Dancing Across Time (Book Two of The Bad Wolf Chronicles)

Interlude: Pause and Reflect

"Then tell me about it."

Jessie shook her head. "No."

"Jessie, what's so bad that you can't talk anymore?" he asked, pouring a drink and sitting across from her.

She lifted her head slightly. "Something I don't want to talk about," she replied in a "duh" tone.

"You come onto the Bus a sobbing mess, and the Doctor only says that she's gone home," Coulson told her, leaning forward. "Something happened. What is it? Was she hurt?" She shook her head, and Coulson narrowed his eyes. "Killed?"

"Delete! Delete! Delete!"

"EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"

"No," Jessie replied hoarsely. "Although I don't know anymore. Don't have my phone to call her now."

"Well, where is it?"

"With her."

Coulson shook his head. "Then call her on another phone to get to her."

Jessie shook her head. "I doubt it'll work."

"Come on, Jessie. What happened out there?"

***

The Doctor looked at May, then folded his arms. "You don't want to know."

"Oh, I do," May assured him. "And I'm not the only one who does. Because the way she's acting, it's like she just lost her best friend."

"Both of them," the Doctor replied shortly before going back to the gun.

May slammed her hands down on the table. "Is she dead?" she asked.

The Doctor jerked. "No!" he said quickly. "No, that's not what I meant."

"Then what happened, Doctor?" May shouted at him, and the Doctor stood up as well, narrowing his eyes at her. "What. The. Hell. Happened?"

"We fell through the Void into a parallel world of this one," the Doctor spat out. "A parallel version where almost everything was the same except for two key thing. Grant was still alive. What's worse? Jessie didn't exist." May's eyes widened, and she took a step backward. "It was under attack from a man called John Lumic, who rebuilt one of my worst enemies called Cybermen. The parallel version of Saleen was killed. And you know who else was killed, Melinda May? Do you really want to know?" He didn't wait for her to answer. "The parallel version of Skye, who had married that world's Grant."

May's eyes widened further. "I - "

"No, you asked for it, you're getting the whole thing," the Doctor growled, coming around the table after her. "The Cybermen were taking over London. Grant was the only one left from Cybus Industries that was not taken control of. There were six of us that went into the factories. Mrs. Moore was electrocuted to death. Jessie found the parallel Skye turned into a Cyberman. And Saleen stayed behind to help liberate that Earth of every Cybus factory that exists there." He leaned forward in her face. "Now tell me, Melinda May," he said lowly, "does that answer your question?"

She stared at him in shock in reply. He shook his head and slammed the doors of the lab open and headed for the TARDIS, ready to get off of the Bus.

Quite frankly, he didn't understand how Jessie could deal with them sometimes.

***

Jessie looked down at her arms, wondering what to tell Coulson. "She died," she finally whispered.

Coulson narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"In a parallel universe," Jessie choked out, "where Grant was still alive, his version of Skye died."

Coulson froze. "What?"

Jessie kept sobbing, not holding anything back. "A universe where I didn't exist! Saleen's parallel self was killed, and that's where she is now. Grant was still alive. He'd married Skye. It was her birthday when Lumic's Cybermen attacked. They killed everyone in the house, and only the Doctor, Grant, and I got away. She . . . she'd been turned into one of them."

Coulson paled considerably. "Jessie, I - "

She shook her head, standing. "No," she said shakily. "You wanted to know. There you go."

She ran down the stairs, hearing Coulson run after her, but that just made her go faster. She fumbled with her key in the lock of the TARDIS, yanking the door open. Coulson made if down the stairs, and May emerged from somewhere else, but she slammed the door behind her.

The TARDIS engines started immediately, and she turned, rubbing her eyes to see the Doctor at the controls, staring at her. "You, too?" he asked.

Jessie simply nodded, walking over. The Doctor hugged her tightly, close to his body. She buried her face into his suit, finding comfort in his double heartbeat. "Your choice," he whispered to her. "Where now?"

Jessie sniffed, then smiled a little. "Well . . . I've always had a small interest in the Vegas era . . . "

***

Coulson and May were still standing there when they heard Jemma's voice from above. "They left."

Coulson looked up to see the three others standing there, staring at them. "They talked," he said simply.

"What happened?" Skye asked.

May opened her mouth to respond, but Coulson cut her off. "Saleen's home where she belongs," he said, ignoring the look May gave him. "They went some place they weren't supposed to go. It wasn't the best experience."

Jemma and Fitz nodded and went to the lab, but Skye kept staring at where the TARDIS had been before shaking her head and leaving as well.

"You didn't tell them about the parallel world," May whispered.

"It's not my story to tell," was all he said in reply.

***

I think it's fair to say the Doctor doesn't really like the SHIELD team currently.

Next up would be "The Idiot's Lantern." It'll be interesting to see the turnout of this. :)