Martha stood next to the TARDIS, control panel, watching anxiously as the doctor buzzed around like a lunatic.
It had been and hour since she had found the gap in the fabric of time as the Doctor had so nicely put it.
Once the Doctor had taken out his glasses Martha knew it was something serious, and thought it was best if she let the doctor fuss about and tell her how bad it was instead of her asking and getting an earful.
After half an hour of waiting for the doctor to tell her how bad it was Martha finally plucked up the courage to say, "So Doctor, how bad is it?" but from the look on the Doctor's face as he opened his mouth to answer her she knew it was worse than she thought.
"That Martha," he began pointing to the TARDIS monitor which was fixed on the gap "is very bad news because I can't close it until what came through it goes back."
The Doctor saw the horrified look that had swept over Martha's face and added, " But I have a keen idea what came through it which should be confirmed by the TARDIS when she's finished running a scan of that metal we found in the warehouse and the bits I found in the barn when you were outside.
The TARDIS gave a few bleeps and the doctor raced over to the monitor, frowned, looked at Martha and said in an unusually unenthusiastic tone, "Looks like we're taking a detour to the underworld!"
The TARDIS ground to a halt. Martha was surprisingly feeling scared of what was in the underworld.
As a child she had read stories about how monsters live there but had always known they were just stories, but that's what she had thought when she was told about aliens and time-travel but she now knew how wrong she was about that, but she knew that as long as she was with the Doctor she would be relatively safe.
There was no telling if the doctor was in an 'I'm gonna get captured to find out what's going on' kind of mood.
"We'll be fine Martha." the Doctor said as though reading her mind, "as long as we keep our heads down and not look for trouble were fine."
" But we are looking for trouble-"she paused "what are we looking for?"
" We are looking for the grim reaper." replied the Doctor with a look of pure dislike.
" You cant be serious!" Martha replied horrified.
The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, followed by an anxious Martha who wasn't sure what to expect as this wasn't an alien but something that came from her world and was implanted in her life.
The Doctor shot a grin at Martha but in reality he was just as scared as she was.
Further down the underground passage, Martha heard footsteps. She froze. Her heart beating in her ears. "Doctor!" she called after the already receding silhouette.
The Doctor didn't turn. Suddenly Martha realised she was on her own. Feeling eyes on her back she tried to call the Doctor again, "Hello,Doctor!" she shouted down the passage.
She couldn't tell which way he had turned as the light on the top of the TARDIS didn't illuminate that far down the passage, and the Doctor had taken the only light.
"Great, just what I need -to be stuck some where I can't see." Martha turned on her heel and began to make her way back to the TARDIS.
"...I knew there was something familiar about that metal." the Doctor was saying, " Well here we are, I hope you don't mind the smell of damp!" The Doctor turned to face Martha only to find that she wasn't there.
"I always tell them to stay behind me!" he said to himself exasperated. "All the time! None of them ever listen!"
Martha unlocked the door to the TARDIS and stepped into the control room. She looked around and jumped as the central column thrummed.
" I hope that doesn't mean anything bad." she thought to herself. At that moment she was plunged into darkness.
A few seconds later a red warning light came on signaling to Martha that the thrum of the column did in fact mean something.
" Wonderful, now I'm locked in the TARDIS and I have to wait for the Doctor to work out that I'm here."
From deep inside the TARDIS, Martha heard a bang. She span around. Grabbing the mallet that the Doctor often used to fly the TARDIS during turbulence.
Martha eased her way towards the inner door of the TARDIS which was now a sinister shade of red. She inched the door open and everything when black.
Retracing his steps the Doctor set out to find where Martha had got to. Approaching the tunnel that lead to the TARDIS, when he spotted that the quaint little 1950's police box was no longer illuminated by the turquoise light that the central column of the control room usually emanated, but a violent crimson which signalled an intruder.
Fumbling in his jacket, the Doctor wrenched his TARDIS key from his pocket and launched it in to the lock. Before the Doctor had the chance to turn the key the door gave way and revealed the one person that he didn't want to see.
The grim reaper stood in the door of the TARDIS and leered at the now helpless Doctor as he stumbled to his feet.
"Ah, Doctor, I have been waiting for you!" the reaper whispered. "I have a little preposition for you."
"I know what it is that you want, and I will not set you free from the underworld to wreck havoc on the surface." The Doctor spat with distaste.
"You will set me free as I will make it so that you have no choice!" came a reply from behind the Doctor .
The reaper raised the very same mallet that Martha had thought would protect her, and brought it down on the back of the Doctor's head.
Martha regained consciousness slowly. First was sound, the low rhythmic thrumming of the TARDIS. The next sense she regained was smell, not the familiar smell of what she had called home for the past six months, but a damp musty smell like rotting wood.
Opening her eyes Martha saw that the lights were back on and saw the doctor slumped against the central column.
" Nice of you to finally join us, Miss Jones." came the same sinister whisper that Martha could have sworn she had heard earlier.
" So you're the grim reaper!" Martha said with a grimace. Her head hurt a lot from where the reaper had knocked her out.
" Yes, and you are going to help him." He pointed to the Doctor who was struggling to his feet, " To set me free." he continued.
"I don't think that will be happening anytime soon." replied Martha weakly, " Because if I know the Doctor he will find a way to keep you down here."
" She's right you know," the doctor piped up " I will not under any circumstances set you free on the human race!"
"Well in that case," the reaper began "Maybe this will change your mind." with that the reaper disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared behind Martha.
He grabbed her by the shoulders and conjured his scythe, held it to Martha's throat then said. "So now what is your answer? Either you say yes and set me free, or Miss Jones looses her head."
