Partners in Crime, part 1.
"Hatter!" the Doctor called as he rounded a corner and walking into the wardrobe, coming to a very quick and sudden stop as he spotted the Hatter standing in front of a mirror, in the process of doing up the buttons on her new, plain white shirt that she had picked out, and wearing a pair of military green leather pants, "Oh…ah, well…." He broke off, stuttering and blushing bright red as he turned to make a quick exit.
"Calm down, Doctor," the Hatter told him, giving him an amused look in the mirror as she finished butting the shirt, "It's not like you really saw anything, is it now?"
"Yes, well…" he trailed off again, turning back and coughing awkwardly.
The Hatter shook her head, giving him another amused look as she pulled a pair of rainbow braces on that had been hanging down beside her legs over her shoulders, "You never stop coming up with new ways to make me laugh, sweetheart," she remarked, not looking up at him as she grabbed a rainbow bowtie and began tying it around her neck, under her collar.
"Is that a good or bad thing?" he asked, sounding slightly unsure as he leant against the door, watching her with a faint blush.
"Good," she assured him, giving him a smile as she straightened her bowtie in the mirror, "Now, what do you think?" she asked him, gesturing to herself as she turned around, "I'm not quite finished yet, still have a couple of things left".
"Bowties?" the Doctor raised his eyebrows, staring at it, "You're going to wear a bowtie?"
"What's wrong with bowties?" she asked, fiddling with it as she turned away and picked up a green military style vest with brass buttons on the front, pulling it on, "I think that bowties are quit dashing, if you must know".
"It's just…different," the Doctor told her quickly, still eyeing the object in question, "Anyway, I came to tell you something".
"And here I thought you had come to watch me get dressed," the Hatter said, giving a dramatic sigh as she began pulling on a pair of lace-up brown riding boots with a small heel, tucking her pants into them, "Such a shame, Doctor".
He shook his head, blushing again as he ran a hand through his hair, "That's not exactly what happened," he defended himself, getting back to the point, "The TARDIS scanners picked up something odd".
"Go on," she nodded, listening as she pulled a military green trench coat on before grabbing a green Pork Pie hat and putting it on top of her head, turning back to the mirror and examining herself.
"There's a new weight loss drug," the Doctor explained, "The companies called 'Adipose Industries'. The TARDIS picked up alien technology inside the building; I thought we could check it out".
"Better to be safe than sorry," she nodded, frowning as she looked thoughtful, "Or though, I think I've heard of it somewhere before…"
That was the thing about becoming a Time Lady again after five years of being a human; parts of her memory were still missing. She could remember parts of her life as a human, but there were still details that were missing, things that didn't quite fit. Also, she still couldn't remember what happened to her TARDIS, something that bothered her greatly.
Not that she would just run off if she did have her TARDIS, not at all, but it would be nice to be able to have a part of her old life before the war, something that held so many memories of her past companions, something that had been her home for the best part of her life.
The Hatter thought for a moment before shrugging, "Never mind, come on," she walked out, grabbing his hand and began pulling him toward the console room, forcing him to hurry after her.
….
"Are you sure this is the right place?" the Hatter asked as they stood in the middle of a crowed street, people hurrying around them as they looked up at a large building with the sign 'Adipose Industries' out the front, "I mean, it wouldn't be the first time we've got the wrong address and gone running inside, only to find ourselves interrupting a perfectly normal mothers club".
"That wasn't my fault," the Doctor pouted, blushing, "If you and Martha hadn't distracted me…"
"And how did we do that?"
"You…" he trailed off, realising that she had court him and sighed, "Alright, fine, that time was my fault but I've checked and double checked this one. It's defiantly the right place".
"Very well, then," she nodded, taking his hand and allowing him to pull her around the side of the building, looking for a fire exit. It wasn't long before they found one and the Doctor gave the door a quick flash with his sonic, stepping through to find themselves inside the basement corridors.
They made their way down the corridor, the Doctor quickly flashed a passing security guard his psychic paper, "John Smith, Ariana Hatter, Health and Safety," he told the guard, the Hatter trying her best to look professional while wearing a rainbow bowtie.
Luckily, the guard didn't seem to take much notice of them and simply gave them a nod before continuing on his way. The Time Lords exchanged relieved looks, mainly on the Hatter's part as they made their way further into the building, managing to make their way to a projection room that overlooked a large lecture room that already had a small crowd of people, mainly possible sponsors and press, all preparing to listen to the head of the company.
It wasn't long before a woman with blonde hair, square glasses, and dressed in a black suit began the presentation from where she stood at the front of the room, "Adipose Industries," she said to the room, "The 21st century way to lose weight. No exercise, no diet, no pain. Just lifelong freedom from fat. The Holy Grail of the modern age. And here it is," she held up to the room a small red and white capsule, "You just take one capsule, one capsule once a day, for three weeks. And the fat, as they say…"
Behind her, a large projection screen began playing.
"The fat just walks away," the computer finished, the words appearing at the bottom of the screen.
"Excuse me, Miss Foster," a young woman called from the audience, "I'm Penny Carter, science correspondent for The Observer. There are a thousand diet pills on the market, a thousand con men stealing people's money. How do we know the fat isn't going straight into your bank account?"
"Oh Penny, if cynicism burnt up calories, we'd all be as thin as rakes," Miss Foster tried to laugh, turning serious again as she took of her glasses, "But if you want the science, I oblige".
"Adipose Industries," everyone looked back to the projection screen as it started up again, this time showing a diagram of the human body and how the pills worked, "The Adipose capsule is composed of synthesized mobilizing lipase, bound to a large protein molecule," the Doctor and the Hatter exchanged looks, frowning at the science, something was very wrong, "The mobilizing lipase breaks up the triglycerides stored in the Adipose cells, which then enter…"
"You were defiantly right to come here, Doctor," the Hatter said quietly to him, frowning, "This is very odd," something behind her made a noise and she looked around to see the projectionist walking into the room, the Hatter gently nudged the Doctor.
"Health and Safety," the Doctor told the man, holding up the psychic paper again, adding when the man didn't look convinced, "Film department".
"100 percent legal, 100 percent effective," Miss Foster finished as the projection ended.
"But, can I just ask, how many people have taken the pills to date?" Penny asked.
Miss Foster sighed slightly, taking off her glasses before she answered, "We've already got one million customers within the Greater London area alone," she told them, "But from next week, we start rolling out nationwide. The future stats here. And Britain will be thin".
"You know, I'll never understand why the human race are obsessed with losing weight," the Hatter sighed as the presentation ended and the people below them began to leave, "I mean, I understand the health risks but I don't understand why anyone would want to be so thin that they can see their own bones. Why should it even matter what a person looks like? It's what is inside that count's. I just wish that more people would realise that".
The Doctor smiled at her, "That's why you're so brilliant," he kissed her cheek; "You can look at a person and see past everything and to the person that they really are".
"And I think that you're the same," the Hatter grinned at him, "Both of us brilliant together, well, you're way past just being brilliant".
"You to," he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room, "Come on".
…
The Doctor and the Hatter were walking through the call center of Adipose Industries; phones were ringing all around them as the various employees answered them with the same reply, "Good morning, I represent Adipose Industries," before giving there sales pitch.
The Time Lords looked around before ducking into a small cubicle were a women was talking on the phone, "We deliver within three working days…" she was saying into the phone.
"John Smith and Ariana Hatter," the Doctor whispered to her so not to be heard on the other end of the phone, flashing the physic paper at her, "Health and Safety".
"Don't mind us," the Hatter added quietly, giving her a small smile despite the odd look the women was giving her because of her strange outfit, "Just carry on as if we're not here".
"Listen, have you got any samples of anything you send out with the pills?" the Doctor asked her, not taking any notice in the way that the women was now eyeing him, the Hatter merely raised her eyebrows at her.
"It is made of 18 carat gold," the women nodded, still speaking into the phone as she handed them a small box. The Hatter took the box and opened it, taking the golden pendent out and began examining it carefully, "And it's yours for free. No, we don't give away pens, sorry. No, I can't make an exception, no".
The Hatter frowned at the pendant, sensing that there was more to the pendant then what she could see with her eyes. She shook her head and passed it to the Doctor, turning to the women, "We're going to need to keep this," she whispered to her, "Just routine testing. Um, could you give us a list of a few of your clients in the area?"
The women nodded, finishing her call as she turned to her computer and brought the information up, casting a glance every now and then at the Doctor.
The Doctor stood from his chair, looking around, "That's the printer there?"
"By the planet, yeah," the women nodded, smiling at him.
"Brilliant," he nodded, sitting back down as the women brought up more information on the computer, just as he realised something and stood once more, earning an odd look from the Hatter, "Has it got paper?"
"Yeah, Jimbo keeps it stocked," the women replied.
The Hatter shook her head, grabbing the back of the Doctor's jacket and pulling him back down, "Would you stop jumping up and down?" she sighed, giving him a look, "You drawing attention to yourself".
"Excuse me, everyone, if I could have your attention!" someone called, the Doctor and the Hatter exchanged looks and looked up to see Miss Foster standing close by with two men. Everyone stopped what they were doing and focused on her, "On average, you're each selling forty Adipose packs per day. It's not enough. I want one hundred sales per person per day. And if not, you'll be replaced. 'Cos if anyone is good in trimming the fat, it's me. Now. Back to it," she gave a nod before turning and walking away, followed by two security guards.
"Anyway, if you could print that off," the Doctor smiled, turning back to the women, "Thanks," she nodded, giving him another smile as she hit print on the computer before slipping him a piece of paper, "Thanks, then," he frowned as he looked down at the paper, "Oh, what's that?"
"My telephone number," the women grinned at him, slyly.
The Hatter blinked, staring at her, it never stopped amazing her how humans could be so matter of fact about things like this. Time Lords were most certainly not that open, about anything, really.
"What for?" the Doctor asked, looking confused as he glanced toward the Hatter.
"Health and Safety," the women gave him a suggestive look, raising her eyebrows, "You be health, I'll be safety".
The Doctor's eyes winded, casting a look at the Hatter to see her simply giving the women a raised eyebrow look, looking on the verge of amusement. Her eyes flicked to his and he gave her a pleading look, having no idea as what to do with this turn of events, after all, she was usually the one who would help him with this sort of thing back in school. On the rare occasions that something like this would occur.
Rolling her eyes slightly, the Time Lady put on her best serious look and turned to the human women, "That, I'm afraid, contravenes paragraph five, subsection C," she informed the women, standing up and making her blink, looking at her as if she had only just remembered that she was there, "Conflict of interest. We have a very, very strict way of doing this".
She grabbed the Doctor's hand and pulled him out of the cubicle, heading toward the printer, "Where did all of that come from?" he asked, staring at her, slight stunned by how convincing she had been.
"Oh please, did you think I was going to do some sort of jealous fiancé thing?" she asked him, raising her eyebrows at him, "No, that's not my style. Women can flirt with you if they want, just as long as you don't flirt back because I know that you love me, and that you would never do anything to hurt me. Besides, getting jealous is such a human thing to do, not to mention a waste of time. I'm a Time Lady, Time Ladies don't get jealous over things like this, too trivial. No, a Time Lady would get jealous about someone outsmarting them".
"Is that really how you think?" the Doctor asked her curiously, "Because I know for a fact that my wife, your cousin, was jealous about you".
"Only because I outsmarted her," the Hatter replied, reaching the printer and looking around it, "She didn't like that I was smarter than her, therefore, she became jealous and tried to take everything connected to me," she cast him a meaningful look, "Including you. She always did hate how close we were…are".
The Doctor slowly nodded, thinking about it, it did make sense. Most Time Lords from a young age were expected to make their family name proud, to do everything and anything to make sure that they came out on top. It caused quite a few rivals amongst siblings, always trying to outdo one another. He guessed that it was no surprise then that instead of getting jealous over someone flirting with her fiancé, the Hatter merely looked amused by it. As strange as it might have been, she did have a point about it being a waste of time when she knew perfectly well how much he loved her, what was the point of getting jealous when she already knew that he was hers, and she was his?
"Oh dear," the Doctor looked up, shaking his head to try and clear his thoughts as he noticed the Hatter frowning at the printer.
"What is it?" he asked, slightly concerned.
"The lists of addresses didn't print out," she sighed, "Wait here, I'll be right back," she gave him a stern look not to wonder off, turning on her heel and hurrying back to the women, "Hi, sorry, me again," she smiled at her, trying hard not to show her amusement when she noticed the women looking disappoint that it wasn't the Doctor, "Yeah, um, it would appear that the list of names didn't print out, would you mind printing it again?"
The women nodded, turning back to her computer, "Sure".
….
The Doctor knocked on the front door of a Mr Roger Davey, one of the first people on the list from Adipose Industries. The Hatter had laughed out loud when the Doctor had decided that they should interview a man, rather than a woman, not wanting to end up spending the interview trying to fight of a flirting woman, needless to say, he had quickly become quit when she had pointed out that seeing a man could open up the chances of her being flirted with.
"Mr Roger Davey," the Doctor greeted as the front door was opened by quite a thin man, "We're calling on behalf of Adipose Industries," he flashed his psychic paper, "Just need to ask you a few questions".
"Please?" the Hatter added, shooting the Doctor a sideways look. Or though his Fourth self might have claimed quite a few times that his manners were impeccable, anyone who knew him or travelled with him would know otherwise, especially in this regeneration.
"Oh, yes, of course," Mr Davey nodded, stepping back so they could enter before closing the door and leading them into his living room.
"Can you please tell us how long you have been on the Adipose capsules for, Mr Davey?" the Hatter asked as the Doctor began pacing the room while the other man took a seat on his sofa.
"I've been on the pills two weeks now," he informed them, sounding proud of himself, "I've lost fourteen kilos".
"That's the same amount every day?" the Doctor asked, still pacing while the Hatter eyed a picture that was stuck into the picture frame of another, looking at it slightly impressed as it showed how much weight Mr Davey really had lost.
"One kilo exactly," he nodded, "You wake, and it's disappeared overnight," he frowned, "Well, technically speaking, it's gone by ten past one in the morning".
"What makes you say that?" the Time Lords questioned, looking slightly concerned.
"That's when I get up," Mr Davey shrugged, "Might as well weigh myself at the same time".
The Hatter frowned, titling her head, "Night shift?"
"No," he shook his head, standing, "I'll show you," he lead them back outside and pointed up at the burglar alarm above his front door, "It is driving me mad. Ten minutes past one, every night, bang on the dot, without fail, the burglar alarm goes off. I've had experts in, I've had it replaced, I've even phoned Watchdog. But no, ten past one in the morning, off it goes".
"But with no burglars?" the Doctor frowned.
Mr Davey looked at them, shaking his head, "Nothing. I've given up looking".
"You wouldn't by any chance happen to have a cat flap, Mr Davey?" the Hatter asked him, having a sudden idea.
Mr Davey nodded and led them back inside, toward his kitchen were they knelt down in front of the back door, examining the cat flap, "It was there when I bought the house," he told them, "Never bothered with it. I'm not a cat person".
"No, we've met cat people," the Doctor agreed, slightly distracted as he eyed the flap, gesturing to the Hatter beside him, "You are nothing like them".
"I think he means that he doesn't like cats, Doctor," the Hatter gave him a slightly amused look, "Not that he's a cat person".
"Same difference," the Doctor shrugged, sending her a small wink as she shook her head.
"Is that what it is then?" Mr Davey asked, frowning slight at the idea, "Cats getting inside the house?"
"Well, the thing about cat flaps is that they don't just let things in," the Hatter sighed, "They let things out as well".
"Like what?" Mr Davey asked, looking a little fearful of the answer.
The Doctor and the Hatter looked at each other, saying in unison as he dropped the cat flap shut, "The fat just walks away".
"Anyway," the Hatter shook her head, standing up as the Doctor followed and began making their way toward the front door, stepping outside, "We'll be going now, Mr Davey," she smiled at him, reaching out and shacking his hand, "Lovely to meet you".
"Yeah, thanks for the help," the Doctor smiled at him before frowning slightly as a thought came to him, "Tell you what, maybe you could lay off the pills for a week or so…" a beeping sound coming from the Hatter cut him off, making both men turn to her.
"Ooh, I've been wounding if this would work," she muttered, looking pleased as she quickly pattered her pockets down before extracting a Y-shaped device that had a blinking red dot on it. The Doctor blinked at her, trying to remember when she had made that, but then again, she did have a habit of making things when she was bored and not telling him, "Sorry Mr Davey, we've got to dash".
She gave the confused man a wave, grabbing the Doctor's hand and started running down the street and turning a corner, following the signal. They ran a couple more blokes before pausing, the Hater frowning down at the device before hitting it a couple of times.
"Stupid thing," she muttered, blowing on the device as a black van drove past them.
"When did you make that?" the Doctor asked, gesturing with his hand that wasn't in hers at the device.
The Hatter opened her mouth to answer when the device beeped again and they set off running again. They continued running through the streets, around corners and even across people's backyards, following the signal. They ran down another street and paused as the signal faded, the Hatter giving the device a shack, turning around in a circle before setting off again as it beeped once more. They ran further down the street before following the signal into the road, right into the path of an oncoming van.
The Doctor's eyes winded as he noticed that the Hatter was focused on the device, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her out of the way, watching as the van speed past them, leaving the Hatter to blink, realising that she was almost hit.
"Never do that again," he breathed, pulling her into a tight hug as she blinked.
"Right…" she nodded slowly before she was cut off from saying more as the device beeped in the direction of the van, making them exchanged quick looks before they were speeding after it…but sadly it was too fast for them and they were unable to catch it before the van went around the corner.
The Doctor and the Hatter sighed, looking at each other as they slowly nodded and began heading back towards the TARDIS to try and find out more about Adipose.
….
The Doctor was leaning over the console of the TARDIS, looking through a magnifying glass at the golden Adipose Industries capsule pendant, examining it closely, "Oh, fascinating!" he remarked, his eyes widening slightly, "Seems to be a bio-flip digital stitch, specifically for…" he trailed off as he looked up and court sight of the Hatter approaching him.
"What?" she asked, giving him a confused look as it dawned on her and she looked down at the bowl she was holding, "Oh, right, I got a bit hungry".
"Don't you usually cook cookie dough?" the Doctor raised his eyebrows at her, looking amused. This new regeneration of hers was defiantly proving to have quite the sweet tooth, he had even seen her snacking on a bag of jelly babies while reading a book in the library, something that both amused him and worried him that she might be turning into his Fourth self. Thank goodness she no longer wore the scarf…well, a bowtie but that was something else to worry about for another time.
"Who has time to bake while investigating something?" the Hatter asked, shrugging as she sat the bowl down on the jump seat and grabbed the magnifying glass, looking through it at the pendant, "Oh yes, I see what you mean…" she trailed off and frowned, "But it appears to be tuned into human fat cells".
"Yes," the Doctor nodded and lifted the pendant up, "When you twist the two parts of the capsule, it triggers the human fat cells…."
"To basically walk away," the Hatter finished, eyeing the pendant, titling her head to the side, "Oh dear, if people started seeing parts of their own stomachs or were ever they have fat suddenly jump out of them and start walking around, there would be mass chaos. People would start panicking and that's the last thing Adipose Industries will be wanting. Well, it's the last thing we want to happen too but for a different reason".
The Doctor nodded, smiling as he sent her a wink, "Ready for another day of sleuthing, Miss Shirley Holmes?"
The Hatter gave him a half amused, half pouting look, "Why can't I be Doctor Joan Watson or Gregoria Lestrade?"
"Because I'm the Doctor," he replied, looking as if he was struggling to hold back his laughter at how childlike the women in front of him could sound at times. It really was endearing, but he would never tell her any of that for fear of her hitting him for calling her a child.
"So am I," the Hatter said, crossing her arms, "So that little augment's not going to work on me, mister".
Without any warning, the Doctor jumped forward and kissed her, pulling her closer to him as he deepened the kiss, leaving them both breathless as they broke apart a couple of minutes later.
"You win this time, Doctor Watson," the Hatter told him, still breathing deeper than usual as she tried to control her racing heart beats before she leaned closer to him, whispering in his ear, "But that won't always be the case," she gave him a small wink as she noticed the slightly worried look on his face as she walked around the console, pausing as she looked back at him, "Well, are we going to stand here all day or are we going to find out more about Adipose?"
"Um, right," he blinked, still eyeing her for a moment before shaking his head and began pushing buttons and pulling levers with her help, mineralizing the TARDIS in an alley behind the Adipose building. They stepped out, passing a bright blue car and heading towards the same fire exit they had used the day before to enter the Adipose building.
The Doctor flashed his sonic at the door, causing it to spark before they slipped inside, walking through the deserted corridor until they came to a stop in front of a storage cupboard. He opened the door, gesturing for the Hatter to go first before stepping in himself and sonic the door shut.
"So…" the Hatter began, looking around the tight space as she grabbed a bucket and turned it over to make a seat, looking back at the Doctor, "How long do you think we'll be in here?"
The Doctor thought about for a moment, "About…9 hours," he said after a moment, nodding.
"Well, I know one thing we can do the waste the time," the Hatter said, smiling as she noticed his eyes brighten. She reached inside her pocket and pulled out a small paper bag, holding it out for him, "Would you like a jelly baby, sweetheart?"
The Doctor rolled his eyes, looking at her fondly as he grabbed her hand, but before she could pull away, realising what he was up to, he had pulled her toward him and kissed her, chucking the bag of jelly babies over his shoulder in the process, both sicking deeper into the kiss.
…
9 hours later, the Doctor and the Hatter stepped outside, both adjusting their chosen neckwear as they both blushed. Their clothing was rumpled and their hair was sticking up, mainly the Doctor's while the Hatter's hair had the appearance of someone not bothering to brush it after waking up in the morning. They both glanced at each other, blushing once more.
"Well, that was different," the Hatter remarked, slightly breathless, "I don't think I've ever wasted the time like that before".
"Same," the Doctor agreed, running a hand through his hair to try and tame it, "Still…it was fun".
The Hatter stared at him before hitting the back of his head, making him yelp in surprise, "Fun?" she repeated, "After you just tried to tear my new shirt off, all you can say is fun! Dear me, you're worse than a hormonal human teenager".
"I'm not that bad!" he exclaimed, looking guilty. Well, it was sort of the truth, he had got a little carried away, after all.
"Believe me, you are," she replied, looking amused, "If I hadn't managed to stop you from unbuttoning my shirt, who knows what might have happened".
"Oh…shut up, you," the Doctor muttered after a moment, ignoring the laughter coming from the Hatter as he grabbed her hand, pulling her down the deserted corridor and making their way up to the roof and over to the window cleaner's cradle that they had discovered while looking around the building the day before.
"This might be a bad time to mention it, but this new body is not the greatest fan of heights," the Hatter commented, eyeing the cradle as the Doctor climbed into it, holding out his hand for her to take.
"Now I know your lying," the Doctor replied, giving her a look. She had been fine when they had been on the Titanic, the only reason she was pretending now was because something bad always happened, but not this time, "Anyway, nothing is going to happen, I'll make sure of that".
"Thank you, Doctor, for your words of comfort," she rolled her eyes, giving him a look as she gingerly climbed into the cradle, eyeing it slightly as the Doctor put an arm around her. She had been lying when she said she didn't like heights, but that didn't mean that she couldn't be nervous while standing a couple of stories above the ground.
"Ready?" he asked, his voice softer and gentler then before, preparing to start the cradle to go down the side of the building.
"Ready as I'll ever be," the Hatter nodded, still eyeing the side.
The Doctor gave her a small smile before flashing his sonic and bringing the cradle down the side of the building at a steady pace until they reached a window that looked into what appeared to be the main office space. A moment later, the door to the office opened and Miss Foster walked in, followed by the women from earlier, Penny, and Foster's sanctuary guards, the Time Lords quickly ducked below the window so not to be caught.
"You've got no right to this!" Penny shouted, loud enough for them to hear through the thick glass, struggling to break free of the two men holding her, "Let me go!"
The Doctor reached inside his pocket and pulled out his stethoscope, turning to the Hatter, only to find her with her own stethoscope. He gave her a questioning look and she simply winked back. He shook his head and they both placed the scope end on the side of the wall, listening in.
"This is ridiculous!" Penny was saying.
"Sit there," Miss Foster told her, not seeming to be paying any attention to her.
"I'm phoning my editor…"
"I said sit," Miss Foster repented, a slight edge coming into her voice.
"You can't tie me up!" Penny cried a moment later, the Doctor and the Hatter exchanged concerned looks as they realised that the other women was being bound her chair, "What sort of country do you think this is?"
"Oh, it's a beautifully fat country. And believe me, I've travelled a long way to find obesity on this scale".
"So come on then, Miss Foster, these pills. What are they?"
"Well, you might just as well have a scoop, since you'll never see it printed. This…is the spark of life".
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Officially, the capsule attracts all the fat cells and flushes them away. Well, it certainly attracts them, that part's true. But it binds the fat together and galvanizes it to form a body".
"Well, what d'you mean 'a body?'" Penny asked, sounding confused.
"I am surprised you never asked about my name," Miss Foster replied, "I chose it well. Foster, as in foster mother. And these…" the Doctor and the Hatter moved so they could peek their heads up to see through the window, catching sigh of a white blob like creature with a small face sitting on the desk, "Are my children".
"You're kidding me," Penny gasped, eyeing the creature, "What the hell is that?"
"Adipose," Miss Foster told her, smiling fondly, "It's called an Adipose. Made out of living fat. Stripped from ordinary human…"
The conversation seemed to fade into the background as the Hatter grabbed the Doctor's arm, nodding wide eyed toward the other side of the office. He frowned and followed her line of sight, his own eyes widening as he spotted none other than Donna Noble looking back at them through the small window on the other side of the office door, looking shocked as she stared at him.
"Donna?" both Time Lord mouthed at her, looking stunned.
"DOCTOR!" Donna mouthed back, grinning broadly, the Hatter mentally winced as she realised that she would have a lot of explaining to do.
"But…what? Wha…what?"
"OH MY GOD!"
"But…how?"
"It's me!" Donna mouthed, pointing to herself as the Hatter struggled to control her laughter, this really could only ever happen while being around the Doctor.
"Well, we can see that!" the Doctor mouthed back, nodding as he gestured to himself and the Hatter.
"Oh this is brilliant!" Donna laughed before frowning as she took notice of the Hatter, pointing at her, "Who are you?"
"It's me, Donna," the Time Lady mouthed, pointing to her hat, "The Hatter, remember?"
"But…but…" Donna waved her hand around, looking extremely confused as she gestured to her face.
"Oh, right, sorry," she mouthed back, shaking her head, "I'll explain later, but it really is me. I just look and sound a little different".
"Oi!" the Doctor waved his arms around, drawing there attention back to him, "More important things to talk about," both women nodded and focused on him, "What are you doing here?" he mouthed to Donna.
"I was looking for you!" Donna replied, adding on second thought, "Both of you".
The Doctor blinked, pointing at himself and the Hatter, mouthing back, "What for?"
"I, came here…" she started miming what she was telling them, "Trouble, read about it, internet, I thought, trouble equals you! And this place is weird! Pills! So I hid. Back there. Heard this lot. Looked. You! 'Cos they…" she froze as she pointed back inside the office.
The Doctor and the Hatter followed her gaze, only to find Miss Foster, Penny, and Foster's guards staring back at them, "Are we interrupting you?" Miss Foster asked, looking unimpressed as she looked in-between the two groups.
"Run!" the Doctor and Hatter mouthed at Donna, who quickly turned on her heel and ran while the Doctor sonic the office door, locking it.
"Get her!" Miss Foster ordered her guards, pointing after Donna.
The Hatter groaned and grabbed the Doctor's sonic from his hand, pointing it up and using it to take them back up to the roof.
"And them!" Miss Foster added, nodding over to the place that the Time Lords had just vanished from as her guards began struggling to open the door.
The next chapter might take a bit longer for me to finish because I'm having four impacted wisdom teeth removed, something I'm dreading because I'm not going to be able to eat anything for a couple of days, not to mention how painful it's going to be. Why do people even need to have wisdom teeth in the first place when most people end up needing to have them removed? Anyway, next chapter, Donna and the Hatter meet again, however will the Doctor coop with those two around him? What's this about a rubber duck? There's a link on my profile for the Hatter's new outfit, it's called 'The Hatter number 10'. I hope you liked it, please review :)