Sending hugs to those of you who took the time to review last chapter and a big thanks for the follows and favourites :)
To enigmaticdrscully: Me too, haha!
Rose fainted on the spot and both the Doctor and Martha reached to stop her fall. The Doctor, being closer, got there first, and lowered her carefully to the floor. He stroked her cheek gently with his thumb as Martha checked her pulse.
"She's okay," Martha asserted. "Just unconscious."
The Doctor whirled to face the Carrionite, his face darker and more frightening than Martha had ever seen it. "Oh, big mistake, because that name keeps me fighting!"
He moved forwards until he was towering over the creature. "The Carrionites vanished. Where did you go?" He demanded harshly.
"The Eternals found the right word to banish us into deep darkness."
"And how did you escape?"
"New words. New and glittering, from a mind like no other."
"Shakespeare," Martha and the Doctor realised in unison.
"His son perished," the witch stated, moving away from the cauldron that stood between them. Martha could see the image of a tormented Shakespeare on the surface of the liquid inside, and once again felt sorry for the bard. "The grief of a genius. Grief without measure. Madness enough to allow us entrance."
"How many of you?"
"Just the three." She turned her back on them and faced the window. "But the play tonight shall restore the rest. Then the human race will be purged as pestilence. And from this world we will lead the universe back into the old ways of blood and magic." She faced them again, smirking malevolently.
"Sounds lovely," Martha said sarcastically.
"Mm." The Doctor hummed in agreement, scratching a sideburn and adding, "Busy schedule. But first you've got to get past me."
He'd made his way to where the Carrionite stood and let the statement hang between them.
"Oh, that should be a pleasure," the witch crooned, moving her face so close to the Doctor's that they were practically touching. "Considering my enemy has such a handsome shape."
"Now," the Doctor warned, "That's one form of magic that's definitely not going to work on me."
Maybe with Rose, Martha thought to herself with a small smirk. Those two idiots really needed to wake up and see what was in front of them.
"Oh, we'll see," the Carrionite continued. Martha saw, too late, that one of her hands was winding around a piece of the Doctor's hair and she shouted a warning just as the creature yanked backwards.
"What did you do?" He asked, hand flying to the spot on his head where the hair had been pulled out.
"Souvenir," she replied cavalierly, holding up the lock of his hair.
"Well, give it back!" He and Martha both rushed forward to grab it but the witch sprung backwards out of the open window and hovered in front of them, just out of reach.
"Well, that's just cheating," the Doctor complained.
"Behold, Doctor," the creature said, pulling out what appeared to be a voodoo doll, and winding the Doctor's hair around it. "Men to Carrionites are nothing but puppets."
"Now, you might call that magic. I'd call that a DNA replication module."
The Carrionite shrugged. "What use is your science now?" She sneered, stabbing the doll in her hand. The Doctor collapsed in a heap and the witch flew off cackling, the windows slamming shut behind her.
"Oh my God, Doctor, don't worry," Martha cried anxiously, checking to see if he was breathing. "I've got you." She paused for a moment when she heard him exhale normally. How was he still breathing? It was like… oh, of course! "Hold on, mister. Two hearts?"
"You're making a habit of this," he teased as he sprung to his feet. "Ah!"
He doubled over in pain, clutching his chest. "I've only got one heart working. Ugh. How do you people cope?! I've got to get the other one started. Hit me! Hit me on the chest!" She thumped his chest and he gave a shout that was half exasperation, half pain. "Gah! Other side!" She hit him again, on the opposite side. "Now, on the back, on the back." She thumped his back. "Left a bit," She whacked him one final time and he bounced up. "Dah, lovely. There we go. Badda-booma! Well, what are you standing there for? Come on! The Globe!"
He scooped the still unconscious Rose into his arms and they made their way outside. The Doctor sprinted off and Martha chased him, but he took a wrong turn.
"We're going the wrong way!" She shouted to him.
"No, we're not!" He insisted. It only took a few seconds before he spun around again. "We're going the wrong way!"
She rolled her eyes but kept trailing him. The Doctor skidded to a halt and Martha briefly wondered why until she realised that Rose was stirring in his arms. They moved off again, at a slower pace so they would avoid disorientating her.
"Wha -? Doctor?"
"You're alright Rose," he told her soothingly. "The Carrionite named you and you collapsed."
"Oh."
"We're headed to the Globe now to stop her," Martha added.
"Right. Um… Doctor? I think you can maybe put me down now."
"Oh, right, yes, of course," he said, and it was the first time Martha had seen him so flustered. He placed her carefully back on her feet.
Rose swayed so far that Martha thought she was going to tip over, but at the last second she snapped forwards. Before Martha had a chance to process what was going on, Rose was already dashing off, tugging the Doctor along with her.
Martha heard loud screams just as the Globe came into view. Above the theatre what appeared to be a huge vortex of red blue swirled ominously, and a fierce wind whipped at their clothes.
The old preacher that they'd seen yesterday announcing the end of the world ran up to them, grinning and shouting, "I told thee so! I told thee!"
"Yeah, don't look so excited, mate," Rose muttered. Martha grinned over at her, and was shocked to see that the other girl was deathly pale.
"Rose! Are you alright?" She pushed the Doctor out of the way to get a better look at her friend.
"I'm fine," Rose protested, waving her off weakly.
"No, you're not." The Doctor said, so seriously that Martha knew he must be properly scared. "I'm carrying you again, you look you're about to fall over any second."
There was no time for Rose to object, and Martha had the feeling she wouldn't have the energy for it anyhow, as the Doctor picked the girl up again and they kept moving.
"Stage door!" He called over the wind, and Martha followed him into the theatre.
They found Shakespeare lying on a crate backstage. Martha glanced over to check on Rose, and found the blonde was once again unconscious.
"'Stop the play'," the Doctor quoted angrily at Shakespeare. "I think that was it. Yeah, I said, 'stop the play'!"
"I hit my head," was the bard's excuse.
"Yeah, don't rub it," the Doctor grumbled, "You'll go bald."
There was a bang from onstage and the Doctor looked up. "Think that's my cue!"
He set Rose down delicately against the wall before racing out onto the stage while Martha grabbed Shakespeare's arm and pulled him out of the room. The audience was still inside and screaming hysterically, evidently trapped, while the three Carrionites were shrieking to each other on one of the balconies, the least hag-like holding a glowing purple orb in her outstretched hand. Martha couldn't hear exactly what they were saying over the wind, but the purple orb lit up, and a stream of red smoke and bat-like creatures burst from the object. They were the Carrionites, Martha realised in horror, and there were hundreds of them! If the crowd below was scared before, they were terrified now.
"Come on, Will!" The Doctor encouraged. "History needs you!"
"But what can I do?"
"Reverse it!" The Doctor responded, dragging the bard center-stage.
"How am I supposed to do that?" Shakespeare questioned, lost.
"The shape of the Globe gives words power, but you're the wordsmith, the one true genius. The only man clever enough to do it!"
"But what words?" The author cried. "I have none ready!"
"You're William Shakespeare!"
"But these Carrionite phrases," the wordsmith persisted. "They need such precision."
"Trust yourself," the Doctor insisted. "When you're locked away in your room, the words just come, don't they? Like magic. Words of the right sound, the right shape, the right rhythm. Words that last forever! That's what you do, Will – you choose perfect words. Do it. Improvise!"
Shakespeare took a deep breath, staring up at the swirling vortex above their heads, and shouted: "Close up this din of hateful, dire decay; decomposition of your witches' plot. You thieve my brains, consider me your toy. My doting Doctor tells me I am not! Foul Carrionite specters, cease your show! Between the points –"
He looked to the Doctor for the right number.
"Seven six one three nine oh," the Time Lord rattled off.
"Seven six one three nine oh! Banished like a tinker's cuss, I say to thee –"
He broke off again, this time clearly at loss for what to say next. The Doctor looked panicked, jaw opening and closing as he tried to think of something.
"Ah…" he glanced at Martha, and she racked her brain for a rhyme to complete the incantation. Hang on, the incantation. Incantation, witches, spell –
"Expelliarmus!" She exclaimed.
"Expelliarmus!" The Doctor repeated to Shakespeare.
The bard instantly took up the cry. "Expelliarmus!"
"Good old JK!" The Doctor grinned.
"The deep darkness!" The Carrionite who had met them in All Hallows Street cried, as her kind was sucked into the skies. "They are consumed!"
Papers whipped around them, caught in the winds and becoming sucked into the same vortex as the Carrionites.
"Love's Labour's Won," the Doctor noted. "There it goes."
With a crack of lightening, the hole in the sky that had swallowed both the creatures and the papers closed in on itself, leaving nothing but the frightened gasps of the audience in its place.
There was silence from the crowd and Martha braced herself for shouts, or accusations. Instead, gradually, one by one, the audience began to clap. Soon the whole theatre had erupted into cheers, and Shakespeare moved forward to take a bow. The Doctor ran off stage – probably to check on Rose. Martha couldn't believe their luck.
"They think it was all special effects?" She laughed to Shakespeare in disbelief.
"Your effect is special indeed," he responded amorously.
"S'not your best line," she grinned.
He linked her hand with his and they took a bow together, repeated the action with the other two actors still on stage.
x
Just as she expected, Martha found the Doctor by Rose's side. Although she was surprised to see that he was also clutching the purple orb which now contained the chief three Carrionites.
Shakespeare dragged a few chairs over and Martha moved to where the Doctor was crouched by Rose, checking her pulse again.
"Is this just an effect of the Carrionite's naming thing?" She asked the Doctor, who was stony-faced.
"I don't think so, that should have worn off by now. Like it said, she's out of her own time. No, this is something else."
His voice gave nothing away and his face was blank, but his eyes betrayed him. Martha didn't think she'd ever seen anyone as truly scared as the Doctor was right now. He shook his head after a minute, lifting Rose up and taking her to one of the chairs that Will had brought in.
It was another half an hour before Rose finally roused, and the crowd had long since dispersed from the theatre. Even from backstage Martha had heard them exit, chattering away excitedly as the discussed the night's proceedings.
"They honestly don't know it's real?" Martha had checked, resulting in a shrug from the Doctor.
"Humans! Always jumping at the chance to explain away the truth, even if it's right in front of you."
Rose groaned and opened her eyes, bringing Martha back to the present.
"How do you feel?" The Doctor asked her anxiously.
"Like I've just woken up from a really bad nap," she replied, stretching herself out and rolling her shoulders. "What did I miss?"
"Oh, not much," the Doctor answered. Martha was relieved to hear his voice back to its usual cheery manner. "Our brilliant new friend just saved the world with the help of Shakespeare and J.K Rowling. No biggie."
The Doctor winked at Martha and she felt herself blush at the praise.
Rose shot up as if she'd been struck by a bolt of lightning. "J.K Rowling's here?!" She squealed.
Martha and the Doctor laughed while Shakespeare merely looked bemused.
"Not exactly," the Doctor told Rose, who looked slightly put out.
"Alright. Full story. Now," she demanded.
By the time they'd filled Rose in on what had gone on and she'd finished alternating between admiring Martha ("Wow, that was quick thinking! You're amazing, Martha,") and complaining that she hadn't been awake to witness it ("Typical, a girl gets Named by one measly Carrionite and she misses all the fun,") the sky was beginning to grow light with the impending sunrise.
"Right," the Doctor said loudly, standing up and wiggling his fingers for Rose to take his hand. "Fancy digging through the costume area?"
"Sure," Rose beamed, turning to Martha. "You coming?"
Martha hesitated. She never felt unwelcome when it came to the two of them, they were extremely friendly and always seemed happy to have her with them, but the way they looked at each other, like there was no one else in the world, it was hard not to feel like a third wheel. Besides, they were alien explorers, time-travelling pioneers. Next to them, how could Martha compare?
"Nah, you two go ahead," she said, as nonchalantly as she could. "I'm gonna get up on that stage one last time."
"Suit yourself," the Doctor shrugged. Rose gave her another smile before they both disappeared into the next room.
Martha stood, picking her jacket up from where it lay beside her and pulling it on. She took the orb the Doctor had left on the crate by the wall and carried it out with her. She didn't know Shakespeare had followed her until he said, "You should not try to hide from them."
"I'm not hiding," Martha defended immediately. "Just giving them some space, that's all."
She sat herself down on a wooden chest that had been moved sometime during the night to the center of the stage. Shakespeare joined her and observed, "You feel as though you are not worthy to stand by them."
Martha sighed. He'd got her there.
"When I helped today, or yesterday, I suppose, I just… I don't know. I felt like me. Like Martha Jones: medical student. And I think maybe I need to be more than that if I'm going to convince them to let me stay. At the same time I want them to know that I'm notmore, so they don't expect these great things from me. Does that make sense?"
"It does. If I could offer some words of advice?"
She nodded for him to continue.
"To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night, the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."
"Pretty much 'be myself'?" Martha snorted.
"Indeed."
She sighed. "Alright. I'll try and remember that."
"But let us not dwell on such upsetting thoughts. We have defeated a great evil, and my eyes have been opened to so many possibilities. It is a time for celebration and joy!"
Martha smiled, deciding he was right. "Got any funny stories then, Shakespeare?" She asked, wondering if anyone would believe this back home. Probably not.
"I did once meet a maiden who claimed to be the daughter of an Earl. Beautiful, though not quite as splendid as yourself. I confess I didn't believe her title, so when she asked if I would accompany her to a dance in town I declined, instead spending the day hunting with some friends of mine. When I returned that night, carrying a doe over my shoulder, it was to see her father by her side! He demanded to know the reasoning behind my rejection of his daughter, and why I had been off hunting instead of courting her. And I say, "A hart for a heart and a deer for a dear!"!"
"I don't get it," Martha admitted.
"Then give me a joke from Freedonia."
"Okay, Shakespeare walks into a pub and the landlord says "Oi mate, you're Bard"."
"That's brilliant," Shakespeare laughed as Martha chuckled. "Doesn't make sense, mind you, but never mind that. Now come here."
He put a hand on her back and drew her close to him, intending to kiss her.
"I've only just met you," Martha protested as Rose strolled back into the room.
"The Doctor may never kiss you. Why not entertain a man who will?"
She pulled back from him slightly as she caught a whiff of his breath. "I don't know how to tell you this, oh great genius," she said. "But your breath doesn't half stink."
Rose chuckled and the Doctor came in behind her, holding some sort of animal skull and wearing a neck ruffle.
"Good props store back there," he announced, holding up the fake skull. "I'm not sure about this though. Remind you of anything Rose?"
"Yeah, Christmas day and a swordfight."
"Yep," he laughed. Now thatsounded like a interesting story, and Martha added it to the list of things to ask them about it later. "It does look remarkably like a Sycorax."
"Sycorax," Shakespeare contemplated. "Nice word. I'll have that off you as well."
"I should be on ten percent. How's your head?"
"Still aching," he answered. The Doctor handed the animal skull to Rose and took off the ruffle around his neck.
"Here, I got you this. Neck brace. Wear that for a few days 'til it's better, although you might want to keep it. It suits you."
Rose and Martha grinned at each other – Shakespeare with the neck ruffle really did look the part.
"What about the play?" Martha asked.
"Gone," the Doctor replied. "We looked all over. Every single copy of Love's Labour's Won went up in the sky."
"Good riddance."
"My lost masterpiece," Shakespeare lamented.
"You could write it up again," Martha suggested.
"I wouldn't," Rose warned the author, and the Doctor backed her up.
"Yeah, better not, Will. There's still power in those words. Maybe it should best stay forgotten."
"Oh, but I've got new ideas," Shakespeare told them excitedly. "Perhaps it's time I wrote about fathers and sons, in memory of my boy, my precious Hamnet."
"Hamnet?" Martha repeated in disbelief.
"That's him."
"Hamnet?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Anyway," the Doctor interrupted, drawing out the word and picking up the orb containing the trapped Carrionites. "Time we were off. I've got a nice attic in the TARDIS where this lot can scream for all eternity, and I've got to take Martha back to Freedonia."
"You mean travel on through time and space," Shakespeare corrected.
"You what?" The Doctor responded at the same time Rose gave an incredulous, "No way!"
"You're from another world like the Carrionites, and Martha and Rose are from the future. It's not hard to work out."
"That's… incredible," the Doctor nodded. "You are incredible."
"We're alike in many ways, Doctor. But I want you to remember something: Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf, whose howl's his watch…"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose asked, and Martha was surprised at how uneasy the blonde had become at his words. The Doctor, too, was acting strangely. He didn't say a word but his expression had lost its cheerful humour and he was staring at the writer with dark eyes.
Shakespeare gazed at Rose but didn't answer. He smiled at her slightly before facing Martha.
"Martha, let me say goodbye to you in a new verse. A sonnet for my Dark Lady."
Over his head she shared an impressed look with the Doctor. "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate."
Martha could've burst with delight. She felt like squealing as the bard created one of the most well-known declarations of love the world had ever known, all for her. The Doctor rubbed his eye, amazed, and Rose clapped a hand over her mouth in astonishment.
Shakespeare didn't get a chance to finish his verse, however, as two of his actors came bursting into the theatre.
"Will!"
"Will! Will, you'll never believe it. She's here! She's turned up!"
"We're the talk of the town! She heard about last night. She wants us to perform it again!"
"Who?" queried Martha.
"Her Majesty. She's here!"
The sound of trumpets announced the presence of an older woman with sweeping robes and red hair.
"Queen Elizabeth the First!" The Doctor exclaimed happily.
The queen took him in, appearing shocked, before her eyes were drawn to the blonde by his side.
"Rose Tyler!"
"Come again?" Rose said, eyebrows arching.
"My sworn enemy!"
"What?" The Doctor gasped, gobsmacked.
"Off with her head!"
"What?!"The Doctor and Rose cried in unison.
"Never mind what," Martha yelled. "Just run! See you, Will, and thanks."
"Stop that pernicious Rose Tyler!" The queen shouted as they ran out of the theatre, and Martha could hear Shakespeare laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.
They raced back to the TARDIS, hounded by her majesty's guards, who were calling, "Stop! In the name of the queen!"
When they were nearly at the box Martha cried, "What have you done to upset her?"
"How should I know?" Rose laughed. "I've never seen her before in my life!"
"Haven't met her yet," the Doctor explained. "That's time travel for you."
Rose was the first one to the TARDIS door and she yanked her key from over her neck and jammed it in the lock.
"Still, can't wait to find out," the Doctor grinned, looking back at the guards. He managed to duck inside just as one of the arrows shot towards the ship. "You seem to have made quite an impression, Rose."
There is a reason Rose didn't recover immediately, it's not just for dramatic effect, I promise.
Please let me know your thoughts! Good, bad, suggestions, anything is welcome!