AN: Thanks to my beta reader Persiflage and to all of you who reviewed the last chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Droctor Who.

Chapter 3

"There are about twenty shields around this station. They protect us against the weapons of attacking ships. Every shield protects a different part of the station. The edges of the shields overlap each other. That is easier than generating one big shield around the spacestation. Each shield has a generator and every generator is linked to one much bigger main generator in the centre of the station. Unfortunately, that is the one that was damaged. Just a small part of the station gets exposed if one of the smaller generators is damaged. But the main generator is damaged which means we have no shield at all," Mike explained to the Doctor and Martha on their way to the main generator.

"So you are a technician on this station?" Martha asked him. The Doctor started to feel uncomfortable because of the interest in her voice as she spoke to the young man. He wondered why that was bothering him. He wasn't used to feel that way just because she seemed to like someone.

"Yes," Mike answered. "Actually, I am the chief engineer here." He gave her a proud smile. Martha smiled back at him. She noticed that Mike was flirting with her a bit. She enjoyed getting this kind of attention after spending so much time with someone she loved who didn't show any interest in her. And Mike really was a nice guy.

"When did you start working on this station?" she asked him.

"I started almost a year ago. I really like working here. My colleagues are very nice and even Captain Bennett isn't that bad, if you know him better."

"And where is your family?"

"My parents and my brother live on Earth."

"Do you see them often?" Martha asked.

"Just twice since I came here. I miss them from time to time. But I enjoy my job and I know they are proud of me." He smiled at her again. "What about you?" he asked.

"I have my parents, a sister and a brother. They're on Earth."

They had reached the door of the room in which the generator was housed. Mike opened the lock and they stepped inside. Mike looked at Martha again and opened his mouth to ask her something else, but before he could say anything the Doctor turned around to them.

"Could you two stop babbling? We don't have time for that." It came out harsher than he had intended.

Martha couldn't stop being angry with the Doctor as watched him and Mike working on the generator. Why did he have to be so rude? She and Mike had just talked and flirted a bit, and it really felt good. But the Doctor just had to ruin the mood, hadn't he?

She remembered that he hadn't looked happy about how well she and Mike were getting on as they made their way here. Martha couldn't think why it even mattered to him that she was flirting a bit with someone else. It wasn't like he had ever shown any interest in her in that way.

The only explanation for his behaviour Martha could think of was that he was jealous. But she dismissed that thought immediately as soon as it crossed her mind. The last thing she needed was to get her hopes up again that he might return her feelings one day. She just would get hurt again. She had to accept that he would never love her.

She pulled herself out of her thoughts and looked at the two men working on the generator. In that moment she noticed the Doctor had been watching her. He averted his eyes as soon as she returned his gaze.

She walked toward the two men. "Can I help you with anything?" she asked, not wanting to stand there and watch them working any longer.

"Could you take a look at that display over there and tell us if anything changes?" Mike asked, smiling at her.

"Sure."

...

While Mike explained to him what he and his team had found out about the damage so far, the Doctor couldn't help but think about what had happened earlier. He was only half listening to what Mike told him.

He had snapped at Mike and Martha for no particular reason at all. He couldn't deny any longer that he had more than friendly feelings for Martha. He had been as jealous as a teenager because of her mild flirting with Mike.

The first time they had travelled together he had tried to push her away anytime he started to have these kind of feelings for her. He realised know he had treated her badly because of that.

He had felt guilty because it had been a lot easier for him to get over the pain of losing Rose and start to feel something for someone else than he thought it should. He had felt that he owed Rose something. She was the one to help him after the darkest time of his life, after the Time War. He had been feeling so much better having her travelling with him. But his feelings for her weren't as strong as he had thought they were after losing her. He had just needed someone and had persuaded himself into believing that he needed Rose. It wasn't like he had never loved her. He just had to admit now that he was feeling more for someone else.

Martha was the person that made him think about the War. Rose had never asked him any personal questions. That had been quite comfortable at that time. But that also meant that she wasn't interested in him as a person. But Martha was. She had done so much more for him than Rose ever had. She had saved his life so many times, had made him deal with his feelings about the War, and she had walked the Earth to save him and her planet. She had looked after him in 1913 even though it had been so hard for her. She was always there when he needed her. And all he did was treat her badly and make her think that she could never keep up with Rose, which simply wasn't true. He had never appreciated her as he should.

He let his eyes shift to where Martha leaned against the wall, gazing at the floor with a faraway look in her beautiful brown eyes. Then she looked up and their eyes met. The Doctor quickly averted his gaze back to where he was supposed to be working on the machine.

Martha Jones, the most compassionate, intelligent and most beautiful person he had ever met.

Maybe it wasn't too late, and he should get over the fear of losing someone close to him again and tell her how he felt. But he wasn't sure if he was able to do that.

AN: I hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter should be up in a week. Please review and let me know what you think.