Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. Just Sophie my o/c.

A/N: And here we are at the start of Book 3 of my Lost Girl Chronicles, I'm really excited for this Book, and I'm so glad that I'm now up to rewriting series 3 to include Sophie. As always, huge thank you's to everyone who followed/favourited and reviewed the last chapter of Book 2 and big thanks to Saberbladeprime for prereading this chapter for me.

And now onto the chapter! The start of Book 3!

CHAPTER 1

Smith Connolly and Jones

Sophie moved quickly about the Tardis console, her hands moving over the buttons and knobs as she flew the sentient ship through the time vortex, a wide exhilarated grin lighting up her face, blue eyes shining with delight. She was really doing it! She was really flying the ship through the vortex and the console wasn't exploding on her! And actually, for what was only her second proper lesson in piloting the Tardis, she felt that she was doing rather well.

"Alright Sparks," the Doctor called from a short distance behind her, leaning against a Y beam grinning rather proudly as he watched her manoeuvre about the console, "Now try putting on a little more speed," he urged.

"Ok," Sophie called back and moved around the console reaching for the knob that'd speed up the Tardis' trajectory through the vortex, twisting it slightly and the Tardis shuddered a bit as she sped up.

"Oh, careful," the Doctor called a couple of moments later as the Tardis bounced about a bit wildly, "We're a bit too close to the 1700's, best guide her back up a bit," he instructed, "You want the…" he trailed as Sophie reached for one of the levers pulling it down, "Yeah… that lever," he murmured, before he pouted shooting a mildly irritated look at his ship, 'Oi, I'm supposed to be teaching,' he groused only for the Tardis to give him an unrepentant hum in response as Sophie pushed a couple more buttons guiding her safely and fairly smoothly away from the 1700's as she followed the Tardis mental images.

The Doctor rolled his eyes at his ship before grinning again as Sophie rounded the console, twisting another knob, a few more moments passing before he called, "And slow her down and set her to drift," sending Sophie into another flurry of motion as she followed the instruction, slowing the Tardis down once more, before setting her to drift, the engines quieting, "Brilliant!" the Doctor beamed as he came up behind her, flicking a couple more switches on the console as the engines clicked quietly as they started to cool down.

"I did it!" Sophie turned to him, with a wide beaming grin of her own, "I flew her and the console didn't explode!"

"Told you that wasn't you," the Doctor grinned back, before patting the Tardis console, "The Old Girl was just digesting," he reminded her. Sophie nodded, the bells in her ears softly chiming and she glanced down at the console resting a hand against it. He had indeed told her that, still she hadn't been able to help but feel a little guilty about it, she had been the one trying to pilot her along the motorway.

The Doctor continued to stare at her the fond look in his eyes shifting, becoming more intent in their regard of her, Rose's words occurring to him once again, 'just kiss her' and he shifted closer to her a hand coming up to caress her soft curls, drawing her attention back to him and he swallowed thickly as their eyes met, intense brown locking with confused and curious blue, those three little words rising up in his throat, "Sparks…" he murmured softly, his mind warring between kissing her first or vocally confessing first. He leaned in a little closer to her, fingers twirling a lock of her hair about them, as she was so fond of doing when she was thinking, nervous or lying.

A loud ping suddenly sounded through the console room making Sophie jump out of her skin in surprise, her heart that had already been beating oddly in her chest now beating harshly against her ribcage and the Doctor frowned heavily as he glanced towards the console, irritation flaring rather sharply at the interruption, the moment completely broken, 'That's not helping!' he mentally huffed at his Tardis, that had to be the second, no! The third time now his ship had done something that had broken the moment, interrupting it… he was starting to get suspicious. No, he knew that she had to be doing it deliberately now. That had been too well timed! The Tardis merely hummed unrepentantly, sounding for all the world amused at his indignant frustration and the monitor flicked on.

He shot the Tardis another irritated look but stepped over to the monitor, Sophie following him. He blinked at the screen, a brow arching, "Well now, that's a bit odd," he murmured, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his spectacles.

"What is it?" Sophie asked peering at the monitor herself, eyeing the strange image being displayed on it.

"Plasma coils," the Doctor answered, his curiosity peeked despite his continued annoyance at his ship, "Oh, hold on…" he moved his fingers over the keyboard beneath the monitor, "See that," he pointed at the monitor, "It's been building up around the hospital…" he muttered as Sophie peered at the screen, "I suppose it could be worth a bit of a look, see what's going on inside," he muttered with a bit of reluctance despite his curiosity, 'Still could have waited till after I'd kissed her and made sure she understood,' he shot grumpily at his ship only to get a completely unrepentant laugh from her… yeah, he mentally huffed rather irritated all over again at the confirmation, she'd totally done that deliberately! Which confused him cos his ship liked Sophie, sometimes, only sometimes mind, he thought that she liked her better than him, "Come on," he turned back to Sophie, "Let's get her landed," he paused, "Actually, you land her," he adjusted, smirking amusedly at the somewhat startled wide-eyed look Sophie gave him, "I'll just set the coordinates."

*O*O*O*

The morning after getting himself admitted, the Doctor, dressed in hospital issue jim-jams, shifted slightly on the bed he was sitting up in, before he leaned back against the pillows as he tried to get comfortable once again. Boredom really starting to set in now as he waited, time ticking by ever so slowly. He shifted against the firm hospital bed mattress again finding it hard to continue to sit still, before he glanced over at Sophie who was standing a short distance away, her back to him as she looked out a nearby window, "Sparks," he called and she turned from the window to look at him, a silent question in her eyes. He gave her a small pout as her eyes met his, "Come sit with me," he urged her, the tiniest hints of a whinge entering his tone.

Sophie rolled her eyes mildly exasperated, she'd only been over by the window a couple of moments at the most, but made her way back over to him, pulling the curtain she'd opened when she'd gone over to the window, closed behind her, "Remind me again," she murmured blue eyes worried as she eyed him, the petite brunette shifting closer to the bed as she continued, "Why you're the one in the hospital bed?"

"Cos, I'm sick, Sparks," the Doctor mock whined, before he coughed lightly into a fisted hand a couple of times.

Sophie arched a brow at him, her lips twitching upwards slightly in light amusement at his antics even as she rolled her eyes at him a second time in mere minutes, the action touched with exasperation again, that wasn't what she'd been asking and he knew it. She let out a soft sigh of resignation as she continued to eye him, letting it go. There was no changing it now anyway. It was done, "You've got abdominal pain," she reminded him dryly, giving him a bit of a pointed look as she did so, "Not a cough."

"Oh yes," the Doctor blinked at her and then smirked a bit cheekily, "Thanks, dear," he groaned as if in pain instead and clutched at his stomach a bit for emphasis.

Sophie twitched a little and a hand came up to tangle into the ends of her hair, tugging lightly as her eyes narrowed on him slightly, "And why of all things did you tell the hospital staff that I'm your wife?" she asked internally cringing all over again as she recalled that moment shortly after they'd entered the hospital. After she'd managed to successfully land the Tardis with only a minor hiccup… she'd gotten the door facing a hedge, earning an amused chortle from the Doctor, before he'd headed back over to the console with an explanation of what she'd done wrong as he helped her turn the ship around.

She'd been completely and utterly shocked when he'd suddenly out of nowhere told the nurse that she was his wife, instead of friend when asked who she was! She hadn't been expecting it… the foxy git hadn't thought to give her any warning, none! And her shock must have been written all over her face as she stared at him flabbergasted too, because the nurse admitting the Doctor into the hospital had eyed the both of them dubiously, and the Doctor had had to lean in and give her a kiss on the cheek along with making up the excuse that it was all very new and that she was still getting used to being called 'wife'.

All of which had left her blushing rather heavily as she stumbled over her words, flustered and stuttering just a little as she agreed with the excuse he'd come up with to explain away her dumbfounded reaction. Which had somehow, don't ask her how she honestly didn't know, convinced the nurse that had started smiling in amusement instead as she nodded and offered them her congratulations.

The Doctor smiled as he recalled the same moment far more fondly. He should perhaps at least feel a little sorry for putting her on the spot like that, but he was still rather pleased and amused by her reaction. And it wasn't like he'd walked into the hospital planning to do it, if he had he would have given her some warning, honest! He'd just been struck by sudden inspiration and had been admittedly feeling a little cheeky and perhaps still a bit irritated at being interrupted earlier by his ship and he'd just gone with the sudden impulse.

"Well, for one thing," he began almost airily, "The nurses and doctors are less likely to question a concerned wife's continued presence…" he trailed, hesitating a brief moment, before swallowing heavily as he eyed her. His expression turning serious as his hearts beat a bit faster in his chest as those three little words rose up in him once again at the new opportunity that had presented itself, the need to tell her rising inside him again with renewed intensity.

He hadn't wanted to tell her in a hospital of all places, but he couldn't not take the chance! Honestly, he liked hospitals even less after that fiasco on New Earth, but he'd been interrupted so many times now in so many different ways it was bordering on ridiculous! Not even his ship was cutting him a break it seemed! And he hadn't had an opportunity to try again last night after being admitted what with the nurses fussing, asking their many questions about his 'symptoms' and then visiting hours had been over and she'd had to leave for the night.

Sophie opened her mouth to make a retort, only for the words to die in her throat as his eyes met hers and her stomach did that odd summersault at the intensity in his eyes and her heart picked up a little speed.

The Doctor reached for her, taking one of her hands in his drawing her closer, gently urging her to sit on the edge of the bed he'd been admitted to for his hospital stay, "And," he continued and Sophie swallowed thickly as that odd tension coiled in the air between them again, finding herself suddenly highly aware of the fact that it was just the two of them sequestered away behind the drawn curtains around the hospital bed. She swallowed again her brow scrunching slightly, her wide confused blue eyes locked with intense brown as his thumb stroked over the back of her gloved hand. Determination built inside the Doctor as he read the emotions flickering in her eyes, curiosity and confusion. He needed to get this right. He needed to make sure that there was no way that she could misunderstand a second time. He slowly leaned in towards her, the petite brunette's breath hitching softly in her throat, the words not catching in his throat this time as he began, hearts pounding, "Sparks I..."

The curtain around the bed was suddenly pushed back and the Doctor felt an immediate sense of incredulous disbelief and exasperation as he turned his head to look at the people that were now peering in at them, he'd been interrupted again!

"Now then," the man in a suit turned his attention to the Doctor who was doing his best to merely stare and not glare as frustration simmered inside him, "Mr. Smith, a very good morning to you. How are you today?"

"Aw, not so bad," the Doctor replied, stomping down on his incredulous frustration as he shrugged, "Still a bit, you know. Blah," he stuck out his tongue.

"He was complaining again earlier," Sophie told them just a tad dryly, "And clutching his stomach again," she looked from the people surrounding the bed to the Doctor as he squeezed his hand around hers, his brown eyes mildly amused now as he regarded her, his lips twitching up into a small smile.

"I assure you Mrs. Smith," Sophie blinked at the name, it was strange being called something other than Connolly. Not to mention Mrs, "We'll get to the bottom of your husband's symptoms," the man assured her.

"See, dear," the Doctor squeezed her hand again before patting it 'comfortingly' with the other drawing Sophie's eyes back to him, blue eyes narrowing ever so slightly at the growing amusement she could see in his brown eyes… or at least she thought it was amusement that she was seeing, "I'll be just fine."

"John Smith, admitted yesterday with severe abdominal pains," the man turned to the medical students with him, "Jones," he called on a young black woman, "Why don't you see what you can find? Amaze me."

Sophie got up from the bed, her hand slipping from the Doctor's as she made room for Jones as she approached the bed, "That wasn't very clever, running around outside, was it?" the young woman commented.

The Doctor and Sophie blinked at her in confusion, "Sorry?" the Time Lord asked as he eyed the young woman at around the same time Sophie muttered a confused.

"Huh?"

"On Chancery Street this morning?" Jones replied glanced from one to the other, a bit confused herself now, "You both came up to me, you took your tie off and put it on her," she nodded over at Sophie who glanced over at the Doctor puzzled.

"Really?" he murmured rather puzzled himself as he tried to work out just why he'd do something like that, "What did we do that for?"

Jones arched a brow at him, rather bemused, "I don't know," she shrugged at him, "You just did."

"Not us," the Doctor replied, "I was here in bed. Ask the Nurses. And Sparks came back in early, soon as visiting hours started again," he informed them, before winking cheekily at Sophie, "Missed me terribly."

Sophie felt her cheeks flush, "Foxy Git," she huffed lowly, arms folding over her chest as she glanced away. It was true though… she had missed him. The Tardis, although sentient and had a presence all of her own. The beautiful ship with all her many rooms had still felt rather empty without him… without Rose… being in there just by herself… it was a completely different sensation. But, that hadn't been the reason she'd come back in the moment visiting hours had started again… at least not the main reason… not really.

"Well, that's weird, 'cos it certainly looked like the two of you. Have you got a brother?" Jones asked, and glanced over at Sophie again, "Sister?" Did they both have an identical twin?

"No," Sophie replied lowly, "No siblings," she swallowed a little, a twinge of pain lancing her heart… not in this universe, not anymore.

"No, not anymore," the Doctor replied lowly his hearts aching as his mind went to the family he'd lost along with the entirety of his people, "Just me."

"As time passes and I grow ever more infirm and weary, Miss Jones," the man cut in with annoyance at the delay. The morning was moving on and they still had to finish the rounds.

"Sorry," Jones apologised sheepishly, "Right," she murmured as she put the ear pieces of her stethoscope into her ears, before putting the rounded bit against his chest, listening and blinked puzzled at hearing a strange echo, she moved it to the other side of his chest and her eyes widened at the sound of the second beating heart, that was beating just as strongly as the first heart she'd listened to, hearing it's echo now as she had with this heart earlier. She glanced up at him shocked, her mouth slightly agape as she stared at him and he winked at her.

"I weep for future generations," the man overseeing the students sighed, "Are you having trouble locating the heart, Miss Jones?"

"Um…" Jones straightened up still rather shocked at having heard two hearts, her gaze going briefly to the petite brunette to see her exchanging a look with her husband, "I don't know…" she shook her head, "Stomach cramps?" she suggested and her overseer for the day, Mr. Stoker, sighed in obvious disappointment and exasperation.

"That is a symptom, not a diagnosis," he stated, "And you failed basic techniques by not consulting first with the patient's chart," he picked up the chart for John Smith only to drop it with a wince as it shocked him, the chart landing on the bed.

"That happened to me this morning," Jones commented.

"I had the same thing on the door handle," a fellow student, Morgenstern added.

Another fellow student, Swales, nodded a bit disconcerted that so many had gotten shocks, "And me, on the lift."

"That's only to be expected," Stoker remarked, "There's a thunderstorm moving in and lightening is a form of static electricity, as was first proven by," he glanced about at the students who blinked back at him quietly, "Anyone?" he prompted.

"Benjamin Franklin," the Doctor answered.

Stoker peered at him a little taken aback, before he nodded, "Correct!"

"My mate, Ben," the Doctor smiled as he thought back to his meeting with Benjamin Franklin, "That was a day and a half. I got rope burns off that kite," he recalled as Sophie arched a brow as she eyed him, "And then I got soaked…"

"Quite…" Stoker murmured as he eyed John Smith with growing concern.

"…And then," the Doctor continued apparently oblivious to Stoker's concern as he grinned, "I got electrocuted."

Sophie sighed and shook her head, bells chiming softly with the action as she eyed Stoker and the medical students that were now staring at him with a mixture of bemusement and worry. Only he'd say that with a grin, "You should write stories," she commented as she turned her gaze back to the Doctor, "Your imaginations good enough."

The Doctor glanced over at her, his beaming grin turning cheeky as he regarded her, "Oh, do you think so?"

"Yep," Sophie nodded, popping the 'p' as her own lips twitched up into a grin.

Stoker cleared his throat, "Moving on," he called to his students, "I think perhaps," he continued lower to one of the nurses that had been nearby, "A visit from psychiatric," not really all that convinced by Mrs. Smith's explanation. It was better at the least to get Mr. Smith checked on just to be on the safe side, "And next we have…"

Martha Jones hesitated in following after her fellow students as Stoker led them onwards, looking back at the two curiously, the pair smiled at her, the petite brunette also giving her a bit of a wave. She returned their smiles, before she turned away and started after her group, hurrying a few steps to catch them up.

The Doctor glanced over at Sophie, his smile fading slightly, his earlier disappointment and irritation at getting interrupted still simmering. He'd once again been so close and now… "We should get moving," he sighed.

Sophie nodded her agreement, the smile still playing about her lips as she focused her gaze back on him, "Won't find out about the plasma coils lying about in bed all day."

"No, we won't," the Doctor agreed and drew the blankets off his legs, getting to his feet, stepping into a pair of slippers, before he nabbed a blue dressing gown, shrugging it on, "But Sparks," he called as he turned back to her, and Sophie stilled at the rather serious tone to his voice and she shifted, turning back to him, staring up at him. Her brow slightly scrunched with confusion again as her blue eyes met his intense brown ones, "We'll be talking later," he told her and she blinked at him, before nodding slowly puzzled by the intensity in his gaze and behind his words as she continued to eye him, "After this, we're talking," he stated again, meaning it with every fibre of his being. His mind racing with different scenarios of how he'd manage to do it minus any possibility of being interrupted by anyone, or any cheeky sentient ships for that matter!

Sophie gave another slow nod, as she continued to eye him rather puzzled still, "Ok," she murmured as her stomach did multiple odd summersaults and her heart beat uncomfortably in her chest as she couldn't help, but wonder what he needed to talk to her about so badly… so seriously, and if perhaps somehow, she'd done something wrong…? She couldn't think what though.

The Doctor winced a little as he realised he'd worried her, one of her hands tangling into the ends of her hair and tugging as she nibbled on her lower lip. He hadn't meant to do that even if it was only a little. He'd just wanted to let her know that he wanted, needed to talk with her… he supposed however, as he thought back over what he'd said and how he'd said it, he could have worded it better.

He was just so frustrated with all the interruptions, honestly it felt like the universe was mocking him and laughing at his expense! He took her hand that wasn't tangled into the ends of her hair in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "It's nothing to worry about, Sparks," he assured her quickly, tugging a bit at his ear with his free hand as his mind continued to turn over the conversation that'd be coming up in the near future… how he should tell her… her possible reactions… he'd have to try really hard not to ramble…

He smiled at her warmly, the seriousness leaving his face and she nodded her posture relaxing as she returned his smile, her worry about it disappearing, "Right then, allons-y," and the two started off to explore the hospital.

*O*O*O*

Martha stood in a small kitchenette, her phone to her ear once again now that she had the time to answer it, "No, listen, I've worked out a plan," she told her sister Tish as she leaned against the counter as Swales went about making herself a cup of coffee, "We tell Annelise that the buffet tonight is one hundred percent carbohydrate, and she won't turn up," and on the other end of the line she heard her sister sigh.

"I wish you'd take this seriously. That's our inheritance she's spending on fake tan," Tish bemoaned, before her tone brightened a bit, "Tell you what, I'm not that far away, I'll drop by for a sandwich and we can draw up a battle plan."

Martha arched a brow, "In this weather?" she queried as she glanced out the window at the heavy rain pattering against it, "I'm not going out. It's pouring down."

"It's not raining here," Tish informed her and then there was a brief pause over the line, "That's weird," her sister muttered, "It's raining right on top of you, I can see it, but it's dry where I am."

"Well," Martha shrugged, "You just got lucky."

"No, but it's like in cartoons," Tish carried on, "You know, when a man's got a cloud over his head," she described.

"But listen," Martha cut in far more focused on the issue of what to do about their father's girlfriend and their baby brother's 21st. A 21st that was liable to turn into a fiasco if they didn't work out what to do about Annalise, then what the rain was doing, "I'll tell you what we'll do," she glanced out the door to see John Smith and his wife, Sparks she believed he'd called her wander past, the man glancing in briefly before turning his head murmuring something to Sparks before walking out of sight, "We tell dad and Annalise to get there early, about 7:30, for Leo to do his birthday stuff. We tell mum to get there for about 8:30 or 9:00, and that gives me enough time to have a word with Annalise and…" Martha trailed as Swales suddenly touched her arm and she sent the woman a questioning look only to see her staring out the window, "What?"

"The rain," Swales breathed, not looking away from the window, thoroughly disquieted by what she was witnessing.

"It's only rain," Martha replied confused.

"Martha!" Tish exclaimed through the line, "Have you seen the rain?"

Martha frowned with growing confusion it was just rain, "Why's everyone fussing about rain?" she questioned.

Swales swallowed unable to look away as she stared at the rain as it travelled across the glass, "It's going up."

"The rains going up," Tish responded to her question too and Martha finally turned to look out the window again, her eyes widening at seeing that the rain really was going up the glass instead of down like it was supposed to be.

*O*O*O*

"Oh dear…" the Doctor murmured as he and Sophie stood in a corridor of the hospital and stared at the rain as it travelled up the glass pane of the windows and Sophie tore her gaze from the rain to look at him, brow scrunched with concern, "Sparks," he continued, "We're going to want to brace ourselves."

"From what?" Sophie asked, but didn't get an answer as there was a sudden roll of thunder and she found herself suddenly grabbed about the waist and spun swiftly into a doorway, and Sophie hurriedly moved to brace herself in it as best she could, one of the Doctor's arms still about her waist whilst the other was stretched out across the doorway, resting on the frame holding onto it firmly in preparation for what was to come as lightening clapped brightly across the sky and then the whole building was shaking around them, threatening to toss them out of the doorway and into the corridor and as it was Sophie thought she would have been if it hadn't been for the added support of the Doctor's arm about her waist, helping to keep her steady.

And then it stopped.

"That was a bit bumpy," the Doctor commented as he released the doorframe and straightened up.

"Just a bit," Sophie agreed and glanced back at him, "What was it?"

"H20 scoop," the Doctor replied as he shifted out of the doorway, slowly releasing her and their eyes travelled to the window.

"Well… bugger," Sophie breathed as they stared out at the rocky barren terrain that she recognised, of course even if she hadn't the view of the planet Earth was a dead give-away, "We're on the moon!"

"Yep," the Doctor agreed, "Us, and the whole hospital," he murmured his mind racing with possibilities. He turned from the window, "Come on!" he urged, taking her hand as they started sprinting down the corridor together, back towards his hospital bed.

*O*O*O*

"What the hell was that?" Martha asked as she picked herself up from the floor after the sudden violent shaking had stopped as abruptly as it had started.

"Are you alright?" Swales asked as she clambered back up to her feet, glancing about the kitchenette they were in, broken mugs and other crockery stern over the floor.

"I think so, yeah," Martha nodded patting down her clothes a bit, checking herself over as she tried to make sense of the sudden shaking, "It felt like an earthquake or…"

"Martha?" Swales called her voice wavering slightly as she stared out the window, "It's night. It was lunchtime."

"It's not night," Martha replied with a bit of a confused frown.

"It's got to be," Swales insisted a touch frantic, "It's dark."

Martha turned to the window and her eyes widened in surprise and awe at the sight of the dark sky above them, space, the Earth hanging overhead, "We're on the moon," she breathed.

Swales stared wide eyed, limbs starting to tremble slightly in fear. She shook her head, not wanting to believe it, "We can't be."

"We're on the moon," Martha repeated and swallowed, "We're on the bloody moon," she repeated a third time, a touch of incredulity entering her voice as she stared.

*O*O*O*

Patients and staff alike flocked to the windows, turning on lights as they went. They stared out over the rocky barren terrain of the moon and the Earth hanging in the dark sky above them. Frightened screams broke out as they realised where they were, fear swiftly turning to panic and others started to cry, clinging to their loved ones as they wondered what was going to happen to them now as this had to be the work of aliens – it had to be.

*O*O*O*

Tish ran down the street towards the place that hospital had been her eyes wide with shock and horror at the empty space it had left behind, "Sorry, miss, no," a police officer barred her way.

Tish barely spared him a glance, her eyes locked on the huge crater that the hospital had left behind, "My God…" she breathed, before she brought her phone back up to her ear, "Martha?" she called into it, "Martha, can you hear me?" she moved away from the site and the crowd that had now gathered for a look at the crater, "Martha!" she called again with urgency as she continued on, not noticing a big blue box as she walked past it as she continued to get a worrying silence from the other end of the line.

*O*O*O*

Martha pushed her way past the people that were running up and down the corridor, screaming and crying, hysteria having taken hold. She caught another glimpse of the Earth through a window and she couldn't help but stare at it again, before she turned from the side room she'd entered and continued on along the corridor, pushing passed the people amassing in the corridor, passing old Mrs. Finnegan as she did so.

"Have you seen…?" the old woman called to her turning as the young medical student hurried on passed her.

Martha turned back to her, still moving in her hurry "I'm sorry," she apologised, "I can't…" she told the woman, before she turned away completely and hurried on swiftly down the corridor towards the Orthopaedic Ward, she needed to check on her patients and try and calm them, and hopefully stay calm herself. She couldn't expect her patients to calm down if they saw her in a panic.

*O*O*O*

"What happened to nothing ever goes wrong on the moon?" Sophie asked as she and the Doctor ran back over to his hospital bed.

"Did I say that?" the Doctor asked in return as they came to a stop by the bed.

"Yes," Sophie replied.

"Ah," the Doctor muttered and turned to her, "Well, I lied," and Sophie arched a 'you don't say,' brow at him, the corners of her lips twitching upwards ever so slightly as the Doctor continued, babbling an explanation, "Every so often, something does happen on the moon, and every so often that something goes wrong… dunno yet if this is gonna be the former or the latter."

"Alright, everyone back to bed," they heard a woman call and the pair looked over to see the medical student from earlier, Jones walking into the ward as she addressed the panicking patients with a forced calm, "We've got an emergency but we'll sort it out," Jones continued reassuringly as she attempted to calm the patients.

The Doctor pulled the curtain shut around the bed and Sophie glanced over at him, before swiftly turning away so that her back was to him at seeing the Time Lord pull his clothes out from under the hospital bed with one hand the other going to the buttons of his pyjama shirt. A flush heating her cheeks as she heard the soft sound of rustling clothes behind her as the Doctor got changed. She'd known he wanted to get dressed but… well, she'd assumed that she'd be on the other side of the curtain! She gave herself a bit of a mental shake, he was just getting changed and she had her back turned so she couldn't see anything… but honestly, couldn't he have nudged her out first or something, not just close the curtains around them both…? Her brow scrunched as her teeth sank into her lower lip as her heart beat faster in her chest and her stomach flip-flopped about her insides oddly once again.

The Doctor glanced over at her turned back with fond amusement as he donned his tie, before shrugging on his jacket and doing up a few of the buttons as he stepped towards her, "Ok, I'm done," he told her as he touched a hand to her shoulder, some of his amusement colouring his tone, and Sophie turned taking in the blue pinstripe suit he was wearing. The Doctor's expression turned smug as he smirked as she continued to eye him up and down, "You decided yet?"

Sophie blinked as her eyes lifted to his face, her brow scrunching again, now with mild confusion, "Decided what yet?"

"Whether you like this suit or not," the Doctor replied, still smirking as he recalled how she'd stared earlier in the console room when she'd first stepped into it to see him wearing this blue one instead of the brown.

"Oh," Sophie blinked, before she shrugged lightly, "I already know that I like it," she stated, the suit looked good on him, just like the brown one did. She blinked again as the Doctor's smirk grew a bit more and he adjusted his tie.

"So, you're just staring then?" he mused smugly.

"Well, no," Sophie murmured, tugging a bit awkwardly at the ends of her hair as she continued, cheeks flushing again slightly, "I'm trying to decide which I like better, the brown or the blue," she admitted, forcing herself to release the abused ends of her hair a moment later as she realised what she was doing.

"Oh," the Doctor hummed still rather smug, "Reached a verdict yet?" he asked as he started for the curtains.

"The jury's still out," Sophie replied the flush starting to recede from her cheeks again, "But," she shrugged again eyeing the back of his blue suit as she followed him over to the curtains, "I think I'm leaning towards the brown."

"Good to know," the Doctor mused and Sophie blinked at him a questioning brow arching at him in response, something that the Time Lord ignored as he reached for the curtain, the smug foxy smirk still quirking up his lips, only to pause as the conversation going on beyond the curtains reached them.

"It's real," they heard Jones say, "It's really real. Hold on!"

There was a short silence then, "Don't!" another female voice sobbed, one of the students from earlier Sophie thought, "We'll lose all the air!"

"But they're not exactly airtight," they heard Jones point out, "If the air was going to get sucked out it would have happened straight away, but it didn't. So how come?"

The Doctor pulled open the bed curtain, "Very good point!" he exclaimed and Sophie smiled a bit in amusement at his dramatics whilst Jones and another woman who'd been staring out a nearby window turned to look at the two of them, "Brilliant, in fact," the Doctor continued eyeing the young woman, "What was your name?"

"Martha," Jones replied.

"And it was Jones, wasn't it?" the Doctor asked and Martha nodded, "Well then, Martha Jones, the question is, how are we still breathing?"

"We can't be!" the other woman sobbed.

"Obviously we are," the Doctor sniped impatiently as his gaze went to the other young woman, "So don't waste our time."

Sophie shot him a disapproving look, half tempted to bring her heel down on his toes, that woman was terrified, "Don't be rude."

The Doctor glanced at her and nodded, "I'll try," he responded airily before he turned back to Martha and Sophie narrowed her eyes on him slightly, blue eyes dubious. Somehow, she really didn't think he'd be trying all that hard, "Martha, what have we got? Is there a balcony on this floor, or a veranda, or…?"

"By the patients' lounge, yeah," Martha informed them.

Sophie smiled brightly, "Ooh, well, that's handy," she murmured, before she turned her gaze back to the Doctor.

"Brilliant!" the Time Lord exclaimed grinning at Sophie, "Shall we?"

"Yeah, always up for a bit of a moonwalk," Sophie commented lightly, her smile turning a bit nostalgic as she recalled her first trip to the moon and the Doctor laughed with fond amusement, brown eyes warm as he regarded her. His own mind going back to that quick jaunt to the moon, watching her jump about, enjoying the experience of weightlessness before he glanced back over at Martha who was staring at them.

The Time Lord eyed her contemplatively for a moment, "Fancy joining us?"

Martha smiled brightly at the pair, "Ok," she agreed immediately and Sophie's lips quirked up into another smile.

"We might die," the Doctor warned as he raised his brows, Sophie glancing at him, one of her own brows quirking at him.

"We might not," Martha rebutted with raised brows of her own.

Sophie's smiled widened into a bit of a grin, "Good answer," she laughed lightly and the Doctor nudged her a little an appreciative grin of his own curling up his lips.

"Brilliant!" he nodded in agreement, "Come on," he urged them, taking Sophie's hand in his interlacing their fingers in an almost absent motion, "Not her," he added pointing a finger rather rudely at the other woman, "She'd hold us up," he turned and started off after Martha as she led them towards the balcony as the frightened woman sobbed and sniffled behind them, feeling completely overwhelmed by what had happened.

"You were rude again," Sophie sighed as she shot the Doctor a look.

"It was true though," the Doctor responded and his hand tightened about hers briefly as she grimaced, silently acknowledging that he had a point.

"Didn't have to be rude about it, though," Sophie muttered.

The Doctor glanced at her, "Was I really that rude?" Sophie brought up her free hand and indicated a space between her thumb and forefinger, "Ah," he hummed lips quirking up as he eyed the space indicated, "So, not all that rude then."

"For you," Sophie quipped.

"Oi," the Doctor protested lightly with a bit of a pout, earning a small amused smile from the petite brunette, one he returned as they continued to follow Martha towards the balcony by the patients' lounge.

*O*O*O*

Martha pushed open the glass doors that led out to the balcony and the three of them stepped out onto the balcony and breathed, "We've got air!" she looked around with confusion and no little awe she was standing out on a balcony on the moon and was breathing, "How does that work?" she wondered aloud.

"Just be glad it does," the Doctor murmured in response as the three of them walked out to the edge of the balcony.

"Some kind of air shell?" Sophie suggested, glancing from the view of space the balcony offered to the Doctor.

"Perhaps," the Doctor murmured a bit pensively.

"I've got a party tonight," Martha murmured staring out over the balcony, before glancing at the two she was with, "It's my brother's twenty-first," she explained, "My mother's going to be really… really…" she broke off her voice wavering slightly as the thought crept in that she might not make it home again to see them.

"You ok?" the Doctor asked, eyeing her with concern.

"Yeah," Martha murmured a little weakly.

"You sure?" Sophie asked gazing at the other woman with equal concern, recalling how she'd felt the first time she'd seen the Earth like that.

Martha took a steadying breath "Yeah," she repeated, the word coming out stronger this time.

"Want to go back in?" the Doctor asked her.

"No way," Martha scoffed at him, "I mean," she quickly added, "We could die any minute, but all the same," she looked back up at the Earth, "It's beautiful."

Sophie nodded her agreement, bells chiming gently, her eyes returning to the view of the Earth as the Doctor asked, "You think?"

"How many people want to go to the moon?" Martha questioned with excitement, though still a bit apprehensive.

"Ooh, lots," Sophie replied and smiled as she glanced over at Martha, "Me included."

Martha grinned in return and nodded having wanted to herself, "And here we are!" she exclaimed and Sophie laughed lightly.

"Yeah, here we are," she agreed, turning her gaze back out over the surface of the moon, honestly it was just a beautiful as she remembered it being with all its unique rocky craters.

"Standing in the Earthlight," the Doctor murmured softly as he leaned against the ledge of the balcony, resting his arms against it.

"Not a bad light to be standing in," Sophie commented lightly as she rested her gloved hands against the ledge and the Doctor glanced over at her. The two exchanging a smile as their eyes met.

"Not bad at all," the Doctor agreed and the three lapsed into a brief silence as they stared up at the Earth.

"What do you think happened?" Martha asked, turning her eyes from the planet to look at the two she was with.

"What do you think?" the Doctor countered.

"Extraterrestrial. It's got to be," Martha shrugged at them as they smiled at her, "I don't know, a few years ago that would have sounded mad, but these days? That spaceship flying into Big Ben, Christmas, those Cybermen things. I had a cousin, Adeola. She worked at Canary Wharf. She never came home."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor murmured his smile fading.

"Very sorry," Sophie murmured, her own smile disappearing.

"Yeah," Martha sighed with a slight sad nod, she was very sorry too, even as she eyed them wondering at the change in their demeanour.

"We were there," the Doctor murmured lowly in explanation and Martha stared at the two of them her eyes widening a bit, "In the battle."

Martha sucked in a deep breath steadying breath, determination setting in, "I promise you, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Smith, we will find a way out. If we can travel to the moon, then we can travel back. there's got to be a way."

"It's not Smith," the Doctor told her as he straightened up, lips curving into a small smile again, "That's not my real name."

"Not mine either," Sophie told her, her expression apologetic for having lied, "And, we're not really married."

"Oh…" Martha blinked with mild surprise eyeing the pair of them, a brow quirking up, "So… just a couple then?"

Sophie blinked at the question, "No," she shook her head and smiled, "We're friends, we travel together," she explained.

Martha stared visibly surprised, "Oh…" she murmured, glancing to Mr. Smith and back again, she could have sworn…

The Doctor grimaced slightly at the questioning, he was trying! It was hardly his fault things kept getting in the way of his attempts to confess to his brilliant but clueless Sparks… if things and people and sentient spaceships would stop interrupting already… he mentally whinged.

Martha gave herself a bit of a shake, now probably wasn't the time to be pondering over whether or not the two in front of her were together or not, "Ok, so… who are you then?" she continued to eye them, "Sparks and Smith who?"

Sophie grimaced and shot a look at the Doctor who quickly interjected, before the petite brunette could say anything, "No, no, don't do that," he told Martha firmly and the young woman eyed him with confusion now.

"Don't do what?" Martha asked, she was only asking them their names.

"That's a me only thing," the Doctor stated firmly and Martha quirked a brow as she glanced from him to the woman standing beside him.

"Sophie," Sophie murmured as she focused her gaze back on Martha smiling at the other woman as she introduced herself properly, "My names Sophie Connolly."

"Right…" Martha murmured as she flicked her gaze from one to the other trying to work them out once more, "Ok," she muttered and nodded a bit before she turned her gaze back to Smith, "And you are…?"

"The Doctor," the Time Lord replied.

"Me too," Martha replied, before muttering with a slight grimace, "If can pass my exams," she spoke up again, "What is it then, Doctor Smith?"

"Just the Doctor," he corrected as he started across the balcony to the other end of the ledge to have a bit of a look.

Martha quirked a confused brow as she eyed him, "How do you mean, just the Doctor?" she questioned.

"Just… the Doctor," the Time Lord repeated.

Sophie shook her head at him with mild amusement, she swore that he enjoyed being deliberately vague and elusive, she turned her eyes to Martha, "It's what people call him," she explained.

"Yep," the Doctor agreed.

Martha arched an incredulous brow, her eyes going back to the Doctor, "What, everyone just calls you the Doctor?"

"Yeah," he nodded, a brow quirking at her, hadn't they just told her so?

"Well, I'm not," Martha stated firmly, eyeing him, "As far as I'm concerned, you've got to earn that title."

The Doctor smiled, "Well, I'd better make a start, then."

Sophie smiled in amusement as the Doctor bent down to pick up a pebble, "I think that was a challenge accepted," she mused.

The Doctor shot her an amused smirk as he straightened up, "Let's have a look," he tossed the pebble and the three watched as it hit against some sort of invisible wall and bounce off, "Well, Sparks, it's not an air shell," he murmured as he considered what they'd seen, "More of some kind of forcefield keeping the air in."

Sophie's brow scrunched uneasily as she stared at the space they now knew an invisible forcefield was located... keeping in their limited air supply, fear twinged in her gut and she swallowed against it.

"But if that's like a bubble sealing us in," Martha frowned, "That means this is the only air we've got. What happens when it runs out?"

"How many people in this hospital?" the Doctor asked as he turned his head to look at her.

"I don't know," Martha shrugged as she turned to him, brow furrowed slightly in thought, "A thousand," she roughly estimated.

"One thousand people. Suffocating," the Doctor replied quietly, his brow furrowing heavily at the thought of it.

'Don't think about it!' Sophie urged herself, trying to just focus on the fact that for now they were breathing easily and not the fact that every breath she and a thousand others took used up their remaining air… 'Oh, really don't think about it,' she scolded herself and then felt a hand come to rest over hers where it was resting against the balcony and she glanced at the Doctor to see him staring at her, brown eyes apologetic.

'Sorry, I forgot,' he projected sincerely, it had completely slipped his mind that she had a phobia of not being able to breathe.

Sophie offered him a small smile, her fear receding as their eyes met and his hand squeezed hers comfortingly, 'It's ok,' she replied shifting her hand under his slightly so that she could squeeze back, 'I'm ok,' she assured him.

"Why would anyone do that?" Martha asked frowning heavily as she tried to fathom the reason behind doing something like that.

"Heads up!" the Doctor called to them as he looked up, "Ask them yourself," and Sophie and Martha looked up to see three massive columnar spaceships passing overhead descending down, landing on the surface of the moon, just outside of the forcefield surrounding the hospital, rows of beings marching out of the spaceships towards hospital.

"Aliens…" Martha breathed, her eyes widening as she stared down at the rows of approaching beings, "That's aliens. Real, proper aliens."

"Judoon," the Doctor muttered.

Sophie pulled her gaze from the approaching aliens that were marching towards the hospital, "Are Judoon the type of alien that'd watch us suffocate to death?" she asked quietly, the question leaving her almost without permission.

"Well," the Doctor murmured still staring at the marching rows, "That depends…"

Sophie swallowed, unsure if she really wanted to know, but asking anyway, because she couldn't not, "On?"

The Doctor pulled his gaze from the Judoon to look at her, his brow furrowed, "Why they came," he told her in all seriousness.

*O*O*O*

Mr. Stoker stood at a window in his office, holding binoculars up to his eyes peering through them down at the steadily approaching aliens below, "Mr. Stoker?" he heard an elderly female voice call from behind him and he lowered the binoculars and turned to her, "I'm sorry," she continued stepping into his office, "I didn't know who else to ask, but can you help me?"

"I think we've gone beyond aspirin, Miss… ah…" Stoker trailed the elderly patient's name escaping him.

"Finnegan," she told him.

"What are names now," Stoker sighed, "When something unnameable is marching towards us across the moon? Two more years, I thought. Two more years and then retire to Florida, but there is Florida, in the sky, I can see it. My daughter, she's still in university, I am never going to see her again."

"But I need your help, Mr. Stoker," Finnegan cut in.

Stoker shook his head, "I can't do anything."

"Oh," Finnegan smirked, "I think you can," she informed him and Stoker frowned as two men clad in black leather entered behind her.

"What do you two want?" he demanded, eyes narrowing with suspicion, "It's a bit too late to sign for anything."

"These are my lovely boys," Finnegan shrugged, "I prefer not to get my hands dirty."

"I'm sorry?" Stoker asked confused, his eyes returning to Finnegan the elderly woman flanked by the two leather clad men.

"You see, there are great test to come, and terrible deeds, some of them my own," Finnegan explained, "But if I am to survive this, I need you."

"What are you talking about?" Stoker demanded, frowning.

"Blood," Finnegan elaborated, "Specifically, yours," she snapped her fingers and the two men moved past her, advancing upon him.

"What are you doing?" Stoker demanded tersely as the men grabbed him by the arms, "What are you doing? Well, let go of me!" he snapped trying to jerk free but failing, their hand tight about his arms, "What the hell? Let go!"

"You see," Finnegan continued stepping towards him herself, "I was only salt deficient because I am so very good at absorbing it. Now I need fire in my veins, and who better than a consultant, with blood full of salty fats and vintage wines and all those Michelin star sauces."

Stoker stared at her, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape in shock and fear, "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Oh, I'm a survivor, Mr. Stoker," Finnegan replied and looked away as she started digging through her purse, "At any cost. Look!" she turned back to him as she found what she was looking for, "I even brought a straw," she held up the white straw, showing it to him. She started back over to him, straw held up menacingly and Stoker screamed.

*O*O*O*

The Doctor, Sophie and Martha crouched down behind a potted plant on the second floor overlooking the reception area as the Judoon entered the hospital, the people on the level below screamed in fear and ran, sprinting for cover, most attempting to hide behind chairs in the waiting area as the aliens advanced into the reception area.

Sophie eyed the aliens with mild surprise, recognising the armour they were wearing from her dream now that they were closer and under the artificial lights of the hospital. Her brow scrunched slightly as one, the leader she guessed, took off its helmet revealing the rhinoceros-like head beneath.

Except… she frowned a bit harder, if the Judoon were the aliens in the dream she had. And she was certain now that they were. Where was that drum-like beat? The drums had been all over that dream, they'd been the first thing she'd become aware of and the sound had been the last thing to tamper off as she woke, the rhythmic beat lingering in her ears almost eerily and yet she hadn't heard any drumming at all, or even anything that remotely resembled a drum or even the rhythm of it…

She didn't have long to ponder the absence of the drums however, as the Judoon leader spoke, drawing her full attention back to what was going on below them.

"Bo sco fo do no kro blo co sho ro!" the untranslated words of the Judoon leader rang loudly through the area, it's red eyes scanning over the reception area.

Morgenstern stepped forward, "We are citizens of planet Earth," he addressed the Judoon and Martha shifted a little anxiously as she watched her fellow medical student, "We welcome you in peace…" Morgenstern broke off as the Judoon leader suddenly turned and pressed him up against the wall in a sudden unexpectant motion , shining a blue light in his face, "Please don't hurt me," he pleaded, his arms held up in surrender and eyes wide with fear, "I was just trying to help. I'm sorry, don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me."

"Doctor?" Sophie questioned quietly, glancing from what was happening below them to the Doctor with concern.

"It's alright," the Doctor assured, "They're just getting a language sample, for assimilation. See," he nodded down to what was happening and Sophie and Martha who glanced at him at the question looked back down just as the Judoon played back a recording of Morgenstern's voice, before plugging the device into a socket on his neck.

"Language assimilated," the Judoon leader called now in English, "Designation Earth English. You will be catalogued," he stated before he shined a blue light onto Morgenstern's face again, "Category human," he declared before marking a cross on the back of Morgenstern's right hand, "Catalogue all suspects," the Judoon ordered and the other Judoon started forward moving to catalogue those closest to them, marking them as human and not the one they were looking for.

"Oh, look down there," the Doctor murmured with a smile as he spotted something he hadn't noticed on the way in the day before and pointed discreetly from behind the potted plants they were using to hide, "They've got a little shop," he commented diverted by the rather pleasant discovery, the hospital didn't seem so bad now. Still creepy as all hospitals were but definitely not as bad as he'd originally assumed, "I like a little shop."

"You and your little shop," Sophie rolled her eyes both exasperated and amused, it didn't really seem like the time.

"Never mind that!" Martha hissed as she glanced at him, "What are Judoon?"

"Galactic police. Well, police for hire," the Doctor corrected, "They're more like interplanetary thugs."

Sophie grimaced at that, frowning down at the Judoon, 'That was great, just great.'

"And they brought us to the moon?" Martha frowned turning her gaze to the Doctor, confused as to why they'd gone to the trouble.

"You would think it'd be easier to just fly their spaceships down to the Earth then scoop an entire building and everyone inside it up onto the moon," Sophie murmured, looking from the Judoon to the Doctor.

"Neutral territory," the Doctor explained as he glanced at them, "According to galactic law, they've got no jurisdiction over the Earth, and they isolated us. That rain? Lightening? That was them, using an H2O scoop."

Martha arched a brow, eyeing the Doctor with some amusement, "What are you on about, 'galactic law'? Where'd you get that from? If they're police," she continued after a beat of silence the Doctor not having answered her question, "Are we under arrest? Are we trespassing on the moon or something?"

"No," the Doctor smiled amused, "But I like that."

"I don't think we're under arrest either," Sophie murmured, "Well, house… hospital arrest maybe," she amended pensively as she eyed the Judoon below.

"No," the Doctor murmured in agreement his brow furrowed. They weren't trespassing and they weren't under arrest either, not really, not yet anyway, "I wish it were that simple though."

"They're searching for something," Sophie frowned, blue eyes worried as she glanced at the Doctor, because whatever they were looking for, it didn't seem to be human.

The Doctor nodded, "They're making a catalogue. That means they're after something non-human, which is very bad news for me."

"Why?" Martha asked and the Doctor gave her a pointed look and her eyes widened, "Oh, you're kidding me…!"

Sophie arched a brow at Martha, "Why would he be kidding?" she asked, whilst the Doctor merely arched a brow of his own, still staring pointedly.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Martha scolded the both of them now, with a bit of a laugh, trying to wave it off, before her face fell as the both of them now just continued to look at her, "Stop looking at me like that!" she huffed.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Come on, then," he urged, taking Sophie's hand as he stood. Martha watched the two of them leave for a moment, shaking her head in disbelief, before she stood and hurried after them as in the reception area below the Judoon leader gave orders to his troops, his voice carrying up to them.

"Troop five, floor one. Troop six, floor two," he commanded, "Identify humans and find the transgressor. Find it."

The Doctor, Sophie and Martha pushed through a set of doors and entered the corridor beyond at a brisk run, needing to hurry.

*O*O*O*

"Prepare to be catalogued," the Chief Judoon ordered as he marched out of the reception area and into another corridor of the hospital.

"Do what they say," Morgenstern urged as he hurried along behind the alien, hoping to reassure the frightened patients and keep them calm and unharmed, "All they want is to shine this light thing, it's alright," he assured as the other aliens still with their helmets on moved to carry out their orders, "They don't mean to hurt us. Just listen to them."

A man frightened for his loved ones as they were grabbed by the Judoon snatched up a nearby jug and smashed it over the offending Judoon's head. The Chief Judoon paused, "Witness the crime," he called as he turned to the man, "Charge, physical assault. Plea, guilty. Sentence, execution," the Chief Judoon decreed before swiftly shooting the man, who screamed as the energy beam vaporised him.

Morgenstern stared at the alien with alarm, "You didn't have to do that!" he cried.

"Justice is swift," the Chief Judoon responded and Morgenstern flinched as the Judoon carried on down the corridor.

*O*O*O*

The Doctor sat in a chair in front of a computer in an office he'd ducked into, Sophie standing beside him, the both of them staring at the monitor as he held his sonic too it, the slender device buzzing away as he tried to get into the system.

"They've reached the third floor," Martha exclaimed as she ran into the office and then blinked at the strange device in the Doctor's hand, "What is that thing?"

"Sonic screwdriver," the Doctor replied, not looking at her as he continued to hold his sonic to the monitor.

"Well, if you're not going to answer me properly!" Martha huffed with irritation, arms folding across her chest.

"He did," Sophie told her as she glanced over at her and Martha blinked again irritation shifting into disbelief, they couldn't be serious, could they?

"It is," the Doctor insisted as he glanced over his shoulder and saw her continued scepticism, "It's a screwdriver and it's sonic. Look," he urged, holding it up for her to see for a moment, before turning back to the computer, the slender device whirring again.

"What else have you got," Martha smiled as she stepped a little closer, a bit amused now, "A laser spanner?"

"I did," the Doctor replied.

Sophie blinked surprised, "You did?" she questioned.

The Doctor glanced at her as he nodded, "I did," he agreed, "But it was stolen," he answered the silent question in Sophie's eyes as he turned his gaze back to the computer, "By Emily Pankhurst, cheeky woman," he muttered.

"And you never got it replaced?" Sophie asked, head tilting slightly as she regarded the Time Lord with curiosity.

"Cos, I have a sonic screwdriver, Sparks," the Doctor replied, and Sophie arched a brow, she wasn't sure why but something in the way he said it made her think that there was more to it than that, but then she could be wrong. Still it kind of looked like he was pouting slightly. In the next moment the Doctor wacked the monitor, "Oh, this computer!" he groused with frustration, "The Judoon must have locked it down. Judoon platoon upon the moon…" he sighed running a hand through his hair making it stick up rather messily, "'Cos we were just travelling past," he rambled and Sophie nodded in agreement as he babbled on speaking quicker and quicker, "I swear, we were just wandering. I wasn't looking for trouble, honestly, I wasn't," he pouted, he'd just been trying to confess to his Sparks, that's all! "But there were these plasma coils, and the lightening, that's a plasma coil, been building up for two days now, so I checked in. I thought something was going on inside. It turns out the plasma coils were the Judoon up above."

"Definitely wasn't expecting an H20 scoop to the moon," Sophie murmured a touch dryly and the Doctor nodded it'd been the last thing he'd been expecting too, in fact Judoon hadn't even crossed his mind.

"But," Martha frowned looking from the Doctor to Sophie and back again as she continued, "What were they looking for?"

"Something that looks human, but isn't," the Doctor replied as he turned back to the computer, fingers moving over the keys now.

"Like you, apparently," Martha murmured as she eyed the Doctor, still not sure if she really believed that he was an alien.

"Like me," the Doctor agreed, "But not me."

"Haven't they got a photo?" Martha asked.

"Probably not," Sophie murmured, her brow furrowed pensively, "I doubt they'd be making a catalogue if they did."

"Might be a shape-changer," the Doctor explained.

"Whatever it is, can't you just leave the Judoon to find it?" Martha questioned.

"If they declare the hospital guilty of harbouring a fugitive," the Doctor began seriously, "They'll sentence it to execution."

"All of us?" Martha exclaimed, her eyes wide with alarm as she stared at him as Sophie's eyes widened with horror.

"Oh yes," the Doctor nodded grimly and Sophie frowned uneasily as she returned her gaze to the monitor, her teeth sinking into her lower lip as the Doctor muttered, "If I can just find this thing first… Oh!" he exclaimed completely exasperated a moment later as the computer bleeped, "You see, they're thick! Judoon are thick! They are completely thick! They wiped the records," he ran a frustrated hand through his hair again mussing the strands further as he glared at the screen that was now flashing red with the Judoon symbol, "Oh, that's clever!" he huffed sarcastically.

"Well, that's just brilliant," Sophie muttered sarcastically, her uneasy frown deepening, "Why on Earth would they do that?"

"Cos they're thick," the Doctor repeated still glowering irritably at the monitor.

"What are we looking for?" Martha asked urgently.

"I don't know," the Doctor bemoaned with frustration, hand still making a mess of his hair, "Say, any patient admitted in the past week with unusual symptoms," he eyed the computer giving his hair a last frustrated tug, "Maybe there's a back-up," he muttered and reached for the computer, picking up his sonic screwdriver again.

"Just keep working," Martha said as she turned starting for the door, "I'll go ask Mr. Stoker, he might know," she slipped through the door.

"Sparks," the Doctor murmured as he pulled open the back of the computer revealing the hardware within, "Keep an eye on the monitor for me," he requested, shifting his hold on the monitor so that she could see as he frowned at the 21st century technology as he concentrated on it, his sonic whirring to life again, blue tip glowing as he set to back to work, "Let me know if there's any change."

"Sure," Sophie agreed with a nod, shifting a bit so that she could easily see the monitor from its new position in his arms, focusing her attention on the screen that was still red tinted and displaying the Judoon symbol.

"And Sparks," the Doctor spoke again a moment later and upon feeling his eyes on her Sophie turned her gaze from the screen to look at him, their eyes meeting, "I'll get us out," he promised, he wasn't losing her.

Sophie's lips quirked up into a small smile, "I know," she murmured and the Doctor grinned suddenly feeling bolstered and lighter at her belief in him and the sonic whirred again as he zeroed in on what he was doing, more determined than ever to find a back-up.

*O*O*O*

Martha ran down the corridor, heading straight for Stoker's office. She knocked urgently on the door once before grasping the handle and starting to push it open, in too much in a hurry to wait for a response from the man she really hoped was in his office, "Mr. Stoker?!" she called as she entered the office. Her eyes almost immediately landed on the pair of feet that were poking out from behind the desk, before she looked up as two men dressed in black leather stood, helmets covering their heads, before the elderly patient Florence Finnegan rose, a bloody straw hanging from her mouth, eyes wide as they stared at each other in shock for a brief moment.

"Kill her!" Finnegan ordered as Martha spun on her heel and dashed from the room, the men in black leather giving chase.

Martha navigated the corridors and made it back to the administration office the Doctor and Sophie were in just as the Doctor stepped out of it, "I've restored the back-up," he exclaimed proudly a bit of a grin quirking his lips as Sophie appeared in the doorway behind him.

"I found her!" Martha gasped, trying to catch her breath a bit from her frantic run, her eyes still wide with fear as she stared at the pair of them.

"You what?" the Doctor exclaimed with a frown, grin all but evaporating from his face as he looked past Martha to see two men clad all in black swiftly striding down the corridor after the young medical student.

"Oh bugger…" Sophie breathed her own eyes landing on the men that were stalking ominously towards them.

"Run!" the Doctor ordered, his hand grasping Sophie's as he turned and the three of them took off down the corridor at a sprint.

They turned into a stairwell, running down them, the men in black starting down the stairs after them, only to jerk to a halt at seeing a troop of Judoon, as the aliens turned a corner on the stairwell stomping up the stairs towards them. They backed up a bit, before dodging through a door and into a corridor on the fourth floor, racing down it, all but skidding around corners as they dashed through the hospital floor, one of the two black clad men hot on their heels as he pursued them with a single-minded purpose.

The trio dashed around another corner and straight into the radiology room, the Doctor turned and slammed the door closed in the black clad man's face, swiftly locking it with a quick buzz of his sonic, before he turned to the x-ray machine hurrying over to it, "When I say 'now', press the button," he called over his shoulder to Sophie and Martha.

"But, I don't know which one," Martha protested, staring after the Doctor with eyes that were wide with alarm.

"Well, we'll just have to find it then," Sophie muttered, not having a clue herself and turned, starting for the back room as the Doctor shouted over his shoulder.

"Then find out!"

"Already on it!" Sophie shouted back to him a moment before she slipped into the back room, Martha a step behind her.

"Good!" the Doctor muttered more to himself as he started messing with the x-ray machine whilst Sophie and Martha flipped hurriedly through an operator's manual, that the medical student had pulled down off a shelf, their eyes scanning the pages as the man outside the door battered against the door, trying to get in.

Sophie glanced up at the door anxiously, there was too much information to go through and too little time! She scanned her eyes over the controls the man outside the door still battering away as the Doctor soniced the x-ray machine. Her gaze landed on a large button and she nodded at it, "That one!" she exclaimed.

Martha looked up sharply from the manual, her eyes going to the button Sophie had spotted, "How do you know?" she asked anxiously, if they got it wrong… she glanced nervously towards the door that was going to give way any moment now.

"I don't!" Sophie cried with desperation, her heart pounding as her mind raced with everything could go wrong if it wasn't the right button, "But it's big and yellow and looks important!" and Martha's gaze turned incredulous as she stared at her. Sophie grimaced, knowing that it wasn't the best criteria to be basing a choice off of and oh God, if she was wrong…! But then the man broke into the room practically battering the door off its hinges in the process and the two women turned to stare at him through the glass as he advanced into the room.

"Now!" the Doctor shouted as he turned the machine aiming it at the man and with no other viable option Sophie and Martha reached for the button, both hoping that it was the right one, their hands landing on top of each other as they slapped the button down and the x-ray machine lit up, a beam of radiation zapping from it, hitting the man full force and making the Doctor's skeleton visible for a moment, before the man fell face first onto the floor, unmoving.

"What did you do?!" Martha exclaimed as she gaped at him through the glass, the x-ray machine powering down.

"Increased the radiation by five thousand percent," the Doctor replied calmly, staring down at the unmoving form.

"Of course, you did," Sophie muttered as she eyed the Doctor through the glass, her brow scrunched with concern as the Doctor continued casually.

"Killed him dead."

"But," Martha protested her eyes still wide, though with concern and alarm now, "Isn't that likely to kill you?"

"Nah," the Doctor shook his head and Sophie felt tension leave her frame and her lips quirked up into a relieved smile, bells chiming merrily as she shook her head at him as he continued, "It's only roentgen radiation. We used to play with roentgen bricks in the nursery. It's safe for the two of you to come out. I've absorbed it all," he told them and Sophie moved for the door, Martha following her, "All I need to do is expel it," the Doctor continued, starting to fidget about a bit as Sophie moved across the room towards him, "If I concentrate I can shake the radiation out of my body and into one spot," he explained as he started to jump on the spot and Sophie watched him with amusement whilst Martha stared at him incredulously.

"It's in my… left shoe," he muttered glancing down, before he started hopping about on his right foot, kicking his left back and forth, "Out, out, out, out, out. Out, out," and Sophie's amused smile turned into a grin, a low giggle escaping her as he continued hop and bounce about on his right foot, arms flailing for balance as he jiggled his left, "Ah, ah, ah, ah. It is, it is, it is, it is, it is hot!" he complained, "Ah, hold on…" he trailed as he pulled off his shoe, sock and all and chucked it into a nearby dustbin, "Done," he exclaimed turning to look at them with a grin.

Martha shook her head, staring at the Doctor with a mixture of bemusement and disbelief, "You're completely mad."

The Doctor blinked at her and then glanced down at his feet, "Right," he muttered quite seriously, "I look daft with one shoe," and with that he pulled off his remaining shoe along with his sock and dumped it into the dustbin with the other one, "Barefoot on the moon," he proclaimed with another beaming grin.

"Yeah," Sophie agreed with amusement, blue eyes shining with it as she looked up from the Time Lord's bare feet as he wiggled his toes against the cool hospital floor, "Completely daft," she chuckled, returning the Doctor's grin.

Martha eyed them for a moment, before she moved over to the figure clad in leather, "So, what is this thing?" she asked drawing their attention to her, "And where's it from, the planet Zovirax?" she jested.

"It's just a Slab," the Doctor replied stepping over to it himself.

"Slab?" Sophie murmured questioningly as she came up on the other side of the Doctor to Martha, peering down at the leather clad figure.

The Doctor nodded, "They're called Slabs," he said explanation, "Basic slave drones, see? Solid leather, all the way through," he explained as he indicated one of the Slabs arms, "Someone has got one hell of a fetish."

"It came with that woman Mrs. Finnegan," Martha started to explain as the Doctor turned and walked back over to the x-ray machine, "It was working for her. Just like a servant," she continued as the Doctor pulled his sonic out of the x-ray machine.

"My sonic screwdriver," the Doctor bemoaned as he looked it over, the slender device completely fried.

"She was one of the patients, but…" Martha continued trying to explain as Sophie whose attention had been caught by his tone of voice wandered over to the Doctor.

"Oh no…" Sophie murmured as she caught sight of the slender device the Doctor was cradling between his hands.

"My sonic screwdriver!" the Doctor repeated mournfully.

"She had a straw like some kind of vampire…" Martha attempted to continue her explanation, only to be ignored.

"I loved my sonic screwdriver!" the Doctor lamented to Sophie, the petite brunette giving his arm a sympathetic pat in response as she stared rather forlornly down at the poor burnt out sonic screwdriver.

"Doctor! Sophie!" Martha snapped with exasperation and the two spun to her with guilty expressions.

"Sorry," the Doctor apologised sheepishly.

"Really sorry," Sophie apologised equally sheepish as the Doctor tossed the burnt out sonic screwdriver over his shoulder.

"You called me Doctor," the Time Lord smiled brightly, before he nudged Sophie rather thrilled, "I think that makes it a challenge accomplished, Sparks."

"Anyway!" Martha exclaimed with exasperated urgency, and hurried on whilst the man was still focused, "Mrs. Finnegan is the alien. She was drinking Mr. Stoker's blood."

"Funny time for a snack," the Doctor commented, brow furrowing pensively.

Sophie glanced at him, mentally agreeing that it was an odd to time for a snack, she frowned minutely in thought, "Well, what if she had to eat before she could?"

The Doctor glanced at her shaking his head, "No," he paused, brow furrowing deeper, "Unless, no. Yes, that's it, wait a minute," he muttered, his still mind still racing through all the varying possibilities, "Yes!" he exclaimed, "Ha! Sparks you're brilliant!" he grinned pulling her into a sudden hug, "Shape-changer!" he exclaimed releasing her, "Internal shape-changer! She needed blood before she could hide, but she wasn't drinking it, she was assimilating it."

*O*O*O*

Florence Finnegan stepped out of Mr. Stoker's office discreetly wiping at the corners of her lips as Judoon stomped about the corridor.

"Prepare to be catalogued," the Chief Judoon ordered and scanned its device over the persons face, as members of his troop did the same to the others in the corridor, "Human."

Florence stood calmly as the Judoon approached her and lifted its device, shining the blue light onto her face…

*O*O*O*

"If she can assimilate Mr. Stoker's blood, mimic the biology, she'll register as human," the Doctor explained, talking fast, "We've got to find her and show the Judoon. Come on!" he called grabbing Sophie's hand as the three of them sprinted for the door.

*O*O*O*

"Human," the Chief Judoon declared and drew a cross on Florence Finnegan's hand, and Florence smiled down at it as the Judoon stomped away from her.

*O*O*O*

The Doctor, Sophie and Martha crouched down behind a water dispenser watching as the other Slab walked past them, "That's the thing about Slabs," the Doctor muttered staring after it, "They always travel in pairs."

"What about the two of you?" Martha asked, glancing from the Slab to Sophie and the Doctor, the pairs hands still clasped together.

"What about us what?" the Doctor asked slowly turning his head to look at her, staring at her blankly.

"Well, haven't you got back up?" Martha asked, "Or, or, something? Or," her gaze skirted down to their joined hands again, before she returned her gaze back to their faces, "Is it just the two of you?" she questioned.

Sophie arched a quizzical brow at her, "Why are you asking about back up all of a sudden?" she asked as the Doctor shook his head.

"Uh. Humans," he scoffed with exasperation, "We're stuck on the moon running out of air," Sophie winced minutely at the reminder having been trying hard not to think about it, "With Judoon and a bloodsucking criminal, and you're asking personal questions? Come on."

"I like that," Martha muttered musingly as they slowly stood eyeing the Doctor with a bit of amusement, "'Humans'. I'm still not convinced you're an alien."

Sophie blinked at her in surprise, "Really?" she asked as they stepped out into the adjoining corridor only to come face-to-face with the Judoon that had been walking down it, 'Oh bugger,' she thought as she inhaled sharply with surprise as it promptly scanned the Doctor with its blue light.

"Non-human," it reported.

"Oh, my God!" Martha exclaimed wide-eyed, "You really are!"

"And again!" the Doctor shouted and turned, his grip shifting on Sophie's hand as he grabbed Martha and the three of them sprinted down the corridor, ducking around the corner just as the Judoon opened fire on them, the three of them ducking instinctively as they continued to run.

They raced up a flight of stairs, and slammed a door shut, locking it behind them. Stepping out into a corridor a moment later where people where lying slumped on the ground struggling to breathe crosses marking their hands. Sophie swallowed heavily at the sight of them, 'Don't panic…' she told herself, 'Panicking will only use up more air and make it harder to breathe,' she reminded herself firmly tamping down on the swell of fear, and felt the Doctor's hand squeeze about hers, making her glance at him, she must have projected that she realized with an internal sigh as his consciousness brushed against hers, she honestly hadn't meant to. She was grateful for it though all the same and she squeezed back, returning the mental gesture with a whisper of an apology.

"They've done this floor," the Doctor observed thumb caressing over the back of Sophie's gloved hand, "Come on," he urged and they started walking, "The Judoon are logical and just a little bit thick. They won't go back and check a floor they've checked already. If we're lucky."

"Let's hope we're lucky then," Sophie murmured and the Doctor nodded as Martha paused by her fellow student Swales.

"How much oxygen is there?" Martha asked her as she knelt down with her.

Swales shook her head, "Not enough for all these people," she murmured with despair as she looked at Martha, "We're going to run out."

Sophie flinched slightly and let out a slow breath, trying to not focus on how thin the air was becoming. The Doctor eyed her with concern, "Sparks," she glanced at him, "You alright?"

Sophie nodded determined not to let her fear control her, "Yeah," she murmured truthfully, squeezing his hand, she was still breathing relatively easily despite all the running they'd had to do, "But," she glanced around at the people that were really struggling to breathe, "We should really hurry."

The Doctor nodded with relief before he turned to Martha, "How are you feeling?" he asked, "Are you alright?"

Martha nodded with a smile, "I'm running on adrenaline."

Sophie let out a low amused sound, focusing on the feel of the Doctor's hand around hers and the conversation and not on the thinning air, "Sounds about right," she murmured her lips quirking up in a returning smile.

"Welcome to my world," the Doctor replied with a smile of his own.

"What about the Judoon?" Martha questioned.

The Doctor shook his head, "Ah, great big lung reserves," he replied as he glanced about, "It won't slow them down," he focused back on Martha, "Where's Mr. Stoker's office?"

"It's this way," Martha replied with a gesture before she turned and led them on down the corridor towards it.

They stepped into the office a couple of moments later and Martha frowned as she looked around, "She's gone. She was here."

"She got what she wanted," Sophie murmured softly as she followed the Doctor further into the room her eyes on the pale lifeless body of Mr. Stoker as he stared up sightlessly at the ceiling, blue eyes sad.

"Drained him dry. Every last drop," the Doctor observed as he crouched down by the body, brow furrowed, "I was right. She's a plasmavore."

"What was she doing on Earth?" Martha asked.

"Hiding," the Doctor replied, "On the run. Like Ronald Biggs in Rio de Janeiro."

"Probably thought she'd be save enough here," Sophie muttered, her brow furrowed slightly, "What with Earth being outside of the Judoon's jurisdiction."

"What's she doing now?" the Doctor questioned thinking aloud, "She's still not safe. The Judoon could execute us all," he jumped up, "Come on," he called as he started for the door, hand snagging Sophie's to pull her into motion as she hesitated by the body, brow still furrowed, mind racing as he thought.

"Wait a minute," Martha called bringing him up short and he turned, he and Sophie looking back as Martha stepped up to Mr. Stoker and kneeling down a moment to close his eyes, before she stood and started for the door, following the Doctor and Sophie back out into the corridor.

"Think, think, think," the Doctor muttered as they walked along the corridor, "If I was a plasmavore surrounded by police, what would I do?" he muttered, before he looked up, his gaze landing on a sign for the MRI, "Ah," he murmured, "She's as clever as me," he mused, "Almost."

"Find the non-human," the Judoon ordered from behind them and the three looked over hearing the stomping Judoon, but not yet seeing them, "Execute."

"Looks like we didn't get lucky," Sophie muttered.

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, his eyes going to Sophie and Martha, "You two stay here," he told them and Sophie turned to look at him, "I need time. You two are going to have to hold them up."

"How do we do that?" Martha asked with a frown as she turned to him.

The Doctor didn't answer her as he focused on Sophie, the petite brunette blinking up at him with those eyes of hers, "Sparks," he said urgently, "I'm sorry," he apologised hating the fact that it was this moment. A moment where he had so little time to get it right to make sure that she understood, truly understood, "Look at me," he urged and he grasped her by her arms as their eyes met, his brown eyes staring intently into hers, "I need you to listen to me, Sparks, really listen to me," she nodded up at him, brow scrunching minutely in confusion and sure that she was listening, really listening the Doctor hurried on, "This means something," he told her urgently and Sophie found herself giving him another tiny nod, eyes locked with his, "Honestly, Sparks, this really means something!" he stressed to her once more, before he released her arms, and cupped her face in his hands, her eyes widening and a soft startled squeak escaping her as he kissed her, long and hard, determined to make sure that she really understood, that she couldn't mistake it for anything than what it was. He lingered as long as he dared, hating that he couldn't savour the moment, this really wasn't how he'd envisioned the moment he'd kiss her again. He pulled back with reluctance, Sophie's eyes snapping open to stare at him widely, mouth agape and her breathing heavy, "It means something," he reminded her one last time for good measure, before he forced himself to turn and dash away.

"That was definitely something," Martha murmured staring after the Doctor, unable to help but feel disappointed that there truly was something more apparently going on between the Doctor and Sophie then just friendship.

Sophie continued to gape, her eyes wide with shock, her heart pounding against her ribcage as her mind raced as she tried to wrap her head around the foreign idea, her lips still tingling from the contact with his and her stomach flip flopping about oddly, "Oh…" she breathed weakly. He actually… she swallowed, he… she swallowed again, mind continuing to race, "I'm such a dunce!" she whispered.

Martha turned her head back to look at Sophie, brows raising at the low exclamation, taking in the shock still lingering openly on her face.

*O*O*O*

The Doctor dashed along the corridor and into the MRI room, pausing briefly as his eyes landed on Florence Finnegan, her back to him as she fiddled with the MRI machine, hands moving over the controls, electricity crackling from it, "Have you seen," he addressed her as he arranged his face into an expression of shock, as she turned to look at him startled at his sudden appearance, "There are these things, those great big space rhino things, I mean rhinos from space," he exclaimed out of breath, feigning a nervous human as Florence dismissed him as a threat and turned back to her machine, "And we're on the moon! Great big space rhinos with guns on the moon. And I only came in for my bunions, look," he lifted a foot holding it up as he stared at the sole of it, "They're alright now, perfectly good treatment," he continued to ramble like a panicked human, setting his foot back down as Florence turned to him and started slowly away from the controls towards him, "I said to my wife, I'd recommend this place to anyone, but then we end up on the moon. And did I mention the rhinos?"

"Hold him!" Florence ordered and the other Slab came up behind the Doctor and grabbed him, pulling his arms behind his back.

The Doctor shot a quick look behind him as though startled and then turned his gaze back to Florence, staring at her with alarm as she stared at him coldly.

*O*O*O*

Sophie's mind was still racing a mile a minute, though the open shock had left her face, leaving her only a bit wide-eyed now, as the Judoon burst through the doors into the section of the corridor she and Martha were waiting for them in.

"Find the non-human. Execute," the Chief Judoon ordered as he stomped forward, heading straight for where Sophie and Martha were standing.

"Now listen," Martha tried, "I know who you're looking for. She's this woman. She calls herself Florence."

The Chief Judoon scanned her with his blue light, "Human," he declared and marked her hand with a cross, before he turned to Sophie, scanning the blue light of her face, "Human," the scan focused on Sophie's lips, "With non-human traits suspected. Non-human element confirmed," and Sophie flinched her eyes widening with alarm as she was shoved roughly up against the wall, whilst Martha watched with concern, "Authorise full scan," the Judoon Chief ordered, blue light of his scanning device growing more intense, "What are you? What are you?"

*O*O*O*

"That thing," the Doctor rambled on watching as Florence fussed with the MRI again, "That big er, machine thing, is it supposed to be making that noise?"

"You wouldn't understand," Florence replied dismissively as she continued to fuss with the buzzing MRI.

"Isn't that a, er, um, magnetic resonance imaging thing? Like a, um, ginormous sort of magnet?" the Doctor fumbled as if unsure still eyeing Florence and the MRI and the Slabs hands tightened about his arms as he shrugged, "I did magnetics GCSE. Well, I failed, but all the same."

"The magnetic setting is now set to 50,000 Telsa," Florence informed him, not seeing the harm, he was a bumbling human and he'd be dead soon enough.

"Ooo," the Doctor breathed and arched a brow at Florence's turned back as he continued to feign ignorance, "That's a bit strong, isn't it?"

"I can send out a magnetic pulse that'll fry the brain-stems of every living thing within 250,000 miles," Florence replied as she turned from the MRI smiling at him, "Except for me, safe in this room."

"But… hold on, hold on," the Doctor muttered as he watched her walk through an open doorway, coming to stand before a computer, "I did geography GCSE. I passed that one," he commented, "Doesn't that distance include the Earth?"

"Only the side facing the moon," Florence stated turning to look at him, still smiling easily at him, "The other half will survive. Call it my little gift."

"I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive me, I'm a little out of my depth. I've spent the past fifteen years working as a postman, hence the bunions," the Doctor rambled as he eyed Florence with a confused expression, "Why would you do that?"

"With everyone dead, the Judoon ships will be mine, to make my escape," Florence explained.

"Now, that's weird," the Doctor said with a bit of a disbelieving laugh, "You're talking like you're some sort of alien."

"Right-o," Florence grinned.

"No!" the Doctor gasped, gaping at her.

"Oh, yes," Florence replied sweetly.

"You're joshing me," the Doctor scoffed.

"I am not," Florence smirked.

"I'm talking to an alien? In hospital?" the Doctor replied, grinning as if excited now, "What, has the place got an ET department?"

"It's the perfect hiding place," Florence explained as she moved away from the computer, "Blood banks downstairs for a midnight feast, and all this equipment ready to arm myself with should the police come looking."

"So, those rhinos, they're looking for you?" the Doctor questioned as if only just coming to the realisation.

"Yes," Florence agreed stepping closer to him and lifting her hand to show him the cross marked onto it, "But I'm hidden."

"Oh. Right!" the Doctor exclaimed as she lowered her hand and turned away from him, he glanced away a bit pensively, "Maybe that's why they're increasing their scans."

"They're doing what?" Florence questioned sharply as she spun back around to face him.

"Big Chief rhino boy," the Doctor replied focusing his eyes on her again, "He said, no sign of non-human, we must increase our scans…" he trailing as if unsure, "Up to setting two?"

Florence frowned, "Then I must assimilate again," she muttered.

"What does that mean?" the Doctor questioned as if confused.

Florence eyed him, "I must appear human."

"Well, you're welcome to come home and meet the wife," the Doctor replied, "She's be honoured," he smiled as Florence dug about in her handbag, "We can have cake."

"Why should I have cake?" Florence asked turning to him, "I've got my little straw," she told him as she flourished at him.

"Oh, that's nice," the Doctor commented, "Milkshake?" he suggested instead, "I like banana."

"You're quite the funny man," Florence smiled, "And yet, I think, laughing on purpose at the darkness. I think it's time you found some peace. Steady him!"

The Slab forced the Doctor to his knees and forced his head to the side exposing his jugular, "What are you doing?" the Doctor asked unsteadily, his breathing laboured from the angle his head was being held at as Florence approach a hand reaching out, stroking his neck, fingers tracing the throbbing vein beneath the skin.

"I'm afraid this is going to hurt," she smiled down at him as she lifted the straw, "But if it's any consolation, the dead don't tend to remember," and with that she stuck the straw into his vein and started to suck.

*O*O*O*

"Confirm human with detected anomalies," the Chief Judoon declared and Martha blinked in surprise as he drew the cross on Sophie's hand, "Traces of facial contact with non-human. Continue the search," the Chief Judoon ordered before handing Sophie a booklet of clear paper, alien symbols covering it, "You will need this."

Sophie blinked down at it, eyeing the alien script, the Tardis not around to translate it for her, before looking up at the Judoon again quizzically, "Why?"

"Compensation," the Chief Judoon replied, and Sophie blinked again as the Judoon turned and started stomping down the corridor again.

"You ok?" Martha asked with concern as she stepped closer to Sophie, the Judoon hadn't looked like he'd been gentle.

Sophie nodded, "Yeah," she muttered glancing down at the cross marring the material of her glove, "I just hope that bought the Doctor enough time," she murmured, Martha nodded as Sophie frowned, the petite brunette reaching mentally for the Doctor to let him know that Judoon were coming only to not be able to feel him at all, "Oh no…" she breathed and sped up, jogging after the swiftly moving Judoon as the galactic police stomped down the corridor towards the MRI machine. The petite brunette desperately hoping that the Time Lord was just hiding his consciousness away and that was why she couldn't feel the familiar warmth of his mind.

"Now see what you've done," Sophie heard an elderly voice chastise when the Judoon entered the MRI room, "This poor man just died of fright."

"What?!" Sophie exclaimed straining to see over the bulky bodies of the Judoon that were standing in the doorway blocking her entry. She tried to squeeze past them and into the room shaking her head desperately as she continued firmly, "He wouldn't die of…"

"Scan him!" the Chief Judoon ordered, recognising the lifeless non-human and another of the Judoon did so, "Confirmation, deceased," he stated.

Sophie felt her heart plummet in her chest, constricting painfully at the words, no, he couldn't be! He just couldn't be! But, she still couldn't feel his consciousness either.

"No, he can't be!" Martha exclaimed from beside her also trying to push through the Judoon amassed in the doorway, "Let us through," she demanded as they squeezed past Judoon after Judoon, "Let me see him."

Sophie's eyes widened with horror and her heart plummeted further in her chest, "No!" she breathed, he couldn't… she darted forward, her heart aching agonisingly at the sight of his lifeless pale form. Martha was a step behind her, wanting to check on him, see if the scan was wrong, hoping that it was wrong.

"Stop," the Chief Judoon ordered them and strong hands of the Judoon the two were trying to dart past to get to the Doctor clamped a hand down on their shoulders stopping them short, "Case closed."

"But it's not closed!" Sophie protested her voice strained, throat feeling tight, tearing her eyes from the Doctor to stare at the Chief Judoon.

"It was her," Martha nodded towards Florence who was staring at them, "She killed him. She did it. She murdered him."

"Judoon have no authority over human crime," the Chief Judoon stated.

"But she's not human," Martha protested urgently.

"Oh, but I am," Florence assured and held up her hand showing them the cross marked onto it, "I've been catalogued."

Sophie glared at her, "Only cos you drained Mr. Stoker dry and assimi…" she trailed her gaze going back to the Doctor's lifeless form and her eyes widened as the realisation of what had happened dawned on her, "Oh!"

"Wait a minute," Martha muttered realisation dawning for her too, "You drank his blood? The Doctor's blood?"

"No, she assimilated it," Sophie corrected lowly, before her eyes snapped to the Judoon that were standing not moving, still not getting it, "Scan her!" she demanded. They were too slow to react however, if they were even going to, so Martha grabbed one off one of the Judoon and aimed it at Florence.

"Oh, I don't mind," Florence smiled pleasantly at them, full of confidence, "Scan all you like."

The blue light hit her face and bleeped, "Non-human," the Chief Judoon declared.

Florence's eyes widened in shock, "But, what?"

Sophie squeezed her eyes shut against the hot prick of tears for a moment before focusing her gaze on the Doctor, "He outsmarted ya," she murmured lips quirking up sadly, "He does that." 'Did,' her mind corrected traitorously and she inhaled sharply and shook her head continuing to reach for him mentally, hoping that she'd feel the familiar warmth of his mind… even just a hint of it, because he just couldn't be! She swallowed heavily past the painful lump in her throat, her heart aching sharply she still couldn't feel anything from him, he couldn't be!

"Confirm analysis," the Chief Judoon demanded and the hands on Sophie and Martha's shoulders lifted as the other Judoon complied, raising their scanners and pointing them at Florence, the blue lights hitting her face.

"Oh, but it's a mistake, surely," Florence protested a little nervously now, "I'm human. I'm as human as they come."

The triumphant smile faded from Martha's face as she stared down at the Doctor, "He gave his life so they'd find you."

Sophie's eyes pricked hotter and a tear slipped free to roll silently down her left cheek, followed by another down her right. She still couldn't feel him… not even the tiniest hint… and he was so still just like he'd been that Christmas just after he'd regenerated… but then she'd still been able to feel him, his mind had felt distant, but still there… 'Please get up! Open your eyes!'

"Confirmed," the Chief Judoon announced, "Plasmavore. I charge you with the crime of murdering the child princess of Patrival Regency Nine."

"Well, she deserved it!" Florence snapped, scowling, "Those pink cheeks and those blond curls and that simpering voice. She was begging for the bite of a plasmavore."

"Do you confess?" the Chief Judoon asked as Sophie started forward moving past the Judoon, to kneel down by the Doctor's motionless, pale form still trying so hard to feel his mind, a hand reaching to take his.

"Confess?" Florence sneered at them, "I'm proud of it!" she declared, "Slab, stop them!" she ordered, and the Slab strode forward immediately as Florence ran for the controls as the Slab shot at the Judoon.

The galactic police returned fire, disintegrating the Slab instantly, "Verdict guilty. Sentence, execution," the Chief Judoon declared as Florence plugged in the sabotaged MRI scanner, the warning sign immediately lighting up, 'MAGNETIC OVERLOAD'.

"Enjoy your victory Judoon," Florence shouted as she stared at them wildly, "Because you're going to burn with me. Burn in hell!" she cursed them and the Judoon fired their laser weapons at her, the laser easily piercing the protective glass, melting a large hole in to it and Florence screamed as she was disintegrated.

"Case closed," the Chief Judoon stated.

"But what did she mean, burn with me?" Martha asked looking up from where she was now kneeling beside Sophie by the Doctor's prone form.

"Something to do with the MRI," Sophie murmured as she stared at the scanner that was crackling ominously with electricity.

"The scanner shouldn't be doing that," Martha agreed, eyeing the scanner worriedly herself, "She's done something."

The Chief Judoon stepped over to the MRI machine and scanned it, "Scans detect lethal acceleration of monomagnetic pulse."

"Well, do something!" Martha demanded, "Stop it!"

"Our jurisdiction had ended. Judoon will evacuate," the Chief Judoon stated as he started away from the MRI.

Sophie stared at them incredulously, her brow furrowed, "You can't be serious?!"

"What?" Martha exclaimed alarmed, "You can't just leave it. What's it going to do?" she questioned only to be ignored.

"All units withdraw," the Chief Judoon ordered into a comms device as he and the other Judoon left the MRI room.

Martha stood moving after them, and out into the corridor, whilst Sophie stayed by the Doctor, her hand clenching around his, "You can't go!" she shouted after them, "That thing's going to explode and it's your fault!" the Judoon didn't so much as pause and Martha spun on her heel and marched back into the room, "Do you know any First Aid?" she asked Sophie, the petite brunette's gaze shooting to her.

"No," Sophie admitted as she looked back down at the Doctor.

"Then move," Martha ordered all business, "Give me some room to work," and Sophie shifted, moving around to the other side of the Doctor. Watching as Martha knelt down and started work on his chest, "One, two, three, four, five."

"He's got two hearts," Sophie murmured softly, her hand clenched together, still mentally reaching towards the Doctor, desperately hoping to feel even a flicker, the air feeling thin… and Sophie swallowed but fear didn't come, not of the lack of air anyway, 'Please Doctor… please…!' she projected at him, hoping it'd help wake him as it had all so long ago.

Martha nodded grateful for the reminder as she'd forgotten in that moment, not pausing in her counting as she worked his chest, "One, two, three, four, five," she shifted working the other side of his chest, "One, two, three, four, five," she breathed for the Doctor, spots dancing before her eyes, but she didn't pause as she went back to working his chest, "One, two, three, four, five," she shifted her hands again, "One, two, three, four, five," Another breath and she pulled back, gasping desperately for air.

Sophie shifted, her eyes widening, hope swelling as she felt his mind flicker against hers, darkness creeping along the edges of her vision, "It's working," she whispered, "Doctor!" she reached for his hand again, taking it squeezing.

Martha glanced at her, she wasn't sure how Sophie knew it was working but in that moment, it was enough for her, to keep going, to make one last final effort of reviving the man. She sucked in as deep of a breath as she could manage and sealed her mouth of the Doctor's a final time, breathing for him, before collapsing, gasping as she struggled to breathe.

"Martha?" Sophie called weakly alarmed and worried for the woman, as she struggled to keep breathing herself, what air she was getting not feeling like enough as the oxygen got dangerously low, the oxygen in the tanks falling to zero a second later, her vision darkening dramatically as spots danced before her eyes. The Doctor's hand clenched around hers and her head swivelled sharply to look at him again, feeling his mind strongly once more, the action making her vision swim. The Doctor gasped in a breath of his own, coughing, eyes snapping open.

Sophie smiled as she brushed her mind against his in a mental 'hello' before she sucked in another thin breath of air, "Scanner…" she muttered as Martha continued to gasp for air staring at them relieved that it had worked, vision darkening, barely hearing Sophie's next words, "She did something to the scanner," Sophie managed to get out and the Doctor glanced towards it, hand releasing Sophie's as he shifted in an attempt to get up, Sophie fell back, her body slumping as she struggled to stay conscious, vision swimming as the black spots started to solidify… consciousness slipping from her as the Doctor crawled over to the MRI.

He staggered to a stop in front of it, eyes on the wires, reaching for his sonic only to recall that he'd tossed it, the slender device having been fried, "Oh, soddit!" he gasped out shifting to manually sort through the wires hesitating in thought over the blue and the red, trying to think which he needed to pull before he yanked out the red one and the scanner powered down the warning sign flicking off. He turned from the machine eyes landing on Sophie and Martha the both of them unconscious. He walked back over to them, scooping Sophie up into his arms and started from the room, stepping out into the corridor walking past unconscious patients and doctors alike.

He came to a stop at a window, looking out it at the Judoon ships that were taking off, "Come on," he urged them, "Come on, come on, come on, please," his arms tightening around Sophie's unconscious form, "Come on, Judoon, reverse it," rain started to patter against the glass, swiftly growing heavier and the Doctor smiled with relief, "It's raining, Sparks. It's raining on the moon," and then there was a loud roll of thunder followed by a bright flash of lightening and the hospital disappeared from the moon, reappearing back on the London street it had been scooped up from.

*O*O*O*

Martha sat in the back of an ambulance out the front of the hospital as all about her paramedics bustled about, giving emergency care to the hospital staff and the patients, her mind wandering before she was brought back to the present by the paramedic that was checking on her, the man touching her shoulder as he asked her another question.

"I told them I represented the human race," Morgenstern told a reporter, "I told them, 'you can't do that.' I said, 'we have rights'."

"Martha!" and Martha looked up at the sound of her sister's voice, standing up at seeing Tish running towards her, the paramedic having finished with her, "Oh, God!" Tish hugged her, "I thought you were dead! What happened? It was so weird, because the police wouldn't say, they didn't have a clue. And I tried phoning, but I couldn't get through. Mum's on her way, but she can't get through, they've closed off all the roads."

Martha's eyes caught on the Doctor and Sophie as the two walked towards a large blue phone box, they smiled and then a truck drove past and when it had passed… the pair where gone along with the phone box and she blinked.

"There's thousands of people trying to get in, the whole city's ground to a halt," Tish continued to explain what had been happening for them on Earth, "And dad phoned, because it's on the news and everything, he was crying. It's been a mess, and what happened? I mean, what really happened? Where were you?" she asked.

Martha continued to stare at the spot the Doctor, Sophie and the police box had disappeared from, hearing a faint strange wheeze in the air, disappointment filling as she realised that she probably wouldn't see the pair again.

*O*O*O*

Sophie stood by the console, a short distance from the Doctor, watching him as he flew the Tardis through the time vortex, the rotor rising and falling rapidly, they were going somewhere apparently, he hadn't said, but she'd watched him fiddle with the controls setting coordinates. She bit her lower lip still watching him in silence.

The Doctor could feel her gaze, but he let the silence stretch, content to wait for the moment as he flew his Old Girl through the vortex, the trip so far rather calm, he could feel that any moment now Sophie would speak.

Sophie swallowed and took a breath, finding her voice as she continued to look at him, "You kissed me," she murmured.

The Doctor looked up, focusing his eyes on her and he nodded, "I did."

Sophie swallowed again, fidgeting slightly as she took another breath, her heart beating oddly in her chest and her stomach doing that odd flip-flop again, "And, it meant something."

The Doctor smiled, his eyes meeting hers across the console, "Oh yes," he rounded the console flicking a switch and turning a knob on his way, coming to a stop directly in front of her, "So much," he added and pulled down a lever making a familiar wheeze start as the Tardis materialised at their destination.

"Oh…" Sophie murmured, a flush heating her cheeks, eyes still locked with his. She swallowed again and fidgeted, her heartrate increasing a bit more as her stomach flip-flopped again. The Doctor held a hand out to her, palm up. She took it and he led her towards the Tardis doors, he opened one and the two of them stepped out, "Singing Sands…" Sophie murmured as she took in the sight of the familiar white sands and pink water.

The Doctor nodded and intertwined their fingers before starting off across the beach, the pair strolling together, musical notes chiming softly as their feet disturbed the sand. He brought them to a stop a short distance later the two of them looking out over the water, "It was here," he broke the silence and Sophie feeling his eyes on her again turned her head to look at him, "We'd come here shortly after the Reapers. I was holding you and I realised," his eyes met hers as he continued, "That I'd fallen in love with you."

Sophie's cheeks flushed anew, her heart seeming to skip a beat in her chest as her stomach flipped and flopped, "That long?" she croaked out, her throat constricting with a type of mortified horror, he'd known for that long… and she'd… she'd completely missed it! All the signs that she'd missed, so bloody obvious to her now, but she'd missed them because she hadn't been looking for them, had never thought anyone would fall in love with her. Loving and being loved by someone had been a dream she'd put away and stuffed deep down when she'd lost hope of even being able to find someone willing to be her friend, after all, who could possibly love her if no one even seemed willing to like her?

Her teeth sank into her lower lip as her mind raced again, almost dizzyingly now, as it jumped from moment to moment. The ones that had left her confused and questioning, the times Rose had teased her, the times the blond had said something only to get a confused question in response and replied with a 'nothing Space-Cadet'… God, she really was a dunce, in fact dunce didn't seem to cover just how much of a Space-Cadet she was!

And… she'd had her first kiss and hadn't even registered it as such, she'd just assumed that he'd been… and, oh God… what had she said afterward… she'd, she'd said something about 'big hair'! She scuffed at the sand with her shoe, well, that put his surprised expression and muttering in a whole new light didn't it. 'Not what he'd been expecting to hear', indeed.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt hands on her face, turning her head back towards the Doctor, before his lips were pressing against hers and she inhaled sharply in surprise, before relaxing into it, her lips tentatively moving against his, mimicking his movements as she reciprocated, hands coming up to clutch at him as tingles broke out all over her body, her heart racing in her chest, warmth filling her, knees weakening, one of his hands sliding up into her hair as his other came to rest about her waist.

The Doctor lingered, holding her close, no sense of urgency hurrying him along this time. It was just him and Sophie on an otherwise empty beach, a sense of male pride filling him as a soft moan escaped her throat. He lingered in the kiss a few more moments, before slowly pulling back, taking in the soft flush on her cheeks as she slowly blinked open her eyes, "There," he murmured softly, lips curving up into a soft smile, "Our first proper kiss," he murmured, that one having been everything he'd wanted their earlier kiss to be.

*O*O*O*

On Earth, Martha sat in her bedroom, fresh from a shower, listening to the radio as she held up a purple hand mirror in one hand and a mascara brush in the other as she got ready for Leo's party, "Eye witness reports from Royal Hope Hospital continue to pour in," the radio announcer stated, "And it seems to be remarkably consistent. This from medical student Oliver Morgenstern…" Martha paused head tilting towards the radio as she listened with a bit more interest, "I was there. I saw it happen. And I feel uniquely privileged. I looked out at the surface of the moon. I saw Earth, suspended in space, and it all just proves Mr. Saxon right. We're not alone in the universe. There's life out there, wild and extraordinary life."

Martha smiled, her mind once again drifting to the man with two hearts, before she let out a soft sigh recalling the way he'd kissed Sophie, before she gave herself a shake and refocused on applying her mascara.

*O*O*O*

"I've never," Sophie began as she sat beside the Doctor on the white sand facing the gently lapping water, drawing the Doctor's gaze to her, "I mean I," she sighed, brow scrunching, trying hard to put thoughts and emotions into words, "I've never felt romantic love before…" she finally managed to get out trailing as she continued, trying so hard to put her thoughts and emotions into some kind of word structure that'd make sense, "But I, well I mean, I definitely feel something," she stuttered out, cheeks flushing red all over again as she carried on with her attempt, "I mean, my heart races a lot when your near or-or you give me that look, and my stomach does these odd summersaults too," she rambled, she hadn't wanted to ramble, but here she was rambling away, but she didn't stop, quite possibly couldn't now that she'd started, "And," she swallowed heavily, "It hurt… I mean really hurt when you were lying on the hospital floor, but then," she hurried on not wanting to linger on the memory of him lying lifelessly on the hospital floor, whilst also trying to stop rambling and get to what she was really trying to say, but the words just wouldn't stop, why couldn't she just say it? "You were alive and there was this overwhelming sense of relief, and joy and, and…" those words didn't really seem adequate for what she'd felt when she'd sensed him come back, when his hand had clenched around hers a moment before he'd coughed, life returning.

"So, I think I, I mean I really think I, mhmm…" she was cut off, the words she was trying to say fading in her throat as the Doctor pressed his lips to hers once more catching her in a searing kiss full of emotion. The Time Lord having become impatient as he listened to her describe what she was feeling and Sophie melted into it, trying her best to convey what she'd been trying to say without words, both grateful that he'd stopped her ramble and yet disappointed in herself that she hadn't managed to say what she'd really wanted too.

The Doctor pulled back a cheeky grin lighting up his face as he stared at her, "That definitely sounds like something, Sparks."

Sophie smiled back and nodded glad that he understood despite having botched it with a nervous ramble, before her eyes turned curious and hopeful, "Will you tell me where you got 'Sparks' from now?"

The Doctor's cheeky grin turned fond, "Your eyes."

Sophie blinked in surprise, "My eyes?"

"Yep, they sparkle when you look at me," the Doctor said in explanation, a hand reaching towards her and he brushed his fingers over her cheek, that had taken on a faint rosy heugh again.

Sophie blinked again, her lips twitching upwards into another smile, "They do?"

"They're doing it right now," the Doctor murmured.

Sophie's smile turned a little shy, were they? "So, uh," she began a little uncertainly, really not knowing the answer, she'd seen romance movies before, but they were just that, movies, "What now?"

"Whatever we want, Sparks," the Doctor grinned, taking her hand in his and interlacing their fingers again, "Whatever we want," he repeated and stood, pulling her up by their joined hands and started for the Tardis.

*O*O*O*

"So, I was thinking," the Doctor told Sophie a while later, the pair of them in the console room once more.

"What about?" Sophie questioned as she eyed the Time Lord that had changed back into his brown pinstripe suit.

"Well," the Time Lord began as he returned Sophie's gaze, the petite brunette wearing a fresh red shirt under her leather jacket and a clean pair of burgundy gloves, "What did you think of Martha?"

Sophie blinked, expression turning thoughtful, "Well, I liked her, thought she was rather brilliant actually."

"So, if I was to suggest inviting her on a trip…?"

Sophie smiled, "I'd say, 'what are we still doing in the vortex?'" she tilted her head slightly mild amusement shining in her eyes, "Why? Are you going to ask?"

"Well, I was thinking about it," the Doctor murmured, a part of him rather hesitant to go through with the question, just wanting it to be him and his Sparks, just the two of them for a while longer, but it'd only be for a trip he reminded himself, just a 'thank you, you were absolutely brilliant' trip, "Sparks?" he grinned at her, "What do you say we invite Martha on a trip?"

Sophie grinned back, "What are we still doing in the vortex, Doctor?" and he turned to the console darting about it, Sophie joining him a moment later, the Tardis' rotor rising and falling as the engines came to life and she lurched, shuddering as she flew through the vortex.

*O*O*O*

Annalise stormed out of the Market Tavern absolutely furious, "I am not staying in there to be insulted!" she cried.

"She didn't mean it, sweetheart," Clive tried to reassure her as he and the rest of his family followed his girlfriend out of the pub, "She was just saying you look healthy."

"No, I did not," Francine protested from behind him, "I said orange."

"Clive," Annalise spun to him insulted by the comment all over again, "That woman is disrespecting me. She's never liked me."

"Oh, I can't think why," Francine scoffed, "After you stole my husband."

"I was seduced," Annalise declared, "I'm entirely innocent!" she turned to Clive again, "Tell her, babe!"

"And then she has a go at Martha," Francine continued, "Practically accused her of making the whole thing up."

"Mum, I don't mind," Martha tried to interject, wanting to calm the situation before it escalated further, "Just leave it."

"Oh, I've been to the moon!" Annalise scoffed, rolling her eyes, "As if. They were drugged," she insisted, "They said so on the news."

"Since when did you watch the news?" Francine sniped at her, "You can't handle Quiz Mania."

"Annalise started it," Tish told Martha watching the scene unfold from beside her, "She did. I heard her."

"Tish," Leo groaned from the other side of Martha, "Don't make it worse."

"Oh, come off it, Leo," Tish turned to him, "What did she buy you? Soap? A seventy-five pence soap?"

Annalise scowled, "Oh. I'm never talking to your family again!" she declared to Clive before turning on her heel and stalking off.

"Oh, stay!" Francine called after her sarcastically, "Have a night out with Clive."

"Don't you dare," Clive pointed after Annalise, "I'm putting my foot down. This is me, putting my foot down," Annalise didn't stop and he chased after her.

"Make a fool of yourself!" Francine shouted after him, "God knows you've been doing it for the last twenty-five years! Why stop now?"

"Please…" Clive called after Annalise.

"Clive," Francine followed after them, "Stop, now!"

"Mum, don't!" Tish hurriedly after her mother, Leo moving after her, "I asked the DJ and he's playing that song later…"

Martha sighed, and shook her head despairingly, before she caught sight of the Doctor and Sophie standing on a corner of an alley across the street from her, they smiled at her, before disappearing around the corner. She followed stepping around the corner and into the alley herself to see them standing in front of the blue police box she'd seen them walking to earlier that day, before it and them had disappeared.

"I went to the moon today," she remarked after a short beat of silence.

"A bit more peaceful than down here," the Doctor commented.

"You never even told me who you are?" Martha murmured eyeing the pair of them curiously.

Sophie blinked, "I'm Sophie Connolly," she replied.

Martha nodded, her gaze focusing on her, "Human."

"Yep," Sophie agreed lips quirking up into a smile.

"With anomalies?" Martha recalled what the Judoon had said after the alien had scanned her a second time.

Sophie grimaced a little, "That too," she agreed and hesitated unsure whether to elaborate or not as Martha stared at her curiously.

"The Doctor," the Time Lord cut in, before Sophie could decide and Martha's attention turned to him.

"What sort of species?" Martha asked before musing, "It's not every day I get to ask that," she glanced at Sophie again, it wasn't every day she got to ask about anomalies in a human that were detected by an alien scanner either.

"I'm a Time Lord," the Doctor replied.

"Right!" Martha eyed him with a bit of a smirk, "Not pompous at all, then."

"We just thought," the Doctor continued ignoring the comment, "Since you saved our lives and," he reached into his inner jacket pocket pulled out his brand new sonic screwdriver, tossing it up and catching it again as he continued, "I've got a brand new sonic screwdriver which needs road testing, you might fancy a trip."

"What, into space?" Martha asked.

"Well…" the Doctor began.

"I can't," Martha cut in with disappointment, "I've got exams. I've got things to do. I have to go into town first thing and pay the rent. I've got my family going mad…"

Sophie nudged the Doctor, "You forgot again."

"I did not," the Doctor pouted at her and she arched a brow, "I was getting there, Sparks," he insisted before focusing back on Martha who was staring at them quizzically, "If it helps, I can travel in time as well."

"Get out of here," Martha scoffed, smiling with disbelief.

"I can," the Doctor insisted.

"Come on now," Martha shook her head, "That's going too far."

"I'll prove it," the Doctor stated, "Come on, Sparks," and the two of them disappeared inside and Martha watched, brows quirked as the Tardis started to wheeze dematerialising right in front of her, leaving only an empty space where it had been, she reached into it.

*O*O*O*

"Oh, there she is, Sparks," the Doctor murmured pointing to the young woman having spied Martha Jones as she made her way to work that morning, her phone to her ear, "Come on," he urged and the pair moved.

"Hi Annalise," Martha replied to her dad's girlfriend with mock cheeriness and grimaced a bit as she listened to the woman's reply, before snapping her phone shut, disconnecting the call with another grimace at hearing the pair of them laughing just as a man in a brown pinstripe suit and long brown coat and a woman in a leather jacket and red shirt and burgundy gloves stepped in front of her seemingly out of nowhere.

"Like so!" he smiled and proceeded to take off his tie with a bit of a flourish, before he turned to the petite woman beside him looping it around her neck.

"Oh, right…" she mumbled and then blushed as he smirked and used the tie to tug her a bit closer to him, before swiftly and rather haphazardly tying the tie around her neck so that it sat about her neck rather loosely and not at all straight.

He turned back to Martha with a grin, "See?" he asked her, before he took his companions hand and started away with her.

Martha stared after them bemused and puzzled at the strange occurrence, 'What an odd couple,' she shook her head and continued on her way to work, completely unaware that she'd be seeing the both of them very soon, and that her life would be forever changed by it.

*O*O*O*

Martha jumped back a bit as the wheezing sounded in the alley, quickly snatching her hand back, watching as the big blue police box reappeared in the alley barely a full moment after it had left, the door opened and the Doctor stepped out, "Told you!" he grinned and gestured to Sophie who'd stepped out after him, a tie haphazardly tied about her neck.

"I know, but…" Martha gaped at them, "That was this morning! But did you… oh, my God! You can travel in time!" she exclaimed as Sophie fiddled with the tie about her neck undoing it and handing it back to the Doctor, "But hold on," Martha frowned as the Doctor accepted his tie back and started tying it about his own neck again, "If you could see me this morning, why didn't you tell me not to go in to work?"

"Wasn't allowed," Sophie murmured and Martha blinked at them a brow arching slightly.

"Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden," the Doctor recited a Time Lord law, before adding, "Except for cheap tricks."

Martha looked past them to the police box, "And that's your spaceship?" she asked wandering a little closer to it.

"It's called the Tardis," the Doctor explained, "Time and Relative Dimension in Space."

Martha reached out a hand resting it against the blue box, "Your spaceships made of wood," she observed.

Sophie smiled, "She's not," she assured and Martha's gaze turned to her a bit sceptical she could feel wood beneath her hand, "She's really not," she repeated, "It's just a disguise."

"There's not much room," Martha observed with a bit of a frown before turning from the box to look at the both of them again, "The three of us, we'd be a bit intimate."

"Nah, not really," Sophie replied and Martha blinked at her and then looked back to the box that really did look rather small to fit three… in fact… two had to be a fairly tight squeeze. She turned to look at them again.

The Doctor shrugged, lips quirked up slightly reached for the door, nudging it open for her, "Take a look."

Martha looked at him a moment and then at Sophie who gave her an encouraging nod and smile, before she started towards the box, stepping through the open door, the Doctor and Sophie following her, the pair leaning against the railing together watching her as she looked around the interior, and shook her head.

"No, no, no," Martha gasped and turned dashing back past the two and out the door looking around at the outside of the Tardis again, "But it's a box, but it's huge. How does it do that? It's wood," she knocked, yep wood, definitely wood. How did a disguise sound like real wood? She headed back for the door, "It's like a box with a room just rammed in. It's bigger on the inside," she exclaimed, not noticing the Time Lord mouthing the familiar words along with her, Sophie nudged him and he shot her a cheeky grin.

"Is it?" he commented, "I hadn't noticed."

"And there's more than just one room," Sophie told her with a smile and Martha's eyes widened trying to wrap her mind around just how big the Tardis sounded, it was hard enough wrapping her head around this one huge room stuffed into the blue police box exterior, "I still haven't found them all, keep finding new ones."

The Doctor straightened up and closed the Tardis door behind her and shrugged off his coat and threw it over a Y beam, "Right then," he started for the console, Sophie stepping after him, "Let's get going."

"But is there a crew, like a navigator and stuff?" Martha questioned as she followed them to the console, "Where is everyone?"

"Just me and Sparks," the Doctor replied.

"Just," Martha frowned slightly as she eyed them, "Just the two of you?" she asked.

"Not always," Sophie murmured softly, heart constricting at the loss of Rose and she glanced at her wrist that was minus the blue beads, the constant reminder had been painful so instead, for now, until she could bring herself to wear it again, it had a spot on her dresser.

"There was recently a friend of ours," the Doctor added, his own hearts lancing with pain, "Rose, her name was, Rose. And… there was the three of us travelling together," he swallowed, before muttering, "Anyway," he returned his attention to the console, efficiently flicking switches and turning knobs.

"Where is she now?" Martha asked, looking from one to the other.

"With her family," the Doctor answered, "Happy. She's fine. She's…" he looked up, pinning her with a look, "Not that your replacing her."

"No one really could," Sophie sighed sadly.

Martha frowned looking from the Doctor to Sophie and back again, suddenly really wondering if she should just leave, "Never said that I was."

Sophie winced, realising how that had sounded, "No, sorry," she apologised, "Rose was, is," she hastily corrected her tense, Rose was alive, alive in a parallel universe, "My little sister," she murmured.

Martha's eyes softened with a sort of understanding as she eyed Sophie, she'd noticed the pain in both her and the Doctor's eyes as they'd talked about Rose, "Oh," she glanced over at the Doctor half expecting an apology from him too, but when she didn't get one she continued, "So, it's alright then? For me to come along with the two of you, then?" she wanted to come with them, she really did, today had been terrifying but amazing and she wanted to see and experience more, but there was no way that she wanted to intrude.

Sophie nodded, offering her a smile, "Course!"

"Just a trip mind. To say, 'Thanks'," the Doctor explained, not wanting her to misunderstand what it was he was offering, "You get one trip, then back home," he stated with finality, "I'd rather it just be Sparks and I."

"After the way you kissed Sophie, I'd believe that," Martha murmured and saw Sophie's cheeks flush rather darkly, a hand tangling into the ends of her hair and tugging slightly.

"Ah, well that was," the Doctor tugged at his ear a bit awkwardly as he glanced over at Sophie, "Well it was…"

"One hell of a kiss," Martha cut in to his bumbling with a bit of an amused smirk, even as she felt that disappointment again, but at the same time she was glad. Glad that she'd realised early that there was something going on between the pair, something that was rather new if she had to hazard a guess, before her little bit of a crush had had the chance to become something more. A crush would fade more easily, and she'd make sure that it would. She wasn't an 'Annalise', never would be, not for any man. She'd seen the kind of pain that had put her mother through, was still putting her mother through, and she'd never do that to another woman, wouldn't want it to be done to her either, "Is that why you wear the tight suit?" she questioned teasingly.

"Might do," the Doctor replied evasively.

"It is not," Sophie protested, her cheeks still feeling rather hot and he shot her a look, lips quirked into a foxy smirk and she blinked, brow scrunching at him slightly as he started rounding the console towards her, "Is it?"

"Well…" the Doctor trailed evasively, teasingly, and his hands settled on her sides as he pressed a kiss to her rosy cheek and they flushed darker making him grin as he sauntered away again, hands moving over the buttons and knobs as he continued on round the console.

"Foxy Git," Sophie muttered without any real heat as she watched him, she'd been trying to get the flush to leave her cheeks, dang it.

"Right then," the Doctor exclaimed, "Close down the gravitic anomaliser," he stated as he moved his hands over the console again, "Fire up the helmic regulator. And finally, the handbrake," he focused his gaze on Martha, "Ready?"

"No," Martha admitted, nervous and excited.

"Hold on," Sophie cautioned her, grabbing hold of the console herself as the Doctor reaching for the handbrake with a grin exclaimed.

"Off we go!" and Martha clutched to the console for dear life as the ship jolted as she wheezed dematerialising from the alley, causing the Doctor to tumble back against the pilot's chair, the Tardis shaking as she flew through the vortex.

"Blimey!" Martha exclaimed, trying not to fall a she clung to the console, trying not to lose her balance, "It's a bit bumpy!"

"This isn't so bad actually," Sophie called over the sound of the Tardis engines, from where she was holding onto the console.

"You mean, it gets worse?!" Martha exclaimed with surprise and mild alarm.

"Can do," Sophie replied.

"Welcome aboard, Miss Jones," the Doctor grinned at her from across the console, having managed to pull himself back onto his feet.

"It's my pleasure, Mr. Smith, Miss Connolly," Martha grinned back at the pair of them, feeling the thrill of excitement.