Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who in any of it's forms.
Summary: A rewrite of a parallel world version of Midnight, where the difference is that The Library never happened.
Note: Thanks to those who read, especially those who review or subscribe.
Two Hundred and Fifty Kliks Later...
It was The Doctor's fault. Donna didn't know how, sitting next to Jethro in companionable silence as she read and he listened to his space-age-equivalent of an mp3 player. They spoke ever so often, but she understood more than most that sometimes you just wanted adults to shut up, and it had been longer than she would like to admit since she was his age.
Until, her attention was garnereed by DeeDee dutifully setting up something dreadfully familliar. She prodded Jethro in the side, and when he removed his earphones, she whispered. "It's the projector! Next thing you know they'll be passing out little minature sausages." It really did remind her of her childhood at first, until she realised that the Professor was going into teacher mode.
Donna had been a passable student but not great. She would often do the work, but not turn it in. She always thought it would be better to be seen as lazy rather than thick, and her mother had always criticized her grades, comparing her to Nerys, or one of Aunt Charlotte's daughters, who got perfect grades and were fit enough to rule field hockey at their schools.
Professor Hobbes had a voice like her A-level History teacher, the kind that made her feel exhausted and annoyed, like she had no idea what he was talking about. By contrast, The Doctor, while she didn't understand what he was talking about most of the time, spoke in such an electric, excited manner, and with such a nice voice that she would let him babble on, because the sounds were comforting.
Jethro leaned over the seat to see better, and up ahead, Donna could see the Doctor doing similarly. She couldn't see his face, but she was fairly certain he was pulling his learning something about a mystery face.
"So, this is Midnight." Professor Hobbes said easily. "You see? Bombarded by the sun, extonic rays, raw galvanic radiation. DeeDee, next slide." He looked aside at the listeners, most of whom were watching keenly. "It's my pet project. Actually, I'm the first person to research this, because, you see..." He sat down, lowering his voice just slightly as if he was sharing some great secret with them all, and despite herself, Donna felt herself leaning in to hear better, though she didn't know why.
"The history is fascinating. Because there is no history! There's no life in this entire system! There couldn't be. Before the leisure palace company, no one had come here in all eternity. No living thing."
Donna shivered. That was creepy. But it was more than just that, there was a crawling sensation almost, a kind of instinct that said that they should all just stop talking about this. It was the kind of feeling that before the Doctor, she would have drank away.
"But..." Jethro remarked, surprising Donna. "How do you know?" When everyone's attention to him flipped, he added. "I mean, if no one can go outside."
"Oh, his imagination, here we go." Val scoffed, reminding Donna strongly of Sylvia again.
"He has a point!" The Doctor said quickly, defending the boy, making Donna glad that they had come on this trip, if only for that.
"Exactly!" The Professor declared, as if it was a spiriteed debate in some space university. "We look at this world through glass. Safe inside our metal box, even the Leisure Palace was lowered down from orbit. Here we are now, crossing Midnight, but never touching it."
There was that creeping feeling again, and as the Professor spoke, Donna moved out of her seat and up to where the Doctor was, even though he was so thin that there was no way his body heat, if there was any, could make her warmer. He glanced in her direction, and while still paying attention to the Professor, shrugged off that damn brown coat of his and draped it around her shoulders. Just as he did, though, the metal box they were in creaked and shuddered, the lights blinking ominously for a few moments before the truck creaked to a stop.