"There we go- perfect landing, which isn't easy in such a tight spot." The Doctor fiddled with a few more things on the controls after they had landed.
"It would be easy if you had passed your test." Violet laughed.
Martha completely disregarded her. "You should be used to tight spots by now." She teased the Doctor. "Where are we?"
"The end of the line." He said vaguely. As Martha rushed to the doors excitedly, he added, "No place like it."
Martha shot a look towards him and, when he nodded, opened the door. She stepped out and looked around in disappointment. "Home. You took me home?" She asked, annoyed and ready to bet that Violet had something to do with it.
"In fact, the morning after we left, so you've only been gone about 12 hours. No time at all, really." The Doctor stepped out and began assessing her room.
"But all the stuff we've done- Shakespeare, New New York, old New York..." Martha trailed off.
"Yep, all in one night- relatively speaking. Everything should be just as it was- books, CDs," He picked up lingerie from a drying rack. "Laundry." He added. Martha snatched it out of his hands, embarrassed.
"So, back were you were, as promised." The Doctor said.
Martha raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "This is it?" She asked as Violet walked out of the TARDIS and looked around the room.
"Yeah, I should probably…um-" The Doctor was interrupted as Martha's phone started ringing.
The answering machine picked up.
"Martha, are you there? Pick it up, will you?"
"It's Mum. It'll wait." She dismissed.
"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 looked surprised and turned on the TV.
"The details are top secret-" An old man said. A young woman, which Violet assumed to be Tish, stood behind the man.
"How could Tish end up on the news?" She frowned.
"Tonight, I will demonstrate a device-"
"She's got a new job. PR for some research lab." Martha explained.
"…with the push of a single button, I will change what it means to be human."
Martha switched off the TV, not noticing that Violet and the Doctor were both staring at it.
"Sorry. You were saying we should...?" Martha questioned.
The Doctor tore his gaze away from the screen. "Yes, yes, we should. One trip is what we said."
"Yeah. I suppose things just kind of… escalated." Martha smiled.
"Mmm. Seems to happen to me a lot." He looked over at Violet, who was still frowning at the TV.
Martha ignored the fact that he was looking right past her. "Thank you. For everything." She said genuinely.
"It was my pleasure." The Doctor returned her smile before motioning at Violet to step into the TARDIS. He followed her and closed the door, turning to Violet.
"Where to now?" He asked, already moving them into the Vortex.
"2007 is a really boring year." She stated. "Well, not really. I mean, they found a 2100 year old melon in Japan, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out and humans tried for the Martian north pole, but no one majorly changed the course of history." She gave the Doctor a look, and both started bringing the TARDIS back to Martha's room, a second after they left.
They both burst out of the doors as soon as they landed.
"No, sorry. Did he say he's going to change what it means to be human?"
The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS in a black suit and a bow tie, fussing around with his cuffs.
"Why can't I just wear my suit?" He whined.
"Tish said it's strictly black tie." Martha- who was wearing a simple, dark dress- tried to be stern, but ended up just marvelling at how he looked in the suit.
"I can wear a black tie with my suit, it's probably more-" The Doctor stopped talking as Violet stepped into the room. She was wearing a dress in a shade of stormy grey that clung to her tightly before, at the waist, falling loosely to mid-thigh, showing off her long legs.
She gave the Doctor a once-over and sighed, going over to fix his bow tie. "You've had enough time to learn how to do up a bow tie, you know."
He looked stunned for a second before replying. "I don't like bow ties."
"Neither do you like pears, you still know how to eat one." She countered, grinning.
"That's different! You eat a-"
Martha cleared her throat rather intentionally, making the Time Lords turn to her.
"We should probably get going. The venue isn't far from here, we can walk." She told them before heading out of her flat.
"Oh, black tie. Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens." The Doctor commented.
"Don't blame the outfit, it's you. It's like you have a sign on your head that says 'Looking for trouble'." Violet lauged.
"Actually, I think it just says 'Time Lord'." He grinned at her, taking her hand.
Martha frowned at their familiarity before interrupting. "I think it suits you. In a James Bond kind of way." She complimented.
"James Bond?" He said defensively, before changing his mind. "Really?"
Violet groaned. "Thanks, Martha. Just push his ego even further into sky while I try to keep it at a semi-decent level."
"Are you calling me egoistic?"
"I'm calling you cocky." Violet laughed at his dumbfounded expression as they came up to the fancy enterance of Lazarus Laboratories.
They stepped into the main reception room where guests were already gathered in expensive clothing and holding some probably even more expensive flutes of champagne. A caterer walked by with a tray and the Doctor excitedly took some hors d'ouvres off of it.
"Oh, look, they've got nibbles! I love nibbles!" He grinned, shoving one into his mouth.
"You silly man." Violet shook her head but smiled anyway.
"Hello!" Tish, who had been on TV earlier, approached them.
"Tish!" Martha exclaimed.
The sisters hugged. "You look great." Tish commented. "So, what do you think? Impressive, isn't it?"
"Very." Martha nodded, the Doctor standing beside the sisters while Violet inconspiciously looked at the guest list in Tish's arms from over her shouler.
"And two nights out in a row for you- that's dangerously close to a social life." Her sister joked.
"If I keep this up, I'll end up in all the gossip columns."
"You might, actually. Keep an eye out for photographers. And Mum- she's coming too, even dragging Leo along with her." Tish told her.
Martha raised her eyebrows. "Leo in black tie? That I must see."
Tish looked over at the Doctor and Violet and Martha remembered to introduce them.
"This is, uh, the Doctor." She motioned to him before pointing to Violet. "That's Violet."
"Hello." The Doctor said while he shook Tish's hand.
"Is he with you?" She asked Martha.
"Yeah."
"But he's not on the list. How did he get in?" Tish questioned.
Martha looked at her in disbelief. "He's my plus one."
"Alright." Tish let it go and shook Violet's hand as well. "Hello." She greeted her before looking down at her list. "You're not on here either, though."
"Yeah, sorry about that. I've come instead of my aunt, Jaqueline Darrington. She couldn't make it tonight." Violet lied smoothly. Tish looked down at her list once again before accepting the answer.
"So, this Lazarus bloke, he's your boss?" The Doctor asked.
"Professor Lazarus, yes. I'm part of his executive staff." Tish said proudly.
"She's in the PR department." Martha down-played it.
"I'm head of the PR department, actually."
Martha gaped. "You're joking."
"I put this whole thing together."
The Doctor ignored the sister's squabble. "So do you know what the professor's going to be doing tonight? That looks like it might be a sonic microfield manipulator." He looked at the machine in the centre of the room. It was a capsule, probably big enough to hold one person- three at the very most, Violet noted- with four white pillars surrounding it and coming together at the top.
"He's a science geek. I should've known." Tish said, disappointed. "Gotta get back to work now. I'll catch up with you later."
After Tish left, the Doctor turned to Martha. "Science geek? What does that mean?"
"That you're obsessively enthusiastic about it." She answered.
"Oh, nice." He grinned, genuinely proud of the fact. They were just about to go look at the machine when Martha's mother and brother approached them.
"Martha!" Francine called out to her daughter.
"Mum!" Martha gave her a hug.
Francine looked stunned at the display of affection. "Oh. Alright, what's the occasion?"
"What do you mean? I'm just pleased to see you, that's all."
"You saw me last night." The mother stated.
"I know. I just… missed you. You're looking good, Leo." Martha hit her brother on the chest lightly.
"Yeah. If anyone asks me to fetch 'em a drink, I'll swing for them." He winked at Violet, who was standing behind Martha. She laughed, causing Francine to notice the Time Lords.
"This is a friend of mine- the Doctor. And she's Violet." Martha introduced them.
"Doctor what?" Her mother demanded.
"No, it's just the Doctor. We've been doing some work together." Martha said while Leo shook the Doctor's hand.
"Lovely to meet you, Mrs Jones. Heard a lot about you." The Doctor held out his hand.
"Have you?" Francine raised her eyebrows. "What have you heard, then?"
"Oh, you know, that you're Martha's mother and…um… No, actually, that's…that's about it." He stuttered. "We haven't had much time to chat, you know, been busy."
"Busy? Doing what, exactly?"
Violet took that as her cue to step in. "I'm sorry, Miss Jones, he's a lot better with science than he is with words, I promise." She smiled a little when she saw the Doctor pout like a little boy. "Violet Stewart, lovely to meet you."
Before Francine could reply, a tap on a glass made the crowd grow silent and face the old man standing proudly before his machine.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Professor Richard Lazarus and tonight I'm going to perform a miracle. It is, I believe, the most important advance since Rutherford split the atom, the biggest leap since Armstrong stood on the moon. Tonight, you will watch and wonder. Tomorrow, you'll awake to a world which will be changed forever."
Lazarus opened the door of the capsule and posed for the flashing camera lights one more time before stepping inside and closing the door behind him. The Doctor and Violet exchanged worried looks as a high-pitched whirring sounded as the pillars around the capsule started spinning, emitting a bright blue light which had everyone shielding their eyes.
The spinning began to increase in speed, creating a force field, when an alarms sounded.
"Something's wrong. It's overloading." The Doctor stated as Violet ran over to the desk, seeing the technicians struggle with the controls, which had started to smoke and give off sparks. She flicked a few switches before pointing her sonic at the panel.
"Somebody stop him! Get him away from those controls!" An elderly but rather pompous-looking lady yelled.
The Doctor looked over at her disbelievingly. "If this thing goes off, it'll take the whole building with it. Is that what you want?" He shouted, watching Violet put her sonic away and pull at a chord, removing it from the power outlet.
"Pulling out the plug," She laughed a little, swinging the chord. "Never has failed me."
The Doctor grinned a little before turning back to the machine. "Get it open!" He yelled and Martha instantly jumped into action, ripping open the capsule door.
Through a cloud of smoke, Lazarus appeared. He looked at least fourty years younger, and photographers went mad as he touched his face, amazed that it had worked. He stepped out of the capsule fully, stumbling a little.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Richard Lazarus. I am 76 years old and I am reborn!" He held out his arms triumphantly, and the crowd clapped while the trio of time travellers looked on, worried.
It was a little later when Lazarus had busied himself with the crowd. Violet and the Doctor examined the machine while Martha watched.
"It can't be the same guy. It's impossible. It must be a trick." She stared at the now-young man.
"Oh, it's not a trick." The Doctor looked from the machine to her. "I wish it were."
"What just happened, then?" She demanded.
Violet stood up from her crouched position and smoothed out her dress. "He just changed what it means to be human."
"But, can he do that? I mean, is that like... allowed?" Martha asked cluelessly.
Violet looked ovet to Lazarus, seeing him crack his neck and grab a tray from a passing waiter. "Let's go and find out." She suggested, already walking over.
"I'm famished." He said, but his voice was muffled by the hors d'oeuvres he was shovelling into his mouth.
"Energy deficit. Always happens with this kind of process." The Doctor said lightly.
Lazarus turned to him in surprise. "You speak as if you see this every day, Mr..."
"Doctor. And, well, no, not every day, but we," He gestured at him and Violet. "Have some experience in this kind of transformation."
"That's not possible." He shook his head almost condencendingly.
Violet looked back at the machine. "Using hypersonic sound waves to create a state of resonance. That's- that's inspired." She admitted.
"You understand the theory, then."
She raised her eyebrows at the way he stood up straighter, as if to protect his pride. "Enough to know that you couldn't possibly have allowed for all the variables." She said.
"No experiment is entirely without risk." He dismissed.
"That thing nearly exploded." The Doctor frowned at his state of ignorance. "You might as well have stepped into a blender."
Violet laughed quietly. "Great metaphor." She told him sarcastically under her breath.
"You're not qualified to comment." The woman standing beside Lazarus sneered.
"I think you'll find that we're more qualified than most people in this room." Violet retorted in the same tone, not liking the woman.
"If I hadn't stopped it, it would have exploded." The Doctor added.
"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 denied.
Martha joined the conversation. "You've no way of knowing that until you've run proper tests!" She exclaimed.
He laughed. "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." The woman added smugly.
"Commercially?! You are joking. That'll cause chaos." Martha protested.
"Not chaos. Change. A chance for humanity to evolve, to improve." Lazarus mused, making Violet scoff.
"No, this is about someone wanting to hang on to their fortune just a little longer."
"Not a little longer, dear." He said as if looking down at her. "A lot longer. Perhaps indefinitely."
Violet searched his face for a second before turning away from him bluntly and standing beside the Doctor. She was repulsed.
"Richard, we have things to discuss. Upstairs." The woman demanded with a pointed look.
Lazarus nodded and went to walk away, but turned back. "Goodbye, Doctor. In a few years, you'll look back and laugh at how wrong you were." He smiled and took Martha's hand, kissing it before he turned to Violet.
"It's such a shame that your beauty is wasted in those closed-minded thoughts. You're intelligent- you could do so much with yourself." He grinned and walked off.
Violet stared after him. "He just called me closed-minded." She stated, completely incredulous. "Bloody idiot. Doesn't even realise what he's done to himself." She muttered. "He's gone ahead and changed his entire biology."
He nodded. "We need to find out what exactly happened to his body. If only we had a DNA sample..." He trailed off, deep in thought. Violet cleared her throat, catching his attention, and pointed at Martha's hand.
His face lit up. "Oh, Martha Jones, you're a star." He breathed and the three of them went off to find a lab, which Martha giddy at the compliment.
They didn't have much trouble finding an empty one since they were all shut down for the party going on downstairs, so minutes later, the two Time Lords and Martha sat before a computer in a darkened lab and stared at the results of the DNA test.
"Amazing." Violet breathed.
Martha looked at her in confusion, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. "What?"
"Lazarus's DNA." The Doctor answered for her.
"I can't see anything different." She frowned, feeling kind of left out.
"Look at it!" He exclaimed, just as the the image of Lazarus' DNA structure flickered.
"Oh, my God! Did that just change?" Martha asked, horrified. "But it can't have!"
"But it did." The Doctor and Violet looked more intrigued than worried as they continued staring.
"It's impossible." Martha stated blandly.
"And that's two impossible things we've seen tonight. Don't you love it when that happens?" He grinned.
"But that means Lazarus has changed his own molecular patterns." Martha still looked shocked, as if seeing aliens, watching people die and travelling in time was nothing compared to a man who had changed his DNA.
"Hypersonic sound waves to destabilise the cell structure, then a mutagenic program to manipulate the coding in the protein strands." Violet muttered.
When the Doctor noticed Martha's confused face, he dumbed it down a bit. "Basically, he hacked into his own genes and instructed them to rejuvenate."
Violet nodded. "Yeah, sorry. Still not used to having the simplicity of a human mind around." She said off-handedly.
Martha glared openly at her. "Are you calling me simple?"
"No. Well, yeah. But it's not bad- quite refreshing, actually. It's nice to have a reason to say these things." She explained.
"Doesn't change the fact that you called me stupid- twice!" She argued, not understanding the woman that had been lonely and trapped inside her own mind for so long.
Violet sighed and gave the Doctor a wary look, and he could see the sadness hidden just underneath the surface of her resolve. He looked at her apologetically before changing the topic, turning back to the screen.
"Lazarus missed something. Something in his DNA has been activated and won't let him stabilize. Something that's trying to change him." He explained.
"Change him into what?" Martha frowned.
"He unlocked genes that were lying dormant." Violet started. "Like, ideas nature had for the human race but were rejected. They don't get erased, they're hidden right in the pit of your anatomy, waiting. Take the right amount of genius combined with unlimited recklessness and a fear of death, and you get yourself a Richard Lazarus." She said quickly. "Now come on, we don't know how dangerous he is."
Martha cooperated, but only because lives were possibly at stake. "That woman said they were going upstairs."
"Let's go!" The Doctor ran for the lift and the two women ran after him, Violet re-locking the door after them.
Lazarus' office was darkened, but some screens showed his logo. Except from a persian rug, a wooden desk and a model of a church, the room was sterile and unwelcoming, looking a little to large to be comfortable.
"This is his office, all right." Martha stated, looking around.
"So, where is he?"
"Dunno. Let's try back at the re… ception..." Martha trailed off with a horrified look on her face as she looked over the desk, seeing a pair of skeletal bones- wearing high heels.
"Is that Lady Thaw?" Martha gasped as she rushed over.
"Used to be." The Doctor said. "Now it's just a shell. Had all the life energy drained out- like squeezing the juice out of an orange."
"Lazarus." She breathed.
"Could be."
"So he's changed already?" She aked.
"Not necessarily, you saw the DNA. It was fluctuating." He explained before looking over at Violet to see what she thought.
She nodded. "The process must demand energy and this might not have been enough."
"So he might do this again?" The horrified look returned to Martha's face.
"It's very probable." Violet confirmed, her face mirroring the Doctor's. Both were interested, intrigued at the phenomenon, rather than concerned. Still, they rushed off to the lifts, and once they got back into the reception, they ran into Martha's family.
"Hey, you all right, Martha?" Leo asked. "I think Mum wants to talk to you."
Martha ignored the statement. "Have you see Lazarus anywhere?"
"Yeah. He was getting' cosy with Tish a couple of minutes ago." He nodded, taking a sip of his champagne.
"With Tish?!" She exclaimed, suddenly very worried.
Just then, Francine joined them. "Ah, Doctor-" She started, but the Doctor interrupted her.
"Where did they go?" He demanded.
Leo looked a little confused, but answered anyway. "Upstairs I think, why?"
"Doctor-" Francine tried again, but the Doctor rushed past her and spilled the drink she was holding. Martha followed him blindly, but Violet gave her an apologetic look.
"Sorry, he's... a little over-enthusiastic sometimes."
Francine was about to reply, but the Doctor called for Violet.
"You'd think I'm a maid." She grinned a little before running off after her two companions and back into the lift, where Martha was already panicking.
"What if he got her?" She worried, bouncing on her feet anxiously.
"I'm sure she's fine." Violet said, glancing at Martha's fingers, which she was tapping against her side, making the Time Lords in the lift with her nervous as well.
Martha glared. "How do you know that?! Not that you care, anyway- you're too fascinated to see the danger of all this!" She shouted, still tapping her fingers in a steady, four-beat rhythm. Violet flinched at the memories of that exact beat before the doors of the lift opened. She bounded out, taking a breath.
"Where are they?" Martha returned to her worrying.
"Fluctuating DNA will give off an energy signature. I might be able to pick it up." The Doctor held out his sonic while it beeped, moving it around and making the beeping increase as he pointed it at the ceiling. "Got him."
"Where?" Martha exclaimed. "This is the top floor- where are they?!"
"Roof!" Violet stated, already heading up some stairs.
They made it up onto the roof just in time to overhear Lazarus quote 'The Hollow Men' by T.S. Eliot.
"'Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act-'"
"'Falls the shadow.'" Violet finished for him, stepping forward.
Lazarus and Tish, who stood over-looking the city, turned around. "So the mysterious lady knows her Eliot. I'm impressed." He smiled.
Violet narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, right. Because I'm close-minded, aren't I?"
"Does it offend you to hear someone tell you the truth?" Lazarus taunted while Martha got Tish away from him.
"If it's not the truth, how can it hurt me?" Violet retorted cooly. "Besides, Lazarus, I think you're the one with truth issues. The biggest part of life is death- you know that." She slowly circled the man, provoking him. "Do you remember? 76 years old- you must have been just a little boy, lonely and afraid, hiding from the blitz. All the people that died around you. How did you feel, hm? Seeing all those deaths while you lived... It made you who you are, didn't it? A man so scared of death that he changed what it means to be human. Are you proud, Lazarus?"
Due to his growing anger, the man tripled in size and converted into a monster. His expanded skeleton pressed against his skin, stretching it as a skorpion's stings grew out of him. He growled at Violet, and the Doctor sprung into action, pulling her away from Lazarus.
"Run!" He yelled. They ran out of the door and Violet sealed the door with her sonic behind her.
"Typically primitive. Slightest bit of anger and he literally turns into a monster." She spoke out loud, not talking to anyone in particular.
"Will you stop being so excited about this?!" Martha shouted at her again.
"Right, sorry." She mumbled just as a siren sounded. The lights above them turned off and all exits closed, leaving a computerised voice chanting,
"Security breach. Security breach. Security beach."
"What's happening?" Martha screeched in panic, hearing Lazarus trying to break down the door.
Tish thought for a moment, frantically recalling the emergency protocols. "Uh, an intrusion. It triggers a security lockdown."
"Kills most of the power, stops the lifts and seals the exits." Violet finished. After trying her sonic on a door, she looked up and saw three confused faces looking at her. "Hacked your protocols, sorry." There was a banging on the door again. "He's going to be inside soon. We need to get everyone out."
"Stairs!" The Doctor shouted and the four of them ran down, hearing the heavy door open with a crash.
"He's inside!" Martha yelled.
"Haven't got much time!" He replied in the same tone as they made it into the reception. "Tish! Is there another way out of here?" He asked her.
"There's an exit in the corner, but it'll be locked now." She pointed at a door and the Doctor threw his sonic at Martha.
"Martha, setting 54. Hurry." She did as she was told and ran off. Tish went to follow her, but Violet pulled out her sonic too, fumbling with it and handing it to her.
"Just push the button and point it at the controls. We need some power." Tish nodded obediently, too scared to protest. She ran off, and the Doctor jumped up onto the platform before Lazarus' machine.
"Listen to me! Your people are in serious danger! You need to get out of here right now!" He shouted.
A woman snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. The biggest danger here is choking on an olive." She waved him off, making Violet growl.
"If it's me shoving that olive down your throat, then may the stars help you." She replied fiercely.
There was a sound of glass crashing, and the altered version of Lazarus appeared. Screams errupted from the crowd and everyone started running for the doors, which Martha was still trying to open. The beast clambered down the stairs, sending tables flying with his sting and hitting people.
Just as the doors opened and people started rushing out, Lazarus went for the woman who had made the olive comment. She just stood before it and gazed at it- whether in shock or amazement couldn't be told.
"No! Get away from her!" The Doctor shouted, but Lazarus latched himself onto the woman and the Time Lords had to watch as she fell to the ground as a shell, dead and drained.
He went for Leo and Francine next, who were sitting on the ground, the mother nursing Leo who appeared to have hit his head. Violet noticed this.
"Lazarus! Come on, big fella!" She yelled, getting his attention.
"What are you doing?" The Doctor hissed.
Violet smiled a little, her eyes still trained on the beast. "Hoping I haven't lost my touch in a century and a half." She said before facing Lazarus.
"So!" She started. "You want to live forever, but guess what? You can't! The mutation's too strong and you're left killing all these people! What makes you better than the bombers, hm? Do you remember? Come on! You're a failure, Lazarus, but it's worse than that. You're a murderer!" She shouted before turning back to the Doctor.
"Fancy a run?" They ran off as Lazarus chased after them, his footsteps loud on the marble floor.
They eventually found a service hall, filled with pipes and wires and started creeping through it silently.
"It's no good, Doctor. You can't stop me." Lazarus hissed.
"Is that the same arrogance you had when you swore nothing had gone wrong with your device?" He retorted.
"The arrogance is yours. You can't stand in the way of progress."
Violet scoffed. "The people you killed... They were innocent. You're so scared of death, but yet you bring it yourself. You honestly call that progress?"
"They were a necessary sacrifice." Lazarus replied.
Violet was silent for a second. "No one gets to decided who lives and who dies. That's not how it works." She said finally. In a way, she could relate to him. He may have been delusional, but he was scared and he acted upon it. He was confused and didn't know the line between right and wrong.
Just like she had been. She had wandered through the stars and killed on command, never questioning justice, not once. She didn't understand what she was, but she was so scared. Alone. It brought out a completely different level of genius from within her.
Suddenly, the lights returned and the Time Lords' hiding place wasn't very safe anymore. They heard a familiar breathing sound and looked up.
"Peek-a-boo." Lazarus breathed.
"Oh, hello." The Doctor greeted sarcastically.
"If you don't mind, we'll be off. There's a party going on, after all." Violet grinned at the beast before she and the Doctor ran out of the room.
They went down a staircase and found another empty lab. They ducked inside and the Doctor started fumbling with the battery of a fire alarm while Violet turned on all the gas jets.
"It's not gonna be enough, you know that, don't you?" Violet said lowly as he pulled her down underneath a desk upon hearing Lazarus bring down the door.
"I know, it should give us a few seconds, thought." He whispered.
"How quickly can you reverse polarity without a sonic?" Violet asked, an idea springing into her mind.
"Ooh, not sure. It's been a while, I'm quite dependant on that scredriver." Violet sighed at that, about to reply, but Lazarus spoke.
"More hide-and-seek, Doctor? How disappointing. Why don't you both come out and face me?" He hissed menacingly.
"Have you looked in the mirror lately?" He asked, pulling Violet up with him. "Why would I wanna face that, hm?"
The both ran from the room, him flicking a switch as the left, causing the room behind them to go up in a fiery explosion.
"We need to get downstairs!" Violet yelled just before they ran into Martha.
The Doctor grabbed her shoudlers. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm returning this." She held out the Doctor's sonic. "I thought you might need it." She smiled a little.
"How did you-"
Martha cut him off. "I heard the explosion. Guessed it was you."
"I blasted Lazarus." He explained.
Violet sighed. "Listen, really sorry to interrupt catch-up time, but we need to move." She looked down the hallway, seeing Lazarus crawl down it rampantly. "Now!" She pushed her companions to move, and they did so, running into the reception room.
"What now? We've just gone 'round in a circle!" Martha shouted, scared.
"How fast are you with a sonic?" Violet asked the Doctor anxiously.
"I dunno!" He ran a hand through his hair. "A minute? Two?"
"That's really not good enough, mister." She held out her hand. "Pass it here."
He threw the sonic to her and she ushered them into Lazarus' machine, where they were pressed together tightly, the Doctor with his chest to Violet's and Martha standing awkwardly between them, facing the Doctor.
"I guessed right. Three people exactly." She breathed.
Martha grimaced. "Are we hiding?"
"No, he knows we're here. But this is his masterpiece. I'm betting he won't destroy it, not even to get at us." The Doctor guessed.
"Do you even have a plan?" She asked, exasperated.
Violet scoffed. "He never has a plan. Why do you think he keeps me around?" She flipped the sonic in her hand and crouched down.
"Nice shoes, Martha. Having fun running in them?" She comented sarcastically, glancing at her three-inch heels.
"Your's are higher than mine!" She exclaimed.
"Yeah, but I once spent months on a planet where the idealism of beauty was height. Trust me, five inches are nothing compared to that." She said conversationally as she opened a hatch, which held wires of all sorts. "Spent a lot of time running, there. The boy just had to upset the empress- he told her she looked like a giraffe, and let me tell you: She really had a thing against giraffes." She muttered, pointing the Doctor's sonic at a paticular pair of wires, binding them together.
Martha looked at the Doctor. "What did you do that for?" She joked, but he just frowned.
"No, not me." He gave Violet a curious look. "Was that... was it before the Time War?" He asked.
"I don't think intergalactic weapons are supposed to have lo- friends, no." Violet corrected, glancing at her dainty, silver bracelet with a feeling of nostalgia.
"Sorry. Really, I'm sorry." The Doctor let out a breath, mentally slapping himself for being so careless.
"I told you to stop with the apologies, didn't I?" She smiled a little, again focusing on the wires. She was just taking off the cap of one, when the capsule was filled with blue light and a high-pitched whirring once again.
"Doctor, what's happening?" Martha, who the Time Lords had completely forgotten about for a moment, asked distraughtly.
"He turned the machine on." He stated.
"Adnd what are we doing about it?" Martha screeched, thinking about how the machine had overloaded earlier.
"Violet is setting the capsule to reflect energy rather than receive it." He explained, calming her down.
"Will that kill him?" Martha asked, but didn't get an answer as the whirring was replaced by a blast and a crash. Silence fell and the lights in the capsule dimmed again. The three of them slowly stepped out.
"Really shouldn't take that long just to reverse the polarity." The Doctor teased Violet.
She slapped his arm. "Shouldn't have distracted me then. I could have been done before he had turned the machine on!"
"It wasn't my fault! You started it with her," He pointed at Martha. "Shoes!"
"I'm still blaming you." She laughed before turning to see Lazarus. He lay on the floor, naked and completely still.
"Oh God. He seems so… human again. It's kind of pitiful." Martha said sympathetically, looking at the man.
"Eliot saw that, too." The Doctor said seriously. 'This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but with a-'"
"Whimper." Violet finished for him, feeling a little guilty. He saw that and took her hand, squeezing it.
"It's not your fault. He was going to eat us." He joked a little, but Violet frowned.
"Doesn't everyone?" She asked rhetorically, watching paramedics come in to take the body, putting it on a stretcher and covering it. The Doctor, Martha and Violet followed them outside, the Doctor undoing his bowtie as he stared after Lazarus solemnly.
Their view, however, was obstructed by Martha's family. Tish ran up to Martha and hugged her, while Francine strode up the Doctor, fuming.
Typically, he didn't notice this and greeted her warmly. "Ah, Mrs Jones, we still haven't finished our chat."
"Brace yourself." Violet muttered just before Francine slapped him across the face, the impact sounding loudly on the street.
"Keep away from my daughter." She hissed before getting into an argument with Martha.
Violet reached up and inspected his cheek, humour in her eyes. "Always their mothers, every time." The Doctor complained, clutching his face
"Oh, you had it coming." She said lightly, running her hand over the red mark. "And besides- it's not that bad, you wuss."
He looked like he was going to say something, but stopped himself and stared into Violet's dark brown eyes just a little longer, seeing all the pain and grief in them. He couldn't help it- he flinched, and she dropped her hand instantly.
"Sorry, I forget." She mumbled. When the Doctor was about to ask 'what', but a loud crash came from down the street, and they immediately set off towards it.
"Looks like the night isn't over yet." Violet sighed.
They had found out that Lazarus wasn't dead, after all, and had traced him to a church- also known as Southwalk Cathederal, as Tish had informed them.
The catherderal was dark, the only light and sound emitting from the Doctor's screwdriver as the three women- Violet, Martha and Tish- followed him.
"Do you think he's in here?" Martha looked around, not believing that a monster would hide in a church.
"Where would you go if you were looking for sanctuary?" The Doctor replied quietly, looking around as they walked down the aisle between the benches, Tish and Martha now flanking the Time Lords walking side-by-side. They moved around the altar slowly, the sonic still beeping, but the Doctor put it away once he saw Lazarus sitting on the ground, gasping, with a red ambulance blanket around his otherwise naked body.
He sensed them standing there and started speaking. "I came here before. A lifetime ago. I thought I was going to die then. In fact, I was sure of it. I sat there, just a child… the sound of planes and bombs outside." He said with a deep sorrow in his voice- one that Violet understood very well.
"The Blitz." She stated quietly.
Lazarus scoffed slightly. "You've read about it."
"Oh no. I was there, I lived through the bombings and the screaming. So many people screaming." Her voice broke, but it wasn't over the Blitz, not really. She thought of the planets that had screamed under her wrath- the one she had showed no mercy to.
"You're too young." He retorted.
A smile graced Violet's face. "So are you."
Lazarus laughed, but his chuckle turned into a gasp of pain and he continued with his story. "In the morning, the fires had died, and I was still alive. I swore I'd never face death like that again." He spoke more to Violet than the rest of them now, and the Doctor looked up at the bell tower, coming up with a plan as Lazarus talked.
"So defenceless. I would arm myself, fight back, defeat it." He hissed.
"That's what you wanted today to be." Violet stated.
"That's what I did today." He corrected.
Violet frowned. "But you wanted to defeat death." She crouched down next to Lazarus, ignoring the Doctor's warning looks. "The people you killed today. They're dead. If you want to defeat death, you can't stay like this- it won't get better." She said softly.
"They were nothing." He spat. "I changed the course of history."
Violet sighed and leant against the altar. "You did. But is it the right course?" She questioned. "People die. People we care for, ones we love- they die. And as much as it hurts- no matter for badly your heart is shredded- it makes you who you are. Death is always at our side, Lazarus, and eventually it gets us. Sooner or later, everyone dies. Everything that has ever been dies at some point. You just have to accept it."
The Doctor listened to her speak and saw the tears welling in her eyes. He wished he could do something to help her, but he knew it was his fault. No matter what Violet said- he had destroyed his own planet, he was the reason she was in pain.
"I don't. Our greatest instinct is to survive, to live on. I won't die, not ever." Lazarus groaned as his body tried to change again and Violet finally looked up at the Doctor, who motioned of the bell tower. Violet knew what he meant, but Lazarus would die. Another human being, only driven by his fear, would die and the weight would be added to the tons that were already on her shoulders.
She sighed. She couldn't help him, not anymore. He was too far gone to be changed back. With another look at the man in pain, she gave in.
"You know, sometimes I wonder if it's worth it." She mused.
Lazarus gasped in pain again. "How do you mean?" He asked.
"Long life- possible immortality. You get sick of watching people wither and die. That's all that's left, after a while. Death. Your loved ones die and you end up alone, always. Why would you want that?"
"That's a price worth paying." He said after contemplating for a bit, and Violet knew she was breaking him.
"Is it?" Violet asked, a sadness overcoming her. What was holding her alive? "What's so good that you would want that?"
He was silent for a second. "I don't know." He admitted lowly.
"Then let me help you." Violet leaned forward, looking at Lazarus pleadingly.
"You can't do anything for me." He growled before doubling over in pain.
"I can take it away, Lazarus. You don't want this- not immortality. Not forever." She gave him a meaningful look.
"You'd have to kill me."
Violet stood up. "It's the only thing I can do for you right now. I can't reverse the changes in your DNA, I'm sorry."
"I won't die!" He snarled.
She smirked, a taunting look on her face. "Then stop me."
Lazarus jumped up, and Violet ran for the door of the stairway leading to the bell tower. Martha looked at her retreating figure and jumped up, following her. She wasn't going to let Violet play hero.
When Violet heard footsteps behind her, she looked back and saw both Martha and Tish following her.
"What are you doing?" She yelled.
"Helping you!" Martha said with a glare.
Violet growled, but started running again. "You're no good if you're dead, are you?" She muttered, picking up in speed when she heard a growl, one that notifed them that Lazarus had changed again.
The Doctor looked after the three women in disbelief before running to the large pipe organ and pulled out his sonic, jamming it into a slot in the organ. "Hypersonic sound waves. Inspired." He grinned and started pulling out the stops.
At the top of the bell tower, Lazarus swung at Martha with his sting, but Violet shoved her out of the way. This, however, resulted in her getting hit instead, and Tish screamed when she saw the girl fall to the ground unconcious.
The Doctor's grin faded when he heard a woman's scream and stretched his fingers.
"I hope it's good acoustic in here." He commented before putting his fingers on the keys and playing. He played for a bit, but when the sound didn't have the desired effect, he pulled his sonic out of the slot and pointed it at the volume display of the organ.
"We need to turn this up to 11." He said to himself and started playing again, this time a lot louder. He hit the keys slightly frantically, worried for the women up above.
When a thud echoed throughout the cathederal, the Doctor stopped playing and looked down at Lazarus in human form, lying naked with some wooden debris around him.
He heard another scream and looked upwards. "Violet? Martha?!" He called out. There was a worrying silence for a second.
"I'm okay!" Came the reply from Martha. "We're both okay!" The Doctor let out a sigh of relief and went down to check on Lazarus. He knelt down by the body, regretul that it had to come to something like that, and closed the body's eyes, watching it become old again.
He heard a gasp and turned to look at Martha, who ran up to hug him tightly.
"I didn't know you could play!" She said once she let go of him.
He was about to crack a joke, but he saw Tish approaching them and realised Violet was missing. "Where is she?"
"Lazarus hit her. She's... unconcious in the bell tower." Tish said quietly, feeling guilty when she saw the concern and pain etched into his face.
"And you left her up there?!" The Doctor shouted, suddenly enraged. "You just... oh, humans! Always-"
"It's not her fault." He was cut off by a voice, hoarse but firm. He looked over to where it had come from and saw Violet leaning heavily against the door leading to the bell tower, as if she would fall from her weight in any second.
He left out a long breath in relief and went to hug her, not missing the exhausted look on her face. He held onto her for a bit, feeling Violet wrap her arms him before she passed out again.
The Doctor looked down at her serene face and sighed deeply. "Let's get you into bed, hm?" He mumbled even though she couldn't hear him.
Violet awoke from the motion of being placed somewhere warm and soft and immediately felt a mental tug from the TARDIS, which sent her into conciousness- barely.
"Theta?" She whispered and slowly opened her eyes to see him, looking extremely relieved.
"I'm here." He smiled a little. "You need to get some sleep." He said softly and went for the door, but Violet used any remainder of strength she might have had left to grab his wrist.
"Don't make Martha go." She mumbled, sleep threatening to pull her under.
"All those petty human emotions..." He mused in a mix of admiration and resentment.
"Sometimes you're more human than you would like to think." Violet replied gently. "Don't make her go- she's good for you. You need someone human..." She trailed off as she got too tired to speak and closed her eyes, falling asleep instantly.
Violet didn't sleep well. Her facing the Daleks and dying was just a little too similar to her memories of the Time War, and her subconcious decided to torture her with them as she rested.
She was reliving the moments of her greatest wrath- the times when all she was was fury, rage and pain. She was forced to watch dozens upon dozens of planets burn and scream, she was made to feel the guilt she hadn't felt then.
She awoke suddenly, taking a deep breath as she sat up and rested her head against her headboard. She had slept for six hours, which was unusually long, but she guessed that Martha would still be sleeping and went to find the Doctor.
As she walked down several corridors, still wearing her grey dress but free of her heels, she contemplated her problem with Martha. It was clear to all that the young Londoner had fallen in love with the Doctor- that was where the problems originated.
It was funny, because he had been right. It was all a bunch of petty, mixed-up human emotions. Martha didn't realise how hurt he was by the loss of Rose, much like she didn't see that Violet was trying to help him get past it, or at least make the pain bearable. He was broken, and she was there for him, trying to fix him- but what Martha didn't (and probably never would understand) was that Violet shared the same pain. They both had gaping wounds ripped into their hearts, and sometimes it was insufferable and could only be soothed by the knowledge that they weren't alone.
"Violet?" The Doctor snapped her out of her train of thought, and she realised she was already standing in the control room.
"That's me." She smiled weakly, her thoughts weighing her down as she looked at the Time Lord and saw all the pain his eyes held.
"How do you feel?" He asked, coming to stand before her. Instead of a reply, she simply wrapped her arms around his neck and nestled her face into his shoulderand she felt the Doctor put his arms around her waist and heard his hearts beat steadily in sync with hers. She was comfortable.
"I didn't take Martha home." The Doctor stated quietly. "I was going to- I didn't think I wanted another human on board, not after what happened to Rose."
"I know it hurts, Theta- and I can't promise you it'll get any better- but eventually you'll see past the mourning. One day you'll start to remember the good times you both had, not just the loss and pain." Violet said as he trembled slightly.
"How do you know?" He whispered, and she pulled away from him to look him in the eyes.
"Because I'm always remembering," A stray tear made it's way down her face silently. "And that's what keeps me going."
The Doctor pulled her into his arms again, feeling his hearts slowly being ripped apart at seeing Violet so sad. He didn't want her to be in pain and suddenly felt hate towards anyone who had ever made her cry.
After a while, Violet moved out of his embrace with a smile on her face. "So, I'm going to get dressed, and then we'll find some people to save. How about it?" She suggested cheerfully.
He laughed. "Oh yes!"