You guys are freaking amazing, you readers. Thanks for all the support and ego-stroking you've given me! It's really a great thing to have so much love just for doing something I thoroughly enjoy!

Also, I'd like to say that I am amused by how many of you have brought up "Star Trek" ever since the Mirror World revelation came to light in my story!

Anyway, the story is starting to wind down... I'm predicting 13 chapters. And unlike SOME people, I'll not be expanding that to 506 (wink).

ELEVEN

Jack was struggling to stand up. He'd been out of bed for an unusually long time today, and it had been an eventful few hours, but he was determined. "Martha," he panted. "What do you mean he's not your Doctor?"

"You worked it out," the Doctor muttered at her. "You're clever. It's what I love about you. What a nasty little paradox that turned out to be."

She steeled her jaw. "That's right. Time's up. Tell me why you did this."

Jack's eyebrows went up and his eyes opened wide with shock. "You did this?" he asked the Doctor. He got steady on his feet and took hold of a wooden cane which was leaning against his chair. He put his weight on it and waited for an answer.

"Isn't it obvious why?" the Doctor asked her, somewhat annoyed by her question.

"Just to get me here?" she asked, incredulous. "Seriously?"

"Are you really going to scold me for this?" he asked. "You, Miss I-Love-Him-To-Bits?"

"How the hell do you even know about that? And yes, I'm scolding you, you prat! Aren't you supposed to, like, regulate the laws of time and space, not break them?"

"I make the rules, Martha," he said, sanctimoniously. "There's no-one left."

"Wrong," she countered. "There's him. That guy who looks like you, but isn't you. Or better… you look like him but you aren't him. As far as I'm concerned he makes the rules. You're just a cheap copy. Take me back to him now."

He took two steps toward her and narrowed his eyes. "Tell me one thing, Martha Jones, before you judge me. In your own world, would you not give anything, do anything, to be with him?"

She stared back into those familiar but painfully foreign eyes. "There is a lot that I would do to be with him. There is a lot that I would do just because he asked me to, even if it meant never… But manipulating people's lives without their knowledge? Dumping them in other realities? No way. Not even if I had that power."

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Jack shouted.

"Jack, sit down, you'll do yourself some damage," the Doctor said, offhandedly, not looking at his feeble friend. His eyes were fixed upon the woman he loved, whom he had violated and lied to and so grievously angered. He'd known she'd work it out eventually, but he'd hoped it wouldn't be so soon. He'd hoped it would be long enough that she'd be used to him, happy with their life together, their physical bond, and wouldn't want to return.

"Hey," Jack said. When the Doctor didn't respond, he took his cane and whacked the Doctor on the arm. "Hey! Don't treat me like a mental patient. Tell me what in the name of holy hell is going on!"

"Mirror World," the Doctor said. "Martha is from a Mirror World. Well, this Martha. Our Martha has switched with her."

"Why?" Jack asked, his face distorted with disbelief. "Why would you even think about doing something like that?"

"I've been watching them," the Doctor answered, gazing at Martha. He grew very sad for a moment. "Let's just say, I thought she'd be happier here with me, than with him."

Jack looked at Martha sympathetically. "Oh, I see. You love him to bits," he said, repeating the Doctor's mocking words. Only, Jack wasn't mocking her; he could see her pain.

"Yes," she whispered, tears falling quietly. "But not this one. I want my gold and brown TARDIS with its messy old console. I want my dolt of an indifferent Doctor. He's a blunt instrument, but he's home."

"And I'm the cheap copy," the Doctor said scathingly. "Isn't that what you said?"

"The Doctor," she insisted. "The proper Doctor would never do what you did! He's got… integrity! Common sense! Compassion! He doesn't just fuck around with reality whenever he wants something he can't have."

"I see. You know that do you, about your proper Doctor?"

"Yes." She was certain. Whatever he was about to say, whatever poisonous bomb he was about to drop, she was sure of this.

"How do you know that I'm not the proper Doctor?" he asked. "You see, Martha, there is no way to tell which world is the original and which world is the Mirror. Maybe this is how it's supposed to be, and he is the one who's screwed up. I'm the rebel and he's stagnant pond water. I'm the one who takes what he wants, instead of waiting for it to fall back through a dimensional breach in Canary Wharf or in Norway or whatever. He just stumbles around from one planet or crisis or companion to the next. I actually bent the fabric of reality! I saw something and grabbed at it, and to hell with the laws of time and bloody space!"

"Very admirable," she said flatly, burning sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Martha, think about it. Would you rather have just on old bloke with two hearts, or a Time Lord?" He said those last two words with emphasis, to convey power, grandeur, fantasy.

"Call it whatever you like. But if the choice is between you and him, I choose him. I loved him even when he was human, and he wasn't any great prize then, believe me. You, I don't even like. Take me home."

He stared at her for a long while. Then, "No. You'll get used to me, I promise."

"Doctor," she said, stepping forward, taking his hand. "If you love me, you'll let me go home."

As she stared at his handsome face, it started to blur. His chin expanded to four times its normal size, as did his ears. His spiky hair went upward into a peak and wobbled like a belly dancer. His eyes elongated themselves and became distorted and discoloured…

"Oh, no you don't!" the Doctor shouted. He ran around the console and the TARDIS gears began to grind. He flipped eight or ten switches on the control board and let out a cry of frustration.

"Jack," she said, breathlessly. "Help me!"

She tried to turn and reach out to the man with the cane as she stumbled away from the Doctor, even knowing that there was nothing Jack could do for her. But then the rippling stopped.

"Ha!" cried the man in the blue suit. "Take that!" He beamed at Martha.

"Doctor, what are you doing?" asked Jack, clutching at his chest. "You're out of control!"

"I'm totally in control!" he yelled. "Behold, my doubting friends!"

"What do you want, a prize?" she asked. "You just stopped the ripple! My Doctor is trying to save me, and you're trying to keep me here against my will! How could you think I'd possibly get used to you? How could you think…"

"Martha, please," he said. "Just give me a chance."

"Why should I?"

"Because…" he began, before the rippling interrupted him again. "Aaagh!" he cried out, running around the console a second time.

But now, Martha, dizzy as she was, knew what to expect. She had to act fast.

She turned toward Jack and yanked his finger out of the vitals monitor, much to his surprise. The machine was attached to an iron bar with four legs on wheels, for rolling it from room to room. Martha took the neck of the bar, right at the base where it was attached to the legs, in her right hand. She took the upper part of the bar in her left hand and turned the thing upside-down, cables and all.

The Doctor was busy thwarting his counterpart's attempts to bring back his Martha, and he was successful again, for the moment. The rippling stopped, but that gave Martha time to act. He buried his hands in his hair and shouted at the time rotor, "How the hell is he doing this? Does he have access to a rift manipulator, or what?"

He never received an answer to that question. Martha barrelled at him with the iron rod. He saw it coming, but he was so stunned, he couldn't stop it. One of the legs came down upon his head, and he was out cold within seconds.

"Holy shit!" Jack shouted. "Martha, you killed him!"

"No, I didn't. Besides, even if I did, he'll regenerate," she answered hastily. "Maybe he'll be a nicer guy the next time." She knelt at the Doctor's side and felt his pulse, confirming that the Time Lord was not, in fact, dead. Just unconscious.

"Jeez!" Jack cried. "Oh, I'm going to need about eight weeks' bedrest after this."

"Jack," she said, coming towards him. "When the ripple comes again, I'm going to leave. But I wanted to say, it's been really nice knowing you. This would have been utter hell without you. With you, it was just… unpleasant."

"What am I like you world?" he asked, smiling slightly.

"I've never met you over there," she said. "Remember, I didn't know you when I first got here?"

"Ah yes," he said. He sighed and sat back down in his chair. "That was only a few hours ago. It feels like an eternity."

"Tell me about it," she agreed. "I feel like I've been away from…"

"Your Doctor?" he asked, finishing her thought.

"Yes. Feels like ages. Any time away from him feels like ages."

"You sound like him, when he talks about you," Jack told her, patting her on the arm. "And, it was nice knowing you, as well, Martha. But it's all right for me, since even when you leave, I'll get to see you again immediately."

"And I'll have to say goodbye for now," she said sadly. "I'm so glad you were here. And I'm glad you're here for them. I think they need a buffer. He's a force to be reckoned with."

"So's she," Jack agreed. "That's something you've got in common with her."

Martha smiled, and took his hand. "Thanks."

And that's when the ripple came again.