Chapter Eighteen

The Professor was lying on his bed, just staring at the white ceiling. He felt empty and rejected by Tia, and felt stupid for even considering that she would ever go for him in a romantic way. He almost hated Jack Harkness, but put it down to envy instead. Jack was a nice guy at the end of the day, but he felt jealous at how easy it was for him to seduce women. Not that The Professor wanted to seduce women, just Tia.

It had dawned on him that he was in love with Tia the day he had met her. He was holed up, inside his warehouse trying and failing yet again at another experiment to get him home. So far he hadn't succeeded since his first attempt, five hundred years ago. Oh well, he thought here's to the next five hundred years. That day he continued with his daily mission, of trying to create a dimension hopper. This universe was very limited in its technology compared to others, and the plans of dimension cannons and upgraded vortex manipulators were possible to create, easily with his mind, but he simply could not obtain the materials. This universe relied slightly more on religion than technology, and while there were some scientists like him, there were many more churches than laboratories.

And then suddenly, a portal opened in the wall. The light was so white and blinding that he had to squint slightly to see it as it formed. He stepped towards it cautiously, one arm outstretched. Could this be his way home? Was it the timelords, calling out to him? Taking him home? He had this thought in his head for barely one hopeful second when suddenly something tumbled out, and fell into his arms. It took him a few seconds to register what had happened before the portal suddenly closed and the wall took his place, cold and grey. He looked down at the weight in his arms, and it appeared to be a girl. She was face down, so all The Professor could see was her black leather tight trousers which he totally weren't staring at, a loose grey vest top, cropped leather jacket and black leather boots and a mass of jet black curly hair that seemed to almost go on indefinitely.

It took him a little while longer before realising that she was unconscious and possibly injured, and jumped into action. He quickly walked up the stairs holding this mystery girl in his arms, and laid her out on the sofa. Now that he could get a good look of her face, he was almost captivated by it. Her skin was practically golden, a beautiful brown colour, showing that she was mixed-race. She had long thick black eyelashes and a few brown freckles over her nose. Her lips were plump and Cupid's bow shaped- dipping into an almost perfect 'M' shape. It took a lot of self-restraint for him not to reach out and run his fingers down her perfect face.

Suddenly the mystery girl opened her eyes slowly, and blinked twice trying to register where she was. He noted that her eyes were the most captivating shade of hazel he had ever seen. She turned her head slowly and looked up at him. "Wh-who are you?" she asked. Her voice was weak.

"I…" he started to say before stuttering, did he just forget his own name? What was he doing? This girl, he didn't even know her yet but he knew that he wanted to know her. "I'm The Professor," he eventually said trying to give her a reassuring smile. The girl sat up, and took in a deep breath, before expelling what looked a lot like regeneration energy. "Are you… are you a timelord?" he asked, his eyes wide and hopeful. "Nope," she said, coughing slightly and shaking her head before standing up and facing him, back to her full strength. She noticed the mans saddened expression and reached out her hand "Sorry. I'm Tia, Tia Clarke. I'm a time angel." She said smiling widely. The Professor narrowed his eyebrows, and Tia pulled her hand back by his side. "Time angel?" he scoffed "Those are just myths." He folded his arms, looking at her sceptically.

"Yeah, we like to keep it that way." She laughed.

"Even to time lords?"

"Yep even to those uptight bastards." She said. She was clearly cocky and confident about herself, and he picked up the scent of time distortion from her, only proving her point further.

"Then explain why you were just thrown through a portal, rather maliciously into my warehouse" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"Well, now that is a very long story…" Tia said.

"So tell it. I've got time." The professor said, sitting back down on the sofa, inviting Tia to sit down. She smiled, this amazing smile that he knew that he would always want to see and began to tell him the story of her rebellion an how the time angels ditched her into this universe.

"From what I can sense I'm from the same universe that you are." She said

"Do you know how to get back?" he asked hopefully.

"No," she said "And I'm not sure I'd want to. The other angels would probably kill me. Or worse."

"Okay. But I'll protect you."

"Thanks"

And then suddenly, as they sat there chatting and she called him a boring stuffy time lord, and he called her mystery girl and she agreed to help him try and get back to the original universe. And then suddenly, three hundred years later, he found himself just as in love with her as he had always been.

She knocked on the door lightly, but he chose not to reply. Tia came in anyway, and smiled awkwardly. "Sorry about that, about Jack," she said.

"It's fine. I was an ass. I know you didn't, you wouldn't sleep with him. I realise that now."

He sat up, and invited Tia over, who came and sat on his bed opposite him, crossing her legs and running her hand through her hair. She looked so beautiful in front of him, eyes still tired from sleep, hair not brushed through properly, not that it didn't have the same gravity defying bounce that it always possessed.

"Good. I thought you were mad at me." She said, looking down. He reached his hand out, and ran one finger down her face slowly, before moving to her chin and lifting her face gently to look at him.

"You are so beautiful, mystery girl." He said softly

"You called me that the day we met." She said with a smile "God how long ago was that, three hundred years give or take?"

"And I've thought of you every day since…"

"Professor I-" she said slowly, before he pushed his finger to her lips.

"I know," he said "But you shouldn't. I haven't exactly treated you fairly all these years."

"That's okay," she said

"No it's not Tia, it really isn't," he said "Tia you need to understand something. I can never give you what The Doctor and Rose have; I can't be suave and charming like Jack bloody Harkness. But I can love you, and I do love you. So much it hurts."

"And that's okay Professor. Do you really think if I wanted someone like The Doctor or if I wanted Jack Harkness, than I would've gone out and found them a long time ago. I've stood by you for three hundred years, if I wanted to leave by now I would have done it a while ago."

"But why do you put up with me? I'm moody and I say the wrong things and I know I can be terribly negative and sarcastic. But I do love you so Tia."

"Then shut up and do something about it!" Tia said abruptly leaning forwards and kissing him right on the lips. This wasn't like their kiss in the warehouse, it wasn't light or babyish. Tia was the more dominant one at first, as The Professor remained unresponsive for a few seconds, in pure shock, until suddenly, he moved his hand into her bundle of curly hair that he had been dying to feel and pushed back, hungrier and more passionate that Tia could of ever imagined. She was in heaven, but after a minute leant back, and placed her hand on his chest, over his right heart.

"We don't want to rush this, professor."

"Of course," he said, placing his hand over hers on his chest, entwining their fingers. They sat facing each other for a minute before Tia finally released. "I'm gonna go and er, get dressed and that."

"Of course. Go. I'll um, I'll see you later." He said with a smile. He went to shake her hand, and she went to hug him at the same time. "Oh, god sorry." He said, with a nervous laugh before going to hug her. This time she went in for the handshake instead, and they both laughed. "Never mind that, I'll see you later" she said before walking out. As she left The Professor fell backwards and flopped onto his bed smiling. He clutched his fist and punched the air, he could quite describe what he felt in that moment, but he liked it.

"That's love that you're feeling right now." The Doctor said, suddenly standing against the door.

"Theta," The Professor said surprised sitting up abruptly "How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long. But I do know what just happened."

"How?" The Professor asked sceptically.

"I wasn't here lurking and watching you if that's what you're worried about," The Doctor said laughing lightly "But Tia exits your room, leans against the door and smiles to herself. I'm not blind brother."

"Fair enough. What can I help you with then?"

"I just want to warn you… give you some brotherly advice."

"Advise away."

"Hmm where to start…" The Doctor said, scratching the back of his head "Well. Let's just say. Tia, she really loves you."

"I know that."

"Yes, I'm sure, but you can't just run into this relationship headfirst if you aren't committed. I know you Drayschel, and I know how you can rush into things. I know you love Tia, dearly, but don't rush into this relationship. You've got to allow time for things to develop, and you have to let it go slowly. Three hundred years you've been in that awkward in-love but not together stage. Rose and I only lasted a year and a half, and that's how we managed to get into our relationship so quickly, and of course Xavier was the main cause that. But you guys need to take your time okay. Don't rush into things. Don't have a baby."

"She said the same thing, sort of…"

"That's because Tia's a smart girl, more than a match for you. Just don't break her heart okay Drayschel. She deserves more than that."

"I won't. I'll try I really will," The Professor said looking up at his brother and smiling "I want that with her so much. What you and Rose have."

"And I have no doubt that you will obtain it." The Doctor smiled as The Professor stood up and walked over to the door following behind The Doctor. "You know for my little brother you sure seem to give some very good advice." The Professor said, laughing lightly.

"Travelling the universe all these years, I've grown to be very old and wise."

The Professor just smiled. Old and wise indeed.