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“Don’t worry, I have a plan.” She told him and he had never been more proud of her than in that moment, crammed in the broom cupboard of Aboriginal Cultural Center where she now worked, hiding from a rather large alien spider who’s egg had been hidden inside one of the historical artifacts she’d been putting on display, “I’ve seen this sort of thing before.”
“What, is this normal in Australia or something?” He asked, playing dumb. She didn’t recognize him of course, while it had only been five years since she’d last seen him, it had been hundreds of years and five whole regenerations since he’d last seen her.
“Or something.” She chuckled at a private joke, unaware that he was, in fact, in on it, “I’m Tegan, by the way, I work here. What’s your name?”
“John.” He told her automatically.
“Alright, well, don’t worry, John, I’m going to get you out of here,” She assured him confidently, “I promise.”
“I believe you.” He admitted honestly, “I trust you.”
For the first time since entering the cupboard, she looked at him, an odd look passing over her face as she met his eye. Did she recognize him? He wondered briefly, then pushed that thought away quickly. There was no way she could. After a moment, she smiled, a warm, soft smile he’d missed for longer than he cared to admit, “Thank you, John.”
“Any time, Tegan.” He scooted closer to her under the guise of trying to be able to see through the crack in the door as well, “What’s the plan?”
“We make a break for the hunting exhibit,” She told him, “There are spears in there. Then I figure we can skewer it.”
“Right, isn’t that exhibit on the other side of the room?” He frowned slightly.
“I didn’t say it was a great plan.” She admitted, “This thing is really fast and it jumps pretty far, but if we’re lucky, it’ll be too busy eating Linda to bother with us. Poor Linda…”
“Sorry, was she your friend?” He asked, both of them wincing as they remembered the other young woman’s fate.
“Co-worker,” She shrugged, “But she was nice enough. She didn’t deserve this. No one deserves this.”
“Sorry.” He said again and really meant it this time. Every time he walked into her life, it seemed that death followed closely behind. “We should probably make a break for it.”
“Right.” She agreed, pushing the door open further, sparing only a quick glance back at him, “Brave heart, John.”
She shot out of the cupboard like a bullet, but her words were enough to cause him to falter, his hearts squeezing a little as he remembered all the times he’d boosted her courage with those very same words. She was ahead of him then, but with this body’s long legs it didn’t take more than a couple of strides for him to catch up, which was lucky because while her attention seemed to be fixed on the weapon case ahead of them, the spider creature was skittering towards her from the side.
“Tegan!” He shouted in warning, launching herself between her and the creature, throwing up an arm to block it as it lept towards them.
“John!” She shrieked in return as he yelled out in pain, the creature sinking its fangs into his arm and holding on tight. Prying the case open, she had the good sense to grab a club instead of a spear, wheeling around and slamming it down on the creature’s body.
The creature let go and fell to the ground as it was assaulted, giving The Doctor time to jump back, hissing in pain as he pressed his hand over the bleeding punctures on his arm. Yelling like a warrior, Tegan raised the club above her head, hitting the already still body of the creature again and again and again, until he finally cleared his throat to get her attention, “I think it’s dead.”
“Right…” She agreed, dropping the club on the floor and taking a half step back, “I thought it would be tougher.”
“It was fast instead.” He shrugged, “You on the other hand? That was pretty tough.”
“I’ve had to be.” She frowned, like it was a troubling observation rather than a compliment, and he felt a slight twinge of guilt. He’d put her in too many situations that had called for her to be like this.
“Well, I appreciate it.”
“Your arm!” She remembered suddenly, glancing from the body to his hand clamped over his sleeve, hiding the orangish-red blood staining fabric of his brown pinstripe jacket, “Rabbits, I hope that thing wasn’t venomous…”
“It wasn’t.” He assured her, then quickly amended, “I don’t think so, anyways. I feel fine.”
“Alright, well, you should get it check out anyways.” She told him and as if on queue, UNIT personnel burst through the front door. She must have gotten in touch with The Brigadier when she’d returned to Earth, he realized, gotten set up with some way of alerting UNIT to problems she discovered. Clever.
He should go, he realized as the soldiers busied themselves dealing with both the bodies of the creature and the woman whom it had killed and whisking Tegan off to the side for an explanation of what had happened. A few quick words to the soldier in charge had thankfully been enough for them to let him slip out the back door and away to the Tardis. He was just setting the controls to take him into the vortex when there was a knock at the door.
Frowning, he headed back over and answered it, only a little surprised to see Tegan standing there, scowling, arms crossed, eyes glistening with unshed tears, “You weren’t even going to say anything? You were just going to go?”
“I didn’t think you knew who I was.” He admitted, sheepishly.
“I wasn’t sure.” Her voice shook a little, “Not until I saw this old crate.”
There was a moment of hesitation between them and then he stepped back, holding the door open for her, “Come in?”
Her breath left her with a hiss as she stepped into The Tardis, taking in the dark walls, dim lighting, and exposed wiring, “What the hell happened in here?”
“A lot.” He shrugged, following her up to the console, trying to come up with the right words to explain before simply repeating, “Just a lot.”
“It’s only been five years.” She frowned.
“For you.” He reminded her, leaning back against the railing, hands in his pockets, “It’s been at least a thousand for me.”
“A thousand years?” She echoed in disbelief, “How many faces is that?”
“Five.”
“I’m surprised you remember me at all after all that.” She joked, though her voice was strained.
He laughed anyways, not at her, but at the very idea, “I don’t think a million years would be enough time to forget you, Tegan.”
“Not with all the yelling I did, huh?” A slight blush rose to her cheeks, but she ducked her head to try and hide it, “Where are your new friends?”
“No new friends.” He told her, then winced, “Well, obviously some since we last met, but… they’re all gone now. I’m on my own for now.”
“Sorry.”
“Naw, it’s better this way.” He insisted, “No one to get hurt this way.”
She frowned deeply at that, “What happened to Adric wasn’t your fault, you know.”
“Of course it was, I was responsible for him.” He countered automatically, staring at his trainers.
“Doctor…” She protested, crossing her arms and leaning one hip against the console, “You seem different now.”
“I’m a whole new man.” He reminded her.
“It’s not just that.” She shook her head, “You seem... sad.”
He hesitated, “I’m alone.”
“So make new friends.” She ordered.
“No, Tegan,” He shook his head, “I’m alone. There was a war on Gallifrey and the Time Lords… I’m all alone now.”
Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times in shock, “Doctor, I’m sorry.”
“Yeah,” He agreed, “I do always seem to end up this way eventually.”
“I could come with you again?” She offered a little hope in her voice. “Just for a bit? To keep you company.”
“Best not.” He shook his head, his face twisting with regret, “It’d be a bit complicated.”
She couldn’t hide her disappointment, “Right...”
“Tegan, you left me.” He reminded her gently. “You weren’t having fun anymore.”
“That was a lie.” She admitted, wrinkling up her nose.
“Then why?” He frowned.
“Because I’m stupid.” She winced, holding up a hand to stop him from interrupting her, “I’m stupid and I talk too much and I never say what’s important.”
He raised an eyebrow, “Which is?”
“I loved you!” She blurted out, staring at the floor, “I fell in love with you and you were never going to feel that for me and I got scared, so I ran away!”
A heavy silence fell between them as he processed that information. After what felt like far too long, he finally straightened up, pushed off of the railing and came to stand in front of her, “Tegan, look at me.”
She shook her head, eyes trained on the toes of her shoes, “Doctor, you don’t have to-”
“Look at me.” He interrupted, putting his hand under her chin to coax her to meet his eye. When she finally did, he gave her a sad smile, “You are not stupid. I should have told you that a long time ago. You are not just a mouth with legs and you are certainly not stupid. But you are wrong.”
She stared at him in surprise, “What do you mean?”
“You said I was never going to feel the same way you did and that’s wrong.” He sighed, stroking her cheek lightly with his thumb, “When you left, Tegan Jovanka… you broke my hearts.”
“I’m sorry.” She whispered in a shaky voice.
He wasn’t quite sure if she was sorry about leaving or the tears that had gathered in her eyes, but either way he shook his head and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead before folding her in his arms, “It’s okay. Neither of us handled it very well.”
“Two idiots in a spaceship.” She joked, burying her face in his shoulder, her whole body shaking with either laughter or tears, he wasn’t sure which. Maybe both. After a moment, she pulled back, wiping her eyes, “Are you sure you’re going to be okay on your own?”
“Quite.” He promised, “On one condition.”
She gave him a quizzical look, “What?”
“That you promise me you’ll go out there and have a great life.” He requested with a kind smile, “Just go out there and have the best life you can.”
“I’ll do my best.” She promised. With one last tearful smile, she headed to the door, pausing for just a moment when she got there, then stepped out of The Tardis for the last time again.
He stood there for a long minute, not moving, listening to the ambiance, until The Tardis finally nudged his mind to remind him that his arm was still hurt and needed attention. Sighing deeply, he hit the last switch to send The Tardis into the Vortex, and headed towards the infirmary.