A/N: And… back in! Both chapter titles are based upon a quote I found on Facebook: 'An apple a day, keeps the doctor away. But if the doctor is cute, then screw the fruit!'
… NAH, SCREW THE FRUIT!
"Know they're cutting you deep, feel the scars in your sleep.
What didn't kill us made us stronger.
Stories left on our skin, wear them with everything.
What didn't kill us made us stronger."
– Tove Lo: 'Scars' (Allegiant Motion Picture Soundtrack [2016])
Upper Corridor
It becomes fairly clear that the limited supply of oxygen that the hospital had brought when the building was transported to the moon, is running out. People are starting to slump to the floor from lack of oxygen, and the nurses, doctors and orderlies do their best to help them with their limited resources. The Doctor, Katy, and Martha emerge from the staircase and look around for any sign of Judoon. The Doctor allows himself to relax a little when he sees no sign of them anywhere.
"They've done this floor," he confirms, and returns the squeeze that Katy gives his hand. "Come on," he tells the girls, and they set off towards Stoker's office. "The Judoon are logical and just a little bit thick. They won't go back to check a floor they've checked already. If we're lucky." They come across one of Martha's colleagues, who is giving oxygen to a patient. She doesn't exactly look well herself. Martha crouches down beside her, while the Doctor and Katy hover nearby observing.
"How much oxygen is there?" She asks.
"Not enough for all these people. We're going to run out," Came the worried response, and Martha bites her bottom lip and stands back up, turning to continue leading the Doctor and Katy towards her mentor's office.
The Doctor puts his hand on Martha's shoulder.
"How are you feeling? Are you alright?" He asks her, and Martha offers him a weak smile in response.
"I'm running on adrenaline," she admits.
"Welcome to my world," the Doctor states sardonically. "How about you, Katy? Are you feeling okay?" He asks his girlfriend as Martha looks over at Katy, who grimaces.
"It's getting a little uncomfortable. My headache is starting to come back…" She admits, and the Doctor immediately looks guilty.
"Maybe you should sit down, take it easy—"
"No!" Katy says, firmly. "It's not that bad, and I've had worse. Let's just get to the bottom of this." She insists, much to the Doctor's disapproval.
"I don't want you to get worse, Katy," the Doctor insists, but she ignores his concerns and changes the subject.
"What about the Judoon?" She inquires about their ability to breathe due to the dwindling supply of oxygen. The Doctor glares at her and sighs with frustration.
"You are just like your sister…" He mutters underneath his breath, earning a scowl from Katy, which he ignores as he answers her question. "They have great big lung reserves," He explains. "It won't slow them down." The Doctor releases Katy's hand, much to her confusion; but then instead, wraps his arm securely around her waist to give her some extra support while they continued running around the hospital, trying to avoid the Judoon and find Miss Finnigan so they could expose her to them. He redirects his attention on Martha who also looks disapprovingly at Katy.
"Where's Mister Stoker's office?"
"It's this way," Martha states, heading in that direction.
Stoker's Office
Martha barrels into Stoker's office and looks around with confusion. Miss Finnigan was nowhere to be found.
"She's gone. She was just here…" Martha insists, looking confused. Katy breaks away from the Doctor when she spots something lying behind Stoker's desk and goes to investigate. Her eyes widen and she goes paler than she already was.
"Doctor… Martha…" She speaks up, and both of them walk around and look in the direction Katy was staring at. Martha gasps in horror, while the Doctor just stares grimly at the body lying on the floor. Stoker's body was very white; completely exsanguinated. His lifeless blue-grey eyes were staring fearfully up at the ceiling. "He must've been so terrified…" Katy whispered, and the Doctor crouches down and peers closer to examine the body carefully.
"Drained him dry," the Doctor confirms. "Every last drop. I was right. She's a plasmavore."
"What's she doing on Earth?" Martha questioned.
"Hiding. On the run. Like Ronald Biggs in Rio de Janeiro," the Doctor takes a wild guess. "What's she doing now? She's still not safe…" then his eyes widened in alarm. "The Judoon could execute us all!" He springs to his feet and seizes Katy's hand, heading for the door. "Come on!"
"Wait a minute!" Martha calls out and the Doctor turns impatiently to hasten Martha along, until he sees her respectfully closing Stoker's eyes. He bites back the remark he was going to make and waits.
Katy smiles approvingly; both at Martha's compassionate action, and the fact that the Doctor was finally learning something. Without another word, Martha gets to her feet and walks out, followed by Katy and lastly, the Doctor, who takes another brief look at Stoker's body and quietly leaves, closing the door behind him.
Corridor
The trio resume their jog along the corridor, while the Doctor wracks his brain trying to figure out what their next move might be to expose Miss Finnigan to the right people, without costing more lives in the process.
"Think, think, think. If I was a plasmavore surrounded by police, what would I do?" He mutters out loud to himself, while Katy and Martha wait patiently for his decision. He then notices a sign above their heads pointing towards the MRI room, and a slow smile spreads across his face. "Ah! She's as clever as me. Well, almost…" He gives a backhanded compliment to Miss Finnigan. They all jump and look in the direction of something crashing, and cringe when somebody screams nearby.
"Find the non-human. Execute!" One of the Judoon growls and both Martha and Katy immediately start to panic.
"What's the next move, Doctor?" Katy asks, urgently. The Doctor takes one more look down the corridor at the MRI room, then down in the direction of the approaching Judoon and makes a hasty decision in his head. He pulls Katy aside, and gently grabs her by the shoulders, looking at her with a large amount of urgency.
"Katy, I need you to stay here with Martha. I need time. You've got to stall them for me," The Doctor instructs her, and Katy nodded eagerly.
"Alright, what do I need to do?" She asks.
"What I'm about to do will save a thousand lives, and I promise you'll still be safe and hidden; it won't expose you whatsoever." The Doctor explains to her, rather vaguely.
She blinks at him with confusion.
"What are you going to do?" She asks, a little nervously. Without another word, the Doctor leans in and kisses Katy. It was long, hard and passionate … and Katy could swear the slightly increased pain in her head from the lack of oxygen, ebbed away a little. He abruptly pulls away from her and runs off, leaving Katy a little stunned, but pleasantly so, as she raises a hand to her lips and grinned.
"Well, if he wanted a kiss so badly, all he had to do was ask…" She quipped and turned towards a slightly bemused Martha. "Don't worry, he's got this … I hope."
MRI room
The Doctor skids to a halt just outside the MRI room, and cautiously looks inside to see what was going on. There are flashes of light going on inside the room, and the Doctor creeps quietly inside to see some more, making an effort not to make any noise until the very last minute. The scanner has energy dancing all over it, and Miss Finnigan, or Florence; as she had dubbed herself, is in the control booth, working. The Doctor psyches himself up for what he was about to do, and makes himself known, using the guise of a frightened, clueless patient in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"Have you seen them?" Florence turns towards him, looking unconcerned that he was observing her tampering with the machine. "There are these things. These great big space rhino things. I mean, rhinos from space. And we're on the moon! Great big space rhinos with guns on the moon." The Doctor improvises, convincingly. "And I only came in for my bunions, look!" He shows Florence his bare feet. "I mean, all fixed now. Perfectly good treatment. The nurses were lovely. I said to my wife, I said I'd recommend this place to anyone, but then we end up on the moon. And did I mention the rhinos?"
"Hold him," Florence orders abruptly, and the Doctor finds himself restrained by the second Slab who had come out from behind the door and grabbed the Doctor by his arms.
'So far, so good…' The Doctor thought triumphantly.
Corridor
The Judoon that the Doctor, Katy, and Martha had heard earlier come stomping down the corridor, heading straight towards Katy and Martha when they spot them.
"Find the non-human. Execute!" The Judoon leader orders the others, and they pause in front of Martha, who was attempting to shield a nervous Katy behind her as she confronted them.
"Now listen, I know who you're looking for," Martha attempts to explain to the Judoon who stares menacingly at her. "She's this woman. She calls herself Florence." The Judoon leader ignores her words and instead scans his blue torch on Martha's face. The intern couldn't help but flinch a little, despite how harmless the blue light was.
"Human," It grunts as it snatches up Martha's hand and draws a big black X on the back of her hand, and immediately moves on to Katy, who grimaces but straightens up and waits to be scanned. Like before with Martha, the Judoon scans Katy's face with the blue torch. "Human. Wait. Non-human traits suspected." Both Katy and Martha's eyes widen in alarm. "Non-human element confirmed. Authorise full scan." The Judoon then backs Katy up against the wall and points its ray gun into her face. She swallows hard but stares the Judoon down defiantly.
"Steady on…" Katy warns, a little shakily.
"What are you? What are you?" the Judoon demands fiercely.
MRI room
Remaining calm, the Doctor's eyes swivel towards the scanner and draws attention towards it.
"Er, that, that big er machine thing. Is it supposed to be making that noise?" He asks, feigning confusion. Florence waves a dismissive hand as she responds to his question.
"You wouldn't understand."
"But isn't that a magnetic resonance imaging thing? Like a ginormous sort of a magnet?" The Doctor persists, trying to stall to get her to talk. "I did magnetics GCSE. Well, I failed, but all the same…"
"The magnetic setting now increased to fifty thousand Tesla," Florence explained, slightly condescendingly, which makes the Doctor bristle a little; but he manages to stay in character and looks nervously at her.
"Ooh, that's a bit strong, isn't it?"
"It'll send out a magnetic pulse that'll fry the brain stems of every living thing within two hundred and fifty thousand miles," She smirks. "Except for me, safe in this room."
"But er, hold on, hold on, I did geography GCSE. I passed that one. Doesn't that distance include the Earth?" the Doctor frowned.
"Only the side facing the moon," Florence shrugged nonchalantly. "The other half will survive. Call it my little gift."
'Not if I have anything to do with it…' The Doctor thought, still maintaining the alarm on his face. "I'm sorry, you'll have to excuse me, I'm a little out of my depth. I've spent the past fifteen years working as a postman. Hence the bunions. Why would you do that?"
"With everyone dead, the Judoon ships will be mine, to make my escape."
"No, that's weird. You're talking like you're some sort of alien," the Doctor guessed, and Florence smiles at him.
"Quite so," She confirms.
"No!"
"Oh, yes."
"You're joshing me!" the Doctor feigned shock.
"I am not," Florence insists, falling hook, line, and sinker for the Doctor's act. The Doctor grins at her, cheerfully.
"I'm talking to an alien? In hospital? What, has the place got an ET department?" He questioned, wincing at the term inwardly.
"It's the perfect hiding place," Florence explained. "Blood banks downstairs for a midnight feast, and all this equipment ready to arm myself with, should the police come looking."
"So, those rhinos, they're looking for you?" the Doctor asks.
"Yes. But I'm hidden," Florence raises her hand, revealing a big black X that had been marked on the back of it. The Doctor continues with his plan.
"Right. Maybe that's why they're increasing their scans…" He trails off suggestively, causing Florence to turn and look at him with alarm.
"They're doing what?"
"Big chief rhino boy, he said, no sign of a non-human, we must increase our scans up to setting two?" The Doctor lies, causing Florence to immediately start panicking. He smirked triumphantly and prayed that Katy and Martha were still doing their part in holding back the Judoon for as long as possible so his plan could work.
"Then I must assimilate again," Florence realises.
"What does that mean?" the Doctor asks, innocently.
"I must appear to be human," She insists. The Doctor offers her a hospitable sunny grin.
"Well, you're welcome to come home and meet the wife. She'd be honoured. We can have cake!" He chirps, trying to hide his nervousness, as he eggs her on. Florence digs around in her purse for something out of the Doctor's view.
"Why should I have cake? I've got my little straw…" She pulls what looks like an ordinary white plastic straw with blue stripes; the kind you'd likely find in cafés with old-fashioned milkshakes. The Doctor's eyes widen when he sees it but forces himself to remain calm.
"Oh, that's nice. Milkshake? I like banana."
"You're quite the funny man. And yet, I think, laughing on purpose at the darkness. I think it's time you found some peace." She looks up at the Slab. "Steady him!" The Slab forces the Doctor to his knees and turns his head, so Florence has a clear shot at his jugular with her straw.
"What are you doing?" the Doctor asks, this time, genuinely curious and afraid. Florence gently wipes down the area on his neck with her hand and tuts at him with feigned sympathy.
"I'm afraid this is going to hurt. But if it's any consolation, the dead don't tend to remember." She sticks her straw into his vein, and starts sucking…
Corridor
Katy was becoming impatient. She knew that the Doctor was likely getting into trouble as of now, and she wanted the Judoon to finally clear her, so she could go and find and hopefully help her partner with his plan. Finally, the Judoon grabs her hand and write a big black X on the back of it.
"Confirm: human. Traces of facial contact with non-human. Continue the search!" the Judoon leader reaches into his pocket and withdraws a booklet written in alien script and gives it to Katy. "You will need this," it tells her.
"What's that for?" Katy blinks quizzically down at the booklet in her hand.
"Compensation," the Judoon confirms before stomping away. Katy exchanges a bewildered look with Martha before the two of them follow the Judoon towards the MRI room, praying that it wasn't too late and that the Doctor was still safe…
MRI room
The Doctor's eyes were drooping dangerously as he got weaker and weaker with every suck Florence made with her straw. She stops abruptly and stuffs her straw back into its hiding place in her purse when the Judoon suddenly burst into the room. The Slab immediately drops the Doctor in a heap on the ground.
"Now see what you've done. This poor man just died of fright!" Florence exclaimed.
"Scan him," the Judoon leader orders, and another Judoon uses its blue torch on the Doctor's face. "Confirmation. Deceased." It declares, just as Katy elbows her way into the room and reacts with horror when she sees the Doctor's lifeless body sprawled out on the floor.
"No! Doctor!" She scrambles to his side and cradles his head in her lap as she glares up at Florence. "You bitch! What did you do to him!?" Katy shouts, tears welling up in her eyes. Martha runs in, and gapes when she sees the Doctor's condition.
"No, he can't be. Let me through. Let me see him!" She fights her way past the Judoon, but they stop her fast.
"Stop! Case closed," It declares. Martha glares angrily at both the Judoon and Florence.
"But it was her!" She points at Florence. "She killed him. She did it. She murdered him!"
"Judoon have no authority over human crime," the Judoon leader instantly dismisses Martha's accusations.
"But she's not human!" Katy backs up Martha's claims. Florence smirks at the girls smugly, as she raises up her wrinkled hand; displaying the black X that had been marked there earlier.
"Oh, but I am. I've been catalogued."
"But she's not! She assimi—" Martha continues her accusations, but Katy's head snaps up when she hears what Florence said and grins triumphantly.
"Wait a minute. You drank his blood? The Doctor's blood?" Katy clarified, and Martha's eyes widened in realisation and snatches a blue torch from a nearby Judoon, scanning Florence with it.
"Oh, I don't mind. Scan all you like," Florence continues to be smug.
"Non-human." The Judoon confirms, and the smug smile on Florence's face drops the second she hears the dreaded words fall from the alien rhino's lips.
"But, what?"
"Confirm analysis," the Judoon orders, and more blue torches are aimed at Florence to scan her.
"Oh, but it's a mistake, surely. I'm human. I'm as human as they come!" Florence attempts to protest her innocence. Katy smiles sadly down at the Doctor and lovingly strokes his face.
"He gave his life so they'd find you," She realises, and couldn't decide whether or not to kiss him, or kill him for his ingenious, if not completely reckless actions, once he woke up again.
"Confirm: Plasmavore. Charged with the crime of murdering the child princess of Patrival Regency Nine." The Judoon leader growls, and Florence scowls; furious that she had been caught out.
"Well, she deserved it! Those pink cheeks and those blonde curls and that simpering voice. She was begging for the bite of a plasmavore!" Florence sings like a canary.
"Then you confess?"
"Confess? I'm proud of it!" Florence confirms. "Slab, stop them!" The Slab obediently charges at the Judoon, who merely raise their ray guns and fries the Slab on the spot, while Florence retreats behind the screen.
"Verdict: guilty. Sentence: execution." The Judoon stated, as Florence plugs in the MRI scanner. The Magnetic Overload sign comes on.
"Enjoy your victory, Judoon, because you're going to burn with me. Burn in hell!" All four Judoon in the room fire upon Florence who gets incinerated.
"Case closed!" the Judoon confirm.
"But what did she mean, burn with me?" Martha questioned the Judoon worriedly. "The scanner shouldn't be doing that. She's done something," The Judoon leader turns and scans the MRI machine with its blue torch.
"Scans detect lethal acceleration of monomagnetic pulse," It confirms.
"Well, do something! Stop it!" Katy demands.
"Our jurisdiction has ended. Judoon will evacuate." The Judoon leader insists, and both Martha and Katy stare at the group of Judoon with both horror and disgust. Martha gets to her feet and gets into the leader's face.
"What? You can't just leave it! What's it going to do?" She questioned it.
"All units withdraw!" the Judoon begin filing from the room, causing Martha to give chase.
"You can't go! That thing's going to explode and it's your fault!" She snarls at them but is ultimately ignored. She huffs in frustration and runs back into the MRI room. Martha crouches down beside the Doctor's body again and looks at Katy authoritatively. "Right! We need to give him CPR," She tells Katy, who nodded and gently places the Doctor's head back down on the ground. "I'll do the compressions; you breathe for him. Can you do that?"
"I've got no choice!" Katy stated, determined to save her partner in any way she could. Martha nodded and started pumping at his left heart.
"One, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five!" Martha indicates to Katy to give him his two breaths, but the brunette groans when she remembers that she had forgotten to tell Martha crucial information about the Doctor's anatomy.
"Wait! I forgot! The Doctor has two hearts!" Katy tells Martha, who looks at her with surprise, but immediately refocuses and starts compressions on the right side of his chest.
"Okay: one, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five!" Martha indicates, and Katy draws in a deep lungful of breath and passes it onto the Doctor. He wakes up and starts coughing, while Katy passes out beside him from a lack of oxygen. Martha begins to slump down too as the Doctor sits up, and looks at Martha with confusion at first, then realisation; especially when she gasps out: "The scanner. She did something…" The Doctor turns towards the MRI machine, and accidentally nudges something in his haste to get to his feet. He looks down and his eyes widen when he sees Katy lying there. "Doctor, hurry!" Martha wheezes before she too passes out.
The Doctor crawls desperately towards the scanner controls, automatically reaching into his suit jacket for his sonic and groaned in frustration when he remembers that he had destroyed it earlier.
"Oh, the sonic…" He mumbles, despairingly. He spots two cables that Florence had plugged together and pulls them apart, shutting down the scanner. Immediately after, the Doctor stumbled back into the other room and makes a beeline towards Katy, scoops up her unconscious body and carries her down the corridor. The Judoon spaceships take off as the oxygen levels fall to zero. The Doctor approaches a window with a view of the Earth in the distance. "Come on, come on, come on, come on, please. Come on, Judoon, reverse it!" He pleads. He grinned triumphantly when it starts to rain and looks down at Katy with a tender expression on his face.
"It's raining, Katy. It's raining on the moon." He kisses her head and holds her close as there is a big crash of thunder and a big flash, and the hospital is transported back to where it should be in Central London.
Outside the Hospital
Martha sits in the back of an ambulance, being checked over, while half-listening to one of her colleagues giving his version of events to a policeman.
"Martha!" Her younger sister, Tish, comes running up to her, looking relieved to see her in one piece. She hugs Martha close. "Oh, God! I thought you were dead! What happened? It was so weird, because the police wouldn't say. They didn't have a clue. And I tried phoning. Mum's on her way, but she can't get through. They've closed off all the roads."
Tish rambles on, but Martha was only half-paying attention to what her sister was babbling about in her ear, as she suddenly catches a glimpse of the Doctor half carrying, half leading a still slightly weakened Katy towards the Tardis. They both catch her eye and wave goodbye to her. Martha waves back, slightly upset to see them go.
"There's thousands of people trying to get in. The whole city's come to a halt. And Dad phoned, because it's on the news and everything. He was crying." Martha frowns and glances about when she hears what sounds like chains grinding on gears and wheezing noises and looks around for the source of the noise … only to spot the strange blue box that the Doctor and Katy had been heading towards had disappeared without a trace.
'Wasn't there a …. Nah, I'm seeing things…' Martha thought, and attempted to refocus on Tish's words: "Oh, what a mess. What happened? I mean, what really happened? Where were you?"
The Tardis
Console Room
The Doctor helps Katy over to the jump seat before turning and putting in the coordinates for the Tardis to dematerialise into space and set her adrift in the Time Vortex. Once there, he immediately turns back to Katy to assess her condition. It was obvious that she still wasn't entirely well, and running around in the hospital in her state, clearly made things worse. He really wished he had taken a firmer hand with Katy as far as her health was concerned. Despite the fact that he saved the Earth and the universe every other day, Katy was still always going to be his first priority, and he was going to lay it on the line to her that her decision was a poor one.
However, Katy had other plans.
"Alright, let's see what the damage is…" the Doctor stated firmly, and recoils in pain when Katy kicks him hard in the shin. "Ow! What was that for?" He demanded in annoyance.
"That, was for allowing yourself to be killed!" Katy explains, and the Doctor went to object further and defend his actions, when Katy then grabs him by the lapels and tugs him forward to passionately and enthusiastically kiss him. He flails about for a moment, slightly taken aback by the spontaneous attack, but eventually relaxes into it and kisses her back just as ardently.
"Er, what was that for?" He mumbles, slightly dazed. Katy bites her bottom lip and looks at him coyly.
"Just returning the favour…" She responds, and the Doctor thinks about it for a moment and then shrugged.
"Alright then!" And dives back in for another kiss, much to Katy's delight. But he stops halfway when he remembers that he was supposed to be lecturing Katy about her lack of responsibility when it came to her health, especially in dangerous situations. "Wait, no! Stop! Don't distract me. What you did today, Katy, was very stupid!" He scolds her, sternly.
Katy huffs in disappointment.
"It was just a headache, Doctor. Besides, it's not like I could take aspirin to kill the pain. The last time mum gave me some, I got sicker. Since then, I just looked for alternative pain relief or learnt to deal with it." Katy argued back, and the Doctor looked thoughtful about the information she had just given him.
"I'm actually not surprised you got worse when Jackie gave you aspirin…" He commented, and Katy gave him a warning glare.
"If you're taking cheap shots at my mum…"
"No! It's got nothing to do with Jackie," the Doctor responded, dismissively. "Aspirin is lethal to Time Lords. Apparently, being under the influence of the Chameleon Arch doesn't stop you from being poisoned by aspirin. That's an interesting discovery…" the Doctor commented, looking intrigued.
"So glad I could help you with this 'discovery.'" Katy stated, unenthusiastically. "By the way, when you kissed me earlier before you went and got yourself killed, my headache ebbed away a little…" She noted and the Doctor brightened.
"Oh, that! Yeah, I took away a little of your pain, just to make it a bit easier on you," He explained, with a small smile.
"Oh! Thank you," Katy stated, then fixed him with a defiant stare. "But I'm not going to apologise for what I did. You needed my help, and I gave it to you."
"But not at the cost of your health!" the Doctor insisted. "I'd rather struggle a little, than cause you further harm. You mean too much to me, Katy. I cannot lose you now that I've finally found you after all this time! Surely, you understand that." Katy was silent for a moment. Because what he was saying was true; they were literally the only ones they had left of each other, and of their species. Neither of them could afford to be reckless.
"Yeah, I do. And I'm sorry about that. But I stand by what I said, I'm not sorry for wanting to help you." Katy acknowledged, and the Doctor sighed, realising that was probably the best he was going to get out of her, and pulls her into a hug, resting his chin on her head.
"I know. As much as I hate it, I do understand that." They remain in the hug for several more minutes before he stepped back. "Why don't you go and have a bath, it might help you with your pain." The Doctor suggested.
"And what are you going to do?" Katy asked, shakily getting to her feet and ignoring the slight pain in her head for a moment.
"I think we owe something to Martha, as repayment for what she did today, don't you?" the Doctor smiles at Katy, who brightened in realisation.
"You're gonna look for her, aren't you?"
"Yep! Is that okay?" He asked, and Katy nodded enthusiastically.
"More than okay. She was brilliant!" She stated, watching as he did his usual bounce around the console, setting the coordinates to track down Martha's location. "Just don't do anything major with Martha until I get back from my bath." Katy requests. "I wanna see her reaction to the Tardis when I get back."
"Wouldn't dream of it! Cross my hearts!" the Doctor promises, literally crossing both his hearts with his fingers.
"I'll hold you to that!" Katy points at him, before making her way down inside the Tardis towards her room with the slightly concerned Tardis helping her on her way.
It took about fifteen minutes for the Doctor to finally locate Martha, which was also the same amount of time it took for Katy to have her bath.
"Ah ha! Gotcha!" the Doctor shouted triumphantly. "Thank you, old girl!" he praised the Tardis who hummed in response. He immediately sets off towards the location, and ends up materialising in an alley, not too far away from a small Pub, supposedly where Martha was celebrating her brother's birthday. He stabs at a button on the console and speaks into a nearby speaker. "Katy, I've found Martha. I'll just go out and get her. Won't be a mo.!"
"Okay, Doctor! I'll meet you at the Console!" Katy responded back.
Excited, the Doctor runs over to where he had tossed his brown trench coat over a coral support beam and shrugs it on, before disappearing out of the Tardis doors. Katy makes her way back up the staircase and into the Console Room, feeling much better after her relaxing bath. She had ditched her jumpsuit, sweatshirt, and runners, and opted for a black short-sleeved slightly clingy skater dress, with a pair of smoky grey leggings, a taupe vest, and black converse. She had added some black jelly bracelets, and her usual silver heart locket, and opted to leave her long dark brown hair in a half-up, half-down style.
Katy perched against the console, just in time for the Doctor to suddenly step into the Tardis. He gives her a sunny grin as he jogs over to the console and starts flipping switches and pushing buttons.
"You look very nice. How are you feeling now?" He asks her, curiously.
"Much better. What are you doing now? Where's Martha?" Katy questions, and the Doctor indicates outside the Tardis.
"She's outside," He responded.
"Then why don't you invite her in?"
"I will in a moment. Just trying to prove a point to her…" the Doctor replied vaguely, and the Tardis jolts a little, causing Katy to quickly grab onto something to avoid being tossed about like a rag doll. She frowns at him in confusion.
"Prove what?"
"That the Tardis can travel through time," the Doctor stated as he heads towards the double doors. Katy goes to follow him, but he holds up a hand. "No, stay here. It won't take long."
"What are you doing?"
"You'll see…" He grins at her, and Katy raises an eyebrow and rushes round to the monitor to observe what the Doctor was up to. She giggles when she watches as he steps right into Martha's path and swiftly removes his tie, before returning back to the Tardis.
"So that's what Martha was going on about back at the Hospital!" Katy laughs in amusement. "You were proving a point." The Doctor winks at her before returning to where he had left Martha and goes back out holding his tie in his hand.
"Told you," He states to a wide-eyed Martha who was gaping at him in disbelief.
"No, but, that was this morning!" Martha stammers. "Did you? Oh, my God. You can travel in time." But then Martha frowns in realisation. "But hold on. If you could see me this morning, why didn't you tell me not to go in to work?" She accuses him, and the smile drops from the Doctor's face as he becomes slightly stern.
"Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden. Except for cheap tricks." He explains.
"And that's your spaceship?" Martha gestures behind the Doctor to the Tardis, and he nodded proudly.
"It's called the Tardis. Time and Relative Dimension in Space."
"Your spaceship's made of wood. There's not much room. We'd be a bit intimate…" Martha flirts a little with him, and Katy's eyes narrow instinctively, before she could stop herself. The Doctor flushes a little, looking a little uncomfortable. He clears his throat and gestures for Martha to investigate for herself.
"Take a look."
Martha cautiously approaches the double doors of the Tardis and lets herself in, with the Doctor following. He pauses against one of the coral support beams as Katy smiles at her from the console, and waves.
"Hello, Martha!" She greets her, brightly. Martha goes to respond but stops dead in her tracks when she takes in the interior of the Console Room.
"No, no, no…" Martha backs out of the Tardis and does the customary circuit around the deceptively small in appearance Blue Box, that all first-timer companions did when they encountered the Tardis. "But it's just a box. But it's huge!" Martha comes running back inside the Tardis, eyes wide as dinner plates. The Doctor and Katy exchange amused grins with each other, enjoying Martha's bewilderment. "How does it do that? It's wood. It's like a box with that room just rammed in. It's…"
"…bigger on the inside." The Doctor and Katy mouth the familiar words along with Martha.
"Is it? I hadn't noticed," the Doctor stated, feigning surprise. He shuts the door and takes off his trench coat, flinging it back over the coral support beam he had been leaning against. "Right then, let's get going!"
"But is there a crew, like a navigator and stuff? Where is everyone?" Martha questioned.
"Just me," the Doctor responded.
"All on your own?" Martha looked surprised.
"And Katy, of course. And sometimes I have guests. I mean some friends, travelling alongside. I had." The Doctor explains. "There was recently, a friend of mine. Rose, her name was. Rose. She's Katy's sister." Martha glances over at Katy, who had immediately looked down at her feet the second Rose had been mentioned, avoiding eye contact with anyone. The Doctor reaches over and covers Katy's hand with his, giving it a comforting squeeze, which she returns. "Anyway…"
"Where is she now?" Martha asks, curiously.
"With our Mum," Katy responded, bravely. Rose was still a touchy subject for her. "Happy. She's fine…"
"Not that you're replacing her!" the Doctor pipes up, defensively.
"Never said I was," Martha reassures, frowning slightly.
"Just one trip to say thanks," the Doctor explained. "You get one trip, then back home. We'd rather be by ourselves…"
"Fair enough," Martha stated, looking curiously at him and Katy.
"Good! Well, then. Close down the gravitic anomaliser, fire up the helmic regulator. And finally, the hand brake." The Doctor grabs onto a nearby lever and grinned at Martha who smiles cautiously back. "Ready?"
"No," Martha admits, truthfully.
"Off we go!" the Doctor crows, happily. Katy scrambles for a handhold and leans over to Martha.
"You'd better hold onto something. The Doctor's not the greatest driver." She tells the older girl.
"Oi!" the Doctor protests playfully, just as Martha grabs onto the sides of the console after the Doctor throws the lever and the Tardis dematerialises with a big jolt. Everyone holds on for dear life.
"Blimey, you weren't kidding. It's a bit bumpy," Martha remarked to Katy, who laughs. The Doctor joins in too.
"Welcome aboard, Miss Jones!" He reaches over to Martha for a handshake. Martha grabs onto his hand with some difficulty and pumps it up and down, attempting not to fall on her arse in the process.
"It's my pleasure, Mister Smith!"
A/N: And a new adventure begins! Stay tuned for the next chapter. Please review like always, and I'll see you next time!
TTFN xx