Disclaimer: Someday I shall rule the world, and then Doctor Who and Space Cases shall be mine! But for now, they still don't belong to me, and this story is not for sale or profit.
A/n: The 20th anniversary of Space Cases is coming up in March! Break out those old grainy VHS home video recordings, or make a wish on a star that they'll finally release the show on DVD!
Last chapter! Hope you enjoyed reading, but if not, I enjoyed writing it! I regret nothing!
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Chapter 10
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Several hours later, once Radu had received a clean bill of health from Rosie and the Doctor and auto-repairs were sufficiently underway, the crew of the Christa gathered in the team room for an impromptu celebration – all things considered, it just felt necessary. So games were brought out and the food wheel was bribed into producing some relatively edible snacks, and everyone got down to the business of laughing and eating and telling stories – most of them tall tales recited by Harlan or Cat.
Once Suzee got over her initial embarrassment, she seemed to have decided to embrace the new dynamic whole heartedly, and was taking every spare opportunity she could find to show Radu her over-developed flirtatious side.
Radu, not quite so quick on the uptake, seemed to have developed a permanent blush and a humiliating stutter, but he also couldn't seem to stop smiling, so he was probably going to be okay. Probably.
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Later on, Harlan managed to find himself standing conveniently next to Cat.
"Hey, Cat, you know, with all this business about a kiss saving the day…" he said smoothly, turning on the charm.
Cat turned an intense look on him and raised a thoughtful eyebrow. Then she snorted inelegantly.
"Oh please!" she demanded, crossing her arms. "You mean like you kissed Suzee?"
"You, uh, you saw that, huh?" Harlan faltered, his game falling away in the blink of an eye. "Well, that was just… I mean, it wasn't…you know, you were… and I was just…"
"Uh-huh," Catalina said primly.
With a proud sniff, she turned on her heel and walked briskly away, Harlan trailing after her offering pleas and apologies to her intractable back - but anyone who was watching from afar might have noticed the small, secret little smile on her face as she led Harlan on the beginning of a merry chase. He had definitely met his match.
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Meanwhile, Bova was leaning his chin on his hand across the Minbar chess board from Rosie. From where he sat, he could see Suzee flirting mercilessly with Radu, Catalina ruthlessly tormenting Harlan, and Rosie's knight taking his king.
"Checkmate!" Rosie trilled cheerfully.
"That just figures," Bova groused. "They get girlfriends and I get beaten at chess. Why does everybody else have all the luck?
"Oh, I don't know, Bova," Rosie said nonchalantly as she stood up and walk around the chess board. "I think you're just not looking hard enough!" Leaning down, she kissed him quickly on the cheek, then turned and walked away with a sunny, "Good game!"
Bova stared after her, mouth hanging open, and for once he had nothing negative to say.
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Commander Goddard and Miss Davenport stood side by side beside the food wheel, watching all their worst nightmares begin to slowly solidify into a hopeless, terrifying reality.
"It's only going to get worse, you know," Miss Davenport said bleakly. "Soon they'll be crawling all over each other. Like lice."
"I did not sign on for this," Goddard replied gloomily, then peered down at her from the corner of his eye. "You get first watch."
"Don't be silly," Miss Davenport sniffed. "That's what Thelma is for."
The Commander snorted, and allowed himself a small smile. Harlan's words from earlier up at the Compost chose that moment to come back to him, and he shook his head in disbelief, though his grin widened minutely.
"Well, come on, 'Mommy Dearest'," he sighed. "Might as well get ourselves some snacks before the devour everything edible."
Miss Davenport smirked gently back, bumping his shoulder with her own.
"Indeed, best keep our strength up, 'Dad'," she concurred. "It would appear we're going to need it."
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The Doctor was late to the party, so there was a chorus of cheers when the team room door whooshed open. They died down abruptly.
"Oh, it's just Thelma," said Harlan. Cat smacked him on the arm.
Thelma cocked her head mechanically. "Yes, it is just me," she agreed ponderingly. Organics did seem to enjoy stating the obvious. She set her burden down on the table – a newly cut deutronium prism. "The Doctor sends his compliments. And a deutronium prism," she added, deciding to try it out. She didn't see the appeal.
"Where is the Doctor?" Rosie asked.
"You know what, I'll go find him," Suzee said, heading for the door. Remembering what it felt like to look into his eyes, she had a feeling she knew.
"I'll, uh… I'll go with you!" Radu called after her.
"HALT!" Miss Davenport barked ominously, blocking his way. "I don'tthink so! There are going to be some new rules around here!"
Suzee cast a pitying look over her shoulder, shrugged and escaped into the corridor.
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The blue box was still in the medlab, a number of thick cables running from the open doorway to one of the interface terminals. The Doctor, bent almost double over the monitor, had just finished accessing the Christa's memory banks by interfacing her with the TARDIS - including the hidden datacore that the crew hadn't yet figured out how to unlock.
And he had found out that there was more in store for them than they could possibly imagine!
"Whoa… you don't say!" he breathed, astonished – a truly novel sensation for him these days. His eyes flashed with mischief and delight as the truth behind the Christa's origins and real mission scrolled past him. "That's going to be some kind of ride, isn't it?"
This peculiar collection of kids and their one-of-a-kind ship were in for an amazing adventure! So amazing that, for once, the Doctor was almost tempted to stay. Almost.
Instead, he closed down the interface, re-burying the secrets of the Christa, her mission, and all that lay ahead for her unlikely crew, flung the cables back through the TARDIS door, and made to follow them inside.
"Trying to sneak off without saying goodbye?"
The Doctor paused. Suzee stood in the door to the medlab, arms crossed, looking a little smug, and more than a little scolding.
"Well, you know how it is," the Doctor shrugged, spreading his hands. "Places to go, people to meet, planets to save, ostriches to ride. You know, I once saved a planet of ostriches! But I'm not allowed to go back now," he grimaced. "Accidentally made an omelet out of the crown prince. Honest mistake."
Suzee giggled, then cocked her head, then walked up to him, her face growing serious.
"Are you going to be okay?" she asked.
The Doctor stilled for a moment, then scoffed.
" 'Course I'll be okay! Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because I think you're lonely. That maybe you have been for a long time." She bit her lip. "You know… you could stay here," she offered hopefully. "We're kind of a bunch of screw-up misfits, but we have a lot of fun!"
The Doctor smiled at her slowly, sadly.
"Or you could come with me," he said quietly. "All of time and space at your fingertips."
Suzee looked past him into the open door of the TARDIS, and knew a moment of sharp temptation. Then she shook her head just a little sadly.
"Like I said, my place is here," she replied. There was a quiet whoosh behind her, and she turned to see Radu step uncertainly through the door and smiled. "With this crew."
The Doctor nodded knowingly, and Suzee once again perceived the vast turn of the universe gleaming in his eyes.
"As mine is in there," he replied, then turned a bright smile on Radu. "How's the weather in there, Dreamboat?"
"Heh, uh, just fine, now," Radu replied, then extended a hand towards the Doctor. "Thanks to you."
The Doctor didn't usually do handshakes, any more than he did salutes, but he recalled vividly what the TARDIS interface with the Christa had told him about this young man's future. Noble Radu, worthy and brave… how often did one get the chance to shake hands with a legendary hero before the legend began? (Well, alright, the Doctor met them all the time – but he rarely shook their hands!) So he clapped his into Radu's, then tried his very best not to screw up his face too much as it was almost crushed in Radu's gentle squeeze of gratitude.
"It's been an honor and a privilege!" he said tightly, then leaned in closer and murmured, "You'll want to watch that grip when you're holding onto her." He waggled his eyebrows conspiratorially at the goofy grin that spread irrepressibly across the blushing boys face, then spun around and faced Suzee again.
"So I guess this is goodbye," Suzee said.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," the Doctor exclaimed. "You never know where I'll turn up. Or when! I have a feeling we all might meet again someday." In fact, the Doctor thought a bit deviously, I think I'll plan on it!
Impulsively, Suzee went up on her tip toes and hugged him.
"Until the next time then!" she said as she let him go. Coming from her it sounded half an order, half a promise. The Doctor knew her type – he'd been traveling with them for years. For a precarious moment, he almost admitted to himself that she was right – that he needed somebody. For a moment, he almost asked her once more to come along.
Instead he spun around and stepped into the TARDIS, then poked his head back out and shot the young couple one last wink before slamming the doors.
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"So how did you escape Miss Davenport?" Suzee asked, feeling suddenly, unaccustomedly shy.
"Oh, uh, that was Harlan," Radu replied; he sounded grateful that she'd broken the silence. "He somehow managed to glue the back of Commander Goddard's uniform to the back of Miss Davenport's. He said it was for their own good, and he'd let them have the solvent when they admitted how much they like each other. I haven't figured out how he managed it yet, but I didn't stick around to find out." He glanced down at his hands, grinning as she giggled uncontrollably, but his expression quickly sobered. "Listen, Suzee, I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused. I know I shouldn't have… you know… but… I just couldn't help it."
"It wasn't your fault, Radu. It was mine," she shrugged awkwardly. "Sorry for almost hypnotizing you to death."
Radu licked his lower lip nervously, a quirk Suzee had always found endearing.
"The thing is," he said slowly. "I, uh… I don't think that's really why I couldn't help it." He looked up at her meaningfully.
Suzee was sure she'd never blushed so often in one day.
"I guess we both messed up," she conceded magnanimously. "Still just a couple of space cases after all!" She offered him a lopsided smile and took a small step closer to him. "But I've gotta say, this time I'm kind of glad we did."
Suzee hadn't thought that pale Andromedan skin could achieve that shade of red.
"We'd, uh, better get back," he said, sounding a little breathless. "I shouldn't have ducked out the way I did. Miss Davenport will never let me hear the end of it. I just had to, you know, make sure you weren't running away with the hero in the weird spaceship!"
He laughed at his own flat joke, sounding painfully awkward. Suzee's chest tightened sweetly at the uncertainty underlying his teasing.
"Now why would I want to do that," she stepped closer again, "when we're alone together at last?"
He looked away. "I-I don't know. It's just… sometimes I can't tell…"
Charmed by the courage of his honesty, Suzee reached out and, conscious of what the Doctor had told her about Andromedans and touch, wound one spiraling lock from his mane of blond hair around her finger. It was surprisingly soft for a strand as strong as steel. His breath hitched when she then brushed the back of her finger casually against his neck, just under the line of his jaw, and looked up at him from under her lashes.
"Well, I know you can hear the beat of my heart," she murmured into the small space between them. She wasn't flirting anymore – she was completely serious. "Can you tell what its saying right now?"
Radu looked up at her, his heart in his eyes, and then, sighing, reached for her.
Just before their lips met, they were rather rudely interrupted by a wheezing, groaning roar and a flashing pulse of light. Suzee and Radu smiled resignedly at each other. Then looked up in wonder as, in a swirling whoosh of phantom wind, the strange Doctor and his strange blue box faded away and were gone.
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End
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A/n – And that's all she wrote – literally, that was how the dream ended. But who knows, perhaps the Doctor and the Space Cases will visit me in my dreams again - the Doctor certainly seems to think it could happen! Anyway, if you've ever wondered what is going on inside your humble author's head, wonder no more, that was pretty much it – fandom, crossovers, shipping, and just a hint of a drunken monkey dancing around the edges, banging the bits that stick out too much with a half-empty vodka bottle. Be afraid, be very afraid – but before you run away, please leave a review!