Title: chemistry
Author: aces
Rating: PG
Warnings: Only spoilery if you haven’t seen the latest series. Or know nothing about Peter Davison’s era as the Doctor.
Word count: Approx. 5,100 words
Summary: Doing domestic doesn’t exactly involve a lot of running.
Notes: Written for doyle_sb4 for the dw_femslash ficathon, who requested adventure and/or humor. I failed spectacularly at adventure and fear I also missed out on the humor. I’m sorry?


Nyssa walked down the street, caught up in the chemical equations with which she’d been working right before she left the research labs. She paid little attention to her surroundings; she’d walked this route every day for over a year now, and nothing about it surprised her.

Nothing except the man standing directly in front of her, demanding that she hand over her jewelry and her credits if she didn’t want to get hurt.

“I’m not wearing any jewelry,” Nyssa said, backing away from him slowly. “And I think it’s very foolish of you to try taking any currency I might have on me; surely you realize the law on this planet is less than—”

The man started lunging for her, and she was all ready to kick him when somebody else got between them. It was dark—Nyssa had noted the lack of lighting along this particular stretch of her walk between work and home, but after a year of nothing happening and not hearing about any attacks on anybody else, she had gotten a little careless—but the newcomer had shining, long blonde hair and moved like an efficient whirlwind, punching, kicking, and quickly taking out Nyssa’s assailant.

“Thank you,” Nyssa said after a moment, when the fighting was over. The other person was leaning over the would-be mugger, breathing a little heavily.

“You’re welcome,” the newcomer said, breathlessly. “Only I think he had a knife on him. I didn’t account for that.”

“Are you hurt?” Nyssa strode up to the other woman quickly and knelt down beside her, turning her face gently so she could look at the woman. “Tell me, did he stab you?”

“Scratched me, at least,” the woman said, smiling a little shakily. She was beautiful. Nyssa blinked, staring at her face, her long hair. There was something familiar about her, but that was a silly thought; she would have remembered meeting this woman before. “I don’t suppose you have any medical supplies at your home?”

“Of course,” Nyssa said automatically, helping her stand. She didn’t need much help, but she was holding an arm protectively over her abdomen. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather I called you a doctor?”

The other woman shook her head. “Not necessary,” she said, “I just need something to stop the bleeding.” She looked up and gave Nyssa that same shaky smile. Nyssa had a feeling that in top health, the smile would be dazzling. “I hope you don’t live too far away.”

“Just around the corner,” Nyssa said and started walking. The other woman followed. “Thank you, again; I’m so sorry he hurt you—oh dear, I should probably call the police.”

The other woman laughed, a bright peal of bubbling sound—how young was she? Nyssa wondered—and then winced. “Yes, you probably should,” she agreed. “Only when you do, would you mind taking all the credit? I’m not exactly registered as being a guest on this planet.”

Nyssa frowned and didn’t dare look at the other woman again. Not until they were under proper lighting, not until she could really get a good look at her. “If you’re sure,” she said instead. “I could have defended myself, in fact; you just beat me to it.”

“Sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t stop myself. It’s sort of—instinctive. Is this where you live?” She probably would have bounded up the steps to Nyssa’s house if she hadn’t been careful of her wound. Nyssa admired her energy.

“Obviously, or I wouldn’t be unlocking the door, would I?” Nyssa couldn’t help the acerbic tone creeping into her voice.

“I don’t know; perhaps I saved a burglar from a mugger.” Nyssa had a feeling the younger woman was dimpling right now. She let the front door swing open and ushered her new friend inside.

“Bathroom is first door down the hall on the right,” she said. “Go on; I’ll be right with you.” She locked the door behind them, set down her bag and took off her jacket. Taking a deep breath, she followed the other woman into the bathroom.

“I see you found the bandages,” she said, watching the blonde as she attempted to spray the antibiotic onto the thin, shallow wound she couldn’t even see. She’d hiked up her shirt in order to get at it and somehow managed to completely demolish the bathroom in the twenty seconds Nyssa had left her alone. Bath products that had been in the cupboard were strewn around the small room; a roll of bandaging had rolled into the sink. “Here, let me help.”

She took the spray from the other woman and crouched in front of her, probing the wound very gently. Despite her care, the other woman hissed a breath between her teeth. “Sorry,” Nyssa said, somewhat absently. “I mostly do medical research these days; I was never formally trained to handle patients. I think you’re right about this wound, though,” she added as she wiped the wound with a damp cloth that the other woman had already used; the wound had started bleeding again, just a little, from Nyssa’s inspection. “It is pretty much just a scratch. You were lucky.”

“No, I wasn’t.” The other woman was scornful. “As I said, I hadn’t realized he had a knife; as soon as I saw the blade shining in what little light there was on the street, I adjusted my strategy. You really shouldn’t walk along such a dark street alone at night,” she added reprovingly. “There’s all sorts of things could get you.”

“Things?” Nyssa queried as she sprayed and bandaged the wound, trying to touch as little of the other woman’s skin as she actually could. It was surprisingly cool, not human-normal at all, and Nyssa kept shivering when her fingers brushed against the woman’s skin. “Not people?”

“People and things.” For once, the young woman sounded brooding, and Nyssa finally looked up into her face again, for the first time under proper lighting. She caught her breath and stood up, placing a hand against the woman’s cheek. The younger woman stilled, staring at Nyssa in confusion, allowing the touch.

“You can’t be,” Nyssa breathed. “You look—I’m sorry.” She pulled back, embarrassed. “I’m so sorry, I’m being terribly rude. Allow me to offer you something to eat and drink; it’s the least I can do after what you did for me.”

“Yes, alright,” the younger woman readily agreed, all smiles and brightness again. “I’d like that. I’ve been eating rations for days now; something different would be nice.”

“Rations?” Nyssa asked over her shoulder as they walked back down the hall in order to enter the kitchen.

“On my ship.” The younger woman seemed to be dancing around Nyssa’s kitchen, inspecting appliances, opening cupboards, her curiosity apparently insatiable. “I’ve been onboard traveling non-stop for a week now; I was getting very bored.”

Nyssa laughed, and the other woman turned to look at her in surprise. “I suppose that would be very boring,” Nyssa said. “Lemulos is rather on the outskirts of civilization.” She began gathering items for some simple sandwiches, and then stopped and put down the loaf of bread she had taken out of the cupboard. “I haven’t even introduced myself. My name’s Nyssa.” She walked across the large, airy kitchen to shake the younger woman’s hand.

“I’m Jenny,” she grinned.

*

“This is delicious!” Jenny enthused as she finished the last bite of her sandwich.

“Thank you, I guess,” Nyssa replied, bemused. “Have you never had a sandwich before?”

“Not really, no,” Jenny confessed. “Mostly rations, and the occasional meal on whatever planet I landed on. Nothing like this, this melding of flavors.”

Nyssa grinned as she began putting dishes away in the dishwasher. “On what planet did you grow up?”

“I didn’t exactly grow up,” Jenny said thoughtfully. “Anyway, that’s ages ago. Whole years now. Can I ask a favor, Nyssa?” she continued before Nyssa could do more than blink and let that last sentence sink in.

“I suppose you can,” Nyssa was cautious. “What is it?”

“Would you let me spend the night? I know you don’t really know me,” Jenny continued in a rush, “we only just met tonight and all, but I’d like to get away from my ship for a while and I don’t exactly have any local currency with which to find some other sort of housing. Would that be alright?” she went on, hesitant. She gave Nyssa a disarming, nervous smile. “I mean, I did just save your life.”

“I wouldn’t exactly say my life,” Nyssa said, “more my credits.” She surveyed the younger woman and finally sighed. “Of course you can spend the night; I’m not going to throw you back out there on your own when you’re already wounded. Oh,” she added with a groan, putting a hand to her forehead, “I never called the police, did I.” The night seemed to be getting longer and longer.

“That’s alright.” Jenny laid a comforting hand on Nyssa’s shoulder. “He’s gone by now anyway, and he didn’t actually get anything from you. Were you really going to fight back when he attacked you?” She tilted her head to one side, looking quizzical.

“Yes, I really was,” Nyssa laughed a little. “You’re not the only one who’s physically capable of looking after herself.”

“No, I know,” Jenny said, “it’s just that you said you work in a lab and from my experience people who work in laboratories aren’t—um,” she bit off and looked embarrassed. “And, well, you are a bit older,” she added confidingly.

Nyssa stared at her. “Did I say something wrong?” Jenny asked, sounding worried.

“You really are that young, aren’t you,” Nyssa said at last and shook her head. She closed the dishwasher with a snap and set its controls. “Come along,” she said, “I’ll show you the guest room.”

*

“Oh my goodness!” Jenny sounded startled, and Nyssa whirled around to find that her young guest had wandered off and opened another door on the second floor. “You didn’t say you worked from home,” Jenny said, sticking her head back out of the room just long enough to say the words before disappearing back inside.

“I don’t,” Nyssa said grimly as she followed the younger woman into her at-home lab. “This is for my private research only.”

“What are you researching?” Jenny picked up a beaker and peered at its contents with interest.

“This and that,” Nyssa said, gently removing the beaker from Jenny’s hand and putting it away. “I take it nobody ever taught you not to wander into places you’re not welcome?”

“Quite the opposite.” Jenny sounded positively smug. Nyssa gave her a look, and she turned serious. “I suppose you want me to—”

“Go to the guest room, yes,” Nyssa finished for her, sweetly. She gestured for Jenny to go first and locked the door behind herself.

“Here you are,” Nyssa said as she opened the guest bedroom door. “I’ve actually got the bed made up for once; I can lend you a nightshirt or pajamas, and the upstairs bathroom—complete with a marvelous tub, by the way, if you feel like a bath—is just across the hall. Towels and such are all in there. I think that’s everything?” she looked at Jenny again, who was running a hand over the ball at the top of the bed frame.

“Yes, this is brilliant,” Jenny said. “Thank you so much, Nyssa.”

Nyssa smiled at her in what felt oddly like affection, though how she could already feel affectionate toward a person she’d barely even met, she didn’t know. “You’re welcome, Jenny. Have a good night.” She turned away, starting for her own room.

Jenny pulled her into a hug from behind before she got very far, and Nyssa said “Omf” in surprise.

“Thank you,” Jenny whispered. “Really.”

Nyssa detached herself from the other woman, feeling that shiver again. “Sleep well,” she said, looking into Jenny’s eyes in concern.

“I’ll try.” Jenny smiled again, and this time Nyssa left the room.

*

“Good morning, Nyssa!” Jenny was cheery. Jenny had made coffee and found the pastries in the cupboard. Nyssa raised her eyebrows.

“I trust you slept well?” she asked, pulling the mellak juice out of the refrigerator and pouring two glasses. Jenny sat at the massive kitchen table in the middle of the room, her knees pulled up to her chest as she nibbled at one of the fruit-filled pastries. She was still wearing the pajamas Nyssa had lent her; they were loose but a trifle short in the arms and legs.

“Oh yes,” Jenny assured, “best night’s sleep I’ve ever had, I think. Oh, let me get you some coffee.” She uncurled herself and bounded upright for the mugs.

Nyssa had never been much of a morning person, and this much energy this early in the day was a trifle overwhelming. “Thank you,” she said faintly and sat down at the head of the table with her juice and her own pastry.

“Here you go,” Jenny set the mug down in front of her hostess and sat down again. “Thanks for the juice.”

“Jenny,” Nyssa said, “what are you doing on this planet?”

Jenny shrugged. “Seeing the universe,” she said. “I don’t suppose this planet needs saving? Any monsters lurking about anywhere?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” Nyssa told her seriously, “but I haven’t gone looking for them myself.”

“Why not?” Jenny sounded surprised.

“Other concerns,” Nyssa said wryly. “I’m involved in medical research, attempting to find cures for diseases. I stopped chasing after monsters a while ago.”

“Even though they’re still out there?” Jenny leant forward over the table, giving Nyssa her undivided attention. Her long blonde hair was down this morning, tangled and messy from having been slept on. Nyssa bit her lip.

“Others are still out there fighting them,” Nyssa said. “We all have our strengths.” She stood up, putting her dishes on the counter by the dishwasher to be dealt with later. She remembered a story, from her youth on Traken, about fairies that did the washing-up and cleaning while you slept. Sadly, she’d never actually come across any of those sorts of creatures in all her travels, though she had on occasion wondered if the TARDIS had some in her employ. Nyssa turned back to Jenny and put her hands on her hips. “Are you planning to stay again tonight?”

Jenny didn’t meet her gaze. “I…hadn’t thought to ask,” she said in just such a tone that suggested she’d been thinking exactly the opposite, only she hadn’t quite worked out how to do it. “I hate to be a burden on you—”

“I don’t think you could be a burden on anyone,” Nyssa said lightly and sat down at the table again. “What will you do today?”

“I was hoping to learn a little about this place,” Jenny admitted. “Get the lay of the land, that sort of thing. Does this town have a library or other source of general information?”

Nyssa paused; she couldn’t believe what she was about to propose but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. “Why don’t I show you my office here? I’ve got an uplink; you can find all the information you want through the global net.”

“Would you mind?” Jenny glanced at her like a beam of light refracting off a piece of glass. “I promise I won’t go into your lab again; I just—”

“Want to learn?” Nyssa said when Jenny broke off, and Jenny nodded. “Be my guest,” Nyssa said. “I’ve got to go to work now, but I’ll come back right after my shift is done. You saw where all the sandwich fixings were,” she added with a grin, and Jenny grinned right back at her, “tonight I’ll cook a proper meal.” She stood up from the table. “I’ll show you where the office is now, shall I?”

“Nyssa?” Jenny stood up to follow again. “Why are you being so nice? Not many people I’ve met have been nearly as nice as you are.”

Nyssa stopped in the hallway and turned to consider the younger woman. “You remind me of an old friend,” she said at last. She smiled distantly, fondly. “And in his case, that’s enough.”

Jenny looked uncertain. Nyssa smiled at her, a genuine and warmer smile, bringing herself back to the present. “Never mind. Through here,” she said.

*

She came back that evening to find Jenny sprawled on the long sofa in the living room, reading one of the few real books Nyssa owned; most texts that she owned were on a datatablet or downloadable from her uplink. Nyssa watched her for a moment from the doorway.

“Did you enjoy your day?” she inquired at last, and Jenny looked up.

“Oh yes! This place is fascinating. So are your books.” Jenny held up the one she was reading. “I hope you don’t mind; I kept looking at the spines while I was in your office, and I couldn’t resist.”

“Of course I don’t mind,” Nyssa said, sitting down on the easy chair. “Which book did you choose?”

“Right now I’m working on A Treatise on Telebiogenesis. I’d like to start reading Shakespeare’s Complete Works tomorrow or the day after, depending on how long it takes me to finish this…if that’s alright?”

“I don’t see why not,” Nyssa said readily. She’d thought a lot about her young guest while she was at work that day; it was all she could do not to misplace coefficients and spill the acids. She looked at Jenny critically, in the same shirt and leather trousers she’d worn yesterday. “We’ll have to get you some different clothes.”

“Oh, why?” Jenny said, looking up from her book again. “Is there something wrong with what I’m wearing?”

“No,” said Nyssa, “not unless you have more than one outfit that looks exactly alike?”

Jenny definitely dimpled. Nyssa smiled back at her and stood up again. “Come along, let’s make dinner.”

*

Jenny stayed with Nyssa, absorbing information from the net, from Nyssa’s books, from Nyssa herself, like a sponge. Nyssa remembered being like that when she was younger, soaking in anything she could learn from anyone, spending hours and hours with her father watching him while he worked. Even when she’d traveled with the Doctor she’d still had that insatiable curiosity, though over the years she’d found it tempered with more patience. Jenny was the brightest bright spot Nyssa had ever met in all her travels, and she was afraid she might have loved Jenny just a little bit for that.

And then one night Nyssa came home from the lab, tired and aching from sitting at the computer all day, and found that Jenny had made dinner, set the table, scrounged up candles of all things from somewhere. Nyssa stared.

“Do you like it?” It was the most nervous Jenny had ever sounded; she rose from the table slowly, wearing a deep blue dress Nyssa had never seen before. Jenny didn’t wear dresses; she found them uncomfortable and strange. “I wasn’t sure I was doing this right—”

“Doing what right?” Nyssa dragged her eyes away from the candles and met Jenny’s gaze. “Jenny, what are you trying to do?”

“Uh, well, I suppose I’m trying to seduce you,” Jenny confessed. “I was reading up on some common rituals on the net and this particular scenario appealed to me.” She peeked at Nyssa again. “I don’t suppose it’s working?”

Nyssa started laughing. Jenny frowned. “That wasn’t the response I was looking for,” Jenny said, a little petulantly, and the pout on her face was so familiar that Nyssa’s only possible response was to walk around the table and kiss her.

“Oh,” Jenny said in surprise, and then Nyssa felt her lips curving against her own. “That’s more like it,” she added in satisfaction.

*

“Whatever possessed you to feel like you needed to seduce me?” Nyssa asked later that night in bed. They’d gotten around to dinner, eventually, though by that time it’d been a little overcooked. At least Nyssa wasn’t tired and aching anymore.

“I’m not very good at this sort of thing,” Jenny said. “Well, that’s a lie; I can be very good at it when I want to be, but that didn’t seem—right. Not for you. I mean, you’re not holding me prisoner; I like being here with you.”

Nyssa blinked. She was running her fingers up and down Jenny’s shoulder, absently, soothingly. The wound on Jenny’s abdomen had completely healed days ago, barely leaving even a scar; Nyssa had checked tonight, very thoroughly. “You often seduce your captors?” she hazarded. Nyssa still didn’t know exactly how old Jenny was, but from the hints she had dropped occasionally in conversation she seemed to have lived a very interesting, if brief, life.

“Only when the occasion calls for it.” Jenny sounded careless. She was snuggling up to Nyssa’s side; it had been a while since Nyssa had lain in bed with anyone and she found she had missed the physical contact. “There’ve been a fair few guards I’ve had to snog in order to get out of jail.”

Nyssa tried to imagine the Doctor snogging a prison guard in order to escape and completely failed. But then, Jenny wasn’t the Doctor, no matter how much sometimes she reminded Nyssa of him. Nyssa rolled over to face the other woman and kissed her gently on the lips.

“I’m glad you wanted to try something different with me,” she said after she pulled back.

“I had to do something,” Jenny said, “you didn’t seem to be catching any of my signals at all.”

“Oh dear,” Nyssa said, “I didn’t realize I was that oblivious.” A smile curved her lips upward. “It’s for the best that you started it, in any case; I never would have had the courage to attempt seducing you.”

“But why not?” Jenny asked.

It wouldn’t have felt right, Nyssa couldn’t say. “I haven’t tried to seduce anyone in a long time,” she said at last. “I’m out of practice.”

“I can’t imagine you being out of practice at anything,” Jenny said frankly, and Nyssa had to snog her again.

*

“And what is this project?” Jenny asked one night, following Nyssa into her lab-away-from-the-lab and sitting down in a chair in a corner of the room. She’d placed it there a few weeks ago without saying a word to Nyssa, and she had followed Nyssa into the lab every night that Nyssa worked since then, sitting in the corner, or wandering around out of Nyssa’s way, or leaning against the main work table in order to get a better look at what Nyssa was doing.

“Producing something called Hydromel,” Nyssa replied, setting up the equipment she needed. “Nothing necessary anymore, but it’s good to keep in practice.” She’d gotten so used to producing it, become so familiar with its constituent parts that she still made a batch semi-automatically on occasion, a strange act of professional comfort. She looked over at Jenny, sitting in her corner. “Would you care to help me?”

Jenny, impossibly, brightened. “Could I?” she asked, and Nyssa laughed.

“Yes, of course. Just follow my instructions,” she added as Jenny leaped up and joined her at the table.

“Of course,” Jenny nodded. “What do you want me to do?”

“First, I want you to pour five cc’s of this liquid into that beaker. Make sure it’s exactly five, otherwise this won’t work…”

*

Jenny devoted as much energy to sex as she did everything else. Nyssa appreciated that, appreciated Jenny’s long blonde hair and round face and bright laugher. And Jenny appreciated Nyssa’s curls and kissed her eyelashes and said that, actually, Nyssa was still really quite young, wasn’t she, and Nyssa laughed and pushed her out of bed, but only until Jenny started pouting.

One night, lying together, almost asleep, Nyssa rested her head on Jenny’s chest and listened to her heartbeat. And then she thought she head a second heart echoing the first, but it wasn’t her own, and suddenly she was not quite so sleepy.

Lots of species have a double circulatory system, Nyssa reminded herself. She’d already decided long ago that Jenny was probably not entirely human.

Lots of species.

*

“Where did you come from?” Jenny asked as they put away clean dishes. It was Nyssa’s day off, her first in a couple weeks in fact; she’d been working at the lab almost constantly, unable to leave her experiments alone. They’d slept in and lazed about the house and gone for a walk in the backyard, not doing much of anything, not going anywhere near Nyssa’s lab at home.

“I’m sorry?” Nyssa stood on tiptoe to reach the top shelf where she kept the fancy glasses. They’d had friends over the night before, some of Nyssa’s co-workers, to celebrate the minor breakthrough they’d made, and Jenny had been particularly energetic in setting up for the party. Nobody had ever commented on Jenny’s abrupt appearance in Nyssa’s life, though Nyssa had seen all the curious sidelong looks when she’d started mentioning her. Still, they’d found Jenny engaging, as Nyssa had known they would.

“I mean, where were you born? Where did you grow up?” Nyssa turned to find Jenny standing by the table, looking at her. “You never talk about your past, not really.”

“Neither do you,” Nyssa pointed out.

“I asked first,” Jenny quickly retorted, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes, and Nyssa wondered had brought on this question.

“I was born on Traken,” Nyssa said at last. “My planet is gone, destroyed. I’m the only one left.”

Jenny stared at her, and Nyssa couldn’t interpret the look on her face. “Jenny?” she said.

“That’s horrible,” Jenny said. “That’s…I met someone like you. I mean, his planet was destroyed as well. I mean—oh.” She turned away, and Nyssa went up to her.

“It’s—it’s alright,” Nyssa said, putting an arm around her shoulders. “No, it’s not alright, obviously, but it happened a long time ago and—and I’ve grown to accept it.” The words were difficult, inadequate; she had found no language that could express what she felt about the loss of everyone and everything she had known from her childhood, but she had also found she could not share those emotions with anyone else. “I—my life has been full,” she said at last, squeezing Jenny’s shoulders. “I have known wonderful people and done good things that I’m proud of. It’s alright, Jenny.”

Jenny turned to hug her tightly. “It was my father,” she mumbled into Nyssa’s shoulder. “He was the one whose whole planet had been destroyed, my father, the Doctor—”

Nyssa froze. “Oh,” she said. “Yes, of course. Of course.”

*

“What did he look like?” Jenny repeated Nyssa’s question in puzzlement, that night in bed. “Tall and thin, like me, with dark hair and eyes—not like me,” she added with a tight smile reserved solely for when daughters spoke of their parents. “Why? Didn’t he look like that when you knew him?”

“No.” Nyssa ran her hand through Jenny’s hair, comforted by the golden strands tangled between her fingers. Jenny had spent all night telling her all about how she had been born, where she had come from; and she had told Jenny a little about Traken, about traveling with the Doctor and life on Terminus and afterwards. “No, I guess he didn’t tell you about that part, did he? Time Lords have the ability to regenerate, to change their form and continue to live when anybody else would have died. When I knew him first, he was a tall man, a dominating personality, teeth and curls and wide eyes. Then he regenerated into a younger, sweeter man, blond-haired and athletic.” She grinned and placed a kiss on Jenny’s forehead. “A lot like you, actually.”

“Really?” Jenny looked up, grinning back at her. Nyssa nodded.

“How strange that you found me,” she said after a moment. “That you came to this planet, of all places, and decided to rescue what you thought was a damsel in distress.” She’d picked up the phrase somewhere, probably from Tegan in one of her more sardonic moods.

“I’m glad I did.” Jenny tipped Nyssa’s chin down so she could kiss her. “You don’t do a lot of running, but you’ve taught me quite a lot.”

*

“Jenny?” Nyssa called as she opened the front door, dropping her bag in the hallway. “Are you here?”

More and more often of late, the answer had been no. Jenny was restless, Nyssa knew. Jenny had been alive a handful of years and had never stayed in one place for so long before. Jenny was the Doctor’s daughter. No fixed abode. It was very probably genetic.

She’d been checking on her ship a lot, Nyssa knew, and she’d been taking trips around Lemulos, rock-climbing and swimming in distant oceans and exploring caves. Nyssa had said nothing about her travels, had no desire to interfere until Jenny was ready to talk.

Jenny appeared at the top of the stairs. “Hello, Nyssa,” she said. She was wearing her dark shirt and leather trousers again. “I’m going now.”

Nyssa looked up at her and found herself smiling. “I know,” she said.

Jenny came down the stairs, perhaps the slowest she had ever moved in her entire life. “I’ve really modified my shuttle,” she went on as she came down. “New and more efficient engine, wider cockpit, all that sort of thing. There’s room enough for two.” She stopped on the bottommost stair. “If you’re interested.”

“Interested,” Nyssa repeated.

“I know what you’re doing is important,” Jenny said in a sudden rush. “I know how important it is, but don’t you miss it? Don’t you miss saving planets and seeing civilizations and stopping monsters?” She reached out, took Nyssa’s hands in her own. “There are loads of other people who can do what you do, who do do what you do. There aren’t many who stop the monsters. Please say yes,” she begged, squeezing Nyssa’s hands. “Please say you’ll come with me.”

“Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer going alone?” Nyssa said. “I’m a bit out of practice at saving planets and stopping monsters, you know.”

“You’ll remember,” Jenny said. “I’ve been traveling alone all this time; I don’t want to do that anymore. But if you don’t want to come—”

Nyssa joined her on the stair and kissed her, stopping the flow of words. Jenny leant into the kiss, pulled Nyssa closer, all that passion and energy sending Nyssa’s own neurons racing. After a moment, she broke it off, rested her forehead against Nyssa’s, her eyes squeezed shut, panting. She might have been crying.

“Oh, love,” Nyssa said and placed her hands on either side of Jenny’s face. She kissed her again, gently and slowly. “Will you at least give me time enough to pack a small bag?”

Jenny laughed, a bubbling peal of beautiful sound, and hugged Nyssa. “I’ll make the sandwiches,” she promised with a grin.