DISCLAIMER: All rights to Doctor Who belong to the BBC, yada, yada, yada.

SUMMARY: The Doctor wants to give something back to Martha so he tries to live one day as a normal person so that they can spend the day together but also with her family. Things backfire on them when they bump into one of Martha's ex's, he cheated on her and now he's boasting about how wonderful their relationship is so, to make him jealous, Martha tells him that she too is in a fabulous relationship. He invites her to go to dinner with him and his girlfriend and she panics as she doesn't really have a boyfriend. She begs the Doctor to play the part and he agrees but can the Doctor really pretend to be a normal guy, and more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that she has told him that the Doctor is her fiancé?

A/N: This story is set about three months after 'Last of the Time Lords'. The Doctor is missing Martha and wants to give something back to her, as a late thank you. I know that the Doctor isn't 'normal' per se but I thought this would show him in a different way, show his human side.

TITLE: The Fake Date – Chapter 1

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It was a delightfully dull Wednesday morning and Martha was on the telephone whilst cleaning her kitchen. "Tish, don't be ridiculous." Martha scolded her older sister, wiping the kitchen counters and balancing the phone between her ear and her shoulder.

"I'm not, I'm being deadly serious; mum and dad are getting closer everyday and now that Annalise is out of the picture…"

"Stop right there, mum and dad aren't gonna get back together. I know how much you want them to but Tish…"

"No, just hear me out." Martha fell silent on the other end of the line and Tish continued. "Ever since…" It was still a painful memory and none of them really spoke about it, they tried to forget it ever happened.

"The year that never was?" Martha added helpfully, a hint of sadness lingered in her voice; that had been the last time she had seen the Doctor. He hadn't called her so she hadn't called him, she had nothing to say to him; well she did but she wasn't going to call him to say she missed him. That would be wrong of her; there were people out there that needed him a lot more than she did.

"Yeah, well since that mum and dad have gotten closer. She invited him round for dinner the other day, she tried to invite you but you were at work." Tish's voice was also laced with sadness, she still never saw her sister anymore; when she wasn't working she was sleeping because of the stress of work.

"I know, I'm so sorry but I got roped into working the late shift too." There was silence on the other end of the phone and Martha wasn't sure whether she had hung up or not. "Tish, you still there?"

"Yeah, sorry I was just…thinking." She sounded distant and that scared her, Tish was always the responsible one, the grounded one, the one that held everything together. Martha had always looked up to her; she was her older sister and Martha adored her, she'd never let her know that though.

"Bad habit that…thinking." Tish laughed on the other end of the phone and Martha smiled. "Listen I have all day and all night off on Saturday, maybe we could do something then; you know, me, you, mum, dad and Leo?"

"Yeah, sounds great; I'll call them and ask 'em what they think. Anyway I'd better let you go, you have work tonight don't you?"

"Yeah, I swear that hospital is taking over my life. Don't worry though; I'm all yours on Saturday."

"Cool, well I'll call you tomorrow then, sort everything out. Have fun at work, I know you always do." The sarcasm in her voice was evident and Martha smiled, glad to have her sister back.

It had taken Tish even longer than everyone else to recover from the traumatic events that had happened those few months ago. None of them had fully gotten over it but they were all trying to move on, they had each other and that was all they needed; all she thought they needed. Martha on the other hand knew that there was something missing, the Doctor. "Yeah, you know I do." She flashed a sad smile at the picture which proudly hung over the fireplace; she'd see him again someday.

"Well, see you soon and Martha…be careful."

She smiled a wide, genuine smile; ever the protective, older sister. "I will be, you too. Tell mum and dad I can't wait to see them." They exchanged their goodbyes then Martha hung up and went into her bedroom to get ready for yet another shift at the 'Royal Hope Hospital'.

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It was on the Friday night that Martha gave a sigh of relief as she walked out of the double doors having finished another tiring shift. "Good evening Miss Jones." She whirled around and was greeted by a manic grin and a set of warm, chocolate eyes.

"Wha…" He winked at her as she stood staring at him in shock. When she finally did find her voice, it came out as a whisper. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice greeting, if you like I can leave." He teased and she put a hand on his arm to stop him from going anywhere.

"No, I didn't mean it like that. It's great to see you; I was just wondering what brought you to the delightful 'Royal Hope' at this time of the night."

"Oh, well I was passing by and thought I might as well pop in." She smiled up at him then wrapped her arms around his waist in a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her shoulder and rested his chin on top of her head as they shared a long hug.

They stood in silence, holding on to each other until Martha finally broke the silence. "I've missed you so much." He pulled back to look at her and told her that he had missed her too. "So…" She trailed off, not knowing what to say to him. It suddenly occurred to her that he was on his own. "No companion with you?" He shook his head and finally let go of her shoulders completely. She released his waist and stepped back.

"Nope, just me; there hasn't really been anyone else since you left that has stayed. There was a girl called Donna but she only came with me on a few trips, wanted to go back home." He grinned at her again, his eyes sparkling as they stood under the streetlights outside the hospital. "Anyway, can I walk you home Doctor Jones?"

She looked surprised but quickly smiled at him and nodded. "If you're sure, I mean aren't you going to need to leave the TARDIS someplace safe; safe being wherever you are?" She looked at him, confusion in her eyes.

"Yes I should, which is why I left her in your garden…under a nice tree. So, can I walk you home?" He smiled and held his arm out to her.

"Yes Mr Smith, yes you can." She linked her arm in his as they set off towards her apartment.

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Fifteen minutes later they arrived at her front door. She reached into her bag, desperately trying to find her keys amongst the rubbish which took up most of the space inside. When she eventually found them, she let them both in and put the keys in a glass bowl on an end table at the side of the sofa. He looked around the living room as she hung both their coats up on a peg near the door, she had had her apartment fixed up, having had it destroyed in 'the year that never was'. It was relatively tidy compared to the last time he had been there and he smiled as he saw a pair of bright orange 'Converse All Stars' near one the armchairs; glad to see that he had had some positive influence on her. She walked in and smiled at him, "Yeah I have a pair of black ones too but they're in my bedroom."

"Finally you have seen the joys of sensible shoes." He looked down at his own 'All Stars', he was wearing the red ones that he had worn on the day he had met her.

"Yes I have and the orange ones are my favourites, they have pink and yellow flowers on the side. She smiled at him and he nodded in approval. "Sit down, make yourself at home. Do you want a drink?"

"Yeah, please." She wandered off into the kitchen as he sat down on the end of the sofa, his attention drawn to the picture which hung above the fireplace. It was of him and Martha sat inside the TARDIS, she was sitting in the 'captain's seat' and he was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of her; his hair stuck up in mad spikes because of her constant pleas to let her style it for him. Jack had taken it for them before leaving and before she had left, he had given her a framed copy. He had an identical one in his bedroom in the TARDIS, a constant reminder of the fact that they were both still alive, they'd overcome everything and they'd done it together.

"Tea?" She broke him out of his thoughts as she popped her head around the door. He looked up at her and nodded.

"Oh you know me so well." She laughed and went back into the kitchen, taking two cups out of the cupboard and putting a teabag in each. She put one sugar in her cup and the Doctor's usual four in the other then added some milk as she waited for the kettle to finish boiling. When she had added the water, disposed of the tea bags and stirred the liquid in each cup, she picked them up and carried them into the living room. She handed one to him and he thanked her whilst she sat down next to him. "Martha Jones you're a star."

"I know." She smirked at him and he laughed, oh how he had missed her. "So how long is your visit going to last?"

"Well I came for a reason, I wasn't really popping by." She looked up at him, her eyes full of questions. "I was sitting in the TARDIS the other day and I realised that I didn't thank you properly before you left so I thought that maybe I could give you a late thank you now."

"What are you talking about, you did thank me?" She looked at him quizzically and he raised an eyebrow.

"I know I said 'thank you' but I want to thank you properly for all the times you have saved me or made me smile or just been there so I've been thinking and I've decided that, if you'll let me, I'm gonna take you for a nice day out and I'm gonna act like a normal human being." She looked at him, her mouth open in shock and her eyebrows raised. "Yes that's right I am going to act like a normal, domestic human for one day and you can choose where we go." He said it in his best 'game show' voice to add effect and she laughed at his exceedingly bad accent. His voice returned to normal and he grinned at her. "What d'you think?"

"Doctor that's very sweet but I promised Tish that I'd spend my day off with her, mum, dad and Leo. I haven't seen them in a while and…" She tried to explain, feeling guilty at having to brush off his plans but she had made a promise to Tish and she was going to keep it.

He cut her off and smiled gently at her. "Martha its fine, really it is. It was just an idea."

"I just feel so guilty." She looked down at the floor and he took her hands in his.

"Martha look at me." She continued to look at the floor as he traced patterns on the backs of her hands with his thumbs. "Martha." This time he was a little bit more forceful and she looked up at him. "Don't feel guilty for wanting to spend time with your family; we can do the whole 'day out thing' some other time, just don't get worried over it." She smiled a small smile at him as an idea popped into her head.

"Doctor, wait here ok, don't move." She looked at him intently and he nodded. He released her hands and she stood up and walked into the kitchen. She picked up the telephone and dialled Tish's number.

"Hello?" Tish's voice rang out and Martha wondered how any normal human being could be so chirpy on a Friday night.

"Tish it's me, I was just ringing you about tomorrow."

She heard Tish sigh and noticed that her once chirpy voice now had a hint of annoyance. "You want to cancel don't you?"

"No of course not, I was just wondering if I could bring someone else along."

"Umm, yeah I don't see why not; who do you wanna bring?" Martha sucked in a breath before answering.

"Don't be mad at me, ok? Promise me you won't be mad."

"Ok, I promise." The annoyance had changed to curiosity and Martha braced herself for Tish's reaction.

"Right, umm, well I was wondering if the Doctor could come with us."

"The Doctor? The Doctor as in…your Doctor?"

"Yeah, the Doctor that…yeah." She trailed off; knowing that it would be wrong of her to say 'the Doctor that saved the world', he had indeed helped to save the world but Martha had too and she knew that Tish was trying to forget. She closed here eyes, waiting for the argument to start but it never came.

"Sure, he can come but I'll have to call mum, warn her in advance and you'd better not be late; we're all meeting at mum's at ten o'clock so you'd better be there and wear something sensible because we're going for a picnic."

"Thank you so much Tish, I owe you big time." The relief in Martha's voice was evident but Tish had to smile, her little sister sounded so happy and she knew that Martha had missed the Doctor so she really didn't mind him coming.

"Forget about it, see you in the morning."

"See you in the morning." There was a long pause but just as Tish was about to hang up, Martha stopped her. "Hey Tish…?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks again, I love you."

"Love you too sis'…anyway I'll see you in the morning, you soppy sod."

"See you tomorrow Tish." She put the phone back in its cradle and walked back into the living room, a smile on her face. "You said anything I want, did you mean that?"

He looked up at her and smiled, "Course I did."

"Right in that case, I want you to come with me and my family for a picnic tomorrow." The look on his face really was priceless, never in her entire life had she ever seen anyone look quite so terrified before. "Please, that way I can spend time with both of you."

He looked at her and she put on her best pout. "Martha, I don't think it's such a good idea." She looked hurt but tried to hide it by plastering a fake smile on her face, her eyes betrayed her though and he saw through her façade.

"Right, of course not, it was a stupid idea; I don't know what I was thinking so just forget I said anything."

He sighed and stood up then pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly to him. "I'll come, you win Miss Jones." He whispered in her ear then pulled back to look at her.

"You don't have to; I don't wanna force you to come." There was a hint of hope in her voice but she tried to hide it, wanting him to come because he wanted to be there, not because he felt like he had to.

"I wanna come; I want to build bridges with your parents. Well I don't wanna build actual bridges because that would be far too time consuming but…"

She cut him off and hugged him tightly, her arms wrapped around his waist. "Thank you so much."

"Its nothing, you play a big part in my life Martha, I really want to be able to get along with your parents and tomorrow sounds like a good start."

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A/N: Well here's the start of another Doctor Who fic, what did y'all think?

Please review…see the little review button, press it…you know you want too. Thanks for reading and I'll post chapter 2 as soon as.