Right in front of his eyes, the Doctor could see the hotel walls instantly age from almost brand new to cracked and uncared for, with the sun shining from an skylight.
The future. He thought, We're back in the future. Or present. Or… past?
It was hard to tell without a calendar.
He looked down the stairs and saw Batman enter the hallway and turn left. "Bruce!"
Batman came running back and locked eyes with the Doctor. "Doctor, what happened?"
The Doctor looked at his wristwatch, saw it wasn't working, then pulled out his sonic screwdriver to give it a boost, but only managed to hear the sonic sputter. He put the sonic back into his jacket. "Well, going to have to wait for that to recharge."
"What?"
"Nothing. What happened to you? How'd you get here?"
"I'm not sure. My night vision went out and I suddenly found myself here." As straight of a face and voice he could bear, the Doctor could hear a twinge of fear in his voice.
"You were touched by an angel."
"Again?"
"Yes, again." The Doctor walked down the steps, heard the creaking of the floorboards under his weight, and took it slow. "You see, when an angel touches you, you move through time. Supposedly, the angels take time energy from you, the years you were going to live in your present time but not anymore, and send you back far enough to prevent a paradox. I've seen them send someone 50, 100, and once, 500 years back. But we're dealing with a new tactic. They're giving us time energy. sending us to a specific time in the past, or like now, the future. Do you understand what Im saying so far?"
"Mostly."
"Good, 'cause there's more. I think they were trying to start a paradox with you by having you save your parents. Very few angels use this tactic and they're rather aggressive. But, for some reason, there were two that sent us here to…" The Doctor checked his watch, "The present. We're in the present."
Batman checked his watch that was under his left glove. "It's 9:34 am. We were gone for four hours."
The Doctor reached the bottom floor. "Yes, felt like it too." He pulled out his sonic, pushed the button, and it made a high-pitched buzz. "Oh yes! The TARDIS is with us too! Right outside on the street corner. Glad I turned on the emergency activation switchmajig. Or the Whatsit. I forget what it's called." He put the sonic back in his jacket, straightened his bow tie, and walked passed Batman towards the lobby.
"Is it over?"
The Doctor turned around. "Sorry, what?"
Batman stared at him and spoke in a lower, menacing tone. "Is it over?"
Silence.
"Don't lie."
"It's over."
"I said don't lie."
The Doctor gulped. "No, it's not over. I don't have it figured out. I don't know why some angels did what they did and I don't like knowing. There's something big going on and I want to find out what it is before it's too late."
"And where were you going? Where are you from?"
The Doctor walked slowly towards Batman. "I'm not leaving this planet, if that's what you're asking. I admit that I'm an alien, but I'm also not from this dimension. I'm from somewhere far out of reach, even from boomtubes."
"Boom-what?"
"Oh, sorry, too early. You see, I know everything about you. Too much for your own good. You need me here for a while because this is something you can't solve. I'll be watching this world for a while until I solve this mystery and stop it from destroying this dimension."
"So this won't be the last time I see you."
The Doctor smiled. "I highly doubt that."
Then he turned around to leave, and when he was out of earshot, Batman uttered one sentence:
"Thank you."