The Watch on the Heath (1/2)
Who_Daily Link: < a href="http://persiflage-1.livejournal.com/232072.html">The Watch on the Heath (1/2) by < lj user=persiflage_1> (Characters: Martha, Jack, Mickey, Third Doctor, Liz Shaw, the Brigadier, UNIT, OCs | Rating: PG-13 | Spoilers: Tw S2, DW S4, Classic Who S7)
Title: The Watch on the Heath (1/2)
Author: Persiflage_1
Characters/Pairings: Martha, Jack, Mickey, Third Doctor, Liz Shaw, the Brigadier, UNIT, OCs
Rating: PG-13 (for some violence)
Spoilers: Season 7 Classic Who, Season 4 New Who, Season 2 Torchwood
Summary: Martha meets a much earlier UNIT team.
Disclaimer: I occasionally wish that I did own it!
Author Notes: I wrote this fic for the smith_n_jones fic challenge. The prompt (from yahtzee63) was Third Doctor, joyriding in Bessie. This fic's set between "Inferno" and "Terror of the Autons" for Three and his UNIT, and after DW S4 and Torchwood S2 for Martha, Jack, and modern UNIT.
Betas: The lovely fourzoas and catholicphoton
~~~~~~
"Oh no you don't!" growled Martha, launching herself at the man who stood a few feet away, fiddling with an odd-looking device which created a portal into the Time Vortex.
"Martha, NO! Be careful!" Jack's urgent yell of alarm came too late and he watched in horror as she disappeared into the Time Vortex in a blaze of light.
"Shit!" He grabbed the man who'd been trying to escape, and hauled him bodily to his feet. "Where's she gone, you bastard?" Jack demanded, lifting the other man clean off the ground so he could glare into his eyes.
"I-I d-don't know," stuttered the small, ferrety-looking man. His wispy thin hair and watery grey eyes seemed to just add to the resemblance. "I d-don't know h-how t-to p-programme it p-properly. Barnes does it usually."
"So help me, I'm gonna kill you," Jack snarled.
"Captain?" The UNIT soldier, a Lieutenant Harris, sounded wary as he addressed the Torchwood operative.
"Yes Lieutenant?" Jack didn't take his eyes off the man he held, but he did lower his feet back down to the ground.
"I don't think the Colonel would be very happy if you killed Mallory," ventured Harris, "and I know Dr Jones would be pretty severe about it if she were here."
"Hear that, Mallory? There's someone here who cares about your miserable life. Aren't you the lucky one?"
Mallory nodded nervously as Jack let go of the front of his coat with one hand. The next moment he crashed unconscious to the grass as the Captain backhanded him across the face.
"Sir!" exclaimed Harris in protest.
"Oh, shut up Harris," Jack said wearily. "We have to get Mar- Dr Jones back."
"Yes sir. Um, how sir?"
The Captain shook his right hand briefly, wishing Martha was here to tell him off for decking the suspect, then he stooped and picked up the fallen gadget.
"With this, I hope," he answered.
* * * * * *
Two and a half hours earlier
"Are you ready?" Jack asked, fastening the last button on his great coat.
"Yep," Martha answered succinctly, patting her pockets to ensure she had everything.
"C'mon then." He held out his hand, and she quirked an eyebrow at him.
"I think that Colonel Mace might consider it inappropriate if we walk out there holding hands," she observed, a teasing light in her eyes and a half smile on her mouth.
"Let him," growled Jack, grabbing her hand and pulling her into a crushing hug. "Just promise me you'll be careful tonight, yeah?"
She nodded, hearing the anxiety in his voice. "I promise," she said solemnly, knowing they were both remembering a not-too-dissimilar situation, and how that had ended in Owen's death.
Martha stood up on tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on the mouth. "C'mon mister," she said, lightly slapping his chest, "or Mace'll come looking for us, and we don't want to give him grounds to regret bringing you in on this operation."
"Yes ma'am!" Jack stomped to attention, snapping off a salute, which provoked a peal of laughter from the young doctor, then followed her out of her office and down the corridor to the briefing room.
Colonel Mace arrived moments after them and stood looking around at the squad of men and women he'd chosen for this operation, then nodded to Martha and Jack.
"All right, everyone, you know the plan. Let's get to the Heath and see if we can't bring those traffickers in tonight."
The soldiers began filing out, and Jack and Martha prepared to follow them.
"Jones, Harkness, you're with me in the staff car," Mace told them.
"Yes sir," they chorused.
"You're armed Jones?" the Colonel asked as they headed out to the car park.
"Stun gun charged and ready, sir," she answered, patting the slight bulge it made under her jacket where it was holstered at her hip. She hoped she wouldn't need to use it, but she understood why Mace wanted her to carry it since she refused to take a revolver.
He nodded, then climbed into the front of the staff car, while Martha and Jack got into the back.
"All right, Harris."
At Mace's word, Lieutenant Harris pulled out, and the jeep containing the rest of the soldiers moved in behind them.
"We still haven't been able to get a fix on where the alien creatures are being moved to once they're handed over," Martha observed to the Colonel.
He nodded. "Hopefully, though, we'll find out tonight, Jones, and then we'll stop them." He looked over his shoulder at them both, and they saw a look of fierce resolve on his face. "I will not have riff-raff and scum from all over the galaxy treating Earth as a convenient dumping ground or pick up point."
She nodded silent agreement, wondering, yet again, what the Doctor would say if he knew that greedy humans were helping in the illegal trafficking of alien creatures. She felt sure he would be at his most scathing and sarcastic, not that she could blame him. She'd been fairly scathing herself when Jack had tipped her off about it; he'd accidentally found out about the operation from someone in Cardiff whom he'd caught rounding up Weevils to transport to London.
Martha had gone straight to the Colonel with the news, and then they'd both gone to see the Brigadier; after a conference call with Jack, the Brigadier had authorised Mace to set up a reconnaissance operation, and the Captain had joined them at the Colonel's request.
It had taken them two days to establish that the alien creatures were being handed over at The Tumulus near Hampstead Heath, and that the next collection would take place tonight at midnight.
As far as they'd been able to establish, there were three men involved: Jenks, who handled the rounding up of the creatures stranded on Earth, and Mallory and Barnes, who transported the creatures elsewhere for collection by a race or group (no one was sure which) called the Drenkians.
Despite a search by UNIT personnel of all the warehouses nearest to the Heath, no one had been able to find out where Barnes and Mallory took the creatures. They were hoping to find that out tonight, and then the Brigadier intended that UNIT would confront the Drenkians and send them away 'with a flea in their ear', as she'd put it.
The UNIT team arrived at the nearest parking place to The Tumulus, and everyone quietly exited the vehicles, mindful of the fact that while it was only 11pm, their quarry might already be in the area.
"Positions everyone," Mace said quietly.
Martha felt Jack slip his hand into hers once they were out of sight of the Colonel.
"Nervous?" the Captain asked softly.
"A bit," she admitted.
"Excited?"
"That too," she agreed, knowing he wouldn't think any less of her for saying so.
"Tomorrow night, I'm going to take you on a date," he informed her. "Dinner and dancing - the vertical kind at least." There was a mischievous, teasing note in his voice as he spoke, and she felt a shiver run through her that had nothing to do with the cold night air.
"Is that right, Captain Harkness?" She hoped her voice was steady.
"It certainly is, Dr Jones," he answered, the mischievous note more pronounced this time.
"Down boy," Martha said quietly, before adding, "We're here."
They settled themselves as comfortably as they could on a waterproof sheet, lying on their stomachs with their heads only slightly raised up so they could watch the meeting point through their infrared binoculars.
* * * * * *
35 years earlier
Dr Liz Shaw and Sergeant Benton both started when a blue vortex of light opened up a few feet away, and a figure tumbled out of the air to sprawl unmoving on the ground. They rushed across the grass and found a dark-skinned young woman dressed all in black.
"Is she all right, miss?" Benton asked anxiously as Liz unfastened the top of the woman's jacket and felt for a pulse in her neck.
"Well, she's still alive," Liz answered. "We'd better get her back to UNIT though. I'm sure the Brigadier will want to interview - Oh!"
The Sergeant looked up when she interrupted herself. "What is it?" he asked quickly.
"See for yourself," she answered, pulling the jacket open wider to show him the rectangular ID badge clipped to the belt which she'd spotted.
"Doctor M Jones - UNIT," he read aloud, eyes wide with surprise. "Oh!"
"And that's not a current ID badge," Liz observed. "Check the date."
Benton leaned forward and squinted at it in the dim light. "Two thousand and - What? Two thousand!" he said disbelievingly.
"Well, the Doctor did detect temporal ripples in this area," she reminded him. "It's why we're here tonight."
"Well I know, but it’s still a surprise," he said.
Liz nodded. "Have we got a stretcher in the jeep?" she asked.
"Yes miss." He got to his feet, then hurried away to fetch it. As he headed towards the jeep he heard a noise in the bushes a few yards to his right; he slowed down, then moved cautiously forward. Just as he reached the bushes, he saw several indistinct figures climbing into a large, unmarked van that was parked on the road a few feet beyond the bushes. He grabbed for his radio, but by the time he'd pulled it from his belt, the van had already pulled away and was disappearing. Scowling, he radioed into Headquarters, reported what he'd seen, then continued on towards the jeep for the stretcher.
"So, Dr Jones, just what are you doing travelling back in time?" Liz softly asked the unconscious woman as she waited for Benton to return.
He returned a while later with the stretcher and a private to help him carry Dr Jones. "Is it okay to move her, miss?" he asked.
"As far as I can tell she hasn't broken anything."
The two men got the unconscious young woman onto the stretcher, then they all headed back to the vehicles, where the rest of the squad were waiting for them.
* * * * * *
Martha woke a couple of hours later, somewhere around 2.30 am, with a thumping headache and the feeling that she'd been steamrollered, and she groaned softly as she remembered that she'd been thrown through the Time Vortex.
"You're awake then," said a stern voice somewhere to her left.
She opened her eyes and saw a plain white ceiling above her, then carefully turned her head to see an older, white-haired man with a beaky nose and rugged face watching her. For some reason he seemed vaguely familiar, yet she was positive she'd never seen him before. He was wearing a white shirt with ruffles down the front and a dark green velvet jacket, which caused her to frown as she wondered just how far back in time she'd been flung.
"I believe the traditional questions around now are 'What happened?' and 'Where am I?'," she observed, trying to make light of her situation. "Although I think I know the answer to the first one."
The man raised an eyebrow at her, reminding her of the Doctor when he was in a quizzical mood. "And what is your answer to the first question, Dr Jones?"
For a moment she was startled that he knew her name, then she remembered that her UNIT ID badge had been on her belt, and since she was only wearing a hospital gown now, she surmised it had been seen when she'd been undressed.
"I was flung back in time through the Time Vortex," she answered. "Which explains a lot, actually."
His expression remained stern as he contemplated her over his steepled fingers. "What does it explain?"
Martha hesitated, wondering how much to tell him: she still didn't know who he was, or where or when she had arrived, and while she had an indefinable sense that she could trust him, she was, nevertheless, a member of UNIT, and that meant not blabbing everything to just anyone.
"I advise you to answer me, young woman," the man said, sounding stern again. "Unauthorised time travel, particularly without a vessel, is a grave offence, and I have a responsibility to my people to - "
"Your people?" she interrupted, not quite daring to believe the implication of his words. "You're - you're not the Doctor, are you?" She waited breathlessly for his response.
"I am."
"Thank goodness!" she exclaimed, sitting up and giving him an imploring look. "Can you send me back? To my own time, I mean."
He raised both eyebrows at her. "You still haven't explained what you're doing here. You may work for UNIT, but there are still restrictions on time travel for your people."
"Don't worry," she said quickly, "I'm not here by choice."
She explained in detail, but as succinctly as she could, the events that had led to her unexpected trip back in time.
"And assuming I'm in the past sometime, that explains why we weren't able to locate the place where Barnes and Mallory were taking the alien creatures. They were bringing them back in time to be collected by the Drenkians," she finished.
The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck in a thoughtful manner, then nodded. "This is 1974, and you're at UNIT HQ," he told her.
"So where did I arrive - not here?" she asked.
He shook his head. "You were found on Hampstead Heath, near The Tumulus. Your arrival interfered with the drop-off, naturally enough. One of the men saw the aliens driving away but they were gone before he could report their presence so we aren't much further forward yet."
"Right. That makes sense, about arriving on Hampstead Heath, I mean."
She suddenly remembered something her Doctor had told her, back when they'd been stuck in 1969 without the TARDIS. "I've just remembered - you're in exile here on Earth at the moment." She frowned in recollection. "For meddling in the affairs of others in a manner of which the Time Lords disapproved. More fool them."
The Doctor couldn't quite hide his smile at the scorn in her voice. "You are well informed, Dr Jones."
"Martha," she said. "Calling me 'Dr Jones' seems ridiculously formal. My Doctor briefly mentioned his, your, exile to me." She frowned. "You must be the third one, then?"
He nodded. "That is correct." He looked as if he was about to say something else, and she wondered if he was going to ask the obvious question. "Which incarnation of me do you know?"
"The tenth," she answered.
He looked astonished. "The tenth?" he repeated. "I go through six more bodies in thirty-five years?"
Martha reached out to touch his hands which rested on his crossed knee. "You're over 900 years old, though, by the time I meet that version of you."
He nodded, then changed the subject with an abruptness with which she was completely familiar. "Well then, Martha, I think it's time you came and met the people with whom I work, and then we can discuss how best to stop these Drenkians."
She gave him a wolfish grin. "I like the sound of that."
He matched her grin, then got to his feet. "I'll leave you to get dressed then. Your clothes are in the locker. When you're ready, tell the man outside to bring you to my lab."
"Okay." She waited for him to close the door behind himself, then got out of bed and dressed quickly. She still felt as if she'd been flattened, but she knew that feeling would pass once she was moving about.
Opening the door of the room, which she had guessed was the Infirmary, she found a Sergeant outside.
"Hello. The Doctor said you'd show me to his lab."
He saluted. "Yes ma'am."
"At ease, Sergeant," she said quickly. "I'm just a civilian, so no need for that. What's your name?"
"Benton, miss," he answered, setting off along the corridor. "I was there with Miss Shaw when you - arrived."
"Well thank you, Sergeant Benton, for bringing me here."
"Oh it was no trouble, miss," he assured her quickly.
As she followed him through the usual maze of corridors Martha thought of Jack, and wondered how frantic he was about her disappearance. She hoped the Drenkians could be dealt with quickly so that the Doctor could get her back to her own time as soon as possible.
* * * * * *
35 years later
Jack stomped around the briefing room, too anxious to sit down and wait while the Colonel supervised the interrogation of Mallory and Barnes. He was worried about Martha: while he was in no doubt about her ability to survive, he didn't like not knowing when or where she was. Neither Barnes nor Mallory would tell him the destination that the Vortex Manipulator on the gadget was set for: Mallory had claimed not to know, and Barnes had simply refused to answer Jack's questions. Only Colonel Mace's arrival had stopped the former Time Agent from beating the answers out of the man.
Thinking about it now, Jack was slightly ashamed of how ready he'd been to smack Barnes about: he knew Martha wouldn't have approved of such methods of obtaining the information he required, not least because she'd have had to patch up Barnes again afterwards.
It amazed and humbled him that she was still against unnecessary violence, despite all she'd experienced during her travels with the Doctor. He occasionally wondered just how she'd survived with that attitude during the year she'd spent travelling the Earth while working against the Master.
Finally the door of the briefing room opened, and the Colonel walked in, looking weary. Jack stopped pacing to approach him.
"Sit down, Captain," Mace said, gesturing at a chair.
Jack thought of objecting, of demanding that the other man tell him what he wanted to know, but he remembered he was only here because of Martha and sat down.
"Dr Jones is probably in 1974," the Colonel began. "Barnes had an arrangement with the Drenkians that he would transport the 'cattle'," his expression spoke of his distaste for that term, "to the same spot on Hampstead Heath, but 35 years ago. It was they who supplied him with the gadget that Mallory was trying to use to escape, and they showed Barnes how to operate it in order to move backwards and forwards through time to make the delivery each month."
"So I'll use it to go and get Martha," Jack said, getting to his feet.
Mace nodded. "I expected you to say as much." He pulled the device from his pocket and set it on the desk.
The Captain snatched it up eagerly, but when he tried the controls he found them unresponsive. He felt his heart sink. "I can't use this," he said, dropping back into the chair. "It's been damaged." His voice was hollow.
"Can you fix it?" Mace asked sharply.
Jack shook his head. "No, I don't know enough about the technology. I only know of one person who might whom I can easily get hold of."
"Who?" asked the Colonel.
"The Doctor," answered Jack, rummaging in his pockets for his phone.
"You have his number?" Mace asked. "I know Dr Jones has it, but - "
"I do have it," the Captain answered, then apologised for interrupting. "I got his number from Martha around the time of that business with the Earth being moved."
"Very well." The Colonel got to his feet. "I'll leave you to contact him and sort things out with him. Let me know when you're ready to go and get Dr Jones back."
"Yes sir."
Mace went out and Jack found the Time Lord's number in his list of contacts, and rang. It irked him that the Doctor kept disabling the Vortex Manipulator on his wrist computer; it felt as if he didn't trust Jack enough to allow him to use it unsupervised. At times like this such a lack of trust galled him, because if the Doctor hadn't disabled the Vortex Manipulator, he could have gone after Martha immediately.
The call connected, but all he got was the voicemail with Martha's cheerful voice asking him to leave a message. Jack cursed, left the Doctor a message asking him to ring back urgently, then pocketed his phone and went to speak to the Colonel.
* * * * * *
35 years earlier
Martha's first impression of the Doctor's lab was of organised chaos, and her first impression of Dr Liz Shaw was that she had very nice legs, a thought which made her blush and hope no one would notice with her darker skin. Liz's legs were well displayed as she was half way up a ladder, putting a heavy box back on a shelf.
"Miss Jones, sir, Miss Shaw," Benton announced, as if he was a well trained butler instead of a well trained soldier.
The Doctor, whom Martha hadn't immediately spotted because he had his head bent over something on the far side of the workbench that faced her, straightened up and smiled. Liz stepped down off the ladder and moved to his side.
"Hello my dear. Come and meet Liz properly."
Martha walked across the cluttered room, noticing the TARDIS standing in one corner, and offered her hand to the other woman.
"Liz, this is Dr Martha Jones. Martha, this is Dr Elizabeth Shaw, who brought you in earlier."
"Thanks," Martha said.
"You're welcome," the other woman answered. Her manner seemed rather cool and Martha wondered why, but decided that perhaps Liz didn't take to strangers easily.
"Now then, come and look at this, and tell me what you think," the Doctor said, gesturing at the object on the workbench that he'd been bending over when she arrived.
Martha approached and he momentarily put a hand in the middle of her back as she leaned forward to look at an electronic lash-up of the type she was used to seeing her own Doctor build.
"What is it?" she asked, taking in the multitude of wires, circuits and electronic components.
"It's a device for locating the Drenkians," he told her. "They have a very particular olfactory presence, which would be quite undetectable to mere human senses, and isn't even that noticeable to someone with such superior senses as mine."
Martha glanced up and saw Liz pulling a wry face which he couldn't see, and quickly hid a smile. "So, this device is like an artificial nose, then?" she asked.
The Doctor gave her a slightly scandalised look. "My dear girl, it's rather more than that," he protested. "It will not only detect the presence of the Drenkians, but allow us to follow their trail so that we can apprehend them and put an end to their vile practices."
"Good," she said, grim satisfaction in her voice. She straightened up and caught sight of Liz's startled expression, which was quickly smoothed over. "How soon can we get started?"
"Not just yet," the Doctor answered. Seeing Martha opening her mouth to protest, he added. "It's still the early hours of the morning. It would be better if you and Liz both got a few hours of sleep, before we begin our search."
Martha agreed, albeit reluctantly, even though she knew his advice made sense. Now that they had the means to track down the Drenkians, she wanted them captured quickly so that she could get back to her own time.
"Where am I going to sleep," Martha asked, "the Infirmary?"
"You can stay at my flat," Liz answered. "I can only offer you the sofa, but as you're not very tall, it shouldn't be too uncomfortable for you."
Martha hoped she didn't look as surprised as she felt at this offer. "Thanks. The sofa will be fine. Believe me, I've slept in some pretty uncomfortable places before now."
"That's settled, then," said the Doctor, sounding pleased. "I don't expect to see either of you back here before 8.30 am."
"But - " began Martha.
"8.30," he repeated, his eyes twinkling.
"Okay," she sighed.
He nodded to them both, then went back to his device, and Liz beckoned to Martha to follow her.
"He'll be oblivious now," the redhead said as they reached the corridor.
"Yeah, some things about him never change, believe me," Martha said fervently as she followed Liz through the corridors and down to the underground car park.
"We'll take Bessie," the redhead said, gesturing at an old-fashioned, yellow open-topped car that sat incongruously in the car park.
"Let me guess - that's the Doctor's car," Martha said.
Liz laughed. "Is it that obvious?"
Martha laughed too. "Well, he's the most likely person to be driving a car that looks as if it would be more at home in a museum than on the road."
"True." Liz opened the passenger door, and Martha climbed in, then waited while she circled the car and got into the driver's seat.
As they drove across London, Martha plied Liz with questions about how she had met the Doctor and come to join UNIT. Liz explained about being seconded to the organisation from her work at Cambridge University and arriving on the same day that the Doctor had suddenly turned up after being exiled to Earth.
In her turn, Martha explained about the Judoon transporting her hospital to the moon, and the mysterious, two-hearted patient, Mr Smith, who had turned out to be an alien calling himself 'the Doctor', and who'd helped to trap the Plasmavore.
"So how did you end up working for UNIT?" asked Liz, curiously.
"The Doctor recommended me to them after I stopped travelling with him," Martha said, "and after everything I'd seen and done, I couldn't really imagine working as a regular doctor, so I took the job."
"Do you miss it - the travelling, I mean?"
Martha nodded. "I do. There's nothing quite like the thrill of stepping out of the TARDIS onto another planet or into another time period. But my family needed me, and I needed to finish my studies after working so hard to train as a doctor. So I made the decision to leave."
She fell silent, thinking back to that day when she'd walked out of the TARDIS, and only broke out of her reverie when she realised that Liz had stopped the car.
"Sorry," she murmured.
"It's okay," Liz answered.
She let them into her flat and showed Martha the bathroom, then saw her settled on the sofa with some pillows and blankets, before taking herself to bed.
* * * * * *
Martha slept surprisingly well on Liz's sofa, and after a shower each, and breakfast of toast and coffee, they headed back to UNIT HQ in Bessie.
"I wonder if my Doctor still has Bessie," Martha mused as Liz drove. "I'll have to ask him the next time I see him."
"You're confident that you will see him again?" asked Liz.
Martha gave her a startled look. "Of course. Either Jack will come after me using the gadget that brought me here, or this Doctor will get me home."
"I'm not sure that the Doctor will be able to take you home," Liz observed.
"What? Why not?" Martha couldn't help feeling a flare of anxiety at the other woman's words.
"Well he still hasn't got the TARDIS working properly." She glanced across at the other woman and briefly reached out to clasp her hand. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew. When the Time Lords exiled him here, they disabled the TARDIS and made him forget the knowledge he needs to allow him to travel in time."
Martha looked shocked, then dug into her trouser pocket for her mobile phone.
"What's that?" Liz asked curiously when she saw it.
"21st century technology," she answered distractedly as she turned on the phone. She had forgotten, in all the chaos of events the night before, that she still hadn't switched it on again after going to the rendezvous with Mallory and Barnes.
"Damn!" Martha switched the phone back off with a scowl and shoved it back into her pocket.
"Problem?" asked Liz.
"I can't use it in this time period," Martha answered heavily.
"We'll talk to the Doctor about you getting back," Liz promised as she pulled into the underground car park at UNIT HQ, before leading the way back to the Doctor's lab.
They found him at his work bench with the device he'd built the night before: it had now been transformed into something more finished and somewhat more elegant than the lash-up they'd seen in the early hours. Next to it on the work bench was an identical device.
"Good morning ladies." The Doctor looked as chipper as he had when they left, although Martha was certain he had been up all night; she remembered, though, the way her Doctor had sat up all night working on his timey-wimey device when they were stuck in 1969.
"Morning," they answered in unison.
"As you can see, I've built another of the tracking devices to help us to find the Drenkians. It is my intention that we go out in pairs to search the city for a trace of them, beginning from Hampstead Heath." They both nodded their agreement. "Now, Miss Shaw, I've asked the Brigadier for some assistance and he's assigned Sergeant Benton to be your driver. I will take Miss Jones with me."
Martha started at the mention of the Brigadier: she'd only met Sir Alistair once, when he'd come into her HQ after his trip to Peru, and he'd dropped by her office to talk to her about the Doctor. He hadn't mentioned the fact that they'd met before, in his timeline, so she presumed she would not be meeting him while she was here. She couldn't help feeling a little disappointed as she was curious to know what he was like as a younger man.
"We'll work our way across the city, initially, and then move further afield if necessary," continued the Doctor, pulling Martha back from her thoughts, "although I'm hoping that we won't need to leave the city to find these Drenkians."
The door opened behind them, and Sergeant Benton marched in and offered a salute.
"At ease, Sergeant," the Doctor said. "You're all set?"
"Yes sir," answered Benton smartly.
"Very well. Let us go and hunt down these creatures."
Martha followed the Doctor with Liz and Benton close behind, and they headed back down to the car park. A few minutes later they drove out into the streets, which had become busier since Martha and Liz had driven into UNIT HQ, but were still considerably less busy than in Martha's own time.
* * * * * *
35 years later
When the Doctor still hadn't returned Jack's call by eight the following morning, and a second call had also gone straight to the voicemail, Jack went to see Colonel Mace.
"I can't get hold of the Doctor," Jack said. "He's probably left the phone in the TARDIS while he's off doing who knows what, and I'm worried about Martha's safety. She landed at the Drenkians' pick up point, and I can't imagine they'd be too happy with her arriving instead of Mallory, Barnes and the expected shipment."
"So what do you want to do, Captain?" asked Mace expectantly. "I could get my technical team to look at the Drenkian device, see if they can figure it out?"
"I've got a friend, another former travelling companion of the Doctor's, who might be able to help me fix it. If you can supply us with some equipment and somewhere to work, we can get started."
"Very well," agreed Colonel Mace. "Call in your friend, and I'll get one of the sergeants to sort out somewhere that you can work."
"Thank you, sir." Jack gave him a tidy salute, then went out into the corridor, pulling out his mobile phone.
* * * * * *
Half an hour later Mickey Smith was admitted to UNIT HQ and found Jack Harkness waiting for him in the reception area.
"Hello Mickey Mouse!" Jack offered his hand.
"Captain Cheesecake," acknowledged the younger man, pretending to glare at the epithet. He shook hands with Jack, glancing around them. "You've defected then?"
Jack shook his head. "Not likely," he answered. "Just here temporarily to help out Martha."
"Is she here, then?" asked Mickey as he followed the Captain, who was leading the way through a maze of corridors. Jack's phone call had been somewhat cryptic and had woken him up as he'd been up working until the early hours.
"No, she's stuck in 1974," Jack said.
"Whoa! How'd that happen?"
"Long story," Jack said. "I'll explain shortly. I've tried calling the Doc twice, but he's not answering. We've got to get Martha back. Will you help?"
He stopped and opened a door, gesturing for Mickey to precede him into a small workroom that Mace had made available.
"So, what am I doing, exactly?" asked Mickey.
"You and I are going to use our technological know-how to repair this," Jack answered, gesturing at the Drenkian gadget that was sitting on the workbench.
Mickey wandered over and picked it up, turning it this way and that as he peered at it, then he looked up at the Captain who was leaning against the nearby wall, his arms folded over his chest.
"I'm sorry, mate, but you've got the wrong man," Mickey told him. "The Doctor could probably fix this with his eyes closed, and one hand tied behind his back, but me?" He shook his head.
Jack pushed away from the wall, unfolding his arms, and stepping forward, grasped the younger man by the shoulders. "We've got to try, Mickey," he urged. "Martha's stuck 35 years in the past with nothing but her clothes. It's possible a bunch of really nasty aliens have captured her, so I want to get her back."
"All right, I'll try. But I need some coffee first, yeah?"
"Good man. I'll go and get some coffee. You start taking a closer look at that gadget."
"And when you come back, you'd better explain about these aliens, and how Martha ended up in 1974."
"Done." Jack clapped him on the shoulder, then went in search of coffee.
Mickey shrugged off his coat, then settled down onto a stool to look at the device. After he had chosen to stay in this universe, rather than going back to the other one again, he had refused Jack's invitation to join Torchwood and Martha's to join UNIT, preferring to be his own boss. He had briefly considered going back to working as a mechanic, but he had learned new skills in the parallel Earth so he decided, instead, to set up his own, now modestly successful, business building and repairing computers. He had exchanged phone numbers with Martha and Jack on the basis that former companions of the Doctor shouldn't lose touch with one another, but he hadn't really expected to hear from them. Once or twice he'd toyed with the idea of ringing Martha and inviting her out for a drink, but he'd never got beyond thinking about it.
Jack shouldered his way into the room, two cardboard cups of coffee in one hand, and a bag of doughnuts in the other. "Here you go," he said, setting everything down on the workbench within easy reach.
"Cheers." Mickey grabbed the nearest cup and took a big gulp of coffee. "Have you any idea how this thing works?" he asked, gesturing at the device before opening the bag of doughnuts and taking one.
"I've a rough idea," Jack answered, helping himself to a doughnut.
"You'd better start talking, then," Mickey suggested.
Jack nodded, and began to talk.
On to part 2
Title: The Watch on the Heath (1/2)
Author: Persiflage_1
Characters/Pairings: Martha, Jack, Mickey, Third Doctor, Liz Shaw, the Brigadier, UNIT, OCs
Rating: PG-13 (for some violence)
Spoilers: Season 7 Classic Who, Season 4 New Who, Season 2 Torchwood
Summary: Martha meets a much earlier UNIT team.
Disclaimer: I occasionally wish that I did own it!
Author Notes: I wrote this fic for the smith_n_jones fic challenge. The prompt (from yahtzee63) was Third Doctor, joyriding in Bessie. This fic's set between "Inferno" and "Terror of the Autons" for Three and his UNIT, and after DW S4 and Torchwood S2 for Martha, Jack, and modern UNIT.
Betas: The lovely fourzoas and catholicphoton
~~~~~~
"Oh no you don't!" growled Martha, launching herself at the man who stood a few feet away, fiddling with an odd-looking device which created a portal into the Time Vortex.
"Martha, NO! Be careful!" Jack's urgent yell of alarm came too late and he watched in horror as she disappeared into the Time Vortex in a blaze of light.
"Shit!" He grabbed the man who'd been trying to escape, and hauled him bodily to his feet. "Where's she gone, you bastard?" Jack demanded, lifting the other man clean off the ground so he could glare into his eyes.
"I-I d-don't know," stuttered the small, ferrety-looking man. His wispy thin hair and watery grey eyes seemed to just add to the resemblance. "I d-don't know h-how t-to p-programme it p-properly. Barnes does it usually."
"So help me, I'm gonna kill you," Jack snarled.
"Captain?" The UNIT soldier, a Lieutenant Harris, sounded wary as he addressed the Torchwood operative.
"Yes Lieutenant?" Jack didn't take his eyes off the man he held, but he did lower his feet back down to the ground.
"I don't think the Colonel would be very happy if you killed Mallory," ventured Harris, "and I know Dr Jones would be pretty severe about it if she were here."
"Hear that, Mallory? There's someone here who cares about your miserable life. Aren't you the lucky one?"
Mallory nodded nervously as Jack let go of the front of his coat with one hand. The next moment he crashed unconscious to the grass as the Captain backhanded him across the face.
"Sir!" exclaimed Harris in protest.
"Oh, shut up Harris," Jack said wearily. "We have to get Mar- Dr Jones back."
"Yes sir. Um, how sir?"
The Captain shook his right hand briefly, wishing Martha was here to tell him off for decking the suspect, then he stooped and picked up the fallen gadget.
"With this, I hope," he answered.
* * * * * *
Two and a half hours earlier
"Are you ready?" Jack asked, fastening the last button on his great coat.
"Yep," Martha answered succinctly, patting her pockets to ensure she had everything.
"C'mon then." He held out his hand, and she quirked an eyebrow at him.
"I think that Colonel Mace might consider it inappropriate if we walk out there holding hands," she observed, a teasing light in her eyes and a half smile on her mouth.
"Let him," growled Jack, grabbing her hand and pulling her into a crushing hug. "Just promise me you'll be careful tonight, yeah?"
She nodded, hearing the anxiety in his voice. "I promise," she said solemnly, knowing they were both remembering a not-too-dissimilar situation, and how that had ended in Owen's death.
Martha stood up on tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on the mouth. "C'mon mister," she said, lightly slapping his chest, "or Mace'll come looking for us, and we don't want to give him grounds to regret bringing you in on this operation."
"Yes ma'am!" Jack stomped to attention, snapping off a salute, which provoked a peal of laughter from the young doctor, then followed her out of her office and down the corridor to the briefing room.
Colonel Mace arrived moments after them and stood looking around at the squad of men and women he'd chosen for this operation, then nodded to Martha and Jack.
"All right, everyone, you know the plan. Let's get to the Heath and see if we can't bring those traffickers in tonight."
The soldiers began filing out, and Jack and Martha prepared to follow them.
"Jones, Harkness, you're with me in the staff car," Mace told them.
"Yes sir," they chorused.
"You're armed Jones?" the Colonel asked as they headed out to the car park.
"Stun gun charged and ready, sir," she answered, patting the slight bulge it made under her jacket where it was holstered at her hip. She hoped she wouldn't need to use it, but she understood why Mace wanted her to carry it since she refused to take a revolver.
He nodded, then climbed into the front of the staff car, while Martha and Jack got into the back.
"All right, Harris."
At Mace's word, Lieutenant Harris pulled out, and the jeep containing the rest of the soldiers moved in behind them.
"We still haven't been able to get a fix on where the alien creatures are being moved to once they're handed over," Martha observed to the Colonel.
He nodded. "Hopefully, though, we'll find out tonight, Jones, and then we'll stop them." He looked over his shoulder at them both, and they saw a look of fierce resolve on his face. "I will not have riff-raff and scum from all over the galaxy treating Earth as a convenient dumping ground or pick up point."
She nodded silent agreement, wondering, yet again, what the Doctor would say if he knew that greedy humans were helping in the illegal trafficking of alien creatures. She felt sure he would be at his most scathing and sarcastic, not that she could blame him. She'd been fairly scathing herself when Jack had tipped her off about it; he'd accidentally found out about the operation from someone in Cardiff whom he'd caught rounding up Weevils to transport to London.
Martha had gone straight to the Colonel with the news, and then they'd both gone to see the Brigadier; after a conference call with Jack, the Brigadier had authorised Mace to set up a reconnaissance operation, and the Captain had joined them at the Colonel's request.
It had taken them two days to establish that the alien creatures were being handed over at The Tumulus near Hampstead Heath, and that the next collection would take place tonight at midnight.
As far as they'd been able to establish, there were three men involved: Jenks, who handled the rounding up of the creatures stranded on Earth, and Mallory and Barnes, who transported the creatures elsewhere for collection by a race or group (no one was sure which) called the Drenkians.
Despite a search by UNIT personnel of all the warehouses nearest to the Heath, no one had been able to find out where Barnes and Mallory took the creatures. They were hoping to find that out tonight, and then the Brigadier intended that UNIT would confront the Drenkians and send them away 'with a flea in their ear', as she'd put it.
The UNIT team arrived at the nearest parking place to The Tumulus, and everyone quietly exited the vehicles, mindful of the fact that while it was only 11pm, their quarry might already be in the area.
"Positions everyone," Mace said quietly.
Martha felt Jack slip his hand into hers once they were out of sight of the Colonel.
"Nervous?" the Captain asked softly.
"A bit," she admitted.
"Excited?"
"That too," she agreed, knowing he wouldn't think any less of her for saying so.
"Tomorrow night, I'm going to take you on a date," he informed her. "Dinner and dancing - the vertical kind at least." There was a mischievous, teasing note in his voice as he spoke, and she felt a shiver run through her that had nothing to do with the cold night air.
"Is that right, Captain Harkness?" She hoped her voice was steady.
"It certainly is, Dr Jones," he answered, the mischievous note more pronounced this time.
"Down boy," Martha said quietly, before adding, "We're here."
They settled themselves as comfortably as they could on a waterproof sheet, lying on their stomachs with their heads only slightly raised up so they could watch the meeting point through their infrared binoculars.
* * * * * *
35 years earlier
Dr Liz Shaw and Sergeant Benton both started when a blue vortex of light opened up a few feet away, and a figure tumbled out of the air to sprawl unmoving on the ground. They rushed across the grass and found a dark-skinned young woman dressed all in black.
"Is she all right, miss?" Benton asked anxiously as Liz unfastened the top of the woman's jacket and felt for a pulse in her neck.
"Well, she's still alive," Liz answered. "We'd better get her back to UNIT though. I'm sure the Brigadier will want to interview - Oh!"
The Sergeant looked up when she interrupted herself. "What is it?" he asked quickly.
"See for yourself," she answered, pulling the jacket open wider to show him the rectangular ID badge clipped to the belt which she'd spotted.
"Doctor M Jones - UNIT," he read aloud, eyes wide with surprise. "Oh!"
"And that's not a current ID badge," Liz observed. "Check the date."
Benton leaned forward and squinted at it in the dim light. "Two thousand and - What? Two thousand!" he said disbelievingly.
"Well, the Doctor did detect temporal ripples in this area," she reminded him. "It's why we're here tonight."
"Well I know, but it’s still a surprise," he said.
Liz nodded. "Have we got a stretcher in the jeep?" she asked.
"Yes miss." He got to his feet, then hurried away to fetch it. As he headed towards the jeep he heard a noise in the bushes a few yards to his right; he slowed down, then moved cautiously forward. Just as he reached the bushes, he saw several indistinct figures climbing into a large, unmarked van that was parked on the road a few feet beyond the bushes. He grabbed for his radio, but by the time he'd pulled it from his belt, the van had already pulled away and was disappearing. Scowling, he radioed into Headquarters, reported what he'd seen, then continued on towards the jeep for the stretcher.
"So, Dr Jones, just what are you doing travelling back in time?" Liz softly asked the unconscious woman as she waited for Benton to return.
He returned a while later with the stretcher and a private to help him carry Dr Jones. "Is it okay to move her, miss?" he asked.
"As far as I can tell she hasn't broken anything."
The two men got the unconscious young woman onto the stretcher, then they all headed back to the vehicles, where the rest of the squad were waiting for them.
* * * * * *
Martha woke a couple of hours later, somewhere around 2.30 am, with a thumping headache and the feeling that she'd been steamrollered, and she groaned softly as she remembered that she'd been thrown through the Time Vortex.
"You're awake then," said a stern voice somewhere to her left.
She opened her eyes and saw a plain white ceiling above her, then carefully turned her head to see an older, white-haired man with a beaky nose and rugged face watching her. For some reason he seemed vaguely familiar, yet she was positive she'd never seen him before. He was wearing a white shirt with ruffles down the front and a dark green velvet jacket, which caused her to frown as she wondered just how far back in time she'd been flung.
"I believe the traditional questions around now are 'What happened?' and 'Where am I?'," she observed, trying to make light of her situation. "Although I think I know the answer to the first one."
The man raised an eyebrow at her, reminding her of the Doctor when he was in a quizzical mood. "And what is your answer to the first question, Dr Jones?"
For a moment she was startled that he knew her name, then she remembered that her UNIT ID badge had been on her belt, and since she was only wearing a hospital gown now, she surmised it had been seen when she'd been undressed.
"I was flung back in time through the Time Vortex," she answered. "Which explains a lot, actually."
His expression remained stern as he contemplated her over his steepled fingers. "What does it explain?"
Martha hesitated, wondering how much to tell him: she still didn't know who he was, or where or when she had arrived, and while she had an indefinable sense that she could trust him, she was, nevertheless, a member of UNIT, and that meant not blabbing everything to just anyone.
"I advise you to answer me, young woman," the man said, sounding stern again. "Unauthorised time travel, particularly without a vessel, is a grave offence, and I have a responsibility to my people to - "
"Your people?" she interrupted, not quite daring to believe the implication of his words. "You're - you're not the Doctor, are you?" She waited breathlessly for his response.
"I am."
"Thank goodness!" she exclaimed, sitting up and giving him an imploring look. "Can you send me back? To my own time, I mean."
He raised both eyebrows at her. "You still haven't explained what you're doing here. You may work for UNIT, but there are still restrictions on time travel for your people."
"Don't worry," she said quickly, "I'm not here by choice."
She explained in detail, but as succinctly as she could, the events that had led to her unexpected trip back in time.
"And assuming I'm in the past sometime, that explains why we weren't able to locate the place where Barnes and Mallory were taking the alien creatures. They were bringing them back in time to be collected by the Drenkians," she finished.
The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck in a thoughtful manner, then nodded. "This is 1974, and you're at UNIT HQ," he told her.
"So where did I arrive - not here?" she asked.
He shook his head. "You were found on Hampstead Heath, near The Tumulus. Your arrival interfered with the drop-off, naturally enough. One of the men saw the aliens driving away but they were gone before he could report their presence so we aren't much further forward yet."
"Right. That makes sense, about arriving on Hampstead Heath, I mean."
She suddenly remembered something her Doctor had told her, back when they'd been stuck in 1969 without the TARDIS. "I've just remembered - you're in exile here on Earth at the moment." She frowned in recollection. "For meddling in the affairs of others in a manner of which the Time Lords disapproved. More fool them."
The Doctor couldn't quite hide his smile at the scorn in her voice. "You are well informed, Dr Jones."
"Martha," she said. "Calling me 'Dr Jones' seems ridiculously formal. My Doctor briefly mentioned his, your, exile to me." She frowned. "You must be the third one, then?"
He nodded. "That is correct." He looked as if he was about to say something else, and she wondered if he was going to ask the obvious question. "Which incarnation of me do you know?"
"The tenth," she answered.
He looked astonished. "The tenth?" he repeated. "I go through six more bodies in thirty-five years?"
Martha reached out to touch his hands which rested on his crossed knee. "You're over 900 years old, though, by the time I meet that version of you."
He nodded, then changed the subject with an abruptness with which she was completely familiar. "Well then, Martha, I think it's time you came and met the people with whom I work, and then we can discuss how best to stop these Drenkians."
She gave him a wolfish grin. "I like the sound of that."
He matched her grin, then got to his feet. "I'll leave you to get dressed then. Your clothes are in the locker. When you're ready, tell the man outside to bring you to my lab."
"Okay." She waited for him to close the door behind himself, then got out of bed and dressed quickly. She still felt as if she'd been flattened, but she knew that feeling would pass once she was moving about.
Opening the door of the room, which she had guessed was the Infirmary, she found a Sergeant outside.
"Hello. The Doctor said you'd show me to his lab."
He saluted. "Yes ma'am."
"At ease, Sergeant," she said quickly. "I'm just a civilian, so no need for that. What's your name?"
"Benton, miss," he answered, setting off along the corridor. "I was there with Miss Shaw when you - arrived."
"Well thank you, Sergeant Benton, for bringing me here."
"Oh it was no trouble, miss," he assured her quickly.
As she followed him through the usual maze of corridors Martha thought of Jack, and wondered how frantic he was about her disappearance. She hoped the Drenkians could be dealt with quickly so that the Doctor could get her back to her own time as soon as possible.
* * * * * *
35 years later
Jack stomped around the briefing room, too anxious to sit down and wait while the Colonel supervised the interrogation of Mallory and Barnes. He was worried about Martha: while he was in no doubt about her ability to survive, he didn't like not knowing when or where she was. Neither Barnes nor Mallory would tell him the destination that the Vortex Manipulator on the gadget was set for: Mallory had claimed not to know, and Barnes had simply refused to answer Jack's questions. Only Colonel Mace's arrival had stopped the former Time Agent from beating the answers out of the man.
Thinking about it now, Jack was slightly ashamed of how ready he'd been to smack Barnes about: he knew Martha wouldn't have approved of such methods of obtaining the information he required, not least because she'd have had to patch up Barnes again afterwards.
It amazed and humbled him that she was still against unnecessary violence, despite all she'd experienced during her travels with the Doctor. He occasionally wondered just how she'd survived with that attitude during the year she'd spent travelling the Earth while working against the Master.
Finally the door of the briefing room opened, and the Colonel walked in, looking weary. Jack stopped pacing to approach him.
"Sit down, Captain," Mace said, gesturing at a chair.
Jack thought of objecting, of demanding that the other man tell him what he wanted to know, but he remembered he was only here because of Martha and sat down.
"Dr Jones is probably in 1974," the Colonel began. "Barnes had an arrangement with the Drenkians that he would transport the 'cattle'," his expression spoke of his distaste for that term, "to the same spot on Hampstead Heath, but 35 years ago. It was they who supplied him with the gadget that Mallory was trying to use to escape, and they showed Barnes how to operate it in order to move backwards and forwards through time to make the delivery each month."
"So I'll use it to go and get Martha," Jack said, getting to his feet.
Mace nodded. "I expected you to say as much." He pulled the device from his pocket and set it on the desk.
The Captain snatched it up eagerly, but when he tried the controls he found them unresponsive. He felt his heart sink. "I can't use this," he said, dropping back into the chair. "It's been damaged." His voice was hollow.
"Can you fix it?" Mace asked sharply.
Jack shook his head. "No, I don't know enough about the technology. I only know of one person who might whom I can easily get hold of."
"Who?" asked the Colonel.
"The Doctor," answered Jack, rummaging in his pockets for his phone.
"You have his number?" Mace asked. "I know Dr Jones has it, but - "
"I do have it," the Captain answered, then apologised for interrupting. "I got his number from Martha around the time of that business with the Earth being moved."
"Very well." The Colonel got to his feet. "I'll leave you to contact him and sort things out with him. Let me know when you're ready to go and get Dr Jones back."
"Yes sir."
Mace went out and Jack found the Time Lord's number in his list of contacts, and rang. It irked him that the Doctor kept disabling the Vortex Manipulator on his wrist computer; it felt as if he didn't trust Jack enough to allow him to use it unsupervised. At times like this such a lack of trust galled him, because if the Doctor hadn't disabled the Vortex Manipulator, he could have gone after Martha immediately.
The call connected, but all he got was the voicemail with Martha's cheerful voice asking him to leave a message. Jack cursed, left the Doctor a message asking him to ring back urgently, then pocketed his phone and went to speak to the Colonel.
* * * * * *
35 years earlier
Martha's first impression of the Doctor's lab was of organised chaos, and her first impression of Dr Liz Shaw was that she had very nice legs, a thought which made her blush and hope no one would notice with her darker skin. Liz's legs were well displayed as she was half way up a ladder, putting a heavy box back on a shelf.
"Miss Jones, sir, Miss Shaw," Benton announced, as if he was a well trained butler instead of a well trained soldier.
The Doctor, whom Martha hadn't immediately spotted because he had his head bent over something on the far side of the workbench that faced her, straightened up and smiled. Liz stepped down off the ladder and moved to his side.
"Hello my dear. Come and meet Liz properly."
Martha walked across the cluttered room, noticing the TARDIS standing in one corner, and offered her hand to the other woman.
"Liz, this is Dr Martha Jones. Martha, this is Dr Elizabeth Shaw, who brought you in earlier."
"Thanks," Martha said.
"You're welcome," the other woman answered. Her manner seemed rather cool and Martha wondered why, but decided that perhaps Liz didn't take to strangers easily.
"Now then, come and look at this, and tell me what you think," the Doctor said, gesturing at the object on the workbench that he'd been bending over when she arrived.
Martha approached and he momentarily put a hand in the middle of her back as she leaned forward to look at an electronic lash-up of the type she was used to seeing her own Doctor build.
"What is it?" she asked, taking in the multitude of wires, circuits and electronic components.
"It's a device for locating the Drenkians," he told her. "They have a very particular olfactory presence, which would be quite undetectable to mere human senses, and isn't even that noticeable to someone with such superior senses as mine."
Martha glanced up and saw Liz pulling a wry face which he couldn't see, and quickly hid a smile. "So, this device is like an artificial nose, then?" she asked.
The Doctor gave her a slightly scandalised look. "My dear girl, it's rather more than that," he protested. "It will not only detect the presence of the Drenkians, but allow us to follow their trail so that we can apprehend them and put an end to their vile practices."
"Good," she said, grim satisfaction in her voice. She straightened up and caught sight of Liz's startled expression, which was quickly smoothed over. "How soon can we get started?"
"Not just yet," the Doctor answered. Seeing Martha opening her mouth to protest, he added. "It's still the early hours of the morning. It would be better if you and Liz both got a few hours of sleep, before we begin our search."
Martha agreed, albeit reluctantly, even though she knew his advice made sense. Now that they had the means to track down the Drenkians, she wanted them captured quickly so that she could get back to her own time.
"Where am I going to sleep," Martha asked, "the Infirmary?"
"You can stay at my flat," Liz answered. "I can only offer you the sofa, but as you're not very tall, it shouldn't be too uncomfortable for you."
Martha hoped she didn't look as surprised as she felt at this offer. "Thanks. The sofa will be fine. Believe me, I've slept in some pretty uncomfortable places before now."
"That's settled, then," said the Doctor, sounding pleased. "I don't expect to see either of you back here before 8.30 am."
"But - " began Martha.
"8.30," he repeated, his eyes twinkling.
"Okay," she sighed.
He nodded to them both, then went back to his device, and Liz beckoned to Martha to follow her.
"He'll be oblivious now," the redhead said as they reached the corridor.
"Yeah, some things about him never change, believe me," Martha said fervently as she followed Liz through the corridors and down to the underground car park.
"We'll take Bessie," the redhead said, gesturing at an old-fashioned, yellow open-topped car that sat incongruously in the car park.
"Let me guess - that's the Doctor's car," Martha said.
Liz laughed. "Is it that obvious?"
Martha laughed too. "Well, he's the most likely person to be driving a car that looks as if it would be more at home in a museum than on the road."
"True." Liz opened the passenger door, and Martha climbed in, then waited while she circled the car and got into the driver's seat.
As they drove across London, Martha plied Liz with questions about how she had met the Doctor and come to join UNIT. Liz explained about being seconded to the organisation from her work at Cambridge University and arriving on the same day that the Doctor had suddenly turned up after being exiled to Earth.
In her turn, Martha explained about the Judoon transporting her hospital to the moon, and the mysterious, two-hearted patient, Mr Smith, who had turned out to be an alien calling himself 'the Doctor', and who'd helped to trap the Plasmavore.
"So how did you end up working for UNIT?" asked Liz, curiously.
"The Doctor recommended me to them after I stopped travelling with him," Martha said, "and after everything I'd seen and done, I couldn't really imagine working as a regular doctor, so I took the job."
"Do you miss it - the travelling, I mean?"
Martha nodded. "I do. There's nothing quite like the thrill of stepping out of the TARDIS onto another planet or into another time period. But my family needed me, and I needed to finish my studies after working so hard to train as a doctor. So I made the decision to leave."
She fell silent, thinking back to that day when she'd walked out of the TARDIS, and only broke out of her reverie when she realised that Liz had stopped the car.
"Sorry," she murmured.
"It's okay," Liz answered.
She let them into her flat and showed Martha the bathroom, then saw her settled on the sofa with some pillows and blankets, before taking herself to bed.
* * * * * *
Martha slept surprisingly well on Liz's sofa, and after a shower each, and breakfast of toast and coffee, they headed back to UNIT HQ in Bessie.
"I wonder if my Doctor still has Bessie," Martha mused as Liz drove. "I'll have to ask him the next time I see him."
"You're confident that you will see him again?" asked Liz.
Martha gave her a startled look. "Of course. Either Jack will come after me using the gadget that brought me here, or this Doctor will get me home."
"I'm not sure that the Doctor will be able to take you home," Liz observed.
"What? Why not?" Martha couldn't help feeling a flare of anxiety at the other woman's words.
"Well he still hasn't got the TARDIS working properly." She glanced across at the other woman and briefly reached out to clasp her hand. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew. When the Time Lords exiled him here, they disabled the TARDIS and made him forget the knowledge he needs to allow him to travel in time."
Martha looked shocked, then dug into her trouser pocket for her mobile phone.
"What's that?" Liz asked curiously when she saw it.
"21st century technology," she answered distractedly as she turned on the phone. She had forgotten, in all the chaos of events the night before, that she still hadn't switched it on again after going to the rendezvous with Mallory and Barnes.
"Damn!" Martha switched the phone back off with a scowl and shoved it back into her pocket.
"Problem?" asked Liz.
"I can't use it in this time period," Martha answered heavily.
"We'll talk to the Doctor about you getting back," Liz promised as she pulled into the underground car park at UNIT HQ, before leading the way back to the Doctor's lab.
They found him at his work bench with the device he'd built the night before: it had now been transformed into something more finished and somewhat more elegant than the lash-up they'd seen in the early hours. Next to it on the work bench was an identical device.
"Good morning ladies." The Doctor looked as chipper as he had when they left, although Martha was certain he had been up all night; she remembered, though, the way her Doctor had sat up all night working on his timey-wimey device when they were stuck in 1969.
"Morning," they answered in unison.
"As you can see, I've built another of the tracking devices to help us to find the Drenkians. It is my intention that we go out in pairs to search the city for a trace of them, beginning from Hampstead Heath." They both nodded their agreement. "Now, Miss Shaw, I've asked the Brigadier for some assistance and he's assigned Sergeant Benton to be your driver. I will take Miss Jones with me."
Martha started at the mention of the Brigadier: she'd only met Sir Alistair once, when he'd come into her HQ after his trip to Peru, and he'd dropped by her office to talk to her about the Doctor. He hadn't mentioned the fact that they'd met before, in his timeline, so she presumed she would not be meeting him while she was here. She couldn't help feeling a little disappointed as she was curious to know what he was like as a younger man.
"We'll work our way across the city, initially, and then move further afield if necessary," continued the Doctor, pulling Martha back from her thoughts, "although I'm hoping that we won't need to leave the city to find these Drenkians."
The door opened behind them, and Sergeant Benton marched in and offered a salute.
"At ease, Sergeant," the Doctor said. "You're all set?"
"Yes sir," answered Benton smartly.
"Very well. Let us go and hunt down these creatures."
Martha followed the Doctor with Liz and Benton close behind, and they headed back down to the car park. A few minutes later they drove out into the streets, which had become busier since Martha and Liz had driven into UNIT HQ, but were still considerably less busy than in Martha's own time.
* * * * * *
35 years later
When the Doctor still hadn't returned Jack's call by eight the following morning, and a second call had also gone straight to the voicemail, Jack went to see Colonel Mace.
"I can't get hold of the Doctor," Jack said. "He's probably left the phone in the TARDIS while he's off doing who knows what, and I'm worried about Martha's safety. She landed at the Drenkians' pick up point, and I can't imagine they'd be too happy with her arriving instead of Mallory, Barnes and the expected shipment."
"So what do you want to do, Captain?" asked Mace expectantly. "I could get my technical team to look at the Drenkian device, see if they can figure it out?"
"I've got a friend, another former travelling companion of the Doctor's, who might be able to help me fix it. If you can supply us with some equipment and somewhere to work, we can get started."
"Very well," agreed Colonel Mace. "Call in your friend, and I'll get one of the sergeants to sort out somewhere that you can work."
"Thank you, sir." Jack gave him a tidy salute, then went out into the corridor, pulling out his mobile phone.
* * * * * *
Half an hour later Mickey Smith was admitted to UNIT HQ and found Jack Harkness waiting for him in the reception area.
"Hello Mickey Mouse!" Jack offered his hand.
"Captain Cheesecake," acknowledged the younger man, pretending to glare at the epithet. He shook hands with Jack, glancing around them. "You've defected then?"
Jack shook his head. "Not likely," he answered. "Just here temporarily to help out Martha."
"Is she here, then?" asked Mickey as he followed the Captain, who was leading the way through a maze of corridors. Jack's phone call had been somewhat cryptic and had woken him up as he'd been up working until the early hours.
"No, she's stuck in 1974," Jack said.
"Whoa! How'd that happen?"
"Long story," Jack said. "I'll explain shortly. I've tried calling the Doc twice, but he's not answering. We've got to get Martha back. Will you help?"
He stopped and opened a door, gesturing for Mickey to precede him into a small workroom that Mace had made available.
"So, what am I doing, exactly?" asked Mickey.
"You and I are going to use our technological know-how to repair this," Jack answered, gesturing at the Drenkian gadget that was sitting on the workbench.
Mickey wandered over and picked it up, turning it this way and that as he peered at it, then he looked up at the Captain who was leaning against the nearby wall, his arms folded over his chest.
"I'm sorry, mate, but you've got the wrong man," Mickey told him. "The Doctor could probably fix this with his eyes closed, and one hand tied behind his back, but me?" He shook his head.
Jack pushed away from the wall, unfolding his arms, and stepping forward, grasped the younger man by the shoulders. "We've got to try, Mickey," he urged. "Martha's stuck 35 years in the past with nothing but her clothes. It's possible a bunch of really nasty aliens have captured her, so I want to get her back."
"All right, I'll try. But I need some coffee first, yeah?"
"Good man. I'll go and get some coffee. You start taking a closer look at that gadget."
"And when you come back, you'd better explain about these aliens, and how Martha ended up in 1974."
"Done." Jack clapped him on the shoulder, then went in search of coffee.
Mickey shrugged off his coat, then settled down onto a stool to look at the device. After he had chosen to stay in this universe, rather than going back to the other one again, he had refused Jack's invitation to join Torchwood and Martha's to join UNIT, preferring to be his own boss. He had briefly considered going back to working as a mechanic, but he had learned new skills in the parallel Earth so he decided, instead, to set up his own, now modestly successful, business building and repairing computers. He had exchanged phone numbers with Martha and Jack on the basis that former companions of the Doctor shouldn't lose touch with one another, but he hadn't really expected to hear from them. Once or twice he'd toyed with the idea of ringing Martha and inviting her out for a drink, but he'd never got beyond thinking about it.
Jack shouldered his way into the room, two cardboard cups of coffee in one hand, and a bag of doughnuts in the other. "Here you go," he said, setting everything down on the workbench within easy reach.
"Cheers." Mickey grabbed the nearest cup and took a big gulp of coffee. "Have you any idea how this thing works?" he asked, gesturing at the device before opening the bag of doughnuts and taking one.
"I've a rough idea," Jack answered, helping himself to a doughnut.
"You'd better start talking, then," Mickey suggested.
Jack nodded, and began to talk.
On to part 2