"The Benevolent Doctor"
28. Well Enough Alone
Sometime in New New York
The walk back to the Brannigans' house was almost surprisingly quiet. They realized what they must have looked like, the huddled group hurrying along. There was still a mild concern as to whether or not Doctor Benedict would have sent anyone to bring them back. At the same time, there was something of finality about it in some of their eyes. They had gotten their people back. Brannigan and Valerie were reunited with their daughter, Santana with Brittany, Trean with his wife and daughter… All in all, the struggle could be said to be over. But for others it wasn't so. Still, they waited until they'd made it to the house.
As soon as they'd come through the door, there was the hurried approach of four young cats, as they came in hopes of finding all those members of their family who'd been out there. They were relieved to see their mother and father. When they saw their sister, they startled, and Agnes bowed her head.
"Now, now, don't look at her like that," the Doctor admonished them. "She's a miracle of science that sister of yours." Agnes stared at him, undecided as to whether she was happy about this, and then suddenly she remembered.
"Where's Alfred, can I see him?"
"Yeah, I want to see him, too," Brittany stepped up. The young cats blinked, amazed at her transformation. She could have been their sister, and if they hadn't heard both girls speak, they might have thought there'd been some sort of misunderstanding.
"Let him rest, he…" Valerie started to say.
"Of course, go right on ahead," the Doctor cut in, and rather than to debate who to listen to, they chose the one that would give them what they wanted and they hurried up the stairs, while the Doctor turned back to Valerie, who was glaring at him.
"Go on, Val, they thought he was dead," Brannigan stepped up to his wife, who slowly relented.
"They can't stay in there too long."
"No, absolutely," the Doctor agreed. "Besides, I'll need to have a go myself," he pointed up to the second floor.
"What for?" Brannigan started to ask, but Martha didn't need the answer.
"You want to go after Benedict."
"Doctor, please, can't we let this be? It's done," Trean spoke up.
"Why would I possibly do that?" the Doctor looked at him like that was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. "Ask your wife, ask your daughter." Risha bowed her head. She was still uncomfortable with people seeing her in proper light, people who weren't like her. She'd made the walk home with the blanket from her cell to hide her face. Her mother at her side never realized she was being referred to when the Doctor named her as Trean's wife. For now, the best she had was a sense that she could trust Trean and that if he said to do something then there was probably a good reason to listen.
"The experiments…" Risha spoke slowly. "They're getting worse."
"He's messing with something he doesn't understand the way he thinks he does. If this keeps up, he'll create something one day, and it'll bring danger and destruction with it. All of you, in this city, Brannigan, Valerie, you know, what about you?" he looked to Trean and his family. "The Motorway, remember that? All those years, stuck in… well, traffic? And why was that, how did it start? Something simple, something well-intentioned, well enough… If Benedict carries on, it could make the Motorway look like afternoon tea."
There was little argument left, so a few minutes later, the Doctor, with Martha, went upstairs to see the trio who'd earlier been captured by Benedict's guards. Alfred was sitting up on the bed, clearly not of a mind with his mother on the whole 'needing rest' situation, while Brittany and Agnes sat across from him. When the Doctor and Martha came in, it sounded as though the girls were still in the midst of telling him about what had happened down in the basement. Alfred looked almost sad he'd missed it.
"Sorry to interrupt, but can I come in and talk for a minute?" the Doctor asked.
"Sure," Agnes agreed, and they came in, the Doctor pulling up a chair from the corner and sitting next to the bed, while Martha stood behind him.
"Now this is important, I need you to think back to when you were over there. Did you ever see Doctor Benedict at any time?" They all nodded. "Good, focus on that, close your eyes if you have to." Alfred shut his eyes. Brittany squeezed hers tight. Agnes just kept looking at the Doctor. "Did he have something on him, something that might have been hidden…"
"How can we see it if it was hidden?" Brittany pointed out.
"It could have slipped out," Martha offered. "Or he could have held it at one time…" Again, Brittany was the one to intervene, only this time she held up her hand like she was in class. "Did you see something like that?"
"I think so, I…" She hesitated for a moment before opening her eyes. She turned to Agnes. "Remember, he had this thing. When he came and saw us, and he looked at us because we'd changed. There was something around his neck, it was peeking out from under his vest…"
"A necklace?" the Doctor looked momentarily less enthused.
"I do remember, I… I was closer to him than you were, and it felt… strange. I just thought it was more symptoms because of the rest, what he did to us, but… maybe it wasn't, I don't…" Now the Doctor was back to leaning forward.
"What did it feel like?" Agnes searched for the word, frowning.
"Optimistic?"
"Optimistic," the Doctor repeated, and Agnes nodded.
"Inspired," she added, and the Doctor stood, turned, and moved out of the room without a word. Confused, Martha and the others scrambled to follow him.
"We need to get back inside, we need…" the Doctor started to tell the group downstairs.
"I'll do it." They turned to see Brittany at the bottom of the stairs. "He'll let me back in, because I was special. And you shouldn't go there anyway, he'll try and hurt you again."
"I can go with her, I'll say… I'll say I want to be changed, too," Santana came up from the other side. The Doctor looked about to refuse them, but somewhere in his mind, a good idea had presented itself.
"Alright, but Martha's going with you."
TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)