Doctor Who: On the Run (5/?)

[deathnomiko]

Who: the Doctor, Donna Noble
What: Post Journey's End and after The Next Doctor, the Doctor finds out he's somehow become a universal outlaw. He doesn't know how, he doesn't know why, but he knows he can't figure this out alone and the only person he can trust to help him is Donna.
Rating: PG-13/Teen
Notes: This is written by two authors:  deathnomiko and darkranger, and is actually an adapted fanfiction out a RP verse. I thought it was too good to not share. I didn't want to change much of the written content as possible, so that explains why the POVs change slightly between Doctor/Donna. Thoughts, comments, and suggestions are always welcomed.

Chapter Summary: The Doctor and Donna are caught and the TARDIS destroyed as tensions run high with the mystery becoming far more complicated than anyone could've expected.

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4



Donna had been in the library relaxing with a good book, a mug of tea and a box of chocolates from her secret 'me-time' stash. It had all been going so nicely too. At least, it had been going nicely until the TARDIS jerked, sending the mug crashing to the floor, the chocolates following, and Donna barely managing to stay on the sofa.

What the heck was that silly spaceman up to this time? She got to her feet and the TARDIS jerked again, almost knocking her down. Oh, she was going to kill him for this! So much for relaxing! She made her way down the corridors towards the console room, being thrown about like a rag doll with every violent jerk of the ship. She couldn't help but notice that the usual calming hum of the TARDIS was replaced by an almost frantic one. That couldn't be good.

She finally reached the console room, expecting to find a skinny git at the console doing alien... stuff. But the room was empty. The monitors were flashing and sparks were coming from said console. Oh, that couldn't be good at all! Another jerk sent her crashing into the railing. That was gonna bruise.

Someone, or something was dragging the TARDIS against her will through Time and Space. Wizard. "DOCTOR?!"

"Down here!" His suit jacket was fried around the edges and his hair was sticking up a little more than usual as large cables were strung around his neck.

He had thought they were safe, lingering at the edge of a time rift distorted by a black hole. In all honesty it wasn't the best of locations, but he knew the TARDIS was capable of withstanding the gravitational pull in small doses and any other ship would be foolish enough to come by.

Or so he thought.

"I'm trying to reroute the power! Something's got a hold of us..!" Without a moment to spare, he ran off trying to avoid tripping over anything.

Another jerk sent Donna crashing into the console. Downside to the coral? It's not very soft for being thrown into. She tried to steady herself. "Kind of figured that one out for myself, Spaceman."

A spark shot up by her hand, causing her to squeal in surprise. "Right, so, brilliant plan? I mean you have a brilliant plan right? Can't we just... I dunno, slam the brakes on or sommat? No?"

Another explosion, another squeak.

"Sorry 'bout that one! That was me! No, if we slam the breaks, we'll really be in trouble... Well, maybe not, but I don't want to test that hypothesis."

Another spark and the TARDIS jolted in the opposite direction.

Sounds came from below as he hot wired connections and lights went out for 2 seconds before coming back on. "DONNA! PUT US IN REVERSE!" He held his breath as the TARDIS groaned and one could feel it resisting.

"C'mon...! C'moooooon!" But then his stomach lurched as they were flipped sideways and he scrambled to his feet. "Give me a tic!" More wires were disconnected and rerouted, sparks flew, and finally "I think I got it!"

This was going to end badly. Donna just knew it. Still, she followed his instructions, not that they seemed to be making much progress. Of course, that was probably just her insignificant human brain not being able to see the bigger picture and not the fact that things were going very, very wrong...

There was more squealing and squeaking from a certain panicked ginger as more sparks flew. And more panicking as the console not only sparked, but actually started flaming.

"Don't want to worry you or anything... but... WE'RE ON FIRE!"

"Don't do this to meeee!" The Doctor untangled himself from the wires to scramble through the grate to help Donna. He ran and grabbed the extinguisher and put out the fire, just in time for the TARDIS to lurch the opposite direction.

Toppling over onto Donna (luckily he managed to not conk her out with the extinguisher), another low groan sounded and the Doctor's eyes went wide.

"Oh, this is bad... Very bad!" And just as he sat up on his knees, the gravity cut off, causing them to rise in the air.

At least if he'd knocked her out she would be calm, and quiet? Every cloud has a silver lining, Doctor. She was about to have a few choice words with him for using her as a landing spot - seemed to be a common occurrence for them, landing on each other in awkward ways. Of course, any words were quickly wiped away by the fact they were no longer on the ground.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me..." Could this day get any worse? Oh yes. A lot worse. "Do something! Get us down. Tell your stupid ship to stop messing about!!"

There was a niggling worry at the back of Donna's mind. If the gravity had cut off... how long would it be until the oxygen cut off?

"I'm trying!" He was doing his best to swim over to the control console and managed to grab the wheel until he heard some wires snapping, and more groaning of the ship.

"No, no, no no!" Glancing upwards, he started to see light seeping around the edges of the control paneling of the walls and his hearts just sunk further in his chest cavity.

Glancing backwards to Donna, his eyes were sullen yet filled with panic. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry... I tried."

Those were not the words of reassurance she had been hoping to hear. Nor was that a look that filled her with confidence. It broke her heart. "No, no, no, don't you dare give up... Don't... You're the Doctor, you can fix anything."

He always fixed things. No matter how hopeless it seemed or how frightening it was. He always made things better. It wasn't supposed to be like this. They'd only just found each other again - well, he kidnapped her, but same thing...

Renewed by her confidence, he pulled out his sonic and attempted to pry open the control console. "I won't let them take her!" It was incredibly difficult to work with zero gravity as his fingers slipped often.

Around him, the paneling was separating even more, and more light was shining in. The Doctor's guess was the source was from the ship that was determined to dismantle the TARDIS as the lights seemed like search lights. He didn't have enough time to attempt to make a guess as to whose ship it was exactly.

Space was silent, but a low bass-like rumble sounded and everything just seemed to stop. The Doctor lost his grip as a vacuum formed and pulled them out of the TARDIS.

He couldn't even hear himself scream Donna's name.

After that, things were a bit of a blur for Donna. Well~ less of a blur really and more of a big blank page. She didn't know if she was alive or dead, truth be told. All she knew is that it was dark, she was no longer inside her beloved TARDIS and she was very, very scared.

Her cheeks were still damp with her tears. Her head was swimming. She felt like she'd been hit by a number 9 bus.

"Doctor?" Her voice sounded so meek and timid, hardly like herself at all. She tried again. "Doctor?!"

If Donna's head was swimming, his head was quite drowned. He couldn't tell if he was awake or not, and was hearing whispers around him. All of which he recognized, but couldn't put a name on it.

I lost the TARDIS...

The voices grew a little louder, and he recognized them as memories of conversations... There was the Brig, Romana, Tegan, Ace... He shook his head.

But I lost the TARDIS!

And amongst the voices he heard the loudest, Sarah Jane, "Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or a relationship... Everything has its time. And everything ends."

And as if breaking out from the dream, he blinked open his eyes and realized he was surrounded by darkness. And he didn't care.

Donna pushed aside her own fears. Only one thing mattered right now and that was finding the Doctor. If she could find him, everything would be okay, she just knew it! She got to her feet and fumbled in the darkness for what she assumed was the wall, using it to guide her through the darkness.

"Doctor?!"

For every second she couldn't find him she grew more worried. "Doctor? Where are you!?"

He could hear Donna moving around, searching for him. Clearly she was panicked, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything despite being what he guessed was little over a meter away from her on the opposite wall. Finally hearing the heightened panic in her voice, he spoke up.

"Here. I'm over here." He cleared his throat, realizing how dejected he sounded. "You alright? Bleeding any?"

And if she replied, he didn't hear it over the intruding thoughts of, I lost the TARDIS...!

"Doctor!" Relief washed over her, but it was short-lived. She didn't need to be able to see to know how broken he was. She reached for him in the darkness, pulling him into a hug. Hands groping at his hair, his face and finally his chest, reassuring herself that this was the Doctor and not some cruel trick. "I'm fine. I think. Can't really tell. You?" Aside from the obvious emotional scarring, of course.

She asked you a question Doctor. "Oh quite dandy!" The Doctor lies.

He tried to raise his arms to wrap around her, but he just couldn't bring himself to do so. The energy wasn't there. "I lost the TARDIS." It oddly felt more real as he spoke it, "I lost the TARDIS, Donna. My TARDIS!" And his chest began to rise and fall harshly and he banged his head against the wall, "I lost the TARDIS! I'm stuck on this god-forsaken ship! And I lost the TARDIS! I'm suck in time! Oh Rassilon, I can't breathe..."

She felt her heart break more and more at his actions and his voice. She reached for him again and pulled him into her arms, holding him for what felt like an eternity.

She stroked his spine, trying to sooth him. Though she knew she couldn't take the pain away. She knew nothing could.

"We'll find her. Somehow, we'll find her. Even if we have to search every inch of the universe and piece her back together. We'll do it."

He clung to her as his head spun in circles from his recklessness. He couldn't move, wouldn't move, because at that moment Donna was his only anchor he had left other than whatever was stashed in his pockets.

And for once in his life he completely and utterly didn't have a single clue as what to do next. His raggedy ole TARDIS was gone and he couldn't just run and escape from his problems.

Lucky for him, the door to the cell they were held in opened and near-blinding light flooded in. Squinting harshly, the Doctor shielded his eyes in attempts to figure out who stood before them.

Without thinking, Donna stepped in front of the Doctor, even though the light burned her eyes. She would protect him with every breath in her body, especially now, since he was in no fit state to protect himself.

"Dunno who you think you are, or what you think you're doing abducting us like this, but come any closer and there'll be trouble, you got it?!"

"Donna, don't!" He placed his hand on her arm and tried to pull her behind him, but she was quite stubborn.

Stubborn was her middle name. Well, it wasn't. But it should've been. Stubborn and reckless and dear God she was not going to stand idly by and have her best friend snatched away from her. Not no way, not no how.

"Doctor..." It was a strange voice, belonging to nothing he immediately recognized.

"I am." If Donna wasn't going to budge, he at least was able to step off to the side from her. "I'm sorry, but can you dim the lights a wee bit?" He was still squinting.

"You're under arrest by Shadow Proclamation under the decree of..." The lights didn't dim.

"Yes, yes, I know that much already!" So he was picked up by them? Interesting they were capable of having such ships to be able to handle such a feat.

"You can't arrest him. He hasn't done anything wrong!" She moved until she was once again in front of him. Quit moving, Doctor. She's trying to be a human shield.

"What's his crime? We demand to see some ... higher... uppers."

The figure stepped into the room and pointed to Donna. "You wish to speak to Authority?"

The Doctor poked his head out from Donna, "Well, she's right. I haven't exactly done anything out of the ordinary." Of course there were exceptions to that statement, but no one asked for the details.

Besides, they destroyed his TARDIS, so what worse could happen?

Digital text scrolled across the face mask of the figure as it stood there still as if reading through all of it. "Inquiry granted."

He held up thick hand-cuff looking objects, and as if magnetized, flew to their wrists and locked them together.

Well this day was shaping up to be a barrel of laughs, wasn't it? She should've stayed in bed. In fact, she should've stayed in bed, in Chiswick and then she wouldn't be getting handcuffed by some reject Power Ranger in some godforsaken ship in the middle of space.

"Oi! What's with the cuffs? Not like we can go anywhere since you wrecked our transport." Donna was one unhappy bunny. This Authority better be well prepared!

The cuffs on his wrists seemed to have dull heat to them until a zap of electricity shocked through the Doctor's body. "Oh, what was that!?" It nearly brought him to his knees as he heard a shriek from Donna.

"Unnecessary comments will be withheld. Consequences will be understood."

Forget reject Power Rangers, they were more like reject Cybermen with ramped up technology and less mechanical voice.

He growled, "You're not with the Shadow Proclamation, are you...!?" His question was met with another jolt of electricity to both of them. "They're not this inhuman!" Another jolt. "Tell me who you are!?"

What was it with alien weirdos blasting her with electricity? Did she have a big neon sign above her head saying 'zap me'? The jolts were making her feel very, very sick. And her legs had turned to jelly.

Sometimes, the Doctor's mouth was as bad as hers. They both needed mute buttons, especially when either of them opened their mouths they got zapped.

Between being too harsh on himself and having his body zapped from various sources of electricity, the Doctor was pathetically flopped on the ground, but still glaring and breathing hard out of anger at their captor.

Wait? When did he close his eyes? Because the next moment he blinked them open, he swore he about went blind for a second time but this time he was sitting up in a cold metal chair at a table (interrogation table?) and Donna was slumped in a seat next to him. Unfortunately their hands still remained restrained behind them.

"Donna! Donna, wake up!" His legs were long enough for him to nudge her's.

Oh... that's why her legs felt slightly less jellified. She was sat down. When did that happen? Ugh, and why was she being nudged? She was trying to die quietly over here!

She groaned and forced her head up. "Unless you're about to say 'I have a plan,' please leave me to die in peace, Time Boy."

She tugged uselessly at her restraints. "Where are we, anyway?"

"I don't know, but you're not dying as long as I'm alive! After that, you're on your own." What a heartfelt statement, Doctor.

Just then, a door slid open and another "reject Cyberman" (until he had a name, that's what he's going to refer them as) walked in. "Doctor... And Donna Noble. Quite a difficult task tracking you down. So sorry for your ship, but we couldn't take any risks of you escaping."

There was something eerie about random aliens knowing Donna's name. She got the fact that just about every race in existence knew of the Doctor, but she was just an insignificant human who happened to be lucky enough to travel with him. Though, right now she didn't feel particularly lucky.
"You didn't have to destroy it! And who are you anyway!? What do you want with us!?" The Doctor's Oncoming Storm was showing.

"Yeah, what he said! Who are you and want to you want and why are we handcuffed? We're not criminals."

"You will remain in handcuffs until we deem it necessary to release you or take you back to your cell."

The Doctor had a frown fixed upon his face. "You have quite the selective hearing..." Rude and not ginger, that's him. "Try answering some of my questions!" He started to stand up, but once again met with an electric jolt, bringing him back down.

With a growl and total disregard of any protest from Donna, the Doctor let his emotions get the better of him, "I demand to know who you are! Why did you destroy my TARDIS!? Why didn't you peacefully request me aboard, I might've come willingly. Most of all, why are you involving Donna, she has absolutely nothing to do with any of this. Oh, hold on a second, why am I here!? "

Electric shocks were continuously seeping out of his cuffs as he was now half strung out against the table. If he could free his wrists, he'd have his sonic out in less than 3 seconds and their helmets blasted off.

The Oncoming Storm wasn't as impressive when the other side were the ones with the electricity jolty things and were very much in control.

And every time the Doctor got jolted, Donna did too. She felt very, very sick. She hadn't felt this sick since the morning after she had drank three hypervodkas and spent three hours dancing on a table with a cactus person.

"Maybe you can start questioning us now then, before I..." Too late. She couldn't hold it back any longer. Donna was sick, violently sick. And her reward? More shocks. "Guessing you don't win too many awards for customer service, right?"

The Doctor felt terrible, not only with the effects of the electricity that had gone through him and made his own stomach do flips and his hearts race in anger, but he didn't want Donna to be punished for his own doings.

Still, angry eyes stayed focused on their captors, but at least his mouth stayed shut this time.

"We are not officially affiliated with the Shadow Proclamation. However, we are rewarded quite generously for helping with their problems..."

The Doctor's eyes grew wide, "Bounty hunters... Ohhhh!" And realization hit as to how much trouble they were in. "Yes! Oh, I should've known! I've heard of the Shadow Hunters, but I've never..."

"Have you ever looked in the shadows, dear Doctor? Because we're there watching and waiting..."

A growl, "It's me that you want! Leave Donna out of this! Take her home; don't hurt her! She's innocent! I tricked her into coming with me! Manipulated and fooled the poor ape in joining me! She's worthless and of no worth to you. Wipe her memory and take her back to Earth! She's of no value!"

Sorry Donna, he was desperately trying to save you, but even he could only stand so much electricity...

When his eyes cracked open again he was back in the darkness and the cuffs were off.

If she'd been able to, she would've slapped him so freaking hard. They were in this together. Partners in crime... only there was no crime - not that they were aware of anyway.

And this passing out and waking up in a different place? It was getting very old, very fast. Donna was one unhappy bunny. She tried to adjust to the darkness, rubbing at her aching wrists.

"... Doctor?" Her heart was racing, and it was all she could hear aside from her breathing. "Doctor? Where are you?" She still couldn't hear him.

He groaned in reply before finally speaking, "Here." Wait, a single word sentence from the Doctor!? Unheard of!

He tried to sit up but realized it wasn't possible to be comfortable and stayed lying down. "You ok?"

She found her way over to him with some difficulty. Seriously, would it kill the reject Power Rangers to get a few light bulbs in this place?

She flopped down next to him. "Oh, fine, just fine. Never been better." Sarcasm? Oh yes. "Love what they've done with the place. The dark look, very chic."

A pause. "What would you say if I told you I have an idea?"

"What is it?" He groaned as he rolled over on his back, attempting to become more comfortable.

Really, he was physically and emotionally exhausted and would be content to just closing his eyes and sleeping forever. Especially knowing who they were up against.

"Well~ I don't want to say, because you'll probably tell me it's stupid or it won't work or it's too dangerous..." Either way, it was a better plan than giving up. When did the Doctor ever give up?

"It's better than nothing..." She frowned, even though he couldn't see. "All I need to know are two things. One, did they take your sonic? And two, could these reject Power Rangers get hold of Huon particles?"

"Donna? What are you thinking about?" His voice was stern, but a hint of curiosity was there.

He did have his sonic; it was tucked safely in his innermost pocket of his jacket. That was one thing he refused to lose. The TARDIS was the other, but despite fighting that battle as best he could, it was still taken away.

It wasn't in the Doctor's nature to be lacking in plotting of an escape, but he was rather emotionally compromised for lack of better terms.

"Just trust me..." She reached out in the darkness to stroke his cheek. Donna would do anything to help the Doctor and if she had to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous, then so help her she would.

And then she was moving away from him in the darkness to put her plan into action.

"What!? No, no, Nooo! Donna, stop!" He scrambled to his feet and nearly tackled her to the ground.

"You have no idea what we're up against! These aren't like say the Cybermen which you can somehow outwit... We're in serious trouble, as in they'll kill you on the spot. You saw what they did to the TARDIS, now imagine that being you!"

She squeaked, flailing a little. "Doctor!! I know what I'm doing. I'm going to get your ship back and I'm going to get us out of here alive. Well... mostly alive, probably alive..."

She wriggled free. "Have a bit of faith in me."

"I do have faith in you, but not when it's a suicide mission!" Really, couldn't she listen?

"Donna, I'm serious when I say we're in trouble. The only reason why we're alive now is we must be worth more alive than dead, but they still wouldn't mind doing us in!"

"Well unless you can figure out a better plan in the next three minutes? No, good. We'll go with mine then. So just sit here like a good little Spaceman and keep your sonic close."

Her heart was racing. Her words were far more confident than she actually felt. Typical Donna, hiding a world of insecurity behind brash bravado.

Obviously arguing was getting nowhere with her, and she wasn't about to let on what she had in mind. Finally with a sigh and brief pace around tugging at his hair, "Fine. Ok."

She seemed rather confident in what she had planned, and she was right when stating he didn't have one. Because he barely got over the fact they were locked up in the first place.

And with that, she requested... well, more like demanded really, to speak with the higher authority once again. This time alone. Sorry Doctor. No finding out her plan by tagging along.

She was cuffed once again and led away. It must've been a good three or four hours before she was finally returned to the cell.

The Doctor was greatly on edge waiting for her. He sat there thinking and plotting in the dark. He had no idea what Donna had planned and was concerned with what she had in mind. Worse yet, as long as it was taking, he was a afraid she had been killed which didn't ease his anxiety.

As he had stated before, they were in the hands of the universe's worst bounty hunters. They were ruthless and extremely money driven. They kept tabs of who the Shadow Proclamation was focused on and often went after them themselves. They had been oddly kind to them thus far, which worried the Doctor of what this was all about.

Donna was returned to the cell and uncuffed. The light from the open door showed she had all her limbs still attached, always a good sign and she was walking on her own, another good sign.

She was, however, attached to an IV bag, not exactly the thing you wanted to see on your best mate. As the door was closed, the light vanished and they were left in darkness once again.

"DONNA!" He ran over to her, cupping her cheek and then looking over her quickly before the door slammed shut.

"What did you do!? What is this?" He pulled out a penlight and looked at the bag. "Can I take this out?" He was very nearly ready to rip out her IV.

"No, leave it!" Her hand grabbed his, holding it steady. She shifted to sit down, sliding down the wall. "It's Huon particles in a solution." Oh Donna. This'd be why she didn't want to tell him her plan. It was probably very foolish. No sneaky boyfriend was poisoning her with laced coffee this time, she was poisoning herself.

"I told them that you might be the last of the Time Lords in the universe, but I'm the only human/Time Lord metacrisis." Alright, so that creepy machine of his may've fixed that, but the reject Power Rangers didn't need to know that. "Told them that as a human/Time Lord metacrisis I need Huon energy to live. And they want to keep us alive - for now. Worth more that way."

"You... WHAT!?" Oh, it was a good thing they were in the dark. A very good thing. She often smacked him for offhand comments and ridiculous ideas, but this? THIS?

"Ohhhh..." Now he really was ready to tear his hair out. "Donna, Donna, Donna..." He moaned into the palms of his hands, "This has to be the most ridiculous idea you've ever come up with." Glancing up (not that she could tell), “Did they hurt you in anyway? What happened?”

"I told you I had an idea. I never said it was a good idea." In fact, the high dose of Huon particles going straight into her via IV were making her feel quite sick.

"They didn't hurt me. Still, they're probably working out how to make most money out of us. Look, I told you I'd get us out of here and get you back your ship, and I will. We just... we just need your sonic... and... everything... will be fine..."

Really, Donna? This was your plan? The Doctor did not approve, not one bit.

"Yeah? You're so brilliant that you're going to summon the TARDIS?" That came off a little more snarky than intended. He eased her to the floor and wrapped an arm around her shoulder for support. He didn't approve of this at all, but he was still her friend. He had his suspicions of she was intending to do, but she was being reckless akin to Rose becoming the bad wolf.

It was a better plan than sulking in the corner. Well, a slightly better plan than sulking in the corner. Maybe.

"No, you're gonna summon the TARDIS, you dumbo. Like last time. All you need do to is reverse the thingymijigs like you did before and make the TARDIS come get us."

She didn't even know if it would work, and she really hadn't thought of the whole purging the Huon energy out of her afterwards - couldn't really get a Racnoss to do it again.

He pinched the bridge of his nose in slight exasperation. "You have alot of confidence in me. This is expecting I can make it happen."

There were so many factors going into this, could he get past the guards? How badly would this harm Donna? Would they get killed in the process? Could he truly pull this off?

The more he thought about the plan, the more his doubt grew, this would be close to a suicide mission mixed with pure luck. If he has more resources and help, maybe he'd be a little more confident with it. Not that he didn't have confidence in Donna, which he completely did, just.

"Ok." He sighed, "I'll give it a go. Just... let me think this out." And now it was his turn to make a fuss and be taken away in handcuffs. If he was to do this, he needed to scope out his surroundings more, and perhaps gather more information from their captors.

Of course she had a lot of confidence in him. He was the Doctor. She had every faith in him. She trusted that daft alien with her life. No pressure there then, Doctor...

Reference photos of the Shadow Hunters: