The Sontaran Stratagem
Evy was grinning widely as she stood beside Donna at the console. The Doctor, however, was leaning against a Y-beam, watching them nervously.
"You're doing great Donna," Evy encouraged as she watched Donna carefully try to pilot the TARDIS. She had begged them for ages to teach her how and, with a little help from Evy, the Doctor had finally relented.
"I can't believe I'm doing this!" Donna breathed as she stood stiffly, pumping a lever on the console.
"No, neither can I," the Doctor mumbled, still unsure of how Evy had managed to convince him this would be a good idea, before jolting forward, "Whoa, careful!" he banged the console with a mallet.
"Oi! Don't smack her!" Evy shouted, reaching around Donna to smack him upside the back of his head, "And you wonder why she gives you all the trouble," the Doctor rubbed his head as he lifted a lever, "And left hand down, Donna," Evy instructed gently. They had found out quite early on that Evy was a far better instructor for humans. The Doctor either tended to get off track or yell instructions which did little to relieve the nerves of a frazzled human. Evy seemed to have more patience and spoke more calmly, not to mention, all the time she'd spent trying to blend in around humans had made her better able to explain things in a way they could understand, which was just what Donna needed.
Donna did as she was told and the ship lurched.
"Getting a bit too close to the 1980s," the Doctor warned them.
"What am I gonna do, put a dent in 'em?" Donna rolled her eyes at him.
"Well, someone did," he replied, staring at the screen of the Vortex when a mobile began to ring.
Evy and the Doctor tensed.
"Hold on…that's a phone!" Donna exclaimed. The Doctor walked around them to another section of the console and pulled a mobile out of its holder, looking at it, "You've got a mobile? Since when?"
"It's not mine…" he continued to stare at it.
"Just answer!" Evy shouted, sounding excited. It had to be Martha, only she would call them on that phone.
He glanced at Evy a moment before flipping it open and leaning on the captain's chair, "Hello?"
"Doctor?" he heard Martha's voice reply on the other end, "It's Martha...and I'm bringing you two back to Earth!"
~8~
Evy had immediately taken the controls before the Doctor had finished speaking with Martha. She left scarcely any room for questioning or arguing as she ran around the console, piloting the TARDIS to the exact coordinates she traced the phone to. Donna had braced herself against the console but straightened when she realized the bumpiness she usually associated with the flying of the TARDIS was greatly reduced.
The TARDIS materialized in a small alley between two buildings easily.
"Why don't you let her fly more often?" Donna turned to the Doctor, smirking.
"Where's the fun in that?" he just grinned, tossing Evy her coat before opening the TARDIS doors. He stepped out and stood in front of the box as Evy quickly pulled on her coat.
"Martha Jones," he greeted someone they couldn't see from the doorway.
"Doctor," they heard Martha reply.
The Doctor moved slowly towards Martha, too slowly for Evy who ran out the doors and pushed past him, "Martha!" she shouted, running over her friend and half throwing herself at the woman, hugging her.
Martha laughed, hugging her back, "Evy!" she pulled away, "I still can't believe it's you!"
She really couldn't. She'd only been around Evy's new self for an hour at most before she and the Doctor were off again. Whenever she thought of her wayward friend she still imagined the woman with brown hair and green eyes. This would take some getting used to.
Evy just rolled her eyes and pulled her into one more quick hug before stepping away and allowing the Doctor to hug her as well.
"You haven't changed a bit!" the Doctor remarked, pulling away.
"Neither have you!" Martha grinned at him.
"How's the family?" he asked cautiously.
"You know," she shrugged, "Not so bad. Recovering."
"What about you?" he asked but Martha was distracted by something behind him.
Evy looked over to see Donna slowly making her way over to them.
"Right," Martha nodded, "I should have known. Didn't take you two long to replace me."
"As if anyone could," Evy rolled her eyes, walking over to Donna and half pulling her faster to meet Martha.
"Now, don't start a fight," the Doctor muttered uncomfortably.
Evy just shook her head, the two would get along just fine, "Martha, Donna. Donna, Martha."
"Please don't fight," he begged again, "I can't bear fighting."
"You wish," Donna scoffed before turning to Martha with a warm smile, "I've heard all about you," she shook her hand, "They talk about you all the time."
"I dread to think," Martha grimaced.
"No, no, no. They say nice things. Good things. Nice things. Really good things."
"Oh, my God, they've told you everything," Martha's eyes widened in horror. While she had gotten over the Doctor rather quickly in 1913, she was still very embarrassed thinking back to how she acted around him in the beginning.
Donna gave the woman the quick onceover before smirking, "Didn't take you long to get over it, though. Who's the lucky man?"
"What man?" the Doctor frowned, "Lucky what?"
"She's engaged!" Evy nearly shouted as Martha wiggled her fingers of her left hand at him, showing off her ring. Evy just hugged her once more.
"Really? Who to?"
"Tom Milligan," Evy answered.
"How did you know that?" he turned a shocked gaze at Evy.
"Unlike you," Evy rolled her eyes, "I actually like to keep in touch with my friends."
And she had. She always made sure to call Martha and Jack and Ianto every so often, to check in and see how they were doing. Martha had told her all about the work she'd done with Torchwood and her time with Tom.
"He's in pediatrics working out in Africa right now," Martha added, "And yes, I know, I've got a doctor who disappears off to distant places, tell me about it."
"Is he skinny?" Donna asked seriously.
"No, he's sort of...strong," Martha blushed.
"He is too skinny for words," Donna pointed her thumb at the Doctor, "You give him a hug, you get a paper cut!"
The three women just shared a laugh.
"I'd rather you were fighting," the Doctor mumbled.
"Oh stop," Evy elbowed him gently in the stomach.
"Dr. Jones, report to base please," a voice suddenly said on a radio.
"Speaking of which..." Martha lifted up her radio, "This is Dr. Jones. Operation Blue Sky is go, go, go," she turned around and walked off down the alley, "I repeat, this is a go."
The Doctor, Donna, and Evy shared a look before following after Martha only to see soldiers, jeeps, and a large lorry come down the road.
"Unified Intelligence Taskforce, raise that barrier now!" a soldier shouted as a group of soldiers and vehicles entered a large factory, "Leave your safeties on, lads, it's non-hostiles!"
"All workers lay down your tools and surrender!" another soldier shouted over a bullhorn.
"You work for UNIT?" Evy turned to her. The last time she spoke to Martha she had only said she was doing some work for Torchwood and would send them her love.
Martha nodded before speaking back into the radio, "Greyhound Six to Trap One. B Section, go, go, go! Search the ground floor, grid pattern Delta."
"What are you searching for?" the Doctor asked as they watched the infiltration.
"Illegal aliens."
"This is a UNIT operation!" the soldier with the bullhorn announced, "All workers lay down your tools and surrender immediately!"
The UNIT soldiers forced the workers to their knees, hands over their heads.
"B Section mobilized!" Martha shouted, rushing off, "E Section, F Section, on my command!"
"Is that what you did to her," Donna asked, looking at the Doctor and Evy, "Turned her into a soldier?"
Neither the Doctor nor Evy could really answer. Instead they waited patiently until the situation settled down and Martha returned.
"You're qualified now?" the Doctor asked, seeing Martha's name tag said 'Dr. Jones,' "You're a proper doctor."
"UNIT rushed it through," Martha replied, "Given my experience in the field. Here we go," she turned and began to lead them across the grounds, "We're establishing a field base on site. They're dying to meet you."
"Wish I could say the same," he mumbled, nervous. Evy reached over and took his hand in hers. He smiled at her, giving her hand a squeeze before following off after Martha who was talking with Donna.
~8~
The UNIT field base wasn't too far from the factory so they arrived in no time at all. They walked through the back of the lorry to see it stocked with computers and monitors and communication devices, each the top technology of the time.
"Operation Blue Sky complete, sir," Martha stated, walking over to her commanding officer, "Thanks for letting me take the lead. And this..." she grinned and turned to her guests, "This is the Doctor and Evy. Doctor, Evy, this is Colonel Mace."
"Sir," Mace saluted them, "Ma'am."
"Oh, don't salute," the Doctor shook his head while Evy tried to stifle a laugh.
"But it's an honor, sir. I've read all the files on you, and you as well ma'am."
"What?" Evy frowned, she hadn't known there were any files on her.
Mace nodded, "When it was discovered that a female Time Lord…"
"Time Lady," Evy corrected, still a bit stunned.
"My apologies. When it was discovered that at Time Lady was present during the Valiant excursion, we here at UNIT took it upon ourselves to look into your history on Earth."
"I take it you contacted Torchwood as well?" she asked, rubbing her head, uneasy with the fact that they had been digging into her past. There were things, probably in that file, that she didn't want anyone to know.
"They refused to help. We compiled quite a few notes about your past five years on Earth…"
"You were here for five years?!" the Doctor turned to her, eyes wide. He knew she was on Earth before Jack had contacted him and introduced them, but he hadn't thought it was for that long. How had he never sensed her before then? He'd been on Earth dozens of times and never even knew she was there. It shouldn't be possible. Was it a Perception Filter? Something else?
"You um," Evy hesitated, "You did sense me," she told him quietly, "But you um, talked yourself into it being a phantom sensation, one last lingering reminder of the War."
He nodded, vaguely recalling the tickle in the back of his mind he'd felt quite a few times when he'd been on Earth after the war.
Mace nodded, "We have a record of your living arrangements with a Miss Marcy DeWitt in Leeds, a small collection of jobs you had taken on during your time, medical records from your time spent in the Mas…"
"Technically speaking, you're still on staff," Martha cut in, turning to the Doctor, "You never resigned."
Evy looked at Martha, sending her a thankful look for doing what she had done. Martha was the only one present who she had told about her time in the Institute, the one one, in fact, who knew about her powers as well. Martha knew how much she didn't want the Doctor to learn of either.
Good fortune must have been smiling at Evy for once as the Doctor seemed too distracted by the fact that Evy had been there all along and he never noticed to realize what Martha had done.
"What, you used to work for them?" Donna turned to the Doctor as well.
"Yeah," he mumbled, still staring at Evy, but slowly working his way out of his shock, "A long time ago, back in the 70s…or was it the 80s?"
"Early 70s," Evy answered. She always had a better recollection of time relative to the Doctor and his adventures.
"It was all a bit more homespun back then," he nodded absently.
"Times have changed, sir," Mace replied.
"That's enough of the 'sir,'" the Doctor said, shaking himself completely from his thoughts.
"Come on though," Martha looked between the Doctor and Evy, "You've seen it. You've been on board the Valiant. We've got massive funding from the United Nations, all in the name of Homeworld Security."
"A modern UNIT for the modern world," Mace agreed.
"What, and that means arresting ordinary workers?" Donna demanded, "In the streets? In broad daylight? It's more like Guantanamo Bay out there. Donna, by the way. Donna Noble, since you didn't ask. I'll have a salute."
Mace looked over at the Doctor and Evy both of whom gave him a nod and so he turned to Donna and saluted her, "Ma'am."
"Thank you," Donna nodded, pleased.
"Tell me what's going on in that factory," the Doctor got back to business.
"Yesterday 52 people died in identical circumstances right across the world, in 11 different time zones," Mace turned to a screen on the wall, bringing up a map, "5am in the UK, 6am in France, 8am in Moscow, 1pm in China…"
"They died simultaneously?" Evy frowned.
"Exactly. 52 deaths at the exact same moment worldwide."
"How did they die?"
"They were all inside their cars."
"They were poisoned," Martha added, "I checked the biopsies. No toxins. Whatever it is, left the system immediately."
"What have the cars got in common?" the Doctor turned to them.
"Completely different makes but all fitted with ATMOS. And that is the ATMOS factory."
"What's ATMOS?" he frowned.
"Oh come on, even I know that," Donna turned to him, "Everyone's got ATMOS."
~8~
Martha took them to the ATMOS factory, the Doctor, Evy, and Donna all walking behind her on the catwalk above the factory floor.
"Stands for 'Atmospheric Emission System,'" Martha told them, "The ATMOS in your car reduces CO2 emissions to zero."
"Zero?" Evy's eyes widened, "No carbon? At all?"
"And you get sat-nav thrown in, plus 20 quid in shopping vouchers if you introduce a friend," Donna added, "Bargain."
"And this is where they make it, shipping worldwide," Mace said, joining them, "Seventeen factories across the globe but this is the central depot, sending ATMOS to every country on Earth."
"And you think ATMOS is alien?" the Doctor reasoned.
"It's our job to investigate that possibility. Doctor? Miss Daniels?"
"Evy's fine," Evy remarked as they followed Mace off with Donna and Martha. He led them to a small office where the ATMOS device was on display.
"And here it is, laid bare," Mace announced, leading them into the room, "ATMOS can be threaded through any and every make of car."
"You must've checked it before it went on sale," the Doctor commented as Evy walked over to the device while he went to check another piece of equipment over by the wall.
"We did," Martha agreed, "We found nothing. That's why I thought we needed experts."
"Really?" he asked, distracted by the equipment, as he slipped on his specs, "Who did you get?" there was silence and so he turned to see them all staring at him, "Oh, right! Me and Evy! Yes! Good."
Martha just shook her head at how oblivious the Doctor still was before leaving the room with Mace to check on a few things.
"Okay, so why would aliens be so keen on cleaning up our atmosphere?" Donna asked them.
"Very good question," the Doctor mumbled, moving to stand next to Evy as she flipped through some paperwork.
"Maybe they want to help, get rid of pollution and stuff?"
"Do you know how many cars there are on planet Earth? 800 million. Imagine that."
"If you had control over them," Evy sighed, "You'd have 800 million weapons."
"Oh my God!" Donna gasped.
The Doctor and Evy moved to look at the ATMOS device, poking and prodding it as Mace walked back in with Martha. Donna looked down at the paperwork Evy had placed on the table beside her before getting an idea and walking out.
"Ionizing nano-membrane carbon dioxide converter," Evy mumbled, flashing her sonic over it.
"Which means that ATMOS works," the Doctor nodded, "Filters the CO2 at a molecular level."
"We know about that," Mace stated, "What's its origin? Is it alien?"
"No," Evy replied, straightening up and fiddling absently with her sonic as the Doctor crouched down next to the ATMOS device, "It is human, but it's decades ahead of its time."
"Look, do you mind?" the Doctor glanced up at Mace, "Could you stand back a bit?"
"Sorry, have I done something wrong?" Mace stepped back.
"You're carrying a gun," Evy told him, "He doesn't like people with guns hanging around him."
Mace looked a bit put off at that but turned to leave nonetheless, "If you insist."
"Tetchy," Martha commented.
"Well, it's true," the Doctor defended.
"He's a good man."
The Doctor straightened up and leaned against the display, flashing his own sonic on the device, "People with guns are usually the enemy in my books. You seem quite at home."
"If anyone got me used to fighting, it's you," Martha glared at him.
"Oh right, so it's my fault," he rolled his eyes.
"Well, you got me the job," she shot back, "Besides, look at me," he turned off his sonic and looked up at her, "Am I carrying a gun?"
"Suppose not."
"It's alright for you two," Martha commented, glancing at Evy before looking back at the Doctor, "You can just come and go, but some of us have got to stay behind. So I've got to work from the inside and by staying inside, maybe I stand a chance of making them better."
"Yeah?" he asked as a grin spread its way across his face.
"There's my Martha," Evy smiled, stepping forward and hugging her friend from the side.
"I learnt from the best," Martha smiled at them as well.
"Well..." the Doctor began.
"Thanks Evy," Martha added, earning an indignant 'Hey!' from the Doctor.
"Oi, you lot!" Donna called, walking back into the room with a binder in her hand, "All your storm troopers and your sonics, rubbish! Shoulda come with me."
"Where have you been?" the Doctor frowned at her as Mace entered the room.
"Personnel. That's where the weird stuff's happening, in the paperwork. 'Cos I spent years working as a temp, I can find my way around an office blindfolded, and the first thing I noticed is an empty file."
"Why, what's inside it? Or what's not inside it?"
"Sick days," she opened the file to show them that it was empty, completely blank, "There aren't any. Hundreds of people working here and no one's sick. Not one hangover, man flu, sneaky little shopping trip. Nothing. Not ever. They don't get ill."
"That can't be right," Mace took the empty file from her.
"You've been checking out the buildings, should've been checking out the workforce."
"I can see why they like you," Martha beamed at the ginger.
"Hmm," Donna nodded as she looked at the Doctor and Evy.
"You are good," Martha laughed.
"She's amazing," Evy stood and went to hug the woman.
"Super Temp," Donna shrugged.
"Remind me to make you a cape," Evy joked.
"Dr. Jones, set up a medical post, start examining the workers," Mace cut in, "I'll get them sent through."
"Come on Donna, give me a hand?" Martha asked as the Doctor and Evy moved to follow Mace.
They walked out of the room and down an open corridor that ran parallel to the work area.
"So, this...this ATMOS thing, where'd it come from?" the Doctor asked.
"Luke Rattigan himself," Mace replied.
"Who?" Evy shook her head, confused.
"Come with me," Mace led them through the work area and back to the base, bringing up the file on Luke for them to see, "Child genius. Invented the Fountain 6 search engine when he was 12 years old. Millionaire overnight. Now runs the Rattigan Academy. A private school educating students handpicked from all over the world."
"A hothouse for geniuses," the Doctor nodded, "Wouldn't mind going there," Mace looked at him, puzzled, "I get lonely."
"OI!" Evy shouted, smacking him in the head again, hard.
"Right!" he winced, "Sorry, sorry, I meant we. We get lonely…"
"You were implying I was stupid," Evy warned him, pointing an accusing finger at him.
"No!" his eyes widened, "I…I didn't…I just meant…and he…and humans…human geniuses! I meant human geniuses…they're fun, right?" he looked at Mace for help, "Right? They're fun…interesting…and...fun..." he trailed, seeing Evy smirking, "What?"
She just shook her head and walked off. It was always so amusing to see if she could get a rise out of the Doctor. He'd gotten very good at keeping them a partnership, using 'we' and 'us' when he spoke but, from time to time, he did slip up. And there were odd moments here and there where he would seem to forget she was a Time Lady. She didn't hold anything against him. He'd only known about her a few months and he'd thought he was alone for quite a few years. It must still be hard to wrap his head around the fact that he isn't alone any longer.
The Doctor watched her walk off, his mouth open in shock at how easily she'd let him off the hook after he'd accidently basically said she wasn't a genius, which was completely wrong, she was just as brilliant as he was. He quickly sobered when he heard Mace chuckling. He looked over at the man.
"Drives you round the bend does she?" he laughed, "My wife does the same."
He patted the Doctor on the back and walked off after the Time Lady, leaving a very stunned Time Lord standing there.
~8~
"Do you think I should call my mum?" Donna asked Martha after the Doctor and Evy left, "About the ATMOS in her car?"
"Better safe than sorry," Martha replied.
"I'll give her a call," Donna turned to leave when Martha called after her.
"Donna…" Donna stopped and turned around, "Do they know where you are? Your family, I mean, that you're travelling with the Doctor and Evy?"
"Not really," Donna stopped in thought, "Although...my granddad sorta waved us off. I didn't have time to explain."
"You just left him behind?"
"Yeah."
"I didn't tell my family. Kept it all so secret and it almost destroyed them."
"In what way?" Donna frowned.
"They ended up imprisoned," Martha sighed, "They were tortured, my mum, my dad, my sister...it wasn't the Doctor's fault, or Evy's, Evy actually was the one who saved them, but you need to be careful. 'Cos you know the Doctor, he's wonderful, he's brilliant, but he's like fire…stand to close and people get burned."
Donna looked a bit pale and glanced down at the floor.
"But then," Donna looked up to see Martha smiling reassuringly, "There's Evy. She's amazing, and fantastic, and she…balances him. She's like water, calm, patient, gentle, healing. She keeps him under control…most of the time anyway," she rolled her eyes, "And she'll take care of you, like she does everyone. As long as she's there, she'll never let you go, she'll never leave you by yourself because...she knows how that feels better than anyone."
Donna smiled. She had seen that as well. She'd seen Evy comfort and relax the Doctor, lift his burden and share it. She'd seen the woman go out of her way to make sure she was ok, like after Pompeii. Evy just seemed to make it all better. She gave one more nod at Martha and walked out.
~8~
The Doctor and Evy followed Mace through the factory, heading for docking, "You are not coming with us," the Doctor told him, "I want to talk to this Luke Rattigan, not point a gun at him."
"It's ten miles outside London," Mace argued, "How are you going to get there?"
"Lend us a jeep?" Evy suggested.
"According to the records, you travel by TARDIS."
"Yeah, but, if there is a danger of hostile aliens, I think it best to keep a super-duper time travel machine away from the front lines," he rolled his eyes as the man.
"I see. Then you do have weapons but you choose to keep them hidden. Jenkins!"
"Sir!" a young soldier ran up.
"You will accompany the Doctor and Miss Daniels…"
"Evy," she interrupted, but Mace continued on.
"…take orders from them."
"I don't do orders," the Doctor shook his head.
Evy shrugged, "I don't have much of an issue with it."
"Any sign of trouble get Jenkins to declare a Code Red," Mace told her, "And good luck, sir, ma'am."
He saluted them.
"I said no salutes," the Doctor told him.
"Now you're giving orders," Mace smirked before leaving.
"Cheeky, isn't he?" Evy commented as Donna ran up to them.
"Doctor!" she shouted, "Evy!"
"Oh, just in time," he smiled, "Come on!" he took her hand, "Come on, we're going to the country," he began to pull her towards the jeep, "Fresh air, geniuses, what more could you ask?"
"I'm not coming with you," Donna replied, pulling away, "I've been thinking. I'm sorry...I'm going home."
"Really?" Evy frowned, looking at her as the Doctor looked on, stunned.
"I've got to," she shrugged, but smiled.
Evy breathed a sigh of relief as she realized Donna was coming back afterwards. Thank God.
"Well, if that's what you want," the Doctor said slowly, obviously not getting what Evy had, "I mean, it's a bit soon. I had so many places I wanted to take you. The Fifteenth Broken Moon of the Medusa Cascade, the lightening skies of Cotter Palluni's World, the diamond coral reefs of Kaata Flo Ko..." he smiled at her softly, "Thank you. Thank you, Donna Noble. It's been brilliant. You…you've saved my life in so many ways."
Donna nodded, waiting for him to finish, a smirk on her face.
"You're..." his eyes widened as it finally hit him, "You're…you're just popping home for a visit. That's what you mean."
"Of course she is," Evy shook her head at the Doctor, sometimes he could be so oblivious.
"You dumbo," Donna stated.
"And then you're coming back," the Doctor nodded, figuring it all out.
"Do you know what you are? A great, big, outer-space dunce."
"Yeah," he rubbed his face.
"Ready when you are, sir, ma'am," Jenkins stepped up.
"What's more, you can give me a lift," Donna reached out and took his arm, pulling him to the truck, Evy following along, laughing, "Come on," then paused, "Broken moon of what?"
"I know," he mumbled, "I know."
It was a rather quiet ride back to where Donna lived, the Doctor, humbled from his slip for the time being, was silent. However that seemed to fade just as they reached the corner of Donna's road and the jeep pulled to a stop.
He stepped out first, followed by Donna and then Evy. It had been a tight fit but they managed to cram all four of them into the front of the vehicle.
"I'll walk the rest of the way," Donna assured them, "I'll see you back at the factory, yeah?"
"Yup," Evy nodded, the Doctor motioning for her to get back in the truck.
"Bye!" the Doctor called, hopping in after her.
"And you be careful!" Donna called.
"I'll take care of him!" Evy shouted back as the truck took off.
~8~
Donna was sitting at the kitchen table with her grandfather, having tea and just talking about everything that had happened.
"I said so, didn't I?" he grinned, "Aliens. I said they were real. I just didn't expect them in a little blue box."
"It's bigger on the inside," Donna told him.
"Yeah, but is it safe, then?" he frowned for a moment, "This Doctor and Evy person, are you safe with them?"
"They're amazing, Gramps," Donna smiled in thought, "He's just...dazzling. And never tell him I said that."
"No," he agreed.
"And Evy," she laughed, "Boy can that girl put him in his place. She's actually smacked him into place before. She's remarkable. And they're both always taking on these challenges, but…I'd trust them with my life."
"Hold up," he frowned in mock disappointment, "I thought that was my job."
"You still come first," Donna assured him.
"For God's sake, don't tell your mother."
"I don't know. I mean, this is massive. It's sort of not fair if she doesn't know."
And then her mother walked in, complaining, and she realized exactly why she shouldn't say anything.
~8~
The Doctor, Evy, and Jenkins, whose first name they discovered was Ross, were driving to the Rattigan Academy, only a few more minutes away, as Ross explained some things to them, "UNIT's been watching the Rattigan Academy for ages. It's all a bit Hitler Youth. Exercise at dawn and classes and special diets."
"Turn left," the ATMOS announced.
"Ross, one question," the Doctor frowned, looking down at the ATMOS screen, "If UNIT thinks that ATMOS is dodgy…"
"How come we've got it in the jeeps?"
"Yeah."
"Ha, tell me about it. They're fitted as standard on all government vehicles. We can't get rid of them until we can prove there's something wrong."
"Turn right," the ATMOS announced.
"Drives me around the bend," he mumbled, turning around a corner and into the school drive.
"Oh, nice one," Evy laughed at how that worked out.
"Timed that perfectly," Ross grinned, winking at her.
"Ha…yeah…" the Doctor agreed, if a bit tensely, not feeling all that comfortable with what he deemed to be Ross flirting with Evy, "You did."
"This is your final destination," the ATMOS announced.
They pulled to a stop and got out of the jeep, walking up the pavement to see students in red sweat suits running around the building while a boy they recognized as Luke stood there and looked out at the grounds.
"Is it PE?" the Doctor called, "I wouldn't mind a kick-around. Got me daps on."
Luke turned around, "I suppose you're the Doctor," he glanced at him and then to Evy, "And Miss Daniels."
"Evy!" she shouted, she was getting very annoyed at everyone calling her 'Miss Daniels.'
"Hello," the Doctor just waved.
"Your commanding officer phoned ahead," Luke informed them.
"Oh, we haven't got a commanding officer," the Doctor replied, eyeing the boy for a moment, "Have you? Oh, this is Ross. Say hello, Ross."
"Afternoon, sir," Ross nodded.
The Doctor rushed to the main doors with Evy, "Let's have a look, then! I can smell genius...in a good way."
Luke rolled his eyes and stalked towards them, pushing the doors open and leading them through the academy. He brought them to a laboratory where some of the students were working on all manner of advanced projects. The Doctor and Evy looked around for a moment before wandering around, eyeing the random things that caught their gaze.
"Oh, now...that's clever!" the Doctor called, slipping on his specs as he came to a model of a molecule, "Look! Single-molecule fabric. How thin is that?! You could pack a tent in a thimble."
"Gravity simulators," Evy called over to him, walking around as well, "Terra-forming, biospheres, nano-tech steel construction..."
"Ha ha, this is brilliant!" the Doctor turned to Luke, "But y'know with equipment like this, you could, oh, I dunno...move to another planet or something."
"If only that was possible," Luke replied.
"If only that were possible," Evy corrected, coming to stand next to the Doctor as he removed his specs, "That was a conditional clause."
Luke looked up, startled, "I think you'd better come with me."
The Doctor and Evy shared a look before heading off after Luke, Ross following along. They went up a flight of stairs and down a hall of what looked like dorm rooms before coming to a very large bedroom, obviously Luke's.
"You're smarter than the usual UNIT grunts, I'll give you that," Luke commented, storming into his room.
"He called you a grunt," the Doctor looked over at Ross.
"Don't call Ross a grunt," Evy warned the boy, "He's nice. We like Ross."
"We do?" the Doctor looked over at her.
"Yes, we do," Evy smirked, "Jealous?"
The Doctor blinked before spinning around, "Look at this place..." he changed the subject, ignoring Evy's quiet laughter from behind him. He knew she had a connection not only to his mind but to his emotions as well...she'd definitely felt the small flash of...something. It wasn't jealousy. It wasn't! At least...he didn't think it was. It couldn't be...no...maybe...
"What exactly do you want?" Luke demanded.
"I was just thinking, what a responsible 18 year old," the Doctor continued, ignoring the genius for now, "Inventing zero-carbon cars, saving the world..."
"It takes a man with vision."
"Mmm, blinkered vision. 'Cos ATMOS means more people driving, more cars, more petrol, end result: the oil's gonna run out faster than ever."
"The ATMOS system will just make things worse," Evy agreed.
"Yeah, well, that's a tautology," Luke said quickly, getting upset, "You can't say 'ATMOS system' 'cos it stands for Atmospheric Emission System. So you're saying 'Atmospheric Emission System System.' Do you see, Mrs. Conditional Clause?"
Evy just blinked at how he'd completely overlooked the entirety of the consequences of the ATMOS for nitpicking her use of saying system after it, "...it's been a long time since anyone's said no to you, hasn't it?"
"I'm still right, though," he smirked.
"Not easy, is it, being clever?" the Doctor cut in, "You look at the world and you connect things, random things, and think, 'why can't anyone else see it? The rest of the world is so slow.'"
"Yeah," Luke agreed slowly, unsure of where the Doctor was going with this.
"And you're on your own."
"I know."
"But not with this," he pulled an ATMOS device out of his coat, "'Cos there's no way you invented this single handed. It might be Earth technology, but that's like finding a mobile phone in the Middle Ages," he tossed the device to Evy and walked towards a large, hollowed out cube in the corner of the room, "No, no, I'll tell you what it's like! It's like finding this in someone's front room. Albeit, a very big front room."
"Why?" Ross frowned, "What is it?"
"Yeah, just looks like a thing, doesn't it?" the Doctor grinned, "People don't question things. They just think, 'Oh, it's a thing.'"
"Leave it alone!" Luke shouted.
"Me, I make these connections," he walked inside it, "...and this to me looks like..." he pushed a few buttons, "...a teleport pod!"
"Don't!" Evy shouted, rushing forward. But it was too late, he'd disappeared. She cursed herself. He hadn't been thinking of doing that, but she should have known he would. She took another step towards the teleport when it started again and the Doctor reappeared, running out of it. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back with him.
Evy's eyes widened as she saw what had happened in his mind, "Ross, get out!" she shouted.
"Luke, you'd better come with us!" the Doctor called.
The teleport activated again and a Sontaran in full armor stepped out. The Doctor whipped out his sonic and aimed it at the controls, shorting them out, keeping more from following.
"Sontaran!" he shouted, pulling Evy behind him as he put away the sonic, "That's your name, isn't it? How did I know that, eh? Fascinating, isn't it? Isn't that worth keeping me alive?"
"I order you to surrender in the name of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce," Ross demanded, aiming his gun at the Sontaran.
"That won't work Ross," Evy told him, glancing at the Sontaran as she moved beside the Doctor, "Cordalaine signal," she looked back at Ross, "It creates a copper excitation that stops bullets."
"How do you know so much?" the Sontaran demanded, looking between her and the Doctor.
"Well..." the Doctor began, walking around the room.
'Doctor…' Evy spoke to him silently, noticing something, 'Luke isn't startled. They know each other.'
As though to confirm her thoughts, the Sontaran turned to Luke, "Who are they?"
"He didn't give his name," Luke said, "But her name is Evelyn Daniels."
"I have not heard of such a name. She is of no importance."
"Well, that's humbling," Evy mumbled.
She knew the Doctor was far better known than she was. He'd been off gallivanting across the Universe for centuries while she had been stuck on Gallifrey. She honestly didn't know what she should have expected. She had been hiding as a human for years, only just starting to reveal she was a Time Lady. But only she, and the Doctor, knew that she was his Link...no other alien knew, save maybe the Ood, being mildly telepathic. She knew that the name she had chosen for herself, Evelyn, and the fact she held a last name due to her time on Earth as well would throw off most species, make them think she was human as well. She shouldn't have been surprised that the Sontarans didn't recognize her as a Time Lady, or even as an alien. The Filter was still in place as well, operating at a far lower power than before, but perhaps it still had an affect on some species.
It just...hurt...a bit. To realize no one knew her. No one really knew her as a Time Lady, as the Last Time Lady, as one of the inspired, as the sister of the Master, the one who had led to... She shook her head free from that line of thought. She was all that...but it still wasn't enough. No one knew her completely, she wasn't important enough to the Universe, hadn't done as much. It was times like these that made her both relieved and sad that the Doctor hadn't Linked to her yet. Relieved because...he deserved better. He deserved someone who had done as much for the Universe as he had, someone recognized, someone as well-known and well-loved, someone deserving of the amazing person he was. And sad...because he did deserved better, she wasn't good enough. She wasn't all those things, all those wonderful things that he deserved in a Link. She would never be that famous or do that much for the Universe, be as important as he was...all she knew was that she loved him more than anyone in the Universe ever could, even Rose, and could only hope that it would be enough.
She glanced at the Doctor, relieved to see he was focused on the Sontaran in the room, if glaring at it for its words, and hadn't heard the thoughts filtering through her mind. She quickly buried her thoughts deep in her mind as fast as she could before he took notice of them. She didn't want him to hear her self doubts.
"This isn't typical Sontaran behavior, is it?" the Doctor snapped at the Sontaran, "Hiding? Using teenagers? Stopping bullets? A Sontaran should face bullets with dignity! Shame on you!"
"You dishonor me!" the Sontaran shouted.
"Then show yourself."
"I will look into my enemy's eyes," the Sontaran agreed, removing his helmet to reveal a brown, dome-shaped head with no neck. Evy really had to stop herself from laughing at how much he looked like a baked potato.
"Oh my God," Ross gasped.
"And your name?" the Doctor asked.
"General Staal of the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet," he introduced, "Staal the Undefeated."
"That's not a very good nickname. What if you do get defeated? 'Staal-The-Not-Quite-So-Undefeated-Anymore-But-Never-Mind?'"
"Looks like a potato, a baked potato," Ross scoffed, "A talking baked potato."
"Now, Ross, don't be rude," the Doctor replied, leaning over and picking up a tennis racket and ball, "You look like a pink weasel to him. The Sontarans are the finest soldiers in the galaxy. Dedicated to a life of warfare," he twirled the racket in his hands, "A clone race grown in batches of millions with only one weakness…"
"Sontarans have no weakness!" Staal exclaimed.
"No, it's a good weakness."
"Aren't you meant to be clever?" Luke spat, "Only an idiot would provoke him."
"Only an idiot would work for them," Evy retorted before turning back to Ross to explain, "The Sontarans are fed by a probic vent in the back of their necks. It's their weak spot, since it's behind them they always have to face their enemy in battle."
"Isn't that brilliant?" the Doctor laughed, "They can never turn their backs!"
"We stare into the face of death!" Staal extolled.
"Yeah?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, "Well, stare at this!" he hit the ball with the racket, sending it bouncing off the teleport pod to hit Staal in the vent. The general staggered, "Out!" he shouted, pushing Ross out as he grabbed Evy's hand, "Out! Out!"
"You and your cricket balls and such," Evy laughed as they ran out of the room, out of the academy, and back to the jeep to drive off.
"Greyhound Forty to Trap One," the Doctor called into the radio, "Repeat: can you hear me? Over."
"Why is it not working?" Ross asked as he drove as fast as he could back the way they'd come.
"It's gotta be the Sontarans," Evy replied, "If they can trace that thing," she nodded at the ATMOS, "Then they can isolate the ATMOS, control it."
"Turn left," the ATMOS announced.
"Try going right," the Doctor suggested.
"It says left," Ross frowned.
"I know. So go right."
He tried, but the wheel jerked to the left, he pulled his hands off it, the car driving itself, "I've got no control. It's driving itself. It won't stop," he tried the door, "The doors are locked!"
Evy flashed her sonic across the ATMOS screen, "It's deadlocked! We won't be able to stop it!"
"Turn left," the ATMOS announced as the jeep swerved in that direction.
"The sat-nav's just a box, wired through the whole car," the Doctor exclaimed as the tires screeched, the jeep moving off the road.
"We're heading for the river!" Ross shouted.
"ATMOS, you're programmed to contradict our orders, yes?" Evy asked quickly.
"Confirmed," the ATMOS agreed.
"Whatever we say, you're to ignore it?"
"Confirmed."
"Then drive into the river!" she shouted, "I order you, drive into the river!"
The jeep's brakes squealed to a halt right at the river's edge. The Doctor tried the doors once more, finding them unlocked, and jumped out, turning around to pull Evy out with him.
Ross jumped out his side and ran around the car to them as they all began to run away from the car.
"Turn right," the ATMOS began to short circuit, "Left. Left. Right."
"Get down!" the Doctor shouted, diving to the ground with Evy and Ross, each covering their heads and waiting for the inevitable fiery explosion.
"Left," the ATMOS continued, growing more high-pitched, "Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right."
There were sparks from the panel and a bit of smoke and…nothing.
The Doctor lifted his head and looked back, "Oh, is that it?"
Evy rolled her eyes at the surprise and disappointment in his voice before reaching out to smack him in the back of the head.
~8~
Luckily for them, they had driven far enough back to be able to walk to Donna's house with little time wasted. The Doctor rang the doorbell and Donna opened the door, "You would not believe the day I'm having."
She looked over at Evy who just shook her head, "You wouldn't happen to have an ATMOS would you?"
"Yeah…" Donna began slowly, "What happened?"
"Can we see it?"
Donna sighed and went into the house for the keys before leading them to the car. The Doctor quickly got to work examining the ATMOS on the engine while Evy tried to contact Martha.
"I'll requisition us a vehicle," Ross told them.
"Anything without ATMOS," the Doctor agreed, "And don't point your gun at people!"
Ross nodded and ran off, right past Donna's grandfather who was coming out of the house only to see two people standing with his granddaughter by the car.
"Is it them?" he asked, rushing over, excited, "Is it him? Is it the Doctor and Evy?" his eyes widened as he got a closer look at the man hovering over the engine and the woman on the phone, "Ah, it's you!"
"Who?" the Doctor asked, distracted, before looking up to see the very familiar old man.
"It's us," Evy smiled, "And it's you!" she stepped forward and gave the man a one-armed hug, startling him.
"What, have you met before?" Donna asked as Evy stepped back to stand by the Doctor.
"Yeah, Christmas Eve," her granddad nodded, "They disappeared right in front of me."
"And you never said?"
"Well, you never said," he countered before turning to the duo, "Wilf, sir, ma'am, Wilfred Mott. You must be some of them aliens."
"Well, yeah, but don't shout it out," the Doctor grinned, shaking Wilf's hand, "Nice to meet you properly Wilf."
"Ah, an alien hand," Wilf looked down at his hand before looking up at Evy, "And an alien hug!"
The Doctor smiled and turned to Evy, "Anything?"
"She's not answering," Evy shook her head, worried.
"What's it, 'Sontiruns?'" Donna asked, frowning.
"Sontarans."
"But there's got to be more to it," the Doctor mumbled, "They can't be just remote controlling cars. That's not enough. Is anyone answering yet?"
"Hold on!" Evy exclaimed, rolling her eyes at his impatience, "Martha?"
"Don't tell me…" she heard Martha begin on the other end.
She frowned, something was off. She looked up at the Doctor meaningfully as she spoke, "Martha, I'm putting the Doctor on."
She handed the phone to the Doctor who took it slowly and put it to his ear, "Martha, tell Colonel Mace it's the Sontarans. They're in the file, Code Red Sontarans. But if they're inside the factory, tell him not to start shooting, UNIT will get massacred. We'll get back as soon as we can. You got that?"
"Code Red Sontarans," Martha replied, "Gotcha."
The Doctor frowned, flipping the phone closed and handing it back to Evy who gave it to Donna. Something was definitely wrong with Martha. He turned back to the car, getting back to work on the engine, sonicing it along with Evy as Donna and Wilf looked on.
"You've tried sonicing it before," Donna said, "You didn't find anything."
"Yeah, but now we know it's Sontaran, we know what we're looking for," he reasoned.
"The thing is," Wilf began, "That Donna is my only grandchild. You gotta promise me you're gonna take care of her."
"She takes care of us."
"Oh, yeah, that's my Donna," Wilf beamed proudly, "She was always bossing us around even when she was tiny. 'The Little General' we used to call her."
"Yeah," Donna frowned, "Don't start."
Evy frowned, focusing her sonic on a specific part of side of the ATMOS grid pattern. Seeing her focus the Doctor went to help.
"And some of the boys she used to turn up with, a different one every week," Wilf laughed, "Yeah, who was that one with the nail varnish?"
"Matthew Richards," Donna answered, "He lives in Kilburn now, with a man."
"Don't you worry Wilf," Evy replied as she and the Doctor soniced the same part, almost there, "We'll look after Donna no problem."
Just then spikes shot out of the holes in the device, making the Doctor and Evy jump back.
"Whoa!" the Doctor said, shocked.
"It's a temporal pocket!" Evy's eyes widened.
"I knew there was something else in there. It's hidden just a second out of sync with real time."
"But what's it hiding?" Donna frowned.
"I dunno, men and their cars!" Donna tensed as her mother walked up to see Evy and the Doctor with their heads back by the engine, "Sometimes I think if I was a car..." and then she saw the Doctor, "Oh, it's you! Doctor…what was it?"
"Yeah, that's me," he replied, not looking up as he half waved her off.
"Have you met them as well?" Wilf asked.
"No idea who she is," Mrs. Noble shot a distasteful look at Evy, "But dad, it's the man from the wedding! When you were laid up with Spanish flu. I'm warning you, last time that man turned up, it was a disaster!"
And then gas shot out of the spikes.
"Get back!" Evy shouted, pulling them back as the Doctor flashed his sonic, stopping the gas as the car sparked.
"That'll stop it," he breathed.
"I told you!" Mrs. Noble shouted, "He's blown up the car! Who is he anyway? And who's she? What sort of doctor blows up cars?"
"Oh, not now, mum!" Donna grumbled.
"Oh, should I make an appointment?" she stalked off, ready to call the ATMOS people.
"That wasn't just exhaust fumes," Evy commented, having caught a whiff of the gas that lingered, "Some sort of gas. Artificial I know that much," she flicked on her sonic, scanning the air around them, trying to catch lingering bits of the gas.
"And it's aliens, is it?" Wilf asked, "Aliens?"
"But if it's poisonous..." Donna began, "Then they've got poisonous gas in every car on Earth."
The Doctor's eyes widened as he looked around to see every car on the street labeled with an ATMOS sticker.
"It's not safe," Wilf determined, "I'm gonna get it off the street," he walked over to get in the car, the door shutting and locking behind him.
"No, don't!" Donna shouted as the car started up and thick exhaust came out of the tailpipe, "Turn it off!" Wilf was shaking his head, "Granddad, get out of there!" she tried to get the door open but it wouldn't budge.
"I can't!" Wilf called, holding up the keys, "It's locked! It's the aliens again!" he started to bang on the window, trying to get out.
"What's he doing?" Mrs. Noble shouted from the door of the house, "What's he done?"
"I've isolated it!" the Doctor shouted.
But then all the cars around them started to emit the gas.
"There's gas inside the car!" Donna cried, "He's gonna choke! Doctor! Evy!"
They ran around the car to Donna's side, trying to open it with their sonics, but to no avail.
"It won't open!" Evy shouted.
The car alarms went off and the Doctor looked up, gas filling the street, "It's the whole world!"
"Help me!" Wilf cried.
The Doctor ran around to the front to check the engine as Evy continued to try and get the door open.
Wilf coughed as Donna watched helplessly through the window. The Doctor yanked out some wires but it didn't help. He ran to the middle of the road, looking around, but there was nothing but the gas.
"Doctor!" Donna cried out to him as he stood there looking around, helpless.
To be continued…
A/N: Poor Evy, feeling like she hasn't done anything important for the Universe...that will definitely change by the end of this series though :) And what were the rest of her thoughts about...the one who had led to...what? We'll find that out as well, but not till the End of Time, sorry, lol. Gotta say, I loved writing the little (microscopic) bit of Ross/Evy here, it was just too cute to pass up. There's absolutely nothing going on but the Doctor's reactions were needed :) And I love how she just whacks him when he's being a bit of an idiot, it's hysterical.
I hope it was believable that the Doctor DID feel Evy in his mind after the war but pushed the sensation away. It's sort of like those phantom limb cases, where it's gone but you still think it's there. He truly thought his people were gone, getting a little tickle in his mind would, to him, be just like a phantom limb. He wouldn't give any thought to it especially when he was fully convinced it was just him who survived.
Next chapter...what's this? A kiss?