Author's Notes: Welcome to my first ever WhoFic! All standard disclaimers apply (of course). Happens at any particular point of the Series 4 timeline, or even post fix-it, if you like. Enjoy! The story is very loosely based on Philippine history. I thought it would be interesting to have the Doctor run around in Earth—not in England for a change.
The God Complex
Donna Noble felt her legs fly out from under her as the TARDIS continued spinning through the Vortex, rocking and jutting, wheezing and groaning in protest of its own flight. From her seat, she had a clear view of the Doctor's tuft of tidied (coiffed, really) brown hair darting all over the console, pressing buttons, twisting random levers. At some point he'd put his foot against the console and grumbled with effort to reach a big, blue button wile pulling what looked like silly string. Despite all the lurching though, Donna managed to hold on to her position by grabbing the bottom of the jump seat, although from the way it wobbled, she was sure she was going to fly off with it when it detached.
"Come on," the Doctor growled at his own hand, pushing further with his foot to reach the button. "Not that complicated, just a little way out of that galaxy would do!"
Donna tilted her head to the side a little, so her travelling companion's face could come into full view. His brows were furrowed, and he was doing that thing where he was putting all his tension into his mouth as his 'brainy specs' started to droop over the bridge of his nose. She had to admit she liked seeing him like that, all focused on the adventure ahead.
"Need some help there, Spaceman?" She asked, managing to hop out of the jumpseat before the TARDIS wobbled and shook again. Donna instinctively grabbed the console to balance herself. "Maybe let me drive sometime? I've gotten pretty good since last time, you know."
"Weeeeell," The Doctor said, frowning thoughtfully before rapping at a spot in the console with a mallet. "You did manage to steer us dangerously close to a supernova last time—"
"Better a supernova than a dent in the eighties, I always say," Donna pointed out. The Doctor threw her a look like he wasn't sure if she was making fun of him. "Where are we going, anyway?"
It was the question that always brought a slightly mischievous, boyish grin across his features. It was as if he'd just come up with the Best Plan Ever, with no risk of running into danger or trouble of any sort. Knowing the Doctor, Donna didn't quite believe that. "That's the question, isn't it?" he asked her, gently pulling a lever down. The rocking and shaking finally ceased, and they were floating gently, merrily on their way again.
"Where are we going, where are we all going, really? Me, I just like exploring things, showing you everything about time and space. We've barely scratched the surface of the things we can get to see, Donna. The talking flowers of a planet full of meerkats, the the singing dolphins in Donsol—the planet, not the island, people usually get confused there—the lost treasure of Ascuzena—well, I say lost, more like it's hidden somewhere in the TARDIS, but they don't have to know that—"
"Doctor," Donna interrupted quickly, holding up a hand to crash into his train of thought. "I just need to know where we're going so I know what to wear."
"Oh!" The Doctor said just as fast, looking his companion up and down. While her eyes were wide awake and her face as lovely as ever, she was still dressed in a soft blue dressing gown, her pink striped pajamas slightly trailing on the floor over her slippers. The Doctor had gotten tired of waiting for her to wake up, all too eager to take her to today's location that he simply forgot that she hadn't even had a cup of coffee yet. "Right! Sorry," he said, taking off his glasses and slipping them into his infinitely deep pockets. Then he grinned widely at her. "You're gonna love this, Donna. Everyone loves a good beach! One of the most beautiful beaches in all of time and space. Soft white sand for miles and miles, crystal clear water, untouched for centuries. We can swim with the whalesharks! Really friendly, whalesharks, a little sensitive about their size, so best not mention that to them when we go."
"Are you telling me," Donna said, flopping back into the jumpseat in a soft 'woosh' of air. "That you can talk to whales? Because that would just be completely unfair. And is this beach going to be alien, coz I'd rather not risk dying form extonic sunlight or something just to watch you chat with whales about how they're not lumpy in some places."
"Well, I can't talk to whales so much as feel them," he said, scratching the back of his head like he was trying to find words that didn't sound so arrogant, failing miserably. "They're telepathic, always have been. Humans aren't on their wavelength, but Time Lords are."
He ignored the way Donna rolled her eyes at that statement.
"And as for the beach," he said, hitting the dematerialization button on the console with a satisfied slam. "I think you'll find it can't get any more non-alien than Planet Earth. I'd put on sunscreen though."
"And miss the chance to get a tan?" She asked.
"Red, more like," the Doctor teased. Donna actually giggled as she lightly punched his arm, but he could tell she was in a tizzy of excitement at the prospect of a completely normal, perfectly wonderful Earth beach. Something in the back of her mind wanted to tell her that it wasn't going to be that easy, especially with a danger magnet like the Doctor, but it wasn't going to stop her from enjoying every moment that she could.
"I'll meet you right outside the TARDIS in ten minutes!" She exclaimed, dashing off to the corridor to grab the still unused beach things. "This is brilliant, thank you Doctor! Don't forget to put on sunscreen, maybe a pair of shorts too!"
The Doctor watched with a fond smile as Donna disappeared into the corridor, still shouting reminders and exclamations excitedly at him. He stuck his hands into his pockets, tipetoeing on his heels for a moment. He loved moments like this with her, when she just couldn't help but relish in the idea of a beach trip. He thought after everything they had just been through (what she'd been through, really), they deserved a beach trip. A nice beach trip to 15th century Asia. It would be perfect.
What could possibly go wrong?
"This. Is. Brilliant," Donna sighed, stretching her legs out in the sunshine as she lay on a beach towel by the shore. The sun was somewhere far in the horizon, sometime just after lunch in Earth time. The Doctor had been more than happy to spread the sunblock across her back (she ignored how a little too eager he had been), so she was fully intent on soaking every bit of sunshine that she could. "You can go ahead and leave me here, I wouldn't mind at all."
"Yep," The Doctor responded beside her, popping the 'p' in that last word. He managed to procure a couple of beach chairs from under the TARDIS grating, and was now lounging with her, sipping on a gigantic green coconut he'd plucked out of a tree with a quick whizz of the sonic screwdriver. The juice was sweet and fresh, still a little cool from the night before. The turquoise waters of the beach lapped against the shore like it was trying to reach out to the two travelers, tempting them to dive in. He'd swapped his usual pinstriped suit for a pair of shorts and a loose, flimsy t-shirt from a few regenerations ago. He had been tempted to put on an old-timey swimming costume, but decided that it wasn't worth making Donna laugh at him.
"Oi, I was just kidding," she said, tossing her sarong over him and giving him full view of her not so modest bathing suit. The Doctor tried not to look too hard, but from what he'd glanced, it made her cleavage look fantastic (not that it wasn't usually fantastic, mind) and her body gorgeous, all shapely and toned from all that running and ducking. She didn't think he was going to be able to sit still for very long and relax, and she had been right at first. Upon stepping out of the TARDIS, Donna saw the Doctor had been picking up driftwood from various parts of the beach, building a makeshift raft with of some vines he'd pulled from the jungle not too far behind them. He'd also set them up with the beach chairs and towels. There was tea in a mug waiting for her, with a bit of egg and toast. He'd only managed to sit down with her after nearly falling off the coconut tree.
Donna spread the umpteenth layer of sunblock on her skin, in spite of the Doctor assuring her that Coppertone's sunblock had vastly improved by the 51st century to be completely sunproof, she didn't want to risk a burn. "I'm going for a dip. Coming, Spaceman?"
"Allon-zy!" He exclaimed, shooting out from under Donna's sarong like a bullet, diving headfirst into the bright blue water in a loud bellyflop. Donna watched him for a moment, shaking her eyes from the sun with her hand like she was a mother watching out for her ten year old kid. The Doctor's head popped up, his hair in wet, gravity-defying spikes as he ran his hair through it, grinning like he hadn't just slammed his front into water. He squinted in the sunlight at her form, smiling even more. Donna took a few steps into the water, recoiling slightly and exclaiming, "Cold, cold, cold!" and promptly ran back out to the warm shore. The tide was low, meaning they had a long stretch of white, sandy beach before them. Donna could see fish jumping and flopping to the sides until they reached the ocean. She'd never thought she'd call a beach 'alive', but it was the only appropriate word for what she was looking at. She frowned and stood at the water's edge.
"Aw, it's not so bad," the Doctor said, holding out a hand to gesture her in. "You'll get used to it. Come on, I think I can see some whalesharks near the deeper end."
"What is it with you and these whalesharks?" Donna asked, marching back into the ocean and powering through the cold. She sank into the cool water and made her way towards him with a shiver. The Doctor's demanor changed after her question. His shoulders slumped slightly, making him look all of his nine hundred years old, his hand making swirls in the water as he twisted it uncomfortably.
"They become extinct in the 30th century," he said as a matter of fact, but she could tell that it upset him more than he made it sound. "They're hunted in some parts of the world, and they just…ran out. It's just nice to see them all here, now, while they're around, you know?"
Donna smiled, like she completely understood.
"Yeah," she said, squeezing his shoulder slightly. She was just about to suggest they go out to the deeper part of the ocean when they heard the rustling of something that sounded like wet cloth whipping against a wind. There was also quite a lot of shouting. Frowning a little, Donna looked over at the Doctor, who was blinking at something in the horizon.
"Now how did we miss that?" He asked nobody in particular, and Donna turned around to look at what he was looking at.
"Oh my god," she said in astonished awe, blinking against the sunlight that threatened her view. She wasn't sure at what she was seeing, but she was pretty sure that it was an honest to god ship, the kind that she only saw in pirate films. "Doctor, that's…that's…"
"A Spanish carrack," the Doctor said with amusement and slight confusion. "What are they doing in fifteenth century…oh."
The flapping sounds had come from the massive sails whipping against the winds as they hung on to the two masts. The ship was smaller than she had imagined a ship would be, painted in a gunmetal grey that almost blended into the ocean. Flags of various colors and stages of disarray graced the ship's sides. It was striding along the water like a proud, slightly wounded soldier. Along the deck, several curious eyes and heavy beards studied the Doctor and Donna, mystified at their current state. They were all shouting at them, their heavy, warbled intones still in their native language that TARDIS didn't bother translating yet. It did, however, sound like something she would hear at a world cup final. They were also waving quite a lot of weapons around. She didn't like that.
"Oh?" Donna asked in disbelief, turning to the Doctor like he'd just said something spectacularly dim. Her hands splashed against the water as she turned to him. "Is that all you can say? We are swimming a hundred yards away from a Spanish pirate ship in the fifteenth century, they are screaming at us, with weapons, and all you can say is oh? Flipping oh?!"
"Not a pirate ship," he pointed out meekly, like he knew he would get slapped for that.
"What's that?" she rounded over to him, glaring as icily as he could, almost daring him to talk.
"It's not a pirate ship," the Doctor repeated, a little braver this time. "It's a proper Spanish carrack from the Age of Exploration. From the way it looks, and that name painted on the side, fairly certain that's the Victoria, the first ship to make a trip around the world."
"Well," she seethed, ready to march back to the shore for the TARDIS. "I'm not gonna be the one to stop them exploring the world, so..."
"Fuego!" They heard a voice boom, a shot firing and almost blowing Donna's brains out.
