"A Common Cause"

25. More Than Anyone

April 2012 – Lima, Ohio

To say she had office space where she could expect for them to have privacy would have been as far from the truth as anything ever was. If she'd been more easygoing with using the vortex manipulator to her benefits, she could have taken Walter off somewhere like Paris in the 1800's, or an alien world, or the distant future… But she knew better than to abuse the privilege she'd been granted, so she'd taken him to the football field, and they sat high up in the stands, where she was sure there would be no eavesdroppers without her knowing about them.

Walking from the cafeteria, back through the school, and out on to the field, Gemma could practically feel the quiet joy in Walter's face. He was not one to shy away from showing his emotions, and evidently something so simple as her calling him her boyfriend was something potent. She was feeling some of it, too, and she had kissed him, standing in the hall. This had earned her a comment from Coach Sylvester as they passed by her office, but Gemma was just not in the realm of caring.

"So how many of them know who you are?" Walter asked as they sat and started on their lunch.

"Well, all but…" she counted, "Four, of the Glee Club. And their director doesn't know either, and he won't," she shook her head. "By the time this is over though, they'll all know," she went on. If everything goes right, she added in her head.

"What do they know?" Walter asked then.

"What do you mean?" Gemma turned to him.

"I mean about you. They know your name isn't Ginny Harrison," he counted off on one finger.

"Oh," she blinked, understanding. "Yes, they know that, and they know I'm not really a teacher. Although at this point I might as well be," she shrugged. "They know that I travel with the Doctor and I was sent here by her." She tried to see if there was anything else, but she was coming up em… "Oh, they know I went to Juilliard," she ticked the item on her 'list' with a flick of her fork before it returned to her salad.

"I still haven't heard you play," Walter commented. He had been somewhat surprised to hear how she'd studied there, like somehow her being from the future meant that this wouldn't have been something she could do.

"Well, we're here, there are pianos, maybe on your way out we can do something about that," she nodded, and he returned the gesture with a smile. "Other than that, I haven't really told them all that much. I can't, or it might cause trouble," she frowned to herself. The nature of this trouble was one best kept quiet, at this point even from him.

"But I know all of those things," Walter went on.

"Yes, you do," Gemma smiled.

"And I know other things, too." She took on a position as though to say 'really, tell me more,' and he laughed. "I know you're from New York, and when you were… will be born… which makes me so much older than you, now that I think about it," he paused.

"Better not," she patted his knee. "What else?" He cleared his throat, got back on track.

"I know about your parents, and your sister, and your dog…" he listed off, and Gemma had a brief sigh, thinking of that fluffy goof back home. "I know about that tattoo you got…" he started, and she pointed a finger at him, "… which we don't tell anyone about, ever," he carried on, and she gave a firm 'that's right' nod before letting him continue. "I know…" he started, then paused, and the sudden drop in his smile told her exactly the words that would follow. "I know I love you, and I don't want you to leave." Sooner or later, it seemed that was always where they ended up, and it only became more pressing of a matter every time, as they came nearer to the end of… everything.

"See?" she spoke softly. "You know more than anyone." They were silent for a minute, and that was when she made up her mind to ask him. The worst he could say was no, and then they'd be right where they were now. "You know, I've never brought this up before, because in the long run it might be no more than a temporary fix, and it'll only make it harder afterward, but…"

"But…" he looked at her; if she had a solution that meant they didn't have to never see each other again, he was listening.

"You could come with us, with the Doctor and I. There are so many things out there for you to see, things I couldn't even describe without you seeing them with your own eyes. And even if we were gone for weeks and months, no one would have to know."

"Because you'd bring me back here and now," he filled in, and she nodded. "And then what? I still lose you," he looked at her, and what brief hope had started in his him was gone again. She breathed out. She didn't want to give up, not like this.

"Maybe," she confirmed, because she couldn't just lie to him. "Or maybe we'll find another way." They hadn't really discussed the dilemma, but just looking at him now, she knew he must have thought about it, and he must have understood it exactly as she did, the sacrifices one or the other would have to make for the sake of this relationship. "Like I said, it might not be a permanent solution… but it might give us a chance to find one, and then… and then we don't have to leave each other." He considered this, and he considered it hard. He looked at her.

"You know what I've always wanted to see?" he asked.

"No, what?" she replied tentatively.

"The Beatles, in concert," he smiled, and she grinned, putting the salad aside so she might embrace him.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)