Characters: 9th Doctor; Donna Noble; Jack Harkness

Rating: T for mention of burlesque club

The Doctor walked into his office, closing the door behind him. The new applicant was already in the chair across the desk from his chair. The applicant had brilliant red hair and a briefcase on her lap as she turned to face him. The Doctor spoke up before she did,

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Root canal ran a little over. John Smith, DDS. Everyone calls me the Doctor." he said, extending his hand. The new woman stood and shook it,

"Donna Noble. Might I say, you have a lovely office."

"Thank you. I call it the TARDIS." said the Doctor with a smile,

"Sorry, what'd you say?" said Donna.

"TARDIS."

"Is that even a word?"

"Course not! It's an acronym—The Area's Registered Dentist Is Smith." said the Doctor with a grin. Donna smiled,

"That doesn't make sense."

"So?"

"How long did it take you to come up with that?"

"Quite a while. But that's beside the point. The question is, Donna of the House of Noble," the Doctor sat in his chair, propped his feet up on the desk and folded his hands behind his head, "why do you want to work at Gallifreyan Dentistry?"

"I think I could be an asset to the company. I'm the fastest typist in London, won the competition two years straight. I temped for years so I'm very used to office work. I know my way around a calendar and I have excellent people skills and—"

"Yeah yeah, that's great. But that's the canned, 'Top 10 Things to Say in an Interview' speech. Why does Donna Noble personally want to work here?" he said. The Doctor rummaged in his desk drawer and pulled out a banana. He peeled it and took a huge bite as he waited for Donna to answer. Donna sighed. If this was what it took to get a job, so be it. It was better than the strip club downstairs.

"I got dumped at the altar a month ago. Took the honeymoon to Egypt on my own and I just got back. You have the best pay and free dental."

"Why'd you leave your old job?"

"Ex-fiancé was my boss."

"Name?"

"Lance."

"Company?"

"Rack Noss International."

"Your favorite color?"

"Blue."

"Favorite city?"

"Paris."

"Ever been?"

"No."

"Don't."

"Why?"

"Tourists."

"Ah. Am I hired?"

"Yes."

"Why?" asked Donna. The Doctor leaned across the desk and said quickly,

"Because your eyes are green. Because you were hurt but made an effect to still enjoy vacation. Because your nose is less than one inch above your lips. And because… I only take the best." said the Doctor, leaning back in his chair. Donna rolled her eyes,

"Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that. In the meantime, when do I start?"

"Now." said the Doctor, grabbing her hand across the table. He dragged her out of the office and to the reception area. The Doctor pointed to the man at the desk,

"That's Jack Harkness."

"Captain Jack Harkness. Hi, how ya doing?" said Jack with a heart-stopping grin. The Doctor poked the man,

"Stop it." he said. The Doctor turned to Donna, "He'll be your coworker. If he gets annoying, just poke him until he shuts up. He'll show you the ropes. I have a patient in ten minutes." With that, the Doctor disappeared to his exam room. Donna raised a hand to Jack,

"Hello."

"Hi."

"Didn't you just do that?"

"I did." said Jack. Donna put her hands on her hips,

"Right. I'm Donna Noble. Don't know if he said that."

"He didn't." said Jack, the absolutely devastating smile still on his face. Donna nodded,

"Of course. Is he always so…"

"Whirlwind?"

"Oi! I was not done speaking!" said Donna. Jack held up his hands in mock surrender. Donna blew a piece of hair out of her face, "But yes, a whirlwind."

"Most days. Sometimes he's a little melancholy, but that's rare." said Jack with a shrug. Donna moved around the counter and plopped herself on the random stool beside the filing cabinets.

"So, question time: What's his thing?"

"What?"

"Everyone has a thing. A taboo subject. Family, friends, money. As passion or a history not to ask about." she said. Jack opened his mouth to answer but just then a patient walked in. Jack checked her in and waited until she was in the Doctor's exam room before replying to Donna in a low voice,

"His family. His wife and daughter, parents. Everyone's dead. Parents went in a hold-up they were caught up in when Doc was just a kid. Wife and daughter in a car accident two years ago. Don't ask about them." Donna was quiet for a while, absorbing it all. For having all that happen in his life, the Doctor had seemed pretty well-adjusted. A little on the lunatic side, but nothing she couldn't handle.

"Any brothers or sisters?"

"Not that I know of. After everything else, do you really want to ask?" said Jack. Donna had to agree that the guy didn't have much luck with family. Donna sighed and changed the subject,

"So I know there's a bar and a burlesque club downstairs. What's upstairs?"

"You missed the bakery in the basement."

"There's a bakery?"

"'Clara's Confections'. Well-known for its excellent soufflés. Then it's the Weeping Angel bar and Silurian Temple club; those two are run by a husband and wife. Then it's us, Gallifreyan Dentistry. Above us are the apartments, two per floor. First it's Doc and David Jackman—just a renter, doesn't work here—then it's Amy and Rory Pond—he took her name; she's a writer and he's a nurse. They're on a floor with River and Matt Song. They own the bar and club downstairs, he's got the bar and she's got the club. And then the floor above them is just Martha Jones, an actual Doctor. The flat opposite her is Clara from the basement." finished Jack. Donna nodded, then asked,

"But why is it all in the same building? Honestly, a dentist office above a strip club above a bakery?" Jack shrugged,

"Doc went to highschool with River and Matt and Clara. David knows Doc and Martha knows David. Amy and Rory are really good friends with River; she lived near them and they were a year ahead of her and Doc. Of course, Matt is Amy's little brother by a year, so she's in for that too."

"So basically everyone knows everyone." said Donna.

"Yep!"

"But where do you fit in?"

"Doc needed someone to run the desk. I applied first. He doesn't really need a receptionist. He just likes someone to talk to on the slow days, which is every day." explained Jack, shrugging.

"So if he doesn't need you, and he doesn't need me, why are we here? How is this business even afloat? He's practically bleeding cash!" said Donna. She'd temped enough to know that when anything to do with money went without explanation, it wasn't good. Jack quickly put her fears to rest,

"Inheritance. His parents got rich in stocks and saved it wisely. If he wanted to, the Doctor could spend his days counting his money. Dentistry is just a hobby."

"So the fact he hired us…"

"Partly for company and partly out of pity."

"But that's stupid!"

"Hey, that 'stupid' is about to pay your bills, so don't knock it." said Jack. Donna reluctantly agreed. She stood,

"Well, enough chatter. Where do I start?" she asked. Jack looked around,

"I dunno Go play Solitaire?"

"Is that all you do?"

"I've won four-hundred-and-twenty-nine games of four-hundred-and-seventy-seven."

"That's not so—"

"This week."

"It's Tuesday!"

"Exactly." said Jack.

"Wow." said Donna, leaning against the file cabinet behind her. It sounded suspiciously hollow. Donna frowned and opened it. Inside she found a rubberband ball and a stick of gum. The next was a collection of gossip magazines from last year. The next a book by Amelia Pond.

"There aren't any files in here!" said Donna, turning to Jack.

"Yeah. There'll all in here." He stepped out of his chair and rolled it back to reveal boxes and boxes underneath the counter. Donna stomped forward and poked Jack in the chest,

"And what are they doing there?"

"They were all put there when we moved here. They just never got unpacked."

"Where have you been putting everyone's information?"

"Word documents and sticky notes." said Jack. Donna made a noise of frustration,

"Well, first things first. You're going to clean out those file cabinets, then I'll organize the files."

"But Donna—"

"NOW!" she said, pointing at the cabinets. Jack stood up and hung his head. He looked up at her with his unbelievable smile and big eyes,

"But—"

"No charms or puppy eyes will work on me. Get going!" Jack slowly moved to the cabinets and began slowly emptying them. Donna stole his chair and pulled a box of folders out to her,

"Time to get it all computerized. Fastest typist in London. Give me three days and I'll have it all in shipshape!" said Donna. Jack laughed,

"That's impossible!" Donna turned to him and laughed,

"Oh just you watch." And Jack did. Within three days, Donna had all the patient files on the computer and organized in a folder. Within a week, she had all the paper copies updated in her neat handwriting and filed away alphabetically. It only took her a day to teach it all to Jack. As they left that day with the files organized and the reception room cleaned until it shined, Jack surveyed the room,

"You know, I didn't think you'd do it."

"I know." said Donna as she shrugged on her coat,

"Ah well. It's for the best I suppose. I owe the Doctor ten pounds." Donna looked at his in confusion before her eyes widened."

"You did not…" Jack hurried out the door. Donna shouted after him, "Jack Harkness, you did not bet on me!"

"Well I sure didn't bet against you. See you tomorrow!" he shouted, laughing as he drove way. Donna had to crack a smile as she watched him go. She'd worked in a lot of offices, but this was the first one that had ever felt like a family. Donna liked it.

A/N: Is there something you'd like to see? I already have a one-shot lined up for everyone but Martha. If there's any plot or idea you'd like to request, just let me know via message, email, or review. Hope you enjoyed this!