The Hidden Lady of Time

by LizzeXX

10/OC -Time Lady- Evelyn Daniels has escaped the Time War, but been locked away, until Captain Jack and Torchwood rescue her and get her back with the Doctor. How will Martha cope with another woman onboard? What secrets is Evy hiding? Why does the Doctor think she's human? First in the Lunar Cycle.

10. Human Nature Part 1

Human Nature (Part 1)

The console of the TARDIS was sparking like mad as Martha and the Doctor ran in through the main doors. Martha seemed to be struggling, fighting the Doctor as he half threw her into the room.

"But we can't just leave her!" she shouted.

The Doctor turned to the door, about to shut it, when he saw a green blast racing towards him. He threw himself to the ground as it struck something behind him, jumping up to shut the door. He ran to Martha's side, helping her up and grabbing her shoulders.

"Did they see you?" he demanded urgently.

"I don't know!"

"Did they see you?"

"I don't know," she shook her head, "I was too busy running!"

"Martha, it's important, did they see your face?" he shook her.

"No, they couldn't have!" she said finally.

He let go of her and ran around the console flipping some switches and working the controls, "Off we go!"

"But Doctor!" Martha ran to him, "What about…"

"She's fine! She's safe."

"But the Family!" she shook her head, "They grabbed her and…"

"She had Jack's Vortex Manipulator," he replied quickly, inputting some coordinates, "I rigged it to send her back to him. She's gone."

"But…"

"We'll find her again when it's safe and then you're going to remind me to take it away from her!" he shouted, turning back as a warning beep rang out, "Ah!" he grabbed the console screen in frustration, "They're following us."

"How can they do that, you've got a time machine?" Martha cried as he ran around the console.

"Stolen technology, they've got a Time Agent's Vortex Manipulator too. They can follow us wherever we go, right across the Universe…" he paused in thought, realizing something, "They're never going to stop," he ran a hand through his hair nervously and stared at the console when an idea came to him, "Unless...I'll have to do it..." he muttered quietly. He turned to Martha, staring into her eyes, "Martha, you trust me don't you?"

"Of course I do," she replied instantly.

"'Cos it all depends on you," he dove behind the console and pulled something out.

"What does? What am I supposed to do?"

He reappeared, holding a pocket watch with an ornate design on the back, "Take this watch, 'cos my life depends on it. The watch, Martha…the watch is…"

His eyes snapped open as he sat up in bed, his blue, pinstripe pajamas just a bit wrinkled from his nightmare. He blinked a few times, looking around the Victorian room for a few seconds before pushing himself up to sit. He turned, placing his feet on the floor, rubbing his eyes as there was a knock on the door followed by the door opening.

"Come in!" he called, rolling his eyes as it had opened before he called out.

Martha entered the room, dressed in a traditional maid's uniform, carrying a tray with breakfast. When she saw him sitting in bed, still in his pajamas, she turned back, "Pardon me, Mr. Smith, you're not dressed yet. I can come back later…"

"No, it's alright," he called, getting up and pulling on a dressing gown, "It's alright, put it down," she walked over to the table in the middle of the room and set the tray down, keeping her eyes lowered as he watched her thoughtfully, "I was, um..." he paused, "Sorry, sorry. Sometimes I have these extraordinary dreams…"

"What about, sir?" she asked, crossing the room to pull the curtains by the windows open, letting sunlight into the room.

"I dream I'm this..." he looked for the right word, "Adventurer. This...daredevil, a madman. 'The Doctor,' I'm called. And last night I dreamt that you were there, as my...companion."

"A teacher and a housemaid, sir?" she asked, crossing back to the tray on the table, knowing he'd been watching her the whole time, "That's impossible."

"Well…there was someone else…" he trailed.

"Was there?" she asked, glancing at him.

He nodded, still lost in thought, "Another woman I believe, but she was captured by someone."

"Was she alright?" she spread some jam on a piece of bread.

"Yes, I think so," he said after a moment, "I seemed to think she was safe," he sighed, smiling in thought of how he had been in the dream, "A man from another world, though..."

"Well it can't be true because there's no such thing."

He walked to the fireplace and looked over at the mantel, at an ornate pocket watch sitting on the ledge, "This thing..." he picked it up, "The watch..." Martha looked up, watching him hopefully, but her spirit fell when he put the watch down with a sigh, "Ah, it's funny how dreams slip away," he turned around to Martha, smiling, "But I do remember one thing, it all took place in the future. In the year of our Lord 2007."

"I can prove that wrong for you sir, here's the morning paper," she returned his smile and handed him the paper, "It's Monday, November 10th, 1913, and you're completely human, sir. As human as they come."

"Mmm, that's me," he smiled, looking down at the paper, "Completely human."

As soon as his gaze was lowered Martha frowned, she was really wishing Evy was here right now…she just knew the woman would know what to do, how to handle the situation, how to help…

~8~

Martha frowned as she scrubbed the floor of the school with her maid friend Jenny. She'd been there two months with the Doctor, who now thought himself to be a human named John Smith. She'd been keeping an eye on him as they tried to outlive the Family, a group of aliens, that he'd told her were after him. But it was hard. He was so different from how he'd been. It was unnerving. And she was in this completely alone. The Doctor was locked in a fob watch, the TARDIS had been shut down, and Evy was stuck in the 21st century. Martha often found herself praying that her friend would find a way to get back to them, she wouldn't put it past Evy to succeed as the Doctor had said he'd done something to a Vortex Manipulator she had and if anyone could figure out a way to reverse it and get back it would be Evy. She really could use some help with all this. She thought the Doctor had done too good a job with his cover story and hiding the watch with a Perception Filter, she couldn't imagine him opening it or even how to get him to do so.

Evy would know.

But Evy wasn't there.

Just then her thoughts were cut off by the Doctor, no, John Smith, walking past, mumbling a bit to himself as he did so.

"Morning sir!" she called.

He glanced over at her, "Yes, hi," he replied before heading up the stairs. Martha could just make out him mumbling something about polarity reversal and hypersonic sound waves, as though he were trying to recall where he'd heard it from.

"Head in the clouds, that one," Jenny commented, "Don't know why you're so sweet on him."

She gave her a small smile before they continued on scrubbing, "He's just kind to me, that's all. Not everyone's that considerate, what with me being…" she gestured to her face, clearly indicating the color of her skin.

Jenny just smiled, "A Londoner?"

"Exactly," Martha laughed, "Good old London Town!"

Two senior boys walked by just then, Baines and Hutchinson, and stopped a few feet away to laugh at the maids.

"Ah, now then, you two," Baines said, they stopped laughing and looked up at him, "You're not paid to have fun, are you? Put a little backbone into it."

"Yes sir," Jenny looked down while Martha remained defiant, "Sorry, sir."

"You there, what's your name again?" Hutchinson looked at Martha.

"Martha, sir," she answered, "Martha Jones."

"Tell me then, Jones," Hutchinson smirked, "With hands like those, how can you tell when something's clean?"

The two boys laughed cruelly, about to leave, when another voice spoke up, "How dare you!"

Martha's eyes widened as she turned her head to see Evy standing there, and boy did she look mad. She had her hands on her hips and was glaring at the two boys with a look that would have frozen the sun.

The two boys' laughter died in their throats as their mouths dropped open, "Now see here…" Baines began.

"Apologize," Evy cut in, staring at Hutchinson.

"Excuse me?" Hutchinson blanched.

"No I will not excuse that sort of behavior. Now apologize to Martha this instant."

The boys laughed again, this time more in amusement. Baines shot her a condescending look, "I don't think you understand how it works here miss. Women…"

Their words were cut off as Evy stormed over to Hutchinson and grabbed his ear, "Ow!" he shouted, "Let go of me."

"Unhand him!" Baines added, reaching out to grab her. Evy twisted to face him, pulling poor Hutchinson with her.

"You lay a hand on me," she glowered at him, "And you will find yourself missing an arm."

She'd always had a bit of a temper to her.

Baines quickly stepped back, more than a little startled at the force of her threat, "Now," she turned back to the boy she still had a grip on, speaking perfectly calm and polite, "I am old enough to be your mother, don't make me spank you," she grinned, twisting his ear just a bit, "Apologize. Now."

"Uh…sorry," Hutchinson looked at Martha, seeming for all the world as though he were about to wet himself, "Sorry."

Martha nodded her head in acceptance as Evy released the boy, who took off down the hall with Baines.

"Evy!" Martha shouted, getting up and rushing to hug the woman.

"It's good to see you Martha," she smiled, hugging her back.

"That a friend of yours Martha?" Jenny asked from the floor.

"Oh!" Martha spun around, forgetting where she was for a moment, "Yeah, this is Evy. Evy this is Jenny," she tuned to look at her time travel friend, "Have you been with Jack the last two months?"

"Two months?" Evy's eyes widened, "You've been here two months?"

Jenny laughed, "Martha why don't you go catch up with your friend, I'll finish here."

"Are you sure?" Martha frowned, they were almost done, but she still felt bad just leaving. But Jenny nodded and made a shooing motion so Martha took Evy's arm and led her off.

"What are you wearing?" Evy asked once they turned the corner, looking down at the maid's outfit.

"Not much else a woman of my color can do in 1913," she sighed, before glancing at her, "What about you? And how did you get back?"

Evy looked down at her dress, "I have no idea," she replied, before pulling a small wrist device out of a pocket on her dress to show her, "I managed to locate the TARDIS's presence to here just before it disappeared and rigged Jack's Vortex Manipulator to get me back here…must have had more leeway than I thought," she muttered, putting the device back, "I was hoping for two weeks at the most…"

Martha laughed, "And the clothes? How did you swing that?'

She picked up her skirt to reveal her jeans underneath, "I sort of snagged these off a clothing line somewhere in town…sort of obvious we're not in the 21st century isn't it?" Evy was quiet a moment, looking around, "Martha," she leaned in whispering, "Where's the Doctor? The Family hasn't found him have they?"

Martha frowned, "No, we got out in time but um…he's sort of…he's..."

"He's made himself human, hasn't he? He's used the Chameleon Arch?" Evy rubbed her head, muttering to herself, "Stupid."

Martha stopped walking, forcing Evy to stop as well. She turned to see Martha staring at her suspiciously before pulling her into an empty room, "How do you know that?"

"I…" Evy began but clearly Martha wasn't done.

"You always seem to know things," Martha stared at her, "Like…how to use the sonic or DNA splicing or making scanners or how to freeze a killer star out of someone or...or which button to push on the TARDIS…"

"…you noticed that?"

Martha nodded, "And now…you know about the Chameleon Arch, but the Doctor didn't say anything about it till after you'd gone…so how did you know? How do you always know?" Evy was silent for a moment, "Evy please…" Martha began softly, letting go of her grip on Evy's arm to squeeze her hand, "If it's something you don't want the Doctor to know I swear I won't tell him, but please, tell me. I'm your friend, aren't I?"

Evy sighed, nodding, and went to sit down on a chair, "I know that the Doctor used the Chameleon Arch because that's the only way to turn a Time Lord into another species, like a human, and I know he made himself human because…" she took a breath, "Because I couldn't hear him anymore."

"What?" Martha frowned, sitting across from her.

"Time Lords possess the ability to sense each other and, to an extent, read each other's minds," she explained, "I can't hear him because he changed his brainwave pattern to fit something of a human configuration."

"Wait…" Martha blinked, realizing something, "Time Lords can read each other's minds…" Evy nodded, "So…that means you're…you're a Time Lord, aren't you? Like the Doctor?"

"Time Lady actually," she corrected mildly.

Martha shook her head, wanting to know how that was possible with the war that had happened, how she was there, how she survived, why the Doctor didn't notice, why she hadn't told him, but she needed to gather her thoughts. She didn't want to be jumping all over the place. She looked at Evy, choosing to focus on the whole mind reading thing for now, what she was sure would be one of the simpler topic to come up, "But…what if he just…I don't know...was blocking his thoughts or something? How did you know it was because he was human?"

Evy bit her lip, she had been hoping Martha wouldn't think of that. She looked down, "The Doctor doesn't know I'm a Time Lady, so he doesn't know to block his thoughts from me…"

"But he could have just as easily been dead," Martha argued, sensing there was something else, "You said the TARDIS disappeared and you couldn't get a reading off of it anymore, it could have been destroyed and…"

"Because I knew he was alive," she cut in, even in speech she didn't like to think of the Doctor dying.

"How?" Martha frowned.

Evy blinked, trying to keep the tears from appearing, "I…can't tell you."

"Can't or won't?" she looked at Evy but the woman hesitated. So she reached out, taking her hand, "I promise, I won't be mad, I swear it, but please, tell me. No more secrets Evy."

Evy was silent a moment, before nodding, "I could feel him through our Link."

"Link?"

Evy nodded, "On Gallifrey there is a phenomenon called Linking where we bond with one other person who is…I guess…perfectly matched to us in some way. A Link can go any number of ways though, platonic, rivalry, nothing at all...romantic..."

"You're Linked to the Doctor?" Martha frowned, "Romantically, aren't you?"

It didn't take a genius to work that out now that it was out in the open. Martha had seen it, the way Evy acted around the Doctor, protecting him. She'd seen the soft look in the girl's eyes when she thought the Doctor wasn't looking. And the hesitancy she had in admitting that last direction a Link could go. She could understand though, this was the Doctor. She loved him and she was only a human. To imagine being a Time Lady, probably the last Time Lady...Evy was a goner before the Link even happened.

"To be a Time Lord is to have mastery and understanding over time itself," Evy explained, squeezing Martha's hand, but not exactly answering the woman's last question, "We can live forever, barring accidents, and if we happen to get injured too seriously or our bodies begin to fail, we regenerate…we change into entirely different people. New face, new personality, new habits, new everything."

"So you're immortal then?"

Evy nodded again, "It's difficult to tell how we're going to be once we've regenerated, we're usually different than how we were. Some similarities, but mostly different people. There are theories that there is a part of our consciousness that transcends time and space, that connects with another consciousness that matches it, the Linking of the two unites a Time Lord and Lady forever. It means that no matter how greatly we change the Link assures us that the person we're Linked to will still be compatible to us, understand us and be able to handle us. Your Link is the one person in the Universe who has the capacity to love, understand, and care for each and every incarnation we go through."

Evy took a breath, "I Linked to the Doctor on Gallifrey, before he went off to explore the Universe and long before the war…" she trailed a moment, thinking of the time gone by, "I've been Linked to him..." she let out a breath, "More than 600 years."

"Oh my God," Martha breathed, her eyes wide, "Why didn't the Doctor say anything?"

"I may be Linked to him Martha, but he hasn't Linked to me yet."

"And that means…" Martha frowned. Evy's words...her voice...there was pain in it. And she realized. Evy was Linked to the Doctor and loved him. But if the Doctor wasn't Linked to her...he might not love her back...that had to hurt terribly...

"It means that, I can feel him," she put Martha's hand in the middle of her chest so she could feel her hearts beating, "I can sense what he's feeling, when he's happy, sad, hurt…"

"Like on the ship," Martha nodded slowly, thinking back to the suspicious behavior Evy had exhibited then, "You were shaking and then you screamed when he did in the stasis chamber."

Evy nodded, "I can hear him in my head. What he's thinking, what he's planning, what he's hearing," she smiled at Martha, "I knew who you were before I even met you because I could hear your conversations with him."

Martha frowned, "And he doesn't know you're his Link," Evy nodded, "But wait…if Time Lords can sense each other…why doesn't the Doctor seem to know? Yeah," she nodded, "It's like…every time you do something amazing he just forgets it ever happened…shouldn't that tip him off about you being like him?"

"It's the Filter," she fiddled with her small hourglass necklace, showing it to Martha specifically so she would notice it, "It's called a Perception Filter, like the one on the watch. This one is working at half power though to hide itself."

"So the Doctor doesn't notice you wearing it."

"Exactly. As soon as something happens that makes him think, even for a second, that I'm not just some human from the 51st century like Jack and I told him, if it's a small enough detail, his mind shrugs the thought off and pushes it to the back of his mind. And since he doesn't believe any of our people survived, he hasn't exactly been noticing much."

Martha was silent, finally knowing enough of the truth about Evy. There was still so much she wanted to ask, what happened during the war, why she wasn't telling the Doctor, why she clearly didn't want him to know about her but...already, what she now knew, it was a lot to take in. She didn't think she could handle much more so far. She had to think about this a bit more.

She looked down at the floor, growing lost in thought. She'd had a thought, once, that maybe, if she stuck around long enough, the Doctor might feel something for her like she did for him…but that thought had already started fading, it had been for two months now. This morning wasn't the first time John Smith had dreamed he was the Doctor…but it was the first time he'd included Martha Jones in them. Almost every time before that he would wake up and tell her about a girl being burned by a star or a girl altering a white box or a girl disappearing in a flash of light just barely escaping a flash of green. There had been a nightmare or two along the way, Martha running into the room to the sound of John calling out for Evy, though seeming to forget her name after she woke him. She'd thought it was because of her nearly dying on their last adventure or some remnant from his transformation that just didn't make it into his John Smith story.

But it didn't explain his mumblings. Throughout the day, he'd walk around, lost in thought, mumbling something here or there. What little Martha could catch always reminded her of something Evy had said or explained. Just last week John had been mumbling about Happy Primes. Again, she'd thought it was the fact that Evy wasn't there and the Doctor part of John was sensing it…but now…now maybe it wasn't his memories calling out for her, maybe it was just him wanting her back.

She knew he was a Time Lord, he'd told her so, but he'd never mentioned the living forever part or the regenerations, as Evy called them. Now that she had all the important facts the logical part of her mind started to kick in.

She was human, he was not.

He could live forever, she could not.

He might become a person she hated the next time he died, she might be someone he hated when he changed.

When he changed, he wouldn't be the person she thought she loved anymore.

But she did know he was her friend at the very least. She wanted him to be happy, she didn't want him to be in pain or lonely like she'd seen in his eyes so often. And Evy could do it. She could heal him, make him happy, be there for him, love him. Evy was the one person in the Universe that could stay with him despite his changes, the one person he would love despite hers. And she knew the Doctor had to love Evy in a way. His subconsious wouldn't be plaguing him as it had if he didn't have some sort of feelings for her. She doubted Evy could see it, she was so focused on having the Doctor not notice her for some reason (she would have to find out about that later) that she probably didn't notice when he did notice her. But she could see it, at the very least, he cared a great deal about her, Link or no. She would also have to ask some more about what a Link was, exactly what it meant beyound a simple 'other half' so to speak. But that could wait, for now. She'd learned quite a lot that she would still need to process.

"Martha?" she heard Evy say after a while of silence.

She looked up at the Time Lady sitting across from her. Maybe it had been the Perception Filter, but she had never noticed the same tiredness and pain in her eyes as the Doctor's, which she saw clearly now. They needed each other, she and the Doctor. They really did. They were the last of their kind, if anyone could understand the other's pain, it would be them.

And that was when she made a decision which she could already feel lifting her heart, she was going to help them be together, no matter what. Evy must have had reasons for not telling the Doctor she was a Time Lady and she would respect that, she'd already gotten enough out of the woman for now. She would keep her promise, she wouldn't tell the Doctor, but it wouldn't stop her from trying to nudge them together despite the Filter. She could already see him leaning towards Evy, he'd always been drawn to her despite the Filter but he needed just a bit more help.

Martha smiled, squeezing her friend's hand, "I understand and I'm not mad."

"You're not?" Evy frowned, that was not what she was expecting.

"No," she shook her head, "Actually, I'm a bit relieved, I'm glad you told me this now, before I ended pining after him for too long."

A small smile grew on Evy's face as she stood up and pulled Martha into a hug, "Thank you."

"No, thank you," she replied, hugging her back.

"Now," Evy pulled away, "Let's go find the Doctor, knowing him he's bound to have gotten himself into some sort of trouble."

Martha laughed, leading her towards the door, "Actually John Smith, his human name by the way, is actually a fairly cautious person, no trouble at all to keep after."

"Martha!" Jenny called, spotting them down the hall and running over, "Mr. Smith's been hurt."

"You were saying?" Evy asked quietly to Martha.

"What happened?" Martha turned to Jenny.

"He fell down some stairs," Jenny answered, "The Matron's looking after him now."

"Thank you Jenny," Martha nodded to her friend before grabbing Evy's arm and pulling her down the way.

~8~

They had run through the halls to John's study, Martha filling Evy in on the new Doctor just to give her a fair warning when they came to his hallway.

"Because it hurts!" they could hear him reply sulkily to something.

"You sure he's not something like the Doctor?" Evy grinned at Martha before Martha ran through the door.

"Is he alright?" she shouted in concern, Evy stepping in with her.

"Excuse me, Martha," a woman standing behind the Doctor said, looking at Martha, clearly she was the matron Jenny had mentioned, "It's hardly good form to enter a master's study without knocking."

Evy spared a glance to the woman before her attention drifted to the Doctor, no, John Smith, who had seemed to notice her standing there, despite the chaos, and was staring at her. She shifted a bit under his gaze.

"Sorry, right, yeah," Martha mumbled, annoyed, before running back to the door, knocking on it and returning to where she'd been, already halfway into the room, "They said you fell down the stairs, sir."

"No, it was just a...tumble, that's all," he mumbled, a bit distracted as he stared at the woman next to Martha. She was quite beautiful in his opinion. He had very green eyes he could see from across the room, and warm brown hair pulled back in what appeared to be a half-up/half-down style. He couldn't stop himself from giving her a quick look. The dress she was wearing was deep green, empire waist, belted with a black belt, with three-quarter length sleeves trimmed in black, a box neckline. The dark green of the skirt stopped around her knees, but continued to the sides like a point, a lighter green fabric visible going down to the floor. It seemed to be just a bit too big for her, but he was not in any position to complain…which reminded him that he was currently ogling this woman and pulled his gaze away.

"Have you checked for concussion?" Martha asked the matron.

"I have," she gave Martha a cold look, "And I daresay I know a lot more about it than you."

"Oh I doubt that," Evy remarked, stepping to Martha's side and linking her arm with the maid, "Martha's seen plenty of injuries of the sort given the way my brothers roughhoused."

"I'm sorry and you are?" the matron gazed at her questioningly.

"What are you doing?" Martha leaned over and hissed.

"Making it up as I go," Evy replied quietly before looking back, "Sorry, how rude, I'm Evelyn Daniels," she stepped up to shake her hand and then John's.

"How do you know Martha?" John frowned, puzzled, he knew Martha had travelled with him, left by his family, but he never recalled seeing this woman before.

"She was my previous employer," Martha stepped up, going with it. She knew the story the Doctor had fed himself wasn't exactly stable on her part of it, but she could solidify it a bit by giving herself more of a background.

"Yes," Evy nodded, picking up on the story, "Before I went to university Martha was my personal maid."

Martha nodded, "After she left I was recommended to your family Mr. Smith and taken in."

John nodded, "I hope you didn't give her family half as many problems as you give me?"

Martha bowed her head, recalling she was supposed to be the maid, "Sorry. I'll just..." she looked around the room and walked off, "Tidy your things."

John nodded, glancing at Evy, "Please have a seat Ms. Daniels," he motioned for a chair across from him. Evy nodded and took a seat as John smiled at her, "I was just telling Nurse Redfern…Matron, um, about my dreams. They are quite remarkable tales."

Evy glanced at Martha who was looking up in interest, "Oh, what about?" she asked.

"I keep imagining that I'm someone else, and that I'm hiding…"

"Hiding?" Evy tilted her head, "In what way?"

"Um...er...almost every night..." he laughed, now looking more at Evy, more talking to her than telling his dreams to the matron, "This is going to sound silly…"

"Sometimes silly can be brilliant," Evy smiled, "Tell me."

"I dream, quite often, that I have two hearts."

"Well then," Nurse Redfern cut in, turning to a doctor's bag beside her, "I can be the judge of that."

She pulled out a stethoscope and walked towards John, leaning over a bit as she tested him. Martha glanced at Evy who had placed a hand unconsciously on her right heart when he'd said that. Redfern smiled as she stepped back, taking the scope off, "I can confirm the diagnosis, just one heart, singular."

Both Evy and Martha looked a bit disappointed but John just laughed at his silliness, "I have written down some of these dreams in the form of fiction...um...not that it would be of any interest…" he muttered, glancing at Evy.

"I'd be very interested," Redfern called, drawing his attention back. He stared at her questioningly as she nodded. He smiled and walked over to his desk, picking up a leather bound, black journal.

"Well...I've never shown it to anyone before," he muttered, handing it over to her.

"'Journal of Impossible Things,'" she read the first page.

Evy stood up and walked over, standing on the other side of her while she looked on as the nurse turned the pages. She smiled softly as she saw the pages covered with writing and sketches, the console of the TARDIS, the monitor screens, one of the gas-masked victims of the nanogenes…

"Just look at these creatures!" Redfern exclaimed, turning the page to reveal a Dalek, Evy's smile faded slightly.

"Such imagination," she commented, if a bit strained.

"Mmm," he hummed in agreement, "It's become quite a hobby."

There were more and more pages, Moxx of Balhoon, two Automatons, the clockwork robots of Madame de Pompadour's age.

"It's wonderful," Redfern turned a page, laughing, "And quite an eye for the pretty girls."

In the center was a sketch of Rose.

"Oh no, no, she's just an invention," he replied, "This character, Rose, I call her, Rose…"

Martha looked up to see Evy's smile was entirely gone as she stared at the page. For the first time she realized how hard it had to be for Evy to know that the one man she could love forever in all the Universe might well be in love with someone else. And she had thought Rose was a rival…poor Evy…

"Seems to disappear later on…" he added thoughtfully.

"And who's this?" Redfern asked, turning the page to reveal what seemed to be a sketch of a woman, but without a face.

"Oh um…" he frowned, "Not sure…I dream about her, I think that I travelled with her, but I can never seem to recall her face. When I think about her, it's hazy at best."

Evy looked over at Martha who glanced down at Evy's Filter questioningly. She nodded, the sketch was of her and the lack of face was due to the Filter. Joan turned the page.

Then there were Cybermen, some sketches of the TARDIS.

"Ah, that's the box, the blue box, it's always there," he smiled, pointing at it, "Like a...magic carpet. This funny little box that transports me to faraway places."

"Like a doorway?" Evy smiled.

"Mmm," he stared across the book to her for a moment before looking down where there was a mess of various faces, of about 10 men.

"I sometimes think how magical life would be if things like this were true," he remarked wistfully.

"If only," Evy agreed, sadly.

"It's just a dream," he gave a short quiet laugh as Redfern turned to the next page with a watch sketched on it.

Just then a school bell sounded, signaling for the students to head to classes.

"Would you mind, Mr. Smith," Redfern looked up at him, shutting the book, "If I borrow this? It's a very wonderful book, I think I should enjoy reading it."

"Oh, of course!" John exclaimed, closing her hand around the book.

"Thank you," she smiled before leaving the room.

John turned to Evy, smiling, "Now, Ms. Daniels, are you staying in town long?"

Evy returned the smile, nodding, "I was only going to stay a few days but if Martha is here I shall have to stay longer. I have not seen her in what feels like ages. I'm sure we have much to catch up on."

He nodded, "Have you somewhere to stay?"

"Oh, I'm sure I can find an inn somewhere…"

He shook his head, "No, no, I'll have Martha prepare a room for you here."

"Oh, no, I couldn't…" she began, but Martha cut her off.

"I'll prepare a room right away," she exclaimed, smiling brightly before rushing out of the room.

"Martha!" Evy called after her.

John laughed, "I see she did indeed cause you just as many problems as me."

"She wouldn't be Martha if she didn't," Evy replied, laughing as well.

"You said you went to university?" he asked as their laughter died down.

"Yes," she nodded.

"What for? Which subjects?"

"History," she said quickly, it was the first thing that came to her.

"Oh, which sort? Ancient? Modern? European? American?"

She smiled and shook her head, "I couldn't ever choose just one Mr. Smith…"

"John," he corrected her quickly, it felt wrong for her to be so formal with him…even though he'd just met her, he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew her from somewhere, like she was an old friend he'd forgotten.

It was comforting.

"And it's Evy to you," she agreed, earning another laugh from him.

"Well then, Ms. Evy," he grinned at her, holding out an arm for her to take, "As I am a professor of history in this institute, would you like to accompany me to my class? Perhaps sit in and observe?"

"I would love to Mr. John," she teased.

~8~

Martha and Evy had gone to the pub that night, having been invited by Jenny. Though they seemed to arrive just as John had and he'd invited Evy to join him inside. She'd politely declined the initiation, stating that she'd come with Martha, but Martha had just shushed her, much to John's amusement, and pushed her towards him saying she and Jenny would be just fine. Evy had given her a curious look at her eagerness for her to leave with John but now couldn't refuse his invitation.

She felt almost guilty for enjoying her time with him in the pub. She'd spent most of the day with him, walking to classes, talking about history and just anything else that popped into her head. She found she almost needed the talks they had. She couldn't hear him in her mind anymore, his brain operating on a different wavelength than hers. She could concentrate and shift hers enough to hear him, but it took a lot of concentration and she needed to be focused. If he and Martha had been there two months then the Family would be getting desperate to find them.

She'd almost forgotten about them a few times due to this John Smith character. He provided her with the most excellent conversations and there was hardly a lag in their talks or an awkward silence. She'd felt like she'd been neglecting Martha a bit which was why she had been reluctant to go to the pub with him. But he seemed to sense this and kept it to one drink inside to allow her time to still sit with Martha and Jenny later.

He smiled as he escorted her outside, actually willing to sit with the two maids in the cold if it would allow him more time with the woman who had so captured his attention. He had never felt quite this way before, so enraptured by another person, a woman. She was quite lovely, he'd noticed first, but her mind...she provided the most excellent discussions and debates, always keeping him on his toes with a fresh perspective to look at. She was witty and clever and passionate. He'd never met another like her. He just couldn't seem to get enough time with her to satisfy him.

They stepped outside only to see the matron, Martha, and Jenny standing there, staring at the sky, "Anything wrong, ladies?" he asked, walking over to them as Evy ran to Martha's side in concern, "Far too cold to be standing around in the dark, don't you…"

"There!" Redfern interrupted, pointing to the sky where a green light flew overhead like a sick shooting star, "There, look in the sky!" she looked to her side to see John standing near Evy and staring up. She frowned a bit, she'd heard that John had gone to the pub that night and had hoped to run into him, but seeing that he was with Martha's friend put a damper on her spirits.

"That's beautiful," Jenny commented, pulling the nurse's attention back to the fading light.

"Martha…" Evy said quietly, leaning towards her friend, "That light…"

"Commonly known as a meteorite," John was saying, "It's just rocks falling to the ground, that's all."

"It's them, isn't it?" Martha asked in fear.

"It came down in the woods," Redfern squinted, looking through the trees, trying to spot something.

"It might be," Evy replied, nodding.

"No, no, no, they always look close, when actually they're miles off," John shook his head, turning to face them, not noticing Evy and Martha straighten out, "Nothing left but a cinder," he glanced around, looking at Evy and the matron, "Now, I should escort you back to the school," he informed them, before looking over at Martha and Jenny, "Ladies?"

"No, we're fine, thanks," Martha replied, still staring at the sky.

"Martha…" Evy began, but Martha shook her head.

"Then I shall bid you goodnight," John smiled, turning to head off towards the school, Redfern following along.

"You have to keep an eye on him," Martha whispered quickly, seeing John stopping and about to turn around, "I'll check it out."

"Martha, no," Evy shook her head.

"Evy?" John called, "Everything alright?"

"Just fine sir," Martha answered for her, nudging her friend forward, "Just saying good night is all."

He nodded, waiting for Evy to catch up to them before walking off again, not seeing her throwing looks back to Martha over her shoulder.

~8~

Martha had gone straight to Evy's rooms when she got back to find the woman awake and waiting for her in concern. She'd told Evy about going into the woods but seeing nothing. Evy had frowned, saying the ship the Family came in must have had some sort of cloaking mechanism on it to make it invisible to the human eye. Evy suggested there might be something on the TARDIS that could help them track the ship down.

The next morning she and Martha were riding through the woods towards an old stone barn on two bicycles they'd borrowed from the school. Martha nodded over to the barn, slowing down and getting off the bike, placing it against the wall as Evy followed suit. Martha sent her a smile as she pushed the door open, revealing the TARDIS standing further inside the barn. She stepped back, allowing Evy to enter and walk over to the large blue box. She watched curiously as Evy ran a gentle finger along the lock, her eyes widening as a familiar click was heard.

"How'd you do that?" she asked, stepping up to Evy as she opened the door to the TARDIS, "Even the Doctor needs a key."

Evy just smiled and shrugged, "The TARDIS likes me better."

Martha shook her head and laughed as they stepped through the door into the darkened room.

"Hello," Evy greeted the machine.

"Talking to a machine?" Martha raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"Oh, she likes that," she replied, looking around the room, "Don't you?"

There was a very soft hum, so soft Martha almost thought she'd imagined it.

They walked up the ramp to the console, Evy laying her hands flat on it and closing her eyes while Martha walked around it to the other side, frowning when she saw Evy standing there, "What are you doing?"

"She's showing me what happened when I left," Evy answered, tapping into the psychic connection a TARDIS had with their people.

"She?" Martha asked, "You mean the TARDIS?"

Evy just nodded and scrunched her face as the events of two months ago flowed through her mind...

The console of the TARDIS was sparking like mad as Martha and the Doctor ran in through the main door. Martha seemed to be struggling, fighting the Doctor as he half threw her into the room.

"But we can't just leave her!" she shouted.

The Doctor turned to the door, about to shut it, when he saw a green blast racing towards him. He threw himself to the ground as it struck something behind him, jumping up to shut the door. He ran to Martha's side helping her up and grabbing her shoulders.

"Did they see you?" he demanded urgently.

"I don't know!"

"Did they see you?"

"I don't know," she shook her head, "I was too busy running!"

"Martha, it's important, did they see your face?" he shook her.

"No, they couldn't have!" she said finally.

He let go of her and ran around the console flipping some switches and working the controls, "Off we go!"

"But Doctor!" Martha ran to him, "What about…"

"She's fine! She's safe."

"But the Family!" she shook her head, "They grabbed her and…"

"She had Jack's Vortex Manipulator," he replied quickly, inputting some coordinates, "I rigged it to send her back to him. She's gone."

"But…"

"We'll find her again when it's safe and then you're going to remind me to take it away from her!" he shouted, turning back as a warning beep rang out, "Ah!" he grabbed the console screen in frustration, "They're following us."

"How can they do that, you've got a time machine?" Martha cried as he ran around the console.

"Stolen technology, they've got a Time Agent's Vortex Manipulator too. They can follow us wherever we go, right across the Universe…" he paused in thought, realizing something, "They're never going to stop," he ran a hand through his hair nervously and stared at the console when an idea came to him, "Unless...I'll have to do it..." he muttered quietly. He turned to Martha staring into her eyes, "Martha, you trust me don't you?"

"Of course I do," she replied instantly.

"'Cos it all depends on you," he dove behind the console and pulled something out.

"What does? What am I supposed to do?"

He reappeared holding a pocket watch with an ornate design on the back, "Take this watch, 'cos my life depends on it. The watch, Martha…the watch is me."

Martha nodded, though clearly confused, "Right, okay, gotcha..." she shook her head, rushing around the console after him, "No, hold on! Completely lost!"

"Those creatures are hunters," he told her, still focused on the controls, "They can sniff out anyone and me being a Time Lord, well, I'm unique. They can track me down across the whole of time and space."

"And the good news is?" she laughed hopelessly.

"They can smell me, they haven't seen me. And their life's bound to be running out so, we hide, wait for them to die."

"But they can track us down!"

He finally stopped what he was doing and turned to face her, almost as serious as he had been when Evy absorbed the star, "That's why I've got to do it. I have to stop being a Time Lord. I'm gonna become human," he hit a switch and a headset lowered from the ceiling. He ran over to it, "Never thought I'd use this. All the times I've wondered…"

"What does it do?" she frowned.

"Chameleon Arch," he said, fiddling with some wires, "Rewrite my biology. Literally changes every single cell in my body. I've set it to human," he took the pocket watch and fit it into a section of the headset, "Now, the TARDIS will take care of everything. Invent a life story for me, find me a setting and integrate me. Can't do the same for you...you'll just have to improvise. I should have just enough residual awareness to let you in."

"What about Evy?" she asked.

"Evy's not here. She won't be able to get back till we go get her."

"But...hold on, if you're going to rewrite every single cell, isn't it going to hurt?"

"Oh yeah," he nodded grimly, "It hurts."

Evy pulled her hands away from the TARDIS, not wanting to relive the pain again. She'd felt it already, nearly given Jack and Tosh a heart attack when she'd started screaming in the middle of trying to fix the Vortex Manipulator and ended up convulsing on the floor. Jack had not been happy that she'd left out that little detail of the Link.

She took a breath and looked over at Martha, "He left some instructions yeah?"

Martha nodded, "Just bringing them up now."

She walked around the console to join her as a video of the Doctor appeared on the screen.

"This working?" he tapped the camera, "Martha, before I change here's a list of instructions for when I'm human. One, don't let me hurt anyone. We can't have that, but you know what humans are like. Two, don't worry about the TARDIS, I'll put it on emergency power so they can't detect it, just let it hide away. Four, no, wait a minute, three, no getting involved in big historical events. Four, you. Don't let me abandon you. And fi…"

Martha twisted a dial, speeding through the rest of his speech, "I've listened to it 1,000 times already, just more things to keep him from doing," she shook her head, "Something about not letting him eat pears…" she looked up to see Evy half gagging just at the mention of the evil fruit, "What? Is that like a Time Lord thing? You don't like pears?"

"No," she shook her head, "We hate pears."

"But what are we supposed to do if the Family crash lands?" Martha asked, getting back on topic, "What are we supposed to do then?" she let go of the dial on the last item the Doctor listed.

"And twenty three," he finished, "If anything goes wrong, if they find us Martha, then you know what to do. Open the watch. Everything I am is kept safe in there. Now, I've put a Perception Filter on it so the human me won't think anything of it, to him it's just a watch. But don't open it unless you have to. Because once it's open, then the Family will be able to find me. It's all down to you, Martha. Your choice," he walked off the screen for a moment before returning, "Oh, and thank you."

"What happens if they find you?" Martha looked at her friend, concerned. She was still a Time Lady, if the Family could smell one out...

"They won't."

"How can you be sure?"

Evy just held up the Filter again, "This is set more for aliens," she explained, "It's meant to keep them from noticing me as a Time Lord. It fools the mind into thinking I'm human. The mind is a powerful thing Martha. You can trick yourself into seeing something that isn't there, smelling things that aren't there as well."

Martha nodded, "It'll trick them into thinking they're not smelling a Time Lord."

She nodded too, "They're looking for the Doctor, a Time Lord, so they won't even think to sniff out a Time Lady. So that'll help the Filter keep working, keep me unnoticed by them as well," her gaze drifted to the now blank screen and she started to frown, "This isn't going to be easy though, keeping him safe."

"We'll figure something out," Martha reassured her.

"I just…" she trailed, "I wish he'd come back…it's so quiet…"

Martha frowned and hugged her friend from the side, "It'll be alright."

She smiled and turned to look at her, "Those are supposed to be my lines you know."

Martha laughed, "Seems we're all acting like other people today."

Evy opened her mouth to reply when she suddenly spun around to look at something over her shoulder.

"What is it?" Martha asked, "What's wrong?"

"Someone opened the watch!" Evy shouted, before racing out of the TARDIS, Martha following close behind.

A/N: I know there was probably a jumbled mess in trying to explain the Link to Martha, I didn't want to cram too much into one chapter/episode. It's a lot for a human to take in. She'll definitely be asking more questions about it as she starts to come to grips with it. She knows she doesn't know everything about the Link or why Evy's hiding it and what she is, so she'll definitely want to talk more. What she doesn't know will be explained to her eventually, she'll know almost everything by the end of Blink though and so will you.

I have to say though, now that our beloved companion is playing matchmaker...things will get much more interesting for our dear John Smith and Evelyn Daniels :)

As for the Family and how Evy is hiding from them, I think it's believable, the mind does play tricks on you, aliens and humans alike. It's simple too...which sort of explains why the Doctor didn't think of it. As Evy once said, he looks for complicated answers instead of simple solutions lol.

One more quick note, for those of you who are fans of Recollections, be on the look out, a new chapter should be up in a few hours :)