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Fic: Dating the Cleverest Boy in the World. Chapter 22.
I thought I'd try to update quickly, seeing as I left you on a cliff hanger... Hope you like. ♥ Also new banner & icon, just because.
Fic index here if anyone wants to catch up, or just follow the tags. Also on AO3 and The Teaspoon.
Summary: Allison had always thought that university would be an adventure. But she'd not imagined that she'd end up dating Harold Saxon's son.
Setting: Autumn 2028
Characters (this chapter): Alex, Allison.
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 4300 words approx.
Feedback: Makes my world go round...
Chapter 22
The words hung between them, impossible and irrefutable. She was supposed to say something, except her mind didn’t seem to be working.
Seeing her predicament, Alex reached out and fetched the pendant from the table, holding it up. It twisted innocently on its chain, catching the light in the planes of its old-fashioned design, the ornate ‘S’ briefly blinding her with a stray beam of sunlight.
“The pendant - amongst other things - works as a perception filter, concealing the second heartbeat.”
“Right,” she said, slowly letting her hands fall from his chest - still unsure what to say or do, but grasping onto the nearest topic.
“But I remember... You showed me - there were pictures of your grandparents inside that pendant.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“So-” she suddenly felt on firmer ground. “So they’re human, right? Which means... you’re half-alien. Like Jamie. I mean, you look human and everything, there’re just some things that are a bit different...”
Her voice trailed off as she saw the minute shake of his head and the closed look on his face. Then he sighed and pulled up a chair.
“Maybe we should sit down.”
“OK,” she said faintly. She was half-expecting it to be a prank, some sort of hidden camera thing, except it would be completely out of character for him. Being an alien was more likely...
(An alien. Honest to god alien. She was in love with an alien?)
Once seated Alex began explaining in earnest, and she tried to pay attention.
“You are right, my mother is human. But my father is a Time Lord. As am I.”
“Time Lord,” she repeated, “that’s what... species you are?”
(Somewhere inside everything she knew was desperately grasping for any sort of hand hold or purchase. He was a different species. And not like Jamie who could make hir eyes go purple and was apparently telepathic, but was otherwise more or less human...)
He merely nodded, but she could tell that he was tense. It vaguely occurred to her that he was probably nervous.
“So, basic history and background... The Time Lords were the oldest and mightiest race in the universe. Pardon the hyperbole, but it’s true - when life on Earth was beginning to think about turning multi-cellular life into animals, the Time Lords had already invented time travel. But they all died in a war - the last great Time War - long before I was born. The only survivors were my father, the Doctor and the Redjay. As to why I’m here... Well, the Doctor always liked humans, probably partly because you look like us, and partly because you’re so... extraordinary. And Dad married a human of course, so this is where I grew up.”
“Right,” she said again, doing her best to take it all in. “So... you’re not eccentric or autistic or extra gifted or... anything like that. You’re just...”
“Not human and trying to fit in, yes.”
She looked at him then, really looked, and realised that in one fell swoop all the issues she’d tried to ignore had an answer and an explanation. The reason he was so often difficult to understand, the reason his reasoning frequently made no sense to her - it was because he was actually different...
It was like when she was little and had first learned division - or how to find the diagonal of a cube. Previous knowledge slotting together and suddenly everything made sense. The miraculousness of maths - but applied to a person. She felt almost weightless.
“Allie?” he asked, worried at her prolonged silence, and she suddenly smiled.
“It all makes sense. You make sense, and you never did. Not really. But now you do.”
Then she frowned, pulling back a little.
“You’ve not got anything... weird, right? Apart from the two hearts, I mean. You’re not green or... slimy...”
He laughed, eyes bright and relieved.
“Definitely no. Physically I am very much what you’ve experienced so far, except my body can endure a lot more than yours - and repair itself far more effectively - and I have the brain the size of a planet. But I can assure you I am not a lizard or whatever you’re imagining. This body is very much my own.”
“Good,” she said firmly. He was still her Alex. Just... more. At some point she’d yell at him for lying for three years, but right now she wasn’t up to it. Knowing how secretive he was, she wasn’t surprised that he’d not told the truth - just sad that he’d not trusted her sooner. Before she got further in her thoughts, he bit his lip, eyes suddenly full of mischief.
“Mind you, I do have something associated with aliens.”
She wasn’t entirely sure how it had ended up as something he could joke about, not sure how the shift in her head had worked... All that mattered was that he was something new for her to investigate - a whole new world opening up. And he’d give her answers!
“What?” she asked cautiously, and he lifted his chin.
“A spaceship.”
Her jaw might have dropped fraction.
“Seriously?”
“I keep it parked on the dark side of the moon.”
“Alex... If you are having me on, I will do horrible things to you.”
He once more held up the pendant, eyes triumphant and smug - a look she knew very well indeed, but she still found it hard to wrap her mind around what he was saying.
“The pendant is also a teleport and can take us straight there...”
For the second time in five minutes she was speechless, but this time he reached out, cradling her face with both hands.
“My Allison... Will you let me show you the wonders of the universe?”
“I know I’m repeating myself, but... Are you for serious?”
“Always,” he replied, gently letting go of her and pulling the necklace back over his head, before opening the pendant and adjusting something or other.
“Do you trust me? I just need your hand....”
Somewhere in the back of her mind a little voice was saying that it was all going too fast. And yet. They’d been together for three years. Had run away with the circus, been to NASA and all the way around the world. She’d seen him fall to pieces, had him cheat on her and broken up and gotten back together... He’d let her become closer and closer, and if this was the final step - finally letting her in, finally opening up fully - well she’d be damned if she ran away now. And he could show her the stars...
She held out her hand.
***
There was a bright flash, and then- they were on a spaceship.
Alex spread out his arms, and she could barely believe her eyes.
Looking around she almost laughed out loud in pure astonishment. The interior was sleek and black, yet not dark. The lines of the walls were oddly organic, vaguely reminding her of Art Nouveau, yet not as ornate, the door frames curved and gleaming. They were obviously in the cockpit, as she could see a control panel at the front, with complicated controls and a pilot’s seat, and she wondered what was on the other side of the doors.
As she was turning, taking it all in and trying to work out where the illumination was coming from, Alex reached out and pressed a button, and the cover that had been over the window moved away, revealing the surface of the moon outside.
She moved forwards, looking out, the impossibility of it all almost more than she could fathom. They’d spent a whole summer working at NASA, helping to put the final touches to a rocket that was going to the moon, thousands of people coming together for this single purpose, and here she was at the touch of a button...
Turning to him she shook her head, stunned and amazed.
“All the time... you had this?”
He hesitated, dragging a hand through his hair, conflicting emotions moving across his face.
“This was my birthday present when I turned 18. I had one trip - one - and then it was confiscated and they sent me to Cambridge for three years. I’m sure you can see why I was... pissed off.”
Tearing her eyes from the view she tilted her head, intrigued once more by all the secrets in his past.
“But what did you do?”
At this he bit his lip, looking strangely bashful.
“Something that made Jack call me the single greatest idiot he’d ever met...”
“And...” she prompted.
A slow smile spread across his face.
“I guess you could call it stupid. But then isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when you’re young? Stupid, dangerous stuff?”
Her eyes narrowed. Finally answers!
“Dangerous?”
“Well, sort of. I nearly died.”
This took a second to sink in.
“You nearly died?”
He met her eyes head-on, almost shrugging.
“It was a risk I was willing to take.”
Shaking her head she wasn’t sure where to start, although it helped explain things rather...
“I’m beginning to see why they took such drastic action.”
His smiled deepened, eyes dancing.
“Told you I have more lives than a cat. And I’ll explain that later, promise. For now, come sit down and... let me show you the stars.”
Forgetting everything else she took a seat, and watched - heart beating - as he pressed buttons and flipped switches. Then there was a smooth ‘swoosh’ and they took off. In a single circular movement he brought the ship up and around the moon, and the next moment she could see the Earth spread out before them, a blue-green jewel against a dark star-speckled background.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” he said softly, and she could only nod. Something seemed to be caught in her throat.
She turned to look at him, seeing all the stars reflected in his eyes... And then almost laughed as in a sudden flash everything seemed to come together in utter perfection.
Like the princess and the frog, she had been misled by appearances. But she’d kissed him and he had turned out to be... so much more than she could ever have wished for. The stars, all her dreams - they were suddenly close enough to touch...
“What?” he said, noticing her faraway look, and she shook her head.
“I thought you were a frog,” she said, and whatever he’d been expecting that was clearly not it, going by the surprised look on his face.
“You never told me you read The Jungle Book,” he eventually replied, puzzled but pleased, at which she burst out laughing:
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“'Mowgli' means frog,” he explained. “It’s how he gets his name...”
“That’s really not what I was thinking.”
She explained, as much as she could, and his eyes seemed to glow.
“Secret prince of the universe pretending to be a frog. Oh that’s brilliant... Mind you, Ianto calls me the spoiled brat of the universe, so take it with a grain of salt.”
Then he grinned.
“By the way, let me show you why I’m such a cautious driver... Cars are tiny little death boxes on wheels - slow, cramped, and only move in two dimensions. Whereas I... can do this!”
For a few breathless moments the world became a blur, like something out of Star Wars, and it’s possible she might have squealed a tiny bit. Or maybe even a lot.
Then he laughed and slowed down, stars becoming stars again, as he reached out and laid a hand on her arm.
“Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. But remember the Planetarium? This is why I nearly lost it...”
“Oh,” she said softly, having almost forgotten that incident, but of course...
“So - where would you like to go?” he continued. “The universe is our oyster. Although if you like, I could show you my Lab?”
“But we’ve only just got out where amongst the stars,” she replied, to which his response was letting his eyes glimmer with secrets.
“Oh you have no idea... Hold on tight, we need to jump into the vortex for a moment. It makes my head spin, goodness knows what it’ll do to yours. But I’ll make the leap as smooth as possible, promise.”
Intrigued and curious she nodded, and for the next minute everything seemed to be upside down or sideways or... something. But then, abruptly, the universe was back and there were stars and suns and planets...
More specifically there were twin suns in the distance, and below them another planet. Where Earth had been cool blues and greens, this one glowed golden and red, not unlike the diamond in her necklace.
“I should really give it a better name,” Alex said, studying it, “or any name at all. But this - is my ‘Lab’.”
Much as she tried, his words didn’t make much sense.
“You mean your lab is on that planet?” she asked, and he shook his head.
“The planet is the lab. I created it.”
“The - the planet? You created the planet?”
“Yes,” he replied calmly. “All this-” he swept a hand across the vista in front of them, “-is mine.”
She seemed to have run out of words entirely, quite simply staring from the sphere below to her boyfriend’s face.
Her boyfriend that she argued with over shopping and bills and annoying habits. Her boyfriend that she had brought home and who had charmed her parents and befriended her siblings and played with her nephews and nieces. Her boyfriend who liked plum jam and was allergic to aspirin and had to line up all the cups in neat rows.
And he was the creator of a planet?
“Dad decided to give me a planet when I was 16. For... complicated reasons. So I made this. It’s... basically a copy of Gallifrey - the long gone home planet I never saw - but it’s also somewhere I can do whatever I want. I can build things and test things and just do... anything. Without bothering anyone. Seriously, it’s light years from anywhere... My own little corner of the universe.”
“But... how? I don’t understand.”
A spaceship she could wrap her head around, but this...
“Oh it was just a dead lump when I started, I created it all from scratch... But - are you beginning to see why Cambridge was so frustrating? I had all this, and I couldn’t get to it.”
He tilted his head, studying the orange planet suspended in the darkness.
“Spent my A-Level years terra-forming and making it habitable... The time management was a bitch of course, as I went to school too, but I was happy as a clam even so. Once I was done with school, when I turned eighteen, I was going to move here more or less permanently, being able to focus on my proper studies. The spaceship was the icing on the cake, a way of travelling to other places, to explore, to be truly free... And then in one fell swoop they took it all away. ”
A sigh, then he turned to her.
“Instead I found a completely different adventure. I never saw you coming. My Allison - will you let me show you my... echo of the Shining World of the Seven systems?”
She nodded, unable to speak.
The silly analogy was becoming more apt than she had realised... It really was quite like pretending to be a frog. Comparatively. Cleverest boy in the world. The universe.
He had created a planet.
No wonder NASA had seemed like child’s play.
Then her attention was stolen by the descent as they entered the atmosphere and cut through clouds at dizzying speed... And it was something she had seen in movies, but oh, it was all real. The curve of the planet as they came through the clouds, her first sight of an alien sky... Then they dipped down towards the planet and she found herself riveted.
There were tall snow-capped mountains in the distance and red grass stretching out to the horizon - unbroken, until they came upon a forest by a large lake. It was dawn and still dusky, and Alex’s eyes scanned the surroundings.
“Let’s land here,” he said, slowing their speed to a crawl before letting the craft gently settle down on the ground.
With a flick of a switch a door on the side of the ship opened and he held out a hand, indicating that she should go first.
Heart beating she stepped down the short ramp and then stopped, trying to take it all in.
The sky was a dark burnt orange, brightening as the twin suns rose over the distant mountains. There was red grass under her feet and the lake shimmered golden, reflecting the sky, and a soft breeze, carrying new smells, played with her hair...
But then the rays from the suns broke across the mountains, hitting the forest, and she instinctively grasped hold of Alex’s hand, too overwhelmed to say anything.
The leaves were silver, but as they caught the sunlight it looked as if the whole forest was on fire - golden mirrors cascading light across the landscape with the casual abandon of nature’s ever-present beauty...
They had climbed the Himalayas, seen icebergs in the Polar circle and the sun set over the African savannah, sailed up the Amazon river and stood in the Winter Palace - yet nothing had prepared her for this.
Eventually she turned to him, speechless, and saw her own feelings mirrored in his eyes.
“Welcome to my world,” he said, voice so gentle she barely heard it.
“Is this actually real?” she asked in return, not really able to believe what was happening. (She had been fretting over going to Manchester and packing...)
“Stars above I hope so,” he replied, before shaking his head.
“I can’t believe you’re actually here. I can’t count how many times I tried to picture this, tried to work out how you’d react... And now you’re just here and it’s OK - it’s like... Like finally breathing after holding my breath for three years.”
Glancing around, he tugged at her hand.
“Let’s sit down? I think I just need a moment.”
She nodded and he sat down underneath a large tree, leaning his head against the trunk and closing his eyes. Allison, however, found that she couldn’t sit still and immediately leapt to her feet again, tentatively snapping a leaf off a branch, turning it over in her hands.
There were too many questions in her head and she didn’t even know where to start.
“Where are we?” she asked, and he looked up at her, puzzled.
“What do you mean? I can give you the space-time co-ordinates, or do you want to know which galaxy we’re in, how far from Earth?”
“No where is here? This place. What’s it called?”
Mutely he shook his head.
“Nothing has names. Not even the planet, so...”
He waved a hand towards the view.
“Do you want to name it? It really is rather lovely. We could even name it after you? Lake Allison, that sounds nice.”
Tilting his head, he looked out over the calm surface of the water.
“I think this is one of the largest lakes. Don’t have a lot of them, the climate is very dry generally. Like the Serengeti - well, that’s what I was aiming for. Seems to be working so far...”
Eyes growing distant, he kept talking, although mostly to himself.
“So much work to do yet. I’ve not even made a start on animals... They’ll need to be threaded through everything very carefully.”
Despite being intrigued by his musings, she found she had a question of her own.
“Alex - how is anything here? I mean, you started this 5 years ago? But these trees are much older than that...”
Refocussing, he frowned.
“Time Lord. Time travel. I’m sure I mentioned that? Skipped back and forth a lot, altering the beginnings of the planet, to make it flourish. Added the moons too. Now that was fun.”
He smiled, as she stared at him dumbfounded, before his eyes narrowed.
“It’s ridiculously complicated though. You know how fragile eco systems are, how breaking one small part can destroy far more than anticipated? I’m doing the opposite. Trying to calculate how and where and when to add things - I have a model to aim for of course, but it’s all theories and memories and ancient data. Take singing fish... How would they evolve?”
“Singing fish?” she asked, looking from the silver leaf in her hand to the impossible boy in front of her.
He nodded.
“Singing fish. I’m still stuck on that one. And I’ve not even begun to think about the mammals... Oh there is so much I need to learn.”
His eyes lit up at this, bright and happy, but although this subject was fascinating, she found herself returning to something he’d almost shrugged off.
“But time travel? Are you serious? I mean, of course you’re serious, but...”
Sensing her mood he nodded again, slowly.
“Yes. That’s...” he hesitated, but then continued, words almost tumbling out. “That’s how I saved that boy at Christmas. Jack and I were clearing up, listening in on the emergency services - it’s the sort of thing that Torchwood does - and there was a report about a fatality, a toddler who’d been killed by a car that had lost control. And I... just couldn’t- I couldn’t accept that. Wouldn’t accept that. There had been so much death, so much pointless death, but at least Torchwood employees know what they sign up for. That little boy was just a freak accident... So I changed it. Well, Jack and I. Went back, rewrote time - like I said, I do it here all the time, trying to create a proper world, but on Earth... With real people and countless timelines and consequences that are nigh-impossible to estimate - it was a challenge to say the least. But we did it. Saved the boy and with some very complicated sleight of hand made it look like it was Nathan. The Christmas Hero...”
It would seem that she’d get three years’ worth of truth all in one go. She kept quiet, wondering what would be coming next, when he shook his head, catching her eyes.
“I’m rambling now, sorry. And I should probably be telling you useful stuff, the stuff that’s actually important... You know, the reason I lied to you for so long.”
“Oh,” she said, sinking down in the red grass next to him.
(Red grass, twin suns, silver leaves... It was like a fairy tale. She twirled the silver leaf between her fingers and smiled.)
“I know you were shocked how... cavalier I was when talking about dying. And this is why: Time Lords don’t die, they regenerate. Well obviously they can die, we’re practically extinct, but those were extraordinary circumstances. If I’d broken my neck jumping off that lion in the summer, I’d just have gotten a new body, I wouldn’t be gone...”
She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but to her surprise she was not completely out of her depth. She remembered reading scientific journals on this topic, as well as long discussions with Medical and Biology students... Finally something she could talk about intelligently.
“So you’re like that immortal jellyfish?” she asked, eager, and he bristled.
“Nnnnot really. That’s a bit like saying you are like a slug because you both breathe air. A Time Lord-”
He stopped momentarily.
“A Time Lord is reborn through fire. Like a Phoenix. It’s... mythical.”
She knew she should react to what he was saying with suitable gravity, yet his choice of words made it, well, impossible.
“Did you just call yourself mythical?”
“Mythical and legendary,” he replied, not moving a muscle.
She tilted her head, fighting giggles so hard she could barely speak.
“And pompous?”
“That too,” he nodded. “Very. You should see the official robes.”
“Alex...”
Finally his face cracked, amusement and exasperation shining through.
“Listen - I’m talking about the fact that I’m practically immortal, that I won’t even be considered an adult until I’m about a hundred, that I’ll lose you one day - please don’t make me laugh, it isn’t funny. Allie-”
She shook her head again, unsure how to even translate her scattered thoughts into words.
“Sorry Alex, it’s too much. I think I lost my ability to absorb stuff about five galaxies ago...”
She held up her hand.
“I’m holding a silver leaf in my hand, from my alien boyfriend’s planet that he created. How am I supposed to react? To any of it? I’m only human...”
Eyes suddenly soft and understanding he didn’t say anything, just leaned forward and kissed her.
Gentle hands cupped her face, soft lips covering hers, and she wrapped her arms around him, feeling the solid and familiar shape of his body against her own. But there were two heartbeats against her chest and the warmth of twin suns in an alien sky touched her skin...
And like a forgotten dream, she felt as if all the stars in the heavens were spread out beneath her feet; their future as golden as the sky above, and she was sure that no matter the obstacles in their path they would find a way.
After all - what couldn’t he do?
Chapter 23.
Fic index here if anyone wants to catch up, or just follow the tags. Also on AO3 and The Teaspoon.
Summary: Allison had always thought that university would be an adventure. But she'd not imagined that she'd end up dating Harold Saxon's son.
Setting: Autumn 2028
Characters (this chapter): Alex, Allison.
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 4300 words approx.
Feedback: Makes my world go round...
Chapter 22
The words hung between them, impossible and irrefutable. She was supposed to say something, except her mind didn’t seem to be working.
Seeing her predicament, Alex reached out and fetched the pendant from the table, holding it up. It twisted innocently on its chain, catching the light in the planes of its old-fashioned design, the ornate ‘S’ briefly blinding her with a stray beam of sunlight.
“The pendant - amongst other things - works as a perception filter, concealing the second heartbeat.”
“Right,” she said, slowly letting her hands fall from his chest - still unsure what to say or do, but grasping onto the nearest topic.
“But I remember... You showed me - there were pictures of your grandparents inside that pendant.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“So-” she suddenly felt on firmer ground. “So they’re human, right? Which means... you’re half-alien. Like Jamie. I mean, you look human and everything, there’re just some things that are a bit different...”
Her voice trailed off as she saw the minute shake of his head and the closed look on his face. Then he sighed and pulled up a chair.
“Maybe we should sit down.”
“OK,” she said faintly. She was half-expecting it to be a prank, some sort of hidden camera thing, except it would be completely out of character for him. Being an alien was more likely...
(An alien. Honest to god alien. She was in love with an alien?)
Once seated Alex began explaining in earnest, and she tried to pay attention.
“You are right, my mother is human. But my father is a Time Lord. As am I.”
“Time Lord,” she repeated, “that’s what... species you are?”
(Somewhere inside everything she knew was desperately grasping for any sort of hand hold or purchase. He was a different species. And not like Jamie who could make hir eyes go purple and was apparently telepathic, but was otherwise more or less human...)
He merely nodded, but she could tell that he was tense. It vaguely occurred to her that he was probably nervous.
“So, basic history and background... The Time Lords were the oldest and mightiest race in the universe. Pardon the hyperbole, but it’s true - when life on Earth was beginning to think about turning multi-cellular life into animals, the Time Lords had already invented time travel. But they all died in a war - the last great Time War - long before I was born. The only survivors were my father, the Doctor and the Redjay. As to why I’m here... Well, the Doctor always liked humans, probably partly because you look like us, and partly because you’re so... extraordinary. And Dad married a human of course, so this is where I grew up.”
“Right,” she said again, doing her best to take it all in. “So... you’re not eccentric or autistic or extra gifted or... anything like that. You’re just...”
“Not human and trying to fit in, yes.”
She looked at him then, really looked, and realised that in one fell swoop all the issues she’d tried to ignore had an answer and an explanation. The reason he was so often difficult to understand, the reason his reasoning frequently made no sense to her - it was because he was actually different...
It was like when she was little and had first learned division - or how to find the diagonal of a cube. Previous knowledge slotting together and suddenly everything made sense. The miraculousness of maths - but applied to a person. She felt almost weightless.
“Allie?” he asked, worried at her prolonged silence, and she suddenly smiled.
“It all makes sense. You make sense, and you never did. Not really. But now you do.”
Then she frowned, pulling back a little.
“You’ve not got anything... weird, right? Apart from the two hearts, I mean. You’re not green or... slimy...”
He laughed, eyes bright and relieved.
“Definitely no. Physically I am very much what you’ve experienced so far, except my body can endure a lot more than yours - and repair itself far more effectively - and I have the brain the size of a planet. But I can assure you I am not a lizard or whatever you’re imagining. This body is very much my own.”
“Good,” she said firmly. He was still her Alex. Just... more. At some point she’d yell at him for lying for three years, but right now she wasn’t up to it. Knowing how secretive he was, she wasn’t surprised that he’d not told the truth - just sad that he’d not trusted her sooner. Before she got further in her thoughts, he bit his lip, eyes suddenly full of mischief.
“Mind you, I do have something associated with aliens.”
She wasn’t entirely sure how it had ended up as something he could joke about, not sure how the shift in her head had worked... All that mattered was that he was something new for her to investigate - a whole new world opening up. And he’d give her answers!
“What?” she asked cautiously, and he lifted his chin.
“A spaceship.”
Her jaw might have dropped fraction.
“Seriously?”
“I keep it parked on the dark side of the moon.”
“Alex... If you are having me on, I will do horrible things to you.”
He once more held up the pendant, eyes triumphant and smug - a look she knew very well indeed, but she still found it hard to wrap her mind around what he was saying.
“The pendant is also a teleport and can take us straight there...”
For the second time in five minutes she was speechless, but this time he reached out, cradling her face with both hands.
“My Allison... Will you let me show you the wonders of the universe?”
“I know I’m repeating myself, but... Are you for serious?”
“Always,” he replied, gently letting go of her and pulling the necklace back over his head, before opening the pendant and adjusting something or other.
“Do you trust me? I just need your hand....”
Somewhere in the back of her mind a little voice was saying that it was all going too fast. And yet. They’d been together for three years. Had run away with the circus, been to NASA and all the way around the world. She’d seen him fall to pieces, had him cheat on her and broken up and gotten back together... He’d let her become closer and closer, and if this was the final step - finally letting her in, finally opening up fully - well she’d be damned if she ran away now. And he could show her the stars...
She held out her hand.
There was a bright flash, and then- they were on a spaceship.
Alex spread out his arms, and she could barely believe her eyes.
Looking around she almost laughed out loud in pure astonishment. The interior was sleek and black, yet not dark. The lines of the walls were oddly organic, vaguely reminding her of Art Nouveau, yet not as ornate, the door frames curved and gleaming. They were obviously in the cockpit, as she could see a control panel at the front, with complicated controls and a pilot’s seat, and she wondered what was on the other side of the doors.
As she was turning, taking it all in and trying to work out where the illumination was coming from, Alex reached out and pressed a button, and the cover that had been over the window moved away, revealing the surface of the moon outside.
She moved forwards, looking out, the impossibility of it all almost more than she could fathom. They’d spent a whole summer working at NASA, helping to put the final touches to a rocket that was going to the moon, thousands of people coming together for this single purpose, and here she was at the touch of a button...
Turning to him she shook her head, stunned and amazed.
“All the time... you had this?”
He hesitated, dragging a hand through his hair, conflicting emotions moving across his face.
“This was my birthday present when I turned 18. I had one trip - one - and then it was confiscated and they sent me to Cambridge for three years. I’m sure you can see why I was... pissed off.”
Tearing her eyes from the view she tilted her head, intrigued once more by all the secrets in his past.
“But what did you do?”
At this he bit his lip, looking strangely bashful.
“Something that made Jack call me the single greatest idiot he’d ever met...”
“And...” she prompted.
A slow smile spread across his face.
“I guess you could call it stupid. But then isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when you’re young? Stupid, dangerous stuff?”
Her eyes narrowed. Finally answers!
“Dangerous?”
“Well, sort of. I nearly died.”
This took a second to sink in.
“You nearly died?”
He met her eyes head-on, almost shrugging.
“It was a risk I was willing to take.”
Shaking her head she wasn’t sure where to start, although it helped explain things rather...
“I’m beginning to see why they took such drastic action.”
His smiled deepened, eyes dancing.
“Told you I have more lives than a cat. And I’ll explain that later, promise. For now, come sit down and... let me show you the stars.”
Forgetting everything else she took a seat, and watched - heart beating - as he pressed buttons and flipped switches. Then there was a smooth ‘swoosh’ and they took off. In a single circular movement he brought the ship up and around the moon, and the next moment she could see the Earth spread out before them, a blue-green jewel against a dark star-speckled background.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” he said softly, and she could only nod. Something seemed to be caught in her throat.
She turned to look at him, seeing all the stars reflected in his eyes... And then almost laughed as in a sudden flash everything seemed to come together in utter perfection.
Like the princess and the frog, she had been misled by appearances. But she’d kissed him and he had turned out to be... so much more than she could ever have wished for. The stars, all her dreams - they were suddenly close enough to touch...
“What?” he said, noticing her faraway look, and she shook her head.
“I thought you were a frog,” she said, and whatever he’d been expecting that was clearly not it, going by the surprised look on his face.
“You never told me you read The Jungle Book,” he eventually replied, puzzled but pleased, at which she burst out laughing:
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“'Mowgli' means frog,” he explained. “It’s how he gets his name...”
“That’s really not what I was thinking.”
She explained, as much as she could, and his eyes seemed to glow.
“Secret prince of the universe pretending to be a frog. Oh that’s brilliant... Mind you, Ianto calls me the spoiled brat of the universe, so take it with a grain of salt.”
Then he grinned.
“By the way, let me show you why I’m such a cautious driver... Cars are tiny little death boxes on wheels - slow, cramped, and only move in two dimensions. Whereas I... can do this!”
For a few breathless moments the world became a blur, like something out of Star Wars, and it’s possible she might have squealed a tiny bit. Or maybe even a lot.
Then he laughed and slowed down, stars becoming stars again, as he reached out and laid a hand on her arm.
“Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. But remember the Planetarium? This is why I nearly lost it...”
“Oh,” she said softly, having almost forgotten that incident, but of course...
“So - where would you like to go?” he continued. “The universe is our oyster. Although if you like, I could show you my Lab?”
“But we’ve only just got out where amongst the stars,” she replied, to which his response was letting his eyes glimmer with secrets.
“Oh you have no idea... Hold on tight, we need to jump into the vortex for a moment. It makes my head spin, goodness knows what it’ll do to yours. But I’ll make the leap as smooth as possible, promise.”
Intrigued and curious she nodded, and for the next minute everything seemed to be upside down or sideways or... something. But then, abruptly, the universe was back and there were stars and suns and planets...
More specifically there were twin suns in the distance, and below them another planet. Where Earth had been cool blues and greens, this one glowed golden and red, not unlike the diamond in her necklace.
“I should really give it a better name,” Alex said, studying it, “or any name at all. But this - is my ‘Lab’.”
Much as she tried, his words didn’t make much sense.
“You mean your lab is on that planet?” she asked, and he shook his head.
“The planet is the lab. I created it.”
“The - the planet? You created the planet?”
“Yes,” he replied calmly. “All this-” he swept a hand across the vista in front of them, “-is mine.”
She seemed to have run out of words entirely, quite simply staring from the sphere below to her boyfriend’s face.
Her boyfriend that she argued with over shopping and bills and annoying habits. Her boyfriend that she had brought home and who had charmed her parents and befriended her siblings and played with her nephews and nieces. Her boyfriend who liked plum jam and was allergic to aspirin and had to line up all the cups in neat rows.
And he was the creator of a planet?
“Dad decided to give me a planet when I was 16. For... complicated reasons. So I made this. It’s... basically a copy of Gallifrey - the long gone home planet I never saw - but it’s also somewhere I can do whatever I want. I can build things and test things and just do... anything. Without bothering anyone. Seriously, it’s light years from anywhere... My own little corner of the universe.”
“But... how? I don’t understand.”
A spaceship she could wrap her head around, but this...
“Oh it was just a dead lump when I started, I created it all from scratch... But - are you beginning to see why Cambridge was so frustrating? I had all this, and I couldn’t get to it.”
He tilted his head, studying the orange planet suspended in the darkness.
“Spent my A-Level years terra-forming and making it habitable... The time management was a bitch of course, as I went to school too, but I was happy as a clam even so. Once I was done with school, when I turned eighteen, I was going to move here more or less permanently, being able to focus on my proper studies. The spaceship was the icing on the cake, a way of travelling to other places, to explore, to be truly free... And then in one fell swoop they took it all away. ”
A sigh, then he turned to her.
“Instead I found a completely different adventure. I never saw you coming. My Allison - will you let me show you my... echo of the Shining World of the Seven systems?”
She nodded, unable to speak.
The silly analogy was becoming more apt than she had realised... It really was quite like pretending to be a frog. Comparatively. Cleverest boy in the world. The universe.
He had created a planet.
No wonder NASA had seemed like child’s play.
Then her attention was stolen by the descent as they entered the atmosphere and cut through clouds at dizzying speed... And it was something she had seen in movies, but oh, it was all real. The curve of the planet as they came through the clouds, her first sight of an alien sky... Then they dipped down towards the planet and she found herself riveted.
There were tall snow-capped mountains in the distance and red grass stretching out to the horizon - unbroken, until they came upon a forest by a large lake. It was dawn and still dusky, and Alex’s eyes scanned the surroundings.
“Let’s land here,” he said, slowing their speed to a crawl before letting the craft gently settle down on the ground.
With a flick of a switch a door on the side of the ship opened and he held out a hand, indicating that she should go first.
Heart beating she stepped down the short ramp and then stopped, trying to take it all in.
The sky was a dark burnt orange, brightening as the twin suns rose over the distant mountains. There was red grass under her feet and the lake shimmered golden, reflecting the sky, and a soft breeze, carrying new smells, played with her hair...
But then the rays from the suns broke across the mountains, hitting the forest, and she instinctively grasped hold of Alex’s hand, too overwhelmed to say anything.
The leaves were silver, but as they caught the sunlight it looked as if the whole forest was on fire - golden mirrors cascading light across the landscape with the casual abandon of nature’s ever-present beauty...
They had climbed the Himalayas, seen icebergs in the Polar circle and the sun set over the African savannah, sailed up the Amazon river and stood in the Winter Palace - yet nothing had prepared her for this.
Eventually she turned to him, speechless, and saw her own feelings mirrored in his eyes.
“Welcome to my world,” he said, voice so gentle she barely heard it.
“Is this actually real?” she asked in return, not really able to believe what was happening. (She had been fretting over going to Manchester and packing...)
“Stars above I hope so,” he replied, before shaking his head.
“I can’t believe you’re actually here. I can’t count how many times I tried to picture this, tried to work out how you’d react... And now you’re just here and it’s OK - it’s like... Like finally breathing after holding my breath for three years.”
Glancing around, he tugged at her hand.
“Let’s sit down? I think I just need a moment.”
She nodded and he sat down underneath a large tree, leaning his head against the trunk and closing his eyes. Allison, however, found that she couldn’t sit still and immediately leapt to her feet again, tentatively snapping a leaf off a branch, turning it over in her hands.
There were too many questions in her head and she didn’t even know where to start.
“Where are we?” she asked, and he looked up at her, puzzled.
“What do you mean? I can give you the space-time co-ordinates, or do you want to know which galaxy we’re in, how far from Earth?”
“No where is here? This place. What’s it called?”
Mutely he shook his head.
“Nothing has names. Not even the planet, so...”
He waved a hand towards the view.
“Do you want to name it? It really is rather lovely. We could even name it after you? Lake Allison, that sounds nice.”
Tilting his head, he looked out over the calm surface of the water.
“I think this is one of the largest lakes. Don’t have a lot of them, the climate is very dry generally. Like the Serengeti - well, that’s what I was aiming for. Seems to be working so far...”
Eyes growing distant, he kept talking, although mostly to himself.
“So much work to do yet. I’ve not even made a start on animals... They’ll need to be threaded through everything very carefully.”
Despite being intrigued by his musings, she found she had a question of her own.
“Alex - how is anything here? I mean, you started this 5 years ago? But these trees are much older than that...”
Refocussing, he frowned.
“Time Lord. Time travel. I’m sure I mentioned that? Skipped back and forth a lot, altering the beginnings of the planet, to make it flourish. Added the moons too. Now that was fun.”
He smiled, as she stared at him dumbfounded, before his eyes narrowed.
“It’s ridiculously complicated though. You know how fragile eco systems are, how breaking one small part can destroy far more than anticipated? I’m doing the opposite. Trying to calculate how and where and when to add things - I have a model to aim for of course, but it’s all theories and memories and ancient data. Take singing fish... How would they evolve?”
“Singing fish?” she asked, looking from the silver leaf in her hand to the impossible boy in front of her.
He nodded.
“Singing fish. I’m still stuck on that one. And I’ve not even begun to think about the mammals... Oh there is so much I need to learn.”
His eyes lit up at this, bright and happy, but although this subject was fascinating, she found herself returning to something he’d almost shrugged off.
“But time travel? Are you serious? I mean, of course you’re serious, but...”
Sensing her mood he nodded again, slowly.
“Yes. That’s...” he hesitated, but then continued, words almost tumbling out. “That’s how I saved that boy at Christmas. Jack and I were clearing up, listening in on the emergency services - it’s the sort of thing that Torchwood does - and there was a report about a fatality, a toddler who’d been killed by a car that had lost control. And I... just couldn’t- I couldn’t accept that. Wouldn’t accept that. There had been so much death, so much pointless death, but at least Torchwood employees know what they sign up for. That little boy was just a freak accident... So I changed it. Well, Jack and I. Went back, rewrote time - like I said, I do it here all the time, trying to create a proper world, but on Earth... With real people and countless timelines and consequences that are nigh-impossible to estimate - it was a challenge to say the least. But we did it. Saved the boy and with some very complicated sleight of hand made it look like it was Nathan. The Christmas Hero...”
It would seem that she’d get three years’ worth of truth all in one go. She kept quiet, wondering what would be coming next, when he shook his head, catching her eyes.
“I’m rambling now, sorry. And I should probably be telling you useful stuff, the stuff that’s actually important... You know, the reason I lied to you for so long.”
“Oh,” she said, sinking down in the red grass next to him.
(Red grass, twin suns, silver leaves... It was like a fairy tale. She twirled the silver leaf between her fingers and smiled.)
“I know you were shocked how... cavalier I was when talking about dying. And this is why: Time Lords don’t die, they regenerate. Well obviously they can die, we’re practically extinct, but those were extraordinary circumstances. If I’d broken my neck jumping off that lion in the summer, I’d just have gotten a new body, I wouldn’t be gone...”
She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but to her surprise she was not completely out of her depth. She remembered reading scientific journals on this topic, as well as long discussions with Medical and Biology students... Finally something she could talk about intelligently.
“So you’re like that immortal jellyfish?” she asked, eager, and he bristled.
“Nnnnot really. That’s a bit like saying you are like a slug because you both breathe air. A Time Lord-”
He stopped momentarily.
“A Time Lord is reborn through fire. Like a Phoenix. It’s... mythical.”
She knew she should react to what he was saying with suitable gravity, yet his choice of words made it, well, impossible.
“Did you just call yourself mythical?”
“Mythical and legendary,” he replied, not moving a muscle.
She tilted her head, fighting giggles so hard she could barely speak.
“And pompous?”
“That too,” he nodded. “Very. You should see the official robes.”
“Alex...”
Finally his face cracked, amusement and exasperation shining through.
“Listen - I’m talking about the fact that I’m practically immortal, that I won’t even be considered an adult until I’m about a hundred, that I’ll lose you one day - please don’t make me laugh, it isn’t funny. Allie-”
She shook her head again, unsure how to even translate her scattered thoughts into words.
“Sorry Alex, it’s too much. I think I lost my ability to absorb stuff about five galaxies ago...”
She held up her hand.
“I’m holding a silver leaf in my hand, from my alien boyfriend’s planet that he created. How am I supposed to react? To any of it? I’m only human...”
Eyes suddenly soft and understanding he didn’t say anything, just leaned forward and kissed her.
Gentle hands cupped her face, soft lips covering hers, and she wrapped her arms around him, feeling the solid and familiar shape of his body against her own. But there were two heartbeats against her chest and the warmth of twin suns in an alien sky touched her skin...
And like a forgotten dream, she felt as if all the stars in the heavens were spread out beneath her feet; their future as golden as the sky above, and she was sure that no matter the obstacles in their path they would find a way.
After all - what couldn’t he do?
Chapter 23.
no subject
*blush*
I loved this update!! I mean...how can one not?! All leading to this, this moment here and ohhh!!
Perfect Day... (Loved writing it SO MUCH! <3)
*Faints from happiness*
*revives you*