I wan't sure if i wanted to do this, but i decided i would go ahead and do this one. I wil post much more often for this one. Hope you all enjoy it, thanks for coming back for seconds.

Nothing had changes. If she was upset by this, she did not let it show openly on her pretty face. Aside from the car seat on the jump seat.

At least it was no longer duct taped.

He stood by the console, preening as if he expected her to say it was bigger on the inside. They had gone through that routine before, this was a new chapter, a new page in their existence together. In the end, she moved to the chair and set Adric in it.

"So," she sighed as she sat into the empty side of the seat.

The Doctor, having exhausted any hope for any sort of reaction set about sending his ship into the vortex. "So..." he offered over his shoulder. The awkward was a nearly palpable thing between them. Like two ex lovers forced to share a cross country road trip in a car with no radio. "He sleeping?"

She nodded, allowing the silence to envelop the console room again. "Where are we off to, then?"

The Doctor swung around, relieved to have something to talk about between the two of them. "I thought we would go somewhere quiet. Somewhere we could get to know each other a bit...better?" he allowed the last part to rest as a question.

"That sounds vaguely smarmy." Martha offered in return and smiled at his discomfort.

He shrugged. "It wasn't how I meant it. In fact, I thought we could go somewhere resort...ish."

"We're traveling with an infant, Doctor. I don;t know how much resort...ish you are going to get. And, if I recall, the last time you went to a resort it wasn't exactly the best time. In fact, Donna told me how bad it really was." she said. "Where is Donna, anyway?"

"Ah, there you see." he smiled and shot into a manic display of piloting. "That is how I can shoot two birds with one high powered ray." he grinned back over at her, but turned back quickly into his ministrations. "We are going to go visit Donna. Well, Donna and Lee, well. Donna, Lee and the 50th century." He cast a timid smile in the direction of the diminutive woman across the room. Anyone would wonder at the aspect fear just hiding behind his brown eyes.

"Donna?" Martha foisted forward a bit, resting her hands on her knees.. "That sounds fantastic."

The Doctor smiled fully then, no fear or trepidation. "Great, fantastic. Molto bene!" he shouted and threw the handbrake. The infant beside Martha let out a sudden surprised wail in answer. "Oh, sorry, forgot. He hates that." he smiled shyly again.

As Martha reached over to take him out of his seat, The Doctor bounded across the room and stopped her. "Here, let me. " he offered, gently lifting the baby. "It's my fault he is up,"

"Can I get that in writing?" she asked, arms folded. "I fear this is going to be a reoccurring theme this year."

The Doctor ignored her, he shifted the baby to one arm and held out his hand for her. Martha shook her head, refused his hand and stood. The Doctor sighed softly but his countenance remained as light as it had been. "I figured you needed to get some of your thigns..." he said as they walked toward the doors of the TARDIS.

"Brought me home again, then?" she said, with enough of a lilt to convey to the man next to her that she had not forgotten, nor had all been quite forgiven.

He nodded. "No place like it." The two stepped into her apartment, the Doctor seated himself on the bed as Martha moved around her room. She brought down two large suitcases and begin to fill them. "After a year, you bring me back to today, right?"

"Tentatively," he smiled back, jiggling the baby on his knee. "But, that is a long time from now, isn't it?" he spoke to the baby instead.

"We'll see," she shrugged. By the time everything was ready, Martha was tired. She'd called jack and her mother and left messages for any possible issues. But, she cautioned them not to call and mess up her time lines. Jack's phone went to voice mail, but her mother picked up, and, for the first time since Andric's birth, Francine seemed pleased with her daughter.

"Everything allright?" the Doctor asked from the door of the TARDIS. He'd placed the now sleeping Adric in his room. The Doctor now eyed Martha's bags with a mixture of fear and hope.

Martha nodded, "Everything good." she placed her iphone in his hand and he mindlessly waved it with his sonic. "Universal coverage." he smiled. "Though, this iPhone, you really should get the iPhone 12. So cool."

She replied with a look of stern disbelief, to which he shrugged and grabbed for her bags. "Well, we should go." he offered.

Martha nodded and followed him to her room. He stopped in front of her door. "It's next to Adric's." he said, pointing to the door next to hers. "And, mine is there." He pointed to a door further down the hall,

"Cozy." Martha said, moving toward Adric's room The door opened into a room filled with all of the mystery of the universe. The ceiling held bright stars that danced and moved overhead The floor was soft, almost mailable under her feet. Martha moved around touching things, inspecting. "You did all of this?" she asked pointing at the walls. They were covered in various circular shapes in varying sizes and colors. They circles seemed to move on their own, but on closer inspection, Martha could see it was only her perception of them.

"I had help." he nodded.

"What are these, these circles. I have seen them before."

"It's Gallifreyian." he said. "You have probably seen it on the systems in the TARDS."

"Is that your language? I mean your home language?" She said, tracing her hand over the intricate lettering.

"Yes, well. Actually High Gallifreyian is the 'official' language. "He added, even using the quirky quotation finger wave. "But, this is the one we all used."

"It's beautiful.' she breathed before she even realized.

"Oh yes, it is based on geometry. Not the one you know, mind. Its complex and fragile and beautiful. I am hoping that Adric will learn it as he grows." he stopped, watching her reverie. "You could learn it too. I mean, I could teach it to you, if you like. It would be a good idea."

Martha shook her head. "It looks like it would take a lifetime to learn."

"All languages take a lifetime to learn, Martha. Language is a breathing living, evolving thing. Well, active languages are anyone. This one, is as dead as a Pryllarian Root Mouse." he came to stand beside her and ran his hands along the wall.

Martha noted his sad affectation before he wiped it away. "It's not dead, you still speak it." she offered.

The Doctor shook his head. "No, no it's not the same." The Doctor gave ann uncharacteristically nostalgic glance at Martha before speaking again. "But, maybe, if I speak it...and Adric learns it...and you..."

"All right, I'm game." she smiled. She brought her hand to his lips before he shouted one of his loud catchphrases. "As long as you stop doing that when Adric is sleeping."

"More conditions, Dr. Jones?" he mock whispered.

"I just would like to take a nap before he wakes up again."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

She found him under the grating. His legs stuck out at seemingly impossible angles as he alternately whistled a near familiar tune and cursed. "Doctor?" she asked, Adric held on her hip.

"Oh, Martha!" a loud clang followed his exclamation, punctuated by a stream of obscenities.

"Language!" she admonished, holding her hand to the baby's ear.

"Oi!" The Doctor rose from his position, rubbing a spreading red mark on his forehead. "h, that hurt, how was you nap? Did he wake you? I would have thought he would have slept longer with all the excitement. Ready to go to Lagos?"

"Is that where Donna is?"

The Doctor nodded as he pirouetted around the console. "Yup."

The ship landed with a gentle thump," Bags?" the Doctor asked.

"How long are we staying?"

"Oh, you know." he waved. "As long as is needed. You know, there are pink pools here. You could swim in pink water that leaves your skin feeling like a baby's cheek."

They stepped out of the doors, the view that greeted Martha made her gasp. "I've never seen anything like this. " The world was a cascade of colors; lush and vibrant. Trees in technicolor, grass the shade of burnished topaz. The sky was blue and held three suns, all dazzlingly bright. They had landed on what looked like a cliff, the mountains and fields off in the distance reminded her of something out of a animated palette, only more subtle and richer in texture. There was nothing cartoonish about the view. Felt as if she had stepped into a renaissance painting, rather than a Disney film. The Doctor smiled at her before walking off the cliff.

"Doctor!" she shouted, reaching her free hand out to try to stop him. But, the Doctor only smiled and seemed to float in mid air. "Invisible topography, Martha. Isn't it amazing."

"It's frightening, Doctor. You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She shouted at him, refusing to go any closer, Martha clutched the now fretting baby closer to herself.

"Oh, come on! Its not that bad." he did few jumps to prove it was safe. "See, completely safe."

Martha shook her head and backed up against the TARDIS. "This is what I mean, Doctor. This si what you don;t understand."

He offered her a funny look from his perch, still standing seemingly in mid air. "I don't see, Martha. I don;t get why this upsets you. You have seen marvelous things before, this is just one of them."

"But you didn't tell me? What if you were holding Adric, and I stood here watching you take that first step? Its not fun to scare people, it really isn't. You have to tell me things, you should have said something."

The Doctor nodded, he came to stand beside her again. "I just wanted to show you something, interesting..."

"Oh, you did, but I still would have found it interesting had you told me what it was!" she nearly whispered. It was te shock, the something so different than what she could comprehend. "I thought you didn;t see the cliff, or something."

He didin;t laugh, and for that, Martha was truly grateful. He reached his hand to her cheek and fixed his eyes on her. "I am sorry, Martha. I truly did not think it would cause you to react this way."

She allowed him to touch her, mostly to affirm the idea that he was there, still alive. "It's a bit of a shock, Doctor." she said.

He nodded slowly. "Of course." He took her hand in his and led her to the precipice. "See, Lagos is using a technology that allows them to make some of their topography invisible. Basic cloaking science, really. Cheap parlor trick, really. The reason? The resort we are going to," the Doctor pointed out a building that looked more like an ancient Scottish castle. It seemed out of place and somehow wrong in the technicolor setting. "advertises that getting here is a walk in the clouds." He took her hand and helped her make the leap of faith onto the unseen path.

Martha took tentative step after tentative step, never looking down. She held onto Adric as if the gentle breeze wafting would blow him away at any time. Her face was a mask of concentration and absolute focus. "I used to be afraid of heights." she finally admitted.

"Used to be?" he smirked gently.

"Mt. Fiji." she answered. The Doctor said nothing, he knew what it was, knew it had something to do with The Year. "I hung off the side of a peak for two days, the roads were blocked, and at that height, there was no other way down than the main road."

He nodded, keeping her talking as they continued to walk, noticing her steps became more determined as she spoke. "I was in a harness, I had been climbing down, trying to get around taking the road. I got stuck. Nothing to look at but the view. Mostly cured me. Mostly."

The Doctor squeezed the hand Martha did not realize he had been holding. "I am sorry for the gaffe. From here on out, full disclosure."

She shook her head. "I over reacted.'

"No, you said, for this year, to speak plainly. I can do tht, Martha. You ask me anything I can give you an answer. I was only trying to dazzle you. I didn't know about your fear-"

"Old fear.' she corrected with her head held high.

"Old fear. Sorry." he grinned at her then as they reached the front entrance of the castle. "here we are, then.' he smiled.

"I thought we were going to meet Donna here?" Martha asked, surprised at her own voice.

The Doctor smiled. "Oh, didn't I tell you?" he grinned and pointed to the front of the hotel. A portrait of Donna and Lee greeted visitors.

"She owns it?" Martha asked as she looked at the painting.

"Well, she and Lee own it. That was part of the reason she left. She wanted to be here to help run the place. Apparently, Lee is from a wealthy family."

"That's Donna." Martha smiled, the redheaded woman came tearing through the large entrance hall as if Satan himself was at her heels.

"Give 'em here!" she shouted, arms stretched in front of her. Martha was not sure if she should hand over the baby, or run.

Donna took Adric in her arms, "Oh look at you! You are bigger since I saw you, " she gushed.

"Oh, it hasn't been that long." the Doctor insisted as Lee came to stand beside Donna.

"Oh, really?" Donna turned to Martha. "When is he going to learn to fly that thing right?"

"Probably never," Martha shrugged. "how long has it been for you, Donna?" she asked.

"10 months." Donna nodded, "10 months ago, he said he was gonna go and try it on his own for a while." She looked at the Doctor and shook her head. "I see how that turned out."

The small group made their way into a large parlor. The ceilings were high with windows that streched the length of the walls. Here was a spectacular view of the mountains. "He do that thing to you?" Donna asked when she caught Martha looking at the invisible topography.

"It wasn't funny." Martha insisted.

"No, it wasn't when he did it to me, either." Donna threw a knowing glance to her best friend. "Some people think they are funny though."

"Quite right." Martha nodded. "This place is fabulous, Donna." she smiled.

"Oh, yeah, its like I hit the National Lottery, innit?" she smiled and cuffed Lee on the shoulder. "I am glad I found him tho. We got married here on Lagos about 9 months ago." Donna turned another deadly glare to the Doctor. "I was supposed to get married at home. With my family nearby."

The Doctor shrugged and wisely kept quiet.

"Oi where are my manners? Its like I was raised in a barn!" she turned to her husband. "Lee, take the Doctor up to their suite. There's a good boy!" she offered Donna a knowing grin. "We have plenty of people to do it, but its the best suite in the place. Can;t have my best mates, and my god son here, staying in less."

Martha noted how quiet Lee was, he had a stammer that made conversation often tedious. He was absolutely perfect for Donna, and she could see that he adored her. The Doctor slapped Lee on the back and the two grabbed the suitcases and made their way to the lift.

Adric was visibly relaxed n Donna's arms. "he likes you." Martha noted.

"He should, I took care of him that first week. That only week."

"I know why you left." Martha blurted suddenly. "I understand why you did it. I am sorry I put you in that position.:"

But, Donna shook her head. "it's not as if you were in your right mind. My mate Katie had post partum pretty awful. She called me up one night to come out, said she was this close to drowning her two week old daughter. She begged me to come over and watch her."

"The baby?" Martha asked.

"No, Katie. She did not trust herself with her. I stayed at her house for about a month. Its a good thing I was between jobs, then. Katie just need that confidence. I left in the middle of the night so she couldn;t talk me out of it. I knew it was time, the worst part had passed." Donna looked at Martha. "Has the worst part passed?"

Martha nodded and accepted Adric into her arms for a feed. "it was...difficult."

"I see you two are together then."

"Not like that Donna." Martha insisted.

"I know not like that. I ain't blind." Donna said. "But, at least you are trying."

"I felt duped." Martha admitted.

"You should, you were. It happened. Was it for the best?" Donna shrugged. "Who knows, only time can tell if it was."

Martha looked down at the baby in her arms. Was it worth it? She wondered mentally. Adric wasn't what she had expected. "he is everything to me." she whispered.

Donna nodded. "Then give it a try, yeah?"

"One year." Martha spoke again. "One year we are going to travel together."

"That is the silliest thing I ever heard." Donna blew. "And, what do you do after that year, if you don;t want to stay on the TARDIS? Are you going to cut him in half? Over my dead body you are."

Martha smiled, perhaps Donna did deserve the moniker of god parent. She certainly was ready to kill for Adric; always a good sign in choosing someone to help keep your son safe. "So," Martha steadied, "Tell me about your wedding, was in fabulous?"

"Oh, I got pictures!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Doctor and Lee came back from the lift just as Adric had finished his feeding. Donna promptly took him into her arms and snuggled into Lee's side. Together, the newlyweds shared the hologram of their wedding, there was everything in the images except being able to taste the Walleyed shaped cake. The longe had begun to fill with guests returning from their afternoon activities, and Donna suggested a shower before dinner.

"Its a lot to take in," Donna told Martha as they walked out of the lift. "But the room s are fantastic."

It was, even the crib was beautiful There was so much to describe, that Martha found her mouth for want of words. She stood turning in circles. It was much like a castle, large foru poster bed, deep rich jewel toned bedding made of velour's. "Its like a fairy tale royal bedroom."

"It used to be, til his queen had him beheaded."

"Whoa, really?" Martha placed the baby into the opulent crib.

"Men really ought to take more care with where they put things, know what I mean?"

"Let that be a lesson." Martha grinned.

"All right then, shower, dinner in two hours." Donna reminded her from the door frame.

"Right, two hours," Martha agreed. After the door shut, Martha laid back onto the bed and wondered if this was the bed the dead royal had slept in. How fragile love was. Had they started their marriage in love or was it arranged?

Arranged, she could understand. She had recently felt like an Indian bride herself. But, what of the arrangement? What happened after a year? Was she brave enough to walk away if she was unhappy?

Martha slept laid across the bed with her shoes dangling off the end of her feet.