A/N: This is the final full chapter of this story. There is an epilogue, which I'll post on Wednesday, then we jump right into the next installment. I know there are still unanswered questions from this one... they get picked up in the next episode. Think of it as a two-parter.

Callie sat on the couch as primly as she possibly could, palms on her knees, trying to make herself look physically small, to take up as little space as possible. Every ragged breath made her body tremble. She was showing every outward sign of fear possible. It was hard, not like it had been last night. Tonight she was terrified. What if Howard and Robert and Josh never came back? But she had a part to play, and if she could do anything to help, she would. No questions asked. The man playing the captain was in position, stroking the glass of one of the picture frames. "I'm sorry, could you repeat the question captain Saunders?" she asked him.

"You heard me perfectly well," the man replied, "and you will give me the information I'm looking for. Now I won't ask you again. Where's the Doctor?"

"I don't know."

"Where's the case he stole from the king's chambers?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about! How many times must I tell you?"

The picture frame and the coffee table flew, just as they had before. She lunged backwards, pressing herself more fully into the couch under the towering figure now standing directly before her. He leaned down and grabbed her by the lapels of her blouse. Dragging her face up to his own, nose to nose with her now, he growled out, "I am not playing with you, you verminous insect! The Doctor is a known associate of the Travelers, a traitor to king and country. Now, you will tell me where he is, you will tell me where His Majesty's property is, and I will consider sparing your life."

He threw her back down on the couch. She stood shakily back to her feet, putting one hand to her throat and gasping for breath. Another night, another bruise.

She staggered over to the bar under the watchful gaze of the officer, getting ready to run, muscles tensing. As nonchalantly as possible she poured herself a drink. Then without turning back to him she said, "You've made a mistake."

"There is no mistake," the officer bellowed from his position near the couch. "Traffic has been intercepted between this residence and encrypted relay buoys known to be in use by the Travelers. The Doctor is most definitely a sympathizer, and I think you are hiding him."

"Then as I said, you've made a mistake." She would have raised the gun again, just like last night, but she discovered that it wasn't in the hiding place inside the bar. Someone had made off with the prop. Great. But it didn't matter - it barely had time to register in fact, before the grating sound rose up once more and the blue box started to materialize in front of them. "Because... uh... he's right here," she finished lamely.

The Doctor stepped out, looking powerful and in charge of the situation, like nothing could stand in his way. She really hoped that was true.

"Captain," the Doctor said brightly. "How lovely to see you again. How long has it been, days? Seems like just hours ago we were standing right here." That earned him a light chuckle from the audience. Good. If they liked it when he broke the fourth wall, they were going to love this next bit. "You've been busy whilst I was away," he continued. "Hunting down resistance leaders, terrifying the general population. How awful it would be if that sort of thing happened every day, hm?"

"Yes, well," the captain replied with a sneer, completely the opposite of the personality his real-life counterpart had. "Hopefully it won't come to that," he said, wearing a smirk that seemed to indicate he'd like nothing more.

"I understand the travel restriction. I can understand the greater good. The thing I can't figure is, why would you stand with the government on this one?" The question was as much for the actor as it was for the character. "I mean what does it matter to you if someone wants to get out of here, see the sights?"

"Balance must be maintained," the captain replied.

"Balance. Is that what they told you?"

The man faltered. He didn't know how his character was supposed to respond... he himself didn't know. Nobody had ever said a word one way or the other. "We... inferred," he said, trying to cover himself.

"I see, I see," the Doctor said. "Well, you know what they say about assuming." The actor's face was blank. "Ah. Maybe you don't. Well, don't is the general gist of things."

"What are you blathering on about?"

"Let me tell you a story, captain," the Doctor said. "That's why we're all gathered here, isn't it? Who doesn't love a good story?" He sprawled out on the couch, long brown coat flapping down around him as he raised his trainers up onto the seat across from him, looking like the perfect picture of nonchalance. "Once upon a time... oh, don't the best stories always start that way?" Both of the other actors were staring at him without blinking. "Guess not, then," he muttered. "Right, anyway. Once upon a time, on a planet not unlike this one, there was a settlement, founded God knows how long ago. And they were led by a strong nobleman. A king.

"And he was a good king, genuinely interested in his subjects, so much so that he didn't just watch over the economy and the peace, but he kept watch over the heavens themselves. Day and night he scanned the skies for any hints of danger and, one day, he found one. The monsters that came from the skies weren't very many in the early days, but soon the kingdom was besieged by terrors from above.

"But the king was wise. He used his resources and his knowledge to erect a great barrier over the entire kingdom, sealing the creatures outside in the howling void." The Doctor glanced out at the audience. There were murmurs of recognition coming from the audience here and there. Perhaps the odd story had been passed down along with a family history every now and again. But most of all, he saw a silhouette standing up in the ornate box high above the rest of the audience. This was all sounding a bit too familiar to the current magistrate. He'd best hurry this along. Still, it seemed a shame to rush the story.

"The years passed, and the kingdom flourished. Kings came and went, each following in the shoes of the one who came before, and endless succession. It can be awfully lonely, last in a long line like that, believe you me. I should know. And one day, some of the younger subjects... and it's always the youngn's, innit... started to look up to those very same heavens, to wonder what was out there. They didn't see any danger. They saw freedom and adventure and things to learn and love and experience. But the king wouldn't take down the shield. To do so would mean death for his entire kingdom.

"The young subjects tried their best to breach the shield from the inside, not knowing that if they succeeded they'd kill everyone inside. The king had to stop it, and he did everything in his power to distract them, to give them something else to focus on, some other evil to fight. He tried to convince them not to go, that there'd be dire consequences if they did, and he was right... just not honest about the kind of danger they were facing. But say what you will about the king's motivation... he never shed a drop of his subjects' blood."

He stood up from the couch at this point, and started pacing the stage, pouring himself a quick drink from the bottles on the wet bar, pleased to discover that they were filled with fruit juice to simulate the look of alcohol. "Then one day, a knight rode into the kingdom. He saw the plight of the young people, and the threats to the prisoners. And in his pride - for which he was very, very sorry - he assumed the worst. 'I'll free you,' he promised the young people. 'I'll tear your oppressive kingdom down brick by brick.' And he set out to do just that." He was standing next to the TARDIS now, and he couldn't resist giving it a quick turn, letting the audience see all four sides. "The knight took his faithful steed, and freed the prisoners." He opened the door of the TARDIS, and Quinn exited. Then Robert, still clutching his son, Howard, and Josh with his wife. The audience wasn't reacting yet, but they would soon. Because then more people came out. Howard's parents were a little weaker, a little older, but supporting each other they made it out of the TARDIS. Lana's father stepped out and stood next to the elderly couple. When Callie's husband stepped out, she put her hand to her mouth, stifling a gasp, and looking like she was trying to hold back tears of joy. She ran to the man and kissed him hard, not willing to let him go, she'd been so afraid for him.

"Ooh," the Doctor said, and looked to Howard, who was standing on the other side of the stage, watching the exchange stoically. "I'm sorry, Mr. Milligan," he said, glancing pointedly at the actor. Howard didn't say anything, just made his way off stage to find Robert's soloist.

The audience was silent, watching all of this happen, not quite daring to believe what they were seeing. But the Doctor had another trick up his sleeve. "Come on," he said, leaning his head back into the TARDIS, and that was when the second wave started. A whole group of people, mothers, brothers, sisters, fathers, streamed out of the tiny box, single file, and started filling the stage. Thirty-five of them, by the time the procession was finished, filled the whole stage, and all of them had come out of that tiny wooden box. The audience was applauding now, giving the performers a standing ovation. Standing right next to the Doctor, holding his hand, Quinn basked in the applause, a grin spreading from ear to ear. Standing on her tiptoes, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and he spun to face her, genuine surprise on his face. "What was that for?" he whispered.

"For being you," she said. "Now come on. Finish the story."

"Right." He stepped forward and raised his hands to the audience. After another half a minute, the applause reluctantly died down and the audience sat down again. He resumed his story. "The knight wasn't finished though," he said. "He stood at the edge of the barrier, saw the danger was real. And, being the brave sort of knight that he was, he couldn't just stand by and watch. So he slew the dragons in the sky, and banished them to the land of infinite darkness. Well, that might be poetic license. But with no danger to anyone any longer, that meant that the kingdom was safe, and free to open itself back up to the world. And with assurances that such a thing was going to happen, the knight rode off into the distance, never to be seen again. And I - the knight - do have that assurance, don't I?"

The door to the TARDIS opened once more, and Captain Sanders stepped out, waving to the King's box. "Oh, you do," he said. "You have my own personal assurances."

An actual government figurehead, one they all recognized, was in the play? And he'd come out of that box? The audience didn't know how to react, but one person began to applaud, then another, and then another still, and soon the entire auditorium was filled with applause once more.

"Happy ending," the Doctor said to himself, smiling. "I love a happy ending."