The Belted Doctor, Chapter 4
Title: The Belted Doctor, Chapter 4
Author: tkel_paris , aka KendraC
Rating: High T, borderline M for (very) naughty humor, and some hints... Consider yourself warned.
Summary: A crack!fic inspired by a line from “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” and run for its life with. The Doctor is left with a very uncomfortable “protection” against unwanted advances. But will he find the one who is foretold to release him from his... prison?
Disclaimer: Mel Brooks owns “Men in Tights.” The BBC and others own “Doctor Who.” 'Nuff said.
Author's Note: This chapter was quite a bit of fun to write. To post it here, I went back and adjusted a few lines to reflect some things I realized I'd overlooked when I posted to FF.N weeks ago. Don't fret: Donna will be back soon. Someone else just needs to read the Doctor the riot act first... Anyway... Do enjoy!
Prologue / Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3
CHAPTER FOUR: SLAPS, BIODAMPING, AND OTHER STRANGE FEELINGS
The last thing the Doctor expected to see was a brash, ginger, human bride in the Control Room. He couldn't begin to figure out the how or why of her appearance before Donna Noble slapped him.
The shock was physical as well as psychological. He couldn't remember being slapped. Ever. Not even by his parents or his teachers. Gallifreyans had other, harsher punishments to inflict on children when they misbehaved - none of which the Doctor liked to remember. (Okay, family members of companions had done it, but from someone he'd only just met and wasn't connected to any companion? That was a first.) However, this scared Earth woman - it took him a while, but he finally guessed that a great deal of fear must have driven the actions - did it yet again later!
But, no matter how much he wanted to remain offended, to slip off into his dark thoughts, The Doctor had to figure out this mystery. What could make a human woman disappear from her own wedding and suddenly appear inside the TARDIS? Especially when it was so far away in space and time?!
The answers slowly came, and they were worse than he had imagined. Another old enemy was trying to return, and he'd had no clue that they had harbored themselves inside the Earth for all of its history. Then the fiance proved to be in cahoots with the Empress, and had never cared for Donna at all, manipulating this emotionally delicate woman - even making her let go of a beloved dog for his sake.
It was all too much for the Doctor, seeing someone so poorly used. And he knew that it was equally bad for Donna - just in different ways. He'd heard enough about Earth customs to know that today was supposed to be the best day of Donna's life so far, and she had been cruelly deceived - even by herself in her lack of self-confidence.
He had little time to think about it as he fought to save her and Earth. After he slightly bungled the “vine” rescue (which proved that not only was he was rubbish at guessing a woman's weight, but he'd been around skinny people too long), his focus was solely on the Empress, who had brought all of this upon herself by refusing his offer of help. So he unleashed the full fury that the water of the Themes could deliver on her and her children. Every depressing thought, every sense that he had nothing left to lose consumed him, for it seemed plain that Romana was very wrong - and merely jealous.
Until a scream pierced his thoughts. “Doctor! You can stop now!”
It was Donna, nearly frightened out of her mind and yet still trying to step between him and danger. And she had reached him even through the throes of near suicidal thoughts.
Once they were safely on the roof, soaked to their skins as they watched UNIT destroy the ship, the Doctor wondered how she had been able to get through to him even amidst the darkness noise within his mind. Or why he felt vaguely unhappy to let her out of his arms. He'd only just met her! And yet, like he always had, he'd needed to protect someone who “dropped” into his life under unhappy conditions.
But he knew that Lance was wrong about her. A shallow woman wouldn't have stepped between an army of pilot fish robots and a strange alien man who she'd earlier accused of kidnapping her. She wouldn't have had compassion for the Empress as the babies who would have eaten her - and did eat her wicked fiance - were destroyed. She wouldn't have shared in the awe of seeing Earth being born even during her own emotional turmoil. And she wouldn't have managed to keep a calm dignity worthy of a Time-Lady in the aftermath of such nasty duplicity.
Who was this woman from Chiswick, he wondered, and how can she have made me so easily discombobulated? Those slaps alone snapped me out of my darkness!
While they stayed on the roof, drying off (he eventually gave up his jacket when she started shivering), he found himself talking about the everyday life on Gallifrey. He had never focused his mind on the mundane aspects of his homeworld, but somehow it seemed right to tell her about what he could remember. He prompted her to describe her life, and got to hear about her family (her mother he wished he could have words with over her treatment of Donna, but he sensed that he would like her father and grandfather). They continued this aimless talking - he even described the suns-rise and suns-set on Gallifrey, which enraptured her - till long after the sun came up, drying them further.
At some point, the Doctor remembered that he needed to get the Huon particles out of Donna, and was glad that there was a painless way in his pocket. Afterward, he knew he should've choked upon seeing its shape (with his history, he was stunned that he hadn't even blinked over it), but it would do its job without attracting attention. He also wasn't sure what possessed him to say, “With this ring, I thee biodamp,” but the smile it drew from Donna - a shy, tentative one - drew an answering soft one from him.
He really didn't understand anything he was feeling around her, but he just knew that she could be magnificent. And he wanted very much to help her realize her potential.
Except she said no.
Even after he made it snow for her. Even after he came back and surprised her by bringing her dog home. He really didn't understand why he hunted through his awareness of time-lines to make sure what he was doing was safe, but the grateful smile made the annoying hassle seem worth it. Even her dog seemed to soften toward him in the end.
The most amazing thing about her, though? She'd made him promise that he would find someone to be there for him. To stop him from going too far in the future. That alone, that ability to care and have compassion for a total stranger, proved how wrong Lance was about her. How much he had lost by siding with an evil alien.
But it didn't take the sting away fully. She had said no because she was scared. And he'd never really thought about whether he frightened his companions. He knew that whenever his “alien” nature reared its head, his human companions had all reacted negatively - to varying degrees. But outright fear? That was a new one for him.
Still, he returned to the vortex with a growing smile. Donna Noble might not have gone with him, but she gave him a precious gift: the reminder that life goes on, and that the hardest difficulties could be handled in the end. That gave him hope for himself, and allowed him to forget about his curse. Instead, he left Chiswick with a whispered thought: “Thank you, Donna Noble. Be as magnificent as possible.”
Although those strange feelings would continue to haunt him whenever he wasn't focused...
Chapter 5: Another Doctor's Perspective