, the more he realised that he had to.

"I can find her," he announced.

"But you said," Donna gasped as they reached the TARDIS doors, "that your people were all dead. All of them."

"It's a time machine, Donna."

"But if it's that simple—"

"I didn't say it was simple." The Doctor let them in, and turned to face Wilf. "Look. This breaks every rule in the book. And I try not to make a habit of breaking the rules. But this is an absolute one-off."

"Oh Doctor," Wilf said. "You're wonderful."

"There's a catch, though," the Doctor said. "Any Time Lord activity, even outside Gallifrey, is time-locked; we can't interact with the past, we can only observe it. We'll be watching only—she can't see us. At all."

Wilf nodded. "I understand. Well, not the mechanics, but I get your point."

"We can't break the time-lock," the Doctor said again. "We can't. We can only get so close and then we have to make sure th—she can't see us."

"What if she does?" Donna asked.

There was a pause. "Erm … the fabric of reality gets ripped apart."

Donna gasped. Wilf paled.

"But—you can't take that risk!" he stammered. "Doctor! I—I'd love to see Vera again, but it's been a long time—you don't have to do this. Please, don't."

"I do have to," the Doctor said softly, pulling a lever.

"Why?"

"Because you need to see."

With that cryptic remark, he tugged on another lever and the TARDIS lurched to one side. Donna, Wilf and the Doctor all grabbed on for dear life.

"Where are we going?" Donna yelled.

"Finchley Road, 27th July 2076," he shouted back. "Eight fifty two AM!"

"You've never been that precise before!"

"Never had cause to be!" The TARDIS settled, and the Doctor closed his eyes for a second, trying to prepare himself.

"Have we landed?" Donna asked in surprise. "It didn't make a noise."

"I've put her on mute—don't want anyone hearing a second TARDIS," the Doctor said. He was surprised that the TARDIS hadn't tried to stop him from landing where he had—after all, she didn't want him to rip a hole in reality any more than he did. Maybe she knew something he didn't. "Wilf, ready?"

The Doctor let Wilf open the doors slowly. There was a pause before he stepped out.

"You sure this is the future?" Wilf called behind him. The Doctor and Donna followed.

Shops, cars, pedestrians—a typical twenty-first century street. A siren sounded, and an ambulance whizzed past.

"Positive. This way!"

The Doctor led them past the row of shops, and stopped them just before the end, peering carefully round the corner.

"Over there."

A parked car obscured them almost completely, and the Doctor glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Any second."

A car appeared out of thin air, perfectly aligned in the empty parking space. The passing pedestrians didn't take any notice, but Wilf gasped as the driver's door opened and out stepped a woman.

"Is that her?" Donna whispered.

"That's Vera," Wilf said. "Oh my, that's her."

Vera surveyed her surroundings, including the car, running a hand admiringly over the roof.

"Is that a TARDIS?" Donna said.

The Doctor nodded.

"Bit different from yours," Wilf said.

"Oy!"

Now Vera was calling inside the car, and a simultaneous breath was sucked in as a second person appeared from the car. A kid; a gangly adolescent, about seventeen.

"Who's that?" Donna whispered.

Wilf stared at the boy in silence. Donna spoke again. "Gramps, he—he looks like, like you, from your old photos—"

The Doctor placed a hand on Wilf's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Wilf."

Wilf let out a kind of strangled moan, putting a hand over his mouth. Donna put her arms around his shoulders, leaning her head on him.

The Doctor smiled sadly as the boy pulled away from his mother, staring around in awed wonder at his surroundings. The two spoke, but they were too far away.

"Can we—" Wilf began.

"We can't go any nearer," the Doctor said. "It's risky enough us being this close."

Tears were leaking quietly down Wilf's face. His son spotted something just out of sight, and ignoring his mother, started running towards it. Vera followed, calling after him.

"Come on," the Doctor said quietly.

He veered off down a side road, turned another corner and they came out near a crowd. The ambulance was stationary, lights still flashing, while paramedics attended someone out of sight.

Vera was calling, annoyed, at her son, who in his curiosity was trying to push his way to the front of the crowd.

The Doctor heaved a sigh. They had been there long enough.

"Doctor ..." Donna began. How did you know they'd be here?

The million pound question.

"It made an impression," the Doctor murmured, then shook himself. "I mean—it was his first trip to Earth. It made an impression."

He took a deep breath. "There's something I ... I've never told anyone. Wilf."

"Yeah?" Wilf croaked, his eyes still on his son.

"Um ... I'm half human."

The End

AN: If you like, don't forget to look out for aforementioned future fics. Also, you might like to check out my less literal The Doctor's Dad in the meantime.