"The Benevolent Doctor"

16. The Future is Past

March 2012 – Lima, Ohio

They used to talk about it a lot. In the weeks after they'd returned home especially, any chance they got, when they were alone and no one could hear them, they would talk about what they'd been through, when they had met the Doctor and Martha. The first time they'd ever kissed had been on one of those isolations, as the conversation had slowed down. But after a while, as the months passed, it just didn't seem as important to talk about it, and then more months passed, and it actually seemed like the best thing to do was to stop talking about it altogether, like it was safer. Even then, they would look at each other from time to time, and without words they could smile knowingly. It was their secret adventure.

But it wasn't so secret anymore, nor was it really 'theirs.' As it turned out, a lot of others they knew had met the Doctor, too. And there was this whole thing, with Miss Harrison being here, and there…

Santana wanted to talk to her, to confront her and ask for the truth, but Artie didn't think it was a good idea, Sugar either, and after Artie had talked to her, Brittany had started to think it wasn't a good idea either. Artie wanted her to convince Santana not to say anything, and that was what she was about to do, but at the same time…

"Hey," Santana smiled when she saw her coming, and Brittany blinked. She looked into a nearby classroom, saw that it was empty, and crooked her index to Santana, motioning for her to follow. When she did, Brittany shut the door, leaning against it.

"You can't talk to her," she blurted out immediately, and Santana frowned; she didn't need to specify who this 'her' was.

"Did Artie put you up to this?" she asked, and Brittany hesitated.

"No," she answered shortly. "I just think… if we go to her, and we… and we make her tell us why she's here, it could mess it all up," she started, trying to remember exactly what Artie had told her. "Whatever she's doing, she's been doing it for months, hasn't she? That has to be something really important for it to take that long. If we mess it up, it could be really bad, you know?"

"We've been through enough," Santana countered, though she seemed to be relenting now. "What's to say we wouldn't be able to help?"

"My grandfather says something about… too many cooks in the kitchen?" she hoped she remembered right, and by the look on Santana's face, she must have done right. "I'm sure if she does need us, she'll come to us, right? She knows we're there, unless… Maybe her being here, that's 'before,' you know?" Santana frowned, confused, but then the conversation had stopped, and without saying it, Brittany knew Santana would stay back, as requested. The blonde sat on the edge of one of the tables, smiling.

"What?" Santana asked.

"I just… I just think it would be nice, to see them again, the Doctor, and Martha, and the others. I miss them," she admitted. Santana knew this, as she'd heard Brittany say it many times before. Every time, her response was just about the same.

"Yeah, after you got back to normal, it wasn't so bad," she smirked, and Brittany laughed. "Still trying to get Tubbers to talk?"

"He won't do it," Brittany sighed to herself, thinking of her dear Lord Tubbington back home. "I swear I heard him once." Santana knew, as Brittany did, whether she'd admit it to herself or not, that it wouldn't be all cats who turned out like Brannigan and his children, but to Brittany it didn't matter. She was convinced that her cat was as smart, as talkative, that one day he would be going about, walking on two legs, a man grown. He was still just a cat though, a fat cat who did not do a whole lot. Brittany hadn't given up on his potential.

"I know," Santana humored her with a smile.

"The other night, I dreamt I was there again, and I was a cat again."

"I wasn't giving you a bath this time, was I?" Santana joked, and Brittany laughed.

"No, but you were a cat, too," she went on. "And we were living in the General Twenty-Four."

"You know, if it wasn't for how we were too busy running around all the time, looking for you guys, I might have cleaned up good in there. I never really appreciated what we had in that store, all the things we could have gotten…"

"Wouldn't it be bad though? I mean, bringing things back from the future."

"It's only pretend, relax," Santana told her, still smiling.

After they'd gotten back to the Grand Canyon, it had all seemed so normal, and they'd wished it could have been so much more than normal. True, there was something about going home, back to the place where you supposedly belonged, but for the two of them, despite everything they'd been through in New New York, there was a part of them who would have gladly parted with Lima Ohio in their time and called the distant future of New New York their home.

The one consolation, and it was good enough to make their regrets fade away, was that their adventure with the Doctor and Martha had brought them closer together. They had been friends before, great friends, best friends. But after they'd come back home, with a story they could only share with one another, they had become even closer than best friends. That was the reason, though she'd keep it to herself, why Brittany had both agreed to stop Santana from going to Miss Harrison, and hated that she'd agreed. She was being dishonest to Santana, even though she was almost sure that she'd seen right through her, and that was not something she liked to do ever.

TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)