Donna woke up to find herself in her messy room in the TARDIS. She couldn't quite remember how she got there, since one moment she was screaming her head on Mars after the Doctor, losing her mind with worry about Rose and then suddenly bloody Inspector Gadget comes barrelling out of no where! After helping the robot drive the TARDIS back into Bowie Base One to save Mia, Yuri and Adelaide , the Doctor sent Donna to her room promising her that not only would Rose be there when she woke up but he would endure the torment of shopping for them both.
So going straight to bed and snuggling under her duvet, Donna forced herself into a deep sleep with her fingers crossed that when she woke up Rose would be back, sitting there in her favourite chair in the kitchen with a cup of tea and a book. Donna rushed into her bathroom eager to get showered, changed and into the kitchen to find Rose, she let out a shriek of horror to see slight smudges of make up, hair all snarled up and suddenly she could smell how horrible she stank.
So as fast as she could she gave herself a good scrubbing, washed and blow-dried her hair, dressed into some clean clothes and ran to the kitchen, throwing the door open to reveal....
"NOT ON THE TABLE! I EAT THERE!"
The Doctor and Rose suddenly shot up from the table, clothes rumpled, and hair sticking out everywhere and there was something about them that wasn't quite right. Donna was very relieved to see that only a few buttons on the Doctor's shirt was undone and nothing else.
"Look, not that I'm not happy that you both got your act together but please someone else does live here you know?" she said sternly rolling her eyes. "Now you! Rose Tyler, what were you thinking of giving me such a fright?" storming round the table, Donna hauled Rose to her and gave her a tight hug. "You gave me grey hairs, you did, and I definitely need a girly shopping spree to forget all of this mess"
"As much as I would love to go shopping" Rose said pulling away from Donna. "I and the Doctor want to get married...right now, as soon as possible, before it's too late"
Donna blinked. "That's a bit fast, isn't it?" she asked while inwardly fearing that this was not Rose Tyler and some sort of shape-shifting alien has come to take her best friend's place by seducing the Doctor and once they get into a binding contract he'll turn against Donna and fling her out of the air lock.....She shook her head furiously; she has most definitely been watching too much outer-space soap operas.
"No time like the present" the Doctor said clicking his tongue.
"And we were thinking, well everything is better with three, right?" Rose said cheekily. "Wanna join us?"
Donna took several fast steps back from Rose. "Have you been under the influence of Jack Harkness?" she asked narrowing her eyes.
"Nope" Rose said popping the 'p' in a very Doctor-like way. "Just thought you wouldn't mind joining in"
"Yeah, we could use a redhead to spice up the sex" the Doctor agreed in a very out-of-character manner, he too sounded too much like Jack Harkness, dear god maybe Donna is still in a nightmare and Barney will jump out from the cupboard only to really be Jack in a suit....
Yeah she had some severe problems....
Punching the Doctor and pushing past Rose, Donna left the room yelling on the top of her voice. "YOU'RE NOT MATING WITH ME SUNSHINE, NEVER IN A BILLION YEARS!!!!"
The Doctor and Rose exchanged confused looks. "I was only joking" they said in unison causing them to giggle.
"But you know...." Rose said flirtatiously. "I somehow pissed off Queen Elizabeth the first..."
The Doctor grinned. "She's a redhead..."
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
Donna was pacing around the console room, the Doctor and Rose had been missing for a whole week now ever since that incident in the kitchen. She was really worried that they stupidly got themselves eaten by something bigger or got arrested again or worse killed. She had taken a peek outside to find herself in Elizabethan England but she didn't want to explore without Rose and the Doctor, even if they did leave her behind and ran off by themselves the pair of gits....
"Something is wrong" she murmured to the TARDIS, "Rose and the Doctor haven't been acting like themselves since Mars..." the TARDIS hummed in agreement and Donna shuddered, she remembered the last time she saw the Doctor just before he landed on Earth to send the others home....Time Lord Victorious he kept shouting, for some reason she thought it meant nothing good and how insane and enraged he looked....
The door suddenly burst open and Rose came stumbling in wearing a red velvet dress from the era and the Doctor following quickly slamming the door shut. "Quick, start the TARDIS!" he yelled to Donna as he slammed the lock in place. "Hurry up!"
Obeying the Doctor, Donna quickly flicked the switches and slammed her hand down on the button sending the TARDIS back into the vortex. She turned, hands on her hips and glared at the pair you were panting hard. "Where the hell have you been?" she roared. "Do you have any idea how worried I was about you two? Have you gone completely mental?"
"Oh yes" the Doctor said excitedly swooping Rose up into a huge bear hug. "We just got married to Queen the Elizabeth the first"
"You did what?!" Donna screeched.
"De-flowered the Virgin Queen" Rose giggled. "And made her swing both ways, Jack would be proud of us; even he couldn't get Elizabeth to fall for him"
"Oh I don't believe this" Donna moaned rubbing her temples. "You've both gone insane"
"We just told you, we have" the Doctor said innocently.
"Don't get smart with me Space-Boy!" Donna snapped. "Did you two inhale too much glue fumes or something?"
Rose twirled round the console. "Let's see some sights, save some planets and civilizations, hell let's name a galaxy or something"
"Oh yes, we should call it Alison after Donna here!" the Doctor enthused playing with the switches on the console.
"Excuse me, I don't know how many times you hit your head you dumbo but my name is Donna not Alison!"
"No, no, no, no, no Alison means Noble its Germanic! So I have got your name right, Donna Noble!" the Doctor said shouting her name. "We should also change the keys to the TARDIS, use one of those modern ones with a button so no more fumbling while mobs are chasing us with their pitchforks and torches and guns, I hate guns, don't you?"
"Definitely but don't forget the archers, they almost hit us just then" Rose said grinning. "I'm going to get change and then after we have some fun I reckon we should go to Hawaii, I've never been to Hawaii!"
The two left the console room laughing and joking about, Donna had the horrible feeling she won't see them for another hour or two, sighing she looked up at the ceiling. "I suppose I have to follow them out of the TARDIS from now on, just in case?"
The TARDIS merely hummed in agreement.
Donna snorted. "Easy for you to say" she muttered.
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
They were about to board on the ship, reading for their mission, just the two of them to prove everyone else, finally that they were brilliant. There wasn't much to pack, just some weapons for emergency, food, disguises and such, they were ready to go when someone was yelling at them, running full speed.
"WAIT! PLEASE WAIT!" he yelled.
They turned at looked at him with disapproving looks. He wasn't one of their species and while they weren't racist, humans never were the brightest bulbs in the universal pack. He was rather scruffy looking as well, as if he had been roughing it for months, smelt it too.
"What do you want?" the female asked snappily.
"What she meant was how can we help you?" the male said more politely.
The human man grinned brightly and suddenly looked even younger, if that was possible the boy could not look older than twenty the most. "Ah, yes, I hear you're going to Earth" he said cheerfully. "And I was wondering if I could hitch a ride from you, you see I've been aiming for twenty first century Earth for a while now and keep ending up at the wrong place" he tapped a black bulky wrist watch. "My vortex manipulator keeps frizzing out and despite my amazing mind I can't keep it working well enough to get to the right place and time, last time I used it...well let's just say it was lucky I escaped alive and uneaten"
They rolled their eyes in unison. "So you're one of them pesky arrogant Time Agents, last time we met one we ended up in so much trouble and I can't risk another blemish on my record" the woman said harshly.
"Oh, no, no, no I'm no Time Agent, I just nicked this off one, I found travelling in space to be just plain boring and after a while of wondering around aimlessly, I remembered that Donna - she's a family friend – lives on Earth twenty first century and I thought if I find her, I'll find my mother, so please....just give me a ride and that's it"
The man was starting to relent. "No, no we are not taking a human along with us! We're in enough trouble as it is from our last mission!" the woman snapped.
"I know....but look at him, he's a kid looking for his mother, and we should do the right thing and let him on board"
"He's a right mess! And what would he do for us in return? I don't think he has any money"
"I could help" the boy said eagerly. "I can help with your mission and you're welcome to have all the credit for it"
The woman snorted. "Like a Human can help us"
"Oh but I'm not Human, I'm a Time Lord" he said bouncing on the balls of his feet. "And I hate to brag, but I'm fantastic one as well"
They exchanged glances. "Err...what's a Time Lord?"
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
Donna had to admit that without their sanity Rose and the Doctor were probably even more fun and laidback than before. They went to all the places Rose suggested and more, they have enjoyed films, relaxed and partied on various planets in various times, saved several planets and named that galaxy Alison just like the Doctor wanted to do. However in the romantic moments Donna felt like running and screaming from the room and had done several times after walking in on them. She was starting to wonder if it was a good idea for Rose and the Doctor to get to it, all the tension from before might have been better than the....third wheel feeling and disturbing images that haunt her.
Also she could tell that they hadn't cleaned the air between them. They're just hiding their darkest secrets and fears in a relationship and adventure and fun just to stop thinking about it. Someone called Rose and pulled her across time and space and Donna doesn't think it was just for a cup of tea. The Doctor had completely lost his marbles when he realised he had to leave people to die for the sake of a time line and he went back and changed things....Donna shuddered to think how bad those changes were.
She was also missing her Granddad and after a long phone call she realised it was Christmas soon, so what was the best therapy for two insane Time Lords? Some Christmas fun, it won't be as good as last year back in Gwen and Rhys' flat with everyone together but it would be good enough, even if her Mum was nagging all the time.
"Hey, I was wondering if we could go and visit Granddad" Donna said one day in the kitchen as Rose was doing the washing up and the Doctor was feasting on bananas. "It's almost Christmas and he isn't feeling too well, something about nightmares and I want to try cheering him up"
A loud snapping sound was heard as – to Donna's horror – Rose broke the plate in half. "We can't go back to Earth" Rose said coldly, putting the broken plate to the side and picking up another to wash instead.
"And why not?" Donna demanded. "Granddad needs me! He's having the most awful nightmares about a laughing man and he's in agony from the headaches, just a little- HOLY SHIT!"
The Doctor jumped out of his chair alarmed as the whole table and chairs burst into golden dust, Rose whirled around with blazing gold eyes and a pained expression.
"I'm so sorry" she croaked, the gold in her eyes dying out to her amber brown colour. "I just lost control....I'm sorry....i forgot all about Wilf....oh god....I'm so sorry"
Donna stepped forward and took Rose's hand into hers, eyes widening when she realised how clammy Rose's skin was, before pulling her into a hug. "It's ok, its ok, tell me what's wrong Rose, tell me what happened when you disappeared on Mars"
Rose buried her head into Donna's shoulder. "You can't go back on Earth...you and the Doctor will die...."
"No we won't" Donna said calmly. "We'll just regenerate and be on our way, I'm not human anymore, remember?"
"No, no" Rose groaned pulling away. "You don't understand! The Ood said everything will end, time itself and you and the Doctor's song will end, that's it, no more Doctor, no more Donna...."
"So what?" Donna shouted. "I don't give a damn! You might, freaking Space-Boy might but with Granddad, Mum, Martha, Mickey and Torchwood all in trouble then I would proudly die to save it all. You taught me that Rose, remember? Sacrifices have to be made and the outcome is always the best. Gwen's having a baby, remember? She wants you to protect it, make sure it lives in a brilliant world and Martha and Mickey had just gotten married, think of the children they might have. Granddad adores you Rose, thinks you're the bees knees and would be proud to call you his second granddaughter, he needs you Rose, think of Granddad, please"
A moment of silence, Rose was obviously stuck in turmoil thought and Donna only hoped that she wouldn't destroy anything else. The Doctor was also stuck in his own thoughts, his dark eyes as always unreadable. It felt like time was ticking away at each breath and Donna crossed her fingers tightly, praying that she had persuaded them to do the right thing, to snap out of their insanity.
"If it's the Master, I'll talk to him and we'll sort it out within seconds" the Doctor said breaking the silence, his gaze solely on Rose. "Then we could enjoy Christmas and it will be like none of this ever happened – apart from the good bits of course" he added hastily.
"All right then, let's aim for Christmas Eve and get some sort of present for Wilf and Silvia" Rose agreed.
"Don't worry I've already done some Christmas shopping beforehand. I think Mum will like the hyper-vodka we got" Donna said snickering.
Little did she know that her begging and reassurances had only led her to the fate Rose feared most.