Trigger warnings on this one. It does start during the "Year that Never Was" and the OC is someone who's not being treated kindly by the Master.
The Doctor stared out the windows sadly, hearts clenching in pain as he looked down at the once prosperous planet that was now desolate and dead. He shifted, grimacing at the pull of his wrinkled old skin, already missing his younger body after what the Master had done. He just didn't understand why he was acting this way. Why he had to take out his anger and pain on a planet that had nothing to do with him. The Doctor closed his eyes, not wanting to think about it anymore, though knowing that this was just the beginning. He heard a door open and resisted the temptation to reopen his eyes, knowing it was just going to be the Master coming in to taunt him some more. There was a clattering of silverware though, and the steps that headed his direction sounded nothing like the Masters. Less joyful madness and more meek uncertainty. What he saw when he opened his eyes, only added to the pain in his hearts.
A young woman, no older than 30, made her way over carefully with a tray of food. A cloth was wrapped around her eyes, explaining her hesitance, and the longer the Doctor looked at her, the more confused he was. Who is she? Why is she here? She stopped just before him and knelt down, setting the tray on the ground and laying out the silverware in a way that said she'd done it a million times before. As she did though, the loose-fitting white long-sleeved shirt that hung on her thin frame shifted, revealing scars peeking out by her collar bone and along her hands and wrists. Did he do this to her? Why? For what purpose? He looked at her face, eyes tracing a scar that ran from just above her right eyebrow into her hairline.
"What's your name?" He croaked out, making her pause in setting up his meal.
"I'm not supposed to talk with anyone," she murmured, voice deeper than he expected.
"He's not here," he pressed, eyeing her as the corner of her lips twitched in apparent amusement.
"I don't have one," she answered him. "I don't remember if I did. Amnesia."
The Doctor nodded in understanding, eyeing his meal and grimacing. It didn't look very good. The woman stood again but didn't leave, earning a curious brow from him. As though sensing he was looking at her, she spoke.
"He told me to wait until you finished."
The Doctor raised a brow, unable to help himself. "How are you supposed to know when I'm done?" He winced once he realized what he'd said. "Sorry. I didn't mean—"
"He says things like that," she commented idly, causing him more guilt until he spotted the hint of amusement on her face again. "The fact that either of you think words hurt me is almost funny at this point."
That made the Doctor smile a little, picking up his spoon and eating slowly, not wanting her to leave just yet. Someone able to keep a sense of humor in this mess? She's definitely something.
"If you eat any slower, we'll be here all day."
The Doctor raised a brow, spoon stopping halfway to his mouth as the woman tipped her sightless gaze towards the window.
"He'll get suspicious if I'm not back in a few minutes," she continued, turning back to him.
"Can you see me?" He asked, making her crack the smallest of smiles.
"No."
"Then, how—"
She tapped one of her ears. "I can hear the spoon every time it touches the tray, hear you chewing. At the rate you're going, and the amount of food given to you, we'll be here for an hour at least, if not two."
He sat straighter, seeing her in a new light. "Oh, you're clever!"
"I'm good at calculations," she corrected. "It's why he keeps me."
The Doctor's smile faltered, eyes shifting to the scars again. "Did he do that to you? The scars?"
"Some," she admitted almost nonchalantly. "Most were there when he found me."
He frowned at the thought of who could have done something like that to her but knew that humans could be capable of terrible things, just as any species could. He finished eating a minute later, not wanting her to get punished for his curiosity, and she gathered it up, taking calculated steps back towards the door.
"The Master," he called out, stopping her. "What does he call you?"
She tipped her head, speaking over her shoulder. "Blind."
Their meetings continued that way for a few months. She would show up with his food and he'd ask her questions about various things. He found her to be very intelligent and decent company for the time he was there. Even when the Master would come in and taunt him or shout at him, he always looked forward to his time meeting with the woman he'd dubbed Nova. She hadn't commented on it when he gave her the name, just accepted it, even answering to it after a few more meetings. Six months in though, something changed.
He'd calculated that she'd bring him food every week or every two weeks, so when the third week started to come up, he'd gotten worried. Then, she finally walked in and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Nova, you had me worried," he breathed out, only for a second figure to follow in behind her, making the Doctor stiffen.
"Nova, is it? Oh, how cute. You've named my little pet," the Master smirked, sliding in behind her and purposefully tripping her so she stumbled to the ground and dropped the Doctor's food.
She only let out a soft sigh though, trying to pick it up. The Doctor spotted the bandages around her neck then, feeling something dark pooling in his stomach at the hint of a burn mark that now crept up the right side.
"Why are you doing this?" The Doctor demanded, earning a raised brow from the Master. "Why are you tormenting someone who has nothing to do with any of this?"
"Nothing to do with this? Oh, no, no, no. She has everything to do with this," the Master smirked, bounding over to him and kneeling down. "Didn't she tell you? You two were getting so chummy, after all."
The Doctor gave the woman a brief glance. "Tell me what?"
The Master's grin grew. "She created the Paradox Machine."
The Doctor's eyes widened in disbelief. "You're lying."
"Lying? Me?" The Master pretended as if the words hurt. "I wouldn't lie about something like that. Anything that hurts you is my pleasure," he purred. "She did the calculations for the Paradox Machine, for how long it would take for me to get this far, for the number of Toclafane required to accomplish my goals. She's a right little genius. And to think, I found her on the streets being sold, abused, and raped. By her own family even." The Master shook his head with a few disappointed clicks of his tongue. "I took care of them, of course. I'm not entirely heartless. Which is why I was wondering what made her so willing to disobey me lately. To think it was because of you."
"We didn't do anything. We just talked," the Doctor pressed. "You didn't have to hurt her for that!"
"Yes, I did!" The Master snapped in return. "Because I know how you work. You get into people's heads, plant ideas, get them working for you, and she's mine."
"She's a human being!"
"Not anymore, she's not," he muttered, standing and heading for the woman in question as she stood and held the tray of food with quivering hands.
"What do you mean? What have you done?"
The Master smacked the tray from her hands, making it clatter to the ground once more and causing the woman to violently flinch at the sound before he grabbed her jaw. "She was a mess when I found her. Eyes burned and useless, mute, mental damage near overwhelming and barely hanging on to life. I saved her."
"What did you do?" The Doctor pressed, mind racing a mile a minute.
"I was still within the first 15 hours of my regeneration. She was dying." the Master smirked. "She attacked me. The fact that she ingested my blood was her own fault."
"No… You didn't. She could have died!"
"She was already dying," the Master scoffed. "I gave her a chance. The regeneration energy in my blood healed her physically and with enough mental stimulation, I fixed her mind. I got her talking. I uncovered the untapped genius potential that those idiot humans didn't even notice. I helped her see."
"L-Let me go," Nova murmured, a shaky hand grabbing his wrist. "I don't want to see this. I don't want to see."
The Master smirked, but released her, looking at the Doctor over his shoulder. "My regeneration energy tried to heal her eyes. It was impossible, but it did something better. Touch telepathy. She can see what I can, so long as there's physical contact. Good, isn't it?"
The Doctor had no words, unable to wrap his head around what was being said. "She's… a partial Time Lord?"
The Master scoffed. "Hardly. I've been testing it. Seeing what her limits are."
The Doctor grimaced at the thought of what the Master might have done.
"Accelerated healing, touch telepathy, hypnotic resistance, no sign of potential regenerations, limited accelerated learning. She's barely like a Time Lord."
"But it's still something. She's… changed. You've changed her."
"I know. Isn't it great?" He grinned, before quickly frowning again as he faced the woman. "Now, I do believe we have an appointment, Nova."
"Don't hurt her," the Doctor pressed again, unable to help but feel concerned for the woman even after finding out what she was.
The Master ignored him though, grabbing her arm and pulling her back out of the room.
The Doctor didn't see her again until a few weeks later when she brought him his meal once more. This time, she kept her distance and never once turned her head in his direction, just staring at the ground and waiting for him to finish eating before leaving again. He was glad to see she hadn't gotten any more bandages or scars, and that the burn was healing well enough. He still spoke to her too, even if she didn't respond. He told her stories of planets he'd visited and companions he'd met. Told her about Martha and Jack, Rose and her family, even about his granddaughter Susan. He didn't know what it was about her, but her silent, calm appearance even now made things feel so much less like torture in the six months to come. And he hoped he was doing the same for her.
After everything, he wanted to take her away from this. The blind woman who could still smile and joke during the year that never was. She deserved to get out of here more than anyone, especially as someone who was never meant to get involved in this in the first place.
"I'm sorry you're so scared," he'd said one day, unable to help himself as she'd stared at the ground, and surprisingly enough, she'd responded.
"I'm not scared," she'd said. "I'm just tired."
That was weeks ago, and he hadn't heard a word from her since. Now though, he had other things to worry about. A plan was being laid into motion, and he could only hope that it would work, though a large part of him knew it wouldn't. Could the Master really be that dull? His thoughts rang, but he had hope, and perhaps that was why it went wrong.
The clock changed to three and an alarm blared, distracting the Master long enough for Francine to grab his coat and throw it to Tish, who then passed it to the elderly Doctor. He pulled out the laser sonic and pointed it at the Master, who turned and put his hands up, not looking entirely bothered.
"Oh, I see."
"I told you," the Doctor croaked out. "I have one thing to say."
The Master laughed though, confirming the Doctor's fears when the laser sonic didn't work. "Isomorphic controls, which means they only work for me. Like this," he hummed, knocking the Doctor away and to the floor before shooting a beam near Francine's head. "Say sorry!"
"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Francine cried; Tish heading over to comfort her as best she could.
"Didn't you learn anything from the blessed Saint Martha? Siding with the Doctor is a very dangerous thing to do. Take them away," the Master snapped, and a guard led them out as Lucy helped him with his coat. "Okay, gotcha," he said then, helping the Doctor up and dropping him off in a chair. "There you go, Gramps. Oh, do you know, I remember the days when the Doctor—Oh, that famous Doctor—was waging a Time War, battling Sea Devils and Axons. He sealed the rift at the Medusa Cascade single-handed. And look at him now. Stealing screwdrivers. How did he ever come to this? Oh yeah, me."
"I just need you to listen," the Doctor breathed.
"No, it's my turn. Revenge! Best served hot. And this time, it's a message for Miss Jones. And bring in the Blind, would you?"
Nova was brought in and the Doctor grimaced at the state she was in. It had been only a week since he saw her last, but she'd gotten slimmer, and there were dark bags under her eyes he could just barely see near the edge of the bandage, displaying her lack of proper sleep and nutrition. He's starving her, he noted, feeling again, that burning in his hearts of anger and frustration with his fellow Time Lord.
"Hang onto her," the Master commanded. "And don't turn away from what's about to happen. I want her to see every minute of this."
The smallest grimace appeared on Nova's face, but it was gone before anyone except the Doctor noticed, and soon, the cameras were rolling as the Master circled the Doctor like a beast after its prey.
"My people. Salutations on this, the eve of war. Lovely woman. But I know there are all sorts of whispers down there. Stories of a child, walking the Earth, giving you hope," he declared. "But I ask you, how much hope has this man got? Say hello, Gandalf. Except he's not that old, but he's an alien with a much greater lifespan than you stunted little apes. But what if it showed? What if I suspend your capacity to regenerate? All nine hundred years of your life, Doctor. What if we could see them?" He lifted his laser screwdriver and pointed it at the Doctor, watching him convulse down out of the chair and onto the ground before he was gone from view. "Doctor?"
Tears streaked down Nova's cheeks, unable to control whether or not she was witness to what had happened, but for a moment, she swore she saw concern pass over the Master's face. As though he finally believed himself to have gone too far. Then, there was movement from the Doctor's clothes and a large-eyed creature of some sort poked its head out. The expression was gone, and the Master smirked at the cameras.
"Received and understood, Miss Jones?"
Later that evening, the Master and his wife dropped back on deck for a visit—Nova standing by already waiting for the Doctor to finish his meal; for once, neither of them speaking.
"Tomorrow, they launch. We're opening up a rift in the Braccatolian space," the Master explained, stepping towards the birdcage that the tiny Doctor was trapped in as Lucy hung back by the table. "They won't see us coming. It's kind of scary."
"Then, stop."
"Once the Empire is established, and there's a new Gallifrey in the heavens, maybe then it stops… The drumming. The never-ending drumbeat. Ever since I was a child. I looked into the vortex. That's when it chose me. The drumming, the call to war. Can't you hear it? Listen, it's there now. Right now. Tell me you can hear it, Doctor. Tell me."
The Doctor tried, he really did, but still, he heard nothing. "It's only you."
"Good."
The door opened then, a Toclafane flying into the room, making Nova take a small step back—the Doctor noticed.
"Tomorrow, the war. Tomorrow, we rise, never to fall."
"You see? I'm doing it for them. You should be grateful. After all, you love them so very, very much," the Master cooed, settling into a seat. "I took Lucy to Utopia. A Time Lord and his human companion. I took her to see the stars. Isn't that right, sweetheart?"
"Trillions of years into the future, to the end of the universe," the once radiant woman said breathlessly.
"Tell him what you saw."
"Dying. Everything dying. The whole of creation was falling apart, and I thought, there's no point. No point to anything. Not ever."
"And it's all your fault."
"It's not."
The Master's eyes whipped to Nova. "Excuse me?"
"It's not his fault," she repeated. "It's mine. I helped make that stupid machine. I deserve more of the blame than he does. He just happened to be there, happened to have what was needed of the paradox machine. I was the one who made it work."
The Master stood up aggressively. "And where's my credit? I knew the math too, sweetheart. I could have easily done it without you."
There, the smallest of smirks again, the Doctor noticed as Nova didn't even turn around to face the Master.
"Still, no Doctor."
The Master bristled as the Doctor cracked a small smile, only to turn into one of fear as the Master grabbed her and slammed her into the table.
"Oh, ho. You've gotten cheeky again. Did nothing I do last time get it through your thick skull?" He growled—a hand wrapped tightly around her throat as she wheezed and pawed at his hand weakly. "Perhaps I need to take things a step further to make sure you understand, hm?"
"Stop it," the Doctor breathed out, voice catching in his throat as the Master held the woman's forearm against the edge of the table and started to add pressure. "Master, stop! Stop this! She didn't mean it!"
"I-I…"
Their gazes went to Nova, whose expression was pinched in pain as her arm creaked under the strain. Yet, a smile formed on her face, bigger than any the Doctor had seen thus far.
"I m-meant every f-fucking word."
The Master snarled and there was a sickening crack. Nova let out a cry of pain as the Master let her go to cradle her broken arm.
"Get up. I said, get up!" He shouted, kicking her solidly in the stomach before she tried to get back onto her feet, him grabbing her shirt and pulling her close. "Now, you're going back to that room and if I have to deal with any more of this nonsense, I'm getting rid of you for good, got that?"
Nova looked almost ready to challenge him again, so the Doctor quickly cut in.
"Nova, just… just do as he says, please."
She hesitated, but once the Master let her go, she silently walked out; leaving the two on their own once more. The Doctor more determined than ever to get her out of this in one piece.
"Citizens of Earth, rejoice and observe," the Master called out to the world, a grin stretched wide across his face as Martha was brought in. "Your teleport device, in case you thought I'd forgotten."
Martha tossed her Vortex Manipulator to him, giving her family a brief glance and spotting Jack and the Doctor nearby as well. Everyone had been gathered, except there was no sign of Nova, which worried the Doctor.
"Two hundred thousand ships set to burn across the universe," the Master crooned. "Are we ready?"
"The fleet awaits your signal. Rejoice!"
"Three minutes to align the black hold converters. Counting down. I never could resist a ticking clock. My children, are you ready?"
The Toclafane floated and twirled. "We will fly and blaze and slice. We will fly and blaze and slice."
"At zero, to mark this day, the child Martha Jones, will die. My first blood. Any last words? No? Such a disappointment, this one. Days of old, Doctor, you had companions who could absorb the time vortex. This one's useless," the Master scoffed. "And so, it falls to me, as Master of all, to establish from this day, a new order of Time Lords. From this day forward—"
And then, Martha began to laugh. He hadn't known. The Master hadn't thought that far ahead. He thought he knew the Doctor, claimed he did, yet he had managed to look over the obvious. Something he'd even explained to Nova. The Doctor changed people, affected them in ways that made them fight back without ever doing much more than talk. And it had happened to him.
There was no weapon with four parts. Martha just traveled the world and told stories about the Doctor to anyone and everyone she could find. So, when the time came down to it, all anyone had to do was think of him.
"The Archangel Network."
"A telepathic field binding the whole human race together, with all of them, every single person on Earth, thinking the same thing at the same time. And that word is Doctor."
Said man began to glow, transforming back into his old self as the Master panicked and coward in fear.
"The one thing you can't do, stop them thinking," the Doctor explained, eyeing the Master with pity. "Tell me the human race is degenerate now when they can do this."
"No!" The Master shot his laser sonic at the Doctor, but nothing happened as the Time Lord apologized to his old friend.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Scrambling, the Master turned it towards Martha and her family. "Then, I'll kill them." But he was easily disarmed. "You can't do this! You can't do it! It's not fair!"
"And you know what happens now," the Doctor said, moving towards him calmly as the man shrank back and curled into a ball in the corner. "You wouldn't listen, because you know what I'm going to say." The Doctor wrapped his arms around the man. "I forgive you."
The Master bristled, hissing to the Toclafane. "My children."
The Doctor released him, sending Jack and some soldiers to destroy the Paradox Machine, only to get teleported back with the Master to Earth for a brief moment before returning just as the machine was destroyed.
"Everyone get down! Time is reversing!" The Doctor shouted, clinging to Martha as everything calmed down. "The Paradox is broken. We've reverted back, one year and one day. Two minutes past eight in the morning," he announced, proving it by playing the incoming message from Earth.
"This is UNIT Central. What's happened up there? We just saw the president assassinated."
"Just after the President was killed, but just before the spheres arrived. Everything back to normal. Planet Earth restored. None of it happened. The rockets, the terror. It never was."
"What about the spheres?" Martha asked in concern.
"Trapped at the end of the universe."
"But I can remember it," Francine breathed.
"We're at the eye of the storm. The only ones who'll ever know."
And they were. Everyone who was on board the Valliant would remember what happened for many years to come. All would be haunted by it, but none would be bothered by the Master after his wife shot him and he refused to regenerate. The Doctor was the only one who took his death for what it was, a horrible tragedy. After what he'd done, everyone else was bitter and angry. For him, a good friend—haunted by some noise in his head—had gone insane and given up his life out of fear of what could be. So, the Doctor had taken the Tardis down and given the Master a proper funeral on his own, so lost in the daze of his grief that he hadn't realized what he'd forgotten.
Jack had been making sure that everyone on board the Valliant was understanding what could and couldn't be mentioned upon returning. He was taking charge, ensuring that people who were hurt or needed care were dealt with, and searching the rest of the ship for any more remnants of the Master's tyrannical reign. It was only while skimming the security feeds that he found something odd. A dark room with a single figure in it, sitting up against a wall in a corner. The only person who hadn't been brought onto the main deck during the Master's final showdown, which made Jack curious. So, he grabbed Martha, unsure of what sort of shape the person might be in, and the two headed for the room.
"You didn't see who it was?"
He shook his head. "The room was pitch black on the security feeds. Had to go into night vision to even see in there and they were facing away from the camera. No windows, no lights. Whoever it is, has been kept in total darkness."
Martha frowned. "But why wouldn't he bring them with everyone else?"
Jack shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe they aren't in good enough shape? It's why I brought you. An actual doctor might come in handy if that's the case. Should be right around here."
They found the door they wanted, and Jack hesitantly opened it, peering into the dark room and using a torch to try and find the person he saw. The woman, he noticed, hadn't moved other than tilting her head slightly towards them.
"Hey there. Are you all right?" He asked cautiously, knowing how jumpy people could be after having dealt with the Master. "I'm Captain Jack Harkness and this is Martha Jones. You're free to come out of here now. I promise the Master's been dealt with."
"Is he dead?"
Jack and Martha exchanged a look before Martha nodded.
"Yes. His wife shot him."
The response they got wasn't what either of them expected.
"I told him as much. Never understood why he insisted on staying with her," the woman muttered, slowly getting up only for Martha to hurry forward when she faltered.
"Hold on! We don't know if you're hurt or—"
The woman pulled her arm out of Martha's grip, grimacing. "I-I'm not in good shape, but please… don't touch me."
"How are we supposed to help you then?" Jack asked.
"I'll be fine, just… don't go very fast."
Jack shrugged at Martha's look, but they did as she said and silently led her from the room and onto the deck, where she paused and winced.
"What's wrong?"
"N-Nothing. It's just… loud. Is the Doctor here?"
"Uh, no. Shouldn't you take that cloth off, so you can see?" Jack asked, reaching towards her face, only for her to swat at it lightly.
"No," she grumbled. "I'm blind anyway. No point. Where is he? Where's the Doctor?"
"He's… gone," Martha explained, waving Jack off to go help others as she brought the woman to a chair to sit in. "He went to go burn the Master's body. He won't be coming. Least, not back here, anyway."
The woman's expression turned solemn as her head tilted down towards the table. "I… see."
The silent, "I should have known" went unsaid, though Martha could tell something had happened between this woman and the Doctor.
"What's your name?" She asked simply, catching sight of the haphazard splint on the woman's arm and grimacing at the coloration of her hand. "God, is your arm broken? How long has it been like that?"
She curled a little around her arm, cradling it close. "A day. This was all he'd let me do."
Martha grimaced, knowing it must be causing her pain. "We'll get you to a hospital as soon as we land."
The woman didn't look pleased but didn't argue either, just turning her head to the side as though staring into space. "Nova," she muttered. "The Doctor called me Nova."
"The Doctor?"
Nova nodded. "I don't know who I am. Don't remember when I did."
"Amnesia. Did the Master—"
"The Master saved me," she said shortly, startling Martha with that fact. "Despite what he did here, he was almost kind before. The way I was treated here… is far better than the way I was treated by my own family. And I'm sorry for what he did to you people…" She sagged slightly in her seat. "…but he's not the only one that should be blamed."
Martha was a bit confused by that but didn't dwell on it and was soon pulled away to help someone dealing with shock. They landed not much later, and people began leaving to their own homes or hospitals. Martha went with her family to the hospital, ensuring that they weren't too bad off and wanting to keep an eye on Nova as well. The woman ended up not needing pins in her arm, which was a bit surprising to Martha, who could have sworn that she'd had a full break. Nova was a little out of it though, dosed up on pain medication and having gone silent since hearing about the Doctor.
"Is she okay?"
Martha looked to her sister, who looked exhausted after having been the one supporting their mother while on the Valliant. "She's malnourished, dehydrated, and damaged in a number of ways that I don't think anyone really wants to talk about."
Tish nodded, eyeing the woman uneasily. "She was… nice, I guess. Took his attention off us a lot. I tried to thank her once, but… she always said, 'don't bother,' like it was her fault." Tish looked at Martha. "He put her on the Doctor's feeding duty. Didn't want us doing it since he thought we might plan something."
"Did they talk?"
Tish shrugged. "I don't know. We weren't allowed to just stick around. I know she was told not to, but that doesn't mean she didn't. I just… feel bad. She doesn't even know who she is, right? Does she… Does she have nowhere to go?"
"Not that we know of. Jack's asked around, checked databases and stuff, but nothing. The Doctor's supposed to drop by our house for a final goodbye. I figured he might be able to do something for her maybe."
Only problem was, Martha wasn't sure the Doctor would do anything, or if Nova would want to even go see him. Not like I have many other options. So, it was decided, and Martha checked Nova out of the hospital and brought her home with the rest of her family until the Doctor was to show up. She and Jack bumped into him first; standing by at Roald Dahl Plass to have a short catch-up before Martha would return home to her family and their newest addition Nova.
"Time was, every single one of these people knew your name," Martha mused. "Now, they've all forgotten you."
"Good," he answered simply as Jack ducked under the railing they were leaning on.
"Back to work."
"I really don't mind though," the Doctor stopped him. "Come with me."
"I had plenty of time to think that past year, the year that never was, and I kept thinking about that team of mine. Like you said, Doctor, responsibility. Speaking of, how's that lady doing, Martha? Still quiet?"
The Doctor raised a brow, looking to Martha as she nodded.
"Still hasn't said a word. She's eating though, which is a plus, but hesitant about the medication. Had a bad reaction to aspirin and I had to take her back to the hospital for a day. Hasn't been as willing since."
"Understandable."
"Hold on. What woman?" The Doctor finally asked, and Martha shot him a look.
"Seriously? She's undoubtedly waiting for you, and you don't have a clue?"
"Oh, come on, Martha. It's been a rough year. Give the old guy a break," Jack teased.
"Oi."
"Anyway, better get back to my team."
"Defending the Earth. Can't argue with that," the Doctor smiled, but snatched Jack's hand and began to sonic his Vortex Manipulator.
"Hey, I need that!" Jack argued, though not putting up much of a fight.
"I can't have you walking around with a time-traveling teleport. You could go anywhere, twice. The second time to apologize."
"And what about me? Can you fix that? Will I ever be able to die?" Jack asked.
"Nothing I can do. You're an impossible thing, Jack."
Jack smiled, not seeming too bothered, or just hiding it far too well. "Been called that before. Sir. Ma'am. But I keep wondering. What about aging? Because I can't die but I keep getting older. The odd little grey hair, you know? What happens if I live for a million years?"
"I really don't know."
"Okay, vanity. Sorry. Yeah, can't help it. Used to be a poster boy when I was a kid living on the Boeshane Peninsula. Tiny little place. I was the first one ever to be signed up for the Time Agency. They were so proud of me. The Face of Boe, they called me. Hmm. I'll see you."
The Doctor and Martha openly gaped at the newfound information.
"No."
"It can't be."
"No. Definitely not. No. No," the Doctor said, unable to help but laugh at the impossibility of it all before they went to head back to Martha's home.
"Do you seriously not remember her?"
"Who?" The Doctor asked as he landed the Tardis.
Martha just shook her head, making for the door. "Well, I'm sure you'll remember soon enough."
The Doctor raised a brow but didn't respond, just following her out of his ship and waiting as Martha returned to her family for a short moment. She ducked into the door, checking with her dad and mother, before giving her sister a look.
"Is she in the bedroom?"
Tish nodded, managing a small smile. "She said, 'thank you' when I offered her some tea."
Martha smiled back. "That's good. It's been a few days. Let's hope this brings back some life into her." Martha stepped into the guest bedroom, glancing at the slim woman who was seated by the window as though she could see the hummingbird hovering over the flowers just outside. "Nova? Would you like to come outside with me? The Doctor's here."
Nova turned, head tipped to show she was listening.
"He dropped by to make sure everything was okay. Took me and Jack a few places really quick, but he's waiting outside to see if I'll keep traveling with him."
"Will you?" Nova asked.
"Ah, well… No, I don't think so. My family needs me right now," Martha said, sounding unsure at first, but growing more confident as she nodded to herself. "I need to help them readjust, but… he needs someone."
Nova turned her sightless gaze downward, not saying a word as Martha moved closer and knelt down in front of the woman.
"You helped him before. I know you did. You could help him again. He can't be alone, especially after what just happened. We both know that."
"He left me," Nova murmured. "I don't know him."
"He was grieving. He didn't mean it, and I'm really sorry, but… I can't keep you here either. Not for very long. I just can't afford it. My family can't, especially with all the help they're going to need. You need help too, and I think the Doctor is the one person who could do that for you and you, him. Please, Nova. Give it a chance and if something happens, if he won't take you, I'll ask around. Check with Jack or work something else out. I promise."
Slowly, Nova nodded, and Martha gave her a small smile, reaching out and lightly touching Nova's hand—glad when the woman didn't pull her hand away, though she did flinch. Improvement already, even as small as that. Even got her talking, just by bringing him up. He'll get a stern scolding from me though, for forgetting her. Martha stood up and waited for Nova to do the same, heading out with her and making for the Tardis, but only moving as fast as Nova was able to keep up. Martha had discovered that while blind, she moved around pretty well if she had someone to follow. Wonder if the Doctor could do something about her vision. When they reached the Tardis, Martha cracked the door open, giving Nova a soft look as she placed her hands on the box curiously.
"I'll wait for you inside," Martha hummed, seeing the woman needed a moment to "see" the outside of the box.
The Doctor, clueless as he was, didn't even notice the open door as he punched away at the console eagerly. "Right then, off we go. The open road. There is a burst of starfire right now over the coast of Meta Sigmafolio. Oh, the sky is like oil on water. Fancy a look? Or back in time. We could, I don't know, Charles the Second? Henry the Eighth. I know. What about Agatha Christie? I'd love to meet Agatha Christie. I bet she's brilliant," he rambled on with dramatic gestures before seeing her soft, sad smile. "Okay."
"I just can't," Martha answered him.
"Yeah."
"Spent all these years training to be a doctor. Now I've got people to look after. They saw half the planet slaughtered and they're devastated. I can't leave them."
The Doctor managed a smile of his own as he hugged her tightly. "Of course not. Thank you, Martha Jones. You saved the world."
"Yes, I did. I spent a lot of time with you thinking I was second best, but you know what? I am good. You going to be all right?"
"Always, yeah," he replied, though she wasn't convinced, and she started to turn back to get Nova, only to stop.
"Because the thing is, it's like my friend Vicky. She lived with this bloke, student housing, there were five of them all packed in, and this bloke was called Sean. And she loved him. She did. She completely adored him. Spent all day long talking about him."
"Is this going anywhere?" The Doctor asked, a little confused by the sudden speech.
"Yes. Because he never looked at her twice. I mean, he liked her, but that was it. And she wasted years pining after him. Years of her life. Because while he was around, she never looked at anyone else. And I told her, I always said to her, time and time again, I said, get out. So this is me, getting out." She tossed him her mobile phone. "Keep that, because I'm not having you disappear. If that rings, when that rings, you'd better come running. Got it?"
"Got it," he agreed.
"And one last thing." She went up to him, only to promptly smack him hard across the face, shocking him. "That's for forgetting about her."
"Forgetting about who!" He complained, having struggled with remembering who she and Jack had been mentioning for the last few hours.
Then, Nova slipped into the room, a hand trailing over the door and touching a railing that she followed with a hint of confusion marring her brow. Martha saw the shock instantly wash over the Doctor's face, along with a splash of guilt.
"Nova?"
Nova jumped, head snapping up and cheeks quickly flaming in embarrassment when her foot hit the first step and she stumbled. The Doctor quickly rushed over, grasping her arm only for her to hastily pull away. He wasn't bothered though, as much as Martha thought he would be, but he looked at her in surprise.
"You found her?"
Martha nodded. "He'd left her in some room in the dark with a day-old broken arm. Jack found her while clearing the ship. You hadn't come back, so I took her in until you dropped by again. She hasn't spoken much since finding out you left."
The Doctor looked back to Nova, who had her face turned to the ground almost shamefully. "I am so sorry."
"You were mourning," she murmured, using Martha's excuse and the Doctor winced.
"That's no reason to forget about you after everything you did for me." He looked to Martha then. "Thank you for bringing her."
"Don't thank me just yet. Are you okay with taking her with you?"
He looked at Martha in shock. "What?"
Martha sighed heavily. "You need someone with you, and she needs someone too."
"But she's…"
"Got ears," Nova muttered, making him flinch in guilt.
"Sorry. I didn't mean—"
"Martha can't keep me," Nova answered, a hand running up a coral pillar in silent appreciation. "I've got nowhere to go, though she said she'll find me somewhere if needed."
"No!" The Doctor shouted, quickly lowering his voice when Nova gave a violent flinch. "No, I… I'll take you."
"Then, it's settled," Martha smiled, trying to ease the tense atmosphere that had settled over them. "I'll go ahead and see you later, let you two sort things out."
She slipped out the door, breathing a soft sigh of relief as she returned home, away from whatever was about to happen in the Tardis.
Without Martha around, the Doctor wasn't exactly sure what to do. Nova was quiet on a good day, but even worse on a day like today. A day when she found out that he'd completely forgotten about her, and apparently didn't want her staying with him. It wasn't that he didn't like her. He was just concerned about how things would work. He tended to get into a lot of trouble and Nova was… not fragile, but not exactly suited to his sort of life. Her being blind didn't help at all in that case, and he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do.
"Martha said you weren't talking?" He asked, hoping to get some conversation going that wouldn't make him feel completely terrible.
"I… had nothing to say," Nova replied, making the Doctor snort.
"You always had something to say. Even with the Master, you—" He grimaced, having not meant to bring up the deceased Time Lord for various reasons.
Nova didn't seem bothered though, surprisingly enough. "He… had his days, when things weren't… bad."
The Doctor nodded solemnly, remembering his friend before all this mess.
"I'm… sorry," she muttered, turning her head towards him slightly. "For what happened to him and… everything I caused."
He shook his head adamantly as she followed the railing under her hand around the room. "Nothing that happened was your fault. You just did some calculations for him, Nova. That's all."
"Calculations that helped bring about the enslavement of humanity," she argued. "I know what I did, and nothing's going to make me feel any better about it." Her fingers found the jump seat, lingering over it as she turned away. "You should have just forgotten me."
That sealed it. The Doctor stepped forward and took her arm in his hand, refusing to let go when she jerked and tried to pull away.
"No. Forgetting you like I did because of grief was the worst thing I've done in a long time. You deserve so much more after what you did to help me, Nova, and Martha was right. We both need someone by our sides, and who better for me than the one person able to smile through the year that never was?"
She stopped struggling, tipping her head up to frown at him. "You named it?"
He blinked, growing a bit sheepish. "A-Ah, well, Jack called it that and I guess I sort of… I must have picked it up from him." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, gaze shifting away before something touched the side of his face.
Nova's hand trailed over his features, facing him as though she could see, and the Doctor realized—with him holding her arm—she could.
"You're young," she murmured.
"Well, technically, I'm over 900 years old. I look young though, yeah. Especially in comparison to… what you saw. Does it bother you?"
"Honestly, it's a little strange, but after the year we had, there's not much that surprises me anymore." She pulled her hand away, lightly pulling her arm in his grip. "Could you let go? I'm still healing."
"Oh! Sorry," he apologized, letting her go and silently scolding himself for not even thinking about her previous injuries. "If you want, I could look you over in the med bay? Make sure everything's going okay. Maybe run some tests and make sure nothing the Master did is going to—" He cut himself off, having caught sight of Nova's unease about tests. "O-Or not. We could wait. I… I won't do anything you're uncomfortable with."
"What… tests?" She asked, though still looking very unsure about the idea.
I'm just glad she's comfortable with me enough to even consider it after… "Just a scan to start with. Harmless, I swear. After that, if you're okay with it, maybe a blood test? A peek in your mind too, just in case."
She shivered, worrying him. "N-Not my head," she finally breathed out. "Please."
He held up his hands. "No problem. The mind is very personal, and I understand if you don't want me to, especially if the Master did anything. You're… okay with the scan? The blood test even?"
She nodded slowly, and he cracked a small smile, surprised again at just how strong the woman before him was.
"Well, how about I give you a tour first?" He offered, moving to the console and beginning to send the ship off. "I'll send us up into the Vortex and—"
There was suddenly a loud fog horn and the Doctor flew back as something crashed into the side of the Tardis.
"What!" He screeched in shock, coughing the dust out of his lungs as he picked up a lifesaver on the grated floor; one labeled, Titanic. "What?" He quickly got up and worked the controls to repair the damage taken by the ship and land them somewhere safe. Once sure they were fine, he looked around. "Nova? Nova, you all right?"
A whispered curse reached his ears and he moved around the console to find Nova curled up on the floor with her hands over her ears; a hint of red peeking through her fingers quickly bringing him to her aid.
"Oh, God. Are you okay?" He asked, helping her upright only for her to falter. "Hold on. Let me just scan really quickly. I forgot how sensitive your ears were. I hope your eardrum didn't burst. It would be just my luck to deafen my blind companion. He pulled out his sonic and took a quick scan, sighing in relief when viewing the results. "Temporary, thank goodness. Your equilibrium is a little off!" He shouted, hoping to be heard over whatever ringing was undoubtedly blocking out some of her hearing. "Just give yourself a minute to settle down while I go see where we're at!"
She nodded, holding her head and waving him off, giving him the chance to bound outside and see where exactly they were.