A/N: I've been told there is angst in this bit. Surely not?! ;D
Part 4
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As Benedict entered Room 2 he was in quite good spirits; and he let his thoughts wander to what they'd be doing that evening. The house would be totally theirs for two whole days, and he and Donna would be free to roam in any state of dress that he fancied; not that he was planning to wear many clothes. Definitely not in the circumstances!
Part of his plan was to make love with Donna wherever and whenever the mood would take him, which would be quite often judging by his present fantasies. Perhaps it had been a good idea that he had stayed at Suzette's the night before the wedding, because his excitement had made him keen to start fulfilling those fantasies straight away. Especially the one where he got to rip off Donna's new ivory wedding underwear using his bare teeth. The set that he had personally chosen because it had delicate lace with small matching bows, and the bra was strapless with a push up structural system that made those delicious breasts of hers look ultra-tasty. In fact he planned to consummate their marriage with her still wearing all of that as he nipped at her flesh and pulled her down onto his firm body…
It was then that he was brought out of his quiet musings by the frustrated fidgeting of the wedding guests to the side of him; and he realised that the ceremony was already three minutes late.
Benedict stood pensively in the marriage room. Where was she? He knew Donna was keen to marry him; they'd been through the arrangements time and time again, so she should have been standing by his side at least three hundred and nineteen seconds ago. He shared a worried glance with Sylvia, who instantly got up from her seat next to Suzette and went to investigate.
As Sylvia opened the door he got a waft of Martha's scent. Had she really followed him in to the building? Could she still fancy him, even now, after all this time?! Surely not. It had been a mere coincidence that she had been on the other side of the road as he had clambered out of the taxi earlier. Yes, a sheer coincidence. Just like it was a sheer coincidence that she worked for Torchwood, had ready access to Jack, who knew the Doctor's phone number and was rampantly loyal, to the nth degree…
Almost immediately Benedict staggered as oxygen supplies to his feeble half human body faltered and he felt himself dissolve into a panic attack. The Doctor might know about the wedding by now. He could be standing outside… where Donna was walking up the staircase, right where he could easily see her and proposition her into joining him again!
A hand touched him, breaking his destructive meanderings.
"Are you having second thoughts?" Suzette asked him with concern. "Cos you really shouldn't," she continued compassionately when she saw his wild-eyed stare. "You and Donna are made for each other."
He felt himself calm as he sought to find an appropriate answer. "It isn't that. It's…" Benedict then desperately took hold of her hand. "Do you think Donna will actually turn up? Does she love me enough? Would she ditch me in the same way she jilted Lance? I'm better than him, aren't I? I treat her okay, I wouldn't feed her to some arachnid, and I came back all this way for her!"
Suzette smiled her friendliest smile. "Benny, Donna thinks the world of you. Everyone knows that! You've got nothing to worry about. She's probably been held up by traffic, or Wilf needs help up the stairs. I'm sure it's nothing worse than that."
"Do you think so?" he worriedly quizzed her.
"I know so," she confidently replied. "In fact…" Suzette looked towards the door. "I can see her now outside."
A broad relieved grin spread across his face as he noticed the door opening to let Sylvia back in and gained a peek at Donna. "Thank you," he happily sighed.
"Any time, love." Suzette gave his arm a pat, and quickly sat herself down. She knew that Sylvia would love to know about his last minute panic that Donna wouldn't turn up. Could this wedding get any more romantic?
As soon she stepped inside the large airy room, Martha spotted who she thought to be the Doctor standing by the registrar. His face completely lit up as he saw Donna enter, and he raced forward in greeting; his eyes only interested in her.
"Where have you been? I was getting worried," he whined, taking possessive hold of her hands and drawing her into the pre-set position to get married in.
"I met Martha outside," Donna answered, having calmed down a great deal as soon as he had taken a hold of her. "But I'm here now."
Martha was amazed that he didn't take his eyes off Donna once. Surely he would have been looking out for a possible alien attack if nothing else? She prepared herself to take mental notes for Jack as she waited for some sort of drama to play out.
"Is everybody here now?" the registrar asked the small group of people in front of her. Sylvia's friends making up the Wednesday Girls all nodded their agreement that everyone necessary was present. "Then we'll begin. We are here today to celebrate the joining together of Benedict and Donna…"
A short welcoming speech was made; and then the legally required question of whether anyone knew of any just reason why this marriage should not take place. Martha looked round, expecting some alien creature to burst into the room; but to her surprise nothing like that happened at all. Disappointed did not cover her emotion in that moment; but she remained hopeful that some suspected plot would suddenly arise.
Well, almost nothing happened, until the registrar asked Benedict to state his own vows and then repeat the proper response. It was extremely touching, how Benedict went on about searching for Donna to complete and fulfil his life. Martha almost believed he meant it.
The following vows made by Donna were equally expressive about how he completed her life, had saved her sanity and was the focus of her being. Martha thought it was a step too far in this charade to appear convincing with this wedding, despite the romantic ideal it set up. If she hadn't known any better she would have been totally convinced by their show of mutual love. As it was, she was waiting for something to blow up.
The drama was added to by both the Benedict and Donna eagerly leaning forward to pick up a fancy pen as though they were about to sign the legal papers in front of the registrar; almost gaining a mark of ten out of ten from Martha. But the whole effect was spoilt by the sound of what she knew to be the TARDIS materialising somewhere nearby.
About time too!
She had expected Jack to creep into the room; what she saw was the Doctor storm in, closely followed by Jack hot on his heels.
"STOP THE WEDDING!" the Doctor angrily yelled as he marched in. "This cannot take place!"
"What?" An instant hubbub started up among the witnesses, but Martha could only concentrate on one thing at that moment. She was seeing double, and she wondered if this was yet another one of the Doctor's cheap tricks; until she saw Jack's face.
Jack looked mortified, as though he dearly wished to be anywhere else but here; like the owner of an aggressively attacking dog.
"No no no no! You can't do this to me!" Benedict protested as the Doctor bore angrily down on him. "This isn't fair!"
"What's he doing here?" Sylvia sneered in pure disgust as she grasped Wilf's arm in shock.
"Fair?!" the Doctor cried, ignoring the existence of Sylvia and her outburst, and remaining focused on dealing with Benedict. "Fair would be you staying exactly where I left you instead of leaping across dimensions to get to here."
"Why couldn't I? I don't remember you complaining or punishing Rose for doing so. In fact she practically got a welcoming committee!" Benedict blazed, standing almost nose to nose with the Doctor in his fury.
"What?!" the Doctor spluttered. "If you think…" There was a finger tapping on his shoulder; but he batted it away, so the finger tapped harder. "What? What do you want….? Oh… Donna…!"
He then stood gawping at her irate face as he tried to figure out how to
a) placate Donna, and
b) how to stop her from thumping him one, hard.
"Have you finished ruining our wedding?" she asked through gritted teeth. "And if you dare answer me by saying 'what?' I shall slap you into next week."
"You can't marry him, Donna. Seriously you can't," the Doctor declared, spreading his hands wide to denote the situation. "This is ridiculous!"
There was a loud interrupting cough from the front of the room. "Excuse me, but you have missed your legal chance to protest against this marriage," the registrar pointed out during the glaring competition that followed.
"Yes. Bugger off, Doctor!" Benedict ordered him. "Please carry on," he pleasantly said to the registrar when he turned towards her, "and excuse my brother, but he's having some sort of brainstorm."
"If you would excuse us just for one moment," the Doctor added equally pleasantly to the registrar. "We need to talk!" he spat out at Donna and grabbed hold of her wrist.
"There's a room to your right if you wish to use it," the registrar helpfully called out as they began to move away.
Both men flashed her a broad smile in gratitude.
"Come on, Donna," the Doctor ordered her, and hoisted her protesting body into his arms.
"Oi! Where do you think you're taking her?" Benedict angrily followed the Doctor into the side room; and the door slammed shut behind them.
"Donna?" Sylvia faintly whimpered her concern.
Martha stood staring at Jack. "What was all that about?" she demanded to know.
Jack combed his fingers through his short hair and considered what had just happened. "Honestly? I have no idea," he confessed. "But he wasn't pleased."
All the noise from outside in the registry office marriage room melted away inside the confines of the registrar's private chamber. The thick wooden panelled walls formed a natural cocoon of quiet around the three of them. Shame the internal conversations going on were not equally as quiet.
"What the bloody hell is going on?!" Donna wanted to know. "I take it that you aren't after some sort of threesome; or have I walked accidentally into a porno plot?"
Benedict immediately smirked at the naughty thought. Not that he fancied sharing her or anything; although if she wanted to introduce a female friend at a much later date to spice up their life... Right, he forced himself to concentrate on the drama in hand.
The Doctor seethed as the last words Donna said hit his attention. "Porno? What has he been getting you to do? As for a threesome..." A deep blush appeared on his face. "I erm..."
Why did she have to bring that up now, of all times? As it was, he was having difficulty keeping his eyes away from the swell of her breasts as they sat so enticingly within the confines of the tightly bound bodice of her dress. And he hadn't noticed the splattering of freckles that led down to uncharted flesh at all; not to his knowledge... At least, not in the last few seconds or so.
Benedict's eyes narrowed angrily as he noticed the Doctor's area of focus, and he stepped deliberately closer to be as menacing as possible.
Donna clicked her fingers in the Doctor's face. "Oi! I'm up here, Time boy! I want an explanation out of you."
This was followed by an inevitable sniff as self-control was sought. "This wedding is a sham. It cannot take place!" the Doctor demanded arrogantly.
"Oh no! You can't get away with this!" Benedict insisted. "This is our life you are interfering in."
"I think you'll find it isn't!" the Doctor contradicted.
"Oh yeah? Then watch me do this…" Benedict took hold of Donna, swept her backwards within his embrace, and kissed her soundly.
She felt herself swoon before she realised what he was up to.