A/N: Hey all, just wanted to let you know that you're all exceptional and lovely. Also, I wanted to give extra thanks to my superstar reviewers.

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In the plot twist of the century, Donna had not been exaggerating. The Whalen's were incredible. Sleek skinned and vibrantly turquoise, they easily stood twice as tall as the Doctor. They reminded me a little of elongated squids, but with only two legs attaching them to the floor instead of more than I could count. That wasn't really important, and neither were they the most exotic looking creatures in the room.

What was important, was their voices. Oh. My. God. I mean, I was nowhere near cultured enough to really appreciate it properly, but it was still, by far, the most amazing thing I had ever experienced. Ever. It still had me giddy, and the concert had already been over for at least an hour. Now we were enjoying the food and the fancy booze, but those voices were still resonating in my head. It helped that they had speakers that were also playing a recording of the music, but it didn't quite compare to hearing them live. There was nothing that could ever top that. All the crap I had gone through was totally worth it.

Now we were hobnobbing with the most sophisticated clientele in the galaxy. Everyone, and thing, was dressed in their finest. It didn't mean they were all wearing tuxes, but it was clear that they had all dressed for the occasion. We were all classy as hell on our floating concert platform. Hovering above a planet.

It was awesome.

Mind you, the dress wasn't that great. Actually, it was the heels. Those were the biggest pain in my ass. My feet had gone numb maybe thirty minutes ago, so I guess that helped. But no matter how many times I brushed down on the heavy emerald skirt, it never quite stayed below my knees. Jeans. Jeans were where it was at. And that's exactly what I was going to spend the rest of my days in, fancy social gatherings or not. Maybe I'd just get a black pair.

"Oh stop it, you look lovely." Donna chided me, sipping from her martini. She was cutting a pretty flattering figure herself, the last dress she had purchased, slinky, and a deep crimson color, it had caught the eyes of more than a few of our fellow attendees. We did look pretty glamorous. Well. Donna did. I looked 'glamorous' in the same way a pug might if you put it in a tutu and sunglasses.

But I was having a good time, so didn't bother arguing with her. Instead, my attention drifted to the dance floor, if you could really call it that. It was hard to be sure with such a wide range of movements going on. Very few of them were recognizable as something I'd seen a person actually do. But the Doctor had reassured me, twice, that they really were dancing. He had called me judgmental, the snob. We couldn't all be so universally experienced in the variety of moves that had yet to actually be invented. He had then taken it upon himself to demonstrate all of the ones he knew, with several partners. He insisted on dancing with every guest at least once, so he was keeping busy. When my time came, I graciously accepted, with the strict understanding that if he tried anything other than a foxtrot, I'd stomp on his foot.

The dancing wasn't even the strangest part. Or the space aliens. Or all of the different kinds of foods that I couldn't recognize by sight or taste.

No, the weirdest part, of this whole thing, was just how normal it was. We were just watching a concert. Eating, drinking, having a good time. Something that I might have done back on earth, if I'd been slightly more social than a rock. The only fire was for food prepping purposes, and no one had exchanged bullets. This was just the most normal thing I had ever seen this group do together. It was enough to make anyone nervous.

Jack swaggered over, kissing the hand of a mostly humanoid female who twirled away and disappeared into the crowded floor. "Evening ladies," he grinned, dropping another empty shot glass onto the table and leaning on his elbow. He was much improved, both his mood, and his unscathed looking skin. My lip was still a little raw, but for the most part, healed. Probably should have stayed under that lamp. "You're both looking radiant." He winked at us and I had to wonder how much of it was an act. There had been something very broken in Jack when we had spoken in the clinic, but hell if I was going to ask about it. He was being his usual charming self, and I was trying to be equally cheerful. There hadn't been an official apology on either of our parts, but I was happy to consider it over and forgotten. He seemed to share the sentiment as we had already danced together a handful of times and not once had he slipped in a thinly veiled insult about me or the Professor. Of course, it might have more to do with the copious amounts of alcohol he had consumed, but that worked too. Nothing like a serious drinking problem to bury all those mixed emotions way down deep so they couldn't tear you apart. If he was lucky, his liver would kill him before he'd ever need to deal with them.

Well. Except he was immortal.

So…not lucky then.

"Yes Jack, we know. You've already told us a dozen times." Donna sighed, but the grin she gave him suggested she didn't mind so terribly. He took the drink she was holding to sample it and handed it back with a nod of approval. How many had he had? A million? It would be responsible for me to actually ask, or just get him some water. But he was a grown man, and 'responsible' just wasn't a word I had ever had much use for.

"Yep. And just as soon as it stops being true, I'll stop telling you." He smirked. "You here to ask me to dance, curly?" It took me a moment to realize he wasn't talking to another stranger who had been drawn in by Jack's swaying hips and easy grin. Trust me, there had been plenty. But when I turned to see who it was, the Professor was there, looming over my shoulder. The Doctor and Jack had both donned tuxes, but the Professor had just worn a black suit, with a dark purple shirt beneath. It made him even more of an imposing figure, but I had to admit, he looked good. Plus, I was surprised he had decided to dress up at all.

"Perhaps another time." He gave Jack a thin smile. Neither had spent much time together, and they hadn't spoken much when they did. But that was actually a huge improvement, since the alternative was much worse than silence. "Our table has been invaded by some Rodal's with a very loose definition of personal space." I looked in the direction he had come from, and sure enough, there were a couple of unfamiliar creatures lurking at the table where we had eaten. Except they looked strikingly similar to teddy bears.

I snorted, which earned me a skeptical look from the Professor so I did my best to cover it with a cough. It wasn't really my fault that the image of the Professor fleeing from over-sized teddy bears had sort of popped into my head. He couldn't really blame me for that, could he?

"It's a party, you're supposed to socialize." Donna rolled her eyes at him.

"I believe the Doctor is doing more than enough of that to compensate for my shortcomings."

"Well," Donna shrugged with a smile. "You've got me there. The man does love to dance. Even if he looks like a giraffe."

"Speaking of which." Jack stood back up and straightened his jacket, holding out a hand to Donna. "Care to join me on another trip around the floor? I'm worried one of my Tairn admirers is closing in. They're a bit…handy." Something about the way he said that made me think he hardly minded.

"Oh, I suppose." There was Donna, pretending to be put upon again. The slight curl of her lips suggested otherwise. She finished the last of her martini and let Jack start to lead her away from the table.

"Fitz? Professor? You joining us?" Jack's eyes flashed with amusement. It was impossible to tell if he'd meant it as an olive branch, or a slap in the face. Definitely leaning toward the latter. But that didn't matter because I was completely capable of not turning bright purple with embarrassment about things that were not actually embarrassing, contrary to what the voices in my head believed.

"I'm sure we'll be fine-"

"Certainly." That caught me by surprise, and ruined the whole casual dismissal I'd planned. The look I gave the Professor as I turned on him must have been a bad one, because he looked alarmed. "If, of course, that's alright with you?"

"Er. I mean…yeah, sure-" My mouth was working, but I could already feel my tongue trying to trip itself up as I rushed over my pathetic attempts at recovery. Breathe. It is important to breathe.

"Have fun you two." Jack was looking awfully smug as he dragged Donna into the fray, twirling her under his arm once before they vanished behind a couple who looked like they were crab-walking the jitterbug. Alright, so I was on my own. Dancing.

"Coming?"

Right. Not on my own. With the Professor, on my own. Somehow that was infinitely worse and nerve-wrecking at the same time. I tried to put a smile on my face as he offered his hand, but it probably had that slightly desperate look. He must not have noticed, because he started to pull me, somewhat haltingly, into the swarm. It wouldn't be so bad, right? It wasn't like we were alone alone. There were plenty of people around us. Plus, I was getting better at dealing with the Professor all the time. What did I even care? Dancing? Pshht. He was practically a stranger, this wasn't any different than dancing with the handful of other polite aliens that had bothered asking me. This was a cakewalk.

Man. I was really going to need to get better at lying to myself.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when he pulled me forward and put his hand on my waist. A friendly reminder that dancing usually involved intimately close distances. What had I been saying earlier? About how great normal was? Give me back impending doom. Impending doom I could handle.

Okay, but don't. I really didn't want to add 'possible death' on top of my social awkwardness. It hadn't been any fun the first time around and I wasn't looking to repeat it. Just…act normal. This wasn't a big deal. Of course, it would help if I wasn't such a paranoid train-wreck all the time. Probably.

"Kinda clumsy, might step on your feet." I cleared my throat because my voice had croaked out like an eighty-year-old chain smoker.

"Nonsense," His low voice rumbled directly in my ear. "You seemed quite capable earlier." Great, so he had been watching us. That wasn't worrying at all.

My eyes were focused intently on the collar of his shirt, it seemed like a really bad idea to try and look at him directly. Because I knew if I did, those damn eyes of his would trap me, and then who knows what kinds of stupid things would come out of my mouth. "Didn't know you could dance." Even though it was just an attempt at small talk, I was genuinely surprised at how easily he seemed to be moving. It was just a relief that I hadn't managed to trip yet.

"It would have been rather foolish of me to ask you if I couldn't." Wouldn't really classify what he did as 'asking', not properly anyway, but hey, now probably wasn't the time to get into that. "And nine hundred years is a very long time to go without learning to dance."

"God you're old." That sort of slipped out. Not that I had forgotten, but knowing someone was obscenely old and then hearing the phrase 'nine hundred years' was a completely different experience.

"I prefer to think of myself as wise." He replied and out of the corner of my eye, I could see his mouth curl into a smile.

"Well, you're probably just going senile."

"That's a possibility." He admitted. Banter was good, I could totally handle banter. It would keep me from worrying about my hand resting on his shoulder, or my palm starting to get damp in his grip, or if he could smell the cheesecake flavored cocktail I had earlier.

Well. It had been keeping me from worrying about it.

Until now.

And now there was silence, because I couldn't think of anything else to say. All I wanted to do was wipe my hand on my dress so he didn't think I was some creep with clammy hands. There was seriously something wrong with me.

He let out a resigned sigh, "What was it?" It was nice of him to break up the awkwardness, but I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Um…I'm not sure what-"

"Before I regenerated. What was it I did to you?"

"Well, you…helped me?" I risked a quick glance at him, but the frown he was wearing suggested it wasn't the answer he was looking for.

"Fitzgerald," his tone was scolding, and coupled with my name, I assumed I had to have broken a lamp or something. "I remember trying to kill the Doctor. More than once, I believe. I remember the Valiant. With Jack. He wasn't the only one I was…keeping imprisoned." Well, that was putting it mildly. "There are probably a thousand other cruel things that I did that I haven't yet remembered. You don't have to lie about it anymore. You can tell me. What did I…" He paused, sounding almost apologetic. "What did you have to endure?" What? Who the hell was this man and where was the master of isolation that we had been taking with us on our adventures?

"Other than your less than charming personality? Uh…nothing."

He raised his eyebrow suspiciously. Crap, now I was looking at him. But it was more out of confusion than anything. "Jack seemed rather adamant to remind you of my past transgressions."

"Well, yeah." Great, so this was to do with what Jack had said. I'd have to thank him for that later. "Because you tortured him. I'm not saying you were a saint, but by the time I met you, you were sort of…over that whole homicidal maniac thing." Mostly. But I didn't feel like I needed to be that specific.

He was still watching me, possibly trying to see if I were lying. "But you're constantly at odds with me."

"I uh…do that." I hadn't been aware that he had been paying attention to any of my snarky comments. "To everyone, actually."

"Yes. I had noticed. But you don't avoid any of them. And you never seem to be worried by them either. It's only me that you seem genuinely…bothered by. I thought perhaps it could be explained if I had-" His face went carefully blank and he stopped mid-step, dropping my hand. "I can see that isn't the case, I apologize for troubling you." His clipped tone gave me the impression he was annoyed, not just annoyed, but properly angry.

"Hey!" My arm on his shoulder tightened and I grabbed for him making sure he couldn't take off. This was as much of an emotion I had seen since his regeneration. That was an enormous shock, but instead, I was focused on how irritating it was that he was having it for no damn reason. Of course that was the only reaction I ever produced from the Professor that I knew was genuine. Nice to see some things never changed. "I'm not avoiding you."

He gave me a scathing look, but he also seemed to be slightly perplexed by the way I had sort of thrown my arms around him to keep him from running off. Way to play it cool, idiot.

"Okay, so I'm avoiding you a little," I sighed. "But it's not because of anything you did."

"Oh?" The way he raised his eyebrow suggested he thought I was lying, but he also hadn't tried to walk away yet. That was something. I released my tight grip on his arm and took his hand.

"Are we dancing, or what?" There were all sorts of answers that skittered across his face, but he finally nodded once and we were moving again, if a little awkwardly. "Okay, so, you were a bit of a challenge to get along with, but nothing permanently scarring." Hah, that was a lie, but not for reasons he suspected. "Now you're…different. And it's just a bit strange." Strange because I keep expecting him to be someone else. Stranger still because my brain was slowly subduing that expectation. And now I had to constantly worry about letting something slip. "It's just taking some getting used to. I'm sorry if I make it a bigger deal than it is. You aren't the problem. I just…I worry I'm going to say something you don't remember and you'll think I'm totally nuts." That was actually mostly honest, which I think helped sell it. But I definitely wasn't going to look him in the eye again and risk screwing it all up. He did seem to be trying to light my forehead on fire with his own careful scrutinizing.

"If it's any consolation, I already think you're mad."

"Thanks, I feel better already." Actually, I did. But only because things were un-serious again. That was my safe zone.

"You could always explain the things I don't recall." He suggested, like the bastard he was.

"Hah. I'd have to be way more drunk for that."

"I'm sure that could be arranged." He said it so seriously that I did have to look at him to make sure he was kidding. He was. I'm almost positive.

"Nice try." I stuck out my tongue. Put me in fancy clothes and high society and I will still be a child. Part of my charm. "You could just give up. Your little information crusade."

"So could you." He looked rather smug. The one thing we had in common, apparently, was a dedication to being stubborn as mules. "I don't mean to upset you. I'm merely interested in learning what happened."

"You already know what happened. I know you know, because the Doctor's told you. And Donna. So I don't know why you think my version will be any different," Because it was. But there's no reason he should know that, or even suspect it. And it was going to stay that way, god dammit.

"Perhaps," he admitted. "But there are certain details they may have missed."

"Puh-lease." I rolled my eyes. "This is the Doctor we're talking about. He knows what kind of screws those Rhino looking things had on their spaceship-"

"The Judoon." He corrected, some flicker of confusion flashed across his face but I dismissed it.

"Exactly. My story is filled with made-up words and 'thingies' and 'some place'. It would be a nightmare. You might end up knowing less than you did before."

"I suppose you're right."

"I usually am." I said feeling quite pleased with myself. Starting to get good at lying to other people. Although, that's probably not something you're generally supposed to be proud of. Meh.

"That wasn't precisely what I wanted to ask about." He was making another one of those strange faces. One that I had no clue what it meant. Well, generally, I didn't know what any of them meant, but I had gotten good at recognizing his irritated face. This wasn't that. Of course, if I was even remotely savvy at reading people, I might take a stab at it and say nervous? Hesitant? No, I really wasn't. Savvy. It was a good word though.

"So…what did you want to ask about?"

"When we first met. You said we had been friends." Ah, right. That day. Was still holding out hope that maybe he had forgotten all about that. You know, the part where I was crying, upset, and angry. Really angry. Maybe a little bit rude. Possibly extremely rude. It had been a shitty day. But, guess he hadn't forgotten. Rats.

"Mm-hm?" There was no need to get more specific than that, right? Not even if he twisted my arm. Or threatened to shank me with that laser screwdriver of his. Not even to save all the manatees in the ocean. And I liked manatees. Hell to the no.

"You don't strike me as someone I would be friends with."

"Gee. Thanks." It occurred to me maybe this incarnation of the Professor was just as socially clumsy as me. Wouldn't that be swell?

"Well, generally speaking, I'd assume I didn't have friends. But it was meant as a compliment."

"How did you envision me taking that as a compliment?" I wasn't really all that offended, but there was no way there was a positive spin on that.

"From what I've seen, you're a good person. Decent at the very least." Yowza. He really knew how to make a girl feel special. "And human." The way he said it made it a strike two. "Neither of those qualities are things I've held in much regard in the past. If what memories I've retained are to be believed."

Huh. Decent. And human. Two of the most mediocre things anyone had ever said about me. What an idiot.

"That still doesn't sound like a compliment. Actually, it sounds like you're insulting me. Again." Now was the time that my 'offended' alarms were starting to go off.

"That was not my intention." If I was worrying him, he wasn't showing it. He was like a robot in there, just wearing a skin suit to cover up all those gears that were inside. Starting to wish maybe I would step on one of his feet. Would it be too obvious if I did it intentionally? "I was merely pointing out how unlikely-"

"Save it. Not interested in hearing any more of your flattery today. Don't need to hear about how tedious the human race is. I already know."

"You're not tedious."

"You are getting senile." I laughed but he only gave a tight smile. "What, no more probing questions?" I asked when he didn't respond.

"I believe you expressed an interest in me not continuing to do that."

"Since when did you care what I think?"

"Shortly after meeting you." That was a joke, not a very good joke, but- Wait. Why wasn't he smiling? Even a little? Was he being serious? My feet just kind of faltered and came to a stop. Maybe I had misheard him. Sure, that could be it. Because on a scale of one to ten, the odds of the Professor, much less the Professor who didn't really remember me, caring about what I thought were…well, there wasn't a number that low. They haven't invented a number that low.

It was hard to think of other reasons why he might have said that because he was god damn staring at me.

He said it because it's true. Said the annoying cheerleader voice in my head. She would be the one jumping up and down with excitement. Yes, your opinion has been voiced, shut up. What was vastly more likely was that Jack was right. Maybe he was lying. Maybe this whole thing was just one elaborate scam to screw us all over.

Funny how the way he was looking at me didn't really feel like a scam. But that just made it an effective one, right?

"I…" What the hell do you say to that? Nothing was coming to mind. No clever jokes. Nothing was still coming to mind as I stood there, pinned under his gaze. Did it just get like really hot in here? Someday soon I was going to master this whole teleporting thing, and then when awkward situations like this arose, I could just kind of disappear. Really looking forward to that. Because as it was, he was making it really hard to think.

Why? Did I care that he cared? This wasn't the Professor that I was still stupidly crushing on, the one I was still holding out hope that he might return. That hope was still there, somewhere. But it was sort of stashed away, like an afterthought. And if I was so not interested in this Professor, why the hell was my heart pounding so hard right now?

Was…was he getting closer? Pretty sure the distance between our faces had halved while I was standing here, trying to think of anything to say. I opened my mouth again, in the vain hope that some complete thought might magically come out. That was a mistake. His eyes flicked down and his head tilted slightly as he focused solely on my lips.

Wow. That was a lot of blood that just rushed up to my face. What is he doing? Don't be an idiot, you know exactly what he's doing. Why am I not stopping him was the real question.

Are you kidding? Have you seen his eyes? Those cheekbones?

No, shut up. That's really not helping.

I have to be the grown-up here. I can't let him do this because…well. I don't know. It's messed up. I'd figure out the details of exactly why later, but what was important, was that I couldn't let him do this now.

Did that mean I was going to let him later?

Jesus christ did I ever need a mute button for myself.

"Hey, hello, sorry!" The Doctor bounced through the crowd and latched his hand onto my shoulder, stumbling to a halt. He looked out of breath and his eyes were wide as he darted his head around to see if he had been followed.

His timing was so great I wanted to kiss him.

Oh jesus. No. That is not what I needed right now.

"Yes, wonderful. Found you two." He returned his attention to us, and if he had noticed anything peculiar about how close I had been to the Professor, he didn't mention it. "We need to get going, rather immediately I'm afraid."

"What? Why?" The Professor was back to his stoic self, and he had made sure to put a reasonable distance between the two of us, but the Doctor was just as oblivious as he had ever been.

"Well, I managed to run into a bit of an…old friend." He said, his face twisting around the word 'friend' sheepishly. "One of the Korven. Appears she's interested in pursuing more of a…well, a permanent relationship."

"Did you try politely declining?" Because if all he had tried was running and hiding, someone was getting slapped. And it was going to be him.

"Yes, well. The thing is, in Korven society, everything is quite matriarchal. As in, I've not got much say in the matter."

"Leave it to you to get involved with the species who insist on branding their mates." The Professor rolled his eyes, not amused by the Doctor's antics.

"Are you really trying to tell me that we have to leave the only nice place we've been in months because you can't deal with an ex-girlfriend? Really?" This was ridiculous, there was no way it was as bad as he was making it seem. And, dammit, this was the coolest place they had ever taken me. There was no way I was leaving just because the Doctor had the maturity of a thirteen year old.

"Yes. Sort of. Except what I'm actually telling you is that if my wife finds I've been tagged by a Korven, she'll kill me. And then…possibly the Korven race."

"Your wife?" That was news. Look at me, learning all sorts of things today.

"Yes. So, if we can-" He jerked his head once. "I promise, we'll go somewhere else equally lovely. Just…we need to be going."

"I seriously doubt your wife is going to go all genocidal because you were an idiot." Especially if she was his wife. She had to have known he was an idiot going into it, right?

The Doctor gave a strained smile as he pinched my chin. "Well, you've never met River Song. But let me assure you, she's done much more over much less."

Okay. So time lords take the whole 'marriage' thing seriously. And the Doctor was hitched to a total lunatic. Duly noted.

"DOCTOR?" A thick warbling voice carried over the crowd, not sounding remotely feminine. It sounded kind of like a freight train…and a blender, sort of mixed together.

"We need to leave!" The Doctor said as he ducked behind me, holding both my arms so I could serve as his own protective shield. "Immediately." He whispered with urgency as a large green sort of…woman creature swept past us in a full ball gown. Her ears looked a bit like an elephants, and actually, so did her limbs. Thick columns supporting an oddly slender torso. It probably made her extra sturdy, and good at crushing things. Like ex-boyfriends. Also, there were way too many horns coming out of her chin to be considered normal.

"DOCTOR! I'VE GOT US REFRESHMENTS FOR THE CEREMONY."

"Wow…she's…she's something else." I said as she was far out of earshot.

"I'll have you know she is an exceptional dancer." The Doctor said defensively.

"Oh, I had no idea. Should I call her back over? Excuse me-" He clapped a hand over my mouth and his eyes darted around frantically.

"The TARDIS. Now." His said in a low voice as he dragged me along with him. The Professor, instead of offering any kind of useful assistance was actually standing there, grinning, while I was marched, headfirst, away from the dance floor. It didn't look anything like I expected. He looked younger, silly, and positively human.

I should have been mocking him mercilessly in my head. But that smile was having somewhat of the opposite effect on me.

God dammit. I never should have gotten back on this stupid ship.