A/N: Aha welcome back! Two chapters in one day (because yes ffn glitched again. If you haven't read chapter twenty one, which is the episode 42, then head back and read that before reading this)! I'm doing something a little bit different with this one, so I hope you'll enjoy!

Thanks to those that ALREADY followed and reviewed. To Belle France, thank you, thank you, thank you. Seriously, I don't have words.

To emo . markie, you always have interesting reviews. Thanks for reviewing!

I want to make it VERY FREAKING CLEAR that I'm not cutting out Martha entirely. I love Martha. She's, I really don't even have words to describe her. She's just getting put in much later in the story, because she's got a much bigger role to play than she initially did. I'm doing things differently with her than I did with Rose for the simple matter that I like Rose's story and how it played out (and there's a hint there and NO I DIDN'T FORGET ANYTHING I'M SAYING THIS RIGHT NOW even if you don't understand why right at this moment. Don't come at me in a few chapters and say that I forgot it BECAUSE I DIDN'T FORGET IT). So yeah, I liked how Rose's story played out. I didn't like how Martha's story did. There'll be some key differences, and you'll see what I mean when we get there.

Also, I keep forgetting to mention that I get the transcripts from the same place that all the other writers do, which is Chakoteya. Those people are my fav, truly, with the patience of a saint to sit through those episodes and transcribe ALL OF THEM. Seriously, it's great.

Also this story is unbeta'd, so all mistakes are my own (though I'm pretty sure y'all figured out the whole unbeta'd thing by the fact that I haven't mentioned a beta, so. Just a heads up).

I still don't own Doctor Who (shocking, right?)

Chapter Twenty Two: Partners in the Planet of the Ood

++Partners in Crime++

She wasn't surprised, per say, that they'd found Donna. It was just a little concerning that they still hadn't found Martha, though she'd asked later about his flippant comment of traveling with people for a trip or two. He'd said no one called Martha had come up, though he'd figured out pretty quickly that the reason she was asking was because Martha was a companion she'd seen on television. He'd done the same brooding routine that he had about Rose, though it wasn't nearly as intense as that one had been.

Now, they were sat with Donna in the Adipose basement, trying to figure out how to thwart Matron Cofelia's plans (well, they were. She had already saved Stacy Campbell by throwing her into the alternate dimension. Now she just had to figure out how to save the good Matron).

"You look older."

She snorted at that, though the Doctor shot them both a look. "Thanks."

"See that you're not on your own, though."

"Nah, got the missus now!" he said, proudly, holding up his left hand and showing it off to Donna before he went back to what he was doing.

"The missues?" she asked. "What- No, you didn't. Tell me you didn't! You got married?"

"I am now the proud husband of one Anna Monroe. Love of my life, moon in my sky-"

"Oh, so aliens can be cheeseballs too! Good to know."

"Oi."

"She is a bit right, though."

"Oi!" He glanced between the two of them before he settled back on the machine. "Fine, enough about me, then, what about you, Donna? Thought you were going to travel the world."

"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. Then I woke up the next morning, same old life. It's like you were never there. And I tried. I did try. I went to Egypt. I was going to go barefoot and everything. And then it's all bus trips and guidebooks and don't drink the water, and two weeks later you're back home. It's nothing like being with you."

Anna waited for her to say the next line, but she never did. By the time Anna thought to say something, the computer was already speaking about the inducer being activated.

#####

In the end, the day was saved, and so was Matron Cofeila. She would've teleported her to the Shadow Proclamation, but as far as she knew, no one had actually found out about what the Adiposian's had done. Reporting them now would be a ripple affect too wide spread and too far, even for her, and she shuddered at even the thought of it. She ended up using the other option.

Another life for the alternate dimension, then.

It was quiet on the walk back down to the street below. She could feel Donna's dejectedness rolling off of her in waves, her sadness, and she'd no idea why. Why hadn't she asked to come along? Anna was starting to get nervous that she wouldn't, though she'd no idea why she might not. She would, though. Wouldn't she?

In the midst of her thoughts, Penny the reporter came stumbling from the building, still tied to the chair. She managed to stifle her laughter. Barely.

"Oi, you two-! Oh, there's another one of you! All three of you, you're all just mad! Do you hear me? Mad! And I'm gonna report you for… madness!"

She was unable to completely hold the laughter back at that.

"You see, some people just can't take it," Donna said, even though it was tinged with sadness.

"No," the Doctor agreed.

"Definitely not," Anna said, before she turned around, stepping in front of Donna. If she wouldn't ask, Anna would just have to offer. "Which is why I think you should come with us."

A desperate hope rolled off of Donna, though it was marred with confusion. "What?"

"Sorry, what?"

She was surprised when the Doctor spoke, and she barely frowned, though she looked at Donna. "Yeah, well, you handled yourself brilliantly, and from what I heard, he'd be dead without you, so. Like to get to know the woman who saved my husband," and, well, she couldn't help that her heart still leapt in her chest when she said that. It had only been a month. There was no way she could get used to calling the Doctor her 'husband' in that short amount of time. "If that's quite all right with you."

"Yeah, but… you two just got married. Right? You have? Cos you've still got that marriage glow on you, and this one hasn't gained the marriage weight yet-"

"Yet?" he quietly commented.

"-so… Cos I'm telling you now, I have absolutely no intention of being a third wheel."

Oh… Oh, right. Right, duh. Duh. Anna was a moron. Obviously. Okay.

Because, like, why wouldn't she be afraid she'd be the third wheel to the married couple? They were married? Obviously?

"Donna, I can promise you, you will be the exact opposite of a third wheel. You have nothing to worry about. Besides, it'll be fun! Three amigos, three musketeers, you can be the Ted to our Lily and Marshall."

"The who to your what?"

She cleared her throat. "Never mind. Point is, it's totally all right. We'd love to have you."

Donna looked over at the Doctor. "And you? Would you be all right with that? Me cutting in on your honeymoon?"

She expected the Doctor's answer to be an over ecstatic joy at the fact that Donna was finally joining them. What she got was happiness up front, but a hesitance pushed behind his mask.

"Well, you know what they say, happy wife, happy life."

He glanced over at her, and she realized suddenly that he was worried. Why was he so worried?

Donna's joy soon overran that. "Good enough for me!" she said. "Come on! To the Tardis!"

#####

"You are happy, right?"

"What?" she asked, as if it were the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard. They were lugging Donna's bags to the Tardis, because she'd run off saying that she still had her mum's car keys. Her heart skipped a beat as she thought about the blonde woman she would speak to, but she quickly pushed the thought from her mind. "Yeah, course I am," she told him. "Why would you think differently?"

"I dunno, maybe because you invited someone else to come along without even consulting me first?"

She actually dropped the bag she was holding in surprise, looking up at the Doctor (though luckily it appeared to just be clothes).

"Oh," she said.

"Yeah," he agreed.

"Oh, I… Wow, no, she- she was- and I- No, I am- I am very, very happy," she told him. "And I'm-I'm so sorry, I didn't even think about how that would- would come across, I just- she was supposed to-supposed to ask and you were- you know, you were supposed to agree to let her come along and everything-"

"Sorry?" he frowned. "How'd you mean, I would've-" realization lit up his eyes. "You've got to be kidding me," he said. "Her too?"

"Okay, no, we aren't doing this again."

"Sorry?" he asked, sounding a little incredulous at her audacity. She walked over to him, grabbing his jacket lapels.

"You were not selfish for wanting people to share the universe with. If anything, it helped to make the universe a little bit brighter," she told him, though he looked at her skeptically. "Because people who never would've seen more than their own cities and street corners and planet were exposed to the most brilliant parts of the universe, as well as the darkest. Yes, okay," she agreed. "There was darkness in you, and you nearly let that consume you, but you don't know yourself half as well as you think you do if you think, for a second, that you would've let it consume any of them." She smiled. "The brilliant stars. The people you travel with. The light of your life, the moon in your sky-"

"Oi," he said, and she laughed a little.

"My point being," she said, pulling him close. "That you would've done absolutely nothing wrong, and here's the key bit, because you also would've done nothing wrong." Surprise filled his eyes at the realization she was talking about the true events surrounding what had happened with the Moment. "Do me a favor? Forgive the other you. He did the best that he could, just like the rest of us."

He let out a long-suffering sigh. "Fine," he said. "But only because I love you so much."

She smiled. "Funny. I love you too."

"Really?" he asked. "Maybe we should get married."

"That sounds like an amazing idea," she said. "Let's do that right now."

She kissed him, once again amazed that one person could have so much happiness.

++The Planet of the Ood++

"This is not Rome!" Donna protested.

Anna was actually disappointed. She had dressed up for the occasion and everything. Instead, they appeared to be standing in the middle of a snowy terrain, one that she instantly recognized as not Earth. Certainly not Rome.

Donna was also dressed up for the occasion, so she was currently rubbing at her arms.

"Thought it be funny, did you, hazing the new kid on the block? Donna, we're heading to Rome, dress for the times, take me to somewhere that's bloody freezing because it'll be a laugh." She looked at Anna with a critical eye. "Are you in on this?"

She looked at her deadpanned. "Yes," she said, sarcastically. "I definitely dressed up because I thought it'd be a laugh to be freezing as well." She sighed. "Best get changed, then."

"What? Why?"

"Well, the Tardis pulled us off course. When she does that, there's usually a reason. Especially when it's a companion's first trip," and they were bloody well supposed to end up in Rome. Or, well, to the left of it, anyway.

She frowned when she felt a small feeling of apology being sent to her. She looked at the Doctor, sending him a non-verbal, was that you?

What? His face read. Absolutely not.

She frowned. Where had it-

Realization crested through her. It was the Tardis. The Tardis was apologizing for not ending up in Pompeii.

It was actually an extraordinarily rare event for the Tardis to be in a present moment. She didn't talk, didn't do the whole fun flashing lights thing to convey emotion.

... Well, except for that one time in canon that she had with Clara, in that minisode where she kept diverting Clara from her bedroom?

… Maybe she just didn't do it often before the Doctor was aware of just how conscious she was. That actually made a fair amount of sense, considering she probably hadn't wanted to ruin the surprise of it all.

The point was, she'd sent an apology to her, a straight up, I'm sorry for missing, thing. She quickly sent back reassurance, putting her hand on the console to tell her that it was absolutely all right, and she trusted that if she did this, it was for a reason.

Anna was even more surprised when she felt her send a reply.

It was clumsy, though, the emotion not well-conveyed. She couldn't decipher what it was, but she could feel the Tardis slipping away from the present moment. The surprise kept coming when Anna realized that the Tardis was actually panicking about slipping away (which, it was strange that she could decipher that emotion, but not the emotion that the Tardis been trying to send not moments before. She didn't focus on this for long). She quickly sent more reassurances to the Tardis, telling her that it was all right, that everything was all right, and she needn't worry, everything would be fine.

It usually seemed to be, anyway.

Anna would never know it, but the Tardis wasn't reassured. The only thing she was, as she felt herself slipping away, was increasingly frustrated. Her thief was about to do something monumentally stupid, and try as she might, the Tardis couldn't coherently warn her of the dangers that were on the horizon.

Anna was privy to none of this. As soon as she felt the Tardis slipping out of the present moment completely, she rubbed at the console reassuringly before she walked back to the wardrobe room to change. She still hadn't let Donna know about her powers, and changing into different clothes randomly in front of her just didn't feel like a grand enough reveal.

#####

"Rocket. Blimey, a real proper rocket! Now that's what I call a spaceship. You two've got a box, he's got a Ferrari."

"Oi!" she said, genuinely offended, though she didn't miss the way that Donna qualified the Tardis as hers. "You're right, the Tardis isn't a Ferrari, she's much better than a Ferrari, she's-she's- I don't know, but so rude." She shot her a look. "You'll be lucky if she lets you back on, now."

Donna, instead of looking at Anna, looked at the Doctor. "That's the second time your wife has talked about that space ship like it's alive. I thought you just said-"

"That it is complicated, because it is," he agreed. "Now, come on."

"Ooh, are we following the rocket?"

"Course we are, what else would we be doing?"

Donna had been wrong. She looked at the Doctor and Donna walking off and felt a pang like sadness. The truth of the matter was, she was the third wheel. She'd never felt it like this before because, in all eight years traveling with the Doctor, she'd never been with a companion whilst around him. Even when it had been him and River, it still felt like she'd been part of the club.

Now, with Donna… it just felt like a slap in the face. She'd changed his personal history. Truth be told, she wasn't even supposed to be here.

Well, no, if that were true, she wouldn't have been here at all, but the point still stood. This was Donna's time with the Doctor, and here she was, encroaching on it.

It was strange. For a moment, she felt it with her whole body, that she didn't belong. She shivered.

A moment later, the Doctor turned back to look at her.

"Coming or what?" he asked, trying to conceal the concern he felt at the emotions he could feel coming from her.

She pasted on a fake smile, nodding, even as she felt something she hadn't felt in a long time: like the woman who got left behind.

#####

It didn't really dissipate, not even as the episode progressed. In fact, it started to get worse. By the time they'd made it 'off the beaten path', she was feeling rather small. She'd no idea why, either.

"I was busy," the Doctor explained about why he hadn't saved the Ood the last time he'd run into them. He looked down at these Ood, the ones that were being marched like so much cattle. "So busy I couldn't save them. I had to let the Ood die."

Her eyes widened as she realized. "No, right," she said. "No, I got them."

"Sorry?" he asked, looking over at her.

"Will do," she told him. "Will have them. Remind me later, make a mental note of it."

"What're you talking about?" Donna asked.

"Nothing," she said, quickly, before she nodded down at Halpen and Ryder. "What do you think?" she asked.

"Looks like the boss," Donna said, letting her comments slide.

"Let's keep out of his way. Come on."

It came out of complete nowhere, the strong flash of irritation that rushed through her. Why was the Doctor being an idiot?

"No, yeah, let's avoid the big boss man heading to the warehouse that obviously has all the answers, that's a great idea," she told him.

She realized that she could circumvent all the crap that was supposed to happen. None of these people had to die, nor did any of the Ood. It meant if she went to talk to Halpen now, this whole thing could be over in time for tea.

So, she got up, trudging after Halpen and his men.

"Anna, no, hey, what're you-"

"What is she doing?"

"I dunno," he said. "To be honest, I've found that when she gets like this, it's best to just follow her and keep out of her way."

She felt a flash of resentment at that, but didn't say anything, now fuming as she walked down to the warehouse after Halpen and Ryder.

#####

"Mister Halpen, the three people from the Noble Corporation failed to pass security checks," Solana's voice rang over the loudspeaker. "There's no such company. The Noble Corporation doesn't exist. And, on top of that, they seem to have gone missing, sir."

She smirked.

"Sorry about that!" she announced. Halpen and his men turned to look at the three of them entering, his guards instantly pointing their guns at them. "Terribly rude of us to just sneak in like this, but we do have a full schedule ahead of us."

"Who are you?" Halpen demanded.

Irritation flashed through her, and privately she wondered why she was feeling so irritable all of a sudden. "I'm sorry, were you not listening?" she shot at him. "Noble Corporation. Anna, Donna, the Doctor. Hello!" she waved, smiling.

"What is that?" Donna asked, sounding horrified.

"What is that?" she asked, dancing up to the railing. "Did you want to take that one, Mr. Halpen, or should I?"

"Detain them," he said, in an irritated voice. "Take them back to my office for questioning. Just what I needed today, FOTO activitists."

She pouted. "Ooh, buddy," she said, as the guards approached them. They stopped, surprised at the shield. "You're gonna wish that we were just FOTO activitists." She leaned up against the barrier. "But enough about that! That's not interesting, what is interesting is that this isn't just any old brain, is it? Nah, this big old brain is the Ood brain. You've stifled them for hundreds of year so that they'll be willing servants."

"That's an interesting bit of technology you've got. How does it work?"

She shot him a deadpanned look. "Buddy," she said. "Seriously. Do you really think I'm about to tell you how my shield works? For real?" she looked back at the Doctor as if to ask if this guy was for real. The Doctor was too busy sonicking the brain. "Oh, no, right, yes, so, basically, the Ood are born with a secondary brain, like the amygdala in humans. Processes memory and emotions, all that good stuff. Only, they're born with their brains in their hands, and, well, basically, the humans here thought, hey, you know what would be a good idea? Cutting their brains off and replacing it with a translator ball, because that seemed like a really good idea."

"So they… lobotomize them?"

"I'm afraid so," she said.

The Doctor spoke up, despite his earlier words of simply getting out of her way. It appeared he was angry enough to.

"You've got the forebrain and the hind brain, but that wouldn't be enough, because a creature with a separate forebrain and hind brain would be at war with itself. So now, you've got this. The Ood Brain. The third element, the telepathic center. It's a shared mind, connecting the Ood in song."

"Clever bunch, aren't you?" he asked.

"No, that's not what you're supposed to say," she told him. "You're supposed to say that they found that thing centuries ago beneath the Northern Glacier, as if it's something that's not worth more than the dirt on your shoe." She snarled. "And the pylons, surrounding it. The circle must be broken. Isn't that right, Ood Sigma?" she asked, looking over at the Ood in question. "The circle must be broken. The Ood must be free." She barely smiled. "And the Ood must have revenge." She quirked a brow. "Can't say I approve of your methods, the whole bio graft thing." She sighed dramatically, still leaning up against the railing. "But, needs must, I suppose."

"What are you talking about?"

She raised her eyebrows, looking over at Halpen. "Just about giving you a choice, Mr. Halpen! Shut operations down, turn yourself in, or I will do it for you." She snorted. "Well. I'll do something like it, at any rate."

It was shocking to realize that there was a strange buzzing at the back of her mind that she'd been able to hear but hadn't really processed past the feelings of worthlessness she'd suddenly donned like a second cloak. When she realized that she could hear it, though, it amplified itself. It wasn't a buzzing in the back of her head, she realized sadly. It was the Ood singing.

The song of captivity.

She wanted to weep in earnest. Her days living with her mother were nothing compared to what the Ood were going through, but she still found the memories rolling through her head, one after the other. She reached back, grabbing onto the Doctor's hand as she bit her lip. He grabbed hold of it without question, hanging onto her almost as tightly as she was hanging onto him.

Mr. Halpen, of course, was predictable. "Now why would I do that?" he asked her. "You think a couple of FOTO activists with a bit of fancy technology are enough to scare me? I'm made of much stronger stuff than that, I promise you."

She shook her head. "You won't be for much longer," she told him, almost sadly.

She could do it, right now, flip the metaphorical switch and it would've been over.

But, there was still the small matter of what the Doctor and Donna would've done for them. They deserved the credit for this. If it hadn't have been for them, the Ood would've continued to be enslaved (and a faint trace of being a third wheel lingered in the back of her mind, as well as some other unkind words, but she pushed this from her mind and focused).

The only way to make sure that they still got credit was showing the Ood what they had done, but how? It wasn't exactly like she could show them the television show-

No, but she could show Ood Sigma the 'other reality'. Tell them that she'd changed time and that her being here changed things, but that shouldn't discount what they had done. She didn't even know why she had such strong feelings about this. Maybe it was because of the fact that it felt wrong to be here-

Oh. Oh. Obviously.

She hadn't been aware of the Ood song, but she was telepathic and empathic. Of course she would've been affected by their song.

Okay. Today made so much more sense.

The point being, whatever it was that made her want to tell the Ood about what the Doctor and Donna would've done if she hadn't've been there didn't matter. What did matter was that she trusted the Ood to keep the secret that she'd changed time. They were the Ood. Of course they would. (though she wouldn't burden them with the knowledge of the television show. That felt cruel, somehow, telling them about how their captivity had been broadcast to millions people).

With this thought in mind, she released the Doctor's hand before she walked up to Ood Sigma, even as Halpen panicked and ordered his guards to fire at her. The bullets bounced uselessly off of her shields.

"If I might be permitted, Ood Sigma, I'd like to show you something important. I wouldn't ask if it weren't."

He didn't even argue, stowing his translator in his pocket before he took off his gloves, holding out his hands to her.

Halpen, in the meantime, was apparently in full on panic mode. "Shoot that Ood!"

As they had done before, the bullets bounced uselessly off of her shields, and she closed her eyes and focused, showing him events as they would've progressed without her.

A moment later, Ood Sigma bowed his head before he stood back, sweeping his arm out towards the control panel.

"Doctor, you may have the honors."

"What?" the Doctor asked, bewildered. "Me? Really?"

Ood Sigma nodded.

"No! Stop them! Stop them, now!"

She quickly trapped Halpen behind a shield of his own, as well as his guards and even Dr. Ryder. She was a little worried that he would pull the stunt that he did on the show, revealing himself as a FOTO activist to Halpen right next to the brain so that he could get pushed into said brain.

The Doctor, in the meantime, was practically vibrating with joy, though he toned it down on the outside.

"Thank you, really, thank you," he said, an Ood Sigma bowed his head once more. He went to the controls, typing away at the keyboard. "Stifled for two hundred years, but not anymore. The circle is broken. The Ood can sing!"

A moment later, he flipped the switch.

It was a noticeable difference, like a weight had been lifted off of her mind. She fell against the railing as she let out quiet breaths of relief, though she was overwhelmed by the joy of the Ood singing for the first time in centuries.

Her eyes unintentionally landed on Halpen. She saw a man who had lost everything, broken down in his entirety and not knowing how it had happened in the slightest.

He had no idea about a lot of things that were about to happen. She almost felt sorry for him.

She was distracted from that when the Doctor whooped for joy, jumping up and down, and she joined him in the celebration.

She could hear it. The Ood were singing.

#####

"The message has gone out. That song resonated across the galaxies. Everyone heard it. Everyone knows. The rockets are bringing them back." The Doctor slung a happy arm around Anna's shoulder, the absolute picture of happiness. "The Ood are coming home."

"We thank you, Anna Monroe, Doctor Donna, friends of Oodkind. And what of you now? Will you stay? There is room in the song for you."

"Oh, we've-we've sort of got a song of our own, thanks."

"I think your song must be end soon."

The Doctor's grip on her shoulder tightened. "Meaning?"

"Every song must end."

"Yeah," he said, distantly, before he turned to Donna. "What do you think? Rome?"

"Yeah," Donna agreed.

The Doctor turned back to Ood Sigma. "Then we'll be off."

"Take this song with you."

"Always," the Doctor agreed.

"And know this, Anna Monroe, Doctor Donna, you will never be forgotten. Our children will sing of Anna and the Doctor Donna, and our children's children and the wind and the ice and the snow will carry your names forever."

A/N: So there you have it! The first two of the episode block! I didn't really feel like we needed a re-hash of either episodes, so I just sort of showcased what I felt were the important bits. Hope y'all enjoyed the changes that I did make. I love Donna and I really want to do her justice.

Next up: The Fires of Pompeii, and oh boy am I excited for this one.

As always, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!