Turn Your Back, Look Away and Blink
by Lumendea
Chapter Four: Seen You Before
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and gain nothing from the creation of this story
AN: Thank you so much for the positive comments on this story. I've been meaning to do a serious cleanup for over a year now and your enjoyment is just the motivation I need.
…
The bright Sunday morning found Martha Jones riding a bicycle up a worn path in the woods with a look of great concentration on her face. Despite her misgivings about leaving the school and mystery woman, there was too much to think about. Last night she'd barely slept at all and had been very tempted to stand guard outside of Professor Smith's room just to be sure.
Wrapped up against the November chill in a coat and hat, Martha looked ahead at the stone and wooden building up ahead of her. She stopped the bicycle and dismounted quickly before leaning the bicycle against the wall. Martha entered the shed and shut the door quickly, a smile spreading across her face at the sight of the TARDIS. The Doctor's time travelling machine stood only mere feet away from her and as she closed the distance, Martha pulled a key out from under her dress. Unlocking the door, Martha stepped into the dark control room. All the lights were off and only low lights right next to the controls were still on.
"Hello," Martha said softly before rolling her eyes and pulling off her gloves. "I'm talking to a machine," she muttered to herself with a shake of her head.
Walking around the controls slowly Martha let herself get lost in memories of the doctor changing himself into a human with the Chamaeleon Arch to hide from the Family. For the past month, she'd been wishing that there had been another option or that the TARDIS could have hidden them in some other time. Why couldn't it have been her own time? She could have easily looked after the Doctor in 2008, could have kept him safe, worked on her education and wouldn't be dealing with all the ugly aspects of Edwardian England.
Sighing Martha hit a few buttons, turning the screen on and letting the last record play out in front of her. For a moment she drank in the Doctor's face and smile. John Smith didn't smile like that at all and certainly not at her.
"This working?" the Doctor in the recording asked as he tapped the camera, making Martha smile. "Martha, before I change here's a list of instructions for when I'm human. One, don't let me hurt anyone. We can't have that, but you know what humans are like. Two, don't worry about the TARDIS, I'll put it on emergency power so they can't detect it, just let it hide away. Four- no, wait a minute, three. No getting involved in big historical events. Four- you. Don't let me abandon you. And fi-"
Reaching down Martha turned a dial, speeding up the video to a later point as she asked, "But what about Rose?!" She shook her head, "What about someone, maybe not the Family showing up! Why don't you have pictures of her or something around so I could be sure?"
Sighing Martha released the dial and let the video continue, "And twenty-three. If anything goes wrong, if they find us, Martha, then you know what to do. Open the watch. Everything I am is kept safe in there. Now, I've put a perception filter on it so the human me won't think anything of it, to him it's just a watch. But don't open it unless you have to. Because once it's open, then the Family will be able to find me. It's all down to you, Martha. Your choice." He walked off the screen for a moment but then returned, "Oh, and- thank you." The last thing Martha saw was a wide grin before the screen faded back to the normal setting.
After that, there had been the screaming as he transformed. Then the difficulty of changing him, moving him and the trunks the TARDIS had packed far enough away from the ship so that when he woke up he could slip into his new life. It already seemed a lifetime ago and Martha had to focus every day on why she was doing this, why she couldn't just hide out in the TARDIS until this was all over.
Turning to lean against the controls Martha rubbed her eyes. Her lack of sleep worrying about this strange 'Miss Rose' was wearing her down. She couldn't be sure from a hand-drawn picture since the girl looked different with no makeup and in period dress. Sure the name was the same but it could be a trick or...or Martha didn't know what else it could be. Maybe it was a trap by the Family to lure the Doctor out with a copy of Rose. Martha looked down the hall of the TARDIS and frowned as an idea occurred to her.
Pulling off her coat and hat, Martha set them over the railing and grabbed an emergency torch. Determined, she set off down the dark corridor towards the sleeping quarters. The Doctor had warned her against exploring too much, pointing out that he sometimes left experiments running for years at a time but right now it was vital that she find something. She knew that the Doctor was sensitive about Rose and despite the temptation, she'd never gone in search of her predecessor's room before. Or the Doctor's for that matter, but there had to be a picture of this woman somewhere on the huge ship.
After more than an hour of searching, Martha located a door tucked far back in the TARDIS. It was like someone had wanted to forget that the door existed and it had a small door hanger that simply said: Rose. She hesitated and just stared at the name in the torch beam, trying to muster up the courage to go in. Martha took a little heart from the fact that the name said only Rose and didn't mark it as a room that they had shared.
Taking a deep breath, Martha pushed the door open and stepped into the dark room, shining the torch out in front of her. For a moment she stood in the doorway a bit stunned. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but the cluttered room was not it. In fact, it looked a lot like her own flat had the afternoon the Doctor almost dropped her off. It was cluttered with clothes, makeup, magazines and various trinkets that looked alien.
Martha's eyes landed on a night table covered in framed pictures next to the bed. As she stepped further inside, Martha realised that the entire room still looked completely lived in. A jacket was thrown across the bed as if waiting for the girl to stumble back into the room and grab it. Sitting down on the bed, Martha reached for one of the pictures, shining the torch down on it. The frame was pink with glitter but the photo was definitely the same woman in the infirmary, she was with an older woman and another girl.
Putting down the framed picture, Martha picked up another one and almost gasped as she studied it. Rose was being hugged by the Doctor, tightly and both of them were smiling and clearly didn't know they were being photographed. His face was so happy and open, bright with a genuinely happy smile that made her stomach twist.
Opening the frame, Martha took the picture out and returned the frame to the table. She allowed herself only another moment to study the photograph of the happy Doctor before she turned her attention to the third photograph. Martha picked it up and studied the photo of Rose with two men: one of them very attractive with dark hair and the other an older man wearing a leather jacket.
Shaking her head Martha put the photo back and the grabbed the last framed photograph. It was the Doctor and Rose this time smiling for the camera, holding each other's hands comfortably and smiling. Biting her lip, Martha took out that picture as well and held the two in her lap staring at them in silence. Finally, she put the pictures in her pocket and headed back to the control room. She had been absent from the school too long already.
…..
Timothy Latimer glanced at the J. Smith written on the door before knocking on it. Swinging it open, John Smith looked at the boy in mild confusion. Timothy shifted on his feet as he met the Professor's eyes.
"You told me to come and collect that book, Sir," Timothy reminded him.
John nodded, his mouth forming an o for a moment as he remembered, "Good lad, yes.. yes! 'The Definitive Account of Mafikeng' by Aitchison-Price, where did I put it?" Turning away from the door, John went searching in the room, letting Timothy follow him into the study. "And I wanted a little word- your marks aren't quite good enough," the Professor informed Timothy as he sorted through the stacks of books.
"I'm top ten in my class, sir," Timothy reminded him calmly as he watched the Professor half tear apart his office.
"Now, be honest, Timothy. You should be the very top. You're a clever boy, but you seem to be hiding it," straightening up John looked around the room and muttered, "Where is that book . . . " Stepping into a side room, he began looking over the shelves still talking, "And I know why. Keeping your head low avoids the mockery of your classmates. But no man should hide himself, don't you think?"
Latimer nodded but paused as he heard a small whisper. It hadn't come from the professor and he could feel a strange nudging in his mind that was quite unlike anything he'd felt before.
"Yes sir," he answered automatically as his eyes searched for the source of the voice.
His eyes found the watch sitting on the mantelpiece as the professor called over from the next room, "You're clever, be proud of it. Use it."
Stepping nearer to the watch Timothy frowned as he heard the voice again, "Time Lord… Timothy, hide yourself . . . I'm trapped, kept inside the cogs…"
Picking up the watch, Timothy stared at it in awe. The nudging at his mind was stronger than before, but it was a glorious feeling that while it frightened him a bit also made him feel enthralled. Hearing John Smith behind him, he shoved it into his pocket and turned to the professor
"Fascinating details about the siege," Professor Smith remarked, "Really quite remarkable. Are you all right?" the Professor asked taking in the startled expression on his face.
"Yes Sir," Timothy replied quickly. "Fine, Sir."
"Right then. Good," the Professor remarked with a nod as he held the book out for Timothy. "And remember use that brain of yours!" As he took the book Timothy froze and paled, visions of John Smith as another man, a powerful man rushing through his mind. He was snapped back to reality by Professor Smith letting go the book, "You're really not looking yourself, old chap- anything bothering you, or…?"
"No Sir. Thank you, Sir," Timothy answered quickly before retreating away as fast as he could manage.
Behind him, Professor Smith frowned and muttered, "Odd lad, intelligent but odd."
Shutting the door of his study John straightened his suit and headed down the stairs. He put the matter of Timothy Latimer out of his mind for the time being. He also completely failed to notice that his watch had completely vanished.
….
Rose watched Nurse Redfern calmly as the woman checked her temperature. Nurse Redfern marked it down in her small journal and sighed a moment later. She studied Rose for a long moment and Rose did her best not to shift nervously beneath the stare.
"I do wish I could find the source of your memory loss," Nurse Redfern remarked with a frustrated sigh. Shaking her head the older woman gave her a soft smile and added, "I imagine it must be terrifying."
"Not really, I don't remember if there is anything worth remembering," Rose offered with what she hoped was a charming little smile.
"I suppose that's a positive way of looking at it," Nurse Redfern remarked with a chuckle as she moved away from Rose and set the journal back on her desk. She laughed a bit more and shook her head as she added, "But goodness me it's a surprise you're taking it so well. For all, you know you could have a lad waiting for you."
Rose couldn't quite stop the look of amusement on her face. It had been years for her and yet no one had ever compared to the Doctor. The idea of having a lad waiting for her back home was humorous. The closest was Mickey who had settled into a warm sibling-like relationship with her.
"I don't think so, that doesn't sound right." Rose managed to say, hoping that Nurse Redfern hadn't noticed anything too odd about her reaction. "What about you Nurse Redfern?" Rose questioned as she looked back up at the woman.
"I'm a widow," Nurse Redfern informed Rose as she set down a tray of medical supplies and smoothed her dress.
"I'm sorry," Rose apologised quickly, feeling a pang of sympathy for the woman.
"It was a long time ago," Nurse Redfern assured her as she sat down at her desk. "I've thought of remarrying a few times since " Nurse Redfern confessed with a small smile.
"Sounds like you've got a bloke in mind," Rose remarked with a smile.
She almost flinched at the words as soon as they escaped her. She wasn't exactly behaving properly based on the Nurse's look of surprise. But then Nurse Redfern blushed slightly and smiled.
"There is one new professor here, such a sweet man and a lovely smile," Nurse Redfern admitted in a soft voice.
Nodding Rose shifted, trying to find a comfortable position in the bed. Modern medicine dictated that the ill person never leave the bed. Needless to say, it was quickly becoming very dull. Fortunately, Nurse Redfern had already sent for some new clothes for Rose and had promised she could visit the village in a few days if she kept improving.
While she was grateful for the help she was receiving it was hardly putting her in a position that she could investigate. Already Rose was trying to sort out her plan for what to do next. Torchwood was an option, but Rose wasn't sure what capabilities they would actually have at this point. She might be able to learn something in London if she put out an advertisement in the papers, potentially find other victims of this time travel event. If she was lucky maybe there would be Time Agents investigating.
A knock on the infirmary door pulled Rose out of her thoughts. She looked over as Nurse Redfern stood up and called for the person to come in. Rose was expecting Martha, another maid or one of the students, but instead, a very familiar looking man stepped in.
"Sorry to interrupt, just thought I'd check in on the patient."
Rose's jaw dropped as he turned to look at her and her mind just stopped. It was the Doctor, just as how she remembered him. Well, he looked a little older with more frown lines around the eyes and his hair was covered, but she knew that face. John Smith had a similar look of shock on his face as she stared at the woman on the bed.
"Do the two of you know each other?" Nurse Redfern asked, moving over towards them as she looked between them with obvious confusion. "Professor Smith?"
The man, Professor Smith, blinked and shook his head after a long moment, making Rose snap back to reality.
"Ummm," he trailed off embarrassed under the gaze of the Matron but recovered. "She looks familiar but I'm afraid I can't place her."
Both he and the matron missed the look of devastation that crossed Rose's face as she bit her lip to keep from crying. He looked the same but he was different, he held himself differently and talked differently, it wasn't the Doctor. It was in his eyes, they just… weren't old enough.
"Miss Rose, do you remember him?" Nurse Redfern asked, turning her attention back towards Rose.
"No Nurse Redfern," Rose answered around the knot in her throat. "I don't think so."