Zara stood by the window by the door to the conference room, looking out at the clouds. She stood stiffly, her arms crossed, her black hood up. She couldn't bare to look back at Francine, who was working on the Valiant as a maid, The Doctor, who was in a tent, treated like a pet, or Lucy, who was extremely pregnant and due any day now.
"Citizens rejoice." The Master's voice came over the PA. "Your lord and master stands on high playing Track 3."
The door slid open and The Master span in, singing along to the music playing overhead. He strutted over to Lucy, who wore a red gown, tight around her bump and pulled her into a long kiss. Around her eye was a red bruise, from a few days before when The Master had attempted to hurt her, only managing to hit her in the eye as Zara brutally attacked him to save her, which was why she had a red slice across stoumach. The Master sat down in one of the chairs at the table and span as Francine, dressed in a maid's uniform, served him tea. He quickly got up and ran to the bridge, ringing an old-fashioned bell as The Doctor crawled out of a tent that had straw on the floor, "DOG" written on the top of the tent. The Master jumped down, grabbing The Doctor and forcing him into a wheelchair. He pushed him around the room, before ending up next to Zara, who still hadn't turned around at all the commotion, the three of them looking out of the window.
"It's ready to rise, Doctor." The Master said to The Doctor. "The new Time Lord Empire." Two of the Toclafane floated by. "It's good, isn't it? Isn't it good? Anything? No? Anything?" He waved his hand in front of The Doctor's face, then Zara's, getting no reaction back. "Oh, but they broke your hearts, didn't they? Those Toclafane, ever since the two of you worked out what they really are. They say Martha Jones…has come back home. Now why would she do that?"
"Leave her alone." The Doctor mumbled as Zara smirked slightly.
"But you said something to her, didn't you? On the day I took control. What did you tell her?"
"I have one thing to say to you. You know what it is."
"Oh, no you don't!" He moved the wheelchair past Zara and pushed it forward until it hit a wall.
"Valiant now entering Zone One airspace." The PA announced. "Citizens rejoice."
The Master clapped his hands, turning back into the middle of the room, "Come on, people! What are we doing? Launch Day in 24 hours!"
Zara shut her eyes, knowing The Doctor, Jack and the Jones' had devised a plan to get the laser screwdriver, that she knew would fail, but of course couldn't tell them for fear that The Master would hurt them.
...
Zara sat at the table as the clock on the bridge clicked to 14:58. The Doctor looked over at Francine and Tish, sharing a look with the two of them as The Master swanned into the room, feebly followed by Lucy.
"Time for my massage." The Master called. "Who shall I have today?" He pointed over at a woman sitting at a desk. "Tanya. Come on, sweetheart. Lucy, have you met Tanya? She's gorgeous." He took off the jacket and threw it onto the table. "Tanya, when we get to the stars, I'm gonna take you to..." He looked down at Zara. "Where do you think love?"
"Katria Nova." Zara muttered, glancing between Tish, Francine and The Doctor, distracted at their plan. "Whirlpools of gold."
The Master sat down next to Zara, looking up between Tanya and Lucy, "You two should get to know each other. That might be fun." He grinned as Tanya began to massage his shoulders.
"Condition red!" The PA suddenly blared.
The Master's eyes widened, "What the hell?" He got up and went up the stairs to the bridge.
"Repeat: condition red."
Zara watched as Francine grabbed The Master's jacket and threw it to Tish who handed it to The Doctor. The Doctor took out the laser screwdriver and pointed it up at The Master breathlessly.
"Oh, I see." The Master sighed, putting his hands up as Zara rolled her eyes.
"I told you." The Doctor breathed. "I have one thing to say." He attempted to use the screwdriver on him, only to find it wouldn't work, making The Master laugh.
"Isomorphic controls." Zara sighed as The Master snatched the screwdriver from him before backhanding him and sending him flying to the floor.
"Which means they only work for me." The Master shouted. "Like this." He shot at the wall beside Francine. "Say sorry!"
"Sorry." Fracine screamed, bending over tearfully. "Sorry. Sorry!"
"Mum!" Tish gasped as she and Zara jumped up, running over to her. Zara shut her eyes tightly, pulling the two of them into a hug.
"Didn't you learn anything from the blessed Saint Martha?" The Master snapped as Lucy moved over and picked up his jacket, helping him put it on. "Siding with the Doctor is a very dangerous thing to do. Take them away."
"Move!" A guard snapped, pulling Francine and Tish away from Zara. "Come on." He turned and forced them out.
"Okay. Gotcha." The Master sighed, lifting The Doctor off the floor and into a chair as Zara watched tearfully as Tish and Franine were led away. "There you go, Gramps." He sat on the edge of the table as Zara moved over, kneeling next to The Doctor and took his hand, checking over his face. "Oh, do you know, I remember the days when the Doctor, oh, that famous Doctor, was waging a time war. Battling Sea Devils and Axons. He sealed the rift at the Medusa Cascade single-handed. Ooh. And look at him now. Stealing screwdrivers. How did he ever come to this? Oh yeah. Me!" He burst out laughing as Zara glared at The Master.
"I just need you to listen." The Doctor breathed.
"No, it's my turn." The Master hissed. "Revenge! Best served hot. And this time… It's a message for Miss Jones." He got up and stalked up out of the room.
Zara let go of his hand, placing hers on his cheek, tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry." She whispered, placing a kiss on his head before following after The Master.
...
"My people." The Master smiled into the camera. Behind the camera stood Zara, watching with narrowed eyes. "Salutations on this, the eve of war. Lovely woman. But I know there's all sorts of whispers down there. Stories of a child, walking the Earth, giving you hope." He walked to stand next to The Doctor. "But I ask you…how much hope has this man got? Say hello, Gandalf." The Doctor stared back blankly, looking more at Zara than the camera itself. "Except he's not that old but he's an alien with a much greater lifespan than you stunted, little apes. What if it showed? What if I suspend your capacity to regenerate? All 900 years of your life, Doctor. What if we could see them?" He pulled out the screwdriver and began to use it on The Doctor, who writhed in pain, becoming smaller and older. "Older and older and older." Zara watched silently, not flinching at all as The Doctor writhed in agony. "Down you go, Doctor." The Doctor fell to the floor. "Down, down, down you go." It suddenly stopped and silence filled the room. "Doctor." The Master called, bending down to look at The Doctor's clothes lying on the floor. By the neck of the shirt, a large domed head peered out with huge, blinking eyes, looking like a baby. The Master turned back to the camera, "Received and understood, Miss Jones?" He ended the transmission as Zara moved over and picked up the clothing, holding The Doctor in his clothes to her chest, looking down at his big peering eyes.
...
Zara opened her eyes blearily, looking around the dark room to hear sounds of moans of pain outside her door, along with faint knocks. She got up out of the bed and made her way over to the door. She opened the door, orange light from the hallway flooding in. She squinted her eyes at the light to see The Master standing on the other side of the door, dressed in a red robe.
"It's, uh, Lucy." He shrugged sleepily. "She's having the baby."
Zara's eyes widened, "Oh my god!" She gasped. "Right, well, we've gotta go!"
"Nah!" He waved a hand at her. "I'm going back to sleep, leave her to it."
"She's your wife!"
"She doesn't matter to me." He shrugged. "Not really. Just some human. Once we get to the stars, it's me and you." He smiled slightly. "You're like... a daughter to me, I guess."
"And in a minute you're gonna have one of your own! Or a son, maybe, I don't know... Just, Lucy's in childbirth, just be there."
"You can go taunt The Doctor for me first then." He smirked.
...
Zara padded into the conference room quietly, dressed in a pair of blue pyajamas of The Doctor's that The Master allowed her to scavenge from the TARDIS.
"Tomorrow, they launch." She called to The Doctor nervously, moving over to him as he sat in a cage at the other end of the room. "We're opening up a rift in the Braccatolian space. They won't see us coming. Kinda scary."
"Then stop." The Doctor begged.
"The Master says once the empire is established and there's a new Gallifrey in the heavens, maybe then… it stops." She gulped, looking at The Doctor. "He keeps going on about the drumming. The never-ending drumbeat. Ever since he was a child, apparently. He looked into the vortex. That's when it "chose him". The drumming, the call to war."
"It's only him."
"Good." She laughed quietly before immediately sobering, gulping. "I've got to go... uh. Lucy's in labour."
The Doctor shut his eyes, "That poor child."
"Exactly." She whispered. "Doctor, the Toclafane... They're human, and... The Master took Lucy to Utopia. A Time Lord and his human companion. He took her to see the stars. Trillions of years into the future. To the end of the universe. She told me what she saw. She said that it was dying. Everything dying. The whole of creation was falling apart. And she thought…there's no point. No point to anything. Not ever. And according to The Master, it's all your fault." She shook her head. "The Master kept saying to me 'You should have seen it, Zara. Furnaces, burning. The last of humanity screaming at the dark.' He of course never took me. I was locked away. All that human invention that had sustained them across the eons. It all turned inwards. They cannibalised themselves. Regressing into children. But it didn't work. The universe was collapsing around them." She wiped a tear from her eye, laughing sadly. "His masterpiece he calls it, Doctor. A living TARDIS, strong enough to hold the paradox in place, allowing the past and the future to collide in infinite majesty... apparently."
"But he's changing history." The Doctor sighed, reaching out and grabbing one of Zara's fingers in his tiny hand. "Not just Earth, the entire universe."
"He's says he's Time Lord so he has that right."
"But even then, why come all this way just to destroy?"
"The Toclafane have come backwards in time to build a brand new empire lasting 100 trillion years, apparently." She gulped. "With The Master as... their master. Time Lord and humans combined. Human race. Greatest monster of them all, according to The Master." She breathed in sharply. "Um, I've gotta go, that baby's gonne be here any moment." She turned, and left the room briskly.
...
Lucy was asleep in the small bed on one sid eof the room, exhausted after the birth. The Master stood at the window, staring out, whilst Zara stood behind him, cradling the tiny, gurgling baby girl with shining dark green eyes that belonged to Lucy and The Master.
"Tomorrow we launch." The Master said proudly, looking out at the night sky. "It's going to be magnificent."
"You could stop, for this little baby." Zara whispered. "Maybe... fight for your daughter instead of me?"
"It's just a human child. Me and you and the universe, Zara. Not some baby."
A guard stepped into the room, "Mr Saxon, Miss Saxon." He called to The Master and Zara. "We've found Martha Jones."
...
Zara ran in to the room breathlessly, skidding to a halt outside The Doctor's cage. He woke up sleepily, looking up from being curled up at the botton of his cage.
"They've found Martha." She gasped. "She's back in Britain. Oh, baby girl, 7 pound 2. But, um, Martha's back."
...
"Citizens of Earth, rejoice and observe." The Master's voice called over the PA.
The door to the conference room opened and two guards escorted Martha in. She walked forward alone, looking over at one side of the room at her family, then across to the other side at Jack. At the base of the stairs to the right was The Doctor in his cage, and to the left stood Zara, her hood down, Lucy above her on the bridge, holding the baby as it slept. She shared a look with the other woman as she stopped at the stairs.
"Your teleport device. In case your thought I'd forgotten." The Master ordered and Martha reached into her pocket, throwing him the vortex manipulator. "And now…kneel." Martha kneeled down. "Down below, the fleet is ready to launch. Two hundred thousand ships set to burn across the universe." He turned to the comm link. "Are we ready?"
"The fleet awaits your signal." A man on the link replied. "Rejoice!"
"Three minutes to align the black hole converters. Counting down!" The Master smirked as a clock on the wall began to count down. "I never could resist a ticking clock. My children, are you ready?"
"We will fly and blaze and slice!" The Toclafane called, floating above the Earth. "We will fly and blaze and slice!"
"At zero, to mark this day, the child, Martha Jones, will die. Ha, my first blood. Ha, any last words? No?" He raised an eyebrow at her as she stayed silent, before turning to The Doctor. "Such a disappointment, this one. Days of old, Doctor, you had companions who could absorb the time vortex. This one's useless!" He turned back to Martha. "Bow your head." He ordered and she lowered her head. "And so it falls to me, the Master of all, to establish from this day, a new order of Time Lords! From this day forward—" Martha began to chuckle under her breath. "What? What's so funny?"
Martha looked up, raising an eyebrow, "A gun?"
"What about it?"
"A gun in four parts?"
"Yes, and I destroyed it."
"A gun in four parts scattered across the world?" She rolled her eyes. "I mean, come on. Did you really believe that?"
"What do you mean?"
"As if The Doctor would ask her to kill." Zara breathed, smiling at Martha.
"Oh, well, it doesn't matter. I've got her exactly where I want her."
"But I knew what Professor Docherty would do." Martha said bitterly. "The Resistance knew about her son. I told her about the gun, so she'd get me here. At the right time."
"Oh, but you're still gonna die!"
"Don't you wanna know what I was doing? Travelling the world?"
The Master rolled his eyes, sitting down on the steps, "Tell me."
"I told a story, that's all." She replied, determined. "No weapons, just words. I did just what the Doctor said. I went across the continents all on my own. And everywhere I went, I found the people, and I told them my story. I told them about the Doctor. And I told them to pass it on, to spread the word so that everyone would know about the Doctor."
"Faith and hope? Is that all?"
"No, 'cause I gave them an instruction. Just as the Doctor said." She slowly stood up, smiling. "I told them that if everyone thinks of one word, at one specific time—"
"Nothing will happen!" The Doctor shouted. "Is that your weapon?! Prayer?!"
"Right across the world. One word, just one thought, at one moment… but with 15 satellites!"
"What?"
"The Archangel Network." Jack breathed as Zara laughed it at the same time.
"A telepathic field binding the whole human race together, with all of them, every single person on Earth, thinking the same thing at the same time." Martha said excitedly. "And that word…is Doctor."
The coutdown reached zero and a glowing field ringed around The Doctor.
The Master's eyes widened, "Stop it. No, no, no, no, you don't!" He shouted.
Jack shut his eyes, "Doctor."
Francine done the same, "Doctor."
Large plasma screens flashed on the walls showing crowds of people across the world gathered in public places all saying "Doctor".
"Stop this right now!" The Master begged. "Stop it!"
Lucy closed her eyes, kissing the baby on the head, "Doctor." She whispered against her head.
"Doctor." Jack smiled.
"Doctor." Martha beamed.
"Doctor." Zara breathed.
Still with an energy field around him, The Doctor broke free from the cage, reversing back to an old man.
"I've had a whole year to tune myself into the psychic network and integrate with its matrices." The Doctor called softly.
"I order you to stop!" The Master snapped.
"Doctor." Lucy whispered as the energy returned The Doctor to his normal self.
"The one thing you can't do." The Doctor spat. "Stop them thinking." Martha, Jack and Zara laughed and The Master stared, shocked as The Doctor levitated towards him using the telepathic field. "Tell me the human race is degenerate now when they can do this."
Martha ran over to her family and hugged them as Jack ran over to Zara, pulling her into a hug.
"No!" The Master screeched, trying to fire at The Doctor with his laser screwdriver, only for The Doctor to deflect it.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Then I'll kill them!" He turned to aim it at Martha only for The Doctor to throw it across to Zara, who caught it one handed with a smirk. "You can't do this!" The Master panicked. "You can't do—It's not fair!"
"And you know what happens now."
"No!" He backed away down the stairs as The Doctor floated towards him. "No! No! No!"
"You wouldn't listen."
"No!"
"Because you know what I'm going to say."
"No!" The Master backed against the wall, curling into a foetal position.
The Doctor landed, walking over to a whimpering Master and wrapped his arms around him, "I forgive you." He whispered.
"My children!"
"Protect the paradox!" The Toclafane cried. "Protect the paradox! Protect the paradox!"
"Jack! The paradox machine!" Zara gasped.
"You men!" Jack called back to the guards who were guarding him. "With me! You stay here!"
The Master took out the mainpulator, "No!" The Doctor cried, grabbing onto his hands and the both of them disappear.
...
The two of them reappeared on a rocky cliff, looking at each other.
The Master spread his arms, "Now it ends, Doctor." He called as thunder rolled behind them. "Now it ends."
...
Alarms blared and Zara and Martha bolted up to the bridge.
"We've all 6 billion spheres heading straight for us!" Zara called.
...
"We've got control of the Valiant." The Doctor warned. "You can't launch."
"Oh, but I've got this." The Master sneered, holding up a small black device. "Black hole converter inside every ship. If I can't have this world or Zara, Doctor, then neither can you. We shall stand upon this Earth, together, as it burns!"
...
Zara, Martha and Tish watched on the bridge as the Toclafane grew closer.
...
"Weapon after weapon after weapon." The Doctor spat. "All you do is talk and talk and talk. But over all these years…and all these disasters, I've always had the greatest secret of them all. I know you. Explode those ships, you kill yourself. That's the one thing you can never do." He held out his hand. "Give that to me." The Master sighed, slapping the device into his hand.
The ground suddenly began to shake, the two of them falling to the ground as the fought for control of the manipulator before they finally teleported back to the Valiant.
...
Martha and Zara flew back suddenly as the Valiant shook, only for the two of them to be caught by The Doctor. They span round and The Doctor grinned at them.
"Everyone down!" He called, none of the noticing Lucy clutch onto the railing, holding the baby tightly. "Time is reversing!" He fell to the floor, lying face to face with Martha and Zara.
Zara jumped to her feet as everything stopped shaking, moving over to the comm, "The paradox is broken." She called. "We've reverted back, one year and one day. Two minutes past 8:00 in the morning." She turned on the comm.
"This is UNIT Central." A voice called. "What's happened up there? We just saw the President assassinated!"
"You see?" The Doctor asked as he pulled himself to his feet, pulling Martha up with him. "Just after the President was killed, but just before the spheres arrived. Everything back to normal. Planet Earth restored. None of it happened. The rockets, the terror. It never was."
"What about the spheres?" Martha asked.
"Trapped at the end of the universe."
"But I remember it." Francine frowned.
"We're at the eye of the storm. The only ones who'll ever know." He looked over, spotting Clive. "Oh, hello! You must be Mr Jones! We haven't actually met."
A piercing scream filled the air as the baby screeched loudly, making Lucy gasp.
"What's wrong with her?" She shouted, cradling the baby.
Zara frowned, moving her way over to the controls on the bridge, "But..." She glanced out of the window to see the sky had frozen before looking back at everyone else. "The paradox machine is stuck." She breathed. "Another paradox is stopping the paradox from cutting itself off." She looked over as the baby screamed, tears pouring down it's face as The Master picked her up from Lucy's arms. "I've got a feeling it might be that baby."
The Master looked over at her, frowning at the baby, "What will happen if we don't sort this out?" He winced as the baby screamed even more.
"We're gonna blink out of existence." Zara breathed.
The Master grabbed the vortex manipulator out of The Doctor's hand, teleporting away before anyone could stop him.
...
The Master reappeared in the middle of an alleyway, fog and dust surrounding him so he couldn't see far. In the distance, screams filled the air and The Master looked around frantically, confused and scared. He put the now quiet baby on the floor, running a hand through his hair in despair.
"Zara?" A quiet, horrified, female voice called. The Master span round, shaking in fear to find nobody there.
...
Zara pulled at the controls, before eventually grabbing the bell The Master had rung the day before, smashing it against the controls and making them spark and The Master reappear, without the baby.
Lucy screamed, rushing forward towards The Master only for Zara to pull her into her arms, keeping her away from him. Lucy sobbed, pulling back before stopping suddenly, staring Zara in the eyes.
"Your eyes." Lucy sobbed before looking over Zara's shoulder at The Master. "Harry, her eyes."
Zara looked round at The Master with a frown as he stared back at her... into her shining dark green eyes before looking around frantically and running to the door, only for Jack to appear, grabbing hold of him
"Whoa, big fella! You don't want to miss the party." He turned to the guard, "Cuffs." He took the cuffs and cuffed The Master's hand behind his back. "So, what do we do with this one?"
"We kill him." Clive suggested.
"We execute him." Tish nodded.
"No, that's not the solution." The Doctor shook his head.
Francine shakily raised a gun, aiming it at The Master, "Oh, I think so. 'Cause all those…things, they still happened because of him. I saw them."
"Go on! Do it!" The Master spat.
Zara moved over to Francine, taking the gun, "Francine, you're better than him." She pulled her into a hug before handing her to Martha and moving up to the bridge.
"You still haven't answered the question. What happens to me?"
"You're my responsibility from now on." The Doctor sighed. "The only Time Lord left in existence."
Jack moved over to The Doctor, "Yeah, but you can't trust him." He muttered as Zara frowned at the screen on the controls.
"New Earth." She whispered to herself, horrified. That's where The Master had teleported to with the baby... that baby with her shining dark green eyes... which could only mean one thing.
"No. The only safe place for him is the TARDIS." The Doctor nodded.
"You mean you're just gonna…keep me?" The Master frowned.
"Hmm. If that's what I have to do." He looked to Jack as Zara made her way back down the steps, stunned, and stopped next to Lucy. "It's time to change. Maybe I've been wandering for too long. Now I'll have someone to care for."
Zara raised the gun she still held, aiming it shakily at The Master, anger writhing through her before squeezing the trigger. A gunshot rang out and The Master staggered backwards and Jack, The Doctor, Martha and her family being the only ones noticing Lucy snatch the gun away from Zara in a split second. Jack moved over, taking the gun from Lucy as The Doctor ran to The Master.
"There you go. I've got you. I've got you." The Doctor muttered, lowering him gently to the floor.
"Always the women." The Master groaned. "Never thought it'd be her though."
The Doctor shook his head, "I didn't see her."
"I always protected her, I promise you."
"It's ok, it's fine."
"Just... look in her eyes. Doctor... she's my daughter."
Zara breathed tearily, looking at Lucy in confusion.
"Dying in your arms. Happy now?" The Master continued.
"You're not dying, don't be stupid." The Doctor frowned. "It's only a bullet. Just regenerate."
"No."
"One little bullet. Come on."
"I guess you don't know me so well. I refuse."
"Regenerate. Just regenerate." The Doctor gulped. "Please! Please! Just regenerate! Come on!"
"And spend the rest of my life imprisoned with you?"
"You've got to. Come on. It can't end like this. You and me, all the things we've done. Axons? Remember the Axons? And the Daleks? We're the only two left, there's no one else. Regenerate!"
"How about that? I win." He smirked before glancing over at Zara over his shoulder, scared. "Will it stop, Zara? The drumming. Will it stop, sweetheart?" His eyes rolled back and breathed his last. The Doctor pulled him close, rocking him back in forth as he screamed in despair.
...
The Doctor walked towards The Master's funeral pyre, carrying a torch. Zara stood next to him, staring tearfully as The Doctor lit the pyre.
"I'm sorry I killed him." Zara whispered.
The Doctor threw the torch onto the pyre before putting his arm around her waist, leaning in and kissing her gently on the lips, only to gain no reaction from her. He turned and gently led her away.
...
The Doctor, Martha, Zara and Jack stood on the landing strip to the Valiant, watching as Lucy was led away by police.
"I still can't believe she took the blame." Martha frowned.
"That's my mother." Zara breathed. "God, it's so weird saying that, it's... She took the blame for a murder I commited."
The Doctor took her hand and squeezed it, "There's nothing we can do." He whispered.
...
The Doctor, Zara, Jack and Martha leant against some railings, overlooking Raold Dahl Plass in Cardiff.
"Time was, every single one of these people knew your name." Martha remarked, eyeing the people that walked by. "Now they've all forgotten you."
"Good." The Doctor smiled.
Jack breathed in sharply, "Back to work." He said, straightening up.
"I really don't mind, though." The Doctor smiled up at him. "Come with me." Zara had taught him alot, and her being in his life had made him realise that he had to keep what he had close to him and the last year he realised what he had: a little family. He wanted to keep Jack, Martha and Zara close.
"I had plenty of time to think that past year, the Year That Never Was." Jack shook his head. "And I kept thinking about that team of mine. Like you said, Doctor," He glanced over The Doctor's shoulder at Zara. "Responsibility."
The Doctor nodded, "Defending the Earth. Can't argue with that." He reached out to shake Jack's hand, only to grab his wrist, exposing his manipulator.
"Hey, I need that!"
"I can't have you walking around with a time-travelling teleport." He pulled out his sonic, using it on the manipulator. "You could go anywhere—twice. The second time to apologise."
"And what about me? Can you fix that? Will I ever be able to die?
"Nothing I can do."
Zara beamed at him, "You're an impossible thing, Jack." She laughed.
Jack laughed back, "Been called that before." He turned and saluted The Doctor and Martha. "Sir. Ma'am." He winked at Zara. "Trouble." He turned to leave, only to look back again. "But I keep wondering…what about aging? 'Cause I can't die but I keep getting older. The odd little grey hair, you know? What happens if I live for a million years?"
The Doctor smiled at him, "I really don't know."
"Okay, vanity. Sorry. Yeah, can't help it. Used to be a poster boy when I was a kid back on the Boeshane Pennisula." He smiled fondly. "Tiny little place. I was the first one ever to be signed up for the Time Agency. They were so proud of me. They Face of Boe they called me." The Doctor and Martha stared back stunned as Zara just stared. "Hmm, I'll see you." He turned and ran across the plass.
"Can't be." Martha shook her head.
"No, definitely not. No." The Doctor spluttered as Martha laughed. "No."
Zara breathed, watching as he ran away before ducking under the railings and sprinting after him, "Jack!" She shouted, making him turn back. She threw herself into his arms, earning an oomph from her as he hugged her back, picking her up in his arms. As he put her down, she half pulled away, smiling tearfully, "Just... thank you." She placed a kiss on his cheek, turning and walking back towards The Doctor as Jack frowned before shaking his head at her.
...
The Doctor and Zara leaned against the TARDIS outside the Jones house. The two of them looked over at Francine as she looked out at them, giving them a small smile, before the two of them stepped into The TARDIS. Zara walked up to the now normal console, fiddling with the controls as The Doctor fell into the jump seat, reclining back and putting his feet on the console.
"So where do you want to go first?" The Doctor asked as Zara put a hand on the time rotor.
"2 and a half years stuck with The Master," Zara shrugged. "Anywhere, I don't mind."
...
Martha stepped out of her house, holding her phone to her ear, "Yeah. Could you put me through?" She asked. "Hi, I'm looking for a Dr Thomas Milligan."
"Yeah, hello." Tom's voice called through. Martha opened her mouth to speak before smiling, shaking her head. "Hello?" She shut her phone before stepping into The TARDIS, Zara and The Doctor peering round from the time rotor.
"Right then!" The Doctor called, getting up. "Off we go! The open road! There is a burst of starfire right now over the coast of Meta Sigmafolio. Oh, the sky is like oil on water." He shared a laugh with Zara. "Fancy a look? Or…back in time. We could…I don't know, Charles II? Henry VIII?"
"What about Agatha Christie?" Zara giggled, making her way around the console to look at Martha. "I'd love to meet Agatha Christie! I bet she's brilliant!" She stopped suddenly at Martha's sad expression. "What's wrong?" She frowned.
The Doctor sighed, knowing what was happening, "Ok." He nodded, making his way next to Zara.
"I just can't." Martha said sadly as Zara stared at her, heartbroken.
"Yeah."
"Spent all these years training to be a doctor. Now I've got people to look after. They saw half the planet slaughtered and they're devastated. I can't leave them."
"Of course not." He smiled.
"You're going?" Zara whispered.
Martha nodded, "You're going to be brilliant, Miss Saxon." She laughed. "You don't need me."
"Thank you." The Doctor smiled, hugging her before letting her hug Zara. "Martha Jones, you saved the world."
Martha pulled back, squeezing Zara's hand, "Yes, I did." She nodded. "I spent a lot of time with you thinking I was second best. But you know what? I am good." She looked between the two of them. "You gonna be all right?"
"Always. Yeah." He put his arm around Zara. "I'm not alone."
"Right, then." She kissed him on the cheek before turning and walking out. Zara sighed, pushing The Doctor's arm off and turning back to the controls before turning back around as Martha stepped back in. "'Cause the thing is, it's like my friend Sean, he lived with this girl, student housing, there were five of them, all packed in, and this girl was called Vicky. And he loved her, he did. He completely adored her. Spent all day long talking about her."
"Is this going anywhere?" The Doctor asked as Zara frowned.
"Yes!" The Doctor crossed his arms, nodding. "'Cause she never looked at him twice. I mean, she liked him, but that was it. And he wasted years pining after her, years of his life, 'cause while she was around, he never looked at anyone else. And I told him, I always said to him, time and time again, I said: Get out." She gestured with her eyes at Zara to The Doctor as Zara frowned, not getting what she was getting at. "Sound familar?" The Doctor breathed in sharply as she reached into her pocket and took out her mobile, throwing it to him. "Keep that. 'Cause I'm not having you disappear. If that rings, when that rings, you better come running. Got it?"
Zara smiled, "Got it." She laughed tearily.
"Have this." The Doctor reached into his pocket and handed out a silver ring with blue swirls on. Martha smiled, taking it and putting it on. "For you, Doctor Jones."
"I'll see you again, mister, missus." She smiled and left as The Doctor pulled Zara into a hug.
A/N - Thank you to all your lovely reviews guys! Aw they make me so happy :3 Next up is Time Crash and then the next story is afterwards which is called The Woman Who Killed The Master, so keep an eye out for that! :D