Title: A Red Midnight
Author: Heartwing
Summary: The Doctor convinces Donna to join him on the Crusader 50, a trip that leads to a rather different outcome than he had hoped for.
Disclaimer: I can haz Tennant plz?
Author's Note: This is un-beta-ed and hasn't been Brit-picked. I tried my best, but my program only acknowledges American spellings. If I made any awful mistakes, please let me know.
I'm also fairly new to writing in this fandom, and this is my first big project in a while.
A HUGE thank you to those who reviewed. It means a lot.

251 KLIKS LATER...

So, this is Midnight, d'you see? Bombarded by the sun!" Professor Hobbs gestured wildly in front of a screen showing a diagram of the planet. He was clearly excited, which made sense, Donna supposed, considering he'd been studying the planet for years. "Xtonic rays, raw galvanic radiation. Dee Dee, next slide!" Dee Dee carefully changed to the next one, a diagram. "It's my pet project. Actually, I'm the first person to research this. Because you see... the history is fascinating, because there is no history. There's no life in this entire system, there couldn't be. Before the Leisure Palace Company moved in, no-one had come here in all eternity. No living thing."

Donna frowned. "Well how do you know that? If you can't go outside. They can't possibly have explored the whole planet then."

"There could easily be life," Jethro added.
"Oh, here we go, with his imagination. Don't encourage him," Val said to Donna. Donna's eyes narrowed and she was about to scold the narrow minded mother when the Doctor spoke up on her behalf.

"Donna's got a point, though. Both of them do."

"Exactly!" The professor excitedly said. "We look upon this world through glass. Safe inside our metal box. Even the Leisure Palace was lowered down from orbit. And here we are now, crossing Midnight, but never touching it."

The cabin rattled and wheezed, the engines grinding to a halt. Donna could hear faint beeping, an alarm with her luck. She and the Doctor looked at each other. Another vacation plan ruined. It wasn't the first, and Donna knew it wouldn't be the last. Not with that skinny trouble magnet she traveled with.

"We've stopped," Val pointed out.

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Donna muttered under her breath. She didn't really like this woman. Val reminded her of her mum. Donna could tell already that she was going to be less than useful in an emergency. And heaven knows that this was an emergency, or it would be soon.

"Are we there?" Biff asked.

Dee Dee shook her head. "We can't be, it's too soon." Donna liked her. She, unlike half the other passengers, knew how to use her brain

The professor disagreed. "They don't stop, Crusader vehicles never stop."

"Well obviously we have," Donna told him.

The hostess tried to remain calm and in control. "If you could just... return to your seats, it's... just a small delay." Donna could tell this was a lie, it was obvious enough that she had no more idea what was going on than the rest of them. Donna watched as the hostess walked to the back. She picked up a phone to talk with the drivers.

"Maybe just a pit stop," said Biff, clearly in denial as he sat down. Donna had to bite her tounge to stop herself from giving him a sarcastic retort. The last thing she wanted was to send them into a panic.

"There's no pit to stop in," Professor Hobbs told them all. "I've been on this expedition 14 times, they never stop."

"Well evidently, we have stopped, so there's no point in denying it." Sky said almost exactly what Donna wanted to say to those two morons. She turned around as she heard a laugh coming from behind her.

"We've broken down!" Jethro seemed rather pleased by this turn of events.

"Thanks, Jethro," his mum said sarcastically.

"In the middle of nowhere!"

His father spoke this time. "That's enough, now stop it!"

Ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon, we're just experiencing a short... delay," The Hosstess said walking up the aisle and removing the screen they were gathered around before the car stopped. "The driver needs to stabilise the engine feeds. It's perfectly routine, so if you could just stay in your seats..." The Doctor and Donna looked at each other. There was nothing routine about this. The Doctor started walking towards the cockpit. "No, I'm sorry sir, I... could you please..."

The Doctor flashed her the psychic paper. "There you go, engine expert! Two ticks!"

"Sorry sir, if you could just sit down! You're not supposed to be in there..." Donna smirked as the Doctor closed the door in the useless hostess's face.

"Everybody, please, stay sitting." She tried to comfort them. "As soon as the drivers stabilise the engine, we'll be back on our way. It won't take long."

Donna rolled her eyes as she got comfortable. The other passengers settled as well. No one spoke, and the silence seemed heavy.

A minute later, the door slid open and the Doctor walked out. Everybody looked up, clearly expecting something.

Sky stood up. "What did they say? Did they tell you? What is it, what's wrong?"

"Oh, just stabilising, happens all the time." The Doctor gave her one of his please-just-believe-me smiles.

Sky didn't listen to the smile. "I don't need this. I'm on a schedule. This is completely unnecessary!"

The Hostess walked in between them. "Back to your seats, thank you." She smiled at them until Sky sighed and sat down. The Hostess opened the door into the cockpit and went in.

"Doctor," Donna whispered to him once he sat down. "What's really going on?"

"They've sent for a rescue shuttle," The Doctor told her under his breath. "I'm not quite sure why we've stopped."

Dee Dee leaned forwards. "Excuse me, Doctor," she interrupted quietly, "but they're micropetrol engines, aren't they?"

"Now, don't bother the man." The professor scolded.

"My father was a mechanic. Micropetrol doesn't stabilise, what does 'stabilise' mean?"

"Well... Bit of flim-flam. Don't worry, they're sorting it out."

"So it's not the engines?" Hobbs broke in again.

The Doctor tried to keep him calm. "It's just a little pause, that's all."

"How much air have we got?" Donna winced as he got the attention of the other passengers. If they started panicking, it would not end well.

"Professor, it's fine." The Doctor's tone clearly warning him to stop.

Val jumped in. "What did he say?"

"Nothing!" The Doctor told her.

"Are we running out of air?" She asked in panic, just as the Hostess returned.

Professor Hobbs tried in vain to calm her down. "I was just speculating."

"Is that right, miss?" Biff asked the hostess. "Are we running out of air?"

"Is that what the Captain said?" His wife added. Donna rolled her eyes.

"If you could all just remain calm..."

"How much air have we got?" Val demanded, not even giving the hostess time to answer.

"Mum, just stop it," Jethro pleaded.

"I assure you, everything is under control." The hostess's voice got a little high pitched.

"Well, doesn't look like it to me!" Biff yelled.

Val tried to lay the blame on the professor. "Well, he said it."

Everyone started talking at once, getting louder and louder.

The Doctor rose from his seat. "Shhh shhh shhh..."

"OI!" Donna bellowed. That shut everyone up instantly. "Thank you," she said sarcastically.

"Now," said the Doctor, "if you'd care to listen to my good friend Dee Dee..." He motioned to her to stand up.

"Um," She complied, though looked a little uncomfortable with everyone looking at her. "It's just that... well, the air's on a circular filter so... we could stay breathing for ten years." She sat back down.

"There you go!" The Doctor kept his voice as level as possible, not wanting to set them off again. "And I've spoken to the Captain, I can guarantee you, everything's fine."

Everyone froze as two loud knocks reverberated throughout the shuttle.

Don't worry, soon I'll start getting away from doing just about the exact same thing as the episode.
Reviews are very much welcome! :)