A/N: Hello, apologies for the shorter chapter this week, but next week's should be longer. Hope you enjoy!


The Doctor and Ryan followed Martha the rest of the way to the balcony. They paused at the door, before the Doctor slowly turned the doorknob and pushed it open. They stopped, staring in awe at the Earth, their view truly uninhibited by window frames and glass, before taking in a deep breath.

"We've got air!" Martha quietly exclaimed as they edged further out onto the balcony. "How does that work?"

"Just be glad it does…" the Doctor mused.

"And we've got an artificial gravity field, or something like that," Ryan conjectured.

"Hold on, what do you mean, 'artificial gravity field'?" Martha interrupted.

Ryan turned back towards her. "We should be way more floaty, like how Neil Armstrong and that were." He shrugged. "So there's gotta be an artificial gravity field, right?" He glanced up at the Doctor, who was still holding his hand. The Doctor smiled and nodded.

As they approached the edge of the balcony, the Doctor shifted his grip on Ryan's hand, entangling their fingers. They watched the unliving, silent lunar surface, contemplating. Ryan stood in the middle, close to the Doctor, with him on his right side, and Martha a little further away on his left.

"I've got a party tonight," Martha breathed out. "It's my brother's twenty-first. My mother's gonna be really… really…" she trailed off, sounding like she was holding back tears.

"You okay?" Ryan asked gently.

"Yeah," Martha quickly answered.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Do you wanna go back in?" the Doctor suggested.

"No way," Martha said adamantly. "I mean, we could die any minute, but all the same… it's beautiful!"

Ryan agreed. "Yeah…"

"How many people wanna go to the Moon?" Martha cried in wonder. "And here we are!"

"Standing in the Earthlight," the Doctor pondered. He gave Ryan's hand a squeeze, before dropping it so he could rest his forearms on the balcony wall, leaning forwards.

"What do you think happened?" Martha abruptly questioned.

The Doctor twisted to face her from behind Ryan, who shuffled back slightly, as to not be in the way of the conversation. "What do you think?" he challenged.

Ryan could see what he was doing. Martha was bright and inquisitive and had caught both of their eyes, and so now the Doctor was testing her.

"Extra-terrestrial," Martha said firmly, after a moment of thought. "It's got to be. I dunno, a few ago years that would've sounded mad, but these days… that spaceship flying into Big Ben. Christmas. Those Cybermen things…"

She inhaled deeply. "I had a cousin. Adeola. She worked at Canary Wharf. She never came home," Martha said, sadly.

"I'm sorry," Ryan and the Doctor quietly chorused.

"Yeah…"

"Did she look like you, your cousin, Adeola?" the Doctor hesitantly asked.

"Yeah, people used to say we were almost like twins," Martha said, chuckling slightly. "Why?"

"We were there, in the battle… I met her, sort of…"

"I lost my mum, too…" Ryan mumbled. Almost immediately, he felt an arm wrap around his waist. Glancing to his right, he saw that the Doctor had shifted to pull them together. Even after all these months, it was still a very painful memory to recall, and Ryan greatly appreciated every bit of comfort the Doctor gave him.

"I'm really sorry," Martha said sympathetically.

"Thanks…"

An awkward silence hung in the air for a few moments, before Martha broke it.

"And then this Christmas too, when there was that giant star and the Thames was drained."

Ryan looked at the Doctor and mouthed 'the Thames was drained?', frowning. The Doctor dismissed him with a shrug, but Ryan didn't miss his guilty look.

Martha continued, oblivious to their exchange. "I promise you, Mr Smith and Mr, um, Tyler, we will find a way out. If we can travel to the Moon, then we can travel back. There's got to be a way," she said determinedly.

The Doctor sighed. "It's not Smith. That's not my real name." He gently rubbed Ryan's waist before letting go of him to pace back and forth across the balcony.

Martha turned to him. "Who are you, then?"

"I'm the Doctor."

"Me too, if I ever pass my exams," Martha chuckled. "What is it then, Dr Smith?"

"Just the Doctor."

"How do you mean, 'just the Doctor'?" Martha asked, disbelievingly.

"Just the Doctor," he repeated, dumbly.

"What, people call you 'the Doctor'?"

"Yeah," Ryan interrupted. "I do. And a lot of other people." That came out more aggressively than he had intended, but he knew a thing or two about calling people the name that they wanted to be known by.

"Well, I'm not," Martha huffed, turning away. "Far as I'm concerned, you've got to earn that title." She looked at Ryan. "And what about you, do you have some weird codename as well?"

Ryan burst out laughing. "Sorry, no I don't. Ryan Tyler is my real name. Just call me Ryan though. Mr Tyler is a bit too… formal."

"Well," the Doctor interjected. "I'd better make a start on earning that title, then. Let's have a look."

He picked up a pebble and tossed it out over the balcony. It stopped before it could get further than a few feet in front of them, creating a rippling effect on an otherwise invisible wall.

"There we go, some kind of forcefield to go with your artificial gravity field, Ryan," the Doctor nudged him. "That's what's keeping the air in."

"But if that's like a bubble sealing us in," Martha began slowly. "That means this is the only air we've got. What happens when it runs out?"

"How many people in this hospital?" the Doctor questioned.

Martha shrugged. "Dunno, a thousand?"

Ryan swallowed. A lot of people were in danger. "Shit…" he breathed out.

"A thousand people. Suffocating," the Doctor said through gritted teeth.

"D'you reckon whoever did this needs sick humans for experimentation?" Ryan asked, thinking back to their previous hospital adventure, on New Earth.

"Dunno," the Doctor shrugged. "Nice idea, though. I mean, your thought process was good, not kidnapping sick humans for experimentation," he hastily clarified.

Suddenly, they heard the boom and rumble of engines, announcing the arrival of their presumed extra-terrestrial kidnappers.

"Heads up, we might get our answers."

Three huge, cylindrical spaceships flew over the hospital and descended vertically. Once they had landed, small hatches opened at the bottom of the spaceships and lines of bipedal figures dressed in black marched out.

"Aliens. That's aliens," Martha exclaimed. "Real, proper aliens!"

"D'you recognise them, Doctor?" Ryan asked.

"They're Judoon," the Doctor replied, solemnly. "Come on, we need to see what they're up to."

They ran through the corridors, weaving between panicking patients and staff alike, following signs towards the main reception. They arrived at a mezzanine overlooking the reception area, and ducked behind some plants, as to not be spotted by the Judoon, who were busy scanning people below.

"Aw, look down there, you've got a little shop," the Doctor cooed. "I like a little shop. Bit better than New New York's offerings, eh?" he said, nudging Ryan.

"Hope there's no bitchy trampolines either," Ryan joked.

"Never mind that," Martha hissed. "What are Judoon?"

"They're like police," the Doctor explained. "Well, police for hire. They're more like interplanetary thugs…"

Ryan remembered something he had heard many months ago. "Do they work for the Shadow Proclamation?"

The Doctor nodded. "They've been known to."

"They brought us to the Moon?" Martha supposed.

"Neutral territory. According to Galactic Law, they've got no jurisdiction over the Earth so they've isolated it. That rain, and lightning? That was them, using an H2O scoop."

Martha scoffed. "What're you on about, 'Galactic Law' and 'Shadow Proclamation'? I mean, where d'you two get that from?"

Ryan and Martha followed the Doctor as he shifted around a corner to get a better view of what was happening below them: Judoon scanning terrified people and declaring them to be human.

"If they're police, are we under arrest?" Martha continued. "Are we trespassing on the moon or something?"

"No, but I like that!" the Doctor replied, turning to Martha. "Good thinking."

He turned to look over his other shoulder to Ryan. "Any ideas?"

Ryan could tell by the twinkle in the Doctor's eye that he had already worked it out, but the Doctor enjoyed challenging him. He put the facts together.

"So they're police, alien police. Looking for a criminal, probably. But they're scanning people, seeing what species they are. So I'm guessing they're looking for someone who looks human but… isn't…" he faltered.

"Yep," the Doctor said, soberly.

"Ah."

Martha frowned. "What's wrong?"

Her mouth dropped open when she saw the serious look on the Doctor's face.

"Oh you're kidding me."

Ryan shook his head. "He's not."

"Don't be ridiculous… you too?"

Ryan hesitated, not sure exactly how to answer. He was human. Ish. But he didn't know how ish and whether that was going to be a problem or not if he were to be scanned by a Judoon.

"He's human," the Doctor quickly answered for him. "Come on, then."

They quickly jogged down the corridors and up some stairs, until the Doctor found an empty office.

"Martha, could you check to see where the Judoon are at?" the Doctor asked as he pushed open the door for the office.

"Yeah sure," Martha replied, before running back down the corridor they came from.

"Should I go after her?" Ryan asked as the Doctor ushered him into the office.

The Doctor sniffed. "Nah, she'll be fine. Thought you'd want to have this conversation in private."

"What conversation? About my species?"

"Yep," the Doctor confirmed, popping the p. "Even though your DNA has mutated slightly, you'll still scan as a human, albeit a more highly evolved one. In theory."

That didn't fill Ryan with much confidence. "In theory? What about in practice?"

"The DNA scanner on board the TARDIS is very similar to the ones the Judoon use; that one reads you as human with a genetic mutation. They aren't looking for a human, genetic mutation or no genetic mutation, so you'll be fine if they catch you."

Not all of Ryan's concerns were erased. "But… what if they catch you?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I'll just keep running."

Well, that just about sums everything up, doesn't it, Ryan thought, as the Doctor turned on the computer at the desk and started hacking it with his sonic screwdriver.

Martha suddenly barged into the office. "They've reached the third floor," she informed them. "What's that thing?" she asked, nodding at the Doctor's sonic.

"It's his sonic screwdriver," Ryan answered.

"Well, if you're not gonna answer me properly…"

The Doctor stopped using his sonic and spun around in his chair. "No, he's right, really it is! It's a screwdriver, and it's sonic. Look." He redundantly held it up for Martha to see.

"What else have you got? Laser spanner?" she sarcastically asked.

"I did, but it was stolen by Emmeline Pankhurst, cheeky woman," the Doctor replied distractedly. "What's wrong with this computer?!" he yelled, whacking the monitor.

Ryan sighed. He found the Doctor's method of percussive maintenance quite endearing really, but it couldn't be doing his hand much good. "What's happening?"

"Judoon must have locked it down… Judoon platoon upon the moon…" the Doctor mumbled, rubbing his jaw in frustration. "We just came to Earth 'cos Ryan wanted some chips; we weren't looking for trouble. Honestly, we weren't." He looked at Ryan, waiting for him to confirm what he said.

"It's true. I mean, we didn't mind our trip getting interesting, but not like this. Not with so many people's lives in danger. But the Doctor spotted these plasma coil things…"

"Yeah, they were around the hospital, that lightning was from the plasma coils. It'd had been building up for about two days by my estimates, so we checked in and stayed overnight, just to see what was going on inside. Turns out that the plasma coils were the Judoon up above," the Doctor rambled, before turning his attention back to the computer.

"But what are they looking for, exactly?" Martha questioned.

"Someone who looks human but isn't," Ryan said, repeating his words from earlier.

Martha nodded her head towards the Doctor. "Like him. Apparently."

"Yeah, like him. But not him. I hope."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Not me. Never gotten into that much trouble."

"Haven't they got a photo?" asked Martha.

"Eh, might be a shape changer."

"Whatever it is, can't you just leave the Judoon to find it?"

The Doctor sucked in a breath. "If they declare the hospital guilty of harbouring a fugitive, they'll sentence it to execution."

"You mean all of us?" Ryan interjected.

"Oh, yes. But if I can find this thing first… oh!" the Doctor exclaimed, running his hands through his hair. "You see, they're thick! Judoon are thick! They are so completely thick, they've wiped the records! Oh that's clever."

Ryan laughed, both at the Doctor's outburst and his hair.

"Sorry," he mumbled after Martha had shot him a glare. He tilted his head towards the Doctor. "You look like a hedgehog."

"Does it suit me?"

"Sorry, can we focus?" Martha interrupted. "What are we looking for?"

"I don't know, say, any patient admitted in the past week with unusual symptoms. Maybe there's a backup…" the Doctor said, leaning over to inspect the back of the computer.

"Just keep working. I'll go and ask Mr Stoker. He might know."

"I'll come with you," Ryan offered. "I'm not much good with the computer stuff."

Martha nodded, and Ryan followed her as they left the office, and towards Mr Stoker's.

"Is this your usual gig?" Martha asked Ryan as they jogged. "You and your partner, you run around catching aliens?"

"Not necessarily, we just travel around. If there's stuff to be investigated, or people to be helped, we do it." He paused. "And we aren't… like that. That was just so that I could stay with him overnight."

Martha looked at Ryan in a way that indicated that she didn't quite believe him.

They soon arrived at Mr Stoker's office. Martha knocked on the door as she walked in.

"Mr Stoker?" she called.

They froze the sight before them. Two tall figures dressed in crash helmets and bikers' leathers were standing guard over a little old lady, who popped up from behind the desk, with a drinking straw in her mouth. There was blood on the end of the straw.

"Think we've found our criminal," Ryan muttered. "Run!"

They sprinted out and back down to where the Doctor was, but ended up quite literally running into him.

"I've restored the backup," the Doctor informed them, as he braced Ryan.

"We've found her," Martha panted.

"You did what?"

They turned as they heard the loud crash as one of the biker figures smashed a door off its hinges.

"Run!" the Doctor yelled, grabbing Ryan's hand and pulling him down the corridor.


A/N: Thank you very much for reading! Any comments are appreciated!