Nativitas (3/4)
Who_Daily Link: < a href="http://persiflage-1.livejournal.com/226193.html">Nativitas (3/4) by < lj user=persiflage_1> (Characters: Martha/Ten, Ood Sigma, OCs | Rating: NC-17 | Spoilers: S3)
Title: Nativitas (3/4)
Author: Persiflage_1
Characters/Pairings: Martha/Ten, Ood Sigma, OCs
Rating: NC-17
Warning: This fic will get dark.
Spoilers: Season 3
Summary: A year after she walked out, Martha boards the TARDIS again to travel with the Doctor.
Disclaimer: I occasionally wish that I did own it!
Author Notes: This fic is set about a year after "The Last of the Time Lords" and is essentially AU to Season 4. This chapter borrows elements from the Season 4 story "Planet of the Ood", but is set a few years earlier, so the Dr Ryder who's mentioned is actually the father of the man in that episode. I didn't think I'd ever write a fic in this sub-genre, but then a Twitter conversation with some folks put the idea into my head and the plot bunnies wouldn't let it go!
Special thanks goes to my beta fourzoas together with concordiaadieu, ebbyzone, jadekirk and radiantbaby. The five of them acted as my cheering section, offering ideas, concrit and support during the writing of this story. It's a lot better thanks to them. Any remaining infelicities are my own.
Part 1, Part 2
~~~~~~
The next morning, Martha woke earlier than usual, feeling nauseated. She slipped out of bed and went into the bathroom, moving quietly so she didn't disturb the Doctor. He had a tendency to stay with her at night until she fell asleep, then slip away to do his own thing, only returning two or three hours before she usually woke. Knowing how little sleep he needed, she appreciated his gesture; it was pleasant to fall asleep in his arms and to wake curled up beside him, and since she was more used to sleeping alone than not, she didn't mind that he didn't stay with her all night. She'd known at the outset that theirs would not be a conventional relationship, and given he was a long-lived alien who saw the universe rather differently to her, there was no point in expecting him to behave like a human lover.
Stepping into the bathroom, she got a cup of water, hoping it would ease her nausea. She tried to decide what they'd eaten at the Sanctuary the day before that might have left her feeling sick, but nothing was coming to mind.
"Martha?" The Doctor's voice was soft as he spoke to her from the bathroom doorway. "You're awake early. Everything okay?"
She turned and smiled at him, but the anxious look he gave her showed that the smile wasn't convincing him that she was okay. He stepped into the room and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Woke up feeling queasy," she said.
"Something you ate yesterday?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I was just wondering that, but I couldn't think what. I - " She paused and made a moue of distaste, then turned towards the sink. "Ugh. I think feeling sick but not actually being sick is the worst option," she said after a few moments.
The Doctor took her hand in his. "Come on, I've got something I can give you for the nausea." He led her out of the bathroom, through their bedroom, and down the corridor to the Med Bay.
"Sit down," he said, gesturing at the bed, before turning to root around in one of the cupboards.
Martha watched him, admiring his long limbs and lean frame. Their changed relationship was still new enough for her to enjoy looking at the Doctor without taking the sight of him for granted. She particularly enjoyed seeing him naked instead of hiding under the layers of clothes that usually covered his slender beauty.
He turned towards her with a small blue bottle in his hand, and immediately began to blush at her frank scrutiny. "You've seen it before," he murmured.
She gave him a soft smile. "I have, but that doesn't stop me enjoying looking at you." She reached out and gently pulled him closer until he was standing between her knees.
"I think you're beautiful," she said quietly, "and I can't believe how lucky I am to be with you."
His blush deepened, but he dipped his head to kiss her mouth before he answered. "Not half as lucky as I am. When you walked out after you travelled with me, I - "
"Shh." She reached up and placed a finger against his lips. "That's in the past, and we agreed to live in the present: we both made mistakes before, but we've started afresh now."
He nodded, then kissed her again, setting the bottle down on the bed so he could cup her face in his hands as he deepened the kiss.
When the Doctor pulled back so she could catch her breath he noticed a thoughtful expression on her face. "What is it?"
"Have you been sticking your sonic screwdriver in your mouth while you were tinkering or something?" she asked.
He frowned. "No. I wasn't even tinkering with anything last night. I was in the library, reading. Why?"
"I've got a metallic taste in my mouth," Martha answered, looking puzzled as well as thoughtful.
"Interesting." He moved away from her and picked up a handheld scanner from the counter.
"What's that for?" she asked curiously.
"Hmm? Oh, chemical analysis. I'm hoping it will tell me what's making you feel sick and giving you that metallic taste. You might want to close your eyes for this."
She complied, but even with her eyes closed, she could see the flare of golden light that enveloped her body when he pointed the scanner at her.
When the light disappeared again, she opened her eyes, and the Doctor settled beside her on the bed, muttering under his breath as he studied the readout.
He frowned. "That's odd."
"What?" asked Martha, feeling a cold prickle of alarm run down her spine.
"When was your last period?"
She frowned. "Just over a week ago," she answered.
"Ah."
"Ah what?" Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Oh my god! You're going to tell me that I'm pregnant, aren't you?"
He looked up at her, fear and hope warring in his expression. "I'm not positive," he answered. "It shouldn't be possible. As I told you, we're not genetically compatible, but - " He paused and ran a hand through his sleep-ruffled hair.
"But what?" she asked, feeling numb.
"Well, your oestrogen and progesterone levels are very high. But there are some odd things about this readout." He scowled at the scanner, then looked back up at her face. "I think I need to do a full scan of you. I'm sorry, but I do need to be sure."
She nodded and tried not to flinch when he kissed her on the forehead before getting off the bed. She lay down properly and waited, clutching the edge of the bed in a white knuckle grip, as he lowered the body scanner down over her, then fiddled with the buttons on it.
Martha was desperately telling herself that the Doctor was mistaken, that she couldn't possibly be pregnant, but somehow she didn't believe it. She could tell that he didn't think he was mistaken either, for all that he'd said it was impossible.
He gave a grunt of surprise, and she tried to peer up at his face past the edge of the scanner.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Well, oh, hang on." He pushed the scanner back into its usual position. "You can sit up."
Martha moved and he sat down beside her, but he didn't put an arm around her or hold her hand, and she wasn't sure whether to be grateful or annoyed. Her emotions seemed to be in complete turmoil: part of her was terrified of the idea of becoming a mother - she felt she was still too young, and too poorly qualified to be the mother of a Human-Time Lord hybrid. Part of her was angry that she'd fallen pregnant, after he'd told her that it wasn't possible. But another, rather smaller part of her, was delighted at the thought of the Doctor having a family again, after he'd lost his own people. She hoped that the child would be long-lived, or even capable of regenerating, so that he or she could stay with him after Martha herself had gone.
"Martha." The Doctor's soft voice grounded her, pulling her back from her agitated thoughts. He slid an arm around her now, and she was suddenly grateful for his touch, leaning against his body with a soft sigh.
"You are pregnant," he told her quietly. "I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry?" she asked, pulling away from him a little so that she could see his face.
"Because you didn't agree to this, and I told you it was impossible for us to have a child."
"But don't you want a child?"
"Yes and no." He sighed. "I've been a father once, had a granddaughter too, who travelled with me for a while, but I ran away from my family when I left Gallifrey."
She wondered what had happened to his granddaughter; Martha supposed she'd been lost in the Time War too, just like everyone else.
She blew out a breath. "Let's back up a bit, shall we? How did you make me pregnant? How is it possible, I mean? I know the other bit." She gave him a bit of a grin, and he grinned back, clearly relieved she was able to make jokes.
"As far as I can tell, it's mostly just a quirk of fate or something," he said. "You know that the TARDIS uses Artron energy to travel through the Vortex?"
"I remember you telling me something about that once, yes," she agreed.
"Well, that Artron energy also irradiates whoever travels in the TARDIS - not to a dangerous level, but enough to give you a slightly greater degree of telepathy, which is how she can translate others' languages for you."
"Okay, I'm with you so far," Martha said, biting unconsciously at her lower lip.
"You remember that I gave you a DNA transfer, the first day we met?"
"How could I forget?" she asked.
He chuckled. "It was a good kiss, wasn't it?"
"Oi, Mr Ego." She shoved at his shoulder, but she was grinning at the cheeky grin he wore.
He grabbed the hand she'd shoved him with and kissed the palm, and Martha, feeling a shiver run through her, snatched her hand back. "Stick to the topic, okay?"
He tried to look suitably apologetic, but she had seen the flare of desire in his eyes.
"Okay. So, we have a DNA transfer from a Time Lord to a Human, and my DNA contains Artron energy, so you got a bigger dose of it than you would have done if I hadn't kissed you. And then we come to poor, deluded, Richard Lazarus and his sonic microfield manipulator, inside which we got trapped while it was turned on."
"Wait. So, you're saying that the Artron energy from time travelling with you and the DNA transfer that you gave me to delay the Judoon, combined with being inside Lazarus' machine, have made my DNA more compatible with yours, enough for me to get pregnant?" she asked.
"Yep!" he answered, popping the 'p' emphatically.
"Blimey, so you were right about it being a quirk of fate, or something," she observed.
He nodded. "If I hadn't kissed you, or if we hadn't been in Lazarus' machine when it was switched on, you wouldn't now be pregnant."
There was a thoughtful silence for a few minutes while they considered this. "Come on, let's go back to bed," the Doctor said.
She nodded and they walked back to their bedroom hand in hand, each busy with their own thoughts. Martha was wondering what she would do about her job offer from UNIT; although she was happy about her changed relationship with the Doctor, she hadn't planned to spend the rest of her life with him. Not that they'd discussed their future together yet: their relationship was still so new that they'd concentrated wholly on the here-and-now.
Finding out that she was pregnant was giving her an entirely different perspective on it though, and she found herself fiercely wishing that she hadn't trusted the Doctor's assurance that she couldn't have a baby with him. Not that she was only blaming him - she was an adult, after all, and a Doctor too, so she should have taken precautions. Heaven only knew what her mother was going to say when she heard the news: it was one thing for her to accept Martha going off to help the Doctor with a medical problem, but it was quite another for her to accept becoming a grandmother to a half-alien child.
The Time Lord was wondering at the vicissitudes of Fate: after being alone for so long, it was strange and rather terrifying to suddenly find himself not only in a relationship with Martha, but a father again. He vowed that he would do better by his and Martha's child than he had by his own or Susan. He felt grateful that Martha hadn't asked him what had happened to his granddaughter: he still felt a measure of guilt and regret at the way he'd forced Susan to stay with David, even though, at the time, he'd been certain it was the right thing to do.
He wondered what Martha was thinking, and how angry she was; he could, of course, just ask her, but he didn't quite have the nerve. He knew she wasn't the sort to scream and shout when she got upset, she had far too much self-control for that, but he was nervous about her reaction, and wished she'd say something.
Back in their room, she slid back under the duvet and went back to sleep without further conversation. The Doctor lay awake for a while longer, his thoughts chasing themselves in circles, before he fell asleep too.
A few hours later, after they'd both showered and had some breakfast, he suggested that they go to the library.
"I thought we could go and look at some books, to see if we can sort out the likely path your pregnancy will take," he said.
"Okay."
Once in the library, the Doctor gathered some books and they settled on one of the sofas to read and talk. He explained to Martha that their baby would only have one heart as the second one didn't develop until regeneration. He also talked to her about the differences between Human and Gallifreyan pregnancies, freely admitting that since there had never been a Human-Time Lord baby before, he didn't know whether she would be pregnant for six months, like a Gallifreyan, or nine months like a human, or somewhere in between.
Then they discussed possible side effects of Martha's pregnancy, including cravings (she wasn't sure she entirely believed his story about his mother's cravings during the time she was pregnant with him), her diet, and how best she could stay fit and healthy until the baby was born.
* * * * * *
A few days later, they were lying in bed together when the Doctor suddenly asked, "Do you want to go back to Earth?"
Martha lifted her head from his shoulder and gave him a questioning look. "Why?"
"Well, I was just thinking, the sort of life we lead, running from monsters and madmen, getting shot at and blown up, and all the rest, it's not exactly safe at the best of times."
"What would you do?" she asked. "I can't really see you settling down to life on earth for an unknowable number of months until the baby is born, at least, not without you getting twitchy and restless."
For a moment he looked hurt, then he nodded. "I can see why you would think that," he answered, "and once it would have been true. But I was thinking that we could both join UNIT, or in my case, rejoin. There's no doubt they want your skills and field experience, and I daresay they could make use of me. Failing that, I daresay Jack could make use of me."
Martha snorted. "I know exactly what use Jack would make of you."
He looked shocked for a moment, long enough for her to start giggling at his expression.
"Martha Jones," he growled, "you're a wicked woman."
He pulled her closer and began kissing her hungrily, and she felt him hardening. They hadn't made love since they'd discovered they were going to have a baby, although they'd still slept together, but now she realised that she wanted him.
"Seems to me you're not entirely opposed to the idea," she teased, cupping his length in her hand and stroking the sensitive underside. She smirked when a shiver of desire shook his frame and he gasped.
"Would you like to shag Jack?" she asked, watching his face.
"Only if you joined us," he said breathlessly.
Martha paused, her hand still lightly clasping his erection. "A threesome?" she asked, sounding intrigued.
"Ever done that?" he asked curiously. Martha shook her head. "Would you like to?"
"I don't know," she said, a slight hesitation in her voice. "I mean, I'm not going to lie and say I hadn't thought about shagging Jack, because how could you not think about it?"
The Doctor laughed. "Exactly. He just exudes sex appeal."
"Does he know you think that?" she asked playfully.
"I should think he probably does," he answered. "After all, he's a smart man." He slipped a hand between her thighs, eliciting a moan from her when his fingers began to circle her entrance.
"Don't you think we're getting off the point?" she asked, her breath hitching when he pushed two fingers inside her.
"And whose fault is that?" he asked, biting back a moan of his own when she drew a finger across the head of his shaft.
"You were the one who mentioned Jack making use of you," she retorted.
"Okay, okay." He pulled his fingers free, and tried not to growl when she whimpered at the loss; instead he lifted her right leg and guided himself into her slick heat.
"I want to try something, if you're willing," he said quietly.
"What?" she asked curiously.
"Well, normally, when my people joined, we did so telepathically as well as physically. Now I know about your heightened receptivity to telepathy, I'd like us to try it, if that's okay?"
She nodded eagerly, eyes wide with anticipation. "Yes, please."
"Close your eyes." He waited, then reached up with his right hand and pressed his fingers to her temple.
Martha gasped in astonishment: she appeared to be standing beneath a burnt orange sky on a hillside covered in red grass.
"Gallifrey," she whispered, her voice full of awe.
"Welcome to my home, Martha Jones." The Doctor stood beside her, a peaceful expression on his face.
"It's even more beautiful than I imagined," she said, staring across at what she somehow knew was the Citadel encased in its dome.
"Our minds are linked," he told her, sliding his hand into hers, "which means that you recognise the Citadel because I do." He walked her across the grass to where trees hung with silver leaves stood, and led her into a secluded grove amongst them. He slipped off his coat and spread it on the grass, then pulled her into a close embrace.
"I'm going to make love to you, Martha Jones," he whispered in her ear, "and it will feel completely different because of our telepathic connection."
He gently pulled her down onto his coat, and she realised that they were both naked now, although they'd been dressed a moment before, then she reminded herself that this was a sort of waking dream.
She allowed the Doctor to take charge of their love-making, dimly feeling that he needed to feel in control again after their discovery of her pregnancy. He began by kissing and caressing her body, working his way down from her face and neck to her breasts and belly, and then to her thighs, before he slipped two fingers inside her. He lowered his mouth to tease her clit and she moaned, clasping his head as he worked to bring her to her first climax. After her second one, he crawled back up her body and began kissing her mouth as he slipped his length inside her.
"Martha Jones," he whispered, little nips and licks to her skin punctuating his words as he began to thrust. "My Martha. My Doctor. My friend. My lover. Mother of my child."
She gasped and moaned as he moved deep inside her; she noticed they seemed to be bathed in a rich gold light, and she felt secure and loved.
"The TARDIS," he said softly. At her questioning look, he elaborated. "The golden light is from the TARDIS, connecting to us both. You should be able to sense her more clearly now, and even more once the baby starts growing."
"She's in your head, like this, all the time?" Martha asked.
"Oh yes!" he exclaimed softly.
"She's beautiful."
"Both my girls are," he answered, before beginning to move faster, and she gave up trying to talk so she could concentrate on feeling instead.
She could sense the flow of love, joy and kinship between Time Lord and ship, and she felt moved by the strength of their bond. She'd known for a long time that the Doctor and the TARDIS shared something special - 1913 and 1969 had made that clear - but she'd never realised until now how inextricably they were linked to one another. She felt sad that it was a bond that she couldn't match, but she felt glad, too, that they had each other, both of them the last of their kind.
"Not the last," the Doctor said, startling her for a moment, until she remembered that he'd necessarily know what she was thinking and feeling when they were telepathically joined. "Not the last now."
He bent his head to kiss her, even as his thrusts became more urgent, sensing that Martha was reaching her peak. She felt a surge of desire from him and understood that he wanted them to come together; it was enough to send her over the edge. She shuddered around him as she reached her climax, and his body jerked in release. He rolled them over until she lay, prone and sated, on top of him, his arms wrapped securely around her.
"You've made me so happy, Dr Martha Jones," he whispered, kissing her gently. "So very happy."
She kissed him back. "Yeah, I'm pretty happy too," she answered. She saw the question in his eyes and kissed the tip of his nose, then his forehead, then his lips again.
"I mean it," she said, a serious expression on her face. "I'm pretty sure you'd know if I was lying to you when we're linked telepathically."
The Doctor smiled. "You're a smart woman, Martha Jones."
"And don't you forget it, Mister Smith."
He laughed delightedly. "Not much chance of that," he assured her.
"Good." She sighed contentedly, and he smiled as he rhythmically stroked a hand up and down her back. "That's nice."
She closed her eyes and after a moment the Doctor gently broke their telepathic link, then he spooned up behind her as she lay on her side, his hands spread protectively over her belly, and they dozed together.
* * * * * *
After they discovered she was pregnant, Martha and the Doctor spent a month aboard the TARDIS in the Vortex, apart from his brief trips to restock the kitchen. It was a month of intense study in the library, during which the Doctor began to teach Martha Gallifreyan culture, history and bits of the language, interspersed with spells of passionate love-making. Then one day, Martha suggested that they go and see what was happening in the rest of the universe.
"Not getting bored of me already, are you?" asked the Doctor, and although he spoke lightly and smiled, she sensed a faint undercurrent of anxiety to his words.
"Charming. Do you think my attention span is that short?" she asked in mock outrage.
He almost fell over himself to reassure her that he didn't think that at all, and she let him flounder for a few moments before she assured him that she was just teasing.
"Doctor, I'm not bored with you. I don't think I could ever get bored of being with you, not when there's so much I can learn from you, not to mention all the new things and places to see and do. I just thought that it would do us good to get out of the TARDIS for a bit. No offence my friend," she added, stroking the wall beside her, and smiling at the sense of amusement she felt from the ship. "Besides, the universe needs you just as much as I do."
He leaned across the table where they were eating breakfast, and briefly kissed her, sharing the taste of tea and orange marmalade.
"Very well, Dr Jones, we go and see what the universe is doing."
"Good." She gave him a sunny smile, then went back to her own bowl of bran flakes, fruit chunks and yoghurt.
An hour later, after a smoother than usual landing, which Martha suspected was the result of the TARDIS looking after her, they stepped outside into a snowy landscape.
"Blimey, it's a bit parky," Martha said, zipping up her red leather jacket.
"Sure you'll be warm enough in that coat?" asked the Doctor solicitously.
She smiled up at him, then tucked her arm through his. "I'll warm up quickly enough, once we're walking," she said cheerfully. "Any idea where we are?"
He looked up at the sky which was darkening into night. "Somewhere in the Horsehead Nebula," he answered. "So not too far from Earth."
She nodded and they set out through the thick snow, Martha feeling grateful that she'd put on her boots when she had got dressed earlier.
"Have we arrived late in the day, or are we in an area on this planet that's dark all day and all night?"
He smiled down at her, enjoying her constant quest for new knowledge. "It's evening, about 6pm, or the local equivalent, a week or two before the Vernal Equinox." His smile became a grin when she gaped at him in astonishment.
"Blimey!" she said feelingly.
Before the Doctor could respond to her surprise, they both heard a low growl behind them, and they turned quickly to see one of the strangest creatures Martha had ever encountered.
"What is it?" she asked softly, trying to make sense of what she was seeing: a bald-headed, humanoid with a mass of tentacles where she'd expect to see a mouth, and a white ball in its right hand.
"They're called Ood," the Time Lord answered quietly.
There was another growl, off to their right, and they both turned to see a second Ood stepping out of the trees that lined the road.
"And are they friendly, usually?" she asked carefully, wondering why they were wearing slate grey boiler suits.
"As a rule, they are." The Doctor raised his hands, palms outwards. "We mean you no harm," he called clearly.
"Why are you here?" asked the first Ood, the ball in its hand lighting up as it spoke.
The Doctor felt Martha start with surprise beside him and realised she hadn't been expecting the Ood to speak.
"We're just visitors, passing through," he said, trying to sound friendly and non-threatening.
"You are not here to recapture us?" asked the Ood.
"Recapture you?" asked the Doctor, surprised.
"We escaped," answered the second Ood.
"Blimey!"
Martha could sense that this news surprised him as much as the Ood speaking had surprised her.
"I assure you," the Doctor said, "we're not here to recapture you. We didn't even know you were here, nor do we know where here is."
"The Oodsphere," answered the first Ood.
"Your home planet? It's beautiful," the Doctor said sincerely.
"You will come with us," instructed the second Ood. "We will talk."
The Time Lord glanced swiftly at Martha and she gave him a tiny nod. "Very well." He lowered his arms, then took her hand in his, squeezing her fingers.
She smiled up at him when he glanced down at her again, and he saw the eager light in her eyes; her thirst for knowledge was a constant source of pleasure to the Doctor, who enjoyed the way she seemed to thrive on learning new things. He thought, again, how lucky he was to have Martha back at his side, not only as friend and companion, this time, but also as his lover and now the mother of his child. He couldn't help hoping that their baby would inherit Martha's love of exploration and knowledge; to have two people to share those things with would make life even sweeter.
The four of them made their way through the forest until they reached a camp that had been made in a system of caves at the foot of one of the mountains. There were five other Ood there, four of them wearing a slate grey boiler suit, but the fifth wearing a black one. Martha strained her eyes in the firelight, wondering what distinguished them as individuals, apart from the one wearing the different coloured boiler suit.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor and this is Martha Jones," said the Time Lord cheerfully as they were escorted to the fire pit.
"Ood Sigma," answered the one wearing the black boiler suit. "The one known as the Doctor is known to us."
"How?" asked Martha courteously.
"The legends of the Time Lords are everywhere," answered Ood Sigma. "Will you help us?"
"Your friend over there said you'd escaped," the Doctor observed. "From what and where have you escaped?"
"Slavery," answered Sigma. "The humans process us and control us, then sell us into servitude. We would be free, as we were before."
"How do the humans process and control you?" asked Martha. The Doctor could feel her arm shaking as it pressed against his, and he knew it was anger, not fear, that she felt.
"They fit us with these," Sigma said, lifting the white ball. "It is a translation device to allow us to communicate as they suppress the natural means we possess."
"And what's that?" asked Martha curiously.
The Doctor was remembering his first encounter with the Ood, out in the depths of space at Krop Tor; he hadn't realised at the time that the translator balls weren't the Oodkind's natural means of communication, not that there had been much time for small talk with so much going on at the Sanctuary Base.
"We are a telepathic race," answered Ood Sigma, watching them carefully.
"So, the translator balls convert your thoughts into human speech," Martha said quickly, "which allows you to respond verbally to non-telepaths." Her face fell as she realised the implications of her words. "But, that means the humans surgically alter you." She didn't bother trying to hide the disgust she felt, and the Doctor sensed that Ood could feel her sympathy for their situation.
"The humans must also repress your telepathic abilities," he observed. Ood Sigma nodded. "So how have the few of you managed to escape? And where have you escaped from?"
"The humans have a processing and shipping plant nearby. They have a breeding programme to ensure that supply meets demand; they process us, then send us out in crates of thirty or forty to meet clients' orders."
"That's disgusting," Martha said fiercely, her revulsion plain. "We've got to stop them." She turned to the Doctor, and even in the firelight he saw that her eyes were blazing with anger.
He nodded his agreement, and she turned back to Ood Sigma. "This will stop," she told him, and he gave a slow nod.
"The Friends of the Ood will help you, as they helped us to escape," he said.
The Doctor remembered Danny Bartok mentioning them. "How many Friends are at the complex?"
"Three. Our main contact is a Dr Ryder, one of the scientists. He is an older man, grey-haired and nervous in manner."
"Is the complex easy to find from here?" the Doctor asked.
Sigma nodded. "One of my people will guide you back to the road which leads directly to it."
"Then we'll be on our way. The sooner we get down there, the sooner we can get this sorted out."
Martha was already on her feet as the Doctor spoke, and she now offered Ood Sigma her hand to shake. "We'll do our best for your people," she assured him.
"I believe you, Martha Jones. Your passion blazes very strongly, even to us whose telepathic sense is suppressed."
She ducked her head, momentarily embarrassed, then she shook his hand and murmured her thanks.
The Doctor offered his own hand to Ood Sigma, who took it and looked deep into his eyes. "We sense great sorrow in you, Time Lord, and there is more sorrow to come, but your mate's strength and love will support you, as yours will support her."
The Doctor's smile froze as Sigma spoke; there was no mistaking the sincerity of the Ood's words, and the Time Lord could not imagine that Sigma had any reason to speak so except that he had glimpsed something in the Doctor's future. He suppressed the shiver of presentiment he felt and resolved to get Martha to ring her mother as soon as they were back at the TARDIS.
* * * * * *
It took an hour for them to reach the complex once Ood Delta 50 had guided them to the road. As they walked, the Doctor narrated for Martha the details of his first encounter with the Ood, and the events that had taken place on the Sanctuary Base. She noticed how warmly he spoke of Ida Scott, and her bravery in going with him down the mine shaft to investigate what the drilling had uncovered at the heart of Krop Tor, and how he'd worried that he'd left her to die when he went down into the pit.
"You still left her behind, though," Martha observed neutrally.
"I did," he agreed. "Sometimes I have to risk the lives of a few to save many more."
She said nothing, remembering the way he'd yelled defiance at the Daleks, urging them to kill him, and the way he'd gone with the Dalek, leaving her behind in Hooverville. She hoped he would be less reckless in future, after their child was born.
Once they could see the processing plant ahead of them, they paused; to Martha's eyes it seemed ugly, a blot on an otherwise beautiful landscape.
"How are we doing this?" she asked quietly.
"We'll try the science block first, see if we can locate Dr Ryder, and then take it from there. It's important to get as many Ood out as possible, preferably without any human loss of life."
"But we're not going to let whoever owns the plant get off scot-free, are we?" she asked. "Whoever it is needs to be stopped from setting up a similar facility again."
The Doctor clasped her hands in his. "I promise you, the owner won't go unpunished." He ducked his head and kissed her brow. "You've become very vengeful," he observed.
She looked thoughtful. "Maybe it's becoming a mother?" she said. "I've always valued human life, that's why I became a doctor. But, I don't know, I think I just feel that humans don't have the right to go around enslaving others species. And what they've done to the Ood is disgusting, obscene even. Bad enough when we exploit our own kind, but exploiting other sentient species? Sometimes I despise humanity."
"Don't," he said, hugging her. "Despise individuals for their greed or cruelty, but don't despise your whole race."
They set off around the perimeter of the complex, moving as stealthily as possible. Ood Delta 50 had told them what security measures were in place, and there were hoping that the Doctor's sonic screwdriver and their own sneakiness would suffice to get them inside.
They eventually reached the science block and the Doctor quickly sonicked the electronic lock, then they slipped inside, Martha going first. By the time he'd relocked the door, she'd already discovered from the helpful wall sign that the staff quarters were up on the third floor, and he followed her up the stairs, both of them knowing that using the lift would be too risky. Once on the third floor they were both surprised and relieved to discover that each door was labelled with the occupant's name.
Martha grabbed the Doctor's hand and spoke to him mind to mind, as he'd been teaching her to do. I hope he's nearby. I don't fancy wandering around the whole floor.
The Time Lord pulled an exaggeratedly sad face, then nodded to the doors. She nodded back and they began to move down the corridor, Martha checking the left hand side and the Doctor checking the right.
She squeezed his fingers when she spotted Dr Ryder's door about halfway down the corridor, and he moved to join her, quickly sonicking open the door, and both of them slipping inside as quickly and quietly as possible. They paused for a few moments, waiting for their eyes to adjust to the darkness inside the room after the subdued lighting of the corridor, before the Doctor led the way forward. It was a small relief to discover that the staff had a suite of rooms, rather than just a bedroom: Martha would have felt even more awkward if they'd just let themselves directly into Dr Ryder's sleeping quarters.
They moved down the short hallway towards the far door which the Doctor was guessing led into the bedroom. She grasped his hand again.
Are we just going to let ourselves in and then wake him up?
He nodded. I think it's safest. Don't you?
She shrugged, then nodded, before following him into the unlocked room.
Afterwards, she was surprised by Dr Ryder's reaction to their intrusion.
"Who are you?" asked the scientist in a hoarse whisper when the Doctor woke him up.
"Friends of the Ood," Martha said quickly. "Ood Sigma sent us."
His eyebrows rose in astonishment, but it was obvious he didn't doubt her words.
The two time travellers withdrew into the kitchen while Ryder dressed, and by the time a pot of tea was ready, the scientist joined them, now fully dressed. He immediately fetched a box of biscuits from the cupboard and the Doctor fell on them as if he was starving, while Martha quietly explained in more detail about the reason for their presence.
"Ood Sigma is a wise fellow," Ryder observed, "and I think if he knew what the boss has got planned for tomorrow, well today now, he'd be inclined to consider the timeliness of your arrival little short of miraculous."
"Why, what's happening today?" asked Martha quickly.
"The boss is coming to see the Ood soldiers in action."
"Soldiers?" echoed Martha and the Doctor in horror.
Ryder nodded grimly. "The science team has been feeding a select batch of Ood with a drug cocktail that includes adrenaline and testosterone, amongst other things, in order to make them aggressive enough to fight."
"And you allowed this?" demanded Martha, aghast.
The scientist flinched at her angry expression. "I had to," he explained. "If I'd refused point-blank, he'd have had me shot, ruining all the work I've done on behalf of the Friends. And he'd have put someone else in charge, someone who doesn't give a damn about the Ood and sees them only as talking animals instead of intelligent, sentient, beings."
"Sorry," Martha apologised, embarrassed by her own aggressive response. She wondered if being pregnant really was affecting her hormones that much, and resolved to do some tests once they were back aboard the TARDIS.
"It's okay," Ryder answered. "I understand your anger. Believe me, if I thought it would do any good, I'd have set the whole lot of them free the moment the boss told me what he planned. But most of them would have been killed before they could escape."
"This boss, is he here, on the site?" asked the Doctor.
"No. He doesn't live here. The Oodsphere doesn't offer enough luxury for a man of Mr Ejer Ballademager's tastes."
"Him!" exclaimed the time travellers simultaneously.
"You know him?" Ryder asked, surprised.
"Oh yes," answered the Doctor grimly. "We've encountered him quite recently. He won't get away again, though. If necessary, I'll call in the Shadow Proclamation." He caught their puzzled glances. "A sort of intergalactic police force."
The others nodded their understanding, and the Doctor rubbed a hand over his face, trying to figure out the best way to deal with the situation.
"How many of these Ood soldiers are there?" he asked.
"Thirty," answered Ryder.
"Can we sedate them?" Martha asked. "I take it that the plan is for them to fight each other?"
The scientist nodded. "I haven't got enough sedative for all of them, though," he said. "We don't stock much of it because we've never really needed it, given how benign they are."
"Then we'll make more," she said promptly. "I'm a trained doctor, so I can do it."
"Better do it straight away," the Doctor said. "We don't want you getting caught in the act once the other staff are up and about." Martha nodded and he turned back to Ryder. "Can you get me access to a computer?"
"You can use the one in my office," Ryder answered.
"Let's go, then." The Time Lord's manner was brisk as he got to his feet and Martha felt a surge of hope that they would save the Ood and stop Ballademager at the same time.
Ten minutes later the three of them were busy on the ground floor: the Doctor was in Ryder's office, 'checking things' as he vaguely put it; Martha and Ryder, meanwhile, were in the latter's lab next door, working out how much sedative they would need to prepare for thirty Ood.
"You and the Doctor do this sort of thing a lot, do you?" asked Ryder.
She nodded. "We right wrongs, fight the bad guys, defeat the monsters, and look out for the good guys. There's also an outrageous amount of running," she said, her eyes bright with merriment.
"What are you, intergalactic superheroes?"
She laughed softly. "Not really. The Doctor's a Time Lord, but I'm just an ordinary human from Earth."
"Earth? But no one lives there any more," Ryder said, surprised.
"Not now, maybe, but in my time they still do."
"Your time?"
Martha nodded. "I'm from the 21st century," she said, continuing to measure out the drug doses for the Ood soldiers.
He stared at her, wide-eyed, then shook his head; it wasn't really important who she and the Doctor were - all he really cared about was saving the Ood from the boss' cruelty and exploitation, and if they were willing to help him, and speed up the process at the same time, so much the better. He'd been in this job for 18 months, and had spent the first three months making sure that everyone believed him to be a part of the team: correct, obedient, pliable, while he'd tried to work out the best way to save the Ood. But his method was painfully slow and he'd only saved seven Ood so far, roughly one every two months, and in the meanwhile thousands more had been shipped out across the Human Empire.
* * * * * *
The Doctor wandered back into the lab forty minutes later, just as Martha and Ryder were finishing bottling up the last dose of the sedative.
"What's the plan?" she asked, straightening up as he rubbed at her back to ease the muscles.
"The plan is to go and sedate the Ood soldiers now, before Ballademager even gets here, and then when he does get here, we'll be waiting to nab him and take him to the authorities."
"How are you planning to sedate the Ood?" asked Ryder anxiously. "You won't be able to get very close to them."
"We won't need to," the Time Lord answered, "not with a tranquilliser gun. I presume you do have one?"
"Somewhere, I think," answered the scientist. "Usually, if we need to sedate the Ood, we put the drug in their food."
"Too slow and haphazard," the Doctor told him. "Time is of the essence now, so I suggest you locate that tranquilliser gun ASAP."
Ryder nodded and hurried away, and the Time Lord turned to Martha.
"How are you doing?" he asked, pulling her into an embrace.
"I'm okay," she assured him. "Running on adrenaline, as usual."
He smiled and ducked his head for a quick kiss. "After this, we're going somewhere relaxing," he told her. "Maybe we'll go and look at some astronomical phenomena. There's a very nice Bubble Nebula, not too far from Earth, that I think you'd like. Oh, and the Flaming Star Nebula, which is an amazing sight."
"Sounds lovely," she murmured.
They pulled apart as they heard Ryder returning.
"You'd better tell us how we can reach the Ood soldiers," the Doctor said, taking the tranquilliser gun from the scientist, "then get back to your own quarters and try to behave as naturally as possible."
Martha saw how relieved Ryder looked and knew that the Doctor was right to keep him out of this as much as possible.
* * * * * *
A short while later they were making their way around the perimeter of the complex, Martha carrying the bottles of sedative in a shoulder bag that the Doctor had produced, neatly folded up, from his coat pocket, while he carried the tranquilliser gun.
"I'm glad there aren't more guards about," he observed.
"Ryder told me the guards only actively patrol when Ballademager's on site; they say it's too cold here for them to make a regular habit of it," Martha told him.
"Sounds like laziness to me!" he said cheerfully.
"I imagine he'll make his displeasure known when he finds out," she commented.
"No doubt," agreed the Doctor.
They stopped outside the building which Ryder had shown them on the map, and Martha took the gun from the Time Lord, while he pulled out his sonic screwdriver to let them in.
As he pulled open the door there was a snarl from the semi-darkness that rose to a chilling growl from thirty throats at once. The Doctor quickly turned to take the gun from Martha and saw she had dropped it in order to clutch at her head, her face screwed up in agony. Abruptly he realised that the Ood were attacking her mentally: he couldn't feel them because his mind was shielded against such things as a matter of course.
He cursed himself for not considering the possibility that these Ood soldiers would be able to attack mentally as well as physically, even as he clasped her head with his own hands and rapidly built up a shield wall around her mind.
After several minutes that felt more like hours, he felt her relax, then she lifted a tear-stained face to his.
"Okay?" he whispered anxiously.
"Yes."
"I'm so sorry, Martha, I didn't think - " he began.
"You can apologise properly later," she told him, managing a weak smile. "Let's do what we came for and get out of here."
He nodded and quickly brushed a kiss against her brow, before bending to retrieve the fallen gun.
Now that their eyes had adjusted to the dim light, they could see that each of the Ood soldiers was in a separate cell, the door of which was made of thick Plexiglas with a row of airholes across the top, and a slot with a hinged flap in the middle, set level with the handle.
"I suppose that's so they can be fed," the Doctor observed, fixing the first bottle of sedative into place on the tranquilliser gun.
"Yeah." Martha's voice was strained, and he looked up at her anxiously.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Head feels a bit rough," she answered, wincing.
"Think you'll be okay to help me?" There was a worried note in his voice.
"Yeah, it'll be quicker with two of us, after all."
"Good girl. I'll be as quick as I can."
She gave him a tight smile, then lifted up the hinged flap over the food slot and held it while the Doctor steadied the gun, then fired a dose of sedative into the Ood, which slumped down against the far wall of the cell.
It took them over half an hour to sedate all thirty Ood as they had to stop twice for the Doctor to rebuild the mental shield around Martha's mind when the telepathic attacks from the remaining Ood became too intense.
When he'd told her about her increased receptivity to telepathy, she somehow hadn't considered the possibility of being hurt by it; being able to link with him mentally during their love-making had made it seem like a gift, not a curse. The fact that they could speak mind to mind instead of verbally had also seemed to be useful rather than a nuisance, especially when he'd assured her that with practice she'd be able to speak to him without first touching him.
Now, though, she was seeing there was a downside: the savagely angry battle chant of the Ood soldiers felt like the blows of a sledgehammer. She could also sense that her anger level had risen in response to the Ood, and she felt as nauseated as she had that morning when they'd discovered she was pregnant. She felt torn between a desire to scream and shout, and to curl into a ball to sob and moan.
As the final Ood slumped unconscious to the floor, Martha felt her legs giving way, her mind swimming as she fought against the blackness that was threatening her. "Doctor," she called hoarsely.
He dropped the gun and turning, caught her as she collapsed, then hoisted her into his arms and carried her outside. She stirred and murmured indistinctly as he moved further and further away from the building that housed the Ood soldiers.
Title: Nativitas (3/4)
Author: Persiflage_1
Characters/Pairings: Martha/Ten, Ood Sigma, OCs
Rating: NC-17
Warning: This fic will get dark.
Spoilers: Season 3
Summary: A year after she walked out, Martha boards the TARDIS again to travel with the Doctor.
Disclaimer: I occasionally wish that I did own it!
Author Notes: This fic is set about a year after "The Last of the Time Lords" and is essentially AU to Season 4. This chapter borrows elements from the Season 4 story "Planet of the Ood", but is set a few years earlier, so the Dr Ryder who's mentioned is actually the father of the man in that episode. I didn't think I'd ever write a fic in this sub-genre, but then a Twitter conversation with some folks put the idea into my head and the plot bunnies wouldn't let it go!
Special thanks goes to my beta fourzoas together with concordiaadieu, ebbyzone, jadekirk and radiantbaby. The five of them acted as my cheering section, offering ideas, concrit and support during the writing of this story. It's a lot better thanks to them. Any remaining infelicities are my own.
Part 1, Part 2
~~~~~~
The next morning, Martha woke earlier than usual, feeling nauseated. She slipped out of bed and went into the bathroom, moving quietly so she didn't disturb the Doctor. He had a tendency to stay with her at night until she fell asleep, then slip away to do his own thing, only returning two or three hours before she usually woke. Knowing how little sleep he needed, she appreciated his gesture; it was pleasant to fall asleep in his arms and to wake curled up beside him, and since she was more used to sleeping alone than not, she didn't mind that he didn't stay with her all night. She'd known at the outset that theirs would not be a conventional relationship, and given he was a long-lived alien who saw the universe rather differently to her, there was no point in expecting him to behave like a human lover.
Stepping into the bathroom, she got a cup of water, hoping it would ease her nausea. She tried to decide what they'd eaten at the Sanctuary the day before that might have left her feeling sick, but nothing was coming to mind.
"Martha?" The Doctor's voice was soft as he spoke to her from the bathroom doorway. "You're awake early. Everything okay?"
She turned and smiled at him, but the anxious look he gave her showed that the smile wasn't convincing him that she was okay. He stepped into the room and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Woke up feeling queasy," she said.
"Something you ate yesterday?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I was just wondering that, but I couldn't think what. I - " She paused and made a moue of distaste, then turned towards the sink. "Ugh. I think feeling sick but not actually being sick is the worst option," she said after a few moments.
The Doctor took her hand in his. "Come on, I've got something I can give you for the nausea." He led her out of the bathroom, through their bedroom, and down the corridor to the Med Bay.
"Sit down," he said, gesturing at the bed, before turning to root around in one of the cupboards.
Martha watched him, admiring his long limbs and lean frame. Their changed relationship was still new enough for her to enjoy looking at the Doctor without taking the sight of him for granted. She particularly enjoyed seeing him naked instead of hiding under the layers of clothes that usually covered his slender beauty.
He turned towards her with a small blue bottle in his hand, and immediately began to blush at her frank scrutiny. "You've seen it before," he murmured.
She gave him a soft smile. "I have, but that doesn't stop me enjoying looking at you." She reached out and gently pulled him closer until he was standing between her knees.
"I think you're beautiful," she said quietly, "and I can't believe how lucky I am to be with you."
His blush deepened, but he dipped his head to kiss her mouth before he answered. "Not half as lucky as I am. When you walked out after you travelled with me, I - "
"Shh." She reached up and placed a finger against his lips. "That's in the past, and we agreed to live in the present: we both made mistakes before, but we've started afresh now."
He nodded, then kissed her again, setting the bottle down on the bed so he could cup her face in his hands as he deepened the kiss.
When the Doctor pulled back so she could catch her breath he noticed a thoughtful expression on her face. "What is it?"
"Have you been sticking your sonic screwdriver in your mouth while you were tinkering or something?" she asked.
He frowned. "No. I wasn't even tinkering with anything last night. I was in the library, reading. Why?"
"I've got a metallic taste in my mouth," Martha answered, looking puzzled as well as thoughtful.
"Interesting." He moved away from her and picked up a handheld scanner from the counter.
"What's that for?" she asked curiously.
"Hmm? Oh, chemical analysis. I'm hoping it will tell me what's making you feel sick and giving you that metallic taste. You might want to close your eyes for this."
She complied, but even with her eyes closed, she could see the flare of golden light that enveloped her body when he pointed the scanner at her.
When the light disappeared again, she opened her eyes, and the Doctor settled beside her on the bed, muttering under his breath as he studied the readout.
He frowned. "That's odd."
"What?" asked Martha, feeling a cold prickle of alarm run down her spine.
"When was your last period?"
She frowned. "Just over a week ago," she answered.
"Ah."
"Ah what?" Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Oh my god! You're going to tell me that I'm pregnant, aren't you?"
He looked up at her, fear and hope warring in his expression. "I'm not positive," he answered. "It shouldn't be possible. As I told you, we're not genetically compatible, but - " He paused and ran a hand through his sleep-ruffled hair.
"But what?" she asked, feeling numb.
"Well, your oestrogen and progesterone levels are very high. But there are some odd things about this readout." He scowled at the scanner, then looked back up at her face. "I think I need to do a full scan of you. I'm sorry, but I do need to be sure."
She nodded and tried not to flinch when he kissed her on the forehead before getting off the bed. She lay down properly and waited, clutching the edge of the bed in a white knuckle grip, as he lowered the body scanner down over her, then fiddled with the buttons on it.
Martha was desperately telling herself that the Doctor was mistaken, that she couldn't possibly be pregnant, but somehow she didn't believe it. She could tell that he didn't think he was mistaken either, for all that he'd said it was impossible.
He gave a grunt of surprise, and she tried to peer up at his face past the edge of the scanner.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Well, oh, hang on." He pushed the scanner back into its usual position. "You can sit up."
Martha moved and he sat down beside her, but he didn't put an arm around her or hold her hand, and she wasn't sure whether to be grateful or annoyed. Her emotions seemed to be in complete turmoil: part of her was terrified of the idea of becoming a mother - she felt she was still too young, and too poorly qualified to be the mother of a Human-Time Lord hybrid. Part of her was angry that she'd fallen pregnant, after he'd told her that it wasn't possible. But another, rather smaller part of her, was delighted at the thought of the Doctor having a family again, after he'd lost his own people. She hoped that the child would be long-lived, or even capable of regenerating, so that he or she could stay with him after Martha herself had gone.
"Martha." The Doctor's soft voice grounded her, pulling her back from her agitated thoughts. He slid an arm around her now, and she was suddenly grateful for his touch, leaning against his body with a soft sigh.
"You are pregnant," he told her quietly. "I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry?" she asked, pulling away from him a little so that she could see his face.
"Because you didn't agree to this, and I told you it was impossible for us to have a child."
"But don't you want a child?"
"Yes and no." He sighed. "I've been a father once, had a granddaughter too, who travelled with me for a while, but I ran away from my family when I left Gallifrey."
She wondered what had happened to his granddaughter; Martha supposed she'd been lost in the Time War too, just like everyone else.
She blew out a breath. "Let's back up a bit, shall we? How did you make me pregnant? How is it possible, I mean? I know the other bit." She gave him a bit of a grin, and he grinned back, clearly relieved she was able to make jokes.
"As far as I can tell, it's mostly just a quirk of fate or something," he said. "You know that the TARDIS uses Artron energy to travel through the Vortex?"
"I remember you telling me something about that once, yes," she agreed.
"Well, that Artron energy also irradiates whoever travels in the TARDIS - not to a dangerous level, but enough to give you a slightly greater degree of telepathy, which is how she can translate others' languages for you."
"Okay, I'm with you so far," Martha said, biting unconsciously at her lower lip.
"You remember that I gave you a DNA transfer, the first day we met?"
"How could I forget?" she asked.
He chuckled. "It was a good kiss, wasn't it?"
"Oi, Mr Ego." She shoved at his shoulder, but she was grinning at the cheeky grin he wore.
He grabbed the hand she'd shoved him with and kissed the palm, and Martha, feeling a shiver run through her, snatched her hand back. "Stick to the topic, okay?"
He tried to look suitably apologetic, but she had seen the flare of desire in his eyes.
"Okay. So, we have a DNA transfer from a Time Lord to a Human, and my DNA contains Artron energy, so you got a bigger dose of it than you would have done if I hadn't kissed you. And then we come to poor, deluded, Richard Lazarus and his sonic microfield manipulator, inside which we got trapped while it was turned on."
"Wait. So, you're saying that the Artron energy from time travelling with you and the DNA transfer that you gave me to delay the Judoon, combined with being inside Lazarus' machine, have made my DNA more compatible with yours, enough for me to get pregnant?" she asked.
"Yep!" he answered, popping the 'p' emphatically.
"Blimey, so you were right about it being a quirk of fate, or something," she observed.
He nodded. "If I hadn't kissed you, or if we hadn't been in Lazarus' machine when it was switched on, you wouldn't now be pregnant."
There was a thoughtful silence for a few minutes while they considered this. "Come on, let's go back to bed," the Doctor said.
She nodded and they walked back to their bedroom hand in hand, each busy with their own thoughts. Martha was wondering what she would do about her job offer from UNIT; although she was happy about her changed relationship with the Doctor, she hadn't planned to spend the rest of her life with him. Not that they'd discussed their future together yet: their relationship was still so new that they'd concentrated wholly on the here-and-now.
Finding out that she was pregnant was giving her an entirely different perspective on it though, and she found herself fiercely wishing that she hadn't trusted the Doctor's assurance that she couldn't have a baby with him. Not that she was only blaming him - she was an adult, after all, and a Doctor too, so she should have taken precautions. Heaven only knew what her mother was going to say when she heard the news: it was one thing for her to accept Martha going off to help the Doctor with a medical problem, but it was quite another for her to accept becoming a grandmother to a half-alien child.
The Time Lord was wondering at the vicissitudes of Fate: after being alone for so long, it was strange and rather terrifying to suddenly find himself not only in a relationship with Martha, but a father again. He vowed that he would do better by his and Martha's child than he had by his own or Susan. He felt grateful that Martha hadn't asked him what had happened to his granddaughter: he still felt a measure of guilt and regret at the way he'd forced Susan to stay with David, even though, at the time, he'd been certain it was the right thing to do.
He wondered what Martha was thinking, and how angry she was; he could, of course, just ask her, but he didn't quite have the nerve. He knew she wasn't the sort to scream and shout when she got upset, she had far too much self-control for that, but he was nervous about her reaction, and wished she'd say something.
Back in their room, she slid back under the duvet and went back to sleep without further conversation. The Doctor lay awake for a while longer, his thoughts chasing themselves in circles, before he fell asleep too.
A few hours later, after they'd both showered and had some breakfast, he suggested that they go to the library.
"I thought we could go and look at some books, to see if we can sort out the likely path your pregnancy will take," he said.
"Okay."
Once in the library, the Doctor gathered some books and they settled on one of the sofas to read and talk. He explained to Martha that their baby would only have one heart as the second one didn't develop until regeneration. He also talked to her about the differences between Human and Gallifreyan pregnancies, freely admitting that since there had never been a Human-Time Lord baby before, he didn't know whether she would be pregnant for six months, like a Gallifreyan, or nine months like a human, or somewhere in between.
Then they discussed possible side effects of Martha's pregnancy, including cravings (she wasn't sure she entirely believed his story about his mother's cravings during the time she was pregnant with him), her diet, and how best she could stay fit and healthy until the baby was born.
* * * * * *
A few days later, they were lying in bed together when the Doctor suddenly asked, "Do you want to go back to Earth?"
Martha lifted her head from his shoulder and gave him a questioning look. "Why?"
"Well, I was just thinking, the sort of life we lead, running from monsters and madmen, getting shot at and blown up, and all the rest, it's not exactly safe at the best of times."
"What would you do?" she asked. "I can't really see you settling down to life on earth for an unknowable number of months until the baby is born, at least, not without you getting twitchy and restless."
For a moment he looked hurt, then he nodded. "I can see why you would think that," he answered, "and once it would have been true. But I was thinking that we could both join UNIT, or in my case, rejoin. There's no doubt they want your skills and field experience, and I daresay they could make use of me. Failing that, I daresay Jack could make use of me."
Martha snorted. "I know exactly what use Jack would make of you."
He looked shocked for a moment, long enough for her to start giggling at his expression.
"Martha Jones," he growled, "you're a wicked woman."
He pulled her closer and began kissing her hungrily, and she felt him hardening. They hadn't made love since they'd discovered they were going to have a baby, although they'd still slept together, but now she realised that she wanted him.
"Seems to me you're not entirely opposed to the idea," she teased, cupping his length in her hand and stroking the sensitive underside. She smirked when a shiver of desire shook his frame and he gasped.
"Would you like to shag Jack?" she asked, watching his face.
"Only if you joined us," he said breathlessly.
Martha paused, her hand still lightly clasping his erection. "A threesome?" she asked, sounding intrigued.
"Ever done that?" he asked curiously. Martha shook her head. "Would you like to?"
"I don't know," she said, a slight hesitation in her voice. "I mean, I'm not going to lie and say I hadn't thought about shagging Jack, because how could you not think about it?"
The Doctor laughed. "Exactly. He just exudes sex appeal."
"Does he know you think that?" she asked playfully.
"I should think he probably does," he answered. "After all, he's a smart man." He slipped a hand between her thighs, eliciting a moan from her when his fingers began to circle her entrance.
"Don't you think we're getting off the point?" she asked, her breath hitching when he pushed two fingers inside her.
"And whose fault is that?" he asked, biting back a moan of his own when she drew a finger across the head of his shaft.
"You were the one who mentioned Jack making use of you," she retorted.
"Okay, okay." He pulled his fingers free, and tried not to growl when she whimpered at the loss; instead he lifted her right leg and guided himself into her slick heat.
"I want to try something, if you're willing," he said quietly.
"What?" she asked curiously.
"Well, normally, when my people joined, we did so telepathically as well as physically. Now I know about your heightened receptivity to telepathy, I'd like us to try it, if that's okay?"
She nodded eagerly, eyes wide with anticipation. "Yes, please."
"Close your eyes." He waited, then reached up with his right hand and pressed his fingers to her temple.
Martha gasped in astonishment: she appeared to be standing beneath a burnt orange sky on a hillside covered in red grass.
"Gallifrey," she whispered, her voice full of awe.
"Welcome to my home, Martha Jones." The Doctor stood beside her, a peaceful expression on his face.
"It's even more beautiful than I imagined," she said, staring across at what she somehow knew was the Citadel encased in its dome.
"Our minds are linked," he told her, sliding his hand into hers, "which means that you recognise the Citadel because I do." He walked her across the grass to where trees hung with silver leaves stood, and led her into a secluded grove amongst them. He slipped off his coat and spread it on the grass, then pulled her into a close embrace.
"I'm going to make love to you, Martha Jones," he whispered in her ear, "and it will feel completely different because of our telepathic connection."
He gently pulled her down onto his coat, and she realised that they were both naked now, although they'd been dressed a moment before, then she reminded herself that this was a sort of waking dream.
She allowed the Doctor to take charge of their love-making, dimly feeling that he needed to feel in control again after their discovery of her pregnancy. He began by kissing and caressing her body, working his way down from her face and neck to her breasts and belly, and then to her thighs, before he slipped two fingers inside her. He lowered his mouth to tease her clit and she moaned, clasping his head as he worked to bring her to her first climax. After her second one, he crawled back up her body and began kissing her mouth as he slipped his length inside her.
"Martha Jones," he whispered, little nips and licks to her skin punctuating his words as he began to thrust. "My Martha. My Doctor. My friend. My lover. Mother of my child."
She gasped and moaned as he moved deep inside her; she noticed they seemed to be bathed in a rich gold light, and she felt secure and loved.
"The TARDIS," he said softly. At her questioning look, he elaborated. "The golden light is from the TARDIS, connecting to us both. You should be able to sense her more clearly now, and even more once the baby starts growing."
"She's in your head, like this, all the time?" Martha asked.
"Oh yes!" he exclaimed softly.
"She's beautiful."
"Both my girls are," he answered, before beginning to move faster, and she gave up trying to talk so she could concentrate on feeling instead.
She could sense the flow of love, joy and kinship between Time Lord and ship, and she felt moved by the strength of their bond. She'd known for a long time that the Doctor and the TARDIS shared something special - 1913 and 1969 had made that clear - but she'd never realised until now how inextricably they were linked to one another. She felt sad that it was a bond that she couldn't match, but she felt glad, too, that they had each other, both of them the last of their kind.
"Not the last," the Doctor said, startling her for a moment, until she remembered that he'd necessarily know what she was thinking and feeling when they were telepathically joined. "Not the last now."
He bent his head to kiss her, even as his thrusts became more urgent, sensing that Martha was reaching her peak. She felt a surge of desire from him and understood that he wanted them to come together; it was enough to send her over the edge. She shuddered around him as she reached her climax, and his body jerked in release. He rolled them over until she lay, prone and sated, on top of him, his arms wrapped securely around her.
"You've made me so happy, Dr Martha Jones," he whispered, kissing her gently. "So very happy."
She kissed him back. "Yeah, I'm pretty happy too," she answered. She saw the question in his eyes and kissed the tip of his nose, then his forehead, then his lips again.
"I mean it," she said, a serious expression on her face. "I'm pretty sure you'd know if I was lying to you when we're linked telepathically."
The Doctor smiled. "You're a smart woman, Martha Jones."
"And don't you forget it, Mister Smith."
He laughed delightedly. "Not much chance of that," he assured her.
"Good." She sighed contentedly, and he smiled as he rhythmically stroked a hand up and down her back. "That's nice."
She closed her eyes and after a moment the Doctor gently broke their telepathic link, then he spooned up behind her as she lay on her side, his hands spread protectively over her belly, and they dozed together.
* * * * * *
After they discovered she was pregnant, Martha and the Doctor spent a month aboard the TARDIS in the Vortex, apart from his brief trips to restock the kitchen. It was a month of intense study in the library, during which the Doctor began to teach Martha Gallifreyan culture, history and bits of the language, interspersed with spells of passionate love-making. Then one day, Martha suggested that they go and see what was happening in the rest of the universe.
"Not getting bored of me already, are you?" asked the Doctor, and although he spoke lightly and smiled, she sensed a faint undercurrent of anxiety to his words.
"Charming. Do you think my attention span is that short?" she asked in mock outrage.
He almost fell over himself to reassure her that he didn't think that at all, and she let him flounder for a few moments before she assured him that she was just teasing.
"Doctor, I'm not bored with you. I don't think I could ever get bored of being with you, not when there's so much I can learn from you, not to mention all the new things and places to see and do. I just thought that it would do us good to get out of the TARDIS for a bit. No offence my friend," she added, stroking the wall beside her, and smiling at the sense of amusement she felt from the ship. "Besides, the universe needs you just as much as I do."
He leaned across the table where they were eating breakfast, and briefly kissed her, sharing the taste of tea and orange marmalade.
"Very well, Dr Jones, we go and see what the universe is doing."
"Good." She gave him a sunny smile, then went back to her own bowl of bran flakes, fruit chunks and yoghurt.
An hour later, after a smoother than usual landing, which Martha suspected was the result of the TARDIS looking after her, they stepped outside into a snowy landscape.
"Blimey, it's a bit parky," Martha said, zipping up her red leather jacket.
"Sure you'll be warm enough in that coat?" asked the Doctor solicitously.
She smiled up at him, then tucked her arm through his. "I'll warm up quickly enough, once we're walking," she said cheerfully. "Any idea where we are?"
He looked up at the sky which was darkening into night. "Somewhere in the Horsehead Nebula," he answered. "So not too far from Earth."
She nodded and they set out through the thick snow, Martha feeling grateful that she'd put on her boots when she had got dressed earlier.
"Have we arrived late in the day, or are we in an area on this planet that's dark all day and all night?"
He smiled down at her, enjoying her constant quest for new knowledge. "It's evening, about 6pm, or the local equivalent, a week or two before the Vernal Equinox." His smile became a grin when she gaped at him in astonishment.
"Blimey!" she said feelingly.
Before the Doctor could respond to her surprise, they both heard a low growl behind them, and they turned quickly to see one of the strangest creatures Martha had ever encountered.
"What is it?" she asked softly, trying to make sense of what she was seeing: a bald-headed, humanoid with a mass of tentacles where she'd expect to see a mouth, and a white ball in its right hand.
"They're called Ood," the Time Lord answered quietly.
There was another growl, off to their right, and they both turned to see a second Ood stepping out of the trees that lined the road.
"And are they friendly, usually?" she asked carefully, wondering why they were wearing slate grey boiler suits.
"As a rule, they are." The Doctor raised his hands, palms outwards. "We mean you no harm," he called clearly.
"Why are you here?" asked the first Ood, the ball in its hand lighting up as it spoke.
The Doctor felt Martha start with surprise beside him and realised she hadn't been expecting the Ood to speak.
"We're just visitors, passing through," he said, trying to sound friendly and non-threatening.
"You are not here to recapture us?" asked the Ood.
"Recapture you?" asked the Doctor, surprised.
"We escaped," answered the second Ood.
"Blimey!"
Martha could sense that this news surprised him as much as the Ood speaking had surprised her.
"I assure you," the Doctor said, "we're not here to recapture you. We didn't even know you were here, nor do we know where here is."
"The Oodsphere," answered the first Ood.
"Your home planet? It's beautiful," the Doctor said sincerely.
"You will come with us," instructed the second Ood. "We will talk."
The Time Lord glanced swiftly at Martha and she gave him a tiny nod. "Very well." He lowered his arms, then took her hand in his, squeezing her fingers.
She smiled up at him when he glanced down at her again, and he saw the eager light in her eyes; her thirst for knowledge was a constant source of pleasure to the Doctor, who enjoyed the way she seemed to thrive on learning new things. He thought, again, how lucky he was to have Martha back at his side, not only as friend and companion, this time, but also as his lover and now the mother of his child. He couldn't help hoping that their baby would inherit Martha's love of exploration and knowledge; to have two people to share those things with would make life even sweeter.
The four of them made their way through the forest until they reached a camp that had been made in a system of caves at the foot of one of the mountains. There were five other Ood there, four of them wearing a slate grey boiler suit, but the fifth wearing a black one. Martha strained her eyes in the firelight, wondering what distinguished them as individuals, apart from the one wearing the different coloured boiler suit.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor and this is Martha Jones," said the Time Lord cheerfully as they were escorted to the fire pit.
"Ood Sigma," answered the one wearing the black boiler suit. "The one known as the Doctor is known to us."
"How?" asked Martha courteously.
"The legends of the Time Lords are everywhere," answered Ood Sigma. "Will you help us?"
"Your friend over there said you'd escaped," the Doctor observed. "From what and where have you escaped?"
"Slavery," answered Sigma. "The humans process us and control us, then sell us into servitude. We would be free, as we were before."
"How do the humans process and control you?" asked Martha. The Doctor could feel her arm shaking as it pressed against his, and he knew it was anger, not fear, that she felt.
"They fit us with these," Sigma said, lifting the white ball. "It is a translation device to allow us to communicate as they suppress the natural means we possess."
"And what's that?" asked Martha curiously.
The Doctor was remembering his first encounter with the Ood, out in the depths of space at Krop Tor; he hadn't realised at the time that the translator balls weren't the Oodkind's natural means of communication, not that there had been much time for small talk with so much going on at the Sanctuary Base.
"We are a telepathic race," answered Ood Sigma, watching them carefully.
"So, the translator balls convert your thoughts into human speech," Martha said quickly, "which allows you to respond verbally to non-telepaths." Her face fell as she realised the implications of her words. "But, that means the humans surgically alter you." She didn't bother trying to hide the disgust she felt, and the Doctor sensed that Ood could feel her sympathy for their situation.
"The humans must also repress your telepathic abilities," he observed. Ood Sigma nodded. "So how have the few of you managed to escape? And where have you escaped from?"
"The humans have a processing and shipping plant nearby. They have a breeding programme to ensure that supply meets demand; they process us, then send us out in crates of thirty or forty to meet clients' orders."
"That's disgusting," Martha said fiercely, her revulsion plain. "We've got to stop them." She turned to the Doctor, and even in the firelight he saw that her eyes were blazing with anger.
He nodded his agreement, and she turned back to Ood Sigma. "This will stop," she told him, and he gave a slow nod.
"The Friends of the Ood will help you, as they helped us to escape," he said.
The Doctor remembered Danny Bartok mentioning them. "How many Friends are at the complex?"
"Three. Our main contact is a Dr Ryder, one of the scientists. He is an older man, grey-haired and nervous in manner."
"Is the complex easy to find from here?" the Doctor asked.
Sigma nodded. "One of my people will guide you back to the road which leads directly to it."
"Then we'll be on our way. The sooner we get down there, the sooner we can get this sorted out."
Martha was already on her feet as the Doctor spoke, and she now offered Ood Sigma her hand to shake. "We'll do our best for your people," she assured him.
"I believe you, Martha Jones. Your passion blazes very strongly, even to us whose telepathic sense is suppressed."
She ducked her head, momentarily embarrassed, then she shook his hand and murmured her thanks.
The Doctor offered his own hand to Ood Sigma, who took it and looked deep into his eyes. "We sense great sorrow in you, Time Lord, and there is more sorrow to come, but your mate's strength and love will support you, as yours will support her."
The Doctor's smile froze as Sigma spoke; there was no mistaking the sincerity of the Ood's words, and the Time Lord could not imagine that Sigma had any reason to speak so except that he had glimpsed something in the Doctor's future. He suppressed the shiver of presentiment he felt and resolved to get Martha to ring her mother as soon as they were back at the TARDIS.
* * * * * *
It took an hour for them to reach the complex once Ood Delta 50 had guided them to the road. As they walked, the Doctor narrated for Martha the details of his first encounter with the Ood, and the events that had taken place on the Sanctuary Base. She noticed how warmly he spoke of Ida Scott, and her bravery in going with him down the mine shaft to investigate what the drilling had uncovered at the heart of Krop Tor, and how he'd worried that he'd left her to die when he went down into the pit.
"You still left her behind, though," Martha observed neutrally.
"I did," he agreed. "Sometimes I have to risk the lives of a few to save many more."
She said nothing, remembering the way he'd yelled defiance at the Daleks, urging them to kill him, and the way he'd gone with the Dalek, leaving her behind in Hooverville. She hoped he would be less reckless in future, after their child was born.
Once they could see the processing plant ahead of them, they paused; to Martha's eyes it seemed ugly, a blot on an otherwise beautiful landscape.
"How are we doing this?" she asked quietly.
"We'll try the science block first, see if we can locate Dr Ryder, and then take it from there. It's important to get as many Ood out as possible, preferably without any human loss of life."
"But we're not going to let whoever owns the plant get off scot-free, are we?" she asked. "Whoever it is needs to be stopped from setting up a similar facility again."
The Doctor clasped her hands in his. "I promise you, the owner won't go unpunished." He ducked his head and kissed her brow. "You've become very vengeful," he observed.
She looked thoughtful. "Maybe it's becoming a mother?" she said. "I've always valued human life, that's why I became a doctor. But, I don't know, I think I just feel that humans don't have the right to go around enslaving others species. And what they've done to the Ood is disgusting, obscene even. Bad enough when we exploit our own kind, but exploiting other sentient species? Sometimes I despise humanity."
"Don't," he said, hugging her. "Despise individuals for their greed or cruelty, but don't despise your whole race."
They set off around the perimeter of the complex, moving as stealthily as possible. Ood Delta 50 had told them what security measures were in place, and there were hoping that the Doctor's sonic screwdriver and their own sneakiness would suffice to get them inside.
They eventually reached the science block and the Doctor quickly sonicked the electronic lock, then they slipped inside, Martha going first. By the time he'd relocked the door, she'd already discovered from the helpful wall sign that the staff quarters were up on the third floor, and he followed her up the stairs, both of them knowing that using the lift would be too risky. Once on the third floor they were both surprised and relieved to discover that each door was labelled with the occupant's name.
Martha grabbed the Doctor's hand and spoke to him mind to mind, as he'd been teaching her to do. I hope he's nearby. I don't fancy wandering around the whole floor.
The Time Lord pulled an exaggeratedly sad face, then nodded to the doors. She nodded back and they began to move down the corridor, Martha checking the left hand side and the Doctor checking the right.
She squeezed his fingers when she spotted Dr Ryder's door about halfway down the corridor, and he moved to join her, quickly sonicking open the door, and both of them slipping inside as quickly and quietly as possible. They paused for a few moments, waiting for their eyes to adjust to the darkness inside the room after the subdued lighting of the corridor, before the Doctor led the way forward. It was a small relief to discover that the staff had a suite of rooms, rather than just a bedroom: Martha would have felt even more awkward if they'd just let themselves directly into Dr Ryder's sleeping quarters.
They moved down the short hallway towards the far door which the Doctor was guessing led into the bedroom. She grasped his hand again.
Are we just going to let ourselves in and then wake him up?
He nodded. I think it's safest. Don't you?
She shrugged, then nodded, before following him into the unlocked room.
Afterwards, she was surprised by Dr Ryder's reaction to their intrusion.
"Who are you?" asked the scientist in a hoarse whisper when the Doctor woke him up.
"Friends of the Ood," Martha said quickly. "Ood Sigma sent us."
His eyebrows rose in astonishment, but it was obvious he didn't doubt her words.
The two time travellers withdrew into the kitchen while Ryder dressed, and by the time a pot of tea was ready, the scientist joined them, now fully dressed. He immediately fetched a box of biscuits from the cupboard and the Doctor fell on them as if he was starving, while Martha quietly explained in more detail about the reason for their presence.
"Ood Sigma is a wise fellow," Ryder observed, "and I think if he knew what the boss has got planned for tomorrow, well today now, he'd be inclined to consider the timeliness of your arrival little short of miraculous."
"Why, what's happening today?" asked Martha quickly.
"The boss is coming to see the Ood soldiers in action."
"Soldiers?" echoed Martha and the Doctor in horror.
Ryder nodded grimly. "The science team has been feeding a select batch of Ood with a drug cocktail that includes adrenaline and testosterone, amongst other things, in order to make them aggressive enough to fight."
"And you allowed this?" demanded Martha, aghast.
The scientist flinched at her angry expression. "I had to," he explained. "If I'd refused point-blank, he'd have had me shot, ruining all the work I've done on behalf of the Friends. And he'd have put someone else in charge, someone who doesn't give a damn about the Ood and sees them only as talking animals instead of intelligent, sentient, beings."
"Sorry," Martha apologised, embarrassed by her own aggressive response. She wondered if being pregnant really was affecting her hormones that much, and resolved to do some tests once they were back aboard the TARDIS.
"It's okay," Ryder answered. "I understand your anger. Believe me, if I thought it would do any good, I'd have set the whole lot of them free the moment the boss told me what he planned. But most of them would have been killed before they could escape."
"This boss, is he here, on the site?" asked the Doctor.
"No. He doesn't live here. The Oodsphere doesn't offer enough luxury for a man of Mr Ejer Ballademager's tastes."
"Him!" exclaimed the time travellers simultaneously.
"You know him?" Ryder asked, surprised.
"Oh yes," answered the Doctor grimly. "We've encountered him quite recently. He won't get away again, though. If necessary, I'll call in the Shadow Proclamation." He caught their puzzled glances. "A sort of intergalactic police force."
The others nodded their understanding, and the Doctor rubbed a hand over his face, trying to figure out the best way to deal with the situation.
"How many of these Ood soldiers are there?" he asked.
"Thirty," answered Ryder.
"Can we sedate them?" Martha asked. "I take it that the plan is for them to fight each other?"
The scientist nodded. "I haven't got enough sedative for all of them, though," he said. "We don't stock much of it because we've never really needed it, given how benign they are."
"Then we'll make more," she said promptly. "I'm a trained doctor, so I can do it."
"Better do it straight away," the Doctor said. "We don't want you getting caught in the act once the other staff are up and about." Martha nodded and he turned back to Ryder. "Can you get me access to a computer?"
"You can use the one in my office," Ryder answered.
"Let's go, then." The Time Lord's manner was brisk as he got to his feet and Martha felt a surge of hope that they would save the Ood and stop Ballademager at the same time.
Ten minutes later the three of them were busy on the ground floor: the Doctor was in Ryder's office, 'checking things' as he vaguely put it; Martha and Ryder, meanwhile, were in the latter's lab next door, working out how much sedative they would need to prepare for thirty Ood.
"You and the Doctor do this sort of thing a lot, do you?" asked Ryder.
She nodded. "We right wrongs, fight the bad guys, defeat the monsters, and look out for the good guys. There's also an outrageous amount of running," she said, her eyes bright with merriment.
"What are you, intergalactic superheroes?"
She laughed softly. "Not really. The Doctor's a Time Lord, but I'm just an ordinary human from Earth."
"Earth? But no one lives there any more," Ryder said, surprised.
"Not now, maybe, but in my time they still do."
"Your time?"
Martha nodded. "I'm from the 21st century," she said, continuing to measure out the drug doses for the Ood soldiers.
He stared at her, wide-eyed, then shook his head; it wasn't really important who she and the Doctor were - all he really cared about was saving the Ood from the boss' cruelty and exploitation, and if they were willing to help him, and speed up the process at the same time, so much the better. He'd been in this job for 18 months, and had spent the first three months making sure that everyone believed him to be a part of the team: correct, obedient, pliable, while he'd tried to work out the best way to save the Ood. But his method was painfully slow and he'd only saved seven Ood so far, roughly one every two months, and in the meanwhile thousands more had been shipped out across the Human Empire.
* * * * * *
The Doctor wandered back into the lab forty minutes later, just as Martha and Ryder were finishing bottling up the last dose of the sedative.
"What's the plan?" she asked, straightening up as he rubbed at her back to ease the muscles.
"The plan is to go and sedate the Ood soldiers now, before Ballademager even gets here, and then when he does get here, we'll be waiting to nab him and take him to the authorities."
"How are you planning to sedate the Ood?" asked Ryder anxiously. "You won't be able to get very close to them."
"We won't need to," the Time Lord answered, "not with a tranquilliser gun. I presume you do have one?"
"Somewhere, I think," answered the scientist. "Usually, if we need to sedate the Ood, we put the drug in their food."
"Too slow and haphazard," the Doctor told him. "Time is of the essence now, so I suggest you locate that tranquilliser gun ASAP."
Ryder nodded and hurried away, and the Time Lord turned to Martha.
"How are you doing?" he asked, pulling her into an embrace.
"I'm okay," she assured him. "Running on adrenaline, as usual."
He smiled and ducked his head for a quick kiss. "After this, we're going somewhere relaxing," he told her. "Maybe we'll go and look at some astronomical phenomena. There's a very nice Bubble Nebula, not too far from Earth, that I think you'd like. Oh, and the Flaming Star Nebula, which is an amazing sight."
"Sounds lovely," she murmured.
They pulled apart as they heard Ryder returning.
"You'd better tell us how we can reach the Ood soldiers," the Doctor said, taking the tranquilliser gun from the scientist, "then get back to your own quarters and try to behave as naturally as possible."
Martha saw how relieved Ryder looked and knew that the Doctor was right to keep him out of this as much as possible.
* * * * * *
A short while later they were making their way around the perimeter of the complex, Martha carrying the bottles of sedative in a shoulder bag that the Doctor had produced, neatly folded up, from his coat pocket, while he carried the tranquilliser gun.
"I'm glad there aren't more guards about," he observed.
"Ryder told me the guards only actively patrol when Ballademager's on site; they say it's too cold here for them to make a regular habit of it," Martha told him.
"Sounds like laziness to me!" he said cheerfully.
"I imagine he'll make his displeasure known when he finds out," she commented.
"No doubt," agreed the Doctor.
They stopped outside the building which Ryder had shown them on the map, and Martha took the gun from the Time Lord, while he pulled out his sonic screwdriver to let them in.
As he pulled open the door there was a snarl from the semi-darkness that rose to a chilling growl from thirty throats at once. The Doctor quickly turned to take the gun from Martha and saw she had dropped it in order to clutch at her head, her face screwed up in agony. Abruptly he realised that the Ood were attacking her mentally: he couldn't feel them because his mind was shielded against such things as a matter of course.
He cursed himself for not considering the possibility that these Ood soldiers would be able to attack mentally as well as physically, even as he clasped her head with his own hands and rapidly built up a shield wall around her mind.
After several minutes that felt more like hours, he felt her relax, then she lifted a tear-stained face to his.
"Okay?" he whispered anxiously.
"Yes."
"I'm so sorry, Martha, I didn't think - " he began.
"You can apologise properly later," she told him, managing a weak smile. "Let's do what we came for and get out of here."
He nodded and quickly brushed a kiss against her brow, before bending to retrieve the fallen gun.
Now that their eyes had adjusted to the dim light, they could see that each of the Ood soldiers was in a separate cell, the door of which was made of thick Plexiglas with a row of airholes across the top, and a slot with a hinged flap in the middle, set level with the handle.
"I suppose that's so they can be fed," the Doctor observed, fixing the first bottle of sedative into place on the tranquilliser gun.
"Yeah." Martha's voice was strained, and he looked up at her anxiously.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Head feels a bit rough," she answered, wincing.
"Think you'll be okay to help me?" There was a worried note in his voice.
"Yeah, it'll be quicker with two of us, after all."
"Good girl. I'll be as quick as I can."
She gave him a tight smile, then lifted up the hinged flap over the food slot and held it while the Doctor steadied the gun, then fired a dose of sedative into the Ood, which slumped down against the far wall of the cell.
It took them over half an hour to sedate all thirty Ood as they had to stop twice for the Doctor to rebuild the mental shield around Martha's mind when the telepathic attacks from the remaining Ood became too intense.
When he'd told her about her increased receptivity to telepathy, she somehow hadn't considered the possibility of being hurt by it; being able to link with him mentally during their love-making had made it seem like a gift, not a curse. The fact that they could speak mind to mind instead of verbally had also seemed to be useful rather than a nuisance, especially when he'd assured her that with practice she'd be able to speak to him without first touching him.
Now, though, she was seeing there was a downside: the savagely angry battle chant of the Ood soldiers felt like the blows of a sledgehammer. She could also sense that her anger level had risen in response to the Ood, and she felt as nauseated as she had that morning when they'd discovered she was pregnant. She felt torn between a desire to scream and shout, and to curl into a ball to sob and moan.
As the final Ood slumped unconscious to the floor, Martha felt her legs giving way, her mind swimming as she fought against the blackness that was threatening her. "Doctor," she called hoarsely.
He dropped the gun and turning, caught her as she collapsed, then hoisted her into his arms and carried her outside. She stirred and murmured indistinctly as he moved further and further away from the building that housed the Ood soldiers.