The Long and Winding Road Chapter Thirteen: All Aboard

[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 )


The Doctor dropped Matron Cofelia's sonic pen in a nearby bin. He'd melted all the interesting bits with his own sonic screwdriver and now it was just a pen that didn't work. His eyes wandered to the police cordon that hid the Matron's broken body from view. It had been going so well-until she refused to listen. They never listened.

A woman singing cut through his thoughts. He looked at Rose, who jumped. "Sorry, that's me," she said and answered her cell phone. "It's Jack," she mouthed at the Doctor, who nodded. "Hello you! Oh, yes. No, we sorted it." She wandered away, conversing animatedly.

"Jack?" Donna asked.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Old friend. He used to travel with us in the early days. He's got a bit of a team in Cardiff and they look out for stuff like this."

"Alien stuff?" she clarified.

He nodded. "They're all that's left of Torchwood."

Donna gasped. "The people behind the battle of Canary Wharf?"

He looked at her sharply. "You've changed, Donna Noble. The last time I saw you, you had no idea what Canary Wharf was. And what are you doing chasing after dangerous aliens?" he asked. "I thought you were going to travel the world."

She sniffed. "Easier said than done." She stared off into the distance for a while. "It's like-I had that one day with you and I was gonna change, I really was. But then I woke up the next morning and it was like you were never there. Same old life, same old world. I tried, I did. Went to Egypt-but it's nothing like traveling with you. I must have been daft to turn down your offer."

"Hmm?"

"The offer to go with you," she reminded him.

"Oh, yes, right. That offer." He watched Rose, who was laughing at something that Jack said. "It still stands, you know."

"What?" She couldn't have heard that right.

"The offer to come with." He turned to look at her then. "Because Rose is back, and that's brilliant," the warmth in his voice made her smile, "but it would be nice to have a mate aboard."

She blinked. "You want to mate? Well hate to break it to you, but you're not mating with me sunshine! Go ask Rose, I'm sure she'd say yes!"

He frowned. "What? No! A mate! A friend."

"Oh." She straightened her jacket, pretending to think about it. "Well, then sure. I'd love to come."

Rose flipped the phone shut, and wandered over to where the two of them were standing. She slipped the phone into her pocket, grabbed the lapels of the Doctor's jacket, and planted a firm kiss on his lips. He blinked at her. "What was that for?" he asked when she let him go.

She smiled mischievously. "That was from Jack. He said you're supposed to give me one from him, or he could do it in person." She tilted her head to the side. "Are we due for a refuel any time soon?"

"Er, not really," the Doctor said as he ruffled his hair. "Topped her off just before the Year that Never Was. She's got a good six or seven months left at least."

Rose sighed. "Pity." She flashed Donna a grin. "You'd like Jack. He's gorgeous."

"Oi!" The Doctor grumbled. "I'm making an effort not to be offended."

She rolled her eyes. "You know very well that I think you're gorgeous too. But with Jack it's not opinion, it's fact."

Donna was intrigued. "Oh, really? Maybe we should visit him."

The Doctor put up his hands. "Later. I promise we will visit Jack and his band of merry men-women-people-later. Now we've got to get Donna settled on the TARDIS."

"So you're coming?" Rose asked her.

"Of course! As long as I'm not interfering with you two." The ginger woman was fairly bursting with excitement. "I've been ready for this for ages! I'm packed and everything!"

"You're smarter than me," the younger woman commented. "First time I went with the Doctor I had nothing but the clothes on my back."

As the Doctor lugged two of Donna's five large suitcases into the TARDIS he wished that she was a little more impulsive. Where on Earth, well, TARDIS, was she going to put all these clothes? And why would she need them? The Wardrobe was full of perfectly acceptable clothing for every occasion. More interesting than her apparent abundance of attire was the location of Donna's car. She had parked it a few feet away from where the TARDIS had materialized. She'd mentioned 'destiny,' but in the Doctor's experience 'destiny' was the result of someone meddling. There were no more Time Lords, which meant that if anyone was interfering it was an amateur. He didn't fancy cleaning up any more paradoxes, especially now that Rose was back.

He glanced through the open TARDIS doors at Rose who was following behind him, one of Donna's suitcases in each hand. "Blimey," she muttered. "Does she have enough clothes?"

"I'm not sure she ever will," the Doctor replied. Rose laughed.

"Too true. Good thing I'm more of a shoe girl myself."

He quircked an eyebrow. "Really? I've only ever seen you in trainers."

"That's 'cause I'm usually running for my life," she responded dryly. "Stiletto heels are not appropriate companion wear."

They dropped the suitcases on the console room floor. "Let her pick her own room," the Doctor instructed. He took Rose's hand and led her to the jumpseat. "You're more than a companion," he said softly as he traced a design on the back of her hand with his thumb. "You have been for a very long time. It just-took me a bit to realize it." He smiled deprecatingly. "Bit slow on the uptake, me."

She smiled back at him, her tongue between her teeth. "But you're a fast learner."

He chuckled. "I am, at that." His free hand brushed against her cheek as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and then slipped around the back of her head. He brushed his lips against hers, feather-light, a world of questions in a touch. She laced her fingers through his hair and pulled him closer to her, deepening the kiss. He let go of her hand and settled his arm at her waist, his fingers tracing the edge of her jeans. She could feel his pulse quicken, the double-beat of his hearts an exotic rhythm against her chest, where her own beat a harmony.

Donna Noble strode down the street, her mother's car keys in hand and her phone against her ear. "I saw it Mum, I know, tiny fat people." She glanced around and her eyes landed on a rubbish bin attached to one of the streetlights. "Look, I've gotta go. I'm staying with Veena for a bit."

"But it was in the sky!" her mother protested, still caught up in the events of the past few hours.

Donna smiled to herself. "Yeah, I know-spaceship. But I've still got the car keys." She dropped them into the bin. "There's this bin, on Brook street, about thirty feet from the corner. I'm gonna leave them in there."

"In a bin?" her mother's voice climbed an octave.

"Yes Mum, a bin."

"But you can't do that!"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop complaining. The car's just a bit down the road. Gotta go-I've really gotta go. Love you, bye."

"But Donna, you ca-" she closed the phone, cutting her mother off. A woman standing by the police blockade caught Donna's eye, and she approached her. "Look, there's this woman gonna come along, blonde, older, named Sylvia. You just tell her," Donna pointed at the bin, "that bin there. Thanks!" Then she turned, and ran back toward the TARDIS.

The woman looked at the bin, and then after Donna. Startling blue eyes gazed out of a tan face framed by sandy-blonde curls. She was tall for a woman, and made taller by the sleek black boots she wore. A gray leather jacket hid a deep blue blouse and black pants were tucked into the tops of her boots. She touched a hand to her ear. "Control, we've located the Doctor, but it's too early. Donna Noble has just joined them. Jumping in five." She let her hand fall, and strode into the night. After five steps a flash of blue light lit the alley, and she was gone.