A/N: Whee! A Doctor/Martha fic for Leaffy and her eighteenth birthday! huggles teh Leaf Here's your pressie, darling. And, as I promised, Martha likes Amy Winehouse. :P Spoilers for "The Last of the Time Lords," and potentially season four, although that's unlikely. Sorry about the lack of Donna, but I wasn't really sure where she would fit.
Oh, and if anyone can name the film that the Doctor and Martha watch, you rock.
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to its respectful owner, although I wouldn't mind owing David Tennant or having Freema's looks.
Special thanks to: My lovely David, who burned me the CD with all these songs on it for the inspiration, Kelsey who gave me the idea and Kelly for being my beta. I love you all.
Feedback: Is lovely, really. I accept both glowing praise and concrit. Hell, I'll even take flames. They make me laugh.
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I.
The phone rings when he's trying to figure out where to go next. He makes a mad dash across the TARDIS control room's floor and nearly breaks the phone in his efforts to answer it. "Martha?" he says, trying to keep his voice calm and steady.
"Doctor!" she nearly shrieks. "Oh, Doctor, it's wonderful!"
"What is?" he asks.
"I passed my exams!" she screams. "I'm a doctor now! I'm Doctor Martha Jones! Isn't it fabulous?"
"Yeah, yeah," the Doctor says, trying to hide his disappointment. After all, if she was a doctor now, the chances of her coming back were slim to none. "Congratulations, Martha. Really."
"Anyway," she says, and he can't tell if she's ignoring his tone, "a few mates and I are going out to celebrate. Wanna come?"
"Er…" he debates this for a few moments. "Yeah, sure. Why not?"
"Great! I'll see you soon!" She hangs up.
--
Martha makes for a funny drunk, the Doctor realizes, as she watches her swing her hips and sashay to the music in the club. Her jeans are tight like her shirt and he clears his throat, trying not to stare at her. She has a drink in one hand and takes sips in between singing along, rather sloppily, to the music.
"I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine," Martha sings, then takes a long drink of her Carling's beer. "He's tried to make me go to rehab but I won't go, go, go…" Then she sets her drink down and sashays over to the Doctor, who's been standing rather inconspicuously to the side the entire time. "Dance with me," she murmurs in his ear."
He clears his throat. "Er, I can't, Martha, really," he says. "I can't dance."
Her eyes light up. "Then I'll teach you!" she responds, pulling him onto the dance floor. "This is my celebration party and I can't have you sitting on the side, doing nothing!" He can smell the alcohol on her breath and she tries to teach him how to dance like a girl in 2008 would. The last time he danced was with Reinette, and this is nothing like dancing with her, but he doesn't mind. The music keeps pounding.
"There's nothing you can teach me that I can't learn from Mr. Hathaway." Some girls sing along with the music.
Then there's a slow song and the Doctor puts his hands on Martha's waist and she rests her head on his chest. She can hear two heartbeats and she smiles.
They leave the club at two in the morning and the Doctor walks Martha home.
"I had a really nice time tonight," says Martha as she takes the Doctor to the TARDIS.
He smiles. "Me too."
She opens her mouth, as if she would say something important, but she closes it, before opening it again. "Thanks for coming," she says finally. "It was nice."
She walks away and the Doctor leaves without another word.
---
II.
"Oh, now that's just not fair!" the Doctor yells as the Ziwan turns around. "You're supposed to be-" he sighs. "Fine, fine." He points his screwdriver at the creature. "You won that round."
That's when the phone goes off, and the Doctor wonders why he carries it around with him at all times.
Of course you know why you carry it around with you at all times, says that annoying voice in the back of his head that he calls Fred because of Romana.
One shot from the sonic screwdriver and the scream of the Ziwan later, the Doctor answers the mobile. "Hello?" he asks, keeping the tremor out of his voice.
"Doctor, it's Martha! Listen, you have to come 'round. I found the most fantastic film on time travel. I think you'd love it!"
He sighs. "Martha, I'm a little busy at the moment-" he begins, then backtracks. "On second thought, I'll be over in half an hour."
"Great!" she cries. "See you then!" Then she hangs up.
The Doctor makes short work of the Ziwans before going to Martha's flat.
--
"Martha, this is not how time travel works at all," the Doctor complains. "Come on, you should know better! First of all, there are no giant rabbits!"
She tells him to "shh" and intently watches the film. He puts one arm around her and strokes her dark hair. Sighing, she settles back into his form. She smiles when he laughs at the line about Smurfs. "See? I told you you'd like it," she tells him.
"Maybe I do like it," the Doctor agrees.
Martha falls asleep with about thirty minutes left and the Doctor keeps stroking her hair. There's a song playing over the credits, soft and melancholy and sort of sad. He hums along.
"And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad; the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had. I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take. When people run in circles it's a very, very mad world." The Doctor just sits and listens to the song and doesn't move in case he wakes Martha.
When she does wake, about twenty minutes later, she blinks up at him and pulls away quickly. "Sorry," she mumbles. "I fell asleep."
"Yeah," he says. "You did. It's all right, though." She smiles. "You know, that wasn't a realistic movie at all," he adds.
Martha grins. "I know. I just thought you should see it."
The Doctor pats her arm. "Thank you for inviting me over, Martha Jones."
"No problem, Doctor," she responds quietly.
---
III.
The Krall are a dangerous foe to deal with, so the Doctor is completely on his guard. He tries to keep the monster at bay before he pushes it into the deep ravine just mere feet behind it. "Come on," he mutters.
The third call comes when he's so close to his goal that he can almost taste the victory. "Martha, I'm a little busy at the moment!" he bellows into the phone.
"What are you doing?" she asks.
At that moment, the Krall lets out a shriek and the Doctor puts the phone down, careful not to hang up on her. After managing to trick the Krall into taking four steps back and falling into the rift, he picks up again. "Martha?" He keeps his voice steady. "You there?"
"Of course I'm here," she answers. "Look, I was just wondering if you could do me a favor. I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to-"
"What is it?" he asks.
"Well, Tom and I had plans to go to Tish's wedding together, and he had to cancel at the last minute and I don't really want to be dateless…"
"Say no more! I'll be over there in a flash."
--
It's a little awkward standing in a suit in Martha's flat waiting for her to finish getting ready. She'd shrieked at him not to look at her while she didn't have her make up on and held a towel over her face. He can smell her sweet perfume wafting around.
He doesn't hear the bathroom door open or the clicking of her heels on the wood floor. "Ready?" Her voice brings him down to Earth with a crash and he looks at her.
Then he stares at her. She's wearing a very nice blue dress and has her hair all done up and her make up and, God, she looks beautiful. He gapes. Martha blushes. "I look stupid, don't I?" she asks.
"No, no!" he protests. "No. You look nice. For a human."
She smiles. "And you look nice… for an alien. Come on, then." And they go to the wedding.
At the reception, they sit kind of on the side, with Martha nursing a glass of wine and they watch all the other couples dance and Tish looks radiant and they both feel out-of-place.
Then a song starts up, and Martha leaps to her feet. "I love this song!" she declares. "Dance with me. Please."
The Doctor listens to the song as he stands up and takes Martha's hand. "Today is gonna be the day, that they're gonna throw it back to you. By now you should've somehow realized what you've gotta do." Tentatively, he walks onto the floor with Martha and wraps his arms around her waist.
She leans in close and he breathes in the scent of her hair, resting his head on hers as they slowly turn, holding each other.
"I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now."
They dance a little more after that song and take a break and then they dance and then the Doctor says that he has to go. He walks Martha home and holds her hand.
"Well, at least your relatives won't think you're completely hopeless when it comes to getting dates," he jokes.
Martha laughs. "Thanks. For everything, I mean. For coming."
"It wasn't a problem. Thanks for dancing with me," he responds and kisses her on the cheek. She smiles and watches the TARDIS dematerialize and she feels a little sad.
---
IV.
The phone goes off for the hundredth time while the Doctor is trying to secure the lock on the Gorgon's cage. He makes sure not to look at the alien creature as he fiddles with the key and tries to answer the mobile at the same time. When he finally opens it, he can hear Martha on the other end. She sounds different, like she has a head cold.
"Doctor?" she almost whispers, and then he hears her voice crack.
"Martha?"
There's a long pause and then she chokes out, "Can you come 'round?"
"Of course," he answers, knowing what's wrong the moment he hangs up.
--
He expects to find Martha all huddled up on the couch, watching some chick flick with a load of tissues and several tubs of ice cream, a sobbing mess with her hair all mussed and mascara running down her cheeks.
Instead, he finds her sitting upright on the couch, listening to soft music. "Certain things just happen when you make no plans, and love can really tear you up and it can break you down. Everything you think you know, baby, is wrong," croons Shirley Manson, and Martha sort of nods her head along with the music. She has a single crumpled tissue in her hand and occasionally uses it to blot away her tears.
The Doctor sits down next to her, waiting for her to speak. "Tom left me," she says finally, her voice raw with emotion.
"I'm so sorry," the Doctor whispers, and rubs her back a little, trying to comfort her.
"Tom left me," she repeats, and then she starts to sob. "He just rang and told me that he'd met someone else." She sniffs. "Another girl. She's probably… she's probably prettier than me and nicer than me and smarter than me and she can love him better than me. Oh, God, I was such a fool." She wipes at her eyes with the tissue.
The Doctor looks at her sternly. "Now, Martha Jones," he begins, "You need to stop letting yourself get overshadowed by these other women."
"I know," she sobs. "But… but, I just… I can't believe this." She wipes her eyes. "I mean, he told me that he loved me and that I was everything to him and then he just… left me." A shuddering breath escapes her lips. "I just wish…" She sighs.
"You wish what?" he asks.
She shakes her head. "Nothing. It was… stupid. Don't worry about it," she laughs.
For a long time, they sit in silence then the Doctor takes her hand and squeezes it. "Martha Jones, I meant it when I said that you were a star," he whispers.
Her eyes are shining with tears as she smiles. "Thanks," she says and lets him draw her into a hug.
---
V.
The Doctor leaves two hours later and Martha fills the bathtub with hot water and bubbles and sinks down into it. She sighs and closes her eyes, trying to wash away everything bad. The water lapping at her skin feels heavenly and she relaxes.
She could stay like this for ages, she thinks.
The phone sits on the bathroom counter and she reaches for it.
--
The fifth call comes with the Doctor sits in the TARDIS control room, staring at the floor. "Martha?"
"Be over here in fifteen minutes. I've got a bag packed and I'm ready to go," she orders.
Grinning, the Doctor says, "I'll be there in fifteen, Martha Jones. You really are a star."
"I know," she answers before hanging up.
---
le fin