Title: Back To Basics

Author: badly-knitted

Characters: Martha Jones, mentions the Doctor and Torchwood.

Rating: PG

Spoilers: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End, and a bit for Exit Wounds.

Summary: The earth is back were it belongs, and so is Martha.

Word Count: 617

Written For: juliet316's prompt 'Doctor Who, Martha Jones, reviving her career as a doctor,' at fic_promptly.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.

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It's over. The earth is back where it belongs, and all the former companions are scattering to the four winds once more. It was kind of nice to be out there saving the universe again, but Martha knew all along it was a one off, a final fling. That's not her life anymore and she's okay with that. She's a little older than she was when she first joined the Doctor aboard the TARDIS, and a lot wiser; she may not have seen all there is to see, that would take a lot more than a single human lifetime, but she thinks she's seen enough. Time now for her to get back to basics. It's good to be home.

London, her birthplace; she's nearer to her family than she has been in months, and she's desperate to see them, to make sure they're okay. It was beyond difficult to see the Daleks swarming all over the planet and not be able to check in on the most important people in her life, but she can do that now, finally, and she intends to. Nothing is going to stop her.

She should probably report in to UNIT, but she has a feeling that's over now as well. She doesn't think they'll fire her or anything, is pretty sure she's not in any serious trouble with them; she tried her best to follow orders and she did just help save the world so the stuff with the Osterhagen Key… Well, Jack's got that now and will make sure it's melted down or something. No one's blowing up the planet on his watch.

If the UNIT brass don't terminate her employment then she'll resign; she never wanted to be a soldier anyway, she only ever wanted to heal. She completed her medical training with UNIT, she has that much to thank them for, and she learned a lot more than the average medical student at a regular hospital would have had the opportunity to, but it's time for her to move on. With her qualifications she should be able to land a job without too much difficulty; the NHS is always short-handed, it's unlikely they'll turn down the chance to employ a fully trained doctor, and then she'll be doing what she's always wanted to, ever since she was a little girl.

Or maybe, just possibly, she'll take Jack up on his offer of employment. Cardiff is quite a distance from London, but not so far that she wouldn't be able to visit. She'd be among friends, and Torchwood is short one medic since the loss or Owen. It wouldn't be the same without him and Tosh there, but even so it's tempting; Jack and the others really could use the help. She'd have to double as a field agent, just the way Owen used to, but that's not the same as being a UNIT operative. For one thing, she wouldn't be expected to wear a uniform, or salute, or stand to attention. Torchwood is a far more relaxed, some might even say laid back, organisation.

She doesn't have to make up her mind right away though, she can take some time to catch her breath first, visit with her family, then report to UNIT for a final debrief and to hand in her resignation or whatever. After that she can decide which of her options appeals the most. As long as she gets to do what she spent years training for, she'll be happy. She's had her fill of running around the universe, and the earth for that matter. She's rather looking forward to being able to stay in one place for a while. It'll make a refreshing change.

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The End