His words confused her just a bit. "Umm-do you mean the name on the bracelet? Yeah, I'm Hope," she said, taking it from him and slipping it back in her pocket. "Thank you for your help."
Martha was staring wide eyed at her, very aware of what was going on. "Doctor-you're saying this is her?"
When the Doctor nodded, Hope started to feel a bit nervous, and the snippet of conversation she had heard between them earlier flooded her mind. They had been searching for a young girl, seventeen or eighteen, with dark hair.
The Doctor nodded to Martha without taking his eyes from Hope. This was going to be the difficult part.
"Listen, Hope-you don't know us, but we know who you are-er, rather who you were." The Doctor sat on the ground and pulled his knees up, making him have to look up to talk to her.
"Who are you people?" Hope had to fight to keep her voice down. This was entirely too wierd for her-was this some kind of stupid prank?
It was Martha's turn to chime in. "Hope, my name is Martha Jones, and this is the Doctor. I know-it's all a bit odd. I thought that same thing when I met the Doctor, but you have to trust us. Is there somewhere we can go-we just want to talk to you."
Hope knew she should feel frightened-they were two people she had never seen before in her life, talking to her like they knew who she was. But when she looked at the man called The Doctor, she felt...calm. It was an unsettling peace, that seemed to rest in her bones. She didn't know him, but he didn't scare her.
"Alright...there's a patio, out behind the library," Hope found herself saying. They just wanted to talk-what could talking hurt?
"Thank you, and we don't want to hurt you. We just want to talk." The Doctor stood and gave Hope room to lead them out to the patio.
He leaned forward in the hard, iron back chair. How do you tell someone that the life they have isn't really theirs? He remembered being chased by the Family of Blood, how John Smith was so scared and so reluctant to open the watch...
But he finally did. That was the important thing.
"So...what are we talking about?" Hope rested her palms on her knees, staring at the cracked, weathered brick of the patio-she wasn't scared, but nervous, and curious, and anxious all at once.
"Hope, what if I told you that your life wasn't always...this way?" The Doctor finally began to speak.
"Depends on what you by 'this way.'" She tilted her head slightly, though not quite making eye contact. "What do you mean, Doctor?"
He was forced to take a deep breath. This was it-that was when a completely innocent girl got hurt. This was when a promise was broken. But this was also the moment that would possibly give them strength.
"Hope, you're not from Earth-where you're from is a far, far planet called Gallifrey."
It took a moment for his words to sink in, but when they did Hope just couldn't help herself. She began to laugh-she knew they couldn't be serious.
"Ok-I get it! Harold Saxon and all that alien stuff. Hilarious, but I really have to finish my project." She was still laughing as she started to get up, but Martha grasped her hand.
"I know it sounds completely mad, Hope. I thought the Doctor was a bit of a loon when I first met him too, but you have to trust us!"
"So you're telling me I'm secretly an alien?"
Martha nodded, not knowing what else to tell her. She knew how crazy it sounded-how would she expect someone else, a young girl no doubt, to ever believe it?
"Your species-we're called Time Lords, and were an ancient race. We're from a distant planet called Gallifrey," The Doctor added.
"Wait-so you're an alien too? Where's your space ship then?" Hope asked smugly as she crossed her arms to her chest. She would give them two more minutes to play their little game, then she definitely had to get back to her project.
"Weeelll, that's a bit of a long story, but trust me-we have one! The TARDIS-bigger on the inside and all that."
"Just touch his chest-that's another thing with your species. Two hearts," Martha interjected.
"Brilliant idea Martha!" The Doctor exclaimed, then held open his coat. "Go on then, Hope! I don't bite!"
She rolled her eyes, but figured she had no choice. They wouldn't leave her alone obviously, so she reached out and put her hands to his chest.
And what she felt was something she never would have expected.
She jerked her hands away as she felt the powerful double beating of two hearts, one on either side of his chest. Obviously they weren't your run-of-the-mill pranksters, but a couple of people who were totally out of their minds.
"Okay-this is just too wierd for me!" Hope ran across the cracked patio, obviously shaken from what she had just felt.
"Hope-wait-!"
"Listen, I don't know who you people are," Hope growled as she whirled around. "But leave me alone! This isn't funny anymore!"
This encounter did not go as planned, and The Doctor saw their chance slipping away. He tried to think of something to say, something that would at least make her stop. Martha turned to look at him, panic flooding her eyes.
No, no, no-you can't go! Not when the entire human race needs you. That was the very second he made the decision that the whole of human existence was worth the life of one human girl.
"Your mum and dad!" He nearly screamed at her. "What if your mum and dad told you the truth? Would you believe us then?"
At the mention of her parents, Hope turned on her heel. Her parents-why would they bring her parents up? They had her attention now.
"You were eight years old Hope-eight years old when I brought you here. I didn't want to come after you, believe me. This was never the plan, but we need you now." The Doctor was pleading with her now. She had to understand-she had to come with them.
Hope took a step back toward them, then another. "Okay then-let's just say that, hypothetically, I believe your little alien story. Which I don't," she quickly added, "but let's jsut say that I did. Why did you bring me to Earth, and why do you need me now, after all these years?"
The Doctor shared a smile with Martha-at least she was willing to listen now, even if she still didn't believe them. That was a start. "On our home planet, there was a war. You were only eight years old. We were attacked by a race called the Daleks-weak creatures encased in metal. I promised your father I would keep you safe, so I brought you here-"
"In a big blue box..." Hope finished his sentence as if she was in a trance. She wasn't looking at the Doctor or Martha, but past them.
"Yes, that's right..." The Doctor spoke, but his voice had faded out as Hope was suddenly barraged with her dreams, or were they memories?
Dreams, memories...I can't..
"Exterminate! Exterminate!"
She didn't know which was more terrifying, the fire that raged above their heads, or that one word which ecchoed out across the grass.
So many familiar faces, all strewn across the ground. No time to mourn, no time to cry or pay tribute to fallen loved ones. The flames rained down, and for once the beautiful orange skies above her homeland weren't so beautiful...
"Martha-grab her!"
Hope had collapsed under the weight of her mind. Martha reached out, catching her shoulders just moments before she would have hit the pavement.
"She's still breathing, pulse is still strong. Help me get her to a chair." Martha had launched into doctor mode, holding her fingers to Hope's throat.
They picked her up and sat her gently in the nearest chair. "Her memory of the TARDIS-it stems from dreams, doesn't it? John Smith, he had them too. He drew pictures in a journal," Martha whispered as she carefully ran her hand along Hope's cheeks.
The Doctor nodded. "It's the only logical explanation-she wouldn't actually remember anything..."
When he turned back to her, she was sitting on the floor with her knees drawn up to her chest, with her head leaned against the closed doors.
"I'm never going to see them again, am I?" She whispered. She knew she didn't even have to ask. There was this sinking feeling inside her, like she was hanging off the edge of a cliff. She was screaming for someone to help her up, but there was no one there.
Even with him standing so close to her, she had never felt more alone than in that blue box that was so much bigger on the inside. She was just a child-children weren't meant to feel this way, were they?
He punched a few buttons, making sure to send them off before he came to her, kneeling down so that he was eye level with her.
He was smiling-after everything that had just happened, what could he have possibly found to smile about?
"They loved you, Hope, more than anything else in the entire universe. That is why you are sitting here now, with me."
"You didn't answer my question..." She peered up at him over the tops of her knees. She could cry now-she was in a time machine, and had all the time in the world to cry, but she couldn't.
He entwined his fingers with hers, and rested his chin on her knee. They sat there like that for a few minutes, in complete silence.
"I don't know," he finally whispered. Then, a moment later he asked, "Do you trust me?"
She thought for a moment, but she already knew the answer. This man was her father's best friend, and she would follow him anywhere. She nodded.
A tear must have fallen from her eye, because he wiped his thumb across her cheek. "Would you like to help me drive this thing?"
She nodded again, only this time there was a faint trace of a smile across her face. His gift to her...
Someone was calling her name, but they were so far away. It was dark-no, wait, it was growing lighter. Someone held her chin in their hand.
For the second time today, she could feel wetness on her cheeks. Two figures in front of her-the two figures from her dream? No, no-that Doctor fellow, and that lady-what was her name? Oh yeah-Martha...
She blinked her eyes, coming back down from wherever it was that she had just gone. The Doctor was kneeling down in front of her, holding her hands gently, while Martha was standing behind him with Hope's chin in her hand. Just like the man in her dreams...
"They're just...just dreams...after my accident," she whispered, trying to shake the overwhelming urge to collapse to the ground.
He squeezed her hands comfortingly. "Those are memories Hope, bleeding through from a different part of you."
"Why can't I remember them-when I'm awake?" Her head was throbbing now.
"That part of you, the Time Lord, is hidden away. I had to protect you, let you live on Earth as a normal human. I told you that coming to get you was never my intention."
She didn't want to believe him-it sounded so preposterous. Aliens and time machines-those were fairy tales in children's books. They just didn't exist...
"So my mom and dad-they're not my real parents?" Her voice caught in her throat a bit. It was a hard thing to think about.
"No, not by birth."
Suddenly Hope stood up, only a little too fast. She grabbed the back of the chair to steady herself, knowing what she had to do.
"You said my parents would tell me the truth, then that's what I want. I need to hear it from them."
"Okay, fair enough," he nodded. "And then what Hope?"
As she looked at his face, a peace settled in her heart. She didn't feel afraid or nervous, or even anxious. Maybe somewhere, deep, deep in her mind, she already knew the truth. Maybe, in her subconscous, she recognized him, even with a new face.
"And then I'll come with you."
