Saleen burst back into the TARDIS, laughing as she spun around. "Oh my God, that was so awesome!"

Jessie came in next, laughing as well, and finally the Doctor, who was grinning just as much as they were. "June 10, 2003!" he crowed as they headed for the library. "The first production of Wicked, starring Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel! Brilliant!"

"I still can't believe you had us impersonate bodyguards while you get to be the freaking Secretary of Defense!" Jessie shouted at him.

"Oi!" he cried back. "It was not that! It was Ambassador . . . something or other from London!"

Jessie rolled her eyes and entered the library with the Doctor behind her. "Yeah, sure it - " She cut off when the library doors slammed shut and locked with a click. "Saleen!" she shouted, banging on the door. "What the hell?"

"Oh, no!" Saleen shouted back as the Doctor ran over as well. "You two are stewing in your own juices for a while until you work out whatever you need to."

"What?" Jessie yelped as the Doctor tried to use the sonic screwdriver on the doorknob, only to jerk his hand back when the TARDIS shocked him.

"See? She's on my side!" Saleen told them smugly. "I don't know what happened on that ship beside Madame de What's-Her-Name, but work it out! And if you need either me or the TARDIS, we'll be in the console room, probably watching the two of you."

Jessie growled and kicked the door in annoyance, wincing when she felt a dull throb in her head. "I really hate her sometimes," she muttered, collapsing onto the couch.

"She's right, though," the Doctor admitted, sitting down in the chair across from her. "Something is up. What is it?"

Jessie crossed her legs underneath her. "It wasn't five and a half hours," she muttered.

The Doctor blinked. "What?"

"It wasn't five and a half hours," she repeated, folding her arms around her protectively. "It was a day and a half. The hour was seventeen thirty."

He looked at her in shock, and then something in his eyes flickered, from worry to anger. "Why didn't you say that, then?"

"What was I supposed to say?" she shrieked, holding her hands up. "You got stuck in Madame de Pompadour's timeline after crashing through a time window - "

"Which I recall you telling me to do," the Doctor interrupted.

" - and then a day and a half later, you find your way back, then drag me back there to find out that she died and we get letters for the both of us!" she finished, glaring back at him.

"Did you open yours yet?" the Doctor asked.

She shook her head. "No, I didn't, but that's not - "

"It makes everything, Jessie," the Doctor snapped. "You don't just give people Bad Wolf. What did you talk to Reinette about?"

"Oh, so we're back to calling her Reinette," Jessie muttered, looking back at the fireplace. "Fantastic."

"What is it you have against her?" the Doctor asked.

"Nothing!" Jessie replied quickly, standing and pacing. "I just wish I could've gone with you!"

"Then why didn't you?"

Jessie stopped short, staring at nothing. "I don't know," she whispered, truly wondering why she didn't. "I really don't know."

The Doctor folded his arms, leaning back in his chair. "Read the letter."

"You read yours?"

He nodded.

"What did it say?"

He looked right at her. "To not stray from the Bad Wolf girl who once said that I'm worth getting your heart broken for."

Jessie swallowed and sat back down on the couch. "One may fight a world of demons for the sake of an angel," she whispered.

The Doctor nodded. "Read it," he encouraged.

The TARDIS lights blinked, and the envelope appeared on the table next to them. Jessie opened the envelope and pulled out the letter, beginning to read.

Bad Wolf Girl,

I now understand why you let the Doctor return to me even when you love him. You care for others and do not think often of yourself. Sometimes I wonder if I can do that much as well.

But my time runs short, and I do not know if you or my angel will return. I have seen your world, and I know that it is incredible. But I grow weak, and I can feel myself fade.

I can never live up to who you are in the Doctor's eyes. He is happy with you, but something tells me that he is afraid to let you know. I have been inside his head, and I know that if he could, he would cling to you like a lifeline.

Cling to him, Bad Wolf. Stay with him. You two need each other more than you know. I know the way you act. Hold on tight.

Hurry, Bad Wolf girl. But if I am dead before you receive this, know that even though I knew you for a few short moments, you changed me for good. For that, I could never repay you.

Goodbye, my friend, and stay strong.

Reinette

Madame de Pompadour

"Jessie?"

Jessie sniffed, wiping at her eyes and forcing out a laugh. "Maybe Reinette had something to do with Wicked. It's funny. Right there."

The Doctor hesitated. "If I give you mine, can I see yours?"

Jessie looked up sharply, then sighed. "Yeah. Guess it wouldn't hurt." She handed her letter over. "Reinette put it better than I ever could." The Doctor handed her his letter in reply. She smiled as she read it over. "I take everything bad that I said about her back. This woman really is incredible."

The Doctor nodded as he read hers. "She really is." He handed her letter back and took back his. "So is the Face of Boe."

"Makes no sense at all, sometimes, but he is," Jessie agreed. She looked back at her letter and smirked. "Maybe it was a good idea to see Wicked."

"Why?"

She smiled back at him. "I think this really has all changed me."

"Is that good or bad?"

Jessie smiled wider. "I've been changed for the better."

The Doctor grinned. "'Because I knew you,'" he quoted. "'I have been changed for good.'"

Jessie nodded. "Yep. That's me."

"I didn't say I was talking about you." She blinked as he sat down next to her. "I wasn't ready to open up when I met you," he admitted. "I didn't know if I could open up again." He playfully punched her in the arm. "Who'd have thought, huh?"

"No, you with big ears was just absolutely thrilled about talking about anything," she drawled.

The Doctor grinned at her. "Oh, absolutely." She giggled, and he grinned at her. "But Reinette told me something else that I was incredibly daft about."

"Oh?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Jessie Nightshade, I don't think I'd be able to survive without you."

She squeaked in surprise that he finally said it - or at least some form of it - and before he could try and take it back, she reached up and whacked him on the back of the head. "About bloody time you said that!"

"What?" he sputtered.

"You name one person who hasn't realized it, and I'll give you a medal," she told him with a grin. "And yes, that includes Jack, FitzSimmons, Coulson, Saleen, Reinette - " She took a deep breath to keep on going before she realized the Doctor had his eyebrows raised at her, and she blushed. "What?"

He grinned and simply shook his head. "Jessie Nightshade, you are impossible."

She grinned back and leaned her head on his shoulder. "So are you."

When he finally gave her a bone crushing hug, she gave no complaint. And of course, neither of them noticed when Saleen and the TARDIS unlocked the library door again.

***

I seem to have a thing for Wicked. :) So, the TARDIS and Saleen cooperated to get the two of them to talk. Do you think the Doctor is actually going to say it sometime soon, or are we going to have to wait a while? Hmm . . .

Hopefully I'll be able to get "Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel" up soon, so bear with me!