The Talents of Time Lords
Donna leant back against cell wall beside the Doctor. Her mind filled with questions and reflections. Today had turned out to be full of surprises. The most striking of which was the Doctor's generated daughter, Jenny.
The girl was obviously built to be a soldier for this ridiculous civil war. Her words and actions thus far proved that, and yet, Donna noticed there was more to the girl. There were hints of the Doctor in Jenny's voice, reactions, and temperament. The similarities between father and daughter became more apparent the longer Donna spent with Jenny. Donna wondered if the Doctor saw them too, if they were the reason he kept pushing her away.
Glancing over towards the cell door, Donna saw Jenny smiling sweetly, while playfully fingering the bars of the cell door and talking coyly to the guard outside. The warm glow of the ceiling lights above them lit Jenny in a dazzling halo, making her hair look even more yellow. That's when a new thought suddenly stuck Donna.
"Why's it yellow?" Donna asked simply, before giving the back of the Doctor's head a pointed stare.
"Why's what, what?" Doctor responded distractedly, not sparing a look in her direction. Inclining her head forward, Donna noticed his brow was deeply furrowed and his eyes deeply set with worry lines. Following his line of sight, she saw Jenny in the middle of a flirty chat with the guard.
The temptation to comment on his obvious fatherly behaviour crossed Donna's mind. Instead, she asked her question again, being more specific this time. "Why is Jenny's hair yellow? Why's she blonde? I mean, you're not blond." Furrowing her brow, Donna reached out and tugged on a patch of the Doctor's dishevelled, brown hair. "I mean, unless you colour...?"
"Ow!" complained the Doctor, snapping his head around in Donna's direction. In his hast, a few brown strands accidentally came out in her grasp.
Glancing briefly down at her closed hand, Donna examined the strands but saw nothing that suggested dyeing. When she heard him grumble, she looked up again to see the Doctor frowning at her and touching the back of his head.
"Sorry," she said apologetically, letting the bit of hair fall to the floor.
"Really?" he asked rudely, scowling at her.
Donna chose to ignore his rudeness this once. "My question, Doctor" she stated firmly, "you haven't answered it."
"Question?" he responded with a snappy tone, narrowing his gaze on her. "And what question is that? Hmm? How best to irritate me? What's the worst way to get someone's attention? Oh! Or how about much it hurts to pull someone's hair out? 'Cause I'll tell you right here and now …"
"Oi! Don't you get testy with me, Spaceman!" she interrupted, giving him several hard pokes in the arm. "I'm asking about Jenny. She's blonde."
One of the Doctor's eyebrows slid up his forehead. "Yeah, so?" he said, questioning her back with a deep huff.
"I mean, you're not blond... or blue eyed for that matter, so where does it come from?" Donna elaborated. "You said you are her only parent, so it has to come from you."Drawing in a deep breath, she attempted to recall her lessons in biology. "And I may not know all the techno-babble you do, but I know enough to know that kids get their hair and eye colour from their parents or grandparents." She waved her hand around herself. "Something like..." She paused for a second to give the Doctor a knowing look. "...heredity and all that, you know."
"Humans!" he replied, sounding exasperated. He shook his head dismissively. "Always thinking so linearly... so two-dimensionally. You can't even understand the basic concept of genetic…"
"Oi!" Donna scolded, giving him a hard shove. "That's not answering my question."
A deep sigh fell from his lips as he rolled his eyes. "It's genetics, Donna," he answered simply at first. When she raised a questioning eyebrow, he sighed again and continued on. "Of course, not genetics as you humans know. My DNA consists of three, spiralled polymer strands. Well... four technically, but the fourth doesn't exist in phase with your inferior, non-temporally sensitive …"
Donna held up her hand in front of his face, cutting off his rambling. "Oi! Quit being rude and start speaking English already, Spaceman!" she pressed, glaring pointedly at him. She didn't want any more of his run around sort of answers.
The Doctor responded with a very large grin. He leant in close to her and winked. "Put simply Donna, I've got very talented genes."
Donna felt briefly flushed. Her mind exploded with the endless meaning behind his words. Leaning closer to him, she asked, "Talented… how?"
"Wouldn't you like to know, Earthgirl?" he responded with a smug expression, before leading back from her and returning his attention to Jenny and the guard.
Staring at him, Donna felt her mouth fall open. A trickle of irritation ran up her spine. He was being purposefully cheeky and trying to fluster her. Worst of all, it was working and he knew it. Donna was already to give him a right piece of her mind when she heard a loud clang from the cell door.
Immediately, Donna looked to Jenny. The girl was lip-locked with the guard, twisting her head this way and that as if trying to get the best angle. Donna didn't know what to think as she heard the Doctor making a strangled noise beside her. He probably wondered just as her whether Jenny really understood the difference between pretend flirting to get them out of the cell and downright hitting on a bloke.
Luckily, in the next second, their concerns were dismissed. In one fluid motion, Jenny snagged the guard's pistol, pressing its muzzle into his chest, and wrenched her lips away from his. Jenny maintained her calm, commanding tone and ordered the shell-shocked guard to open the door. She even flashed a broad, Doctor-ish grin.
"I'd like to see you try that," Donna said pointedly and with a sly smile.
The Doctor's gaze snapped directly to her with a wide-eye stare. She met his gaze, widening her eyes to emphasize her point. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he turned away with a flustered look in his eyes.
Donna chuckled, mentally congratulating herself for that. Then, she went back to watching Jenny carry out her brilliant escape plan. The guard was slowly opening the cell door without Jenny losing her hold on him. The whole plan impressed Donna, particularly the flirty distraction bit. Donna doubted the Doctor could ever be that cunning.
She was about to say as much to him when she felt an arm snake gently around her waist. There was only enough time for her to gasp before Donna felt herself spun around and pinned between another stone wall and the Doctor's slim but firm body.
Blowing out the earlier breath, Donna locked her gaze on to his. She didn't understand why he was covering her with his body or why he looked down at her so intently with a hooded stare. Even more than that, she found it impossible to break eye contact with him.
She knew she should say something, anything, but all coherent thought evaporated as she watched him draw closer. Leaning in almost close enough for their lips to meet, the Doctor said huskily, "Perhaps later… we can try too."
Donna felt her breath hitch in her throat. A small voice in her head urged her to close the distance between their lips. She willing obeyed. Letting her eyes partially flutter shut, she relished the warmth of his breath gliding over her cheeks. Shivers of what only could be described as elation raced up and down her body. Another breath rushed in, and then, out of her lungs.
Impulsively, Donna began to lean in closer, impatiently yearning for the moment their lips would press together. The anticipation stifled her completely. She could only think of the thrilling sensations to come, but the meeting of mouths was cruelly interrupted.
"Hey!" Jenny said loudly. "Are you two going to be standing there all day, or we going to stop General Cobb from getting The Source?"
Barely a second later, Donna felt the warmth of the Doctor's breath vanish along with the weight of his body. There was a mixture of sadness and anger raging through her scattered mind and trembling body. She squeezed her eyes completely shut in frustration, cursing Jenny's timing. Donna couldn't begin to explain why, but she wanted just a few more minutes to 'try too', as the Doctor put it, even if for only a quick sample.
Besides, it wasn't as if Jenny couldn't keep herself busy dealing with the guard. That would leave Donna plenty of time to snog the Doctor senseless. Even as that thought formed in her head, she realised how utterly crazy it sounded. Still, Donna couldn't help herself craving it.
Donna wanted to kiss the Doctor, and she wanted to do it now. Solidifying her resolve and the strength of her legs, she opened her eyes and turned a stern look to Jenny. She readied herself to order both Jenny to take care of the guard on her own and the Doctor to get his slim, well-toned body back over here. The words stopped short of coming out.
Jenny stood in the open cell doorway with a large gun hooked over her shoulder and a pistol in her right hand. As for the guard, he was already tied up, gagged and laying on the cell floor with a dazed look in his eyes. Donna couldn't imagine how Jenny could have gotten that all done so fast, unless more time had passed since the Doctor pinned her to the wall than she thought.
"Right," said Donna, feeling slightly deflated and very embarrassed. "Better be off then."
From her leaning position against the wall, she watched as the constant match of wills between father and daughter began again. The Doctor marched over to Jenny, already starting to scold her for her use of violence and carrying guns. Predictably, Jenny's response was rolling her eyes and trying to defend both. That made Donna chuckle slightly.
In that moment, Donna forgave Jenny and made a promise to herself. 'Once we're all safely back onboard the TARDIS, you owe me one, Spaceman.' Pausing, she rethought that. 'Better yet, make that loads.'
To be continued...