Human Nature (Doctor Who)

[monster-eats-pilot]

Noooo I don't like waiting!
But seriously it's great

[Beach Crew]

So, I’m sorry for the lateness but I’m ill and well, not very happy, lol. But it’s an update and I promise the next one on either Saturday or Sunday. Also, you may note something crazy and un-Beachy like happening in the first part. Just go with it. Trust me. Also, it’s my story and she’s my fave character so there


Part Nine

For Martha Jones, the night had gone from bad to worse. Fighting back hysterical sobs and willing herself to stop shaking, Martha reached out a sweaty and blood covered hand to carefully check Rose’s pulse again. She couldn’t find one but she tried to tell herself that it was because she was shaking so hard.

She’d stripped Rose of her hoodie, leaving Rose in a thin cotton t-shirt, and was desperately using it to try and stop the bleeding. The woman’s leg was broken, and Martha was sure she hadn’t seen Rose take a breath for over five minutes.

Martha started to cry. She wasn’t sure whether it was for herself, the Doctor or for Rose. Weakly, she attempted CPR, but in reality, Martha knew that it was pointless. She’d tried everything she could think of, and this was the second bout of CPR she’d given the young woman. But it was no good.

Rose Tyler was dead.

***

Jeremy Baines was still laughing as he snuck across the field and towards the place where he and his friends had hidden their alcohol. He wasn’t sure how Timothy Latimer had done it but the boy seemed to know things about his friend, Hutchinson, before his friend had said them.

It was almost like the boy had read his friend’s mind, but that was impossible.

Laughing, Baines snuck from bush to bush as he exited the school. It was still fairly dull, the sun was not quite risen, but that didn’t mean he could just stroll happily through the school grounds. He couldn’t be caught, otherwise he’d likely be punished. That’s why, when he spotted one of the maids up ahead, he panicked.

“Hello Baines,” the woman smiled at him serenely.

“Right, yes. Hello. It’s Jenny isn’t it?” the woman said nothing, “Listen, I think, perhaps, it would be best if you didn’t mention that you’d seen me, ok?” The woman took a step towards him, but she still said nothing, “Look here, woman, I demand that you answer me!”

“Come with me,” Jenny smiled.

“Excuse me?”

“Come with me,” she repeated, grabbing hold of Baines’ arm. Her grip was incredibly tight and even as Baines started to struggle against her, she was managing to drag him across to a fence and into a field.

“Now, see here!” he cried, “Unhand me!”

Jenny dragged Baines away and into the darkness of the field. He was met by a horrible green creature and Jenny informing him that her son needed her host. He didn’t even have time to contemplate what she meant by that before he started screaming.

The Family had found their second host.

***

Martha was aware that the sun had risen, and if she had to guess she would’ve said that four hours had passed since Rose had died. Martha had thrown up once, but had managed to get control back after an hour of sobbing. What was she supposed to do now? Rose was dead, scarecrows were attacking and the Family was one step closer to finding the Doctor.

That was why, upon hearing a groan to her left, Martha leapt about three feet into the air. “Oh my god, I have such a headache…” a very familiar voice croaked. But that was impossible; that voice couldn’t be talking because that person was dead.

“Martha?” the voice asked, and then suddenly continued in panic, “Martha, what happened, where’s all this blood comin’ from, are you hur- oh my god, what happened to my leg?!”

Martha scrambled backwards across the ground, wide eyed and terrified and staring with horror at a now very alive and animated Rose Tyler. “How?” she croaked, wiping tears from her face.

“How what?” Rose asked, prodding her leg and hissing. Suddenly, a look of terrified understanding crossed Rose’s face, “Oh god, oh no,” Rose looked panicked, “You’re not supposed to know,” she sighed, swore and then took a deep breath, composing herself but still shaking, “I died didn’t I?”

Martha made a sort of horrified scream like noise in the back of her throat which caused Rose to swear.

“Perfect. Oh Martha, I’m so sorry. Please, you gotta calm down, it’s ok, I’m fin-OW!” there was a large crack and Rose let out an unearthly scream of pain and suddenly her leg was back on the correct angle. Martha went very pale. Rose glared daggers at her leg.

After a few moments of silence and shuffling, Rose turned to Martha, worried now, “Martha, Martha, can ya hear me?”

“I’ve gone crazy, haven’t I? I’m insane.”

“No, Martha, it’s not you, it’s me,” Rose said, grimacing at the blood that was covering her, “I can’t die.”

“What?!”

“Help me back to the TARDIS an’ I’ll explain.”

***

Ten minutes later, the two women were sat side by side in the captain’s chair in the TARDIS control room. Rose was still wearing her ruined clothes, but she’d wiped some of the blood from her face. Martha hadn’t said a word, but was simply waiting for an explanation.

“Bad wolf,” Rose said, as though this should explain everything.

Martha looked up, “I’ve heard that before.”

Rose nodded, “It’s spread across all of time an’ space. It’s a message, it links me an’ the Doctor,” she explained, “S’also a person.”

“Who?”

“Me.” Martha looked up at Rose startled, and so Rose continued with her explanation. She told Martha about the Time Vortex, and how it had allowed her to have powers beyond her control to destroy the Daleks all those years ago. “It wasn’t until I was shot in the head an’ then woke up two days later in the morgue at Torchwood that I knew somethin’ was wrong with me. I don’t know what happened, exactly, but it’s possible the Time Vortex, the Bad Wolf, she may have altered my genetic makeup somehow. The Docto said he removed it, but there’s possible that a small piece stayed behind. An’ that’s changed everything.”

“Wow.”

“I know. But promise me, Martha, you won’t tell the Doctor.”

“What, why?” Martha asked, confused, “This way, you could be with him forever, I mean, he’ll be so happ-”

“No, he won’t. I’m barely aging Martha, my body isn’t changin’ an’ I’m not really growing. I’m not a normal human anymore, an’ I can’t lead a normal life anymore,” she paused, “He’ll blame himself, I know ‘e will. So please, y’can’t tell him.” Rose grabbed Martha’s hand, “Please, Martha!”

“Fine,” Martha agreed, “But if you die, and he freaks out an’ starts going off on one, I can tell him then, right?”

Rose smirked, “If that’s the case, sure.” Rose shuffled on the chair and winced, her clothes were beginning to stick to her skin, “I’m gonna go an’ change. I think I can find my way back to my old room, if it’s still there?” Martha nodded and so Rose stood with a grimace, “an’ then, I need a strong drink. Think I’ve got a bottle of vodka hidden under my bed. Want some.”

“I want the bottle, you can have a glass. Deal?”

Rose’s answer was simply a hoarse laugh as she made her way down the corridor and towards her bedroom.

***

Nurse Joan Redfern was not a happy woman. She had just returned from church, accompanied by the teachers, staff and the pupils but with two noticeable absences. Martha Jones and Miss Rose Tyler. She decided, immediately, that Martha was leading Rose astray and she was determined to put a stop to this.

That was when she found them.

She had checked the servant’s quarters for Martha and then she had checked Miss Rose’s room, but still, even after a thorough search of the school, she could not find either of the young women. In fact, if Mr. Smith had not told her that both women had returned to the school the previous evening, she would have been searching the town for them.

Joan frowned, muttering angrily to herself, and walked straight into John Smith.

“Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Smith,” she said, blushing prettily, “I didn’t see you there.”

“It’s quite alright, Matron,” John smiled, steadying the woman, “You haven’t by any change seen Miss. Rose have you?”

Joan frowned, “No, I haven’t. I’m currently searching for her and Martha, myself. They didn’t attend church this morning.”

John also frowned, “Now that is odd. Martha always attends church.”

“Why did you need to see Miss. Rose?” Joan enquired with attempted innocence.

“Because, she um, she still has my book and I wished to add something to it,” he frowned, “I do hope she and Martha are ok. They did have three drinks each.”

Joan nodded, “If that’s the case, they deserve to suffer.”

John laughed softly, “Quite right. Now, Matron, would you like to accompany me on a walk around the school grounds?”

“I’d love to.”

***

“Is it me, or is this vodka really strong?” Martha hiccupped, clinking her mug of alcohol against Rose’s. The two women were slumped on the bed in Rose’s old room, the pink duvet rumpled around them, and several packets of chocolate biscuits scattered between them.

“Hmm,” Rose took another sip, “Maybe Jack snuck me some of that Hyper-Vodka, he was always talkin’ about, at least, I think it was Hyper-Vodka, maybe it was Super-Vodka, I don’t know.”

Martha just shrugged her shoulders, “Who’s Jack?”

Rose struggled upwards, spilling some of her drink, and pointed to the photos on the wall. “Captain Jack Harkness, from the 51st century. He traveled with the Doctor an’ me for a while.”

“He’s gorgeous.”

“Isn’t he,” Rose laughed.

Martha raised her eyebrows, “So what was he to you?”

Rose grinned, “Bit of everything really. Almost a lover, definitely a best friend, and always a big brother. I loved him.” Rose trailed off, suddenly finding herself fighting tears. It seemed crying was all she could do lately.

“Where is he?” Martha asked gently, not sure that she liked the sad tone of Rose’s voice. Heartbreak seemed to follow the poor girl around like a curse.

“I’m not sure. He was with us once, the three of us, we were a team, but we met the Daleks, an’ then Jack kissed me goodbye,” Rose paused, “The Doctor told me that Jack was rebuildin’ the earth but I have a feelin’ that that’s code for ‘Let’s not tell Rose that Jack died’,” she said bitterly.

“I’m sorry,” Martha offered.

“S’ok, wherever he is, I’m sure he’ll be glad we’re swoonin’ over ‘im. He was like that was our Jack, always flirtin’. I imagine, even if he is dead, he’ll be the same. All he had t’do was say hello.”

Martha laughed, and then teasingly asked, “So, did you and he ever…”

Rose blushed, “Couple of kisses, nothin’ more. I was already in love with someone else when I met Jack,” she smiled.

“The Doctor,” when Rose nodded, Martha continued, pointing to the photo of the man in the leather jacket, “So who’s he?”

Rose gaped, “He never learns does he? Never tells anyone…” she trailed off, muttering, to top up their mugs with vodka, “That’s the Doctor.”

“No it’s not.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“It’s not.”

“I’m tellin’ you it is.”

“And I’m tellin’ you it’s not.”

Rose had a sudden and unexplainable sense of déjà vu and then held up a hand, “Martha, honest. The Doctor has this trick, to prevent himself from dyin’ – he changes every cell in his body. He becomes a different person.”

“So, what?” Martha asked, “The Doctor now is a totally different man?”

“Yes an’ no,” Rose sighed, struggling to explain in her drunken haze, “He’s the same man, same memories. The old Doctor, he was so much darker, much more sad an’ a lot more sarcastic. This Doctor, he’s like a child at Christmas. But sometimes, quite a lot of the time, I see his dark side, or his sad side, an’ I know it’s the same man. Just like I saw this childlike wonder in my first Doctor,” she smiled dreamily, “he’s the same guy Martha. I promise you.”

Martha shook her head, “I think we’ll go over this again when we’re less drunk.”

“Agreed.”

Both women were silent for a long while. The only noise was the occasional rustling of the blankets, crunching of biscuits or sipping of alcohol and the old Boyzone album playing in the background. Martha knew, on some level, she was still in shock. Rose had been dead. Dead. But yet here they were, acting like nothing had happened and chatting about her past.

She looked at Rose out of the corner of her eye. She’d changed into a pair of jeans and a pink t-shirt that bizarrely had a crown on it. Martha had noticed her toying between this and a t-shirt with the Union Jack on it for a time. Her hair was damp, but her makeup had been reapplied. Martha was beginning to think that Rose never went anywhere without the thick eyeliner and heavy mascara.

“I’m not goin’ t’drop dead ya know,” Rose snapped, slightly put out by Martha’s staring.

“Sorry, it’s just, well, I’m training to be a Doctor, and it’s…well, you died, an’ now you’re here. It’s so weird.”

Rose shot her a look, “You wanna try dyin’. That’s weird.”

Martha shuddered, before bravely whispering, “How many times?”

Rose swallowed, sobering, “Five, no, this would make six.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.” Rose sat up suddenly, “I think I’ve had enough alcohol and biscuits for one day. Wanna head back an’ face the music?”

Martha nodded, and tried to stand, “Yeah. But do you think the Doctor has something in the med-bay that’ll make us sober again?”

“I sure hope so.”

***

She was oh so small and innocent and that just made it even worse. Not that the Family took this into consideration. Their emotions didn’t work like human emotion and so they didn’t care. When they saw a little girl skipping down the lane with a balloon, they just saw a perfect host for their daughter, not an innocent little girl.

The Family was now nearly complete – all they needed was a father, and in reality, they would look quite like a happy little family. However, the townsfolk would know something was wrong. They’d wonder why Jenny the maid had a gun, or why Baines, a school boy, would quite willingly kill his friends.

And then this would lead them to the Time Lord.

***

“Come in,” John Smith called when he heard a knock on his door. He was startled, and pleasantly surprised (which in turn startled him more) to see a rather nervous looking Rose Tyler stood in the door way. “Miss Rose,” he smiled, “We’ve been looking for you.”

She looked sheepish, tugging at the dress she’d changed into, before saying, “Martha and I went out, we lost track of time.”

He nodded, but looked skeptical, “Well, it’s now six in the evening. You lost track of time for the whole day, I presume?” he teased.

Rose blushed. You’d need ‘til six to recover if you’d drank half the alcohol we did, she thought bitterly but instead said, “You know what girls can be like, Sir. Once we get chattin’ there’s no stoppin’ us.”

Her cheeky grin was back and John fought to ignore it, “You missed church. Nurse Redfern is not happy,” he warned.

“I know, I’ll apologise to her shortly, in the meantime,” she produced a book, “I wanted to return this.”

He stood and crossed to her, taking the book from her hands. His journal. “Oh, thank you. I have more to add,” he smiled, and then looked suddenly shy, “What did you make of it?”

Taking his invitation, Rose stepped into the room and looked around. She could see the watch Martha had told her about on the mantel piece and so crossed over to it, talking as she did so. “It’s wonderful,” she smiled, “I very much enjoyed reading it.”

John blushed in a very un-Doctor like way, “I’m glad. It’s just a shame that it can’t be true.”

Rose looked up sharply, “What makes you say that?”

“Well, it is.”

“Is it though?”

“Of course it is, Miss Rose. It’s fanciful-”

She cut him off, “But is it? Really, Doctor, if you think about it, some of it could be true.”

His face hardened into an unrecognizable mask, “My name is John Smith.”

Rose suddenly realised her mistake, “Right, yeah. Sorry.”

“If you don’t mind,” he began, gently pushing her back towards the door, “I’d like to be alone now.”

“But John-”

This time he cut her off, “It’s Mr. Smith to you, Miss Tyler.” And then he closed the door in her face leaving the young woman feeling rather hurt.

Ruddy, pompous Time Lord.

***

It was after midnight when Martha found Rose. The girl was sat outside on the kitchen steps, angry tears rolling down her face and a cigarette was trapped between her fingers. Martha raised an eyebrow as she walked over, a mug of tea in each hand, “Smokin’ kills you know.”

Rose shot Martha a sarcastic grin before taking a long drag and then blowing out three perfect smoke rings, “S’not like it matters anymore, for me, anyways.”

“I didn’t know you smoked, the Doctor never mentioned it,” Martha said as she sat down beside Rose, “S’not something I imagined him approvin’ off.”

Rose snorted, “He’d kill me if he knew. Besides, I didn’t start smokin’ ‘til I got trapped in the other universe. You’ve no idea what it’s like there Martha – people are killed every hour in every city, every flippin’ day,” Rose frowned, “S’just a release is all. An’ like I’ve said, it can’t hurt me anymore.”

“Yeah, well,” Martha teased, “Ever heard of passive smoking?” With an overly dramatic sigh, Rose stubbed out the cigarette and accepted the cup of tea. With a small smile Martha continued, “Is everything alright, you seem upset?”

“I died today.” Martha made a sympathetic noise and so Rose continued. “An’ I got in a small argument with John Smith, I kinda called him the Doctor,” Martha snorted. “What are we gonna do Martha?” Rose asked, and then in a smaller voice, “What if he doesn’t want me anymore?”

Martha let out another very un-lady like snort, “Did you damage your brain in death? He loves you Rose, it’ll be me who goes when he snaps out of this.”

“An’ what if I don’t want you to?”

Martha looked up, surprised, “You want me to stay?”

“Well, I mean, he likes you, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t,” she paused, “Besides, it might be fun havin’ another girl around, gangin’ up on ‘im an’ the like.”

“What, get him to take us shopping?”

The two girls broke off into hysterical laughter, and Rose finally wiped away her tears. She wasn’t sure of Martha just yet, but she was extremely grateful for having her around – even if they seemed to argue often. They both trailed off when they saw their friend Jenny peering at them curiously.

“Jenny, where’ve ya been?” Martha asked, looking across to Rose who looked just as intrigued as Martha did.

Jenny didn’t answer, instead she asked, “Did I hear you two say the Doctor?”

Both young women gulped. Jenny smiled.

…to be continued.

[esn]

Dang, I need to catch up with this. Looks great from what I've read.

[firebreathingfishies]

Aw I hope you feel better soon, Beachy. It sucks being ill. I'm ill myself today, but it's self-inflicted, so I don't deserve sympathy

Ooooh, Rose has got a case of Jack syndrome Clever, I didn't see that coming, even when she was dead and I knew you wouldn't kill her off lol! Aw tis nice to see Martha and Rose getting along - Boyzone were immense btw Great, as usual... but the cliffhanger means that you HAVE to update on Saturday

[monster-eats-pilot]

Oooooh Beaches thankyou for updating! Hope you feel better!
I loved it

[Beach Crew]

Originally Posted by esn

Dang, I need to catch up with this. Looks great from what I've read.

Lol, no wories hun. And thanks

Originally Posted by firebreathingfishies

Aw I hope you feel better soon, Beachy. It sucks being ill. I'm ill myself today, but it's self-inflicted, so I don't deserve sympathy

Ooooh, Rose has got a case of Jack syndrome Clever, I didn't see that coming, even when she was dead and I knew you wouldn't kill her off lol! Aw tis nice to see Martha and Rose getting along - Boyzone were immense btw Great, as usual... but the cliffhanger means that you HAVE to update on Saturday

Sigh. Not really. I'm still attempting to cough up a lung, or spleen or something. It hurts Tut tut, but I hope your headache had cleared

Indeed she has. I thought it would be a fun twist, and ha, of course I wouldn't kill her. It's Rose. If I had my way this immortality would happen in the real series. I've always felt it was odd that Rose had no side affects of the Time Vortex/Bad Wolf thing. And thus I'm making her live forever . Boyzone were brilliant, lol. And I'm sorry but it's gonna be sunday

Originally Posted by monster-eats-pilot

Oooooh Beaches thankyou for updating! Hope you feel better!
I loved it

Lol, no worries Mep, and not really but thanks. I'm glad you're still enjoying it

[Beach Crew]

Look! As promised, I’m updating the day I said I would! This one was rather complicated to write as I had to bring in the kid who takes the watch and stats seeing parts of the Doctor’s life. It confused me but I think I managed to get it into some sort of order. Hopefully there’s some humour too! Let me know

Part Ten


Rose and Martha shot each other panicked looks before they turned to smile up at Jenny. “We missed you last night,” Martha said, “Did you get home ok?” she asked, standing and pulling Rose with her.

“Fine,” Jenny said curtly. She stopped directly in front of the two young women and gave them an intense look. “Now, what was all this talk about the Doctor?” she questioned.

Rose spoke up, “I was just askin’ Martha ‘bout the local doctor,” she smiled innocently.

Martha grinned, “Yeah, it would seem poor Rose here has a bit of gout.”

“Oi!” Rose laughed, hitting Martha playfully on the arm.

“Ow!”

“Well it serves you right!”

“You’re sure?” Jenny interrupted suddenly, not looking particularly amused.

“Yeah,” Rose smiled, sticking her tongue out at Martha, “Just a little issue with m’foot.”

Jenny smiled tightly, “Very well then. I believe you. Goodnight ladies.”

“’Night Jenny,” they chorused.

Rose turned to Martha, a curious look on her face, “That was weird right? Or is she always like that? Coz me, I thought that was weird.”

“No,” Martha agreed, “That was very weird. I wonder what’s up with her?”

Rose frowned “Y’don’t think…”

“The Family? No, surely not.”

Silence.

They looked at each other nervously for a few seconds before simultaneously agreeing, “Nah.” Although neither looked nor sounded convinced.

“C’mon,” Martha smiled, picking up the cups, “We best get t’bed too. I haven’t seen Nurse Redfern yet an’ don’t particularly want her to catch us out here. Especially with you stinkin’ of smoke,” they walked towards the kitchen door, “Trust me, she has a temper on her and we don’t wanna get on the wrong side of it.”

Rose grinned, “Righ’, then I’ll see ya in the mornin’. An’ try an’ get some time off. I have a plan.”

Martha nodded as they parted feeling slightly nervous at the twinkle in Rose’s eyes and the fact that the girl had announced she had a plan. Just what had Martha gotten herself into now?

***

Monday 10th November 1913

It was eight thirty in the morning, half an hour before lessons were due to begin, and Timothy Latimer was slowly making his way towards John Smith’s room. He’d been told by Nurse Redfern that Mr. Smith wanted to see him, but Tim wasn’t sure why. And so he was nervous. He really didn’t want to get in trouble.

Taking a deep breath, he paused outside his teacher’s door before he finally got up to courage to knock. The door opened and Timothy found Mr. Smith peering down at him curiously, “Um, Nurse Redfern said you wanted to see me, Sir.”

“Ah, yes, I just wanted a little word, and I wanted to give you that book we’d mentioned,” Mr. Smith waved Tim into the room and then turned to look for the book, “‘The Definite Account of Mafeking’ by Aitchison Price’,” he continued to look around the room, “Now where did I put it?”

Timothy followed his teacher around the room but his attention was distracted by a pocket watch on the mantelpiece, he wasn’t sure why, but he found himself fiercely drawn to it. “Ah, here we are,” Mr. Smith interrupted his thoughts by holding up the book, “Now, I just wanted to have a little word with you about your classes and grades.”

“But, I thought I was doing well. I’m top of my class, Sir.”

“And you are doing well,” Mr. Smith smiled, “But not quite well enough. I know that if you pushed yourself, those marks could be that bit higher. But there’s a reason why you won’t do that, isn’t there, Latimer?”

The boy nodded, looking rather embarrassed.

John offered him a sympathetic smile, “Keeping your head low might protect you from the mockery of your classmates, but no man should have to hide himself, don’t you think?”

“Yes, Sir,” Timothy said, looking once more to the watch. He was sure it was making a noise, and so while Mr. Smith was distracted by flicking through the novel, he turned and headed over to the mantel. “You’re clever, you should use it,” Mr. Smith said, and quickly, Tim grabbed the watch.

It spoke to him, “Time Lord...Timothy, hide yourself. I’m trapped, kept inside the cogs.” Curious, he pressed the release button and allowed the watch to swing open – he was oblivious to the golden energy that flowed out of it and so, disappointed, snapped it closed again.

Shaken, Timothy hid the watch in his pocket and looked up to his teacher. After a few moments, Mr. Smith turned to look at him, “Are you ok?”

“Fine sir.”

“Right, well, I better let you get the class. Here,” he passed Timothy the book but as he did so, Tim was met by a wash of visions of Mr. Smith dressed in a pinstripe suit, seemingly saving the world. Startled, he snatched the book and stumbled backwards in shock. “Really, are you ok? You don’t look well. Perhaps you should go see Nurse Redfern? Or if you need to talk…”

“I’m fine sir. Honest.”

“Very well then, off you go.”

As Tim left the office and rounded the corner, he pulled the watch out and looked at it once more. “You are not alone. Keep me hidden,” It whispered. Tim frowned, but decided to keep the watch hidden. Whoever Mr. Smith really was, he wanted to be on his side.

***

Joan Redfern was not in the best of moods. She’d finally caught up with Miss Rose and Martha, only for them to give her a story about the pair of them bonding over their pasts and losing track of time. Rose had even added a few tears to the tale, telling Joan how she missed her family terribly and Martha reminded her of home. It was a tragic story and Joan felt quite sad for both women.

Joan had believed their stories until they started walking away, and then attempted to hide giggles. If she’d thought they’d been lying earlier she wouldn’t have allowed herself to lend Rose some money so that she and Martha could go shopping that afternoon. She had a feeling this new friendship between Martha and Rose was going to be more trouble than it was worth.

She was so distracted by her thoughts that she didn’t see Mr. Smith coming round the corner until it was too late. He’d been carrying a large pile of exercise books which all went tumbling to the ground as they collided. “Oh, Mr. Smith, I’m sorry,” Joan exclaimed, leaning down to help pick up the books, “We have to stop meeting like this.”

“Yes, you’re quite right. Not that I mind meeting you of course, you’re good company, and well, I, um,” John trailed off, looking uncomfortable, “Well, I should be going.”

“I’ve still got half the books,” Joan smiled, fighting against a laugh. John was rather cute when he was flustered.

“So you do,” John smiled, a slight blush covering his cheeks, “Well, if I just, um…” he struggled to accept the books from her, “Yes, if we just split it, that’s it,” between them, they managed to merge the books into one pile, “Ah, brilliant. Well done, that was perfect.”

Joan smiled beautifully, “We make quite a team.”

“Don’t we just,” John grinned.

“So, these books, were they heading in any particular direction?” she asked, tucking a stand of hair behind her ear. Joan hoped she wasn’t being to forward, but she’d found herself growing closer to Mr. Smith over the last few months.

“Actually, yes, this way. If you’d like to accompany me, Matron?”

“Yes, I think I can manage that. But really, Mr. Smith, when it’s just you and me, you must call me Nurse Redfern, I find Matron a little, well, matronly,” she blushed prettily and looked away.

“Nurse Redfern it is, then,” John smiled, feeling rather excited. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think that she was flirting with him.

“Although,” she continued, “You have known me for two months now, and we are good friends, I suppose you could call me Joan.”

“Joan?” John squeaked.

“Yes,” she laughed softly, “That is my name.”

“Well obviously,” he paused, suddenly fighting images of Miss. Tyler smiling at him but instead, he turned to Joan and said, “And you must call me John.” She nodded and they came to stop at the top of the stairs, next to a notice board.

Joan pointed out a particular poster, “Oh look, it’s the dance we’ve talked about. I believe it’s tomorrow evening. It’s nothing formal but it should be fun,” Joan suddenly felt very nervous, “Do you think you’ll be going?”

The Doctor looked flustered, remembering the last discussion about the dance and how it had involved Rose Tyler, “Well, I hadn’t really thought about it,” he stuttered. He had a feeling that Joan wanted to go with him, but was he ready to take that step with her, he wasn’t sure. And there, in his thoughts, was Rose Tyler again. He had to stop thinking about her.

“It’s been ages since I’ve been to a dance,” Joan said, “But nobody’s asked me.”

John almost choked on thin air, “Well, I should imagine that you would be...um, I mean I never thought you'd be one for,” he took a step back from her, “I mean there's no reason why you shouldn't, if you do, you may not,” another step, “I probably won't, but even if I did then I couldn't....um, I mean I wouldn't want to-”

Joan interrupted him, “The stairs!”

“What about the stairs?”

“They’re right behind you,” Joan cried, reaching out for him. But it was too late. Books and papers flew everywhere as John Smith took another shaky step backwards and went tumbling down the stairs. Joan sighed, it seemed that man would do anything to get out of a date.

***

Ten minutes later, John was sat in his office and was allowing her to tend to a small wound on his forehead. He was making a lot of fuss. “Stop it,” Joan said, attempting to hide a smile, “I get small boys who complain less than you do.”

“It hurts,” John replied sulkily.

Joan was about to reply when the door to the room burst open and Martha charged in, dragging Miss Rose with her. “Are you alright?” they both asked looking rather panicked.

Joan frowned, “Excuse me, Martha, Miss Rose, but it's hardly good form to enter a master's study without knocking.”

“Sorry, right, yeah,” Martha said, rolling her eyes. She pulled Rose back with her and then knocked on the door before they both walked calmly back towards John. Joan couldn’t help notice that Rose seemed to be fighting giggles. Martha elbowed her, “But is he alright?” she asked Joan.

Rose coughed, composing herself, “We heard you fell down the stairs, Sir.”

John looked embarrassed, “It was just a little tumble, that’s all.”

Martha stepped forward, “Have you checked for concussion?” Rose winced.

Joan did not look happy, “I have. And I daresay I know a lot more about it than you.”

Martha suddenly remembered where she was, even as Rose stepped beside her and whispered, “1913.”

“Right, yes, sorry,” Martha muttered, shooting Rose a stressed look, “I’ll just, um,” she moved to his desk, “Tidy your things.”

John nodded, and moved to pick up his Journal, offering Rose a smile, “I was just telling Nurse Redfern about this Journal,” he said and Rose nodded, “I thought, since I’d shared it with you, it might be nice to share the stories with someone else.”

“Well they are interesting tales,” Rose smiled, looking up at Martha. The woman, who was pretending to clean, gave Rose a look that clearly said, ‘oh-this-is-so-not-good’. Rose was inclined to agree.

John turned to Joan, “I keep imagining I’m someone else.” Martha dropped a book. “And that I’m hiding from something.” Rose choked on nothing.

Joan was oblivious, “Hiding? In what way?”

“This is going to sound silly,” John admitted, but Joan squeezed his hand encouragingly, “I dream quite often that I have two hearts.” Martha slumped against the desk in shock at the same time as Rose fell backwards into an armchair. This was such a dangerous conversation to be having.

Joan smiled, reaching into her bag to pull out a stethoscope, “Well, I think I can be the judge of that,” she said, moving in front of John and placing the stethoscope to the left of his chest. Rose and Martha looked on, morbidly curious as Joan then placed the stethoscope to the right of his chest. She pulled it away with a smile, “I can confirm the diagnosis, just one heart. Singular.”

Martha turned to look at Rose who now looked rather distraught – Martha felt quite upset herself, and she’d been expecting him to only have one heart. Catching Rose’s eye, she mouthed, “Don’t panic.” Rose nodded, but she still looked close to tears. They had to get out of this room.

“As I’ve shared with Miss Rose, I’ve written some of these dreams down in the form of fiction, if you’d be interested in reading them?” John smiled at Joan.

“I’d be very interested.” He handed her the Journal. “‘John Smith’s Journal of Impossible Things’” she read, before beginning to flick through the pages. Rose started to panic, she was in that book. As a character. If Joan saw that, just what would she think?

Thankfully, John seemed to recognize this, “If you don’t mind, perhaps you could read it when I’m not here? I’m a little embarrassed, shall we say.”

Joan nodded, “Of course.” She stood, putting the Journal in her bag with her medical equipment, “I’ll see you later, Mr. Smith. Miss Rose, Martha.” With a curt nod and a smile, she turned and left the room.

Martha dropped the duster and Rose stood up from the chair, “We’ll just be going too,” Rose said, “Goodbye, Mr. Smith.”

Rose and Martha pounded down the corridor after Nurse Redfern, both calling out her name. She turned to look at them expectantly. Martha spoke first, “Ma’am, that book-”

Joan looked a little affronted, “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll look after it. He did say I could read it.”

“But it’s silly, that’s all,” Martha added with a smile.

Rose nodded, “Just stories.”

Joan suddenly became very serious, looking from Martha to Rose, and then back to Martha, “Who is he Martha?”

“I’m sorry?”

“It's like he's left the kettle on. Like…he knows he has something to get back to, but he can't remember what,” Joan said with a frown.

Martha laughed nervously, feeling Rose tense beside her, “Oh that’s just how he is.”

Joan nodded, “You arrived with him, didn't you? He found you employment here at the school, isn't that right?”

Martha nodded, “I used to work for the family. He just sort of inherited me.”

“And you,” Joan turned to Rose, “It’s almost as if he knows you, like he feels a connection with you.”

Rose swallowed, “I guess we’ve just clicked, is all?”

With a sigh, Joan gave up on her questioning, “Very well then girls, but, if you don’t mind me saying, you both seem a little familiar with him. You want to be careful.” She turned her back to them after that last comment and then continued her walk back to her office. “Enjoy your shopping,” she called.

“Yes ma’am,” the both chorused, although neither looked very amused.

“That was awkward,” Rose said after a few minutes.

“Yeah, and we were about as subtle as a freight train.” Rose laughed and then Martha continued, “Remind me why we’re goin’ shopping again?”

“I need a dress,” Rose grinned.

“Why?”

“Coz I’m goin’ t’the dance!”