To Be Human

Chapter 13 - Welcome back, Oracle

Welcome back, Oracle -

"I didn't even bring any extra clothes", Martha laughed as they reentered the Tardis.

She was covered in slime, just like the Doctor and her best friend after they'd encountered a giant blob-like creature that had intended to consume a city. They managed to dissolve the creature with the right substances and the chemical reaction had blown right onto them, covering their fancy clothes from the night before in slime.

The Time Lords laughed, "The Tardis will show you to your room if you want. There should be an en-suite and some clothes in there."

"I have a room?", Martha asked, letting out an excited laugh.

"Yeah, of course, if we're going to stick around, we'll need a bed and a loo and a shower. Can't just hop from one adventure to the next without washing the slime off in-between", her best friend replied, taking off her shoes.

Martha smiled brightly and turned to the blinking light the Tardis showed her to lead the way. She jumped up giddily and followed it. The Oracle turned back to the Doctor as she took out the clip that held her hair back.

"Er, I guess I was just wondering where I should go?", she spoke up.

"How do you mean?", he looked at her confused.

He had taken off his coat, put it over a beam and ran a hand through his hair.

"Do I- Do I have my own room? Or do I go back to, er, our room?"

She felt terribly nervous about the talk they were going to have about everything. Their relationship, their future, their past, everything they'd missed in the last few years.

He turned to the console, trying not to look at her, "The Tardis can get you your own room", her hearts stopped and he looked up, searching her face for a response, "Or you could go to our room. I didn't change anything about it. I mean, well, I switched out my clothes for all these suits", he gestured down to his clothes, "But your stuff is... It's just where you left it."

They both looked down, thinking back to when the Time War broke out. She had left in a dash to do her part as he tried to stay away from the fighting. Nothing about it was just, innocent people died, everyone had to fight for themselves, even children were just handed weapons as their parents couldn't protect them anymore.

"I'm sorry, Theta. I never said that I supported the decision to go to war. The Daleks declared war and everyone had to fight but I'm not saying that the High Council handled it correctly. They did nothing to protect the people but I had to do my part."

"And your part was to do what they said? To fight? You just followed orders?", his eyes stung with angry tears and she took a step back.

"I did follow orders but they weren't to fight. I was told to go to Skaro. I was still responsible for interplanetary relations. They hoped I'd go and negotiate our way out but I didn't make it. Something happened, I don't know what, and then I woke up at Holy Heart."

"You were going to Skaro? On your own?", he asked in disbelief.

"Yes! It's what I did. Convention fifteen of the Shadow Proclamation, I talked, I negotiated. I did that for hundreds of years", she said.

"You could have stayed away, with me!"

"Our children were there! You were so mad at the High Council for the way they handled things you didn't even consider that", her angry tears were flowing now.

"I told them we'd take them but they wanted to stay. They were grown-ups. I let them make their own decisions."

"They were our children! No matter their age, we should have done everything in our power to keep them safe!"