A chill ran up Rose's neck at the sound of the rough voice. She tried not to dwell on what took place on this planet but that voice still haunted her nightmares.
Doesn't matter.Rose told herself, pushing the fear back. You need to be strong, you're not going to let this be a repeat of last time.
The owner of the gravelly tone swept out of the shadows that highlighted the back walls of the alley and strode slowly towards the group.
Jack stiffened slightly at the stranger's appearance. He was an extremely tall humanoid male of around seven feet. His was covered in a black cloak that covered his face and dragged along the ground as the man walked.
"No person is allowed outside during curfew." The stranger rasped while surveying the small group. "You are not citizens. What is your business in the city?"
"Ship crashed," stated the Doctor. "We had no intention of visiting your city, and if you give us a few hours to repair our ship we will be out of your hair."
At the Doctors words the dark coated man turned towards the smoking Tardis. "I take it this is your ship?"
Without waiting for a reply the man started circling the blue box. "Curious machine, appears a bit small for so many travelers."
"We make do." said the Doctor, his stance stiff as he watched the man take in his ship.
"Oh of that I have no doubt." laughed the stranger. "But do tell me, what's a Time Lord doing so far from home?"
The Doctors face betrayed his surprise at the recognition of his race but quickly hardened back into an impassive mask. Rose saw the Doctor preparing to question the man about his knowledge and took a deep breath. This is it
She quickly stepped in front of the Doctor.
"Oi, Mister! I think you mean Time Lady."
….
Martha collapsed in a heap unto the jump seat in the Tardis, her breath coming out in shallow gasps.
"So I admit, maybe that wasn't the best place for a beach trip." The Doctors voice was annoyingly even as he took in his companion's stance on the seat.
The dark skinned woman shot daggers at the alien in front of her, not yet able to form words.
"I was off by just a century! Funny how something as little as that can change their whole perspective on visitors …"
"They ran us back to the Tardis with pitch forks and torches!" Martha shouted, her breath evening out.
"Yes well, they had just gone through a massive war where half their population was incinerated so you really can't blame them for being paranoid."
Martha rolled her eyes as she sat back up. All she wanted was a bit of sun, but what did she get? Chased of the planet by an angry mob as soon as she spotted the beach.
"Look Doctor-" Martha began before feeling the Tardis floor suddenly drop from underneath her. There was the split second feeling of weightlessness before she crashed back onto the grating.
"Martha, are you okay?" The Doctors shout came from the in front of her and the young woman glanced up to see him frantically running around the consol and glowing soft yellow.
Wait, glowing?
Martha rubbed her eyes and looked back up to the brown haired alien. The glow appeared to be coming from the consol. Streams of golden dust seemed to flow in circles around the controls before circuiting back into the grating only to reappear. Bright flashes of the dust circled the time rotor and seemed to emit a humming sound.
"Doctor! What is that stuff?"Martha yelled over the humming and Tardis engine.
"It's Remnants of pure time. Every second time is passing and this is was gets left behind. Think of it as the remnants of every single event in the history of the universe. The time vortex is full of it! But it should never be this active."
The Tardis jerked violently, sending its occupants to the floor.
"It's affecting the Tardis. I would hang on to something Martha Jones."
Martha grabbed onto the nearest coral strut and wrapped her legs around the base praying that would be enough. The dust was shinning brighter and she was finding it hard to even squint at the consol. She turned her head into the base of the coral and prepared for a rough landing.
…
Rose stared defiantly at the dark clothed man, inside however, she was trembling.
"Time lady?" Questioned the cloaked man.
"Yep!" she remarked. "Born and raised on Gallifrey. I'm initiated and everything."
"Initiated? What are you speaking of girl?"
Rose smiled thinking back to the nightly tea sessions with her pinstriped Doctor in the library. Between reading and chatting idly he would delve into his past on Gallifrey and share with Rose intimate details of the planet.
"Initiated, as in brought to look into the Untempered Schism, a gap in the fabric of reality." Rose stated casually trying not to focus on the Doctor's shocked expression.
The mysterious man stepped closer to Rose. "I was not aware any of the Time Lords...or Lady's had survived. And there was only the rumor that a Lord was still amongst the stars."
Rose forced a laugh. "Well, rumors tend to get warped, but I can assure you I am most certainly not a Time Lord." She paused in her ramblings knowing that what she said next would make or break her attempts at saving lives.
"Still, only in my third regeneration, could possibly be a boy one of these rounds." Rose said, watching as the man's fists clenched and his posture became taller. The effect of her words was almost immediate.
"Guards!" He shouted, his voice echoing into the night air. "Take this one to the cultivation center."
The walls of the alleyway shuddered as two dark masses seemed to grow slowly from the shadows covering them. The figures looked like two shadows that had taken a three dimensional form.
"No!" yelled the Doctor. "She doesn't know what she's saying! I'm the Time Lord."
The tall man laughed before pulling back his dark hood. Underneath was the man's grey colored flesh marred by the vacant holes where eyes should be. The surrounding skin was pulled taunt by crudely arranged stitches that stretched the skin in erratic ways, while still holding closed the dark cuts that disfigured the man's features. His face had no lips, instead the skin cracked around the opening that was his mouth.
"I think she knows very well what she's saying. We will accept you companion as penance for breaking curfew, goodnight." The man turned before following the guards who were leading a calm Rose away.
Jack glanced at the Doctor before launching himself at Rose's captors while the Doctor made to grab the cloaked man. However before either could reach their opponents, they vanished, smilingly into the shadows surrounding the alley.
….
Martha opened her eyes to a quiet consol room and an even quieter Doctor.
"Where are we?" asked Martha as she climbed slowly to her feet. The golden dust had vanished leaving only a sprinkling of glitter on everything in the room.
"No idea," began the Doctor. "Remnants are powerful. You can travel a billion years into the past with only a small pinch. Having that much aboard was indescribably dangerous." He ran a hand absentmindedly through his hair. "It somehow connects to the time traces we found on board a few days ago."
"You mean whoever was on the Tardis caused the time remnants to go crazy?" Martha asked.
"I'm just saying that I don't think that it's a coincidence that they happened so close together." The Doctor said while scanning the empty Tardis monitor screen.
Martha glanced at the doors. "Since the Tardis isn't working and we have no idea what's out there…how about we go take a look."
The Doctor stared at her. "Martha, I don't think you realize how powerful those remnants are. We had an inestimable amount in this consol room. We could be in a whole different universe! We could be before the universe was even created!"
Martha ignored his rambling and started to the door.
"Martha! You could go out there and be in some sort of limbo where time doesn't even exist and your whole body rejects it. And you know whose going to have to come and save you!" The Doctor watched as Martha opened the door and stepped outside. Pouting slightly and muttering about humans and their inability to listen the Doctor followed.
"Well, looks like plain old London to me." smiled Martha surveying the familiar hustle of the busy city as the Doctor joined her outside the door.
"Wrong." whispered the Doctor.
"Wrong? Doctor this is clearly-" She let out a small gasp as she followed the Doctors shaking finger towards the grouping of zeppelins that crowded the sky.
"Parallel universe." said the Doctor his voice trembling slightly.
"Doctor, what's wrong? We're not going to tear a whole in time by being here, right?" Martha questioned noticing the Doctor seemed to be in a state of shock.
"I-I need to go" The Doctor said finally, his eyes blazing with determination.
"Go?" She asked. "Where in the world would you need to go?" Her question was ignored as the Doctor sprinted off in a seemingly random direction, narrowly avoiding traffic. The dark skinned woman sighed before taking off at a run to follow him.
The chase was brought up short when and older man tripped into the Doctor causing both to fall to the ground. Martha hurried over to help the gentlemen up while the Doctor gathered the man's briefcase and newspaper.
"Sorry, I'm just in a bit of a hurry." The Doctor said looking longingly in the direction he was headed before the collision and rocking on his heels.
"Not a problem, just be careful were your looking." The man said holding his hands out for his belongings. The Doctor started to hand them over before pausing.
"Doctor, hand the man his things and we can go back to running to heaven knows where." Martha said, smiling politely at the man.
The Doctor had other ideas as he dropped the briefcase into the man's arms before turning away with the newspaper. Martha smiled apologetically and followed the Doctor who was standing off the side of the shopping traffic.
"Doctor, you can't just take peoples things, parallel universe or not." Scolded Martha. "You never think about-" She stopped as she took in the sight in front of her.
The Doctor was clutching the newspaper in a white knuckled grip his face a cold mask. Martha stood on her toes and read the headline of the news paper over his shoulder.
Vitex Heiress Commits Suicide
"Doctor I don't understand." Martha whispered, examining the included picture of a blurred blonde woman, obviously taken from a distance by a paparazzi.
"It's not true." The Doctor stated emotionlessly.
Martha had no idea what to say, but the Doctor was scaring her. She had never seen him act so cold. She finally knew why his title of the Oncoming Storm was perfectly fitting.
It seemed however that the her words were not needed as the Doctor headed back in the same direction as before, only this time at a slower pace and with a aura so menacing no one dared step in his way.