"Passing Cars and Broken Memories" ("Traffic" Entry)

[roseglade.livejournal.com]

Title: Passing Cars and Broken Memories

Rating: PG

Word Count:  2132 words

Characters: Twelfth Doctor, (Young) Martha Jones, Clive Jones, and Francine Jones

Spoilers: Martha’s Background

Warnings: References to Divorce

Summary: Young Martha gets lost in the city and is helped by a strange, old man.

Voom!

The vehicles seemed to race back and forth through the street at the speed of light.  There was no way to get back to her mother.  Martha tried to call out to her parents, screaming over the roaring cars, but her voice was simply too soft.  Tears started to well up in her eyes.  Her parent didn’t even seem to notice her absence.  They were to busy arguing with each other.  Martha, frustrated with their ignorance, sat on the bus station bench to wait for an opening in the traffic.

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve.  They always did this to her.  Every day, she and her siblings would hear the constant shouting of her parents.  Who was that man?  Who was that woman?  Why did you come home so late?  And the questions would continue late into the night.  Her mother was never emotional or mentally around and Tish was always off being Tish, so Martha would often have to get Leo ready for school in the mornings.  It was hard.  Being a child in the middle of a messy divorce was never easy.  Martha wished that her parents would just look past each other’s differences if only to hold the family together for a bit longer. But that was simply wishful thinking.  In fact, they were going down to a government building right now to finalize the divorce.

“Is this seat taken?”

Martha spun around and locked eyes with an old man, dressed in a tailored coat.   Her mother had always told her to be wary of strangers, but his kind, wise smile convinced her otherwise.

“No, you can sit here.   It doesn’t bother me.”

“Thank you.”  The old man let out a relieved sigh and sat down next to her.  “You see I’ve been running all over the place today and I just need to rest for a minute.”

“Really?”   Martha wondered.  “Where?”

“Everywhere.” The old man replied.  “You see, in the morning I had to deal with a problem in Ancient Egypt.  A mummy had got loose and I had to track it down or else he swore to sacrifice me to the Egyptian God of Death, Anubis.”

Martha laughed.  She had never heard a funnier story.

“It’s true!”  The old man retorted.  “Every word!  Well, after that I went to Hextron, which is in the Plutin Region by the way, for some sightseeing.  They are universally known for their delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but honestly, I don’t see why. The jelly soaked into the bread way too much and it was simply terrible.”

“You tell wonderful stories, mister.”  Martha giggled.

“Okay, fine.”  He sighed.  “That last one was a lie, but the mummy one was true!”

They laughed.  The old man pulled a bag filled to the brim with different colored candies in the shape of people.  He popped two into his mouth and then offered some to Martha.  She accepted.  Her mother would have been furious, but she wasn’t here right now.

“So,”  The old man began, still chewing the candies.  “What is a young girl like yourself sitting on a bus stop bench all alone?”

“I got separated from my family, you see.  They’re across the road going to a big building in the center of the city, but the cars and buses were moving so fast that I couldn’t keep up.  And now it seems like they don’t even know I’m missing.”

“Well, that is quite the predicament.”  The old man frowned.  “Yeah,  I don’t much like traffic either.  It always goes to fast and is a big pain when traveling in it.  That’s why I like to travel in space.  You never have to worry about pile-ups or traffic jams.  It’s just you and the bright stars through the windows.”

“That sounds wonderful.”

“It is,”  The old man answered gleefully.  “Don’t worry.  I’m sure you’ll get to go up there one day.”

All of a sudden, the old man stood up and breathed in deeply.  He turned to her and offered Martha his hand.

“I can help you find your family if you want.”

Martha stared at his hand.  It was wrinkled and showed many signs of old age.  But when she clutched his hand, he seized it quickly and firmly.  It was warm and protecting.  Being led by him gave Martha a feeling of security and dependability which she had never felt before.  As they began walking up to the street, racing with cars, buses, and motorcycles she paused.

“What’s your name?”  Martha inquired quickly.  That should have been the first thing for her to ask.

“Nothing important.  I am a Doctor though.”

“Oh,”  Martha replied, very confused.  How could someone’s name not be important?  “I’m Martha, in case you were wondering.  Martha Jones.”

“I see,”  The old man smiled.  He held her hand tighter, but not tight enough to make it hurt.  “What a wonderful name, Martha Jones.  I had a friend named Martha once, but she’s gone now.”

“I’m sorry,”  Martha shouted over the thundering noise of the traffic.  

“Oh no, she’s not dead.  No, she decided that the traveling in space life wasn’t for her and become one of the most important women in Earth history.”  The old man smiled, but it was a sad, bittersweet smile.

“But you were sad to see her go.”

“Yes,”  The old man replied as he led her through a mass of people and down to a different street. “She was there when no one else was.  She became my … oh, how do you call it … my supporter during the rough times.  She saved my life countless times and defended the Earth from the greatest monsters known to man.”

“She sounds wonderful,”  Martha replied.  She wondered if she could ever live up to that Martha one day.

“She was,”  He smiled as if reminiscing about old, happy memories, but then his expression turned grim.  “But like the bumbling idiot that I am, I didn’t see it.  You see, the reason she left was that I didn’t love her because I couldn’t see her love.  She was smart though, she knew that in order to protect herself, she had to distance herself from me.  It makes me sick sometimes to know that I was too blinded by myself to see her.  Now that I think back to it, I truly did love her, with all my heart, but I was too stubborn to admit it.  Rose was the only one, Rose was the only one good enough, but she wasn’t.  Martha was good enough.  She was perfect.  But I couldn’t give her the light of day to show me.”

There was a long pause between his words, Martha was about to say something when he started to talk again.

“Eventually she did find someone good enough for her.  Not someone like me, but someone who would take care of her, love her.  And now she lives happily with him, somewhere in the heart of London I think.  Of course, I check up on them every once and a while just to see how things are going.”

They came to a busy intersection in the road and the old man took a deep breath.

“Alright Martha Jones, the traffic isn’t going to stop for us.  We’re going to have to make a run for it.”  The old man stated.  “Hold onto my hand tightly and don’t let go.”

Martha breathed in deeply.  Crossing the road was always a fright for her: All the uncontrollable and deadly masses, flying past her.

“Are you ready?”

“No.”

The old man turned to her with a confused look on his face.  He bent down on one knee and whispered, “Why not?  I promise it won’t be as bad as you think it will be.”

“But,”  Martha’s eyes trailed down to her shoes.  “I’m scared.  I don’t want to get hurt.”

“If you trust me, I can promise you that we will make it across that road.”

“Do you promise you will protect me?”

“Pain, hurt, and sorrow will always happen.  It’s just a fact of life.   Everyone will die one day.  Everyone will be sad at sometimes.  Everyone will be hurt by people they love.  So I can’t promise that I will always be able to protect you, but I can promise that I’ll be there every step of the way with you.”

Martha continued to look at her shoes.  Could she trust him?  If she couldn’t even trust her parents, the ones who were supposed to protect her and love her the most, why should she trust him?  What would happen if she did trust him?  What would happen if she didn’t?  Martha studied the old man’s face.  He looked like any normal, old person, but there was a certain twinkle in his eye which reached out to her, which reminded her of a trustworthy person.

“Okay … I trust you.”

“Here we go!”  The old man smiled.

Suddenly, Martha was pulled in the street and unable to keep up with the old man, her feet skipped above the ground.  The honking of cars flooded her ears and she closed her eyes.  The wind blew her hair everywhere and she held the old man’s hand tighter.  After a few moments, they had made it across the road.  Martha breathed heavily.  She gazed up at the old man and he looked down at her.  He smirked and lifted her up into the air and into his arms.  Martha quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and he placed his hand on her back to secure her.

“See, that wasn’t so bad now was it?”  The old man asked.

“No,”  Martha replied.  “But it was scary.”

The old man chuckled.  “I never said it wasn’t.”

They continued to walk for a few blocks in that same position.  She tightened her grip on his neck and he pulled her closer to him.  He was warm.  He was strong.  For the first time in a long time, he made her feel safe and loved.

“Know that you don’t have to be perfect all the time.”

Martha turned her head to see him.  The old man continued to look forward as they drew closer to a big building.

“Know that you are allowed to get angry with me.”

Martha noticed a tear welling up in his eye.

“Know that you’re allowed to yell at me if I screw things up or hurt you.”

Martha opened her mouth to say something but was cut off.

“Know that you are not alone.”  The old man choked.  “Know that you are important.  Know that if you ever feel unappreciated by someone then get out.  Run.  Run as fast as you can.  Know that that man, in a silly, long coat, will never deserve you.  Know that you are loved no matter where you are or whatever you do.  Never put him before you.”

Before Martha could reply, her mother’s voice rang.

“Martha!”

The old man placed her gently on the ground and her mother and father ran to her.  They knelt on the ground and embraced her.  Her mother cupped Martha’s face in her hands.

“Where have you been?”  Her father demanded.

“We’ve been looking all over for you!” Her mother inquired.

“I’m sorry, mum,”  Martha replied.  “I got lost and the doctor brought me here.”

Her father picked Martha up and the three stood up to face the old man.

“Thank you, sir, for bring Martha back to us.”  Her father remarked.

“Of course,”  The old man smiled.  “It was no trouble at all.  We had a lovely time.  Until the next time, Martha Jones!”

He waved at Martha as he turned towards to what seemed like a large blue box.  Her mother and father began to walk back to big building with Martha in their arms.

“Clive,”  Her mother whispered.  “How did he know we were here?”

“I don’t know Francine,”  Her father let out an exasperated sighed.   “Just be thankful that he did.”

“It’s still odd that he knew exactly where we were.”

“Maybe Martha told him, didn’t you Martha?” Her father asked.

She shook her head.  The fact of the matter was that she didn’t know.  The old man just knew where to go.  She looked back at him, and to her surprise, he and the big, blue box, had disappeared.  She frowned.  Martha bit her lip and snuggled into her father’s arms.  Honestly, she didn’t care about him or how he got her.  He had united her family, if only for a moment.  Maybe one day it would make sense, but now she was thankful for the man who had reunited her with her family and had given her confidence for the difficult times ahead.