oooOooo

"We could have asked them to stay."

"What's that?" He'd heard her, he just didn't want to admit it.

"We could have asked them to stay." Peri spoke the same words, only louder.

"Them? Who?"

He heard the sounds of a long-suffering sigh from behind him. He was being deliberately obtuse, and she knew it, but she felt strongly enough about the subject to persist. "You know who. Them. Your other self and Jamie."

"Yes, and Jamie." There was something in the Doctor's voice, and he hated hearing it, but it was there and all he could do was wait to see if Peri had picked up on it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ah, clever girl. She'd noticed the undertones. Good. Or was it? While he pondered his desire for her to hear what he logically should want to keep private, she waited. Impatiently. Just short of tapping her foot. "Doctor?"

He looked at her, finally. She was certainly easy on the eyes, as his American friends would say. Which, since she was American, was a perfectly appropriate way to put it. "I was merely agreeing with you, Peri."

She shook her head. "No you weren't." Her eyes had gone decidedly unfriendly. "You're being deliberately thick-headed today. Why?"

They were in the Console Room, having sent the TARDIS off Earth with no particular destination in mind. Without her having asked to stay behind or be brought home, as he'd half-expected once this particular ordeal had ended. Even if the TARDIS had landed in Spain, it was only a spit-shot from Greece, where she'd been when he picked her up. "Why didn't you?" he asked, distracted by his own thoughts, responding to them rather than to her question.

"Why didn't I what?" He'd thoroughly confused her this time, and there was a hint of concern in her voice. "Doctor, you're over the whole regeneration thing, aren't you?" Unconsciously she stepped away from him. Just in case. After all, he'd tried to kill her once...

"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. I'm fine, no trauma, no emotional roller-coaster, I just let myself be distracted by a question I was asking myself," he babbled, then forced himself to stop. He took a deep breath. "Peri. Why didn't you ask me to take you home?"

"Home?" She stared at him blankly, as if the concept was an unfamiliar one. Then her expression cleared. "Oh, home, on Earth. You mean why didn't I want to stay?"

He nodded. "Exactly. Why didn't you?" They'd gone back full circle to the original question, only this time she'd got the thought-thread that led up to it. In spades.

She shrugged. "I guess it never occurred to me. I mean, you can take me home anytime I want, right?" Her voice caught, a sudden note of anxiety creeping in. "Can't you?"

"Of course!" He wanted to sound insulted, affronted at her lack of faith, but found his voice instead full of reassurance. "Anytime and anywhere you ask."

"Ok, then, I guess I don't feel like going home. Not just yet." Peri smiled, but it faded as she recalled the beginning of this conversation. "Do you have some kind of problem with Jamie?"

"Jamie? No, why should I?" Defensiveness, hah, how convincing. Inwardly, the Doctor winced; outwardly, he shrugged. An exaggerated shrug. A shrug that said, clear as bells, "Of course I do."

Peri crossed her arms, and this time her foot did tap. Twice. The Doctor felt his breath catch in his throat as she briefly reminded him of Tegan. "Are you going to answer the question, or are we just going to keep spinning our wheels? Because if that's the case, then I'm going to take a shower and get something to eat." She grimaced, in memory of their late, unlamented Andrugum captors and their voracious, all-encompassing appetites. "Well, maybe not eat. But definitely change."

He was briefly distracted by a mental image of her in the shower, and it was that that put the edge in his voice. "Was it my second self you wanted to spend more time with, or a certain muscular young Scotsman?" Hm, no disguising that; even an idiot would recognize the jealousy for exactly what it was.

Peri stared at him. "What's gotten into you, Doctor? I just meant that you might have wanted to spend time with them. Either of them; I figured you don't run into old companions that often, at least that's the impression I got. And they seemed nice enough–well, your other self probably wasn't at his best, but you could have spent time together. Talking, or whatever."

"Right. While you and Jamie spent time together, 'whatever-ing'." In for a penny, in for a pound. No point in trying to hide his feelings. Not that he'd even made the feeblest attempt to do so since the beginning of this conversation, and the longer it went, the closer his emotions came to the surface. He wasn't sure why, and desperately wanted to blame it on the lingering aftereffects of his near brush with genetic digression. His second self had been injected with Androgum DNA and quickly reverted to a brutish, self-indulgent primitive. He himself had begun to feel the effects, but he knew they were long vanished from his system. Thus he could blame his current emotional state on no one but himself, uncomfortable though that idea might be.

You've gone and done it again, Doctor, he thought in disgust. Fallen for another one. And chosen the worst possible way to express it, to boot.

"Doctor, are you...jealous? Because you think I was interested in Jamie?" Peri's words were hesitant, as if she expected to be told she was completely misinterpreting him.

He was tempted, highly tempted, to say those very words, but stopped himself. "How would you feel if I were?" he countered, instead of directly answering her. Putting off the moment for a little longer. Enjoying her company for the brief minutes she would no doubt allow him before leaving. Would she even answer him?

Peri blinked rapidly, running nervous fingers along the edges of the TARDIS console. "I don't know," she finally replied, lowering her eyes to study her fingers. Or the edge of the console. Quite possibly both. "I didn't think you'd noticed me. That way."

An incredulous laugh was startled out of him, as were his next, impulsive words. "Good Gods, woman, there isn't a healthy heterosexual male alive who wouldn't notice you 'that' way." He stopped abruptly as she stared at him, her cheeks flushed with sudden anger. "I'm sorry, that didn't come out the way I intended..."

"I certainly hope not." Her tone was beyond icy, far colder than the heated flush in her cheeks. "But it's nice to know where I stand. The phrase you're looking for is 'hottie,' just for the record. Since apparently that's all you think of me."

"I didn't mean your body!" The words were out before he could stop them, any more than he seemed capable of stopping any of his words today. "Well, no, of course I did, but I didn't mean just your body," he babbled. Babbling! Again! He would have to give himself a stern talking-to. When his mouth was of a mind to listen, which it certainly wasn't now. "Peri, you're lovely, you're fun and great company and beautiful, and all I meant was that I appreciate all of you, the complete package, and I'm making a bloody great fool of myself, so I think I'll stop now."

The flush was fading from her cheeks, and he could have sworn there was a smile tugging at her lips. Her body language had relaxed as well, he noted with a great deal of relief. He tried a smile of his own, tentative and ready to dive for cover, but she allowed the grin to reach her own lips and eyes. "Did anyone ever tell you how difficult it is to talk to you when they're attracted to you?"

The grin deepened. "No one that didn't at least come from the same planet," she admitted. "Is that why you're acting like a complete jackass? Because you're attracted to me?"

He nodded. "Yes. And under normal circumstances I would at least try to keep my feelings to myself until I'd gotten an inkling as to your thoughts on the matter. However, for some reason, I have managed to completely bungle this entire situation."

"Because you thought I liked Jamie," Peri said. Not asked; she knew exactly what had precipitated this, obviously. But was she amused, annoyed, or disconcerted by his confession? She was still smiling, also shaking her head as she turned away from him. "If you'd given me some hint that you felt this way I might have been able to reassure you on that matter."

"So you're not attracted to him?" A note of hope crept into the Doctor's voice.

"I didn't say that." Her words were like a dash of cold water. "But it wouldn't be any of your business if I was. Especially since you didn't see fit to tell me how you felt until now." Ah, annoyed. Amused, yes, but definitely annoyed. Peri turned back to face him. "Doctor, you've just sprung this on me; as far as I'm concerned it came out of nowhere, and it's something I need to think about." She hesitated, and he received the impression that what she said next wasn't what she'd been about to say. "I think I'd like that shower now. I'll see you later."

"So you don't want to go home?" The Doctor's voice was tentative, but he had to know. Even if pressing the issue made things worse, he had to know.

Peri shook her head as she opened the interior door. "Not just yet." The door closed behind her just shy of a slam, but the Doctor took the hint and let her go.

oooOooo

"Ooh, botched that one, didn't you?"

"A bit," the Doctor admitted. "That particular regeneration wasn't exactly...polished."

"He's just one shy of you; how come you ended up with all the polish?"

The Doctor squinted at her; was she serious, or teasing? A bit of both, as always, he decided. "Each regeneration is different in personality to the rest. Different body, different reactions..."

"Different fashion sense," she muttered.

"Yes," the Doctor agreed wryly. "That one had none."

"Still, he was kind of cute. Not as dishy as your fifth self, but not half bad," Ace pronounced. "Bit of a maniac, though. Did he scare Peri off?" She'd unconsciously slipped into speaking of the Doctor's past self as if he were a different person entirely.

"No, I did not scare her off," the Doctor replied, lightly emphasizing the "I", to remind her they were still speaking about him. "Although," he was forced to confess, "I was amazed that I didn't."

"So how long did she leave you hanging?"

"Not as long as I deserved, longer than I wanted..."