Show Me The Way To Go Home
Martha had been prepared for a number of things when she came to 1913. Hard work, racism, some definite frustration at the lack of technology, and above all a great fear of what would happen if the Family found them.
She had not been prepared however, to escort her former Time Lord and half-Dalek friends back from the pub after they'd clearly had far too much to drink.
"Alright guys, we're nearly there and then you ca- no, Mr Smith, bed is this way, okay? No, you're not going back, you've had plenty already." Martha tried hard to remain polite while guiding Mr John 'of course I can handle another' Smith towards his temporary home. If not for her current position as a servant, she'd have already told him off for so insistently pulling from her grip and making at least three attempts at a U-turn.
"Nonsense, Marty! -Marty? Martha! I am completely fine, there's nothing to worry about," said John, not even walking in a straight line.
"You can't even get my name right," Martha stated flatly.
"Nnnnnnope, your new name is Marty!" called Sec from just behind them as he caught up. It was obvious he wasn't doing so well at walking either, and Martha had never heard him say the word 'nope' in her life. She rolled her eyes and beckoned him over like an irritated mother.
"You, sir, stay close. You're going to bed an' all.
"You're not my commander," Sec said with the attitude of a twelve year old.
"I'm not your bloody babysitter either mate, but you're not staying out here to go wandering off in the fields. Come on, and watch your step."
The trio made their way across the grounds and to the school, moonlight catching the edges of the main building but hardly illuminating other parts on the front. To Martha it looked like a massive shadow with its mostly unlit black windows and looming presence. It was like what you would see in movies about a haunted house, quiet and intimidating, reminding them that they didn't belong. It mocked her.
"Did you have to have so much?" She whispered to Sec as they walked, John stumbling a metre or two ahead. "Bad enough that Smith over there's barely able to walk, but you're meant to be helping me watch out for that bloody family..."
The hybrid shrugged in a very exaggerated way, making Martha have to fight the urge to whack him in the arm from sheer frustration.
"Pshhhh, it wasn't even that much! I... think. Actually- actually I didn't really count. Blame Annie, she kept just handin' 'em to me!" he said with the confidence of an experienced bar crawler.
"No you're right, it was probably about two pints and any more might have killed ya," Martha said flatly.
"Hey!"
They finally made it through the entrance and were headed straight for where her dear friend had been sleeping. Martha didn't respond to whatever complaints Sec made about her comment, tuning them out to focus entirely on the idiot up ahead getting worryingly close to a faceful of floor. Still, she did wonder whether Sec had been irresponsible with the drinks or just an incredible lightweight, perhaps from not being entirely human. Either way with the effect alcohol seemed to have, Martha now figured that next time they saw Dalek Caan, they should just douse him with whiskey and push him down the stairs.
Oh... oh no, the stairs.
"Alright then, spoilsport! I shall retire to my room at once!" declared John as he approached the flight of stairs that led to his quarters, failed to walk straight through them and immediately paused to stare down. "Who put these here?"
Martha sighed heavily. "They were there already, Mr Smith. You need to walk up them," she said in the most patient tone she could manage, which was growing increasingly agitated.
"Right, yes! Ye-yeah-yes, of course…" Smith replied and continued to stare.
"Oh! Wait," Sec suddenly interrupted, approaching the steps with his hands flailing. "I have mastered this, it's easy! Follow my lead."
Sec took one unbalanced step up the stairs, then another. He seemed to be doing fairly well at first, but Martha felt her annoyance return when the taller man swayed to one side and fell back against Mr Smith, nearly bowling the shorter man over. The two began cackling loudly.
"It's easy, he says!" laughed John, supporting his friend from behind to push him upright. "No come on Eric, show- show the lady how it's done!"
"I will!" chuckled Sec who turned around to face his friend and ended up more hugging him in order not to fall. The two seemed to become suddenly aware of the awkward embrace and paused, stared deeply at each other, then burst into even harder laughter.
"You're gonna get us all the sack if you don't keep your voices down!" hissed Martha. She approached and separated the two. Thankfully this time Sec didn't fall, in fact looking a little offended he turned and walked unsteadily up the whole flight of stairs before looking back to Martha.
"Happy now, Marty?" he asked in a stage whisper dripping with sarcasm.
"Ohhh mate, I'm gonna wake you up at the crack of dawn tomorrow and you're not hearing the end of it," replied Martha, all patience gone. "Mr Smith, follow Mr Diagoras please, before someone sees us."
Something that Martha noted long ago about the stairs in this time was how narrow and uneven they were. The servant stairs were far worse, but even main staircases were a bloody nuisance if not a death trap. It relieved her that John managed not to go tumbling back down them once he got going, but she did have to deal with tripping on a misjudged step herself and convincing the two men not to start howling with laughter. By the time they reached his room, they had all grown quieter and the drunken human seemed tired enough to finally accept going to bed.
"Well then- well then, I shall turn in, I think! Yesssssh, it's getting la-late. I've... I've gone all wibbly-wobbly..." John rambled sleepily.
"Yes! We must recharge... recharge?" Sec questioned himself and smiled with a chuckle. "Heheh, no. We're not Cybermen-"
"Why Mr Diagoras, have you been hearing Mr Smith's stories? We both know there's no such thing as Cybermen." Martha asked in mock-curiosity through gritted teeth, barely hiding a very dangerous warning. That and the look on her face was enough to make Sec shrink back for a moment.
"Cybermen..." muttered John as he apparently tried to work out how to remove his shoes. "Yes, they're... better at dying..."
The two companions froze and stared at the former Time Lord who remained oblivious to the fact he'd even said anything, let alone what it meant to them. A night long ago of retelling stories from before Martha was around. That quote from Sec was something he'd never mentioned before tonight, another hopeful little hint that somewhere deep down, maybe their Doctor was still in there.
"What did you say?" half-whispered Martha.
"Hm?" John looked up. "Sorry, did I? Say something? I dunno. I forgot."
"Y-yes, of course... Y'know what? We- we should go." Sec wobbled his way back towards the door with some possibly slightly regained sobriety. "Goodnight, John!"
"Right, Eric. You take... take care heading back. Goodnight to you both!" said John with a cheerful sleepy grin before he turned on the spot, headed straight for his bed and fell face-first onto it like a plank.
For maybe half of the walk back towards the pub, the two were completely silent and all that could be heard was the shuffling of shoes on the ground. Martha should have felt annoyed beyond belief to be going back towards where they'd just been, since her friend had decided to just tag along needlessly to the school despite his own lodgings being a lot closer, but none of it mattered. Part of her felt that spark of hope flickering and holding on, but on top of the torture of seeing her beloved Doctor still not knowing who he is, she just felt tired. She was tired, it was cold, and this horrible place was wearing down her last nerve.
"You alright?" Sec asked her carefully. She could hear him struggling not to slur his speech, but the concern sounded real.
"No," came the soft response. "I'm not sure how much longer this can go on. I'm sorry, but it's just too much. It's only been a month and we've got to just sit here, watching him be someone else!" Martha's voice rose in pitch and caught in her throat as she came to a stop. The hybrid slowed down to look back at her and felt a sting of sadness at the sight of his friend breaking down in tears. She stared at the ground as tears began forming, fists balled against her skirts.
"I can't do it, Sec! God, I just can't-"
"Hey, hey..." Sec nearly tripped over himself getting to Martha and put both hands on her shoulders. "Martha, yes- yes you can... you're a... you're a tough cookie! The strongest person I know, and I know you- you're gonna make it through this. You didn't risk your life multiple times in the past - and future - ju-just to be defeated here, did you? By some stupid sons of Thals who aren't even around yet?"
"Sons of what?" Martha asked through her tears with a confused smile.
"Didn't think so! So you an' me, we're gonna look out for the Doctor until this passes, but the same goes for each other. When you need a break, please come talk to me, okay?"
Martha listened carefully to his words, then slowly nodded. He was right, they had come too far to let the situation break them now, and the more she thought about it, her hybrid friend was likely feeling just as helpless. Stuck on Earth again, in a time even more primitive than 1930, having to work every day in disguise among people who had no idea of the danger they'd run from, it had to be a nightmare. The faint smile from before began to grow and she brushed away some tears, trying to get ahold of herself.
"Y'know... you sound like a mobster when you've had a few," Martha laughed a little.
"Uhuh," chuckled Sec in return. "Laugh while you can, because we gotta get up again in four... four or five hours, and I am never drinking again."
"Now you sound like every other human," Martha laughed harder and gave her friend a pat on the back as they neared their stop. "Good night, Sec, and thank you."
"It's what friends are for, Martha. You taught me that."
Somewhere else in time and space, in the TARDIS console room, Martha Jones snapped out of revisiting old memories as the Doctor came over with two mugs of tea and handed one to her.
"Cuppa for your thoughts?" the Time Lord asked playfully.
"Just thinking back on some stuff," Martha said, taking the mug. "Thanks. Yeah, just... stuff from before. Getting a bit nostalgic, I guess."
"You miss him already, don't you? Both of them?"
"Course I do," replied Martha sadly. "It's quieter in here now... like I keep expecting another one of his scientific rambles any minute, or to turn around and there's Clare sneaking up on me again."
"Well, if you wanted someone rambling about science, you only had to ask," said the Doctor with a cheeky smile. Martha chuckled and shook her head.
"Do you miss them?"
The Doctor paused for longer than she'd expected, like he'd suddenly been flung into a nostalgic flashback or two of his own.
"I miss everyone," he said softly. His face didn't show it too much with the gentle smile he was putting on, but Martha could see the sadness in his eyes. He'd said goodbye to so many companions before, that much was clear. She had a feeling that it didn't necessarily get any easier.
"Do you think they're okay, with Kathy and that ship?" asked Martha between sips of tea. "Sometimes I wonder if we'll see them again.
"Oh, I'm sure we will!" the Doctor said, perking up a bit. "And knowing that lot, they won't take long to make their own mark on the universe somewhere."
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Bloody hell, this bonus mini-chapter is later than it should have been, but I'm so glad to be able to upload it at last! We wanted to upload the previous chapter first in order to get some storyline moving before this fun little interruption.
This originated from a super daft idea I started writing out for the hell of it a long time ago and was meant to be a fun addition back in April to celebrate THREE YEARS since we first started posting the fic online, but naturally the recent UK lockdown situation has skewed everyone a bit and to slow things down further, I insisted on finishing this one by myself. On the plus side, we have some more proper chapters lined up and ready to upload soon, so keep an eye out folks!
Hope that everyone is doing okay at this time, as usual your reviews and interactions make our day in so many ways, and thank you to everyone who's been sticking with our story since the beginning. Your support means the world to us.
-HH