One day, the Doctor came out of the TARDIS library after a day of reading and went to the controls of his beloved ship. He started dialing the coordinates, but then a shiver ran down his spine and he looked up.
Something wasn't right.
He realised right off the bat that Martha was nowhere to be seen. The thing about Martha was that one usually knew where she was, especially if she discreetly followed you around everywhere and tried to make you not notice. Her absence struck the Doctor as very odd. What was she up to?
Nah, he thought. Martha might be a bit too human at times, but she wasn't destructive, or sneaky on purpose. She'd never try to slip something under his nose…would she?
No, the Doctor chided himself. There was a reason he'd picked Martha to come with him, and it definitely wasn't because she was a sneak.
A horrible thought occurred to him. What if something had happened to her? She could have tripped and knocked herself unconscious, or she'd locked herself in the wardrobe by accident…not that she'd particularly mind, it was basically a huge clothes store in there…how long had she been missing? The Doctor had only just noticed, but she could have been gone for quite a while…when had he seen her last? It had been back on the last planet they'd visited, hadn't it? They'd had to flee because an army of evil robots had taken over the globe…had she come into the TARDIS with him?
What if he'd left her on the last planet?
The Doctor whirled around from the controls, finally calling, "Martha!" He leapt over the railing, glancing back and forth as he went deeper into the TARDIS. "Martha!" he repeated. "Where are you?"
He started peeking into various rooms, calling as he opened the door. With room he checked, he became more and more jittery. His companion was nowhere to be seen.
Finally, he gave up the search and ran his fingers through his hair in a typical gesture of stress, not really caring that it probably made it stick up all oddly.
"I did," He breathed, feeling his hearts beat faster. "I left her on the last planet."
He sprinted back to the control room, vaulting over the railing like it was two inches high. He reset the coordinates for the last planet they'd visited, then went about activating various other gadgets required for space flight as fast as he could. Finally, he released the clutch and his ship took off, back towards the globe infested with evil robots. He hoped he wasn't too late…he could already see the look on Martha's mum's face when he showed up at her door with the news. He had to go back, he couldn't just leave her family without any word from her ever again…but they would definitely not be happy.
The TARDIS landed and the Doctor spun towards the door, grabbed his coat, and stepped out, only to be immediately attacked by seven cannibalistic robots. He dove back inside the ship and leaned against the door, eyes closed.
"I'm sorry," He muttered, shaking a bit. "I'm so sorry, Martha."
He glumly opened his eyes and flew the TARDIS off the cannibalistic robot planet to a place slightly more safe. Unhappily, he headed for the interior door and went for the next door on his right, which was usually the library, but with the TARDIS constantly rearranging rooms, he never knew.
As he opened the door, the first thing he registered was that it was dark. He never had to turn on light switches when he came into rooms and such, the ship lighted them for him. So, it being dark simply didn't make sense.
The lights flashed on and there was a burst of sound. It wasn't the library, it was the den, and Martha had popped up behind the couch with a loud cry of "Surprise!"
The Doctor was too relieved to see his companion to even comment on the confetti raining down on him, and he shouted, "Martha! You're alive!"
His friend gave him a bemused smiled. "Course I'm alive. What'd you think?"
The Doctor smiled sheepishly. "That I'd left you on the cannibalistic robot planet." He glanced around and grinned. "What's all this about?"
"Don't tell me you forgot," Martha said, then when the Time Lord showed no sign of recognition whatsoever, she sighed, "You forgot."
"What am I supposed to be remembering?" The Doctor asked.
Martha leapt over the sofa, walked up to him, and poked him in the chest. "It's your birthday, mister." She reminded him with a small laugh.
"Really?" the Doctor grinned, looking around at the complicated decorations. Then, he realised where Martha must have been all day. He made a mental note to make sure his companions were following him from then on out, so something like this didn't happen again. Or, it probably would, given the fact he had the attention span of a small rodent sometimes. "Got any nibbles?"