Drops of Jupiter

Summary: As Martha laid dying in the American West, she noticed something odd. Something that makes the Clades, "Unknown" scan proves true. What does that mean for the Doctor and herself? [eventual Doctor/Martha]

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

A/N: AU Utopia/LotTL.

I paraphrased what was actually said by Martha in Last of the Time Lords.

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"Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs."

-Charlotte Bronte

Chapter 6

The Master looked at the woman that kneeled before him. As he looked at her, he tilted his head. He had shrugged it off when they had captured in town.

"You're not an ordinary human." He realized. An insane grin spread across his face. "That low level psych field kept me from noticing earlier."

The Jones family stood to the side watching. The Doctor grabbed at his cage. "She is human."

"Oh, but she's not full human." The Master retorted as he turned to his rival. "You've been hiding that Doctor."

Martha glanced at her family, they looked unhurt. "You really want to question my humanity, instead of what I was actually doing for a year?"

"I already destroyed your silly weapon."

Martha laughed as she stared him down. "A weapon…in four parts…around the globe? You bought that?"

The Master's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean?"

"You really thought I would send her to search for a weapon?" The aged Doctor asked. Harold Saxon's face went from smug to frowning.

"I walked the Earth and told a story." Martha explained. "That's it. Just a story. No weapon. As I told the story, I gave the people one instruction." The junior doctor felt excitement build as they got closer to the count down. "I told them that we needed to think of one person, focus one being…" Martha watched as The Master's look shifted to curious. "On one person, but with 15 satellites connecting the human psych…" She trailed off watching as it dawned on The Master and Lucy's face.

"Your countdown was the perfect opportunity." The tiny woman finished as the count down started to reach one.

"What? No, no, no…that can't…"

A gold light started to surround The Doctor's body, restoring him to his youthful looking appearance.

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"They used to call me the 'Face of Boe'!" Jack told Martha and the Doctor as he walked off heading back to Torchwood. Martha and the Doctor exchanged looks. The petite woman laughed while the Doctor tried to master his shock.

"You don't think-?"

"No way." Both knew that it was true despite their words. They had watched the man walking away from them die billions of years into the future. Martha drove them back to her mother's place. She had asked the Doctor if he wanted to drive, but he had declined. Her radio played quietly as neither of them spoke in the beginning of their two hour drive. Martha knew she would be leaving him.

"Something wrong?" He finally asked her as he stopped watching the scenery. That would be a disadvantage of the TARDIS, no windows to watch things pass by. "You're thinking a bit hard about something." Martha didn't say anything. The Doctor placed a hand on top of hers. "Martha." He hadn't heard her voice in a year. And when she had spoke the day before, Rassilon she had been powerful. With no visible fear, she had face down the Master.

Martha glanced away from the road. "They need me." The Doctor didn't reply to that, his hearts were breaking. "You need me."

"You want me." He retorted. It was true, Martha Jones never needed him. She desired him.

"No," Martha told him as she squeezed his hand. "I need you."

The Doctor wanted to say he believed her, but he saw what she could do on her own. "You've never needed me Martha Jones. There were so many times where you were absolutely brilliant on your own."

"Because you forced me to be. You needed someone strong, someone capable of handling themselves and I am all of that. I was all of that before you, but now...what do you want?"

The Doctor was silent as he thought back to when he first meet Martha. Everything about his time with this woman had haunted him during that Year. Every happy time, every time he nearly lost her or she nearly lost him. 1913, Rassilon had he never regretted something as much as that time. He should have trapped the Family in the first place. Martha should never have been on her own. And in such a racist and sexist time for someone like her. He had failed her. He would never have left Rose on her own with a human version of him.

The brightest time the two had together had been 1969. After her death. He had tried his best to do things right with Martha then. She had tried her hardest to make sure he was happy until his ship arrived. That effort kept them from having a rift form in their relationship. At the end of the Universe, he knowingly praised Rose when talking to Jack. As much passion and dedication as he put into the speech, his hearts were beating for another. A woman that he relied on so much more. Martha Jones deserved so much more than him.

So much more than he could give her.

Martha followed the Doctor back to the TARDIS. Honestly, Martha was happy the old girl was calm again. The way the ship had screamed when she had been turned into a paradox machine still gave Martha nightmares. The TARDIS waited outside Francine Jones' house.

Martha looked at the Doctor, "Coming in?" The Doctor shook his head. Francine Jones disliked him, actually he'd go as far as to say she hated him. Then again, she blamed him for her daughter turning into an alien. He knew in both his hearts, that it had been the Master's doing and partially Francine's own fault. Martha hadn't complained to him about it though.

She had accepted it, that she wouldn't age very fast and if she died, she'd physically become someone else entirely. "Oh no, you go ahead. I'll wait here." As he watched her leave out the door, part of him knew she wouldn't be leaving with him.

Martha Jones had so much going for her and her family needed her now. He sat in the Captain's seat, kicking his legs up onto the console. Maybe Martha would continue traveling with him despite that, Rose would have. Then again, Rose hadn't had much going for her did she? Other than her dead end shop job (which he ended abruptly by blowing the place up), before she met him.

The TARDIS sent the Doctor a quick shock for his thoughts. He had forgotten the TARDIS took to doing that every time he tried to compare Martha and Rose after 1913.

Martha left the TARDIS heading into her family home. The place they all ended up staying at after the Year was erased. As she took in her parents being civil, her sister nursing her cup of tea quietly and her brother trying to calm her niece down, she knew she couldn't leave. Leo may not remember anything other than her phone call, but the rest of them did.

And like every other time in her life, Martha put her family first.

Tish had looked up first and her eyes met Martha's hazel ones. Martha never got to greet the rest of her family as Tish grabbed her arm and dragged her back outside. "You're staying." She stated quietly. Martha nodded.

"You all need me and I can't just bounce off like nothing happened."

Tish grabbed her younger sister's hand. "He needs you more." Martha shook her head, she remembered the words the Doctor had spoken to Jack about Rose Tyler. The passion in which they had been spoken.

"I'm not what he needs."

Tish sighed as she squeezed her sister's hand. "Martha, you always do this! Your happiness, you sacrifice it in a heartbeat to take care of us. I know we're family Martha, but for once try to be selfish! Leo and I, we've done it! Martha, mum is going to be herself...she'll try to guilt you into staying, but why? You've got an alien willing to take you to see the stars! Staying here wouldn't do anything, you'd be refereeing the next argument in two weeks time."

Martha looked down at the green grass on the sides of the bench in the backyard. "I am being selfish. I'm staying here. I'm getting my doctorate. I've got family to look after, him...besides me there's no one else and I don't count!"

"You love learning Martha, you can learn from him! You defeated an experienced alien with basic will-power. Humanity will never know my sister saved their sorry asses with the help of her alien boyfriend." Tish sighed as she realized Martha had made up her mind. "If you're going to stay here, you'll stay with me?"

A smile crossed Martha's face. "That would be lovely. I don't fancy staying near mum anymore than I have to at the moment."

"You don't blame her." Tish stated quietly. "If she'd just left well enough alone. If she had just trusted you..." Martha squeezed her sister's hand.

"What happened has a lot of blame on different people's shoulders. I'm not going to start pointing fingers."

Tish looked over at the blue box and made up her mind. She was going to chat with the alien inside. Turning to Martha, she released her sister's hand and nodded to the house. "Well, mother will be pleased you're staying here."

Martha didn't understand why her sister wanted her gone. She could understand her sister wanting her to be happy, but this reluctance to have her on Earth? Once she got to Tish's place they'd have a heart to heart (well heart to hearts). Her hazel eyes glanced over at the blue box that had been her home away from home, she would miss that box. The way the humming had soothed her into sleeping when she first started traveling. Oh, the way the humming became a beautiful song when Martha had made telepathic contact with the ship, it had been beautiful.

She didn't want to leave the TARDIS.

She didn't want to leave the thing she and the Doctor had. Whatever that was.

Martha sighed as she knew, she had to get out. She was never one to leave things undone and finishing school was a priority. Leaving her sister outside, Martha went back inside the house to face her parents and her brother.

Tish waited until Martha was inside before she left the yard, heading to the blue box. Part of her was nervous. She had never been in the box, but the way Martha and the Doctor had rush to undo whatever Harold Saxon had done made it seem important. This wooden box was home to an alien? It seemed small, but after seeing what he could do...what were the chances the box was bigger on the inside?

Tish touched the door and froze for a minute, her curly hair falling into her face. Glancing behind her, Martha was no where in sight. She paused and wondered why she was bothering to sneak around? She was the older sister and there was nothing Martha Jones could do to her. Besides it was for her sister's own good. Pushing the door open, Tish blinked at the size.

"No way." She muttered backing out and closing the door. She walked around the box and then back to the entrance. When she opened the door again, the Doctor was standing near a railing watching her curiously. "I'm not some fascinating creature you know."

Smooth Tish, real smooth.

"No, I suppose not. I'm curious as to why you're in my ship."

Tish walked further in closing the door, she looked around. "She's giving this up to stay with me?" Looking at the Time Motor, she watched as the colors flared around. "She's absolutely mad!" The curly haired woman turned to the Doctor and crossed her arms. "You had better convince her to stay on this ship. If you have to get on your knees and beg, don't let my sister walk out of this ship!"

"What?" He asked shocked. Surely his hearing was going in his old age, despite the young body.

Tish ignored his shocked expression and explained. "My sister has never acted the way she did with you, before. The happiness on her face as she talked to you after nearly dying? It was disturbing to think I'd never noticed it before considering mum and dad's divorce. My sister has given our family so much and you! Traveling with you makes her happy and she's going to give it up to stay here. Don't let her do it."

The Doctor was surprised that Leticia Jones was in his ship pleading with him to not let Martha leave. "I...I can't. You know Martha's a Human-Time Lord now. She'll live for centuries, you won't. None of you will. I can't stop her from staying with all of you."

"Fine, then pick her up on weekends or when she's off work. Don't you want her around at all?"

Ancient brown eyes stared into wary brown ones. "I love having Martha around, but it's up to her. If she never wants to see me again, I can't blame her if that's how she feels, then I'd respect that."

Tish glanced down at her tan heeled boots. Thick. The alien in front of her and her sister.

"So what are you going to do? Let her leave and then what? Wait for her to ring you saying we're all dead? That she has no family left? I know Martha, she won't look at another human male because she knows she won't age. She'll throw herself into work and that's all she'll do when she's not 'spending time' with her family." She looked up at the Doctor. "Don't say anything then. You both are going to regret it. I can tell you both fancy each other, you're just being thick about it."

Tish glared at him before marching out of the ship. Men, no matter what species were always thick.

The Doctor actually winced when the wooden door slammed. Of course Tish was looking out for her sister, but was she right? Would he regret letting Martha Jones walk out of that door? His hearts started beating faster as he thought about their time together.

Mixed signals.

That's all they had sent each other and then...1969. The intimacy that they had shared there in their tiny little flat. The way Martha Jones had fit perfectly in his arms as he held her at night. Their time spent teaching Martha how to shield her mind from the thoughts of other people. Martha Jones had been a beautiful bride and as a wife? She hadn't been perfect like he thought. Her cooking skills wasn't great. When it came to cleaning, she always forced him to help. And she wasn't the type to nag him to death. Their favorite time together had been sitting on the roof looking at the stars.

It was the song of the TARDIS, that told him what was in front of him.

His wonderful ship told him what he hadn't noticed.

What had been staring him in the face.

What had been obvious since he first meet the junior doctor.

He had fallen for Martha Jones.

Swallowing thickly, the Doctor walked back to the Captain's seat and sank into it. Part of him felt like he was insulting Rose's memory. Another part knew, knew that he had held on to Rose's memory long enough, that he had to face the facts. He had fallen for another Time Lady (even if she wasn't properly trained like Romana) not easily impressed with him. And like the last one, Martha Jones would be leaving him.

The TARDIS sent the Doctor a small jolt. She wasn't impressed that the Doctor was forgetting the obvious- Martha Jones was a Time Lady. Leaving now meant nothing since she'd be back. Back to be by her Doctor's side. All her thief had to do is open that adorable mouth of his and tell his Doctor. Tell her that she could comeback at any time.

When Martha walked into the TARDIS after talking to her family, she knew what she was going to do. It wouldn't be the last time she saw the skinny man. Just, her last time aboard this ship for a while. If anymore unexpected Time Lord weirdness started affecting her, she'd call him. Martha walked back on board a determined frown on her face. The Doctor hopped up and started rambling about star fire, meeting Agatha Christie. Martha waited for it die down. Her own hearts broke knowing this could be the last time she heard him ramble like that in years, perhaps decades really. "You want to leave." He said at last.

"We talked about it. There are things I need to finish here." The Doctor's face couldn't get any more puppy-ish. Martha felt like she had kicked his puppy and then gave it to a Dalek for extermination. He opened and closed his mouth several times. "I'll have to come back at some point right?"

"Yes, yes you will." He didn't sound cheered up by that fact.

Martha walked up to him and she looked into those wonderful ancient eyes of his, those brown eyes of his stared back at her, pleading for her to change her mind. "Will you come to my graduation?" His eyebrow rose in questioning. "My doctorate, I've got to finish getting it. Will you be there, on my graduation day?"

"Yes," left the alien's lips before he could stop it. He wanted to know if she would comeback by then. Or would she settle down into a normal human life?

Martha reached into her pocket and pulled out her TARDIS key. If she noticed the way the Doctor's breathing hitched, she said nothing. "This Doctor," she pointed to the wedding ring, "means what you want it too."

"What I want it too?" He repeated. His eyebrows knitted together as he looked at the ring in puzzlement.

Martha closed her eyes as she placed her hearts on the line one last time with him. "It can mean nothing or it could mean the start of something."

"Or it could mean something." The Time Lord stated as he touched the ring on the silver chain. "It could mean something very obvious."

Hazel eyes stared into dark brown ones. "How obvious?" Martha asked. There was no reply as he cupped her face and pulled her into a kiss.

Rassilon, an entire year! An entire year without his little wife, worried that she could be dead, but having faith. He had faith in Rose, but Martha Jones...he believed in her. If he couldn't fix a problem, his doctor could. And as he kissed her with passion, he felt her melt into him. Slowly he pulled away, "I'm older than you. You've seen me aged Martha Jones. I'm also perfectly capable of being daft-"

Martha pulled on his lapels and then kissed him. "I'd like to think I can handle anything...as long as you..." She paused and stared into those dark brown eyes of his, "as long as you see me."

"I've always seen you Martha Jones." He informed her, "You are a bright star. You're beautiful, inside and out." He rested his forehead on hers. "You deserve more than I can give you."

Martha closed her eyes, "And you deserve more than I can give you. No one's perfect Doctor, we both know that...my family...I love them to pieces. And you, mister, I love you to pieces as well." Her hazel eyes opened as she reached up and stroked the Doctor's cheek. "I hate choosing when I want both. I, I don't want to wake up a hundred years from now regretting not going with you or not spending enough time with my family. I-" A slender finger placed itself on her lips and she stopped talking. The Doctor sighed.

"That, Martha Jones, is the reason why I won't stop you from leaving." He looked sad at that. "You'll always be my little wife and your family...is technically mine as well."

Martha touched the Doctor's hand, a small smile curving its way on to her lips. "Little wife?"

The Doctor smiled gently. "It's what I call you in my head."

"I knew there was something off in that head of yours."

"Martha..." He replied despite the smile on his face.

"Thank you." She replied softly. "Mum's going to kill us both though."

The Doctor ran his free hand through his hair. "Oh, Francine will get used to it. Eventually."

"Suppose, as your wife, I can't ask for you to visit often. You know, since you've got planets and times to save."

The Doctor grinned at her. "I can pop in and out."

"Come around for dinner often?"

"As long as it's not something you tried baking." He joked.

Martha rolled her eyes. "And...new companions?"

"Won't be as amazing as you?" The Doctor teased. "If you're okay with it, I can bring them around."

"I'd like that." Martha responded with a smile. The Doctor cupped her cheek. "Just until I get my doctorate."

The Doctor leaned in and kissed her.

Martha Jones had a lot to be grateful for in life, but she had a special thank you for the Master. He was a psycho that cost her planet so much. He interfered in her life more than even the Doctor. The insane Time Lord was the cause of her DNA mutation, even if it was indirectly.

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Silver: I think we all know how the Master orchestrated quite a few events during series 3. Even if we didn't realize he was part of it until after he stole the TARDIS.