rec: Bombardment of Positive Ions - Carmen Sandiego

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Marvellous Martha Jones

I'm recommending Martha Jones-centric fics all this week but they're not all Martha/Ten.

Story Bombardment of Positive Ions
Author: Carmen Sandiego
Author Summary: Martha Jones and the UNIT Christmas Party.
Characters: Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart, Harry Sullivan, John Benton, Liz Shaw, Martha Jones, Sarah Jane Smith, Second Doctor
Rating: All ages
Word count: 2601

This is a very humorous story about a Christmas get-together of the Doctor's former Companions at the Brig's house with a fair amount of amusingly snarky point-scoring from earlier Companions. And Martha gets to meet the Second Doctor:

Martha looked up. A sprig of mistletoe. Oh. Well she couldn't, obviously. And he -
The Doctor kissed her, and it was soft and gentle and entirely welcome. When he pulled away, Martha looked into his eyes and found no apologies or regrets or excuses. If anything, he looked rather pleased with himself.
"That was...nice," she said, unable to keep the smile from her lips. "Much nicer than last time."
"Last time!" said Jamie, poking his round the door. "Here, Doctor, what's this about then? You dinnae see me going around kissing lassies I've just met. I think you’ve got some explaining to do."

I've read this about 6 times since it was first posted and it makes me laugh every single time.

rec: face another day by aces

[usuallyhats]

Story: Face Another Day
Author: aces
Rating: None given (teen?)
Word Count: 8526
Author's Summary: "How did you get to twenty-first century Cardiff, Fitzgerald Kreiner?" Jack asked.
Characters/Pairings: Fitz Kreiner, Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, Jack Harkness, Owen Harper, Tenth Doctor, Toshiko Sato
Warnings: None

Recced because: It feels real. Fitz starts off in a bad way, and although he ends up at peace, it's not an easy or straightforward progression. Fitz brings himself to Torchwood and tells them he wants to help; this is true, but although he'll help, he won't be co-operative. He doesn't want to talk to them about himself or how he knows what he knows, because then he'll have to face what's happened to him and he's not ready to do that at first. And Team Torchwood, in their turn, don't immediately take him into their respective hearts and set about trying to help him. Their interactions with him feel more authentic because they're not smooth. (Sidenote: aces also does a great job with Torchwood themselves; though none of them except Jack play a particularly large role, they all have some nice character moments and there's a nice group scene that makes me believe that they do all actually like each other, something the show itself was having trouble with for a while.) Fitz's gradual recovery is portrayed very well and the hopefulness of the final scene makes a lovely ending. I could go on at much greater length listing all the things I love about this fic, but I'll spare you my gushing and instead give you a quote:

( an extract )

(This fic is a sequel to And I Will No Other To Follow Me Where I'm Going, recced here.)