Chapter Text
"What happened out there was a terrible tragedy. The loss of any life on this great journey is unthinkable, but to have so many lives cut short in what amounts to a terrible accident is…"
The Doctor scowls. On one of the displays on the wall is a slightly distorted image of Captain Dutton. He's standing at a podium draped in black cloth, and giving a speech to a crowd of reporters. The words scrolling across the bottom of the screen proves her suspicions right. He's trying to pass it off as an accident, a catastrophic failure of the ship that occurred in the middle of dealing with another emergency.
"He's really playing it up, isn't he?" Dan sits on the steps, content to watch Yaz and the Doctor work. While he's mostly recovered from his ordeal, he's still a bit wobbly on his feet. Not the best thing when aboard a ship that occasionally decides to hit turbulence just for the fun of it.
"Yes, he is," the Doctor mutters. Her eyes are fixed on the display, her lip curling as she watches him speak. He's a good actor, she'll give him that. He speaks passionately about the bravery of the supposed dead, giving up everything for a chance at a new life. He recoils in offense when a reporter suggests that maybe it was part of his job to make sure the ship was spaceworthy. And he puts on an excellent display of fake tears when a family member of one of the meant-to-be-victims turns up in the crowd.
It's been a few days since they escaped from the ship. Originally, the Doctor was going to just jump ahead and be waiting at their destination when the ship landed.
Two things stopped her.
One, Dan, while getting their new passengers settled, had noticed that a lot of them seemed jumpy. Talking with them, he had learned that a lot of them were on their very first journey through space, and having a bit of a rough time coping with that. Time travel might just do their heads in.
And two, Yaz had suggested that waiting until the captain was giving his inevitable speech and then showing up right in the middle of it with the supposedly dead people would be far more dramatic.
The Doctor's always been partial to a bit of drama, so she agreed to take the journey at a normal pace and time their landing to coincide with the speeches.
"I've had quite enough of him," the Doctor mutters as Captain Dutton rambles on. She programs in their landing coordinates and steps aside to let Yaz handle the actual landing.
Yaz does so without hesitation.
The Doctor's hearts swell with pride. She remembers the first time she offered to teach Yaz how to pilot. How nervous she was. Convinced she was going to mess up and that the TARDIS would hate her and that the Doctor would be disappointed in her.
Now, she moves around the console and handles it like she actually passed the pilots' exam.
"What?"
The Doctor realizes that she's staring. Again. "Just admirin' you," she says, which makes Yaz blush. She darts around the console and hits some buttons. "Barnett? Are you there?"
"I'm here, Doctor," Barnett's voice replies. "I'm ready to go as soon as you land."
The Doctor turns to face Dan. "Get everyone ready to go."
Dan gives her a mock salute and heads off to retrieve the passengers.
The TARDIS lands and the passengers file into the console room. After a few days of proper food and shelter, they all look much better.
"Well, then." The Doctor plants her hands on her hips. "Right now, your captain is going on about how your deaths were all such a tragic accident and there was nothing that could have been done to save you. I say he's going on about it—I mean, he's really going on about it." She gives them all a mischievous smile. "What do you say we go make him regret his words?"
Riley steps forward, jaw set. "Gladly."
The Doctor turns to Yaz. "Bring her in."
Yaz nods and yanks the lever.
The TARDIS lands and the Doctor dashes to the door, peering through the window to make sure that they've landed in the best place for maximum dramatic reveal. She grins when she sees that they're on the stage, directly behind Captain Dutton.
She throws open the doors to see Captain Dutton standing there, back to the podium and the crowd, looking positively incensed at their arrival. She puts on the most innocent, wide-eyed face she can possibly muster. "Oh, sorry!" she says. "Am I interrupting something?"
She steps out of the TARDIS and looks around. Off to the side is a massive screen displaying the faces of the people who have supposedly died. She claps her hands together and gestures at it. "Ah, that is really helpful." She turns back to Captain Dutton, the feigned innocence replaced by cold fury. "I was worried it wouldn't be that easy to prove that you're lying."
Captain Dutton clenches his jaw. "I don't know what you're talking about," he says.
The Doctor tilts her head. "Really? Riley? D'you want to show the captain here what we're talking about?"
At first, the reaction to the survivors filing out of the TARDIS—all of them blinking in the harsh artificial light—is confusion. But then, people start to put it together, matching the faces they're seeing to those on the list of the supposed dead.
Captain Dutton sidesteps the podium, bracing to make a run for it.
He stops short when he sees Barnett, accompanied by security guards, coming up the centre aisle. He turns around, searching for another escape route.
The Doctor is ready for him. Feet apart, hands clasped in front of her, chin raised. Yaz and Dan block any potential escape to either side.
"It's time to give up," the Doctor says. "You tried to kill people."
"You can't prove that."
"I can," Barnett says as she reaches the stage. She gestures at the security detail behind her. "Why do you think they're here?"
Captain Dutton's face goes red as two of the security team cuff him and lead him away.
Barnett sighs as the crowd of reporters goes chasing after their new story. "Thanks for your help, Doctor," she says. "I knew something was off about him, but—"
"Yes, well, hopefully he'll face justice for what he's done," the Doctor says. "And the rest of you will be held accountable for how you treated those passengers to begin with."
Barnett opens her mouth as if to defend herself, but then her gaze moves to the survivors. She sighs. "Yes," she says. "We will. We're already setting up compensation for the victims."
"Good. Now see to it that these people are taken care off. And tell me where I can find Dr. Weston."
Half an hour later, the passengers have been taken to a medical facility and the Doctor, Yaz, and Dan watch as Dr. Weston gives instructions to a team on how to mass-produce the antidote.
"Most of the sick people should be fine," Dr. Weston says. "A few of then…well, they may be too far gone to save. But hopefully we can save most of them." She looks at Dan and Yaz. "How are you two feeling?"
"All good here," Yaz says.
Dan nods in agreement.
Dr. Weston heaves a sigh. "I should thank you lot," she says. "If you hadn't landed on our ship, we might never have discovered this."
"I've already had a talk with Barnett about addressing the subpar conditions," the Doctor says.
"Good."
"Well, then," the Doctor says. "We'll be off. Take care of yourself." She takes Yaz's hand as they leave the lab.
"Doctor!" Riley calls out.
She turns to see Riley jogging down the corridor. "Everything all right?"
"Yeah," Riley says. "Well, no, but…" They let out a low whine. "It's complicated."
Yaz steps forward. "Did anyone from your family survive?" she asks.
Riley sighs. "My brothers, for sure," they say. "Maybe my sister. Everyone else…" They shake their head.
"I'm sorry," Yaz says.
Riley shrugs. "It's the price we pay, right?" they say. "For being poor."
"No," Dan says. "Don't ever let them make you believe that."
The Doctor nods. "Dan's right," she says. "You didn't deserve any of this."
A long silence falls. "So what are you gonna do now?" Dan asks Riley.
Riley shrugs. "Right now, I just want to make sure my siblings are okay," they say. "They're all I have left now. After that…I suppose we'll find our way."
"Well, hopefully they'll do what they say they're going to do and compensate you for this nightmare," Yaz says. She offers her hand. "Goodbye, Riley."
Riley shakes her hand. "See ya, Yaz."
The Doctor waves as Riley heads back in the direction they came. "Shall we?"
Yaz and Dan both nod. Yaz gently wraps her arm around the Doctor's waist as they walk back to the TARDIS.
"Do you think anything will get better?" Dan asks.
The Doctor weighs her words carefully. "I hope so," she replies. Humans are creatures of habit, even bad habits, and changing those habits is a long, uphill battle.
Dan doesn't seem pleased by this answer. Maybe he picks up on her uncertainty. He's quiet all the way back to the ship, and disappears as soon as they get there.
The Doctor finishes up some work with the TARDIS. While looking after the passengers, she'd made a log of their various illnesses and injuries and she sends this log now to the newly-formed committee dedicated to forming some basic guidelines that all ships are to follow. She scoffs as she sends it off. The idea that there wasn't a basic set of guidelines in the first place—that people like Dutton were allowed to treat human beings like that without anyone to stop him—makes her see red.
She yawns then and rubs her eyes. She's getting used to this whole regular sleep schedule thing. "I think it's about time for bed, Yaz," she says through another yawn. She looks over to see her girlfriend sitting in the open doorway of the TARDIS, quite literally staring out into space. "Yaz?"
The Doctor frowns when Yaz doesn't respond. She walks over to join her, settling down on the floor and letting her legs dangle out. Even sitting with their thighs touching, Yaz doesn't look at her. She gently nudges her with her shoulder. "What's got you so lost in thought?" she asks.
Yaz finally looks at her. "Just worried," she says.
"About?"
"Riley. The people who were sick."
The Doctor smiles warmly at her. "You care so much for everyone, Yaz," she says. "I love that about you, y'know. It was one of the things that made me fall for you."
This brings tears to Yaz's eyes.
The Doctor scronches her nose. "Have I said something to upset you?"
Yaz shakes her head. "No. Happy tears, I promise." She leans in close and gently touches their lips together.
It's not long before the soft, chaste kiss turns into something far more heated, and even the Doctor is breathless when they pull apart. She opens her eyes to see Yaz gazing at her, a slight furrow to her brow. "What's that look for?" she asks.
Yaz opens and closes her mouth a few times. "I…I don't know," she says. She shakes her head slightly and gently touches her girlfriend's cheek. "C'mon. Let's go to bed. We've got a big day tomorrow."
The Doctor frowns. "We do?"
"Yeah. We promised we'd stop by for tea. So my mum and dad can do their best to scare you away and my sister can tease me about this some more."
The Doctor kisses her forehead. "You know me," she says. "Always up for tea at Yaz's."