It's Like Falling (5/5)

[dk323]

Title: It’s Like Falling (5/5)

Author: dk323

Rating: PG-13

Characters/Pairings: Nine/Martha, Ten/Martha, Jack, Castiel, surprise character, Archangel Michael

Spoilers: Journey’s End

Disclaimer: Don’t own Doctor Who/Torchwood, just playing with its characters. Supernatural is property of Eric Kripke and The CW. 

Summary: Martha meets the last person she’d ever imagined meeting. The Doctor’s stuck at the Hub. Martha and the Doctor have a talk. In the end, nothing goes the way it should.

Author’s notes: This has been a long time coming, I know. I hope that the 'Previously' part will help refresh your memory on the story. This chapter breaks off from the rest of the story though, so it shouldn't be too hard, I hope, to catch up with the story.

 

 

Also, this was supposed to be the fic with a "happy ending"...it's not so much anymore. I apologize. No prior knowledge of Supernatural is really needed, but it would be helpful if you do, of course. I tried to make it as clear as I could. Castiel's charge who is not addressed by name in the fic is Dean Winchester...and Castiel is so clearly attached to him on an emotional level, it's not even funny. ;-)

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Previously:

 

“Feeling better?” he asked lightly.

 

“Yeah, I think so. But I think it would be best if I don’t see you for a bit.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because that feeling of panic, it’s still there. I’m sure it’ll go away, but I just need some time away from you. I’m sorry.”

 

~ * ~

 

Martha could only smile at him and say, “Don’t get into too much trouble without me, all right?”

 

The Doctor smiled back at her. “I’ll try my best.”

 

She saluted him and left the TARDIS.

 

~ * ~

 

The Doctor couldn’t bring himself to leave Martha’s place. On a whim, he exited his ship only a few minutes after Martha had left.

 

~ * ~

 

Martha stared at the miniature Cupid statue – its hands holding a red heart over its face – on the porch bench.

 

There was a card beside it. She grabbed the card and turned away from the statue to read it.

 

“Jack,” she muttered under her breath when she saw the signature inside of the card.

 

Martha was going to get him for this. She closed her eyes, knowing that she had already made the mistake of turning away. Here goes nothing, she thought.

 

Martha let out a breath and turned back around, and then she was gone.

 

~ * ~

 

The Doctor was a bit worried as to where Martha was since he hadn’t seen her enter her home via the console monitor.

 

Then upon going on to her porch, he noticed the small statue and the card beside it.

 

When he saw who had given it to her, the Doctor looked back at the seemingly innocuous statue.

 

He knew where he had to go. Though he didn’t quite understand Jack’s sense of humor, the Doctor wished he would have least mentioned where – or more like when – in the card.

 

As it were, he had to go to Cardiff now.

 

~ * ~

 

“Ow!” Jack exclaimed as a shoe hit the back of his head.

 

“You shouldn’t have sent that statue to her. I told you not to,” Gwen said sternly, folding her arms across her chest.

 

“I found it funny…” Ianto started, but immediately stopped himself when Gwen directed her glare at him. “Very bad idea. I’m with Gwen.”

 

“I’m going out,” Jack announced as he grabbed his coat.

 

“Why?” Gwen asked.

 

“I have a feeling I’ll be getting a certain visitor,” he said confidently and left the Hub.

 

*

 

Now:

 

“Martha, we have to go,” Jack said.

 

He was standing behind her while she said her goodbye to the man in front of her.

 

“You're leaving then?”

 

“Yeah, I have to. Traveling back in time against my will was not my idea in the first place.”

 

“Oh, don’t deny you didn’t like it,” Jack pointed out.

 

Martha was about to turn around to snap a reply back at him, but the Doctor got to her first.

 

“I wish you would stick around longer. I’ll miss you,” he said resolutely.

 

She shook her head and gave him a small smile. “You’ll see me again. Don’t you remember what I told you?”

 

His blue eyes grew darker as he nodded and then sighed. “But not with this daft, old face. I’ll have regenerated. And I’m never the same, Martha. If there was a way to change things--”

 

“No, stop talking like that. You know better than anyone that you can’t change what’s done when it’s not meant to be tampered with. I met you once and I had my time with you. That’s the way it should be. And you have to make sure to wipe your memory of meeting me now, okay?”

 

The Doctor nodded. “Yeah, I’ll do that. But I only took you on one trip. At least give me a chance to-”

 

Martha cut him off by kissing him on the lips.

 

He returned the kiss and then hugged her tightly.

 

Martha reluctantly pulled away from him. “Don’t make this harder than it already is, okay?” she whispered into his ear.

 

Then she took a deep breath and looked at him. “So, where are you planning to head off to next?”

 

The Doctor shrugged. “No clue. Maybe the shops? Take a break for a bit.”

 

Martha grinned at him. “That’s not you. You were never very fond of taking breaks.”

 

He shrugged, looking thoughtful. “Maybe it's time for a change.”

 

“Martha, there’s someone waiting for you and he’s not a very patient man…” Jack told her.

 

Martha sighed and she gave the Doctor a tight smile. “I’ll see you when I see you, Doctor.”

 

“Wait! I have something for you.”

 

Martha waited as the Doctor went inside of his TARDIS.

 

He came back out with a purple leather bound journal. The cover design featured the same paneling as the TARDIS.

 

“Here you go. I thought maybe you could use it to recount your time with him – me – whatever. And you said purple was your favorite color,”

 

Martha took the journal from his hands and casually turned its blank pages. They were just calling to be filled.

 

“Sneaky, aren’t you? I was wondering why you had asked me that question.”

 

He grinned at her. “Do you like it?”

 

“Of course. I love it. Thank you!”

 

The Doctor took her by surprise by placing his arm around her waist and pulling her close to him. He kissed her deeply with Martha returning his kiss in kind.

 

“Hey, can I join in?” Jack called out, earning a 'not this time' look from Martha. 

 

“Good bye, Doctor Martha Jones,” The Doctor said after they broke apart.

 

“Oh, this won’t be good bye. At least not in your case. Let’s just have it be a ‘see you later’ yeah?”

 

“I couldn’t agree more. You take care of yourself. Though I’ve only just met you, I know that you’re absolutely fantastic. Don’t forget that.”

 

“You’re too sweet.”

 

“I mean it,” he answered, a firm look in his eyes.

 

“Thank you,” she said softly.

 

After a final kiss on the cheek, Martha turned away from him and the Doctor headed back inside his ship.

 

She tried to restrain herself from turning around as she heard the sounds of the TARDIS dematerializing.

 

When Martha looked back, the ship and its pilot, a previous reincarnation of the Doctor who was so fond of his leather jacket and dark jumpers, was gone.

 

Jack didn’t say a word as he opened his arms to her. Gratefully, she accepted his embrace.

 

“He was just so much more, I don’t know, human. I wish things had turned out differently. I feel so awful to let him go like that, Jack.”

 

“Believe me, Martha, I know, I know. But don’t you see what I was trying to show you?”

 

“That there is more to the Doctor than I could ever hope to comprehend?”

 

“Well, I’m not sure if I meant it to be on that large of a scale, but--”

 

Martha shook her head, giving him an amused glance. “Just take me to see him, Jack. Is he all right?”

 

Jack placed his arm around her shoulders as they walked to the Hub.

 

“He’s doing fine. Had to restrain him though.”

 

At Martha’s questioning look, Jack quickly explained, “I only handcuffed him to a table. I didn’t want him going off after you when he didn’t need to. I mean, I told him that I knew where you were going to be and that I knew for sure his previous self would be there. That didn’t help though. I had to do something about it – never can be too careful.”

 

“You’re something else, Jack,” Martha remarked, looking up at him to see him twitching at the mouth. “You think this is funny, don’t you?”

 

“You should have seen him, Martha. He kept grumbling about being handcuffed. Of course I took away his sonic, so that annoyed him even more. If looks could kill and if I could die, I’d be dead, I’m sure.”

 

Martha didn’t know what to say. She just resigned herself to shaking her head. One thing was for sure, the Doctor wouldn’t be inviting Jack on board the TARDIS again any time soon.

 

*

 

Once Martha entered the Hub, she immediately went to the Doctor, taking a seat beside him on the small sofa he was occupying. He was indeed handcuffed to the side table by the couch.

 

“Doctor, how are you?” She asked him whilst pointedly looking to Jack.

 

He winked at her and easily tossed her the key to get the Doctor out of the handcuffs.

 

“You’re welcome,” he said even before she could voice a thank you.

 

Martha hadn’t exactly been planning to say ‘thank you’, but she nodded at him to show she at least appreciated the gesture. Even though this was his bloody fault.

 

She inserted the key into the handcuffs and released the Doctor from them. The Time Lord rubbed his sore wrists briefly, smiling gratefully at the only companion in the room who had at least a modicum of sense in them.

 

He sniffed, looking put-upon and sparing a glance of annoyance at Jack as the Captain passed by them.

 

“Jack, my sonic please,” the Doctor said curtly.

 

“Oh yeah, sorry about that, Doctor. Here,” Jack retrieved the sonic screwdriver from his pocket and handed the device back to its owner.

 

“I’ll just leave you two to whatever you need to talk about,” Jack said before he left them.

 

The Doctor turned to Martha. “So you met my previous incarnation, did you? How was it?”

 

She smiled warmly at him. “I enjoyed my time with him – you,” Martha shook her head. “Oh, you know what I mean. He’s you or who you were. Is there any proper way of discussing your past selves? Before I get a headache overthinking the whole thing?” She mused, looking to him expectantly.

 

The Doctor grinned at his companion, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and bringing her closer to him.

 

“Don’t worry about it, Martha.”

 

“He gave me a leather-bound journal by the way. Said he thought it would come in handy. Writing down your thoughts can be therapeutic, I suppose.”

 

She showed the journal to the Doctor. Taking it in his hands, he stroked it with one hand and then looked up at Martha. She could easily see the earnestness in his eyes.

 

“You’re all right then? Has it worn off?” he asked, hopeful.

 

Martha nodded and sighed. She placed her hand on top of his hand – the one on top of the journal.

 

He looked down at her hand, and then looked up at her.

 

“Martha?”

 

“Well, I’m not running away from you, am I? I suppose it has worn off. Maybe my brief time with your previous self helped things along a bit,” she mused.

 

“Do you want to --?” the Doctor began, but he noticed his companion shaking her head.

 

“Doctor, I’m sorry, I really am, but I can’t go traveling with you. I just don’t trust myself with you. One trip never really turns out to be just ‘one trip’ with us, you know that.”

 

“Right. Right, of course. I understand. You have a life here, on Earth. I don’t want to get in the way of that.”

 

“Oh, Doctor. You know you could always visit me or any other of your companions. In fact, I would love it if you’d visit more often – stay for a cuppa or just to chat. You’re more than welcome.”

 

She smiled warmly at him.

 

While he smiled back at her, Martha could tell the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

 

The Doctor kissed her lightly on the lips and leaving the journal behind, he stood up, saying a simple, “I’ll see you then, Martha,” before leaving the Hub.

 

Martha couldn’t help but feel concerned for him. Either way, she knew for her own sake, she couldn’t drop everything and go off who knows where in time and space just to keep an eye on him. She found herself rather at ease with the thought of him finding a new companion. It was always good to meet new people with new perspectives. Well, given the companion truly cared for the Doctor – someone like Donna, perhaps…

 

~ * ~

No one appeared to notice the man who exited the store, only for the building to burst into flames soon after he walked out.

The tall, thin man grinned, disregarding the screams, the urgent rush to call for help.

He could just imagine them saying 'the world is coming to an end' as buildings were destroyed one by one, apparently of their own accord. 
 
He heard the angel's arrival before he saw him.
 

The angel appeared to him as a dark-haired man in a trench coat. He gave him a disapproving look. 

 

“You will stop,” the newcomer said commandingly.

  

He looked at the dark-haired man and smirked. “You don't even know who I am. You don’t scare me.”

 

“You should leave him or I will force you out. You do know you’re possessing a non-human species? You know how risky that is for a demon to do?”

 

The demon just laughed. “I find the whole thing rather funny. So much opportunity to cause as much destruction as I can. Brilliant. It’s like a bloody high.”

 

The angel just gave him a stern, unyielding look.

 

“You know what else is funny?” the demon said. He pulled up his shirt sleeve and the angel saw a tattoo on his forearm.

 

A binding mark on his body to keep the demon and person it was possessing binded together. Separating the two would be more difficult than the angel had previously hoped.

 

“Aren’t I clever?” the demon said with a grin.

 

“I’m not going to let this go. I have orders to--”

 

“Hey!” the demon exclaimed, interrupting the other. “What about that charge of yours?! The one who started this whole ride to the apocalypse? I’d like to meet him – get his autograph?”

 

At the mention of his charge, the angel appeared upset. The only real emotion he had shown up until that point. “That was unintentional,” he said. “He did not mean to start the apocalypse.”

 

“Oh, apples, bananas – he still brought it on. Anyway, you’re not going to let me off, are you? You’re just going to keep following me around like a puppy until I give in, right?”

 

“Yes,” he answered simply.

 

The demon spread his arms wide, offering himself up to the angel.

 

“Make me a new man.”

 

~ * ~

 

Martha heard a knock at the door. She went up to answer it.

 

The Doctor was at the door, a wane smile on his face.

 

Though, truthfully, Martha had only known that he was the Time Lord because he was holding a sonic screwdriver in his hand. And she had always felt that the Doctor had a distinct otherworldly look about him.

 

“Hello, Martha Jones.”

 

“It's good to see you, Doctor. You’ve regenerated then? Dark hair and those – those are honestly the lightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen,” she remarked.

 

“Do you approve, Doctor Jones?” he asked as he walked into the room.

 

“Of course I approve! Honestly, Doctor, as long as you’re you – being almost infuriatingly clever and all – your physical appearance matters little in comparison. Though, I don’t deny this is a nice look for you.”

 

“Really?” He asked, looking at her curiously.

 

“Yes, it suits you.” She said, smiling at him.

 

“Good, good.”

 

“Would you like some tea, Doctor?”

 

“Yes, tea would be good, thanks.”

 

Martha went to the kitchen to make tea, the Doctor took a seat on the couch, the TV’s black screen facing him.

 

Mocking him, he thought to himself.

 

With his companion’s back turned, she didn’t notice the Doctor’s eyes flash a depthless black color.

 

Foolish angel. Didn’t Castiel know that demons could never possess non-human beings?

 

That only Lucifer could.

 

He used to be the favored one above all others, after all. The most beautiful and the cleverest.

 

He had escaped the angel – pretending that the lowly soldier angel had actually trapped him.

 

And decided that making use of the alien’s regenerative powers was a good idea as any.

 

He was bored.

 

He was also rather looking forward to killing all the alien’s friends.

 

“Doctor?” Martha spoke.

 

She carried two cups of tea and set them on the table in front of the couch.

 

He looked at her and grinned.

 

“Martha,” he said.

 

Then she saw his eyes.

 

~ * ~

 

Jack found that there was no body, just nothing. No sign of forced break-in, no blood, and yet he could feel that a wholly evil presence had passed though Martha’s home.

 

Martha was nowhere to be found. Police presumed she was dead, but the words held little weight when no solid proof could be produced.

 

When he tried to contact the Doctor, all he heard on the other line was laughter and then a deep, unnatural voice said, “Don’t call here again.”

 

The line cut out.

 

Even with him, Gwen and Ianto using all the resources of Torchwood, they weren’t able to find the Doctor.

 

But when Jack came face to face with the devil, Lucifer, he called himself; the Time Agent wished more than anything that he could die if only to end the continuous torture.

 

“Your tolerance is admirable. Very impressive,” the devil remarked.

 

The last thing Jack saw was red.

 

~ * ~

 

By the time the Archangels took care of Lucifer, only a bare handful of the Doctor’s earthbound friends were alive.

 

No one expected Lucifer to roam the Earth before the apocalypse had even started.

 

“What can I say, Michael, I’m just full of surprises,” the fallen angel said.

 

~ * ~

 

Past:

 

The Doctor grabbed Martha’s hand and told her to run.

 

But Martha got the message right away. After all, what else would she do when an angry group of aliens was coming toward them?

 

The two of them made it to the TARDIS in good time, the Doctor slamming the door in a rush.

 

He tossed his coat over a railing and went to the console.

 

“Ah, very well then! That was close!”

 

“Doctor? Mind explaining what you did that had them going after us?”

 

The Doctor turned to his companion, an odd expression on his face. He kept silent though. Surely that was a feat for him, Martha thought.

 

“Honestly, I need to know. You can’t keep quiet about this.”

 

“Fine, all right, yes. They told me that they wished to sacrifice you for a ritual. I, of course, wouldn’t let that happen. Unfortunately I said a few choice words and they were offended, so--”

 

Martha eyed him. “What sort of ritual? Did they say?”

 

“Martha, don’t you think we should focus on the part where we escaped them? It really doesn’t matter what the ritual was. It wouldn’t have been pleasant, trust me.”

 

His companion sighed and nodded, reluctantly accepting his half-answer.

 

Then she jumped, hand to mouth, when she saw the Doctor’s hair on fire.

 

~ * ~

 

After fetching a bucket of water and dumping it over his head, Martha just stared in disbelief at the Doctor.

 

He was touching his now damp hair with mild interest.

 

“This is the third time! How long are these side effects from being possessed by the sun going to continue?”

 

“It should be over soon. I don’t feel feverish anymore for a start.”

 

“Doctor,” Martha started, concerned.

 

He only gave her this look and said quietly, “I’m sorry, Martha. I know I haven’t talked to you about what happened on the SS Pentallian. I’m just not ready to go into it.”

 

“I don’t want to pressure you, Doctor. But you know it’s not good to keep it all inside.”

 

He looked at her and then he said slowly, “What I felt while being possessed – other than the unbearable burning sensation of course – was something I’d never want to experience again.”

 

Martha didn’t say anything, just moved closer to him and hugged him.

 

He returned her hug and whispered in her ear, “I was terrified, Martha. Losing control like that –”

 

Then his head was on her shoulder and she could feel the wetness from his tears.

 

So she held him as he let it all out.

 

Because, sometimes, just being there for a friend was enough.

 

End.