Chapter 21

Pride shoved himself behind a tree, hidden by the roots sticking out of the ground. He could hear something moving out there, but he wasn't sure what it was yet.

That's when the tree started disappearing. He shook his head slightly. No, he wasn't imaginings things. The jungle around him was fading. And the buildings from town were reappearing. So, the Doctor then. For the most part, the buildings obscured his view as much as the trees had, but he could see where the tower used to be, and he could see two familiar figures where the top used to be, now hovering in thin air.

The two started falling. Lilly was screaming. The Doctor fell like she was skydiving, and she smiled, but Pride could see her eyes darting around for some sort of solution to present itself.

Well, he better make sure the Doctor didn't die.

Pride clapped his hands and pressed them against a building. The metal walling peeled away from the building. It stretched up, forming a sort of slide. If the Doctor hit it from the correct angle, it would break her fall.

The Doctor noticed what he'd done almost immediately, pulled Lilly closer by the sleeve, and rotated in the air so she'd hit the slide without feeling the full impact at once.

The two slid down, Lilly still screaming, the Doctor still smiling. She managed to propel herself forward at the bottom, landing on her feet. Lilly thumped against the ground and took a few gasping breaths.

"We lived," she said.

"We did, didn't we?" the Doctor said. She laughed and spun on the spot. "Look at us! Well done team! Now, we should probably go."

"Doctor."

She turned. A woman was standing there, holding the girl from the bar earlier. She was grasping her very tightly and her eyes were shinning. So, the mother then.

"Oh. Sue. Glad you lived."

"So am I," Sue said. She sounded confused more than anything. Then she took a breath and composed herself. "Thank you, Doctor. Are we still going to have trouble from the dustballs?"

"Well one of them was just killed by gravity. But I can't make any promises about the others."

"Don't worry." Sue's look hardened for a moment. "They won't give us more trouble. But is there anything we can do for you?"

The Doctor glanced towards Pride. "Don't suppose you know where we could find a crutch?"

"Yes. Yes of course."

The Doctor offered to take Lilly home, temporarily, as they walked to the TARDIS. "Or you can stay in the TARDIS if you like. We have bedrooms."

Lilly clearly found that idea much better, and headed deeper into the TARDIS as soon as they were inside. Pride would be doing the same. His room was still there, and after the last two adventures some sleep would be good. But he was moving slower than usual. He'd faked needing a crutch a time or two in his years of acting, but never often, and he'd never actually needed one before.

"Pride? You hate humanity," the Doctor commented behind him.

Pride scoffed. "Yes," he agreed, wondering where this was going.

"So why help?"

"I had to get you out of that other dimension."

"Oh. Was that because you wanted to save me, or get off the planet?"

"What?"

"You were concerned I didn't want you around," the Doctor said. "But really, if anything, I should be the one worrying. You wanted to leave Amestris, I get the feeling you like seeing other places, but it could've been with anyone. If I'm disposable to you, that's one more thing for me to keep in mind."

She was doing a good job hiding it, but it seemed she really did care about the answer. The thought had never occurred to him. Why would she care what he thought of her? If he wanted to make her life harder, which he didn't, he couldn't be more than a minor annoyance. Much as he hated to accept that.

Pride still gave his answer some thought, speaking slowly. "That's not true. There are many things I disagree with you on, and I can't say I've been fond of you recently. But you're one of the few people I respect. I wouldn't go traveling the universe with just anyone. I'd rather you stayed alive."

"Thanks," the Doctor said, not sounding entirely sure she should be thanking him. "Wish you could improve your attitude a bit," she added under her breath.

"I have," Pride said.

"Of course you have," the Doctor sighed.

She sounded tired, but that wasn't Pride's concern, was it? He headed towards the hall. Funny. He was pretty sure there'd been a step here before, but the TARDIS floors were flat with very little impeding them now. Had something changed? If so, it must've been the TARDIS, not the Doctor.

"I was managing," he muttered at the ceiling.

There was no response as he made his way back to his room.