30 Days with Martha Jones: Smell
Who_Daily Link: < a href="http://persiflage-1.livejournal.com/187835.html">30 Days with Martha Jones: Smell by < lj user=persiflage_1> (Characters: Martha Jones, Evelyn Smythe| Rating: G | Spoilers: None)
Title: 30 Days with Martha Jones: Smell
Author: Persiflage_1
Characters/Pairings: Martha Jones, Evelyn Smythe
Rating: G
Spoilers: None
Summary: 30 Days in the life of Martha Jones
Disclaimer: I occasionally wish that I did own it!
Author Notes: I signed up to do mini_nanowrimo this year, and snagged 30 random prompts from doctorwho_100 which will form the basis of the 30 fics I write. Each fic will feature Martha and at least one other Whoniverse character, and the prompt will be included in the title of the fic.
Index Post
~~~~~~
As Martha prepared to make her third Project Indigo test in as many days she was feeling a little preoccupied knowing that Jack was meeting a potential doctor for his team today. She'd met Dr Palmer a few weeks ago while he'd been visiting UNIT HQ from America; he'd been stationed there for a couple of years after joining UNIT once he'd graduated from Cambridge, and he'd seemed like a nice guy. When he'd mentioned that he was looking to return to the UK once his current contract in America was up, but not necessarily to continue working for UNIT, Martha had discreetly mentioned Torchwood, and he'd jumped at the suggestion. If Jack took him on it would be a weight from her shoulders since she worried constantly about him and his team whenever she was in London rather than in Wales.
She and Jack had talked about Dr Palmer over lunch on Sunday, which he'd cooked for her after they'd taken the Doctor back to the TARDIS, and the Captain had agreed to meet him at least. Jack urgently wanted to find someone to take on as their doctor: he'd noticed the concern in Martha's voice whenever he spoke to her while she was in London, and he knew that she worried over his team not having someone permanently available to provide them with medical care if they needed it.
Martha shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts, then nodded at the technician before she closed her eyes and pulled on the straps to transport herself. She felt herself whirled away from UNIT HQ and then she staggered as she landed heavily somewhere.
"Oh my goodness," said a female voice nearby, and Martha opened her eyes to find she was being regarded over a pair of spectacles by a grey haired woman who was wearing a sensible cardigan and had a lapful of knitting wool. Martha took in the shelves of books behind the woman, and the smell of baking and polish, and swallowed before speaking.
"Sorry, I think my concentration must have been off."
"You don't say," answered the woman wryly.
"I'm very sorry about this. Could I ask where I am?"
"Cambridge," answered the woman.
"Oh." Martha felt very embarrassed; this was what she got for allowing herself to be distracted before she made a jump.
"Where exactly did you spring, or rather fall, from?" asked the woman.
"London. Um, I know this will probably sound mad, but I've just teleported myself from there." She wondered whether she would need to get this woman to sign the Official Secrets Act.
"When you've travelled through Time and Space in an old blue police box, someone transporting themselves via a teleport doesn't sound so mad."
Martha stared. "You must know the Doctor," she said.
The woman smiled at her. "Dr Evelyn Smythe," she said, offering Martha a hand.
"Dr Martha Jones," she answered.
"Would you like a cup of tea, and some chocolate cake perhaps?" asked Evelyn.
Martha laughed. "I'd love some, thank you Dr Smythe."
"Evelyn, please. Take a seat and make yourself comfortable. I'll be back shortly." She put the mass of wool onto the side table by her chair, then bustled across the room and through a door in the corner.
Martha slipped off the Indigo device and set it by another chair, then wandered over to look at the well-stocked bookshelves to see if she could figure out which subject Evelyn taught. She found a good number of history books, although there were some poetry ones and a few novels too, and Martha couldn't help smiling a little at the sight of a volume of Shakespeare's collected works. She had recently told Jack about her encounter with the Bard during one of their conversations about their time travel experiences, and he'd taken to quoting bits of the 'Dark Lady' sonnets at her as a result.
She couldn't help thinking sometimes that Jack behaved more like a lover than a friend towards her, despite the fact that their relationship was fairly platonic (she didn't think that it was possible to have a purely platonic relationship with the Captain). Not that she minded him reciting poetry to her, or anything else that he might choose to do with her; she'd begun to wonder about her relationship with Tom which, between his work and hers, seemed to consist of brief, long distance phone calls, and slightly more frequent emails that were somehow more professional than personal.
Evelyn came back and Martha promptly moved to take the tea tray from her.
"If you could put it down there," the older woman said, pointing to a coffee table.
"This is very kind of you," Martha said, "considering I just appeared out of thin air."
Evelyn smiled at her as she picked up the teapot. "The chance to talk to another of the Doctor's travelling companions is a considerable lure," she answered. "I only know one other person who's still around who knew him."
"Oh. Which incarnation of the Doctor do you know?"
"I travelled with the sixth, although I also met the seventh once. What about you?"
"I travelled with the tenth, but I've met the second, third and eleventh as well." Martha accepted the cup and saucer that Evelyn offered her, and watched as she cut a generous slice of chocolate cake. "That smells delicious," she observed as she accepted the plate as well.
"Thank you my dear. I must admit, I'm very partial to chocolate, and the Doctor used to be very fond of my chocolate cake."
Martha took a bite of her slice and her eyes widened as she chewed. "I can understand why," she responded once she'd swallowed. "It's very good."
They talked as they ate and drank their tea, exchanging stories of their travels. Evelyn was upset when Martha inadvertently let slip that the Doctor was now the last of the Time Lords, and talked for some time of President Romana and some of the other Time Lords whom she had met during a trip with the Doctor. And Martha tried not to feel jealous when the older woman revealed that she'd visited Gallifrey; her biggest regret concerning the effects of the Time War was that she could never see the Doctor's home planet for herself, not that she'd mentioned it to the Time Lord, but she and Jack had discussed it once.
Evelyn was just trying to talk Martha into having a second slice of cake when there was a knock on her door.
"Ah, that will be my friend Liz, the other person I mentioned who also knows the Doctor." She handed Martha the plate, then got up to answer the door.
"Should I go?" Martha asked.
"Please don't," Evelyn said. "I'm sure Liz won't mind another time traveller to talk with."
Martha couldn't help feeling that being distracted while teleporting had its advantages after all, if it meant getting to talk to two of the Doctor's former companions, and enjoying delicious chocolate cake too. In fact, this was the most interesting Project Indigo jump she'd made so far.
To be continued tomorrow…
Title: 30 Days with Martha Jones: Smell
Author: Persiflage_1
Characters/Pairings: Martha Jones, Evelyn Smythe
Rating: G
Spoilers: None
Summary: 30 Days in the life of Martha Jones
Disclaimer: I occasionally wish that I did own it!
Author Notes: I signed up to do mini_nanowrimo this year, and snagged 30 random prompts from doctorwho_100 which will form the basis of the 30 fics I write. Each fic will feature Martha and at least one other Whoniverse character, and the prompt will be included in the title of the fic.
Index Post
~~~~~~
As Martha prepared to make her third Project Indigo test in as many days she was feeling a little preoccupied knowing that Jack was meeting a potential doctor for his team today. She'd met Dr Palmer a few weeks ago while he'd been visiting UNIT HQ from America; he'd been stationed there for a couple of years after joining UNIT once he'd graduated from Cambridge, and he'd seemed like a nice guy. When he'd mentioned that he was looking to return to the UK once his current contract in America was up, but not necessarily to continue working for UNIT, Martha had discreetly mentioned Torchwood, and he'd jumped at the suggestion. If Jack took him on it would be a weight from her shoulders since she worried constantly about him and his team whenever she was in London rather than in Wales.
She and Jack had talked about Dr Palmer over lunch on Sunday, which he'd cooked for her after they'd taken the Doctor back to the TARDIS, and the Captain had agreed to meet him at least. Jack urgently wanted to find someone to take on as their doctor: he'd noticed the concern in Martha's voice whenever he spoke to her while she was in London, and he knew that she worried over his team not having someone permanently available to provide them with medical care if they needed it.
Martha shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts, then nodded at the technician before she closed her eyes and pulled on the straps to transport herself. She felt herself whirled away from UNIT HQ and then she staggered as she landed heavily somewhere.
"Oh my goodness," said a female voice nearby, and Martha opened her eyes to find she was being regarded over a pair of spectacles by a grey haired woman who was wearing a sensible cardigan and had a lapful of knitting wool. Martha took in the shelves of books behind the woman, and the smell of baking and polish, and swallowed before speaking.
"Sorry, I think my concentration must have been off."
"You don't say," answered the woman wryly.
"I'm very sorry about this. Could I ask where I am?"
"Cambridge," answered the woman.
"Oh." Martha felt very embarrassed; this was what she got for allowing herself to be distracted before she made a jump.
"Where exactly did you spring, or rather fall, from?" asked the woman.
"London. Um, I know this will probably sound mad, but I've just teleported myself from there." She wondered whether she would need to get this woman to sign the Official Secrets Act.
"When you've travelled through Time and Space in an old blue police box, someone transporting themselves via a teleport doesn't sound so mad."
Martha stared. "You must know the Doctor," she said.
The woman smiled at her. "Dr Evelyn Smythe," she said, offering Martha a hand.
"Dr Martha Jones," she answered.
"Would you like a cup of tea, and some chocolate cake perhaps?" asked Evelyn.
Martha laughed. "I'd love some, thank you Dr Smythe."
"Evelyn, please. Take a seat and make yourself comfortable. I'll be back shortly." She put the mass of wool onto the side table by her chair, then bustled across the room and through a door in the corner.
Martha slipped off the Indigo device and set it by another chair, then wandered over to look at the well-stocked bookshelves to see if she could figure out which subject Evelyn taught. She found a good number of history books, although there were some poetry ones and a few novels too, and Martha couldn't help smiling a little at the sight of a volume of Shakespeare's collected works. She had recently told Jack about her encounter with the Bard during one of their conversations about their time travel experiences, and he'd taken to quoting bits of the 'Dark Lady' sonnets at her as a result.
She couldn't help thinking sometimes that Jack behaved more like a lover than a friend towards her, despite the fact that their relationship was fairly platonic (she didn't think that it was possible to have a purely platonic relationship with the Captain). Not that she minded him reciting poetry to her, or anything else that he might choose to do with her; she'd begun to wonder about her relationship with Tom which, between his work and hers, seemed to consist of brief, long distance phone calls, and slightly more frequent emails that were somehow more professional than personal.
Evelyn came back and Martha promptly moved to take the tea tray from her.
"If you could put it down there," the older woman said, pointing to a coffee table.
"This is very kind of you," Martha said, "considering I just appeared out of thin air."
Evelyn smiled at her as she picked up the teapot. "The chance to talk to another of the Doctor's travelling companions is a considerable lure," she answered. "I only know one other person who's still around who knew him."
"Oh. Which incarnation of the Doctor do you know?"
"I travelled with the sixth, although I also met the seventh once. What about you?"
"I travelled with the tenth, but I've met the second, third and eleventh as well." Martha accepted the cup and saucer that Evelyn offered her, and watched as she cut a generous slice of chocolate cake. "That smells delicious," she observed as she accepted the plate as well.
"Thank you my dear. I must admit, I'm very partial to chocolate, and the Doctor used to be very fond of my chocolate cake."
Martha took a bite of her slice and her eyes widened as she chewed. "I can understand why," she responded once she'd swallowed. "It's very good."
They talked as they ate and drank their tea, exchanging stories of their travels. Evelyn was upset when Martha inadvertently let slip that the Doctor was now the last of the Time Lords, and talked for some time of President Romana and some of the other Time Lords whom she had met during a trip with the Doctor. And Martha tried not to feel jealous when the older woman revealed that she'd visited Gallifrey; her biggest regret concerning the effects of the Time War was that she could never see the Doctor's home planet for herself, not that she'd mentioned it to the Time Lord, but she and Jack had discussed it once.
Evelyn was just trying to talk Martha into having a second slice of cake when there was a knock on her door.
"Ah, that will be my friend Liz, the other person I mentioned who also knows the Doctor." She handed Martha the plate, then got up to answer the door.
"Should I go?" Martha asked.
"Please don't," Evelyn said. "I'm sure Liz won't mind another time traveller to talk with."
Martha couldn't help feeling that being distracted while teleporting had its advantages after all, if it meant getting to talk to two of the Doctor's former companions, and enjoying delicious chocolate cake too. In fact, this was the most interesting Project Indigo jump she'd made so far.
To be continued tomorrow…