Chapter Two

"What?" His jaw dropped and he simply gaped at her for a moment.

"Never mind," she dismissed her question. "It's mad. Forget I asked," she muttered and left the room. The Doctor was still in shock, but he shot up from the sofa and ran after her.

He was beginning to regret teaching Donna how to fly the TARDIS; this made the third time she'd hijacked the ship to take them wherever she fancied. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but last time they'd ended up at the galaxy's biggest mall because Donna was out of shampoo. This time she'd asked something nearly impossible.

"What did you say?" he shouted after her. The last thing he wanted to do was upset his friend, but he could hardly forget the debacle that ensued the last time someone had asked the same 'favor' of him.

"Donna, what did you ask me? I don't think I heard it right." Donna was zipping about the console, but he stopped her and gently pulled her from the controls. "Where are you taking us, Donna?"

She laughed drily and wrenched her arm away. "Not where you think, dumbo," she rebuked him. "I know we can't go back. I'm sorry I asked. It was stupid." He met her eyes, seeing that she was still upset.

"Donna, it wasn't stupid. It's just that...well, time travel's complicated. Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey, and the last time I went back on someone's time line it was a disaster."

"Wouldn't want that now, would we?" she scoffed, then her voice softened. "Of course we wouldn't," she affirmed. Donna ran her hands through her hair and gave him a weak laugh. "Missing the bigger picture again, aren't I?" she offered with a small smile.

"Donna, listen. Let's just talk about it for a minute, okay? I can't-"

"So, where are we going next?" she interrupted. "I mean, with the way you drive it's no wonder we end up in the wrong century half the time." He kept staring, not sure how to respond to her. "Well, come on. Allons-y, isn't it?"

After a moment he reached toward the console, but instead of setting the controls he took her hand and led her to the jump seat. "Sit down, okay? I want to talk about this," he told her.

"Donna..." he considered his words carefully, not knowing how much to tell her. On one hand, he trusted Donna, but at the same time he didn't want to give her any ideas. "When I- well, when we...when..."

"You went with Rose, didn't you?" she inquired softly. He nodded. Donna pulled away from him a bit, making him wonder about her next move, but she simply put a hand on his arm. "You took Rose to her past?"

There was no accusation in her voice, no demand that she be treated the same, just a question, sorrow and understanding if anything. "I'm sorry." That was definitely unexpected. He'd denied her the same request he'd allowed Rose and she was worried about his feelings? "I didn't know. If I had, I wouldn't have asked." Donna looked at him, at length deciding that he wasn't going to talk about it.

She rubbed his arm for a couple seconds then stood up. "Come on, let's go somewhere...I don't know...different. Somewhere you've not been before. It'll be a nice treat for both of us, yeah?"

He looked up at her, beaming. "I've got just the place!" he shouted triumphantly, flicking a couple switches and grabbing her arm as the TARDIS threatened to pitch her across the floor.

"We're here! Go get changed," he instructed her when they stopped. She looked at the monitor and saw where they'd landed. She stood in front of the scanner for several minutes, mouth agape, staring at it in disbelief. "Great, eh?" he enthused. "I figured with what you were reading earlier you might enjoy it. Besides, I've never been here; well, at least not during this time period. Come on, we may be in a time machine but we haven't got all day," he teased with a wink.

"Doctor, I...I don't know how to tell you this, but-"

"Oh, go on," he urged her cheerfully. "I'm sure you didn't pack for it, but the TARDIS will help. Just go to your closet; she'll find you something."

Donna noticed his ecstatic expression; he'd come here for her, after all, and she wasn't going to let him down. "Back in a minute," she said, turning on her heel and marching out of the room.

The Doctor never bothered to change out of his suit; the only time he dressed differently was when he had to be somewhere formal, and even then it was a tux instead of a suit and black Converse instead of the usual red or white. Still, it never ceased to amaze him how much his companions loved to dress for the occasion, and Donna was no exception.

She returned and he knew he'd been right; the TARDIS had found her garments perfect for their destination. When they'd gone to Pompeii the TARDIS had provided her with an outfit of deep purple which she'd taken to immediately, but today Donna stepped into the control room, staring at the floor and fidgeting with the hem of her olive green dress. "Well, what's the verdict, Martian?" she asked hesitantly, biting her lip.

"Donna, you look...I mean it's different than usual but...you look...wow," was all he could manage. She'd somehow even managed to do her hair for the occasion, despite the fact that she was only gone a few minutes. Though he wasn't interested in Donna romantically he couldn't deny how stunning she looked, momentarily unable to take his eyes off his friend.

Her eyes flitted from the grating to his face and she caught his startled expression. "Yeah, I figured," she nodded, "I'll go change." He rushed over to her and playfully shoved her toward the exit.

"You look beautiful," he assured her, looping her arm through his and escorting her to the door. "So, India, late 19th century. Care to join me, Miss?" he offered, stifling a laugh.

She smiled and nodded. "No one on Earth I'd rather be here with, sir," she replied quietly. They walked out of the TARDIS and into the cool evening breeze.

To be continued...