A/N: Another chapter to my story. Not much left to it, things are getting squared away and the Doctor is sorting it all out. I have added a bit of a link to one of my other stories in here, but nothing too big, you don't have to read any of my other stories to know anything about it. But if you have, then you have a nice connection to this. Any way enough chat…on to the story. Please R/R.

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Chapter Eighteen: Sorting Things Out

The Doctor entered back into the office. His gaze turned briefly to the monitors that Martha and Ry'kla had used to see the Dalek. He took a brief look hoping that there weren't any more threats out there. Seeing none he breathed deeply a sigh of relief. The Doctor sat down for a moment in a chair, one to catch a breath and to thank Rassilon that he had managed out of this particular situation. He absolutely couldn't let Martha see him like this. After all he had a reputation and an appearance to keep up. He poured himself a cup of tea and reached a hand out towards the biscuits to realize they were all gone. He snorted, fine thing this was, he had just saved all of them and there were no biscuits left. That greedy little Mala'shra must have gobbled them all up, and Martha probably ate the rest. But he sighed thinking over it, poor little Ry'kla looked terribly thin. If she had decided to eat up most of the biscuits it was perfectly alright, but it was rather disappointing to have gotten rid of a Dalek and there was not one biscuit left. He finished his tea and went into the back room.

Martha threw her arms around him, "I knew you'd handle it."

"Martha Jones, Ry'kla would you please explain why there are no biscuits left? I mean really, I save you from the gravest threat in the entire universe and you couldn't even save me one biscuit."

Martha didn't know what to say, leave it to the Doctor to find something really petty to complain about. "Oh you….there weren't really that many biscuits left when I was in there. Ry'kla had pretty much eaten them all."

Ry'kla looked a bit embarrassed and stuck a hand into a pocket and pulled out a biscuit, "I….I…was saving it for later. Here you can have it."

The Doctor smiled lightly, "Nah….keep it Ry'kla. You look as though you haven't eaten too much lately."

Ry'kla sighed and then broke the biscuit in half and stuck one half in her pocket and then offered the other half to the Doctor. The Doctor smiled and then folded up Ry'kla's hand, "I mean it Ry'kla; you look as though you were starved…."

He looked angrily at Ms. Lai.

Ms. Lai said quietly, "I couldn't risk her using her mental abilities to escape. I feed her just enough to keep her alive but…just enough so she couldn't concentrate and use her mental powers."

The Doctor glared and said angrily to Ms. Lai, "You listen here….one of the Mala'shra adopted me once. Made me part of her family. Now it so happens that this Mala'shra had a very, very large family, to which no doubt Ry'kla is related to. I don't take kindly to someone harming a race that offered that sort of honor to me."

Ms. Lai said nothing. Ry'kla's eyes brightened a bit at the Doctor's words, so he did remember what had happened so many thousands of years ago on her own world. Although from Ry'kla's memory it had become a story of legend. She smiled and then gave the Doctor a big hug. He grinned and ruffled her hair a bit, "I see you remember something about that, huh?"

Martha's said incredulously, "You mean Ry'kla's race made you part of her family, Doctor."

"I thought it was a story, a legend," Ry'kla said softly

The Doctor grinned, "All my travels are legends….but wait till you get home, Ry'kla. What a story you can tell. You got to meet the man who was with your oldest progenitor. Now that's bound to be worth something. And Martha Jones, I have been all over, I kind of well….muddled myself into the affairs of Ry'kla's race in the past. It's a long story; I don't really have the time to go into it. But to make a long story short, I got to know one of the Mala'shra's leaders and….well she adopted me. But no big deal, I have had all sorts of things happen to me like that before." The Doctor was kind of embarrassed by it though, he wasn't really one to take up things like that, but that whole adoption thing had been forced on him by a rather persistent Mala'shra.

Ry'kla smiled; her eyes merry and then suddenly they grew sad and sorrowful and she said softly, "That is if I ever do get home."

"What do you mean if you ever do get home? Ry'kla, I promise you I will take you home. Now mind you, I can't take you back to the very moment you disappeared, since you have been here for how long?"

"Forty-five years…."

"Blimey...you have been here that long?"

Ry'kla nodded.

The Doctor sighed, "There's only one slight problem. I'll have to take you back forty-five years into your present. Sorry….but this time stuff gets complicated. Can't take you back to the very moment you disappeared or….well it will fracture things really good. I am kind of surprised that things haven't been any worse, what with…." He glared at Ms. Lai for a moment, "Her using the Time Scoop like she has been doing. Now I have to sort this whole mess out. And I am not at all happy about it…not one little bit."

The Doctor took off his trench coat and as he was rolling up his sleeves he said to Martha and Ry'kla. "Okay...you two we've got five…umm four floors to get through. We have to round up all the other misplaced people around here. Would you two….ummm kind of help me…this is going to take a good deal of time to sort out and…well…..there's going to be a lot of races not too happy about it coming through here."

Martha sighed, "I get the idea. Come on Ry'kla maybe you can help….seeing how you're telepathic and all."

Ry'kla smiled and then said, "It will be a pleasure…" She then pressed the half a biscuit into the Doctor's hands, "Keep it, Doctor. It would mean so much to me if you did."

The Doctor sighed and took the biscuit knowing better to argue about it, blooming Mala'shra and there idea of hospitality and friendship. Ry'kla really needed the food more than he did, but….what could he do about it? That was the Mala'shra for you, if they could they would practically offer the clothing off there own backs to someone. He then grinned and said, "Now…..big ole Time Scoop…..let me see if I can remember how this thing works…" He looked at the machine and then began to sing lightly, "Zippidy-Do-Da. Zippidy-ay. My oh my, what a wonderful day…"

Martha and Ry'kla sighed and proceeded to go to their own task, they would help the Doctor sort out what had happened to other various time stranded beings. It was a particularly daunting task but they knew it had to be done, and the only one who could actually really do anything about what had happened here was the Doctor.

Ms. Lai looked around and then proceeded to make a break for it, but the Doctor prevented her from even stepping one foot out the door. He pulled out a bit of masking tape from one of his pockets, "Oh no you don't. You're staying right here, even if it takes me the next three hundred years to get this done."

He taped her down into the chair and he grinned and went back to his work….