The Doctor expected some form of an angry Martha Jones the next morning. He didn't expect her to stomp up and slap him hard enough to send him reeling back to the console. "What?!" he yelped.

"Your best friend!" Martha shouted at him. "Everything that happened between you two, and you had to slam it all right in her face!"

"Yes, I know," the Doctor replied. "I'm an idiot. Happy?"

"No," Martha replied, and the Doctor blinked. "I'll be happy when the two of you get sorted out."

The Doctor stared at her open-mouthed, and she folded her arms, leaning against the TARDIS railing. "What did I do to turn everyone on me?"

"I'll slap you again if you say something that stupid," Martha snorted loudly. "You figure out where we're going next, and I'll go wake her up."

The Doctor watched Martha leave, then blew out a breath and began flipping switches. "I really messed up, didn't I?" he asked numbly.

"Yes, you have," the TARDIS agreed.

***

Jessie slid on her trench coat as she followed Martha into the console room. She ignored her usual spot around the console and opted to once again hoist herself up into the coral. "So where are we going?" Jessie asked.

The Doctor flipped a lever and turned to Martha. "Quick visit home," he replied. "Figured you'd want a visit before we took off again."

Martha's jaw dropped, and she headed for the door quickly. Jessie jumped down after her, the Doctor behind them. "Home," Martha whispered, looking outside before turning to the Doctor. "You took me home?"

"In fact, the morning after we left, so you've only been gone about twelve hours," the Doctor replied with a smile. "No time at all, really."

"But everything we've done, that was all . . . ?" Martha asked, trailing off, seeming taken aback by the thought of it.

"Yep!" the Doctor agreed. "All in one night, relatively speaking. Everything should be just as it was. Books, CDs . . . "

"Laundry," Jessie muttered, holding up a pair of Martha's underwear.

Martha snatched it away. "But I'm not staying?"

"Quick pop in and visit," the Doctor assured her with a grin. "Of course, unless you really want to stay here at home."

The phone rang, and Martha went to answer it. "Hello?" she asked. There was chatter on the other line, and Martha frowned. "Yeah, I'll check it," she replied. "Bye, Mom." She hung up, then went to the TV. "Apparently my sister is on the news. How could Tish end up on the news?"

"The details are top secret," an elderly man announced from where he was at a stand, a younger version of Martha next to him. "Tonight, I will demonstrate a device which will redefine our world."

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

"With the push of a single button, I will change what it means to be human!"

Jessie's eyebrows flew up to her hairline. She turned to the Doctor, who was blinking, then she turned to Martha. "Hold on, did he just say he was going to change what it means to be human?!"

***

"Show off a little bit!" Martha coaxed as the two girls later went through the TARDIS wardrobe to find dresses for the party.

Jessie huffed. "Martha, I'm telling you, you know what it's like for me around too many people."

"There weren't any undercover things for SHIELD?" Martha asked.

"Well, there were," Jessie conceded, but it's been a while since I've been put in one of those kinds of dresses."

"Come on," Martha encouraged. "Look, I won't leave your side the entire night. Anyone tries anything, they have to get through me. Deal?"

Jessie stared at her, then sighed. "Oh, fine," she muttered. "How you get me into these things is beyond me."

Martha grinned. "Girl power!"

***

The Doctor knocked on the TARDIS door. "We're going to be late!" he shouted.

Martha stepped out in a wine colored dress, her hair pushed back by a beaded headband and the same colored wedge heels. "We're women, Doctor," she reprimanded. "We take a while."

"Besides," Jessie added as she stepped out, and the Doctor's eyebrows rose significantly as he took in the dress she was wearing. "Martha and I had a little . . . discussion."

"How did you get her into that?" the Doctor asked Martha in surprise as Jessie readjusted the extremely high strappy black heels she was wearing. The dress Jessie had chosen was black with sequins scattered here and there with sleeves down to her wrists. There was a slit down the left side of her dress that showed off her legs, up to mid thigh. Her back was revealed as well, black thin straps criss crossing the back.

Jessie grinned as she stood up. "I was told to live a little," she replied. "And I sonicked the heels. Perfectly comfortable, and perfectly able to run in."

"Plus, with these," Martha added, handing Jessie a purse to match her dress, holding up her own, "bigger on the inside. No one's gonna notice."

The Doctor shook his head incredulously as they headed for the door. "I don't know what I'm going to do with either of you," he muttered.

The girls just laughed as they followed him out. "And black tie," the Doctor muttered, adjusting his bow tie, then fiddling with his sleeve cuffs. "Oh, black tie. Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens."

"Are you sure it's just the suit?" Jessie asked with a smirk.

"It suits you," Martha remarked. "In a James Bond kind of way."

"James Bond?" the Doctor asked in interest. "Really?"

"Oh, don't help his ego," Jessie whined. "Martha, now you've done it!"

Martha burst out laughing, and the Doctor shook his head as they entered the building called Lazarus Laboratories.

***

"Oh, look!" the Doctor said in excitement as a waiter walked past. "They've got nibbles! I love nibbles!" He turned to Jessie. "Bad Wolf, would you like a nibble?"

Jessie snorted loudly, shaking her head. "Nah, I'm good."

The Doctor shrugged and got himself a few as the woman Jessie assumed to be Tish Jones joined them. "Hello!"

"Tish!" Martha exclaimed, hugging her sister.

"You look great! So . . . what do you think?" Tish grinned. "Impressive, isn't it?"

"Very," Martha agreed.

"And two nights out in a row for you! That's dangerously close to a social life."

Jessie smirked and caught a waiter with drinks. "Just water, if you will," she asked. "Thanks."

"Right away, ma'am," he agreed, heading off.

"If I keep this up, I'll end up in all the gossip columns," Martha joked.

"You might, actually," Tish played along. "You should keep an eye out for photographers. And Mum, she's coming, too. Even dragging Leo along with her."

Apparently, this was a shock to Martha. "Leo?" she asked in disbelief. "In black tie? That I must see."

"Oi, Doctor," Jessie hissed, poking him in the leg with one of her heels. He jumped and looked at her. She nodded to Tish. "Introductions."

"Oh, right," Martha agreed quickly, taking Jessie's arm and bringing her to her side almost protectively. "Tish, this is the Doctor and - "

"Johanna," Jessie put in quickly when she spotted two people she definitely did not expect to see here but probably should have, and they knew what her title would mean. "Johanna Rossini."

"Hello," the Doctor said brightly.

"Are they with you?" Tish asked.

"Yeah," Martha replied, almost defensively.

"But they're not on the list. How did they get in?"

"My best friend and my plus one."

"So, this Lazarus," the Doctor said. "He's your boss?"

"Professor Lazarus," Tish corrected. "Yes. I'm part of his executive staff."

"She's in the PR department," Martha said.

"I'm head of the PR department, actually," Tish told her sister.

Martha stared at her. "You're joking!"

"I put this whole thing together."

"So do you know what the professor's going to be doing tonight?" the Doctor asked. "That looks like it might be a sonic microfield manipulator."

Jessie snorted as Tish sighed. "He's a science geek. I should have known," she muttered. "He'd get along well if he meets Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner."

The Doctor's head shot up, in mid bite. "What?" he asked in shock, his voice muffled.

Tish ignored him. "Got to get back to work now. I'll catch up with you later."

"And science geek means you're obsessively enthusiastic about it," Jessie told him before turning them away from the other side of the room. "But we've got a problem. Tony and Bruce."

"So we avoid that side of the room," Martha said simply before pausing. "Oh, that's why you didn't tell Tish your name."

"Yeah," Jessie agreed. "But if she tells them we're here - "

"Nothing good," the Doctor finished, looking over his shoulder. Tony and Bruce were in the corner, politely greeting people, Tony getting more flirty with the women while Bruce was examining the huge chamber in the center of the room. "Then again, nothing ever good happens in this suit."

"Martha!"

"Mum!" Martha squealed, hugging her mother when she walked up with her brother, Leo.

"Your drink, ma'am," the waiter said, returning.

Jessie took it, raising it in thanks. "Thanks."

"All right, what's the occasion?" Francine asked, referring to the hug.

"I'm just pleased to see you," Martha replied. "That's all."

"You saw me last night!"

"I still wanted to hug you," Martha countered before grinning at her brother and giving him a hug, too. "You're looking good, Leo!"

"Yeah," Leo grumbled. "If anyone asks me to fetch them a drink, I'll swing for him."

"Good thing I already got a drink, then," Jessie muttered.

The Doctor snorted, hand over his mouth, and Jessie had to turn away to keep from laughing as well.

"You disappeared last night," Francine accused.

"I just went home," Martha lied.

Francine's gaze went over Martha's shoulder. "On your own?"

"They're friends of mine," Martha told her defensively, putting an arm around Jessie, who put her arm around her as well. "This is Johanna, and that's the Doctor."

"Doctor what?" Francine asked.

"Just the Doctor," Johanna assured her. "Martha's just been helping us with some work we've been doing."

"You all right, mates?" Leo asked, shaking first the Doctor's hand, then eyeing Jessie over appraisingly. "Australian. Very nice."

"Not open for dating, unfortunately," Jessie told him, shooting a quick glance at the Doctor, whose eyes had narrowed at that comment. "But it's lovely to meet you at last, Mrs. Jones. Martha's been saying great things about you."

"Has she?" Francine asked curiously. "What have you heard, then?"

"What a good mother you are, considering each of your children," Jessie replied smoothly, SHIELD diplomacy coming out. "I'm sorry about the divorce. It happened to my parents as well."

"Oh," Francine said softly, almost in surprise. "Well . . . thank you."

"Good going," the Doctor praised her. "I would have messed up."

"Well, knowing your streak lately, you probably would have," she couldn't help but shoot back.

The Doctor visibly winced, and Francine noticed. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"Well - "

The Doctor was saved from trying to answer when there was the sound of dinging glass. "Ladies and gentlemen!" Lazarus called, standing in front of the chamber he had built. "I am Professor Richard Lazarus, and tonight, I am going to perform a miracle. It is, I believe, the most important advance since Rutherford split the atom, the biggest leap since Armstrong stood on the moon." This should be interesting, Jessie thought as the three of them began to move closer. "Tonight, you will watch and wonder. Tomorrow, you will wake to a world which will be changed forever."

He stepped into the chamber, and a few scientists began starting up the machine. "Have you noticed they're all women?" Jessie whispered to Martha.

Martha took a quick look around. "Oh," she whispered back.

An alarm began to blare, and the Doctor's head shot up. "Something's wrong," he whispered. "It's overloading!"

There were sparks from a nearby computer, and then smoke. The Doctor ran over, jumping over the table in the process and began working hurriedly. Jessie pushed through the crowd to get to the machine, Martha in tow. "Somebody stop him!" an old woman shouted. "Get him away from those controls!"

"If that thing goes up, it'll take the whole building with it!" Jessie shouted back, getting to the machine. "Is that what you want?!"

The Doctor tugged on a power cable, and the machine shut down. Martha caught up to Jessie. "Get it open," Jessie told her.

Martha nodded, and the two of them pulled the doors open. A young man in Lazarus's suit staggered out. Jessie's jaw dropped as she felt something . . . wrong come off of him. "By Thor's hammer," she whispered.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the man announced. "I am Richard Lazarus. I am seventy six years old, and I am reborn!"

Jessie shook her head and looked around for the Doctor when she saw who was moving in his direction.

Two very angry-looking Avengers. "Oh, no," she muttered, running off of the platform and up to the Doctor just before the Avengers got there. "What the hell happened to him?" she demanded. "Nothing good," he replied before putting on a smile as Tony and Bruce got to them. "Ah! Tony Stark and Bruce Banner! How're you two doing? Fancy seeing you here!"

Tony grabbed the Doctor's jacket and pulled him closer. "What happened to Jessie?" he demanded. "What did you get her into?"

"Um," Jessie stammered, a little nervous. "Doctor, should I - ?"

"Do you know what happened to her when she stayed with him for too long?" Tony asked, pointing at her. "You'd be better off getting out of here and never going with him again if you're smart and don't want to die!"

"Oh, look, there's Lazarus!" the Doctor said quickly. "Shall we?"

"Doctor!" Bruce shouted, but the two of them quickly left.

"It can't be the same guy," Martha hissed as she joined them, not noticing Tony and Bruce following. "It's impossible! It must be a trick!"

"Oh, it's not a trick," the Doctor muttered. "I wish it were, though."

"What just happened, then?"

"Only changed what it means to be human," Jessie quoted as they caught up to Lazarus.

"I'm famished," he was saying as he finished nearly an entire tray of food.

"Energy deficit," the Doctor said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Always happens with this kind of process."

"You speak as if you see this every day, Mr . . . ?"

"Doctor," the Doctor replied, nodding to Jessie. "And this is Miss Rossini. And, well, no, not every day, but we have some experience in this kind of transformation."

"That's not possible," Lazarus denied.

"With him, anything is possible," Bruce commented.

"Would you like to show off some?" the Doctor asked.

Jessie nodded, the Doctor helping her find the ideas she needed. "Using hypersonic sound waves to create a state of resonance," she explained. "Really, that's inspired!"

Tony and Bruce stared at her in shock, Lazarus nodding. "You understand the theory, then."

"Enough to know that you couldn't possibly have allowed for all the variables," the Doctor agreed.

"No experiment is entirely without risk," Lazarus retorted, nodding to Bruce. "Ask Dr. Banner for that."

"Oh, we've met," the Doctor said airily, waving a hand absently, "but that thing nearly exploded. You might as well have stepped into a blender."

"You're not qualified to comment," the old woman next to Lazarus snapped.

"Would you have rather that thing exploded?" Jessie snapped. "If he hadn't stopped it, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now." She cocked her head. "Unless we all met in some sort of heaven, then maybe we would be, but definitely not this kind."

Lazarus looked at the Doctor with new appreciation. "Then I thank you, Doctor. But that's a simple engineering issue. What happened inside the capsule was exactly what was supposed to happen. No more, no less."

"You wouldn't know that," Tony commented. "Did you run any proper tests before you stepped inside?"

"Look at me," Lazarus told them. "You can see what happened. I'm all the proof you need!"

"This device will be properly certified before we start to operate commercially," the woman added.

Bruce blinked. "I'm sorry, did you say commercially?"

"That'll cause chaos!" Martha protested.

"Not chaos," Lazarus told her. "Change. A chance for humanity to evolve. To improve."

"This isn't about improving," the Doctor growled. "This is about you and your customers living a little longer!"

"Not a little longer, Doctor. A lot longer. Perhaps indefinitely."

"Richard, we have things to discuss upstairs," the woman commented.

Lazarus nodded. "Goodbye, Doctor, Rossini. In a few years, you'll look back and laugh at how wrong you are."

Jessie grimaced when he kissed her hand, shaking it in annoyance. "Does the word 'bastard' ring through anyone's head right now?" she asked.

"He's out of his depth," the Doctor muttered in annoyance. "No idea of the damage he might have done!"

"So what do we do now?" Tony asked.

The Doctor's eyebrows shot up. "We?" he repeated.

Tony nodded firmly. "While we may hate you for whatever happened to cause Jessie's death at Canary Wharf - " Jessie cringed, and Martha rubbed her arm comfortingly. " - we know a thing or two about these things, too."

"And then we'll interrogate you later," Bruce added with a warning glare.

"Right," the Doctor agreed, rubbing his hands together. "Now . . . well. This building must be full of laboratories. I say we do our own tests."

Jessie groaned, holding up her hand. "And I just had to be the one to get a DNA sample, didn't I?"

The Doctor grinned at her. "Oh, you're a star."

***

Bruce swabbed Jessie's hand, and the Doctor looked at Lazarus's DNA on the computer. "Amazing," he whispered.

"What?" Martha asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Lazarus's DNA," Tony explained.

"I can't see anything different."

Jessie pointed. "Look at it again, Martha."

Martha peered closer, and she caught what the rest of them did. "Oh my God, did that just change?" she gasped. "But it can't have!"

"But it did," the Doctor said unnecessarily.

"It's impossible!"

"With this guy, there's a lot of that going on," Tony muttered.

"Oi!" the Doctor protested.

"Two impossible things in one night," Jessie mused. "Man, it's no wonder I stayed."

"Lazarus changed his own molecular patterns," Bruce added, sparing her a quick glance.

"Hypersonic sound waves to destabilize the cell structure," the Doctor began.

"Then a metagenic program to manipulate the coding in the protein strands," Jessie finished, seeing where his mind was going.

They spared each other a look, then the Doctor cleared his throat. "Basically, he hacked into his own genes and instructed them to rejuvenate."

"But they're still mutating now," Martha pointed out.

"He must've missed something," Jessie replied, taking a look, bending over and ignoring the way Tony was looking her over. "Something in his DNA was activated, and it's not letting him stabilize. Something's trying to change him."

"Change him into what?" Bruce asked.

Jessie couldn't blame him, with what the gamma radiation did to him. "I don't know, but I think we need to find out," the Doctor replied.

"That one woman said they were headed upstairs," Tony told them.

The Doctor nodded. "Then let's go."

***

They stepped out of the lift, and Jessie took a quick look around. "This is his office," Martha confirmed, stepping out and looking around.

"So where is he?" the Doctor asked.

"Don't know," Jessie replied, walking around. "Let's try back at the re - " She paused, seeing a skeletal leg sticking out from behind Lazarus's desk. " - ception," she finished weakly.

"Is that Lady Thaw?" Martha gasped, seeing what she had.

"Used to be," the Doctor replied, the men joining them. "Now it's just a shell. Had all the life energy drained out like squeezing the juice out of an orange."

"Lovely image there, Doctor," Bruce grimaced.

"Lazarus?" Martha guessed.

"Could be," the Doctor replied.

"So he's changed already?" Tony asked.

"Not necessarily," the Doctor replied. "You saw the DNA. It was fluctuating. The process must demand energy. This might not have been enough."

"In other words, he might do this again," Jessie translated, running back for the lift.

"How can you run in those heels?" Bruce called as Martha ran after her easily.

"Wouldn't believe me!" was all she replied as they got in the lift.

***

"I can't see him," Martha reported as the group looked out across the room.

"He can't be far," the Doctor replied tensely. "Keep looking."

"Hey, you all right, Marth?" Leo asked as he walked up. "I think Mum wants to talk to you."

"Have you seen Lazarus anywhere?" Martha asked.

"Yeah, well, he was getting cozy with Tish a couple of minutes ago."

Jessie blinked, turning. "With Tish?!" she and Martha gasped at the same time.

"Ah," Francine said as she walked up as well. "Doctor."

"Where did they go?" Jessie asked, seeing the Doctor, Tony, and Bruce listening.

"Upstairs, I think," Leo replied. "Why?"

"Doctor, Rossini - " Francine tried.

"'Scuze me, Mrs. Jones!" Jessie said, bolting past her, accidentally spilling her drink. The others were close behind her.

***

The Doctor was scanning with his screwdriver upstairs, Jessie shuffling back and forth on her feet. "Where are they?" Tony asked.

"Fluctuating DNA will give off an energy signature," the Doctor explained. "I might be able to pick it up . . . " He paused. "Got him!" He pointed upwards.

"But this is the top floor!" Martha said, confused, before it dawned on her.

Tony got it, too. "The roof!"

***

The Doctor and Jessie led the way across the roof, the others close behind. They arrived, just in time to hear Lazarus tell Tish, "Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act - "

"Falls the shadow," the two of them said in synch.

Lazarus turned, sniffing. "So, the mysterious Doctor and his girlfriend know their Eliot. I'm impressed."

"Oh, we're not together," Jessie said quickly.

"Not together," the Doctor agreed.

"Martha, what are you doing here?" Tish demanded.

"Tish, get away from him," Martha warned.

"What? Don't tell me what to do!"

"I wouldn't have thought you had time for poetry, Lazarus, what with you being busy defying the laws of nature and all," the Doctor said conversationally.

"You're right, Doctor," Lazarus agreed. "One lifetime's too short for me to do everything I'd like. How much more I'll get done in two or three or four."

"Doesn't work like that," the Doctor countered. "Some people live more in twenty years than others do in eighty. It's not the time that matters. It's the person."

"But if it's the right person, what a gift that would be."

"Or what a curse," Jessie countered, slipping a hand inside her purse and finding one of the guns she had inside. "Look at what you've done to yourself."

"Who are you to judge me?" Lazarus asked before smirking. "I'd lay off the nibbles."

Jessie's jaw dropped open, and the Doctor growled. "Oh, you did not just suggest that," she warned angrily.

"Over here, Tish," Martha told her sister.

"You have to spoil everything, don't you?" Tish asked angrily, walking towards her. "Every time I find someone nice, you have to go and find fault."

"Heads up, Jessie," the Doctor warned when Lazarus fell behind Tish.

"Tish, he's a monster!" Martha protested.

"I know the age thing's a bit freaky, but it works for Catherine Zeta-Jones!"

"Back away!" Jessie shouted when the monster Lazarus was reared up, a bony-like skeleton with a human face.

Tish blanched. "What's that?" she asked.

"RUN!" the Doctor shouted.

Jessie took point and ran through Lazarus's office to the lifts. The Doctor sonicked the roof door and followed. "Are you OK?" Martha asked.

Tish was still in shock. "I was going to snog him!"

"Yeah, I wouldn't," Tony recommended as they ran.

"Security one," a voice overhead announced. "Security one. Security one."

"Oh, that's just great!" Jessie snarled as the lights went out and the doors slammed. "The one thing I didn't bring was a flashlight!"

"Where would you fit a flashlight?" Bruce asked in confusion.

"What's happening?" Martha asked.

"An intrusion," Tish explained. "It triggers a security lockdown. Kills most of the power. Stops the lifts, seals the exits."

"In other words, probably shouldn't take the elevator," Jessie guessed.

"Stairs!" the Doctor called. "Come on!"

***

"Tish, is there another way out of here?" the Doctor demanded as they made it back to the reception room.

"There's an exit in the corner, but it'll be locked now," Tish replied nervously.

The Doctor nodded and pulled out his sonic screwdriver, tossing it to Martha. "Martha, setting 54. Hurry!" Martha nodded and ran, and the Doctor pointed to Jessie. "Do whatever you need to do, but don't kill him."

Jessie nodded. "I learned that lesson a while ago."

She moved away, and the Doctor ran onto the dais where the capsule was. "Listen to me!" he shouted. "You people are in serious danger! You need to get out of here right now!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" one woman scoffed. "The biggest danger here is choking on an olive!"

And as if on cue, the monster reappeared and smashed onto a table. Jessie watched as it began wrecking havoc, even sending Leo into a table. Then it turned on the woman who protested, and she growled. "Oh, no you don't!" She held out both arms, concentrating.

Electricity began popping, and she hovered into the air, electricity warping around her and her white gold Asgardian armor forming over her body in place of that dress. The monster turned on her, growling, and Jessie flew at it, spinning and sending all of her power at it. The monster screamed in protest and tried to hit Jessie with its tail, but she just phased right through it. She was vaguely aware of Tony and Bruce staring at her in dead shock as opposed to the other guests, who were screaming like mad, but it gave the Doctor an opportunity to distract it. "Lazarus! Leave them alone!" The monster turned to the Doctor, and Jessie brought herself back down to the floor. "What's the point?" he taunted. "You can't control it! The mutation's too strong. Killing those people won't help you. You're a fool. A vain old man who thought he could defy nature. Only nature got her own back, didn't she? You're a joke, Lazarus! A footnote in the history of failure!"

"Now you've done it!" Jessie shouted, landing with a thud and running at him, grabbing his arm and pulling him off right through a door. Literally, right through a door. She shoved him down, then poked her head back out. She gave the mutant a teasing grin, then shouted out her new favorite phrase. "Love from Asgard, scorpy boy!" she teased before laughing and running back off after him. "Just like old times!"

"Just like old times!" the Doctor agreed, and they ran down the corridor with an angry mutant scorpion thing after them. Jessie climbed up into the pipes while the Doctor ducked down below through the control panels. "It's no good, Doctor!" Lazarus called. "You can't stop me!"

"Is that the same arrogance you had when you swore nothing had gone wrong with your device?" the Doctor quizzed.

"The arrogance is yours. You can't stand in the way of progress."

"You call feeding on innocent people 'progress?'" Jessie called. "You're delusional!"

"It is a necessary sacrifice!"

"That's not your decision to make," the Doctor said darkly.

There was a creak, then a voice right next to Jessie's ear. "Peekaboo!"

Jessie squeaked and fell through the pipes, landing right in the Doctor's open arms. "Oh, hello!" the Doctor said cheerfully before putting her down and beginning to run.

***

"We can't get out!" Tish wailed. "We're trapped!"

"There must be an override switch," Martha muttered. "Where's the security desk?" She turned. "TISH!"

"There!" Tish replied, pointing.

Martha ran over, thanking the Bad Wolf with every breath that she had asked her to make her shoes more comfortable. She vaulted herself over the desk and ran the sonic screwdriver over the panel. The doors opened all around, and people streamed out. Martha let out a sigh of relief, following outside with Tony and Bruce. "I've got to go back," she whispered.

"You can't!" Francine snapped at her. "You saw what that thing did! It'll kill you!"

"I don't care!" Martha snapped back. "I have to go!"

"It's that Doctor, isn't it?" Francine challenged. "That's what happened to you! That's why you've changed!"

"He always changes them, Mrs. Jones," Tony told her. "And while we're not exactly pleased with him, he makes them better, too."

"He was buying us time!" Tish tried one last time to Martha. "Time for you to get out, too."

Martha turned helplessly to Bruce, who nodded at her. "Go get them," he whispered.

Martha nodded firmly. "I'm not leaving them."

"Martha!" Francine shouted as Martha ran back into the building, Tony and Bruce having to physically hold her back.

***

Jessie ducked behind a lab bench, listening to the Doctor move around. A few moments later, he crouched down by her. "When I say, run," he hissed.

"More hide and seek, Doctor?" Lazarus taunted. "How disappointing. Why don't you come out and face me?"

The Doctor turned a knob over as far as he could, standing up. "Have you looked in the mirror lately?" he countered. "Why would I want to face that? Hmm?"

"I take it that's my cue!" Jessie shouted, running past him. He followed her, throwing a light switch. Jessie covered her ears, hearing the lab explode behind them as they continued to run - straight into Martha. "What're you doing here?"

"I'm returning this, first off," Martha replied, tossing the sonic screwdriver to the Doctor.

"How did you know?"

"I heard the explosion." Martha grinned. "I guessed it was you."

"We blasted Lazarus," the Doctor replied casually.

"Did you kill him?"

There was a roar from behind, and Jessie grimaced. "I think it's safe to say we severely pissed him off, would you agree?"

"Yes," the Doctor replied, running towards the elevators.

***

"What now?" Martha yelled as they made it to the reception room again. "We've just gone round in a circle!"

"We can't lead him outside!" The Doctor looked around, then opened the manipulator chamber. "Come on! Get in!"

The two girls squeezed in, Jessie phasing out of her Asgardian armor back into the slinky dress. She wrinkled her nose. "I'm burning this when we get back to the TARDIS, just so you know," she warned Martha.

Her friend grinned. "I don't blame you." She turned back to the Doctor, turning serious again. "Are we hiding?"

"No," the Doctor replied, sonicking a few wires. "He knows we're here. But this is his masterpiece. I"m betting he won't destroy it, not even to get at us."

"But we're trapped," Martha pointed out.

"Well, yeah, that's a slight problem."

"You mean you don't have a plan?"

"Nah," Jessie grinned. "He usually makes them up as he goes."

"Oi!" the Doctor protested. "The plan was to get inside here!"

"And then what?"

"Well . . . then I'd come up with another plan!"

"Yes, very nice planning, Doctor," Jessie muttered when he shifted, and she nearly topped over into Martha. "Careful there!"

"Sorry!" he apologized quickly. "Sorry! Sorry!" He apparently found what he was looking for. "Here we are!"

"What're you going to do with that?" Martha asked.

"Improvise," came the simple reply.

"I still don't understand where that thing came from. Is it alien?"

"No," the Doctor replied as he kept working. "For once, it's strictly human in origin."

"Human? How can it be human?"

"Probably from dormant genes in Lazarus's DNA. The energy field in this thing must have reactivated them. And it looks like they're becoming dominant."

"Basically, it's a throwback," Jessie explained.

"Some option that evolution rejected for you millions of years ago, but the potential is still there," the Doctor added. "Locked away in your genes, forgotten about until Lazarus unlocked it by mistake."

"It's like Pandora's box," Martha guessed.

"Exactly!" The Doctor took a quick look down at their feet. "Nice shoes, by the way, if I never mentioned it before. How do you run in those heels?"

"Sonicked," Jessie replied briefly.

The machine began to power up, and Martha began to panic. "Doctor? What's happening?"

"Sounds like he's switched the machine on," the Doctor replied, moving faster.

"And that's not good, is it?"

"Well, I was hoping it was going to take him a little bit longer to work that out."

"Oh, nice job!" Jessie snapped. "Hurry up!"

"I know, I know!" the Doctor shouted. "Nearly done!"

"Well, what're you doing?!"

"I'm trying to set the capsule to reflect energy rather than receive it!"

"Will that kill it?" Martha asked.

"When he transforms, he's three times his size," the Doctor explained. "Cellular triplication. So he's spreading himself thin."

"We're going to end up like him!"

"Just one more!" the Doctor promised.

There was a bang from outside, and the machine stopped working. The Doctor was the first out, and Jessie poked her head out. "Whew," she breathed in relief, stepping outside. "We're safe, Martha!"

"I thought we were going to go through the blender, then," Martha panted.

"Really shouldn't take that long just to reverse the polarity," the Doctor commented. "I must be out of practice."

"Or just getting old," Jessie teased.

He shot her a look. "Shut it."

"Oh, God." Jessie joined Martha over Lazarus's human - and naked - body. At least he was face down. "He seems so human again! It's kind of pitiful."

"Pitiful?" Jessie repeated with a scoff. "No way."

"Eliot saw that, too," the Doctor said. "This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but with a whimper."

***

After the Doctor saw off the ambulance, Jessie and Martha followed him out onto the steps. "She's here!" Tish cried, running to hug Martha, and Tony and Bruce stood from the steps. "Oh, she's all right!"

"Ah, Mrs. Jones!" the Doctor said brightly as Francine and Leo joined them. "We still haven't finished our chat - "

She brought her hand back and slapped the Doctor hard, and the Doctor stumbled back. "Keep away from my daughter!" she warned him.

"Mum!" Martha cried in shock whereas Jessie tried to contain a snicker. "What are you doing?"

"Always the women," the Doctor muttered, rubbing his cheek and turning to Jessie. "At least with you, it's on the back of the head. But why is it all of the women, every time?"

"He is dangerous," Francine warned. "I've been told things!"

"What are you talking about?" Martha asked.

"Look around you! Nothing but death and destruction! The death of the woman he traveled with before, because he got too into things, and that got her killed!"

"She died to protect the universe!" the Doctor snapped.

"And this woman!" Jessie stiffened as Francine walked up to her, an accusing glare in her eye. "Your name is a lie!"

"Then what is it?" Jessie challenged.

Francine didn't back down. "Bad Wolf!"

Tony's head shot up, and Bruce actually stumbled back. Jessie's eyes widened and she blanched, brought back when the Doctor wrapped an arm around her protectively. "Who told you that?" he demanded.

"This isn't their fault!" Martha insisted. "He saved us! All of us!"

"And it was Tish who invited everyone to this thing in the first place," Leo added, trying to lighten the mood. "I'd say technically, it's her fault."

Tony stared at Jessie in utter shock. "Bad Wolf," he repeated breathlessly. "Oh my God . . . "

There was a crash behind them, and the Doctor instantly ran off. "Oi!" Jessie shouted, catching up to him quickly. "What was that?"

"The ambulance!" he called back, and he skidded to a halt when they saw the back of the ambulance opened with bodies reduced to skeletons.

Jessie raised her eyebrows as Tony and Bruce caught up. "Lazarus, back from the dead," she noted before scoffing and rolling her eyes. "I still get the whole three days thing, so I'm good."

"Where's he gone?" Martha asked as she and Tish joined them as well.

The Doctor did a scan with his sonic until it pointed down the street. "That way," he reported before frowning. "The church . . . "

"Cathedral," Tish threw in. "It's Southwark Cathedral. "He told me."

***

"You're sure he's in here?" Tony asked.

"Where would you go if you were looking for sanctuary?" the Doctor asked.

"A sanctuary," Jessie deadpanned.

The Doctor shook his head in exasperation as they walked up the aisle, and Jessie drew her gun, aiming at Lazarus, who was shivering behind the altar wrapped up in a red blanket. "I came here before," Lazarus rasped, "a lifetime ago. I thought I was going to die, then. In fact, I was sure of it. I sat here, just a child, the sound of planes and bombs outside."

"The Blitz," the Doctor guessed.

"You've read about it."

"We were there."

"Ah, the good old Blitz," Jessie sighed in appreciation. "Full of gas mask zombies and a flirty Captain. And the dancing," she added, nodding at the Doctor. "You were horrible."

"I was a different man then!!" the Doctor protested.

"You're too young," Lazarus told them.

"So are you," the Doctor pointed out.

Lazarus laughed, then grimaced when his body made cracking noises that made Bruce wince in understanding. "In the morning, the fires had died, and I was still alive," Lazarus continued. "I swore I'd never face death like that again. So defenseless. I would arm myself, fight back, defeat it."

"That's what you were trying to do today?" the Doctor guessed.

"That's what I did today," Lazarus corrected.

"And the others who died?" Tony asked.

"They were nothing." Jessie squeezed her gun tighter when someone's hand helped her hold it steady. She took a deep breath and looked over to see Bruce holding her steady, his eyes locked on her. He nodded, and she took a deep breath and looked back at Lazarus. "I changed the course of history."

"Any of them might have done, too," the Doctor argued. "You think history's only made with equations? Facing death is part of being human. You can't change that."

"No, Doctor. Avoiding death. That's being human. It's our strongest impulse, to cling to life with every fiber of being. I'm only doing what everyone before me has tried to do. I've simply been more successful."

"Look at yourself," Jessie scoffed. "You're mutating! You've got no control over it, and you call that a success?"

"I call it progress. I'm now more now than I was. More than just an ordinary human."

"There's no such thing as an ordinary human," the Doctor said sadly.

Lazarus hunched over, grimacing. "He's going to change any minute," Jessie whispered.

"I know," the Doctor replied. "If I can get him up into the bell tower somehow, I've got an idea that might work."

Jessie's eyes flickered up the high tower. "Way up there?"

"You're so sentimental, Doctor," Lazarus sneered. "Maybe you are older than you look."

"I'm old enough to know that a longer life isn't always a better one," the Doctor corrected before taking a deep breath. "In the end, you just get tired. Tired of the struggle." He looked Jessie in the eye. "Tired of losing everyone that matters to you. Tired of watching everything turn to dust. If you live long enough, Lazarus, the only certainty left is that you'll end up alone. And I've got another chance at that now. I don't want to waste it."

Jessie blinked back tears and nodded slowly, getting what he was saying. "Neither do I," she whispered.

The Doctor gave her a faint smile before shooting Lazarus a glare when Lazarus spoke up. "That's a price worth paying."

"Is it?" the Doctor wondered.

"I will feed soon."

"I'm not going to let that happen."

"You've not been able to stop me so far."

"You know, it's funny, Lazarus," Jessie piped up, stepping backwards and tossing her gun off to the side. "I wouldn't have taken you for the old and bitter taste preferring guy. You're sure you don't like fresher meat?"

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Bad Wolf - !"

"Love from Asgard!" Jessie shouted before taking off for the staircase up to the bell tower.

"Jessie!" Tony shouted, and Martha and Tish followed Jessie up the staircase.

"He's changing!" Martha panted.

"We're leading him up," Jessie told them. "Come on!"

"Bad Wolf!" the Doctor shouted dimly.

Jessie quickly looked out of one of the clerestory. "Up here!" she shouted.

"Take him to the top!" the Doctor ordered. "The very top of the bell tower! Do you hear me?"

"Up to the top!" Jessie repeated, giving a thumbs up.

"Johanna," Tish whispered.

"And then what?" Jessie called.

"We'll figure it out!" the Doctor replied, tossing his sonic to Tony, and the three men ran off.

"Oh, you're no help!" Jessie whined, but began running again.

She stopped by the bell, looking around. "There's nowhere to go," Tish gasped. "We're trapped!"

"This is where he said to bring him," Jessie replied.

"All right, so then we're not trapped. We're bait!"

"He knows what he's doing," Martha told her sister. "We have to trust him."

There was a clatter, then the mutated Lazarus caught up. "Ladies," he sneered.

"Stay behind me," Jessie whispered. "If he takes me, both of you, make a run for it. Head down the stairs. You should have enough time."

"But - !" Martha began to protest.

"Just do it, both of you!"

The mutant tried crawling under the gap, its tail swishing back and forth. The women kept ducking over it, but one swipe knocked Jessie's feet from underneath her. Startled, she lost her balance and fell down, almost down off of the walkway, and she quickly scrambled for a grip on the walkway. "Bad Wolf!" Martha screamed.

One more swipe of the tail nearly took off Jessie's fingers, and she let out a scared scream. "Get away from her!" Tish screamed at the mutant.

There was shouting down below, and then loud organ notes began to reverberate up into the bell tower. Jessie winced, shaking her head as the notes resounded in her ears. The mutant crashed to the floor below, and just when Jessie began to slip, Martha and Tish grabbed her arms. "We got you!" Martha gasped. "Hold on!"

There was running down below. "Jessie?" Tony shouted up.

"Bad Wolf!" came the Doctor's call.

Jessie wrapped the two sisters in a hug as they tried to get as close to each other as they could. "I'm OK!" she shouted back, voice cracking. "We're all OK!" She swallowed. "Thanks," she whispered.

Tish grinned. "It's your Doctor you should be thanking."

"I told you he'd think of something," Martha laughed.

"He cut it a bit fine there, didn't he?"

"It's more fun that way," Jessie said. "He's the Doctor, and he's always cutting it close. It's what he does." She stood up. "Now let's go put a few science geeks out of their misery, eh?"

They ran back down the stairs in time to crash into the Doctor, who hugged Jessie tightly. "I didn't know you could play!" she laughed.

"Oh, well," the Doctor said, rubbing the back of his head as Jessie went to hug Tony and Bruce, both who clung onto her tightly. "You know, if you hang around Beethoven, you're bound to pick a few things up."

"Hmm, especially about playing loud," Martha agreed.

The Doctor leaned forward, hand over his ear teasingly. "Sorry?"

***

"I just can't believe it's really you," Tony whispered later that evening as Jessie walked him and Bruce back to the hall.

"It's me," Jessie assured him, turning. "It's really me."

"Then why are you on the dead list?" Bruce asked.

Jessie quirked an eyebrow, looking herself over. "Well, let's see here . . . "

"What happened?" Tony asked. "Why are you like this?"

Jessie took both of their hands and pressed them to her chest, and her double heartbeat pumped against their hands. "I was flying towards the Void after I lost my grip. I hit the wall and cracked my skull open. I was dead for three days before the TARDIS finished with me. I'm half Time Lady now, guys. The Asgardian half is still there, but I'm not the Jessie you know anymore."

Tony stared at her, open-mouthed, before swallowing hard and saying, "Well, SHIELD is going to have a field day."

"You'll think of something," she laughed, hugging them.

There was the sound of the TARDIS behind them, and Bruce squeezed Jessie's arm. "You ever need SHIELD help, come to us," he told her. "We'll keep your back."

"And we won't kill the Doctor next time, either," Tony added.

Jessie laughed and hugged them both. "Take care of Coulson's team," she warned them before running to the TARDIS, which had appeared down the street. The door opened before she got there, and the Doctor had his arm around her as she jumped in. They both waved to the two Avengers, who saluted back, and the door closed, Martha leaning against the railing, a wide grin on her face. "Where to next?" she asked.

The Doctor grinned. "I don't know!"

***

Music off to the side is what I thought of when they were in the church. And the photo is Jessie's dress for the reception. Only Martha. ;)

Yay, the reappearance of Tony Stark and Bruce Banner! :) They fit so well in here, and I thought will all the alien science technology, they'd be perfect people to slap in here. Because if it had been FitzSimmons, the Doctor would've been dead before he had been even able to stabilize the chamber! *cough cough* JEMMA *cough cough*

So we're starting to get a little bit more trust between the Doctor and Jessie. Tony and Bruce know who Jessie really is, but are they going to tell SHIELD?

 . . . find out in the next interlude!

P.S., there's a new AU series I've started called "Apocalypse Rising." "Rose" is currently in the works, but the Apocalypse's description and the prologue is already up. Can you guys please take a look at it?

Thanks!