For the first time, since Donna started her travels with the Doctor, the console room was lifeless. There was no constant hum from the time ship or its pilot. Only an eerie green glow lit the darken corners. The central column of the console was motionless, while its pilot was supposedly busy fixing a 'small' issue. Donna might have enjoyed the peacefulness of the last hour or so, but the console room's current condition was yet another result of the Doctor's daft piloting error.
"You know when I said I wasn't claustrophobic, Doctor?" Donna said grumpily, kicking her legs back and forth over the edge, where she sat.
"Yeah," came a muffled reply from the Doctor.
"Well, I think I'd prefer claustrophobia to this!" Donna exclaimed, tossing her arms up into the air in exasperation. "This had got to be the opposite of claustrophobia!"
"Does that make it better?" the muffled voice of the Doctor asked. Donna swore she could hear the tone of sarcasm mixed with smugness. She disliked hearing both of them from him, particularly now.
Donna turned sharply in his direction with a less than happy expression. Up the gradual incline, she saw his skinny, blue, and pinstriped legs and rear peeking out of the gaping hole in the console. "I don't hear you fixing this problem, Spaceman! And you better fix it quick or I promise...!"
"I'm fixing. I'm fixing," the Doctor grumbled with a heavy sigh.
"You better! I'm getting tired of waiting!" angrily grumbled Donna. "'Cause this morning, you promised sun, pools of cool water, relaxation... does any of that ring a bell, Doctor?"
She heard the Doctor sigh again. "I know, I know."
"And you know, of all the things I pictured happening to me when I woke up," she pointedly, gesturing to herself. "This was nowhere on my list. It's bonkers! And... And I still don't get how you did it. For normal people it is impossible, but then again, it's you. You have the battiest luck of anyone I know, and yet, you always say just how smart you are..."
"Yup!" the muffled of the voice of the Doctor replied. There was that air of smugness again. "That's me. Genius!"
"Alright, Genius, explain how you did it," she said, fixing his skinny, pinstriped rear with a defiant look. "Explain how you managed to shrink us."
The Doctor's rear stopped wiggling. "Well," he said thoughtfully. "It's complicated."
"Then, uncomplicated it, Doctor," she told him. "I want the truth, because I've nothing else to do until you return us to normal." Leaning slightly over the edge where her legs still dangled, she gestured towards the grated floor far below. "'Cause I want to know how you managed to make it possible for me to actually fall into the hole in the floor grating."
"Better than a size zero," he joked, before pushing himself a bit further inside the hole his sonic screwdriver had created in the console surface.
"Oi! You're supposed to be explaining, not cracking jokes, Doctor," she told him. She pushed herself way from the edge of the console. "So go on."
"Well," he said, sounding a bit more muffled, "you remember how the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than the outside?"
"Yeah," Donna asked, pushing herself up to her feet.
He didn't immediately respond, so she turned in his direction completely. Most of his blue pinstriped form still remained hidden in the hole. She knew he was searching or working on some vital console part located between the console monitor and keypad. According to him, it malfunctioned, leading to their current tiny state. She guessed it was what distracted him from continuing his explanation.
"Spaceman, what's your point?" she pressed, feel every bit as frustrated as her voice reflected. "'Cause I don't feel any bigger on the inside. Blimey! I'm actually the size of Barbie!"
"Smaller actually," the Doctor commented off-handily.
Donna sighed, and then said mockingly, "Your point, Doctor Ken."
"Huh? Oh, yes. Well, it's a similar concept," the Doctor said knowingly, "During the materialization sequence a few of the spatial converters miss fired, causing one... of the tertiary processes... to... to..." His muffled voice seemed to fade off. It made Donna uncomfortable, because she knew he did that only when he just realised a problem or something important he'd forgotten.
"What is it?" irately said Donna. "Please tell don't tell me you just made the situation worse."
He didn't immediately answer, so she started to trek up the inclined surface of the console towards him. Surprisingly, there was little traction, despite the layers of dust and grime. She grabbed a hold of the buttons and other controls to help pull her up to a point where she could more clearly see the Doctor. At the same time, she had to be careful to not press or bump any of many controls. There was no way she wanted to make this situation worse. She'd leave that up to spaceman and his knack for getting them into trouble. "Doctor!"
"Well, actually, this did happen before, except… except," he said reluctantly, "the shrinking affected the TARDIS as well as us."
"What does that mean?" she demanded to know from her position just below the right side of the keypad. Her lips were set into a furious frown. She didn't like where his line of thought was going. "Does that make it worse for us or better?" She placed her fists on her hips and just glared. "'Cause right now, you aren't making me feel any better, Spaceman."
"Not worse. Not necessarily worse, I mean," he explained between grunts.
"Then what?" she asked forcefully.
He didn't say. Instead, her answer came in the sound of five distinct clicks. Just then, the glow of the TARDIS console column went from green to gold. "Ah hah! I think... I've almost... got it!"
The central column started to move again. Donna felt its vibrations. In fact, the whole console shook as if there was an earthquake. She had to grab a hold of the nearest button to prevent her from tumbling back down the console. "What's happening?" she called out, looking in his direction.
The Doctor was wiggling out of the gaping hole. When his head finally emerged, there was a new manic grin on his face. "Ah hah! Molto Bene!"
"Doctor!" she yelled angrily, starting to feel her grip slipping. "What have you done?"
"What you asked for!" he called back, gripping the bottom of the monitor.
He climbed across the console towards the right side of the keypad. At a point, he had to swing himself across the gap between keypad and monitor. He almost looked like Tarzan, except he was nowhere as muscular or tan. Almost gracefully, the Doctor caught a hold of the right edge of the keypad. He began to hit several of the buttons in repeated sequence. Occasionally, he paused, looking up towards the towering monitor above him, which was flashing something, but she could see from her angle.
"Get ready to slide back down to the rim, Donna!" he called over his shoulder.
"What? Why?" she asked, watching him return to his button pressing. "I'll fall off the edge if I do that!"
"Well, I'd much rather prefer that you weren't on the console when you get back to your full weigh... I mean, size. Yes, size," he told her, quickly flashing a cheeky grin in her direction. "Now, get ready to slide down and grab the edge!"
After he managed to hit one more button, a loud, thunderous groaning noise filled the room. An even more violent quake accompanied it, giving Donna a splitting headache. She wanted to cover her ears, but she didn't dare let go of her grasp on the button, still fearing the fall. Instead, she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the noise and the pounding sensation it created in her head.
Just then, briefly there was a whooshing sound from high above her. A moment later, the Doctor's voice sounded as if it was right next to her left ear. "I've got you, Donna!" he yelled over the groaning noise.
Her eyes snapped opened to see him hanging right beside her, clinging from the same button. He was nearly close enough for their noses to touch. The Doctor stretched his free arm out, wrapping it around her waist. "I've got you, Donna! Now, let go!"
For once, Donna did what he said and let go. A breath later, they were falling, hurtling down the console's incline surface towards the edge. She screamed, instinctively shutting her eyes and grabbing a hold of the Doctor. He made a grunting noise, which was followed by the sensation of being tugged up and then over an edge.
Donna gasped for thought and breath. She feared they would soon be falling to their death. She feared the last thing she'd know was the double thumping of the Doctor's hearts against her skin and the spicy, alien-y smell of him. Instead, she felt a cold sensation surge under her skin. The next moment, the groaning noise and the shaking stopped, and she felt herself tumble forward on to a soft, if not slim surface.
The Doctor grunted and grumbled. His voice gained a new resonance into her right ear. "Oi, blimey!"
"Are we still alive? Doctor?" fearfully asked Donna between gasps for air. Her eyes remained shut and her grip still firmly holding on to what she thought was the Doctor.
"I'd say!" the Doctor groaned. "Mind getting off me now? I know you're not feeling claustrophobic, but I can barely breathe under your weight."
"Oi!" Donna exclaimed. Her eyes flew open, and she started to swat at him. "Don't you dare start on me, Spaceman! I've enough of you messing with me and... and..." She stopped when she realised she was lying on top of him on the grated floor of the console room, but not falling right through. Snapping up right, she took in the room. It was back in portion with them. "We're normal!"
Groaning, the Doctor commented with a grumble, "Unfortunately, yes."
Donna looked down and saw that she had him pinned. She gave him a half grin. "About time, Spaceman."
"Yes," he said, and then, his gaze briefly lowered to a point where their bodies met. A teasing grin slowly spread over his lips. "You know of all the people I'd imagined pinning me down, I don't think I'd ever guessed it would be you, Donna. Not that I'm complaining or anything."
"Oi! You wish, Spaceman," she said, feeling all too happy to be back to normal. She playfully smacked his face, before pushing herself up and off him.
The Doctor simply raised an eyebrow at her from his reclined position on the floor. His teasing grin gradually grew more mischievous when he winked suggestively at her. "What do you know of my wishes, Miss Noble?"