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Doctor Who Fic: It's Like Falling (1/?)
Title: It’s Like Falling (1/?)
Author: dk323
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Ten/Martha, Ten 2.0/Alt!Martha, Rose
Spoilers: Journey’s End
Disclaimer: Don’t own Doctor Who, just playing with its characters.
Summary: The Doctor meets with a psychiatrist, Dr. Martha Jones, per Rose’s request in the alternate universe. Meanwhile in present time, Martha Jones goes on a birthday trip with the Doctor, but as always, nothing goes as planned.
Author’s notes: There is an implication that Rose knew alt!Martha before The Stolen Earth. Let’s just say she was so preoccupied with other things that she forgot to question why Martha looked familiar (because she looked like alt!Martha).
Alternate universe:
“Tell me when it first started please,” She said, after she sat down in her chair and her patient lay down on the couch.
He looked at her oddly, “What did Rose Tyler tell you? How much do you know?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m here as your psychiatrist. Rose just asked if I could assist you. You’ve been having some trouble lately?”
The Doctor sat up on the couch suddenly and looked carefully at this woman who was so familiar to him.
But the Dr. Martha Jones he had known was in another universe. It wasn’t the same, not really.
“You’re on a first name basis with her…why is that?”
“She insisted. Now, please, John Smith, can we get back on topic?”
“No – you know her. There must be a reason why she called on you. I could tell from the way she spoke of you. It wasn’t just meeting your alternate self, she had met you before. Now don’t lie to me.” He said forcefully, staring her down.
Martha looked down to her notes, “This is not what the session is about, Doctor.”
“You know who I am.” He stated.
She looked up, warily giving in, “You’re right. I met Rose and her team from Torchwood when I found myself on the moon. I worked with them to take care of the threat and we returned back to Earth, thankfully. Rose told me to keep in touch. And that’s it really.”
“You should leave. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.” The Doctor told her firmly.
“I’m sorry, but this is my life, and I’ll choose how I’m going to live it. Now if you won’t let me help you, then you better leave.”
Martha stood up, her back to him. She just wanted to go – this was getting frustrating.
“You want to know why Rose wanted me here?”
She turned to look at him, “This is about you – don’t bring others into this.”
He stood up and grabbed her arm, forcing her to face him, “Ever heard of Jack the Ripper, Dr. Martha Jones?”
She looked at the hand holding her arm, then glared up at him, “If that’s just to scare me, then don’t bother.”
“Oh, but it’s true.” He answered emphatically.
“Let go of me, please.” She said, more calmly than she felt.
He did so, but his eyes didn’t leave hers.
“You’ve been having strange visions, is that right?” Martha asked, sitting back down in her chair.
The Doctor paced back and forth, trying not to remember those visions that had been plaguing him.
“I’d rather not talk about it,” He said, shutting himself off.
“They’re clearly bothering you, Doctor. You should talk about it. I promise I won’t judge you.”
The Doctor looked cautiously at her and then went to get a spare chair to sit on.
He sat in front of her and started to talk.
*
“…so you see this man who looks like you? But he’s more like a ghost?”
“Yes, and he always ends up sucking the life out of someone. There’s a bright flash of light and that’s it.”
“Uh huh, and do you have any idea who that someone is?” Martha inquired, tapping her pen on the clipboard.
The Doctor shook his head, ruffling his hair in frustration, “See, that’s what I can’t figure out. But I do know one thing--”
“What’s that?”
“I felt him – the man who resembles me. I could feel his despair – the weight of his loneliness. He was…” He stopped, searching for the right words.
“Doctor?” Martha prodded gently.
He looked straight into her eyes, “He wasn’t me. A part that came loose, maybe. Unintentionally, of course. Martha – promise me. If you ever see him, run. Just run.”
“Why? From what you said he seems harmless…”
The Doctor took her hands in his, “Trust me, I know. I felt it. It was like—it was like a zombie – yes, a zombie.” He grinned at her.
Martha looked at him incredulously, “A zombie.” She repeated.
“Yes! And you know what they’re like.”
“Well, based on what you said, apparently they suck the life out of you.”
“Now will you listen to me? I can’t have you dying on my conscience.”
“Aw, how sweet of you. But again, as far as I know it was only a vision for you, so it may just be inside your head.”
“Yeah, maybe,” The Doctor conceded – if he was honest with himself, he wasn’t sure if the vision would turn real either.
“So, Rose tells me you’re not from around here.” Martha said quietly, though she sounded curious.
He grinned at her – glad to move on to another topic.
“They call me ‘The Oncoming Storm’…” The Doctor started, diving into it.
*
The Doctor was nearly knocked over by the ‘Psychic’ as everyone at Torchwood had deemed him.
“Sorry, John. Oh god. Where’s Rose? I need to see her,” He said quickly, almost hyperventilating.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” The Doctor asked urgently.
The other man just stared at him, unsure how to respond.
“Milligan! Office now.” Rose shouted from a few feet away.
“You’ll find out soon enough. Rose wanted to get the story first before anyone else. Sorry.” He informed him apologetically.
Rose looked sadly at the Doctor as she directed Tom Milligan into her office.
“They call me ‘The Oncoming Storm’…”
*
Our universe:
“Can you imagine – me dancing with Casanova? That was amazing, I loved it.”
The Doctor muttered something unintelligible under his breath as he followed Martha into the TARDIS.
She practically skipped as she walked up the ramp, grinning at him as she looked his way.
“What’s with the face, mister?” Martha asked, noticing his sour expression.
The Doctor tugged on his ear, not answering immediately as he shut the TARDIS doors and headed over to the console to distract himself with button-fiddling.
“Doctor? You chose the place -- I thought you would be excited about it. Didn’t you have a good time?” She said as she took her seat.
He turned his head to look at her, “You spent an awful lot of time with Giacomo Casanova, Martha.”
Martha only shrugged, “It was my birthday. And it’s not everyday you meet someone like Casanova. What’s wrong with that?”
“I – no, nothing’s wrong with that. But what was with that private outing you two had? You looked rather disheveled when you returned. Your dress was ripped…”
Martha blushed, “Had a few drinks – can’t be helped. Really Doctor, what does it matter to you?”
He cleared his throat, “Well, there’s Tom.”
She waved her hand, “He’s very understanding, trust me. We’ve talked it over after he saw me with Jack being his usual charming self. We decided to have an open relationship.”
The Doctor raised his eyebrow, “That’s an interesting development.” He noted.
“Don’t. Just please don’t make anything out of this, Doctor. You’re just a friend. And I can’t go back to the way I was before,” She said, her tone serious.
The Doctor nodded, trying not to show his disappointment, “Right. Just friends though?”
Martha gave him a small smile, “The best of friends.”
He grinned at her.
“And Doctor?”
“Yes, Martha?”
“Thank you for the birthday trip.” She told him with emphasis as she went to hug him.
He returned the hug, taking in her scent. She had put on the perfume he had given her. And it smelled wonderful…
Martha smiled brightly at him as she pulled back and gave him a quick kiss to the cheek.
“Better change out of this dress. You’ll get the TARDIS into the vortex, right? No use sticking around here.”
“Yeah, I’m on it. You look beautiful, by the way.” He said, his dark eyes nearly glowing as he looked at his companion.
“You said that before, but repeated mentions are always welcome.” Martha informed him though he could tell she was still flattered by the compliment.
Before Martha could move to leave the Doctor’s side, two people suddenly appeared a few feet away from them.
“Martha, don’t!” The Doctor admonished her as she rushed over to tend to one of them, who was on the floor groaning in obvious pain.
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I'm quite curious to see where this story will go next.
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I love how if you're not doing crossovers, you're doing inventive pairings. :) And the part with Doctor and Martha in the office where he's describing his 'zombie' murderous spirit is creeeeepy.
You suck at cliffhangers, by the way. Or rather, you suck for cliffhangers. Thank god I have all the rest to enjoy in one go.
You also have my heart forever for the Casanova and *sigh* omgTomMilligan references. <3