Thanks so much to all of you following and reading this story. I am enjoying writing them domestic, something i never get to do. Ih, and to al of you who have reviewed, i cannot tell you enough how much i love reading your thoughts on my thoughts; so amazing guys. You all rock!
It was his most peaceful retreat, in front of his piano. John allowed his mind to wander as his fingers played over the keys effortlessly. Every note was a caress, every rest a moment frozen forever in time. He didn't. It was surreal his enjoyment of his chosen path.
The phone next to him rang and the sudden cessaton of music as he reached for te phone next to him was a surprise to his senses, and his young son, who began to fuss from his perch atop the piana.
"I know Addy, I hate it too." he patted the baby before clicking the little green button without checking the caller ID.
"You all right?" Martha asked.
He smiled at hearing her voice. It was almost embarrassing how she made him feel. "Same old life." he answered with a quirk. There was a memr in there somewhere, a recall of something that he had said to someone once. It made her laugh.
"Well, I would have to disagree with that, lots has changed in the past couple of weeks."
"Months," e corrected automatically."
"Yeah, months. Listen, I won;t be home until late. Jack needs me to pick him up at the airport. You all right for dinner on your own?"
John fiddled with Adric's foot as the baby kicked his legs in frustration. "Pretty sure I can feed myself, and there is plenty of the good stuff for the alien." It was a joke he had started, though he wasn't sure where it came from.
Martha made an odd sound from her end of the phone, "If you're tired, I can pick him up" John added hearing the strain in her voice. "Just come on home early."
"No, I have the car, and its n my way." she sighed. "No reason to disrupt both of us."
He nodded, the thing about his wife, she was pretty self contained. It was the thing that had drawn him to her when they first met. He had dated plenty of women that needed looking after, attracted to his looks and his talent, but they needed more from him than he could offer. Martha never needed that, and in some ways, he wished she did. "Well, if you're sure." He paused before speaking. "I love you."
But, she hung up before he could get a response. It was always that way, Martha never confired anything that he was willing to offer. He supposed it was her way, but he was beginning to wonder if there was something he had done somewhere, that he had forgotten about.
He'd had a brain infection recently, encephalitis, right after Adric was born. He recalled having been in hospital for a time, and it left him fuzzy on a few things. His memory wasn;t what it had once been, he was sure of that. Fortunately, music was more instinct to him than memory.
Adric's name, he remembered, was a family name, a brother he had lost when his parents died in that fiery blast. A memory of loss, of utter and total loss. Of somehow being responsible for it, for having killed his own family.
It made him shudder in it's intensity, and John reached for his small son and held him close as if in need of that reassurance of having something left, something remained.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Well, look at that," the tall man with the Midwestern accent announced with a low whistle. "Its like you jumped and landed into the Twilight Zone out here." he grinned big as Martha led him the Honda parked in short term parking.
"Not funny Jack, believe me the Twilight Zone would be a hell of a lot easier than dealing with him like that." they got into the car and pointed toward the modest neighborhood that Jack had set them up in.
Jack seemed concerned all at once. "Is he difficult?" he wanted to know. "A jerk? Does he leave the cap off the toothpaste?" Jack's eyes bugged cartoonishly. "Is he a deviant?"
Martha shoved him playfully, a smile dancing across her lips. "this is serious, Jack. You saw what he was like, all nice and sweet and thoughtful. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?"
Jack sighed, "You complained when he was angry, dishonest, and untrustworthy. See, this si why men complain about what you women want. Not me, of course. I know what you want. Usually, its me.'
Martha rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Just, give me a hand, yeah? I don;t think I can...perform."
He placed his hand on hers, but the gesture belied the smile in his eyes. "I didn;t know you two hadn't..."
"No!" Martha answered too quickly. "No, nothing of that sort. It's not like that, for us. "
"There is no reason why it shouldn't be." Jack nodded.
"I can think of several." martha fired back. "And, anyway, even if it was, Jack. The man he is now, its not the same. He's not the Doctor."
"he has to be in there somewhere. I have a hard time believing he could completely bury his personality inside, all that fire and rage and brains. Even with all that, something of himself will bleed through."
"You weren't there in Farmingham." she answered.
"I read the Torchwood reports." he paused to allow the surprise to sink in. "C'mon Nightiingale, did you think something that freaky would go down without there being a trail of witnesses? Not to mention the Crown wanting to find out how much Sir Doctor of TARDIS had to do with it all."
Martha nodded, falling silent for a time before speaking. "Then you know," she spoke while maneuvering through the darkened late fall streets of Manchester. "About Nurse Redfern, about how much of a Prig he was the last time."
"Something bled through." Jack repeated. "He always has had a thing with blonds."
"Don't I know it. But, this time," Martha shook her head and looked out the window as the came to the driveway of their Duplex. "This time, it's different. In some ways, it's much worse."
He was waiting at te door as they exited the car. Jack ran and gave him a hug that lifted the taller man off the ground. He even swung him around for good measure. Martha smiled at Jack's flirting, even if John could not tell it for what it was.
"Jack! You idiot, put me down, I am still healing from the infection." John scolded, but laughed none the less at the man's actions.
"Where's that cousin of mine? The one I came here to see. Want to make sure you two have been taking proper care of him. " The trio stepped into the foyer of the flat, as usual, Adric sat atop the piano in his high chair, cooing at the new arrivals.
"He's gonna get a nose bleed sitting up there. " Jack spoke as he removed Adric and took hold of him. Adric immediately let out a howl in answer. "He doesn't like me." Jack pouted, handing him over to Martha.
"No," John righted as he sat at the piano bench. "Addy has colic, the only thing he seems to like is Mozart." John began to play another concerto, Martha wasn't sure which one it was, but it sounded familiar.
The three of them listened to John's playing, Jack seated himself in Martha's usual place next to John on the piano bench, while Martha sat on the sofa feeding a suddenly quieted Adric. John played the same way each time, Martha mused as she listened raptly. There was an intensity to his playing,, as if he was playing for his life. Even playful tunes he sometimes twiddled were full of that odd fire, and it made her wonder if Jack wasn't right; something maybe truly had bled through.
XXXXXXXXXX
"So, she has you cooking and staying home with the kid?" Jack cast a knowing look at Martha across the dining table.. "wow, she really has trained you well."
"Oh, I wasn't that far off, Jack, you know that. After Mum and Dad died, I had to look after myself quite a bit. How else was Sarah Jane able to go to college and do all that traveling?"
Martha and Jack traded looks while John spoke. "I am perfectly happy taking care of Addy."
"I love that nick name." Jack raised his eyebrow."
"You should, you gave it to him." John answered. They sat around the oval dining room table in the room off the kitchen. Martha loved John's cooking, and could not help but wonder if that too was something else that had bled through.
Jack cocked his head and gave Martha a look, who in turn smiled and shook her head. Some things were better left to not knowing. "Well, it's a good one still the same. "
They finished dinner and sat in the living room talking like old friends. "I always wondered what suburban hell looked like. "Jack laughed. He held the baby who had finally given over to being handled by him. For a long time, the two month old just stared at the American man with curiosity.
John reclined on the couch with his head in Martha's lap She could not help but toy with his hair as the three of them caught up. Jack had studied the pair from his vantage point, but decided to steer the conversation away from anything about their marriage. For now. "How are you holding up anyway, John? No headaches or lasting effects of the encephalitis?"
Martha could feel John tense under Jack's innocent question. She wondered if there was something about the whole thing that bothered him, was the story that the TADIS had built in his head not enough to mask the alien underneath? "Still a lot of memory loss," he answered wistfully. "Things are fuzzy, hazy even. I don't know if its going to be long term or not. Suppose I should ask the neurologist at the next visit, shouldn't I?" his eyes traveled to the ceiling. "What I want is to be able to remember.'
"You didn't tell me it was so difficult for you, " Martha realized he wasn't telling her everything. That bleeding though again.
But, John shook his head. :You have had a difficult pregnancy, a gut wrenching delivery. I didin;t want to add to it. " he said honestly. "But, I am telling you now. There are things that I don;t remember.'
Jack placed Adric into the playpen, he then squatted beside the reclining John Bowman and ruffled his brown hair. "So, let's find out what you do remember? See if we can fill in some of the blanks. At least, between the three of us here, yeah?"
John seemed unmoved for a minute, then his face broke into the most beautific smile that artha had ever seen on the Time Lord. He looked up at Martha, who smiled and nodded in agreement. "Well, where should we start?"
Jack wisely halted the idea of anything too early. Instead, he thought it would be better to build a base on where they stood. "Well, let's start with something easy. Where did you meet Martha?"
John's smile came bigger and brighter then, he sat up a little, still reclining on Martha. "That's easy, we met at hospital." he nodded. "Three years ago. In the A and E at..." John's expression scrunched as he considered the memory. "Royal Hope, in London."
Martha ruffled his hair vigorously, "that's right!" she said. "What else do you recall?" Martha chanced a quick look at Jack who nodded knowingly.
"You were still in training, I had come in for stomach trouble. You listened to my hearts...heart." he gave a funny face to no one in particular. "Heart."
Jack through his head back and laughed. "She's been listening to it ever since, hasn't she?"
John turned again to look on his wife. "I suppose she has." he nodded. "But, for some reason, the memory gets a little strange, I recall rhinoceroses and throwing rocks on the moon." He shool his head. "Why would I recall something like that?"
"Memory is a funny thing, love." Martha soothed. "It's possible you had a dream at some point like that, and during your time in the hospital last month, it got all tangled up with reality."
John sighed " I remember our first date was at the Globe theater." he went on. "We saw Love's Labour Found and we...Hang on, there is no Love's Labour Found. What did we see? And why do I recall witches?"
Jack laughed and Martha tried to hide her panic in light tones. "It was a Halloween matinee. There were fireworks and costumes," she laughed and added, "Fr a moment there, I thought you were going to mention my mum/"
He recoiled in mock horror, "No, but the first time she met me, she slapped me." he smiled and rubbed his hand over his cheek. "She packs a wallop."
The three of them shared a laugh, "Maybe not too much now, we can do more tomorrow." Jack nodded.
Wait," he turned to Martha. "Did I have a heart attack at the Globe?"
"Heart burn," Martha finished. "Too much Halloween candy. I warned you to slow down."
"Jelly babies! " John announced with a nod. "How can anything with a name like that be abd for you?" John jumped to standing suddenly. "But, I am worn out. " he stretched for effect. "Seems like I need a lot more sleep than I remember since the infection."
He held his hand out, but Martha shook her head. "I'll be in in a minute, I need to get some of the stuff put away in the kitchen." She stood and made for the room she intended to straighten before bed. Jack followed as John disappeared into the bathroom.
"It's weird, isn't it?" Martha whispered as the friends worked in tandem, "what he remembers and what he does not. It may be too much.'
But, Jack shook his head. "I think its what he needs to recall Martha." At her disbelieving glare from the counter he went on. "Think about it, you two are going to be here for a year and a half, he has to recall your marriage and relationship as something. The TARDIS made sure that would happen by capitalizing on the memories he already has of the two of you together."
Martha understood most of it. The idea that this was so important, that the ancient ship made certain his memories of her were tied to something, not some made up stories, rather half truths bound them together. If he asked her about some event in their lives togetehr, she could give a reasonable, if not watered down, version of it to keep him safe. To keep Addy safe. In her room, in a box of her things were a sonic screwdriver and two old fob watches. A smaller one for Addy. "This is going to have to be over quick."
Jack came and put his arms around his friend as she did dishes. He had every reason to believe that this was as hard for her as he could read on her features. "Martha, for whatever happens, think of the big picture. Remember why this is so important. "
"I should have left him on Sarah Jane's doorstep." she whispered.
"And he would have torn aside all of Britain looking for you. You know I'm right. Not to mention what it would have done to you. Both of you."
Dishes done, Martha gave her friend a hug, showed him where the extra blankets were, and
bid him good night. She knew Jack didn't sleep, but with te right amount of porn, he would be all right til morning.
XXXXXXXXXX
He'd made himself comfortable on the bed in the baby's room. Their two bedroom flat was a nice one, and Jack patted himself on the back for being so good at what he did. The flat was a perfect foil in a nice neighborhood for a young couple. It was a brilliant job done in a very little time.
He was almost ready to open his file of Hentai for the first round when the knock on the door came. John appeared in the door frame in a pair of sweats and a T shirt. In one hand he held a bottle of Captain Morgan's; two Solo cups clutched precariously in the other. "What's up Doc?" Jack asked with a private smile.
"No reason, I seem to recall you and I going drinking a few times. I thought, well maybe even though I am tied down and boring now, I can still have a shot or two with my favorite cousin."
Jack said nothing, just fired back at John a piercing and persistently expectant, glare.
John shrugged his shoulders and sat down next to his cousin. "There were things I don;t really recall, that I did not want to ask in front of Martha." he admitted.
"You safe to drink that?" jack asked, not wanting to go to any emergency rooms where too many questions or too persistent a physician might cause him to order a round of Retcon on the house.
"I'm clear, no meds for a week now. Since Sarah Jane's"
Jack moved over to one side of the bed as John sat cross-legged next to him. "What did you want to know.'
"Oh," he sighed. "This and that. I have a feeling there are things that I recall that might be a bit jumbled up, but I get the feeling that my wife isn't at all happy with me lately. She talks to you a lot, I was wondering if you could clue me into what I did wrong."
"I didn't know you had done anything wrong..." Jack hemmed, trying to stall for an answer. There could be any number of things. He had gone from congratulating himself on a job well done, to wishing he had moved them closer. This was going to turn into a huge mess if he didin't get a hold on things, starting with Martha.
John allowed his body to slump against the side of the bed. "She keeps me at arm's length. She talks to me, sleeps next to me, but it feels like I am in this alone. I mean, I know there is an age difference between us-"
"You have no idea," Jack muttered quietly.
"...but that's can;t be it. Tell me about my life Jack, the things I don;t recall are killing me." John took a shuddering breath. "God I sound so pathetic. I should have known better, it nevr fairs well for a man to marry some chippie younger than him."
"Stop right there, Johnny Cakes." jack warned. "Martha is no chippie, for one." he waited until he saw John give a distinct set of slow nods. "Secondly,, she loves you. I know this for a fact. Believe me I questioned it like you did, given the history." he sighed.
"That is what I mean, Jack. Given what history?"
"What do you want to know, John. What can I enlighten you on?"
"Well, for starters," John paused as if trying to gain strength to go on. "I need to know what I have done wring, and why that seems to be tied to one person."
"One person? You mean Martha?" Jack asked.
John shook his head as he took a big slug of rum. "No, I need to know about the blonde. Who's Rose?"