Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.
And as a side note--I didn't realize until after I had posted that this marks my 60th story on ! Yay me. Enjoy!
"Hey, you. Want your fortune told?"
Donna turned to look at the girl, leaning against the brick wall of the alley.
"No, thank you," Donna said curtly. The girl laughed and pushed off from the wall.
"I'm gonna tell it anyway," she said. "What's your name?"
"I shouldn't have to tell you, should I?" Donna rolled her eyes. "You're American," she stated unnecessarily.
"So kind of you to point it out," the girl crossed her arms. Indeed, her accent was incredibly American, laced with sarcasm and tinged with cynicism. "But that's not important, is it? What's important is that you need me. I can sense it."
"You're the fortuneteller?" Donna snorted, looking the girl up and down. She can't have been more than 17, dressed in tight black jeans and an oversize purple sweater, decorated with skull jewelry and black leather.
"Well, not really a fortuneteller, actually," the girl shrugged. "Fortunetelling is a load of shit. But I can help you work out those dreams of yours," she said.
"Those dream—what? How did you... Who are you?" Donna stopped in her tracks. The girl took a few more steps before the realized she was alone and turned to face the redhead.
"I'm Estel. And you're Donna. And you aren't using your whole brain," the girl, Estel, said.
"What do you mean, that answers none of my questions!" Donna was indignant.
"Did you know that humans only use around ten percent of their brain power?" Estel said casually, striding back to the older woman. "I can use around thirteen or fourteen percent, enough to access the human subconscious. Most normal psychics can use around twelve percent."
She looked up at the sky. "But that's so much wasted brain space, isn't it? Imagine if we could unleash the rest of our brains! Twenty, thirty, fifty, eighty, one-hundred percent of our brains!" She took a breath.
"What does any of this have to do with me?" Donna asked cautiously.
"Well, Miss Noble, you have blocked capabilities."
There was silence.
"What capabilities?"
"Blocked, someone has gone inside your brain and blocked some of your brain power. Likely some memories, too. Your mind is guarded like no other subconscious I've ever seen. Gave me the worst migraine when I tried to access it."
"You were in my head?" Donna demanded, horrified.
"Oh, no, of course not. I don't do that without permission. But you were dreaming. Dreaming comes from the collective subconscious, which is like psychic public property."
"What, is there some sort of psychics convention that determines this?" Donna snorted, crossing her arms and glaring. She couldn't believe that she was believing the words out of this teenager's mouth. "What are you on?"
"Vikodin," the girl said, unrepentant. "It's the only thing that keeps the headaches from collapsing me. Ever wonder why smart people get so many headaches? Its using the extra brain. Psychics get them daily, hourly. The more powerful the psychic, the more powerful the headaches."
"What does this have to do with me? You still haven't answered that."
"I want to look in your mind, find out how much brain power you're cut off from," Estel said finally.
"What?" Donna was somewhat aghast for no reason she knew. Honestly, this girl couldn't...?
"Please?" Estel asked. She had honest curiosity in her eyes. Donna hesitated. "It will take all of ten seconds, then you can be off, I swear."
Donna faltered. She sighed.
"If you'll leave me be," she acquiesced. Estel stepped closer.
"I need to touch your head," she explained, lifting her arms.
The gesture seemed familiar. Estel's fingertips touched her temples. Their eyes fell closed.
Time.
Light.
Space...
...Infinity...
Estel felt the breath knocked out of her and she stumbled back. Donna opened her eyes, confused.
"Oh my god," Estel whispered, falling on her backside, staring at Donna in horror. "Oh my god... You... That..."
She scrambled to her feet and turned around. She ran, and didn't stop.
Donna couldn't know, but she woudln't stop until she reached her hotel. She would pack her backs in record time, and take the bus to the airport. She would stand and wait for a flight, and take the first plane back to Texas.
All the while, Estel would think: "Oh my god. If that woman's mind ever opened..."
She would stare out the window, over the ocean. She would try to get out of her mind the utter vastness of the universe. It would already be fading. She had no capacity to handle it, so it would leave. There would simply be an impression of the enormous emptiness of space, and a terrible migraine.
"If it did... She'd..."
--
On the streets of England, Donna Noble shook her head.
"Americans. Something there's got their heads twisted, I'll tell you what."
And she continued down the street. As she reached her office, she settled at her desk and groaned at the amount of paperwork that had piled up literally overnight. She felt a headache settle in her skull.