We Will Rise |2| The Ascension

Chapter Ten: The Lazarus Experiment

The TARDIS landed, and the Doctor put on the handbrake, smiling nervously over at McKenzie, who was curled up on the jump seat with half a mug of tea. "There we go. Perfect landing. Which isn't easy in such a tight spot."

McKenzie scoffed. "You should be used to tight spots by now." She took a sip. "Where are we, anyway?"

"Mar's flat," he replied, moving to sit next to her. "I thought she might want to see her mum and stuff."

"It better not have been twelve months again," the redhead said pointedly. "Mum was livid."

The Doctor made a face. "I did apologise for that."

"Where are we, then?" Martha questioned as she bounded into the console room. The Doctor nodded his head towards the door, and she grinned, opening it to find her flat. She frowned. "Home. You took me home?"

"In fact, the morning after we left," the Doctor called, following her out as McKenzie went back to the kitchen to dispose of her mug. "So you've only been gone about twelve hours. No time at all, really."

"But all the stuff we've done. Shakespeare, New New York, old New York?" Martha trailed.

"Yep, all in one night, relatively speaking. Everything should be just as it was. Books, CDs, laundry." The Doctor eyed her clothes horse. "So, back where you were, as promised."

"This is it?" Martha inquired, shocked.

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, I should probably—" He was cut off by Martha's phone ringing.

"Hi, I'm out, leave a message," the answerphone trilled in Martha's peppy voice as McKenzie returned, peering around curiously.

"I'm sorry," the real Martha muttered, sighing.

"Martha, are you there?" the woman's mum, Francine Jones, questioned. "Pick it up, will you?"

"It's Mum," Martha shrugged. "It'll wait."

Francine huffed. "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." She rang off, and Martha turned on the TV to see her sister Tish standing behind an older man who was making an announcement.

"How could Tish end up on the news?" Martha wondered, frowning.

"Tonight, I will demonstrate a device which will redefine our world," the old man was saying.

"She's got a new job," Martha explained. "PR for some research lab."

"With the push of a single button, I will change what it means to be human," the man said, cut off when Martha turned her TV off.

"Sorry. You were saying we should...?"

"Yes, yes, we should," the Doctor nodded awkwardly. "One trip is what we said."

"Yeah," Martha sighed. "I suppose things just kind of escalated."

"Mmm," McKenzie agreed, raising a cutting eyebrow at the Doctor. "Seems to happen to you a lot."

"Thank you. For everything," Martha said gratefully.

"It was our pleasure," the Doctor told her. He and McKenzie retreated into the TARDIS, and he piloted it away.

"What was that?" McKenzie asked, pointing over her shoulders at the doors with her thumb.

The Doctor winced. "I think she misunderstood a bit." A strange look crossed his face.

McKenzie noticed, and frowned. "What?" She rolled her eyes when he didn't answer, instead piloting back to Martha's flat and sticking his head out.