AN: Thanks for all your support. And a big thank you to Persiflage for beta reading.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who
Chapter 3
The city on the other side of the island was very different to the small town Martha and the Doctor had explored the day before. It looked much more futuristic with white buildings several stories high, and flying vehicles. The city was flooded with tourists from every part of the galaxy. Martha had never seen so many different aliens in one place.
She and the Doctor arrived early that day in one of the flying vehicles that took tourists wherever they wanted to go on the planet. As soon as they arrived one of the Durelians pressed a brochure into Martha's hands. It was a guide to all the different tourist attractions of the city. Martha flipped through the pages while they walked down a crowded street. One of the pages caught her eye.
"Look," she said, showing the Doctor the brochure. "That must be the museum Giranlo swooned over."
The Doctor looked at the page. "I think you're right." He looked at the address at the top of the page. "That's about a mile in that direction." He pointed in the direction.
"Shall we go there first or explore the city?" Martha asked. She had seen a few other tourists attractions in the brochure that had awakened her interest.
"It says here that the museum is only opened in the afternoon so let's explore the city first. Is there anywhere you want to go?"
After going through the brochure once again they picked a few places they wanted to visit.
Martha suggested going to the theatre and they bought tickets for a performance in the evening. "Very good choice, Dr. Jones," the Doctor said. "We haven't been to the theatre since our first date."
"You said it wasn't a date back then," Martha said, smiling as she remembered meeting Shakespeare.
"I was lying." She looked up at him and grinned. "Seriously, what kind of a man takes a beautiful girl to the theatre and to meet Shakespeare and it's not a date?"
"That's what I thought."
"I wasn't ready to admit it back then. I was afraid of letting anyone come to close to me again, not to mention that I would have felt guilty for being interested in someone in that way so soon after losing Rose, but when I think about my actions now… It was definitely a date." He was quiet for a moment. "I was such an idiot back then."
"Don't start with that again," Martha said. "We've talked about all of it and we've worked hard to get past it." She was silent for a moment. "I always think of our first visit to Durelia as our first date," she said. They had resolved all of their issues that evening on the beach. The Doctor had opened up and talked about his feelings and it had been in many ways the start of their new relationship.
"Maybe you're right," the Doctor said. "It definitely worked out a lot better."
...
After they'd walked around the city for hours, visiting the most famous tourist attractions and enjoying the day they stopped for lunch at a restaurant. Martha had trouble deciding what she wanted to eat. The restaurant offered dishes from dozens of different worlds, but none from Earth. In the end she ordered a slightly purple soufflé that tasted like chicken.
They left the restaurant sated and walked towards the museum hand in hand.
When they entered the museum they were greeted by an alien sitting behind a desk. It was the first time Martha saw someone who worked on this planet who wasn't a Durelian.
"Welcome," he said, grinning brightly at them. "Two tickets?" he asked.
"Yes," Martha replied.
"I need your names and a certification of who you are. Sorry, but it's standard procedure. We've had a few security issues lately. Someone tried to steal a few of the exhibits. I just need to make sure that you are who you say you are."
The Doctor told him their names and showed him the psychic paper. After they got their tickets they went through a big door next to the desk into a greater hall.
"I hope Giranlo wasn't exaggerating," Martha said, looking about.
The hall was white and brightly illuminated despite the fact that there were only a few small windows and there were at least three security guards in the room. Whoever owned this place was very afraid of unwanted intruders. Martha voiced her thoughts.
"That would explain why the man at the entrance wanted to check our identities," the Doctor replied.
They walked towards the first glass case in the room. It held an old, beaten up book.
"Now that is interesting," the Doctor said, looking at the cover. "This book is the journal of a monarch who reigned on Durelia about three hundred thousand years ago. There exists only one exemplar in the entire universe. It has never been duplicated."
"Like Giranlo said, this is collection of everything that is entirely unique in the universe," Martha said. She stepped away from the glass case and approached a display on the wall she had noticed earlier. It showed a map of the museum. Next to every room were listed the the names of every planet from where the exhibits it held had originated.
"Doctor, look! There are even a few things from Earth here," she said, turning around. The Doctor followed her to the display. He took his glasses out of his suit pocket and put them on before regarding the map intensely. "That's an impressive number of planets," he said. He put his glasses back into his pocket.
"I think Giranlo wasn't exaggerating after all." He gripped her hand and together they strolled around the first room, looking at the contents of every glass case.
When they entered the second room Martha heard someone calling their names. She and the Doctor turned around to see Giranlo running toward them. He stopped in front of them and greeted both of them with a hug. Martha was a bit taken aback by the fishman hugging her as if he'd known her for years but the Doctor didn't seem to be surprised.
"It's so great to see you two! I was hoping to see you here," he exclaimed. "So what do you think of this place?"
"It's fascinating," Martha said smiling. "But we haven't seen much yet."
"You don't mind if I join you, don't you?"
"No, not at all," Martha said smiling. Giranlo smiled back. He walked towards one of the glass cases and the Doctor and Martha followed him. The Doctor leaned down to whisper into Martha's ear.
"That behaviour is quite normal for his species," the Doctor explained. "They always hug people even if they haven't known them long. It means he likes us."
...
Giranlo was soon fascinated by how much the Doctor knew about the different exhibits in the museum. He hung on the Doctor's every word while they walked through the different sections of the museum.
The Doctor was just telling him about the culture of a planet that a lot of the exhibition pieces had come from when a man approached them. He had light purple skin and was wearing a long grey robe.
"Could I have a moment of your time?" he asked the Doctor, but kept talking without waiting for an answer. "My name is Anres, I'm the owner of this museum."
"Hello, I'm the Doctor," the Doctor introduced himself, wondering what Anres wanted from him.
"I'm sorry but we scanned you when you entered the building. It's a standard procedure.
Anyway, the scan told us your species and I just had to talk to you in person. I had never thought that I would be able meet a Time Lord. I know that you are the only one left and it's an honour to meet you."
"Sorry, what's a Time Lord?" Giranlo asked. Anres shot him a short annoyed look.
"That's my species," the Doctor said. He noticed that Martha was on the other side of the room, looking at something that had caught her interest. She probably hadn't even noticed Anres yet.
"I have always been fascinated by your species," Anres continued. "I have a small collection of things from Gallifrey that survived the Time War. Maybe you want to take a look at them?"
"You have?" the Doctor asked surprised. It was possible that some things from his home world still existed. Maybe they hadn't been on Gallifrey when it had been destroyed. It couldn't be much, nothing important but it would be something from his home.
Anres nodded. "It's not in the museum. I keep my most precious pieces in a secret and safe place. But I will only show you, no one else." He shot a pointed look towards Giranlo.
"I would like to take someone with me," the Doctor said, looking towards Martha on the other side of the room. She still wasn't looking in their direction. If Anres really had found something that was from Gallifrey, even if it was a cup or something it would be an emotional moment for him and he wanted Martha to be there.
"No," Anres said.
"I can assure you that you can trust her."
"I'm only showing you because you're the last of the Time Lords. No one else will see the more precious pieces of my collection," Anres said. It was very clear that he wouldn't change his mind.
"Come," he said. He turned around and walked towards a door.
"Go," Giranlo said. "I will tell Martha where you are and that you will be back soon. She will understand."
The Doctor nodded. Of course she would. "Thanks. See you later," the Doctor said to his new friend. Then he turned around and followed Anres.
AN: I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think and review.