Twists in Time

Chapter Five: Tylers and Jones: Welcome Aboard

By Lumendea

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any spinoff material, and I gain no income from this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.

AN: Happy Passover and Easter! Posting a bit early due to family plans so enjoy!

….

The Doctor's mind spun as he tried to come up with a plan. He rejected several in quick order due to the danger they put Rose in. Of course, the best plan that he had put him in danger. Rose would hate that, but Rose wasn't here. That made him uneasy. Very uneasy, but it was for the best. He was thankful that she'd listened to him, but if things went poorly, then she might never do that again.

He paused near the doorway of the MRI wing and listened. Already, he could hear the machine charging up, and there was a tang to the air that was very, very bad. Even with the oxygen situation sorted, the plasmavore wasn't waiting. If it was a plasmavore. The Doctor had the horrible, very brief wish that he could have confirmed that. But a detour to see the wound on Stoker's neck wasn't an option. Moving the TARDIS had eaten up time. It had given the patients and staff here time, but taken his. The Doctor wondered if they'd even noticed that their air wasn't running out.

Rolling his shoulders, the Doctor braced himself and took in a deep breath. He hoped that this body was a good actor. He hadn't given lying a test run yet. Not beyond pretending to be Rose's husband and that… no, he put that thought away. That was a dangerous area to tread.

Exhaling, the Doctor shook himself and shifted forward. He pushed open the door in front of him and stumbled inside, putting his best dazed and confused face on. As he expected, an old woman was messing with the controls of the MRI machine. Thankfully, there was no slab in sight. Rose had gotten them all then. That was good. The question was, how long to stall for?

"Have you seen them?" the Doctor asked. He flapped his hands about as he'd often seen worried and stunned humans do. "There are these things. These great big space rhino things. I mean, rhinos from space. And we're on the moon! Great big space rhinos with guns on the moon." The alien was peering at him with a mixture of surprise, disgust and amusement. Good. She likely didn't consider him a threat. Then again, what he was planning… he wasn't trying to be a threat. He was just trying to be clever. "And I only came in for my bunions, look. I mean, all fixed now. Perfectly good treatment. The nurses were lovely. I said to my wife, I said I'd recommend this place to anyone, but then we end up on the moon. And did I mention the rhinos?"

…..

"Find the non-human," the Judoon ordered. "Execute."

"They never quit," Jack grumbled.

Martha ignored him and hurried forward, aware of Jack staying close to her. "Now listen, I know who you're looking for. She's this woman. She calls herself Florence."

"Martha, that won't-"

The Judoon brought the scanner up and focused it on Martha. "Human. Wait. Non-human traits suspected. Non-human element confirmed. Authorise full scan." The Judoon pushed her back against the wall. "What are you? What are you?"

"Uh, human," Martha offered.

Jack laughed and leaned against the wall beside her, grinning and waiting his turn. Another Judoon stepped up beside the first and shined the scanner at him. Jack beamed at them. Martha stayed absolutely still beside Jack. Up close, the Judoon were even more terrifying. It wasn't even their weapons. It was their physical size. Her mind kept trying to understand what she was seeing, and Martha vaguely wondered if there was some sort of strange fantastical explanation for why they looked so much like rhinos. Were the two species related?

"Relax," Jack said. He was still grinning. "It'll all be fine."

"You look far too happy," Martha murmured. That blue light was still being slowly shined over Jack. "What did he kiss you for?"

"Jealous?" Jack teased. "Oh, Rose is going to be so amused."

"He told you not to tell her."

"And he should know that I absolutely well. It's kind of Rosie and I's thing. Hang out together in my room, used to be her room, and paint each other's nails and gossip."

Martha blinked and then shrugged it off. That was hardly the strangest thing she'd heard or seen today. Still, she was beginning to understand the Doctor's strategy. Already, the Judoon had spent more time with her and Jack than anyone else.

"Confirm human. Traces of facial contact with non-human," the Judoon examining her said. To her surprise, he handed her a booklet that was covered in a strange script. "You will need this."

"What's that for?"

"Compensation," the Judoon answered.

She turned to watch as Jack tapped his fingers impatiently at the wall. His earlier glee had faded away. Now he just seemed annoyed that it was taking so long.

…

The whine of the MRI machine was noticeable. It made the Doctor's stomach drop, but he focused on the act. He needed to lure her in. Without a slab, she probably lacked the physical strength necessary to really take him down. She needed to feel that she'd gotten the drop on him. He took a step forward.

"Er, that, that big er machine thing. Is it supposed to be making that noise?"

"You wouldn't understand," she said dismissively. Good.

"But isn't that a magnetic resonance imaging thing? Like a ginormous sort of magnet? I did magnetics GCSE. Well, I failed, but all the same."

She glanced his way, a smirk playing on her lips. "The magnetic setting now increased to fifty thousand Tesla."

"Ooo, that's a bit strong, isn't it?" He let a bit of worry creep into his voice. Sadly, she was proving almost as clever as him.

"It'll send out a magnetic pulse that'll fry the brain stems of every living thing within two hundred and fifty thousand miles. Except for me, safe in this room."

"But er, hold on, hold on, I did geography GCSE. I passed that one. Doesn't that distance include the Earth?"

Florence turned him, amusement in her eyes. "Only the side facing the moon. The other half will survive. Call it my little gift."

"I'm sorry, you'll have to excuse me; I'm a little out of my depth. I've spent the past fifteen years working as a postman. Hence the bunions. Why would you do that?"

"With everyone dead, the Judoon ships will be mine to make my escape."

"No, that's weird. You're talking like you're some sort of an alien."

She turned to look at him. Her eyes were gleeful. The Doctor's stomach turned at seeing an expression like that on someone who casually talked about destroying half of a planet's entire population. It wouldn't just be the humans that died. Whole species completely wiped out.

"Quite so."

"No!" He put a bit of excitement into his voice. He might have a flare for acting in this life.

"Oh, yes."

"You're joshing me."

"I am not."

"I'm talking to an alien? In hospital? What, has the place got an ET department?"

"It's the perfect hiding place. Blood banks downstairs for a midnight feast, and all this equipment ready to arm myself with should the police come looking." The Doctor was surprised at how forthcoming she was. Clearly, she was confident in her victory and just found him amusing.

"So, those rhinos, they're looking for you?"

"Yes. But I'm hidden."

There it was. His opening. "Right. Maybe that's why they're increasing their scans." He tried to look a bit thoughtful. He didn't need to come off as a complete fool. Only mostly.

"They're doing what?" Finally, something other than dismissive amusement. Now she looked a little worried.

"Big chief rhino boy, he said, no sign of a non-human, we must increase our scans up to setting two?"

"Then I must assimilate again." Worry filled her features, making her look a little less evil. Only a little. The machine was still building up.

"What does that mean?"

"I must appear to be human."

"Well, you're welcome to come home and meet the wife. She'd be honoured. We can have cake."

An uncertain expression flickered over her face. Without the slab, he needed to give her a shot. The Doctor was surprised that he was a touch annoyed Rose had destroyed it. Walking forward, he made a show of peering at the machine while rambling on about 'the wife'.

Then a sharp and sudden blow to the back of his head knocked the Doctor to his knees. He'd been expecting it, and yet it still knocked the air from his lungs. He swayed. It was truly that disorienting, but he played it up. A hand turned his neck, and a sharp pain in his jugular made the Doctor hiss. Already she was drinking blood. His mind spun, running the math. Jack and Martha should be here soon.

…..

"Humanoid hybrid confirmed," the Judoon said. They pulled the scanner back. "Alien traces within acceptable parameters. Continue the search."

Then the Judoon drew the black cross on Jack's hand and gave him the compensation. Without a further word to them, the Judoon marched down the corridor and towards the MRI room.

"What did they mean by hybrid?" Martha asked.

"Oh, I'm not fully human by your standards," Jack said easily. "Got more than a few alien ancestors. It's normal where I'm from."

Normal? That was not normal, but Martha had other concerns at the moment, such as finding the Doctor and figuring out how to find that alien so the Judoon could stop hunting in the hospital. Aggravation filled Jack, and he reached down to grab her hand, pulling her along faster as he picked up his pace behind the Judoon.

"What's wrong?" Martha asked.

"It just occurred to me what his plan might be," Jack growled in anger. "He didn't just kiss me to distract the Judoon. It distracted me too."

Martha struggled to keep up with Jack but pushed her legs as the worry radiating off the man added to her own. She hoped that the Doctor had done what he needed to do. Up ahead, the Judoon pushed open the doors into the MRI room with her and Jack right behind them. Martha gasped softly; the Doctor was collapsed on the floor. His skin was pale. Florence was standing over him, a straw still in her mouth. Martha barely heard her make an excuse about the Doctor dying from fright.

"Scan him. Confirmation. Deceased," the Judoon said.

Jack shoved himself forward. The Judoon tried to grab him, and Martha heard herself protest. Jack was kneeling by his friend, searching his neck for a pulse. Martha focused on the Judoon, who were acting a little too twitchy at Jack, ignoring them.

"She killed him," Martha insisted, pointing at Florence. "She did it. She murdered him."

"Judoon have no authority over human crime."

"But she's not human," Martha argued.

Florence held up her hand and smiled sweetly. "Oh, but I am. I've been catalogued."

"I'm gonna kill you," Jack hissed lowly at her. But then, the strange whine of the machine caught his attention. Jack glanced at her and then at the Doctor and then the Judoon. Florence glared at Jack as he stood and ran to the controls.

"Won't do any good," Florence laughed.

"She assimi. Wait a minute. You drank his blood?" Martha asked. She stared at Florence as it all clicked together. "The Doctor's blood?" Without thinking it through, Martha wrestled the Judoon scanner up and pointed it at Florence.

"Oh, I don't mind," Florence laughed. Smugness filled her features. "Scan all you like."

"Non-human," a Judoon said as the scanner beeped.

"But, what?" Florence gaped.

Martha wasn't sure where to look. Florence was stammering and stuttering. She realised what had happened. The Doctor had let her brink his blood so they would find her. So that the case could be closed before any patients were hurt or they found Rose. Something like sorrow filled Martha's chest. Florence made only a few more weak attempts to argue before turning nasty and shouting at the Judoon. Martha saw the Magnetic Overload sign flash on.

"Enjoy your victory, Judoon, because you're going to burn with me. Burn in hell!" Florence shouted.

All four of the Judoon opened fire and incinerated Florence. She screamed only for an instant which Martha was grateful for.

"Case closed," the Judoon said.

"But what did she mean, burn with me? The scanner shouldn't be doing that. She's done something!"

"Martha," Jack called in warning.

"Scans detect lethal acceleration of monomagnetic pulse," the Judoon said.

"Well, do something! Stop it!" Martha demanded.

"Our jurisdiction has ended. Judoon will evacuate."

"What? You can't just leave it. What's it going to do?" Martha asked.

She was ignored, and the Judoon leader ordered all the Judoon units to withdraw. As they marched out, Martha whirled back towards the Doctor. Jack was at the machine. He seemed oddly calm. She didn't know what to do with that. So she focused on what she did know. The Doctor was still and pale. A lot like Mr Stoker, but maybe it wasn't too late. He was an alien. This had been his plan. Leaning over him, Martha started rescue breathing and using her steady hands to press on his chest in an attempt to reach his heart. His ribs were solid under her palms, and she wasn't sure if she should use more pressure. There wasn't even a flutter.

Two hearts. The idea jumped suddenly to the front of her mind. Distantly, she heard Jack talking to someone. She didn't dare glance up. Adjusting her hands, Martha moved them to the other side of the Doctor's chest. A stray thought that his hearts might be where a human's stomach were occurred to Martha, but he looked so human that she stuck with what she knew.

Then there was a strange grinding sound in the room. Almost a wheezing. Somehow, a burst of wind in the room tugged at Martha's hair. She wondered if Jack was doing something odd to the machine. Martha still didn't look up. The whine was getting worse, but she thought that she heard the sound of the Judoon's ships kicking on.

"Oh, Guardians!" It was Rose's voice. Martha didn't stop and didn't look up as the blonde woman dropped beside her. "No, he can't! He just-"

Then the Doctor gasped for air, a painful-sounding cough catching in his throat. Martha leaned back and sucked in a deep breath of air for herself. Her own lungs and hands ached from the effort, but when she looked down, she found Rose touching the Doctor's face and him smiling up at her.

"The machine," the Doctor groaned a moment later.

"Got it!" Jack shouted. "Just had to unplug it!" He almost sounded annoyed at that.

Then the whine slowed down before fading out. Martha saw relief flicker over the Doctor's face. Rose's hand went to his neck and felt for his pulse. He smiled up at Rose and lay there patiently, staring at the blond while she reassured herself that he was alive. Martha breathed out a little easier. Whatever the differences he had from a human had probably saved him. Humans couldn't have been in that bad of condition that long and then wake up without much more serious medical help. Jack stepped over and offered her a hand. Martha took it gratefully and climbed to her feet. Jack and Rose helped the Doctor up. He swayed a little and leaned on Rose, turning to kiss her temple.

"What now?" Martha asked. "I mean…." She looked at the strange blue ship that had appeared in the room. "Can you take everyone down to Earth now?"

"Oh, we won't need to worry about that," the Doctor said. He offered her a smile. "Go and find a window. You'll see."

Martha wasn't sure what to think, but she took a step towards the door. She paused and glanced back. The three strangers weren't following her. Instead, they were helping the Doctor into the blue box. Martha supposed that was fair. He probably should rest and sit down, at the very least. Once she checked on things, she'd come and check on him and see what they could do with their supplies. It was the least they could do. Martha darted down the hallway to a nearby office with a window. She arrived just in time to see it start to rain up outside the windows. A smile overtook her face just before the hospital shuddered. A moment later, there was a blue sky and buildings outside. Martha could hear sirens from outside. Cheering erupted throughout the hospital. Grinning, Martha headed back to the MRI lab only to find it empty.

…

The Doctor let Rose and Jack fuss over him in the medical bay for a short time. Only a short time. After a shot to boost his blood production and a banana, he was good to go. Rose had been very quiet. He wished that Jack hadn't called her during the climax of the crisis. If he hadn't, maybe the Doctor could have pretended that the whole 'let the dangerous alien drink his blood thing' hadn't happened.

But Rose didn't immediately retreat into their room or, worse, away from their room. She followed him back into the console room. The Doctor busied himself checking over the instruments and making sure that the TARDIS hadn't been damaged running the oxygen production systems so hard.

"Any problems with the TARDIS?" Rose asked.

"Nope." The Doctor patted the console. "She's good. Could have gone a few more hours if it had been necessary. We're lucky that the Judoon never caught on to the oxygen issue. Or Florence."

The Doctor was grateful for that. If she'd stopped to really consider it, then between seeing Rose's sword and the oxygen holding fairly steady, she would have assumed that there was another alien in the hospital. Then again… she might have tried to find them and throw them to the Judoon.

"We were lucky a couple of times over today," Rose murmured. She stepped closer to him, letting their arms touch. "I try not to hate people and especially not whole species. But Judoon. I mean, internal shapeshift, internal only, and they don't bother with a picture."

"Standard procedure with shapeshifters," the Doctor said carefully. "Judoon are very thick, and nuance is lost on them."

Rose just nodded. A cloud still hung over her, and the Doctor crept closer. "Are you angry with me," the Doctor asked in a small voice. "For…."

"Being very cavalier with your life."

"I knew Jack and Martha would be behind me," the Doctor insisted. "Martha is a medical student, and she knew I have two hearts and Jack… well, you know." The Doctor waved his hand. "Him and the life energy thing."

Rose stared at the Doctor. She wasn't sure what to think or how worried she should be. Was this a reflection of his emotional state or simply a risky plan? He was happier than she'd known this incarnation to be, and right now, he was rocking on the balls of his feet nervously. Holding back a sigh, Rose let the anger and fear drain away. In truth, she was struggling to think of a better solution. The Judoon were thick. Very thick, so trying to say that the old woman was the alien while she had recently assimilated probably wouldn't have worked.

"I'm not angry," Rose finally said. "Just… sometimes I hate the risks. I love our life," she rushed to reassure him. "But you just regenerated, and you coming so close to death only days later is a terrifying thought."

The Doctor nodded slowly and stepped closer to her. "For what it's worth, I was pretty sure that it was going to be fine. After all, there are things I'm supposed to do in this body." Rose raised an eyebrow, and her treacherous lips curled into a smile. He had no idea. She wasn't going to tell him. But then his features turned very serious. "But I understand, darling. I do. Every time I see you endanger yourself, it terrifies me. But the Judoon vaporise, and I just… I'm not sure if that could kill you or not, but that actually makes it worse."

Now Rose did shiver. The idea of going through that but not being able to die… She stepped closer to the Doctor and hugged him. He made a happy sound as her arms wrapped around him. Letting herself smile, Rose tried to relax. The Doctor had survived and, thanks to his 'superior' biology, was back on his feet after a bit of rest.

"Please be careful," Rose murmured. "I accept regeneration. I'm even grateful for it as it means that I don't lose you forever, but it's still hard to see you go through that and to know what happened."

"Trust me; I'm not in a hurry to die." The Doctor kissed her neck. "But the longer we can keep who and what you are off the radar of the Shadow Proclamation and everyone else, the happier I'll be. And I know Jack can't die, but I wasn't going to tell him to do that, and his alien ancestry might not have been enough."

His reasons now made a little more sense. Rose still didn't like them, but she understood a little better. Nodding, she hugged him tightly and breathed in his scent. He made another little noise before kissing her cheek and shifting back.

"What did you think of Martha?" the Doctor asked. His tone was light, but there was a bit of caution to it.

"I liked her," Rose answered honestly. "All things considered, she rallied very quickly and was a huge help." She gave the Doctor another irritated look. "Such as someone needing lifesaving care."

"I couldn't think of anything else," the Doctor said gently. "Not that would deal with it quickly enough. Jack isn't pure human, but he's close enough that I wasn't confident the scanners would pick up the difference."

Rose nodded, mostly out of habit. This wasn't really a fight that she wanted to have, and part of her did understand. She'd done plenty of things that, in hindsight, were absolutely stupid

because of a crisis. Being able to think on your feet didn't always mean that you made good choices.

"I am sorry that I frightened you," the Doctor said earnestly.

Rose relaxed at those words. The Doctor opened his arms, a hint of a question in his eyes and Rose immediately hugged him. He made a happy little sound and held her tight.

"I forgive you," Rose murmured. "It'll happen again. I'll probably scare you in the future plenty of times as well." Then she leaned up to kiss him quickly before releasing him. "But I'm really hoping that your next regeneration will be from old age."

"We'll make that the goal," the Doctor agreed, tugging lightly at his ear. "Good challenge if nothing else, Jeopardy Friendly."

"Yes, I know you'll make it a challenge, Trouble Magnet." Rose kissed him again, deeper this time and savouring him being live and whole against her. When the kiss ended, she hummed happily and asked, "Now, what about Martha?"

"Well…" the Doctor dragged out the word. "I was thinking of tracking her down and offering her a trip on the TARDIS. Seems fair that she should see that it isn't always like that for us."

Rose chuckled and stared at the Doctor. "Except when we take her with us, then we're probably going to find trouble. That's just how it usually works for us. At least one trip where things go wrong before a peaceful one."

"When," the Doctor said. "You said when."

"I'm open to asking her to come along," Rose said. She shrugged. "It is your TARDIS."

"It's your home, too," the Doctor said softly. Rose beamed at him. "I didn't want to take her on without talking with you."

"Thank you." Rose kissed him again. "How about we offer her a trip and see how that goes? With her being a medical student, she might not be willing to leave Earth for long." Rose considered it. "Then again, she might also be desperate to escape that for a bit. I know Sharon and Shareen both suffered a lot of exhaustion during their residency years despite working with UNIT."

"Great, we'll track her down and ask her." The Doctor jumped for the controls. "Take her on a trip or two to see how she does."

"Wait…" Rose realised something. "Is this you trying to delay us visiting my mum and explaining regeneration?"

"Might be." The Doctor grinned at her. "Objections?"

Rose knew she should argue. She knew that she shouldn't let that grin sway her. But it did. "No, not really."

The Doctor beamed. They wouldn't be able to put it off forever, but… well, Sarah Jane had met this body and knew that something was up. She knew to keep quiet, but things on Earth would be a little weird going forward until they closed the time loop. Rose was perfectly happy delaying that a little longer. With a flourish, the Doctor set coordinates for them, and the TARDIS shifted.

"Hey," Jack called. He ran back into the console room. "We just wrapped up an adventure, Doc. Even I need a little beauty sleep."

"We're paying a visit to Martha," Rose explained. "Take her on a trip to say thanks."

Jack smiled and nodded, glancing between her and the Doctor. "She did do a great job. Kept her head in a crisis."

"Glad you think you," Rose said. "We're thinking one trip and see how she does; then we can decide if we'd like her to stay. That means you too."

"Oh, Rosie, so sweet as always. And after your lover kissed me!"

"Jack!"

Rose laughed and glanced between them. The Doctor was scowling at Jack. "Genetic traces?"

"That was the point, but someone enjoyed it too much," the Doctor grumbled.

Jack laughed and leaned against the railing as the ship came to a stop. Rose headed for the door and glanced back at Jack. He waved for her and the Doctor to go ahead. They stepped out of the TARDIS into a dim side street lit by scattered street lights and lamps attached to buildings. It was, however, not peaceful as Rose could hear the shouting even before the group of people poured out of the nearby restaurant. A spray-tanned blonde woman in dangerous heels, not too much older than Rose, with an older black man following after her, was stalking away from the rest of them. Her eyes scanned the others, and she found Martha at the back of the group.

The medical student looked tired. Rose listened as the group argued over the events of the day, and she almost grimaced at the revelation that Martha had tried to talk with them about it. A young woman about Martha's age, likely her sister snapped at the blonde woman and the older woman that Rose assumed to be Martha's mother added her own two cents. The Doctor glanced at Rose before leaning against the TARDIS to watch Martha and wait for the chaos to die down.

Rose watched Martha's expression. It was hopeful and nervous as she glanced between the pair of them. She smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. Martha waited another moment as her family moved off before walking over to them and the TARDIS.

…

Martha was more than a little surprised to see the mysterious couple. After hours of questions that she didn't know how to answer and trying to go to dinner with her family, she'd decided that she probably wouldn't ever see them again. After all, they and their friend Jack had vanished as soon after the hospital was back on Earth. Yet, she caught sight of them as she followed her mum out of the restaurant. She could even see their friend Jack through the open doors of their strange ship. It was just there in the street. Martha would have laughed if she wasn't so tired. If she had any sense, she'd get away from them and their mad box as soon as possible. Instead, she kept walking towards them.

"I went to the moon today," Martha said as a greeting.

"A bit more peaceful than down here," the Doctor said.

"Doctor!" Rose scolded. "Rude."

The Doctor blinked as if surprised. Then he nodded a little. "Rude and not ginger."

Rose laughed, almost looking pained by her amusement. Martha just wasn't sure what to make of them. Focusing back on the Doctor, Martha struggled to gather her thoughts and settled on a simpler question.

"You never even told me who you are."

"The Doctor."

"What sort of species? It's not every day I get to ask that."

"I'm a Time Lord."

"Right! Not pompous at all, then," Martha replied. That drew a laugh from Rose.

The Doctor sighed as if truly put out. "We thought you might fancy a trip."

"What, into space?" Martha asked. Her eyes had to be wide. She couldn't look away from them. Then she shook herself. "But I can't. I've got exams. I've got things to do. I have to go into town first thing and pay the rent; I've got my family going mad." Rose offered her a sympathetic look as she smiled.

"Thing is, the TARDIS travels in time." Rose patted the side of the impossible blue box fondly.

"Get out of here!" Martha laughed.

"We can," the Doctor insisted.

"Come on now, that's going too far," Martha said. But a creeping doubt was crawling up her spine.

"I'll prove it." The Doctor kissed Rose's cheek and stepped into the blue box. "Be right back, Darling."

"You better be," Rose replied.

The door closed, and the blue box vanished with a strange wheezing sound. Martha looked at Rose, who just grinned at her with a tongue-touched smile. Clearly, the other woman wasn't worried that they'd just left. Then it suddenly reappeared in a few seconds of wind with the same odd noise echoing around them. The Doctor stepped out, holding the tie from that morning in his hand.

"Told you," the Doctor said.

It all clicked in Martha's mind. "No, but that was this morning. Did you? Oh, my God. You can travel in time. But hold on. If you could see me this morning, why didn't you tell me not to go in to work?"

"Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden," the Doctor said seriously as he took Rose's hand. "Except for cheap tricks."

"So your ship…." Martha stared at the blue box that was bigger on the inside.

"She's called the TARDIS," Rose said with deep fondness. "Time and Relative Dimension in Space. We can bring you back tomorrow morning."

"So," the Doctor said, rocking on his feet. "What do you say? A trip in time and space."

"Yeah." The word escaped Martha before she thought about it. "Yeah."

They shuttled her into the box. Jack was leaning against the railing with a wide grin. He'd probably heard all of it. She managed a small smile for him before letting her eyes fully take in the impossible room. The Doctor bounded up to the controls and began making adjustments.

"Let's see," the Doctor said. "Where should we go?" He looked over at Martha. "Past or future, backwards or forwards? Your choice."

Martha gaped at him. Rose joined the Doctor at the controls and offered her an encouraging look. "Backwards," Martha managed. "The past."

"The past it is!"

With a whoop of excitement, the Doctor flipped a lever. Everything shuddered, and Martha heard that same strange groaning sound. She grabbed onto the railing beside her and held on while the strange ship took off.