"She does seem untrusting," he admitted, not looking at her. He was too busy watching some men in their thirties who ≈ he thought ≈ were looking at Romana a little too much.
Romana, in turn, watched him. He had changed since they had met. Of course, she wasn't entirely sure what he had been like before they had met, though she had seen his files when reading up on his world's Torchwood. She had known him to be thorough, precise, and organized, but she had since found him to be steady when she needed him, and protective whether she needed it or not. He had a dry sense of humor and had immense skill reading people. In many ways, she appreciated his opinion more than many of the Time Lords. When she could get him to give it ≈ which he had begun doing more and more ≈ it was obvious he had put much thought into it.
She glanced at the young men and dismissed them instantly. After facing hordes of Daleks, street criminals didn't particularly bother her. Not that she was going to underestimate them, but she had seen far more frightening enemies. "It's this world of hers. People have a habit of dying early."
"Violence?"
She wondered idly when would he stop thinking that violence was always the cause or the solution? Still, he was less angry than when they had first met, less reserved. That was encouraging. She shook her head. "Pollution. They made too many scientific gains, from what I can tell, but went too quickly and didn't learn how to deal with them. The damage that has been caused to the environment may be irreparable." There was a chance that Donna would be sickly as a result, maybe even dying already, but Romana refused to believe she wouldn't be able to do something about that.
Ianto and Romana walked back to the TARDIS. It was disguised as a statue of a curly-haired man with a long scarf and one hand tucked in his pocket; the other hand held out a jelly baby. The statue was smiling widely. Romana paused to quirk her lips at it. "If Donna does not agree, we'll just have to try again in another world." She was worse at accepting defeat in her old age, she knew. She wondered what the Doctor would make of it. But she would find out soon enough, because she would ≈ one way or another ≈ find her way back to him.
"Why didn't we try the Donnas in the past three worlds?" Ianto asked. "I thought you would have invited the one in the last world for certain."
Romana shook her head. She had been thinking it, until that Donna had flashed an engagement ring at her friends and chattered nonstop about a man named Harold. "Those Donnas all had something keeping them in their world, tying them down. This Donna has lost her parents and grandfather, is about to get laid off, and is about to lose her house."
Ianto looked at her curiously.
"I might have looked at the stocks earlier today," Romana admitted, looking almost sheepish. And Donna's finances. She didn't have a sonic screwdriver like the Doctor, but she had other ways.
He didn't respond, but it occurred to him ≈ not for the first time ≈ that Romana didn't leave much to chance. He sometimes wondered about their first meeting, and whether or not it was a coincidence that he was being beaten up just as she happened along.
He took her coat and hung it up before hanging up his own. He knew he didn't have to take care of such things, but he had found that cleaning and organizing the TARDIS helped him relax. It was also his way of repairing Romana for the clothes, food, and lodgings she provided without question. And if she had arranged their first meeting, well, his life was better now than it ever had been, and he wouldn't allow himself to forget it.
"Tea, ma'am."
She smiled. "Thank you, Ianto. That would be lovely." She paused. "And let's set a third, just in case."
*
It was half-past one in the afternoon, and Donna was in the cemetery, staring at the stone before her. She stood on a mass grave, and though she felt gruesome walking over the dead, it was the only way to get close enough to read the names on the tombstone. The last column had a bunch of X's, the bodies that hadn't been identified but had been buried anyway.
Her company had waited until they had come back from lunch to announce massive lay-offs. Her chances of finding another job before she lost her home were almost nil. So at least she had homelessness to look forward to. Wizard.
She leaned backward and sighed, looking up at the sky. Generations ago, it had been blue. But now it was dark gray, and Nerys said the atmosphere was toxic to breathe. But Nerys had always been a bit of a stupid bint. The thought of air killing people was ridiculous. They had people to regulate that sort of thing.
She wondered if Romana and Ianto knew what a blue sky looked like. She was willing to bet they did. They seemed to be from one of those places, one of those clean places like Nepal or Andaver. She'd definitely never seen a suit as nice as Ianto's before.
She looked at the tombstone again. If she left, she would never be able to return. That was what Romana had said.
But what was keeping her here? Her parents were gone, Gramps was gone, she'd just lost her job, and her home was next. And it was all very well to want to visit her family's graves, but if she didn't watch it, she'd be living under a plastic sheet behind them. Or not living at all. She bit her lip. But did that make it all right? She felt almost as if she'd be abandoning them.
What would Gramps want, though? What about Dad, even Mum?
Donna stood and stuck her hands in her pockets. "Sorry, Mum. Dad. Gramps." Especially Gramps. "I've got to go. Things can't get much worse around here, but I've thought that before. There are these people, see... But it doesn't look like I'll come back if I go with them. But I'm going with them. I've got to."
Because at least then, things stood a chance of getting better.
*
She was at the library steps within an hour, peering around. There wasn't much to peer at; it wasn't as if many people used the library anymore, hadn't for years. Books were antiques, too expensive for the common folk.
Donna glowered at some blokes in bulky, tattered jackets at the foot of the steps, looking at her suitcase appraisingly. They'd better keep their distance, or she'd give them what-for.
"Do you need help with your things?"
She spun around, ready to hit the speaker, but Ianto hopped back and nimbly avoided her fist. "Blimey! Don't you know better than to sneak up on a girl?"
Ianto's eyes wrinkled. "Here. Let me get that for you." He reached for her suitcase, and after a moment's hesitation, she handed it over. If he had noticed her hesitation, he didn't let on. "We've just put the kettle on."
Her head whipped around to face him. "Going to boil me in something, are you?"
This time, there was the faintest trace of a smile. "Was going to, but I couldn't find a big enough pot."
"Oi! What you trying to say?"
He immediately looked faintly abashed. "I apologize. I meant human-sized."
"I'll just bet you did, you stick." Not even thin enough to be a twig himself. But he seemed so taken aback that she had to take pity on him. She'd only been teasing anyway. Well, half-teasing. "So where're we going?"
Ianto pointed at a statue, and before Donna could point out the sheer stupidity of going to a statue when they could have left this part of town already, its side opened up, and Romana stood in the opening.
"Glad to see you decided to join us."
Donna shrugged, more interested in what was behind Romana. "Is that a secret passageway? I had no idea that was there! Of course, I never saw that statue there, either."
Romana moved aside and let Donna in. As Ianto carried Donna's suitcase inside, Donna's jaw dropped. This was no passageway. It was far too big. Bigger than the outside, even.
"Blimey," she breathed.
Romana grinned at Ianto. "Welcome to the TARDIS, Donna Noble."