Five People Martha Jones Met While Working for Torchwood

Rating: PG
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: All characters depicted here belong to their respective creators and production companies

1) Jack Carter

"I really appreciate your offer to drive me to Global Dynamics, Sheriff Carter," said Martha.

"Don't mention it," the sheriff replied, giving her a grin as his Jeep approached a dilapidated bridge with the middle missing, leaving a gap plunging down into a deep chasm. The Jeep was headed straight toward it, and an expectant silence fell over the two inhabitants of the vehicle.

He's going to drive right over that bridge, Martha thought. Obviously all was not as it seemed. This wasn't the first time Torchwood made the trip to Eureka; there was some complicated agreement among Torchwood, UNIT, and Global Dynamics regarding the study of alien tech that Martha hadn't quite gotten her head around yet. This was Martha's first visit to Eureka and Tosh, who had accompanied her, clearly trusted and respected the local sheriff. That was good enough for Martha, so she had accepted the man's offer to drive her to Global Dynamics while Tosh stayed behind in the town. During the drive Jack Carter had shown himself to be nothing but friendly, if a little exasperated at the constant eccentricity surrounding him. Martha could sympathize.

So she was sure the man wasn't really about to drive them off a cliff, and sure enough the Jeep passed through what turned out to be some kind of projection of a fallen bridge and continued along the real, intact bridge. The Global Dynamics complex rose into view in front of them.

"Nice bit of security," Martha observed.

"Yeah, I thought so too," said Sheriff Carter, but he sounded disappointed.

"Something wrong?"

"You weren't even a little bit worried?" he asked.

"Should I have been?"

Carter shrugged. "People freaking out is the best part. Well, when it's not you, anyway."

Martha smiled. "I've been on scarier rides than this, and with people more insane than you, Sheriff Carter."

Carter was silent for a few moments, then he said, "No. No, I really don't want to know. Welcome to Global Dynamics, Martha Jones."

***

2) Mohinder Suresh

Martha was not at all comfortable with the scene she was witnessing.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" cried the man they had sitting in the interrogation room.

Owen waved a book in his face. "You're saying you know nothing about this? That you had no idea what your old man was up to? Don't deny that you've been continuing his research!"

"I gave up my father's research," the man insisted. His name was Suresh, Martha knew, and Torchwood was questioning him because they thought he was hiding aliens. "He was a fool. Nothing in that book is more than wishful thinking."

"I don't think so," snarled Owen. "We're not stupid, Dr. Suresh. We know you think you've found some of these so-called people. We know you have a list."

Martha winced and looked at Jack, who was still watching the interrogation through the two-way mirror. "Do we really have to approach it like this?" she asked. "Maybe he's telling the truth, and he doesn't know anything."

Jack shook his head. "There have been too many reports about strange events that he"--Jack stabbed one finger at the man in the room--"seems connected to."

"Then maybe there really are evolved humans, and it's not aliens at all," said Martha. She had seen too much to discount that possibility, and she was surprised Jack wasn't more willing to consider it.

"Martha Jones, I want to believe that, I really do," said Jack, looking sad. "But we come across this kind of thing a lot, and it always turns out to be aliens. I don't see why this case should be any different."

"Well, I'm sure he'd be a lot more cooperative if people weren't shouting in his face." Martha looked back into the room. "And if you put someone else in there. Someone not Owen."

"Are you volunteering?" asked Jack.

"I don't think Owen is getting anywhere."

Jack shrugged and called Owen out of the room. "I'm giving Martha a try."

"He was just about to crack!" said Owen.

"That's the problem," Martha mumbled. Louder, she said, "You don't have to approach every problem like it's something that needs beaten."

Owen made a face at her, but Jack nodded. "Okay, your turn."

Martha wasn't sure she was doing the right thing, but she took the book, Activating Evolution, out of Owen's hands and entered the room. "Hello, Dr. Suresh. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?"

***

3) Fox Mulder

"Great, he's here again," said Jack.

"Who?" asked Martha. Jack pointed and Martha looked quickly enough to see the figure of a man duck down quickly behind some bushes. "Is he a regular?" She'd been with Torchwood long enough to know they were often plagued by UFO seekers and conspiracy theorists whenever they went to investigate something in the field.

"He's American, so not always. Sometimes he makes a special trip, though." Jack sighed. "It's been awhile; I was starting to worry about the guy."

"So you know exactly who he is?" said Martha.

"Oh yeah, Tosh ran a check on him way back. He's not the stealthiest of our groupies," said Jack. "Anyway, FBI agent, if you can believe it, named Fox Mulder, and no, that's not a pseudonym, someone actually named the poor kid Fox."

"Huh," said Martha. The man was now trying to creep from one bush to another that was slightly closer to the site of the crash landing Torchwood had been called out on.

"He's harmless," said Jack. "UNIT will eventually get around to throwing him out."

A little later, that was exactly what happened. Unfortunately in the process he struggled and apparently sprained his ankle, so he was brought to Martha. She looked over his foot, pronounced it just a little bruised, and prescribed ice to put the swelling down, all while he regaled her with more facts and figures about aliens and conspiracy theories than Martha had ever realized existed. She was convinced he was making most of it up.

"Look," he said after she gave him a clean bill of health, "I know you work for them."

"For who?" asked Martha.

"Them!" said Mulder. He indicated in the direction of the crash site, which they were well-removed from. "They may call themselves Torchwood, but I know that's just a front for a branch of an international consortium of powerful men who conspire to keep the truth about extraterrestrial life hidden from the world."

"Really?" said Martha. "That's news to me."

Mulder looked around as is making sure they were really alone. "I know you know more than that. A lot more than that. You don't have to keep hiding. With your help, I could bring the truth to the people and expose the machinations of a corrupt new world order that has been lying to the public for decades."

Martha wasn't sure this man was as harmless as Jack insisted, but all she did was smile and say, "Torchwood investigates things, that's all, probably much like you yourself." She handed him an ice packet and bid him a firm farewell.

***

4) Dan Vasser

"So tell me what this is all about again? And why we have to go all the way to San Francisco?"

"One of our sources sniffed out this guy who can apparently travel through time," said Jack. "At will, with no technology to help him."

"And the part where we travel all the way from Cardiff for this?" asked Martha. Surely the US had their own top secret organizations to deal with this one. She'd already come across several of them.

"It came down through the grapevine, and I requested Torchwood get a look at him," said Jack. "Trust me, a little while back we had some bad experiences with guys who could travel through time at will. I don't want to see San Francisco eaten by giant sons of Beasts any more than anyone else does."

Martha shrugged. She knew that story, but really, how many demons could there be hidden beneath major city centers?

"Besides," said Jack, taking in a deep breath. "Don't you want a vacation? The ocean, sun, warm breezes, scantily-clad men and women..."

"Well, I suppose I can see the appeal for you," Martha told him, grinning.

But first came work, and it wasn't long before Martha came face to face with a blond man named Dan Vasser, a reporter as well as, apparently, a time traveler.

Unfortunately, he insisted that they were all crazy and the only time traveling going on was in the novel he was writing in his free time.

"Could we see this novel?" Martha asked.

Vasser shook his head. "I haven't really had the time to actually write the words down," he admitted. "It's all still kind of just in my head." He gave a nervous laugh and smiled. "So, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"False alarm," Jack said later on, after they had left. "It happens."

"You just wanted a trip to San Francisco," Martha teased him.

"Well, our hotel reservations are for two nights, and it would be a pity to waste all that time." He gave her a positively lecherous smile.

"It would," Martha agreed.

***

5) Daniel Jackson

By Martha's count, there were currently four separate secret organizations fighting over the artifact that had washed up through the rift. She shook her head. She was going to start needing charts to keep all of them straight.

"I'll say again, this is Torchwood's jurisdiction," Jack was insisting. "It turned up on our doorstep, we get to play with it."

The representative from UNIT, a stern-looking black-haired woman, frowned at him. "Captain Harkness, normally we would agree, but in the interests of our relationship with the IOA--"

"No, don't give it to them!" Jack O'Neill was an American general, and he was clearly getting frustrated. "They'll tie it up for months discussing whether or not we should move forward with possibly using it for anything."

"I'm not giving it to anyone," said Jack. "We don't even know what it does."

"It's clearly a device of Ancient origin," said Richard Woolsey, the representative from the IOA. Martha wasn't even sure what that stood for, but the man was certainly sanctimonious. "Left in the wrong hands it may prove dangerous. We need to proceed carefully, and I think in this matter the IOA takes precedence over any other claims."

Overall, Martha thought, the thing they were all fighting over wasn't very impressive-looking: it was roughly the same size and shape as a shoebox and an iridescent gray--which was very pretty--but it had been the symbols carved on the side that had sent the other organizations swooping down upon Torchwood and demanding it hand the thing over to someone.

Martha sidled up to one of the other on-lookers, an archaeologist named Daniel Jackson. He had explained to her earlier that the writing on the artifact was in Ancient, indicating that it had once belonged to a powerful race that had colonized Earth and many other planets in more than one galaxy. He was American, but she couldn't remember if he was with the SGC or the IOA. "So which side are you cheering for?" she asked him.

Daniel shrugged. "I'm with the SGC," he said. "Although I wouldn't say I'm cheering for any sides."

"So you don't care whether you get the artifact or not?" Martha was surprised. The way that group over there was going on, that little box was incredibly valuable. It could be anything: a weapon, a knowledge base, a cure for all diseases.

"Not really," said Daniel. "I just thought I'd let them go at it for awhile before I tell them it's the Ancient equivalent of a toaster."

Want to leave a comment on this? The original LJ entry can be found here.

Back to Fanfiction