Not With a Bang, But With a Whimper
Title: Not With a Bang, But With a Whimper
Author: radiantbaby
Characters/Pairings: Ten, Martha/Dr. John, with allusions to Ten/Martha [Note: Dr. John was a David Tennant character in the “Reproduction” episode of “Love in the 21st Century”]
Word Count: 9016 [in Word]
Genre: Angst, AU, Adventure, with a bit of Romance
Rating: R, for a brief mention of sexual situations
Spoilers: Post-S3 Doctor Who, Post-S2 Torchwood
Summary: Martha and John are recruited to help UNIT with a suspicious bombing nearby, but when they get there, they have more than medical injuries and a potential alien threat to deal with - the Doctor is there. How will they all react to one another? Crossover of Doctor Who and “Love in the 21st Century”
Beta: The uber-wonderful persiflage_1!
Disclaimer: All your Doctor Who are belong to us Sadly, I own nothing related to Doctor Who et al, nor do I own anything related to “Love in the 21st Century” - I am just playing around in their sandbox for a bit of fun.
Previous stories in this series: Three Words, Doctors, Staring off a Cliff, Martha Jones, Storyteller, and Trusting You.
Author Notes: In Part Six of our series, our intrepid heroes finally cross paths with Ten - Martha’s first time seeing him since the events of “Last of the Timelords” and John’s first time meeting Ten at all. Most important to mention is that in this universe Ten is still traveling alone since Martha left (he’s not yet crossed paths with Donna, sadly enough), so he’s in a bit of a dark place emotionally -- more negative, less ebullient and verbose, etc. I skipped doing a rehash of the affair with the Sontarans as I couldn’t figure out how to fit John into that scenario, so this is totally AU. I cast John as being somewhat overprotective of Martha in this and a bit antagonistic with Ten. It just made sense in my head as I’m sure John doesn’t have the best notions of him at this point, especially as he’s only been getting half of the story (which, honestly, has been mostly negative). Martha is also still somewhat angsty over her relationship with Ten, so that comes into play as well. Oh, and I hope the “time stamps” aren’t too confusing - a few bits of the story are out of linear sequence, so I added them to help with that. And finally, I have a sad lack of medical knowledge, so apologies in advance if I totally fail on the medical stuff. Gah, I do go on - sorry.
Anyway, as always, thanks so much as always to the magnificent persiflage_1 who beta’d this piece! Any other mistakes are all mine. Feedback is happy-making, so please leave a word or two [even if I am a bit slack in responding, your comments always make my day].
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[Fic banner by angelfireeast]
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Martha moved above him, eyes closed, and her mouth hanging open slightly as little moans and gasps passed her lips. John simply lay there watching her, his hands on her hips, thinking of how beautiful she was and how lucky he was. It had been many months that they had been together, but there would still be moments like this when he was filled with an aching awe of having her mixed with an almost paralyzing fear of losing her.
Don’t mess this up, please god don’t let me ever do anything to mess this up, he chanted in his head, again and again, with each thrust, with each kiss -
Martha held his heart in the palm of her hand, something that no one ever had done in his life before, something he’d always sworn he would never let happen. For a moment - a flicker of time - he worried about losing himself to his feelings completely, dragged deep by an undertow.
He was afraid of the sheer power Martha held over him and he found himself wanting to run and hide from it all, but then she opened her eyes. She had a wide smile now on her lips and a look of deep love and affection brightening her eyes, causing a strong sense of wellbeing to sweep through him, just as his own climax washed over his body, and he knew, for once in his life, he was safe.
----
6:06 PM
John opened his eyes, a sudden pain seizing his limbs, unsure of how long he’d been unconscious. It was dark and the air felt thick with dust as he tried to take in a breath. As his thoughts caught up with his consciousness, he also noticed a weight on top of him.
It was a body, he quickly realized, but it was not Martha, as he’d just been thinking of (remembering their intimate moment shared that very morning), but someone else -
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I think so,” John replied with a groan. “You are crushing me a bit though, mate.”
“Ah, well that’s the thanks I get for saving you from a pile of falling metal and concrete.”
“Yeah, well I still don’t know if I’m actually alright. It’s a bit dark and, again, you are starting to crush me.”
“Hang on, I’ll get some light.”
There was a bit of shifting above him before a bright light suddenly shone in his face. John blinked his eyes as they adjusted to the light and then he saw the Doctor, above him, holding up a lantern. John had no idea where it had come from, but considering their dire circumstances, he didn’t question it.
The Doctor then shifted off him, shining the light around them in an attempt to evaluate their situation. John sat up beside him, looking around as well. From what he could tell they were now in a small enclosed space, roughly about 15 feet across x 10 feet high, surrounded by metal and other debris from the section of the building collapsing on itself.
John also quickly noticed the man he’d been attending to before the collapse, lying just a few feet from them, unconscious. He shifted to try and stand, but as he did, he wailed in pain. The Doctor looked up at him in surprise.
“My ankle,” he said through gritted teeth, “Looks like I sprained my ankle.”
John moved up to his knees and crawled toward the unconscious man - Jacob, he’d said his name was - to check on his condition. “Stay still, you’ll only hurt yourself more,” the Doctor reprimanded, hanging the lantern on a nearby metal rod and using his strange blue metal device against one of the walls of debris.
“I’m a doctor and that means that I both know my limits and, more importantly, I need to try and help him,” John snapped at him, stopping next to Jacob.
“Hmmph, of course,” the Doctor replied in an annoyed tone. He frowned and then resumed what he was doing.
John pulled Jacob’s head into his lap. “Jacob, can you hear me? Jacob?” he asked, checking him over with his tools from his med kit, many of which still lay scattered by his side.
From what he could see, Jacob’s legs had been crushed by several large pieces of metal from the building’s crumbling infrastructure, with one piece in particular jutting outward from his stomach. When they had found him before the most recent collapse, he seemed to just be suffering from mild dyspnea, but now his condition was much, much worse.
John looked down at the pool of blood gathering around his body. “I’m so sorry, Jacob,” he whispered, stroking the unconscious man’s hair as he tried to hold back stinging tears. Losing people in his care never ceased to affect him intensely, even if they were strangers.
“You did all you could,” the Doctor said softly, watching him, his expression now more sympathetic. “Now, help me with this. Please.”
“I can’t leave him,” he countered, “He’s about to die, I won’t let him die alone.”
“Everyone dies alone, John.”
“Well, not everyone has to,” John replied angrily, his tone softening to hum a sweet melody as he continued to stroke Jacob’s hair.
“You are as stubborn as she is. It’s no wonder you two get along so well.”
“Well, isn’t that a surprise, you noticed Martha can be stubborn?” John said sarcastically, “And here I was thinking you only saw right through her.”
----
5:02 PM
Martha stood on her tiptoes, pressing her lips against John’s. “Hello,” she whispered sweetly, stroking the side of his face.
John sighed as he pulled her against him in a tight hug. He had yet to ever tire of seeing her night after night when he would pick her up from work. His own work could be stressful and even a bit overwhelming at times, but when he saw Martha strolling toward him in the car park at the UNIT base, a wide smile lighting up her face as soon as their eyes met, everything would brighten up.
They were about to get into the car when they heard a loud explosion. Martha lost her balance as the ground shook slightly and fell against John. He wrapped his arms protectively around her and they looked up to see smoke in the distance.
As sudden as the thunderous noise, alarms began to sound and many officers began exiting the building, running in formation toward their jeeps. Brigadier Chaudhry came out of the building a moment later, heading toward Martha and John quickly, a walkie-talkie in her hand.
“Brigadier,” John said, saluting her once she was in front of them. It was more the casual, unpracticed salute of a civilian, but it was always appreciated by Chaudhry. She nodded in greeting to him.
After John had found out about his involvement during the year the Master was in power, he’d struck a new bond with the Brig, becoming a friend to her. It had admittedly been somewhat challenging for her at first - just being around him sometimes made her slip from her more professional, stoic demeanor into a sad remembrance of his death.
More often, though, John’s soothing presence helped with healing the wounds of that terrible time she remembered spending with him - the him that would never exist -- and helped her mourn the colleague she’d lost. Even if he could never remember all of the horrific events of that year himself, the doctor - the healer - in him wanted to do everything he could to help her.
“Dr. Jones, there’s been an emergency at the Hoppard-Greene office building just a few miles from here. We need medical assistance immediately,” Brigadier Chaudhry said.
Martha looked over at John, but before she could say anything, he spoke. “Is there anything I can do? I have my medical bag in the car,” John offered.
Brigadier Chaudhry smiled at him. “I hoped you’d offer, John. Yes, your assistance is both greatly needed and appreciated. We can take one of the jeeps,” she gestured across the car park, “and I can brief you on the way.”
John moved from his embrace with Martha and reached into his back seat to pull out his medical bag. The three of them began walking quickly toward the jeep when the Brigadier stopped them suddenly. “I don’t know if this matters, but I should mention this before we are on our way. I only just found out this information myself,” she said, seemingly uncomfortable all of a sudden, “and, as not only your boss, but your friend, I just wanted you to know before we got there. No surprises and all that.”
“Yes?” Martha asked, confused at her boss’ sudden shift in behaviour.
“The Doctor is there.”
---
5:10 PM
John held tightly onto Martha’s hand as they sat in the back of the jeep with the Brigadier and another UNIT officer driving. The brief was that a building - the Hoppard-Greene office building -- had been bombed and that UNIT had been monitoring suspicious alien activity there over the last two weeks and thought the incident was linked.
“Thankfully, the building is very new and there is only one company on record - a small law firm -- in the office at the moment. We estimate that only about twenty people were affected by the explosion,” the Brigadier continued.
“Were they involved in the alien activity?” Martha asked.
“From what we can tell, it looks like they were not involved at all. The reports were from some of the offices a few floors above them and usually during the night when they were not there. It looks like they had no idea anyone else was even in the building and, officially, there wasn’t supposed to be anyone else there.”
“And the Doctor?” Martha asked, her voice somewhat hoarse with the question.
John squeezed her hand tighter, knowing that she truly needed his support in that moment. While Martha seemed to be healed from much of her emotional trauma from her travels with the Doctor, he knew that there was a part of her that was terrified of crossing paths with him again, afraid of ripping open old wounds she wanted to stay sealed.
“He came to UNIT’s attention a few days ago from what I’ve been told. We have been monitoring him and he seems to be investigating the alien activity as well. He was not approached until moments ago, just after the bombing,” the Brigadier responded. “From my own brief, the first time the building came to our attention was when one of our satellites intercepted a strange signal in space originating from the building. We think that the Doctor might have also intercepted the signal and that is why he is there.”
A voice came over the walkie-talkie that the Brigadier held. “Hold on,” she said to Martha and John and then began a conversation with a UNIT officer already at the scene.
Martha looked at John and he could see the fear welling in her eyes. He wanted to hold her and calm her, but the emergency around them made that seem inappropriate. Instead he whispered, “It will be alright, I’ll be with you.”
He meant more than just dealing with the wounded civilians, of course, he also meant dealing with the Doctor.
“I never thought seeing him again would be like this. I don’t think I’m ready,” she whispered back.
“Martha Jones, you are the strongest and bravest woman that I know and I’ll be damned if I let some alien time traveler break down your spirit again. We’re going to get in there, do our jobs, and if we see him, then we will treat him as professionals and go from there. Don’t let him get under your skin, my darling, don’t give him your power,” he urged.
John could tell his tone was almost harsh, his anger over the Doctor seeping into his words despite himself, so he tried to soften the edges with a quick sweet kiss on Martha’s cheek. He could feel her trembling slightly and more than anything he felt that when he finally saw the Doctor, he was going to have to restrain his own rage with every fiber of his being.
Don’t let him get under your skin, don’t give him your power, he repeated to himself in his head, the words just as much for him as they were for Martha.
---
5:22 PM
When they arrived in the Hoppard-Greene office building’s car park, emergency vehicles, UNIT vehicles, and the fire brigade were all on the scene. John gave Martha’s hand one final squeeze before the four of them jumped from the jeep and started to make their way to the building.
A UNIT officer approached them quickly and after a few words exchanged between him and the Brigadier, he brandished a security badge for John to wear for clearance. The Brigadier and their driver soon rushed off, pointing to where he and Martha needed to go. John was putting on his badge when he turned to look at Martha.
“There we go, all official,” he announced. Martha was looking right past him though, over his shoulder, her eyes slightly glazed over as if she were in a daze. “Martha?”
He turned to look behind him, trying to follow her line of sight, and noticed what she was looking at. There, on the far end of the car park, was the Doctor’s blue box, his time machine. John had never seen it in reality, of course, but Martha had drawn a sketch of what it looked like once during one of their many talks about her travels.
“The TARDIS,” she whispered, a far away look still in her eyes, “This really is happening.”
John slid a hand to the nape of her neck, now looking her directly in the eye. “Martha, come back,” he said softly, caressing her neck, “You need to be here now. They need you. I need you.”
Martha’s vision shifted toward him and she slowly seemed to be looking at him again, her eyes adjusting. “There you go, that’s it, Martha. Just a bit of shock, a bit of a trigger. It will pass. I am right here,” he said soothingly, still caressing her.
“Oh God,” Martha said suddenly, blinking rapidly as if she had just come to, “I’m sorry. I just - ”
“It’s alright,” he said, leaning forward and kissing her on the forehead before pulling her into a tight embrace. “I’m right here. We’ll get through this together.”
Martha sighed against him and then took in a deep breath. She pulled back from him. “Thank you,” she whispered and then turned toward where the Brigadier had wanted them to go.
She began to walk, but then stopped, her body startled and stiffened again. “It’s him,” she whispered.
John looked before them to see a man about thirty feet from them, near the building. He was a tall man in a blue suit and he was just staring at the two of them. John felt his breath hitch for a moment at the sight of him - he did look almost exactly like him.
---
5:24 PM
“Let’s go,” Martha said, suddenly walking again. John trailed behind her, letting her lead.
As they neared the Doctor, he looked away. John couldn’t really read his expression, but, to his surprise, he almost looked ashamed or guilty. The one thing that did strike him was his eyes - they looked almost sad as he gazed at Martha and, for a moment, John almost felt a bit sorry for him.
Just for a moment though, for then he chastised himself for his pity, reminding himself of how he’d hurt Martha.
Two UNIT officers approached them and led them over to a few of the people lying on the grass outside the building. John opened his med kit and immediately started to assist with the woman nearest to him. Martha stayed nearby and began to assist an injured man.
“Most of the employees were able to get out of the building as they were in the atrium and -- therefore near the front door -- for a meeting when the bombing happened,” one of the UNIT officers briefed Martha and John as they assisted the injured. “We’ve rushed about ten people to the hospital already that had minor injuries. This lot sustained heavier injuries, so we’ve sent for some back up from the hospital as we didn’t have enough stretchers for them on hand. There are still six people unaccounted for left in the building, but we do not know their condition or exact location. Right now UNIT is holding off on letting the fire brigade go inside as we are unsure if there is a classified alien threat inside the building.”
“So, you need someone to go inside, check the medical condition of the survivors - if there are any - and help save them, but it needs to be someone with security clearance enough for the alien threat?” Martha said, her tone more professional and business-like than John was used to.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay, show me where to go.”
“Martha, no!” John stood up, protesting.
Martha stood up and pulled John to the side. “John, this is my job and I have to help anyone who might be trapped inside,” she said quietly, but firmly.
“But you could die, Martha. It’s not safe in there.”
“Yes, I could, but that doesn’t matter right now and you know it,” Martha started to turn away, but John grabbed her arm.
“Let me go instead. I have all the medical training you do, but more experience with trauma victims. I’m also stronger than you if there is any heavy lifting needed with either the bodies or the fallen debris,” he pleaded.
“John - ”
“You know I’m right, Martha. They need you out here and me in there,” he said, his tone resolute.
Martha sighed, looking at the ground and then back up at him, worry in her eyes. “Yes,” she said, resigned, “You’re right.”
“Tell me what to do.”
“Okay,” she waved the UNIT officers over, “Dr. John MacLachlan is going inside to help with the injured. Is anyone going to accompany him? We need at least one other person.”
“I will,” a voice said from their side. Everyone looked over to see who spoke - it was the Doctor.
“But ma’am, I am not sure Dr. MacLachlan has the right security access.”
“Call the Brig, she will confirm,” Martha said sternly, barely looking at the Doctor who was walking towards them.
The officer pulled out his walkie-talkie and contacted Brigadier Chaudhry. Martha held John’s hand for a moment looking up at him. He squeezed her hand back to calm her. “He is clear to go inside, ma’am,” the officer finally said, a look of surprise on his face.
John supposed the Brig really did believe in him.
“Give me that, please,” Martha reached for the officer’s walkie-talkie and handed it to John, her hand over his as he held it. “Use this if you need any help, you understand? At the first sign of trouble, you got that?” she said decisively.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, swallowing hard as he looked at the frightened expression she seemed to be trying so hard to hide. He resisted pulling her into a hug. “You coming?” he asked sharply, turning to look at the Doctor, who was standing beside him with his hands deep in his pockets.
“Yep,” he said in an inflated manner, popping the ‘p’ at the end.
“Good luck,” Martha said, moving from him.
She had only looked at John when she’d said it - still not acknowledging the Doctor - and John could tell in his peripheral vision that the Doctor’s jaw had tightened as a result.
---
5:36 PM
“I really don’t want to talk with you. I’m just here to help these people,” John said as he made his way inside the building, the Doctor trailing behind.
“Are you always this pleasant?”
“No, but I’m making an exception for you.” He pushed some metal beams aside to ascend what was left of a stairwell.
“You don’t look like a UNIT medic.”
“Very good, Doctor. Ding Ding, you should win a prize. You really are amazingly intelligent and perceptive.”
“So, you know my name. I take it that…you are with Martha then?”
“If you mean ‘with Martha’ as in that I am dating her, that I am in love with her, and, oh, she means the world to me, that would be a yes. I know your name from her, and yes, I know all about the two of you.”
“My reputation must precede me then.”
John stopped and looked the Time Lord in the eye, trying to keep himself calm and focused on the emergency at hand and resist the urge to confront him. There were so many things he’d wanted to say to him since Martha told him about her experiences with him, but it was not the right time.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Doctor. You are the last person I want to be with in this situation right now. I can’t promise you that I won’t punch you at some point, but right now, I’m being professional and I only ask that you do the same. This isn’t about you or me or Martha, this is about people in this building that I - we - need to save. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” the Doctor replied, his expression unreadable.
It was going to be a long night.
---
5:39 PM
In the first room they reached, the floor was mostly caved in and the door that they needed lay across the room.
“I think if we ease ourselves right up against the wall, we should be able to make it across. It looks like there are some bolts in the wall where desks were attached, we can use those to hang onto,” John offered, shining his torch into the room.
“Sounds like a plan. Do you think we’ll fit on the ledge? I can’t tell from here.”
“Yeah,” John looked back, looking the Doctor up and down, “Same build as me, we’ll fit.”
“Skinny streaks of nothing, we are.”
“Speak for yourself.”
They eased themselves onto the ledge by the wall, John with his torch in his mouth and the Doctor with his torch now in his pocket. They moved slowly, using the torn edges of the wall much like grappling holds in mountain climbing. John wished for a moment he was in better shape, feeling his arms shaking a bit with the strain of clinging so hard to the wall, but his adrenaline spurred him on.
“Are you doing okay, John?”
“Mmgh,” he nodded, talking around the torch in his mouth.
“Take it slowly, just one step at a time. You can do it. We’ll get through this.”
“We better,” he mumbled against the plastic torch.
They were nearly across when one of the bolts that John was holding pulled from the wall, causing him to slip, falling hard to his knees on the ledge. The Doctor had grabbed him before he fell any further, but his torch and walkie-talkie (which had been clipped to his belt) both slipped from him and fell down several feet into the rubble, smashing to pieces.
“Dammit,” John cursed.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you. Can you stand?”
“The torch, the walkie-talkie. We can’t call for help,” John said, feeling suddenly vulnerable.
“We will get through this, John, but you have to listen to me. Again, are you able to stand?”
“I…think so,” he shifted slightly.
“I’ve got you, hold onto me if you need, I’ve got a good grip on the wall.”
John shifted onto one leg slowly and with the Doctor’s help was able to pull himself back up to a standing position. His knees were somewhat sore - certain to be bruised in a few hours, at least - but from what he could tell he was otherwise not injured.
“Thanks,” he said quietly, but then put his ‘mask’ back on. He was not ready to bow at the Doctor’s feet just yet.
A few more steps and they were finally across the ledge. The door was thankfully unlocked and they carefully made their way into the next room. It was large, but still lit slightly from some holes in the wall letting in the sun from outside. It looked like what was left of the main office of the law firm.
They looked around to see if anyone was there.
---
5:56 PM
“Over here,” John called out, rushing toward a man on the floor. The Doctor followed behind.
John opened up his med kit and pulled out his stethoscope. The man was breathing heavily and erratically, so John helped him sit up, massaging his back.
“Dyspnea,” he said, looking up at the Doctor. The man coughed, trying to get control of his breathing.
“That’s it, keep coughing, it will help. Can you tell us your name?” the Doctor asked him as he squatted down beside them, pulling a metal device from his coat with a shining blue tip. He pointed it at the man and it made an unsettling squealing noise. John flinched at the high-pitched sound.
“Jacob,” the man gasped, still having trouble breathing.
“Jacob, do you have asthma?” John asked quietly, attempting to soothe him as he continued to rub his back, trying to ease his lungs.
He nodded in assent almost wildly.
“And do you have your rescue inhaler nearby?”
Jacob looked worried. “No,” he gasped. “It’s in - was in - my desk.”
“It’s okay, Jacob. I’m a doctor and I’m here to help you, but first, you have to try and calm down. I know this is really frightening, but we aren’t going to let anything happen to you. The more you panic, the harder it is for you to breathe and we don’t want that, do we?” John spoke quietly and soothingly, trying his best to ease him.
The three of them sat for several long moments, simply giving Jacob some time to calm himself a bit before John got up. “It’s okay, Jacob, I’ll be right back.”
“Doctor, can I have a word?” John grabbed the Doctor by the arm and pulled him over to the side. “I looks like I may have to intubate him if he stays this way. I’ve got some trache tubes in my med kit, if we need. I am just concerned that the exertion of moving him will only exacerbate his respiratory issues.”
“Yes, I - " the Doctor began, but looked up at the ceiling suddenly.
The wail of metal bending and scraping against metal filled the room and the next thing John knew he was being quickly pushed to the ground.
Everything went black.
---
6:09 PM
“Only saw right through her? John, I don’t know what Martha’s been telling you, but I can assure you that is most definitely and assuredly not the case,” the Doctor countered, looking positively affronted.
“Oh, of course it’s not,” John replied sardonically, glaring at him as if to provoke him.
John was getting tired of playing nice. It had been a long, hard day and now he had one man dying in his arms and another man seemingly trying to invalidate everything he’d heard Martha tell him.
“And you - someone who was obviously not there - have the audacity to act as if you are omniscient about how things were between Martha and myself. Oh, how wonderful! You humans never cease to amaze me with your keen intellect and razor sharp wit. Perhaps you can enlighten me about what actually happened as I am so obviously wrong about things and seem to be misremembering events. I am rather old, you see, and maybe my memory is starting to go,” the Doctor replied scathingly.
His eyes had taken on a dangerous stare and John had to admit it made him feel somewhat frightened and, honestly, a little small. “Eyes I dare not meet in dreams,” as T.S. Elliot had once said.
John knew from Martha’s stories that this was a man - a being - that had faced down armies and aliens of all sorts for centuries. “The Oncoming Storm”, she had called him once and, despite his own anger, the last thing John wanted was to get caught up in its perilous whirling tempest.
“This doesn’t need to be a pissing contest,” John replied with a sigh, breaking their eye contact to ease the building tension between then. He looked back down at Jacob and checked his pulse with his fingertips, his suspicions confirmed. “He’s dead now, by the way,” he added softly, “Can we be silent for a moment to honor that?”
John glanced up at the Doctor and the Time Lord watched him as he cradled the man in his arms. The Doctor blew out a sigh, his own expression softening. “Of course,” he whispered.
The Doctor stood against the wall of debris, his arms crossed as he regarded the two men on the floor for several long and quiet minutes. John could feel his eyes on him - as if he was studying him - but John was barely returning his gaze.
“I did see her,” the Doctor finally said quietly, an unexpected broken tone to his voice.
John looked up at him, finally moving Jacob’s head from his lap to stretch out his legs. He crawled a few feet from Jacob’s prone body and grabbed an ice compress from his med kit to put it on his ankle. He then pulled over a large chunk of metal from nearby to elevate his leg on. After situating himself, he let out a deep sigh. “Yeah, I think I know that now.”
“Why do you say that? You seemed so sure of the opposite only minutes ago,” the Doctor asked quietly, but oddly, without any confrontation, only curiosity, in his tone. He was fiddling with the hem of his coat, suddenly looking less like a ferocious enemy and more like a vulnerable boy.
“Because I think,” John shifted his body to lie back, propping himself up on his elbows, “that you love her.”
The Doctor looked away, staring at the wall before him for a long moment. Then he shrugged off his trenchcoat, balling it up. “Here, use this for a pillow. It looks like we’re probably going to be here for a while,” he offered, walking over and handing it to John.
John looked up at him in interest, trying to work out his mercurial moods and emotional aloofness. He could see why he had been so mysterious to Martha, but he could also see how intriguing he was. The Doctor sat down next to him, pulling his knees up to his chest.
“Do you think we are going to die here too, Doctor?” John asked him quietly.
The Doctor held out his metal device and John noticed it was flashing blue. “I have this sending a distress signal. UNIT should be able to pick it up and track us pretty easily. It might be a challenge to actually get into here and get us, but not impossible. Now if we can manage to not have the building collapse any further, I think we might just make it out.”
“Way to instill confidence,” John said with a laugh.
“Yeah, well, I do my best,” the Doctor replied, laughing and smiling along with him.
“What is that, by the way?” John asked, gesturing at his device.
“A sonic screwdriver,” the Doctor said, exaggerating each word in a comically dramatic way. “It does all sorts of things for me, a bit of a fix-all device one could say.”
“It slices! It dices!” John joked, imitating the classic advert catchphrase with a bad attempt at an American accent.
“But wait Johnny, there’s more! If you call within the next 10 minutes, you'll also get - ” the Doctor added, playing along as he reached into his pocket, making a face while digging around before pulling out a ball that he held aloft, “You’ll get this amazing rubber ball.”
“That bounces!”
“Yes, that bounces!” the Doctor bounced it on the floor twice before catching it and stuffing it back in his pocket, “But supplies are limited, and this deal is available for today only!”
The two of them looked at one another and suddenly broke into peals of laughter, eventually wiping tears from their cheeks as they both caught their breath again.
“Doctor?” John panted.
“Yes?”
“Don’t call me Johnny,” John replied with a playful smirk.
“Will do,” the Doctor said with a nod, “And John?”
“Yes?”
“How is she? I mean, how is she really?”
“Well,” John sighed, lying back on the Doctor’s coat, “she has good days and bad, honestly. Thankfully, it’s a case of many more good days than bad - at least nowadays. She still has times when things get triggered, though, and she still has nightmares on occasion, mostly about that year.”
“You know about that as well?” he asked, an eyebrow arched in curiosity
“As much as I can without remembering it myself, I suppose. I can only go on what I’ve been told but it seems everyone close to me remembers it - Martha, Brigadier Chaudhry, Jack - so when they told me of their experiences, I’ve given my support and empathy to the best of my ability for the awful trials they went through.”
“Jack? You’ve know Jack then?”
John smirked, a blush rising in his cheeks despite himself. “Yes, you can say that.”
“Ah, I see,” the Doctor said, his eyes widening a bit in recognition at the innuendo, “That’s our Jack.”
“Indeed.”
The Doctor began playing with a shoelace on his trainers, wrapping an arm even tighter around his knees. “That year…it was a really bad time. For everyone,” he said, looking down at the floor as he spoke.
“But you rewound it for most of them.”
“Yes, but not everyone. I ruined several people’s lives just as I saved them. I ruined Martha’s life. She’ll never be the same. That sweet innocent spark she had in her eyes when I first met her is gone forever.”
“Her life is not ruined though, Doctor. You are pompous, aren’t you?” The Doctor looked at him with worry in his eyes, but his expression softened when he saw John was smiling at him. “She is stronger now. Yes, she saw things that she probably should never have seen and, trust me, I wish she never had to go through it either. But you know what? Even when I’m holding her as she cries over what happened, what she saw, she always says she never regretted a thing. She says that it made her who she is today and she wouldn’t change that for the world.”
“Maybe,” the Doctor replied with a lackadaisical shrug.
“It’s true. Still, you know what I think did the most damage? Losing her best friend.”
“She walked away from me,” the Doctor countered despondently, looking back down at the floor and playing with a shoelace again.
“Well, as you so eloquently said earlier, I was not there, but from what I see, you walked away from her first. You pushed and pushed and pushed her away. It’s no wonder she finally left.”
“What do you know about anything?” the Doctor spat.
“Again, I wasn’t there, but I can only go with what I was told and what I see.”
“And what do you see?” he snarled.
“I see a man running from his feelings. Even since I met you, you do nothing but evade emotional questions and statements, especially ones about Martha. I know what that’s like, I can see myself in you because I did that for so very long too - always keeping everyone at arm’s length, too afraid of loss because I’ve lost everyone I ever cared about. I lost my family, I lost my unborn son…Martha is the first person I’ve let behind my defenses since I was a boy.”
“It’s not that easy for me, my life is much more complicated.”
“Maybe in some ways, yes. You are so much older, you are an alien, I can’t even begin to imagine all that you’ve seen and been through, but when it boils down, I think you have feelings just like the rest of us and bottling up feelings never leads to anything good. Plus, I don’t think Martha has only made her way past my defenses. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that she’s slipped past yours as well, got under your skin perhaps? She’s stealthy, that one,” John laughed, “You think you have all your feelings fortified until one day you turn around - “
“And you’re in love with her,” the Doctor interrupted quietly, finishing his statement.
“Yes exactly, and you’re in love with her,” John echoed gently.
“What is all this to you, anyway? Are you going to play the jealous boyfriend or maybe the over protective brute that punches me for hurting her? You did mention punching me earlier, is that still your plan? Honestly, I haven’t the patience for any games right now. Like you said, I am much older than you and I am just so very tired of playing all those games you humans play.”
“Hey now, hang on there, I will admit to being angry with you and wanting to punch you when we first met, but please give me more credit than that. I may be much younger than you, but that doesn’t mean I have patience for games either. I’m just saying things that need to be said, discussing that big elephant in the room that you seem so keen to avoid and ignore. Yes, I am protective of Martha, but I want her to be happy, and it’s becoming more and more clear to me the more I talk to you that one thing that will go very far in helping mend things with her is if you actually talk to her about your feelings.”
The Doctor was quiet for a long moment. “I’m sorry, I do give you more credit than that, John,” he said, his voice only just above a whisper, “you are a good man and Martha is very lucky to have someone like you in her life.”
“Doctor, you’re going to have to talk to her and tell her how you feel. It’s the only way, unless you want the two of you to drift even further apart,” John reiterated with a sigh.
“That’s unexpected.”
“What?”
“A man encouraging me to tell his girlfriend that he’s in love with her. Are you sure you are from this century?” the Doctor laughed mirthlessly.
“I can assure you that I am. Let’s just say I’m secure in my relationship with Martha,” John words surprised even himself. Just that morning he had feared losing her, succumbing to a moment of panic of messing things up, but in this moment, with a strange man in a small room that could easily serve as competition for her heart, he felt at peace. He let out a contented sigh, smiling to himself over his own self-realization. “Besides, you are pretty unexpected as well.”
“Am I?”
“Yes, I was fully expecting to hate you when we finally met.”
“And now?” the Doctor looked back up at John, his expression unreadable.
“I only dislike you a bit.”
“Tough crowd.”
“I’m just not easily swayed, I’m afraid,” he said with an easy smile.
“Well, that’s a good trait to have, Dr. John -- ?”
“MacLachlan. Dr. John MacLachlan.”
“Good to meet you, Dr. MacLachlan,” the Doctor held out his hand.
John gave him a firm handshake. “And you Doctor…well, just Doctor.”
“By the way, has anyone ever told you how handsome you are?”
John shook his head at the Doctor, chuckling as he was obviously preening, obviously referencing his resemblance to his own looks. “Martha, of course.”
“She’s always had such impeccable taste.”
“Aye.”
“Hello?” a male voice called out, faintly muffled, startling the two of them. “Are you still in there? Can you hear me?”
The Doctor jumped up to his feet, urging John to stay still. “Yes, we’re here, where are you?” he called out.
“Come to the outside wall, we’re out here,” the voice replied.
The Doctor looked down at John, frowning in surprise, and then stepped forward toward the wall that still had a small amount sunlight coming through in small holes. He stood up on his toes to look out the biggest hole he could find.
“Why, hello,” the Doctor said, a big smile lighting up his face before he turned back to John, “There is a UNIT officer on an aerial ladder just outside this wall.”
John gave him a thumbs up.
---
6:44 PM
“We got your signal Sir, but we are not sure how to get you out. This side of the building is very unstable and could fall at any moment. If we try and break through the wall, you will likely be crushed.”
“Always the bearer of such good tidings, you lot are,” the Doctor said, shaking his head. “Okay, hang on, think, think, think. The walls are collapsing, no way out, aside from being a tired plot device from far too many films, it’s pretty hopeless…except…yes! Of course! I’m a genius!” the Doctor exclaimed, triumphantly pointing a finger in the air. “Dr. MacLachlan, I am a certifiable genius!”
“And so humble. What’s the plan?” John asked.
“You - Mr. UNIT Officer?” the Doctor called out through the hole.
“Jennings, Sir.”
“Officer Jennings, do you by any chance have a walkie-talkie I can use?”
“Of course, Sir.”
John watched the Doctor pry a bit of plaster away from the edges of the hole. “Pass it through please.”
A moment later, the Doctor was grabbing a walkie-talkie through the opening. “Right!” he exclaimed, switching it on, “I’m looking for a Dr. Martha Jones. Over.”
There was a long pause. “This is Martha, hello Doctor. Over,” came Martha’s terse reply, tinged with static. John’s heart felt as if it had leapt into his belly - he was so happy to hear her voice again, especially as he’d been worrying that he might never do so again.
“Martha, I’m going to need to ask you to do us a very big favor. Over.”
“I think I can manage that. Is John okay? Over.”
“Just a sprained ankle, but as lively as a firecracker. Martha, I need you to bring the TARDIS to me. Over.”
“Excuse me?” she exclaimed, her surprise obviously causing her to fail in ending her sentence according to two-way radio voice procedure.
“I need you to bring the TARDIS to me. Over,” he repeated, punctuating each word in case she’d only had trouble hearing and not just comprehending.
“Doctor, I don’t know how to fly her, er, the TARDIS. Over.”
“That is why you have me on the line, of course! Do you still have your key or do I need to give mine to the officer here? Over.”
“I…yes, I do still have it. I’m walking toward the TARDIS now. Over.”
“Go on inside and, not to worry Dr. Jones, this will be easy as pie. Over.”
“Famous last words? Over.” John could hear that Martha’s tone was starting to lighten.
“At least I am always rather quotable. Over.”
There was another long pause. “Okay, Doctor, I am inside the TARDIS now. Over.”
“Okay, Martha, I am resetting the signal on the sonic screwdriver. In about a minute, you should hear what will sound like a small alarm and the view screen should turn on, triggering Emergency Program Five. This program can help initiate the TARDIS locking onto the signal and dematerialize where the sonic screwdriver is located, but I need you to push some buttons to make that happen. Over.”
“You can’t just bring it there yourself? Over.”
“Unfortunately, I haven’t quite worked that bit out yet, so I need someone inside the TARDIS to do this. Tell me when the signal triggers everything. Over.”
“Wilco. Over.”
“John, the TARDIS is going to be materializing in this room, right,” he paused looking around at the small space and then pointed to a far empty corner, “over there. Once it is here, we need to get in there as quickly as possible. I am sure the weight of the TARDIS isn’t going to help with this building barely standing.”
The Doctor walked over to where he had pointed and placed his sonic screwdriver, still flashing blue, on the floor. He then walked back over to where John lay on the floor.
John looked up at the ceiling. “And how tall is your…TARDIS?”
“I’d say about eight or nine feet.”
“And the ceiling?” John asked, gesturing above them, dubious about his machine fitting in such a small space.
The Doctor scratched the back of his head, frowning a bit. “I’d say about eight or nine feet as well. It’ll be close for sure, but I think we can manage it. Or so I hope.”
“Great,” John groaned, nervous.
“Doctor, the Emergency Program has activated. Your hologram is wittering on a bit at me - just like you to not be able to leave a succinct message on these things. Oh, and apparently, according to the transmission, you’ve never done this before. Should I be worried? Over,” quipped Martha, her voice coming over the speaker on the walkie-talkie.
“Ah, there’s a first time for everything, Dr. Jones. Now, do you remember where the vortex loop is located? The one that looks like a bicycle pump. Switch it on. Over.”
“Copy that, vortex loop switched on. Over.”
“Now pull the dimensional stabilizer, just to the left, where it says ‘port’ and ‘starb.’ That will send the TARDIS here. Over.”
“Okay, copy that. Over.
“Good, don’t forget the hand brake and do hang on, Dr. Jones. Over.”
“Yes, Doctor. Copy that. Out.”
“You’ll love this bit,” the Doctor said with a wide smile squatting down next to John.
"What about your device…the sonic screwdriver? Won't it get crushed?"
“Nah, the TARDIS is set to just materialize around it,” the Doctor replied with a chuckle, but then looked thoughtful and frowned, pulling on an earlobe, “Then again, finding it once I’m inside might pose a bit of a challenge. She does like to play games with me sometimes.”
“She?” John began, but was interrupted.
Suddenly, it felt like a strong wind was blowing in the room and there was a loud sound unlike anything John had ever heard before, a sort of cyclic wheezing and groaning noise that he felt in his very bones. There was a bright flashing light near the ceiling and blur of blue that became more and more distinct as the Doctor’s blue box - the TARDIS - appeared completely before them, out of nowhere.
The doors swung open suddenly and Martha ran out toward them. “Oh my god, John!” she exclaimed, kneeling in front of him, a look of worry on her face.
There was a sudden loud metallic creaking noise around them. “The floor is starting to give, we’ve got to go right now. Help me with him, Martha,” the Doctor said urgently, helping to lift John to stand.
The Doctor bundled his coat under his free arm and let John hold onto his shoulders, “There you go, that’s it, just a few more steps,” the Doctor said, holding him up as they made their way toward the TARDIS.
“But what about Jacob? We can’t just leave his body here,” John exclaimed.
“I’m sorry, John. I’m so sorry. We would never be able to get those metal beams off his legs in time to move him before everything collapses again. We have to leave him,” the Doctor said softly, helping him over the threshold of the TARDIS with Martha’s assistance.
Martha shut the door behind them and they situated John to hold onto the railing just inside the entrance. It seemed they apparently weren’t worried about getting him up the ramp just yet due to the necessity of leaving as soon as possible.
The Doctor ran up the ramp, tossing his coat over what looked like a coral branch, and frantically ran around what looked like, from Martha’s stories, the TARDIS console. “Now, to get us out of here before things get really messy,” the Doctor exclaimed, apparently flipping switches and setting coordinates. “Hold on!” he announced with a big grin and pulled a lever.
Martha wrapped her arms around John, holding onto the railing from behind him to hold him steady as the ship suddenly began to shake violently. John worried for a moment that it was the building collapsing around them and wondered if the TARDIS would, or even could, be crushed.
Martha and the Doctor seemed to have no trouble staying upright as the ship rattled around them. John, on the other hand, was clinging onto the railing with a white knuckled grip, trying desperately to keep the weight off his injured ankle.
As quickly as the shaking had begun, the loud wheezing sound (from the up and down movement in the middle of the console, it seemed) ceased and everything stilled with abrupt jerk. John fell forward slightly, groaning in pain as the railing smacked him in the stomach.
Martha wrapped her arms tightly around him from behind. “Are you okay? The flying is a bit rough in here, I’m afraid,” she exclaimed, nuzzling his back.
“Yes,” he breathed, straightening up as carefully turned to face her in the embrace, using the railing for leverage, “I think I’m alright. Or at least as good as can be expected.”
John leaned down to kiss her, but only kissed her quickly when he felt the weight of the Doctor’s stare. He gave him a sidelong glance and saw his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the console, regarding them. He looked sad again and John, now more empathetic to his feelings, felt sad for him.
“Say hello to him properly,” he whispered in Martha’s ear and pulled back from her to lean against the railing.
Martha seemed surprised and a bit confused as she looked up at John, and then shyly looked up at the Doctor.
“Thank you, Martha Jones,” the Doctor said quietly, his posture somewhat rigid and his breathing almost labored as if he was trying to keep from crying, “you saved our lives.”
Martha sighed heavily, resigned. “Oh, Doctor.”
She ran up the ramp, arms wide for a hug as she approached him.
The Doctor looked surprised, but pulled her into a tight embrace, lifting her off her feet as the two of them laughed joyfully. John smiled at how the Doctor swung Martha back and forth -- her legs kicking behind her with delight - and how the Doctor’s face gleefully smiled over her shoulder with his eyes pressed tightly closed.
The Doctor finally set Martha down, keeping an arm around her as they both looked down at John, smiling. “Welcome to the TARDIS, Dr. MacLachlan!” the Doctor exclaimed in delight.
“It is pretty amazing!” John said a bit awestruck, looking around him and finally taking it in. “And bigger on the inside, just like Martha said.”
“I should get you some proper crutches, young man,” Martha said with a laugh, wagging a finger at John, before looking back up to the Doctor. “There should be some in the med bay, yeah?”
“Yes. Can you find it? You know how she,” the Doctor gestured at the ceiling, “likes to rearrange things.”
Martha smiled upward. “I think she can help me,” she nudged the Doctor’s side and then started off toward a nearby corridor. “Be back in a moment.”
“She always did like you!” the Doctor called out after her.
“I know!” John could hear Martha call out in response from down the corridor.
The Doctor looked back at John and started to slowly walk toward him, his hands in his pockets. “And thank you, John,” he said, his eyes filled with gratitude.
“She only needed a nudge,” John said with a wink.
“No, but whatever it was you did or said - ” the Doctor trailed off, now standing before him, his mouth moving but no sound coming out.
“It’s okay, but just remember, things aren’t so easily fixed. You still need to talk to her.”
“I know,” the Doctor put a hand on John’s shoulder, “but you helped facilitate that first step and for that, I am forever grateful.”
The Doctor swallowed hard and looked as if he were contemplating something for a moment, before closing the space between them and wrapping his arms around him in a tight embrace. “Thank you so much,” he whispered in John’s ear.
The two men soon parted and the Doctor’s face lit up with a bright smile. “I should take you on a trip, Dr. MacLachlan. One trip, just to say thanks!” he exclaimed.
“Oh god, not the ‘one trip’ nonsense again!” Martha groaned, coming back into the room holding a pair of crutches, “Don’t listen to him, John. ‘One trip’ is a lie as he’s completely incapable of just doing one trip with someone. ‘One trip’ really translates to ‘lots of trips he’ll charm you into’.”
“Oi! Only with people I like,” the Doctor said with a pout, but then smiled at her as she walked up to them and handed John the crutches.
“Of course, Doctor,” she said, patting his chest playfully, “whatever you say.”
She turned to John, “He just can’t resist kidnapping people,” she said to him in a teasing stage whisper, her hand cupped around the side of her mouth.
“Martha Jones, as cheeky as ever,” the Doctor said with a chuckle, leaning against the railing and smiling at both her and John. “You should keep her in line,” he nodded to John with a puckish grin, “And you, Martha Jones, you should just…well, you should just keep him.”
“That’s the plan, Doctor. That’s the plan.”
Author: radiantbaby
Characters/Pairings: Ten, Martha/Dr. John, with allusions to Ten/Martha [Note: Dr. John was a David Tennant character in the “Reproduction” episode of “Love in the 21st Century”]
Word Count: 9016 [in Word]
Genre: Angst, AU, Adventure, with a bit of Romance
Rating: R, for a brief mention of sexual situations
Spoilers: Post-S3 Doctor Who, Post-S2 Torchwood
Summary: Martha and John are recruited to help UNIT with a suspicious bombing nearby, but when they get there, they have more than medical injuries and a potential alien threat to deal with - the Doctor is there. How will they all react to one another? Crossover of Doctor Who and “Love in the 21st Century”
Beta: The uber-wonderful persiflage_1!
Disclaimer: All your Doctor Who are belong to us Sadly, I own nothing related to Doctor Who et al, nor do I own anything related to “Love in the 21st Century” - I am just playing around in their sandbox for a bit of fun.
Previous stories in this series: Three Words, Doctors, Staring off a Cliff, Martha Jones, Storyteller, and Trusting You.
Author Notes: In Part Six of our series, our intrepid heroes finally cross paths with Ten - Martha’s first time seeing him since the events of “Last of the Timelords” and John’s first time meeting Ten at all. Most important to mention is that in this universe Ten is still traveling alone since Martha left (he’s not yet crossed paths with Donna, sadly enough), so he’s in a bit of a dark place emotionally -- more negative, less ebullient and verbose, etc. I skipped doing a rehash of the affair with the Sontarans as I couldn’t figure out how to fit John into that scenario, so this is totally AU. I cast John as being somewhat overprotective of Martha in this and a bit antagonistic with Ten. It just made sense in my head as I’m sure John doesn’t have the best notions of him at this point, especially as he’s only been getting half of the story (which, honestly, has been mostly negative). Martha is also still somewhat angsty over her relationship with Ten, so that comes into play as well. Oh, and I hope the “time stamps” aren’t too confusing - a few bits of the story are out of linear sequence, so I added them to help with that. And finally, I have a sad lack of medical knowledge, so apologies in advance if I totally fail on the medical stuff. Gah, I do go on - sorry.
Anyway, as always, thanks so much as always to the magnificent persiflage_1 who beta’d this piece! Any other mistakes are all mine. Feedback is happy-making, so please leave a word or two [even if I am a bit slack in responding, your comments always make my day].
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[Fic banner by angelfireeast]
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Martha moved above him, eyes closed, and her mouth hanging open slightly as little moans and gasps passed her lips. John simply lay there watching her, his hands on her hips, thinking of how beautiful she was and how lucky he was. It had been many months that they had been together, but there would still be moments like this when he was filled with an aching awe of having her mixed with an almost paralyzing fear of losing her.
Don’t mess this up, please god don’t let me ever do anything to mess this up, he chanted in his head, again and again, with each thrust, with each kiss -
Martha held his heart in the palm of her hand, something that no one ever had done in his life before, something he’d always sworn he would never let happen. For a moment - a flicker of time - he worried about losing himself to his feelings completely, dragged deep by an undertow.
He was afraid of the sheer power Martha held over him and he found himself wanting to run and hide from it all, but then she opened her eyes. She had a wide smile now on her lips and a look of deep love and affection brightening her eyes, causing a strong sense of wellbeing to sweep through him, just as his own climax washed over his body, and he knew, for once in his life, he was safe.
----
6:06 PM
John opened his eyes, a sudden pain seizing his limbs, unsure of how long he’d been unconscious. It was dark and the air felt thick with dust as he tried to take in a breath. As his thoughts caught up with his consciousness, he also noticed a weight on top of him.
It was a body, he quickly realized, but it was not Martha, as he’d just been thinking of (remembering their intimate moment shared that very morning), but someone else -
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I think so,” John replied with a groan. “You are crushing me a bit though, mate.”
“Ah, well that’s the thanks I get for saving you from a pile of falling metal and concrete.”
“Yeah, well I still don’t know if I’m actually alright. It’s a bit dark and, again, you are starting to crush me.”
“Hang on, I’ll get some light.”
There was a bit of shifting above him before a bright light suddenly shone in his face. John blinked his eyes as they adjusted to the light and then he saw the Doctor, above him, holding up a lantern. John had no idea where it had come from, but considering their dire circumstances, he didn’t question it.
The Doctor then shifted off him, shining the light around them in an attempt to evaluate their situation. John sat up beside him, looking around as well. From what he could tell they were now in a small enclosed space, roughly about 15 feet across x 10 feet high, surrounded by metal and other debris from the section of the building collapsing on itself.
John also quickly noticed the man he’d been attending to before the collapse, lying just a few feet from them, unconscious. He shifted to try and stand, but as he did, he wailed in pain. The Doctor looked up at him in surprise.
“My ankle,” he said through gritted teeth, “Looks like I sprained my ankle.”
John moved up to his knees and crawled toward the unconscious man - Jacob, he’d said his name was - to check on his condition. “Stay still, you’ll only hurt yourself more,” the Doctor reprimanded, hanging the lantern on a nearby metal rod and using his strange blue metal device against one of the walls of debris.
“I’m a doctor and that means that I both know my limits and, more importantly, I need to try and help him,” John snapped at him, stopping next to Jacob.
“Hmmph, of course,” the Doctor replied in an annoyed tone. He frowned and then resumed what he was doing.
John pulled Jacob’s head into his lap. “Jacob, can you hear me? Jacob?” he asked, checking him over with his tools from his med kit, many of which still lay scattered by his side.
From what he could see, Jacob’s legs had been crushed by several large pieces of metal from the building’s crumbling infrastructure, with one piece in particular jutting outward from his stomach. When they had found him before the most recent collapse, he seemed to just be suffering from mild dyspnea, but now his condition was much, much worse.
John looked down at the pool of blood gathering around his body. “I’m so sorry, Jacob,” he whispered, stroking the unconscious man’s hair as he tried to hold back stinging tears. Losing people in his care never ceased to affect him intensely, even if they were strangers.
“You did all you could,” the Doctor said softly, watching him, his expression now more sympathetic. “Now, help me with this. Please.”
“I can’t leave him,” he countered, “He’s about to die, I won’t let him die alone.”
“Everyone dies alone, John.”
“Well, not everyone has to,” John replied angrily, his tone softening to hum a sweet melody as he continued to stroke Jacob’s hair.
“You are as stubborn as she is. It’s no wonder you two get along so well.”
“Well, isn’t that a surprise, you noticed Martha can be stubborn?” John said sarcastically, “And here I was thinking you only saw right through her.”
----
5:02 PM
Martha stood on her tiptoes, pressing her lips against John’s. “Hello,” she whispered sweetly, stroking the side of his face.
John sighed as he pulled her against him in a tight hug. He had yet to ever tire of seeing her night after night when he would pick her up from work. His own work could be stressful and even a bit overwhelming at times, but when he saw Martha strolling toward him in the car park at the UNIT base, a wide smile lighting up her face as soon as their eyes met, everything would brighten up.
They were about to get into the car when they heard a loud explosion. Martha lost her balance as the ground shook slightly and fell against John. He wrapped his arms protectively around her and they looked up to see smoke in the distance.
As sudden as the thunderous noise, alarms began to sound and many officers began exiting the building, running in formation toward their jeeps. Brigadier Chaudhry came out of the building a moment later, heading toward Martha and John quickly, a walkie-talkie in her hand.
“Brigadier,” John said, saluting her once she was in front of them. It was more the casual, unpracticed salute of a civilian, but it was always appreciated by Chaudhry. She nodded in greeting to him.
After John had found out about his involvement during the year the Master was in power, he’d struck a new bond with the Brig, becoming a friend to her. It had admittedly been somewhat challenging for her at first - just being around him sometimes made her slip from her more professional, stoic demeanor into a sad remembrance of his death.
More often, though, John’s soothing presence helped with healing the wounds of that terrible time she remembered spending with him - the him that would never exist -- and helped her mourn the colleague she’d lost. Even if he could never remember all of the horrific events of that year himself, the doctor - the healer - in him wanted to do everything he could to help her.
“Dr. Jones, there’s been an emergency at the Hoppard-Greene office building just a few miles from here. We need medical assistance immediately,” Brigadier Chaudhry said.
Martha looked over at John, but before she could say anything, he spoke. “Is there anything I can do? I have my medical bag in the car,” John offered.
Brigadier Chaudhry smiled at him. “I hoped you’d offer, John. Yes, your assistance is both greatly needed and appreciated. We can take one of the jeeps,” she gestured across the car park, “and I can brief you on the way.”
John moved from his embrace with Martha and reached into his back seat to pull out his medical bag. The three of them began walking quickly toward the jeep when the Brigadier stopped them suddenly. “I don’t know if this matters, but I should mention this before we are on our way. I only just found out this information myself,” she said, seemingly uncomfortable all of a sudden, “and, as not only your boss, but your friend, I just wanted you to know before we got there. No surprises and all that.”
“Yes?” Martha asked, confused at her boss’ sudden shift in behaviour.
“The Doctor is there.”
---
5:10 PM
John held tightly onto Martha’s hand as they sat in the back of the jeep with the Brigadier and another UNIT officer driving. The brief was that a building - the Hoppard-Greene office building -- had been bombed and that UNIT had been monitoring suspicious alien activity there over the last two weeks and thought the incident was linked.
“Thankfully, the building is very new and there is only one company on record - a small law firm -- in the office at the moment. We estimate that only about twenty people were affected by the explosion,” the Brigadier continued.
“Were they involved in the alien activity?” Martha asked.
“From what we can tell, it looks like they were not involved at all. The reports were from some of the offices a few floors above them and usually during the night when they were not there. It looks like they had no idea anyone else was even in the building and, officially, there wasn’t supposed to be anyone else there.”
“And the Doctor?” Martha asked, her voice somewhat hoarse with the question.
John squeezed her hand tighter, knowing that she truly needed his support in that moment. While Martha seemed to be healed from much of her emotional trauma from her travels with the Doctor, he knew that there was a part of her that was terrified of crossing paths with him again, afraid of ripping open old wounds she wanted to stay sealed.
“He came to UNIT’s attention a few days ago from what I’ve been told. We have been monitoring him and he seems to be investigating the alien activity as well. He was not approached until moments ago, just after the bombing,” the Brigadier responded. “From my own brief, the first time the building came to our attention was when one of our satellites intercepted a strange signal in space originating from the building. We think that the Doctor might have also intercepted the signal and that is why he is there.”
A voice came over the walkie-talkie that the Brigadier held. “Hold on,” she said to Martha and John and then began a conversation with a UNIT officer already at the scene.
Martha looked at John and he could see the fear welling in her eyes. He wanted to hold her and calm her, but the emergency around them made that seem inappropriate. Instead he whispered, “It will be alright, I’ll be with you.”
He meant more than just dealing with the wounded civilians, of course, he also meant dealing with the Doctor.
“I never thought seeing him again would be like this. I don’t think I’m ready,” she whispered back.
“Martha Jones, you are the strongest and bravest woman that I know and I’ll be damned if I let some alien time traveler break down your spirit again. We’re going to get in there, do our jobs, and if we see him, then we will treat him as professionals and go from there. Don’t let him get under your skin, my darling, don’t give him your power,” he urged.
John could tell his tone was almost harsh, his anger over the Doctor seeping into his words despite himself, so he tried to soften the edges with a quick sweet kiss on Martha’s cheek. He could feel her trembling slightly and more than anything he felt that when he finally saw the Doctor, he was going to have to restrain his own rage with every fiber of his being.
Don’t let him get under your skin, don’t give him your power, he repeated to himself in his head, the words just as much for him as they were for Martha.
---
5:22 PM
When they arrived in the Hoppard-Greene office building’s car park, emergency vehicles, UNIT vehicles, and the fire brigade were all on the scene. John gave Martha’s hand one final squeeze before the four of them jumped from the jeep and started to make their way to the building.
A UNIT officer approached them quickly and after a few words exchanged between him and the Brigadier, he brandished a security badge for John to wear for clearance. The Brigadier and their driver soon rushed off, pointing to where he and Martha needed to go. John was putting on his badge when he turned to look at Martha.
“There we go, all official,” he announced. Martha was looking right past him though, over his shoulder, her eyes slightly glazed over as if she were in a daze. “Martha?”
He turned to look behind him, trying to follow her line of sight, and noticed what she was looking at. There, on the far end of the car park, was the Doctor’s blue box, his time machine. John had never seen it in reality, of course, but Martha had drawn a sketch of what it looked like once during one of their many talks about her travels.
“The TARDIS,” she whispered, a far away look still in her eyes, “This really is happening.”
John slid a hand to the nape of her neck, now looking her directly in the eye. “Martha, come back,” he said softly, caressing her neck, “You need to be here now. They need you. I need you.”
Martha’s vision shifted toward him and she slowly seemed to be looking at him again, her eyes adjusting. “There you go, that’s it, Martha. Just a bit of shock, a bit of a trigger. It will pass. I am right here,” he said soothingly, still caressing her.
“Oh God,” Martha said suddenly, blinking rapidly as if she had just come to, “I’m sorry. I just - ”
“It’s alright,” he said, leaning forward and kissing her on the forehead before pulling her into a tight embrace. “I’m right here. We’ll get through this together.”
Martha sighed against him and then took in a deep breath. She pulled back from him. “Thank you,” she whispered and then turned toward where the Brigadier had wanted them to go.
She began to walk, but then stopped, her body startled and stiffened again. “It’s him,” she whispered.
John looked before them to see a man about thirty feet from them, near the building. He was a tall man in a blue suit and he was just staring at the two of them. John felt his breath hitch for a moment at the sight of him - he did look almost exactly like him.
---
5:24 PM
“Let’s go,” Martha said, suddenly walking again. John trailed behind her, letting her lead.
As they neared the Doctor, he looked away. John couldn’t really read his expression, but, to his surprise, he almost looked ashamed or guilty. The one thing that did strike him was his eyes - they looked almost sad as he gazed at Martha and, for a moment, John almost felt a bit sorry for him.
Just for a moment though, for then he chastised himself for his pity, reminding himself of how he’d hurt Martha.
Two UNIT officers approached them and led them over to a few of the people lying on the grass outside the building. John opened his med kit and immediately started to assist with the woman nearest to him. Martha stayed nearby and began to assist an injured man.
“Most of the employees were able to get out of the building as they were in the atrium and -- therefore near the front door -- for a meeting when the bombing happened,” one of the UNIT officers briefed Martha and John as they assisted the injured. “We’ve rushed about ten people to the hospital already that had minor injuries. This lot sustained heavier injuries, so we’ve sent for some back up from the hospital as we didn’t have enough stretchers for them on hand. There are still six people unaccounted for left in the building, but we do not know their condition or exact location. Right now UNIT is holding off on letting the fire brigade go inside as we are unsure if there is a classified alien threat inside the building.”
“So, you need someone to go inside, check the medical condition of the survivors - if there are any - and help save them, but it needs to be someone with security clearance enough for the alien threat?” Martha said, her tone more professional and business-like than John was used to.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay, show me where to go.”
“Martha, no!” John stood up, protesting.
Martha stood up and pulled John to the side. “John, this is my job and I have to help anyone who might be trapped inside,” she said quietly, but firmly.
“But you could die, Martha. It’s not safe in there.”
“Yes, I could, but that doesn’t matter right now and you know it,” Martha started to turn away, but John grabbed her arm.
“Let me go instead. I have all the medical training you do, but more experience with trauma victims. I’m also stronger than you if there is any heavy lifting needed with either the bodies or the fallen debris,” he pleaded.
“John - ”
“You know I’m right, Martha. They need you out here and me in there,” he said, his tone resolute.
Martha sighed, looking at the ground and then back up at him, worry in her eyes. “Yes,” she said, resigned, “You’re right.”
“Tell me what to do.”
“Okay,” she waved the UNIT officers over, “Dr. John MacLachlan is going inside to help with the injured. Is anyone going to accompany him? We need at least one other person.”
“I will,” a voice said from their side. Everyone looked over to see who spoke - it was the Doctor.
“But ma’am, I am not sure Dr. MacLachlan has the right security access.”
“Call the Brig, she will confirm,” Martha said sternly, barely looking at the Doctor who was walking towards them.
The officer pulled out his walkie-talkie and contacted Brigadier Chaudhry. Martha held John’s hand for a moment looking up at him. He squeezed her hand back to calm her. “He is clear to go inside, ma’am,” the officer finally said, a look of surprise on his face.
John supposed the Brig really did believe in him.
“Give me that, please,” Martha reached for the officer’s walkie-talkie and handed it to John, her hand over his as he held it. “Use this if you need any help, you understand? At the first sign of trouble, you got that?” she said decisively.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, swallowing hard as he looked at the frightened expression she seemed to be trying so hard to hide. He resisted pulling her into a hug. “You coming?” he asked sharply, turning to look at the Doctor, who was standing beside him with his hands deep in his pockets.
“Yep,” he said in an inflated manner, popping the ‘p’ at the end.
“Good luck,” Martha said, moving from him.
She had only looked at John when she’d said it - still not acknowledging the Doctor - and John could tell in his peripheral vision that the Doctor’s jaw had tightened as a result.
---
5:36 PM
“I really don’t want to talk with you. I’m just here to help these people,” John said as he made his way inside the building, the Doctor trailing behind.
“Are you always this pleasant?”
“No, but I’m making an exception for you.” He pushed some metal beams aside to ascend what was left of a stairwell.
“You don’t look like a UNIT medic.”
“Very good, Doctor. Ding Ding, you should win a prize. You really are amazingly intelligent and perceptive.”
“So, you know my name. I take it that…you are with Martha then?”
“If you mean ‘with Martha’ as in that I am dating her, that I am in love with her, and, oh, she means the world to me, that would be a yes. I know your name from her, and yes, I know all about the two of you.”
“My reputation must precede me then.”
John stopped and looked the Time Lord in the eye, trying to keep himself calm and focused on the emergency at hand and resist the urge to confront him. There were so many things he’d wanted to say to him since Martha told him about her experiences with him, but it was not the right time.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Doctor. You are the last person I want to be with in this situation right now. I can’t promise you that I won’t punch you at some point, but right now, I’m being professional and I only ask that you do the same. This isn’t about you or me or Martha, this is about people in this building that I - we - need to save. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” the Doctor replied, his expression unreadable.
It was going to be a long night.
---
5:39 PM
In the first room they reached, the floor was mostly caved in and the door that they needed lay across the room.
“I think if we ease ourselves right up against the wall, we should be able to make it across. It looks like there are some bolts in the wall where desks were attached, we can use those to hang onto,” John offered, shining his torch into the room.
“Sounds like a plan. Do you think we’ll fit on the ledge? I can’t tell from here.”
“Yeah,” John looked back, looking the Doctor up and down, “Same build as me, we’ll fit.”
“Skinny streaks of nothing, we are.”
“Speak for yourself.”
They eased themselves onto the ledge by the wall, John with his torch in his mouth and the Doctor with his torch now in his pocket. They moved slowly, using the torn edges of the wall much like grappling holds in mountain climbing. John wished for a moment he was in better shape, feeling his arms shaking a bit with the strain of clinging so hard to the wall, but his adrenaline spurred him on.
“Are you doing okay, John?”
“Mmgh,” he nodded, talking around the torch in his mouth.
“Take it slowly, just one step at a time. You can do it. We’ll get through this.”
“We better,” he mumbled against the plastic torch.
They were nearly across when one of the bolts that John was holding pulled from the wall, causing him to slip, falling hard to his knees on the ledge. The Doctor had grabbed him before he fell any further, but his torch and walkie-talkie (which had been clipped to his belt) both slipped from him and fell down several feet into the rubble, smashing to pieces.
“Dammit,” John cursed.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you. Can you stand?”
“The torch, the walkie-talkie. We can’t call for help,” John said, feeling suddenly vulnerable.
“We will get through this, John, but you have to listen to me. Again, are you able to stand?”
“I…think so,” he shifted slightly.
“I’ve got you, hold onto me if you need, I’ve got a good grip on the wall.”
John shifted onto one leg slowly and with the Doctor’s help was able to pull himself back up to a standing position. His knees were somewhat sore - certain to be bruised in a few hours, at least - but from what he could tell he was otherwise not injured.
“Thanks,” he said quietly, but then put his ‘mask’ back on. He was not ready to bow at the Doctor’s feet just yet.
A few more steps and they were finally across the ledge. The door was thankfully unlocked and they carefully made their way into the next room. It was large, but still lit slightly from some holes in the wall letting in the sun from outside. It looked like what was left of the main office of the law firm.
They looked around to see if anyone was there.
---
5:56 PM
“Over here,” John called out, rushing toward a man on the floor. The Doctor followed behind.
John opened up his med kit and pulled out his stethoscope. The man was breathing heavily and erratically, so John helped him sit up, massaging his back.
“Dyspnea,” he said, looking up at the Doctor. The man coughed, trying to get control of his breathing.
“That’s it, keep coughing, it will help. Can you tell us your name?” the Doctor asked him as he squatted down beside them, pulling a metal device from his coat with a shining blue tip. He pointed it at the man and it made an unsettling squealing noise. John flinched at the high-pitched sound.
“Jacob,” the man gasped, still having trouble breathing.
“Jacob, do you have asthma?” John asked quietly, attempting to soothe him as he continued to rub his back, trying to ease his lungs.
He nodded in assent almost wildly.
“And do you have your rescue inhaler nearby?”
Jacob looked worried. “No,” he gasped. “It’s in - was in - my desk.”
“It’s okay, Jacob. I’m a doctor and I’m here to help you, but first, you have to try and calm down. I know this is really frightening, but we aren’t going to let anything happen to you. The more you panic, the harder it is for you to breathe and we don’t want that, do we?” John spoke quietly and soothingly, trying his best to ease him.
The three of them sat for several long moments, simply giving Jacob some time to calm himself a bit before John got up. “It’s okay, Jacob, I’ll be right back.”
“Doctor, can I have a word?” John grabbed the Doctor by the arm and pulled him over to the side. “I looks like I may have to intubate him if he stays this way. I’ve got some trache tubes in my med kit, if we need. I am just concerned that the exertion of moving him will only exacerbate his respiratory issues.”
“Yes, I - " the Doctor began, but looked up at the ceiling suddenly.
The wail of metal bending and scraping against metal filled the room and the next thing John knew he was being quickly pushed to the ground.
Everything went black.
---
6:09 PM
“Only saw right through her? John, I don’t know what Martha’s been telling you, but I can assure you that is most definitely and assuredly not the case,” the Doctor countered, looking positively affronted.
“Oh, of course it’s not,” John replied sardonically, glaring at him as if to provoke him.
John was getting tired of playing nice. It had been a long, hard day and now he had one man dying in his arms and another man seemingly trying to invalidate everything he’d heard Martha tell him.
“And you - someone who was obviously not there - have the audacity to act as if you are omniscient about how things were between Martha and myself. Oh, how wonderful! You humans never cease to amaze me with your keen intellect and razor sharp wit. Perhaps you can enlighten me about what actually happened as I am so obviously wrong about things and seem to be misremembering events. I am rather old, you see, and maybe my memory is starting to go,” the Doctor replied scathingly.
His eyes had taken on a dangerous stare and John had to admit it made him feel somewhat frightened and, honestly, a little small. “Eyes I dare not meet in dreams,” as T.S. Elliot had once said.
John knew from Martha’s stories that this was a man - a being - that had faced down armies and aliens of all sorts for centuries. “The Oncoming Storm”, she had called him once and, despite his own anger, the last thing John wanted was to get caught up in its perilous whirling tempest.
“This doesn’t need to be a pissing contest,” John replied with a sigh, breaking their eye contact to ease the building tension between then. He looked back down at Jacob and checked his pulse with his fingertips, his suspicions confirmed. “He’s dead now, by the way,” he added softly, “Can we be silent for a moment to honor that?”
John glanced up at the Doctor and the Time Lord watched him as he cradled the man in his arms. The Doctor blew out a sigh, his own expression softening. “Of course,” he whispered.
The Doctor stood against the wall of debris, his arms crossed as he regarded the two men on the floor for several long and quiet minutes. John could feel his eyes on him - as if he was studying him - but John was barely returning his gaze.
“I did see her,” the Doctor finally said quietly, an unexpected broken tone to his voice.
John looked up at him, finally moving Jacob’s head from his lap to stretch out his legs. He crawled a few feet from Jacob’s prone body and grabbed an ice compress from his med kit to put it on his ankle. He then pulled over a large chunk of metal from nearby to elevate his leg on. After situating himself, he let out a deep sigh. “Yeah, I think I know that now.”
“Why do you say that? You seemed so sure of the opposite only minutes ago,” the Doctor asked quietly, but oddly, without any confrontation, only curiosity, in his tone. He was fiddling with the hem of his coat, suddenly looking less like a ferocious enemy and more like a vulnerable boy.
“Because I think,” John shifted his body to lie back, propping himself up on his elbows, “that you love her.”
The Doctor looked away, staring at the wall before him for a long moment. Then he shrugged off his trenchcoat, balling it up. “Here, use this for a pillow. It looks like we’re probably going to be here for a while,” he offered, walking over and handing it to John.
John looked up at him in interest, trying to work out his mercurial moods and emotional aloofness. He could see why he had been so mysterious to Martha, but he could also see how intriguing he was. The Doctor sat down next to him, pulling his knees up to his chest.
“Do you think we are going to die here too, Doctor?” John asked him quietly.
The Doctor held out his metal device and John noticed it was flashing blue. “I have this sending a distress signal. UNIT should be able to pick it up and track us pretty easily. It might be a challenge to actually get into here and get us, but not impossible. Now if we can manage to not have the building collapse any further, I think we might just make it out.”
“Way to instill confidence,” John said with a laugh.
“Yeah, well, I do my best,” the Doctor replied, laughing and smiling along with him.
“What is that, by the way?” John asked, gesturing at his device.
“A sonic screwdriver,” the Doctor said, exaggerating each word in a comically dramatic way. “It does all sorts of things for me, a bit of a fix-all device one could say.”
“It slices! It dices!” John joked, imitating the classic advert catchphrase with a bad attempt at an American accent.
“But wait Johnny, there’s more! If you call within the next 10 minutes, you'll also get - ” the Doctor added, playing along as he reached into his pocket, making a face while digging around before pulling out a ball that he held aloft, “You’ll get this amazing rubber ball.”
“That bounces!”
“Yes, that bounces!” the Doctor bounced it on the floor twice before catching it and stuffing it back in his pocket, “But supplies are limited, and this deal is available for today only!”
The two of them looked at one another and suddenly broke into peals of laughter, eventually wiping tears from their cheeks as they both caught their breath again.
“Doctor?” John panted.
“Yes?”
“Don’t call me Johnny,” John replied with a playful smirk.
“Will do,” the Doctor said with a nod, “And John?”
“Yes?”
“How is she? I mean, how is she really?”
“Well,” John sighed, lying back on the Doctor’s coat, “she has good days and bad, honestly. Thankfully, it’s a case of many more good days than bad - at least nowadays. She still has times when things get triggered, though, and she still has nightmares on occasion, mostly about that year.”
“You know about that as well?” he asked, an eyebrow arched in curiosity
“As much as I can without remembering it myself, I suppose. I can only go on what I’ve been told but it seems everyone close to me remembers it - Martha, Brigadier Chaudhry, Jack - so when they told me of their experiences, I’ve given my support and empathy to the best of my ability for the awful trials they went through.”
“Jack? You’ve know Jack then?”
John smirked, a blush rising in his cheeks despite himself. “Yes, you can say that.”
“Ah, I see,” the Doctor said, his eyes widening a bit in recognition at the innuendo, “That’s our Jack.”
“Indeed.”
The Doctor began playing with a shoelace on his trainers, wrapping an arm even tighter around his knees. “That year…it was a really bad time. For everyone,” he said, looking down at the floor as he spoke.
“But you rewound it for most of them.”
“Yes, but not everyone. I ruined several people’s lives just as I saved them. I ruined Martha’s life. She’ll never be the same. That sweet innocent spark she had in her eyes when I first met her is gone forever.”
“Her life is not ruined though, Doctor. You are pompous, aren’t you?” The Doctor looked at him with worry in his eyes, but his expression softened when he saw John was smiling at him. “She is stronger now. Yes, she saw things that she probably should never have seen and, trust me, I wish she never had to go through it either. But you know what? Even when I’m holding her as she cries over what happened, what she saw, she always says she never regretted a thing. She says that it made her who she is today and she wouldn’t change that for the world.”
“Maybe,” the Doctor replied with a lackadaisical shrug.
“It’s true. Still, you know what I think did the most damage? Losing her best friend.”
“She walked away from me,” the Doctor countered despondently, looking back down at the floor and playing with a shoelace again.
“Well, as you so eloquently said earlier, I was not there, but from what I see, you walked away from her first. You pushed and pushed and pushed her away. It’s no wonder she finally left.”
“What do you know about anything?” the Doctor spat.
“Again, I wasn’t there, but I can only go with what I was told and what I see.”
“And what do you see?” he snarled.
“I see a man running from his feelings. Even since I met you, you do nothing but evade emotional questions and statements, especially ones about Martha. I know what that’s like, I can see myself in you because I did that for so very long too - always keeping everyone at arm’s length, too afraid of loss because I’ve lost everyone I ever cared about. I lost my family, I lost my unborn son…Martha is the first person I’ve let behind my defenses since I was a boy.”
“It’s not that easy for me, my life is much more complicated.”
“Maybe in some ways, yes. You are so much older, you are an alien, I can’t even begin to imagine all that you’ve seen and been through, but when it boils down, I think you have feelings just like the rest of us and bottling up feelings never leads to anything good. Plus, I don’t think Martha has only made her way past my defenses. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that she’s slipped past yours as well, got under your skin perhaps? She’s stealthy, that one,” John laughed, “You think you have all your feelings fortified until one day you turn around - “
“And you’re in love with her,” the Doctor interrupted quietly, finishing his statement.
“Yes exactly, and you’re in love with her,” John echoed gently.
“What is all this to you, anyway? Are you going to play the jealous boyfriend or maybe the over protective brute that punches me for hurting her? You did mention punching me earlier, is that still your plan? Honestly, I haven’t the patience for any games right now. Like you said, I am much older than you and I am just so very tired of playing all those games you humans play.”
“Hey now, hang on there, I will admit to being angry with you and wanting to punch you when we first met, but please give me more credit than that. I may be much younger than you, but that doesn’t mean I have patience for games either. I’m just saying things that need to be said, discussing that big elephant in the room that you seem so keen to avoid and ignore. Yes, I am protective of Martha, but I want her to be happy, and it’s becoming more and more clear to me the more I talk to you that one thing that will go very far in helping mend things with her is if you actually talk to her about your feelings.”
The Doctor was quiet for a long moment. “I’m sorry, I do give you more credit than that, John,” he said, his voice only just above a whisper, “you are a good man and Martha is very lucky to have someone like you in her life.”
“Doctor, you’re going to have to talk to her and tell her how you feel. It’s the only way, unless you want the two of you to drift even further apart,” John reiterated with a sigh.
“That’s unexpected.”
“What?”
“A man encouraging me to tell his girlfriend that he’s in love with her. Are you sure you are from this century?” the Doctor laughed mirthlessly.
“I can assure you that I am. Let’s just say I’m secure in my relationship with Martha,” John words surprised even himself. Just that morning he had feared losing her, succumbing to a moment of panic of messing things up, but in this moment, with a strange man in a small room that could easily serve as competition for her heart, he felt at peace. He let out a contented sigh, smiling to himself over his own self-realization. “Besides, you are pretty unexpected as well.”
“Am I?”
“Yes, I was fully expecting to hate you when we finally met.”
“And now?” the Doctor looked back up at John, his expression unreadable.
“I only dislike you a bit.”
“Tough crowd.”
“I’m just not easily swayed, I’m afraid,” he said with an easy smile.
“Well, that’s a good trait to have, Dr. John -- ?”
“MacLachlan. Dr. John MacLachlan.”
“Good to meet you, Dr. MacLachlan,” the Doctor held out his hand.
John gave him a firm handshake. “And you Doctor…well, just Doctor.”
“By the way, has anyone ever told you how handsome you are?”
John shook his head at the Doctor, chuckling as he was obviously preening, obviously referencing his resemblance to his own looks. “Martha, of course.”
“She’s always had such impeccable taste.”
“Aye.”
“Hello?” a male voice called out, faintly muffled, startling the two of them. “Are you still in there? Can you hear me?”
The Doctor jumped up to his feet, urging John to stay still. “Yes, we’re here, where are you?” he called out.
“Come to the outside wall, we’re out here,” the voice replied.
The Doctor looked down at John, frowning in surprise, and then stepped forward toward the wall that still had a small amount sunlight coming through in small holes. He stood up on his toes to look out the biggest hole he could find.
“Why, hello,” the Doctor said, a big smile lighting up his face before he turned back to John, “There is a UNIT officer on an aerial ladder just outside this wall.”
John gave him a thumbs up.
---
6:44 PM
“We got your signal Sir, but we are not sure how to get you out. This side of the building is very unstable and could fall at any moment. If we try and break through the wall, you will likely be crushed.”
“Always the bearer of such good tidings, you lot are,” the Doctor said, shaking his head. “Okay, hang on, think, think, think. The walls are collapsing, no way out, aside from being a tired plot device from far too many films, it’s pretty hopeless…except…yes! Of course! I’m a genius!” the Doctor exclaimed, triumphantly pointing a finger in the air. “Dr. MacLachlan, I am a certifiable genius!”
“And so humble. What’s the plan?” John asked.
“You - Mr. UNIT Officer?” the Doctor called out through the hole.
“Jennings, Sir.”
“Officer Jennings, do you by any chance have a walkie-talkie I can use?”
“Of course, Sir.”
John watched the Doctor pry a bit of plaster away from the edges of the hole. “Pass it through please.”
A moment later, the Doctor was grabbing a walkie-talkie through the opening. “Right!” he exclaimed, switching it on, “I’m looking for a Dr. Martha Jones. Over.”
There was a long pause. “This is Martha, hello Doctor. Over,” came Martha’s terse reply, tinged with static. John’s heart felt as if it had leapt into his belly - he was so happy to hear her voice again, especially as he’d been worrying that he might never do so again.
“Martha, I’m going to need to ask you to do us a very big favor. Over.”
“I think I can manage that. Is John okay? Over.”
“Just a sprained ankle, but as lively as a firecracker. Martha, I need you to bring the TARDIS to me. Over.”
“Excuse me?” she exclaimed, her surprise obviously causing her to fail in ending her sentence according to two-way radio voice procedure.
“I need you to bring the TARDIS to me. Over,” he repeated, punctuating each word in case she’d only had trouble hearing and not just comprehending.
“Doctor, I don’t know how to fly her, er, the TARDIS. Over.”
“That is why you have me on the line, of course! Do you still have your key or do I need to give mine to the officer here? Over.”
“I…yes, I do still have it. I’m walking toward the TARDIS now. Over.”
“Go on inside and, not to worry Dr. Jones, this will be easy as pie. Over.”
“Famous last words? Over.” John could hear that Martha’s tone was starting to lighten.
“At least I am always rather quotable. Over.”
There was another long pause. “Okay, Doctor, I am inside the TARDIS now. Over.”
“Okay, Martha, I am resetting the signal on the sonic screwdriver. In about a minute, you should hear what will sound like a small alarm and the view screen should turn on, triggering Emergency Program Five. This program can help initiate the TARDIS locking onto the signal and dematerialize where the sonic screwdriver is located, but I need you to push some buttons to make that happen. Over.”
“You can’t just bring it there yourself? Over.”
“Unfortunately, I haven’t quite worked that bit out yet, so I need someone inside the TARDIS to do this. Tell me when the signal triggers everything. Over.”
“Wilco. Over.”
“John, the TARDIS is going to be materializing in this room, right,” he paused looking around at the small space and then pointed to a far empty corner, “over there. Once it is here, we need to get in there as quickly as possible. I am sure the weight of the TARDIS isn’t going to help with this building barely standing.”
The Doctor walked over to where he had pointed and placed his sonic screwdriver, still flashing blue, on the floor. He then walked back over to where John lay on the floor.
John looked up at the ceiling. “And how tall is your…TARDIS?”
“I’d say about eight or nine feet.”
“And the ceiling?” John asked, gesturing above them, dubious about his machine fitting in such a small space.
The Doctor scratched the back of his head, frowning a bit. “I’d say about eight or nine feet as well. It’ll be close for sure, but I think we can manage it. Or so I hope.”
“Great,” John groaned, nervous.
“Doctor, the Emergency Program has activated. Your hologram is wittering on a bit at me - just like you to not be able to leave a succinct message on these things. Oh, and apparently, according to the transmission, you’ve never done this before. Should I be worried? Over,” quipped Martha, her voice coming over the speaker on the walkie-talkie.
“Ah, there’s a first time for everything, Dr. Jones. Now, do you remember where the vortex loop is located? The one that looks like a bicycle pump. Switch it on. Over.”
“Copy that, vortex loop switched on. Over.”
“Now pull the dimensional stabilizer, just to the left, where it says ‘port’ and ‘starb.’ That will send the TARDIS here. Over.”
“Okay, copy that. Over.
“Good, don’t forget the hand brake and do hang on, Dr. Jones. Over.”
“Yes, Doctor. Copy that. Out.”
“You’ll love this bit,” the Doctor said with a wide smile squatting down next to John.
"What about your device…the sonic screwdriver? Won't it get crushed?"
“Nah, the TARDIS is set to just materialize around it,” the Doctor replied with a chuckle, but then looked thoughtful and frowned, pulling on an earlobe, “Then again, finding it once I’m inside might pose a bit of a challenge. She does like to play games with me sometimes.”
“She?” John began, but was interrupted.
Suddenly, it felt like a strong wind was blowing in the room and there was a loud sound unlike anything John had ever heard before, a sort of cyclic wheezing and groaning noise that he felt in his very bones. There was a bright flashing light near the ceiling and blur of blue that became more and more distinct as the Doctor’s blue box - the TARDIS - appeared completely before them, out of nowhere.
The doors swung open suddenly and Martha ran out toward them. “Oh my god, John!” she exclaimed, kneeling in front of him, a look of worry on her face.
There was a sudden loud metallic creaking noise around them. “The floor is starting to give, we’ve got to go right now. Help me with him, Martha,” the Doctor said urgently, helping to lift John to stand.
The Doctor bundled his coat under his free arm and let John hold onto his shoulders, “There you go, that’s it, just a few more steps,” the Doctor said, holding him up as they made their way toward the TARDIS.
“But what about Jacob? We can’t just leave his body here,” John exclaimed.
“I’m sorry, John. I’m so sorry. We would never be able to get those metal beams off his legs in time to move him before everything collapses again. We have to leave him,” the Doctor said softly, helping him over the threshold of the TARDIS with Martha’s assistance.
Martha shut the door behind them and they situated John to hold onto the railing just inside the entrance. It seemed they apparently weren’t worried about getting him up the ramp just yet due to the necessity of leaving as soon as possible.
The Doctor ran up the ramp, tossing his coat over what looked like a coral branch, and frantically ran around what looked like, from Martha’s stories, the TARDIS console. “Now, to get us out of here before things get really messy,” the Doctor exclaimed, apparently flipping switches and setting coordinates. “Hold on!” he announced with a big grin and pulled a lever.
Martha wrapped her arms around John, holding onto the railing from behind him to hold him steady as the ship suddenly began to shake violently. John worried for a moment that it was the building collapsing around them and wondered if the TARDIS would, or even could, be crushed.
Martha and the Doctor seemed to have no trouble staying upright as the ship rattled around them. John, on the other hand, was clinging onto the railing with a white knuckled grip, trying desperately to keep the weight off his injured ankle.
As quickly as the shaking had begun, the loud wheezing sound (from the up and down movement in the middle of the console, it seemed) ceased and everything stilled with abrupt jerk. John fell forward slightly, groaning in pain as the railing smacked him in the stomach.
Martha wrapped her arms tightly around him from behind. “Are you okay? The flying is a bit rough in here, I’m afraid,” she exclaimed, nuzzling his back.
“Yes,” he breathed, straightening up as carefully turned to face her in the embrace, using the railing for leverage, “I think I’m alright. Or at least as good as can be expected.”
John leaned down to kiss her, but only kissed her quickly when he felt the weight of the Doctor’s stare. He gave him a sidelong glance and saw his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the console, regarding them. He looked sad again and John, now more empathetic to his feelings, felt sad for him.
“Say hello to him properly,” he whispered in Martha’s ear and pulled back from her to lean against the railing.
Martha seemed surprised and a bit confused as she looked up at John, and then shyly looked up at the Doctor.
“Thank you, Martha Jones,” the Doctor said quietly, his posture somewhat rigid and his breathing almost labored as if he was trying to keep from crying, “you saved our lives.”
Martha sighed heavily, resigned. “Oh, Doctor.”
She ran up the ramp, arms wide for a hug as she approached him.
The Doctor looked surprised, but pulled her into a tight embrace, lifting her off her feet as the two of them laughed joyfully. John smiled at how the Doctor swung Martha back and forth -- her legs kicking behind her with delight - and how the Doctor’s face gleefully smiled over her shoulder with his eyes pressed tightly closed.
The Doctor finally set Martha down, keeping an arm around her as they both looked down at John, smiling. “Welcome to the TARDIS, Dr. MacLachlan!” the Doctor exclaimed in delight.
“It is pretty amazing!” John said a bit awestruck, looking around him and finally taking it in. “And bigger on the inside, just like Martha said.”
“I should get you some proper crutches, young man,” Martha said with a laugh, wagging a finger at John, before looking back up to the Doctor. “There should be some in the med bay, yeah?”
“Yes. Can you find it? You know how she,” the Doctor gestured at the ceiling, “likes to rearrange things.”
Martha smiled upward. “I think she can help me,” she nudged the Doctor’s side and then started off toward a nearby corridor. “Be back in a moment.”
“She always did like you!” the Doctor called out after her.
“I know!” John could hear Martha call out in response from down the corridor.
The Doctor looked back at John and started to slowly walk toward him, his hands in his pockets. “And thank you, John,” he said, his eyes filled with gratitude.
“She only needed a nudge,” John said with a wink.
“No, but whatever it was you did or said - ” the Doctor trailed off, now standing before him, his mouth moving but no sound coming out.
“It’s okay, but just remember, things aren’t so easily fixed. You still need to talk to her.”
“I know,” the Doctor put a hand on John’s shoulder, “but you helped facilitate that first step and for that, I am forever grateful.”
The Doctor swallowed hard and looked as if he were contemplating something for a moment, before closing the space between them and wrapping his arms around him in a tight embrace. “Thank you so much,” he whispered in John’s ear.
The two men soon parted and the Doctor’s face lit up with a bright smile. “I should take you on a trip, Dr. MacLachlan. One trip, just to say thanks!” he exclaimed.
“Oh god, not the ‘one trip’ nonsense again!” Martha groaned, coming back into the room holding a pair of crutches, “Don’t listen to him, John. ‘One trip’ is a lie as he’s completely incapable of just doing one trip with someone. ‘One trip’ really translates to ‘lots of trips he’ll charm you into’.”
“Oi! Only with people I like,” the Doctor said with a pout, but then smiled at her as she walked up to them and handed John the crutches.
“Of course, Doctor,” she said, patting his chest playfully, “whatever you say.”
She turned to John, “He just can’t resist kidnapping people,” she said to him in a teasing stage whisper, her hand cupped around the side of her mouth.
“Martha Jones, as cheeky as ever,” the Doctor said with a chuckle, leaning against the railing and smiling at both her and John. “You should keep her in line,” he nodded to John with a puckish grin, “And you, Martha Jones, you should just…well, you should just keep him.”
“That’s the plan, Doctor. That’s the plan.”