Okay, so I promised you more frequent updates. Turns out I lied, but it is through NO FAULT OF MY OWN! Just... life is hectic and writing takes time. I would never want to just publish any old crap, either, so I don't really mind putting that extra bit of time in. I do apologise, and I will try my hardest to update a bit sooner next time. Until then, please enjoy chapter numero six, and leave a teensy weensy review? Maybe? -is not being a diva-
Donna xxx
PS Beth, tell emo!nine to cheer up. Either that, or just kill him - you know he'll regenerate into someone a lot sexier 8)
Chapter Six - Talking Of Trouble
"Rose gone with them, Doctor?" Gwen asked casually from her desk, where she sat working through a pile of paperwork. The Doctor glanced up from the computer he was fiddling with.
"Yeah. She wanted to see what one of your amazing Torchwood missions would be like." he raised his eyebrows, "I told her they really weren't that interesting, but-"
"Oi!" Gwen said indignantly, "They are too interestin'!"
Although she let herself down slightly, giggling after she'd said it.
"If you say so," the Doctor muttered, before deftly swinging back to their previous subject, "But I think she also wanted to go to keep Ianto company. One man could not handle being alone in the presence of Donna and Jack in one SUV. They'll be going mental by now."
"Ah, true love..." Gwen grinned, and sighed theatrically as the team's doctor walked into the room.
"Hi, Gwen." Martha said in a bored voice, but as she caught sight of the Doctor her face brightened, "Doctor! Hi!"
He looked up slightly warily. He knew Martha had never gotten over him, not entirely. It had become unbearable in the end, in the time when she was still travelling with him. She had been throwing herself at him every time they were alone together, acting as though they were a couple when they met new people - but he had just never cared for her in that way. Which was why, although he had hated do it, he had made her leave the TARDIS in the end. It had just been too much, and he was much happier travelling with Donna, a best friend who never wanted anything more. Because in the end, there had only ever been one woman for him, and that woman was currently heading back towards the hub in a large black SUV.
"He- hello, Martha." he said hesitantly, but unfortunately she mistook his hesitance for enthusiasm, and perched on the desk at which he was working on the computer.
"You haven't visited here in ages." she remarked, trying to catch his eye. He cleared his throat and didn't look up.
"Yeah, well. Donna and Jack, and everything..." he said vaguely, "Plus I thought it might be a bit... you know..." he audibly swallowed, and cast a desperate eye over to Gwen's desk for support only to see that she was no longer in the room, "Awkward. For you. After... well..."
His voice was faltering. With a sigh, he finally looked up at her in a meaningful way. "I don't need to say it, Martha."
No, he really didn't. She remembered all too well how she had made a complete idiot out of herself, how she had finally told him her feelings only to have him reject her completely, the thing she had always feared. But, deep inside of her, she knew that she could make him see that he loved her too. She had to try.
"So!" he said, in an attempt at cheeriness, "Do you enjoy working here at Torchwood?"
"Yeah." she said instinctively, and then changed her tone, "You do get a bit of adventure here, you know? That's the lifestyle I've always wanted. It was the way I loved, and still do love to live. Travel, excitement, adventure...like back when we were together."
"Martha!" he cried in frustration, his cool demeanor finally breaking, "We were never together! Not like that, anyway. I just wanted to give you some adventure, show you the stars, and be your friend! Our relationship just wasn't like that, and you know it!"
"But why couldn't it be like that?" she demanded, standing up. After slipping in hints and looks all over the place for so, so long, she had finally snapped, "We would have been great together!"
On the way back from the loo, Gwen heard Martha's raised voice, and quickly increased her pace along the corridor. What had that girl done now? And sure enough, she re-entered the hub to see her standing facing the Doctor, her eyes ablaze.
"Why?" he repeated in obvious frustration, "I don't know, Martha! What about the fact that I quite clearly said I wasn't looking for anything like that before you even came with me? What about the fact that you said you weren't remotely interested either? What about the fact that I made it perfectly obvious that I am, and always have been, completely in love with Rose Tyler?!"
And at this moment, Gwen knew it was her cue to intervene. What Martha was doing to the Doctor was utterly unfair, putting him on the spot like that and making demands. There was going to be more to come, however just as Martha opened her mouth to say something else, Gwen made her move, grabbing a sheet of paper from her desk.
"Doctor?" she called calmly, "I could use a hand with this list, if you don't mind."
She shot them an innocent smile, and for a second she actually thought Martha might throw something at her. But then the other girl's eyes dimmed, then she seemed to visibly deflate - her argument was lost.
Something clicked in Martha's brain, right at that moment, like an epiphany. And so she didn't shout any more, didn't demand any more of the Doctor. Instead, she fixed a steely glare on her face, and swept out of the room. But just as she reached the archway that led down to her medical station, she looked back to give the Doctor one lingering look over her shoulder.
"You have fun." she said quietly, and all three people in the room, knew that she wasn't talking about helping Gwen with the paperwork. As she walked quietly down the stairs and collapsed in a chair, a plan started to form in Martha Jones' head. She knew now, all of a sudden, that in fact the Doctor did not love her.
He was never going to love her, and so she was barking completely up the wrong tree. Instead of trying to make him realize his feelings for her, she simply had to destroy the feelings he had already, for another woman entirely.
In other words, if she couldn't have the Doctor, then neither could that thing he called Rose. They might be quite the happy couple for now, but if Martha had anything to do with it, they sure as hell wouldn't be for long.
"Thank you." the Doctor said in relief, running an agitated hand through his hair as he made his way over to Gwen's desk. "That was a nightmare. She's just so..."
He was struggling, and Gwen saw it.
"I know." she said softly, "But... try not to let 'er get to you, Doctor. One more week, and then you and Rose never have to look back. You will never have to see Martha Jones again if you don't want to."
And if she wasn't mistaken, the tiniest beginnings of a smile appeared on his face.
"Thanks." he said quietly, simply, "Thank you, Gwen. You're right."
And she was, he thought, as they briefly hugged. He was so, so lucky to have all of these amazing people in his life, so many friends who would always be there to help and advise him. Long gone were the days when he had only wanted to be alone, when he had been blasé about the importance of friendship and love.
"So." he said, pulling back, "What's this list you needed help with?"
"Yeah, here." Gwen said, "It's quite interestin', really. And very difficult..."
She shot him a cheeky look, and showed him the piece of paper she'd been holding. The piece of paper that was absolutely blank.
"Ooh!" he laughed, "If Martha knew what you just did to get her to leave, Gwen, you'd be in so much trouble-"
"I BLOODY WILL NOT TAKE IT BACK!" They heard Donna's shriek from the stairway leading up to the information centre.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows, "Talking of trouble, here it comes."
"A clown?" Jack demanded, busting into the room through the cog door with a furious expression on his face, "You're calling me a joker? You, with your red hair and the nose to match?!"
"Oh, come off it!" Donna stormed in after him, "You can't comment on my appearance, Captain, when you yourself constantly look like something out of a low-budget World War II movie that went straight to DVD!"
"Ooh, not snobbish at all then, Donna..." It went on and on, both people desperate to get the last word in. Gwen and the Doctor found it quite entertaining - but then again, they hadn't been sitting in a car with the pair for the past two hours. Unlike Ianto and Rose, who wandered in after Donna and Jack had left, looking shell-shocked.
"That," Ianto declared, his face remaining completely straight, "Was exhausting."
"That bad?" Gwen asked, a sympathetic look on her face. Rose didn't respond, merely walked directly over to the Doctor and buried her head in his front. He laughed, and put his arms around her.
"There we go." he said patronizingly, as if he were talking to a three year old, "It can't have been that bad!"
"Wha- Pff, yu- Argh!" she spluttered defiantly, pulling back and looking up at him, "You weren't there. Donna plus Jack plus enclosed space equals two hours of absolute torture."
She looked annoyed, "I s'pose you had a lovely, peaceful, quiet time back here?"
He sighed, "Not exactly." He spoke the truth, but looking at her now, deep into her eyes, he felt his worries about Martha melt away completely. Rose was here, and now, and she was all that mattered, in the end. As long as he had her, he would be fine, no matter what.
"Don't ever leave me again." he said seriously, lost in her eyes.
A small smile appeared on her face, "Doctor, I was gone for two hours."
"Still," he murmured as he leaned down, "S'too long."
And then he kissed her, another sincere, passionate, perfect kiss. And she got the exact same feeling - that this was all that mattered in the whole wide universe.
When they finally pulled apart, both grinning, they wandered up a small flight of stairs, to see Ianto sprawled out on one of the sofas with his head in Gwen's lap, looking absolutely shattered while she looked down at him with a wide, almost mocking smile. Rose and the Doctor flopped down immediately onto the other couch, and there was a comfortable silence for a while before Ianto spoke.
"You know what?" he said, dead serious, "If we're gonna get Jack and Donna together, I reckon we're goin' to have to do it soon."
"Why's that?" Rose yawned, resting her head on the Doctor's shoulder.
"Because." Ianto replied, his voice almost menacing, "If we don't, they're absolutely guaranteed to have killed one another by Friday."