Do I have a choice? (Part 2 of 2)
Title: Do I have a choice?
Characters: Donna, The Doctor (unexpected 11, actually, but an 11, not the 11)
Summary: Donna and the Doctor get into an argument, and the TARDIS takes charge. Or, a hurt/comfort fic in which the Doctor is a bit hurt and Donna doesn't feel like being very comforting. Because as much as I love Donna I think she'd freak out at the Doctor regenerating just as much as Rose did.
Rating: G, PG-ish but not really
Notes: written for weekly drabble challenge 29 (locked) at doctor_donna
More notes: I still have no idea where this came from, but I know where it started. First part is here.
Of course when Donna returned the Doctor was asleep, his big mouth hanging open and his skinny legs twitching as he mumbled gibberish. She went out to the control room but found the door still latched, so she decided to station herself at his side until he woke up. After all, she couldn’t go anywhere, and whether or not he’d betrayed her he was still her....well, she owed him one. She would help him recover and then she would leave once he was done with her.
A few hours later she was texting Martha (who as it turned out had the flu and wasn’t able to go out after all) and discussing how to deal with her current situation.
“Tell him how you feel. Tie him to the bed and make him talk about it.”
“That’s what he nearly did to me. I don’t want to talk about it. I want to go home.”
“No you don’t. If you leave now you’ll regret it.”
“No. I. Won’t.”
“Yes you will, and I may not forgive you. He needs someone to take care of him right now, and if the TARDIS has picked you then that’s how it has to be.”
“But why me? He didn’t even trust me enough to tell me this might happen!”
“He didn’t tell me either.”
“Really?”
“Nope.”
“Wow.”
“You’re telling me. How’s he doing?”
“Still sleeping. Keeps muttering nonsense. Gallifreyan I think.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me. What are you doing then?”
“Nothing. Just texting you.”
“Talk to him. He’ll like that. And he needs you.”
“...Why me?”
“You’re brilliant, that’s why. And he trusts you. Otherwise the TARDIS would have let you leave and brought him to me.”
Donna stared at the message for a moment, thinking about what the Doctor had said before. Her phone beeped again and she looked down.
“Sorry. Sick again. Have to go. Good luck, and call me if he gets worse.”
“K. Feel better.”
“Don’t I wish. Bye.”
Donna smiled and slipped her phone back in her pocket. She slouched in the fluffy armchair by her bed -a new addition to her room- and watched the Doctor’s chest rising and falling. He tensed suddenly and she stared at him, not sure what to do. “Donna,” he breathed.
“Doctor?”
“Donna....”
“Well get on with it,” she said impatiently. “What do you need?”
“Donna....”
Finally she noticed his fingers twitching, grasping at the air desperately. She smiled sadly, placing her hand on top of his. Immediately his fingers tightened around hers and he sighed, relaxing again. “Dumb Martian,” she whispered. “You don’t need me.” The Doctor turned over, laying on his side yet still facing her. She scooted the chair closer to his bed, took his hand again, and within a few minutes she was asleep as well.
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“Donna?”
“Five more minutes,” she grumbled. Someone tugged on her hand and she groaned. “What?”
“Donna, it’s morning. Wake up.” She opened her eyes and the Doctor was lying beside her, his face a bit pale but definitely looking better than he had the night before. “Hello,” he said softly.
“Hey,” she grunted. She let go of his hand and sat up, stretching her arms. “How are you?”
“Better, I think.” He frowned. “You shouldn’t have slept like that. You’ll hurt your back.”
“Well, I didn’t have a bed, did I?” she said, nodding toward where he was lying. “I’ll be fine.”
The Doctor smiled, motioning for her to sit beside him. Instead she stood, walking away from the bed. “Oh. Right. Well, I’m feeling better so the TARDIS might let you out now.”
“Really?”
Donna spun to face him and he felt his hearts sink at the hopeful look on her face. “Yeah. I don’t see any reason why not,” he said, sitting up slightly. “And I suppose you’re ready to go.”
“Yeah,” Donna replied quietly. “I....I should be going. Take care of yourself.”
“You too.” Donna nodded, starting for the door. “And Donna?”
She turned around, looking at him expectantly. “What is it, Doctor?”
“Have a great life. I mean it. You’re marvelous, Donna. You deserve it.” He noticed her smile falter but she nodded, turning back toward the door. “Donna, are you all right?”
“Yeah,” she said, stepping through the doorway. “Bye, Doctor.”
He watched her disappear into the hall and sighed as he heard her footsteps echoing down the corridor. “Goodbye, Donna,” he whispered.
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Donna swallowed as she stepped into the control room. It was dark and a bit cold, as if the TARDIS knew she was leaving. She smiled sadly, patting the time rotor as she walked by.
“You’ll be all right,” she assured the ship quietly. “You and the Doctor. You’ll take care of each other.” The TARDIS groaned in response and she rolled her eyes. “Don’t talk to me like that, Miss. He just sprung this whole thing on me without warning. ‘Oh, by the way, Donna, if I ever get hurt pretty badly don’t worry. I’ll die then step out of the medical bay an hour later with a new face. It’ll be fine. So if you see someone walking around in my clothes don’t panic, ‘cause it’s just me.’ It would have been five minutes of his time. Five minutes.” She sighed, brushing her hand across her eyes. “He didn’t even think I was worth five minutes.”
The ship groaned again and Donna frowned as she saw a bit of wood laying on the console. As she picked it up the lights brightened slightly and she turned the case over, her eyes meeting a picture of herself and the Doctor. “I thought he threw this out,” she said, glancing up at the wall. “He said his hair looked awful and he was going to burn it.”
She took the picture out of the little frame, noticing the special details on the edges of the wood. Inside there was a little piece of paper and she unfolded it, carefully placing frame and photograph alike on the jump seat. “Fraibl 5. 6817. My first trip there. Been wanting to go since I was just 200 but never had the right companion to go with.” Donna frowned, then moved her hand so she could read the rest of the note. “Also, return trip memo: never eat the beans. They make this hair go limp. And Donna’s go curly, but I liked that part. I’ll have to slip some into her dinner.”
“I wondered why I couldn’t straighten my hair that day,” she muttered. She smiled, but quickly shook it off and stuffed everything back into the frame. When she put it down she felt a slight breeze, as if the TARDIS was sighing, but she ignored it and headed for the door. She placed her hand on it and pulled gently; much to her surprise it creaked open. “Oh. Thanks.” She stepped out into the street, blinking at the sunlight, and glanced back into the TARDIS.
In her mind she could see the Doctor, hopping from place to place with no one at his side. He would be fine for a while, but he had a knack for getting into trouble. She could see him at all the planets they had visited, except this time he had to deal with Pompeii on his own. He took too long to figure out the ATMOS troubles and hundreds of people died, her granddad probably one of them. She envisioned him locked in a jail cell alone with Jenny, the two of them bickering until she decided to fight for Cobb’s cause out of pure frustration. He wouldn’t have gone anywhere after that, except to the TARDIS, and locked himself in.
“Hyperemotional idiot,” she scoffed. “What would you have done without me?”
She thought about it for a moment, then sighed heavily and stepped back into the TARDIS. Immediately the lights turned up -though not too bright- and she felt the temperature rising around her to a more humanly comfortable level. “Oh, so you think I’m staying, do you?” she said, and the TARDIS hummed loudly in response. “All right, all right, calm down. I just-”
“Donna?”
She gasped as she looked into the hallway, where the Doctor was standing in a set of pajamas. They were a bit big on him one way and a bit small on him the other way and he’d never looked so helpless in his life. “Donna,” he repeated softly. “I thought....I thought you’d left.”
“I was, but I....” She fumbled for an answer, biting her lip nervously as the Doctor stared at her. “I had to come back for this.” She snatched the picture from the console, clutching it to her chest. “My gramps will like the scenery. He’s always enjoyed that sort of thing.”
“Of course,” the Doctor said, nodding curtly. “Well, goodbye then.”
“Yeah,” Donna said, holding the picture a bit tighter. She turned and as she took a step back toward the door she pulled the picture away, staring at it for a moment. “Doctor?”
To her surprise the Doctor was already beside her, leaning against the railing. “You know, you don’t have to go yet,” he said casually. “I could....I could make us some dinner.”
“No thanks,” she replied, and the Doctor’s face fell, though for a change his hair stayed in the same place. She smiled, holding the picture out to him. “I’ve got a better idea. How about you get some rest? I’ll find something for us to eat, and later we can talk about....well, you.”
The Doctor grinned so wide she was afraid his tiny nose would crack or fall off. “That sounds-”
“Brilliant? Fantastic?” She smiled, holding out her hand. “I guess marvelous works too.”
“So you’re staying then?”
She shrugged. “Do I have a choice?”