A/N: First of all, thanks to all that have read this story, and special thanks to all who followed or reviewed, your words meant a lot to me. Secondly, sorry for the delay, but the chapter ended up being longer than I thought it would. Hopefully only one more to go.
Warning: spoilers for a lot of episodes from series 4 of nuwho, and also spoilers for The End of Time. In fact, if you read this, Im asssuming you already watched both parts of that episode.
Disclaimer: I forgot to say this before, so: no I don't own Doctor Who, the BBC does.
Chapter 2:
In the last years, Christmas in London always brought weird things with it. In hindsight, Shaun should have not expected this one to be different in any way.
It was the first Christmas Shaun was spending with Donna's family the day that strange things started happening. First Wilfred disappeared not long after they had opened the presents and Sylvia justified his absence with some foggy excuse, changing the topic with next to no subtlety an soon as she was pressed for information.
It was not long after the old man's absence that the next strange thing took place. He was having a normal conversation with his fiancée when with no warning whatsoever Donna suddenly pressed a mobile phone to her ear, a look of utter horror etched clearly on her face while she stared at him and at her mother. But he was not sure who she was calling or what she was saying, because something wrong was going on, his brain felt fuzzy, and not knowing what was happening made him exasperated and worried. Then his head started shaking with unnatural speed, and then world seemed to dissolve around him.
When it formed again it took some seconds before Shaun could take in his surroundings properly. But when he did, panic overtook him. He could have sworn no time had transpired at all since his loss of consciousness, but it obviously had. Since Donna was not in the room. The spot where she had been standing, in what for Shaun had been an instant ago, had a notorious lack of the ginger woman. So the first question he asked, his tone stressed, was where Donna was. Sylvia, who was standing next to him and looked just as confused as he did, proved of no help. Everything started shaking, and in desperation he ran towards the door, followed by his mother in law to be.
He was met with chaos. The streets were full of people running, and terrified screams. He looked at the sky then, and saw the next strange event of the day, something enormous coming towards them. It looked like a planet, an enormous red planet. For a moment he and Sylvia just stared at it in awe, then he bolted, yelling Donna's name at the top of his lungs, going wherever his legs would carry him, while he was jostled by people also hurrying around him in any direction, desperate to get somewhere, anywhere, safe.
He didn't know for how long he searched; Shaun lost count of the time. But his side had began to ache with the effort, and he could barely force himself to continue over the tired feeling in his legs when he ended in an alleyway that was very close to the house he had been in last. His gaze fell upon a figure lying on the ground, one he would recognize anywhere. He felt a quiet sob fall from his lips, half relieved, half terrified, and went to her, bending down next to Donna as soon as he reached her. He eased her head on his legs and touched her forehead. It was cold, too cold. He wondered how long had she been there, and took her limp body in his arms, hugging her hard. That was when he noticed something and looked at the sky. And to his complete happiness, there were now no menacing red elements in it anymore. So he just hid his face in her hair and allowed himself a moment of weakness, crying into it with all his might.
As soon as the tears finally stopped flowing and he had recovered from his crazed run, he hauled Donna up, and left, carrying her to her fortunately close by mother's house. Sylvia was there already, waiting for them. He laid the still unconscious Donna on the sofa, and tried to wake her up. But she would not. He and Sylvia exchanged words of concern about her wellbeing while he continued his attempts to wake her up. But it wasn't until a weird warping sound was heard from outside, that Donna finally opened her eyes. Maybe in another case Shaun would have searched for the source of the noise, but at the moment he was just so elated at seeing her back again that all he could do was look at her in happiness and assure her that she was alright, that she was at home. She appeared surprised at first, before asking him and her mother, in a disbelieving tone, if she had missed something, again. All he could do was let out a weak laugh in relief and kiss her forehead softly, trying to convey how much he had worried and how relieved he was to have her back in one piece. Sylvia then left the room towards the noise they had heard before, and Shaun smiled at Donna.
Then he suddenly heard Wilfred's voice, and the first word it pronounced froze the blood in his veins, effectively stopping the momentary sense of peace he was feeling after that terrifying day.
"Doctor! Are you sure about this?"
"I am, completely. I would not risk it if there were any possibility she could be hurt. Now is the perfect moment, I think… I know I can help her." It was another voice, one Shaun had never heard before.
There was a short pause and then Wilf spoke again. "I trust you" The confidence in that single sentence was overwhelming.
He felt Donna grow restless to the sound of the second voice, and just then Wilf entered the room, followed by a man with spiky wild bangs and dressed in a brown pinstripe suit and Converse. His face was covered in an array of multiple small cuts and bruises. And his brown eyes were drinking Donna in as if he had found an oasis in the middle of an enormous desert, just when he had lost all hope of it ever happening. Upon that intense look Shaun felt a deep sense of foreboding.
Sylvia followed behind them both and did not seem happy at all. On the contrary, she was seething at the new man.
"If this hurts her…" she said, and unfinished threat in her words.
Without shifting his gaze from Donna the man answered, shaking his arm at her dismissively "It won't. On the contrary, it will help her".
Donna, meanwhile, was fidgeting under the new man's gaze, and finally snapped "Oi, mate, what are you looking at?"
In response, his gaze softened, and instead of giving her an answer, he asked his own question "Do you know who I am?"
Donna shrugged. "Yeah, saw you that once. The day everybody was talking about pepper pots and vanishing planets. One of gramps' friends, John Smith, wasn't it? Not difficult to remember, considering how common that name is."
"No, not John Smith" he denied softly, shaking his head "I'm the Doctor"
Shaun heard Sylvia's sharp intake of breath at that. And he himself felt paralyzed; as if he was watching an accident unfold before him that he could do nothing to stop and could only stare at until it happened.
"The Doctor." Donna repeated, frown creased as if trying to recall something.
The man's smile became enormous.
"Yes." he confirmed, and went to the sofa, next to which Shaun still stood, rooted to the spot since the other man had entered the room.
"Shaun Temple, isn't it? Do you mind if you would let me be by Donna? It's important I'm in direct contact with her for what is going to happen now." The man called the Doctor said, not unkindly.
But that finally woke Shaun enough. He felt angry, because he knew that this man was the one Donna dreamt with every night, the man to whom every smile had been sent to while she slept. And it made him furious, that he had dared leave her, when she obviously needed him so much. Shaun had been the one to pick the pieces of the woman the other man had broken, and now he came back as if everything was already forgiven.
"What do you want with my fiancée?" he made his tone harsh and felt a little sense of victory when he saw the other man flinch, albeit very slightly, at the last word.
The Doctor had opened his mouth, but it was another voice that sounded first. And it belonged to the woman still lying on the sofa.
"Shaun, I trust him, I know he is going to help."
He looked at Donna incredulously "You've only seen him once before" Alright, he was sure she had not, but it was not as if she knew, so it was illogical she could confide in him with that ease.
"Gramps said he trusted him, so I do too. And apart from that, I can't explain it, but something tells me I should."
And just like that all the rage inside him melted into exhaustion. He suddenly felt the energy drained from him. He just got up, and the Doctor immediately knelt where he had been a few seconds ago.
So Shaun watched warily as the Doctor, with a smile he was sure the other man intended to be a reassuring but ended looking more tense than anything else, moved his hands towards her, in a slow, deliberate way intended both to not startle Donna and also to leave clear at every moment what he was doing. His eyes were still looking at her as if she was everything he could possibly hope for, and it unsettled and confused Shaun, because if she really meant so much for him he just could not understand why he had left her at all in the first place.
But when those fingers were about to make contact with her temples, she suddenly stiffened so much that the Doctor froze. And a second later Donna's hands had closed around his wrists. Shaun tensed, ready to go back to her side the moment she needed it, but giving the man that had suddenly arrived in his live the benefit of a doubt. Only because Donna had told Shaun she trusted him. Only because she looked truly happy when she was dreaming of him. Only because Shaun knew that as much as he himself could make her better, he could never really make her whole.
And he was starting to understand what it would mean for him, for them both, if the Doctor brought back all she had lost. He had wanted for her to remember, and now that she could, a very selfish part of him wanted the opposite, even if he knew at the same time he would do all in his power to help her, just as he had that first day he saw her, when she was just a stranger.
Meanwhile the Doctor was stone still, Donna's hands still stopping his own, a question in his eyes.
"Don't" Donna almost ordered, shaking her head furiously "Last time nothing good came out of doing this. So stop if you came to take away something more from me." And her eyes strayed, just for a moment towards Shaun, who felt his heart leap in response, before they locked back with the Doctor's "Never again. If you came back just to do that then you can leave already."
There were a few seconds of agonized silence after this. Wilfred and, rather surprisingly, Sylvia, had kept silent during the whole exchange, and Shaun felt that if he let himself talk and say everything that was in his mind, he would never stop. And he could wait while he had the feeling the Doctor could not, that he had not chosen this exact moment to come to Donna on a whim. And that the red sphere that had hung in the sky during his desperate chase for Donna had a lot to do with it. So he stayed silent, watching events unfold before him and feeling powerless, like every time his fiancée got that desperately empty look in her eyes. Like she had now, after saying those words to the man kneeling at her side. And Shaun knew he would forgive said man anything if he took it away forever.
The Doctor had reared back, looking like he had been hit. It seemed to take him a while to be able to say anything, but when he did his tone was tone was tentative. "You remember?"
"No, but I just know it was that way. So don't you dare try again."
The Doctor seemed to be choosing his next words carefully. "You said you trust me."
"I do" her answer was fast and sure and it made the man whose wrist's she was still holding, almost like a lifeline, smile a little.
"If you do, let me do this. I want to give everything back" he paused a moment, his eyes darkening in a strange way, a way that Shaun could not define, and continued, his voice a tad forceful "absolutely everything. But it has to be done now, Donna, for a reason, or I will never have the opportunity again. I will explain why soon, but right now we have little time and the less we waste the better. So, let my do this? Because if you don't I will not. This time is different from the last in another sense: now you make your own choice, and I will not take it away from you."
As soon as he stopped talking the Doctor edged down slowly and pressed his forehead against hers, in a movement so completely natural that Shaun could not make himself angry about it. He did not like seeing it, but at the same time it felt like it was meant to be, and he hated that fact.
The Doctor's eyes were looking deep into Donna's own until he sighed slowly, closing them. "I promise."
The only answer he got was Donna suddenly letting go of his arms at last, her arms, understandably tired after been raised for long, falling limply to her side.
Eyes opening again at the loss of contact he finally pressed his fingers to her face, extremely gently, and even if Donna tensed again, this time she did not make any movement to stop him.
And then he talked, low, so low nobody but Donna could hear what he was saying, his fingers never leaving her face. Sometimes Shaun heard a word, a name or a location, and even if he did not recognize most of them, others were familiar to him because he had heard Donna saying them in her sleep. He did not know how long he stood there, watching him whispering into her ear, but he knew it had been a long time. He could hear Sylvia and Wilf talking, also in hushed tones behind him, but Shaun could not take his eyes away from the sight before him. He sat down on a chair, his fists closed so hard that his knuckles turned white and his nails cut into his palm. And all the time, two conflicted feelings fought inside him, one that only wanted for her to remember everything and another that repeated itself inside his head 'please, please don't let it work, please, please' without knowing who he was asking for it not happen.
So there he was, fighting with his emotions and feeling horrible just for entertaining the thought of not wanting her to be made better, no matter what it was he had to pay in return. He didn't take his gaze away from the two in front of him, so he noticed immediately when the Doctor jerked back suddenly, cut brusquely in mid-sentence, his index finger still touching her temples. He was about to break the silence he had been keeping for what looked like an eternity, when he noticed the golden light that covered Donna's eyes and he could not help the loud, horrified gasp that came from his mouth. He vaguely registered first Wilf and then Sylvia stopping their conversation in response to the sound he had made, but his eyes were glued to the pair right before him.
He could see the Doctor's face hardening with resolve and a second later the same golden light seeped out his skin. Instantly, like metal attracted to a magnet, the one hovering over her eyes went to join the increasing number of said light surrounding him. They stayed like that, the golden substance coming out of her eyes going towards the one coming from the Doctor, until his figure of was invisible because of the amount around him.
And then the golden light around him seemed to burst, scattering in every direction, but a second later it all stopped in mid air for an endless moment. And then all the particles shot in the same direction, towards the open window and then the sky, where they soon were out of sight.
A stunned silence filled the room. Shaun felt the taste of blood in his mouth and realized he had been biting his lip so hard during the entire ordeal he had pierced skin. He forced his teeth to release it, and also himself to take deep breaths, because he had stopped breathing. Sylvia and Wilf were looking at the scene with uncertain and troubled eyes.
The Doctor had emerged among the midst of the golden light when it had exploded. Something in Shaun's mind was surprised to realize that he looked completely cured of all the wounds that covered his face and there was a healthier look about him, but he was so focused on Donna that he didn't give that thought much heed.
The Doctor's attention seemed to be trained solely on her too. Finally he removed his fingers from her face, and for all his confidence that he would not hurt her he looked awfully nervous.
"Donna…" he said softly, worry in his tone, and something else, something Shaun really did not want to think much about.
Donna, who had closed her eyes as soon as the golden light had stopped streaming from them opened them at the sound of his voice, and trained them on the worried face hovering over her.
"Spaceman…" she murmured them, using the same tone the Doctor had used mere seconds before and making Shaun's stomach plummet to his feet and his heart soar at the same time. Happy because she was well at last, sad because of what he could sense in the way she had pronounced that single word.
The Doctor then made a choked sound that seemed like he was forcing back a sob, and before anyone could react, still kneeling by her on the floor, he pressed his head over Donna's shoulder and even if no more noises came from him, Shaun could see his back tensing in a way that suggested he was holding back tears. He could read in Donna's face that she could also feel him trembling, and even if it was obvious the man burying his face in her arm owed her an explanation it was also clear that she could not make him give one at that moment.
So all she did was shift slightly towards him, so that the top of his head was grazing her neck, and moving her arm, the one he was not nestling into, she brought her hand gently to the back of his head, tangling her fingers into his hair and leaving it there.
Shaun heard then two simultaneous releases of breath, and tore his eyes from the scene before him for the first in what felt like hours. His neck joints made a cracking sound when he turned to look at Willf and Sylvia, the relief and happiness in their faces unmistakable.
It made Shaun wonder why the only feeling he could share with them is relief.
For some reason none of them interrupted the scene before them. After some time it is the Doctor that pulls his head back, Donna's hand falling back to her side as he moves and stares at her. The smile that grazes his features as he looks down is the most sincere one Shaun has seen him wear, and it matches the one of the woman he is gazing at.
"Is my daughter really alright? She better be, Doctor, otherwise you won't find a place in time and space to hide from me, no matter how far away that machine of yours takes you."
It is Sylvia who breaks the silence at last, her words are threatening but even they cannot hide the contentment that leaks through at the sight before her. Shaun does not understand half of what she means, but waits for the answer, wanting whatever has really happened confirmed or denied no matter how clear it seems at the moment.
"Nothing to worry about." the Doctor sounds cheerful. "No more risk of overloaded, burning minds or missing memories. All is back at should be." Suddenly the Doctor looks a little worried. "So no need to go getting axes or anything at all sharp in the house." he continues in a rush.
Wilf chuckles at that and Sylvia looks affronted, while Donna smacks the man by her side in the arm without real force.
"I've told you a thousand times, Martian boy, the fact that she has a giant axe doesn't mean she usually goes around waving it against people."
"So you say, but I saw her wielding it against that car with your grandfather trapped in it with a skilled accuracy that definitely suggests practice!" The Doctor exclaims, only half joking.
"Are suggesting my mother is a deranged serial killer or something that practices her "skilled accuracy" with whomever randomly passes by her?!" Donna seems to doubt if she should be amused or offended.
"When did I say that? All I said that seeing her abilities I find is best if no axes are in her hands anywhere near me."
"No wonder you never wanted to come and tell her anything! You were scared of my mother! You save the universe against evil, terrifying aliens, and yet you panic at the thought of coming to make a simple announcement to my mum!"
Shaun has only understood half of what they are saying. He just stares at them, the familiarity with which they speak to each other making his suspicions about them grow with each passing moment. But after hearing the last words he wonders what Donna means with far more interest than anything he has not grasped about their conversation up till then.
The Doctor seems aggrieved at the accusation, and is fast to defend himself "You know, it wasn't a "little" announcement, as you put it. And I wasn't frightened at all. I thought that when great axe handling abilities were concerned, I should just be… cautious! Yes, that's it! Very cautious!"
If Donna's disbelieving snort is anything to go by, she is not buying what he tells her at all. She opens her mouth, probably to continue their conversation, but it is another voice, an outraged one, that speaks instead.
"Stop talking about me like I am not in the room!" Sylvia bellows so high it is a miracle nothing made of glass breaks. Beside her, Wilf is trying, and failing, to keep a straight face.
The bickering finally stops, and the surprised looks of the two people that have just been admonished prove that they had, in fact, forgotten that Sylvia was in the room.
No, Shaun realizes, that anyone but them was there. And why something as simple as that hurts he is not sure he wants to know.
Wilfred then goes to them and looks at his granddaughter with a smile. "I'm so glad you remembered, love. You noted the absence of those memories every single day without knowing what you missed, and you looked so sad about it. I hope you never will again."
Wilf had noticed then, exactly what Shaun had. The hollowness deep in Donna's eyes. The emptiness that had been just filled back with the memories that had been taken. And if not for anything else, at least Shaun felt happy knowing that if nothing went wrong, he would never have to see that look in her eyes again.
"Thanks gramps. I'm very grateful that I remember everything again too" And for the first time Shaun feels a smile, albeit a little one, creep onto his face, glancing at her and seeing, for the first time since he has met her, her eyes completely devoid of the haunted look.
"Yes, this is all very well," Sylvia stars speaking suddenly "and we are all very happy that Donna is not in any immediate danger, but since all is well now I think it's time for you to go, Doctor."
Shaun agrees completely with those words, but it seems he is the only one. Wilf looks at his daughter with a shocked expression, and the Doctor turns his head so fast Shaun is surprised he doesn't get whiplash. But the reaction that makes him feel worse is Donna's. Her eyes widen in fear, and in a swift movement she takes the Doctor's hand in hers, an instinctive move, and holds it so hard that it must be hurting him. He does not complain, however, and clutches her hand even tighter.
"He is not leaving." fright and anger ring through Donna's words in equal measure, and Shaun cannot decide if she is aiming them to her mother or to the Doctor. "Not until he wants to."
Sylvia looks about to argue, but is interrupted by the Doctor suddenly standing up, letting go of Donna and clapping his hands.
"Right, that was enough excitement for someone who has just gotten over a time lord-human metacrisis –something that has never happened before, may I add- so time for rest." He suddenly stops for a moment, grimacing in pain as he leans down to press his hands against his legs. "Ouch, I've kneeling down for too long and now my knees are going to hurt for awhile, I'm afraid. Great for a Time Lord constitution, and for the regenerative energy, otherwise they could still be hurting tomorrow, imagine that… Anyway where was I? Ah yes. Recovering from a metacrisis requires rest, so Donna, some sleep…"
"No" Donna interrupts then his rambling. Something for which everyone in the room seems to be grateful, especially Shaun, who has not understood anything at all and is actually getting annoyed with everyone talking without making sense at all half the time.
The Doctor looks disheartened and the single word "What do you mean, no? You need to sleep, and when you wake up you will be as good as new!"
"You know, Spaceman, I'm actually tired, but first I want to know what happened for me to be able to have my memory back."
"Yeah, I know, but it is a long story and…"
"I want to know what is happening, too" It is the first time Shaun speaks in hours, and his own voice is alien to his own ears. "You've all been talking nonsense since that man entered the house, an enormous red planet was hovering over Earth and I want an explanation of what is going on!" He cannot keep the indignation out of his voice.
"Shaun" Donna says then, as she finally moves and goes from lying on the sofa to sitting on it. Wilfred and Sylvia take their chance and sit beside her. The Doctor, probably sensing that he is not going to get Donna to rest before he tells her what she wants to hear, gives up and sits on a chair. The way Donna pronounces his name is tainted with a mixture of guilt and shock, as if she had not acknowledged his presence at all before he had opened his mouth seconds before.
Shaun takes a deep breath. "I want to know what transpired today. But I also want to know who" he signals to the Doctor "he is exactly. You all seem to, and I am fed up of being the only one around here that hasn't got a clue what is going on at all!"
"Until a few minutes ago I was as much in the dark as you are now." Donna speaks quietly, and then she looks at the Doctor as if asking for something. Shaun can see the remorse in the Doctor's face at her words, but when he senses her eyes on his face, he nods. It ticks Shaun that she seeks the other man's approval for anything, but then Donna starts explainig and he lets his irritation pass to listen to what she has to say.
"This is going to be hard to believe, and I understand if you don't, because if it hadn't happened to me personally I probably wouldn't. But please, let me talk, okay?"
"I will" Shaun confirms, wanting to get information at last, no matter how far-fetched.
"Yes" Sylvia agrees with him "we all want an explanation."
"Mum, most of what I am going to tell first you and gramps already know about it. Anyway, a few Christmas ago I was going to marry Lance, someone you all have met or heard of. Luckily for me, I met the Doctor that day, and I he saved my life, and I his."
"Lance also disappeared that day and nobody knows exactly what happened" Sylvia mutters under her breath, shooting the Doctor a suspicious looks.
Donna continued as if there had been no interruption "In the end, Lance proved to be worthless, so it was good I didn't marry him. As a result of our meeting, the Doctor asked me to leave with him. Shaun, the Doctor is an alien, his species is called the Time Lords, and he has a ship, called the TARDIS, that travels through time and space and looks like a blue box."
She pauses for a moment and looks at Shaun, who is staring back with eyes opened wide with astonishment. He sees her waiting for him to speak, probably expecting to tell her she is insane. Well, he is not completely convinced, but with all the invasions that have been plaguing London recently it is not an impossible concept.
"So, this Doctor, this… alien… gave you a chance to travel with him?"
"Yes, he did, and I said no."
Shaun had not been expecting that.
"However, I ended regretting that decision, and after my father died, I decided to travel and went to Egypt. But it was nothing compared to what the Doctor had to offer. So I searched for him for over a year. And finally, finally, I found him. And this time I did leave with him.
Donna continued talking then, and Shaun listened. She told stories about far away planets and distant times, either long gone or still to come, about alien invasions and a library so big it occupied an entire world, while creatures that lurked in the shadows grew among the books. Even Wilf and Sylvia seemed very interested in some of her stories. But most of all she talked about the Doctor, about how he would help as much as he could wherever they went, with a fondness in her tone that made Shaun's chest ache.
At last she told them about the Daleks and the metacrisis incident, and how her memories had been taken away as a result. She glowered at the Doctor at that, something that made him seem uncomfortable.
When she finished the Doctor stood up.
"Well, I'll take it from here, then. As you all must have seen today, there was a big red planet in the sky…"
"I didn't" Donna interjected.
The Doctor had a disbelieving look in his face "I don't know why I am even surprised" he muttered to himself "but you did see people turning into someone else, at least, didn't you? I mean, I know that didn't happen to you."
"Yes." Donna shuddered.
"What are you all talking about?!" Sylvia sounded as lost as Shaun felt. Again.
The Doctor groaned. "There seems to be no fast way to go through this. I'll explain everything then, even if Wilf was there for most of it."
So the Doctor told them everything, from being warned of danger from a species called the Ood to the trouble with someone called the Master and with the rest of the Time Lords. And he told them about regenerating, something his species did to cheat death, and how that had been happening to him when he saved Wilf. Donna was obviously tired and had already yawned a couple of time during his speech, and the Doctor had clearly noticed, as he was talking as fast as he could while still being understood, which was a surprising speed. It made Shaun wonder how he managed without breathing.
"So it was then, when the regeneration process was about to start, that I realized that I could bring back Donna and save myself from changing at the same time. And, even if the appearance of Gallifrey brought bad things with it, it could also bring a good one. You see, after the Time Lords –except for me- and our planet went back to their place in the Time Lock, for a small period of time the connection between them and the rest of the universe was closing, but there still was a small breach slowly disappearing, too small to let anything pass except…
"Time Lord energy." Donna finished for him, an awed look on her face.
"Exactly" the Doctor confirmed her words, excitement clear on his face. "Last time, I didn't change because I sent it towards my hand, because it could support and draw it in. This time, I sent it to another place that could attract it: the Time Lock. And that was why I came here to you; I forced the Time Lord energy inside your mind to go away too, sweeping it away with mine. Doing that removed my memories and knowledge from your brain, and at the same time unlocked yours. I don't think you are completely free of Time Lord rests, but at least the amount of energy left is too small to harm you at all.
Donna didn't look convinced "But that energy, it went to Gallifrey, what happened to it?"
The Doctor's excited demeanor changed at that question "They are in a war, Donna. It will probably find badly wounded or dying Time Lord somewhere and save them having to use a regeneration of their own."
He looked so tired and sad at the idea that for a moment he resembled the age he had claimed to have, something Shaun had trouble believing until that moment.
"Anyway" he went on abruptly, aiming to sound cheerful and not altogether succeeding "I think that was enough explaining. Now anyone that has overcome a metacrisis in this room should go have a long rest."
"You say that as if people overcome metacrisis every day." Donna said with amusement.
The Doctor grinned "No, only you because you are that brilliant. Now you've had enough excitement for one day, so of to bed with you."
She raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Me? I think you and gramps had ten times the excitement I did."
"Yes!" Wilf confirmed happily. "Donna, you should have seen me! I was great defending that spaceship, the one the Doctor jumped off. Well the Cactus man did very well too, couldn't have done it without him."
The Time Lord nodded "While that it is true that we had an interesting day, we really don't need the rest as something essential to get better. You're okay now, but your brain needs to relax so that it can become accustomed again with the memories it has been deprived of for more than a year, and most importantly, the potentially harmless rests left of the metacrisis energy."
"You worry too much Doctor, I'm not tired at all." If her eyes were not drooping at the same moment she spoke, it would probably have been more convincing.
Shaun felt concerned. "Donna, love, he's right, you look exhausted." The unhappy stare the Doctor gave him as he called her by the endearment term was so well hidden he was sure he would not had noticed had he not been searching for it. Even so, it was so short lived he was not completely sure he had even seen it.
Sylvia grudgingly agreed. "Just this once, I admit that madman might have a point." Wilf chuckled at that.
"Are you all ganging up on me?"
"Why are so scared to go to sleep?"
The Doctor and Donna both spoke at the same time, and yet it was his quiet whisper the one that somehow carried through the room.
Her face crumpled suddenly at the question "You will leave, won't you, the moment I lose consciousness. Now that you know I'm safe from having my mind burned, you can do it without feeling guilty."
The Doctor moved so fast that he seemed to just appear in front of her in an instant.
"I didn't come back because I felt guilty, and I'm definitely going to be here when you wake up."
She looked unconvinced, so he went on. "Last time you saw me, there was a chance that just the sight of me could trigger your memories, and yet I stayed until you woke up and I even said goodbye. And now, that there isn't any risk at all, you can honestly think that I wouldn't do at least that?"
"So when I open my eyes?" there was uncertainty in her tone.
"I'll be there." There was a ring to those words that suggested they were a promise.
She smiled at that, and attempted to stand up. It turned out to be a good thing the Doctor was in front of her, because as she tried to get up her legs failed and his hands flew to her waist to steady her.
"Caught you" he announced with a smile. And then he pulled her close for a hug. "Oh Donna Noble, I missed you so much." He stated into her hair. And Shaun Temple was not a jealous person, but enough was enough. He didn't like to see his fiancée held that way by another man, there was an intimacy in that embrace that was insultingly obvious. And to make matters worse, she returned it with too much enthusiasm, even with her evident tiredness, for his liking. He had held back because he was certain the man that had so unexpectedly appeared in his life could help Donna. But now she was fine, and since then she had only had eyes for the man now holding her.
So before he even knew it he was next to them, not even bothering to soften the harshness in his tone "What is wrong with her? Why can she hardly stand?"
They finally broke apart, but he still did not let go of her. Shaun was normally a calm person, he really was, but at the moment he felt that he was close to losing it.
"This is normal after what she had to go through. But don't worry; I'll take her upstairs and…"
"I can do it." Shaun didn't even wait for the Doctor to finish before pulling one of Donna's arms across his shoulders while moving his own around her lower back.
The Doctor however, got his intentions wrong "That's perfect. It will be much easier to take her to her bedroom if there are two of us." and he held her the same way Shaun was doing on the opposite side.
Shaun wanted to tell him to just go away, but he couldn't find an excuse to, and he had to admit the Doctor had a point. So, supporting most of her weight between the two of them, they started to move her towards her waiting bed."
"Good night, love, sleep well, I'll probably go to rest soon too, I'm knackered." Wilf's voice came from behind them.
"Good night gramps" Donna muttered under her breath as they left the room, but it was so low Shaun doubted the old man had heard. She was starting to lose consciousness steadily, and when they finally arrived at their destination and let her lay down still completely dressed she was out as soon as her head touched the pillow, but not before mumbling something under her breath.
"Stay." was the single word she said.
"I will" was the Doctor's answer, but by then she was probably in deep sleep.
And then he left the room. Shaun could not care. As far as he was concerned, the other should never come back, but he doubted he would be so lucky. He gazed at Donna. For the first time since he could remember she was in a deep, dreamless sleep, and at least he felt relieved for that.
Footsteps were heard then, and the Time Lord reentered the room. This time, thought, he had brought a chair, that he placed by the bed in which Donna was sleeping and then sat down.
"You don't need to stay, you know? I can watch over her, if that is what worries you." Shaun was trying to convey as politely as possible that the other man was not welcome there at the moment.
The Doctor was not fazed, however. "She asked me to stay, and to be here when she woke up. I told her I would, and I don't intend to lie about it." He turned to him, eyes hard.
Shaun wanted to argue, but he knew that the alien before him would not be swayed, and that he himself was angry enough at the moment for a simple discussion to turn into a fight, one that he would later regret. So he decided to go for the chair he had left downstairs, while trying to calm down in the process. As soon as the Doctor was out of his sight, though, he felt tired rather than angry, and not in a physical way.
When he was passing next to the kitchen, he suddenly heard Sylvia speak.
"I really hope she doesn't invite that alien to the wedding. Knowing her she probably will, and the moment she realizes the though annoys me, it is going to be a given that he will be there."
It was Wilf's voice the one he heard next. "I don't think there'll be a wedding."
Shaun was so emotionally spent at that point that he hardly reacted when he heard, but he still stopped to listen to the conversation, beyond caring that he was eavesdropping on something that was not meant for him.
"Of course she will, dad" Sylvia sounded dismissive. "Last time she left because she wasn't doing anything with her live. Now she has a reason to stay."
"She is going to travel with the Doctor again." Wilf sounded sure.
"As if, I don't think she is mad enough after what happened to her. I mean, it was great the Doctor came back to make her remember, because we won't have to keep things from her in fear of her dying if we say anything inappropriate, but now he will leave and if we are unlucky we will just see him if he ever comes for a visit, which doesn't seem too likely."
"If she wants to travel with the Doctor, do you think a past experience, no matter how bad, is going to stop her? That girl is stubborn, she is." There was pride in Wilf's tone while speaking of her. "And anyway, did you really not notice what is clearly going on between them…"
Shaun decided he did not want to hear more. He went, took the chair he had gone to look for in the first place, and then stomped, making as much noise as possible, past the kitchen so as not have to listen to whatever was being said. He didn't stop until he reached the top of the stairs, where he pressed his forehead against the wall, and closed his eyes, with the chair still in his hands.
It was not as if he hadn't assumed that there was a big possibility she was going to leave with the Doctor. However, he had sort of forced the thought away, but now he had heard it said out loud he could no longer escape from the idea. Shaun wanted Donna to be happy, but he could not lie to himself. He did not want her to be happy with anyone else; he wanted her to be so with him. Something that just did not seem possible at the moment. The Doctor might have shown her the universe, and made her happy, but at the same time he had hurt her terribly, and yet… the way she looked at him… Shaun did not want to dwell too much on what exactly was in that look. He felt like crying, and yet he held his tears, took a deep breath, and entered Donna's old room, the one she had before she moved in to live with him. A fleeting thought passed Shaun's mind that maybe she would never again sleep in their own house, but he brushed it away before it could totally form.
The Doctor was where he had last seen him, but Donna was now tucked in bed. Mercifully, the part of her he could see seemed to still be wearing the same clothes.
"You know" the Doctor said then, conversationally "better get her covered in bed before she wakes up complaining that we let her fall sleep like 'a flipping kid'. Well she probably will all the same when she realizes she's completely dressed."
Shaun decided not to answer.
"Oh look, it's raining." following the other man's gaze, Shaun realized it was true. Beads of rain hit the window´s glass continuously, leaving drops of water that slowly slid down to the window sill. He also noted that night had already fallen, but it felt like it had hardly began.
"She is going to be with you, isn't she?" Shaun was not sure what he was actually asking there, and regretted the words as soon as they had left his mouth.
The Doctor did not seem surprised of his strange wording. "It's her choice." He simply said.
Whatever it was Shaun wanted to know exactly, it had all been answered with those few words.
So knowing a long night was in front of him, he sat down, looked at Donna's thankfully peaceful face and started waiting for morning to come.