She was numb, she supposed. Tegan couldn't remember ever being in shock like this previously. But she sat, shivering, her arms wrapped around her torso. Her teeth chattered together and she could barely stay awake. She was wrapped in the lone blanket that she had brought from the vehicle and kept dry in a sealed pack.

Her clothing hung over a small knot in the rock, drying. It was a shock of red in a black-green world. It still rained and mud covered every available surface. The area where she sat was barely dry, but dry enough to serve the purpose of shelter. In the dim, she addressed the Doctor quietly. She could only see his outline against the lighter gray sky. "I don't know if I can sleep."

"You can," he reassured. She felt him adjust her on the cliff, his hands leading her to move backwards until she was against the rock. "Lay down" he gently instructed.

She shook her head once and felt his palm cup her cheek. His thumb worried at her chin. "Brave heart, Tegan. Lay down. I've put some aromatic plant life up here with us; the bugs will be minimal."

"It's not the bugs I'm worried about," she muttered plaintively.

"We'll be all right."

"I wish I could check your shoulder again tonight," she whispered, exhausted.

He sighed and she felt his palm turn a little to hold her chin. "It's fine. One more night of rest and it will be quite as it was."

Tegan shivered and pulled the blanket tighter. "And that shirt of yours. You shouldn't be wearing it over the wound" she tried to get the words out, but she was quite sure her chattering teeth were impeding the process. "It's wet"

She swore she could hear his eye roll in the way he muttered his response. Then she felt him shifting, and heard the wet material slapping against his skin as he removed it. He rose and she knew he was hanging his shirt by her clothes on the rock. "There, Tegan. I gather this might alleviate some of your agitation?"

Her shrug was tired, weak. "Yes. I won't think you're going to die of jungle rot, at least. My toes are another story, I think, though."

"Tegan," he responded. She felt his hands on her shoulders again and there was a gentle push, an insistence for her to rest back against the rock. Then he shifted and found a small nook in the rock and rested himself back against it. Then he eased her over, against his chest and shoulder, his arm cradling her shoulders and head against his torso. "Stretch out your legs, Tegan and get comfortable."

"I'll have to talk to our travel agent, Doc; this bed is horribly hard," she whispered, curling up against him.

"Yes, wellthe accommodations are rather lacking. We shall have to write the management," he replied, adjusting his weight. "And the facilities are rather backward."

She laughed and felt him chuckle in return. "At least we have running water."

"Ah, yes, but is it a good thing when the water can outrun you?" His voice grew softer as he turned down his chin to speak near her ear.

Tegan sighed. It had been an hour since he had pulled her from the water. She was still shaken from the ordeal. "How long was I"

He was silent for a moment and she ticked away the time by counting his breaths. "Too long," he muttered. His hand left her and she felt him rub at his brow. "Much too long."

She rubbed her cheek into his cool chest. The rain was loud where it dripped from overhead. And when she drew a deep breath, she could smell the jungle and its rotting vegetation, its mud and its river. "Thank you for the dance, Doc," she said gently.

"I had planned on dancing with you for quite some time," he admitted. "I'm sorry that plan didn't come to fruition, but you are welcome, Tegan."

She nodded in reply. They were silent as the night continued around them. Her eyes closed and she sighed somewhat contentedly. It wasn't the Ritz, true, but it was somewhat dry and cool against the heat. But she knew him well enough to know that he would revisit another topic of that had piqued his interest before he would rest.

"Tegan?"

It was strange to feel his voice rumble out of his chest instead of hearing it. It was almost as equally strange as feeling his cool skin against her cheek and as strange as feeling his arm holding her. She shifted her face and glanced up at him. "Yeah?"

"How have I changed?"

The question was asked flatly, sweetly, almost hesitantly and she knew that he wasn't asking it to corner her or to challenge her. He really did want to know. She had to ask questions herself, however, to know what he wanted from her. After all, no one asked questions without expecting the other person to give away parts of themselves in the answer.

"Before or after we arrived here?"

"Have I changed that much after?" he asked in return. "I was interested in the before, honestly."

Tegan was silent, letting his rapid heartbeat and easy breathing lull her. "When you first regenerated, do you remember what you were like?"

"Different than I had been before, obviously," he said with some humor. When she didn't join in the joke, he shrugged. "I remember being struck by the vitality, the youth in this body immediately. It was such a change." He breathed deeply for a moment and then shrugged again. "Tell me"

"You were so willing to see good everywhere. It almost got you killed on several occasions. You hated violence. You always wanted there to 'be another way'."

He nodded. She felt his chin brush against her crown.

"And then in the warehouse, you just gave up, it seemed. You lost part of yourself when you went to kill Davros. I saw it die in you. Murder, Doctor. You were going to commit murder and if need be, were going to allow your death as well. You, who had always told me that where there was life, there was hope."

"I can't-"

"I know you can't tell me why," she reassured him. "But," she sighed and rubbed her cheek in his chest. "Rabbits! I just need time. It scared me."

"Hmm," he responded. He shifted his legs and brought his arms in tighter around her. "Knowing that, Tegan, why did you stay with me?"

"You told me you needed me."

"I didn't tell you-"

Tegan shifted and glanced up at her friend. "Cripes, Doc, I can read between the lines sometimes, you know."

The Doctor opened his mouth and took several breaths while trying to respond. After a while, he simply sighed. Tegan wasn't finished, however. He had asked his questions, now she wanted to ask hers. There was a little anger. "How have you changed since coming here?" She edged her hips closer to him, inhaling at the rock scraped against her injured thigh. "My sight has changed, I can see your auraat least I think it's your aura. Color glows around you. Before you met that Joiba personthat Ares personyou were golden, cool. But now"

"Interesting," he responded, his voice cracking in his rush to get it out. "And now? Nowthe color has changed, hasn't it?"

"Yes. It's still a little golden, but now has shocks of deep purple through it. And there's redaround your waist," she answered and lifted away from his chest. She tried to meet his eyes. "I don't know what the colors mean"

"I don't quite know what they mean either, Tegan," he agreed. "But it is indicative that I have changed, or at least my brain chemistry has changed."

"How so?"

"As I said earlier, Tegan, I can sense things differently-"

She sighed and pressed the issue: "How so, Doc? How do you sense things different?"

The Doctor stayed silent and she mused that he was thinking of a way out of the conversation. His hand remained on her back and she felt his fingers curl into her skin. "Too broad of a question, Tegan, to answer well."

She frowned and shook her head. "Avoiding the question is not allowed," she bit back. "I'm too tired and worn to draw it from you, Doc."

"All right," he replied. "All right." He inhaled deeply and then pressed his palm flat against her back. "I can smell you, Tegan."

"Thanks a lot."

"No, no, Tegan. It's not that way. I can smell your hair, your skin, your warmth. It's wonderfully aromatic. And"

"And?" she breathed. His voice had fallen in timber and decibel. She leaned in closer to listen to him.

His hand left her back and she felt the back of his fingers, his knuckles brushing against her cheek. He cleared his throat and continued. "I have looked at you, Tegan. I always knew that your face was symmetric; I knew that you had high cheekbones; I knew that your hips were rounded and your thighs were slim. I knew it, but I didn't sense what it meant."

She stayed silent as his fingers trailed up into her hair. "You're beautiful, Tegan. I can sense the beauty now. I can see the physical package and finally, I suppose, I see how your strength, your personality adds to your attraction. And the whole package is quite alluring. Coupled with our friendship, well"

Tegan gasped and felt his hand cup the back of her head. His skin was almost blessedly cool against her hot body. She breathed in tandem with him as they stayed silent. She could feel his gaze on her and imagined that he was trying to catch her gaze even in the dark. With a somewhat shaky hand both from his admission and her exhaustion and shock, she covered his fingers on her face. "Ares, or whoever he is, told me something" she began, barely above a whisper.

"What?" His voice was as quiet as hers.

"He said that you asked me to stay because you" she turned her eyes down, although he couldn't see them anyway. "Because you want me to stay. Because I'm"

"You're?"

"Cripes, Doc," she responded, her skin feeling hot as she flushed. "Because I'm yours and you wanted me back." She gave a nervous laugh and lowered her hand from his. "Silly, isn't it?"

The Doctor didn't answer immediately and in the ensuing silence, she began to regret telling him something so personal. And then

"Are you?"

"Am I what, Doc?"

"Are you mine?" he asked, his voice very deep and hoarse.

She inhaled sharply and felt his hand flinch to keep her head near him. She wanted to joke it away, but her need to rest was rushing up to meet her. She felt languid and sleepy. "It's ridiculous, Doc. We can barely talk to each other sometimes. And our fights"

"Rather spectacular, aren't they?"

"Full of fireworks, yes," she responded, her voice easing as she sensed he was letting the awkward moment pass.

"Sparks," he agreed.

She listened to him breathe, feeling attuned to the motions of his body. It was almost of no surprised to her then, when he shifted and his hand cradled her head, that she felt his lips near her cheek. "I suppose, if all things are considered, Tegan"

"It's true, isn't it?" she asked. She felt out of her body, floating. Only his hand in her hair kept her grounded. She felt like she had just encountered an ultimate truth, like a religious awakening.

"Hmm?"

"We need each other, want each other," she blurted out, allowing her thoughts to fall out of her mouth and land at their feet, exposed, helpless, needing support to live. What did she have to lose? She realized that the relationship they had had for the past three years was dead. It had died in the warehouse. The friendship had suffered, and was healing. They had been in limbo since then. He had asked her to stay because he had needed her, wanted her to stay. She had stayed because she had felt that need in him. Either what they were to each other had died and it was best left to rest in peace or something new would be born from the ashes, but there was nothing left to lose.

"Yes, I suppose we do. I wouldn't have been the same if you left, Tegan," he replied, his voice naked in its sincerity. "I do rather want you to stay with me."

She turned her head slightly and brazenly rubbed her nose against his.

His breath tickled at the corner of her mouth, teasing the skin there. "We can't go back to the way we were, Tegan. Even a Time Lord can't turn back the clock in his own life."

"But where are we going? What are we going to do?" she asked, her voice catching.

"Embrace the change? It's the only constant in the Universe," he replied, his voice betraying his amusement. It also showed his tenderness.

"We'll both be uncomfortable with it, you know."

"Oh, I don't doubt it," he agreed.

She rubbed her nose with his again and was rewarded with an answering nuzzle of his nose against her cheek. When she tried to return the endearment, she found her lips brushing his. Both of them stopped breathing and then his hand tensed and she felt drawn toward him. "Shall we allow the change, Tegan?"

"Yes." The answer was breathed against his lips.

The world narrowed to only a moment, a touch, when his lips covered hers.