Storm: Time Jump

42

The first thing that hit her was the heat. It was incredibly hot and as soon as she landed after transporting from Eleven's Tardis, Teresa found herself sweating profusely, despite her bare legs.

"Who're you?" A man asked her incredulously as she appeared literally out of thin air before him. He glanced down and added: "And what are you wearing?"

Teresa glanced down with a sigh. She was dressed in her slippers, pajamas and dressing gown, having been on her way back to her room from the bathroom.

Great. She thought, but aloud she replied: "My name's Teresa Storm, and let's just say I'm not from around here."

"No kidding." He scoffed but Teresa ignored that as she looked around.

She was in some sort of engine room and she asked with a frown: "Where am I?"

"How'd you get on this ship?" The man demanded and Teresa rolled her eyes as she said: "I asked first."

He narrowed his eyes but answered: "S.S. Pentallian."

Teresa's eyes widened and she asked slowly: "As in, the spaceship that's going to crash into the sun?"

"How'd you know that?" He asked suspiciously, but she was saved from answering as Captain McDonnell and Ashton returned to try and start repairs.

"Who're you?" McDonnell demanded, but the Doctor answered her question as he arrived behind and shouted: "Terry!"

"Doctor!" Teresa called in relief, and she blinked in surprise as he hugged her tight.

"When did you get here?" He asked as he let go and she explained: "I just got here."

He eyed her outfit and sighed.

"Were you sleeping?" He asked and she nodded, saying defensively: "How was I supposed to know I'd end up on a spaceship spiraling down towards a sun?"

He grinned, when McDonnell demanded: "Can someone tell me what is going on and who this is?"

"Terry Storm, she's with me." The Doctor said proudly as he wrapped an arm around Teresa's side. She blinked a little, hearing a double meaning in his tone and action, but that couldn't be right, could it?

The man she'd met first, Scannell, said skeptically: "She looks a little young to be your assistant or girlfriend."

"Don't judge a book by its cover." The Doctor replied promptly, before rubbing his hands together and ordering: "Now come on, we've got a lot of work to do. Move!"

They scattered and Teresa followed the Doctor, feeling a little lost and more than a little helpless. She'd spent the past couple days between travels studying, but this was still far out of her depth, and the Doctor seemed to notice as he asked her while he worked some cables: "How early is this for you?"

"About ten days since I started travelling. I just went on a fun trip with your future self, and I came from Christmas dinner with you after the Sycorax thing before that." She told him and he glanced at her in almost amusement.

"That early, huh." He murmured, sounding oddly... put out. He groaned under his breath: "Why do the Gods hate me?"

She stared at him, but he waved it away as he said: "Come on, just do what I tell you then."

She nodded, and they began to quickly start trying to repair the engine. The Doctor called through the intercom at one point: "Abi, how's Korwin doing? Any results from the bio-scan?"

Teresa hesitated as Abi called back: "He's under heavy sedation. I'm just trying to make sense of this data. Give me a couple of minutes and I'll let you know. "