And what really sucks is that I just finished a chapter that would have been good for Valentine's Day, except it's ten chapters chapters ahead of this one. Oh well.

The next morning, or at least what counted as morning on the TARDIS, the Doctor breezed into the kitchen with a smile on his face. Martha and Rose were seated at the table eating breakfast. Oatmeal by the smell of it and there was a third bowl waiting for him with a cup of tea. They looked up when he pushed the door open.

"Mornin', Doctor!" Rose beamed.

"You're late," Martha informed him, taking a sip of her tea. "We've been waiting ages for you."

"It doesn't look like you waited." He looked pointedly at her half-empty bowl of oatmeal. She shrugged. He sat down in his usual chair next to Rose and tucked in. She'd added banana slices, he realized with a grin.

"So, you were saying?" Martha prompted and Rose re-launched into the story she'd been telling before he walked in.

While he ate, the Doctor took a moment to study his two companions next to each other. They were so different, the two of them. Their clothing styles, their backgrounds, their education. Where Rose seemed loose, Martha was a bit uptight. Her family, her job, and her schooling tethered Martha to her time and planet while Rose had nothing holding her anywhere outside this box. Nothing except the friends she'd grown distant from.

The Doctor took another bite of oatmeal and stared down at the bowl. That was his fault. He'd taken her from her friends and family. Not for the first time he wondered would happen to her if he was killed or they were separated. She could activate one of the Emergency Protocols to get her home but what would she do after that? Where would she go?

"Doctor, is there any particular reason why you're glaring at your breakfast like it just committed murder?" Martha asked.

He looked up. "What? Oh, no, no, just thinking."

"Penny for your thoughts?"

The Doctor smiled. "No, I don't think so. Don't like money, me. Some of the worst feuds in history were started because of money."

Martha considered this then frowned. "Well, then, how do you pay for all this food?"

Rose made a noise and covered her mouth with her hand. "He sonics a money mover," she said with her mouth full of oatmeal.

Martha blinked. "You what?"

The Doctor whipped the screwdriver out of his pocket and wiggled it back and forth. "Setting 228-A for money machines. Setting 228-B for credits machines."

"But that's—that's stealing!" Martha protested.

He arched his eyebrow at her. "It's not like I take it from anyone's bank account."

"But you're still taking money that's not yours."

"She's as bad as you were," the Doctor griped to Rose.

She shrugged. "And we're both right."

"I don't hear you complaining whenever I take you out shopping."

She shrugged again. Martha wasn't impressed.

"Oh come on," he protested. "It's not like I do it every day. Plus I've got a nice account sitting there from UNIT. I used to work with them a while back. If it helps, imagine the money's coming from there."

"Why don't you just actually withdraw from that account?"

The Doctor wrinkled his nose. "Way too much time and effort. I haven't touched it for…oh…" he exhaled. "Four hundred years? Give or take. I don't even remember where I put the card—probably lost somewhere in that scarf. I don't remember the pin number, either. It's so much easier to just switch to 228 and go. Besides, I'd bet my thumb that the minute I access it UNIT will know and they'll probably come to hunt me down."

"Why would they do that?" Rose asked in surprise. Whenever he'd spoken of UNIT he'd always made it seem like they were on good terms.

"If you were a military organization dedicated to fighting hostile extraterrestrial forces, and planet Earth has now been openly invaded twice, wouldn't you want to have me around again?"

"Good point."

Martha dropped her spoon into the bowl with a clatter and leaned back in her chair. "Alright Bill and Ted, where are we off to today?"

The Doctor's eyes widened and he chortled, nearly choking on his oatmeal, while Rose stared uncomprehendingly. "Who?"

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "It's an American film from the '80s. Basically it's about two teenagers with a time travelling payphone who go gallivanting around the past."

Rose snorted. "Time travelling payphone? And I s'pose you had nothing' to do with that, Doctor?"

"Well…one of the writers may have heard stories of me an' the Old Girl, I suppose. But other than that, no, I had absolutely nothing to do with that film. In fact, have issues with it," he told them seriously. "Whoever wrote that had absolutely no grasp of the laws of space and time or temporal physics and mechanics. Plus, who in their right mind would just—just give a time travelling machine to a pair of idiots and then swan off?!"

"Doctor—" Martha began.

"I was well over a hundred before I was even allowed to touch a TT capsule, never mind use one, and even then I had to take multiple tests to prove I knew the controls, and when I actually flew one there were no less than three of my instructors breathing down my neck to make sure I didn't blow up the universe or land us smack in the middle of a Sontaran battlefield!"

"Doctor—"

"Plus, the idea that a garage band would turn society into a utopia is completely—"

"DOCTOR!"

"What?" He frowned then realized the looks he was getting from his two companions and looked down petulantly.

Martha huffed irritably. "God, if I'd known Bill and Ted would make you go off I'd have never brought it up. Remind me never to bring up The Terminator with him," she told Rose.

"Uh, you just brought it up." Rose pointed out with a grimace. They both glanced at the Doctor, half-expecting him to start rambling about the temporal flaws in that movie, but he simply shrugged.

"I like that movie," he said once he'd swallowed his oatmeal. "Second wasn't half bad, either. Third was—" he made a face. "Well, it was alright. Least it still had Arnold in it. But the fourth was just complete rubbish."

"There's a fourth? When?" Martha asked.

"2009."

"Do you have it in the library?"

"No."

"Then can we go and see it?"

"I just told you it's complete rubbish!"

"So? I still want to see it."

"No."

"But—"

"No!"

"That's not fair. Why can't we go somewhere I wanna go this time?"

"My ship."

"And here I was worried you two wouldn't get along." Rose said loudly, picking up her bowl and heading for the sink. They grinned sheepishly at each other. She came back to collect Martha's bowl and mug and gestured at the Doctor's half-eaten breakfast pointedly before returning to the sink.

After taking another few bites, the Doctor said, "We've got something much more important to do today than watch great series being butchered. We're already there, actually."

"I thought I felt us land," Rose commented. "Where are we? No wait, correction: where do you hope we are?"

He paused with the spoon halfway to his mouth, shooting her a look before he brought it all the way up. "You'll see."

Ten minutes later the three of them were in the console room, waiting for the Doctor to double-check their coordinates. Martha leaned back against the railing and Rose stood on the opposite side of the console from the Doctor, drumming her fingers along the edge. The Doctor was staring intently at the screen.

"I think this might be the first time I've ever seen you concerned about the possibility of your driving being off." Rose remarked.

"Yeah, well, last time I didn't check at all, and I don't want to make a habit of getting slapped by my companion's mothers."

Rose tilted her head as what he was saying registered. "We're in London 2008?"

"Yep," he replied, straightening. "By the looks of it."

"Home?" Martha asked curiously and pushed off the railing. "Why?"

"Well, because Martha Jones, your trial run has officially expired." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Same thing I did with her: once to the past, once to the future, then back home. Now you've got to make up your mind: are you staying here or are you coming with us? Outside those doors is twelve hours after you left. If you decide to stay home it'll be like you never left. If you decide to stay on board you'll become a fulltime passenger."

Martha looked appalled at having such a momentous decision suddenly thrust upon her. Rose shot the Doctor a look that he didn't catch.

"Do I…have to decide now?"

"No, of course not!" the Doctor said. "You can have all day if you want and you don't have to spend it in here. Go on out there—go on. I promise we won't leave."

Martha pressed her lips together for a moment. "Come with me?"

The Doctor nodded to the door. "Lead the way."

She walked down the ramp and carefully eased the door open, looking around to see where they'd landed and half expecting to see the alleyway they'd left from. She blinked. "I'm home," she said.

"Good job," Rose told the Doctor.

"No, I mean, I'm literally home." Martha pushed the door open wider and stepped outside. "How did you know where my flat is?"

Rose emerged from the TARDIS and looked around the room with interest. It was a lot Martha's room on the TARDIS, down to the pattern on the bedspread. It was a bit untidy, but Rose's room hadn't ever been any better. There were plenty of medical textbooks on her shelf, plus a phone, laptop, and a telly.

The Doctor emerged from the TARDIS. "Pretty simple, really. I just traced your home phone number. It was in your mobile."

"You went through my stuff?" she asked indignantly.

Rose elbowed him sharply in the ribs and he winced. "Rude!" she chided. "I've told you before, Doctor, you can't just go rummaging through our stuff whenever you please."

"Well how else was I supposed to know where she lives?"

"I dunno, maybe you could've asked like a normal person!" Martha said exasperatedly.

"Since when have I ever been normal?"

They glared at him.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," he apologized, looking around the room. "But, hey, I got you home, didn't I? Yep, look at the clock. Twelve hours almost exactly!"

"So…all that stuff we've done—Shakespeare, Haven, and New New York?"

"Yep, all in one night—relatively speaking. Everything should be just is it was—books, CDs—" he plucked a pair of knickers off the drying wrack, "—laundry."

Martha's eyes widened and she snatched them away from him. This time Rose whacked his arm.

"Ow! Abuse, this is!"

"Hands. In. Your pockets." Rose ordered.

He opened his mouth to protest but she silenced him with a glare. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his suit and rocked back on his heels, sulking. Rose nodded, satisfied, and folded her arms.

"I don't know how you put up with him." Martha told her.

"Me neither."

Martha's phone rang suddenly, startling all of them, and the answering machine picked up. "Hi! I'm out! Leave a message!"

"I'm sorry," Martha apologized like she was expecting the worst.

"Martha, are you there? Pick it up, will you?" An unfamiliar voice came through the speaker.

"It's Mum," she said. "I'll wait."

"Alright, then pretend that you're out if you like." her mother said irritably. They glanced at each other and sniggered. "I was only calling to say that you're sister's on TV. On the news of all things. Just thought you might be interested."

Martha frowned and picked up the remote, pointing it at the TV. The news came on first thing. An older man that she didn't recognize stood at a podium, addressing the press. Tish stood behind him, prim and proper, looking for all the world like a dutiful little employee listening intently to her boss, when in actuality she was probably thinking about last night or her party tonight.

"The details are top secret—" the man was saying.

"How could Tish end up on the news?" she wondered.

"Tonight I will demonstrate a device—"

"She's got a new job," Martha explained. "PR for some research lab."

"—with a push of a single button, I will change what it means to be human." Tish's boss declared and then the press started shouting questions. Martha shrugged and shut the screen off.

"Alright, so, um, say I do decide to stay." Martha turned to the two of them. The Doctor tore his gaze away from the television and raised his eyebrows. "I've got med school to finish and my exams. Plus once everything settles down with the hospital they'll expect me back in for residency. I can't just skip all that."

"Well…" the Doctor tugged at his earlobe. "I suppose I could leave you here now and we'll jump ahead, oh say, six months? Should be enough time for you to get all wrapped up."

"I suppose so," Martha said slowly, though she didn't much like the idea of staying here for six months. Traveling with them was addicting and she was already hooked. "What about you two in the meantime?"

"Oh, we'll just skip right over."

"That's hardly fair."

Rose cleared her throat loudly and the two of them looked at her. She arched her eyebrows, crossing her arms over her chest, and nodded to the TV. "Was I the only one listenin' to that?"

"No, I heard him," the Doctor said. "He said that—" His voice died in his throat and his eyes widened as the man's words finally registered. "Did he just say he was going to change what it means to be human?"

Rose smirked and nodded.

"H-how—what—what?" the Doctor's stuttered, his mouth opening and closing like a fish's. "Turn it back on, Martha!"

Martha jumped at the urgency his voice, snatching the remote from the table and pointing at the television. The Doctor crouched down in front of the TV. The screen flickered to life and they were greeted with a commercial about a new combo deal at McDonalds. He smacked the side of it in frustration, muttering about stupid ads and fast food. They sat through three minutes of boring commercials then the news was back on. They waited for ten minutes but there was no mention of that professor or his supposed revolution to humanity until the very end. There was to be some sort of gala event tonight at Lazarus Laboratories where Professor Lazarus would be demonstrating his mysterious project.

"We're going," the Doctor said.

"Tish's got me an invite!" Martha remembered suddenly. "I don't know how you two could get in, though…"

"Psychic paper."

"Oh, right."

"So…does this mean we're going to a fancy party?" Rose asked.

"Yes, yes it does." The Doctor said, his eyes twinkling.

"Finally. I've been waiting for a chance to wear that dress."

"What dress?"

Rose smiled slowly. "You'll just have to wait and see." To Martha, she added, "Do you have any dresses or do you need one from the wardrobe?"

"I have my own." Martha said, glancing towards her closet.

"Well then go on and get pretty," the Doctor ordered. "Meet us in the console room as soon as you can."

"But the party's not for hours!"

"Time machine."

"Oh, right. But, um, can you…move the TARDIS out of here? I can't really get ready with a giant police box taking up half the space."

"Grab your stuff and just come on inside." Rose said. "If either of you need me, I'll be in the wardrobe or my room. And Doctor?"

"Hmm?"

"No peeking." With another smirk in his direction, Rose turned on her heel and flounced into the TARDIS, the door swinging shut behind her. The Doctor watched her go.

Martha chuckled quietly and he turned to her curiously. "What?"

"You fancy her."

His eyes widened and he scratched at the back of his neck. "Well, I…she—she's—I mean—she's my friend."

"Oh don't give me that." She shook her head and walked over to her closet. "I've been around you for—what, three days? Don't think I haven't noticed."

"Noticed what?"

She pulled open her closet and rummaged through for one of those nice dresses she knew she had somewhere.

"Well, Doctor, let's see. You've pretended to be a married couple twice and I didn't doubt it for a second when we first met. In fact, I was surprised when she told me you weren't. You kissed her at the hospital."

"That was a genetic transfer," he mumbled.

"She already had traces of alien life all over her." Martha countered. She pushed aside a pair of pants and exclaimed triumphantly when she found what she was looking for. She pulled the dress out of her closet and held it up for quick examination, then grabbed the matching heels and closed the doors.

"And let's not forget Shakespeare. He told you both you loved each other and neither of you corrected him." she went on as she hunted for her makeup bag. "And when Milo and Cheen tried to take her, you were ready to kill them. I saw you, Doctor. You wouldn't have just let them go if I hadn't stopped you. And you wouldn't have reacted like that if it'd been me."

She spun around, with her arms full of her dress, the shoes, her brush, a headband, and her makeup bag. "Plus just the way you two act around each other! And the way you look at her. You're completely smitten."

He didn't say anything, simply pushing the door open for her.

"Right, then, if that's how you're going to be." She lifted her chin and she stomped past him into the TARDIS. The ship seemed to be in agreement with what she had in mind because she found Rose's room after only about a minute of walking. She kicked lightly at the door with her foot.

"Rose? You in here?" she called.

"Yeah, c'mon in!"

"I can't, my hands are full."

A minute later, Rose opened the door. She had her hair back in a loose ponytail and she seemed to be in the process of applying makeup. "What's wrong? Has she hidden your door again?"

"No, um, do you mind if I get ready in here? I wanna talk to you about something."

Rose shrugged, stepping aside. "Just dump your stuff on the bed.

Martha walked past her with a smile, stepping over the discarded clothes on Rose's floor. She dropped her load to the bed unceremoniously and grabbed her brush and makeup bag, heading to the bathroom after Rose. The blonde woman was already back to work, applying green eye shadow to her eyelids. She spotted a long, emerald green number hanging from a hook on the wall and inhaled. Rose glanced at her then followed her gaze.

"That's not too much, is it?" she asked.

Martha shook her head. "Oh, no, not at all. It's just…really pretty."

Rose smiled and shook her head. "I found it in the wardrobe a while back."

"If you're going to be wearing that I might as well not bother dressing up." She was only half kidding.

"You could go poke around the wardrobe," Rose offered. "I'm sure she's got something in there that'd you'd love."

"Yeah but then I'd have to explain to Tish where I got it." She shook her head. "I'll tell you what, though, the Doctor's not going to be able to take his eyes off you."

Rose went back to applying her eye shadow and Martha saw her smirk reflected in the mirror. Martha grinned and shook her head, setting the bag and brush down on the counter. The Time Lord would have no idea what hit him. She rummaged through her makeup bag and tried to decide what she'd need. She already had a bit of mascara and lipstick. She'd probably give herself another layer of mascara, plus some eye shadow, and blush, too.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Rose asked.

"You and the Doctor. What is with you two?"

"What do you mean?"

"Half the time you two act like you're just best mates and half the time you look at each other like you want to shag each other's brains out."

Rose inhaled through her nose, pressing her lips together, and when she exhaled she seemed to be smothering a laugh.

"Really, though, it's pretty obvious." Martha told her, pulling out her eye shadow. She dabbed her brush into the gray powder. "You fancy him, he fancies you. So what's the problem?"

Rose set her brush down and sighed. "Everything and nothing, I guess. I…I love him, but…I dunno. Sometimes it seems like he doesn't even really care about me at all."

"Rubbish," Martha said immediately. "He's smitten."

Rose laughed once.

"No, he is! Completely! If you asked, I'm sure he'd give you the sun and moon."

"He did burn up a sun for me not too long ago," she admitted.

"He what?" Martha blinked in surprise.

"So I could say goodbye to Mum in the other universe."

"Whoa," she muttered. "How many women find a man willing to do that? Though, I'm surprised he hasn't even kissed you yet."

"Oh, he has." Rose said lightly as she applied a light blush to her cheeks. "But then he'd always go right back to being himself and pretending nothing happened."

"And have you tried to kiss him?"

"Yeah, the very first time was my doing. He didn't seem to mind at all."

"Then what's the holdup?" Martha asked with a laugh, lifting the mascara brush to her lashes. "I could clear off for a day if you want me to. I can pick out like ten films and hide in the library while you two have a talk. I'm pretty sure the TARDIS would help seeing as she likes you both so much."

She set the blush down and smiled at Martha in the mirror. "Thanks, but the Doctor doesn't really talk about things. He never has in the time I've known him. I have to really hammer at him if I want him to open up about anything. It's just easier for him to run away. Always running…"

"So you think he'd rather run from his feelings from you than face them? Oh yeah, Time Lord or not, he's still a man. You're probably going to have to take some initiative here, Rose. Though," Martha eyed the dress, "that's a good way to start."

Rose smirked again and lifted her eyes towards the ceiling. "An' do you have anythin' to say about all of this?"

The background hum increased in pitch and the lights above the mirror flickered once.

"Well, that's that, then." Rose sighed dramatically. "I s'pose I must now." She turned around and plucked the dress off the hanger. "I'm going to get dressed. Hurry up, if you can. He's probably already climbin' the walls."

Martha's laughter followed her out of the bathroom. She laid the dress down on her bed then went to her dresser, rummaging around the drawers for a strapless bra. I really need to straighten up in here, she grumbled to herself as she pushed the contents around. She found one near the back that would do and shoved the drawer closed.

By the time Martha emerged a few minutes later she was already dressed and smoothing down the skirt in front of her mirror. Sometimes she was immensely glad that the TARDIS approved of her. She'd stumbled on this dress a few weeks ago, just before Canary Wharf, while roaming the part of the wardrobe for something to wear for their little holiday in 43rd century on a leisure planet. It'd just been there, gleaming invitingly under the lights and she'd known before even trying it on that it would fit perfectly. She'd been waiting for an opportunity to wear it since.

The dress itself was made out of a material she didn't recognize, something between silk and velvet—which either meant it was a fabric that hadn't been invented yet in her time or it was alien. The bodice of the dress was ruched and held up by two thin straps over her shoulders while the long, sweeping skirt flowed from the waist, with a slit up to her thigh on the left side. It would look great with a nice pair of heels but considering that they would be in London and investigating such a radical claim, heels probably wouldn't be a good idea. Rose Tyler was good at legging it but doing so in heels wasn't something she enjoyed. So she'd chosen a pair of silvery gold flats instead.

"Alright, turn around and let's see." Martha instructed. Rose smiled and spun around, the skirt billowing as she did. Martha pursed her lips thoughtfully, tapping her chin. "Hmmm."

"Well?"

"Looks good. Really, there's no reason I should even bother with a dress now. No one will be looking at me anyway."

"Oh, shut up," Rose shook her head, smiling. "I'm not that beautiful."

"I think the Doctor will beg to differ." Martha plucked her dress off the bed for examination. It decidedly simpler than Rose's: dark burgundy, knee-length and sleeveless. "But, then again, I've got no one to dress for."

"You will one day." Rose said matter-of-factly. "Just you wait. Soon you'll have all sorts of men making eyes at you, kissin' your hand, and tellin' you that you're the most pretty woman in the room an' asking for a dance."

"Does that happen often?"

"Often enough," she admitted, her mouth twisting. "Drove the Doctor absolutely mad sometimes."

While Martha was getting her dress on, Rose went back into the bathroom to decide to do what about her hair. Leaving it down wouldn't do with the dress even though that was the easiest option with it being so short. She grabbed the brush and started pulling her hair back. She decided on a chignon at the nape of her neck, with part of her bangs down framing either side of her face. Martha came in and started brushing out her own hair.

"Whatchya think?" Rose asked. "Should I curl these or leave 'em straight?"

Martha looked at her considering. "Curl 'em, definitely."

Rose nodded in agreement and pulled the curling iron she'd gotten during a jaunt to the 80th century out of the cabinet. Then, of course, she had to explain to Martha what it was because by that time the curling irons didn't completely look like 21st century ones. The biggest difference was that hers had internal self-replenishing power sources and could be ready to use in thirty seconds. Jack had recommended the 80th century to her for hair styling tools. How he'd known that the 80th century had the ultimate breakthrough in hair care was a mystery, one she wasn't entirely sure she wanted solved.

"Can we stop there?" Martha asked. "I'd like to get my own."

"Ask the Doctor later on. If he complains, I'll back you up, and the TARDIS will probably back me up. Then he'll grumble about all us girls gangin' up on him and drive us to the 80th century because he knows if he doesn't the TARDIS will probably change course and take us there instead of somewhere he really wants to go."

The background hum lightened and Rose felt the ship's amusement in her mind. And while Martha may not have felt anything in her own mind, she'd definitely noticed the change in pitch and guessed the TARDIS was agreeing. They both laughed loudly, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

"Oh, God, would you look at me?" Martha said as she pushed her headband on. "I've never done this. Laughed and joked and offered beauty advice with someone my age."

"Never? Didn't you have any friends?"

"Well, yeah, but ever since I decided I wanted to be a doctor, I knew I had to make top grades. I mostly focused on my studies during secondary school. Almost no social life—Tish still gets on my arse about that—and any time I ever went out I usually got ready alone. This is actually kind of nice." She smiled. "What about you?"

"All the time," Rose admitted, holding her hand above the curling iron to check if it was hot enough, then wrapped some of the strands around it. "Me an' my mate Shareen, we used to always go out. We'd help each other with hair and makeup, talk about boys, look at boys, go around the shops, skip school—stuff like that."

"So while I was busy being a nerd…"

Rose smiled dryly. "Yeah. But I come from an Estate. No one ever really expected anything of me and the teachers at school were only there for the pay. Unless you were one of those lucky few with an IQ over 120 then they didn't care whether or not you passed. I hated every minute of it."

Martha couldn't agree with her on that one—she'd always loved school herself, but she'd also come from a completely different background. She fixed her headband so it was on straight, smoothing down her hair in the back. "Done!" she proclaimed with a smile, slapping the counter with her hands.

Rose slid the iron out of her hair and turned her head from side to side. She nodded, satisfied, and switched off the iron. She set it on the counter to cool and then followed Martha out of the bathroom. They slid their shoes on and Martha gathered her stuff in her arms. They stopped by her room so she could drop it all off then made their way to the console room.

The Doctor was already there, of course, wearing in his dress suit and black tie. He started to speak when he heard their footsteps on the grating but he didn't look up from the console. "It's a good thing we have a time machine or, I swear, we'd be late to everything! Why does it always take you over an hour to—"

He glanced up and the sight of Rose Tyler sauntering into the console room in that green dress caused his voice to die in his throat. The two women exchanged knowing, almost conspiratorial looks, and ambled further into the room.

"Well, what do you think?" Rose asked lightly.

The Doctor cleared his throat but his voice was a bit higher than normal when he finally said, "I…well…"

Rose cocked her head to the side and lifted her eyebrows. "Yes?"

"You look beautiful. B-both of you," he added quickly and turned back to the console.

Rose and Martha glanced at each other again, this time stifling laughter.

"Shall we go then?" Rose asked, cocking her head to the side.

The Doctor grinned, his eyes lingering on her. "Hold on, ladies!" He grabbed the lever that would send them off and grinned. "Here we go! Allons-y!"

Hey, would you look at that. We're all caught up to Teaspoon. (For now. XD)

Well, since I'm not going to be getting any Valentines from anyone today, it would only be polite if you'd all leave me some reviews. 'Cos y'know.