The three of us were around the console as the Doctor and I flew the TARDIS until we heard the tell-tale sign our ship had landed.
"There we go…perfect landing, which isn't easy in such a tight spot." The Doctor said looking at the scanner in front of him.
"You should be used to tight spots by now. Where are we?" Martha asked excitedly.
"The end of the line." He told her and she rushed towards the door. "No place like it." Martha looked at him, questioning if she should open the doors or not. He nodded to her and she went out of the TARDIS and left.
"Home. You took me home?" she asked him.
"In fact, the morning after we left, so you've only been gone about 12 hours. No time at all, really." The Doctor told her.
"You might want to check a calendar cause the last time he said 12 hours it was 12 months." I warned her.
"That was only once." He told me as he began looking about at her photos.
"But all the stuff we've done—Shakespeare, New New York, old New York?"
"Yep, all in one night—relatively speaking. Everything should be just as it was—books, CDs," he then picked up her underwear drying on a rack, "laundry." She snagged the offending lingerie from his fingertips as I hit his shoulder making him rub it to alleviate the pain.
"So, back were you were, as promised." He told her.
"This is it?" she asked as though she couldn't believe it.
"Yeah, I should probably…um…" the phone ringing stopped him talking and she let the answering machine pick up.
"Hi! I'm out! Leave a message!" the machine said.
"I'm sorry." She apologized to us as the machine beeped.
"Martha, are you there? Pick it up, will you?" a voice said on the other line.
"It's Mum. It'll wait." She told us.
"All right then, pretend that you're out if you like." Her mother told her and I smiled. "I was only calling to say that your sister's on TV. On the news of all things. Just thought you might be interested." Martha picked up the remote and turned on the TV.
"The details are top secret—" we heard a man say.
"How could Tish end up on the news?" Martha asked as the screen showed an older man holding a press conference with a young woman standing beside him.
"Tonight, I will demonstrate a device…"
"She's got a new job. PR for some research lab." Martha told us.
"…with the push of a single button, I will change what it means to be human." The man said before Martha switched off the TV.
"Sorry. You were saying we should-?" she asked us.
"Yes, yes, we should. One trip is what we said." The Doctor told her.
"Yeah. I suppose things just kind of…escalated." She said with a smile.
"Mmm. Seems to happen to us a lot." He said thinking about it for a moment.
"Thank you. For everything." She said to us.
"It was my pleasure." He said smiling at her. We entered the TARDIS and walked to the console and set a new destination. We dematerialized from Martha's flat before something dawned on us. We quickly rematerialized back in her flat. He quickly ran to the door and stuck his head out. "No, I'm sorry. Did he say he was going to change what it means to be human?"
That night the three of us were walking down the street in our formal wear. Martha wore a maroon dress that fell to her knees. I wore a TARDIS blue one shoulder dress that fell mid-thigh with a sheer portion falling from my waist to my feet but it only covered the sides and back of my legs with golden heels. The Doctor wore his suit and as we walked he fussed with the cuffs of his dress shirt.
"Oh, black tie. Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens." He told us.
"No, I think that's just you." I told him.
"She's right. Anyway, I think it suits you. In a James Bond kind of way." Martha told him.
"James Bond?" he asked her derisively. "Really?" he then asked approvingly. Martha and I chuckled as we approached the impressive entrance to Lazarus Laboratories. We walked inside to the main reception room and saw tons of guests mingling. Dominating the room was a large white round cabinet surrounded by four pillars with a slight curve at the top. A waiter passed by with some hors d'oeuvres and the Doctor took some. "Oh, look, they've got nibbles! I love nibbles!" I laughed lightly at him as he tossed one whole into his mouth.
"Hello." A woman said walking up to us with a smile on her face.
"Tish." Martha said and they shared a hug.
"You look great. So, what do you think? Impressive, isn't it?" Tish asked her.
"Very." Martha said nodding.
"And two nights out in a row for you—that's dangerously close to a social life." Tish joked.
"If I keep this up, I'll end up in all the gossip columns." Martha said.
"You might, actually. Keep an eye out for photographers. And Mum—she's coming too, even dragging Leo along with her." Tish told her.
"Leo in black tie? That I must see." Martha said incredulous as Tish glanced at us. "This is, uh, the Doctor and his wife, the Hunter."
"Hello." The Doctor said shaking her hand as I nodded to her.
"Is he with you?" Tish asked her.
"Yeah." Martha answered.
"But he's not on the list. How did he get in?" Tish asked her. Just he? Why did she not say they?
"They're my plus two." Martha told her.
"She's on the list but he isn't." Tish told us making the Doctor and I share a quick look.
"So, this Lazarus bloke, he's your boss?" the Doctor asked her.
"Professor Lazarus, yes. I'm part of his executive staff." Tish answered.
"She's in the PR department." Martha said.
"I'm head of the PR department, actually." Tish told her proudly.
"You're joking." Martha asked her.
"I put this whole thing together." Tish told us.
"So do you know what the professor's going to be doing tonight? That looks like it might be a sonic microfield manipulator." The Doctor said staring at the machine.
"He's a science geek. I should've known. Gotta get back to work now. I'll catch up with you later." Tish said leaving to mingle with the other quests.
"Science geek? What does that mean?" the Doctor asked.
"That you're obsessively enthusiastic about it." Martha told him.
"And that's putting it nicely." I said smirking at him.
"Oh, nice." He said and I smiled at him
"Martha." We turned to see an older woman standing next to a younger man. Martha looked at the woman as though she hadn't seen her in years. Her mother.
"Mum!" Martha called out giving her mother a big hug and I smiled gently at the sight. The Doctor held my hand and I looked up at him to see him offering me a comforting smile.
"Oh. All right, what's the occasion?" her mother asked her.
"What do you mean? I'm just pleased to see you, that's all." Martha told her pulling back from the hug.
"You saw me last night." Mrs. Jones reminded her.
"I know. I just…miss you. You're looking good, Leo." Martha told her brother.
"Yeah. If anyone asks me to fetch 'em a drink, I'll swing for him." Her brother told her making Martha laugh as her mother took notice of us behind her.
"You disappeared last night." Her mother noted.
"I...just went home." Martha lied.
"On your own?" her mother asked staring at us.
"These are some friends of mine, the Doctor and his wife, the Hunter." Martha introduced.
"Doctor what?" Mrs. Jones asked him.
"No, it's just the Doctor. We've been doing some work together." Martha told her mother as Leo shook the Doctor's hand.
"Yeah, all right." The Doctor said moving to shake Mrs. Jones hand. "Lovely to meet you, Mrs Jones. Heard a lot about you."
"Have you? What have you heard, then?" Mrs. Jones asked him and he was stumped.
"Oh, you know, that you're Martha's mother and…um… No, actually, that's…that's about it. We haven't had much time to chat, you know, been busy." The Doctor told her.
"Foot. Mouth." Was all I said and he nodded.
"Busy? Doing what, exactly?" Mrs. Jones asked.
"Helping Martha for her exams." I said hoping she'd buy it. Luckily the conversation was cut short, as there was a tapping on glass, a signal that an announcement was about to be made.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Professor Richard Lazarus and tonight I'm going to perform a miracle. It is, I believe, the most important advance since Rutherford split the atom, the biggest leap since Armstrong stood on the moon. Tonight, you will watch and wonder. Tomorrow, you'll awake to a world which will be changed forever." Lazarus entered the cabinet and two female technicians started the machinery from a bank of instruments behind the cabinet. There was a high-pitched whir and a bright blue light as the four pillars began to spin individually, creating an energy field. They then began to rotate around the cabinet, going faster and faster when suddenly a warning klaxon went off.
"Something's wrong. It's overloading." The Doctor said. The technicians tried to stop it, but some of the panels started to explode, sending off sparks. The Doctor jumped over the low desk and aimed his sonic at the controls.
"Somebody stop him! Get him away from those controls!" a woman ordered.
"If this thing goes off, it'll take the whole building with it. Is that what you want?" the Doctor asked her as he pulled one of the main wires that connected to the cabinet and it slowly stopped spinning. Martha and I ran to the door as the Doctor ran to join us. "Get it open!" he ordered and the two of us opened the door and watched as smoke poured out of the machine. Through the smoke two arms pulled up Lazarus emerging looking 40 years younger. Photographers snapped away as the three of us looked on amazed. Lazarus touched his face, realizing something before stepping completely out and standing before his machine.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Richard Lazarus. I am 76 years old and I am reborn!" Lazarus held his arms up in triumph as everyone clapped.
"He did it. He actually did it." The older woman said amazed. For the next few moments people were taking the opportunity to have their photographs taken with Lazarus as Martha and I watched as the Doctor studied the machine.
"It can't be the same guy. It's impossible. It must be a trick." Martha said looking at the younger man.
"Oh, it's not a trick." He told her.
"I wish it were." I said looking at the man who'd come through the machine.
"What just happened, then?" Martha asked.
"He just changed what it means to be human." The Doctor said glaring up at the man before the three of us moved towards him. We watched Lazarus crack his neck as if he experienced pain before gasping. A waiter came by with a tray of hors d'oeuvres and Lazarus took the whole thing before shoveling one after another into his mouth.
"Richard!" the older woman from before asked astounded at his behavior.
"I'm famished." Lazarus told her as we walked him behind him.
"Energy deficit. Always happens with this kind of process." The Doctor told him.
"Could probably eat the whole buffet table yourself." I said.
"You speak as if you see this every day, Mr and Miss-" Lazarus asked.
"Doctor and my wife the Hunter. And, well, no, not every day, but we have some experience in this kind of transformation." The Doctor corrected and explained.
"That's not possible." Lazarus told him, not believing what he'd told him.
"Using hypersonic sound waves to create a state of resonance. That's—" the Doctor said trying to think of the right word.
"Inspired." I offered and he nodded.
"You understand the theory, then." Lazarus said.
"Enough to know that you couldn't possibly have allowed for all the variables." The Doctor said.
"No experiment is entirely without risk." Lazarus countered.
"That thing nearly exploded." I countered. "You might as well have stepped into a bomb site."
"You're not qualified to comment." The woman told us.
"If I hadn't stopped it, it would have exploded." The Doctor told him.
"Then I thank you, Doctor. But that's a simple engineering issue. What happened inside the capsule was exactly what was supposed to happen. No more, no less." Lazarus told us.
"You've no way of knowing that until you've run proper tests." Martha told him.
"Look at me!" Lazarus laughed. "You can see what happened. I'm all the proof you need."
"This device will be properly certified before we start to operate commercially." The woman told us.
"Commercially?! You are joking. That'll cause chaos." Martha told them.
"Not chaos. Change. A chance for humanity to evolve, to improve." Lazarus said and I thought about Cassandra and when we'd first met her both on Platform One and New New York.
"This isn't improving or changing." I said.
"It's about you and your customers living a little longer." The Doctor said.
"Not a little longer, Doctor. A lot longer. Perhaps indefinitely." Lazarus told us.
"Richard, we have things to discuss. Upstairs." The older woman said before walking away Lazarus moving to follow her.
"Goodbye, Doctor. In a few years, you'll look back and laugh at how wrong you were." He said then reached out and took Martha's hand, kissing the back of it before taking mine and doing the same then he left.
"I think a piece of my soul die." I said as shivers ran up and down my spine. The Doctor placed his arm around my shoulders and hugged me to him as I wiped my hand on a napkin. We had what we needed with Martha anyway.
"Ooh, he's out of his depth. No idea of the damage he might have done." The Doctor told us.
"So what do we do now?" Martha asked.
"Now…well, this building must be full of laboratories. I say we do our own tests." The Doctor told her and she looked at her hand.
"Lucky I've just collected a DNA sample then, isn't it?" she asked.
"Oh, Martha Jones, you're a star." The Doctor said before the three of us retreated to one of the labs. A few minutes later we were in the lab looking at the results of the DNA test on one of the computers. "Amazing."
"What?" Martha asked him.
"Lazarus's DNA." I said seeing what he was seeing.
"I can't see anything different." She told us.
"Look at it!" he insisted and a second later the image on the screen flickered.
"Oh, my God! Did that just change? But it can't have!" she insisted.
"But it did." He told her.
"It's impossible." She said again.
"And that's two impossible things we've seen tonight. Don't you love it when that happens?" he asked smiling at us.
"Well we are in formal wear." I reminded him.
"You certainly are a downer tonight." He told me.
"No, just my normal pessimism." I told him before smiling at him.
"That means Lazarus has changed his own molecular patterns." Martha said still staring at the screen.
"Hypersonic sound waves to destabilize the cell structure then a mutagenic program to manipulate the coding in the protein strands. Basically, he hacked into his own genes and instructed them to rejuvenate." He explained.
"But they're still mutating now." Martha pointed out.
"'Cause he missed something. Something in his DNA has been activated and won't let him stabilize. Something that's trying to change him." The Doctor explained.
"Change him into what?" Martha asked us.
"That's the million dollar question." I told her. She and I had gotten a little better about treating each other fairly well considering how we'd ended the New York adventure.
"That woman said they were going upstairs." Martha pointed out.
"Let's go!" the Doctor said and we left the lab for the topmost floor.
We stepped out into the lift into Lazarus' office and the Doctor turned on the lights
"This is his office, all right." Martha asked as we looked around.
"So, where is he?" the Doctor asked.
"Dunno. Let's try back at the re…ception." I turned to her and followed her gaze to see a pair of skeletal bones wearing high heels sticking out from behind the desk. The three of us rushed over to see the desiccated remains of Richard Lazarus' wife, Lady Thaw. "Is that Lady Thaw?"
"Used to be. Now it's just a shell. Had all the life energy drained out. Like squeezing the juice out of an orange." He said and my face wrinkled at the image in my mind.
"Thank you for the image." I told him quietly.
"Lazarus." Martha said.
"Could be." The Doctor said examining the body.
"So he's changed already." Martha asked.
"Not necessarily. You saw the DNA. It was fluctuating. The process must demand energy. This might not have been enough." The Doctor told her.
"So he might do this again?" she asked shocked.
"Hmm." The three of us dashed back into the lifts and quickly made our way back to the reception.
"I can't see him." Martha said frantically.
"He can't be far. Keep looking." The Doctor told her while the two of us walked on.
"Do you see him?" he asked me but I shook my head not having seen the older man before we walked back to Martha.
"With Tish?!" Martha asked in fear as we joined her, her mother and brother.
"Ah, Doctor, Hunter." Mrs. Jones said when she saw us.
"Where did they go?" the Doctor asked hurriedly to Martha's family.
"Upstairs I think, why?" Leo asked him.
"Doctor—" the Doctor pushed past her, spilling her drink on her as he left.
"Sorry Mrs. Jones." I said before the two of us ran off to find Martha's sister. The three of us took the lift up to Lazarus' office and quickly looked around for the pair.
"Where are they?" Martha asked frantically as the Doctor pulled out his sonic.
"Fluctuating DNA will give off an energy signature. I might be able to pick it up." The Doctor said holding the sonic out at arm's length and slowly turned in a circle, its beeping increased. "Got him."
"Where?" Martha asked and the Doctor ended up pointing the sonic at the ceiling. "But this is the top floor!"
"The roof!" the young girl and I said together and the three of us ran up the stairs.
"I find that nothing's ever exactly like you expect. There's always something to surprise you. "Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act-"" We heard Lazarus say as we met up with the two of them on the roof.
"Falls the shadow"." The Doctor finished reciting making the pair turn to us.
"So the mysterious Doctor knows his Eliot. I'm impressed." Lazarus said to us.
"Martha, what are you doing here?" Tish asked her younger sister moving closer to us.
"Tish, get away from him." Martha said moving towards her.
"What? Don't tell me what to do." Tish told her.
"I wouldn't have thought you had time for poetry, Lazarus, what with you being busy defying the laws of nature and all." The Doctor said ignoring the Jones sisters.
"You're right, Doctor. One lifetime's been too short for me to do everything I'd like. How much more would I get done in two or three or four?" he asked him and I shook my head at his thought process.
"Doesn't work like that. Some people live more in 20 years than others do in 80. It's not the time that mattes; it's the person." The Doctor explained.
"But if it's the right person, what a gift that would be." Lazarus said, thinking he was the right person to live for that long.
"Or what a curse. Look at what you've done to yourself." The Doctor told him.
"Who are you to judge me?" Lazarus asked us.
"Over here, Tish." I looked to see Tish walk over to Martha.
"You have to spoil everything, don't you? Every time I find someone nice, you have to go and find fault." Tish said and I looked to see Lazarus having some sort of fit.
"Tish, he's a monster!" Martha warned her sister.
"I know the age thing's a bit freaky, but it works for Catherine Zeta-Jones." Tish told her sister.
"She meant literally." I told Tish before Lazarus growled. We all watched as Lazarus transformed into a cross between a human skeleton and a scorpion.
"Run!" the four of us raced inside and the Doctor sealed the lock with the sonic and Martha pressed the call button for the lift.
"Are you okay?" Martha asked her sister.
"I was gonna snog him." Tish said.
"Aren't you glad you didn't?" I asked her. Before she could say anything Lazarus banged on the door, alerting the buildings automatic security. Sirens began to go off and a computerized warning came over the PA.
"Security breach. Security breach. Security beach." It repeated.
"What's happening?" Martha asked.
"Uh, an intrusion. It triggers a security lockdown. Kills most of the power. Stops the lifts. Seals the exits." Tish explained to us.
"He must be breaking through that door." I said getting angry I didn't bring my gun with me. This is why I hate formal wear!
"The stairs, come on!" the Doctor shouted and we ran down the stairs when we suddenly heard the door crash open.
"He's inside!" Martha called out.
"Haven't got much time!" the Doctor said as we continued to run. We ran all the way down to the reception and was relieved to see he didn't make his way down here yet.
"Tish! Is there another way out of here?" the Doctor asked her.
"There's an exit in the corner, but it'll be locked now." Tish told us and the Doctor tossed me the sonic.
"Setting 54. Hurry." He told me.
"Let's go girls!" I said and was followed by the other two as the Doctor jumped on the platform in front of Lazarus machine.
"Listen to me! Your people are in serious danger! You need to get out of here right now!" the Doctor warned the people.
"Don't be ridiculous. The biggest danger here is choking on an olive." I heard a woman said. Suddenly glass showered behind me and saw Lazarus appear on the landing above them before leaping down to the reception floor. I rushed to the door and as everyone ran to other exits.
"Mum, get back!" I heard Leo shout behind us as I tried unlocking the door.
"Leo!" and with that the door was open.
"Over here! This way! Everyone downstairs now! Hurry!" Martha called to the quests around us. I watched as Lazarus closed in on the woman who hadn't believed the Doctor and she just stood there staring at him in shock.
"No! Get away from her!" the Doctor called out and the woman screamed and we heard the sound of her being sucked dry before her shell fell to the floor. "Lazarus! Leave them alone!"
"Martha, we have to get them out! Now!" I told her and we moved to the crowd to try and get them out.
"Martha." Her mother called out as I joined them having pointed the way for the other guests to go.
"C'mon, stay with me." Martha told Leo.
"We need to go. We're only in the way right here." I told them and the four of us moved away from the Doctor and Lazarus.
"What's the point if you can't control it? The mutation's too strong. Killing those people won't help you. You're a fool, a vain old man who thought he could defy Nature. Only Nature got her own back, didn't she? You're a joke, Lazarus! A footnote in the history of failure!" I heard the Doctor say before turning and watching the Doctor run out of the reception hall and. When we got outside Martha started examining Leo's head.
"What's the Doctor doing?" Tish asked us.
"He's buying us some time. Let's not waste it." I told her.
"Leo, look at me. Let me see your eyes." Martha told her brother.
"How is he?" I asked her.
"He's got concussion. You'll need to help him downstairs." Martha told her mother before going to an ice bucket and putting some ice in a napkin, which she then gave to her mother. "This'll keep the swelling down. Go! I'll be right behind you! Tish, move! We need to get out of here!" Everyone ran down the stairs to the main entrance but the doors were once again locked.
"We can't get out! We're trapped!" Tish said.
"There must be an override switch. Where's the security desk?" I asked her.
"Right there." I ran to the desk and slide over the top and checked the panel layout before using the sonic. The power came back on and the doors opened letting everyone escape.
"I've got to go back." I'm going back." I told Martha.
"Right, let's go." She said stubbornly.
"You can't! You saw what that thing did. It'll kill you." Her mother called after her.
"I don't care. I have to go." She told her.
"It's that Doctor and the Hunter, isn't it?" she asked glaring at me. "That's what's happened to you. That's why you've changed."
"He was buying us time, Martha. Time for you to get out, too." Tish told her sister.
"I'm not leaving him." Martha told her family and we ran off to find him. We ran back into the reception and towards where I saw the Doctor running. We ran into the hallways and looked around for where he could have been, but saw no sign. We heard the crash and changed direction towards it. We all ran into each other at a corner.
"What are you doing here?" he asked us.
"Thought you might need help." I told him.
"How did you-?" he asked us shocked.
"We heard the explosion. Guessed it was you." Martha told him.
"One thing we are always going to find at an explosion, you." I told him smiling.
"I blasted Lazarus." He told us.
"Did you kill him?" she asked hopeful. We all turned as we heard crashing down the hall and we turned to see Lazarus rushing towards us.
"Great. You got him angry with us." I said before we started running once more back into the reception room.
"What now? We've just gone 'round in a circle!" Martha said. The Doctor ran to try to find something to help us when Lazarus burst in rushing towards us.
"Martha!" I called to her, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the device with me.
"Are we really hiding?" she asked me quietly.
"No, he knows we're here. But this is his baby. I'm betting he won't destroy it, not even to get at the two of us. But I'm worried about the Doctor. With him knowing we're in here he'll try and draw Lazarus away from us." I said thinking of what he might do.
"But now we're trapped!" she told me.
"Being trapped is a slight problem and let's focus on that so I don't go crazy in here." I said.
"You mean you don't have a plan?" she asked hopeful.
"Yes, this is the plan!" I told her.
"Then what?" she asked me.
"Then there'd be another plan." I told her.
"In your own time, then." She told me and I glared slightly.
"I still have his sonic. Here we are." I said showing it to her.
"What're you gonna do with that?" she asked me.
"What we do best. Improvise." I said before sliding down slowly to the floor and popping a panel open.
"I still don't understand where that thing came from. Is it alien?" she asked me.
"No, for once it's human in origin." I told her using the sonic on the wires.
"Human? How can it be human?" she asked not believing me.
"Probably from dormant genes in the human DNA. The energy field in this thing must have reactivated them, and know they're becoming dominant." I told her.
"So it's a throwback?" she asked.
"Some option that evolution rejected for your race millions of years ago, but the potential is still there. Locked away in your genes, forgotten about until Lazarus unlocked it by mistake." I told her.
"It's like Pandora's box." She said.
"Exactly." I said agreeing with her. Suddenly a blue light filled the capsule.
"Hunter, what's happening?" she asked fearfully.
"Sounds like he's switched the machine on." I told her.
"That's not good, is it?" Martha asked.
"Do you want look like the human scorpion out there?" I asked her.
"Of course not." She told me as I worked. "I don't want to hurry you, but—" she started complaining to me.
"I know, I know. Nearly done. I just hope that the Doctor's not in the way." I said.
"What're you doin'?" she asked me.
"Trying to set the capsule to reflect energy rather than receive it." I said.
"Will that kill him?" she asked me.
"When he transforms, he's three times his size—cellular triplication—so he's spreading himself thin. Like too much butter on bread." I told her and she made a face at the image.
"We're gonna end up like him!" she said fearfully.
"Just one more minute!" I said. I pulled a wire and the energy field changed, moving out from the capsule instead of in. When I heard Lazarus fall I opened the door and stepped out with Martha behind me. The Doctor came out from behind where the scientists had been during the demonstration.
"I thought we were gonna go through the blender then." Martha said.
"It took you that long to reverse the polarity?" he asked me
"I must be a bit out of practice." I said looking at Lazarus lying and human form, naked, on the floor.
"Oh God. He seems so…human again. It's kind of pitiful." Martha said.
"Eliot saw that, too. "This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper."" The Doctor recited.
A short while later, medical services came up to take the body away, carrying it out on a gurney in a bag. The three of us watch from the steps before Martha's family walked up to us.
"She's here. Oh, she's all right." Tish said hugging Martha relieved.
"Ah, Mrs Jones, we still haven't finished out chat." The Doctor said smiling before she slapped him on the face.
"Keep away from my daughter." Mrs. Jones ordered him.
"Mum, what are you doing?" Martha asked him shocked and the Doctor put his hand on his cheek.
"You okay?" I asked him.
"All their mothers, every time." He said and I laughed lightly.
"He is dangerous! I've been told things." Mrs. Jones told us. Again, just the Doctor was implicated in her speech. What was going on?
"What are you talking about?" Martha asked her mother who took her by the shoulders.
"Look around you! Nothing but death and destruction!" Mrs. Jones told her.
"This isn't his fault. He saved us, all of us!" Martha told her.
"It was Tish who invited everyone to this thing in the first place. I'd say technically, it's her fault." Leo said and Tish elbowed her in the side. There was a crash and Martha, the Doctor and I gave each other a look before he and I ran off to see what was happening. The Doctor and I were soon joined by Martha and her sister as we ran down the street to see the ambulance, the doors open and the medics merely husks.
"Lazarus, back from the dead. Should've known, really." The Doctor said. He took out his sonic and searched for Lazarus like he did earlier in his office.
"Where's he gone?" Martha asked.
"That way. The church." The Doctor said as we looked at the church.
"Cathedral." We all looked at Tish when she corrected him. "It's Southwark Cathedral. He told me."
"He's got a past here. Means this'll be the last place he goes." I said. We proceeded into the cathedral and up to the nave, the Doctor in front with the sonic so we could find him.
"Do you think he's in here?" Martha asked us.
"Where would you go if you were looking for sanctuary?" the Doctor asked. We moved forward through the empty cathedral to the open space behind the alter and underneath the bell tower. Lazarus was sitting there gasping, a red blanket from the ambulance wrapped about him.
"I came here before. A lifetime ago. I thought I was going to die then. In fact, I was sure of it. I sat there, just a child…the sound of planes and bombs outside." Lazarus told us.
"The Blitz." The Doctor said.
"You've read about it." Lazarus said.
"The Hunter and I was there." The Doctor told him motioning to me making Lazarus scoff at him.
"You're too young." He said.
"So are you." The Doctor told him. Lazarus laughed but it was soon turned to gasps of pain as the fought the mautaion
"In the morning, the fires had died, and I was still alive. I swore I'd never face death like that again." Lazarus said as the Doctor walked around him slowly. He looked to me then up to the bell tower. I followed his gaze and nodded. "So defenceless. I would arm myself, fight back, defeat it."
"That's what you were trying to do today." The Doctor said.
"That's what I did today." Lazarus corrected.
"What about the other people who died?" the Doctor asked him.
"They were nothing." He said and I grew angry at his words. "I changed the course of history."
"Any of them might have done, too. You think history's only made with equations? Facing death is part of being human. You can't change that." The Doctor told him.
"No, Doctor. Avoiding death. That's being human. It's our strongest impulse, to cling to life with every fiber of being. I'm doing what everyone before me has tried to do. I've simply been more…successful." Lazarus said before groaning in pain as his body tried to change.
"Look at yourself! You're mutating! You've no control over it! You call that a success?" the Doctor asked him.
"I call it progress. I'm more now that I was. More than just an ordinary human." Lazarus said.
"There's no such thing as an ordinary human." The Doctor told him.
"He's gonna change again at any minute." Martha whispered to me.
"We know. If we can get him up into the bell tower somehow, the Doctor's got an idea that might work." I whispered back.
"Up there?" she asked me and I nodded.
"Wanna help me protect him?" I asked her smirking and she nodded.
"You're so sentimental, Doctor. Maybe you are older than you look." Lazarus said.
"I'm old enough to know that a longer life isn't always a better one. In the end, you just get tired. Tired of the struggle. Tired of losing everyone that matters to you. Tried of watching everything turn to dust." The Doctor told him squatting next to him. I felt Martha's gaze on the two of us, as though she hadn't understood something until now. "If you live long enough, Lazarus, the only certainty left is that you end up alone."
"That's a price worth paying." Lazarus told him.
"Is it?" the Doctor asked him.
"I will feed soon." Lazarus warned.
"I'm not gonna let that happen." The Doctor told her.
"You've not been able to stop me so far." Lazarus reminded him. I nodded to Martha and she came up behind Lazarus.
"Leave him, Lazarus! He's old and bitter. Thought you had a taste for fresher meat." She said to him.
"Martha, no. Hunter, stop her." The Doctor told us but I grabbed her hand once more as Lazarus began to snarl and chase after us. Tish soon joined the two of us running towards the bell tower.
"What are you doing?" Martha asked her.
"Keeping you out of trouble!" Tish told her.
"Doctor! The tower!" I shouted to him before the three of us ran up a narrow spiral staircase that led to the upper level with Lazarus following beginning to scream.
"Did you hear that?" Tish asked us.
"He's changed again." Martha told us.
"And this is why we run so much." I told them as we continued to run.
"Hunter?! Martha?!" the Doctor called to us and the two of us peered out of one of the archways in the upper level.
"Doctor!" Martha called to him.
"Take him to the top, the very top of the bell tower, d'you hear me?!" he asked us.
"Up to the top!" Martha called down to him.
"Consider him there!" I told him giving him a thumbs up.
"Martha…" we looked behind us to us to see Lazarus making his way to us.
"Then what?" the Doctor called down to him.
"Martha, come on!" Tish called to us and the three of us ran away from him. We finally arrived at the top of the bell tower, which consisted of a circular walkway with wooden rails.
"There's nowhere to go! We're trapped!" Tish said.
"This is where he said to bring him." Martha told her.
"Exactly. Not trapped. Bait." I told her.
"That's so much better." Tish said sarcastically.
"He knows what he's doing. We have to trust him." Martha told her.
"Ladies." Lazarus hissed as he entered, blocking the only doorway.
"Stay behind me. If he takes me, make a run for it. Head down the stairs, you should have enough time." Martha told her sister.
"Sorry Martha, not letting you do that." I told her moving them behind me. "Be prepared to run again."
"But—" both sister tried to argue.
"No time to argue girls." I told them as Lazarus attacked, swinging down his tail knocking away part of the wall. I pushed Martha and Tish letting his tail hit my back causing me to scream and fall over, clinging to the edge.
"Hunter!" Martha called out as she and Tish grabbed my arms to help me back up. Lazarus leapt across the small room to stand over us.
"Martha! Tish! Move now!" I ordered them, but they didn't listen.
"Hold on!" Tish told me.
"Get away from her!" Martha shouted at him before he pushed them aside with his tail.
"Martha! Tish!" I shouted but it was drowned out by the sounds of the organ playing around us. I watched the sisters hold their heads in agony as the sound waves from the organ resonated in the tight space. I watched as Lazarus began to writhe in agony as I held on to the small landing. I ducked the best I could as Lazarus toppled over me and the edge and fell to the floor below. The Doctor finally stopped playing and the girls quickly grabbed my arms.
"We've got you. Hold on." Martha told me as they pulled me up.
"Hunter?!" the Doctor called up to me. "Martha?!" the sisters pulled me back onto the walkway and we all huddled together panting.
"We're okay! We're all okay!" Martha called down to him.
"Thanks." I said to the two of them.
"It's your Doctor you should be thanking." She told me.
"Yea, he's good in a pinch. I'll give him that. That's why I keep him around after all." I told them and we all laughed.
"He cut it a bit fine there, didn't he?" Tish asked me.
"He always does." Martha told him.
"It's more fun that way." I told them.
"Who is he?" Tish asked.
"He's…he's the Doctor." Martha told her.
"More than that. He's my husband. The only man I've ever wanted." I told them. They both gave me a small look as I remembered all we've lost in the time we traveled before standing and offering them both my hands. "Shall we ladies?" When we got down to the Doctor he smiled and ran over to me and hugged me tightly to him while spinning me a few times making me laugh.
"I didn't know you could play?" Martha said coming up behind us.
"Oh, well, you know, if you hang around with Beethoven, you're bound to pick a few things up." He told her.
"Hmm, especially about playing loud." Martha said.
"Sorry?" the Doctor asked leaning forward like he didn't hear her making us laugh.
The next day, we all stood in Martha's flat in front of the TARDIS.
"Something else that just kind of escalated, then." The Doctor said.
"I can see a pattern developing. You should take more care in the future. And the past, and whatever other time period you find yourself in." Martha told us.
"It's good fun, though, isn't it?" he asked her.
"Yeah." She agreed.
"So, what d'you say, one more trip?" he asked her with a grin on his face.
"No. Sorry." She declined.
"What do you mean? I thought you liked it." He said to her.
"I do, but I can't go on like this. "One more trip." It's not fair." She told him.
"What're you talking about?" he asked her and I gave him a look.
"I don't want to be just a passenger anymore. Someone you take along for a treat. If that's how you still see me, well, I'd rather stay here." She told him.
"Okay, then." The Doctor agreed.
"If that's what you want." I told her.
"Right. But we've already said good-bye once today so it's really best if you just go." Martha said walking away from us keeping her back to us. When the Doctor and I didn't say anything, she looked over her shoulder at us. "What is it?"
"What? We said okay." The Doctor told her.
"Sorry?" she asked.
"Okay." I repeated nodding my head to the TARDIS behind me, smiling at her.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you!" the hugged me and laughed before hugging the Doctor.
"Well, you were never really just a passenger, were you?" the Doctor asked her as we entered the entered the TARDIS and left for our next adventure.
Next time on The Doctor's Girl:
"Distress signal!" the Doctor told us as he and I tried to pilot.
"Locking on!" I told him
"Now, that is hot!" he said as we looked out of a small window to see a sun close by. "Can't stand the heat..." he opened the door only to get blasted back by the heat. "This ship's gone mad."
"Who are you?" she asked us as she ran up to us.
"I'm the Doctor." he said before following us.
"Get out of there!" a woman ordered.
"Burn with me."
"Oh god." I said worry lacing every word. We heard her scream over the PA.
"You can't stop it!" he told us while struggling against us.
"That's enough!" the Doctor ordered.
"Drop it now!" I said pointing my gun at the two.
"That is brilliant." she told him.
"I know." he nodded comically making me shake my head at him. Martha patted the glass slower than before realizing the situation she was in.
"I'll save you!" he told her.
"It's all your fault." the Doctor and I shared a look.
"Doctor! Hunter!" she said running to us. "We're stuck here."