She Never Really Forgot 8/15
Title: She Never Really Forgot 8/15
Author: KB
Rating: PG
Characters: Donna, Doctor, Sylvia and other new people in their lives
Disclaimer: Ownership? Er, no. Not a snowflake’s chance in Vesuvius on Volcano Day.
Spoilers: All of Season 4
Summary: Donna’s life following the events in Journey’s End.
A/N: Can you call it a fixit fic if it was never really broken?
Chapter VIII - A Life Of Her Own
It doesn’t take Donna five minutes to decide that the worst feeling in the world is morning sickness, followed very quickly by the déjà vu she experiences as she and Sylvia plan her wedding.
“No, Mum,” she declares very quickly. “Not at Christmas.”
“Okay, okay, it was just a suggestion.”
Sylvia is flipping through a book of dresses that Donna remembers from her wedding to Lance, but she looks up as Donna flees the room, heading for the toilet for the third time that day.
“I was just as bad with you,” Sylvia declares when Donna reappears, having brushed her teeth to get rid of the bitter aftertaste. “Give it a few weeks, love. It’ll pass.”
Donna can’t help being surprised at how calm her mother has been about all this. She and Lee were nervous about telling her that Donna was already expecting, but Sylvia is far less critical now than she was before Wilf’s death. In fact, Donna has the feeling that Sylvia is really rather looking forward to being a grandmother.
“I hate to say it,” Donna remarks as they look through the book of dresses, “but really, what I wore for my, you know, other wedding was really the most flattering dress for my shape.”
“You’ve still got it, haven’t you?”
Well, yes, she does, but it still bears the scares of her meeting with the Empress of the Racnoss. The soaking did it no good, nor did being wrapped up in webbing. And there are a few singed places from the explosive baubles. Still, it’s definitely wearable - at least in the short term, before her belly gets too big for it.
“Donna? I said, you do still have it?”
“Yes, of course.” Donna looks down at the picture of the dress. “Different flowers, though, this time. Just cream roses and some ribbon. Nothing fancy”
Sylvia thinks for a moment before smiling. “Sounds lovely.”
* * *
Donna lifts her hand to knock on the door of Lee’s spaceship, which has conveniently disguised itself as a garden shed so that it blends in with everything else in the back garden of his house, but then stops to admire the sparkling diamond ring on her fourth finger.
She certainly can’t fault his instinctive understanding of romance: tickets to a West End musical that she’s been longing to see, dinner at an amazing restaurant and then a walk in the park. And just to prove his ‘not quite human’ status, fireflies or something that spell out “Marry me, Donna”. When she turns back, he’s down on one knee, the box containing the engagement ring open in his hand. And she’s a blubbering mess.
Shaking herself out of the daydream, Donna knocks on the door and opens it when she hears his voice.
“I know I’ve said this before,” she remarks as she carries in a jug of lemonade and fetches two glasses from a handy shelf, “but…”
“…it’s a lot smaller on the inside,” Lee finishes the sentence for her and grins. “We can’t all have a TARDIS, you know. And this was always sold as the ‘single guy, jet around space’ vehicle, rather than a family one.”
And then that pop-up goes off in Donna’s mind again and she grins. She doesn’t even have to speak and Lee rolls his eyes.
“Well? What is it this time?”
* * *
The TARDIS is nearly half a mile away. Donna knows that the Doctor and River are some distance away and she’s sure that they won’t return for a while. And then the doors slam shut behind them and she knows that the old girl has been waiting for her.
Lee, on the other hand, isn’t nearly so sure. “D-Donna, what are you d-doing?!”
“Oh, there’s that stammer!” She grins at him. “And I thought you were better with me around. Never mind, just hang on to something.”
And then she releases the handbrake and the TARDIS dematerialises with a violent jerk.
“So where are we going?” Lee wants to know, as soon as he realises that they aren’t about to be killed or anything crazy like that.
“The Library?”
“No!”
“Aw, I thought you might like to rekindle our romance where it began.”
“Does it need rekindling? And I don’t feel like being eaten alive today.”
“Fine.” She pouts and crosses her arms over her chest, turning her back on him at the same moment.
He kisses the back of her neck and she giggles before turning and throwing her arms around him.
“What do you think?”
“Crazy. Completely crazy. And yes, before you ask, now I understand why you make that comment about my ship every time. This is definitely much bigger on the inside. So now what?”
“Well, we’re in the Time Vortex and we haven’t programmed anywhere to land, so - we just stay here for now. Oh, and that reminds me!”
“What is it?”
His voice follows her as she heads down into the bowels of the ship, tucking the key back in under her shirt. She had known there was a reason to put it on when she got up that morning.
“Donna?”
“Oh, come on.” She goes back and grabs his hand, dragging him along the narrow passageway. “Now, here we are.”
The door that always led to her room - third door on the right - won’t open, but she remembers her request to the TARDIS that the Doctor not be able to find it again and sends out a plea to the machine to reverse that decision - at least for now - as she gets out her sonic pen. One zap of the door and it swings open to reveal her room, just as it was when she last saw it.
“Cosy,” Lee remarks as he follows her inside and closes the door.
“Oh, definitely. Ah, there you are!” She pounces on a book that is lying on the table next to the bed and tucks it into the pocket of her jacket. “I started reading this just before we got to Midnight and I never finished it. All those months I’ve been trying to work out who the killer was, and now I can finally read the ending!”
“You didn’t want to buy another copy?”
She pulls out the book and waves it at him. “Hard to get another copy when it was published on a planet no one on Earth has ever heard of. Oh, except for Sarah Jane or that Torchwood lot, but they can’t know that I still know about the Doctor.”
Lee checks his watch. “Donna, we really should get back. It’s not fair on the Doctor for us to keep his ship for long.”
“But he won’t even know it’s gone!” she objects, beginning to turn things over as she debates whether to take them or not. “We’ll put the TARDIS back down at the same place and time as we took it. He’ll never know!”
“And if he does?”
She kisses him, grinning against his lips. “Simple. I’ll blame you!”
* * *
Some time later, Donna has collected together the small pile of things that she wants to have from her room in the TARDIS and has packed them into a handbag that the Doctor gave her, and which is bigger on the inside. Now she’s standing at the console checking the co-ordinates for their return to Earth.
“You know,” Lee is watching her from the jumpseat, “on Hactifrax, women aren’t allowed to fly ships.”
“Well, the Doctor took quite a bit of convincing,” she admits. “And perhaps one or two bouts of Truth or Dare.” She glances at him through her eyelashes. “Nothing that I won’t try on any other man who crosses my path if I desperately want something from him.”
Lee chuckles. “I’ll consider that a warning.”
“Do that.” She releases the handbrake as she speaks and the TARDIS jerks rather more violently than she had expected so that she is thrown against Lee, who clutches at her.
“Typical.” He rolls his eyes. “Women drivers.”
She slaps his arm and grins as he obligingly rubs the place, although he’s admitted that his Hactifraxian genes mean he can’t feel pain. Then she turns back to the controls of the TARDIS and murmurs encouragement to the ship as they speed across space to their destination.
* * *
Donna locks the TARDIS door behind them and then slips her hand through Lee’s arm.
“So,” she’s beginning, when she sees a man watching them from the other side of the road. Lee stops dead and turns from the man, who is staring at them, to her.
“The Doctor,” he murmurs.
“No!” She stares at the stranger. “Really? Blonde hair and - what are they? - blue eyes? The Doctor? Honestly?”
“The Doctor as I knew him.”
“So he has regenerated then. Maybe Gramps was right.”
“He’s pretending he doesn’t know you.”
“Two can play at that game.”
Lee grins. “Want me to, er, introduce you?”
“Oh, please do! Let’s make him squirm!”
Next chapter: Playing Games
And if you missed the earlier parts:
Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII
Author: KB
Rating: PG
Characters: Donna, Doctor, Sylvia and other new people in their lives
Disclaimer: Ownership? Er, no. Not a snowflake’s chance in Vesuvius on Volcano Day.
Spoilers: All of Season 4
Summary: Donna’s life following the events in Journey’s End.
A/N: Can you call it a fixit fic if it was never really broken?
Chapter VIII - A Life Of Her Own
It doesn’t take Donna five minutes to decide that the worst feeling in the world is morning sickness, followed very quickly by the déjà vu she experiences as she and Sylvia plan her wedding.
“No, Mum,” she declares very quickly. “Not at Christmas.”
“Okay, okay, it was just a suggestion.”
Sylvia is flipping through a book of dresses that Donna remembers from her wedding to Lance, but she looks up as Donna flees the room, heading for the toilet for the third time that day.
“I was just as bad with you,” Sylvia declares when Donna reappears, having brushed her teeth to get rid of the bitter aftertaste. “Give it a few weeks, love. It’ll pass.”
Donna can’t help being surprised at how calm her mother has been about all this. She and Lee were nervous about telling her that Donna was already expecting, but Sylvia is far less critical now than she was before Wilf’s death. In fact, Donna has the feeling that Sylvia is really rather looking forward to being a grandmother.
“I hate to say it,” Donna remarks as they look through the book of dresses, “but really, what I wore for my, you know, other wedding was really the most flattering dress for my shape.”
“You’ve still got it, haven’t you?”
Well, yes, she does, but it still bears the scares of her meeting with the Empress of the Racnoss. The soaking did it no good, nor did being wrapped up in webbing. And there are a few singed places from the explosive baubles. Still, it’s definitely wearable - at least in the short term, before her belly gets too big for it.
“Donna? I said, you do still have it?”
“Yes, of course.” Donna looks down at the picture of the dress. “Different flowers, though, this time. Just cream roses and some ribbon. Nothing fancy”
Sylvia thinks for a moment before smiling. “Sounds lovely.”
* * *
Donna lifts her hand to knock on the door of Lee’s spaceship, which has conveniently disguised itself as a garden shed so that it blends in with everything else in the back garden of his house, but then stops to admire the sparkling diamond ring on her fourth finger.
She certainly can’t fault his instinctive understanding of romance: tickets to a West End musical that she’s been longing to see, dinner at an amazing restaurant and then a walk in the park. And just to prove his ‘not quite human’ status, fireflies or something that spell out “Marry me, Donna”. When she turns back, he’s down on one knee, the box containing the engagement ring open in his hand. And she’s a blubbering mess.
Shaking herself out of the daydream, Donna knocks on the door and opens it when she hears his voice.
“I know I’ve said this before,” she remarks as she carries in a jug of lemonade and fetches two glasses from a handy shelf, “but…”
“…it’s a lot smaller on the inside,” Lee finishes the sentence for her and grins. “We can’t all have a TARDIS, you know. And this was always sold as the ‘single guy, jet around space’ vehicle, rather than a family one.”
And then that pop-up goes off in Donna’s mind again and she grins. She doesn’t even have to speak and Lee rolls his eyes.
“Well? What is it this time?”
* * *
The TARDIS is nearly half a mile away. Donna knows that the Doctor and River are some distance away and she’s sure that they won’t return for a while. And then the doors slam shut behind them and she knows that the old girl has been waiting for her.
Lee, on the other hand, isn’t nearly so sure. “D-Donna, what are you d-doing?!”
“Oh, there’s that stammer!” She grins at him. “And I thought you were better with me around. Never mind, just hang on to something.”
And then she releases the handbrake and the TARDIS dematerialises with a violent jerk.
“So where are we going?” Lee wants to know, as soon as he realises that they aren’t about to be killed or anything crazy like that.
“The Library?”
“No!”
“Aw, I thought you might like to rekindle our romance where it began.”
“Does it need rekindling? And I don’t feel like being eaten alive today.”
“Fine.” She pouts and crosses her arms over her chest, turning her back on him at the same moment.
He kisses the back of her neck and she giggles before turning and throwing her arms around him.
“What do you think?”
“Crazy. Completely crazy. And yes, before you ask, now I understand why you make that comment about my ship every time. This is definitely much bigger on the inside. So now what?”
“Well, we’re in the Time Vortex and we haven’t programmed anywhere to land, so - we just stay here for now. Oh, and that reminds me!”
“What is it?”
His voice follows her as she heads down into the bowels of the ship, tucking the key back in under her shirt. She had known there was a reason to put it on when she got up that morning.
“Donna?”
“Oh, come on.” She goes back and grabs his hand, dragging him along the narrow passageway. “Now, here we are.”
The door that always led to her room - third door on the right - won’t open, but she remembers her request to the TARDIS that the Doctor not be able to find it again and sends out a plea to the machine to reverse that decision - at least for now - as she gets out her sonic pen. One zap of the door and it swings open to reveal her room, just as it was when she last saw it.
“Cosy,” Lee remarks as he follows her inside and closes the door.
“Oh, definitely. Ah, there you are!” She pounces on a book that is lying on the table next to the bed and tucks it into the pocket of her jacket. “I started reading this just before we got to Midnight and I never finished it. All those months I’ve been trying to work out who the killer was, and now I can finally read the ending!”
“You didn’t want to buy another copy?”
She pulls out the book and waves it at him. “Hard to get another copy when it was published on a planet no one on Earth has ever heard of. Oh, except for Sarah Jane or that Torchwood lot, but they can’t know that I still know about the Doctor.”
Lee checks his watch. “Donna, we really should get back. It’s not fair on the Doctor for us to keep his ship for long.”
“But he won’t even know it’s gone!” she objects, beginning to turn things over as she debates whether to take them or not. “We’ll put the TARDIS back down at the same place and time as we took it. He’ll never know!”
“And if he does?”
She kisses him, grinning against his lips. “Simple. I’ll blame you!”
* * *
Some time later, Donna has collected together the small pile of things that she wants to have from her room in the TARDIS and has packed them into a handbag that the Doctor gave her, and which is bigger on the inside. Now she’s standing at the console checking the co-ordinates for their return to Earth.
“You know,” Lee is watching her from the jumpseat, “on Hactifrax, women aren’t allowed to fly ships.”
“Well, the Doctor took quite a bit of convincing,” she admits. “And perhaps one or two bouts of Truth or Dare.” She glances at him through her eyelashes. “Nothing that I won’t try on any other man who crosses my path if I desperately want something from him.”
Lee chuckles. “I’ll consider that a warning.”
“Do that.” She releases the handbrake as she speaks and the TARDIS jerks rather more violently than she had expected so that she is thrown against Lee, who clutches at her.
“Typical.” He rolls his eyes. “Women drivers.”
She slaps his arm and grins as he obligingly rubs the place, although he’s admitted that his Hactifraxian genes mean he can’t feel pain. Then she turns back to the controls of the TARDIS and murmurs encouragement to the ship as they speed across space to their destination.
* * *
Donna locks the TARDIS door behind them and then slips her hand through Lee’s arm.
“So,” she’s beginning, when she sees a man watching them from the other side of the road. Lee stops dead and turns from the man, who is staring at them, to her.
“The Doctor,” he murmurs.
“No!” She stares at the stranger. “Really? Blonde hair and - what are they? - blue eyes? The Doctor? Honestly?”
“The Doctor as I knew him.”
“So he has regenerated then. Maybe Gramps was right.”
“He’s pretending he doesn’t know you.”
“Two can play at that game.”
Lee grins. “Want me to, er, introduce you?”
“Oh, please do! Let’s make him squirm!”
Next chapter: Playing Games
And if you missed the earlier parts:
Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII