Title: Milestones (3/?)
Author: Syreene
Characters/Pairing: 10Doctor/Martha
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: The Doctor Who novel, "Legacy."
Summary: Martha gets a crash course in sonic screwdriver…
Disclaimer: Don't own Doctor Who...just a copy of his scarf.
Author's Notes: The action begins, finally!

"No, no, no, no…this just won't do, will it?" The Doctor muttered as he suddenly stood up and started patting down his pockets with one hand as he ran the other through his hair, leaving spiky trails in its wake.

"What's going on, Doctor? What's the Diadem?" Martha asked as she pocketed her screwdriver and stood up next to him. So much for a peaceful day…should've known it wouldn't last long. "Is it that stone, or the crown itself?"

The Doctor started walking as he talked more to himself than anything, and Martha almost had to jog to keep up with his long stride. "I should've known…should've trusted my instincts, but no…I had to leave and trust everything would work out." He turned to Martha and said, "Let that be a lesson, Martha: Always trust your instincts, and follow things through till the end. If you want something to work out right, you've got to make sure it happens yourself."

Martha smiled knowingly and nodded, but she was thinking of something else. Reason #1 on why I came back, Doctor…

The Doctor continued talking to himself and Martha shook herself from her thoughts to refocus on the Doctor, unfortunately missing the brief smile that passed his lips.

"I went through all that trouble …saved their planet three different times…3 times, Martha, nearly getting myself killed every time I might add, and now here they are again, doing the same damn thing only on another planet!"

Frustrated at trying to dodge through the people shopping and keeping up with the Doctor's fast pace, Martha stopped suddenly and said loudly, "DOCTOR!"

As if finally realizing what he was doing, the Doctor turned back to see that he was leaving Martha behind. He quickly stopped, scanned where they were, and pulled Martha into a side lane where he found a secluded bench in an alcove where they could sit. He sat down and leaned forward, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. Martha quickly sat down beside him.

"First things first, Doctor…what is the Diadem?"

The Doctor's hand at his neck moved to pull at his ear. "Short version?"

"Please," Martha said in relief.

"The Diadem is a crystal crown imbued with the soul of an evil maniac. When someone wears it, they become possessed by the mind within. Last time I was here my companions and I stopped the Diadem from being used to overthrow the Peladon people. They ended up totally revamping their culture after that, the Pakhar were at peace, and the Diadem disappeared when the mercenary who was possessed by it had his ship blown up. Keri, the news reporter, she helped me back then, so I really know something is up. There's no way she would willingly be a part of the same scenario again."

Martha sighed to herself and sat up straight, her hands on her knees. "Right. Okay then…so these archaeologists on Peladon find the Diadem that everyone thought was destroyed and give it to the Pakhar, whose king is going to put it on in less than a week, and we need to stop him so he doesn't become possessed by an evil soul." Thinking hard about their predicament, Martha missed the Doctor's appreciative smile as he looked at her.

Martha scratched her chin as she continued thinking out loud. "Psychic paper or not, it's not going to be easy to just stroll into the place and say 'Hey there, just stopping in to borrow the crown for a mo.'" Her face brightened as an idea came to her and Martha smiled. "Wait a minute…you said you knew the reporter, right?"

The Doctor's grin grew as he stood up. "Yes I did, Martha Jones, which is why we are going to try and find her. "

Martha stood beside him and linked her hand with his. "Where to first?"

The Doctor started walking and glanced up and down the streets till he finally seemed to see what he wanted. "How would you like your next lesson with your screwdriver?" he asked with a grin as they came up to what looked like a digital public information kiosk.

"I'm game," Martha said as she took her screwdriver out of her jacket pocket. "What do I need to do?"

"First we type in her name in the search engine, Ker'a'nol, then we click 'Search' and we get the basic info, right?" The Doctor explained, his fingers whizzing over the touchpad. "Then you take your screwdriver there and use setting 7337, pointing it at the screen. This one is your 'hacker' function, basically. "

"Okay, got it, setting 7337." Martha pushed a few buttons on her screwdriver and pointed it at the kiosk, a soft 'whir' and white glow emanating from the end of the device. The kiosk screen began to flash with information scrolling quickly down the page.

"Voila!" The Doctor ran his finger down the screen till he found the reporter's address. He then typed it into the map function of the kiosk, and a few seconds later he knew exactly where to go. "It's just a few blocks from here, fortunately." He nodded his head in the direction they needed to go. "Shall we?"

"No rest for the wicked," she said with a smile as they walked away.

They made their way down the streets till eventually they came to a pale peach stucco styled house with a beautiful outdoor patio with columns and archways on each side. The Doctor walked nonchalantly up the path to the door and knocked on it, one hand in his coat pocket.

"E'llo?" –knock-knock-knock- "Keri?" The Doctor waited for a few moments, and when no one answered the door he looked around to see if anyone was within sight and motioned Martha to him.

"Lesson #2?" he asked her as he nodded to the locked door. Martha nodded, and he whispered, "Setting 13."

Martha quickly entered the setting and pointed it at the door. A few seconds later, a soft 'click' signaled their success. The Doctor cracked open the door and peeked in. When nothing happened, he opened it wider and slipped through it. Martha looked around to make sure no one was watching and soon followed.

Inside was a tastefully decorated living room with the usual furnishings. As the Doctor explored the other rooms to make sure no one was there, Martha couldn't help but notice the photographs framed on the wall. One in particular caught her attention, as it was Keri, two human women one more Martha's age and one younger, and a short older man in a sweater and tweed jacket, with rather loud checkered pants and a straw hat. He had an umbrella in his hand with the handle shaped like a question mark, and he was tapping it against his hat in salute when the picture was taken. Martha trailed her finger gently over the photo. No…it couldn't be…

"Afraid the excellent fashion sense I have now took a few hundred years to mature," the Doctor said from behind Martha as he stretched his hand over her shoulder to touch the picture, his hand brushing hers. "That rather tough looking girl there is Ace, wicked wielder of baseball bats and inventor of some of the most volatile explosives you'll ever come across," he said as he pointed to the girl in the leather jacket with sunglasses and a ponytail. "This is Professor Bernice Summerfield, a rather intelligent archaeologist who has since gone on to lead her own adventures, I'm sure." The Doctor pointed to the older woman with short black hair and a notebook in her hands. "Nostalgia will have to wait, however…as we have more pressing business, eh?"

"Right," Martha said with chagrin. "Sorry…" She stepped through an archway into the next room and started searching for clues. She looked under a slightly raised bookcase, and noticed a thin and flat silver object. "Bingo…" she whispered as she pulled out the laptop computer. "I think I found something," Martha called out to the Doctor in the other room, but his attention was focused on the turning doorknob of the front door.

The Doctor quickly waved at Martha to hide. She grabbed the laptop and plastered herself against the wall out of visual range of the archway. She held her breath as the door suddenly opened.

"By the Great Wheel, what do you think you're doing in my home?" exclaimed the rather surprised looking copper colored Pakhar.

The Doctor smiled as he tapped the photo he and Martha were looking at earlier. "I seem to recall that the last time we spoke, Keri, you told me I should drop in whenever I'm in the area. Unfortunately it seems that we still have unfinished business to take care of."

Keri glanced at the Doctor and then the photo…and then back at him. "Don't be ridiculous…you can't be him!"

"Can so be, " the Doctor replied as he rocked back on his feet. "Years ago you and your friends discovered the whereabouts of a rather ancient and quite evil piece of jewelry that mercenaries tried to use to disrupt the Peladonian government, which Bernie, Ace and I managed to stop, and now I come back to find that you're paving the way for it to happen all over again!" The Doctor's frustration was reflected in his tone by the time he finished, his eyes flaring in anger.

Keri walked past him as she shook her head and set her keys on the counter. She braced her hands on the counter and inhaled the sweet scent of the bouquet of flowers that were sent to her by a fan this morning, hoping to straighten out her thoughts. The Doctor…he's back…after all this time…finally…

The Doctor ran his hand through his hair before he turned around to face Keri, so he missed seeing Keri grab her head with one hand as she reached into her pocket with the other. "Your people are in a lot of danger, Keri. That crown that everyone believes is some great artifact is nothing more than the prison for an evil maniac who wants to take control of your King. We have to—"

With a scream, Keri suddenly leaped at the Doctor, catching him by surprise as she pulled her hand out of her pocket to reveal a jagged shard of stone. The force of her attack knocked the Doctor onto the floor, and it took all he had to keep the shard in her hand away from him.

Martha leapt from her hiding place and maneuvered her way around the struggling duo to grab the heavy vase of flowers on the counter. She slammed it into the back of Keri's head with a solid crash, but unfortunately it only made Keri pause for a moment and shake her head.

"We have to make the Doctor ours," Keri hissed in a guttural voice that no longer sounded like her own. "Ours or dead! Ours or dead!" The Doctor had his hands on her arms to keep the shard from reaching him, when suddenly Keri growled and reared forward with her sharp teeth towards his throat!

The Doctor managed to duck his head to the side, just managing to avoid her bite. He could feel her hot breath in his ear, and the thought of them being stuck in some corrupted lovers embrace made him sneer in disgust. "Martha!" he yelled out between quick gasps of breath as he struggled with the possessed Pakhar. "Setting 42!"

Martha quickly dropped the remains of the vase she'd been holding and nervously fumbled for her screwdriver in her pocket. She didn't have time to think what the Doctor was asking her to do…she just punched in the setting with a quick whispered prayer and pressed the button as she pointed it at the rabid reporter.