CHAPTER 10

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews!

YOU CAN'T FOOL MARTHA JONES

"Now you remember what I said, right? You can't tell anyone about anything that you saw here no matter what, Courtney," Clara said in a serious tone as the TARDIS started to materialize back at Coal Hill School.

Courtney looked at her with a smirk as she said, "Yeah, I remember, Clara. I'm not stupid, okay?"

A huge smile immediately started to cross Clara's face as she said, "You called me Clara. You've never done that before."

"Don't get too used to it. I'll go right back to Miss Oswald again as soon as we're back in the classroom. I have a reputation to uphold after all. I don't want the others to think that I'm going soft and that I actually like you or anything," Courtney said with a wicked smile.

"Fair enough. I'll help you out and pretend to still be annoyed by you too," Clara said with a grin.

"Believe me. You won't have to pretend. Just because you're my friend doesn't mean that I'm going to let up on you. I'll still cause as much trouble as ever. Like I said, I have a reputation to uphold," Courtney said as her evil smile widened even further.

"That's okay. I wouldn't expect any less from you," Clara said as she suddenly hugged Courtney tightly.

"Oi! Do you have to do that? Yes, I missed you and I'm glad that you're okay. That doesn't mean that it's suddenly okay for you to crush my ribs though," Courtney complained.

The Doctor cried out in triumph as he said, "Finally someone else who understands. She does this to me all of the time, and everyone acts like I shouldn't say any a word to her about it. It's extremely annoying though isn't it?"

"Yes, it is especially when the person breaking your ribs won't ever let go," Courtney said in an annoyed voice as Clara continued to hug her.

"If you hate it so much, then why are you smiling?" Lucy pointed out with a sly grin.

"I'm not," Courtney protested.

"You totally are. You're enjoying it. Admit it. You like it when she hugs you," Osgood said with a chuckle.

"I do not," Courtney said in a slightly over the top tone that suggested otherwise.

"You're protesting just a bit too much, Courtney, just like the Doctor always does. You're both exactly alike when it comes to Clara's hugs. You pretend not to like it when she shows you affection when you actually secretly enjoy every moment of it," Lucy pointed out.

"Ha! I'm never heard such lies," The Doctor said with a snort.

"That's right. Now you're just making stuff up," Courtney agreed.

Clara laughed and finally stopped hugging her as she said with a warm smile, "Why are you still smiling then? Don't worry. I won't tell your secret if you don't tell mine."

Courtney began to frown now as she said, "I can't anyway since I'm not really sure what it is. Are you an alien? Is that it?"

Clara started to say something but decided not to because the less Courtney knew the better in her opinion. It wasn't that she didn't trust her but she worried about something happening to her if anyone found out that she was a friend of the Master's.

That really wouldn't go over too well with a lot of people, and she didn't want Courtney to become a target of one of them as a result of knowing her.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone anything. I promise. I'll never let anything happen to you again if I can help it, Clara, because I l . . . like you," Courtney said with an embarrassed look on her face because she had almost admitted her true feelings to her.

She really hadn't even realized herself just how close that she had grown to her until she had lost her. It felt like she had just lost her best friend. She never wanted to feel that way again.

Clara smiled at her fondly as the TARDIS finally materialized at last inside of the headmaster's office and opened its doors for her as she said, "And I like you too. See you later."

"See you," Courtney said with a brief smile as she walked outside to go back to class.

"I believe that she thinks of you as a second mother, Clara, and that surprises even her," The Doctor noted.

"Yes, I seem to have a certain affinity for children in this incarnation. I have no idea where that came from because I certainly never had it before. Maybe it's because they're still so innocent and I envy them for it. Or it could be because I want to protect that innocence as a way of making up for all of the pain that I've caused," Clara said in a wistful voice as she sounded more like the Master than Clara Oswald for a brief moment.

"Or maybe it's because you're a kind and loving person now, Clara Oswald, and it's as simple as that," Lucy said.

"Maybe. I'd like to think so anyway," Clara said with an appreciative smile.

"So what happens now? Are you actually just going to go back to teaching like nothing happened?" Osgood asked curiously.

"Well, it is my job, Inhaler Girl. I can't very well take the day off even if I did die. Somehow I don't think that the Board of Directors of the school would believe that as an excuse anyway," Clara said.

"You'd be surprised. One of them might at least," The Doctor said with an enigmatic smile.

"Yes, I'm sure Mr. Chesterton would after traveling with you for so long, Old Man. He'd probably be willing to believe just about anything. The others would be a hard sale though," Clara said.

The Doctor immediately looked at her in surprise which caused her to laugh as she said, "I know the names of all of your traveling companions, Mr. Stick. I either learned about them from my echoes or as the Master. I made it my business to keep tabs on everything that you did over the centuries since you left Gallifrey."

The Doctor looked disturbed by that for a moment until Clara quickly said, "I never bothered any of them though I promise. I just . . . I was just curious to know what kind of friends that you took up with after you left. I thought that if I got to know them better that I might find out why you stopped being friends with me . . . and maybe even how to get you back. I realize now that it was my fault that we became enemies because of the things that I did. I had a bit of a problem admitting that to myself back then though."

"A bit?" The Doctor said as he gave her an incredulous look.

"Shut up," Clara said with a grin.

Her smile immediately faded though when the TARDIS doors suddenly started to open. Who would possibly have a key for those doors?

"Doctor, who . . . ?" Clara started to ask in an uneasy voice.

Then her question was instantly answered, and she had to consciously hold back a gasp of fear as she saw Martha Jones standing there in the doorway.

Lucy however didn't have quite as much self-control as it turned out. A low gasp immediately escaped her lips as soon as she realized who it was, and an instant feeling of terror came over her as she did her best to hide herself behind Osgood.

"Hello, Doctor. It's so good to see you again," Martha said happily as she immediately crossed the Console Room to hug him.

"Again with the hugging. Why do all of you always want to hug so much?" The Doctor complained.

As Martha looked at him in surprise, Clara said, "This particular incarnation really isn't a big fan of hugging, Doctor Jones. Or so he says anyway."

Despite how she was acting she was absolutely terrified, but she was determined not to give that away in front of Martha. She was going to treat her just as she would have anyone else. To do anything else would instantly alert Martha that something was wrong.

She was going to have to be very careful in how she treated her because she knew from past experience that Martha was far too intelligent to be fooled quite so easily.

"And you must be his newest traveling companion. Clara Oswald, right? It's so nice to finally meet you after hearing Kate and Osgood talk about you for so long," Martha said as she gave a huge smile of greeting to Osgood while she eagerly held out her hand for Clara to shake.

"Don't believe a word of it. No one could be as sweet as they make me out to be," Clara joked.

"Would you care to make a wager? Sometimes she's so sugary that I actually wonder how her teeth don't rot," The Doctor said with a frown.

"Well, you seem nice to me. I wouldn't have expected any less from you though. I might sound a bit vain saying this, but the Doctor always has good taste in picking the people who he chooses to travel with him. I haven't come across one yet that I haven't liked," Martha said as she shook Clara's hand vigorously.

"Although there was this one fellow who called himself Turlough that I met once. He was a very shifty sort," Martha admitted.

"Yes, he almost betrayed me to the Black Guardian once until he came to his senses. That was back when I was Celery Boy and was almost as bad as Clara about being much too nice. That all got balanced out rather quickly when Rainbow Man came along though because he was just as rude as Celery was nice," The Doctor said with a brief smile.

"Which just proves that the more things change . . ." Clara started to say with an evil grin.

"Nonsense. I'm nowhere near as rude as he was, Clara," The Doctor said with a skeptical look.

"I'd say that he's always been a bit rude myself. I know that my Doctor could certainly be quite rude when he wanted to be," Martha said to Clara with a wink.

Clara actually smiled without having to force herself to now because she was so glad to be bonding with Martha like this. Maybe just maybe this wouldn't turn out to be a complete train wreck after all. All she had to do was keep looking cheerful and completely unworried for just a few minutes longer and then Martha would be gone.

At least she certainly hoped so anyway.

That was when Martha suddenly turned her attention to Lucy, who was still almost completely hidden behind Osgood, as she said, "Oh, hello. It seems that I was being a bit rude myself, but I honestly didn't notice you there until just now. I'm Martha and I used to travel with the Doctor. And you are . . . ?"

Lucy had to struggle to keep her voice free from fear as she said in a near flawless Italian accent,

"I'm . . . . Gina. Gina Tancredi. It's very nice to meet you."

"Gina's a bit shy," Clara quickly ad-libbed in order to explain why Lucy was practically using Osgood as a human shield between her and Martha.

"I'm not sure how you could stay shy for very long traveling with him. I guess you're friendly enough to make up for it though, Clara," Martha said with a chuckle.

Clara almost sighed with relief now. It seemed that so far at least that Martha didn't suspect a thing.

The Doctor now began to gently prod Martha towards the door as he said, "So you just came by to say hello then?"

Normally he wouldn't have minded Martha staying and might have even offered her a trip on the TARDIS, but the less time that she spent with Clara the better. He couldn't have her recognizing her as the Master or that would be the end of her. He had no doubts whatsoever that Martha would turn Clara into Kate without hesitation after what the Master had done to her family.

And he really wouldn't be able to blame her either even though he desperately didn't want that to happen. He knew that the Master that had done those things no longer existed now after all. He could see where Martha would have a hard time believing that however.

"Actually, I was quietly investigating the disturbance that was caused here earlier today by one of the teachers. UNIT recognized her right away from her description as the Rani/Missy. I thought I'd drop by to find out what really happened from you once I saw the TARDIS here in the headmaster's office. I have to admit that it made a good excuse to see you again too," Martha said with a smile.

"Yes, well you can tell Kate that everything has been taken care of now. The Rani won't be bothering her anymore," The Doctor said in a nonchalant voice.

"What happened to her though? Where is she?" Martha pressed.

"I can honestly say that I have no idea where she is. She definitely won't be bothering anyone there though wherever it is," The Doctor said with a shrug.

"How can you be so sure about that if you don't even know where she is?" Martha said in a growing tone of frustration.

"The Doctor put her under the Chameleon Arch and made her human. Then he had the TARDIS bring her to a random time and place and set up a new life for her there. That's why even he doesn't know where she is. He didn't want to know so that he wouldn't be tempted to bother her," Clara lied.

It bothered her just how easily lying still came to her. She supposed that was a good thing though. If it ever stopped bothering her, then she'd really have something to worry about.

It never used to bother the Master in the slightest after all.

"Yes. Yes, that's exactly right. I wanted her to get a new start at life," The Doctor said as he played along.

Martha nodded and seemed to completely believe their story just as Clara had hoped that she would. That was why she had used an experience from Martha's own time with the Doctor as a part of her lie in order to make it more believable to her. She still didn't seem to be too satisfied by their answer however despite this.

"That didn't work with the Master. He still remembered who he was didn't he?" Martha said as a troubled look came over her face.

"That's because he held onto his fob watch with all of those memories still in it. The Doctor made sure that the Rani didn't have one of her own however so she can't possibly remember. In fact, he never even made her one. He stored her memories somewhere else where the Rani will never find them," Clara said as she continued her story.

"Are you sure about that?" Martha asked the Doctor while giving Clara a brief suspicious glance for the first time now.

That was when Clara realized that she had been speaking for the Doctor just a little bit too much. It had automatically caused an alarm bell to go off in Martha's mind as a result. She immediately felt like kicking herself for making such an obvious mistake.

Maybe she wasn't so great at lying anymore after all. Usually she'd think that was a good thing.

"Yes. She won't remember a thing since the current receptacle for her memories is much too far away from her for her to hear them speaking to her as the Master could," The Doctor replied to Martha with a straight face even though he had no idea if this was really true or not.

Martha seemed to believe him despite that however as she nodded and said, "Alright. Well if you're that sure then that's good enough for me. I'll report that back to Kate. Hopefully she won't have too much trouble with it."

Martha started to leave now as she said with a warm smile, "Good bye, Doctor. I'll see you again sometime in the near future. You can count on it."

"Good bye, Martha Jones. I very much look forward to it," The Doctor said meaning it.

Clara finally felt a sense of relief as soon as Martha started towards the door. They had actually done it. Now the one person that could have exposed her as the Master was finally out of the way once and for all.

That brief feeling of hope came instantly crashing down around her however as Martha suddenly turned around and came rushing towards her. Before Clara could even try to stop her, Martha had her in a headlock while she pointed a syringe at her neck.

"Martha! What are you doing?" The Doctor said in a surprised voice.

Martha ignored him however as she said to Clara in a voice filled with anger, "This needle is filled with sodium pentothal. It will force you to tell the truth whether you want to or not, and I happen to know that it even works on Time Lords so if you're who I think you are even you won't be able to lie your way out of this one. I have to admit that I've been suspicious of you ever since Danny Pink told Kate that story about you. You might have fooled him into believing that you were just harmless Clara Oswald somehow when he used that alien device on you but I know better. I know exactly how clever that you really are. That's why I came down here as soon as I heard that the Rani was spotted at your school. That was when I was sure of your real identity."

"Martha, wait a minute. You don't understand. Let me explain," Osgood said in a frantic voice.

"Why? It's obvious that she's hypnotized you into lying for her. It's what she does," Martha said dismissively.

"I didn't do anything to anyone. Just calm down and I'll explain everything to you, Martha," Clara said in a calm voice.

"You mean lie to me some more? No, you won't get a chance to do that this time. I've made sure of it. Now you're going to tell me exactly who you really are and what's really happened to the Rani. More to the point what did you do to the Doctor to get him to lie to me like that? Did you really think that I wouldn't be able to tell when the Doctor was lying to me after traveling with him for as long as I did? That would have been obvious to me even if it wasn't clear that you were creating that whole bogus story yourself right from the start."

Clara audibly sighed now as she felt Martha inject her with the needle. She should have known that it wouldn't be that easy.

She would have really liked for it to have been just once though.

Next: How is Clara going to get out of this one? Will she tell Martha the whole truth? What will Martha do if she does? Can anything save her now or is Martha finally about to pay her back for what she did to her family at long last?