Fitzsimmons

Companions: Part Five

Once the Doctor and Fitzsimmons had said goodbye to the Ponds, they returned to the TARDIS, where the Doctor started sulking around.

"They were older than I last saw them." he told Jemma. Fitz was exploring the infinite hallways, trying to do the math behind creating something so massive, so Jemma and the Doctor were left alone in the main room.

"Only by five minutes." she replied, trying to cheer him up.

"To them it was five minutes, but to me it was months. I missed them a lot."

"They missed you, too. But they need to start their lives outside of the Doctor, you know?" The Doctor nodded.

"I'm going to have a hard time letting them go." he said with a frown.

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"Exterminate!" The word echoed through the control room. The Doctor's jaw clenched, and his friendly countenance turned gruesome.

They had been visiting a deluxe starship, on a cruise of sorts, when it had crashed into another ship. Chaos had erupted among the multiple species on the cruise as passengers began disappearing, then returning part-dalek with a single robotic eye sticking out of a hole in each forehead. Fitzsimmons had been using actual icers to freeze the dalek circuits, but the increasing temperature of the ship was making it impossible to fire anymore.

The Doctor quickly turned to face the head dalek he had recognized so quickly. He whipped out his sonic and pointed it threateningly at his arch enemy. "This is the last time." he said with a tone he had never spoken in before, suddenly unrecognizable to Fitzsimmons. The Doctor wasn't supposed to be like this. "I show no more mercy."

"Highly unlikely, Doctor." the dalek replied. "Sentiment will be your downfall. EXTERMINATE!"

A circle of daleks, in a chorus of 'exterminate', approached the three standing by the steering wheel. The Doctor had his sonic raised towards the leader, prepared to blast open all of its circuits and pieces. Jemma became uncomfortable with this, and she laid her hand on his shoulder in warning.

The Doctor hesitated, but the other daleks kept closing in on him. With a cry of "Exterminate the Doctor!", a dalek shot at him, which was followed by several more shots from the others. The Doctor dodged all of them the best he could, but lost his aim when doing so. After the fire had stopped momentarily, the Doctor grabbed the hands of Fitz and Jemma and began to run.

They made their way out of the control room and up some stairs to the ballroom, where they were pursued by another whole group of daleks. The three crouched behind a staircase to protect themselves.

"What now?" Jemma asked. They were clearly outnumbered.

"I don't know." the Doctor replied.

"You don't know?" Fitz asked him incredulously. "No, you can't do that."

"Fitz," Jemma pleaded.

"No. He led us into this. He made us trust him, then he lead us to our deaths. He can't do that. I don't care who he is." The Doctor shamefully remained silent. Jemma stared at him in expectation. Wasn't he going to fight back? The daleks were just about rounding the corner now.

"Hello sweetie!" a shout echoed around the ballroom. There, on the balcony, stood Riversong, carrying a paintball gun. The daleks made a fatal mistake and looked at her, only to be shot in the eye and blinded. The Doctor swiftly hopped into action, pushing daleks back into their ship. Fitzsimmons attempted to help him, but their was really nothing they could physically do. They barely managed to push one dalek when they worked together, while the Doctor easily took two at a time.

After they had wrangled all the blind daleks, including the leader, and removed their main computer, Riversong set the ship to autopilot and it flew back to Skaro.

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"What was that, sweetie?" Riversong approached the Doctor in the TARDIS after the fact. He was sitting on the swing underneath the controls, staring sadly at them. "You could've gotten them killed!"

"They'll die fast anyways." the Doctor mumbled back. "It always happens. They're like ghosts to me. Ghosts I have to watch die while they live."

"Doctor," Riversong began. "Every time I see you again you know me less and less. Our timelines move in opposite directions. Soon you won't even know who I am. Trust me, it's better to have loved someone dead than someone who sees you as a stranger." The Doctor nodded. "Now cheer up, sweetie." Riversong leaned down and pinched his cheek. She made her way up the stairs to exit the TARDIS.

"River!" the Doctor called after her. She turned around. "I'm sorry." Riversong smiled sadly, knowing no apology could stop the pain.

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"Did I do something wrong?" Jemma asked.

"No, I just need to finish what I started. Even if I hate endings." the Doctor answered her. "I missed the Ponds too much. I wasn't ready to move on when I picked you both up."

"So what you're saying is, 'It's not you, it's me.'?" Fitz asked. Jemma laughed as a tear began form.

"Yes." the Doctor replied certainly with a smile. "Maybe I'll come back some day," he added thoughtfully

"And if I do, I expect you to stop stealing my lines." He playfully nudged Jemma's shoulder, and she let out an emotional, tear-filled laugh.

"Geronimo." she told him. The Doctor kept his arm around her, holding her close in comfort.

"And I expect you," the Doctor pointed at Fitz, "to be courageous enough to have at least asked her out." Fitz widened his eyes, and Jemma stepped back from the Doctor in shock.

She placidly turned to Fitz. "Who is he talking about, Fitz?" she asked calmly, trying and succeeding at masking her jealousy. "Is it Skye?!" she seethed at him, then punched his shoulder. He didn't react. Fitz stared over Jemma and at the Doctor, still unbelieving of him. The Doctor smiled back, not seeing anything wrong with what he said.

Jemma turned back to face the Doctor, anxiety seeping into some of her facial features as she still tried to keep it together. "Who were you talking about, Doctor?" she asked him. The Doctor grinned and slammed the lever down. The TARDIS began to disappear around the scientists. "Who?! Doctor, Who?!" Jemma continued to yell as the S.H.I.E.L.D. laboratory materialized around them.

A last noise of the TARDIS and the Doctor, a shout, erupted into the room.

"Exactly!"