Chapter 2

November 10th, 1913

It had been three weeks now. Three weeks of being stuck in 1913, a year that was not known for its advances in equality. Martha Jones had managed to build a routine for herself as a maid to the Professor and Doctor, John Smith.

While he slept in the TARDIS she was given a briefing about their location, their time period and what to pack for the next six months. Six months. At first she hadn't believed the Doctor would saddle her with such a task. But as she packed him a suitcase along with herself filled with appropriate clothing for 1913, she realised he had no other choice. She had managed to drag him outside of the TARDIS and through the abandoned farmhouse that the TARDIS had landed itself in. When she finally managed to drag him and all their suitcases to a dirt road, a kind farmer offered her a lift to the local school nearby where they could care for the sickly man. Upon opening the psychic paper, she understood that was exactly where she needed to go.

"From out of town are ya?" She ignored the connotations of the question as the cart moved along the road.

"We've just come down from up North. Silly man could never handle the stress of travel. He collapsed on me just as we were supposed to walk into town to catch a lift." Quickly she recognised that her vocabulary confused the farmer and she made a note to speak differently in the future.

"Well have no fear. The school will take care of yous. Mighty fine school it is indeed, shaping those boys up right." The farmer said as if he were proud to even be in the vicinity of such an institution.

"He's actually supposed to start there this week. Professor he is, of the sciences." At this the farmer looks back from his perch and smiles.

"God knows we could use a man of science around here. Maybe he could fix himself up. Good to know we're going in the right direction." The farmer laughed and Martha did as well although she wasn't sure if they were.

When they finally reached the school it was nearly night fall and the Doctor had started to wake from his violent slumber. The first face he saw was Martha as she held his head upright during the bumpy cart ride through farmland and small towns.

"Oh my head. Whatever the hell happened?" Hearing his voice shocked her, as the accent wasn't his own and the pitch of another man had taken its place.

"Sorry sir, you had a bit of a tumble. Not to worry we reached the school now so all is well. Mr. Clarke here gave us a lift, he says the nurses will have a look at you shortly." He sits up in the cart, observing his surroundings.

"Not exactly a dignified entrance," He grumbled as he went to stand on his two legs, jumping out of the cart and offering his hand to Martha to help her out.

"Well, gaze onward Martha, for we have found our new home."

She can remember those words vividly now as she prepares his breakfast. How could she ever call this home? Would she have to forever? As she pours the tea into a pot, she loses herself in thought, almost spilling it all over the tray.

"Martha, you're running late. Doctor Smith will be late to his seminar if you don't hurry." This knocks her out of trance and without turning around to look at her superior, she picks up the tray and makes her way up the four flights of serving stairs to his quarters. He couldn't have picked a time that didn't force her into a serving position? Maybe one where she could be a CEO, his boss for once. She liked the thought of that, a human Doctor having to listen to everything she said. But the fantasy broke once again as she stared down at her black and white outfit, something she only saw in Halloween stores in her time. She sighs, making the final climb up the last flight of stairs.

She arrives at his door, a large dark wood creating a similar effect to the doors of the TARDIS and every morning she still hopes she will walk in and find him changing into his pinstripe suit, telling her its over and that they can leave. But as every other morning has been, she does not. She knocks and hears a grumbled reply, a sign to enter. When she opens the door she sees him throwing on his dressing gown over his pajamas. Her eyes widen and she turns around to face the hall,

"Pardon me Doctor Smith. You're not dressed yet. I can come back later." She mainly wants to hide her smile wondering how the Doctor would react when he had returned to knowing he wore pajamas every night.

"No, it's all right, it's all right. Put it down. I was- sorry. Sorry, I have been having those dreams again." This has been a morning discussion for a while now. John Smith seemed to dream of the Doctor as a fantasy, explaining many of the stories that they had ventured on together in the obscurest ways.

"What was this one about, sir?" She pours his tea into a small cup, expecting the same stories he had recited to her before. It was one of her favourite moments of the day, hearing that a small piece of the Doctor was still there, still fighting.

"This one was rather unique. I was… well I was searching for someone.." He trails off in thought and she furrows her brow, not recalling this particular dream.

"A woman, I'm searching for a woman. But every time I get close to her it's as if she disappears in my arms. Quite cruel really. Whoever I am in these dreams it seems he has a… a lover for lack of a better word." Martha winces at his words because he knows who he is referencing. His lost girl, as he frequently called her, Rose. He had only spoken about her end once before and even then she knew never to ask again. She had died according to the Doctor, fallen into the vortex or the void, Martha could never really keep up with the story but she knew it ended in death. A violent one that placed this woman into an eternal suffering, one he could never save her from.

"Someone you know, sir?" He is silent for a moment and she thinks she can feel his grief more than he can. More than he realises.

"No. No, just a character I've made up in my head I suppose." And Martha's heart breaks slightly for the lost woman, shrunken to a false echo within his mind.

"You're there too, by the way, you travel with me, as my companion." She scoffs for affect, hoping to make him feel at least a bit ridiculous for having such an imagination.

"A teacher and a housemaid, sir? That's impossible." She giggles as she hands him his tea and he looks out the window, eyes as far away as the galaxies they had explored.

"I'm a man from another world, though." The words slip out almost as if they are fact.

"Well it can't be true because there's no such thing." She responds and he nods, standing from his perch on the desk and moving towards the fireplace mantle.

"This thing. The watch is-" He picks up the silver fob watch collecting dust, inspecting it for a moment before placing it down in the same manner.

"Ah, it's funny how dreams slip away. But I do remember one thing; it all took place in the future. In the Year of Our Lord 2007." He laughs, a smile adorning his face. Martha smiles back as she lifts the newspaper from the tray and hands it to him,

"I can prove that wrong for you, sir. Here's the morning paper. It's Monday, November 10th, 1913, and you're completely human, sir. As human as they come." It pains her slightly to say these words, to act like there isn't an impossible being standing in front of her.

"Mmm, that's me. Completely human."