Authors Note: Gaaah sorry for such not updating in what feels like forever. I done my Geography exam on June 14th, and once that was done I thought that would be it for the year and I would have more time to write fanfiction. Then, Health And Social coursework decided to come along… So yeah still pretty busy.
Honestly, this would have been up last night if it weren't for the stupid England vs Italy match over-running my practically an hour. And then England didn't even win, it's safe to say I'm still not happy and never eating pizza ever again… But enough about football! You probably don't care about that and just wanna read the next chapter.
JUST ANOTHER QUICK CLARIFICATION: Katherine was taken 31st December 2006, therefore she hasn't seen season 3, or any of the seasons to come. So she doesn't know anything about the future. Just thought I'd let you know :P
Oh and if you wanna find out whether I've kept Martha or gotten rid of her, I can happily say…. That you'll have to read the chapter to find out. Hehehehe.
XOXO
The TARDIS was hurtling through the vortex. I was back into my skinny jeans, white tank top and purple vans, and The Doctor was back in his blue suit, although I don't think he even changed out of it. The Doctor was taking Martha home today despite my requests, although Martha didn't know that, she thought we were just going on another trip. And The Doctor had told me to keep it that way, I don't know why.
The Doctor flicked a leaver making the TARDIS brake until it was completely still, I held onto the railing just in case I almost flew across to the other end of the console room again, which I thankfully didn't.
"There we go! Perfect landing." The Doctor said, "Which isn't easy in such a tight spot."
"You should be used to tight spots by now." Martha said, she looked towards the door and turned back, "Where are we?" A grin was gracing her features and I could tell that she was excited. It made me feel bad when I knew that we were actually just parked in her own house.
"The end of the line." The Doctor answered.
Martha grabbed hold of me, dragging me with her down towards the door. She paused for a second before opening the door to look at The Doctor; I was surprised she hadn't seen the serious face not just on The Doctor's face but on my face too.
"No place like it." He added.
He gestured for her to open the door, which she did and stepped out. Before I followed her out I turned around and gave The Doctor a glare for not telling her he was taking her home. She was so excited and I knew she was going to be disappointed. And my assumptions were correct because as soon as I stepped out of the door, I saw that Martha's grin had no faded, and a disappointed look replaced it.
"You took me home?"
The Doctor nodded, "Back to the morning after we left, so you've only been gone about 12 hours. No time at all really."
"You sure it is twelve hours and not twelve months like the last time?" I asked The Doctor smirking, earning a glare from him.
"That. That was a one time mistake." He said. I never answered back; I just kept smirking, remembering the episode in my head specifically the part where Jackie slapped him, while The Doctor began to look at the pictures on the mantel piece.
"But all the stuff we've done, Shakespeare, New New York, old New York." Martha said.
"Yep. All in one night." The Doctor said as he looked up from the pictures, "Relatively speaking, everything should be just as it was. Books, CDs, laundry." He picked up a piece of underwear from one of those drying rack things causing Martha to look mortified as she snatched them off him.
"So back where you were, as promised." The Doctor said.
"This is it?" Martha asked, "You two are just gonna leave?"
"Yeah, we should probably…" The Doctor was interrupted by the phone ringing, it didn't ring for long when it went to answer machine and a woman's voice came down the line.
"Martha, are you there? Pick it up will you?"
"It's mum. It'll wait." Martha said.
"All right then. Pretend that you're out if you like." Martha's mum said down the line causing both me and The Doctor to smirk, "I was only calling to say that your sister's on TV. On the news of all things. Just thought you might be interested."
Martha's mum hung up and Martha instantly turned the TV on, flicking through the channels until BBC News 24 came up. On the screen was an old man, in his seventies at least. Behind him was a woman, who I guessed was Martha's sister.
"How could Tish end up on the news?" Martha said as the man on the TV was talking, "She got a new job, doing PR for some research lab." She added before we all turned our attention to the TV.
"With the push of a single button, I will change what it means to be human."
All the reporters on the TV started shouting at the same time creating a massive noise and Martha turned off the TV, but the words of what that man had said still rung in my head. He said he was going to change what it means to be human. How was it going to do that? And more importantly, how come The Doctor hadn't picked up on what the man had said yet? He seemed completely oblivious to what had been just said. Must be having an off day.
"You were saying you two should…" Martha said.
"Yes, yes. We should." The Doctor said nodding, "One trip, we said."
"Yeah. I suppose things just kind of escalated." Martha replied with a slight smile on her face.
"Mmm. Seems to happen to me a lot." The Doctor said, which made both me and Martha laugh slightly.
"Thank you, for everything. Both of you."
"It was our pleasure."
The Doctor walked into the TARDIS leaving the door open for me to follow, but before I did I grabbed my phone out of my pocket, clicking onto the contact list and filling in a new contact before passing the phone over to her.
"Put your number in and give me your phone." I said.
Martha did as I asked her, taking her phone out of her own pocket and passing it over to me. I pressed in the numbers carefully, making sure I didn't get one wrong before handing it back to her, and taking my phone back.
"Whenever you need us, just give it a ring. Alien emergencies, whatever. I'll make him come here."
Martha laughed, "Gotcha."
I pulled her into a quick hug before walking into the TARDIS, The Doctor was sitting in the pilot seat waiting for me, but when I came in he quickly jumped to his feet and started pulling leavers, sending us back into the vortex. I still couldn't believe he hadn't figured it out yet, but I knew he would soon so I decided to sit on the pilot seat, stare at him and wait.
"Hold on." The Doctor said, "There's something I'm missing. Something I heard…" I could practically see the clogs turning around in his head as he tried to remember.
"And 3, 2, 1…"
"Hold on, did he say he was going to change what it means to be human?" The Doctor asked.
"And there it is." I said smirking.
"You knew? And you didn't bother to tell me?" The Doctor said.
I shrugged, "It's funny when you're clueless."
The next second I knew The Doctor was running around the control room, pressing buttons and flicking leavers and whatever, probably taking us back to Martha. The Doctor pulled the break, nearly sending me flying out of the chair before running back down towards the door, me quickly following him. When we got outside we were back in Martha's house, she was still standing there so we couldn't have been more than a couple of second. Maybe The Doctor does get it right sometimes.
"No, I'm sorry. But did he say he was going to change what it means to be human?"
XOXO
I stood in front of the mirror in my room, just to check I looked alright for one last time. The man on the TV, Professor Lazarus was hosting some sort of party where he was going to 'change what it means to be human'. Martha already had an invite, given that her sister was a PR, and she had a plus one, which meant only one of us has to use the psychic paper. Martha was getting changed in her flat, and The Doctor was probably getting changed into his usual suit in his own room, if he even had one.
Now me, I was wearing a plain black dress that I had found in the wardrobe, with black heels to match it. I didn't know if it was wise, to wear heels at a party that The Doctor was going to, I would probably end up chucking the away somewhere by the end of the night. My hair was done up in a fishtail plat so that I could show of the earrings that the TARDIS had ever so conveniently placed on my bed.
"Kat, come on! The parties going to start soon!" I heard The Doctor shout from behind the door.
"I'm coming, quit with the nagging!"
After taking one final look in the mirror, I walked over to the door opening it. The Doctor was standing right in front of it looking rather impatient, as I had presumed he was in his black suit along with his usual white converses which stuck out against the rest of the suit.
"Converses with a suit? Really?"
"At least I'm wearing shoes I'll be able to walk in for the whole night." He retorted gesturing to my heels, "I mean look at the size of that heel. You'll never be able to run in those, you'll break a leg."
I rolled my eyes, "Your concern for my wellbeing is touching, but I'll be fine."
This time The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Come on then, Martha's waiting."
He led me down the corridor back into the control room, it didn't take long, it seems the TARDIS puts the rooms we want to go to relatively close. When we got in there, Martha was leaning against the console. She had her hair down, which was a surprise because all the time I've been with her, her hair has been up. She was wearing a chocolate brown dress, with matching heels, however her heels where a hell of a lot shorter than mine and I was starting to see what The Doctor was on about.
"Right, already then?" The Doctor asked, me and Martha nodded, "Let's go."
We walked out of the TARDIS and out of Martha's flat, into the cold streets of London, apparently the venue where Lazarus was holding this party wasn't far so we decided to walk, or more like The Doctor decided we were going to walk. I think he just wanted to see how long I would actually last in these heels, which I actually wasn't doing too bad in.
As we got closer towards the venue, I started to see more people walking all dressed up. Men with smart shoes, and girl with designer bags, it was starting to make me feel a little out of place. I had never been to a party like this before, or anything formal and I really didn't want to make a fool of myself. But then I was with The Doctor, and there was a small chance that he would make more of a fool of himself than I could make a fool of myself.
"You look nice Katherine." Martha said, "You too Doctor. Nice suit."
"Ugh, don't. Whenever I wear this something bad always happens." The Doctor said.
"Don't blame the suit, that's just you." I said smirking.
"I think it suits you." Martha said, "In a James Bond kind of way."
"James Bond?" The Doctor asked as he fixed his tie, "Really?"
XOXO
We finally got to Lazarus Laboratories, The Doctor became Martha's plus one and I ended up using the psychic paper to get in. The room where the party was being held was already full of people socializing, there was a tiny little orchestra playing music in the background and in the centre of the room was some sort of white tube, which I guess was part of Lazarus' little experiment or whatever it was.
"Oh look, they've got nibbles! I love nibbles." The Doctor said happily, as he placed one of those tiny little nibble things into his mouth causing me the roll my eyes slightly. For nine hundred and something years old he could be such a child sometimes.
"Hello!" Came a female voice from behind us. I turned around to see the same woman that I had seen on the news earlier today, Martha's sister which I now know to be called Tish.
"Tish!" Martha exclaimed pulling her sister into a tight hug.
"You look great. So what do you think? Impressive isn't it?" Tish asked.
Martha nodded, "Very."
"And two nights out in a row for you. That's dangerously close to a social life."
"If I keep this up, I'll end up in all the gossip columns." Martha said ever so slightly sarcastically.
"You might actually. You should keep an eye out for photographers. And Mum. She's coming too, even dragging Leo along with her."
"Leo? In black tie? That I must see." Martha said, she saw the looks that she kept giving me and The Doctor, "Oh this is The Doctor, and this is Katherine."
"Hello." The Doctor said shaking her hand while I just gave her a slight smile.
"Are they with you?" Tish asked.
"Well the Doctor is, he's my plus one and…"
"I was invited." I said showing her the psychic paper, which to her would be showing an invite, "Apparently my name fell of the list or something." Tish nodded buying the whole thing, and I let out a small sigh of relief.
"So this Lazarus, he's your boss?" I asked.
"Professor Lazarus, yes. I'm part of his executive staff." Tish answered.
Martha rolled her eyes, "She's in the PR department."
Tish shot Martha an evil glare, "I'm head of the PR department, actually." She snapped.
"You're joking!"
"I put this whole thing together." Tish replied sounding rather smug.
"So do you know what the Professor's going to be doing tonight?" The Doctor asked as he finished off another one of his little nibbles, "That looks like it might be a sonic micro-field manipulator."
Tish turned to look at Martha, smirking a little bit, "He's a science geek. I should have known." She said, "Got to get back to work now, I'll catch you later."
We watched as Tish walked off into the crowd of people, when she was out of sight I turned back to The Doctor who was holding yet another nibble in his hand, but he also had a confused expression splayed across his face.
"Science geek? What does that mean?" he asked.
"That you're obsessively enthusiastic about it."
The Doctor's expression turned from a confused one into an impressed and slightly smug one, and I tried my best not to roll my eyes at him. I had done that far too much today, and for the whole time I've been with him really. As another tray came round with even more nibbles came round, The Doctor took another handful.
"Really?" I asked.
The Doctor took one of the nibbles out of his hand and held it out for me to take, "Here, try one. They're good."
I took it out of his hand, taking the tiny bite out of it, letting the flavour fill my mouth, "Not bad at all." I said.
"Mum." I heard Martha say. Both me and The Doctor turned around to see Martha hugging a woman, obviously her mum. She looked around mid to late forties. She was wearing a gold sparkly dress and her hair was short and in tight curls. There was younger man standing next to her, which I assumed must be Martha's brother. Either that or her mum has a thing for younger men.
"All right, what's the occasion?" Martha's mum asked.
"What do you mean?" Martha asked, "I'm just pleased to see you."
"But you saw me last night."
"I know, I just missed you." Martha said turning to the man next to her mum, "You're looking good Leo." Oh so it is her brother.
"Yeah, if anyone asks me to fetch them a drink, I'll swing for them." Leo said.
"You disappeared last night." Martha's mum piped up again.
"I…. just went home." Martha said.
"On your own?" Martha's mum asked looking towards both me and The Doctor suspiciously.
"Oh, these are some friends of mine. Katherine and The Doctor." Martha said.
"Doctor what?" Martha's mum asked.
"No it's just The Doctor." I piped up.
Martha nodded, "We've been doing some work together."
Leo took his hand out, and both me and The Doctor shook it. Before turning to Martha's mum and doing the same. She was still looking at us suspiciously, but to be honest I couldn't blame her. She had never heard anything about us before; we had only met Martha a couple of days ago after all. Well technically twelve hours ago.
"Lovely to meet you, Mrs Jones. Heard a lot about you." The Doctor said.
"Have you?" Mrs Jones asked, "What have you heard then?"
"Well, you know, that you're Martha's mother and…" The Doctor trailed off trying to think of something, even though there wasn't, "Um… No, actually, that's about it. We haven't had much time to chat. You know, we've been busy."
"Busy? Doing what?" Hold on, is she trying to imply something?
"Oh. You know. Stuff."
If the way Mrs Jones had asked what we had been doing hadn't made me want to hit my head against a wall, the way The Doctor said 'stuff' certainly did. Even Martha looked embarrassed. Mrs Jones started to look at us even more weirdly and suspiciously and I just wanted to run away from the whole awkward situation, but as if right on queue, someone done that little hitting of a the fork on the glass thing grabbing everyone's attention. I turned myself away from Mrs Jones and to face the man that I had seen on TV earlier, Professor Lazerus.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Professor Richard Lazarus, and tonight I'm going to perform a miracle." He said, "It is, I believe, the most important advance since Rutherford split the atom. The biggest leap since Armstrong stood on the moon. Tonight, you will watch and wonder. But tomorrow, you will wake to a world which will be changed forever."
Lazarus opened the door to that tube thing which he had been standing in front on, climbing into it. I saw that over to the side, in the corner of the room there was people working on some machinery which I guessed were the controls. The next second there was a screeching noise coming from the machinery and a blinding blue light filled the room making everyone cover their eyes. It wasn't long until an alarm started blaring, which didn't sound like a good thing.
"Something's wrong." The Doctor said, "It's overloading."
He quickly ran over to the controls in the corner of the room and I followed, The Doctor jumped over to the other side, but because of my heels I had to quickly walk around. I was already starting to see The Doctor's point. The Doctor began to sonic the controls, pressing buttons and turning dials.
"Somebody stop him!" An old woman shouted, "Get him away from those controls!"
"If this thing goes up, it'll take the whole the whole building with it! Is that what you want?" The Doctor shouted back.
The Doctor kept pushing all the buttons possible on the controls but nothing was working. He ended up going to what was probably his last resort. He hopped back over onto the other side on the control panel and pulled out the plug, making the machine shut down instantly. Martha rushed up to the machine as did me and The Doctor.
"Get it open!" The Doctor said.
The door took a lot of muscle to open, but it finally did, and a figure started to emerge out of it. Once he was finally out, you could see that it was a man, but he was a lot younger than Lazarus, fifty years younger I'd say. But I could see the resemblance between him and the old man that we had seen walk into that machine not even five minutes ago. So this is what he meant when he said he was going to change what it means to be human.
"Ladies and gentlemen. I am Richard Lazarus. I am seventy six years old, and I am reborn!"
XOXO
Me and Martha watched from a distance and Lazarus posed for the photographers, the most smug smile on his face possible. The Doctor was looking around the machine, with a look of seriousness on his face.
"That can't be the same guy." Martha said.
"Martha, you can see it's the same guy. There's a massive resemblance there." I said.
"But it's impossible, it must be a trick."
"Oh, I wish it was a trick." The Doctor sighed.
"What just happened then?" Martha asked.
"He just changed what it means to be human." The Doctor said. He paused for a second before grabbing both mine and Martha's hands and dragging us along, "Come on."
He dragged us along until we were just by Lazarus, he was standing with an elder woman, who I guessed must be his wife or something. He was also holding a tray of nibbles scoffing them down, one by one. So it's not just The Doctor who likes them then.
"Richard!" I heard the old woman say.
"I'm famished." Lazarus answered back, with his mouth full of food.
"Energy deficit." The Doctor said as we walked closer towards them until we were right in front of them, "Always happens with this kind of process."
"You talk as if you see this every day, Mr…?"
"Doctor." The Doctor answered, "And, well, no, not every day, but I have some experience with this kind of transformation." He said.
Lazarus smirked ever so slightly, "That's not possible."
"Using hypersonic sound waves to create a state of resonance." The Doctor said causing Lazarus' smirk to disappear almost as quick as it had come, "That's inspired."
"You understand the theory then?" Lazarus asked.
"Enough to know that you couldn't possible have allowed for all the variables." The Doctor said, his tone a little darker and more serious now.
"No experiment is entirely without risk." Lazarus replied.
"That thing nearly exploded." The Doctor said, "You might as well have stepped into a blender."
"You're not qualified to comment." The old lady spoke up, and I turned around to glare at her.
"Excuse you, but if he hadn't stopped it, it would have exploded." I said.
"Well then I thank you, Doctor." Lazarus said, "But that's a simple engineering issue. What happened inside the capsule was exactly what was supposed to happen. No more, no less."
"You've know way of knowing that until you've run proper tests." Martha said.
Lazarus laughed, "Look at me! You can see what happened, I'm all the proof you need." He said.
"The device will be properly certified before we start to operate commercially." The lady said.
"Commercially? You are kidding me right? That's going to cause chaos!" I said.
"Not chaos." Lazarus said, "Change. A chance for humanity to evolve, to improve.
"This isn't about improving; this is about you and your customers living a little longer." The Doctor said.
"Not a little longer, Doctor, a lot longer. Perhaps indefinitely." Lazarus said.
"Richard, we have things to discuss. Upstairs." She ordered.
"Goodbye Doctor." Lazarus said walking past us, "In a few years, you'll look back and laugh at how wrong you were." He said turning back round to face us. He placed his hand out, and I held out mind as well and shook it out of politeness. He then placed a kiss on it, and I tried my best to roll my eyes at him as he walked away.
"Oh, he's out of his depth." The Doctor said, "He's no idea the damage he might've done."
"So what do we do now?" Martha asked.
"Well, this place must be full of laboratories. I say we run our own tests." The Doctor answered.
"Lucky that's I've got a DNA sample then isn't it?" I said smirking, waving my hand in front of The Doctor.
"Oh, Kat, you are a star!"
XOXO
"Amazing."
We were in one of the many laboratories in the building, but obviously The Doctor had chosen the biggest one he could find. We had scanned the DNA sample, or more The Doctor had and right now we were standing in front of a computer, just staring at it.
"What?" I asked.
"Lazarus' DNA." The Doctor said.
I shrugged, "Can't see anything different."
"Me neither." Martha said.
The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Look at it!" he said.
That very second, there was a little flash on the screen. Causing the little DNA structure thing to sort of kink out and then go back to normal again. Sort of like it was fluctuating.
"Oh my god!" Martha said.
"Did that just change?" I asked, even though I really already knew the answer. The Doctor just simply nodded.
"It can't have." Martha said.
"But it did." The Doctor retorted.
"But it's impossible." Martha protested.
"Yep. And that's two impossible things that we've seen so far tonight." The Doctor said, "Don't you love it when that happens?" He said, a little grin forming on his face.
"That means Lazarus has changed his own molecular patterns." Martha said.
The Doctor nodded, "Hypersonic sound waves to destabilise the cell structure. Then a metagenic program to manipulate the coding in the protein strands." He smirked slightly when he was my confused expression, as he began to explain it to me in simpler terms, "Basically, he hacked into his own genes and instructed them to rejuvenate." He said.
"But they're still mutating now." Martha said.
"Because he missed something. Something in his DNA that's been activated and won't let him stabilise. Something that's trying to change him."
"Change him into what?" I asked.
The Doctor shrugged, "I don't know. But I think we need to find out."
"Well that lady said that they were going upstairs." I said.
"Let's go."
XOXO
The lift came to a halt as it reached the top floor, which was Lazarus' office. The doors opened and three of us stepped out. The room was in total darkness and I was starting to wonder if they had already gone back downstairs to the party. I fumbled around for the light switch, finally finding it and turning it on so we could see around properly. The office was huge, it had what looked like a massive screen at the end of the room which covered the entire wall. Further towards the other side of the room was an antique, wooden desk with bits of paper strewn all over it.
"This is his office all right." I scoffed.
"So where is he?" The Doctor said.
I shrugged, "Don't know."
"Let's try back at re-.."
Martha stopped mid-sentence and her eyes widened. I followed her gaze to see what she was looking at. Sticking out from behind Lazarus' desk was a leg, but it looked weird. The skin, if it was even skin seemed all dry, brittle and grey. We ran over towards it, to see that it was in fact a whole body. And I recognised instantly by the dress, that it was that woman who had been with Lazarus earlier.
"Is that Lady Thaw?" Martha asked.
"Used to be." The Doctor answered, "It's just a shell, had all the life-energy drained out of her. Like squeezing the juice out of an orange."
"Was is Lazarus?" I asked.
"Could be." The Doctor said.
"So he's changed already." I said.
"No necessarily. You saw the DNA, it was fluctuating. The process must demand energy. This might have not been enough." The Doctor said.
"What? So he might do this again?" Martha asked.
We all got back up and ran towards the lift, The Doctor kept pressing the button impatiently until finally the door to it opened, and we walked inside, pressing the button to take us back down to the ground floor. It seemed like forever until the lift came to a halt again and the door opened. We began to walk through the crowd of people at the quickest pace possible, searching around the room of Lazarus.
"I can't see him anywhere." I said.
"He can't be far." The Doctor said, "Keep looking."
We headed further down the room, trying not to bump into anyone. The Doctor was way ahead of me and Martha, and I was trying to find it hard to keep up with him in these heels.
"You all right Marth?" Came a male voice, both me and Martha turned around to see her brother grinning at both of us, "Think mum wants to talk to you." I turned back around to see that The Doctor had turned around and was walking back towards us.
"Have you seen Lazarus anywhere?" Martha asked.
"Yeah, he was getting cosy with Tish a couple of minutes ago." Leo answered.
"With Tish?" Martha said, staring at The Doctor wide-eyed again.
"Ah, Doctor." Mrs Jones said as she walked towards us. Great, just what we need. More awkward conversations while Lazarus goes and eats people.
"Where did they go?" The Doctor asked Leo, ignoring the fact that Mrs Jones was even there.
"Upstairs I think." Leo said, "Why?"
The Doctor didn't answer, he just hurtled back towards the lift, causing Mrs Jones to spill her drink in the process. I managed to dodge myself out of the way without getting any of it down my dress, but the same didn't go for Mrs Jones who ended up getting her dress soaked with it.
"Doctor… I'm speaking to you!" I heard Mrs Jones shout.
"Not now, Mum!" Martha shouted back, before joining both me and The Doctor into the lift.
We pressed the button taking us back up to Lazarus' office, we expected that where he would have taken Tish as well, we were just hoping we got there in time. Once we finally got out of the lift and into Lazarus' office, there was no sign of either him, or Tish.
"Where are they?" Martha asked.
"The fluctuating DNA will give off an energy signature." The Doctor said as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket, "I might be able to pick it up." The sonic screwdriver started making a beeping sound which started to get louder and louder, "Got him." he pointed to the ceiling, but I guessed he meant he was on a higher level.
"But this is the top floor…" I paused for second, and then it clicked, "The roof!"
XOXO
We finally reached the roof. Just like the sonic screwdriver had told us, Lazarus was here, standing right next to Tish who I guessed was his next meal. He was quoting something to her, some sort of poem I guessed. At least it sounded like a poem.
"Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act…"
"Falls the shadow." The Doctor finished off for him, making our presence known.
"So, the mysterious Doctor knows his Eliot." Lazarus said, "I'm impressed."
"Martha, what are you doing here?" Tish asked.
"Tish, get away from him." Martha said.
"What? Don't tell me what to do."
"I wouldn't have thought you had time for poetry Lazarus." The Doctor said. Knew it sounded like poetry. "What with you being so busy defying the laws of nature and everything."
"You're right Doctor. One lifetime's been too short for to me to do everything I'd like. How much more I'll get done in two or three or four." Lazarus said.
"It's not how it works." I said, making myself known, "Some people live more in 20 years that others do in 80. It's the person that matters, not the time."
"But if it's the right person, what a gift that would be." Lazarus said.
"Or what a curse." The Doctor said back, "Look at what you've done to yourself."
"Who are you to judge me?" Lazarus said. No wait, snarled. He definitely snarled.
"Over here Tish." Martha said to her sister, who came walking towards her. A look of frustration and anger on her face.
"You have to spoil everything don't you?" Tish said, "Every time I find someone nice, you have to go and try and find fault."
"But Tish he's a monster."
"I know the age things a bit freaky, but it works for Catherine Zeta-Jones." Tish said.
However I wasn't interested in Martha and Tish's little argument. I was more worried about what was happening behind them. Lazarus had collapsed to the floor, his flesh tearing apart as he was changing into something else. He was now about fifteen feet tall and on all fours.
"Run!" The Doctor shouted, as he grabbed my hand dragging me out of the way, just in time before Lazarus lunged at me. We ran through the door that we had used to get up to the roof and The Doctor soniced it shut, locking it as Lazarus continually started hitting at the door trying to get it to burst open. We ran down the stairs back into Lazarus' office pressing the button to the lift, waiting impatiently for it to open.
"Are you okay?" Martha asked.
"I was gonna snog him!"
Suddenly all the lights dimmed, and the lift stopped working, showing an red 'X' at the top, indicating that the lift was now out of order. A high-pitched alarm was blaring, and an automated voice started talking over a PA.
Security One. Security One.
"What's happening?" I asked.
"An intrusion. It triggers a security lockdown. Kills most of the power. Stops the lifts, seals the exits." Tish answered.
"He must be breaking through that door." The Doctor said, we all looked back up at the door, that kept making a clanking noise every time Lazarus hit it, "The stairs come on."
We headed down the stairs as fast we could. The Doctor was in front of all of us, while I was behind them all, which should probably make me feel nervous more than it does right now, seeming as that meant Lazarus would get me first. I almost stopped dead when I heard the door break open and the noise of Lazarus moving on the floors above us.
"He's got inside!" I shouted to the Doctor.
"We haven't got much time!"
We ran down the last flights of stairs as our fastest pace possible down to the ground floor. Surprisingly when we got down there no-one was freaking out, what was good seeming as we didn't have that much time.
"Tish, is there another way out of here?" The Doctor asked.
"There's an exit in the corner but it'll be closed by now." She answered.
The Doctor grabbed his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, chucking it towards me, "Kat, setting 54. Hurry."
I ran towards the exit in the corner, as I fumbled around with the sonic screwdriver trying to find setting 54, Tish and Martha followed me while The Doctor went to the centre of the room, probably to warn everyone.
"Listen to me! You people are in serious danger. You need to get out of here right now!" I heard the Doctor shout.
"Don't be ridiculous." I heard a woman say, "The biggest danger here is choking on an olive."
Next second, there was the sound of glass smashing. I turned around to see Lazarus, just on the last flight of stairs. It was then that everyone started to panic, screaming as they began to run towards the exit. I quickly got back to trying to unlock the door, as the first lot of people started to come up beside us, banging against the door. The door finally opened and everyone began rushing through. Martha began running off in the opposite direction back into the room and I quickly followed her. We stopped when we reached an injured Leo and Mrs Jones, with Lazarus edging closer towards him.
"Lazarus! Leave them alone!" The Doctor shouted, causing Lazarus to turn back around to him.
Me and Martha helped Mrs Jones pick up Leo, helping him move towards the exit, while The Doctor carried on distracting Lazarus hopefully so we managed to get them out on time. We finally reached the entrance to the building, where Tish was waiting for us.
"What's The Doctor doing?" she asked.
"Trying to buy us some time, so let's not waste it." I said.
"Leo look at me. Focus on me. Let me see your eyes." Martha said as she began to examine him, "Okay he's got concussion, Mum you're going to have to help him outside." She walked towards one of those boxes full of ice, grabbing a hand full and placing it in a napkin before handing it over to her mum, "This'll keep the swelling down. Now go, I'll be right behind you."
"Come on Tish move." I said, moving her in the direction of the exit, "We need to get out of here."
We headed down to the front door, which was still locked. Everyone was right in front of it banging against it, so I couldn't get anywhere near it to unlock it that way.
"We can't get out." Tish said, "We're trapped."
"There's got to be an override switch. Where's the security desk?" I asked.
"There." Tish answered pointing to a small desk in front of us, I climbed over it. I walked over to the controls right at the back. Grabbing hold of the sonic screw driver, I began sonicing them, hoping that it would work. After a couple of goes I finally got the right switch and the doors opened, as everyone frantically tried to get through it all at the same time.
"I've got to go back." I said as I hopped back over the security desk.
"Are you crazy or something?" Mrs Jones said, "You saw what that thing did. It'll kill you."
"I'm not leaving The Doctor in there on his own. I have to go." I said.
"I'm coming with you." Martha said as she went to stand next to me.
"Martha!" Mrs Jones paused for a minute as her expression darkened slightly, "It's that Doctor isn't it? That's what's happened to you. That's why you've changed."
"He was biding us time. Time for both of you to get out too." Tish said.
"Yeah well I'm not leaving him."
I ran back up the stairs, taking my heels off in the process. My feet didn't hurt but I knew that I was going be a lot quicker without them. I shivered slightly as my bare foot hit the cold stone flooring. I got back into the room, where Lazarus and The Doctor was a couple of minutes ago, only to find that they weren't here anymore. It was then that I heard the clipping of heels on the floor, and Martha showed up right in front of me.
"Ran off from your mum then?" I said.
"Yeah well, like you, I wasn't going to leave him." Martha said, "So where is he?"
"I don't know, but he's got to be somewhere. Come on." I replied.
I ran towards the stairs and started to climb up them, as quick as I could, trying to find any signs of The Doctor's whereabouts. We got up to the next floor above when I heard a massive explosion come from the very other end of the floor. Knowing for a fact that it was The Doctor, I ran straight towards the direction of its source, Martha following behind me. I ran round the corner only to run straight into the Doctor who had tried to turn round the corner at them same time.
"What are you two doing here?" The Doctor asked.
"Returning this." I said handing him the sonic screwdriver, "Plus, neither of us were going to leave you."
"How did you…"
"Heard the explosion. Knew it was you." I answered cutting him off.
"I blasted Lazarus." The Doctor said.
"Did you kill him?" Martha asked.
I heard snarling. I turned around, and saw that Lazarus was just across the other side of the floor from us. He jumped, and I hoped to god that he didn't jump high enough that he would fall through the gap that split the floor into two parts. Unfortunately he didn't as he clung onto the edge pulling himself up. The Doctor grabbed hold of my hand and he began running, dragging both me and Martha along.
He took us back down the stairs, and back down towards the room where the party had been held. As we reached the bottom of the stairs he let go of our hands and ran towards the white tube thing, which I still don't know real name of. Me and Martha quickly followed him.
"What are we going to do now? We've just gone round in a circle." I said.
Lazarus came down the last flight of stairs, and began stalking towards us. The Doctor opened the door to the tube pushing both and Martha into it before climbing in him and shutting it. The thing wasn't exactly designed for three people, but we all managed to fit, although there wasn't really any personal space.
"Are we hiding?" Martha asked.
"No, he knows we're here. But this is his masterpiece." The Doctor said, "I'm betting he won't destroy it, not even to get at us."
"But we're trapped." I said.
"Well, yeah, that is a slight problem." The Doctor said.
"You mean you don't have a plan?"
"Yes. The plan was to get inside here." The Doctor answered.
"Well then what?" Martha said.
"Well, then I'd come up with another plan." He said.
"Well in your own time then." I said, every word dripped in sarcasm.
The Doctor went to reach inside his pocket, to grab his sonic screwdriver, but due to the small space that the three of us were in, he ended up jabbing both me and Martha in the side with his elbow.
"Hey!" I complained.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry." He said as I finally managed to get a hold of it, "Here we are."
"What are you going to do with that?" Martha asked.
"Improvise." The Doctor said as he bent down to reach the floor. It seemed rather awkward, given those us three were in such a small space, me and Martha were in dresses and he was down there. But seeming as we're trapped in here, with a creature that wants to kill us outside. I decided to let the awkwardness pass.
The Doctor soniced a small panel of the floor, lifting it up to reveal thousands of coloured wires, all tangled up with each other. Picking up a couple of the wires, he started to fiddle with them, sonicing some of them every now and again.
"I still don't understand where that thing came from." I said
"Is it alien?" Martha asked.
"No. For once, it's strictly human in origin." The Doctor answered.
"Human? How can it be human?" I asked.
"Probably from dormant genes in Lazarus' DNA. The energy field in this thing must've reactivated them. Now it looks like they're becoming dominant." The Doctor said.
"So it's a throw back." I said.
The Doctor nodded, "Some option that evolution rejected for you millions of years ago. But the potential is still there, locked away in your genes, forgotten about until Lazarus unlocked it by mistake."
"It's like Pandora's box." Martha said.
"Exactly." The Doctor said, "Nice shoes, by the way. And speaking of shoes Kat where are yours?" he asked.
"I ditched them." I looked down to see The Doctor looking up at me smirking, "Well I'm quicker without them."
"Told you so." The Doctor said as he got back to work.
"Shut up before I kick you in the face." I said.
Suddenly, the inside of the tube started was filled with a blue light. And I heard the screeching noise that I had heard earlier when Lazarus had made himself younger. Oh shit.
"Doctor, what's happening?" Martha asked.
The Doctor paused from what he was going, "It sounds like he's switched the machine on."
"Well that's not good is it?" I snapped.
"Well, I was hoping it was going to take him a little bit longer to figure that out." The Doctor said, as he started sonicing the wires quicker that he had been sonicing earlier.
The lights in the room started turning from blue to white, and they kept getting brighter and brighter each seconds, to the point that I could barely see a thing.
"I don't wanna hurry you but…"
"I know." The Doctor said, "Nearly done."
"Well what are you doing?" Martha asked.
"I'm trying to set the capsule to reflect energy rather than receive it."
"Will that kill him?" I asked.
"When he transforms, he's three times the size, cellular triplication so he's spreading himself thing." The Doctor said. I didn't understand if that meant no it won't kill him or yes it will. But it was really hoping that it was the latter.
The Doctor carried on sonicing the wires, until he pressed some sort of switch. Within seconds the light had dimmed until there was nothing, and the capsule's power went down, allowing us to open the door. The Doctor stepped out first, then me, then Martha. It seemed like we were safe, Lazarus wasn't outside waiting for us, and ready to eat us.
"I thought we were going to go through the blender then." Martha said sighing in relief.
"It really shouldn't take that long just to reverse to polarity." The Doctor said, "I must be a bit out of practice." The Doctor walked forwards, and I followed him, and I suddenly caught sight of Lazarus. He was back in his human form again, it didn't look like he was human so I figured that he was dead.
"He seems so human again. It's kind of pitiful." I said.
"Eliot saw that, too." The Doctor said, "'This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but with a whimper.'"
XOXO
We watched from the entrance of the building as Lazarus' body was wheeled into the ambulance. I had tried looking for my shoes where I had left them, but it seems someone had taken them. So I was standing outside, on the cold floor, with no shoes on. My feet were freezing and I looked like an idiot.
"Oh my god you're alright!" Tish said, as she pulled Martha into a tight hug. Mrs Jones and Leo were following close behind, Leo stopped as he reached Martha but Mrs Jones carried on, walking up to me and The Doctor.
"Oh, Mrs Jones. We still haven't finished our chat." The Doctor said grinning.
The next second I knew there was the sound of Mrs Jones' hand hitting The Doctor's left cheek. It sounded like it hurt, and going by the hand-print now left on The Doctor's cheek, and his reaction I'm guessing it did.
"Keep away from my daughter! And Katherine! I don't know what you done to Katherine to make her trust you, and care about you so much after everything you've done to her, but I will not let you do it to my daughter." Okay what the hell is she talking about?
"Mum what are you doing?" Martha asked.
"He's dangerous, I've been told things. About him, what he's done to her." Mrs Jones said pointing at me when she said 'her.
"What are you talking about? He's done nothing to me." I said.
"Yeah, well going by what I've been told you would say that." Mrs Jones retorted.
Suddenly, there was a crashing noise coming from nearby. The Doctor ran off to find the source, and I went to follow him, but I felt someone take a tight grip of my hand. I turned around to Mrs Jones looking at me with sympathetic eyes.
"Leave him. Both of you." She said looking at me, then Martha then back to me, "Can't you even remember what he's done to you?"
I shot Mrs Jones a glare before breaking free out of her vice like grasp, "He didn't do anything to me." I practically hissed at her before running off to find The Doctor.
I tried to push the pain in my feet to once side as I ran on the sharp stones in the pavement. I heard the clipping of heels again, but this time there were two sets. I turned around slightly to see that both Martha and Tish, not bothering to wait for them, I turned round the corner, to find the ambulance, just parked right in the middle of the road. Well I say parked, the engine was still running. You had two men in the back and one man at the front, the driver. They all looked exactly like Lady Thaw had looked earlier.
"Oh crap." I said causing The Doctor to jump as he jolted around to the look at me.
"What are you doing out here with no shoes on?" He asked.
I rolled my eyes, "Never mind that, where's he gone?"
Just then Martha and Tish finally turned up; as The Doctor grabbed his sonic screwdriver out, doing the scan thing he had done earlier. Me and Martha watched him, while Tish just started down at the bodies, mortified.
"That way." The Doctor said, his sonic screwdriver pointing towards and old building, "The church."
"Cathedral." Tish said, finally turning her attention over to us, "It's Southwark Cathedral. He told me."
The Doctor walked towards the cathedral's entrance, his sonic screwdriver still bleeping as me, Martha and Tish followed behind him. The doors to the cathedral were already open, so someone must be in there, and if the sonic was right, it was Lazarus in here. We crept through slowly, trying not to make a noise even though I didn't really have a problem in doing that given that I was barefoot, it was only mainly Martha and Tish that had to walk slowly.
"Do you think he's in here?" Martha asked.
"Where would you go if you were looking for sanctuary?" The Doctor said as we edged further into the cathedral, down past the numerous rows of wooden chairs, right down to the very front, behind a table and as expected, Lazarus was there. He was sitting on the stone floor, wrapped up in one of the red blankets that you can get in ambulances. The Doctor walked around so that he was facing him properly but me, Martha and Tish stayed put.
"I came here before. A lifetime ago." Lazarus said, "I thought I was going to die them. In fact, I was sure of it. I sat here, just a child. The sound of planes and bombs outside."
"The Blitz." The Doctor stated.
"You've read about it." Lazarus said.
"I was there."
Lazarus raised an eyebrow at him, "You're too young." No Lazarus, he's way older than you.
"So are you." The Doctor answered back, causing Lazarus to laugh, only until I heard the sound of bones cracking, and then he started to gasp out in pain. I guessed he was already starting to change again already. The gaps between his changes were getting a hell of a lot shorter. I watched The Doctor, as he kept looking up at the tower as Lazarus continued with his little story.
"In the morning the fires had died, but I was still alive." Lazarus said, "I swore I'd never face death like that again. So defenceless. I would arm myself. Fight back, defeat it."
"That's what you were trying to do today?" The Doctor asked, even though he made it sound more like statement rather than a question.
"That's what I did today." Lazarus corrected.
"What about the other people who died?" The Doctor asked, raising his voice at the same time.
"They were nothing." Lazarus said, "I changed the course of history."
"Any of them might have done too. You think history's only made with equations?" The Doctor snapped back, "Facing death is part of being human. You can't change that."
"No, Doctor. Avoiding death, that's being human." Lazarus argued, "It's our strongest impulse, to cling to life with every fibre of being. I'm only doing what everyone before me has tried to do. I've simply been more successful." He let out another gasp of pain, as I heard the same sort of cracking bone noise.
"Look at yourself. You're mutating. You have no control over it. You call that success?" the Doctor said.
"I call it progress." Lazarus said in-between the gasps of pain, "I'm more now than I was. More than just an ordinary human."
The Doctor shook his head, "There's no such thing as an ordinary human."
Lazarus let out another gasp of pain, as he went from kneeling to lying down on the floor. The Doctor watched, glancing back up at the tower every now and then. I stepped over to stand beside him, all that time not taking my eye off Lazarus.
"Doctor, he's going to change any minute." I said.
The Doctor nodded, "I know. If I could get him up into the bell tower somehow, I think I have an idea that might work."
"I've got it." I said.
"No. Don't you dare." The Doctor said, looking at me an expression of complete seriousness, "I'll find another way." Yeah that's right Doctor, you'll try and find another way, even though there really isn't another one, and you know it. The Doctor walked away from me, getting closer to Lazarus, who was now sitting all hunched up. As he heard The Doctor move his head shot up, so he was looking at him.
"You're so sentimental, Doctor. Maybe you are older than you look." He said.
"I'm old enough to know that a longer life isn't always a better one." The Doctor said, "In the end, you just get tired. Tired of the struggle. Tired of losing everyone that matters to you. Tired of watching everything turn to dust." He walked over to Lazarus until he was right in front of him, bending down so that he could look him in the eye, "If you live long enough, Lazarus, the only certainty left is that you'll end up alone."
"That's a price worth paying." Lazarus said.
"Is it?"
Lazarus cried out in pain again, and I knew that he was going to change soon. And I knew that there was no way that The Doctor would be able to get Lazarus into the bell tower without me as bait. Whether The Doctor liked it or not, I was going to do this.
"I will feed soon." Lazarus said.
The Doctor shook his head, "I'm not going to let that happen."
"You've not been able to stop me so far."
"Leave him Lazarus." I said, causing Lazarus' head to snap around to face me, "He's old and bitter. Thought you had a taste for fresher meat."
"Kat, no." The Doctor said shooting me a warning look.
But it was too late. Lazarus snarled as he jumped up towards me, and then I ran like hell. I bolted my way down the past all the chairs, towards where I guessed the entrance to the bell tower was. I heard Martha and Tish running behind me until they finally caught up with me.
"What are you doing?" I asked through my already ragged breaths.
"Keeping you out of trouble." Martha answered.
"Doctor, the tower!" I shouted, as I started to run up the narrow staircase leading towards the tower, Martha and Tish following right behind me. The three of us froze as we heard Lazarus cry out in pain, before the cries immediately changed into snarls, and growls like an animal.
"Did you hear that?" Tish asked.
Martha nodded, "He's changed again."
"We've got to keep moving." I said, "We've got to lead him up."
We kept running at the fastest pace possible, and right now I was glad that I was no longer in the heels. Although I could have used them as something to throw, to fight against Lazarus, slow him down a bit. We were quite high up already, and I wondered how high we still had to go.
"Kat!" I heard The Doctor shout from further down. I quickly ran towards one of the archways nearby and looked down to see The Doctor standing there.
"Doctor!"
"Take him to the top, the very top of the bell tower, do you hear me?" he said.
"Up to the top?" I asked, The Doctor nodded.
"Katherine…" I heard Martha say, I just ignored her.
"Then what do we do?" I asked The Doctor.
"Katherine come on!" Tish shouted dragging me away from the archway. I turned around to see Lazarus only a few metres away from us. We started to run again, trying to keep the distance from us and Lazarus as long as possible. After running up what seemed like a thousand flight of stairs, we reached a door, opening it we finally found that we were at the top. But to our dismay, there was nowhere to run. There was some decking that went round in a circle, but apart from that there was nothing. Lazarus could get us easily up here.
"There's nowhere else to go, we're trapped." Tish said.
"But this is where he said to bring him." I said.
"Okay, so we're not trapped. We're bait." Tish said even more nervous than before.
"Tish he knows what he's doing, we have to trust him." Martha said.
"Ladies." Came a dark sinister voice. I turned my attention away Tish and Martha and do the direction to where the voice had come from. Not to any surprise, Lazarus was there, still in his other form. I pulled both Martha and Tish behind me, blocking them away from Lazarus.
"Both of you stay behind me. If he takes me, make a run for it. Head back down the stairs, you should have enough time." I said.
"Kat no wa—"
"Just do it!" I practically yelled.
Lazarus, used his tail, which also looked a lot like a stinger and lunged it towards us. The three of us screamed as we all ducked, only just missing it's hit. That didn't stop him though; he took another lunge at us. I pushed Martha and Tish out of the way before moving out of the way too, but in the opposite direction, with it only just missing me again. I suddenly heard the sound of the organ playing, and I guessed this was part of the Doctor's plan. And right now I was hoping it would work. Lazarus made another lunge, but instead of hitting me, he hit the wooden railing breaking a chunk of it off from right in front of me. Meaning if the next time he hit me, I would most definitely fall. And as expected when he took another lunge at me, he hit me, chucking me off. However I managed to cling onto the ledge just in the nick of time, but now I was more vulnerable. Lazarus stood just over the edge, with a taunting grin on his face. He kept lunging at me trying to get my to fall, but I tried my best to hold my grip.
"Get away from her!" Martha shouted.
I screamed, as I felt my grip loosen, still trying to cling on with all I had. Suddenly the music from the organ changed to an ear splitting volume and the whole building seemed to shake, I saw Martha and Tish cover their ears with their hands, and I only wished I could do the same but both my hands were to pre-occupied with trying to cling on for dear life, which was even harder now given the whole place was shaking. On the plus side Lazarus seemed affected by it as he wailed out in pain. After a short while he finally fell all the way down to the ground, and the organ finally stopped. I felt the grip of in my hands slip and I let out another scream as I nearly fell, only to have my hands been taken hold of my both Tish and Martha. They pulled me back up and I sighed in relief as I was finally safe.
"Kat!" I heard The Doctor shout.
"I'm okay. We're all okay!" I shouted back. I turned around to look at the two sisters, "Thanks."
"It's The Doctor you should be thanking." Tish said.
"Told you he'd think of something." Martha said.
"He cut it a bit fine though didn't he?"
"He always does." I said, "It's more fun that way."
"Who is he?" Tish asked looking at Martha.
"He's The Doctor."
XOXO
We finally got back down to the bottom of the cathedral where The Doctor was waiting. As soon as he saw us he ran towards us, pulling me into tight hug, lifting me off the floor.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Always." I said as he placed me back down on the floor, "Didn't know you could play though."
"Well." The Doctor said, "Hang around with Beethoven you're bound to pick a few things up."
"Yeah. Like playing loud. Surprised I haven't gone deaf." I said glaring at him.
"Sorry?" The Doctor said, before smirking. I rolled my eyes and gave him a playful hit on the shoulder.
"Come on you. We better get out there; we have a lot of explaining to do."
XOXO
We finally got back to Martha's house. The Doctor grabbed his key out of his pocket, unlocking the TARDIS door and opening it. I hated it, having to say goodbye again. I honestly didn't want Martha to go, it may have only been around a couple of days, or twelve hours whichever way you want to put it, but we had still become really close. And it was going to suck without having another girl on the TARDIS.
"Something else that just kind of escalated then." The Doctor said.
"I can see a pattern developing. You two should take more care in the future, and the past, and whatever other tie period you find yourselves in." Martha said.
"It's been fun though hasn't it?" I said grinning.
"Yes!" Martha exclaimed grinning back.
"So what do you think?" The Doctor asked, "One more trip."
Martha shook her head, "No."
I looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "What do you mean, no?" I asked.
"Yeah. I thought you liked it." The Doctor added.
"I do. But, I just can't. My mum, Leo, Tish they've seen all that stuff now and I can't just leave them with any answers. "she paused for second, "But don't think you're getting rid of me that easily. I have Katherine's number, and when that phone rings. You better come running, no if's and's or but's."
The Doctor done his little mock salute, "Yes Ma'am." He gave Martha a quick hug before turning and walking back into the TARDIS, but just as this morning I stopped giving her a hug as well.
"Look after him." she said.
"Look after you." I replied.
We finally pulled apart, and I gave her one last wave before entering the TARDIS myself. The Doctor was already waiting, and as soon as I closed the door he flicked the leaver sending us into the vortex. Once we were finally drifting safely he turned back around to me.
"So, what do you want to do next?" he asked
"Well first, I want to change." I said gesturing to the dress, "And then well, we have the whole of time and space. Surprise me."
The Doctor grinned as I headed towards the TARDIS corridor. Surprising, the room was the first one to appear. Opening it, I instantly jumped onto the bed, enjoying the comfy-ness of it. I turned on my side towards my bed side table, to see my phone flashing, showing that I had a new message. Opening it I was it was from Martha.
I forgot to say, stay out of trouble! Xx
I smiled as I typed my answer back.
That's a hard thing to do when you're with The Doctor.
XOXO
Authors Note: meh wasn't sure about the ending, but yeah. So as you can see I decided to leave Martha, but don't worry she will be making a return. Also did you like the twist with the story about Katherine and Mrs Jones has been told? Thanks to grapjuice101 for that :P Anyway review etc. hopefully the next update will be sooner than this one.