They went straight to Lestrade's old flat after that, staying there for a few hours after the incident at Baker Street. Molly sat Lestrade down and, as gently as she could, explained everything to him. The Doctor, how she'd met him, who he was and what they did, why Sherlock had faked his death, who the Master was and what he wanted. Sherlock and the Doctor cut in occasionally, to correct or embellish on a point she'd made. Honestly, Lestrade was taking the whole aliens- are-real thing surprisingly well, though the introduction of the Toclafane had probably made it slightly more believable for him.
The detective inspector passed a hand over his face, looking weary with the whole thing. "Right. So you're saying Harold Saxon is a Time whatsit - "
"Time Lord," the Doctor corrected automatically.
"Right, Time Lord, same as him, an alien that looks human that wants to take over the world cause of a grudge match with your friend."
Molly nodded. "Basically, yeah."
Lestrade sighed. "Christ. And here I was thinking that knowing Sherlock Holmes was the craziest my life was gonna get."
The companion laughed. "Tell me about it," she agreed. "But it's not all bad, Lestrade - "
"Greg," he corrected.
She grinned. "Greg, sorry. There's so much amazing stuff out there. You wouldn't believe some of the things I've seen, or the people I've met. Traveling with the Doctor... it makes you realize how wonderful life is, just watching it as people live it day by day." She saw the Doctor give her a proud glance.
Lestrade have a light chuckle. "Well, you weren't kidding about traveling at any rate. But what are we going to do about Saxon?"
The Doctor shrugged. "Still working on that."
Molly frowned, casting a concerned glance at the Time Lord. He'd given then a brief description of his conversation with the Master, but he didn't seem very willing to talk about it. She was getting really worried about him. The last time she'd seen him this worked up was when they'd faced the Daleks in Manhattan.
Now was even worse. Now it wasn't an old enemy he was being faced with, but the only bit of family he had left - a family he'd been forced to kill in order to save the universe. The fact that this family came in the form of a power-hungry psychopath who'd probably spent the majority of the conversation blaming the Doctor for the destruction of Gallifrey only made it that much worse.
She was worried about what the Master's return would do to the Doctor. He was her best friend, but she knew he had issues most psychiatrists wouldn't touch. He had a guilty conscience the size of a planet, and she got the feeling it was the work of a miracle that he'd gotten over it as much as he already had. But the return of another Time Lord, one who was perfectly willing to play mind games and throw all of the Doctor's insecurities in his face, could be seriously dangerous for his sanity. Molly could only hope that they could get this cleared up quickly, before the Master could do too much damage. And she'd be there for him every step of the way. She may only be human, not one of the Time Lords he so desperately missed, but she'd stand by his side through whatever he'll the Master decided to throw at him. He didn't have to be alone. She wouldn't let him.
Molly was shaken from her thoughts as the front door was opened. the group stiffened, fearing the worst, but it was just Jack returning with take-away food for all of them. Molly took a bag gratefully. "Thanks. I don't think I've eaten all day."
"No problem." As he sat by the dining room table with the rest of them, he held up his Vortex Manipulator and explained, "I've got this tuned to government wavelengths so we can follow what Saxon's doing."
"Any news?" Sherlock asked.
The captain shook his head. "No, and nothing about your brother or friends either. Looks like you got them out in time." Jack still seemed worried over his team - he reminded Molly of how the Doctor was about his companions.
As they ate, Jack turned to the Doctor. "So, Doctor, who is he? How come the ancient society of Time Lords created a psychopath?"
"And how do you know him?" Molly added.
The Doctor sighed, his eyes gleaming with the familiar pain associated with Gallifrey and anything connected to it. "A friend, at first."
"But all the legends of Gallifrey made it sound so perfect," Jack argued.
"Well, perfect to look at, maybe," the Doctor conceded. "And it was. It was beautiful." His tone grew wistful as he began to describe his home. "They used to call it the Shining World of the Seven Systems. And on the Continent of Wild Endeavour, in the Mountains of Solace and Solitude, there stood the Citadel of the Time Lords, the oldest and most mighty race in the universe, looking down on the galaxies below. Sworn never to interfere, only to watch." Molly could see it, a picture painted in her head, breathtakingly beautiful, but she knew it could never compare to the real thing.
The Doctor's tone grew grim as he continued, "Children of Gallifrey, taken from their families age of eight to enter the Academy. And some say that's when it all began. When he was a child. That's when the Master saw eternity. As a novice, he was taken for initiation. He stood in front of the Untempered Schism. It's a gap in the fabric of reality through which could be seen the whole of the vortex. You stand there, eight years old, staring at the raw power of time and space, just a child. Some would be inspired, some would run away, and some would go mad." He stared off thoughtfully into space for a few moments before shuddering. "I don't know."
"What about you?" Lestrade asked curiously.
The Doctor was broken out of his pensive mood by the question. He gave Lestrade the familiar, goofy grin. "Oh, the ones that ran away," he revealed with a chuckle. "I never stopped."
Before any more questions could be asked, Jack's bracelet began beeping. "Encrypted channel with files attached," Jack informed them. "Don't recognize it."
"Patch it through to the laptop," the Doctor told him. Jack obeyed, and Sherlock opened the laptop again, pulling up the file Jack had sent over. The Torchwood logo flashed on screen, followed by a video. The Doctor hit play.
A woman appeared on screen, seeming slightly nervous. She looked directly at the camera as she said, "If I haven't returned to my desk by twenty two hundred, this file will be emailed to Torchwood. Which means if you're watching this, then I'm..." She trailed off fearfully, then shook her head. "Anyway, the Saxon files are attached. But take a look at the Archangel document. That's when it all started. When Harry Saxon became Minister in charge of launching the Archangel Network."
The Doctor's brow furrowed. "What's the Archangel Network?"
"It's a mobile phone network," Jack explained. He pulled out his phone for the Doctor to see. "Because look, it's gone worldwide. They've got fifteen satellites in orbit. Even the other networks, they're all carried by Archangel."
The Time Lord's eyes widened. "It's in the phones!" he realized aloud. "Oh, I said he was a hypnotist. Wait, wait, wait. Hold on." He began tapping out the rhythm from before. Da-da-da dum, da-da-da dum, da-da-da dum. "There it is. That rhythm, it's everywhere, ticking away in the subconscious."
"What, like mind control?" Sherlock asked scornfully.
"No, no, no, no, no. It's subtler than that," the Doctor assured him. "Any stronger and people would question it. But contained in that rhythm, in layers of code, Vote Saxon. Believe in me. Whispering to the world. Oh, yes! That's how he hid himself from me, because I should have sensed there was another Time Lord on Earth. I should have known way back. The signal cancelled him out."
"Any way you can stop it?" Jack asked.
The Doctor shook his head. "Not from down here. But now we know how he's doing it."
"And we can find a way to fight it," Molly finished with a grin.
"Oh yes!" the Doctor agreed, grinning right back.
SCENEBREAK
A few minutes later, the Doctor finished tinkering with the phone, laptop, and something else metal in his hands. He showed them to the others - five keys. Molly recognized then as TARDIS keys, her own being among them. Each were strung on a string, working like necklaces.
"Five TARDIS keys," the Doctor told them. "Five pieces of the TARDIS, all with low level perception properties because the TARDIS is designed to blend in. Well, sort of. But now, the Archangel Network's got a second low level signal. Weld the key to the network and Molly, look at me. You can see me, yes?"
Molly nodded. She had a vague understanding of how the perception filter worked, but it'd still be interesting to see a demonstration.
The Doctor slipped one of the keys over his neck. "What about now?"
Molly narrowed her eyes, trying to focus, but it was like her brain was determined not to notice him. She knew he was there, but every time she tried to look at him, her gaze slid off him like water off an umbrella. She shook her head. "It's like I know you're there, but I can't focus on you. Like I can only see you in the corner of my eye."
The Doctor slipped the key off, and Molly was able to look at him properly again. He was grinning triumphantly. "See? It just shifts your perception a tiny little bit. Doesn't make us invisible, just unnoticed. Oh, I know what it's like. It's like, it's like when you fancy someone and they don't even know you exist. That's what it's like."
Molly drew in a sharp breath at that description. She couldn't stop herself from from sneaking a quick glance at Sherlock, who had the decency to look slightly ashamed. The Doctor had just seemed to realize what he'd said. He grimaced as his stupid word choice, offering Molly an apologetic, "Sorry."
She shrugged. "No problem." Eager to get the subject off her, she asked, "So, we've got a plan?"
The Time Lord grinned. "Oh yes!" Without further explanation, he jumped to his feet, hurrying out past the front door. Lestrade looked baffled by the Doctor's lack of explanation, and Jack and Sherlock seemed a little miffed. Molly laughed at their expressions, glad for her extensive experience with the Doctor and his methods and madness. For once, she was the most knowledgable of the group. With a laugh, she stood. "Come on." She led the others after the Doctor.
Alright, this chapter is just pathetically short, but at least you got two in one day. Plus I get the feeling that the next chapter'll make up for the shortness of the last three.
I'll try to update again soon. For now, enjoy Greg and Molly interaction and Molly and Doctor friendship adorableness.