Still plugging away at this one, bout half way through. I don;t know how long it will take me to finish, work is insane, damn you real life. Thanks for all the nice words and encouragement. I really honestly plan on finishing this one.
Martha's face must have been a warning of the subject for her sister, for the older woman smiled and patted her on the arm. "I didn't know about any of it then, Martha." Tish reassured her sister. "As far as I knew, he could have said Rosencrantz and Guildenstern."
Martha nodded, but her demeanor stayed tense. "But, you do know, don't you?" she asked, suddenly wishing for a hole of any size to open in the floor.
Tish sighed and allowed her eyes to roll to ward the ceiling. "Of course I know, Martha. I had to know what happened. It's all right, there is another side to that story that you have e no idea about. Are you going to let me finish, or—"
Heavy footsteps pounded their way through the hallway and into the parlor that had once been quiet. Jack Harkness appeared through the double doors, at his side was Leo who held onto the man in the middle of the two. John Bowman grinned from his position at seeing his wife. "There you are!" he sprang from jack and Leo's grasp,k only to trip over his own feel and land on his needs in front of Martha.
Martha looked first to her brother, then to her former boss. "He's pissed!" she accused.
"As a vicar on Sunday night." Jack nodded with a smile.
"You let this happen?" Martha snapped, she moved forward to help John to his feet. "You know he can't…" she looked at the two of them and shook her head. "You know he shouldn't…"
"Drinking game," Leo inserted with an easy grin. Martha could tell her brother was partially to the wind himself, "We were watching 'A Christmas Story,' and you had to drink every time the dad had a cursing fit."
That's the whole movie." Tish shook her head with a chuckle. "No wonder the-John is so wasted."
"Not wasted!" The man on the floor insisted, his head resting in Martha's lap. "I'm not wasted! I just," he stopped as if trying to find the right words. "I just need to recalculate my brain, that's all." John shook his head a little, "no, that's not right. Re—re—, " he seemed like a piece of film stuck in a loop. Martha had the brief but humorous idea of slapping him to keep him from repeating.
Instead, she held onto his hands as she stood to her feet and dragged him up. "Right, I am gonna assume that means a nap." She smiled, placing his arms around her middle. "Hold on for dear life, John."
"I have been for a long time," he answered and buried his face into her hair.
"Right, then." Martha said after the silence that followed John's admission. Both Jack and Tish offered matching smirks, while Leo seemed more than uncomfortable. "Say good night, John." Martha said as she took his hand and waved it to the three in the parlor.
"Good night, John." He said dreamily. "Hang on," his head came bolt upright, and in his moment of lucidity, it was surely the Doctor who came forward. "Who's John?" But, before anyone could panic, John's head fell back onto Martha's as she angled him up the rest of the stairs.
XXXXXXXXXX
Martha let go of John's arm as he slid onto the bed. "You 'll miss Christmas Eve Dinner." She sighed as she resigned herself to removing his shoes and socks.
John said little more than an airy tuneless sigh. Martha put away his shoes and p[laced the blanket over him. She had nearly made a clean getaway when his long slender arm shot out from under the plaid throw and grabbed her around the wrist. "Martha," he slurred. "Do you love me?" He asked as a child would ask a parent, as if he needed that bone deep reassurance. His eyes plead to her for an answer, and Martha, despite everything that she had been through in the last two years, could not douse.
Martha sat herself on the bed next to the prone man, a hopefully earnest smile on her face. "I loved you when I first saw you." She answered truthfully.
"Really?" he asked, lucidity hanging around the edges of his words. |You're so cold, sometimes."
She nodded, but turned away from his gaze. "I am." She agreed.
The silence in the room filled in every crevice, and for a time, Martha thought he had passed out. She rose and congratulated herself yet again on her ability to skirt around the truth.
"I thought things were getting better...l..." he spoke silently.
"They are." She offered offishly, but neither one of them believed it. "And, anyway, now isn't the time to try to figure out the state of our marriage. Get some sleep." She offered with a nod in the fading light.
John rolled over to his side and made a sound of noncommittal agreement. Martha shut the door behind her and headed back downstairs. Tish was holding Adric, walking him across one end of the room to the other. "I think he's hungry. " Tish offered the infant to her, and Martha took him in her arms and flopped back down on the couch. "So weird to see him like that," Tish offered with a shake of her head. "All out of control and unsure of himself."
Martha shook her own head as she fed Adric, "you have no idea, what it's like to live with him, day in and day out, and see this stranger parked in the spot where the Doctor should be."
"But," Tish began, placing her feet on Francine's coffee table, and act only performed when their mother was not in the room to see. "But, he is still the same person, I mean essentially."
"No, he isn't, Tish." Martha asserted.
"He still loves you." Tish smirked.
Martha sighed her answer, unwilling to get into a shouting match while hoping to get her son to sleep.
Tish read her doubt like the front page of the Times. "All right, story time. " Tish sang with a clap of her hands. "You finish feeding Addy, I will go make us yet another round of tea. Jack promised to keep everyone downstairs. "
You sound as if you have planned all of this." Martha accused with a smile to hide her discomfort.
Maybe I have, Martha." Tish said from over her shoulder on her way to the kitchen. "Maybe it's a lot of things that need to be said."
By the time Adric had fallen asleep at her breast, Tish set down the newly replenished tray of tea and biscuits. She held her hands out for Martha to pass her the baby, but Martha refused. Tish, on the other hand, would not be dissuaded. "How often will I get to hold him like this?" she asked quietly. "He's mine, and not mine, and I get that, Martha. I have no intentions of trying to raise him, none at all. But, having him close, it feels nice. Like a nephew. Oh wait…" She turned a smile to her younger sister. "I am going to pop him into the pram in the guest room, and then we can talk."
Tish returned with all the giddiness of her former sefl. "Now, where were we?"
XXXXXXXXXX
His face fell before her very eyes. "Ohhhh," he answered with a deflated voice.
Tish was quick to assess the situation, quicker than when she saw the sonic he was still working at pulling out of his pocket. "Why do I get the feeling this is something that has reared itself to bite you in the ass?" She asked under her breath.
The Doctor turned to the large security man at his side, still holding onto his ar,. "I don't know anything about that, it's a myth." He spouted.
"You used the technology, Doctor. It's you who must pay the sentence for it. That's ancient magic that has no place in this universe."
The Doctor opened his mouth to speak,, but it snapped shut again. Tish looked between the two beings before speaking. "Ok, let's pretend I know nothing about this." She offered, hands on hips. "What the hell is the infinite?"
But the large guard thing had begun walking again, pushing the Doctor from behind to keep a crazy speed. Tish skipped along double to keep up. It appeared they were headed for a ship in the distance. "Martha and I, we were sent to find the Infinite.. A half-crazed wanna-be tyrant was hell bent on universal rule."
"Do all your stories start like that? Or, is it just me?" She asked, still skipping along. The Doctor had managed to free his sonic, and Tish assumed he was either setting the right dials, or biding his time to find out what this was all about.
They had finally reached the ship, The Doctor wiggled his fingers to show that he was now free of the cuffs, but shook his head in warning for Tish. She understood eough of this man to know when plan was forming in his head, and honestly, she had to admit to herself she could not wait to see where this one was going. The guard moved to his ship, Tish assumed, to open the hatch to escort the Doctor inside, it was then that the Doctor cleared his throat and spoke. "Ah, I know this ship, well not this particular ship, but I know where it came from."
"No matter, " the Guard grunted. "We are going anywhere but to find the Infinite."
"You keep going on and on about this Infinite thing, but honestly, its a myth and nothing more than a cheap oracle that mirrors your heart's desire. Honestly it doesn't do any-"
The hatch opened and the Guard grabbed for the Doctor, who, to Tish's surprise allowed himself to be man handled onto the ship. "Funny thing about these ships." he began.
"Stop talking," The guard gruffed. Tsh made to follow behind the pair, but the guard raised his han to her. "Oh that was what I was waiting for." The Doctor spoke suddenly, producing his sonic in his now free hands. "As I was saying before." he went on, waving his sonic at the door. "These Alcadian ships, they aren't the brightest things in the world. Not like my ship." He fired his sonic at a panel ear the door. The guard jumped away just in time as the sparks flew and the hatch froze midway down.
"Your ship is brilliant," Tish beamed, suddenly glad that the Doctor was in control of the situation.
"She is, innit she?" he grinned as the guard began hitting random butoons on the side panel. "What have you done to my ship? How did you get free?" he asked, advancing upon the Doctor.
"Ah, now you see, the little lady here had a lot of questions-"
"Little lady?" Tish huffed but smiled.
"Oh, you lot and your Twentieth Century political correctness. " he smirked. "Tish here had a lot of questions, and you weren't ery forthcoming with answers. Now, you have a lot of questions of me, why should I even entertain answering any of them, hmm?"
The guard opened and closed his mouth a few times before raising his weapon. "You will take me to the Infinite!" he insisted.
"I will not! That thing is just a myth. D'you know, the last time I saw it, it almost killed my friend. You want that? Death? There are easier ways to kill yourself. Ways that don;t involve other people." The Doctor raised a finger and tilted the weapon away from him. "That thing is as useless as your ship, now." he twirled the sonic in his hand and grinned. "But, if you're nice, I may fix that busted down ship of yours."
The guard turned several shades of green, Tish had a flash of her own death as the seven foot alien raised the gun and fired. It clicked uselessly in his hands. "It is my right to have it!" the alien screamed. "It shows your hearts desire, and it gives it to you."
The Doctor shook his head. "It gives you nothing except a road to death. But then," he shrugged. "I guess you'll never know." He nodded toward the assembly of native police looking creatures making their way toward the trio. "Looks like your ride is here."
"It is my destiny!" The guard shouted. "It only shows what is real!"
The Doctor smirked at that. "True, your heart's desire must be near reality..." The Doctor seemed to go quiet at that. "I'd forgotten that part."
The police took the still screaming large alien into custody and thanked the Doctor. Tish waited for the pleasantries to end and walked beside the Doctor back to the TARDIS. "Its like this all the time for you, small little despots trying to undo reality."
The Doctor smiled. "Nah, sometimes its great big despots."
They walked along in silence for a time, "Doctor, what happened, with the Infinite, Martha was there?"
He nodded and told her about the thing that ate gold, and taking two years to catch up to Martha. He told her about the pirate ship and the planet of bugs. When he came to what tish knew to be the last part, he hesitated. They stood in front of the TARDIS, the Doctor with his hands shoved deep into his pockets looking at the purple sea. "Doctor, " Tish finally managed, knowing the answer, but wanting him to acknowledge it. "The guard said it can only show you what is meant to be."
The Doctor nodded with a funny 'mmmhmmm' but said nothing else.
"Doctor," Tish went on, leaning in front of the doors, realizing she would have to beat the answer out of him. "Doctor, what did Martha see?"
"Funny thing about one's heart's desire, the one that it shows. It could have been anything, eh? Her desire to be a great Doctor, or a family of her own...world domination? It reflects what that person is most likely to have. Oh, sure she knew she would be a doctor, we all knew that. And a great one."
"She is," Tish nodded, mostly to encourage his talking. The one thing anyone learns after enough time with the Doctor, is that if you keep him talking, eventually you get some sort of truth you can glom onto. But, Tish had always been one to push things, her mother had once told her she should have been a therapist. Nope, too touchy feely. But, this...
The Doctor seemed unwilling to go on, but just when she would have pushed, he spoke again. "Its funny that it was after then that I wanted to really push her away."
"What was her heart's desire, Doctor?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Martha placed her head in her hands and shook her head. "Oh I was so young and stupid."
"Still stupid if you are not hearing what I am telling you." Tish surmised. "Think, Martha. You saw your heart's desirem but it had to be something you were supposed to have. Don;t you get it? That is why that thing was so dangerous."
Martha wanted to open her mouth and scream a litany of foul curses at her sister. There was no way any of it was true. But, she turned to look at the blinking Christmas tree lights and realized where she was, ,where she was sitting, and who was upstairs sleeping in her childhood bed. "He loves me."
"Has for a while." Tish nodded with another sip of her cooled tea. "Sad really, the two of you. I don't think either one of you really want it, but there it is."
Martha had formulated a tirade but Francine picked that moment to call everyone into dinner. "That Doctor, is he all right?" Francine asked as Martha made her way to the large dining room.
"He's gonna have to sleep it off, and have one hell of a knocker when he wakes up." Martha answered, gently punching Jack in the arm. "How could you let him drink like that? You knew he couldn't hold it."
"That's what made it funnier." Leo answered. "Hey family traditions do not hold lightly on those too lightweight to hang. He shoulda bailed."
"He doesn;t know who he is." Martha whispered, afraid his super Time Lord hearing would kick in in his sleep.
Jack shook his head. "He'll be fine, Nightingale. Fully human, remember? He'll have a hangover and a lot of regretful apologies when he wakes."
"What did he do downstairs?" Martha asked." The room burst into gales of laughter that both Martha and Tish felt left out of. "Seriously, what did he do?"
The room only got louder =with laughter. Clive Jones, still clutching unto his newest grandchild wiped tears from his eyes. "You really had to be there." he laughed again.
"The man cannot hold his cups." Francine answered passing the plates around with a shake of her head. "Honestly, he is completely rubbish as a human. If you would have brought him home, and I didn't know who he really was..."
"You'd what, Mum?" Leo asked, grinning "Eviscerate him?"
"Hold on now Leo, there's still a chance of that." Clive answered with another laugh. "The singing wasn't so bad, it was the impressions that made me send him up to bed."
"Impressions?" Martha asked. "Oh god, he didn't." she looked around the room. "Tell me there are no pictures of this."
Ten phones were placed in front of her, various photos of John either making faces or laughing hysterically. Leo's wife had even taken video. "All right, that's it." she added. "None of these on Facebook or I will have Jack Retcon each and every one of you."
"Why you gotta throw me into this?" Jack asked showing his own snaps of John. "This is funny shit for later, when he is himself again."
"It is so strange to see him like this, so not himself. So, human." Francine added. "You have to understand Martha, we all know and love him, it's a novelty for us I guess.' she shrugged.
Martha nodded, she understood. If she didn't know any better, it was almost like, like he was family. "Well, just the same, no posting of those online. Its a matter of National Security." They all laughed at this. "Help me out here, Jack."
But, Jack raised his hands and shook his head. "Hey, you walk into the lion's den wearing sirloin boxers..."
She tossed a green bean at him. "Oh, you're no help." But, she knew none of them would put the Doctor in danger, she knew, even Leo's wife, held a special place for the odd alien that was passed out on her bed. It hit her then, he really was family.