"But I still don't understand. Of all the people in the world, why me?"
The man snaps and his blue box opens, revealing a carnival of lights within. "Miss Molly Hooper, you are more important than you could ever imagine. I know you can help me. Now, it's rather drafty on this balcony, so why don't we step inside the TARDIS and finish our conversation?"
Molly turns and looks back into her small apartment. She would be moving out of it soon to live with her boyfriend. Would the Doctor be able to get her home by the morning? Probably. She follows the man in the tweed jacket into the blue box that's bigger on the inside.
The TARDIS is even more beautiful than her friend, Rory, had described to her. She met him through the hospital they worked at, and the two became fast friends. He had mysteriously disappeared a few months ago; Molly hoped to find out why.
"So, where are we headed?"
"Believe it or not, Earth. A few generations in the future though. The person we need to see is actually your descendant."
Molly's face shows a mixture of surprise and joy. "You mean to say I have children in the future?"
"Oh we could never visit direct descendants! If you can keep a family secret, I can tell you what happens to your future nephew."
"No, no, I really shouldn't! But, out of curiosity, what family do I become involved with?"
"The Holmes. Looks like this guy is your last boyfriend, huh?"
She only blushes. Molly had been dating the older Holmes brother for a few years, but she had no idea it would go that far. "So Sherlock has a son then? Is he adopted?"
"Oh, so you know about him and John then? Great guys, they end up together. I probably shouldn't tell you who Sherlock has his son with, but you'll know when it happens, that's all I can say."
The two share a grin. Molly had an idea as to who this woman was, but she wasn't going to spoil the Doctor's fun. "So do you have anyone then? Any family outside Gallifrey?"
The Doctor's smile slips from his face, melting into a chord of nostalgia, depression, and grief. "I had a family very recently, actually. A wife, in-laws, best friends…" he trailed off. When he picks up, his voice is reduced to a whisper. "You were friends with Rory Pond? He's my father-in-law. Amy's my mother-in-law. Their daughter, River, was my wife, but she's gone now." The Doctor looks to an empty space in the TARDIS, as though a ghost of this River character were standing right in front of him.
"What happened to them?"
"Terrible things. Dark things. Powerful things. These monsters sent Amy and Rory back in time, where I'll never see them again. River sacrificed herself for a version of me that barely knew her. I guess, in a way, I tore them apart."
Molly doesn't know what to say to the alien. She can only think to give a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "I'm so sorry."
Just then the TARDIS lands with accompanying noises, and the Doctor springs into action, seeming to forget the heartbreak previously shown on his face. "Alrighty, then! Here we are, ready to go?"
The TARDIS had settled inside a bright facility with no color or windows. Molly immediately suspects it to be underground. The duo are greeted by a scientist in a dazzling white lab coat.
"Doctor, so nice to see you again. And who might you be?" the scientist says, shaking their hands in turn.
"This is Molly, the third aunt of Orson." the Doctor introduces, happily fixing his bowtie. "Molly, this is Professor Cricket."
"Nice to meet you."
"Likewise. Which side, Molly?"
"Holmes."
The conversation that flew between the scientist and the Doctor after the introductions confused Molly to no end. There were names thrown about that she was pretty sure she shouldn't be hearing, something about "fixed points" and some great tragedy in the family a generation after hers, and a great debate about two people Molly was certain she would meet at a later time.
Finally Cricket leads the two to a room that is as monochromatic as the last. The room is small, with a long table filled with papers and pens. In front of the table there is a wall of glass looking into another small white room.
But this room is different. Inside that room there is only a small boy sitting in a chair. Nothing binds him to his spot, yet he doesn't move a muscle.
Molly is somehow drawn to the glass pane, and the Doctor can tell. "Miss Hooper, I'd like to introduce you to your nephew's grandson, Orson."
She can see he is a descendant of Sherlock's. If his curly black hair wasn't enough of an indicator, Orson wore a smirk that was all too familiar.
Professor Cricket sits in a chair, and the Doctor follows suit. There were only two chairs, so Molly stood behind them while Cricket began to explain what was happening. "Orson's mother was the granddaughter of the greatly remembered Sherlock Holmes. His father, however, is unknown. We can assume he was an alien, because Orson displays some… interesting qualities. Whoever steps into that room he is held in is suddenly caught up in an illusion of sorts. It's whatever that particular person wishes to see most , which brings us to the frightening part." Cricket pauses, running a hand through his thinning hair. "Some of the scientists who have gone into that room have not come out. They choose to stay in the illusion, and that makes them disappear from our view and monitoring systems altogether. Other say they can see the scientists when they're in the room, but that's all we know about them."
The Doctor rubs his hands together in anticipation. "Alright, there's only one way to do this then."
Molly finds herself tied to a long rope entering the smaller room. The Doctor and Cricket told her if she shows any signs of disappearing, they'll physically pull her out of the illusion. She didn't particularly like the idea, but she had no choice.
There were other people in the room. They were drifting about, staring off into space. She wonders what they're looking at when a pain as swift and sharp as a dagger hits her stomach. Suddenly, the pain stops, and a swirl of mist transforms the scene into London on a rainy day.
It was home.
It was work.
It was beautiful.
It was terrifyingly accurate.
It wasn't real.
It was real.
She couldn't make up her mind.
Suddenly, the scene shifts back to the white room with drifting people, only now the Doctor and Cricket were yelling something at her. Molly notices she has untied the rope. That's silly. Why was she tied to a rope in the first place?
The scene changes back to her perfect world. Sherlock never jumped, James never interfered with any of their lives, Mycroft never killed those people, Anderson and Donovan never existed…
The Doctor appeared, pulling at her arm. Then he stopped, and began to stare around. Was he here with her, or was he in his own fantasy?
She grabs him to see if he's alright, and s burst of energy jolts her forward.
They're in the TARDIS again, but others are here. Molly only recognizes Amy and Rory, but she was sure the other people there were other friends of the Doctor, other family members he lost.
Suddenly Cricket grabs them both, and the trio are transported to a small cottage, where two young kids run around the yard playfully. A young woman watched them from the window, then gestures for the three to come closer. Cricket refuses, and drags the other two out of the room; the other scientists stuck in the illusion begin to clutch their heads in agony.
They're all trying to catch their breath without much success. People are lying unconscious in the other small room. Orson is either sleeping or dead.
"Wha- what just happened?" Molly finally manages to ask.
"Cricket broke the illusion. He denied his greatest wish, and it saved everyone."
"Well, almost everyone." Cricket almost chuckles. His skin is pallid, showing clear signs of death.
"No, no there must be a way to stop this." The Doctor runs to his side as Molly ventures into the small room.
The room is just a room now. The boy that sat in the middle of it all no longer breathes. She walks up to him, careful not to touch him, and produces a sad smile.
"Hello, I'm your third aunt."
Cricket and Orson are buried outside of the facility, in a graveyard too big for a research center.
the TARDIS flies Molly back home, just before dawn.
The Doctor does not ask her to travel with him again. They both know she's seen too much of his pain to want to cause him any more.