Chapter Text
"Martha, change of plans." The Doctor called out into a corridor from the console of the TARDIS, "Picking up some strange signals from Earth."
Martha came into the room, somewhat annoyed, but understanding as always. "What? You keep tabs on the earth at all times or something?"
"Actually, yes." The Doctor looked at the readings closely, "Oh, that's weird. That's really odd."
"What's odd?" Martha looked at the screen but didn't have a sense of what it meant.
"Time energy remnants, like something was there and just... vanished." The Doctor went and changed their direction to be right for Earth in 2007, London to be exact. The TARDIS materialized on the property of an old abandoned house. He stepped out of the box to look around, Martha following.
"You sure you didn't just latch on to an old bit of time itself, this place looks like it hasn't been touched in ages." Martha shivered, felt like she was being watched.
The Doctor didn't even respond before he turned around and saw it. His eyes went wide and he didn't dare move an inch. "Martha, get in the TARDIS now. I'll be right behind you."
Martha walked over to him to see what he was looking at, "Seriously, you're stuck on a statue? Can't be that dangerous, it's stone, isn't it?" It was a statue of an angel, it seemed as though it was crying, weeping.
"Martha, please. Just listen to me and get in the box. It's not just a statue." The Doctor pushed her lightly towards the TARDIS, not breaking eye contact, not blinking.
Martha sighed as she stepped into the TARDIS. Shortly after her, she saw The Doctor enter, still looking in the direction of the angel statue she'd seen. His gaze then turned to face Martha. "Right then, guess it's time," He rushed over past the console and down the hall to the library. From a safe hidden in the shelves, he pulled out a purple plastic folder. "Remember that girl I got stopped by a couple weeks ago, Sally Sparrow?" The Doctor asked gently.
"Sort of. A funny sort of girl she was. I mean I know we travel in time, but I don't think I've ever seen someone else tell you about your future before." Martha hadn't heard the conversation, she just remembered what she'd been told when asking about the folder.
The Doctor gently opened the folder and pulled out the picture of the wall with writing on it. "She said we'd get stuck in 1969. I wasn't sure how that would happen, how we'd get stuck without the TARDIS. These pictures give proof however." He flipped through them till he found the one she'd taken of most likely the same statue he'd seen outside, "I briefly checked through so I understood what to look for to ensure I had the folder with me and found this-" He showed it to Martha- "A Lonely Assasin, otherwise known as a Weeping Angel."
He put the pictures back and headed back towards the console room. "Unfortunately I also believe we don't exactly end up there on purpose so I think we might as well find out what we can about why they're here."
"And just wait for it to touch us?!" Martha walked in front of him, "Doctor, if this thing is dangerous and we've been warned, why can't we just avoid it?"
"Because she told me it's going to happen. Established events." The Doctor gave a very knowing look to Martha. She nodded, getting not to bring it up further. "Now then," The Doctor continued, "Let's learn what they're here for." He headed back out of the TARDIS with her and promptly tried to pretend the angel wasn't likely still there.
Martha walked with him, taking a slight peak at the statue that had gotten closer than before. "What I don't even get is what a Weeping Angel is. You talked about temporal energy earlier, does it have to do with that?"
"Look at you, Martha Jones. Clever as ever, " The Doctor nodded as he walked into the house, no sonic entry needed since many people had broken in before, "The Weeping Angels in fact feed off of the energy, displacing people into the past before they were born and using the energy of the time that they never got to spend after their birth"
"And it looks like a statue because?-"
"They're Quantum-Locked. Anything looks at them and they freeze in place as a defense, can't kill a stone." The Doctor walked into the room that had wallpaper matching one of the images, "And they are incredibly fast, faster than you could ever imagine." His focus shifted to the wall, "This wallpaper is intact, how did she get the message under it?" He went up to it and put his ear against it.
Martha noticed a rather new phone on the ground, "Doctor, someone was here recently." She picked it up and flipped it open, "This person match any of the pictures?" She walked over to him, them sort of meeting in the middle of the room. The Doctor put his glasses on and took the phone from her hand.
"No, but there hasn't exactly been much evidence of many going missing. So small feeding, Why is this place not full of evidence of missing people?" The Doctor looked out at the garden where the angel was.
"Also, you said these things were fast, right? So shouldn't we already be back in 1969?"
The Doctor looked at Martha again, "Another good question. This place just keeps bringing up question after question, Angels being careful about who they take and not just coming right for us. How do they connect?"
"My suggestion is we get the hell out of here. Maybe she was wrong, or it's not yet. We can just get in the TARDIS and leave."
The Doctor huffed, "Oh alright, if you're so desperate." He pulled out a TARDIS key on a chain, "If I don't come back in an hour you come looking for me though, alright?"
"Yep, got it." Martha took the key and started walking over to the TARDIS, on her way over she suddenly felt something touch her. When she turned around she wasn't in the house anymore and the key was missing from her hand, she must've dropped it. "Doctor? Doctor!" She ran down the street sidewalk she was on slightly when she noticed a newspaper stand. She picked a copy of it up and looked at the date, "1969... Oh, he better catch up soon I am not getting stuck here alone."
The Doctor went back over to the wallpaper and went to a corner where it seemed like was the spot the writing should start and tried to pull it just slightly free, just enough to catch someone's attention later. After managing to do so he turned around, something felt far further off than before. "Martha?!" He walked over towards the TARDIS when he noticed the key on the ground still inside the house, he picked it up. "1969... wait a minute, she couldn't have dropped the key on her own? So... They want the TARDIS." He turned around finding himself face to face with the same angel that touched Martha.
"So, you want my ship, all the time you could eat up in the world and become as powerful as you want." The Doctor walked closer to the angel, "Good luck with that. I happen to know I have someone I can trust quite well with stopping you, so go on." He dropped the key but willingly and purposefully blinked. Indeed the angel went ahead and touched him. At the same time, the sound of sirens approached with Police soon entering.
The Doctor landed awkwardly on the ground as he was sent back, landing in an alley. "Ow! could've been gentler." He got up and headed out onto the street, checking he had the folder with him. He picked it up off of the ground and walked out onto the street, a couple of streets away from the one Martha was on. He kept a casual pace as he pulled out his sonic, listening for what setting it was on to find one that should hopefully be able to track her down. "Ah! There we go! Not perfect, but it'll work for now." He put his hand out and followed the slow bleeping of the sonic, waiting for it to speed up.
He rounded a corner and it picked up speed quite a bit, he looked around and luckily found Martha standing across the road, "Martha!"
Martha looked up, hearing her name called by the familiar voice, "Doctor!" She smiled brightly and made a quick dash across the street and hugged him. She quickly backed off and hit him in frustration, "Don't do that to me! For a moment I thought I was going to be stuck here alone."
"Well, i'm here and i'm fine. Now we should probably go looking for an old friend of hers, She'll still be a good bit older, but should be alive. Need her to write a letter." The Doctor looked around and noticed a nearby convenience store and walked to it.
"So just right to it then? How comes that?"
"They want and have the TARDIS, all the energy in the universe to feed off of in there. I can't risk the timeline getting altered and Sally's history changing."
"We're gonna have to buy a house or something, It's not like any of this will necessarily get to her quickly." Martha laughed, anyone who knew The Doctor knew he wasn't one to settle down.
"Ugh, well, at least I've got you to help."