Author's Note: TW in the author's note at the end.
Emerald Green
Chapter Nineteen
Extraterrestrial Nearby
"Extraterrestrial nearby."
A look of alarm came over everyone's faces, and the Doctor shoved his way past Martha and Mickey back inside, running for the hallway with Martha and Mickey on his heels. Molly stepped in and shut the door, and followed after them in time to see Maggie's bedroom light come on.
"Maggie!" Martha shouted, running for the bed. Maggie was blinking at the light, a whine building in the back of her throat. Martha seized her daughter in her arms. "Thank God."
"Mummy, what's going on?"
The Doctor was searching the room with the sonic, throwing aside dolls and princess costumes and books, kicking aside a remote-control princess-themed car. "Has there been anything unusual lately? Has anything changed?"
As Martha whispered assurances to Maggie, Mickey said, "I don't know. Not really. We moved here before Maggie was born, everything's been the same."
The Doctor turned to face Martha. "You said something about a mouse infestation."
"They're just mice," said Martha. "They've been crawling around in Maggie's closet and under our beds at night."
"Only at night?"
"Yeah, usually when we're just falling asleep," said Mickey.
Molly made the connection and felt her heart sink. "Cybermats?"
"Cyberwhats?" asked Mickey. "Cybermen?"
"Cybermats," the Doctor corrected, as though it clarified anything for Mickey. He dropped to the floor and searched under Maggie's bed. "How long have the mice been here? Have you seen any of them?"
"I saw one," replied Martha. "Under Maggie's bed, a few nights ago."
"Did you get a good look?"
"Not really, it was moving too quickly and ran into a pile of clothes."
"Anything that hinted at silver?"
"No, it was black," she said, then added, "It was just sort of…big. Not big enough to be a rat, but…oval. I thought it was just well-fed."
Molly looked at the Doctor. "Are Cybermats ever black?"
The Doctor's eyes were wide with surprise. "I…sometimes. Sometimes, yes. They used to be. But there was a very specific…" he sighed. "How long ago did you start hearing them?"
"About a month back," replied Mickey with a note of panic. "We weren't sure what they were at first. What's going on? Are the Cybermen back?"
The Doctor continued his search of the room. "Cybermats are sort of little scouts for the Cybermen. I don't know what the Cybermen would want with you, why they're so focused on a little girl's bedroom."
Molly turned to look up and down the hall, in case the Cybermat had gotten out. She saw the door to the master bedroom open, and went to stand in the doorway, but didn't want to go inside without permission. Her hesitance disappeared when she saw something move under the bed.
"Doctor! I think it's in here!" she shouted. She heard footsteps rush down the hall and stepped out of the way when the Doctor arrived, followed again by Mickey. Molly pointed under the bed. "I saw something move."
The Doctor rushed forward and dropped to his knees, searching under the bed. Martha came up behind her. They walked into the room and began looking around the dresser and hamper and curtains.
"Ah! Ah!" shouted the Doctor a few moments later as he pulled the pillows off the bed. Molly heard a 'thud' as something hit the floor, then shouted when she saw it running towards her, its body lifted to expose the mouth. She dodged it, then tried to dive at it, and missed. Martha came up from another way, but the Cybermat slipped out from under her. Mickey seemed to come out of nowhere with a broom and swept it in the Doctor's direction. The Doctor threw a blanket towards it and dove onto the blanket, but it escaped the blanket too quickly for the Doctor to hold it still. When the Doctor stood again, Molly jumped forward and grabbed the blanket, spun around, and held it up in preparation as the Cybermat headed in Mickey's direction. He swung the broom again and the Cybermat spun towards Molly. She fell to her knees with the blanket under her, crossed her ankles, and leaned forward with her palms, trapping the Cybermat under the blanket.
"Now what?!" shouted Molly, carefully shifting a knee to hold the Cybermat down.
"Hold on!" the Doctor knelt beside her with the sonic, and after a moment the Cybermat stopped struggling. "Okay. It's deactivated."
Molly moved off the blanket slowly, still hesitant. The Doctor threw the blanket aside and picked up the Cybermat, scanning it. "Is it telling you anything?"
"It will," said the Doctor with a determined voice. "I just need to find out where it came from, where the Cybership is. We can go from there."
Martha shrieked, but by the time Molly turned, she had darted out of the room. In less than a second, Mickey was out the door, too. Molly jumped to her feet and ran after them, and felt the Doctor next to her. But she only made it as far as the doorway before she froze in horror.
A large, black-colored Cyberman was in Maggie's room. Molly watched, sickened, as it had Maggie halfway out of her bed, the blanket falling from off her head. Maggie started screaming. The Doctor rushed past her as Mickey began assaulting the Cyberman with the broom until the handle broke, and Martha clung to her daughter's legs. Mickey turned to Molly. "Get the box in-" But his struggle to pull the Cyberman back took all his breath. Molly glanced over her shoulder to look for a box. She heard the Doctor using the sonic, and he was shouting something Molly couldn't hear over Maggie's screams and Martha and Mickey's shouting. Molly charged ahead to try to get between the Cyberman and the closet it was backing into, but an odd buzzing sound from the Cyberman reached her ears.
And she was gone.
Rough brick against her back. Cold everywhere. Red dancing in front of her eyes as the light overhead swung back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. The smell was coppery. The taste in her mouth was bitter. She could still hear the buzzing over the screams. She thought maybe her wrists were bleeding. Her throat ached something awful. The buzzing paused in time for a soft, wet thud on the ground to be heard. The screaming didn't stop. The screaming got louder. And louder. And –
Now she was back, and it was Martha screaming. "Where is she?! Where did it take her?!"
What had happened while she was reliving that memory was clear. Maggie had been taken, and Molly hadn't helped prevent it. She hadn't helped.
Molly couldn't understand when Martha had gotten so tall, but then she realized she was on the floor. The strange huffing sound was her own ragged breathing. Her heart was pounding as though it would burst out of her chest. Everything was fuzzy, like it was all spinning to a blur. She couldn't make her mind focus. Everything was too bright, too loud.
But still, despite nothing feeling entirely real, she dragged herself to her knees, then used the wall to pull herself to her feet. She made her way down the hall and to the doorway of Maggie's room.
The Doctor had been saying something while she'd been trying to readjust to where and when she was. Martha was on the bed, switching from looking at her phone – that was constantly saying, extraterrestrial nearby, extraterrestrial nearby, extraterrestrial nearby, counting how very surrounded Maggie was – and at the Doctor, who was in the closet, ripping out the carpet. Mickey stood to the side, looking both incredibly angry, and incredibly scared.
"Why did they take her?" he wanted to know. "What would they want with a little kid? What could they use her for? She can't be converted, she's too small."
"Are they going to hurt her?" Martha asked, though her face showed that she already knew the answer. She wanted reality to shift to give her hope.
Molly remembered a horrific detail she'd picked up during her time on Doctor Who fan forums, and thought of the Cybermat and what organic material it may have been made of. She hoped the Doctor wouldn't say.
Of course he wouldn't. "I don't think they have a reason to," he lied. He paused in his work and turned to Martha, placing a hand on either side of her face. "But I promise, I'm going to get her back, and unharmed. I swear."
Martha nodded tearfully, and the Doctor turned back to his work, but spotted Molly in the doorway. "What happened to you?" There was a hint of accusation in his voice. She couldn't blame him. A Cyberman was stealing a little girl away, and she hadn't helped.
That failure crushed her lungs for a moment, and she watched the Doctor go back into the closet to finish off the carpet. When she could breathe again, she took a few steps into the room and said, "Flashback. Sorry. Can't help it." She saw him glance back at her curiously, and then decide to put those questions on hold. Just like she had to set aside the anguish of failing in the only reason she was alive. There were more pressing matters.
Mickey stepped up to help drag pieces of carpet out. Molly moved forward and peeked into the closet. Under the carpet, there was an odd hexagonal pattern of silver on a backdrop of deep blue and red, with shots of colored wire in between. Lights moved up and down the colored wires, back and forth, back and forth. Molly looked away.
"What is it?" Mickey wanted to know.
"Transporter," replied the Doctor, taking a step into it and looking around. "The monsters in the closet were real. They've been using this to get in and out. I can use it to get-" And he vanished.
"Doctor!" Martha cried, rushing into the closet. "Doctor!"
"Where'd he go?" asked Mickey.
"They must have transported him to the ship," said Molly, her heart in her throat. "I don't – I don't know what to do now." She'd been separated from the Doctor before, but not like this. Not with no obvious path forward.
"We have to get him and Maggie back," said Martha. She turned to her husband. "Do you think you can find out where the ship is?"
"Yeah," said Mickey. "How are we gonna get on it, though?"
"I don't know yet. I'll figure it out. First, we need to know where they are." Molly was grateful that Martha had taken charge.
Mickey ran into the living room, and Molly heard what she assumed was him pulling out his laptop. Martha was examining the transporter. And Molly was standing there, useless, buzzing still in her head.
She couldn't be useless. She'd already failed them once. That couldn't happen again. So – what could she do?
"You have any weapons?" she asked.
"In the bedroom closet," Martha replied. "But just the one. I'm like the Doctor, I don't like to carry a gun if I can help it. But Mickey's used to them after living in that other universe. Made him nervous not to have one on hand. UNIT gave it to him."
Molly turned and ran for the closet. She dug through piles of winter coats and a few storage bins before she found a box locked with a padlock. This was what he'd been asking her to get just before her flashback. "Do you have the code?!"
"I don't remember it," Mickey admitted. "I was gonna go get another lock."
Molly ran back into the hall, where she'd seen another closet. Hopefully, she opened the door, and was rewarded with a tool kit. She pulled out a hammer and ran back, and hit the padlock repeatedly, until the lock broke off. She threw the case open and pulled out the gun. It was bigger than she was used to. She hoped she wouldn't have to be the one to fire it.
Molly went into the living room, where Martha was pacing and Mickey was typing away at the laptop.
"I think I've almost got it," he said. "I'm using Torchwood and UNIT satellites. I don't think they've noticed it yet. It looks like its hiding behind the moon."
"How do we get there, then?" asked Molly.
"The TARDIS?" Martha suggested. "Do you know how to fly it?"
"I…I…" Everything was moving too quickly. She felt like the Doctor immediately after regeneration. She hadn't had time to recover yet. Her brain was a mess of kidnapped children and buzzing and lights and red. "No. Yes! No, not really. I just flew it here. The Doctor guided me the whole way."
"Well, we'll figure it out together, then."
Mickey reached into his computer bag and pulled out a pile of Post It notes and a pen, and scribbled down something on the screen. "I have them. The coordinates. We can go get them, and wipe the Cybermen out."
"I don't have a key to the TARDIS," Molly admitted. She wasn't supposed to be in this universe this long, there was no reason for the Doctor to give her one.
"I've got mine," said Martha, grabbing her keys off a side table.
Molly tried to think of everything at once. How to fly the TARDIS, what to do if they got there, how to distract the Cybermen, how to find the Doctor and Maggie, how to get them out, how to stop whatever it was the Cybermen were planning. She was usually good at thinking a few steps ahead when she needed to, but it was all failing her now. Shifting lights. Buzzing sounds. Red. "We need something…" she started, and waited for it to come to her. She looked around the room. Mug on the coffee table, magazines on the end table, TV remote, laundry, princess dolls –
"Aha!" she shouted, set the gun aside, and ran back to Maggie's room. She grabbed the remote-control car, and then went to the tool kit for some wire and wire cutters. She headed back to the living room. When she got back, Mickey had put the gun in a gym bag.
"What's that for?" asked Mickey.
"I'm hoping it's a decent recon and distraction. If we tie one of your phones to the car and start a video call with the other on mute, we can use it to look into rooms before we enter them, and they may think the car is a human version of a Cybermat and go after it. Either way, at least it's something we might be able to use to get at least one Cyberman out of the way."
"Good thinking," Martha nodded. "Okay, let's go."
They ran at full speed for the TARDIS, pushing their way through the evening crowd headed home after a dinner out. When they arrived, Martha was in such a rush to get in she fumbled with the keys a little, but they got the door open quickly and burst inside. Molly ran for the console, looked down at it, and was instantly overwhelmed. Where did she begin? How did she set the coordinates? The Doctor had done that bit.
Mickey handed her the Post It. "Let's get going."
"Right," Molly breathed, setting the toy car and wire aside. Please, please. If the universe was ever going to help me, let it help me now. But the universe wasn't the right non-human source to be asking for help.
She looked at the light of the TARDIS. "Okay," she said softly. "The Doctor is in trouble. Martha and Mickey's daughter is in trouble. I don't know how to do this."
"What do you mean, you don't know how to do this?!" shouted Mickey, but Martha shushed him.
Molly continue, "You flew for Clara once, to save the Doctor. Please help me, too." She paused. "We can't let them…" She couldn't say 'die', not in front of Maggie's parents.
"Can you do this?" Martha asked, clearly trying to force her voice to be gentle despite the panic. "I can try to help, but you're the one who has flown it before. Can you do it again?"
Molly looked at Martha and forced a smile. "Me? No. But the TARDIS can help me. I only believe in two things in the universe: The Doctor, and the TARDIS." She looked back up at the light, thinking of some way she could beg or bribe. All she could think of was – "Come on, sexy!"
"Sexy?" she heard Mickey's voice behind her, and chose to ignore him. Explaining that it was one of the TARDIS's names was a bit much for the moment.
She reached for the console almost subconsciously, and pulled a lever. A true smile of relief crossed her face as she ran around the console, flipping switches, and paused in front of the keyboard. She looked at the Post It and typed it in. Two hits of a button, a pull of a lever, and that glorious sound echoed in the control room.
"Oh, thank God," Martha sighed. They all moved to the monitor, and the camera switched on. They seemed to be in a small room, with odds and ends of Cybersuits organized on shelves, or in large bins. "Some sort of storage?" Martha guessed.
"Or a repair room. Look on the wall, those look like tools." Mickey pointed to a row of odd shaped metal hanging on a wall Molly hadn't noticed. One looked vaguely like a wrench the Doctor had used repairing the TARDIS.
Molly grabbed the car and wire, and Mickey handed Molly his cell phone after starting a video call with Martha. Molly fixed it the best she could to the top of the car, and then went to the TARDIS door as Mickey pulled out his gun. Molly cracked the door open and sent the car outside, driving all the way around the TARDIS as Martha held her phone out for everyone to watch. There were a few platforms that looked a bit like hospital beds, more tools, and what seemed abandoned Cybersuits with their heads removed, but no sign of any Cybermen. Molly stepped out, followed by Martha and Mickey.
"Okay," she whispered. "Anyone have any real plan?"
"That's usually the Doctor's job," said Martha.
Mickey held the gun up towards the door of the room, ready in case something came inside. "I've dealt with Cybermen before, a lot. We can find a way to shut them all down or overwhelm them with emotion, and then search the ship for Maggie and the Doctor. There's usually a main computer somewhere."
"Any idea where?" Molly asked.
"Not a clue," replied Mickey. "We'll just figure it out as we go."
"My usual way of doing things," replied Molly. She picked up the car and set it in front of the door, then moved to one side. Martha and Mickey moved to the other, and Martha opened the door. Molly held her breath as she moved the car out, and then turned one way, then the other.
"Clear," said Martha, and they moved out into the corridor. This, too, had a mess of Cyberman parts all against the walls, silver and black, all scattered around. "Okay, this seems…unusual."
Mickey agreed. "I haven't seen this before. They're usually more organized."
"This is a mess," muttered Martha as she picked her way through some of the parts. "Any ideas why it's like this?"
Mickey shook his head. He turned to Molly. "Think you can still navigate the car?"
Molly picked it up. "It mostly seems to be keeping to the sides. It should be fine."
"So, which way?" asked Martha.
Molly turned to Mickey. Of them all, Mickey was a better expert on the Cybermen.
He looked one way, and walked down it a few paces, and then turned to look the other way. "This way," he said. "There's a humming."
Molly took a few steps towards him and listened. She couldn't hear it at first, but as she moved forward, she hear it, so faintly she would have thought she was imagining it if Mickey hadn't pointed it out. Martha came with them as they moved down the corridor. They came to a turn, and Molly set the car down, and moved it from around the corner. Seeing it was safe, they continued forward.
The walk was tense. They all jumped or moved to a fighting position every time the ship around them creaked. It happened a few times before Molly asked, "Is that normal?"
"I haven't been on a proper Cybership before," said Mickey. "But I've never heard something like that in any other place the Cybermen set up for themselves."
Their creeping down the corridors continued, as the humming got more pronounced. Molly felt pinpricks up the back of their neck every time it grew louder. The car worked to assure them that each turn was safe, but Molly was beginning to feel a little silly as, about fifteen minutes in, there didn't seem much point in having brought it.
But her choice to grab it was justified when she moved the car down one side of a turn, and drove it a little further down to look up and down what seemed to be a T in the path. The unmistakable mechanical sound of marching Cybermen immediately met their ears through Martha's phone. She turned the volume back down quickly, but kept her eyes locked on the screen. A row of Cybermen walked down one side, headed straight for the car. Molly tried to back it up slowly, but the row stopped as the Cyberman in front noticed the movement.
"Shit," Molly breathed. She turned the car around and headed straight down the other hall. She wasn't sure how far the remote would reach the car, but she hoped it would be far enough to draw the Cybermen away and leave a path open for them to run.
In the distance, Molly could hear the voices of the Cybermen, but couldn't make out their words. She spun the car in a quick, neat circle, and the camera caught the Cybermen advancing on the car. Carefully, she peeked around the corner and saw the last of the row run by. She nodded towards Mickey, who stepped out with his gun aimed forward. Martha followed after him, and slowly, Molly made up the rear, looking over Martha's shoulder at her phone to make certain the car didn't get stuck anywhere.
They moved ahead quickly, and Molly tried to watch both the car and the way they were walking. The connection between the remote and the car seemed to cut off once they reached the hall the Cybermen had marched down. They turned and darted down that hall, taking the first left turn available to them.
Martha suddenly shoved Mickey aside and took off running. A moment later, Molly heard why: Maggie was ahead, crying.
She and Mickey were on Martha's heels. He grabbed Martha's shoulder and pulled her back as she reached a wide, closed door. "We need a plan," said Mickey. Martha looked back at Molly, and then followed Molly's gaze to Mickey, who was looking between them both. He sighed. "No ideas?"
"I'm kind of thinking our only option is to go inside and see what's happening, and try to pull a Doctor and talk our way into a plan," replied Molly.
Mickey's eyes slowly closed in an expression of defeat. "Okay. Fine. But I'm going in first," he replied, holding up the gun.
"Zero objections."
He looked to Martha, who looked at him, her fear of losing her daughter and losing him evident in her eyes. She leaned over to give him a solid kiss. "Let's get her out of here. And kick some Cyberman ass." The fear was replaced with determination.
Mickey agreed. "Ready?" Molly and Martha both nodded in response. "Okay. Let's do it." He pushed a button on a pad near the door, and the doors slid open. He ran inside, gun raised, before Molly could even understand what was happening in the room.
There were more of those computer consoles Molly assumed were just on every single spaceship. A few Cybermen were scattered around the room, two silver, six black. One of the black ones was missing an arm; a silver one was set to sit atop a console, a leg barely hanging by a few wires.
The Doctor stood behind a console, hands up in surrender, while Maggie sat on top of the console beside him, sobbing and clinging to Bailey. "Ah! I told you, Maggie," the Doctor said encouragingly as the girl continued to cry.
The silver Cyberman that was standing raised its arm towards them, and Molly's heart skipped a beat. "You will surrender your weapon!" it screamed, but its voice box seemed in disrepair, and there was a slight echo of its words a second behind.
Mickey raised his gun to shoot, but paused when the Doctor shouted, "No, no!"
Mickey didn't lower his gun. "What's the plan, Doctor?"
"Put the gun down," replied the Doctor. "And I would appreciate it if you all came and stood over here." Molly looked from the Cyberman aiming a weapon at them, to the Doctor. The Doctor was patting Maggie's hair, seeming remarkably calm. "See?" he said as Molly took a tentative step towards them. "What did I tell you, Maggie? Your superhero parents are here to rescue us."
Maggie was still sniffling as Martha took a nervous glance at the Cybermen, then rushed forward and pulled Maggie into her arms. Mickey hesitated a moment more, sending a glare in the Doctor's direction, before setting the gun on the ground, and rushing to hold Maggie on the other side from Martha. Molly turned back to the Cyberman, whose weapon was only on her now, and gave a nervous wave before stepping across the room towards the others, never turning her back on the Cyberman. Her back was pressed against the computer console, with the Doctor on the other side. "Okay. Tell me there's a step two."
"Step two, we stand here awkwardly until the Cybermen tell us what to do next."
Mickey looked over at the Doctor. "Tell me you're joking."
The Doctor's response was to wink over at Mickey. He glanced down, and Mickey followed his gaze, but it was at something on the other side of the console and Molly couldn't see it. But she felt somewhat reassured that there was some sort of plan in place.
"What's going on?" Martha asked, pressing Maggie's head into her chest. "What do they want?"
"They've been drifting a long, long time," the Doctor explained as they all watched the Cybermen return to their work. "Their engines were taken out in a firefight with Sontarans. They've been in disrepair since, their bodies and ship slowly falling apart around them. But they found a signature on Earth, a strong signature, and used that to transport themselves to Earth."
"What signature?" Mickey wanted to know.
But the Doctor didn't answer that question. "The black ones, they're scouts. So were the black Cybermats. They sent them to Earth to search for more organic material, along with anything else they could use to repair themselves. Then they realized…" his voice drifted a moment. He cleared his throat. "The signature they found. It was Artron energy. They knew about me. Their systems are so old that – at one point I tried to delete myself from all databases."
"We noticed you disappeared from UNIT records," said Martha. "Captain Jack called and told us you weren't in the Torchwood records anymore, either."
"Yeah," said the Doctor. But Molly noticed his arm moving ever so slightly near where he and Mickey had looked earlier. "I got too big. There were consequences. So, I tried to delete myself from all the records in the universe, but this one ship was set adrift before I did that. They knew what the signature was, that it must have come from a time traveler, that it must have come from the TARDIS. They knew it was connected to me, and they knew if I caught them on Earth, I'd stop them. They also knew you must be important to me, to have been in the TARDIS."
Martha stared at the Doctor from over Maggie's head. "So they set up a transporter in our daughter's closet so they could do something to us and try to draw you out, into the line of fire."
"They targeted us because we used to travel on the TARDIS?" asked Mickey, his voice thick. "This is cos of us?"
"No," said the Doctor, his voice soft, his expression a sad guilt. "It's because of me."
Martha held Maggie closer. "They wanted to kill you to make it safer to take Earth."
The Doctor nodded. "Yeah. They need me to help repair their ship enough to make invasion easier, too. And the worst part is, we all need to get ready to run."
Molly blinked as Martha and Mickey grew tense. "…run?"
"Yeah," said the Doctor. His hand shifted again, and he shouted, "Run!"
In a second Martha had Maggie in her arms, and she and Mickey were headed for the door. The Doctor grabbed Molly's hand and they followed. A second after, there was an electrical buzz – and the Cybermen started to scream. It was all a blur as they raced out the door, and Molly started to feel a rumble under her feet.
"Which way to the TARDIS?" shouted the Doctor.
"This way!" Mickey replied, leading the charge down the corridor.
They raced ahead, taking the sharp turns so fast Molly crashed into the wall once. "What did you do?!" she shouted at the Doctor.
"Recorded Maggie crying on my mobile, plugged it into the computer, transmitted those feelings into the Cybermen and broke their ability to repress emotion," the Doctor explained quickly. "Bit more complicated than that, but seeing as we're running for our lives just now…"
They half-crashed through the door into the repair room, and Mickey threw the TARDIS doors open. Molly slammed the door closed behind her as the Doctor rushed to the console, and very carefully set aside a bouncing Adipose. He put in coordinates so fast Molly couldn't keep track of him, and in a moment, they were leaving the ship. Once they landed, he breathed a sigh of relief, then reached down to his feet and picked the Adipose up again. He turned towards them. "The ship was in such a state of disrepair, the moment the Cybermen stopped inputting commands, it started to fall apart." He stepped up to Maggie, who was still crying. "Hey, look. I've got a friend here who wants to say hi." He held the Adipose out, and Maggie pushed herself further into her mother's arms, but a moment later reached out and poked its belly. It laughed and hopped over, grabbing onto Martha's arm to balance itself, then moved to poke Maggie back on the cheek.
As they took turns poking each other, Martha turned to the Doctor. "Oh, no. She's too young for a pet alien."
"Oh, no, no," insisted the Doctor. "I'm taking him home. I just thought he might cheer her up a bit."
The Doctor turned back to the console. He was flipping the same switches he did when he didn't want to meet someone's eyes, Molly realized. He was feeling the guilt of believing he had called this threat down on Martha and Mickey, just for having traveled with them. She looked to Martha and Mickey. They were both focused on Maggie, but Martha kept giving the Doctor small, concerned glances. Mickey seemed a little angry, though at the Cybermen, the Doctor, or himself Molly couldn't tell.
Martha handed Maggie and the Adipose over to Mickey, and then walked to the console to stand by the Doctor. "The TARDIS looks great," she said casually. "Very sleek."
"Thanks," replied the Doctor, looking around the TARDIS. "This is the second new design she's had since we traveled together. I like the spinny bits. I don't know why they spin, but I like them."
Martha glanced up at the spinning Circular Gallifreyan. "Me, too," she said. She looked back at the Doctor. "Doctor, it's not your fault."
"I know. I didn't pick the design, the TARDIS did that herself."
Martha gave him a playful shove. "You know what I mean. It's not your fault the Cybermen came after us. In fact, if you hadn't been there, I don't know what we would have done."
The Doctor ran a hand down the front of his face. "But if you hadn't-"
"Hadn't what? Decided to travel with you? I made that decision on my own, and I don't regret it, not for one minute," she responded. "What other people do because Mickey and I travelled on the TARDIS is on them. Not you, and not us."
"Besides," started Mickey, setting Maggie down to continue playing some odd version of paddycake with the Adipose before going to join the Doctor and Martha, "How many people did we save together? How many more people would be dead if we hadn't been with you?"
The Doctor still seemed doubtful. Molly stayed where she was to keep an eye on Maggie, but decided to speak up. "Look. You could, potentially, live forever. If you stopped trying to help people, if you stopped traveling, if you just put the TARDIS somewhere in space where it'll never be hit by a meteor or a rocket or whatever, and just sat quietly in a room, you could live forever."
The Doctor turned to her. "Well, actually-"
"No, shut up, I don't care about your physiology right now. You get my point," replied Molly. "Never being in danger isn't really an option for anyone on Earth, but yeah, we could limit how much danger we're in by staying inside and not doing anything. But what's the point in a life like that? Would it really be worth giving up actually living just to try to guarantee you can live a bit longer? Forever in a small room, does that sound good to you?" She paused, though she knew his answer. "We don't get to choose whether or not we ever experience a time when our life is at risk. We do get to make decisions that increase the frequency we're at risk. And sometimes, it's better to make the choice that puts you in danger more often. It's worth it, especially if it means you get to help people whose lives are at risk, and who may not have a life to be at risk if you weren't there. I'm happy with my choices, personally." She paused again. "Well, no, not most of my choices, my choices are overwhelmingly terrible, but my choice to be on the TARDIS, absolutely." Technically, she hadn't had much choice, but she thought – hoped – the Doctor knew that if there had been a choice, she still would have chosen to be here. Besides, she didn't really want to try to explain her situation to Martha and Mickey.
The Doctor took longer to respond than Martha liked. "Look," she said, pointing to her daughter playing with the Adipose. "Maggie is fine, she's safe. We're all safe. And we stopped the Cybermen from invading Earth. That's what matters."
Mickey added, "You know when I first met you, and Rose went with you, I hated it. I hated all of it. But then I went with you, and I saw what you do, and then I found a place where I could do something that really mattered. Then I met Martha, and we had Maggie. If I never set foot on the TARDIS, my life would be completely different. And I like my life. So…no regrets."
"No regrets," Martha echoed enthusiastically, as she touched the Doctor's shoulder.
The Doctor's forlorn expression slowly turned to a smile. "No regrets," he said. "Okay. You're right. No regrets."
Molly wasn't sure she believed him, but at least he was smiling again.
"We need to get her to bed…or at least, get her calmed down enough to get some sleep," said Mickey, going to pick up Maggie again. The Doctor followed and gently took the Adipose from her. Both the Adipose and Maggie seemed disappointed, but they also both seemed exhausted enough not to complain about it.
Martha walked up beside them. "I guess we got one more last adventure, huh?"
"And over fast enough to get you both home before midnight! No carriages turned to pumpkins here," replied the Doctor, smiling over at Martha. After a moment of hesitation, he pulled her into a hug. "I wish we hadn't, really, but I am a bit glad we got one more."
"I know what you mean," said Martha, squeezing him tight for a moment, then pulling away to smile at him. "One last hurrah."
Mickey shifted Maggie to his other side. "If we do it again, maybe we can get a babysitter, first."
"Deal," the Doctor said, grinning. "Well, off with you. Little Maggie needs some mum and dad time."
Martha turned to Molly. "Thanks for the help."
"Anytime," breathed Molly, and bit her tongue to not add on her guilt that she hadn't been there to try to stop the Cyberman from taking Maggie in the first place.
"And, um, another thing…"
"Yes?"
"How'd you know it wasn't the same place?"
Molly frowned as she tried to remember what Martha was referencing, and then frowned deeper when she remembered telling the Doctor that Martha wasn't living in the same place he'd seen her last.
"Oh. Um…" Her mind raced, but she couldn't think of a cover.
Mickey shrugged. "Probably saw it on our show." All three of the others replied with a quick 'what?'. Mickey laughed. "Took me a bit, but I remember you. Molly Quinn. That show the Doctor used to talk about. And it's not like being from other universes is a weird concept to me. Being a TV show is, but…I mean, that's it, isn't it? You saw where Martha used to live on a show about the Doctor."
There was a moment of silence before the Doctor said, "I really did used to underestimate you."
"If that's not right."
"I was in a TV show in another universe?" Martha seemed more rocked by the information than Mickey was. "Like, really? I was on the telly?"
"Yeah," Molly admitted. "It's a great show. And you were great. The both of you."
"So…you saw…" Martha winced.
"You came to your senses eventually and upgraded," said Molly, and she ignored the Doctor look of indignation. "Mickey's definitely a better choice for you. I was so excited when it showed you got married, I actually applauded."
"Thanks," said Mickey, sounding proud.
"Okay, this is too weird," said Martha. "Time to go home."
There was one more round of goodbyes, a few hugs, and the Doctor gave the half-asleep Maggie a kiss on the head. With a long look back, Martha closed the TARDIS door behind her.
Author's Note: TW: PTSD flashback
So, what are we all thinking about the new series? It feels really different to me, but every showrunner feels different. I'm enjoying it! What about you?