Martha stood in front of the tower looking out towards Cardiff Bay, the water behind her cascading in a torrent down into the hub. She had needed to get away from them for a while; away from the questioning glances and the prying eyes. They didn't know. They couldn't. Jack was the only one who could understand…and he understood all too well.
When Jack had called her she had come out of respect for him. And she had felt a strange sense of pride that he would even think of asking her for help. After all, Jack was over a hundred years old. He'd lived through more than she could even imagine, and he was asking her for advice, she still couldn't get her mind around that.
But his team...They were a different story. She'd been curious about what kind of a group Captain Jack would surround himself with. And now she had her answer. Owen, Ianto, Tosh and Gwen; they were all nice enough…well sort of. They'd looked on her as an intruder, and Jack had done little to soften that perception. He hadn't bothered to explain their acquaintance other than to say that she was a friend. Apparently his team was ignorant of the Doctor and Jack's association with him. But then they didn't seem to know anything about Jack; nothing important anyway. Oh, they knew he couldn't die, but aside from that their Captain was a mystery to them. She wasn't surprised; Jack did tend to play things rather close to the vest.
She supposed that she should follow his example. The few people she had tried to confide in since her travels with the Doctor had thought her insane, including her own brother. Even her parents and her sister thought she was exaggerating about her adventures, and they remembered that year with the Master.
But she needed to talk to someone. This was too much. People were dying and she couldn't stop it. Jack couldn't stop it. And the Doctor wasn't here. She wanted to cry and scream and stomp her feet, but she couldn't. And she couldn't tell anyone what she was going through…except him.
She heard his footsteps as he came up behind her. Martha knew it was him. She hadn't known him long, but she knew him well…too well to get involved with him.
"Are you ok?" Jack's gentle query interrupted her thoughts.
Martha nodded without turning around to face him, "I'm fine Jack, just feeling a bit overwhelmed."
"I know Martha…I'm sorry," Jack said softly, laying a hand on her shoulder, "I shouldn't have called you. I shouldn't have gotten you involved in this. It's too much to ask."
Martha shook her head, "No, Jack. I'm glad you called. I just…I just have a hard time watching people die and knowing that I can't help them. That all of my medical knowledge is useless."
"It's not useless, Martha. You're doing fine. Don't doubt yourself. We have to keep going. We have to stop this infestation. And I know we can…with your help."
Martha turned around, her hand resting lightly on his chest, "Thank you for your faith in me Jack, but I'm not the Doctor. I may not be able to solve all your problems."
Jack's hand moved up and cupped her chin, "I know you're not the Doctor…But I have a feeling, Martha, that if we work together…we can do anything."
She smiled at him then, despite her melancholy, and leaned forward to plant a chaste kiss on his lips.
As she pulled back she looked up into his blue eyes and saw a glimpse of herself there…lonely, lost, abandoned…waiting for the Doctor to come back into her life.
Martha turned quickly and looked back out at the water, not wanting Jack to see the tears that were suddenly filling her eyes. The bay was black in the darkness, night was closing in around them. The water from the tower splashed behind her, reminding her where she was…grounding her in reality.
"Martha, you're not alone," Jack's soft American accent echoed the words of the Face of Boe, billions of years in the future. In her minds eye she saw him there, breathing his last, the Doctor kneeling before him. She closed her eyes and the tears ran freely down her cheeks.
Jack's hands were on her shoulders, his lips close to her ear, "I know what you're going through. I've been through it before…You don't have to do this alone. Let me help you."
Martha shook her head sadly, "No, Jack. We can't. We both still love him, don't we? He's a part of us now…how do we go on without him, how do we live like this?"
"One day at a time. One year at a time. And we try to live better lives; we try to bring a little goodness into this world. We follow his example. And we love each other, Martha; because we're the only ones who can ever understand this feeling…this emptiness that comes with having all that knowledge, all that adventure and then losing it."
Martha wiped the tears away from her eyes and turned to face him again, his dark hair falling over his forehead, blue eyes shining in the darkness. And then with a clarity she hadn't had in months she saw her future laid out before her, her life without the Doctor, and she knew that Jack was right.
She kissed him then, and this time it was a full, passionate kiss, filled with all her loneliness, all her longing. His arms went around her and they stood like that, locked in a tight embrace, in front of the Tower, holding onto each other as if their world would break apart if they let go.
And then a cough sounded close by…and then another. Followed by a nervous giggle.
They pulled apart slowly and reluctantly and turned to see the entire Torchwood team standing there staring. They were caught. Gwen's amusement, Owen's disappointment, Tosh's shock and Ianto's jealousy were all there, plain to see on their faces.
But Jack didn't care and when he looked down at Martha and tightly gripped her hand in his he saw her care vanish as well. They were together, here in this moment and that was all that mattered.