calufrax

Apologies for the lack of recs the last couple days; I've been down with a nasty flu.

Story: Kodachrome
Author: livii
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 2349
Author's Summary: "She's memorable, Martha Jones. He never had a chance."
Characters/Pairings: Martha Jones, Harry Sullivan
Warnings: none

Recced because: This is the story that completely sold me on Martha/Harry. For those of you who haven't read anything by livii, yes, Martha and Harry have never canonically met. If that prevented us from shipping them, we wouldn't be in fandom, would we? It's a beautiful portrait of Harry, and life with(out) the Doctor, and knowing the future.

(Also, it includes lines like: "He realizes that even with ten years' warning, he's still incapable of making sensible conversation, and so the floor collapsing underneath them is a stroke of terrible good fortune." Enough said.)

Excerpt: "This is so wrong," Martha says, laughing; she covers her mouth with her hand and it's all Harry can do to not lean over and take her in his arms.

"Your Doctor is rather...manic, isn't he?" Harry says instead, attempting to be polite.

"Barking mad," Martha says with a smile, and from the look in her eyes Harry can see what he sees in Sarah's eyes, and he knows that she is not his yet — may not be his ever, but definitely not yet.

"Still," he says, "it's quite interesting to meet other people who travel — or will travel — with the Doctor."

He realizes that even with ten years' warning, he's still incapable of making sensible conversation, and so the floor collapsing underneath them is a stroke of terrible good fortune.

He helps her from the wreckage, letting her lean on his shoulder as they walk, then attends to her wounds with the greatest of care. She watches him as he works, watches his hands, which he does his best to keep from trembling as he touches her skin.

"You're quite good at this," she says, and smiles; her hair has come undone and he's almost overwhelmed.

The two Doctors solve the mystery fairly soon after; his Doctor chides him for being out of action, but Martha's Doctor thanks him for attending to her when she was hurt.

He reaches out to shake her hand when they depart, but she has a funny look on her face, and she kisses his cheek instead.

"See you again, sometime, I hope," she says, and he's walking on air for the next week, while Sarah Jane teases him mercilessly.