This scene was originally from a fic I stopped writing called 'Gallifrey's last', and would have taken place during series two, however, much as I now hate that fic, I always liked the idea of Martha and Rose talking, so I tweaked it to stand alone.
This takes place in series 4, after Martha has been travelling with the Doctor and Donna, and has been home for a while.
Disclaimer: If I owned Doctor Who, River Song would indeed be married, to Davros.
It was a Saturday; a beautiful, gorgeous, sunny Saturday. And Martha was going to spend all of it in bed – she'd been working all week, thank you very much.
She rolled over, wrapping the duvet tighter around herself, hoping that it would keep the sounds on the street away from her ears for a few more hours – then maybe she'd get up for lunch.
Her doorbell though, seemed to have different ideas.
'Bloody hell.' She moaned, as the buzzer rang out for the fifth time – they obviously just really wanted her to come to the door. 'Alright!' she yelled, as whoever was outside just held down the button in an unending shriek, 'I'm coming, I'm coming!' Martha quickly grabbed an old hoodie and zipped it up over her pyjamas, running down the stairs and wrenching the door open to find a skinny man in a brown suit grinning innocently at her.
'Nice weather today, isn't it Martha?' the Doctor chirped, and Martha was sorely tempted to shut the door in his face, she opted to hug him instead, and then glare.
'Doctor!' she said, now trying to force a grin, 'What a nice surprise?' He beamed at her now, his hands stuck in his pockets, and Martha stuck her head out of the door to see if he was alone. 'Where's Donna?' she asked, and the Doctor took in a deep breath, rubbing a hand against the back of his head.
'Well she went to visit her mum and granddad,' he said, sounding slightly awkward. Martha raised an eyebrow.
'Why haven't you gone with her?' she asked, why are you on my doorstep? GOD, I wanted to sleep today… The Doctor looked a little shamefaced.
'Her mum doesn't like me…' he mumbled, and Martha had to stifle a laugh.
'Well my mum doesn't much like you either,' she pointed out, and the Doctor looked nervous suddenly,
'Your mother's not here is she?' he asked quickly, and Martha shook her head, trying to hold back another giggle.
'No, she's not,' she said, and the relief that passed through the Doctor's face was almost tangible.
'Oh good,' he said brightly, and promptly stepped into her hall, waltzed into her kitchen and started rummaging through her breadbin. She shut the door with a sigh, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and watching him start to concoct the most ridiculous sandwich out of whatever he could grab in her fridge. He sat down and started happily munching on it, reaching for a paper and reading the headlines. Martha took a deep breath and counted to ten, he probably doesn't think he's being rude – and he had no way of knowing that you needed to sleep today, just leave him with the paper and go back to bed for a while. She opened her mouth to voice this thought, however, just as he finished his sandwich, and he looked up at her, his eyes bright.
'So you up for a day out then?' he asked, smiling eagerly, 'It's been a while since I've done London – can we go see sights and things?' Martha was about to tell him exactly how 'up' she was for a day out, but then she just looked at him, and the annoyance pretty much just drained out of her. He just didn't know what to do with himself did he? He really does need company to survive doesn't he? She thought, suddenly guilty as she looked at his endlessly hopeful face.
'Sure I am,' she said, smiling wearily, 'I needed to do some shopping anyway – just let me get dressed.' The Doctor nodded happily, leaning back on the chair and trying to balance a tomato on his nose. Martha smiled and slowly padded back upstairs.
-x-x-x-
'So where's the TARDIS?' Martha asked as she locked and front door, and she and the Doctor started the short walk to the nearest tube station.
'At Donna's,' he said simply, 'she brought back things for her Grandad you see, so it was easier if I just left the TARDIS in the garden there.' Martha nodded slowly.
'So you don't need the TARDIS today?' she asked, making the doubt bitingly obvious.
'Nope,' the Doctor said happily as they rounded the corner and descended into the station.
'So you're not solving mysteries and chasing down aliens today?' she asked, swiping her oyster card to open the barrier, the Doctor following suit with the psychic paper.
'Not a thing,' he said, 'Am I not just allowed to visit you Martha? Not even just popping around for a cup of tea?' He pulled an overly hurt face. Martha had to smile.
'Excuse me for being cautious,' she said, and he looked shocked.
'Cautious?' he asked incredulously, 'Miss Martha Jones.'
'Yes?' she asked, an eyebrow raised.
'You've been away from me too long,' he said wistfully, before grabbing her by the hand and pulling her into a packed train that slowly pulled into the platform.
-x-x-x-
And once again Martha found herself running around after the Doctor's coattails, and she had to admit, she really had missed it – but her opinion might have been somewhat effected by the fact that they were running after buses, not Daleks.
'I fancy lunch!' the Doctor proclaimed loudly, after dragging her off the tube at a random stop again – his new favourite game. 'How are you for lunch Martha?' he asked, looking over his shoulder at her, 'I quite fancy chips!' He then charged off again, bolting up a long escalator that was reaching up to an open gap in the ceiling – the summer sun shining down to the platforms below. Martha started slowly jogging after him; there wasn't much at this station, so he couldn't run off too far.
She came to the top of the escalator and stepped out into the square it opened on to – concrete slabs surrounded by neatly trimmed trees, and filled with people in suits on their lunch breaks.
'Canary Wharf,' Martha said disbelievingly, I thought he wanted to have fun… she sighed, and looked around for that brown coat amongst all the black jackets, but couldn't find it. Did he manage to find a food van or what? She wondered, but then shrugged – he'd catch up with her in a second; she might as well do something productive seeing as they'd ended up at this particular spot.
Glancing at the tall buildings to quickly check where the tube came out exactly, Martha turned left and walked purposefully off to her right, weaving in and out of the business men and women who were sitting on benches and crunching numbers with each other. It only took a minute before she reached it, a tall marble and steel block, the bankers all sitting a respectful distance from it – the Torchwood memorial.
She walked around the side, she'd been here before after all, and it only took her a moment to find the name she was looking for;
Adeola Oshodi
'Hi Addi,' she said awkwardly, reaching up and touching the carved letters; all that really served for her cousin's grave - Addi's lot hadn't had the money to get a grave when they didn't even have a body to bury.
'Should have brought flowers.' she said awkwardly to the words, looking down at the floor, and putting her hands together self consciously, I haven't come in ages…
'I'm sure she wouldn't mind,' came a quiet voice from next to her, and Martha looked up, expecting the reassurance to come from the Doctor, but instead saw another girl stood next to her - blonde, and a little shorter than she was.
'Um,' Martha said, a little startled, and the other woman smiled apologetically.
'Sorry,' she apologised, 'I shouldn't have said anything – bad habit.' She ran a hand over the back of her head as she said it – a movement that instantly made Martha think of the Doctor – and then shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket – a purple leather zip-up on top of a dark pink top – before turning to look at the memorial herself, an odd expression on her face.
'No it's alright,' Martha said quickly, 'you just made me jump – I didn't see you there.' The girl smiled, and Martha smiled back, before turning back to her cousin's name. 'I'll bring flowers next time Addi,' she promised decisively, and the other woman grinned brightly.
'That's more like it,' she said, before mirroring what Martha had done a moment ago and reaching up to run her fingers along a couple of names. Martha stopped herself from reading them – she didn't want to look nosy.
'Family of yours?' she asked, feeling nosy anyway, and the woman sighed, not sounding sad, just tired.
'Oh no,' she said, 'me and mine are tower survivors.' Martha nodded; there were a load of them working at UNIT – they had help-groups and things. 'I just wanted to, see it you know? I've not been back since.' Martha blinked.
'That's a while,' she said, surprised,
'A very long while,' the blonde woman agreed quietly, but her words sounded heavy, heavier than a survivor's, 'I couldn't get back.' Martha was going to ask what she meant when her phone started buzzing loudly, making them both jump.
'Sorry,' she muttered, glaring at the caller ID and flipping the mobile open, the Doctor's voice chattering in her ear suddenly and asking where she was. She turned away from the memorial and the blonde, scanning the crowd for his coat again. 'Where are you exactly?' she asked, and then saw his head pop around the opposite end of the memorial.
'There you are!' he said, 'I found chips!' He dumped a soggy newspaper full of fries into her hands, who serves fries in newspaper? Martha grimaced at the greasy mess before turning to apologise to her new friend, however the blonde woman was gone. Martha frowned, I only turned for a second, less than a second even, before turning back to the Doctor to find his grin gone, and his brown eyes set on the marble, serious now, and maybe a little sad.
'Why are you over here?' he asked, the loss of his good mood even more evident in his voice, and Martha suddenly felt guilty again, of course this is where he…
'My cousin,' she said quickly, pointing at Adeola's name, 'I hadn't been in a while.'
'Oh,' he said, but he didn't look at where she was, his eyes wandering around before settling on a space high on her right. He walked around her, coming to a stop exactly where the other girl had been a moment before. 'Ok,' he finished absently, before reaching out a hand to a couple of names, just like the blonde had, however his fingers stopped short, like he couldn't actually touch it.
This time Martha did lean over to read it;
Jacqueline Tyler
Rose Tyler
She read the names and then looked at his face, planning on saying something, but then; he looks so sad… she couldn't find the words.
'I'm sorry,' she mumbled, and he blinked, shaking his head.
'What?' he said, sounding a bit dazed, before grinning at her again, 'You done?' he asked, and Martha nodded, confused. 'Good!' the Doctor said brightly, 'We'll finish our chips on the train.' Without any warning he grabbed her hand again, and dragged her away from the memorial, spreading the business-lunchers apart like a mad brown snow-plough. Instead of running back into the tube though, he led her up some stairs and onto the DLR, instantly running to grab a seat at the front of the carriage, Martha following clumsily – trying not to trip over people's feet. She sat down next to him heavily, and dutifully started eating her chips.
'Where are we going now?' she asked, but only half interested, thinking about the blonde girl's sudden appearance and disappearance, was she looking at the same names as him? I could have sworn she was…
'Oh Martha did I teach you nothing?' the Doctor said dramatically, pulling a forlorn expression, 'doesn't matter where you're going – how you get there is half the fun!' She raised an eyebrow at him but he didn't stop. 'And this is the Docklands Light Railway!' he said excitedly, 'There's no driver! We can sit here at the front and pretend we're driving!' Martha laughed at him, but he just grinned. But then he turned to look out of the front again, and she could see the strain around the smile. Should I ask him if he's alright…? No, that's not right, maybe I…
'I think I saw a ghost,' she said quietly, and his head snapped around.
'What?' he said, his eyes serious, dark. I shouldn't have.
'Nothing,' she said quickly, 'Just a little sad you know?' The Doctor's expression softened, and he leaned back in his seat, shutting his eyes.
'Yeah, I know,' he said evenly, 'a little sad.'
Just want to ask, as i'm honestly interested, how am I at writing Martha? This interests me because I absolutely HATE Martha with a passion, and I was wondering if it came across ^^"
So yeah, this was a scene from Gallifrey's last, and I felt it deserved to actually get written, I think the finished article is o.k.
I watched Army of Ghosts in order to remember Adeola's full name - and to check the spelling - and then I watched Doomsday as I figured it might not destroy me emotionally now that time has passed and the situ resolved by Mr Davies. It did destroy me emotionally - I was sobbing, lol, really just sobbing D:
Anywho, hope someone likes.
Hope someone else reviews XP
Strictly xx