The Sum of his Parts Ch 3
Title: The Sum of His Parts by gruaig_rua
Rating: PG-13
Series: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Characters: The Tenth Doctor (both of them), Jack, Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, PC Andy, Mickey, Martha.
Spoilers: Set post Journey's End, pre Children of Earth.
Summary: The Other Doctor achieves the supposedly impossible and returns... But why?
Chapter Two
Chapter 3
There it was again... that thump, thump, thump noise. Slow and constant, familiar, but somehow not quite right. There was the occasional high pitched beep, like a lazy alarm clock, punctuating the rhythm, distracting him from his deep, pleasant, dreamless rest. As he regained consciousness, the Doctor became more aware of the digital beeping than the steady beat of his one heart and of the fact that this wasn't where he normally wasted 8 hours a night on something as time consuming as sleep. His eyes fluttered open and as he focussed, the Doctor looked around, slightly bewildered and at a loss as to what happened… And, more importantly, where he was.
“It’s okay.” A familiar voice said. “You’re safe.”
“Martha?” he asked, trying to hoist himself into a sitting position, while looking around the unfamiliar room.
“Hi.” she smiled, adjusting the bed for him.
He took her left hand with a bemused smile when he noticed Martha’s engagement ring. “I made it?” he asked as the vague memories of how he'd come to be there surfaced. "I made it!"
“Yes you did - just about.”
“Where am I?”
“Torchwood. You were rescued from Cardiff Bay.”
“Wales?” the Doctor screwed his eyes shut. “The Rift! How the hell could I have discounted the Rift?”
“Doctor, before we go any further, I need to ask if anyone came through with you? Should we be looking for someone else?”
“No, just me. It was too dangerous a risk.”
Martha nodded and activated her communicator. “Jack, it’s Martha. The Doctor’s awake and he tells me he’s the only one who came through from the other Torchwood so the water search at first light’s not necessary.” The Doctor watched on as Martha listened to Jack’s reply, a bright smile emerging. “I’ll tell him. See you soon.” she turned back to her patient. “Jack and Mickey are dying to talk to you. They checked in on you earlier, but you were still unconscious. Everyone but me is out at the moment. That’s the problem with Rift activity, one thing happens and it sets off a chain reaction.”
“I’m sorry. Sounds like I messed up everyone’s night.”
“Sometimes it’s a problem, most of the time, it’s not. We still like to give the hotspots a once over. They’ll check in soon enough and then you’ll have plenty of time to catch up.” she sat beside him on the bed. “How are you feeling?”
He was suspiciously eyeing the butterfly shunt on the back of his right hand. “Okay.”
“You had be put on a drip. You were dehydrated when you were picked up in the Bay… I’d rather not go into the kind of infection you could pick up there, so there was broad spectrum antibiotics in there too.” she removed it, quick and painless, covering the small puncture wound with a plaster. “There. No more needles… So, do you want to tell me what happened?”
“Are you here to interrogate me, Dr Martha Jones of UNIT and Torchwood?” the Doctor said with a hint of humour.
“Yes. Tell me all your secrets, or we won’t give you back your trousers and you’ll have to wear the backless dress as punishment!”
“It’s all academic anyway because the room is probably under surveillance.”
“I never knew you to be so paranoid! No, you’re getting the 5 star treatment, mister.” Martha poked him in the leg, knowing he was serious, but trying to make light of the accusation. “This is a private room for injured Torchwood staff. Everyone else gets strapped down and kept in the basement. No bugs, no cameras. Torchwood and UNIT can wait… All I care about is you. I’m not just here as your doctor, I’m here as your friend.”
“I suppose you’ve contacted the TARDIS.”
“Not yet.” Martha shook her head. “You were my priority, but now that you’re awake…” she took her mobile phone out and handed it to him. “You can ring him yourself.”
“Can we hold off on that for a while.” he gently pushed the phone back to her. “I’m still feeling a little…” he searched for the appropriate word. “discombobulated.” Martha smiled. It was such a Doctor word to use! “I thought I’d come through in Torchwood London, or at the very least Bad Wolf Bay. I never factored in the Cardiff Rift. I certainly didn’t factor in coming through several feet underwater! My human impetuousness winning out over my no longer infinite Time Lord patience!”
Martha noted he seemed annoyed with himself, as if he was unused to getting things so wrong. To break the uncomfortable silence, she checked the Doctor’s pulse and blood pressure. “I’m pleased to find that your vitals are relatively normal for a human Time Lord.”
“That’s good to know, but in the meantime, Dr Martha Jones, what do you say about letting your patient get a shower and a change of clothes? Because, in all honesty, aside from being a bit hungry, I feel fine.”
Martha checked her watch. It was coming up on 4 in the morning. “Because there’s only 5 of us and being a top secret organisation an’ all,” rolling her eyes, she grinned at him. “it’s not like we have a staffed canteen, but I’ll see what I can rustle up.” She pointed to a door at the other side of the room. “That’s the bathroom and there’s a supply of fresh clothes in the press beside you. I daresay you’ll find something to suit you… don’t touch Gwen’s stuff, though. She gets cranky!” Martha was somewhat surprised that her attempt at humour fell flat with him. He simply nodded and disappeared into the bathroom. “Right then,” she sighed quietly to herself. “I’ll sort out the food.” Closing the door behind her, Martha tapped her ear piece to activate it. “Just to let you know, the Doctor’s fine. He’s getting cleaned up at the moment.”
Jack responded first. “How is he?”
“Apprehensive, borderline non-communicative compared to what he’s normally like.”
“Guys,” Mickey interrupted, “We have to remember that he’s not himself. He’s not the Doctor Doctor, even though everyone’s expecting him to be. Give him a chance to adjust, bearing in mind he’s probably been gone longer than we think.”
Ianto offered his opinion. “I’m inclined to defer to the superior knowledge of my colleague with actual parallel universe experience.”
“Thank you, Ianto.” Mickey acknowledged him.
“Okay guys,” Martha said. “I’ll take it slow and easy with him. Hurry back!”
In the meantime, the Doctor was standing under a stream of warm water, hoping it would clear the leaden feeling in his head. There was certainly no way that it would undo the tension knot in his stomach. He just hoped he could keep his nerve and see his plan through to the end.
Chapter 4.