Title: Closure
Author: tromana
Rating: K
Characters: Slight Martha/10th Doctor and Rose/10th Doctor
Summary: Martha persuades the Doctor to take her to visit Rose as a 7 year old.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Doctor Who, they belong to the BBC.
Notes: I don't know why I'm writing so much Doctor/Martha fic whilst I should be revising. This is my fourth this week… oh dear.
Closure
"Doctor?"
He froze. He hadn't expected her to hear his soft footsteps against the metallic floor and was trying desperately not to disturb her. Getting used to the TARDIS took a certain level of acclimatisation, after all. But Martha still meekly peeked her head around the door of her newly assigned bedroom in the TARDIS. Everything had it's place, meticulously tidy. So unlike Rose. Eventually, he spun around on the spot to immediately face her.
"Yes, Martha?"
"You okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," he replied after a pause, looking slightly bemused. "I'm always fine."
Side-stepping the door, and carefully replacing it she stood beside him and placed a hand gently on his shoulder, trying desperately to reassure him that he wasn't alone anymore. Shrugging her hand off, she warily followed him back to the control room. In her absence, whilst briefly unpacking her bags he had slipped into one of those moods again, the ones where she never knew how to reach out to him. Out of the corner of her eye, she briefly caught him twisting a black hair band around his fingers, before deftly replacing it in his jacket pocket, hoping she hadn't noticed. Perching on a seat, Martha glanced at the floor before questioning him.
"Rose... can I meet her?"
"No."
The name was enough to bring a flash of anguish across his eyes, but she'd come to expect that.
" It's impossible," he continued with a softer tone.
"But you said she's happy... with her family..." Martha stumbled over the words, avoiding eye contact desperately.
"She is," he muttered, more to reassure himself than her. "But... it's dangerous, travelling with me. You know that."
"Yes of course... you said..."
"She is," the Doctor cut her off immediately. "She's in a parallel universe. No way to get there. I sealed the void. She's trapped there. It's my fault."
"Everything happens for a reason, Doctor."
The Doctor paused, staring at her curiously before sitting down beside her. Despite the fact that there was that one time that he had opened up to her about Gallifrey, she still knew nothing about him, really. And it was coming to his conclusion that he knew even less about the companion he had accidentally stumbled upon in the Royal Hope Hospital. Like so many of them, she had an uncanny ability to surprise him.
"What makes you say that?"
"I guess.. there must have been a reason Adeola died. If I had the chance... I'd have got to know her better. I mean she was my cousin. We both lived in London... yet I knew nothing about her. I was too wrapped up with my family, trying to stop them..."
"Not your fault," he smiled. "The people she worked for, really cared for her... real community."
"How do you know that?"
He flew up, sudden realisation crossing his face as he pulled the hair tie - Rose's hair tie - back out of his pocket and threw it at Martha with a brief 'keep hold of this for me, will you?'. With renewed energy, leaping around the console, he set the TARDIS back into action, on course for a familiar part of London. One that he had been desperate to return to, yet not at the same time.
"Where are we going?"
"You're meeting Rose."
***
The kids didn't notice the big blue box materialise, tucked away a few streets from the park. Except Rose. She was the youngest, she was always the one being sent to fetch the football when it went astray. The other kids were busy chatting whilst the few parents supervising them, including Rose's hawk-eyed Mum, Jackie gossiped away. Her ball came to a halt as the ancient engines filled the air, but no one else noticed, no one else cared.
"Did... did you hear that?" she yelled.
Nobody listened, as usual. She was just the scruffy kid off the block nobody cared about, apart from her Mum - when she wasn't being too strict on her. Disregarding the ancient, alien noise immediately, she scooped the battered football into her arms and ran back to her playmates without a second glance to the couple - strange to the neighbourhood - who had just entered their domain.
***
"So... which one's Rose?" Martha muttered as the Doctor led her to a leafy estate park.
"That one. Running with the ball," he grinned, nodding towards her. "Tie that band around your wrist or something will you? Elastic bands are good! You'll never know when one will come in useful."
"Erm... okay Doctor."
Confused, she did as she was told. The manic grin plastered on his face was enough for her not to want to break this chirpy mood. The child the Doctor pointed out was seemingly unremarkable. Slightly scruffy, quite small with a mass of blonde hair. The Doctor grinned as the girl re-integrated herself with her peers, yet still seemed to be the odd one out. Even as a seven year old, there was an air of despondency, the need for something more about her. No one seemed bothered by the fact that they stood, side by side watching the children play their boisterous football match.
***
"Oi, Rose go get that."
"Why do I have to go?" Rose whined. "I went last time. You go Mickey."
"You're the youngest."
Martha watched in disgust as the older boy pushed Rose towards them as the ball rolled to a standstill at her feet. Picking it up, she glanced at the Doctor who was smiling.
"Looks like Mickey's got something to say. For a change."
He paused as little Rose Tyler reached them puffing slightly.
"Hello! Who are you then?"
"I'm... I'm Rose. Who are you?" she muttered, curious.
"I'm... Mr. Smith. And this is my friend, Martha."
Eyeing the couple warily, Rose began fiddling with her hair bobble and as it snapped between her fingertips. As her hair loosened, her features began to crack at this latest disaster. The little girl glanced nervously at her mother as Martha instinctively dropped the ball into the Doctor's hand and threw her arms around Rose's shoulders.
"Hey... hey sweetheart, it's not that bad. It's just an elastic band."
"Mum will go mad." Rose stared directly into Martha's eyes with her own tearstained ones. "She does whenever I break anything."
Letting go of the girl who was to become a companion of the Doctor, Martha frowned before glancing at the hair tie currently around her right wrist. Smiling, she knelt down behind Rose, scraped her hair back into the ponytail it once was and tied it safely up before stepping back. The band had been returned to it's original owner, as it should be. Slightly shocked, the tears stopped pouring down Rose's face immediately.
"Thank you."
"Just remember... you can do anything. Anything. Reach for the stars, Rose."
"Here comes trouble, Martha," the Doctor whispering in her ears caught her by surprise.
"Rose Marion Tyler!"
The screech from halfway across the grass as Jackie stormed towards them caused almost everyone to stare.
"What did I tell you about talking to strangers?"
"I was... just getting the ball back," she muttered as the Doctor placed it in her arms with a grin.
"And who are you? Do I know you?"
"Nah, no you don't," still grinning, he muttered to himself "not yet, anyway."
"Well. You and your... your girlfriend. Keep away from me and my daughter. And the other kids too"
"She's not my... Girlfriend," he sighed. "Why do people always think people I travel with are my girlfriends?"
However he knew full well Jackie hadn't heard as she towed little Rose away by the arm. Smiling anyway, he offered Martha his hand, just because for the first time it felt right to do so as he led her back to the TARDIS.
***
Closing the TARDIS door behind her, Martha smiled as the Doctor continued ranting about how everyone misjudged him. And to make matters worse, it wasn't the first time Jackie had done this either. It was just a relief to see him so energised, so refreshed. She hadn't known why she had such a desire to meet Rose Tyler, but she knew she needed to.
"But you, Martha Jones, I like you," he grinned. "You're definitely a people person."
"Erm... thanks."
Martha blushed a little before excusing herself, claiming that she was developing a headache. She needed to think as she was sure the Doctor did too. She'd give it half an hour or so, then see if he had any plans. That'd be enough time.
"Doctor?"
"Yes, Martha?"
"Thanks."
***
I'd always felt guilty, letting Martha aboard the TARDIS. It just felt like I was trying to replace Rose. With Donna, it was someone so grossly different, so self-absorbed, yet beginning to appreciate the bigger things in such a short space of time that I could carry on thinking about Rose, yet have company at the same time. But Martha, she's a different league to Donna. She's like Rose. Intuitive, feisty, curious and of course - intelligent. The determination to get Martha out was all part of the plan to keep Rose in.
Something that played on my mind was whether Rose would actually like Martha, but she would have loved her. In fact, she mentioned her in passing, once. 'The girl who reminded me to fight, when I was crying over a stupid hair band. And she gave me her's.' Rose liked her before I knew her and probably would have loved to meet her again.
Rose is happy now. I know it. Martha got her started, as a seven year old. By the time she met me, officially, for the third time - but properly - she needed me, she was trapped. I watched her blossom through her latter teenage years. Now she's somewhere else, fighting for a better life. I can sense it. I hope she's met someone, I hope she's not pining for me. She's got the sense not to. Maybe she'll tell her kids to 'reach for the stars' like Martha told her to once. And I know she'll tell them stories about a magical man and his blue box which was bigger on the inside.
Rose will always be in my hearts. That way, she'll never leave the TARDIS. I know I shouldn't get attached to these stupid apes, but it's okay for me to be with Martha now. It's fine for her to have her place in them too, like Sarah-Jane and the others. Even Donna. It's okay for me to live without Rose.
end