The Long and Winding Road Chapter Eleven: Near Misses

[isilienelenihin]

An AU retelling of season 4, beginning with The Last of the Time Lords
from season 3. First story in the All Roads Lead Home series.

10/Rose, Martha, Jack Harkness, Donna Noble, the Master, River Song, Sarah Jane Smith, and many more.

( Chapter Seven )

Donna Noble wanted to be fantastic. Life, apparently, had other ideas. Oh, she tried, she really did. She tried to find a new job, she even went to Egypt to walk in the dust, like she told him she would. It wasn't the same. Her brief time with him had shown her that he lived his life-differently. There were no guidebooks and bus tours when you traveled with the Doctor, no worrying about reservations and air fare and if it was safe to drink the water. There was danger, and excitement, and a fair bit of running. She missed it, she realized. Even the running. It was a better life, with him. The world around her plodded along in its small, predictable movements while Donna Noble dreamed of the stars and a man who kept the universe in a blue box.

Mrs. Foster was hiding something, she was sure of it. The internet was full of conspiracy theories about Adipose Industries. The weight loss was too regular, too precise to be natural. The results were flimsy-fabricated. It was trouble, and where there was trouble, there was the Doctor. Hopefully. Maybe. If she was lucky and it wasn't like the other times. She'd been looking for almost eight months, because she'd been wrong. He had been terrifying-but lonely, so lonely. She realized what the shadow hanging over him was, now that she had experienced a bit of grief herself: loss, heartache, pain. Whoever 'Rose' was, he loved her very much. She wondered if he ever told her. Donna didn't think so. He kept calling her his 'friend,' but there was more. She'd lost friends before. When she was a teenager her best friend Alex had been killed by a drunk driver. She'd been a wreck, but she'd never had the urge to end an entire species because of it.

She paused for a moment outside the door to her house, collecting her thoughts. Her mother was inside, and, well, was her mother. They'd never been best friends, her and her mum, but it had gotten worse after H.C. Clemens went under and Lance died and her dad-she wasn't going to think about that. Donna took a deep breath and stepped through the door.

"And what time is this?" her mother's voice was sharp.

She rolled her eyes. "How old am I?"

"Not old enough to use a phone." Her mum glared at her from the kitchen. Donna ignored her and fixed herself a cup of tea. It was no use talking to her mother when she was in a mood. They were too alike, she thought as she sipped her tea and her mother ranted behind her. Too sharp, to forceful. Her dad was different, warm and gentle, even when-but she wasn't going to think about that. She didn't blame her mother. It was hard, being on your own. She understood, just a bit. Lance hadn't loved her, not really, and they'd only been together for six months, but she still ached for someone to talk to. She couldn't tell her mum about the Doctor, or even her granddad, although she thought he would understand if anyone could. He believed in aliens, after all. Would it be such a stretch for him to believe that she'd met one?

"Where's granddad?" she asked when her mother stopped for breath.

"Where d'you think? Up the hill! He's always up the hill!"

"I'm back!" the Doctor called as he closed the TARDIS doors. "Rose?"

"Kitchen!" her voice drifted through the TARDIS. He relaxed, and let out the breath he forgot he was holding. It was getting easier to believe that she was still there when he couldn't see her, although he still couldn't completely banish the notion that perhaps he had imagined her presence. He had almost gone mad after-yes. That. He kept imaging that he heard her voice, or he'd catch a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye, but when he looked properly she was gone. It had been easy to pretend that she was sleeping, or taking a shower, or sitting the in library while he was in the console room. Meeting Donna had helped him to finally accept that she was gone, well and truly gone. He hadn't had the heart to move her jacket from its place in the console room until Donna had accused him of kidnapping her. He wondered sometimes what happened to Donna. He thought of checking up on her, but he quickly dismissed the idea. She had called him 'terrifying,' said he 'scared her to bits.' And besides, as they were he could imagine that she was having a fantastic life like she said she would. Reality, he knew, was often inconveniently contrary.

Rose was standing in the kitchen with her back to the door. She had two mugs on the counter and was pouring hot water from the kettle into them. He leaned up against the door and watched her fix the tea. Even after all this time she knew how he liked his.

"How was it, then?" she asked without turning around. He really needed to find out how she knew where he was with such unerring accuracy. "Still don't see why I couldn't have gone with you." Her tone was disapproving.

"Health and safety inspectors don't have partners," he replied.

She snorted. "Since when has that ever stopped you before?"

"Never," he admitted as he crossed the room to stand next to her. "But I needed you here, monitoring the area for those energy spikes."

"Of which there were none," she informed him.

"You weren't really missing anything," he replied as he grabbed a package of his favorite biscuits out of the cabinet. "Basic slideshow, although there was a reporter who was trying to cause a fuss. I've got a list of their customers and," he pulled what looked like a golden pill that hung on a golden chain out of his pocket, "this little thing. They're passing it off as a free gift but it's definitely alien tech."

Rose handed him his mug. "Well then, you gonna show me some Spock?" she asked, her tongue between her teeth.

"Get ready to be impressed, Rose Tyler," he replied with a grin.

Donna knelt on the blanket next to her granddad, her coat wrapped snugly around her and a thermos of tea between her hands. "I've got Venus," he told her. "Take a look."

She put her eye to the telescope and the bright speck of light resolved itself into a planet.

"'S the only planet in the whole solar system named after a woman," he commented.

She smiled as she withdrew. "Good for her."

They sat in silence for a while. "We'll get there one day. Just you wait-in a hundred years we'll be whizzing about through space, rubbing elbows with all them aliens."

"Yeah, okay granddad."

"We will!" he asserted. "Just you wait. They're all over the place these days." He leaned close to her. "If I wait here long enough-"

"I don't suppose you've seen a little blue box," she interrupted.

"What?" He looked at her strangely. "S that slang for somethin?"

She laughed. "No. I mean it. If you ever see a little blue box flying up there in the sky, you shout for me gramps. You just shout."

"I don't understand half the things you say these days," he commented.

"Nor me," she said with a strange smile.

"You've had a funny old time of it lately." He looked away, over the roofs of Chiswick below. "You just, you seem like you're drifting, sweetheart."

Donna shook her head. "'M not drifting, gramps. I'm waiting."

"For what?"

"The right man," she said with a faraway look in her eyes.

Wilf laughed. "Oh, that's it then. Always the same!"

Donna laughed with him. "No, not like that. He had someone-and I'm not interested in him. Skinny streak a' nothing, he is. But he's real." The look was back. "I met him once, and then I just let him fly away. But I'll find him again. If I have to wait a hundred years, I'll find him again."

The Doctor was bent over the console, examining the strange necklace he'd lifted from Adipose Industries. He'd been at it for hours, soldering and cutting and muttering what sounded like gibberish to himself, or maybe to her. She couldn't tell sometimes. Rose was curled up on the jumpseat, a mug of tea in one hand and a book in the other. She was reading Dickens-A Tale of Two Cities. It was one of her favorites, but she liked it better when he read to her. He had a way of talking that imitated the characters to perfection, like she was in the middle of a real conversation.

"Oh, that's brilliant!" he exclaimed. She uncurled and stretched, a bit stiff from her extended stay.

"What is it, then?"

"Seems to be a bioflip digital stitch, designed specifically to target fat." He blinked at her, the goggles he wore making his eyes huge.

She looked at him blankly. "What's that when it's at home?"

"It's like, like an on switch," he said slowly. "It gives an order, and the fat obeys."

She leaned in to examine the bits spread out over the console. "What kind of order?"

The Doctor grinned and pushed the goggles up over his forehead and into his hair. "That's what we're going to find out."

Donna gaped at the thing in front of her. It was grayish-white, with black eyes and a tiny mouth. It was also all that remained of Stacey Campbell. It waved to her, and then dropped out the window. She bolted from the room.

"Doctor!" Rose's voice crackled from the comlink he wore like a Bluetooth. "I've got one! Energy signature plain as you like, about two blocks away. It was steady for about a minute, and then vanished."

"Roger that," he replied, and turned to the young man he'd been interviewing. "Thanks for your time, Adipose Industries is grateful for your business, ta!" He pulled a three-pronged device out of his pocket and took off down the street.

He lost the trail about five minutes in. "Rose," he said as he shook his tracking device vigorously, "any sign of another spike?"

"No, sorry Doctor. It's been all quiet since."

He sighed. "Right. I'm coming home, then." He paused. "Any chance of tea?" he asked hopefully.

When she responded, he could hear the smile in her voice. "I'll put the kettle on."

Donna stood in the alleyway and stared after the mysterious, unmarked black van that had all but vanished down the street. Elation battled confusion and worry. She was right! She knew it! Adipose Industries was hiding something-tiny little aliens! But where did Stacey go? A chilling thought stole over her. What if, what if that little white thing was Stacey? It had been less than a minute between when she cried for help and hen Donna managed to get into the bathroom. She couldn't have gone far, not even if she went out the window, and her clothes and jewelry were lying on the floor! What did she do, run out naked? No. No, it was worse than that. Something was rotten in Adipose Industries, and she was going to find out what it was. And maybe, if she was very lucky, she'd find the Doctor too.
Mrs. Foster sat back in her chair, her eyes fixed on the screen in front of her. "It seems we have a case of industrial espionage," she mused. The two young men standing behind her said nothing. They stared ahead, one hand always resting on the gun each wore holstered to his side. "One touch and the capsule bio-tunes to its owner, but someone," she paused as she slipped her glasses on and settled them on the bridge of her nose, "someone must have introduced a second, raw capsule." The screen in front of her flickered, displaying CCTV footage from earlier. "Which means that one of these people is a thief." She studied the images, and then pressed a button on the remote. "There!" she said sharply, a smile forming on her face. "There she is."

The Doctor sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Rose, I would feel better if you were here in the TARDIS."

"That's tough," she replied as she laced her trainers. "I'm going with you."

"But what if those energy spikes show up again? How am I going to track them if you're with me?"

She frowned at him. "That's not why you want me to stay, and you know it. Ever since the Titanic you're acting like I'm going to disappear on you if you let me through those doors." She nodded at the TARDIS. "I'm not made a' glass, I'm not some damsel in distress. I can take care of myself. And besides, who's gonna take care of you if I'm stuck here?" She sat up and grabbed his hand. "We're a team, Doctor," she reminded him. "No leaving me behind."

He nodded. "Right. Sorry."

She smiled at him. "I'll forgive you this once, as long as you promise not to do it again."

He nodded, but said nothing. He wouldn't lie to her, not out loud, at least. If he had to, if he was dying or he knew for certain that she would, he would not hesitate to send her away. "Right then, let's go." He grinned.

Rose looked around the maintenance closet. "Here," she said. "We're hiding in here. For how long?"

The Doctor checked his watch. "Ooh, a few hours. Have to wait until everyone's gone home, after all. Wouldn't do to run into stray employees that might recognize me from two days ago."

"You mean like that sales girl?" Rose asked, an edge in her voice.

The Doctor paused. He'd heard that tone before, from Martha, whenever he brought her somewhere he'd taken Rose, or occasionally when he mentioned her. He blinked. Was Rose jealous? Of a sales girl he used as a source of information? "What?"

She leaned against the cement wall of the closet. It was tiny, especially after the TARDIS. There was hardly enough room for the two of them and the mop and bucket that sat in the corner. "The sales girl. The one who gave you her phone number. She'd recognize you, wouldn't she?"

He tilted his head to the side. "I suppose so." Realization dawned on him. Right, the phone number. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. "I didn't get a chance to throw this away yet," he said as casually as he could. Then he dropped it on the floor. "Pockets are already cluttered enough, don't need that in there adding to it." She relaxed a bit, but her arms were still crossed defensively over her chest. He sighed. "Rose. Are you really that jealous of her?"

She blushed and looked away. "No, suppose not. I just-I just forget sometimes."

"Forget what?"

"How much of a flirt you are," she responded with a half-smile.

He paused, thinking. Then he put his hands on her arms. "I am, a flirt I mean, but I don't mean it, not really, not with her anyway." He moved one hand to lift her chin, forcing her to look at him. "I mean it with you. Always have, but it was easier to play it off that I didn't."

She swallowed and forced her eyes to meet his instead of drifting to his lips, as they were wont to do. "So, we're in a cupboard."

"Yep," he replied, popping the 'p.'

"For hours."

"Yep."

She raised an eyebrow. "What are we going to do to pass the time?"

He blinked. "Well, um, yes." Then he pulled back abruptly and turned to face the opposite wall. "There's a computer core behind this wall. She's wired the whole building up."

"And?" Rose asked, baffled by his sudden shift in mood and attention.

He threw a grin over his shoulder at her. "I'm going to hack into it."

She sighed. "Perfect."

Donna shifted uncomfortably as she checked her phone for the millionth time. Almost there. Another half an hour and she could move again. The ladies wasn't her ideal hiding spot, she would have preferred and empty office, but beggars, or in her case alien-catchers, couldn't be choosers. Besides, as hiding spots went it wasn't all bad. People were only in there for a few minutes at a time, so no one would hang around long enough to notice that she'd been in there for a while. Plus, no security cameras in bathrooms. She wanted to stay as far off the grid as possible.

Her mother, of course, decided that now was the perfect time for a chat. Donna jumped as her phone rang. She'd turned it low, but in the quiet of the bathroom it sounded deafening.

"Not now!" she hissed. She waited, but there was no sign that anyone else was in the bathroom.

"I need the car," her mother replied. "Where are you?"

"I can't," Donna protested. "I'm busy." Busy investigating a case of alien intervention in the guise of a diet pill, she longed to say, but she knew that her mum would just think she'd finally gone mad. She'd rather believe that, Donna thought with a touch of bitterness, than believe that her daughter was in the middle of something incredibly important.

"Why are you whispering?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm in church!"

"What are you doing in church?" Her mother's voice was mocking.

"Praying!" she snapped back.

"Bit late for that, madam."

"Donna's at church?" she could hear her granddad in the background.

"Go up the hill!" her mother snapped at him. She turned her attention back to Donna. "But I need the car," she said, her voice wheedling. "I'm going out with Suzette. She's asked all the Wednesday girls. Apparently she's been on those Adipose pills-says she looks marvelous."

The door to the bathroom slammed open and Donna snapped her phone closed. She pulled her legs up onto the toilet seat and stared at the door, eyes wide.

"We know you're in here," Mrs. Foster called. Donna could hear her heartbeat like a drum. Was it really that loud? Could Mrs. Foster hear it too? "Why don't you make this nice and easy and come out?" she continued.

Silence.

The woman sighed. "The hard way, then. Find her."

Someone was kicking the stall doors open. Every time a boot connected with a door Donna twitched. They were getting closer. She closed her eyes, waiting for her turn. They were going to find her. What would they do with her? They were aliens, after all, not subject to Earth police.

The kicking stopped. "There you are," Mrs. Foster said. Donna opened her eyes. Her door was still closed.

"I've read the results," another woman spat. Donna blinked. It was the reporter from the slideshow, the one who asked all the questions. "They've been faked. There's something about those pills you aren't telling us."

"Oh, I think I'll be conducting this interview, Penny," Mrs. Foster responded. "Take her away."

Donna waited several seconds after the door 'clicked' shut before she opened her stall and poked her head out. It was empty. She breathed a sigh of relief. She thought she was a goner back there. If she'd picked a stall closer to that end-no, best not to think about that. She needed to stay alert if she was going to avoid Foster and her goons.