The next few hours passed in a blur for the Doctor as Martha laid him down on a second hospital bed that had been brought into the autopsy/medical room that served as the Hub's hospital wing. The waves of energy that usually bombarded his system when he was close to the rift in Cardiff seemed strangely muted after the ordeal that he had just endured aboard the Tardis. It was with a profound sense of relief that he was finally able to let the pain and exhaustion wash completely over him.
He watched as Martha carefully transferred Donna from the backboard onto the main examination table, her movements efficient as she ordered Jack to set up a saline drip. The Doctor had tried to help tend to Donna's injuries but Martha had instructed him to sit on the other bed so that she could focus on Donna, and if he had tried to move again she would have no compunction to restrain him to that bed.
He could tell that the instructions came from good intentions, but Martha was in full doctor mode and Donna was by far the more severe patient at this time. It went against everything in his nature to step back and let anyone else tend to Donna, but he knew that he would be much more of a hindrance at this time.
The Doctor carefully sat on the edge of the hospital bed, wincing at the pain that stabbed through his chest with the motion but his eyes remained glued to the activity around the other bed. He reached within himself, his mind drifting along the gossamer strands of his bond with Donna to find her slumbering presence and gently wrap himself around the softly pulsing light. She was sleeping deeply, far more deeply than she otherwise should have been and he couldn't help the pleased smile when he detected the Tardis' hand in sending her into a deep rejuvenating sleep.
Knowing that she was finally well beyond the pain that had tortured her for the last few hours, the Doctor finally allowed himself to slump in on himself and simply wait for Martha to finish with Donna.
Jack had served as a medic in both world wars and so was a competent nurse, but he also knew when he was way out of his league. Martha snapped on a pair of surgical gloves and with Jack's support, carefully stripped Donna's battered jacket from her body so that she could better examine her.
The worst of the injuries seemed to be focused around the two large bruises on Donna's head, but Martha didn't discount the odd burn marks on Donna's hands as she struggled to stabilize her. She instructed Jack to start an oxygen line and strap it under Donna's nose to make breathing easier, before she pulled the mobile x-ray machine over to scan her entire body.
Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any fractures other than the obvious trauma to her head, but it was still that trauma that worried Martha the most. The Doctor wasn't in the best shape either, but she felt that he would be warning her if he feared that there was serious danger from swelling in Donna's brain.
She continued with her examination, her gloved fingers turning Donna's hands over as she carefully cut away her sleeves to show that the burns travelled up past her elbow before they faded away. They looked strangely like electrical burns, but Donna didn't show any of the classic signs of electrocution.
Frowning to herself, Martha called out, "Mickey, I need you to get me 6 packs of gel dressing and several rolls of gauze bandages. I want to wrap Donna's hands for the time being until I can examine her burns more thoroughly. Then please help Jack wrap both hands to her elbows."
"They're reactions from interacting with temporal fields, they should fade on their own with time."
Martha jerked at the tired sound of the Doctor's voice, his body was hunched over in obvious distress, but his gaze was frighteningly focused when he looked at her. She stepped away from Donna for a moment, her steps carrying her quickly to the Doctor's side where she asked, "Why was she touching temporal fields, Doctor? What happened? Anything you can tell me will help in my treatment."
The Doctor took a careful pained breath, his gaze darting from Donna to Martha before he struggled to sit up a little straighter. "The dimensional multiphasic transducer failed on board the Tardis."
The blank look on Martha's face caused a weak laugh to bubble up from nowhere, a laugh that caused the Doctor to double over in pain before he was able to continue. "I'm sorry, it's the heart of the Tardis' temporal brain and is what allows her to manipulate time in all eleven dimensions. When that part failed, the Tardis' consciousness was ripped from her matrix and reality shattered inside the ship."
Jack whistled softly when he heard the Doctor's comments, his attention distracted momentarily from Donna's bandages as he called out, "No wonder you both are such a mess, is the Tardis going to be alright?"
The Doctor looked to Jack with a soft smile, his eyes closing for a moment just to assure himself of the faint connection to his ship before he nodded. "Yes, Jack. I was able to repair the damage but she has shut herself down in order to fully heal. When reality shattered, there were pockets of time and space floating through the ship and apparently, I was trapped in one of those pockets when the damage initially occurred. Donna had to free me from that pocket. The burns on her arms came from that attempt and were later worsened when we were both trapped in a pocket of reality several hours later."
The Doctor didn't elaborate on what had happened in those pockets of reality, Donna had been far more shaken by the face to face meeting with a younger version of the Master than she had let on and he knew that she wouldn't appreciate it if he spoke too casually of their experiences before she had had time to fully process what had happened.
Martha watched the Doctor thoughtfully, her eagle-eyed gaze not missing the exhaustion that was causing him to droop where he sat nor the pain that continued to plague his features. He needed rest and he needed it now.
"Doctor, I'm going to sedate you for now. I don't want you to argue, but you're doing yourself more harm than good by struggling to stay awake. Donna is in good hands now, but I need to make sure that I take care of you as well."
The Doctor looked up at her with a stubborn set to his jaw, his lips parting before she interrupted him. "Don't argue with me, Doctor. I know if you're showing even this much pain, then you're in worse shape than you're letting yourself admit and by remaining conscious you are only injuring yourself further."
The Doctor's mouth snapped shut and he seemed to wilt in on himself with her final words. He couldn't deny what she said because he was fighting against his body's need to fall into a deep rejuvenating sleep and he knew that he wouldn't be able to attain the level of unconsciousness needed on his own to allow his body to begin to heal itself.
Both he and Donna were safe now and in excellent care, it was time that he allowed himself to step back and let his old companions tend to the both of them.
Martha only waited for his faint nod, before she hurried to a medicine cabinet that was tucked against the wall. The Doctor noticed her pull her glove off and pull a key from her pocket, before she unlocked the cabinet and pulled out a Time Lord friendly sedative, one that she had always kept on hand just in case the Doctor had ever come to her needing assistance.
She locked the cabinet once more and returned to the Doctor's side, thankful now that she had kept the drug as she opened a sterile syringe package and carefully drew the medication into the needle. Taking an alcohol wipe and cleaning a spot on his forearm, she found a vein and slid the needle in. The fact that the Doctor barely flinched told her just how much pain he was suffering and confirmed, in her mind, that she had made the correct decision.
She glanced up to Mickey when she pulled the needle free, her slight nod all he needed to step forward to help her lay the Doctor gently down on the bed. She brushed the Doctor's hair out of his already drooping eyes, her touch gentle on the unbruised side of his face so that she could meet his concerned gaze. "Rest well, Doctor. We're here now and we'll make sure the both of you are good as new."
The Doctor smiled briefly up at Martha before he let his eyes flutter shut and his mind floated free in the blessed darkness. His last thought was to reach out to Donna's slumbering presence, where he wrapped himself up in her warmth and finally let the worry of the last few hours melt away.
Donna was floating.
She tried to take a deep breath as she looked around the strange featureless place in which she found herself, but she felt strangely disconnected from her body and couldn't seem to move any of her limbs.
"Doctor!"
Donna felt his presence immediately as he seemed to surround her with his energy and helped to still the panic that had very quickly been rising within her.
"I'm right here, Donna. You've been asleep for quite a long time, I finally decided to join you in your cocoon."
"Why can't I see you, Doctor? Am I blind?"
She felt his mental embrace tighten at her question, the blinding flash of love and something far more potent and alien before he responded. "No, you're not blind, Donna, but you are still sleeping. You've been resting for days now."
"I'm dreaming then?"
A gentle, almost there caress flickered through her thoughts; she could just imagine the warm chocolate of the Doctor's eyes darkening as his fingers would float over her face as if he was trying to memorize her features all over again. "Not quite dreaming, Donna. I'm very definitely real and my essence is sharing this place with you, but I guess you could call it a dream state."
There was a pause, in which Donna let herself float in the embrace of the Doctor's mind, the fact that her body seemed to be a million miles away didn't bother her as much as she felt it should because she knew that the Doctor's presence was the anchor she needed to keep her mind and body intact. "The Tardis helped to send you into this dream state so that you could heal more completely while she had to shut down to complete her own repairs. I simply couldn't stand not feeling your thoughts anymore and so I followed our bond here."
"This... is… wizard!"
His chuckle was felt more than heard, but she could see faint shimmers of burgundy and gold streaking through the space around her and it was such a beautiful sight that she just let her thoughts melt deeper into the Doctor's presence. "We've never had to come to a place like this before, but this state is one that Time Lords would often enter in order to meditate or heal serious injuries. The fact that you were able to find this place with the Tardis' help is a good sign and merely an indication of your growing control over your own abilities."
Donna's mind whirled with questions at the Doctor's words, her thoughts tightening around the Doctor's momentarily before she asked, "Why did the Tardis send me here? I felt her thoughts at the last moment and I think I fought against her for moment, but then there was nothing. I only just found this place, Doctor."
An image flickered before her, the Doctor's body entwined with hers on a white hospital bed as the two of them lay curled tightly around each other before the featureless void closed in around her once more. She was shaken by that sight, her mind struggling against the strange lassitude that seemed to keep her trapped in this place. "Your mind was sleeping for days, Donna. You're only now just starting to come out of the healing sleep that you were in and your mind found this in between place where I would be able to find you before you woke up completely."
"I'm scared of the pain, Doctor. It hurt so much before, I'm scared that it will all come back when I do wake up."
The warmth that pulsed around her thoughts was all the answer she needed, but the Doctor's thoughts were gentle and firm when he responded. "The worst of the pain should be gone, Donna. Martha has taken very good care of the both of us and now the Tardis is nearly ready for us to rejoin her as well. If any residual pain remains, then I will have full access to the medical bay and will be able to deal with any injuries that remain."
Donna paused for a moment more, her mind reveling in the closeness she felt with the Doctor before she asked, "Are you better too, Doctor?"
"I am better, Donna, but I do need to use the bone knitter that I have on the Tardis to fully heal my ribs. I'd rather not be incapacitated for weeks while they heal naturally."
She drifted deeper into the Doctor's embrace before she whispered, "I'm sorry you're still in pain, Doctor. In that case, I think I'm ready to wake up now."
The Doctor couldn't help the burst of warm pride at her words, the fear she still felt at the prospect of waking up in a world of agony was not enough to keep her unconscious as soon as she heard that he was still hurt and needed to be treated. "Are you sure you're ready, Donna? We can stay here a while longer if need be."
Donna latched onto the Doctor's presence and used it as a guide up through the levels of unconsciousness and towards her slumbering body. "I need to see your eyes again, Doctor. I'm ready to face the world."
"That's my brilliant Donna!" The Doctor's warm thoughts followed her from her safe haven and back into the physical world.
Donna lay on the hospital bed with her eyes closed as she tried to take stock of her body and surroundings. She still felt a slight sense of vertigo even with her eyes closed, but the blinding agony that had been a constant before she lost consciousness was conspicuously absent.
She was held tightly against the Doctor's chest, his hand absentmindedly stroking her hair while his lips rested against her forehead. She could feel his mind still moving within hers, but the contact was less intimate than the place that they had just shared.
It felt like her head was still wrapped in a soft bandage, though she couldn't tell the extent of the injury that still remained but the rest of her body seemed to be in okay shape.
She sensed movement next to the bed and with a soft groan, burrowed deeper into the Doctor's embrace when she felt a soft hand touch her back. "Donna, I need you to roll over for a minute so I can examine you. You've been asleep for ten days and I want to make sure you're alright to be waking up now."
Donna grimaced against the Doctor's chest when she heard Martha's words, her eyes popping open as she flopped onto her back. She cried out at the bright light that stabbed into her eyes, her shaky arm rising to shield her gaze where she could just make out the outline of Martha leaning over the bed.
"Easy now, Donna. Try not to move so quickly, it will take some time for your equilibrium to return."
Donna blinked furiously against the tears that were burning her eyes from the intensity of the examination light over head, her head was spinning as the room around her refused to come into focus.
"Doctor, I can better examine her if you get off the table for a few moments."
Donna grinned softly when she felt the steadfast refusal blaze through his thoughts. "I'm not moving, Martha. You can examine her with me right here."
Martha shook her head with a glare at the recalcitrant Time Lord, but she knew that he had been worried sick for the last few days when Donna hadn't awoken on her own and had spent hours each day laying in bed with her while he let his mind drift with hers in her dreamless state. Martha had initially been concerned when Donna remained so deeply unconscious with no medical intervention, but the Doctor had warned her that the Tardis had sent her into this dreamless state and that she would remain there until her body was sufficiently healed for her to regain consciousness.
There really was no reason for the Doctor to move from his perch, it just meant that Martha's examination would take a little longer than normal. "How are you feeling, Donna?"
"Other than a little dizziness and a bit of a headache from the lights, I feel alright."
Martha's movements were matter of fact as she examined Donna's pupil and capillary response. She was pleased that the burn marks that had marred her hands had disappeared entirely, and the swelling around her temples had completely vanished. The brilliant bruising that had colored almost her entire head was now almost gone and only a faint greenish hue still lingered around the worst injury sites. If the Doctor hadn't explained the healing trance in detail to Martha over the last ten days, she wouldn't have believed such a rapid recovery would have been possible.
Donna's DNA was sufficiently changed that she had been able to be pushed into a Time Lord healing trance where her body had taken all the energy that she normally would have used to stay awake to mend her broken body in an astonishingly short length of time.
Donna was struggling to get her bearings as she looked up at Martha, the glare from the lights was casting the doctor in a strange lurid glow that seemed to produce a halo around her dark head. She was surprised that she didn't see any pulses of temporal energy around Martha or the room in which she lay and she wondered if she had dreamed the Tardis bringing them to the hub. Her temporal sense was blessedly quiet for the moment except for a dull burn that seemed to shiver across forgotten nerves.
She blinked when she thought back on what Martha had said and asked in a dull whisper. "Did you say I was out for ten whole days?"
Martha nodded in response to Donna's question, her hand rising to pull the stethoscope buds from her ears before she turned back to Donna and began to carefully unwind the bandage that still remained wrapped around her temples. "Yes, Donna. You were out for ten days. The Doctor said that the Tardis had sent you into some sort of healing trance and nothing I could do would be able to bring you out of it."
Martha's lips were pursed as she carefully turned Donna's head from one side to the other, before she leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest with a soft sigh. "After I was able to initially stabilize you, I didn't do much other than keep you hydrated and medicated against any infection that might have been festering." She brushed a fringe of hair away from Donna's eyes, her own gaze locking with Donna's before she whispered. "You're a very lucky woman, Donna Noble. From what the Doctor told me about what happened on board the Tardis, you're lucky that you didn't suffer any permanent brain damage from your injuries."
Donna felt the Doctor's arms tighten around her body, the flash of remorse that echoed through their bond was so fast that Donna wasn't entirely certain that she had felt it before she heard the Doctor's words. "I hated moving her, Martha. It went against every protocol that I knew from all my studies of human medicine, but I had no other choice."
Martha nodded at the Doctor's words, but it was Donna that turned her head to respond to his words. "I already told you that we did what we had to do, Doctor. There's no need to feel any regret over what happened, and besides we were able to save the Tardis!"
The Doctor smiled wanly down into her earnest gaze, his eyes boring into hers for a moment longer before he took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right, Donna. We did save the Tardis, and she has been anxiously waiting for you to awaken so that she could thank you properly as well."
"I hope you're planning on taking some time to make sure there aren't any other serious component failures before you go adventuring again, Doctor."
Donna turned at the sound of Jack's voice, her eyes widening when she noticed that the wildly chaotic timelines that she had so briefly glimpsed aboard the Tardis were noticeably absent and that he appeared wholly human and completely normal once more to her. She couldn't forget the feeling of comfort that had filled her mind when she had seen him aboard the Tardis and her hand reached out to grasp his tightly in gratitude. "Thank you for helping the both of us, Jack. I don't know what I would have done if the Tardis hadn't brought us to you."
The immortal smiled down at Donna, his eyes drifting to the Doctor who still lay entwined with Donna's form completely comfortable and very obviously not caring that either of them would see him in such a compromising position. The Doctor had been beside himself the last few days while he waited for Donna to wake up, and his frustration had been compounded when the Tardis doors had remained locked to him as well.
Jack had tried to understand what exactly the Doctor and Donna had experienced aboard the Tardis after this transducer had failed, and it was only his extensive training in the Time Agency that had allowed him to grasp even a fraction of what the Doctor had described. He had been surprised and a little troubled when the Doctor had described how Donna's abilities had grown and how she had been the guiding force that had led them towards the temporal core.
The Doctor had been thankful that Jack had jumped into the core without question to help him focus enough through the pain to affect the final repair, before the Tardis had completely destroyed herself. He caught the Doctor's eyes, the Time Lord's gaze telling Jack everything that the man would never be able to say aloud. Jack merely nodded in response to that gratitude before he smiled back down at Donna.
"You're more than welcome, Donna. It was you and the Tardis that did all the work though, I merely came along at the end to pull his skinny butt out of the fire."
The last was said with a jerk of his head towards the Doctor, his eyes crinkling with amusement at the cry of indignation from the recumbent Time Lord. "Hey, Jack, now I resent that comment! I had things well in hand and if I remember correctly YOU were the one who kept dying on me in the temporal core."
Jack laughed at the look of horror that crossed Donna's face, her hand reaching out to grasp Jack's as she whispered. "That must have been so painful for you, Jack. I'm sorry that you had to go through that."
Jack was surprised at the sincerity in Donna's words, his wide eyes locking onto hers for a moment when he thought he felt the faint brush of her mind against his before she pulled away. He couldn't help the warm smile that seemed to transform his sometimes harsh features, his hand gripping hers firmly in response to the warmth he felt in her grasp. "I'll always do anything I possibly can to help a friend, Donna. I'm lucky that the deaths don't stick and in the end, it looked like the Doctor needed me just to get the job done."
The Doctor groaned at Jack's words, knowing that he would never be able to live it down but unable to help a soft laugh. "We're even now, Jack."
"Oh, we're keeping score now, Doctor? I'll have to remember that."
Martha playfully smacked Jack's arm before she muscled back into their conversation, her hands deftly reaching out to take Donna's left hand into her own. "Alright, Jack. Let the two of them wake up fully before they go running off into the universe again. I swear, Doctor, if you're going to be coming back here to get patched up all the time maybe you should consider having a full-time medic aboard the Tardis again."
The Doctor's arms tightened around Donna for a moment before he murmured. "The position is there if you want it, Martha."
Martha gasped at the Doctor's offer, her eyes darting from his deep chocolate gaze down to Donna's shining blue orbs which only seemed to confirm the Doctor's words. She remembered all too well how hard it had been to say goodbye to the Doctor the last time, how she felt as if she had been ripping her heart and soul out just to finally step off the Tardis.
Martha was saved from a response when Jack erupted, "Hey, Doctor! Stop trying to steal my best medic!"
Martha laughed softly at Jack's exclamation, turning to send him a small grateful smile before she turned back to the Doctor. "It's nice to know that I'll have a job should there ever be a need, Doctor."
The Doctor nodded and looked towards the railing of the medical bay just as Mickey was making his way down the stairs to their side. He was surprised when Donna shifted firmly against him, her mind snapping within his to stop making a spectacle of them by continuing to lay in bed with her. She felt uncomfortable enough laying on a hospital bed with Jack and Martha standing over her head, but having Mickey join the group was more than she could readily handle.
The Doctor smiled down at his ginger wife, his arms tightening briefly around her body before he untangled himself from her and rolled to his feet on the other side of his bed. Donna was still incredibly prim when it came to overt public displays of affection between them, and it seemed lying in bed with his arms wrapped tightly around her while a crowd gathered and gawked was finally crossing some invisible line.
"The doors to the Tardis just opened, Doctor. I didn't go inside, but I could see the control room quite clearly through the opening."
The Doctor couldn't contain the huge smile that lit his features at Mickey's words, his eyes closing as he felt the Tardis' song suddenly swell within his mind once more. He took a deep shuddering breath, happy that the gaping hole that had been left by his ship's silence was finally once again filled. He looked down just in time to see Donna's eyes close with a smile as the Tardis reached out to her as well; her hand reached up to tangle with his when the ship greeted them both with a joyous exclamation.
"Thank you, Mickey! I've been waiting for that."
Mickey stepped up beside Martha and pulled her yielding body into his arms, his gaze drifting over Donna and the Doctor's clasped hands before he let himself smile in response. The Doctor had changed drastically since he had travelled with him and Rose, and he could tell that the change was in no small part due to the woman who was lying on the bed between them.
"Does this mean the Tardis is ready to travel again?"
"Yes, it does, Mickey. But for once, I'm going to take Jack's advice and spend a few days or weeks making sure that all her major systems are repaired and replace any parts that might need replacing. I never want to experience another failure like that again if at all possible."
"I couldn't have heard that correctly, Doctor. Did you say you were going to listen to my advice?" Jack teased the Time Lord.
"I do listen to advice from time to time, Jack." The resulting snorts of derision from his three former companions were almost deafening.
Donna laughed softly before she struggled to sit up, her hand rising to gingerly touch her left temple where the worst bruise had been and she sighed in relief when that touch didn't hurt.
"Just where do you think you're going, Donna?" Martha's tone brooked no nonsense, but Donna just looked up at the young doctor with a soft smile.
"Am I fit to travel again, Martha?"
Martha pursed her lips, her eyes flashing as she looked from Donna to the Doctor before she reluctantly nodded. "Yes, you are, Donna, though I didn't do much to help you heal. I strongly suggest that you rest for a few days longer though before any more adventuring."
"That won't be a problem, Martha. The Doctor has some final repairs to finish and I plan to spend the next few days in bed with a good book. But we do have a promise to keep to my grandfather, and we're already several days late."
The Doctor stepped to Donna's side, his hand reaching out to grasp hers in a steadying motion as she moved to swing her legs over the side of the bed. "Don't worry about that, Donna. I'll make sure that we are on time for our date with Wilf, but I think we should take Martha's advice and you should rest for a few more days while I work on the repairs to the Tardis."
Donna looked up at the Doctor with shock before she let her shoulders slump in defeat. "You can recuperate aboard the Tardis, Donna. I actually recommend that you do so. It is much more beneficial to rest in your home after a serious trauma, it helps your body complete its final healing process."
Donna smiled gratefully to Martha, uncertain if the physician could tell how uncomfortable she was being so near to the rift after her recent ordeal aboard the Tardis. "Thank you, Martha."
Martha smiled back at Donna before she turned back to shoo Jack and Mickey out of the autopsy lab. "Alright lads, out you get. Time for Donna to freshen up and she doesn't need the two of you gawking while she does it."
Jack and Mickey let themselves be herded out of the room with minimal protest, though Jack did look back at Donna with a playful leer that he made sure the Doctor noticed before he raced up the steps and back into the hub.
The Doctor turned back to Donna with a shake of his head at Jack's antics, his hand rising to brush her cheek gently before he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "Are you certain that you're up to moving, Donna? I was worried that you were unconscious for so long and nothing I did could wake you up."
Donna reached up and took the Doctor's hand into her own, her eyes shining up into his before she murmured. "I'm so thankful that Jack, Mickey and Martha were able to help us when we so desperately needed them, but I want to go home. I want to make sure that the Tardis is okay, and I want to put this terrible ordeal behind us."
The Doctor smiled softly when he heard Donna call the Tardis home, his hearts clenched for a moment in wonder before he leaned down and pulled out a small duffle bag that had a change of clothing and various toiletries for Donna to make herself more presentable. "I've been waiting for you to wake up, so Martha made sure to pick up all the necessities since I couldn't get back into the Tardis."
Donna smiled up at the opening of the autopsy room at the evidence of Martha's thoughtfulness, her hand reaching out to take the bag from the Doctor before she quickly shed the voluminous hospital gown and quickly began to dress herself.
He shouldn't have been surprised at how quickly Donna was dressed and her hair pulled back into its customary ponytail. She grimaced slightly as she stuffed the deodorant and hair brush back into the bag, before she met his gaze with a playful smile. "I'm going to take an hour-long shower as soon as we're back in the vortex, Doctor."
His eyes flashed for a moment at Donna's comment, her eyes were dancing with mirth as she reached out to take his hand so that they could mount the stairs up to the main part of the Hub. "I'll be happy to join you, Donna. If I remember correctly, we were interrupted with the failure of the transducer when we'd first come back to the Tardis from Kalifa's moon."
Donna grinned softly up at the Doctor, her hand gripping his tightly as they mounted the stairs and stepped into the Hub. Jack, Martha and Mickey stood by the Tardis' open doors, but the rest of Jack's team was noticeably absent.
The Doctor smiled softly as he looked at his three friends, his appreciation evident that they had kept this moment somewhat between family. Donna was still shaky on her legs, but she was determined to not show any weakness just in case Martha would pounce on the weakness as an indication that she needed to be confined to bedrest for longer.
"I wish you'd stay a little, Doctor. You've been a huge resource the last few days with our backlog of artifacts."
The Doctor smiled at Mickey as he pulled the young man into a tight embrace, he couldn't help the feeling of warmth that he felt when he saw how well Mickey had matured in the years since he had first come aboard the Tardis with Rose. He was still somewhat ashamed of his behavior towards the young man, and was grateful that he didn't seem to harbor any lingering ill will towards the Doctor. It seemed like they had both matured quite a bit since those first heady days in the Tardis when he had been reeling so terribly from the trauma of the Time War.
"I'll be back more often than not, Mickey. Don't worry, I'll help whenever we come for a visit and if something really stumps you then send me the information and I'll see what I can do to help. I'm not that hard to reach these days." The last was said with a pointed glance to Martha who was talking quite animatedly with Donna, his smile for his former companion was nearly blinding.
Martha turned towards the Doctor when she heard his words, her eyes sparkling as she patted the mobile phone in her pocket. "I promised you that I'd see you again, Doctor, and I meant that promise."
The Doctor reached for Martha, hugging her tightly before he held her back at arm's length. "Oh, Martha Jones, I can't begin to tell you how proud of you I am. Thank you for being such a good friend even when I was too blind to see it."
Martha squeaked when the Doctor hugged her, her arms wrapping around his shoulders instinctively avoiding his still injured ribs before she was able to smile up into his eyes. "I don't regret a minute of it, Doctor. But you better take care of those ribs before you run off to save any planets, do you hear? And that is a doctor's order."
Donna grinned up at the Doctor, her gaze shifting to Martha before she responded. "Oh, I intend to make sure that he takes care of himself, Martha. We both deserve some much-needed down time after this last unexpected adventure."
Martha nodded to the both of them before she stepped back to stand with Mickey as the Doctor and Donna finally faced Jack where he stood before the Tardis doors. "Are you sure you have to be off so soon, Doc?"
The Doctor nodded softly, his hand reaching out to twine his fingers with Donna's before he responded, "Yes, I am, Jack. The Tardis needs to reaffirm her bond with us, the healing process isn't complete until she can do so and the longer it's delayed, the more painful it will become for all three of us. We need to be in the Vortex for the bond to be complete once more after the trauma that we've all suffered."
Jack quietly nodded, his wistful eyes gazing into the dim interior of the Tardis surprised at the pang of longing that seemed to well out of nowhere. It'd been millennia since he had travelled with the Doctor, but for the first time, he found himself yearning to join the Time Lord on his adventures and was more than a little saddened that he would once more be left behind. "Don't be a stranger, Doc. Either of you, and don't just come to visit when the universe is ending. I'm starting to like this new domestic side of you."
The Doctor grinned softly to break the solemn tension that seemed to flare between the two of them, his hand reaching up to clap the immortal on the shoulder before he quipped, "That's just because you're an old man, Jack."
Jack threw his head back and laughed, his hand reaching up to clasp the Doctor's in a firm grip. "I guess I had that one coming."
"Keep an eye out for any strange activity please, Jack and let me know if you see anything in this rift or any of the other rifts on earth. The prophecy is still out there, but something tells me that the time is coming sooner than we think."
Jack nodded grimly at the Doctor's words, his gaze shifting to Donna who stood resolutely at the Doctor's side. He knew that the both of them would do what needed doing no matter what faced them, but he couldn't help but feel a shiver of trepidation at the Doctor's words. "I will keep watch, Doctor, don't you worry."
The Doctor nodded just as Donna reached out and pulled Jack into a tight embrace, her voice soft against his ear as she whispered. "Thanks for everything, Jack."
He squeezed Donna tightly in response, before he pulled back and stepped over to join Mickey and Martha. "Safe journeys to the both of you, don't be strangers and please come for a visit soon."
The Doctor and Donna waved to their friends before they turned and stepped onto the newly repaired Tardis, the doors closed silently behind them and the lights blazed to full intensity as they felt the Tardis reach out to reconnect with the both of them.
Donna let her head fall back when she felt the gentle caress of thought as it settled once more into her mind, the excited murmuring of the ship fading to a dull whisper that guided the both of them up the ramp and to the control console.
Donna gasped when she saw all four spacesuits and helmets sitting in a neat line atop the jump seat, the orange suits jarring against the tan colored leather. "You saved them!"
The Doctor laughed and hurried to the control console, his hand reaching out to stroke the levers and knobs on the console in a gentle caress before he looked up at the Time Rotor. "She saved them indeed, Donna! It looks like she is as excited for our trip with Wilf as we are!"
He spun several dials on the control console and threw the main lever home, sending his beloved ship back into the Vortex so that the three of them could finally finish healing.
Donna leaned back against the jump seat when she felt the energy buzzing through the deck grates beneath her feet, the consciousness of the Tardis was delving deeply into both of their minds as she was finally free to float in the void and rejoin her consciousness to her two pilots.
The Doctor set the coordinates to infinite probability in order to keep the Tardis in the vortex for the next few days, then turned around and held out his hand to Donna. "Let's get to the medibay, Donna. I would like to be able to finally take a breath without pain stabbing through my chest, and I want to make sure that the last of your injuries are completely healed as well."
Donna reached out to take the Doctor's hand in hers, her eyes shining up into his somber gaze before she stepped close and draped his arm over her shoulder in reply. "Let's go get you patched up, Doctor, then we can make sure that the Tardis really is good as new before we pick up my grandfather."
The Doctor pulled Donna close to his side as they turned to make their way to the new medibay, his fingers lightly stroking the railing with each step even as his mind whispered his continued relief at the Tardis' newly minted condition.
The ship settled down to enjoy the freedom that she had in the Vortex while her pilots tended to the last of their injuries, content that once more her bond was complete and that the universe was theirs to explore.
Keep watch for the next installment in the Phoenix Universe entitled "The Awakening Storm" coming in the next few months.
