"The Benevolent Doctor"

35. When All Is Said And Done

Sometime in New New York

All was right again in the Brannigan house. The Doctor's old friends had all of their children safe under their roof, and even with one of them still presently looking human rather than the cat she was, they were happy enough that it didn't matter one bit.

More than that, they knew that things were about to change in their city, now that the business with Benedict was over. Time only would tell what that change would turn out to be, but they were optimistic at this juncture. And now, with all they had to deal with dealt with, there was nothing left to do but say goodbye. Brannigan and Valerie would have extended their welcome, but the Doctor insisted that he and Martha and the girls needed to get on their way. They filed into the TARDIS, which had been moved back outside earlier, and Martha was still shutting the doors when the Doctor flipped a switch that sent their knees quaking.

"Why couldn't we just take this thing into the mansion before?" Santana asked as she and Brittany neared the controls. The Doctor looked at her and she swore she saw him pet the console as though to calm a fretting animal.

"This… thing, as you say, should not have been brought anywhere near Benedict while he still had… help," he reached into his pocket and pulled out the pendant.

"You still have that? I thought you destroyed it," Brittany had a flicker of panic at the sight of it.

"Deactivated it, just as well. I'll have to find a place for this one," he turned it about in his hand. "Came a long way…" Whatever he was thinking then, none of the girls asked, but it left them very certain that the Doctor knew more than he was letting on. Of course that was generally the impression they got around him, but this was even more so. "Now, the Grand Canyon!" he slipped the pendant back in his pocket and trampled to the other side of the console.

The TARDIS would eventually come to a stop, and before they left the ship, the girls would give a hug each to the Doctor and Martha. Brittany went so far as to place a kiss on the Doctor's cheek, which startled him, but then he smiled.

"You two, now, you stick together, alright?" he pointed from one girl to the other and they grinned, nodded. "You make a good team. And I know a thing or two about good teams," he gave a pointed look and now they laughed.

"Promise," Brittany told him.

They opened the doors together, and seeing the sunny day they had left after sneaking on to this ship, it did seem to be the tail end of their adventure. Nothing had changed, and they wondered if any time had passed at all since the moment they had walked in here. They stepped down and the doors shut behind them. A few seconds went by and then they watched the ship slowly disappear. They had never seen it from this side, and it would be an image that stayed in their minds, burrowed deep in their subconscious, for all the years of their lives.

They had walked back across the site, hand in hand. Santana was still very mindful of keeping Brittany nearby after all they'd been through. They had no trouble finding their group again, catching on to their guide's drone of a voice, and as they came to stand at the back of the pack, they were left with the realization that no one had apparently caught on to the fact that they'd been gone. They turned a private smile on to one another, the memories of the last few days being enough to carry them on through the rest of the afternoon. At times, Brittany would give a small cat like hiss, and Santana would bite back a laugh.

X

Inside the TARDIS

It wasn't to say that the ship had been filled with noise when the girls were still with them, but now that they were gone and it was just the two of them there was something of a heavy silence hanging in the air. Martha was debating whether or not to say something, and how to say it if she did say it, but then before she made up her mind…

"If ever you should get around to telling me what happened back in that basement when I found you in the lab…" he spoke, still flipping and twisting the controls. Martha breathed out.

"So, I had help…" she started.

"Who from?" the Doctor asked.

"A guard, who felt bad," she nodded confidently. He looked back at her as though to say 'Martha, please, even you don't believe yourself right now.' She had promised the woman, whoever she was, that she wouldn't tell the Doctor about her, and she meant to hold that promise, but looking at him, she was almost certain he already knew nearly all of it.

"This guard didn't happen to just materialize out of nowhere, did she?"

"I don't know, I was blindfolded before and after she…" Martha made to answer, and she'd walked knee deep into his trap before she knew she was there. She frowned and moved up to consoles, putting the pretense aside. He looked like he knew exactly who this person was, where she had no clue. "Who was she?" Martha asked.

"Something I would very much like to know," the Doctor replied, and she could see it was one of the greater frustrations in his life that he didn't have that answer. "But she has been following me for a long time," he went on in earnest.

"Following you…"

"And getting bolder every time, too," he nodded.

"So you don't know who she is at all?" she went on asking, and the Doctor's face was hard to read, but she thought maybe he did have his own theories working.

"No," he confessed. "But it will come, soon."

TO BE CONCLUDED (WEDNESDAY)