The Girl in the Box (Doctor Who)

Martha's Turn in the TARDIS

~~~~~ The Doctor's POV ~~~~~

The morning following Gem and I's "date night," we met at the console after getting ready. I wore my usual pinstriped suit and added my trench coat, while the Gemstone was clad in her leather jacket, red vest, dark skinny jeans, and laced combat boots; an outfit I had grown to admire the style of.

"Shall we go collect Martha?" Gem grinned from across the glowing console, which shined brighter wherever she touched. I knew that the TARDIS had grown incredibly fond of her over the past few weeks, purring in agreement with her almost non-stop.

"You can drive," I sighed, knowing the TARDIS wanted Gem to drive, mostly because she was a little more gentle, although as much of a terrible driver as I was.

"Such a gentleman," she smirked, letting the TARDIS guide her fingers to the correct levers, which she never did with me.

The TARDIS landed quietly, and the TARDIS' CCTV swiveled to show us the view from outside, in an alleyway a few hours after the hospital incident.

Gem allowed me to push open the doors with a sharp flick of my wrist, and we stepped into the damp alley with our hands clasped together. We moved towards the end of it, stopping to lean on the wall when we heard people shouting at each other.

Martha was a bystander of her family's quarrel, a brouhaha between her mother, father, and her father's lover.

She sighed heavily when her father and his rather orange-looking partner ran to their car to avoid the squabble, but glanced at the alley.

Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Gem and I. She made the mistake of looking back at her family, something she'll eventually learn not to do if she travels with us.

Gem took the opportunity to drag me back next to the TARDIS, where we both instinctively leaned against it casually, waiting for Martha to become curious enough to look for us.

We both knew we were testing her, seeing if she could earn a frequent fliers pass. If her personality was enough of a match and her compassion was far above the normal human capacity, she would become a part of the time-traveling crew.

It was merely a few seconds before we saw Martha peek into the alleyway and spot us, to which she sighed in content.

"I went to the moon today," she said in more of disbelief than shock, only just starting to believe her words.

"A bit more peaceful than down here," Gem nodded in the direction of Martha's family.

"You never even told me who you are," Martha shook her head while she moved closer to us, noticeably conflicted with talking to alien strangers in a dark alley.

"I'm the Doctor. She's the Gemstone," I answered, letting her figure out the puzzle of who we are.

"But what sort of species?" Martha asked as calmly as possible. "It's not everyday I get to ask that," she chuckled to herself, looking down at the ground.

"I'm a Time Lord," I told her casually, still letting the TARDIS support my weight.

"And I'm a Time Lady," Gem smiled warmly at Martha, instead of the expressionless look I was giving her.

"Right. Not pompous at all then," Martha smirked, her words as sarcastic as possible.

"I just thought," I pulled out my replaced sonic from my coat pocket and tossed it in the air, catching it without having to look, something Gem always pesters me about. "Since I've got a brand-new sonic screwdriver which needs road testing, you might fancy a trip," I rid myself of my blank face and smiled, adding emotions to my speech and letting the excitement seep trough my words.