Chapter 4: The Lazarus Experiment
The Tardis had been drifting for a day and a half now. Usually, the Doctor only had the patience to wait a couple of hours - just long enough for his human friends to have a snack and a quick nap - before setting off for the next adventure. But this time, they just kept floating through space. And Martha wasn't sure she was too happy about the reason why. Romana seemed nice enough, but she had been the focus of the Doctor's attention since she set foot in the ship. She and the Doctor had leaned against the console, talking at light speed and fiddling with various bits of equipment for about forty five minutes without really acknowledging her presence. Then, the Doctor's face had fallen slightly, and he'd put a hand on her elbow.
"I need to talk to you about something."
"Okay. Go ahead."
"No, not here. Somewhere a bit more… private."
"Oh. Alright."
And they had disappeared into one of the corridors. She wasn't sure exactly where they'd gone. That was thirty four hours ago. Well, thirty four hours and eighteen minutes; she'd been keeping track. In that time, she had made a full meal and baked a batch of cakes (although how the kitchen on the ship was this well stocked, given that the Doctor never seemed to go anywhere near a supermarket, she'd never know), spent a glorious few hours sunbathing under the artificial lights of the swimming pool room, slept, and got so bored that she actually considered doing some studying. The Tardis was certainly a wonder, but somehow it was less fun when she was exploring it on her own. She had just decided to curl up with a book in her room - and had got as far as the library doors - when they had reappeared, walking out of the room she had been heading for. The pair looked solemn, but the Doctor pasted a smile on the second he saw her.
"Ah, Martha! Ready for the next place, are we? Good, good."
She nodded, face falling slightly as she spotted his hand on Romana's shoulder.
"Sure. Ready for anything."
"Right." He looked down at the short ginger woman. "Keep going left, you'll find the wardrobe. I assume you want to get changed out of that lot?"
She managed a slight smile. "Yeah, it would be nice. I'll see you in a bit."
The Doctor and Martha walked back to the console room in awkward silence. Both of them seemed to be trying to find the right words, and losing the will to say them at the last moment. Finally, Martha sighed.
"Is everything ok?"
"What? Oh yeah, yeah, it's fine."
"Don't be like that." She stopped in the entryway to the console room, arms crossed. "You two were gone for a day and a half, and now you reappear like nothing's happened. You can tell me, you know."
He ran a hand over his face and leant against the opposite wall.
"I… I had to tell her. About Gallifrey. In as much detail as I could possibly give."
"She didn't know?"
"No." He sighed. "She'd been stuck in E-space - it's basically another universe, lined up to ours at certain coordinates where it's easier to cross over from here to there. Well, she's been there for the last two hundred and fifty years, ish, and it took a lot of luck to get back to this universe. She ended up on Earth purely by chance. But Earth in the early twentieth century? Your lot hadn't been into space yet, let alone seriously considered the idea of life elsewhere. There was no way for her to find out about what had happened. But… I couldn't just keep it from her."
She reached out, rubbing his arm, and he smiled in a way that made her heart flutter.
"We may have both run away from Gallifrey, but it was still home."
Then, he seemed to snap out of it, and bounded back down to the console again.
"Now. Let's be having you!"
It wasn't the smoothest of journeys, but it wasn't long before the Doctor was reaching for the hand brake.
"There we go. Perfect landing. Which isn't easy in such a tight spot."
She raised an eyebrow. "You should be used to tight spots by now. Where are we?"
"The end of the line. No place like it."
Feeling the familiar buzz of excitement building up, she ran to the doors and flung them open. She took in the sight of turquoise painted walls and flimsy curtains above a threadbare carpet, and the flitting bird in her chest stilled completely.
"Home. You took me home?"
He stepped out after her, looking around the cramped little studio flat. It was quite homely, really.
"In fact, the morning after we left, so you've only been gone about twelve hours. No time at all, really."
"But all the stuff we've done. Shakespeare, New New York, old New York?"
"Yep, all in one night, relatively speaking. Everything should be just as it was. Books, CDs, laundry." He flicked at a pair of underwear she'd left to dry, and she felt her cheeks burn. "So, back where you were, as promised."
"This is it?"
"Yeah, I should probably er-"
Her home phone started to ring and they both fell silent. They stood there, staring at it until it rang through.
"Hi, I'm out. Leave a message."
"Martha, are you there? Pick it up, will you?"
Martha felt herself groan internally. "It's Mum. It'll wait."
"All right then, pretend that you're out if you like." They both snorted a little at that. "I was only calling to say that your sister's on TV. On the news of all things. Just thought you might be interested."
Grabbing the remote from the bookshelf, she switched the TV on. It took a moment for the sound to catch up with the picture, but there she saw her sister, standing slightly behind and to the right of an ancient-looking man. He was the one speaking.
"The details are top secret. Tonight, I will demonstrate a device which will redefine our world."
She remembered something from a conversation a few days back.
"She's got a new job. PR for some research lab."
"With the push of a single button, I will change what it means to be human."
As the clamour of reporters took over, she switched the set off again.
"Sorry. You were saying we should…?"
He nodded. "Yes, yes, we should. One trip is what we said."
"Yeah. I suppose things just kind of escalated."
"Mmm. Seems to happen to me a lot."
"Thank you. For everything."
"It was my pleasure."
He slipped back into the ship and closed the doors. She stood there for a moment, back turned to it so she couldn't be seen crying. The first tears started to fall. But the sound of the dematerialisation didn't finish, not the way it usually would. Instead it drew on, repeating in a loop. She looked back, and it was still there. She wiped her eyes quickly - just in time for him to open the doors.
"No, I'm sorry. Did he say he was going to change what it means to be human?"
The Doctor grabbed Martha by the hand and dragged her through the Tardis, taking so many corners that she quickly lost all sense of how long they'd actually been moving. When they reached the wardrobe, the feeling of being overwhelmingly lost only increased - the central staircase extended both upwards and downwards, but she couldn't see how many levels it actually served. It just seemed to go on forever. And the warren of clothes rails and storage drawers on each level just added to the illusion. He knocked on the railing three times and raised his voice.
"Romana?"
Her voice was faint in response. "Hello?"
"Where are you?"
"No idea, I got distracted."
He laughed, eyes lighting up, and Martha felt sheer green jealousy trickle into her stomach. She knew it was totally irrational, of course. From what she had been able to gather, they'd been best friends once upon a time. It was only natural that he was overjoyed to be with her again. She just… felt like competition.
"Have you found anything you like yet?"
"Not really."
"Good, because we're all going formal. We've got a party to crash. Come down here?"
"Okay, heading your way."
Instead of hearing feet against the staircase, there was the sound of cloth against metal as she slid down the bannister, landing elegantly on her feet at their level.
"Oh, very graceful."
"Thanks." She'd taken her hair out of the bun, and it fell to her waist in a perfect auburn sheet. "What's the event?"
He led the two women through an archway to a section of the wardrobe that looked far more organised than the rest. It held racks of every kind of formal wear imaginable, from hundreds of cultures and thousands of planets.
"Right, get stuck in. Changing rooms are through that way."
Somehow, even though the Doctor's outfit was the simplest, he was the last person to finish getting ready. Martha started tugging at the hem of her dress, having second thoughts over her choice. The deep purple tulle was gorgeous, and she loved the beading across the chest, but part of her brain wished she'd gone for something a bit longer. And she wasn't too sure about the height of the heels either. Romana offered her a smile.
"Hey, you look lovely. Really, that colour is stunning."
"Thanks. I like what you picked."
"Thanks! I don't think dresses quite suit this body. Although I haven't worn one in centuries, so maybe that's what's throwing me off."
She had picked out a very pale peach button up shirt and an emerald green suit that made her hair, coiled in a plait around the crown of her head, stand out like fire. A handful of curls framed her face, and in the light of the console room there were freckles visible on every centimetre of her skin.
"So… if you don't mind me asking… how old are you? Because you look like you're in your late twenties at the most, but you said centuries."
Romana's forehead scrunched for a moment as she tried to work it out.
"Well, it's probably somewhere around… oh, I don't know. Four hundred years? Maybe four hundred and fifty? I think I lost count in a few places."
The Doctor finally joined them - not that he had much to add to the conversation. The moment he'd set eyes on Romana, his jaw had dropped a little. She looked so… different. But different in a very good way. He snapped himself out of it, thankful that neither woman seemed to have noticed his momentary lapse. Of course she looked different. She'd changed a lot since he'd last seen her, three regenerations for goodness' sake! He just wasn't used to her new face, her new body, just yet. It would take time.
"Good choices, we'll blend right in."
He missed the look that the women shot each other - from their experiences, he stuck out like a sore thumb everywhere he went.
"Now, off we go. It's not too far from here, should be a nice walk."
And they set off, falling into step with each other as they walked the few streets towards the venue. It was a pleasant evening, if a little cool in the breeze. But at least they had some entertainment - watching the Doctor fuss over his choice of clothing.
"Oh, black tie. Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens."
Romana raised an eyebrow. "Somehow, I don't think it's the fabric's fault."
Martha grinned, starting to warm up to the girl - it was nice to have someone else on side.
"t's not the outfit, that's just you. Anyway, I think it suits you. In a James Bond kind of way."
He stopped fiddling with his bow tie for a moment.
"James Bond? Really?"
The women fell about laughing at the look on his face as they approached the steps to the Lazarus Labs, only just schooling themselves back into normality as they reached the front doors.
The centrepiece of the large reception room was a circular dais, topped with a tall, frosted glass chamber flanked by four upright posts that curved inwards at the top to touch the roof of the cylinder. It was pure white, slightly lit from within. It was a disconcerting structure to look at. The three of them ambled about the space, making an attempt to blend in with the actual party guests. A waiter stopped by them with a tray of food, and the Doctor seized a handful.
"Oh, look, they've got nibbles! I love nibbles."
Romana pulled a face at him. "You really haven't changed."
Martha's attention was drawn by the arrival of her sister, dressed in a sparkly cocktail dress and wearing a wide grin.
"Martha, hi!"
"Oh, Tish!"
They hugged tightly before pulling away to look each other up and down.
"You look great. So, what do you think? Impressive, isn't it?"
"Very."
"And two nights out in a row for you. That's dangerously close to a social life."
She still couldn't quite believe that for everyone else, it had only been 24 hours. 24 hours ago, her life had changed forever. "If I keep this up, I'll end up in all the gossip columns."
Tish raised an eyebrow. "You might, actually. You should keep an eye out for photographers. And Mum, she's coming too. Even dragging Leo along with her."
"Leo in black tie? That I must see. This is, er, the Doctor. And Romana."
He grinned, giving her a little wave. "Hello."
Romana offered her a handshake. "Pleased to meet you."
Tish glanced between the two of them. "Are they with you?"
Martha nodded. "Yeah."
"But neither of them are on the list. How did they get in?"
"Well, he's my plus one, and-"
Romana cut in smoothly. "I'm here as a representative of a sector of the government. Unfortunately, I'm not at liberty to disclose which one, but I'm sure if you dig into the guest lists a little bit, my name will be there."
Seeing that Tish was satisfied, the Doctor shoved his hands in his pockets and changed the subject.
"So, this Lazarus, he's your boss?"
"Professor Lazarus, yes. I'm part of his executive staff."
Martha rolled her eyes. "She's in the PR department."
"I'm head of the PR department, actually."
"You're joking."
"I put this whole thing together."
Running a hand over one of the columns of the machine, Romana asked over her shoulder,
"So do you know what the professor's going to be doing tonight? This looks like some kind of microfield interference device."
The Doctor hummed in agreement. "Yeah, looks like it's mainly sonic based, probably designed for manipulation purposes. Do you know what he's got planned?"
Tish simply looked between the two of them.
"Ah, science geeks. I should have known. Got to get back to work now. I'll catch up with you later."
As she walked away, he frowned down at Martha.
"Science geek? What does that mean?"
She smothered a smirk. "That you're… obsessively enthusiastic about it."
He brightened up. "Oh, nice."
Romana sighed. "Somehow, I don't think it's usually meant as a compliment."
As Leo and Francine entered the reception room, he could hear his mother grumbling again. Most of it was under her breath, but he could hear a few pieces of what she was saying. It involved the usual topic.
"Your father's caused me enough heartache already with his menopause and his trophy girlfriend."
He sighed. "Yeah, Mum, I know. It's just something he said last night…"
He was grateful to be cut off by a smile splitting her face as she started to walk faster.
"Martha."
"Mum!"
Martha hugged her mum as tightly to her as she possibly could, feeling her laugh under her tight hold.
"All right, what's the occasion?"
"What do you mean? I'm just pleased to see you, that's all."
"You saw me last night."
"I know. I just… missed you." She swung a slightly awkward punch at her brother's shoulder. "You're looking good, Leo."
He scoffed. "Yeah. If anyone asks me to fetch them a drink, I'll swing for him."
Her mum had now shifted to eye her new friends with more than a hint of suspicion.
"You disappeared last night."
"I just went home."
"On your own?"
Knowing she couldn't hold off the introductions any longer, she gestured to the others.
"These are some friends of mine. The Doctor, and this is Romana."
She addressed him first. "Doctor what?"
"No, it's just the Doctor. We've been doing some work together."
He moved to shake her hand. "It's lovely to meet you, Mrs Jones. Heard a lot about you."
Francine raised an eyebrow. "Have you? What have you heard, then?"
"Oh, you know, that you're Martha's mother and. Er, no, actually, that's about it."
Romana could feel herself cringing as he fumbled with the conversation. How could he possibly be this bad at speaking to humans? He had far more experience with it than she did, and he was making a right mess of things.
"We haven't had much time to chat. You know, been busy."
Her expression shifted again. "Busy? Doing what, exactly?"
He gupled visibly. "Oh you know. Stuff."
Mercifully, the appearance of Professor Lazarus rescued him from any more awkward questions, and they all turned as the man tapped his glass for attention and began to speak.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Professor Richard Lazarus and tonight I am going to perform a miracle. It is, I believe, the most important advance since Rutherford split the atom, the biggest leap since Armstrong stood on the moon. Tonight, you will watch and wonder. Tomorrow, you will wake to a world which will be changed forever."
He stepped inside the chamber, and the doors were closed by a pair of young scientists, who then proceeded to the control desk and switched it on. The columns began to rotate and oscillate about the chamber, energy pouring into the top. Out of nowhere, an alarm began to blare.
"Something's wrong. It's overloading."
The console began to spark and the alarms grew louder - some of the guests were visibly concerned. The Doctor and Romana ran over there: she vaulted the desk as he moved to pull wires from the back of some of the drives. A very thin, elderly woman shouted at them from across the room.
"Somebody stop him. Get him away from those controls!"
Romana stuck her head up above the desk, enough fire in her voice to match her hair.
"If this thing goes up, it'll take the whole building with it. Is that really what you want?"
Running out of ideas, the Doctor ripped one of the larger power cables out, and the contraption finally slowed, before grinding to a halt. Martha rushed over to the chamber doors, struggling with the sealing mechanism.
"Get it open!"
With help, she eventually managed to get the door to budge, and steam flowed out. In the mist, a figure became clearer, before coming into view. It was a young blonde man with an incredibly smooth face, and he stumbled into the light. His features were unmistakeable.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Richard Lazarus. I am seventy six years old and I am reborn!"
Photographers had swarmed down on the man like moths to a lamp; he was barely visible through the flash of all the lenses. The little trio had positioned themselves at a slight distance, far enough away not to be noticed but close enough to be watched. Martha shook her head.
"It can't be the same guy. It's impossible. It must be a trick."
Romana chewed at the inside of her cheek, thinking.
"I wish it was. But if it was any kind of illusion, something would have interfered with it by now. That's real, however he's managed it."
"So what just happened then?"
The Doctor watched the man closely. "He just changed what it means to be human."
They watched as the old woman - overhearing someone refer to her as Lady Thaw as she passed - drew him away from the press.
"Excuse me. That was the most astonishing thing I've ever seen. Look at you."
Lazarus smiled coldly. "This is only the beginning. We're not just making history, we're shaping the future, too."
"Think of the money we'll make. People will sell their souls to be transformed like that. And I'll be first in line."
He tensed suddenly, the muscles in his back and neck twitching painfully. He grabbed a tray from a passing waiter and proceeded to practically inhale all of the hors d'oeuvres. Lady Thaw looked at him, mildly horrified by the way he was embarrassing them in public.
"Richard."
"I'm famished."
Seeing an opportunity, the Doctor sauntered over.
"Energy deficit. Always happens with this kind of process."
Lazarus raised an eyebrow at the interrupter.
"You speak as if you see this every day, Mister…?"
"Doctor. And well, no, not every day, but I have some experience of this kind of transformation."
"That's not possible."
Romana's expression was one of neutral boredom.
"Using hypersonic sound waves to create a state of resonance. It's hardly something that hasn't been done before."
The Professor turned his attention to her, eyes narrowed.
"You understand the theory, then."
"Enough to know that you couldn't possibly have allowed for all the variables."
"No experiment is entirely without risk."
A flash of incredulity crept into her voice.
"That thing nearly exploded. You might as well have stepped into a blender. Actually, putting yourself in a blender would probably have done less lasting damage."
Lady Thaw sneered. "You're hardly qualified to comment, young lady."
She bristled, and the Doctor stepped in - he remembered the temper her old body had had, and it looked like she'd kept it through all these regenerations.
"If we hadn't stopped it, it would have exploded."
Lazarus offered a disingenuous smile. "Then I thank you, Doctor. But that's a simple engineering issue. What happened inside the capsule was exactly what was supposed to happen. No more, no less."
Martha frowned. "You've no way of knowing that until you've run proper tests."
"Look at me. You can see what happened. I'm all the proof you need."
The look on Lady Thaw's face made Martha want to slap her. "This device will be properly certified before we start to operate commercially."
"Commercially? You are joking. That'll cause chaos."
He shrugged. "Not chaos, change. A chance for humanity to evolve, to improve."
The Doctor glared. "This isn't about improving. This is about you and your customers living a little longer."
"Not a little longer, Doctor. A lot longer. Perhaps indefinitely."
Lady Thaw tugged at his arm. "Richard, we have things to discuss, upstairs. Away from the… public."
"Goodbye, Doctor. In a few years, you'll look back and laugh at how wrong you were."
He took Martha's hand and placed a kiss on the back of it, offered a semi-polite nod to Romana, and left. The Doctor groaned.
"Oh, he's out of his depth. No idea of the damage he might have done."
"So what do we do now?"
"Now? Well, this building must be full of laboratories. I say we do our own tests."
Romana agreed. "With everyone down here at the party, I'm sure most if not all of the labs will be unguarded. We can make the most of the tech they've got available."
Martha wiggled her fingers. "Lucky I've just collected a DNA sample then, isn't it?"
The Time Lords grinned at her.
"Oh, Martha Jones, you're a real star."
Sure enough, it was incredibly simple to get into one of the labs without being noticed. It had also been surprisingly easy to hack into their computer systems and sync up all the equipment so they could analyse the sample. The Doctor stared in wonder at the screen.
"Amazing."
Martha couldn't see anything out of the ordinary in the structure. "What?"
"Lazarus's DNA."
"I can't see anything different."
"Look at it!"
Romana pointed to one particular part of the sequence. "Keep your eyes on that bit there."
And moments later, that exact section bulged outwards, flaring violently.
"Oh, my God. Did that just change? But it can't have."
"But it did."
"It's impossible."
The Doctor grinned. "And that's two impossible things we've seen so far tonight. Don't you love it when that happens?"
"That means Lazarus has changed his own molecular patterns."
"Hypersonic sound waves to destabilise the cell structure, then a metagenic programme to manipulate the coding in the protein strands."
"Basically, he hacked into his own genes and instructed them to rejuvenate." Romana finished his sentence, tapping at the keyboard to try and enhance the view a little more.
"But they're still mutating now."
He nodded. "Because he missed something. Something in his DNA has been activated and won't let him stabilise. Something that's trying to change him."
"Change him into what?"
"I don't know, but I think we need to find out."
"That woman said they were going upstairs."
"So let's go."
Tish had been milling about peacefully since the transformation, mingling and chatting to the various guests. Her mother coming up to harass her with questions wasn't what she needed.
"Tish! Have you seen Martha and that Doctor anywhere?"
"Not since the demonstration."
"Do you know anything about him? Has she ever mentioned him before?"
"Not to me."
"The way she followed him."
Tish groaned internally. Her mum had always been obsessed with their relationships; presumably because things had gone so wrong with her and their dad. Every time she'd mentioned any boy's name, even if they were just working together for a school project, she'd immediately jumped in with a hundred and one questions about what was going on between them. Even as they'd grown up and moved out, she'd still nitpicked over every single friend of the opposite sex. "She's a doctor. She was just doing her job."
"She's not a doctor yet. Never will be, if she doesn't stay focused."
Leo rolled his eyes, and Tish was glad he was on side.
"Look, she's found a bloke. So what? And that other friend of hers, the woman, she seemed really lovely. Can't you just be happy that she's making some more friends?"
"There's something going on, Leo, I can feel it."
Deciding to abandon the argument, Tish walked off to continue doing her job - until a hand closed around her wrist.
"Leticia Jones. I'd recognize the smell of that soap anywhere."
"Professor." She felt her cheeks heating up. Lazarus was certainly a more attractive man in his youth, and the way he was looking at her made her heart flutter.
He turned to say goodbye to the group he'd been speaking with.
"I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, you'll have to excuse me while I take care of Leticia here. I've been neglecting her."
They had managed to find their way to the administration section of the building relatively easily, Martha leading the way for most of it.
"This is his office, alright."
The room they were currently in was taken up by a large, smooth desk that only held a computer and a small pile of notebooks. It's decoration was simple, and the large windows looked out onto the city. It was also conspicuously empty.
The Doctor shrugged. "So where is he?"
"Don't know. Let's try back at the reception."
She turned to head back to the stairs, but noticed that Romana hadn't moved.
"What is it?"
"Behind the desk. Lazarus came up with that woman, right? But it looks like he left alone."
She looked back and saw it. A skeletal leg, finished with a low spangled heel.
"Is that Lady Thaw?"
The three of them rounded the corner of the desk to take in the whole sight. Going by the outfit, it was definitely her. The Doctor knelt next to the corpse, scanning it.
"Used to be. Now it's just a shell. Had all the life energy drained out, like squeezing the juice out of an orange."
"Lazarus?"
"Could be."
Romana shook her head. "What else round here could do that?"
"So he's changed already?"
He shook his head. "Not necessarily. You saw the DNA. It was fluctuating. The process must demand energy. This might not have been enough."
"So he might do this again?"
Very concerned by this thought, the three of them headed back downstairs. They weren't sure exactly what they were going to do, just that they needed to work out what Lazarus' next move would be.
In fact, Lazarus stepped out of the lift just as the trio disappeared into the other one. He had a hand low on Tish's back.
"You seem very young to have such a responsible position. Have you much experience?"
She seemed to be appreciating all the compliments he had rained on her so far.
"Not really. But the interview panel thought I had all the necessary attributes."
"How perceptive of them."
"So where are you taking me?"
"Up to the roof. It's a lovely evening. I thought I'd show you the view. It's extraordinary."
Feeling bold, she glanced up at him. "Like a lot of things around here, then."
He smiled down at her, and she felt her cheeks burn once again.
The three of them were growing more and more concerned by the minute at the lack of information concerning Lazarus.
"I can't see him."
"I haven't even overheard anyone say where they saw him last."
"He can't be far. Keep looking."
Leo sidled up to them, a knowing look in his eyes.
"Hey, you all right, Marth? I think Mum wants to talk to you."
She brushed him off. "Have you see Lazarus anywhere?"
"Yeah, well, he was getting cosy with Tish a couple of minutes ago."
Her eyes widened. "With Tish?!"
Francine joined them, clearly wanting a discussion. "Ah, Doctor."
But he and Romana were far too concerned with the other girl's safety to really pay attention to her. "Where did they go?"
Leo shrugged. "Upstairs, I think. Why?"
"Doctor-"
Again he ignored her, grabbing Romana by the hand and gesturing for Martha to follow them as he set off at a run. In the chaos, her drink was spilled down her dress, and she was left standing there covered in the fizzy, sticky liquid.
"I'm speaking to you!"
She reached for a napkin to dry herself off, and found that one of the waiters moved to do the same.
"I think you need one of these, too." He handed her another glass of champagne.
"Thank you. That's very kind of you."
"Do you know that man? And the woman he's with?"
"No. They're friends of my daughter."
He nodded wisely. "Perhaps she should choose her friends more carefully."
They got back to the office. Martha was getting more panicked by the second.
"Where are they?"
The Doctor switched on the sonic. "Fluctuating DNA will give off an energy signature. I might be able to pick it up." There was a slight pause, and then- "Got him."
"Where?" He pointed upwards. "But this is the top floor."
Romana grabbed Martha's hand, pointing to a fire exit sign on the opposite wall.
"The roof. There'll be an emergency staircase we can use, come on."
Tish was trying to commit to memory the way that Lazarus' suit felt against her bare arm. She hadn't fancied anyone this much since Adam Rialto, one of the dreamy boys in the year above when she was at college who'd smiled at her in the corridor a few times. He had been blonde, too.
"That clock tower's beautiful all lit up like that."
"It's Southwark Cathedral. One of the oldest churches in London. Been around even longer than I have."
"Well, you're looking pretty good for your age."
"Thank you."
"Can I…?" She trailed off, suddenly shy.
"Of course."
She reached up, stroking his cheek in wonder. "Still can't take it in."
He chuckled. "I'm still adjusting myself. I've been working toward it for so many years, it's hard to believe the moment's finally arrived."
"And is it like you expected?"
"I find that nothing's ever exactly like you expect. There's always something to surprise you. Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act-"
"Falls the Shadow."
They turned around, seeing the Doctor, Romana and Martha standing a few metres away from them.
"So the mysterious Doctor knows his Eliot. I'm impressed."
Tish hissed. "Martha, what are you doing here?"
She reached out. "Tish, get away from him."
"What? Don't tell me what to do."
Romana reached a hand out to her, offering an encouraging smile. "It's alright, Tish, you haven't done anything wrong. Just come over here."
The Doctor was busy taunting the Professor. "I wouldn't have thought you had time for poetry, Lazarus, what with you being busy defying the laws of nature and all."
But he was playing the game right back. "You're right, Doctor. One lifetime's been too short for me to do everything I'd like. How much more I'll get done in two or three or four."
"Doesn't work like that. Some people live more in twenty years than others do in eighty. It's not the time that matters, it's the person."
"But if it's the right person, what a gift that would be."
"Or what a curse. Look at what you've done to yourself."
"Who are you to judge me?"
Martha tried again, never taking her eyes off Lazarus. "Over here, Tish."
Her sister stomped over, fuming. "You have to spoil everything, don't you? Every time I find someone nice, you have to go and find fault."
Behind her back, the man was twisting and convulsing, struggling to stay upright on his feet.
"Tish, he's a monster!"
"I know the age thing's a bit freaky, but it works for Catherine Zeta-Jones."
Then, she noticed that the others had shifted. The Doctor and Romana were now standing on either side of her, almost as if they were guarding her. She turned - and realised why. The man she had just been snuggled up to, thinking about kissing, had vanished. In his place was a colossal, hideous, pinkish creature with a barbed scorpion-like tail and two additional limbs.
"What the hell is that?"
The Doctor shepherded them all to the fire door.
"Run!"
He sonicked the doors shut as the women ran down the stairs. Martha had taken Tish by the hand.
"Are you okay?"
"I was going to snog him!"
The lights began to flicker, and colossal thuds from above signalled Lazarus' attempts to get into the building. Another crash, and the tannoy started to sound.
"Security one. Security one. Security one."
Martha stopped for a second. "What's happening?"
Tish groaned. "An intrusion. It triggers a security lockdown. Kills most of the power. Stops the lifts, seals the exits."
Reaching the office levels, Romana led the others towards the internal fire stairs.
"So we'll get down this way - this'll take us back to the reception, right?"
"Yeah, it will. But I think all the external doors will have locked down, they all run on the same system."
"Well then we'll just have to hope that we can get them open again."
There was an even louder crash from above, and the sound of a large object slamming into a wall - clearly, the creature had torn the door from its hinges.
The Doctor picked up the pace.
"He's inside! We haven't got much time!"
They made it down to the reception room, where a handful of the guests had clearly already tried the front doors to no avail. The majority of the people, however, seemed to be doing their best to ignore the wailing of the alarms.
"Tish, is there another way out of here?"
She pointed. "There's an exit in the corner, but it'll be locked now."
"Martha," he tossed the sonic to her. "setting fifty four. Hurry."
As she and her sister hurried away to try and get the doors, he and Romana stood on a set of chairs and got people's attention.
"Listen to me! You people are in serious danger! You need to get out of here right now!"
A woman in a questionably styled yellow dress sneered up at them.
"Don't be ridiculous. The biggest danger here is choking on an olive."
Romana rolled her eyes.
"If you want to live, you'll listen to us. If you're perfectly happy to die a horrible death, however, be my guest and stay right where you are."
As if on cue, the mutated form of Lazarus appeared on the mezzanine. He jumped down to the ground level, sending people scattering in panic. He turned left and right, as if deciding which person to target first. His movements sent a table flying, and it crashed down on Leo's head. As Francine panicked, Martha finally managed to get the doors open.
"Over here! This way! Everyone downstairs now! Hurry!"
Most of the guests flooded towards the open doorway, but a few remained frozen in fear. One of those was the woman who'd spoken out, and it took Lazarus very little time to set upon her and devour her.
Jumping down from the chair, Romana sprinted over to Lazarus, taking his attention away from the other people remaining.
"That's enough! Leave them alone."
He ignored her for the moment, turning towards the hunched Leo and panicked Francine. The Doctor ran over from the other side, managing to draw his attention back to them.
"Lazarus! Leave them alone. Haven't you got bigger people to target?"
In the lull, Martha ran over to her family, checking her brother over with swift ease.
"Martha."
"Come on, stay with me. You're okay. Leo, look at me. Focus on me. Let's see your eyes. He's got a concussion. Mum, you'll need to help him downstairs."
She pressed a handful of ice into a napkin and held it to the growing lump on his head.
The Time Lords were slowly drawing the monster towards the corridor that led off into the science sector, taunting him in tandem to keep his focus on them.
"What's the point? You can't control it."
"The mutation's far too strong, and you know it. Give up."
"Killing those people won't help you."
"You're a fool. A vain old man who thought he could defy nature."
"Only Nature got her own back, didn't she? You're a joke, Lazarus! A footnote in the history of failure!"
And the two of them bolted.
Tish's eyes widened. "What the hell are they doing?"
"Trying to buy us some time. Let's not waste it. Go! I'll be right behind you." Her sister paused, and Martha shoved her. "Tish, move! We need to get out of here."
Unfortunately, the guests hadn't been able to actually leave - while the first set of doors had slid smoothly open, the second set of external doors were still firmly locked. Tish swore, looking over her shoulder every few seconds.
"We can't get out. We're trapped!"
Martha, remembering she still had the sonic, tapped it against her palm.
"There must be an override switch. Where's the security desk? Tish!"
"There."
She vaulted the desk and crouched by the control panel, running the sonic over it and desperately hoping that one of the circuits she was interfering with was the right one. Finally, the lights switched back on and the doors opened, allowing the frantic crowd to stream out into the cool night air.
The duo had ducked into one of the boiler rooms, clambering through the tangles of pipes as Lazarus clung to the walls, unable to fit into the smaller spaces. The power still hadn't come back on, so they were relatively safe for the moment.
"It's no good, Doctor. You can't stop me."
He scoffed. "Is that the same arrogance you had when you swore nothing had gone wrong with your device?"
"The arrogance is yours. You can't stand in the way of progress."
Romana stopped, craning her neck up to follow the sound.
"You call feeding on innocent people progress? You're delusional!"
"It is a necessary sacrifice."
"That's not your decision to make."
The generators whined as the power came back on, and she found herself barely a metre away from Lazarus' face. He grinned coldly, the skin of his lower jaw separating and flaring threateningly.
"Peek a boo."
"Ah. Hello."
She felt the Doctor's hand slip into hers, and the two of them were on the run again.
Next to her family on the steps outside the building, Martha got to her feet.
"I've got to go back."
Her mum glared up at her, unable to actually move while she was holding the compress to Leo's forehead. "You can't! You saw what that thing did. It'll kill you."
"I don't care. I have to go."
"It's that Doctor, isn't it? That's what's happened to you. That's why you've changed."
Tish put a hand on her shoulder. "They were buying us time, Martha. Time for you to get out, too."
But she shook her head. "I'm not leaving them."
She turned and ran back up to the reception, ignoring her family's shouts behind her.
"Martha! Martha, come back!"
Having made it to the nearest lab space - and with Lazarus right on their tail - they got to work. The Doctor leapt onto one of the benches and started dismantling the nearest light fitting as Romana started to switch on the gas taps. Scurrying footsteps approached and they ducked behind one of the benches just as the door opened.
"More hide and seek, Doctor? How disappointing. Why don't you come out and face me?"
They started to make their way towards the other door, turning on the remaining gas taps as discreetly as they could. When they reached the door, Romana popped up first.
"Have you looked in the mirror lately? Why would I want to face something as hideous as that, hmm?"
Lazarus lunged, and the Doctor punched the light switch as they ducked through the doorway. The room ignited with a colossal bang, and they broke into a run once again.
They had only been moving for a minute or so before they crashed into Martha. Romana grabbed her by the shoulders.
"What are you doing here? It's not even close to being safe yet."
"I'm returning this. I thought you might need it."
The Doctor took the sonic back with a grin. "How did you…?"
"I heard the explosion. I guessed you two had something to do with it." .
"Yeah, we blasted Lazarus."
"Did you kill him?"
The appearance of Lazarus on the opposite gantry as he smashed through the windows answered that question for them.
"More sort of annoyed him, I'd say. Come on."
Leo was recovering nicely, and Tish had taken her mother's place next to him so she could pace back and forth.
"She'll be all right. The Doctor and that woman, Romana, they'll look out for her."
"She turned her back on us, went in there with that thing for him." Naturally, her mum was more concerned about a man being a bad influence on her daughter.
Leo shrugged, wincing a little as the movement jogged his head. "He must be some guy."
She shrugged. "Maybe she loves him."
Her mum snapped. "She just met him!"
The waiter who had helped her before approached again.
"Is your daughter still in there with the Doctor and the woman?"
"Do you know him?"
"He's dangerous. There are things you should know."
"What things?"
Her children watched as he leant in to whisper in her ear, and the look on her face shifted from one of panicked concern to one of angry fear.
The three of them burst back into the now empty reception room, acutely aware that Lazarus was only moments behind them. Martha groaned.
"What now? We've just gone round in a circle."
The Doctor pulled them towards Lazarus' machine.
"We can't lead him outside. Come on, get in."
"Are we hiding?"
Romana shook her head, having seen the creature appear just as the door slid closed.
"No, he knows we're here. But this is his masterpiece, his pride and joy. I highly doubt he'd be willing to destroy it just to get to us."
"But we're trapped."
He shrugged. "Well, yeah, that's a slight problem."
"You mean you don't have a plan?"
"Yes, the plan was to get inside here."
"Then what?"
"Well, then I'd come up with another plan."
Crammed up against the wall, she couldn't help herself as she rolled her eyes.
"In your own time, then."
There was a pause, and then Romana kicked the top of his shoe.
"Reverse the polarity."
"Oh… yes, that could work!" He grinned, and worked the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket before shimmying to crouch on the floor. It was a tight squeeze, and Martha found herself desperately trying to keep her thoughts PG-13 rated.
"Hey! Watch it!"
"Sorry, sorry, sorry. Just trying to get this sorted."
"What're you going to do with that?"
"Improvise., and hope for the best."
He opened the central panel and started fiddling with the wires, hissing as it sparked at his fingers.
"I still don't understand where that thing came from. Is it alien?"
Romana shook her head. "No, for once it's strictly human in origin."
"Human? How can it be human?"
"Probably from dormant genes in Lazarus's DNA. The energy field in this thing must have reactivated them. And it looks like they're becoming dominant."
"So it's a throwback."
"Yeah, some option that evolution rejected for you millions of years ago, but the potential is still there. Locked away in your genes, forgotten about until Lazarus unlocked it by mistake."
"It's like Pandora's box."
From the floor, the Doctor agreed. "Exactly. Nice shoes, by the way."
She felt her cheeks heat up a little, but didn't have time to enjoy the moment as the walls started to hum. "Doctor, what's happening?"
"Sounds like he's switched the machine on."
"And that's not good, is it?"
"Well, I was hoping it was going to take him a little bit longer to work that out."
As the vibration increased and was accompanied by a high pitched whine, Romana chewed her lip. "I don't want to hurry you, but-"
"I know, I know. Nearly done."
Martha couldn't really see what was going on - the lights were brightening by the second, and his head obscured her view of the panel below. "Well, what're you doing?"
"I'm trying to set the capsule to reflect energy rather than receive it."
"Will that kill it?"
"When he transforms, he's three times his size. Cellular triplication. So he's spreading himself thin."
"We're going to end up like him!"
"Almost there!"
The machine heaved and spat out a wave of pure energy that washed across the space. It finally stopped oscillating, and the three of them extricated themselves from it, all very relieved that things had worked out in their favour.
Martha stretched her shoulders out, glad to be out of the claustrophobic space.
"I thought we were going to go through the blender then."
The Doctor was frowning down at the sonic. "Really shouldn't take that long just to reverse the polarity. I must be a bit out of practice."
Conversation stopped as they saw the naked man lying face down on the floor. He was incredibly still, eyes staring distantly.
"Oh, God. He seems so human again. It's kind of pitiful."
Romana sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"It's always hard, seeing this happen to people. Even when they've just been trying to kill you."
He moved to put an arm around each of them.
"Eliot saw that as well, you know. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but with a whimper."
When the paramedics arrived, the group finally left the building. They made a beeline for Martha's family - a move which the Doctor very quickly came to regret. Tish was glad to see all of them; her mother, however, had a face like thunder.
"She's here. Oh, she's all right."
He grinned. "Ah, Mrs Jones. We still haven't finished our chat."
It was quickly knocked off his face as she slapped him hard enough to make a cracking sound echo against the stone.
"Keep away from my daughter. Both of you."
Martha gasped. "Mum, what are you doing?"
"He is dangerous. I've been told things."
"What are you talking about?"
"Look around you. Nothing but death and destruction."
"This isn't his fault. He saved us, all of us!"
Leo piped up from his position on the ground; clearly he was feeling better. "And it was Tish who invited everyone to this thing in the first place. I'd say technically, it's her fault."
Tish elbowed him as they continued to bicker, ignoring the Doctor as he cradled his jaw with a hurt expression.
"Always the mothers, every time."
Romana tutted. "Oh, don't be dramatic, you've had far worse."
"It hurts!"
"You're such a toddler."
A crash from around the corner stopped both conversations, and the Time Lords broke into a run, instincts calling them to investigate. Martha took a few steps, but her mum grabbed her arm.
"Leave him."
She pulled away and followed, and Tish moved uncertainly.
"Martha?"
"Not you, too?"
She glanced between her mum's face and Martha's back, and made her choice.
"Sorry. I'm coming back."
And she set off after them.
The four of them stopped to see the back of the ambulance wide open. Inside were two desiccated corpses, and a quick examination of the drivers seat revealed another one. Equipment was strewn everywhere, and the engine was smoking a little. The Doctor dragged a hand over his face.
"Lazarus, back from the dead. Should have known, really."
Martha looked about them, unable to shake the feeling that they were being watched.
"Where's he gone?"
"That way. The church."
"Cathedral." Tish felt her cheeks heat up as they turned to look at her. "It's Southwark Cathedral. He told me."
They crept inside, trying their best to keep their shoes from echoing too much against the stone floor. Martha thought even the tiniest whisper would be too loud.
"Do you think he's in here?"
Romana nodded towards the altar, where a trembling heap of red blankets cowered.
"Where would you go if you were looking for sanctuary?"
They moved to stand in a semicircle about him, waiting for him to speak first. He looked too weak to move anywhere any time soon.
"I came here before, a lifetime ago. I thought I was going to die then. In fact, I was sure of it. I sat here, just a child, the sound of planes and bombs outside."
The Doctor had his hands in his pockets, and he frowned. "The Blitz."
"You've read about it."
"I was there."
"You're too young."
"So are you."
He laughed, but the sound quickly became gasps of pain as several of his joints cracked harshly.
"In the morning, the fires had died, and I was still alive. I swore I'd never face death like that again. So defenceless. I would arm myself, fight back, defeat it."
"That's what you were trying to do today?"
"That's what I did today."
"What about the other people who died?"
"They were nothing. I changed the course of history."
"Any of them might have done too. You think history's only made with equations? Facing death is part of being human. You can't change that."
"No, Doctor. Avoiding death, that's being human. It's our strongest impulse, to cling to life with every fibre of being. I'm only doing what everyone before me has tried to do. I've simply been more successful."
"Look at yourself. You're mutating! You've no control over it. You call that a success?"
"I call it progress. I'm more now than I was. More than just an ordinary human."
"There's no such thing as an ordinary human."
Lazarus convulsed again, more violently this time, and Martha murmured to Romana - for the first time, she noticed that she was a little taller than the ginger woman.
"He's going to change again any minute."
"I know. I've got a plan to get him up into the bell tower. I have a theory about how we could stop him, but I'll need the three of you to help implement it."
"What do you need us to do?"
"Be loud."
Recovering momentarily, Lazarus sneered.
"You're so sentimental, Doctor. Maybe you are older than you look."
He shrugged. "I'm old enough to know that a longer life isn't always a better one. In the end, you just get tired. Tired of the struggle, tired of losing everyone that matters to you, tired of watching everything turn to dust. If you live long enough, Lazarus, the only certainty left is that you'll end up alone."
"That's a price worth paying."
"Is it?"
"I will feed soon."
"I'm not going to let that happen."
"You've not been able to stop me so far."
Taking a step back, Romana whistled.
"Hey, Lazarus. You don't want him. I thought your tastes leant more towards the young and dainty. And believe me, I've aged like a fine wine."
He lunged, and she set off at a sprint, taking the steps in the tower two at a time and quickly vanishing from view. The Doctor grabbed Martha's hand, frantic.
"Did she tell you what she was doing?"
"No. She just said we needed to be loud."
He thought for a second, and it hit him. "Oh, she's clever. That… that just might work. Right. Martha, Tish, I need you to go to the bell tower and ring every bell you can get your hands on. Got it? Every single bell."
"Ok. What are you going to do?"
"Make Lazarus face the music."
As the girls ran, he looked up towards the clerestory, desperately hoping for any sign of Romana.
"Doctor, here!"
"Are you alright?"
"He got caught in the staircase transforming, I'm hoping it's slowed him down a bit."
"Okay. Be careful-"
A snarl cut him off, and she vanished into the shadows again as the scorpion-shape of Lazarus appeared at the end she had come from.
"Romana!"
"Get on with it, idiot!"
He managed an incredulous laugh, before dashing over to the cathedral's impressive organ and jamming the sonic screwdriver into one of the nearest power sockets.
"Hypersonic sound waves. Inspired."
The sisters reached the bell tower, the one next to the tower where the monster was currently being led as bait, and quickly unhooked the bell pulls from their wall fastenings.
"I've kind of always wanted to do this." Tish grinned, tensing every muscle in her upper body and heaving downwards. The first bell rang out above, and Martha moved to do the same.
"Yeah, me too. Let's just hope it works."
Up in the taller tower, Romana pressed herself against the wall opposite the only exit and watched as the beast approached, thinking on her feet. Realistically, there was no real way out. Unless she managed to tangle Lazarus up in his own tail, there was no way she'd get past him. Jumping down the central opening could work - although at the very least there'd be some nasty bruises.
"Come on, then! What are you waiting for?"
He appeared in the doorway, filling it entirely, leering at her.
"My lady."
"Sorry, old man. You're really not my type."
His face twisted into a snarl, and he lunged across the space.
As the bells began to clamour, the Doctor started to play.
"I hope it's a good acoustic in here."
The combined noises made Lazarus cringe back, thrashing wildly. His tail struck her in the side and she stumbled, falling through the opening. Wrapping her arms around one of the wooden posts (and desperately hoping it was strong enough to take her weight) she kept taunting the colossus.
"Whoops, looks like you missed! What a shame."
He lashed out, missing her completely this time as the sounds started to disorient him.
"And again! Wow, you really should get some practice in."
The snarls from above weren't fading quickly enough for his liking - and the fact that his best friend was up there with the creature wasn't helping his hearts rate.
"Come on, come on. We need to turn this up to eleven."
He amped the sonic up once more, the noises starting to hurt his own ears even as he gritted his teeth. The bells clashed wildly, their discordant notes continuous as the three of them worked to make as much noise as they physically could.
Unable to bear the sounds any longer, Lazarus lost his grip on the stonework and fell. His body dropped to the floor with a crash, loud enough to be heard through the whole building.
Hearing this, the girls let the bells go, allowing them to fall silent. They peered through the doorway to see the still form of a man, laying amongst fragments of wood. They approached, but were beaten to it by the Doctor.
"Is he…"
"Yes." He knelt to close the man's eyes, watching as his body shifted to resume it's wisened, wrinkled form once again. It was over. He stood, now aware of just how quiet the building was.
"Romana?"
There was a tapping from above, and they all looked up. She was kicking at the stone as she dangled in the air.
"Oh, don't worry about me. Just hanging on for dear life up here, business as usual and all that."
The others watched as he broke into a run, practically flying up the stairs to reach her.
She was visibly relieved as he got into the room, grinning up at him from her precarious position.
"Hi, you."
"You alright down there?"
"Well I much prefer it when my feet are on solid ground."
He got a strong grip around her back and hauled her up, setting her down again and looking her up and down.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, fine. He barely touched me." But she winced a little as his arms settled at her side - and at the look on his face, she relented. "Alright, fine, I took a hit from the tail. But it's nothing, really. Might've cracked a rib or two but they'll settle in no time."
Realising that his hands were on her waist, he quickly let go and moved to grab her hand instead: he didn't want to hurt her further. Or at least, that's how he justified the movement to himself. Part of his brain would very much liked to have held her a little longer.
"Come on then. Let's get downstairs."
They made it back to the others, Tish looking at their linked hands knowingly while Martha resolutely ignored that little detail.
"I didn't know you could play."
He shrugged. "Oh, well, you know, if you hang around with Beethoven, you're bound to pick a few things up."
Romana elbowed him. "Namedropper."
Martha raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. Especially about playing loud."
He put a finger to his ear mockingly. "Sorry?"
The motion made them all grin, and lightened the last of the remaining tension. They were safe. That's what mattered.
After saying goodbye to Tish - and managing to avoid the rest of Martha's family - they returned to her flat. The Doctor unlocked the Tardis and smiled sheepishly.
"Something else that just kind of escalated, then."
"I can see a pattern developing. You should take more care in the future. And the past. And whatever other time period you find yourselves in."
Romana winked at her. "I'll do my best to keep an eye on him. Can't promise I won't need some help from time to time though."
"It's good fun, though, isn't it?
"Yeah."
"So, what do you say, one more trip?"
She shook her head. "No. Sorry."
He looked a bit like a kicked puppy. "What do you mean? I thought you liked it."
"I do, but I can't go on like this. One more trip. It's not fair."
"What're you talking about?"
"I don't want to be just a passenger anymore. Someone you take along for a treat. If that's how you still see me, I'd rather stay here."
"Okay, then. If that's what you want."
"Right. But we've already said goodbye once today. It's probably best if you just go."
She turned her back. But again, the sound of dematerialisation didn't happen.
"What is it?"
He looked at her innocently. "What? I said okay."
"Sorry?"
Offering a smile, Romana nodded towards the open doors. "Okay."
Her face brightened. "Oh, thank you, thank you!"
She wrapped her arms around both of them, feeling the original hostility towards the ginger Time Lord fade just a little. Was she happy that there was competition for the Doctor's affections? No, of course not. But the woman seemed sweet, now she'd got to know her a bit more, and she could always do with more friends. The Doctor tightened his arms around both of them.
"Well, you were never really just a passenger, were you?"
And he ushered her inside, shutting the doors just as the phone rang. They dematerialised before they had the chance to hear it.
They missed the warning the message held.
"Martha, it's your mother. Please phone me back. I'm begging you. I know who this Doctor really is. I know he's dangerous. And that woman is probably dangerous too, because she's associated with him. You're going to get yourself killed. Please, trust me. This information comes from Harold Saxon himself. You're not safe!"
AN: Hi there, angels! Hope you've enjoyed this chapter - I certainly loved writing it. I'm having tons of fun with this story and I hope you are too!
Let me know what you think!
See you soon, and happy reading.
Much love,
Azzie xx