Doppelgangers - A Doctor Who fanfic - chapter 2
Doppelgangers
By MoonTsunami
Ten, Rose, and Donna
Rated G right now, might change later...
Spoilers up to S4 Episode, The Unicorn and the Wasp, then AU after that
Quick Summary: They say that everyone on Earth, or even in the Universe has a twin some where out there. Too bad for the Doctor and Donna that they found theirs’. Can Donna save the Doctor from spending the rest of his life in jail, and stranding her on a foreign planet, and how does Rose factor into all of this?
Donna opened the doors to the TARDIS slowly, her hands aching from the severe beating she had put them through. They had stopped bleeding, but it hurt to move them because of the scabs forming. She laid the two coats she had softly on the crook in the TARDIS support beam. She felt a tug at her mind and looked down the hall of the TARDIS that lead to the sleeping quarters and other rooms. Moving around the console, she followed the hall down. A door appeared in front of her. Pushing it open, it revealed the Infirmary. A grim smile appeared on her face, knowing that the TARDIS knew she need doctoring. She moved slowly, cleaning her hands, putting some ointment on, and wrapping one hand, then having trouble wrapping the second, but managing.
Her mind was full of fear and she was scared, not just for her own life, but that of the Doctor. How in the bloody hell was she going to get him out of that prison? There was still that gentle tug at the back of her mind, like the TARDIS was trying to direct her movements. Donna knew that the Doctor had a physic link to the ship, but could it connect in any way to her own brain? The tug led her to the console room again, and Donna looked around confused. What was she supposed to do?
Sitting down in the captain’s chair, Donna stared blankly at controls. She knew she couldn’t navigate the TARDIS into the Crucible, and she didn’t know how to call out for help, or who to call even. The Gallifreyian script spiraled slowly on the monitor in front of Donna’s face. It was the one language the TARDIS didn’t translate for Donna, and she knew if it did, she would be able to save the day. But as she sat, she felt more and more like that useless temp from Chiswick she had been before she had met the Doctor.
As Donna sat, wallowing in her self loathing and revulsion at her utter uselessness, the monitor flashed. The blonde from the wanted poster appeared on the screen. Her mouth moved, as if she was screaming, forming the word “Doctor”. Donna’s face snapped to the screen and she jumped up in front of it. She looked anxiously at the woman, knowing that she was connected to all of this mess. The blonde continued to soundlessly scream for the Doctor. Donna’s wounded hands hovered anxiously over the controls, unsure of what to do. As her hands moved slowly over the controls, the tug in her mind grew over a small blue button and a yellow switch. She moved her hands away from those two, and the tug faded. Moving her hands back over the button and switch, the tug grew. It was like playing a game of “your getting warmer” with the ship. Flipping the switch and pressing the button, a loud voice filled the room.
“DOCTOR! DOCTOR! ARE YOU THERE? ANSWER ME, DOCTOR!”
Donna cover her ears for a moment and spoke her discomfort out loud. “Oi! Watch the decibels sweetheart!”
The screaming suddenly stopped and the woman on the screen looked hopeful. “Is that you Doctor? Am I finally getting through?” Donna realized that the woman heard her. Grabbing the screen, Donna studied the woman’s face, hoping for some sort of help. The blonde’s face puckered into a look of confusion and sadness. “Where is the Doctor? Is he ok? Who are you?” The words tumbled from the girl’s mouth before Donna could get a word in edgewise.
“Whoa. Slow down.” Donna breathed, as the blonde stared at her with consternation. “I need help. I’m Donna, Donna Noble.” Donna wasn’t sure if she should continue, could she trust this woman? The tug in the back of her mind suddenly felt like a sledgehammer rather than a gentle prod. “Ok, Ok.” she breathed under her breath, like she was reassuring the ship. “The Doctor and I were trying to get to the 80s. We ended up on some weird planet and he was captured. The villagers think he murdered me, an unborn baby, and um…” She didn’t know if she should tell this woman she was supposed to be dead.
The blonde’s eyebrows knitted together with frustration. “Well go on.” She seemed to have put her hands on her hips, thrusting her hips to the side with a bit of sassiness.
“Well, he killed me, a baby, and you.” The blonde’s face suddenly fell. It looked as if someone had crushed the heart in her chest.
“What? How can that… I mean um…” She spoke barely above a whisper.
Donna tried to reassure her. “Well he really didn’t do that. I’m still alive. See?” She tried to get the blonde to look at her solid form. “I think it is some kind of mistake. Like doubles or something. I just need to find a way to get the Doctor out of the Crucible, and then we could sort this all out.” She started to wring her hands a little, before she could see a little blood seeping through her gauze.
The blonde started to pace slightly in front of the screen, biting her thumbnail between her teeth. She stopped for a moment and looked at Donna. “I need to be there. Now. I have to help.” She seemed unsure though, like there was more than a computer monitor separating them. “Does he have his screwdriver at least?” She asked Donna with a concerned, loving look on her face. Donna shook her head. It had been dropped with his coat, and now was hanging inside the pocket on the support beam. “Go get it.” The blonde pronounced flatly.
“Now wait a minute, blondie, who do you think you are? Like you even know how to use it.” Donna wanted to help the Doctor, but she wasn’t having some uppity blonde boss her around.
The blonde all the sudden had a bemused smile on her face. “Please?” She gave a bit of a smile, her tongue poking out just slightly.
Donna relented and retrieved the device. “Now what?” She held it in her hands gingerly, unsure what to do with it.
“Slowly extend the sonic emitter and point it at the monitor here.” The blonde said, pointing through the monitor to a small port on the side. Donna did as instructed, but she was still holding it like it was going to shatter in her hands like glass. “Hold a little tighter, it won’t break,” the blonde smiled a little more. “Haven’t you ever seen him with the thing? He is worse than a dog with a well-worn bone.” Donna even smiled a little at the remark. “Now press the button four times, that should put it on the right setting.” The TARDIS seemed to hum with agreement with the statement.
Donna carefully did as told, and all of the sudden the image on the screen flickered and disappeared altogether. Quickly grabbling the screen, she looked frantically at it, searching for some sign of the young blonde. She couldn’t believe she just lost the one person who seemed like she could help.
“Hello?!? Hello?!? Are you there?!?” Donna screamed at the blank screen. A slight tap came on her left shoulder. Donna felt like she could jump out of her skin. She twirled quickly around and there stood the blonde with the goofy tongue-in-teeth smile. Donna wore a look of complete shock on her face.
“Did I scare you?” The blonde said with a bit of humor in her voice. “I needed the Doctor to do that for almost a year now, but he has been to spacey to notice.” Her eyes darkened a little, a sadness filling her brown eyes. Donna just stared, confused. The blonde recognized the look. “Oh, I’m Rose Tyler.”