the forgotten child of gallifrey | doctor whoniverse

xiv: hello there, the angel from my nightmares

Suddenly, Echo's eyes shoot open, and she glances at the empty spot next to her. "Where's Ianto?" she immediately asks. "Is he alive?"

Oh my God. She's alive. It feels like a brick's been lifted off my chest. The fear is gone, replaced with...anger. I'm immediately furious. "Goddammit Echo! You scared the hell out of me! You could've been dead! I brought Jack over, and he just said you were unconscious and I should just 'stick around.' So then Jack took Ianto back to the SUV because apparently he might be in a 'bit of trouble' after getting shot! I tried to keep it together while they were around, even though I had no idea what the bloody hell was going on. What the actual fuck! Last time I checked, Ianto hadn't woken up. Can you please explain to me what is going on?!"

I pause, my chest rising and falling rapidly. "It's always something with you people..." I mutter darkly.

"Don't be mad," Echo whines. She stops for a moment, a strange expression crossing her face, before replying, "Oh, and, uh...You didn't have to worry. I actually can't die."

My eyes are practically the size of the moon. "Wha--"

"Lemme finish!" she interrupts. "So, once upon a time, I knew the Doctor, he looked a bit different then, we went off to this really cool planet, I got struck by lightning and bled a lot, I had to get a blood transfusion, Jack was the only one with my blood type, he's immortal, that's a story for another time, now I'm immortal, so yay."

I take a deep breath, letting all this information set in. Okay. Now I understand. But honestly, I don't care now. Echo's back. She's here. And that's all I need. Instead of yelling any more, I lean in to kiss her. But just before our lips can connect, the sound of footsteps makes us jump apart.

"Hello?" the Doctor's voice calls out. "Echo? Jobiska?"

"We're over here!" Echo replies, giving me an apologetic smile.

River and the Doctor step out of the shadows of a fallen swing set, seemingly unaware of the current situation.

"Hello, sweeties," River says by way of greeting. "Where is everyone?"

"They all decided to head back to the SUV," Echo responds, giving me a don't-tell-them-they're-stressed-enough-already look. I decide to go along with it.

"Oh, okay," the Doctor says, still oblivious. "Well, I hate to break up your moment, but I've got to borrow Jobiska. He needs to learn about the TARDIS and the Time War now, before something else comes up."

Echo nods and pulls me to my feet next to her. "No problem. Just have him back by the end of the week our time, okay?" She winks at the Doctor while pressing a piece of notebook paper into my hand. I suppose I'll find out what's on it later.

I lean over and quickly kiss her on the cheek. "See ya later, alligator," I say, starting to walk off with the Doctor and River.

"In a while, crocodile," Echo replies, hurrying off towards the car park.