Chapter Text
The Doctor could sense something was wrong, he could feel a rift in the fabric of reality like a chill down his spine, he could feel the world around him shatter, everything falling apart and suddenly he was far away, he couldn't see his TARDIS, he couldn't find his best friend Donna, he couldn't even tell where he was. "Donna? DONNA!!! WHERE ARE YOU?" he yelled, looking everywhere, but he couldn't see anything but a big flash in front of him. Where was he and what had happened? He tried to force his mind to work, but all he remembered was returning from his recent adventure that had been particularly emotional for him and calibrating the TARDIS to go to his next destination, Donna was at his side, but suddenly they were caught in an unusual turbulence and this Flash appeared... and there it was. Something was definitely wrong and he had to find out what it was, he had to find Donna and find a way to get them back to the TARDIS from wherever they were at that moment. He started running even though he felt like he wasn't moving, as if he were on a treadmill, but he couldn't find it in himself to stop, he had to find his friend, he couldn't lose her, then suddenly a voice rang out.
“D…D-DOCTOR?” It was distorted and low but he recognized it as a vaguely familiar female voice "Donna? Is that you?" he asked, turning to see if he saw anyone but there was no one there besides him, he seemed alone. Just as he was about to convince himself that he had heard things, the voice sounded again, still distant and with a low noise, as if the person were speaking with a microphone stuck in the throat. “DOCTOR? A-A-ARE YOU….THE-THERE?” It all sounded like an old, out-of-tune television, and slowly he could see a figure a few feet away, next to that voice, a pixelated figure, almost as if it were actually appearing on an old, distorted TV. He squinted as if that would help him see better. The figure in front of him was oscillating, like radio waves, gradually forming, still blurry. “DOCTOR?” The voice spoke more clearly this time and he froze, he was finally able to recognize the voice and only then did he see the shape of the figure in front of him take on a clearer form... Rose Tyler. He felt himself losing his breath and more than immediately tried to run to her but he kept running without moving. Even trying to speed up he couldn't get out of where he was, he was distressed, he felt tears forming in his eyes and tried to scream for her to hear "Rose!!!" She seemed to hear him but just looked at him from afar giving him a sad smile, he felt the sincerity in that smile destroy him. “DOCTOR, I HAD TO WARN YOU, IT'S COMING, YOU NEED TO STOP IT!” She told him, sounding as distressed as he was, "Stop what? What's coming? What's happening, Rose?" He asked even faster than he thought possible, but she understood him. “THE END OF EVERYTHING IS APPROACHING! ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT IT, OTHERWISE EVERYTHING WILL BE DESTROYED!”
The doctor was suddenly terrified "What are you talking about?" Rose then approached him, she finally got really close to him and he felt a little more relieved but still alarmed, he wanted to hug her but his arms wouldn't move, he wanted to get even closer but his legs were frozen and stiff, the image of Rose in front of him was still a little unreal, almost like a hologram and he found himself in the same scene as when they said goodbye but with her being untouchable this time. She placed her hand close to his face as if to touch it but not quite touching it, as if she knew she couldn't actually touch him. She had a determined but depressed look in her eyes, and tears were slowly falling from them. "TWO WORDS, JUST TWO” She said it calmly, but it reverberated like a deafening thunder. “BAD WOLF” She whispered finally, and then her form before him began to glow, first her eyes, then her entire body, in a blinding yellow light like the sun. Then the Doctor felt himself falling, lower and lower, lower and lower, and suddenly he felt the consciousness of the TARDIS in his mind. She said nothing to him, but he could read one word in the mental tug she gave him: HELP. Then everything went black, and he could only feel himself free-falling with no chance of reaching solid ground…
The world around him seemed to spin endlessly, stars exploding behind his eyes, his senses lost and he was just floating around, his eyes remained closed and he tried to regain his consciousness, he could feel something around him, holding him, shaking him, no, it wasn't something, it was someone he realized and only then could the doctor hear beyond the background buzzing in his mind to actually hear someone calling his name.
"Doctor...?" he heard it softly, a thin tone that could almost be a whisper, almost like a bright light at the end of the tunnel, blinking in warning and so distant it was almost imperceptible. The voice rose from a whisper and gradually grew louder, until he recognized it. It was a sweet voice, a welcoming voice, a soothing voice that he had heard only in his dreams for some time. Suddenly, everything seemed very tangible. He could feel everything around him, he could feel himself on solid ground again, he could feel himself reaching that distant light. He blinked, slowly opening his eyes and seeing that in the center of that light was someone, the only person who could pull him out of whatever daze he was trapped in, his most beautiful and brightest star of all, the one he thought he had lost a long time ago. "Martha...?" he asked in a hoarse and barely intelligible voice, but she seemed to understand. Her beautiful features, which had previously expressed clear concern, turned to relief, and she smiled slightly at him.
He missed that smile so much, he missed her there with him. For a moment, he wondered if this was another one of his dreams in the TARDIS's consciousness. But then she gently placed her hand on his face and caressed his cheek, giving him a reassuring smile, and he knew for sure, it was her! He really was with her! "You're okay!" she said, excited and relieved at the same time. He couldn't help but grab her hand with his, keeping it on his face, and finally, he placed a soft kiss on the palm against his cheek, smiling in a silly, drunken way. "Now I am.” He watched her blush slightly, but also gave him a confused look, as if she didn't understand why he did that. He understood that after everything they had been through, it was really unusual of him, but he couldn't help but do it. She then took his face in both hands, turning it gently as if she were inspecting him. Massaging the back of his head, he involuntarily leaned into her touch, until he felt a sharp pain where she touched him. "Ouch!" he grunted. Martha frowned, looking in his pockets, she found the sonic screwdriver and took it out, turning on the light. She still knew how to use it very well; he would never tire of admiring her knowledge. She pointed the light at his eyes, observing him closely. "Hmm, you have a clear concussion, you must still be a little out of it," she concluded. He didn't know what she was talking about, he still felt a little dizzy but nothing out of the ordinary, he was just grateful that she was there with him, that she was taking care of him again, he missed this so much that he couldn't even focus on a specific point of the light she pointed in his eyes, he just stared at her, helpless, he didn't seem to care about anything else other than her being there with him and Martha looked at him alarmed.
"Doctor, do you remember how you got here? Or why did you come here?" she asked calmly. He knew what she was doing, she was assessing how conscious he was so she could tell if the concussion had been too strong. It was something simple, but for some reason, he didn't pay attention to what she was actually asking him, just how much he missed seeing her in action like that. The Doctor Martha Jones, taking care of him like in the old days. "Huh, the important thing is that I found you..." he said simply, hugging her and letting himself sink into it. Martha is taken aback and he feels her stiffen in his tight embrace, but he can't quite wrap his head around it as he smells her sweet scent again, as he feels her body pressed against his after so long. He just wanted to stay there forever, even though he knew it wasn't really possible, but he didn't care at that moment. "I missed you so much," he murmurs against her neck. Martha seems to make an effort to gently push him away. "Doctor?" she calls him in a confused tone, but he can't quite grasp it, he's just happy to hear her voice calling his name again, her real voice.
"Er... Martha? Is everything okay here?" A third voice spoke, and the doctor shivered at the sound of it. He refused to believe he was hearing that voice again. He looked up in disbelief to see Tom, Martha’s fiancé, standing near where he stood with her, at the door of a house he knew well, the house they had bought to live in together after six months of dating. The younger man stared at him with a certain suspicion, but more confusion than anything, seemingly clueless. The doctor stared blankly for a few long seconds, then felt Martha manage to break free from his embrace and look at him with an analytical gaze. The doctor's eyes, however, went to her hands, the hand he'd felt on his face, the one he'd kissed, and only then did he see the ring. The same ring he'd seen when Martha accepted Tom's marriage proposal months ago, the same ring that had been etched in his eyes ever since. He remembered the light sensation of something in Martha's hand when he'd kissed her. Only then did he realize he was regaining his senses beyond hers, feeling the street he'd fallen on, feeling the cold night air, seeing the darkness of the night around him, the blinding light of the moon that illuminated Martha in front of him, making her seem almost ethereal. He finally noticed the TARDIS behind him, parked on that street right in front of Martha and Tom's house. Their house...they were going to get married. The Doctor had lost Martha forever. He was alone. He had to move on with Donna. Where...where was Donna? What had happened? He only remembered…Bad Wolf! The end of everything is approaching! He shook his head suddenly, very disoriented, feeling like he was falling again, but he felt Martha's arms catch him before he could. "Doctor? Look at me, stay calm, I'll take you inside and we'll take care of you, Tom come help me carry him," she asked, her voice becoming low in his ears again.
He was almost glad to have Martha to hold him again, until he heard her call her fiancé, she put her hand on his face again as if to keep him looking at her, but unlike the first time he could only see beyond her, he could see Tom approaching to help him, he could see their house nearby stretching across that entire land as if to leave him cornered and with no way out and in Martha's delicate hand he felt above all the sensation of her wedding ring against his face again, but this time it was as if the touch burned, as if the irritating glow of that particular jewel was fire and he staggered back trying to get back to the TARDIS but tripping soon after and falling into the bushes nearby. He felt all those extreme feelings and doubts overwhelm him in the pit of his stomach, until they actually burst out of him and he violently vomited into the bushes, only then remembering having eaten an entire banana bread before all this mess happened. "Well... I guess that solves our plant fertilizer situation." Tom's playful voice came from behind him, and the doctor turned to him, giving him a piercing look that he was sure indicated the oncoming storm, which seemed to startle him a little, but he didn't move away, nor did Martha, who smiled sincerely at him, still looking worried. That last serene look she gave him was all it took for him to let himself fall back and be swallowed again by the darkness.