Chapter Text
The Doctor turned up at the school, shortly after Earth had been returned to its normal location in the universe. It was shortly after home time and the area was filled with teenagers talking and wandering off in different directions. He spotted Luke in the crowd and headed straight for him, weaving through the throngs as if he did this all the time. Luke was talking to two other teenagers and a woman...about Donna's age, perhaps? He still had trouble guessing human ages.
He had almost reached them when Luke turned and saw him. "Hallo. Didn't expect to see you here."
"I thought I'd pick you up from school," he grinned his most engaging grin. He wasn't sure what Sarah had said to Luke about him, but there was always the chance that she'd portrayed him as unreliable and dangerous and someone to stay away from. Mums were like that, even if Sarah wasn't
The woman was looking from him to Luke and back again. "You must be Luke's father. I'm Carla. Clyde's mum." She offered him her hand.
He shook it energetically, thinking that Clyde must be the other boy. "Pleased to meet you. I'm John Smith," he added helpfully. He caught Luke's eye and decided that the "no relation" bit might not be appropriate in this situation.
Luke looked slightly relieved. "These are my friends, Clyde and Rani," he said. "Does Mum know you're about?"
He could tell that what Luke really wanted to ask was "where's the catastrophe?", and he admired the boy's restraint. He shook hands with them both, observing the appropriate formalities.
Once the "glad to meet you"s were out of the way, Clyde started to say something and stopped. The Doctor noticed Luke's not so subtle kick in the shin and wondered what that was about. But Sarah's son could be trusted to have a good reason for doing something like that. Sarah generally did back when he travelled with her, even if he couldn't always figure out what it was.
"Thrilled to meet you all, but we must dash." He gestured for Luke to join him.
"Wait a moment," Carla said with the air of someone who wanted to make sure things were on the up and up. "Are you sure your mother would approve of you going off with him?"
"Of course," Luke said confidently. "In fact, we're going straight home, aren't we?"
"That was the plan. Your mum wasn't home so I thought I'd fetch you first." Sensing that this was one of those situations, he turned on the charm. "Trust me, it wasn't that sort of break up. I'm not going to kidnap Luke and disappear. I swear." He hoped he wasn't laying it on too thickly.
Luke nodded his agreement. "It's okay, Carla. Honest." Turning to his friends, he said, "Have fun bowling." He sounded almost glad to be getting out of it. "We best get home before mum starts to worry.
The other two teenagers seemed a little put out at this cavalier treatment, but Luke waved good-bye and wandered off with the Doctor before they could say anything.
The Doctor looked at him thoughtfully but didn't say anything. He was sure Luke had a reason for his behaviour. Instead, he decided it was time he started acting like a dad and inquired about what the boy had been studying recently. He was relieved to find that Sarah was supplementing his education with lessons at home with her and with Mr Smith. They ended up having a lovely discussion about solar batteries.