"So, there was 1869," the Doctor said brightly, walking over to the other side of the console. "Tell you what, why don't you pick the next place to go?" He looked up when Jessie didn't answer. "Jessie?"

"She left to change," the TARDIS hummed. "Among other things."

The Doctor chuckled. Jessie really didn't seem like the kind to wear dresses. He made a decision and began setting a course back to London.

He had a feeling she might need to see home.

***

Jessie flipped through the scrapbook she and Skye had made, forgetting she was still dressed in the dress, smiling as she looked over each person.

Tony Stark. Steve Rogers. Bruce Banner. Thor. The four mightiest of the Avengers. Of course that meant none of them would get along. Tony and Bruce did, but Tony and Steve . . . no.

She flipped to the next page, smiling widely when she saw Natasha Romanoff. The Russian had hated Jessie when she had started, back when her partner had seemed to like her. But after Jessie's story had come out, Natasha had been her closest friend.

"How much do you count on Barton? So much that if you fell into this, he could be the only one to wake you up? Or is he more?"

Jessie shook Loki's taunt out of her head and went to Clint's page. Clint Barton . . . now he was a mystery. Hawkeye was a coworker, but Clint had definitely been something else at one point in time. What, exactly, she had no clue.

And then there were the SHIELD agents.

She chuckled as she turned the page, smiling as Coulson's face looked stoically up at her. It faded a little as she remembered how he "died." May was next, almost just as emotionless. They both always hid their feelings, but their care for their team came out when it did.

"What're you looking at?"

She jumped a little. "God, you scared me!" she laughed.

The Doctor just smiled a little and walked into the room. "What're you looking at?"

"Scrapbook," she replied, pulling her legs underneath her. "Something me and Saleen made." She flipped the page, laughing.

The Doctor sat down on the floor next to her, and he raised an eyebrow. "What are those two doing?" he asked, sounding surprised.

Jessie shook her head, grinning maniacally. "Fitz and Simmons are the only ones who know how to operate these hologram tables," she replied, grinning as she looked down at the photo. Fitz and Simmons looked like they were doing a little dance with the holograms, faces bright as Coulson and - she swallowed when she saw his face - Grant tried to figure it all out. "They tried giving Coulson and Grant a lesson. It failed rather miserably."

The Doctor smirked. "Scientists, huh?"

"Jemma has so many degrees, I can't even begin to explain what they all are," Jessie confirmed. "Fitz is a rocket scientist."

The Doctor snorted in amusement. "And Coulson and Grant?"

"Both died in the field once," Jessie replied briefly. "Coulson was somehow brought back to life. He's never told me how. And Grant - " She made a popping noise. "Gone anyway."

The Doctor looked at her. "He seems like he was close to you," he said carefully.

He's prying, Jessie realized. "He was a good - no, great - friend," she replied. She flipped the page to the last photo - Grant training Skye in the hangar of the bus. "He wasn't big on emotions, but he was extremely protective. He was in charge of Skye's training, got her to where she is today." She closed the book. "And he died saving her life."

"You miss him, don't you?"

"I - " Jessie nodded, rubbing her eye as she felt tears begin to build up. "Yeah, I do. Gwyneth reminded me of Skye, and Sneed of Grant. Even though he was hard on her, he was still protective."

"You saved Jabe on Platform One, Jess," the Doctor told her, helping her stand up. "Turn around." She did, so her back was to him, and she felt him begin to untie the ties that was holding her dress up. "Not everyone can be saved."

"I just need to keep remembering that."

"There you go!" Jessie felt the fabric loosen, and she turned quickly, shrugging it back onto her shoulders. "Tell you what," he continued, walking back over to the door. "Back home, a little while after you left. You can see them again before we go off again."

Jessie began to grin. "Really?"

He looked mildly offended. "What, you don't believe me?"

She walked over quickly and hugged him with one arm, keeping the dress in place. "Thanks."

He patted her shoulder. "Now get out of that thing, I know you hate it."

Jessie made a face, and he chuckled and left. Jessie closed the door and locked it, just in case. She found her violet turtleneck and black fit-and-flare jeans, draping them over her bed. She turned to her mirror and smiled at the dress. "One good thing about this," she decided, letting it fall, "is that it hid all of this."

She began getting dressed, wincing a little as the rougher fabrics made several bruises and scars begin to sting. She could still feel several of them from when she was in seventh grade. Seventh. She forced a little chuckle as she pulled her work boots on and then pulled her hair out of its elegant do. "Seven years and they haven't gone."

She took one last look at herself in the mirror, making sure none of her old wounds were visible, then headed for the door. "Home, here I come."

***

So there's a little look as to what Jessie's been through. The rest is still a mystery . . . and I think the Doctor's getting pretty determined to solve it, don't ya think?

Next comes "Aliens of London" . . . and the full Agents of SHIELD cast!