Five's last part. the end may seem misleading but really is going somewhere i swear.
Thank you for all of the kind words, really they are amazing.
She managed to make it to the TARDIS on her own, she smiled as the old machine shook as the door pushed open. "There, there," she smiled stroking the white wall of the console room. "I just wanted to be home."
Is that what that place was to her now? Home? Martha n=moved over to the console and began flipping a few switches. Nothing that would dematerialize the machine, She wanted to feel it under her fingers.
The TARDIS let out a great shudder, Martha smiled at her friend's attempts to warn her. "Let him in." she smiled with another gentle caress. "I aint scared of him."
The Doctor bustled in and went directly to her. "You left me in that room."
"I did." She nodded.
"We were in the midst of a serious discussion. Grownups do not simply waltz out of a conversation and run off, off…"
"Home," Martha finished with a nod. "This is as much my home as it is yours, isn't it?"
The Doctor moved around the console, angry disposition melting into something else, no less fierce but softer in nature. "Yes," he nodded.
Martha inhaled a sharp breath and rubbed her eyes. "This is all completely mad." She shook her head.
"Of course it is Martha. What did you expect?"
"I expected a relationship of equals. Two people who walk side by side one another. I don't need you to put your coat over any mud puddles Doctor."
He nodded, came around and [placed his arm around her waist. "I know."
"Do you?" she asked "Or are you just filling in the blanks at this point?"
He pulled her a little closer. "I am trying to explain things to you. But, answering questions that are fundamentally against my upbringing are difficult for me."
"Your whole life is against your upbringing Doctor. That is a load of crap."
"Language!" he grinned. "I am trying Martha, I truly am." He whispered close.
"Then tell me something."
"What?" he asked.
"I don't know something, anything that you are uncomfortable with. Get out of your comfort zone Doctor. Tell me something that what get those stuffed shirts panties in a bunch." She pled.
He nodded. Taking her hand, he led her to the small seat in the corner off the room and sat her down next to him. "Ok, fair enough."
Martha sat dutifully at his side, where, she supposed she would be sitting for a very long time, both figuratively and literally. She let him take her hand again and looked into his eyes. The discomfort was written all over his face, he seemed to fidget like a five year old during a particularly long sermon. Martha did not want to examine the part of her that was enjoying this.
"How much do you know?" he asked quietly.
"You could fit it upon the head of a pin." She acknowledged.
"Yeah," he nodded back. "That sounds about right." He sighed and leaned back into the chair, still holding her hand.
She let his assertion hang in the small space between them, his affirmation was honest, at least he offered her that.
He sighed resolutely but spoke."We are taught early about how unique we are, amongst all the other species in the universe. We are taught that our ways are the best ways, the only ways. From the time of eight years of age, we are taken to have it drilled into our heads that Time Lords are the gods of the universes."
"But, that is not the truth, is it?" she asked quietly.
The Doctor sighed and ran his hands over his face. "It is if we believe it is." He nodded. "If every single person on Gallifrey believes in their superiority, then yes it is."
"So that makes it real then?" she sniffed
"It does for me!" the Doctor insisted. "How am I supposed to shirk off that inherently taught system of nondisclosure?"
Martha placed her hand upon his arm. "You just do Doctor."
The silence fell between them again; Martha allowed him to cling to her and did not press him for any answers. He seemed to be in a deep thought process that Martha knew was gong to lead somewhere. It always did.
Suddenly, he leapt from the seat, ran over to the console and began flipping switches. "What are you doing?" she asked rising to follow him. "She is still too drunk to drive." Martha smirked.
"She can always get home Martha, it's an easy trip for her. "
"Doctor that can't be safe, taking any trip in her right now would be dangerous. You said so yourself."
"I am taking you to see Gallifrey." He announced with a nod. "It's where I need to take her anyway, she should have a good refuel after her night of drinking. "
"No, Doctor." She shook her head. With her hands, she stilled his over the controls.
"Well, why ever not? You asked for something that I would normally not share. This ius something I would not normally share!"
She shook her head and offered him a look of sincere pleading.
"We are going." He insisted. "I want to, need to share this with you,. It's something that you have asked for, something I can give you. Besides, nothing like a good recharge to give the old girl feeling good again."
But Martha firmly kept her hands over his. "No, you can't take me there. Don't get me wrong Doctor, I dream of seeing it, ever since you described it to me. But you cannot take me to see it. Please don't ask me why, just understand that I cannot go there."
The Doctor stood motionless, his face a mask of both confusion and acceptance. He nodded and Martha worried she had shared something far too vital for his younger self to know. "I see." Was all he said.
She nodded back, moved her hands from his and took hold of him. "It's complicated." She finished.
"It always is." He sighed resignedly.
She laid her head upon him and sighed. "Thank you."
"For what?" he snorted angrily.
"For wanting to."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
He led her to the kitchen, and Martha was surprised that it was exactly the same as she had first seen it. "Kitchen never changed." She mumbled.
"Martha, do I need to warn you about timelines and paradoxes?" he asked playfully.
"No, but you could use a little makeover." She grinned.
He made them tea while she lay back in the chair. The TARDIS was still giving small tremors of defiance and Martha wondered what drove him to even think of trying to fly her home.
"I wanted to take you to see Solace and Solitude. " he offered with a cup of tea.
"I know, but like you said, she is too fragile for a trip."
"Bah" the Doctor waved. "Emergency protocol 1579. She would have been able to make it back there with her eyes closed and both hands tied behind her back. "
"Really?" she asked with a small grin.
"Martha, you forget, that is her home too." He smiled. "All of her kind are there, raised there. There are fields of coral that grow."
"She was rather old when you got her.' Martha nodded.
"Yes, she had already seen a lot of things. She was scheduled for…" but he let the word hang in the air, and Martha realized it was to save not just his feelings on the idea, but TARDIS as well.
"You stole her." She accused.
"I did." He nodded affably. "And I would do it again in a heartbeat. She is as much a part of me as you are."
"I should sleep; I had just gotten to bed when you woke me. Here I have had this whole adventure."
"Date." He corrected.
"Date, and I have not had any sleep."
He walked her through the corridors of the old ship, "do you want to go back to the hotel then?" he asked.
"Ugh," Martha squeaked as she pulled a face. "That place was so garish!" she smiled.
"Rather reminded me of Miami Vice meets Battlestar Galactica." He grinned.
She shared his mirth and they instinctively stopped in front of his room. Their room. "Can I aske you a question." Martha started.
The Doctor nodded, hands folded.
"Your wife." She began
"You are my wife Martha." He corrected.
"No, I mean. The first one, the one back home."
"She gave me up. After she changed, I was already gone. She loved me while I was a vagabond, then when she died; she sort of out grew me."
Martha nodded. "You said that happens."
"More often than not. It's not a permanent thing."
"But this thing between us." She motioned with her hand.
"Always the thing isn't it?" he smiled.
She looked at him in mock exasperation. "Why is this so prevalent between us? How do I know you won't regenerate and not want me anymore?"
"You know." He nodded.
"But, how do I know that?" she repeated.
The Doctor took her into his arms and opened the bedroom door. "You know Martha, because I am here. I am sure that it has crossed your mind that your altered DNA may have had something to do with that."
"No, it hasn't" They moved to sit upon the large bed in the center of the room. "I don't see how either. " she asserted.
"Then, perhaps maybe it's the fact that I love you, he loves you. We love you." He finished.
Martha leaned into him, allowed his kisses to burn across her. She felt that old familiar sense of falling and relished in the knowledge that this was where she wanted to be.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
He opened the door to her mother's garden. The yard was wet from the recent rain and it was early in the morning. "Am I here and the right year?" she asked devilishly.
"So little faith Martha Jones." He tsked.
She grabbed his arm and held onto it with both hands. "Don't worry; I have all the faith in the universe in you."
"You'd better." He grinned.
They stood there in the early morning fog in front of the TARDIS. The early morning chill made her shiver and Gleep made his way for the house. "I supposed I should be getting home too." She sighed. "Would you like to come in for some coffee?"
"No," he shook his head with a sniff. "Not good for me to be here too long." He twirled around in his spot and looked up. "Yes, I think I must dash" he winked and waved at her before ducking into the ship.
"So quickly?" she asked. "Will you come again?"
His head reappeared out of the door. "You will see me again Martha, and I will definitely count the seconds until I see you again."
"You count the seconds anyway," she smiled.
"Details, Martha. Details." He smiled. "I love you."
She opened her mouth to repeat his words back to him, but he was already back into thte TARDIS, already on his way off to another adventure.
Martha turned to look at his departure, followed rapidly by the reemergence of the TARDIS. She rubbed her face and wondered if all of this would eventually drive her to insanity.
He popped out, all smiles and wringing hands. "Martha!" he drew her into a hug and kept his arm around her as they walked to the house.
"You home for a bit?" she asked.
"Actually Martha, I have just had the most wondrous experience with the Gryvthians." He spun. "Marvelous race that lot. Do you know, they actually have the most beautiful eyes in all of the universe? No, no I mean it Martha. Their eyes change color with their emotions. The good news is, you can always tell when they are lying. Really helps during tense negotiations." He nodded. "Bad for poker."
"I should have gone with you.' She added as they sat in the kitchen.
He sat into his chair and folded his hands in front of him. "You had things to do here." He smiled.
Martha nodded. "Yeah, I did, didn't I?"
HE reached across the table and took her hand. "It's not cheating Martha.' He smiled.
"But why does it feel like it?"
He scooted closer to her, "Because that is what makes you so wonderfully human Martha. You feel this attraction for me, but you don't realize that it is still me. We are the same person. I needed you then, I didn't say it, but I had just lost a dear, dear, friend and I needed someone. And you were there."
"Who?" she asked. "You didn't mention it to me."
"Of course not, you didn't know him." The Doctor gave her a far off look tinged with sadness and something else. "You will find Martha, that I will often pop by when things are hard for me. Its not as if I come because I know where I am going. The others, the earlier me's. They don't know where they are off to, until."
"Right." She nodded, still confused.
He held on still. "Its complex this, I understand that you have some issues with the circumstances. I can make them all go away, you know."
"Don't you dare." She hissed. "They are all you and I cannot wait to meet them all. He saved me. You saved me from that creature. Do you remember us sitting in the TARDIS waiting for the match? We talked and you told me what it was like for you?"
"And you realize that there are more conversations between us, out in the cosmos, that either have not happened for you, or are yet to be remembered by me.' He took a long sip of his tea and seemed to become melancholy. "It's all a bit much for you, a human to understand.'
"What is so difficult?" she asked, trying to ignore the human comment. "It's all right, I understand I am an anchor for you lot." She smiled.
"And amazing at maintaining timelines. Things could have gotten very hairy had you allowed that trip.' He waggled.
"Don't I know it?" she smiled. "Actually, Doctor, I am not sure what would have happened had I gone with you then. I know it would have been bad, but I am not sure how bad it could have been.'
"Oh, unmaking reality bad. You know," he dismissed. "The point is, the reason this works so well between us, is that you have an amazing grasp of how the universe works. How to keep it working."
"All this time with you Doctor, I have learned to respect it.'
He leaned into her and kissed her lips softly. "All this time with you Martha, and I have learned. We have learned that all we need is you." He grinned.
The rain began to fall again outside, they sat listening to it fall, tea and enjoying the quiet of the grey morning.
"Why are you so interested?" he asked suddenly.
"In what?" she feigned.
"You know." He nodded, the look in his eyes was dark, brooding and menacing.
"I dunno." She shrugged stiffly. "It's not as if you are extremely open about things regarding your culture."
He continued to stare at her with all of the determination he usually saved for rabid despots. "no, I think there is a reason you are asking about children." He nodded. "And I am not sure if its something that bodes well for us."
"What the hell does that mean?" she asked angrily.
"It means," he flourished. "That if you are asking about children, then you are thinking about children. If you are thinking about children then you want children. On some level you are questioning the validity of marriage to someone who cannot provide that service for you."
"Doctor." She warned
"Quiet, I am in the middle of a rant, and there is to be no interruptions while I am ranting. Now, as I was saying you are questioning the idea of children, what would make you ask that question of my younger self and not me?" he queried.
Martha opened her mouth to answer, but the head quirk form the man next to her offered a good reason for remaining silent.
"Now, I can only assume that you are wanting to discuss children, or the nature of children that we would produce, correct?"
"It was just a question." She whispered.
"It's never just a question Martha; it is never ever just a question. You asked the younger me, now why is that?"
Martha sighed gravely. "Perhaps he seemed more open to discussing things that you seem to keep locked up?"
The Doctor looked at her with silent rage. "Really? Of course, perhaps I should now offer you a trip to where my planet once stood. Would you like that? A little side trip into the museum of time, we could even check the time lock, make sure it's nice and secure.'
"Or,' Martha returned his ire in kind. "You can simply answer the bloody question."
"Perhaps I could." He nodded thoughtfully. The Doctor rose from his seat and left toward the ancient ship.
