A/N: You all know what happened in The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky, so you'll be aware that I'm ignoring most of the plot.

Part Six

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"How did the family reunion go?" Ross asked them as soon as they clambered in to his van.

"Fine," the Doctor answered, keen to reassure him their journey had been worthwhile.

Donna kept schtum next to him, knowing he was putting on a brave face and that he would only talk to her about it once they were alone back home in the TARDIS. Of course part of that problem would be the presence of Martha, she realised; so she resolved to catch him either before Martha appeared or wait until she could sneak some time alone with him later.

Luck was on her side when they got back to the factory because Martha had agreed to accompany them once she had gone to collect her possessions from the UNIT mobile van.

"Spaceman, I need to apologise for what you overheard in the kitchen," Donna began as soon as the coast was clear.

"That's alright, Donna," he tritely answered; just as she knew he would.

She quickly placed her hands on his upper arms. "No, it isn't alright," she disagreed. "I was ranting at Mum for thinking the worse and I said something that upset you. For that I am truly sorry."

"I told you it was fine," he rephrased himself.

"I know what you told me, and I know what I saw. Mum was trying to protect me but she really rattled my cage! I need you to see that I'm not using you as some substitute; I really value our friendship." She lifted a hand to caress his cheek as she added, "I really do."

He took hold of her hand on his cheek and was about to kiss her palm when Martha appeared on the peripheries of his vision; forcing him to do a covering manoeuvre. He tugged lightly on her hand instead, saying, "Come on then, let's go home."

Donna and Martha nestled down onto the library sofa, glass of wine in hand, and feeling very full after their celebratory meal.

"Excuse me, ladies, while I go and deal with a little wiring problem," the Doctor said reluctantly. The atmosphere between him and Donna had improved and he had wanted to stay and chat with them but the TARDIS was very insistent that he got on with his task.

Donna reached out and gave his hand a consoling squeeze as he walked passed. "Don't worry, Spaceman. We'll save a glass of wine for you," she said with a soft smile that gladdened his hearts. "I won't let you go without."

"Thank you," he replied, placing his other hand over the top of hers. "I'll see you both later."

He left them together, and Martha couldn't wait to ask the questions she had been pondering for absolutely hours. "So… it's us again; girls together," she said quite impishly. "How have things been between the pair of you since you came onto the TARDIS?"

"Not bad, not bad at all," Dona readily replied. "Our adventures have been a little different to what I expected."

"In what way?" Martha inevitably asked.

"Well… there've been plenty of nasty aliens wanting to kill us, and there's been the odd bit of putting history right; but I hadn't anticipated everyone assuming we were married left right and centre across the universe!" Donna explained.

Martha laughed. "It must be very awkward for you both. I never got that sort of thing when I was with him. But then you two do have a certain vibe about you."

"What do you mean?" Donna curiously asked. She wasn't showing she was interested in the Doctor, was she? She dreaded becoming another complicated millstone around his neck.

Martha took a sip of her drink before she dropped her bombshell on Donna. "When you think about it, it's not exactly unlikely, is it? After all, you two know what each other look like naked," she reasoned.

Donna felt herself blush a deep red; she hadn't thought of it in those terms. That would explain all those furtive glances he sometimes gave her. Did he like what he saw anymore? John had been an ardent admirer of her figure, but, as she continually told herself, the Doctor was not John! "Yeah, I suppose there is that," she answered feebly as embarrassment gripped her. Instead of exploring the topic she decided to change the subject. "Does that apply to you and your Tom?" she asked mischievously, getting Martha to spout on about her fiancé for ages.

He knew before he went to sleep that the day had been dangerous in more than one way. Okay, he had almost been blown up in his quest to stop the Sontarans, but there had been a different dimension to it. He had been proving to himself that he wasn't infallible, that things could go wrong; that he didn't deserve to have Donna in his life…

That last one he believed most of all. Sometimes he caught her looking at him as though she was remembering him as John Smith; it was the way she had often regarded him when she thought he wasn't looking, with love and wonder. A lot… okay, all of those times he envied John Smith. And that was a dangerous thought to have before you sleep, because sleep often brings wish fulfilment.

In this particular dream he was lying back in that bed with Donna, stroking each other's bare flesh with tender sweeps that progressively became playful, teasing and seductive. He smiled at her, loving how soft her skin felt beneath his fingertips; loving how she made him feel. Unable to resist any longer, he brought his mouth up against hers to kiss her sensually. "I love you, Donna," he said breathily. "Marry me."

Her eyes lit up in happiness. "Me? You want me?" she asked in astonishment, waiting for him to show with a nod that he meant it. "Yes please!" she squealed in excitement. She was then kissing him hungrily, pressing her body onto him. "I love you too; so very much, and I never thought I'd ever find you."

"You looked for me?" he practically squeaked in surprise as she pushed him down onto the bed.

"Everywhere. I had to find you, John," she told him.

"John? John! I'm not John!" he yelled, pushing her away. "That isn't even close to my real name!"

She gasped in shock, holding out her hands towards him as her body slipped away, further and further away from him as he tried to catch her with his hands. Nothing worked as she fell away from him and he was left calling out feebly, knowing she was falling to her death. All he could do was call out her name constantly. "Donna! Donna!" he shouted, half sobbing as he did so.

Something halted the words in his throat, and he jumped awake to find Donna standing over his sleeping form.

"Doctor, are you okay?" she asked anxiously. "I'm here; you were calling for me," she explained when he reacted with confusion. "It sounded like you were having a nightmare or something. Do you want me to get you anything?"

"I was erm…," he stammered, wondering if he had said anything else in his sleep. "I was trying to stop you falling," he felt able to confess as he pushed himself to sit up in his bed. "I saw you die…"

He looked so lost that she instinctively caressed his face and ran a hand through his hair; inadvertently halting his words. "It's okay, I'm not dead. I have no intention being so yet, anyway," she soothed him with gentle words. "I'm here for as long as you want me."

She would never have believed that his eyes could be so wide or soulful, filled with deep pain as he regarded her in the half-light; so when he murmured, "Stay with me, please," it took no effort to wrap her arms around his shaking shoulders and hold him to her tightly.

He felt a slight shiver run through her. "Are you cold?" he asked, determined not let her go unless she was adamant that she wanted to leave.

"A bit," she answered honestly.

"You can get in if you want," he offered shyly. "I don't mean in that way but… can you stay a bit longer?"

So he wanted her to be his human teddy bear, did he? She could cope with that, she decided. "Go on then, shove over," she replied quickly before she lost her nerve.

He tried to slow his breathing down as it tried to race away with his excitement. Donna Noble was going to climb into ihis/i bed, knowing full well it was him and not John! Wriggling with her in his arms, he moved sideways and made room for her to get in. "Thank you," he whispered as he lowered them down onto the mattress. "I promise not to make a habit of this."

"That's okay," she said with a giggle. She was giggling because he was being so incredibly sweet, and because she was nervous. What if she did something really stupid and treated him as if he were John? Surely she wouldn't be that stupid! Still clutching him lightly, she laid down in his bed, unable to believe that he would have welcomed her in in any shape or form.

"Good night, Donna," he said before placing a chaste kiss on her cheek.

"Good night, Doctor," she replied, placing an equally chaste kiss on his cheek.

They then snuggled together, both making the most of this moment, and fell fast asleep.

Martha sat in the kitchen wondering where the heck the pair of them had got to. It wasn't like the Doctor to dillydally in the morning, or what passed for morning in the TARDIS. Normally he was up with the larks, irritatingly being cheerful in your face while you stumbled to reach consciousness. After thirty or so minutes of waiting without a sign of them, she resolved to go and investigate.

The first room she came to down the bedrooms corridor was Donna's. For some reason the door was wide open and the covers were flung back, but there was nothing to suggest Donna was inside. "Donna?" she called out at the doorway, but there was no answer. Cautiously Martha dipped her head around the door to the en suite bathroom, but Donna was nowhere to be found.

Curiosity drove Martha a further down the corridor until she reached the door that she assumed was the Doctor's. Politely knocking on it gave her no reply or shout from within. "What do I do?" she raised her eyes to ask the TARDIS.

To her surprise her answer was the door very slowly opening to leave just enough space for her to peep in. "You want me to have a gander," Martha stated to the TARDIS. "You'd better not be getting me into trouble doing this!"

Double checking by glancing both ways down the corridor, Martha then bobbed her head inside the room. It was very dark in there, and for a few seconds she couldn't see a thing. And then she spotted him in the bed; or should that be them? Two people were snuggled together; one spooned in behind the other, sleeping peacefully, apart from the odd twitch. As she watched, the Doctor's arm moved to tightened slightly around Donna's waist and he rubbed his chin against her shoulder. All Donna did in response was mumble something about tea, of all things, and then briefly caress his arm.

Martha clamped her hand over her mouth in disbelief. They hadn't acted as though they had continued their previous relationship; okay, they had exchanged the odd intimate touch, but things had not seemed to be more than friendly. Or was that extremely friendly? It had definitely been more than how normal friends behaved, but nowhere near as friendly as they had previously been.

Should she even ask them about this? For the time being she chose to pretend she didn't know and see how it played out.