Disclaimer: Doctor Who characters and dialogue belong to their respective creators. Izzy belongs to me.
A/N: These are my last two weeks of summer, so I will attempt to pump out as much as I can before the lull. Enjoy.
XXXXXXX
Izzy ducked as the Doctor stretched over her to reach various knobs and switches. The TARDIS trembled around her and she gripped the console tighter. The Doctor came back over her to his original position, pulling a large lever that quieted the ship.
"There we go, perfect landing," he scratched his head, mindlessly, "which isn't easy in such a tight spot."
Izzy gave him a smirk. "Oh, you should be used to tight spots by now."
Martha released the console, rubbing feeling back into her fingers. "Where are we?" she asked with a smile, which Izzy echoed.
"The end of the line," he answered as the two girls raced to the door. Martha reached it first, gripping the handle excitedly. "No place like it."
Martha gave him a questioning nod, as if asking permission. He nodded in return, eyebrows high. She opened the door and rushed out, Izzy fast behind her. Martha's expression dimmed substantially when she recognized her own flat. Izzy's own excited grin gained a hint of confusion, not understanding why their next adventure would start in someone's room.
"Home," Martha said with a frown as the Doctor entered the room next to Izzy, "you took me home."
"Wait, this is our Earth, our time?" Izzy asked, frowning as well.
"Back to the morning after we left. So you've only been gone about twelve hours, no time at all really." He perused her room as Martha spoke.
"But all the stuff we've done? Shakespeare, New New York, Old New York?"
"Yep," he turned away from her childhood photos, "all in one night. Relatively speaking, everything should be just as it was, books, CDs," he picked up a pair of panties from her drying rack, "laundry." Martha snatched it away with wide, embarrassed eyes.
"So, back where you where, as promised. Well, not exactly. Izzy," he turned to the slightly frowning Irish girl, "you can find your way from here, yes? I figured since you two were together when I found you…"
Izzy flipped a hand, "Oh, yeah, home. Can't wait to get back." Her voice hinted heavily of sarcasm. "So this is really it?"
"Yeah," he shifted on his toes, avoiding her eyes. "I should probably, umm—"
A trilling sound interrupted him and they all turned to the message machine. "Hi, I'm out, leave a message!" came Martha's cheery recorded voice.
"I'm sorry," Martha shook her head apologetically.
"Martha? Are you there?" Francine Jones spoke through the machine, "Pick it up will you."
"It's Mum," Martha explained. "I'll wait."
"Alright then, pretend you're out if you like." The time-travelers shared a laugh. "I was only calling to say your sister's on TV, on the news of all things." Martha grabbed the remote, surprised and curious. She flipped it on. "Just thought you might be interested."
Tish stood stiffly next to a very old, wizened man speaking into the news microphones. "The details are top secret…"
"How did Tish end up on the news?" Izzy asked.
"…I will tell you that tonight…"
Martha tapped the remote against her lips. "She got a new job in PR, some research lab."
"...with the push of a single button," the man beside Tish lifted an index finger, "I will change what it means to be human."
Martha flipped off the screen. "Sorry, you were saying, we should…"
The Doctor's eyes were still glued to the dark screen, looking to Izzy more than a little interested. He took a long breath and pulled himself away. "Yes, yes, we should." He leaned a hand against the TARDIS doorframe, looking down at his two companions. "One trip, that's what we said."
"Yeah," Martha leaned against the wooden ship, gazing into his eyes, "I guess things just kind of escalated."
"Hmm," he nodded, catching Izzy's eye. She had stood a small distance from their much closer interactions, feeling as if she was left out of the final goodbyes. He always had a way of drawing her back in, however, and she found herself leaning slightly closer to him. "That seems to happen to me a lot."
There was a satisfied pause. "Thank you," Martha said sincerely.
Izzy locked eyes with the Doctor. "For everything."
His face was all soft kindness. "It was my pleasure." He opened the door and slipped in, leaving Izzy and Martha to stare at the empty space he left.
The TARDIS's sound began and the breeze in Martha's room picked up. Blinking hard, Martha and Izzy stepped away as the big blue box began to fade from their lives. The sounds topped and they turned away, sharing a look of disappointment and exhaustion.
Suddenly the whooshing started again and they turned, squinting to the place the TARDIS had been. The blue was rapidly rematerializing, as were their smiles.
The Doctor leaned through the open door, shaking his head. "No, I'm sorry. Did he say he was going to change what it means to be human?"
XXXXXXXX
"Oh, black tie," the Doctor groaned. "You know, whenever I wear this something bad always happens." He wore a slim black tuxedo, complete with a rather spiffy bow-tie.
"I don't think that's the outfit," Izzy retorted, "that's just you." She herself wore a knee-length flow-y number; the midnight blue material formed an A-line bust with a single lightly ruffled strap extending over her left shoulder, meeting the back of the dress again just below her shoulder blade. The fabric clung to her small waist but flowed out elegantly in fluid ruffles past her hips and to her knees, much the same as Martha's dress. Martha had found her halter-top dress in her closet; Izzy was made to search through the TARDIS's rather extensive costume collection. It was curious how many feminine clothes ended up in a male-owned ship.
"Anyway," the Irish girl continued, tucking a loose strand of hair back into its chignon, "I think it suits you. In a James Bond-y sort of way."
"James Bond?" The Doctor sounded insulted, and Izzy fully expected a wordy reprimand. "Really?" Now he sounded like he was considering it. Martha and Izzy shared a short laugh before they walked across the street.
Izzy looked up, following the grand stone pillars. "LAZARUS LABORATORIES," read the impressive building in front of them. Flashing lights could be seen in the upper floors. What could this old man have done to deserve such attention?
XXXXXXXX
"Oh, look, they got nibbles!" The Doctor's expression filled with child-like glee as he picked up several tasters from a tray moving past. "I love nibbles." He tossed one back just as Tish approached.
"Hello!" She tapped Martha on the shoulder.
"Tish!" Martha cried, giving her an affectionate one armed hug.
"You look great!" her sister complimented. She caught sight of Izzy and moved in for a hug from her as well. "You, too, Izzy. It's nice to see you again so soon. So," she looked around the room, "what'd you think? Impressive, isn't it?
"Very," Martha nodded vigorously.
"And to nights out in a row for you, that's dangerously close to a social life," Tish poked.
"If I keep this up I'll be in all the gossip columns," Martha joked. Izzy smiled, and had to stifle her giggles with her hand when she glanced up at the Doctor's bulging cheeks as he stuffed himself with his "nibbles."
"You might, actually!" Tish said conspiratorially. "Keep an eye out for photographers. And Mum, she's coming too, even Leo."
"Leo in black tie," Martha's eyes widened and Izzy guessed it wasn't a common occurrence, "now that I must see." Tish's eyes continued to flick to the Doctor, signifying the need for an introduction.
"This is the Doctor," Martha introduced and the Doctor transferred the food to the other hand to shake hers.
"Hello."
Tish smiled, but it was suddenly much less friendly. "Is he with you?" she asked Martha, "He's not on the list, how'd he get in?"
"He's my plus one," replied Martha tentatively.
"Wait a minute," Tish turned to Izzy looking confused, "you're not on the list either. How'd you get in?"
Izzy was about to make up a quick story when the Doctor interrupted her open mouth. Evidently he wanted to save her the trouble of explaining away psychic paper.
"So this Lazarus, he's your boss?"
Tish's smile was fake. "Professor Lazarus, yes, I'm part of his executive staff."
"She's in the PR department," Martha explained away, thinking her sister was playing it up.
"I'm head of the PR department, actually."
"You're joking," Martha tilted her head in disbelief.
"I put this whole thing together," Tish affirmed.
"So do you know what he's doing tonight? That looks like it might be a sonic microfield manipulator." He pointed back to a large white machine center-stage.
"He's a science geek, I should've known," Tish said knowingly to Martha. Izzy guessed it was another jab at Martha's social life. "I've got to get back to work now, I'll catch up to you later." She walked off and Martha stared after her.
"Science geek, what does that mean?" The Doctor asked, clueless.
"Just that you're impressively enthusiastic about science," Izzy supplied with a wry smile.
"Oh, that's nice," The Doctor threw another nibble back with a grin, completely unaware of the negative social connotation.
Izzy just shook her head and laughed. "Good thing for you that you never went to high school." They moved to closer inspect the large machine on display.
"Martha!" came a call from behind. They turned, and Martha practically threw herself at her mother.
"Mum!"
Francine accepted her hug with some surprise. "Alright, what's the occasion?"
"What's you mean? I'm just pleased to see you that's all."
"You saw me last night."
"I know! I just," Martha held her mother's hands, "missed you."
"Hello again, Mrs. Jones," Izzy extended a hand and a smile to Martha's mother.
"Oh, hello, Izzy! Very nice to see you again," Francine smiled and returned the hand, clearly approving of Martha's new friend. Her face grew a mix of embarrassed and regretful, "I am sorry about last night."
Izzy made quick assurances of gratitude, satisfying the older woman. Unfortunately, she turned her suddenly suspicious gaze upon Martha. "You disappeared last night."
"I," Martha shrugged, "just went home."
"On your own?" Her unsubtle eyes shifted to the Doctor as she spoke, "Or with Izzy?"
"This is a friend of ours," Martha switched smoothly, pointing to the tall man, "the Doctor."
"The Doctor what?" Francine titled her head.
"Just the Doctor," Izzy affirmed with an open smile.
"We've been doing some work together," Martha explained as the Doctor shook Leo's hand.
"Lovely to meet you Mrs. Jones," the Doctor charmed, shaking her hand as well, "I've heard a lot about you."
"Have you?" she looked severely unimpressed. "What've you heard, then?"
The Doctor nearly froze as he struggled to think of anything to get him out of the trap. "Oh, you know, that you're Martha's mother. And," he looked to Martha, stumped. She offered no help, "um—no actually that's about it. Haven't had much time to chat. Been busy." Izzy had to tighten her lips to hide the smile forming at his bumbling answers.
"Busy? Doing what, exactly?" Francine seemed to sense that she had caught him.
He glanced at Izzy pleadingly but the corners of her mouth only rose tremblingly higher. He almost frightfully locked eyes again with Mrs. Jones. "Oh, you know, stuff."
Martha looked embarrassedly up at him, but he was saved from more interrogation by the dimming of the lights. Izzy glimpsed his face before the shadows hid his face, and his relief was almost tangible. She shook her head with a smile as he met her gaze with wide eyes.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Professor Richard Lazarus," the audience turned to the elderly man with now blank, respectful faces, "and tonight, I am going to perform a miracle." Cameras flashed around him. "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; tomorrow, you will awake to a world which shall be changed forever."
The audience was sufficiently awed and more than a little curious as the hunched man opened the door of the machine. The device made a hissing buzz as it powered up and the black suit was finally cut off from view. Lab techs flipped switches on the control panel and then suddenly there was a bright blue light blinding the audience. Izzy flinched and shaded her eyes but saw that the Doctor only squinted stoically.
The four vertical poles around the main pod began to spin individually, and then the entire apparatus. Only the pod stayed in place as the blue light flashed on and off and the floor began to shake with the movement of the machine.
Electric pulses began to climb up the field that was created by the spinning outer poles. A loud, worrying warning sound began and the Doctor looked at the main controls in concern.
"Something's wrong. It's overloading," he warned just before the machinery began emitting large sparks. The Doctor ran to the now-smoking control panel, leaping over the wide counter. The guests backed away, huddling close to friends in fear of the malfunctioning machine.
"Somebody stop him!" cried an elderly lady to Izzy's right. "Get him away from those controls!"
"This thing blows up, it'll take the whole building with it! Is that what you want?" The Doctor shouted over the noise. The electrical ball at the top of the machine began breaking up and cascading over the pod. At the same time, the Doctor flung himself back over the counter and to the back of a large computer device. He ripped out a thick silver cord and the machine began to slow to a stop.
When the machine calmed enough to approach it, Izzy ran to the door. She met the handle just as the Doctor yelled, "Get it open!" She yanked it with a grunt and stepped back as vapor billowed out. The Doctor stood on the other side of the door and waited for it to clear. A suited figure could be seen rising, and the man grabbed the door frame for support. As his face emerged, the entire crowd looked on in wonderment.
A much younger man stood, carefully touching his hair and face. He straightened. Cameras flashed around him. He stepped out, down the white steps. "Ladies and gentlemen," he spread his arms wide, "I am Richard Lazarus, I am seventy-six years old, and I am reborn!" The crowd, minus the time-travelers, erupted into claps and cheers.
XXXXXXX
Martha stared in suspicious disbelief at the man soaking up the attention of the reporters. "That can't be the same guy. It's impossible, it must be a trick."
"Oh, it's not a trick," the Doctor corrected from behind her and Izzy. "I wish it were."
"What just happened then?" Izzy looked to him. "If everything went so wrong, how did he turn out like this?"
"I don't know," the Doctor narrowed his eye in thought. "He just changed what it means to be human."
The old woman, who earlier had commanded the Doctor to stop, approached Lazarus. Izzy watched as they exchanged words and smiles. The Professor did not seem nearly as pleased to be talking to her as she was to be talking to him. Suddenly the man grimaced and felt his neck. A waiter passed by and he grabbed the service dish from her, stuffing his face with the appetizers while the woman looked on in astonishment. The Doctor and his companions chose then to near him.
"Richard!" the woman admonished.
"I'm famished!" he licked his fingertips.
"Energy deficit," the Doctor came around him to his other side, Izzy and Martha trailing behind. "Always happens in this kind of process."
Lazarus gave him full attention. "You talk as if you see this every day, Mister…"
"Doctor," the Time Lord supplied. "And no, not every day, but I have some experience with this kind of transformation."
"That's not possible," Lazarus assured smugly.
"Using hyper-sonic sound waves to create a state of resonance," the Doctor rattled off. "That's inspired!"
"You understand the theory then."
"Enough to know that you couldn't possibly have allowed for all the variables." His face was scrutinizing.
"No experiment is without risk," the de-aged man popped a nibble into his mouth.
"That thing nearly exploded," the Doctor reminded. "You might as well have stepped into a blender."
"You're not qualified to comment!" objected the old woman.
"If I hadn't stopped it, it would've exploded," the Doctor seemed amazed at her stubbornness.
"Then I thank you, Doctor. That's a simple engineering issue. What happened inside the capsule was exactly what was supposed to happen. No more, no less."
"You have no way of knowing that," Izzy shook her head.
"Not until you've run proper tests!" Martha finished, hand on hip.
"Look at me!" Lazarus scoffed. "You can see what happened. I'm all the proof you need."
The woman, Izzy guessed his partner, played smug as well. "The device will be properly certified before we start to operate commercially."
"Commercially? You are joking," objected Martha, closest to her, "that'll cause chaos!"
"Not chaos," Lazarus assured calmly, "change; a chance for humanity to evolve, to improve."
"This isn't about improving this is about your customers living a little longer," the Doctor said angrily.
"Not a little, Doctor." He raised his eyebrows, "A lot longer. Perhaps indefinitely."
"Richard," the woman interrupted, "we have things to discuss. Upstairs." She left and Lazarus began to follow.
"Goodbye Doctor." He stopped and turned to the travelers. "In a few years, you'll look back and laugh at how wrong you were." He reached out to shake Martha's hand. Tentatively, she offered it and he lifted it to his lips. "You won't be able to keep beautiful women around you forever with an aging face." He gave a lingering look to Izzy before he turned and she understood that mentally he was giving her a kiss as well. Her eyes followed him with a measure of disgust.
"Oh, he's out of his depth," the Doctor groaned, "he's no idea the kind of damage he could've done."
"So what do we do now?" Izzy asked, the disgusted look still lingering.
"Now," the Doctor took a deep breath, "well, this building must be full of laboratories; I say that we do our own tests."
Martha gave him a satisfied smile and lifted her hand. "Lucky I've just collected a DNA sample then, isn't it?"
"Oh," the Doctor grinned widely, "Martha Jones, you're a star." He led his companions off by their elbows.
XXXXXXXXX
Their faces shone in the light of the computer screen. "Amazing," the Doctor remarked, brainy specs on.
"What?" Martha asked.
"Lazarus's DNA."
"I can't see anything different," Izzy reported, unsure if she was meant to.
"Look at it!" The scan suddenly pulsed and Izzy saw a few codons flicker and change.
"Oh my God," Martha exclaimed, "did that just change?" The Doctor nodded excitedly. "But it couldn't have," Martha denied.
"But it did," Izzy observed, staring closer at the screen for more changes.
"That's impossible," Martha said stubbornly.
"And that's two impossible things we've seen so far tonight," he looked to them with a smile. "Don't you love it when that happens?"
Izzy smiled and rolled her eyes but Martha continued seriously. "That means Lazarus has changed his own molecular patterns."
"Hypersonic sound waves to destabilize the cell structure then a metagenic program to manipulate the coding in the protein structure. Basically, he hacked into his own genes and restructured them to rejuvenate."
Izzy raised her finger. "First, I actually understood all of that, which is new for me," the Doctor threw her a crinkly smile, "Second, wouldn't this scan mean his DNA is still mutating now?"
"He missed something," the Doctor mused. "Something in his DNA has been activated and won't let him stabilize. Something's trying to change him."
"Change him into what?" Martha questioned.
"I don't know. But I think we need to find out."
"That woman said they were going upstairs," Izzy supplied.
"Let's go!"
XXXXXXX
The lift doors opened smoothly to a large, dark room. Stepping out, Martha reached for a switch on the wall. The lights illuminated the room but did nothing to change the stark, unfeeling atmosphere to the space.
"This is his office all right," Martha mused.
"So where is he?" Izzy looked about.
"Dunno. Let's try back at the…" Martha trailed off with a curious look on her face, "reception." The look turned to horror and Izzy followed her line of vision. Two heel-clad skeleton legs stuck out from behind the desk. The Doctor had already started towards them when Izzy followed.
An entire body was revealed, dressed in a sequined, sensible dress. Martha gasped. "Is that Lady Thaw?" The leathery skin was pulled taught over the thin bones of the Lady, making her look near mummified.
"Used to be," the Doctor ran his eyes over the dead woman's body. "Now it's just a shell. Had all the life energy drained out of her." He looked up to his companions, "Like squeezing the juice out of an orange."
Izzy rocked back in her kneeling position, screwing her face up in distaste. "Alright, that was a bit much. Is it Lazarus?"
"Could be," the Doctor allowed.
"So he's changed already?" Martha asked in hushed tones.
"Not necessarily. You saw the DNA, it was fluctuating. The process must demand energy," the Doctor realized. "This might not have been enough."
"So he might do this again?" Izzy looked horrified. The Doctor merely shrugged, thinking.
Martha ran to the elevators again, quickly followed by Izzy and the Doctor, who rapidly pushed the button to call a lift. The doors opened and the company filed in with an extreme sense of urgency. Izzy pressed the button for the first floor.
XXXXXXX
They ran into the crowd, who remained unaware of the danger of their unstable host.
"Can't see him," Martha stretched over the heads of the guests.
"Can't be far, keep looking," the Doctor pressed, his long strides carrying him ahead of the women.
"Hey, you alright Martha?" Leo called from their left. Martha stopped and Izzy paused a few feet away, looking over the crowd but still keeping an ear out for Martha's conversation. "I think Mum wants to talk to you."
"Have you seen Lazarus anywhere?" Martha asked, slightly out of breath.
"Yeah, he was getting cozy with Tish a couple of minutes ago."
"With Tish!" Martha said to the Doctor and Izzy, who joined the conversation just as Mrs. Jones approached.
"Ah, Doctor—," she seemed ready for another interrogation.
"Where did they go?" he interrupted urgently.
"Upstairs I think," Leo answered, puzzled.
"Doctor!" The Doctor pushed past Francine, spilling her champagne. Izzy and Martha raced after him towards the lift. "I'm speaking to you!"
"Not now Mum," Martha hissed back.
The elevator ride was tense and the Doctor tersely muttered under his breath about the slow pace. When it stopped at Lazarus's office he shoved himself out the doors before they were even half-way open.
"Where are they?" Martha panicked.
The Doctor pulled his sonic out of his pocket. "Fluctuating DNA will give off an energy signature; I might be able to pick it up." The sonic started beeping, which grew louder and closer together as he rotated. He pointed to the ceiling, "Got it!"
"But this is the top floor!" Martha said.
"The roof!" Izzy exclaimed almost before she finished speaking.
XXXXXXXX
"… between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act—" Lazarus was quoting to Tish as they stood overlooking the view of London.
"—falls the shadow," the Doctor finished ominously, standing a safe distance behind him. Izzy and Martha stood in a line beside him, watching the scientist intently for any signs of change.
"So the mysterious Doctor knows his Elliot," Lazarus smirked. "I'm impressed."
Tish turned to their visitors. "Martha, what're you doin' here?"
"Tish, get away from him," her sister warned.
"What?" she defended, "Don't tell me what to do."
"I thought you wouldn't have time for poetry Lazarus," the Doctor squinted, ignoring the separate conversation. "What with you busy defying the laws of nature and everything."
"You're right, Doctor," the man admitted. "One lifetime's been too short for me to do everything I'd like. How much more I'd get done in two, or three," he smiled, "or four."
The Doctor shook his head. "Doesn't work like that. Some people live more in twenty years than others do in eighty. It's not the time that matters, it's the person."
"But if it's the right person," Lazarus started. "What a gift that would be."
"Or what a curse," the Doctor said feelingly. "Look at what you've done to yourself."
"Who are you to judge me?" the professor's face grew hard again.
"Come here, Tish," Martha beckoned. Tish complied, arms crossed.
"You have to spoil everything don't you?" she said bitterly. "Every time I find someone nice you have to try and find fault." Behind her Lazarus began to writhe and flex, transforming.
"Tish, he's a monster!" Izzy cut in, her eyes never leaving Lazarus's collapsed and growing body.
Tish addressed both women now. "I know the age thing's a bit freaky but it works for Catherine Zeta-Jones." Lazarus, or rather the thing that was Lazarus, began making terrible noises, and finally Tish turned. Her eyes followed the horrible thing as it grew and rose to a monster that towered high above even the Doctor, who watched with a mildly surprised expression. "What is that?" she asked, stepping back.
The giant scorpion-skeleton thing lifted its head, revealing a stretched human face that vaguely resembled Lazarus.
"Run!" the Doctor shouted turning Izzy beside him to the exit. The women barely needed encouragement as they rushed back through the roof access and clattered down the stairs in their heels. The Doctor paused to lock the door behind them with the sonic, but it sounded as if it wouldn't last long.
They raced through the office floor to the lift, frantically pressing the call button that never worked fast enough.
"Are you okay?" Martha asked Tish breathlessly.
Tish looked like she was in shock. "I was about to snog him."
They looked fearfully towards the roof door as the sounds of Lazarus pounding against it grew louder. It must have triggered something because the next thing the company was looking to the now-dark ceiling lights.
An alarm started and back-up lights came on. "Security 1," an automated voice repeated amidst the alarm.
"What's happening?" Izzy asked as she looked around the darkened hall.
"An intrusion," Tish struggled, "it triggers a security lockdown, kills most of the power, stops the lifts, seals the exits."
"He must be breaking through that door," the Doctor concluded. The sound came again, louder than ever. "The stairs, come on!"
They rushed down the stairwell, holding the railing with both hands to allow stability in their breakneck speed. A crash sounded just as Izzy reached the second landing. "He's inside!"
"We haven't got much time!" the Doctor shouted back, continuing down to the first floor.
XXXXXXX
The crowd talked amongst themselves nervously. "Tish, is there another way out of here?" The Doctor called, scanning the walls.
"There's an exit in the corner but it'll be locked now," Tish said, joining him with Izzy and Martha.
The Doctor tossed the sonic to Martha as she was closest to the exit. "Martha, setting 54. Hurry." As Martha took off he ran up to the machine, calling attention to himself.
"Listen to me! You people are in serious danger!" Most guests looked at him like he was crazy as he pointed to the exit Martha and Tish were trying to open. "You need to get out of here right now!"
"Don't be ridiculous!" a woman in a gold dress objected. "The biggest danger here is choking on an olive."
Glass shattered from the floor above. Lazarus came into view, giving off a sort of roar as he rose threateningly.
People froze in shock until Izzy ran up to the Doctor's position. "Is that danger enough for you? Run!" she shouted, pointing to the door. People began screaming in panic as Lazarus launched off the balcony and into the main reception, roaring impressively.
The screaming guests piled up at the exit Martha was struggling to open. Finally the automatic doors slipped to the side, offering no more resistance.
"Over here!" Martha shouted over the panic. "This way! Everyone down the stairs now, hurry!"
"Mum get back!" Lazarus tossed a table with his tail towards Martha's remaining family, hitting Leo. Crying out, Mrs. Jones ran to him. Fortunately for them, the monster had turned his attention to a different victim; the woman in the gold dress who had not believed the Doctor earlier. The woman stood frozen in fear as Lazarus neared her with his tail.
"No! Get away from her!" The Doctor shouted at the monster. Izzy, who was standing on the device beside the Doctor and had been looking towards the escaping guests, now turned at the Doctors yell, just in time to see Lazarus's forked-tongue-tail pierce the woman and drain her of all life. The dried husk tumbled to the floor, her scream cut off forever.
Not nearly sated, Lazarus turned back towards Francine and Leo. His eyes moved over Izzy and the Doctor blindly, so intense was his hunger. As he moved in for the kill, the Doctor stepped down from the device, hiding Izzy protectively behind his back.
"Lazarus!" he called. "Leave them alone!" The monster turned his full attention on the Doctor. Izzy looked out from behind the Doctor's arm to see Martha help her scared but relieved family up and to the exit. "What's the point? You can't control it, the mutation's too strong." Lazarus approached them ominously as the Doctor taunted, "Killing those people won't help you. You're a fool." The Doctor nudged Izzy farther behind him, his tense hand in hers warning her to be ready to run. "A vain old man who though he could defy Nature. Only Nature got her own back, didn't she? You're a joke, Lazarus!" he shouted as the monster reared up in anger, "A footnote in the history of failure!"
He backed up out of range, squeezing Izzy's hand tightly. "Run," he hissed, then turned and ran for the hallway out of the reception room, holding Izzy's hand until the first turn. Letting go, the two travelers went into a full sprint, Izzy slightly behind the Doctor. She let out a short squeak as Lazarus slammed into the first corner and the Doctor looked behind him to see the monster crawl up the walls to chase them on the ceiling. The Doctor reached back to grab Izzy's hand again, willing her to follow more closely.
XXXXXXXX
They wove slowly through the pipes of the maintenance area, looking about them warily. The door clattered and squeaked open and the sound of panting echoed in the steamy, dank room. The Doctor kept his companion close behind him as they moved through the piping.
"It's no good, Doctor," came a raspy voice, and Izzy jumped slightly. The Doctor brushed her hand lightly for comfort. "You can't stop me."
"Is that the same arrogance you had when you swore nothing had gone wrong with your device?" the Doctor called, trying to pinpoint where Lazarus was, Izzy all-the-while worrying that Lazarus was doing the same to them.
"The arrogance is yours. You can't stand in the way of progress," Lazarus ended with an almost sing-song tone.
The Doctor and Izzy ducked low. Angered by the monster's conceit, Izzy shouted back. "You call killing innocents progress? You're delusional!" The Doctor whipped around to her shock and put a hand over her mouth to keep her from drawing more attention to herself.
"Ah, so your companion has beauty as well as a tongue. You'd better keep her close, Doctor." There were clangs as Lazarus brushed against pipes. He returned to the topic with a more serious hiss, "It is a necessary sacrifice."
The Doctor pulled his hand away from her mouth, moving it to hold her hand. "That's not your decision to make."
The lights came on as they reached the end of the maze of pipes. Lazarus's rasp came from above them. "Pekaboo," the monster teased.
"Oh," the Doctor said faintly as they slowly crane their heads back, "hello."
Lazarus snarled and the Doctor took off to the exit, dragging Izzy behind him as she nearly stumbled in her heels. They ran through the door to a passage identical to the one they entered from.
XXXXXXXX
"What can you do in here?" Izzy asked as they ran through the rows of lab tables. Brilliantly-colored liquid filled beakers of every shape and size, covering nearly every inch of the countertop.
After shushing her, the Doctor moved a few beakers and other instruments to stand on the table attached to a large support pillar. Opening a fire alarm-like device on the side of it, he fiddled with its wires, occasionally looking back to the hall as the sound of Lazarus grew louder.
There was a crash, making Izzy's head whip to the entrance. Lazarus had reached the door and was pounding hard at it. The Doctor finished his meddling and leaped down from the counter.
"Izzy, come over the table. Turn as many gas valves on as you can." Izzy hurried to comply, sliding up and over the smooth back surface, flipping the knobs to open as soon as she landed. Across the row, the Doctor did the same.
Suddenly the door clattered, and without looking Izzy knew it was down. The Doctor grabbed and pulled her down next to him, ducking behind the counter.
Lazarus growled. "More hide-and-seek, Doctor? How disappointing."
The Doctor moved down the rows, reaching subtly over the tables to flip on more gas valves. Izzy followed his example and the sound of hissing gas multiplied. The moved back another row away from the door as the sound of shattering glass reached them.
"Why don't you come out and face me?" Lazarus challenged.
The Doctor and Izzy leaned against the cabinets underneath. He pointed to the exit urgently and she understood that he wanted her to make a run for it. "Have you looked in the mirror lately?" He stood with Izzy, nudging her closer to the exit. "Why would I want face that, hmm?" They took off, the Doctor pushing Izzy ahead of him the entire way. As Izzy pushed through the swinging door, he flipped a light switch, igniting the methane gas and causing an explosion that knocked both time travelers forward.
Not quite expecting that large of an explosion, Izzy fell to the ground hard. The Doctor threw himself on top of her, covering her as much as he could from any debris. Thankfully there was none, but Izzy knew she would end up with plenty of bruises—if she lived through the night.
"Fire-y death? Really?" she groaned as the Doctor frantically helped her up and checked her over for injuries. "You couldn't have waited until we were farther away?"
He smiled a little as she rearranged her dress to form again. "If he made it, I don't want us to be around to find out." Izzy nodded wryly and they took off down the white-wash hall.
XXXXXXX
They were just about to round another corner when suddenly Martha nearly crashed into the Doctor. He grabbed her shoulders in shock and Izzy caught her breath.
"What're you doing here?"
Martha held up the sonic with a smile. "I'm returning this. I thought you might need it."
He grabbed it from her, tucking it safely in his top pocket, "How did you—"
"I heard the explosion," she answered before he finished. "I guessed it was you."
He let go of her shoulders. "We blasted Lazarus," he explained, reminding Martha of Izzy's presence.
"Did you kill him?"
"Doctor!" Izzy warned as Lazarus squeezed out of the hallway.
He and Martha watched as the monster leapt across the small hole in the floor, crashing through the glass railing. "More sort of annoyed him, I'd say!" he responded, grabbing both Izzy and Martha away from the direction of Lazarus.
They sprinted down and out of the hallway, entering the reception area and slowing to a stop.
"What now?" Martha cried. "We've just gone 'round in a circle!"
Lazarus crashed into the room. "We can't let him outside!" Izzy shouted.
The Doctor lunged for the device, opening the capsule doors. "Come on, get in!" Izzy and Martha rushed in and he climbed into the cramped space as well, closing the door just as Lazarus slid towards them.
"Oh," Izzy gasped as the Doctor's body pressed flush against her. Martha panted from behind the Doctor, her face pushed into his back. He resituated as much as he could— turning himself nearly sideways—but even in their new almost triangle formation their tight-pressed shoulders still kept him mostly facing Izzy.
"Are we hiding?" Martha asked.
The Doctor fortunately could now turn his head to see her. "No, he knows we're here, but this is his masterpiece. I'm betting he won't destroy it, not even to get at us."
"So were trapped," Izzy deadpanned.
"Well, yeah, that's a slight problem."
"You mean you don't have a plan?" Martha pressed.
"Yes," he looked down at her, "the plan was to get inside here."
"And after that?" Izzy asked, calling his attention.
"Well," he paused uncomfortably, "then I'd come up with another plan."
"In your own time, then," Martha said sarcastically. The snarling from Lazarus grew more agitated.
The Doctor reached into his pocket for his sonic, his arm pressing against Izzy neck and his elbow into Martha's cheek. "Hey!" Martha protested. Izzy just gave him a glare.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry." He pulled out the tool. "Ah, here we are."
"What're you going to do with that in here?" Izzy questioned. The Doctor started to lower himself, watching her as he grew shorter.
"Improvise." The women shuffled as much as they could so that he would have space between their legs. He popped up a square panel as Martha talked.
"I still don't understand where that thing came from. Is it alien?"
The sonic whirred. "No, for once it's strictly human in origin."
"Human, how can it be human?" she exclaimed.
"Probably dormant genes in his DNA," Izzy mused.
"Exactly," the Doctor smiled up at the girl before looking back to the wires. "The energy field in this thing must've reactivated them. Now it looks like they're becoming dominant."
Martha watched the shadows of Lazarus around them. "So it's a throwback."
"Some option that evolution rejected for you millions of years ago. But the potential is still there, locked away in your genes, forgotten about," he looked up at them, "until Lazarus unlocked it by mistake."
"Like Pandora's box."
"Exactly," he looked up at them, "You both have very nice taste in shoes, by the way." Martha looked down at her Mary-Jane's and Izzy at her strappy ones in bemusement.
There suddenly was a high pitch whine and the greenish lights in the capsule came on
"Doctor, what's happening?" Martha asked with an edge of panic creeping into her voice.
"He's switched the machine on," Izzy answered for him.
"And that's not good is it?" Martha held the walls as the small pod began to shake.
"Well, I was hoping it would take him a little bit longer to work that out." The sonic whirred frantically.
Izzy blinked away the spots left by the bright light just as another flash created new ones. "Doctor, I don't want to rush you, but—"
"I know, I know!" he interrupted. "Nearly done."
"Well, what're you doing?" Martha shouted over the growing whine of the machine.
"I'm trying to set the capsule to reflect energy rather than receive it."
"And will that kill him?" Izzy shouted her question.
"When he transforms he's three times the size—cellular triplication—so he's spreading himself thin."
"We're going to end up like him!" Martha cried. Izzy screwed up her face in dread.
"Just one more!" He pulled a final wire and the whine came to a peak. There was a crashing sound from outside and then nothing more. The whine was gone as if it had never existed, leaving Izzy's ears ringing with silence. The capsule had stilled and slowly the Doctor rose again. Pressed tightly against it in the small space, he opened the door and his companions each took full, uncompressed breaths in. There was a hiss of hydraulics and the Doctor stepped out, followed by Izzy and then Martha, who still looked a bit shaken up.
"I thought we we're going to go through the blender then," she breathed in relief.
"It really shouldn't take that long just to reverse the polarity." He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I must be a bit out of practice."
He stepped off the small platform and to the left, where there lay a prone and naked Lazarus, young and untransformed.
"Oh God," Martha remarked as she neared, "he seems so…"
"Human," Izzy finished. "It's sort of pitiful."
"Eliot saw that, too." The Doctor looked at her with far-away eyes. "'This is the way the world ends—not with a bang, but a whimper.'" The words echoed around in her head as they waited for the medics to reach the pitiable man's body.
XXXXXXX
They followed the stretcher down the red carpeted steps, the Doctor undoing his bowtie and staring after the body.
"… Oh she's alright." Tish came running up to Martha, arms wide open, Leo and Francine following. Martha pulled Tish into a hug as Francine strode determinedly towards the Time Lord.
"Oh, Mrs. Jones, we still haven't finished our chat," the Doctor started smilingly.
"Doctor—" Izzy tried to warn, but she was interrupted by the sharp cracking sound of a protective mother's slap. The Doctor held his cheek in shock and Izzy went to comfort the bewildered man.
"Stay away from my daughter," Mrs. Jones ground out.
"Mum, what're you doing?" Martha cried.
"All the mothers, every time," the Doctor mused, rubbing his cheek. Izzy nearly smiled beside him, but kept her eye on the tense situation.
"He is dangerous!" Francine was saying. "I've been told things." She whipped around to Izzy, index finger pointed threateningly at her face. "And you—you liar! I should report you to the police!"
Izzy backed up slightly and put up her hands in surrender as the Doctor and Martha looked at her in confusion. "Wait? What!"
Martha pulled her mother back. "What are you talking about?"
"Look around you!" Francine grabbed her daughter by the shoulders. "Nothing but death and destruction!"
Martha threw he mother's hands off. "That wasn't his fault! He saved us, all of us!"
"And it was Tish who invited everyone to this thing in the first place," Leo tried, "so I'd say, technically, it was her fault." Tish elbowed him and rolled her eyes.
Suddenly a far off but loud crash interrupted the scene. The Doctor took off down the sidewalk with Izzy following shortly behind. She looked back once to see Martha catching up. The trio stopped at the site of a crashed ambulance, the one that was supposed to be taking the professor to the morgue. The back doors were open, with one dried body resting against the frame and the other next to the stretcher.
"Lazarus—" the Doctor said when Martha had joined them, "back from the dead. Should've known really." He pulled out the sonic.
"Where's he gone?" Martha asked as Tish came up behind them.
The Doctor came full circle, pointing the beeping tool towards a large building. "That way," he nodded. "The church."
"Cathedral," Tish corrected, then almost looked sorry for it. "It's Southwark Cathedral. He told me."
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The beeping echoed lightly in the grand stone structure as they followed the Doctor through the pews.
"Do you think he's in here?" Izzy asked quietly.
"Where would you go if you were looking for sanctuary?" The Doctor responded seriously.
They continued to move through the pews, the women looking around cautiously while the Doctor stared straight ahead. They came to short steps and Izzy could hear a very human shivering and whimpering behind the pulpit. When they caught sight of Lazarus, the Doctor stopped, putting away his sonic. The man sat curled into himself, covered only with a scant red towel for warmth. His look towards them was unsurprised, nearly resigned.
"I came here before. A lifetime ago." The Doctor circled the man slowly. "I thought I was going to die then; in fact, I was sure of it. I sat here," he breathed heavily, "just a child. The sound of planes and bombs outside."
"The Blitz," said the Doctor, pausing.
"You've read about it," Lazarus blinked languidly.
"I was there."
Lazarus scoffed. "You're too young."
"So are you," the Doctor responded and Lazarus laughed. The professor was cut off in a gasp of pain as his bones continued cracking and mutating.
"In the morning the fires had died," he managed to choke out, "but I was still alive. I swore I'd never face death like that again. So defenseless." The Doctor came nearly full circle around him. "I would arm myself, fight back, defeat it."
"That's what you were trying to do today?"
"That's what I did today," Lazarus corrected.
"What about the other people who died?" Izzy challenged angrily from outside the Doctor's circle.
Lazarus looked at her with a smirk and then at the Doctor. "They were nothing. I changed the course of history."
"Any of them might have done, too." The Doctor circled again. "You think history's only made with equations?" He paused somberly. "Facing death is part of being human. You can't change that."
"No, Doctor," the man spit out, following the Doctor with his eyes when the Time Lord began moving again. "Avoiding death—that's being human. It's our strongest impulse, to cling to life with every fiber of being. I'm only doing what everyone before me has tried to do." He smirked, "I've simply been more… successful." Again he was interrupted with a yell of pain and the sound of crunching bones stirred Izzy's stomach unpleasantly.
The Doctor's face was impassive as he stood by his companions again. "Look at yourself—you're mutating. You've no control over it. You call that a success?"
"I call it progress," Lazarus gasped and doubled over again. "I'm more now, than I was. More than just an ordinary human."
The Doctor shook his head lightly with a small smile. "There's no such thing as an ordinary human."
"He's going to change again any minute," Izzy whispered as the man crunched in pain.
"I know," he whispered and Martha leaned close as well. "If I could get him up into the bell tower somehow, I have an idea that might work."
"Up there?" Martha nodded.
"Uh-huh," the Doctor stepped away from them again.
Lazarus lifted his head. "You're so sentimental, Doctor," he said bitterly. "Maybe you are older than you look."
"I'm old enough to know that a longer life isn't always a better one," he circled, "In the end, you just get tired—tired of the struggle, tired of losing everyone that matters to you," he stopped to crouch next to the man, "tired of watching everything turn to dust. If you live long enough, Lazarus, the only certainty left is that you'll end up alone."
"That's a price worth paying," the professor assured.
"Is it?"
Lazarus's bones crunched again and he cried out. When he settled, he looked almost smugly at the Doctor. "I will feed soon."
"I'm not gonna let that happen," the Time Lord shook his head calmly.
"You've not been able to stop me so far," he smiled.
Izzy looked up in surprise as Martha stepped away from their group. "Leave him, Lazarus. He's old and bitter," Izzy watched as the Doctor made to protest. "I thought you had a taste for fresher meat."
"Martha, no." The Doctor scolded just before Lazarus lunged. Martha turned and ran. Izzy was about to follow when she saw Tish run after her instead. With Lazarus still untransformed, she figured Martha and Tish were more than capable of handling him.
Instead, she ran to the Doctor. "They'll be leading him to the tower. Now what's this plan?"
"Find the organ," he ordered. They ran back to the center of the cathedral, Izzy scanning for the instrument while the Doctor looked higher.
"Where are they?" he groaned to himself as the snarling echoed. "Martha!"
"Doctor!" The woman in question leaned out of a large pane-less window a floor above.
"Take him to the top, the very top of the bell tower. Do you hear me?" He shouted up. Izzy found the archway leading to the organ chamber and sprinted to it. She could still hear Martha's echoing reply.
"Up to the top. Well then what?" A snarl interrupted the Doctor's answer and Izzy heard nothing more from her.
"Doctor!" Izzy called for the Time Lord, though it appeared to be needless because he ran up the small wooden steps merely seconds after she ended her breath. He slid onto the bench and pulled out his sonic, lengthening it with his teeth.
"Hypersonic sound waves," he smiled at her before placing the sonic into an amplifier port. "Inspired." He pulled knobs and pressed buttons, allowing the instrument to go as loud as it could.
Screams echoed from above them. "Doctor, you might want to hurry."
"Don't rush a master," the Doctor cracked his fingers to ready them. "I hope there's a good acoustic in here." He pressed his feet to the pedals as his fingers hit the first notes. The deep timbre echoed around them as crashing sounds continued above.
Screams came again as the Doctor's playing crescendo-ed. He leaned to Izzy, speaking over the music. "We need to turn this up to eleven. Take the keys!"
How he knew she played, she didn't know, and frankly lacked the time to ask. She continued his note as he tuned the sonic. Suddenly the music was louder and Izzy had to put her hands over her sensitive ears in pain. The Doctor thankfully picked up where she left off, pounding into the keys.
Izzy's face was screwed up against the throbbing music, but there was a loud crash and it stopped suddenly. She opened her eyes to see the Doctor leaning over the railing, looking down at a collapsed and broken Lazarus, human again. Izzy soaked in the silence as she leaned over as well, but it was broken by a short shriek.
It went quiet again and the Doctor and Izzy looked up to the tower they couldn't see. "Martha?" he called.
There was a worrying pause, but Martha shakily shouted back. "I'm okay! We're both okay!"
Izzy let her relief show in a smile, but the Doctor postponed his until he saw her face. He took off back down the steps to the main room, Izzy close behind.
XXXXXXX
Izzy could not unlock her eyes from the hauntingly unseeing ones of Lazarus. The Doctor knelt beside the body, but even without medical training Izzy knew the mutated man would not be moving again. The Doctor passed a hand over Lazarus's eyes. The spell broken, Izzy blinked, and in that moment Lazarus transformed back to his true age, his old eyes now closed forever.
Slowly the Doctor stood. Izzy heard the sound of heels hitting stone floor and started towards the direction of the bell tower stairs. The Doctor jogged ahead, reaching Martha first and giving her a tight hug.
"I didn't know you could play," Martha said when he released her.
"Oh well, you know, if you hang around with Beethoven you're bound to pick up a few things."
"Especially about playing loud," Martha joked.
"Sorry?" he said, cupping his ear a bit. Martha and Izzy laughed.
He suddenly turned to Izzy, pulling his hands out of his pockets again. "And Izzy! Izzy played as well." He pulled her into a hug. "You were brilliant," he said into her ear. She smiled up at him and linked her arm in his, and Martha in hers. Tish added on at Martha's side and they all breathed a sigh of relief, smiling.
XXXXXXX
The lock clicked and the door creaked open a crack. The Doctor leaned against the frame, facing Izzy and Martha. "Something else that just kind of escalated, then."
"There might be a pattern developing," Izzy joked.
Martha nodded. "You should definitely take more care in the future. And the past and whatever other time period you find yourself in."
The Doctor grinned. "It's been fun, though, hasn't it?"
"Yeah," Martha nodded heartily and Izzy gave a face-splitting smile.
"So what d'you say?" He looked between them, smiling. "One more trip?"
The women hesitated, sharing a cheerless look. "No," Izzy answered for them. "Sorry."
He looked as if he did not get that answer often. "What do you mean, I thought you liked it? The both of you," his face was carefully disappointed.
"I do," Martha answered first. "But I can't go on like this, 'one more trip.' That's not fair."
"To either of us," Izzy finished, her eyes lacking their usual cheer.
"What're you talking about?" The Doctor queried, very much acting the 'bloke.'
"I don't want to be just a passenger anymore, someone you take along for a treat." Martha said gloomily.
Izzy elbowed pointedly. "If you still see us as the casual audience for your adventures, then we'd rather stay here." Martha looked entirely unaffected by leaving Izzy out of her earlier sentiments.
The Doctor took a deep breath. "Okay, then. If that's what you want."
Martha looked up at him, offended, like she was expecting him to say different. "Right. Well we've already said goodbye once today. It's probably best if you just go." As Martha stepped away from the TARDIS, Izzy kept her eyes on the Doctor, turning over his words in her head.
Just as Martha turned around she realized his true meaning and couldn't stop the smile creeping onto her face. "Really?" she questioned, and he answered with a smile. She threw herself at him in a hug that he caught just in time and she could feel his chuckle. Her cry of "Thank you!" was muffled in his shoulder.
Martha watched them in astonishment and a twinge of jealousy. "What is it? What did you say to her?" Izzy untangled herself from him.
"I said okay," the Doctor said, his face turning puzzled.
"Sorry?"
He nodded towards the door this time. "Okay."
The jealousy slipped off her face as she realized what he meant. "Oh, thank you!" she pulled him into a hug as well, laughing. "Thank you!" In a burst of camaraderie she threw an arm around Izzy, who smiled freely back.
"Well," the Doctor started, "you were never just passengers, were you?" Martha climbed in first and The Doctor closed the door behind Izzy, rushing to the console.
As the TARDIS took off, Martha's machine rang once, ending with her recorded greeting. "Hi, I'm out. Leave a message."
The answering machine picked up and Mrs. Jones's worried voice came through. "Martha, it's your mother. Please phone me back, I'm begging you. I know who this Doctor really is. And Izzy Brannen isn't who she seems. She's wanted by the government! They're dangerous. You're gonna get yourself killed. Please, trust me. This information comes from Harold Saxon himself. You're not safe!"
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A/N: Done! Finally. I hope you guys like this one, too. I thank you all for the favorites, it is always fun to get those, even without reviews. Remember, don't be afraid to point out typos as they come.
Until next time, Ellie
