A/N: Welcome to part two! Happy reading :)
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
"It's high time just one crack at life
Who want to live in, trouble and strife
My mind must be free, to learn all I can about me."
– Kym Mazelle: 'Young Hearts, Run Free' (William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet: Music from the Motion Picture [1996])
Bedlam Hospital
Katy shuddered in horror as she stepped through the corridors of this mental asylum, clutching fearfully to the Doctor's hand the entire time, as the four of them were led towards Peter Streete's cell by the Keeper of the Hospital. The Doctor had a dark, angry expression on his face, while Martha looked equally as horrified as Katy did. Shakespeare, however, was the only one out of the four of them who looked indifferent, and Katy wasn't at all surprised by this.
As a University student who had majored in history and minored in literature; she had read up on Bedlam Hospital, mostly because she knew that Shakespeare had spent time within these walls due to a personal tragedy in his family life, and knew that by this time in history, the asylum primarily housed those within the working class who had mental illnesses. But Katy also knew, much to her disgust, that this place was also used as a tourist attraction for those who wanted to be amused by the 'mad folk'.
The asylum was known to be infamous for its squalid living conditions and the brutal treatment inmates received. There were never more than 20 inmates living in here at the one time at this point in history; although from the personal accounts of visitors and inmates over the years indicated that the asylum was usually overcrowded, constantly rioting, and had rebellious inmates, a lack of clothing standards, regular beatings from staff members, and had the repulsive stench of human waste. All around them, the inmates were crying, screeching, roaring, swearing, and fretting, and attempting to grab at them through the metal bars of their cages.
"Holy shit…" Katy whimpered, hiding her face in the Doctor's arm, and he squeezed her hand; obviously very much affected as she was by all this.
"I know, I'm sorry…" the Doctor soothed, apologetically.
But he knew that they had no choice but to continue traipsing their way through this horrible place, to get the answers they needed, despite how uncomfortable they were all feeling. It didn't help that the Keeper of the Hospital who was escorting them, was unfeeling and somewhat sadistic, obviously taking pleasure in the inmates' pain and misery.
"Does my Lord Doctor wish some entertainment while he waits?" Katy gives the man a look of contempt. "I'd whip these madmen. They'll put on a good show for you. Mad dog in Bedlam—"
"No, I don't!" the Doctor snarls, angrily. The Keeper gulps at the disgusted, hateful expression on the Doctor's face and he immediately backs off.
"Well, wait here, my lords, while I make him decent for the ladies…" He walks on down the corridor. Martha turns and glowers at Shakespeare with disappointment.
"So, this is what you call a hospital, yeah? Where the patients are whipped to entertain the gentry? And you put your friend in here?" She spits, and Shakespeare stares back at her stone-faced.
"Oh, it's all so different in Freedonia!" He sneers back, defensively.
"Martha, leave him alone…" Katy defends Shakespeare, but Martha ignores her; attempting to make Shakespeare see sense.
"But you're clever. Do you honestly think this place is any good?"
"I've been mad," Shakespeare glares at her. "I've lost my mind. Fear of this place set me right again. It serves a purpose."
"Mad in what way?" Martha questioned.
"You lost your son," the Doctor confirmed, quietly. Shakespeare nodded, sorrowful.
"My only boy. The Black Death took him. I wasn't even there…" Shakespeare recounted, tearing up a little. Martha instantly looked remorseful.
"I didn't know. I'm sorry."
"It made me question everything. The futility of this fleeting existence. To be or not to be … Oh, that's quite good!" Shakespeare brightened a little as he unintentionally quotes one of his famous and future plays, Hamlet. The Doctor smiles a little.
"You should write that down," He suggests, slyly.
"Maybe not. A bit pretentious?" Shakespeare hesitates, and Katy grins at him.
"No, not at all. It sounds brilliant…" She hints, and Shakespeare smiles back at her, slightly charmed by her praise.
The Keeper returns.
"This way, my Lords!"
Peter Streete's Cell
The Keeper leads them to an isolated cell where a solitary, hunched over figure in rags, lies with his back to the cell door, where he lies on an uncomfortable looking cot. The Keeper unlocks the cell door and steps through to hold open the door for the rest of them as they file inside.
"They can be dangerous, my Lord. Don't know their own strength." The Keeper warns them.
Katy gets into his face.
"I'd be pretty dangerous too if I was being beaten half the time!" She spat, and the Doctor forcibly pulls her back from him, giving her a stern warning look before addressing the Keeper himself.
"My friend does have a point though. It does help if you don't whip them. Now get out!" He orders and the Keeper withdraws from the cell without another word, locking them in and walking away to give them privacy. The Doctor cautiously approaches Peter, who was yet to look up at them. "Peter? Peter Streete?"
"He's the same as he was," Shakespeare warns him, despondently. "You'll get nothing out of him." The Doctor tries anyway, and crouches down beside Peter's cot.
"Peter?" He calls out to him gently and touches the poor man's shoulder. Peter raises his head and stares at him. The Doctor puts his fingers on Peter's temples and links minds with him. "Peter, I'm the Doctor." He introduces himself to the cowering, terrified man. "Go into the past. One year ago. Let your mind go back. Back to when everything was fine and shining. Everything that happened in this year since, happened to somebody else." The Doctor explains to him, soothingly. "It was just a story; A Winter's Tale. Let go. That's it. That's it, just let go."
Peter appears to relax and stops cowering, allowing the Doctor to lay him down on his cot. The Time Lord then straightens up and begins questioning him, now all business.
"Tell me the story, Peter. Tell me about the witches," He encourages. Peter swallows hard, hesitating for only a second before complying with the Doctor's request. Katy, Martha, and Shakespeare come closer to listen.
"Witches spoke to Peter. In the night, they whispered. They whispered. Got Peter to build the Globe to their design. Their design! The fourteen walls. Always fourteen. When the work was done, they snapped poor Peter's wits." Peter recalls in the 3rd person.
"Where did Peter see the witches? Where in the city?" The Doctor asks, urgently. "Peter, tell me. You've got to tell me where were they?" He requests, and Peter once again hesitates.
"All Hallows Street," He reveals.
"Too many words!" The Doctor jumps back in alarm when a haggard old crone, dressed in witches' garb suddenly appeared beside him, glowering at Peter.
"What the hell?" Martha exclaimed.
"Where did she come from?" Katy demanded, spooked. But the 'witch' paid no attention to both girls, her focus entirely upon Peter.
"Just one touch of the heart," the 'witch' declares and extends a bony finger towards Peter's chest.
"No!" the Doctor protests in horror. But he reacted too slow, and the 'witch' manages to tap Peter's chest and he instantly dies.
She cackled with delight.
"Witch! I'm seeing a witch!" Shakespeare yells hysterically. The 'witch' then turns to the rest of them, looking gleefully at them as she decided who her next victim could potentially be, while the Doctor glares at her angrily.
"Now, who would be next, hmm?" the 'witch' inquires. "Just one touch." She taunts, as Martha, Katy, and Shakespeare all back away from her and her extended finger. The Doctor, however, remains where he was. "Oh, oh, I'll stop your frantic hearts. Poor, fragile mortals."
"Let us out! Let us out!" Martha shouts as she shakes the bars of Peter's cell. Both the Doctor and Katy just look at her incredulously.
"That's not going to work, the whole place is shouting that…" Katy reminds the now sheepish Martha, pulling her away from the cell door.
"Who will die first?" the 'Witch' ponders. The Doctor steps towards her, fists clenched in his fury.
"Well, if you're looking for volunteers…" He responded.
"Don't you dare!" Katy protests.
"No! Don't!" Martha agrees. But the Doctor ignores both of them, too focused on his attempt to stop this 'witch-like' creature from killing anyone else. Shakespeare looks doubtfully at him.
"Doctor, can you stop her?"
"No mortal has power over me!" the 'Witch' sneers, and Katy snorts at her.
"Quite clearly you've never met the Doctor. He's more than capable of stopping you!"
"There's powers in words," the Doctor states, confidently. "If I can find the right one. If I can just know you…"
"None of Earth has knowledge of me!" the 'Witch' insisted, and the Doctor smirks at the challenge.
"Then it's a good thing I'm here. Now think, think, think. Humanoid female, uses shapes and words to channel energy…" He mutters out loud to himself. "Ah! Fourteen! That's it! Fourteen! The fourteen stars of the Rexel planetary configuration!" The Doctor states triumphantly, and the 'Witch' falters nervously. "Creature, I name you Carrionite!" The Doctor points his finger at the 'Witch', now revealed to be a Carrionite, who screams in both pain and fear and vanishes in a slow flash of light.
Both Katy and Martha look at the Doctor with amazement.
"What did you do?" Katy questioned, impressed and just a tad confused.
"I named her," the Doctor confirms. "The power of a name. That's old magic."
"But there's no such thing as magic," Martha states, baffled. The Doctor shrugged as he came over to the girls and a thoroughly mystified Shakespeare.
"Well, it's just a different sort of science," he explains; reaching out to take a still very concerned Katy's hand to help reassure her that he was okay. She relaxes, especially when he tenderly starts rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. "You lot, you chose Mathematics. Given the right string of numbers, the right equation, you can split the atom. Carrionites use words instead."
"Use them for what?" Shakespeare asks, curiously.
"The end of the world," the Doctor confirms, ominously.
Shakespeare's Room
As the day waned on, Shakespeare needed to return back to The Elephant to prepare for tonight's performance. As he completed his ablutions, the Doctor continues to explain to the rest of them what the hell Carrionites were, and what their purpose was here in Elizabethan England.
"The Carrionites disappeared way back at the dawn of the universe. Nobody was sure if they were real or legend." He lectured.
"Well, I'm going for real." Shakespeare stated, reaching for a towel and patting dry his face.
"But what do they want?" Martha questioned.
"A new empire on Earth," the Doctor explains. "A new world of bones and blood and witchcraft."
"How?" Katy frowned.
"I'm looking at the man with the words," the Doctor stated, gesturing towards Shakespeare who looked taken aback.
"Me? But I've done nothing."
"Hold on, though," Martha interjected, coming to a realisation. "What were you doing last night, when that Carrionite was in the room?"
"Finishing the play," Shakespeare confirmed.
"What happens on the last page?" the Doctor added, catching on to where Martha was going with her question about Shakespeare's movements the night before. The Bard was nonplussed.
"The boys get the girls. They have a bit of a dance. It's all as funny and thought provoking as usual…" But then he trails off, when he really thinks back on what he did the night before, and his eyes widen in shock when he realises something vital. "Except those last few lines. Funny thing is, I don't actually remember writing them."
"So that's it. They used you!" Katy concluded, looking appalled.
"They gave you the final words like a spell, like a code," the Doctor agreed, looking almost triumphant that they had finally figured out what those Carrionites were up to. "Love's Labour's Won. It's a weapon. The right combination of words, spoken at the right place, with the shape of the Globe as an energy converter!" The Doctor jumps to his feet and heads for the door. "The play's the thing!" He quotes Hamlet as he goes, then backtracks briefly to add: "And yes, you can have that. Come on!" The Doctor says this last part to Katy and Martha, who get up and follow him out, as well as Shakespeare.
Using a hopelessly inaccurate map that he had filched from the inn, the Doctor pours over it, with Katy and Martha looking over his shoulder with the aim of giving him some assistance in finding whatever he was looking for.
"Whoever drew up this map, needs to go back and re-do his cartography course. This is ridiculous!" Katy bitched, scanning frantically for where 'All Hallows Street' might be located on the map. The Doctor suddenly points towards one of three marked streets.
"All Hallows Street! There it is!" He shouts triumphantly. "Katy, Martha, we'll track them down." The Doctor indicates to his companions before turning to Shakespeare. "Will, you get to the Globe. Whatever you do, stop that play!"
"I'll do it," Shakespeare promises. "All these years I've been the cleverest man around. Next to you, I know nothing."
"Oh, don't complain," Martha scolds him.
"Yeah, stop selling yourself short." Katy agrees.
"I'm not. It's marvelous," Shakespeare insisted, grinning at the three of them. "Good luck, Doctor!"
"Good luck, Shakespeare. Once more unto the breach!" The Doctor quotes Henry V to Shakespeare as he leaves the room with Katy and Martha in tow. Shakespeare brightens.
"I like that!" then he stops and thinks for a moment when he makes an observation. "Wait a minute, that's one of mine!" He shouts at the Doctor, who pokes his head around the door and glowers exasperatedly at the Bard.
"Oh, just shift!"
All Hallows Street
Shakespeare went one way, and the Doctor, Katy, and Martha went another, and eventually they found themselves standing in All Hallows Street after emerging from an alleyway. Unfortunately, all the houses appeared to look the same, which meant it would be the equivalent of trying to find a needle in a haystack when it came to finding the correct house… and time was running out.
"All Hallows Street, but which house?" The Doctor pondered impatiently.
"The thing is though, am I missing something here? The world didn't end in 1599. It just didn't. Look at me, I'm living proof." Martha points out, and the Doctor sighed heavily as he continued glancing around for anything remotely obvious, as he answered Martha's question.
"Oh, how to explain the mechanics of the infinite temporal flux?" He mutters out loud.
"What about Back to the Future?" Katy pipes up, trying to be helpful; and earned an amused smile from the Doctor.
"You mean the film?" Martha asked, earning a 'seriously?' look from the Doctor.
"No, she means the novelisation," the Doctor responded sarcastically. "Yes, the film. Marty McFly goes back and changes history—"
"—And he starts fading away… Oh, My God, am I going to fade?" Martha's eyes widened comically, and the Doctor nodded grimly.
"You and the entire future of the human race. It ends right now in 1599 if we don't stop it."
"Which we can only do if we can find the bloody house!" Katy bitched, earning a disapproving scowl from the Doctor for her language. They both turn towards a nearby house when its door suddenly creaks open somewhat invitingly. "Okay, that was creepy…" Katy grimaces uncomfortably.
"Ah! Now we're getting somewhere!" the Doctor states triumphantly and grabs her hand, heading for the house.
Carrionite Lair
The room the three of them walk into has an assortment of herbs and other potion ingredients hanging from appropriate places. A large cauldron bubbles in the middle of the room, with something that looks green and gloopy bubbling away inside it. Both Katy and Martha make faces about the state of the house, but the Doctor only has eyes for a solitary figure who is standing nearby the window, seemingly waiting for them.
It was the housemaid from the Elephant!
"I take it we're expected?" the Doctor inquires, and the housemaid, now revealed to be one of the Carrionites, smirks at him.
"Oh, I think Death has been waiting for you a very long time," She coos at him. Martha immediately steps forward, a look of confidence on her face.
"Right then, it's my turn. I know how to do this. I name thee Carrionite!" She points her index finger at the Carrionite who feigns fright before cackling in obvious amusement. Martha looks back at the Doctor and Katy with a puzzled look on her face. "What did I do wrong? Was it the finger?"
"The power of a name works only once," the Carrionite explains. "Observe. "I gaze upon this bag of bones, and now I name thee Martha Jones!"" She points her finger at Martha. Her eyes roll back into her head, and she faints backwards. Both Katy and the Doctor scramble to catch Martha before she could do herself an injury.
"Martha?!" Katy exclaimed, instantly checking her friend's pulse to make sure she was still alive.
"What have you done?" the Doctor demands, frantically. He looks at Katy for reassurance that Martha was alright and relaxes when Katy reveals that she could feel the steady thud-thud, thud-thud of the older girl's pulse under her fingers.
She glowers at the Carrionite who looks a bit surprised.
"Only sleeping, alas. It's curious. The name has less impact," the Carrionite muses. "She's somehow out of her time. And as for you, Sir Doctor…" She points her finger directly at the Doctor who doesn't flinch but maintains his steely focus upon her. "Fascinating. There is no name. Why would a man hide his title in such despair?" She muses, before her eyes flick over to Katy. "Oh but look. There's still one word with the power that aches."
"The naming won't work on either of us," the Doctor stated, indicating between himself and Katy.
"But your hearts grow cold. The north wind blows and carries down the distant … Rose?"
"You leave my sister's name out of this!" Katy growls and goes to get to her feet; however the Doctor places a firm, but calming hand on her shoulder to keep her from moving, despite the anger that was on his face too.
"The Carrionites vanished. Where did you go?" the Doctor questioned.
"The Eternals found the right word to banish us into deep darkness," The Carrionite responded.
"And how did you escape?"
"New words. New and glittering, from a mind like no other…"
"Shakespeare," Katy realises with wide eyes. The Carrionite nodded, gesturing towards the cauldron where the image of a grieving Shakespeare forms.
"His son perished. The grief of a genius. Grief without measure. Madness enough to allow us entrance."
"How many of you?" the Doctor asked.
"Just the three," the Carrionite confirmed. "But the play tonight shall restore the rest. Then the human race will be purged as pestilence. And from this world we will lead the universe back into the old ways of blood and magic." She vowed, and the Doctor pretended to ponder this.
"Hmm. Busy schedule. But first you've got to get past me," He stated, firmly. The Carrionite gives a coy smile and strides over to the Doctor.
"Oh, that should be a pleasure, considering my enemy has such a handsome shape," She compliments him, but the Doctor makes a face, and Katy bristles angrily, but mellows a little when the Doctor throws her a warning look.
"Now, that's one form of magic that's definitely not going to work on me," he tells the Carrionite, who shrugged nonchalantly, obviously unconcerned that her charm had apparently not won him over.
"Oh, we'll see…" She snips a lock of hair from the Doctor's head, and he instantly raises a hand to the back of his head, frowning in alarm.
"What did you do?"
"Souvenir," the Carrionite stated.
"Well, give it back!" the Doctor demanded, urgently. He lunges at her, but the Carrionite flies backwards out of the open window; appearing to be hovering in mid-air.
"Wow!" Katy couldn't help but blurt out, despite the obvious danger they were all in.
"Well, that's just cheating…" the Doctor mumbles as the Carrionite gives him a smug little grin.
"Behold, Doctor. Men to Carrionites are nothing but puppets!" She produces a little wooden doll, which she then proceeds to wrap his hair around. Martha stirs slowly, and Katy notices this and helps her to sit up.
"What happened?" She mutters groggily.
"You were named," Katy responds, still looking helplessly at the Carrionite who literally had the Doctor's DNA held hostage. At this point, she could do anything to him. Martha eyes the doll in the Carrionite's hand.
"What's she doing?"
"You might call that magic. I'd call that a DNA replication module." The Doctor states.
"What use is your science now?" the Carrionite taunts him before using her small scissors to stab the 'Doctor-doll' in its heart, which causes the Doctor to scream out in pain and collapse on the floor. The Carrionite flies off.
"Oh, Doctor!" Katy and Martha scramble to the Doctor's side. Martha prepares to resuscitate him.
"Don't worry, I've got you!" Then pauses when she remembers something about his anatomy, and she smirks at him. "Hold on, mister. Two hearts?" She states, and the Doctor opens one eye and grinned.
"Couldn't fool either one of you, huh?" He attempted to sit up, and recoils in pain. "Ah! I've only got one heart working. How do you people cope?" He asks Martha, who rolled her eyes. "I've got to get the other one started. Hit me! Hit me on the chest!" Katy thumps him hard on the chest. "Dah! Other side!" He instructed. Katy thumps him hard on the other side of his chest with her closed fist. "Now, on the back, on the back!" Martha, who was the closest, thumps him on the back. "Left a bit…" She complies. "Dah! Lovely. There we go. Badda booma!" He cracks his neck a little, earning strange looks from both his companions, before getting to his feet and turning for the door. The Doctor looks back when he notices that neither girl had moved to follow him. "Well, what are you standing there for?" He comes over and grabs Katy's hand, "Come on! The Globe!"
Southwark
The three of them run like the hounds of hell were nipping at their heels towards the Globe Theatre. Unfortunately, the Doctor was leading them in the wrong direction.
"We're going the wrong way!" Martha shouts at him.
"No, we're not!" the Doctor shouts back. But then after a few minutes, he stops and looks sheepish with a modicum of frustration, when he realises Martha was right and tugs Katy back in the other direction. "We're going the wrong way!"
"Yeah, no kidding!" Katy couldn't help but grumble.
"Not the time, love!" the Doctor scolds her, as they run through the heart of Southwark. They momentarily stop when the three of them spot an ominous red glow hanging over the Globe. "Oh, now that's not what you want to see…" the Doctor mumbles. The priest from earlier pointed excitedly at the spectacle unfolding before them all, as he shouts at onlookers.
"I told thee so! I told thee!" He stated, and Katy, already fed up with the entire adventure, spins round and glares at the preacher.
"Oh shut it already!"
"Stage door!" the Doctor pretended not to hear her shouting at a man of the cloth, as he technically agreed with her, and pulls both Katy and Martha in the direction of the Globe Theatre.
The Globe Theatre
Backstage
A storm rages over the building, causing the audience to panic and run for their lives. But the Carrionites slam the doors shut to stop them from fleeing. The Doctor, Katy, and Martha burst into the backstage area and find Shakespeare sitting up on the floor, looking disoriented.
The Doctor glowers at him.
"Stop the play. I think that was it. Yeah, I said, stop the play!" He shouts at him, and Shakespeare moans in pain, as Katy and Martha help him to sit up properly.
"I hit my head…" He explains, and the Doctor sighed; realising that the Carrionites must have done something to render him unconscious, so that the Bard was unable to spoil their plans.
"Yeah, don't rub it, you'll go bald." More screams and cries of terror come from onstage and the Doctor grimaces and turns towards the curtain leading towards it. "I think that's my cue!"
On stage
The Doctor runs out onto the stage, followed by Katy, Martha, and Shakespeare. They look up at the ominous red haze that had bat-like creatures flying around the theatre, before those creatures suddenly shoot up into the sky. The Doctor gestures backwards towards Shakespeare without taking his eyes off the creatures.
"Come on, Will! History needs you!"
"But what can I do?" Shakespeare gestures helplessly.
"Reverse it!" Katy pointed out the obvious and Shakespeare looks at her incredulously.
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"The shape of the Globe gives words power, but you're the wordsmith, the one true genius." The Doctor attempts to bolster him. "The only man clever enough to do it." However, Shakespeare still didn't look convinced that he was the man for the job. He stares up at the creatures still circling the skies above the Globe, snarling and hissing, and generally causing mayhem with wide eyes.
"But what words? I have none ready!"
"You're William Shakespeare!" Both Katy and the Doctor shout at him, impatiently.
"But these Carrionite phrases, they need such precision…"
"Trust yourself," the Doctor urges him. "When you're locked away in your room, the words just come, don't they, like magic. Words of the right sound, the right shape, the right rhythm. Words that last forever. That's what you do, Will. You choose perfect words. Do it. Improvise!"
Shakespeare hesitates as he looks up at the creatures. But as he looks around at the terrified audience, not to mention his fellow actors, who besides looking just as frightened as everyone else, were looking completely bewildered about the commotion; he suddenly summons his courage and confidence and prepares himself…
"Close up this din of hateful, dire decay, decomposition of your witches' plot. You thieve my brains, consider me your toy. My doting Doctor tells me I am not!" He intones powerful, soulful words. "Foul Carrionite spectres, cease your show! Between the points…" He looks over at the Doctor for assistance, and the Doctor quickly rattles off some numbers.
"Seven six one three nine oh!"
"Seven six one three nine oh! Banished like a tinker's cuss, I say to thee…" Shakespeare pauses again, and this time Martha jumps in with the answer:
"Expelliarmus!"
"Expelliarmus!" Shakespeare, the Doctor, and Katy repeat Martha's offering, and the Doctor grins with delight.
"Good old J.K!" The Carrionites are sucked into a powerful tornado, along with all the extant pages of the play. Katy comes over to stand by the Doctor's side and he wraps an arm around her shoulders, as they, Martha, Shakespeare and the rest of the Globe Theatre occupants watch the commotion overhead. "Love's Labour's Won. There it goes!" the Doctor needlessly points out. The sky clears up with a flash and a bang. After a few moments, someone starts clapping, then all the audience joins in. The Doctor then glances down at Katy with a grin and grabs her hand. "Come with me!"
They dart off stage, as Martha leans in to talk to Shakespeare.
"They think it was all special effects?" She ponders, and Shakespeare grins at her flirtatiously.
"Your effect is special indeed."
"It's not your best line…" Martha makes a face at him, before she and Shakespeare take their bows.
Meanwhile, the Doctor and Katy make their way up to the spectator's box the Carrionites had been sitting in, and the Doctor picks up a large crystal ball that they had had in their possession during the entire spectacle.
Katy peers down at it curiously.
"What the hell is that?" She asks, then peers down into the crystal and her eyes widen in surprise when she sees all three Carrionites glaring furiously up at them and scratching at the inside of the glass ball trying to get at them. "Never mind. I've figured it out."
The Doctor grinned and leans in, kissing her temple, before retaking her hand and leading her out of the box, back to where Martha and Shakespeare were still taking their adulations from the audience.
The Globe Theatre
Next Morning
Today was the day the Doctor decided it was time to move on, considering they had just stopped the Carrionite's plan of bringing forth the end of the world. But out of fairness to Martha, he decided to let her have some time with Shakespeare, as was the whole purpose of bringing her to Elizabethan England. So while he and Katy explored backstage, Martha struck up a conversation with the Bard, who certainly had no objections.
"…And I say, a heart for a hart and a dear for a deer." Shakespeare finished the joke he was telling Martha, who stared back at him with a blank face.
"I don't get it."
"Then give me a joke from Freedonia," Shakespeare requested and Martha shrugged and responded.
"Okay, Shakespeare walks into a pub and the landlord says, Oi mate, you're Bard." She quotes with a deadpan expression, which was foiled when she starts laughing at the slightly confused expression on Shakespeare's face.
He chortles light-heartedly.
"That's brilliant. Doesn't make sense, mind you, but never mind that. Now come here…" he wraps an arm around Martha's waist and pulls her towards him. She blinks at him in astonishment.
"I've only just met you…" she points out, leaning away from Shakespeare when he moves in for a kiss.
"The Doctor may never kiss you," Martha frowns at that a little. "Why not entertain a man who will?" Martha sniffs and wrinkles up her face a little when she catches a whiff of the Bard's breath.
"I don't know how to tell you this, oh great genius, but your breath doesn't half stink." Martha points out truthfully, and spins around when the Doctor and Katy enter on stage. The Doctor was wearing a small stiff ruff around his neck, while Katy carried a large animal skull in her hands.
"Good props store back there," the Doctor compliments, but frowns when he takes the animal skull from Katy and holds it up. "I'm not sure about this though. Reminds me of a Sycorax."
"Yeah, it does. Now that you mention it…" Katy agrees; remembering the aliens that invaded Earth two Christmases ago.
"Sycorax. Nice word. I'll have that off you as well." Shakespeare stated, and the Doctor rolls his eyes.
"I should be on ten percent. How's your head?" He asks the Bard, who winces a little.
"Still aching." He admits, and the Doctor reaches up and takes off the ruff.
"Here, I got you this," he puts the ruff on Shakespeare. "Neck brace. Wear that for a few days till it's better." The Doctor advises.
"I think it suits you. Why don't you keep it, wear it every day?" Katy hints, earning an approving wink from the Doctor. Shakespeare now looked exactly like the many painting depictions artists over the years had created of him.
"What about the play?" Martha questioned.
"Gone," the Doctor revealed. "I looked all over. Every single copy of Love's Labour's Won went up into the sky."
"My lost masterpiece," Shakespeare bemoaned sadly.
"You could write it up again," Martha suggested.
"Yeah, better not, Will. There's still power in those words. Maybe it should best stay forgotten." The Doctor stressed, firmly.
"Oh, but I've got new ideas. Perhaps it's time I wrote about fathers and sons, in memory of my boy. My precious Hamnet." Shakespeare smiles sadly at the memory of his son, while Martha's eyes widen in disbelief.
"Hamnet?"
"That's him," Shakespeare nodded.
"Ham-net?" Martha emphasised, earning a questioning frown from Shakespeare.
"What's wrong with that?"
"Anyway," the Doctor jumped in to defuse the situation, giving Martha a mild warning glance. "Time we were off. I've got a nice attic in the Tardis where this lot can scream for all eternity," He holds up the Carrionites' crystal ball, "and I've got to take Martha back to Freedonia."
"You mean travel on through time and space?" Shakespeare corrected him, and all three time travellers look at him in astonishment.
"You what?" the Doctor babbled, as Shakespeare just gives him a 'what do you take me for?' look and a smirk.
"You're from another world like the Carrionites, and so is your Katy," He indicates to Katy, who pales a little; especially when Martha eyes her curiously. "She is just hidden away, presumably for her own protection, I'd wager. And Martha is from the future. It's not hard to work out." Shakespeare stated matter of fact.
A slow smile creeps across the Doctor's face.
"That's incredible. You are incredible!" the Doctor gushes.
"We're alike in many ways, Doctor. It has been an honour and a privilege to meet you, Dame Caitlyn," He addresses Katy, who smiles warmly at Shakespeare and goes over to plant a platonic kiss on Shakespeare's cheek.
"The pleasure was all mine, good sir." Katy responded, before backing up towards the Doctor and wrapping an arm around his waist. Shakespeare then turns towards Martha and takes her hand in his.
"Martha, let me say goodbye to you in a new verse," Martha gives a surprised look to the Doctor who waggles his eyebrows at her teasingly, while Katy giggles into her hand. "A sonnet for my Dark Lady. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day…?" The Doctor groans in disbelief and brushes a hand over his face. "Thou art more lovely and more temperate..." Shakespeare kisses a blushing Martha's hand.
"Will!" All four of them look over to see Burbage and Kempe running in from the street, both looking very excited about something.
"Will, you'll never believe it. She's here! She's turned up!" Kempe exclaimed.
"We're the talk of the town. She heard about last night. She wants us to perform it again!" Burbage stated.
"Who?" Martha asks.
"Her Majesty!" Burbage replied, and Katy's eyes widened in shock. "She's here!" There was some loud fanfare, and the elderly Queen Elizabeth the First walks in followed closely by two pikemen.
"No way!" Katy exclaimed, starstruck and clutching on the Doctor's hand in her excitement.
"Queen Elizabeth the First!" the Doctor was just as enthusiastic as Katy was. The Virgin Queen herself, stops in her tracks when she sees the Doctor standing on the stage in front of her, looking surprised at first.
"Doctor?" She addresses him, much to the Time Lord's surprise.
"What?" the Doctor questioned. Then to the three Time Travellers' confusion, Queen Elizabeth becomes furious.
"My sworn enemy!"
"What?!" the Doctor looks taken aback.
"Seriously? What is it with you and the Royal Family?" Katy was amazed. "First Victoria, now Queen Bess?"
"Shush!" the Doctor cuts her off, harshly.
"Off with his head!" the Queen orders loudly.
"What?" the Doctor exclaimed loudly. Martha grabs onto Katy's hand.
"Never mind what, just run!" She scolds him, before briefly smiling and nodding at Shakespeare. "See you, Will, and thanks!" The three of them run like hell out of the Globe Theatre.
"Stop that pernicious Doctor!" Queen Elizabeth shrieks, and Shakespeare starts laughing as the pikemen chase the Doctor, Katy, and Martha out and into the streets of Southwark.
Southwark
The Doctor, Katy, and Martha dodge the townspeople as they run as fast as they could to get to the Tardis and evade arrest from Queen Elizabeth's pikemen, who were quickly gaining on them.
"Stop in the name of the Queen!"
"What have you done to upset her?" Martha demanded, narrowly avoiding running into a wagon of fruit that a peddler was pushing along the road. She hurriedly apologises and continues running.
"How should I know? Haven't even met her yet!" the Doctor responded, just as clueless and slightly hurt. "That's time travel for you. Still, can't wait to find out!" He grinned, conveniently forgetting that the Queen for some reason or another wanted him dead for something that he had obviously not done yet.
"My question is, why didn't she recognise me? After all, I'm still travelling around with you, considering who I am?" Katy fingers her locket, missing the curious and slightly suspicious look Martha was giving her when she gave her hint.
"Clearly we should be thankful that she doesn't know you," the Doctor pointed out. "Otherwise, she would've asked for your head too." They finally make it to the Tardis and Katy uses her key to let herself and Martha inside. The Doctor dawdles outside a little, still apparently chuffed that he was going to meet Queen Elizabeth again at some stage. "That's something to look forward to." He grinned, then his eyes widen in alarm. "OOH!" and he darts quickly inside the Tardis, avoiding being impaled by an arrow which thuds into the wood where his head had been.
A/N: Done and dusted. See you next chapter! Don't forget to review. TTFN!