Actions and Consequences
Who_Daily Link: < a href="http://persiflage-1.livejournal.com/172463.html">Actions and Consequences by < lj user=persiflage_1> (Characters: Martha, Ten, Ross Jenkins | Rating: G | Spoilers: 4.04 & 4.05)
Title: Actions and Consequences
Author: Persiflage_1
Characters/Pairings: Martha Jones, Tenth Doctor, Ross Jenkins
Rating: G
Spoilers: The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky, Wishing Well - Trevor Baxendale
Summary: Post-S4 Pte Ross Jenkins' further encounters with a Time Lord and his former companion.
Disclaimer: I occasionally wish that I did own it!
Author Notes: Some time ago the DW Random Pairing Generator gave me two Ross-related prompts: Tenth Doctor / Private Ross Jenkins / the follies of youth and Private Ross Jenkins / Martha Jones / dealing with the consequences, and I decided to combine them into one story.
~~~~~~
"Ross Jenkins, you're alive!" exclaimed a loud voice, startling the young private who was sitting alone in the UNIT HQ canteen, eating a late lunch. He looked up and saw the Doctor, Dr Jones' friend, standing a few feet away, with an enormous pleased grin on his face.
He got up and saluted, ignoring the wince this earned him. "Yes sir."
The Doctor strode over, holding out a hand. "That's excellent news!" he said, as he shook hands. "I thought you'd died."
The grin was gone now, a sober expression on the Time Lord's face, and Ross rushed to explain.
"No sir, I was just stunned by the blast from the Sontarans because I was shielded by the wall that I was looking around. They think I was out for about four hours after I got hit." His own expression sobered. "I came to in a corridor full of dead bodies."
The Doctor reached out and clasped the young man's shoulders. "And that's never an easy sight to deal with," he said softly, a distant expression on his face.
"At least I woke up," answered Ross, just as softly.
"And I'm very glad you did," replied the Doctor, sounding and looking more cheerful again.
"Thank you sir."
"Now, now, less of the sir," admonished the Time Lord.
"Are you looking for Mar- Dr Jones?" asked Ross.
"Am I that transparent?"
"Well, I didn't think you'd come to see me," he answered, grinning a bit cheekily. "I don't think she's back yet."
"Back?" asked the Doctor.
"She's been out doing some reconnaissance," explained Ross.
"Oh. Well never mind. What are you up to Ross, besides eating your lunch?"
"Nothing. I'm off duty now until tomorrow morning."
"Yeah? Fancy a quick trip then?" He winked at the startled expression on the young man's face.
"What, in the TARDIS?" asked Ross, sounding disbelieving.
"Well I wasn't suggesting a jeep trip," answered the Doctor. "No offence, but after last time - "
Ross snorted with laughter. "None taken. Okay then, I'd love a trip."
"Excellent!" exclaimed the Doctor, grinning again, his hands shoved into his trouser pockets. "Allons-y."
Ross grabbed the apple from his tray and shoved it into his pocket, then hurried after the Time Lord who was practically bouncing along the corridor now, like a puppy about to be taken out for a walk.
"So where are we going?" asked Ross, curiously as the Doctor held open a door for him and gestured at the tall blue box sitting incongruously in the corner of Dr Jones' lab.
"Anywhere, anywhen," answered the Time Lord, with another expansive grin. "That's for me to know and you to find out when we get there." He hurried forward and unlocked the door of the ship, then gestured for Ross to go first.
"Wow!" He'd barely taken two steps inside the TARDIS when he stopped to stare up at the high, arching ceiling, taking in the gently glowing light and the weird, branch-like structures here and there.
"Aren't you going to say it then?" asked the Doctor, moving past him.
He sounded disappointed, Ross thought, as if he'd been denied something he'd anticipated. "It's huge," he observed.
The Doctor's face fell. "Aw, go on, say it," he begged, almost pouting.
Ross rolled his eyes. "It's bigger on the inside."
The Time Lord bounced away towards the central column, a grin splitting his face again. "That's my boy!" he exclaimed.
Ross followed more slowly, shaking his head slightly. Dr Jones had talked to him quite a bit about the Doctor after the business with the Sontarans; he'd been really taken with the Time Lord and she'd clearly understood how that felt. She hadn't mocked him for wanting to know more about the Doctor, but she had warned him that knowing the Doctor could be a double-edged sword.
"Don't get me wrong, Ross, travelling with him is a life-changing experience, but it can be dangerous as well as fun, and people get hurt."
"Like Ms Noble," he said softly, remembering the feisty, redheaded woman whom he'd met so briefly. After the business with the Daleks and Davros moving the planets, he'd asked Dr Jones about her friend, and she'd gone very quiet and still, an expression of such sorrow on her face that he'd felt guilty about asking, thinking she must have died. When Dr Jones had told him what had happened to Donna, he had felt devastated on her behalf.
She nodded. "Like Donna."
He pushed such thoughts aside now, certain that nothing bad could happen today.
* * * * * *
Four hours later, relative time
Martha was working in her UNIT lab, logging the reconnaissance information she'd gathered when an all-too-familiar sound echoed through the room and a miniature whirlwind swirled her paperwork about.
She straightened up as the blue Police Box settled into existence in the corner and waited. After a few moments the door opened with its usual creak and she saw the Doctor framed in the doorway, another figure cradled in his arms.
"Oh my god!" she exclaimed as she recognised that he was carrying Ross Jenkins. "What the hell happened?" She hurried over and helped the Doctor to carry him through into the infirmary next door.
"I'm sorry, Martha, I really am," the Time Lord said, his voice husky.
"Is he dead?" she demanded, sliding two fingers into the collar of his uniform to find his pulse.
"No - not yet."
"Well he's not dying on my watch!" she snapped. "Tell me what happened." She hurried to wash her hands, then pulled on some latex gloves.
"I took him to see the Frozen Castles of the Ice Warriors," he said.
"We went there," she said, remembering all too clearly the long trip that had started with the Italian Renaissance and ended in the English village of Creighton Mere with an alien-infested well.
The Doctor nodded, a hollow expression on his face. "I remembered how much you'd enjoyed it, and I thought Ross would too, especially with him being an active lad - "
"What went wrong?" asked Martha as she swiftly began undressing Ross.
"We were snowboarding and he fell into a tree well."
"What's a tree well?" she asked as she wheeled the bed over to the X-ray machine. It was the latest one available, designed so that she could scan someone and then project the images onto a nearby screen, which saved time as there was no wait for the images to be processed onto film.
"It's an area of loose snow that's typically found surrounding a tree after a heavy snowfall. They can be a bit of an issue if you're skiing or snowboarding off-piste." He rubbed a hand across his face. "They're pretty dangerous as they're practically impossible to get out of by yourself. The one Ross fell into was about 15 feet deep and it took me half an hour to get him out, I had to do it by myself because he hit his head when he fell in, and was knocked out straight away."
"Were you even wearing helmets?" Martha asked, her tone sharp and angry as she began to dress the various gashes across Ross' arms and chest, having first bandaged his head.
The Doctor winced at her tone, even though he knew her anger was justified. "Yes."
"Well that's something, I suppose," she said grudgingly.
"Will he be okay?"
Martha looked up at him and saw that he looked genuinely upset, and remembered how he'd reacted when he'd thought Ross had been killed by the Sontarans. "I don't know for sure," she answered. "It's too early to tell what, if any, damage has been done to his brain. Once he's conscious I'll have a better idea. You can come back and see him in a couple of days, if you like."
He nodded miserably so she relented a little, crossing to where he leaned against the wall, his hands shoved deep into his trouser pockets.
"Come here," she said softly, holding out her arms and he sighed with relief as he wrapped his arms around her, glad that she could still find a hug for him.
"Will it be okay if I stay?" he asked.
"Here?" She craned her neck to look up at him and he loosened his tight grip on her so she could lean back and look up more comfortably.
"Well I didn't think you'd want me to stay with you," he said awkwardly.
"I think I'd rather you stayed with me, actually," she answered.
"What about Tom?" he asked.
Martha shrugged. "He's away again. I saw him for about a week after the planets were moved, but he's gone back out to Africa, so I wouldn't mind the company."
If he was surprised by her admission, he didn't show it. "Is it okay to leave the TARDIS in your lab?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I can drive us home. Do you want to go and get some pyjamas or whatever from the TARDIS, and we can go as soon as I've got Ross settled for the night?"
"Thank you." He kissed the top of her head, then disentangled himself. He paused to squeeze Ross' hand, then headed through to Martha's lab.
She soon got the young private settled and after a few minutes the night duty nurse, who had been called in by Martha, appeared to keep any eye on her patient.
"You know the drill, Lesley," she said as she took off her white coat, "ring me if there's any change in his condition."
The older woman nodded. "Of course Dr Jones."
Martha gave her a nod, then walked through to her lab to collect her things.
* * * * * *
The next day
Martha was called in to work just after midnight with the news that Ross had woken up. She left the Doctor sleeping in her spare room, a hastily written note placed on top of his suit where she knew he'd find it. Since she knew he didn't sleep much, there was a chance he'd wake before she returned and she didn't want him to worry about her absence.
She parked outside the building that housed the infirmary, her lab and her office, and hurried inside.
"How is he?" she asked Lesley as soon as she entered the infirmary.
"Asking for you and the Doctor," answered the nurse, "I don't know if he's forgotten you're the doctor."
Martha gave her a nod, then crossed to Ross' bed. "Hello," she said softly. "How are you feeling?"
"Pretty horrible," he answered.
She pulled a pen torch from the pocket of her white coat and examined his eyes. "Can you remember your name?" she asked.
"Ross Jenkins."
"Age?"
"22."
"And do you remember how you came to be injured?" she asked, pocketing the torch and picking up the clipboard containing his notes.
He looked away, clearly ashamed. "I went with the Doctor," he said. "We were snowboarding after seeing the Frozen Castles of the Ice Warriors."
"Good," she murmured, making some notes.
"Good?" he asked, sounding surprised.
Martha looked up. "I mean it's good that you can remember," she said. "There's a good chance that your brain hasn't been damaged if you're able to recall the accident."
"Does that mean I can go?" he asked, suddenly hopeful.
"Easy tiger," she laughed. "You need to stay in for observation, and you need rest. You can't go back on active duty for at least a week."
"A week?" Ross asked, sounding horrified. "But - "
"No buts," Martha said, sounding stern now.
"But - " he began again.
"Private Jenkins, you can count yourself lucky that you escaped relatively unscathed from your trip with the Time Lord. A week in bed is a small price to pay compared to the consequences you might have been forced to endure." Her expression was as stern as her tone now. "You could have been killed, or disabled by that crash. As it is, you suffered a concussion, two broken ribs, and a number of contusions. I'd say you got off lightly."
"Yes ma'am," he answered, his eyes downcast and his tone meek. "I'm sorry, ma'am."
She perched on the edge of his bed, and he looked up in surprise to find her expression was softer now.
"I didn't tell you, did I, that I was only a year older than you when I went off on my first trip in the TARDIS? He dazzled me, just as he's dazzled you - I think half the time he doesn't even realise that he has that effect on people. And most of the time, he doesn't intend people to get hurt, but he can be a bit thoughtless or careless of other people because he forgets we don't have superior Time Lord brains or reflexes. I know you idolise the Doctor, but you have to remember that there are always consequences to travelling with him. Sometimes they're good consequences, but sometimes they're not."
"Do you regret it?" he asked softly, something he'd never dared to ask before.
Martha shook her head. "I had some horrible experiences," she said, "things I wouldn't want to go through again, but I came out of them stronger and wiser, and I had some good experiences too."
She slid back off the bed, returning to her brisk, professional manner. "Right, Private, you need to get some rest, and I'll see you again in the morning."
He gave her a slightly shaky salute. "Ma'am."
She smiled gently at him. "Go to sleep, Ross."
He settled back on his pillows and watched Martha walk over to the nurse's desk where she exchanged a few quiet words, before she went out. He knew he was lucky that she genuinely cared about him, and that she wasn't some stuffy, boring quack. He'd had a bit of a crush on her when they'd first met, but it had passed, as crushes do, and now he just felt a great deal of affection and quiet respect for Martha.
Title: Actions and Consequences
Author: Persiflage_1
Characters/Pairings: Martha Jones, Tenth Doctor, Ross Jenkins
Rating: G
Spoilers: The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky, Wishing Well - Trevor Baxendale
Summary: Post-S4 Pte Ross Jenkins' further encounters with a Time Lord and his former companion.
Disclaimer: I occasionally wish that I did own it!
Author Notes: Some time ago the DW Random Pairing Generator gave me two Ross-related prompts: Tenth Doctor / Private Ross Jenkins / the follies of youth and Private Ross Jenkins / Martha Jones / dealing with the consequences, and I decided to combine them into one story.
~~~~~~
"Ross Jenkins, you're alive!" exclaimed a loud voice, startling the young private who was sitting alone in the UNIT HQ canteen, eating a late lunch. He looked up and saw the Doctor, Dr Jones' friend, standing a few feet away, with an enormous pleased grin on his face.
He got up and saluted, ignoring the wince this earned him. "Yes sir."
The Doctor strode over, holding out a hand. "That's excellent news!" he said, as he shook hands. "I thought you'd died."
The grin was gone now, a sober expression on the Time Lord's face, and Ross rushed to explain.
"No sir, I was just stunned by the blast from the Sontarans because I was shielded by the wall that I was looking around. They think I was out for about four hours after I got hit." His own expression sobered. "I came to in a corridor full of dead bodies."
The Doctor reached out and clasped the young man's shoulders. "And that's never an easy sight to deal with," he said softly, a distant expression on his face.
"At least I woke up," answered Ross, just as softly.
"And I'm very glad you did," replied the Doctor, sounding and looking more cheerful again.
"Thank you sir."
"Now, now, less of the sir," admonished the Time Lord.
"Are you looking for Mar- Dr Jones?" asked Ross.
"Am I that transparent?"
"Well, I didn't think you'd come to see me," he answered, grinning a bit cheekily. "I don't think she's back yet."
"Back?" asked the Doctor.
"She's been out doing some reconnaissance," explained Ross.
"Oh. Well never mind. What are you up to Ross, besides eating your lunch?"
"Nothing. I'm off duty now until tomorrow morning."
"Yeah? Fancy a quick trip then?" He winked at the startled expression on the young man's face.
"What, in the TARDIS?" asked Ross, sounding disbelieving.
"Well I wasn't suggesting a jeep trip," answered the Doctor. "No offence, but after last time - "
Ross snorted with laughter. "None taken. Okay then, I'd love a trip."
"Excellent!" exclaimed the Doctor, grinning again, his hands shoved into his trouser pockets. "Allons-y."
Ross grabbed the apple from his tray and shoved it into his pocket, then hurried after the Time Lord who was practically bouncing along the corridor now, like a puppy about to be taken out for a walk.
"So where are we going?" asked Ross, curiously as the Doctor held open a door for him and gestured at the tall blue box sitting incongruously in the corner of Dr Jones' lab.
"Anywhere, anywhen," answered the Time Lord, with another expansive grin. "That's for me to know and you to find out when we get there." He hurried forward and unlocked the door of the ship, then gestured for Ross to go first.
"Wow!" He'd barely taken two steps inside the TARDIS when he stopped to stare up at the high, arching ceiling, taking in the gently glowing light and the weird, branch-like structures here and there.
"Aren't you going to say it then?" asked the Doctor, moving past him.
He sounded disappointed, Ross thought, as if he'd been denied something he'd anticipated. "It's huge," he observed.
The Doctor's face fell. "Aw, go on, say it," he begged, almost pouting.
Ross rolled his eyes. "It's bigger on the inside."
The Time Lord bounced away towards the central column, a grin splitting his face again. "That's my boy!" he exclaimed.
Ross followed more slowly, shaking his head slightly. Dr Jones had talked to him quite a bit about the Doctor after the business with the Sontarans; he'd been really taken with the Time Lord and she'd clearly understood how that felt. She hadn't mocked him for wanting to know more about the Doctor, but she had warned him that knowing the Doctor could be a double-edged sword.
"Don't get me wrong, Ross, travelling with him is a life-changing experience, but it can be dangerous as well as fun, and people get hurt."
"Like Ms Noble," he said softly, remembering the feisty, redheaded woman whom he'd met so briefly. After the business with the Daleks and Davros moving the planets, he'd asked Dr Jones about her friend, and she'd gone very quiet and still, an expression of such sorrow on her face that he'd felt guilty about asking, thinking she must have died. When Dr Jones had told him what had happened to Donna, he had felt devastated on her behalf.
She nodded. "Like Donna."
He pushed such thoughts aside now, certain that nothing bad could happen today.
* * * * * *
Four hours later, relative time
Martha was working in her UNIT lab, logging the reconnaissance information she'd gathered when an all-too-familiar sound echoed through the room and a miniature whirlwind swirled her paperwork about.
She straightened up as the blue Police Box settled into existence in the corner and waited. After a few moments the door opened with its usual creak and she saw the Doctor framed in the doorway, another figure cradled in his arms.
"Oh my god!" she exclaimed as she recognised that he was carrying Ross Jenkins. "What the hell happened?" She hurried over and helped the Doctor to carry him through into the infirmary next door.
"I'm sorry, Martha, I really am," the Time Lord said, his voice husky.
"Is he dead?" she demanded, sliding two fingers into the collar of his uniform to find his pulse.
"No - not yet."
"Well he's not dying on my watch!" she snapped. "Tell me what happened." She hurried to wash her hands, then pulled on some latex gloves.
"I took him to see the Frozen Castles of the Ice Warriors," he said.
"We went there," she said, remembering all too clearly the long trip that had started with the Italian Renaissance and ended in the English village of Creighton Mere with an alien-infested well.
The Doctor nodded, a hollow expression on his face. "I remembered how much you'd enjoyed it, and I thought Ross would too, especially with him being an active lad - "
"What went wrong?" asked Martha as she swiftly began undressing Ross.
"We were snowboarding and he fell into a tree well."
"What's a tree well?" she asked as she wheeled the bed over to the X-ray machine. It was the latest one available, designed so that she could scan someone and then project the images onto a nearby screen, which saved time as there was no wait for the images to be processed onto film.
"It's an area of loose snow that's typically found surrounding a tree after a heavy snowfall. They can be a bit of an issue if you're skiing or snowboarding off-piste." He rubbed a hand across his face. "They're pretty dangerous as they're practically impossible to get out of by yourself. The one Ross fell into was about 15 feet deep and it took me half an hour to get him out, I had to do it by myself because he hit his head when he fell in, and was knocked out straight away."
"Were you even wearing helmets?" Martha asked, her tone sharp and angry as she began to dress the various gashes across Ross' arms and chest, having first bandaged his head.
The Doctor winced at her tone, even though he knew her anger was justified. "Yes."
"Well that's something, I suppose," she said grudgingly.
"Will he be okay?"
Martha looked up at him and saw that he looked genuinely upset, and remembered how he'd reacted when he'd thought Ross had been killed by the Sontarans. "I don't know for sure," she answered. "It's too early to tell what, if any, damage has been done to his brain. Once he's conscious I'll have a better idea. You can come back and see him in a couple of days, if you like."
He nodded miserably so she relented a little, crossing to where he leaned against the wall, his hands shoved deep into his trouser pockets.
"Come here," she said softly, holding out her arms and he sighed with relief as he wrapped his arms around her, glad that she could still find a hug for him.
"Will it be okay if I stay?" he asked.
"Here?" She craned her neck to look up at him and he loosened his tight grip on her so she could lean back and look up more comfortably.
"Well I didn't think you'd want me to stay with you," he said awkwardly.
"I think I'd rather you stayed with me, actually," she answered.
"What about Tom?" he asked.
Martha shrugged. "He's away again. I saw him for about a week after the planets were moved, but he's gone back out to Africa, so I wouldn't mind the company."
If he was surprised by her admission, he didn't show it. "Is it okay to leave the TARDIS in your lab?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I can drive us home. Do you want to go and get some pyjamas or whatever from the TARDIS, and we can go as soon as I've got Ross settled for the night?"
"Thank you." He kissed the top of her head, then disentangled himself. He paused to squeeze Ross' hand, then headed through to Martha's lab.
She soon got the young private settled and after a few minutes the night duty nurse, who had been called in by Martha, appeared to keep any eye on her patient.
"You know the drill, Lesley," she said as she took off her white coat, "ring me if there's any change in his condition."
The older woman nodded. "Of course Dr Jones."
Martha gave her a nod, then walked through to her lab to collect her things.
* * * * * *
The next day
Martha was called in to work just after midnight with the news that Ross had woken up. She left the Doctor sleeping in her spare room, a hastily written note placed on top of his suit where she knew he'd find it. Since she knew he didn't sleep much, there was a chance he'd wake before she returned and she didn't want him to worry about her absence.
She parked outside the building that housed the infirmary, her lab and her office, and hurried inside.
"How is he?" she asked Lesley as soon as she entered the infirmary.
"Asking for you and the Doctor," answered the nurse, "I don't know if he's forgotten you're the doctor."
Martha gave her a nod, then crossed to Ross' bed. "Hello," she said softly. "How are you feeling?"
"Pretty horrible," he answered.
She pulled a pen torch from the pocket of her white coat and examined his eyes. "Can you remember your name?" she asked.
"Ross Jenkins."
"Age?"
"22."
"And do you remember how you came to be injured?" she asked, pocketing the torch and picking up the clipboard containing his notes.
He looked away, clearly ashamed. "I went with the Doctor," he said. "We were snowboarding after seeing the Frozen Castles of the Ice Warriors."
"Good," she murmured, making some notes.
"Good?" he asked, sounding surprised.
Martha looked up. "I mean it's good that you can remember," she said. "There's a good chance that your brain hasn't been damaged if you're able to recall the accident."
"Does that mean I can go?" he asked, suddenly hopeful.
"Easy tiger," she laughed. "You need to stay in for observation, and you need rest. You can't go back on active duty for at least a week."
"A week?" Ross asked, sounding horrified. "But - "
"No buts," Martha said, sounding stern now.
"But - " he began again.
"Private Jenkins, you can count yourself lucky that you escaped relatively unscathed from your trip with the Time Lord. A week in bed is a small price to pay compared to the consequences you might have been forced to endure." Her expression was as stern as her tone now. "You could have been killed, or disabled by that crash. As it is, you suffered a concussion, two broken ribs, and a number of contusions. I'd say you got off lightly."
"Yes ma'am," he answered, his eyes downcast and his tone meek. "I'm sorry, ma'am."
She perched on the edge of his bed, and he looked up in surprise to find her expression was softer now.
"I didn't tell you, did I, that I was only a year older than you when I went off on my first trip in the TARDIS? He dazzled me, just as he's dazzled you - I think half the time he doesn't even realise that he has that effect on people. And most of the time, he doesn't intend people to get hurt, but he can be a bit thoughtless or careless of other people because he forgets we don't have superior Time Lord brains or reflexes. I know you idolise the Doctor, but you have to remember that there are always consequences to travelling with him. Sometimes they're good consequences, but sometimes they're not."
"Do you regret it?" he asked softly, something he'd never dared to ask before.
Martha shook her head. "I had some horrible experiences," she said, "things I wouldn't want to go through again, but I came out of them stronger and wiser, and I had some good experiences too."
She slid back off the bed, returning to her brisk, professional manner. "Right, Private, you need to get some rest, and I'll see you again in the morning."
He gave her a slightly shaky salute. "Ma'am."
She smiled gently at him. "Go to sleep, Ross."
He settled back on his pillows and watched Martha walk over to the nurse's desk where she exchanged a few quiet words, before she went out. He knew he was lucky that she genuinely cared about him, and that she wasn't some stuffy, boring quack. He'd had a bit of a crush on her when they'd first met, but it had passed, as crushes do, and now he just felt a great deal of affection and quiet respect for Martha.