“And they said they were looking for her?”
The mayor nodded succinctly. “They asked for ‘er by name.”
“Which name?” Lillith continued, her fingers balled at her mouth as the four stood outside of the medical ward. She had missed the standoff between Thomas and the two visitors the day before.
“I don’t remember what they’d said, to be honest,” Thomas replied. “I didn’t recognize it. Nobody did. We never knew it.”
“Her brother was one of the ones looking for her.” Carla added. “He had wings, like an angel.”
“An angel?” Hudson scooted closer to the conversation. He, too, had missed the interaction.
“He wa’n’t an angel; he said so,” Thomas corrected. “But if she’s an alien, he’s gotta be one too. Maybe he’s just got wings instead of fire.”
Carla latched onto Thomas’ arm. “They’re coming back,” her eyes were glued to the two men coming down the street. Soon, all four anxiously awaited the Thatcher brothers’ return.
“So?” Thomas stepped out from the group.
Randall’s frown was all but hidden within his thick beard. “She’s not there. No one was in the cabin.”
Lillith tried to breathe through the pain of hearing their words. Hudson had frozen in place, but his eyes had grown distant. Carla glanced at Thomas in sorrow.
“The beasts were restless,” Adrien added, subconsciously inspecting the yellow splatter across his worn jeans. “They know something’s up.”
“Thank yeh for checking,” Thomas gave a short nod.
“So... she’s gone?” Carla’s hands were clasped at her chest, her voice barely a whisper. “That’s it?”
Thomas bit his lip, trying to repress his own disappointment. “They said there were here to find ‘er, so the prob’ly took her and left.”
“But why wouldn’t she have said goodbye?”
At her pained words, Hudson squeezed his eyes shut and turned away. Lillith put a hand on his back in sympathy.
A whirring began to pulse into the stillness of the air.
The small group turned their eyes to the road.
The faint outline of a tall blue box was beginning to form in front of them, fading and filling with color and opacity with every pulse.
Thomas had thrown back his hands to hold the group behind him while Adrien and Randall lowered their stances, hands near the utility knives on their belts.
When the blue box fully appeared and the sound stopped, the group surveyed the strange object that now stood silently in the middle of the road.
They tensed when the door creaked open.
A woman in a white blouse and a black jacket stepped out. Her brown hair fell over her shoulders, and black boots were pulled up to her knees over blue jeans. Her glasses caught the light of the sun overhead as her green eyes met the group before her.
“Wildfire!” Carla exclaimed in surprise.
Without another word, Hudson rushed around the group and ran to her with open arms. He ducked his head as he embraced her, and he could do nothing more than laugh into her hair as she squeezed him back.
“Oh my goodness, I’ve missed these hugs,” her voice was muffled within his coat.
“I’ve missed ‘em too!” He held on a bit longer before releasing her and looking into her eyes with grateful joy. “We thought you’d left,” he admitted.
“Who said I was leaving?” She smiled back as the others gathered around.
A man in a lilac vest over a dress shirt peeked out from the TARDIS door behind her. His brown hair flopped over the right side of his face as his blue-green eyes scanned the scene.
“Is this a good place to park, or should I move?” He asked, stepping out with a thumb over his shoulder.
Hudson was wide-eyed as he gazed over The Wildfire’s shoulder. “Is that him?” He asked, grinning.
She nodded, knowing exactly what he was asking about.
With that, the bulky man stepped around her and held out his hand. “I am mighty pleased to meet you, sir!”
“I’m The Doctor,” he took his hand, having to look up to meet his gaze.
“I’m Hudson.”
“Hudson?” He gave a quick glance to the woman at his side. “I believe the pleasure is mine; I’ve heard many kind things about you.”
“Oh,” he dismissed, sheepishly adjusting his scarf as he stepped back.
“The others here are Randall, Adrien, Carla, Thomas, and Lillith,” the woman pointed to each as they either nodded or offered a quick curtsey in reply.
“Hello, everyone,” The Doctor smiled, recognizing the mustached mayor and his wife. “And hullo, again,” he gave a curt nod.
Thomas returned the nod.
“Where’s your brother?” Carla asked.
The Wildfire’s face fell. “He had to go home.”
Carla knew there was more to the answer, but allowed the woman’s sadness to conclude the conversation.
“Thank yeh for bringing ‘er back,” Thomas continued after a moment. “We were hoping we’d get a chance to send ‘er off.”
The Doctor and The Wildfire glanced at each other.
“About that,” she took over as The Doctor stepped back. “I’d like to have a meeting with all of you. There’s a few things I need to discuss.”
“Like what?” Thomas had stiffened.
“Good things,” she smiled. “I promise.”
“We can use the office here,” Lillith gestured to the hospital door behind them.
As the group began to relocate, Hudson paused and looked back at The Doctor. “Aren’t you comin’?”
He shook his head. “Not for this one; Ms. Wildfire wanted a moment with her friends first.” He glanced idly over his shoulder. “Meanwhile, I think I’ll move this. Seems a bit in the way.”
Hudson watched the man hop back inside the box, finding himself fascinated as the small box began to pulse and fade again. He was returned to the moment when The Wildfire touched his hand, and he was quick to follow.
Within the small medical office, behind the desk, stood The Wildfire. Her brown hair spilled over her shoulders, and her hands were clasped at her waist against her white shirt and black jacket. A silver feather necklace sparkled at her chest.
She was flanked on her right by Hudson Rowlett. The tall man stood with his hands in a navy suit coat and a red scarf looped around his neck. His sideburns had grayed completely, but the rest of his hair managed to retain its darker luster.
At her left stood Thomas Hiller, his arms crossed against an off-white dress shirt and a brown leather vest. A pistol was holstered at his side despite being empty, and a turquoise bolo tie hung at his neck. His thick moustache curled at the edges of his lips, and his blond hair was short and swept to one side.
Beside the mayor stood his wife, Carla Hiller. Curled inward with her elbows tight against her sides, she alternated between holding her hands together and grasping handfuls of her knee-length, rose-colored dress. Her brown hair was braided into two strands that draped over her shoulders.
Across the desk stood Lillith Stephenson. A white, pleated blouse was tucked into her long, navy dress, and a white apron was still tied at her waist from her doctoral duties. Her curly hair hung in tight ringlets around her head, but the roots were beginning to show signs of graying.
Beside her stood Adrien and Randall Thatcher. Each had a utility knife at their hips and their hands crossed behind their backs. The only thing that distinguished one from the other was Randall’s thick, albeit graying, beard.
“Thanks for being here,” The Wildfire began. “There’s a lot I need to get off my chest. The first of which,” she scanned the eyes of everyone in the room, “...My name is Gemini Gallagher.”
The group looked at her in varying states of surprise and compassion.
“When I got here, I wasn’t myself. I didn’t deserve that name. When you all started calling me The Wildfire, it honestly fit better than anything else; that’s about how unpredictable I was.” She sighed. “I hate that it’s taken me so long to realize...” she trailed off, eyes drifting, “I didn’t realize that I’ve been very selfish.”
“Selfish?” Lillith quipped.
“Hear me out,” Gemini held up her hand. “Every single one of you has been nothing but kind and generous towards me. You all tried to help me time and time again, even when I pushed you away and gave you every reason not to,” her eyes strayed to Hudson.
He frowned in an effort to dismiss her concern.
“I hate that it took clashing back with my old life to realize just what all I had here.” She wrung her hands together. “It’s funny how that works. I’d get so hung up on wishing for my old life while I was here, and the first thing I did after The Doctor found me was worry about all of you,” she gave a weak smirk.
“I won’t lie: yer a hard one to read sometimes,” Thomas’ moustache hid the majority of his smile, “but I think we all knew you were tryin’ yer best. I’m not about to think none of this was hard on yeh—my stubbornness included.”
“You?” The smirk cracked wider. “What about mine?”
“I’m not turnin’ it into a contest.”
Lillith’s eyes and head rolled toward Thomas’ direction as she cleared her throat. Carla at last broke into a toothy grin and had to turn her head away to hide it from her husband. Thomas rolled his eyes.
“Seriously,” Gemini tried to reel back the conversation. “These last few years, I allowed fear to stop myself from caring about you; but fear is not an excuse. There’s so many ways I could have been better.” She gestured toward the dark-haired doctor. “Lillith, I could have helped you more—or at least kept up with delivering your groceries.”
Lillith waved her off, a touched smile on her lips.
“Thomas, I could have been a lot more dependable, and a lot more deserving of your trust.” She offered a glance to the two brothers across from him. “And I could have accepted your help. I thought I was being brave because I wasn’t letting anyone else risk getting hurt, but someone once told me it’s never weakness to ask for help.”
Thomas’ eyes turned down as his moustache stretched over a smile. “Those were William’s words, not mine.”
“And they weren’t wrong.” Gemini smiled. She then turned to the young woman at his side. “Carla, all you ever wanted from the start was to get to know me better, and I kept pushing you away. I could have been a much better friend to you.”
Carla’s lips puckered and she stepped forward to hug her. She was hugged tightly in return.
As Carla returned to her husband’s side, Gemini glanced to the tall man at her side. “And, Hudson?”
The man turned to her, brows arched in apprehension.
Her lips pressed together as she let her hands drop to her sides. “I’m still not sure what I did to deserve you.”
He shook his head. “Don’t you even,” he tried, but when his eyes fell upon a strip of blue peeking out from her jacket sleeve, his expression fell blank. He delicately lifted her hand to get a better view of the worn blue bracelet around her wrist. He looked to be on the verge of tears.
“This is soundin’ a lot like a lengthy goodbye,” Thomas regained the group’s attention with a more concerned tone.
Gemini lifted a finger. “That’s the next thing I wanted to talk about.” She took a step toward the desk, resting the tips of her fingers on the surface, “The Doctor is a Time Lord—an alien, like me—and he has a time machine.” She pushed through the explanation despite the shifting expressions around her. “He can use it to carry everyone from Westfall and bring us all somewhere else. Somewhere where we can live without worrying about food, and supplies, and beasts.”
One by one, the expressions unclenched in realization. The attention was soon shifted to Thomas, who had straightened up in his boots.
“You’d... do that?” He struggled to find words.
“Of course,” Gemini nodded. “I’m not leaving you all here like this.”
“So—you’re not leavin'—but we all are?” Hudson processed his thoughts aloud.
“But where would we go?” Lillith spoke through her fingers.
“We’re not quite sure yet. We have everywhere in the universe as an option; I can’t imagine we’d have too much trouble.” She watched as Thomas’ brows furrowed, his eyes set on a distant thought. “I know it’s a lot to ask. This planet has been you and your families’ home for over five-hundred years. However,” she clasped her hands together, “it’s no secret this planet is dying. Those of us in this room know it better than anyone.”
Lillith’s lips skewed as she glanced aside. Hudson was clearly lost in thought, and Adrien and Randall had both donned baffled expressions. Carla wrapped her hands around her husband’s arm for support as his eyes pierced the floor.
“You’re welcome to talk to The Doctor in private if you’d like. I’m not asking for an answer yet.”
“I think I’d like that.” His eyes finally returned to her. “But I ain’t gonna lie... I don’t think there’d be anything better for Westfall. My gut’s tellin’ me to take it, but I don’t want t’make a rash decision.” His lips tugged to one side. “I’m still shocked you’d do this fer us. You’ve got yer way off to go back to yer own home. You’ve got nothin’ holdin’ yeh here.”
She pushed her lips into a half-smile. “I’ve got everything holding me here. I thought my heartfelt apology would have made it pretty clear,” the smile broadened. “Westfall’s been my home the past fifteen years. I’m not about to stop protecting it now.”
Thomas’ suspicion lifted by way of his furrowed brows relaxing. He bit his lip and gave a curt nod. “All right. I’ll talk to Doctor... his name is The Doctor?”
“Yes,” she offered a short laugh. “But he goes by Smith if you need a surname.”
“Is he a doctor, though?” Lillith asked curiously.
“In a way,” Gemini nodded before taking in a breath and letting it out slowly. “I guess there’s only one thing left for me to say.”
The sudden darkness of her mood caused the faces around her to grow more serious, and some more curious.
“It’s about time I tell you about what happened before I got here,” she winced. “I’m not proud of it. But I need to stop hiding behind it.”
Hudson noted her stiffening form and put a hand on her back to calm her. “We’re here to listen, Ms. Gallagher.”
Hearing the name come from his mouth drew a smile across her lips. “Gemini is fine,” she smiled. “And this the last time I felt I deserved that name...”
- - -
An older woman with braided gray hair had donned a deep frown, pulling the lines of her face even deeper. “What is the meanin’ of this??” She barked, her hands not straying from their position at her hips.
The Doctor grit his teeth, eyes wide with concern and a hint of embarrassment. “I’m—I’m terribly sorry, ma’am, I was just trying to relocate my TARDIS—”
“That was my best squash plant!” Margaret shouted, thrusting her hands at the leaves and vines peeking out from below the blue box. “And you’ve... squashed it!!”
“I had no intention of doing so!” He threw up his hands in defeat as the woman marched closer to him. “I’ll gladly replace it! Or, better yet, I can pick you up a whole bushel!”
“Doctor?”
The two turned to find Gemini, Thomas, Carla, and Lillith heading down the street toward them.
“Saved by The Wildfire,” he muttered under his breath, “Gem! My dear!” He attempted to dart away.
“I beg your pardon, sir!” Margaret grabbed him by his vest and pulled him back. “You can’t just kill my crops and run off!”
“Momma, what’re you doing?” Carla stepped up with her hands on her own hips. “That man is our guest!”
“Our guest squashed our squash!” The woman sneered, still holding The Doctor by his vest.
“I thought I was parking in a vacant lot,” The Doctor admitted quietly upon meeting Gemini’s confused gaze, hands still held in surrender. “I was very much mistaken.”
“Mom, you ain’t gonna have to worry about crops much longer,” Thomas stepped around The Doctor and coaxed his mother-in-law into releasing him—mostly by way of confusing the woman enough to let go on her own.
Margaret’s face twisted. “What’re you talkin’ about?”
“I’ll explain soon. First,” he glanced at The Doctor. “I need to talk to you.”
The Doctor’s eyes slid to Gemini in a silent plea for help.
“It’s about the relocation,” she clarified.
“Oh!” The Doctor popped up. “Yes! Sorry, I’m a bit gun-shy after recent events. Yes, I will certainly speak with you. Um,” he glanced at his TARDIS, “should I move first?”
“Don’t bother, it’ll be—”
“Lands sakes—what is that?!” A man’s voice barked from behind the TARDIS.
Carla’s blithe form sunk as her eyes rolled. “Papa,” she trudged around the TARDIS as Margaret followed.
Thomas inched closer to The Doctor. “Quick—where’re we goin’?” He spoke from the side of his moustache.
“In here.” The Doctor grabbed his arm and the two slipped inside the TARDIS. The door closed behind them.
Lillith and Gemini stood quietly in the aftermath; the sound of Carla calming her parents drifting from the field behind the TARDIS.
“Well,” Gemini crossed her arms.
“I guess we’ll find out our mayor’s decision later,” Lillith smirked. “I should go back and check on Emily. But first,” she looped her arm around Gemini and corralled her into a hug. “Thank you for sharing your story with us. I know for me, it puts a lot into perspective. I wish I could have known sooner, just so I could have been a better help to you.”
Gemini smiled as she accepted the woman’s embrace. “You were plenty of help. I just wasn’t ready to say.”
“You’re real brave, you know,” Lillith kept a hand on her shoulder.
“That’s what William told me.”
Lillith was grinning as she released her. “I had a feeling he knew. You and your Will moments,” her grin softened. “He’d be real proud of you right now.”
“I hope so.”
“I know so.” The woman’s brows arched as her smile beamed. With that, she started away.
Gemini caught a glimpse of Carla and her parents heading for the farmhouse at the other end of the plot of land, leaving her alone outside of the TARDIS.
It was strange standing there; the familiar streets of Westfall little changed in her years of absence—made stranger with The Doctor’s TARDIS on the road beside her. It was an odd mix of old and new. It was ethereal, something she had never expected to experience.
The strangest aspect, however, was knowing that her closest friends now knew her secret. In many ways, the weight of her years had been lifted, but in other ways, the weight had shifted into wonder. Did they see her any differently now? They didn’t seem to be treating her any differently, and she knew from her experience with William that it had only strengthened the bond between them. Getting it out in the open was a way to work through the pain and move beyond it.
She frowned as her eyes wandered down the road. Hudson had excused himself after the meeting and she hadn’t seen him since. She didn’t think to worry about his thoughts changing toward her, but his actions didn’t settle well with her. She struggled with leaving to look for him, or waiting for The Doctor and Thomas.
Thankfully, her answer was soon clear.
- - -
Thomas hadn’t made it three steps into the TARDIS when he stopped short. His boots were frozen on the metal bridge, and his moustache was tugged down from a befuddled frown. His wide blue eyes darted around the control room, and his hands hovered near his waist with his arms and fingers tense.
“What?” He blurted.
“Yep.” The Doctor leaned onto the bridge’s railing, a knowing smirk on his face.
The Mayor of Westfall sucked in a deep breath and blew it back out. “So, I take it this is the time machine The Wild—er, Gemini—was talkin’ about?”
“Yes, sir,” he stepped around him and spun around on his shoes, holding out his hands. “Welcome to the TARDIS!”
Thomas nodded as his eyes looked past The Doctor. “I’m beginnin’ to understand how we’d fit in here. From the outside, this place don’t look this big.”
“It can be infinitely bigger, too,” The Doctor pointed across the room to a hallway on the second level. “Beyond there I can set up as many rooms as we need. I can even program them to look like their current homes and keep your residents feeling as comfortable as possible on the journey.” He put a hand to the side of his mouth, as if to hide his words from the rest of the room. “There’s even a pool.”
Thomas only half-understood what The Doctor was saying, but he nodded in calm acceptance. “I’ll trust yeh on it,” he paused, “mostly because Gemini trusts yeh.”
“Fair enough,” The Doctor grinned. He then twirled around on his feet and started to the control panel. “I’m not sure where we’ll go yet,” he balked when the screen displayed a schematic of the planet Trenzalore, and he rapidly changed it to an outline of Braecia instead, “but I’m sure we’ll find something.”
Thomas walked carefully over to him, glancing over the edge of the railing. “I may not be o’much help, but I’ll look over any ideas yeh get.”
“Absolutely; these are your people we’re talking about.” He pressed his lips together as Thomas studied him, growing nervous when the young man remained silent.
“You must really care for Gemini.” Thomas finally spoke.
The Doctor tucked his elbows at his sides, not expecting Thomas’ words. “Yes?”
“You came here to get her, and she’s talked yeh into gettin’ a whole town.”
The Time Lord laughed softly, nodding forward. “Well, it was clear you all meant a lot to her, and it’s clear she brought a lot of hope to this place,” he grinned. “I don’t want to be the one to take it away just because I want that hope too.”
Thomas broke into a smile beneath his curled moustache. “She has brought hope. Just like William used t’say, there was a reason she ended up here.” He raised an eyebrow, glancing at his boots. “I didn’t see it at first, but I think we all needed ‘er.”
“And I believe she needed you too; she speaks highly of all of you, though she holds a lot of regret for distancing herself.”
“That’s what she was talkin’ to us about.” Thomas nodded, adding quietly, “She mentioned what’d happened to ‘er.”
The Doctor nodded solemnly. “I hold a lot of regret for that.”
“Well, she’s not the only one who thinks yer arrival is a God-send,” the mayor admitted softly.
The Doctor tilted his head, bemused. “So, if I have the means, and if she wants to keep helping Westfall, I’m certainly not going to tell her no.” A sly grin shifted his smile. “You’re married, I’m sure you understand.”
“I do,” Thomas nodded before crossing his arms. “I guess that just leaves me with one question: when?”
The Doctor shrugged. “Whenever.”
“There ain’t a time limit before you an’ her decide to leave?”
“Oh, no,” his lips paused in an exaggerated ‘oo’ as the prophecy flared in his mind. “Well, nothing seriously pressing, no,” he concluded. “This is a time machine; I can be flexible.”
The mayor nodded. “I might like to wait ‘til after harvest. Then we’ll be well-stocked, too. Plus, it’ll give the people time to prepare.”
The Doctor fingered his chin, checking the local date on the screen. “That sounds good to me. And honestly,” he smiled idly at nothing in particular, “Gem may need some time, too. It may help to overlap her two lives a bit to get her resettled.”
Thomas squared up with the time-traveller. “I’d be a fool to decline an offer like this. But I can’t accept it without offerin’ you somethin’ in return.”
The Time Lord was waving his hand long before Thomas had finished. “No, no; this is a gift—”
“But, what you’re offerin’ is... life-changin’ for us! There’s gotta be somethin’ I can do.”
He smiled at the mayor’s insistence. “You’ve already done everything,” he stretched out a hand to place it on Thomas’ shoulder. “You took care of Gemini all these years. I’m fairly certain I’m still in your debt even after moving you all.”
Thomas stood down, his moustache again covering a smile. “If you say so,” he nodded before stepping back. “Can I give yeh my answer tomorrow? I mean, I can’t imagine I’d change my mind... but I’d like to mull all this over.”
“Of course.” He then looked down as Thomas extended his hand toward him.
“Thank yeh, Doctor. I do appreciate this.”
The Doctor grinned, and with an exuberant nod, he took the mayor’s hand and shook it. “You are most welcome, sir.”
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Chapter Notes