Disclaimer: Ooh, look at all the pretty lights. Though that giant elephant is kind of freaking me out.
Ch. 9:
They made it to the roof and watched as the Adipose babies flew up to the ships that had appeared in the sky.
"What you gonna do, then?" Donna asked. "Blow them up?"
"They're just children." The Doctor replied. "They can't help where they come from."
"Oh, that makes a change from last time." She said. "That Martha must've done you good."
"She did." Lily said, smiling.
"She fancied me." The Doctor chimed in.
"Mad Martha, that one." Donna said, grinning. "Blind Martha. Charity Martha."
"Hey!" Lily said, also grinning. "No knocking my mate. Even if you have a point."
The Doctor groaned.
An Adipose waved at them and they waved back.
"I'm waving at fat." Donna marveled.
"Actually, as a diet plan, it sort of works." The Doctor said.
"She should have gone to the States." Lily said. "They probably would've approved it even if they had know what it was doing."
"There she is!" the Doctor said, pointing.
They ran to the edge and watched as Foster rose into the air and paused when she was the same height.
"Matron Cofelia, listen to me!" the Doctor yelled.
"Oh, I don't think so, Doctor." She replied. "And if I never see you again, it will be too soon."
"Oh, why does no one ever listen?" the Doctor whined. "I'm trying to help! Just get across to the roof. Can you shift the levitation beam?"
"What?" she asked. "So you can arrest me?"
"Just listen." He told her. "I saw the Adiposian instruction-they know it's a crime, breeding on Earth. So what's the one thing they want to get rid of? Their accomplice!"
"I'm far more than that." Foster replied. "I'm nanny to all these children."
All the Adipose had reached the ships now, leaving only the Matron.
"Exactly!" Lily called. "Mom and Dad don't need the nanny now that they've got the kids!"
Suddenly, the blue light holding the Matron in the air vanished. She hung in the air for a moment before falling down to the ground. Donna hid her face in the Doctor's shoulder and Lily closed her eyes as the Doctor looked on.
They looked up to see the Adipose waving as the ship left.
Down on the streets, there were sirens, an ambulance, and police tape.
The Doctor led the two women down through it, lost in though. He tossed the sonic pen in the trash and Lily yelped.
"Like the thing I need is you running around with a sonic pen." He told her.
"I hate you." She said glaring at him.
"Sure you do." He said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
She glared at him, but didn't shrug him off.
"Oi!" a voice called. "You three!"
They turned to find Penny walking out, still tied to the chair.
"You're just mad." She said. "Do you hear me? Mad! And I'm gonna report you…for madness!"
They watched as she waddled away.
"You see?" Donna said. "Some people just can't take it."
"No." the Doctor agreed.
"But some people can." She added. "So, then-TARDIS! Come on!"
She wrapped her arm through Lily's and they walked off, laughing.
The Doctor stared after them for a moment before shaking his head and following.
They walked into the alley and Donna ran to her car.
"That's my car!" she said. "That is like destiny! And I've been ready for this."
She opened the trunk and the Doctor and Lily saw it was full of suitcases.
"I packed ages ago, just in case." She told them. "'Cause I thought, hot weather, cold weather, no weather…"
Lily laughed as she began loading the luggage into the arms of a very stunned Doctor.
"…they go anywhere, I've gotta be prepared." She said.
"A hat box?" Lily laughed as she put it on top of the pile.
"Planet of the Hats, I'm ready!" Donna replied.
Lily laughed even harder.
"I'm gonna go call Jack." She said, trying to regain control. "I want to say goodbye before we leave."
The Doctor nodded and started piling the bags on the ground.
Lily took one last look before walking away, still laughing.
"Do I need injections though, do I?" Donna asked, oblivious to the fact that the Doctor was very serious. "Like when you go to Cambodia, is there any of that? 'Cause my friend Venna went Bahrain, and…you're not saying much."
"No, it's just…" The Doctor trailed off. "It's a funny old life, in the TARDIS."
"You don't want me." She said quietly.
"No, I'm not saying that." He said. "In fact, I think Lily would probably beat me to death if I tried to stop you from coming, it's just, last time, with Martha. It got complicated. And it was all my fault." He took a deep breath. "I just want a mate."
"You just want TO MATE?" Donna said, disgustedly.
"Something you want to tell me, love?" Lily asked as she walked up.
"I said A mate!" he protested.
"You're not mating with me, sunshine!" Donna told him.
"A mate!" he yelled. "I want A mate!"
"Well just as well." Donna told him. "Because I'm not having any of that nonsense. That maybe fine for Lily, but you're just a long streak of…nothing. You know, alien nothing."
Lily was cracking up again.
"There we are then." The Doctor said. "Okay."
"I can come?" Donna asked.
"That wasn't ever in question." Lily said, glaring at the Doctor.
"I'd love it." The Doctor said, grinning at Donna and wrapping his arms around Lily's waist.
"Car keys!" Donna said suddenly.
"What?" the Doctor asked, surprised.
"I've still got my mum's car keys!" she told him. "I won't be a minute!"
She ran off.
"I love her." Lily said, laughing.
She glanced at the luggage and back at the Doctor.
"Well?" she said.
"What?" he asked.
"Haven't I explained the role of the male to you?" she said, pointing to the bags.
He sighed and began to move them.
Donna walked back onto the crowded street, talking on her phone.
"I know Mum, I saw it." She said. "Little fat people. Listen, I've got to go. I'm going to stay with Veena for a bit."
"…it was in the sky!" Sylvia said.
"Yeah, I know." Donna told her. "Spaceship. But, I've still got the car keys. Look. There's a bin on Brook Street, about thirty feet from the corner, I'm going to leave them in there."
She threw the keys in the trash.
"What?" Sylvia asked. "A bin?"
"Yes, that's it, a bin." Donna replied.
"You can't do that." Her mom told her.
"Oh, stop complaining." Donna told her. "The car's just down the road a bit. Got to go, really got to go. Bye."
"But Donna, you can't-"
Donna hung up the phone.
She spotted a group of people standing by a fence and ran up to a blonde woman in a purple leather jacket.
"Listen." She told her. "There is this woman that's going to come along, a tall blonde woman called Sylvia. Tell her that bin there."
She pointed out the right one.
"Right, it'll all make sense." Donna told her. "That bin there."
She turned and walked away and the blonde woman turned back around. She was shortly joined by a tall man with a large nose and large ears in a black leather jacket. She glanced at him and turned and walked away with him.
Then they disappeared.
Lily turned and looked at the end of the alley.
"What is it?" the Doctor asked, pausing as he loaded up the TARDIS.
"I thought…" Lily said softly.
She shook her head and turned back to him.
"It's nothing." She told him.
She grabbed the last bag and followed him inside.
A few minutes later, Donna walked into the TARDIS to find The Doctor standing in front of the console and Lily leaning behind him.
"Off we go, then!" she said.
"Here it is, the TARDIS." The Doctor told her. "It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside…"
"Oh, I know that bit." Donna interrupted. "Although frankly, you could turn the heat up."
Lily leaned over and flicked a switch.
"Better?" she asked as the air got warmer.
"Thanks." Donna said.
"So, whole wide universe," the Doctor said, moving around the console, "where do you want to go?"
"Oh, I know exactly the place." She replied.
"Which is?" Lily asked.
"Two and a half miles, that way." She said, pointing.
Wilf was on the hill again, looking through his telescope, when he suddenly froze. Above him was a little flying blue box.
"There!" he said. "Donna! It's…it's the flying blue box!"
He looked through the telescope and saw Donna waving from the open doors of the TARDIS.
"Huh-what?" he asked. "That's Donna! Yeah, that's Donna!"
Standing behind Donna was the Doctor, with his arm around Lily, both of them waving.
"And that's them!" he yelled. "That's them! Hey! That's him! Ha-ha-ha! Go on girl! Go on, get up there! Hey!"
He did a little dance as the TARDIS flew away.
The Doctor closed the doors as Lily and Donna sat down on the jump seat.
"So," Lily said. "First we get you settled, then we have a little bit of story time."
"Lily." The Doctor said.
"No." Lily replied. "We messed up last time by not being honest with Martha. This time we tell Donna everything up front."
The Doctor sighed, knowing there was no arguing with her.
So they got her a room and moved all her stuff in and then they went to the kitchen and sat down.
They told her everything. They told her about the Time War and meeting Rose. They told her about traveling and losing Rose. They told her about the other universe. They told her about everything that led to Lily being sent to this universe. They told her about Martha and the Master and the Year that Never Was.
She cried when they told her about the damage to Lily's body and the how much time was left.
"That's everything." Lily told her, holding her hand tightly. "No secrets."
"I'm not sure I wanted to know all that." Donna told her.
"We know." The Doctor replied. "But traveling with us can be dangerous, and knowing the score can help."
Donna nodded and yawned.
"Why don't you get some sleep." Lily said. "We can finish tomorrow."
Donna nodded.
"Good night." She said as she stood and left.
"You should get some sleep too." The Doctor told Lily.
"I know." She replied.
She stood and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Thank you for bring her along." She whispered.
"You're welcome." He replied.
She kissed him softly.
"Good night." She said.
"G'night." He replied.
She smiled and walked out.
He leaned back in his seat and smiled.
Things were looking good for now.
A/N: Partners in Crime is done! Let me know what you think!
Abbey
