Doctor Who Fic: Point Me To The Skies
Title: Point Me To The Skies
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating / Genre: PG, Gen.
Words: 1166
Spoilers: Doctor Who (Tenth Doctor): Up to, and including 3.03 Gridlocked.
Disclaimer: Doctor Who is property of BBC.
Author's Note / Schmoopy Dedication: All mistakes are my own. A Tenth Doctor one-shot for cheekymice, as a tonic against idiot bankers and also for secrethappiness as a tonic against flu and exams.
Summary: "When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me."
~~~
There wasn't much to say after he stopped talking. The city sang above them and they listened quietly together to the voices hanging in the new skies.
Martha wanted to tell him she was sorry, that she wished that she could bring back everything that had been torn away from him. Tell him she'd do anything he asked if it would make it better, because already she knew that she would. But those weren't the right words. Not for this.
"Thank you," she said finally.
The Doctor looked up at her, as if he'd forgotten she was there, a wide expression of bewildered amusement momentarily on his face. "Thank me? What do you want to do that for? "
"- For trusting me. Telling me the truth."
"Oh." He sighed. "Oh. Well. Better out than in, I suppose."
"Can I ask you something?"
The Doctor shrugged softly. He'd told Martha more than he'd ever told anyone before about his home, his family. Oh, he'd dropped hints or answered questions in a roundabout sort of way, even let a few things slip out without thinking every once in a while-
- I was a dad, once-
- But this was different. And he knew what was coming. "Ask away."
"Rose;" Martha said, confirming the Doctor's thoughts. "Who was she?"
"She was-" The Doctor sighed and looked down, trying to find the right words. Rose was… a nineteen year old girl who wore the same oversized earrings as Martha did, braver than brave, an unsung hero, a moody teenager, his raison d'être, so full of life, kindness and sorrow, Bad Wolf, a family, the world he'd lost made anew- gone.
Rose was gone.
But Martha was here. Not replacing her, but here all the same, and listening.
Abruptly, the Doctor stood up and held out his hand.
"Come with me. I'll show you."
~~~
Martha didn't know what she'd expected Rose to look like, but she was fairly certain that the still image of the screen of a young blond girl surrounded by an aura of brilliant gold-white light wasn't it. All the same, there was an unearthly quality about Rose that seems to fit so exactly into the Doctor puzzle it's almost eerie.
"Was she on Gallifrey when it happened?"
"Gallifrey? No, of course not." The Doctor frowned. "Why would she be?"
"But you said-"
"- I met her afterwards. Actually, she was the first person I met afterwards, there were Autons- I blew up her job and she saved me from a close encounter with the Nestene Consciousness. The rest, as they say, is history."
"Oh," said Martha, surprised and a little lost. "I just thought-"
"-What?"
"I don't know. That she was a Time Lord too."
"Just a girl. Human, like you."
"But the light-" Martha said, gesturing to the screen.
"It's not light, it's time. Time runs through a vortex held in the heart of every TARDIS. Rose looked into it."
"Right," Martha laughed a little, more thoughtful words failing to find her. "Like you do."
"Not the cleverest thing she ever did and it almost turned the spacetime continuum inside-out, but she saved lives. And nearly ended others, including her own." The Doctor smiled and pressed a few keys on the console, Rose's picture fading away from the monitor. "Promise me, you won't ever touch it, I think the TARDIS is still a little disgruntled."
Martha grinned and traced her finger across her chest, "Cross my heart."
The Doctor nodded. "Good."
"Besides," Martha continued, sitting down on the battered jump seat, her legs dangling, "I wouldn't know where to begin."
"Well, for starters, you need a gobby mother, a stubborn friend and an enormous truck."
"Then the universe is definitely safe; my mum's a lot of things, but gobby isn't one of them."
"Thank goodness for that," the Doctor replied with a smile as Martha stifled a yawn. "Tired?"
"Do you have a spare sofa squirreled away somewhere in here?" Martha asked hopefully, looking around with doubt at the closed walls of the console room.
"A sofa? I think I can do a little better than that."
~~~
Given that she was in an alien spaceship that's bigger on the inside, Martha shouldn't have been surprised that there was a field with a scattering of hammocks under warm open starry skies within a blink of the console room, but nevertheless there she was, mouth open wide in wonder despite her increasing tiredness. She glanced at the Doctor, not at all surprised to see that he was a enjoying her confusion far too much.
"Okay, this is definitely better than a sofa."
"You'll be safe in here. I'll be around."
"What about you? After all your adventures today, you must be exhausted."
"I'm fine," the Doctor shrugged. "Alien."
"Right. Okay then. Handy."
"Sleep as long you like. Wonderful thing about time machines- you never need an alarm clock," he said, before turning back the way they'd come, "'Night Martha."
Dead on her feet, Martha looked sadly at the lost and lonely man walking away from her.
"Doctor?"
The figure stopped, not turning back, as if he knew what was coming.
"About Rose," Martha continued. The Doctor looked at her, his eyes sadder than ever.
"I know I'm not replacing her," she pressed him gently, "and I know it’s only been a few days since I thought you were some crazy patient running round London taking his clothes off in front of strangers when the nurses weren't looking, but I can tell how much Rose meant to you. I can tell you loved her. And I can tell you need a friend."
"- Martha-"
"- Wonderful thing about time machines," Martha interrupted quickly, careful not to step further over the Doctor's boundaries, "You can visit your friends whenever you want to."
~~~~
Alone under the half-moon, the Doctor walked across the fields until he came to a cliff top, the sound of the sea below him as real as the one it imitated in Bad Wolf Bay. Between Rose and Donna and Donna and Martha, he'd spent so much time here, looking out, trying to come to terms with the loss of his friend, his home. It was only now that was beginning to realise that he wasn't going to be lost forever. Already, the weight of grief had begun to lift and until Martha had sat him down on New Earth, he hadn't even noticed. Too much time alone.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the scene before the Doctor shifted, the bay began to curve around to a lakeshore, the waves melting into ripples. On the horizon, mountains shimmered under the moonlight, the faintest suggestion of a forest at their feet. It felt familiar and comforting, like a memory of home.
The Doctor looked out peacefully at the renewed aspect. The wonderful thing about time machines, he thought, was the possibilities it added to the definition of one trip; new adventures, new eras and maybe, a new hand to hold.
~~~
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating / Genre: PG, Gen.
Words: 1166
Spoilers: Doctor Who (Tenth Doctor): Up to, and including 3.03 Gridlocked.
Disclaimer: Doctor Who is property of BBC.
Author's Note / Schmoopy Dedication: All mistakes are my own. A Tenth Doctor one-shot for cheekymice, as a tonic against idiot bankers and also for secrethappiness as a tonic against flu and exams.
Summary: "When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me."
~~~
There wasn't much to say after he stopped talking. The city sang above them and they listened quietly together to the voices hanging in the new skies.
Martha wanted to tell him she was sorry, that she wished that she could bring back everything that had been torn away from him. Tell him she'd do anything he asked if it would make it better, because already she knew that she would. But those weren't the right words. Not for this.
"Thank you," she said finally.
The Doctor looked up at her, as if he'd forgotten she was there, a wide expression of bewildered amusement momentarily on his face. "Thank me? What do you want to do that for? "
"- For trusting me. Telling me the truth."
"Oh." He sighed. "Oh. Well. Better out than in, I suppose."
"Can I ask you something?"
The Doctor shrugged softly. He'd told Martha more than he'd ever told anyone before about his home, his family. Oh, he'd dropped hints or answered questions in a roundabout sort of way, even let a few things slip out without thinking every once in a while-
- I was a dad, once-
- But this was different. And he knew what was coming. "Ask away."
"Rose;" Martha said, confirming the Doctor's thoughts. "Who was she?"
"She was-" The Doctor sighed and looked down, trying to find the right words. Rose was… a nineteen year old girl who wore the same oversized earrings as Martha did, braver than brave, an unsung hero, a moody teenager, his raison d'être, so full of life, kindness and sorrow, Bad Wolf, a family, the world he'd lost made anew- gone.
Rose was gone.
But Martha was here. Not replacing her, but here all the same, and listening.
Abruptly, the Doctor stood up and held out his hand.
"Come with me. I'll show you."
~~~
Martha didn't know what she'd expected Rose to look like, but she was fairly certain that the still image of the screen of a young blond girl surrounded by an aura of brilliant gold-white light wasn't it. All the same, there was an unearthly quality about Rose that seems to fit so exactly into the Doctor puzzle it's almost eerie.
"Was she on Gallifrey when it happened?"
"Gallifrey? No, of course not." The Doctor frowned. "Why would she be?"
"But you said-"
"- I met her afterwards. Actually, she was the first person I met afterwards, there were Autons- I blew up her job and she saved me from a close encounter with the Nestene Consciousness. The rest, as they say, is history."
"Oh," said Martha, surprised and a little lost. "I just thought-"
"-What?"
"I don't know. That she was a Time Lord too."
"Just a girl. Human, like you."
"But the light-" Martha said, gesturing to the screen.
"It's not light, it's time. Time runs through a vortex held in the heart of every TARDIS. Rose looked into it."
"Right," Martha laughed a little, more thoughtful words failing to find her. "Like you do."
"Not the cleverest thing she ever did and it almost turned the spacetime continuum inside-out, but she saved lives. And nearly ended others, including her own." The Doctor smiled and pressed a few keys on the console, Rose's picture fading away from the monitor. "Promise me, you won't ever touch it, I think the TARDIS is still a little disgruntled."
Martha grinned and traced her finger across her chest, "Cross my heart."
The Doctor nodded. "Good."
"Besides," Martha continued, sitting down on the battered jump seat, her legs dangling, "I wouldn't know where to begin."
"Well, for starters, you need a gobby mother, a stubborn friend and an enormous truck."
"Then the universe is definitely safe; my mum's a lot of things, but gobby isn't one of them."
"Thank goodness for that," the Doctor replied with a smile as Martha stifled a yawn. "Tired?"
"Do you have a spare sofa squirreled away somewhere in here?" Martha asked hopefully, looking around with doubt at the closed walls of the console room.
"A sofa? I think I can do a little better than that."
~~~
Given that she was in an alien spaceship that's bigger on the inside, Martha shouldn't have been surprised that there was a field with a scattering of hammocks under warm open starry skies within a blink of the console room, but nevertheless there she was, mouth open wide in wonder despite her increasing tiredness. She glanced at the Doctor, not at all surprised to see that he was a enjoying her confusion far too much.
"Okay, this is definitely better than a sofa."
"You'll be safe in here. I'll be around."
"What about you? After all your adventures today, you must be exhausted."
"I'm fine," the Doctor shrugged. "Alien."
"Right. Okay then. Handy."
"Sleep as long you like. Wonderful thing about time machines- you never need an alarm clock," he said, before turning back the way they'd come, "'Night Martha."
Dead on her feet, Martha looked sadly at the lost and lonely man walking away from her.
"Doctor?"
The figure stopped, not turning back, as if he knew what was coming.
"About Rose," Martha continued. The Doctor looked at her, his eyes sadder than ever.
"I know I'm not replacing her," she pressed him gently, "and I know it’s only been a few days since I thought you were some crazy patient running round London taking his clothes off in front of strangers when the nurses weren't looking, but I can tell how much Rose meant to you. I can tell you loved her. And I can tell you need a friend."
"- Martha-"
"- Wonderful thing about time machines," Martha interrupted quickly, careful not to step further over the Doctor's boundaries, "You can visit your friends whenever you want to."
~~~~
Alone under the half-moon, the Doctor walked across the fields until he came to a cliff top, the sound of the sea below him as real as the one it imitated in Bad Wolf Bay. Between Rose and Donna and Donna and Martha, he'd spent so much time here, looking out, trying to come to terms with the loss of his friend, his home. It was only now that was beginning to realise that he wasn't going to be lost forever. Already, the weight of grief had begun to lift and until Martha had sat him down on New Earth, he hadn't even noticed. Too much time alone.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the scene before the Doctor shifted, the bay began to curve around to a lakeshore, the waves melting into ripples. On the horizon, mountains shimmered under the moonlight, the faintest suggestion of a forest at their feet. It felt familiar and comforting, like a memory of home.
The Doctor looked out peacefully at the renewed aspect. The wonderful thing about time machines, he thought, was the possibilities it added to the definition of one trip; new adventures, new eras and maybe, a new hand to hold.
~~~