We Will Rise |2| The Ascension

Chapter Fourteen: Human Nature

The Doctor, McKenzie, and Martha ran into the TARDIS, ducking down to avoid an energy blast. "Get down," the Time Lord ordered, before slamming the door shut to block the weapons. "Did they see you?" he asked as they pulled their hoods down, McKenzie shedding her jacket entirely.

"I don't know," Martha shrugged, breathing heavily.

"But did they see you?"

"I don't know," McKenzie repeated. "We were too busy running."

"Kez, it's important. Did they see your face?"

"No, they couldn't have," she replied, frowning. "The speed I run at?"

The Doctor nodded, setting the TARDIS into flight. "Off we go!" The ship jolted severely, making them groan as they hit the console. "Argh! They're following us."

"How can they do that?" Martha frowned. "You've got a time machine."

"Stolen technology," McKenzie explained. "They've got a Time Agent's vortex manipulator. They can follow us wherever we go, right across the universe. They're never going to stop."

"Unless... We'll have to do it," the Doctor muttered. "Girls, you trust me, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Martha replied instantly. McKenzie narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend.

"Because it all depends on you, Mar," he said, patting her shoulders.

"Kas? What are you on about?" McKenzie asked, suspicious.

He took out an ornate pocket watch, and grabbed her wings-shaped pendant from her toolbelt. "We have to do it," he replied, wincing as her eyes widened in shock and fear. "We have to change."

"No, no, no, no. No! We can't! Please, Kas, I can't lose this. Not now. The pain... You know how much it hurts!" she protested.

Martha frowned. "What does? What am I supposed to do?"

The Doctor turned to her, holding out his fob watch. "Take this watch, because my life depends on it. This watch, Martha. The watch is—"

***

John Smith woke abruptly to the sound of a clock ticking rhythmically. He sat up, hearing a knock at the door. "Come in," John called, getting out of bed.

His Italian maid-servant, Kezia Di Angelo, walked in, carrying a breakfast tray. She wore a black and white pinafore dress, her coppery hair tied back in a bun. The pendant she always wore was hanging around her neck as normal, a family heirloom, he thought. When she saw John was still in his pyjamas, she gasped, turning her back and blushing. "Spiacente, signore! You not dressed yet. I come back later?" (Sorry, sir!)

John shook his head, slipping on his dressing gown. "No, it's all right, it's all right. Put it down." He gestured to a free area on his desk. "I was, er... Sorry, sorry. Sometimes I have these extraordinary dreams."

Kezia placed the tray down as directed, and crossed the room to undrawn the curtains, glancing at John as she did so. "What about, signore?"

"I dream I'm this adventurer. This daredevil, a madman. The Doctor, I'm called. And last night, I dreamt you were there, as my..." John trailed off, looking away.

"A teacher and a housemaid, signore?" Kezia asked, raising her eyebrows. "È impossibile."

"Quite. I'm sure your friend Martha was present, too." John shook his head. "I'm a man from another world, though."

Kezia eyed him. "It cannot be true. There is no thing."

"No such thing," John corrected, smiling a little.