They raced haphazardly between buildings, trying to keep as much distance between themselves and their pursuers as possible. They kept going until they were within view of the Tardis. Suddenly, their pursuers were much closer. "Come on Martha, we can make it! " The Doctor coaxed. "Just a little further! " "I can't" she replied "Oh yes, you can Martha Jones, we don't have a choice!" the Doctor shouted, while turning around and pointing his sonic screwdriver behind him. Suddenly, there was an obstruction in the way of the uniformed men. "There that should hold them for a moment…" The men simply pointed their weapons and vaporized the obstacles in front of them. "Or maybe not" the Doctor finished " lets go!" they finally made it make to the Tardis in record time, unlocking and falling into the time machine, completely out of breath. The Doctor immediately ran to the console and set the time rotor in motion. The Tardis wheezed in her disappearance, leaving the uniformed men shouting angrily at the empty space left behind. "Whew, that was close!" exclaimed Martha "Yes, it was" the Doctor wondered. "Wonder why they were after us? Just for a few questions?" He mused. There's definitely something more going on. "We'll have to hide for bit, then we'll sneak back down for some answers. " Martha just wondered, "don't you think we should leave it alone? I mean, they obviously didn't want us interfering." The Doctor looked up, "Maybe not, but a planet been destroyed that shouldn't have been. The timelines are incorrect. I have a duty. " Martha caught on, "so you're saying that there's time travel involved?" "Yup," the Doctor answered her. "We're in the vortex for now, we'll let things cool down a bit and then pay another visit to the Innkeeper. I want some answers." The Doctor said. The duo decided to just relax in the Vortex in the Tardis. The Doctor kept looking at Martha every few minutes, seemingly deep in thought. Martha observed the Doctor covertly as well. The Tardis observed both of them and wondered how long it would take for them to realize that they both had feelings for each other. After a short while, Martha finally drifted off to her room to sleep. She figured she'd need the rest with all the running they'd probably be doing later. The Doctor remained in the control room for a little longer, wandering about the console and adjusting a setting here and there. In reality, his mind was no where near the control room but was down the hall, wondering about the young woman he'd been traveling with. He knew he had feelings for her, and that she had feelings for him, but he had no idea how to broach the subject with her. And then there was always the case that he would outlive her. He hated that she would be able to be with him for such a short time, but human lives were so fleeting. Now feeling throughly depressed at the thought of that, the Doctor nodded good night to the Tardis and drifted off to his own room.
After a good nights rest, the Doctor and Martha met in the Tardis' small kitchen for breakfast and to plan strategy. "The way I see it is this," the Doctor was saying, "We need to get down there and speak to the correct people about what went on and if possible find away to fix it. Those people down there are guilty of something and the fact that such a powerful artifact was stolen means that it could be used to destroy another planet. We must prevent that." "If what you say is true, " Martha interjected, then surely they're going to try even harder to keep us from finding out anyting more. the Doctor sighed, you're right, but we really haven't much of a choice. I wouldn't be doing my duty if I let this pass and they ended up destroying some other defenseless planet. Martha put down her empty tea cup. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Lets go save some planets!" she grinned at him. "Martha Jones, I thought you'd never ask!" the Doctor explained. The two put their breakfast dishes away and went to their rooms to get ready for the day at hand.
The Doctor located a secluded area to land the Tardis and proceeded to land with the parking brake off this time, which allowed for a much quieter landing. It was night when they arrived, and they cautiously Martha peered out of the Tardis doors to ensure that now one was in sight. all was quiet, the inhabitants were sleeping for the most part. "right." the Doctor said quietly. we need to get somewhere we can check the records. I want to know exactly what happened when Tigorie was destroyed. " We'll need to find a library or some kind of records building then, yeah?" Martha asked. "Oh yeah." said the Doctor and began to take off in the direction of the city center. Within in about 30 minutes, they came upon what appeared to be the city hall. the Doctor looked up. "cant get more recordsy than city hall" he said with a grin. seriously? You want us to break into the city hall?" Martha asked disbelievingly. "i thought we were talking about a library or public kiosk or something"! "Oh definitely not! the Doctor replied. come on then." he proceeded to lead them around the side of the building to the employee entrance. using his sonic he was able to gain entrance to the building. They wondered in, down a long hall and up a set of stairs, following a sign that said central records. "Well here we are!" the Doctor exclaimed when they arrived at the door. "This should clear a few things up for us" the Doctor stated. they entered the room, and the soft glow of several computer streams gave off an eerie light, casting the two of them in a creepy, pallid, green shade. The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the nearest computer terminal and then proceeded to view the information there. Martha waited for a moment and then asked, "well? what did you find?" as the Doctor had become angrier and angrier by the moment as he read. "There was no war." he said angrily. "what? but the Innkeeper said… " Martha began. the Doctor continued, "There was no war and the Innkeeper was obviously lying. We need to see the merchant as soon as possible" he may have an idea of who stole the figurine and wants to use it again. They silently walked back down the stairs and headed toward the employee entrance door when they heard a noise behind them. The sound of a weapon powering up. The Doctor turned around slowly. Martha had already turned at the sound and gulped audibly. The armed guard looked down the sights of an incredibly huge weapon at them. "Well now, what have we here?" he drawled. The man was massive, all muscle with barely any neck. The weapon would hardly be needed. Any perpetrators would run just seeing the sheer size of him. Martha and the Doctor began to back away slowly, "well you see it's like this…" the Doctor began. "Stop!" the man yelled. "I don't want to hear it." He picked up a small radio from a hip pocket and spoke into it, keeping the gun trained on the Doctor and Martha. "I've got them. Bringing them in now. " He put the radio away and motioned in the opposite direction from which they had just come. "All right you two, march!" the Doctor tried, "Look I'm sure there's been some sort of misunderstanding, if we could just.. " "Shut up!" the man bellowed. And then proceeded to hit the Doctor viscously in the stomach with the but of the weapon. The Doctor went down like a sack of potatoes, groaning and clutching his stomach. Martha immediately flew to his side, "You didn't have to hit him!" She yelled, " he was coming with you!" she said. The guard just grunted at them and motioned with the gun again. Martha helped the Doctor up from the floor but he remained doubled over in pain. The guard motioned again and suddenly, there was a loud crash behind them. Not bothering to see what was going on the Doctor suddenly straightened and grabbed Martha's hand. "Run!" he shouted. They headed out the nearest exit and frantically began running for the Tardis. Several other armed guards had noticed the commotion and were now in hot pursuit. They ran seemingly forever, but were still no closer to the Tardis. They hid in a small alcove as the would be pursuers ran by them. A voice suddenly called out to them. "Quickly, come in here if you wish to get away from them!" the Doctor and Martha looked at each other. "How do we know we can trust you?" The Doctor asked. The strange woman looked at them, then back towards the guards who were rapidly doubling back. "Doesn't look like you have much of a choice." She smiled. "Ah good point! Let's go Martha!" he said grabbing Martha's hand and running after their unexpected source of help.
The woman guided them to a hidden door in a hidden corner of a building and led the inside, closing and sealing the door behind them quickly. She continued to lead them through what appeared to be some type of underground cellar, then up a very long set of stairs into a small room. The room contained a small bed and a dresser. "You may stay for the night" she said, motioning toward the bed. We will discuss things in the morning after we have all rested. "Thank you" Martha said, "Thank you so much for helping us." The woman snorted, "You may not be so thankful in the morning. Rest for now, I will send food." With that the strange woman headed down the stairs. "Well, now that was interesting, wasn't it?" the Doctor said, "fancy a bit of a lie down Martha?" he said proceeding to sit on the small bed. " Martha eyed the bed with unease. "It'll be a bit cramped don't you think? She asked. " Oh, I think we can handle it, plenty of room!" In truth, the Doctor was very nervous. They would indeed be very close in the the tiny bed. Moments later, a young boy knocked and then entered the room with various fruits, cheeses and bread on a tray. He left them the tray and then silently showed them the washing area and bathroom facilities before racing back out. The two travelers both laughed as he left, then proceeded to take part in the light meal. Once the meal was done, Martha went to wash up, coming back into the room and removing her shoes and jacket. The Doctor left to do his washing up, then also reentered and removed his shoes overcoat and jacket. They both still nervously looked at each other and the tiny bed. The Doctor finally went over to it and proceeded to lie down. "Well come on then Martha, I don't bite…" then he grined, "unless you want me to of course!" " Ooh listen to you, cheeky! " Martha exclaimed. The Doctor left as much room as possible in the narrow bunk to allow Martha room to lie down. She lay facing away from him on her side. The Doctor kept his arm awkwardly at his side and tried to stay as small as possible in order to not make her feel uncomfortable. In reality, he just wanted to put his arms around her and let her body mold itself to his. They drifted off to a very uncomfortable slumber.
During the night, they had rolled toward each other. The Doctor now had his arm around Martha's waist. Her small body was spooned into his comfortably. Martha awoke briefly and noted their position, but not wanting to disturb the Doctor stayed where she was, smiling a little to herself. I finally get him to put his arms around me and he's asleep she drifted off again. As it turns out, the Doctor wasn't really asleep. He felt the slight movement Martha had made, and would have moved if she had asked, but when she drifted back to sleep, he relaxed. He didn't want to let her go — it just felt too right holding her like this. He could feel himself becoming aroused and quickly tamped down on the feeling, simply enjoying the felling of the woman in his arms. He let his mind wonder and let the warm scent of Martha fill his senses. He felt as if he were drowning in her, and he definitely did not want to be saved. It was a heady feeling, intoxicating and he couldn't help moaning slightly. She turned over to face him in her sleep and he froze, thinking he had woke her. He simply stated at her, noting her beauty that only enhanced her keen mind and her kind heart. Her eyes opened suddenly and she looked right at him. "Doctor?" she asked curiously. The Doctor was suddenly overwhelmed, with her scent filling him and with her in his arms so tightly wrapped up with him, and did the only thing he could. He kissed her. Martha's eyes widened for a moment before she felt herself giving in to the kiss. The kiss started off gentle, then turned into a battle for domination as they each jockeyed for a better position on the small bed. Martha finally ended up beneath the Doctor as he continued to kiss her fervently. He continued to rain small kisses down her throat, coming back up to make small nibbles at the pulse point which caused Martha to throw her head back and moan loudly. The Doctor heard the noise and was suddenly a man possessed, he simply couldn't get enough of her. He was fully aroused and didn't have any plans to stop as long as she allowed him. He stopped kissing her for a moment and looked a question into her eyes. His eyes were nearly black with lust and wanting, his breathing labored. Both hearts were pounding furiously. She peered back up at him with equal abandon. "Martha, are you… " he didn't get to finish as she pulled him down for another desperate kiss. He ran his hand down her body, then slowly up her shirt to where the clasp of her bra was. He bit his way down her neck again, stopping briefly to mouth a mound of breast through the thin top that she wore. She was writhing beneath him, and the Doctor could smell her arousal on the air like some potent drug. He was drunk off it and didn't want to stop what he was doing to see what the incessant banging noise was. KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK! There was a loud banging at the door, but the Doctor hardly ceased his ministrations, he was far too gone by now. All he knew right now was Martha and how she responded to him. Light suddenly flooded the room and the Doctor was flung violently away from Martha. Dazed and angry, the Doctor fought until Martha's voice calmed him down. "No Doctor, it's all right!" she came to him and touched his face gently. "They thought you were attacking me." The Doctor looked shocked, "What? Why would I attack you?" , he asked, confused. The woman who had brought them there had the good sense to look ashamed and glared at the young man who must have summoned her to their room. "Well, since we are all up, we may as well speak now. " I'll give you a few moments to be presentable and then I will meet you downstairs in the kitchen. You should have no problem finding it." With that she left them.
After she was gone, Martha and the Doctor looked at each other nervously.. " I guess we should meet her downstairs in the kitchen then" the Doctor said, "Right, in the kitchen" Martha said. They pulled their shoes back on and adjusted their clothing then headed down. They entered a small kitchen, the woman and young man were already there, along with the Innkeeper of the inn they had stayed at and several other people. Each of them greeted the newcomers silently. "Now let us begin" said the woman who had resuced them. "I am Rasil, this is my son, Doven." We have gathered here because of a series of thefts in recent weeks,from each of us has been taken a seemingly harmless figurine of the ancient Great Godess, but we have learned recently that these figurines may not be so harmless" "Exactly, the Doctor jumped in. "There also used to be a sister planet, Tigorie, what happened to it. All of the older adults in the room proceeded to shuffle about and shift and look ashamed. "WHAT HAPPENED?!" the Doctor's voice boomed. Everyone in the room flinched. "We do not speak of it..." one man began. "Well someone had better start saying something, and pretty damn soon!" the Doctor rounded on him. The Innkeeper finally answered him. "Doctor, when I told you it was hundreds of years ago, I lied. The war happened only 40 years ago. And it wasn't really a war. It was a massacre." She began to haltingly tell him of the one sided war that occurred during her youth. She took a deep breath and then began her tale. "There were twenty of us. Both men and women. We were told that there were invaders coming, that they would destroy our homes, our lives. But that we could fight them. We could stop the invaders before they ever came to Tigovia. And we believed them, our government. After all why would they lie to us, loyal young citizens that we were?". She paused to take a drink. "We were the best and the brightest, hand picked by the Vorten, the intelligence branch of our government. The name means 'powerful mind, in ancient Tigovian. We were trained, conditioned to fight with our minds. We used the figurines as a focal point for our power. One of us, focusing our power in such a way, with the figurine to help amplify…" she shuddered. "What she's saying Doctor, is that only a couple of us would have been enough to destroy a city. It took all of us to destroy Tigorie." said Rasil sadly. The Doctor and Martha were aghast. "Why?" The Doctor asked. He was in complete disbelief. What reason could there possibly be? The Innkeeper began to speak again. "We don't know why. We did as we were told and didn't find out what actually happened until a while later, when we discovered that we could no longer see Tigorie in the sky. It makes no sense." "What we do know is this, Doctor," Rasil continued. "Someone has managed to steal nearly all of the figurines. And I'd imagine they know how they work. They'll need someone with a powerful enough mind to control the devices, and I can't imagine that we would have been the only ones trained. This isn't even all of us. Many of our group went into hiding once it was discovered what actually happened." The Doctor stood up. "Right. We need to find out who has those figurines. Then we need to destroy them to prevent what happened to Tigorie happening to any other world." The group began to drift off agreeing to meet again the following night.
The Doctor and Martha went back to their room in the attic. It was still in the very early morning and not yet light out. Martha looked at the Doctor. He seemed deep in thought, focused intently on the problem at hand. "Well, I guess I'll try to lay down for a while longer, maybe catch a bit more sleep." She said "care to join me?" She asked him, hoping to continue what they began earlier. The Doctor shook his head. "No, you go on and get some rest. Time Lords don't require as much rest as humans. " Feeling a little disappointed, Martha turned and sat on the side of the bed removing her shoes before lying down. She soon drifted off to sleep. The Doctor remained seated at the small desk. His mind was a complete jumble. He was deeply aroused, but was thus far able to control it. He knew he had to stay away from Martha for the time being. Earlier, when they had been so involved, he hadn't had the presence of mind to stop. His entire focus had been her. The scent of her skin. The feel of her beneath him. Just a few moments longer and he would have been inside her… The Doctor groaned silently, baring his teeth and running his hands through his spiky brown hair. He couldn't think about that now. There was a problem to solve and he needed to give it his full attention. Martha would just have to wait.
