"So, Martha Jones." Romana began as she walked around the console. Martha and Braxiatel were sat in the captain's chair and watched her beginning to flicker some buttons. "You have been to the past, how about we go to the future. How would you like that?"
Martha looked thrilled at the opportunity and she couldn't help but feel slightly giddy inside. She was being offered to see the whole universe! Who wouldn't be excited? "No complaints from me!"
"I should sincerely hope not." Braxiatel drawled. "We don't want our companions to be complaining about our travels do we now mmm?"
"I think it's time we went to another planet." Romana mused. "I've had enough of Earth for a while. Really, the amount of times we bump into your planet Martha is outrageous!"
Martha laughed. "Well then, can't we go to yours and Braxiatel's planet instead? You know, the planet of the Time-Lords and Time-Ladies! How cool would that be?"
Romana and Braxiatel glanced at each other. They had yet to tell Martha that they were the last of their kind but with them being so busy as it was all ready, they hadn't had time and to keep telling people about no more time-lord's but them existing, it just left two great big holes in their hearts after a while and it kept reminding Romana of what she did with the Moment. What she did to her people to save the rest of the universe and it hurts.
Romana looked away, unable to meet her eyes. "There's hundreds of other places to visit Martha." She told her sternly, trying to hide the painful look and Braxiatel sighed. "Our home can wait a little while longer."
Martha jumped out of the captain's seat and went next to Martha, not seeing the looks the Time-Lord's shared and she looked at them, beaming. "Come on, though! Gallifrey." Martha nudged her. That's what the Time-Lord's told Martha. What their home planet was called and Martha had heard Romana say it enough times with Shakespeare to figure it out that it was the name of their home planet as well. "Planet that you were President on! That's got to be worth a look! What's it like?"
"One of the most beautiful planets in the universe." Braxiatel commented, giving Romana a look.
Martha turned her head slightly so she could look at him. "Is it like, you know, outer space cities, all spires and stuff?" Romana and Braxiatel closed their eyes, imagining Gallifrey as it was before the Time War had begun. Imagining it's beauty and imaging it how they wanted it to imagine. Before it all turned into hell and all it's beauty destroyed with it. "Great big temples and cathedrals!" Martha was oblivious to the both of the Time-Lord's, too lost imagining what their home planet must be like. "Lots of planets in the sky?" Martha continued, making them both blink.
Romana smiled faintly. "Oh, that old planet of ours. Gallifrey's sky was a burnt orange. The capitol, which is where we lived." She indicated between her and Braxiatel. "Was enclosed in a mighty glass dome, shining under the twin suns. Beyond the dome the mountains could go on forever and the hermits would live in the caves and all the Old Houses would live outside the dome with all those Cousins and family members inside. All proud and ancient. Then there were slopes of deep red grass, capped with snow and the children within the citadel would run around and play and sing and dance of songs of old."
Martha looked utterly enthralled. "Can we go there?"
"Why would we want to go home?" Braxiatel asked, his moustache twitching. "Besides, we don't like the new President there. Do we Romana?" He looked at her pointedly.
"Not really, since he tried to erase me from existence." Romana nodded, knowing he meant Rassilon. "Very nearly succeeded too! Besides, there is a whole universe waiting for us out there. Instead-" With the help of Braxiatel, they drove the TARDIS smoothly through the vortex before it landed gently, not even a slight bump came out of the TARDIS as they landed. "We're taking you to the year five billion and fifty-three on the Planet New Earth." She grabbed her coat from the coat stand before throwing Braxiatel his jacket who caught it and put it on. "We've landed you in New New York."
"Actually, it's the fifteenth New York." Braxiatel corrected her and Martha looked amused. "We've been here before and it's one of the most dazzling cities ever built." He opened the door for them and lead them out of the TARDIS and both Romana and Martha scowled as they both quickly fastened up their coats.
"Oh, that's nice! Time-Lord version of dazzling!" Martha exclaimed, zipping up her jacket.
"He just likes to show off." Romana replied. "I travelled with his brother for a few centuries when he was alive and the habit seems to run through the family."
"At least I have better flying skills than my brother did." Braxiatel replied as he got out a large question mark umbrella and he went in the middle and Martha and Romana went on either side. "Besides, it's only rain. You have plenty of that back on the original Earth. Now let's find shelter, I'm rather fond of this suit thank you very much."
He led them through the slummy portion of the city and they dashed through a junk-ridden street where the rain had stopped and Braxiatel threw away his umbrella in one of the giant dumpsters. Romana looked around in disgust. "Oh nice. Looks like the TARDIS has took us to the down town New New York."
Martha couldn't help but agree with her. "Yeah but it looks very much like the same old Earth to me. On a Wednesday afternoon."
"Let's see where we are." Braxiatel went over to a dead screen on the wall and he took out his sonic pen and the screen came static before he banged on the screen itself to get it to work before a women appeared on the screen but Braxiatel knew she was nothing more than a hologram.
"And the driving should be clear and easy, with fifteen extra lanes open for the New New Jersey expressway." The hologram told them and the image of the screen shifted to reveal the New New York above ground, the very same place where Romana and Braxiatel had been last time.
"That TARDIS of ours," Romana shook her head. "That's where we wanted to go. We're on the lower levels, in what appears to be an under-city."
"You've brought me to the slums?" Martha sounded irritated but she couldn't help but smile. Truth be told, the slums in the future were better than nothing.
"To be fair, we did stay on the upper city last time and well, you know what they say," Braxiatel mused. "Best enjoy the sides of both worlds. "
"Both of you will enjoy anything." Martha grinned.
"Well, nearly anything. There are one or two things or more that I dislike." Romana grinned back.
"But hold on, when you say the last time, was that with your last companion?" Martha asked, not daring to say the name Rose. Back in the TARDIS after they welcomed her on board, they had explained what this Rose had done and Martha vowed never to make the same mistakes as her. She couldn't believe how ignorant Rose had been.
"Last time we came here we got attacked by evil cat nuns, zombies that were not really zombies and Braxiatel got possessed by a female version of Michael Jackson." Romana smirked, counting it off her fingers and Martha couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, I'm thinking I'm starting to like the under ground version of New New York so far."
Braxiatel scowled at the memory. It hadn't been a good day for him that day. "Don't forget, she possessed all of us."
"She seemed to love you though." Romana retorted and just as she was about to continue, a man suddenly flipped open the top of a large green box to reveal a street vendors cart. Around the three of them, many others began to do the same and all began to shout out their wares and Romana realized they were pharmacist.
"Oh! You should have said. How long have you been there? Happy! You want happy!" The man shouted, wanting to encourage them over.
A women leaned over her counter, peering at them excitedly. "Customers! Customers! We've got customers!"
Another women grinned. "We're in business! Mother, open up the Mellow and the Read!"
The man ignored them and looked at Braxiatel, holding out what appeared to be stickers of some sort. "Happy, happy, lovely happy!"
The women who was excited about them being here spoke. "Anger! Buy some anger!"
The man shook his head. "Younger, them. They'll rip you off. Do you want some happy?"
Romana straightened her shoulders. "We don't want any, thank you very much," She told them coldly.
Martha frowned, looking at the 'stickers' the man was holding. "Are they selling drugs?"
"Drugs, moods, same thing." Braxiatel shrugged before a pale women in raggedy clothes who heard the cries of the pharmacists walked with intent to one of the stalls, one with one of the women in.
"Come over here, yeah. And what can I get you, my love?" The pharmacist asked her and the three of them watched in silence.
"I want to buy forget." The women told her.
The pharmacist nodded. "I've got forget, my darling. What strength? How much you want forgetting?"
The young women bit her lip, trying not to cry. "It's my mother and father. They went on the motorway."
The pharmacists looked at her with sympathy. "Oh, that's so sweet." She reached behind her into the stall and pulled out a smaller circular token and held it out to the pale women. "Try this. Forget forty-three. That's twopence." The pale women paid the pharmacists but before she could do anything with it, Romana went over to her and stopped her, knowing exactly what those moods could do.
"I'm sorry if this is an invasion of your privacy," She began gently. "But what happened to your parents?"
"They drove off." The women replied sadly.
"But...you do know that they will drive back to you?" Romana frowned. "They wouldn't just leave you would they?"
The women looked on sadly. "Everyone goes to the motorway in the end. I've lost them." She told Romana with despair.
"But there might be time to get them back." Romana insisted. "You can still find them." But the pale women just looked at her before looking down at the mood with a sigh and sticking it on her neck. "No, don't!" Romana called out.
But it was too late. Once the women had stuck the token onto her neck, the women's expression changed instantly and she seemed docile and unaware of her surroundings, almost as if she didn't remember how she got here. The women blinked, looking at Romana. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
Romana sighed, knowing the women would forget everything that had happened to her parents."Your parents and how they are on the motorway."
The women gave a small smile. "Are they? That's nice." Martha shared a disbelieving look with Braxiatel and Romana looked disturbed but not surprised. "I'm sorry, I won't keep you." They watched her disappear and Romana turned to look at Martha and Braxiatel, troubled.
Martha shook her head. "So that's the human race five billion years in the future. Off their heads on chemicals." As soon as she said this, two figures sprung out from behind her and Braxiatel, carrying guns and dressed in leather clothing. The women grabbed Martha whilst the man grabbed Braxiatel, dragging them off and pointing their guns at them. Martha began to scream with terror and Braxiatel began to resist but the man was incredibly strong and they began to retreat, Romana advancing on them dangerously.
"I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry. We just need four. That's all." The man told her desperately.
"No! Let them go!" Romana yelled dangerously advancing even closer on them. "Whatever you need, we can help you. All of us, just let them go! Please!"
The women shook her head. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." The women looked like she was going to cry herself and slammed the door, locking it on the other side with Martha and Braxiatel in their clutches and Romana bared her teeth in frustration as she began to wrestle the door.
"Romana! They're not real guns. They're fake." Braxiatel told her in her mind but it didn't make things any easier for them and she used her sonic screwdriver and yanked the door open before legging it after the kidnappers.
Martha's and Braxiatel's kidnappers emerged in daylight and were running down a fire escape. The women had Martha by the arm whilst the man still held Braxiatel by the neck in an uncomfortable position, still holding out their guns.
Braxiatel tried to fight him off. "I'm a soldier!" He spat. "I fought in one of the biggest wars in the universe and I can tell the difference between a fake gun and a real gun and you're definitely holding fake guns and I don't care what my lady says but I am going to murder you both in cold blood if you don't let us go right now!" He pulled free from the man's grip and was about to punch the man but the man saw it coming and grabbed his arm and locking it behind Braxiatel's back and Braxiatel realized they stopped in front of a black car.
"Give them both some sleep." The man told the women.
Martha struggled furiously beneath the women's grasp. "Don't you dare! Don't you dare put that stuff on me! Get off me!"
"I'm not human." Braxiatel bared his teeth at them. "I'm not human, it won't work on me."
The women ignored him. "It's just Sleep fourteen." The women reached out into the vehicle behind her and pulled out two more tokens. "Make that Sleep twenty for him." She looked upset but purposeful as though she knew what she was doing was wrong. "No, babies, don't fight it."
"Babies?" Braxiatel spat at her. "How dare you, you filthy human apes! Savages, that's what you are! Savages!" Braxiatel remembered how Narvin always called Leela a savage but then again, most Time-Lord's did and he winced at the memory.
"I'm telling you, don't put it on!" Martha yelled and Martha couldn't resist for long and she fell asleep and the man put the stronger one on Braxiatel's neck.
Braxiatel struggled and felt his body weakening. "I'm...not...human!" He managed to blurt out. "It won't work!"
The man looked at his partner as she carried Martha into the car. "Get another stronger one on him." She nodded and handed him another token.
"No!" Braxiatel struggled but it was too late. The man put the second token beneath the first one and Braxiatel tried to resist but five minutes later after his kidnapper helped him into the car, he felt himself going to sleep. "No...Romana..." He slumbered and he collapsed onto the floor and all he could think about was Romana.
"Get on board." Their kidnappers spoke and they closed the car door before starting up the car.
Romana was running down the corridor where Braxiatel's and Martha's kidnappers went down. They couldn't have taken them. No, they couldn't have! She was going to get them back, no matter what it took her. She pushed herself even further, her coat billowing behind her as she ran and she just ran out of the fire escape to see the car rise into the air, it's power rising up. "Braxiatel!" She yelled mentally and physically, frantic as she grabbed her sonic screwdriver. "Braxiatel!" But it was too late, the vehicle speeded off down a small alleyway and out of sight and Romana looked on in despair, her hearts breaking as she watched the car disappear until she could see it no more.
"How are they Milo?" Milo's partner asked as they put Martha on the bed and Braxiatel next to the wall, his head slumped.
"The women's all right. She's breathing, pulse is fine and no harm done. But the man..." He shook his head. "He has two hearts! I can't even find his pulse either."
"He did say he was none human." His partner reminded him as she drove.
"I wonder what species he is then? He looks human but yet he's not." Milo shook his head. "They look rich as well, must have gotten lost." Milo replied as he looked at Braxiatel's fine clothing. It must have cost him a fortune to buy those and he dreaded to think how much it costed him to buy that tie of his. "Never mind that, they're both worth their weight in gold to us." He sat down in the driver's seat and pulled out a vocal transmitter and began to speak into it. "This is car four six five diamond six. We have four passengers, repeat. Four. Request access to the fast lane."
"Access granted."
Milo beamed at his partner, his lovely Sheen who was pregnant with his child. This was it. They were finally going to be happy and get the life that their child deserves. "Oh yes!" They smiled at each other excitedly and kissed.
Romana stormed back towards the alleyway, looking dangerously angry and pounded on the door of one of the now-closed stalls. It flipped up quickly and the women behind the counter smiled weakly, seeing the anger in Romana's eyes and leaned towards her over the countertop. "Thought you'd come back! Do you want some happy, happy?"
Romana was mad. Madder than she had ever been and she snarled angrily, her whole body shaking. "Those savages who took the people I cared about the most. Where did they take them?"
The pharmacy man next to them opened up his stall, looking gloomy. "They've taken them to the motorway."
The women nodded, trying not to appear frightened by Romana's anger. "Looked like car-jackers to me. Must be 'cos you're rich and that. I'd give up now, darling, you won't see them again. Neither of them."
The man continued to speak. "Used to be thriving in this place. You couldn't move. But they all go to the motorway in the end."
Romana whirled on them, glaring at them all coldly through her narrow eyes and they all gulped. "They said four. What did they mean by four?"
"It's the car-sharing policy, to save four. You can get it with three or four people and if you have that exact amount, you can get special access." The women replied.
"Tell me how I get to the motorway." Romana snapped.
The women pointed Romana the directions. "Straight down the alley, keep going to the end. You can't miss it." Romana strides off in the direction she indicated, not missing a second to rescue Braxiatel or Martha. "Tell you what, how about some happy happy? Then you'll be smiling my love!"
At this comment, Romana came back in, roaring at them all angrily, making them all turning silent. "Here's a word of advice all of you. Cash up. Close down and get the hell out of my way!"
The women frowned. "Why's that then?"
"I've lost Braxiatel once before and it was all my fault. I will not lose in again in the same manner. He is the only piece of home I have left and I will not forgive myself if something happens to him or Martha. I will find them both! Both alive and well and then I am coming back and I will put order to this community. This street is closing. Tonight!" Romana yelled before storming towards the motorway and the pharmacists glanced at each other, apprehensive.
Braxiatel jolted awake, his vision slightly blurred and he looked next to him to see Martha still sleeping on the bed beside him and he looked to find himself sleeping on the floor. He blinked rapidly, trying to get his vision to focus and he saw his kidnappers up at front, not realizing he was awake. He reached for the two tokens on his neck and pulled it off before quietly doing the same to Martha.
Martha fuzzily came to and blinked as she saw Braxiatel putting his finger to his lip, indicating for her to stay quiet and she nodded, understanding what he meant. She looked around and saw the gun beside her and looked at Braxiatel questioningly.
"Fake." He mouthed at her and she merely nodded and Braxiatel indicated for Martha to stay where she was and he crept up quietly behind the man who was sitting lazily in the drivers seat before he grabbed him in a headlock, pointing his sonic pen at his the back of his neck. The women screamed in fright. "Now, you can do this the easy way or the hard way." Braxiatel warned him, jamming his sonic pen into the back of the man's head. "I'm a trained soldier, I know how to kill. Take myself and Martha back to where you found us. Take us back to my Lady Romanadvoratrelundar and no harm will come to either of you and we will not cause you any trouble is that understood?" The man merely whimpered. "Is that understood?!"
"We will take you back!" The women told him quickly, getting very upset and emotional. "I swear we never wanted this to happen. We're really, really, sorry. We just needed access to the fast lane but I promise you, as soon as we arrive, we'll drop you both off and you can go back and find your friend."
Martha looked at her, not trusting her. "Seriously?"
"I swear! Look-" The woman pulled back her hair to reveal a token on the neck. It was the same as all the others but with the word honesty 36 printed on. "Honesty patch."
"Oh yes, because moods make you all trust worthy don't they?" Braxiatel sneered in disgust, not letting the man go. "Let's hear it from your real mouth." He indicated for Martha to take the token off the girl and Martha did and the women gave a small yelp of pain, rubbing her neck as to where the token once was. "Do you swear it now?"
The woman nodded quickly. "I swear it on my life."
Braxiatel looked at the man. "Do you?"
The man nodded, or as much as he could within Braxiatel's grasp. "I swear it."
Braxiatel relaxed his grip and unlocked him and the man rubbed his neck, wincing slightly. "Well then. Introductions are in order from our kidnappers don't you think Martha?"
"I think so, yeah." Martha breathed, not realizing the breath she was holding. She had been terrified that the kidnappers were going to do something terrible to them and not only that, if Braxiatel was going to do something just as terrible to them!
"I'm Cheen." The woman nodded, giving them a small smile. "And this is Milo."
"Hi." Milo looked up weakly, afraid of Braxiatel making another move on him.
"Irving Braxiatel, at your service." He gave them a curt nod. "Then again, you are at our service now."
"Martha. Martha Jones." Martha replied as she accidently hit her head on the roof, the roof being too small for them that they had to end up crouching.
"Where are we anyway?" Braxiatel asked, looking out of the window, trying to see where they were but he couldn't due to the window being so dirty.
"We're on the motorway." Milo replied.
Martha frowned, also having trouble seeing what was outside the window. "What's that then? Fog?"
"That's the exhaust fumes." Cheen smiled.
"We're going out to Brooklyn. Everyone says the air's so much cleaner, and we couldn't stay in Pharmcy Town, 'cause..." Milo rubbed Cheen's knee and Cheen grinned up at Martha, ignoring Braxiatel's eye roll.
"Well, 'cause of me. I'm pregnant. We only discovered it last week. Scan says it's going to be a boy." Milo made a mock victory gesture, thrilled at Cheen.
"What do we do now, congratulate our kidnappers?" Martha asked sarcastically.
Cheen looked outputted. "Oh, we're not kidnappers. Not really." Braxiatel scoffed at the comment.
"Nope. You're idiots! You're having a baby and you were wearing drugs a moment ago! Good job I took it off for you." Martha told Cheen coldly. "You're not wearing them anymore. Doctor's orders."
Milo merely nodded. "This'll be as fast as we can. We'll take the motorway to the Brooklyn flyover and then after that it's gonna take awhile, 'cause then there's no fast lane, just ordinary roads but at least it's direct."
Cheen looked at them, smiling. "It's only ten miles."
"How long will that take? I need to get back to Romana as soon as possible." Braxiatel insisted.
"About six years."
Braxiatel and Martha both froze, glancing at each other and Martha gave them a you have got to be kidding me look and Braxiatel kicked the side of the bed, ignoring the pain that just shot through his foot. "What?" Martha asked coldly, not believing her ears.
Cheen and Milo merely smiled, oblivious to them. "Be just in time for him to start school." They giggled, the feeling of parenthood coming over them.
Martha looked at Braxiatel who was resting his arm against the roof of the car, pinching his nose. "Six years? Is that the earliest you can get?" Braxiatel snarled.
"Yeah." Martha nodded. She really didn't fancy spending six years with her kidnappers in a dirty old car. "Six years? Ten miles in six years? How come?"