Lance was exhausted; his body hurt, but it hurt so good. He turned over, pain spasming down his thigh before he giggled softly. He felt a large, warm hand rub circles on his back, causing him to relax.

“You doing okay?”

Lance nodded, a simple hum for an answer before he moved Hunk’s hand up to his chest, snuggling against him in the process. Hunk pulled Lance close, lips pressed gently to his head before kissing his cheek. Lance giggled as he felt Hunk’s hair tickle his face, Hunk’s lips moving against his neck.

“Hey, Hunk?” Lance’s voice was soft, he hoped that he wasn’t heard. Hunk kissed his way back up to his cheek before resting his chin on the top of Lance’s head.

“Yeah, babe?” His response matched Lance’s, soft words in hopes of not scaring him more. It was obvious that something was bothering him. After knowing each other for years, one starts to pick up on the small things. Lance playing with his hand, making himself as small as possible, and talking softly were all signs that he was worried.

Lance cleared his throat before speaking again. “Do...Do you ever want kids?”

Hunk felt Lance’s body stiffen against his. He was speechless; of course he wanted kids. He’d always wanted kids. The idea of small people running around their home, messing with Blueberry and Nanna had him ecstatic, but he didn’t want to bring the idea up to Lance until he was sure it would be okay, so he had waited for him. Hunk was having a small party in his mind before he cleared his own throat.

“Yeah, of course, do you want kids?”

Lance was silent for a good few minutes before he turned over, a smile on his face. “Yes, God do I want kids. Hunk, how many kids do you want? Can we get three? I want them to all be about the same age; it sucked growing up with age gaps in my family.”

Hunk nodded slowly, listening to Lance as he spoke and adding his own ideas. If someone had told him at the age of 9 that he would one day marry his best friend, he wouldn’t have believed them. Hunk was honestly amazed by how long they’d been together. They had started dating at the age of 16, got married 4 years later and had been happily together since, their 10th anniversary coming up in just a few months.

An idea popped into his head, a smile sliding onto his face. “For our tenth anniversary, let’s adopt.” He dropped the bomb as quickly as the idea came to him. He felt Lance shift, turning to face him and he could feel the smile as Lance pressed a kiss to his lips.

It was one late night in Lestallum when Prompto heard it. The boys had split up to do their own thing and like always, Prompto had gone off to take pictures. He had taken some lovely pictures of the ocean and even a few of the sun setting; pictures colored in hues of red and blue. It was during one of these shots that had him walking around trying to find where the music was coming from. As the last of the sun’s rays were eaten by the ocean, Prompto had found the source. Noctis stood on the beach, the moon slowly rising and cascading him in a pale light. Prompto had to admit that Noctis looked almost ethereal… One could have mistaken him for an Astral. Prompto inhaled sharply before frowning. The song was so sad, he could feel the pain and heartache in it.

He moved closer, slowly making his way to a better spot. He sat on some rocks and just listened, his own heart swelling with emotions before finally spilling down his own cheeks. A closer look at Noctis and Prompto would have noticed the same thing but he wasn’t looking at him now. Prompto’s mind slid back to the first time he heard such a sad tune.

~~~~~

Prompto remembers the first time he ever heard Noctis play an instrument. It was back in high school and Noctis had flaked on their lunch date. So Prompto admits it wasn’t really a lunch date, more so a gathering of two people done daily during school but that aside, Noctis was missing and Prompto was bored. Wandering the halls during lunch was an old pastime for him, something he often did back before he had friends. The hallways usually had small groups sitting about, often times he would find someone sitting by themselves and almost felt inclined to ask if they would like to eat with him but he couldn’t do that to them or Noctis. He sighed in defeat and headed towards their usual spot, a large tree that sat behind the school.

Prompto had just passed the music room when he heard the most beautiful melody. Someone was playing the piano and it was the most beautiful melody he had ever heard. He moved to the door and looked in the small window and frowned when he noticed the familiar hair that belongs to his best friend. The blond opened the door silently and stepped in, closing the door behind him. He stood watching Noctis play, his long fingers moving delicately over the keys and his leg shifting gently on the pedal. The song slowly tapered off toward the end as Noctis held down the last key. Prompto couldn’t stop himself from clapping, his eyes watery with unshed tears as he watched his friend.

Noctis turned quickly, shoulders tense as his eyes narrowed in on the stranger, only to find out it was Prompto who was clapping. The blond watched Noctis physically relax, his shoulders slumping with a sigh escaped him.

“What are you doing here?”

Prompto wiped his eyes gently and gave a sheepish smile.

“Uh…well, you see…I was on my way to our usual spot when I heard someone playing the most beautiful thing ever and decided to look in.”

He gave a nervous chuckle before looking down at the ground, hands playing with his lunch pack.

“You’re not mad, right? I wasn’t trying to spy…”

Noctis rolled his eyes before shaking his head. Who could honestly stay mad at the innocent chocobut, Noctis definitely couldn’t.

“No. Is there still time to eat lunch?”

Prompto looked up at the prince and nodded quickly. “Of course, we could eat here if you want?

Noctis quickly agreed and the two sat down to eat. Prompto found out later that the song Noctis was playing was a gift to his late mother and when he was often sad he would play the song. Prompto admitted to how beautiful yet sad it really was and that it left him in tears. Noctis smiled softly at that before pulling Prompto close and holding him tightly.

It had been a week since he started using the messaging app and talking to the one who went by NocturnalPrince. He had learned a lot about him in such a short time, he was 20 and in his second year of university. Turns out that they went to the same university and Prompto had just suggested that they meet up. That was where he was now, sitting in a coffee shop a block away from the university and shaking. He was excited, that was a given but he was also nervous, always nervous. At the time, his adrenaline still pumping through him from the difficult dungeon they just finished, it was a good idea. He had brought it up casually and the other had agreed to it. Thinking back on it now he was really stupid. His parents had always warned them about the dangers of the internet, in fact he reminded his younger brother often about it, don’t give out information on yourself, always stay safe, never use your real name, but here he was, ten minutes away from meeting the stranger that had messaged him first.

Sitting at a table had helped his anxiety just a bit, though it wasn’t enough to make him relax at all. A beautiful young lady came out and asked him if he would like anything. He was going to deny her but thought that maybe getting something to drink while he waited could help him to calm his nerves. He smiled brightly up at the waitress and ordered a medium White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino with a cookie straw and a slice of Banana Nut bread. The waitress nodded once as she wrote things down and walked back to the counter to deliver his order. Grabbing out his phone, Prompto opened up the app and noticed he had a few messages from the other.

12:10pm NocturnalPrince: hey im going to be late by like 10 minutes can you order something for me something sweet with no vegetables

12:13pm   NocturnalPrince: actually, make it chocolate lots of chocolate please also maybe cinnamon

Prompto read the messages and frowned. They were sent to him ten minutes ago. He sent a quick reply

12:26pm Cams4Chocobos: it’s fine! take all the time you need! (´°ω°`) so, something chocolate? does it matter what it is or do you just want something sweet? ~(‾▿‾~)

Upon reading his own messages he blushed brightly, those words could be taken out of context if the person was smart enough, he just hoped that the friend he was meeting wouldn’t notice how sexual the words had sounded. A few minutes later the waitress came to him with his order and smiled. He had asked for her name and she supplied with the name of Luna. He smiled at her and ordered a drink and something small to snack on for his friend. She gladly took his next order and told him she would be back shortly. After Luna had left his phone went off again. He pulled out his phone and found a message from his online friend.

12:35pm NocturnalPrince: chocolate is fine, just dont tell specs. he would kill me and then kill you

NocturnalPrince: tho from what i can tell you do seem very sweet, tho he keeps telling me to be careful you aren’t dangerous are you? gladio thinks he needs to come with check you out

12:38pm NocturnalPrince: would you mind if i brought someone? they insist on meeting you i’ll be there in like 5 minutes keep a spot warm for me

Prompto read over the messages and froze. Oh Astrals, this was not what he had expected. Pulling off his glasses he pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes and took a deep breath. Picking up his discarded phone he sighed to himself.

12:40pm Cams4Chocobos: (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ the more the merrier! tho don’t freak when you see me, im a small bean of a man. please don’t let anyone kill me ヾ( ๑´д`๑)ﾂ i would like to grow old and get a job

Cams4Chocobos: i ordered you lots of chocolate! it’s going to be very sweet, hope you enjoy it (๑´ω`๑)

Prompto kept track of the time, the other would be showing up soon and he could feel his heart race. The only thing that he had told the mysterious messenger was that you would be sitting in a booth towards the back of the shop with blond spiky hair and glasses. He also told the stranger that he would be sitting with a camera more than likely on the table or around his neck. He took a deep breath before remembering that he had something in front of him to do, eat. Prompto didn’t like to admit that he was a stress eater. In fact when he was nervous or stressed he would eat, it was a bad habit from his childhood and he had always tried to watch over it, but sometimes it failed just like now. He picked up his drink and took a sip, a happy noise left his throat before he could stop himself. It tasted better than he thought, though he knew he would end up running tonight and tomorrow morning to work off the calories from the today's meeting.

The blond waitress named Luna approached him again but with the other order. He motioned for her to sit it across from himself and assured her that he had someone joining him when she had asked. They ended up making small talk, Prompto finding out more about the young lady. She had just turned 24 and was in her seventh year of college. When asked he had stated that she wanted to be a veterinarian and help animals. Prompto thought that was very admirable of her and told her so. She smiled and thanked him for his kind words before she was called back to the counter. Excusing herself, she walked away and Prompto grabbed his phone to check the time. The clock read 12:45 and the growing anxiety started to swell in his head, only to almost burst at the sound of the cafe door opening.

He looked up at the customer and his eyes went wide. Standing at the door was none other than Noctis Lucis Caelum, Prince of Insomnia. He pressed himself against the booth and tried to look as small as he could when Noctis looked over the place. He watched as Luna turned to welcome the customer but stopped quickly. She had a stunned look on her face and Prompto thought that maybe she was as starstruck as he was, but that thought left his mind as soon as she ran towards the prince and threw her arms around him. Noctis wrapped his arms around Luna and held her close, in a hug. Something small tugged inside Prompto at the display of affection, he couldn’t really place his finger on it but he knew that it shouldn’t be there.

Luna pulled away from Noctis and she talked quickly, hand moving as she spoke. She paused and seemed to let Noctis say something before her head turned and looked right at him. What little composure Prompto had gained back was quickly slipping from him as she pointed at him. Noctis turned and followed her hand before turning back to Luna and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. He waved at her before heading right towards the booth Prompto sat in. His breath had quickened as the prince came closer. He sat up straighter before he was hit full force with what was going on. His hands moved around nervously, pressing them together before he started to strum his fingers against the table at a rapid speed, his tapping getting faster the closer Noctis got to him.

Eventually the sound had become too much for him so he took to bouncing his leg under the table. Everything was so loud, the voices in the cafe, his own breathing, his heart pounding in his ears. His hands moved to rest in his lap, though they soon traveled to his thighs, his nails trying hard to break through the fabric of his pants. After what felt like an eternity, Noctis was in front of him. His light blue eyes going a bit wide as he looked up at the other male, he would never admit it to anyone but Noctis had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen on a male. They were dark, the color of the deepest parts of the ocean with small flecks of grey. They were framed by long and dark eyelashes. Much different from his own, Noctis looked every bit of royalty, and Prompto was stuck in silence taking in all the beauty. If he had been thinking and not just looking over the prince, he might have seen that Noctis was looking just as hard as he was, staring at the blond for longer time than needed. Someone behind Noctis cleared their throat and that was what made Prompto look away from the other. His eyes darting to the larger male behind the prince. Prompto nearly jumped when he saw the other.

“Oh Astrals, you’re a big guy. How much do you lift?” Prompto spoke the first words that came to his mind, he knew that maybe they weren’t the best words to start off this meeting.

Once Prompto had spoken, both men looked at him. The taller one smiled before letting out a chuckle. He had honestly not expected that response from the young male. Noctis on the other hand stood with his mouth open, a look of surprise crossing his face before he let out a laugh. Prompto absolutely adored the sound of Noctis’s laugh, it was light and sounded very happy. He blushed softly at his own thoughts before standing up from the booth and bowing.

“W-Welcome your h-highness. To what do I o-owe the pleasure of meeting you?” His voice was uneven and shaky as he spoke, voice cracking a few times and made his blush darken.

He had never met royalty before, or so he thought. Aside from his voice and body shaking he thought he had done a good job of asking the simple question. When he lifted his head and looked at Noctis he frowned. Noctis wasn’t smiling, his eyes were dark, holding sadness in them and his lips were pressed into a thin line. He cleared his throat before waving his hand at Prompto, dismissing the action he had just done.

“No need for formalities. Are you Cams4Chocobos?” The question was a simple one, doesn't mean Prompto was ready to hear it.

His eyes had gone wide again, in surprise at what was just said. All he could do was nod. A smirk appeared on Noctis’s face before he looked over at the table. “I'm NocturnalPrince and I'll be in your care from today on. Are those for me?”

He had motioned to the hot chocolate and the triple chocolate muffin sitting next to it. Prompto nodded again and watched as Noctis sat down in the booth and scooted over towards the window so the behemoth of a man could sit next to him. Noctis locked eyes with him and Prompto quickly looked down at the ground before moving to sit in his spot. He kept quiet as his hands reached for his camera. Pulling the item into his lap, his hands kept messing with the strap, pulling it apart and putting it back together. It was a nervous habit he had picked up almost as quickly as he did the camera. He heard Noctis sigh, it sounded happy and made him curious. Looking up Prompto froze. Noctis looked content, his hands wrapped around the warm mug as he pulled it away from his lips, a bit of whipped cream covering his upper lip.

Prompto moved automatically, his brain on autopilot as he lifted his camera and quickly took a picture. The lighting was really good, and it made the prince look like he had an ethereal glow to him. At the sound of the shutter, both Noctis and the behemoth turned to look at Prompto. He was now turning a shade too dark, his freckles getting covered in red as his entire face flushed from embarrassment.

“I'm sorry, I-I should have asked! You just looked s-so peaceful that I-I didn't want to ruin it. I promise I won't sell your picture! I-I can even delete it if you want, though i-it’s such a lovely picture, here look!” Prompto moved quickly, turning the camera around and pressing a few things before his recent picture came up.

It was the picture he just took, he would never admit that it was one of his best pictures taken of a person, especially if the prince told him to delete it. The larger male of the three whistled softly at the picture before voicing his thoughts.

“It's really good, better than all the professional pictures you've had taken. Maybe you should make him the royal photographer, at least then we would have charming photos of you for the press.”

The words made the blush darken on his face. He looked down at his hands choosing to ignore the others to the best of his ability. The camera was handed back to him and he took it happily back, having it back calming his nerves a bit.

“I wouldn’t see why he couldn’t work for us, that is if he wanted. I would have to take it up with my dad and Specks, but I think we could work on getting him the job.” Noctis spoke as if he already knew the answer to the question.

He really did like how well the blond had took his picture and thought that maybe the young photographer could possibly have a good life if he worked for the Royal Family. After all, the only thing he knew about the blond male was that he was majoring in Photography with a minor in engineering and computer science. Looking back up at the other male he smiled softly at him, he was blushing so much that Noctis was worried he would end up passing out from all the blood rushing to his face. His darker blue eyes looked into the lighter ones for a second before looking back to his drink and pulling out his phone. He quickly typed up a message before putting it back into his pocket and turned his attention back the young male before him.

“So, you know my name, am I ever going to be getting yours?”

The question was a simple one but it left Prompto blushing again. He honestly wasn’t expecting the Prince of Insomnia to be the other half of their messages. Grabbing his cup with shaky hands, he took a sip before looking back at the prince and giving a small smile.

“Prompto A-A-Argentum. Pleasure to m-meet you. I-I-I hope we can be g-great f-friends.”

Prompto had tried his hardest to say that sentence without messing up but it was honestly really hard. After their first interaction all those years ago, Prompto had decided that he wanted to change. He had spent so many years trying to get to where he was now only to feel like he was completely failing with Noctis. They had actually gone to highschool together and he had planned on talking to the prince then but he got cold feet and ran away, avoiding the other as much as he could. Once they graduated, Prompto had felt absolute joy at the thought of never having to see him again but he was also upset with himself for not trying harder. If he could have spoke to him again, like all those years ago he would have tried to make friends with him.

Sighing he put down the cup and smiled again at the two other males. “Well, now I-I know why you named yourself NocturnalPrince.”

Noctis took a large drink from his own cup before looking away quickly. He had only met this kid but he could already tell that he would love that smile. When he smiled, dimples showed and they only helped to add charm to the others face. Upon hearing his name, he frowned a bit as he thought. The name was familiar to him but he didn’t know why. Where had he heard that name before. He was about to ask before it hit him like a ton of bricks.

“Yearbook President!” His voice was loud and rang around the room, a blush covering his cheeks as he looked around at everyone who was staring at them, mainly him.

Prompto jumped a few inches in his seat before meeting Noctis’s eyes and nodded once. He was surprised that Noctis knew that. He smiled again at the other as a soft giggle left his lips.

“The one a-and only. I’m a b-bit shocked t-that you would rememb-ber that.” The look on Noctis’s face was priceless. He had a look of accomplishment showing as he smiled. Grabbing the phone from his pocket he typed a quick message before looking back to the blond.

1:20pm NocturnalPrince: would typing be better?

Prompto felt his phone go off and looked at the notification. His eyebrows shot up to his hairline as his eyes widened a bit before he looked over at Noctis and smiled brightly for the first time that day. Going back to his phone he typed quickly.

1:20pm Cams4Chocobos: yes (⁄ ⁄^⁄ᗨ⁄^⁄ ⁄) thank you for being so considerate!

Despite not being able to talk to Noctis face to face, Prompto had made a bit of progress with the larger male. He learned that his name was Gladiolus Amicitia and he was the bodyguard for Noctis. Prompto thought that his job was admirable, but knew he wouldn’t do well if he was in the position. Despite Gladios size, Prompto learned that he was relatively nice, a bit rough around the edges, but once you found common ground or showed that you weren’t any harm to Noctis, he warmed up instantly.

Once they finished their drinks and food, everyone thought it would be best to leave. Prompto threw away his trash and moved quickly to the exit. Being in the cafe with everyone staring at him had been a bit harder than he thought. He honestly wasn’t expecting his new friend to be the prince. Taking a deep breath once he was outside made him feel better. The air wasn’t as stale, as thick out here as it felt inside. He waited for the other two and turned to look at the door as he heard it open. The two stepped out, Gladio in front of the other and he heard Noctis say goodbye to Luna.

Once they exited, Prompto walked up to them and smiled brightly, a hand held out in front of him. “I-It w-was a pleasure t-to meet you, Noctis.”

Noctis looked at the hand before him and gripped it gently, giving the hand a small shake. “The pleasure was mine, Prompto. I hope we can meet again. Let’s play video games next time instead, I’m sure I could kick your ass at everything I own.”

Hearing those words made Prompto laugh, loudly. He bent over and held his sides as he continued to laugh. Eventually Noctis joined in and laughed with him. A few minutes later a car pulled up to the front and Gladio placed a hand on Noctis’s shoulder before pointing to the car. Noctis looked over at the car and finally calmed down, his laughter dying on his lips as he stood up straight. Looking at Prompto he smiled before telling the other goodbye.

Prompto watched as the others headed towards the car and got in quickly. He stood there until the car was gone from his view before he started to walk back towards his house. A normal walk that would have taken 15 minutes took almost an hour as he grabbed some photos of people and places. Once home he was greeted by his mother who told him dinner would be ready in an hour and to let his brother know. Prompto nodded as he headed towards his brothers room and knocked on the door before cracking the door and poking his head in.

“Mom says dinner is in an hour. She want’s you cleaned up before then.”

The younger male nodded from his desk as he scribbled something on his paper. He grumbled softly before turning to look at Prompto. Reaching out his arms, grabby hands were made to his brother who sighed softly and handed over the camera to the younger male before looking at the paper on the desk. Prompto checked it over and smiled as the answers were perfect along with the work showing how they came to be.

“How’d you get a picture of the prince?”

Prompto froze at the question and a soft blush covered his cheeks. Blue eyes met equally blue eyes as one pair widened a bit. He debated lying to Ventus but decided against it in the end.

“You know that person I met up with from the app, turns out it was the prince. Yeah, so he’s like a huge fan of King’s Knight and actually remembers me from high school as president of the yearbook committee. He was actually really nice, I think he will make a good king one day.” Prompto looked down at the photo his brother was looking at and frowned slightly.

“Ven, can you not tell anyone? I wouldn’t want to like, get him in trouble.”

Ventus looked at the other with a raised eyebrow and sighed softly before handing back the camera. “I guess, though I really don’t know who I would tell.”

Prompto wrapped his arms around the younger male before him and hugged him tight. He kissed his cheek before pulling away and walking back to the door.

“Thanks, oh and your homework is perfect. Make sure you study okay, gotta keep your grades up.” Ven waved him off but blushed softly and turned back to his work.

Prompto left the room and closed the door gently before heading to his own. He wanted to get the pictures transferred over to his cloud storage so he could take more pictures tomorrow. He had just enough time to upload the photos before his mother called them down for dinner. After eating, he headed back to his room to finish up on his own homework. He checked his phone to see he had two new messages.

9:06pm NocturnalPrince: thanks for hanging out with me today it was nice to put a face to the name specs still isn’t happy, but thanks for the drink and muffin! really needed it after the workout i got today

9:13pm NocturnalPrince: see you monday at school we can get lunch together

Prompto’s face was bright red again at the invite to lunch with Noctis. Prompto was on cloud nine just from a simple invite, Astrals, if only he was like a normal person.

9:24pm Cams4Chocobos: sure! ((ﾉ〃ω〃)ﾉﾞ thanks for the invite! i really had a nice time with you too!

Cams4Chocobos: ill see you monday for lunch! ♥（ﾉ´∀`）

He opened up his last message and frowned slightly.

The alarms blaring through the speakers wasn’t exactly a good sign. Neither was the fire that was rapidly spreading across the ship. Or the blood on the backrest of her chair that was probably hers. Or the fact that the ship was no longer flying but instead it was crashing.

But all in all, it was fine. Everything was fine. This is the adventure that she wanted. The adventure she needed.

Maybe the blue and green planet below her wouldn’t have anything that wanted to kill her. (She was lying when she thought that. Things that wanted to kill her meant lots of running.)

“Love the running,” She groaned as she tighten the bandage on her bicep to prevent any more blood from getting anywhere on the backrest of her chair.

The edges of her vision were getting dark. She must have another injury somewhere. Probably somewhere vital given how quickly the edges of her vision went dark.

That was alright though. She would survive it.

Probably.

Hopefully.

She kept a tight grip on the bandage on her bicep (as tight as she could really) as she reached over to the radio on the console.

She pressed the button and started to speak, silently hoping that this planet would have technology advanced enough to receive her radio signal.

“I come…I come in peace,” she managed to say through gritted teeth. “My ship…my ship is c-crashing and I can’t sto-stop it. Currently, I am…I’m injured and might…might not be…be able t-to change the…change the course of my ship. I can…I can try though.” She paused for a moment to catch her breath. “P–Please respond if you can.”

She let go of the button on the radio to allow whoever had heard her to respond.

But there was only silence.

The longer the silence went on, the closer the planet became, the more blood she felt leaving her body, the louder the alarms seemed to get, the hotter the fire became.

She could now feel her shirt sticking to her side. That must be where the other injury was. It felt rather large. Well, that wasn’t too good.

The silence from the radio continued to stretch on.

She had to blink away the spots in her vision. She couldn’t pass out.

The edges of her vision grew darker and darker. More and more spots were in her vision.

Whoever heard her (if anyone had heard her) better answer soon.

It was getting harder to breathe. She was sure if that was because of the pain or the smoke. Maybe it was a combination of both. Who knew?

She almost jumped out of her skin when the radio crackled to life, regretting the sudden movement instantly as pain shot through her body.

“ We’ve received your signal loud and clear ,” the voice through the radio said, “T his is Ally Davis from UNIT speaking on behalf of Planet Earth. This is a level-five planet and the majority of the population is unaware of extraterrestrial life. Please state your name and purpose .”

She snatched up the radio, pushing the button in. “H-hi. My ship is crashing and i-it’s heading straight…heading straight for your planet. Not-not on…Not on purpose. Is it…Is it possible for…possible for me to attempt a…attempt a landing?”

There was a short pause. “ Affirmative, here are the coordinates which it would be safest for you to try to land .” Ally listed off the coordinates and she quickly imputed them into one of the few systems of the ship that were still working. “ Are you alone on the ship? ”

She took a deep breath, wincing as pain shot up her side. “Y-yes. I am.”

“ Are you injured? ” 

“Yes. There’s…There’s a deep incision on my l-left upper bicep which is c-continually bleeding as well…as well as another on my torso. Un-unsure about…about the status of that injury.”

“ We’ll send medical aid to the landing site.”

“Thank…thank you.”

There was a short pause.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

She smiled weakly, darkness almost completely overtaking her vision as she spoke. “J-Jenny. I-I’m Jenny.”

--------‐-----------------------------------------------------------------

Bright white lights.

That was the first thing Jenny became aware of.

It was weird because all of the lights in the ship were a cosy yellowish-orange, not a harsh, medical, bright white.

She tried to open her eyes but had to immediately shut them again because the lights were too bright.

She faintly heard two people talking in the room she was in.

Which was also weird since Jenny was 100% (well, more like 97%) sure that she had been alone on the ship.

“She’s waking up,” one said. “Go get her now, she’ll want to be here when she wakes up.”

There was the sound of receding footsteps.

This was when Jenny realised she was 100% not on her ship anymore. No one would be able to walk that far in the small ship. It was more crowded than the asteroid belt around Akhaten when the markets were up.

So where was she? What had happened?

Jenny cracked her eyes open again, more slowly this time so she wouldn’t be blinded by the harsh white lights.

She was in a white room lying on a white bed next to a white table with a white vase on it with violently red flowers in it. She was slightly calmed by the presence of the flowers. At least they weren’t white and boring like the rest of the room.

“I see you’re awake,” Someone said from the other side of the room.

Jenny turned her head to look in that direction and saw a blonde woman (possibly human) leaning against the white doorframe.

“You gave us quite the fright, you know?” The woman said as she pushed herself off of the doorframe and sat in the white chair next to Jenny’s bed. “Most of the medical team thought you were going to die.” The woman smiled slightly. “But, of course, you wouldn’t die would you, Doctor . ”

Jenny froze. “W-what?”

Why would they think she was her dad? Why would anyone think that? Aside from a few genetic similarities, they look almost nothing alike.

“Yaz told us you went off on your own to regenerate,” the woman said, taking one of Jenny’s hands in her own. “You know you didn’t have to do that. You could have told us it was you through the radio, rather than have us perform all those tests to find the causes of your injuries and then discover it’s you.”

Jenny frowned. “I’m sorry but I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

The woman frowned as well.

“My name’s Jenny and I don’t have a clue who Yaz is.”

The woman let go of her hand. “She said she was the only one,” she said in a barely audible voice.

“I know who the Doctor is though,” Jenny said, “I’ve been looking for him for a long time.”

A look of interest came across the woman’s face. “How do you know the Doctor?”

Jenny smiled. “He’s my dad.”

--------‐-----------------------------------------------------------------

It had taken a while for Kate to understand that Jenny was telling the truth. Especially the part about not having a mum since she was born from a machine which took two cells from the Doctor’s hand, combined them and then rapidly grew them until Jenny stepped out of the machine pretty much fully grown.

It may have taken a while, but it didn’t take as long as Jenny was expecting.

Oh, and Jenny had learnt that the woman was called Kate and she apparently knew the Doctor as well. Has done for a while as well. Which would be useful for Jenny’s quest to try and find him.

Except for the fact that no one had heard from the Doctor for ages. Which was less useful.

However, Kate had given her some useful bits and pieces for living life on Earth while they waited for the Doctor to show up again (because apparently, Earth was his favourite planet and nine times out of ten he would be here somewhere).

Which was how Jenny found herself standing outside a building that looked like it had seen better days.

Kate had told her just to let herself in and even though that felt a little rude, Jenny decided that it would be the best course of action.

So, she pushed open the green peeling door and stepped inside the dark hallway of the building.

Jenny walked through the hallway towards the faint sound of voices. It sounded like there were a lot of people in the building.

Eventually, Jenny found herself at a closed door with a bit of paper stuck on it with a bit of tape.

Do not disturb, support group in progress, invite-only

It said in one style of handwriting and below it in someone else’s handwriting:

If you have an invite just come straight in :) It’s fine

Jenny looked at the dark blue envelope that Kate had given her before she had to go to her Human 101 Lessons the other day (Kate and other UNIT members had repeatedly told her the lessons were called Earth Orientation but Jenny honestly thought that sounded kind of boring). That letter must count as an invite, right?

So Jenny took a deep breath and knocked on the door, hearing all the voices go slightly quieter but still loud enough to just about be heard.

“I thought everyone was here,” Someone said.

“We are all here,” Someone else responded. “I’m pretty sure we are anyway.”

“Don’t worry,” Jenny heard Kate say from behind the closed door. “I’ve invited a new member to the group.”

Jenny heard footsteps approaching the door before it opened to reveal Kate standing in the doorway.

“So, glad you could make it,” Kate said with a smile which Jenny returned. “We’re just about to start so why don’t you take a seat?” Kate gestured at the circle of chairs in the centre of the room.

Jenny noticed that most of them already had people sitting on them. She didn’t recognise any of them at all. Her eyes continued to look at each of the faces of the individuals sitting in the chairs in the circle. Nope, definitely didn’t recognise anyone.

Hang on a minute.

That wasn’t true.

One of the people sitting in the circle just noticed her and they were standing up and moving slowly toward her, looking as though they had seen a ghost.

“Jenny?” Martha asked.

“Hi, Martha,” Jenny said with a small smile and a little wave.

“But I thought…” Martha trailed off with a frown.

“I died?” Jenny looked to the floor and back up at Martha. “Me, too. Turns out the Source didn’t just terraform Messaline.”

Martha suddenly pulled Jenny toward her into a hug. “He’ll be so happy to see you if he comes back.”

Jenny wrapped her own arms around Martha. “I know.”

The two of them stopped hugging after a while and sat down in seats that were next to each other.

Various members of the group looked at her expectedly.

Martha leaned over and whispered, “Are you going to introduce yourself?”

“Oh, right, yeah.” Jenny flashed the group a smile. “Hi, I’m Jenny.”

One of the older men on the other side of the circle smiled at her. “Hiya, Jenny. I guess Kate didn’t tell you much about this did she?”

Kate shot the man a look. “You know I actually have a job, right?”

The man shook his head with a smile still on his face. “Anyway. Everyone in this group has met the Doctor at one point or another in their life and as none of us can really talk to anyone else about it, we’ve decided to make this support group so we can talk freely about our experiences.”

Jenny nodded. “Cool.”

“So, seeing you’re our current newest member, you get to start first of all,” He said.

Jenny nodded again. “Alright. So, uh, as I said, my name’s Jenny. And the Doctor is my dad.”

Everyone in the group (except Martha) seemed to freeze.

Well, maybe she should have softened that blow a little bit before dropping a bombshell like that.

Oops.

Martha didn’t expect much when she came in from work. She wasn’t even fully expecting Mickey to be home since he was probably still at work or maybe down the pub with his mates. She definitely wasn’t expecting August to be home since he had told them he was hanging out at a friend’s house after school.

What Martha seriously wasn’t expecting was two letters addressed to each of them in dark blue envelopes. TARDIS blue envelopes.

She shook her head to dispel that thought. They were just blue. They most certainly wouldn’t be from him. He knew they were happy. He knew their travelling days were over. He possibly knew about August and how they wanted to keep him safe. He wouldn’t contact them. Right?

Martha stayed stood in the hallway for a while, deliberating over the envelopes with a thousand thoughts rushing through her mind in order to find an explanation for the letters.

That was how Mickey found her when he came through the front door a while later, just standing there in the hallway still staring at the letters in her hands.

“Hey, love,” He said softly, placing a hand on Martha’s shoulder. “What you got there?”

Martha took a deep breath to calm herself and quieten her racing thoughts. “Just some letters. One for each of us.”

Mickey nodded. “Alright then, let’s see what it is.” He took his letter from Martha’s hand and entered the living room before sitting down on the purple sofa at the far end of the room.

He looked up at Martha and patted the seat next to him as an invitation for her to sit down. But Martha shook her head.

“I’d rather stand for this,” she said, taking another deep breath before ripping into the envelope, and hearing Mickey do the same.

Inside was a cream-coloured letter with an address and a short note on it.

Hi there,

You don’t know me and I don’t know you but it would be great if you came to this meeting which has been organised about a mutual friend of ours.

Sorry for being a little vague, just a precaution if this gets into the wrong hands. :)

Hopefully, we’ll see you soon!

Graham O’Brien, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and other members of the support group

Martha heard Mickey scoff behind her. She turned around to face him with one hand running through her hair whilst she kept a tight grip on the letter in the other.

“Why did they put the address of the place in plain sight if they didn’t want this letter to get into the wrong hands?” He asked as he frowned at his own letter in his hands.

Martha shrugged before sitting down next to Mickey and leaning against his shoulder. Mickey put an arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

One of the names at the bottom of the letter rang a bell at the back of Martha’s mind. Kate Lethbridge-Stewart. Why did that sound so familiar?

Mickey looked back down at the letter in his hand. “I think we should go,” He said after a slight pause.

Martha looked up at him with a frown.

“It could be useful,” He said with a shrug, “Plus, it would get both of us out the house doing something that isn’t work.”

Mickey had a point and the small smug look on his face told Martha that he knew that she knew he had a point.

She shook her head with a small smile on her face. “You know it’s a three-and-a-half-hour car ride, right?”

“You’ve been to the end of the universe and I’ve been in a parallel universe,” Mickey said with a shrug as he stood up. “What’s a small three-hour car journey going to do to us?”

--------‐-----------------------------------------------------------------

“Thanks for agreeing to look after August, Mum,” Martha said as she pulled her rucksack over her shoulder.

Francine smiled and adjusted her hold on August before gently pulling a few strands of her hair out of his grip. “It’s really no problem, Martha. Anything to spend more time with my grandson.”

Martha nodded with a smile. “Now, August, you be good for Grandma, alright? No causing trouble while me and your dad are gone.”

August flashed her a cheeky smile which Martha guessed meant that he was 100% going to cause trouble while she and Mickey were gone.

Martha gave Francine another quick smile before shutting the front door behind her and getting into the car where Mickey was waiting.

“You ready?” He asked as she sat down.

“Always.”

--------‐-----------------------------------------------------------------

The building wasn’t really much to look at. It just looked like a normal building, a normal building that could really do with some work being done on it because, quite frankly, it was a mess.

Martha took a breath before glancing at Mickey. He nodded at her encouragingly.

It was fine. It probably wasn’t some kind of alien hostage deal like that time at one of their work friends’ kid’s birthday party where it turned out the majority of the clowns had been zygons and all of the kids had been taken hostage. It probably wasn’t going to be anything like that.

Hopefully.

Martha raised her fist to knock at the green door but she didn’t get a chance to since before her fist could even connect with the peeling paint, the door swung open to reveal a young man that she vaguely recognised.

He must have recognised her too. “It’s Martha, right? I’m Luke, you knew my mum, Sarah Jane.”

Realisation hit Martha like a train. This was the young boy who was with Sarah Jane during the whole deal of the Earth being kidnapped by Davros and the Daleks for the reality bomb. But he wasn’t much of a young boy anymore, it seemed.

Martha smiled warmly at him. “It’s good to see you, Luke.” Her smile faltered for a second. “I heard what happened. Are you holding up alright?”

Luke looked down at his feet. “Yeah, I guess. It’s been a few months but the pain of loss never leaves.”

Martha reached over and rubbed a hand up and down his arm comfortingly.

“Hi, I’m Mickey,” Mickey said after the small pause, “Do you have any clue why we’re here?”

Luke stood up a little straighter. “Oh, yeah, right. I was meant to be inviting you two in.” He stepped into the hallway of the building with Martha and Mickey following him. “This entire thing was Graham’s idea but it’s mostly Kate who finds people who might benefit from this since she has a lot of connections.”

“What is ‘this’?” Martha asked as she looked around herself at the hallway. It didn’t look much better than the outside of the building.

Luke sighed. “You guys got one of the vague letters, didn’t you? I told them that was a bad idea.”

The trio turned a corner and suddenly they were standing in the doorway of a well-lit room with various people sitting and standing whilst they talk to each other.

“This is a support group for people who know or knew the Doctor,” Luke explained. “Here we talk about the things we experienced so that we don’t keep it all bottled up. Studies have shown that behavioural and emotional interventions work just as well or even better than medication to treat various mental health conditions. And in this group, we’ve found that the majority of people have been in some kind of trauma during their meeting with the Doctor.”

Martha and Mickey were speechless.

This support group idea was amazing. Why didn’t they think of that? Well, maybe because Rose was in another universe, Donna wasn’t allowed to remember, Jack was god knows where, and Sarah Jane was gone.

Someone in the group waved at Luke and he quickly apologised before heading over to them.

Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea.

Luke had been right. Both she and Mickey had gone through some kind of trauma with the Doctor. 

He was also right in the way that it wasn’t good to bottle things up.

Maybe this was a brilliant idea.

~~~~~~~~