THE ADVENTURES OF THE DOCTOR'S AMAZING HAND
Chapter Thirty One Martha walked behind her new friends as they hurried through the rest of the city. She felt it odd that suddenly here she was walking beside the woman she had been jealous of for months on end. The woman who had captured the heart of the man she had grown to love, the man she wished would love her in the same way. When she was first given this assignment from the Doctor, she thought it was folly. She didn't see how she was going to complete an around the world trek and spread the news to everyone even if she did have the vortex manipulator. But she loved the Doctor so much that she was willing to go blindly at his command even if she wasn't completely sure how to go about it. As she walked behind Rose, she studied her intently. She was pretty but she wasn't gorgeous, certainly not the kind of woman men would throw themselves at. Martha had always imagined someone more statuesque, more like a supermodel than the simple girl before her. She always imagined a tart like Annalisa, someone who manipulated and seduced men like her dad until they were spending every last pence on her. Rose didn't seem the type. She seemed like a sweet, down-to-Earth kind of girl and slowly Martha felt her resentment and jealousy draining away. Ianto also seemed like a nice guy. Very quiet and serious which surprised her because given what she knew about Jack, he didn't seem like his type. He was glad of his company though. Not because she couldn't handle herself. After all, she had learned much from the Doctor both directly and indirectly and it amazed her how she had gone from being a medical student to a warrior fighting the forces of evil in little less than a year. But the first night away from the Doctor was terrifying and lonely, especially with the Toclafane zooming around her head while they searched out prey. The screams and moans of unfortunate victims chilled her to the bone and more than once that night, she thanked the Doctor that he had come up with the idea of the perception filter. It worried her that her new friends didn't have the perception filters. If the Toclafane came along what were they going to do? She could probably loop the long string the key hung on around one of their necks and share the protection it afforded but not both of them. Then there was John. Martha wasn't sure how to react to the little hand or to the slightly disturbing relationship that existed between him and Rose. She had seen many odd things since traveling with the Doctor and had gotten used to them but sleeping with a severed hand and treating it like a human being topped them all. She supposed that it would take some time for her to get used to John like Rose and Ianto had done but still the thought of the severed hand in the jar being alive and being fawned over by Rose was creepy to her on so many levels. After awhile, Rose let John out of her jacket and the little hand scurried on ahead. Martha supposed it was keeping watch over them by the way it darted left and right. Again, her curiosity was peaked and she wondered how it could see and hear with no ears or eyes. The sight of John walking on his fingers seemed comical to her and any other time she would burst out laughing but all of them kept silent so they wouldn't draw any attention to themselves, not only from the Toclafane but also thugs and thieves who would rob and rape them if they could get away with it. The destruction of the city and the patrolling of the Toclafane had everyone on edge and Martha had witnessed more than one fight break out over nothing. These were dangerous, lawless times and they had to be careful or they'd end up dead. Around noon, they stopped to rest on a bench on a street they deemed safe enough. John rested below it while the three sat together and made plans. "So how did you go about informing the people about the Doctor?" Ianto asked Martha. "Did you just get everyone together in one big place and tell them?" "Sorta. I would try to go to several different places each day and have someone gather all the people together that they could find and then I'd talk to them and at the end I'd ask them to spread the word. "And everybody believed you, you didn't have anything thinkin' you were off your trolley?" Rose asked. Martha chuckled. "Oh there were quite a few people who thought that. I mean, it sounds daft when I tell it to people but I think for the most part people are willing to try anything now and they've told me they'll agree to call out the Doctor's name when the time is right." "And so far, no one's realized what you're doing," Ianto said. "I don't think so unless the Master has spies among the people which is a possibility," Martha said. "If I am caught, I have something I can show them that will hopefully throw them off the scent." "What is it?" Rose asked as John came out from under the bench to have a look. Martha paused and stared at him. John flipped onto his wrist and waved at her. Martha waved back and a small smile crept onto her face when John gave her a thumbs up. She reached into her rucksack and pulled out a black case. She unzipped it and showed them an air gun and three vials filled with colored liquid. "One bloke I talked to was a scientist and he let me stay at his house on the way out of London. He had this and some test tubes so I asked him if I could have them because I thought of a story I could use if I were caught." "And that is…" Ianto said. "Well, Time Lords can't be killed because they regenerate into new bodies. But I took these test tubes, filled them with water and added a bit of dye and my story is that Torchwood figured out how to kill a Time Lord stone dead and they invented this gun and four chemicals that when combined would do the job. I decided on carrying around three test tubes because I'll say that I needed to travel the world to find these chemicals because Torchwood hid them in different locations and I haven't found the last one yet. Course if we get captured early, which I hope we won't, I'll only show em one or two vials. It's not the best lie I've ever come up with but if it prevents them from learning the Doctor's true mission, it'll be worth it." John wondered to himself if that was a real possibility. He hated the thought of any one of his friends being captured and tortured by the Master. He knew the Master was capable of many things and wouldn't show them any mercy especially if it meant finding out the Doctor's plans. The thought of them screaming filled him with fear and dread and he resolved to do everything in his power to protect them. He noticed Martha staring at him with that odd look on her face and he wondered if she was going to be doing that the entire time they were together. He admitted that it wasn't normal for a hand to be alive but Rose and Ianto had accepted him without any problem. Then again, Rose and Ianto hadn't seen him floating in a jar on a table in the year one hundred trillion. In the end it really didn't matter to him if she accepted him or not. Rose loved him and that was all that mattered to him. After resting a bit, they ate some ham sandwiches and drank juice boxes. While they were doing that, John decided to explore the nearby surroundings, both to protect his friends and just out of sheer curiosity. He went under the bench and walked around the pavement, looking at the abandoned shops and cafes. One café had an outdoor patio and John noticed that the door leading out to it was ajar. He walked over to it and peeked inside for a moment. Confident no one was inside, he went through and began to explore. The café had been open during the initial attack since there were dishes left on the dusty tables with moldy food on them. John could only imagine the smell of the food and was thankful he didn't have a nose. There were overturned tables and chairs with broken dishes and glasses all over the floor. John went around them, careful not to get any porcelain or glass shards in his fingertips. "Depressin', isn't it?" John turned around and saw Rose walking towards him. He flipped up onto his wrist. Be careful, glass, he signed. Rose nodded. "It's terrible, all this devastation," Rose said, bending down next to him. "I don't know how the Doctor's gonna piece all this back together but I sure hope he can." She bent down and stroked his back. "John, I get the funny feeling Martha doesn't like me very much but I can't figure out why. I just see her giving me these weird looks every once in awhile and then she looks away if I catch her doin' it. I don't know what I did to her though, I barely know her." John thought about that. He hadn't noticed Martha looking at Rose but his attention had been focused on their surroundings and any sign of the Toclafane. I'm sure she likes you, Rose, he finally signed. She's probably trying to adjust to us being here especially since she was on her own before. Rose lowered her voice. "Yeah, but…I think she's upset because I traveled with the Doctor and now she's doin' it and maybe it's sorta like the situation between me and Sarah Jane. When I saw Sarah Jane, I was jealous because up until then I thought the only companions he ever had were me and Jack and I thought I had been his only female companion. Maybe Martha's the same way. Maybe the Doctor didn't tell her about me." That could be a possibility, John signed. If that's the case, then she's probably in shock and needs time to adjust to you being here. Don't worry, Rose. I think you and her will be friends in time. Rose nodded. "Yeah, I hope so. That's what happened with me and Sarah Jane. We worked out our differences and became good friends. God, Sarah Jane, I hope she's not dead and… Rose , hide! John signed. Rose didn't think, she quickly scooped John up and hid behind an overturned table with him just as a Toclafane entered the building and began to search around.
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