Act 3, Scene 1 – "Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand."

"Oh… Donna, be a doll and grab my bag from the Tourist Centre." Amy pleaded, sending the older woman a wide-eyed look. They had just come back from another shopping trip and were all exhausted. "I'll make you tea?"

Sighing, Donna couldn't help a smile creeping over her face. "Alright, but only because I'm in a good mood. Captain Throwback's not here and all is right with the world."

They laughed as she grinned and headed back the way they'd just come, ducking through the circular door to the shack where Rory and Mickey were manning the desk. Rolling her eyes, she pointed out the shopping bags that Amy had left in the middle of the floor and laughed at Rory's comment about his wife being lucky her head was attached to her body. After asking whether either of them wanted a drink, which they both refused, she headed back towards the door and the steps leading down into the ground.

Back in the Hub, Donna was slightly confused to find the main floor completely deserted. Leaning over the railings, she checked the medical bay, but Martha was nowhere to be seen. The kitchen was empty as well. With a sigh, she started up the stairs, wondering whether they'd gone into one of the small rooms that ran along the balcony corridor.

"Jack said what?" Donna heard Martha's shocked voice as she approached the boardroom. Assuming that she was about to hear something that she could use against the man, Donna reached for the door handle with a broad smirk on her face.

"He loves Donna."

A strange, strangled cry escaped the red-head's mouth at Gwen's words and she clamped a hand over her mouth. When there was no hint that the women inside the room had heard the noise, so Donna crept closer to the door, listening intently.

"No way…" Amy breathed. "You're kidding?"

"Nope."

"What did he say, though?" Martha pressed. "Are you sure you didn't get the wrong end of the stick? I can't imagine Jack confessing to anything like that."

"No… I think, 'Gwen, I'm in love with Donna Noble', is pretty difficult to misinterpret." The Welsh woman told them, an edge of amusement in her voice. Donna barely managed to hold back her gasp of surprise and leant heavily against the wall behind her.

"We should tell her." Martha said at once.

"We shouldn't." River argued quickly. "You know how Donna feels about all that stuff… she'd laugh him back to the twentieth century… if not further."

Raising an eyebrow Donna shook her head and smirked. There was absolutely no way this conversation was real. They obviously knew that she was outside and were trying to wind her up. River's suggestion that she'd find it hilarious was quite right. The idea that Captain Jack Harkness could possibly be in love with her was just preposterous. The only person that Captain Jack Harkness was in love with was himself.

Nevertheless Donna found that she couldn't bring herself to move and destroy the moment. She wanted to hear what else the four women in the room were going to say; especially if it was about her and Jack.

"Do you really think so? Don't you think it might… mellow her a bit?" Amy suggested.

"Would you honestly want to take that risk?" Gwen asked them. "Seriously? Remember what she was saying the other night. Love? Donna? I don't think so."

"Gwen's right. You heard Donna; how love's just a myth and how she never wants to fall in love again." River agreed.

"After everything she's been through it's sort of understandable though, right?" Amy reasoned.

"Yeah." Martha agreed. "I mean, that Lance guy was going to feed her to a giant spider and then Sean cheated on her and took most of their money and the house. She hasn't exactly had the best of luck with men, has she?"

"That's all the more reason for her to take her anger out on Jack. If he suddenly tells her that he's in love with her, Donna's going to freak out; she's far too proud and far too damaged to accept it." Gwen said.

Outside in the corridor, Donna narrowed her eyes. What right did Gwen or any of them in that room have to decide what she would think or feel? How dare they decide that she was too proud and too damaged to accept that someone, even if it was Jack, might be in love with her? She had half a mind to storm in there and demand to know what they thought they were doing, talking about her behind her back. She was also tempted to accept Jack and his… love… just to spite them; but that was too cruel, even for her, so she wouldn't be doing that. Then the conversation picked up again and Donna stopped ranting inside her head to listen.

"I still think we should tell her." Martha sighed. "I mean, Donna needs someone; everyone needs someone. Even if Donna refuses to admit that she does. Maybe if she knew that Jack was in love with her she'd accept it. I mean, whatever she says I bet she'd be so happy if she could fall in love and get married and have a family."

There was a loud snort of amusement, which the red-head identified as coming from River. "Donna? Need someone? Donna Noble doesn't need anyone. She's more likely to push him away than decide to embrace him. Not even Jack deserves all the abuse he'd get if he tried to admit his feelings to Donna."

Now she was really angry. Balling her hands into fists, Donna glared furiously at the board room door, itching to go in and tell them exactly what she thought of them. But then they would know she had overheard their conversation and they would know that she knew that Jack… Jack… Jack loved her. The woman decided that she couldn't bear that.

And at once Donna felt herself softening towards Jack. Jack, with his stupid American accent. Jack, with his ridiculous dress sense. Jack, with his intense stare, which seemed to look straight through her and into her soul. She shivered, picturing Jack's face in her mind. Against her will she realised that she was smiling as she thought about him. Maybe the intense anger she felt whenever he was around wasn't actually anger at all. Maybe it was a completely different emotion all together. She never felt more alive than when she and Jack were arguing; ripping chunks out of each other with their words. It would be easy, so easy, for all that passion to be transferred into a different emotion altogether.

With a gasp, Donna covered her mouth again as the truth hit her like a tonne of bricks. She, Donna Noble, was head over heels, completely and utterly, deeply in love with Captain Jack Harkness.

"I think we should keep this to ourselves." Gwen said, breaking the spell Donna was under. "I think it's better for both of them if they never find out about this."

"Are you sure?" Martha asked, slowly.

"I am. It's better for Jack to be miserable than for him to be ripped apart by Donna if she found out."

There was a loud sigh from inside the room and then Amy spoke, concluding the conversation. "Fine… we won't say anything to Donna. Now, where are we going for dinner because I, for one, am starving!"

At her words all the women in the board room started to laugh and Donna heard the sound of chairs scraping on the floor. Worried that they would catch her standing in the corridor, she ducked through the next door, pushing it firmly closed behind her with a soft click. Turning, she realised that she was in Jack's office.

Not really knowing what she was doing, Donna moved around the desk, trailing her hand over the objects strewn across its surface and sat in the chair behind it. She swivelled the seat slowly, chewing her bottom lip, deep in thought. Absentmindedly she pressed the button on the computer's monitor and the picture flickered into life. Donna was taken aback by the picture on the desktop; a still taken from the CCTV footage which showed her laughing. The image had been cropped from a larger picture and enlarged. Trying to decide whether it was sweet or creepy, the woman settled on sweet and smiled, switching the monitor off.

Maybe they were right; maybe he was in love with her.

And if he was, then it would only be polite for Donna to make sure that she was in love with him, too.