Chapter Text
"Right, are we ready to go?" her beam is bright, confident, comfortable as she surveys them - her fam. She felt the warmth as they smiled back at her. Yaz, bright and young, Ryan, strong and confident, Graham, light-hearted and down to earth. Important people to her. The most important people in the world to her, considering how much they'd taken care of her since she'd turned up at Yaz's flat unannounced and - everything that had followed. She'd spent a few weeks now, kipping on Graham's sofa. Every Friday, she had gone with Yaz to that little office, and she'd spoken softly but with increasing confidence.
Yaz never told any of them what was said, and they never would have expected them to. The Doctor was responsible for just how much she would have shared. And seeing her come back to life, well, that had been - incredible in and of itself. The bright eyed, laughing, joking, clever Doctor who seemed to have emerged from the damaged shell. Yaz wasn't blind, of course - she knew that the Doctor was still the same person. Her trauma might have changed her, but it didn't make her.
"You feeling good enough to leave?" Yaz asked, keeping her tone light, conversational, as she climbed up the steps towards the console. The Doctor leant over and turned a dial a few clicks before giving Yaz a bright beam.
"Of course I am." she said, lightly, "You know me. Can't sit still for long." she chuckled, just a little, easily flicking two switches with her fingertips. "Gotta get on the move again."
"Doctor, you know you're supposed to have at least three months of that theray, preferrably more, right? I pretty much cleared out my bank account." Yaz said, softly.
"And mine as well." Graham added, with a mutter. The Doctor frowned just a little, lifting her head a touch to look at them.
"Empty pockets." she said, softly. "Don't worry, I'll do - something about that. Remind me when we get back."
"Doctor. Don't dodge the question." Yaz said, a little more firmly. The Doctor's brow furrowed, the little wrinkle between them deepening noticably. She hesitated, and then straightened, looking across at Yaz.
"Time ship." she said, softly. "I'll go to the next one in a week, give or take. It won't be too difficult to hop to it." she smiled again, but it was gentle rather than manic. "I made you a promise, Yaz, I intend to keep it. Don't worry." there was a momentary frown on the young woman's face, but she finally gave a slight nod, allowing it. As if permission had been granted, the Doctor clapped her hands and darted away, throwing a few more switches.
"I'm thinking, there's a beautiful planet just off the Harneenas Strait, it has two suns in an orbit with a red dwarf sun, it creates the most unbelievably beautiful skies. Almost all of the planet is ocean, but because of the collison that formed it, the land runs in an almost perfect ring all the way around it." she said, brightly, "A sea on each side, and this strip in the middle. It's absolutely phenomenal." she looked up at the fam.
Graham was awkwardly rubbing a hand over the back of his head as Ryan shuffled his feet just slightly. She felt her smile start to fall away as she considered the pain of them, leaning away from the console now, straightening her spine. Socially awkward, yes, but not totally oblivious to clues like this.
"What? What is it?"
"Well, Doc, it's just ... me and Ryan have been talking, right, and this is the - spending time, travelling with you, it's been the most - incredible thing I've ever done, but -" the smile had slid off her face like butter, shoulders slowly drooping.
"We think we might - go back to our normal lives, Doctor." Ryan said, as Graham petered out. "I mean, it's been great, but you know I've gone back to college. I wanna really make a go of it with the engineering." he admitted. "And I think if I leave again I ain't ever gonna get back to it."
She found that smile coming back, gently, slowly, as she nodded. Thoughtfully, her thumb rubbed her wrist. Although they were now long healed, rubbing the marks from the cuffs had become a bad habit.
"And, y'know. I love travellin' with you, Doc, but I ain't young. I mean, I'm - I think I'm ready to settle back to real life. I like - goin' to the pub on Sundays and playing cards with my mates, y'know?" she nodded, slowly, drawing her lips into something that was almost a smile - squishing them near-straight, blowing her cheeks out for a second.
"So ... this is it?" she asked, softly, walking around the console to be nearer to them. She leant her hips back, against the edge of it. "Staying at home?"
Graham and Ryan nodded, slowly.
"It's been great, Doc. Honestly. And maybe, y'know, every now and then - wouldn't mind a nice trip. Relaxing. No chance of death?" he gave a short chuckle. "Ah, I shouldn't ask for the impossible, should I?"
The Doctor couldn't help but chuckle, the fam joining in, ducking her head just a little.
"Yaz?" she asked, and her voice was a lot softer now, looking across at her friend. Yaz, who'd understood more than the lads ever could, who had given - so much of her life to make the Doctor feel ever close to whole again. "Is it over for you too?"
"Get off, is it." she objected, and whilst the lads laughed the Doctor couldn't help but beam, so bright it was like the space was filled with sunbeams. "Y'ain't gettin' rid of me that easy, Doctor, don't you dare try. Anyway, without me, who would make sure you went to therapy?" she pointed out, as the Doctor crinkled her nose just a little. "Don't you go makin' that face!"
"Sorry. Still doesn't sound right. Me! Goin' to therapy!" she paused, and gave an exaggerated shudder, hearing the ripple of giggles around the room.
"You ... sure you don't want one more trip? For old time's sake?" she asked, softly.
"Can you guarantee you're gonna drop us off in the right place, Doc?" Graham asked, as she leant in a little, sensing a weak spot.
"Yeah, I mean, it's not so bad when you can spend every day doin' nothing," Ryan ignored Graham's offended oi!, as he continued, "But I can't take any time off my course, y'know."
"Of course I can! Where's your faith?" she asked, with affected offence. Graham and Ryan shared a glance, clearly considering ... "Call it payback for lookin' after me, alright?" she said, lightly, "Fun trip, nice and easy, we can go somewhere relaxing." she suggested.
There was a moment where everything hung in flux, considering, hesitating, then -
"Ah, go on then." Graham allowed. "Somewhere relaxing. Like the rain-bathing! That was really cool."
"And then there were the death turtles." Ryan pointed out, dryly.
"Yes, alright, alright, I promise. I'll keep it nice, fun, funky fresh."
Looks of disgust passed between the fam. "Is funky fresh too far?"
"Bit far, yeah."
"Alright, not funky fresh. But we'll have a good time. Farewell tour!" she clapped, and then paused. "No. Don't like that. Not fairwell tour. I'm digressing. Right!" back to throwing switches and twisting knobs, the Doctor came to a stop on the other side to them.
"If the strip planet doesn't appeal to you, there's some other places we can go to, why are you lot giggling?" she stilled, resting her hands on the edge of the console to stare at them. Yaz tried to cover her mouth, ducking her head, but Ryan's giggles were the loudest. "Did I say something funny?" she quirked her eyebrows.
"Honestly, Doctor, how are you so old and so naive?" Yaz giggled. "Strip planet?"
"Planet of strippers? Sounds like a great time."
"Ryan!" Yaz slapped his arm, "Ugh, you're disgusting."
The Doctor's eyebrows were still wandering towards her hairline.
"Don't worry about it, Doc. Where are we goin'?" Graham asked, taking a few steps towards the console. She reached forward and carefully turned the hourglass.
The wheezing, creaking noises were starting up again, a frisson of excitement between the three companions as they moved to slightly more secure places to stand as she practically flew around the console.
"Well, I'm thinking - there's this planet where the uh, the lakes, rivers, anywhere where there's water - there was this process, few thousand years ago, that generated and immense amount of crystal. The environment's changed since then so now the water's completely safe for you." she clapped her hands, then smacked a couple of buttons, the creaking getting louder. "But when you look into the water, it's the most beautiful thing you could imagine. And every time the sun hits it, there's rainbows everywhere!"
"Sounds very you."
"Yeah, it is pretty me, thanks Yaz. Ready, fam?"
They glanced at each other, a little laughter between them.
"Alright. Let's go." she wiggled her eyebrows and threw the lever.