Ending of the Hours (Book Four of the Bad Wolf Chronicles)

Nightmares and Tea Time

Jessie jerked out of her nightmare with a soft cry, eyes wide, and before she could even be aware of her surroundings, the grip around her tightened. She closed her eyes, shaking her head and turning in the Doctor's arms to bury her face in his neck. "It's OK," he whispered in her ear, holding her tighter. "It's all right."

"Red eyed Ood everywhere," she whispered as she remembered her dreams. "The Cybermen. The Daleks. God, there was even this huge, giant wasp!"

"A wasp," he repeated.

"A wasp," she muttered, shaking her head. "That made no sense whatsoever."

He looked at her for a second before sitting up. "Come on. Kitchen."

She wearily sat up as well, adjusting the beaded straps of the nightgown she was wearing as she headed to the bedroom door as the Doctor found his dressing gown.

She opened the door, and blinked when she saw Donna standing there, hand raised to knock. Her eyebrows flew high. "Donna?" she squeaked.

"I was," Donna stuttered, looking from her to her hand. "I mean, I heard you, and I just - "

"It's all right, Donna," Jessie told her, sighing as the Doctor came up behind her. "I was apparently not as quiet as I thought I was."

"Nightmare?" Donna asked sympathetically.

"Yeah," Jessie said weakly.

"We were headed to the kitchen," the Doctor told Donna.

She nodded. "Yeah, I could kill for tea."

"Oh, don't say kill," Jessie sighed, rubbing her eyes as they walked through the TARDIS. "Not . . . not after where we've been."

Donna held out her arm, and Jessie curled into her as they walked. "You really didn't enjoy Pompeii, did you?" she asked.

"No, what gave you that idea?" Jessie asked sarcastically as they made it inside, and the Doctor headed for the kettle.

Donna chuckled a little as they sat down. "I really am sorry," she told her. "Your nightmare, was it about Pompeii?"

"No," she replied, sighing. "It was the Ood. A bit from the last time we saw them, too."

"You said it was the Devil controlling them?"

"He was a character," the Doctor commented. "He made me try and choose between destroying him, which would destroy Jessie, or letting him be, not destroying her."

"You called her Jessie," Donna noted.

Jessie groaned, rubbing her head. "My real name is Jessie Nightshade," she told Donna, holding out her hand.

Donna stared at her in shock. "But . . . " She looked from the Doctor to Jessie. "But . . . Jessie Nightshade, she was on - "

"I think she knows me," Jessie said mildly.

"The list of the dead from Canary Wharf," the Doctor finished for Donna as he brought three mugs of tea over, sitting by Jessie. "Yeah. I put her there. She doesn't exactly . . . look the same."

"And I really don't sound the same," Jessie added, snorting as she took a sip of her tea. "Care to tell her every single difference?"

He winced. "Jess," he whined.

She smiled, leaning against him. "I'll never let you get over that in this body," she sang.

"Next one?" he asked.

"Maybe."

"You two are adorable," Donna told them with a smile. "Must've been a hell of a wedding."

"At least SHIELD didn't crash it," Jessie laughed. "If only . . . " She hesitated, smile faltering.

The Doctor wrapped an arm around her, and Donna nodded. "If only Skye and Saleen were there?" she asked.

Jessie took a deep breath. "Yeah," she replied, swallowing and nodding, wrapping her arms around herself. "Yeah. That was part of my nightmare, too. I saw everyone we'd lost. Gwyneth, Sneed, Suki, Lynda . . . everyone."

"What about Jabe?" the Doctor asked her, and she blinked at him. "Or the Moxx of Balhoon? Indra? Jack? Margaret? Any of them?"

"No," she replied hesitantly. "We didn't lose any of them."

"Exactly," he told her. "You're counting every loss you've had. You're not counting how many people you've saved."

"It's a good thing to focus on," Donna agreed, patting her hand and taking her mug. "I'll let the two of you finish."

She stood and left with her mug, and Jessie took a deep breath, curling up into the Doctor's arms. "What did Sigma mean?" she whispered. "The generation of the DoctorDonnaWolf?"

"I don't know," the Doctor replied. "But we don't need to worry about that now."

Jessie closed her eyes. "Kasterborous," she whispered, and he tensed at the use of his real name, "it's important, and it's smacking me in the face, and I have no idea what it is."

"Sometimes we don't know everything," the Doctor told her, rubbing her back and kissing the top of her head. "We're expected to, yeah, but we don't."

"It's hard being a Time Lord," she grumbled.

He laughed. "You're just a bundle of fun, aren't you?" He made a face. "Er, I'm never saying that again."

She patted his arm. "Someone has to be the life and soul on this ship. Apart from the TARDIS."

The TARDIS hummed, and the Doctor smiled. "Feeling better?"

"A bit," she replied.

"Come on. Let's go back to bed." He made a face. "I don't know how you and Donna convinced me to try and let her fly the TARDIS tomorrow."

Jessie gave him a saucy grin. "I do."

He growled at her, playfully swatting her shoulder. She laughed as they headed towards their room.

Along the way, they didn't notice the screen by the fridge go to static and show a quick image of Skye frantically calling Jessie's name before it fizzled out again.

***

Short and sweet because I really wanted to get to "The Sontaran Stratagem!" Because . . . Steve's on his way! :D

Stay tuned, and I'll get that uploaded ASAP!

By the way: I doubt Kasterborous is really the Doctor's name. I will reveal what the Apocalypse's is in "Apocalypse Rising," though, but I wanted something different than Theta for the Doctor.