It's Just a Scratch
by
xXx MissHaun†ed-MoonLigh† xXx

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Thank you Shrink To Be, AvitarGirl, Emela, AscendingWithTyler, JForward, Cute Gallifreyan, Dagniro Vanaliel, rockchick900, Syreene and Tai Greywing!

Sorry for the delay. I've been Job Hunting. Had to write up a CV and stuff. Not fun, but necessary. My mate stayed over for a few days, and we went into town looking for work. Well, we did that when we weren't shopping or watching horror films and annoying my neighbours, at any rate ...
And for the record - job hunting sucks. Big time.
Still, our names are out there now. That's a start ... right?

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7.

Martha sighed heavily and struggled to untangle yet another loose bramble from the sleeve of her cardigan, tugging at it ferociously at it snapped playfully at her hands.

"Doctor?" she whispered hoarsely, eyes jammed shut in irritation as she doubled her grip, wincing as a particularly sharp spike bit into her right hand. She restrained a curse, but it was a close thing.

"Huh?" she heard him murmur back, his voice deep and somewhat huskier than she'd remembered. Suddenly miraculously untangled, voice no longer working as his bit into her soul, she found herself standing inches from him in a heartbeat, before she could berate herself for her weakness.

This was getting ridiculous.

And the Doctor apparently thought so too, for he spared her a pained glance and shook his head in frustration.

Regaining control of her vocal chords as the strange, binding power vanished, she bit back her worries and readied herself for his eerily sexy response.

"Are we nearly there yet?"

Martha shivered, suddenly realising how whiny she'd just sounded. A rather unwanted flashback of her six year old self decided to resurface after so many years of careful therapy, and she winced in horror as she mentally saw herself whinging at her parents as they bickered constantly from the front seat of their old Ford Anglia, while Tish and Leo took it in turns to poke her in the side as she struggled to back as far into the car seat as possible.

'Mum! This ain't fair! Are we nearly there yet?'

Naturally, her mother had ignored her.

'Oh, it's always the same, Clive! Completely ignored my instructions, and now look where you've got us! We've been driving around the same three streets for the best part of an hour!'

'Well, forgive me for not taking advice from a woman who holds the map upside down!'

Then enter her siblings.

'Leo? It's your turn! Poke Martha! Poke Martha!'

'No! Don't poke me! Tish, stop it! Mum! Make 'em stop poking me! Ouch! That hurts! Dad! Aren't we there yet?!'

"Earth to Martha!"

Martha jumped and blinked rapidly, momentarily mortified as the Sonic slipped a little through her numbed-by-cold fingers.

Steadying her grip on it before it was sent flying, she glanced up in time to see the Doctor staring at her, red eyes wide and searching, a faint frown creasing his sweat-coated brow.

"God, it's like talking to a wall," he murmured, more to himself than to her, shaking his head in disapproval. "Bloody day-dreaming humans!"

Martha blushed.

"Sorry," she muttered back, shaking off the disturbing memories of a distressed six-year-old and raising the Sonic a little higher so she could better take in his appearance.

A motion she soon regretted, when she spotted his less-than-Doctorish facade.

"Wow," she said softly, fearing her heart was seconds from jumping right out of her chest and running for cover. "You're not lookin' so good. I take it the hunger's getting to you. And … what did you want, again?"

The Doctor sent her a death glare.

"In that order: thanks, – take heed of the sarcasm, by the way - yes it is getting to me, and you asked me if we were 'nearly there yet'. Do you want the answer, or not?"

Martha nodded vigorously, momentarily wrong footed by the Doctor's snappiness. But then, fighting off waves of gnawing hunger and struggling to cope with the pains of becoming a vampire would probably piss anybody off, so it was only to be expected.

Or so she told herself.

'It's nothin' personal,' she thought, a little worried that her denial would be readable on her concerned features. 'Really, it's not!'

Thankfully, the Doctor remained oblivious to her inner turmoil.

"Well then …" he said.

But that was all he said. Martha raised her eyebrows.

What she wouldn't give to be back in the TARDIS, right now. Back in the warmth and light, with the reassuring thrum of a living, sentient machine that actually liked her … even though that was impossible.

Because even though she felt for him, even though she sympathised with him, he wasn't half starting to annoy her.

"There's nothin' like making it easy for a girl, is there, Doctor?" she asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes and prodding him in the side in a vain attempt to procure an actual, helpful answer from his parted lips.

When the silence spiralled, she began to lose her patience.

"'Well then' … what?" she pressed, reigning in her moodiness for fear things would go too far.

Crankiness had never been a good thing, and the fact that she was struggling with a week's worth of sleepless nights - after being on a planet where the word 'comfort' was an insult - meant that the 'not good thing' was unbearably realistic for her.

And suffering from lack of sleep as she was, her reflexes weren't really as good as they were supposed to be. Unprepared for his sudden halt in movement, Martha walked straight into the back of him as he stumbled to an abrupt stand-still. Rubbing at her nose where it had hit the Doctor's shoulder, she glowered at him.

In response, he answered her.

"We're there."

A grin of relief spread across her face and she strengthened the light of the Sonic slightly, concerned when the Doctor flinched at the sudden bright blue light.

"I thought it was only sunlight you couldn't handle?" she asked, curious. The Doctor half-shrugged.

"It doesn't hurt my skin, exactly," he replied, eyes narrowed in apparent surprise, as though he hadn't expected such a bizarre side effect, himself. "It's just really painful on the eyes."

Martha's mouth opened in the customary silent 'O' shape, and she half nodded, restraining a shiver.

"Great," she said, eyeing up their surroundings and struggling to ignore the way the Doctor was attempting to walk around the field of light, rather than through it.

But after a moment, her relief was replaced with confusion. And a lot of confusion, at that.

"Wait a minute …" She paused, unsure. "The plant … the one we need … you said it'd be 'bathed in moonlight'. I'm not seein' any moonlight here, Doctor."

She watched, fascinated, as the Doctor glanced skywards, head tilted back and his fangs glinting maliciously in the light from the Sonic.

So disturbing and yet so sexy at the same time…

Martha ignored the butterflies, feeling an unwanted redness beginning to blossom in her frozen cheeks.

"What are you doing?" she asked, curious.

"Oh, just … catchin' my bearings," he replied vaguely, red eyes wide and searching, as they stared off into the darkness above them.

"Right," Martha said back, turning around and trying to focus on one of the plants closest to her, all the while keeping an image of the strange, spiky plant from the Andrex adverts bright within her mind's eye.

Too bad the plant she was looking at looked nothing like the 'Aloe Vera' plant.

Maybe the next one along ...

"Well, you may want to hurry with that, 'cause the sooner we get this done the sooner -"

But she was interrupted, straightening up after deciding that the plant next to her wasn't the one they were after, either.

A cry of surprise escaped her lips, more like a gargle than anything else, and a moment later she was standing stock-still, mouth hanging open and her neck craning skywards as she watched the Doctor shoot up, rocket-fashion, two ebony, leather-like wings sprouting through suit and jacket and spreading wide as if embracing the darkness around him.

"Oh my God," she murmured, haunted yet amazed at the same time.

A lump rising in her throat, she watched in silent horror as he turned, black wings spread, and hovered above her, two red pinpricks standing out against the blackness. With elegant silence, the only sound being the hardly discernable rustle of his wings, he inclined his head and flipped over, zooming for the ground again and picking up speed.

Zooming towards her.

Screaming, she jumped aside and backed slowly into a tree, tumbling over her feet in her haste to get out of the way.

"Martha!" he screeched, fluttering around and returning to his feet, glaring at her.

"I thought you were you!" she screamed back, feeling the hard, damp bark against her back and dearly praying to God that this wasn't about to end badly. She was cornered. So she'd be screwed if it was.

"I am!" he snapped indignantly, fangs bared and eyes gleaming. "I wasn't going to hurt you!"

"You could've fooled me! Don't just … dive at me like that! I thought you were attacking me!"

Trembling like a leaf, she relinquished her grip on the branch just above her head and took a tentative step forwards.

"What were you doing, then?" she asked, forced-calmly, raising the Sonic a little so she could see his face clearly.

The Doctor stared at her, desperate to feed but also fully aware that if they could just finish this thing, there'd be no need for anybody to get hurt.

He hoped.

"The plant's over this barrier," he said, jamming his eyes shut and trying to ignore her smell, the sound of the blood pulsing through her veins, the look of them standing out like miniature streams against her dark skin …

"What barrier?" she asked, frowning suspiciously.

Waving his hand in the general direction but still refusing to open his eyes, he pointed at it. "There's an invisible barrier over here, bout fifty feet high. This planet is designed for preservation, and there are plants and animals enclosed here that are often hunted but are incredibly rare. This barrier keeps hunters out, and protects the rarer of Minuisa's species from outside interference. Unfortunately, the fact that this is a life-or-death situation means I really do have to get in there, and with a fifty foot wall in our way, I think it's safe to assume the only way in is over the top. Literally."

Martha, her heart-rate returning to something which vaguely mimicked normality, nodded dumbly.

"But if you can fly over, why does it keep out hunters? Why couldn't they just fly over? In their ships, or something?"

The Doctor grinned.

"Well, not that I want to brag but, I'm a genius. They're not. " Martha snorted. "And plus there's a rather nifty advantage to being a vampire. Being 'dead', I'm technically off the radar. The barrier uses some kind of sensor to block living organisms from crossing over it. Because I'm dead, it ain't gonna stop me now, is it?"

Martha nodded, and frowned.

"Isn't it going to block me, then? If I fly over there with you, I'm not going to get through. Last I checked, I wasn't dead ... yet," she added, shuddering slightly.

The Doctor shook his head, raising a white hand to his forehead for a moment and grimacing before answering her properly.

"No, because you're with me. I can cloak you. Don't ask how 'cause I really have no idea. It's cool. It's helpful. It's different. But it's not something that I intend to be able to do forever, so let's just make use of these useful skills and get the Hell out of here before things get really messy."

Unfortunately, Martha's reservations had been far from erased. Staring up at him with wide, pleading eyes, she shook her head a fraction.

"B-but … but why do you have to carry me over there? Can't you just go and get it yourself and then come back for me?"

The Doctor shook his head.

"There's something in these woods, Martha, and I don't trust it. I'd rather you stayed with me."

Martha shivered, automatically rearing towards him as the tone-on-tone voice mesmerised her senses.

Realising what she was doing, she stomped her foot and forced herself to an abrupt stand-still, glaring darkly at him.

"Damnit!" she muttered to herself. "See, that's exactly why I think you should leave me! You're gonna have eaten me before we even land over there!"

The Doctor shook his head vigorously, eyes wide and urgent.

But Martha couldn't meet them.

"I wouldn't," he said firmly, willing her to believe him …

But even he knew that he probably would. No, he wouldn't do it willingly … but they both knew that he had minutes left, at most. And hanging fifty feet in the air, clutching onto her, his teeth inches from her neck … well, they'd be in his territory. She'd be completely helpless.

And even the Doctor couldn't deny that if his control slipped, even for a second, then Martha would be in big trouble.

He blinked and turned to her, furiously arguing with himself as he tried to decide on what was best for her.

If she stayed with him, he'd probably claim her.

But if she was left here by herself … well, there'd probably be nothing left for him to claim.

But his decision was made up for him before he could come up with a compromise.

Blinking his stinging eyes back into focus at the contact, he looked up and found Martha standing inches from his face, eyes fearful but resolute, a pale, shaking hand resting on his shoulder.

"Doctor … I trust you," she said simply, quite obviously scared senseless but trying to hide it as best she could. "God knows I must be crazy but … yeah. I trust you."

Nodding, his voice suddenly refusing to cooperate with him, he forced the hunger back, struggling to focus on her trust for him, her faith in him … if he could keep hold of those, just keep hold of those few tiny shreds of humanity … he might just be okay.

"It won't take long," he told her. "A minute or so. I mean I ... I mean, I-I can't promise anything, b-but -"

She cut him off, a trembling finger pressed firmly to his lips.

"I trust you," she said again, softer this time. Heart-felt.

Gently retracting her finger, she hid her dismay as she spotted the flash of ravenous hunger that momentarily lit up his glowing orbs, and struggled to blot out the way his tongue darted eagerly over his lips as though drinking in the little taste she'd willingly offered him.

"I trust you … And I just hope that that's enough."

"But what if it's not?" he whispered fearfully, for the first time in hours his voice sounding completely his own. One hundred per cent Doctor.

Just for a second.

Martha stared at him warily, his scarlet eyes reflected twice over within her own auburn ones.

But there was nothing else to say.

Reaching her shaking hand out to him again, she gave him a half-hearted shrug and allowed him to take it, her fingers tensing as his frozen digits enclosed firmly around her wrist.

"I trust you," she whispered again, eyes tight shut as she felt his arms encircle themselves securely around her waist., his frozen breath skirting against the skin on her neck, making the hairs stand on end, and long nails scraping gently against her shirt.

'But what if it's not?' he'd asked.

Martha could only hope that it would be enough. For both their sakes.

"I trust you."

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I'd love to hear what you think, so feel free to comment!
Next one might be up Monday. Depends how bad a hangover I have tomorrow. Saturday night rules! Doctor Who and then partying all night? I'm in Heaven! (Giddy Dance)

Blessed Be!

Hugs,
xXx MissHaun†ed-MoonLigh† xXx