Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. Sorry, but it's the truth. :(
A/N: Get your tissues out, guys. This is going to be a pretty sad chapter, though there will be plenty of DoctorWhump to sustain you whumpaholics… lol And thanks so much for all the reviews! :D
Summary: Martha and the Doctor travel to 1559, where they meet up with alien pirates. These vicious pirates have only one goal in mind, which happens to involve the deaths of hundreds. Can the Doctor stop them, when he's not doing so well himself? DoctorWhump.
Chapter Ten
Martha rubbed her aching temple with one hand as they approached the town. She could already see the crowded buildings that were gathered together at the bottom of the castle, and the local villagers going about their daily tasks. But the thrilling moment of seeing a place and its people in the distant past was ruined for her. Queen Elizabeth hadn't shut up the entire walk, and Sir David constantly saw fit to pipe in with his own comments, usually involving beheading and sudden death for the rest of them.
"Here we are!" the Doctor burst out happily, rubbing his side with one hand while positioning his sonic screwdriver in the air with the other. He didn't seem to notice that he'd just interrupted Queen Elizabeth in midsentence, though Martha couldn't miss it. The queen miraculously fell silent, head held haughtily high as she glanced round. "I think we're getting pretty close now; blimey, my teeth are starting to itch!"
"What's that got to do with anything?" Martha asked with a slight frown, mystified.
"Oh, nothing really. Only that I'm picking up high readings of time warpic energy. Aka, the Warp Diamond." The Doctor grinned at her.
James blinked. "You can sense this mysterious object we're looking for?"
"Yeah. Easy-peasy. But only on a low-level telepathic frequency. I just need to reset the transmitters of my sonic, and it'll do all the hard work for me…" The Doctor's voice trailed off as he continued to muck about with his screwdriver, twisting its end this way and that.
Seeing James's obvious confusion, Martha grinned at him. "He's an alien. And he can basically read minds. That's what he means by all that 'telepathic frequency' technobabble."
James only stared at her. "I have no idea what most of your words mean, but I'll just go with what you're saying," he said gravely.
Smiling over at him again, Martha glanced round as they walked into the center of town. People in medieval dress milled all around them, the woman clothed in long dresses and the men wearing trousers, pressed shirts, and strange hats. She noticed that most of the men seemed to be standing around talking about the day's events, while the woman herded groups of children, took laundry down from trees, or scooped water from a well in the middle of the street.
Hmmm. So it wasn't much different than her time, then.
"This is amazing," James told her sincerely. "I can hardly tell that this isn't my own time, though many small things are…different here. And there's this…feeling in the air. I can't really explain it." He watched with unsuppressed awe as two men walked past, pulling a pair of well-loaded horses after them.
"This place is filthy," Queen Elizabeth muttered, though in a tone loud enough for all of them to hear her. Sir David stayed close to her side, glancing around warily. "And I'm not saying that I believe anything you've told me, Doctor, but I wish to return home as soon as possible. Not only have I missed my own coronation ceremony, but the lovely fireworks I had planned as well. This is a disaster!"
Instead of answering, the Doctor made a sound of vague interest. "I think I've got something, Martha. Definitely the Diamond." He considered, pausing to look back at the rest of them. "Oh, and you too, Jamie-boy. Mustn't keep forgetting you, since you'll be traveling with us." He grinned eagerly, then bounced off again. The others hurried to catch up.
"So you're saying we're close?" Martha asked, struggling to keep pace with the Time Lord. His long legs moved him forward much too quickly, especially when she was struggling to avoid hungry dogs and stray chickens alike. Not to mention all the dirty-faced children who roamed the streets, more than likely looking for some sort of trouble to get into.
"Very close. Think close and then add another bucket of close, followed by several sprinkles of close. Yeah, I think so," the Doctor concluded, glancing about while aiming his screwdriver in several random directions. Including into a bucket of suspicious-smelling slop that one woman was walking past with. "Just need to find it…"
"We're going to beat those lizards, then." James looked excited. "And save the city."
"It's a bit bigger than that, James," Martha told him gently. "We're going to save every universe in existence. But if you want to only think of the city, feel free. All of reality is pretty hard to imagine, I understand. But, yeah. We're going to beat those lizards."
"Of course we are! How could you ever doubt me, Jamie-boy?" the Doctor exclaimed with mock hurt, dropping to his knees and peering under the foundation of a house. It sat a bit up from the ground, which allowed the Doctor to poke his entire arm underneath and grope around.
James blushed. "Sorry."
"He's just joshing you, James. Don't listen to him." Martha glared severely at the Doctor, though he didn't seem to notice.
"I must ask. Will this nonsense ever come to a close?" the queen demanded frostily. "Walking through town is one thing, but lying under the homes of others and looking for fancied treasure is quite another!"
Queen Elizabeth was right: the Doctor's head and shoulders were now under the house as well, with only his legs sticking out from under it.
Apparently hearing their voices, a dusty window creaked open in the said house. "Oi! What do ya think you're doin', muckin' about under me house?" a rather large woman with her hair tied back in a kerchief demanded, leaning out the window to peer down at the Doctor.
Thinking fast, Martha bent over and fumbled in the Doctor's pocket, ignoring his faint cry of surprise from under the house. She pulled out the psychic paper, holding it up so the woman could plainly see it. "Sorry. We're the, uh, foundation inspectors. We've come to check for…mold in the, er, dirt. So…none of your family will get sick?" she finished lamely, beaming in a way that she hoped seemed convincing enough.
The woman squinted suspiciously at the leather wallet. "What, you expect me t' be able t' read that bloody thing? And leave the mold down there for all I care! Johny deserves a bit o' sickness!" The window slammed shut with an enormous rattle.
Martha slowly lowered the wallet. "Oh. Uh…never mind, then. Have a nice day, ma'am."
At this point, the Doctor crawled carefully from under the house, trying to keep from bumping his head. Even though he was covered in dust, he looked positively pleased. "Who's brilliant? Please hold your applause, yeah?" He held up a glittering stone roughly the size of a large apple, still polished and brand-new despite being buried in the dirt.
Martha helped the Doctor to his feet, slipping the psychic paper back into his pocket. "That's the Warp Diamond?" she asked, staring at its glittering facets, transfixed.
"Yup." He casually popped the 'p', moving the stone closer to his face so he could carefully examine it. "That's it, alright. Thought it'd be bigger though…"
"We came all this way for that?" Queen Elizabeth didn't bother to hide her distaste, lip curling with revulsion.
"I think it's beautiful," James declared honestly, reaching out like he wanted to touch it. But he jerked his hand back at the last second, looking annoyed at his own behavior.
"What? You can go ahead and touch it, James," Martha said irritably, already guessing the reason for his inability to touch the Diamond.
He vigorously shook his head. "No, Miss Martha. I couldn't. No one of my station has ever even dreamed of touching something so valuable."
The Doctor tantalizingly held out to Warp Diamond to him. "Ah, come on, Jamie-boy! Live a little. Just one little–"
The sudden blast of red energy took all of them by surprise, especially the Doctor. It hit him directly in the side, and he crumpled to the ground with a cry of pain. The Warp Diamond slipped from his grasp and rolled haphazardly across the ground.
A scout, eyes wide with glee and bloodlust, darted forward with surprising speed to grab the glittering jewel. When it was safely in the alien's clawed grasp, the scout moved backwards again. It handed the Warp Diamond to Oohberăn, who cackled triumphantly. He and the rest of the Voyagers had somehow managed to approach without notice, therefore gaining the element of surprise.
Several people screamed, racing away from the developing confrontation. All the chickens that had been pecking around them also made for safety, clucking frantically.
Martha, never taking her eyes from the Voyagers, hurried to kneel beside the Doctor. "Doctor, are you alright?" she asked quietly, lips pressing into a thin line as she watched Oohberăn and his cronies gather round the Warp Diamond, experimentally examining it. They had failed. For once, the Doctor's plan had failed, and they had lost. The very universe was in immediate danger of being destroyed, and she didn't know what to do.
The Doctor replied to her question by sitting up with painful slowness, a grimace painted across his face at the effort of such a small movement. He didn't groan even once, though Martha could tell how much he was hurting. He accepted her offered hand, allowing her to pull him to his feet. "Stop this, Oohberăn," he stated darkly, without even a hint of his usual good humor. "Or I'll have to stop you."
Martha felt a hand firmly wrap itself around her own, and looked over. James stood on her other side, clasping her hand in his clammy grip. His face was very pale, and yet it was set with determination. The queen and Sir David looked much less brave, standing a little way behind the rest of them with nearly identical expressions of horror on their faces.
"You can't stop us, Doctor, and I tire of this complete nonsense," Oohberăn hissed, trio of tongues flickering threateningly. "You must either surrender and let us return safely to our ship with the Warp Diamond, or we will kill the five of you now instead of later."
"You must stop these brutes at once, Doctor!" was Queen Elizabeth's shaky input.
The Doctor didn't say anything to this, gritting his teeth together to hold back a moan of pain. "So you haven't noticed, then. Hmmm, pity."
"Noticed what?" Dadeena sneered, tongues also flitting between his lips as he rasped.
The Doctor shrugged casually, though the small motion caused him plenty of pain. "Oh, I don't know if I should tell you or not…" he replied nonchalantly.
"Tell me! Now! Or I shall crush you all!" Sĕsmenan bellowed melodramatically. He was immediately silenced at a glance from Oohberăn, and ashamedly fell back behind the others.
That's when Martha made the connection between the Doctor's words and the fact that the Voyagers were all flickering strangely. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed, realization dawning across her face. "You lot are about to lose the human DNA you assimilated! You're going to be torn apart!" She couldn't help grinning at the fairness of them getting trapped and destroyed like this. They deserved it, after what they'd done to those poor humans. And to the Doctor.
But not Queen Elizabeth or Sir David. In Martha's opinion, they completely deserved it.
"Right you are, Martha Jones," the Doctor answered her grimly, watching with no satisfaction as the Voyagers looked down at their bodies, as they noticed the small beams of light that could now be seen shining through. "Their bodies are starting to fail them, then the timelock my lot put on this time period is going to destroy them. They weren't meant to be here." His words were fairly ominous, enough so that Oohberăn bellowed angrily,
"Fix this, Doctor! Destroy the timelock so that we may live!"
The Doctor staggered, and Martha hurriedly steadied him. When he could concentrate again through the immense pain radiating inside his body, he stared coldly up at the Voyager leader. "Why should I? You killed countless human beings, took their innocent lives from them. Why should I show you mercy?"
Martha shuddered, involuntarily taking a step away from him. She could see why he was called the Oncoming Storm now; his ancient eyes were full of rage and barely concealed darkness. They were haunting, staring out of the Doctor's boyish face as they did. Even if she didn't know his true age, she knew that she would somehow know, just by looking into those fearsome eyes.
The scouts were all looking round with confusion now. Their keen eyes flickered from the fading Voyagers to the small crowd of people standing before them. Their gazes especially lingered on the threatening form of the Doctor, probably sensing the incredible danger he poised to them. Martha also noticed that the entire lot of them was slowly backing away from the verbal mêlée.
Light was now shining through much of Oohberăn's reptilian body, and what little remained of his clawed fingers grasped uselessly at thin air. "Because, Doctor. Didn't anything I've told you of this Warp Diamond your race created sink into that head of yours? It can't just shape reality into our likeness. It also works for Time Lords."
The Doctor went rigid, muscles tensing. Martha realized exactly what the giant lizard was insinuating only a few seconds later, and hurriedly grabbed the Doctor by one arm. "Whatever you do, don't listen to him! He's just trying to make you help them, so he won't die! Then he'll turn on you and kill all of us!" she cried desperately, trying to make him cling to reason as best she could.
On cue, he visibly shook himself. "Don't worry, Martha Jones. I'm not ready to turn over to the dark side quite yet," he muttered to her with determination, straightening a little. He winced slightly, but it was obvious that he didn't plan to give in to the Voyagers anytime soon. "You're out of luck, Oohberăn. Funny how that happens, eh? And strangely enough, all your mates have run off to find someone else to play with." He gestured towards the retreating scouts, who had mostly disappeared behind the buildings of the town.
James laughed triumphantly, giving Martha's hand a quick squeeze. She looked over at him and grinned, pleased to see that he didn't seem as afraid as he had once been. She couldn't wait until this was all over, so they could go traveling in the TARDIS together. Just her, James, and the Doctor. It was going to be brilliant.
Sĕsmenan roared with rage, and was echoed by Hagsgonnun and Dadeena. Lōneena blinked several times, like he couldn't believe what was happening. And Oohberăn…he just smiled, in a way that made Martha's skin crawl. His tongues flickered ominously, and he flexed his hands, as though testing to see if they still worked. She stared with revulsion at him, wondering exactly what he was going to try his best to convince the Doctor of now.
In fact, she didn't even suspect that he would try anything nonverbal until the humanoid lizard lunged right at her. Martha didn't even have time to scream as Oohberăn shoved the Doctor away, sending him thudding against the dirt. Then he was reaching for her, what was left of his claws glinting fearsomely as they prepared to wrap themselves round her neck…
"No!" James cried, leaping forward and propelling her away from Oohberăn with a single push. Martha landed beside the Doctor in the dirt, and could only stare with horror as Oohberăn grabbed onto James instead of her. He cried out in sudden pain, body jerking as the lizard's claws dug into his shoulders.
"Oohberăn, don't!" the Doctor shouted, heaving himself up again and trying to reach out for James. But Oohberăn jerked James from his reach, cackling insanely. As Martha stared from her place on the ground, taking in the Doctor's expressive look of horror, she had a very bad feeling.
"If you won't help us, Doctor, than your little friend will!" Oohberăn snarled jubilantly, staring down into James's pale face with a look of concentration.
Martha sat up, everything feeling like it was in slow motion. Her heart leapt to her throat, and nausea boiled inside her as she remembered the mangled human remains Oohberăn and his mate had left behind for the scouts to finish off. James glanced towards her with excruciating slowness, panic and pain mixing together in his wide eyes, along with something else: resignation. He was resigned to his fate, because he had managed to save her life.
After that, everything happened much too quickly. A look of extreme delight crossed Oohberăn's reptilian face, and James cried out again in agony. Then, before Martha's very eyes, James's body began melting, dissolving away into nothing but disjointed atoms. She heard someone screaming, and it vaguely occurred to her that the tortured sound was coming from her own lips.
The Doctor looked sharply towards her, then he was pulling out his sonic screwdriver. He aimed it expertly at Oohberăn, who suddenly went stiff. He dropped James, and staggered backwards several steps. Then with a bellow of rage and pain, he vanished, followed shortly by his allies. The Doctor was saying something about sonic vibrations dispersing the stolen DNA in Oohberăn's body, but Martha wasn't listening.
Martha crawled forward, kneeling besides James's body. She expected him to get up and laugh shakily, say that he wasn't sure he was quite cut out for time travel after all, especially if he had the chance of getting assimilated again. And yet, she still wasn't very surprised when she saw his eyes. They were glassy and lifeless, staring into nothing. His lips weren't turned up into a tentative smile, and he wasn't afraid of the Voyagers anymore.
Because he was dead.
Sobs tore themselves from her throat, and Martha found that she couldn't breathe anymore. A crushing weight was pressing down onto her chest, and she was forced to inhale gasping draws of air as she cried. Tears streamed down her face, blinding her, and a strange darkness was starting to form round her vision. Something inside her said this wasn't good, but she didn't listen to it.
James was dead. He was dead because of her befriending him, inviting him to come aboard the TARDIS. And then he had died to save her life, and he wasn't coming back.
"Martha, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," the Doctor was murmuring, having appeared behind his companion without her even noticing.
But she didn't hear his supposedly soothing words, as the strangling darkness closed in around her. The last thing she saw was James's dead eyes, staring up into her own. And then she knew no more.
*sniffles* Please review if you get the chance, because this story is nearly over! O_O