𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧
𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐬
𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐱

from the eyes of
— 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐉𝐀𝐃𝐄 —

Five minutes lasted much longer than five simple minutes. I was surprised when five minutes on the dot passed and the Doctor did not come bursting into my room to check on me.

Color me more surprised when over an hour passed with still no sign of him.

After slapping some sense into myself and choosing to ignore the fact that Doctor may or may not have incidentally fallen in love with me back when I traveled with—or WILL travel with—ten, I decided that it should probably be fine.

The Doctor is the Doctor.

A TimeLord with secrets—a heavily traumatized and scarred man who was deathly afraid of those around him either leaving or dying. He thinks I am human, a girl who will eventually shrivel up and die.

The Doctor won't face that, he will absolutely not want to deal with such a thing which leads me to believe that he would never admit his feelings out loud. Will never make the first move—not a real one at least.

It was sad that fear would hold him back from such a thing, but in the end, it was better that way.

I was confident enough in the thought that it picked my mood up immensely and allowed me to stroll almost carefree away from the room and back through the corridors. I'd spent the better half of the hour pacing before relaxing on my bed and trying to meditate.

A solid 20-minute meditation session did wonders. And so, after dropping off my backpack and leaving it to lay at the foot of my bed—I was back at it.

When I popped around the corner, I was greeted by the Doctor sitting under the console in some sort of swing chair. Amy stood above him, watching him nervously. She was biting her fingernails from anxiety, and I quickly understood why as the TARDIS sparked wildly from whatever the fuck the Doctor was trying to fix.

A cloud of smoke came from it, electricity shooting everywhere before disappearing.

And then—the TimeLord poked at it again causing the same reaction. He giggled at what he'd done.

He was wearing a pair of goggles, silly-looking ones—nowhere near as cool as mine.

My attention quickly drifted to the new person, a lengthy male about the same height and weight as the Doctor. Except, the human man did not look nearly as eccentric.

Not ugly by any means and entirely human; he was just kind of... a dude.

He was looking around with unabashed stupefaction, appearing to be nearly in shock as his big eyes took in everything around him.

The man wore a pair of dirty New Balances' and some worn jeans. His shirt, I realized was a bright red long-sleeve but smack in the center of it was a picture of him and Amy leaning against each other and smiling.

His hair was flat on his head, sandy blonde. Yep, just an average human dude—and I love them!

I wandered further into the console room, watching as the new man flinched as the Doctor once again poked something he shouldn't have and caused a needless mini-explosion of smoke. The poor TARDIS.

Amy was awkwardly pacing, her gaze moving tensely from the Doctor to the man I assumed was her fiancé; Rory.

The Doctor started to ramble and lecture from where he sat below the console on his swing with those ridiculous goggles on.

"The life out there—it dazzles!" The Doctor was explaining, needing to yell quite loudly to be heard both from his far position and with the random tinkering he was doing. "I mean, it blinds you humans to the things that are the most important! I've seen it devour relationships and plans...!" The Doctor was saying just as another surge released from the TARDIS, it caused Rory to yell and flinch from where he stood watching the Doctor through the glass floor. "It's meant to do that!" The Doctor cried, trying to play it off, but he was looking at whatever he had just messed with worriedly. "Anyway!" He continued his rant from where he left off. "For one person to have seen all that, to taste the glory and then just try to go back..." He sighed. "It will tear you apart..."

I mean, he isn't wrong. Who is able to live the most fantastic life of traveling wherever they want, exploring the cosmos, exploring all of time, virtually free... and then just go back to an average boring little human life?

No one, that's for darn certain.

"So!" The Doctor finally said, rocking on his swing and pulling his goggles off. "I'm sending you two somewhere!"

"What? Like a date?" Amy asked.

"Anywhere you want—any time you want!" The Doctor cried happily, hopping off his swing and moving in a crouched position as he exited the underbelly of the console.

It was obvious he was just trying to ignore whatever he inevitably broke on the machine.

"Sounds fun! A little night before the wedding trip...!" I finally said causing the attention to fall on me as I waggled my brows at Amy and wandered up the steps of the console.

I could feel the Doctor bouncing out of the underbelly and start to follow me up the steps.

"PJ!" He cheered happily, resembling a golden retriever.

"Doctor!" I mocked with a teasing smile before making my way to Rory with an outstretched hand.

"PJ... nice to meet you..." I grabbed his hand.

His hands were large and had callouses. It was obvious that this man liked to tinker in his own right. On cars and various other construction projects if I had to guess.

My telepathic nature worked in bringing me his vibe—if that makes any sense—the moment we touched. He was brilliant: he too was a person of curiosity. His was just slightly dimmer than Amy's.

With the force of my abilities locked away, my telepathic nature and other abilities were very diluted. Extremely minute. However, I had much control over myself—and being in others brains was not very fun so I often chose to ignore that ability.

"Rory," He nodded, still looking starstruck as he took me in. "And I just need to say—wow—you look awesome... like a proper Star Wars character!" He geeked in an excited tone, equally as British as the other two with a smile so big it nearly split his face in half.

Adorable.

I grinned right back. "Why, thank you! I try!"

"Oi! You're inside a police box that is infinitely bigger on the inside with your fiancé and a bowtie-wearing alien but you're most amazed by PJ?!" The Doctor indignantly huffed, suddenly inserting himself right between Rory and me. "She's just a space human!"

I yelped at his sudden proximity.

"Ugh, don't be an idiot..." I lightly hit his shoulder. "I am the most amazing thing in here!"

The Doctor looked at me and proceeded to open and close his mouth. Most likely trying to argue, but to my surprise, it seemed he did not disagree with my tone.

I snickered at that. The Doctor glowered.

"No, the TARDIS, the TARDIS is far better than anything!"

I shrugged. "Can't deny that..."

The Doctor smiled and bopped my nose. I went cross-eyed and scowled at him.

"Are you feeling better, PJ?" Amy asked worriedly, coming next to us. "The Doctor said you got some sort of time sickness from seeing a picture of your future self... said it's bad for humans to engage with our future too much..."

"Now, Amelia that is not what I said. Such a thing doesn't always happen when we engage with our future selves, but sometimes it can..." The Doctor tittered, turning to her with a single finger raised and a hand in his pocket.

Now all four of us were standing in a close square—Rory rather awkwardly seeing as he only really knew Amy.

"Yeah, I'm good, just was nauseous and my head was kinda ringing... had to lay down for a bit..." I explained, the lie seamless.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long, Amy told me not to bother you... but I would've come check on you eventually..." The Doctor pouted, bringing his hand out of his pocket and pinching my chin between his fingers. "Now, say aah...!"

"Aah?" I asked, raising a confused brow. The Doctor proceeded to pull my mouth open even wider. "AAH!"

He then popped a butterscotch-tasting candy in my mouth before closing it. He tapped the bottom of my chin.

"Mmm..." He hummed as though a parent trying to convince their baby what they were eating was good.

"Mmhmm..." I loudly hummed back before delivering a fierce elbow to his abdomen.

He grunted and bent over before glaring at me. "Oi, stop being violent! It's meant to help with the nausea, you're welcome!"

"You're really supposed to ask before dumping things in girl's mouth, Doctor..." I told him, purposely making it sound like an innuendo.

Amy and Rory both choked a laugh while the Doctor blushed brighter than a tomato. He floundered, bashfully turning away and quickly moving from us.

"Anyway!" He clapped, quickly changing the subject. "Think of this as a wedding present, you two! The only condition is that it needs to be somewhere amazing! Think big, think fun! Moulin Rouge in 1890, the first Olympic Games!"

My eyes lit up and I clapped. "Middle Earth!" I cried enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear.

The Doctor gasped, looking at me as though I held the sun. "Yes! Middle Earth!" He practically bounced on the balls of his feet, his hands flailing. "Oh, the Battle of Helm's Deep! Or maybe the coronation of King Aragorn!"

I pointed at him dramatically. "Or the Shire during Bilbo's birthday party! Cake and fireworks!"

"Yes! Yes!" He spun in place before freezing, frowning slightly. "Wait... hold on. That's not real. That's fictional. Completely fictional."

I pouted. "You're no fun."

"I'm loads of fun!" He countered. "How about—oh! The signing of the Magna Carta!"

I wrinkled my nose. "The Magna Carta? Boooring. Let's do something wild, like a front-row seat to the extinction of the dinosaurs!"

The Doctor gasped again, delighted. "Oh, the asteroid impact! That's brilliant. Oh, but what about the very first lunar landing in 1969?!"

I rolled my eyes. "Been there, done that. How about the time the moon crashed into the Earth?"

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You were at the moon landing?"

I winked. "Maybe. I was hiding behind a rock watching—can you imagine if they landed on the moon and found me?"

"Well, I've been to the actual moon! Not just the landing, the moon-moon! Played a bit of cricket with the Judoon!"

"Dude, everybody who travels time and space has been to the moon!"

"And who else travels time and space? Not many, dearest!"

Amy groaned. "You two are insufferable."

"Shush, Pond, we're brainstorming!" The Doctor waved her off, his attention fixed entirely on me. "Alright then, what's next?"

I smirked. "The Great Martian Migration of 3825? Martians, Martians, and more Martians!"

He beamed. "Good one. How about the invention of human time travel in 3033? Not great time travel, but funny all the same!"

"Too obvious," I shot back. "The opening of the first space opera house on Europa! Phantom of the Space Song!"

"The great asteroid ring concert of Kepler-452B!"

"The galactic peace treaty signing on the Zargoth Nebula!"

"The Supernova Parade of 4221!"

"The Big Bang!"

"The collision of galaxies Andromeda and Milky Way!"

Together, we screamed in unison, "THE END OF THE UNIVERSE!"

It was so hard not to whip out some event that happened in a different universe. I really want to go with him to a universe where everyone is a cartoon—I LOVE that place!

"Woahhh!" Amy stepped between us, waving her hands. "Down boy, down girl. Maybe we shouldn't have my fiancé nearly dying on his first trip through space and time, yeah?"

Both the Doctor and I froze, cringing simultaneously. "Good idea," we muttered again in perfect unison.

The Doctor immediately grinned, clearly delighted, while I scowled at him.

"Stop copying me!"

He practically beamed, rocking on his heels. "No, you stop copying me!"

I jabbed a finger at him. "I said it first!"

"Well, I thought it first!"

Amy groaned, dragging a hand down her face. "Rory, you better get used to this. They'll be at it the entire trip."

Rory laughed nervously, already looking overwhelmed. "Noted."

The Doctor turned to Rory and clapped him on the shoulder, his energy bubbling over. "Don't worry, Rory, I'll keep her in check."

"Oh, please," I scoffed, crossing my arms. "I'm the one keeping you in check."

He gasped, feigning offense. "Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

Amy sighed, muttering under her breath, "So where are we going? Earth-based please, and preferably in the past... haven't been there yet, have we? Oh, wait never mind, Churchill's bunker was in the past..."

"But not by much!" The Doctor piped. "Only 80 or so years...!"

"Humans, Doctor!" I told him. "That's an entire lifetime!"

The Doctor cringed at the information, his eyes turning sad as he regarded all of us before he forced himself to perk up—his emotions guarded. "Ah—yes! Quite right! Now, Rory, I'm sure it's a lot to take in, isn't it?" The Doctor chuckled, patting Rory's shoulder—almost trying to little bro him as he passed by. "Tiny box—huge room inside! What's that about? Let me explain!"

Rory did not skip a motherfucking beat before he clapped back. "It's another dimension?" He guessed.

The Doctor seemed to not catch his words at first. "It's basically another dimension—what?" He seemed more than taken aback at Rory's immediate correct guess.

Rory did not hesitate. "After the whole Prisoner Zero debacle, I've been reading up on all the latest scientific theories. FTL travel, parallel universes—" He explained and the Doctor cut him off, slowly walking up to him as though squaring up.

"I like the bit where someone says it's bigger on the inside... I always look forward to that..." He told him, both of them looking the other up and down.

I cackled. "Ooh, Doctor, he clocked you!"

The Doctor and Rory both snapped their heads at me. Rory smiled and the Doctor scowled.

"Oi, shut up, PJ!" He called. "I am a TimeLord, I can't be clocked for anything!"

"And yet you just were!"

Before another little spat could break out, Amy interrupted loudly. "SO!" She said causing the Doctor to turn his attention to her. "This date! I'm kind of done with running down corridors! What do you think, Rory?" Amy asked.

Rory was unable to respond before the Doctor was grinning as he shoved down a random lever.

"How about somewhere romantic...?" He asked us all, eyeing me with a sparkle in his eyes extra long.

Fucking hell.

The TARDIS shuddered.

I was quick to hold a railing along with Amy and Rory as the TARDIS suddenly flipped. I SCREAMED as we all went flying.

He had broken something with his tinkering under the console earlier!

The TARDIS lurched violently again, I was thrown upward—everyone floating for what seemed to be only a moment and then hitting the ground harshly.

"DOCTOR!" I yelled, gripping the nearest railing for dear life. "What did you do?!"

"Nothing! I did nothing!" The Doctor protested, his voice somehow gleeful amidst the chaos. "The TARDIS is just... expressing herself!"

"Expressing herself?! She's gonna kill us!" Amy screamed as she clung to Rory, who looked pale but impressively steady. "I knew whatever you were doing down there didn't sound good!"

The TARDIS spun again, throwing me off balance. Before I could hit the ground, the Doctor's arm shot out, wrapping securely around my waist and yanking me to his side.

"Gotcha!" He said brightly, holding me firm with one hand while the other flew over the console, flipping switches and pulling levers with expert precision.

My heart was racing—not just from the turbulence but from the sheer closeness of him. "Are you even steering this thing?!" I managed to sputter, clutching his coat for stability.

"Of course, I'm steering! Well... mostly! 80% steering, 20% hoping for the best!"

"Doctor, those percentages do not inspire confidence!"

"Trust me, PJ! It's all part of the fun!"

"Your idea of fun sucks!"

"You love my idea fun!"

The TARDIS gave one final, mighty shudder before coming to a sudden, jolting stop that sent all of us stumbling.

The Doctor released me, looking far too pleased with himself. "And here we are!" He declared, adjusting his bowtie.

I didn't even hear him. The moment his arm dropped, I bolted for the door, flinging it open and sprinting outside.

"PJ?" Amy called after me.

Rory frowned. "Where's she going?"

The Doctor groaned and followed me out, waving a hand at the others to join him. "Ignore that! She's fine! Anyway, welcome to Venice! Venezia! La Serenissima!"

Amy and Rory stepped out, marveling at the bustling market that stretched out before them, vibrant with colorful stalls, the scent of fresh bread and sea salt filling the air.

Meanwhile, I was doubled over by a random bucket, loudly and miserably emptying the contents of my stomach. I blame the small bout of the crack energy getting to me and the earlier shock I had for my now sensitive stomach.

The Doctor winced, cringing dramatically as he approached. "Ooh, sorry, dearest! Rough landing got you that bad, eh?"

I shot him a murderous glare, still hunched over.

"She's good!" The Doctor called cheerfully over his shoulder to Amy and Rory, clapping his hands together as if nothing was amiss. "Look around! Isn't it beautiful? Impossible city—preposterous city! Founded by refugees running from Attila the Hun! It was just a collection of wooden huts in the middle of the marsh, but became one of the most powerful cities in the world! Constantly being invaded, constantly flooding, but constantly just beautiful!" He spoke quickly, motioning to everything boldly. "Ah, Venice! Got to love Venice, and so many people did! Napolean, Byron, Casanova!" He said before clearing his throat. "Which reminds me—it's 1580! Good, Casanova isn't born for another 145 years, I owe him a chicken!"

Amy and Rory exchanged a look, only half-listening before Rory asked dryly, "Should we... check on her?"

"She's fine!" The Doctor assured them, though he glanced at me guiltily. "Probably."

Finally, it was over and I was left taking deep breaths with a horrible acidic taste in my mouth.

I straightened up, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. "Doctor," I said, my voice dangerously low.

"Yes, PJ?" He replied cautiously, his hands half-raised as if preparing to defend himself.

"I hate you!"

"No, no! You really do love me, I swear!" He called back playfully, with a nervous lilt to his tone. His words made me pale—mostly because there was a good chance he was telling the truth. He just didn't realize I'd picked up on it already. "Now, how about we go exploring?!"

My stomach lurched uncomfortably again as the Doctor's previous words he spoke to Rory and Amy echoed in my mind.

He told them this was a date—he'd taken them here with the intention of a date. And if Amy and Rory were on a date... were me and the Doctor on one as well? Was this a double date?!

Three hours ago I wouldn't have considered it as anymore than me and the Doctor being friendly tagalongs. But now, I am not so sure.

One glance at his happy face, and how he was sniffing the air made me willing to bet that he would count this as a double date. He probably would just not say it out loud.

I looked around myself. Italy—1500s.

Not impressive. I don't mind missing out this time around.

With that, I groaned and put the back of my hand against my head. My knees dramatically went loose and I slowly started going to the ground. Like unbelievably slowly.

But somehow the Doctor believed it, for he yelped.

The moment the Doctor caught me, his arms steady and secure, I nearly broke character. I mean, I was just pretending to faint, but the way his face twisted with worry made me feel a little guilty. Just a little.

He kinda deserved this for saying I was fine when I was puking my heart out.

"PJ!" He gasped, holding me up like I was made of glass. "Are you all right? Speak to me!"

I blinked up at him, momentarily thrown off by his reaction. Okay, maybe I overdid it. "Oh, it's fine..." I waved a hand weakly, dialing down the drama. "Just a bit woozy. Must be, um... residual radiation? And, you know, time sickness. From seeing my, uh, future picture and the Aplan Temple and all that."

His eyes narrowed, and before I could say anything else, he pulled out his sonic screwdriver like a reflex. "Right. Let's just see what's going on—"

"Oh, no, you don't need that!" I swatted the thing out of his hand, and it clattered to the cobblestone ground.

He gaped at me, horrified, as though I'd committed a cardinal sin. "PJ, you don't just swat a TimeLord's sonic! What if something was seriously wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," I said firmly, crossing my arms—or as best as I could while he was still holding me. "I don't need to be sonicked. I just need to rest. Maybe hang out in one of the TARDIS lounge rooms. You know, the ones with the cozy pillows in the comfy chairs?"

From the corner of my eye, I caught Amy's expression: arms crossed, one brow raised, looking far too amused for my liking. She knew I was faking. Rory, on the other hand, looked genuinely concerned. Sweet Rory.

"I'm a nurse," Rory offered, stepping closer. "If you're not feeling well, I can check you out. Make sure everything's okay."

Before I could respond, the Doctor waved him off with a tight smile. "It's fine, Rory. I'm a Doctor—I can take care of my own..." He trailed off awkwardly, his cheeks turning an interesting shade of pink. "...intern."

Rory blinked in confusion. "Are you a real doctor though? I thought it was just your name. And she's your intern?"

"Later!" The Doctor snapped, clearly flustered, avoiding my gaze entirely now.

I stared at him, my heart doing an annoying little flutter in my chest. He noticed and asked, "What? What is it?"

"Nothing," I muttered, shaking my head quickly. "I just... need to rest this off. Like I said. Lounge room. Pillows. Maybe a cup of hot chocolate."

He pursed his lips, still holding me like he didn't trust me not to keel over if he let go. "Well, I could go with you," He suggested, his voice softening. "Amy and Rory can enjoy Venice for a bit, and we'll rejoin them once you're feeling better." He paused before throwing them a suspicious glance. "Actually never mind, we can all go back in the TARDIS for a bit and come back out later on..."

Amy and Rory both gasped in unison, as though deeply offended by his seeming lack of ability to leave them alone. "What?" Amy snapped. "Why can't we be left alone out here?"

"Because," The Doctor replied, throwing them a pointed look, "you two in a different time period unsupervised? Recipe for disaster."

What he meant by that was two Earth civilians alone in an entirely different period without him was dangerous on countless levels.

"We'd be fine!" Amy argued, but the Doctor ignored her entirely, turning back to me instead.

"So how about it?" He suggested, his tone brighter, like he was trying to compromise. "We'll all relax in the TARDIS for a bit, and then we'll try Italy again once you're feeling better. There is plenty for me to tinker with on the console to pass the time or—I know! We can watch the first Hobbit movie like we talked about!"

I cringed, shaking my head. "No, thank you. I don't really like Italy. We can do that stuff once you guys have had your time here if you'd like though..."

He gasped, clutching his chest as if I'd personally insulted him. "You don't like it anywhere! I swear, where do you like?"

Without missing a beat, I jabbed a finger at him. "Middle Earth. And you still owe me a Sabrina Carpenter concert. You haven't let me pick our destinations even once!"

He blinked, scratching the back of his head guiltily. "Right. Fair point. Okay, after this, you get to pick. I promise."

"Sure, Doctor," I muttered, rolling my eyes. I wriggled out of his grasp and stood on my own, brushing myself off. His hands hovered awkwardly for a moment as if he wasn't quite sure what to do with them now.

"But seriously," I added, pointing at Amy and Rory. "They need this. Let them have their romantic little Venice trip. I'll be fine. It's you I'm worried about. Last time, the Weeping Angels nearly killed you."

"For the last time, that was under control," He argued, though he winced as he said it. "Mostly."

I snorted. "Amy almost died."

"Yeah, about that..." The Doctor cringed.

"What?!" Rory shouted, glaring at him.

The Doctor waved his hands defensively. "Fine, fine! We'll be back soon!" He turned to me, his expression softening again. "You'll be okay?"

I gave him a small, reassuring smile. "I'll be fine. Go play chaperone."

With that, I turned and headed back to the TARDIS. Just before stepping inside, I glanced over my shoulder and caught the Doctor's gaze. He was watching me, his expression unreadable, but when our eyes met, he smiled. It was small and fleeting, but it warmed something in my chest despite myself.

I smiled back before disappearing into the TARDIS.

The console room greeted me warmly.

"By the Gods, what has that idiot man done to you!"

I stopped short, my mouth dropping open at who greeted me. River Song whirled around the console controls madly. When the door closed behind me, her head snapped in my direction with surprise.

However, she seemed to relax upon seeing it was just me.

"River Song?" I asked incredulously. "What are you doing here?"

She leaned against the console confidently, her arms crossed and blonde curls wild as ever.

"Well, hello sweetheart..."