Fic: Failing to Fetch Me
Title: Failing to Fetch Me
Author: On Teaspoon: Timeweaver, on lj: spellweaver731 - My Fan Fiction Master List
Beta: None
Rating: All
Characters/Pairing: Rose, The Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones, Rose/Ten
Genre: Reunion, Romance, Fluff
Spoilers: Series Three up to 'Blink'
Summary: She had worked so hard to get back to him and he was finally there, right in front of her. But would he still want her along?
Written for the Then There's Us ficathon inspired by this prompt posted by the_idiotgirl: Failing to fetch me at first, keep encouraged. Missing me one place, search another. I stop somewhere waiting for you.
Author's Note: Rose/Ten Reunion fic with Martha - Set after the end of Blink (with the four things and a lizard, not the stuck in the past part). Not at all the story I intended to write. *shrugs* What can you do? I wanted it to just be a short Doctor/Rose reunion fic with Martha there almost solely to make Rose feel insecure, but once I got going I realized that it was mid-series three Martha that would actually be having the real difficulties in this scenario. I have a bit of a sequel in plot bunny mode if there is any interest. I think it would be fun to take this delightfully awkward trio and get them stuck in 1969 and living in a flat together. This felt a bit unfinished so it would make me feel better. We'll have to see.
Disclaimer: The Doctor, Rose, The TARDIS and all other Doctor Who characters, settings and artifacts belong to the BBC or so I am told.
***
She watched as his eyes swept the crowd with a cool efficiency she remembered so well, his body relaxed yet attentive. He lingered on a petite blonde woman, then a thin teenaged boy with blond hair to his shoulders. Was it her imagination? Her heart thudded painful in her chest at the sight of him after so long. There he was before her, all pinstripes and perfection. Had he always been so thin and pale? How could she have forgotten these little details when thoughts of him had so consumed her some days? She wondered why on Earth he was carrying a bow. Hopefully it was a story he would be eager to tell her. She imagined it had something to do with what brought her to this area, all those feathered lizards running amok. All she had to do was go up and ask.
When she'd spotted him her body had tensed on instinct. She'd been ready to spring, wanting so badly to run to him. She'd wanted to throw her arms around him and never let go again. The feeling had been so strong her arms had ached with the wanting, but something had held her back to observe for a moment instead. Perhaps she had at last learned some form of caution; if not for her life then for her heart. How could she know if she was really what he wanted? She had no idea how much time had passed for him. Three years for her may well have been centuries to him. The best years of her life, moments she'd lived over and over in yearning filled daydreams, could be no more than distant memories in his mind, all but forgotten. Yet again she watched him searching the crowd. Looking for his current companion perhaps? Rose tried to picture her. She'd be blonde obviously, the way his eyes alighted on every fair-haired head told that tale. No doubt pretty and no doubt clever, more than a match for him. Would she be intruding? Would he even still want her along?
She'd gambled everything on this one chance, this vague hope that if she made it to the right universe she could see him again. She'd jumped, leaped before bothering to look with nothing but the clothes on her back and a pocket full of gold bars, a parting gift from her almost-father. Her wild hopes had paid off at last. She'd been back in her proper universe for months searching endlessly for him. She'd had two near misses already. She'd seen the TARDIS outside a missing hospital on the news, but was unable to get close until it was too late and the beloved blue box was gone. The very next day she'd arrived at a posh party in time to see a crowd of confused people muttering about monsters and explosions. She'd not known for certain if he'd been there that time, but 'monsters and explosions' spelled the Doctor in her book.
Her own eyes searched the crowded park. Everywhere she looked there were people milling about, spreading blankets and laughing with friends, waiting for a concert that was due to start any moment. Rose felt a warm rush of resolve surge through her. No time like the present. Still she made a wide circle towards him. His gravity kept her in orbit, not allowing her to fall to where she wanted to be. At his back she worked closer, her breath hitching and her heart stuttering. She should just tap him on the shoulder and ask if he wanted to get chips. There was a great chippy near by. She couldn't though as the traitorous thought had come back again; he'd failed to fetch her. All that power and all that knowledge and she was the one who had found the way. Didn't that imply he had not wanted to find her? That he had not tried?
She reached out a trembling hand.
“Doctor!”
His head turned towards the sound of his name. A very attractive woman was coming towards them, a quiver-empty of arrows-slung over her slim shoulders. Not blonde then. She held a drink in each hand. It was good to know he was still a cheap date. He smiled at her as he took one, taking a sip, his eyes now fixed on her.
Rose paused in indecision, but his name just rose up in her throat until she had no choice but to let it out.
“Doctor.” Rose's voice came out all wrong, raspy and hesitant. The word fell from her tongue more like a question then a statement. He heard her anyway, even over the noisy crowd. His head turned, his body following a second behind like an errant puppy on a leash. Their eyes met. His were impossibly wide and just as lovely as she remembered. His mouth was hanging open just a bit causing all her worries to disappear in a blink. The astonishment and the longing in his expression was so clear.
“Impossible,” he said on a whisper equal to hers. “How...how...Rose.”
The woman gasped as both her and the Doctor's drinks suddenly fell to the ground. Just as suddenly she found herself in his arms with no memory of how she'd gotten there, of who had moved first. It did not matter in the least.
He spun her around, her legs kicking up and swinging wildly. She heard a delighted squeal and realized with some embarrassment that it had come from her own throat.
“Rose, Rose, Rose!” the Doctor chanted, rocking their bodies together.
She slid back to her own feet, down the length of his body. His hands framed her face, thumbs stroking over her cheeks.
“Rose, how? How did you do this? I tried everything. All of time and space at my fingertips and there was nothing I could do.” His voice was laced with equal parts of disbelief and joy, wonder and admiration.
“A bit of technology fell out of our rift...I think I might have done it when I was the Bad Wolf, Doctor. The second I saw it I knew it was the way back to you,” she told him. He nodded eagerly, happily, waiting for more. “It was an inter-dimensional cannon and it had this weird alien writin' on it, when you looked at it from a certain angle some of the symbols looked like English...it said 'bad wolf' if you looked hard enough.”
He laughed. As always she felt her own laughter bubbling up in response to his. It was involuntary; she smiled when he did and his laughter was contagious to her.
His hand slid down her shoulder and along her arm. He didn't stop until his hand was woven through hers. They both let out a sigh of pure, sweet relief at the distantly familiar feeling. Tension left Rose's body that she hadn't realized she'd been carrying. His palm against hers was bliss. She felt that she could happily spend forever like this, eyes and hands locked.
A throat cleared. A feminine throat.
The Doctor's smile grew even wider. “I've got someone for you to meet,” he said in a voice she knew well. It was the tone he took whenever he wanted to share something marvelous with her.
“Rose Tyler, meet Martha Jones!”
Rose turned and smiled at the bemused woman. Luckily it was her right hand that was free. She reached out to greet her.
“Martha Jones...Rose Tyler!” he said with the same enthusiasm. The woman's face looked a bit pained.
Rose remembered the disaster that had been her first meeting with Sarah-Jane. She kept smiling reassuringly, determined not to repeat her past mistakes. At last the Doctor's friend accepted her handshake.
“Pleased to meet you,” Rose said warmly, surprised with herself to find that she really meant it. She had not wanted him to be alone and it was so clear that he was happy to see her that there was really no need for her to feel jealous. She had to assume though that this woman had never heard of her and that learning of the Doctor's previous companions would be jarring for her.
Best to get it out there gently, she thought. “I used to travel with the Doctor,” Rose told her as their hands dropped back to their sides.
Martha just nodded.
The Doctor's free hand moved to stroke along her back, tracing circular patterns he had once admitted were the symbols of his now dead language. It was all so achingly familiar, causing warm tingles to shoot all through her body.
“Where's the TARDIS? Can I see her?” Rose asked him.
“Yes, yes, of course. Anything you want,” he answered, beaming at her.
“But what about the concert, Doctor?” Martha asked.
“Oh, we can catch free music in a park any day, we were only here by chance,” the Doctor said dismissively, pulling Rose off towards the park entrance.
Rose winced at the crestfallen look on the woman's face. He could be so oblivious sometimes. “No, I wouldn't want to interrupt what you were doing,” she told him, realizing too late her mistake.
“Nonsense. We should go somewhere more exciting. Like...Oh! The pink beaches of Calroon or off to Katria Nova. They have whirlpools of gold! I know how much you love hot springs, remember Japan? The Kinosaki Onsen? Or I know-Barcelona!”
The warm joy and excitement in his voice made it impossible not to turn and smile back at him.
“The planet, not the city? Rose asked.
He nodded enthusiastically. “Dogs with no noses,” he said, laughing joyfully. He was practically giggling. “And fruity drinks with those little umbrellas. I love those, they're so frivolous,” he said, inching closer and closer to her until they were touching, hips to ankles. With another beaming smile he ran off, pulling her along again by their joined hands.
“Come on Martha! TARDIS to catch,” he called.
Rose looked back apologetically to see Martha following reluctantly. She resolved to try harder, she couldn't let herself be so caught up in the Doctor that she continued to forget about the poor woman.
They rounded a corner and there she was. Home. Rose reached for the chain around her neck, lifting her key out. She placed her hand against the warm wood and glanced at the Doctor.
“May I?” she asked, proffering her key.
“You don't ever have to ask Rose. You're always welcome.”
Rose opened the door and stepped inside. The Doctor ushered her up the ramp, too excited to let her have a quiet moment to take it all in. It looked the same, just like she'd dreamed about and longed for all those cold years alone.
“Martha, shut the door, would you?” the Doctor called down to her. Rose saw that she was hanging just in the entrance-way, looking hurt and confused.
“She coming with us then?” Martha asked.
“Of course she's coming with us!” the Doctor answered. He whipped around to look at Rose, his eyes big and vulnerable. “You are, aren't you?”
“Well, yeah. If you want me to,” Rose answered, remembering with sharp clarity standing in the not-snow of a long ago Christmas.
“Oh yes. Yes, I want you to come.”
“Okay!” Rose said on a giggle, feeling happier and lighter than she had in such a long time. Her earlier worries seemed so ludicrous now. How could she have doubted him?
She watched as he flipped the temporal anchor to the 'off' position, his hand giving a little flourish that brought back a whole new rush of memories. Adventure and excitement always followed these familiar motions.
“Rose can you get the internal dampeners set and reverse the spacial sequencer?” he asked her.
“I'm on it,” she said and then laughed when she saw what he had done. “Think I should maybe throw the handbrake while I'm at it?” Rose asked with a laugh. The Doctor blushed and looked down. He actually blushed. She could hear the unpleasant grinding noise that meant he had forgotten that step.
“Yeah...perhaps that would be a good idea,” he said sheepishly.
Rose just laughed and pulled the lever up until it locked.
“You know how to pilot the ship?” Martha asked incredulously.
“No, no not really, just a few of the basic steps,” Rose rushed to reassure her. She couldn't have been traveling with the Doctor long if he had not even shown her how to throw the handbreak.
“Are we really going to Barcelona Doctor?” Rose asked, thinking of the other times he'd said he'd take her. They'd never managed to make it. It had become something of a running joke.
“Oh, yes. Beaches and sunsets and fried dough balls on a stick. You just wait Rose Tyler, you're gonna love it. And Martha, you like beaches, don't you?”
“Yeah. Great,” Martha said with bright cheer and a smile that even Rose could see was fake.
The Doctor continued to pilot in blissful obliviousness. Rose sighed. This was going to take some work. She didn't want to push the other woman away; everyone deserved this chance if the Doctor offered it.
She smiled at Martha. “We should go shopping, yeah? I could use some girl time,” Rose said. The Doctor beamed at her like she'd just invented bananas. Martha nodded. She'd just have to keep trying. She was sure they could make this work. She'd have to talk to the Doctor on his own later and try to get him to go easy on Martha's feelings. But for now they were landing and the Doctor was taking her hand again-he only let it go when he'd needed both hands to keep the ship stable. There would be time to build a friendship with Martha. Right now she would just enjoy being in Barcelona and basking in the Doctor's presence at last.
“Allons-y.”
The End (for now)
Author: On Teaspoon: Timeweaver, on lj: spellweaver731 - My Fan Fiction Master List
Beta: None
Rating: All
Characters/Pairing: Rose, The Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones, Rose/Ten
Genre: Reunion, Romance, Fluff
Spoilers: Series Three up to 'Blink'
Summary: She had worked so hard to get back to him and he was finally there, right in front of her. But would he still want her along?
Written for the Then There's Us ficathon inspired by this prompt posted by the_idiotgirl: Failing to fetch me at first, keep encouraged. Missing me one place, search another. I stop somewhere waiting for you.
Author's Note: Rose/Ten Reunion fic with Martha - Set after the end of Blink (with the four things and a lizard, not the stuck in the past part). Not at all the story I intended to write. *shrugs* What can you do? I wanted it to just be a short Doctor/Rose reunion fic with Martha there almost solely to make Rose feel insecure, but once I got going I realized that it was mid-series three Martha that would actually be having the real difficulties in this scenario. I have a bit of a sequel in plot bunny mode if there is any interest. I think it would be fun to take this delightfully awkward trio and get them stuck in 1969 and living in a flat together. This felt a bit unfinished so it would make me feel better. We'll have to see.
Disclaimer: The Doctor, Rose, The TARDIS and all other Doctor Who characters, settings and artifacts belong to the BBC or so I am told.
***
She watched as his eyes swept the crowd with a cool efficiency she remembered so well, his body relaxed yet attentive. He lingered on a petite blonde woman, then a thin teenaged boy with blond hair to his shoulders. Was it her imagination? Her heart thudded painful in her chest at the sight of him after so long. There he was before her, all pinstripes and perfection. Had he always been so thin and pale? How could she have forgotten these little details when thoughts of him had so consumed her some days? She wondered why on Earth he was carrying a bow. Hopefully it was a story he would be eager to tell her. She imagined it had something to do with what brought her to this area, all those feathered lizards running amok. All she had to do was go up and ask.
When she'd spotted him her body had tensed on instinct. She'd been ready to spring, wanting so badly to run to him. She'd wanted to throw her arms around him and never let go again. The feeling had been so strong her arms had ached with the wanting, but something had held her back to observe for a moment instead. Perhaps she had at last learned some form of caution; if not for her life then for her heart. How could she know if she was really what he wanted? She had no idea how much time had passed for him. Three years for her may well have been centuries to him. The best years of her life, moments she'd lived over and over in yearning filled daydreams, could be no more than distant memories in his mind, all but forgotten. Yet again she watched him searching the crowd. Looking for his current companion perhaps? Rose tried to picture her. She'd be blonde obviously, the way his eyes alighted on every fair-haired head told that tale. No doubt pretty and no doubt clever, more than a match for him. Would she be intruding? Would he even still want her along?
She'd gambled everything on this one chance, this vague hope that if she made it to the right universe she could see him again. She'd jumped, leaped before bothering to look with nothing but the clothes on her back and a pocket full of gold bars, a parting gift from her almost-father. Her wild hopes had paid off at last. She'd been back in her proper universe for months searching endlessly for him. She'd had two near misses already. She'd seen the TARDIS outside a missing hospital on the news, but was unable to get close until it was too late and the beloved blue box was gone. The very next day she'd arrived at a posh party in time to see a crowd of confused people muttering about monsters and explosions. She'd not known for certain if he'd been there that time, but 'monsters and explosions' spelled the Doctor in her book.
Her own eyes searched the crowded park. Everywhere she looked there were people milling about, spreading blankets and laughing with friends, waiting for a concert that was due to start any moment. Rose felt a warm rush of resolve surge through her. No time like the present. Still she made a wide circle towards him. His gravity kept her in orbit, not allowing her to fall to where she wanted to be. At his back she worked closer, her breath hitching and her heart stuttering. She should just tap him on the shoulder and ask if he wanted to get chips. There was a great chippy near by. She couldn't though as the traitorous thought had come back again; he'd failed to fetch her. All that power and all that knowledge and she was the one who had found the way. Didn't that imply he had not wanted to find her? That he had not tried?
She reached out a trembling hand.
“Doctor!”
His head turned towards the sound of his name. A very attractive woman was coming towards them, a quiver-empty of arrows-slung over her slim shoulders. Not blonde then. She held a drink in each hand. It was good to know he was still a cheap date. He smiled at her as he took one, taking a sip, his eyes now fixed on her.
Rose paused in indecision, but his name just rose up in her throat until she had no choice but to let it out.
“Doctor.” Rose's voice came out all wrong, raspy and hesitant. The word fell from her tongue more like a question then a statement. He heard her anyway, even over the noisy crowd. His head turned, his body following a second behind like an errant puppy on a leash. Their eyes met. His were impossibly wide and just as lovely as she remembered. His mouth was hanging open just a bit causing all her worries to disappear in a blink. The astonishment and the longing in his expression was so clear.
“Impossible,” he said on a whisper equal to hers. “How...how...Rose.”
The woman gasped as both her and the Doctor's drinks suddenly fell to the ground. Just as suddenly she found herself in his arms with no memory of how she'd gotten there, of who had moved first. It did not matter in the least.
He spun her around, her legs kicking up and swinging wildly. She heard a delighted squeal and realized with some embarrassment that it had come from her own throat.
“Rose, Rose, Rose!” the Doctor chanted, rocking their bodies together.
She slid back to her own feet, down the length of his body. His hands framed her face, thumbs stroking over her cheeks.
“Rose, how? How did you do this? I tried everything. All of time and space at my fingertips and there was nothing I could do.” His voice was laced with equal parts of disbelief and joy, wonder and admiration.
“A bit of technology fell out of our rift...I think I might have done it when I was the Bad Wolf, Doctor. The second I saw it I knew it was the way back to you,” she told him. He nodded eagerly, happily, waiting for more. “It was an inter-dimensional cannon and it had this weird alien writin' on it, when you looked at it from a certain angle some of the symbols looked like English...it said 'bad wolf' if you looked hard enough.”
He laughed. As always she felt her own laughter bubbling up in response to his. It was involuntary; she smiled when he did and his laughter was contagious to her.
His hand slid down her shoulder and along her arm. He didn't stop until his hand was woven through hers. They both let out a sigh of pure, sweet relief at the distantly familiar feeling. Tension left Rose's body that she hadn't realized she'd been carrying. His palm against hers was bliss. She felt that she could happily spend forever like this, eyes and hands locked.
A throat cleared. A feminine throat.
The Doctor's smile grew even wider. “I've got someone for you to meet,” he said in a voice she knew well. It was the tone he took whenever he wanted to share something marvelous with her.
“Rose Tyler, meet Martha Jones!”
Rose turned and smiled at the bemused woman. Luckily it was her right hand that was free. She reached out to greet her.
“Martha Jones...Rose Tyler!” he said with the same enthusiasm. The woman's face looked a bit pained.
Rose remembered the disaster that had been her first meeting with Sarah-Jane. She kept smiling reassuringly, determined not to repeat her past mistakes. At last the Doctor's friend accepted her handshake.
“Pleased to meet you,” Rose said warmly, surprised with herself to find that she really meant it. She had not wanted him to be alone and it was so clear that he was happy to see her that there was really no need for her to feel jealous. She had to assume though that this woman had never heard of her and that learning of the Doctor's previous companions would be jarring for her.
Best to get it out there gently, she thought. “I used to travel with the Doctor,” Rose told her as their hands dropped back to their sides.
Martha just nodded.
The Doctor's free hand moved to stroke along her back, tracing circular patterns he had once admitted were the symbols of his now dead language. It was all so achingly familiar, causing warm tingles to shoot all through her body.
“Where's the TARDIS? Can I see her?” Rose asked him.
“Yes, yes, of course. Anything you want,” he answered, beaming at her.
“But what about the concert, Doctor?” Martha asked.
“Oh, we can catch free music in a park any day, we were only here by chance,” the Doctor said dismissively, pulling Rose off towards the park entrance.
Rose winced at the crestfallen look on the woman's face. He could be so oblivious sometimes. “No, I wouldn't want to interrupt what you were doing,” she told him, realizing too late her mistake.
“Nonsense. We should go somewhere more exciting. Like...Oh! The pink beaches of Calroon or off to Katria Nova. They have whirlpools of gold! I know how much you love hot springs, remember Japan? The Kinosaki Onsen? Or I know-Barcelona!”
The warm joy and excitement in his voice made it impossible not to turn and smile back at him.
“The planet, not the city? Rose asked.
He nodded enthusiastically. “Dogs with no noses,” he said, laughing joyfully. He was practically giggling. “And fruity drinks with those little umbrellas. I love those, they're so frivolous,” he said, inching closer and closer to her until they were touching, hips to ankles. With another beaming smile he ran off, pulling her along again by their joined hands.
“Come on Martha! TARDIS to catch,” he called.
Rose looked back apologetically to see Martha following reluctantly. She resolved to try harder, she couldn't let herself be so caught up in the Doctor that she continued to forget about the poor woman.
They rounded a corner and there she was. Home. Rose reached for the chain around her neck, lifting her key out. She placed her hand against the warm wood and glanced at the Doctor.
“May I?” she asked, proffering her key.
“You don't ever have to ask Rose. You're always welcome.”
Rose opened the door and stepped inside. The Doctor ushered her up the ramp, too excited to let her have a quiet moment to take it all in. It looked the same, just like she'd dreamed about and longed for all those cold years alone.
“Martha, shut the door, would you?” the Doctor called down to her. Rose saw that she was hanging just in the entrance-way, looking hurt and confused.
“She coming with us then?” Martha asked.
“Of course she's coming with us!” the Doctor answered. He whipped around to look at Rose, his eyes big and vulnerable. “You are, aren't you?”
“Well, yeah. If you want me to,” Rose answered, remembering with sharp clarity standing in the not-snow of a long ago Christmas.
“Oh yes. Yes, I want you to come.”
“Okay!” Rose said on a giggle, feeling happier and lighter than she had in such a long time. Her earlier worries seemed so ludicrous now. How could she have doubted him?
She watched as he flipped the temporal anchor to the 'off' position, his hand giving a little flourish that brought back a whole new rush of memories. Adventure and excitement always followed these familiar motions.
“Rose can you get the internal dampeners set and reverse the spacial sequencer?” he asked her.
“I'm on it,” she said and then laughed when she saw what he had done. “Think I should maybe throw the handbrake while I'm at it?” Rose asked with a laugh. The Doctor blushed and looked down. He actually blushed. She could hear the unpleasant grinding noise that meant he had forgotten that step.
“Yeah...perhaps that would be a good idea,” he said sheepishly.
Rose just laughed and pulled the lever up until it locked.
“You know how to pilot the ship?” Martha asked incredulously.
“No, no not really, just a few of the basic steps,” Rose rushed to reassure her. She couldn't have been traveling with the Doctor long if he had not even shown her how to throw the handbreak.
“Are we really going to Barcelona Doctor?” Rose asked, thinking of the other times he'd said he'd take her. They'd never managed to make it. It had become something of a running joke.
“Oh, yes. Beaches and sunsets and fried dough balls on a stick. You just wait Rose Tyler, you're gonna love it. And Martha, you like beaches, don't you?”
“Yeah. Great,” Martha said with bright cheer and a smile that even Rose could see was fake.
The Doctor continued to pilot in blissful obliviousness. Rose sighed. This was going to take some work. She didn't want to push the other woman away; everyone deserved this chance if the Doctor offered it.
She smiled at Martha. “We should go shopping, yeah? I could use some girl time,” Rose said. The Doctor beamed at her like she'd just invented bananas. Martha nodded. She'd just have to keep trying. She was sure they could make this work. She'd have to talk to the Doctor on his own later and try to get him to go easy on Martha's feelings. But for now they were landing and the Doctor was taking her hand again-he only let it go when he'd needed both hands to keep the ship stable. There would be time to build a friendship with Martha. Right now she would just enjoy being in Barcelona and basking in the Doctor's presence at last.
“Allons-y.”
The End (for now)