Summary: The Tenth has a baby TARDIS for his own to educate...and a hostile 11 year old that thinks he threw her away on purpose, on board. And his previous selves are arriving, to meet this precocious little thing that had her own TARDIS bonded to her at almost 12 years old and who didn't trust any of them a single inch.

Get in Line

Charla half clung to the energetic chipmunk that was her real father as he bobbed and danced all the way to the console room. He had to, because it would have been completely out of character for any self of his to arrive in the requested order or quietly...he had dodged Third, Eleventh and Seventh in the corridor on their way to find the kitchen and food, while on his own way to greet First, whom he had intended to start with. Eleven had stopped him, lifting Charla's chin to look at the shadowed young eyes, his own sad.

"It'll be okay, love. Promise." Was all he said.

"Which...?" Tenth's voice was hesitant.

"Eleventh." He answered, running his big hand through the girl's hair. "I'll a while getting to you, but you wait for with me, for me, hear?"

"Yessir."

"Okay."

"Do you play a guitar in that body?" She asked.

"I don't know. Hasn't even been one Earth day yet. Not quite."

"Learn. It'll go with the look. Especially if you take to singing American Country..."

"Here now, First is waiting. Come on then." Tenth smiled briefly at his elder self for calming the unhappy little one in his arms. "Explain to the kids, think they headed for the kitchen."

"Certainly. I'll make sure they hang around." Eleventh had forgotten just how badly Charlatanry's self-esteem and confidence had been harmed when she first came onto his Tenth Body's TARDIS. John's neglect and rejection had done the job, but it had been overly cruel. He had hidden her name and refused to tell her she even had one. He had never held her hand and...she still believed, sometimes, that he neither wanted or even liked her. Not often, not anymore, because as many a single parent before him had discovered, a child made you grown and expand in whatever way was needed to raise a healthy youngster.

The Doctor had been forced to pick between a child terrified of him and a well balanced young Time Lady...but even still. Charla had been so young, then, to be forced to do what she had done. Not that there had been any choice, for there had not. She had to be made to go, but the clone had not needed to be cruel.

Ten still didn't know, though he would soon enough, just how many things she was used to being left out of. Or how intense her training had already been. Too much or not enough, seemed to be her watchwords in those days. She would scare the hell clean out of him in a few days, by attempting to fix something by herself that he would have, with all his skill and experience, been hard-pressed to handle and with predictable results.

Oh, he'd gotten her out, but not without injuries...though the one which had hurt the most had made some few things about the clone very clear...he wasn't nearly good enough for Rose, to start with. But even the rescue had felt different...and he recalled the feeling of hearing Jackie's voice sound in his memory, 'It's different when it's your own child, Doctor. And when for so long I'm all she had. Now, all she wants is you...however she can get you."

But Ten would have to find out about those on his own. Eleven didn't mind, he had no wish to revisit the moment fully realized that there was a special brand of pain reserved for single fathers: It had hurt quite enough the first time. When as, Tenth was to discover tonight, he had learned how much the hurts of a man's child could hurt him...just thinking about it still made Eleven's gut clench. He let out a sigh and let his head cock a bit so he could listen to the younger TARDIS' voice as Sexy and his memory led him to Ten's kitchen.

:WHO:

FIRST

Ten explained quietly to the near infant in his console room though Charlatanry refused to go to the grumpy version. In fact, the first chance she got, she slipped away from Ten and went running out of the control room and down the corridor toward her own little TARDIS. Darlin' was tiny, compared to her Grandam. Just a few small rooms, no more than an almost 12 year old child needed, bedroom, bathing room, toilet room console room, kitchen, library and a tiny garden. She had no need for a wardrobe room, her bedroom dressers and closets were full and she wasn't really the sort to care how she looked. She closed the door but she had never been responsible for locking a TARDIS door and anyway, resting inside Darlin's grandam she figured she was safe enough. Which is she was...but then, as she was about to discover, there was also privacy to be considered.

Once he got his First Body's agreement to look after her and call him or bring her back when she slipped between TARDIS'...because she would. It was just one of the hazards of training a much, much younger child on the TARDIS...it happened, was all...and landed in First's.

And of course the old, young body had grumped and grouched and insulted Ten...until their daughter had struggled to get to the floor and run from them both. That had silenced them both.

"I...am sorry. I did not mean to frighten our child."

"She...there are too many years between us, First. Can't tell you. You know that. What I can say is right after she arrived here I discovered that she's been both neglected and abused in some ways...by a man with my current body's face. She doesn't trust me. From what her TARDIS' mother-tree gave her to pass on to our's..." He just shook his head.

"She needs us, the real Doctors, not some half human...thing." First snapped, "From what little you were allowed to tell me about the way that came about, he refused to allow any sort of connection to her so she would run, not sail, out of the alternate. All well and good...but to neglect her needs for the years prior to that, are not on." He said decisively, Second nodding agreement at his shoulder. Second had come in before Tenth had gone into any sort of explanation and so had been updated at the same time. All the Regenerations of the Doctor had to be told of...and meet...their youngest daughter. It was just easiest to do it in order, though obviously Eleven had gone out of his way to reassure their little girl.

Third

Fourth

Fifth

Six

Seventh and Eighth both spent some time with Ten, they were close enough that the girl would fall into their Time Lines during training almost as often as with Ninth or Eleventh.

Ninth...was going to be an issue. Tenth bet Seven a fiver that Nine was going to punch himself in the face and break something.

Ninth.

He'd heard the murmurs of the ships, stacked one inside another as they were, all the doors standing open until only the Eleventh's was still closed...for Ten had followed the line of his otherselves and landed in his elder host. He knew this meant he had to leave her to be raised by the chipmunk, didn't mean he had to like it. He walked out past Tenth, slamming his clenched fist into his elderselve's nose and crushing it as he went by, then he followed the delicate little chimes of the baby TARDIS to the tangerine and lemon garden. Behind him, Seven had laughed and paid up, telling Ten the loss was worth it.

"True. It was...I'm going to need him."

He'd gotten the whole thing from his own and sought the child out. He gently opened the cracked door of the baby TARDIS and, seeing no one in the console room, entered fully. He stroked the nearest wall of the cute little TARDIS, felt a tinkling giggle from the youngster and went looking for his daughter. He found her.

"Tenth," He said softly, his blue eyes tender on her small face, "Is a moron."