Laughter filled the air as Jay waved smoke out of her face, trying to peer through it at the meal she'd been attempting to make. Having come from a home that hadn't allowed her to learn the process of cooking, Jay had thought to give it a try after their latest lovely meal on a planet with a sunset that left something to be desired when you came from Earth. The Doctor, knowing Donna's record, had been wary, but had left she and Donna to it. The only warning he'd left was to not burn anything and to not make a mess - both of which Jay had failed miserably at within half an hour.
"You're a terrible teacher," giggled Jay as she eyed the black mess in the pan before her.
Donna frowned, although a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "You didn't follow the instructions," the older woman scolded, earning a sheepish smile from Jay. "I told you to follow the instructions-" A shriek left her when sprinklers suddenly went off from the ceiling above, drenching them both.
The pair stared at one another in shock, having not been prepared for such an event, and then burst out laughing. They were still laughing when the Doctor ducked in, wrinkling his nose at the smell of smoke that filled his nose. He stared at them in exasperation as he lingered in the doorway, reluctant to get wet by entering the kitchen. "I told you," he began, and Jay merely waved him off, smiling broadly at him.
"We'll clean up," she promised, still laughing under her breath.
The Doctor eyed them, the smile on both of their faces, and gave up. "You better," he said, shaking his head. A smile appeared on his mouth as well. As long as they were happy and having fun, he supposed.
And cleaning up after themselves, too.
The next two hours were spent polishing up the kitchen. Jay and Donna cleaned and dealt with the smoke with the Doctor's help, although the smoke was all he was willing to help with. The TARDIS seemed to hum with amusement herself as Jay trailed off to her room to shower and change quickly.
She beat Donna out to the console room, smoothing her hands over the shirt and jeans she'd pulled on. She was grateful that the three-quarter sleeves of her shirt hid the black veins that went up her arm. The Doctor had changed, too, putting on a blue suit rather than the brown pin-striped suit he'd been wearing in recent times. The red tie at his throat contrasted rather sharply with the color he wore now. She didn't miss the frown on his face and decided to help with whatever was worrying him.
Jay moved over to join him, her blue eyes narrowing almost playfully. "What has you so worried?"
He glanced over, seeming caught off guard by her sudden approach. "Nothing," he said, whirling around to face her. He pushed a smile to his face. "Where's Donna?"
"She's coming. Something about wanting to learn something from you," said Jay, not taking her eyes off of him. She arched a brow. "Don't lie. You're worried about something. I can see it on your face." She poked his arm once to try and enforce what she was getting out of him, but the Doctor ignored her, instead smiling at something over her shoulder.
"Donna!" he cheerfully greeted, bypassing the conversation, and Jay huffed, deciding it was likely he was remembering what the Ood had said and just didn't want to talk about it. She'd make him later; it wasn't good to bottle things up.
"Spaceman!" she replied almost mockingly, much to the Doctor's annoyance and Jay's amusement. She lost the attitude a moment later and said, "I wanted to ask you something." The Doctor gestured for her to go ahead. Donna hesitated, looking uncharacteristically nervous about what she wanted to ask. After a few moments, she finally demanded, "Show me how to drive the TARDIS."
The Doctor stared dumbly at her, completely unprepared. "What?" he said, blinking.
Donna cleared her throat. "I want to learn how to drive the TARDIS. We could both learn," she added with a nod at Jay. "Just in case you need help some day. What are you going to do if you have to be doing something else but need to drive the TARDIS and we have to stand around looking ridiculous and doing nothing?"
"No," the Doctor said firmly. "It takes years and years to learn how, and we-"
"Please?" begged Jay, latching onto his arm with a hopeful look, nearly bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Please, Doctor? It could be fun, and like Donna said, even learning a little could be useful!" She beamed up at him.
The Doctor eyed her suspiciously and then looked between she and Donna. Finally, he groaned and hung his head, running his hands over his face. "Fine," he said, and both women cheered in excitement. "But you do everything I say, do you hear me?"
"Whatever you say, we promise," echoed Jay, bouncing over to the console. "Come on, Donna!"
The Doctor groaned and wondered what he'd just gotten himself into.
When Donna first voiced the desire to learn how to fly the TARDIS, the Doctor had thought it to be one of the worst suggestions he'd ever heard. He didn't say it aloud, of course, but he'd taken one look at his friend and wanted to deny it. Never in a million years, he'd wanted to tell her. Donna Noble had no business flying the TARDIS through space and time - nor did Jay.
Yet the wide-eyed blonde had excitedly taken a hold of his arm and looked at him so hopefully when Donna had suggested they both learn, so that they could help him when he needed it, and he'd buckled. He still wasn't sure why as he paced anxiously back and forth only ten minutes later, glasses on and eyes serious as he judged what the pair were doing with the console of his TARDIS.
"I can't believe I'm doing this!" Donna gasped as she reached for some controls. The Doctor flashed her a smile of reassurance when she paused to look at him for confirmation, the TARDIS shuddering around them as it traveled.
"Neither can I - Jay, watch that dial, don't let it past ten," he warned her, interrupting himself to do so.
"Right!" Jay looked rather serious herself as she did as she was told, still practically vibrating in her delight to be guiding the TARDIS. A light flicked and she immediately reached over to press the button. The Doctor noted that; the TARDIS had guided her, too. She wanted them - or, at least, Jay - to learn how to fly her. Interesting. The TARDIS rarely ever did that for even him..
"Careful!" he said a few minutes later, bumping Donna aside. She stumbled back to give him room as he whacked the large hammer he'd been carrying around for some time now on the console and flipped a lever. Jay frowned at him as he moved back so Donna could take over again.
"That's unnecessary," she grumbled. "Don't hit her."
Ignoring Jay's complaints, the Doctor suddenly ordered Donna, "Left hand down, Donna, left hand down!" She did as he said with haste and the TARDIS jolted violently to one side, making him wince when she made a sound he didn't like. "Getting a bit close to the nineteen-eighties," he muttered, reaching around Donna to twist a knob. He checked briefly with Jay, who seemed to be having no problems with the TARDIS's guidance.
"What am I gonna do?" said Donna with a sarcastic snort. She eyed him. "Put a dent in 'em?"
Jay giggled and reached around the console to shift another control, but paused when a soft sound suddenly filled the air. She blinked, glancing at the Doctor, who looked just as confused for a moment. "Hold on," Donna said as Jay began the search for the source, finding it in the form of a device she immediately recognized. She snatched it from the console and the Doctor rounded it to peer over her shoulder. "You've got a mobile? Since when?"
"Not mine," said the Doctor. "Martha gave it to Jay."
"She gave it to you, and you gave it to me because you didn't think you needed it," Jay corrected, flipping it around and looking at him. "What do I do with it? I've never really dealt with stuff like this."
"Answer it." The Doctor made an impatient motion, not sure who'd be calling and not having caught sight of the caller ID that would have told him who it was.
Jay put it to her ear as she'd seen Martha do so many times when Martha had been with them and said with great hesitation, "Hello?"
"Jay?" a voice she knew well answered, and Jay perked up, a broad smile encompassing her features as she realized who was speaking to her. "Can you hear me?" There was a pause, and then, "Is that the TARDIS? Something doesn't sound right…"
Jay bounced a bit and said, "Martha!" The Doctor looked over with a bit more interest, and Jay heard Martha laugh softly in response. "Yes, that's the TARDIS. The Doctor's showing us how to fly her."
"Us?"
"A new friend for me, old friend for him," she said in explanation, rocking back a bit with a happy sound. "What do you need, Martha? Is everything alright?"
"Well," said Martha, sounding amused with Jay's excited reaction to her phone call, "if you're in the TARDIS then that means you're still with the Doctor, right? Which is good. I need you guys here, back on Earth."
Jay glanced over at the Doctor, and the look she wore had him bumping Donna completely out of the way. He began whirling around the console with expertise, pausing only once to question when and where, and when Martha gave the answer, Jay repeated it. As the Doctor went about landing the TARDIS, Jay turned her attention back on the phone and said, "We're on our way, Martha. See you soon!"
Martha merely laughed as she hung up, and Jay stepped back to join Donna, who watched all of this anxiously. "Where are we going?" asked Donna, her wide green eyes darting between the grinning Time Lord and Jay, who bounced beside her and shook out her wrists, ignoring the tingling there.
"Your time on Earth," the Doctor said as he slammed a lever down. The TARDIS shuddered, sounding much more like her normal self. He brushed past to another control, not looking up from what he was doing. "Hope you two are ready for trouble! I doubt Martha made a social call."
"Probably not," agreed Jay. She turned to Donna, who had begun to smartly dress as if trouble was on its way twenty-four seven. She looked down at her own outfit, wiggling her toes in her shoes - which she'd proudly tied herself. "I think we're good to go, don't you, Donna?"
"Yes," Donna said confidently. "I want to meet this Martha. She was good for you."
"She was," the Doctor agreed and waited a moment as the TARDIS landed, materializing in the alleyway that Marhta had told them to land in. He spun the screen around to double check and smiled briefly at the sight of the very woman they'd been speaking of waiting for them just outside the TARDIS.
The creaking of the doors had him glancing over in time to find Jay throwing one open and duckingoutside without hesitation. "Jay!" he huffed, annoyed. He'd have to have a conversation with her about just leaving the TARDIS without asking if it was safe first. Just because he'd done as Martha had said didn't mean it wasn't dangerous.
But rather than panic, he heard her laughter as she shouted, "Martha!" He strode across the console room, Donna hesitating to follow, and peered outside in time to see Jay slam into her friend, arms around her. Martha looked startled by it, her dark eyes flying wide. He chuckled to himself. The last time they'd seen Martha, Jay had still been recovering from their time aboard the Valiant. She'd not been nearly as cheery, and hadn't been quite as used to physical touch as she was now. In fact, he noted, Jay seemed to thrive off of touch now a days.
"Jay!" exclaimed Martha in response, hugging her back. She stepped back after a moment, hands on her friend's shoulders. She swept her gaze up and down Jay's form, touching her hair with a slight smile. "Your hair's so long now…"
Jay touched the golden locks, too, noting that it had grown past her shoulders. "I think a trim is in order," she admitted. "How have you been? You look different...you've changed."
Martha winked and then turned her attention on the Doctor. "You, on the other hand, haven't changed a bit, Doctor."
"Martha Jones," the Doctor mused as he strode over to join them. He didn't hesitate to sweep his friend into a tight hug, and she laughed as she returned it, her arms tight around him. He let go after a moment, smiling warmly at her. Jay moved right back next to Martha when the Doctor had finished. Martha looked much happier and healthier than she had when they'd last seen her. "How's the family?"
"You know, not so bad. Recovering still, but on the mend." Martha suddenly peered around them and smiled a little at Donna, who'd hesitantly come to join them, standing a few feet back. "Should have known. Didn't take you too long to replace me then?"
"Never replaced," Jay declared. "You were never replaced. We just let someone new tag along." She made a face. We. As if she had any claim to the TARDIS and who tagged along… "This is Donna Noble. Donna, this is our friend Martha Jones, the one who traveled with us before you came along."
Donna smiled hesitantly and stepped forward, offering a hand. Martha gave it a firm shake, smiling friendly. "I've heard all about you," Donna told Martha. "Jay talks about you all the time. Him, too."
"I dread to think." Martha grimaced.
"No, no, no, no," Donna hurried to deny, "Good things, nice things. Really...good things."
"Oh, my God," Martha groaned, shooting the Doctor and Jay an exasperated look. "They've told you everything." Jay bit her lip, looking worried that she'd not be forgiven. Martha nudged her with her shoulder reassuringly to show she didn't really mind. A glint caught the light and made Jay grab her hand, looking at the ring that she found upon it.
"Martha!" she gasped. "You're engaged?"
Martha proudly displayed the ring, beaming at them. "Tom Miligan, pediatrics. He's working out in Africa right now, and yes, I know," she added with a roll of her eyes, though her features were soft with love at the thought of Tom Miligan. "I've got a doctor who disappears off to distant places. Tell me about it."
"Is he skinny?" Donna asked suddenly, a smirk appearing on her face as she prepared to tease the Time Lord. Martha shook her head and admitted that Tom was rather strong, and Donna rolled her eyes as well, pointing to the Doctor. "He is too skinny for words. You give him a hug, you get a paper cut."
Jay giggled at the disgruntled look on the Doctor's face when he wrinkled his nose and pouted. "I'd rather you were all fighting," he told them, and Martha blinked at his choice of words, losing her smile.
"Speaking of which…" She withdrew a few steps and pulled a walkie-talkie from a place at her belt. Jay took a moment to study her appearance, taking in the rather militaristic black armor and clothes. "Dr. Jones here. Operation Blue Sky is a go." She pushed the Doctor forward with one hand, knowing the other two would follow as she guided him out of the alley. "I repeat, this is a go!"
They'd barely emerged from the alley when a series of vehicles roared onto the road, rounding a corner. The Doctor barred Jay and Donna from getting ahead when they screamed to a halt across the street. Dozens upon dozens of men and women in black uniforms piled out of many trucks and vans, a voice shouting above the commotion, "Unified Intelligence Taskforce. Raise that barrier, now! All workers, lay down your tools and surrender!"
Martha frowned and took off at a run, heading towards it all and looking as if she fit right in with it all. She barely looked concerned when she was nearly struck by a moving car, merely moved out of the way. "Greyhound Six to Trap One!" she shouted into her walkie-talkie, looking over and waving the trio after her. "B section, search the ground floor with grid pattern delta!"
"What the hell is going on?" Jay whispered, keeping close to the Doctor and Donna. She eyed the men and women around her suspiciously, not entirely fond of them. They looked rather like the people aboard the Valiant, if she was being perfectly honest.
"Good question," muttered the Doctor, catching Martha's arm when she nearly took off again. "What are you searching for?"
"Illegal aliens," she answered, distracted. "B section mobilized!" she announced to whoever was listening on the other end of that walkie-talkie. "E section, F section, on my command-" She vanished among the people, shouting orders and Donna suddenly spoke, her voice trembling a little in alarm.
"Is that what you did to her, Doctor? Turn her into a soldier?"
He pressed his lips together, clearly believing that was the case, and Jay, knowing he'd not meant to, took his hand and held on tightly.
It was some time of them just standing there awkwardly and waiting for Martha to come back before she did. During that time, they watched as factory workers were arrested and taken into custody - not always with a nice attitude, either. They stuck close and kept quiet with the Doctor until she had, and then they were off to where Martha wanted them to go. As they walked, the Doctor watched Martha out of the corner of his eye. Jay had been right; Martha was different. And because of him, nonetheless.
Martha had been telling them about what had happened since she'd joined UNIT after the Year That Never Was, and Jay listened intently to it all, although the Doctor had zoned off a bit every now and then. "-rushed it through, given my experience in the field," Martha was saying, although she stopped as they reached a massive truck that she stopped outside of. "Here we go. We've established a field base on site, or we're working on it." She waved them closer. "They're dying to meet you."
"Wish I could say the same," the Doctor muttered to Donna, who nodded her agreement.
They only had to wait a short while before an older man emerged from the truck, dropping to stand before them. He turned to face her when he noticed her and Jay studied him. He was balding, supporting a military uniform. Jay could tell immediately that the Doctor wasn't too impressed with him - nor was she. She'd disliked such people in her time, too, when they'd come to meet her father.
"Operation Blue Sky complete, sir," Martha said proudly to the man. "Thanks for letting me take the lead. This is the Doctor, sir. Doctor, Colonel Mace."
Mace saluted the Doctor, who immediately made a face in distaste. "Sir!"
"Oh, don't salute," he grumbled, and Mace furrowed his brow even as he spoke.
"Well, it's an honor, sir. I've read all of the files on you and, technically speaking, you're still on staff." The Doctor debated that, having forgotten. "You never resigned."
"You used to work for them?" Donna asked, glancing at the Doctor in interest.
"Yeah, long time ago. Back in the seventies...or was it the eighties?" He paused, then shrugged, not minding if he was wrong this once. He put his hands in his pockets, studying Mace closely and judging how much this person was going to be a problem. "It was all a bit more homespun back then."
"Times have changed, sir," pointed out Mace, gesturing around them to indicate what he meant.
"Yeah, that's enough of the 'sir,'" he muttered, scowling.
Martha frowned at the Doctor's attitude. "Come on, Doctor, you've seen it. You've been aboard the Valiant." Jay flinched at the name and the Doctor's expression deep end just for a moment. Martha pretended she'd not noticed, moving on. "We've got massive funding from the United Nations. All in the name of home world security. A modern UNIT for a modern world."
Donna, scowling, snapped at Mace and Martha, "What, and that means arresting ordinary factory workers?" She knew that her friends liked Martha, and she'd initially been rather fond of her, too. But now, she was a bit worried that the Martha they'd all liked was a bit different than the one standing before her. "In the streets, in broad daylight? It's more like Guantanamo Bay out there." Mace looked at her as if confused about who she was and what she was doing there, and Donna snapped at him, "Donna, by the way. You didn't ask. Donna Noble. And that's Jay, Jay O'Connors. We'll have a salute, too."
"Donna," Jay protested, wincing when Mace hesitated before saluting them both.
"Thank you," Donna said curtly, ignoring Jay's unhappiness as she put an arm around Jay's shoulder, as if comforting her for something she didn't need. Jay didn't push her away, sensing that Donna needed it more than she did.
"So," said Jay, biting her lip as she hesitantly spoke up. She wasn't too confident in the face of so many clearly powerful people, "What's going on in that factory? Why are you arresting the workers like that, Martha?"
"Yesterday, fifty-two people died in identical circumstances," Mace told them though she'd asked Martha. Martha didn't seem to mind. "Right across the world in eleven different time zones. Five in the morning in the UK, six in France, eight in Moscow, and one in the afternoon in China."
"Simultaneously," the Doctor muttered under his breath. "Fifty-two deaths, same moment, worldwide...how did they die?" He looked to Martha and waved Mace off when he tried to answer this time.
"Inside their cars," she said, meeting his gaze. "They were poisoned, but when I checked the biopsies, no toxins. Whatever it is, it left the system immediately." When the Doctor glanced around and asked no one in particular what the cars had in common, Martha chose to answer again. "Completely different makes, but they're all fitted with ATMOS. And that," she indicated the building they'd been raiding, "is the ATMOS factory."
"What's ATMOS?" questioned Jay, having no idea as to what they were talking about.
"Stands for Atmospheric Omission System. Fit ATMOS in your car, reduces carbon emissions to zero."
Donna, ignoring the Doctor's startled expression, said cheerfully, "Everyone's got it. Sat-nav and twenty quid in shopping vouchers if you introduce a friend." She shrugged, looking pleased that she knew something to help with the conversation. "A bargain!"
"And this is where they make it, Doctor," added Mace, nodding towards the factory like Martha had done. "Shipping worldwide. Seventeen factories across the globe, but this is the central depot, sending ATMOS to every country on Earth."
The Doctor turned to look at the building closely, getting the feeling that they thought the ATMOS system to be rather alien. It had to be considered as such if UNIT was involved like this. At least it wasn't Torchwood...although if Jack was truly running Torchwood now, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have them around.
"Come on," said Mace, starting forward. He didn't stop to see if they'd follow, only expected them to. The Doctor made a face at him behind his back, but did as Mace wanted. He made sure Donna and Jay were following as well; Martha would take care of herself. She was his friend, but she wasn't in any danger and she knew what she was doing. Donna was the one he was most worried about. Despite a few months of traveling, she was still unused to some things.
As they walked, Martha fell into step beside Jay, clearly wanting to chat. "So any fun trips since you last saw me?"
"Quite a few," he heard Jay say in response, a smile crossing her face. "We've seen some lovely things and saved quite a few people. But…" She trailed off a bit, suddenly frowning. "It wasn't always good. You know how it goes." She hesitated, and then surprised both Donna and the Doctor by admitting aloud to Martha, "I'm the one who made Vesuvius erupt and kill almost twenty-thousand people."
Martha nearly stopped to stare at her. Donna stepped closer to wrap an arm around her shoulders protectively and give her a fond squeeze, reassuring her that it wasn't entirely her fault at all. In fact, Donna told her as they walked, Donna blamed the Pyrovile.
The Doctor felt Martha turn her gaze on him as they entered the factory, meandering through the halls to get to wherever the colonel wanted them. It was his fault that such a thing had happened; he should have done something to stop his friend from doing it. He'd known for weeks now that she was still struggling to overcome what she'd done. She'd been getting better at sleeping, but every now and then something would remind her and a horrible guilty expression would appear on her face.
"Here it is," Mace said suddenly, distracting them from what they'd been discussing. He stepped into an office and stopped. He didn't look as if he cared what had or hadn't happened with an ancient Roman town. "ATMOS can be threaded through any and every make of car."
"You must have checked," the Doctor huffed, glancing at Martha for confirmation. "Before it went on sale."
"We did. We found nothing." Martha flashed him a grin in response. "That's why I thought we needed an expert."
"Really?" He looked downright puzzled. "Who'd you get?" She looked pointedly at him, grin widening in amusement, and Jay stifled a snort. "Oh!" he suddenly gasped in realization. The Doctor smiled sheepishly. "Right, me. Yes. Good."
"So why would aliens," Donna asked, frowning as she looked around the office," be so keen on cleaning up our atmosphere?" The Doctor gave her an approving nod as he paced around the office, checking to see what was useful within it. "Maybe they want to help get rid of pollution and stuff."
Jay thought of those that she'd met in the future, in her time and elsewhere. "Maybe," she agreed, frowning, "but these cars...the cars of your time aren't much different from the cars of my time. They look like they should be producing disgusting amounts of pollution, and there's so many, many more."
"Eight hundred million, to be exact," said the Doctor, agreeing with Jay's line of thinking. "Imagine that. If you could control all of the cars on this planet, you'd have eight hundred million weapons." He brushed past them all and began shuffling through things. "Bring me an ATMOS device," he said sharply, and Martha slid from the room to go and grab one. "Do you have blue prints?"
"Somewhere," Mace said.
"We'll look." Jay grabbed Donna's arm and pulled her out of the office to go and hunt for something, figuring that they could at least make themselves useful and shuffle through a bunch of paperwork to find what the Doctor wanted. They worked quietly after ducking into a room they found to be filled with personnel paperwork, and every now and then, Jay would shake her fingers out, as if ridding them of some itch. It wasn't until the fifth time she did it that Donna asked.
"Jay, are you okay?" she asked softly so the Doctor wouldn't hear.
Jay cleared her throat softly as she flipped through the pages of a binder. "I should be for a bit. It's only up through my forearm right now, almost the elbow and knee. I don't think we'll need to worry until well after whatever we're doing here is over with…" She trailed off, frowning at some papers. Something was off with the paperwork. She couldn't figure out what.
Donna fell quiet again for a few moments and then asked, "Is...is there really nothing that can be done? The spaceman...hasn't he looked?"
Jay paused to study Donna's anxious expression and then smiled softly at her. She looked so, so worried...it was nice that someone cared so much. Not that the Doctor or even Martha didn't care, but...she still was getting to know Donna. They'd gotten to know one another better over the last few months, but there was always work to do. Donna had told her all about how she and the Doctor had met, and Jay had returned the favor, earning horror in response.
Donna had told her straight up that she'd much prefer a giant spider, and Jay had agreed that a giant spider was much, much nicer than what she'd seen. Even if it had been thinking about feeding her to the millions of babies that had died.
"He did," she said, reaching for another binder. "He looked. He took me to a few places." Very few hospitals, however, as Jay had been forced to endure one single round of blood drawing. After that, Jay had threatened to crash the TARDIS into the hottest of stars if she had to deal with needles like that again. "But it's a one of a kind thing, and no one knows what to do." She shrugged. "We don't know what it'll do in the future, Donna, if it'll kill me, and I'm still kicking now, so...we've not given up, I don't think," she added when Donna stared at her sadly. "Just...we're not actively looking right now. There are better things to do. If we find something along the way...than good for us!"
They paused when in the next room over, the Doctor's lifted voice could be head saying irritably, "You're carrying a gun. I don't like people with guns hanging around me. All right?"
"Touchy," said Donna under her breath, earning a chuckle from Jay.
"Look at this," she added a few minutes later. Jay, halfway across the room and sitting on the floor, crawled over to peer over Donna's shoulder - at an empty binder. "Sick days," she told her. "No sick days. How's that possible?"
"Donna Noble," Jay declared as she realized just how important such a thing could be despite being so small, shooting to her feet and pulling Donna up with her. "You're amazing! Come on, let's go show the Doctor!"
They strode swiftly through the hall until they'd returned to the room they'd left the Doctor and Mace in. Jay paused in the doorway with Donna; it looked as if Martha had come back. The Doctor was looking over what Jay assumed to be an ATMOS device. Neither noticed their return and Donna winked at Jay before lifting her voice. "Oi! You lot!" The pair looked back at Donna, startled. "All of your storm troopers and your sonics...you're rubbish." Donna smirked proudly. "Should've come with us."
"Why?" the Doctor demanded, turning to face them entirely. He studied them closely. "Where have you been?"
"Personnel." Donna shifted the binder she'd brought with in her arms. "That's where the weird stuff's happening. In the paperwork. I spent years working as a temp, and I can find my way 'round an office blindfolded, so the first thing I noticed?" She opened the binder to show him what was - well, wasn't within it: paperwork. "Empty file of sick days. None. Hundreds of people working here and no one's sick. Not one hangover, man flu, sneaky little shopping trip. Nothing. Not ever! They don't get ill."
"That can't be right," Mace said, frowning as he stepped closer - as if he'd find something hidden within the binder that they'd not noticed.
Jay smirked at him a little. "You've been investigating the wrong thing, Colonel Mace," she said quietly. "You shouldn't have been looking at the factory, but the workers."
Martha stared at the pair and then told Donna, amused, "You're good. I can see why they like you."
"Super temp!" declared Donna with a proud, beaming smile. Jay giggled.
Colonel Mace turned on Martha, looking at her with a frown. "Dr. Jones, set up a medical post and start examining the workers. I'll get them sent through to you." Without waiting to see if she would or wouldn't, he turned and strode away, determined to do something or another. The Doctor hesitated, glancing over when Martha paused to take Donna's arm in hand with a gentle touch.
"Come on," she told Donna, "come give me a hand." To Jay, she said with a gentle smile, "You stick with him." She inclined her head towards the Doctor. "You know the kind of trouble he gets into. I'll keep an eye on Donna for you."
Jay knew a dismissal when she saw one and felt a little hurt by it when Donna agreed, leaving arm in arm with Martha. She stood there cluelessly in the doorway, watching after them, and then looked up when the Doctor joined her. Gently, he said, "Martha's worried, that's all. She's probably going to tell Donna about the Valiant, Jay."
Understanding flashed through her. She wanted to warn Donna about what could happen in full, not just what the Doctor and Jay would tell her. "Okay," she said, feeling a little bit better about the matter. "So where are we going then?"
The Doctor only bumped past her and took off at a sprint, not waiting to see if Jay would follow. She did, trailing after him until he caught up with Mace. When he had, he slowed to a walk, walking side-by-side with the colonel. Jay joined them, keeping a few steps behind as the Doctor addressed him. "So this ATMOS thing. Where did it come from?"
Jay knew immediately what his plan was. "Luke Rattigan himself," said Mace as he stepped into a room full of other personnel and machinery. "Child genius," he continued, pulling up a file for Luke Rattigan on one of the screens for the Doctor to look at. "Invented the Fountain Six search engine when he was twelve years old. Millionaire overnight. Now, he runs the Rattigan Academy. A private school, educating students that were handpicked from all over the world."
"A hothouse for geniuses," the Doctor mused, flashing Jay a playful grin. "Wouldn't mind going there. I get lonely."
"Rude," she told him, but returned the smile with one of her own. "So...are we going to visit Luke Rattigan then, Doctor?"
"Yes." The Doctor straightened to his full height and took on a serious expression. "I want to meet the person behind ATMOS...who knows, maybe Luke Rattigan's an alien himself and you lot just didn't notice." He turned to Jay entirely. "Are you coming?"
"Of course." She rolled her eyes. "As if I wouldn't. We should check with Donna and Martha though. I'm assuming Martha's going to stay, but we should still ask…"
"And me," said Mace without hesitation, "I'll be accompanying you."
The Time Lord immediately shook his head, denying the "offer." "You're not coming with us," he said firmly and then strode off without waiting. Jay hurried after him, making a face. They were wandering around the factory too much. Far more than she liked. "I want to talk to Luke Rattigan, not point a gun at him."
"It's ten miles outside London," Mace pointed out, keeping up with ease. "How are you going to get there?"
"Get me a jeep!"
"According to the records, you travel by TARDIS," he pointed out, and the Doctor stopped to give him a look of exasperation, unable to believe the man before him had just suggested such an idea to him.
"Yes," the Doctor said slowly, narrowing his eyes a fraction. "But if there's a danger of hostile aliens, I think it's best to keep a super-duper time machine away from the front lines. Don't you?"
Mace's answer wasn't something Jay could say made her feel too warm and fuzzy. "I see. So you do have weapons, but choose to keep them hidden...Jenkins!" he suddenly barked when a couple of camouflage-clad men and women strode by, their red berets sticking out against the bland scenery. Each held a gun and though Jay didn't like the looks of them, the one that stopped at Mace's demand seemed nice enough. "You will accompany the Doctor and his friend, and take orders from him."
"I don't do orders." Jay's lips twitched when this was mostly directed at her and she arched a brow, remembering how bossy he'd been while trying to teach she and Donna how to steer the TARDIS. Sure you don't.
"Any sign of trouble," Mace told him, ignoring his comment, "get Jenkins to declare a Code Red. And good luck, sir." He saluted them both and the Doctor said sharply that he'd not wanted salutes. Mace merely said with a blank expression, "Now you're giving orders." Without another word, he turned and left.
The Doctor grumbled and Jay giggled to herself when he scowled after Mace. The man who'd been left to accompany them - Jenkins, although Jay guessed that was his surname - looked as if he wanted to laugh as well.. He kept it under wraps fairly well. Jay decided then and there that she rather liked Jenkins.
The Doctor shooed them onwards, waving for Jenkins to guide them, and he took the lead. They were just ducking out of the building when a shout for the Doctor had them faltering, looking back. Donna, panting softly for breath, jogged over. "Doctor!" she said, eyes wide, and Jay's delighted smile at the sight of her friend began to fade when she saw the look in those wide eyes.
"Just in time!" the Doctor declared. "Come on, we're going to the country. Fresh air and geniuses...what more could you want?"
Donna squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye. "I'm not coming with you." The Doctor blinked. "I'm sorry. I've been thinking...I'm sorry, I'm going home."
The Doctor swallowed thickly, looking so disappointed, and all it took was one arched brow on Donna's part for Jay to understand. Oh. She wasn't leaving for good - just for the time being. Martha's warning had probably gotten through to her, and she wanted to check in on her family. Understandable. Jay relaxed, even as the Doctor began to speak.
"Well, if that's what you want...I mean, it's a bit soon." He sighed heavily, looking dismayed, and Jay had to hide her mouth behind her hand. Donna was beginning to look more exasperated as he went on. "I mean, it's a bit soon...I had so many places I had wanted to take you...the fifteenth broken moon of the Medusa Cascade...the lightning skies of Cotter Palluni's World...the diamond coral reefs of Kataa Flo Ko." Jenkins had even caught up with what was happening as he looked upon Donna with grim acceptance and was looking the other way to help hide his own amused look.
"Thank you, Donna Noble," the Doctor told her firmly, "It's been brilliant. You've saved my life - many times in so many ways, and-"
Jay couldn't stop herself; she coughed to disguise the laughter, but failed miserably as she tried to blink tears away from her eyes. The Doctor frowned at her, took in her expression, and then looked at Donna, blinking. Understanding dawned and he groaned as Donna rolled her eyes, "You're just popping home for a visit. That's what you mean. And then you're coming right back."
Donna smirked at him, allowing her smirk to appear in full. "You dumbo," she drawled. "No - you know what you are? You're a great big outer-space dunce."
Jay giggled aloud now, and wound her arm through Donna's. "Come on," she said, nodding at Jenkins as he waved to catch their attention. He'd found them a jeep to take out, and it had been brought up and parked close by. "Mr. Jenkins here is going to drive us out to see the creator of ATMOS...want a lift?"
"Please," Donna begged, grimacing at the idea of walking home.
"Call me Ross," Jenkins told them. Ross was kind enough to open the door for them. She and Donna piled into the back seat, and the Doctor let himself into the passenger-side as Ross closed the door behind them. He double-checked everything and then walked around, heaving himself into the driver's side. "What's the address?" he asked Donna, figuring they'd drop her off first.
Donna gave it to him and off they went.
After dropping Donna off near her home, Ross took Jay and the Doctor to the Rattigan Academy. Jay had swapped with the Doctor when they'd stopped for that brief moment, feeling ill. The Doctor was still looking rather amused nearly ten minutes later. "You're not used to cars, are you?"
"Our cars," Jay said, eyes shut and head resting against the window, "are very different from these, Doctor. For one, it's very hard to find one that touches the ground in my time." She took a deep breath to try and ward off a weird churn in her stomach.
Very aware of the man in the car with them, the Doctor suddenly asked Jay, "How are you feeling otherwise?"
Not opening her eyes, she tapped her elbow. "So long as I avoid running, we have some time. I'm in no danger for the time being." She swallowed thickly, fighting the urge to retch when they went over a bump in the road. Aware that Ross kept throwing them looks, curious about what Jay and the Doctor was talking about, Jay suddenly changed the topic. "Ross. Tell us about this academy we're going to."
The Doctor liked the idea of that and turned to Ross as he began to speak. "Well, UNIT's been watching it for ages. It's all a bit...odd, if you ask me. Exercise at dawn, classes, special diets…" He paused to turn when the ATMOS device in the vehicle ordered him to turn left. He did just that and then glanced over when the Doctor spoke.
"Ross, one question. If UNIT thinks that ATMOS is dodgy-"
"How come we've got it in the jeeps?" Ross snorted softly. "Tell me about it. They're fitted as standard on all government vehicles and we can't get rid of them until we prove something's wrong. Drives me around the bend." He grinned proudly at his own joke as he rounded a curve. The Doctor gave a startled laugh, delighted, and Jay, too ill to care, merely sighed.
The Doctor peered outside at the building they were finally reaching, taking in the size and likely wealth of it. Definitely looked like a place that a child millionaire would call home. He furrowed his brow a little, not entirely sure that he was going to like this genius. Experience told him that he'd not likely be too fond of him, even if he did appreciate someone with a similar ability to understand the world around them.
"This is your final destination," reported the navigation system as Ross stopped the jeep. They piled out, Jay looking beyond relieved to be free of the jeep. Rubbing her stomach as if it would help, she looked around and then pointed. "There. Do you think he's the one in the middle?"
The Doctor followed her gaze and found a series of fields with a track rounding it. A group of people all dressed in similar clothes were jogging along with a single figure standing in the center, watching as they went. He frowned.
He was more than certainly not going to enjoy this interaction as much as he had hoped.
They started for the figure, figuring it would be the best place to start even if it wasn't Luke Rattigan. The Doctor was pleased that they wouldn't have to look; when they got closer, it turned out that it was actually Luke. He turned to face them, though his eyes followed the group that was jogging around. Without waiting to be greeted, Luke said curtly, "I suppose you're the Doctor? Your commanding officer called ahead."
"Hello," the Doctor said cheerfully, wiggling his fingers in greeting. He studied the boy with interest. He was still young, and seemed rather arrogant. He'd not yet experienced much in the way of life's hardships. That, combined with money and geniusness...not a good combination. "I haven't got a commanding officer, though. Have you?" Luke ignored him. "These are Ross and Jay, by the way. Say hello, you two."
Ross inclined his head. "Afternoon, sir."
"Hi," Jay said awkwardly and then squawked when the Doctor took off for the large building without permission. She hurried after him and Luke, who shot after the Doctor like a rocket, as if worried. Ross sighed as he started after them, doubting Mace would like it if he let the Doctor disappear on him.
The Doctor made it to the academy's building in record timing, striding fearlessly through the doors. "Look at this!" he declared. He looked over his shoulder as he was joined by the others. "Let's have a good look, shall we? I can smell genius!" He paused. "In a good way."
Jay sighed softly under her breath, mentally preparing herself for the rude jabs that she could feel were going to come soon. Luke scoffed in irritation, but followed when the Doctor led them into a room that was full of students. Jay took a quick look around at the work they were doing, interested. Some of them were familiar, those experiments. She could recognize hints of what would eventually be thrown into rockets.
The Doctor looked as if he'd walked into an amusement park full of his deepest desires. "That's clever! Look!" He snapped his glasses out of his pocket and threw them on his face, crouching to peer closely at fabric laid out on a table. "Single molecule fabric! You could pack a tent in a thimble!" He whirled away, bouncing. "And gravity simulators! Terraforming, biospheres, nano-tech steel constructs!" He spun on his heel to face them, breathless. Jay stared at him in exasperation.
"Do you know," the Doctor said, and Jay knew immediately that he was making a point now, especially as he came to stand close to Luke, looking down at him. "With equipment like this...you could...oh, I don't know, move to another planet or something?"
Luke smirked a little, as if he knew something the Doctor didn't. "If only that were possible."
Jay caught on immediately; it was likely what he was doing then. Especially as the Doctor echoed him. He removed the glasses perched on his nose and stared Luke down with a harsh look that made Luke scowl. "If only that were possible," he echoed. "Conditional clause."
Turning away, as if fighting the urge to punch the Time Lord, Luke said, "I think you better come with me." He didn't wait, merely left and left the rest of them to follow if they wanted - as if he expected for his orders to be followed. Jay exchanged a quick look with Ross, feeling just as lost as the UNIT soldier. The Doctor nodded when she looked at him for guidance, and they did as Luke had ordered: they followed him, left with no other good choice.
Luke guided them to a massive room that looked as if it was for entertainment. It was piled with a variety of things, including a ping pong table, and Jay eyed it with distaste, not entirely fond of how white and ridiculously clean the room was. A rather odd thing in the corner caught her eye, however, and she narrowed her eyes at it.
"You're smarter than the usual UNIT grunts," Luke said, eyes watching them like a hawk. "I'll give you that."
The Doctor wandered off to explore the corners of the room like a curious toddler, calling over his shoulder, "He called you a grunt, Ross! Don't call Ross a grunt. He's nice. We like Ross! Right, Jay?" Jay nodded when he glanced at her. She flashed a faint smile at the amused Ross and then focused again as Luke huffed, "What do you want?"
"I was just thinking," the Doctor said as he came to a stop, investigating a pile of what looked to be abandoned experiments. "What a responsible thing for an eighteen year old. Inventing zero carbon cars? Saving the world?"
Luke shifted nervously. "Takes a man with vision."
"Mm," hummed the Doctor. "Blinking vision. 'Cause ATMOS means more people driving, more cars, more petrol...end result? The oil's going to run out faster than ever. The ATMOS system could make things worse rather than better."
"Yeah," Luke quickly said, voice hasty and rushed, "that's a tautology. You can't say 'ATMOS system' since it stands for 'atmospheric emissions system.' So, you're just saying 'atmospheric emissions system system.' Do you see, Mr. Conditional Clause?"
Jay took on a new dislike for Luke Rattigan and said with a wrinkled nose, studying him mindlessly, "No one ever really says no to you, do they, Mr. Rattigan?"
He gave her a dirty look and then focused back on the Doctor as if Jay was nothing to him. Jay sighed softly, remembering how it had been with Lazarus and other such smart, clever people. She wasn't clever like them and they tended to not see people who weren't on their level. She was used to it; still, rather annoying.
The Doctor looked as if he didn't appreciate Luke doing so. "Not easy, is it?" The Doctor's eyes burned with something Jay couldn't place. "Being clever. You look at the world and you connect things - random things. And you think, 'Why can't anyone else see it?' The rest of the world is so slow, and you're all on your own."
"Yeah." Luke cleared his throat, caught off guard by the honest words the Doctor had spouted off - as if they were entirely correct regarding his way of thinking. He shifted again. "I know."
And then the Doctor switched from serious to bouncy again, as if he had nothing to worry about in the world. "But not with this!" he said, whipping the ATMOS device Martha had brought him earlier out of his pocket. Ross and Jay stared at him, wondering where he'd managed to keep that because surely, even a Time Lord's pockets couldn't hold such a thing.
"There's no way you invented this thing single handed," continued the Doctor. He waved it a bit in the air. "I mean, sure, Earth technology. But that's like finding a mobile phone in the Middle Ages." He flashed Jay a grin, as if reminding her that they'd been there, and Jay's lips twitched. "No, no," the Doctor said, tossing the device to her. She snagged it, nearly dropping it in surprise. "I'll tell you what it's like! It's like finding this in the middle of someone's front room."
He turned all of his attention onto that odd object Jay had spotted in the corner. It looked like a strangely-crafted isolation area, like a reading nook with no books and meant to cause pain. Jay eyed it suspiciously. "What is it?" Ross asked after a moment.
"Looks like a thing, doesn't it?" the Doctor mused. "People don't question things, they just say, 'Oh, it's a thing!'" He strode over to it and Luke darted after him, frantically trying to stop him as the Doctor stepped right on inside, smirking over his shoulder. "Me, Luke? I make these connections, and this, to me, looks like…" The Doctor slammed a palm atop a massive button on the side of the "thing." "...a teleport pod."
"Doctor!" Jay yelped in alarm when he disappeared entirely. Ross blinked, surprised, and Luke scowled, furious with what had happened. Jay glared at the teleport pod and snapped under her breath, "Always doing things like this...God!"
"This is normal?" questioned Ross, glancing at her, and Jay nodded.
"Stupidly normal," she grumbled. She puffed some hair from her eyes. She supposed the only thing she could do was-
The Doctor appeared again in a small flash, already running. Jay took one look at the expression on his face and knew trouble was coming. He spun around, sonic screwdriver already raised as there was another flash and a figure appeared. The sonic screwdriver's buzzing filled the air and sparks flew. The Doctor had disabled the teleport pod, and now stood before the trio of humans, ready to defend them. Jay didn't miss how Luke rolled his eyes.
The figure - an alien, if its appearance was anything to go by - didn't look impressed. Jay didn't know what else to compare it to outside of a potato of some sorts. It was bald, rather short - fairly close to her height, to be honest. It wore what appeared to be a suit of armor-like substance, and it glared at them with hatred, a device at the ready in its hands.
Keeping the sonic screwdriver aloft, the Doctor said quickly, "Sontaran!" It lifted its weapon and Jay flinched. Ross immediately had his own gun at the ready in preparation for what was happening. The Doctor pushed on quickly, refusing to let the Sontaran silence him. "That's your name, isn't it? You're a Sontaran. How did I know that, eh? Fascinating, isn't it? Isn't that worth keeping me alive?"
"I order you," Ross interjected with the gun held level at the Sontaran, "to surrender in the name of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce." He looked ready to do what needed to be done, but there was a look in his eye that told Jay he'd not seen an alien before. Not a true alien, like the Sontaran. The Doctor didn't count - he looked like them.
"Well," said the Doctor, somewhat amused, "that's not going to work. Cordelaine signal, if I'm right. Copper excitation stops the bullets."
"How do you know so much?" barked the Sontaran. It turned its attention upon Luke, who didn't seem the list bit concerned by the sight of it. "Who is he?"
"He didn't give his name," Luke admitted, and the Sontaran seemed very unhappy about such a matter, eyeing the Doctor with suspicion.
The Doctor took this declaration in stride and challenged, "This isn't typical Sontaran behavior, is it? Hiding? Using teenagers, stopping bullets? A Sontaran should face bullets with dignity! Shame on you!" He kept a sharp eye on the Sontaran alone despite feeling a bit worried about the fact that Luke was involved. Ross and Jay were there, though. They'd help keep an eye on him. "What's your name?"
"General Staal of the Tenth Sontaran Fleet. Staal the Undefeated!" declared the Sontaran. The Doctor smirked a little, as if he'd just recognized ammunition to use against someone in the form of words.
"That's not a very good nickname," he said mockingly. "What if you get defeated? Staal the "Not-Quite-So-Undefeated-Anymore-But-Never-Mind?"
"Rude," muttered Jay even as she hid a small laugh behind a cough, earning a glare from Staal. That glare turned viciously onto Ross when Ross commented that Staal looked like a large, walking, talking baked potato.
The Doctor looked fairly amused with Ross's comment, even as he scolded lightly, "Now, Ross, don't be so rude. To him, you three look like a pink weasel to him." He sauntered away without a lick of concern about what was going on. His eyes skimmed the room until he found something useful. He scooped up a tennis racket and a tennis ball and then began to play with them, bouncing the ball on the racket without paying it too much attention. "The Sontarans are the finest soldiers in the galaxy. Dedicated to a life of warfare."
In other words, Jay quietly noted, not his favorite race of aliens.
"A clone race," he continued, still bouncing the tennis ball on the racket. "Grown in batches of millions with only one weakness."
Staal was immediately offended by the comment and seemed to bristle, glaring at the Doctor. "Sontarans have no weakness! We stare into the face of death!"
"It's a good weakness," the Doctor protested, and Luke turned to give him an exasperated look.
"Aren't you meant to be clever?" challenged Luke, narrowing his eyes in disbelief. He couldn't believe that the man before him would do something so ridiculously stupid as challenge a Sontaran. "Only an idiot would provoke him."
"Says the one who thought it smart to work alongside them," Jay said under her breath, earning an exceptionally angry look from Luke. The Doctor didn't bother to warn her off; instead, he kept his gaze on the Sontaran and said otherwise.
"Jay," he said, and she focused on him. "Do you know how they're fed? A probic vent in the back of their neck. It's their weak spot." Important information for future reference, Jay realized and nodded to show she was listening even though he'd not looked at her. "Which means they always have to face their enemies in battle...brilliant, isn't it? They can never turn their backs!"
Without prompting, he suddenly tossed the tennis ball skyward. He hit at as hard as he could with the racket, aiming carefully. The ball flew through the air and struck the back of the teleport pod before flying back - straight into Staal. "Run!" the Doctor shouted as the Sontaran collapsed with a gasp. Luke flew to Staal's side rather than away as Ross, Jay, and the Doctor all rushed from the room.
Ross looked stunned as they flew through the academy and out the front door. Jay tripped on the front steps and the Doctor paused briefly to help her catch her balance before pushing her towards the jeep. Ross was already in the driver's seat by the time they reached it. The Doctor threw open the back door and clambered in, whirling around once he was in to help drag Jay in. The jeep was moving before they'd even closed the door entirely. Heaving for air, Jay and the Doctor stared at one another. And then they gave matching, breathless smiles. "Alright?" he asked her as he clambered into the front seat with Ross.
"Yep," she answered, slumping comfortably into a seat. "What about you, Mr. Jenkins?"
"Ross," he corrected, "and completely fine, Miss O'Connors."
"Jay. Call me Jay." Jay swallowed to try and soothe her suddenly dry throat before saying, "Should I call Martha?"
"I've got a radio," he offered and handed the speaker to the Doctor when the Time Lord held his hand out impatiently.
The Doctor took it tightly in his fingers and lifted it to his mouth. "Greyhound Forty to Trap One," he said into it, listening intently. "Can you hear me? Over." When nothing came, he tried again. "Repeat! Can you hear me? Over."
"I don't think they can," said Jay when there was no response. The Doctor frowned in agreement and put the radio away, sinking back with a worried expression. "Is it the Sontarans, Doctor? If they helped with ATMOS, then they must be able to maneuver enough to isolate the one in the jeep. They had plenty of time to figure out which jeep we have."
"Turn left," instructed the navigation system, as if to confirm what they were saying.
The Doctor sat up again. Not good. "Ross, try going right." Ross tried, and then suddenly gasped, lifting his hands away from the wheel. "I've got no control. It's driving itself, it won't stop!"
Not good, the Doctor thought again. He whipped his sonic screwdriver out again and scanned the system as best as he could with the jeep roaring and bumping along. When it picked up speed, Ross tried the doors as he did so, declaring them locked. "It's deadlocked!" the Doctor reported a moment later, "I can't stop it!"
The jeep took a sharp corner and sent them careening to the side. Jay squawked as she nearly toppled across the seat. Her eyes darted this way and that, trying to figure out a solution when Ross announced, "We're heading for the river!"
"Hold on," she muttered and lurched forward, grabbing each front seat with white knuckles. The Doctor glanced up at her, confused. "It responds, right? The ATMOS is voice-activated?"
"Yes," said Ross hastily, bewildered as to where this was going. He stared in near terror at the water ahead of them,
"ATMOS!" Jay cried, "Are you programmed to contradict orders right now?"
"Confirmed."
Jay gave the two men in the vehicle a wild grin. "Drive into the river!" she exclaimed, earning a horrified look from Ross and a delighted smile from the Doctor as he realized what she was doing. "Drive right into that water for me!"
The jeep lurched to a sudden stop a mere breath away from the water. The system seemed to short out and sparked, and Jay lunged for the door, laughing when she found it unlocked. "Out!" she cried. "We can get out!" She threw the door open, her fingers shaking a little as she lurched out. Ross and the Doctor were only a second behind her as the ATMOS system began to rant off a series of instructions, voice getting higher and higher.
Jay only hesitated to make sure the Doctor was behind her before flat out running from the vehicle, a gasp in her throat. "Get down!" the Doctor shouted to Ross, suddenly hurling himself at the ground when the voice just began screeching. Jay went down a few feet away, instinctively covering her head. Ross had just barely done the same when there was a rather loud but small blast from the vehicle.
The Doctor looked over his shoulder with care and took in the size of it before pouting a little. "Was that it?" he complained.
Ross threw him a wide-eyed look as he shoved himself to his knees. "Wasn't that enough?"
Jay, swinging her legs around so that she sat criss-cross snorted softly. "That's pretty small compared to what we usually see, actually." She flashed Ross a grin when he looked at her in shock, seeming confused as to why she wasn't more scared than she was. She winked. "Things usually go - well, boom."
The Doctor chuckled as he climbed to his feet. He extended a hand to Ross to pull him to his feet and then to Jay, who took it without a moment's hesitation. "I think we need to get a better look at how ATMOS works in a car without being inside...Donna knew what it was. I bet her family's car will have it...good thing the Noble residence isn't too far from here!"
"We've never been there. How do you know where the Noble residence is?" demanded Jay, confused.
He waved her off and said, "I dropped Donna off the first time we met. Allons-y, Jay!"
She sighed as he took off at a brisk pace and grudgingly followed, Ross falling into step beside her.
It took them some time to get to the Noble residence despite what the Doctor said. He beamed when they reached it and said, eyeing a blue car that Jay recognized as the Nobles', "Why don't you go get Donna? I'll get started here." He pointed to a house.
"I'll go requisition us a vehicle," said Ross, turning and jogging off with a wave over his shoulder at Jay. She cast him a grin. She liked Ross, she realized. She liked Ross a lot.
"Anything without ATMOS!" the Doctor shouted after him, popping the hood of the car without concern for what the Nobles would think. "And don't point your gun at people!"
Jay shook her head and then left him to it, intent on getting Donna. The Doctor was in a frenzy, and it always was useful to have help when he was like this. Donna was particularly good at making him pay attention to his surroundings and the people within them. She hesitantly approached the house that the Doctor had indicated, hoping she hadn't gotten the wrong house, and paused at the front door. Finally, she just sighed and knocked sharply and loudly. If it was the wrong house, she'd just apologize and ask for the right one. It definitely was Donna's car out front though, so there was hope there.
Footsteps could be heard just a few moments before the door opened. Jay laughed in relief at the sight of a startled Donna Noble, her lips parting a little in surprise. "Donna!" she exclaimed.
"Jay!" Donna gasped in response, wide-eyed. "What are you doing here? I thought you and the Doctor went to that academy he kept going on about?"
"We did and we came back," Jay said with a shrug, pointing to where the Doctor was already picking apart the Nobles' car. "Long story short, ATMOS is bad and some aliens called the Sontarans are behind it. Also, the Doctor's messing with your car and wants you for something."
Donna puffed up irritably and stormed past Jay, heading right towards the Time Lord. Jay closed the door behind her and bustled along after her, worried that she'd give the Doctor a good whack or something similar when she doubted they had the time for it. "Donna," she protested. "What are you-"
"Oi!" Donna snapped. "Spaceman! Don't you know to ask before messing with things like that?"
The Doctor glanced up but didn't stop what he was doing, his sonic screwdriver's familiar buzzing loud in the air. "Jay, give Donna the phone Martha gave you," he ordered. Jay blinked but did as he said. Donna scowled as she took it, annoyed, but understanding that they didn't have time for her to give him a good rant like she tended to do. She took the phone from Jay, balancing it carefully in her hand. "Call Martha, would you?"
Jay looked somewhat annoyed with him now, too. "I could have called her."
"Not quickly enough."
Donna rolled her eyes as Jay glowered at him, offended, but skimmed through the contacts - which she realized the Doctor had altered and added various numbers, too, since it had belonged to Martha - and then called Martha herself. Phone to her ear, she watched as the Doctor straightened, rubbing his head anxiously as if he'd found nothing useful. Grumbling, he turned to Jay. "Hold this for me," he said, handing her something from within the car. She held it closely, confused, and watched as he plunged his hands back into the inside of the car.
"Is it him?" a voice suddenly called. "Is it him? Is it the Doctor?" Jay glanced up in time to see an older man round the side of the car. He had shrunk a bit with age, his white hair like freshly fallen snow. Wide blue eyes studied them and his breath rushed out sharply when he stopped to stare at Jay in turn - and then the Doctor.
The man gave a cry. "You! It's you!"
"Who?" said the Doctor as Jay sputtered, staring at the man in return. He glanced up and the pair looked at the old man in confusion as he pointed at them, his face full of disbelief.
"It's you!" he said in response, gaping. He couldn't believe the fact that the man they'd met on Earth from their time on the Titanic was standing before him - nor could Jay, who was blinking rapidly. "Both of you! What are you doing here?"
"Wait," said Donna, lowering the phone and snapping it shut. She looked between the three in complete confusion. "Have you met before?"
The old man beamed, looking beyond excited as he scurried over. "Christmas Eve! They disappeared right in front of me!"
"And you never said?" cried Donna, furious. She'd looked for the Doctor for so long, and here stood who Jay assumed to be her grandfather, having met him completely unintentionally after all of her searching for the daft spaceman?!
"You never said," he retorted, and the Doctor smiled a little. It was easy to see which side of the family Donna's sass came from… "Wilf, sir," the old man told him, "Wilfred Mott. You two must be aliens?"
"Well," said the Doctor pleasantly, shaking Wilf's hand when he offered it. "I am. Don't shout it out, mind you. It's nice to meet you properly, Wilf."
"I'm not an alien," added Jay when she shook Wilf's hand as well. "Just human, with a bit extra mixed in, I suppose." While Wilf excitedly milled over the fact that he'd gotten to shake the hand of an alien, the Doctor chuckling to himself, Jay turned on Donna. "Anything from Martha?" she asked hopefully, worried about her friend.
"She's not answering," admitted Donna. She moved a little bit closer to Jay, watching the Doctor and her grandfather closely as she asked, "Sontarans you said?" Jay nodded and Donna frowned, not able to recognize the name. They weren't something the trio had run into until this moment.
"Sontarans," confirmed the Doctor, frowning at the fact that Martha hadn't answered the phone. With Sontarans about, he hoped she wasn't in any danger. She was with UNIT, which had dozens of men and women ready for anything about though. She'd be alright...he hoped. "There's got to be more to it, they can't be just...remote controlling cars. That's not enough."
A beep signaled the ringing of a phone quite suddenly, and Donna handed the phone to the Doctor when he held his hand out. He picked up and met Jay's worried gaze briefly before focusing on what he was going to say to his friend. "Martha!" he said after she'd greeted him. "Tell Colonel Mace it's the Sontarans. They're in the file. Code Red Sontarans. But if they're inside the factory, tell them not to start shooting, do you hear me? UNIT would be massacred. I'll get back as soon as possible."
"Code Red Sontarans," she answered and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, getting an off feeling. Something wasn't right. "Gotcha." She hung up without another word and he thought his bad feeling might have been confirmed.
Something was very, very wrong with Martha Jones. But he didn't have the ability to investigate that for the time being. Instead, he needed to focus on the matter at hand: figuring out what other things the Sontarans were up to. The three with him kept back, letting him work in peace. Jay relayed the events of the academy to Donna, who was staring at them in exasperation. She'd been gone less than a few hours. Heavens above.
"The thing is," Wilf said suddenly, interrupting the conversation and focusing his attention on Jay, "Donna is my only grandchild, dear. Can you and the Doctor promise me you'll take care of her?"
Donna protested, but Jay only gave him a warm smile. "She takes care of us," she told him. "And she helps me take extra care of him, since he can't do it for himself."
"I heard that!" called the Doctor, not looking up from his work. He hissed when something in the car sparked at his fingers.
"That's my Donna," Wilf chuckled proudly, giving Donna a fond smile. "She was always bossing us around when she was tiny. The Little General, we used to call her." Jay giggled at the look on Donna's face, smiling warmly at Wilf. She was finding that she rather liked Wilf. He was nice enough, warm and very much someone Jay wished she'd had during her childhood. "And some of the boys she used to turn up with...a different one every week! Who was that one with the nail varnish, Donna?"
Donna turned a little pink and Jay giggled at her response. "Matthew Richards. He lives in Kilbourn now - with a man."
"Oh!" the Doctor suddenly gasped, ripping his hand away. He shook it away from the device he'd been fidgeting with and flashed the three a grin when they looked over. Jay and Donna looked concerned; Wilf was merely curious. "A temporal pocket. I knew there was something else in there. It's hidden just a second out of sync with real time."
Whatever that meant, Jay thought to herself before looking over when a ranting voice began to fill their ears. Wilf and Donna both winced, recognizing it, and the Doctor, not wanting to get involved with what was going to happen now, hid in the car again, as if he knew what he was doing. Jay arched a brow. Coward.
"Men and their cars!" ranted a woman. Her hair was a faded blonde streaked with silver, her aging face set in a perpetually unhappy look. "Sometimes, I think if I were a car...oh, my God!" she gasped, pointing at the Doctor. "It's you! Doctor...what was it?"
"What, have you met him as well?" asked Wilf, blinking a few times.
"Dad!" cried the woman, flailing her hands a little. "That's the man from the wedding! When you were laid up with the flu! I'm warning you," she told Donna, jabbing a finger hatefully in the Doctor's direction, "Last time that man turned up, it was a disaster, and-"
"Back up!" the Doctor suddenly shouted, springing back. A cloud of white smoke had started to escape the ATMOS device, reeling back. He retreated some distance, pushing the four that were watching back as well. Wilf stumbled a bit, although Jay was quick to help him catch his balance.
"Thanks," the older man said happily, smiling kindly at her, and Jay returned it without a moment's hesitation, finding herself incredibly fond of him. Donna and her mother peered nervously at the car as the Doctor used the sonic screwdriver on the ATMOS, narrowing his eyes a little.
"I told you!" said Sylvia irritably as she looked at the smoke. "He's blown up the car! Who is he anyway? What sort of doctor blows up cars?" Donna groaned, demanding her mother quiet down, and Sylvia bristled at her. "Should I make an appointment?" she demanded sarcastically before turning and marching angrily back towards the house.
The gas and smoke eventually stopped. The Doctor waved a moment, waving the gas away from his face, and then carefully approached the vehicle again. "That wasn't just exhaust fumes...some sort of artificial gas."
As Wilf excitedly began to demand if it was aliens, Donna exchanged a worried look with Jay and then returned her gaze to the Doctor. "But...if it's poisonous, then we've got poisonous gas in every car on Earth."
Wilf stopped his rant at that and then made a hasty decision. "If it's poisonous then it's not safe. I'm gonna get the car off the street."
"Mr. Mott, don't," Jay protested, trying to stop him with a hand on his wrist, but he pulled free and clambered into the driver's seat as Donna and the Doctor frowned at the ATMOS system the Doctor had been playing with. He had just barely settled into the seat when the doors slammed shut. Jay stared; Wilf hadn't so much as touched the door, nor had the three of them. "Doctor-"
He darted forward with a wide-eyed look as the locks suddenly clicked into place, the car turning on. "Granddad!" Donna cried as she threw herself at the door, yanking at it. Smoke poured from the exhaust pipe. "Turn it off!" she shouted through the window. "Turn it off! Get out!"
"I can't!" Wilf shouted, voice muffled by the window. "It's not locked!" He showed them the keys still in his hand and Donna's face paled with fear. "It's them aliens again!"
Sylvia, having heard the commotion, turned around to look from the path that would lead to the front door of her home. "What's he doing?" she demanded, voice rising in alarm when she realized there was trouble. "What's he done?"
"Doctor, what do we do?" Jay demanded, prying at another door's handle to try and get it open. "What's going on?"
He stared at the car in shock, as if unable to believe what he was seeing. "They've activated it," he said blankly, confused, and then leaped into action. He spun around, pushing Donna out of the way. She let him, coughing against the smoke and sobbing quietly under her breath. Jay took a tight hold of her arm, squeezing in reassurance. The Doctor tried to use his sonic screwdriver to free the lock, and when that didn't work, he dove for the ATMOS itself.
Donna banged a hand on the window, tears streaming down her face. "Granddad!" she cried when he coughed weakly, slumped against the window. "Doctor, get it open!"
Jay bit her lip, unsure of what she could do to help before suddenly taking notice that another car further down the street was smoking, too. She turned on her heel to look in the direction of the city they'd come from and felt something in her chest drop.
She watched as the city vanished in a cloud of smoke and fumes.
Yay! Managed another one! I was going to do another original chapter, but I put it off for further into Donna's season. I've got two originals planned, one of which is based off of one of my favorite Greek myths, so I'm very excited.
Thanks to reviewers (bored411, brmngirl, sorosegarden(chapters 1 & 9), and Purplestan (chapter1))! and those who favorited and followed!