Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, which will be apparent very soon. This is an AU, that dates back to when I wrote Regarding Mrs Smith and had a dream sequence with Donna on Gallifrey. Tkelparis pointed it out as a plot bunny and it stuck with me, recently erupting in this. I've brought back some of my favorite OCs from other AUs as well as some other characters that may not make sense now, but I promise will make sense later. It's best just to enjoy the ride. You don't need to know anything about the OCs from the other stories, just go with them in this one. Thank you so much, please let me know what you think and happy reading!
It had been eight years since the saucers appeared above the Earth.
Daleks. The creatures that came out of them were called Daleks. Strange looking conglomerations of a waste bin on rollers and some handy household tools.
They came and it seemed as if nothing could stop them. The Earth was defenseless. It seemed to be the end of days.
Then a great red planet appeared in the sky out of nowhere and everyone was convinced it actually was the end of days.
The planet as it turned out was called Gallifrey. It's inhabitants called themselves Time Lords. Well, at least the posh ones did and the posh ones did the talking. They were also the ones who fought off the Daleks and they said they were destroyed never to be seen again.
Which left the Earth with a new neighbor. One who somehow managed to save the smaller planet from any number of near disasters. It was as if the Daleks' arrival had opened a can of worms and now every man, woman and child on Earth knew they were not alone in the universe and it seemed their benevolent protectors were the Time Lords. It wasn't as if there was a choice. The Time Lords were technologically superior in every way.
All in all, to Donna Noble it seemed to be for the best. They protected the Earth, showed the humans some of their technology, though they did like to play the tourist, perhaps a little too often.
Mainly though, they employed her. More specifically, the Oracle, a Time Lady whose main concern was good relations between her planet and humanity. Whenever Donna asked why, she cryptically said she had her reasons. She wondered what sort of a planet Gallifrey must be if everyone walked around speaking cryptically, had to make deciding on dinner a real pain. She liked her job, though, after years as the best temp in Chiswick she had moved on to secretary for the Time Lady and it was a good thing, because Josh and Ella had been born in the wake of the Daleks and the Time Lords. There was no time to mourn for their father because she had to get on with raising them.
"Office of the High Council of the Time Lords," said Donna sitting at her desk. "Chiswick Division. How may I help you?"
"Yeah, this is Rose Tyler."
Donna rolled her eyes. "I see. What can I do for you, Miss Tyler?"
"I was just looking for the Doctor."
Donna heard brakes grind in the distance. "Yeah, give us a sec."
Donna put the phone on hold and looked up to see Mister Frobisher coming out of the Oracle's office. He was the senior liaison between the Time Lords and the government. "Ms Noble, who's on hold?"
"Miss Tyler."
"Oh," he quietly commiserated. The issue of Miss Tyler had become a thorny one since her year-long disappearance and the public clamor that a Time Lord was somehow behind it. People were distrustful enough of the Time Lords when they arrived. Donna thought maybe if the public actually knew Miss Tyler, they might change their minds. Then the business with the Silurians emerging from beneath the Earth and then... It didn't make their jobs any easier.
The Doctor entered. When Donna first met him, she thought he had a certain sort of appeal, but over time, that had completely dissipated. She couldn't bear a man who walked around angry all the time and wondered how the Oracle possibly could.
"Hello, Doctor," said Frobisher.
The Doctor didn't answer. He rarely did and when he had a word for anyone, it was a gruff one.
"Shall I see if she's busy?," Donna asked as the Doctor ignored her and walked towards the office.
"What would she be busy with?," the Doctor snapped.
"Oh, I don't know," said Donna. "Maintaining relations between two species, cleaning up after you."
The Doctor stopped and shot a glare at Donna, one clearly intended to shut her up.
It hadn't worked yet.
"Your little friend's on the phone," said Donna. "Shall I put her through?"
"Apes," the Doctor grunted and pushed further back towards the office.
"Better than being Dumbo," said Donna.
This caused the Doctor to grunt again and go into the office, where he found his wife, but was surprised to find his daughters, Oswin and Lydia.
"What are they doing here?," asked the Doctor.
The Oracle didn't bat an eye. She always maintained the placid and dignified state that Time Ladies were expected to have. "They're our children. Remember?"
"Mum was going to get us a tour," said Lydia. "See some more of Earth."
"Yeah, would be nice if you could," said Oswin, "but I guess your friend has kept you too busy. At least she gets to see some sites."
"In case you've forgotten, I don't answer to you," said the Doctor.
"No," said Oswin. "You don't answer to anyone."
"Oswin, Lydia, would you leave us?," asked the Oracle.
The girls got up and walked out.
Donna looked up and smiled to see Josh and Ella. The twins had just come from school as they did most afternoons. Donna did worry, but they were seven now. She supposed she could let them walk two blocks so long as they had a mobile and didn't make any stops.
"Hello, darlings! Come here." She reached and gave Ella a kiss on the cheek. Josh squirmed away. "What? You're not too old to be kissed by your mum yet."
"It's not cool, Mum."
"Who's looking?," said Donna.
Josh frowned and let his bookbag clatter to the floor.
"Do you have much more work to do?," asked Ella.
Donna nodded. "Afraid so. The Oracle has been very busy all day, I hadn't had a moment to rest until you two showed up."
"Josh, Ella, hi!," said Oswin.
"Oswin!," exclaimed Josh. "Mum, you didn't say Oswin was here!"
"Well, at least your trip wasn't a total waste," said Donna. The young Time Ladies were a greater source of fascination and definitely a bigger draw to spend afternoons in the office than Donna, which she well knew.
"Want to play a game?," said Oswin, pulling some oddly shaped cards out of her pocket. "I've got a new set from Mioliowionio."
"Only if you tell me how you do the trick with your pockets," said Josh.
"No trick, I told you. They're dimensionally transcendental. It's just simple physics." She smiled and sat on the sofa. "Come on."
"What do you see in her?," snapped the Doctor.
The Oracle rubbed her forehead and looked up at the Doctor, he was looking at Donna. Donna was giving an icy glare back. "What?"
"That woman-"
"Donna," she interrupted.
"Anyway, you picked her. You requested her. Why?"
"Why do you think?"
"How should I know? She's loud, she bosses people about-"
"Funny that you can spot someone else with those characteristics, yet never in yourself."
"I'm not loud."
"You're the loudest person I know," said the Oracle. "You're the bossiest person I know. You just dislike that you're alike."
The Doctor scoffed. "If you're gonna keep on like this, I may as well leave."
"Yes, just run back to that teenager-"
"It's not like that-" he said.
"You know me better than that, Doctor." The Oracle cleared her throat. "She lets you forget yourself and I really can't have you forgetting yourself. Not with what's at stake."
"And what does that mean?," asked the Doctor.
Donna had worked for the Oracle and the Time Lords since they first set up office. It really was the perfect job. Just around the corner from her house, not far from Josh and Ella's school so they could always visit in the afternoons. That and all the time off. She wondered what she would have to do to lose the job.
"Doesn't that light mean someone's on the telephone?," asked Lydia.
Donna looked down. She had completely forgotten about Rose after Oswin and the twins had started playing cards.
"It's not important," said Donna. She smiled brightly. "So, it's been a bit since your last visit. How are things at home?"
Lydia shrugged. "The usual."
Donna smiled. Lydia was the quiet one, with deep brown eyes and dark hair. Oswin carried on like her parents, talking a lot, not saying much.
"What about that sister of yours that I never see? Jenny. What's she up to?"
Lydia spoke carefully. "She is off to the mountains for a behavioral retreat."
"Oh," said Donna. "Maybe that'll be nice for her."
"It was ordered by the High Council."
"Oh," said Donna. This was clearly why they never saw Jenny. Funny, she could never quite get the girl's age straight. She had known Oswin since she was a young teenager, watched Lydia grow up from a little girl into a young lady, but Jenny never made the trip and Donna couldn't remember anyone mentioning her until a couple of years ago.
Donna heard a commotion. She looked across the glass wall down to the great lobby of the office where some men in black masks and tracksuits were arguing with Ms Spears. Mister Frobisher emerged from his office and that's when bullets started flying.
Donna shoved Lydia behind the desk first. She hurried towards Josh and Ella and hid them.
Then she realized Oswin was just standing there. She went to get the girl down and suddenly found herself facing a man with a black mask and a very big gun.
Then she wasn't. She saw a blur of the red fabric from the Oracle's dress and the realization she was on the floor as the bullets shattered the glass that protected them.
There was a flurry of other bullets as security arrived and the gunmen fell to the floor.
"Mum!," cried Lydia.
Donna looked. The Oracle was dead, laying in a heap.
"It's okay, sweetheart," said Donna. "Come here."
The girls stood there, transfixed.
"Why isn't she regenerating?," asked Oswin.
"What?" Donna turned back to the twins. "Josh, Ella, are you alright?"
"What's that?," asked Josh.
Donna looked behind her. The Doctor had fallen to the floor, she had lost track of him in the fray, everything was happening so fast. His hands began glowing, then his head, then it was like waves of golden light coming off him and then he erupted into flames.
Then suddenly there appeared to be a different man in the Doctor's clothes. He appeared with spiky brown hair and big brown eyes.
"Doctor?," asked Ella.
The man nodded. "Right, right, just a minute. Shot, didn't see that one coming." He paused. "New teeth. That's weird. Where were we?"
"What the hell just happened?," asked Donna.
She didn't get her answer, though, because just as the Doctor looked ready to answer, he realized what had happened. He rushed over to the Oracle, the new eyes looking like a deer in headlights.
"Oracle, Oracle, no," he said, cradling her. "Don't do this! I didn't mean it! I never meant any of it! Regenerate!"
Donna looked. Oswin and Lydia were in tears. They were in disbelief, something had gone wrong. Donna could only guess at that maybe the Oracle was supposed to have done whatever the hell the Doctor just had. Donna shook it off and turned back to her children to tend to them.
The police came and the ambulances came along with the news crews.
Donna could only watch as the newly born and freshly broken Doctor collected the Oracle in his arms and disappeared with Oswin and Lydia to his blue box.