Hello, hello, so this is my first story, I hope it's all right! Although I don't think it's very accurate to the serial The War Machines, or The Faceless Ones for that matter, my knowledge of London geography and the way the navy works is very poor, but it's just a one-shot to get started with! And there isn't enough Ben and Polly anyway.
"It really hasn't changed. At all."
"Well, of course not. As far as the rest of London knows, we never left."
Polly nodded, a little absent-mindedly, as she handed some money over to Ben, who then paid the taxi driver who had taken them from Gatwick Airport to Camden. He had dropped them off just a street down from the Post Office Tower, where Polly had initially requested to go.
"It's swarming with reporters down there," the taxi driver had explained. "Impossible to find a place to park. Well, didn't you hear about what happened yesterday? Madness, I tell you, the entire world will be ending soon, mark my words..."
Polly and Ben merely exchanged a small, knowing glance, and quietly agreed with the taxi driver. It still hadn't fully sunk in that they were home. That this was the start of a normal life again, and that they would probably never see the Doctor and Jamie again.
Now that the taxi was gone, and Ben and Polly were basking in the hot July sunshine, the reality was starting to hit home for both of them.
"It all went by so quickly... everything we did with the Doctor," Polly sighed.
"Yeah, I'll say, so quickly no time has actually passed!" Ben laughed. "What a bit of luck that was! The Doctor was good for some things after all."
"Ben!" Polly said reproachfully, but she too was laughing. "I suppose we were lucky. And now we're home safely, that's another thing to be thankful for. We haven't returned injured, or mutilated by aliens!"
"Exactly," Ben said. "We can get on with our lives again. Our real lives."
Polly nodded again, and the two of them began walking in the direction of the Post Office Tower. As the taxi driver had said, it was packed with reporters, the incident fresh in everyone's minds. Everyone except Ben and Polly.
"Everything we went through, all the places we saw, and the people we met, and the worlds we saved..." Polly said, "... and the world is exactly as we left it."
"What are you trying to get at, Polly?"
"I'm not sure exactly," she frowned. "Just that …. maybe … it all seems rather hollow, and empty. There are amazing planets and civilisations out there, even as we walk down this street. Doesn't that amaze you? And we went there. And we just walked away from it all."
"Well of course we did! Are you really regretting it?" Ben asked. "Try and be happy that you got to experience as much of it as we did, and we still made it home in time for tea. If we'd kept travelling, the Doctor may never have landed here again, or we may have been killed by some tentacled-alien!"
"You're right, and I don't regret leaving, I am happy to be home, but still," Polly shrugged. "It will just be hard to adjust, that's all. I just can't believe how normal everything is. I'm almost expecting to be attacked at any moment, or to be accused of sabotaging some plot or other, that sort of thing …."
"Don't worry, Polly. You'll be perfectly adjusted again once you've returned to that night club you love, had a bit of a shopping spree, that sort of thing," Ben joked. Polly glared at him, but said nothing. There was an element of truth in what he said, after all.
They had walked past the Post Office Tower now, and had left the mass of reporters behind. Now, they were passed by ordinary people, and they caught snippets of their ordinary conversations. No one glanced their way, no one attacked them, life was as it had always used to be.
"What time do you have to be back to your barracks?" Polly asked Ben.
"By noon," Ben replied, checking his watch. "About forty five minutes to go. I've got plenty of time for a leisurely stroll in the sunshine!"
"Yes, I suppose so," Polly said. "It will be weird, not seeing you every day. I feel like I'll start to worry about you being kidnapped by a monster if I don't hear from you often!"
"We'll keep in contact, don't worry," Ben assured her. "How could we not, after everything we've been through? We both need someone to talk to about it all, without the other person thinking we've gone round the twist!"
Polly smiled. "Of course, Ben, of course. What do you think the Doctor and Jamie are doing now? I hope they're all right."
"Oh, they'll be fine, probably enjoying being away from you and your high maintenance," Ben suggested, getting a light slap on the arm from Polly in response. "They've probably picked up a couple of new people to travel with already, wherever and whenever they are."
"It wouldn't be surprising," Polly agreed. "Well, I'll walk you back to your barracks, if it pleases you."
"And then what will you do?" Ben wondered.
"Hm … go home, I suppose," Polly finally answered. "Not that I really need to check up on it, but I have missed the flat."
The two of them carried on walking and, in about five minutes, they had reached Camden Square. Ben was not really paying attention to his surroundings, and was whistling some sailor song that Polly could not recognise for the life of her. In fact, she was too busy gazing all around, and drinking in the scene before her: London, where she belonged. As her eyes swept over the square, she suddenly caught sight of an extremely familiar object, and an extremely familiar figure heading towards it.
"Ben, stop a moment," Polly hissed, stopping the man by throwing her arm out in front of his chest. He stopped whistling immediately.
"What's wrong Polly?" he whispered, reacting as he would have done had they still been travelling with the Doctor.
"We need to stay back for a couple of minutes, or else we'll run into our past selves," she explained. "Look! The Doctor's just heading to the Tardis!"
Ben followed Polly's gaze, and he started grinning. "Blimey, he really is there! Back when he was the real Doctor."
"Ben, he's always the real Doctor, no matter what he looks like," Polly snapped.
"I'm still not entirely convinced," Ben said. "I mean, he never did give us an explanation for that 'renewal' thing..."
"Ben, look, here we come!" Polly cried, disregarding all of Ben's misgivings.
The two of them fell silent as they watched their past selves talking with the Doctor, saying goodbye, and then making the life-changing decision to enter the Tardis too, to return the Doctor's key.
They had been completely still and quiet whilst watching all of this, and yet they had somehow managed to achieve a deeper level of silence when the Tardis disappeared. They were both frozen to the spot as they saw it vanish for the last time. They heard the familiar groaning and whirring of the ship as it took flight, and both were filled with a great sense of nostalgia, and a fair bit of sadness.
The last strains of the Tardis's sounds faded into the air.
"And that's the last time we'll ever hear it, or see it," Ben said, an undertone of longing in his voice.
"Still, I'm glad we did get to see it and hear it again, one last time," Polly added. "I didn't think I'd miss it, until just now."
"Me neither."
Polly sighed. "We really have changed since then, haven't we?"
"You think? Nah, you're the same Duchess you've always been, to me, and you always will be!" Ben exclaimed, earning another slap from Polly.
"We've definitely changed," Polly was almost assuring herself. "It was a wonderful adventure, and I'll always be grateful for it."
"Well it definitely makes me appreciate home comforts a lot more," Ben conceded. "All right, Polly. I think we have changed quite a lot."
Twenty minutes later, Ben and Polly were at the entrance to the barracks. They both seem extremely hesitant at this final point. From now on, they really were returning to their old lives.
"Well, goodbye, Ben. For now," Polly said.
"Yeah, for now," he nodded, and an awkward silence fell between them.
"Oh, go on then," Polly said, and she gave Ben a big hug, which he returned with equal warmth. "Thanks for looking after me, Ben."
"My pleasure," Ben said, breaking away from Polly. "And thank you for looking out for me, too."
"Don't mention it!" Polly joked.
"Anyway, I can get another weekend pass out of the barracks, for this coming weekend," Ben added. "And we never did get to go out for lunch when we arranged it. So how's about dinner together, on Saturday night?"
"Sounds lovely Ben," Polly replied, and Ben grinned once more at her. "See you then, Sailor."
" 'Til Saturday, Duchess," he said, and he finally disappeared through the entrance of the Barracks. Able-seaman Ben Jackson.
Polly stood outside for about five more minutes, smiling to herself as she watched the world go by. Suddenly, she sat up a little straighter, and said quietly herself:
"Oh, yes! I arranged to have lunch with Kitty today! It is a good thing the Doctor got us back on the right day. What would I have said if I'd turned up twenty years late?"
And with that, Polly strode off back towards Camden.