So here's my second attempt at a Doctor Who fanfic, but my first as the sole writer. I have one other, called "After the Fact," which is just a collection of one-shots between the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble (taking place usually in between episodes), of course in conjunction with canon. This story focuses on Donna, who is my favourite companion, but pays homage to my favourite pairing, the Doctor and Rose.
Forgive me if I use any American-isms, as I'm not British, but I know the language rather well, so I don't think I made any mistakes. But feel free to correct me if I have.
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"What'll happen to her?"
They were sitting on the beach, a blond head rested upon a tall man's chest. The soft, sweet voice had once been innocent, he recalled. But now it was not. Now it held the knowledge of the entire universe, a short, clipped version of the British shopgirl he had once known. The universe had changed her – well, the universes. Yet he said nothing, his body tensing.
"She'll be fine."
But it was a lie. He hated it, he detested the very word. No matter the cause or effect, small or great, it didn't matter. It was irrelevant. But maybe that was the Donna Noble in him; maybe it was a very human thing. Or maybe it was his unquenchable need to protect the girl by his side.
He heard a huffy sigh, and the woman – a girl no longer, he forced himself to remember – twisted in his arms to look unblinkingly up into his clear brown eyes. The man sighed, ducking his head. What was that? Oh dear Lord, he had a conscience. Not a Time Lord one, which would overlook something as simple and insignificant as a lie, but a human one instead, a very human conscience where a lie was a very big deal. Well…that would take some getting used to, wouldn't it? His thoughts were only deferred when the contact of cool skin to his cheek slowly convinced him to look up, meeting large, reproachful hazel orbs.
"You've always been a lousy liar," came the soft voice again, and unless the tall man was much mistaken, with it came a tinkling laugh. He bowed his head once more, only to be coaxed up again. "Doctor." Well, she was quite right. Just as he could never refuse two simple words – "Help me" – he had never been able to deny Rose Tyler that which she sought. Except, of course, himself.
He felt her gaze piercing his skin – the saddened look on her face said it all. Surely, if he could not bear to tell her, the fate of Donna Noble would be grave indeed. One look into the hazel eyes told this new version of the Doctor enough. He may have been a new man, but Rose could read him just as well as she knew the original. But it no longer mattered, not really.
"There has never been a human-Time Lord Metacrisis until now."
His dulcet tones rang out – however quiet they were – across the windy silence of Bad Wolf Bay. A gust of wind flapped Rose's blond fringe against her face, the remainder of the golden locks against her Doctor's cheeks. The words were simple enough, but if he could hold off acknowledging the terrible truth, he would do so.
He looked down for a moment, Rose's head turning around to face him. He could see – almost feel – her eyes that were frantically searching for a meaning, for a definition, or maybe even an excuse. And then he heard it. The inevitable gasp, the shudder, and the shiver that flowed through the young woman's body. That was the truth; there was the realisation. There was the moment of inexplicable sadness within helplessness – for there was nothing the couple – the lonely couple – could do to save her.
"She's dying."
Rose's voice was shaky, and the human Doctor pressed tentative lips to the back of her blond head. He wasn't sure if the reassurance would work, but when he reached a hand up, he found a tear lingering just below the hazel, waiting to fall. He wiped the wetness before it took its chance, wishing, too, that there was something he could do.
Another murmur from her soft lips told him that Rose had come upon the next glaring truth, the truth this man would not admit, the guilt rushing through him like a raging river. His very alien counterpart, somewhere among the stars in a very different universe, was alone. He would be alone, again, and his best friend would not remember their adventures, nor all the amazing, wonderful things they had done together. And if only for a moment, Donna Noble had been the most important woman in the universe. For in a bright, shining millisecond, she had saved everyone, saved the world. And now, she would never, ever know.
"He's alone. Again."
The Doctor closed his eyes and felt the silent breeze pass across his face. Donna would live. There was a way, but it was almost as terrible a fate as death – surely, to her, death would be preferable. But his Gallifreyan counterpart would not allow it – this he knew for certain, for this version would not. No one else would die for him. Never again. Not after Jenny, not after all the deaths he had caused…the Titanic, the Sycorax, all those the Daleks had killed, all the Daleks he had killed… No, the Doctor would not add Donna Noble to that laundry list.
"Yes."
He felt Rose's face bury further into the lapels of his blue suit, and he raised an arm to secure it around her waist. "She will live," his voice finally came. "But it will be a…half-life. A human can't sustain a Time Lord consciousness. He'll be forced to erase her all her memories of him. " The man felt sharp tears coming to his chocolatey-brown coloured eyes, and the incoherent murmur from the sad, lovely woman before him. "She'll never remember him."
Rose said nothing, and the human Doctor – who was unsure as to his future, not even knowing what his name was, unsure of his purpose – sighed quietly and kissed the blonde's temple, more to reassure himself than it would reassure her. "Donna, oh Donna Noble," he whispered, the deep brown orbs turning from the woman he loved to the seemingly never-ending sea. "I'm so sorry. But we had the best of times." He closed his eyes, knowing that if he continued to remember, if he continued to see her cheerful face and fiery red hair in his mind, there wasn't much that would be able to keep him from breaking down. But he couldn't, not yet.
"It's not fair."
The words were barely mumbled, but he heard them, as well as he felt the tears that were slowly dampening the lapels of his suit. He rested his head against hers, releasing a quiet breath of air. "It's the risk she took," he murmured, his voice still unsure, uneven. He kept his eyes shut, almost as if it pained him to keep them open.
"It's the risk we all took."
And it was then this human version of the Doctor realised that Donna had hardly been the first companion willing to pay the ultimate price, and another was lying in his lap. Rose had been prepared to walk into battle, just to save him, and how had he repaid her? By changing his face, and then stranding her on a parallel world. No. She was right. Nothing in all the bleeding universes was fair. But maybe she hadn't realised that this time, he had been stranded here by his counterpart, just as much as she had.
He would apologise, he would tell her he was sorry, so sorry…again. But what would it mean? What would it accomplish? They were just empty words, now. Empty words from a lonely, stranded man.
The human Doctor swallowed and exhaled as Rose shifted in his lap to turn and face him. "I love you."
A small smile appeared on his face as he descended upon her, his lips landing upon hers as his body stretched over hers, proceeding to show her precisely how he felt about her.
And hours later, breaking the serenity of the bay, he whispered those same words into her ear, the words that Rose would treasure for the rest of her life, with another word, a soft, melodic hum that she would grow to learn in time.
Maybe he wouldn't be so lonely, if he was lucky.
Fin.
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Let me know how I did, and how I can improve their characters any. I've heard from some fellow roleplayers that I capture Ten well, but as this was the Metacrisis, I tried to make him slightly different, though I did borrow Ten's quote for Donna. Just because I love it.
You guys are awesome!