Any info wrong in this chapter is my fault.

Chapter Twenty Eight

Instead of the one other day they were going to stay on the planet, they ended up staying two, because of one, slightly unforseen problem.

A problem which had, as they were taking off to go back to Earth as it was now Friday in London, gotten the Doctor to do something he had thought he would never do again in this incarnation.

He started the TARDIS, set them on a course for Martha's place, as her house was closest to where he met Jeremy, and burst out laughing. Not hysterical laughter brought on by fear either, this was deep down hilarity formed laughter, of which left him winded and giggling after his body calmed down a bit.

He didn't think he'd ever have trouble bringing up a funny memory from now on. What had happened to Donna had been funnier than finding out Rose in a parallel universe was a dog!

The two days had been good for him, but much less so for his companion. Poor Donna had spent one night in a jail cell for her 'trouble'. All because of her shopping.

He had completely forgotten that there was a limit to how much one could buy a day on the planet, and because she was adamant about doing it all herself, including all the carrying (she probably thought he'd break under the weight of it all, or disappear behind the bags worth of stuff she had gotten) it was only her that had gotten the fine and jail sentence.

Thankfully, she had definitely had the money thanks in part to him finding a cash point and getting an infinite credit bar. Too bad that those things only had a short lifespan, or he'd get one of each currency and keep them stashed in the TARDIS.

But right now she was adamant she'd never set foot in a shop again. Which was in part where the hilarity of the situation came from. Every time she opened her mouth to talk about a shop, he couldn't help but laugh.

Much funnier than Rose the dog.

Donna was not too pleased with him, and had learnt to shut up, but sometimes he still laughed over the incident. Laughing was good. He hadn't had a lot to laugh over lately. He hoped that Donna soon remembered that.

At least the cell she had stayed in had as much if not the same in it to the hostel they had stayed in. The only difference being that she had no way of getting out. What was charming to her about the hostel room was made into a nightmare for her in the cell.

He wouldn't have seen the difference.

Yet again, he was a bit more used to being locked up.

Thankfully, she was let out the next day, as it wasn't a major crime.

The TARDIS landed with a thump and shake, and he shook his head, a grin still on his face and went to the door, worried for a second as to why Martha hadn't come down from her bedroom to greet him.

He then noticed it was 4 in the morning, and chuckled to himself, shaking his head. He knew both Tom and Martha had to get up early to get to work, but he didn't know if they were still in bed, or if they had already left.

He was answered when Tom slowly came down the stairs, a bat in his hands. The grip on the makeshift weapon was loosened when Tom saw who it was that had been making the noise downstairs. Donna took that second to come out of the TARDIS with a forced smile on her face. "Your ship is ignoring me, Doctor."

He grinned. "She's not going to stop me from being happy for once. Sorry if that annoys you."

"Doctor, Donna. Couldn't have picked a better time, could you?" Tom asked, ignoring the little conversation. The Doctor grinned at Martha's fiancé and shook his head.

"Sorry. I didn't put in a specific time, except before 11am."

"11?"

"Yeah, got a session. And I can't believe I am saying that out loud. Why is it called a session anyway? Appointment not good enough or do they like to keep themselves apart from business terms?"

Tom stared at him a bit, a shrug of a solitary shoulder the only response he got until Martha stomped rather angrily down the stairs.

The first thought into his head was that she didn't look well. His second was that she looked like she could use another couple hours of sleep. The third was that he should not say things like that out loud, while he rubbed his aching cheek from where Donna had smacked him.

Martha hadn't seemed to notice. She glared at him for a bit, before sighing loudly and going over to a nearby seat and flopping herself in it like as if she had no energy at all.

"Martha? Everything alright?"

She sighed loudly, before nodding. "Yeah. Just a bit of a cold, that's all. One of the drawbacks of working with sick people is sometimes getting sick."

He grinned and nodded. "Well, that's good. Or...not good for you, obviously, but that it's nothing serious, it's good."

She smiled weakly at him and nodded, before closing her eyes and laying her head on the back of the chair. "I don't mean to be off, Doctor, but the TARDIS makes a hell of a racket when you've got a headache that is easily made worse by loud noises."

He turned his eyes to Tom and raised his eyebrows. "Ah, is that why you had the bat? Or was that because you weren't sure it was the TARDIS? Mind you, nothing else quite makes the noise the old girl does." He walked over to the TARDIS and gave her a pat. She thrummed with happiness at the small move and he grinned.

"So! Are you going to work, or having a sick day? Do you mind if I stay here until 11?" he asked, looking towards Martha.

She grinned at him. "I'm staying home today I think. My head is pounding now, but it will be good to have some company instead of being stuck here alone."

He nodded. "I could get something for the headache if you want me to? Good stuff. Shouldn't make you drowsy either."

"No thanks. I'll be alright, it'll pass with some quiet."

He nodded and went to sit down on the couch next to Donna who had parked herself there when he had been talking to Martha. Now that he was definitely set up to stay for the morning, he had no idea what to say. Or do. Or think.

He was uncomfortable in there, being close to friends and not knowing what to do. Usually he'd talk about things, but he didn't want to hurt Martha's head any more than he already had. He didn't want to annoy Donna, as she was already annoyed with him. Now he was a bit bored.

Sighing loudly, he was about to suggest they do something when he noticed that both Martha and Donna had fallen asleep on him. He looked up at where Tom was still standing and rolled his eyes. Tom grinned at him.

"She's sick. Martha usually doesn't fall asleep this quickly. What about Donna?" Tom asked, his voice low as to not wake up the women.

The Doctor covered his mouth when he begun to chuckle as quietly as he possibly could, before answering. "She spent the night in a jail cell. For shopping too much."

Tom let out a bark of laughter at that, before covering his own mouth to quiet himself down a bit. "Really? There's an actual law forbidding shopping on some other planet?"

"No, there's a limit to how much you can buy a day, and she went way over it."

Tom snickered into his hand for a bit, before shaking his head. "My mother would hate that place. She loves shopping. At least Martha is practical in that respect. She doesn't over shop."

Grinning, the Doctor leaned back and closed his eyes. "Donna sounds like your mum. Donna can't pass up a shopping trip, especially if shopping for clothes. She loves clothes."

He rubbed at his eyes, the hour catching up with him, and while he had been laughing since Donna had gotten arrested, he hadn't slept without her in their room in the hostel and he was beginning to nod off sitting down. He frowned. "I'm a bit tired myself. Mind if we borrow the spare room?"

Tom shook his head. "No. I'll wake Martha up and get her back to bed. I'll let you deal with Donna."

Nodding, the Doctor stood back up, stretched, and poked Donna's shoulder until she frowned and whacked his hand. "Watch it Spaceman, I'm not too happy with you right now. And I'm tired. You might be able to stay up all night, but I can't."

He chuckled slightly and poked her again just to make sure she was really awake, and tried to pull her up and onto her feet. "Come on, Martha and Tom have a spare room with two beds. I think we'd both prefer to sleep in a comfy bed rather than get a crick in the neck by sleeping on the couch."

She grumbled, but got up, and he took her off to the spare room, Martha and Tom behind them. Well, he at least knew Tom wouldn't be going back to bed, he was due at work soon probably and there wasn't much point. The joys of being a doctor.

He shook with silent laughter at the thought, shook his head when Donna looked blearily at him and pointed her to one of the beds. "Sleep. You'll feel better. Well, you will if you don't catch Martha's cold."

Donna slumped onto the bed nearest to the door and was asleep before he had gotten to the other one. He pulled her shoes off and tugged the sheets out from under her to cover her with them, before getting into the other bed.

It was comfortable and he had fallen asleep a lot quicker than he had expected.

He had troubles sleeping. He didn't have any nightmares, though he kept on waking up with an urgent feeling like he had forgotten something important. It kept him up and by the time Donna woke up again and Martha was in the kitchen, refusing not to have lunch since she had missed out on breakfast he realised that he may have missed his session.

It was 1 in the afternoon judging by his senses and he hadn't noticed. He sat up in a hurry, scrambled out of the bed, down the stairs into the kitchen and made a wild grab for the phone, only to blink at it in surprise.

He had forgotten the number to call Jeremy to apologise for sleeping through his appointed time. Not only had he forgotten the number, but the phone said that it was only 10 in the morning. He frowned, stretched out his time sense, saw that the time on the clock was right and went to sit down at the table.

Martha was having a late breakfast, and only a piece of toast at that. It wasn't yet lunch. So, either his senses were off, or he'd still been asleep.

"Umm, Martha? Was I talking in my sleep or anything? I think I just...I had some really weird dream just then. I think."

She looked at him with runny eyes and a runny nose and shrugged. "I don't know. Did you ask Donna, or is she still asleep?"

He blinked, went back up the stairs, poked his head in the room and saw that Donna was curled up in a ball on the bed still fast asleep. He slumped his shoulders in relief and took a deep breath. "Alright, I'm freaking out over a dream. And I am never saying that I am freaking out ever again by the way, it really doesn't sound right. I thought I'd lost 3 hours."

Martha, who had followed him up to check he was okay, nodded, and frowned. "Oh god, I have dreams like that sometimes. Like I'll go in to work, only to find it is my day off and everyone tells me to go home, or that I stay home only to find it's not a day off. Or you get trapped in your home and can't leave at all, and the time just feels like as if it is normal time and you can't tell whether you are asleep or awake. And you can't do anything, but lie there, or wander aimlessly in circles looking for a way out. And I'll be quiet now, you look like you're going to faint."

"I hate having dreams like that. They always seem more like nightmares to me. And most of my childhood and young adult life in my first incarnation was spent in an environment much like that. Trapped, it's a very good word for it. Trapped..."

"Doctor, are you alright?" Martha asked, looking at him rather worriedly.

He blinked and nodded, knowing that he'd get no more sleep, but suddenly very tired. "Yeah. I guess I'm just kind of...I haven't had a dream like that in a long time. I guess it just scared me, that's all. I don't like losing time."

She nodded, rubbed at her head and sighed. "Well, I'm going to go lie down for a bit. You can come in and talk to me if you want. Less likelihood of waking up Donna then."

He nodded and followed Martha into her room, flopping himself down on Tom's side and sighing loudly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have stayed. My head is all mucked up and now I'm having dreams that don't feel like dreams and thinking in the wrong time. It's worrying me. It got back on track though when I grabbed the phone. I was going to call Jeremy and apologise for being late. And it'd be a bit too early."

Martha turned to look at him and smiled. "Well, maybe you were still asleep until then. It's possible you were sleepwalking."

He grinned at that. "The last time I sleepwalked, I was nine, and I went and curled up near my roommate, thinking he was my dad. That was embarrassing."

Martha laughed at that and shook her head. "I did similar things when I was a kid. Except, I'd end up sleeping on the floor in the room, or in a hallway. Still, I find when I'm a bit stressed I tend to sleep a bit worse, sometimes even going so far as to wake up on the couch downstairs with no recollection of getting down there, with my computer turned on, and no work done at all."

"Work related?"

"Yeah. Sometimes when there's a big UNIT case, I end up doing things more in a way like with the Sontarans, you know, lots of people to check out, and looking for aliens at the same time. Because of experience in the field, I tend to be called on the big missions."

He winced at that, and Martha noticed and began shaking her head. "Oh no you don't. Don't go blaming yourself for anything when it comes to me and my job. I enjoy it, Doctor. I'm still a medical doctor, I work in the hospital with Tom sometimes when I'm not needed at UNIT headquarters and I am treated nice and am respected in both places. My life is good. I don't want it changed."

He nodded. "Yeah, it's good to hear you say that. I always wonder you know. Always. Whether or not my companions after they leave me find themselves a good life. It's good to know that some do. I know that I have left quite a few people in places like the middle of a war zone, or just after a war has ended. Some have no choice, some decide to leave then and there for reasons that are good for them at the time. Others just...get sick of it. Three have died while travelling with me."

Martha patted his hand, before rubbing at her head. "Alright, I'll take that headache medicine now, if you're still willing to give it to me. This is not fading."

He grinned, bounced off the bed, raced down the stairs, went to the TARDIS, rummaged around in the med bay for a bit, until he found a cold medicine suitable for humans, before rushing back out. He found Martha in much the same way he had left her, but she looked his way, saw what he was holding and smiled. "Oh! I thought you meant a tablet."

"Tablets? In my TARDIS? Well, alright, there are, but nothing that would be strong enough for what seems to be a migraine. It's suitable for humans. I checked, don't worry."

She nodded again, and turned her head slightly to the side, so he could inject it into her neck. He wondered why for a bit, before realising that it is probably the only place she had seen one of these being taken. It's where he takes it in himself too. He grinned. "There! All done. Didn't hurt, did it? Now, want me to get you some water? I've been talking your ear off for a bit now, and ignoring that you were in pain. It's the least I could do."

Martha actually laughed at that one, but nodded. "Sure, water sounds good, Doctor. But I'd expect you to talk my ear off anyway. It's just you."

He stuck his tongue out at her, immature though it was, glad to be back in a better mood and more awake, and rushed off to the bathroom. He didn't make it all the way there, before the TARDIS started ringing in his head, and he dropped the glass he had picked up from Martha's bedside table. "Ow! Was that...OW!"

The ringing quieted down a bit, and it took him a few seconds of hearing the echoes, before he remembered that Jeremy called him before he went. Rolling his eyes, determined to stop that, he changed direction and went downstairs and for the TARDIS instead.

"Hello?" he asked anyway, as he picked up the phone, though only one person had the number.

"Doctor, good to hear you answering the phone this week."

He grinned. "Donna's asleep, and will probably stay that way for a few more hours yet. I'm at Martha's so I wouldn't forget. Not that that would really be a problem, the TARDIS almost deafened me with her interpretation of a phone blaring in my head."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, it just left my ears ringing for a few seconds. No harm done, though I will be asking her to turn down the volume from now on."

A chuckle was heard from the other end and the Doctor grinned. At least this conversation was going much better than the last time they had spoken over the phone. It hit him like a tonne of bricks that Jeremy might want to talk about that this week and he froze. "Umm, can we not talk about the phone call earlier this week today? I'm really not ready to deal with that topic just yet."

"If you're sure about that..."

"I am. Very much so. I can talk about Midnight now, though. All the way through, without any nasty side effects happening. That's good, right?"

"Yes, that's good. Your mind is working through it. That's always a good sign. Some people get stuck that way."

The Doctor grimaced and shook his head. "I never want to feel like that ever again..."

There was silence for a few seconds too long for the Doctor's liking after he said that.

"Doctor, I'd really like it if you talked to me a bit about this war. You can do it now over the phone, if you can't in person."

A sinking feeling started in his stomach and he shook his head even though it wouldn't be seen. "No. Not right now. I can't..."

"Why can't you?"

He paused at that one. Why? No one had yet asked him that. Oh, sure, they had in a way, but he had been able to use the generic 'It hurts' answer. And that was true. Because it did. But he knew enough right then to know that it wasn't a good enough answer to not talk about it to Jeremy. Plus, the man would know...

"I don't know... I can barely think on it. And when I do it always hurts. And then there's only roughly three days' worth of memories from many years of war I actually remember. It's a bit hard to talk about something that's locked in my mind."

He heard rustling paper over the phone and wondered if Jeremy was looking for something, or writing down his responses. It was odd, he still didn't really think of Jeremy as one to write down everything he said, because he usually didn't write things down in an actual session. He must remember, because he always had it written down and in front of him by the next week.

"From your UNIT notes and what I have learnt about you in the past few weeks, you don't seem to be the kind of person to shut things out like that. What happened on Midnight was a traumatic experience to you, more so than most of the other things you've gone through, since I doubt you normally get this reaction from a trauma, and your life is...well, not exactly smooth sailing for the most part."

Rolling his eyes impatiently, the Doctor was beginning to lose his cool a bit. "So? What about it? You're not going to stop me from it are you?"

"Oh, no. No not at all. What you do is important to you. It's good to have something like that in your life. No, what I meant is that you live a life full of stress and trauma and yet most of it slides off your back. If Midnight made it through the cracks of your rather astounding resilience, then why hadn't the war?"

The Doctor blinked at that. He'd never really thought of it like that. He remembered right after, lying on the floor of his TARDIS and staring at the ceiling, not being able to move, freezing in a way he never had been before. "I...I did feel bad at first, but I regenerated after three days from the shock. I wasn't even scratched at the end, and I died anyway. I guess I just couldn't deal with it. My mind kept what it seemed to be the relevant things to me and threw away the rest..."

"Threw away? The mind doesn't work like that, Doctor. You still hold the memories, they're more likely locked away as you first said, not thrown away."

The Doctor gulped and he was sure the sound was loud enough to hear on the other end of the line. "I sometimes want them back. I have so many years missing out of my memory. I can't stand to lose time. Losing time is bad. Yet I'm scared that I might die again just from remembering it all. Ending the War was enough to kill me...remembering it all...I don't want to die like that again. I don't. It was cold, and lonely, and there was no one there. I can't do it again! I won't! I don't want to talk about this anymore!"

He was getting more than a bit distressed. His voice rang shrill and high, his hands were shaking along with the rest of him, and his breathing was coming out in heavy gasps. His hearts felt like they were trying to pound right out of his chest.

"Doctor? Take some deep breaths, you're hyperventilating."

"I'm having a panic attack!"

To his relief, silence was his answer to that, and he was able to get control of his breathing and bring himself back under control in a few rather long minutes. He sat on the seat for a few extra minutes just breathing deeply, and hoping not to go through that ever again.

"Doctor?"

He cleared his throat, which felt a bit rough since it had closed up on him for a while there, and sighed. "Yeah. I'm alright now. That was quicker than the other times too. Still feels like I'm going to die of a double coronary every time I go through it though."

"That's quite normal for a panic attack."

"Oh. Good. I think..."

"Do you want to cut the session in half? It is almost 11 now. I don't think you'd be very talkative for an hour and a half."

He huffed at that, seeing as he wasn't in the mood to laugh again. "Usually I'm very talkative. Just...not about myself. This is very hard for me to do."

"I'm sorry if things get a bit distressing for you. Well, come on over and we'll see how things go."

He rolled his eyes at that one, hung up and stood at the controls for a few mindless seconds, before shaking his head. He'd check on Donna and Martha first.

Donna as it turned out, and to his right estimation, was still soundly asleep, and didn't stir when he called out her name. Martha was reading, and her glass, now half full, was back at her bedside table. She smiled at him when he entered. "That medicine is great, Doctor. It cleared my nose up a bit too."

He nodded, still a bit distracted, before he cleared his throat. "Umm, Jeremy called. He said that my session might only go for half an hour today, as I talked for a bit over the phone..."

She nodded and grinned at him. "Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?"

"I don't know. He said we'd see when I got there...might go for the whole hour yet."

Nodding again, Martha's grin slowly slipped into a frown. "Doctor? You alright? You're kind of pale."

"I don't want to go alone. He said no more of talking about what we did over the phone, but if it does start up again, I don't want to be there on my own..."

The frown became more pronounced on her face and she got up and walked over to him. "Doctor? You're shaking."

"I had a panic attack."

It took him a few minutes, as Martha brought him into a hug for him to stop the shaking he hadn't even realised he was still going through. After he had calmed down though, she did comment that he had a bit more colour to him, which was probably a good thing.

She quickly got dressed into some more fitting clothes than her pyjamas and joined him in the TARDIS, a quick note for Donna left on the bedside table to tell her where they were if she woke up and they were still out.

In a few minutes time he found himself sitting on the couch in Jeremy's office, too distracted to really pay much attention to staying still. After a few seconds, he jumped back to his feet and drifted over to one of the bookshelves to read the titles of the books. Most were on psychology, psychiatry, different types of therapies, and some on topics like Depression, PTSD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, grief and rape.

They were all human books, naturally. It was very unlikely he'd get any alien texts that were on the subject.

"Doctor, anything of interest over there?" Jeremy asked, and sighing loudly, he walked back over to the couch and slumped into it.

"Not really. Not my subject of choice."

Nodding, he looked between him and Martha for a few seconds, before his eyes stopped on him. "You said you were able to speak fully on what happened to you on Midnight..."

He hadn't realised he had been so tense, until he relaxed at hearing that topic being brought up, and found that he had been ready to jump out of his skin. He was able to settle down and get comfortable a bit. He nodded. "Yeah. It took hours by the way, there was...quite a bit to tell. No panic, no flashbacks, no stopping. It felt...good. To talk about it like that. A relief."

"Who did you tell? Was it Donna?"

He shook his head. "No. I had run out of the house, upset over something Sylvia had said. This was the day before the phone call by the way. Yeah, she really has the power to upset me. Donna stayed in the house with her mother to tell her about...well, things that might make her act a bit better towards me. Didn't work for too long, obviously."

"Who did you tell?"

"Wilf, her grandfather. Wilfred Mott. Good man, Wilf. He just listened and didn't stop me or anything. I guess that's something I needed but didn't realise I did. Not too many people can put up with my rambling for too long. Not that I rambled it out. Well, not completely. I don't think it came out very well if everything was to be in order, but he didn't mind. He asked a few questions afterwards about the things he didn't get, but that was alright."

Jeremy nodded at him, and looked to Martha. "And may I ask why Martha is here, instead of Donna this week?"

"Donna's asleep. I didn't...well, after the whole phone thing before I got here, I just..."

"He didn't want to come alone and he didn't want to wake Donna up from her sleep," Martha finished for him, which made him slightly blush. He shrugged and nodded.

"Ah, well, then I will ask you to give a few things to Donna, alright?"

He frowned, a bit confused, but nodded. "Yeah, sure. What about?"

With that said, Jeremy reached out to some pamphlets that were lying on the table. "I didn't know if you'd show up to be honest, so it is nice to see that you arrived. I got some pamphlets out just in case. Some are for you, and others are for your friends. Especially Donna, since she's the one that is travelling with you at this time."

He went to reach out to take them all, but stopped. Was he supposed to read them all? Were some only for Donna's eyes and would Martha have to give them to her instead? What were they about for that matter? He spotted the ones on the top of the now two separate piles and blushed.

Written in big black and red block letters were the words anger management.

"You've been saying you have been having trouble keeping your anger in check. I'll give you a proper talk about that next week since I think this will be a half session." He picked up and handed him the first pamphlet. "It goes through dos and don'ts and has a basic guide to using the Time Out system."

Jeremy picked up the pile he now knew to be his, and passed him the second. "This one has a more in depth guide to the whole Time Out system. Just so you know, and I will tell you this now, it won't be easy or work all the time, which is why there's pamphlets for friends too. If you lose control and end up yelling at someone anyway, don't give up on it. If it gets so you are using it every time you see someone, then you best call me so we can figure something out to stop that."

Nodding, the Doctor grabbed that one, while Martha took the ones that would be given to Donna.

"Now, this is where you will want to walk out of the room. Don't dismiss this right out of hand though, Doctor. I don't expect you to read this one, but I think a part of your problem is about this."

Jeremy handed him the third pamphlet, and as he took a look at the title, he glared at the man. "What?"

"Yes, exactly. Denial."

"I'm not in denial over anything."

Jeremy shook his head. "I don't think too many people have told you this before, Doctor. But I am pretty positive in this case, that you're wrong and just can't see it. That is what denial is. Most denial is healthy for a time, and natural. That does tend to wear off after a bit of time and when the problem is ready to be dealt with. Sometimes, the body says a person is ready to deal with something, but the mind says no. By mind, I mean this as a semi-conscious decision, and one that is not natural or healthy. Self denial isn't like normal denial. For it is self induced. Normal denial is a process of ignorance one goes into to give the mind a bit of time to get used to something so the person is ready to deal with the something."

The Doctor ground his teeth together, and while it was hurting a little, he didn't want to do something stupid that he'd regret later. "I know what denial is..."

"Self denial, Doctor, is a process in which the person believes they are not ready to deal with something, even though their body is telling them that it is time to deal with the problem. It is actually quite a hard thing to do. It's not unheard of though, even in humans."

"I'm not in denial! How many times do I have to say it?!"

Martha was staring at him now, he could feel it, and he could see Jeremy looking at him. A second ago, he had been ready to jump up and punch Jeremy for even assuming what he was, but that was swept away by Martha looking at him too. Instead a wave of what he could only know as paranoia swept over him. He narrowed his eyes.

"What is this? Trying to drive what little friends I have away? Or are you trying to drive me away? That's it, isn't it? You've gotten fed up with putting up with me and this is your way of telling me, right? Oh, I get it. You're just like the rest of the universe. Too blind to see anything, but think you know everything about me. Tell me then, what do you know of me?"

"Doctor?" Martha asked, and he could hear the uncertainty in her voice.

He snapped. "You bastard! You set me up! This is what this is all about isn't it? Have you got a camera in here too? Wouldn't put it past you. You probably get off on this type of stuff, don't you?"

Without even thinking about what he was doing, he got up, strode angrily to the door, opened it and went to the TARDIS. He was a bit angrier than he originally thought, and while he did have enough thought in his head to punch in Martha's house and left the date, the TARDIS got the flight a bit wrong. Instead he found himself on the middle of a street, with no idea how near to where Martha lived he was.

Well, at least he was still on the right day and this was definitely London...

He set off in a huff, off to find something to occupy himself with until he was a bit calmer.

* * * * * * * * * *

"He left without me!" Martha stated rather surprised.

"He's a bit angry and not thinking right at the moment."

She looked at Jeremy and nodded. "Still, what if he had just stranded me on an alien planet or something?"

"Then I'm sure he'd go back for you as soon as he calmed down enough to think clearly."

Nodding again, Martha got up off the couch, and went over to the same books the Doctor had been looking over earlier. "Were you expecting him to do that? Run out, I mean?"

"I knew he'd run as soon as the topic was brought up. This way he will be able to think about it, and if he ever decides to do something about it he can call me, if it doesn't crumble about him first that is, and that is what is worrying me. Tell him that I will call later on, I need to ask him one more thing. Tell him also that it's about nothing we talked about today. It's something that may help him with Midnight a bit more."

Martha nodded, before sighing loudly. "Well, I've got to call mum and get a ride home, now. See you on Wednesday."

Jeremy nodded at her, and she waved bye to him, as she walked out of the room, her phone in hand as soon as she was out to call her mum. The good thing was, she was pretty sure that her mum would understand the delay in her work and would take an early lunch to come get her. The Doctor might not have the same problems as her, but he was still suffering. Martha knew that her mum blamed herself for some of his problems.

Those two were about as good as each other sometimes.

While waiting for her mum, she went back in to get the pamphlets that she had dropped and the ones for the Doctor. She didn't bother with that last one. She didn't think that one was serious. Well, the topic was, but the pamphlet itself didn't seem right somehow. Quickly opening it up, she saw she was correct. It had probably been the only way Jeremy could think of in which to break it to the Doctor though. God knows, he was difficult enough ordinarily.

She remembered vividly that day when she had gotten stuck on the motorway on New Earth. How before they had arrived he had pretended quite happily that he didn't want to go home, because it would be boring for him. And then him talking of his world's destruction before they had left again.

She definitely remembered how he seemed when he was talking of Gallifrey. It was like he held it dear and close to his hearts, yet at the same time, he had never said anything about a single individual person. Even then, he had been trying to distance himself from the pain.

Suddenly very worried about what he was doing, she called her own flat, hoping that he was back there by now. The phone rang through, so she knew that Donna was still asleep. Next, she called her old mobile and was surprised to hear it being answered. "Martha? What do you want?" the cranky voice of the Doctor asked.

"Just to make sure you're alright. You ran off pretty quick. God, it's a bit noisy down your end. Where are you?"

"Bar. Doing what normal people do when everything is closing in around them. Getting pissed."

"Anger isn't going to..."

"No, not that type of pissed. Drunk. I'm drinking alcohol. Fast. I haven't drunk alcohol much in this incarnation. It's going to my head. Which is good. Will it make me forget, you think?"

Before she could say anymore, her mum walked in. She held up a finger to her mum, and sighed into the phone. "Well, we'll be there to pick you up soon. Do you know where the TARDIS is?"

"On a street...somewhere. She's not happy with me at the moment."

Now that she knew what he was doing, she heard a definite slur in his voice.

"Have you been drinking shots or something? You should not be drunk this fast."

"Not used to alcohol this time round, told you that. Fine, come get me if you want. But don't try to stop me from doing what I want. Or I'll...I'll be very angry."

Sighing again, she agreed and hung up. Turning to her mum, she rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, mum. The Doctor's gone on a pub crawl by the sounds of it. He doesn't know where he is, but I'm pretty sure it's in London somewhere."

Her mum glared. "Well, I'll be late back to work then, or not back in at all. I better not get into trouble because of him."

Between the two of them, little more needed to be said. Both of them were both angry and yet rather worried about the alien in their lives having run off to do something so against his character. They set off to find him, both hoping it wouldn't take that long.