A/N: Donna's first proper trip :) And it's all gonna go awry. We can't wait to see what you think of the changes we've made here.
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Just after dematerializing, Rose took Donna deeper into the ship so they both could change out of their businessy outfits. The Doctor had told her through their bond that he expected to see her in it again later when they had some time alone, which got him a wink as she left the console room. Surprisingly, they weren't gone very long. Both of them had quickly changed their clothes. Rose into her typical jeans and a hoodie, and Donna into a multicolored, but mostly blue and purple shirt that looked like Jackson Pollock took a swipe at it.
The Doctor decided to take Donna for a trip somewhere on her own planet in the past for her first planned and proper trip in the TARDIS, and he had the perfect place picked out for it. Rose was working the console with him, and between the two of them, the flight was smoother than it would have been with him alone. It still jostled, though. Donna was off to the side, holding on. It wouldn't take her long to get her balance on the old time ship.
The TARDIS landed with a bump, and he rushed over to his Janis Joplin Coat. He loved that coat, even though the arm was being a bit stubborn at the moment. Rose grabbed the swinging fabric and helped him get his other arm in.
"So, where are we?" Donna asked.
"I have no idea," Rose admitted. "Why don't you step outside and find out?"
Donna opened the door and stepped outside into an alcove that was curtained off. The Doctor and Rose followed her out into the cramped space. He pushed the curtain back and smiled at the curious look on their new companion's face. The three time travelers stepped out into the sunshine and looked around.
What they saw was a typical street in millions, even billions of cities across the cosmos. The narrow street was lined with market stalls on both sides, backed up against tall, sand colored block walls. Rose had closed her eyes and jumped really quickly to get a sense of the gravity. She'd recently started the habit as a way of trying to identify the mass and speed of a planet when she didn't know where they were. With time, she'd be able to do it without the little jump.
"Hmm, feels like Earth," Rose commented. "Where and when are we?"
"Ancient Rome! Well, not for them, obviously. To all intents and purposes, right now, this is brand new Rome," the Doctor declared.
"Oh, my God. It's, it's so Roman. This is fantastic!" Donna exclaimed.
The Doctor laughed and Rose groaned. "Rome? Should we be here again?" she asked mentally so Donna wouldn't hear. She rubbed her arms and shivered.
"It's fine," he assured her. "Last two times we were here, we showed up for a specific event. This time, we are just coming here to be here."
Donna stood in front of them, looking around. "I'm here, in Rome. Donna Noble in Rome. This is just weird. I mean, everyone here's dead," she realized.
"Well, don't tell them that," the Doctor admonished her.
"Hold on a minute. That sign over there's in English," Donna noticed. She turned back to glare at the two Time Lords behind her. "Are you having me on? Are we in Epcot?"
"No, no, no, no. That's the Tardis translation circuits. Just makes it look like English. Speech as well. You're talking Latin right now."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah," Rose said. "Works on just about everything." She was being quiet. Rose would have normally been enthusiastic about showing Donna something. She had been before they left the TARDIS. Even when Mickey had come, she'd delighted in showing him around, even when she hadn't wanted him with them.
"I just said seriously in Latin!" Donna exclaimed.
"Oh, yeah," the Doctor replied to Donna.
"What if I said something in actual Latin, like veni, vidi, vici? My dad said that when he came back from football. If I said veni, vidi, vici to that lot, what would it sound like?" Donna wondered.
"Wow, there's a question I've never thought to ask," Rose commented. "Course I only know English."
"I'm not sure. You have to think of difficult questions, don't you?"
"I'm going to try it," she told them and walked over to one of the sellers.
"What's wrong?" the Doctor asked Rose, who was rubbing her temples..
"I don't know. I can't see 'em. Why can't I see 'em? What's wrong with my time sense?" she asked in distress. It was a mark of how much it was upsetting her that she had replied without telepathy.
"What do you see?" he whispered urgently. It didn't make any sense.
"All the possibilities are gone. They're just gone. It looks like everyone's gonna die. Every single person in this street, but that can't be, 'cause nothing that killed everybody ever happened in Rome, right?"
He pulled her in, wrapping his arms around her in a comforting gesture. He normally scaled back his senses so he could be surprised more often. It wasn't something Rose was used to doing. To try to get an idea of what she was talking about, he let the sense that allowed him to see potential futures work and looked around.
What he saw was horrible. As Rose had explained, all potential futures were non existent for every single person he saw except Donna, Rose, and himself.
"Okay, It's not you. Something's really wrong here. Block your time sense. It'll keep you from getting a headache. There's about a day before whatever happens. We'll get it figured out," he told her. He knew instantly when she did so, because he could feel her relax a little bit.
"Aren't you two just adorable?" Donna said when she wandered back from her fact finding mission.
"I am many things, but adorable is not one of them," the Doctor protested. They weren't going to tell Donna just yet. Let her enjoy the trip for a bit.
"She said we're adorable, not you, but you are pretty adorable," Rose teased. Her smile wasn't completely true, though he doubted that anyone who didn't know her would be able to tell.
"He said I sounded Celtic. How's he mean, Celtic?" Donna wondered.
"Welsh. You sound Welsh. There we are. Learnt something," he explained.
"Don't our clothes look a bit odd?" she asked.
"Nah. Ancient Rome, anything goes. It's like Soho, but bigger," he declared.
"Oh, you just don't want to wear the tunic again," Rose commented.
"You've been here before then?"
"Mmm. Several times. Once did the Gladiator thing. Got turned into a statue. Before you ask, that fire had nothing to do with me. Well, a little bit. But I haven't got the chance to look around properly. Coliseum, Pantheon, Circus Maximus. You'd expect them to be looming by now. Where is everything? Try this way." He kept hold of Rose's hand as they walked around. It wasn't long before they came to a piazza.
"Not an expert, but there's seven hills of Rome, aren't there? How come they've only got one?" Donna observed.
There was a minor earthquake and all of the vendors tried to hold on to their wares so less would break.
"Wait a minute. One mountain, with smoke. Which makes this-" Donna started.
"Pompeii," both Gallifreyans realized.
"We're in Pompeii. And it's volcano day," the Doctor added.
"That explains everything," Rose said.
The three time travellers ran back to where the TARDIS had been, but when they pulled back the curtain, the alcove was completely empty.
"You're kidding!" Donna shouted. "You're not telling me the Tardis has gone."
"Ok," the Doctor replied as his mind whirled with possible solutions to their current problem.
"Where is it then?" Donna demanded.
"You told me not to tell you," he answered. Rose rolled her eyes and ran back to the man Donna had spoken to earlier.
"Oi. Don't get clever in Latin," Donna growled at the Time Lord. If there was one thing the Doctor had learned about their companion, it was that when she was scared, she lashed out angrily in defence. He followed Rose to where she was asking questions.
"Excuse me," Rose greeted the vendor with a smile.
"Yes, Love?"
"Yeah, there was a big, blue box, just over there a few minutes ago. Would you know what happened to it?" Rose questioned.
"Sold it, didn't I?" the vendor asked as if it were obvious.
"But it wasn't yours to sell," the Doctor protested.
"It was on my patch, weren't it? I got fifteen sesterces for it. Lovely jubbly," the vendor told them proudly.
"Who bought it, and what for?" Rose asked, anger seeping into her voice. He agreed with the emotion at that point. So many people had tried to take the TARDIS, and it never ended well.
"Old Caecilius and hell if I know why. Look, if you want to argue, why don't you take it out with him? He's on Foss Street. Big villa. Can't miss it."
"Thanks," the Doctor said sarcastically and took off in the direction that the vendor had pointed, leaving his wife and their companion to try to catch up.
##########
"Oh, damn his long legs," Rose complained as soon as she realized they had lost the Doctor.
Donna was panting beside her. "He moves quickly, doesn't he?"
"Built for running this time around," Rose told her.
"How do you mean, this time around?" Donna asked.
Before Rose could answer her, she saw the Doctor running back toward them.
"Ha! I've got it. Foss Street's this way," he told them, pointing in the right direction before he turned to lead them.
"No! Well, I found this big sort of amphitheatre thing. Back there. We can start there. We can gather everyone together. Maybe they've got a great big bell or something we could ring. Have they invented bells yet?" Donna babbled.
"What do you want a bell for?" the Doctor asked confused.
"Donna, We really shouldn't-"
"To warn everyone. Start the evacuation. What time does Vesuvius erupt? When's it due?" Donna asked quickly.
"It's 79AD, twenty third of August, which makes volcano day tomorrow," the Doctor answered.
"Plenty of time. We could get everyone out easy!" Donna exclaimed.
"Donna, we can't," Rose said.
At the same time, the Doctor told her, "Yeah, except we're not going to."
"But that's what you do. Both of you. You save people," Donna said, looking between the Doctor and Rose in confusion.
"Not this time. Pompeii is a fixed point in history. What happens, happens. There is no stopping it," he explained in irritation.
"Says who?" Donna snapped.
"Says me," the Doctor spoke quickly in the tone of voice he used with people he thought were being particularly thick.
"What, and you're in charge?" Donna asked incredulously.
"TARDIS. Time Lord. Yeah," the Doctor listed, moving his head side to side as he argued.
"Donna. Human. No," Donna replied in the same manner, exaggerating the movements the Doctor made in a mocking manner. "I don't need your permission. I'll tell them myself. You let him talk to you like that, Rose?"
"No, but he's right. We can't interfere with this," Rose said, finally able to get in a word edgewise between the bickering human and Time Lord. "It's a big moment in history. There's nothing we can do to change it." She looked around, restarting the sense she had shut down for a moment. Most people around them still had their possibilities cut off, but not everyone around them. Some had a few chances to survive, and two people, a couple, had the full, tree branch like bloom of beautiful possibility. The lack of futures timelines around her made her head start throbbing, so she pushed the sense back again.
"You stand in the marketplace announcing the end of the world, they'll just think you're a mad old soothsayer. Now, come on. TARDIS. We are getting out of here," the Doctor declared and turned back toward where the TARDIS had been taken to.
"Well, I might just have something to say about that, Spaceman," she yelled at him.
"Oh, I bet you will!" he shot back.
They never noticed the woman following them.
##########
The time travellers found the house they were looking for and could sense that the TARDIS was inside. As they entered, the ground began to shake again and they could hear a man inside shout, "Positions!"
The Doctor was leading the way and caught a marble bust, just as it was about to fall on the floor.
"Whoa! There you go," he exclaimed and handed the statue to the man in front of him.
"Thank you, kind sir. I'm afraid business is closed for the day. I'm expecting a visitor," the man replied apologetically as he placed the bust back into its small alcove. He was dressed in a deep purple, clearly a display of wealth at this point in history. His hair was gray, but he seemed energetic for his apparent age.
"But that's me, I'm a visitor. Hello," the Doctor responded and shook the man's hand.
"Who are you?" he asked, clearly not trying to be rude, but definitely expecting a very different visitor.
"I am Spartacus," the Doctor replied, prompting a groan from his wife.
"And so am I," Donna added cheekily.
"Mr. and Mrs. Spartacus," the man acknowledged.
"Oh no, no, no. We're not, we're not married. This lovely lady here is my wife, Rose," the Doctor explained quickly, pulling her against his side.
"We're not together," Donna agreed.
"Oh, then brother and sister? Yes, of course. You look very much alike," the man decided.
"Really?" the Doctor and Donna questioned incredulously as they looked at each other. Rose giggled quietly between them. They acted like brother and sister sometimes, so why not?
"I'm sorry, but I'm not open for trade," the man said quickly, clearly hoping that they would leave before his expected guest arrived.
"And that trade would be?" the Doctor asked. He couldn't leave without the TARDIS.
"Marble. Lopus Caecilius. Mining, polishing and design thereof. If you want marble, I'm your man," Caecilius responded proudly.
"That's good. That's good, because I'm the marble inspector," the Doctor told him and showed the psychic paper as proof.
"By the gods of commerce, an inspection. I'm sorry, sir. I do apologise for my son," a woman gasped as she overheard their conversation. Her son was drinking from a goblet and the woman snatched it away, dumping the contents into the fountain nearby.
"Oi!" he protested.
"And this is my good wife, Metella. I must confess, we're not prepared for a-" Caecilius explained, but the Doctor cut him off.
"Nothing to worry about. I'm, I'm sure you've nothing to hide. Although, frankly, that object looks rather like wood to me," he said as he pulled Rose and Donna over to the TARDIS where it stood proudly on display in the room.
"I told you to get rid of it," Metella chastised.
"I only bought it today," Caecilius said in his defense.
"Ah, well. Caveat emptor," the Doctor replied quickly.
"What's that?" Rose asked him silently.
"Buyer beware," he answered.
"Oh, you're Celtic. There's lovely," Caecilius commented, clearly hoping to get on the inspector's good side.
"I'm sure it's fine, but I might have to take it off your hands for a proper inspection," the Doctor told him.
"Yeah, can't be too careful with this sort of thing, you know?" Rose agreed.
"Although while we're here, wouldn't you recommend a holiday, Spartacus?" Donna suggested.
"Don't know what you mean, Spartacus," he responded with a warning look at their companion.
"Donna," Rose added in warning.
"Oh, this lovely family. Mother and father and son. Don't you think they should get out of town?" Donna insisted, clearly trying to convince them to let her warn people about the upcoming danger.
Rose took a moment to look at the timelines of this small family. Most of their chances ended the same as the rest of the people, but there was a small possibility that they might all make it out alive. She was pulled from her considerations by the rest of the conversation.
"Why should we do that?" Caecilius asked.
"Well, the volcano, for starters," Donna answered abruptly.
"What?"
"Volcano," Donna repeated clearly.
"What ano?" Caecilius wondered.
"That great big volcano right on your doorstep," Donna insisted.
"Oh, ladies, for shame. We haven't even greeted the household gods yet," the Doctor interrupted and pulled both of them towards the small statues nearby.
"Donna you've got to stop this. This isn't the way," Rose told her.
"They don't know what it is. Vesuvius is just a mountain to them. The top hasn't blown off yet. The Romans haven't even got a word for volcano. Not until tomorrow," the Doctor explained.
"Oh, great, they can learn a new word as they die," Donna growled at them.
"Donna, stop it," the Doctor demanded angrily.
"Listen, I don't know what sort of kids you've been flying round with in outer space, but you're not telling me to shut up. That boy, how old is he, sixteen? And tomorrow he burns to death," Donna argued.
"And that's my fault?" the Doctor countered.
"Right now, yes," she snapped.
"Donna, please! Trust me, you do NOT want to find out what will happen if you mess around with a fixed event. It was-" Rose tried to explain.
"Announcing Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the City Government," a voice announced, cutting their conversation short.
"Lucius. My pleasure, as always," Caecilius greeted.
"Quintus, stand up," his wife ordered their son.
"A rare and great honour, sir, for you to come to my house," Caecilius greeted the haughty man that was accompanied by several servants. He held out his hand in greeting as well, but it was not accepted.
"The birds are flying north, and the wind is in the west," Lucius announced.
"Quite. Absolutely. That's good, is it?" he agreed without knowing what he was agreeing to.
"Only the grain of wheat knows where it will grow," Lucius replied.
"There now, Metella. Have you ever heard such wisdom?" Caecilius prompted.
"Never. It's an honour," she responded politely.
"Pardon me, sir. I have guests. This is Spartacus and his wife, Rose, and er.. Spartacus," Caecilius announced.
"A name is but a cloud upon a summer wind," Lucius said, clearly trying to be enigmatic.
"But the wind is felt most keenly in the dark," the Doctor answered, having played this type of game before.
"Ah. But what is the dark, other than an omen of the sun?" Lucius countered.
"I concede that every sun must set," the Doctor told him, the other man laughing at winning their little battle of wits, but the Doctor continued. "And yet the son of the father must also rise."
"Damn. Very clever, sir. Evidently, a man of learning," Lucius admitted.
"Oh, yes. But don't mind me. Don't want to disturb the status quo," he said dismissively.
"Since when?" Rose asked under her breath.
"He's Celtic," Caecilius explained with regard to the Doctor's use of Latin.
"We'll be off in a minute."
"I'm not going," Donna protested.
"It's ready, sir," Caecilius told Lucius, clearly moving on from introductions and back to their own business.
"You've got to," the Doctor insisted.
"Well, I'm not," Donna argued.
"Please, Donna, we can't change it," Rose pleaded with her.
"The moment of revelation. And here it is," Lopus Caecilius announced dramatically as he unveiled his work.
The Doctor began to pull Donna toward the TARDIS as Rose looked back toward the others and gasped at what she was seeing. The stone tile on display looked like some kind of computer circuit. There was something terribly wrong with this.
"Doctor!" she called and his brows furrowed as he saw what she was looking at.
"Exactly as you specified. It pleases you, sir?" Caecilius asked, clearly proud of his work.
"As the rain pleases the soil."
"Oh, now that's different. Who designed that, then?" the Doctor interrupted.
"My Lord Lucius was very specific," Caecilius replied.
"Where'd you get the pattern?" the Time Lord questioned Lucius.
"On the rain and mist and wind."
"Right. I'll bet you did," Rose said sarcastically.
"But that looks like a circuit," Donna realized.
"Made of stone," the Doctor added.
"Do you mean you just dreamt that thing up?" Donna asked, clearly disbelieving it was possible.
"That is my job, as City Augur," he responded haughtily.
"What's that, then, like the mayor?" Donna questioned.
"Shh," Rose chastised Donna with an elbow in her side. Their new companion needed to learn the art of blending in very soon, or they'd be spending the volcanic eruption in a prison cell and getting buried along with the rest of them.
"Oh, ha. You must excuse my friend, she's from...Barcelona," the Doctor said out loud before he turned to Donna. "No, but this is an age of superstition. Of official superstition. The Augur is paid by the city to tell the future. The wind will blow from the West? That's the equivalent of ten o'clock news," he explained for both Donna and Rose's benefit.
"They're laughing at us. Those three, they use words like tricksters. They're mocking us," Evelina accused, pointing at the trio near the TARDIS. She was pale, sweaty, and swaying.
"No, no, I'm not. I meant no offence," the Doctor said.
"No, I'd never mock like that," Rose denied.
"I'm sorry. My daughter's been consuming the vapours," Metella spoke up.
"Oh for gods, Mother. What have you been doing to her?" Quintus accused.
"Not now, Quintus," his father admonished.
"Yeah, but she's sick. Just look at her," he pointed, defending his sister.
"I gather I have a rival in this household. Another with the gift," the city Augur deduced.
"Oh, she's been promised to the Sibylline Sisterhood. They say she has remarkable visions," the girl's mother said proudly.
"The prophecies of women are limited and dull. Only the menfolk have the capacity for true perception," Lucius scoffed.
"I'll tell you where the wind's blowing right now, mate," Donna protested.
"Funny, of humans, I always thought the opposite was true," Rose muttered.
When she finished speaking, a small earthquake shook the house, not much more than a tremor.
"The Mountain God marks your words. I'd be careful, if I were you," Lucius warned.
"Evelina, are you okay?" Rose asked, walking over to the girl, who looked like she was going to fall over any second.
"Consuming the vapours, you say?" the Doctor asked Metella and Evelina.
"They give me strength," Evelina declared.
"It doesn't look like it to me," the Doctor replied, concerned.
"Is that your opinion? As a Doctor?" she asked and Rose, the Doctor, and Donna all stiffened in shock
"I beg your pardon?" the Doctor asked, trying and failing to keep the shock out of his voice.
"Doctor. That's your name," she informed them.
"How did you know that?" he wondered. His voice went up in pitch a little.
The girl's eyes slid over to Donna. "And you. You call yourself Noble."
"Now then, Evelina. Don't be rude," her mother admonished.
"No, no, no, no. Let her talk," the Doctor said in curiosity.
"I want to hear what she has to say," Rose added.
Evelina made eye contact with her and Rose held her breath, waiting for what she was going to say about her. "You are of two identities. The soft flower, and the feral Wolf. You all come from so far away."
"The female soothsayer is inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries," Lucius claimed, trying to pull attention from the young girl.
"Oh, not this time, Lucius. No, I reckon you've been out-soothsayed," the Doctor told him.
"Is that so, man from Gallifrey?" he shot back smugly.
"What?" the Doctor spoke, shocked once again.
"But- how?" Rose blurted out. How was it that two different people in one place were popping off information like this?
"The strangest of images. Your home is lost in fire, is it not?" Lucius asked. He looked right at Rose. "Your home still exists, but is no longer where it was."
"Doctor, what are they doing?" Donna asked with a bit of fear in her voice.
He looked at her. "And you, daughter of London-"
"How does he know that?" Donna asked.
"This is the gift of Pompeii. Every single oracle tells the truth," Lucius answered.
"That's impossible," Donna denied.
"And, yet, it's happening right in front of you, yeah?" Rose said.
"Doctor, there is something on your back," he said.
"There's noth- What?" he asked.
"And you, daughter of London. He is real."
"Who, who's real?" Donna asked.
"You will soon have a pack, Wolf," Lucius said to Rose last.
Evelina had one more thing to say. "Even the word Doctor is false. Your real name is hidden, known only to one other. It burns in the stars, in the Cascade of Medusa herself. You are a Lord, sir. A Lord of Time. As are you, Lady," she finished, with her finger pointed at Rose. As soon as the last word left her mouth, her eyes rolled and she dropped to the floor.