FIC: Seeing the future
Title: Seeing the future
Author: dk323 (posted on FFN under silvermoon8705, but this is an edited version)
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Ten/Martha, Ten/Rose
Spoilers: Takes place in the midst of Season 2 (post-Fear Her before Army of Ghosts, but only Satan Pit is referenced)
Disclaimer: Don’t own Doctor Who, just playing with its characters.
Summary: The Doctor gets a glimpse into his future and a companion by the name of Martha Jones.
Author’s notes: This could have happened you know - the Doctor just couldn’t remember it. It wouldn’t do any good to know about the future before you’re supposed to. Comments are love. :-)
Rose hesitated a moment before gathering the courage to tell the Doctor about what she had seen.
“Doctor?”
He looked up from viewing the console monitor to look at Rose, “What is it, Rose?”
“I’ve been seeing odd things lately - of you and this woman - in different places on the TARDIS.”
The Doctor scratched his head, puzzled, “Are you sure? That’s not supposed to happen. Maybe you were dreaming?”
She looked firmly at him, placing her hand on top of his, “No, Doctor. I’m sure of what I saw. You looked the same as you look now and I think the woman was a future companion of yours…”
“What makes you say that?”
“I saw you with her - you both looked like ghosts - but you mentioned me. You said I was with my family. It sounded like I left you for good. I don’t understand, Doctor. What’ll happen in the future that’ll make me leave you?” She looked worriedly at him.
The Doctor didn’t know what to say.
“I suppose you wouldn’t know. It is in your future after all.” She said dismissively, trying to brush it off.
He gave her a pointed look, “Rose - I wish I knew why you’re seeing these things, but just don’t let it get to you. It may just be nothing.”
“Like the creature saying I was gonna die in battle?” She asked -- though after the worried look on the Doctor’s face, she regretted bringing it up.
He caught her eye and said firmly, “Yes, that’s it. Just have a rest, all right? Maybe that’s all you need - a good rest. Doctor’s orders.” He finished gently.
“Yeah, okay.” She said quietly, though she still looked uncertain.
“Come here,” He said, opening his arms.
Rose smiled at him and immediately took the invitation for a hug. The Doctor held her tightly, trying to be comforting.
“I see you with her. Just right there on the other side of the console.” Rose whispered in his ear.
The Doctor shushed her, “It’s nothing, Rose.”
“Doctor, I’m tellin’ you. I’m sure of what I’m seeing. Just look. Please - look.” She pleaded with him.
The Doctor looked and he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Rose was right.
The ghostly, transparent figures of him and a rather pretty dark-skinned woman were dancing in a close embrace on the other side of the console. The woman had her head on his chest and her eyes were closed. He saw his ghostly self smiling as they made their way around the console. They could hear no music. There was only silence.
“They speak sometimes. Just wait.” Rose told him.
The ghostly version of himself spoke first.
“Have I convinced you yet, Dr. Martha Jones?”
She raised her head to look at him, “A year, you say? Traveling with you? The first time around not good enough for you?” She finished teasingly.
“You deserved longer, Miss Jones. Much longer. A year without the Master mucking things up and causing you to leave. There’s so much more to see - so much I still wanted to show you. Will you give me another chance?”
“You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Smith. I accept.” She grinned at him.
“You - really? You mean it?” He asked in amazement.
“Yes, I could use a break and travel with you. It could be like a yearlong vacation for me with plenty of running, danger and excitement, I’m sure. After traveling with you, I don’t think traveling like normal people do can ever compare. But I must inform my family, UNIT and Jack about it - can’t have them worry.”
“Of course, we can’t have that.”
He twirled her around and then kissed her on the lips. Without notice, he picked her up and she wrapped her arms around his neck and he placed his arms around her waist.
“It’s going to be brilliant, trust me.”
“Of course it will be. Stuff of legend,” She said matter-of-factly.
The two began to laugh to where it echoed within the TARDIS. Rose shivered involuntarily.
Their laughter was the last thing Rose and the Doctor heard before the two ghostly figures disappeared.
~ * ~
“Rose! Wake up. The TARDIS has landed.” The Doctor told her.
Rose almost jumped at his voice.
“You look spooked. What’s wrong?” He asked, sitting down on the bed beside her.
She looked at him, “That was all a dream then? I told you about the ghosts I’ve been seeing, Doctor. And then you saw them for yourself - we heard them too and then they just disappeared…”
He gave her a reassuring look, “It was just a dream, Rose. You never told me about any ghosts. Don’t let it get to you.”
“That’s what you said before,” She muttered.
“What?”
Rose shook her head, “Nevermind. I guess it was just a dream. I barely remember what I saw anymore.”
He wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head, “That’s my girl. Now come to the console room when you’re ready, okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a sec.”
But just as the Doctor was about leave her room, she stopped him, “Doctor? Do you think that if I leave -- that you’ll be able to move on?”
“Rose, I have to move on. But you’ll never be forgotten. I care for all of my companions - that will never change.”
“You’ll have companions after me yeah? Is that it? Tell me, Doctor.” She pressed him, though she knew the answer before he even said it.
“Rose, I’ve had other companions before you. And I’ll have companions after you. That’s the truth of it.” He explained to her, not unkindly.
Rose sighed. She hadn’t expected any less from him. After all, she had met Sarah Jane Smith, a former companion of his. Reality check, Rose berated herself. But another part of her hoped that her time with the Doctor would continue on forever…
“You can go. I’ll be there soon.” She told him.
The Doctor gave her a small smile and left the room.
What he didn’t tell her was that her dream wasn’t a dream. The Doctor had, after all, wiped her memory of ever seeing the ghosts. But even so, Rose had held on to the memories too tightly for him to perform a complete wipe. It bothered him, but he was certain that in a few minutes or so, the memories would fade.
He couldn’t have her seeing things that she wasn’t meant to see.
And that extended to him as well.
Before the Doctor wiped his memory of learning about the ghosts and witnessing them - an unexpected glimpse into his future with a new companion - he said quietly, “I look forward to meeting you, Martha Jones.”
He almost jumped in shock as he saw the ghosts appear once again - his ghostly self shaking Martha’s hand as they held on tightly to the console. He was welcoming her aboard. They disappeared; Martha’s voice echoing eerily inside of the room.
“It’s my pleasure, Mr. Smith.”
He smiled at her words. Though he was concerned about what would cause Rose to leave him, the Doctor could not deny that he couldn’t wait to see what Martha Jones was like.
But for now, that was neither here nor there.
So he made himself forget.
~ * ~
The Doctor didn’t see Martha Jones again until he was a Mr. John Smith, a patient on her rounds.
Though it took him a while to tell her face to face that she was absolutely brilliant - the Doctor knew - oh he knew - from the moment he saw her cleverness during their meeting on the Moon.
Dr. Martha Jones was his Doctor. Though he told her before her first trip that she wouldn’t be replacing Rose; at the end of her journey - when she left on her own terms - he knew with a certainty that there was no replacing Martha Jones.