Yes, I'm updating on a Monday. Pretend it's anywhere near a Friday. In my defense, I've had a crazy week. Crazy month. May has been like my own miniature 2020. The AP exams (which are finally over!) would've been bad enough on their own. And the health problems that I'd been having over the winter (nothing too bad, but annoying) got replaced by a hearing problem that I need to deal with. And on top of that my friend was dealing with some stuff and I'm still kind of worried and it's a mess. The thing is, I don't feel guilty about things I know aren't my fault; I just feel guilty about not feeling guilty. The one time I wasn't stupid about people stuff was also the one time I was able to get myself to stop worrying and also the one time I turned out to not be catastrophizing. Yeah. Everyone's fine, though, and I'm currently not in danger of having a mental breakdown. So I'm going to just congratulate myself and stop rambling now.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. If I did, I'd implement the random Doctor Who season I planned out and no one would watch it. I'd manage to offend pretty much everyone, including myself. So, be very grateful.

Chapter 34: The Smart One

Harriet was suddenly aware that she didn't know where April was. She had seen her sitting on the steps when she had followed Martha and the Doctor for their pointless conversation with Francine and Tish, but she didn't seem to be there anymore. Harriet felt slightly guilty for not talking to April—she seemed overwhelmed by the crowd and kept nearly dying. But she had really wanted to watch Martha's mother slap the Doctor. Frankly, he deserved it.

"Keep away from my daughter," Francine was saying. The Doctor was still clutching his cheek.

"Mum, what are you doing?" Martha asked.

"All the mothers, every time," the Doctor said.

Harriet really didn't think this was helping his case.

"He is dangerous," Francine said. "I've been told things."

"What are you talking about?" Martha asked. Harriet peered through the crowds, finally seeing April discussing something with Lazarus and Dr. Ford.

Which reminded Harriet that Lazarus was still alive. God, we've screwed up, Harriet thought. The timelines had to stay intact, and they had to be far more careful in the future. Stay in the TARDIS, don't leave. It might be better if they just took a stay with UNIT and let Martha and the Doctor figure everything out, except they had already messed everything up so badly that Martha might not even stay.

"Did you even see what happened?" Francine asked. "All of those people are dead, and this so-called Doctor was at the center of it. You disappeared with him the same day as the incident with the hospital."

"This isn't—that wasn't his fault. Neither of them were. He saved us, all of us! Harriet, help me out here."

Harriet turned towards Francine, anxious not to get slapped herself. "The Doctor's a good person, Mrs. Jones. He's at the center of these things because he tries to fix them."

"Leave, Martha," Francine said. "You're not safe with this man."

"How would you know that, Mum?" Martha asked.

"I need to talk to you," her mother told her. "Away from him."

Harriet looked out into the crowd of people, which was starting to disperse, ambulances driving away. She didn't see April in the crowd anywhere.

"Doctor," Harriet said quietly. "I don't see April." Surely April was smarter than to go wandering off—that was the first rule, after all. But April had been acting impulsive, recently. She had always been cautious, weighing her alternatives before acting. She had been the one saying that they couldn't interfere with the timelines when they'd first realized that they were here. But that somehow all seemed to disintegrate when April was faced with people that needed help.

At least that didn't seem to apply to this situation—there wasn't anyone that required saving.

"I told you, Mar—"

"Mum, please," Martha said. She, too, was looking through the crowds. "April!" She called out. "April!"

"You involved my daughter in your mess," Francine said to the Doctor. "And you involved these children as well."

"I'm eighteen," Harriet said. April was not, technically, an adult, but Harriet did not see fit to share this piece of information. "Martha and I are helping him save the world." She turned away. April still hadn't showed up.

"April!" Harriet called. "April Storm, where are you?"

Still no reply—Harriet was getting nervous. She rushed through the crowd, vaguely feeling the Doctor behind her, calling out her friend's name. "April!" When she reached the steps where April had been sitting, she turned to Lazarus. Dr. Ford was no longer there.

"Where did you see her last?" The Doctor asked.

"She was here," Harriet said. "Talking to Lazarus and Dr. Ford."

"Lazarus!" He shouted.

"Dr. Lazarus," the man corrected, sneering as he turned towards the Doctor. "I've been told that your little stunt destroyed my creation."

"Good," the Doctor said.

"Both of them. Including that woman you had locked up," Martha added, appearing next to Harriet.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"What did you do with April and Dr. Ford?"

"They went off together over that way. He said he wanted to discuss something with her," Lazarus said. "It's not my business. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lawsuit to file against you."

"Good luck with that," the Doctor said, racing off in the direction Lazarus had pointed.

Harriet did her best to keep up, with Martha right behind her. They reached the edge of the now-sparse gathering, but none of them could see April.

"Harriet—"

"I'm just as confused as you are," Harriet said. She could already feel her heart beginning to pound faster in her chest. April was missing. April was missing. This wasn't supposed to happen. Harriet couldn't think of any way this was related to the episode. "I really don't know."

"Did anyone here see anything?" The Doctor yelled. Some of the people turned to look at him, but most ignored what he was saying. He took out his psychic paper. "Dr. John Smith, MI-5. We're looking for a girl about this tall, brown hair, wearing a blue dress. She came this way a few minutes ago. Did anyone see her?"

There was a few head shakes and muttered no's. "I think I saw her," a woman in a giant green dress said. "Mrs. Peters."

"Did you see what happened to her?"

"She was walking with this man, I thought he must've been her father. They were discussing one of the candidates for prime minister."

If that was April, Harriet realized, she was discussing something about Mr. Saxon with Dr. Ford. Why would she even do that?

"But did you see where she went?" The Doctor asked.

"No," Mrs. Peters said. "But she seemed to be heading that way." She nodded towards the empty street.

"Thank you," the Doctor said, running a hand through his hair as he turned to Martha and April.

"It could be Torchwood," Harriet suggested.

"Maybe," agreed the Doctor.

"Torchwood?" Martha asked. "Not all of us are from the future, here."

"The future?"

"April told me everything," Martha explained. "Everyone knows about aliens in the future."

"Oh," Harriet said. That about summed it up. Well, she could deal with whatever crazy story April had told Martha later, once they'd found her.

"Torchwood is an organization under the British government. They were destroyed, but…"

Harriet was pretty sure Torchwood One was permanently destroyed, but given that she and April had already messed around with time, maybe it could have been rebuilt.

Either that, or there was another organization working against them.

"You're saying you think the government kidnapped April?" Martha asked.

"I'm saying it's a possibility," the Doctor said.

"She could've been abducted by aliens," Harriet suggested.

"There aren't that many aliens just walking around London."

"Think," the Doctor said.

"I am thinking," Harriet muttered. She wasn't a genius, but she was thinking, she was trying, why couldn't she just be smart for once in her life?

The Doctor continued as if he didn't hear her. "How could she have left? And who was involved?"

"Dr. Ford," Harriet said.

"Not necessarily," Martha said. "He could have been kidnapped too. He could even have been the target." She paused. "We could talk to Lazarus."

"He's not involved." Well, she didn't know that, because in this timeline Lady Thaw had been imprisoned in Lazarus Industries. But she didn't see why Lazarus would be involved in kidnapping April—he cared about his invention because he wanted to survive.

Lady Thaw.

Oh…

Lady Thaw had been a representative for Harold Saxon.

The Master had given Lazarus Time Lord technology.

The Master had funded the whole project.

The Master had orchestrated the whole event as a trap.

It could still be Torchwood, Harriet assured herself. Could being the key word.

"I doubt that she walked to wherever she is," Harriet said. "Dr. Ford—well, whoever it was, could have pulled a gun on her and told her to get in his car. Could have been…I don't know." What would April say? "A teleporter or something."

Harriet had a dilemma on her hands. If Torchwood had April, Harriet didn't know where they would be based. If Saxon (not the Master, Saxon, it was easier for her to think of him that way) had April, well, Harriet didn't know where he would be based either. She couldn't find out without help from the Doctor or Martha, which meant mentioning Harold Saxon too early, which meant breaking the timelines, which meant…

April would probably be so mad if Harriet messed up the world to go on a rescue mission, especially since she'd told April off for doing the same thing. But Harriet would do it if she thought it would work.

It wouldn't even help much anyway, though, would it? They would have to rely on April escaping, which was unlikely in both cases. After all, they didn't know where she was. Just knowing that Harold Saxon might be involved wouldn't help them find her. If Harriet revealed that the Master was part of this, that might be slightly more helpful, but it would be much more dangerous.

April was in trouble, and Harriet didn't know what to do.

"It would be a lot harder to take two people than to take one," Martha observed.

"Well, if you ambushed them and teleported out…" The Doctor began.

"You'd think people would notice if someone just disappeared," Harriet said, trying to conceal her growing panic. Her eyes darted back and forth, as if that would somehow make April appear out of thin air.

"You would think," Martha said. "You would also think that people wouldn't be claiming the whole thing with the hospital was a hoax."

"Stop, okay?" Harriet said, her hair whipping her face as she turned around suddenly. She had to think, had to help April. This was her fault—she had just left April there, panicking on the steps. Because she wanted to have fun. "That's not relevant!"

"Excuse me," Martha said sarcastically. "Of course it's relevant! It might have been…some sort of perception filter or something."

"The hospital wasn't a perception filter—people saw it, they just thought it was all faked. They'd still have told us if they'd seen the teleporter, even if they thought it was fake too!" Harriet said. "April is out there somewhere, being taken away. We're losing the time that we could be using to catch up with her!"

"Harriet, we're trying to help," Martha said. "We're doing the best we can, but—"

"I know," Harriet interrupted. "Just." She tried to breathe. It was difficult. "I might be able to help, but I need to be able to think. Please."

"Okay," Martha said. "If you have any ideas—"

"I'll tell you," Harriet said.

Harriet took a deep breath. In and out. She may not be the "smart one," but that didn't mean she was an idiot. You can do this, she told herself.

It was too late to go chasing after any of the cars that had left. She didn't remember their colors, let alone their license plates, so that wasn't helpful. Maybe Martha or the Doctor would? "Do you remember anything about the cars that left?" She asked.

The Doctor shook his head. "It was a bunch of fancy ones," Martha said. "And, of course, the ambulances. But I didn't catch their plates. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." It wasn't. Every second, they were losing time, trails were going cold. So, the cars wouldn't be useful, which meant…

Harriet really didn't know what to do.

"Can you scan the area for recent teleports?" Martha asked.

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't have anything to go on. If it was a two-part device…but it doesn't seem to have been."

"We can't trace her," Harriet realized.

"That's fine," Martha said.

"No, it's not!"

"Listen, if we can figure out where they took her—"

"It could be anywhere on the planet!" Harriet said. "She could be in space, Martha. She could be on the Lost Moon of Poosh!"

"Is that a real place?" Martha asked.

"Yes, and she could be there, and we wouldn't know the difference!" Harriet shouted. The few people that were left were staring.

"Calm down," Martha said. Harriet clenched her hands into fists.

"We'll find her," the Doctor said. "I promise. The question is whether this attack is unrelated to the experiment, or whether Lazarus and his machine were involved somehow."

Harriet closed her eyes, trying to think. If the Master was involved in this, then April would be somewhere that he had control over. Assuming that he didn't have access to the Valiant, it would need to be somewhere else—either his house, somewhere where he had hypnotized the board of directors, or somewhere that he had donated money to.

"I need a computer," Harriet said.

"What for?" Martha asked.

"I need to search something on the web, and if you look at it, time might literally fall apart."

"You know something?" The Doctor asked.

"Maybe," Harriet said. She hoped she did—no, she hoped she didn't. Well, she wasn't sure what she hoped, but that didn't matter. She needed to focus on what was, not what would be best. They were running out of time. April was running out of time. "Okay, Martha. I need to talk to you, and I need to ask you something, and you need to not tell the Doctor."

The Doctor nodded, and Harriet rushed over to the side. "If you tell this to the Doctor before I say he can know, we might all literally die. So—"

"I understand," Martha cut her off.

"I need to know where Harold Saxon has made significant donations," Harriet said, her voiced hushed.

"As in, the guy who's running for Prime Minister?"

"Yes, him. Please."

Martha thought for a moment. "Well, he's a philanthropist—he's donated to several science initiatives, alien research centers…"

"Specific," Harriet said.

"Er, the Extraterrestrial Science Initiative, the Sheffield University of Scientific Studies, UNIT, the Royal Hope Hospital, the Extraterrestrial Invasion Compensation fund—"

"Wait, go back. What was that about the hospital?"

"Oh, he made a huge donation to the Royal Hope Hospital. I walk past his plaque every morning."

"That could be it," Harriet said. "Doctor!" She called.

The Doctor came over. "Do you know where she is?"

"I think…she might be at the Royal Hope Hospital."

The Doctor's eyes lit up. "Of course! The ambulances!"

"What?" Martha asked.

"Think for a moment. You need to move someone from here to the hospital, as quickly as possible, without someone looking in your windows, and without getting arrested for speeding."

A smile spread across Martha's face. "So you take an ambulance!"

"You're brilliant, but we have to hurry," Harriet said. There was one ambulance left, which didn't seem to have any passengers. The group rushed up to it, and the Doctor held out his MI-5 psychic paper. "Royal Hope Hospital, now."

"You can't commandeer a medical vehicle!" One of the medics protested in vain.

"Someone needs help. Doctors help people. So help me help her." Someone closed the doors in the back and within seconds they were rushing down the street towards the hospital.

So what do you think? Are Harriet's conclusions correct? Am I throwing out red herrings like candy? Do I know the answers to these questions?