"Oh, you are kidding me. You are so kidding me. Oh, my God! We did it." Martha said as we stepped out into what looked like Shakespearen England. "We travelled in time. Where are we? No, sorry. I gotta get used to this whole new language. When are we?"

"Mind the loo!" A man shouted from above before dropping toilet contents onto the floor.

"Somewhere before the invention of the toilet. Sorry about that."

"I've seen worse. I've worked the late night shift at A&E." She said as me and The Doctor started to walk away.

"But are we safe? I mean, can we move around and stuff?"

"Of course we can. Why do you ask?" The Doctor asked.

"It's like in the films. You step on a butterfly; you change the future of the human race."

"Well, tell you what then, don't step on any butterflies. What have butterflies ever done to you?" I sighed and grabbed Martha's hand friendily and started pulling her along.

"What if, I dunno, what if I kill my grandfather?"

"You planning to?"

"No."

"Well, then."

"This is London."

"I think so. Right about 1599."

"Oh, but hold on. Am I all right? I'm not gonna get carted off as a slave, am I?"

"Why would they do that?"

"Oh I dunno," I began sarcastically. "She's not exactly white, in case you haven't noticed." Martha laughed at me.

"I'm not even human. Just walk about like you own the place." The Doctor shrugged.

"Works for him." I muttered.

"Besides, you'd be surprised. Elizabethan England, not so different from your time. Look over there." He pointed at different points of the street. "They've got recycling. Water cooler moment." We walked past a man preaching about the end of the world.

"And the world will be consumed by flame!"

"Global warming." I commented.

"Oh, yes, and... entertainment! Popular entertainment for the masses. If I'm right, we're just down the river by Southwark right next to..." He pulled us round a corner. "Oh, yes, the Globe Theatre! Brand new. Just opened. Through, strictly speaking, it's not a globe; it's a tetradecagon — 14 sides — containing the man himself."

"Whoa, you don't mean... is Shakespeare in there?"

"Oh, yes." He held out his arms to us. "Miss Jones, Miss Smith, will you accompany me to the theatre?"

"Yes, Mr. Smith, I will." Martha said as we linked arms with him.

"When you get home, you can tell everyone you've seen Shakespeare." I chuckled.

"Then I could get sectioned!"

...

"I've never seen a death like it. His lungs are full of water — he drowned and then... I dunno, like a blow to the heart, an invisible blow." The Doctor stood and turned to Dolly. "Good mistress, this poor fellow has died from a sudden imbalance of the humours. A natural if unfortunate demise. Call a constable and have him taken away."

"Yes, sir." She said, scurrying off.

"And why are you telling them that?"

"This lot still have got one foot in the Dark Ages. If I tell them the truth, they'll panic and think it was witchcraft."

"Okay, what was it then?"

"Witchcraft."

...

"It's not exactly five-star, is it?" I muttered, looking round the room.

"Since when have you become so picky?" He frowned.

"I haven't!" I defended. "You know, after living back at home for 4 months then suddenly your here, gets some getting used to again that's all."

"How long?" He asked, his eyes growing wider.

"I haven't even got a toothbrush." Martha said, not hearing our conversation.

"Ooh." I said, reaching into The Doctor's pocket and taking out a toothbrush. "Contains Venusian spearmint."

"So, who's going where? I mean, there's only one bed."

"We'll manage." He said, flopping onto the bed next to Martha as I sat on the end.

"So, magic and stuff. That's a surprise. It's a little bit 'Harry Potter'."

"Wait till you read Book Seven. Oh, I cried."

"But is it real, though? I mean, witches, black magic and all that, it's real?"

"'Course it isn't!" I chuckled.

"Well, how am I supposed to know? I've only just started believing in time travel. Give me a break."

"Looks like witchcraft, but it isn't. Can't be. There's such a thing as psychic energy but a human couldn't channel it like that. Not without a generator the size of Taunton and I think we'd have spotted that." He sighed. "No. There's something I'm missing, Martha. Something really close, staring me right in the face and I can't see it. Rose would know. A friend of mine, Rose. Right now, she'd say exactly the right thing. Still, can't be helped. You're a novice, never mind. I'll take you back home tomorrow."

"You're a right bastard sometimes, you know that?" I asked, getting up and walking out onto the balcony and sat down as Martha blew out the light. "4 months." I sobbed as I heard The Doctor sit down next to me. "You were gone and me and Mum didn't know if you were coming back or not. You said you'd be back after new year. I thought you were dead!"

"I'm so sorry." He whispered. "I never want to make you cry or upset because I love you."

"Because I'm your bestfriend, I know."

"Who the hell is Nerys?"

"Your best friend."

"Got my best friend here thank you."

...

"Wha'? What was that?" Shakespeare asked as he sat up whilst Martha ran to the window.

"Her heart gave out. She died of fright."

"Doctor?"

"What did you see?" He asked as we walked over to the window.

"A witch."

...

"Oh, sweet Dolly Bailey. She sat out three bouts of the plague in this place. We all ran like rats. But what could have scared her so? She had such enormous spirit."

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light." The Doctor muttered.

"I might use that."

"You can't. It's someone else's." I said.

"But the thing is, Lynley drowned on dry land, Dolly died of fright and they were both connected to you." Martha said to Shakespeare.

"You're accusing me?"

"No, but I saw a witch, big as you like, flying, cackling away, and you've written about witches."

"I have? When was that?"

"Not, not quite yet." The Doctor muttered.

"Peter Streete spoke of witches."

"Who's Peter Streete?" Martha asked.

"Our builder. He sketched the plans to the Globe."

"The architect. Hold on. The architect! The architect!" The Doctor slammed his fist on the table. "The Globe! Come on!"

...

"The columns there, right? 14 sides. I've always wondered but I never asked... tell me, Will, why 14 sides?" The Doctor asked as he looked round the globe whilst me, Martha and Shakespeare stood on the stage.

"It was the shape Peter Streete thought best, that's all. Said it carried the sound well."

"Why does that ring a bell? 14…"

"There are 14 lines in a sonnet."

"So there is. Good point. Words and shapes following the same design." He stared to pace. "14 lines, 14 sides, 14 facets…Oh, my head. Tetradecagon... think, think, think! Words, letters, numbers, lines!"

"Intergalactic coordinates?" I asked.

"This is just a theatre." Shakespeare droqnws.

"Oh, but a theatre's magic, isn't it? You should know. Stand on this stage, say the right words with the right emphasis a the right time... Oh, you can make men weep, or cry with joy, change them. You can change people's minds just with words in this place. And if you exaggerate that..."

"It's like you're police box. Small wooden box with all that POWER inside."

"Oh. Oh, Martha Jones, I like you." The Doctor said as I grinned at her. "Tell you what, though. Peter Streete would know. Can I talk to him?"

"You won't get an answer. A month after finishing this place... lost his mind."

"Why? What happened?"

"Started raving about witches, hearing voices, babbling. His mind was addled."

"Where is he now?"

"Bedlam."

"Bedlam mad house?" I exclaimed as The Doctor frowned at me. "Me and Rory done a school project on it."

"We're gonna go there. Right now. Come on."

...

"So, tell me of Freedonia, where women can be doctors, writers, actors." Shakespeare said to me and Martha.

"This country's ruled by a woman." I muttered.

"Ah, she's royal. That's God's business. Though you are both a royal beauty."

"Whoa, Nelly!" Martha said, stopping in the middle of the street. "We both know for a fact you've got a wife in the country."

"But Martha, this is Town."

"Come on. We can all have a good flirt later." The Doctor said.

"Is that a promise, Doctor?"

"Oh, 57 academics just punched the air. Now move!"

...

"Too many words." I gasped as a witch appeared next to The Doctor and Peter Streete.

"What the hell?" Martha spluttered as she grabbed onto my heart.

"Just one touch of the heart." The witch said before she layed her hand on Peter's chest.

"Noooo!" Me and The Doctor shouted as Peter screamed out and died.

"Witch! I'm seeing a witch!"

"Who would be next, hmm? Just one touch. Oh, oh, I'll stop your frantic hearts. Poor, fragile mortals."

"Let us out! Let us out!" Martha shouted.

"Leave it Martha, the whole building's shouting that."

"Who will die first, hmm?"

"Well, if you're looking for volunteers." The Doctor shrugged. "Oh, but there's a power in words. If I can find the right one — if I can just know you..."

"None on Earth has knowledge of us."

"Then it's a good thing I'm here. Now think, think, think... Humanoid female, uses shapes and words to channel energy... ah, 14!"

"Intergalactic coordinates." I repeated myself.

"That's it!" He grinned at me and looked back at the witch. "14! The 14 stars of the Rexel planetary configuration! Creature, I name you Carrionite!" The witch wailed and dissapeared into a fuzz.

"What did you do?" Martha asked.

"I named her. The power of a name. That's old magic."

"But there's no such thing as magic."

"Well, it's just a different sort of science. You lot, you chose mathematics. Given the right string of numbers, the right equation, you can split the atom. Carrionites use words instead."

"Use them for what?" Shakespeare asked.

"The end of the world." I muttered.

...

"The Carrionites disappeared way back at the dawn of the universe. Nobody was sure if they were real or legend." I explained.

"How do you know this stuff?" The Doctor asked.

"I have a Xylock super computer and a eager brother." I shrugged.

"Well, I'm going for real." Shakespeare said.

"But what do they want?" Martha asked.

"A new empire on Earth." The Doctor said. "A world of bones and blood and witchcraft."

"But how?"

"I'm looking at the man with the words."

"Me? But I've done nothing." Shakespeare spluttered.

"Hold on, though. What were you doing last night, when that Carrionite was in the room?" I asked.

"Finishing the play."

"What happens on the last page?"

"The boys get the girls. They have a bit of a dance. It's all as funny and thought provoking as usual — except those last few lines. Funny thing is... I don't actually remember writing them."

"That's it. They used you. They gave you the final words. Like a spell, like a code. 'Love's Labours Won' — it's a weapon! The right combination of words, spoken at the right place with the shape of the Globe as an energy converter! The play's the thing! And yes, you can have that." The Doctor leaned over the map on the table and looked at it. "All Hallows Street. There it is. Martha, Flo, we'll track them down. Will, you get to the Globe. Whatever you do, stop that play!"

"I'll do it. All these years I've been the cleverest man around. Next to you, I know nothing."

...

"All Hallows Street, but which house?"

"The 14th?" I laughed.

"The thing is, though... am I missing something here? The world didn't end in 1599. It just didn't. Look at me — I'm living proof." Martha frowned.

"Oh, how to explain the mechanics of the infinite temporal flux?" The Doctor asked.

"I know! 'Back to the Future'! It's like 'Back to the Future'!" I told Martha.

"The film?"

"No, the novelisation." The Doctor said sarcastically.

"Yes, the film. Marty McFly goes back and changes history."

"And he starts fading away. Oh my God, am I gonna fade?"

"You and the entire future of the human race. It ends right now in 1599 if we don't stop it. But which house?"

"Ah, make that WITCH house." I said as I noticed one of the door's open by itself.

...

"I take it we're expected." I said to the witch.

"Oh, I think Death has been waiting for you a very long time."

"Right then, it's my turn." Martha said, stepping forward. "I know how to do this. I name thee, Carrionite!" The witch just stared back at her. "What did I do wrong? Was it the finger?" She asked me.

"The power of a name works only once. Observe." The witch pointed at Martha. "I gaze upon this bag of bones and now I name thee Martha Jones." Martha gasped and fell backwards. I caught her and layed her onto the ground.

"What have you done? " I spat at the witch.

"Only sleeping, alas. Curious, the name has less impact. She's somehow out of her time. And as for you, Sir Doctor!" The Doctor just frowned at her. "Fascinating. There is no name. Why would a man hide his title in such despair? Oh, but look. There's still one word with the power that aches."

"The naming won't work on me."

"But your heart grows cold. The north wind blows and carries down the distant... Rose."

"Oh, big mistake 'cos that name keeps me fighting!" He growled at them. "The Carrionites vanished! Where did you go?"

"The Eternals found the right word to banish us into deep darkness."

"And how did you escape?" I asked.

"New words. New and glittering from a mind like no other."

"Shakespeare." The Doctor realised.

"His son perished. The grief of a genius. Grief without measure. Madness enough to allow us entrance."

"How many of you?"

"Just the three. But the play tonight shall restore the rest. Then the human race will be purged as pestilence. And from this world we will lead the universe back to the old ways of blood and magic."

...

"Stop the play! I think that was it. Yeah, I said, "Stop the play"!" The Doctor said to Shakespeare as we ran backstage.

"I hit my head."

"Yeah, don't rub it, you'll go bald." Suddenly, screams filled the air. "I think that's my cue!" The Doctor said before we ran out onto the stage. Papers flew through the wind, people were screaming as the Carrionites stared up at the sky, holding a crystal ball.

"Come on, Will! History needs you!" The Doctor shouted as more Carrionites escaped from the crystal ball.

"But what can I do?"

"Reverse it!"

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"The shape of the Globe gives words power, but you're the wordsmith, the one true genius. The only man clever enough to do it!"

"But what words? I have none ready!"

"You're William Shakespeare!"

"But these Carrionite phrases, the need such precision!"

"Trust yourself. When you're locked away in your room, the words just come, don't they? Like magic. Words of the right sound, the right shape, the right rhythm — words that last forever! That's what you do, Will! You choose perfect words. Do it. Improvise!"

"Close up this den of hateful, dire decay! Decomposition of your witches' plot! You thieve my brains, consider me your toy. My doting Doctor tells me I am not! Foul Carrionite spectres, cease your show! Between the points..."

"7-6-1-3-9-0!"

"7-6-1-3-9-0! And banished like a tinker's cuss, I say to thee..." Shakespeare looked back at The Doctor. The Doctor looked back at me and Martha and we looked at each other.

"Expelliarmus!" We both said.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Expelliarmus!"

"Good old JK!" The carrionites started to scream and they were all absorbed back into the crystal ball.

...

"Good props store back there! I'm not sure about this though," The Doctor muttered, showing me the skull as we walked on stage. "Reminds me of a Sycorax."

"Sycorax. Nice word. I'll have that off you as well."

"I should be on 10%. How's your head?"

"Still aching."

"Here, I got you this." I said, throwing him his famous neck brace, although he hadn't worn it yet. "Neck brace. Wear that for a few days till it's better, although you might wanna keep it. It suits you."

"What about the play?" Martha asked.

"Gone. I looked all over — every single copy of 'Love's Labours' Won went up in the sky."

"My lost masterpiece."

"You could write it up again."

"Yeah, better not, Will. There's still power in those words. Maybe it should best stay forgotten."

"Oh, but I've got new ideas. Perhaps it's time I wrote about fathers and sons. In memory of my boy — my precious Hamnet."

"Hamnet?" Martha asked.

"That's him."

"Ham-NET?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Anyway, time we were off. I've got a nice attic in the TARDIS where this lot can scream for all eternity and I've gotta take Martha back to Freedonia."

"You mean travel on through time and space."

"You what?"

"You're from another world like the Carrionites and Martha and Flo are from the future. It's not hard to work out."

"That's... incredible. You are incredible." I laughed.

"We're alike in many ways, Doctor. Martha, let me say goodbye to you in a new verse. A sonnet for my Dark Lady. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate—-"

"Will! Will! You'll never believe it! She's here! She's turned up!" A man shouted as he and another man walked in.

"We're the talk of the town. She heard about last night! She wants us to perform it again." The other man said.

"Who?" Martha asked.

"Her Majesty! She's here!" There was a sudden fanfare and guards walked in with Elizabeth the first.

"Queen Elizabeth I!" He said excitedly.

"Doctor!"

"What?"

"My sworn enemy!"

"What?"

"Off with his head!"

"What?"

"Never mind "what", just run! See you, Will! And thanks!" Martha said, pulling us off.

...

"What have you done to upset her?" I asked as we ran towards The TARDIS.

"How should I know? Haven't even met her yet. That's time travel for you! Still, can't wait to find out. That's something to look forward to." He pushed me and Martha into The TARDIS.

...

"What are you going to say to Sarah Jane?" The Doctor asked as the three of us sat in the control room. "She doesn't know you're here."

"Who's Sarah Jane?" Martha asked.

"My Mum." I explained. "And, she's probably worked it out with the help of Mr Smith or something."

"Who's Mr Smith, your dad?"

"Don't be ridiculous Martha." I laughed. "He's our alien super computer." She shook her head at me as I turned serious. "No, seriously, he is." I looked at The Doctor. "Doctor, what we were talking about earlier..."

"Oh yes." He smiled at turned to Martha. "We were talking and, well..."

"You're brilliant." I laughed.

"So, we were wondering if you'd like to come along with us."

"What, another trip?" She asked.

"No, properly, not just a passenger."

"Really?" She grinned before jumping up and hugging me.

A/n - So Martha's a proper companion now! Woo! Also, next chapter there will be more discussion on kissing and The Doctor being so long.

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