The corridor was filled with people. A glance at the walls told Penny that they had been there for a time. People had taped pictures up, probably of their loved ones.
Penny stayed close to the Doctor's side, the lack of room causing their sides to be pressed together as they walked.
"Kistane Shafe Cane." The young boy, Creet, called. "Kistane Shafe Cane. Kistane and Biltone Shafe Cane? We're looking for a Kistane and Beltone Shafe Cane." He called as they walked down the corridor.
Padra looked around franticly. "The Shafe Canes, anyone? Kistane from Red Force Five?" Penny could practically feel the anxiety and fear rolling off of him. "My name's Padra."
"Anyone? Kistane and Beltone Shafe Cane? Anyone know the Shafe Cane family? Anyone called Shafe Cane?" Creet continued to search.
"It's like a refugee camp." Martha muttered, looking around sympathetically.
"Stinking." She looked over a Jack, who said that. A man was staring at him, clearly insulted. "Oh, sorry. No offence. Not you." He winked at him and kept walking.
Penny shook her head fondly. She could tell she and Jack would be great friends.
"Don't you see that?" The Doctor forced a smile. "The ripe old smell of humans." He winked at Jack.
Penny rolled her eyes. So it was okay when he flirted with Jack, but Penny couldn't be within five feet of him without being scolded. Great to know.
"You survived." The Doctor continued. "Oh, you might have spent a million years evolving into clouds of gas, and another million as downloads, but you always revert to the same basic shape. The fundamental humans." He looked at Martha. "End of the universe and here you are. Indomitable! That's the word. Indomitable! Ha!" He nudged Penny with his elbow as he grinned, his smile looking much more genuine.
"Is there a Kistane Shafe Cane?" Creet asked again, but this time, a woman stood up, looking anxious.
"That's me."
Padra pushed in front of Creet, his eyes going wide as he looked at her. "Mother?"
"Oh, my God." The woman had tears in her eyes as she swept him into an embrace. "Padra."
"It's not all bad news." Martha smiled.
"It never is." Penny agreed, grinning up at the Doctor.
A young man stood up and neared Jack, who introduced himself. "Captain Jack Harkness." He looked the man up and down as he shook his hand, his voice taking on a flirty tone. "And who are you?"
The Doctor groaned. "Stop it." He walked over the a door, trying to open it, but having a hard time. "Give us a hand with this. It's half deadlocked. I need you to overwrite the code. Let's find out where we are."
Together, the Doctor and Jack tried to open the door. Penny could see over their shoulders that there was nothing but a sheer drop on the other side. The Doctor stumbled, nearly toppling over, but Jack grabbed him by the collar of his trench coat and yanked him back at the last second, sending him tumbling back into Penny, who nearly fell back as she caught him.
Jack smirked at the two. "I guess you fell for her."
The Doctor righted himself, continuing what he was doing.
Penny, on the other hand, was a blushing mess as she walked to Jack's side and whispered to him. "Did you just hit on him... for me?"
Jack draped an arm across her shoulders. "It's not like it's the first time I've done something like that." He teased.
"What?"
Jack laughed. "How have you coped without me, Vix?"
Penny shrugged, trying to will her blush away.
From a few feet away, the Doctor glanced over at them, catching Penny's eye and raising an eyebrow at her blush and Jack's arm around her.
Penny shrugged helplessly.
Jack saw this exchange and smirked, planting a kiss on the side of Penny's head, making sure the Doctor was able to see.
The Doctor's expression soured and he glared at Jack.
"Now that is what I call a rocket." Martha said, not having been apart of the exchange.
"They're not refugees, they're passengers." The Doctor bit out, Martha looking confused at his sudden change of attitude. He had just been happy to be there. She looked around, her eyes landing on Jack and Penny and she snorted. The Doctor looked at her and she hid the laugh with a cough.
"He said they were going to Utopia." Martha continued, pretending she hadn't just been laughing at the confused expression on Penny's face.
"The perfect place. Hundred trillion years, it's the same old dream." He opened the door again, this time he was careful to not fall over. "I don't recognize any of this." He muttered.
"Me neither." Jack agreed, arm still around Penny's shoulder. "Whatever it is, it's not rocket science. But it's hot, though."
The Dactor closed the door with a bit more force than strictly necessary.
"But if the universe is falling apart, what does Utopia mean?"
"I'd assume it's a place that isn't falling apart, Doc." Penny spoke, her blush having finally dying down.
An older man pushed his way over to the four, stopping in front of Jack. "The Doctor?" He asked.
Jack and Martha snorted, Penny holding an amused face. Penny pointed over at the Doctor, who was struggling to keep a neutral face.
"That's me."
"Good! Good!" The man cheered, grabbing his arm and leading him away, the other three following the two. "Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good."
The Doctor turned around with a smug smile directed at Jack, who had finally removed his arm from Penny's shoulder. "It's good apparently."
"Really?" Penny joked, grinning. "Never would have guessed."
They were led into a laboratory, a blue lizard looking woman in a lab coat greeted them. "Chan welcome tho."
"Oh, uh, hi!" Penny waved, not knowing if people still shook hands or if that had gone out of fashion. "Nice to meet you."
"Chan you as well tho."
"I'm Penelope, that's Martha."
"Chan Chantho tho."
Penny was sure the Doctor was immersed in talking science with the man, and one glance his way confirmed it. In the time it took to look over at him, Jack had taken the opportunity to introduce herself to Chantho in a flirty tone.
"Stop it." The Doctor ordered Jack, a pair of glasses perched on his nose. Penny decided he looked adorable.
"Can't I say hello to anyone?" Jack complained, looking at Penny with a look that said, 'Tell him to stop repressing me.'
"Chan I do not protest tho." Chantho giggled.
"Maybe later, Blue." He winked, clicking his tongue, walking over to the Doctor and the man. "So, what have we got here?"
The Doctor promptly ignored him, sending a look to Penny that said, 'Restrain your boyfriend.' "And all this feeds into the rocket?" He asked the man.
"Yeah, except without a stable footprint, you see, we're unable to achieve escape velocity. If only we could harmonize the five impact patterns and unify them, well, we might yet make it. What do you think, Doctor? Any ideas?"
"Well, er, basically, sort of," He stuttered before letting a sigh out. "Not a clue." Penny raised a brow, the Doctor always had at least one idea, if not seven.
"Nothing?"
The Doctor shrugged. "I'm not from around these parts. I've never seen a system like it. Sorry."
"No, no. I'm sorry. It's my fault." The man visibly slumped. "There's been so little help."
"Oh, my God." Martha gasped.
Penny looked over and was shocked to see her hold some sort of tube with a hand in it.
"You've got a hand? A hand in a jar. A hand in a jar in your bag." Martha questioned, looking absolutely disgusted.
The Doctor looked over as well. "But that, that, that's my hand." He pointed at said hand, as if there were other dismembered hands he could have been talking about.
"I said I had a Doctor detector." Jack said simply.
"Huh." Penny said simply, drawing all eyes to her. She smirked at Jack. "Must've been handy."
"You bet." Jack winked at her, making Penny laugh.
"Chan is this a tradition amongst your people tho?"
Penny laughed again, shaking her head.
"Not on my street." She turned to the Doctor. "What do you mean, that's your hand? You've got both your hands, I can see them."
"Long story. I lost my hand Christmas Day, in a swordfight."
"What? And you grew another hand?" Martha grilled, disbelief colouring her voice.
"Er, yeah, yeah, I did. Yeah." He waved at her with the hand Penny had assumed grew back. "Hello."
Penny snorted. "Martha, I honestly don't know how you can be shocked at this point."
"May I ask what specie you are?" The man asked hesitantly.
"Time Lord, last of." He said quickly with a forced smile. "Heard of them?" The man shook his head, looking confused. "Legend or anything?" The man shook his head again. "Not even a myth?" He took his glasses off and put them in his pocket, looking to Penny. "Blimey, end of the universe is a bit humbling." He mumbled.
"Chan it is said that I am the last of my species too tho." Chantho said with a sad smile.
"Sorry, what was your name?" The Doctor asked her.
"Chantho." Penny supplied, the man smiling at her.
"Quite right, dear. My assistant and good friend, Chantho. A survivor of the Malmooth. This was their planet, Malcassairo, before we took refuge."
"The city outside, that was yours?"
Penny rolled her eyes. Obviously.
"Chan the conglomeration died tho."
The Doctor grinned and snapped his fingers, looking over at Penny. "Conglomeration. That's what I said." His smile dimmed when she didn't seem impressed.
"You're supposed to say sorry." Jack said, just low enough for the Doctor and Penny to hear.
"Oh, yes." He looked slightly remorseful, but knowing him, it was probably mostly for show. "Sorry."
"Chan most grateful tho."
"You grew another hand?"
Penny frowned. Martha was still hung up about that?
"Hello, again." He waved again. "It's fine. Look, really, it's me." He flexed his hand and held it out to her, as if proving that it was indeed his hand.
"All this time and you're still full of surprises." Martha said softly, and smile full of awe on her face that made Penny feel uncomfortable for some reason.
"Chan you are most unusual tho." Chantho smiled at him.
"Well." The Doctor shrugged.
"It's part of his charm." Penny joked, leaning against one of the many counters, crossing her arms over her chest with a smirk.
"So what about those things outside? The Beastie Boys. What are they?" Jack questioned, leaning against the counter beside her.
"We call them the Futurekind, which is a myth in itself, but it's feared they are what we will become, unless we reach Utopia." The man hurriedly explained.
"And Utopia is?" The Doctor prodded.
"Oh, every human knows of Utopia. Where have you been?" The man half joked.
"Bit of a hermit."
He looked at the other three. "A hermit with friends?"
"Hermits United. We meet up every ten years and swap stories about caves." He lied. "It's good fun... for a hermit." He coughed awkwardly, ignoring the smirk Penny was sending his way. "So, er, Utopia?"
The man gestured to some sort of display that Penny had no way of understanding.
"The call came from across the stars, over and over again. Come to Utopia. Originating from that point." He pointed at something.
"Where is that?" The Doctor asked, not looking away from the chart.
"Oh, it's far beyond the Condensate Wilderness, out towards the Wildlands and the Dark Matter reefs, calling us in. The last of the humans scattered across the night."
"What do you think's out there?"
"We can't know." The professor admitted. "A colony, a city, some sort of haven? The Science Foundation created the Utopia Project thousands of years ago to preserve mankind, to find a way of surviving beyond the collapse of reality itself. Now perhaps they found it. Perhaps not. But it's worth a look, don't you think?"
"Oh, yes." The Doctor grinned. "And the signal keeps modulating, so it's not automatic. That's a good sign someone's out there. And that's, oh, that's a navigation matrix. So you can fly without stars to guide you." He looked over the man, who didn't appear to be listening. "Professor? Professor? Professor." He called, beginning to look concerned.
"I, er, ahem, right, that's enough talk. There's work to do." He blinked a few times. "Now if you could leave, thank you."
"You all right?" The Doctor asked as the professor began to walk him to the door.
"Yes, I'm fine. And busy." He dismissed.
"Except that rocket's not going to fly, is it?" The Doctor said bluntly. "This footprint mechanism thing, it's not working."
"We'll find a way."
"You're stuck on this planet. And you haven't told them, have you?" By the man's silence, they knew it was true. "That lot out there, they still think they're going to fly."
"Well, it's better to let them live in hope." He defended himself.
"Quite right, too." The Doctor agreed readily. "And I must say, Professor er, what was it?"
"Yana."
"Professor Yana." He seemed to test the name, as if it didn't sound quite right. "This new science is well beyond me, but all the same, a boost reversal circuit, in any time frame, must be a circuit which reverses the boost. So, I wonder, what would happen if I did this?" He pulled out his sonic and pointed it at the end of a few different cables, causing the machine to turn on.
"Chan it's working tho!" Chantho cheered, looking at the Doctor with a newfound respect.
"But- how did you do that?" Yana asked, looking at him in awe.
"Oh, we've been chatting away, I forgot to tell you. I'm brilliant."
A man over the intercom told the passengers to be ready for liftoff soon.
Penny watched the Doctor brush off Yana's praise easily complimenting the older professor.
"If you'd been born in a different time, you'd be revered." The Doctor said. "I mean it. Throughout the galaxies."
"Oh, those damned galaxies. They had to go and collapse. Some admiration would have been nice. Yes, just a little, just once." The man joked half heartedly.
"Well, you've got it now. But that footprint engine thing. You can't activate it from onboard. It's got to be from here." He looked the man in the eye. "You're staying behind."
"With Chantho." He added. "She won't leave without me. Simply refuses."
"You'd give your life so they could fly."
"Oh, I think I'm a little too old for Utopia. Time I had some sleep." Yana dismissed.
"Professor," The intercom buzzed. "Tell the Doctor we've found his blue box."
"Ah!" The Doctor cheered, pumping a fist.
"Doctor?" Jack prompted, looking at the monitor that showed the Tardis.
"Professor, it's a wild stab in the dark, but I may just have found you a way out." He grinned.
Soon enough, the Tardis was carted into the lab. The Doctor grinned and patted the door affectionately. He moved to attach a cable to the side of the box, shooting a cheeky wink to Penny. "Extra power." He explained. "Little bit of a cheat, but who's counting? Jack, you're in charge of the retro feeds."
"Oh, am I glad to see that thing." Martha said as she and Chantho walked back in.
"Chan Professor, are you all right tho?"
Penny glanced over to said man, noticing him sitting in a foldable chair, clutching his head in pain.
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. Just get on with it."
"Connect those circuits into the spar, same as that last lot. But quicker." Jack ordered Martha and Chantho.
"Ooo, yes, sir." Martha play flirted.
The Doctor seemed to notice Yana's condition as well. "You don't have to keep working. We can handle it." He assured him.
"It's just a headache. It's just, just noise inside my head, Doctor." He dismissed. "Constant noise inside my head."
The Doctor seemed to freeze for a split second, something nobody but Penny noticed. "What sort of noise?"
"It's the sound of drums. More and more, as though it's getting closer." Yana admitted.
"When did it start?"
"Oh, I've had it all my life. Every waking hour. Still, no rest for the wicked." Yana struggled to try and chuckle.
The Doctor looked over to Penny, and though she didn't understand why, she knew that there was a distinct possibility that things would go wrong.
"Systems are down. Professor, are you getting me?" They heard over the intercom.
Yana struggled his way over and responded. "I'm here! We're ready! Now all you need to do is connect the couplings, then we can launch." The connection ended and Yana groaned. "God sake! This equipment. Needs rebooting all the time."
"Anything I can do? I've finished that lot." Martha offered.
"Yes, if you could. Just press the reboot key every time the picture goes." He showed her the button and traded spots with her.
"Certainly, sir. Just don't ask me to do shorthand." She joked.
"Right." He forced out a small laugh. Penny watched him carefully. Something was making the Doctor nervous, and that was enough to make Penny uneasy.
"Are you still there?" The man asked over the monitor.
"Ah, present and correct. Send your man inside." Yana answered. "We'll keep the levels down from here."
"He's inside. And good luck to him."
"Captain, keep the dials below the red." Yana instructed.
"Where is that room?" The Doctor asked.
"It's underneath the rocket. Fix the couplings and the footprint can work. But the entire chamber is flooded with stet radiation." He sighed.
"Stet? Never heard of it." The Doctor questioned.
"You wouldn't want to. But it's safe enough, if we can hold the radiation back from here." An alarm sounded. "It's rising. Naught point two. Keep it level!" he shouted over at Jack, who was doing something with some of the controls.
"Yes, sir."
Another alarm sounded just as the first one stopped. "Chan we're losing power tho!"
"Radiation's rising!" The Doctor read the levels.
"We've lost control!" Jack yelled.
"The chamber's going to flood." Yana panicked.
"Jack, override the vents!" Jack rushed and yanked out two important looking cables. "We can jump start the override."
"Don't! It's going to flare!" The Doctor warned.
Jack didn't listen, holding the two live wires together at the end, electrocuting him. He collapsed, but the power did restart.
"I've got him." Martha dropped to her knees to begin mouth to mouth CPR.
"Chan don't touch the cables tho." Chantho warned, but Martha didn't really need it.
Penny was sure he was fine. She'd already seen him miraculously come back to life once already, she had no reason to believe he wouldn't do the same thing again.
"Oh, I'm so sorry." Yana apologized.
"The chamber's flooded with radiation, yes?" The Doctor asked nonchalantly, confirming Penny's idea that he would be fine.
"Without the couplings, the engines will never start. It was all for nothing." The professor mourned.
"Oh, I don't know." The Doctor shrugged. "Martha, leave him."
"You've got to let me try." Martha argued.
Penny reached out for Martha and pulled her back.
"Just listen to me. Now leave him alone." He told her, shooting a grateful smile at Penny. "It strikes me, Professor, you've got a room which no man can enter without dying. Is that correct?"
"Yes." The man said, confusion practically seeping from him.
"Well-" The Doctor said in a high voice, looking up as Jack gasped and sat up. "I think I've got just the man."
"Was someone kissing me?" Jack smirked.
He got up quickly, the Doctor ushering him towards the door, looking at Penny and gestured with his head for her to follow him.
She did, slipping out of the lab behind them. The Doctor told Jack to head over, and that he would meet him there. As soon as he turned the corner, the Doctor leaned over to whisper something in her ear.
The Doctor looked at her expectantly. "Yeah." She agreed, nodding. "You go save the ship." She smiled at him. He grinned back, winking at her before running off to catch up with Jack.
She slipped back into the lab, no one having noticed her leave in the first place. She walked towards the Tardis, using her key open the doors, making sure no one saw her as she stepped in.
She had a job to do.
She walked to the console, sitting down and looking underneath the panel directly across from the doors, seeing the small keypad the Doctor had told her about.
Her hands hesitated over it, making sure she had the code memorized properly.
78-593-green-yellow-614-circle
She clicked the enter button and pulled herself out from under the console, giving it a fond pat, looking for the dial she had to switch.
As it turns out, the small purple dial was behind a panel, which she spent at least a minute prying open. When it was done (and her fingers were sore) she turned the dial 45 degrees to the left, pushing down on it. She replaced the panel and began to walk back around the console when the doors burst open, Yana storming in, not noticing Penny.
Something about the way he walked in made Penny duck down, trying to think of a way to sneak out without him noticing. She crawled to the opposite side of the console from him.
She heard him walk over to the console and press something.
"Deadlocked." He called through the door.
"Let me in. Let me in!" The Doctor banged on the doors from the outside. "I'm begging you. Everything's changed!" She could hear the fear in his voice. "It's only the two of us! We're the only ones left! Just let me in!"
Penny's eyes widened. He and Yana were the only ones left? Did that mean that Yana was a Time Lord like the Doctor?
"Killed by an insect. A girl. How inappropriate." Yana scoffed. "Still, if the Doctor can be young and strong, then so can I. The Master reborn."
There was a blinding gold light and Penny peeked over the edge and saw a new man in Yana's place.
He had regenerated. He was a Time Lord, and not a good one from the looks of it.
And she was trapped with him.
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A/N
HannahHPandDWfanJones: if the Doctor never gets jealous, how will he realize he has feelings for Penny? Hope you liked the chapter!!
afionna262: they are definitely very fun to write XD you'll find out loads more in the chapters after Martha's season
:CJ/OddBall:Penny loves hanging out with Jack so there'll be plenty of jealous Doctor lol I'm glad you liked it!
matsheiist: the whole "ears in place of hearts" joke actually came from a reader on Wattpad who commented a joke, lol there are a lot of random things I have planned for this story and I hope you like them as much as you like that joke :)
Hello beautiful creatures!
I'm sorry this is a bit late, I had work today, had to do several assignments, and help my sister (who just got out of surgery)
And to top it off, I had less than 100 words of this chapter done this morning XD
I really hope you like this chapter, I'll be honest, it's been hard to make myself write this episode, but i'm so excited for what happens after Martha's season is done!!
Because these last few updates have been posted later than I've promised, here's a small part from a chapter sometime in the future:
The door pushed open, the Doctor walking in leisurely, closing the door behind him before he finally looked up and saw her.
The Doctor's face seemed to light up before dimming into confusion. He opened his mouth a few times, looking around her and back at the door once before turning back to her. After a solid minute, he finally spoke. "Penny?" He seemed almost hesitant to ask. He took a step forward.
Penny stood and walked closer, taking in the face she hadn't seen in what seemed like ages.
A ghost of a smile graced the Doctor's lips as he took another step closer.
Penny closed the difference and did something she had wanted to for years.
Have fun with that!! *maniacal laughter in the distance*
Anyway, have a great day and I'll see you next chapter!
-Jamie