So I participated in the Remix-Redux 11 this year and I had an absolute ball! Now that the assignments and names have been revealed I decided to post them on here as well as AO3.
This story is a remix inspired by sometimes bodies by significantowl. In response to a prompt by significantowl in the remixmadness2014 collection. You can find her original story on AO3!
Surfacing (A Sometimes Bodies Remix)
She wondered how many he'd had there before her.
How many people had wandered around the confines of this giant, empty, pulsating ship. Had they thought it was as odd as she did, the idea of two people, all alone in a box that held infinity? What on earth did he do when it was just him? All by himself. Not a soul to talk to.
It was at that moment, when that thought crossed her mind that against her better judgement a small part of her swore that she'd stay. You can't look upon his loneliness and then leave him to wallow in it.
She was back in her room now, standing in the shower. She'd been standing there for ages and had they been anywhere else on earth the water more than likely would have long ago run cold. But nothing ever ran out on the TARDIS. Nothing.
When she'd first come aboard, before she'd understood that she was residing inside a living breathing, maze she'd decided it would be best to map out her surroundings. There was always a time in the evening when she and the Doctor parted company. He went off to do whatever it was he did and she went to her room, retrieved her notebook and set out in a new direction, trying doors, peeking around corners, just exploring. After about a week she realized nothing made sense and nothing was likely ever to make sense. She always made it back to her room and she had a sneaking suspicion the ship was guiding her. Some doors were locked, other swung open with just a tug of the nob. It was frightening and fun all at the same time and when she grew tired, somehow her bedroom was always just a few steps away.
After awhile she left the notebook in her bedroom having realized a proper map was impossible. She'd found one of many kitchens, a library, what looked to be an expansive game room, a laboratory and a dozen or so rooms that she couldn't even begin to categorize.
She thought she'd prepared herself to expect anything and everything. But still she'd been surprised when the distinctive scent of chlorine hit her nose.
Martha followed it to it's source and found herself in a room with a pool so massive it had to be twice the size of a football field. Cautiously she entered her mouth hanging a bit open. And still the most surprising thing about the room itself was that the Doctor was there.
In all her nighttime travels she'd never crossed paths with him. And here he was, lying by the poolside, staring up at the ceiling. She followed his gaze and noted there didn't actually appear to be a ceiling, just a blanket of blackness and stars.
She gasped as a wave of nausea suddenly overtook her and that must have been what alerted him to her presence.
He didn't say anything but somehow she hadn't expected him to. Martha approached him cautiously and sat down at his side.
"I'm guessing that's real then." She asked gesturing towards the ceiling or lack there of.
"Well it's not a painting if that's what you mean." He said shortly.
She swallowed and felt bad for intruding.
"I can go-" she said starting to scramble to her feet again.
"No, no, please don't. I'm sorry. I can be..." He trailed off, perhaps never intending to finish the sentence.
"Are you alright? I know you're just going to say you're fine and you'll never let me in or tell me but you also know I'm always going to ask. So, are you alright?"
He observed her for a moment before giving a soft smile.
"I'm fine." He said sounding completely unbelievable.
They sat there in silence for a moment or two before she decided to take a different tact.
"I bet you can't even swim?"
"What?" He said and she could tell she'd drawn his interest whether he liked it or not.
"You heard me, Mister. You seem just like the kind of bloke who'd have a pool and not be able to swim a lap. Like one of those men who buys a fancy car with all the extras but he doesn't know how to use it or even change the oil."
"This is a Type 40 TARDIS, it was ancient when I was a boy. They don't just make parts for this at a corner store you know. I've held this ship together for hundreds of years. I know how every single part works! I choose what rooms-" He sputtered for a moment before continuing. "And you think I don't know how to swim or change the oil?"
She cut him off with a laugh and a dismissive hand gesture.
"I hear a lot of talk but you're still, somehow remarkably dry."
God but it was fun winding him up.
He affected an indignant look and hopped to his feet pulling her with him.
"Alright, only one way to settle this. Clothes off. We're gonna race."
She tried to tamp down the blush that rose to her cheeks when he demanded they strip but he'd barely noticed. Mostly because he was in the process of disrobing himself.
Screwing up her courage she started to remove her clothes and was nearly done as he jumped into the pool splashing her in the process.
"Oooh you're gonna pay for that." She said following him in.
"Alright," he said pointing to the far end of the pool. "We race to the edge, on my count, I'll even give you a head start."
"You're on. Prepare yourself mate and try not to cry too hard when you lose."
He gave her a wry smile and began his countdown.
Martha took off with gusto, swimming for all she was worth... and still the Doctor beat her easily. She couldn't quite see him but she did feel it as he moved through the water with the ease of a fish just to her right. He was already at the far edge, not even out of breath when she arrived, heart thumping, breath coming out in pants.
"Whose supposed to be crying?" He asked cheekily.
She laughed and gave him a playful shove.
"Alright, alright, you win. You are lord and master of this absurdly sized pool."
"I'll take that lord and master thing embroidered on a pillow if you don't mind." He teased.
"Don't push you luck!" She said with a grin. "But seriously this really is an impressive setup. I mean, I've never, ever seen a pool like this."
"You don't know the half of it." He said, the pride evident in his voice.
"What do you mean? Something more amazing than having the entire universe above your head?"
He didn't answer her with words but instead just pointed his finger downwards.
Out of curiosity she took a deep breath and dove under. Her brow furrowed a bit as she tried to comprehend what she was seeing, or rather again, not seeing. Shocked she swam up towards the surface.
"There's no bottom!" She exclaimed. he met her with a genuine grin, albeit a small one.
"Erm...not quite. The bottom is the top you see."
She shook her head not understanding.
"Give it another go, you'll see what I mean. I promise if you got into trouble which you wouldn't I'm expert swimmer, as I've already demonstrated. I'd come get you. Hey you know me, first time we met you saw me exist with perfect ease in a vacuum."
"Promise?"
"Cross my hearts."
Curiosity overruling her judgement she sank down beneath the water again, swimming towards the possibly nonexistent bottom. As the light behind her grew dim, another became visible ahead of her. A light and something else; something pale, no, two somethings, long and pale and just hanging there in the water. By the time her mind was screaming at her to turn around it was already too late and she didn't have enough air for the return trip. With what strength she had left, that panic hadn't drained, she burst through the surface and with her first gasping breath called out; "Doctor!" It echoed off the walls and there he was, staring at her curiously.
"What?"
"But you..."
It was about that time that she realized the two long, pale things she'd seen had in fact been his legs.
"How is that possible?" She demanded.
"Double sided pool. No drowning possible here. the top is the top and the bottom is the top. No matter what, you'll always surface"
She laughed in spite of herself. There'd never be time enough to see all the marvels this ship help. there'd never be enough time to see all the marvels this man before her held. And what started off as a happy thought quickly turned sad. He watched her face morph and what she saw reflected on his was absolute sympathy. Of course...of course he would understand the cruelty of time, of having too much of it or not having enough. He'd know better than anybody.
"I know." he said quietly before giving her a heartbreaking smile. "Believe me, I know."
"How do you stand it?" She asked, her voice cracking as it left her throat. The question sounded improper and intrusive in the vastness of this room but he didn't seem to take offense.
"I don't." He said simply. "I don't stand it. I bear it. Usually on my knees."
Impulsively she threw her arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace whether he wanted it or not. It turns out her did and his arms encircled her fiercely.
He looked so different, felt so different in this moment that she didn't want to let him go. Oh he affected a nonchalant attitude. The pinstriped suit was just chosen, the hair just sort of fell that way, the coat, the trainers. 'Oh no, Martha, it's not a look. It's just what I wear.' But she knew better. That was a look, as carefully chosen as any blokes that she might have seen in London on a Saturday night. But the Doctor, the man before her now was anything but carefully put together. He was a delightfully wet and bedraggled mess. As she pulled back to look at him she realized she had never been quite this close for this long.
He'd never let her get this close.
Her hand seemed to act of its own volition as she raised it up and caressed his cheek.
"How did I never notice before that you have freckles."
He felt as he pressed his cheek against her palm and it took her a moment to realize it wasn't just her imagination or wishful thinking.
"Do I?" He asked sounding genuinely surprised.
"How do you not know that?" She asked, only vaguely aware that she was moving her face closer to his, her lips nearer to his lips.
"Well...I don't spend all that much time looking into a mirror."
"Bollocks." She said softly.
He was gazing at her intently as he too moved closer. Neither of them seemed sure as to what was going to happen but neither wanted to be the one to break the spell.
When the time came it seemed pointless to try and figure out who kissed who first. From then on things snowballed.
She'd thought he might be clumsy or awkward, but he wasn't. The Doctor was layers. Layers upon layers upon layers, as infinite and twisty as any TARDIS corridor. He was a babbler whose brain worked only slightly faster than his tongue. Underneath that, all the laughter and the jokes and the ribbing and the clever quips and the arrogance he was in pain, a kind of crushing overwhelming pain that she could feel burning off of his skin if she stood too close. Beneath that was a sort of blinding pride, egotism and beneath that was a weighty insecurity and beneath that was a shocking level of skill when it came to human perception, deduction, interaction. Like a miner she'd dug deep, had started digging from the day he bustled into her life and here she was at an entirely new level, wanton, sexual, slightly demanding and completely in control.
She wasn't certain that he'd removed her knickers until she saw them out of the corner of her eye floating away on the current they were causing.
She also wasn't sure what she'd find when she reached below the water line and towards his shorts. He wasn't human. Not remotely so. He didn't pretend to be and she hadn't for second let that thought leave her mind. But whatever he had it was somehow linked to his desire for her and she would accept it and try and please him anyway she could. He had already made fast work of her bra and was, at the moment, sucking enthusiastically on her neck. She let her hand slip past the material and what she found there didn't feel nearly as alien as she imagined it might. Though it didn't feel entirely familiar either.
He gasped and she assumed she was doing something right. As she wriggled the material off his body it occured to her for the first time that she didn't actually have to tread water to stay afloat. Even if she kept still she remained perfectly buyoant.
The Doctor grinned at her discovery and answering her unspoken words replied.
"The water is hyper oxygenated as too. Well, I say water but-"
She cut him off with a kiss before pulling away. She was still stroking him lightly and he didn't appear in any hurry to have him stop. The fact that she could breathe for as long as she wanted underwater gave Martha an idea.
"Can I see?" She asked quietly, raising an eyebrow, her gaze pointing downward.
The Doctor raised her chin before softly answering.
"Does it matter?"
So, that did mean it was a bit different. Still though, he was right. It didn't matter.
She shook her head no and resumed kissing him, only vaguely aware of when he changed their positions in the water. Gently he pressed her against the edge of the pool and instinctively she raised her legs, wrapping them around his waist.
This was happening, the moment she'd dreamed of, fantasized about, hell the moment she'd wanked to on more than one occasion was just about to occur and she couldn't be happier.
There was no fumbling, no awkwardness, no questions. One moment they were two bodies and the next they were one, together, floating, connected. She didn't know where he found the leverage to thrust into her gently, so gently and after a moment she didn't care.
It was wordless and nearly silent except for his pants, her soft cries and the sound of the water and the waves slapping around them.
He felt hard and perfect inside of her and for the first time in a long time, maybe ever she was with a lover with whom she never broke eye contact.
She was keenly aware that this felt like a one off.
Just one trip to say thanks. He'd said.
You get one trip.
It was always just one trip with the Doctor, wasn't it.
Don't expect. Don't assume. Don't plan.
Don't...don't...don't...don't let this be over.
But then it was. In a magnificent burst it ended with her softly calling out the only name he'd ever told her and with him whimpering quietly before laughing against her neck.
For a moment it seemed a though that light that had been so absent from his eyes had returned and she flattered herself to think she'd put it there.
"Thank you." They'd both said at once which earned each of them a smile mirrored by the other.
She kissed him again but the passion of the moment had cooled back to friendship.
As her underwear conveniently floated past she reached for it, disengaged from him and slipped it on quickly before climbing out of the pool.
She picked her clothes up and smiled down at him where he floated in the pool. She took one more moment to glance up at the stars. The didn't make her feel queasy this time.
"Martha Jones." he said quietly in that way that only he could. He looked at ease, happy, peaceful but clearly neither needing for her to stay or go. It was up to her.
Martha's choice.
"Doctor." She replied with a little nod of the head.
She was immensely proud of herself for just smiling and walking away...no matter how much she wanted to leap back into the water and cling to him.
Still she did give him a sway of her hips as she retreated.
"I'm expecting quite an adventure tomorrow." She called over her shoulder.
"And you'll get it." He replied.
"Until then."
And then she was gone. She'd headed straight to the shower. She'd wanted to be in the hot, steamy, relaxing water just so she could think and mull over what had happened.
She decided she absolutely didn't regret it.
She also decided a few other things.
Funny thing about the TARDIS. Like she'd realized early on, her room was always a few steps away, once she decided she was tired and done for the evening. Another funny thing...the night she'd found the library she'd been thinking about how badly she wanted to read a book from a completely different culture and planet. And when she'd discovered the gym it was just because she'd been thinking the Doctor does an awful lot of running. Surely even aliens can be prone to getting fat. Where the hell did his endurance and lung capacity come from. And how could she keep from losing hers.
What she'd given she'd given willingly. She wasn't doubting that. but this evening it hadn't been she who'd gotten what was needed had it?
Maybe it worked the same for him. Maybe the TARDIS brought him where he needed to be.
Maybe the TARDIS brought him what he needed.
Martha Jones stepped out of the shower and prepared for bed still lost in thought
Did she find the pool for him or for herself?
Was this one of the places that he went at night? Was this the place he went every night? Could he always be found staring up at the stars, lounging by the water...waiting?
As she drifted off to sleep her mind took her back to the pool, the water, the sounds, the stars and his touch.
For a moment it was like she was right there all over again.
And Martha wondered...how many he'd had there before her.