Birth of a Time Lady

Promise

When she heard the engines, she immediately went sprinting down the corridor. That was always her reaction these days. She hated being away from the Doctor any longer than she had to.

Then she rounded the corner and saw the blue police box, its door just opening. A grin split her face, and she barreled towards it.

The Doctor was only able to take half a step forward before he spotted her. He seemed surprised to find the young woman headed for him with such speed. Nevertheless, he grinned as well, spreading his arms wide to catch her in a hug.

She took a leap into his outstretched arms impacting with such force that she nearly knocked them both over. The Doctor took several steps back into the tarsus as it was, only salvaging his balance by twirling her around as their movement stopped.

She laughed as they twirled around, and giggled once she was put on solid ground again. "Sorry. That was a bit much."

"Nah, it's never too much," he reassured her with a chuckle of his own, planting a quick kiss on her forehead as he did.

Three months of this, and yet she still had butterflies every time he showed her affection. It made her grin to herself, and it was another second or two before she focused enough to extract herself from the embrace and glance around the TARDIS control room.

"So, did you two have fun, wherever you went?"

"Well, I don't know if fun is quite the right word, but we had a time, certainly." The Doctor leaned on a rail as he started his story. "It involved asteroids. Well, spaceships that looked like asteroids. Well, spaceships, that looked like asteroids, that were armed with acid cannons."

An expression of concern crossed her face as she titled her head. "Sounds pretty dangerous." She then crinkled her nose in a moment of thought. "What kind of a spaceship has acid cannons anyway?"

"Not the fun kind," the Doctor said playfully. But as he looked at her, he saw the worry in her eyes, and had to address it. "Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine," he told her in a softer voice. "Not a scratch or burn on me anywhere."

"I believe you," she said, leaning on the rail beside him. "It's just... you seem to get into these situations a lot."

"I've been referred to as a magnet for trouble. I figure that's a fitting description." He threw a wink her way, trying to get back to the previous teasing atmosphere.

"I'm serious," she reprimanded, despite the smile that crept in from the wink. "I don't like not knowing things. You know that. You possibly being in danger just makes it worse."

The Doctor wrapped an arm around her shoulders, rubbing her upper arm slightly in a comforting gesture. "I know. I don't try to worry you. Is there anything I can do to make it easier?"

She just turned her head, giving him a look with her eyebrows raised. He already knew what she was about to ask for.

He understood, and his response was swift. "Besides that."

"You did tell me you would, remember? You promised, months ago. I figure you owe me at least one trip."

"That was different," he said, a little more firmly.

"How so?"

"Because I didn't know you were you."

"And why should that make any difference?"

"Opera, please," he sighed, removing his arm to cross it over his chest, and resting his forehead against his other hand. "We've been over this before. I want you to be safe. While you're here, at the castle, that is guaranteed. Out there, traveling with me, it isn't. I... I couldn't risk it."

She was more quiet after that. His logic was sound, and and she was touched that he cared. But she also knew what she wanted, and what she was certain would be best for them both. They still had so much healing left to do from the wounds of their pasts. They would need each other to do it.

"Doctor... you're not going to lose me." She took his hand, slowly, gently, pressing it between her own hands. "If there's anyone I trust to keep me safe, it's you." She leaned up slightly, on her tiptoes, to kiss his cheek.

"You can't know that. Not even I can know that," he mumbled, melting slightly and pulling her into a hug.

"No. And that's the point," she continued quietly, next to his ear. "We don't know what might happen tomorrow. But we still have each other today. That in and of itself is a miracle, given we didn't even know the other was alive anymore just a short time ago. We should make the most of that while we can."

He didn't say anything right away. He just kept hugging her. For a few moments she wondered if she had gone too far. The last thing she wanted to do was force him into taking her along.

But all her fears were dispelled when he next whispered, with an edge of merriment creeping back into his secretive voice.

"Where are we going first?"