Walking back down through the Hawkins lab, seeing all of the horrible excuses for 'scientists' being handcuffed and forced out of the building by the UNIT troops… it was satisfying to the Doctor on a deep, personal level.

You didn't mess with children. And certainly not with the Doctor close enough to punish you.

The Time Lord swaggered effortlessly through the lab, getting awed looks from the UNIT personnel sweeping the place. He was well aware he was a legend to some of them, no matter how much he didn't like it. But, being a legend did have its perks.

The Doctor smiled, sauntering out of the lab to the front lot, the UNIT transports parked patiently as the people who ran the lab were forced into the backs. The US government, for the first time and a very long time the Doctor reckoned, was going to have something to answer for.

He could've left well enough alone then and there… but, then he caught sight of Brenner, and the Doctor just had to rub it in.

"Brenner." The Doctor addressed. He wasn't going to address any of these people by the title 'doctor.' As far as he was concerned, they'd lost that right upon experimenting on a child. "Sitting comfortably? I hope so. That's going to be the last comfy chair you sit in for a very, very long time."

Brenner glowered at the Doctor, unable to sic his goons on the Time Lord, or fight the alien himself. "Why are you doing this? What did we do to you?"

"To me?" The Doctor shrugged. "Nothing. But I did find a little girl in the forest with a very special ability."

"Eleven." Brenner breathed. "You found her?"

"From a certain perspective."

"Where is she?" Brenner inquired. "I need to know that she is… safe."

"Safe." The Doctor repeated, huffing. "I find it very hard to believe you're inquiring that because you're worried about her wellbeing. Let me put it in terms you can understand:" The Doctor growled, practically getting into the man's face. "She is somewhere where you, or your goon squad, can't ever find her."

"That girl… belongs to us." Brenner replied. "Government property. Think about what you are doing." He tried to threaten.

"A child," The Doctor roared, short fuse at its end. "IS NOT PROPERTY!" He seethed, trying to get himself back under control. "If your government has anything to say about it… they're going to have to deal with me."

Brenner tilted his head. "You would make yourself an enemy of an entire country?"

"I've made myself an enemy of entire species." The Doctor hissed. "If your government thinks they can take me on… they haven't got the first iota of a clue of who they're dealing with." The Doctor, unable to face Brenner any longer because he feared he would get physical with the American, pivoted on his heel, marching away. "I hope you made your peace with her the last time you spoke!" The Doctor taunted as he walked away. "Because you won't ever get to see her again." The Time Lord vowed, disappearing back into the woods.

Brenner looked on, as one of the UNIT soldiers shut the door to the transport, and banged against the side twice, all prisoners from the lab accounted for. The convoy began to move, and the lab was left behind, leaving it solely in control of UNIT.

The doors to the TARDIS creaked shut behind the Doctor, and in an instant, a little blur was running into him, nearly knocking him to the floor.

"Whoa, whoa!" The Doctor staggered, as El clung onto him. "What's this about, eh?"

El pulled back from him, and scowled, hitting him on the chest. "Stupid."

"Stupid, I'm not-" The Doctor sputtered, being cut off by a mechanical chime from the TARDIS. "Oh… shut up!" The first thing he did was stow his spacesuit and the camera specs back in the chest, before marching up to the console. "So, any word on Will?" He asked, pivoting the monitor over to see.

"Safe." El stated. "Home."

"Oh, have you been watching him? Did you find that yourself, or did the old girl do it for you?" The Doctor asked, seeing a feed from the monitor. Joyce was doting over her son, latched onto him even as he was taken through a hospital to be checked out. "And the monster…" He typed a series of commands into the keyboard, smiling as the results came back. "On the other side. Then, there's no time to waste. Let's get this portal closed." He flicked a few switches on a panel, and the screen changed to show a head-on view of the rift in the Hawkins lab. The fissure pulsed uncertainly, shrinking and stitching itself back together, the flesh-like growths around it decaying into nothing.

El tilted her head as she looked at the screen. "Gone."

"Like it was never even there." The Doctor confirmed, turning back to her. "Were you okay in here, all by yourself?"

El thought about it for a moment, before nodding. "Yes."

"Good." The Doctor smiled. A moment passed, before he sighed and swallowed. "You saw me talking to him, didn't you?"

"…saw everything." El confirmed.

"Are you going to be okay?" He asked. "He may have been a monstrous man… but he was the only one you had."

"…okay." El told the Doctor.

"Alrighty, then." The Doctor inhaled, turning to the console. "Right, now…" He glanced at her. "The people in the lab are all gone."

"…no more bad men?"

"No more bad men." The Doctor gladly confirmed. "But that does leave me with a choice to make. I can find you a home, here, on Earth, with a nice, caring family who'll keep you safe." Lethbridge-Stewart might be resistant, at first, but the man really was a bit of a softie when he warmed up.

El tilted her head. "Home?"

"Yeah, with a mummy and a daddy who'll do things good parents should do." The Doctor explained. "Maybe even a brother or a sister." He could always leave El with Sarah Jane. She did have a habit of taking children under her wing.

"…or?" El questioned.

The Doctor glanced at her. "Or what?"

"Said choice." El recalled. "Means two options."

"Right." The Doctor laughed slightly. Perceptive kid, that one. "Or…" He swallowed, bracing himself for the coming rejection. "You could… come with me."

El tilted her head. "Where?"

"Everywhere." The Doctor answered. "The TARDIS can go anywhere in the universe. And she can go anywhen in time." He explained.

El slowly approached the Doctor, examining him.

"It's fine if you don't." The Doctor quietly told her. "You're just a kid… The universe is a bit big for a child."

El looked up at the Doctor, thinning her lips. "Stay." She decided.

The Doctor sighed, turning around. "Well, guess I'd better give old Alistair a call, let him know he has incoming."

"Stay."

The Doctor froze, slowly turning around. "What'd you say?"

"Stay." El repeated one final time.

The Doctor looked hopeful. "You want to stay?"

"Yes." El confirmed.

The Time Lord's face broke out into an ebullient grin. "Ha ha! Well, old girl," He addressed the TARDIS, "Guess you'd better bring the kids clothes out of the wardrobe and get the place childproof!" He dashed around the console like a caffeinated squirrel, throwing levers, ringing the bell, flicking a few switches. "Now then, brand new TARDIS, you know the best thing to break it in!?"

El tilted her head curiously.

"A trip." The Doctor waggled his eyebrows adventurously. "Shall we be off?" He pulled back a red lever, the entire ship thudding, as he moved over to the throttle. He beckoned El over and placed her hand on the throttle. "Ready?"

El smiled and nodded.

"Right then! Goodbye, Planet Earth, hello…" He looked the girl dead in the eye. "Everything."

The Doctor pulled the throttle back, and the TARDIS began to shake. Little ammeters in the console went wild, as the blown-glass pillar in the center of the control console began rising and falling with the most melodic scraping noise El had ever heard. A flip clock set into one of the panels began flipping through every last one of its numbers and thunder clapped as the TARDIS slammed through the time barrier.

During all of this, the Doctor whooped and laughed, El following his example after a moment, as he piloted the ship towards its next destination:

Adventure.