Flying the Tardis
"No, no, no, no, no! Not that one Donna. That one" said the Doctor hastily batting away her hands. "Which one?" asked Donna getting frustrated. "That one! The black squiggly one" he pointed out a random lever. "Which black squiggly one?" she asked trying to keep her temper under control. It wasn't very easy.
"The one next to the big green button" said the Doctor flipping some switches of his own. She spotted the button and looked around, "That lever isn't black or squiggly" The Doctor shouted, "Donna just pull the lever or we're going to crash into a constellation" She looked up, "We could crash into a constellation?"
"I don't know" he said pressing a few random buttons. Well, they were random to her but probably made sense to him. "But I'm not about to find out now" he continued as he picked up his trusted hammer and started to hammer the Tardis. After all the hammering he did to the machine, it was a wonder the Tardis hadn't chucked him out.
"I never thought I'd die because of crashing into a constellation" she mused. "Donna!" he shouted. "Alright, alright. Calm down! No need to get your… whatever you wear… in a twist" And she finally, to the Doctor's happiness, pulled the lever. When everything was calm and the Tardis was whirring away in the Vortex and they weren't in any danger, the Doctor looked up at his companion who was sitting comfortably on the Captain's chair.
"How is it" he started "that when I get us into near death experiences, you have the right to shout, scream and slap but when it's you who puts us in danger I shouldn't panic?" Donna sighed as if this was the stupidest question to ask. "Because Doctor" she said, "You are the genius, as you claim to be, and much better experienced than I so you shouldn't really be putting us into near death experiences. You'd think after 900 years you'd be able to stop getting into trouble but just save the day"
The Doctor sighed, "It's not that easy Donna. I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble just finds me" Donna laughed, "If you say so" and she went back to reading the magazine she'd picked up. He watched her for a moment. "Yes?" she asked finally. He grinned, "Want to have another go flying the Tardis?"
She smiled, "Sure" and then stopped "Why?" He looked confused, "What do you mean?" She rolled her eyes, "Why are you letting me near that Tardis controls after I nearly made us hit a constellation" He shrugged, "Maybe it will be useful one day. I might not be there and you'll have to know how to get back home"
She laughed, "But that will never happen, will it…?" she trailed off uncertainly. He sighed, "You never know what can happen. Life with me can be, well… unpredictable" She grinned, "I know and that's what makes it all the more fun" He grinned in delight, "It does, doesn't it?" She was about to start piloting the ship when a thought occurred to her.
"Doctor?" He looked up, "Yeah" She cocked her head to the side, "Did you ever teach her how to fly the Tardis?" He frowned, "Who Martha? No I don't think so. She asked me to but we never got round to it" She sighed, "No. I didn't mean Martha. I meant…" she stopped wondering if she should bring this up. Deciding that she should, she said "Rose"
The Doctor visibly froze. She could see that every muscle had gone still. His eyes took on that same dark and haunted look that he had whenever Rose was mentioned. Donna waited for answer hoping that he wouldn't change the subject like he normally did. Surprisingly, he didn't.
"No. Well… I started to teach her but the lesson never finished" She nodded, "Oh! Was it the day you lost her?" His face cleared and he smiled, "Oh no! We ended up crash landing on a planet called Plor. Beautiful planet. Lovely sunsets. She liked it" His face changed as a dreamy look came upon it. He was lost in happy memories of him and Rose together.
Donna smiled. She liked it when the Doctor focused on the good times. She would never admit it, at least not to him, but she cared about him. A lot. She hoped that one day he would find something to believe in.
"You may see her again you know" she said pulling him out of his thoughts. "Don't bet on it" he said trying to sound normal but she could hear the sadness underlying those words. "Why not?" she asked though he'd already told her a million times. "Because it's impossible" Well that was different. Normally he would go on about how the two universes could collapse and all that.
"Yeah but so are you and the things you see and do" she said. He went quiet for a moment. Not wanting the conversation to end, Donna said "It's good to live in hope Doctor" He gave a sad smile, "Yes it is" They were quiet for some time, the Doctor lost in his thoughts while Donna wondered if the Doctor would ever be reunited with the girl he loved.
"Anything's possible with you Doctor" she said placing her hand on top of his as a friendly gesture, the same way she'd done when they'd been in the volcano together and he'd had to make a tough decision. She'd offered him friendly support then and she would do so now and forever. He smiled gratefully.
"You'd like her" he said suddenly. "Yeah?" she asked smiling. "Yeah" he answered softly. "You think she'd have liked me?" she asked. He nodded, "Oh definitely. I'm sure you two would have been good friends. You and Jackie, that's he mother, would have been good friends too. Probably even great friends. She liked to slap me too you know" She laughed, "Yeah?" He grinned, "Yeah"
He then turned to her seriously, "if she does ever come back… you'll stay too won't you?" She was a bit shocked, "I don't know. I mean, wouldn't you too want some alone time" He nodded, "Oh yes! But I'd love it if you travelled with us too. I wouldn't dream of kicking you out Donna Noble" She smiled trying to stop the tears. He really was sweet.
"Just as well" she said, "Because if you did, I'd give you a sharp slap" He flinched, "Ooooh… now I'm definitely not going to chuck you out" She grinned and joined him in his laughter. "Right! Come on then. Chop-chop. Let's make you an expert on Tardis flying" he said clapping his hands and dancing round the console.
She smiled. One day, hopefully, she would meet the girl who had played such an important part in the Doctor's life and the Doctor would get his Rose back. Until then, they'd just have to live in hope.