You guys are so wonderful, honestly. Thanks for sticking with me, i think this is winding down...finally.
Martha looked between the two identical men. Well, nearly identical. They were now both sporting looks of intense joy and self appreciation. "So, she is going to die, then?"
"Die? Of course she is going to die, we are all dying, Martha. Even me. Practically born doing it. Well, mostly." The Doctor bounced over to the other side of the room and began opening cabinets.
Martha looked at the Other Doctor as if he would be any help in explanation. He wasn't "Martha you are a genius! We should have thought of that one. Two big old brains between us and we are both thick!" He took off for the other side of the room.
"Uhm, excuse me?" She folded her arms over her large belly and smirked. "Anyone here want to explain things to me, or is this a private epiphany?"
But the two never even turned from what they were doing. While the Doctor bounced around the other side of the room, seemingly bent on dragging out large equipment from the small room where the baby had once lived in suspended animation, the other Doctor spoke from his over his shoulder. "She is going to die, Martha. There is nothing that can stop that. Donna's memories and thoughts are all tainted now by the Time Lord energy. Any one fleeting memory will kill her."
"So that's it then?" You are giving up? She is your mother for God's sake. How can you be so caviler about this? I thought you were on board with saving her?"
The Other Doctor nodded. "Right, I forget about the hormones. Martha, we are still saving her. Do you really think I would give up on her that easily? I made him come and get you, he wanted to erase her memories."
"It would have kept her alive." The Doctor defended from behind the large machine he was pushing closer to Donna's prone form.
"It would have been a slow death." The Other Doctor spat. "For both of us."
"All right you two." Martha rubbed her eyes and shook her head. "I realize that I don;t have a giant Time Lord Brain, but will someone please try to explain to me what is going on?"
The Doctor spoke as he applied electrodes to Donna's head. "She has a Time Lord Mind, its killing her, we are going to give her a bit of a jump."
"The energy from regeneration, the scans show she has the mind of a Time Lord inside of a human mind. All of that energy can be turned into regenerative energy under the right circumstances. We figure, she has enough in there for one good regeneration, if we can get the timing and calculations just right."
"Wait, so you are going to wait for her to die, then let her regenerate?" Martha asked flabberghasted.
Both men stopped what they were doing and stared at her. It was the Doctor h=who spoke up. "No, Martha. We can;t let her die on her own, it has to be a controlled death. The timing must be precise, no room for the energy to not be used in the exact way."
"She has to be monitored during this, it has to be precise. There is no way to do it if we just wait until she burns up."
Martha was truly horrified. She must have been a sight, standing in the middle of the haphazard alien infirmary; mouth agape, eyes wide in the horror of being in Frankenstein's Lab. "You are going to kill her yourselves?"
The Doctor turned to look her in the eyes. "Yes, Martha. We are."
"I will do it." The Other Doctor finally spoke. He had come to stand on the other side of Donna, Martha was struck at the double image their presence at the red head's bedside. They were identical from the outside. The Doctor wore a brown suit, while his copy wore one of blue. "I'll do it. She is my mother, I will be the one to do it."
The Doctor stared at the man across from him. "It's not your place. Besides, there is plenty of time to consider who is going to flip the switch, we have calculations and prep work to do, let's not get ahead of ourselves."
"I'm doing it." The Other Doctor insisted. "It is my place. Just like it was your place to end the war."
The Doctor nodded then. "Fine, but let's get started." They turned to Martha in unison: "You need to lie down for a while, Martha. All of this stress can't be good."
She smiled at their Doublemint Gum act. "You know, I think I will take a nap. I can barely handle one of you usually. Two might just send me into early labor."
"Oi!" They responded.
"Before you do anything, Martha. I need to check on you." The Doctor moved to the side of her. "With everything going on, the little mite sort of got forgotten for a moment."
"He's fine," she insisted with a shake of her head. "He's been moving around a bit more the last few minutes. I think he is picking up on things."
"Still," the Other Doctor agreed moving toward her. "It would be better to know for sure. You were away from Vortex energy for a while."
"Jack should have known better." The Doctor shook his head.
Martha sat on the other gurney as the Doctor examined her. "Well, at least the one heart beating is still strong and regular. Though, I was hoping he would have started it again."
"HE?" Martha looked at him quizzically. "You make it sound as if it is his decision."
"It is," the Other Doctor answered with a knowing glare at the Doctor. "He has been calling the shots all along."
"I don't understand." Martha looked from one to the other.
"Martha, it's what I have told you, in the beginning. He has to decide to stay. But, I thought he had decided. He didn't allow himself to be re absorbed into the vortex. His brain is growing beautifully. I don't understand why only one heart is beating." The Doctor sighed.
"He is keeping his options open." The Other Doctor interrupted the silence. "He hasn't made his decision yet, and you know why, Doctor."
"What's he mean?" Martha asked staring at the Doctor.
"Wen this is all over, when everything has settled down, and Donna is sorted, and Rose is...somewhere else. You and I w=are going to have a nice long chat, preferably somewhere without sharp implements."
The glare she fixed at him could have very well melted the polar ice caps. "Is this serious?"
he nodded, looked at his other, and sighed. "It needs to be done, and I promise Martha, no evasive metaphors, or long drawn out explanations with unintelligible cross references. I will spell it all out to you. But, right now, I have to focus on getting Donna better. Can you understand that?"
Martha nodded, though inside her heart was racing at a rate that scared her.
:Good," he nodded again, with another look to the Other Doctor. "Right then, nap time."
XXXX
She ended up sleeping on the other bed in the infirmary. Both Doctors had tried, and failed, to get her to sleep in her room, but Martha insisted that she wanted to be there when Donna woke up. Someowhere in the far reaches of slumber, Martha heard Rose enter the room and demand to be taken home. She fell back asleep from sheer exhaustion before hearing either Doctor respond to her.
It was quiet when she awoke, groggy and disoriented, Martha realized she was in the room alone, except for the still comatose Donna. She threw her legs over the side of the gurney and wobbled toward the floor. The TARDIS was nice enough to place a bathroom right next to the infirmary, for which she gave the old girl another honest thanks.
The console room was ground zero. The sound of three voices arguing could be heard as Martha made her way toward it. She didn't want to eavesdrop, but her name had come into the conversation.
"...it's not like I have anything here. I just want to go home." Rose sniffed loudly.
"And that is where we are going to take you," Martha heard one of the Doctor's retort. "As soon as everything with Donna is settled."
"Why do I have to wait? So I can watch the three of you fall all over yourselves over her?"
There was silence after that accusation. "Martha has nothing to do with this."
Rose spoke in a high shrill voice. "Martha has everything to so with this. I came here for you, and what did you do? You forgot me that quickly?"
"Rose, be reasonable. There were other mitigating factors..."
"Stop coddling her!" Martha finally realized that was the voice of the Other Doctor. Something in his nature was so Donna she smiled from the other side of the door to the console room.
"I am not coddling anyone." The Doctor insisted. "And you, stay out of it. This has nothing to do with you."
"How can it not? If it wasn't for her, Donna wouldn't have been hurt, not to mention the countless m=
numbers of people that the Daleks killed this time."
"Yeah, well, you wouldn't be here either, asshole." Rose shouted. "And this isn't my fault anyway. I didn't make them come."
"No," the Other Doctor snided. "You just left the door open a prop, didn't you? Wanted to make sure that in case this happened again, you could get back. You are obsessed, Rose."
"Shut up!" she fired back."Just shut up!"
"That's enough, both of you. Honestly its like having two cats in a burlap bag." Martha could hear the exasperation in the Doctor's voice. "Rose, we will take you home, as soon as Donna is back on her feet. I promise."
"You are some piece of work, do you know that?" Rose asked rhetorically, and Martha could tell she was gearing up to have a real go at one of them, or both. "You just replaced me without a second thought-"
"Replaced you?" the voice had so much disgust in its rhetoric, Martha knew it was the Other Doctor. "Replaced you? I hardly think that Martha is a replacement for you."
"Well, at least you can see that." Rose answered.
"I mean, " the Other Doctor went on. "If the Doctor was to replace you, I would think he would have found someone less compassionate, less articulate and definitely a bit dimmer than Martha Jones."
"That's it, conversation over you two." The Doctor interceded, but the damage was done,and Martha knew that what the Other Doctor was saying may have been his Donna side, but a sentiment from his Doctor side. "Rose, just stop it. I was never trying to replace you. What is done, is done." there was a beat of silence before the Doctor spoke again. "Don't say another word, you."
She'd had enough. The woman in the hallway decided that whatever was afoot in the TARDIS could sod. The baby inside of her wanted chocolate. By the time she had made herself comfortable in the kitchen, the Doctor had found her seated at the table with a bowl of Cocoa Puffs and a mug of decaf.
"Breakfast of Champions." He sniffed, grabbing himself a larger bowl. "Sleep well?"
"Mmmm," she offered around her spoon of temporary heaven.
He nodded and took another spoonful for himself. "Not such a great time in the console room, eh?" he asked with a knowing glare.
Martha nodded. "Figured it was not my fight, though since my name came up enough times, thought I should at least sit in on the proceedings. And, despite our constant insistence, I tend to think that that conversation had quite a bit to do with me."
"Whatever it is, it will be fine." he insisted.
Martha took another spoonful of her cereal, chewed slowly but said nothing.
"You know I will tell you, Martha." he promised, his hand touched her from across the table. She felt again that odd feeling of assurance, that sense of safety and satiety.
"Yeah, I figured this was part of that big talk." Martha could not deny her own curiosity, yest she was certain that he would tell her. His touch, spoke words that his usual countenance denied her access to. She was as sure of it as she was of her pregnancy.
He nodded again, then dove back into his cereal. When he moved his hand back to his side, she felt bereft of his presence; an instant loss that she could not categorize. It was like in her room in the Hub, that same sense of loss and of missing, something. The odd look of confusion must have etched itself into her features because the Doctor stared at her from across the table with a sad but understanding look. He said nothing, switched hands with his spoon, and placed his long slender hand upon hers again.
"Is this something to do with the baby?" she asked in a near whisper.
He nodded, then shook his head, then nodded again. Finally, the always talkative man merely smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Later?" he asked.
Martha nodded, and the two of them finished their cereal in silence, still holding hands.
XXXXX
"It's time." The Other Doctor insisted from the door of the cluttered kitchen.
Martha and the Doctor had just finished their midnight breakfast and were in the process of cleaning up their mess. The Doctor turned from his spot at the sink and nodded, drying his hands on the terry towel. "I figured it was."
"How dangerous is this?" Martha asked.
The Other Doctor bore his stare into the Doctor. "It's not exactly something I would want to do every day."
"It'll be fine," the Doctor insisted. "She'll come through this with flying colors, and we will both get a proper slap for our troubles."
"God, I hope so." the other Doctor sighed. Martha followed the two men to the infirmary, scared more thanshe had been in her life. "What happens if the reset doesn't work? What's the Plan B."
The two men stopped and turned to face her. "This is Plan B." The Doctor explained gravely. "This has to work Martha. Do you understand? Donna is in there, in a coma, when we inject the poison into her system, she will die. FI one small calculation is off, if one tiny fraction of a millisecond is wasted, she will not be able to use that energy in her brain as regenerative energy. " He turned to look at the Other Doctor, who advanced upon the two cautiously.
"She will have the tiniest of windows, Martha. I know you are used to life and death situations, and I know you can keep your head in a crisis, but just this once, for our sake, your sake, and that of the baby, we need you to be a spectator. Nothing more."
"I hate being treated as if I am some fragile thing." she sniffed petulantly.
"And, I hate treating you as such. I more than anyone-" The Doctor began.
"We," The Other Doctor corrected.
The Doctor smiled and nodded. "We know what you are capable of, how special you are. You walked the Earth, alone, amongst death and destruction and your entire civilization laid to waste. I...We, respect you more than anyone we have ever met. Please, this one time, stay back."
She nodded, how could she not? The honesty in both of their eyes spoke volumes of truth and emotions. "Fine, but I am coming in."
"Wouldn't dream of stopping you." The Doctor grinned.
XXXXX
They seemed to work in tandem, speaking to each other in a language of silent understanding. The Doctor did his bit on one side fo the room, with the large machine that resembled a portable CAT scan; while the Other Doctor prepped Donna. She wached the two of them from her perch in a comfy chair with her feet up. The Doctor insisted that she start taking it easier; Martha could not deny that the events of the last few days had begun to take their toll on her energy.
"'Bout ready, then?" The Doctor asked the man next to Donna.
He nodded and placed his hands into his pockets. The Other Doctor withdrew a nasty looking syringe, and Martha had the sudden desire to cover her eyes. The Other Doctor sighed and injected the fluid into Donna's arm, just as the Doctor threw a rather formal looking switch on the machine he was using.
The room was suddenly flooded with the yellowish glow of regenerative energy that seemed to pour from every corner. Donna's body lurched, then went slack against the bed again.
"Again." the Other Doctor shouted from the side of the bed as he continued to monitor her vitals. The Doctor flipped the crank again, more energy seemed to pour from Donna, but not as much as before.
"Again," He shouted, and Martha was reminded of the times she used the crash cart on patients in the A and E. This time, however, Donna's body didn't lurch; in fact, she stayed quite still. For a moment, she thought the worst; that Donna had succumbed to the burning. But, then the energy seemed to flow into Donna, the energy flowed in and out of every pore of the red haired woman. Martha watched in awe as Donna seemed to sit up and spew tiny puffs of golden hued smoke.
"She's up!" The Other Doctor shouted.
The Doctor withdrew from the large machine and came to stand next to the bed with the Other Doctor.
"Ah," she coughed. "Taste's like Vegemite."
"She's testy." the Doctor noted with a grin.
"What the hell did the two of you lunkheads do to me? I feel like the last Vera Wang in the bridal shop on Discount Day. You two Space Apes had better be packin' something stronger than a glass of water, and I don't mean a twist of lime, either!"
"She's back!" Martha grinned, rushing toward her friend.
XXXXX
She was back, as full of piss and vinegar as ever. Donna was none to happy with having been 'killed' at some point in the operation. She cast a glare at the two Doctors and huffed something about hearing from her lawyer.
She looked younger, fresher somehow. Donna's eyes danced with fire and her hair was fuller and redder than it had been before. But, none of that matched the ire of what she found in the mirror on her trip to the bathroom.
"You had both better explain to me right now how long my eyes are going to be brown."
"They're not brown." The Other Doctor gleamed. "They're golden."
Martha had noticed the difference right off, but the two shook their heads at her as they checked Donna over to make sure she was all right. Martha had clamped her mouth shut and simply welcomed her friend back to the land of the living.
"Really, golden? And how am I going to explain that?" Donna barreled.
The two Doctors shrugged.
"And, while we are at it, I seem to have lost a bit of weight, care to explain that?"
"Looks good on you," The Other Doctor smiled, then added quickly. "Not that you didn't look great before..."
"And I'm shorter!" Donna wailed.
"Regeneration is a funny thing." The Doctor noted.
"Regeneration?" Donna screamed.
"The important thing here is that you are alive, and safe, and you have all of your memories." The Other Doctor soothed.
"Oh, I got memories all right. I got plenty of things running around in my head I do. I may not have a Time Lord Brain anymore, but I still remember a thing or two, or trillion." She fired at the Doctor.
"And there is plenty of time for that, after you have ahd a bit of a rest." The Other Doctor insisted. "Regeneration always left me hungry and tired."
"Not always." The Doctor noted with a grin.
"Be that as it may, Donna you are going on vacation."
"Oh no, I know your idea of vacation you prawn, I aint going no where where I have to run for my life. I was just on my death bed!"
"Oh," the Doctor grinned again, bigger. "I think you will like this location."
XXXXXXXXX
After a large tray of food and a proclamation that she needed an entirely new wardrobe, with hats, Donna Noble was feeling more like herself. Well, as much as she could with all of the changes she had gone through. Martha was happy to see the Donna she knew, well and bossy as usual. Donna bustled through the corridors of the TARDIS with her empty suitcase, proclaiming she would come back with it filled, plus another. "Where are we going?" She asked as the Doctor plotted a course.
"Oh, it's a surprise Donna." The Other Doctor grinned.
"I thought I was going to go home first." Rose offered from her seat. She had spent the last three hours moorish and pouting. "I really don;t want to be here anymore."
"Yeah, I get that. But see, I was dead for a while, and now, well, now I am back to my old self. So, here is a clue for you Blondie. No One Cares."
"Donna!" The Doctor whined.
"What? It's all her fault, innit?"
"Can we change the record, I think this song has been on repeat too long." Rose huffed.
"You're right, Rose." Martha interjected, already wishing the whole thing was over. :can we please change the subject?" she asked.
The Other Doctor nodded. "You need a name," Donna decided out of the blue.
The Other Doctor smiled. "I know, it's been on my mind a bit. Especially considering where I am going, everyone needs a name there."
The room fell silent, everyone except the Doctor seemed surprised by this declaration. "Going?" Donna asked sadly.
The Other Doctor nodded. "I can't stay here, Donna. And, I can't go to Earth either. You know, this universe is not big enough for both of us, besides..." he trailed off, looking at Martha and sighing. "It's for the best."
Donna nodded as if she understood, but it was Rose's turn to be exasperated. "Oh, give it a rest! All of this love sick forlorn business. I mean, really?"
"Rose!" The Doctor warned in a tone that surprised Martha. She had been used to him taking a softer hand with her, but this time, it was different. Angrier. "That's enough."
"No," she shook her head. "I want to have my say. I have sat here for the past three days holding my tongue out of some sense of loyalty to you, and for what? So both of you can fawn over her?"
"Over who?" Martha asked, though deep down, she knew. She had known since the day she left the TARDIS for Torchwood.
"Oh it was bad enough when I figured out what was going on with the one, but, BOTH of you? This is ridiculous!" She marched closer to Martha, a move that made the other three people in the room circle closer tot the pregnant woman. "You have done nothing but infringe upon wha tis rightfully mine."
"Rightfully yours?" The Doctor finally spoke. "Rose, I don't know what movie you have been watching, but the music has stopped, the lights are on and the curtain has come up. Leave the fantasy where it belongs!"
"I came here for you!" she shouted at the Doctor. "I built that cannon to find you! Do you have any idea of what it is like to lose someone you love?"
"More than you will ever imagine." The Doctor spoke through gritted teeth. "And if you had ever really known me, you would never ask me that question. Not even in jest."
Rose had the good sense to back up from the glare the Doctor gave her. "I don't know why you are treating me like this. " she whined.
"And I don't know why you continue to confuse yourself with delusion, Rose."
" just want to go home."
"Why is it you want to go home so badly?" The Other Doctor asked. "You worked so hard to get here, to get to the TARDIS. Something isn't right here."
But, Rose shrugged. "There is nothing for me here." she sniffed. "I want my Mum."
But both Donna and Martha recalled how she left her home, with barely a backwards glace toward her mother. " I had enough of that brain rattling around in my head to get an idea wen something aint right. This aint right. No, I think Part Two is right." Donna said, angling toward Rose. "What is it you are in such a hurry to get to?"
Rose backed up against the console, Martha could se the fear in her eyes, Donna was right, something was amiss here. "Its all right, guys, maybe we should all just take a step out of this."
"Rose, you do know that Pete was supposed to dismatntle everything you did there, right?" The Other Doctor asked. "You do know that trying to find a version of the Doctor in any other universes would be so dangerous, so dangerous Rose."
"Its not fair!" she screamed. "Why can't I have what I want? Martha doesn't even want him."
Martha frowned "What's she on about?"
But the Doctor waved her off. "Rose, there is nothing there. If you tried to start a project to tear open another hole, to another universe, you do realize what would happen. You would unmake reality Rose. You already did that once, at least you brought the Daleks here with all of the holes. How could you do such a thing? Knowing what your decisions brought about this time, are you so willing to do it again?"
"I love you." she shouted. "Maybe in another universe, you love me too. Not her." It was enough. Rose collapsed into a heap on the floor of the TARDIS, and for the first time, Martha honestly felt sorry for her.
She sighed, took her leave of the room and headed back toward the kitchen. Herbal tea. Soothes everything her mother always claimed. This time, she was hoping for a complete chill of the meltdown.
As she fiddled through the kitchen, Martha ran through her head what Rose meant. Things were aligning, there was some great truth that she was missing, that everyone seemed to know except her.
"Care for a Jaffa Cake with that?" It was the Other Doctor. He'd followed her when she left the scene in the other room. No wonder, what fun was it to watch a child have a tantrum?
Martha nodded and took the cake from him. "So, where are you going, then? To the other universe?"
He nodded. "It seems my only choice." he sighed.
"No, its not." Martha insisted. "You could stay here, with the Doctor. Travel."
"It's not my life, Martha. I realized that the moment I saw you." he leaned closer to her, Martha, moved away.
"I don't get any of this. " she uttered. "Its not like that, Doctor...er whatever you go by."
"I would go by any name you called me, Martha Jones."
But, he stopped then, a funny look twisting his features. "He's right, you really don't feel it, do you?"
"Feel what?"
The Other Doctor sighed, "Human heart, Time Lord directives. Martha, I am going to the other side to find you."
"ME?" she asked, hating how surprised she felt at his admission. "You can't find me there, I'm dead inside over there. The me over there, she has done awful things. I'm sorry if you feel some sort of obligation to me, Doctor, but the Martha Jones on that side is a terrible person."
"Who told you that?" Donna asked from the doorway. "Oh let me guess, the black widow strikes again. Martha, I am going to tell you what I shoulda told you before. I kinda figured she had said something, its what made you leave innit?"
Martha nodded shyly.?Yeah,"
"Ok, sit down kiddies, time for the truth, then after that, I am getting' my damn vacation!"