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]

He dug around and managed to find some biscuits he had snatched from a table earlier that night and handed them over, "You can have them, or what's left of them."

He wasn't hungry, despite barely recalling when exactly it had been the last time he ate, hence the sneaking of the food. Knowing the hole in the timeline was upon them made him too anxious as of late; it was amazing he was considering sleep earlier that night.

Conversations continued late into the evening until they began to die down as exhaustion started settling in. The Doctor lied on his back with a hand in the air tracing some of the constellations, thinking of some of the stories he was taught growing up. Not far off, he heard a stirring and saw Rose pop up.

"The fire is dying out." She commented heavy with sleep as she came over to the Doctor, "Not very responsible, are ya?" There was a light teasing to her tone.

[noblexcompanion]

One of the plus sides to travelling with the Doctor was that Donna had learned how to sleep just about anywhere, no matter what the conditions. She still preferred a nice soft bed, naturally, but rough terrain would do.

And so the exhausted ginger was curled up with her back to the dying fire, getting some much needed sleep.

John stirred at the sound of Rose's voice and forced himself to sit up. "Fire's dying? Do we have any wood left?" Unlikely. "We should go get some."

[captoftardis]

"C'mon, then." Rose got to her feet, stretched out her sore back and limbs and helped John to his feet.

The Doctor started to do the same, until Rose stopped him, "I know you. You haven't slept at all, retreating into that big mind of yours. It's fine; we're fine. Try to get some sleep, OK?" She patted his shoulder, "Soon, we'll be back in the TARDIS and forget this ever happened."

He nodded and settled himself back down, but sleep was far from his mind. He lied there, watching the embers glow and listened to Rose and John chat softly in the distance mixed with the near dawn stirrings in nature.

Simultaneously after about 2 minutes, the wind started to pick up and then his hearts pounded in his chest, with his head aching quite a bit. A sudden sense of fear overcame him and he scrambled up to his feet faster than you can say 'Rose', because that was the only thing echoing in his mind.

"Rose?" Oh no. No, no no no no! Not here! NOT NOW.He ran as fast as he could in the barely lit woods, "Rose?!" He looked all around him, knowing

[noblexcompanion]

Donna had woken up when she heard noise coming towards their small camp. Waking up alone was pretty darn terrifying. Thanks for that everyone!

"Doctor?! Rose?!? John?!?! Where is everyone?!" She was totally beginning to panic. Where had everyone gone?

"DOCTOR?! Where are you?!"

[captoftardis]

"DONNA!" He jumped over bushes and darted around trees as he raced back as fast as he could, both mind and heart racing. He couldn't lose her too; he just couldn't!

The sky was brightening up more, he vaguely noted as he moved as fast as he could, not realizing just how far he had gone into the woods after Rose and John. Please let me get there! Please don't take Donna away from me too. PLEASE!

There were two soldiers at the campsite, coming upon Donna when the Doctor, now in a blind rage, ran forth and tackled one to the ground, stealing his sword and without warning impaled the soldier closest to Donna.

Everything moved in slow motion to the Doctor, every nanosecond, every sound of motion. The last breath of the soldier, the sickening sound of an open wound being unplugged, the eruption of blood fanning out. He saw every minute detail to the nth degree until time restored itself, and he stood there above the fallen soldier panting, registering none of it but Donna's own reaction.

[noblexcompanion]

If everything moved in slow motion to the Doctor, then to Donna it raced by in a blur. She barely had time to register what was going on around her. The Doctor's rage, the assault, the blood. Everything happened so fast.

Eyes wide as she stared at the fallen soldier. "Doctor?!" She was scared. The Doctor had just attacked a solider. The Doctor of all people...

"What happened?! Where are the others?!"

[captoftardis]

The sword slipped out of his hand just as the other soldier shrieked, scrambled up to his feet and ran away. Fear, it was the fear of being gone forever that drove him away. Good man, the Doctor thought to himself as he stepped over the body to Donna. His knees buckled underneath him and he collapsed at her feet.

"Gone." He barely spoke above a whisper. He swallows and finally meets her eyes, "I thought... Just now... I didn't want to lose you too."

[noblexcompanion]

Donna was scared and tempted to run away from the Doctor too, truth be told. He had just murdered somebody in cold blood. Sure, it's not the first time people have died because of them, but usually it's not so... direct.

Still, the Doctor at her feet like that, looking so broken... She couldn't help but reach out to stroke his hair. "What do you mean gone? Doctor? Where are they? Are they... are they dead??"

[captoftardis]

He shakes his head, covering her hand with his own, "The hole in time..." His throat suddenly hurt and he felt like his chest was burning, "They were the anomaly here in this time line..." Why did it feel like he couldn't breathe? "It was trying to catch up to them this whole time..."

Why did it feel like he was certainly drowning, like the earth had opened up and was swallowing him whole?

He looks away, looks at the coagulating pool of blood just a foot away.

And he felt like his mind was shattering.

[noblexcompanion]

Oh man. Broken Time Lord. Someone send help. Or at least an instruction manual. 'So Your Time Lord Is Broken' an informative guide to dealing with the issues of owning a pet Time Lord. Unfortunately, no such guide existed. So Donna did the only thing she could think of and dropped to her knees in front of him and pulled him into the tightest of hugs.

There had been no chance for goodbyes. Nothing. Just... gone. Dona's heart was breaking and all she wanted to do was cry. But she had to be strong for the Doctor.

[captoftardis]

Feebly, he raises his arms, unsure what exactly to do until finally he wraps them around her. He doesn't know how long he stayed like that, given for once in a very long time, his mind was thoughtless. Completely clear.

The sun rose more over the horizon and the Doctor finally pulls away, inhaling sharply before staggering to his feet and offering Donna a hand, and once she took his hand, he couldn't bring himself to let go of it. Not not, as if his life depended upon it, as if the moment her fingers slipped out of his, it was over.

How silly, thinking in such symbolic thought and metaphors! He berated himself, as they silently walked into the woods and found the remaining horse in their camp. "Let me help you up."

[noblexcompanion]

Donna's legs were numb and she had had an uneasy time of it, only held onto him as tight as she could. Her cheeks were stained with her tears. She felt like she could sleep for a month and at the same time her mind was too full to sleep.

"I can manage." She climbed up onto the horse, letting out a steady breath. "Let's just go home..."

[captoftardis]

They couldn't use any of the main roads, given that they had been found once already, and the Doctor shot them far southwestward. They road for most of the day, stopping to take a break once or twice until they came upon a small village.

It was now when he realized he was extremely hungry and wasn't sure how much energy he had left if he didn't eat something. Donna had to be just as bad.

Slipping off his jacket, because he figured obvious evidence of blood would be a bit startling to the locals, he headed into the market.

[noblexcompanion]

Their journey was painfully quiet. A combination of exhaustion and heartache, and in Donna's case a possible concussion, meant the conversation was hardly flowing.

Her stomach rumbled. Okay, maybe she was pretty hungry too. Shut up. She hadn't eaten a proper meal for ages. She really fancied chips and a good cuppa.

"Are you alright?"