Untold Knowledge (Doctor Who x Genius Fem! Oc) [Book 1]

Chapter 92: The Lazarus Experiment

"There we go. Perfect landing. Which isn't easy in such a tight spot." the Doctor said with a slight air of smugness at the accomplishment.

Echo rolled her eyes with an amused smile. "The only reason it's so perfect is because I did most of the work." she corrected playfully.

"I can dream, woman." he shot back, his grin widening.

"You should be used to tight spots by now." Martha added then looked to the doors excitedly. "Where are we?" her imagination running wild with all the possibilities she could think of. She was just as excited for all she couldn't anticipate as well.

The Time Lord looked at her with an unreadable expression. "The end of the line. No place like it." As her smile grew and she quickly went to exit the Tardis, Echo couldn't help but sigh in disappointment.

Martha's smile instantly dropped upon discovering their familiar location. "Home. You took me home?" The despondency that laced her words was obvious; making Echo frown with equal bother. She had genuinely grown to greatly enjoy her new friend's company. To her, Martha had a unique mind and a helpful outlook on life. Being around her was refreshing. She didn't want to leave her behind so soon in their blossoming relationship.

"In fact, the morning after we left, so you've only been gone about twelve hours. No time at all, really." the Doctor informed casually, looking to have a clean break.

She gave him a saddened look of disbelief. "But all that stuff we've done. Shakespeare, New New York, old New York?" She felt almost desperate to buy some more time, wanting them to stick around for as long as possible.

Echo remained in glum silence as he nodded. "Yep, all in one night, relatively speaking. Everything should be just as it was. Books, CDs, laundry. So, back where you were, as promised." He didn't want to show it, but he too had grown fond of the perceptive medical student.

"This is it?" The feeling of abandonment crashed through her most unexpectedly.

The Doctor didn't quite realize what both women felt towards the departure. "Yeah, we should probably--"

Cutting him off, Martha's phone began to ring before the answering machine started up. "Hi, I'm out. Leave a message." came her voice followed by a beep. She gave them an apologetic expression before listening to the message being left for her.

"Martha, are you there? Pick it up, will you?" they heard a woman's voice.

She then brushed the call aside. "It's Mum. I'll wait." she muttered quietly and continued listening.

"All right, then. Pretend that you're out if you like. I was only calling to say that your sister's on TV. On the news of all things. Just thought you might be interested." Moments later, the message ended.

With confusion, Martha immediately turned her television on and went straight to the news. They were then able to see her sister standing silently beside an elderly man, to whom was making an announcement. "Tonight, I will demonstrate a device which will redefine our world."

"She's got a new job. PR for some research lab." Martha explained to the carefully watching couple.

"With the push of a single button, I will change what it means to be human." the man went on, causing Echo to quirk an eyebrow in interest.

Not hearing anything of interest to her, Martha turned the TV off with a shrug of indifference and turned back to her friends. "Sorry. You were saying, you should..."

Slowly coming back to himself, the Doctor nodded quickly. "Yes, yes, we should. One trip is what we said." he reminded mainly himself, trying to push his own wants and desires aside.