"Is Jenny asleep?"

At Jack's question, Aliya stirred from her random internal musings, and turned away from the glass windows which overlooked the rest of the Hub.

"I think so," she answered, "One week since she arrived, and no major disasters. We're doing well, I think."

"You sound surprised," Jack observed as he poured himself a glass of vodka.

Her lips twitched involuntarily. "With her genetics, I thought that she might have inherited his knack for magnetising trouble. But nothing out of ordinary has happened, so perhaps not. Do I get some of that?" Even though he had already taken a sip, he offered her the glass for her to drink a little, make a face, and hand it back. "And she was fine with taking the couch."

"You Gallifreyan girls seem to not mind too much about where you sleep," he said, before he drained the rest of the glass. "So, what do you want to do tonight?"

"I don't know. Just something fun, I suppose."

"Dancing?"

Aliya smiled wryly. "You know, maybe."

"Dirty dancing?" He waggled his eyebrows at her and began to sway his hips suggestively. She just stared blankly. "You know, like the movie!"

"What movie?"

Jack's eyes widened with disbelief before excitement took him over. "Okay, I know what we're doing tonight. I'm going to go and get the DVD. Don't you move!" He grinned and left with nothing more than a wink.

With no idea what had just happened, Aliya sat down in his chair and stared at the vodka bottle thoughtfully before refilling the empty glass and drinking it with more confidence than before.

When he returned, she was giggling to herself and spinning in circles on his swivel chair. "I may have had more of that vodka than was sensible," she admitted the moment his eyes rested on her.

"I hope I'm not turning you into an alcoholic," he said, and used a remote to reveal a television and DVD player built into the wall behind one of the office panels.

"You're not," Aliya assured him, "So what is this movie, exactly?"

"It's Dirty Dancing, classic movie, you're gonna love it," Jack put in the disk and then indicated for her to get out of the chair. He sat in it and then pulled her onto his lap, earning a surprised yelp from her.

"And if I don't?" She shifted so that she was comfortably leaning into his side.

"Not possible."


An hour and forty minutes later, Aliya was grinning as the movie credits rolled. She had a limited experience with cinema from this planet and time, and had certainly noticed certain patterns involving heterosexuality and Caucasian lead characters, but Dirty Dancing was going on her list of Earth films she enjoyed a lot.

"That was amazing!" She exclaimed, from where she was leaning her head against Jack's shoulder. "I really had no idea what to expect, but that was...great."

"Ah, but I have ulterior motives," Jack said, chuckling, "Because now I'm going to ask you if you want to give it a try."

"Give what a try?" She murmured, too busy inhaling his pheromones to think straight.

"Dirty dancing."

She straightened up and eyed him for a moment, warily. His eyes were warm and amused and downright enticing, daring her to agree and to try something new with him. How could she say no?

"Alright then, Harkness, I'll play."

They got to their feet and he grinned. "Hope you know what you just signed up for, Alibear." He pulled her into a dance, using the music from the credits. Not prepared for suddenly being so close to him, her breath caught, which only seemed to please him.

Their initial steps were small as they fell into the rhythm of the music, Jack's hands making sure her hips stayed close to his, while her eyes shifted from them to his face, and she hesitantly smiled as she got used to the strange type of dancing.

"You okay?" He whispered in her ear. Quickly, she nodded.

"I mean, it's strange, and if I were doing this with anyone else I don't think I'd like it, but with you it's...nice."

"Nice? Wow, Miss Gallifrey, don't shower me with compliments all at once," Jack said with a snort, "I'm trying to rock your world here, Alibear, and you're making it very difficult."

She cocked an eyebrow at him and smirked. "So try harder. Time Lords take a little more effort, Jack. I thought you were up for the challenge?"

"Okay, you asked for it," Jack warned, and he kept one hand firmly on her waist while the other came up to support her back as he dipped her backwards. She let out a noise that was half-laugh and half-squeal, and let her head fall back, giving him access to run his nose along the line of her neck.

He left kisses there, and as he drew her back to an upright position, he got to her mouth and left two kisses on it, soft as anything but expert and lingering. Her eyes fluttered shut, her hands curling around his waist and pulling them together. He kissed her harder, stealing her breath and proving he was very much up for the challenge. She grabbed his blue suspenders as he quickly lifted her off the floor to be held against his body instead.

"Well that escalated quickly," she said against his lips with a breathy grin.

"Problem?"

Aliya looked up at him with amusement. "No."

Backing them up against the table, he laid her back on it and pushed up her yellow t-shirt part of the way so that he could run his lips against her stomach. Little did he know that she was ticklish there, and she burst into a fit of giggles.

"You're not making it very easy for me to seduce you here, Ali," he pretended to scold, and for a moment she went along with it and made an apologetic face before she sat up and undid the top button of his shirt so she could press a kiss to the hollow in his collarbone.

"It's not as if you're actually trying to seduce me," said Aliya quietly as she took in another whiff of his pheromones.

"Of course not," he agreed, his hands travelling up her stocking-clad legs to rest at the bottom edge of her denim mini-skirt – which she knew he remembered picking out for her himself. "If I was, these stockings and that skirt would already be on the other side of the room."

She couldn't help but lift an eyebrow at that as she lifted her head to regard him with interest. "Is that so?"

He opened his mouth as if to speak, and then closed it. Then, without warning, he captured her lips in one of his intense kisses that turned and would have resulted in her hitting the floor had she been standing up due to her legs giving out. Her eyes shut again and her hands wound around his neck. When he finally released her, both were breathing heavily. His forehead was resting against hers, and she let him keep it there.

"You know, it occurs to me that you're probably the only person in the universe it would be practical for me to be in love with," she murmured.

"Interesting point. Am I your type?"

"I thought you were everyone's type." Jack pulled away to fix her with a look. He was apparently genuinely curious. She sighed. "Jack, I've had romantic feelings for a grand total of two people. I don't have enough data to determine a type."

"Enough data," he snorted, "You're such a scientist."

She rolled her eyes. "Shut up. I'm just trying to say...I don't particularly want to be in love with anyone, ever, at this point in my life. Romantic love's brought me nothing but trouble. But, if it had to happen, I suppose I wish it was...with you."

Jack swallowed, unsurprisingly unsure of how to reply.

"Of course, being as demi as I am, it would be a long time before that came to fruition even if it did, which I'm almost certain it won't," Aliya continued, sighing, "It figures, that I meet someone who's a great friend, always cheers me up, is an incredible kisser, and actually has a practical lifespan to match my own, and there's just-"

"Nothing," Jack finished, and she realised, with an odd mixture of emotions (relief and disappointment simultaneously dominating), that they were on exactly the same page. "Yeah, I know. I...might have thought about that too."

"I don't even want romance in itself," Aliya said, swallowing, "I just...want him. Stupid fucking feelings."

"Hey, you're thinking again, we can't have that," Jack said with disapproval, "Permission to take your mind of it?" His hand came up under her chin and his thumb grazed over her lips.

"Please," she whispered, pulling him into a kiss rougher and more desperate than any they had yet to share. It was surprisingly easy to let her emotional woes disappear and be replaced by the feeling of Jack's lips and hands and the burning warmth of his body against her cooler one, even through their clothing.

"Oh!"

They broke apart and jerked their heads in the direction of the now open doorway, where a wide eyed Jenny was standing. Aliya yanked her shirt back down over her exposed torso and tugged on her skirt for good measure as well. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

"Jenny," Jack said, sheepishly, a hand in his hair, "Hey. We were, uh-"

"No, no, it's fine, none of my business, I'm sorry," Jenny was quick to say, flushing, "I'll just...go. You two go back to...whatever it is you were doing. I was just wondering what you guys were up to. Guess now I know."

"No, Jenny, I'm sorry," Aliya quickly said, sliding off the table, "And you don't need to leave, we're, um, done." She cringed at her terrible wording. "Look, point is, I'll come with you."

They both said goodbye to Jack and left his office. It wasn't until they were back at the couch in the main part of the Hub that Jenny lifted an eyebrow as the two of them sat back down.

"So you and Jack, huh? I'd guessed, and now I'm right." She laughed a little, clearly still awkward, "Sorry again about that."

Aliya shook her head, grinning embarrassedly. "No, honestly, it's absolutely fine. And Jack and I…well, it's probably not what you think, but I can't explain it."

Jenny frowned in confusion. "So you're not…together?"

"Not exactly."

"Oh, so it's a casual thing. Fair enough. You know, that's nothing to be embarrassed about, a lot of people have needs and casual sex is an easy solution to that-" Jenny's words were cut off by Aliya covering her mouth with her hands.

"Maybe some people do, but Time Lords as a general rule don't. Our...needs...are directly correlated to the person we're attracted to, not the act itself. Jack and I are not sleeping together."

"Oh," Jenny said, surprised, "Okay. Good to know. The thing about Time Lords, more so. I thought it was just me. Except I've not felt that way about anybody, not ever. And...I've met some very attractive people."

Aliya smiled. "Well, it might take a while, but one day you might meet someone you do feel that way about. Or you might not. Either is totally normal for our people. Don't let these humans trick you into thinking romance or sex is necessary for your happiness, they have some very stupid ideas about this sort of thing."

"Okay, thanks," Jenny said, looking rather reassured, and Aliya had to wonder if perhaps she had already faced some pressure in these area, either from the Torchwood staff or in the 61st century. The girl leaned back against the couch, curling up in the pyjamas and blanket Jack had procured for her. "So, if you're not sleeping together-"

"We're friends who enjoy kissing each other. It's as simple as that. We're both pretty emotionally unavailable."

"Oh?"

Aliya sighed. "Jack's last lover died a while back. He's still not over it. And as for me...well. I'm in love with someone who is happily married to someone else. I'm envious of a relationship that I'd also protect with my life. Which is...emotionally confusing, to say the least."

"Jeez," Jenny said, wincing, "That sucks. For both of you."

"Hey, at least for me, the people in question aren't dead." Aliya thought of River and winced. "Well. Anyway. Not the point."

There was a long silence before Jenny asked, "What's love like?"

An even lengthier silence passed before she got an answer. The Time Lady frowned and inhaled a deep, shuddering breath while keeping her eyes on her knees. "You would be far better off asking a happily married person such as Gwen or your stepmother about this."

"My stepmother?"

"Oh, er-" Aliya cursed the fact that she was still a little drunk and saying things too freely. "That's a discussion for another time."

"I'm asking you. Over this last week you've been like a sister to me-"

"Not sister," she interrupted, unable to let the comparison pass due to the incestuous implications it would have due to her past relationship with and current feelings for the girl's father.

"Mother, then," Jenny corrected with a grateful smile, and Aliya felt her eyes get a little teary, as that comparison did not have helpful implications either. She knew she should correct it, but didn't. "I want to know how you see it."

"It's…it's like you've been wandering your whole life, and you've been looking for something, but you didn't realise it," Aliya said slowly, "And then you see that person and think, 'oh, there you are. I never even knew I was looking for you'. It all slots into place. And it's wonderful."

"Then why are you crying? It doesn't seem wonderful for you."

Aliya realised she was right and hastily wiped at her eyes. "It's wonderful while it lasts. If things go well, if the timing is right. But when it doesn't work out, it can be devastating."

Jenny clasped her hand over one of Aliya's sympathetically. "Is it because they're in love with someone else and not with you?" When she got a nod as an answer, the girl continued, "Because you know, they might love you back. It's possible to love more than one person at once, you know. I've seen it before, when I was travelling."

Aliya didn't even let that thought into her head, because it was dangerous and would be detrimental if she considered it for even a moment. "I know that it is. But not this time, Jenny. But you're right. That's the problem with love, it's two-sided. And if the other person doesn't love you back…well, it's one of the worst things in the universe. Love might be wonderful but it's also dangerous and destructive and the absolute hardest thing to get rid of when it doesn't want to leave-"

No more words came out as Aliya's throat got too constricted, and she couldn't keep up with the tears running down her face as she attempted to wipe them away. She was aware of Jenny hugging her from the side, and did her best to compose herself and set a better example for the girl she was trying to look after.

"I'm sorry, Jenny," she said, feeling as pathetic as Marion always said she was, "Us Time Lords are all rather screwed up, I'm afraid. That's what happens when you live for over a thousand years."

Jenny's eyes widened. "You and my dad are over a thousand years old? Will I live that long?"

"Maybe." She sniffed loudly and grasped the nearby blanket in her hand. "And to completely change the subject, I think it's time for you to try and go back to sleep, you need it."

The blonde girl complied and obediently lay back down on the couch, letting Aliya pull the blanket over her. "It's just - I had a nightmare before."

"Of what?"

"Dying. It hurt, and it scared me, and so sometimes I have nightmares about it," Jenny said quietly, and sounded a little ashamed of being so afraid of it.

"Well, you're not going to die again. I'm going to stay right here and make sure no one can hurt you," Aliya assured her, and in that moment she could see Jenny's true age in her eyes for a few moments before her mental age took over again. As something extra, she began to sing Jenny the Gallifreyan lullaby she had sung to her son centuries back, even if she knew that Jenny wouldn't know most of what she was saying.

Within a minute or two, Jenny's breathing evened and her head stopped moving, letting her mentor know that she was asleep. Aliya smiled gently.

Wherever you are right now, Theta, I promise you that I'm looking after her until you can do so yourself, she thought, even though she knew that he couldn't hear her.

And the thought that she was doing something he would approve of and be thankful for made her smile to herself as she kept her promise to Jenny and pulled up a chair to watch over her as she slept.


The sound of the police box whirred through the air and caused excitement to flutter in her chest. And then he was stepping out of it and she couldn't stop the grin that overtook her face.

"Aliya," He said, uttering it in a way she wasn't used to, and before she even realised what had happened they were running at each other – it had been six months that she had been stuck on Earth. When they collided, his arms encircled her immediately and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. She laughed. "I've missed you."

Before she could reply, he bent down and kissed her, and she was ecstatic because she knew it was for no other reason than that he wanted to and because he cared about her and –

Aliya jolted awake to find Jenny eyeing her worriedly from the couch.

"Are you okay?"

As the content of her dream set in, The Time Lady became aware of her hands shaking where they were wrapped around her as though she was holding herself in her sleep. In her haste to reply, she instinctively shook her head before realising it would bring questions, and so changed it to a nod as quickly as she could.

Jenny didn't look particularly convinced. "Bad dream?"

"Yeah," Aliya replied thickly, which wasn't a strictly truthful answer, "When you're a thousand years old, and have seen as much as I have, you might have bad dreams too."

It sounded like something she or the Doctor would say, what someone ancient would say. And part of her felt ancient. Ancient and weary, tired of being caught up with feelings and emotions which were sending her into a spiral of unhappiness, regret, and longing. The other part of her was the voice of her youth, the youth in love with Theta Sigma, the slightly older Time Lady in love with her young, blonde Doctor with the celery. Voices who didn't know how to restrain their feelings, who didn't truly understand why they should have to.

All in all, it made her head ache.

Jenny seemed to take her words to heart though, as her face softened a little and became more thoughtful. "Does my dad have bad dreams?"

"I wouldn't know," the older woman said quickly, rising from the chair too abruptly and having to take a second to steady herself, "It's not like we sleep in the same room or anything." She then sighed and properly considered the question. "Yes, he does. But I've only witnessed a few."

"Maybe when we're back with him, we can find a way to help him." Jenny shot her a hopeful smile, which Aliya forced herself to return while her mind raced at something very vital which she hadn't considered.

"Yeah, maybe," she muttered, her thoughts by then elsewhere, "Look, sorry, I need to talk to Jack. Right now."

And she dashed off without another word.


Jack was browsing the latest news articles and police reports for possible outliers which may involve alien activity when there was a knock on his door. With his invitation, Aliya came inside and sat herself on the conference table.

"Okay, so there's a major detail I've left out of this whole mess with the Doctor and River…and I've only just realised that it's going to affect Jenny too," she said suddenly and out of the blue, already sounding very worked up.

Briefly, Jack wondered how her situation could get any more fucked up than it already was. Not that he would tell her that, or that her many venting and angsting sessions were rather draining on him as well as her. Because she was his friend and that was what friends did. Still, the sooner this whole mess was resolved, the happier they would all be. A non-distraught and not-pining-after-the-Doctor Aliya was something he was definitely hoping to see in the future.

Finally, he settled for just saying, "What major detail?"

She bit her lip and closed her eyes for a moment before quietly saying, "That River is going to die." Her mouth pressed into a thin line and the grief in her eyes was more powerful than any of the negative emotions she had expressed in front of him before.

Shock flowed through him, quickly followed by horror, and then sadness. "How do you know?" He asked.

"Non-linear timeline, remember? The first time that the Doctor met her, she died!"

"Wait." Jack held up his hand. "The Doctor knows?"

"Of course!" Aliya said, "How else would I know?"

"So, he's gone through their entire relationship, and married her, knowing that she was going to die because he's already seen it happen?" He deducted, and she gave a minuscule nod.

"Essentially, yes," she whispered, "That was the other reason I left. I couldn't look her in the eye anymore. Never mind that I'm in love with her husband, I know exactly where and when she dies, and that he's known the entire time! She's my other best friend, Jack, I love her so much and I just couldn't do it any more."

There was a minute of silence as Jack processed the entire thing in his head. It really was messed up. And tragic, almost beautifully so, except that the Doctor needed no more tragedy in his life, and losing his wife could break him once and for all.

"Okay," he said slowly, although really it was anything but, "But how does this affect Jenny?"

"I told him not to come back for me until she – she was gone," Aliya answered shakily, "Not until he needed me. Which means that when he comes back for me, he is going to be...beyond broken, even I'm scared of what this might do to him. And not even taking into account the fact that being reunited with Jenny so soon after River could potentially confuse all of his emotions…it's Jenny that I'm worried about." She lifted her chin, and protectiveness glinted in her eye. "She loves her father so much even though they were only together for a couple of hours. And it is going to be hard enough for her to understand regeneration – which I haven't explained to her yet – without his grief being added to it. She won't recognise him. I've seen him grieve before, and now he has lost more and will lose the most precious thing of all. So for Jenny's sake, she shouldn't come until I'm sure that the two of them can handle it."

Jack considered her words before a flaw appeared. "Yeah, but if I know the Doctor, and he's been thinking for years that his daughter was dead…the moment he finds out otherwise, he's going to go and get her."

Nervously, Aliya took a deep breath. "Which is why I'm not going to tell him. Not until he's ready."

That surprised Jack. "You'd keep this from him?"

"He'll forgive me eventually…whereas if I brought her to him immediately, he would be happy but then realise how much of a mistake it was, and then he might resent me!" She shifted her gaze down to her knotting hands. "And I can't have that happen."

"Well, she's a great little fighter, and she's got that Gallifreyan brain, so she can stay here as long as she likes," he offered with a smile, and she shot him a very grateful look.

"Thank you Jack," she said, and then laughed. "And at the end of this, I am buying you more flowers and liquor than you could ever need."

Despite everything, he grinned at that for a moment. "You'll need to explain this to Jenny, though. And you'll need to tell her the whole thing, the truth, if she is going to understand why she can't see her dad as soon as possible."

She nodded. "I know. There's only one thing I ever lie about, Jack, and it's certainly not this."

It was obvious without her saying it that her love for the Doctor was what she lied about, and Jack nodded. Before he could saying anything else, they both turned their heads at some commotion downstairs, and with only a glance, they made for the door.


After watching a very out-of-sorts Aliya disappear around the corner in the direction of Jack's office, Jenny frowned. Bad dreams? It didn't sound pleasant, but then, living for that long, the way that it sounded like her dad did…well, you were bound to see things you would wish you hadn't. Things that could haunt you.

But maybe there was a way around that. Maybe happy memories could block out the bad ones, and if she made enough happy memories with her dad, then he wouldn't have such bad dreams.

For a number of minutes she didn't bother to keep track of, she mused and planned on ways she could help her older kinsmen. But then after some time, her ears tuned into a conversation coming from the med bay. Knowing that Gwen and Esther had not yet arrived, she deducted that it was between Marion and Rex, which she was able to confirm by the voices as she crept closer.

"Seriously, Matheson, what do you want?" Marion sounded irritable, as Jenny had realised she often did, though luckily enough not when she was talking to her.

"I want to be a very considerate person and return something to you." Although she couldn't see either of them, his grin was practically audible.

"And what would that be?"

"You left these at my place." There was a brief silence as he presumably got out whatever it was that was being returned, which was broken by a growl.

Curious as to what could draw such a reaction from someone as refined as Marion, Jenny peeked around the stone wall to see Rex with a shit-eating grin on his face as he held up a pair of lacy black underwear between himself and the medical officer, whose expression was murderous. Jenny's eyes widened, as imagining Marion having relations of that kind with anyone was unexpected to say the least. But, she supposed, Rex was the person she would likely get along with the best, as the two were very similar.

"Put those away!" Marion hissed, and when he didn't instantly move, she shoved him against the nearest slab of cold, white stone wall. She plucked the underwear from his hands and shoved it into her coat pocket before pressing her forearm against Rex's throat, keeping him pinned. "If you ever dare bring any kind of evidence of our private dealings here again, I will make you regret it, Matheson. It is our business and no one else's, and this was completely unnecessary and just a ploy to stir shit!"

"It was a fucking joke, Narke! Shit, why do you have to be such a tight-ass?" He said, glaring at her.

"You might think it's a joke, but I don't care for anyone to know my personal business," she hissed.

"I know your personal business," said Rex with a smirk, and Jenny was surprised to see a smirk appear on Marion's face at the same time that a slightly dangerous look appeared in her eyes.

"You're so funny, Rex," she said, voice dangerously low, "Have I ever told you how hilarious you are?" She pressed her forearm harder against his neck for a moment, and her lips twitched as he ever so slightly winced. Then she let go, and with obvious satisfaction, watched him half fall to the floor. She regarded him for a moment, then smirked again. "Well, I'm not fucking you for your sense of humour, so I suppose I couldn't care less."

Rex righted himself and shot her a glare which for some reason wasn't entirely angry. If Jenny wasn't mistaken, he actually looked a little turned on. "So, my place at nine?" He eyed her with confidence, which shifted to triumph when she let out a low laugh in her throat and turned to look at him over her shoulder.

"Sure," she answered, and went to turn back to her work, except that she froze, her expression suddenly dark. It was that moment that Jenny realised she had been spotted. "It's not polite to eavesdrop, Princess," the older woman spat with venom she had never directed at the girl before.

"Sorry, I'll just-" Jenny gulped and hurried away, but she could hear the high heels clicking on the floor as they followed her with surprising speed.

"Narke, chill out, it's fine!"

"Keep out of this, Rex, you've made your opinion on this very clear," Marion's voice told him.

"It might surprise you, Narke, but I don't actually want this to be common knowledge either," he replied, "Why would I be proud of fucking the office freak?"

The high heels stopped, and the tension in the room was so palpable that Jenny was almost afraid to turn around. Almost. When she did, Marion wasn't angry at Rex, as Jenny had expected her to be. Instead her eyes were cold as she eyed the black man who had followed her through to the workstations.

"If I'm such a freak, why lower yourself by sleeping with me?" The tone and emotion of her voice couldn't be identified by Jenny; she didn't sound angry, or curious, or offended. She didn't sound as though she was feeling anything.

Rex shrugged. "Because you're a weirdly attractive freak who's good in bed."

"Urgh. Nevermind, your logic has always been shitty, it's not like I care what you think of me anyway." Marion rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Jenny. "Now, little princess, what made you think that you had the right to invade my privacy?"

"Sorry," Jenny said again, nervous, "I didn't mean to, I just overheard, and then I didn't really think-"

The dark haired woman lifted an eyebrow. "You didn't think? Why not? Are you stupid?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" Her cold and judgemental tone put a pit in Jenny's stomach. She had never thought that she was stupid, but right now she felt it. "Because only stupid people don't think before they act."

"Nobody's perfect," Jenny said without thinking, because she had to say something to defend herself, "Not you, not him, not me. I made a mistake, and I've apologised, what more do you want me to do?"

"To not act as idiotic as the woman you idolise. You have a brain in there, so use it, and keep out of business that isn't yours," said Marion agitatedly, "And-"

"Is there a problem here?"

All three of them turned around to see Jack and Aliya entering the work area. The former, who had spoken, shot Marion a look which made the woman step back from where she had been intimidating Jenny by invading her personal space and abusing their large height difference.

"Not anymore," she said mildly, and went to go only to come to a halt when Jenny spoke.

"She and Rex are sleeping together."

Marion shot Jenny a very annoyed look at the same time that Jack lifted an eyebrow and Aliya did a bad job of hiding her disgust. "Did our entire conversation go completely over your little blonde head?" She demanded, and Jenny straightened up and lifted her chin.

"No, but I don't respond well to intimidation or bullying," the blonde girl said firmly.

For a few moments the two of them stared each other down, while Jack and Aliya shared a worried but rather impressed glance. But then Marion surprised all of them, and laughed slightly. Although everyone else in the room froze as if to be sure that they hadn't heard wrong or that she hadn't gone mad, Jenny kept her eyes on the doctor.

Marion then pursed her lips as she gave Jenny a once over. Afterwards, she smiled with amusement. "There's hope for you yet, Princess." With a turn of her high heel, she was walking back to the med bay.

"I swear that woman is a fucking psychopath," Rex exclaimed with a frown as he watched her go, though his gaze did drop to her retreating rear for a moment before it shifted back to the three other people in the room.

"Hey, you're the one sleeping with her," Jack pointed out. Rex just shrugged again.

"It's a free country, and you can't talk, you're sleeping with her!" He gestured to Aliya before walking off.

Stunned, Jenny looked back at her mentor and boss, who were exchanging resigned looks. "So, I'm not the only one who drew that conclusion, huh? I guess you haven't bothered to correct the others."

Aliya was rubbing her temples as if she had a headache. "There's not much point."

"Suppose not. You okay?"

The blonde Time Lady glanced up and offered a tired smile. "Less than an hour in, and this day is already a bit much. But I need to talk to you about something important, so do you want to have lunch together in a few hours?"

"Yeah, sure." Jenny smiled, only to falter a little when the one she got in return was not convincing in the slightest. Jack looked between them with sympathy and a knowing expression, leading her to speculate that whatever Aliya needed to tell her had something to do with whatever she had needed to discuss with Jack.

But what could it be?


"He married her even though he knew she would die? Even though he knew it would break his heart?"

The generated anomaly had listened well all through their lunch at the nice café near the Roald Dahl Pass, but they had gotten to the difficult part, and Aliya wasn't looking forward to it. Jenny had spent years looking for her father, to bring her so close and then all but demand that she wait even longer...it felt wrong.

"Is he stupid?" Jenny asked, and Aliya had to laugh.

"Yes," she said, and then smiled softly, "And brave. He chose to love her, knowing that it would hurt him. Because she's worth it."

"She must be wonderful," sighed Jenny, "Can I meet her?"

Aliya shook her head sadly. "The Doctor isn't coming back for me until she's dead…until she isn't going to appear in his timeline again." Jenny slumped a little. "And it's horrible that you will probably never get to meet her. But the universe is a funny place, and with her timelines, you can never entirely rule it out as a possibility," Aliya speculated, before quickly adding, "But the chances of that are…not good."

"You said that it was going to affect me. Is that how it will? That I'll never know my stepmother?"

"That is…definitely regrettable," Aliya admitted, "But it wasn't what I was referring to. The thing is, is that he'll be different."

"He'll be grieving."

"Yes…but that's not all." She got a strange look from Jenny, and sighed again. "Jenny, our species…we do something that almost no other species can. When we die, we…cheat death, in a way-"

"Is that what happened to me?" The girl's face was eager, and it fell a little when Aliya shook her head.

"No, this is different. What we do, is go through a process. It's called regeneration, and what happens is that every cell in our body dies and is born again. Every physical aspect of us changes, and we become a new person. Same memories, same core personality…but different appearance, different habits, characteristics, preferences," she explained, and after a moment understanding dawned on Jenny's face.

"Has that happened to my dad? Does he look different now? And act different?" She guessed, and again, Aliya was impressed by how quickly the girl caught on.

"Yes. At first he'll seem very different, but you'll be able to feel his mind, and it will feel the same, your mind will recognise him. And eventually, the rest of you will see the little things that haven't changed." She reached a hand into the normal-sized pocket of the brown leather jacket which Jack had bought for her on their shopping trip to avoid her wearing more than one piece of denim at one time. When she withdrew it, a photograph, and a precious one at that, was in her hand.

Jenny gingerly took it when it was offered to her. It had been taken in Austria in the 1930's, on top of a gorgeous mountain. It was a beautiful picture, where the Doctor had his arm around River and had his face affectionately close to hers, while Aliya was on his other side and leaning against his shoulder while laughing. A friend they had made on the trip had taken it, and she could remember the compliments he gave on how they made for a very attractive group.

It was true, they had all been happy and smiling and laughing, making for a gorgeous picture which would always make Aliya smile. And smile was what Jenny did as she stared at it.

"So that's him? What he looks like now?" She asked quietly, and Aliya nodded. "He's so different. But he still looks like he has…that life about him."

"He does." The Time Lady smiled fondly. "He's wonderful."

"And that's River," Jenny went on, "She looks brilliant. I love her hair."

That made Aliya grin. "So does your dad. And me. But yeah, she is just…amazing. Funny and fierce and brilliant and so many other things. Exactly your father's type." Affection for both of them swelled in her and she let out a breath she had been holding. But then the purpose of the conversation re-entered her mind and she brought the conversation back to where it needed to be. "And when he loses her, he is going to be hollow. I've seen him grieve, and…there aren't words." She grimaced. "Which is why I can't let you see him like that. You truly will not recognise him if you do, and I can't be responsible for that."

Jenny faltered, clearly disagreeing. "So, you want me to not see him, when I've been looking for him for three years?"

"For both of your sakes," Aliya said quietly, keeping her eyes on their empty plates. "Please believe me when I say that I know it's for the best. I won't tell him that you're alive, not straight away. And then, when he's gotten better and I think he can handle it, and that you can handle it, I'll tell him and we'll come see you straight away."

"Do you not think he'll get angry at you for keeping it from him?" Jenny eyed her as if she were mad.

Aliya let out a little desperate laugh. "He'll be furious. But it's a sacrifice I have to make, because it will be better for everyone in the long run, and while he may hate me for a while, he'll eventually thank me."

"You sound so sure!"

"If there's one thing I know, it's your father. Now, can you accept that it needs to happen this way?"

"Yes. Just, try to come back as soon as you can after you leave?"

"I'll have us back for a minute after we leave."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence. It lasted until Jenny looked up and suddenly blurted out one of the only questions that Aliya never wanted to hear. "Are you in love with my dad?"

For a moment or two, Aliya couldn't speak, she was so taken aback. "What in the world gave you that idea?"

"The way you talk about him, the look you get in your eyes…that looks like love to me," Jenny answered slowly.

Irrational bitterness and need to get defensive hit Aliya with surprising strength. "How would you know, you don't know anything about love, you proved that when you had to ask me about it!" She retorted rather cruelly, making the girl flinch.

"I'm not a total idiot though!" Jenny replied forcefully. "The look you got in your eyes when you were talking about what love is like, is exactly the same look you get whenever you talk about him."

The logic was rather hard to argue with, and Aliya opened and closed her mouth several times. In the meantime, something else flashed across Jenny's face.

"Wait, unless it's River that you're in-"

"Of course not, don't be ridiculous. She's human," Aliya snapped, "I'm not in love with either of them, and even if I was, I wouldn't be having this discussion with you." I don't know what's more absurd, she thought, the concept of being in love with a human or of being in love with River Song specifically. If Jenny had any idea -

"You're a terrible liar," Jenny said, eyebrows arched.

Aliya sighed and rested her chin in her hand, letting her gaze drift out of the window. "You'd be surprised at how much it varies, actually."


"So, where do you want to go today, River?" The Doctor asked excitedly, as it was the first time he had seen her in months, and even when he had, it had been such a young River that it only half counted. And he refused to think about what that meant, how it supported his theory that his time with River was nearing its end.

"Darillium," River suggested, with a look that made him wonder if she was saying it because she knew that he would say no. Which of course, he did. "Why not? You're so against taking me there, but you never give me a reason!"

He wanted to brush off her accusations as usually did, but couldn't bring himself to. It was time to stop being selfish, to stop hoarding his time with her.

"Okay, I'll make you a deal, River," he suggested, "You stay with me for a month, a linear month. Then…I'll drop you back at your house for a week or two."

"Why?"

"Because if you have too much of me, River, I'll seem less special." The Doctor smiled and the statement made her chuckle a little. "But if you do that…then I'll turn up on your doorstep and take you to see the Singing Towers."

River's face broke out into a smile so radiant that it made his heart simultaneously swell with affection and ache with grief. "I can't believe it, you're actually going to take me?"

"Of course, I promise." He grinned, and she kissed him eagerly. His hands grabbed at her in every way he could. Their days truly were numbered now, so he would make the most of every single second. When she finally pulled away, there was lipstick all over his face, he could feel it, and it was confirmed by her rather pleased laughter.

"Well, this has all worked out rather nicely, hasn't it? Will I get to dress up?" She asked, and he nodded.

"Of course, River, anything you want. I'll even turn up with a new haircut and a suit," he told her, repeating the words she had spoken to him such a long time ago, and would speak to him painfully soon.

That made her grin. "I'll hold you to that, you know."

He just shrugged. "Yeah, but now you owe me a month first. Come on, wife, we've got places to see!"

With that said, he began operating the TARDIS to take them to their next destination, which could be anywhere. It didn't matter, he had his TARDIS, and his wife by his side, piloting alongside him. And even if it wasn't for much longer, he was going to enjoy it while he could.