The Doctor darted around the console of the TARDIS, blubbering in a rant spoken so quickly even Martha Jones could not understand his words. Martha chuckled to herself. She remembered the first time she ever met the Doctor. "You're completely mad," she had stated. And yet, he could still live up to those words.
Martha skipped over to the captain's chair, clutching it for dear life as the TARDIS quivered. She straightened her jacket, a cheap leather coat she had just purchased while she was trapped in the 1960s. At least her job in the shop had paid well enough for her and the Doctor to manage until their TARDIS was returned.
"...I never liked that film, Star Wars. The universe is nothing like it whatsoever. I mean, 'use the Force'? You would think that by 1977 George Lucas would have finished his hippie stage! Did you know, though, it was ACTUALLY based on a Japanese folk tale? Star Wars? Isn't that mad?"
He rambled on and on, to the point that Martha rolled her eyes and decided to interrupt before he lost himself in the chaotic thought. "Doctor! Where are we going to go now, huh?" she questioned, peering up at him. A few moments passed as his mind adjusted to the abrupt change in topic, before he gave an answer. "Oh, well, I thought we'd have a surprise," he grinned, flipping a few more switches in front of himself.
The TARDIS' moaning halted, and Martha raised an eyebrow at the Doctor. He bounded over to the door, throwing his brown coat over his rumpled brown suit. He glanced back over at his uneasy companion. "Come on, then," he said, opening the door and gesturing her out. She smiled, and hesitantly exited the spacecraft.
"Oi, watch it!" A man hollered as Martha slammed into him. "Sorry, mate!" Martha proclaimed. The man glared at her, but turned back to his tentacled partner as they bustled away. The Doctor merely chuckled, emerging from the blue wooden doors after the man was out of sight. Martha pretended to scowl at him, but even she couldn't help but smile.
"What is this place?" She wondered aloud, as they left the narrow alley and emerged onto a wide boulevard. A variety of other life forms bustled and hurried about, while merchants guarding their teetering carts howled their latest products to pedestrians. Thick stone walls the color of gold barricaded both sides, and shared their dazzling shade with the exotic sky.
"It's a rest stop. For the universe, that is. All sorts of travelers come for some food, to buy new things, all that lot. I like 'em. Think they're neat," he stated with a grin, stepping into the chaos of the street.
Martha hurried after and gaped at the spectacle to be seen in the location. She soon lost the thin man, submerged by the massive population of creatures. "Excuse me," she called, trying to catch up. As a part in the crowd emerged, she dashed towards the Doctor—
Her head vibrated as it smashed into the woman's chin. "Sorry!" they explained, rubbing where they had been injured. When Martha was able to peel her eyes open, a wave of nausea greeting her, she stared straight into the warm almond eyes meeting hers. Dark waves cascaded down her crown to her hips. She straightened her striped tan vest that matched her dress pants.
"Martha Jones! What a delight to see you here! You alright?" the woman said, smiling tentatively. Martha backed away from the woman's outreached hand. "How-how do you know who I am?" she questioned slowly, her voice trembling. The woman looked back at her, eyebrows furrowing with confusion. "We've met, don't you…" the woman started, glancing over her shoulder towards the brick wall. She broke into a mad dash, abandoning Martha in the center of the street.
Martha stood and made her way in the opposite direction. Weaving through the creatures separating her and the Doctor, she eventually spotted him propped against the wall of a pub, his arms crossed as he stared toward the opposite direction.
She stumbled, and tackled him by accident. After regaining his balance, he glared at Martha.
"Blimey! What've I done to you?" He inquired, brushing off his suit. Martha mumbled an apology and turned away from him, searching the crowd for the woman she had encountered. The Doctor could sense something was wrong. "You okay?" he asked, leaning towards her.
She remained fixated on the crowd. "This woman. She told me my name. I've never seen her in my entire life."
The Doctor stood still for a moment, pondering her thought. His head tilted slightly, and he turned toward the wall. He yanked out his sonic screwdriver, surveying the wall in sweeping motions until he examined his results on the little device. He backed away slowly as his eyes began to fill with fear. "Martha," he muttered, "Come with me, please."
When she did not obey immediately, he grabbed her wrist as they shuffled through the swarms of aliens. They ducked into an alleyway, the Doctor's high tops splashing in mud and muck. As the TARDIS loomed into view, the Doctor yanked his key from his pocket and jammed it into the keyhole.
"What's going on?" Martha asked with a concerned voice, looking around at the alley they had entered.
He whirled towards her, uneasiness rising in his voice. "This isn't right. This place, there's something going on here that we simply cannot investigate. You know the last time I've seen something like this?" he asked, jiggling his key in the door. It wouldn't budge.
"When?" Martha demanded.
"2006, Torchwood Tower. We need answers," he stated, prying his key into the keyhole again.
"Doctor...we didn't park here." Martha murmured, barely audible even to herself. She slowly turned as she surveyed her surroundings. "It wasn't here. We came out near that weird fruit cart, not a robotics shop."
The Doctor pulled out his key, whirling around to stare at the giddy merchant selling a robotic arm to a child. His expression darkened and sent chills up Martha's spine.
"D-did it m-move?" She stuttered, noticing the agony growing behind the Doctor's eyes as he turned back to the TARDIS, scrutinizing every minor detail and scanning it with his sonic screwdriver. He slowly circled the machine, his breath shortening as he witnessed the TARDIS' appearance.
"Doctor, did it move somehow?" Martha exclaimed.
"Worse," he started, stroking the TARDIS with the palm of his hand.
"What d'ya mean, worse? What the hell could be 'worse'?" She asked.
"Martha," he said, peeling his eyes away from the blue box to look straight at her, "this is not my TARDIS."
The Doctor sprinted around the console, her blonde waves bouncing on her shoulders. Martha just watched as the woman, deep in concentration, tinkered with the machinery. Martha's Doctor had wandered off to his own TARDIS, purposefully leaving her behind. "Make sure she doesn't disappear," he had warned.
Martha leaned onto the control panel, allowing her arms to support her weight. "So…" she began, drawing the Doctor out of her thoughts, "if you're the Doctor, in a parallel universe, shouldn't you two be exactly alike? I mean, I get that you aren't exactly him, but in order to save the universe or whatever like he does, don't you have to be like him?"
The Doctor looked up from her computer monitor, "Oi! Maybe he should be the one more like me!" she stated, fiddling with a few wires along the console.
"You get what I mean though," Martha responded.
"Yeah, 'course I do. Besides the fact that we're two different people, we're still very similar. Nearly the same personalities, besides being different genders and all that. That way, we solve problems the same way. Well, almost the same way," she explained, pulling out a phone from her pocket.
Martha shrugged, accepting the explanation she was given. The Doctor flipped open her phone, selecting the first number under her speed dial. She grinned as a familiar voice picked up.
Across the universe and further, a woman was walking through a bustling downtown London to Canary Wharf. As she tightened her scarf around her neck, her mobile rang.
"The Doctor" flashed across the screen. It still felt strange, having a close friend so similar to the man she lost a universe away. "This is Rose Tyler," she answered.
"Rose! Thank god your mother didn't pick up again," the Doctor stated, typing on her monitor in the TARDIS. "I need a favor. Can you look up the Bad Wolf crack in the Torchwood files for me?"
Rose sighed and whispered, "That's a confidential case. No one should know about it."
"Well, in case you haven't noticed, I'm not your average person. Now get on that, it's really important." The line clicked dead.
The Doctor hummed as she continued messing with the Gallifreyan letters in her monitor. The Doctor strode in, handing Martha an apple as he took a bite out of his.
"That reminds me. You need a new name," Martha stated simply.
The Doctor whirled away from her monitor. "A new name?"
"Yes. He's the Doctor, and first come first serve."
Martha hesitated, pondering a new name. "How about the mistress?"
"Oh, that's...awful."
"What d'ya mean 'awful'?"
"I'm not married, thank you. Plus it's...wrong." She made a disgusted face.
"Well then, what about the Maiden?"
"Tolerable at least. Plus it says I'm young." She wiggled her eyebrows.
The phone suddenly rang again, the Maiden snatching it up and flipping it open. She glanced at the Doctor. "I...better take this outside."
"Alright, so here's what we have on file at the moment. Apparently the Bad Wolf crack is a hole in the...well, universe. It's not safe, we've never explored it. It's large enough for small vehicles to pass through."
"Yep, that sounds about right." The Mistress slammed her head against the TARDIS door again.
"Bad Wolf. The words scattered throughout space and time to lead you to the Doctor. Even hacked computer systems. In fact, you even hacked the void. It's a tiny bridge between parallel universes."
The other end was silent for a moment. "So it leads to his universe."
The Maiden snapped back to attention, forgetting she had been thinking out loud. "Well...I didn't say that."
"Where are you?"
"In the TARDIS."
"How do you know it's the right universe? There's millions of similar ones."
"Yes, but yours and his are least separated. It was weakened at Canary Wharf, and he sent a message through to say goodbye. It's my assumption, and you know how accurate those are, that this is the right universe."
"You know her?" the Doctor inquired, as the Maiden walked back in. She ignored him, but he grabbed her shoulder, yanking her back and forcing her to look straight at him.
"...Maybe" she muttered, glaring at Martha. The two had obviously been talking while she was gone.
She typed the information into the TARDIS regarding the Bad Wolf crack. The Doctor's eyes grew wide as he read what was typed. "A crack in the universe?"
"Yep."
"But that's…"
"Impossible."
"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Martha demanded. The Doctor whirled around.
"Parallel worlds are sealed off. However, there's a crack between our universe and another's. Rose put it there." Martha flinched at the mention of her name.
"Actually, it's a bit worse than that," the Maiden muttered, interpreting the incoming information on the monitor.
"The crack isn't always there, as confusing as that may be. It seals itself and reopens. That's a bit less unnerving, I suppose. At least there isn't a crack in the universe all the time."
"When does it open?" the Doctor inquired.
"When it needs to. Basically, whenever this universe is in danger. Or if hers is. That's how you reached that universe the first time. Only, Torchwood found it and started playing. That's when it became dangerous."
"Hold on, when this universe is in danger?" Martha's eyes grew wide.
"Or theirs. But, by the looks of it, I'm assuming we're in trouble."
The Maiden and the Doctor glared at the images on the monitor solemnly.