*meekly steps into view* I really have no excuse for not updating this for so long. And I'm quite sorry about how lazy I've been with this story. So, if you guys are still reading this, enjoy! Disclaimer- Nope. My absence has made no difference whatsoever in the status of my Doctor Who ownership.
"You're kidding." Said Mickey, his voice hushed as he talked with Martha in the kitchen, out of earshot of the man in the sitting room. "It's him? The Doctor? He's went and changed on us again?"
"I think so." Martha replied, tone matching that of her husband's. Mickey nodded slowly at this.
"Okay...Well why is he here? Shouldn't he be off, you know, saving the universe of something like that?" He asked, confusion laden in his voice.
"He's...Not exactly up for that right now." Explained Martha, chosing each word with precise care. Mickey's eyebrow drew together at this.
"What's happening with him, then?" He inquired. There was a slightly pause before Martha answered.
"He's left him companions. Amelia and Rory, they ere called. And he's just being really hard on himself about the whole thing."
"Sounds like him." Mickey mused. "But that still doesn't explain why he's here." He pointed out.
"I think, that right now, he just sort of needs someone to talk to about a few things. Maybe he figured that it might not be the best idea for him to het into any life-or-death situations in the state he's in at the moment. I mean, it's not like he's got anybody else to go to."
"There's Jack." Said Mickey.
"Mickey." Martha snapped. "My point id that he's here. Not at Torchwood, but here, and that's that."
"Alright." Mickey agreed, backing down from the flaring temper of his wife.
"We're his friends and he needs us." Said Martha, her voice far more gentle this time around. Mickey nodded once more and clasped his hands, rubbing them together. He turned and exited the kitchen, entering the room where the Doctor sat, staring intently at the ground.
"Hey, Doctor." Mickey greeted, unsure of what else to say. The Time Lord glanced up, fixing his gaze on the man in front of him.
"She's filled you in, then." He noted simply. Mickey rubbed at the back of his neck nervously.
This wasn't the Doctor he knew. Not at all. If it was, he would have been called an idiot at least three times by now. the Doctor he knew was energetic, and completely mad, and at times incredibly infuriating. So far he hadn't been, or done, any of these things.
"Uh, yeah. Martha told me what happened."
Silence.
"All of it?"
"I think so."
"...Right."
Mickey made his way over to a chair and sat across from the Doctor, studying him closely.
"How are you holding up, then?" He questioned, his voice as light as he could muster. The Doctor and rubbed at his face with his hands for a moment.
"Fine." He replied.
"Come on now. I know you, Doctor." Said Mickey.
"I'm sorry?" The Doctor questioned.
"I know you, and I know that when you say you're fine, you're really not fine at all."
The Doctor fixed Mickey with an incredulous look.
"I've changed."
Mickey snorted.
"You don't say." He retorted. "Yeah, you have. A lot actually. But not that much."
The Doctor clenched his jaw some.
"Mickey, really, I'll be fine. It's just- You know, letting go of my companions, it's never easy."
Mickey opened his mouth to respond, but his voice was cut off as Martha entered the room, and the Time Lord turned his complete attention to her, grateful for a chance to change the subject.
"So, Martha," He stared loudly. "How are things at UNIT going?"
Martha shot a curious glance at her husband before returning her gaze to the Doctor.
"It's good. Great, really. All the people we're able to help. I've never been able to tell you, but thanks for the mention to the higher-ups."
The Doctor grinned at this, and Martha frowned slightly. When she'd last seen him, just a few minutes ago, he'd been a mess. And now this. What? She recollected her thoughts enough to form them into a sentence.
"Anyway, back on subject-"
"How's the family?" The Doctor interrupted once more.
So that's what he's doing, Martha realized. Changing the subject around, not letting her concentrate on the one area she really needed to talk to him about; Pretending to be fine and hiding behind his facade of false energy.
Good Lord, he hadn't changed at all.
"The family's fine, Doctor, but-"
"You know, I really am quite disappointed in you two." The Doctor noted mildly.
"Wha- Why?" Martha inquire, her voice laden with confusion. The Doctor motioned around to the house that was empty other than the three people who were currently occupying it.
"You two have had, what? A year together? By now there could have been at least one little kid running around here! I was looking forwards to meeting them!"
Mickey blinked in surprise as Martha gave an internal sigh.
"Doctor. I just- I need to know if you're okay. So if you could stop taking us all off track for a few moments, that would be lovely." She said, really, honestly hoping that that her friend would allow for himself to talk to her and Mickey some.
He never had been very good at that.
The Doctor pulled down his previous act, burying his face into his hands, not bothering to resurface when he answered.
"I'm fine, Martha. Really."
Martha opened her mouth to argue, but didn't get the chance before the Doctor continued.
"Listen. I just...I'll be just need some down time right now, I think. A bit of a break."
A break from running all the time, he thought, A break from always saving the universe but losing everybody close to me, a break from making all the hard decisions by myself, every time.
Martha eyed the Doctor wearily, trying to judge just how much she could afford to trust him on this particular front. It might, this one time, be wise to listen to what he was saying, simply because she wasn't familiar with this version of him, and had no way of telling how much her friend ws telling her.
Finally, she decided to trust him on this. Since she couldn't really tell either way, she might as well.
"...Alright, Doctor."
The Doctor let out a small breath, relaxing some.
"THank you, Martha."
There was a short silence between the three, eventually broken by Martha.
"Okay, you lot. I don't know how you're doing, but I'm starved. Who else is up for chips?"
"Sounds great." Said Mickey. Martha smiled and glanced at the Doctor, who gave an almost unnoticeable nod.
"Off we go then." Martha said, starting towards the door, side by side with Mickey. The Doctor stood up, keeping his eyes constantly trained on the ground, and mumbled something. He cleared his throat and repeated himself, clearer this time around.
"I haven't got any money...but if I can just pop back into the TARDIS..."
Martha shot mickey a worried look.
"You're fine, we'll pay. You're well worth a basket of chips." Martha said.
"...If you say so..." The Doctor muttered uncertainly.
"Of course you are, Doc." Said Mickey.
As the trio stepped outside of the door, closing and locking it behind them, Martha spoke.
"There's a good place just few blocks from here we can stop at." She suggested, taking the charge and walking in front of her two companions.
As they walked, Mickey sped up his pace so that he could be next to his wife, whereas the Doctor slowly migrated back, falling further and further behind the pair before him. A lock of his trademark thick brown hair had flopped in front of his eyes but he didn't bother to brush it aside.
He wasn't worth the basket of chips that Martha would undoubtedly force upon him. She may think that he was, and tell him that same thing, but it did nothing to counteract what he was felling at this moment. He was a monster; Mickey and Martha, they just refused to see that. He's been selfish, so, so selfish. He'd taken Amy and Rory away from their perfectly normal safe lives, and forced them into life threatening situations over and over, and over. He knew that he never should have taken new companions onboard the TARDIS, it never ended well. He previous self, he'd sworn that he would never again have another companion. And in that regeneration, he'd stuck to it. Yes, he would let people help him, but it had always been a one time thing. No new passengers had become residents on his ship. BUt then, he gave a bitter inward laugh, then he'd went and regenerated. He'd regenerated, and this body, this bloody stupid had decided that it was a good idea to take along not just one, but two companions. And it had ended, just as the back of his mind had always known that it would end, with him being alone. Completely. Utterly. Terrifyingly.
Alone.
Again.
The high pitched tinkling of bells drove the Doctor away from his train of thought. He glanced up to see a glass door opening with Martha and Mickey entering the building. The intoxicating scent of burgers and chips wafted through the front door. The Time Lord inhaled deeply, stepping inside and letting the door close behind.
He wasn't worth the basket of chips, but maybe, just maybe, strictly to put his friend's at ease, mind you, he would let himself have just a few anyways.
And finished. Don't worry, I really will try to update within a reasonable time from now on. It also helps that since writing this chapter I have a bit more of an idea for where I want it to go. However, it's still open to new ideas! So if you've got anything you want to see, and I do mean anything, go ahead and tell me, in a review or ab PM, it doesn't matter. Leave a review if you are so inclined, thanks for reading, have a great day, and DFTBA!