Fic: A Most Noble Undertaking 6/6 (Doctor Who; Doctor/Rose; realignment 'verse)
Story Title: A Most Noble Undertaking (6/6)
Series Title: part of the Realignment universe
Author: butterfly
Summary: Some reunions are just meant to be.
Pairing: Doctor/Rose
Rating: PG-13.
Warning: AU after Doctor Who 3x13 - "Last of the Time Lords".
Part One; Part Two; Part Three; Part Four: Part Five.
A Most Noble Undertaking
The Doctor's ship was much less intimidating this time around, though just as impossible for Donna to understand. She didn't care what fancy language he used, it was just wrong for something to be bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. Still, bizarre and unnatural as it was, she'd missed it.
Oh, hell, she'd missed the bloody idiot flying it, too, though she was determined not to, for even a single moment, ever get soppy over having found him again.
“We'll land a few hours after I left her,” the Doctor said, an irrepressibly cheeky smile on his face. “Not even a full day. She'll be pleased about that. And I think that she'll like you.”
Donna wasn't all that certain about that. Sure, Rose was probably a nice enough person, but she and the Doctor hadn't been reunited for very long, that much was obvious from their earlier conversations, and Donna wasn't sure how she would have felt about a third person tagging along on her honeymoon or hanging about her house if she'd actually gone through with the marriage to Lance.
If he hadn't been betraying her all along and planning to feed her to a giant spider, of course.
With a shudder, they came to a halt. Donna was about to rush out the doors when the Doctor muttered a caution, running his finger down a line of... figures on his screen and frowning slightly.
“What's wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he said, immediately. Then he paused, his hand going to the side of his neck and rubbing a bit. “Well, we're definitely in the right time and place. And we eliminated the radiation problem, no doubt about that. There's just... hmm. There's something odd. Nothing to worry about, I shouldn't think. Probably nothing. I wouldn't give it another thought, if I were you.”
“That was just about the opposite of reassuring,” Donna said.
“Well, there's nothing we can do about it now,” he said, breezily, as if him declaring it so meant that everyone else should automatically fall in line with him. “Ready to meet Rose?”
He held out his arm and she looped her hand around it. She'd argue with him later - she really did want to meet his Rose.
“Dying to,” she said, with a wide smile. Together, they went out the doors of the TARDIS and into what was probably late evening in London. She might even know the neighborhood, Donna thought, looking around curiously.
“Doctor!”
Donna glanced up and saw an older brunette woman standing at the doorway of the house, a warm smile on her face. The Doctor pulled away from Donna and greeted the woman with a joyful hug - that must be Rose, then. Definitely not a twig - she might even wear the same size that Donna did. Gorgeous skin - she was probably nearing her fifties or in them and she could have been taken for younger than that by anyone who didn't look at people as often as Donna did.
“I wasn't sure you'd be coming back,” Rose said and the Doctor made a soft sound of dismay. Donna wasn't all that happy herself. Everything he'd gone through after losing her and she thought that he'd just kip out and leave her behind? Not in this lifetime!
“Of course, I came back,” the Doctor said, pulling back from the hug.
“Who's your friend?” Rose said, looking straight up and into Donna's eyes. She sounded quite well-educated, this woman, like someone who'd spent a lot of time talking. Well, the Doctor had said that she was good with people.
“This is the lovely and clever Donna Noble,” the Doctor said, in that fond tone of voice that almost tipped over into sounding condescending.
“And I know who you are, of course,” Donna said, crowding past the Doctor to reach forward to take Rose's hand in hers. “He talks about you all the time.”
“He does?” Rose asked, sounding bemused, if pleased.
“Ah, Donna, actually-”
“Oh, yes,” Donna said, warmly, determined to make a good impression. “You are his favorite subject.”
“That's so sweet,” Rose said, a faint flush rising up on her cheeks. The Doctor was continuing to make half-hearted protests and Donna ignored him, trying to focus all her charm on Rose. “I had no idea.”
“It's like I know you already,” Donna said.
“You don't,” the Doctor said. Well, that was rude of him. Out of the corner of her eyes, Donna could see one of his hands fluttering about like a wounded bird. “Donna, she's not-”
“Any friend of the Doctor's is a friend of mine,” Rose said. “All right, most friends of the Doctor's could be friends of mine.”
“Who have I known that you didn't like?” the Doctor asked, his attention turning instantly from Donna to Rose. “Was it Harry? There was always something odd between you and Harry.”
“Oh, don't be absurd,” Rose said. “Despite our various disagreements, I was always more than fond of Harry. I almost named Luke 'Harry'.”
“Who's Luke?” the Doctor asked.
Rose pointed backwards. For the first time, Donna noticed that someone was standing behind her - a teenage boy. He was looking over at Rose with... concern.
“Hi,” the boy - Luke - said, looking quite uncertain. “Mum's told me a lot about you.”
“Mum?” the Doctor asked.
“Rose has a son?” Donna asked.
“What?” Rose asked, wrinkles popping up in her forehead as her brow creased in confusion. “No, she hasn't.”
“She?” Donna asked, feeling rather like she'd stepped in it.
“That's not Rose,” the Doctor said, sounding a bit tired.
“Oh,” said Donna. Her stomach churned unpleasantly. Rose was 'staying with a friend', he'd said. This must be the friend.
For her part, the light in not-Rose's face dimmed slightly.
“Ah. I see introductions are necessary after all. I'm Sarah Jane Smith, former traveling companion of the Doctor,” the woman said forcefully, shaking Donna's hand firmly before dropping it. “Rose is upstairs, on her way down.”
“I'm so sorry,” Donna said, knowing that her face had to be a very unattractive red. “Can we please pretend that the last few minutes never happened?”
Sarah Jane Smith chuckled, and Donna could only hear a tiny bit of bitterness in the sound.
“I'll agree to that,” she said. “So, I hear that you're... Donna Noble, was it?”
“Pleased to meet you,” Donna said. Then Sarah Jane introduced the two of them to her son Luke, the boy who'd been hovering behind her. Donna forced a smile, the awkwardness of her mistake making her shift uncomfortably.
Hearing the sound of footsteps on the stairway was one of the biggest reliefs in Donna's life and the response that it drew from the Doctor was equally enormous - he stopped mid-sentence, his eyes lighting up, and then he bounded half-way up the steps to meet the woman on her way down. He held out a hand to her and she placed her hand in his, her eyes entirely on his face. A tiny braided silver bracelet sparkled on her wrist.
Donna's first moments of seeing the real Rose Tyler, then, were before Rose even knew she existed.
She was blonde, that was the first thing that Donna noticed. Blonde out of a bottle, with dark eyebrows and the tiniest hints of roots. Beautiful, in slightly off way - her jaw was too strong and her mouth was too wide for her to belong on the covers of the magazines that Donna used to spend so much time reading, but she was practically glowing with life, enough so that Donna almost wondered if the woman was pregnant.
But the direction of her stare gave away the real reason behind her happiness - she was absolutely in love with the Doctor. That much was clear by the way she'd focused in on him, the way the two of them touched like it would be unnatural to remain apart, and the softness in her face as she gazed at him.
When they reached the bottom step, the Doctor leaned even more closely toward Rose, whispering something in her ear - she looked up, then, and finally saw Donna, a smile of welcome on her lips. The Doctor's arm slid around her waist and that glimmer of youth and happiness that Donna had seen in him earlier had strengthened with the presence of Rose. Seeing him like this, she didn't know how she'd ever thought that Sarah Jane could have been his Rose.
“Rose, this is Donna Noble,” he said. Rose was leaning back slightly in the Doctor's arms, her hair brushing against his shoulder. “Donna, it is my great pleasure to introduce you to Rose Tyler, my wife.”
Donna took a step forward, extending both her hands toward Rose, who took them with a sort of giddy joy apparent in her every movement - was this the first time she'd been introduced that way? Donna hadn't known for certain that Rose had been married to the Doctor, but the news definitely wasn't in the realm of 'surprising'. His grief had been that of a widower.
“Wife?” Sarah Jane asked, in a high-pitched tone of voice.
Or maybe she was wrong about the information not surprising anyone, Donna thought, turning around so that she could see Sarah Jane again - she seemed completely stunned by the news.
“Rose didn't mention?” the Doctor asked, sending an amused glance in Rose's direction. Rose's cheeks acquired a pink tinge and she shrugged casually.
“Rose didn't mention,” Sarah Jane confirmed. “Married? You? How will you manage?”
“How does anyone?” he asked, making a motion with his hand as if to physically brush away the question. “It's not as though I haven't done it before, Sarah. And I think... no, I'm sure that this time is going to go more smoothly.”
“You are a few hundred years out of practice,” Rose said, teasingly, bumping her shoulder against his. It surprised a wider grin out of him and he was gazing at Rose with... well, that's how Donna had wanted Lance to feel about her on their wedding day. It was almost enough to make her brain skip over the 'few hundred years' bit. She... was going to need to think about that one later.
“I can see now why you knew he was coming back,” Sarah Jane said, her words rueful. “Why didn't you say, Rose?”
“We had other things to think about,” Rose said, sounding more serious. “Doctor, that woman - she might be a Time Agent.”
“The annoying one?” the Doctor asked.
“You've never even met her!” Rose protested.
“Oh, I'm an excellent judge of the character of people I haven't met yet,” the Doctor said smoothly. Rose laughed and Donna could see his gaze lingering on her open mouth before he blinked and seemed to startle out of his daze. “By the way, I invited Donna along for a while.” Rose's mouth pressed shut and she looked slightly hurt, if Donna was reading her right. The Doctor seemed to see that too and, as if in response, his words sped up. “In the TARDIS. Just for... a trip. Or two. Or just one! We'll see how it goes. Donna. In the TARDIS. With us.”
Donna was just about to protest that the Doctor hadn't said anything about only one or two trips, but Rose spoke first.
“The two of us,” Rose said, sweetly, and her smile had tightened further. Donna bit her lip, hoping that this wasn't a bad sign. “And Donna. Donna... Noble, wasn't it?” Donna nodded and smiled gamely, but Rose didn't look away from the Doctor. “Is there something that you wanted to tell me, Doctor?”
“Apart from... Donna?” he asked, reaching up and tugging at his ear. He resembled nothing so much as a guilty schoolboy being scolded by a particularly strict headmaster. “No, she's about it. Can't think of anything else. Not at the moment.”
“We should talk outside,” Rose said, disentangling herself from the Doctor. She glanced over at Donna with a polite smile that felt so cold after the way she'd been behaving just moments earlier. “It was good to meet you.” She glanced over at Sarah Jane. “Sarah Jane, lovely to see you again. Wonderful to meet you, Luke.”
She swept out the door. The Doctor stood there for a moment, eyes wide, looking rather like a puppy that had just been smacked over the head with a newspaper, and then he hurried after her, closing the door behind himself.
Donna smiled awkwardly at Sarah Jane and tried to resist the urge to eavesdrop.
“So, he talks about Rose a lot,” Sarah Jane said, still sounding stunned. “That's nice. Since they're... married. Apparently.”
“Well, I puffed it up a bit,” Donna admitted. “I thought you were Rose and she'd have half the say as to whether or not I'd be staying on, so I was-”
“Kissing her arse?” Luke volunteered. Sarah Jane laughed in surprise and Luke shrugged. “That's what-”
“Clyde says, I know,” Sarah Jane said. “He's not always the best resource to use, Luke.”
“Actually, it was Maria,” Luke said. Sarah Jane had her lips pressed tightly together, probably to keep from laughing again. “She was talking about Clyde, though. He thought this girl... Melody... was snoggable and he said he was just being nice to her at lunch last Wednesday but Maria said...”
“Yes, we all know by now what Maria said.” Sarah Jane reached up and pressed her knuckles against her mouth, clearing her throat. “Regardless of who said it, it's not the most appropriate phrase.”
“Accurate, though,” Donna said. “What do you think they're talking about?”
“Any number of things,” Sarah Jane said. “Rose wasn't exaggerating when she said that we had other things to think about. She has something of a stalker... someone who claims to be from future who has come back to give her advice.”
“What's wrong with that?”
“It could destroy her timeline,” Luke said. “If she creates a paradox, it could destroy the universe.”
“Yeah,” Donna said, after a moment. “That seems important.”
“But what about you... how did you meet the Doctor?” Sarah Jane asked.
“He saved me from a giant planet-eating spider on what was supposed to be my wedding day,” Donna said. “You?”
“We were both undercover, following hints of an odd occurrence, and I managed to follow him into the TARDIS without quite realizing what I was doing,” she said, with a nostalgic smile. “Well, it was my job. I'm a journalist.”
“Oh, that's lovely,” Donna said, feeling a bit like an underachiever. “I temp.”
“That's nice,” Sarah Jane said, with a practiced politeness that likely came as easily to her as breathing. “Good variety.”
“Not really,” Donna said. “Mostly always the same thing, just in different places. Part of why I want to travel with the Doctor is because I want to see that bigger picture that he talks about. All my life, I've only seen the smallest part of what matters. The stupid things. Gossip rags and crisps and nothing like what he sees all the time.”
“I can understand that,” Sarah Jane said, with a nod. “He gives us so much when we travel with him. My life was never the same.”
“You don't regret it, then?” Donna asked, knowing that she was prying, but not caring enough to stop.
“Oh, no,” Sarah Jane said. “Every single moment, even the most terrifying, was worth it. He's... utterly unique. He can be frustrating and impossible and make you want to tear your hair out, but he's also rather splendid and brilliant and he has moments of compassion and truth that can take your breath away.”
The door opened and the Doctor popped inside, looking less than best pleased.
“Rose said that you'd already eaten,” he said to Sarah Jane. “But I was wondering... perhaps you might be inclined to feed Donna and myself. She's had nothing but stale biscuits all day.”
“Where'd Rose go?” Sarah Jane asked.
“Oh. She's... in the TARDIS,” he said, with a very forced smile. “We may have had something of a small, tiny, insignificant little... tiff.” He coughed, clearing his throat. “She's a little frustrated and said that she needed to work off some minor aggression. So, she said to wait a few hours before going back in.”
“But the TARDIS is enormous on the inside,” Sarah Jane said. “Surely there's enough room for the both of you.”
The Doctor winced, though he tried to hide it.
“She likes Rose,” he said. “They've bonded. I rather think she'll be inclined to take Rose's side.”
“Who will?” Donna asked.
“The TARDIS,” he said.
“Your ship is alive?” Luke asked, sounding understandably fascinated. The Doctor... relaxed, that was the best way of putting it, and launched gleefully into a flood of words, half of which Donna couldn't even make out, but Luke was nodding as though he understood every bit of it.
Luke and the Doctor's conversation made everything easier. Sarah Jane loosened up from the tension that had stiffened her spine up since the Doctor's announcement - Donna was still finding it odd that, though they called Sarah Jane a friend, neither the Doctor nor Rose had so much as mentioned to her that they were married - and was able to participate in the discussion on a level that Donna didn't feel capable of, not yet.
Though, she promised herself, she was going to learn about the Doctor's world until she could. After Donna had eaten her fill - and the Doctor pecked away at small bits of messy food, which was odd, because she'd pegged him for a big eater - the four of them went back out to the yard, where the TARDIS waited.
“Are you really going to keep out of your own ship until Rose lets you back in?” Sarah Jane asked. It was hard to see her expression in the dark, but she sounded so completely perplexed that Donna really didn't need to.
“Oh! She'd let me in,” the Doctor said, and Donna noticed that he'd quickly slipped past the more significant part of the question. “That's not the problem. She's just... not happy with the way the current situation has evolved.”
Donna's heart dropped down to her stomach - that had to be about the Doctor inviting her on board. She was right about Rose not approving and, damn it, she'd fought so hard to find the Doctor and his life again and the idea that it could all slip away because of one girl-
Because of the most important person in the Doctor's life. That was the part to remember.
“Now that she's had some time to think matters over, I suspect that she'll-”
“Let you in?” Sarah Jane's voice echoed with amusement. She hadn't missed what the Doctor had failed to say earlier, then. “Oh, Doctor, this has been the most unexpected visit.”
“It's not over just yet,” he said, skipping ahead of them a bit and then turning around, blocking them from the door. “I- I think that I should go in first.”
“Are you actually afraid of what she's going to say?” Sarah Jane asked.
“What?” the Doctor asked, and that was genuine confusion crinkling up his forehead. “Why would I be?”
“You seem so nervous,” Sarah Jane said, placing a hand on her hip and tilting her head as she stared at the Doctor. Donna wondered if Sarah Jane could divine more of the Doctor's mind than Donna herself could. “So unlike yourself. I noticed that before, with this girl. You're... different with her. I didn't want to think about it last time - I wanted to believe that it was the same as always, but it isn't, is it?”
“Of course, it's different,” he said. “Sarah Jane, she's my partner. My equal. The one person who could-”
He cut himself off, looking horribly conflicted.
“Who could... what, Doctor?” Sarah Jane asked, reaching out to touch the Doctor's shoulder. He looked over at her hand, then at where Donna and Luke were standing, and shook his head.
“It doesn't matter,” he said, taking a careful step backward. Sarah Jane's hand hovered in the air briefly and then she dropped it, Donna could see the confusion on her face. The Doctor shrugged, looking resigned but determined. “Call it a quirk of Gallifreyan marriage, if that helps. I know that humans- well, some humans- prize the marriage bond above all others. I'd like you to respect that.”
“Of course,” Sarah Jane said. The Doctor smiled at them and then went into the TARDIS without a backwards look.
“That Rose sure has him by the short and curlies,” Donna said. Sarah Jane gave her a startled glance and then giggled, soon enough breaking into full-force laughter. Luke was looking rather baffled by everything, but went over to Sarah Jane, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders as she continued to laugh.
“I never thought I'd see the day,” Sarah Jane said at last, when her laughter had faded. “The Doctor acting like such a... such a man.”
“Don't know, he still seems alien enough to me,” Donna said. “Just a daft one.”
“Yes, well, he's always been that,” Sarah Jane said, moving away from Luke to contemplate the TARDIS, though it was unimpressive enough from the outside. “Do you think that they're... that they... well. You know.”
“I don't,” Luke volunteered.
“That was rather the point,” Sarah Jane said. “Donna?”
“I'd be surprised if they weren't,” she said. “They are married.”
“Oh, you're talking about sex,” Luke said.
“Luke Smith!” Sarah Jane said.
“You brought it up,” he said, with the first hint of defiance that Donna had seen out of him. “And I'm not as innocent as you think I am.”
Sarah Jane was shocked to silence for a moment - her mouth opened and no words emerged. Luke's bravery appeared to desert him then. He glanced down at the grass, scuffled his feet a bit, and stuck his hands in his pockets.
“Who exactly-” Sarah Jane broke off what she was going to say. She sent a hesitant look at Donna and then took a step toward Luke, reaching out to touch his arm. “I did hope that you would feel comfortable telling me these things, Luke.”
Donna was trying to figure out the least awkward way of avoiding listening to their conversation while staying by the TARDIS just in case it tried to leave without her, when the door swung open. Rose was leaning against the railing that marked the entranceway, an embarrassed half-smile - or something else that caused her cheeks to be flushed - on her face.
“The Doctor mentioned that he offered to take you to see Rome,” Rose said, lightly. “What do you say, Donna? One trip to Rome, all expenses paid.” Her gaze flitted over to Sarah Jane and Luke. “You're invited along, too, if you like. I've been before and it's... it's very exciting.”
“Traveling with the Doctor always was,” Sarah Jane said. “But I think that we'll pass this time. I have a conversation to finish. Where did the Doctor wander off to?”
“Said he needed something out of his room, but mostly he just hates saying goodbye,” Rose said, confidentially, as though they were all great friends. “Do you wait until he comes out and force him to? I'm all right with that.”
“There's no need,” Sarah Jane said. “Tell him... tell him to visit, whenever he likes. Or whenever you like.”
“Thanks,” Rose said. “I- I really do appreciate everything you've done for me.”
“You're welcome,” Sarah Jane said. “I won't pretend to understand your relationship with the Doctor, but you seem to be able to- to affect him in a way that I never knew anyone could. He was always so... self-contained. You've changed that. I don't know how, but you've changed him.”
“He's just regenerated since you first knew him,” Rose said. “That's all.”
Donna narrowed her eyes and wondered when she might have the chance to ask the Doctor about this 'regeneration' thing. He'd mentioned it a while back, in connection with what Renova was trying to do.
“No,” Sarah Jane said. “But I'm not sure what it is. Be careful, Rose. I know that you feel so certain of him, but he's not human. Don't ever forget that.”
“Have a good night, both of you,” Rose said to Sarah Jane and Luke, her voice acquiring a brittle edge that they couldn't have missed. Sarah Jane nodded and then she and Luke turned away. Donna whispered a goodbye to them as they passed her and they responded in kind. Then, she took those few steps back into the TARDIS, the door shutting behind her.
“Rome, you said?” Donna asked. “I'd love to go there. When do we leave?”
“Soon as the Doctor comes back out,” Rose said, lifting her chin slightly. She was stubborn, but Donna was certain that she was even more so.
And she was going to convince Rose Tyler that she should stay for longer than one trip, no matter what it took.
~The End~
Continue to the next story: Chapter and Verse
Series Title: part of the Realignment universe
Author: butterfly
Summary: Some reunions are just meant to be.
Pairing: Doctor/Rose
Rating: PG-13.
Warning: AU after Doctor Who 3x13 - "Last of the Time Lords".
Part One; Part Two; Part Three; Part Four: Part Five.
A Most Noble Undertaking
The Doctor's ship was much less intimidating this time around, though just as impossible for Donna to understand. She didn't care what fancy language he used, it was just wrong for something to be bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. Still, bizarre and unnatural as it was, she'd missed it.
Oh, hell, she'd missed the bloody idiot flying it, too, though she was determined not to, for even a single moment, ever get soppy over having found him again.
“We'll land a few hours after I left her,” the Doctor said, an irrepressibly cheeky smile on his face. “Not even a full day. She'll be pleased about that. And I think that she'll like you.”
Donna wasn't all that certain about that. Sure, Rose was probably a nice enough person, but she and the Doctor hadn't been reunited for very long, that much was obvious from their earlier conversations, and Donna wasn't sure how she would have felt about a third person tagging along on her honeymoon or hanging about her house if she'd actually gone through with the marriage to Lance.
If he hadn't been betraying her all along and planning to feed her to a giant spider, of course.
With a shudder, they came to a halt. Donna was about to rush out the doors when the Doctor muttered a caution, running his finger down a line of... figures on his screen and frowning slightly.
“What's wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he said, immediately. Then he paused, his hand going to the side of his neck and rubbing a bit. “Well, we're definitely in the right time and place. And we eliminated the radiation problem, no doubt about that. There's just... hmm. There's something odd. Nothing to worry about, I shouldn't think. Probably nothing. I wouldn't give it another thought, if I were you.”
“That was just about the opposite of reassuring,” Donna said.
“Well, there's nothing we can do about it now,” he said, breezily, as if him declaring it so meant that everyone else should automatically fall in line with him. “Ready to meet Rose?”
He held out his arm and she looped her hand around it. She'd argue with him later - she really did want to meet his Rose.
“Dying to,” she said, with a wide smile. Together, they went out the doors of the TARDIS and into what was probably late evening in London. She might even know the neighborhood, Donna thought, looking around curiously.
“Doctor!”
Donna glanced up and saw an older brunette woman standing at the doorway of the house, a warm smile on her face. The Doctor pulled away from Donna and greeted the woman with a joyful hug - that must be Rose, then. Definitely not a twig - she might even wear the same size that Donna did. Gorgeous skin - she was probably nearing her fifties or in them and she could have been taken for younger than that by anyone who didn't look at people as often as Donna did.
“I wasn't sure you'd be coming back,” Rose said and the Doctor made a soft sound of dismay. Donna wasn't all that happy herself. Everything he'd gone through after losing her and she thought that he'd just kip out and leave her behind? Not in this lifetime!
“Of course, I came back,” the Doctor said, pulling back from the hug.
“Who's your friend?” Rose said, looking straight up and into Donna's eyes. She sounded quite well-educated, this woman, like someone who'd spent a lot of time talking. Well, the Doctor had said that she was good with people.
“This is the lovely and clever Donna Noble,” the Doctor said, in that fond tone of voice that almost tipped over into sounding condescending.
“And I know who you are, of course,” Donna said, crowding past the Doctor to reach forward to take Rose's hand in hers. “He talks about you all the time.”
“He does?” Rose asked, sounding bemused, if pleased.
“Ah, Donna, actually-”
“Oh, yes,” Donna said, warmly, determined to make a good impression. “You are his favorite subject.”
“That's so sweet,” Rose said, a faint flush rising up on her cheeks. The Doctor was continuing to make half-hearted protests and Donna ignored him, trying to focus all her charm on Rose. “I had no idea.”
“It's like I know you already,” Donna said.
“You don't,” the Doctor said. Well, that was rude of him. Out of the corner of her eyes, Donna could see one of his hands fluttering about like a wounded bird. “Donna, she's not-”
“Any friend of the Doctor's is a friend of mine,” Rose said. “All right, most friends of the Doctor's could be friends of mine.”
“Who have I known that you didn't like?” the Doctor asked, his attention turning instantly from Donna to Rose. “Was it Harry? There was always something odd between you and Harry.”
“Oh, don't be absurd,” Rose said. “Despite our various disagreements, I was always more than fond of Harry. I almost named Luke 'Harry'.”
“Who's Luke?” the Doctor asked.
Rose pointed backwards. For the first time, Donna noticed that someone was standing behind her - a teenage boy. He was looking over at Rose with... concern.
“Hi,” the boy - Luke - said, looking quite uncertain. “Mum's told me a lot about you.”
“Mum?” the Doctor asked.
“Rose has a son?” Donna asked.
“What?” Rose asked, wrinkles popping up in her forehead as her brow creased in confusion. “No, she hasn't.”
“She?” Donna asked, feeling rather like she'd stepped in it.
“That's not Rose,” the Doctor said, sounding a bit tired.
“Oh,” said Donna. Her stomach churned unpleasantly. Rose was 'staying with a friend', he'd said. This must be the friend.
For her part, the light in not-Rose's face dimmed slightly.
“Ah. I see introductions are necessary after all. I'm Sarah Jane Smith, former traveling companion of the Doctor,” the woman said forcefully, shaking Donna's hand firmly before dropping it. “Rose is upstairs, on her way down.”
“I'm so sorry,” Donna said, knowing that her face had to be a very unattractive red. “Can we please pretend that the last few minutes never happened?”
Sarah Jane Smith chuckled, and Donna could only hear a tiny bit of bitterness in the sound.
“I'll agree to that,” she said. “So, I hear that you're... Donna Noble, was it?”
“Pleased to meet you,” Donna said. Then Sarah Jane introduced the two of them to her son Luke, the boy who'd been hovering behind her. Donna forced a smile, the awkwardness of her mistake making her shift uncomfortably.
Hearing the sound of footsteps on the stairway was one of the biggest reliefs in Donna's life and the response that it drew from the Doctor was equally enormous - he stopped mid-sentence, his eyes lighting up, and then he bounded half-way up the steps to meet the woman on her way down. He held out a hand to her and she placed her hand in his, her eyes entirely on his face. A tiny braided silver bracelet sparkled on her wrist.
Donna's first moments of seeing the real Rose Tyler, then, were before Rose even knew she existed.
She was blonde, that was the first thing that Donna noticed. Blonde out of a bottle, with dark eyebrows and the tiniest hints of roots. Beautiful, in slightly off way - her jaw was too strong and her mouth was too wide for her to belong on the covers of the magazines that Donna used to spend so much time reading, but she was practically glowing with life, enough so that Donna almost wondered if the woman was pregnant.
But the direction of her stare gave away the real reason behind her happiness - she was absolutely in love with the Doctor. That much was clear by the way she'd focused in on him, the way the two of them touched like it would be unnatural to remain apart, and the softness in her face as she gazed at him.
When they reached the bottom step, the Doctor leaned even more closely toward Rose, whispering something in her ear - she looked up, then, and finally saw Donna, a smile of welcome on her lips. The Doctor's arm slid around her waist and that glimmer of youth and happiness that Donna had seen in him earlier had strengthened with the presence of Rose. Seeing him like this, she didn't know how she'd ever thought that Sarah Jane could have been his Rose.
“Rose, this is Donna Noble,” he said. Rose was leaning back slightly in the Doctor's arms, her hair brushing against his shoulder. “Donna, it is my great pleasure to introduce you to Rose Tyler, my wife.”
Donna took a step forward, extending both her hands toward Rose, who took them with a sort of giddy joy apparent in her every movement - was this the first time she'd been introduced that way? Donna hadn't known for certain that Rose had been married to the Doctor, but the news definitely wasn't in the realm of 'surprising'. His grief had been that of a widower.
“Wife?” Sarah Jane asked, in a high-pitched tone of voice.
Or maybe she was wrong about the information not surprising anyone, Donna thought, turning around so that she could see Sarah Jane again - she seemed completely stunned by the news.
“Rose didn't mention?” the Doctor asked, sending an amused glance in Rose's direction. Rose's cheeks acquired a pink tinge and she shrugged casually.
“Rose didn't mention,” Sarah Jane confirmed. “Married? You? How will you manage?”
“How does anyone?” he asked, making a motion with his hand as if to physically brush away the question. “It's not as though I haven't done it before, Sarah. And I think... no, I'm sure that this time is going to go more smoothly.”
“You are a few hundred years out of practice,” Rose said, teasingly, bumping her shoulder against his. It surprised a wider grin out of him and he was gazing at Rose with... well, that's how Donna had wanted Lance to feel about her on their wedding day. It was almost enough to make her brain skip over the 'few hundred years' bit. She... was going to need to think about that one later.
“I can see now why you knew he was coming back,” Sarah Jane said, her words rueful. “Why didn't you say, Rose?”
“We had other things to think about,” Rose said, sounding more serious. “Doctor, that woman - she might be a Time Agent.”
“The annoying one?” the Doctor asked.
“You've never even met her!” Rose protested.
“Oh, I'm an excellent judge of the character of people I haven't met yet,” the Doctor said smoothly. Rose laughed and Donna could see his gaze lingering on her open mouth before he blinked and seemed to startle out of his daze. “By the way, I invited Donna along for a while.” Rose's mouth pressed shut and she looked slightly hurt, if Donna was reading her right. The Doctor seemed to see that too and, as if in response, his words sped up. “In the TARDIS. Just for... a trip. Or two. Or just one! We'll see how it goes. Donna. In the TARDIS. With us.”
Donna was just about to protest that the Doctor hadn't said anything about only one or two trips, but Rose spoke first.
“The two of us,” Rose said, sweetly, and her smile had tightened further. Donna bit her lip, hoping that this wasn't a bad sign. “And Donna. Donna... Noble, wasn't it?” Donna nodded and smiled gamely, but Rose didn't look away from the Doctor. “Is there something that you wanted to tell me, Doctor?”
“Apart from... Donna?” he asked, reaching up and tugging at his ear. He resembled nothing so much as a guilty schoolboy being scolded by a particularly strict headmaster. “No, she's about it. Can't think of anything else. Not at the moment.”
“We should talk outside,” Rose said, disentangling herself from the Doctor. She glanced over at Donna with a polite smile that felt so cold after the way she'd been behaving just moments earlier. “It was good to meet you.” She glanced over at Sarah Jane. “Sarah Jane, lovely to see you again. Wonderful to meet you, Luke.”
She swept out the door. The Doctor stood there for a moment, eyes wide, looking rather like a puppy that had just been smacked over the head with a newspaper, and then he hurried after her, closing the door behind himself.
Donna smiled awkwardly at Sarah Jane and tried to resist the urge to eavesdrop.
“So, he talks about Rose a lot,” Sarah Jane said, still sounding stunned. “That's nice. Since they're... married. Apparently.”
“Well, I puffed it up a bit,” Donna admitted. “I thought you were Rose and she'd have half the say as to whether or not I'd be staying on, so I was-”
“Kissing her arse?” Luke volunteered. Sarah Jane laughed in surprise and Luke shrugged. “That's what-”
“Clyde says, I know,” Sarah Jane said. “He's not always the best resource to use, Luke.”
“Actually, it was Maria,” Luke said. Sarah Jane had her lips pressed tightly together, probably to keep from laughing again. “She was talking about Clyde, though. He thought this girl... Melody... was snoggable and he said he was just being nice to her at lunch last Wednesday but Maria said...”
“Yes, we all know by now what Maria said.” Sarah Jane reached up and pressed her knuckles against her mouth, clearing her throat. “Regardless of who said it, it's not the most appropriate phrase.”
“Accurate, though,” Donna said. “What do you think they're talking about?”
“Any number of things,” Sarah Jane said. “Rose wasn't exaggerating when she said that we had other things to think about. She has something of a stalker... someone who claims to be from future who has come back to give her advice.”
“What's wrong with that?”
“It could destroy her timeline,” Luke said. “If she creates a paradox, it could destroy the universe.”
“Yeah,” Donna said, after a moment. “That seems important.”
“But what about you... how did you meet the Doctor?” Sarah Jane asked.
“He saved me from a giant planet-eating spider on what was supposed to be my wedding day,” Donna said. “You?”
“We were both undercover, following hints of an odd occurrence, and I managed to follow him into the TARDIS without quite realizing what I was doing,” she said, with a nostalgic smile. “Well, it was my job. I'm a journalist.”
“Oh, that's lovely,” Donna said, feeling a bit like an underachiever. “I temp.”
“That's nice,” Sarah Jane said, with a practiced politeness that likely came as easily to her as breathing. “Good variety.”
“Not really,” Donna said. “Mostly always the same thing, just in different places. Part of why I want to travel with the Doctor is because I want to see that bigger picture that he talks about. All my life, I've only seen the smallest part of what matters. The stupid things. Gossip rags and crisps and nothing like what he sees all the time.”
“I can understand that,” Sarah Jane said, with a nod. “He gives us so much when we travel with him. My life was never the same.”
“You don't regret it, then?” Donna asked, knowing that she was prying, but not caring enough to stop.
“Oh, no,” Sarah Jane said. “Every single moment, even the most terrifying, was worth it. He's... utterly unique. He can be frustrating and impossible and make you want to tear your hair out, but he's also rather splendid and brilliant and he has moments of compassion and truth that can take your breath away.”
The door opened and the Doctor popped inside, looking less than best pleased.
“Rose said that you'd already eaten,” he said to Sarah Jane. “But I was wondering... perhaps you might be inclined to feed Donna and myself. She's had nothing but stale biscuits all day.”
“Where'd Rose go?” Sarah Jane asked.
“Oh. She's... in the TARDIS,” he said, with a very forced smile. “We may have had something of a small, tiny, insignificant little... tiff.” He coughed, clearing his throat. “She's a little frustrated and said that she needed to work off some minor aggression. So, she said to wait a few hours before going back in.”
“But the TARDIS is enormous on the inside,” Sarah Jane said. “Surely there's enough room for the both of you.”
The Doctor winced, though he tried to hide it.
“She likes Rose,” he said. “They've bonded. I rather think she'll be inclined to take Rose's side.”
“Who will?” Donna asked.
“The TARDIS,” he said.
“Your ship is alive?” Luke asked, sounding understandably fascinated. The Doctor... relaxed, that was the best way of putting it, and launched gleefully into a flood of words, half of which Donna couldn't even make out, but Luke was nodding as though he understood every bit of it.
Luke and the Doctor's conversation made everything easier. Sarah Jane loosened up from the tension that had stiffened her spine up since the Doctor's announcement - Donna was still finding it odd that, though they called Sarah Jane a friend, neither the Doctor nor Rose had so much as mentioned to her that they were married - and was able to participate in the discussion on a level that Donna didn't feel capable of, not yet.
Though, she promised herself, she was going to learn about the Doctor's world until she could. After Donna had eaten her fill - and the Doctor pecked away at small bits of messy food, which was odd, because she'd pegged him for a big eater - the four of them went back out to the yard, where the TARDIS waited.
“Are you really going to keep out of your own ship until Rose lets you back in?” Sarah Jane asked. It was hard to see her expression in the dark, but she sounded so completely perplexed that Donna really didn't need to.
“Oh! She'd let me in,” the Doctor said, and Donna noticed that he'd quickly slipped past the more significant part of the question. “That's not the problem. She's just... not happy with the way the current situation has evolved.”
Donna's heart dropped down to her stomach - that had to be about the Doctor inviting her on board. She was right about Rose not approving and, damn it, she'd fought so hard to find the Doctor and his life again and the idea that it could all slip away because of one girl-
Because of the most important person in the Doctor's life. That was the part to remember.
“Now that she's had some time to think matters over, I suspect that she'll-”
“Let you in?” Sarah Jane's voice echoed with amusement. She hadn't missed what the Doctor had failed to say earlier, then. “Oh, Doctor, this has been the most unexpected visit.”
“It's not over just yet,” he said, skipping ahead of them a bit and then turning around, blocking them from the door. “I- I think that I should go in first.”
“Are you actually afraid of what she's going to say?” Sarah Jane asked.
“What?” the Doctor asked, and that was genuine confusion crinkling up his forehead. “Why would I be?”
“You seem so nervous,” Sarah Jane said, placing a hand on her hip and tilting her head as she stared at the Doctor. Donna wondered if Sarah Jane could divine more of the Doctor's mind than Donna herself could. “So unlike yourself. I noticed that before, with this girl. You're... different with her. I didn't want to think about it last time - I wanted to believe that it was the same as always, but it isn't, is it?”
“Of course, it's different,” he said. “Sarah Jane, she's my partner. My equal. The one person who could-”
He cut himself off, looking horribly conflicted.
“Who could... what, Doctor?” Sarah Jane asked, reaching out to touch the Doctor's shoulder. He looked over at her hand, then at where Donna and Luke were standing, and shook his head.
“It doesn't matter,” he said, taking a careful step backward. Sarah Jane's hand hovered in the air briefly and then she dropped it, Donna could see the confusion on her face. The Doctor shrugged, looking resigned but determined. “Call it a quirk of Gallifreyan marriage, if that helps. I know that humans- well, some humans- prize the marriage bond above all others. I'd like you to respect that.”
“Of course,” Sarah Jane said. The Doctor smiled at them and then went into the TARDIS without a backwards look.
“That Rose sure has him by the short and curlies,” Donna said. Sarah Jane gave her a startled glance and then giggled, soon enough breaking into full-force laughter. Luke was looking rather baffled by everything, but went over to Sarah Jane, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders as she continued to laugh.
“I never thought I'd see the day,” Sarah Jane said at last, when her laughter had faded. “The Doctor acting like such a... such a man.”
“Don't know, he still seems alien enough to me,” Donna said. “Just a daft one.”
“Yes, well, he's always been that,” Sarah Jane said, moving away from Luke to contemplate the TARDIS, though it was unimpressive enough from the outside. “Do you think that they're... that they... well. You know.”
“I don't,” Luke volunteered.
“That was rather the point,” Sarah Jane said. “Donna?”
“I'd be surprised if they weren't,” she said. “They are married.”
“Oh, you're talking about sex,” Luke said.
“Luke Smith!” Sarah Jane said.
“You brought it up,” he said, with the first hint of defiance that Donna had seen out of him. “And I'm not as innocent as you think I am.”
Sarah Jane was shocked to silence for a moment - her mouth opened and no words emerged. Luke's bravery appeared to desert him then. He glanced down at the grass, scuffled his feet a bit, and stuck his hands in his pockets.
“Who exactly-” Sarah Jane broke off what she was going to say. She sent a hesitant look at Donna and then took a step toward Luke, reaching out to touch his arm. “I did hope that you would feel comfortable telling me these things, Luke.”
Donna was trying to figure out the least awkward way of avoiding listening to their conversation while staying by the TARDIS just in case it tried to leave without her, when the door swung open. Rose was leaning against the railing that marked the entranceway, an embarrassed half-smile - or something else that caused her cheeks to be flushed - on her face.
“The Doctor mentioned that he offered to take you to see Rome,” Rose said, lightly. “What do you say, Donna? One trip to Rome, all expenses paid.” Her gaze flitted over to Sarah Jane and Luke. “You're invited along, too, if you like. I've been before and it's... it's very exciting.”
“Traveling with the Doctor always was,” Sarah Jane said. “But I think that we'll pass this time. I have a conversation to finish. Where did the Doctor wander off to?”
“Said he needed something out of his room, but mostly he just hates saying goodbye,” Rose said, confidentially, as though they were all great friends. “Do you wait until he comes out and force him to? I'm all right with that.”
“There's no need,” Sarah Jane said. “Tell him... tell him to visit, whenever he likes. Or whenever you like.”
“Thanks,” Rose said. “I- I really do appreciate everything you've done for me.”
“You're welcome,” Sarah Jane said. “I won't pretend to understand your relationship with the Doctor, but you seem to be able to- to affect him in a way that I never knew anyone could. He was always so... self-contained. You've changed that. I don't know how, but you've changed him.”
“He's just regenerated since you first knew him,” Rose said. “That's all.”
Donna narrowed her eyes and wondered when she might have the chance to ask the Doctor about this 'regeneration' thing. He'd mentioned it a while back, in connection with what Renova was trying to do.
“No,” Sarah Jane said. “But I'm not sure what it is. Be careful, Rose. I know that you feel so certain of him, but he's not human. Don't ever forget that.”
“Have a good night, both of you,” Rose said to Sarah Jane and Luke, her voice acquiring a brittle edge that they couldn't have missed. Sarah Jane nodded and then she and Luke turned away. Donna whispered a goodbye to them as they passed her and they responded in kind. Then, she took those few steps back into the TARDIS, the door shutting behind her.
“Rome, you said?” Donna asked. “I'd love to go there. When do we leave?”
“Soon as the Doctor comes back out,” Rose said, lifting her chin slightly. She was stubborn, but Donna was certain that she was even more so.
And she was going to convince Rose Tyler that she should stay for longer than one trip, no matter what it took.
~The End~
Continue to the next story: Chapter and Verse