By the time Ramani got back down to custody, Jo had the TARDIS key in hand and was flirting with PC Casper, who was filling in behind the desk. Jo smiled such a lot, such an authentic, generous smile, that it made Ramani smile again too.
"Well thank you ever so much," said Jo to Dan when Ramani came through the doors. "It's been absolutely fab to have such lovely company while I waited."
"Just part of the service," he replied, blushing.
Ramani felt a little bit jealous.
"Are you going to be warm enough?" she asked, angling her head to assess the length of Jo's miniskirt.
"I'll be okay, thanks. There's whole rooms of clothes in the TARDIS if I do get cold."
Ramani smiled. "It's this way," she said, and pointed with her car keys.
It was night already as they walked down the ramp to the car yard, and the cool air struck their cheeks. The clanky sound of Jo's boots on concrete echoed off the walls. Ramani fidgeted with her hair, which had again fallen about her ears.
"I think you're wonderful, Ramani, for doing this," said Jo. "You've been so very kind to me."
To which Ramani had to give a low throaty laugh to herself, because just then she entirely stopped feeling jealous. "It's my pleasure, Jo."
She pointed her remote key towards her car and unlocked the doors. Jo followed her to the car, but stood beside the passenger door, waiting to be let in.
"It's unlocked," said Ramani. "But - oops! Hold on. Let me clean this up."
There were folders and sweet wrappers and parking tickets and plastic bags and CDs and orange peels and god knows what all over the passenger seat. Ramani quickly filed the junk into 'back window', 'back seat' and 'back floor' categories, then brushed off the seat cover. "Okay," she said, and Jo got in.
Jo snuggled down into the comfortable seat, laughing "What's this?" upon seeing plastic Elvis dangling from the windscreen. She gyrated his hips with her finger.
"You ought to know better than me," said Ramani. "And put your seatbelt on."
Ramani reversed the car out of the yard while Jo got her head around the automatic seatbelt.
"It's odd, you know," said Jo, snagging the belt on the brake stop repeatedly. "I've been to the future before, but only the very distant future, with space ships and aliens and intergalactic wars and things. But for some reason this seems even more futuristic than that does, because it's all quite similar, but quite different too." She looked over at Ramani. "Am I making any sense at all?"
Ramani concentrated on her three-point turn. "Probably. But having never been in a spaceship myself it's not for me to say."
She paused the car. The engine revved. "So where are we going?"
"To the warehouse, naturally!"
"Right."
The sky was dark, but the streetlights were bright. Jo watched out the window with wonder, pointing out familiar landmarks amongst the newness, and Ramani enjoyed the excited rise and fall of her voice over the hum of the engine.
"Put the radio on if you like."
It took a bit of trial and error for Jo to get the stereo to work, but finally some of Ramani's bhangra thumped out at them. Ramani apologised and turned the volume down.
"Groovy," said Jo, and Ramani had to smile.
"What sort of music do you like, Jo?"
"Oh, you know. Whatever's happening. I haven't had much time for music since joining UNIT. Though I must say, I do think that T-rex chap is rather dishy."
"Marc Bolan?"
"That's the one. Are you a fan too?"
"Um. No, not in particular. My mother, though, I'm quite certain, had one of his records."
"Now that's a strange thought," mused Jo. "I suppose I must be old enough to be your mother! And I've just had another thought. What if there's another, older me walking around London right now, at this very minute?"
"I don't think you should dwell on that thought," said Ramani, scanning the rear vision mirror just in case.
"No. I don't think I will. I wonder what I'm doing, though. I wonder if I'm happy. Perhaps I have some good advice to give myself."
Good advice, thought Ramani.
Hold my hand?
Hold my hand. Stay here with me, and show me what's inside you. Change my life, make it different, let me see things I'd never otherwise see and do things I couldn't let myself do. Tell me how I can never grow up. Please be happy. Don't lose that laugh, that smile. Make all of this be true.
She had come too far. She was invested now. If she had to go back to work tomorrow and put Jo in the psych ward, she'd probably have to stick her head in the oven on Friday.
She turned off the engine.
Her head leant back against the headrest and rolled to the side to look at Jo.
"Don't disappoint me, will you?"
Jo's expression was flushed with confidence, reassurance, and sexy, satisfied triumph.
"Come and see."
