Awoken

Characters: Donna Noble, Tenth Doctor
~Pairings: Nothing Specified, unless you count Donna and her husband
Word Count: 2, 138
Note: Takes place after Waters of Mars, but before The End of Time for the Tenth Doctor
Very AU

For Duchess 67, dm1, Truebluetardis, BurgundyHope, and others

I was going to travel with you forever
~Donna Noble

She's dying, she knows she is.

She can feel it in her bones, her one-hundred twenty year old bones and she's surprised that she is calm.

She's lived a good life, a long life, and now she's ready.

She's ready to see her Granddad again, and her Dad, and her Mum.

She's ready to see Shaun, her husband who had passed on ages before. She died a little then, she thinks. When her loyal and faithful companion breathed his last breath and left her alone in this world, she died just a bit.

She became lonely and bitter for a while, because she kept living and living and living as everyone else around her died.

But now, at last, she was dwindling and she is ready.

She tells her family this.

Tells them that she's going to see her husband, tells them not to cry, but they do anyway.

Then she closes her eyes, peaceful and calm, until suddenly she isn't.

Because suddenly she's burning and instead of seeing blackness she sees brilliant golds and yellows, what is happening?!

Memories are rushing forth, memories from long ago, memories long forgotten and she's gasping, her eyes glowing.

No, no, no, no, no! This isn't right!

What's happening?!

Then it's over and she lays there, her family surrounding her in shock, muttering amongst themselves and Donna, she remembers.

She remembers times of blue boxes that are bigger on the inside and of adventures throughout time and space.

She remembers Pompeii and she remembers giant wasps.

She remembers the Ood and the planet made of diamonds.

She remembers the meta-crisis and she remembers forgetting (if one can remember such a thing).

But most of all she remembers him.

She remembers the tall, skinny, streak of nothing.

She remembers his sad eyes, she remembers his smile, she remembers his friendship and laughter.

She remembers her friend.

She remembers the Doctor.

Donna starts to cry.

She's not entirely sure why, maybe it's the recovery of her memories, maybe it's the fact that she is going to live on, or maybe it's for the friend that is so lonely and on his own.

Then she notices someone is speaking.

"Mum? Mum is that you?" Donna looks up; her daughter is staring at her. Her eyes so full of fear and confusion, it breaks Donna's heart.

"Yes, sweetheart, it's me I—"She stops, she sounds different, her eyes widening. "I've regenerated!" She says suddenly, memories that aren't her's clicking into place. "Quick I need a mirror!"

All at once this seems like the most important thing in the universe, she needs to know what she looks like.

She throws off the covers, noting that her clothes are too big now and that her skin seems to have lost its numerous freckles.

"Ma'am, I don't think that—"

"Not now Lee," she says rudely and then groans. "Blimey, my accent, it's changed. I sound—"her noise crinkles up and she tries to place the accent. "Gosh, I sound like I'm from the North. Hello, Hello, Hello. Blimey…that's strange. I wonder how he handles it. I mean if my voice changed every time I died, well you'd think it'd get annoying."

"Ma'am I really do think that you should—"she doesn't notice the harshness in his voice.

"This is important Lee! I need to know if—Ah ha! A Mirror!" She pulls out a hand mirror and examines herself.

She's still gingerly, thank heavens, but she's skinnier, and her skin is smoother, less blemished.

She curses, she had liked her freckles.

Plus the hair! The hair was too short! Much too short! It barely passed her ears!

"Look at this!" She says rapidly. "Look at it!" She shoves the short hair into Lee's face, which is not an easy feat, considering just how short it is. "I mean what am I supposed to do with this?! The Doctor's hair never grew I wonder if—"She stops suddenly, her eyes going wide. "No, wait a minute." Her hand goes to her chest, right side and then left. "Two hearts," she mutters thoughtfully. "I've got two hearts! Why that's disgusting?! What am I supposed to do with two hearts, it's like a bleeping samba inside my chest!"

Lee's face is growing red, she doesn't notice.

"Stupid Spaceman and his stupid DNA, first it messes with my head and now it's giving me two hearts! I mean what am I supposed to do with that?! Not quite human and not quite Ti—"

"WILL YOU SHUT-UP?!"

Donna freezes, Lee's words cutting through her sentence.

"I don't know who you think you are, or what you've done with my mum, but you are going to bring her back right now."

Lee's voice has taken on a dangerous tone and she stares up at him.

"Lee, sweetheart it's me it's—"

"Don't call me sweetheart, you aren't my mum."

"Lee, are you sure I mean she did—"

"Be quiet Ella, I'm handling this."

"Don't you talk to your sister that way," Donna tells her son harshly.

Lee's eyes narrow, "Where is my mother?"

"Please sweetheart, I'm right here, in front of you," she reaches out to touch his cheek, he pulls away.

"I won't repeat myself."

Donna backs down her eyes aimed at the floor. Lee had always been too untrusting, but it had never been aimed towards her, she feels sick.

"Please you have to believe me, and I know it's hard, but a long time ago I traveled with a man called the Doctor and—"

"No! What you are is an alien," he spits out the word like a curse and Donna recoils. "And you have stolen my mother away from me, now where is she?"

"Lee please!" Ella's begging from behind her brother, "Just calm down I'm sure—"

"You've seen the news Ella! You've seen what's been happening! And people don't just change something happened!" He turns on Donna. "Now bring her back."

"I can't," Donna's voice cracks. "I wish I could, but I can't."

Lee glares, "Ella go call the police, tell them we have an alien in our house, they'll know what to do."

"Lee I—"

"Now Ella!"

Donna watches as her daughter scrambles frantically, pulling her children with her. The others follow suit, no one wants to be in the same room as the alien, Donna's heart, no hearts, were breaking.

This is an age of judgment, aliens were slowly beginning to come peacefully to Earth, but no one trusted them. The planet Earth had been hurt too much by these creatures from space, in most people's eyes all aliens were bad…and that's what Donna was now…an alien.

She laughs, no not an alien, not quite. She was something new; something impossible.

"What's so funny?" Lee demands.

"You are," she replies, easily, "you and you're stupid judgment about everything….and I think that since I am not welcome I'll be leaving now."

"No, you're staying right where you are," Lee moves to block the door.

Donna smirks, perfect, "nah, don't think I will."

And with that she spins round and hurls herself through the window. She doesn't even open it, just barrels through the frame and off the roof.

Her mind supplying her with information about what a Time Lord, Lady, whatever would and would not survive.

She hits the ground with a thump, jumps up and runs.

Oh she had missed this…well maybe not all of it.

She certainly didn't like the curses that were flying from her son's mouth, but the running, the adrenaline, she loved it.

She runs and runs and runs, until at last she can run no longer.

She stops, breathing heavily and looks round.

She isn't entirely sure where she was, but it doesn't matter, she's safe…for now.

Shuddering she turns and walks down the streets, ignoring the people that stare at her.

She's a mess, she knows this. Her dress is too big and out of style. It's something that a grandmother would wear…for that's what she had been ten minutes ago, a grandmother.

Now she is nothing.

Now she is alone.

A stranger among familiar faces, the last and only of her kind, briefly she wonders if this was how the Doctor felt.

The Doctor, she'd find him and he'd welcome her back, she was sure of it.

All she had to do was find him.

She smiles softly to herself; she couldn't wait to see his face.

oOo

It took her two months to jimmy rig a communications device capable of reaching the TARDIS, but she did it.

Of course people would probably frown upon the ways she had come upon some of these items, but HD TVs weren't cheap and the selfish billionaire had ten more. One wouldn't matter.

Then of course there were the clothes she had stolen from his closest, but the dress had to be burned due to the blood that riddled it.

A Time Lord's blood was dangerous in the wrong hands or so said the Doctor part of her brain.

She gazes down at her creation, a mess of TVs, toasters, duct tape and she's pretty sure that at one point she had thrown in a broken pencil just because she could.

Now, at last, it was ready.

Flipping the switch she watches as the little disk spins round and round, looking for the signal.

"Come on," she mutters. "Please just this once, give me something good."

Then there's a voice emerging through the static.

"Hello?"

"Doctor?" She breaths out. "Is that you?"

"That's me," gleefully, but she can hear the fakeness. "The one and only, who is this?"

"It's me," she almost sobs. "Donna."

Nothing, just static, Donna panicks.

"Doctor? Doctor are you still there?"

"How dare you," the voice has become harsh and low, "how dare you say something like that."

"But it is," Donna insists. "It's me Donna, Donna Noble, we traveled together and you—"

"Stop it!" The Doctor screams and Donna flinches at the anger in his tone. "Donna is gone, dead." His voice cracks a bit here and Donna feels her hearts ache. "Now I don't know who you are, or how you managed to get the number for this ship, but this is your one chance. I suggest you take it and never call me again."

The line goes dead, and Donna stares, tears forming in her eyes.

No, no, no, no! Not him too! He can't just leave her too! She's all alone and she needs him. She needs a place to live, a warm bed, she needs somewhere safe.

"Please," she mutters, clutching the make-shift microphone. "Please, come back. Please. It's me it's Donna, please Doctor I—"

She was crying now, sobbing uncontrollably, but there is no reply from the other end.

Then there's the loud, unmistakable sound of something wonderful and Donna freezes, a mixture of emotions sweeping through her.

Fear, hope, doubt, relief, she stood, staring up as a blue box appeared.

Oh how she had missed that box.

Then he steps out, his eyes hard and uncaring.

Oh Doctor, she thinks sorrowfully. What have you done to yourself?

"Now listen I do—"he stops suddenly staring at her. "It's not possible," he finally sputtlers. "You, you're—Donna?"

He reaches out towards her and she slaps him, hard, before pulling him into a tight hug.

"You idiot, you stupid, idiot," she whispers, her hands grasping his jacket. "You've been traveling on your own again, haven't you?"

He's hugging her back, tightly, frantically, as if afraid that letting go would make her disappear.

"How?" He finally asks, when they've pulled apart, wiping tears away.

She smiles, "As if the DoctorDonna's was just going to die, you big dumbo. It's amazing what a little bit of regeneration energy can do."

He smiles at her, "I'll say, I mean look at you! You've gotten taller and your hair."

She growls, "I don't want to talk about it."

"You don't like it? But it's ginger!"

"It's short! And it won't grow!"

He laughs, and then after a moment he stares at her, nervously, "Are you going to travel with me again?"

"Well I don't exactly have a choice; my family thinks I've murdered myself."

He looks crestfallen and it takes Donna a moment to realize that he was blaming himself, "Oi! Don't you go blaming yourself, you big oaf. None of this is your fault."

"But it was my hand and I should've—"

"And if you had I wouldn't be here, and I quite like it here. Now what do you say, a few more adventures? For the Last of the Time Lords?"

He grins, "Oh Donna Noble I have missed you."

"Same here Spaceman," she laughs, "same here."

Obviously this is very AU and it effects the rest of the Doctor Who episodes, but you know whatever

I tried to keep the way Donna looks after regeneration a bit vague, because I didn't want a set form of how she now looks

Easter Eggs to look for:
Ella is the name of Donna's fake daughter in the fake computer world
Lee is the name of the man from the Library that Donna "marries" in said fake computer world

Speaking of which...her son Lee...please don't be too mad at him, I mean his mother did just change and he has no idea what's going on...really I don't see how his reaction is too different from the other Companions to witness regeneration, he just never gets to realize that the Donna is in fact Donna

I might continue this story if inspiration hits, but for now it shall remain a one-shot.

But I hope you all enjoyed it :D

Review Please