This is for QTFics,you gorgeous minx!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Dr Who or Marvel
The first time Martha Jones met Captain America, he really wasn't very impressive. Technically, he hadn't even earned the moniker yet since he was only 10 years old, but who's counting anyway?
Frail and painfully skinny,Steve Rogers was used to being kicked around and ignored. He was never anyones first choice. Hell, even the Lunch Lady served him last. and although he was used to it, that didn't mean it sat well with him. Anyone with eyes could see that,though most chose to disregard it.
That was the way it was for as long as Steve could remember. That is until Martha Jones came along. She smiled at him as if he was the best part of her day, and he didn't even know her name at the time.
"Hi, did you just see a tall lanky man with wild hair just run by?" Martha asked her warm brown eyes,staring deep into his soul. or so it felt like to him.
Now this was 1932, and while Steve was no racist, Black women didn't just approach him so friendly-like. Taken aback by this and how pretty she was,he was at a loss for words.
Unfortunately for young Steve, shock manifested itself as asthma. Large gulping gasps, blue eyes bulging,struggling for the breath of life; Asthma. Needless to say, that wasn't the kind of first impression he wanted to make. Before passing out, he cursed himself for being so damned pathetic.
"come on! Breathe!" Martha implored as she administered CPR to Steve's prostrate body. Leaning over to give him mouth to mouth a second time, she watched with wonderous relief as his eyes fluttered open. "Oh Thank God!"
"Did that count as my first kiss" Steve croaked out, his throat scratchy, his face pale.
A giggle escaped Martha's lips as she looked down at him. "we should call your parents and take you to a hospital. you need to be checked out"
"I'll be fine, this happens all the time" Steve sat up,aided greatly by her arm wrapped around his extremely narrow waist.
"Don't you have an inhaler for when you get these attacks?" Martha asked, her medical training shining brightly through her fear for this small stranger's life.
"An inhaler? For what?" Steve questioned, struggling to stand up.
"Sit down! You need to rest" Martha instructed forcibly,frowning as he refused to obey her orders.
"On the sidewalk? No thanks, everyone already thinks I'm weak. I don't want to add another reason to the list" Steve said quietly, slipping out of her grip to stand on unsteady feet.
Martha's brows furrowed as she looked at him. She admired his perseverance but she didn't like the reality of his situation. He was sickly and needed proper medical attention, not to be picked on. But she also knew how to pick her battles. and this wasn't hers to choose.
"Alright then, If you're sure" She said skeptically, dusting off the dirt on her jeans. " My names Martha. what's yours?"
"My name is Steve Rogers,Ma'am. it's a pleasure to meet you" Steve stuck out his hand for her to shake,which amused her to no end.
Martha beamed at him and was about to say something that would have surely made his day,except the Doctor yelled for her from a far off distance.
"Well I'd better go. He'd be lost without me,that one. Take care of yourself,Steve" She said with a sad smile. Without thinking she swept Steve up in a warm embrace and just as fast she released him,before running after the man she traveled with.
Young Steve stood in a pleasant shock for 10 minutes straight,with the widest grin you could ever see.
The second time Martha Jones met Captain America, He was 15 and not that much better off since the last time she'd seen him.
Taller and just as scraggly as before, she knew him instinctively. It wasn't his sickly pallor but his pure iron will that jogged her memory. His was a will that was made of determination and principles.
Martha watched as Steve stood up for a person who was being roughed up only to get roughed up himself. She watched as the other person scampered off without so much as a thankyou, while Steve laid upon the pile of garbage he'd been shoved into. He stared up into the sky as if waiting for something. or perhaps he was just willing something to happen. Nevertheless, nothing came of it.
Martha found herself running towards him,while ignoring the Doctor's warnings about not meddling. As she jogged the final steps to where Steve'd begun to sit up, she decided to play it cool. As if he wasn't laying in a heap of grossness.
"Hello Steve. Do you remember me?" she queried, smiling down at his upturned face. He nodded briskly, before looking down, ashamed at the state he was in. He'd waited years to meet Martha again. and here he was, looking like a fool.
Hers was a smile that haunted him. He saw her kind,brown eyes every time he began to feel depressed, and it never failed to boost his morale. but after a few years, you do start to feel like you'd made it all up in your head. or exaggerated it somehow.
But looking at her now, he knew that he hadn't exaggerated a thing. That she was just as lovely as he'd remembered in his pre-adolescent mind. Martha offered him a hand to help him up, and he took it, relishing the feel of her realness.
"Boy, you've grown since I saw you last" Martha mused, as she looked up,studying his face.
She'd forgotten how much 5 years changes in those formative years. He was still greatly underweight but he had more of a man's face than a boy's now. the scraggly whiskers of a mustache that made his face look sort of dirty. the pimple splotches scattered here and there. Steve was definitely going through an awkward stage of puberty.
"Hi Miss Martha. It's a pleasure to see you again" Steve intoned,politely keeping his eyes adrift. Martha grabbed his hand,forcing him to look at her directly. His dark blue eyes drunk her features in, despair buried firmly within them.
"It won't always be like this,Steve. You just have to keep holding on. You'll see." She didn't know why she'd said that, but it felt like the right thing to say once it was blurted out.
It must have been the right thing because the look of hope and gratitude that flooded Steve's face, confirmed it.
This time it was Steve that initiated the embrace and she hugged him back fiercely. Martha didn't know what made her feel so protective over this boy,but she needed that hug just as much as he did.
Things in the Tardis were beginning to get rocky between her and the Doctor. A deep sigh here and an eye roll there, silently spoke of her patience running out for his snide remarks about who she wasn't, or his insufferable self absorption which left him blind to her despair.
So it was nice to know someone else understood the feeling of loneliness. "Martha Jones, do you usually go about hugging teenaged boys on our trips?" The Doctor asked from behind her. She jumped back in fright.
"Oy, Doctor! you nearly gave me a heart attack. This is Steve. Remember the boy I told you abou-" Martha started explaining excitedly before being cut off.
"Yes, yes, Steve. Hi. Bye. We need to get a move on before we miss the coming of Arthur in about er... 10 minutes" The Doctor said effectively ending their brief connection, dragging her by the hand while she waved sadly at Steve.
He smiled brightly at her retreating form. He felt lighter than he'd had in years. but at the same time he felt for Martha. Her sadness was palpable. it was a real, and very tangible thing. He wished with all his heart that she found her happiness one as soon as possible.
The 3rd time Martha Jones met Captain America there was an Alien invasion. or was it a Nazi invasion? or both? She wasn't too sure to be quite honest. All she knew was her latest assignment was connected to it somehow. and she was there to aid in the process of finding out.
She'd been working at Unit for a year now and it was bliss. She liked everything about working there. Especially the part where she was able to go home to her apartment at the end of the day. She'd even adopted a cat. his name was Buckley and he let her cuddle him anytime she pleased. Life was good.
Martha barely thought of the time she'd spent with the Doctor anymore. Outside of the constant nightmares about the year she walked the earth,that is. She forced herself to never dwell on what is or was or couldn't be from that time. Especially when it came to people. and after awhile, she didn't have to force it anymore, it all just faded to the recesses of her mind.
So when Unit called her in to tell her that she was flying to New York to work on a top level Military sanctioned joint project, she didn't expect much of anything really. Aliens were forever invading. big deal. or so she'd thought at the time.
Except this time Shield was involved and that usually meant it was way over her pay grade. It was about something called Tesla or something like that. She was urged not to commit the details to memory, as a safety precaution. Apparently, a man was found frozen along with the Tesla. And that's who she'd be working with. The Frozen Man.
Staring intently at the large, extremely fit man through the iceberg he slept in, something about him seemed familiar to her. Maybe it was the cut of his jaw... or the soft curl near the corner of his mouth... but Martha felt like she knew him from somewhere.
Ever so slowly,from his legs upward, they thawed him out while Martha monitored his vitals. Her small hands struggled to wrap around his perfectly formed bicep as she took his blood pressure.
By now, she'd memorized his features, through the ice that still surrounded his head and shoulders, and still he was oddly familiar to her. She couldn't place who and where but that wasn't uncommon for her. She'd met so many people during her long trek across the world.
Martha eagerly awaited the moment he'd wake up. If he retained his memory, perhaps he could fill in the blanks for her.
"Blood work and fingerprint analysis came back. He's as healthy as a very luscious horse. but according to his prints, he's an extremely golden oldie," the Shield doctor on shift with her, said as she waltzed into the room, waving about said files. While Martha quietly appreciated the frozen man's assets, Dr Mirida Scott shouted it out from the rooftops. She shamelessly oggled him from 8:30 each morning until 6pm each night.
"How 'golden' are we talking?" Martha giggled, setting up the next phase of glacial detoxification. It was a specific yet unparalleled procedure that they were undertaking, so they had to be very detailed and careful on how they woke up the human ice statue.
"Close to 90 years old. The record keeping back then left alot to be desired, but luckily our guy is on the record as a Steven Grant Rogers. The rest of his files are classified high level military intelligence. So we can safely assume he's one of us."
Martha was stunned. She knew that name. Flashes of a scrawny, sickly kid flickered in front of her eyes, as she tried to reconcile the big, strapping man to the conjured images of that boy from way back when.
"Steve?" She whispered,shakily. Unconsciously, she stepped closer to where he laid still frozen in time, in a rapidly thawing iceberg.
"PAGING ALL UNIT STAFF. PLEASE PROCEED TO LOADING BAY 45. YOUR PLANE LEAVES IN 15 MINUTES AND COUNTING."
The public announcement startled Martha out of her stupor. "Loading bay what? What the hell is going on?" She murmured distractedly as she hurriedly wandered out of the room. Mirida stared after her quizzically before shrugging.
"Alone at last." she chuckled, good naturedly to Steve's prone body before finishing the procedure Martha'd started.
UNIT was unceremoniously removed from the Tesla project the same day. Martha never knew the reasons why or what that caused that sudden change. It was never up to her in the first place. She just went where they sent her. No questions asked.
Even now, when all she wanted to do was to ask questions. And to see Steve. And to ask how? How did he end up frozen in an glacier for such a long time? And how did he go from being forever undersized to beefcake central? It burned her up that she was so close to him and once again she was called away. It was getting to be a habit. a very tiresome habit.
The 4th time Martha Jones met Captain America, it was a particularly balmy day in Manhattan. Martha spent her 2 weeks vacation each year in New York City. A place she considered her second home. Lazing around in Bryant Park all day, she'd decided to grab some Starbucks treats on her way back to her hotel. It was her vacation after all, she could eat what she liked, and that meant lots of yummy pastries and ice cream. She'd work it all off when she got back to Wales,she reasoned.
She'd just agreed to join Torchwood, after deciding to leave Unit for a whole mess of reasons. Captain Jack Harkness was all too eager for her to become part of his team and to get his friend back. But first, Martha needed this holiday to herself. Just to unwind and forget.
In NYC, nobody knew who she was. She wasn't Dr Martha Jones, daughter of Francine, the hell hound. She was simply Martha. A pretty, dark haired girl who really enjoyed her strawberry frappachinos.
She'd just bought the chocolate version and stepped outside of the cafe, when she'd collided with a little 11 year old boy with a cast on his arm. "Oops. Sorry, I wasn't looking" Martha said, smiling kindly at him.
"Its okay." The boy mumbled, swiping his straw colored hair out of his eyes, blushing fiercely. He stumbled past her and kept on walking.
"You seem to have that effect on preteen boys," a throaty male voice mused in her ear. Martha stiffened and turned around, eyes wide in an odd mixture of fear and elation.
"Hello there, Miss Martha. It's a pleasure to see you again."
"Steve!" Martha squeaked out. "You're awake!" She'd gone over this meeting in her head a million times. It was a hopeful fantasy on her part because she didn't actually expect to ever meet him again. But in her daydreams she was much less flustered. and a lot more sultry.
"You knew about me being asleep for all those years? How?" Steve asked, a puzzled look upon his gorgeous face. his lips twitched in an effort to not to grin like an idiot at her. His schoolboy crush was still evident as he tried his hardest not to beam at her. He failed miserably.
"Uh... I was in a branch of the military for a stint and I was there when you were still on ice. You..um..you look different." She said clearing her throat. She inwardly groaned at herself. This was not the Martha way. So she forced herself to look up at him. and willed away her sudden case of dimwittedness. "Sorry. Lets try this again. Steve! HI!"
Her smile was infectious and he lit up like the 4th of July. "Hi again, Miss Martha."
She melted inside. He was still that sweetly polite kid, that she met all those years ago. Well, not as many years for her as for him but who was counting anyway. " It's just Martha."
Martha grinned at him and circled his waist with her arms, hugging him tightly. Steve hugged her back, resting his chin on the top of her head.
"I'm glad you're okay." She whispered to his beating heart. She wasn't just talking about the iceberg, or his missing years. she meant all those years before when breathing wasn't always easy, and a nasty cold meant hospital stays and a chance that it was all too much for his too thin body to bear.
"Me too. but Martha, I've got some questions. and I bet you do too" Steve said pulling back gently, leaning down a bit to look her in the eye. "Would you do me the honor of having a drink with me or dinner?"
"Of course. When? I'm here for the next 3 days. I'm staying at the Plaza hotel." Martha rushed out. She'd finally got a chance to actually talk to him, without fear of interruption so she was more than eager.
"Now? If you're free, I mean..."
"YES! I mean yes. Let's go to my hotel. We can talk there without fear of being overheard. A lot of this might sound crazy to untrained ears," She said, stepping fully away from him.
"Is that proper? I mean... What about your reputation?" Steve balked,looking slightly flushed. Martha took in his neatly parted auburn hair, his neatly ironed plaid shirt tucked neatly into his classic cut blue jeans and giggled.
"Steve, this isn't the 40's. Men and women can hang out wherever they want, reputation be damned." She grabbed his hand and led him away.
"So you time traveled with an alien for 2 years? And that's why you still look the way I remembered you looking?" Steve questioned, slightly disbelieving. It kind of made sense. In a way. Steve never did take to that stranger that made Martha look so sad all those years ago. "That rude guy, he was the alien?"
Martha nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, he's called the Doctor."
"Oh" Steve replied. "Is he still around?" Steve hoped he wasn't but he'd be happy if she was happy. Or so he kept telling himself.
"No. Not with me anyway. He still travels all around the universe. but he found another companion soon after I left." Martha responded, looking only slightly sad.
"Companion. Huh." Steve said thoughtfully.
Martha laughed. "Not that kind of companion. Just traveling! He's very lonely..."
"That's not sounding much better, Martha" he teased.
Martha groaned and giggled at the same time. "What about you though? Superhero! That's brilliant."
"I'm no do you really think so?" Steve genuinely asked. Martha nodded, smiling serenely at him.
"I just wanted to help. I didn't expect all this. To lose so much and then just have start it all over again" He said, finally admitting aloud what has been bothering him all along. "What if I'm doomed to never age and I have to see everyone I care about die? Over and over again."
Martha crawled onto the cushion next to him, looping her arm through his. "Shhh... don't think like that. Think of all the people you're helping. Maybe you'll grow old, maybe you won't. You won't know, until you know. Until then, think of it as an adventure. But love hard anyway, because that makes it all worth it in the end, right?"
"Well when you put it that way" Steve smirked. Martha playfully nudged him with her shoulder, and began to move away before his large hand stopped her. His eyes were as deep and bottomless as the ocean, she could easily get lost in them.
She knew what he needed without him saying it. Kneeling on the couch next to him, she pulled him to her, hugging him in that fierce way she was destined to do, as he mourned all the people he'd lost nearly a century ago.
Steve Rogers wasn't the type of guy to weep, but weep he did. He'd held it together for so long, but here in this small hotel room, the dam broke.
Martha soothed him through it all and when he was done, she ordered 2 mugs of hot chocolate and shared her pastry treats with him.
"Wait, were you planning on eating 4 lemon pound cake slices by yourself?" Steve asked while they sipped and munched.
"Mind your own bleedin' business, Steve." Martha replied sassily, as they grinned at each other with cake filled mouths.
The fifth time Martha Jones met Captain America, it was the next day for dinner. They'd decided on watching movies and ordering in room service. Steve was behind on all the good films, and Martha was more than happy to help.
But when she opened the door, he forgot all about that. Yesterday was all about paying homage to their past lives,today however was for them.
Martha stood barefoot in jeans and a laced edged, baby doll top, one thin strap slipping down her chestnut brown shoulder. Her face lit up like a 1000 watt lightbulb when she saw him standing there. She smiled at him like he was the best part of her day, and he really, truly was.
Steve didn't even bother to say hello. He just bent forward, cupped her face and kissed her like he'd wanted to do since the first time he'd laid eyes on her.