A/N: This is the fourth in a series of stories involving the human Doctor and the Doctor. the others in order are Something Old, Something New, The Scientist and the Soldier and Terror of the Crystal Caves.

Chapter One

The Doctor lay underneath the console doing his usual tweaks to his beloved ship's circuitry. He had spent almost two hours fixing worn out parts and making sure his TARDIS could keep on functioning. His family were somewhere in the back. He didn't know what they were doing but all of them were happy, which pleased him immensely. It had been a slow couple of days which had given everyone a chance to rest, recoup and recharge their batteries.

While he worked, he noticed someone walk up and smiled when he saw the maroon trainers of his brother. There was a moment's pause and then his brother squatted down.

"Now what's wrong with her?" Alan said to him. "This is the third repair in a fortnight."

"Nothing's really wrong apart from a little wear and tear. I'm just trying to keep up with what needs to be replaced before something major happens."

Alan rubbed the rim of the console and shook his head.

"The girl's really feeling her age, Brother. She's given centuries of faithful service and now I guess she's in her declining years," he said, sadly.

"I know. I don't want to admit it but you're right. I just hope she can hold out as long as we can. Granted we have an extra TARDIS now but this is my TARDIS and I don't want to lose her."

"Nor I. She's way too special," Alan said.

He smiled when the TARDIS nudged his mind. He stepped back when the Doctor groaned and scooted away from the console to take a break.

"So, what is everyone up to?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, Mingxia and Awinita are playing chess in the living room but your daughter and our wives…"

The Doctor frowned when he shook his head.

"What?" the Doctor said.

"They're playing Twister in there by the telly," Alan said, rolling his eyes.

"Twister? The game where you put your hands and feet down on the dots on the mat?"

"The same."

"Why are they playing that?"

He shrugged.

"Dunno, I guess they're bored. Poor Donna. They recruited her to spin the pointer and call out the body parts and colors. Actually Jenny is quite adept at it. I think it's that soldier programming. The whole being able to flip through those security beams on Messaline is paying off in the game. She's already won once. Anyway, I came out here to see what you were up to."

"You mean you'd rather be out here with me than watch your wife bending herself into a pretzel?" he teased.

Alan smiled.

"Well, let's not forget your wife is a pretzel at the moment too," he replied.

"Yes and I'm going to have a peek at that just as soon as I close up the hatch under the console and go get a nice steaming cup of tea. I'm parched and…"

They looked over when Donna entered the room chatting on her mobile.

"Ought-oh, they lost their spinner person," Alan said. "Better watch it or they'll be out here recruiting us to do it."

"Doctor, granddad wants to talk to ya," Donna said, holding the mobile out to him.

The Doctor glanced at his brother and took the mobile from her.

"Wilf?" he said.

"Doctor, hi. How're things?" Wilf said.

"Everything and everyone is good here, Wilfred. How're things at home?" the Doctor said.

"We're good, Doctor. But the reason I wanted to talk to you is I have something you might like," Wilf replied.

"Really? What?"

"Well, we have a couple of puppies here that don't have a home…"

"Um, Wilf," the Doctor said. "We're already got a full TARDIS here. I mean, I don't have anything against puppies but can't you put them up for adoption?"

Alan raised his eyebrow.

"Puppies?" he said to the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded.

"Well, I would, Doctor. But I don't think anyone will want them."

The Doctor frowned.

"Why not?"

"Well, they've been hurt badly. There are two of them. Siberian huskies, about eight weeks old. Sylvia and I were at a restaurant the other night and we were walking back to the car and we heard this whimpering coming from a rubbish bin and when we looked inside there they were."

Alan noticed the shocked look on his face.

"Brother, what is it?" he asked him.

The Doctor held up his finger.

"The poor things. One had her back leg broken and it had to be amputated and someone slashed the right side of the face of the other one and it's blind in her right eye. We took them to the vet and he mended them, spayed them and gave them their shots but I don't think anyone will want them in their condition. We can't take care of them since they'll grow to be fairly large and money's tight but then I was thinking you have all those people on your ship that will love them and look after them. That's why I'm asking you, Doctor. There's nothing wrong with them apart from the missing leg and blind eye and I'd hate to have them put to sleep. They're both beautiful animals and you lot are the only ones I know of that would accept them as they are and give them the love they need. I was just wondering if you could come and take a look at them and if you don't want them then perhaps you could find someone in time and space that might?"

"Yes, I'll take a look at them, Wilf. Just let me know the date and time and I'll be there as soon as I explain to everyone else what's going on."

"Thank you, Doctor. I'm sorry to bother you. I hope I'm not."

"Nah, you're not. We're not doing anything at the moment so we have time to take a look."

Wilf gave him the date and time and the Doctor assured him he would be there as soon as possible. Once he was finished with the conversation he handed the phone back to Donna and explained to his brother what was going on. Alan got a disgusted look on his face when he explained the injuries to him.

"How could someone do that to puppies? That's sick," Alan said.

"I agree. I wasn't going to take them but if they are in that condition then I'm sure no one will want them and I don't want to see them euthanized. We have eight people here who could look after them."

"Yeah, but the TARDIS is huge. How're we gonna keep them from wandering off and getting lost?"

I can restrict where they go if you take them and help you take care of them, the TARDIS thought to them.

"Well then, let's tell the others," Alan said.

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After explaining the situation to the excited women and getting promises from them that they would help take care of the dogs if they took them, they flew the TARDIS to Wilf's house. He met them at the door with a cardboard box. The Doctor let him inside and closed the door while he took the box over to the jump seat and set it down. Everyone's hearts melted when they heard the whining of the frightened puppies inside. They all gathered around while Wilf opened the box and brought them both out. They gasped when they saw them. Both of them had white and grey fur and sky blue eyes. The dog that had been blinded had one sky blue eye and one milky white one along with stitches that went down the side of her face. The other one had stitches along the underside of her belly where her leg had been. The women took them and petted them, cooing at the puppies while they wriggled and licked their faces. The Doctor and Alan came up beside them and petted them. The Doctor looked at Wilf.

"What are their names?" he said.

"They don't have any that I know of. I figured I'd leave that up to you or whoever adopted them," Wilf said. "Sylvia and I didn't want them getting too familiar with us."

"They're so adorable," Rose said, scratching the ears of the one with the missing leg. "Who could do this to her? How could they be so cruel?"

Rain laughed when the other one licked her face furiously. The Doctor watched his family interacting with them and looked at Wilf.

"I guess we're gonna keep them now since the moment I took them somewhere else everyone would kill me," he said.

"You better believe we would," Awinita said. "These dogs belong with us."

"Yeah, they're our Time Dogs now," Mingxia added.

"I'm glad you're taking them, Doctor. I was worried about them. Like I said, the vet said nothing's wrong with them apart from the injuries but you know not many people would want them in that state. Besides, I figure you could use a couple of watchdogs for your ship."

"Oh yeah, you two would turn Cybermen into a pile of scrap, wouldn't ya?" Alan said, taking the one with the missing leg from Rose.

He laughed when the dog whined and licked his cheeks and nose.

"They're very friendly, especially after what's happened to them," Alan said, stroking her fur.

"Yes, they're very gentle and affectionate," Wilf said. "I'd love to keep them but we can't afford them."

"Well, we'll look after these two. I think they'll find themselves right at home here," the Doctor said.

"Good."

Wilf smiled at Donna who pulled herself away from the dogs and gave her a hug.

"Would you like to come back to our living room? I'll make some tea and we'll sort out these dog's names in the meantime," the Doctor said.

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Wilf smiled while he sat and sipped tea with the Doctor and Alan. The women sat on the floor playing with the puppies while they discussed names for them. They sat in a circle and the dogs went around, climbed into their laps or went up to their faces if they were on their stomachs and licked them. They had already dismissed generic names like spot or fluffy. Alan had suggested Quark and Quasar which earned him a bunch of long, hard stares from them.

"You know, huskies are from the north and love the cold and snow. Maybe we should give them names that fit that," Rain said.

"You mean like Snowball?" Awinita said.

"Yeah, like that," she replied.

Jenny made a face.

"I don't like Snowball though," she said, playing with the one with the blinded eye.

"How about Mush and Igloo?" Alan said.

"NO!" they all said as the three men laughed.

"How 'bout Yeti and Abominable Snowman?" the Doctor said.

"NO!"

"How about Blizzard?" Mingxia suggested.

The woman paused and thought about that.

"Yeah, I like that. Blizzard," Awinita said.

The other women nodded in agreement.

"Okay, which one is Blizzard?" Rain said.

The one with the missing leg walked over to Donna and licked her face while she lay on her stomach.

"How 'bout this one?" Donna said.

They nodded. The Doctor looked at Alan.

"Blizzard. The dog's named after a meteorological occurrence, poor thing," he said as Alan and Wilf laughed.

"Well, it's better than naming it bleedin' Abominable Snowman," Donna said to him.

"So, what's the sister's name? Whiteout?" Alan said as the Doctor snickered.

"Snowstorm," the Doctor said, nudging him.

"Ice storm," Alan replied.

The women ignored the men's snickers while they continued to pet and play with the dogs. The Doctor smiled when Blizzard walked over to him.

"C'mere little snowstorm," he said, picking her up.

He sat him on his lap and grinned when she climbed up his chest and licked his chin.

"You're a good little doggie, Blizzard. Yes, you are," the Doctor said, scratching behind her ear. "You and your sister are gonna be Time Dogs, aren't ya? Yes, you are."

"Question. Are they potty trained and where are we gonna take them when they need to go?" Alan asked. "Because I don't think we can open the door and let them go out in the vortex."

"They're potty trained," Wilf said. "Someone apparently thought to do that before they dumped them as well as stitch up their injuries, thank God."

"And as for taking them somewhere," the Doctor said, "we do have that park room. They can go in there and run and play and we can have the TARDIS install a cat flap on the door while we teach them to go there."

"And the TARDIS can get rid of the feces afterwards," Alan said, nodding.

"You have a park room?" Wilf said.

"Yes, the TARDIS has many different types of rooms and she can simulate many different types of environments. I have a room that is a huge simulated public park with simulated sky and grass and a large pond. Blizzard and anonymous can go in there and just run and play to their heart's content and we won't have to worry about them getting lost or stolen."

Wilf smiled.

"I knew it was a good idea to ask you to take them," he said.

The Doctor looked down when Rain tapped his kneecap.

"We got it. We've figured out this one's name."

"And that is?"

"Aurora. After the aurora borealis. And we can call her Rory for short," she said.

The Doctor glanced at his brother.

"Blizzard and Rory."

Alan shrugged.

"Sounds good to me," he said.

"Okay, so we hereby christen these two, Blizzard and Rory," the Doctor said. "A couple of Time Dogs for Time Lords and Ladies."

Blizzard walked down the Doctor's chest, walked across to Alan and walked up him to his cheek.

"Oi, watch it with the licking, Blizz. I already had a shower today," he said, laughing.

"Okay, now listen up," the Doctor said to the women. "This is it on animals. I'm only taking them on board because not many people would want them with their injuries. But we draw the line at two dogs. No cats, bats, rats, budgies, macaws, elephants, zebras, whales, sharks or dinosaurs, got that?"

"Got it!" the women said in unison.

"Okay, just making sure we're all in agreement here," the Doctor said.

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After a couple of hours of chatting and playing with the dogs, Wilf left the TARDIS and they went back into the vortex. The Doctor went back to his repair work under the console. While he worked he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and glanced over to see Blizzard coming into the room. He whistled and grinned when the dog froze, cocked her head and gamboled towards him. The Doctor turned his face and smiled when Blizzard licked his forehead.

"You gettin' settled in now, little lady?" he said, stroking her fur. "Is your sister back there with my sisters?"

He stuck his finger out and Blizzard gave it a playful nip.

"You have to earn your keep, ya know. You and your sister have to be our watch dogs now," he said with mock sternness.

He put his screwdriver in his pocket, turned on his side and petted her while she moved up against him.

"Rose is right, how could anyone harm a beautiful thing like you?" he said. "You've barely known life and already you and your sister have been through a traumatic time, eh? Well, you won't get that kind of treatment here. No one here cares that you're missing a leg or Rory's blind in one eye. We're very accepting of everyone, no matter what their faults may be."

He smiled when she sniffed his face and licked his nose.

"You have beautiful eyes too. That was a major selling point. I'm a sucker for a pair of gorgeous baby blues," he said to her.

He turned on his back and grinned when Blizzard climbed onto his stomach, lay down and sighed while she stared at his face.

"Knackered?" the Doctor asked her.

He smiled when she wagged her tail in response. He watched her turn her head and watch while he pulled his screwdriver back out. She tried to bite it when he brought it past her head.

"No! That is not a bone!" he said, wagging his finger at her.

Blizzard laid her head on her paws and watched while the Doctor worked on the circuitry.

"Yup, you are definitely a very good dog," the Doctor said, glancing at her.

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It took a day but the dogs finally got adjusted to their new environment. They both explored the ship while the TARDIS blocked off corridors when they wandered too far and led them to the park room when they needed to relieve themselves. She provided them dog food and water in the kitchen and toys and treats along with two blue dog collars with little license tags bearing their names and flea collars. She also made doggie beds and put them in the living room for them. The girls played with them and also began to train them how to behave properly. After another day the Doctor finally felt confident enough to leave them by themselves while they went exploring. He decided to try a random location figuring everyone was now able to handle themselves if trouble came up. He punched three random numbers into the TARDIS computer and flew the ship with five of his family members while Donna and Mingxia sat behind them and played with the puppies. Once they landed, the women carried the dogs back to the living room and the TARDIS quickly threw up a barrier over the doorway when they tried to leave. The two women paused at the door and gave the puppies a sad look when they whined and scratched at the invisible force field.

"We'll be back soon," Mingxia said. "We promise."

"So you two behave," Donna added.

They forced themselves to turn and go and ignore the sad whining of the puppies.

Once they reached the console room, they stood with the others and made sure they had their screwdrivers, psychic paper, credit sticks and pocket flashlights. Then they walked to the door together and stepped outside to take a look at their surroundings.