nevermoreraven

Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: Teen
DISCLAIMER: Other people have actually read this one before the internet. Yes, I know. It's weird.
Summary: This is a rewrite of the Human Nature/Family of Blood two-parter, because I really liked Latimer. It's long. I liked it pretty well at the time, as did the other readers, so let's see how well it held up. ...so far, so good. also I actually bothered to tab for once on this one.
It's not finished, but it's fairly close.

They ran all the way to the console room, and in a second the Doctor was buzzing about the controls, changing this and that, whacking it when it didn’t behave, and she almost felt like her face was about to crack with the strain of smiling. He landed the TARDIS, patting it carefully.

“Last time, they got the TARDIS, so I figure I’m going to have to give it up, not obviously, of course. Keeping the timeline as close as possible is the key to winning the golden prize.” He looked up, eyebrows drawing together. “Who’d want a golden prize? There’s not that much you can do with it-aside from killing Cybermen with, of course…”

“Cybermen? Really?” She could barely believe that one.

“Oh, yeah. Destroyed a whole planet made of gold, because they couldn’t take the chance. Poor Vogans. ‘Course, you know how that story ends.”

“I do?” She was trying not to laugh-he was speaking about it offhandedly, and she had the faintest idea that he was trying to impress.

“I’m sure you do. I dash in, save the day. That’s how the stories usually end, isn’t it?” He winked at her, and she blushed. Definitely showing off.

“So, what’s your plan to deal with the Family of Blood? Last time I checked, the only strategy you had was to hide away as a human in 1913 until they died off. Not much of a definite end-game scenario, you have to admit.”

The Doctor bit his lip and blew out his cheeks. However silly he looked, it wasn’t the goofiest face she’d ever seen him make. “Well…I don’t have one. Not as such. I tend to make up things as I go, but I’ve had lots of practice, after all these years. So I’m pretty good at it.”

Martha smiled. “How much longer do we have before they die off? I mean, I’ve been here a couple of months, and it might’ve been another one since they started to chase us-that is, they, personally, taking on the quest. If it’s not too much longer, we can delay them, just a bit.”

He grinned at her, but shook his head. “Good thought, but no. They’ve probably got a month or so still left-not long in terms of Time Lord or human lives, but we can’t try the Smith approach and just barricade ourselves in somewhere and hope for the best. Besides, the countryside hasn’t got that long.”

“What do you mean?” Martha thought that there might be something she was forgetting, but she couldn’t be blamed. Enough had happened in the past few weeks, and she was having trouble enough following what she could remember anyway. Traveling with the Doctor was brilliant, but it was also hectic as one of the Jones’ family’s worst rows.

Without a word, the Doctor reached over a hand to open up the scanner, revealing the green bolts of energy that the Family’s ship was hurtling at the country surrounding the school. “They’ll only stop once they have me, but they’re also scared-and that makes them doubly dangerous. They don’t know where I am, but they think that I’m still in human form. They’re afraid, though, that I really remember. That the stupid act is all that, just pretend, and that I could pop into the TARDIS at any time and disappear-since they haven’t captured it yet.”

“Could we just leave? Wouldn’t they notice and follow?” Martha asked reasonably.

“…Yes, but not before they bombed…um…this quaint little piece of British countryside into oblivion out of spite. They’re really not polite. They’d kill everyone they could, like a really dangerous child having a tantrum.” He ran his fingers through his hair, thinking. “The thing is, we have to prevent any more deaths, without giving away the essence of a Time Lord. Which is really difficult. The Family are straightforward-like outer space bullies. The last time, I tricked them to let me into their spaceship and sabotaged it, but that won’t work now. For starters, they don’t smell the Time Lord on me; they think that who they want is Mr. Smith, who won’t be able to stop them even if I give him specific instructions. They wouldn’t let me anywhere close. If they don’t get what they want, hundreds of people will die. But if I let them get what they want, billions will. It seems straightforward, except I’m not having another death, not one. Which makes it complicated. I’ve worked this sort of thing before, but the situations are specific. Mostly.”

It was about then that he came up with a plan-the poisoned watch. He wasn’t quite sure how it’d work, but the principle behind the odd terminology worked, and it sounded impressive. He set a part of his mind to working out how that plan would go, in detail, and grinned at Martha, ignoring the warning bells inside that told him that he was using her again. “…That is, I’m not getting into the ship unless I call a ceasefire so I can get close and then others distract the Family….”

It’d be good if it actually worked, but he wasn’t sure that it would. At the very least, it would test their reactions-see whom they would judge to be the legitimate one after being confronted with a variety of ‘Time Lords and Ladies’.

She smiled back. “Running interference. Gotcha.”

“The watch, Martha? Could I have it?” He held out his hand, ready to catch Part I of his masterpiece.

Miss Jones hesitated for a moment before throwing him the watch. “Better not be thinking of playing Chameleon Arch again. I almost died when you used that thing.”

He grinned at her, winking. “Nothing like that.” Instead, he took the sonic to it, tuning the screwdriver to one of its two thousand or so settings and giving the watch a quick buzz.

“What’d you do?” Martha queried, curious.

“It’s a trap. If they want the essence of a Time Lord, they’re asking for overload.” That’s all he’d tell her of his plan. He wasn’t sure she’d approve, and by putting her, once again, in harm’s way, he was asking too much of her already.

She frowned at him, trying to guilt him into talking, but he refused to let her get to him, instead heading in her direction and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before pulling a lever on the console just past her.

She couldn’t stay mad at him for long. He knew that much. He couldn’t really do so either, if he was in her position.

The TARDIS had landed. The Doctor knew that he couldn’t trick the Family into looking into the Heart of the TARDIS-for one thing, it wasn’t just the one that he could gracefully trip into it or something. The rest would be on him in a flash, and that would really ruin the effect. For the other, they’d studied. They didn’t know quite as much about Time Lords, because any that had been off Gallifrey were really, really mysterious, but they’d know more about what he’d done, and the ships, of course. They wouldn’t fall for such foolery. He had to let them have the TARDIS, make them more confident, more apt to make a mistake. He hid it in the woods, somewhere where they weren’t likely to find it right away but would eventually, before this all was over. He wanted to test their suspicions before he let them get his beloved timeship. “Sorry, ol’ girl,” he apologized to her, patting her before heading to the door.

Martha followed him eagerly. “So…we have to find the others, to help?” She caught on quick.

“Yeah. Which, I guess, will involve more running. Ready?” The Time Lord smiled encouragingly at her.

In answer, she merely took his hand and smiled.