Due Thanks
Title: Due Thanks
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters: Donna, Doctor, the TARDIS
Word Count: 1391
Rating: PG
Summary: Because Donna clearly didn't do it alone.
Author's Notes: Spoilers for EoT and all of Series 4. AU in that we keep our lovely 10th Doctor. Sequel to Much Cleverer. Written while on vicodine for my wisdom teeth so forgive any errors if you will.
“How'd you do it?”
She looked up, blinking over her tea as he leaned against the kitchen counter and stared at her. He seemed to think she would disappear right before his eyes and she wondered how to convince him otherwise, though she herself had trouble falling asleep for fear that she would wake up in Chiswick. Yesterday there had been such a rush and he'd forgotten to ask her the ever important question of “how”.
She felt guilty now. He had lost River Song and couldn't do anything about it. He'd lost Rose. He'd lost his whole planet and so many others and he couldn't do anything to change that, but she'd gone behind his back and worked to change things that were meant to happen. She felt as though she'd broken an unspoken rule of some sort and found she couldn't look him in the eye.
“Don't be mad.” Donna gulped down her still too hot tea and cleared her throat.
He looked surprised, she noted, and moved to sit across from her at the table. “Donna, Donna,” He let out a chuckle, “I couldn't be mad at you if you hit me with a frying pan right now. I was more afraid that you'd be mad at me.” He covered her hand with his. “I'm surprised you didn't smack me with a frying pan.”
Her lips quirked in a fond smile. Donna had every intention of letting him have it for erasing her memories, but not when she was still feeling so guilty about going behind his back. Maybe later she could knock him about, but not just yet.
“Back at the Library, you know, you asked if I wanted to look myself up in the diary.” He nodded, waiting for her to go on. “I said no because of spoilers and all that, and then you realized that the future you had set things up so that you could save River, in a way.” Realization seemed to hit him because he leaned back in the chair.
“I didn't mean to pry, really, but she recognized me only by name. The way she looked at me, it scared me. So I took the diary.” She dropped her head in shame and focused on her tea. She couldn't look at him straight on, too afraid that rather than be angry he would be disappointed.
“You read about River and I?” He spoke slowly, like he was trying to wrap his head around it and she looked up suddenly.
“No! No, I only looked for the bits about me. Best temp in Chiswick, remember? I scanned through for my name. I promise.” He nodded but looked away. He contemplated a spot in the kitchen for sometime before looking back at her. She continued.
“She mentioned that I lost my memory; that you wiped it. She didn't say why but she wrote enough to let me know that you didn't want to. So, it wasn't like I'd done something to deserve it.”
He cut her off with an immediate “Of course not.” She shook her head and smiled wanly at him.
“I didn't know at the time, I had no clue what caused it. But I wasn't about to just let you wipe my mind and get on with it.” He looked like he wanted to interrupt again but she waved him off. “The TARDIS provided me with a few boxes and I packed away some of my things and with each box something to remind me of all this. The little globe of constellations, the purple converse, your copy of Agatha Christie, your tie-”
“My tie?” Realization seemed to dawn on him again and he fingered the tie he was currently wearing. “The blue one I couldn't find that day. You said I'd probably lost it in my mess of a room.” He accused teasingly.
She staved off the blush rushing to her cheeks when she thought of all the times she'd held onto that tie- even slept with it- without knowing why. She wasn't about to let him know that, though. And she certainly wouldn't tell him that it was still, in fact, sitting in her bag and she had no intention of returning it. He never wore it anyways.
“Anyways, I packed all those bits up. The TARDIS helped with most everything. We had a nice chat, her and me, and I trusted that, when I was gone, she'd get the packages to me. I stamped all of them to let her know which order to mail them in, however without the TARDIS translating I had no idea what the stamps meant.”
“Donna,” he sounded serious and he covered her hand with his own again. “That could have killed you. Remembering any of that could have made your mind over heat and you could have died.” He swallowed. “How come that didn't happen?”
There was hum in the back of her head and she smiled at the ship in general. “That was all her, again. After the meta-crisis, when the DoctorDonna kicked in, I realized what was happening. When we were back on the ship, dropping everyone off, we had another chat. I wrote myself a note and tore out a page of River's diary and put them in an envelope, the last package. It told me when the TARDIS would be in Chiswick again- that's why you couldn't get her to leave.
“All that time in Chiswick, the TARDIS was fixing my brain. She's been healing all those burnt out little synapses and working to contain your consciousness. It took a while, that's why I only recently started receiving the packages, once it was safe.” She reached over the stroke the TARDIS and thanked her mentally.
When she turned back to look at the Doctor she found he was looking at her with such admiration she couldn't help but blush. “How did she figure out how to contain the Time Lord consciousness?”
“Oh, she didn't.” The hum in the back of her mind was something akin to a laugh. “I did, when I was all brilliant as the DoctorDonna. But she's the one that put it to work.”
“You're always brilliant. How many times do I have to tell you that?” Again, she brushed him off.
“Really, it's all thanks to the TARDIS, she did everything.” She looked down again and took a sip of her tea. “I still have the diary, you know. It's in a safe under my bed, the TARDIS set it up.” The TARDIS had done so much for her, she realized. She would forever owe her whole life to the beautiful ship. The hum seemed to brush her off this time and she smiled to herself.
The Doctor smiled too, hearing the TARDIS as well. “When did you start being able to talk to the TARDIS?” Martha and Rose had never been quite so in tune with her as Donna was. They didn't pet and stroke her or speak to her, out loud or otherwise. That was Donna, though, she was unlike anyone else.
“Just a short while after we visited the OodSphere. Well, I'd been talking to her before that, when you mentioned that she was sentient, but that's when she started talking back. Took me a second to realize I could understand her.” It'd been shocking, in fact. She'd jumped half a foot in the air when the TARDIS had first spoken back and she'd thought, for a while, that she was going mad.
The Doctor squeezed her hand and grinned at her. “Absolutely brilliant, you are.”
She smiled back, fully now, and gave his hand a gentle squeeze back. “So, you're not mad at me? For reading the diary and going behind your back and trying to change everything? Spoilers, and all.”
He dropped her hand and stood suddenly from the table. She watched him warily as he came over to her and pulled her from her chair. For what had to be the millionth time since she'd walked back onto the TARDIS he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. She smiled against his shoulder.
“Oh, Donna.” He pulled back to press a kiss to her forehead. “If I'd known I could get you back I would have read every spoiler in the world- the universe.”
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters: Donna, Doctor, the TARDIS
Word Count: 1391
Rating: PG
Summary: Because Donna clearly didn't do it alone.
Author's Notes: Spoilers for EoT and all of Series 4. AU in that we keep our lovely 10th Doctor. Sequel to Much Cleverer. Written while on vicodine for my wisdom teeth so forgive any errors if you will.
“How'd you do it?”
She looked up, blinking over her tea as he leaned against the kitchen counter and stared at her. He seemed to think she would disappear right before his eyes and she wondered how to convince him otherwise, though she herself had trouble falling asleep for fear that she would wake up in Chiswick. Yesterday there had been such a rush and he'd forgotten to ask her the ever important question of “how”.
She felt guilty now. He had lost River Song and couldn't do anything about it. He'd lost Rose. He'd lost his whole planet and so many others and he couldn't do anything to change that, but she'd gone behind his back and worked to change things that were meant to happen. She felt as though she'd broken an unspoken rule of some sort and found she couldn't look him in the eye.
“Don't be mad.” Donna gulped down her still too hot tea and cleared her throat.
He looked surprised, she noted, and moved to sit across from her at the table. “Donna, Donna,” He let out a chuckle, “I couldn't be mad at you if you hit me with a frying pan right now. I was more afraid that you'd be mad at me.” He covered her hand with his. “I'm surprised you didn't smack me with a frying pan.”
Her lips quirked in a fond smile. Donna had every intention of letting him have it for erasing her memories, but not when she was still feeling so guilty about going behind his back. Maybe later she could knock him about, but not just yet.
“Back at the Library, you know, you asked if I wanted to look myself up in the diary.” He nodded, waiting for her to go on. “I said no because of spoilers and all that, and then you realized that the future you had set things up so that you could save River, in a way.” Realization seemed to hit him because he leaned back in the chair.
“I didn't mean to pry, really, but she recognized me only by name. The way she looked at me, it scared me. So I took the diary.” She dropped her head in shame and focused on her tea. She couldn't look at him straight on, too afraid that rather than be angry he would be disappointed.
“You read about River and I?” He spoke slowly, like he was trying to wrap his head around it and she looked up suddenly.
“No! No, I only looked for the bits about me. Best temp in Chiswick, remember? I scanned through for my name. I promise.” He nodded but looked away. He contemplated a spot in the kitchen for sometime before looking back at her. She continued.
“She mentioned that I lost my memory; that you wiped it. She didn't say why but she wrote enough to let me know that you didn't want to. So, it wasn't like I'd done something to deserve it.”
He cut her off with an immediate “Of course not.” She shook her head and smiled wanly at him.
“I didn't know at the time, I had no clue what caused it. But I wasn't about to just let you wipe my mind and get on with it.” He looked like he wanted to interrupt again but she waved him off. “The TARDIS provided me with a few boxes and I packed away some of my things and with each box something to remind me of all this. The little globe of constellations, the purple converse, your copy of Agatha Christie, your tie-”
“My tie?” Realization seemed to dawn on him again and he fingered the tie he was currently wearing. “The blue one I couldn't find that day. You said I'd probably lost it in my mess of a room.” He accused teasingly.
She staved off the blush rushing to her cheeks when she thought of all the times she'd held onto that tie- even slept with it- without knowing why. She wasn't about to let him know that, though. And she certainly wouldn't tell him that it was still, in fact, sitting in her bag and she had no intention of returning it. He never wore it anyways.
“Anyways, I packed all those bits up. The TARDIS helped with most everything. We had a nice chat, her and me, and I trusted that, when I was gone, she'd get the packages to me. I stamped all of them to let her know which order to mail them in, however without the TARDIS translating I had no idea what the stamps meant.”
“Donna,” he sounded serious and he covered her hand with his own again. “That could have killed you. Remembering any of that could have made your mind over heat and you could have died.” He swallowed. “How come that didn't happen?”
There was hum in the back of her head and she smiled at the ship in general. “That was all her, again. After the meta-crisis, when the DoctorDonna kicked in, I realized what was happening. When we were back on the ship, dropping everyone off, we had another chat. I wrote myself a note and tore out a page of River's diary and put them in an envelope, the last package. It told me when the TARDIS would be in Chiswick again- that's why you couldn't get her to leave.
“All that time in Chiswick, the TARDIS was fixing my brain. She's been healing all those burnt out little synapses and working to contain your consciousness. It took a while, that's why I only recently started receiving the packages, once it was safe.” She reached over the stroke the TARDIS and thanked her mentally.
When she turned back to look at the Doctor she found he was looking at her with such admiration she couldn't help but blush. “How did she figure out how to contain the Time Lord consciousness?”
“Oh, she didn't.” The hum in the back of her mind was something akin to a laugh. “I did, when I was all brilliant as the DoctorDonna. But she's the one that put it to work.”
“You're always brilliant. How many times do I have to tell you that?” Again, she brushed him off.
“Really, it's all thanks to the TARDIS, she did everything.” She looked down again and took a sip of her tea. “I still have the diary, you know. It's in a safe under my bed, the TARDIS set it up.” The TARDIS had done so much for her, she realized. She would forever owe her whole life to the beautiful ship. The hum seemed to brush her off this time and she smiled to herself.
The Doctor smiled too, hearing the TARDIS as well. “When did you start being able to talk to the TARDIS?” Martha and Rose had never been quite so in tune with her as Donna was. They didn't pet and stroke her or speak to her, out loud or otherwise. That was Donna, though, she was unlike anyone else.
“Just a short while after we visited the OodSphere. Well, I'd been talking to her before that, when you mentioned that she was sentient, but that's when she started talking back. Took me a second to realize I could understand her.” It'd been shocking, in fact. She'd jumped half a foot in the air when the TARDIS had first spoken back and she'd thought, for a while, that she was going mad.
The Doctor squeezed her hand and grinned at her. “Absolutely brilliant, you are.”
She smiled back, fully now, and gave his hand a gentle squeeze back. “So, you're not mad at me? For reading the diary and going behind your back and trying to change everything? Spoilers, and all.”
He dropped her hand and stood suddenly from the table. She watched him warily as he came over to her and pulled her from her chair. For what had to be the millionth time since she'd walked back onto the TARDIS he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. She smiled against his shoulder.
“Oh, Donna.” He pulled back to press a kiss to her forehead. “If I'd known I could get you back I would have read every spoiler in the world- the universe.”