Author's Note: Many thanks to BMG, my guide to all things British and a guardian angel to keep all my "yankeeisms" in line. Also, much love to dm1, sarahjag, noteissignedlc and cassiekat who have all been fantastic to bounce ideas off of. Thanks to all!
It was a somber gathering that the Doctor and Donna joined back at the Torchwood hub. The group had settled down in various spots around the hub and started to reminisce and share stories of the three officers that had been honored that day.
The Doctor sat and listened to the officer's antics, especially Andy who had something of a reputation for being a prankster. It seemed that Gwen especially had been caught out by his pranks on more than one occasion. He couldn't help the soft smile when he saw some of the raw pain and grief melt out of Gwen's body as Daniel was recounting yet another story, the older officer's hands were animatedly painting a picture as he got caught up in the memories.
Donna sat beside him, her gaze moving over everyone in the group but invariably coming back to rest on the Doctor with increasing frequency. He could feel her worry for him, the fact that he was still struggling to overcome the very real sense of grief and hopelessness that had risen so swiftly to consume him was troubling. She just continued to lend him her strength, let him cling to her mind while he slowly began to put the pieces of his shattered control back together.
It was then that The Doctor and Donna had decided to say their good-byes, especially because Donna was still insisting on stopping by Chiswick for that long overdue visit.
Donna reached down and pulled Gwen into a tight hug, the contact causing Gwen's grief to explode momentarily through Donna's barriers before she was able to block it out once more, but that simple touch had been enough to rattle her for a moment. She stifled a whimper when she looked at Gwen, her hands tightening on her shoulders before she murmured. "Make sure not to bottle it all up, Gwen. In the end it'll only end up hurting more if you do."
Gwen jerked when she heard Donna's words, but then she relaxed with a soft sigh and could only nod. It was sometimes easy to forget the things she had learned about this woman, and she honestly had forgotten some of Donna's more unique abilities. Gnawing uncertainly on her upper lip, she let her gaze flick over to the Doctor as he was saying his good-bye's to Daniel before she looked back to Donna. "Like it's hurt him now that it's all coming up?"
Donna sighed softly and nodded though she did not elaborate any more on what the Time Lord was currently going through. "We all deal with loss in different ways, Gwen. You are loved here and are surrounded by friends and family, just remember that it's alright to cry from time to time."
Gwen smiled through the sudden rush of tears and hugged Donna tightly once more before she stepped aside so Jack could get his own good-byes in.
Donna squeaked when she was suddenly hauled up against the Captain's body, his arms squeezing her so tightly she nearly saw stars before he set her back down. She looked up at him, her head cocking to the side when she saw something dark and painful swimming in his gaze. "Thank you for coming, Donna. I can't tell you how happy I am to see him happy, and that he's happy with you finally." He swallowed thickly, blinking his eyes before letting his gaze wander back to the Doctor. "You take care of him, god knows the idiot doesn't take care of himself. You take care of each other, because you two need each other. It's so obvious now it almost hurts to see it."
Donna raised her hand to brush softly against his cheek, his words and tone of voice letting her know in no uncertain terms that he was finally saying goodbye to anything he had ever hoped to experience with the Doctor at least for the foreseeable future. Their own strange dance of immortality and near immortality meant that the Captain could afford to be patient. "Thank you, Jack. I will take care of him, just like he takes care of me. I promise you."
He nodded, the weight having lifted from his shoulders when he saw the understanding dawn in her eyes. "We've finally come to an understanding, Donna. Took me two thousand years to get there, but I finally got around to it." He then laughed somewhat forcefully. "BUT, I want to invite the both of you back for New Year's Eve. I haven't had a proper new year's celebration here in over a decade and I think it would be the perfect time for all of us to ring in this new stage in all of our lives."
She smiled as she felt the Doctor come up beside her with a groan, his hand coming to rest comfortably on the small of her back. "Jack, you know I'm rubbish at parties, besides who knows what might be going on in the universe. I can't promise anything."
Donna looked up at the Doctor with a murderous gleam in her eyes, her mind snapping within his. He's our friend and we are absolutely going to make sure to come to the party. The universe can give us one bloody night! She turned to Jack with a huge smile plastered on her face. "We would love to be there, Jack."
The Doctor's mouth snapped shut with an audible click and Jack couldn't help the soft chuckle when he saw the look on the Doctor's face. "I don't need to be telepathic in order to know that you just got told, Doctor. I'll send you the details later."
Donna turned back to Jack with a smile. "I also want to invite you to Christmas Dinner at my family's house, Jack. I don't know what plans you have if any, but I know that we would love to have you there."
The Doctor snorted in response. "What she's trying to say is that I could use the backup."
Jack smiled and hugged them both one more time. "It would be an absolute pleasure, I'll make sure to be on my best behavior:"
The Doctor closed his eyes and just groaned, already imagining just how Sylvia would react to the handsome immortal but if it would take some of the heat off of him then he was all for it. "Thanks, Jack. We'll both look forward to seeing you."
With a final round of hugs and good-bye's to everyone, the Doctor and Donna disappeared into the Tardis before the wheezing cry of its engines echoed through the hub and the box faded once more into nothingness.
Donna followed the Doctor up the ramp, her steps slow and measured as she watched him putter around the control console for a moment before he programmed the coordinates for Chiswick into the navigational circuits and sent the Tardis back into the vortex. She held on to the railing as the departure seemed particularly harsh, the deck plating vibrating rather violently beneath their feet before the ship settled into the stream.
The Doctor was very studiously avoiding eye contact with Donna, his thoughts flashing chaotically while he busied himself around the control console. He couldn't control the nervous tension that was thrumming through every muscle and he just wanted to have this trip to earth over and done with so that he could finally settle into some peace and quiet and begin to systematically shut all his painful memories back behind the doors in his mind where they belonged.
Donna leaned back against the railing, her arms folded across her chest while her eyes tracked his manic movements. Thankfully at least he hadn't tried to throw her out of his mind, because she was pretty certain she wouldn't have been able to stop him if he had tried.
He finally stopped by the monitor which was opposite to where she was standing, his hand coming up to rest on the frame before it curled tightly around the edge of the device. His eyes slid closed and a loud, pained sigh erupted from his lips before his eyes snapped open again and locked onto her with a frightening intensity.
She gasped when she felt the painful focus of his thoughts, the images and memories of so many people that he had been helpless to save screaming and dying echoing through the space between them. Pushing off the railing so fast she nearly tripped over her feet, Donna threw herself across the space between them and took his face between her hands. Her fingers curled gently into his hair, but her gaze locked just as fiercely with his while her mind held tightly to his and helped him drag himself up from the depths.
"Just listen to the sound of my voice, Doctor. Focus on me and not on the past, it's over and done with and there's nothing you can do to change it." His whole body was shuddering with emotion and unspent adrenaline since he had finally been able to drop the façade that that he had maintained in front of Jack and their friends. Once they had entered the safety of the Tardis, the feel of her welcoming presence had broken him down completely. It was a wonder he wasn't sobbing uncontrollably, but it had been Donna's presence that had helped him find that focus in the storm.
The Doctor's hands rose to clutch Donna's touch close to his face, feeling as if he was drowning in the warm, soothing blue-green eyes that were looking at him with such concern. She knew better than anyone what he was feeling, she had possessed the sum of all his memories. She had felt him being flayed alive by the guilt that had plagued nearly every day of his life, the gut-wrenching sorrow that threatened to rise up to consume him if he ever bothered to stop.
These past few weeks had been heaven for him though they had been filled with so much fear and anger, it had been a time that he had finally been able to put the burden of the universe down for just a little bit and to catch his breath before having to run again. The Doctor was no longer floundering as he clung unashamedly to Donna's voice, the chaos in his mind melting away beneath the sure caress of her thoughts.
With a final sigh, he let his hands drift down from hers and slide over her shoulders before he pulled her tight against him. "It's so hard to forget sometimes, Donna. Sometimes the voices don't stop for weeks, and nothing I do can stop them. Sometimes I think that a Time Lord lives too long."
Donna reared back when she heard those words, her eyes flashing fire up at him even while she shook her head. "I can only barely remember how that felt, Doctor. I know how tired you feel sometimes, how you feel every single day of your incredibly long life dragging you down but I also know the wonder and hope that lifts you up out of the darkest pits." She let her hand rise up to slide gently into his hair once more, her fingers brushing a soothing massage against the back of his skill while she tried to help him keep the tenuous focus that was forming. "Travelling with you, Doctor has given me the chance to see just what's at stake in the universe. It has also given me the chance to truly understand just what these travels, wondrous though they are, cost you."
Donna leaned close to him, her lips brushing lightly against his before she murmured. "You've let me behind the barriers in a way that I know you haven't in many centuries, if you ever have and now I can with all confidence say that you are not alone in any of this. When it gets to be too much like it was today, I'm here to help you pick up the pieces and put them back together so that things can maybe make sense again. But just remember you don't have to always lock everything away, and that it's okay to let everything out once in a while so you don't get shaken quite so easily in the future. Trust me Doctor, I can handle it." She felt the soft quirk of his lips against hers before he pressed his lips against hers in a feather light caress.
The Doctor's thoughts were finally stilling, the web of control settling back into place as the memories were relegated to the places in his mind that he had kept them for so long. He took a deep breath, his hand rising up to scrub imagined tears off his cheeks before he let his gaze find Donna's once more. She continued to amaze him with her ready acceptance of him whether he was shattered in pieces or standing strong against an oncoming horde. They were both two battered and broken beings, but together they were learning that it was all right to not always be strong and that at least when they were with each other they could finally let the armor drop.
"It's been building for a while I think, Donna. Which is why I had become so reckless in this last year, I knew that I was running from so many things and I honestly just wanted to forget for a little while. I was actually wondering what my next regeneration was going to be like, if I didn't manage to get myself killed before then. I worried that I was running so hard and so fast that it would only continue into my next incarnation except I might not even remember everything that I was running from."
He leaned back against the console with her still held tightly in his arms while he just talked, sometimes it felt so good to simply talk and know that the person listening would never judge him for any of it. "It's only been a few short months since I've found you again and we're both still raw from that time and everything that has happened since then, but I know that it will get better. I guess it was time that I finally dealt with all the guilt that I had in this regeneration, so much of which stems from the Time War and its ultimate end." A gusty sigh at that last comment, his arms clenching tightly around her for a brief moment before he relaxed once more. "I used to be much more carefree, and I guess it still shows from time to time but the war changed me as it did everyone really. I had always been a savior of sorts, a goody two shoes as some would call me, but since the Time War, it's become an obsession and every time I fail it just reminds me of how much I failed my own people."
Donna stirred against him, her mind caressing his lightly so that she knew he was merely reminiscing now and not drowning in pain and guilt as he had been before but she couldn't stay still when she heard that comment. "You did what you had to do Doctor to end the killing before it destroyed everything and everyone." She pulled back when he made to speak again, her piercing gaze silencing him before she continued. "I walked that path with you, Doctor. I was there when you chose to use the moment to end it all and I felt the truth that you did in that moment, that there was no hope. If Gallifrey had fallen as it was about to, then there would have been absolutely no force in this universe left that could stop the Daleks and we wouldn't be standing here now."
The Doctor just smiled softly before shaking his head, feeling the bubble of laughter burst from his lips like a shocking breath of life. "You're simply amazing you know that?"
She cocked her head at that moment, her thoughts faltering at the compliment. "I'm just me, Doctor."
He shook his head, his thoughts turning sad for a brief moment when he felt the instant recoil in her mind at his words. "You're so much more than that, Donna. You've saved the universe not once but twice and you've yanked me back from the edge of the abyss more times than I can count." He threaded his fingers through her hair, his mind locking on to hers with a painful intensity when she tried to shy away from his words. "I won't stop Donna until you finally believe me. I know you feel broken inside, I know that you've been beaten down over and over again for most of your life but I for one refuse to continue that cycle because you are simply amazing in everything that you do and you never shy away from any challenge that is thrown your way." He wouldn't let her pull away from him when she tried, his fingers tightening against her scalp before he continued. "I won't stop telling you that Donna, not until it finally sinks in. You're wonderful and amazing and I lo…." The Doctor jerked to a stop, his eyes going wild for a moment before he continued. "I love being able to share it all with you."
Donna looked up at him with laughter in her eyes, she had felt the completion of the sentence that he had choked on echo like bolt of lightning through his mind and she knew deep down in his hearts he loved her more than he had ever loved before. She also knew the very real fear that he felt in finally admitting his feelings out loud, and that if he gave those feelings voice then maybe that might give the universe all that it needed to snatch that happiness away from him once and for all. Even though she innately understood all of that in those brief seconds, she couldn't stop herself from teasing him. "Were you going to say something else, Doctor?"
He looked down at her with panic in his eyes, his thoughts were racing and pleading with her to understand just how he felt. She could feel the truth in his mind, why did he have to say the words anyways? Her smile slowly grew wider which caused him to stammer out. "Nothing, Donna. Nothing at all."
The grin brightened imperceptibly though she let him feel the smug sense of triumph that surged through her at having thoroughly discomfited him. "I thought so, Spaceman."
Donna laughed when she heard the disapproving grunt from the Tardis, the blast of cold air and mental pinch clearly meant for the Doctor only served to make him jump and glare at his meddling ship. He knew that he would eventually get over his stupid reticence over saying the words, when the true strength of his emotions was on complete display for Donna every moment of every day. It was foolish and silly, but for now it was still a hurdle that he had to overcome and she was content to give him the time to do so.
The Doctor pulled her close for a minute more, a soft smile on his lips as he just reveled in the feel of her against him. They had known how they had felt for each for months, and though they could hide nothing from each other because of the strength of their bond, he knew that she at least had always feared that she had been imagining the depths of his feelings for her. Though she was a particularly powerful telepath, she was still enough of a fledging that she would doubt what she sensed and her own bruised sense of self-worth would make sure that she continued to doubt any conclusion that she reached. He made sure that she felt everything he was feeling, his mind merging completely with hers so that she could see the truth of his emotions even if his own stupid fears kept him from saying those words that Donna's very human heart needed to hear. He hated his own stupid reticence, but each day was a battle and today he was too battered and weary to fight that particular battle. Donna thankfully completely understood and didn't push, for now.
He felt the last of his memories finally melt back into their respective cells, though he knew now that it would be all right if they ever did have to come out into the light of day again and he just let himself breathe for a moment without the debilitating bite of terror freezing his hearts. She would be there with him through thick and thin and in the end, though he knew that he would outlive her eventually, he would for once take Jack's advice and live this time to its fullest. He would seize every moment that he could with her and he wouldn't live in fear anymore of what the future would bring.
There was a gentle shudder as the Tardis finally materialized in Chiswick, the Doctor chuckled softly when he felt the confirmation from the Tardis that she had deliberately taken the scenic route so that he would have a chance to pull himself back together for the impending visit with Donna's family. He couldn't help the surge of affection he felt for his ship that she had made sure that he would be at least somewhat more pulled together before dumping him to face Sylvia Noble.
Donna looked up at the Doctor, her eyes brimming with tears because of the happiness that she was feeling in this moment. He was looking down at her with an equal intensity that caused the familiar flutter deep within her belly, her breath catching on a soft gasp while she wrestled with the sudden stab of aching desire that flashed between them. She pushed away from his embrace almost too quickly, her eyes liquid and hooded when they locked on to his own hungry gaze.
"As much as I can't wait to let my family know about the two of us, Doctor. I'm thinking that this might not be the best time to break the news to them." He grimaced at the reminder, his hands running distractedly through his hair before he nodded.
"Quite right, Donna. I'm expecting the guillotine as it is since I've kept you away for so long."
She snorted at that particular bit of idiocy. "Hardly, Prawn. Gramps at least will be thrilled when we tell him, but my mother needs to work around to the idea first. This visit is just going to be a short one to show her that I'm doing okay with you and that she doesn't need to worry so much."
The Doctor laughed, his fingers brushing against the creamy skin of her cheek for a long lingering moment before he let his hands drop once more to his side. "I'm so used to touching you without even thinking about it, Donna, it'll be hard to behave. But I promise to do my best. We'll decide when the best time will be to tell them later."
And besides, what they don't know won't hurt them. He whispered the last in her mind, the thought accompanied with so much blatant innuendo that she felt her entire body flush with renewed desire.
Her nostrils flared and her eyes widened when she felt the deliberate drawling caress of mental fingertips over hyper-sensitive psychic nerves her body screaming in instant response. She could tell by the self-satisfied smirk on his face, that he knew she had absolutely no control over the response to his mind touch and though she knew she could retaliate just as wickedly it would do no good to detour him from his little bit of fun. Just remember, Doctor, that two can play at that game and I WILL get you back if you misbehave too much.
He grinned unrepentantly and leaned forward for a last lingering kiss before he turned and strode towards the Tardis doors. Promises, promises Donna.
The Doctor held his hand out to Donna, his smile finally showing the peace that she had helped him achieve before the doors swung inward with the soft familiar squeal and they both stepped out into the twilight beyond.
The Tardis had materialized up on the hill behind Sylvia's house, where the breeze teased through the little meadow before slamming against the walls of her grandfather's little hut.
Donna was the first to step out of the Tardis, her eyes widening when she saw just where they had materialized and the tufted silver head poking around the edge of the hut with a look of utter joy on his face. Her hands flew to her mouth and tears instantly sprang to her eyes when she saw him clamber to his feet and run towards her with his arms outstretched.
"Donna! You've come back! Oh my Donna, I've missed you so much!"
Donna didn't even realize she was crying as she nearly flew across the space that separated them, her smile was blinding when she reached out to grab him close in a tight hug. She was laughing softly at his incoherent words, his wonderful familiar smell bringing back all precious times that she had spent with him up here where they had been safe from her mother for a while.
"Gramps, I've missed you so much! I'm so sorry I stayed away for so long."
The Doctor hung back as Donna ran to Wilf, his smile was just a brilliant as hers when he saw the tearful reunion with her grandfather. He could feel her happiness echoing through their bond, her mind brushing softly against his so that he could share in her joy even while she continued to hold on to her grandfather for dear life.
He had been too worried to bring her back here too soon, he had purposely kept her away until he felt that she was ready to deal with the overload of emotion that she would feel here. However, he now realized that had been so totally selfish of him and if he were honest with himself, he could admit that he had been afraid to share her with anyone, least of all her family.
Donna had chosen to come with him that second time and they had both said their good-byes properly even, but a part of her would always be here and she needed to come back from time to time to reconnect with her roots. He was forever denied that because of the loss of Gallifrey, but it wasn't fair for him to deny her that connection anymore.
Wilf pulled back from Donna, his gaze darting back behind her to see the Doctor making his way across the hilltop to their side. He smiled softly and stepped around Donna before meeting the Doctor halfway. "It's good to see you again, Doctor. Off on another adventure soon?"
The Doctor reached out to take hold of Wilfred's hand, his own eyes were swimming with tears when he thought of everything that this man had done for him in the last year. This man had become his guiding light when Donna had been lost to him, he had never hesitated to reign the Doctor in when he needed it and he had helped him see that he could not always travel alone.
Wilf couldn't help the tearful smile when he saw the look on the Doctor's face, and rather than take his hand, he reached up and gave the Doctor a hug. "You look better now then you did before, though still so very sad. Are you both all right? Do you need to talk?"
The Doctor jerked at the hug, but found himself returning it without thought, a soft sigh drifting back to Donna the only sign that he had missed Wilf nearly as much as she had. "We're fine Wilf, but it's been a rough few weeks."
Wilf pulled back and motioned back towards his shed, his little chair and telescope set up already for the night's viewing activities while his thermos of tea was set out on a little table.
The Doctor's gaze fell on Wilf's telescope and his eyes lit up as he scampered over to take a look. "Oh, this is a lovely telescope! I've always thought that refracting telescopes were a superior design to Newtonian, although you could get some really fantastic size mirrors in Newtonian reflectors. Brilliant man, Newton but rubbish with people."
"Oh you two must've gotten along famously then." Donna couldn't help but quip, rolling her eyes as the Doctor as usual was easily distracted by any piece of tech no matter how basic.
The Doctor looked back at her with a confused frown before he nodded. "Aye we did. Though he did get rather cross with me when I started arguing physics with him, called my computations ludicrous."
Wilf looked at the Doctor with something akin to wonder on his face, his eyes were shining before he blurted. "You've met Sir Isaac Newton?"
The Doctor didn't even bother looking up from the eyepiece, though he was running his sonic up and down the tube in a slow steady motion. "Oh loads of times. Though at least Einstein was willing to debate relativity with me."
Wilf chuckled at the disgruntled tone from the Doctor, knowing that it would be all too easy to be distracted from the look he had seen on both of their faces when they had arrived if he allowed it. He settled in his chair for a moment, letting the Doctor putter around his telescope before he looked to Donna who had already spread a tarp out and settled down next to his seat.
He looked at their somber attire, her all in black and the Doctor in a complementary suit. He didn't recall ever seeing the Doctor in anything but blue or brown pinstripes, the black suit was definitely a harsh change and contrast from his usual attire. "So what's happened, Doctor? You two look like you've been to a funeral or something."
Donna jumped at his question before looking down at herself and up at the Doctor with a wince. She honestly had forgotten what they had been wearing when they showed up in Chiswick and how it would be so out of character for the both of them. She looked to the Doctor who had finally pulled away from the eyepiece of the telescope and was looking at Wilf with a slow dread spreading across his face.
"You could say that Gramps. Like the Doctor said, it's been a rough few weeks."
Wilf reached down and grabbed Donna up in a big hug, tears springing to his eyes when he saw the dead look that had suddenly haunted both Donna and the Doctor's eyes. "Oh my poor baby, what happened? Was it someone you both were close to?"
The Doctor's jaw clenched shut when he heard that question, his eyes rising to drift out over the view in order to get his thoughts back under control before he murmured. "We weren't close to him no, but the circumstances surrounding his death were extraordinary."
Wilf looked up at the Doctor, an involuntary shudder racing through his body when he heard the barely controlled sorrow in the Doctor's words. Donna was leaning against her grandfather, just taking comfort in his sure, steady presence but she knew that they would not be able to completely avoid discussing what had happened in Cardiff.
Donna reached out to the Doctor, wrapping her mind around his and holding tightly to him when those walls cracked just a little bit. They wouldn't be able to hide what had happened in Cardiff, not unless they ran back to the Tardis and changed so that Sylvia wouldn't start to dig but suddenly Donna didn't care what her mother thought. If anything, it might help show her just how important her travels with the Doctor were, and that even though the threat may not be falling from the sky, they were saving the world more times than anyone ever realized.
"I think maybe we should go down to the house now, Gramps. If I know mom, she is waiting for us to show up anyways because she heard the Tardis land. This genius still doesn't remember to take the parking brake off so it's not exactly easy to sneak in for a visit." The last was said with a thumb chucked over her shoulder in the Doctor's direction, though she couldn't help the chuckle at the indignant squawk in response to her comment.
The Doctor straightened the lapels on his jacket needlessly before he retorted. "I happen to like the sound that the Tardis makes when she lands, besides what's the point of sneaking? I love making an entrance."
Wilf laughed before he could help himself, the easy banter between Donna and the Doctor putting at least one of Wilf's fears to rest. He could see that something was different between the two of them, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it. They were their usual snarky selves to each other, but more and more it reminded him of the easy familiarity he and Eileen used to share in their quiet times. Oh they could yell the house down with the best of them, but they always came back together best friends until the end.
He sighed happily while they made their way down the hill, the two of them chattering back and forth in an obvious attempt to distract him from his earlier question, but he refused to be put off. Something had happened to put the shadows in their eyes, and he wouldn't rest until he found out what it was.
Donna paused before the back door to the house, her eyes sliding closed while she took a few deep breaths in order to calm the sudden hammering of her heart. She could feel the Doctor standing close behind her, a soft query whispering through her mind when she didn't immediately turn the door handle.
I'm worried, Doctor. I don't know how either of them are going to take it if we tell them what really happened.
The Doctor sighed softly, his eyes drifting back to Wilf to make it seem like Donna was just having an attack of nerves before she saw her mother and not letting on that anything more was happening between them. They already know the truth of our life Donna. Sure they don't know all of it yet, but they do know that what we do is dangerous and that sometimes it can be downright deadly. We can't start hiding things from them now, it wouldn't be fair to them and besides you would almost instantly regret the lies.
Donna nodded softly at the Doctor's thoughts, her hand resolutely reaching out to turn the handle before she responded. "You're right." And with that, she pulled the door open and sailed into the house.
The Doctor stood frozen when he heard her answer him audibly, hoping against hope that Wilf hadn't caught that but of course luck was not on his side. "Right about what? Who's she talking to, Doctor?'
The Doctor smiled a sickly smile at Wilfred, taking his arm and steering him into the house he babbled. "I don't know, Wilf. She was probably having an argument with herself. You know how Donna and Sylvia are, especially when I am anywhere near that equation."
"Oh ho, right you are Doctor! We better get in there pretty sharpish!" Wilf exclaimed before hurrying into the house after Donna.
The Doctor breathed a huge sigh of relief at having successfully distracted Wilf before he turned and gently closed the door behind him and followed Donna and Wilf deeper into the house. She wasn't going to be able to keep her ability a secret for long if she kept slipping like that. He knew she hadn't wanted to dump everything on them all at once, and she was still on the fence about her time ability anyways, but she needed to be more guarded in her thoughts and actions. She was too keyed up for this visit, and he was worried that she was going to slip up.
"Well look what the cat dragged in." Sylvia Noble's voice was positively dripping with derision when the Doctor came around the corner of the hallway, her hawk like gaze narrowed when she saw the Doctor come in behind Donna and her father. "Nice of you to call ahead of time, but then some of us have to live and work on a schedule."
Donna's hands were clenching and unclenching into fists at her side, she was screaming and hurling invectives so foul inside her mind that the Doctor couldn't help but blanch when he heard some of the words. He was thankful that Sylvia couldn't catch any of those thoughts, though any telepath that happened to stray near the Noble residence would be shocked to their core. Donna wasn't exactly being careful about broadcasting her thoughts, but she was far too wired right now for him to remind her to narrow her focus.
As far as Sylvia could see, Donna was meeting her with an icy calm that she hadn't managed in the past before she broke into an uncharacteristic smile. "Yes, Mum, about that. I'm sorry I didn't call but we can turn right back around and come back at a later time if it would be more convenient for you."
"Don't you dare, Donna Noble, you and the Doctor are both staying for dinner and that's final." Wilf piped up, staring down his daughter when she looked about ready to argue. "Oh come off it Sylvia, you always cook enough for an army especially now that the mortgage is paid off, so I know there is plenty to eat for everyone. Donna, you help your mother in the kitchen and the Doctor can come help me set the table."
The Doctor's jaw hit the floor nearly as fast as Donna and Sylvia's had when they realized how neatly Wilf had handled all three of them, the tone of his voice brooking no argument. The Doctor looked from Donna to Sylvia, his gaze locking with her mother's in a strange contest of wills before he nodded and turned to follow Wilf down the hall. If this gets to be too much, Donna, just say the word and we can leave.
Donna turned to watch him go, the soft smile on her lips at his thoughts the only hint to her true state of mind before she turned back to her mother and reached for the spare apron that always hung on a hook inside the pantry door. "So mother, what needs doing?"
Sylvia was looking at her with a strange expression on her face, her hands had frozen under the running water when Donna had first come into the house and now she pulled them back with a start as she realized they had started to tingle in the cold water. "You can help with the carrots and snap peas, I always try to get some fresh vegetables into your grandfather but lord knows he still manages to sneak away to get his pork pies."
Donna smiled softly at the mention of her grandfather's pork pies, it had always been a running joke with them and Donna had helped sneak him snacks more than a few times. She settled in next to her mother at the counter, hands reaching for a paring knife so she could begin to cut the vegetables. She was waiting for the explosion to come, it always did and it was always bad when Sylvia pretended to be detoured.
She honestly hadn't thought to call ahead when they had landed in Cardiff, she had just had a desperate need to reconnect with her family that couldn't be explained away. She hadn't expected to stay for dinner, had hoped that it would be a quick visit that would assuage her family's worries before she and the Doctor could escape back into the void.
Sylvia was standing quietly next to Donna, peeling some potatoes and deftly slicing them before tossing them into pot of water that was just starting to boil. She kept looking over at Donna from the corner of her eye, feeling the silence stretching between them until it was almost a living, breathing thing. What she hadn't admitted to her father was that she had been preparing large meals nearly every night in the hopes that Donna would come back, she honestly had started to give up hope that would ever happen.
She knew that things were different this time around, though Donna had looked so fragile and tired the last time she had seen her. Now she looked fit as a fiddle, and that man had been right there with her as she had known he would be. She still had nightmares at night sometimes about something happening to Donna while she was out there traveling, something on some distant world and she would always spend every single night wondering if her daughter would ever come home. It was the not knowing that always made her so angry every time she had seen Donna and the Doctor, and though she knew that she couldn't live her daughter's life for her, it still didn't stop her from worrying.
"So, you look a sight better than you did the last time I saw you. No bruises this time around at least."
Donna slammed the knife down on the cutting board and rounded on her mother, her eyes flashing fire before she spat out. "I knew you were going to say something like that. Can't you just be happy that I'm happy? Why do you always have to needle and dig?"
Sylvia looked over at her daughter without missing a beat in her peeling, her eyebrow raised in that infuriatingly calm manner that Donna had come to so detest about her mother. She simply sliced another potato into neat quarters and tossed them into the pot before turning to face her irate daughter. "I always needle and dig because it usually works at getting the truth out of you, lord knows you wouldn't tell me how you really were doing if I just asked."
Donna raised her hands to her face, digging the heels of her palms into her eyes before she blew out a frustrated breath. "I'm doing fine, Mother. I honestly just wanted to come and see you and Gramps, because believe it or not I HAVE missed the both of you."
Sylvia's face softened imperceptibly at Donna's words, before she turned back to her potatoes. "We've missed you too Donna. I really wish that you had kept in touch more, but I guess I didn't give you much of a reason to want to the last you were here."
Donna gaped at her mother, not having expected the confession much less any admission that her mother sometimes chose to drive her away. She could feel the Doctor hovering concernedly in the back of her mind, his thoughts helping her to find some focus while she dealt with her mother's crazy moods. She as always was afraid to accept any olive branch her mother extended, for fear that it was hiding a knife but the Doctor tried to soothe some of her fears and maybe try to meet her mother halfway. Donna took a deep breath and focused once more on her own rapidly diminishing pile of vegetables before she murmured. "And I haven't exactly always been the model daughter, I suppose." She could feel the Doctor holding his breath at her admission, his silent hope that he hadn't just thrown her to the wolves.
"No you haven't, Donna. I just didn't want to see why you were the way you were. Too much of your father and grandfather in you, too independent for your own good."
Donna held her breath, waiting for the next barb and only expelling it when none came. She paused, her hands clenching around the handle of the paring knife before she said it aside and said in a quiet voice. "I miss him, Mum. Sometimes, I think I'm looking for him out there among the stars."
Sylvia dropped her knife and with a wordless cry reached out to pull Donna into a fierce embrace, finally feeling some of her anger melting away. "I miss him too Donna, so very much."
Donna just wrapped her arms around her mother, burying her face in her mother's shoulder for the first time in longer than she could remember and just held on tight.
The Doctor and Wilf stood poised on either end of the table, Wilf with a glass in his hand and the Doctor with two plates ready to be placed in their respective places.
It had gotten far too quiet in the kitchen for anyone's comfort and Donna's thoughts were strangely quiet and subdued after the screaming and ranting of just a short time ago. The Doctor tried to nudge her gently, but she merely shrugged him off and returned to whatever it was that she was focusing on. He turned fearful eyes to Wilf, his gaze resting on the glass in the older man's hands before he realized that he too had frozen mid motion when the voices had quieted down in the kitchen.
Wilf laughed rather forcefully when he noticed the direction of the Doctor's gaze, shaking his head and proceeding to finish with his place setting before he looked up at the Doctor. "Well it sounds like maybe they've come to something of a truce?"
"Wouldn't that be a first?"
"With the two of them, I guess it depends. They're both too bloody strong-willed to ever agree on much for long, but Syl really does mean well even if she has a funny way of showing it." Wilf shrugged with a soft chuckle, his aged hands deftly twirling the good napkins into little swan shapes before setting them in the middle of each plate. It may not be a special occasion on the calendar, but as far as he was concerned this dinner deserved all the proper fixings. Donna and the Doctor were back and they could finally all sit down to that meal that had been interrupted far too many times over the last few years.
The Doctor leaned over the table to set the plates in the last two remaining spots before he nodded softly. His own mind swirling madly with thoughts of how Donna and Sylvia had fought so much because of him in the past, and that once again he seemed to be the cause of yet another row between them. He had felt Sylvia's love for her daughter scouring across his senses the last time they had visited, the very real fear that she had lost her daughter once and for all had turned into a blinding focus to try to force her to stay home where she had felt she would be safer.
Life with the Doctor was never easy, nor was it even remotely safe and he sometimes wondered if he was doing the right thing by scooping people up from their safe, boring lives and throwing them into the insanity of the universe at large.
Stop it, Spaceman. We all choose to travel with you. How could we not when you show us the wonder of what is out there? I've made my choice, twice now and I do not for a moment regret any of it.
He ducked his head to hide the smile that burst across his face at the warm brush of Donna's thoughts, that even though her attention had been elsewhere, she had still sensed the morose turn of his thoughts and reached out to comfort him.
The Doctor watched Wilf dance around the table, humming an old jazz tune while he put the finishing touches on the table and he couldn't help but share the image with Donna. Look at him, Donna. It's like he's a man half his age. I'm sorry I kept you away for so long, I promise I won't do it again.
A delicate shiver of gratitude cascaded through his mind, causing his eyes to close for a brief, blissful moment before he came back to himself with a start when he noticed Wilf staring at him strangely. A sheepish grin was his only response to the older man, his mind flicking Donna's playfully in retaliation. Let me focus here, Donna! You're going to get me in trouble with your Grandfather and so far he's the only one on my side!
Her soft laughter echoed back to him, the teasing images that flashed through his mind enough to cause his hearts to stutter and his blood to warm deliciously. Remember, Doctor. Two can play at this game.
He growled softly in response to her, though he knew it was just payback for his teasing back on board the Tardis. He relished every moment of it, and was grateful that she once again put some of his fears to rest.
"So, Doctor. I just wanted to make sure that you're keeping your promise. You are keeping my only granddaughter safe, aren't you?" Wilf asked as he settled himself down at the table, motioning for the Doctor to take a seat as well when it looked like the taller man was going to continue to stand.
"Always, Wilf. Though as I said before, she keeps me in line far more regularly." He was unconsciously rubbing the back of his neck, his gaze darting all over the dining room before drifting back to the door of the kitchen. "Shouldn't we go out and help them?" The Doctor asked uncertainly. The lack of raised voices for this length of time, coupled with Donna's light teasing had him as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. He was not sure what to expect now, though if Donna's mood was any indication then it might not be as bad as he had feared.
Wilf guffawed loudly when he heard the Doctor's question, shaking his head and pointing once more to the seat next to him. "Not if you want to stay on either of their good sides Doctor. They'll call us when they are ready for us to help bring the dishes out, which if the smell is any indication will be any moment."
The Doctor shifted nervously on his feet for a moment before he took the offered chair and settled hesitantly down at the table. His eyes darted around the room almost as if he felt like the walls were going to suddenly close in on him. It really had been too long since he had taken the time to slow down enough to enjoy a dinner with the family of any of his companions, he felt awkward and completely off balance and he knew that it was painfully obvious to Wilf.
He met Wilf's eyes with a sheepish grin, his hands nervously clutching his knees before he finally forced himself to settle back with a long sigh. "I'm sorry, Wilf. It's been a long time since I've had a sit down dinner like this, I'm afraid I'm rubbish with the niceties."
"Not even bothering to take time to sit down to eat? With all that running you do, it's no wonder you're as skinny as you are. Don't worry, we'll make sure to get some good meat on your bones." Wilf laughed when he saw the hunted look flash across the Doctor's face, his eyes widening for a moment before he chuckled in response.
"That would be quite a feat, Wilf let me tell you. I could most likely eat you and Sylvia out of house and home for a month and still not gain an ounce, this regeneration is the worst of the lot so far in that regard."
Wilf cocked his head when he heard the Doctor's words, his curiosity piqued at the brief glimpse that the Doctor had revealed into his true nature. "What do you mean when you say regeneration, Doctor?"
The Doctor sighed softly, having expected the question as soon as he had let that word slip but he figured if he was going to chide Donna for keeping secrets then he may as well lead by example. Besides, if he had anything to say about it, Donna Noble was going to be a part of his life for a long time to come, and that meant her family would as well, at least for the rest of their natural lives. The more they lost their fear of him, the better it would be for everyone.
The Doctor leaned back in his seat, his eyes sliding closed as he took a deep breath and plunged in feet first. "Time Lords may look a lot like humans on the outside, but our physiology is completely different on several basic levels."
Wilf leaned forward when he heard the Doctor begin to speak, a ghost of a smile teasing the corners of his mouth as he was eager to learn all he could about the Doctor.
The Doctor sent a pleading thought out to Donna which was only met with a soft chuckle, her mind definitely showing which side she was on in this debate. He grunted softly at her refusal to come save him, though he knew that she wanted him to open up more to her grandfather at least as she knew the importance of the relationship that the two of them had begun form when she had been so lost. He let his gaze rest on Wilf's rapt features and decided to just carry on.
"The biggest difference is that we have two hearts, which has led to some serious issues when I've been so unlucky as to end up in a human hospital." The Doctor grimaced at the brief stab of some of those memories before he shook his head and continued. "My bones are denser, I need far less sleep than humans and I have more senses as well. Because of all these changes, my metabolism is quite a bit higher than a humans by a factor of… oh five at the very least. I burn through energy incredibly quickly, which is why I was quite serious when I said I could easily eat you out of house and home many times over without even batting an eyelash."
Wilf leaned back as the Doctor continued, his hands held to his mouth as he tried to digest everything the Doctor was telling him. He didn't look that different than any other skinny bloke that Wilf had met over the years, but it still astounded him to realize that they could be so different beneath the surface.
The Doctor was watching Wilf's reactions, feeling a strange sense of liberation at speaking about himself to someone who was not actually traveling with him but that he knew he could trust completely with the knowledge. "When Time Lords age or get gravely injured, our dual vascular system affords the extra energy to regenerate. In a way we can cheat death."
"Who's cheating death now?" Sylvia asked as she sailed into the room with a loaded platter in hand, Donna following close behind with the salad bowl.
The Doctor jumped when he heard Sylvia's voice, his eyes darting from Wilf to Donna before settling on Sylvia with a look that bordered on blind panic. He tried to find his voice, his tongue darting out to moisten dry lips but he suddenly found he couldn't catch enough air. His respiratory bypass was in danger of kicking in before Donna set her bowl down and patted him a little too firmly on the back.
"Sorry Sylvia, we were just discussing my um…. My…" His wild eyes looked to Wilf who jumped to his rescue.
"The Doctor was telling me about his people, the Time Lords and how they were different from us even though they looked the same."
Sylvia looked from the Doctor to her dad with a single brow cocked before she shook her head. "Never mind story time right now, the rest of dinner is ready. Go on and bring the other dishes in." She shook her head when she saw the good china set out and the fancy napkins, but when she saw Wilf caper into the kitchen with the Doctor and Donna in tow she supposed it was a special occasion indeed.
Now if she could only make sense of her daughter's strange obsession to travel with the Doctor and if she would ever be able to overcome that obsession. Though when she saw Donna and the Doctor scamper in with laden bowls that they laid on the table before taking their places, she realized that she most likely would never see that day come. It was a sobering thought when she realized she was in the final stages of saying good-bye to her daughter, the only remaining tie she had to her beloved Geoffrey.
Donna looked up when she heard her mother sit down hard in her seat at the end of the table, her face was ashen as she was looking at Donna and her lips were parted around a silent gasp as if she had just seen something positively terrible. "Mum, are you all right?"
Both Wilf and the Doctor turned towards Sylvia when they heard the concern in Donna's voice, their intent focus causing Sylvia to come back to herself with a start. "Yes, Yes I'm quite all right. Just a bit overwhelmed to have everyone here for once."
Wilf beamed at his daughter before he looked to Donna and the Doctor, his eyes not missing the byplay between the two of them before they turned their focus back to him. "Well, since we're all here for the first time in I think ever, let's say grace and then dig in."
The Doctor couldn't help the quirk of a smile when Donna motioned him to bow his head, her mind hissing sibilantly in his to not ruin her family's traditions by spouting off into some ramble about the true origins of many of the world's religions. Even though she knew he had probably witnessed the birth of many of those religions first hand, she still was holding her breath that this dinner didn't turn into an absolute disaster.
As Wilf finished with his simple grace, he reached out for Sylvia's plate first and began to serve the delicious meal that had been prepared. There was a glazed pork loin that had been cooked to tender perfection, with bowls of boiled potatoes, carrots and snap peas to round out the meal. Wilf took generous helpings of the pork and potatoes, and only grudgingly put a few carrots and snap peas on his plate when he caught Sylvia's steely glare.
Donna hid her smile when she saw the Doctor load meat and potatoes and nothing else on both his plate and hers, she simply stared wide eyed at the pile of food that he handed back to her before she shook her head and carefully portioned out most of the food onto a side plate because he would be coming back for seconds and most likely thirds later. She then very pointedly rounded out her plate with carrots and snap peas, the look on the Doctor's face was so full of disgust at the vegetables that she almost burst out laughing then and there. He might be over nine hundred years old, but he was still the oldest child she had ever met.
Sylvia was watching the interaction between Donna and the Doctor, the comfortable ease that they interacted and the way they accounted for each other's quirks. It was obvious that the Doctor was a bottomless pit when it came to food and he naturally expected his companions to be the same way, so rather than raise a fuss, Donna merely set aside most of the extra food and began to eat her meal with a soft smile on her face. Sylvia could tell that there was definitely something more going on between the two of them, but she knew that it would continue to bug her until she was able to figure it out. Donna had assured her that the two of them were not like that, that they were just best mates and all that but now she was beginning to wonder. The two of them looked entirely too domestic together.
She reached for her glass of water and decided to grab the bull by the horns. "So, Doctor. You had mentioned something about cheating death, does this have anything to do with the funeral attire you two are wearing?"
Donna nearly spit her mouthful of food across the table at her mother's question, while the Doctor merely paused with his fork halfway to his mouth, his eyes going dark before he turned that brooding gaze back to Donna's mother. He would have preferred more pointed questions about regeneration before launching into events in Cardiff, but it seemed Sylvia had other plans.
"Actually we were just at a memorial service before we came here. We were close by and Donna wanted to make sure that she was able to come visit you before we had to leave earth again."
He could feel the daggers of Donna's eyes as if they were a physical force, her mind shrieking that it was too soon but he knew that he would not have had much choice once the question had been asked. Just because it had been asked so soon, did not mean that he was about to shrug it off as he so often had in the past.
Sylvia recoiled slightly at the touch of his burning gaze, though she took a hold of her courage and leaned forward once more. A cold knot of worry was settling deep in her stomach when she heard his words, her mind suddenly darting from one possibility to the other. "Memorial service? Was it someone you knew, Doctor? Someone maybe you travelled with?"
The Doctor's eyes narrowed at Sylvia's pointed question before he set his fork down and pushed away from the table, his eyes shadowed and inscrutable before he heaved a long suffering sigh. Donna's voice forestalled his seething retort.
"He didn't travel with us, Mum though we did work together for a short time for a common goal. His death was unfortunately devastating for all involved."
The Doctor's gaze swung to Donna, the sudden ebony depths of his eyes pinning her to her seat before his voice echoed in her mind. Enough side stepping Donna, she asked and she will know. Just as you were determined to tell her the truth of my life when she asked before, I am determined that she know just what it is we do and what YOU do in our travels.
Donna subsided with an angry glower, her gaze darting from the Doctor to her mother but for once her mental silence was absolutely thunderous. She had just come to a tentative peace with her mother, started to smooth things over in regards to her own choices in her life and now it looked like it was all going to go up in smoke. The Doctor however would not be swayed, and she could only sit back and cross her arms over her chest, toe tapping while she waited for him to royally stick his foot in it.
Wilf's gaze was traveling back and forth between Sylvia, Donna and the Doctor, the latter two communicating more in a single glance he was positive then most others would be able to achieve in hours of debate. He had wanted to ask about their attire, but Donna and the Doctor obviously had not wanted to tell the tale twice and now it seemed like his daughter would blunder in like she always did. How he sometimes wished that Sylvia could restrain herself just enough to not instantly get people's guards up, but he knew that was impossible especially where Donna was concerned.
She had hated the Doctor with a passion when she had realized who he was when those aliens had tried to take over the planet with their poison gas, and that hatred had only been cemented when the Doctor had dumped Donna back on their doorstep with all her most recent memories stripped. She had felt that it had been completely the Doctor's fault that Donna was the way that she was, and that he had just abandoned her when she had become a liability. It had taken many long conversations and their last visit for her to see what he had seen all along, that Donna truly was happier when she was herself and traveling with the Doctor. However, such animosity took a long time and a lot of work to dispel and Donna and the Doctor had not helped their case by staying away as long as they had. Wilf hoped that this night's events weren't the final push that Donna needed to run away to the stars and never come back again.
"He was a police officer who was unfortunately killed while we were trying to deal with creatures that had decided to make Cardiff their new home."
Donna rolled her eyes when she saw both her mother and her grandfather nearly lunge across the table at the mention of Cardiff. Nice going, Spaceman. You DO realize that those events were all over the telly the last two weeks?
The Doctor looked back to her and merely shrugged. They were going to find out eventually, this way it puts everyone out of their misery that much sooner.
"Cardiff? You were in Cardiff? Was Donna there? Dear god, there were explosions and warehouses were destroyed." Sylvia was nearly frantic when she thought of Donna in the midst of that mess, the speculation had been running rampant even in London as there were fears it was a new form of terrorism or something else even more insidious.
"What happened, Doctor? What caused it all? Was it aliens again?" Wilf babbled, his frightened gaze darting from the Doctor to Donna as he frantically tried to get some answers.
The Doctor took a deep breath, his gaze suddenly cold as he looked first from Sylvia then to Wilf. "It was aliens, but we were able to deal with them." He paused, his thoughts stuttering as he wondered just how much to tell them about the truth of Cardiff.
Donna was merely looking at him, her arms still crossed across her chest and toe tapping dangerously away before she murmured. "In for a penny, in for a pound Doctor."
He grimaced, though Donna's comment took Sylvia's attention off of him for a moment. "Were you in the middle of all of this too, Donna?"
Donna nodded and before her mother could argue, she barreled on. "This is what we do Mother. You saw it briefly with the Sontaran invasion. That's what the Doctor does, he saves people. I just happen to be lucky enough to be able to travel with him and give him a hand should he ever need it."
The Doctor snorted at her self-deprecating comment, his eyes slicing to hers to still her denial before he turned back to Sylvia. "She is more than a helping hand, she has helped me find the solution more times than I care to admit. She has a way of seeing things and putting them together to figure out just what is going on, that I can barely manage. I couldn't have figured out what was going on in Cardiff without her help. She's amazing and brilliant, and just as I said when I left her here without her memories, she is still the most important woman in the universe."
Sylvia leaned back, stunned for a moment when she heard the vehemence in the Doctor's words, his gaze was piercing in its intensity though she could sense an underlying vulnerability as well. "You said she helped you figure it out? How Doctor? I mean, it's not like she's got any advanced schooling or anything. She's just a temp, couldn't even hold down a normal job."
"Oi, watch it Sylvia!" Wilf piped up, angry once again on his granddaughter's behalf.
Donna just let her face fall into her hands, her cheeks flaming scarlet as her mother once again paraded out to the man she loved all her shortcomings JUST in case he had been too dense to notice them himself. Her mind shriveled in on itself, her thoughts wrapping tightly around her battered self-worth in the hopes that she could keep the worst of the barbs at bay.
The Doctor felt Donna withdrawing into herself at her mother's thoughtless words, and something within him snapped. He turned back to Sylvia and in a voice colder than anyone had ever heard, spoke very softly. "How dare you, Sylvia Noble. How dare you take all your insecurities out on your own daughter, who's only fault has been that she expected more out of life then she was able to find here on earth."
Wilf perked up when he heard the Doctor's instant heated defense of Donna, he had wanted to leap to Donna's defense but that was a tired argument that he and Sylvia had had many times over the last few months. It was completely different coming from a virtual stranger, one who Sylvia had been positive had only wanted to be rid of Donna just a short while ago.
"Donna is a woman born out of time, and she would have been far better suited in the latter part of the third or even fourth millennium. She has an amazing ability to see a situation and catalogue every little detail before she scours through it all and finds the pattern that we all miss. She saved this universe, and ALL universes really not once but twice. She helped me and Torchwood in those warehouses in Cardiff and she made sure that we were able to survive. Her compassion knows no bounds no matter the species or time period she finds herself in."
Donna's thoughts had crawled out of their protective shell little by little with every word the Doctor spoke, his complete unadulterated praise of her in front of her family finally made her realize that he had always meant exactly what he said and he would be damned if anyone would ever tear her down in front of him again.
He whispered soft soothing Gallifreyan words in her mind as his essence wrapped itself around her soul, the contact soothing away the sting of her mother's words and letting her know just how much she meant to him.
"It was because of her that I saved a family from Vesuvius' fiery slopes even though history had already determined that they all had to die. It was because of her that I was able to free an entire race from slavery and it was because of her that each and every one of us are sitting here today. Because she endured the metacrisis and though she was supposed to burn for it, she persevered and finished what I had been unable to achieve. She is absolutely brilliant and I for one am the lucky one that she agreed to travel with me again."
Sylvia's hand was pressed tightly to her lips and her eyes were sparkling with unshed tears when she heard the Doctor's vehement declaration of Donna and all that she had done for and with the Doctor. This strange alien cared for her daughter more than any of the men that Donna had ever brought home, and he was not afraid to face her down so that she knew just how amazing he thought Donna was.
Wilf was openly crying though he couldn't help the little cheer that erupted from his lips when the Doctor finished, his heart swelling near to bursting before he blurted out. "That's my girl! That's my Donna!"
Wilf's exclamation seemed to break the tension, everyone else at the table dissolving into soft laughter before Sylvia cleared her throat. The Doctor turned to Sylvia, one brow raised in nearly the exact same gesture that she used to such perfection.
Sylvia paused, gathering her wits about her before she decided to plunge right in. "Thank you for that, Doctor. I just worry so much about her and I worry that if something were to ever happen to her, then I would be left wondering until the day I died."
And with that, the Doctor realized just what lay at the heart of Sylvia's animosity for him. He felt his anger melt away at the confession of a terrified mother who was trying to be strong for her daughter's sake, and in its stead he felt a warm affection suddenly rise. He had felt much the same way as a father, though he had been an abysmal failure in that role. At least with Susan, he had been able to start to make amends but he had still worried about her and her happiness even centuries after he had let her go to find that happiness.
"I can understand your worries, Sylvia especially with everything that has been happening on the earth in recent years. I promise you, that you will always know how your daughter is doing, and I promise that we will visit far more regularly then we have in the past." He flashed a roguish smile, the dimple appearing briefly before he sobered. "To be honest, you intimidated the hell out of me."
Sylvia jerked back at that confession, her eyes wide before she caught the teasing light in the Doctor's eyes. She felt the last of her resentment to this strange alien melt away at that teasing light and with a deep inhale she decided to finally trust him, just a little. "I will hold you to that, Doctor. I know you're hundreds of years old and most likely will outlive her, but as long as my father or I are alive, I will hold you to the promise of always letting us know she is okay."
Donna held her breath, unable to believe what she was seeing or hearing but she could tell from the laser focus of the Doctor's thoughts that he was deadly serious and that finally he and her mother had found a common ground. Maybe, just maybe the two of them would be able to be in the same room now without coming to blows.
The Doctor just smiled his usual charming smile even though he could feel Donna holding her breath in his mind, his own assurances doing little to calm her nerves. "Sylvia Noble, you have my word."
Sylvia and the Doctor sat with gazes locked for a moment more before Sylvia was apparently satisfied, and she looked away to her father and her daughter. "Now then, where were we? You were going to tell us all about Cardiff and the rest of your adventures as well."
When Donna and Wilf just sat there staring at her with mouths slightly agape she scowled slightly in response. "Well everyone, eat up! I didn't slave away over this dinner for it to go to waste."
Her words spurred everyone into action once again, and the soft tinkling of silverware filled the room for a little while before Donna and the Doctor finally began to speak more openly.
They spoke of Cardiff and the Medusa Cascade, of those final terrible hours in Pompeii and meeting Agatha Christie and many of their other crazy adventures. They spoke of what it meant to be a Time Lord, what it meant to be the last of the Time Lords and everything else in between.
Somewhere during the meal Captain Jack Harkness and Torchwood got brought up, with the Doctor scowling over Jack and what Torchwood just meant while Donna gushed about how handsome Jack was and that he had had a hand in saving the earth plenty of times as well.
Wilf couldn't help but laugh at the playfully jealous scowl on the Doctor's face when Donna gushed about this supposed handsome stranger, he could also tell that Donna was going on and on just to get a rise out of her equally handsome companion. He could see that they both had stars in their eyes, though it was obvious that Sylvia hadn't quite picked up on the undertones herself. If they hadn't already made the first move, Wilf was positive that it wouldn't be long before they did.
Sylvia in turn opened up more about Donna and her childhood, much to Donna's groaning displeasure but the Doctor lapped up the tales with all the eagerness that he usually displayed when dissecting some sort of fascinating new piece of tech. He was completely oblivious to Donna's protestations when Sylvia and Wilf brought out the photo albums, though he did let his fingers linger in an unconscious caress over the laughing face of her father in one of those pictures.
The Doctor could feel the sadness in Donna's heart when she looked at that picture, though she tried to hide it behind a laugh and a smile. The Doctor looked up at her, his hearts breaking when he saw the single tear streak down her cheek before she looked away from that faded photograph and he resolved then and there to give her a special gift once they were done on Bellatrix Prime. It would be perfect and just in time for the Christmas Dinner that Sylvia had made sure to invite them and the handsome, enigmatic Jack to as well. The Doctor shook his head as he realized Donna had known all along that Sylvia would welcome Jack into their home for Christmas, it seemed that she had secretly hoped that this evening would go better than either of them had dared to dream.
Donna had hoped for this reunion to at least not end in bloodshed, but she had never thought that the night would go as well as it did. Even though it had started on such rocky ground, it seemed that her mother at least had been ready to try to accept the life that she was trying to build with the Doctor. She groaned when she saw that Sylvia and the Doctor had their heads huddled over yet another photo album, Sylvia's laughter over some other embarrassing childhood moment was for once fond and not at all mocking.
"Not quite thick as thieves, but they'll get there."
Donna jumped when she heard her grandfather's voice beside her, her thoughts had been so entwined with the Doctor's that the house could've fallen down around her head and she would not have noticed. "I must admit, Granddad I had my doubts. I still do actually. She's trying to trust him, but she's still worried."
Wilf wrapped his arms around his only granddaughter and pulled her head down to rest against his shoulder, his hand rising to ruffle her hair lightly just like he used to do when she was a little girl. "She's your mother, sweetheart. She always wanted the best for you, because she had always felt that she hadn't fought for it enough for herself in the end. Yes, she loved your father desperately and was devastated when he died but I think a part of her always questioned her decision to not go back to work so that we would have been in a better position before Shaun, bless his heart, helped us out. She always looked to you to not make the same mistakes she did, but in the end she was driving you back into them because it was all she knew."
Donna just leaned against Wilf, her mind stilling beneath the gentle caress of his careworn hand while her eyes drifted closed and just for a moment she was ten years old again seeking comfort from him when the world was once more unnecessarily cruel to her. She saw the Doctor glance up at her, his hearts in his eyes while he listened to Sylvia tell yet another story of their little general before he smiled that delicious secret smile and lowered his head to focus on Sylvia once again.
"He loves you, Donna. He loves you so much any idiot could see it. Don't be scared of it Donna, don't run from it because I can tell that you love him too."
Donna sighed softly and closed her eyes, her arms sliding around his frail waist before she murmured. "I know he does, Gramps and he knows just how much I love him. He's a right pain in the neck sometimes, but he's my amazing pain in the neck."
Wilf squealed when he heard Donna's words, his arms tightening briefly before she reared back and fixed him with a piercing gaze. "Not a WORD to mum, Gramps do you hear? The Doctor and I have already agreed that we'll tell her soon, most likely at Christmas, but we wanted to see if we could clear the ice between them first. The last thing I needed was her chasing him out of the house with an axe just at the very mention of a relationship."
He shook his head though his eyes were dancing with glee, for once his wishes had been answered and he knew that his Donna would be amazing out there travelling the stars with her Spaceman.
"That's my girl!"
Donna just hugged him tight once more, the two of them standing in the doorway while the Doctor and Sylvia continued to reminisce over his and Donna's younger days. It had been a good night and though there would be many bumps along the road, it was the best new beginning that Donna could have ever hoped for.