"So, now. We'll all go to the Tardis. And I'll be watching all of you." The Doctor looked specifically at Sam as he said this.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sam snapped, exasperatedly running a hand through his hair.
"I know you're trying to do what you think is right," The Doctor began, shaking his head, his hands held up in a shrug of surrender.
"Yeah, I am," Sam asserted, anger tingeing his voice, pausing for a moment before he continued.
"I really don't get what your issue is. I'm doing what you're asking. I just don't see what you're getting at. I haven't hurt anybody that didn't bring it on themselves." Sam shrugged, biting back emotion as he stormed off up the stairs and out of the room, toward the Tardis, as The Doctor followed him with Dean in tow.
"Sam—" The Doctor called after him.
"What?" He turned back, expression harsh as he regarded the Time Lord.
"You don't seem to think I understand. But I do. Really, I do. Remember that back there? The Time War? It really happened. I killed the rest of my people. I don't think you want to do that. And don't think for a moment I'll let you do something like that—"
"Like what? Killing all of humankind? I don't think you have to worry about that, not from me at least—" Sam said, rolling his eyes at the absurdity of it.
"No, Sam. Not that." The Doctor sighed. "But something you'll regret."
"And what do you think that is?" His eyes narrowed with disgust. Yeah, here it comes, he thought. Really…what does he think I'm gonna do, the self-righteous time freak?
"I don't know, Sam," The Doctor said, shaking his head. "But I don't like where you seem to be going."
"If you're worried about Dean, you can stop." He called to the Time Lord over his shoulder as he approached the Tardis, which The Doctor opened with a snap of his fingers from where he stood at the top of the stairs with Dean in tow. "He's safe with me. He's my brother, for god's sake. I'm not trying to kill him, I'm trying to save him."
"Really that's nice and all, Sammy," Dean cut in, "But maybe I don't need saving. Maybe you just need to wrap your head around that, huh?"
Sam scoffed as he turned away, going through the doors into the time machine.
"Now that's quite enough from you," The Doctor reproached, pressing a hand to Dean's shoulder to steer him through the doors of the Tardis after Sam.
"Dude, hands off, Time Freak," Dean sputtered. "Just coz I'm a demon doesn't mean I'm some indiscriminate killing machine, OK? So really, hands off. I can walk by myself."
"Alright," The Doctor shrugged, mouthing "See he doesn't upset anything," to Canton, who had looked up from where he'd secured Crowley to see the commotion of the two brothers' argument.
The Doctor disappeared behind the console, busying himself running some sort of sequence, although of what sort Sam couldn't tell.
"You really don't get it, do you?" Dean muttered as Canton guided him to the seat across from Crowley, affixing the handcuffs to the armrest of the seat with a zip tie.
"Get what?" Sam shook his head, as he stood leaning against the wall, his eyes creasing with a bitter mixture of emotions.
"Have you maybe ever thought that, I dunno, I'm not the only one with-" Dean began, but was interrupted.
"Alright! Enough, you two," Canton cut Dean and Sam off with a reproachful look. "I don't know exactly what all you've done, but The Doctor's not too happy with either of you. So please, do me a favor and just shut up for a bit."
"Thank you, Canton," The Doctor said, appearing from around the console. "You've been quite helpful. But for the moment I need to speak with Sam."
He beckoned around the other side of the console, where Sam came to stand close to the Time Lord.
"What? What now?" Sam asked irritably.
"Well, there's the matter of where you two are going, and what you'd like to do with Crowley there," The Doctor responded.
"Yeah, you can just drop us off—"
"See, Sam, I get the feeling you're in a bit over your head. If you'd like help, you merely need to ask."
"Help? I don't need your help," Sam reproached, shaking his head.
"What I need is you to drop us off and leave me to do what needs to be done."
"And what would that be?" The Doctor pressed, his voice firm.
"Well, like everything else, you're not gonna like it, but there's only one way I know how to fix this mess. I need Crowley's help to figure out to do that." Sam said.
"And how do you suppose you'll do that?" The Doctor probed grimly. "He doesn't exactly seem the sort to want to help."
"I need some time alone with Crowley," Sam replied, nodding.
"I'm not comfortable with that, Sam—" The Doctor shook his head, trailing off as Sam cut him off again.
"Look! What is it you're so afraid of, huh? Evil? Torture? Blood on your hands?" Sam snapped.
"Not on my hands. I've already the blood of countless many on mine. No, it's that I don't want it on yours."
"Mine? You realize I jump started the Apocalypse, right? I let Lucifer out of the Cage. Blood on my hands is just about moot. I—I don't have enough innocence or whatever else there is left to worry about anymore. I can only try to do what's right for now, with what's in front of me. And right now that means getting my brother back. "
"Still—" The Doctor interjected, only to be cut off when Sam spoke again.
"And if you're worried about Crowley-his blood is demon blood, OK?" He scoffed a little as he said this. "I somehow doubt the powers that be in Heaven—which doesn't give a crap what happens to the world, by the way-would mind if I killed him."
"I understand, Sam, but—"
"Please, just let me finish. Because, see, I don't care what they think of me, either. I don't know for sure where I'm going when I die again, but I don't really care about that either. So far, every time since the Apocalypse, it's been Heaven, but I've come back so many damn times already, it just doesn't matter. Right now, what they think in Heaven doesn't matter. It's earth, it's the people out there, dying, because of demons and monsters, and keeping the very few people," He broke off for a moment, sucking in a breath, "Those few people in the world who can do something about that alive long enough to hold this place together, OK? That's what I care about. And one of them is my brother, so if you're worried about my ethics, something with me being selfish, and how it relates to the big picture, well, that's it. So if you want to find a problem with it, just tell me. OK? I don't know any better way than this. "
"I see." He paused momentarily, shaking his head slowly, the dilemma he wrestled showing plainly in his face. "I cannot condone what you want to do," The Doctor said slowly, "But this is your world. If I can help in any way, that is, help you avoid harm to someone, let me know."
"Alright. If that's how it goes, then…you can drop me and Dean and Crowley off at our bunker like I started out saying. Get out of here, preserve your plausible deniability to feed your delusion of ethics. Let me do the dirty work. That's fine. It's not like you'd be starting any new thing. That's how it's always been with the self-declared powers that be."
"Sam," The Doctor said, shaking his head, his voice tinged with deep sorrow. "That's not all what I mean. You've seen a bit of my mind. You know a bit of my history. Is your human brain so small you can't you begin to imagine that that's not where I am coming from? I will know that you are doing something unconscionable because I failed to intervene. And that will not happen."
"Yeah, sure," Sam grumbled. "But I'm telling you that our world doesn't work your way. Like you told Canton, the laws of physics diverge here. Well, same goes for morality. Here morality's not your simple black-and-white. Nope, here it's all gray, in a world of nasty gray, and you're standing in the middle of it. There's not a speck of white to be found. Not even you, and you couldn't change it no matter how hard you try. Believe me, I've tried. Look where it got us. So, please, just let me do what I need to do. Going gray on one of the darkest forces in our reality is not going to be the end of the world. Hell, we already did that." He made a sound that was as much a scoff as a dry laugh. "And if this works, maybe it will help just a little freaking bit."