Took me weeks to write this. Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.
Donna stormed into the TARDIS, her boot heels clicking sharply on the metal. The coat, jacket, and scarf she had been wearing were ripped off in a whirl of movement and tossed unceremoniously onto the railing surrounding the upper level of the console room. Before anyone else could enter the room, she had stomped through the inner door and was making her way as loudly as possible to her room. Despite her obvious anger, one hand gently trailed against the TARDIS's wall to ensure her that she was not the one Donna was upset with.
The lights brightened as the ship expressed her surprise at the young human's anger. Donna's mind was too muddled with emotions for the TARDIS to be able to determine what exactly had happened. That meant she would have to wait until the Doctor returned to find out what was wrong with the female. The lights lowered suspiciously and the ever present hum of the ship took on a menacing tone. The Time Lord was taking an unusually long time in coming back considering his companion's state when she had come back. Normally he would've been right behind her trying to make up for whatever had happened.
The Doctor loitered outside of the TARDIS. He knew he should probably go in and cheer up Donna, but he wasn't really sure what he could do for her. Sure he knew why she was upset, sort of. It had to do with that guy she had been talking to when he had met up with her. They had gone on a shopping trip and after both of them complaining about being dragged into stores that the other liked had split up. About an hour, okay, so exactly 59 minutes after leaving her, he had started to miss Donna and gone off in search of her. Though if the Doctor was completely truthful with himself then he had started to miss her almost immediately but had only run out of excuses not to go find her after nearly an hour had passed. It normally took at least 14 minutes more before he ran out of excuses. He was getting worse.
"Well it's not like it's a bad thing I want to be with her," he reasoned aloud. "She is my companion for a reason. We're mates, that means we should like spending time with each other, right?"
The Doctor shoved his hands into his pockets and scuffed the sole of one trainer on the ground. He had to get his mind back on track, figure out why Donna was mad and who she was mad at. Deciding that the best way to do that would be to go back over everything that had happened between when he had spotted her and she had been happy and when she stormed back to the TARDIS in rage.
Donna stood so that the Doctor could see her profile. She was talking to someone he didn't know and gesturing wildly. The man listened attentively to her every word, leaning forward ever so slightly. The Doctor frowned when he noticed that, but, then again, who wouldn't be paying close attention when Donna was talking. He smiled when they both burst into laughter at something she had said. That was one of the traits that the Doctor loved the best about Donna, her ability to make anyone laugh.
The man put a hand on Donna's arm to steady himself and the Doctor couldn't help but find the action a little too friendly. He carefully examined the man: tall, dark hair, well-muscled but not burly, and seemed to have what Donna would consider good fashion sense. Well, the man didn't have anything on him in height and the Doctor's hair was much better than his. The Doctor also had the nice, lean body of a runner, though Donna would probably argue that it was the nice, twig body of a stick person, and he had brilliant taste in clothes. Pinstripes never went out of style. And Converse! Who didn't like Converse, honestly?
Donna swatted at the man's arm, though to the Doctor's eye it looked more joking than serious—and lighter than when she hit him as well. Well, he was pretty far away from them, far enough that even with his heightened senses he was unable to hear what they were saying. She obviously was trying to get rid of the guy, but he didn't seem to get the message. The Doctor grinned, he could help with that. After all, what were mates for?
The Doctor pushed an imaginary hat forward on his head and walked quickly to Donna's side. When he reached her, he slung an arm across her shoulders and pulled her in close before introducing himself to the man as 'the Doctor, I'm Donna's mate!' The man had stared at them blankly before hurriedly excusing himself and making a hasty retreat. The Doctor watched him retreat smugly. Today was shaping up to be a good day. At least it had been until Donna had elbowed him in the ribs and marched off.
"Oof, Donna! That hurt!" the Doctor complained as he followed her. She grunted in response. "Donna," he whined, drawing out her name. "What's wrong?"
When she didn't respond or even slow down the Doctor paused. That man must've done something to really upset Donna before he had gotten there. The Doctor started after her again, determined to find out what the man had done. He decided to let her cool down first when she snapped at someone she had bumped into. In that instant, the Doctor fully understood the human idea of 'biting someone's head off.'
The quick trip down memory lane didn't get the Doctor any closer to an answer of what was bothering Donna than he had been. That left only one option, he would have to face Donna's wrath and ask her what was wrong. The Doctor shuddered at the thought. If there was one thing his female companions had taught him over the years, it was that he was supposed to be able to guess what was bothering them and obviously wasn't paying close enough attention when he couldn't.
The Doctor took a deep, steadying breath and entered the TARDIS. He immediately tensed up, just in case Donna was in the console room waiting to slap him. Instead, he was assaulted by telepathic demands from his ship of what he had done.
"What did I do?" he questioned incredulously. "For once, absolutely nothing."
The TARDIS practically snorted in disbelief. She wasn't having any of that. He had done something to her human and whatever it was, he would fix it. And she told him as much. The Doctor opened his mouth to protest but was assaulted with a high pitched screeching noise.
"Fine! I'll get it sorted!" he yelled at the ship, his hands cupped over his ears. The noise faded back to a gentle hum. "As soon as I figure out what's wrong."
All the lights in the console room flicked off for exactly one second and then a series of lights came back on, creating a pathway into the depths of the TARDIS. The Doctor chuckled at his ship's none too subtle hint and followed the light pathway. It didn't lead him straight to Donna's room, as he had expected, but rather detoured to the kitchen where a tray with tea and biscuits was waiting. The Doctor took the tray and walked out of the kitchen to find Donna's bedroom right across the hall.
"Couldn't we give her a little more time to calm down?" the Doctor hesitantly asked the TARDIS. The ship rumbled around him, the lights darkening dangerously. The Doctor quickly retracted his question and opened Donna's door. "Brought you tea and biscuits, and they're those chocolate ones you love so much."
"Why do you always have to be so bloody sweet?" Donna complained, her frown lifting ever so slightly.
The Doctor grinned. This was going to be easier than he had anticipated. Of course, Donna had never been the sort to carry a grudge and was surprisingly forgiving considering her gruff nature. A nature that the Doctor had long since learned was more of a defense mechanism than her true personality. Donna was, in truth, a very compassionate and kind person. She had just been hurt too many times and had built a wall around herself to protect her fragile soul from more pain. A wall that the Doctor was slowly worming his way past and the soul that was being revealed to him was simply breathtaking in its beauty. He felt anger surge within him at the people who had caused her to hide her beautiful soul.
"I've got to have one or two good characteristics or no one would want to travel with me," the Doctor answered her rhetorical question while setting the tray down on the bed beside her and sitting on the other side of it.
Donna chuckled and the two settled into a comfortable silence as they ate the snack the TARDIS had made them. The Doctor attempted to work out the best way of broaching the topic of what had been bothering Donna. His gaze was fixed on the mug in his hand as he absently nibbled on a biscuit. Since he seemed distracted, Donna allowed herself to really look at the Doctor. Why had he done that earlier? A descent bloke had actually been paying attention to her and he had to scare the man off. It made no sense, the only reason Donna could think of his behavior was ludicrous. They were just mates, nothing more. He didn't want anything more and neither did she, right?
"So, ahh—what upset you earlier?" the Doctor finally asked.
"What?" Donna roused herself from her thoughts and found the Doctor looking down at her, his eyes full of concern. She swallowed and answered, "You scared that bloke off."
The Doctor raised a single brow and tilted his head slightly to the left. "That's what you were mad about?" he asked incredulously.
"Well, yeah," Donna defended herself. "It's not very often that a nice, good looking man takes an interest in me and you had to scare him off with that 'I'm her mate' business."
"You mean we're not mates?" the Doctor affected a confused and hurt look.
Even though she knew he wasn't serious, Donna rushed to reassure the Doctor, never wanting him to think that. "Of course we're mates, you outerspace dumbo. It's just the way you said it…it sounded like we were more than that."
"Oh," the Doctor's shoulders sagged. She didn't have to sound like the idea of them being more than mates, or rather mates in multiple definitions of the word, was such a horrible thing. "So would it sound better if I called us 'friends' then?"
"I—I don't know. 'Friends' doesn't quite cover us, does it?" Donna softly pointed out.
"Mates it is then!" the Doctor cheerfully asserted, his good mood quickly returning.
If this definition of mates was all that Donna was willing to give, then the Doctor would gladly accept it and keep his wishes to himself. For the briefest moment, Donna had thought the Doctor had been saddened when she said they weren't more than mates, but she had quickly dispelled that thought. he didn't want to be more than mates.