EPILOGUE: REWIND

If somebody had asked Martha Jones to sum up who Derek Reese was, she wouldn't have had to think twice about it.

"Scary," she would have said, and then, a beat later: "A friend but...yeah, scary."

But, then again, nobody would ever ask Martha that question.

Because Martha Jones had never met Derek Reese, not really.

And yet, of all the people Martha had met, during that long and terrible year, Derek Reese was probably the one who'd made the most impact of all. She had watched so many people die in those months, had left so many people behind. But, in many ways, Reese's death had cut the deepest; perhaps because she'd secretly thought he was too damned stubborn to die.

Just like she was.

So, as she listened to the low voices of her family downstairs, and the vibrant heart of the TARDIS as it arrived outside, she looked at the USB key in her hand with some trepidation. It had been nearly a week since the Master had been defeated and, as the Doctor had been busy repairing the TARDIS, Martha had spent her time checking up on those she'd left behind during those long and dark months.

Derek Reese had been the exception.

For the last nine months, she'd kept the USB key with her. She had told herself that she'd check what was on it the moment she got her hands on a working computer but, somehow, something else always came up when she did. She'd been lying to herself, of course, and she knew it.

"Martha, the Doctor is here." Martha looked up at the sound of her sister's voice. Tish tried hide it, but Martha could still hear the pain.

"I'll be down in a few minutes," she called back, as she played with the key in her hand and eyed the laptop on the bed beside her.

"Okay, then, but he doesn't seem to want to come in. He's lurking on the other side of the hedge."

Martha grinned, despite herself. "Yeah, he's rubbish at domestic scenes. Let him be, I'll deal with him," she said. She plugged the key in, there were two files on it; one was an audio file, the other was a file called 'Skynet'. She tapped on the audio file, and felt something in her chest tighten as Reese's voice filled the room.

"…Dammit, John….are you sure this mic is working?"" The other voice was young, yet somehow managed to sound old; John, Derek's nephew.

"Hey, you're the communications tech, shouldn't you know? Oh…wait…yeah, it's working…

"This is a dumb idea.""

"Most Hail Marys are. Now start talking while I compile the file; those flying machines might come back for another sweep.

Martha heard Reese's sigh, and almost laughed aloud. "Okay… where do I start…my name is Derek Reese and, I'm gonna tell you all about Judgement Day – the other one, that is; the one that's going to come in 2011"

Martha listened.


The first thing Martha, saw, when she stepped into the living room, was her mother looking out the window. She was smiling that thin lipped smile of hers, the one she used when she was trying not to cry. Martha's eyes followed her gaze, and spotted the Doctor smiling sadly back, through the glass.

"You're going to go with him, aren't you?" her father asked.

Martha took a deep breath. "No, I'm not."

"You're not?" Tish asked. "But I thought—"

"Long story," Martha said, as she pulled on her jacket. "Really long story; we'll talk about it when I get back, yeah?"

"You haven't told him yet, then?" her mother asked, her voice soft. She didn't turn from the window.

"No," Martha told her. "But it won't take long,"


And it hadn't taken long. It was as if the Doctor already knew what she'd say; even her last minute confession didn't seem to truly faze him. Martha supposed she shouldn't be surprised. The Doctor always knew more than he let on, but she felt better for saying it, anyway.

She looked at Jack, who sat across the table from her, looking warily back. "I don't see why you couldn't use UNIT's database to do this search," he said. "I heard they'll do anything to get you on board."

"We're still in talks," Martha said quietly. "And I don't think UNIT is ready for this; not yet."

"I see," he drawled. "And what about telling me?"

"I'm not ready either, Jack," Martha said, shaking her head.

Jack sighed "I really shouldn't be doing this," he said, as he slid the laptop over to her. "Make it quick."

With a quick smile of thanks, Martha plugged into Torchwood's database. First, she looked up John and Sarah Reese, and found an old FBI file, more than ten years old. She was about to dismiss it as a bad lead, when she looked at the photos. There was something about the boy's face that seemed familiar… She dug deeper and, sure enough, she found more. New information had been added in the last year; fresh sightings, a stream of murders, and a John Doe that linked all the incidents together. She clicked on the image file. It was Derek.

"Martha, are you okay. You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Martha said. "Just fine." She searched for more information in the FBI database, but that seemed to be it; they were at a dead end.

But Martha wasn't, she knew something they didn't. His name was Derek Reese, he was from Los Angeles, and he was thirteen years old. She logged into the birth records filed in Washington.

And she found him.

Something must have shown on her face, because Jack leaned back in his chair. "Found what you need?" he asked.

"Yeah, looks like." Martha closed the windows, cleared the caches, and slid the laptop back to him. He could still find out what she'd been looking at, but something told her that Jack wouldn't look. He'd think it rude.

"So, what now?" Jack asked.

"Now?" Martha echoed. "Now, I phone up UNIT and give them my answer."

"You're going to say yes."

"Yeah, I am."


It was another year before Martha thought about Derek Reese again. Oh sure, there were moments when he flashed into her mind, like when she did her requisite weapons training when she joined UNIT. Reese would have been so proud; she'd received her piece of paper on her first go.

And then she'd seen the Doctor again, and the TARDIS had whisked her off to a rough and ready refresher course on how bad things could get, if things went wrong.

It was then that she'd thought of Reese, and of all the things that could be going wrong on Earth, right at that very moment.

California was beautiful in the spring. Warm, yet not oppressively so. Martha found it strange to be in Los Angeles, but lovely too. This time around, everybody was alive. She felt some of the weight fall from her shoulders; maybe she should revisit all the places she'd been during that year…

Then she thought of Japan, and shuddered; maybe not.

Martha leaned back on the bench and watched Derek Reese play baseball with his kid brother. This was her fourth day in a row, and there was still no sign of the older version. But that was okay; she had another ten days of holiday left

The bench creaked and Martha looked at the teenager that had sat down beside her. There was something familiar about his face…

She froze as she realised who it was.

John Connor

He shifted uncomfortably on the seat, when he realised she was staring at him. "I'm sorry, am I disturbing you?" he asked softly.

"Uh, no," Martha said. "Actually, you're exactly who I'm looking for…or close enough."

His eyes darted to her face, wary. "Why's that."

Slowly, she lifted the chain from her neck, showing him the USB key around her neck. "Your uncle gave me this," she said softly. "Not that he will remember it – time travel, you know." He was paying attention now. Martha felt a pang in her chest; that sort of sharpness shouldn't be present in a teenager's eyes. "There are three files on this key, two of them are audio. One was made by Derek, and the other one was made by me," Martha explained gently, handing him the chain. "I'm staying at the Clarion – and I can help."

"Help me do what?" He was still wary. With the life he'd led, Martha couldn't really blame him.

"Isn't it obvious?" she said, as she stood to leave. "I'm going to help you save the world."

Three hours later, there was a familiar knock on the hotel door.

FINIS

Author's Note: And that's it, except to say a great big thank you to those who read and gave feedback. It was much appreciated and I hope you enjoyed the story and felt satisfied with the ending!