Meanwhile, Martha and the other Doctor were hurrying along the piazza back towards Caroline Street. The Doctor knew Rose well enough to guess where she'd go in this area, and if the TARDIS was out of the realm of possibilities (and he didn't think she'd risk that), a nice, harmless chippy was the next most likely spot.
"So you're the Doctor in my future?" Martha asked breathlessly as they ran.
"Something like that," he responded, still glaring straight ahead as if he could almost use his eyes to skewer the stupid past version of himself who was, even now, knowingly putting the entire fabric of space-time at risk for a chance at chips with Rose.
"And you got Rose back? Where am I, then?"
"Went home with your family."
"Is that 'went home with family' the way Rose 'went home with family,' or is that a euphemism for 'whole family got eaten by giant space squid, Martha included?'"
"No, you… Honestly, Martha, you can't ask me about that. You're doing fine, all right?"
"All right." Martha pursed her lips and was silent for a minute. She hadn't imagined herself ever leaving the Doctor by choice, but if he'd suddenly got his girlfriend back, she could see herself not wanting to stay on as a third wheel. Fancying someone who didn't hardly see you past the ghost of his ex was difficult enough already without the ghost coming back again in the flesh.
She nearly ran into him as he pulled up short to avoid being run over by a lorry that was trying to exit the alley.
"All right," she repeated as they caught their breath, waiting impatiently for the intersection to clear enough that they could slip through. "So tell me something that's not about me, then. What's with Rose? I mean, why couldn't you go get her before, but she's back with you now?"
"I couldn't reach her before because she was trapped in a parallel universe," he answered uncomfortably. It was getting easier to talk about it now that he'd had her back for more than a year. It would never be a pleasant topic for him, but he owed it to Martha to give some explanation for all the moodiness and evasive answers his past self had been giving her. She'd gone through endless months of drudgework and old-fashioned bigotry, and even walked across every continent on the earth for his sake by the time she left, and he'd never come close to making up for it.
"And now? What's different now?"
"The walls between universes were weakened for a short while, and travel between them became possible again, briefly."
The street cleared and they broke into a jog again.
"So you went and got her."
"Not exactly, no." He smiled grimly. "I stayed behind on her side. The plan was to make that universe home."
A pang shot through her. She'd thought more than once about the possibility of losing the Doctor to some other woman's affections, or possibly to a tragic but doubtless heroic death, but somehow the thought of the Doctor voluntarily abandoning this universe forever hadn't occurred to her, and in a strange way that hurt worse. She shoved it down, something she was used to doing, and took a breath. "Okay, then what are you doing back here?"
The Doctor took a breath and set his jaw in a determined manner. "We're on a rescue mission. We're here to save a friend."
More coming soon! The whole story has already been written, but it needs a little polishing here and there. As beta reader feedback continues to come in, I'll post the next chapters.
And speaking of feedback... I would be super happy to get reviews! :)
