john_amend_all

Title: An Escape Plan
Author: John Elliott
Characters: Second Doctor; Jamie McCrimmon; Zoe Heriot; Martha Jones.
Rating:G
Word count: ~1450
Disclaimer: "Doctor Who" is the property of the BBC.
Summary: How might Episode 9 of The War Games have gone, had Martha been part of the TARDIS crew?
Spoilers: New series season 3, classic series season 6.
Notes: Inspired by a discussion of the consequences of adding Martha to the Season 6 team. Thanks to biichan for beta-reading and encouragement.

The ragtag band of rebels took up positions around the entrances to the War Zones control room. Their situation was secure, at least for now; but all of them knew how quickly that temporary advantage could be overturned.

The Doctor dismissed military matters from his mind, and drew his three companions to one side.

"This," he said, "Is where we say goodbye." He forced himself to ignore their shocked expressions. "The Time Lords will return you home."

"Well," Zoe asked reasonably. "Why can't we stay with you?"

The Doctor fidgeted uncomfortably. "Because when I send this box the Time Lords will know where I am."

"But I thought they were your people? Your friends?" Jamie said.

"Well, yes, Jamie, they are my people, but... Oh, it'd take too long to explain."

"Really?" Martha sat down on a nearby stool and folded her arms, with the air of one who will wait all day for an answer if necessary. "How long would a quick summary take? Thirty seconds?"

The Doctor calmed down slightly.

"All right," he said. "Yes, the Time Lords are my people. But I have broken their laws by travelling with the three of you. When they come, they'll almost certainly arrest me. If you three are still with me, they may punish you, too. But if you just stay with the other kidnapped people, they'll send you home like everyone else. Probably."

Martha nodded. Somehow she was reminded of the Judoon's idea of justice. Inflexible, single-minded, and not too concerned with the fate of bystanders. Time Lords and rhinoceroses... not a juxtaposition of ideas she'd expected.

"D'you mean you'll be in trouble?" Jamie retorted. "Then you'll need me tae look after you."

"And me," Zoe added loyally.

"You don't understand!" The Doctor looked around wildly. "You can't set yourselves against the Time Lords. Either you hide among the other people here, and let them send you home, or you stay with me - and I don't know what they might decide to do to you then!"

"But the Time Lords won't take long to work out who we are," Zoe countered. "Martha and I are from the twenty-first century, and we aren't soldiers - we'd stick out like sore thumbs. We might as well stay with you."

The Doctor stood in silence for a few seconds.

"You're very quiet, Martha," he said. "Why?"

"I was thinking," Martha replied.

"About what?"

About the Time Lords. Her Doctor had spoken of them as a force for good, as mighty beings watching over the universe, and of course as the home and family he'd lost forever. Seeing how this Doctor talked about them when they were on the point of actually showing up was quite a revelation.

"About the Doctor I travelled with before," she said out loud. "You aren't as ruthless as him. If he was in this situation..."

"Well?"

Martha swallowed.

"I think he'd have tricked us into one of those machines" - she pointed at the row of SIDRATs - "And set it going. He wouldn't have given us a choice."

"I couldn't do that," the Doctor said, with a wince. "But I wonder if any of them has enough power left..."

He turned to the SIDRAT control board and inspected various readouts.

"There's another possibility," he continued. "I can send you to Earth." He moved a control; the door of one of the SIDRATs ground open. "I won't call in the Time Lords until I'm sure you've arrived. Then if I manage to get away from them, I'll come and find you later."

"You mean you're sending us home yourself?" Jamie asked. "What's the difference between that and having the Time Lords do it?"

"I won't be able to send you home. The machine's only got enough power for a single one-way trip, so at least two of you will end up in the wrong time. But this is the best I can do. And the other difference is that you'll still have each other. The Time Lords would separate you."

"I'm not leaving you," Jamie said. "And that's final."

Martha stood, crossed to Jamie, and put her arm round his shoulders.

"Jamie," she said. "The Doctor sent me away once. He was in terrible danger then, worse than now. Of course I didn't want to go. But in the end, I did what he told me, and we won. We saved the world. If I'd insisted on staying with him, I'd be dead or a slave, and so would he."

"And that would be in your future, wouldn't it, Doctor?" Zoe asked. "So if you're going to have adventures with Martha, we know that the Time Lords won't--" She broke off, her voice suddenly unsteady, and tried again. "What I mean is, you come through this all right."

"Well, it's a hopeful sign," the Doctor said. "But time is more complicated than that. It's not just a matter of cause and effect, you see; it's more like a ball of yarn, all tangled up together..." He stopped and shook his head.

"I still think--" Jamie looked at his fellow-travellers. Zoe's expression suggested that Martha had convinced her, at least, leaving him outvoted. "Oh well, if you're both determined tae go off like this, I'll have tae come and make sure you don't come to any harm, won't I?"

"That's more like it, Jamie," the Doctor said. "Anyway, you three need to be on your way now. Not only is time complicated, but here and now there's hardly any of it left."

He ushered them into the SIDRAT before they could make any further objections.

"Now, Zoe," he said, indicating the small control panel beside the door. "As soon as you're in flight, I want you to move these three controls" - he indicated a group of tokens - "to random positions. That way I won't know exactly when or where you landed, and the Time Lords won't be able to track you down through me. The machine will shut down automatically when it arrives. That may cause the interior dimensions to shrink, so get out as soon as you can. Have you got that?"

Zoe nodded.

"Then this is goodbye, at least for now."

He hugged Martha.

"Martha, I don't know how my future self will have treated you, but if he ever undervalues you he'll have been a fool. I look forward to meeting you again, whether from my point of view it's tomorrow or in hundreds of years."

"Goodbye," Martha said. "I wish I could have spent more time with you. I mean, as you are now."

"Well, perhaps you will yet. Don't give up hope."

He let go of Martha, and repeated the hug with Zoe.

"Zoe," he said. "You asked me to take me with you. You've been a great asset, and I hope you don't feel either of us made the wrong decision."

"Not in a million years," Zoe said. Her voice was still outwardly calm, but Martha noticed that whatever she was doing to keep it so, it was costing her an effort: her hands were shaking.

"I wish you success in whatever you decide to do," the Doctor continued. "And I hope I'll see you again, the sooner the better."

Finally, he turned to Jamie.

"Jamie," he said, taking the young man's hand in both of his. "You've been with me for so long, and learned so much. I'm sure you'll be able to deal with anything else life throws at you."

"I never thought it would end like this," Jamie muttered.

"Chin up, Jamie. We don't know that this is the end."

"If that's so, then why aren't you letting us stay with you?"

"Oh, Jamie. This is the best way I can think of, given the circumstances, of saving you three and all the other people out there. I don't say it's a good plan, but I can't think of anything better."

He stepped back and surveyed the trio.

"I'm very proud of all of you," he said. "Now, take care of yourselves and don't get into trouble." He winked. "Unless it's unavoidable, of course. I'll never forget any of you.

"Goodbye, Martha. Goodbye, Zoe. Goodbye, Jamie."

He was gone. The door groaned shut behind him.

- * -

The Doctor emerged from the SIDRAT and crossed to the main control board as though the cares of the Universe were on his shoulders. He set the machine in motion, and turned to wave as it faded from view.

"Where are you sending them?" Lieutenant Carstairs asked.

"I don't know," the Doctor replied sadly. "Somewhere on Earth, but I don't know exactly where or when."

"A young lad and two girls?" The Lieutenant shook his head. "Aren't you worried about what might happen to them?"

"Oh no." The Doctor managed a faint smile. "I don't have any fears for them. Only for anyone who might get in their way."