The Way Home 2/?
Part II
Donna trudged through the mud back to where they had left the TARDIS, muttering and pulling off the twigs and dead leaves that clung to her body, her expression stormy. She knew the Doctor was about 40 yards behind her and she was waiting till they made it to the TARDIS before she gave him a rather large piece of her mind, hoping she might calm down a bit during the walk.
Fat chance, Donna decided as she realized the more she thought about their day the angrier she became. He had promised her a planet that was peaceful, had golden beaches, and enough shopping to satisfy even her passion. The Doctor had landed them on that planet, only with a “slight” miscalculation. As if 1,999 years early could be called slight. Donna scoffed as she recalled the Doctor’s admonition that the mistake "could have easily been avoided if she hadn't distracted him by standing too close to the console."His “slight” miscalculation had placed them right in the middle of a worker's strike.
The Doctor, with his maniac grin, had grabbed her hand and told her to run. He’d clearly been delighted to exchange a day of shopping and relaxing for the unexpected excitement of riotous workers. They were keeping well ahead of the pitchforks and the purple goop, which smelled strangely like a mix of rotten eggs and daisies, the workers were throwing with the pitchforks when Donna was hit on the back of the head by a rather large handful of the odorous goop.
She had come to a full stop, determined to turn and face her attackers, when she was hit with another handful; this time they got her in the face. The gelatinous slime oozed down her body, clinging to her arms and legs and, more importantly, ruining her new shoes. Furious at the Doctor, at the workers, and at the planet in general, Donna had turned on the leaders of the rebellion. She had given them the full range of the Noble fury, determined to make them pay for what they had done to her fabulous new shoes.
Two hours later the Doctor had saved her from imprisonment by the rebel leaders, quelled the strike, and saved all the shops. And Donna had just stood by the entire time, covered in the purple goop and feeling her fury grow. His planet-saving complete, the Doctor had told her that the goop was harmless and would easily wash out and then had wisely suggested they head back to the TARDIS where she could clean up in the privacy of her own room. Donna had simply turned around and made her way back to where they had parked the ship, her anger and frustration mounting each moment.
"It's a peaceful planet, Donna," she muttered sarcastically, repeating the words the Doctor had told her hours before. "Nothing bad had happened there for years." She pushed back some branches and entered the clearing where they had left the TARDIS, relieved to finally be home. As she pulled out her key to open the door, she continued her mutterings, slightly louder now so the Doctor could hear.
"Rose and Martha loved it here, you tell me,” Donna said acidly , “Did they love the purple goop too? Bet it looked lovely on them."
"Donna." She could hear the warning in his voice and she supposed she was being rude, but decided he couldn’t really expect anything else, so she continued.
“Peaceful planet, my left foot. You promised that this time we would have something relaxing; some place that we weren’t running for our lives. Tell me, did you really pass your driving test or is that just one more thing that you might have exaggerated, Martian Boy?”
“Oi.” Came the indignant response from behind her.
Before he could answer she jabbed her key into the lock and turned it, grateful that the door opened easily. She stalked up the ramp, warring with the decision to wait for the Doctor to arrive and give him a rather large piece of her mind or head straight for the shower. Deciding she’d make a bigger impact in giving him what for if she was still covered in the goop, she moved around toward the jumpseat, determined to wait for him. Just as she was reaching to pull a piece of the purple slime from her fringe, she tripped over something that hadn't been there when they’d left the ship this morning.
She put out her arms to catch herself and cursed as her hands hit the grated floor of the TARDIS. She closed her eyes, absorbing the pain and willing the awful day to be over. Slowly she pushed herself up, looked down toward her feet, and realized that the ‘what’ she’d tripped over wasn't a ‘what’ at all, but a ‘who’. Donna was instantly on guard and quickly stood up, ready for anything. When the woman didn't move Donna began to relax a little and took a closer look at the TARDIS’s new visitor. Questions on how she had breached the TARDIS defenses could wait; this woman appeared to be in a coma, and she was clutching something tightly in her left hand.
She registered the TARDIS door opening behind her and she distantly heard the Doctor calling out to her, launching into apologies and excuses as he shrugged off his coat, but her eyes stayed trained on the intruder.
"Honestly, Donna,” she heard the Doctor say as he threw his coat over the support strut and started up the ramp to send them back into the vortex, “you’re taking this well. I was expecting a good old-fashioned Noble berating to start before I could get the TARDIS door closed. Of course, this silence could be to simply lull me into a false sense of security. Is that what you're doing?"
She didn’t answer him, her mind focused instead on how she should bring up the fact that there was an unconscious woman lying on the floor of his TARDIS.
“Donna? You alright?” He’d finally seemed to notice her distraction and began walking a bit more quickly around the console to reach her.
“Watch out.” Donna said as she shot out her arm to stop him from tripping over the woman also. The Doctor looked down at the woman on the grating.
“Well now, who's this," he asked, putting on his specs and bending down to get a better look at the woman's face. "The TARDIS didn't tell me we were expecting comp-“
Donna, who had been examining the woman’s face as well, looked back at the Doctor as his voice trailed off. His face had blanched and he looked as if he was staring at a ghost.
Donna reached for his arm, hoping to steady him.
"Doctor?" she asked. He didn’t respond.
"Doctor?" she asked again, her voice louder. Still no response.
Now more concerned about his well-being than she was about the stranger in her home, she clutched at his arm and forced him to look at her.
"Doctor!?" Her voice was louder and something in its tone must have caught his attention. His eyes snapped to hers and he finally registered some spark of recognition that she’d been speaking.
"Who is she, Doctor?"
He looked back down at the woman, the expression in his eyes somewhere between heartbreak and terror. With this look Donna also grew more nervous. Who ever this woman was the Doctor knew her and it wasn’t good.
"It's impossible. There was no way, no way. I checked, Donna. I checked for months and months." He began pacing around the prone form, his hand going to his hair and his eyes frantic. "She was gone, Donna. Lost."
With that one simple word, everything clicked into place for Donna and she wasn’t sure if she was relieved or even more terrified. This was Rose and this changed everything. Immediately she dropped to her knees and checked for a pulse. There was a thready one; Rose needed medical attention immediately. She looked at the Doctor but he just stood there, staring at the both of them, seemingly incapable of comprehending what was right before his eyes.
"Doctor," Donna said, her voice calm but assertive, "she's going to need your help. There will be time later for explanations." She stood and walked to where he stood.
"This is real, Doctor,” she reassured him as she took his hand. “That is Rose and she needs your help."
Her words finally seemed to resonate with him and he nodded.
"Yes, med bay. Now." He bent down and scooped Rose up into his arms.
Donna followed behind him as he quickly navigated the corridors to the med bay, the longed-for shower momentarily forgotten. She watched as he laid Rose tenderly on one of the beds there. She watched as he scanned Rose, growing frustrated in his lack of finding anything to cause her unconscious state. She watched as he noticed the object clutched in her left hand. And she watched he reached to remove it from her grasp and promptly fell unconscious.
Donna trudged through the mud back to where they had left the TARDIS, muttering and pulling off the twigs and dead leaves that clung to her body, her expression stormy. She knew the Doctor was about 40 yards behind her and she was waiting till they made it to the TARDIS before she gave him a rather large piece of her mind, hoping she might calm down a bit during the walk.
Fat chance, Donna decided as she realized the more she thought about their day the angrier she became. He had promised her a planet that was peaceful, had golden beaches, and enough shopping to satisfy even her passion. The Doctor had landed them on that planet, only with a “slight” miscalculation. As if 1,999 years early could be called slight. Donna scoffed as she recalled the Doctor’s admonition that the mistake "could have easily been avoided if she hadn't distracted him by standing too close to the console."His “slight” miscalculation had placed them right in the middle of a worker's strike.
The Doctor, with his maniac grin, had grabbed her hand and told her to run. He’d clearly been delighted to exchange a day of shopping and relaxing for the unexpected excitement of riotous workers. They were keeping well ahead of the pitchforks and the purple goop, which smelled strangely like a mix of rotten eggs and daisies, the workers were throwing with the pitchforks when Donna was hit on the back of the head by a rather large handful of the odorous goop.
She had come to a full stop, determined to turn and face her attackers, when she was hit with another handful; this time they got her in the face. The gelatinous slime oozed down her body, clinging to her arms and legs and, more importantly, ruining her new shoes. Furious at the Doctor, at the workers, and at the planet in general, Donna had turned on the leaders of the rebellion. She had given them the full range of the Noble fury, determined to make them pay for what they had done to her fabulous new shoes.
Two hours later the Doctor had saved her from imprisonment by the rebel leaders, quelled the strike, and saved all the shops. And Donna had just stood by the entire time, covered in the purple goop and feeling her fury grow. His planet-saving complete, the Doctor had told her that the goop was harmless and would easily wash out and then had wisely suggested they head back to the TARDIS where she could clean up in the privacy of her own room. Donna had simply turned around and made her way back to where they had parked the ship, her anger and frustration mounting each moment.
"It's a peaceful planet, Donna," she muttered sarcastically, repeating the words the Doctor had told her hours before. "Nothing bad had happened there for years." She pushed back some branches and entered the clearing where they had left the TARDIS, relieved to finally be home. As she pulled out her key to open the door, she continued her mutterings, slightly louder now so the Doctor could hear.
"Rose and Martha loved it here, you tell me,” Donna said acidly , “Did they love the purple goop too? Bet it looked lovely on them."
"Donna." She could hear the warning in his voice and she supposed she was being rude, but decided he couldn’t really expect anything else, so she continued.
“Peaceful planet, my left foot. You promised that this time we would have something relaxing; some place that we weren’t running for our lives. Tell me, did you really pass your driving test or is that just one more thing that you might have exaggerated, Martian Boy?”
“Oi.” Came the indignant response from behind her.
Before he could answer she jabbed her key into the lock and turned it, grateful that the door opened easily. She stalked up the ramp, warring with the decision to wait for the Doctor to arrive and give him a rather large piece of her mind or head straight for the shower. Deciding she’d make a bigger impact in giving him what for if she was still covered in the goop, she moved around toward the jumpseat, determined to wait for him. Just as she was reaching to pull a piece of the purple slime from her fringe, she tripped over something that hadn't been there when they’d left the ship this morning.
She put out her arms to catch herself and cursed as her hands hit the grated floor of the TARDIS. She closed her eyes, absorbing the pain and willing the awful day to be over. Slowly she pushed herself up, looked down toward her feet, and realized that the ‘what’ she’d tripped over wasn't a ‘what’ at all, but a ‘who’. Donna was instantly on guard and quickly stood up, ready for anything. When the woman didn't move Donna began to relax a little and took a closer look at the TARDIS’s new visitor. Questions on how she had breached the TARDIS defenses could wait; this woman appeared to be in a coma, and she was clutching something tightly in her left hand.
She registered the TARDIS door opening behind her and she distantly heard the Doctor calling out to her, launching into apologies and excuses as he shrugged off his coat, but her eyes stayed trained on the intruder.
"Honestly, Donna,” she heard the Doctor say as he threw his coat over the support strut and started up the ramp to send them back into the vortex, “you’re taking this well. I was expecting a good old-fashioned Noble berating to start before I could get the TARDIS door closed. Of course, this silence could be to simply lull me into a false sense of security. Is that what you're doing?"
She didn’t answer him, her mind focused instead on how she should bring up the fact that there was an unconscious woman lying on the floor of his TARDIS.
“Donna? You alright?” He’d finally seemed to notice her distraction and began walking a bit more quickly around the console to reach her.
“Watch out.” Donna said as she shot out her arm to stop him from tripping over the woman also. The Doctor looked down at the woman on the grating.
“Well now, who's this," he asked, putting on his specs and bending down to get a better look at the woman's face. "The TARDIS didn't tell me we were expecting comp-“
Donna, who had been examining the woman’s face as well, looked back at the Doctor as his voice trailed off. His face had blanched and he looked as if he was staring at a ghost.
Donna reached for his arm, hoping to steady him.
"Doctor?" she asked. He didn’t respond.
"Doctor?" she asked again, her voice louder. Still no response.
Now more concerned about his well-being than she was about the stranger in her home, she clutched at his arm and forced him to look at her.
"Doctor!?" Her voice was louder and something in its tone must have caught his attention. His eyes snapped to hers and he finally registered some spark of recognition that she’d been speaking.
"Who is she, Doctor?"
He looked back down at the woman, the expression in his eyes somewhere between heartbreak and terror. With this look Donna also grew more nervous. Who ever this woman was the Doctor knew her and it wasn’t good.
"It's impossible. There was no way, no way. I checked, Donna. I checked for months and months." He began pacing around the prone form, his hand going to his hair and his eyes frantic. "She was gone, Donna. Lost."
With that one simple word, everything clicked into place for Donna and she wasn’t sure if she was relieved or even more terrified. This was Rose and this changed everything. Immediately she dropped to her knees and checked for a pulse. There was a thready one; Rose needed medical attention immediately. She looked at the Doctor but he just stood there, staring at the both of them, seemingly incapable of comprehending what was right before his eyes.
"Doctor," Donna said, her voice calm but assertive, "she's going to need your help. There will be time later for explanations." She stood and walked to where he stood.
"This is real, Doctor,” she reassured him as she took his hand. “That is Rose and she needs your help."
Her words finally seemed to resonate with him and he nodded.
"Yes, med bay. Now." He bent down and scooped Rose up into his arms.
Donna followed behind him as he quickly navigated the corridors to the med bay, the longed-for shower momentarily forgotten. She watched as he laid Rose tenderly on one of the beds there. She watched as he scanned Rose, growing frustrated in his lack of finding anything to cause her unconscious state. She watched as he noticed the object clutched in her left hand. And she watched he reached to remove it from her grasp and promptly fell unconscious.