Echoes of Summer - Chapter Twelve: The Second Visit (Donna Noble Style)
Disclaimer: Neither Doctor Who nor any characters, items or materials of any kind pertaining to Doctor Who or the Whoniverse belong to me. I’m just looking for a good time. Hee. Trying them out for a bit, see how they fit.
Plot Summary: He was left with his lips against her jaw, her figure pressed to him as if she belonged there. One of many moments between the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler after he breaks his own rules to retrieve her from Bad Wolf Bay. The walls between worlds begin to fall, two different realities merging. And on the horizon a threat rises that threatens to destroy everything the Doctor holds dear.
Pairing: Ten/Rose
Beta: bratflorida
Rating: Starts at PG. Runs the gamut straight through to NC-17.
Spoilers: Oh yes. Tons of spoilers. All over the place. Probably without even meaning to but that’s what happens when you watch all the episodes like you’re possessed. So…erm…sorry.
Timeline: AU after the end of Series 2. Spoilers up to, including and going past Series 4 though. I’ve seen all of Series 1 through 4, including the series 4 specials but am not very familiar with the Classic Who much. As such, if I happen to include anything that really touches upon Classic Who, other than it being unintentional, I’ll be surprised out of my head. Really. You’ll probably see a lot of familiar things in the fic that play into the series of DW. Bear with me, it all ties in together.
Echoes of Summer
Prologue: In the End
Chapter One: Five and a Half Hours
Chapter Two: Explanations
Chapter Three: The First Tear
Chapter Four: Alone In This Bed
Chapter Five: The First Visit
Chapter Six: The Second Tear
Chapter Seven: The Rain
Chapter Eight: A Non-Human Chase
Chapter Nine: Two Hearts
Chapter Ten: What You See When You're Not Looking
Chapter Eleven: Dreaming of Wolves
Chapter Twelve - The Second Visit (Donna Noble Style):
“So what you’re telling me then,” she began, fighting the urge to roll her eyes straight through to the back of her head, “is you want me to talk to her. Because you think I can convince Little Miss Muffet to…what?” And she cocked her head at him as they rounded the console. “To bugger off and find her own way back to her own little universe?”
He bowed his head at her words, lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose delicately. He would not kill her. He would not kill her. It was against his moral code. He would not kill her.
I will not kill her.
“Or should I just tell her, ‘Hi. I’m Donna. I have a message from the Doctor. He wants you to hightail it on out of here because you’re tearing two realities apart.’ Is that better?” she asked him, pursing her lips at him.
“It’s a start,” he managed to make out through a wince, still clutching his nose.
“What, gotta sneeze or something? Do Martians sneeze?” she asked him sardonically. And she let her hands slip from her hips where she’d had them for the last half hour. “I mean…what do I say to her, really? This is her! Your her!”
“Your her?” he questioned her, a frowning look of disbelief flitting across his face as his hand dropped away. “Really, Donna. Proper English if you will!”
“You know what I’m trying to say!” she shouted at him impatiently. “You spend all your time going on about her and now you’re trying to undo it all! Isn’t there a way? Some other way to-“
“There is no other way,” he cut her off and his tone was firm. “There is no other way. I can’t go myself. Which leaves you. And you can be very persuasive which is why I’m leaving it to you.”
“Can’t you send that other bloke, your friend? What was his name? Captain Jack!” she gestured at him with an index finger. “Can’t you send him instead? They knew each other. And I’m sure he can be persuasive too, what with that…wonderful mouth of his…”
The look he sent her was enough to destroy Daleks should they have felt the need to invade that very moment.
“Oi. Freezer in here suddenly,” she murmured with a sideways look and a pout to her mouth. Wordless for a long moment, running her fingers along the console of the TARDIS as it flared slightly, they stood in tense silence. His shoulders were rigid and had been for a while now. And when she looked at him these days, since having known him the first time they had encountered each other, he had thinned down even more. “Don’t you eat?” she suddenly demanded.
He did a double take. “What?”
Motioning at him and at a loss for words for a second, she stuttered, “You look terrible. Too thin, thinner than before. And you need a shave. And a fat burger. And chips. Lots of chips. Do all Martians lose weight as fast as you do?”
Closing his eyes again and counting to ten, he said slowly and stiffly, “Once more, I’m not from Mars.”
She glared at him. “I didn’t say you were,” she snapped at him.
“You just called me a Martian, Donna! Where else are Martians from?!”
She waved it away impatiently. “I call all aliens Martians!”
“Really? How many do you know?!” he demanded. And this time he really did clamp down and break off into silence. He was tired. Physically and emotionally tired. Even mentally tired. Exhausted, in fact. So many changes, so many ripples in the timeline that needed to be mended. He had been a fool. From the start, he had just been foolish.
But he had wanted it to be true, to be possible. With both of his broken hearts.
Donna was silent at his side once more, her expression now saddening as she merely looked at him. “I’ll go,” she said then, quietly. And as he lifted his head to look at her, his face pinched, she said once more, “I’ll go and I’ll talk to her. I’ll make sure she gets it. I mean, she’s a smart girl, isn’t she?”
“Brilliant,” he remarked instantly, quietly.
Donna smiled faintly at that. “’Course she is,” she murmured. And she pulled away, her hands trailing across the console as she rounded it slowly. “So am I dressed for the weather? What month will it be out there?”
With a small breath, inhaling almost feebly, he straightened once more, at least to give off the impression that he was all right. Because he was always all right, she knew. “It’s March. End of. You’ll be fine. Or maybe a light jacket. Nah. You’ll be fine.” And he set the coordinates, his hands expertly darting across the controls.
Donna nodded, coming to a stop directly opposite him on the other side of the console. “And are you sure you want me to tell her exactly like that?” she asked, leaning over to look at him around the blue core of the TARDIS. “Don’t want me to tell her…well…anything about you? How you’re doing?”
“Nothing about me,” he stated flatly, refusing to lift his head.
She gazed at him as he avoided her eyes and continued to direct the TARDIS. “All right then.” And she waited as he set the TARDIS down with his usual finesse. A few moments later the phone box gave a shudder and then jarred roughly, sending her to grasp the console for balance. He seemed utterly undisturbed by the landing, flicking several switches and then slowing to stand silently. Glancing at him as he continued to avoid her eyes she nodded. “Ok. That’s my cue then. Be back soon.”
As she twirled to float toward the door he called to her. “Donna-”
She turned back around, pausing on the ramp leading toward the doors of the TARDIS.
He was hesitant, one hand on the console, the other shoved into the pocket of his blue suit pants. “Tell her…” he murmured slowly, thoughtfully. “Tell her…”
Donna merely smiled at that, as he failed in words. First time for everything then. “She knows,” she offered him instead softly. And as he looked at her she waved the fingers of her left hand at him in goodbye and proceeded down the ramp then out the doors of the TARDIS.
Rose Tyler had been found. Exactly where he had said she would be. Shopping in the department stores of the city, poking her head into this store for shoes and that store for jeans. All in all, Rose Tyler was just like every other young woman in the history of the world.
With a credit card that could probably power businesses for years to come with the amount stored on it.
The only problem once she was found that day was that her Doctor was with her. Like the dutiful male friend who had been duped into going along a shopping spree, the Doctor was at her side as she modeled shirts over herself, flashing jeans at him for his opinion. And even from where she hid behind a front column of the department store, she could tell the Doctor was as useless as every other male on the planet. He shrugged and scratched at the back of his head as she waved a skirt at him, as she showed him a red boot on one foot and a white trainer on the other. And from where she stood she could clearly read the word, “Anything??” on Rose Tyler’s lips as she shrugged at the Doctor. He in turn shrugged right back and then motioned to a multi-colored scarf on display not too far from where they stood.
Donna straightened, coming to a slight stop. She had seen that scarf hidden away in a closet on the TARDIS not too long ago. After complaining about having no closet space for herself she had gone looking and had found it.
Even now the thing was hideous.
Rose glanced over at the scarf, stared, and then emphatically shook her head.
Donna knew exactly how that conversation had just gone. She waited, peeking around the column toward the department store window and caught another glimpse of Rose just as the blond girl looked toward her in exasperation. Immediately Donna pulled back and flattened herself to the other side of the column, hiding and grimacing. “Oh…damn,” she cursed under her breath, her heart suddenly speeding up. Had Rose seen her? Did it really matter? Rose Tyler had no idea who Donna Noble was, nor what she looked like. Why was she even hiding? Pursing her lips, Donna slid once more along the column and peeked around it, lifting her gaze back toward the spot where Rose had just been with her Doctor.
They were walking off together, Rose returning items to their shelves and racks as they went.
Sighing inwardly Donna pulled away from the column, heading toward the doors of the department store. She was going to have to physically go in if she wanted to keep Rose Tyler in her sights to finally confront her. Coming to the glass doors she peered in, stepping aside with a look of impatience as a customer departed. Toward the back she caught sight of Rose as she skipped a step and then reached back for the Doctor’s arm, winding her own through it and beaming up at him.
Her heart came to a grinding halt.
Gesturing widely, maniacally almost, the Doctor motioned about, speaking rapidly and animatedly. And Rose burst into adorable laughter, hopping excitedly at his side.
Donna stared through the glass doors, scooting sideways to allow another person to exit, never once tearing her eyes from the pair. She didn’t know that man, that version of the Doctor. The man who threw his head back and laughed loudly, nodding at whatever the blond girl said to him. Donna didn’t know him at all. She recognized the dark hair and the lean frame clothed in his usual suit. But that man there, walking with Rose Tyler, was a complete stranger. She knew only of her own Doctor, with the circles under his eyes and the pain in their depths. The Doctor she knew, he was a mere shadow of this man in the store. Nothing more.
Rose glanced back toward the doors in search of something, perhaps more clothes to try, and they met eyes once more. Coming to a sudden stop, Rose stared at her and Donna quickly ducked sideways, out of sight.
“Oh, she must’ve seen that…” she murmured to herself with a wince as she leaned against the wall of the convenience store next door to the department store.
“Is that…did you see that?” Rose asked the Doctor, coming to a sudden stop as she glanced over her shoulder once more. She tugged him back to her side as he went to continue on.
“See what?” he asked, pausing and glancing in the same direction she looked.
“That…woman,” Rose replied slowly and she took a step, dragging the Doctor behind her absentmindedly. “With the ginger hair. She was…” She took a few more steps, taking the Doctor with her as he also looked off the way she pointed.
“Ginger? Really?” A small bit of excitement entered his tone before falling away in dismay. “I didn’t see anyone…”
Rose frowned faintly, pausing. “I think…” she murmured haltingly. And after another moment she shrugged it off. “Losing it. I have to be. I’m losing it, Doctor.”
“Don’t be dramatic, Rose. You lost it a long time ago,” he comforted her and he took her hand in his and began to lead her further into the department store, motioning. “Maybe we’ll find something more fitting for you in that direction?”
“You think? You weren’t much help with the shoes…”
The Doctor threw her a wicked glance. “It’s because I don’t understand the point of quite so many versions of the same boot in all those colors. All you need are a good set of trainers for the run. See? For example-“ And he began to motion to his own pale trainers.
“Those have no traction!” Rose argued, dragging him along once more just as he had lifted a foot to show her. He ended up stomping after her rather ungracefully as she continued on. “Have you tried running in those through dusty terrain? It’s horrible! Oh, what am I talking about, of course you have. You were right there with me. But really. Dust and dirt? Like that one planet we went to, with all the sand and those birds that tried to peck at my glitter makeup, remember?”
“I warned you against anything shiny,” he reprimanded her instantly, catching his footing once more as she led him on. “What did I say? ‘Rose, don’t wear anything shimmery or sparkly or what have you-‘”
“Because of the birds, you said,” she cut him off. “Birds. That’s how you put it. Birds. I was expecting…you know, tiny chirping birds! Not man-eating, ravenous monsters the size of ostriches!” She huffed at him, throwing him a look as a wistful smile curled his lips at the memory. She rolled her eyes at that. “So, I need real trainers. Or boots. And what’s so bad about red boots?”
He sighed, his hands winding into his pockets as she released them to curl her arm through his instead. “There’s nothing wrong with them, Rose. But we’re going to Caradhas Minor next. Do you even know what’s there?”
“No, but I bet you’re going to tell me,” she grumbled in a snarky tone.
“The Caradhans don’t believe in red,” he said to her in disbelief at the fact that she didn’t already know. “In fact, the color red is downright insulting to them. Which means that sweater of yours stays behind. You know the one. Oh, and not just red-red but all variations of red. No pink. No maroon-purples. Even certain browns are a bad idea. Trust me, Rose,” he said to her, his figure suddenly straightening as he took on the tone that stated he was indeed a Time Lord and just so impressive.
Rose walked in quiet hesitation for a long moment, chewing on her bottom lip, her arm curled through his. “How about reddish orange-“
“Rose.”
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” she giggled at him, shaking him teasingly. “Ok, fine. I get it. No red. Got it.”
Looking down at her, the corners of his lips turning up once more in a small smile, his eyes met hers for a small moment. And then the smile was there, fully.
Donna crouched along the sales counter in the perfume section, peering around the edge, Rose and the Doctor in her sights. She’d been shadowing them for what felt like hours now. She had never known the Doctor to have this much patience, especially in any human matters. He had none when it came to her personally anyway. But Rose seemed to be a different story, one all her own. They were currently a mere ten feet from where she hid, her breath practically strangling in her throat as she strained to hear what they were saying. They had been bantering for a while now and if this was the way they were together, it was obvious then why the Doctor was now broken. Never had she seen him to have so much life in him, so much manic energy and so much affection. Yes, he had taken her own hand numerous times, had smiled with her, laughed with her. But never had the shadow lifted from his face for long and quite so brilliantly. Never had she seen his eyes shimmer the way they did now. Even his voice jumped an octave higher in pure glee at their repartee. This Doctor was wittier, happier and ever the flirt. Donna herself couldn’t believe it.
“What do you say to going out later tonight? Perhaps tomorrow?” the Doctor was saying then, his hands in his coat pockets as Rose dug through a display of socks. “I know just the place. Caradhas Minor can wait.”
“Out?” Rose questioned, her voice muffled. As Donna peeked around the edge of the counter she caught a glimpse of Rose bent over into the small bin of socks, tossing pairs about in a concentrated search. A moment later she popped up with a pink pair. Then a second after that she frowned. “Oh, right. No pink either,” she mumbled as the Doctor sent her what seemed to be a small glare and she tossed the pair right back in. “Out where?”
“Well…” the Doctor said with a scrunch to his eyes. “This time of year there’s a small festival in the Rexan System, on the leisure planet Gamorra. Wonderful colors, all sorts of people and alien species visit the planet during this time. I myself haven’t been there in quite a bit but I doubt much has changed-“
Donna hesitated as she listened to their conversation. He had taken her there not too long ago, that leisure planet he had just mentioned to Rose. For the simple reason that the last time he had gone, when Rose has been his companion, things had not gone well. He had taken Donna, perhaps to make a better memory of the place. Which meant that, currently, the future was on its way to being followed exactly as predicted.
She was here to try and fix that.
“What’s this festival about?” Rose asked, digging into the socks once more absentmindedly.
Donna turned back again, pressing her back to the side of the department sales counter and glanced up at abruptly seeing the security guard waiting directly beside her. She forced a slow, awkward smile at him, quite aware of how the situation suddenly looked. “Hi.”
“Centuries ago the Gamorran citizens, all colorblind, part of their biology, made peace with the Rexans. Yes, the Rexan System is named after the planet Rexa which is the biggest planet in their system.”
“Um-hmm.”
“Anyway, the Rexan people introduced the Gamorrans to-“
“Wait, Gomorrah?” Rose popped back up once more, a frown wrinkling her nose. “Like…from Sodom and Gomorrah?”
The Doctor weighed the comparison with a small narrowing of an eye. “Sounds like but isn’t,” the Doctor replied and he eyed a pair of white socks in her hand critically.
“It’s not red!” Rose protested at the look.
The Doctor continued on as she sent him a withering glare. “Sodom and Gomorrah have nothing to do with Gamorra for the mere fact that Gamorra the Planet predates…just about all scripture. If anything, the entire Gomorrah issue could even be a rip off of Gamorra-“
“Gomorrah or Gammora?” Rose questioned him in confusion.
“What?” the Doctor asked with a halting pause.
“What?” she asked him right back, now fully bewildered.
“Will you let me finish?’ the Doctor demanded.
“Not if I don’t get what you’re saying, no!” Rose argued right back and they settled into a small silence, eyeing each other as if waiting for the other to begin speaking once more.
Donna held up a finger at the security guard as he waited for her to stand up from the floor. “I just need a minute,” she stage-whispered and she motioned toward the Doctor and Rose with a flick of her thumb and a small wink.
The security guard straightened to his full height silently, a dark look crossing his face.
In a sign of peace, hands held up, the Doctor began once more. “Let’s forget all about the Gomorrah of scripture and focus on Gamorra the planet.” And he waited as Rose reluctantly turned back to the bin of socks and dug through once more. “The Gamorran people, colorblind as they are, were gifted with fabrics and materials of vibrant color by the Rexans. While the Gamorrans couldn’t tell the actual color of the fabrics, they could tell there was a difference in hues and texture. As such, the anniversary of that peace is celebrated in a festival that lasts eight earth days. I think it began yesterday. I think we should go. That and it is a leisure planet and I think you and I could use some leisure time.”
Rose straightened once more, her eyes on a pair of socks. “Sounds good. What are their clothes like? Should I cover up, wear jeans? Dress up? I don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb.” And she threw him a cheeky look. “Can I wear red there?”
The Doctor didn’t take the bait. “Actually, you’ll find colors there that you never even knew existed! Oh, I should have taken you there much sooner! You’d love it! And it doesn’t matter what you wear or what you look like. Species-wise, I mean. Literally, people from all over come to the festival. They’ve seen humans before. The Gamorrans are quite accommodating.”
Rose nodded. “Ok, great. Then I guess I should be shopping for something pretty to wear.” She paused. “Not that you’d be much help in that department. You’re rubbish when it comes to women’s clothing.”
The Doctor gestured to his own tall male form in response to that, the corner of his lip curling.
“Come on then,” Rose said and she tossed the pairs of socks about for one last look. “Let’s go to the evening wear department and check out their selection.” And she wound her arm through his once more, pausing to pick at his coat. “You dressing up?”
The Doctor glanced down at himself critically as they wandered away, his voice trailing off. “Isn’t this suitable?”
Donna watched them walk off for a bit of a moment and then jumped to her feet. “Great then. Thanks for keeping my cover,” she said to the security guard with a small wink. “Gotta keep tailing them, can’t let them out of my sight. He’d have my hide,” she smiled. And then she frowned as the security guard took a step closer. “What?”
“Come with me, ma’am,” the security guard said briskly and without another word he wrapped a hand around her arm and began to pull her off.
“Oi!”
She had been held, questioned for half an hour and then finally released by the security department of the store. And by the end of it she had told them exactly what they were and where they could shove their misplaced manners.
“And another thing!” she shouted as she was shoved out of the security office, the door slamming in her face. She cracked a fist against the door, raging. “Don’t think I won’t complain! If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s complaining! I’ll have you tossed out on your arse! And then I’ll sue the pants off you, you daft-“
She broke off as she realized she was causing a scene. Pursing her lips and straightening her shirt, she composed herself just enough to look about and catch a glimpse of the clock on the wall in the hallway. She’d been sequestered for just over half an hour. She felt anxiety flood her stomach icily. What if Rose and the Doctor had gone? Then what? Did her own Doctor know what had happened? She wrung her hands for a moment, pacing back and forth on her heels before finally darting down the hallway back toward the main lobby of the department store. Evening wear, Rose had said. She was a typical girl. Perhaps she was still there shopping? She could only hope to catch up to her again.
Running as fast as she could on her blunt heels she raced up the escalator and looked about as she came out on the second floor. This was the men’s department. She came upon the directory of the store and scanned it quickly. Evening wear was on the fourth floor. Practically tripping up the escalator once more she sped right past the third floor before riding up the fourth.
And waiting right by the escalator on the fourth floor, hands in his coat pockets, stood the Doctor.
She stumbled to a stop before him, merely staring at him.
He stared right back as he realized she was looking at him. “Hello.”
Donna studied him intently. “Which one are you?” she demanded, running her eyes up and down his frame quizzically.
The Doctor blinked. “Beg your pardon?”
He was wearing the same suit as Rose’s Doctor. “Never mind all that. Gotta run-“
“Ginger!” the Doctor crowed, pointing a finger at her hair.
Donna glared at him. “So, you’ve always been like that then,” she said with a withering look. “It’s not such a big deal, being ginger. Brings too much attention. Gotta go now, really. Lovely to meet you. And eat something for God’s sake.” And with that she darted past him into the evening wear department in search of Rose.
Next Chapter - Chapter Thirteen: Black and Blue
She knew why Donna had told her to get the blue dress. Because in her future she had owned this dress. Donna had said it herself, that she had seen the dress in one of her closets. That the Doctor had liked the dress very much.
“There’s…no way around it, is there?” Rose whispered faintly, her eyes caught on the dress.