Martha paced anxiously around the console room, wracking her brain for some sort of solution. She held the Doctor's sonic in her hands tossing it back and forth between them as she went. She'd grabbed it in the hopes that it would help her in some way. Maybe, holding it would cause some of the Doctor would rub off on her. That had been futile, of course, and perhaps the real reason she picked it up was just that she wanted it close to her.
She didn't know how long she had been there trying to figure out a way to help the Doctor. She wouldn't allow herself to look at the clock because she feared that every second that passed brought the Doctor closer to death. She didn't know how long he'd have. Already he was on borrowed time and she just couldn't bear to know how much of that time was passing while she tried to come up with a plan.
She had come in here to try and find out what the Doctor might have learned about their current enemy. She hoped there was more information in his notes than he'd had the chance to share with her. But she had gotten nowhere with his research. She couldn't even find anything in English and she didn't know how to get it to translate out of his language. She'd tried for a long time before she had given up in defeat, shouting several heated words at the TARDIS as she did so.
She felt useless and her concern about the Doctor only grew with every passing minute. She didn't know what else to do. She thought of everything she'd seen while she had been traveling with him in the hopes that it may give her a helpful perspective for their current dilemma. But she came up with nothing she felt would help in this scenario and felt completely worthless that she couldn't do more. She had thought she had become a helpful companion but she couldn't feel like one now that she was of no use to the Doctor all on her own.
She was still deep in thought and worry when she was startled by the sound of the TARDIS front doors opening. The room had been completely quiet and the loud sound made her jump. The current conflict also left her feeling especially on edge. They didn't even know who was causing all the danger so the appearance of a stranger standing right across from her put her on full alert.
The man was well dressed and had on a long coat with almost had a military feel to it. He was tall with dark hair and he looked almost as surprised to see her as she was to see him. A look of confusion passed over his face before he asked. "Who are you?"
"Who are you?" she shot back.
"I asked you first," he said with a smile, like it was a joke. Martha felt a flair of anger burn up inside of her. She wasn't the intruder here and she didn't have to explain herself. He was the one who didn't belong here and she was about to let him know. After the day she'd had she had no patience left for trespassers showing up and playing jokes on her.
The unknown man started to walk towards her and she pointed the Doctor's sonic at him. "Don't you come any closer," she said in the toughest and most threatening tone of voice she could come up with. "Don't take another step or I'll incinerate you from the inside out."
She pointed the sonic even closer for good measure hoping her warning would work and that the untruthfulness of it wouldn't show. However, the man only started laughing. "Wow, that's a good threat," he said with admiration. "But it's a lie. That's only a sonic screwdriver; it's not a weapon."
The man started walking towards her again and she desperately tried to come up with another defense. The lie about the sonic was the best she could come up with and looking around quickly she couldn't come up with anything else. She was especially unnerved that this man knew what the sonic was and she didn't like the glean he had in his eye.
"But I like a woman who has spunk," he added.
Martha backed away from him. "Get out of my ship," she ordered loudly.
Jack looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. His lips curled up in an alluring smile and he extended his hand. "Of course, where are my manners? Captain Jack Harkness. And who might you be?"
For some odd reason Martha found herself reaching out her own hand to take his. "Martha Jones," she said shaking his hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Martha Jones."
When Martha realized she was blushing she finally came to her senses. For a moment, she had been taken in by this man's overwhelming charm. But the spell had been broken and now she remembered. "Wait, wait," she said taking back her hand. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm looking for the Doctor. Where is he?" he asked looking around.
"What do you want with the Doctor?" she asked, avoiding Jack's last question.
"I just wanted to see him. I used to travel with him. I assume you are his new 'companion' as he likes say?"
Martha studied Jack for a moment. It seemed as if he knew what he was talking about but she was still wary. "I suppose you could say that," she said evasively.
"So, where is the old devil? I have a few a words I would like to have with him."
Martha knew he was only kidding but the Doctor was in actual danger right now and she felt even more protective of him. "Why are you really here?" she asked.
"Like I said, I just want to see the Doctor."
"But why now?"
Jack seemed to sense the distrust Martha had in him and the caution she was showing towards him. "Because this is the first time I've seen him in a very long time," he answered seriously. "I lost touch with him and couldn't find a way to contact him. I was in town investigating the recent suspicious deaths when I saw the TARDIS. I assume he was probably here doing the same."
Martha was surprised to hear that Jack was right on this account. Despite her suspicion, he was proving to be more and more credible by the moment. "Why were you investigating the deaths?"
"I work for Torchwood. We suspected the deaths were caused by an alien threat and I was trying to find out if that was true."
"You work for Torchwood?" she asked, hope finally starting to spring up in her.
"Yeah. Why?" he asked, this time he was the one on alert as if he almost thought it was a bad thing to admit.
"Then maybe you can help," she said he voice breaking. All of her misgivings and distrust were gone. The weight of her worry now fell on top of her and she was eager for anyone who might be able to help. "Something terrible has happened to the Doctor."
"This is the Doctor?" Jack asked in surprise.
Martha had explained to Jack what had happened to the Doctor and that she believed the same person who was responsible for the recent deaths on Earth was the same person responsible for the Doctor now being unable to wake. They were now in the Doctor's room looking over him.
"Yeah. Why?" Martha asked. "Wait, I thought you said you knew him."
"I did. I mean I do. It's just that the last time I saw him he looked very different," Jack said staring at the Doctor's face an unusually long time. He seemed so confused by the Doctor's appearance she wondered how long it had been since they'd seen each other and how much the Doctor could have really changed since then. Jack was looking at him like he was a completely different person. But that was something she knew she didn't have the time to get into right now.
It was then that a picture on the Doctor's bedside table caught her attention. It was a picture of the Doctor and a blonde girl Martha had never seen. She picked it up and stared at it. She didn't know for sure but she would guess that the girl in the picture was Rose. She had nothing to recommend that except the look of pure happiness on the Doctor's face. She had never seen an expression like that on his face before. It had to be Rose because this was the picture of two people who were undeniably in love.
Jack looked at the picture over her shoulder. "Rose," he said with a smile but it was sad.
"That's her, huh?"
"Yeah, I'm surprised you don't know."
"The Doctor never talks about her."
"Well, that part isn't surprising. He never was one to talk about his feelings. And after what happened to her, I don't blame him for not wanting to talk about it."
"So, you knew her too?"
"Yeah. She was traveling with the Doctor when I met them. I actually met her first and then she introduced me to the Doctor. I tried to steal her away," he said with a small laugh. "But it was obvious even back then when I first met them."
"What was?"
"They were crazy about each other. Of course, they were both incredibly stubborn. Neither one wanted to be the first one to admit it," he said laughing. "It was so funny to watch because everyone could see how obvious it was except the two of them."
Martha looked away feeling a slight pain in her heart. It was easier to deal with her unrequited feelings as time went on but it still hurt.
"You too, huh?" Jack asked giving her a knowing look.
She shrugged reluctantly in conformation. "Don't worry; everyone falls for the Doctor," he reassured. "You're in good company."
"You cared a lot about her too?" Martha asked with sympathy.
Jack smiled but there were tears in his eyes as he remembered the past with pain. "She was one of the best friends I ever had."
Both were quiet for a while and Martha was deep in thought. As much as her feelings were mixed in regards to Rose she realized that she must have been a pretty special person. She seemed to have made quite the impression on everyone who had known her. For the first time, Martha even found herself wishing a little bit that she could have met her and known her.
Jack shook off the memories of the past and the sadness. "Well," he said, clearly trying to compose himself. "We don't have time for a trip down memory lane. We need to find a way to wake up the Doctor. What did he find out before he went to sleep?"
"Not much. Or at least not much that I know of. He was still researching that day when I went to sleep. He might have more information but I couldn't find a way to read it."
"I might be able to figure that out," he said positively. "I did get pretty familiar with this old ship during my stay here."
Martha was relieved to find that Jack was able to convert the Doctor's research into English so they could study it. But they were both dismayed to find that after reading it they weren't any closer to finding answers that would help the Doctor.
"The Doctor named three different species he thought would have the ability of committing a crime of this severity," Jack said reading information off the screen on the console, "but he wasn't able to narrow it down any further than that because none of them had ever proved to be violent like this."
"Yeah, the Doctor did mention that."
"He's obviously the expert but, based on what I know about these species, I agree. None of them have ever used their telepathic skills to rob from others," he said still reading and then he turned suddenly to Martha. "And don't you dare tell him that I said he was the expert. He would never let me hear the end of it," he said with a smile.
Martha smiled. She only hoped that there would be a time when they could talk to the Doctor again. "Alright, so we don't know who it is. That much is clear," she said. "Can we still find a way to save the Doctor without knowing who is doing this?"
"I don't know," Jack said, flipping through some information. "According to the Doctor none of the victims put up any struggle at all. They showed no signs or symptoms. They were fine one day and gone by the next. He writes that it was clear, at least from the most recent victim, that all of the information had been stripped out of the mind. But…why didn't they resist? They should have."
Martha thought for a moment. "Maybe he dulled the pain somehow?"
"He would have had to. Otherwise, it would have been excruciating. But the Doctor didn't find anything suspect in their system. If he had we could have found an antidote for whatever it was so that we could wake him. But he didn't find anything like that."
"So, if it wasn't a chemical or drug or any sort that stopped the pain…maybe it has to do with the sleep? Maybe, he puts them to sleep and they don't struggle because he keeps them unconscious? Maybe he puts them in a trance? Maybe he stops the pain from inside of their mind? And no one else suspects anything because he just lets them appear as though they went to sleep naturally?"
Jack smiled at her, impressed. "I like the way you think, Martha Jones. That certainly seems likely."
"But if he does keep his victims asleep through his own telepathic powers then how could we wake the Doctor. It's not a natural sleep, obviously, and we can't just wake him up by natural means, so then how can we wake him?"
Jack thought for a few minutes. "Ideally, it would help if we could find someone who had telepathic powers. That might be the only means of defeating this person. The Doctor's still inside of his head, so it would be great if we could speak to him in there. I don't suppose you know anyone like that?" he asked but from his tone it was clear that he thought it was unlikely she'd say yes.
"No," Martha said dejectedly. But then she stopped and paused. "Actually…wait."
Suddenly, it was all completely clear to Martha. All of the pieces quickly fell into place and it was obvious to Martha exactly what they needed to do. There was a way to save the Doctor and she felt it might be the only chance they had left.
"What is it?" Jack asked hopefully.
"Rose," she said quietly. "He needs Rose. We have to find her."
Jack looked at her with more confusion than she thought he would about what she had just said. "What do you mean exactly?" he asked.
Martha just couldn't make sense of the look of bewilderment on Jack's face. He looked at her as if she'd said the most impossible thing she could think of. Given everything he must have seen in his life, that was saying a lot. "I mean…Rose could save him. If we could find a way to get through to the parallel universe and find her she might be able to reach him."
Jack looked like he had seen a ghost and, with alarm, Martha realized that there were tears in his eyes. "What do you mean the parallel universe?" he asked his voice suddenly quiet.
It was slowly becoming clear to her what just might be happening here. "The one that Rose is trapped in."
"You mean…you're telling me she's alive?"
"Yes. I'm sorry…I thought you knew."
Jack laughed in joy and let a cry out at the same time. "No. I thought she was dead…all this time I thought she had died at Canary Wharf."
Martha's heart went out to him. She knew the pain of that. She had lost a cousin on that day and she knew how painful it had been. Jack had gone through the same thing thinking that Rose had been lost. She was glad that now she could tell him the truth; she was glad she could relieve that pain for him.
"No, she didn't die. The Doctor never really talks about it but she got pulled through to some parallel universe. Somehow, it got closed off and he can't get through. That's really all I know about it."
Jack remained stunned, happy but shocked at this sudden news for a few minutes. "I thought she was dead," he whispered almost to himself. "For years…I've thought I would never see here again."
Jack was clearly still processing this good news but he shook his head knowing their time was limited and he needed to focus on the here and now. "O.K. so," he said clamping his hands together. "Rose is…alive and you think she can help. Why is that? I know that the Doctor would certainly want to see her but what make you think she can help him out of this?"
"Well," Martha started, feeling uncomfortable almost as if she were telling one of the Doctor's secrets. "The Doctor hasn't told me directly…he's never really said anything about it at all. But I get the impression that he and Rose had something…more. Almost like maybe they had some sort of telepathic link. I know the Doctor can communicate telepathically and there are just things he will say about Rose that make me think maybe he shared it with her. If he had then maybe there would be some way for her to speak to him in his mind and wake him."
Jack looked at her, clearly taking in and contemplating what she had said. "Does that sound crazy?" she asked after a moment when he hadn't spoken.
"No," he said shaking his head and smiling. "Not when those two are involved. No, Martha Jones, I think you're probably spot-on. You're a genius, in fact."
Martha smiled at the compliment and felt a strong wave of hope fill her for the first time since she'd found the Doctor asleep. "The only problem is, there's no way to reach her," she continued, the challenges they faced clouding some of that hope she felt. "I know that if there were any even remote possibility of it that the Doctor would have done it already. I know he must be looking but he must not have found a way."
A strange look passed over Jack's face. It was quick and then it was gone, replaced by a smile. She didn't press him on it but she wondered about it all the same.
"Well, let's have a look at what he's been able find out about where she is and we'll go from there."
Jack was able to access some of the Doctor's research about what had happened at Canary Wharf, the parallel universe and the Doctor's attempts to get through. Jack satisfied some of his own personal questions about that day but, aside from that, it was as they had expected it; the Doctor hadn't found any way to make it through.
"Isn't there anything at all that could help us?" Martha asked in exasperation after they had been searching with more of their precious and limited time but came up with nothing.
"I don't know," he said brushing his hands through his hair. "Most of this stuff I can't make sense of. All these technical words, even in English it looks like an alien language."
"But there has to be a way!" Martha cried in frustration.
She saw that same strange look pass over Jack's face and this time she asked about it. "What is it?"
"Nothing," he said trying to brush it off.
"No, you know something. What is it?"
"It might not even be helpful," he said uneasily.
"I don't care. We're running out of time and we need to take every opportunity we can. You know a way this might be possible," she stated, now understanding where this strange look was coming from.
"Possibly," he said reluctantly.
"Then what is it?" she asked, getting tired of his uneasy runaround.
"The Doctor would hate it if heard me talking about it but if there was ever a time to use it, it would be now. There are ways to bypass the normal time traveling laws so to speak if you don't mind breaking the rules."
"Breaking the rules how?"
"By using a device like my vortex manipulator," he said raising his wrist and showing her. "'Cheap time travel' as the Doctor used to call it. It's a bit messy at times but it's effective. Even though the Doctor hates it."
"Well, I think he would make an exception this time, don't you think?"
Jack laughed. "I'm not sure about that. He's pretty strict on those rules of his but then again he's not here to get in the way this time."
"So, would that vortex manipulator be able to get us to this parallel universe?"
"Not this one. But I was working to modify one. When I found out Rose died-or I thought she had died-at Canary Wharf I did everything I could to research what happened there. I wanted to talk to the Torchwood in the parallel universe so I could get the whole story. They had used their own time traveling devices to get through to our universe before but what they were using was dangerous to the universes and after the breach had been closed they were useless. So, I tried to find a new way to travel there and one that hopefully would be safer."
"Have you been able to make the modifications?" Martha asked with excitement.
"Yes," he said hesitantly.
"Then what are you waiting for? Let's use it." Martha felt more hope than she'd expected to and so shortly after the Doctor had fallen under attack. All of the pieces were perfectly falling into place and she couldn't understand why Jack didn't seem nearly as excited as she was.
"Martha it isn't as simple as that."
"Why not?"
"I made the device, yes. But I've never used it. It's completely untested."
"Well, there's no time like the present."
"Martha, please," Jack said seriously. "This device isn't safe. Normally, I'm just using it to traveling through time and space within the same universe. But this would be traveling to a parallel universe, one that is on the opposite side of a breach the Doctor himself sealed up. I actually have no idea whether it will work or not."
Martha calmed herself a bit in light of this new information. She could see that Jack believed this trip would have real risks. She saw that and acknowledged it. But she also knew that they had to try any opportunity that came to them. "So, we try it and it may or may not work. We have to take that chance and find out."
"It's more than that. The worst thing that could happen is not that it would just be unsuccessful. There are a myriad of things that might go wrong with it. It might get us completely lost. It might get us there but not be able to get us back to this universe. I don't know what the side effects of using it are. It may even prove to be fatal."
Martha took a heavy breath. That certainly added some weight to this matter and made her look at it differently. But it did not change her resolve that they had to try it.
"Jack," she said quietly. "You know we have to try this. We can't let him down. Not him."
She watched as Jack smiled, a knowing smile. She could see he felt just the same as she did about the Doctor. She doubted there could be a person who had traveled with the Doctor who wouldn't lay their life down for him. He saved everyone all of the time and when the time came for you to do something for him you found yourself jumping to do it without a thought of hesitation.
"You're right," he said with a smile. "We need that crazy ol' Doctor. But I want you to understand that this is a less than ideal way of getting to the parallel universe. Even if it works exactly as it should it's still not safe, to the person using it or the universes we will be passing through. People aren't supposed to be traveling through the universes. We really only have one shot at this."
"That's fine. We only need one shot."
Jack smiled, looking a little more like his joking self that she'd first met. "Can you just imagine the fit he's going to throw when he wakes up and finds out what we did?" he asked.
Martha laughed. "Oh, it's going to be a good one that's for sure," she agreed. "But I'll take the brunt of it."
"Why is that?"
Martha felt the smile on her face falter a little and nerves in her stomach before she spoke. "Because I'm the one who's going to go to the parallel universe. And you're going to stay here."
