While Martha listened to the instructions the Doctor left them, Penny tried to find a dress that said, "You're a good guy, but I'm not going to date you." She had a vague idea of what formal dresses from 1913 looked like, but not enough to be confident in her choice. She picked a dress from the correct time at random and decided it was the best she could do. Before she went back to the console room to meet with Martha, she made a stop at her room, wishing she didn't have to go back out into the real world.
She made her way back to the console room slowly. Martha was sitting on the jump seat, waiting. "Hey." Penny called.
"You have a dress?"
Penny held up the small bag that held the dress. "Wish I didn't."
Martha snorted. "Oh, don't act like you're not happy he asked you out."
"I'm not. In no way could what I am feeling be considered 'happy.'" Penny sighed, running a hand down her face.
"Whatever you say, Pen." Martha stood up and Penny held the Tardis door open for her, closing and locking it behind her with Martha's key. She tossed the key back to her and began the walk back to the school.
Martha went on a walk with her friend Jenny. She had invited Penny, but Penny was aware that Jenny was scared around her, so she declined.
So she wondered the village, running into John at some point and walking with him.
"It's so peaceful here." Penny said, trying to make it sound like a good thing instead of how boring she found it.
"If not peace, than what are you used to?" John asked as they walked arm in arm.
"Chaos." Penny said without thought, then tried to fix it. "My previous place of employment could never be described as calm." Penny said, remembering the reference the psychic paper gave her.
"Why is that?"
Penny thought a moment. "There was always the fear of attack." She decided.
"No woman should have to live in fear." John said, looking down at her with sympathy.
"I disagree." Penny said calmly. "How are we to live without fear when fear is the motivator for peace?"
John smiled warmly. "You make an excellent point, Penelope."
They ended up walking past Martha and Jenny as the ship crashed. John had dismissed Martha's opinion and Penny wanted to smack him. He offered to walk them back to school, but they declined politely.
John and Penny made their way back to the school, Penny inviting John into her room for a cuppa.
John sat on the sofa as Penny poured two cups, handing one to him and setting hers down and retrieving his journal to give back to him. She set it beside her cup of tea and sat a respectable distance away from him, not wanting to appear interested in him.
John took a sit and set his cup down, picking up his journal. "May I draw you?" He asked shyly.
Penny blinked, shocked by the request. "I don't see why not." She said numbly. "So long as I can read as you do so."
John nodded, smiling. Penny picked up one of her many books and began to read, trying to ignore John's observant eyes on her as he drew.
Penny couldn't lie. In John's sketch, she looked fantastic.
"I'm sure you've exaggerated my looks, John." She said softly as she took in the drawing.
Penny was looking down at a book, a thoughtful expression on her face, her hair drawn up into the bun that sat atop her head.
"This is how I see you." He said softly, looking at Penny like she was the only other person in the world.
"You flatter me." Penny said, looking back to John, only to see that he was closer than he had been.
John's hand went up to tuck a piece of hair that had fallen from it's place behind her ear, his hand resting on the side of her face. He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers gently. He pulled away, both of their faces bright red. "I've never-" He stuttered, before he stopped, leaning back in.
Penny's door slammed open. "Penny!" Martha shouted. "Oh." She said as the two jumped away from each other.
John cleared her throat, face getting redder. "Martha, have you not been told to knock before entering?" He questioned coldly.
Martha looked like she was done with him. Before she could try and explain herself, Penny stood between the two.
"It's quite alright, John. Martha is a friend of mine. I told her she may enter as she chooses."
John looked at her in confusion. "As long as she isn't being disrespectful." He said, looking back at Martha. "I apologize for assuming, Martha."
Martha looked taken aback. "Uh. Sure. It's fine."
Penny looked at Martha, noticing her worried expression. "John, your company has been wonderful, but it is getting late."
John looked between the two women and nodded. "Yes, it is. I'll bit you goodnight then." He said, shooting a smile to Penny before leaving, forgetting his journal.
As soon as the door closed, Martha started talking. "Oh god, Penny. I checked the instructions, it doesn't say what we should do!" She exclaimed, flopping onto the bed. "What are we supposed to do? If we give him the watch, they'll be able to track him, but if we don't he could get hurt!" She rambled.
Penny took her tea that he'd hadn't began to drink and gave it to Martha, not sure how to best help her. "Martha, I'm sure everything will turn out fine." She started. "So long as they don't know he's the Doctor, we don't have to give him the watch, alright?" She put an arm around her friend. "They might know he's here, but they don't know who he is."
Martha took a deep breath. "You're right." She paused and looked at Penny slyly. "Wait. You two were sitting awful close when I came in."
Penny groaned. "Please no."
"It looked almost as if you two were kissing."
Penny sighed. "I couldn't very well push him away!" Penny groaned.
"Why not? Because you were kissing him back?"
"Because if I did, he wouldn't want to be around me and I wouldn't be able to keep an eye on him." She said defensively.
Martha smirked. "Are you sure that's the only reason?"
It was the day of the dance. Penny taught her classes as usual, a few staying behind for extra help, which Penny barely managed to do.
Her last class seemed to drag on longer than it normally did, which was saying something. After the bell rang, Penny sat at her desk for a few minutes, wishing she didn't have to go and get dressed up for a date with a man who she didn't want to go out with.
She contemplated feigning sickness, but knowing John, he would insist on staying back with her to make sure she was alright.
She sighed, getting up and walking back to her room. She had two hours before John would come.
Penny closed her door behind her, looking between her dress bag and the journal the Doctor had let Penny borrow to look at and read. She quickly decided the journal was more interesting.
She slouched onto her sofa, taking the journal with her, flipping through and glancing at the drawings, having decided that reading it would be breaking trust with the Doctor.
She winced at the Slithene and Automs. But what caught her eye was halfway through the completed pages.
A drawing of a child with a gasmask.
Are you my Mummy?
Penny shut the book, getting up. It was time to get ready for the dance.
Penny barely managed to look like she was from the correct year. The makeup process was different from what she had seen in the present and future, and the hair was so hard for her to do that she nearly gave up and put it in a messy bun. With eleven minutes to spare, she finished getting dressed.
At four fifty seven, there was a knock on her door.
Even though she knew John wasn't the Doctor, he had a similar twinkle in his eye as he greeted her. "Good evening, Penelope." He said warmly, a smile on his face that made Penny wish it was the Doctor looking at her like that.
"Good evening, John. How's your head?"
"Completely healed." He said, offering her his arm. She took it hesitantly, smiling up at John. "You look lovely." He said softly.
Penny felt her face heat up. She could flirt, sure, but a genuine compliment? Those made her flush bright red. "Thank you, you do as well." She managed to say.
John flushed as well, but smiled happily.
They began their walk to the town hall where the dance was taking place, chatting as they went. John was talking about something one of his students had said, making Penny let out a small laugh.
They walked into the building, immediately hearing the live music. Penny didn't recognize the melody, but based on the way John hummed it softly, she assumed it was a popular song.
John cleared his throat. "Would you care to dance?" He asked timidly.
Penny giggled. "If I didn't, I don't think I would have come, John." She pointed out.
"Right, sorry." John's face went red and he rubbed the back of his neck, looking embarrassed.
Penny sighed, the Doctor would have teased her right back, probably about how uncomfortable she looked in the dress. "I would love to dance, John."
John smiled and took her hand, leading her to the dance floor.
They had been dancing for ages, and John offered to get them drinks, leaving her sitting at one of the tables when Martha ran to her.
"They found us. They're probably on there way now." She said quickly. "I tried to tell him but he wouldn't listen, and his watch is gone!"
Penny's head reeled as she tried to come up with a plan. "This isn't ideal." She said lowly.
"What do we do?"
"I don't know, Martha, but I'll think of something."
"Oh god-"
"Oh, now really, Martha. This is getting out of hand. I must insist that you leave." The Doctor interrupted, placing two cups on the table.
Martha was having none of it, she reached into her pocket, pulling out the sonic screw driver.
Penny winced. Martha shouldn't have brought that, it would only catch the Family's attention.
"Do you know what this is?" Martha questioned, showing it towards him. "Name it. Go on, name it." She urged.
John hesitantly took it, looking at it closely.
"You're not John Smith. You're called the Doctor." Penny's eyes widened. "The man in your journal, he's real. He's you."
Penny knew this wouldn't end well.
"There will be silence! All of you!" A voice called out, a man from the village.
Penny groaned as scarecrows entered. "Of course they have back up." She said, a glare on her face.
John looked over in confusion, having heard. He had never seen Penny glare before, she had never even looked annoyed before, so why was she so upset now?
"I said, silence!" He repeated, silencing the murmurs that had been spreading through the room.
"Mister Clarke," One of the musicians spoke up. "What's going on?"
The man pointed a gun at him and pulled the trigger, vaporizing him.
"Lovely." Penny snarked under her breath, gaining the attention of John again. "Go to a dance, get in life threatening danger. It's the Doctor, I don't know what I expected."
"Mister Smith?" Martha said timidly. "Everything I told you, just forget it! Don't say anything."
"We asked for silence!" A boy in Penny's advanced Latin class snapped at Martha. "Now then, we have a few questions for Mister Smith." He smiled creepily.
"No, better than that." A little girl said in the same tone of voice as the others. "The teacher. He's the Doctor. I heard them talking."
"You took human form." Bains realized, standing beside Jenny, who Penny could assume was also one of them.
"Of course I'm human." John's face scrunched together in confusion. "I was born human, as were you, Baines. And Jenny, and you, Mister Clark. What is going on? This is madness."
"Ooo, and a human brain, too. Simple, thick and dull." Baines mocked.
"Oi, humans may be utterly thick, but they're not dull." Penny said. She looked around. "At least, most of them aren't dull."
"But he's no good like this." Jenny said, ignoring Penny.
"We need a Time Lord." Clark said.
"Easily done." Baines stepped forward, raising his gun to John. "Change back."
"I don't know what you're talking about." John said, eyes wide.
"Change back!"
"I literally do not know-"
Jenny grabbed Martha's arm, pulling her to her side and putting a gun to her head.
"Get off me!" Martha shouted, trying to worm her way out of her grip.
"She's your friend, isn't she?" Jenny tilted her head. "Doesn't this scare you enough to change back?"
"I don't know what you mean!" John cried, looking terrified.
"Wait a minute. The maid told me about Smith and the teacher. That woman, there."
"Then let's have you." Clark said to Penny, pulling her away from John and next to Martha, having a gun trained on her as well.
"Bold of you to assume you can handle me." Penny said, stomping on Jenny's foot.
While Jenny was shocked, she reached up and tore the gun from Clark's hand, training it on Jenny and standing in front of John should they try to shoot him.
"Where the hell did you learn to do that, Pen?" Martha asked, in awe of her friend.
Penny half shrugged, not taking her eyes off of Jenny. "I like action movies."
"Put the gun down, child. You don't know how to use it." Baines said confidently.
"Yeah?" Penny challenged, cocking it and resting her finger on the trigger.
"You wouldn't risk missing and shooting your dear friend."
She aimed perfectly at Jenny. "Who said I'd miss?" She pulled the trigger.
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A/N
HannahHPandDWfanJones: Thanks for telling me about the repeated section, it's all fixed now. Yeah, it's not like she wanted him really hurt, just enough hurt that she doesn't have to go to the dance XD
brmngirl: I'm sure Penny would rather you dance with John than her, the Doctor? That may be another story ;) I fixed the repeat section and thank you for letting me know it was there!
SashaBlackHolmes: John is a nervous mess around Penny XD I tried to make it both funny and endearing, and I think I managed, lol The repeated section had been fixed, thanks for telling me it was there! I'm glad you loved the chapter!
Hi! Hope you liked it, sorry it was shorter than usual, but I couldn't find a good place to end it other than there.
Do you have any theories? Any ideas? I'd love to hear them!
Have a wonderful day/morning/night!
See you next chapter!
-Jamie