"Doctor?"
The Time Lord looked up as she entered the console room, giving her a quick smile. "Good morning!" he greeted cheerfully. "Well, I say morning, but who can tell in the Time Vortex?" It was a few days after the Manhattan fiasco, and the days since had been the first calm days she'd had on the TARDIS. She had mostly spent them either catching up on sleep after days on end of running, or hanging around in the library or her room.
Molly walked gingerly into the room, nervously toying with her request in her mind. She'd been thinking about it for a while now, and she'd finally gotten the resolve to ask. "Er, Doctor, can I ask a favor?"
He nodded, looking at her curiously. "Sure, go ahead."
"I..." She hesitated, uncertain, before continuing, "Can you take me back home?"
When his face fell, she hastened to add, "Just for a bit, you know, just so I can get some stuff done. I've still got a bit of work to clear up, and I should probably grab some stuff from home..." she trailed off, no longer sure of what she was asking.
It was true that she loved being on the TARDIS, more than she'd ever thought possible, but Frank's death had shaken her. Not the death itself – while that was still horrible, she was sadly starting to get used to that. It was the fact that he'd died doing something she'd told him to do. She was the one who asked him to put himself in that danger. It was her decision that had killed him. That fact had haunted her through the days after Manhattan, as did the implications that followed. What if she was more hindrance than help for the Doctor? What if she was only getting more people killed, rather than helping like she'd wanted to? She couldn't stay on the TARDIS if that was the case.
She held back a yawn. The last few days had been spent catching up on sleep, but the first few action-filled on the TARDIS still had her mentally wiped. So much death and action and mindblowing discoveries had left her more tired than she'd ever felt. It was all so amazing, but it was also a bit much. She just wanted a bit to look at her life before the Doctor, what she might have to return to, and evaluate. Besides, the Doctor had only offered for her to stay for a bit. She still wasn't sure what that entitled, and she wanted to be prepared if she had to return to her old life. Even if it could never compare to life on the TARDIS.
But she wanted to stay. It surprised her how much she wanted to stay on the TARDIS, how much she enjoyed it. She'd always just taken what life had given her, not really protesting anything, not Sherlock's cutting words or her lack of friends. But this life... she wanted this, she wanted to hold onto it, and that wasn't something she was accustomed to.
She needed time to sort out her tangled thoughts.
The Doctor forced a smile, but Molly could tell it wasn't genuine. "Of course," he told her. "I'll take you home."
Molly forced a smile back. But where is home? she asked herself silently.
So here's that extra interlude I promised you. It's leading up into my next episode, and it's meant to show Molly's mental state at the moment. A little look into her thoughts.