"The Benevolent Doctor"
30. All Against One
Sometime in New New York
They couldn't even keep track anymore of who had stood outside spying on the mansion when since this had all started. But now here they were again, this time with Martha, Santana, and for the first time, Brittany. It could have come off as the worst plan in the world for them to go back there after they'd only just finished escaping, but then it wasn't over, and until it was, they could not give up.
"So…" Santana spoke, keeping her voice low but at the same time breaking the silence which had slowly been driving her crazy. "You do this kind of thing a lot, you and the Doctor?"
"We travel," Martha shrugged. "Sometimes, well… a lot of times, I suppose, it does involve some kind of… danger." She might have said 'adventure,' or any number of words that would have told on how much she enjoyed it, but she realized she was sandwiched between two impressionable fourteen-year-olds, and she knew she had to be careful not to put ideas in their heads that did not belong there.
"Do you see a lot of aliens? And other planets?" Brittany asked; clearly the danger part wasn't pushing her too far away.
"I get my share," she went for 'vague.' To them, however, it seemed to come off as 'holding out.'
"And does that share include the bean pole?" Santana asked.
"Bean p… Wait, do you mean…" Martha blinked, staring back at her and wishing the pieces hadn't taken that half a second more to click into place.
"He is so your boyfriend," Santana chuckled.
"He is n… If you had any id… He is so not my… boyfriend, trust me," Martha was halfway between helplessly mumbling and wishing very much her mouth would stop working.
"Then you want him to be," the girl was not so easily thrown, and Martha had to force herself to look away and back ahead.
"That is neither here nor… Wait, get down," she muttered, and as one the three crouched further down. There was probably no way anyone could have seen them even without ducking, but it was better this way. Martha put one hand on each girl's shoulder so they would stay down, and she stretched back up until she could see. "Right, if we're going to do this, we need to decide how and then…"
"I have an idea," Santana cut in. They turned to her. "He has to believe that we've turned on the Doctor, that we want to go back in so we can help him. Benedict, not the Doctor."
"Right," Martha nodded as though to say 'go on.'
"Right, so you two will go in the front," Santana started again. Brittany had immediately opened her mouth to complain, and Santana held up her hand to quiet her. "It'll be alright, better even, then I can go find the Doctor and tell him. But that comes after. Brittany needs to go. She's his big success, he'll be blinded by her. And Martha, you need to go with her, so she'll be safe," Santana directed these words directly at the Doctor's companion, so she would know how important this was.
"Absolutely," Martha promised.
"I can help make sure you'll get in, it'll be easy. We'll get in an argument, loudly and publicly. I'll try and get her not to do this, but she won't want to listen, she'll want to go back to Benedict. We'll be so good at playing off each other, they won't know what hit them." At this, Brittany had to smile.
"So we're tricking them?"
"That's exactly what we're doing," Santana nodded, returning the smile.
"Okay," she scooted nearer.
Santana had done her best not to appear freaked out by Brittany's transformation, but deep down she knew it did do a bit. It had to. How exactly was one supposed to be faced with the person they might care about the most in the world outside of her relatives now transformed into a cat and NOT freak out? But she wouldn't show it, not with Brittany right there. It had to be strange for her, too, although with how much she was into cats, who knew? She might actually be completely alright with this… which was exactly what they had to count on to make this thing work.
They couldn't well expect to know what Benedict's guards must have thought when they saw the scene unfold before them. The best they could do is hope that it would work.
Brittany came shuffling into the open, with Martha's arm around her shoulders in a way that anyone could interpret as her attempting to shield and protect her as they hurried along. What she needed to be protected from would be unclear, until Santana also appeared, seconds later, running after her.
"Britt, wait!" she called.
"No!" Brittany called back. "I'm not listening to you!"
"You're not making any sense, this is crazy!" Santana shouted.
"No, it's not! You want me to change!" she accused before looking back to Martha pleadingly. "You won't let them change me, will you?"
"I promise I won't," Martha valiantly vowed. "You get away from her!" she commanded, looking back at the girl tailing them.
"You stay out of this, it's none of your business!" Santana spat at her. "Brittany, come on, we can go home now!"
"I don't want that! It's my life, I get to choose!"
"Damn it, Brittany, why do you have to be like this? Why do you have to be so stupid?"
If the guards had any insight into who these girls were for each other, they would have known that the clincher, agreed upon earlier, was one Santana had hated having to use, no matter how much Brittany had promised it would be alright, that she would know the real truth. They couldn't deny it did the trick. In the momentum that had been building up, even if it was fake, the word had come in like the killing blow, the thing that would get her crying.
"Just go away and leave me alone!" she crooned as Martha led her on.
Santana let them go, and as hard as it was to do it, she stayed where she stood and watched as the pair reached the gates and, in a matter of seconds, was escorted inside. She had no idea what would happen there, if they would be trapped, or hurt, but they'd chosen to do it, and now the best she could do was hurry and make it back to the Doctor.
TO BE CONTINUED (MONDAY)