Author's Note: Reminder that the Doctor Who canon in this is slightly off from our world because its an AU and not because I have a bad memory and maybe wrote some stuff wrong. Thanks!
Emerald Green
Chapter Twenty
The Un-Farewell Tour, Part One
"…I guess I need a new mobile," said the Doctor, as he began inputting the coordinates to take the Adipose home.
"And I need a bath in aloe vera," Molly complained, feeling her burns getting warmer after the action. She moved to stand beside him. "Their kid is really cute," she offered by way of a conversational topic.
The Doctor nodded. "She is." He turned his head towards her as the TARDIS took off. "Did you ever think about having children?"
Molly shrugged. "I hadn't decided. I like kids, though I'm not great with them. I don't make responsible decisions, so I was leaning towards no before the shooting, but I did sort of want them anyway." It still made her heart ache. Sure, she hadn't been 100% certain, and she was nearing her 30s before the attempted murder, so the thought seemed less and less likely…but she'd always wondered exactly what it would feel like to hold this tiny, fragile, precious human being you created in your arms, and be their whole world for a little while, make them her whole world. She'd wanted the choice to give that up to be her own.
"Before the shooting?" the Doctor repeated. "Did the shooting change your mind?"
"Well, yeah," replied Molly. She reached out to wiggle a switch, careful not to actually shift it, to copy the Doctor's way of wanting to avoid a topic. "Or, at least, the second bullet made up my mind for me."
The Doctor turned to face her wholly now. "Second bullet?"
Molly blinked over at him. "Yeah, the…" she paused. "Did the show only have one?"
The Doctor nodded. "The screen went dark, and there was one gunshot. You were shot twice?"
She nodded. "The first one hit the side of my spine and lodged there. The second tore straight through my uterus. That was two of the surgeries I had, attempting to fix it. But the chances were low I'd ever be able to carry a baby, and it became a choice of keeping my uterus and maybe being able to have a baby but living with a lot of pain, or giving up the baby and getting my uterus removed and have that pain, at least, gone. I already had to deal with the spine damage and trying to walk again, I just…couldn't cope with more pain. I had them take it out. So, I guess it was three of the surgeries."
He just…stared at her, for a moment. Molly was always uncomfortable with any kind of pity, and for the first time in…however long she'd been here after that first day…she felt the walls creeping back up. This was one pain she thought she'd gotten over. Apparently, it wasn't the kind of thing you were ever fully over.
She hated his sad eyes. "I'm so sorry that happened to you," he said, finally.
Always ready to deflect to hide her vulnerability, Molly shrugged her shoulders. "It's life. It happens."
The Doctor seemed to realize how much she wanted to not talk about it, and provided a subject change. "Can we talk about what just happened?"
Molly frowned, a crease appearing between her arched brows. "I thought we already talked about the Cybermen?"
"No," said the Doctor, his voice in that soft tone that made her walls continue upward. "Before they transported me."
She pressed her lips together, then cleared her throat. "The flashback?"
"Yes."
She turned and walked away, sliding her hands into her back pockets. "What's there to say? I have PTSD. I have flashbacks sometimes."
Molly heard the Doctor's footsteps following behind her. "Your show did have moments like that. A flashback. The images were in black and white and too blurred to make much out, even with the amount I studied the show."
She spun, eyes wide. "They showed the flashbacks? Like…what happened in them?" Molly felt panic build in her chest, and her heart seemed to clench, and her brain sent out the signals of fear and anger. He'd said he didn't know what happened. He'd promised.
The Doctor seemed to sense this change in her, and held his hands out in a disarmed fashion. "Again, there really wasn't much to make out. A swinging lamp, surrounded by darkness. Brick. A flash of ginger hair. A sound, a sort of-"
"Buzzing," Molly supplied breathlessly.
The Doctor's face lit for a moment as he must have realized what had triggered her flashback, and then he nodded. "That's all. And other than the people who actually made the show, I probably know more about it than anyone. If I don't know what else was shown, certainly no one else does."
Molly nodded, and the tension slowly began leaving her body. "Okay. Good."
"I have…" he started, then hesitated before trying again. "I've watched you, since you've been here, in case of...well, you never mentioned the flashbacks to me, but I knew from the show. And I've seen moments where…your mind seems to drift, and you seem a little more tense. I didn't know if you still…"
She bit her lip a moment. The PTSD wasn't something she wanted to talk about. It too quickly circled around to the trauma itself. "It's been mostly under control. I don't have my medication here, though, so I'm not that surprised they've gotten more intense. I haven't been using my grounding techniques," she admitted. She'd pretty much blown off everything her therapist had said when she lost her job at the Times. There didn't seem to be much point in trying to keep herself together when she couldn't keep her life together.
"Why didn't you mention this at the hospital? We could have gotten you your medication."
Molly snorted. "I use cannabis. I don't think I need to take the chance at being high when people's lives are at risk."
"…Ah," said the Doctor, holding up a finger. "Yes. That was probably a good decision."
"I'll be fine," Molly reassured him. "I've lived with this a long time. It's just part of my life."
"You use that to excuse the terrible things you've had to deal with quite a lot, you know."
Subject change. She turned toward him. "Speaking of life. Jack, River, Martha, Mickey. It's like the universe is giving you a 'Doctor: this is your life' moment." She spread her hands as if reading the words from a marquee.
He frowned. "Yes. Yes, it is very much like that…" He got that distant look that told her he was thinking of some sort of mystery, and one he wasn't going to share with her, at least not yet. That seemed odd to her. What kind of mystery could be involved here?
"Who else are we going to run into?" she wondered, once again feeling uncomfortable, now with the added feeling of being left out of something important. "Craig and Sophie?" she paused. "…do Craig and Sophie know you're still alive? Did you ever go back and tell Craig you didn't die?"
The Doctor's expression shifted to one of guilt. "Mmm. Possibly. Possibly no. I might have…not done that. Yet." She thought she might have heard 'ever' under his breath.
She stared a moment. "Well. I know where we're going next."
The Doctor's face almost seemed to go a shade paler. "I really don't think I need to-"
"Doctor," Molly cut him off with a sharp word. "You don't just let your friends think you're dead. Or even maybe dead. You can't do that to them and still call them friends." He still seemed hesitant, so she continued, "You have friends who have died. If any of them were secretly alive and never told you, how would that feel?" She didn't care if there was a line here.
The Doctor started to turn back to the console, and Molly grabbed his arm. "Doctor," she said. "Not this time. Look me in the eye and tell me one very good reason you shouldn't let Craig know you didn't die."
He sighed, and she watched him shift his weight from one foot to the other, pressing his lips together and shifting his jaw. Finally, he settled on declaring, "I don't do social visits!"
"Nope. Not good enough," she replied. "It's not a social visit. It's letting someone know you aren't dead. Besides, we just had dinner with Martha and Mickey. Try again."
He grumbled a bit, then said, "Because I'm eventually going to be dead anyway."
Molly rolled her eyes. "Even you know that one's bullshit."
"Yeah, yeah. I heard it as it was coming out," he admitted. "Ah – fine. It's because he's going to be mad at me."
"Mad at you?" she asked.
"That I never told him I wasn't dead. I don't want Craig to be mad at me, we're mates."
She released his arm. "Can't we just go back to shortly after you left?"
"No," he said. "River told me. I talked to some kids on my way out, and it turns out their accounts of that were written down, and it was while River was studying those accounts that she was stolen and put in the astronaut suit. Do you know about that?" Molly nodded. "I don't want to risk them seeing and recognizing me again and somehow creating a paradox."
"So, we'll have to go ahead a few years so if they see you again, they probably won't recognize you," she continued his logic.
He nodded. "It will have to have been a few years since I told him I was about to die. Or…tried to."
"Well, let's just not mention how long it's actually been for you, and we're good."
"He's not going to be happy with me."
"No, he's not," Molly confirmed. "But you're his friend. He loves you. And he'll just be happy to see you again. Even if it's just for a little while, even if it's just for a proper goodbye. He'll want to know you're still alive. He deserves to know."
He looked thoughtful for a moment, his eyes traveling from her face to the top of the TARDIS before looking back at her. "Is that how you would feel, if someone you knew who was dead showed up at your doorstep?"
Now it was Molly's turn to try to move to the console and not look in his eyes, but he repeated her strategy and took her arm. She sighed and turned towards him. "I only really know one dead person, and the situation was very, very different," she said. She heard the note of chill in her voice, but couldn't help it, though she didn't know if it was at him for making her talk about this, or at the very concept of her dead mom showing up alive someday. "Her death was what…" her throat closed. No. This was too close to the truth about her. She couldn't be fully honest. "It shaped me in the worst ways. And there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about her, sometimes multiple times a day. Despite not having a phone here, I've reached for a phone to call her and tell her about something more than once. If she was alive this whole time and I didn't know…" She didn't finish the sentence. The cold anger in her eyes expressed her feelings clearly enough. "The situation with Craig is different than with my mom. He's not going to hate you. And you know that. You choose your friends carefully, you've said it yourself. You wouldn't choose someone who would hate you for being alive."
He frowned. Molly figured it was because he knew she was right. He was out of excuses. She knew going back wasn't something he usually did, but she couldn't stand here and let him leave Craig thinking he was dead. She liked Craig. And she liked Sophie. So, while he still seemed resistant, Molly continued to stare the Doctor down.
Finally, he threw his hands up in surrender. "Fine. Fine! We'll go visit Craig tomorrow."
Molly raised her brows. "Tomorrow? And give you time to chicken out? No way."
"Molly," began the Doctor, exasperated. "You realize we've already had a full day, between the TARDIS repairs, the Adipose, dinner with Mickey and Martha, and the Cybermen?"
She considered this. "Yes, I do realize."
"And that yesterday we were in a wildfire?"
"Yes."
"It's essentially one am for you right now, and you've barely slept in days."
"Oh." Now that he mentioned it, her body felt worn. Her mind was still sharp, she thought, though maybe that was a lie the sleep deprivation was telling her. "I had no idea."
"Keeping time is difficult on the TARDIS," the Doctor explained.
Molly nodded. "Okay. Sleep first, then the Un-Farewell Tour."
The corner of the Doctor's mouth twitched upwards. "'Un-Farewell Tour?'"
Molly started headed for the stairs. "Well, you have to go to people you told on your Farewell Tour that you didn't, in fact, die, so…Un-Farewell." She turned back towards him. "Gives you some time to emotionally prepare. Just don't chicken out."
"Cross my hearts," the Doctor promised, doing exactly that.
Molly nodded. "Okay. Goodnight."
"Sweet dreams!" replied the Doctor, and Molly headed back to her room.
She was unhappy to discover that it was still filled to the brim with hampers. "Oh, come on," she sighed. "I said I was sorry." She took a moment to find a strategy, and then began moving hampers out into the corridor. But every time she set one down, she turned to find it back it's in place. "Really?!" she exclaimed. Finally, she decided to just fight her way to the bed and toss those hampers aside. She took off her clothes and threw them into a hamper, and decided the fight to the dresser wasn't worth it and crawled back into bed, hoping the Doctor wouldn't burst in first thing in the morning again.
Burying her face in the pillow, Molly pulled the covers over her head. The Doctor was right, and probably saw the real reasons she needed to go to bed better than she had up until this moment. They were the same reasons she stepped away to let him process when he felt that he'd failed someone, though she wanted to stay there and talk him through it.
She hadn't been there to help save Maggie. Yes, Maggie was safe now, but Molly knew better than most that being safe and being okay were not the same thing. Maggie would live with those memories. She would remember that buzzing forever.
Molly lived for one reason, and one reason alone: to put good into the world. As much of it as she could. But a little child was being dragged to an unknown fate by an incredibly dangerous force, and where had she been? Lying on the ground in the hallway.
Realistically, she knew she could not control the flashbacks. She hadn't been given the choice. Still, this was another thing that would haunt her: the image of little Maggie in a Cyberman's arms, being pulled from her parents and the Doctor, and the space behind the Cyberman where Molly could have stood to block it from making an escape. She would see that space in her dreams tonight. In her nightmares.
Molly had found relief from the near-constant nightmares on the TARDIS. She almost hadn't realized they were gone until now, and it was a shame it was only when she noticed she wasn't afraid to sleep anymore that the new nightmares would surface.
Well, what's one more?
The usual morning routine: Names, stretches, bath, fight to the death with her hair, makeup, dress, experience elation that this was all really happening and giggle like a little girl, and she was ready to go meet with the Doctor.
As she walked into the console room, she saw the Doctor with a cloth in his hand, shining up the glass around the central light. She'd never thought about the regular chores to keep the TARDIS clean. Maybe the TARDIS could do it herself, and the Doctor just preferred to take the time and care for her. Maybe she should ask for a broom to help out. She still wanted to make a better impression on the TARDIS, even though the hampers had been gone when she woke up.
"Good morning," she greeted.
The Doctor looked up from his work. "Morning!"
She stretched her arms over her head and yawned a bit before saying, "Ready to go see Craig and Sophie?"
"Already done!" the Doctor announced, turning his attention back to his work. "Popped in while you were asleep, told him I wasn't dead, shook hands. It's all done, all handled, no problem."
"Mhm." Molly slowly raised her brows. "You didn't really think I'd fall for that, did you?"
The Doctor shrugged and set the cloth aside. "Worth a try. I did bring the Adipose home, though."
"Come on," she said, walking over to his side and hooking an arm in his. "It'll be great. You'll be happy you did it."
"Probably," the Doctor admitted begrudgingly. He still seemed hesitant.
"Hey." Molly stared up at him until he finally turned to look at her. "I know it's hard for you. I know you're worried he'll be mad. I know you don't usually go back. But, though it's hard, it really is going to be worth it. Besides, don't you want to see him again? You're mates."
She waited, hoping he'd feel better about this trip she was forcing him on. She felt another bit of elation as he slowly smiled. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, it'll be lovely to see him again. And Sophie. And little Alfie. Haven't seen them in ages." He thought about it for a moment. "Literally, ages."
Unhooking her arm, Molly smiled back. "Let's get going, then."
The Doctor walked around the console, setting the coordinates as usual as Molly watched. Then he looked up at her. "Come here."
Frowning, Molly walked around the console to him. "What's up?"
The Doctor pointed to one of the controls. "Pull that lever," he said. "Flip this switch, then this one, two steps left, and wind the crank."
Molly was surprised. "You're trusting me to fly the TARDIS again?"
"Why not? You did perfectly last time."
"I thought I almost crashed into a year, or century, or something."
The Doctor shrugged as he folded his arms. "Well, it takes practice. Go on, then!"
Molly had to admit that she felt both excited and bit terrified. The first time had gone okay, but past performance was never an indication of future success - or whatever the quote was - in her life.
But it was nice he trusted her, and this was simpler than last time, and how many chances was she going to get to fly the TARDIS? "Okay," she smiled. "Here we go." She stepped up and pulled the indicated lever, then the two switches in the order he'd flipped them, two steps left and wound the crank. The Doctor pulled the lever closer to him.
Off they went. The shake of the TARDIS was more exciting to her now, and gave her a feeling of anticipation. Somewhere new every time. Granted, this wasn't an alien planet, or that far into the past, but still. Outside the doors, somewhere and somewhen she'd never been. It was much better than a tiny basement bedroom at a foster home, or New York City.
The TARDIS landed, and she turned to the Doctor. "Ready?" she asked, and he nodded. She paused a moment as something occurred to her. "Do you want to do this by yourself?" He might want the privacy. "Or do you want me to come with you?"
The Doctor opened his mouth, then shut it again. It was a moment before he said, "Come with me. Please."
She took his arm again. Emotional support. She could do that. "Let's go, then."
They left the TARDIS, then began down the street to Craig and Sophie's house. It was strange, being on that familiar street, and not only was it real, it was really where Craig lived. They were walking to his house, not on a set. This was still so mind-blowing.
Molly turned her head toward the Doctor. "Do you know what you want to say?"
The Doctor nodded, and then shook his head. "I'll wing it," he replied. "That always goes well for me."
Molly decided not to disagree as they turned off the public sidewalk and walked towards the familiar house. Despite the afternoon sun, she could see lights on, and hear voices inside she assumed was the television.
The Doctor hesitated at the door. Molly gave him a moment, but when she looked over to him, she saw a mix of sadness and hesitance in his eyes. He was going to make this harder for himself, spiraling through all the possibilities of this going poorly. She knew, because she did it, too.
She gently elbowed him, then released his arm. "Come on. You can do this. He's going to be happy to see you, I swear."
He took another second, and then reached out and gave a few firm knocks on the door. He straightened his jacket and bowtie, as Molly took a small step to the side to give the Doctor more space by the door. It didn't take long for the door to swing open, revealing an already-smiling Craig, saying, "I thought you said you weren't going to…" and he stopped. His face fell, and Molly's chest filled with anxiety. No. He was going to be happy. She was right. She had to be right.
The Doctor gave him a small smile. "Hello again, Craig."
The few seconds of silence before Craig spoke only made her anxiety grow. She wasn't wrong about Craig, was she? "Doctor?" Craig finally said, his voice full of confusion. But Molly's anxiety melted as a great, beaming smile came across his face. "Doctor! You're okay!"
"I'm okay!" The Doctor agreed cheerfully. She saw his own anxiety begin to melt away.
"I thought you were going to – I really thought you were…but you didn't die!"
"I didn't die!" The Doctor repeated happily. He reached forward to pat Craig on the shoulder. "Well, good to see you again, mate. Until next time." The Doctor started to turn, but both Molly and Craig reached out and turned him back around.
"Oh, no, you don't," said Craig. "Not this time. You're coming in to see Sophie."
"Sophie's here?" the Doctor asked excitedly.
"Yeah, she lives here, of course she's here. And a few other people," said Craig, as he stepped aside and half-dragged the Doctor into the house. "It's a bit of a family reunion. Just a couple people, though, don't worry, and they're on their way out. It'll be nice to have another reunion with you here."
"Ah – family reunion," the Doctor said as Molly stepped inside and closed the door behind them, cutting off his escape route. "Maybe I should come back."
"Don't be silly," replied Craig. "You're the reason Sophie and I are together. I mean, you're the reason I'm alive at all. You're basically family." Molly caught the almost-glow around the Doctor's face as Craig called him 'basically family'. It was a glow she was sure she'd have in his position. "Besides," Craig added, "I know you wouldn't actually come back, so I'll just have to hold you hostage." He was leading the Doctor towards the kitchen. Molly followed, feeling strange that she was already familiar with the layout of this house she had never been in.
The kitchen was a little crowded, though thankfully not by much. Sophie sat at a table with an older woman beside her at the head, and one that seemed a couple years younger across from her. The older woman had long, silver hair pulled partially back by a golden clip, while the younger's hair was the same shade of blonde as Sophie's, but formed perfect beachy curls. At the end of the table nearest them sat a young boy, maybe six years old, with messy blond hair and fingers covered in colorful stains from the markers he was using to color in a space-themed coloring book. He was coloring in a star with green.
"Sophie, look who's come around to visit," Craig announced, pushing the Doctor ahead of him.
Sophie looked up from her conversation with the other two women, and her jaw dropped a little when she saw who it was. "Doctor?!" she exclaimed, standing from her chair so fast it tilted over as though threatening to fall to the ground, and she rushed over and threw her arms around him. "I can't believe it's you," she said in amazement, but when she pulled back her eyes were accusatory. "Craig told me about your last visit. You didn't stay to say hi to me."
"Sorry," the Doctor apologized, though he was still smiling. "I had an appointment to keep."
"About the appointment…" Craig began, lowering his voice. But the Doctor stepped past Sophie to look down at the little boy.
"And this little fella must be Stormageddon!" he greeted, mussing the boy's hair. "It's good to see you again, Stormy."
The boy looked up at the Doctor with clear annoyance. "My name is Alfie," he insisted with all the attitude of a teenager.
The Doctor frowned. "You were much nicer to me when you were a baby," he said, a little offended.
"You're silly," said Alfie with an accusatory note in his voice. "I couldn't talk when I was a baby!"
"Oh, you said plenty," replied the Doctor. "Called everyone peasants. I am silly, though, on that point you're right. Nothing wrong with silly."
"Sophie," said the younger woman, her voice friendly. "Who are your friends?"
"Especially this handsome young man?" the older woman said, her eyes on the Doctor, her voice even friendlier.
"Oh, grandmother," Sophie chided.
"This is the Doctor," said Craig, gesturing to him as the Doctor gave a little salute. "And this is – ah…sorry. I didn't ask you name, did I?"
Molly shrugged. "It's fine, don't worry about it."
"This is my Companion, Molly Quinn," the Doctor introduced her.
Molly had to turn away for a moment to fight back a too-big smile. As awkward as it was to be introduced to people as a 'companion', his saying it out loud so casually was thrilling. She was a Companion. Capital C.
She only turned for a moment, playing it off at fixing her hair, then turned back. "Nice to meet you all."
While most of the others returned the sentiment, the grandmother looked back to the Doctor. "Companion? And here I was hoping you were single."
"Grandmother!" Sophie said, scandalized.
"Oh, we're not…" Molly began correcting, then pointed from herself to the Doctor and back again a few times. "We're not together like that. It's not…we're not dating. We travel together. Just…go around, looking at stuff together, not…together."
The grandmother grinned. "Oh, so I still have a chance, do I?"
The Doctor smiled at her. "I'm a bit too old for you, I'm afraid," he replied.
The grandmother took it as a flattering joke, of course. "Well, everyone calls me Grandmother June, but you can call me June."
The younger woman beside her gave a half-wave. "I'm Tanya, Sophie's younger sister."
"Good to meet you both," the Doctor said, going around for handshakes before sitting at the table by Alfie, as far from Grandma June as he could get. "Been pals with Craig and Sophie for a while now."
"Since before we got together," Sophie added, taking her seat again. Molly took the seat next to Tanya that Craig gestured to, and watched him head to a cupboard before turning back. Tanya seemed about her own age, maybe a year or so younger, with pretty curls and striking hazel eyes, and a nice figure with legs that went on for miles.
Molly set her elbow on the table and rested her head in her palm as she turned toward Tanya with her most charming smile. "Hi there."
"Don't," the Doctor warned.
Molly looked over and gave him an insulted expression. "What? What am I doing?"
"If you start acting like Jack, I'm kicking you out."
Molly considered this threat for a moment, then chose to ignore it and turned back to Tanya. "How's it going?"
Tanya didn't seem to mind, as she gave a slow smile, showing perfect white teeth. "My day seems to be getting better."
"Don't," Sophie warned her sister. "You are such a hopeless flirt."
Molly curled a strand of hair around her finger. "So am I. We complement each other so well." She turned as Craig set a mug of tea on the table next to her, and reached over to set one in front of the Doctor. "Thanks," she said.
"So, where do you travel to?" Grandmother June asked.
"Oh, here and there," offered the Doctor as he lifted the mug. "Cheers, mate," he said to Craig before taking a sip.
"Here and there and everywhere?" Tanya asked, though she clearly directed the comment to Molly.
"Precisely," the Doctor replied anyway. "Here and there and absolutely everywhere."
Tanya continued to speak to Molly. "Sounds like fun."
"Oh, lots of fun. I could use a little more fun, though," Molly said with a wink.
Grandmother June stood. "Well, there's only so much fun one old woman can handle in day. Take me home, Tanya."
Tanya nodded and stood from the table. She looked to Molly. "You have a number?"
"Oh, how I wish I did," said Molly, shaking her head. She offered her hand. "Nice to meet you, Tanya."
She shook hands with both Tanya and Grandmother June, and they said their goodbyes (Grandmother June offering a 'See you around, handsome' to the Doctor), and they headed out the front door.
She felt the Doctor's stare and turned back to him with a smile. "What? I'm going to get rusty if I don't practice my flirting." Honestly, it hadn't been her strongest game, anyway.
The Doctor pointedly turned to Craig, who was now taking Grandmother June's previous seat. "How've you been, Craig? Sophie?"
"We've been grand," replied Sophie. "Craig got a big promotion. Alfie's doing well; healthy, creative."
"How long's it been, Doctor?" Craig asked. "For you, I mean. Been a few years for us, obviously."
Molly looked to the Doctor and realized he'd looked at her first. Dodging subjects was her specialty.
"Well, enough time to meet me and start traveling," she replied. It was true enough that it didn't spiral into an embarrassing lie. "It hasn't been that long since we met. A couple weeks and some change, I think." Only a couple weeks? She counted the days in her head. Yes, that was about right. It felt like months and months. She'd even gotten sick and gotten better in that time. Maybe it was some futuristic Dayquil.
She'd wandered off her task. "So how did you all meet?" She asked, by way of finishing off the subject change. Craig looked to the Doctor for permission to tell the whole story, and the Doctor nodded, then leaned over to Alfie. As Craig gave a quick recap of his episodes, the Doctor watched Alfie color, his face becoming more and more disturbed by what he saw over time.
When Craig finished speaking, the Doctor pointed at the page in the coloring book Alfie wasn't coloring yet. "No, no, those constellations are all wrong," he said. "It's clearly meant to be the Echo star system, but everything's arranged wrong. How did they get it so mixed up?"
"I really don't think it's supposed to be a particular star system," said Molly.
The Doctor didn't look away, but shook his head. "Of course it is. What else is it supposed to be?" He looked over at Alfie. "Say, mate, could I have that page? I'll fix it for you."
Alfie looked at the Doctor as if he had two heads, but sighed beleagueredly, and tore out the page and offered it to him. "Sharing is caring," he grumbled, then pushed his markers closer, too.
"Right you are, Alfie," the Doctor agreed, seizing the black marker and beginning to draw on the page. All Molly saw was the classic star shapes scattered around a planet that looked like Saturn, and a smaller version of the planet in the background.
"But no, really, Doctor," said Craig, setting his tea aside. "How long has it been?"
The Doctor remained focused on correcting the coloring book page. "A while."
"How long's a while?"
Molly had promised this wouldn't happen. She tried again, this time looking to Sophie. "So, what do you do?"
Sophie opened her mouth to answer, but Craig continued. "Doctor, come on. How long's it been?"
Molly watched as the Doctor turned the page to another angle. "A few years. Maybe."
"A few years," Craig repeated in surprise. He paused a moment and Molly thought he was done, but then he shook his head. "No, not good enough."
Sophie reached over and took Craig's wrist. "Craig-"
"No. You're different, Doctor. How long's it been?"
Molly saw the Doctor winced. She mouthed 'sorry' in his direction, though she knew he couldn't see it. This was exactly what she didn't want to happen. But the Doctor took in a slow breath to answer. "It's been a while, Craig. Amy…left. Clara came, then left. I've been through some things. Bound to have changed a bit."
"And now you're with Molly."
"Yep."
"I bet she made you come back." Craig glanced at Molly, then back to the Doctor. "So how many years?"
The Doctor sighed in frustration and set his marker aside. "A few hundred. I don't know."
Sophie's eyes widened. "Hundred? A few hundred?"
"Why didn't you come back sooner?" Craig wanted to know. "I thought you were dead."
"It's…" the Doctor started, and then made a frustrated gesture with his hands when he couldn't think of a way to explain.
"Complicated," Molly supplied.
Craig was already shaking his head. "No. You could have come back sooner; I know you could."
Molly's heart dropped. She'd lied to the Doctor. Craig really was angry. The Doctor would never trust her again. She would never trust herself again. And she'd thought she was so good at reading people.
The Doctor sighed again. "I'm sorry, Craig. I am."
But Craig extended a hand out across the table towards the Doctor. "It's not about being sorry," he said. "I think you avoided coming back here partly because you thought you'd waited too long. And it's never too long, Doctor. You can always come back here, no matter how long it's been. Always."
"We always want to see you," added Sophie.
"We're mates," Craig finished.
The light in the Doctor's eyes was becoming familiar, and Molly loved it. He'd been able to reconnect with so many of his old friends now, old family, and seeing that he was still cared about, even when he disappeared from their lives, really meant so much to him. It once again felt like a bit of an invasion of privacy to be witnessing this moment, but it was exactly the kind of moment on the show that would have her gripping her pillow to her chest and crying. Thankfully, despite being a crybaby, she seemed to be able to avoid tears falling freely down her cheeks. They merely gathered in her eyes.
Just as they did in the Doctor's. "Thanks, Craig. Sophie." He paused, and then shook off the sentimental moment with a smile. "Maybe I should come around again. You know, check in. Never really done that before, just check in with people. Someone does need to make sure Stormy doesn't learn his star systems wrong," he finished, reaching over to pick his marker back up again and continue to 'fix' the page.
Alfie, who had mostly been ignoring the conversation the adults were having, looked up with irritation. "It's Alfie," he insisted. He turned back to his coloring for a moment, then looked back up at his parents. "Can I ask the teachers to call me Stormy?"
"I think it might be best if you stuck with Alfie," said Craig.
"Oh, why not?" Sophie shrugged, standing to take everyone's empty mugs back to the sink. "At least, you can ask your friends."
Alfie nodded seriously and turned back to his coloring. The Doctor grinned. "See, Stormy? You picked a great name for yourself."
"So, Doctor," began Craig, "About your last visit."
"What about it?" the Doctor shifted the paper around again, and switched to a blue marker.
"The way you were talking, it sounded like…" the sentence drifted. "And I swear while I was falling asleep, you said something about…well, it sounded like you were dying. What happened?"
Sophie came back to the table. "We're glad you're still here, Doctor," she said warmly, now sitting next to Molly. "We just want to know you're okay."
"Oh, I'm okay," the Doctor insisted. "Of course I'm okay. Molly would tell me if I wasn't."
"Not that he listens," Molly said, looking to Sophie.
"But…" began Craig. "Can you tell us what happened? How you'reokay?"
The Doctor switched markers again. "Oh, nothing too complicated. I just got miniature-ized, beamed into a robotic version of myself, failed to convince the woman who was supposed to kill me to kill me, watched time and space unravel, got married, fixed time and space, and then faked my death. Pretty simple. Straightforward."
There was a long stretch of silence. Finally, Sophie said, "You got married?"
The Doctor grinned up at her. "To the woman who was supposed to kill me. Fancy that."
"So…" Sophie turned to Molly. "Is this your wife, then? Are you two married?"
Molly shook her head, almost too violently. "No. No. Again, not together like that. Not at all. Just friends."
"Thanks for the enthusiastic denial," the Doctor said dryly. "No, Molly and I travel together. My wife and I are…ah…"
"Separated," Molly supplied.
"Right! Separated."
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Sophie.
"Wait," Craig began, seeming to find his voice at last, "What was all that other stuff?"
The Doctor looked at Craig for a moment, his expression unreadable. Then, he said, "Just a bunch of…timey-wimey, spacey-wacey stuff."
Alfie chuckled. "Spacey-wacey. You're funny."
"Thank you, Alfie," replied the Doctor warmly. "You thought so when you were a baby, too."
"You were miniaturized?" Craig asked. "Into an android version of you?"
The Doctor shook his head and scoffed. "'Course not, Craig, that would be ridiculous." He looked over to Craig, looking a little like a displeased professor. "Androids are completely different. You can't be inside them."
"But…" Craig began, then shook his head with a laugh. "Okay. Shrunk into a robotic version of yourself in order to fake your death. Sounds like you all over."
"Aha!" exclaimed the Doctor suddenly. He held up the picture he'd been working on to show them. He'd somehow managed to change the fake stars into something more realistic looking, shifted a planet that had been in the background a few inches right, added a what appeared to be a sun in the foreground, and something that might be a space station beside it. The sky was colored in blue-black, but otherwise it was ready for coloring in. "Now, this is the Echo star system. Here you are, Alfie."
Alfie took the offered picture and looked at it, then grinned back at the Doctor. "This is cool. You can call me Stormy if you want."
"Thanks, Stormy," replied the Doctor, patting him on the head. "You can call me the Doctor. That's just what I'm called, like with you being Stormy. It's fun to have a nickname." The Doctor paused, and his expression told Molly that he hadn't really considered 'the Doctor' a nickname before.
"'Doctor' would be a weird name," remarked Alfie. "What's your real name?"
The Doctor and Molly met each other's gaze again. The Doctor slowly stood. "Well, we better be off."
"Already?" Sophie objected.
"Never overstay a welcome, that's what I always say," replied the Doctor.
"You're not overstaying anything," insisted Craig, standing too. "You've only just got here."
"Other calls to make," said the Doctor apologetically. Molly stood hesitantly. She felt like they needed more time together, but she'd been dictating who the Doctor spent his time with quite a lot lately. At least he'd come here to give them some closure. "Happy to see you doing good. Are you doing good?"
"We're good, Doctor," said Sophie, going around the table to give the Doctor a hug. "We're very good. I hope you are, too."
"Oh, I'm grand," replied the Doctor as he pulled away from the hug. "Don't worry about me."
"We're going to worry, anyway," insisted Craig, who also gave the Doctor a short hug. "We'll walk you to the door."
The four of them headed through the living room after the Doctor waved goodbye to Alfie, and Craig turned back to the Doctor. "Do you have a mobile? Maybe that would be an easier way to check in once in a while."
The Doctor opened his mouth with an excited expression, then frowned. "Oh. No. It was blown up on a Cybership," he explained. "I need a new one."
"Wait right here," said Craig, and he hurried up the stairs.
Molly turned to Sophie. "It's been great meeting you."
"You, too," replied Sophie. "I really didn't know if the Doctor had many other friends."
"I have loads of friends," the Doctor said, offended.
Craig came back down the stairs, holding out a cell phone. "My cousin sent me this for Christmas, but I like the one I have. You can take it, if you want."
The Doctor took it from Craig's outstretched hand. "Oh, thanks, Craig," said the Doctor. He took out his sonic and began work on the phone. "I promise I'll take better care of it than the Stetson."
"What happened to the Stetson?"
"It was shot."
"It was shot?"
Sophie seemed equally as disturbed as Craig. "Why? Who would shoot at you?"
"My wife," the Doctor explained, now turning the phone on. "She doesn't like hats. Well, she doesn't like hats on me, specifically."
"So she shot at you?"
"At the hat. River has rather excellent aim," the Doctor explained. He grinned as the phone turned on. "Perfect! Here, give me yours," he said, holding his hand out towards Craig.
"What? Why?" Craig wondered, though he did as he was asked. The Doctor used the sonic on his phone, then handed it back. Craig turned the phone over in his hand. "What's this going to do now? Shoot lasers?"
The Doctor shook his head as he held a hand out for Sophie's phone. "No. I just boosted the roaming capabilities a bit." He started work on Sophie's phone. "You'll be able to call from and to anywhere in space and time. Of course, as I'm the only space and time traveler you know, it really only works for me." He frowned and looked up at Sophie. "I'm the only space and time traveler you know, right?"
"Of course," Sophie laughed, taking her phone back.
"This is wonderful," said Craig, beaming down at his phone. "Thanks, Doctor."
"You're very welcome," the Doctor replied, sliding the sonic back into his pocket. "Give me a ring sometime."
"We will," Craig promised. He held out a hand to Molly. "It's good to meet you, Molly."
"You, too, Craig," she said cheerfully, shaking his hand. Craig and Sophie and Alfie. It felt good to have the chance to meet all these characters – now people – that she'd loved watching. "See you around, maybe."
"See you," said Sophie. "We'll definitely phone."
"Definitely do," replied the Doctor, already halfway out the door. Molly followed him and they turned to wave goodbye to Craig and Sophie, who waved back before the door shut.
"See?" Molly said, nudging the Doctor with her elbow. "That was really nice."
The Doctor didn't answer for a moment, but stared back at the closed door with a small smile. "Yeah. It was really nice." He draped an arm around her shoulders and they began walking for the TARDIS. "Thanks for bullying me into it."
"I never bully!" Molly objected. "Guilt and shame, sure."
The Doctor looked at the phone Craig had given him with appreciation. "This saved me a trip. Oh!" He stopped suddenly, and opened the camera app. "Take a picture with me. Proof I met Molly Quinn."
Molly laughed and rolled her eyes, but then moved closer to the Doctor, almost close enough to tuck her head under his chin. She smiled and gave the peace sign she usually did in photos, back when it had been safe for her to share pictures of herself on social media. The Doctor's somewhat goofy smile made her start laughing just before the picture was taken. But when the Doctor brought it up, she liked the way it looked, both of them just about to start laughing.
"Okay," she said, pulling him back when he started to move away. "We have to do a funny one now."
The Doctor agreed and aimed the phone again, pulling a funny face. She spotted the bunny ears behind her head but chose to allow it for maximum silliness, and stuck her tongue out at an angle and winked at the camera. The picture was taken, and then reviewed.
"Why does your funny face not look funny?" the Doctor wanted to know.
Molly shrugged. "I'm just cute that way."
He playfully shoved her a little, and then wrapped his arm around her shoulders again. "How about some brunch?"
"Sounds good."
"On a moon in another galaxy?"
She grinned up at him. "Let's do it."