Waitin' for Superman ('Old Fashioned' entry)

[roseglade.livejournal.com]

Title: Waitin’ for Superman

Rating: G

Word Count:  1618 words

Characters:  Grant Gordon, the 12th Doctor, and Jennifer Fletcher

Spoilers:  “The Return of Doctor Mysterio”

Warnings: N/A

Episode Setting: After “The Return of Doctor Mysterio”

Summary: “Daddy, that other superhero isn’t like you.  He isn’t very nice to people like you are.  Don’t worry, I’ve heard that most people like the old fashion.”

“Daddy!  Come quick!”

Grant's eyes flashed open as the wails entered his ears.  He fumbled around and finally found his glasses on the nightstand next to him.  He looked to his side where he expected to see Lucy, but then remembered that she was in California for an interview.  As he rose to comfort the child, his foot caught on one of the blankets and his nose hit the floor with such force, it began to bleed.  Impervious of this, he fixed his glasses and rushed to the wailing child.

“What’s wrong Jennifer?” Grant asked as he flipped the light switch.

Grant squinted his eyes and as they adjusted to the light.  He noted that Jennifer was standing on her bed, clutching her pillow for dear life.

“What are you doing on the floor!”  She shouted.  “There’s a monster under my bed!  And it’s going to get you!”

Grant smiled and began to run over to Jennifer’s bed.  He then dramatically fell in front of her bed.

“Oh no!  Jennifer, the monster’s got me!”  He reached out for his daughter’s hand and she did the same.

“Daddy!  It’s not a game!”  Jennifer pouted.  “I really did see a monster!”

Grant smiled and stood up heavily.  He took her up into his arms and they sat on her bed in silence.  Grant placed his chin on her beautiful blonde hair, the same hue as her mother’s, and she smiled.  Suddenly, she pulled away and looked up into his face.  She gasped.

“Daddy, you’re bleeding!”  She cried in horror.  “Your nose!”

“Oh,” Grant touched his nose and felt the warm blood dripping down. “Don’t worry it doesn’t hurt.”

This was nothing compared to being thrown into a brick wall last week.  His back still hadn’t recovered from that.

“Daddy …” Jennifer started.  “Can I get some milk?  And then we can fix your nose!”

“Sure sweetheart.”

********

“There you go,” Grant placed a glass of milk before Jennifer at the table.  She thanked him and began to drink.  Granted looked at the clock and it read 3:43 AM.  He groaned and rubbed his eyes.  Having nothing else to do, Grant flipped on the television to hear the latest news.

“In other news,” The reporter added.  “The new superhero guarding the New York streets calling himself ‘The Devil’s Advocate’ has stuck again!  He rescued a family of four, from their burning house late last night.  And here is what he had to say …

‘I’m just doing my job.  Since ‘The Ghost’ hasn’t been doing his job, it’s now my duty to do his.’

There is no word from ‘The Ghost’ on his comments or any sightings of him lately.  Some wonder whether he is still in the occupation while others are glad he’s-”

The television turned off moments after Grant hit the button. He sighed and began to stare off into space.  Just doing his job?  ‘The Ghost’ hasn’t been doing his job? If the reporters had been at the scene when it truly happened they would have seen that the ‘Devil’s Advocate” was sipping his latte while he was the one coughing up smoke.  He had to leave to get home to tuck Jennifer into bed.  Besides he didn’t like all the praise they would give him.  Or at least that’s what he thought before, but now he was getting a little jealous.

Suddenly, there was a tug on his shirt.  He looked down and it was Jennifer with a small band-aid in her hand.  Grant bent down and a pain erupted in his back from being thrown into a wall.  He applied pressure to the area and smiled painfully.  He was getting a little old in both his profession and age. She waved the bandage in his face.

“To fix your nose!”

“Sweetie, it doesn’t work that-”

She quickly applied the bandage to his nose and from then on he could no longer breath out of his nose.  But he didn’t mind because Jennifer had put it there.  She kissed his nose and smiled brightly.

“There, all better!”

“Thanks, Jen.”

“You sound funny,” Jennifer’s nose crinkled.

Grant laughed and picked up his daughter into his arms and swung her around in the air.  She screamed with glee.  When he stopped, Jennifer smiled and grabbed her father so he wouldn’t let go.

“Okay, time for bed,”  Grant muttered softly.

“Daddy,” Jennifer asked.  “Why are you sad?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,”  Grant replied, genuinely confused.

“You got sad when they talked about the other superhero.”

“Well,” Grant stammered.  “Right now, some people don’t like daddy as much as they used to which makes daddy kind of sad.”

“But mommy said it’s okay if people don’t like you.  It’s because they want to be like you.”  Jennifer continued. “There are other people who like you like me and mommy. Sometimes mommy worries when you go out but then I give her a big hug and she feels better!”

“That’s very nice of you Jen.”

“I know,” she smiled. “Daddy, that other superhero isn’t like you.  He isn’t very nice to people like you are.  He’s a just a fab.”

“You mean fad.”  Grant chided.  “When did you get so smart?”

“Mommy said it once, talking about Pokémon Go. Don’t worry, daddy I’ve heard that most people like the old fashion superheroes.  Everyone’s favorite superhero is Superman and he’s at least a million years old!”

Grant chuckled and kissed his daughter on the forehead and he carefully placed her in her bed.  She giggled as he tickled her and tucked her in.  Suddenly, Jennifer jumped out from her covers and kissed her father’s head.

“I love you, daddy!  No other superhero is going to save me.  I’ll wait for you.”

“I love you too Jennifer. Now it’s time to go to bed.  If your mother found out she would not be happy”

“Okay.”

Grant tucked Jennifer into her bed again and shut off the lights on his way out.  He closed the door softly and smiled to himself.  Sometimes he wondered if the Doctor had visited Jennifer and told her to encourage him.  But she right.  He shouldn't get all worried that he’s going out of style because nothing truly does go out of style.  Like comics.

But he wondered why Jennifer had flipped out.  She had never had this problem before.  Before he could think another thought, he was greeted in the kitchen by a familiar friend drinking a glass of milk.

“Don’t worry, I took care of it.” He replied placing the glass on the table.

“Doctor, what in the world are you doing here?”

“Jennifer had a monster under her bed.  I had to take care of it.”

“That doesn't give you a right to barge into my house.”

“But it was real!  It was a Graske and a very troubling one at that. I had to travel across the galaxy to catch him.”

“Okay, Doc.  It’s four in the morning so please finish quickly so I can get to bed.  I have a big day tomorrow.”

“With Jennifer?”

Grant nodded.  “She’s going to teach me how to curl my hair while we watch Frozen for the fiftieth time this week.”

“Good luck with that.  Frozen doesn’t ever die out. It’s a historical fad as I like to call it.”

The Doctor began to head towards the down but turned on his heels before setting out.  He walked right back and held out a comic book.  Grant gently took it from him.

“I just wanted to show this to you.” The Doctor whispered.  “Heard you’ve been having some super problems.  Hopefully, this helps.”

Grant turned it over and gasped.  It wasn’t just a regular comic, it was a comic about him!  The cover was a picture of him holding up the spaceship and Lucy was at his side.  He was speechless.

“Longest running comic based off the first real superhero Earth had.  Oh, look at!  I’m on page three!”

The Doctor flipped to page three and pointed to the animated version of himself.  It was a scene of when he and the Doctor first meet.  Grant still couldn’t that he was featured in a comic book like all his childhood heroes.

“They didn’t get my nose right again!” The Doctor grabbed the comic out of his hands and pointed at his animated nose.  “I’ve told they hundreds of times to change it, but they never do.”

“Can I keep this?”  Grant asked.

“Sure,” The Doctor replied flicking it through his fingers and handed it to Grant. “It’s not a sports almanac so I pretty sure it’s fine.”

“Thank you,”  Grant replied.  It was still hard for him to say anything because of the shock he was going through.

“Don’t worry Grant,”  The Doctor walked towards the door.  Once he was in the doorway he turned and smiled. “You aren’t old fashion.  I mean look at me!  I’ve been doing this for over a thousand years and people still know my name.  Try not to worry about it even though you are a human and humans worry more than they should.  Never mind.  Forgot that last part.  Just, breath!  You will be fine.  You humans and superhumans have survived this long. ”

The Doctor smiled and left the room.  Grant shook his head in disbelief and sighed. Maybe he wasn’t that bad.  Maybe people would remember him.  Suddenly, his hearing picked up a jewelry store alarm.  He ran to the window and was just about to take off when Jennifer screamed again.

“IT’S BACK!!” Jennifer screamed.

As Grant turned around he heard the door open.

“Sorry,”  The Doctor shuffled back in quietly.  “I knew I forgot something.”