This is a short chapter, and it's not the most exciting thing I've ever written, but it does have one important development... and/or one important magical science-fictiony, time-saving device, how ever you choose to see it. :-) No hints at smut yet, but I promise, it's on its way.

II

"Excuse me? Did you just say that Martha is using my energy for something?"

"I did."

"So, our essences got all mixed up in a genetic milkshake-maker..."

"Not your essences. Just some radiating vigour, if you will. Energy. A tiny bit of what makes you... you."

"Okay, fine, whatever. But how is she doing it? Martha doesn't know about stuff like that. I mean, she knows plenty of stuff, believe you me, but not about... energies of the universe and auras and whatnot. And what's she doing it for?"

"I have no idea, Doctor, I'm sorry."

A chair appeared behind the Oracle, and she sat down, almost knees-to-knees with the Doctor, while he fell into contemplation for a few moments.

"Who is this Martha?" the Oracle asked, earnestly.

"She is my... travelling companion," he told her. "My best friend. She's helpful and brilliant, and..."

"She lives in your TARDIS with you?"

"Yes."

"You see her every day? Share meals, share confidences?"

"Yes."

"Do you trust her?" she asked.

He answered, his eyes narrowing, "With my life."

"I'm going to have to ask you to explore the possibility that she's not who or what she claims to be."

"Er, no."

"Or at least that she doesn't always have your best interest in mind and/or may be more dishonest than you might like to believe."

"That's another no," he told her flatly.

"I knew you would say that," she sighed. "Does that mean you are not willing to bring her in for a proper interrogation?"

"Interrogation?" he asked, standing suddenly. "You mean with restraints and mind probes?"

"Yes, but the electrical shock is only very mild, and we now only use three uniformed officers, only one of whom is armed with..."

"Absolutely not," the Doctor insisted, stepping away from his chair, and from the Oracle. "Whatever is happening here, however it is that Martha is using this energy, it is not malevolent, I'm sure of it! I will get to the bottom of it myself."

"Doctor, you came to me for help."

"And you have helped," he said. "But clairvoyant though you may be, there are some things that you just cannot see. It looks like Martha is one."

"Fine," she said, gently. "But remember this: you are a saviour to the entire universe, Doctor. None of us can afford to have you off your game, even a little bit. And we have the means to make this Martha person confess."

"There's nothing to confess," he told her darkly.

"You know where we are, if you change your mind."

"Wonderful," he said, turning to leave.

"Wait, one thing," she said, trying to get up from her chair. "Help me, will you, love?"

The Doctor sighed, and crossed to her, lifting her by one arm out of her seated arrangement.

"If you insist on doing this yourself, at least let me give you a tool," she told him. "Follow me."

"What kind of tool?"

"It will not harm either one of you, in any way," said the Oracle. "You might be able to use it to find out when she is using your energies, if not how. And it will give you no insight as to how to stop her."

The Doctor frowned, walking behind the wide woman across the doorway through which she had entered. It was some kind of living quarters. She reached into a nearby chest of drawers, and brought up what looked like a glass cube. She placed it in his hand, then grasped both his hand and the cube, in both of her hands. She shut her eyes, and whispered for him to do the same, and concentrate his energies, just for the moment, on her.

For a long moment, they stood this way. Then she let go, and said, "You can now use this apparatus to read your own aura. Just to clarify, Doctor, your energy is overall splintered, as long as Martha goes on periodically using your energy, however she does. But you might find that it's, well, more so at times when she is wielding what is yours. Maybe at those times, you can seek out the truth."

The Doctor examined the cube. The inside swirled with light and smoke of differing colours.

"Doctor, you'll..." she began. But she sensed that she was not being listened-to. "Doctor, pay attention!"

"What? Yes?"

"You'll need to observe her," said the Oracle. "If you brought here in for interrogation, one of the things we would do, in order to help you, the affected party, is after she confessed her methods, make her perform the... whatever she is doing. We would analyse the act, determine how much energy is being used, if it is, in fact, being depleted, or if it is replicated. That could be a question of whether it will hurt you in the long-run. Then we could know how to stop her, whether we would need to subdue her somehow, what materials we would need. Or maybe, we would find out that all we need is to slow her down."

"Okay," he said, going back to staring at the oscillating display inside the cube. "I've got it."

"Because, remember, you can't get your energy back. It all relies on your friend's actions."

"I'll just ask her to stop, and she'll stop."

"What if she won't? Or can't? It might make things easier if you let us do the work. If it's only the interrogation process to which you object, once you have got her to confess to you, you can bring her back here for observation. We can study her and make all the necessary measurements while she does whatever she does. The observation is not particularly probative. All of the instruments are ambient and our technicians have no stake in it one way or another. No one will even so much as speak to her harshly - I'll see to it myself."

"Okay," he said, distractedly. "I'll think about it."

"Doctor, I remind you, what you hold in your hand, the Aura Block, is not one-hundred-per-cent," she reminded him. "It's an iffy way of investigating, but it's the best I can do for you, if you will not bring Martha to us."

"How does it work?" he asked, indicating the cube, finally making eye-contact once again.

"Study it," she told him. "You're clever, and you're just a bit more attuned to the intangible than most beings in the universe. You'll catch on as to how to read it soon enough."

"Thanks," he muttered.