FIC: Saving Wiles for Later (1/1)
Title: Saving Wiles For Later
Rating: T
Genre: Doctor Who
Author: tkel_paris
Characters: Ten, Donna, Jenny, Martha
Summary: Donna takes offense to the Doctor's remark about her wiles, but she's not ready for the Doctor's explanation.
Disclaimer: If he'd bothered to explain it rather than let it sound like Donna was a joke, then I wouldn't feel the need to write this and explain that I know the owners are RTD and the BBC.
Dedication: I'm pretty sure I can blame this one on tardis_mole. But this is for all the fans who hated that Donna was treated like a gag and not a potential romantic interest for the Doctor.
Author's Note: Donna and Catherine Tate keep getting the short end of the stick as far as what they're capable of compared with the roles they get, don't they? Well, this needed to be written then.
Posted as a bonus birthday gift to cassikat.
Saving Wiles For Later
Started February 12, 2014
Finished August 8, 2014
“Let's... save your wiles for later. In case of emergency.”
Donna glared at him, freezing him in his tracks. “What are you saying, Spaceman? That I'm incapable of using wiles, or that mine aren't worth a fig?”
“That's not what I mean!” he hissed in a whisper.
“Then what do you mean? Because it sounds like you're saying that I'm not attractive? That I'm too old to flirt with anyone?!”
His eyes flashed and he suddenly gripped her arms and pinned her against a wall.
Jenny stared at them in shock. This wasn't in any of her downloads.
Donna's eyes widened. “Oi, hands!” she hissed.
His answer was low and dangerous. “You want to know why I said it, Donna? I said it because I saw how some of the soldiers looked at you. They thought you were someone to be taken advantage of, who wouldn't be able to defend themselves. You've demeaned yourself with men before, throwing yourself at them for a quick marriage through desperation, just because he brought you coffee or took a bit of interest in you, and I'm not letting you do that again. There are other ways.”
“Wait, you're... protecting me?”
“You've been through too much with men who weren't worth your time. No more. I won't risk you or your feelings again.”
She frowned. “I'm not a weakling to be protected and coddled, Spaceman!”
“Sh-sh-sh! We'll discuss this later. Just let me deal with this one.” He let her go and quickly rummaged through his pockets.
/=/=/=/
Later, as the three were looking through the corridors, Jenny finally had to change the subject back to what her mind really wanted to know about. “Dad, what did you mean by saving Donna's wiles for later?”
The Doctor froze, choking on his breath.
Donna snorted. “Yeah, Time Boy, let's hear what you really meant by that. You said I shouldn't use them, which doesn't work against what you did to stop me.”
He refused to look their way, but he wasn't able to move. He just breathed in and out, like he was struggling for control.
Frowning at his posture and lack of a response, Donna snorted. “So, you can't even tell me? You talk all the time, but you never say anything important about yourself. Well, hardly ever. Not nearly enough to make anyone feel like they're your friend. I can't imagine how anyone could be convinced you loved them when you never mention your real feelings. Unless I'm just not the type to provoke that from you. I mean, Martha did say you talked about Rose all the time.”
“Who's Rose?”
“No one!” snapped the Doctor. “She was no one important! She just thought she was!”
Jenny took in Donna's sudden silence, then the Doctor's anger, and then looked back and forth. “Well, what is the truth, Dad? Rose must've been someone to make you react so sharply, and why did you tell Martha about her?”
Donna rolled her eyes in response to the Doctor's warning look. It never had any effect on her. “Martha fancied your dad, but he clearly loved this friend he used to travel with. Her name was Rose.”
“I didn't love her.”
Donna's eyes widened. “Then why did you let Martha think you did?!”
“Because losing her the way I did still hurt, and it was easier to let her reach that conclusion than to tell her the truth. I thought it'd keep her from leaping to the same wrong conclusions that Rose did about my feelings.”
“Obviously you know next to nothing about Human females, Martian Boy. Sometimes we need to hear things directly from the source, in plain speech. I know blokes aren't the best at expressing emotions, and maybe they're not geared toward it, which not enough women grasp. So... going to answer Jenny's questions?”
He took a deep breath. “Rose was my first companion after the Time War I mentioned. She saved my life the day after we met, when I saved hers. I invited her to travel with me... and I'm not sure it was the wisest decision I've ever made. She thought I loved her, but... she lied to me.. about so many things. And I... wish I'd been able to help her grow up. I regret that I couldn't get through to her, and that I disrespected her mother and boyfriend. And now I can't make it up to her or them. All I can do is mitigate the damage she caused, damage that I didn't know about at the time, and move on. And Martha proves I did a bad job of it. She suffered needlessly and it was my fault.”
“Humph,” Donna grunted. “Well, that proves you're a bloke, just like a human. But it doesn't answer her first question.”
“Which was?”
Jenny sighed. “Why did you want to save Donna's wiles?”
He paled, then blushed.
“That's an interesting reaction, Dad. Looks like horror mixed with embarrassment. I know that much from my downloads, but what do they signal? Why are you horrified and embarrassed?”
Donna snorted. “He's probably mortified that he has to admit to some really personal things to get us off his back. Must seem absolutely undignified to have to own up to his thoughts or feelings. Especially before a stupid pencil in a mug who's nothing special.”
“What?! Donna, I was wrong to say those things! I was hurt and angry I wasn't able to mope in peace. And I didn't mean that pencil comment was saying anything about you, it was a handy object to explain what happened to you!”
“You didn't exactly clarify that. 'Sums you up'? Sounded like you agreed with what Lance said about me!”
He sucked in a breath. “Donna... No, no, no, no, no! You are magnificent! You've stopped me, more than once! You made me save four people when I didn't think they could be saved. You showed me I failed to think the last time I saw the Ood. And you've... reminded me that I have a daughter to love. You are special!”
“So, what did you mean by saving my wiles for later? Is it so you have something to laugh at?!”
His eyes flashed again, and Donna had even less warning when he pinned her. Only this time he wasn't quiet about it, and he used his body instead of just his hands. His eyes bored in hers, and she felt her mouth go slack at the intensity of his gaze. And his voice went low, dark, and husky.
“You want the truth, Donna? Truth is, I have wanted you from almost the moment I saw you. You confused me at first, but I wanted you to come with me and it hurt when you said no. Enough that I didn't try coming back to change your mind. And when we met again and you said no nonsense? That hurt, knowing you didn't find me attractive. But I agreed to it because I was hoping that one day I could persuade you that it'd be okay to be with me. That's why I stopped you from flirting with that soldier, Donna, because I'm living with the hope that one day you'll take back that no nonsense demand and I can be the sole recipient of your wiles.”
Donna was silent, her mouth moving without her awareness.
Jenny blinked. The words were all understandable on their own, but the meaning when combined was baffling her. Say nothing of how he was holding Donna against the wall. “What's nonsense, and would this mean Donna's my mum?”
Her question broke through the Doctor's haze, making him blush and yet he didn't move. He wouldn't until either Donna spoke or something forced them to move.
/=/=/=/
The Doctor stared at Jenny's body lying there before him. His attention was almost completely on her.
Almost. The rest was on the hands holding his. Donna's hands, as she sat beside him. He wondered how much of it was because she wanted to be right there, and how much the people and Messaline felt it was her place to be there.
Would it have happened without Jenny's final request?
“You're going to be brilliant,” he choked, not willing to believe she was dying.
Jenny turned her eyes away from him. “Mum?”
Martha blinked, and looked at Donna, whose gaze Jenny seemed to be trying to catch. The ginger took a deep breath and took Jenny's free hand in hers.
“Yes, love?”
Jenny finally met her eyes and pleaded with her. “Please... even if there are laws... let Dad love you. Don't let me be an... only child.”
She and the Doctor gasped.
“Please, Mum... promise me,” Jenny gasped, her strength fading rapidly.
Donna found her voice, although it was a bare whisper. “I... I promise, Jenny. I will.”
The girl smiled and closed her eyes, the fight leaving her body.
He risked looking away from his daughter's body. He discovered Donna staring similarly. “Donna?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you promise Jenny just so she could die in peace?”
Donna gulped. “I... I wouldn't do that. It'd be wrong to both of you.”
“But you don't want me, do you?”
The tiny voice broke her heart, and compelled her to more honesty than she was planning to give. “You still scare me sometimes, Spaceman, but... I wouldn't want to have a regular life anymore. I... I would've been a mum to her had she lived, and... you're a pretty good dad, you know that?”
“Now you're the one not answering the question.”
She shot him a dark glare, but there was no force behind it. “Pot, meet kettle.”
He managed a smile for a few seconds before it faded.
“But to answer... It's also too easy to be dazzled by you, and you don't need people admiring and adoring you. Your ego's too big already. But... when you seemed to still be in love with Rose and spoke of how things got complicated with Martha... I thought you couldn't possibly want me.”
“So I'm terrible at expressing my feelings. Big news. In any case, what does that mean... for us?”
“It means I meant it when I promised her. I'll... be with you as long as my forever lasts, and if we can give Jenny siblings... I'd love to.”
He started crying as he tugged her into a big embrace, and she cried in return - he into her hair and her into his shoulder. But the hug promised that they would stand up to the future, together.
They almost missed Jenny reviving. At least until her voice burst with, “Yes! You're together!”
THE END