FIVE

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"No! What are you doing!" the Doctor demanded desperately.

"Someone has to do the logical thing, Doctor, and we both know it's not going to be you right now," she called with false cheer. She felt more earth fall and he slid an inch closer to the edge. "See? It's one of those now or never moments," she managed, swallowing her tears.

"Martha Jones!" he bellowed angrily, catching her by surprise. "If you let go I'll tell your mum you were working for the RSPCA!"

She actually laughed suddenly.

"And you still haven't told me the answer to the quiz! How unfair is that?" he demanded, but as she looked up she noticed he was moving away from the side. She was jerked up slightly, and she put her hand to the wall next to her. It simply gave and she cried out as she dropped a good few inches.

He was pulled to the edge, where he stopped. For now.

"How about I tell you right now and then you let me go?" she dared.

"How about you stop yakking and start making an effort to get up here!" he accused angrily. "You humans! You just take the first opportunity to chuck in the towel!"

She felt him pulling on her wrist and did her best to dig her feet into the side wall next to her. He yanked and pulled, apparently inching back from the edge.

She slipped and banged against the edge, pulling him back with her. One of his legs appeared over the edge and for a second she expected him to plummet down next to her, sending them both tumbling down into the foetid grave.

That brown suit, she thought suddenly. I've always liked that brown suit of his. Fits him so well. And he'll never know what it does for him, like he has absolutely no clue. And now it's the last thing I'll see.

But he slid his leg over the side and turned it, digging his foot in. She could not understand what he was doing until she was dragged up quickly.

She felt the hope and decided not to waste it. She simply closed her eyes and scrabbled as best she could.

She opened her eyes as she found no more wall to climb, and smelt the fresher air of the field again. She found herself at waist-height to the field and then he let go of her wrist. She pulled herself out laboriously, rolling onto her back on the field.

She looked up at the stars, automatically thinking that they weren't her stars, that she'd nearly died on some strange planet. And no-one would have known, or cared.

Except for-.

She turned on her side and looked over quickly, finding him gasping and struggling as he climbed back over the top of the hole and simply fell flat on his face in the grass.

She pushed herself to sit up, but couldn't bring herself to look at him. She put her hands over her face, willing herself not to cry.

I nearly died! I nearly died! And all because of him! And then I nearly sacrificed myself to save him - what a stupid, stupid thing to do! she raged silently. But he's so alone, so used to putting everything right and then disappearing like he was never there…

She realised, if ever it came time to choose again, that she'd do exactly the same thing.

He couldn't let me die here without my family, could he? He just couldn't let that happen! He had to go and mention my mum, had to make me feel bad, had to make me want to climb out! I hate him! He might just be my best friend-

She realised she was crying after all as she took a big sniff, trying to wipe her face. She heard him moving on the grass and turned away abruptly, hoping he wouldn't see it.

She was surprised to feel his hand on her back, and then she heard him fall to sit on the grass behind her. She couldn't stop herself; she turned round and grabbed him, her head against his neck, and sobbed.

"Aw Martha," he said awkwardly, putting an arm round her and rubbing her upper arm slowly. "It's the smell of the Floccinaucinihilipilificus slime, I know. Good job I've got a few of these suits," he rattled off quickly, but she recognised bravado when she heard it.

She pulled her head back and looked at him. Earth and green slime, both old and new, caked one half of his face and his hair.

"I was trying to save you," she blurted. "You always save everyone else, and they never know. I just wanted to do something for you."

He grinned widely, but she saw the water in his eyes. "Ohh," he stressed, searching for words, it seemed. "You didn't have to do that for daft old me," he protested suddenly, closing his eyes and pulling her into a very secure hug. She held onto him desperately, wondering just for whose benefit this hug was. "Blimey, Martha Jones, you don't half know how to make an old man worry," he added, and she laughed suddenly.

She pulled herself away, sad to be leaving the warm touch of an alien but knowing recent events had to come back into focus. "You're not old, you just think that way," she managed, getting to her feet slowly. She looked down at him, then put her hand out.

He just took it and got to his feet, then looked back. "Right then. Twenty feet of grass and about a hundred yards of beach - then we're home free," he said, oddly softly.

She couldn't meet his eyes.

She simply pulled on his hand and ran.

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She barrelled into the TARDIS and he followed smartly, slamming the doors and running to the console. She simply grabbed at the edge of it, getting her breath back and watching him as he flipped and pushed, yanked and played with the many and varied controls.

"And we're off!" he cried, relieved, standing back and watching the Time Rotor start and speed quickly.

She felt the familiar sensation of not quite being sure where her feet were, then suddenly everything was back to normal and there was the vibration of movement under her boots.

She lifted her chin to look at him, somewhat sheepishly. He just raised his eyebrows at her with infinite expectation.

"Well?" he asked gamely.

"Well what?" she asked gingerly, straightening and pushing hair and random bits of dried slime from her face.

He peeled off his stinking brown suit jacket and chucked it toward a support beam. He let his hands fall into his pockets, then sniffed and looked around the control room, before pinning her with a stern gaze, one eyebrow raised.

"Don't you have something to say to me?" he asked haughtily.

"Yes," she said simply. "Thank you," she added humbly.

"What?" he asked, his face screwing up in patent confusion.

"Thank you! For saving me from myself and that awful, stinking-"

"No, no, no!" he cried, outraged. "Martha Jones! As I'd ever expect a 'thank you' for helping you!" he tutted, turning away abruptly and walking round the console, looking at various instruments.

"Then what?" she asked, confused. She folded her arms and followed him.

"The answer! To the song lyrics quiz!" he cried, looking at her suddenly with abject disbelief on his face. "What was it?"

She looked at him for a long moment, catching a glimpse of the world inside his head, realising that everything they'd just been through was too much to talk about just now.

Perhaps we'll do that later, over hot tea and a few chocolate Hob Nobs. It's so hard to say. He might never acknowledge today to me. Or himself. Then again, he might suddenly mention it to my mum next time. You just never know with him, do you?

"What?" he asked knowingly, having waited out her searing gaze patiently for once.

"You said you'd get it in time," she smiled slowly.

"Give," he said simply.

"Oh, alright. Although it must annoy you to have been beaten by a lowly trainee doctor with a limited knowledge of-"

"Give!" he cried suddenly, and she giggled.

"If there's nowhere to go, you won't go, if there's nowhere to run you go slow," she sang, this time copying the melody faithfully. Dawning comprehension ran over his features slowly, making her giggle. "If you move up to me then I'll show - you the way-"

"Then you'll know - How to squeeze me!" he interrupted suddenly, then slapped his hand to his head, rubbing his hands into his hair and making strangled sounds of frustration.

"You know how to please me! You're learning it easy!" she sang, then collapsed into laughter as she watched him demonstrate how much he hated himself for not recognising it earlier.

"Of all the - gah! Martha Jones, you little minx!" he protested, his voice jammed up in the high notes. "Slade! Of all the-! Slade! 'Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me'!" he crowed, drumming his palms on the console loudly, laughing at her. She chuckled at him for a long moment, and the TARDIS reverberated gratefully with laughter. "And I should know that one!"

"Had some good times to that song, have you?" she asked, interested suddenly.

He let his sudden exuberance die quickly. "Well," he dithered, pulling at his ear as he studied the ceiling intently, "maybe."

She laughed and shook her head. "Sounds like I don't want to know," she allowed, prepared to let it all wash over her head.

"Alright, hang on, I've got one for you!" he said suddenly.

"Well?"

"I'll make it easy for you - you can have the entire first verse," he teased.

"What!" she cried, grinning.

"Follow through, make your dreams come true, don't give up the fight, you will be alright, cos there's no-one like you in the universe," he said smugly.

She gasped, slapping her hands to her face and thinking madly.

"Wait, wait, that's new, I've heard that one! Wait a minute - wait a minute!" she squealed.

"Nope," he said delightedly, popping the 'p' sound. "Too late!"

"No!" she cried, but his hands were already in his pockets, and he threw his head back, eyes closed, singing raucously as if his life depended on it.

"During the struggle they will pull us down, but please, please let's use this chance to turn things around!" he sang, all his breath into it, and she gasped with recognition.

She took a deep breath and sang with him:

"And tonight we can truly say: together we're invincible!"

She laughed and he reached out for her, pulling her into a hug and squeezing tightly. And for the first time, she simply held onto him and was glad he was there at all.

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FIN

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Apologies for the time it took me to repost this so that the planet name was back in again. Thanks, FF, for not telling me you had edited it out AFTER I'd checked it. And thank you, dear readers, for actually getting through this story!