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crack_van2013-03-26 11:29 am
stars-inthe-sky.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2013-03-26 11:29 am
Entry tags:
"It Takes an Ocean Not to Break" by kerrykhat (teen)
Fandom: The Avengers (movieverse)/Doctor Who/Torchwood
Pairing: Martha Jones/Clint Barton (others mentioned)
Length: ~37K words
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kerrykhat
Author Website:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
khatskorner
Why this must be read: For my final rec this month, I present you with one of my favorite crossovers ever. I'm a little biased because I was the beta for this story, but believe me when I tell you that IT. IS. AWESOME. Sometime after "Journey's End," S.H.I.E.L.D. recruits Martha Jones away from U.N.I.T., and she ends up first in Puente Antiguo and then smack-dab in the middle of the events of the Avengers movie.kerrykhat does a phenomenal job of keeping track of a lot of plot threads and steady, believable character development. The parallels she draws between Loki and the Master are astounding, and by the time you finish this joyride, you'll wonder how the heck Earth's Mightiest Heroes ever managed without the good Dr. Jones. (Bonus appearances by some Torchwood regulars!)
Sitting in one of the labs at UNIT’s New York City base, Martha Jones frowned as she looked over the papers in front of her. There had been rumors of a possible alien landing in New Mexico, but UNIT’s attempts to investigate had been stymied by a relatively new world intelligence agency called SHIELD.
The higher-ups at UNIT had petitioned to gain access to the site on jurisdictional grounds, but the World Security Council had blocked them, effectively cutting them out. Given that UNIT wasn’t held in the highest of regards recently, due to continued fallout over Harold Saxon and the failure to prevent the ATMOS incident, Martha really shouldn’t have been surprised. She’d heard the arguments that UNIT was an outdated agency and that there needed to be new agencies to guard against alien incursions.
While there were times Martha was less than satisfied with UNIT, that assessment was far too harsh. UNIT was still useful, and the research they did was invaluable to understanding the larger universe. It was particularly frustrating now, given that SHIELD didn’t have the knowledge base to fully assess the situation if aliens really were involved. They were biting off far more than they could chew, in Martha’s opinion.
The sound of approaching footsteps interrupted her thoughts. She looked up to see a bald, dark-skinned man in a black leather trenchcoat over similarly dark clothing walking towards her. An eyepatch covered his left eye with scars spreading out underneath, hinting at the past trauma. He carried himself with conscious authority, and Martha couldn’t help feeling intimidated by his sheer presence. A woman dressed in a black jumpsuit, dark hair pulled back in a bun trailed him as he walked through the lab like he owned the place. The other doctors and researchers had magically vanished, she noticed, leaving her alone with the pair. Martha had heard stories about him, but she hadn’t given them much credit. It seemed, however, that Director Nick Fury of SHIELD was just as intimidating as rumors made him out to be.
“Director Fury,” she said when he’d stopped a few feet from her table, resisting the urge to get to stand up and salute. ”To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Dr. Jones,” he replied, hands clasped behind his back. Nothing in his remaining eye hinted at what he was thinking. “What do you make of this?” He gestured to the woman, who stepped forward with a Stark Industries tablet in her hand. Martha took it and started skimming the information before stopping and reading through it a little more slowly, her eyes widening as she took it in.
These readings were like nothing she’d ever seen, not working with UNIT or traveling with the Doctor. The sheer amount of power, or at least its potential power if activated, was staggering. If she was doing her math right and her memory served her correctly, this could rival easily the TARDIS as the most powerful thing she’d ever seen.
“This says the artifact in question is dormant,” Martha said as she continued scrolling through the report. “How is it still emitting that much energy?”
“We’re currently trying to figure that out, Dr. Jones. It’s an ongoing project.”
“Why are you showing this to me? I’m a medical doctor, not a physicist,” Martha asked, putting down the tablet and leaning forward. “So why me?”
“I’ve read your file, Dr. Jones,” Fury answered as he leaned against one of the tables. “Most of it was redacted, of course.”
“Of course,” Martha agreed, although she doubted something like a classified file would stop Fury.
“But I couldn’t help noticing you’ve had experience with some powerful otherworldly visitors,” he continued, his single eye staring into hers. “You’ve dealt with things of this nature before, which is more that I can say for most people. We need somebody with your experience attached to the project to monitor what effects it may have on those interacting closely with the artifact. Somebody who won’t make a mess of things.”
“So basically, what you’re saying is that you’re trying to recruit me away from UNIT?” Martha observed, raising her eyebrows and looking between Fury and the woman, who just continued to stare at Martha icily. “Whatever this artifact is must be awfully important.”
“You have no idea, Dr. Jones.”
“Oh, I believe I do.” The TARDIS could easily navigate through space and time, which begged the question what might this artifact be able to do with its power.
The fact that Fury, a man notorious in the circles Martha moved in for wanting to keep things in-house, had come to her with this information and was asking for her help was nothing short of shocking, even given her mostly-redacted travels with the Doctor.
Glancing down at the readings, she bit her lip as she considered his offer. UNIT was a perfectly nice place to work at, but there was something missing. Something that kept from truly enjoying her position here. She’d had a taste of that when she’d gone to help Jack in Cardiff, and come to a fuller realization after her brief adventure with the Doctor and Donna and subsequent breakup with Tom.
The work she was doing was useful, but it didn’t bring that same rush that she had grown accustomed to in her travels. Even Project Indigo, the crown jewel in UNIT’s current research, didn’t bring more than a modicum of excitement for her. She had grown addicted to the adventure, to the adrenaline rush you got when traveling with the Doctor, and even though she had been burned for getting too close, it kept calling out to her. Traveling with the Doctor changed a person, and she could never go back to being the Martha Jones she had been before the Judoon on the moon.
How had Donna described that feeling you got when you stepped out of the TARDIS on a new world or in a different time period? Hamsters in your stomach? For the first time in a situation not involving the Doctor, Martha felt that sensation stirring inside of her.
“I’ll do it,” she said, finding her voice. “I’ll help with this project.”
Fury nodded, as if he had been expecting this outcome.
“Good. Now let’s discuss the details of your transfer to SHIELD,” he answered, pulling up a still and sitting across from her. “Agent Hill has the paperwork for you to sign when we’re done here.”
It Takes an Ocean Not to Break
Pairing: Martha Jones/Clint Barton (others mentioned)
Length: ~37K words
Author on LJ:
kerrykhatAuthor Website:
khatskornerWhy this must be read: For my final rec this month, I present you with one of my favorite crossovers ever. I'm a little biased because I was the beta for this story, but believe me when I tell you that IT. IS. AWESOME. Sometime after "Journey's End," S.H.I.E.L.D. recruits Martha Jones away from U.N.I.T., and she ends up first in Puente Antiguo and then smack-dab in the middle of the events of the Avengers movie.
kerrykhat does a phenomenal job of keeping track of a lot of plot threads and steady, believable character development. The parallels she draws between Loki and the Master are astounding, and by the time you finish this joyride, you'll wonder how the heck Earth's Mightiest Heroes ever managed without the good Dr. Jones. (Bonus appearances by some Torchwood regulars!)Sitting in one of the labs at UNIT’s New York City base, Martha Jones frowned as she looked over the papers in front of her. There had been rumors of a possible alien landing in New Mexico, but UNIT’s attempts to investigate had been stymied by a relatively new world intelligence agency called SHIELD.
The higher-ups at UNIT had petitioned to gain access to the site on jurisdictional grounds, but the World Security Council had blocked them, effectively cutting them out. Given that UNIT wasn’t held in the highest of regards recently, due to continued fallout over Harold Saxon and the failure to prevent the ATMOS incident, Martha really shouldn’t have been surprised. She’d heard the arguments that UNIT was an outdated agency and that there needed to be new agencies to guard against alien incursions.
While there were times Martha was less than satisfied with UNIT, that assessment was far too harsh. UNIT was still useful, and the research they did was invaluable to understanding the larger universe. It was particularly frustrating now, given that SHIELD didn’t have the knowledge base to fully assess the situation if aliens really were involved. They were biting off far more than they could chew, in Martha’s opinion.
The sound of approaching footsteps interrupted her thoughts. She looked up to see a bald, dark-skinned man in a black leather trenchcoat over similarly dark clothing walking towards her. An eyepatch covered his left eye with scars spreading out underneath, hinting at the past trauma. He carried himself with conscious authority, and Martha couldn’t help feeling intimidated by his sheer presence. A woman dressed in a black jumpsuit, dark hair pulled back in a bun trailed him as he walked through the lab like he owned the place. The other doctors and researchers had magically vanished, she noticed, leaving her alone with the pair. Martha had heard stories about him, but she hadn’t given them much credit. It seemed, however, that Director Nick Fury of SHIELD was just as intimidating as rumors made him out to be.
“Director Fury,” she said when he’d stopped a few feet from her table, resisting the urge to get to stand up and salute. ”To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Dr. Jones,” he replied, hands clasped behind his back. Nothing in his remaining eye hinted at what he was thinking. “What do you make of this?” He gestured to the woman, who stepped forward with a Stark Industries tablet in her hand. Martha took it and started skimming the information before stopping and reading through it a little more slowly, her eyes widening as she took it in.
These readings were like nothing she’d ever seen, not working with UNIT or traveling with the Doctor. The sheer amount of power, or at least its potential power if activated, was staggering. If she was doing her math right and her memory served her correctly, this could rival easily the TARDIS as the most powerful thing she’d ever seen.
“This says the artifact in question is dormant,” Martha said as she continued scrolling through the report. “How is it still emitting that much energy?”
“We’re currently trying to figure that out, Dr. Jones. It’s an ongoing project.”
“Why are you showing this to me? I’m a medical doctor, not a physicist,” Martha asked, putting down the tablet and leaning forward. “So why me?”
“I’ve read your file, Dr. Jones,” Fury answered as he leaned against one of the tables. “Most of it was redacted, of course.”
“Of course,” Martha agreed, although she doubted something like a classified file would stop Fury.
“But I couldn’t help noticing you’ve had experience with some powerful otherworldly visitors,” he continued, his single eye staring into hers. “You’ve dealt with things of this nature before, which is more that I can say for most people. We need somebody with your experience attached to the project to monitor what effects it may have on those interacting closely with the artifact. Somebody who won’t make a mess of things.”
“So basically, what you’re saying is that you’re trying to recruit me away from UNIT?” Martha observed, raising her eyebrows and looking between Fury and the woman, who just continued to stare at Martha icily. “Whatever this artifact is must be awfully important.”
“You have no idea, Dr. Jones.”
“Oh, I believe I do.” The TARDIS could easily navigate through space and time, which begged the question what might this artifact be able to do with its power.
The fact that Fury, a man notorious in the circles Martha moved in for wanting to keep things in-house, had come to her with this information and was asking for her help was nothing short of shocking, even given her mostly-redacted travels with the Doctor.
Glancing down at the readings, she bit her lip as she considered his offer. UNIT was a perfectly nice place to work at, but there was something missing. Something that kept from truly enjoying her position here. She’d had a taste of that when she’d gone to help Jack in Cardiff, and come to a fuller realization after her brief adventure with the Doctor and Donna and subsequent breakup with Tom.
The work she was doing was useful, but it didn’t bring that same rush that she had grown accustomed to in her travels. Even Project Indigo, the crown jewel in UNIT’s current research, didn’t bring more than a modicum of excitement for her. She had grown addicted to the adventure, to the adrenaline rush you got when traveling with the Doctor, and even though she had been burned for getting too close, it kept calling out to her. Traveling with the Doctor changed a person, and she could never go back to being the Martha Jones she had been before the Judoon on the moon.
How had Donna described that feeling you got when you stepped out of the TARDIS on a new world or in a different time period? Hamsters in your stomach? For the first time in a situation not involving the Doctor, Martha felt that sensation stirring inside of her.
“I’ll do it,” she said, finding her voice. “I’ll help with this project.”
Fury nodded, as if he had been expecting this outcome.
“Good. Now let’s discuss the details of your transfer to SHIELD,” he answered, pulling up a still and sitting across from her. “Agent Hill has the paperwork for you to sign when we’re done here.”
It Takes an Ocean Not to Break