After a bit of… convincing, I finally got the Doctor to let me pilot the Tardis. Unlike him, I had passed the test but he really loved flying her. While his flights were turbulent, mine were more smooth, always precise. The Tardis hummed as she landed, content with being piloted properly. I chuckled. As much as she complained about the Doctor's horrible steering, I knew she loved it as well. I felt it was more when she wanted to be piloted properly that I would take over. I turned to him, a broad smile on my face. "Hmm, a perfect landing."

"Yeah, all right."

"You wouldn't have been able to get into such a tight spot."

"Of course I could have. It's easy."

"He should be used to tight spots by now," Martha teased. "Where are we?"

"The end of the line." Martha ran to the door, stopping at it and turning back to us. "No place like it."

Martha walked out, followed by the Doctor and me. "Home? You took me home?"

"In fact, the morning after we left. You've only been gone a little over twelve hours."

"But all the stuff we've done- Shakespeare, New New York, old New York, Rinston?"

"Yep. All in one night, relatively speaking. Everything should be just as it was- books, CDs… laundry." He picked up an undergarment that Martha quickly snatched from his hand. "So, back were you were, as promised."

"This is it?"

"Yeah. We should probably, um…"

Martha's phone rang and the machine picked it up, "Hi, I'm out. Leave a message."

"I'm sorry."

"Martha, are you there? Pick it up, will you?"

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

"All right then, pretend that you're out if you like. 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 went and turned on the telly.

"The details are top secret-"

"How could Tish end up on the news?" I looked to see a young black woman standing next to a much older man making the announcement.

"Tonight, I will demonstrate a device… which will redefine our world."

"She's got a new job- PR for some research lab."

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

"Professor! Professor!"

She turned the television off. "Sorry. You were saying, you should…"

"Yes, yes, we should. One trip is what I said."

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

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

"Thank you… for everything."

"It was my pleasure." As he walked into the Tardis, I gave the woman a knowing smile before entering after him, watching as he put the Tardis in the Vortex.

"Doctor…"

"I know," he replied, bringing it back to Martha's and poking his head out. "No. I'm sorry. Did he say he was gonna change what it means to be human?" I smiled and poked my head out, winking at her before motioning for Martha to come back in. From the moment I heard the man on the telly, I knew the Doctor's curiosity was peaked.

After hours of lounging about the Tardis, I pulled Martha to the wardrobe. I wanted to talk to her as we changed into our outfits for the night. "Martha, I know I can get snappy at times, and you don't really trust me… but have I done anything wrong? At times I feel as if you don't particularly want me around…"

"Er, no. That's not it at all."

"Is it because of the Doctor, then?"

She sighed, looking at me for the first time since we entered the cupboard. "I thought I had a chance with him. In the hospital, where we met, he kissed me and I thought… I don't know something could happen. I didn't know about you."

"He did what?!"

"Was I not supposed to tell you?"

"Hold on just a mo. I have to speak with the Doctor," I said as I stormed out of the wardrobe and into the console room.

"You kissed Martha Jones."

"Huh? Kissed Martha? Oh! Now just hold on."

"Why should I?" I asked, slapping his arm.

"It was a genetic transfer. I needed to buy time and the Judoon were after a plasmavore. I just needed them off my trail."

"You DON'T kiss anyone but me."

"I know that. I've only kissed you since I found you, Rys. Genetic transfer, that was all it was."

"Fine," I said, grabbing his suit lapels and kissing him. Pushing him away, I cocked my head to the side, smirking. "Better than Martha Jones?"

"Definitely," he replied breathlessly. Satisfied, I returned to the wardrobe.

"Sorry about that. Now, where were we… right, dresses."

"So, You and him are together." It was a statement, one that sounded as if she figured out a puzzle she'd been trying to decipher for a while.

"Have been for years."

"Why didn't you say? Neither of you never say."

"Actions speak louder than words," I replied with a smile before I turned away, finding a dress for Martha. It was dark purple, loose under the bust, and knee length. Looking around, I found a pair of matching Maryjane like heels I held it up for her, happy to see her reaction.

"I love it."

"Glad to hear."

"What are you going to wear?" I shrugged, looking through the fancy dress section. As I searched, Martha pulled on her outfit. After a bit more of a search, I found the perfect dress. Pulling it out, I showed Martha. It was floor length, with a leather corset like bodice and a Tardis blue, flowing lace skirt. "It's gorgeous. Go on, then. Put it on." I chuckled and stripped down, pulling the dress up. Checking myself in the mirror, I couldn't help but smile. The dress seemed to compliment my purple hair perfectly. Grinning, I reached for a pair of combat boots. While I was willing to get in a dress, there was no way in hell I was wearing heels.

"So, what to do with the hair?" I asked, seeing Martha had put on a black headband. "I was thinking of curling it."

"But leave it down." I nodded and got to work. Finally finished, I looked at Martha, hoping to get her opinion. "You look amazing."

"Thanks. You do too. Hey, would you mind doing me a favour?"

"Sure."

"Can you lead the Doctor outside? I want to surprise him. I never really dress up and I want to see his face when I pop out."

"No problem." I smiled, waiting a bit until I heard the Tardis door close behind them. Taking my cue, I left the wardrobe and walked to the door, stroking the console on the way out.

The look on the Doctor's face was worth the uncomfortable feeling of being in a dress. The moment he saw me, I thought he was going to have dual heart attacks. His eyes had glazed over a bit and his mouth hung slack as his eyes wondered my body. I laughed a bit before blushing, his thoughts making their way to me. "Doctor, I actually like this dress." He snapped back, his cheeks turning pink as he realized what I meant.

"You look phenomenal."

I took his arm. "Thank you. I hate that suit."

He laughed. "I know. You tried to throw it into a sun."

"Really," Martha asked, slightly bewildered. "Why?"

"Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens."

"That's not the outfit. That's just you. Anyway, I think it suits you… in a James Bond kind of way."

"Don't say that." I groaned as he wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to his side. "His head's just going to inflate even more now. And trust me Martha, it's the suit."

"James Bond? Really?" he asked, content with the comparison as we walked up to a building labelled Lazarus Laboratories, cameras shuttering away as we did.

Walking in, I took in the view. The place was posh, incredibly posh. In the middle of the room stood a circular dais that held a frosted glass chamber and four upright posts that were slightly curved at the top. As I stepped away to admire the machine, a waiter passed by with a tray of food. "Oh, look. They've got nibbles! I love nibbles." The Doctor grabbed two, popping one in his mouth and placing the other in mine. I smiled at him, not really enjoying it but more the fact he thought of me enough to offer.

"I always think of you."

"I think of you, too."

"And you really do look spectacular."

"Thank you. I was thinking, maybe we try what you were thinking, just without destroying my dress and all." I watched his face flush again as he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me to him as who I could only assume was Martha's sister, approached us.

"Hello."

"Tish!"

The pair hugged, Tish pulling away to see her sister's outfit. "You look great. So, what do you think? Impressive, isn't it?"

"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." I smiled at them as they spoke, just enjoying being in the Doctor's arms. It was my favourite place to be.

"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." Leaving our private conversation, and the waitress with the 'nibbles', we strolled over to Martha and her sister. "This is, uh, the Doctor and Rys."

"Hi."

He moved the snacks to his other hand and shook Tish's. "Hello."

"Are they with you?"

"Yeah."

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

"He's my plus-one."

"And her?"

"I'm his plus one. Is that alright?" I innocently asked, laying on my charm the best I could.

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

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

"She's in the PR department."

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

"You're joking."

"I put this whole thing together."

"That's amazing."

"So, do you know what the professor's gonna to be doing tonight? That looks like it might be a sonic microfield manipulator."

"He's a science geek. I should have known. Got to get back to work now. I'll catch up with you later." Tish shot us a smile and went off to tend to her duties.

"'Science geek'- what does that mean?"

"That your obsessively enthusiastic about it."

"Oh, nice." Martha and I chuckled a bit before she looked up, seeing two people she recognized.

"Martha."

"Mum!" She went and gave her mother a hug, catching the woman by surprise. As the three spoke, the Doctor and I stood to the side, having a small chat about the mainipulator, until she waved us over. "These are friends of mine. The Doctor and Rys."

"Doctor what?"

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

"You alright, mate?"

"It's lovely to meet you, Mrs Jones. Heard a lot about you." I shook my head, knowing he had just put himself in another one of his 'mother' situations.

"Have you? What have you heard then?" the woman asked, causing me to chuckle.

"Oh, you know, that you're Martha's mother and. Er, no, actually, that's- that's about it. We haven't had much time to chat, you know, been busy."

"Busy? Doing what, exactly?"

"Oh, you know…. st-" I quickly covered his mouth.

"Sorry about him. If it has nothing to do with science he's a complete idiot. We met a few weeks ago at the hospital. He was feeling a bit ill and after a day in there, he became a downright terror. Martha was wonderful enough to help me keep him busy, asking him questions about treatments and procedures and such. Martha's brilliant. I'm so glad I met her," I gushed, moving my hand from the Doctor's mouth and pulling her into a side hug.

Her mother glanced at us and then at the Doctor and my intertwined hands before giving us a warm smile. "Right."

Just then, Professor Lazarus tapped his glass, bring our attention to him. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Professor Richard Lazarus, and tonight, I am going to perform a miracle. It is, I believe, the most important advance since Rutherford split the atom, the biggest leap since Armstrong stood on the moon. Tonight you will watch and wonder. Tomorrow, you will wake to a world which will be changed forever." The man went into the machine and a pair of female scientists started up the machine. There was a high-pitched whine as the four columns began to fluctuate and the platform rotate around the chamber as energy was poured into it. A blinding light flashed into the crowd, causing me to squint. As it began to whirl faster, electricity crackling as it did so, causing an alarm to go off.

"Something's wrong. It's overloading." The controls began to spark and then smoke as the technicians attempted to rectify the system. The Doctor and I rushed over to the control system, him with his screwdriver in his hand as he scanned it.

"Somebody stop him. Get him away from those controls."

'I'll deal with her. You handle the machine.' He nodded and got to work.

"Look, if that thing goes up, the entire building's coming down. He's trying to help and those technicians can barely control the thing. So shut up and stay back." I turned watching as he fiddled with the controls.

'Power cord.'

'Right.'

I watched as he pulled out the cable and the machine slowed to a stop. Martha ran over, joining us. "Get it open!" She went and pulled open the door and a younger Lazarus stumbled out. I quickly stepped back, bumping into one of the guests, a man who shot me a suggestive smile. I rolled my eyes at him and pushed through the crowd, doing my best to get as far away from Lazarus as possible. Every fibre in my body screamed that he was wrong, that he shouldn't exist.

"Ladies and gentlemen… I am Richard Lazarus. I am seventy six years old, and I am reborn!" Everyone in the room burst into applause except for the Doctor, Martha, and me. Whatever he did, would not end well for anyone.

A while later, after the Doctor had found me lounging by the stair, the three of us were standing a good distance away, watching as Lazarus posed for the photographers. "That's can't be the same guy. It's impossible. It must be a trick."

"I wish it were. That's the same man."

"What just happened, then?"

"He just changed what it means to be human."

Unable to be that close to him, I walked away, the Doctor and Martha following me. I had already voiced my concerns to the Time Lord, who had told me he felt the same. Still, he was curious about the man, even if he knew of the process; it was more of how he had accomplished the change. Knowing just how inquisitive he was, I took a deep breath and allowed him to pull me closer to the man. We watched as he stiffened and panted, grabbing a tray off a passing waiter and eating the food it held. The Doctor and I glanced at each other before we started to walk over, hearing the woman gasp at his behaviour. "Richard!"

"I'm famished."

"That would be the energy deficit," I stated, warily eyeing the man. "It tends to happen with this type of process."

'I love when you do that.'

'Oh? Maybe I should do that more often then.'

'You should.' I smiled at him before turning my full attention to Lazarus.

"You talk as if you see this every day, Miss…"

"Cerys. She's Martha and he's the Doctor."

"And, well, no, not every day. But we have some experience with this kind of transformation."

"That's not possible."

"You were using hypersonic sound waves to create a state of resonance," I replied, bored.

"You understand the theory, then."

"Sure. But you obviously didn't think off all the variables."

"No experiment is entirely without risk." He popped another nibble in his mouth, turning away from us.

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

"You're not qualified to comment," Lady Thaw snapped.

"If I hadn't stopped it, it would've 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."

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

He laughed at Martha's comment. "Look at me. You can see what happened. I'm all the proof you need."

"This device will be properly certified before we start to operate commercially."

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

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

"This isn't about improving. This is about you and your customers living a little longer."

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

"Richard, we have things to discuss. Upstairs."

"Goodbye, Doctor. In a few years, you'll look back and laugh at how wrong you were." He reached for my hand but I hastily pulled it from his reach, leaving him to grab Martha's, which he kissed before following with Lady Thaw.

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

"The damage he has done," I clarified.

"So, what do we do now?"

"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?"

"Martha, you're brilliant," I told her before we ran off to find a laboratory.

An image of a strand of DNA flashed across a computers screen. I looked at it, waiting for the Doctor to finish up with the microscope. From the computer, I could see exactly what Lazarus had done, the damage his machine did. "Amazing."

"What?"

"Lazarus' DNA."

"I can't see anything different."

"Look at it."

Martha did and turned to us. "Oh my God! Did that just change?" The Doctor and I nodded. "But it can't have."

"It did."

"It's impossible."

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

"Depends on the impossible thing," I answered, my gaze remaining on the screen.

"That means Lazarus has changed his own molecular patterns."

"Hypersonic sound waves to destabilise the cell structure, then a metagenetic programme to manipulate the coding in the protein strands. Basically, he hacked into his own genes and instructed them to rejuvenate."

"But they're still mutating now."

"That's because he activated something in his DNA and it won't let him stabilize. It'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," the Doctor said as he led us out of the room.

After going up a flight of stairs, we reached Lazarus' office. "This is his office, all right," Martha stated. It was obvious but it was more for how the office looked, with the antiquities, the sculptures, and the technology.

"So where is he?"

"Don't know. Let's try back at the re…ception." I followed her gaze, seeing a skeletal foot in a heel coming from behind the desk. We ran over, the Doctor crouching down while Martha leaned over it. "Is that Lady Thaw?" Martha asked.

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

"Lazarus."

"Could be."

"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?"

"Mmm." I nodded at the woman and walked to the lifts, the Doctor and Martha following me and getting in when it arrived. Back in the reception room, the three of us looked around for Lazarus.

"I can't see him."

"He can't be far. Keep looking." I walked off a bit, looking through the crowd. When I saw nothing, I walked over to Martha as Leo did the same.

"Hey, you alright, Marth? I think Mum wants to talk to you."

"Have you seen Lazarus anywhere?"

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

"With Tish!"

"Ah, Doctor."

"Where did they go?" he asked, ignoring Martha's mother.

"Upstairs, I think. Why?"

"Doctor." He grabbed my hand and took off, spilling her drink on her. "I'm speaking to you!"

"Sorry, Mrs. Jones. He has a one tracked mind," I yelled before we got too far. We piled into the lift and the moment the doors opened, we raced out.

3/11/2014

Hey guys. I'm soooo sorry this is a late update. I swear I wasn't slacking and doing absolutely nothing in respect to the story. I was actually trying to do a Halloween chapter before posting this but I ended up not finishing it in time to post it for the holiday. I will be posting it as it's own story, which I'm sure and hope you all will enjoy. I believe that's all I have to say since I didn't allow myself to watch the new episodes since I didn't reach my deadline for finishing my soon to be published novel. I will have it watched by next Saturday since it is the season finale. Thanks for all the reviews, reads, and follows for the story. I appreciate it so much.

P.S. I'll be posting the Halloween chapter hopefully before I post the conclusion for this episode so look for that. It won't be long but it's something. I'm also doing a Fantastic Four story that should be up soonish. Most likely after I get out of school for the semester.

dream lighting: Thanks, I'm so glad you liked the chapter. As for River and Rys... spoilers ;) It'll be a great time though.

NicoleR85: Glad you loved it. Those were some of my favourite episodes to write actually. They'll definitely be interesting.

Squidtastik: There'll definitely be a lot more of that to come, especially with the upcoming chapters. I will say it was quite good.

I'm-a-Klaus-addict: I did and it made me so happy! That sucks but I'm glad you had fun. Fandom day sounds amazing. I wish we had that when I was in school. Their relationship is definitely developing into something that transcends time and space. The Destroyer will definitely be popping up as the story progresses. Just as the Doctor is incredibly famous, Rys is as well, but that's due to her time in the War. It'll definitely be explained in more detail in a later chapter. As for Halloween, I ended up going to a party. I was thinking of being Amy but I decided to be Nancy from The Craft. If you haven't seen it, you should totally check it out. It was an awesome movie. Mind you, it's horror so if you aren't a fan of those, probably don't watch it, haha. What were your Halloween plans?

Takara Matsudaira: More of that to come, I swear to it. Yeah, Rys is pretty set on staying in her room and keeping it. It's more of wanting to keep the human part of her, and remember her times with Rose. That's actually extremely true. Honestly, if I see the film in the theatres, I end up forgetting names and if I watch it at home, I end up skipping the credits. I definitely understand trying to figure out characteristics that go with the name. I definitely don't mind waiting to read your story. As for Rose, I've heard a lot of reasons as to why she's disliked but after a while she grows on you. Happened to me with Martha. Yes! And now with Twelve, he's back in black. Which episode is that? Is it the one where she's basically The Doctor or the one with the kids?

shadow-kissed angel: Thanks so much.

margie-me: Haha, thanks. I usually don't get much sleep due to insomnia so I spend that time writing until I can no longer keep my eyes open. It's a great system for getting work done. Art is amazing. I've dabbled but I'm such a perfectionist that I end up getting irritated when it doesn't come out how I'd like. As crazy as this sounds, maybe record your ideas so you could always listen to them and go back to it? But if art is your forte, go for it wholeheartedly. It's horrible that your cousin lost your comic . It was something you put a crazy amount of effort and time into it only to be lost. But I hope you get that spark again and one of these days we'll see your work all over the place. I do too but I've now started looking into transferring universities so that's another block atop my load. But I only have a few more weeks of classes left so once winter break hits, I'll be free to write everything my heart desires. The Doctor and Rys definitely are and they get better as the story progresses.