A/N: Hi!

And now becomes Donna's reign on the TARDIS with the Doctor... And our old boy moves those inches closer to finding his family...

Now. I don't want to go ahead and rewrite entire episodes here, so what I've done, is picked snippets that I think matter to the telling of my story. As brilliant as RTD"s stories are, I will assume you've already watched them and don't want me to rewrite it all word for word... There's no way I could do it any justice if I tried, anyway... and then it's too time consuming, and this fic is already long enough with my own drivel. heh. heh.

So that said: You will definitely recognise dialogue and whatnot, but you will also note the changes I've made to go along with this story... And that a good bulk of the actual episode is not there ...

I really hope you enjoy this new phase of the fic...

~~oooOOOooo~~

He really didn't know if it was a good or bad thing that he appeared to be so fit looking and visually appealing in this incarnation. On one point, it did mean that he could use it against an easily manipulated prowling single human woman looking for a mate to get what he needed to get without too much effort. On the other hand it meant that he could use it against easily manipulated prowling female women looking for a mate to get what he wanted without too much effort.

He felt a bit like a piece of tasty meat, ogled at and thought about in obscene ways by the opposite sex … and quite likely those of his own gender that preferred to peer and fantasize about … ahem …

…It would appear that he was feeling much like most females on Earth did on a daily basis from prowling human men. Of course, he was using it to his advantage right now. He'd feel shame for his blatant use of his attractiveness, but he'd convinced himself this was the best course of action for now. Flirting really did come quite easy in this body, so why not take the easier route?

He crumpled the small slip of paper that held the phone number of the young lady who had so blatantly expressed her desire for an interlude of sorts with him. He had considered just pocketing it to lose it in amongst the other bits and bobs and garbage inside his trouser pockets, but really, what was the point? He flicked it into the closest trash receptacle as he passed by. The small ball of crumpled paper hit the wall and bounced into the bin. Hitting the trash within at the same time that his left hand slipped into his pockets. He held a list in his right hand and scanned the data briefly to determine his next pathway toward answers.

"Roger Davey," he mumbled to himself. "Not too far from here."

~~oooOOOOooo~~

The fat just walks away…

Well that was a thinker. Without having any further information, that left several possibilities as to what kind of species were attempting nefarious deeds against the Human race here. Well. Not that the people in London losing weight would consider any part of it nefarious by any means. They were quite focused on the whole weight loss thing and the easiest ways of achieving what they considered to be the perfect body. They'd gladly ignore the dangers if it meant they could drop a few clothing sizes without having to do any actual work to achieve it.

His lips pursed as he tapped a couple of buttons on his rather crudely slapped together gizmo. He'd configured it to pick up any random signals that didn't quite originate on Earth. It threw him in several directions when he'd first turned it on, too sensitive it appeared. It had dragged him into the exact opposite direction to where he'd believed it should have led. He marched through a long stretch of old townhomes lit by dim streetlights with incandescent yellow bulbs and paused a moment at the path of a pretty looking home nestled in amongst a line of homes that appeared much less loved than the owner of this one. It had pretty garden beds filled with fragrant blooms arced around the windows that had him draw in a deep inhale. He felt a shift inside his chest at the familiarity of the scent; one he could quite recall ever smelling here on Earth before. His eyes fell to the lavender-coloured blooms and his head shifted to one side with curiosity. So much like the Schlenk blossoms from Gallifrey. He crouched beside a pathway of brilliant red stone that led from the sidewalk to the front door, and touched a fingertip to a red bloom. It shuddered under his touch and the flower snapped closed.

"Just like a Venus Fly Trap," he remarked to himself with a smile. "Looking for food, are you? Well, my finger isn't what I suspect is on your list of good things to eat."

The gizmo in his hand flashed and blinked, which drew him to a stand. He walked to the door and lifted his hand to knock his knuckles against the polished, live-edged wood door. He paused to look upon its design and instead ran a thumb along its surface and the dark grain hidden within the white wood.

"Beautiful," he remarked under his breath. "I wonder what wood this is, it'd look lovely as a book case in the TARDIS library. Perhaps I could ask." He curled his hand into a fist and lightly rapped on the door, and then took a step backward to wait for the homeowner to answer. There was a shift of urgency inside his chest for the door to open, he wasn't entirely sure of just why that was. He'd never been excited about wood before now.

The device beeped urgently, which took his attention from the door. He held it up and spun in place letting out a small cheer as it seemed to lock onto a signal just off in the distance.

"Brilliant," he called out excitedly as he held his arm outstretched almost to it's limit and ran in the direction of the signal. "Oh, yes, you beautiful thing that's it, you send daddy where he needs to go!"

As he disappeared into the darkness, his sole focus on the device in his hand, the door to the home opened.

Rose Tyler's head curled around the door. Her daughter was on her hip, slurping loudly on a piece of juicy fruit, and Tiallu was at her side, sniffing at the air around them.

"Huh," she hummed to herself seeing her porch empty. She looked to her daughter, who stared off into the darkness with wide eyes. "I must have imagined it," she said to her with a sigh. "Or the local kids are playing a game of Thunder and Lightning and picked out house for a knock and run. What do you think, Aly? Hmmm? Kids playing about?"

She looked down to her wolf when Tiallu gave a short whimper and huff. "Everything okay, girl? See something I don't?" When the wolf didn't make any other movement or sound, she shrugged. "Guess not." She nodded back inside. "Come on, bit chilly out tonight, let's get inside and warm up."

~~oooOOOooo~~

What part of him thought that locking himself in a storage closet for the day was a good idea, he didn't know, but the Doctor had done it without too much fuss. Well, honestly, he hadn't noticed the wait too much. He'd been pushing his sleep cycle a bit too much lately in the search for … well … just searching.

Martha had left him barely a month ago. She knew he was pushing himself too hard to find the impossible. He had been ignoring her far more than normal with his focus on finding Rose and his kids. He'd saved those searches for when Martha was asleep after their own adventures. It had made him grumpy and unreasonable than usual … more grumpy and unreasonable than usual. The twelve months she'd spent walking the Earth at his behest was her tipping point…

…That and the young, handsome, Cerulean who had walked the Earth with her. A dead man walking, really. Gallifrey was gone, and so, therefore, was her Gallifreyan soldier boyfriend.

He didn't quite know how to explain that reality to her considering the fellow was quite obviously alive right at that moment… Time travellers, Doctor. Tom was as much alive as he was dead. … And so he'd remained silent as she explained her need to walk away and who she was walking away with.

"Good luck, you brilliant, amazing woman," his mind supplied. "Keep making me proud – so proud – of you. And thank you. Thank you for everything."

Of course with her departure, he no longer had anyone tapping him on the shoulder and reminding him to take a breather and sleep. So he hadn't…

…Until now, of course. Eight hours inside a small storage room gave him ample time to catch up. Which meant that now he was ready and raring to go!

The Bio flip digital switch that was on the gold pendant was intriguing and worth examining further. Quite exciting, really. He had a few ideas as to what it could be used for, but wanted to get a little bit more information about it before he started to tinker with it… lest he destroy the piece completely and be left with nothing.

He leaned his hands on the ledge of the roof of the building and looked down to the street below. It would be ideal if he could find a way down to the main office floor and get a listen in to any discussions without being detected at all. The cradle used for window washers hung below him and a smile crossed his face.

"Perfect."

Getting down was easy enough. Well. It had to be, right? No sense in it being a complicated task for the workmen to operate. He managed to get it settled enough and pulled a stethoscope from his coat pocket. He stared at the thing for a moment, considering the item and wondering just why it was he kept it in his pocket. He took a closer look at the back of the bell, and to an inscription carefully etched into the silver edge

"For the doctor with the little d"

He sighed as his thumb traced the engraving as he wondered who it was from, and what it actually meant. He shrugged, shook his head and popped the earpieces into his ears. He pressed the chest piece to the window and listened in to what was happening inside the room.

His eyes flashed wide and his mouth gaped as he heard Miss Foster speaking about the capsules the humans were taking as being a spark of life, and causing the fat of a human to galvanise together to form a living entity. A child? His lips pulled back over his teeth and he voiced his surprise and horror at the idea.

"You've got to be kidding me," he growled to himself. He stood up to take a look inside the room, happy to be hidden by the darkness outside.

His eyes scanned the room a little as he removed the stethoscope from his ears and pocketed it again. He frowned at the obvious interrogation of a woman tied to a chair and immediately his mind began to formulate a plan for rescue. A flash of red in his peripheral captured his attention, and his entire focus shifted toward a porthole-sized window at the opposite side of the room to where he was positioned.

"Donna?" Oh, no. I couldn't be. Really?

Donna, bless, she made sure to emphasize the words she was saying on her end, obviously aware of the face that he couldn't hear her.

"Doctor?!"

Well there's a shock. He didn't bother hiding that as his brows pulled together and his eyes narrowed. "But what? What? What?"

"Oh. My. God."

He thought of something far more offensive than saying a deity's name in vain, but held off saying it in favour of maintaining a completely surprised expression. "But how?"

She pointed to herself with obvious glee. "It's me."

Well, yes. Obviously. He gave the tiniest of nods and pointed to himself, then his eyes. "Yes, I can see that."

"Oh, this is brilliant!" She held both thumbs up and grinned widely.

Brilliant? No it wasn't! Well. Okay, it was, but at the same time, no it wasn't. Donna was in danger, and this wasn't what he wanted for her. "What the Hell are you doing there?"

"Looking for you."

He pointed at himself. "What for?" Indeed, why would anyone be specifically looking for him?

She engaged in what the Doctor could only describe as a game of charades at that point. Mouthing her words as clearly as she could, while gesturing with her arms to try and tell the story. He watched her with rapt curiosity and thought that he was keeping up with her. Something about the internet, and being weird. Someone crept, he assumed it was her. Listening, heard them talking, then hid, stood up and… oh, yes. Him!

Donna turned off to one side, her charades ending abruptly as though caught. She looked toward where Miss Foster had been talking to indeed discover that the tow of them had been caught.

"Are we interrupting you?"

Rassilon.

He looked back to Donna, flicked his head to one side. "Run!"

~~oooOOOooo~~

Locked together back inside the storage closet that the Doctor had spent the entire day hiding out in, and it was a fairly tight squeeze. Fortunately, skinny though he was, there seemed to be adequate room within for them not to get too up close and personal – once he threw out a ladder and a couple of mops.

To the back of the wall was a large green computer panel. He turned to it. "I've been hacking into this thing all day, because the matron's got a computer core running through the centre of the building," he said almost distractedly.

Well not all day – he had caught up on a little bit of sleep. No need to admit that.

"Triple deadlocked. But now I got this." He grinned and held up the sonic pen he'd stolen from Miss Foster earlier.

Donna hummed and looked over his shoulder at what he was doing, but thankfully remained silent. "She's wired up the whole building. We need a bit of privacy."

Hoping that he didn't come across as being a snake or a sleezeball, he held up a pair of wires. He pressed them together to put of a forcefield between them and the guards that he knew had to be prowling about outside in search of them. "There," he breathed out. "Just enough to stop them." His expression shifted to curiosity that wasn't the happy sort. "Why's she wired up the tower block. What's it all for?"

Donna didn't seem as much interested in what he was doing. Instead she opted for small talk.

"You look older."

Start off with an insult? Great. "Thanks." He muttered without looking at her.

"Still on your own?"

He heard the quiet concern in her voice. "Yep," he began with a pop. He then corrected that. "Well, no. I had this friend. Artha she was called. Martha Jones." He smiled with remembrance. "She was brilliant." His smile fell. "And I ruined her life. But she's fine. She's good. She's gone."

Donna didn't seem all that interested in hearing about Martha. Instead she went right for his jugular. "What about Rose?"

Pain entered his voice at that name. He swallowed and spoke softly. "Still lost."

"Still searching, or did you give up and move on?"

His lips pursed and he sniffed almost indignantly. "There is no moving on," he said with a croak in his voice. "Not from Rose."

"She's more than just a friend, isn't she, Doctor?" She tilted her head to him. "Who is she to you?"

His face creased up. "Can we talk about something else please?" He closed his eyes and sniffed deeply. Stabilising his emotions he cleared his throat and swallowed, sounding almost choked when he spoke again. "Anyway. I thought you were going to travel the world?"

She touched his arm and rubbed up and down in a tender gesture of understanding, letting him know she could hear his pain. She kept tenderness out of her voice, though, and forced a more exasperated sound instead. "Easier said than done. It's like I had that one day with you, and I was going to change. I was going to do so much." She huffed. "Then I woke up the next morning. Same old life. It's like you were never there."

He nodded, but said nothing.

"And I tried. I did. I went to Egypt." She smiled. "Blondie's brother, Irving. He set me up with a really unique travel plan…"

His brows lifted. "Blondie?"

"My neighbor, Rose," Donna answered wincing when she heard the slight whimper inside him at the mention of that name. "Her brother in law, Irving. Bit of a proper gent, that one. Well, he and I were discussing me heading off for a trip. Well travelled fella, I suppose, he helped me plan a perfect trip."

"Enjoyable, then?"

She nodded. "It was, I have to admit."

"Anywhere else?"

She shook her head. "Who can afford it?" she breezed out. "I'm just a temp, Doctor. A great temp, of course. Best in Chiswick."

"No doubt."

"But still a temp," she said with a sigh. "Which doesn't exactly give me the income to travel the world." She looked at him. "And besides. My trip to Egypt. Expensive. Short. Two weeks after I left, I come home to what?" She rubbed at her arm. "Nothing like being with you at all. I must've been mad turning down your offer."

He hummed. "What offer?"

"To come with you."

He looked at her with a lift in his brow. "Come with me?"

She smiled widely, almost with relief. "Oh yes, please."

"Right." His eyes flashed and he looked at the computer as it spoke to them both. "Oh."

"What's it doing?"

He blew out a breath. "She's started the program."

~~oooOOOooo~~

Donna and the Doctor fled to the roof, both of them skidding to a halt at the tall blue columns of light drawing up the tiny adipose babies to a large ship above them.

"What are you going to go, then?" she asked. "Blow them up?"

The Doctor's eyes were upward. His voice was kind. "They're just children," he stated. "They can't help where they come from."

"Oh," she said with surprise. "Well that makes a change from the last time." She paused and smiled. "That Martha must've done you good."

His eyes fell from the sky, as did his smile. Yes. Martha had been good for him. Very good. But she was gone now. In the arms of a man who could offer her so much more than his broken hearts ever could. "She did," he admitted. "Yeah. She did." He looked back up, his tongue pressed into the roof of his mouth as he watched the rise of so many youngsters. "Fancied me for a bit there," he said with self pride.

"Mad Martha, then, that one," she said with a smirk. "Blind Martha." She snickered. "Charity Martha…"

He chuckled. "Caught up in a whirlwind, maybe, but Martha was not blind, mad, nor one to offer herself up as charity. "I wish you could have met her," he said fondly. "So brave and brilliant." His head shifted down. "Still. Gone now."

"Does that happen often," she asked. "That your friends leave you like that?"

"More often than I'd like to admit," he said sadly.

"Well you're stuck with me now," Donna vowed.

His head was once again high. "That's what they all say," he breathed out almost inaudibly. "His eyes widened as he saw Miss Foster rise up with the small Adipose. "There she is! Matron Cofelia, listen to me."

She hovered at eye level for both the Doctor and Donna. She held her hands clasped in front of her in a picture of propriety. "Oh, I don't think so, Doctor. And if I never see you again it will be too soon."

He growled a huff. "Oh, why does no one ever listen." He leaned forward and held out his hand to her.. "I'm trying to help. Just get across the roof. Can you shift the levitation beam?"

She scoffed but didn't change her position. Instead she levered him with a look of patient indignance. "What? So you can arrest me?"

He held up both hands, then held one out. "Just listen. I saw the Adisposian instructions." He breathed out. "They know it's a crime, breeding on Earth." His voice shifted to warning. "So what's the first thing they want to get rid of? Their accomplice."

She looked to him with condescending eyes. Her voice was as patronizing. "I'm far more than that. I', nanny to all these children."

"Exactly!" he barked out. His eyes were wide and wild, imploring her to listen to him. "Mum and dad have got the kids now. They don't need the nanny anymore."

No sooner had he spoken, and the levitation beam went dark. Miss Foster's eyes flashed with surprise and then horror as the situation dawned. She dropped with a scream to the roadside below.

The Doctor winced and pulled Donna to cover her with his arms to spare her from seeing the scene below them.

Why didn't people listen to him? Why?

~~oooOOOooo~~

He felt that his arm pay pull from the socket with the way that Donna was yanking at him. The hold she had on his hand was tight, and all he could do was follow almost pathetically behind her. She spoke excitedly of the TARDIS, and of travelling with him.

Oh, he wasn't ready for a new companion right now. Martha's departure still had him reeling, and he didn't know that his hearts could take another one so soon. He also wanted to focus for a little on the search for his family, having to play chauffeur again would seriously cut into that time.

He staggered to a stop when she released his hand and let out an exclamation of surprise. "That's my car!" she called with a cheer. That cheer turned into a low rumbling almost growl-like sound. "Oh, I've been ready for this." She popped open the boot of the car. "I packed ages ago, just in case. Because I thought, hot weather, cold weather, no weather." She started to unload the suitcases and boxes, dumping them into the Doctor's not quite ready arms. "He goes anywhere. I've gotta be prepared."

He blinked at the boxes in his arms piled higher. "You've got a … a hatbox."

"Planet of the hats," she sang out with a roll in her eyes. "I'm ready." She stopped piling boxes on him and gave him a wide-eyed look. "I don't need injections do I? You know, when you go to Cambodia." Her head tipped curiously, but she shrugged and stepped into the TARDIS doors. "Is there any of that? Because my friend Veena went to Bahrain, and she…" she stopped, noticing his unsure look. "You're not saying much."

He juggled his armload. He didn't want to reject her … perhaps discourage? "No. It's just a funny old life in the TARDIS."

Her entire posture fell. "You don't want me."

Oh, he didn't like that posture, nor the disappointment in her eyes. "I'm not saying that."

"But you asked me," she all but begged, refusing to leave the TARDIS doors. Her voice fell. "Would you rather be on your own?"

Part of him – probably the older part of each and every one of his previous incarnations – wanted to drop everything in his arms and say yes. Of course he'd preferred his own company…

…Not really…

But the more Human side of him really didn't want to be alone anymore. But he also didn't want anyone else who would look to him as a romantic partner. He already had a wife and children.

"I just want a friend," he told her without room for misinterpretation. "Donna. I'm don't want to play games, flirt, and make you think I want anything more than just friendship."

She looked quite put off by that. "I'm sorry, what do you think I want from you?"

"I have a wife," he told her point blank. "And children."

Her whole face fell. "Rose?"

He nodded. "And I want to look for them, Donna. I need to find them."

"I can help," she said with a smile. "I'd love to help you."

"Are you sure?" he asked genuinely, hope flaring inside his chest. "We can still travel as you want to. Usually I did my scans and searches when Martha was sleeping…"

Donna shrugged. "You saved my life," she told him. "On what looked to be the hardest day of your life, right after her loss hit you good and proper. You pushed that pain away to save me." She leaned in the doorway. "Of course I want to help you – if you'll let me come, that is."

He nodded, a smile stretching across his face. "Of course. Yes. I'd love it."

She skipped in place, letting out the shortest squeak of happiness. She shot forward, and for a brief moment, the Doctor believed she might be coming in for a hug. He spluttered, truly lost at how such a feat couple be accomplished with his arms full of her luggage.

Donna stopped just short of him. "Keys," she huffed.

"You don't need one," he ventured with a look around the packages toward the open TARDIS doors. "The door's open."

"My car keys, Dumbo," she said with a laugh, holding them up for him to see. "Gimme a moment, yeah? I won't be a minute. Take my things inside."

"Ehm, yeah," he drawled out with a wrinkle in his brow. "Sure okay."

Donna sprinted to the corner, where a group of people had gathered behind crime scene tape to watch the police presence and hopefully capture a view of what had brought them here. She looked around the group, wondering just which one of these strangers she could trust with the keys to her mother's car. At a familiar flash of long blonde hair, Donna let out a cheer. She ran toward a woman pushing a stroller along the street.

"Rose!"

Rose lifted her head from the pom pom of the hat that sat on the head of her daughter. So far she'd been winning tonight's battle against Alirra's vehemence against wearing a hat, but it didn't mean she wasn't going to keep a close eye on it.

She smiled when she saw her friend bound over to her with excitement. "Donna," she called out with a laugh in her voice. "What's got you all excited then?"

"I found him," she answered with thrill. "The Doctor. I found him."

Rose tried valiantly to hide her shock and fear at that. God, where was he?

"Really?" she peeped with as much excitement as she could falsely exude . "Where … where is he?"

"Oh, round the corner," she answered with a thumb over her shoulder. She smiled curiously. "You want to meet him?"

"Oh, oh no thank you," she answered with a shake in her head. "I need to keep walking Alirra to try and get her to go to sleep. Can't stop and chat, really."

Donna dropped into a crouch and took Alirra's hand. She wasn't surprised when the little girl displayed no real emotion to her presence outside of sucking a few pulls on her pacifier and watching her with wide eyes that seemed to be able to burn right through her with the intensity of her stare. "You need to find a way to sleep, little one. You're wearing out your mum."

Alirra held out her hand and touched at Donna's temple with her fingertips. The touch was short, but as always, it did leave a lasting impression of the tiny little girl in Donna's mind.

"I'm okay," Rose said after a moment. "Used to little miss insomnia here. But no mind. Brax came round tonight. He's good at getting her to crash out. I just thought I'd give the walking thing another try." She curled her hair behind her ear. "But. Donna. Please be safe, yeah? You really don't know this man, he could be dangerous."

"Oh I trust him," she sang with a smile. "I do."

"Still," Rose said. She leaned into her bag to grab a piece of paper and a pen. She scribbled down a number and handed it over to her. "That's Brax's number. If you or he –" she looked to the corner. "get in trouble, or get stuck. Call him. He'll come get you. Both of you." She held her hand for a moment when Donna reached for the paper. "And please, stay in touch."

"Make it sound like I'm leaving forever," Donna said with a shake of her head. "Come here, you." She pulled Rose into a hug, holding her tightly with a moan. "Gonna miss you, Blondie."

"You too, Donna."

Donne held up her keys. "Oh, can you give these to Mum for me?" She thumbed back to the corner. "I parked the car there. She can come pick it up."

Rose nodded. "Sure thing."

"Anyway," Donna called out. "I should go. Best not keep the man waiting." She waved and jogged off around the corner, disappearing quickly.

In her stroller, Alirra started to fuss. She squirmed and writhed in her seat, letting out a whimper. Rose quickly dropped into a crouch. "Baby, what's wrong."

Alirra writhed and pulled at the straps holding her in place as the whine and wheeze of the TARDIS' relative dimension stabilizer howled it's sorrowful song. To her side, Rose watched as the blue ship howled up in a straight line above their heads, spinning on its; own axis as it launched up high through the clouds.

Young Alirra, silent and emotionless for the nearly twelve months since she lost her father, snatched her pacifier out with one hand and lifted the other little arm into the sky. "Papa!"