Chapter Nine: Bad Wolf Corporation.
Series: Three.
Episode: Six - The Lazarus Experiment.
Part: One.

When they finally returned to the TARDIS, it was to make a beeline straight for the kitchen, as they hadn't eaten since they'd been in Elizabethan England that morning. And though Rose had been aboard the TARDIS for several hours alone she'd been so distracted she hadn't thought to eat. Funny how life changing secrets can blind you to the menial tasks of surviving.

The Doctor whipped up some pangshen, a delicacy from Norrooma that resembled fishcakes in appearance and texture but tasted more like a beef/lamb combination served with some ordinary steamed Earth greens. Conversation was light and stilted after the stressful day, the mind's of the three travellers occupied.

With the meal finished, Rose ushered Martha out of the room to rest after her ordeal rather than concerning herself with the washing up. Silence lingered between the duo for a moment as they went through the motions of putting away the clean crockery, putting the dishes from their meal in to be washed and tidying away any signs of the meal they'd just eaten.

With that done, they retook their seats cups of tea in hand, each to their unique specification as they had done so many times before. Neither knew where to start, as they cradled their mugs.

"Rose." The Doctor started somberly.

"I know." Rose answered equally solemn, as she stared into her mug. "She can't stay. She's got a life back home to get back to and she never really agreed to come along full time anyway." All of her earlier determination having fled her, she'd only seen that the Doctor had invited her along for a trip, it had only been her assumption that there was more, likely having caused more damage in the process.

And maybe her machinations were for nothing anyway. Clearly the TARDIS had the ability to intervene if she so wished, if Rose's convenient amnesia episodes were anything to go by. If she was going to mess up she didn't doubt that the TARDIS would intervene. All her current path was doing was stressing her out and she didn't need that on top of the grief of losing but not losing her mum. She'd carry on as normal, do what she thought best rather than constantly second guessing herself.

Her earlier resolve was forgotten in the grief of losing the Face of Boe, another name to add to the ever growing list. She'd come to the conclusion that this couldn't continue, she couldn't keep second guessing every one of her actions for a timeline that no longer existed. She was going to drive herself mad, she had to continue as before and if the TARDIS had a problem with that then she could deal with it.

"She could have ended up dead." The Doctor said, effectively erasing any doubts about just how much trouble Martha was in. "I didn't mean for that to happen, and certainly not now."

"I'm sorry." She fiddled with the handle of her mug, her guilt consuming her. "I shouldn't have pushed, didn't even ask if it was alright and look what happened?"

The question hung in the air as they were both reminded of how much worse today could have gone.

"First thing tomorrow then, yeah?"

"Yeah."

x

Rose was quiet the next morning at breakfast, staring into the swirling depths of her cup of tea, Martha's already prepared besides her as the two travelers awaited the arrival of their guest. Martha was all smiles as she joined them in the kitchen. Rose fought to return the smile with equal fervour but knew it was strained with the knowledge of what today would bring for her. She'd almost died and this was the thanks she was to receive?

Rose shook her head, dismissing the thought as she took a sip of now tepid tea. No. She'd told herself last night she would not continue on in that way. Part of her wondered if it was the TARDIS' own meddling that led to such thoughts.

Breakfast was a simple affair of tea and toast, the toaster the Doctor had been fiddling with was no longer functionable for its original purpose but Rose had pulled a spare one out of the cupboard for this exact situation, common as it was.

Conversation was forced on Rose's end but Martha didn't seem to take note of it, which made it all the more difficult for Rose. She'd come to quite like having the young medic aboard, she fit into their life so easily but it wasn't safe for her. She had a family and a life to get back to, and so close after Canary Wharf Rose knew the Doctor wouldn't risk that again. And it'd only been a few days, she argued to herself.

Food eaten and dishes dealt with they crowded into the console room as they had each time before.

Martha clung to the console as the TARDIS hurtled through the vortex, Rose held on to a nearby railing, not wanting to be closer when the inevitable fallout came and feeling more than a little detached from the whole situation.

The TARDIS landed with a rather gentle thump, signifying their arrival. Conversation had been light but never once touched upon the day's destination.

"There we go. Perfect landing. Which isn't easy in such a tight spot." The Doctor announced scratching the back of his neck, the only sign of awkwardness in his otherwise cheerful countenance.

"You should be used to tight spots by now." Martha said absently as she straightened and brushed off her hands, "Where are we?"

"The end of the line."

Martha rushed down the ramp with a grin, pausing at the doors, looking back at the Doctor for reassurance.

The Doctor nodded his reassurance, "No place like it."

Martha beamed, excitement almost palpable as she pulled open the doors and rushed outside.

The Doctor followed after her at a much more leisurely pace. Rose almost considered staying in the TARDIS to avoid the waiting conflict. But then the Doctor shot a pleading look at her over his shoulder, holding out his hand for her to take, and she knew she couldn't. Goodbyes were never easy, especially for the man with so many.

"Home. You took me home?" Martha asked, tone laced with barely concealed disgust.

"In fact, the morning after we left, so you've only been gone about twelve hours. No time at all, really."

Rose didn't bother with the teasing comment that sat on the tip of her tongue at that. There was no space for it today, couldn't make herself enjoy their usual banter.

The Doctor stepped more fully into Martha's flat, leaning down to look at the pictures on the mantel.

"But all the stuff we've done. Shakespeare, New New York, the Moon?"

The accusation and confusion was clear in Martha's tone.

Rose leant back against the TARDIS, it was easier to be the bigger person in thought but it was that much harder when the person you were trying to protect didn't agree. And maybe Rose of all people should have understood the irony in that but she convinced herself it wasn't the same.

"Yep, all in one night, relatively speaking. Everything should be just as it was. Books, CDs, laundry." He said, gesturing to Martha's clothes horse of washing, "So, back where you were, as promised."

"This is it?" Martha said incredulously.

"Yeah, I should probably um-" He trailed off, uncomfortable with the situation that was too close to the clean up he usually tried to avoid, thankfully interrupted by the ringing of Martha's home phone.

It went straight to the answering machine, the message ringing out in the awkward silence.

"Hi, I'm out. Leave a message." Answer machine Martha said.

"I'm sorry." Marth apologised.

"Martha, are you there? Pick it up, will you?" An unfamiliar woman spoke.

"It's Mum. It'll wait."

"All right then, pretend that you're out if you like." The Doctor and Martha shared a weak smile at that, "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 grabbed the TV remote from the sofa as the message finished. Grateful for the distraction from the current car wreck of a conversation that was happening in her flat presently.

"The details are top secret." The elderly man on the TV said.

Rose pushed away from the TARDIS to stand besides Martha and the Doctor to see the news more clearly. Also glad for the reprieve, she'd been dreading this moment since their conversation last night. Potential scenarios swirling around her brain, preventing her from sleeping. She'd never been a particularly anxious person, but travelling with the Doctor had taught her to look at situations differently, nothing was too ridiculous of a possibility.

"How could Tish end up on the news?" Martha questioned rhetorically.

And indeed behind the elderly man was a woman stood primly in a suit, clipboard clutched to her chest, featuring vaguely resembling Martha's.

"Tonight, I will demonstrate a device which will redefine our world." Continued the unknown man.

"She's got a new job. PR for some research lab." Martha explained, gaze not drifting from the screen as she spoke.

The TARDIS seemed to shudder in Rose's mind leaving her distracted, as she focused on the bizarre sensation rather than on the new report before her. She still wasn't particularly used to being able to feel the TARDIS in her mind, especially so close to the ship.

"With the push of a single button, I will change what it means to be human." The main said.

Martha turned the TV off as reporters began to clamour for the professor's attention. Turning back to face the two travellers.

"Sorry. You were saying we should?" Martha asked.

"Yes, yes, we should. One trip is what we said." The Doctor responded, gaze unfocused still slightly distracted by the news announcement.

"Yeah. I suppose things just kind of escalated."

Rose had to admit that Martha was taking this better than expected, perhaps she had seen this coming. Rose's stomach clenched at the thought, but she couldn't decide if it was better or worse for her to have foreseen this possibility.

"Mmm. Seems to happen to me a lot."

"Thank you. For everything, both of you." Smiled Martha.

"It was my pleasure." Returned the Doctor, stepping back inside the TARDIS.

"Take care of yourself." Rose finally spoke, giving the girl a brief hug and smile.

She deserved better than this hasty goodbye, part of her argued, but another part of her knew that Martha would be brilliant with or without them.

"You too."

Rose stepped back, joining the Doctor in the TARDIS resolve faltering, she dared not look back.

The Doctor started up the dematerialisation sequence. Rose leant back, letting her head thump back against the TARDIS' door, feeling more than a touch of guilt at the abrupt goodbye.

God this was getting frustrating. She felt guilty when Martha was with them and guilty when she wasn't, Rose thought bitterly to herself. When did her feelings get so conflicting? She wondered to herself before thinking better of it, already sure she knew the answer to that question, and not wanting to deal with that right now.

But then the professor's words caught up with her. The words she'd been distracted from due to the TARDIS' behaviour. She edged slowly away from the doors heading towards the Doctor. Who was currently raking his hands through his hair in frustration, clearly debating with himself.

"Did he just…" Rose trailed off.

"I think so." The Doctor answered, already starting the rematerialisation sequence.

As soon as they landed he thundered down the ramp and pulled open the door.

"No, I'm sorry. Did he say he was going to change what it means to be human?"

Martha was more than happy to tell them about the event that was taking place that night for Lazarus Laboratories.

"We're going." The Doctor announced.

"Um Doctor? Big event like that, bound to have a strict guest list, how do you expect to get in? Can't exactly go in as Martha's plus two." Rose asked.

"Psychic paper." He answered simply and that was the end of that.

Excited at the prospect of one last adventure Martha had suggested hopping straight to this evening, an idea the Doctor was totally on board with until Rose reminded them that Martha had been going to go into town to pay the rent today when they'd first met her. That had put a bit of a damper on things. But Rose had promised to show Martha the wardrobe room when she got back and they could get ready together.

Rose was a little excited herself, she'd not had a chance to have a big girly get ready together in a while. Not since Shareen had last dragged her out, long before Canary Wharf. It hadn't been the same since she started travelling with the Doctor, there was some much she couldn't say and they always had so many questions. Rightly so.

When Martha returned, makeup bag in hand, Rose dragged her deep into the bowels of the ship to the wardrobe room. The TARDIS had already highlighted an area of the room - a landing that came off halfway up the winding coral stairs - that would suit tonight's needs. Two racks had been separated from the rest, one for each of them with their sizes in mind.

The two girls rifled through their individual racks of gowns. The chatter was light and easy until Martha addressed the elephant in the room.

"So you were just going to leave, just like that?"

Rose let the wine red dress she was assessing fall back with the others with a whisper of fabric.

She froze for a moment considering her words as the guilt bubbled up again and made it's presence known. She turned slowly to face Martha, eyes downcast, not wanting to meet her gaze.

"Do you remember when we first met, what the Doctor said about the Battle of Canary Wharf?" Rose started.

Martha nodded. "He said you were there. But what does-"

"It's not been that long for us. Time travel," Rose chuckled bitterly, "it's all over the place. It's not even been that long since Christmas for us and we were there too. It's just." She paused biting on her lip.

She didn't even know how to go about explaining this to Martha. Could barely understand it herself. But she was right, she was owed an explanation.

"We never really stopped to take a breather after everything." She dropped her gaze to the grating, all the levels of the wardrobe visible between the gaps as she picked at a hangnail. "I lost my mum in the battle. She's not dead!" She quickly amended, lifting her gaze. "She's stuck in a parallel universe, that's where the ghosts came from. And to get rid of them the Doctor had to seal the two universes off to each other, leaving my mum on the other side with my mate Mickey, unreachable. I'd barely said goodbye to her when we ended up in London on Christmas. Then the day we met you we'd just come back from clearing out the flat. Like I said we're not used to having people on board, Adam was kicked off, Jack and Mickey stayed behind, it doesn't always end well. And you got kidnapped and almost died and it was just too much of a risk, after everything.

"I mean," She chuckled bitterly, running a hand through her hair in frustration, "You've got a life and a family and a job here! You've got everything and you could have lost it all and we'd never even asked you if you actually wanted to come along for good. It was just sort of a wakeup call. Its not always safe, the travelling, you've already lost your sister Adeola, could your family really suffer another loss?"

Martha nodded, she understood. It made sense, she hadn't known any of that before. She still wasn't happy about the abrupt goodbye, but it made more sense, she'd had months to grieve the loss of her twin and the thought of her still left a painful twinge in her chest.

"A little warning would've been nice though." Martha chuckled trying to alleviate some of the tension that settled between them.

Rose smiled weakly.

"I know, but how do you prepare someone for that?"

She had a point Martha supposed. They both turned back to their dresses when Martha spoke up.

"I think it would be worse." Martha said gently.

"What?" Rose asked perplexed.

"Knowing someone was alive but unable to see them. You'd never know if they were safe or happy. At least when they're dead you don't have to worry anymore. I know Addie's job with the government was dangerous and I always worried it would get her killed, but now there's relief. Yes there's grief and pain and loss too, but I know she's not in danger anymore." She'd thought about it a lot after she'd lost her sister, the relief, the guilt and self-hatred it brought her.

"I suppose so." Rose all but whispered back.

Conversation shifted back onto less serious topics after that as they focused back on their dresses for the night. They each tried several on behind the changing screens provided and after some discussion between the two they finally settled on a dress each.

Rose took the dresses back to her room to keep safe before they headed to the kitchen for some quick sandwiches for lunch. The Doctor was nowhere in sight.

"Where's the Doctor gone off to?" Martha asked.

"Probably fiddling with the remains of the toaster, he'll probably pop back up later."

While Rose dealt with the dishes, Martha stepped back into her flat to grab some hair things.

They returned to Rose's room to get ready. Martha rose an eyebrow at the mess, there were knick knacks and historical clothing strewn all throughout the rather large room. Rose's face scrunched up in embarrassment as she looked about herself as well.

"Sorry it's a bit cluttered. Always dashing from one place to the next, have a nasty habit of just dumping things, should really sort it out. Come on."

She led Martha into the large, gleaming, white, bathroom. The dresses were hung on a rail attached to the door, likely for this very purpose. While the bedroom had been in cluttered chaos the bathroom was fairly tidy. The only things visible were some bottles in the shower and a bar of soap at the sink. Martha had spotted all of Rose's everyday makeup scattered across her vanity table in her room under a cork board of pictures that she hadn't looked too closely at.

Martha stepped into her dress while Rose went to gather her makeup. Martha plugged in her straighteners while Rose stepped into her own dress. There were two sockets on either side of the large mirror that took up nearly the whole of one wall of the bathroom. Rose plugged her curlers into the socket on the other side and set to work on her hair as well.

"So who's Adam?" Martha asked.

"He was one of the first people we brought along - bit of a computer genius - but he did something stupid for his own gain, almost changed the history of the human race and nearly got me and the Doctor killed."

"You said don't get a brain door." Martha said, thinking back on the odd comment Rose had made after seeing the play.

"Yeah, he got this head chip thing that opened up doors to your brain so he was able to access information about the evolution of computers. Was gonna use the information so he could profit off it and in turn alter human history, creating a paradox in the process. He was a liability I guess, so the Doctor sent him home."

"Bit harsh."

"I suppose. I didn't think much of it at the time."

"And now?" Martha wondered.

Rose put the hair curlers down on the counter. She'd gotten them from an Althusian travelling market on an asteroid, they had sensors that could detect the differences in material and would only heat the part touching hair.

"Now its complicated. I know more about time travel, there are things you shouldn't mess with but I've also made my own mistakes too." Rose shrugged weakly, "The Doctor's been doing this for longer than I have, I trust his judgement."

Martha nodded in understanding.

The two of them continued doing their hair for a beat when another question occurred to Martha.

"What's psychic paper, you never got the chance to explain after Shakespeare."

"It shows people whatever you want it to, you've just got to think. It doesn't work on some people; some have training to be able to see through it, some species don't have a concept of a written language and some like Shakespeare are just able to see through it. But not most."

"Bet that comes in handy. Any other fun toys?"

"Not really he generally just makes it up as he goes along. As long as he's got his sonic."

They finished heating their hair around the same time. Martha moved on to makeup while Rose started to pin her curls up in a loose curly bun.

"You also mentioned fixed points, what are they?"

"Some points are fixed, you can't change them, most things are in flux but things like the Titanic sinking have to happen. Timelords have time senses or something, they can sense what is and isn't a fixed point, its sort of uncomfortable for them apparently, so the Doctor'll always know. Fixed points are what differentiates parallel universes, its what makes that universe what it is sort of thing."

"Anything else I should know?"

Rose laughed.

"No idea still figuring it out myself."

Rose finished up with her makeup before slipping on the bracelet she'd found in the wardrobe room. Martha had gone into the bedroom to sit on her hastily made bed to put her heels on. Leaning against the bathroom door frame Rose slipped her own heels on. She'd gotten them from a bazaar on a human colony, they had improved support and comfort that made them more adept for running in which Rose was certain would be a possibility tonight.

Martha stood up brushing off her dress as she picked up the clutch she'd chosen for her ensemble, a wine red bardot dress that flared out at the waist and came to mid thigh, simple matching heels with straps across the middle and a satin ruffled clutch in the same colour with gold chain. Her hair was straightened and held back by a sparkly black hair band. Both practical and cute.

"Ready?" Rose asked.

"Yep."

Martha led the way back to the console room chatting about her sister Tish - who's event they would be crashing - as well as the rest of her family. She bounded into the console room first. Rose was about to follow when her heel had gotten stuck in one of the gaps in the grating that started just outside the console room. Sighing to herself, she slipped the heels off, before finally slipping into the console room as well.

The Doctor turned to face her as she entered, stopping mid babble. Rose hadn't noticed, too busy staring at the grating and wondering whether it was worth putting her heels back on yet.

She'd chosen a dark blue satin halter dress with a single slit up the right leg that the TARDIS had suggested, matching peep toe heels adorned with a bow and silver bangle encrusted with diamonds that met in the middle by an oval blue jewel.

Deciding against it she looked up to find the Doctor looking at her and gave him a beaming smile. He shook himself free of whatever trance he'd been in.

"You look beautiful." He said before shaking his head and moving to the console. "Both of you."

"We taking the TARDIS there?" Martha asked, amused at the Doctor's slip which Rose apparently hadn't caught.

"Nah, I'll just hop on forward and then we can take a taxi. Love a taxi."

Rose chuckled.

The Doctor moved to dart past her but she lightly caught his arm. He paused looking down at her questioningly. Not answering, she reached up to straighten his bow tie.

"There. Better." She said, finally looking up with a smile. "Do you still have the money from when we got chips?"

"Yep." He tapped his blazer pocket. "Last bit."

"Come on then."

The cab ride was fairly quick considering London traffic. Martha rattled off the address to the driver. The Doctor worked on making Martha's clutch bigger on the inside while they waited. The streets were closed off for the event so their driver dropped them as close as they could. The girls hopped out while the Doctor paid before making their way towards the event.

The Doctor was fiddling with his cuffs as they walked.

"Oh, black tie. Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens." The Doctor complained.

Rose batted his hands away from where they were still messing with his cufflinks. She knew how he felt about the black tux, had made his complaints known many a time. For someone who spent all their time in a suit you'd think they'd be more used to it.

"It's not the outfit, that's just you. Anyway, I think it suits you. In a James Bond kind of way."

His hands had moved on to his bow tie, and Rose fought back the urge to tell him she'd just fixed that, but she knew he'd just find something else to fiddle with anyhow.

"James Bond?" He sounded almost disgusted at the comment before preening. "Really?

The two girls chuckled at the response.

Getting in was far easier than it should have been with the psychic paper, Rose would have almost questioned their security - or lack thereof - if it didn't work in their favour. Inside was all cold stone and gleaming glass with a white cubicle on a platform surrounded by four pillars that sat centre stage, likely the main attraction of the night.

Rose was admiring the venue trying to ignore the faint buzzing in the back of her head that she was sure was coming from the TARDIS, she tried tuning it out but it was like trying to get the right frequency on the radio, not quite managing it, when a waiter walked past with a tray of nibbles which the Doctor quickly lunged for.

"Oh, look, they've got nibbles! I love nibbles."

Rose rolled her eyes at him good naturedly as he scooped off a handful from the passing tray.

When suddenly Martha was ambushed by a woman.

"Hello." The woman greeted.

"Tish." Martha responded, scooping her up into a hug.

Ah so this was the older sister - Tish - that Martha had spoken of.

"You look great. So, what do you think? Impressive, isn't it?" Tish said.

"Very."

"And two nights out in a row for you. That's dangerously close to a social life."

"If I keep this up, I'll end up in all the gossip columns."

"You might, actually. You should keep an eye out for photographers. And Mum, she's coming too. Even dragging Leo along with her."

"Leo in black tie? That I must see." Tish's eyes flickered over to her and the Doctor, her smile becoming a little strained. "This is, er, the Doctor and Rose." Martha introduced.

"Hello." The Doctor greeted, shaking her hand.

Rose waved, wary of the strained smile and distracted by the now constant buzzing that was making it difficult to focus.

"Are they with you?" Tish asked, smile just that little bit more strained as she likely thought of the repercussions of a security leak.

"Yeah."

"But they're not on the list. How did they get in?"

Martha faltered a little at that. They hadn't really thought about confronting Tish, getting in was the easy bit after all. The Doctor was unable to help, mouth still full of nibbles. Rose, frustrated by the persistent buzzing, decided to step forward instead.

"We're potential financial investors from Bad Wolf Corporation, the Doctor is our scientific advisor." Rose lied confidently in that 'don't question it we know what we're doing' tone that she'd seen the Doctor use oh so many times.

Tish's eyes flicked down to her clipboard scanning the names in front of her, relief finally slipped into her gaze, having found truth in Rose's random lie, she tried not to think about that too closely. Before Tish could comment further on the odd happenstance, the Doctor spoke.

"So, this Lazarus, he's your boss?"

"Professor Lazarus, yes. I'm part of his executive staff."

"She's in the PR department." Martha dismissed.

"I'm head of the PR department, actually." Tish rebutted.

"You're joking."

"I put this whole thing together."

Rose smiled weakly at the exchange between the siblings, she'd never have that. It had been one of her biggest dreams growing up, to have a sibling, not anymore though.

"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.

"He's a science geek. I should have known." Was Tish's only response, as if that answered all her previous questions, "Got to get back to work now. I'll catch up with you later."

"Science geek? What does that mean?"

"That you're obsessively enthusiastic about it." Martha answered, teasing tone barely concealed.

"Oh, nice." The Doctor preened nonetheless before turning to confront Rose. "Bad Wolf Corporation? Where'd that come from?" The Doctor all but whispered so none but Rose would be able to hear.

Rose shrugged. "Dunno thought it was worth a shot, worked dinit?"

The Doctor made a noise in the back of his throat of reluctant agreement causing Rose to grin up at him."

The three of them turned back to look at the chamber that the Doctor had identified as a sonic microfield manipulator with a closer eye. Rose had no idea what to expect but she'd learned any warning signs may be helpful. They were interrupted by the rest of Martha's family.

"Martha." Martha's mum called.

"Mum!" Martha swept up her mum in a big hug.

A pang of loss went through Rose at the scene, she'd never get the opportunity to hug her mum again. Tonight seemed to be a constant reminder of what she'd lost.

"All right, what's the occasion?" Francine chuckled.

"What do you mean? I'm just pleased to see you, that's all."

"You saw me last night."

"I know. I just missed you." Martha struggled to cover, instead switching the focus of the conversation. "You're looking good, Leo."

"Yeah. If anyone asks me to fetch them a drink, I'll swing for him." Leo joked.

"You disappeared last night." Francine stated, suspiciously eyeing her and the Doctor.

"I just went home." Martha tried to reassure.

"On your own?" Looking pointedly at the Doctor.

"These are some friends of mine. The Doctor and Rose."

"Doctor what?"

"No, it's just the Doctor. We've been doing some work together."

"You all right, mate?" Leon greeted, shaking the Doctor's hand then Rose's.

"It's lovely to meet you, Mrs Jones." The Doctor beamed, shaking Francine's hand as well.

"And how do you know my daughter?" She asked.

"We heard Miss Jones was present at Royal Hope Hospital at the time of the moon incident. We've been doing some investigating into the event, checking for any possible side effects, Martha has been very helpful in our investigations." Rose slipped in, having gone largely unnoticed by the suspicious mother. "The Doctor was responsible for checking for any signs of the mass intoxication suggested by the media." Rose smiled placatingly.

"And yourself?" Francine sneered.

Rose's smile thinned just a little bit at the condensation in the woman's tone. Likely her blonde hair and low class accent being the root of such judgement, it wouldn't be the first time after all.

"I was tasked with overseeing any legal ramifications that may arise from such a scenario. It wouldn't do to have our doctor, nurses, medical students and even patients being drugged en mass, would it? Who would we trust then?" She asked with forced levity that did little to hide the edge in her tone or eyes.

The lights suddenly dimmed and a clinking of a glass could be heard, ending any further conversation.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Professor Richard Lazarus and tonight I am going to perform a miracle." All attention shifted to the man of the hour as he spoke. "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 will wake to a world which will be changed forever."

Lazarus stepped into the chamber, cameras flashing as he did so. The scientists behind a counter loaded with equipment, began flicking the necessary switches to calibrate the machine. The machine started with a whir as a hand descended on a big red button. The room was flooded with light as the four columns started to oscillate and rotate around the chamber as energy poured into it.

All seemed well for a moment, though it was difficult to tell when you couldn't look at it without being blinded, until an alarm sounded. Screens flashed with the warning 'system overload'.

"Something's wrong. It's overloading." The Doctor announced.

Sparks flew from the controls, the two scientists jumped back with a gasp. The Doctor darted over to them, leaping over the counter as he went.

The crowd began backing away from the machine, all the while unable to tear their eyes away, mesmerised.

The Doctor began flicking buttons and running his sonic over the machine in an attempt to limit the potential fallout.

"Somebody stop him. Get him away from those controls!" Lady Thaw shouts.

"If this thing goes up, it'll take the whole building with it. Is that what you want?" The Doctor sniped back.

The machine kept churning, smoke billowing down the sides of the chamber, the pitch of the whirring increased until finally the Doctor yanked out a big power cable. The machine slowly ground to a halt.

Both Rose and Martha rushed towards the chamber instinctively.

"Get it open!" The Doctor bellowed.

Martha managed to pull open the door, allowing smoke to come pouring out, shrouding the figure. As the smoke cleared the figure became visible, a young man stumbled out of the chamber and onto the platform besides Marth, Rose and the Doctor.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Richard Lazarus. I am seventy six years old and I am reborn!" Clamoured the professor dramatically to the awaiting crowd.

"He did it. He actually did it." Beamed Lady Thaw.

Wild applause broke out.

As Lazarus stood posing for the photographers, the Doctor examined the wires and machinery encapsulated in the columns of the chamber more closely.

"It can't be the same guy. It's impossible. It must be a trick." Martha denied, watching Lazurus like a hawk.

"Oh, it's not a trick. I wish it were." The Doctor grimaced.

"But he can't have, surely? We'd know if humans had this kind of technology. Hell Cassandra would have been first in line!" Rose argued.

Rose was sure of it. If humans had had this kind of technology it would have been prevalent in the future. The human race, always looking for a way to prolong the inevitable would have jumped on a chance like this. A longer lifespan was one thing but to be young all over again? She was hard pressed to think of someone who wouldn't want that.

"What just happened?" Martha asked.

"He just changed what it means to be human." The Doctor replied simply, not easing the worries of the two women at all.

When they next saw the professor he was shovelling canapes into his mouth as though he hadn't eaten in years.

"Energy deficit. Always happens with this kind of process." The Doctor informed Lazurus as he sidled up besides him.

"You speak as if you see this every day, Mister...?" Lazarus trailed off.

"Doctor. And well, no, not every day, but I have some experience of this kind of transformation."

"You should try a cup of tea." Rose imparted, thinking of the Doctor's post regeneration struggle.

"That's not possible." Lazarus rebuted.

"Using hypersonic sound waves to create a state of resonance. That's inspired."

Rose bit back a smile. She may not have the first clue what it was the Lazurus had done, but she could see that the Doctor was impressed. A feat that didn't occur often and his glee was infectious.

"You understand the theory, then."

"Enough to know that you couldn't possibly have allowed for all the variables." The Doctor said gravelly.

"No experiment is entirely without risk." Lazarus dismissed, still munching away on canapes.

Rose's lip curled in disgust. How could he be so nonchalant? When his experiment almost cost the lives of every single person in the room just because his ego needed an audience.

"That thing nearly exploded. You might as well have stepped into a blender."

"You're not qualified to comment." Lady Thaw argued.

"If I hadn't stopped it, it would have exploded."

"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 continued in the same devil may care tone.

"You've no way of knowing that until you've run proper tests." Martha stepped in.

"Look at me. You can see what happened. I'm all the proof you need." Lazarus scoffed.

"This device will be properly certified before we start to operate commercially." Lady Thaw added, as if that was supposed to be reassuring in the slightest.

"Commercially? You are joking. That'll cause chaos."

"Not chaos, change. A chance for humanity to evolve, to improve."

"Change. Chaos. They have a tendency to go hand in hand." Rose snapped, frustrated by their lack of concern it never failed to rile her up when people ignored their warnings.

"This isn't about improving. This is about you and your customers living a little longer." The Doctor glared, disgusted.

"Not a little longer, Doctor. A lot longer. Perhaps indefinitely."

"Richard, we have things to discuss, upstairs." Lady Thaw dismissed them, walking away.

"Goodbye, Doctor. In a few years, you'll look back and laugh at how wrong you were."

Lazarus went to follow Lady Thaw but stopped to pick up Martha's hand, placing a kiss on the back - much to her chagrin -, before leaving.

"Egotistical prick." Rose muttered, glaring after his retreating form.

"Oh, he's out of his depth. No idea of the damage he might have done."

"So what do we do now?" Martha asked.

"Now? Well, this building must be full of laboratories. I say we do our own tests."

"Lucky I've just collected a DNA sample then, isn't it?" Marth said, lifting up her hand with a smile.

"Oh, Martha Jones, you're a star."

x

Gaining access to one of the labs was embarrassingly easy, Rose would have thought that a high tech lab would try to keep their secrets safe but apparently not. It hadn't taken long for Martha and the Doctor to set up, Rose didn't know what they were up to so largely left them to it, and now they were all huddled around a computer screen in a dark lab at a party they'd crashed and were now ignoring.

"Amazing." The Doctor said in awe, staring at the image of Lazarus' DNA.

Rose didn't know what ordinary human DNA was supposed to look like so she wasn't sure what she was supposed to be looking for, as she leaned against the counter, hand propping her head up staring at the screen.

"What?" Martha asked, equally confused.

"Lazarus' DNA."

"I can't see anything different."

Rose smiled, glad she wasn't the only one out of the loop, but frustrated nonetheless. Honestly she was sick of not understanding; not understanding what was happening with the TARDIS, not understanding the Doctor's technobabble, it was quite frankly infuriating.

"Look at it." The Doctor ordered.

Sighing, Rose lent further forward, squinting at the computer trying to figure what she'd missed. And just then the image flickered, the shape of the DNA strand changing. Rose gasped.

"Oh, my God. Did that just change? But it can't have."

"But it did."

"I know enough to know that's not a good thing." Rose muttered darkly.

For a second the image before her eyes swam as the irritating buzzing at the back of her head sent out a bolt of pain, leaving her a head throbbing for only a moment before receding again.

Bloody TARDIS, Rose thought to herself, grumpily. Why couldn't she just leave well alone for five minutes?

"It's impossible." Martha denied, tone firm and unwavering.

"And that's two impossible things we've seen so far tonight. Don't you love it when that happens?" The Doctor grinned.

Martha ignored the Doctor's glee, still focused on the image in front of her. "That means Lazarus has changed his own molecular patterns."

"Hypersonic sound waves to destabilise the cell structure, then a metagenic programme to manipulate the coding in the protein strands."

Rose stared at the Doctor blankly, no idea what he was saying, and more importantly what it meant. Thankful when he continued.

"Basically, he hacked into his own genes and instructed them to rejuvenate."

"But they're still mutating now." Martha pointed out.

"Because nothing's ever that simple." Rose bemoaned sarcastically, causing the Doctor to flash a grin at her.

"Because he missed something. Something in his DNA has been activated and won't let him stabilise. Something that's trying to change him."

"Change him into what?"

"I don't know, but I think we need to find out."

"That woman said they were going upstairs."

"Let's go."

Leaving the lab as quickly as they entered, they rushed to the lifts.

x

Back at the reception, Francine beckoned her eldest daughter over. Something was going on with that Doctor bloke and that Rose woman. She didn't trust them. And okay maybe she was channeling her hatred of Annelise and her divorce onto the woman but still.

"Tish! Have you seen Martha or that Doctor and that blonde anywhere?" Francine sneered.

"Not since the demonstration." Tish answered.

"Do you know anything about him? Has she ever mentioned him before?"

"Not to me, why would she have? They said they were just potential investors."

Suspicion mounting, she continued. "Investors? That woman said they were investigating the moon hoax. And the way she followed him."

"She's a doctor. She was just doing her job." Tish dismissed.

"She's not a doctor yet. Never will be, if she doesn't stay focused."

Leo and Tish shared a look. They knew all too well that their mother pushed too hard, their youngest sister was no exception, not even after Addie's death. They had to work twice as hard to make it, their mother would remind them, they didn't get the luxury of reprieval.

"Look, she's found a bloke. So what?" Leo stepped in, hoping to disway his mum from her current thinking.

"There's something going on, Leo, I can feel it." Francine argued, adamant that there was more to this than her daughter had let on.

x

They arrived at Lazarus' office to find it dark and empty. Lacking the professor they'd come look for. The Doctor flicked on the lights.

"This is his office, all right." Martha commented.

"Mmm, very flash." Rose said, glaring at a roman-esque statue.

"So where is he?" The Doctor asked.

"Don't know. Let's try back at the reception…" Martha trailed off.

The Doctor and Rose turned to face Martha, hoping to be clued in to whatever had caused her to trail off. When they noticed she was staring, fixated on something ahead, they turned as well. Spotting the skeletal leg donning a woman's shoe peeking out from behind the ostentatious desk, they dashed over.

As they drew closer they recognised the dress Lady Thaw had been wearing was now fitted to the corpse. With dried and shriveled grey skin it was hard to tell who it had once been but all signs pointed to the lady herself, which led to a horrifying revelation in turn.

"Is that Lady Thaw?"

"Either that or someone's got a twisted sense of humour." Rose remarked, feeling nauseous.

"Used to be. Now it's just a shell. Had all the life energy drained out, like squeezing the juice out of an orange."

"What could do that, Doctor?" Rose asked.

Because that was the question wasn't it. How could a human be capable of that. Mutation or not, what had Lazarus become.

"Lazarus?" Martha hazarded, not sure if she wanted to be right or not.

"Could be." The Doctor answered.

Rose's stomach twisted. God she was done with feeling sick all the time. Why couldn't the professor have changed into something less gruesome?

"So he's changed already?"

"Not necessarily. You saw the DNA. It was fluctuating. The process must demand energy. This might not have been enough."

"So he might do this again?" Martha asked appalled.

Rose had to agree with her on that, give her a dalek any day at least she knew what to expect.

"Mmm."

They rushed back off to the lifts, desperate to get back to the people below, before Lazarus changed again.

x

The reception was as crowded as it had been before they'd absconded, making it that much more difficult to locate the allusive professor.

"I can't see him." Martha declared.

"He can't be far. Keep looking." The Doctor snapped, rushing off.

Rose followed after the Doctor only to be dragged back by Leo's words.

"Yeah, well, he was getting cosy with Tish a couple of minutes ago."

"With Tish?" Martha snapped to the Doctor.

"Ah, Doctor." Francine said joining the group.

"Where did they go?" The Doctor barked at Leo, ignoring Francine.

"Upstairs, I think. Why?"

The Doctor ran back to the lift, spilling Francine's drink over her as he went. Rose cast an apologetic look over her shoulder but followed after.

"Doctor I'm speaking to you!" Francine bellowed after them.

"Not now, Mum." Martha said through gritted teeth, joining them in the lift.

x

They burst out of the lift in a flurry, anxiety mounting at the continued absence of people in Lazarus' office.

"Where are they?" Martha asked, panic evident in her tone, she'd already lost one sister after all.

"They can't have gone far." Rose attempted to reassure, eyes darting about the office space for another potential skeletal corpse.

"Fluctuating DNA will give off an energy signature. I might be able to pick it up." The Doctor offered, pulling out his sonic.

The sonic beeped as it scanned the room trying to pick up Lazarus' energy signature. The few seconds it took to get a reading were filled with pain staking anxiety.

"Got him." The Doctor announced.

"Where?" Martha's panic voice asked.

The sonic was focused on the ceiling.

"But this is the top floor." Martha mused before realisation dawned, "The roof."

And once again they ran off in the direction of potential danger. This time heading for the stairs to the roof hoping they weren't too late. They'd lost enough family lately.

x

The Doctor pressed a finger to his lips, signaling for the other two to remain quiet as they slipped onto the rooftop. Lazarus stood closely to Tish and seemed to be quoting some kind of poem.

"Falls the Shadow." The Doctor finished the quote, announcing their presence.

The two occupants spun to face the trio, a smile bloomed on Lazarus' face as he took them in.

"So the mysterious Doctor knows his Eliot. I'm impressed." Lazarus remarked, rocking back on the balls of his feet as he slid his hands into his blazer pockets.

"Martha, what are you doing here?" Tish glowered at her sister.

"Tish, get away from him." Martha pleaded, gesturing for her sister to join them.

"What? Don't tell me what to do." Tish argued, waspishly.

"I wouldn't have thought you had time for poetry, Lazarus, what with you being busy defying the laws of nature and all."

Rose's eyes flickered between the Doctor and Lazarus, aware that he was employing his usual distraction tactic, but Rose worried it wouldn't be enough to stave off the change; they had no idea how it worked and whether it was triggered or voluntary, after all.

"You're right, Doctor. One lifetime's been too short for me to do everything I'd like. How much more I'll get done in two or three or four."

"Doesn't work like that. Some people live more in twenty years than others do in eighty. It's not the time that matters, it's the person."

"But if it's the right person, what a gift that would be."

"Or what a curse. Look at what you've done to yourself."

Rose shivered slightly at the pain and loss hidden in the Doctor's words. It wasn't the first time he'd referred to his near immortality as a curse and she knew there was nothing she could do to lighten that particular burden. She was human after all, she'd leave him one day too, whether she liked it or not.

"Who are you to judge me?" Lazarus sneered.

"Over here, Tish." Martha called softly.

Tish finally stepped away from the professor, sneer in place as she got right into her sister's face, looming over her as she reprimanded her.

"You have to spoil everything, don't you? Every time I find someone nice, you have to go and find fault."

Unbeknownst to Tish, Lazarus had started his transition. Muscles spasming as he twisted and turned.

"Tish, he's a monster!" Martha snapped, her eyes begging her sister to see reason.

"I know the age thing's a bit freaky, but it works for Catherine Zeta-Jones."

Martha gaped in horror as Lazarus twitched on the floor, flesh ripping, skin tearing making way for a skeleton much too large for his human skin.

Catching her sister's look, Tish turnt slowly around to see her boss mid-transformation.

The wet sound of muscle ripping and reforming filled the air as bones continued to snap and break into new and horrifying shapes leaving an unrecognisable skeletal looking scorpion-like creature in the professor's place.

But on further inspection, with a twisted stomach, Rose realised the scorpion-esque creature still carried the professor's former face but now split in two to make way for mandibles. Rose fought back waves of nausea as the buzzing in her head sounded more like cries of alarm.

"What's that?" Tish questioned, voice shaking with fear and disgust.

"Run!" The Doctor bellowed as the creature lunged for them, they collectively dived for the rooftop door.

Grabbing her skirt, Rose ran down the stairs after the Jones sisters, the sound of the Doctor sonicking the door shut and the ensuing crashing of the creature hurling itself at said door ringing in her ears as her heels clattered on each step. Her heart pounded in her chest at the thought of what the once professor might do if he got near those people down stairs.

Martha smacked the button for the lift repeatedly in her haste, fear evident in all of their movements.

"Are you okay?" Martha asked her sister, trembling.

"I was going to snog him." Tish confessed, still in disbelief as to what she'd just witnessed.

To make matters worse the lights suddenly flickered as Lazarus' continued crashing and snarling began to take effect.

"Security one. Security one. Security one." The tannoy repeated.

"Please tell me that's not what I think it is." Rose asked, a little breathlessly.

"What's happening?" Martha whispered, eyes wide and worried.

"An intrusion. It triggers a security lockdown. Kills most of the power. Stops the lifts, seals the exits." Tish rambled, glad to focus on anything but the reason for the lockdown.

The Doctor turned to face the ceiling and source of the noise. Each crash and subsequent crunch of metal made Rose's head pound and sent her pulse thrumming in anticipation, adrenaline already coursing through her veins.

"He must be breaking through that door. The stairs, come on!" The Doctor instructed them, leading the way.

Rose tried not to think too much about the hideous creature chasing them or the Beast's words from not so long ago as she flew down the stairs after the Doctor. But nonetheless she did. And of all the ways to die, as a dried out husk was not something she was looking forward to.

A/N: Fuck. So i know it's been something ridiculous like five months since I last updated and with the current lockdown I don't have many excuses. In my defence I have tried to write this chapter but I knew it was going to be a big one so I've been taking every opportunity of procrastination available to me, INCLUDING taking summary notes on every chapter of this story cus I was worried I was starting to contradict myself and fixing a plot point in chapter3. But its done. I had fun with the first pre-episode part, I've agonised over the direction of this episode a hundred times but I'm pretty happy with it for now. I know I changed martha's outfit but she doesn't get to have a lot of fun with clothes in the show sooo. Quick warning, I mentioned previously that episodes were not going to be in chronological order so after the next chapter expect some fuckery. Also I've got a writing tumblr now: xawkward-ariesx cus why not. Gonna be posting some headcanons, writing thoughts, character outfits (this chapter's will be up there) and stuff on there if you wanna check it out or just talk, thats cool too. Anyway to anyone who's still stuck around (to the end of this a/n and for this update) thank you so much I've appreciated each of your comments they were the kick in the ass I needed to finally sit down and get this done. Anyway, let me know your thoughts in the comments. See ya next chapter :)

Comments:

Harllen:

Im glad you liked it! I'm really excited to explore all those moments too 42 should be coming fairly soon though the others a lil longer

Ace of spies:

now you can! seriously though sorry for taking so long