Disclaimer: Okay, I've agreed to life imprisonment for Moffat, but now they're waffling on TARDIS rights. I'm beginning to think I should just blow them all up and declare myself dictator. I'm speaking of blowing up the world you understand.
Ch. 52:
The console was sparking like mad as The Doctor, Lily and Martha picked themselves up from the floor.
"Did they see you?" the Doctor demanded, grabbing Martha tightly.
"I don't know!" she replied.
"Did they see you?" he repeated urgently.
"I don't know!" Martha shouted. "I was too busy running!"
"Martha, it's important." he told her. "Did they see your face?"
"No, they couldn't have!" she replied.
"What about you?" he asked Lily, rounding on her.
"No, but what does it matter?" she said, breathing hard. "They can smell me just like they can smell you."
"Yeah, but I have a solution to that." he told her, running to the console. "But first," he threw a switch, "off we go!"
Martha came to stand next to him and Lily stood on the other side, still trying to catch her breath. The Doctor and Lily were both watching the screen closely.
"Aw, shit." Lily moaned. "Come on."
"They're following us." The Doctor explained to Martha.
"How can they do that?" Martha demanded. "You've got a time machine."
"Stolen tech." Lily said. "They've got a freaking vortex manipulator. Stupid Time Agents. I don't care if it bugs Jack, I'm tracking them all down and forcibly removing the damn things." She pointed at the screen angrily. "The vortex is me. They're using me against me. Does this strike anyone else as twisted?"
"They can follow us wherever we go." The Doctor said. "Right across the universe." He paused. "They're never going to stop."
He ran a hand through his hair, thinking.
"Unless…" he said quietly. "I'll have to do it…
"Oh no." Lily said when she realized what his idea was. "That's a terrible plan. I've done it. Not fun. Come up with a better plan."
"That's all I've got." he told her.
"We're dead." she moaned. She sank to the floor. "I guess I should start increasing our life expectancies now."
She closed her eyes and started talking to the TARDIS silently and quickly.
"Martha, you trust me don't you?" he asked her, grabbing her shoulders again.
"Of course I do." she replied.
"Cause it all depends on you." he told her.
He dove under the console.
"Other box." Lily called, eyes still shut.
The Doctor crawled back out with something in his hand.
"What does…what am I supposed to do?" Martha asked.
"Take this watch," he told her showing her a watch similar to Lily's, "cause my life depends on it. The watch, Martha-The watch is-"
John Smith awoke in a ornate Victorian room. He blinked in confusion, clearing the dream from his eyes. After a couple seconds, he pushed himself up and put his feet on the floor. A second later there was a knock at the door followed by the sound of the door opening.
"Come in." John called.
Martha walked in, carrying a tray of breakfast. Spotting John still in bed, her eyes widened and she turned around.
"Pardon me, Mr. Smith, you're not dressed yet." she said, embarrassed. "I can come back later…"
"Please, Martha." said Lily, breezing past her, still in her nightgown. "Why should we care about things like that?"
"Because some of us have a sense of decorum." John said, standing and wrapping a dressing gown around himself. "We don't walk into men's rooms still in our night clothes."
"Well since my maid is bring you breakfast, and I can't put a corset on by myself, I believe this is your fault not mine." Lily told him, plopping herself down on his bed.
John was ignoring Lily though, choosing to watch Martha. She looked up and caught him staring.
"I was, um…" he said nervously. "Sorry, sorry." He paused thoughtfully. "Sometimes I have these extraordinary dreams." he told her.
"What about, sir?" Martha asked as she drew the curtains.
"I dream I'm this…" he paused as he searched for the right term, "adventurer. This…daredevil, a madman. 'The Doctor', I'm called. And last night I dreamt that you were there, as my…companion."
"A teacher and a housemaid, sir?" she asked. "That's impossible."
"Ah no, a man from another world, though…" he told her trailing off.
"And I wasn't there?" Lily called, sitting up on the bed. "I'm hurt, Johnny."
"Don't call me Johnny." he told her crossly. "And no, you were there too, a thorn in my side as usual."
She smiled and hopped off the bed, bouncing across the room to kiss him on the cheek. Also to steal a piece of toast.
"I love you too, Johnny." She told him, her mouth full of toast.
He shook his head at her and moved to the fireplace, picking up the watched that rested on the mantle.
"This thing…" he said softly, looking at it.
With his back turned, he didn't notice the look Martha and Lily exchanged.
"The watch…" he whispered.
After a second though, he put it back with a sigh.
"Ah, it's funny how dreams slip away." he told them. "But I do remember one thing; it all took place in the future. In the year of Our Lord two thousand and seven."
"Sorry to tell you this, Johnny." Lily said, picking up the paper and handing it to him. "It's Monday, November tenth, nineteen thirteen." she told him. "Also, last I checked, you're completely human." She grinned at him. "I could check again though, if you like."
"Get out." he said, pointing at the door.
"Whatever you say, Johnny." she said, bouncing to the door. "Come on Martha, lets get this ridiculous corset thing over with."
Martha followed her out, shutting the door after them.
John moved to window and looked out over the fields.
"Mmmm." he said to himself. "That's me; completely human."
John Smith walked the halls, dressed in his teaching robes, on his way to class.
"Morning, sir." a few boys called.
As he walked pass the library, he ducked in to find Lily rearranging some books.
"Did you take your medicine this morning?" he asked her.
"Yes, father." she told him, sticking her tongue out at him.
He sighed.
"I know you refuse to lose that ridiculous accent, but could please try to act less like the American heathen my family took in, and more like the proper young lady we raised you to be?" he asked her.
She seemed to think about if for a moment before shrugging.
"All evidence points to the answer that that question being no." she told him primly.
"Why do I put up with you?" he asked wearily.
She grinned at him.
"Because you love me." she told him. "Also because your dear brother, my husband James, asked you to."
"Yes, I believe the second has more to do with it then the first." John told her.
She put her hand to her chest and sad down, looking sad.
"Well, if that's how you feel…" she sighed.
She looked at the ground from the step stool she was on, closed her eyes, and fell backwards.
John, quite used to her theatrics, was right there to catch her.
"I knew you loved me!" she exclaimed. "I knew you wouldn't let me die!"
"More likely I don't want to have to listen to you complain about your headache after you hit your head." he told her, setting her on her feet.
"You can't fool me, Johnny." she told him.
"Don't call me Johnny." he told her sternly.
"What ever you say, Jooohhnnn." she said, dragging out his name.
"I have to go to class." he told her. "I'll see you at lunch."
"Actually," she called after him, "I'm eating lunch with Martha today."
She glared at him when he turned back, a disapproving look on his face.
"Martha is my oldest friend, besides you." she told him.
"Martha is a servant." he replied.
"So?" Lily shot back. "I'd rather eat with her then a group a men who discredit everything I say simply because I'm a woman."
"They are learned men." he told her sternly.
"And I am just as learned as they are." she replied. "I studied everything you and James studied, so why am I less capable of rational thought than you?"
"The Matron manages to eat with the men." he told her.
"The Matron shuts up and doesn't show any dissent." Lily told him with a glare. She held up a hand to forestall anymore argument. "I don't want to fight, John." she told him. "Look, I'm eating lunch with Martha, and then we are going for a walk. I will eat dinner with the faculty if it will make you happy."
"I suppose that will do." he told her grudgingly.
Seeing that she was still upset with him, he walked over and gently kissed her cheek.
"I'll see later, Lily girl." he told her softly.
She smiled and nodded.
When he had left, she took out a bottle and syringe.
"What is this?" Lily asked, rolling the bottle in her hands.
"It's a serum I've been working on." the Doctor told her. "Ever since the Judoon. It should block your cells ability to channel the power of the vortex."
"So I'd be normal?" Lily asked, amazed. "Just…human?"
"Yes." he told her.
"I don't know how I feel about that." she said quietly.
"I know." he replied. "But this will keep them from finding you."
He hesitated a second before speaking again.
"You understand why Martha must be the one to keep the watch, yeah?" he asked her.
She looked at him like he was an idiot.
"Because two watches together would defeat the purpose?" she asked him sarcastically.
"Just making sure." he said.
She sighed and began preparing the dose. She had lied to John. She always left it until the last moment, until she could feel just the smallest connection to the vortex. She knew was dangerous, but she hated this feeling of uselessness.
She injected the serum into her arm and sighed as that sense of belonging she always felt from the vortex began to dissipate.
"I wonder where Martha is?" she murmured to herself.
Martha was currently in a hallway scrubbing the floor with another servant.
"Morning, sir." she called to John as he passed.
John slowed slightly.
"Yes, hi." he told her distractedly before disappearing up the stairs.
"Head in the clouds, that one." the other servant, Jenny, said. "Don't know why you're so sweet on him."
"He's just kind to me, that's all." Martha replied. "I'm really his sister-in-law's maid, not his, but he's always kind. Not everyone's that considerate, what with me being-"
She motioned to her face and the color of her skin.
"A Londoner?" Jenny replied with a grin.
"Exactly." Martha said with a matching grin. "Good old London town!"
The two woman laughed.
"Ah, now then, you two." a older boy called to them.
Martha and Jenny stopped laughing and looked up.
"You're not paid to have fun, are you?" he told them. "Put a little backbone into it."
"Yes, sir." Jenny said, looking down. "Sorry, sir."
"You there," the other boy called. "What's your name again?"
"Martha, sir." she told him. "Martha Jones."
"Tell me then, Jones." he said, sneering. "With hands like those, how can you tell when something's clean?"
Both boys laughed cruelly.
"Apologize, Hutchinson." a voice called from the stairs.
The boys turned to see Lily standing behind them.
"But, Mrs. Smith, she's just a servant." the boy, Hutchinson, protested.
"No, she is my maid." Lily replied. "And you have behaved not as a young man of breeding but as a commoner. The true measure of a man is not seen in how he treats his equals, but in how he treats his inferiors." she told him. "So you will apologize for the slight not only against my maid, but against me."
He glared at her.
"Should I call the headmaster, then?" Lily asked innocently.
Hutchinson grudgingly turned back to Martha.
"I apologize." he said stiffly.
"Think nothing of it, sir." Martha replied, resisting the urge to grin.
"Now," Lily told them, "you and Baines run off to class."
Both boys turned and stalked off without another word.
Lily watched them go before leaning on a nearby table.
"Martha, remind me again why I don't kill those two?" Lily called.
"Because murder is illegal, Miss Lily." Martha called back, going back to her scrubbing.
"Pity." Lily replied. She sighed and walked over to the two women. "Can I help?" she asked
"Not if you ever expect to wear that dress again." Martha told her. "Because I'm not fixing it for you after you ruin it."
"Martha!" Jenny rebuked her, but Lily just laughed.
"Well we can't have that, can we?" Lily said. "We're still having lunch, right?" she asked Martha.
"Yeah." Martha replied. "Would you mind if Jenny joined us?"
"Not at all." Lily said, smiling at Jenny.
"Thank you ma'am." Jenny said hesitantly.
"Call me Lily." Lily told her.
"Oh, I couldn't." Jenny protested.
"Jenny, I'm American." Lily told her with a laugh. "In the eyes of the men and boys in this school, I'm not much better than a servant, so why should you treat me any differently?"
Seeing the woman was still uncomfortable, Lily sighed.
"You can call me Miss Lily, if it will make you feel better." she told her.
Jenny grinned.
"Aye, I think I could do that." she replied.
"Well," Lily said, sighing. "I must go back and make sure that the little monsters don't destroy my library any further than they already have."
"Just think though." Jenny said. "In a few years time, boys like that will be running the country."
Lily and Martha exchanged a look before Lily left.
"Nineteen thirteen." Martha whispered to herself. "They might not."
John was walking along, a giant stack of books in his arms. One fell and John quickly stepped on it to keep it from falling further.
"There we go." he said.
"Let me help you." Matron Redfern called.
"No, no. I've got it, no…" he called back, looking from the stack in his arms to the book on the floor. "Um…ah…Just to…retrieve…ah…If you could take these-" he handed her the stack of books and bent to pick up the book.
"Good." Matron Redfern said, smiling warmly.
"No harm done." he said, smiling back at her. "So, um, how was Jenkins?" he asked.
"Oh, just a cold, nothing serious." she told him. "I think he's missing his mother, more than anything."
"Aw, can't have that." John replied sympathetically.
"He received a letter this morning so he's a lot more chipper." she told him. She looked down at the books she was still holding. "I appear to be holding you books." she told him.
John, who was staring at her face, started.
"Yes, so you are!" he exclaimed. "Sorry, sorry."
He started to take the books back awkwardly.
"Just let me-" he said.
"No, why don't I take half?" she asked.
"Ah, brilliant idea, brilliant." he told her, flustered. "Perfect. Division of labor."
"We make quite a team." she told him.
"Don't we just." he replied, giving her a daft smile.
"So, these books." she said, as they stood there. "Were they being taken in any particular direction?"
"Yes, um…" He looked around. "This way. Lily is insisting that every book in her library be accounted for, and I seem to have collected quite a few." he told her with a laugh.
"Lily, your sister?" the Matron asked.
"Sister-in-law, actually." he told her. "She was my brother's wife. I took her in when he died."
"Oh, I'm sorry." she replied quickly.
"It's alright, Matron, it was almost a year ago." he told her.
"Truth be told," she said, "when it's just you and me, I'd much rather you call me Nurse Redfern. Matron sounds rather…well, matronly."
"Ah, Nurse Redfern it is then." he told her with a chuckle.
"Though, we've known each other all of two months, you could even say 'Joan'." she told him demurely.
"Joan?" he asked.
"That's my name." she replied with a laugh.
"Well, obviously." John replied, flustered again.
"And it's John, isn't it?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied, "yes it is."
The walked by a notice board on the wall, and Joan stopped.
"Have you seen this, John?" she asked. "The annual dance at the village hall tomorrow. It's nothing formal, but rather fun by all accounts." She paused. "Do you think you'll go?"
"I expect that Lily will drag me along, whether I want to go or not." he told her densely.
"It's been ages since I've been to a dance, only no one's asked me." she told him with a nervous chuckle.
"Well, I should imagine that you would be…um…I mean I never thought you'd be one for…I mean there's no reason why you shouldn't…if you do, you may not…I probably won't but even if I did then I couldn't…um, I mean I wouldn't want to-" John babbled nervously.
"The stairs." Joan told him.
"It-what about the stairs?" he asked.
"They're right behind you." she told him.
He turned to look, but became over balanced and fell, sending books flying everywhere.
A/N: Human Nature. Who will John choose, Lily, the Doctor's bond mate, or Joan, the beautiful human? Dun dun duh. So let me know what you think, just like always.
Question: What's your favorite episode from series 1 of the new series?
Answer: Has to be Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways but The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances comes in at a close second.
Abbey
