A/N: Hello, everyone! This was meant to be up earlier, but we're still working on figuring out the new updating schedule, so you're having this today! The initial plan was to have two chapters/week during two-parters, one on Wednesdays and one on Saturdays, but, as both me and my beta are settling in to the new rhythm, it will take some time to adjust. Next week should be smoother, but in getting this update, Saturday's official update is pushed back to whenever the next chapter is ready for publishing, so consider yourselves warned.
I am quite proud of this chapter for various reasons so I'm very excited to be posting it!
Special thanks to my beta, InTheTARDISJustAsItShouldBe!
Alexandra raised herself slightly in the Doctor's embrace. ''You still have the radio?'' she mumbled and he gave her a curt nod.
The hybrid Dalek Sec pointed at the prisoners. ''These… humans will become like me," he said just as slowly as before. The Doctor carefully shifted Alexandra's weight onto Martha and slipped away. "Prepare them for hybridisation."
The pig slaves closed in on the group of humans and pulled them forward, two grabbing Martha and Alexandra and pulling them apart. ''Leave me alone! Don't you dare!'' the human shouted...
Until they all paused when ''Happy Days Are Here Again'' started playing.
At the sound of the music, Alexandra felt the vice grip of the headache loosen and she shook her head to get the unpleasant feeling away. What had just happened? What was up with her today?
''What is that sound?'' Dalek Sec demanded.
The Doctor popped his head out from behind the machinery closest to the Daleks. ''Ah, now... Well, that would be me. Hello,'' he said as he set the small red radio Solomon had given him down on a table and went to stand out in the open. ''Surprise! Boo! Et cetera...''
''Doctor,'' Sec narrowed his one eye in recognition.
''The enemy of the Daleks!'' Caan said.
''Exterminate!'' Jast exclaimed.
''Wait!'' Sec cried, throwing his arms out to stop them.
The Doctor took special notice of his reaction as he studied Sec carefully. ''Well, then, a new form of Dalek,'' he said, walking up to him. ''Fascinating... and very clever.''
''The Cult of Skaro escaped your slaughter!''
''What a shame.''
At the sound of her voice, all eyes turned on Alexandra, who was sitting up straighter in the pig slave's grip. The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her actions. ''You should have been trapped in the Void with the rest of them.'' The contempt which laced her voice could crack their bones.
''The human will be silent!'' Thay commanded.
She made a show of looking behind her shoulder and then back at them. ''What, me? Oh, I'm not human, dear. Haven't been for a while now.''
''Alexandra,'' the Doctor said, a warning in his voice, ''don't.''
She only spared him one single glance before raising her chin a bit higher. ''I'm a Time Lady of Gallifrey.''
All three Daleks rolled back almost immediately. ''Another Time Lord survived!'' Caan cried.
''You got to survive. Why not us?'' With a forceful pull, she shook the pig man off her and straightened her cloak over her shoulders. ''My name is Alexandra... and I'm with him,'' she nodded to the Doctor, whose glare was directed straight at her.
Jast rolled closer to her and she took an instinctive step back, the confidence she had gathered nearly snuffed out in a single movement, but the Dalek merely extended its sucker to her chest, retracting it almost immediately. ''Scanners detecting double heartbeat!''
''She's done nothing wrong, leave her be,'' the Doctor said in an even voice, though anyone could detect the hidden warning underneath.
She swallowed hard and took a step around Thay. ''What I would like to know,'' she started, coming to stand by the Doctor's side and letting her hand brush his, needing some reassurance, ''is how you managed to jump from 2007 to 1930.''
''You know what, I would like to know, too,'' the Time Lord agreed, eyes never leaving Sec.
His single eye narrowed in animosity. ''Emergency Temporal Shift.''
The Doctor scoffed. ''Oh, that must have roasted up your power cells, yeah?'' He strode nonchalantly a few paces away, leaving Alexandra's close to shaking side to look around the lab while rubbing at his earlobe thoughtfully. ''Time was, four Daleks could have conquered the world. But instead you're skulking away... hidden in the dark... experimenting.''
''The result of which being you,'' Alexandra finished for him, nodding at Sec. ''Very impressive for the time period and your resources, I have to say.''
''I am Dalek in human form!''
''But what does it feel like?'' the Doctor asked, returning to stand right in front of the hybrid. ''You can talk to me, Dalek Sec. It is Dalek Sec, isn't it? That's your name.''
''Yes, it is,'' the Time Lady agreed, earning a side glance from him. ''He's got a name and a mind of his own, like the lot in here,'' she pointed at the three Daleks surrounding him. ''But what are you thinking right now, Sec?''
''I… feel… humanity,'' Sec said slowly, turning his back to them.
The Doctor nodded encouragingly. ''Good... That's good.''
''I… feel… everything we wanted from mankind.'' His shoulders straightened and he turned to face them again, newfound glee (if it could be called that) shining in his eye. ''Which is... ambition, hatred, aggression and war. Such… a genius for war!'' The way he uttered those words, with such enthusiasm, made a chill run down Alexandra's spine.
''No,'' the Doctor disagreed with a shake of his head, ''that's not what humanity means.''
''I think it does!'' Sec countered. ''At heart, this species is so very… Dalek.''
The Doctor would have punched a wall at the insinuation, so he walked off angrily instead. ''Alright, so what have you achieved, then? With this Final Experiment, eh? Nothing! 'Cause I can show you what you're missing with this thing,'' he pointed at the small radio he had left on a table, giving it a small pat. ''Simple little radio.''
''What is the purpose of that device?'' Jast asked.
Alexandra rolled her eyes. ''It fries eggs - what do you think it does?! It plays music, of course! But I suppose not even Daleks with imagination can appreciate the importance of music.''
A small smile appeared on the Doctor's lips as he took her hand in his. ''Oh, with music, you can... dance to it,'' he twirled her on the spot, earning the ghost of a smile, ''sing with it...'' He looked straight into Caan's eyestalk. ''...fall in love to it. Unless you're a Dalek of course. Then it's all just noise!'' In a motion so quick she almost missed it, he took out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the radio, and a high pitched wail escaped from it. Dalek Sec cried in pain, gripping his head with his hands, while the Daleks around him twitched erratically.
''Run! Go!'' Alexandra shouted back at the prisoners. They wasted no time obeying her command, turning the way they had come and sprinting into the sewers, Martha in the lead, while the Time Lords followed behind them, the Doctor pulling Alexandra along by the hand.
''You didn't tell me the identifying returned!'' he shouted as they ran.
''It didn't!'' she shouted back. He cast her a curious glance, but he couldn't ask more.
At one point Martha stopped, unsure of which way to run and inadvertently halted the whole group. ''Come on! Move, move, move, move, move!'' the Doctor rushed past her without second thought, taking a left, having memorized the layout from before.
Halfway down the tunnel, the group happened upon Tallulah, looking lost and more than scared. Alexandra grabbed her by the hand to pull her along. ''Come on, Tallulah! Run!''
The show girl looked at the group in bewilderment. ''What's happened to Lazlo?!'' she asked frantically as she was carried away by the humans trying to outrun their pursuers.
Before long, the small group had reached a random ladder the Doctor had come across on his search. It didn't lead to the theatre, but it would offer the quickest way out. ''C'mon! Everyone up!'' he motioned upwards, ready to help push Alexandra up, but she instead broke away and helped the humans first.
''You've got to climb up!'' he said, offering his hand.
''Not until everyone is safe! I'm not having another Frank today!'' she protested, guiding Martha up the ladder.
''I'm not letting you stay last, do you hear me?!''
''Like you would let me if I tried.''
''It's not an easy job when you keep disregarding what I say!''
''If you're talking about the Daleks, sorry, okay? I couldn't just stand there letting you face them on your own!''
''And you thought telling them you're a Time Lord changed anything?''
''Last I recall, I told them I was a Time Lady.''
''Look, did I seem bothered dealing with them on my own?''
''But I was bothered! You want me to come with you but you won't let me share the responsibility!''
He tried hard not to groan. ''We don't have time for this! You have to go up!''
''Not unless I want to.''
''Stop acting like an angsty teenager and get on with it!''
Her jaw dropped to the floor. ''Angsty teenager?!''
''Doctor!''
Both their heads shot up to see Martha at the opening above them, beckoning them up. In their antics at each other, they hadn't noticed that everyone had climbed up and they were the only ones still in the sewers.
He wasted no time grabbing her by the arm and pushing her up the ladder, Alexandra not having time to protest. ''I'm 201, mister, I'm hardly a teenager!'' she called down as she made her way upwards.
''Well, just about,'' the Doctor sighed, grabbing a metal step and climbing out of the sewers just in time to avoid the pig men and Daleks chasing them.
~\8/~
How the small group had even reached Hooverville in the first place was a mystery, but there they were, having almost been shot down by the sentries Solomon had positioned at the perimeter on arrival, standing near the fire to make a plan… which proved rather difficult, seeing that the leader of the town had taken arms already, a riffle propped against his shoulder. When Alexandra had asked him to protect the town she didn't have something specific in mind, but she really shouldn't have expected anything else.
''These Daleks,'' Solomon was saying, ''they sound like the stuff of nightmares. And they wanna breed?''
''They're splicing themselves into human bodies,'' the Doctor explained, his arms crossed across his chest. Martha, Tallulah and Frank had seated themselves on crates around the fire to listen to the conversation. ''If I'm right, they've got a farm of breeding stock right here in Hooverville.''
''We can't stay here,'' Alexandra said to the man, ''they might make a move to take people by force. We've got to get everyone out as soon as possible.''
''Hooverville's the lowest place a man can fall,'' Solomon protested. ''There's nowhere else to go! Or have you forgotten that now that you're leavin'?''
''You're leavin'?'' Frank asked incredulously.
She wanted to rip her hair out in annoyance. How could he bring that up at a time like this?! ''This isn't about me! This is about the people that have treated me like part of their family for the past year! There aren't a lot of options here, I know that, and I'm sorry, but you can't stay here. Go anywhere but Manhattan, move down the railroads, travel across state; just get out of New York!''
''There's got to be a way to reason with these things,'' the man tried.
Martha scoffed. ''There's not a chance.''
''You ain't seen 'em, boss,'' Frank agreed, standing up.
''Solomon, I beg you,'' Alexandra said, laying a hand on his arm, ''don't let all those people die. I couldn't stand losing another family to the Daleks, not again.''
Solomon stared down at her hand a moment before looking in her eyes. ''Are they really as bad as you say?''
Alexandra didn't reply. Every time she blinked ever since she laid eyes on the Cult of Skaro, she could see another one of her Sisters falling to the ground, eyes wide open, and she felt like someone was stepping on her throat, cutting off her air supply. Her hand dropped weakly from his coat and she turned away, seeking the Doctor's hand, which he offered with no hesitation, giving her all the comfort he could by rubbing her knuckles with his thumb. ''Daleks are bad enough at anytime,'' he told Solomon, ''but right now they're vulnerable. And that makes them more dangerous than ever.''
Suddenly the sound of a whistle tore the air. ''They're coming! They're coming!'' a voice cried in the night.
''A sentry,'' Solomon guessed, readying his rifle. ''Must have seen something.''
The sentry came through the crowd of panicking residents. ''They're here! I seen 'em! Monsters! They're monsters!'' he shouted.
Alexandra's whole body stiffened, her eyes wide. The Doctor put a hand around her waist to bring her closer. ''It's started,'' he mumbled bitterly.
''We're under attack!'' Solomon shouted. ''Everyone to arms!''
Frank came to the group with a rifle in his hands while some men opened a shed with weapons inside, handing out everything they had gathered. ''I'm ready, boss, but all o' you! Find a weapon! Use anything!''
In their utter panic, some people tried to run off, ignoring Solomon's cries for them to gather towards the fire. ''Come back!'' he was yelling. ''We gotta stick together! It's not safe out there! Come back!''
It was no use; whoever tried to escape the town got captured by pig men, who had reached the outskirts and where gathering up whichever unfortunate soul came in their way. Meanwhile, the people who had managed to find a weapon had gathered in a tight circle around the fire, protecting those who were yet unarmed. Even Martha decided she wouldn't go down without a fight: she had found a large branch to defend herself with should the need arise, staying next to the terrified Tallulah at all times. Alexandra had been pushed to the middle of the circle with the Doctor, clenching and unclenching her left fist nervously whenever a pig man came in her line of sight. Her other hand was occupied with a fistful of fabric from the Doctor's coat, not letting him step away from her. Not that he was going to, anyway.
''We need to get out of the park,'' Martha told the Doctor, who was looking back and forth studying all lines of approach out of and towards Hooverville from where they were standing.
''We can't!'' he said. ''They're on all sides. They're driving people back towards us.''
''We're trapped!'' Tallulah realised.
''Then we stand together!'' Solomon called. ''Gather 'round! Everybody come to me! You there, Jethro, Harry, Seamus, stay together!''
Any person who was still alive came running to the circle of men, seeking protection with the armed masses. ''They can't take all of us,'' Solomon said determinedly and then fired at the pig men approaching, and anyone who had a gun did the same, taking down as many as they could... but everyone knew it wasn't going to be enough.
''If we can just hold them off till daylight,'' Martha was saying, jumping whenever a shot was fired.
But the Time Lords were not looking around them anymore. Both their gazes had travelled skywards, the Doctor's eyes losing their usual glint at the sight. ''Oh, Martha,'' he mumbled solemnly, ''they're just the foot soldiers.''
Everyone's gaze followed where he was looking and their eyes widened in shock at the peculiar shape in the sky that was flying towards them. Alexandra's hand found the Doctor's and he gripped it tightly.
''Oh, my God,'' Martha breathed.
For, in the sky, heading right towards them, was a Dalek.
''What in this world-?'' Solomon asked.
''It's the devil,'' the sentry said, shaking with fear. ''A devil in the sky. God save us all. It's damnation!''
''Oh yeah? We'll see about that!'' Frank said and fired at the Dalek, only for the bullet to bounce harmlessly against its metal casing.
Alexandra rushed forward and pushed the barrel of the shotgun down. ''That's not gonna work!''
''There's more than one of them,'' Martha whispered to the Doctor, eyes never leaving the levitating Dalek as another one came into view next to the first.
He didn't know what he liked less: the Daleks taking action and destroying everything in their path or only the two of them just levitating there, looking down at the inhabitants of Hooverville without doing a thing. The way the humans were gathered right now, almost all of them in one tight group, was strategically convenient for the Daleks: a few quick blasts and they would all be lying dead on the ground. But how would they benefit from that? That would have been the easy way through, so why were they assessing the situation from above?
As if prompted by a silent command, the Daleks opened fire.
But they were firing at anywhere but the group. People screamed as explosions went off and fires erupted all across the town, and those who hadn't yet made it to the armed crowd died by blasts and shrapnel. The people gathered around the fire could only duck whenever a blast was fired and watch as those unprotected met a horrible fate at the hands of the ''devils in the sky''.
''The humans will surrender!'' one of the Daleks cried.
''Leave them alone! They've done nothing to you!'' the Doctor shouted, stepping just slightly apart from the group.
The Daleks stilled at once.
In the eerie silence that followed, he spotted Solomon out of the corner of his eye taking a few steps away from the crowd, his rifle held tightly in his hands. ''No, Solomon! Stay back!'' he shouted, grabbing his arms.
''I'm told that I'm addressin' the Daleks, is that right?'' the man nonetheless addressed the aliens in the sky, his voice slightly wavering. ''From what I hear, you're outcasts, too!''
''Solomon, don't,'' Alexandra warned him from the head of the group.
''Alexandra, this is my township, you will both respect my authority,'' he said in a firm voice, looking back at her. There was a pleading look in her eyes, but he wouldn't back down now. ''Just let me try,'' he looked between them, putting a hand on the Doctor's chest and pushing him away.
Even though he was more than reluctant, the Doctor stepped back, shaking his head at the man before him.
Alexandra could only watch as Solomon raised his hands in surrender. ''Daleks…'' he called up to them, ''ain't we all the same? Underneath, ain't we all kin?'' When there was no response, Solomon set his rifle slowly to the ground, never breaking eye contact with the aliens above him. '''Cause, see, I've just discovered, this past day, God's universe is a thousand times the size I thought it was. And that scares me. Oh, yeah. Terrifies me! Right down to the bone! But, sure, it's got to give me hope… Hope that maybe together we can make a better tomorrow. So I… I beg you now if you have any compassion in your hearts, then you'll meet with us and stop this fight! Well… what do you say?''
Both Time lords studied the Daleks floating in silence, waiting with bated breath for their reply. And even if they should have expected it, the command the Dalek gave made their blood run cold.
''Exterminate!''
The blast hit Solomon straight in the chest and the man yelled in pain when it found home, falling to his knees before, finally, dropping on his stomach where he stayed, motionless.
Alexandra stared at his corpse among the screams of terror from the people around her, her hand finding its way shakily over her mouth, eyes wide. In her vision, she could only see red. This couldn't be happening, not again.
''Oh, no!'' Frank screamed, dashing to the man's side and falling to his knees next to him. ''No! Solomon!''
''They killed him!'' Martha almost whimpered, looking up at the aliens in the sky with newfound hatred. ''They just shot him on the spot!''
The Doctor stared down at the body of the unfortunate man, at how Frank was leaning over him in mourning, and his anger reached boiling point inside him. ''Daleks!'' he growled, letting all the venom he could muster lace his voice. He walked forward with new purpose in his stride, throwing his hands to his sides and turning his enraged gaze towards the Daleks. ''Alright, so it's my turn! Then kill me! Kill me if it'll stop you attacking these people!''
He was just so... tired. Tired of people leaving him alone. Tired of destroying everything he touched. Tired of losing everyone he held close to his hearts. Tired of the Daleks always finding a way to rip everything he held dear out of his grasp in the cruellest way possible...
Alexandra stilled, eyes trained on her fellow Time Lord in shock.
''I will be the destroyer of our greatest enemy!'' the Dalek said, the barest hint of glee in its otherwise mechanical voice.
''Then do it! Do it!'' he screamed, beating his fists against in chest. ''Just do it! Do it!''
''NO!'' Alexandra cried, hearing the blood pump in her ears as she made to run to him, but hands on her shoulders held her back - Martha's hands, she realized, but she had no time to pay attention to the human, or the heat of her hands as she shook herself out of Martha's grip and ran to the Doctor, fear fuelling every step towards him, the need to keep him safe... ''NO, DON'T!''
He barely had time to turn around as her voice broke through his rage and touched something in him, and time seemed to grow still around them: she came to stand right in front of him, putting her back against his chest to shield him from the blast and her hands on his arms to keep him from trying to shake her off. He was in such a state of shock at her actions that he almost missed the glow of her hands against the brown of his coat, like a light source was trapped underneath her skin, spreading from the crook of her elbow right down to her fingertips...
''Extermin-'' The Dalek stopped mid-cry as if someone unseen had ordered it to stop, and the Time Lord had time to wrap his arms around Alexandra's waist, making sure to trap the glowing part of her arms underneath his to keep the Daleks from spotting it.
''I do not understand. It is the Doctor!'' The Dalek seemed to be having a conversation they could only hear one side of. ''The urge to kill is too strong!''
''What's it doing?'' Alexandra whispered.
The Doctor was watching the partial conversation unfold intently. ''Dunno. Hate not knowing…''
''I…obey,'' Caan said finally, obviously reluctant.
''What's going on?'' the Time Lord demanded.
The Dalek didn't reply right away, probably receiving instructions. ''The Doctor will follow.''
''No!''
The cry came from Martha, who ran out of the crowd to stand behind them. ''You can't go.''
''She's right,'' Alexandra said, stepping out of his grip to face him, ''you can't. It might be a trap.'' Her eyes felt like they were burning holes in his skull from the insistence they held within.
''I've got to go,'' he insisted, looking between the two. ''The Daleks just changed their minds. Daleks never change their minds.''
''That's why it might be a trap. You can't know what they want!''
His hands travelled to her shoulders to adjust the cloak over her, a seemingly reassuring gesture had it not been to hide her now faintly glowing hands from view, as well. ''I won't know unless I go, though.''
''But what about us?'' Martha asked in a broken whisper, gesturing back at Hooverville's residents.
He looked back at them, only to see the confused and terrified expressions on their faces, enough to make him feel torn. What was going to happen if he left them to fend off subsequent attacks by themselves?
A hand came to rest on his arm and his eyes turned once again to Alexandra. Her jaw was clenched and her fingers were stiff against his coat, but she gave him a curt nod, and he could only reassure himself that he was leaving them in safe and familiar hands, both to him and them. ''One condition!'' he shouted up at the Dalek. ''If I come with you, you spare the lives of everyone here, and that means Alexandra as well! Do you hear me?''
A small pause, and then, ''The humans and the Time Lady will be spared. Doctor… follow.''
''Then we're coming with you,'' Martha said, bridging the distance between the three.
''Martha, stay here,'' he told her. ''Alexandra will need your help here, so do what you do best. People are hurt. You can help them.'' He looked between the two women again, the plea evident in his eyes. ''Let me go.''
Even though Alexandra had all the energy to put up a fuss, the prospect of being in the presence of the Daleks again, even at her own will, deflated her confidence somewhat. She didn't know how she had even mustered enough nerve to talk to them like that before, but she guessed she had a lot to go on: these were the creatures who were responsible for the deaths of the only family she had ever known, the destruction of her planet, not to mention why she hadn't been raised by her own mother in the first place. Besides, they only called the Doctor, and the people of Hooverville would need some stability after losing Solomon, and she had been here for a whole year. She wouldn't take over, of course not. But someone had to reassure them that they would now be safe and no one would try and steal them away at night.
That was, of course, if they managed to drive the Daleks off.
And she had a feeling the Doctor would be needing her and Martha for something more than just damage control on Hooverville for that to be possible.
So for now she could do nothing more than stay silent and just wrap her hands – with some difficulty due to her height – quickly around his shoulders in a tight hug before stepping away from him regretfully. ''You better come back, do you understand?'' she asked, and it wasn't just a prompt: it was a request.
His surprise at the gesture was short lived, though, and he nodded reassuringly. ''I will.''
When Alexandra turned around to walk back to Martha, the human looked to all the world as if someone had left her hanging alone from a single rope in the dark, betrayed. The Doctor hadn't told her he was leaving her forever! So when she reached her, she put a hand on her shoulder, making the human look up at her as she gave it a quick squeeze.
The Doctor made to walk away, but seemed to remember something halfway through and spun around to face the girls. ''Oh, and can I just say…'' He took Martha's hand, clasping it with both of his. ''Thank you very much.'' And with a wink at the both of them, he turned around and strode away, following the Daleks that flew ahead.
When Martha looked down at her hand, she saw he had pressed the wallet containing the psychic paper in her palm. She opened it, hoping it might contain something to help her, but all that was inside was the blank paper, making her stare at it in confusion.
But for Alexandra, that was all that she needed. Before she could occupy herself with the likes of the Doctor's plan, however, she had to restore some balance to Hooverville. Straightening her back, she walked to the people gathered behind them. ''Alright, listen here, everybody! We've got work to do! Doctor Jones,'' she gestured at Martha, who spun around at the mention of her name, albeit a bit surprised at the use of the title, ''will be seeing to all the wounded in a moment at the pavilion with the help of Tallulah over there,'' she pointed at the blonde in the end where she could see her at the front. ''But that's not all! We need to search for any survivor that might still be in the woods, so if some of you would be so kind as to form a search party to scour the nearby area, it'll take less time. Also, I need people to help me salvage everything we can from the ruins our attackers left behind. Come on! Get to it!''
The effect was instant: people nodded and hurried off, some towards the pavilion where the men had been fighting in the morning, some gathered off to the side, shouldering riffles and prepping themselves to head out, and the rest moved to Alexandra's side, listening intently to the instructions she gave out on how they would move around the small settlement. Martha would never have guessed, after seeing the girl being somewhat idle at the hospital or when she was shaking like a leaf in the presence of a Dalek, that she would carry such authority when the need arose. Though, she should have guessed that she wasn't one to stand back with her arms crossed if her defiance to Solomon (who was now lying dead very near her, she thought, swallowing the lump in her throat) or her previous argument with the Doctor was anything to go by.
''I'm not a doctor,'' was the only intelligent thing that left her mouth, making Alexandra focus on her. ''I'm a medical student, I haven't gotten my degree yet.''
The Time Lady seemed to weigh her with her gaze for a moment before she took a deep breath and walked towards her, placing a hand on her shoulder again. ''Martha Jones, people have been hurt, people that would be grateful of your help right now more than anything, whether you have a degree or not. This is where you'll prove you deserve that degree.'' Her icy blue gaze, aimed straight into her eyes had Martha rooted on the spot. ''Tonight, for all intents and purposes, you are a doctor, and nothing will get in the way of you doing the job you've been trained to do, you understand?''
Her words – her utter belief in her capabilities – made the human's heart flutter in her chest and she nodded in understanding. ''I'm on it, ma'am,'' she assured her, a smile on her lips.
Alexandra laughed at the formal address and patted Martha's shoulder once before turning to the group gathered behind her. ''All of you; let's go!'' she called, and everyone left for their designated duties, even Martha Jones.
