Doctor Who: On the Run (1/?)
Who: the Doctor, Donna Noble
What: Post Journey's End and after The Next Doctor, the Doctor finds out he's somehow become a universal outlaw. He doesn't know how, he doesn't know why, but he knows he can't figure this out alone and the only person he can trust to help him is Donna.
Rating: PG-13/Teen
Notes: This is written by two authors: deathnomiko and darkranger, and is actually an adapted fanfiction out a RP verse. I thought it was too good to not share. I didn't want to change much of the written content as possible, so that explains why the POVs change slightly between Doctor/Donna. Thoughts, comments, and suggestions are always welcomed.
It All Began ... Part 1
It started out subtle. So subtle, the Doctor didn't even notice what was happening until he suddenly found himself running faster and farther than before. But this time, his warning wasn't from Rose with Bad Wolf written everywhere, but a message picked up by the TARDIS from what appeared to be from Sarah Jane Smith.
Run, Doctor. They're after you. Don't trust anyone.
There were whispers as he walked through cities of various times; citizens who stared, then turned away as his gaze caught theirs. Subtle things. And then it finally progressed to the Judoon appearing at not one traveling adventure of the Doctor's, but sixth, twelfth, and thirty forth - which he barely escaped them that time as they had become more aggressive and harder to trick by himself.
He needed help and someone he could trust... which is why there was a royal blue envelope in Donna Noble's mail that day.
A request for interview... Your qualifications match and exceed our expectations for this position... Sincerely, TARDIS Enterprises
The Doctor knew Wilfred would see this and understand who it's from and encourage Donna to meet him. Or maybe she'd laugh and throw it away forcing him to kidnap her in the middle of the night. Either way worked, but he preferred the less noisy method.
Donna had been settling back into her old life. It hadn't been easy though. She felt as though so much was missing from her life and she couldn't put her finger on it. Her mum ensured her it was from the 'car accident'. She couldn't recall any accident, but her mum told her it was all part of the amnesia. And her mum was on hand to fill in the blanks of any awkward questions like - 'What happened to that bloke you were travelling with? Ditch you for a fit bird, did he?' Thanks Nerys. Apparently, said bloke died in said car accident...
Wilf, on the otherhand, just seemed to look at her with the saddest eyes and whenever she asked why he'd always shrug it off and change the subject. She just wished she could remember!
She thumbed through her post. Junk, junk, bill, rejection, junk, rejection, bill, junk... TARDIS Enterprises? She couldn't even remember applying for a position with them. The agency probably sent her details to them. Fancy blue envelope? Probably a posh place.
Oh well. Might as well take a chance. All her other applications just lately had been rejected. And with that in mind, she got herself showered, dressed in her best interview suit, did her hair, shined her shoes, borrowed the car and headed off to the enclosed address.
The Doctor sat nervously in the lobby of a generic business building, watching people walk buy as he briefly slouched further down his chair. Doubt began spreading in his mind if this plan would actually work as the mental image of Donna laughing and throwing the envelope in the trash bin grew stronger as the seconds ticked by.
And then he was proven wrong as a flash of bright red hair belonging to his best mate walked through the door, causing him to nearly fall out of his seat as he awkwardly hurried to stand up.
"Ms. Noble?" He pulled his suit jacket down and smiled brightly -- She looked good. "Hi... I'm Mr. Smith of TARDIS Enterprises, so nice of you to meet up with me!" He figured she probably recognized him from being at her house after he had wiped her memory. And as far as he was concerned, this was as far as he had rehearsed this scenario in his mind. The rest would be him making it up as he went along.
Donna flashed him a smile and smoothed down her skirt - yes, a skirt. It was a rare sight to see. She offered him her hand. "A pleasure. ...Smith... Oh, you're a friend of my Gramps, aren't you? Well, that clears up the mystery of how you got hold of a copy of my CV." The sly old devil.
TARDIS... The word sounded familiar yet she couldn't put her finger on why. Like memory just out of reach. "Hope you don't mind me asking, what exactly is it that TARDIS Enterprises does?"
"A traveling company... of sorts. You name the location, we make it happen." He grinned momentarily while tugging at his ear, "Yeah, I've, uh, traveled with your 'gramps' a few times. I've been really needing an assistant and happened to run into him the other day and he couldn't stop recommending you."
Well that worked out his favor, despite it being a bit of a lie. "So Ms. Noble, if you don't mind, tell me a bit about yourself." The Doctor suddenly had a feeling they were being watched. Determining they weren't in danger quite yet, he kept his focus on her, placing all his nods and smiles at the correct locations.
Donna Noble had the ability to out-talk most people. It was a special gift. It was also a curse. Still, years of office work had left her with the skill to talk almost any situation around to her favour, well, at least when it came to business. Her talking skills had won businesses some big contracts, never seemed to work the same when her temping period was up with same said businesses.
She rambled on about her life and her various temping positions and her accident and her desire to travel. Eventually she stopped to catch her breath and gave him a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I'm rambling on and on."
"Oh no, it's fine! I..." There was that wave of paranoia again. Someone was definitely watching. "...would like to show you the office."
He stood up quickly, rambling about how the office really didn't look like much, but promised it was quite adequate. Donna walked with him, listening to his rambling and nodding when appropriate. She'd worked in all kinds of offices from tiny cupboards to luxurious open spaces with glass walls and all the modern technologies. When they went up a couple flights of stairs, he continued on about a story of traveling to exotic locations until they paused at a locked door.
He hesitated for moment as he dug in his inner jacket pocket - really, he had no exact idea of when her memories would start flooding back. Would they start when she'd see the TARDIS behind the door or even earlier when he was about to pull out his sonic screwdriver? Or would it occur when whatever was following them caught up and he would be forced to run once again?
"Donna..." He pulled his empty hand out of his pocket and spun around to face her, "We've actually met before. I mean, before that one day you saw me at your house, before your accident. In fact, we've actually traveled together." The Doctor paused and licked his lips for a moment, "I know this sounds bizarre, but what do you remember before the accident?"
She backed away slightly at his words, not wanting to listen anymore. "Stop it!" She'd spent countless hours seeing different doctors and psychologists and God knows what other 'professionals' about her recurring dreams of travelling with the 'man in the suit'. She'd spent so long convincing herself that the man wasn't real and that she only saw John's face because he was the first person she saw after all the nonsense.
She wanted to run. She wanted to run and hide from it all. "I'm a temp, from Chiswick. That's what I do, that's what I am." She brought her hand up to her head, pressing on her temples as the pain began to build up.
And it was starting. He pulled out the sonic screwdriver, wiggled his eyebrows with enthusiasm at her, and unlocked the door revealing the big blue box they knew so well.
"You're not going crazy, Donna. We traveled in th'TARDIS." He nodded towards the police box. "Do you remember now?" Slipping a hand around her back, since she was looking as if she'd pass out, he lead towards it and unlocked the door quickly. "I need you to come with me again, Donna."
"Stop! It!" The memories rushed back like a tidal wave, or a river breaking it's dam. It hurt. Oh, it hurt so much. The visions from her dreams were suddenly bolder, brighter and louder. She tried to break away from his hold. "Make it stop!!" Tears filled her eyes as the pain got worse. She was torn between running, curling up in a ball and throwing up.
She began to burn up just as the Doctor had warned Sylvia and Wilf she would. Her mind was overloading with information it couldn't handle. Her skin was hot to the touch, and once inside, he quickly pulled down the Chameleon Arch from above, managing to maneuver Donna underneath. He honestly wasn't sure if this was going to work or not, but it was worth the try.
"It'll stop... The pain will go away... but not until I try this. It'll hurt just for a little bit longer then it'll all be over." He refrained from saying 'I promise' because honestly, this idea was crazy and he might lose Donna forever, but he didn't know any other choice.
Donna was scared, no, Donna was petrified. Petrified and in pain. And dangling strange alien contraptions above her? Really not helping the fear. She wanted her grandad. She wanted the pain to stop. It felt as though her head would explode - which, of course was a possibility.
"It hurts. It hurts so much..." She clutched her head harder, trying to ebb the pain away with little success.
He vaguely remembered how much this hurt when he went through it himself, but watching her scream and clutch her head was definitely one of the most difficult things he was forced to watch. How was Martha able to just stand back and watch?
The Doctor reached out, placing his hand on her temples and assisted the TARDIS's controls... searching through the Time Lord data stored in her, shifting things around, removing the fail safe, trying to ease the pain.
And before he knew it, he opened his eyes and again and they were both collapsed on the floor. "Donna...?" He was groggy and then quickly sat up to his knees. "Donna!? Donna, are you all right?" He seriously hoped this had worked.
It was a long while before Donna regained consciousness. She was vaguely aware of the Doctor calling her name but she didn't have the strength or energy to answer him. Stupid alien with his stupid alien techonology. It was hardly a walk in the park, having alien machinery rewrite parts of her. Just wait until she has the energy to slap him. It was the single most painful experience of her life. Nothing else even came close. Eventually her eyes blink open, looking up at him unfocused and blurry; wet with unshed tears.
"Hey... Hi." He smoothed her hair, trying to be comforting. "I'm so sorry I had to do that."
He wiped away a stray tear that escaped out the corner of her eye. "I need you, Donna. I need my best mate..." The Doctor still wasn't sure if he and the TARDIS were successful in what just happened, but figured if she wasn't running away from him, he was slightly successful.
She rolled her head to the side, letting out a groan. "Ugh... I feel like I've been hit by a lorry." And she'd bitten her tongue and had a bloodied mouth. Lovely. She attempted to sit up - bad mistake - the room seemed to spin, so she laid back down, flopping an arm across her eyes.
"What just happened?"
He sat back, palms behind him supporting his weight. "Before I met you, I had to go in hiding once." He nodded to the headphone-like structure above them. "That's the Chameleon Arch, it rewrites Time Lord cellular structure and hides the Time Lord part of you in a symbolic item. For me it was a watch, for you..." He looked around and picked up an intricately carved locket that had slide away from them. "Yes, this is it... I think?" He looked at it nonchalantly, convinced it was just a necklace and nothing particularly special and handed it to her. "An heirloom of yours?" The Doctor briefly forgot what any possible significance the necklace had until it left his hand into hers - "You won't won't ever feel compelled to open the locket, and don't. Just don't open it anyway."
"It was my Nan's. I wore it for luck, y'know, interview and all..." She had no desire to open it. There was no need. She already knew there was nothing in it no pictures, no locks of hair, nothing. She turned it over in her hands a few times, before handing it back to the Doctor. And then she was intrigued by it. "So that locket? It contains Time Lord essence? It has the Time Lord part of me in it? So basically, that locket, is part of you?"
That wasn't really something she wanted to gamble with. "What if I lose it? Can't we leave it here, on the TARDIS?" Because leaving Time Lord essence on a time and space ship was always a good idea. Not.
"Well, I guess.... yes?" He stared at the locket, again briefly baffled at what the fuss is about. It was just a locket. He placed it on the console.
And again, as soon as it left his hands, he remembered. "There really is no safe place anymore except the TARDIS... at least at this moment." He glanced back to her, feeling guilty about her bright red lips from what appeared to be from blood.
The Doctor opened his mouth to say something more, but then felt the ship violently shake around them. Bouncing back to his feet, he hurriedly pressed buttons and pulled levers. "I've stayed too long!" The whirling started up as the TARDIS began to move.
"Donna, you have 10 minutes to gather whatever you need at home, no more and possibly less. I'll explain everything to you soon, just trust me."
Well, his words were just filling her with a sense of confidence and security... If by confidence and security she actually meant fear and worry. Trust him? He'd just kidnapped her and attached her to a very painful machine with hardly any warning. He wasn't exactly filling her with confidence or trust right now... She pushed herself to her feet and joined him at the console. She was still feeling a little disorientated and out of sorts and all she really wanted to do was crawl into a nice warm bed and stay there for a month. "You'll explain now, Sunshine. What the bleedin' hell is going on?!"
Now wasn't the best time. He wanted to explain everything when he could get them out in space, at least there he was far harder to detect and follow and gave him time to think.
"I'm on the run." He was always on the run so this reply wasn't very adequate for her. "I'm being followed... been followed for months now. I don't know exactly by who or why, but they're growing more persistent. I needed help."
She arched a brow. "When the going gets tough, the Time Boy comes running back to Donna, eh?"
He glanced over to her with the faintest smile as the TARDIS whirled as they landed. "Ten minutes."
Once the TARDIS came to a halt, she frowned at the door. Ten minutes to get what she needed and get back? What was this? Evacuation, TARDIS style? She headed inside, luckily Sylvia was out. Donna was glad, she had no idea how she'd explain being kidnapped by the skinny git after everything. So, she spent at least five of her ten minutes writing a letter.
She went to her room, raided her wardrobe and drawers, and then raided the bathroom before returning to the TARDIS nine minutes and fifty nine seconds after leaving.
She was perturbed with him, and he honestly couldn't blame her for it. While he waited, he mapped out a vague idea of where to camp out, and that would be on the edges of the milky way where any sort of signals were fuzzy if he was in just in the right location.
And after about 20 more minutes, that was their exact location, the Doctor breathing a sigh of relief. Spinning on his heels, he rested his palms on the console and looked in her direction.
"Eight months ago I was on Argos having my Sonic fixed and adapted and was stopped and questioned by what I suppose were investigators. Very nosy fellas, yet very clever. I didn't think anything of it, until they tried to break into th'TARDIS. Two weeks after that, I started noticing I was being followed. After that, the Judoon starting appearing, which means the Shadow Proclamation is involved in some way. A day ago, the TARDIS got stuck in a force field and I was nearly killed trying to get 'er out."
He rolled up his jacket sleeve to show her his arm where it was red as if he had been burned. "And I got to thinking this is so very strange, and after the first encounter, I received a message from Sarah." He pressed a few buttons and displayed the viewing monitor to Donna with the message,
Run, Doctor. They're after you. Don't trust anyone.
He scratched his head and shrugged, "I can't do this alone anymore."
She listened, leaning against the railing. She had so many questions she wanted to ask, but one, just one, kept dancing around her head and eventually she had to ask. "Why me? Out of all your companions, why me? I'm nothing special, I never have been. I mean Martha? She's a doctor, she could've looked after you. Jack? He can't die, he could protect you. Even Sarah Jane is all smart and stuff when it comes to aliens... What about Rose? I'm sure if you'd tried you could've found a way back to that parallel world."
He grew quiet, adopting a melancholy look to him. "Sarah Jane has a son... I can't take her away from all that. Martha has UNIT, Jack has Torchwood, and Rose... Well... Donna, you're brilliant! You've helped me loads of times; you're my best mate! You keep me level-headed, and that's exactly why I need you with me."
Part of her wanted to believe it, to believe she was brilliant, but that part of her that was filled with self-loathing and self-doubt - thank you Sylvia and school bullies, your work is done - took his explanation to mean she was second best. The fall guy, the one people ran to when there were no other options.
"So brilliant that you wiped my mind and took me home, eh?" It was a sensitive spot she hadn't quite gotten over yet. She didn't want to be mad at him, really she didn't. She just couldn't help it.
"I had to. I had no choice; you were burning up! I didn't even know the Chameleon Arch was going to work just now. That was purely my guessing and brilliant luck... I didn't want you to die."
She exhaled a heavy sigh. So much had happened in such a short space of time that her head was still spinning from it all. "The Shadow Proclamation? They're probably still pissed at you for doing a runner on them during that whole Dalek nonsense..."
He didn't know what else to say and he stood there, mouth hanging open searching for more words. When they refused to come he just ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I'm sorry.... This was stupid. I shouldn't involve you in all this."
This entire past year hadn't exactly been going how he would've liked, between Davros returning, witnessing Rose kiss not-him-but-it-was-him-kind-of, losing Donna's friendship, and now being some how framed.
Really not the best way to win someone's trust, Doctor. Admitting that he gambled with her life and it's only by luck she's now not dead from burning up. Donna was unsure whether to glare or be shocked, or whether to punch the skinny git so hard all future regenerations would feel it... "Well, you could've tried the Chameliwhatsit before! Instead of leaving me at home missing half my memories!" And to make sure he was completely sure of her view on the matter, she threw a shoe at his head. "God, you are such hard work! I let you out of my sight for one minute and the whole universe gets in a muddle."
He ducked out of the way from the flying shoe. "Oi!" But there was the Donna he knew, and knew that even though she didn't actually say it, she forgave him. Good to know. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if she didn't or at least made this new adventure far more complicated and awkward than it should be.
And then he broke out into a grin, "Well, it seems to be what I do best. Time Lords? Complications? Stories of our lives. I'd hate to be so dull."
Well, what sort of mate would she be if she couldn't overlook the occasional near-death experience? Still, it didn't mean she was happy about being dumped back at home like an unwanted pet, or about being kidnapped and shoved under an alien hair dryer.
With a huff, she rested her hands on the console. She wasn't going to be won over by a grin... well, okay, she was, but she wasn't going to admit it. "So, what's the plan? Can't just hide here forever."
"Right, a plan." He totally had a plan, a plan to press random buttons on the console and float around space a little more. What more could one ask for!?
"We need to figure out what rumors are out there. What have I supposedly done? Who is after me?" There had to be a reason why his actions were being so closely monitored.
"Well can you think of anything you've done that might've annoyed some people? Offended anyone? Landed the TARDIS on some sacred landmark? Anything?" There really was no telling with a man like the Doctor. He went everywhere and everywhen and he could be pretty rude. "Where have you been recently?"
"Hm.. Argos, England 1923, Shanghai 1993 - I learned how to play Mah Jong! - Voga, Sunday, Erm... I don't know where else." He had been traveling and exploring. Anything to take his mind off of the previous events that had occurred. "I had a run-in with some Cybermen, but other than that, I don't know what happened." He shrugged.
None of that sounded particularly worthy of the Shadow Proclamation's attentions - well, providing he didn't blow up Argos - but even that was pretty much routine for trips with the Doctor. "Must be something pretty big to get you headhunted. You sure you haven't, I dunno, deflowered some kind of Goddess or put a mug on some kind of altar? Anything?"
"I certainly haven't done any deflowering, and I'd be quite sad if I lost my favorite mug - I once stuck it in the very back cabinet in the kitchen - blimey, I was depressed for weeks until I found it!"
He rubbed his eye both a habit in thought and some slight irritation, "I honestly don't know, and would like to find out if given a chance to not be locked up."
Very bad luck. The Doctor always seemed to attract trouble. One great big, outer space trouble magnet, that's what he is. Still, this seemed to go above and beyond his usual bad luck.
"Right... well, how about I make us a cup of tea and we try to figure out exactly what's going on and how to fix it, eh? That's what you do, fix things."
He was trying to refrain from being a depressed and mopey Time Lord, but he wasn't sure if he could fix this one. It wasn't that he wouldn't try, but it felt like every little move of his was constantly under watch and he had no room to breathe or think.
Donna pressed a reassuring hand against the Doctor's shoulder as she passed him on her way to the kitchen. Funny, it seemed forever since she last stood in the TARDIS and at the same time it was as though it was only yesterday. Still, it beat job hunting any day. Even if they were being headhunted by god knows what for heck knows why.
"Ah, tea! Good, yes, delicious!" He broke out of his revere and smiled brightly towards her as he sat in his chair, staring at the console, debating where to go first.
And soon enough, she returned to the console room with two mugs of tea in hand. "So, come on then... thought up a better plan than 'hide'?"
"I do have a idea...." He commented, gladly accepting the mug offered to him, "You just have to trust me on this..."
Next to Part 2
What: Post Journey's End and after The Next Doctor, the Doctor finds out he's somehow become a universal outlaw. He doesn't know how, he doesn't know why, but he knows he can't figure this out alone and the only person he can trust to help him is Donna.
Rating: PG-13/Teen
Notes: This is written by two authors: deathnomiko and darkranger, and is actually an adapted fanfiction out a RP verse. I thought it was too good to not share. I didn't want to change much of the written content as possible, so that explains why the POVs change slightly between Doctor/Donna. Thoughts, comments, and suggestions are always welcomed.
It All Began ... Part 1
It started out subtle. So subtle, the Doctor didn't even notice what was happening until he suddenly found himself running faster and farther than before. But this time, his warning wasn't from Rose with Bad Wolf written everywhere, but a message picked up by the TARDIS from what appeared to be from Sarah Jane Smith.
Run, Doctor. They're after you. Don't trust anyone.
There were whispers as he walked through cities of various times; citizens who stared, then turned away as his gaze caught theirs. Subtle things. And then it finally progressed to the Judoon appearing at not one traveling adventure of the Doctor's, but sixth, twelfth, and thirty forth - which he barely escaped them that time as they had become more aggressive and harder to trick by himself.
He needed help and someone he could trust... which is why there was a royal blue envelope in Donna Noble's mail that day.
A request for interview... Your qualifications match and exceed our expectations for this position... Sincerely, TARDIS Enterprises
The Doctor knew Wilfred would see this and understand who it's from and encourage Donna to meet him. Or maybe she'd laugh and throw it away forcing him to kidnap her in the middle of the night. Either way worked, but he preferred the less noisy method.
Donna had been settling back into her old life. It hadn't been easy though. She felt as though so much was missing from her life and she couldn't put her finger on it. Her mum ensured her it was from the 'car accident'. She couldn't recall any accident, but her mum told her it was all part of the amnesia. And her mum was on hand to fill in the blanks of any awkward questions like - 'What happened to that bloke you were travelling with? Ditch you for a fit bird, did he?' Thanks Nerys. Apparently, said bloke died in said car accident...
Wilf, on the otherhand, just seemed to look at her with the saddest eyes and whenever she asked why he'd always shrug it off and change the subject. She just wished she could remember!
She thumbed through her post. Junk, junk, bill, rejection, junk, rejection, bill, junk... TARDIS Enterprises? She couldn't even remember applying for a position with them. The agency probably sent her details to them. Fancy blue envelope? Probably a posh place.
Oh well. Might as well take a chance. All her other applications just lately had been rejected. And with that in mind, she got herself showered, dressed in her best interview suit, did her hair, shined her shoes, borrowed the car and headed off to the enclosed address.
The Doctor sat nervously in the lobby of a generic business building, watching people walk buy as he briefly slouched further down his chair. Doubt began spreading in his mind if this plan would actually work as the mental image of Donna laughing and throwing the envelope in the trash bin grew stronger as the seconds ticked by.
And then he was proven wrong as a flash of bright red hair belonging to his best mate walked through the door, causing him to nearly fall out of his seat as he awkwardly hurried to stand up.
"Ms. Noble?" He pulled his suit jacket down and smiled brightly -- She looked good. "Hi... I'm Mr. Smith of TARDIS Enterprises, so nice of you to meet up with me!" He figured she probably recognized him from being at her house after he had wiped her memory. And as far as he was concerned, this was as far as he had rehearsed this scenario in his mind. The rest would be him making it up as he went along.
Donna flashed him a smile and smoothed down her skirt - yes, a skirt. It was a rare sight to see. She offered him her hand. "A pleasure. ...Smith... Oh, you're a friend of my Gramps, aren't you? Well, that clears up the mystery of how you got hold of a copy of my CV." The sly old devil.
TARDIS... The word sounded familiar yet she couldn't put her finger on why. Like memory just out of reach. "Hope you don't mind me asking, what exactly is it that TARDIS Enterprises does?"
"A traveling company... of sorts. You name the location, we make it happen." He grinned momentarily while tugging at his ear, "Yeah, I've, uh, traveled with your 'gramps' a few times. I've been really needing an assistant and happened to run into him the other day and he couldn't stop recommending you."
Well that worked out his favor, despite it being a bit of a lie. "So Ms. Noble, if you don't mind, tell me a bit about yourself." The Doctor suddenly had a feeling they were being watched. Determining they weren't in danger quite yet, he kept his focus on her, placing all his nods and smiles at the correct locations.
Donna Noble had the ability to out-talk most people. It was a special gift. It was also a curse. Still, years of office work had left her with the skill to talk almost any situation around to her favour, well, at least when it came to business. Her talking skills had won businesses some big contracts, never seemed to work the same when her temping period was up with same said businesses.
She rambled on about her life and her various temping positions and her accident and her desire to travel. Eventually she stopped to catch her breath and gave him a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I'm rambling on and on."
"Oh no, it's fine! I..." There was that wave of paranoia again. Someone was definitely watching. "...would like to show you the office."
He stood up quickly, rambling about how the office really didn't look like much, but promised it was quite adequate. Donna walked with him, listening to his rambling and nodding when appropriate. She'd worked in all kinds of offices from tiny cupboards to luxurious open spaces with glass walls and all the modern technologies. When they went up a couple flights of stairs, he continued on about a story of traveling to exotic locations until they paused at a locked door.
He hesitated for moment as he dug in his inner jacket pocket - really, he had no exact idea of when her memories would start flooding back. Would they start when she'd see the TARDIS behind the door or even earlier when he was about to pull out his sonic screwdriver? Or would it occur when whatever was following them caught up and he would be forced to run once again?
"Donna..." He pulled his empty hand out of his pocket and spun around to face her, "We've actually met before. I mean, before that one day you saw me at your house, before your accident. In fact, we've actually traveled together." The Doctor paused and licked his lips for a moment, "I know this sounds bizarre, but what do you remember before the accident?"
She backed away slightly at his words, not wanting to listen anymore. "Stop it!" She'd spent countless hours seeing different doctors and psychologists and God knows what other 'professionals' about her recurring dreams of travelling with the 'man in the suit'. She'd spent so long convincing herself that the man wasn't real and that she only saw John's face because he was the first person she saw after all the nonsense.
She wanted to run. She wanted to run and hide from it all. "I'm a temp, from Chiswick. That's what I do, that's what I am." She brought her hand up to her head, pressing on her temples as the pain began to build up.
And it was starting. He pulled out the sonic screwdriver, wiggled his eyebrows with enthusiasm at her, and unlocked the door revealing the big blue box they knew so well.
"You're not going crazy, Donna. We traveled in th'TARDIS." He nodded towards the police box. "Do you remember now?" Slipping a hand around her back, since she was looking as if she'd pass out, he lead towards it and unlocked the door quickly. "I need you to come with me again, Donna."
"Stop! It!" The memories rushed back like a tidal wave, or a river breaking it's dam. It hurt. Oh, it hurt so much. The visions from her dreams were suddenly bolder, brighter and louder. She tried to break away from his hold. "Make it stop!!" Tears filled her eyes as the pain got worse. She was torn between running, curling up in a ball and throwing up.
She began to burn up just as the Doctor had warned Sylvia and Wilf she would. Her mind was overloading with information it couldn't handle. Her skin was hot to the touch, and once inside, he quickly pulled down the Chameleon Arch from above, managing to maneuver Donna underneath. He honestly wasn't sure if this was going to work or not, but it was worth the try.
"It'll stop... The pain will go away... but not until I try this. It'll hurt just for a little bit longer then it'll all be over." He refrained from saying 'I promise' because honestly, this idea was crazy and he might lose Donna forever, but he didn't know any other choice.
Donna was scared, no, Donna was petrified. Petrified and in pain. And dangling strange alien contraptions above her? Really not helping the fear. She wanted her grandad. She wanted the pain to stop. It felt as though her head would explode - which, of course was a possibility.
"It hurts. It hurts so much..." She clutched her head harder, trying to ebb the pain away with little success.
He vaguely remembered how much this hurt when he went through it himself, but watching her scream and clutch her head was definitely one of the most difficult things he was forced to watch. How was Martha able to just stand back and watch?
The Doctor reached out, placing his hand on her temples and assisted the TARDIS's controls... searching through the Time Lord data stored in her, shifting things around, removing the fail safe, trying to ease the pain.
And before he knew it, he opened his eyes and again and they were both collapsed on the floor. "Donna...?" He was groggy and then quickly sat up to his knees. "Donna!? Donna, are you all right?" He seriously hoped this had worked.
It was a long while before Donna regained consciousness. She was vaguely aware of the Doctor calling her name but she didn't have the strength or energy to answer him. Stupid alien with his stupid alien techonology. It was hardly a walk in the park, having alien machinery rewrite parts of her. Just wait until she has the energy to slap him. It was the single most painful experience of her life. Nothing else even came close. Eventually her eyes blink open, looking up at him unfocused and blurry; wet with unshed tears.
"Hey... Hi." He smoothed her hair, trying to be comforting. "I'm so sorry I had to do that."
He wiped away a stray tear that escaped out the corner of her eye. "I need you, Donna. I need my best mate..." The Doctor still wasn't sure if he and the TARDIS were successful in what just happened, but figured if she wasn't running away from him, he was slightly successful.
She rolled her head to the side, letting out a groan. "Ugh... I feel like I've been hit by a lorry." And she'd bitten her tongue and had a bloodied mouth. Lovely. She attempted to sit up - bad mistake - the room seemed to spin, so she laid back down, flopping an arm across her eyes.
"What just happened?"
He sat back, palms behind him supporting his weight. "Before I met you, I had to go in hiding once." He nodded to the headphone-like structure above them. "That's the Chameleon Arch, it rewrites Time Lord cellular structure and hides the Time Lord part of you in a symbolic item. For me it was a watch, for you..." He looked around and picked up an intricately carved locket that had slide away from them. "Yes, this is it... I think?" He looked at it nonchalantly, convinced it was just a necklace and nothing particularly special and handed it to her. "An heirloom of yours?" The Doctor briefly forgot what any possible significance the necklace had until it left his hand into hers - "You won't won't ever feel compelled to open the locket, and don't. Just don't open it anyway."
"It was my Nan's. I wore it for luck, y'know, interview and all..." She had no desire to open it. There was no need. She already knew there was nothing in it no pictures, no locks of hair, nothing. She turned it over in her hands a few times, before handing it back to the Doctor. And then she was intrigued by it. "So that locket? It contains Time Lord essence? It has the Time Lord part of me in it? So basically, that locket, is part of you?"
That wasn't really something she wanted to gamble with. "What if I lose it? Can't we leave it here, on the TARDIS?" Because leaving Time Lord essence on a time and space ship was always a good idea. Not.
"Well, I guess.... yes?" He stared at the locket, again briefly baffled at what the fuss is about. It was just a locket. He placed it on the console.
And again, as soon as it left his hands, he remembered. "There really is no safe place anymore except the TARDIS... at least at this moment." He glanced back to her, feeling guilty about her bright red lips from what appeared to be from blood.
The Doctor opened his mouth to say something more, but then felt the ship violently shake around them. Bouncing back to his feet, he hurriedly pressed buttons and pulled levers. "I've stayed too long!" The whirling started up as the TARDIS began to move.
"Donna, you have 10 minutes to gather whatever you need at home, no more and possibly less. I'll explain everything to you soon, just trust me."
Well, his words were just filling her with a sense of confidence and security... If by confidence and security she actually meant fear and worry. Trust him? He'd just kidnapped her and attached her to a very painful machine with hardly any warning. He wasn't exactly filling her with confidence or trust right now... She pushed herself to her feet and joined him at the console. She was still feeling a little disorientated and out of sorts and all she really wanted to do was crawl into a nice warm bed and stay there for a month. "You'll explain now, Sunshine. What the bleedin' hell is going on?!"
Now wasn't the best time. He wanted to explain everything when he could get them out in space, at least there he was far harder to detect and follow and gave him time to think.
"I'm on the run." He was always on the run so this reply wasn't very adequate for her. "I'm being followed... been followed for months now. I don't know exactly by who or why, but they're growing more persistent. I needed help."
She arched a brow. "When the going gets tough, the Time Boy comes running back to Donna, eh?"
He glanced over to her with the faintest smile as the TARDIS whirled as they landed. "Ten minutes."
Once the TARDIS came to a halt, she frowned at the door. Ten minutes to get what she needed and get back? What was this? Evacuation, TARDIS style? She headed inside, luckily Sylvia was out. Donna was glad, she had no idea how she'd explain being kidnapped by the skinny git after everything. So, she spent at least five of her ten minutes writing a letter.
She went to her room, raided her wardrobe and drawers, and then raided the bathroom before returning to the TARDIS nine minutes and fifty nine seconds after leaving.
She was perturbed with him, and he honestly couldn't blame her for it. While he waited, he mapped out a vague idea of where to camp out, and that would be on the edges of the milky way where any sort of signals were fuzzy if he was in just in the right location.
And after about 20 more minutes, that was their exact location, the Doctor breathing a sigh of relief. Spinning on his heels, he rested his palms on the console and looked in her direction.
"Eight months ago I was on Argos having my Sonic fixed and adapted and was stopped and questioned by what I suppose were investigators. Very nosy fellas, yet very clever. I didn't think anything of it, until they tried to break into th'TARDIS. Two weeks after that, I started noticing I was being followed. After that, the Judoon starting appearing, which means the Shadow Proclamation is involved in some way. A day ago, the TARDIS got stuck in a force field and I was nearly killed trying to get 'er out."
He rolled up his jacket sleeve to show her his arm where it was red as if he had been burned. "And I got to thinking this is so very strange, and after the first encounter, I received a message from Sarah." He pressed a few buttons and displayed the viewing monitor to Donna with the message,
Run, Doctor. They're after you. Don't trust anyone.
He scratched his head and shrugged, "I can't do this alone anymore."
She listened, leaning against the railing. She had so many questions she wanted to ask, but one, just one, kept dancing around her head and eventually she had to ask. "Why me? Out of all your companions, why me? I'm nothing special, I never have been. I mean Martha? She's a doctor, she could've looked after you. Jack? He can't die, he could protect you. Even Sarah Jane is all smart and stuff when it comes to aliens... What about Rose? I'm sure if you'd tried you could've found a way back to that parallel world."
He grew quiet, adopting a melancholy look to him. "Sarah Jane has a son... I can't take her away from all that. Martha has UNIT, Jack has Torchwood, and Rose... Well... Donna, you're brilliant! You've helped me loads of times; you're my best mate! You keep me level-headed, and that's exactly why I need you with me."
Part of her wanted to believe it, to believe she was brilliant, but that part of her that was filled with self-loathing and self-doubt - thank you Sylvia and school bullies, your work is done - took his explanation to mean she was second best. The fall guy, the one people ran to when there were no other options.
"So brilliant that you wiped my mind and took me home, eh?" It was a sensitive spot she hadn't quite gotten over yet. She didn't want to be mad at him, really she didn't. She just couldn't help it.
"I had to. I had no choice; you were burning up! I didn't even know the Chameleon Arch was going to work just now. That was purely my guessing and brilliant luck... I didn't want you to die."
She exhaled a heavy sigh. So much had happened in such a short space of time that her head was still spinning from it all. "The Shadow Proclamation? They're probably still pissed at you for doing a runner on them during that whole Dalek nonsense..."
He didn't know what else to say and he stood there, mouth hanging open searching for more words. When they refused to come he just ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I'm sorry.... This was stupid. I shouldn't involve you in all this."
This entire past year hadn't exactly been going how he would've liked, between Davros returning, witnessing Rose kiss not-him-but-it-was-him-kind-of, losing Donna's friendship, and now being some how framed.
Really not the best way to win someone's trust, Doctor. Admitting that he gambled with her life and it's only by luck she's now not dead from burning up. Donna was unsure whether to glare or be shocked, or whether to punch the skinny git so hard all future regenerations would feel it... "Well, you could've tried the Chameliwhatsit before! Instead of leaving me at home missing half my memories!" And to make sure he was completely sure of her view on the matter, she threw a shoe at his head. "God, you are such hard work! I let you out of my sight for one minute and the whole universe gets in a muddle."
He ducked out of the way from the flying shoe. "Oi!" But there was the Donna he knew, and knew that even though she didn't actually say it, she forgave him. Good to know. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if she didn't or at least made this new adventure far more complicated and awkward than it should be.
And then he broke out into a grin, "Well, it seems to be what I do best. Time Lords? Complications? Stories of our lives. I'd hate to be so dull."
Well, what sort of mate would she be if she couldn't overlook the occasional near-death experience? Still, it didn't mean she was happy about being dumped back at home like an unwanted pet, or about being kidnapped and shoved under an alien hair dryer.
With a huff, she rested her hands on the console. She wasn't going to be won over by a grin... well, okay, she was, but she wasn't going to admit it. "So, what's the plan? Can't just hide here forever."
"Right, a plan." He totally had a plan, a plan to press random buttons on the console and float around space a little more. What more could one ask for!?
"We need to figure out what rumors are out there. What have I supposedly done? Who is after me?" There had to be a reason why his actions were being so closely monitored.
"Well can you think of anything you've done that might've annoyed some people? Offended anyone? Landed the TARDIS on some sacred landmark? Anything?" There really was no telling with a man like the Doctor. He went everywhere and everywhen and he could be pretty rude. "Where have you been recently?"
"Hm.. Argos, England 1923, Shanghai 1993 - I learned how to play Mah Jong! - Voga, Sunday, Erm... I don't know where else." He had been traveling and exploring. Anything to take his mind off of the previous events that had occurred. "I had a run-in with some Cybermen, but other than that, I don't know what happened." He shrugged.
None of that sounded particularly worthy of the Shadow Proclamation's attentions - well, providing he didn't blow up Argos - but even that was pretty much routine for trips with the Doctor. "Must be something pretty big to get you headhunted. You sure you haven't, I dunno, deflowered some kind of Goddess or put a mug on some kind of altar? Anything?"
"I certainly haven't done any deflowering, and I'd be quite sad if I lost my favorite mug - I once stuck it in the very back cabinet in the kitchen - blimey, I was depressed for weeks until I found it!"
He rubbed his eye both a habit in thought and some slight irritation, "I honestly don't know, and would like to find out if given a chance to not be locked up."
Very bad luck. The Doctor always seemed to attract trouble. One great big, outer space trouble magnet, that's what he is. Still, this seemed to go above and beyond his usual bad luck.
"Right... well, how about I make us a cup of tea and we try to figure out exactly what's going on and how to fix it, eh? That's what you do, fix things."
He was trying to refrain from being a depressed and mopey Time Lord, but he wasn't sure if he could fix this one. It wasn't that he wouldn't try, but it felt like every little move of his was constantly under watch and he had no room to breathe or think.
Donna pressed a reassuring hand against the Doctor's shoulder as she passed him on her way to the kitchen. Funny, it seemed forever since she last stood in the TARDIS and at the same time it was as though it was only yesterday. Still, it beat job hunting any day. Even if they were being headhunted by god knows what for heck knows why.
"Ah, tea! Good, yes, delicious!" He broke out of his revere and smiled brightly towards her as he sat in his chair, staring at the console, debating where to go first.
And soon enough, she returned to the console room with two mugs of tea in hand. "So, come on then... thought up a better plan than 'hide'?"
"I do have a idea...." He commented, gladly accepting the mug offered to him, "You just have to trust me on this..."
Next to Part 2