SPACEMAN AND THE MOON ― doctor who

thirty-one ; gridlock part two

chapter thirty-one : gridlock

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"MARTHA!"

Luna's hair whipped behind her shoulders as she turned her head, relief flooding her head at the sight of the Doctor. He looked around, terror written on his face until he spotted her, leaning against a brick wall at the bottom of the stairs. He raced down the steps, pulling her into his arms only a moment later, his hands shaking against her skin.

"God, Luna," he breathed out, cupping her face in his hands. "I'm so sorry, I should've seen them, I--are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

Luna shook her hand, lip trembling, eyes wide and full of fear. He planted a kiss on her forehead, resting his own against hers.

"I'm fine, Doc," she whispered. "We have to get Martha," she pulled away from him, guilt stretching over her features. "It's may fault, I should have fought harder and grabbed her. I had the dream and I made us come here and now she's--"

He moved his thumbs across her cheeks gently, wiping away the tears that slipped from her eyes. "You listen here, it is not your fault. I'm responsible for both of you and it's my fault you were in that situation. Let's get her back, alright?"

Luna nodded, pulling her face from his hands and taking a shaky breath. "Yeah, let's go get our girl."

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The Doctor banged his fist against the door to the shop, a dark look on his face. Luna stood next to him, arms crossed with a cold expression.

"I thought you'd come back," the shopkeeper who'd sold the forget to the woman prior greeted them, "do you want some happy-happy?"

"Those people, who were they?" The Doctor questioned aggressively. "Where did they take her?"

The man in another stand opened his window. "They've taken her to the motorway."

"Looked like carjackers to me."

Another shopkeeper spoke up. "I'd give up now, darlings. You won't see her again."

"Used to be thriving, this place," the male shopkeeper told them. "You couldn't move. But they all go to the motorway in the end."

Luna's face hardened. "You listen up, sweetheart and you listen good. Martha's my friend. I'm not giving up on her. You better start packing up your things because when we find her, and we will, your shop's going to close," she looked around to the other shopkeepers, her voice raising. "Every last one. All your fucking drugs are going down the drain and if I see any of you by the time we come back, I promise I will make your lives hell. So tell me what the damn deal is with this motorway or so help me god, none of you will make it 'till tomorrow."

The Doctor stared at her for a moment, expressionless, his eyes filling with anger as he looked around to the shopkeepers. They looked startled by Luna's declaration, and glanced at her fearfully. "He kept on saying three, we need three. What did he mean, three?"

"It's the car-sharing policy," the woman from before spoke up shakily, watching Luna with caution. "To save fuel."

Luna's hands clenched into fists. "Save fuel," she whispered, shaking her head. "They used her to save fuel! Like she's a fucking object you can toss out when you're done! No, I'm not having it. What does that mean? Car-sharing?"

"You get special access if you're carrying three adults."

"What special access?"

"This motorway, how do we get there?"