AN: thisis a one shot that came to me when I was watching "Turn Left" last night. Just something on what Donna's thoughts might have been throughout the episode.

Disclaimer: I don't own doctor who

She Knows More Than She Lets On

The first time that they meet, they are both confused and disoriented. Her, wondering what is going on and what the bloody hell is a giant web doing in the sky and why are there soldiers in the streets. The blond woman who speaks to her seems to not really quite understand either, what with her questions about the "doctor". But she can't help but think, as the blond woman says something about how she "shouldn't even be here" and how she was "just passing by" and about how "this is wrong, this is so wrong" that the blond woman stares at her back just a little too long, and denies seeing anything a little too quickly. And she can't help but get the feeling, as she turns around from looking behind only to find that the other woman has disappeared as if she was never there; that disoriented as she may have seemed, the blond woman had known more than she let on.

The second time they meet, she's just lost her job and is walking around outside for no real reason other than to simply get away from her mother who has given up on her. There's a flash of light almost like fireworks, and the blond comes dashing out of the alleyway in front of her. She seems calmer, more certain of her bearings this time, though she tries to act as though she doesn't know what's going on. But she still denies looking at Donna's back a little too quickly, even when it's painfully obvious that she's staring straight at it. Then, after the blond woman tells her to keep the raffle ticket and get a nice little Christmas break with vacation that she's going to win, that Donna starts to wonder if maybe she's just insane. But on Christmas morning of next year, she stands outside the hotel with her mother who has admitted to giving up on her and her grandfather with his love of outer space and the stars; and watches the city of London go up in smoke, where she would have been had someone not told her to keep the raffle ticket. She stands there and is certain of it: she knows more than she lets on.

The third time they meet Donna is the one to go up to her, seeing the flash of light and realizing by now that it has something to do with the mysterious blonds' appearance. She walks up to her, sick of having people stare at her back and of how the world just seems to be getting worse day after day, and simply says "hello." And she knows that this woman will understand in that mysterious way she has that it really means "I'm ready to know. I was scared before, but things can't get much worse and you obviously keep bumping into me for a reason. So please, tell me what you know." And the blond woman simply looks at her and says "hi." And somehow, Donna Noble knows that what she's really saying is "If you're sure you're ready, then I'll tell you everything that I can." So she talks and Donna listens, and she learns about ATMOS and parallel worlds and a tall, thin man in a suit with really great hair, and of a darkness that is coming and that no one except a dead man, a man whose death she was meant to prevent, can stop it. And she insists, over and over again, that she is nothing special, and the other woman tells her she's the most important being in the whole of creation. And then, Donna thinks that finally, the other woman has told her everything, when she asks about her grandfather's telescope. And Donna stands there, wondering how she knows about that, when the other woman tells her that she has to be sure; when she finally decides to come with her, because when she does, the blond woman tells her, "I'm sorry donna, so sorry, but you're gonna die." This time, she watches as the blond fades away and is mesmerized by the look of sadness in her eyes and wonders, what must it be like, to know the world is supposed to be another way entirely. For her to know that, and yet have to depend on someone else to change it. She thinks to herself that she's glad she doesn't have to be the one to carry that burden, to know more than she can ever let on.

The fourth time, she has seen the stars disappear and knows that the woman is standing behind her, waiting, because she's got to be certain. And she is, because she thinks she understands know, what the blond meant when she said she would die. And later, after entering a little blue police box that's bigger on the inside; after nearly asking if the blond and that wonderful man were together, but stopping because the look on the other woman's face is just too sad and painful, as if she knows what Donna's going to ask; after seeing the beetle on her back that she realizes maybe this woman doesn't have all the answers, maybe she simply stepped into to a pair of shoes just slightly to big for her because the person they belonged to isn't there anymore and no one else can hope to fill them. And then, as she discovers that she is needed for more than simply saving a life, she looks at the blond, who seems to have all the answers and knows just what to do, who tells her to make certain that she turns left, that there is something else the blond has hidden other than her name. The fear that she isn't doing the right thing, that she can't fill those shoes left behind by this person that was so important both to her and the fate of this world, is plain to see in her eyes. It's as she's leaving, being sent into the past by a machine that they aren't even certain about, that she tells the blond about finally understanding what she meant by saying she was going to die. She wants the woman to tell her that she's right, that she's not really going to die, but simply going to disappear with the rest of this world that shouldn't exist. But the other woman stays silent, and Donna begins to panic, but an instant before she is tugged into the past she sees the look on the other woman's face and realizes once again that she knows more than she lets on.

The last time they meet, Donna finally understands just what she meant when she spoke of her death and of how it was up to her to determine a way to make herself turn left. And as she leans over a dying woman and asks her to tell him two words, two words that make absolutely no sense to Donna but she is certain that the doctor will understand, she looks at her and wonders how much else this woman knew, but never let on to anyone.

Later, after she has given the doctor the mysterious message and discovered the identity of the mysterious woman who knew so much more than she let on, she listens to the doctor and watches him rambling around while she thinks about the expression on his face and the tone of his voice as he told her who she was. And she thinks to herself, that even with all the things Rose Tyler knew that she never let on, she didn't know the one thing she should have known, the one thing she deserved to know.

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