Dancing Across Time (Book Two of The Bad Wolf Chronicles)

Interlude: New Year's

Saleen's jaw dropped as she stared at the phone in Jessie's hand. "You're kidding me."

"I'm not."

Saleen kept staring. "That can't be true."

Jessie grinned. "I swear it is."

"He seriously could not have done that."

"He did."

"Did what?" the Doctor asked from where he was helping Jemma and Fitz on the Bus in the lab, busying himself with a lot of stuff.

"You seriously wore a fedora with that scarf?" Saleen finally asked.

The Doctor's head shot up, as well as Jemma and Fitz's. "What?" Jemma asked in shock, running over.

Jessie held up her phone, showing the Doctor's fourth incarnation. "Fedora and a really long scarf."

"Passed by it trying to find out this outfit," the Doctor added, peering at the picture. "Did you download every single one?"

"Yep," she replied, popping the "p." "Got a problem with that?"

"The Doctor grinned, shaking his head. "Nope."

"He keeps getting weirder," Jessie continued. "His next one had a piece of celery on his lapel."

"He can save the world with nothing but his hands, but lookie here, he's wearing a vegetable!" the Doctor agreed, rolling his eyes. "Never again."

"I don't know," Saleen said, looking at the photo. "I kind of like that one."

"Really?" Jemma asked, holding up the phone and comparing the fifth Doctor to the tenth. "I like this one better."

The Doctor's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

Jemma smirked, and Jessie laughed. "For one, you're not wearing a vegetable."

"He'd wear a banana if he could," Jessie commented.

The Doctor looked at her. "Oi!"

"What?" she asked, grinning. "It's true! I mean, you've probably got one in your pocket right now if the Blitz was anything to go by."

The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at her. "Touché, my dear."

Jessie beamed at him, and May's voice came over the intercom. "Landing in D.C. in five."

"Oh, did I tell you?" Saleen asked suddenly, and Jessie raised an eyebrow at her. "Steve and Natasha are in D.C. Fury's gone off the grid, and they want to tell us why."

"The guy in red, white, and blue and the woman with the really ginger hair?" the Doctor asked, not looking up.

Saleen looked at Jessie in surprise. "He knows?"

"Tell me if I get this right: the demigods, a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend, a man with breathtaking anger issues, and a few master assassins?"

Saleen clapped, and the Doctor grinned. Jessie smiled. "I taught him everything he knows."

"And the best part is that they've invited us to stay until New Year's," Saleen added. "With Tony, Clint, and Bruce in town as well."

The Doctor finally looked up. "I get the TARDIS in here for a while, and then we're here for three days?"

"Problem?" Jessie asked.

The Doctor sighed. "The things I do for you, Jess."

She grinned, partly because he agreed. The other part was because he'd called her Jess.