30 Days with Martha Jones: Celebrate
Who_Daily Link: < a href="http://persiflage-1.livejournal.com/196185.html">30 Days with Martha Jones: Celebrate by < lj user=persiflage_1> (Characters: Martha Jones, Sergeant Benton, Others | Rating: PG-13 | Spoilers: None)
Title: 30 Days with Martha Jones: Celebrate
Author: Persiflage_1
Characters/Pairings: Martha Jones, Sergeant Benton, Other characters
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None
Summary: 30 Days in the life of Martha Jones
Disclaimer: I occasionally wish that I did own it!
Author Notes: I signed up to do mini_nanowrimo this year, and snagged 30 random prompts from doctorwho_100 which will form the basis of the 30 fics I write. Each fic will feature Martha and at least one other Whoniverse character, and the prompt will be included in the title of the fic.
Index Post
This is a direct continuation of Colourful
~~~~~~
When Martha and the tenth incarnation of the Doctor returned to the party an hour later, Jack immediately noticed that the Time Lord looked happier, and when Sarah Jane appeared out of the throng to greet him, his expression brightened still further.
"Where's the eleventh one gone?" asked Martha, slipping an arm around Jack's waist as he stood near the door watching Sarah Jane hugging the Doctor.
"I'm not sure," he answered, "but he said he wouldn't go without saying goodbye to you." He put an arm around her shoulders. "What was up with our Doc?"
"He's just lost someone," she told him.
He frowned. "That never gets easier."
"I know."
Before they could continue their conversation, an interruption arrived in the shape of an older man. "Sergeant Benton!" she exclaimed with a broad grin.
He grinned just as broadly, then gave her a salute. "Hello Dr Jones."
"You don't haven't to salute me," she assured him, stepping forward to give him a hug. "I'm glad you could make it."
He pulled a wry face. "I wouldn't have dared to miss it," he told her. "Nor wanted to, either. It's good to see so many familiar faces here, and even better to be here to celebrate the Brigadier's 80th birthday."
Martha introduced him to Jack, then asked, "Have you said hello to the Brigadier yet?"
He shook his head. "Haven't had a chance yet, miss, I mean Doctor, not with so many here."
"Come on then, let's go and brave the horde." She squeezed Jack's hand, then took Benton's arm and walked him towards the spot where the Brigadier was holding court like a genial king.
"Did you organise this, miss?" asked Benton.
Martha laughed. "Not me, I wouldn't have had time. I've been working part time down in Cardiff with Torchwood until this week. Colonel Mace was in charge, with lots of privates to run around doing the fetching and carrying and what-not."
The sergeant laughed softly. "That's the best kind of organising, I reckon."
"Delegating definitely makes things less back-breaking, but you still have the stress of keeping everyone on track."
They had reached the Brigadier's seat, and his face immediately lit up in delight at the sight of his old sergeant.
"Sergeant Benton!" he exclaimed, then got to his feet carefully and clapped Benton on the back with one hand, while shaking hands with the other.
Martha exchanged a grin with Doris, both of them feeling that if the encounter between the two men had been more private they might have dared to hug each other, stiff upper lip or not.
The Brigadier settled back into his chair and Sergeant Benton found a seat nearby, then began an earnest conversation, so Martha checked whether either man or Doris needed anything, then she looked around for Sarah Jane. She spotted the older woman talking to Jack and the tenth incarnation of the Doctor, so she went to join them.
"There you are!" exclaimed Sarah Jane. "I was beginning to think I'd missed you."
"Nope, I'm still here," Martha answered, accepting a hug from the older woman, then allowing the Doctor to wrap an arm around her shoulders.
"Good," said Sarah Jane in a satisfied tone.
"Have you said hello to Sergeant Benton yet?" asked the young doctor of Sarah Jane and her Doctor.
"No," they answered, almost simultaneously.
"I left him talking to the Brig," Martha told them.
"Dr Jones, are you trying to get rid of us?" asked Sarah Jane teasingly.
She gave the older woman a surprised look. "No, I just thought you'd both want to say hello to an old friend."
"I do," the Doctor said and Sarah Jane nodded. He offered her his arm, and they moved away together.
Almost immediately after they'd gone, the eleventh incarnation peeled himself away from the wall against which he'd been leaning unnoticed, and moved to join Martha and Jack.
"How do you two fancy a spin in the TARDIS?" he asked, sliding one arm around Martha and the other around Jack.
"Right now?" asked Jack, slightly surprised.
"After the party," suggested the Doctor. "I take it you're planning on staying over with Martha tonight?"
"That's the plan," Martha agreed.
"So why don't we pop off somewhere pleasant, and I'll get you back by morning? I'll even drop you off directly, Jack, and then I can bring Martha back home." He dipped his head and nuzzled the side of Martha's neck.
"Sounds good to me," she murmured, feeling a pleasant shiver run through her body.
"You have no idea how weird it feels to see you doing things like that," Jack said quietly.
"Like what?" asked the Doctor, lifting his head to look at Jack.
"Kissing Martha, or whatever. I'm so used to your tenth self almost constantly hiding his feelings."
The eleventh Doctor straightened up properly his arm still around Martha. "My tenth self was a bit of an idiot where you and his other companions are concerned," he said. "He shouldn't have pushed you away all the time, and he should definitely have had more sense where you and Martha are concerned."
Before the eleventh Doctor could continue to lament his earlier self's misdemeanours, a voice spoke behind them. "Is this a private party or can anyone come in?"
"Ace!" exclaimed Martha, pleased. She turned and grinned at the other woman, her eyes widening when she saw that Ace was wearing a dress that wouldn't have looked out of place in the 18th century. "Don't tell me you rode your bike in that?" she asked, disbelievingly.
"No way!" answered Ace, apparently shocked at the suggestion. "So who are your mates?"
"This is the Doctor, the eleventh incarnation," she clarified, "and this is Captain Jack Harkness. Jack, this is Ace McShane, she was originally a companion to the seventh incarnation."
"I remember," purred Jack. "You've certainly grown up since I last saw you a few weeks ago."
"Here we go," murmured Martha in the Doctor's ear.
"I give him five minutes before he has her on the dance floor," said the Time Lord.
"Bet he has her there in less than two," answered the young doctor with a smirk.
"Stakes?" asked the Doctor.
Martha pulled his head down to whisper in his ear, smirking at the startled look on his face when she released him.
"You're on," he told her.
A minute later, she was grinning in triumph as Jack led Ace onto the dance floor, having briefly paused for Ace to greet the Brigadier.
"When do you want to collect your 'winnings'?" asked the Doctor, making air quotes around the last word.
"Not just yet," Martha answered, "anticipation is fun, after all."
He nuzzled the side of her neck. "You've clearly learnt a lot from being with Jack," he observed.
"I do believe you're right, Mr Smith," she answered. "Are you going to dance with me then?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
He took her hand and led her towards the dance floor where Jack and Ace were dancing very close, and the tenth incarnation of the Doctor was dancing less closely with Sarah Jane. The latter grinned at Martha and the eleventh incarnation, but the tenth's eyes bulged when he saw the young doctor and his older self.
"I think someone's jealous," the eleventh Doctor said quietly in Martha's ear.
"Are you - is he - going to do anything about it though?" she asked.
"Wait and see," he answered, smirking a little.
"Tease," she said, swiping at his arm.
"Takes one to know one," he retorted.
"Hmm." She allowed him to pull her closer, enjoying the sensation of him holding her and the fluid way his body moved with hers as they danced.
"Can I ask you something?" she asked after a few minutes.
"Anything," he answered. "Absolutely anything."
"When I met Ace the other day she said that your eight self had mentioned meeting me, and I've recently met your second, third and seventh selves as well, so why did your tenth self never say anything about it? I mean, that's four other, younger, incarnations in the space of a few weeks."
"I couldn't risk causing a paradox," he said. "When my tenth self met you, it hadn't happened yet for you, and although my earlier selves knew you were working with UNIT and Torchwood, they didn't know what had led you to join UNIT. As the tenth incarnation, I couldn't risk saying or doing anything that would prevent you from doing whatever led you to the decision to join UNIT."
"So your tenth self recommended me to UNIT after he rewound that year, knowing I'd joined UNIT and making it a foregone conclusion?" she asked. "I never had any choice in the matter."
"No," he said forcefully. He stopped dancing and led her aside to sit at a corner table where they could talk more easily. "You've always had a choice. And there was no guarantee that UNIT would decide to employ you, or when you would join." He clasped her hands in one of his and tilted her chin up with the other so that he could look her in the eyes. "Do you know how many centuries I waited to meet you properly? And how frustrating it was, to keep having fleeting encounters with you and not be able to say anything because I wasn't the right person yet? And then when I was the right age, I still couldn't say anything because I had to wait still longer for you to travel with me and then leave me."
He dropped her gaze and looked down at their clasped hands. "And it was so difficult to ask you to travel with me, knowing from the outset that you would be leaving far sooner than I would have liked."
"Is that why you kept telling me it was 'just one trip', you were giving me the opportunity to leave so I could go and join UNIT?"
He shook his head. "I was trying to stop myself getting too attached, knowing that you would be leaving me so soon. The knowledge that I would be meeting you again after you stopped travelling with me was all that kept me from trying to talk you into staying with me that day when you told me you were getting out."
"This timey-wimey stuff hurts my head sometimes," she said ruefully.
"I know." He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers. "I think you're one of the most amazing people I've ever met," he said softly, "and I'm so glad that you're still in my life." He dipped his head for a quick kiss. "Now let's enjoy the rest of this party, eh?"
"Okay." They got up and Martha hugged him, before they returned to the dance floor.
She was just wondering where Jack and Ace had got to, when a new voice spoke behind her.
"May I cut in?"
Martha looked around, startled, and gaped a bit at the sight of the Doctor's twelfth incarnation standing behind her.
"Doctor! I wasn't expecting you to be here."
"I wasn't either," he answered, holding out his arms and smiling when she stepped into them to hug him. "But now I am here, and I could do with your help, if you don't mind?" He looked from Martha to his eleventh self.
"You're not going to run off with her, are you?" he asked.
The older Doctor shook his head. "I just need to borrow her for a little while, a bit of a medical situation."
The younger Doctor nodded. "Good, because we've already got a date."
"I know, I remember." He looked at Martha. "Would you mind?"
"Of course not," she answered promptly. "A doctor is always on call, after all."
"Good girl." He nodded to his younger self, then took Martha's hand and led her outside the drill hall.
To be continued tomorrow…
Title: 30 Days with Martha Jones: Celebrate
Author: Persiflage_1
Characters/Pairings: Martha Jones, Sergeant Benton, Other characters
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None
Summary: 30 Days in the life of Martha Jones
Disclaimer: I occasionally wish that I did own it!
Author Notes: I signed up to do mini_nanowrimo this year, and snagged 30 random prompts from doctorwho_100 which will form the basis of the 30 fics I write. Each fic will feature Martha and at least one other Whoniverse character, and the prompt will be included in the title of the fic.
Index Post
This is a direct continuation of Colourful
~~~~~~
When Martha and the tenth incarnation of the Doctor returned to the party an hour later, Jack immediately noticed that the Time Lord looked happier, and when Sarah Jane appeared out of the throng to greet him, his expression brightened still further.
"Where's the eleventh one gone?" asked Martha, slipping an arm around Jack's waist as he stood near the door watching Sarah Jane hugging the Doctor.
"I'm not sure," he answered, "but he said he wouldn't go without saying goodbye to you." He put an arm around her shoulders. "What was up with our Doc?"
"He's just lost someone," she told him.
He frowned. "That never gets easier."
"I know."
Before they could continue their conversation, an interruption arrived in the shape of an older man. "Sergeant Benton!" she exclaimed with a broad grin.
He grinned just as broadly, then gave her a salute. "Hello Dr Jones."
"You don't haven't to salute me," she assured him, stepping forward to give him a hug. "I'm glad you could make it."
He pulled a wry face. "I wouldn't have dared to miss it," he told her. "Nor wanted to, either. It's good to see so many familiar faces here, and even better to be here to celebrate the Brigadier's 80th birthday."
Martha introduced him to Jack, then asked, "Have you said hello to the Brigadier yet?"
He shook his head. "Haven't had a chance yet, miss, I mean Doctor, not with so many here."
"Come on then, let's go and brave the horde." She squeezed Jack's hand, then took Benton's arm and walked him towards the spot where the Brigadier was holding court like a genial king.
"Did you organise this, miss?" asked Benton.
Martha laughed. "Not me, I wouldn't have had time. I've been working part time down in Cardiff with Torchwood until this week. Colonel Mace was in charge, with lots of privates to run around doing the fetching and carrying and what-not."
The sergeant laughed softly. "That's the best kind of organising, I reckon."
"Delegating definitely makes things less back-breaking, but you still have the stress of keeping everyone on track."
They had reached the Brigadier's seat, and his face immediately lit up in delight at the sight of his old sergeant.
"Sergeant Benton!" he exclaimed, then got to his feet carefully and clapped Benton on the back with one hand, while shaking hands with the other.
Martha exchanged a grin with Doris, both of them feeling that if the encounter between the two men had been more private they might have dared to hug each other, stiff upper lip or not.
The Brigadier settled back into his chair and Sergeant Benton found a seat nearby, then began an earnest conversation, so Martha checked whether either man or Doris needed anything, then she looked around for Sarah Jane. She spotted the older woman talking to Jack and the tenth incarnation of the Doctor, so she went to join them.
"There you are!" exclaimed Sarah Jane. "I was beginning to think I'd missed you."
"Nope, I'm still here," Martha answered, accepting a hug from the older woman, then allowing the Doctor to wrap an arm around her shoulders.
"Good," said Sarah Jane in a satisfied tone.
"Have you said hello to Sergeant Benton yet?" asked the young doctor of Sarah Jane and her Doctor.
"No," they answered, almost simultaneously.
"I left him talking to the Brig," Martha told them.
"Dr Jones, are you trying to get rid of us?" asked Sarah Jane teasingly.
She gave the older woman a surprised look. "No, I just thought you'd both want to say hello to an old friend."
"I do," the Doctor said and Sarah Jane nodded. He offered her his arm, and they moved away together.
Almost immediately after they'd gone, the eleventh incarnation peeled himself away from the wall against which he'd been leaning unnoticed, and moved to join Martha and Jack.
"How do you two fancy a spin in the TARDIS?" he asked, sliding one arm around Martha and the other around Jack.
"Right now?" asked Jack, slightly surprised.
"After the party," suggested the Doctor. "I take it you're planning on staying over with Martha tonight?"
"That's the plan," Martha agreed.
"So why don't we pop off somewhere pleasant, and I'll get you back by morning? I'll even drop you off directly, Jack, and then I can bring Martha back home." He dipped his head and nuzzled the side of Martha's neck.
"Sounds good to me," she murmured, feeling a pleasant shiver run through her body.
"You have no idea how weird it feels to see you doing things like that," Jack said quietly.
"Like what?" asked the Doctor, lifting his head to look at Jack.
"Kissing Martha, or whatever. I'm so used to your tenth self almost constantly hiding his feelings."
The eleventh Doctor straightened up properly his arm still around Martha. "My tenth self was a bit of an idiot where you and his other companions are concerned," he said. "He shouldn't have pushed you away all the time, and he should definitely have had more sense where you and Martha are concerned."
Before the eleventh Doctor could continue to lament his earlier self's misdemeanours, a voice spoke behind them. "Is this a private party or can anyone come in?"
"Ace!" exclaimed Martha, pleased. She turned and grinned at the other woman, her eyes widening when she saw that Ace was wearing a dress that wouldn't have looked out of place in the 18th century. "Don't tell me you rode your bike in that?" she asked, disbelievingly.
"No way!" answered Ace, apparently shocked at the suggestion. "So who are your mates?"
"This is the Doctor, the eleventh incarnation," she clarified, "and this is Captain Jack Harkness. Jack, this is Ace McShane, she was originally a companion to the seventh incarnation."
"I remember," purred Jack. "You've certainly grown up since I last saw you a few weeks ago."
"Here we go," murmured Martha in the Doctor's ear.
"I give him five minutes before he has her on the dance floor," said the Time Lord.
"Bet he has her there in less than two," answered the young doctor with a smirk.
"Stakes?" asked the Doctor.
Martha pulled his head down to whisper in his ear, smirking at the startled look on his face when she released him.
"You're on," he told her.
A minute later, she was grinning in triumph as Jack led Ace onto the dance floor, having briefly paused for Ace to greet the Brigadier.
"When do you want to collect your 'winnings'?" asked the Doctor, making air quotes around the last word.
"Not just yet," Martha answered, "anticipation is fun, after all."
He nuzzled the side of her neck. "You've clearly learnt a lot from being with Jack," he observed.
"I do believe you're right, Mr Smith," she answered. "Are you going to dance with me then?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
He took her hand and led her towards the dance floor where Jack and Ace were dancing very close, and the tenth incarnation of the Doctor was dancing less closely with Sarah Jane. The latter grinned at Martha and the eleventh incarnation, but the tenth's eyes bulged when he saw the young doctor and his older self.
"I think someone's jealous," the eleventh Doctor said quietly in Martha's ear.
"Are you - is he - going to do anything about it though?" she asked.
"Wait and see," he answered, smirking a little.
"Tease," she said, swiping at his arm.
"Takes one to know one," he retorted.
"Hmm." She allowed him to pull her closer, enjoying the sensation of him holding her and the fluid way his body moved with hers as they danced.
"Can I ask you something?" she asked after a few minutes.
"Anything," he answered. "Absolutely anything."
"When I met Ace the other day she said that your eight self had mentioned meeting me, and I've recently met your second, third and seventh selves as well, so why did your tenth self never say anything about it? I mean, that's four other, younger, incarnations in the space of a few weeks."
"I couldn't risk causing a paradox," he said. "When my tenth self met you, it hadn't happened yet for you, and although my earlier selves knew you were working with UNIT and Torchwood, they didn't know what had led you to join UNIT. As the tenth incarnation, I couldn't risk saying or doing anything that would prevent you from doing whatever led you to the decision to join UNIT."
"So your tenth self recommended me to UNIT after he rewound that year, knowing I'd joined UNIT and making it a foregone conclusion?" she asked. "I never had any choice in the matter."
"No," he said forcefully. He stopped dancing and led her aside to sit at a corner table where they could talk more easily. "You've always had a choice. And there was no guarantee that UNIT would decide to employ you, or when you would join." He clasped her hands in one of his and tilted her chin up with the other so that he could look her in the eyes. "Do you know how many centuries I waited to meet you properly? And how frustrating it was, to keep having fleeting encounters with you and not be able to say anything because I wasn't the right person yet? And then when I was the right age, I still couldn't say anything because I had to wait still longer for you to travel with me and then leave me."
He dropped her gaze and looked down at their clasped hands. "And it was so difficult to ask you to travel with me, knowing from the outset that you would be leaving far sooner than I would have liked."
"Is that why you kept telling me it was 'just one trip', you were giving me the opportunity to leave so I could go and join UNIT?"
He shook his head. "I was trying to stop myself getting too attached, knowing that you would be leaving me so soon. The knowledge that I would be meeting you again after you stopped travelling with me was all that kept me from trying to talk you into staying with me that day when you told me you were getting out."
"This timey-wimey stuff hurts my head sometimes," she said ruefully.
"I know." He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers. "I think you're one of the most amazing people I've ever met," he said softly, "and I'm so glad that you're still in my life." He dipped his head for a quick kiss. "Now let's enjoy the rest of this party, eh?"
"Okay." They got up and Martha hugged him, before they returned to the dance floor.
She was just wondering where Jack and Ace had got to, when a new voice spoke behind her.
"May I cut in?"
Martha looked around, startled, and gaped a bit at the sight of the Doctor's twelfth incarnation standing behind her.
"Doctor! I wasn't expecting you to be here."
"I wasn't either," he answered, holding out his arms and smiling when she stepped into them to hug him. "But now I am here, and I could do with your help, if you don't mind?" He looked from Martha to his eleventh self.
"You're not going to run off with her, are you?" he asked.
The older Doctor shook his head. "I just need to borrow her for a little while, a bit of a medical situation."
The younger Doctor nodded. "Good, because we've already got a date."
"I know, I remember." He looked at Martha. "Would you mind?"
"Of course not," she answered promptly. "A doctor is always on call, after all."
"Good girl." He nodded to his younger self, then took Martha's hand and led her outside the drill hall.
To be continued tomorrow…