Martha sat down next to Miranda, who was pushing the remnants of her cake around her plate. Miranda was glad this Torchwood wedding had gone off without a hitch. To her utter surprise, that morning a small team from UNIT had shown up and chased the Torchwood team out of the Hub for the wedding, with compliments of Colonel Ashline. Miranda had left them with specific instructions on what sort of situations would require interruption, but nothing had come up and, as the evening was coming to a close, she breathed a sigh of relief. Tomorrow morning, the UNIT team would depart and Torchwood, minus its captain and archivist, would settle back to normal. Mickey and Martha would be staying on until Jack and Ianto returned to help ease the load. It was their wedding gift to ensure that neither Torchwood operative worried during their holiday or, at least, worried as little as possible.
"I'm surprised they haven't made an exit yet," Martha said nodding towards Jack and Ianto who were both laughing along with Mickey.
"You and me both," Miranda said with a laugh. "I don't think their flight is until morning."
"Where's the honeymoon?" Martha asked.
Miranda grinned after making certain that Ianto was not looking in their direction at all, she pointed at the ceiling. "It's a surprise. Jack checked with me first to make sure Ifan would have a heart attack."
"Wait… What? You don't mean…" Martha uncrossed her legs and sat forward in her chair. "How? Are they going with the Doctor?"
Miranda shook her head and dropped her voice to a near whisper. "Apparently ringed planets are big tourist attractions and our solar system having two is quite unique."
"You're joking?!" Martha gasped.
Miranda shook her head. "According to Jack there's an interstellar cruise liner that makes its way through the system every other Earth month."
"How did Jack arrange all this?" Martha couldn't believe her ears.
"A gross misuse of Torchwood resources," Miranda said with a sly smile. "There's a communications device in the archive. There are also a number of valuable items and substances he used as payment. One hundred years of service? I think it was the least Torchwood could do for him. The cruise liner will be stopping to pick them up in the morning and dropping them off in just over two weeks. I've heard it's roughly an Earth day in orbit around each planet, except Mercury. Jack showed the me the itinerary. They'll visit Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune with the last stop being Venus."
"What? No Mercury or Pluto?" Martha joked.
"Pluto's little more than an asteroid and Mercury is too close to the sun," Miranda supplied. She smiled at them fondly. Jack did love the grand gestures. Ianto was in for an experience of a lifetime. She grinned. "I don't know if Jack has wasted his efforts or not. I wonder if the two of them will leave their bedroom long enough to enjoy the solar system."
Martha laughed, nearly snorting her drink through her nose. "Point."
"I think he's waiting for that Doctor of yours to pop round."
"Jack did asked me to ring and invite him. I got the answer phone."
Miranda almost choked on her water. "The Doctor has an answer phone?"
"I left a message," Martha chuckled. "If he decides to pop round, he might not turn up properly. Horrible timing, the Doctor has. He'll probably show up in a year and think he's right on time."
Miranda was about to open her mouth to make some joke about a Time Lord having bad timing when a whooshing noise began fading in and out.
"I don't believe it!" Martha cried and locked eyes with Jack and Mickey. The three of them bolted for the restaurant door leaving a room full of confused wedding guests. Miranda looked at Ianto and shrugged. Ianto mouthed 'the Doctor' at her and then jerked his head towards the door. There was a nervousness in Ianto's face mixed with worry and fear. Miranda stood up, following the three former companions out into the Plass.
She smiled at the sight of the old police box. They'd once filled the streets but they were long gone now. Jack, Mickey and Martha seemed to be making joyful introductions. There was a tall red-headed woman and a thin long faced man standing next to her. They must be the Doctor's current companions. Miranda recognised the Doctor immediately even though she'd never seen him before. He looked like an Oxford professor in his bow tie and tweed jacket but even with the joyful smile on his face the Time Lord made Miranda's skin crawl. He had his hand clapped on Jack's shoulder and was smiling broadly, shaking his hand in congratulations. Despite the jovial face, the man's eyes were old and radiated a smoldering power, almost god-like. Those eyes settled on her and she saw something else smolder in them - anger and disappointment. Miranda felt naked, stripped bare beneath the Time Lord's gaze.
She'd heard about the Doctor, of course. She was Torchwood and the Doctor was Torchwood Enemy Number One. The way Jack talked about him, you hardly thought he'd deserved such a title, but Miranda could see why now. He saw everything - all that is, all that was, and all that could ever be. When he looked at her, he didn't see Doctor Miranda Ryan, Torchwood medic. He saw Yi Mei-Xiu, the Whore of Babylon. It was almost as if his gaze was forcing the memories of thousands of years ago to rise up in her mind. She heard the screams and wails of the Horsemen's victims - her victims - long turned to dust. His eyes branded the scarlet letter onto her chest as if with a white hot iron. Miranda swallowed nervously, backing into the restaurant.
Miranda had thought that Jack and Ianto would be the ones making a discrete exit. Instead, she collected her coat as unobtrusively as possible, folding it over her arm. She avoided the group as they entered the restaurant, Jack eagerly dragging the Doctor towards Ianto. Miranda lingered, watching as everyone settled from the arrival of the new guests. She looked around the room.
Henry and Fish were feeding each other cake, gazing into each other's eyes, scarcely aware of the new comers. The Doctor was standing in a huddle with his companions, current and former, all of them trying to keep the Doctor from saying something outlandish that Ianto's family would find mental. Ianto was chatting with the Doctor, looked far less nervous and worried than before. Alice and Tom were flirting over a bottle of wine. Steven was sitting next to David and Mica, playing some game on his phone, looking at Amy out of the corner of his eye. Gwen was giggling and laughing with Rhiannon while Rhys and Johnny were toasting a pint together. Miranda looked at them all, smiling softly as her eyes fell on each person. She felt very much on the outside of this group. It was when the Doctor caught her gaze again that Miranda felt the most lonely. The look he threw her was a simmering stew of barely restrained rage, profound disappointment and white hot accusation.
Miranda couldn't hold his gaze for more than a few seconds. Her eyes were downcast as she dropped a deep bow at the Time Lord. Then she turned and walked for the restaurant door - no longer feeling required nor welcome. She looked over her shoulder before the door shut, seeing Ianto and Jack kissing while everyone clapped and whooped. Once she was on the street, she walked towards the hotel Donovan had whispered in her ear earlier, burdened and alone.