Chapter 2 for your enjoyment.
Disclaimer: sigh...I wish it were mine.
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"Doctor, what the hell was that?" Donna asked him again, her eyes searching for any idea of what could have happened to the TARDIS and waking her violently.
The Time Lord had planted his feet on the metal grating, his eyes locked onto her blue eyes, his mind moving a million miles a minute. He was running through every scenario, trying to understand what exactly had happened as well.
One of the foolish concepts was that he was almost ready to believe; it was simple that he must have hit his head when he fell, and this was nothing more than a beautiful, fabricated dream.
"Doctor?"
His head snapped up, and this time Donna was close enough to touch. He closed his eyes as her longed for scent surrounded him; the enchanting scent of vanilla and cherries was so vivid, that if this were a dream he would have to give himself credit for his exact remembrance of her.
Swallowing, he dared to open his eyes, wondering if she would be gone and he would find himself lying on the hard tile of the kitchen.
However, as he saw the glow of the TARDIS' lights, she was still there, her eyes worried and her forehead creased, her bottom lip turning white from being bitten down by her teeth.
He chuckled softly, his hand come up and slowly touched her cheek, praying that she would not vanish before him. Again she did not, the Doctor mused that if she wasn't real; this dream was certainly becoming one of his favorite ones, no matter how confusing.
With a quick, swift motion he drew her up into a hug, tight and well-known and deeply missed. His face nestled in the crook of her neck; locks of red hair surrounded him.
"Are you okay?" She asked, her voice laced with concern, her grip on him firm but comforting.
The Doctor nodded, sighing slowly, feeling her pull out of the embrace, despite him wanting to hold her a while longer.
She looked at him, stroking his cheek with the back of her fingers, "Are you sure you're okay?"
He wanted to nod again, but he didn't, something wasn't right, if she wasn't a dream or an hallucination than it had something to do with the eclipse and the TARDIS being in direct contact with it, and it puzzled him still how his ship had slipped out of the vortex.
All these questions and no real way to solve them.
And of course there was Donna.
The Doctor moved away from her, his hand rummaging through his hair; tugging at it as he tried to figure it out.
She couldn't be here and there she was, standing before him with all of her memories intact; and he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.
He had to know where in her timeline she currently now residing, he needed to know how long he had.
The Doctor sat down on the jump seat looking at her; she looked so beautiful; how he had missed her, as he stared at her he wondered how he had managed to live without her. He felt the TARDIS had become stable with her here.
'This isn't right.' The Doctor thought.
He let out a long breath, "This isn't right. You shouldn't be here." He said aloud, as he looked back at the monitor.
"I shouldn't. Do you want me to leave?" Donna asked, as she already started to retreat.
The Doctor looked up quickly, sliding off the jump seat catching her before she disappeared, "No, no, no, no. I didn't mean that, I just meant…" He shook his head, "I don't know what I mean."
Donna's hand came up and cupped his face, "Just tell me what's going on."
He looked down at her, swallowing again and much harder; her hand on his face her thumb stroking his skin was causing small, wonderful shivers to work down his spine.
If it had been a more ideal time, if she had not just magically appeared back into his life, he would have told her then his feelings for her. But, however, as much in his life it was not the time.
He took her hand from his face and held it for a moment, the feel of their hands joined once more was a sensation that he could not describe, a swell of emotion hit him suddenly and powerfully. His eyes became glazed with unshed tears; he didn't know how much this simple gesture had been truly desired.
Out of all the things he had missed from her was this, her and him just connected by holding hands.
With a heavy feeling in his stomach, he released her hand, he turned away from her so he could wipe his eyes with the back of his hand, he cleared his throat before he spoke, "I need to know some things, Donna."
She nodded wordlessly, waiting for him to continue; which she knew that he was going to when acted like this.
"Donna," He began, his composure calm once more, "I need to know what was the last thing we did."
Donna smirked, her face blushing to a light shade of pink, "Well, the last thing we did, until you had a craving for a banana, was having a quiet night to ourselves." She took a playful step forward.
The Doctor caught the movement and threw a hand up, "Wait a minute, us? Is that what you're saying?"
Donna stopped and nodded, "Yes, don't you remember?"
He didn't hesitate for him to shake his head, "No. But, okay, before that. What did we do?"
She sighed in almost frustration, and he could feel what she must have been feeling, his hearts going out to her wanting to assure her that everything was okay, but at the moment he couldn't convince himself of that.
"Well, we went to the planet…I don't know how to say it, er…Xenofinus?" She met his eyes trying to get him to help with what she was trying to say; hoping he knew what she was talking about.
"Xfenus?" He offered, looking back at the monitor screen, it was the planet they were hovering over.
She nodded, "Yea, we went to the markets there, made a day of it, and then we came back here."
The Doctor sighed, this was getting him no where; it was just as well he didn't have to know what they had done during the day.
Donna came up to him, "Doctor, what's going on, and don't tell me it's nothing 'cause I know something is up."
He smiled, "Can't get anything past you." His hand came up and brushed a piece of hair away from her face, "I'm going to ask you some things, okay, and even if they sound weird I just want you to humor me, okay?"
There was a slight nod from her, even though her eyes held her confusion still, but she kept her mouth closed and waited for him to speak.
The Doctor ran through his mind, trying to recall if he had ever taken her to Xfenus before, he could recall so he would start with one of their first adventures he was sure she would remember.
Donna nodded with recollection when he told her about the Ood, the Library, and when he mentioned Midnight she nodded as well, but it was when she spoke.
"Yes, I remember all of that, Doctor."
He nodded this time, "And do you remember Shan Shen? Meeting Rose?"
"Yes."
"What about the Daleks?"
She gasped, "Yes, Doctor. It's been about two months since then."
"Two months?" The Doctor repeated, he wondered how that could even be possible, what about the meta-crisis? The part where Donna saved the world and almost died because of it? How did they manage to get around him not getting rid of her memories to save her?
So many questions and not enough information to tell him the answers, and to make matters even more confusing all thought went from his mind as Donna's mouth descended down upon his.
It wasn't as if he had enough of his plate already.
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