"Knowledge is power, but if I have to become an ink blob, forget it," Ripley sighed as she walked with Matt out of the TARDIS and closed the door. She locked it and walked with him out of the backroom, locking it, too.

"Thanks for believing me," Matt smiled at Ripley as she went around the counter to put up the Betamax player. Ripley responded, "Thanks for saving me."

The ink creature destroyed and the fake library remained undamaged. Mallory got her book, stowed away in the fake library, and though Samuels needed extensive repair from the attack, the team's safe for the most part. Although, they opted to not report their findings to the committee out of fear of what may happen if the word got out about the fake library's existence and the implications stemming from it.

The real library, despite it's lengthly history in hiding books from powers that be, showed no difference than those powers it was created to protect against, and though the creature's destroyed, and the worlds at large might've benefited from the library, it's better if it's never found.

It'll be many more years before someone stumbles over the real library and when they do, it's up to them decide what to do with vast knowledge that would've changed themselves and life as they know it.

Sighing, Ripley cleaned off the counter.

After that, she didn't want to work on anything else for the rest of the day.

She's got enough money leftover to weather her for a bit while if it came to that and Matt's got his cheque for the week.

Matt helped her clean up the shop as she opted to close it for the rest of the day. They both needed time to recover, after running rag and nearly sliced in two by living ink, among other things.

As she cleaned, Ripley wondered about the journal that Mallory went through hell and back for.

Unwilling to tell them whose journal it belonged to other than he's a dangerous man, Mallory was desperate enough to sacrifice her own team if need be for it, and now that she has it, it's a guess what she planned to do with the journal.

"What's in that journal that got her so desperate?" Ripley wondered as she fixed up the shelf underneath the counter.

Matt sighed as he finished the VCR and stuck it back where it belongs until it's sold. When he pushed it back far enough from the shelf's edge, he stepped back and said, "I don't know. All I know is, it's good her team's back at their base safe and sound, even if Samuels' needs repairs. Other than that, I couldn't tell you."

Ripley remarked that they'll probably find out the answer the next time Mallory gets them involved into one of her schemes. Assuming she'd actually tell them the truth or not, considering her penchant for lying and leading people on.

"Whatever's in that journal, it doesn't seem like she wants to sell it," Matt concluded as he dusted the shelves.

Mallory's known for stealing and selling stolen goods, however in this case, it appeared for the first time since they known her, she didn't want to sell the journal. She fully intended on keeping it for herself and not because it's interesting to her, but because of some unknown implications she wouldn't share with the two.

"Probably for the best," Ripley responded.

There's just some things that doesn't need to get out in the wild and a book from a prominent dangerous man's one of them, if Mallory's words meant anything.

"Yeah," Matt sighed.

It didn't take time at all to clean the shop and when they finished, Ripley almost sent Matt home, hadn't he remembered what he wanted to talk to her about.

This time, he's saying what's on his mind.

"Um, Rip, can we talk?" Matt sheepishly asked her.

Ripley nodded as she said, "It's not like we're doing anything else, important."

Ripley caught his eyes and saw uncertainty behind them. She frowned as a result.

Sitting with him, she encouraged him to talk to her.

Heavily, Matt sighed, "I don't know where to even begin."

Looking down at his feet, he felt Ripley poke him and raised his head. She encouraged him to start from the beginning and go from there. If he felt uncomfortable enough, she won't push him if he suddenly stopped.

"I guess it started a while ago," Matt began.

Matt described how it began. It started off as fleeting and he expected to disappear. To his surprise, it didn't, and it wouldn't go away despite what he thought. He couldn't understand it and tried to think logically about it the best he could, of course that didn't work, either.

His attraction remained firm and now he's in a peculiar situation and he doesn't know what to do.

"What if I made a mistake?" Matt feared.

Ripley rubbed his back as she comforted him. She told him, "Sometimes you have to make a mistake to learn from it."

Ripley's not wrong, a lot of things borne from mistakes, and sometimes it causes problems, other times, those mistakes resulted in good tidings.

Matt chewed on his bottom lip as he tried to form words.

For the Doctor, he's not very good at this, and considering it's his job now, he thought he would've gotten the hang of it by now.

"I'm just, scared, is all," Matt admitted to her.

Ripley asks him, "Scared she might reject you?"

Matt nodded.

Ripley rubbed his back as she soothed his fears.

"Come on, the worst is knowing you're wrong, better than not knowing and going through life of constant regret. Even if it doesn't work out, you're still learning," Ripley pointed out.

Matt couldn't argue with that.

Exhaling, he tried to tell her the name of his crush.

His normal tone of voice dropped low and almost inaudible, to the point Ripley couldn't hear him.

She tried to lean in, but Matt became bashful and turned away from her.

"I didn't quite catch that," she told him.

She heard his voice raise slightly and it's barely audible.

Sitting back, Ripley frowned.

"Matt, don't you trust me?" Ripley asks him.

She wondered if he's nervous about telling her because he didn't trust her.

Matt turned his head back to her and shook his head.

He fully trusted her.

It's because he's embarrassed.

"Matt, I'm not going to laugh, I promise you," Ripley touched his shoulder. "Come on, you know me."

Matt nods as he said that he knew she wouldn't laugh at him and would've supported him.

It's just that…

"Y…" Matt struggled.

Ripley watched as Matt fault internally and saw emotions fluttering in his eyes before he pushed himself to say, "Y-you."

He forced himself to make it audible enough for Ripley to hear and she sat in silence as he told her.

"It's… you…" Matt coughed as he felt his throat react to his emotions.

He shied away from her briefly as Ripley blinked, confused.

"M-me?" Ripley blinked as she tried to process what he told her.

She tried to make sure that she heard him correctly and shocked when Matt affirmed what he said.

Looking down at the counter, a look came over her face.

Confusion, one of them, and everyone else fighting amongst themselves.

"W-why?" Ripley couldn't believe that Matt of all people would've become attracted to her.
She hardly believed it and he told her thrice now.

Matt told her why.

"Ripley, you don't give yourself enough credit. You're really braver than you think you are and I'm supposed to be the Doctor. You helped me so much, even when you didn't have to. Even when you were going through your own problems, you were always there for us. If there's anyone I can trust with my life, it's you. More than that, you're one of my best mates and my favourite boss," Matt summed the reasons he started becoming attracted to her.

Even when she's outmatched, Ripley wouldn't back down. At the library, even when she's knowingly outmatched against the living ink creature, it didn't dissuade her the slightest, it just made her determined. When she's protecting Matt or someone else, it made her even more determined.

It's more than Matt could've done despite his role as the Doctor.

Undaunted, Ripley would do anything to help him and the others. Despite her troubles, she still helped them with whatever they needed. Whenever Matt needed someone to talk to, Ripley's always there to listen to him, hours on end, and she never told anyone what he said to her. She kept it close to her chest.

One of his most trusted of mates and one of the best, if not only bosses in the world, Ripley showed that despite her character flaws, she's an overall good person.

Those are the reasons that started the chain reaction that made Matt attracted to her.

Speechless, Ripley failed to find words as she tried to formulate sentences as she heard Matt explain his reasonings.

Recalling what Jenna told her way back when they were at Daniella, Ripley hoped it was just her mishearing Jenna. She didn't think it'd be what she thought.

"Even… after I told you?" Ripley brought up what she told Matt, about her, Victor, everything else that went to hell in a hand basket.

She watched Matt nod.

"I… I didn't know," Ripley blinked as she quietly sat in her chair.

Jenna told her and she didn't believe her, mistaking what she said as something else, and here's Matt, telling her what Jenna told her.

"Matt… don't you think you'd be… happier with someone else?" Ripley wearily asked him.

Matt tilted his head at her, confused. He asked her what she meant. She told him, "I'm not… I'm not sure what I'm classified as… but I know what I'm personally not… I'm not dainty."

Ripley had a hard time explaining her reasonings and truthfully, she never had this happen before so she wasn't prepared.

Dainty's one of the reasons someone gave for rejecting her. She's hardly the poster child for daintiness and that's what they wanted and she wasn't.

She wasn't dainty.

Always got into trouble, always started trouble, never the type to settle for less, and she didn't look dainty, by all means.

Antithesis to dainty and all it stands for.

Matt poked her, getting her attention, and she turned her head towards him.

With her attention, Matt told her, "And? I'm not perfect by any means either, you know what they used to call me back in primary school?"

Pointing at his forehead, Matt said, "Doctor Forehead!"

Matt told her that when he was a boy, kids made fun of him because of his forehead, and he got his nickname on the account of his clumsiness that resulted in him going to the nurse's office multiple times.

Lowering his hand, Matt brought up his football career. Nobody really looked at him until he scored more times than he counted and only then they saw him for who he really is.

When he stopped playing football, it reverted to what it was like before, only this time he had actual friends and remaining scattered fans.

Matt summed, he wasn't a stunner by any margin and wasn't always a poster boy for good behavior, either.

With that said, Ripley looked down at the counter as she rested her arms on it. "But… don't you want someone… a little closer?" Ripley brought up her origins.

Matt shook his head as he countered, "You're no different than people here, Rip."

Ripley rephrased and pointed out the chance of something going wrong. Something always does.

"Ripley," Matt looked at her as she turned away from him.

Shrugging her stout shoulders, Ripley admitted, "I just don't want to break your heart, too."

She felt him poke her and she turned her head back to Matt as he asked, "Ripley, what's bothering you?"

He wanted to know what gave Ripley that impression and she pointed at herself, "Matt, doesn't it bother you I knew your counterpart?"

Granted, she didn't know him as well as Matt. Only bits and pieces from interviews and so on, but the point stood, she knew him. To some circles, it could look like she's an opportunist taking advantage of his counterpart.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and Matt got her attention. He told her that he knew the circumstances and told her that he wasn't him, he is his own free agent.

Matt stressed that he trusted Ripley and pointed out that she never took advantage of him with the little knowledge she gotten from his counterpart.

"How many adventures have we been on, Rip?" Matt asked her.

Ripley counted in her head and replied, "At least a hundred or so."

She could be wrong, but they've been adventuring for a while now and there's no telling how many adventures they've taken proper.

Matt raised a valid point, "We've been running around, getting into trouble, in that time, we've gotten to know each other, haven't we?"

Ripley never thought of it like that.

"I suppose," Ripley nods.

They've been traveling in the TARDIS for almost two years at this point, plenty of adventures, plenty of time to get to know each other.

"I'm not him," Matt affirmed. "We may look, sound, act, the same, but we have different lives and families. I made mistakes he probably never did and he probably made mistakes that I haven't chanced."

Ripley listened and nodded.

He's not him, he's his own person with his own life and his own needs. The universes may have made identical counterparts, but the two lived very different lives. More than enough to differentiate themselves.

"Ripley," she heard her name.

She looked up at him and he had a look on his face.

"If I'm making you uncomfortable, I can stop," he offered.

It's not everyday Ripley gets a confession, much less one from someone like Matt.

Ripley shook her head as she replied, "No, Matt, it's just… I'm having a helluva whiplash right now, but in a good way."

She tells Matt that for a long time, she's so accustomed to things going wrong, things never working out, that it surprised her that for once since she's been in this universe, something's gong right.

Aside from the obvious, Ripley really didn't think she'd manage adjusting into this universe that looked nearly identical to hers. If not for her business mindedness, she would've probably ended up in a mental hospital, babbling about things happening in her universe that no one believes her.

"What are the odds you'd be the one to come into my shop looking for work?" Ripley mused.

Matt smiled as he responded, "One in a million, maybe."

Sitting quietly, the two acknowledged they've been harboring feelings for quite a while, now.

"I know you're worried about him, but I'm not scared," Matt brought up something else that troubled Ripley about this.

Victor.

Ripley acknowledged that Matt's not afraid of him, but cautioned him all the same.

"Rip, if there's ever a chance he might come back and he finds you, you know what I'll do," he reminded Ripley that if Victor ever returned and found out that Ripley's alive, Matt's not going to stand by and let the events unfold. By god, he's going to jump in, feet first, regardless of what Ripley thinks.

Ripley knew he wouldn't idle in that scenario and appreciated him for his honesty and for his valor.

"So," Matt returned to the major question that flustered him. "… Would you?"

Ripley pondered.

On her mind, she couldn't fathom this happening in her own universe. Never in a million universes, years, so on, even. Yet, here she is, and she contemplated everything that they've discussed so far.

Despite her fears, Matt wasn't afraid of Victor or the Children. If he had to, he'll face them off, if only to protect her and their friends and the people of earth.

However, her other fears, Ripley didn't know anything about actually dating. She's only good with when things went wrong, with Jamie and Mercy's experiences in dating helping her have a handle on how to deal with bad dates. Never with good dates.

"I'm not any good with dating, to be honest," Ripley admitted to him. "Rubbish, if I'm even more honest."

She felt Matt poke her and say, "Still learning, right?"

Echoing what she told him, Matt reminded her that even if she's not any good, she's learning all the same.

Nodding, Ripley briefly looked away as she considered everything else.

"I mean, I'm a little thickheaded," Ripley tried saying.

Matt pointed at himself as he mentioned his stubbornness too.

It's not everyday this happens and Ripley decided if she wants to live, then, live she will.

"I wouldn't know where to start," Ripley shrugged.

Scratching his chin, Matt said that they'd start slow, small dates here and there, go from there, and see what's next.

Ripley nodded slowly before saying, "I mean, how often does someone like me get a date with the Doctor?"

Smiling, Matt gave her a side hug as he told her that he'll make sure she's just as comfortable as she is in the shop and the TARDIS. Doctor's promise.

Seeing him off for the night, Ripley watched him nearly dance his way to his blue beetle, happy to finally get that off his chest.

As he drove off, Ripley stood by the door with a look on her face. Almost didn't believe it happened and yet here she is.

"I'm going on a date with the Doctor," she mused to herself.

She stopped as she repeated, "I'm going on a date with the Doctor!"

Rubbing her eyes, Ripley couldn't believe it even if she said it a thousand times.

"You two are laughing at this, aren't you?" Ripley called out to Jamie and Mercy, wherever they be in the celestial plains.

THE END