My hair is purple so I'm giving this to y'all early. Enjoy.

Half an hour later, the Doctor, Martha Jones, and Rose Tyler emerged from Lazarus Laboratories after the paramedics. They were all tired, sore, hungry, and a little depressed, but otherwise no worse for the wear. Rose's hair had come loose during the running and subsequent squishing inside the machine and there was really no hope of fixing it so she just pulled the hair tie and bobby pins out and let the rest fall free. She combed her fingers through it and the Doctor undid his tie and top button while they watched the stretcher carrying Lazarus's body being loaded into the ambulance. A few photographers were snapping away.

"Are we going now?" she asked. They never stuck around for the cleanup.

"Yeah," the Doctor murmured in reply.

At that moment, Tish noticed her sister standing on the staircase and rushed towards her. "Oh, she's alright!" She pulled Martha into a fierce hug, which was gladly recuperated.

Francine Jones stalked towards them with a furious look on her face. The Doctor saw her coming but somehow seemed to miss her expression.

"Oh, Mrs. Jones, we still haven't finished our chat." he said with a grin that was promptly smacked right off his face.

Rose stepped towards the woman, ready to rip her a new one. "Hey, what do you think you're—"

Francine shoved her back forcefully. "You keep away from my daughter!" she snarled at them.

"Mum, what are you doing?!" Martha demanded. Francine turned to her daughter.

"Always the mothers." the Doctor said to himself, rubbing the sore spot. "Every time."

"He is dangerous and so is she! I've been told things."

"What are you talking about?" Martha asked.

Francine grabbed her daughter's arms. "Look around you. Nothing but death and destruction."

"I'm sorry," Rose interrupted angrily. "But you seemed to have forgotten that he saved your sorry arse in there!"

"And not just you, he saved all of us!" Martha shouted, breaking her mother's grip.

Rose looked up at the Doctor and touched his had gently. He glanced down and their eyes met and she saw the pain Francine's words had caused. Everywhere he went it seemed that someone got hurt and he blamed himself, even if he wasn't responsible. And there would always be someone who felt the need to remind him of that. He curled his fingers around hers, squeezing, and she wanted to kiss him right then in there.

Except at that moment there was a very loud crash from the direction of the ambulance that Lazarus had been loaded. Loud crashes were never good especially not when they were coming from the direction a supposedly defeated enemy had gone. The Doctor looked at Rose, then at Martha, and the three of them headed for the ambulance.

Francine reached out and caught her daughter by the arm and told her to leave them. The look her face was almost enough to break her resolve. Almost. But Rose's words were stronger. She wanted to travel with them. She wanted the stars and the universe and she wanted to help people. If risking her neck was the price then she would gladly pay it. So Martha shook her head at her mother and ran after them.

When they arrived at the ambulance they found the remains of the two paramedics as shriveled and dry as Lady Thaw and that other woman.

"Lazarus, back from the dead." the Doctor said grimly, pulling out the sonic. "Should've known, really."

"Where's he gone?" Martha asked as the Doctor began to scan. He turned slowly in a circle until he was pointing at one of the buildings.

"That way. The church."

"Cathedral," Tish corrected and the girls turned in surprise. "It's Southwark Cathedral. He told me."

The Doctor nodded and led their procession into the church, sonic screwdriver held aloft and beeping away. The moved slowly through the old building, eyes peeled for any sign of movement. Tish saw her own reflection in her peripheral vision and nearly jumped out of her skin Her gasp caused the rest of them to whirl around expecting to see the giant scorpion looming. The Doctor gave her an exasperated look and motioned for her to be quiet and they kept going. The sonic screwdriver led them into the sanctuary.

The Doctor did a sweep off the room as the women slipped through the door.

"Is he here?" Rose whispered.

"Where would you go if you were looking for sanctuary?" the Doctor asked.

They walked down the main isle. The Doctor kept his eyes to the front and his companions nervously scanned the shadows and alcoves for any sign. The trouble was that it was so dark and the room was simply huge, not counting the upper floor. There were a dozen places he could be and several dozen more if he was human formed. They found him in the very front of the church behind the ornately covered altar, completely naked except for a red blanket over him, choking and panting as he tried to stave off the transformation. The Doctor pocketed the screwdriver and Lazarus looked up at them.

"I came here before," he said quietly. The Doctor slowly started to circle him. "A lifetime ago. I thought I was going to die then. In fact, I was sure of it. I sat there, just a child…the sound of planes and bombs outside."

"The Blitz," the Doctor stated.

Lazarus's eyes flicked up to him. "You've read about it."

"I was there."

Lazarus's face registered surprise before he scoffed. "You're too young."

"So are you."

Lazarus laughed then his face twisted and they heard some of his bones crunch and crack. He cried out in pain, gasping and panting, and leaned forward like he was going to be sick. They watched him, disgusted, and just a bit pitying.

"In the morning the fires had died," Lazarus went on after a moment. "And I was still alive. I swore I'd never face death like that again."

The Doctor used his momentary distraction to circle him some more, his eyes flicking around the church for something he could use. When his head lifted up towards the bell tower, Martha and Rose followed his gaze. There was nothing up there, not even any bells.

"So defenseless," he spat the word. "I would arm myself, fight back, defeat it."

"That's what you were trying to do today."

"That's what I did today."

"What about the other people who died?" the Doctor argued as he continued to walk around him.

"They were nothing," Lazarus said simply. "I changed the course of history."

"Any of them might have done, too. You think history's only made with equations?" he stopped in front of Lazarus. "Facing death is part of being human. You can't change that."

"No, Doctor. Avoiding death—that's being human. It's our strongest impulse, to cling to life with every fiber of being. I'm doing what everyone before me has tried to do…. I've simply been more…successful—ah!" He cried out in pain, his back arching.

"Look at yourself. You're mutating. You've no control over it. You call that a success?"

"I call it progress!" His bones continued to crack, his body preparing to morph again. A thin sheet of sweat covered his skin and some of his hair stuck to the sides of his head. After a painful sounding crack, Lazarus spoke again. "I'm more now than I was. More than just an ordinary human."

The Doctor had to smile at that. Of all the foolish things the professor had said and done that night that was the most misguided of them all. "There's no such thing as an ordinary human."

Lazarus went into another round of cracking and popping and Martha crept up to the Doctor's shoulder. "He's gonna change again any minute."

"I know," the Doctor whispered. "If I could get him up into the bell tower somehow, I've got an idea that might work."

"Up there?"

"Uh-huh." He nodded and moved away from the women, keeping Lazarus's attention focused on him.

Martha looked up at the tower for a moment longer then turned to Rose, a question in her eyes. Rose nodded grimly.

"I've got an idea, " she mouthed.

Rose lifted her eyebrows. "Bait? "

"Yeah. Me, you…" she continued to slowly mouth her idea while the Doctor and Lazarus spoke.

"You're so sentimental, Doctor." Lazarus said quietly, a growl entering his voice. "Maybe you are older than you look."

"I'm old enough to know that a longer life isn't always a better one." the Doctor told him gravely. "In the end, you just get tired— tired of the struggle, tired of watching everything turn to dust." The Doctor knelt down next to Lazarus then. "If you live long enough, Lazarus, the only certainty left is that you'll end up alone."

"That's a price worth paying."

"Is it?"

Rose was trying to catch his eye, but the Doctor wouldn't even look at her. Lazarus's body contorted in pain again. She and Martha slowly inched towards him. They had a plan and hopefully it might work. For once, she added.

"I will feed soon," Lazarus told him.

"I'm not gonna let that happen."

"You've not been able to stop me so far."

"Leave him, Lazarus!" Martha interrupted and he turned, his face twisted in a snarl. "He's old and bitter." She grinned slyly, cocking her hip towards Rose who had her hands on her own hips. "We thought you had a taste for fresher meat."

"Martha, Rose, no!" the Doctor barked but it was too late. Lazarus's grin turned predatory and with a guttural snarl, he launched himself at them.

They'd been expecting this and they were already running by the time he was in the air. They hadn't expected Tish to follow to 'keep them out of trouble.' Rose shouted over her shoulder about the tower and then started up the staircase. Their feet clacked against the stone steps as they raced up the circular passage. Rose had to hitch her skirt up so she wouldn't trip. Below them they heard Lazarus groan and snarl and Tish stopped.

"Don't just stand here!" Rose all but shrieked. "He's changed again!"

"We have to keep moving. We have to lead him up." Martha told her sister urgently.

Lazarus's snarls and roars echoed off the stone around them. The staircase led into a narrow hallway that was some sort of service passage. A pipeline ran along the wall above the arched openings and the side they'd emerged from was lined with curved stone beams. Rose led them down the hall in the direction of the bell tower. There had to be someway for people to access the tower for maintenance. Hopefully they'd find another service staircase.

From below she heard the Doctor call her name frantically. She stopped at the closest arch and poked her head through. "Here!"

"Take him to the top—the very top of the bell tower! Do you hear me?"

"Got it! Then what?"

"Rose!" Martha gasped, tapping her shoulder urgently.

Rose withdrew her head, looked at Martha, then at the approaching mutant monster. She let out a curse and they ran like mad. Around the corner they found another staircase and they sprinted up it. Martha screeched that when this was over that she'd never wear heels again. If they weren't busy running for their lives from a mutant monster that she was sure humans looked like in at least one alternate universe, Rose might have laughed.

The top of the bell tower turned out to be a small octagon surrounding a circular hole in the floor and the only thing that kept hem from falling into said hole when they rushed through the door was a flimsy wooden rail. They quickly moved around to the far side, looking for an exit that wasn't there.

"There's no where else to go!" Tish whimpered.

"This is where he said to bring him!" Martha exclaimed.

"Alright then so we're not trapped. We're bait. Lovely bloke you've got, Rose."

"We knew we were gonna be the bait. Now trust him, he knows what he's doing." Rose said. "We've gotten out of worse scrapes than this."

"Worse than a giant thing that wants to kill us?!" she screeched.

"Ladies," the Lazarus-monster hissed as he pushed himself through the door. He growled at them, rearing onto his hind legs, and sank two of his pincers into the rail.

Rose gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, stepping in front of Martha even as she was moving to shield her sister. "He'll have to get through me, first." Rose told them. "If you can, go through the door and get back downstairs. I'll keep him busy."

"You can't!" Tish protested.

"I can," Rose told her and turned back to Lazarus just in time to see his tail swinging towards them.

They ducked and someone screamed. It might've been all three of them. He drew back and swung his tail at them again. This time they had to dive to the sides to avoid getting hit. Pipe organ music suddenly blasted through the air, echoing the space around them. Had to be the Doctor, but what did he expect to do with music? Lazarus took another swing and this time he knocked the railing near them clean off. It fell through the hole, leaving them exposed. Rose wisely crawled away from the opening before trying to rise, but Martha didn't.

Next thing she knew, Martha was screaming and Tish was shouting her name and when she looked, Martha was dangling over the side. Lazarus loomed over her, swiping and stabbing at her with his various limbs while she screamed and struggled to hang on.

"Lazarus!" Rose shouted over the music. "Leave her alone! RICHARD LAZARUS!"

He swung his head towards her and, mustering up the courage she'd felt when she'd spoken against the Daleks at Canary Wharf, she shouted at him. "You're nothing, Lazarus! I once looked into Time itself—do you hear me?! Time itself! I saw everything! All that ever was, all that ever could be, from beginning to end! History will forget you!"

Lazarus roared and swung at her. She ducked to avoid him then straightened up and hurled the words at him. "This universe will never forget me! But in a hundred years—a thousand—no one will even remember your name!"

And then she couldn't speak anymore because the music became absolutely deafening. It roared through the air, louder than Lazarus's cries, and she dropped to her knees, pressing her hands firmly over her ears and her eyes squeezed. She might have screamed. If she did she couldn't hear it.

The music stopped abruptly and she opened her eyes, tentatively lowering her hands from her ears, and looked around. Lazarus was gone. Had he fallen?

Martha screamed and Tish lunged forward to grab her sister by the arm. "I've got you! Hold on!"

Rose scrambled around to them and latched onto Martha's other arm. Together she and Tish pulled her up and over the ledge and then they slumped against the wall, panting and holding each other in relief. The Doctor shouted their names. She had to gulp down a few mouthfuls of air before she could shout, "We're okay! We're okay, Doctor."

Martha looked between Rose and Tish. "Thanks."

Tish laughed in relief. "It's your Doctor you should be thanking."

"Told you," Rose said breathlessly.

"He cut it a bit fine though, didn't he?"

"As usual but he never fails." Rose reached up to wipe a tear from her eye.

Tish stared at the woman finding it hard to believe she was the same bright-eyed girl she'd met down at the party a few hours ago. She was no young girl who may or may not have been a science geek. She was someone who looked death in the eye on a regular basis, who willingly put her life and theirs in the hands of a skinny man who was undeniably older than he looked, and never doubted him for a second. She'd been able to convince Martha—the peacekeeper in the family—to run back into the fray. And she'd stood against Lazarus with amber in her eyes and spoke of looking into time itself. "Who are you? Both of you?"

Rose seemed to consider her for a moment then her lips curled up into a smile. "We're the Stuff of Legends." Then she covered her face with her hands, resting her head against the wall, and laughed with relief.

A few minutes later Rose was leading their procession back downstairs. She practically sprinted down while Martha and Tish followed more slowly. Martha had absolutely no plans of running any more today, thank you very much. Maybe not even for a week. Though with them there was probably no chance of that happening. When they got back to the main floor they found Rose and the Doctor clinging to each other.

There was a smile on the Doctor's face that Martha hadn't seen before, one that expressed everything he never said, and he closed his eyes contently.

"W-we should get outside," Tish stuttered. "We need to let someone know about him and the paramedics."

The couple loosened their hold on each other and he looked over Rose's head at her with a small smile. "That'll be your job, then."

"What, me? Why?"

"You're head of the PR department, of course."

"Well—well, what should I tell them?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I dunno. You decide."

"But…but I don't even know what happened!"

"And you think I do?" he asked. Tish wasn't the only one that glared at him. "Oh, alright, fine. Tell them that the machine caused the mutations and everything related to the project should be destroyed immediately. Humanity isn't ready for anti-aging technology. You lot will have to stick to vitamins for now. In the mean time, we," he gestured to the three of them, "have to get going."

"You're not gonna come and at least see Mum?" Tish asked her sister.

"And listen to her go off about them some more?" Martha shook her head. "No ta. Just tell her I went home."

Tish frowned shrewdly. "And where are you really going?"

Martha pressed her lips together and they curled up into a smile. "Home."

It was only after they'd left did Tish realize the Doctor had said 'you lot' when he spoke about humans. And after a moment of terror she realized that Martha had heard him as well and hadn't reacted. Neither had Rose. So her sister may or may not be running around with a pair of aliens—that was reassuring. Though, they were only alive thanks to those two so they couldn't be all bad. Still, probably be best if she didn't mention that to her Mum.

At his companions' refusal to walk back to the flat, the Doctor hailed a cab. They spent the ride crammed together in the back seat, Rose using the opportunity to snuggle contently under the Doctor's arm. He himself spent the ride chatting with the cabbie, who'd heard that something had gone down at Lazarus Laboratories and wanted to know if they'd seen anything. When they arrived at the building, Martha ran up to her flat to get some money to pay the driver while Rose and the Doctor waited below. Once he was paid and had driven off, they followed her back upstairs.

The Doctor patted the side of his ship fondly then turned to Martha. "Well then. That's sorted. So, have you made up your mind, then?"

"Yes, I have." Martha said. "I'm coming with you. Right now."

"What about med school and all that?" the Doctor asked while Rose's mouth stretched into a smile.

"I don't have to finish now, do I? You can just drop me back off a few days from now if I ever want a break."

"Well, in that case, welcome aboard the TARDIS, Miss Jones." The Doctor grinned and unlocked the door, holding it open for them. Martha didn't look back once. She didn't even bother to grab any of her things. The wardrobe had enough for her and if not, well, she was sure Rose wouldn't say no to a shopping trip.

The Doctor started the dematerialization sequence and when he informed them that they'd entered the Vortex, Martha breathed a sigh of…relief? No not relief, because then that would mean she was happy to be leaving her family behind. Well, okay, maybe she was. After being the mediator between them all for so long she was eager to have some time away from them and their never-ending drama. She knew that this was only temporary and it would all be there waiting for her when she got back, along with med school, but for now, she was going to follow the Doctor's example and run away.

She took the idea that she'd abandoned them and shoved it to the back of her mind, locking it firmly behind a steel door. She had not abandoned them. She'd be back. And they didn't need her specifically on this night. Lazarus was dead and they were safe.

They'd be fine. They didn't need her.

You know, there originally was a kiss in this chapter, but I thought it was too soon... the hug fit better. Y'all should still review, though.

Also, consider Martha's thoughts at the end. Then compare them to one of the reasons she leaves the Doctor in the show.