♢ 5 ♢

[formervanguard]

[Marta has arrived on the plane, wide-eyed and tense. In her hands, she holds a letter. A very formal letter. A letter that she would rather she never received in the first place

Comments

[lamb_of_gold]

[Oh for the love of...]

When?

[formervanguard]

[She doesn't look up. But at least she closes her eyes, no longer reading the letter for the 320948th time.]

The day after tomorrow, it says.

[lamb_of_gold]

[Mu glances idly at the watch from the Doctor.]

You may not have to.

[formervanguard]

[She follows his gaze to the watch, thinking it'll explain, but it doesn't.]

Huh? But... how?

[pactum]

[Emil sees her fall and runs quickly to her side.]

M--... Marta, what's--

[And then he sees the letter trembling in her hands. It only takes a second for him to realize what that means. His blood turns to ice, and something about his expression hardens. He's got a good grip on her now, one arm around her shoulders, the other reaching for the letter so that she'll stop obsessing over it.]

Those bastards. It's not gonna happen.

[formervanguard]

[She lets him take it, not that she'd be foolish enough to try and fight it at all in the first place. Her arms fall limply to her sides and she closes her eyes tightly.]

Emil... how? No one's been able to stop them so far!

[pactum]

[He holds her against him without asking. It's the least he can do. Personal contact isn't his favorite, but there's something so important about doing that right now, about tucking her head beneath his chin in that certain way, trying to stave off her oncoming tears.]

I know it might be hard after the Temple of Ice... but do you trust me?

[formervanguard]

[She's shocked that he's the one initiating the clinging, but geez, is she glad for it. Her arms end up around him just perfectly and she rests herself against him. The tears fall, but at least she isn't sobbing and sniffling loudly.

Hard to trust him? Never. Besides, wasn't the Temple of Ice her fault...? It doesn't matter right now. There are deeper worries.

She shakes her head.] I trust you, Emil. Always.

[not_theman_iwas]

[The Doctor is taking her news much more calmly, but that doesn't prevent the ache of sympathy when she sees Martha. She folds up her own letter and tucks it in her pocket before approaching.] Hello.

[Because it seems only polite, once she's close enough, she settles onto her knees as well. See how non-threatening she is?] You're Marta Lualdi?

[formervanguard]

[Marta looks up at her and nods, the letter momentarily forgotten (physically, anyway).]

I am... Who are you? [Even her voice is trembling.]

[not_theman_iwas]

I'm the Doctor.

[She glances, maybe a little involuntarily, at Marta's letter.]

[formervanguard]

[Marta blinks, then her eyes go a little bit wider as her eyes briefly flick back down at the letter.]

You... So we have to fight?

[shutupk9]

Which Doctor?

[formervanguard]

The letter d-didn't say, but the Doctor that came to talk to me was a woman. She's the first woman Doctor I've seen here.

[shutupk9]

She's the only woman Doctor here.

...best of luck, I guess. If there is such a way to have best of luck during this affair.

[formervanguard]

Oh. So, you know her?

Thank you. I'll probably need it. [She looks quite like a wilted flower right now.] Someone said that there may be a plan to stop these, but... I don't know anything about it.