I think putting those two through torture has been worth it. This was so much fun to write.

I think you're all going to like it, too. ;) Enjoy!

***

"The poison is from a Eukaryn Scorpion's venom," the Doctor explained to the Asgardian Healers as they worked on Jessie, moving as fast as they could. "It can kill even Time Lords, and make them unable to regenerate. It attacked the cells that could make her regenerate first."

"How long ago was this?" the head Healer asked.

The Doctor looked at Martha. "At least six hours," she replied.

The Healer nodded. "We will do our best," she promised, "but we do not know if we can succeed."

The Doctor nodded, swallowing. "Thank you."

"Do not thank us yet."

The two of them walked out of the room, and there was running down the hall. The doctor took a deep breath as Sif charged up, looking windswept and winded, and if the sword in her hand was anything to go by, she'd run straight from training. "Where is she?" she demanded. "What happened?"

"Sif, I'm sorry," the Doctor told her helplessly, "but there's nothing we can do right now. She has the Healers."

Sif looked behind him at the closed door, looking shell shocked. "I never thought," she whispered.

"I didn't, either," the Doctor admitted, wincing as Martha glared at him. "If I had just listened . . . "

"You were absolute rubbish as a human," Martha accused.

"Doctor."

The Doctor looked down the other end of the hallway to see six of the Royal Guards approaching, Odin between them, fixing him with a look. "Allfather," he greeted with a short bow.

"Tell your tale over what has happened tonight," Odin ordered. "Her life is in the hands of the Valar now."

***

"The Family wanted the life of a Time Lord," the Doctor explained that evening in the throne room, pacing as he explained, Martha standing behind him. "If they sensed that Jessie was half goddess, they would have taken her. I turned both of us human and hid us inside fob watches. We hid in the year 1913 and waited for the Family to die. Three months. That was all it would have taken."

"But they found you," Odin commented.

"Yes, they did," the Doctor replied. "I talked to Timothy about that. Baines had been acting strangely for a few days, as if he had a cold, and had been talking oddly."

"Then Jenny was taken over," Martha put in. "That was when I knew they'd found us. I tried to find the fob watches, but they had been taken."

"And it was this Timothy?"

"Yes," Martha replied. "The Family found us at the village hall. The Bad Wolf had found her watch and opened it, turning her back to herself. She saved everyone in there before helping us."

"That was when she was poisoned," the Doctor said in a growl. "When she was running, Baines shot her in the neck. Would have been a tiny poke, like a sting from a bug. When she slapped her neck to try and get the bug, it injected further into her blood."

Odin stared at the floor, thoughtful. "What I am concerned about," he began, "is what we tell of this SHIELD group."

"Only Tony Stark and Bruce Banner know she's still alive," the Doctor replied. "And Asgard. How did you know?"

"Heimdall's watch never wavers, even when you travel in your machine, Doctor. Nothing escapes his gaze. He saw it all."

"So we have an Asgardian stalker?" Martha asked, confused.

The Doctor shook his head. "Heimdall's the keeper of the Bifrost," he began to explain. "He sees everything that's happening across the Nine Realms, which so happens to include Earth, or Midgard, as the Asgardians call it. Earth was where the Bad Wolf died the first time, and he must be able to see throughout history as well, if he could help pull us to Asgard when we were in 1913."

Martha stared at him for a second before slowly shaking her head. "I don't even know what to think right now," she commented.

"Oh, I know what you should think," the Doctor replied, wincing a little when he heard running outside. "Where to run."

"Why?"

"My sons have returned," Odin remarked as he straightened.

"I think you should listen first!" they heard Sif shout from the hallway before the doors burst open.

Sif stopped short, Fandral and Vostagg behind her as Thor and Loki strode across the room, matching looks of anger on their faces as the Doctor pulled Martha behind him. "I think she has the right idea," the Doctor offered weakly.

"Do you really think we have the ear to listen right now, Doctor?" Thor growled in anger, stepping up to him. "After what happened to her the first time she was with this version of you, and what has happened now?"

"Don't remind me," the Doctor growled, folding his arms. "Do you think there's a reason I wanted her here for help? I wasn't exactly going to take her back to SHIELD!"

"Tell us what happened," Loki told him sharply. "From the beginning."

"And where's the beginning?" the Doctor asked.

Loki didn't back down. "Canary Wharf."

The Doctor's eyes darkened considerably. "I can't."

"Why not?" Thor asked.

"This is the third hour we've been here," Martha guessed, checking her watch. "After Canary Wharf, it was - "

"Three days," the Doctor finished. "Three days before the TARDIS performed a miracle and turned her part Time Lady. I will tell you this, Thor Odinson: I lost that woman once. I kept pushing her away because I never believed she would be here for real. I am not going to make that same mistake again."

Loki stared at him before slowly nodding. "You love her."

"Yes," the Doctor admitted, and Martha mouthed "Yes!" behind him to Loki, who gave a small smirk. "That was what made me open up the fob watch."

"Fob watch?" Fandral asked in confusion.

"Here we go again," Martha sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"Allfather!" They all spun to see one of the Healers run up, a look of wonder and shock on her face. "It's the Deathbringer!"

***

"We were wondering why she was not dead when she arrived," the Healer, named Anamaria, told them as she showed them the 3D images they had taken from Jessie's DNA. "And then we found out why."

"The Aether's energy is keeping her alive," Odin breathed as they took in the red and black energy warping around her cells.

"That's impossible," Thor denied, shaking his head. "When the Aether was held by Malekith, it did nothing."

"Jessie is the only one who's been able to use the Aether safely," the Doctor told them. "She used it to fight against the Carrionites in 1599." He looked at Martha. "Remember? The red and black energy?"

"I was too busy saving the world with Expelliarmus," she told him. "Sorry. No."

The Doctor shrugged before turning back to the Asgardians. "If the Aether has been under her control for all this time, it's no wonder that it's keeping her alive."

"That was what I wanted to call you down here for," Anamaria told them, seeming a little agitated. "We were pondering what would happen . . . if we let her absorb the Tesseract."

"No!" Loki snapped immediately, and the Doctor's eyes widened. "I know what happens when someone takes the Tesseract. The power would drive them mad!"

"That is why I asked," Anamaria told them, swallowing. "We don't know of anything else that will work."

The Doctor looked past the holograms to see Jessie still lying the way she had been a good few hours ago, the Healers standing over her, still working. He swallowed. "Is it the only way?" he asked.

Anamaria nodded slowly. "The only way we believe. With two Infinity Stones working to clear out the poison, she would be alive and strong."

"Would the Tesseract be able to reform after it was done?"

This time, Anamaria had a definite answer. "Yes. The Aether, however, would remain in her body."

The Doctor looked at Thor. "Do it," he said.

Anamaria looked at Odin for confirmation, who was looking thoughtfully at the Doctor before he nodded as well. "We will," she told them with a bow before walking off to the other Healers.

***

Martha sat on a bench out in the Asgard gardens when she heard footsteps behind her. She didn't move. "Who is it?" she asked.

Sif and Fandral sat down on either side of her. "Us," Sif replied with a sigh, looking out across the flowers. "It's been a long time since we were here."

"When was the last time?" Martha asked.

"After Queen Frigga died," Fandral replied, leaning on his elbows and nodding to the cliff up ahead. "When Jessie first came to Asgard, the Aether was unstable. The Lord of the Dark Elves, Malekith, attempted to regain it. Frigga died keeping Jessie alive."

"I'm sorry," Martha apologized.

"But with Frigga dying, she gave up her magic," Sif added. "The fire and air went to Jessie. Earth and water went to her best friend." She looked at Martha. "I understand you lost one of your family in the Battle of Canary Wharf as well."

Martha swallowed and nodded. "My cousin, Adeola."

Sif looked at her for a second before nodding and folding her arms around herself. "What was it that the Doctor said about a fob watch?"

So Martha recounted everything, from the Family to when they arrived on Asgard. Sif and Fandral listened carefully, and when she mentioned how the Bad Wolf had been poisoned, Fandral's gaze hardened. "And he let them live?"

"Forever," Martha replied with a sigh. "If he did nothing, they would have died. That would have been mercy for him."

"I agree," Sif commented. "I know what many things the Doctor has done. That would have, indeed, been mercy."

There was a blue-white flare from where the Healers were, and Sif nodded. "They have transferred the Tesseract," she noted. "And now we wait."

"For how long?" Martha asked.

"For as long as it takes."

***

So far, that was two days and counting.

The Doctor kept himself busy by rotating back and forth from Odin's Vault and curiously examining what was in there to the Healing chambers to keep an eye on the Bad Wolf. Martha, to her credit, was on hand during the training to make sure no one was injured. On the second day, while Martha was trying her hand at trying to translate a book in Asgardian runes to English from the letter translations Loki had given her, near the evening, the Bifrost was activated again.

Martha turned, hearing it, and she watched as the Bifrost summoned someone from not one, but two different realms. "What the hell?" she asked.

Loki looked up from where he was reading and saw what was going on. He closed his book and stood. "One from Vanaheim," he guessed. "Two from Midgard."

"Tony and Bruce," Martha guessed. "But who from Vanaheim?"

He beckoned to her, and they both stood from the bench and headed for the rainbow bridge. Three people were already running their way.

"Loki!" the unfamiliar one, a man with long black hair with two swords strapped to his back called. "We came as soon as Heimdall summoned us."

"Yeah, what he said," Tony agreed, before blinking when he saw Martha. "Martha? Martha Jones?"

"You remembered," Martha deadpanned.

"What're you doing here?"

"Same reason I assume Heimdall summoned you three," Loki assumed.

"The Doctor isn't going to be happy telling the same story again," Martha groaned.

"What happened?" Bruce asked, looking back and forth between the two of them. "Where's the Doctor?"

"'Better question is where's Jessie?" Tony asked.

***

The Doctor leaned on the railing above the Healing chambers as he watched blue, white, black, and red energy ripple across Jessie's skin. He closed his eyes and looked away, swallowing hard. How had he let her come to this?

He didn't look up when he heard heavy boots walking behind him. "Thor?" he guessed.

"Yes," the Avenger replied, stopping next to the Doctor and looking down. "How is she?"

"They say the Infinity Stones are doing their job," the Doctor replied, looking back. "Her regenerative cells are fully repaired." There it was again. A shoot of white gold regeneration energy, this time shimmering across her face. He swallowed. "I don't know if that means she's preparing to regenerate, or they're helping speed up the healing process."

"And what will happen assuming she does heal?"

The Doctor straightened, looking at Thor. "What?" he asked.

"Will you take her with you again?" Thor asked, straightening as well. "If you treated her this way after she changed, how can we know that this won't happen again?"

"The Eukaryn venom is the rarest poison in the universe," the Doctor told Thor, trying to keep his temper. "It's a wonder that the Family even had some. But that is one of the reasons I'm fully determined to make sure she stays alive, Thor. Don't get me wrong, I've made mistakes. This is the biggest one I have ever made."

Thor stared at him before nodding down to Jessie. "I trusted you with her," he told him. "And she returns on the brink of death. Is it true that when she began to die, that was what made you open the watch?"

"Yes," the Doctor replied without hesitation. "I remember what John Smith was feeling. Watching her, feeling completely helpless, not knowing what to do when there were two women there obviously skilled in medicine not knowing what to do either. That was when the watch practically began to scream. The Doctor would know what to do. I opened it." He shook his head. "What the Family got was . . . " He hesitated.

"Your revenge," Thor guessed.

The Doctor winced. "Yes."

"Then I take comfort in knowing they were dealt with." Thor looked at the Doctor. "We gave you a pass when she died at Canary Wharf, Doctor. This will not settle. As the Midgardians say, three strikes before you are out. This is the first."

"What do you mean?"

"She was an Asgardian before she was one of you, Doctor." Thor looked at him. "I do not agree with it, but it is my father's words. This is your first. If two more happen, and she nearly dies, and there is next to nothing we can do except feed her one of the Infinity Stones, we will take her back. Is that understood?"

"Understood," the Doctor replied after a moment.

There was more running behind them, and Loki and Martha ran in, followed by Tony, Bruce, and - "You must be Hogun," the Doctor guessed.

The Vanir nodded. "You must be the Doctor," he guessed.

Bruce, of course, went straight to what was the pressing matter for him. "Oh my God," he gasped as he looked over the railing. "What happened?"

Tony looked over, too, and he blanched. "Is that the Tesseract?" he demanded.

"It's helping her to heal," the Doctor tried to explain. "Just like the Aether is."

Tony looked at him with a glare. "What happened to her?"

"An extremely rare poison that was thrice the quantity it should have been," the Doctor replied. "We were being hunted by aliens that wanted to live forever. They wanted the life of a Time Lord. I hid Jessie and I inside two fob watches, the two of us becoming human while we waited for them to die. They didn't. They found us, and Jessie was hit in the back of the neck by a dart that contained the poison. Her watch had been found and opened. Mine hadn't been." He shook his head. "Had I opened it sooner, this might not have happened."

"How long has it been?" Bruce asked.

"62 hours," Martha replied, stifling a yawn. "With none of us getting very much sleep."

Tony swallowed. "Will she wake up?"

At this, Anamaria walked within earshot. "Yes," she replied, and they all stared at her, and she smiled at them. "The Tesseract and the Aether are working. She will wake."

"And her regeneration energy?" the Doctor asked.

Anamaria shook her head. "It is helping to heal her. She will not change her face."

He let out a breath of relief, his grip on the railing relaxing, and he wasn't the only one. Tony, Bruce, and Thor all began to smile. "Do you know when she'll wake up?" Martha called down.

That was when a flicker of doubt crossed Anamaria's face. "No," she admitted. "We do not."

***

The first thing she noticed was the blazing pain that was warping up and down her body. She inhaled sharply to keep from screaming, because a) her throat hurt, and b) she wasn't entirely sure where she was.

Jessie slowly tilted her head to the side, blinking a little when she realized that she was encased in what seemed like a cage of gold. She blindly reached out a hand and realized it was some sort of energy cage.

"You are awake," a voice above her said in surprise, and Jessie winced as a dark-haired woman with her hair pulled out of her face crossed to stand next to her. "We didn't know it would be so soon."

"Where am I?" she croaked out, trying to make sense of the pins and needles everywhere in her body.

"Asgard's Healing chambers," the woman replied, and Jessie's eyes widened as she remembered everything.

"Poison," she began to rattle off, looking around frantically. "1913 . . . did the Doctor change?"

"The Doctor is back, yes," the woman replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Would you like to sit up?"

"Yeah, that'd be best," Jessie replied, and the woman helped her slowly into a sitting position. "What's your name?"

"Anamaria," she replied.

Jessie smiled. "I like that."

"Thank you." She looked off to the side, and to her surprise, Jessie saw another Healer there. "Inform the Allfather she is awake."

"How long's it been?" Jessie asked, rubbing her forehead.

"Three days."

Jessie looked at her in shock before quickly checking herself over. She didn't look different. "You're kidding me."

"I am not."

"Do I still look the same?"

Anamaria chuckled. "Yes."

Jessie stared at her for a second before she caught a quick ripple across her skin. She looked down, and her eyes widened further when she saw familiar blue and white energy streaking across it. "Is that the Tesseract?!"

"It is helping to stabilize your health while your cells are healing," Anamaria explained. "With two Infinity Stones helping, your healing rate rocketed. We were expecting at least a week."

Jessie stared at her before she pulled her legs under her and crossed her arms across her body, shivering in the thin gown she was wearing. "I'm stupid," she muttered. "I didn't even know I was poisoned."

"It was what made the Doctor change back," Anamaria offered.

Jessie closed her eyes and looked down. "If it had been a moment longer, would I be alive?" she asked.

Anamaria hesitated. "My lady - "

"Answer it."

Anamaria sighed. "I do not know."

Jessie stared at a spot on the floor for a minute, contemplating how she had nearly died again when the door banged open. She recoiled instantly, her hands going to her head as she groaned as the noise reverberated inside of her head.

In the next second, Martha was hugging her tightly, and Jessie couldn't help but hug her back, seeing the Doctor and Odin over her friend's shoulder. She mouthed "Thank you" to both of them before starting to cry herself and burying her head in Martha's shoulder.

Anamaria gave Odin a short bow and left the room, and the Doctor crossed the room in a few strides, sitting down next to Jessie and hugging her tightly, too. Jessie whimpered and curled up closer next to him, hearing his double heartbeat sound through his chest. "Thank God," he whispered into her hair.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, shaking her head. "I should've - "

"Don't go and blame yourself," he cut in, pulling back and grabbing her face so he could look her in the eye. "You didn't know."

"But I should've," she insisted.

The Doctor made a noise in the back of his throat and looked over at Martha. "Give us a minute?"

She nodded and stood, leaving the room. Odin gave them a nod before he followed her. Jessie watched as they left before frowning at the Doctor. "Wh - ?"

He put a hand over her mouth, and she cut herself off. "We need to talk," he told her simply.

"Fen tok," she managed to say.

He gave a small smirk before taking his hand off of her mouth. "One: no blaming yourself for what happened. I was rubbish as a human, and if I'd just believed you, none of this would have happened. Two: yes, it's been three days, which has been killing me again. C - "

"Three, Doctor," she told him, leaning back on the bed, which had elevated.

He shook his head. "Three," he corrected, his smile fading, "What did you mean when you told John I was worth getting your hearts broken for?"

Jessie stared at him before taking a deep breath and crossing her arms, refusing to look at him as her gaze looked around the room. "I literally meant it. If it meant my hearts got broken, I would stay with you as long as I could."

The Doctor leaned on his elbows. "Jess?" he asked, and her breath hitched, hearing her pet name with the care and concern she had missed, and it took all of her effort not to burst out in tears. "After that, you said they already had."

"After I regenerated," she began slowly, still not looking at him, "it was like I was just gone. Yeah, I was there, but I wasn't me to you anymore. I was just some other person on the TARDIS. And I hated it." She shook her head. "I never would have admitted it, but it was getting too much. Yeah, you started to notice I was sort of there after those 42 minutes, but it still wasn't the same." She laughed hollowly. "And then when we were human, that fear was inside of me, what made me Johanna Rossini. Someone who was just a friend, but still felt like there was something more, but didn't feel like he'd feel the same for her."

"Johanna Rossini was wrong."

That made Jessie shut up and look at him, and there was a dark look in his eyes that she'd never seen from him before. She swallowed. "What?"

"She was wrong," the Doctor repeated. "And John Smith did something I dared never to do. Love you."

Jessie stared at him, her throat suddenly a whole lot dryer than it had been a few minutes ago when she'd woken up. "He what?"

"I'd always been a coward," the Doctor told her with a small smile. "I've been one since I ran away from Gallifrey and started traveling everywhere. And then after the War, I pick up a little violet and bronze Asgardian who keeps trying to tell me that I'm not. And I did the one thing I promised myself I never would. I fell in love with her." He looked at Jessie, she sat frozen by the look he gave her. "And then she died, and I wondered how in all the worlds I traveled to I would go on. For three days, I tried to figure out how. And then she comes back to life with not one, but two hearts, and transforms into this gold and silver woman that was brighter than she had been before. And I couldn't dare to believe that it was really her. Even after seeing what she could do, and how almost every single detail was the same, I kept picking out differences. And then came the Family." The Doctor shook his head, swallowing. "I lost you once, Jessie," he told her hoarsely. "And I can't lose you again."

"I made my choice a long time ago," she whispered. "I'm never going to leave you. I promised you forever. Is that so hard to believe?"

"Once, it was," he replied. "I'm still having trouble with it. But I think I owe you something."

"You don't owe me anything," Jessie tried to say.

"Yes, I do," the Doctor told her firmly. "I owe you everything. The Family tried to take the one thing I could hold onto forever, the one thing I possibly love more than the life I have, and they nearly succeeded." Jessie's eyes widened even further, and he nodded up to the balcony above the Healing chamber. "Three days, we've been keeping a close eye on you. Martha practically had to drag me away some days. I told you once that you could spend the rest of your life with me, but I couldn't spend the rest of mine with you. Now we can."

Jessie swallowed. He wasn't seriously suggesting - ? "Are you asking me to marry you?"

"I love you," the Doctor told her, turning to her, and her jaw dropped a little, and he nodded. "And yes. I am. And before you ask, it is not because you can regenerate." He put on a thinking face. "Well, that's part of it," he conceded. "That's a benefit of forever. Well, one of them. Well - "

Jessie rolled her eyes and grabbed onto his jacket and pulled him to her, and he gave up before crashing his lips onto hers. It wasn't ferocious, like the boys who'd abused and stolen her so many times before, but it wasn't necessarily gentle, either. Their lips moved together the way they should've for months, feelings they'd kept down for so long rising to a boil.

They were interrupted when there was a call of "It's about time!" from out in the hall.

The Doctor groaned and pulled away, one arm around her as he glared over her shoulder playfully. "Really, Stark?" he whined. "First time I get to kiss her - "

"Third," Jessie managed to say, still a little winded. "And that was one hell of a kiss."

"First real one when both of us know what we're doing," the Doctor corrected her with a cheeky grin as Tony and Bruce entered before he turned to glare back at Tony. "And you have to ruin it?"

"When's the wedding?" Bruce asked as he hugged Jessie tightly.

"I didn't even get the rings on her fingers!"

"Rings?" Jessie asked in confusion.

"It's a tradition on Gallifrey," the Doctor explained, digging a hand in his pocket and pulling it back out, revealing two separate rings that made Jessie's eyes widen in amazement. One of them was a brilliant rose gold with a glittering amethyst, diamonds lining the outside of it. The other was just as brilliant with a silver band and a sapphire in the center that glimmered, which made her guess it was more than just a sapphire, and small diamonds lined the inside of the ring, silver accents wrapping around and holding the gem in place. "One ring on the right hand to represent who you are. One on the left to symbolize your marriage." He took her right hand and slid the rose gold one on her ring finger, and her eyes widened further when the ring adjusted to her finger size. "Violet and bronze, no matter who you are." He slid the sapphire ring onto her left ring finger, and it was as if part of her mind was unlocked, and she could hear a faint singing in her head. "And the woman who saved my life when I thought no one else would," he finished, clasping both of her hands with his, and she looked up at him, and he smiled at her. "That voice in your head? That's the TARDIS."

"I can hear her again?" she asked softly.

"Mmm." He nodded. "And you always will again. I can reinforce the bond again after the wedding. As long as you're connected to me, you're connected to her."

"Not without her permission, though?" Bruce asked.

The Doctor made a face, and Jessie shook her head, making a shooing motion. "Oh, get out of here," she whined.

Tony stuck his tongue out at her, but left, albeit reluctantly. Bruce chuckled, but he followed as well. The Doctor looked at her. "I wouldn't do it, though, if you didn't want to," he told her quickly.

"No," Jessie laughed, tilting her hands so the light from the gems could flicker across them both, and she smiled gently. "This . . . I think I've always wanted this since I met you." She smiled at him. "The moment you stopped believing this was me . . . I never thought I'd see you look at me like you are now again."

"Like what?" he asked softly.

She blushed and looked down. "Like I'm the only thing that matters," she admitted softly. "I thought it was gone."

He tilted her head up and gave her a pointed look. "Then I guess I'd better start making it up."

She grinned at him. "I know a good way you can start."

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

She smirked and pulled him to her again, kissing him as hard as she could. He responded instantly, and neither of them noticed Bruce and Tony smile at each other knowingly as they closed the door behind them.

They'd see them again in the morning.

***

The first thing that Martha noticed that morning at breakfast, and the thing that made her eyes widen happily, was the new glitter on both of the Bad Wolf's ring fingers. "Oh my God!" she shouted, standing from where she sat and running over as the two Time Lords walked in, both of them glowing with the same kind of happiness. "He did not!"

"He did!" the Bad Wolf laughed, hugging Martha tightly.

Martha instantly grabbed her hands and held them both up before grinning. "I call maid of honor," she told them both.

The Doctor laughed as well as she hugged him next. "You have it."

"Tony was telling us about it," Sif told the Bad Wolf warmly, hugging her next. "I couldn't be happier."

"Well, until after the wedding," Bruce remarked.

Thor was grinning, too, although there was a glint of sadness in his eyes as he realized Jessie would not be staying. Loki, however, looked like he couldn't have been happier. "When will you be leaving?" he asked.

The Doctor looked over at Odin, who was watching with a small smile on his face. "If it is all right with the Allfather, later in the day."

Odin bowed his head. "Of course. Heimdall will help send you back to Midgard."

"Thank you." The Doctor turned to Jessie, smiling sadly. "Because I know where we're going next."

"Where?" Martha asked.

"1969," the Doctor replied. "I checked the files that this Sally Sparrow gave us. I think we should all have a look."

***

"Weeping Angels," the Doctor told them later in the TARDIS as they prepared to leave. "They feed off of time energy, and they can move if you're not looking at them. But when you do, they freeze. But don't blink, whatever you do. If you blink, they can send you back in time."

"And the two of you get sent back to 1969, and I'm left behind," Jessie said sadly, sighing as he worked at the console, smiling as she heard the TARDIS more in her head, a sound she was more than happy to hear.

"She knew about the rings on your hands," Martha remarked. "She asked specifically to see your hands."

"And there was nothing there," the Doctor agreed. "She knew it hadn't happened yet."

"So this is before she's met us, and I need to help her get the TARDIS to you," Jessie said before taking a deep breath. "I can do that."

"Good girl," the Doctor told her, kissing the top of her head. Jessie beamed at him before doing a double check. "All set?" she asked.

He nodded. "Ready for Wester Drumlins."

Jessie nodded and stepped out of the TARDIS doors, smiling softly when she saw all of the Asgardians, Bruce, and Tony were there. "We're off."

Tony hugged her tightly. "I guess no taking up on that offer, then?"

"Nah," she replied with a grin. "I'm happy where I am."

"Good luck," Bruce told her, hugging her as well.

Jessie smiled at Anamaria, who hung back a little. "And thank you," she added, "for helping me."

Anamaria smiled softly. "Of course."

Jessie turned to the other Asgardians: Odin, Thor, Loki, Sif, Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun. "We'll come back some time," she told them. "It just might not be for a while."

Odin nodded. "We will be waiting."

"Tell him that if something like this happens again, we will kill him," Sif said.

Loki grimaced. "Oh, this brings back memories."

Sif glared at him. "Shut up."

Jessie giggled, hugging as many of them as she could in one go. "I will." She pulled back before bowing slightly to Odin. "Allfather."

"Lady Deathbringer," was his reply.

Jessie saluted to Heimdall, standing ready. "Thanks for bringing us here."

Heimdall nodded. "Anything to save your life."

She pointed to them all. "You'll want to watch this bit," she told them before stepping inside. She closed them before turning around and grinning like a Cheshire Cat, and the Doctor had a matching one on his face.

In less than one week, she'd practically died, then gotten engaged three days later. And she finally had everything she'd wanted since she'd boarded the TARDIS. But she was in for hell for a few days before she could get the Doctor and Martha back.

I wouldn't have it any other way, Jessie decided as she ran up to help the Doctor pilot. Sally Sparrow, here I come.

***

Finally put them out of their misery. :) So we get the Doctor telling Jessie he loves her and him putting rings on her fingers. The good thing about being the author is that I get to write these kinds of bombshells and smile to myself. I actually started tearing up a little bit, too.

There's going to be a break from this story, though, so our dear Caly (Apocalypse) and Rose don't feel abandoned. But once "The Unquiet Dead" is done, I will definitely be writing "Blink." And then it's just the final three episodes, and then . . . Series 4. :)

I'll be putting the pictures of the rings in the comments below if you want to check out what they look like!