Halfway Out Of The Dark || The Doctor

Gridlock

Martha was sat on the jump seat in the TARDIS watching the Time Lords working at the console. "Just one trip." the Doctor said, "That's what I said, one trip in the TARDIS, and then home. Although... I suppose we could stretch the definition."

"You've had one trip to the past, so how about one trip to the future, Martha?" the Artist suggested.

"Fine by me." Martha smiled.

"How about... A different planet?" the Doctor suggested.

"Can we go to yours?" Martha asked eagerly. Both Time Lords' faces fell, though Martha didn't notice.

"Nah, there's plenty of other places." the Doctor tried to wave the human off.

"Oh, come on, now. I mean, planet of the Time Lords, that's gotta be worth a look." Martha said, "What's it like?"

"Beautiful." the Artist murmured, gazing blankly at the time rotor.

"Is it like, ya know, outer space cities, all spires and stuff?" Martha asked, not noticing their discomfort.

"Suppose it is." the Doctor replied, doing his best to sound disinterested.

"Great big temples and cathedrals?"

"Yeah."

"With lots of planets in the sky?"

"The sky's a burnt orange." the Doctor said, remembering it all vividly, "With the citadel enclosed in a mighty glass dome, shining under the twin suns."

"And beyond that are the mountains, covered in red glass and caped with snow." the Artist added, fighting hard not to cry at the memories of their long lost home.

"Can we go there?" Martha asked, still oblivious to their sadness.

"Nah! Where's the fun for us?" the Doctor replied, bucking up suddenly, "We don't wanna go home. Instead..." He messed about with several controls. "This is much better. The year five billion and 53, planet New Earth!"

The Artist wasn't pleased with this at all. "I don't think that's such a good idea." she told him in telepathically.

"Why not?" the Doctor answered, also telepathically.

"Because Martha's not Rose. What's it gonna look like to Martha, us taking her to the same planet we took Rose?"

"What?"

"It's gonna look like we're trying to pretend that Martha's Rose."

"Oh, right, didn't think of it like that. Well in fairness, we didn't really see much of the planet with Rose, remember?"

"Alright." the Artist conceded, realising that he had a point, "But I'm still not happy with this."

"Second hope of Mankind." He dashed over to the Y-beam where he'd tossed his coat and slipped it on."50,000 light years from ya old world, and we're slap bang in the middle of New New York. Although, technically, it's the 15th New York since the original."

"Don't start that again." the Artist warned him. She wasn't at all happy with the Doctor's choice of planet. She personally would have chosen somewhere where they hadn't brought Rose, such as Midnight or Apalapucia.

"Alright, sorry." the Doctor replied, then turned to Martha. "One of the most dazzling cities ever built." He opened the door and ushered Martha outside, only to for them to find themselves in a dingy alleyway in the pouring rain.

"Oh, that's nice." Martha huffed, zipping her jacket up and pulling it over her head, "Time Lord version of dazzling."

"Here ya go, Martha." the Artist said, coming out with an umbrella and putting it up so that both she and Martha were protected from the rain.