On the Run ♦ 012. One Step Closer to Goodbye ♦ with captoftardis

[noblexcompanion]

Saying goodbye to Kassia was one of the hardest things Donna had had to do. If ever she had a daughter of her own she hoped she'd be just like Kas. Being around her triggered all those deep rooted maternal instincts Donna tried so hard to hide. In fact, part of her had been more than a little tempted to stay behind with Kassia on Scallite VI to

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[captoftardis]

The Doctor was quiet. Really, really quiet, as he had a hand tucked into a trouser pocket and another lacklusterly pressing a button or two on the console. Perhaps one could say he was procrastinating, as he had yet to reply to Donna.

Rose walked over, peering over to him at an angle, before searching for John, whom couldn't be found at the moment. Biting her lip, she held back saying what probably should be said -- it was time to take her home, wasn't it?

"What?" The Doctor finally looked up to Donna, "Did you say something?" He knew perfectly well what was spoken, just... didn't want to register any definitely answers yet.

[noblexcompanion]

"I said, where to next, Spaceman? What's wrong, got some moon rock in your ear or sommat?" She knew what was wrong, and she hated to see him look so crestfallen.

She pushed herself to her feet and crossed the short distance separating them to rest her hand on his forearm.

John had hidden himself away in the TARDIS garden room. It would probably be the last time he would see many of the wonderful plants it had to offer. Might as well make the most of it.

[captoftardis]

"Ohhh, I dunno." He straightened out his back, smiling softly to Donna at her hand upon his arm. "Somewhere quiet, maybe?" And if anyone knew the Doctor, he never did quiet.

"Or..." Rose spoke hesitantly, cleared her throat, "...I should find John." She had changed her trail of thought, not really wanting to face finality. Not just yet. Her gaze caught the Doctor's, lingered for a moment, then stepped out of the room to search for the metacrisis.

[noblexcompanion]

Once Rose was out of the room Donna tugged on the Doctor's sleeve to get him to face her before tiptoeing to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug. "I wish there was something I could do to cheer you up."

She clung for a little longer than necessary, before relaxing back onto the flats of her feet. "Besides, three minutes of quiet and you'd be bored..."

[captoftardis]

His arms automatically wrap around her and his chin in pressed to her shoulder. Upon realization, he definitely needed this hug. Saying goodbye to Kassia was one of the most difficult things he's had to do, as his attachment to her was rather strong. However, he was glad to see her thriving.

Once Donna pulled away, he smiles softly, "Perhaps." He confessed a bit sheepishly, knowing it was very true. But there it was, that nagging feeling of needing to run once again.

"Fix a timeline or two, go to the beach. We can do that, eh?"

[noblexcompanion]

It was a fantastic, much needed hug. Donna could've clung to him forever. She wasn't entirely sure she'd ever really recover from losing Kassia. But at least the girl was alive and living a good, proper life at that, rather than plugged into some machine. Still hurt to say goodbye.

"A proper beach with real sand! And no monsters! Not even crabs or fish or fishpeople..." She shot him a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes.

[captoftardis]

"Surprisingly difficult to find a beach with no crabs." He commented with a matching smile, "But we'll find something!"

Before anything more could be said, Rose and John entered the room, causing a rather unexpected awkward silence, or perhaps that was more on the Doctor's part as for once in his life, he didn't know what to say to fill the void.

"Right, so..." He avoided Rose's gaze for a moment, before finally looking up to meet her's, and he looked serious for a moment, "You want to leave now." His voice was as neutral as his face.

"Oh, Doctor, it's not that I -- we -- don't want to travel with you, but if we..." Rose bit at her lips, shooting a nervous look to the metacrisis before turning back, "If we can fix some stuff on our end, in Pete's World... Maybe, maybe it can help you out here."

[noblexcompanion]

Oh. Ouch. The silence was incredibly awkward. The cringe-worthy kind of silence that made you want to run. And a speechless Doctor? Never a good thing...

The eventual conversation tugged at Donna's heartstrings. She'd known it was coming, of course she had. But that didn't make it any easier to face.

"Should... should we put in the co-ordinates?"

[captoftardis]

The Doctor lingered there, gaze frozen upon Rose's. Exactly how many times was he going to be saying goodbye to her? This wasn't exactly fair, and she was right. If they were able to fix some timeline bits on their side, then it'd make his and Donna's feat more tolerable.

"Go back to Torchwood first, figure out what they're planning and what they've done to those that were leaking information and..."

"We definitely won't be making that mistake again." John commented hoping to reassure the Doctor. He knew that look all too well, and it was strange having almost an out-of-body experience of seeing it rather than feeling. But he was pretty sure he knew what the Doctor was feeling right now.

[noblexcompanion]

Were they trying to break Donna's heart? Because they were doing a damn good job of it. Her chest ached, literally ached. Stupid really, considering the heart was a glorified pump. So why was it when things were heartbreaking the chest really did hurt? Made no sense.

"Hey, John? Why don't you help me over here while those two go say their goodbyes?" In private. Away from nosy ears.

[captoftardis]

He didn't want to do this. Not again. Not for the third time, and oddly enough, this felt far more difficult than being on the beach front and seeing the metacrisis being capable of everything he wasn't.

A sharp inhale before he began issuing a scan. "I can't get there just with the TARDIS without virtually destroying the timelines." He commented, trying to avoid this moment with Rose. "I'll have to find a hole, like I did when I came back to Pete's World... with Donna." He half laughs, "Y'know, we jumped out of a window? She was so scared..."

"You probably screamed like a little girl." Rose replied, coming over next to him.

"Ohhho! Did not! Not at all!" He retorted as the TARDIS quickly locked onto another time distortion.

[noblexcompanion]

"Oi! You cheeky bugger! I was not scared!" She had been petrified, but that was beside the point. "Plus I'm stood right here, doofus, don't talk about me like I'm not in the room." Donna huffed, arms folded across her chest for emphasis.

A few more huffs and she started to calm down. "So how the flip do we go about finding another one of these holes then? Pretty sure they won't be on the A-Z map of space..."

[captoftardis]

"I thought you weren't suppose to be listening." He gave her a look, but it wasn't serious or angry. If anything he was resisting a laugh.

John had been quiet, watching Rose and the Doctor interact with some intense curiosity before he saw the console's screen scrolling through many characters of the Gallifreyan language. "The silk route?" He glanced back over to the Doctor, wanting to be confirmed on this reading.

With a hop and skip, the Doctor was by his side, looking at the screen, but then the TARDIS shook violently and bounced about until they landed.

[noblexcompanion]

"My ears were burning and I have super magic power hearing. Not my fault. It's a Mott-Noble trait. Like how my mum could always hear me come in late when I was drunk no matter how quiet I was. Oh how she could always hear the biscuit tin being opened when it shouldn't be. Mott-Noble trait." And once again she was rambling.

The violent shaking and bouncing had Donna clawing for the rail. Shaking and bouncing was never good in her limited experience aboard the TARDIS. She looked torn between throwing up and glaring at the nearest person and/or object. "What the flippin' 'eck was that?!"