Chapter Two
Martha Jones was driving back to her flat when a young blonde woman stumbled in front of her car. She slammed on the brakes, stopping within a few feet of her. The girl scrambled back up onto the sidewalk and gestured for Martha to pull over.
"Oh my god," the woman cried. "I'm so sorry!" her speech was slurred, and she seemed disoriented.
"Are you okay?" Martha asked. "I can help, I'm a doctor."
"If it's okay, could I get a ride to…" the girl trailed off. "I'm sorry, I'm feeling a bit dizzy right now. I had planned to meet an old friend here, but I'm realizing now how bad my plan was." The girl looked totally crushed.
"I could take you back to my flat," Martha suggested, feeling bad for her. "You could call your friend and sober up a bit."
"Oi!" she protested. "I'm not drunk!"
"Sorry, it just seemed like, er, you were umm," Martha stammered.
"I guess I was a bit wobbly. I think I'll have to take you up on your offer, unless, of course, you plan on kidnapping me."
Martha laughed, and an image of one of her first trips with the Doctor to New New York sprang to mind. She held out a hand. "I'm Martha Jones. I swear that I don't plan on kidnapping you."
"Nice to meet you Martha Jones," the girl said, shaking her hand. Martha opened the passenger door, and the girl hopped in. "Thank you so much," she said, her speech becoming more normal. "I just have to stay for a little bit, to get things straightened out. I'll try to call him soon."
"Him?" Martha asked, raising an eyebrow.
The girl laughed. "Yeah. We're not in a relationship; it's just sort of… complicated."
"Believe me, I know what you mean," Martha said. "I spent a lot of times with this one man, and there were times I felt like he was totally flirting with me, and others when it was like he didn't know that I existed."
The girl smiled softly, and Martha was surprised by the amount of sadness in her eyes. They sat in silence for the rest of the ride.
After another few minutes of travel, they arrived at Martha's building. The girl followed her up the steep staircases to the flat. One inside, Martha gestured to a seat in the living room. "You can wait here while I make us some tea." The girl smiled appreciatively, and took a seat.
Martha entered her kitchen and released a stifled shriek. In the middle of room stood Captain Jack Harkness, wearing his usual grin. "Martha Jones!" he announced, wrapping his arms around her.
"Jack," she said, "what the hell are you doing in my kitchen?"
"I need to talk to you." His answer was interrupted by the woman running into the room, a look of disbelief on her face. Jack's face quickly changed to a similar expression.
"It can't be," the girl said. "You died."
"He does that a lot," Martha sighed. "I take it you two know each other?"
Jack nodded. "We traveled together for a while. Last I heard though, she was in a whole different universe. Martha Jones, meet Rose Tyler." He pulled the blonde girl into a hug.
A smile spread across Martha's face. "Oh my god. The Doctor's going to be so happy. You have to call him right now!"
"How do you know who I am?" asked Rose, stepping back.
"The Doctor. He never stops talking about you," Martha answered. "We used to travel together. That's how I met Jack."
At the mention of his name, Rose turned back to the captain. "How did you get to Earth alive?"
"Back on Satellite Five, Bad Wolf brought me back to life. I was able to transport back to Cardiff to wait for the Doctor. Pretty soon though, I discovered that Bad Wolf was still working in my system. Every time I died, I woke up fine a few minutes later."
"Gave me quite a scare the first couple of times that it happened," Martha smiled. "But why are you here Jack? As nice as this is, it's not like you to stop by just for a reunion."
Jack's expression darkened. "Something's wrong. It's spread through the entire universe. No one knows what it is, but entire planets are becoming devoid of life in only a couple of minutes. I figure that it's time to get as many of us together as possible, just in case."
"Has anyone tried getting in touch with the Doctor?" Martha asked.
Jack nodded. "I told him to come here. He should actually appear any minute now." Rose's heart fluttered. He was so close. Jack's words echoed in her mind. Any minute now.