He closed the door behind them and moved confidently to the control panels. "Where to, then? Shall we continue on to Chicago? Or maybe the stars? The future or the past? So many possibilities!" He moved around the controls like an eager child showing off his train set, and she watched him for a moment. He wasn't really asking her. And then she realized she was in the TARDIS.
The ship was beautiful. Industrial, and definitely a ship, but beautiful. She ran her hand reverently over the metal handrail as she climbed up the steps toward him. She settled into the captain's chair, watching his hands move with quick assuredness. She was sitting in the TARDIS with the Doctor at the controls. She may have actually squeaked at that point. She became aware around that moment that he was talking – narrating what he was doing.
"We could go to the future, though retracing my path through the dimensional fall should be easier, so we'll start with that. Takes a lot of energy to move between dimensions these days." She vaguely remembered something about the great power source of the Time Lords, and that it wasn't around anymore. She hoped he could get them out of there. She realized with a start that she was leaving everything. With his other companions, he could always take them home. Cross-dimensional travel was hard. Impossible even. She felt a slight constriction in her lungs.
"There. On track for Barcelona, year 52836, back in the correct dimension." He seemed to notice her again. "Hey there, you alright? Miranda?" He took a seat in the chair next to her, watching her with concern.
"I'm fine. Just… a lot to cope with in a single realization." She let out a rush of breath. "One minute you're sitting at your cabin without a soul for miles, the next you've left your dimension behind forever and are traveling with…" She set her shoulders in a straight line and turned the corners of her mouth up as she met his eye. "With a madman in a box." She stood up, watching the pump move up and down as the Time Vortex swirled beneath them. She gripped the handrail. "Barcelona, you said? The planet?"
He tucked his fingers through hers again, and she took comfort from that. "Yep. You know, they have dogs with no noses?"
Her eyes narrowed with a wry smile. "No noses? Then Doctor, how do they smell?"
He caught the play in her voice, and knew she understood the joke. "Always funny, that one." He looked down when he thought she was squeezing his hand, but realized she was shivering. The Tardis wasn't nearly as warm as the summer day she'd just come from. "But you need a new wardrobe. It's just down the corridor, second right, then the third left, past the head, take the right fork, then second room on the right. Got that?"
She shivered again, pulling her hand back to wrap around herself. "I'll be right back then." She paused at the doorway. "What does one wear on Barcelona, Doctor?"
"Oh, anything you fancy. It's a pretty relaxed place, Barcelona." He went back to making minor adjustments to their flight path, worry lines easing out of his face as he realized they were back in his dimension. She had chosen to come with him. She had understood what dimensional travel meant. She wanted to be there. He kept trying to convince himself of that. He has asked with no time for her to really consider. He could never take her home. He leaned back against the rail. He had just made her as homeless as he was.
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A/N: Short, I know, but there's dogs with no noses in the next chapter! And that joke never gets old!