AN: Yes, I know, huge change. But c'mon, Wilf's like everyone's favourite granddad, and it was so unfair he never got to see anywhere, really. So I indulged my fantasies :D Ignore anything I say about the Moon, though. It's probably all wrong, but it's hard to research with very little access to the 'Net.
Chapter 2: Fly Me To The Moon
When Wilf got his first sight of the outside of the TARDIS he stared from the Doctor to Donna, then back at the box they said was a ship. "It's a bit small, innit? Looks a bit cramped in there even for one, much less both of you."
"It's bigger on the inside, Gramps. Really it is," Donna said, grinning. "Come on, we'll give you a peek," she added as the Doctor unlocked the door.
Wilf hung back a bit as first the Doctor, then his granddaughter walked into that tiny blue box. Then he stepped forward to follow them, but stopped on the threshold, eyes bigger than saucers. Then he stepped back out - still the same old Police Box he used to see so many of back in the days before phones became common and policemen got radios. He even stepped to the side to make sure it hadn't got bigger on him while he was looking in. Then he stepped all the way inside that impossible box and shook his head. "How...?"
"Dimensionally transcendental." Then the Doctor explained a bit further because Donna was glaring at him. "The inside of the TARDIS is actually a pocket dimension, only connected to the rest of the universe by the shell and the doors there. Otherwise she'd be the size of one of the bigger asteroids, easily, just to hold the engines and power plants required for travel."
"Which wouldn't exactly be the most inconspicuous thing for travelling, would it?" Donna asked with a smirk. "Course, I can't say a police box is the most inconspicuous thing either..."
"We-ell, we popped into the '60's and her chameleon circuit got stuck. I've fixed it a few times, but I think she just likes the shape, cos she keeps breaking it again." He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled at Wilf, missing Donna's semi-amused eye-roll.
"So... obviously there's more than just this room," Wilf finally said as he walked over to join them, then did a slow turn to take in the whole thing.
"Yup! Ten bedrooms, all en-suite, kitchen, two swimming pools, two libraries, uncountable storage rooms, several laboratories, sick-bay, recreation room with lots of games, a telly room, and quite a few environmental garden-type rooms. As well as the power stacks, environmental control room and so on."
"Why two libraries?" Donna asked. Two swimming pools she could understand, sort of...but two libraries?
"Oh, one's small, only has the books I've collected over the years. The other one's huge, has rooms for each world the Time Lords ever collected information on. And each one's bigger than the British Library in London... each also has a computer to find and fetch whatever you're looking for." He shrugged after thinking a moment. "The small library has a computer like that too, which is why I've not been in the big one in... ooh, a very, very, very long time."
"I bet you have to use that computer to tell you where the books in the small library are too," Donna grinned at the Doctor and nudged him gently with an elbow.
"Nope. It's actually organised... although I'll have to teach you the method. Or you can just use the computer." He grinned at Donna and gently nudged her back. That was nice, not being slapped or swatted.
"Sounds like you could spend a lot of time just exploring the ship," Wilf said with a wistful smile. Oh, that he was young enough to go with them!
"Well, yeah, over a year I think. But like I said, a lot of it's storage rooms. And the Old Girl constantly rearranges the halls to cut down the length of time from place to place."
"Does she?" Donna asked, blinking at him.
Then she grinned and grabbed her granddad's hand. "This is going to be brilliant! Quick tour, cos you have got to see what the TARDIS set up for my bedroom!"
Wilf gave the Doctor a worried look, since Donna had only got permission to show him the control room, but at his smile and nod he let his granddaughter drag him off nattering a mile a minute.
About ten minutes later, Wilf came back to the console room alone, looking rather odd. Worried was the main part of his expression, though, so of course the Doctor had to ask. "Something go wrong?"
"What?" Wilf said, startled. Then he shook his head. "Not really..."
"'Not really' means something's wrong." The Doctor raised an eyebrow and waited.
"Well it's not your ship!" Wilf managed a laugh and shook his head. "I mean, it's not really normal to have a ship respond to comments and compliments, and I never thought I'd see anything like that in all my days, but I'm not the one who's going. Donna is, and she was nattering away with your ship when I left, both of 'em chiming and giggling away at each other."
Wilf took a few steps closer to the Doctor and gave him a worried frown. "The thing is, Doctor, that Donna is my only grandchild. You got to promise me you're going to take care of her. No matter how much she protests about it, promise me."
"I will, Wilf." The Doctor smiled, then it went rueful. "Thing is, I think she's going to be the one taking care of me."
"That'd be just like my Donna," Wilf said with a laugh. "Yeah, she's always bossing us round since she was tiny. The Little General, we used to call her. D'you know," Wilf added, leaning in a bit closer. "She got told 'no holiday' the year she was six. And d'you know what she did?"
"Haven't a clue," the Doctor replied with an amused grin.
"Toddled off all on her own on a bus to Strathclyde! Had the police out looking for her and everything, we did. So you see, she's got history of travelling, and now you two are going to be out there, seeing all there is to see." Wilf sighed then, wistfully. "Wish I was even ten years younger, but travel like that's for the young."
"Maybe." The Doctor paused, because he heard the sound of Donna's laugh as she approached the console room. When she walked in, he grinned at Wilf. "But I do know one place I could take you, completely safe it is. I mean, that is, if you're interested. Consider it a 'thank you' for letting me take Donna with me."
"Interested?" Wilf beamed and clapped his hands together, looking younger than his years. "You'd best believe I'm interested! What are we waiting for?"
"An explanation, maybe?" Donna said, frowning at the Doctor. "A destination, possibly?"
"Ah, where's the fun in that? You'd spoil the surprise that way!" He grinned at Donna, then gave her a hint of puppy-eyes. "Trust me?"
"Well duh!" She snorted at him, then led her granddad to the seat. "Might want to sit down, Gramps. It can get a little bumpy."
"Bet that's half the fun, sweetheart." But he didn't protest at being made to sit.
Moments later, the ship started wheezing and juddering, with the Doctor dancing around the console, flipping levers and twisting dials in an apparently random order. Then the ship made a soft 'thud' and a gentle bong, and the Doctor grinned at both of them as he made one final adjustment to the controls. "Come on, let's go have a look."
He bounded to the door, with Donna and Wilf following behind, slightly slower. Then he turned to face them, his hand on the latch. "Now, I said it was completely safe, and it is as long as you don't go more than three yards from the TARDIS. But that should be enough room to have a really good look."
Wilf was as excited as a child, and so was Donna. She tossed her head, ginger hair flipping behind her shoulders, and said. "So? What are you waiting for?"
He just grinned and pulled the doors open. Then he stood to the side and motioned them to join him. "Pretty good, isn't it?"
Donna and Wilf stared, eyes huge as saucers, at what was outside those doors. An airless, rocky landscape, with mountains in the distance, and above those mountains, much, much larger than the Moon had ever been on Earth... was the Earth.
After a minute, Wilf wheezed out an astonished, delighted laugh. "The Moon! Blimey, you took us to the Moon! But... you said we can step outside, just as we are? How's that work?"
"It's the final adjustments I made before I came to open the doors. I extended an atmospheric shell around the TARDIS and added a touch of artificial gravity so we could go out safely and get a good look at the place." The Doctor grinned and waved his hand at the outdoors. "Shall we?"
"You. Are. Impossible!" Donna grinned, gave the Doctor a quick hug, then stepped outside, followed by her granddad.
The Doctor grinned as he followed them out. "Here we are, basking in the Earthlight. Bet neither of you thought you'd ever see this."
"It's brilliant," Donna breathed from the edge of the atmospheric shell. "But... won't there be problems later? I mean, aren't there going to be people here in the future? They'll see our footprints, won't they?"
"Not here, nope." The Doctor stuffed his hands in his pockets and stood beside her. "No one's ever going to use this crater for anything. It's why I picked it out."
"Oh. Well, that's good then. But they don't know what they're missing." Donna grinned at the sight before her and unconsciously leaned her head on the Doctor's shoulder. "It's... it's just..."
"Yeah, it is." He absently wrapped his arm around her shoulders as the Earth rose a little higher and lit patches of the ground sparkling.
"What's all that sparkling stuff?" Wilf asked as he finally worked up the nerve to join them right there at the edge.
"Quartz, mostly," The Doctor said with a head-bob. "Quartz, obsidian, and olivine crystals, made from the heat of the impact of the asteroid that made the crater. It's rare the Earth's at the right quarter and angle to set it all glittering like this. We just got lucky enough that this is one of those nights."
"Don't suppose we could get a souvenir while we're here, could we? I mean, since no one's ever going to come here, we could get a moon rock each, right?" Donna gave the Doctor a hopeful look, but she wasn't going to pull the eyes on him this time. If he said no there'd be a good reason for it.
"Shouldn't be any harm to it, though I hope you both know you can't ever show them to anyone." The Doctor frowned in thought, then added. "I'll give the rocks you pair pick out a quick scan, just in case this particular asteroid left any microbes behind."
"It's not the showing off part that matters, though it'd be nice to," Wilf said. "What it is, is that there's proof that we've been. Me, Wilfred Mott. Been to the Moon."
The Doctor looked around their small safe area, then bent over and picked up a rock with an olivine crystal peeping out. A quick scan with his sonic later and the rock was handed to Wilf. "There you go - hand picked by the expert."
Wilf shook his head, grinning, even as he put the rock in his pocket. "Oh, the secrets I've got now. Shaken an alien's hand, and had that same hand pick me out a moon rock!"
"And your granddaughter running around with that same alien, don't forget that secret," Donna added, then handed the Doctor an oddly-shaped rock.
"Why'd you pick this one out, Donna?" Was the query asked, while another scan was performed. It wasn't anything special, just an odd-shaped rock with a mostly-flat part.
"Cos," she started when he handed it back. "I can sit it on a flat surface and it looks a bit like some of those mountains there. Then I can look at it and remember the Earth rising like that over the mountains."
Her granddad and the Doctor both watched as she balanced the rock on her palm, then they both turned to look. Sure enough, it did look like a bit of the mountainside in miniature.
After Donna tucked her souvenir moon-rock away in a pocket, they spent another half-hour just looking out at the Moon, the Earth, and asking the Doctor questions. Then Wilf yawned, and the Doctor ushered them both back inside, then brought them back to his front lawn.
"You're not coming in, sweetheart?" Wilf paused in the door of the TARDIS and looked at his granddaughter.
"Well, I might. If I can figure out how to write Mum a letter - she was full speed nagging and not letting me get a word in edgewise. Otherwise, probably not. The Doctor and I still have this Adipose thing to take care of before anyone else dies of it." Donna sighed sadly, and hugged her granddad.
"You'll manage to fix it. I've got faith in both of you." Wilf smiled at the Doctor, then hugged his granddaughter. "Meantime, you work on a way to explain it all."
"I'll do my best," Donna said and squeezed her granddad tight before letting him go. "Anyway, off to bed with you before you fall asleep out here!"
"Aye aye, bossing me around again," he said with a fond, sad smile. "Going to miss that."
"We'll pop back 'round every so often for visits, Wilf. I promise." The Doctor smiled and went to shake Wilf's hand, but was surprised when he was pulled into a hug too.
"Take care of her, Doctor. She's better than she thinks she is." Wilf whispered, then clapped the Doctor on the back and let him go.
"I promise," the Doctor murmured, just before he was released. Then he joined Donna in the doorway and waved to Wilf when he paused on the threshold of his home. Once the door of the house was shut, he shut the TARDIS doors, then took a good look at Donna, who was looking quite tired now.
"I suppose you're going to want to sleep now?"
"Yeah," Donna sighed, then gave him a sad smile. "I'll probably have nightmares, but if I'm going to be any help at all, I've got to get some rest."
"If you want to talk..." He trailed off, suddenly tentative and unsure. He was rubbish at reassuring anyone, but Donna was different. He wanted to make her happy and keep her that way, and... he redirected his train of thought with some force. He didn't want to think about why he wanted to make her happy - if he let himself do that, he'd have nightmares of his own.
"Meh. Ask me again if I wake up with a nightmare, skinnyboy." She frowned at him, head tilted. "Don't you need sleep too?"
"Me? Nah! Sleep is for tortoises!" He grinned at her, then dodged a swat aimed at his arm.
"Go pull the other one, Doctor. Everyone needs to at least rest. Even skinny energetic aliens."
"Yes, but I rest differently than Humans do. I could get my week's allotment of sleep in the amount of time you're going to be oblivious to the world just tonight." He smiled, then rested a hand on her arm. "Honestly, Donna. I have a different sleep cycle than you do, that's all."
She stared hard at him, but couldn't detect a lie - and she could tell, she'd been able to tell even when they'd first met when he was lying. So she nodded and sighed. "I'll try and write Mum that letter first, then I'll go to bed. You go hang upside down from the ceiling for an hour or whatever it is you need to do, cos well-rested is lots better than trying to slog through when your brain's not working."
"I am not a Krillitane, Donna. I don't sleep upside down." He grinned, though, and walked with her through the halls of the TARDIS until they got to her room.
"Wot's this Krillitane nonsense? I was alluding to you being a bat, cos of that sonic you love to bleep everything with."
"Oh, Krillitanes are sort of bat-like, but they're much larger than Earth bats and, except when they're mimicking other races, they sleep upside down from the ceiling. When I do sleep it's horizontal, on a comfortable platform."
He made a face and frowned at her. "And I love my sonic screwdriver - it's the most useful tool I've ever had!"
"Yeah, yeah, and how you tell all those bleeps and buzzes apart is a complete mystery," Donna smirked at him, letting the Krillitane thing go for now. People-sized bat-things were not something she wanted to know more about right before bed!
"It is not," he said with a mock-pout. "Just because you've not got sensitive enough ears is no reason to mock my screwdriver."
She really should go in her room and say goodnight, she really should. But she just couldn't resist asking, "Have you ever used it as a screwdriver?"
"Yup!" He grinned at her. "And a screw-loosener, a door-opener, oooh, so many things you can do with properly modulated sound-waves!"
"Oh God, I've fallen in with the universe's oldest kid," Donna groaned, but she did have a bit of a smile on her face. Well, before she yawned, anyway.
"You go get some sleep, Donna. Write the letter in the morning when you can focus better." He gave her a fond smile, then opened the door for her and got a glimpse of the room within. Not much, just enough to see that the Old Girl had given her much more than a bed, a wardrobe and a dresser. There was a desk, and a reading chair, and... lots of luggage, oops. He'd never given her time to unpack.
"Yeah. Good idea. G'night... see you in the morning, Doctor." Donna smiled at him, covered another yawn, then stepped in her room and gently shut the door. Through the door, she heard him say, "Pleasant dreams," and she wondered if she'd actually have any. Tonight had been so stressful, even though some of it was good stress, that she wouldn't be surprised if she had nightmares the whole eight hours.
Out in the hall, the Doctor grinned. He was going to really enjoy having Donna along with him. Oh, he enjoyed all of his companions' company, but Donna was going to be extra-enjoyable. She was so stroppy and challenging, yet she cared so much and wasn't afraid to let it show.
And he was so pleased to have her around again, he didn't even protest when he found his room, door open, across the hall from her room. The Old Girl and Donna were probably right, he thought as he walked in and closed the door. A rest would be good for both of them.
When she woke, Donna was surprised to find she'd apparently had such a restful slumber that she hadn't even moved, much less been woken by nightmares. As she sat up, a bit stiff from not moving for so long, she looked at the ceiling. "Did you keep me from having nightmares?"
A soft carillon of bells was her answer, somewhat confusing, but Donna thought it meant 'yes' so she smiled. "Thanks. Now, did himself get any sleep?"
The tinkle of bells that Donna interpreted as a giggle chimed, and Donna grinned. "Well, that's good. Means I won't have to deal with a sulky, sleep-deprived spaceman. Is he up?"
The carillon sounded again, and Donna threw off the covers and stood up. "Well, I'd best get moving then! Quick shower, then I'll have to straighten this mop before I can come out. If he asks, just tell him I'm getting ready, all right?"
The TARDIS chimed agreement, and Donna strode toward the en suite, shedding her pyjamas as she walked. That daft spaceman better know how to knock, if he showed up, or she'd slap him into next week!
Twenty-five minutes later, thanks to some super outer-space straightener the TARDIS supplied, Donna walked into the kitchen to find the Doctor putting the finishing touches on a full English breakfast. Both her eyebrows tried to meet her fringe, and she stood in the door gawping until he noticed her.
"Hullo, Donna! Ready for breakfast then?" He grinned at her and waved at the table.
"You cooked all that?" She waved at the table, still a bit gobsmacked.
"Yup!" He replied, still grinning.
"And you're going to eat with me?" She started for the table, still with eyebrows raised.
"Unless you'd rather eat alone, yup!" He stood by the table, ready to leave or sit as she preferred.
"Not after you went to so much trouble. Was just asking in case you had some weird thing about eating with people," she smiled at his head-shake and sat, then shooed him to the other side of the table. And for a few minutes, neither of them said anything in favour of filling the gaping caverns that their stomachs were pretending to be.
Until Donna, who had been watching him eat, frowned and asked. "Spaceman, how do you stay so skinny when you eat like this?"
He swallowed, then replied with a bit of a shrug as he didn't want to go in-depth about his biology this morning. "Good metabolism and lots of running?"
"Oh lovely. Lots of running - not sure I'll be able to keep up, though." She sighed and went back to her meal. She was starving, but she was also wondering if she should stop soon, just in case they had to run before she'd digested his surprisingly good meal.
"Why do you say that?" The Doctor frowned, confused. "You're a diver, means you've got strong muscles and you'll be able to keep up. Certainly lots easier than Martha did before she got used to all the running."
"I've also got extra pounds that I don't need," she huffed and almost pushed her plate away.
"You might think so," the Doctor mumbled around the last of a bite of food, then continued with more clarity after he swallowed. "But Titian, Botticelli and so many other artists would give quite a lot to have you for a model."
"Really?" She tilted her head at him. "Really?"
"Yup!" He grinned at her and refilled her teacup, then offered. "After we've sorted this little mess, I could take you then..."
"Well...maybe." She sugared her tea, added a dollop of milk, then asked. "So, Martha?"
"Mm." he nodded, then swallowed. "Martha Jones. She was brilliant. And I destroyed half her life. But she's fine, she's good. She's gone."
"Destroyed half her life?!"
"Well, it wasn't precisely my fault. But if she'd never gone travelling with me, nothing would have happened to her." He looked down at his plate, afraid to look up and find out that Donna had changed her mind.
"But if it wasn't your fault, why are you taking the blame for it all?" Donna was confused, but she wasn't going to change her mind. Barmy alien dimnoid would probably go find some posh bit of totty instead, and get into trouble cos the chit couldn't keep up.
"I don't want to talk about it right now, is that all right?" He still didn't look up, until he felt her hand settle over his. And all he could see in her eyes when he dared look was compassion.
"Yeah, that's fine. But, just so you know, I'm ready to listen when you want to talk, all right?" She smiled at him, a little sad, understanding smile, then patted his hand and went back to the remnants of breakfast.
Until another thought occurred to her, and she had to ask. "What about Rose?"
"She's still lost," he replied with a sad smile and a sigh.
"I'm sorry," Donna murmured.
"I know," he said with a stronger smile. He knew Donna would be good companion material - she wasn't even jealous when he mentioned former companions. And even the first time, when she'd found out about Rose, she'd only been furious at him for her sake, with her mistaken impression that he was a serial kidnapper.
She finished her tea, then managed a sheepish laugh. "I didn't meant to bring up uncomfortable subjects, Spaceman. Let's talk about something else. What are we going to do to stop this mess?"
"Well, we're going to get back into Adipose Industries. It's the centre, the core, so there has to be something I can hack into and use to find out what's going on so we can stop it."
"That sorts you...but what about me?" Donna asked, an eyebrow raised. "I mean, I could always pretend I'm a new hire, but that's a bit risky. Especially cos at least one of the blokes in the call centre will recognise me."
"How did you get in yesterday?" He raised an eyebrow at her, curious.
"Had a two-day job with Health and Safety, kept my badge when I quit cos this Adipose thing wasn't right. Handy little tool, but I can't pretend to be Health and Safety two days in a row."
"Nooo, but you could, possibly... oh, I don't know, pretend to be a journalist? Maybe for one of the papers?"
"And then they call and find out I'm an imposter? I don't want to find out what that creepy Ms. Foster does to nosy investigators." She shuddered.
"Creepy Ms. Foster?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I didn't like how fanatical she was at the end of the presentation. When she said 'Britain will be thin', like no one was allowed to have a choice. And then later, when I was in the call centre cubes trying to see what a representative knew about it all, she was pretty vicious about them making more sales or else, even if she was almost polite about it. And those thugs she had..."
"Wait wait wait half a tick. You were in the cubes then, too?" He started laughing and shook his head. "Oh Donna, so was I! We just missed each other!"
"No!" She stared at him, then laughed. "I wonder what would've happened if we'd seen each other then?"
"I dunno, but we'd have ended up here having breakfast and plotting how to break back in and stop all this anyway," he said, grinning broadly.
"Yeah, probably," she nodded, then sighed sadly. "I kind of wish we had found each other in the cubes. Poor Stacy Campbell might still be alive if we had."
He rested a hand over hers, then sighed. "She probably wasn't even the first one...we would have to look into mysterious disappearances to confirm that, though."
"If you've got wi-fi, I can look that up quick enough. Conspiracy website where I found out about Adipose Industries in the first place... if there's been other disappearances, they might know."
"Yes I do. I mean, technically it's wi-fi, but the TARDIS does it... hold on a minute! You brought a laptop?" He boggled at her a moment.
"Course I did. I thought there might be a super outer-space way to keep up with my emails, at least." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Dunno how long we're going to be gone as far as Earth time goes, and I do have some friends who'll miss me. And it'd be kind of nice, if I'm allowed, to send my granddad some pictures of places we go."
"Of course you can. But just to him, and make sure he knows not to show them about."
"Daft prawn, that's what you are. Of course he'll know not to show'em around. Just like he'll never show that moon rock around."
"Of course he won't. I'm sorry, Donna, I didn't mean to insult your granddad. Or you. It's just..."
"Just what? Not used to companions who come already packed and ready for anything?" She smiled at him, silly spaceman that he was.
"Yeaaah," he drew it out, then grinned at her. "I'm also not used to companions wanting to contact their families regularly. Martha... all she wanted to do was be able to talk to them on the phone every now and then, but with how her entire family tended to make her the mediator for all their disputes, I think she was rather pleased to not have to deal with all that for a while. And Rose..." He trailed off in a sigh and shook his head. "She would occasionally want to call and visit her mother, but it wasn't very often."
"Well, if her mum was anything like mine, I'm not sure I blame her," Donna smiled wryly and started stacking her empty plates.
"Nah, Jackie was nicer than your mum. Although, both she and Francine - that's Martha's mother - slapped me and your mum hasn't... but still. She was nice, once she got used to me."
"Give Mum a chance, I'm sure she'll at least think about slapping you," Donna said with a smirk, then looked around the kitchen. "Where do dirty dishes go?"
"Here, give them to me. There's a dishwasher, looks like a cupboard." He took her plates, stacked them on his, then opened a cupboard and stuffed the lot inside. "There. TARDIS will take care of them from there.
"All right then, let's go quick look up that website and see if anyone else has vanished cos of Adipose, then we'll go break in and I'll figure out something to do while you're hacking into whatever."
The Doctor took a few minutes to look around Donna's room while she started up her laptop. She'd taken time to unpack at some point between last night and breakfast, since the luggage was now gone, and she'd set out some mementos as well. Pictures mostly, although she did have quite a nice ceramic carousel on her dresser next to the moon rock, and some other figurines scattered tastefully about.
An 'ah-hah!' brought him back to Donna's desk, where he looked over her shoulder. "Did you find something already?"
"Yeah, and remind me to find a way to hug the Old Girl or something similar, cos I have never had such a fast connection!" Donna grinned at the melodic chiming reply to her comment and stood up briefly to pat the wall in affection.
The Doctor looked on with both eyebrows raised. It usually took his companions ages to acknowledge that his TARDIS was alive, and some of them never did. And yet Donna was treating his ship just like another person and had been since last night... odd, that. Nice, but odd.
Donna sat back down and pointed at the screen. "Wasn't anything on the Adipose section directly, but they did have a forum for discussing the whole mess and I did a search... and look." She tapped four messages on the screen. "There's been four other missing people, that were taking the Adipose pills, and they all just vanished, leaving their clothes behind and everything. Just like poor Stacy Campbell."
"I see," murmured the Doctor as he leant over her shoulder to read the messages. "I could guess that they'd all five somehow witnessed the conversion of their own fat, but we won't know for sure unless we can corner Ms. Foster and question her. Which we'll do at some point today, definitely. Seeding a Level Five planet is against Galactic law."
"Seeding? Well, I suppose that's descriptive, they are growing little fat people..." Out of habit, before closing down her laptop she checked her email and found one from her granddad. She opened it and read it, then groaned.
"Oh no...one of Mum's friends is on the Adipose pills. Lost loads of weight and they're all going out to a wine bar tonight after work to celebrate it." She looked up at the Doctor, worry in her eyes. "If Mum loses a friend to something weird like this, so soon after losing Dad, it's gonna kill her."
"Don't panic, Donna. We are going to break in, figure out exactly what's going on, and we're going to put a stop to it. Your mum's friend is going to be safe, I promise you."
"Yeah," she murmured, then signed out and shut down her laptop. As she stood, she said, more firmly. "Yeah. We're gonna pull the plug on Adipose Industries."
They shared a smile, then left for the console room where a quick hop saw them parked in an alley just outside the building. There they split up, each to take up their own half of the investigation.