A Shift in Perspective (8/10)
Who_Daily Link: < a href="http://persiflage-1.livejournal.com/171566.html"> A Shift in Perspective (8/10) by < lj user=persiflage_1> (Characters: Martha, Seventh Doctor, Tenth Doctor, Black Guardian | Rating: PG | Spoilers: Remembrance of the Daleks, Iceworld)
Title: A Shift in Perspective (8/10)
Author: Persiflage_1
Characters/Pairings: Martha, Seventh Doctor, Tenth Doctor, Black Guardian, Others
Rating: PG (Rated for violence)
Spoilers: Remembrance of the Daleks, Iceworld
Summary: The Tenth Doctor goes missing and it's up to Martha Jones to track him down again, but it proves both harder and more instructive than she expects.
Disclaimer: I don't even own my brain any more, never mind Doctor Who!
Author Notes: This is the eighth chapter in a ten chapter story that's set a couple of months after S4.
Many thanks to my Beta readers for this chapter: bewarethespork, 80sgirl80, and most especially shadowturquoise, who has done sterling work in making sure this didn't utterly suck!
Index Post
~~~~~~
On Skra
The Doctor was exhausted and in almost constant pain. By now he'd lost track of time, ironically, and had no idea whether it had been days or weeks since Slavin had begun torturing him. He was getting very little sleep, and when he did, it was filled with nightmares of the deaths of his companions at the hands of Daleks, Cybermen, Yeti, Sea Devils, Silurians - all the creatures that he'd encountered over the centuries that he'd been roaming the universe. Threaded through all his dreams was the Black Guardian, laughing and gloating at his misery and pain.
He'd even begun to wonder whether Martha would find him: he'd had no new memories of her since he'd recalled her meeting with his sixth incarnation and Evelyn, and he worried that the injuries which she had sustained from her encounter with the Vortisaurs had been too bad, and that she had been forced to return to Cardiff and give up her search. Not that he would have blamed her if she had abandoned her self-imposed task: she had already endured so much for him, he could not expect her to continue risking her life for his, and he knew he didn't deserve that level of devotion or loyalty from any of his companions.
The door to his cell banged open and he found he could barely muster the strength to lift his head to look at Slavin. When he did, he swallowed painfully as he noticed that the Black Guardian was there in his cell too; he hadn't bothered appearing to taunt the Doctor since his first arrival on Skra, and the Doctor had assumed that he had no further interest in him, which had clearly been a mistaken assumption.
"It seems, Time Lord, that I underestimated the persistence of those short-lived mortals that you are so fond of dragging about the universe," he sneered.
The Doctor looked at him impassively, but felt hope flaring inside himself.
The Black Guardian scowled at his lack of a response. "One of those human pets of yours is causing a disturbance by searching for you with the aid of a crude piece of technology, no doubt stolen from its owner."
The Doctor forced himself to smile, despite the pain it caused him. "I bet you're not feeling quite so confident of me never being found now, are you?"
"SILENCE!" roared the Black Guardian. "I've a mind to have Slavin cut out your tongue, I'm sure he'd enjoy that."
The Doctor glanced at Slavin and saw him licking his lips in anticipation, and repressed a shudder.
"Still, even if your mortal pet does find you, neither one of you will escape. Slavin will see to that."
"You're not sending Slavin after Martha?" the Doctor asked, horrified at the idea.
The Black Guardian sneered. "Are you hoping for some respite? I will not waste my time or Slavin's on your pet. She cannot help you."
He disappeared and Slavin moved forward to haul the Time Lord to his feet, and the Doctor wondered whether this would be the torture session that forced him to regenerate.
* * * * * *
London 1963
Martha landed from her next jump, staggered and then threw up, just missing a pair of brown and white shoes. She heard an exclamation of dismay and found a hand on her arm, assisting her upright until she was facing a small, dapperly dressed man, who raised his hat to her with his free hand.
"Sorry," she croaked, feeling distinctly nauseous still.
"Are you all right?" the man asked, sounding concerned.
She noticed the soft burr in his voice and the way he rolled his Rs, and felt mild surprise that he sounded Scottish.
"I've been better," she answered. "Are you the Doctor?"
His friendly expression immediately turned wary as he looked her up and down. "Who wants to know," he asked, "and just how did you manage to appear like that?"
She felt his grip tighten on her arm and tried to smile reassuringly. "Dr Martha Jones, UNIT MO and sometime companion to the Doctor in the early 21st century."
An expression of surprise fleetingly crossed his face before he composed himself. "Come inside and have a drink to wash the nasty taste out of your mouth, and then you had better explain what you're doing in the middle of the 20th century."
He helped her into the café he had just left, and got her a glass of water and a mug of tea while she sank gratefully into a chair.
She nodded her thanks to the Doctor as he set down the drinks.
"Thank you." She took a couple of mouthfuls of the cold water, then wrapped both hands around the hot mug, taking a moment to gather her wits. This latest jump had left her feeling more disorientated than the previous few and she wondered if she'd been too quick to make the jump after her emergency surgery.
"I've been travelling through Time and Space, searching for the incarnation of you with whom I previously travelled."
The Doctor's eyebrows shot up and he rested his chin on his hands which, Martha now noticed, were folded on the red question mark shaped handle of his umbrella.
"Why and how are you travelling through Time and Space looking for me?" he asked.
She swallowed a mouthful of the hot sweet tea, then repeated her tale for the eighth time. The Doctor listened attentively, his sharp grey eyes fixed on her face throughout her narrative.
"A most interesting tale," he commented when she had finished. "It is particularly interesting that you should find me here and now, when I have been in this place at this time before."
Martha felt her own eyebrows rising in surprise at this remark; his tone was thoughtful, meditative almost, and he seemed to be looking right through her and into the past.
"Right, then!" He suddenly snapped out of his reverie, seeming almost to fizz with energy and Martha was reminded of her Doctor when he was in one of his manic moods. "I think we should go to the TARDIS now and I will sort out that device for you."
"Thank you." Martha accepted his arm and nodded her thanks to the man behind the counter who had retreated through a door after supplying her tea and water, but now returned with a bunch of keys in his hand, and bid them goodnight before locking up behind them.
"Are you travelling on your own at the moment?" she asked the Doctor as he led her the short distance to where the TARDIS patiently waited in a side street.
"No, I've got a rather boisterous young companion named Ace, but she's staying elsewhere tonight." He unlocked the door and ushered Martha inside.
She was surprised by the Doctor's answer, but the TARDIS' hum of greeting distracted her from making any further enquiries.
The Time Lord's expression grew thoughtful as he recognised the warmth in his ship's reaction to their visitor: it was clear to him that Martha was well-known to the TARDIS, and that his ship regarded her as a friend. He immediately resolved to find out more about this young woman's travels with his future incarnation.
"I think you and I should talk further, before you continue your search," he told Martha, "but perhaps you would like some food and rest first?"
She smiled. "I seem to spend nearly half of my time with each of your incarnations in eating and sleeping."
"I'm really not surprised," he told her. "Leaping through Time and Space as you are doing is exhausting. Time Agents would not normally make so many jumps in such a short space of time."
He took her arm again and they made their way to the kitchen where the Doctor directed her to a seat, which she accepted gratefully.
Martha watched as he hung his umbrella, hat and jacket on a hook by the door. "I'm generally accounted a decent cook," he told her as he pushed the sleeves of his shirt and jacket up, then washed his hands.
"We'll have a nice healthy stew, I think, thick with vegetables and meat." He quirked an eyebrow at her as he dried his hands, then donned a blue and white striped apron, and she grinned at him.
"Yes please."
"Better for you, nutritionally, than Evelyn's chocolate cake, no matter how delicious that is."
"How is Evelyn?" asked Martha.
The Doctor paused in the act of getting out various vegetables and she wondered if she should have refrained from asking, but he had been the one to mention the older woman first.
"She is well, she settled on Világ with a good man," he answered. "I believe she is happy there."
There was a slight catch in his voice and she wondered what had happened between him and Evelyn; it was the sort of catch she had heard in her Doctor's voice when they had talked of Donna back in Cardiff. She decided not to ask him for any further information, changing the subject instead.
"May I ask which incarnation you are?"
He half turned to look at her over his shoulder as he chopped some carrots. "This is my seventh incarnation."
Which meant that she only had the first incarnation left to meet if she didn't find her own Doctor on her next jump - and by this stage in her quest she was resigned to the fact that she would probably find her Doctor last of all his incarnations.
It's Sod's Law, she thought ruefully. Not that it hadn't been interesting meeting all his earlier incarnations and their various companions. In fact, she'd go so far as to say it had been a fascinating experience, but she would definitely have preferred to meet them while travelling in the TARDIS: she felt she could easily have lived without the experience of being shot by UNIT or attacked by Vortisaurs, and she would definitely have done without the frequent nausea and disorientation.
As the Doctor chopped vegetables and prepared chunks of meat for the stew, he plied Martha with questions about her travels with his later self.
"I observed," he said after she had told him of Judoon on the Moon, Shakespeare and New, New York, "that the TARDIS is very familiar with you, which is a very curious thing."
He gave her a thoughtful look as he prepared the stock for the stew.
Martha nodded. "I was surprised that she recognised me when I encountered her during your fifth incarnation. I know that she is sentient as my Doctor explained about that one day, but I didn't know she was capable of recognising someone she hadn't yet met from a strictly chronological point of view." She frowned in thought. "Although I suppose that the non-linearity of Time, the fact that it's more like a ball of string than a straight line, means that I shouldn't be that surprised that she recognised me."
He looked pleased. "You understand about Time being non-linear!"
Martha waggled her hand from side to side. "In a limited way," she answered. "You'll explain it to me one day in 1969."
He paused as he was about to put the pot of stew in the oven, giving her a startled look. "I can see we're going to have an interesting time, you and I," he observed with a wry expression.
You don't know the half of it, Martha thought.
"Now then, that will take a while to cook. Do you want to sleep until it's ready or talk?"
"I'd rather sleep afterwards, if you don't mind," she answered.
He shook his head, pulling off his apron. "Let's go and find somewhere more comfortable to sit, shall we?"
She followed him through several corridors until they reached a door which she noticed had a silver leaf above the handle. As they walked into the room, the lights brightened and Martha gasped in astonishment when she saw the room, which looked nothing like a room: above them hung two suns in a burnt orange sky, and in the distance was a city enclosed in a clear dome. Nearer at hand were silver-leaved trees, and looking down, she could have sworn they were walking on red grass.
"Gallifrey," she breathed, her eyes shining with delight.
The Doctor quietly muttered something and she looked around at him.
"Is this a holographic projection?" she asked.
"Not exactly," he answered. "You know the TARDIS interior is located in a separate dimension relatively to its exterior?"
"You mean we're actually on Gallifrey?" asked Martha immediately, her expression warring between hope and disbelief.
"Oh, you're a quick one, aren't you?" he said, his voice full of approval.
She knelt down carefully and hesitantly brushed her hand over the grass. "So those are real trees and that's the real Citadel?" she asked, her tone and expression full of wonder and amazement.
"Yes."
"Wow!" She turned to the Doctor, her eyes shining with delight. "Thank you for showing me your home," she said softly, stepping to his side and reaching out to squeeze his fingers in her own.
"Thank the TARDIS," he said, "it was her idea. This," he gestured around "is normally just a holographic projection, as you suggested. She was the one who decided to bring us here."
"Thank you," she said softly, feeling as if her heart would burst with emotion: she felt a mixture of joy, gratitude and poignancy being here, knowing that this would all be lost one day soon, relatively speaking.
She wondered if the Doctor knew what was to come; she felt sure that the Time War could not have come as a complete surprise to the Time Lords, any more than the World Wars of Earth had come as a surprise to her own people, at least not to the politicians, who must have seen the warning signs even if the ordinary people did not.
Martha followed the Doctor over to a stand of silver-leaved trees and they sat down on a bench she could have sworn wasn't there when they started walked towards the trees, but she knew better than to question the workings of the TARDIS.
"Tell me about your interactions with the TARDIS, please?" asked the Doctor once they were settled.
So she told him about 1913 and her regular visits to the ship while her Doctor hid from the Family in the guise of a human called John Smith, and the comfort it had brought her to be aboard the TARDIS when she was struggling to cope at Farringham School.
She felt the Doctor's hand squeezing her shoulder as she talked, but she didn't cry, and he didn't interrupt her.
"There's something else as well," she said hesitantly once she had finished her narrative.
"What else?" he asked quietly.
"You won't remember any of this after I leave?" she asked.
"Nothing," he assured her. "You have my word."
Having secured his promise, Martha told him all about their unexpected trip to the end of the universe, propelled by the TARDIS' instinctive reaction to Jack being a fixed point in Time (she saw him wince at that information), and what had followed with the Master turning the TARDIS into a Paradox Machine. Then how, after she had walked around the world in order to defeat the Master, she and Jack had helped the Doctor to complete repairs on the ship.
"Sometimes, when I was walking the world, I thought I could hear her mourning in my head, through the Archangel Network."
"Oh Martha." The Doctor's voice was soft but full of sorrow by the time she had finished her tale.
She looked at him, her eyes shining with tears, but again she did not cry. "It's okay," she told him.
He shook his head. "Did you tell my later self about hearing the TARDIS?" he asked.
Martha shook her head in turn. "He was so devastated by the Master's refusal to regenerate, and we were so busy trying to repair the ship, that I never mentioned it. It didn't really seem that important, and I already knew I wouldn't be continuing my travels with him because I needed to stay and help my family to deal with what they had been through during that rewound year."
"Why would my later self be so upset about the Master not regenerating, he and I were friends long ago, it's true, but we've been bitter enemies far longer?"
She stared at him without answering, hoping he would understand that there were still some things she couldn't tell him, just as she hadn't told certain things to his eighth and ninth incarnations.
After a moment he sighed heavily. "Well, all this explains why the TARDIS has brought us here - she clearly feels a strong bond with you since you were her only link to her usual life while I was human. And she wouldn't forget that you helped her to heal after she was turned into a Paradox Machine." His expression spoke volumes about his distaste for what the Master had done to his ship.
"I once told Evelyn that the TARDIS has been the only fixed point in my ever-changing world since my companions come and go, and while some leave a deeper imprint on my hearts than others, you all leave me eventually. Only the TARDIS is constant, but to know what she will become - " He broke off with a theatrical shudder. "It is not a pleasant thought by any means."
"Sorry," Martha said softly.
The Doctor clasped her shoulder again. "Don't be sorry. I asked for the information, after all." He got to his feet. "I think that stew should be nearly ready." He offered her his hand and pulled her up from the bench.
"You have a stout heart, Martha Jones," he said, "and I'm proud to have met you." He gently tapped the end of her nose, smiling at her, then offered her his arm.
She accepted and allowed him to lead her across the grass. As they walked she felt an odd sort of ripple pass through the air and somehow knew they were back on board the TARDIS herself, and that her surroundings were now nothing more than a cleverly crafted holographic projection.
They made their way back to the kitchen where Martha took a seat at the Doctor's urging, and then after a brief burst of activity from him, they settled down to eat.
After a few minutes, Martha asked about Ace and he revealed they had only just met, out on Iceworld.
"She's a native of Earth, though. She got caught up in a Time Storm, which carried her to Iceworld and left her trapped there until I came along." He smiled indulgently. "She's a very feisty young woman, rather fond of explosives it seems, but I suspect she hides a warm heart under the bravado she displays. I think I shall have my hands full, travelling with young Miss McShane."
He looked wistful and Martha couldn't help reaching out to pat his arm; he focused his gaze back on her and put down his fork to pat her hand in response.
"It will be like old times, having a youngster aboard the ship again," he told her, smiling.
"Aren't we all youngsters to you, though?" she asked.
"Would you think me terribly rude if I said yes?" he asked lightly.
She laughed softly. "I'd think you were a terrible liar if you didn't," she told him.
Once they had finished eating the Doctor insisted on showing Martha to a room where she could sleep, telling her that he would wash up by himself as she had given him so much to think about, and even though she hadn't done much since leaving his sixth incarnation, Martha was tired enough to be glad of a rest again.
* * * * * *
Cardiff
Jack was sleeping restlessly in his quarters below his office when Gwen shouted his name, and he soon scrambled up the ladder, pulling his braces back up and then tugging on his shirt.
"What is it?" he asked anxiously. "Is she back?"
Gwen shook her head sadly. "No, but something's just come through the Rift close to the TARDIS. Whoever or whatever it was appeared in a huge burst of white light."
He hastily buttoned his shirt, holstered his Webley, and then pulled on his coat. "I'll go and take a look," he said.
"We'll come with you," Gwen said promptly.
Jack opened his mouth to disagree, then nodded, and they hurried over to the invisible lift where Ianto joined them.
"Did you sleep?" he asked Jack quietly.
"A little," he answered. "I was dreaming of Martha and the Doctor though, and not in a good way." He looked rueful and Ianto briefly put an arm around him; they were all wary and alert as they stepped off the paving stone and saw a figure dressed mostly in white standing close to the TARDIS.
"Who's that?" asked Gwen.
"No idea," answered Jack honestly. He led the way over to the ship and the waiting figure, and they all looked curiously at the man's white linen suit with its red buttonhole, and the light-coloured panama hat he wore.
"Who are you?" asked Jack directly, his hand hovering close to his gun.
The man lifted his hat briefly. "I am the White Guardian," he said. "I am known to the Doctor. I understand he has gone missing?"
Jack nodded, still wary. "I'm sorry, but who are you? 'The White Guardian' doesn't mean much to me."
"I represent order in the universe. I am the counterpart of the Black Guardian, who represents evil, chaos and entropy. We balance out the forces in the universe, although the Black Guardian always desires to upset the balance in favour of chaos and evil, while I prefer to maintain the status quo. I believe the Black Guardian is responsible for the disappearance of the Doctor."
"How can we find out if he was responsible?" asked Jack.
"You cannot. Only I can confirm this fact, but I understand that someone is searching for the Doctor?"
Jack heard Gwen make a noise of surprise behind him. "Yes, one of the Doctor's companions is looking for him now, although she has not succeeded yet."
"Even if she finds him, she may not be able to bring him away from whatever stronghold he is being held in - the Black Guardian makes use of others to do his dirty work for him since we cannot be seen to interfere. I will seek out the Doctor myself and do what I can to ensure the success of the mission. I cannot promise your friend will succeed, but I will do my best to help her via my own agents."
"Is there anything we can do to help?" asked Jack, who was itching to do something useful.
"I'm afraid not, not at this time. But you must be ready for the return of the Doctor and his companion - it is possible that the Black Guardian's agents will come after them." He looked gravely at them. "You may have to fight for their survival."
"We'll be ready," Jack said promptly, and heard murmurs of agreement from Gwen and Ianto.
"Good." The White Guardian inclined his head to them. "We may meet again, Jack Harkness." The Torchwood team members watched in surprise as the White Guardian gradually faded from their view.
"Well, that was different," muttered Ianto, as they turned and made their way back to the invisible lift.
"At least we know Martha's still alive and on the case," Gwen said, trying to sound cheerful.
Jack grunted. "I'm glad to know someone else is on the case. I can't say I really liked the idea of her going off alone, but she's as stubborn as the Doctor when the mood's on her."
"Do you think we can trust this White Guardian person?" asked Ianto.
Jack shrugged. "I don't think we've got much choice, do you? We've no idea where Martha or the Doctor are, and no real means of going after them ourselves. The fact that he came to us of his own free will seems hopeful. I'd rather go after her myself, but that's not an option."
Back down in the Hub, Ianto went to make them all some coffee, and Gwen offered to go and get pizza for a late lunch.
"Oh yeah, food's a good idea," Jack said, distractedly.
"She'll be okay, Jack. Have faith in Martha," Gwen told him.
"I do have faith in her," he replied. "But I can't help worrying about her. I'll be glad when she and the Doctor are back."
"We'll all be glad." She hugged him briefly, then went to let Ianto know she was going out for pizza.
* * * * * *
On Skra
Slavin had dumped the unconscious Doctor on the floor of his cell a couple of hours earlier; now he woke with a groan of agony, and cautiously lifted his hands to his face, feeling for further damage, but it seemed that Slavin had concentrated more on his torso than his head for this most recent session. He gingerly moved himself into a sitting position, leaning back against the stone wall behind him.
Martha, if you're coming for me, please come soon. I don't think I can survive much more of this.
* * * * * *
On the Seventh Doctor's TARDIS
Martha woke abruptly from sleep to the knowledge that the TARDIS was in the Vortex. She sat up quickly and checked her watch, but what she saw didn't make sense. Frowning, she scrambled out of bed and had a quick wash in the ensuite bathroom, then dressed quickly and hurried through to the Control Room.
As soon as she walked through the door, the Doctor looked up from the console and smiled at her.
"Hello. Did you sleep well?"
"Yes thank you. We're in the Vortex?" she asked.
He grinned. "I thought that you would appreciate the opportunity to sleep your fill," he told her. "So I brought us into the Vortex. I'll get you back a couple of hours after we left, and then you can go on with your search."
"So I really have slept for eight hours?" she asked, glancing down at her watch on her wrist.
He nodded. "You seemed like you needed plenty of sleep." He gave her a sterner look. "I think you were too hasty in leaving my last incarnation after your encounter with the Vortisaurs."
She glanced down at her feet. "Probably."
He moved around the console and put one hand on her shoulder, using the other to lift her chin so he could look her in the eye.
"You won't be much help to me if you're not fit when you find my later incarnation," he said gently. "I know you're anxious for him, but you need to take care of yourself too." He tapped the end of her nose. "Understand?"
She nodded and he smiled at her. "Good. Now, let me adjust the Vortex Manipulator, and then I'll get you back to Earth and you can be on your way again."
"Thank you."
"It was an honour to help you, Martha Jones." He moved back to the console and set the controls, and they were soon back on Earth again.
He shook hands with Martha before he let her out of the TARDIS, then watched as she made her next jump.
"Good luck," he whispered as she disappeared.
Title: A Shift in Perspective (8/10)
Author: Persiflage_1
Characters/Pairings: Martha, Seventh Doctor, Tenth Doctor, Black Guardian, Others
Rating: PG (Rated for violence)
Spoilers: Remembrance of the Daleks, Iceworld
Summary: The Tenth Doctor goes missing and it's up to Martha Jones to track him down again, but it proves both harder and more instructive than she expects.
Disclaimer: I don't even own my brain any more, never mind Doctor Who!
Author Notes: This is the eighth chapter in a ten chapter story that's set a couple of months after S4.
Many thanks to my Beta readers for this chapter: bewarethespork, 80sgirl80, and most especially shadowturquoise, who has done sterling work in making sure this didn't utterly suck!
Index Post
~~~~~~
On Skra
The Doctor was exhausted and in almost constant pain. By now he'd lost track of time, ironically, and had no idea whether it had been days or weeks since Slavin had begun torturing him. He was getting very little sleep, and when he did, it was filled with nightmares of the deaths of his companions at the hands of Daleks, Cybermen, Yeti, Sea Devils, Silurians - all the creatures that he'd encountered over the centuries that he'd been roaming the universe. Threaded through all his dreams was the Black Guardian, laughing and gloating at his misery and pain.
He'd even begun to wonder whether Martha would find him: he'd had no new memories of her since he'd recalled her meeting with his sixth incarnation and Evelyn, and he worried that the injuries which she had sustained from her encounter with the Vortisaurs had been too bad, and that she had been forced to return to Cardiff and give up her search. Not that he would have blamed her if she had abandoned her self-imposed task: she had already endured so much for him, he could not expect her to continue risking her life for his, and he knew he didn't deserve that level of devotion or loyalty from any of his companions.
The door to his cell banged open and he found he could barely muster the strength to lift his head to look at Slavin. When he did, he swallowed painfully as he noticed that the Black Guardian was there in his cell too; he hadn't bothered appearing to taunt the Doctor since his first arrival on Skra, and the Doctor had assumed that he had no further interest in him, which had clearly been a mistaken assumption.
"It seems, Time Lord, that I underestimated the persistence of those short-lived mortals that you are so fond of dragging about the universe," he sneered.
The Doctor looked at him impassively, but felt hope flaring inside himself.
The Black Guardian scowled at his lack of a response. "One of those human pets of yours is causing a disturbance by searching for you with the aid of a crude piece of technology, no doubt stolen from its owner."
The Doctor forced himself to smile, despite the pain it caused him. "I bet you're not feeling quite so confident of me never being found now, are you?"
"SILENCE!" roared the Black Guardian. "I've a mind to have Slavin cut out your tongue, I'm sure he'd enjoy that."
The Doctor glanced at Slavin and saw him licking his lips in anticipation, and repressed a shudder.
"Still, even if your mortal pet does find you, neither one of you will escape. Slavin will see to that."
"You're not sending Slavin after Martha?" the Doctor asked, horrified at the idea.
The Black Guardian sneered. "Are you hoping for some respite? I will not waste my time or Slavin's on your pet. She cannot help you."
He disappeared and Slavin moved forward to haul the Time Lord to his feet, and the Doctor wondered whether this would be the torture session that forced him to regenerate.
* * * * * *
London 1963
Martha landed from her next jump, staggered and then threw up, just missing a pair of brown and white shoes. She heard an exclamation of dismay and found a hand on her arm, assisting her upright until she was facing a small, dapperly dressed man, who raised his hat to her with his free hand.
"Sorry," she croaked, feeling distinctly nauseous still.
"Are you all right?" the man asked, sounding concerned.
She noticed the soft burr in his voice and the way he rolled his Rs, and felt mild surprise that he sounded Scottish.
"I've been better," she answered. "Are you the Doctor?"
His friendly expression immediately turned wary as he looked her up and down. "Who wants to know," he asked, "and just how did you manage to appear like that?"
She felt his grip tighten on her arm and tried to smile reassuringly. "Dr Martha Jones, UNIT MO and sometime companion to the Doctor in the early 21st century."
An expression of surprise fleetingly crossed his face before he composed himself. "Come inside and have a drink to wash the nasty taste out of your mouth, and then you had better explain what you're doing in the middle of the 20th century."
He helped her into the café he had just left, and got her a glass of water and a mug of tea while she sank gratefully into a chair.
She nodded her thanks to the Doctor as he set down the drinks.
"Thank you." She took a couple of mouthfuls of the cold water, then wrapped both hands around the hot mug, taking a moment to gather her wits. This latest jump had left her feeling more disorientated than the previous few and she wondered if she'd been too quick to make the jump after her emergency surgery.
"I've been travelling through Time and Space, searching for the incarnation of you with whom I previously travelled."
The Doctor's eyebrows shot up and he rested his chin on his hands which, Martha now noticed, were folded on the red question mark shaped handle of his umbrella.
"Why and how are you travelling through Time and Space looking for me?" he asked.
She swallowed a mouthful of the hot sweet tea, then repeated her tale for the eighth time. The Doctor listened attentively, his sharp grey eyes fixed on her face throughout her narrative.
"A most interesting tale," he commented when she had finished. "It is particularly interesting that you should find me here and now, when I have been in this place at this time before."
Martha felt her own eyebrows rising in surprise at this remark; his tone was thoughtful, meditative almost, and he seemed to be looking right through her and into the past.
"Right, then!" He suddenly snapped out of his reverie, seeming almost to fizz with energy and Martha was reminded of her Doctor when he was in one of his manic moods. "I think we should go to the TARDIS now and I will sort out that device for you."
"Thank you." Martha accepted his arm and nodded her thanks to the man behind the counter who had retreated through a door after supplying her tea and water, but now returned with a bunch of keys in his hand, and bid them goodnight before locking up behind them.
"Are you travelling on your own at the moment?" she asked the Doctor as he led her the short distance to where the TARDIS patiently waited in a side street.
"No, I've got a rather boisterous young companion named Ace, but she's staying elsewhere tonight." He unlocked the door and ushered Martha inside.
She was surprised by the Doctor's answer, but the TARDIS' hum of greeting distracted her from making any further enquiries.
The Time Lord's expression grew thoughtful as he recognised the warmth in his ship's reaction to their visitor: it was clear to him that Martha was well-known to the TARDIS, and that his ship regarded her as a friend. He immediately resolved to find out more about this young woman's travels with his future incarnation.
"I think you and I should talk further, before you continue your search," he told Martha, "but perhaps you would like some food and rest first?"
She smiled. "I seem to spend nearly half of my time with each of your incarnations in eating and sleeping."
"I'm really not surprised," he told her. "Leaping through Time and Space as you are doing is exhausting. Time Agents would not normally make so many jumps in such a short space of time."
He took her arm again and they made their way to the kitchen where the Doctor directed her to a seat, which she accepted gratefully.
Martha watched as he hung his umbrella, hat and jacket on a hook by the door. "I'm generally accounted a decent cook," he told her as he pushed the sleeves of his shirt and jacket up, then washed his hands.
"We'll have a nice healthy stew, I think, thick with vegetables and meat." He quirked an eyebrow at her as he dried his hands, then donned a blue and white striped apron, and she grinned at him.
"Yes please."
"Better for you, nutritionally, than Evelyn's chocolate cake, no matter how delicious that is."
"How is Evelyn?" asked Martha.
The Doctor paused in the act of getting out various vegetables and she wondered if she should have refrained from asking, but he had been the one to mention the older woman first.
"She is well, she settled on Világ with a good man," he answered. "I believe she is happy there."
There was a slight catch in his voice and she wondered what had happened between him and Evelyn; it was the sort of catch she had heard in her Doctor's voice when they had talked of Donna back in Cardiff. She decided not to ask him for any further information, changing the subject instead.
"May I ask which incarnation you are?"
He half turned to look at her over his shoulder as he chopped some carrots. "This is my seventh incarnation."
Which meant that she only had the first incarnation left to meet if she didn't find her own Doctor on her next jump - and by this stage in her quest she was resigned to the fact that she would probably find her Doctor last of all his incarnations.
It's Sod's Law, she thought ruefully. Not that it hadn't been interesting meeting all his earlier incarnations and their various companions. In fact, she'd go so far as to say it had been a fascinating experience, but she would definitely have preferred to meet them while travelling in the TARDIS: she felt she could easily have lived without the experience of being shot by UNIT or attacked by Vortisaurs, and she would definitely have done without the frequent nausea and disorientation.
As the Doctor chopped vegetables and prepared chunks of meat for the stew, he plied Martha with questions about her travels with his later self.
"I observed," he said after she had told him of Judoon on the Moon, Shakespeare and New, New York, "that the TARDIS is very familiar with you, which is a very curious thing."
He gave her a thoughtful look as he prepared the stock for the stew.
Martha nodded. "I was surprised that she recognised me when I encountered her during your fifth incarnation. I know that she is sentient as my Doctor explained about that one day, but I didn't know she was capable of recognising someone she hadn't yet met from a strictly chronological point of view." She frowned in thought. "Although I suppose that the non-linearity of Time, the fact that it's more like a ball of string than a straight line, means that I shouldn't be that surprised that she recognised me."
He looked pleased. "You understand about Time being non-linear!"
Martha waggled her hand from side to side. "In a limited way," she answered. "You'll explain it to me one day in 1969."
He paused as he was about to put the pot of stew in the oven, giving her a startled look. "I can see we're going to have an interesting time, you and I," he observed with a wry expression.
You don't know the half of it, Martha thought.
"Now then, that will take a while to cook. Do you want to sleep until it's ready or talk?"
"I'd rather sleep afterwards, if you don't mind," she answered.
He shook his head, pulling off his apron. "Let's go and find somewhere more comfortable to sit, shall we?"
She followed him through several corridors until they reached a door which she noticed had a silver leaf above the handle. As they walked into the room, the lights brightened and Martha gasped in astonishment when she saw the room, which looked nothing like a room: above them hung two suns in a burnt orange sky, and in the distance was a city enclosed in a clear dome. Nearer at hand were silver-leaved trees, and looking down, she could have sworn they were walking on red grass.
"Gallifrey," she breathed, her eyes shining with delight.
The Doctor quietly muttered something and she looked around at him.
"Is this a holographic projection?" she asked.
"Not exactly," he answered. "You know the TARDIS interior is located in a separate dimension relatively to its exterior?"
"You mean we're actually on Gallifrey?" asked Martha immediately, her expression warring between hope and disbelief.
"Oh, you're a quick one, aren't you?" he said, his voice full of approval.
She knelt down carefully and hesitantly brushed her hand over the grass. "So those are real trees and that's the real Citadel?" she asked, her tone and expression full of wonder and amazement.
"Yes."
"Wow!" She turned to the Doctor, her eyes shining with delight. "Thank you for showing me your home," she said softly, stepping to his side and reaching out to squeeze his fingers in her own.
"Thank the TARDIS," he said, "it was her idea. This," he gestured around "is normally just a holographic projection, as you suggested. She was the one who decided to bring us here."
"Thank you," she said softly, feeling as if her heart would burst with emotion: she felt a mixture of joy, gratitude and poignancy being here, knowing that this would all be lost one day soon, relatively speaking.
She wondered if the Doctor knew what was to come; she felt sure that the Time War could not have come as a complete surprise to the Time Lords, any more than the World Wars of Earth had come as a surprise to her own people, at least not to the politicians, who must have seen the warning signs even if the ordinary people did not.
Martha followed the Doctor over to a stand of silver-leaved trees and they sat down on a bench she could have sworn wasn't there when they started walked towards the trees, but she knew better than to question the workings of the TARDIS.
"Tell me about your interactions with the TARDIS, please?" asked the Doctor once they were settled.
So she told him about 1913 and her regular visits to the ship while her Doctor hid from the Family in the guise of a human called John Smith, and the comfort it had brought her to be aboard the TARDIS when she was struggling to cope at Farringham School.
She felt the Doctor's hand squeezing her shoulder as she talked, but she didn't cry, and he didn't interrupt her.
"There's something else as well," she said hesitantly once she had finished her narrative.
"What else?" he asked quietly.
"You won't remember any of this after I leave?" she asked.
"Nothing," he assured her. "You have my word."
Having secured his promise, Martha told him all about their unexpected trip to the end of the universe, propelled by the TARDIS' instinctive reaction to Jack being a fixed point in Time (she saw him wince at that information), and what had followed with the Master turning the TARDIS into a Paradox Machine. Then how, after she had walked around the world in order to defeat the Master, she and Jack had helped the Doctor to complete repairs on the ship.
"Sometimes, when I was walking the world, I thought I could hear her mourning in my head, through the Archangel Network."
"Oh Martha." The Doctor's voice was soft but full of sorrow by the time she had finished her tale.
She looked at him, her eyes shining with tears, but again she did not cry. "It's okay," she told him.
He shook his head. "Did you tell my later self about hearing the TARDIS?" he asked.
Martha shook her head in turn. "He was so devastated by the Master's refusal to regenerate, and we were so busy trying to repair the ship, that I never mentioned it. It didn't really seem that important, and I already knew I wouldn't be continuing my travels with him because I needed to stay and help my family to deal with what they had been through during that rewound year."
"Why would my later self be so upset about the Master not regenerating, he and I were friends long ago, it's true, but we've been bitter enemies far longer?"
She stared at him without answering, hoping he would understand that there were still some things she couldn't tell him, just as she hadn't told certain things to his eighth and ninth incarnations.
After a moment he sighed heavily. "Well, all this explains why the TARDIS has brought us here - she clearly feels a strong bond with you since you were her only link to her usual life while I was human. And she wouldn't forget that you helped her to heal after she was turned into a Paradox Machine." His expression spoke volumes about his distaste for what the Master had done to his ship.
"I once told Evelyn that the TARDIS has been the only fixed point in my ever-changing world since my companions come and go, and while some leave a deeper imprint on my hearts than others, you all leave me eventually. Only the TARDIS is constant, but to know what she will become - " He broke off with a theatrical shudder. "It is not a pleasant thought by any means."
"Sorry," Martha said softly.
The Doctor clasped her shoulder again. "Don't be sorry. I asked for the information, after all." He got to his feet. "I think that stew should be nearly ready." He offered her his hand and pulled her up from the bench.
"You have a stout heart, Martha Jones," he said, "and I'm proud to have met you." He gently tapped the end of her nose, smiling at her, then offered her his arm.
She accepted and allowed him to lead her across the grass. As they walked she felt an odd sort of ripple pass through the air and somehow knew they were back on board the TARDIS herself, and that her surroundings were now nothing more than a cleverly crafted holographic projection.
They made their way back to the kitchen where Martha took a seat at the Doctor's urging, and then after a brief burst of activity from him, they settled down to eat.
After a few minutes, Martha asked about Ace and he revealed they had only just met, out on Iceworld.
"She's a native of Earth, though. She got caught up in a Time Storm, which carried her to Iceworld and left her trapped there until I came along." He smiled indulgently. "She's a very feisty young woman, rather fond of explosives it seems, but I suspect she hides a warm heart under the bravado she displays. I think I shall have my hands full, travelling with young Miss McShane."
He looked wistful and Martha couldn't help reaching out to pat his arm; he focused his gaze back on her and put down his fork to pat her hand in response.
"It will be like old times, having a youngster aboard the ship again," he told her, smiling.
"Aren't we all youngsters to you, though?" she asked.
"Would you think me terribly rude if I said yes?" he asked lightly.
She laughed softly. "I'd think you were a terrible liar if you didn't," she told him.
Once they had finished eating the Doctor insisted on showing Martha to a room where she could sleep, telling her that he would wash up by himself as she had given him so much to think about, and even though she hadn't done much since leaving his sixth incarnation, Martha was tired enough to be glad of a rest again.
* * * * * *
Cardiff
Jack was sleeping restlessly in his quarters below his office when Gwen shouted his name, and he soon scrambled up the ladder, pulling his braces back up and then tugging on his shirt.
"What is it?" he asked anxiously. "Is she back?"
Gwen shook her head sadly. "No, but something's just come through the Rift close to the TARDIS. Whoever or whatever it was appeared in a huge burst of white light."
He hastily buttoned his shirt, holstered his Webley, and then pulled on his coat. "I'll go and take a look," he said.
"We'll come with you," Gwen said promptly.
Jack opened his mouth to disagree, then nodded, and they hurried over to the invisible lift where Ianto joined them.
"Did you sleep?" he asked Jack quietly.
"A little," he answered. "I was dreaming of Martha and the Doctor though, and not in a good way." He looked rueful and Ianto briefly put an arm around him; they were all wary and alert as they stepped off the paving stone and saw a figure dressed mostly in white standing close to the TARDIS.
"Who's that?" asked Gwen.
"No idea," answered Jack honestly. He led the way over to the ship and the waiting figure, and they all looked curiously at the man's white linen suit with its red buttonhole, and the light-coloured panama hat he wore.
"Who are you?" asked Jack directly, his hand hovering close to his gun.
The man lifted his hat briefly. "I am the White Guardian," he said. "I am known to the Doctor. I understand he has gone missing?"
Jack nodded, still wary. "I'm sorry, but who are you? 'The White Guardian' doesn't mean much to me."
"I represent order in the universe. I am the counterpart of the Black Guardian, who represents evil, chaos and entropy. We balance out the forces in the universe, although the Black Guardian always desires to upset the balance in favour of chaos and evil, while I prefer to maintain the status quo. I believe the Black Guardian is responsible for the disappearance of the Doctor."
"How can we find out if he was responsible?" asked Jack.
"You cannot. Only I can confirm this fact, but I understand that someone is searching for the Doctor?"
Jack heard Gwen make a noise of surprise behind him. "Yes, one of the Doctor's companions is looking for him now, although she has not succeeded yet."
"Even if she finds him, she may not be able to bring him away from whatever stronghold he is being held in - the Black Guardian makes use of others to do his dirty work for him since we cannot be seen to interfere. I will seek out the Doctor myself and do what I can to ensure the success of the mission. I cannot promise your friend will succeed, but I will do my best to help her via my own agents."
"Is there anything we can do to help?" asked Jack, who was itching to do something useful.
"I'm afraid not, not at this time. But you must be ready for the return of the Doctor and his companion - it is possible that the Black Guardian's agents will come after them." He looked gravely at them. "You may have to fight for their survival."
"We'll be ready," Jack said promptly, and heard murmurs of agreement from Gwen and Ianto.
"Good." The White Guardian inclined his head to them. "We may meet again, Jack Harkness." The Torchwood team members watched in surprise as the White Guardian gradually faded from their view.
"Well, that was different," muttered Ianto, as they turned and made their way back to the invisible lift.
"At least we know Martha's still alive and on the case," Gwen said, trying to sound cheerful.
Jack grunted. "I'm glad to know someone else is on the case. I can't say I really liked the idea of her going off alone, but she's as stubborn as the Doctor when the mood's on her."
"Do you think we can trust this White Guardian person?" asked Ianto.
Jack shrugged. "I don't think we've got much choice, do you? We've no idea where Martha or the Doctor are, and no real means of going after them ourselves. The fact that he came to us of his own free will seems hopeful. I'd rather go after her myself, but that's not an option."
Back down in the Hub, Ianto went to make them all some coffee, and Gwen offered to go and get pizza for a late lunch.
"Oh yeah, food's a good idea," Jack said, distractedly.
"She'll be okay, Jack. Have faith in Martha," Gwen told him.
"I do have faith in her," he replied. "But I can't help worrying about her. I'll be glad when she and the Doctor are back."
"We'll all be glad." She hugged him briefly, then went to let Ianto know she was going out for pizza.
* * * * * *
On Skra
Slavin had dumped the unconscious Doctor on the floor of his cell a couple of hours earlier; now he woke with a groan of agony, and cautiously lifted his hands to his face, feeling for further damage, but it seemed that Slavin had concentrated more on his torso than his head for this most recent session. He gingerly moved himself into a sitting position, leaning back against the stone wall behind him.
Martha, if you're coming for me, please come soon. I don't think I can survive much more of this.
* * * * * *
On the Seventh Doctor's TARDIS
Martha woke abruptly from sleep to the knowledge that the TARDIS was in the Vortex. She sat up quickly and checked her watch, but what she saw didn't make sense. Frowning, she scrambled out of bed and had a quick wash in the ensuite bathroom, then dressed quickly and hurried through to the Control Room.
As soon as she walked through the door, the Doctor looked up from the console and smiled at her.
"Hello. Did you sleep well?"
"Yes thank you. We're in the Vortex?" she asked.
He grinned. "I thought that you would appreciate the opportunity to sleep your fill," he told her. "So I brought us into the Vortex. I'll get you back a couple of hours after we left, and then you can go on with your search."
"So I really have slept for eight hours?" she asked, glancing down at her watch on her wrist.
He nodded. "You seemed like you needed plenty of sleep." He gave her a sterner look. "I think you were too hasty in leaving my last incarnation after your encounter with the Vortisaurs."
She glanced down at her feet. "Probably."
He moved around the console and put one hand on her shoulder, using the other to lift her chin so he could look her in the eye.
"You won't be much help to me if you're not fit when you find my later incarnation," he said gently. "I know you're anxious for him, but you need to take care of yourself too." He tapped the end of her nose. "Understand?"
She nodded and he smiled at her. "Good. Now, let me adjust the Vortex Manipulator, and then I'll get you back to Earth and you can be on your way again."
"Thank you."
"It was an honour to help you, Martha Jones." He moved back to the console and set the controls, and they were soon back on Earth again.
He shook hands with Martha before he let her out of the TARDIS, then watched as she made her next jump.
"Good luck," he whispered as she disappeared.