Lost in the Universe

xxvii

They had split it three groups. The Doctor had insisted that Nina came with him. The four of them had decided to meet up in an old warehouse a dozen of blocks away.

Nina and the Doctor got there first, and they settled down slowly, grabing a bunch of metal barrels and brick bloks and placing them around a cement table. They sat in silence for a few minutes as the Doctor kept track of Martha's family through the laptop on his lap. The Doctor finally noticed the frown on Nina's face and placed the laptop beside him on the cement bench he was sitting on.

"Nina, are you okay?" Nina didn't even look at him, instead, she spoke up, still looking at nothing.

"He said I was dead," she said. "I died." Nina turned to face him, a frown on her face. "What happened?" The Doctor sighed.

"I don't know the whole story, I wasn't there, I didn't know you, but..." he trailed off, wondering if telling her the whole truth was the best idea. And then he took a glance at her face, he saw how broken she actually was, and realised that it was the only thing he could do. "You were only a child. It was right before the fall of Arcadia, when the Daleks bombed the Drylands," he said. "You didn't make it out." Nina looked down. "What happened in your world?" He asked a bit too fast, only realising afterwards that his question was maybe a little bit too blunt. "Y-You don't have to tell me, forget it. I don't know what I was thinking, it must be much fresher for you than it is for me, I should have--"

"No, it's alright," she interrupted his ranting, never looking up from the ground. "The overall facts are the same, I guess. Bombing of the Drylands, Fall of Arcadia... the thing is, I made it out. Me and another...5, maybe 6 people. They sent us to a barn, mostly only children. And a few fays later I recieved a letter that said my four brothers had died in combat during the fall of Arcadia. I had no one else left," Nina closed her eyes at the memory and a tear trailed down her cheek.

The Doctor sighed once more, placing the laptop on the cement table and patting the bench next to him. Nina got the message and walked up to him, sitting down beside him. The Doctor wraped his right arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. It just felt so right, the two of them together, holding eachother so intimately. The Doctor went to grab her hand with his other hand when he noticed the bracelet on her wrist. The last time he had seen her, she didn't have the miniature Eiffel Tower attached to it. He grabbed it and started to fiddle with it before he got the courage to ask her about it.

"What's this about?" He asked her, finally speaking after a comfortable silence that had made its way between them. Nina raised her arm and examined her own charm.

"You gave it to me -- will give it to me," she said, chuckling. "You said it's the only way you have of keeping up with this," she said, caressing the back of his hand with her thumb. She looked up to face him and the Doctor had a confused look on his face. She smiled at his innocence. "This," she made a hand gesture between the two of them. "You and me, us." The Doctor's eyes widened as he finally realised what she meant.

"And what exactly does this one mean?" He ask her, a smirk on his face. Nina smiled up at him.

"I can't tell you, I have to show you," she said, her voice smug. Their two faces were now dangerously close to each other's.

"Then show me," he said, his voice low, almost like a grumble. Nina grabbed his face and pulled it down, forcing their lips to meet. He immediatly kissed her back with the same passion, grabbing her head and pulling her close to him. His hands slided down to her hips, and he suddenly lifted her up, sitting her down on his lap. Nina let out a yelp as he did so, and the Doctor took the chance to slide his tongue in her mouth. She didn't mind at all. Nina's hands went to the back of his head, and she gently pulled on his hair, making him let out a groan.