Reluctantly waking up after an incredibly restless night involving a significant lack of sleep, Martha Jones sighed resignedly. The incessant buzzing of her alarm was currently the most irritatingly hostile noise she'd ever heard. Thankfully, her infuriation was soon replaced by an uplifting feeling of excitement at the thought of working with her new partner, whom she found so very interesting and generally a joy to be around. However, her positive attitude soon dissipated when she recalled the events of yesterday evening, and her contentedness soon morphed into an ugly sense of dread lodged deep inside of her. No matter how much she longed to forget about the darkly twisted killer who had brutally murdered their suspect and left such a sickening note, she was unable to – partly due to the fact that human brains focus on negativity, partly due to her duty as a detective sergeant and the probability that the new case would be her and John's focus until they caught the killer, which Martha somehow suspected would be a while yet.
Of course, she turned up to work as usual early in the morning, making sure she was pumped full to the brim with caffeine to prevent her sleep deprivation from overwhelming her. Upon entering the car park of the precinct, she frowned as she heard a constant, obnoxious car horn that wouldn't stop making a noise. Ignoring it, Martha entered the building, nodding and smiling at Donna when she caught sight of her; although the encounter was only intended to be brief, the receptionist beckoned her over.
"Hi, Donna. How are you?" Martha used a simple phatic phrase to conceal her confusion and concern about being summoned.
"I'm alright, thanks, apart from that bloody car horn beeping outside. How about you? I heard you and John found a case." Donna didn't add much detail about said case because firstly, she wasn't sure how much Martha knew due to John's evasion last night, and secondly, she didn't actually know anything about it in the first place.
Martha herself was vaguely startled that Donna knew about the new murderer already – she figured Donna must definitely be a close friend of John's. Talking about the case also renewed the detective's anxiety along with explicit mental images of the crime scene from yesterday. It took a few moments to clear her head enough to give a sufficient response. "Yeah… I think this one's going to be a challenge. It's, er… It's quite dark. But I'm coping, just about. Got plenty of coffee to get me through it, as always." She gave a half-hearted chuckle after that last comment.
"I hope it goes well for you." Donna comforted, placing her hand on Martha's fleetingly, as a gesture of warmth.
"Thanks, Donna." A smile of appreciation flitted across Martha's lips, rapidly consumed by a queasy feeling of underlying fretfulness that plagued the back of her mind.
"That's all I'm here for, after all – some hearty moral support!" Donna laughed, but it was slightly hollow.
Martha's expression fell a little. She had never been able to stand it when great people had low self-esteem, therefore she always sought to fix it. Speaking in a gentle tone, the detective attempted to boost her newfound friend's confidence. "I'm sure you're so much more than that."
"Sure." Donna's reply was more than a little sarcastic, and although she smiled with her mouth, her eyes were immensely melancholic and refuting of Martha's remark. However, her expression soon reverted back to her normal busy-body-and-a-hint-of-gossipy self as she settled back to ask the detective what she was going to question her about initially. "Sorry, I was going to ask you: have you seen John today?"
"Oh! Er, no, I've just come in for work." Martha was only happy to help, and replied with a pleasant tone. However, the implications of Donna inquiring about such a matter caused her brow to furrow in disdain and raise similar mental questions of her own. Despite the audacity and intensity of aforementioned questions in her mind, she chose to settle for one. "Why, has he not been in today?
"I haven't seen him, no. He came in yesterday evening to finish up, but I don't know how long he was here for 'cause I was just leaving. He's usually in at the crack of dawn, but he always stops by here to say hello. Unless he did come in early and went to check out a new case… I honestly don't know." Donna speculated out loud about John's whereabouts.
"Did he mention what he was doing when he came back here last night?" Martha asked, wary of the idea that John might have continued to work the case without her when she'd specifically asked him not to.
"No… Well, he probably did some file-reading on your new case, or some research. Or he could have just been filing his report on what happened yesterday…" Donna hastily added the last theory when she noticed Martha's crestfallen and vaguely irritated expression induced by the thought that John worked without her.
However, the detective did a mediocre job of covering her contempt with a change of subject. "Ah, right. Okay, well I'm going up to the fourth floor now anyway, so I'll pop in his office and see if he's there. I promise I'll bring him down to you if I find him."
"Great stuff. See you later, Martha!" Donna beamed, grateful for another female friend she could bond with in the workplace.
"Thanks again, Donna." Grinning in an equal response, Martha headed for the lift up to the fourth floor, hoping against hope that she'd find John there.
On arriving at John's office, she noticed the door was still left open from the last time anyone had been in there – Martha doubted this was anyone other than John, otherwise they would have been polite and treated John's space with respect by closing the door. On the other hand, the door was half way open; John always left it wide open due to the absolute trust he maintained in all the people he met, in addition to the open relationships he held particularly with everyone he worked with. Therefore, Martha figured someone who worked with him had likely nudged it so it was more, but not completely, closed, possibly because John hadn't been into work very recently (as he would then be unable to control the open or closed nature of his door himself). In conclusion, the detective sergeant deduced that it was highly unlikely that her partner was in his office, and, by extension, probably not the rest of the building either.
Upon entering the office, Martha's theory was confirmed. Although she knew she should just leave the room and get to work, maybe find another case since there was a significant lack of leads on their new one, Martha couldn't resist hovering about. She knew John had been in the office last night, from what Donna had told her, and she was desperate to know if he'd continued working on the case without her. Hesitating while she attempted to leave it, it didn't take long until Martha gave in and scuttled over to John's desk. It was cluttered with papers and files, as per usual, as well as a couple of extra coffee mugs this time. This inferred that the detective inspector had stayed back rather late working the previous evening, hence why he would require excessive caffeine to prevent him from drifting off into tempting slumber. However, Martha couldn't find any evidence of what John had been studying – no files left over, no notes that had been taken (not that she'd be able to understand his handwriting if there was), nothing. The computer was unused as well, as Martha could tell from the faint layer of dust coating the entire keyboard, so searching up his internet history or using Google auto-fill to track his searches was out of the question. Sighing at the lack of insight available to her, Martha simply sauntered out of the room and down to the third floor, where she approached DCI Sarah Jane Smith.
"Oh, good morning DS Jones. How are you finding your work with DI Smith?" The boss inquired politely after the well-being of her employee, smiling comfortingly while she did.
"Good, thanks. Hectic, but interesting." Martha grinned back, then rapidly moved on to what she came to ask her in the first place. "Speaking of which, have you seen John- I mean, DI Smith? I don't think he's been into work this morning, and he's not in his office, I just checked. I know he came in last night, but that's as far as I'm aware. Do you have any idea where he might be?"
"Ah." DCI Smith commented rather abruptly, a look of disapproval on her face which appeared incongruous with the conversation, though it soon became clear. "Yes, he did come in last night. I went up to check on him at around half past eleven yesterday, which is when I finish my shift, and he was still working. I told him to go home, since I'm always warning him about overworking, but he shrugged me off. Now, I'm just as stubborn as he is, as I'm sure you're aware, so I refused to back down. Eventually, he allowed me to escort him out of the building, and he headed to his car. That was the last I saw of him. I knew staying up late would affect him the next day, but does he ever listen? No. Anyway, when you do see him, please make sure he knows how disappointed with him I am."
"Will do." Martha chuckled. "Do you know what he was working on, by any chance?"
"He told me he was filing the report for the Eldak murder case, but goodness knows how it took him so long."
"Right. Thank you, DCI Smith. I'll report back to you later."
"Please do. Goodbye, DS Jones." DCI Smith smiled warmly once again, her stern expression softening a little as she did. She'd always had a soft-spot for Martha, after all.
Without looking back, the detective sergeant dashed down the corridor and into the elevator. She had a fairly decent idea as to where John might be now, thanks to Sarah's clues. When the lift pinged to signify her arrival at ground floor, she stepped out confidently and headed out to the car park. The car horn was still sounding noisily, but this time it helped her rather than annoyed her. Following the sound, it didn't take long for Martha to locate the small blue car belonging to her partner, and she made an immediate beeline for it. As soon as she approached the vehicle, she noticed John was slumped over in the driver's seat, his face pressed forcefully on the steering wheel, causing the horn to be triggered.
Rolling her eyes, yet smirking slightly at the comical sight, Martha thumped on the car window, right next to John's head. No response. She tried again, harder this time. Still, nothing. Finally, she sighed, strolled briskly around to the front of the car and leaned on the bonnet, activating the security alarm. Waking up abruptly, John's head jolted up, causing him to bash it on the roof of his car. Thankfully, this stopped the car horn from blaring, though the detective obviously didn't believe his injury was worth it.
"Ow!" He exclaimed, rubbing the area of impact and frowning irritably. Glancing to the side, he instantly noticed Martha standing with her hands on her hips next to the car, raising her eyebrows in disdain. He wound down the window manually in order to speak with her.
"What did you do that for?!" John was confused and startled, still rubbing his head and glancing blearily around since he'd only just woken up.
"You're seriously asking me that?" Martha scoffed, but realised John was serious when he stared at her expectantly, awaiting a genuine answer. "Because you wouldn't wake up! Your face set off the car horn and it's been beeping all morning, and I did try thumping on the window."
"Okay, fine. How did you know it was my car?" John seemed vaguely impressed, despite his sleepiness.
"I just did. Does it matter?" Martha evidently had her priorities straight. "Anyway, you're the one who has some explaining to do."
"What?" John narrowed his eyes, apparently affronted at Martha's accusation of him having done something wrong.
"I know you worked late last night. It's obvious from the amount of coffee you drank, I saw it on your desk." Martha looked smug.
"Coffee? Nah! I'm an avid tea drinker – I find coffee disgusting." John changed the subject in a manner which was the exact opposite of smooth. His partner refused to fall for it.
"Were you working the case from yesterday?"
"Which one?" He replied cockily.
"You know which one." Martha spoke sincerely, conviction shining brightly in her eyes.
The smirk dropping from his face, John answered her with equal candidness. "Yes, I know which one. And no, I wasn't working that case. I swear. There were no leads, there was no way I could have made any progress. I just stayed to catch up on filing, and time ran away with me, honest."
"How can I believe you?"
"Just trust me, Martha. Please." Desperation and pleading overwhelmed John's gaze and was directed at his partner, who remained silent for a few moments. Eventually, whether it was due to his words or simply his truthful stare, she nodded.
"Okay. I trust you."
"Thank you." John beamed, then scratched his head in puzzlement. "How long have I been asleep? Is it day or night? I always get those two mixed up. Actual time, well, that just eludes me. I never get it right."
Giggling, Martha told him. "It's nearly half past eight, in the morning."
"What?" John sat bolt upright, patting his pockets to see if he could locate a watch, but he had no such luck. "Wait a minute – what? That can't be right, I only just – what?!"
"No, I'm definitely right." Martha grinned amusedly, content to watch her partner while he squirmed in confusion.
"I've been asleep for nine hours? Couldn't you let me round it up to ten?" He teased, then yanked open the car door without warning, causing Martha to jump back to avoid being shoved out of the way by it. Briefly frowning at the security alarm that was still persistently beeping, he pressed a button on his fob key to stop it. Leaping out with renewed vigour, John then addressed his partner. "Right, then! Let's go solve some crimes, shall we?"
