A/N: Sorry for the delay, technical difficulties...

"The Benevolent Doctor"

5. New New New New…

Sometime in New New York…

The Doctor had not been able to get enough of a word in to ask the questions he meant to ask as Brannigan led them back to his house. But then seeing as the cat man kept on talking, it was only a matter of time before at least some of his questions found answers.

In the meantime, Martha was keeping an eye on the girls as they followed behind, making sure neither of them wandered off. The first one, Santana, had too many questions herself to even bother going anywhere, but then there was the other, Brittany, who was in such awe of their surroundings that Santana was walking and holding on to her hand at the same time, pulling her forward.

"So… he's a cat," had been the dark-haired girl's primary concern.

"Believe me, with the things I've seen, a man that's a cat is the last thing I'd worry about," Martha chuckled.

"What things?" Santana asked.

"Giant head…" Martha extended her arms.

"Right," Santana frowned. She was going to need more convincing than her friend; that much they'd figured out early enough. "Okay, so where are we?"

"This is the city of New New York," Martha informed her, remembering when the Doctor had first brought her here.

"Get out," Santana had never looked so genuinely impressed.

"It is," Martha nodded. "I've been here before, actually, you know, giant head and all. That's when we met Brannigan the first time," she pointed up to the two men in front. Now that she thought about it, really looked at him and the city around them, she had to wonder how much time had gone by. So much had changed, since the motorway, and Brannigan had changed, too. She wondered if he aged like a cat or like a man…

The Doctor would have been able to tell her a solid fourteen years had gone by, but then they had reached Brannigan's home, and everything else would have to wait.

For having spent so many years in the confined space of their car, Brannigan and his wife Valerie had now made a home for themselves and their children that spoke volumes on first sight already Brannigan and Valerie had carried on this sense of minimalism; their children had other ideas. Little by little, the boys and girls the Doctor had last seen as kittens in a basket began to emerge.

There were six of them in all, three boys and three girls. The Doctor, Martha, and the stowaway girls were introduced to Alexander, Alfred, and Allen, as well as Abigail, Alice, and Agnes, the last of which looked the most like their father. Santana looked slightly uncomfortable; Brittany was in heaven. The two girls had just been dispatched to go and spend time with the cat children, the better to give the Doctor and Martha a chance to talk to Brannigan alone and get answers, when the door opened and in walked Valerie.

"Brannigan?" they'd heard her calling.

"In here," he called back, turning to the visitors and holding his hand up as though to say 'be quiet, we'll surprise her.'

"I ran into the doctor on the way in, he…" she was saying as she walked in, then stopped dead in her tracks. "Doctor?"

"What do you mean you ran into him, he's right here," Brannigan hooked his thumb back at him.

"No, that wasn't… I meant I ran into Dr. Benedict," she told him before turning back to the other man and the girl at his side. "You haven't changed at all, neither of you. How is that possible?"

"Oh, don't mind me, I don't even know what I'm doing here, carry on, you were talking about a doctor?" the Doctor nodded, signalling for the husband and wife to continue their conversation without him.

"Brilliant man, that Benedict," Brannigan piped in. "The things he's done for the city…" Valerie nudged him, a look in her eyes that didn't go unnoticed by the Doctor.

"Why don't you want him to say?" he asked the woman, who was trying to look normal again and failing in every way.

X

In the next room, the six cat children and the two human girls were not having the easiest time of interacting, not across the board. Santana was still not comfortable around them and that sentiment was not hidden in any way. This left half of the six too busy staring at her to bother with anything else, while one more was not taking any part in anything. The last two, the cats known as Agnes and Alfred, were looking to be of a mind with Brittany, who was fascinated by them. In return, the two cats welcomed the curiosity. Brittany learned the cats were fourteen years old, same as her and Santana, and that their mother was not a cat at all. She learned this and much else. Of Dr. Benedict, they said nothing.

X

"Do you know what I think?" the Doctor turned to Martha, his voice at normal volume, leaving Brannigan and Valerie to hear it all. "I think she doesn't want me to know about this man? I think deep down she doesn't want me looking into him because she knows I won't like what I find."

"Why?" Martha asked him, though her eyes darted back to Valerie, not too comfortable with the Doctor's game.

"Well you've met me, haven't you? What do I do when something gets my attention?"

"Right," she nodded. He wasn't mentioning how they'd ended up here in the first place, with Brannigan's call, which did not track at all with what they had found here, and she chose to believe it was intentional, so she didn't mention it either. If she was trying to think like the Doctor at this moment, it was possible they hadn't made it at the right time, that they were early, in which case any clue that came their way had to be looked into, to find what had really brought them here.

"Doctor," Valerie jumped back in, shaking her head. "Now, you are our guest, and we and our children owe you a great debt for what you did for us and all the others…"

"Well I don't know about a debt, exactly…"

"But you don't need to…"

"I very much need to, so come on then, let's see about this doctor."

TO BE CONTINUED (TUESDAY)