Here's the next one, Guys! Enjoy!
Chapter 9 . . .
Martha, along with Donna, stood to the side of their friend and observed as he cradled and attempted to console his wounded child. For the second time since she had known him, she watched as he mourned over the inevitable loss of another connection to his heritage. Jenny, his unexpected offspring, lay in her father's arms taking her last breaths while trying to offer him comfort with a heartfelt smile that graced her face from the moment she came into being. Martha was again witness to the Doctor endeavoring to will another to live. But just as had been the case with his former friend and foe the Master, his daughter eventually went slack and slipped away from him.
The look of complete sadness she saw on his face as he gently laid her still frame on the ground caused her heart to break right along with him. Yet just as she began to wonder how she and Donna might find something, anything that might comfort him, as quick as a light switch his emotions switched to simmering fury. He seemed to rise and turn on the man who had mortally wounded Jenny all in one move and before either she or Donna could react, he had picked up the gun that had been used and placed at the now restrained man's head.
Martha gasped at his action and watched on with the others in concern as he seemed to oscillate between anger and despair. His finger rested firmly on the trigger and it appeared he could go either way but just as suddenly as he had pulled the weapon he threw it aside with a satisfying thud and locked his steel gaze on the man kneeling before him and firmly stated, "I never would."
He then panned his stare around the room as he resolutely continued, "That's the mantra you should build this new world around. I. Never. Would."
And with that he turned on his heels, his long brown coat whipping behind him, returned to his child and carried her off with Martha and Donna following quietly in tow.
The trio of companions eventually ended up back in the TARDIS after a contingent of humans and Haths promised to give Jenny a proper burial. There was an almost unbearable silence that engulfed them all as each ruminated over their last adventure. Even Donna, who was rarely at a loss for words, remained unnervingly quiet. Martha studied the stoic alien across from her and recognized this was one of those moments that he often chose to close off and even lash out. As much as she felt for him and wished she could console him, she knew from experience that he was unlikely to seek or accept it and she was unwilling to put herself in the firing line again. She had done it after he lost Rose and it nearly undid her. Not this time. As harsh as it felt to think it, she was ready to go and let Donna pick up the pieces this time.
So as the ancient space and time machine floated through the time vortex, Martha gathered her wits and broke the stifling silence by clearing her throat. All eyes turned to her as she softly stated, "Well. . . I think it's time I got back."
The Doctor nodded his silent acquiescence to her request before he moved to being setting the coordinates for her home. Donna continued to watch the pair in silence until the ship landing broke her concentration. When it appeared Martha and the Doctor made ready to offer each other only stilted goodbyes within the TARDIS, the fierce red head stepped in, looping her arm through Martha's and dragging her towards the door before either could speak. She then tossed a pointed glance back at the brooding Time Lord. He sighed heavily, aware of what his mate was up to but unsure how he felt about it. Yet when she added an arched brow to her glance he did finally began to follow, lagging slowly behind the two women.
As he took his time joining them, Donna took their time alone to try and gauge Martha. Once they stepped out of the TARDIS and walked a few feet from the door, she stopped their progress and turned to her new friend.
"You should stay. I know the three of us would have a blast together."
Martha inhaled sharply. She really did like Donna but her persistence was starting to grate. Knowing the other women meant well, she tried to keep the exasperation she was starting to feel out of her voice as she reiterated her position.
"I can't. I have a life here . . . a job . . . a fiancée . . . responsibilities I can't just abandon on whim. Besides, you and the Doctor seem to be getting on just fine. I'd just be in the way."
Donna shook her head causing her brilliant red locks to whip back and forth lightly, "You know that's not true. Haven't you noticed how excited he has been since we arrived?"
Martha smirked at her evidence but didn't reply, causing her friend to amend her statement, "Alright, he's always pretty animated but you weren't there when he received your call. He damn near vaulted over the console to get to the phone he's been coddling ever since I came aboard. I think it's pretty obvious he missed you."
Martha took a moment to absorb the info she had received. Even as the part of her that wanted to believe all she was hearing and what it might mean screamed at her to react, Martha's practical side would not allow it. She gently shook her own head, "I appreciate what you're trying to do, Donna, but the Doctor and my history is a bit more complicated than most. I think it's for the best that this is where it ends."
Donna stood again silently contemplating the woman before her. She could not work out whether she was in denial or really could not see the obvious. Finally, Donna took in a deep breath and released it before going with unawareness as the culprit as she gently inquired, "What would it take to prove to you that you are wanted on that ship?"
Martha finally allowed her exasperation to show with a deep sigh. Too many times she recalled getting her hopes up about the Doctor and what she meant to him and every time reality was waiting to smack her across the face. She refused to take another blow. Yet sensing Donna would not let this go until she received an answer, she promptly offered a scenario she knew had very little chance of occurring. Martha held her gaze as she plainly stated, "If the Doctor, of his own accord, asked me to stay."
Donna, surprisingly, only nodded to her declaration before stepping forward and enfolding her in a genuine hug. Martha easily returned the hold and the two women said a quiet good bye before separating. It was then that Donna caught sight of the Doctor over Martha's shoulder, standing in the doorway of the TARDIS watching them. She gave her new friend one last smile before heading towards her shipmate. The Doctor, too, began to move forward and as they pair came even with each other, Donna discreetly mouthed at him not to blow it.
Eventually he made it over to Martha and for a long moment the couple stood silently staring, intently, into each other's eyes as if trying to figure the other out there. It was finally the Doctor who broke the stalemate giving her another melancholy smile, "I guess this it then."
"I guess so," was Martha's quiet reply.
There was a brief moment of hesitance before he and, following his lead, she leaned in to initiate an embrace. The two stood in front of the home she shared with her future husband locked in a more intense hold than any she had ever shared with the man she planned to marry. Many times they had embraced. Most times they were welcomed but brief interludes but occasionally something more felt buried beneath them. When she had helped to vanquish the sun creature that had possessed him, their embrace had been jubilant, warm and thankful. When he officially took her on as a companion that hold had been cathartic for them both, finally acknowledging what both always knew—that she had in fact never been just a passenger. And this one . . . this one felt like another shift in their relationship.
They were in a full press and for Martha it almost felt like suffocating yet for a long moment she made no move to remove herself from it. She tried to convince herself she was saying goodbye, with this probably being the last time she saw him, but the truth was she was trying to make a memory of what it felt like to be in his arms again. She longed to have at least that to take with her as she began her ordinary life with ordinary concerns. Yet it was that thought seeping in to her mind that summoned her practical side back to the fore. It softly but incessantly reminded her of all the strife that embrace had included. It whispered about how hard it had been for her to move forward the last time and reminded her that she had a very good man who adored her, how her life had finally come together after all the chaos she endured with the Doctor.
Slowly, she acquiesced to what her conscious was saying. Her time with the Doctor had passed and she needed to focus on her future. A future that would not include time traveling aliens. She inhaled deeply before moving to end the hug. Her arms went slack and she began to pull back signaling her intent but much to her surprise the Doctor did not comply. Instead his hold remained steady and for a moment Martha wasn't sure how to react. Pushing him away seemed too harsh, joking about it might get the desired effect but while her mind went over all the ways to end this less awkwardly, his voiced sliced through her thoughts, expressing a sentiment she never thought she'd hear from his lips and directed at her.
So softly she would have missed it had his lips not been right near her ear, he said,
"I don't want this to be goodbye."
Martha's eyes widened at his gentle confession and when he finally loosened his hold upon her enough for her to see his face, she was shaken to see a look of utter seriousness.
"Martha, please come back. I promise to make things better this time."
The young medic was stunned into silence by his uncharacteristic candor and emotion. Not in a million years did she ever believe that the Doctor would be imploring with her to return to his ship. Their relationship had consisted mostly of him doing everything he could to convince her that her time with him was short yet here he now stood asking for another chance to what? That was the question lingering in her mind as she finally found her voice and hesitantly said, "Doctor . . . I don't know what to say. Why? Why now?"
He held her gaze intently, his conviction never wavering as he replied, "I'm tired of losing everyone that matters to me."
Again Martha was caught off guard by his declaration. Silence engulfed them once more as she tried to wrap her mind around his words. When had she become someone important to him? As if reading the question in her eyes, he gently replied, "You've always been important to me, Martha."
His words were met with an expression of skepticism spreading across her face. "You had a really messed up way of showing it, Doctor," she incredulously retorted.
He sighed and nodded his agreement, "I know and I will forever regret hurting you so much. That's just another reason why you should come back. This way I have the opportunity to make amends. There is still so much I want to share with you. All you have to do is say yes."
Martha's head was officially spinning. Here before her stood a man whom she never believed, after she walked away, would ever see her as anything more than a stand in for someone else now beseeching her to go with him. It was the type of irony that if it wasn't happening to her she might have chuckled about. Just as her life seemed to finally settle into some sort of normalcy, he reappears to shake it all up again. Could she let him? Should she?
She finally inhaled deeply before speaking up once more, "You're asking me to just run off and leave behind my family, my job . . . my fiancée and for what? So you can assuage your guilty conscious? I am not that impressionable youngster you met way back when. I need more than your sudden desire to have me aboard your ship to toss aside everything I have gained. What happens if I follow you and things fall apart again? Sorry, Martha, here's your empty flat. Enjoy. I don't think so."
Her gaze was now planted firmly on him. He knew what she wanted and he wanted more than anything to give it but he wasn't convinced she was ready to hear it . . . really hear it. It has taken him so long to acknowledge why her absence had hurt so much. She had cared for him too many times to count, had sacrificed so much to stand by his side. He knew he didn't deserve her loyalty. She had allowed him to grieve without guilt and even when she walked away she did it with no animosity at his appalling behavior towards her. Martha Jones stood as everything that was right in this universe, everything he fought for and he had nearly destroyed that with his indifference and tunnel vision. He wanted to shout it out loud just how much he adored everything she was and how daft he had been to not have said so sooner.
The Doctor, however, knew her well and the scientist in her needed evidence. She would not accept out of hand any declaration he made and that is why he needed her with him, back on the TARDIS. So that he could prove to her with his actions that he had finally realized what she had always known . . . they belonged by each other's side.
So instead of blurting out the words he knew would be met with skepticism, he decided on a new track.
"What if we call it a trial run? You come with Donna and me for a trip or two and if you decide you really don't want to stay, I will bring you back to this very point in time," he paused briefly thinking of his ancient time machines questionable aim and amended, "Or near enough and it will be as if you'd never been gone. No questions asked."
Martha raised a brow a bit more intrigued, "No questions, eh? And no pressure?"
"Absolutely," was his quick but firm reply.
Again, her rational side tried to rein her in. It was a ploy, the voice whispered. Once he had her hooked again, he would toss her aside once more. She glanced up into his steady gaze and wondered if she could trust what she was feeling over what her mind was telling her.
Donna had been pacing in the console room since she walked back into the TARDIS. The fact that the Doctor hadn't come right back gave her hope that he hadn't mucked things up. She knew just how stubborn he could be and it appeared Martha shared that quality. Why these two seemed bound and determined to deny the obvious was beyond her but she knew if the young medic didn't return she would have to deal with a brooding Time Lord and it was not something she was looking forward to.
Just as she finished that thought the Doctor reentered his ship alone and closed the door behind him. His face was a mask of impassivity and his refusal to look her in the eye at first lead her to immediately assume he hadn't even tried to convince Martha to stay. With a steady gaze of her own and a steely tone to match, Donna lit into the Time Lord.
"I knew it! You just couldn't do it could you, Time Boy? You couldn't put away your stupid pride and tell her the truth? So what now? You just go on moping about? Because to be honest, I'm not interested in watching that show. To be such a high and mighty alien you act every bit as daft as any bloke I have ever met."
It was just at the height of her vexation that her rant was cut off by the door opening behind her. The Doctor's countenance broke into the most genuine smile she had seen ever as she turned and found a much more relaxed Martha Jones stepping inside with a lovely carryon bag in hand. She glanced between the surprised redhead and elated alien and smartly asked, "So where are we off to first?"
