Yo! This is set after The Unicorn and the Wasp. I didn't mean for it to end the way it did...welp, what can you do? For non sippers just pretend it ends after her long speech, because thats really the only part that's shippy. I promise I'll upload more on my other story when I get the chance. I know being patient sucks- so here's this to tide you guys over. I read one where the duo got separated and in trouble in the Tardis (such a clever title, I know) and I wanted to give it a shot. My first real action story..say whaaaaaaa?! I hope you enjoy, and that I got their characters down. NOW read on friends. (PS I own nothing kthanksbye)
Donna finished tying the black strap of her bikini around her neck. She wasn't usually one to sport these sorts of suits, but she couldn't resist the nice v neck plunge that made her girls look especially good. She gave herself one last look in the mirror. She nodded reassuringly- if she looked any longer she knew she would take it off and revert to her one piece suit. Who cares if she shows a little more than usual? Not like she hadn't caught a few looks here and there from blokes-especially certain blokes.
Her cheeks flushed a light pink.
Big shock-Coming up!
She shook her head. 'Don't be silly' she chided. Those were the last thoughts she needed to be thinking about at the moment.
She grabbed the dark purple maxi dress and draped it over her shoulders. Shuffling on her sandals, she reached for the sunglasses and black sun hat on her head. She quickly placed them on her head and adjusted her necklaces and bracelets one last time- this trip was for her. And she going to enjoy it damn it!
The lights flickered on and off. Donna rolled her eyes. 'Silly spaceman' she thought. 'Always tampering with the poor girl' She smiled and walked over to the door. She patted the wall lovingly. The TARDIS groaned. The lights flickered once more, shutting completely off for a moment. Donna froze in terror. The lights dimmed on faintly. Her emergency lights were on.
"OI! Spaceman!" Donna called out, expertly using her natural bravado to hide her shaking voice. "You best turn the lights back on! Or else you might find a slap in your future from me- orders straight from the TARDIS!"
There was no response. Donna pulled herself together, slight fear bubbling up inside her. She opened the door.
The halls of the TARDIS were lit the same greenish yellow dim hue. Besides the occasional flickering light, the TARDIS was silent. "Doctor I'm serious! Its bloody dark out here, how is one supposed to see?" Again, there was no response. Donna gulped. She walked into the hallway and stood. It was eerie. She balled her fists and turned left down towards the console room. After a few minutes of marching, Donna started to falter. She should have arrived at the console room a while ago; it was only a few paces down the hall. Instead, she found herself in the midst of the TARDIS' corridors, surrounded by like rooms on each side. She pouted a bit and rubbed her nervous hands together. Perhaps if she tried another way? She turned to her right at the fork and continued along the halls. "Doctor? Doctor where are you? Are you having me on?" She quickened her pace, her nerves beginning to get the better of her. "Because if you are, you can stop now! Ha ha you got me!"
She turned left. "You got me well bad, now come out!" Another left. Then a right. "Doctor I'm serious!" She came to an abrupt stop. Before her was a flight of stairs, one going down and one up. She furrowed her eyebrows- 'I didn't know the Tardis had levels.' Shakily she decided to descend. She paused at the door, her hand on the knob. Was she allowed to go into these rooms she'd never seen before? But the TARDIS did like to reshuffle herself every now and then- or so the Doctor said. Maybe she had reshuffled. Making up her mind, she hastily opened the door.
Donna found herself in a vast jungle. Greenery covered the floors and walls of the room. Trees so tall, she could hardly see a roof. It was as if she was transported to the Amazons in Africa. However, the plants were a turquoise green, with maroon flowerbeds and purple leaves. The air was hot and dense here. Donna trudged onwards on a blue dirt path in front of her. As she walked on, the plants began to thicken, covering the paths way. She began to sweat, whacking the plants out of her way as she went further and further into the abyss. The faint lights flickered, the room getting darker. Was it becoming night time? Inside? A faint hissing noise startled her. Donna froze. It was silent. Perhaps she was imagining it? She swallowed and marched forth. The hissing noise sounded again. This time Donna paused, straining to hear it better. It was getting louder. 'This can't be good.' She wiped the sweat off her brow and hurried on through, continuing to whack away leaves and vines. The hissing was advancing.
She started to trot, jumping over rocks and vines. It suddenly became quiet. Donna came to an abrupt stop. Something was breathing down her neck. She felt hot air swirl around her. Slowly, she turned about.
She was met face to face with large fangs and 6 black, beady eyes. In front of her stood an 8 foot tall, 6 legged, furry spider with blue skin and one large purple spot on its underbelly. Donna's mouth dropped, speechless. The spider opened its mouth wider and leaned back on its four legs. Donna screamed and dove behind a tall tree as webbing shot past her left shoulder. She hit the ground with a thud and dashed to stand up, running in who knew what direction. She could hear the spider screech in anger, or whatever sound spiders made. Whatever it was instilled terror in her heart. Donna hated bugs, much less spiders.
Donna sprinted, arbitrarily dodging plants. The maroon flowers were opening up, tiny teeth glistened in the fake moonlight. She slid to a halt as the largest flower before her opened up in a star like pattern and began to descend towards her, closing up its leaves. She threw her body to her right. A web shot past her shoulder and struck the flower. She ducked under more vines, avoiding any maroon flowers that began to enlarge. She found an opening in the shrubbery. To her relief she could see the blue dirt path again, leading to more open space. Her heart leapt!
-and all too quickly dropped. She was falling to the ground.
She turned to find her dress being munched on by a small star flower. She pulled and pulled, but with all her might, it refused to let go. She could hear the hissing advancing, the plants being ripped from their roots. It was coming.
Donna grabbed the nearest rock and smashed it on the flowers petals. Her dress was released and she hastily stood on shaking knees. The spider stood at its full height behind her, getting ready to strike again. Donna sprinted forward. Behind the shrubbery in the open space, a door glistened in the fluorescent flickering lights. Donna tripped, cursing as her toes ached in pain. A web shot straight before her, overshooting and landing a few feet in front of the door. She picked herself off the ground, leaving her left sandal behind. The spider was coming closer, preparing itself to shoot again. She leapt over the pile of web and pulled hard at the door. To her relief, the plants on it obliged and the door swung open. The spider aimed.
Donna shut the door behind her with such force that her body ached with pain. The door shook as a loud thud slammed against the other side. Donna slid to the ground, panting for air. She sat, to shaky to get up just yet. 'Who the bloody hell keeps a flipping 8 ft tall spider in their house!' She looked down at her appearance. Her dress was torn and dusted with blue at the bottom, he arms were covered in light scratches and her knee was lightly bleeding. Her toes throbbed. 'I'll kill that bloody Martian!'
Donna continued to collect herself as she took in her new surroundings. She appeared to be in the same hallway as before. She stood up and climbed the stairs, the grating cold on her one foot. "Doctor? Doctor where are you?" She hoped she would hear his manic voice in response, but to her disappointment, there was none. She decided to go up the flight of stairs. 'No use in going back the same way I came.'
She wiped the sweat from her brow and repositioned her sun hat on her head. With a deep breath, she pushed the door open.
Donna found herself in an attic. She sighed in relief. At least here she wouldn't be chased and ate to death. She walked in. It was a wooden room with wood panels. Dusty shelves and wooden desks lined the walls. Strange objects she didn't even know the name of lined the walls and were scattered amongst the floor. Some rotated, tied to the ceiling on a string. Dusty books lay here and there. Donna walked in; the fluorescent lights were bright here. 'This isn't too bad'
She strolled forward, making sure not to touch anything but the floor on the ground. A multi colored scarf hung on a chair, an umbrella with a question mark for a handle leaned against it. A black leather jacket left deserted lay on a desk. Donna noticed a student handbook from 2007 and girls blue jacket in the corner of the room. The wall had the initials S.F. carved into it. Donna stood aimlessly in the room. There was a journal labeled "Journal of Impossible Things" with a golden pocket-watch next to it. Donna's brows furrowed. Was she…in the Doctor's room? But she couldn't be…there was no bed? Just piles upon piles of random things! But what caught her eye was a big thick, brown book. She limped a bit over to it. On the cover were a bunch of delicate circles inscribed with circular details. She had seen these types of marks before, all over parts of the TARDIS. She touched the cover, heavy dust swirled around her. She coughed. Her fingers edged the pages…she so badly wanted to open it. 'But what if it's his journal or something?' Her fingers stopped tracing. 'no.' She closed her eyes. 'What the Doctor wants to tell me, he'll tell me.'
The lights flickered roughly. They sounded as if they were shorting out. Donna's eyes shot open. Was that…water? A large groan came from the ceiling, it sounded as if water was running above her.
Bloop.
A drop landed on her red locks. She looked up.
Bloop.
Another hit her straight on her forehead. She wiped it dry- "Oh no you don't…." More and more drops started to fall from the roof. Donna began to make her way towards the door.
A large groan sounded from the ceiling. It was getting weaker and weaker.
Water poured from the ceiling. The force of the water pushed Donna to the ground, soaking her front side as she slid. She scrambled to her feet, only to slip on something below the rushing water. She tripped back down to the ground, her whole body submerged. She came up quickly gasping for air. She stood- the water was already at her mid-thigh level. She sloshed around madly; making her way to the other side of the room- no way in hell was she about to drown in the TARDIS.
When she got to the door, the water was to her belly. She pulled on the handle with all her might- but it refused to budge due to the water- she wasn't strong enough. She cursed herself.
'Donna?! Donna can you hear me?!" The Doctors voice sang out above the rushing water.
"DOCTOR!" She splashed about, trying to find him. "Doctor where are you?!"
"I'm in the console room! Something went terribly wrong with the TARDIS. I'm trying to work it out! I finally got the intercom going. Are you alright? Where are you? Are you in the shower? I hear water rushing, if so, sorry to interrupt, but I don't see how the showers could be going-
"I'm drowning!" She yelled, the water reached just under her breasts now. "I'm trapped in some attic of yours and the ceiling gave out! Its pouring water and the doors jammed! I'm too weak to pull it open with the water and it's already at my neck!" She felt a lump in her throat as her voice caught. This was it. She was going to drown -a slow, airless death.
"Not on my watch you're not! I'll try and switch all the doors to open the opposite way! You can push easily and get out from under the pool! Just wait a second!"
"I AM!" She burst, her anger at him getting the better of her. "WHO the HELL puts a pool on top of flimsy wooden attic!?" She screamed. The water was at her neck now.
"The TARDIS' rooms got all switched around. She was going back to her basic model as a defense mechanism! She must have been mid move when it gave out!"
"Oh well how marvelous is that!" she spat, tilting her head up as to not let water in. "Are you almost done yet? Not that there's any rush or anything!"
She heard the buzz of the sonic over the intercom. "and NOW! Try it now!" Donna took one last gulp of air and dived under water. With her eyes closed, she blindly reached out and found the door handle. She twists and pushed.
Donna Noble tumbled down the stairs as a giant wave encased her. Her knee banged against the stair, causing her to gasp in pain, taking in water as she did. She hit the grating floor hard on her side- water spilling out into the hall and into the depths of the grate floor.
Donna sat up, coughing out water and gasping for air. "Donna? Donna are you alright? Did you make it?!" His voice was thick with worry.
"Fine" She gasped "Never better!" And coughed and banged on her chest. She heard him sigh in relief. She looked at the random items soaked and scattered around her. She had lost her other shoe. She stood and picked up her soaked sun hat that lay a few feet in front of her. She wrung it dry as the Doctor spoke.
"Brilliant! That's what you are, absolutely brilliant!" Donna rolled her eyes and slopped it back on her head. She mumbled something about showing the Doctor a brilliant slap or two when she saw him. "Awww come on! Don't be like that, my brilliant girl! Let's get you back to the main room, safe and sound shall we?"
"Your brilliant girl?" Donna questioned, trying all too hard to sound fed up instead of delighted with the alien boy. She crossed her arms trying to gain back some warmth- it was suddenly chilly.
"Weeellllllllll…." She could almost see the big eyes and hand behind his neck as he scrambled to fix his mistake. The thought made her want to laugh. Donna snorted.
"You Dumbo." She shook her head, a smile on her face. "Get me back to the console room! I've had enough adventure for one day and someone still owes me a trip to the beach!"
"You still want to go?"
She tilted her head. "hmmm…perhaps not. But I do want a nice massage! Or perhaps just a quiet day with a book."
"Your wish is my command!" He cheered. "Let's seeee….Go down the way your facing and then make a right!" She did as she was instructed.
"So what exactly happened Spaceman? Did She finally have enough of your prodding and shut down? I told you not to hit her with the mallet you know." She rubbed her arms trying to get warmth back in her.
"I dunno exactly. I put us in the void like I always do! I just made my way back from the wardrobe when it happened. Go right again. All her power suddenly went out- it was like we hadn't even recharged a few days ago! Wait, sorry go back. Now go left." Donna stopped and turned on her heel, literally.
"Doctorrrrrr"
"Sorry! Sorry. Multitasking here."
"What? Your big timelord brain can't handle talking and fixing at the same times all of the sudden?" Donna mocked.
'OH trust me Donna, I am very, VERY, good at doing two things at once." Donna was suddenly glad she couldn't be seen. Any heat she had rose to her face.
"Oh really? Doesn't seem like it n-now." Her teeth chattered. It was quiet. "Doctor?" ….."Doctor!"
"What? Sorry I was focusing on something." She rolled her eyes.
"P-point in c-case."
"Why are you stuttering?"
"Oh I don't know, b-because I'm s-soaked and i-its bloody fr-freezing out h-here!"
"Freezing?"
"Y-yea! Would it k-kill you to p-put on the h-heater!"
"Donna…the heater is on."
"N-no its n-not!"
There was a pause.
"AHAH!" Donna jumped. "Found the problem! It appears our ship here has been hit! How did we not notice it? Must have been that rough landing from our stop to Messaline. It appears a rock smashed a hole and all of the TARDIS' energy has been going to repair it. I must have bumped into the mute button! How could I not notice the flashing though? Ah, looks like we're going to have to make a quick stop to refuel again once I patch this up real quick. Just need to reboot- give her a big shock!- er well, you know, a quick power boost…" He cleared his throat awkwardly.
Silence.
"S-so why is i-it g-getting c-colder here?" She was shivering now.
"DONNA!" She jumped again. His sonic buzzed once more. "Donna turn left! You're getting too close to the hole! And since her power is down, her shield is starting to falter, so her temperature control is going first. You're going to have to take another route until she fixes herself after the reboot!"
"A-am I g-going to f-fly into s-space? L-like that m-movie G-gravity!?" She shrilled.
"No! No, no of course not! But just to be safe we best keep you at human temperatures. Go into that door on your right."
It was an empty white room, like one of those ones you saw in sci-fi movies, which stretched on and on and on. Air vents lined the ceiling. It was warmer here, but it still left her cold, and numb. There was another white door in the distance. She walked steadily towards it.
"Alright, almost there! Just go right on through. Once you exit, turn to you right, go up a flight, and then you should be back to the control room. I'm just about to start her up." Donna rubbed her hands together and breathed into them, attempting to warm up her still shaking hands.
"Doctor?" He hummed in response. "Why the hell d-do you have a jungle with a flipping enormous s-spider on board the T-TARDIS?!" She fumed.
"OH did you meet Georgie? Isn't he cute! Did you know that he's the last of his kind? His planet was dying and he was the only one left. I came just in the nick of time and picked him up!"
"And when was the l-last time you fed sweet little Georgie?"
"….Welll…..Um….I suppose….-"
"He TRIED to KILL me!"
"He was only a little hungry!"
"Are you SERIOUSLY going to defend the spider?!"
"N-no! But logically!"
"Oh you just wait till I show you something logical, time-boy!"
"Donnnaaaaaaaa" He whined.
"I can't believe you. The star flowers were on his side too."
"What?"
"The star flowers! They opened up and tried to eat me as well! I almost died. One of them caught my dress and I tripped. Luckily for them, it saved me."
He was quiet.
"I'm sorry."
"Wot."
"I…I'm sorry. I didn't know it was that serious. I thought you were joking."
Donna sighed. "It's alright. I'm still here aren't I? No little bug is going to stop me."
"And…you almost drowned."
"Almost. Minor details."
He was unusually quiet.
"Oi. Spaceman. What's wrong?"
"Nothing… I'm fine. Always fine me."
"You know I can tell when you're lying to me, right?" He ignored her.
"Are you almost here? I'm going to boot her up now. Hold on!"
Donna sucked in her cheeks. She knew he was blaming himself, giving himself more guilt then he deserved. She shouldn't have opened her big mouth. She limped on, her body back to normal temperature despite her soaking garments. She'd set him straight when she saw him.
Donna stumbled to her left and fell to the ground. The TARDIS shook and she momentarily slid far to the left on the slippery ground. The TARDIS stabilized.
"Donna are you ok?!"
"I'm fine! Are you alright? What happened?!"
"I over did the jump start a little bit. She didn't take it too well at first, but she's starting to reboot." Donna picked herself off the ground- she was going to be sore and bruised tomorrow, not to mention all her new scars. An echoed woosh-ing noise filled the room. She looked around. A gray fog that sparkled in the light began to waft from the air vents directly behind her.
"Doctor? What's that?"
"What's what?"
"That…There's sparkly fog coming in here…what's going on?!" She began to walk faster to the door.
"Donna….Donna get out of there!"
"Wot?! Why!?"
"That's reparative fumes! It's all the poisonous toxins the TARDIS has been withholding from us and she's letting it out as she reboots-but some of it must have leaked into that air shaft! Must have been broken when we landed roughly! You need to get out of there! If it touches you, it'll burn your skin right off!"
"You have GOT to be kidding me." She hiked her dress up and began to run- or limp her way towards the exit. It filled the back half of the room and was quickly bellowing towards her. She could only see clouds.
"Donna run! Come on run!"
"I AM!" She bellowed. She had about a quarter of a mile to go. The sparkly fog was beginning to descend upon her. Her hat fell off her head. She looked back in time to see it get eaten by the clouds. A faint sizzling noise rang in her ears. She picked up her pace.
Donna reached the door ahead of the fog. She twisted and pulled.
"DOCTOR! You open this door RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"
"WOT?!
"ITS LOCKED!" She cried. She banged on the door with her fists, twisting and pulling the handle with all her might! "DOCTOR PLEASE! ITS COMING!"
"HOLD ON!"
"DOCTOR!"
There was no reassurance on the intercom. He was gone. "DOCTOR!" She rammed her body up against the door. To her horror the fog was 5 feet away.
It was going to get her.
She returned to face the door, hollering with all her might, using all her strength on it.
But it was no use.
Donna's blood curdling scream drowned out the sound of the sonic screwdriver.
Beep.
Donna blinked in the light. It was bright.
Beep.
She groaned as she tried to lift her hand to block it.
Beep. .
She gasped in pain.
"It's alright Donna, it's okay, don't move, I've got you. Everything's going to be fine.
Beep beep beep beep beep.
She felt like she was on fire.
"Shhh, sh , sh, Just give me a moment. I'm sorry I've got to put this on you, you can slap me later, just please let me do this for you."
Something slimey and cold was being rubbed on her. She felt better.
Beep beep beeeeeeep beeeeeep
"Oh Donna, my brilliant, brilliant Donna, I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry. I promise I'll never let anything hurt you again like this. Come on, just stay with me!"
She was fading in and out of consciousness.
"It's okay, I've got you."
Beep. Beep.
She just wanted to sleep.
Beep.
"I've got you, you're ok, I promise."
Beep.
"Everything's going to be ok."
Donna groaned. It felt like she hadn't moved in ages. And she was warm. Her whole backside felt like she had the heater blasted on her. She blinked in the light.
She was in the medical bay. Tubes were hooked into her arm that fed her readings into a machine. She rolled her eyes and attempted to sit up. She winced in pain. Something goopey and cool was on her back. She looked around. Something moved on her.
She looked down to see a sleeping doctor's head on her lap. He sat in a chair- it was apparent that he had not moved in a few days' time. He was snoring slightly; one arm was being used as a pillow while the other was softly clutching Donna's. She smiled slightly at the sight. With her spare hand, she ran her fingers through his mess of hair, softly stroking his head.
"Good morning Spaceman." She mumbled. The Doctor fidgeted a bit and got more comfortable, still not opening his eyes. Donna rolled hers. 'Typical.'
"Good morning love" he grumbled, smacking his mouth twice and swallowing.
"Excuse me?"
"I said good morning love." He mumbled again, still not opening his eyes as he tried to get more comfortable.
"OI!" She smacked his head lightly. The Doctor sat up abruptly. He looked around, quite dazed. Aftter taking in his whereabouts he met her blue eyes.
"Donna!" He lunged forward embracing her in a tight hug!
She winced. "Maybe not so tight, Doctor." He instantly loosened his grip.
"Sorry." He muttered ashamed. He stepped back and cupped her face, looking into her eyes. It was so intimate, Donna was held aback by the gesture.
"You alright Spaceman?"
His brow furrowed and his lips tightened. He was on the verge of tears. "Don't you dare." She said knowingly.
"I…I thought… I thought you…" He was holding onto her face tighter now, stroking the sides of her face with his thumbs.
"I know."
He rushed to kiss the top of her head. He lingered a bit longer than he should have- and dropped so that his forehead touched hers.
"My brilliant, BRILLIANTly beautiful Donna Noble." He sniffed. She held onto his hands.
"Its okay Doctor. I'm okay! Look at me, I'm fine! Just a little bruised and burnt is all." At this he distanced himself from her. His eyes wandered to her marks of pain. They began to water.
"It's okay…"
he took a step back from her. "How?! How can you say that?! Look at how brilliant you are!" he let go, tears rolling down his cheeks. "Just look at you! Hurt and dragged from hell in a hospital bed and here you are, comforting me, looking out for my well-being! I should be comforting you! Taking care of you! My god, I'm such a mess!" He fell to floor in front of her feet, his head in her lap. "How can I ever keep you safe? You humans are so fragile! So delicate! I can't do anything! I can't keep you safe! I can't keep you here! I can' have forever! What happens when you're gone! I almost lost you! In my own Tardis! In our home! It's too dangerous! Sylvia….OH god Wilf! I'm rotten!"
She let him cry in her lap for a while, stroking his hair, calming him down. She soothed him till his shakes and sobs subsided. With one finger, she slowly lifted his head up. She looked him in the eyes.
"Now you listen here Spaceman, and you listen good." She dried his tears with her free hand and then placed them on his shoulders. "Sometimes, things in life happen that we can't control. You know this better than anyone. And that's ok. No one can guarantee safety or a long life together. And that's okay too." She stoked his face and played with his hair. "I know I can't promise you forever, like I always do." He tried to interrupt, but she gave him a stern look. He quieted. "But…I promise to give you my forever. And when my forever ends, whenever that may be…you have to promise to live on for me- to keep fighting and doing good in this big universe of ours. You have to promise me that. And to find someone, someone who can put up with you and stop you. Someone who you can save and can save you back in other ways too- who can be by your side and give you their forever. You got that?" He nodded solemnly. "Promise?" He sat straight. With both of his hands, he crossed an X over each heart. "Good." She hugged him to her chest and kissed the top of his head, still playing with his hair. "It's okay if you can't save everyone- as long as you tried and did your best. You have to forgive yourself, because no one else can do that for you."
warning the shipping starts here, its not that bad I promise, I don't know how this happened but it did. okay read on! or dont. whatever- too lazy to rewrite a non-shippy ending.
The Doctor looked up from his spot into her blue eyes. With a soft hand, he tenderly grabbed her by the neck and brought her lips to his.
It was soft and sweet.
They broke apart.
"I…uh…I …sorry." The Doctor slumped back down, blushing and trying to look anywhere but her. Donna's face matched her hair.
"I… no! No don't be!" She added abruptly. "It…It was nice…." She refused to look at him with bright red cheeks.
"…Really?"
"Y-yea…"
The Doctor smiled his manic grin. He popped up. "How about some tea? You've been asleep for quite a while and tea helps the body rejuvenate! I should know! Happened to me right after I regenerated into this body! Tenth me. What do you say?" His hands were in his pockets.
Donna smiled. "I'd love some."
"Right then." He started to make his way to the door. He stopped and turned around. "Wait I forgot something."
"Wot?"
He kissed her once more, leaving her red in the face and dumb-founded.
"Dumb Martian."