"The Class of 2012"

50. On the Road Back

Inside the TARDIS

It wasn't until they'd moved to enter the ship that he'd even seen it. "You're hurt," he looked her over. She was holding to her side as she moved up the ramp, her face doing its best to hide how much she was in pain. "What happened?"

"It's nothing. You should have seen me sometimes after dance lessons with Miss Julia," she laughed, but it took some of her breath away, and she wasn't fooling anyone.

"Sit, let me see," he insisted. So she sat down and pulled up her shirt just enough that he'd see what had to be turning into quite the array of bruised tones already.

"I tried to get away when they caught me. It didn't work." When he reached out to touch the sensitive skin, her hand shot out to slap his hand away. "I will scream," she warned.

"I'm not sending you back to them like this. They worry too much as it is," he explained, looking at her. She sighed.

"Just… be careful," she begged. "Maybe keep me talking, to distract me, you know?"

"Did I ever tell you about the time I regrew a hand?" he complied. She nearly leapt out of her skin when he touched the bruise.

"You didn't, but the next one will," she spoke after a beat.

"Amazing the things we can do, after regeneration, yet most of it gets lost in trying to become this new skin we've been given, or accepting our failings in hair color," he looked up at her like she might give him good news.

"I'm not saying a word," she frowned, and he looked back down in disappointment.

"How long have you… and next me…"

"On and off, a few years now," Gemma revealed.

"Why the off?" he wondered.

"Death in the family," was all she would say, and the look in her eyes convinced him not to pry.

"Sorry," he only said, and she gave a sad but thankful smile.

"I'd only just come back, before you, your next you, sent me to Lima," she confessed. He looked surprised, like he was only now seeing the big picture she'd been made the center of. It had been one thing to wonder about her all this time, to be frustrated by her, as he'd tried to figure out who she was and why she was following him, but now she was a real person, with a name, a family, a story… She was Gemma Lucas, and he would one day take her on as his companion.

She was generally vague as to the details of their future together, and he knew it was for good reason, that he should admire her for holding to it, but all he could think about was how much she had been willing to dedicate of herself to this. She wouldn't have known the whole of it when she'd started, she couldn't, but she had agreed.

"Doctor, keep talking," she pleaded, and he realized he'd gone silent.

"Sorry, yes. You're right," he sat up.

"Is it over? The Treian, the plague, the cure… Padra?"

"Some, yes. Some, no. Some… maybe."

"In other words, you don't know," Gemma tempted a look back down at her side. She hadn't felt anything the last few seconds, and now she saw why. The Doctor had stuck a great lilac colored patch on over her bruise. It was covered entirely, and it felt as though her pain had evaporated completely the moment the bruise had gone out of sight.

"Where did you get that?" she asked, testing by reaching down and prodding with one finger. The patch felt squishy under her touch, but there was no pain, and she was breathing at ease again.

"In my pocket," the Doctor declared.

"Of course," she smirked, letting her shirt down.

"Just don't leave it on more than a day, or you'll turn that color all over, and the little fella will call you home."

"The little… This is a… a-a living thing?" she looked at the patch again.

"Come now, they're harmless. I call that one Freddie," the Doctor beamed. Gemma slowly let go of the hem again. So long as 'the little fella' kept doing what it did, she could deal.

"I'll take good care of it," she promised.

"Good. Now here we are," he announced, flipping a lever by stretching wide toward the console. He almost fell when they jolted. "The Phisto Hub. We've made it."

She was more nervous than she'd realized. Would they be upset with her for leaving? Even if she did have a good reason… Would they hate that she'd gone without telling them, especially the part where she had envisioned the possibility she might not get to come back…

"When this is over," she spoke, looking to the strap on her wrist. They had removed the disc, and she'd almost expected for him to keep the vortex manipulator, too. "When this is over and I go back to the next you, I… Walter and I…"

"You want to bring him," he guessed.

"I tried to stay away from him, for so long."

"Why would you ever do a thing like that?"

"Because… because he's from the past, my past, and I'm from his future, we're never going to be able to make sense of it."

"Well, that's love for you, Gemma Lucas. As for the time thing, I would have thought you'd travelled with me long enough to know it only becomes a problem if you let it."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)