Chapter Text
The Doctor had gone to New York City to try to correct the time distortions. Not that he could save the Pond-Williams. By this point in time, they would have been long buried. But there were still severe problems and he had been the cause. He only wanted to fix it. Instead, he had encountered Grant and couldn’t leave until he was sure that Grant understood the power of the Gem Stone and the responsibilities that went with it. With Lucy and Jennifer to help him, the Doctor felt confident that he could leave them.
He would have to come up with a different plan to correct the problems surrounding New York. Maybe he should take this as a hint to just leave things alone. Mr Huffle stared at him from the perch on the console. The Doctor glared back. “Shut up!”
“There you are, Sir.”
The Doctor sighed heavily. Just when he thought things couldn’t get worse. “Nardole.”
His tone had a bit of an edge to it. He just wanted to be left alone. He didn’t care what others thought. After all, as long as he was with the TARDIS, he was never really alone. Now, not only did he have Nardole, which was bad enough, but he had Mr Huffle.
Nardole tried to gauge the Doctor’s mood. But he didn’t have to, because for once the Doctor spoke. “How much did you tell them?”
“Not as much as you probably think.”
“But more than I’d like.”
“That’s not difficult since you don’t want me to tell anyone anything.”
The Doctor shrugged. Nardole was right about that. He wasn’t ready to talk about any of this yet. Besides, it’s not like he did emotions. Even if he was feeling a hole in his hearts he hadn’t felt since he had left Susan behind on Earth. The conversation would happen eventually, so may as well get it over with. “I cut you out of Hydroflax or you would’ve died.”
“You didn’t save Ramone.”
“He was an idiot.”
“Doesn’t stop you from saving other humans.”
“She asked me to save you. Happy?”
“You’ve told her ‘no’ plenty of times.”
“What do you want from me, Nardole?”
“A serious conversation.”
“I had 24 years of that. I’m maxed out.”
Nardole gave him a look. The Doctor pulled a hand down his face, then sat on one of the chairs, and gestured that Nardole should continue. Nardole walked over to Mr Huffle and picked him up. It was more to give his hands something to play with than to use as an interrogation method. “You’re going to be sad for a long time. And I know this is how you’re choosing to deal with it. So, against everything she ever told me, I think you need some time alone.”
The Doctor looked up at that and met Nardole’s eyes. Surprise was etched all over his usually sharp features. He couldn’t believe Nardole had just said that. He nodded. “I’m listening.”
“I’ll let the TARDIS choose a location, I’ll stay here to watch the Vault, and you go off and get it out of your system.”
“But…?”
“I choose where we stay to watch over the Vault.”
The Doctor frowned. That would be giving a lot more power to Nardole than he was comfortable with. There was a soft hum from the TARDIS. He narrowed his eyes. “So, you stay here and do the research about wherever we stay and I get to go off on my own the way I used to travel by myself and I can pretty much pretend you don’t exist?”
Nardole nodded once. It was a tempting trade. The Doctor knew the TARDIS would decide the ultimate location for where they would plant themselves. But he frowned for a moment. “Why? Why would you do that?”
“Before we settle anywhere for a thousand years, you need to get this out of your system or we all might end up killing each other.”
The Doctor pursed his lips, but nodded in agreement. Even if a thousand years seemed rather short compared to four-and-a-half billion, between Nardole, the TARDIS, and Missy, he could find himself becoming rather miserable. He thought long and hard about it. “Okay, I think I can agree to that.”
Nardole smiled. “Good. One more thing.”
The Doctor groaned. “I knew it!”
“The TARDIS chooses the location you go.”
Now a faint smile appeared. “And that’s it? No more ‘one more things’?”
Nardole shook his head. The Doctor stood and held out his hand. “Then I agree.”
They shook on it. Then Nardole took Mr Huffle and disappeared out of the console room. The Doctor just watched him leave, a bit slack jawed. He hadn’t expected it to be quite that easy. Still, it was good. He could work with this.
He approached the console. He only pressed one button and looked up at the Time Rotor. “Okay, you did right by taking me to Mendorax Dellora. You know what I need right now. Take me there.”
With that, he engaged the lever and sent the ship on her way.