Shareen vs the Universe
The Runaway Bride
Donna Noble stood at the end of the aisle of St Mary's Church, Chiswick, ready for her big day. By her side stood her loving father, Geoff, who was ready to proudly walk her down the aisle. Geoff had his arm linked through Donna's rather than the other way round, so Donna swapped their positions with a slight cough. "Sorry." Geoff mumbled.
The organ began to play The Wedding March and Donna sighed happily as they began their walk. The congregation stood as Donna and Geoff entered. Donna's fiancé Lance Bennett caught her eye from the front of the church, and they smiled at each other in anticipation. As Donna made her way down the aisle, her friends and family made sounds of appreciation, all except Donna's frenemy Nerys, who scowled.
Donna and Geoff were halfway down the aisle when it happened. Donna began to glow gold, causing Lance's eyes to widen. It took Donna a moment to notice, but when she did, she screamed long and loud. The congregation members all muttered in alarm and bewilderment as the bride disappeared in a puff of golden dust, which zoomed upwards and out through an open window.
~8~
The TARDIS was in orbit around a supernova as the golden dust flew straight through the walls and reassembled itself in the form of Donna inside the console room. The Doctor looked up from the console in alarm. "What?" he blinked in surprise.
Donna spun round to face him. "Who're you?" she gaped in surprise
"What?" was all a dumbfounded Doctor could say
"Where am I?" a confused Donna asked, looking around the strange room.
"What?"
"What the hell is this place?!" Donna demanded, starting to get angry.
"What?!" the Doctor repeated one last time
"Never mind the what, where the hell did she come from?!" Shareen stared
A bewildered Doctor continued to stare at Donna in disbelief. "Ya can't do that, I wasn't..." he babbled, looking around for some explanation, "We're in flight! That is... that is physically impossible! How did...?"
"Tell me where I am." Donna cut in commandingly, "I demand you tell me right now, where am I?!"
"Inside the TARDIS." the Doctor replied, still staring at her.
"The what?"
"The TARDIS."
"The what?
"The TARDIS!" the Doctor repeated again.
"The what?!" Donna pushed
"She's called the TARDIS."
"That's not even a proper word!" Donna snapped, "Ya just sayin' things!"
"No, that's really what this thing's called." Shareen said, though Donna was too hysterical to pay attention to her.
"How did you get in here?" the Doctor questioned
"Well, obviously when you kidnapped me!" Donna answered back, rigid with rage. "Who was it? Who's payin' you? Was it Nerys? Oh, my God, she's finally got me back. This has got Nerys written all over it!"
"Who the hell is Nerys?" the Doctor frowned in utter confusion
"Your best friend." Donna retorted
The Doctor then noticed that Donna was wearing a wedding dress. "Hold on, wait a minute... what're ya dressed like that for?" he asked stupidly
Shareen could only facepalm at the Doctor's stupidity. Donna shared that sentiment. "I'm goin' ten pin bowling." she said sarcastically, then yelled loudly, "Whatta ya think, dumbo?! I was halfway up the aisle! I've been waitin' all my life for this! I was just seconds away! An then you... I dunno, you drugged me or something!"
"I haven't done anything!" the Doctor protested lamely
"We're having the police on you!" Donna ranted "Me an' my husband, soon as he is my husband, we're gonna sue the livin' backside of ya!" Then she noticed the doors and rushed over to them.
The Doctor looked up in alarm, he and Shareen hurrying after her. "No, wait a minute! Wait a minute! Don't!" the Doctor called, but he was too late.
Donna threw the doors open and goggled in surprise at the supernova outside.
"You're in space." the Doctor told her, he and Shareen standing either side of Donna, "Outer space. This is my... spaceship. She's called 'the TARDIS'."
"How am I breathin'?" Donna asked
"The TARDIS is protecting us." the Doctor replied
"Who are ya?" Donna asked
"I'm the Doctor." the Time Lord answered, "You?"
"Donna."
"Human?" the Doctor asked, looking Donna up and down.
"Yeah. Is that optional?"
"Well, it is for me." the Doctor shrugged
Donna glanced round at him. "You're an alien?"
"Yeah." the Doctor replied.
Donna glanced at Shareen. "You alien too?" she asked
"Nah, I'm Human. The same as you" Shareen answered, "An' my name's Shareen."
They all looked out at the supernova for a moment, then Donna spoke up again. "It's freezing with these doors open."
The Doctor slammed the doors shut and darted back to the console. "But I don't understand it an' I understand everything." he began to ramble, "This... this can't happen! There is no way a Human being can lock itself onto the TARDIS an' transport itself inside. It must be..." Full of energy, he grabbed an ophthalmoscope from a tool kit and used it to look into Donna's eyes. "Impossible. Some sorta sub-atomic connection? Something in the temporal field?"
"Uh, Doctor..." Shareen tried to cut in, seeing that the Time Lord's endless technobabble was starting to annoy Donna.
But the Doctor was on a roll now. "Maybe something pulled ya into alignment with the Chronon shell. Maybe something macro-minin' ya DNA within the interior matrix. Maybe a genetic..." He was cut off by Donna slapped him across the face. "What was that for?!" he spluttered indignantly.
"GET ME TO THE CHURCH!" Donna bellowed
"Right, fine!" the Doctor huffed, going back to the controls. "I don't want ya here anyway!"
"Oi, watch it, Peacock!" Shareen scolded
"Where is this wedding?" the Doctor asked.
"St Mary's, Hayden Road, Chiswick." Donna fired off, "London, England, Earth, the Solar System." She suddenly looked back at Shareen, remembering her again. "I knew it!" she burst out, marching towards Shareen, "Acting all innocent. Did he kidnap you too?" she asked the young woman.
"No, he didn't!" Shareen said indignantly, "I'm only here cos'..."
But Donna had already turned back to the Doctor. "Shame on you!" she yelled at him, "She's just a girl! Like 'em young, do ya?"
"I'm 21!" Shareen grumbled, "And I repeat: he didn't kidnap me. I'm with him cos'..."
But Donna had noticed something else, namely a purple blouse slung over one of the railings. She snatched it up, then stormed over to the Doctor. "How many women have you abducted?!" she asked accusingly, "This doesn't look like hers!" She gestured to Shareen, who was dressed rather grungily in a hoodie and jeans.
The Doctor looked up from the controls and his eyes fell on the garment in Donna's hand. It was the blouse Rose had worn on New Earth. "That's our friend's." he said quietly
"Where is she, then? Popped out for a spacewalk?" Donna asked sarcastically
"She's gone." the Doctor replied solemnly
"Gone where?!"
"I lost her." the Doctor answered sadly
"Yeah, well, ya can hurry up an' lose me!" Donna growled furiously, then she noticed that Shareen looked like she'd been crying and that the Doctor was clearly wracked with grief that he was bottling up. "How d'ya mean, 'lost'?" she asked more gently.
The Doctor looked at her darkly for a moment, then snatched Rose's blouse out of her hand and tossed it back to where she'd found it. "Right!" he said sharply, "Chiswick!" And he set to work piloting the TARDIS to Earth.
Donna turned to Shareen. "What's he mean by lost?" she asked her
"It's a long story." Shareen sighed, the loss of Rose weighing heavily on her.
~8~
There was much commotion and a large group of confused friends and family inside St Mary's church. Donna's mother Sylvia pushed her way through the crowd, talking on her mobile. "No, she didn't run away. We're not talking jitters. She literally vanished. Now, go and check the house and see if she's there." She hung up and addressed someone in the crowd. "Oh, Angelica, that's not helping, is it? Now, smarten up." She turned to Donna's fiance. "Lance, any sign?"
"I've looked all around, and I can't find her." Lance replied, "Where the hell did she go?!" He disappeared into the crowd.
"Showing off, that's what she is!" Sylvia said to her husband, "First day at school, she was sent home for biting."
"Well, it's a bit more serious than that." Geoff replied, "She's never disappeared before!"
"She didn't disappear, it's a trick!" Syliva said contemptuously, "It's one of her silly little 'look at me' party pieces." She suddenly became worried. "What if she's dead?"
"Oh, don't say that!" Geoff soothed.
~8~
Donna alighted from the TARDIS to find herself in London at the right time, but definitely not in Chiswick. "I said St Mary's." she huffed, "What sort of Martian are you? Where's this?"
"Search me." Shareen replied as she joined Donna outside, "Haven't really been north of the Thames much."
The Doctor wasn't paying attention to either woman. "Something's wrong with her." he muttered to himself, patting the TARDIS' woodwork in concern, "It's like she's... recalibrating." And he dashed back inside. "She's digesting." he mumbled, stroking the time rotor with one hand. "What've you eaten? What's wrong?"
Shareen rolled her eyes at the Doctor's antics while Donna finally noticed what she had stepped out of and how small the TARDIS' exterior was in comparison to her interior.
"Donna?" the Doctor called from inside, "You've really gotta think. Is there anything that could've caused this?"
Donna wasn't listening. She paced around the TARDIS, feeling the walls in utter bewilderment. Shareen couldn't help but be amused. She wandered if everyone who met the Doctor had the same reaction to the TARDIS.
"Anything ya might've done?" the Doctor called, "Any sort of alien contacts? Cos' I can't let ya go wanderin' off, not if ya dangerous. I mean, have you... have you seen lights in the sky? Or... did ya touch something? Something... something different? Something strange? Something made out of a sort of metal? or... Who're ya gettin' married to?"
All the while, Donna had completed her circuit of the TARDIS and she popped her head back inside, checking to see if she wasn't imagining just how big she was. Having confirmed this, Donna stumbled backwards, her hand over her mouth.
"Are ya sure he's Human?" the Doctor continued, oblivious to this, "He's not overweight with a zip around his forehead, is he?"
Donna at this point decided she'd seen enough and began to run away. "No, wait!" Shareen called, hurrying after her.
The Doctor overheard and looked up from the console at last. "Donna!" he called, running after them.
"Leave me alone." Donna said as the Doctor and Shareen caught up with her and flanked her. "I just wanna get married."
"Come back to the TARDIS." the Doctor advised
"No way! That box is too... weird."
"She's... bigger on the inside, that's all." the Doctor shrugged
"Oh, that's all?" Donna scoffed
"Donna, I know how ya feel." Shareen said, "I've been in your shoes, but I promise ya we can help."
"What's the time?" Donna asked her
Shareen checked her watch. "Ten past three."
"Oh, I'm gonna miss it!" Donna fussed
"Can't ya phone 'em, tell 'em where ya are?" the Doctor suggested
"How do I do that?"
"Haven't ya got a mobile?"
Donna stopped and stared at him. "I'm in my weddin' dress. It doesn't have pockets." she told him sharply, "Who has pockets? Have either of ya ever seen a bride with pockets?!"
"I've got my mobi..." Shareen began, but Donna was too busy ranting to listen to her.
"When I went to my fittin' at Chez Alison, d'ya think the one thing I forgot to say was "give pockets'?!"
"This man ya marryin', what's 'is name?" the Doctor asked
"Lance." Donna replied, suddenly going all loved-up.
"Good luck, Lance." the Doctor remarked
"Oi!" Donna snapped, "No stupid Martian's gonna stop me from gettin' married. To hell with you!" And she stormed off.
"Oh, well done, Peacock." Shareen congratulated the tactless Time Lord sarcastically and hurried after Donna
"I'm... I'm not... I'm not... I'm not from Mars." the Doctor muttered feebly as he went after the two women.
Donna ran down a busy London street. "Taxi!" she called, seeing a black cab coming down the road, but it just sped past her. "Why's his light on?" she frowned as the Doctor and Shareen joined her.
"There's another one." the Doctor said, seeing another cab coming.
"Taxi!" Donna called, but that cab just sped past too. "Oi!" Donna grumbled
"How about this one?" Shareen said and stuck her arm out to try and hail a third cab, but she had to quickly pull it back it in to avoid losing it as that cab ignored them too.
"Oi!" Donna grumbled
"D'ya have this effect on everyone?" the Doctor remarked, "Why aren't they stopping?"
"They think I'm in fancy dress." Donna realised
"Stay off the sauce, darlin'!" a taxi driver jeered as he sped past
"They think I'm drunk." Donna grumbled
"Ya foolin' no one, mate!" two blokes in a car cackled as they drove past.
"They think I'm in drag!" Donna glared
"Gits." Shareen muttered, "Right, I'll settle this." She stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled shrilly, causing Donna to wince and cover her ears. But the whistle attracted the attention of a cab, which pulled up next to the trio and they all scrambled in.
"St Mary's in Chiswick, just off Haven Road." Donna instructed the driver, "It's an emergency, I'm gettin' married! Just... hurry up!"
"Ya know it'll cost ya, sweetheart." the driver replied, "Double rates today."
Donna suddenly remembered that she had no money on her. "Oh, my God. Have you two got any money?" she asked the time travellers.
Shareen checked her pockets. "I've got two quid and that's it." she groaned, "What about you, Peacock?"
"Um... not a penny." the Doctor replied, "Haven't you?" he asked Donna obliviously
"Pockets!" Donna retorted, gesturing violently to her wedding dress.
~8~
The taxi driver wasn't satisfied with just £2 and promptly threw the trio out. "An' that goes double for ya mother!" Donna shouted at him as he sped away.
"Heartless bastard!" Shareen agreed, giving the taxi a rude gesture with two fingers.
"I'll have him." Donna grumbled, "I've got his number. I'll have him. Talk about the Christmas spirt."
"Is it Christmas?" the Doctor asked, looking around to see that the street was filled with Christmas decorations.
"Well, duh!" Donna retorted, "Maybe not on Mars, but here it's Christmas Eve."
"Sorry, been a bit out of touch lately." Shareen mumbled. For her, it had only been a few days since the Battle of Canary Wharf, which had taken place in the summer of 2007. For Donna and the rest of Planet Earth, it had been several months since that terrible day.
Donna suddenly spotted something in the distance. "Phone box!" she said, and promptly rushed towards a phone box. "We can reverse the charges!"
"How come ya gettin' married on Christmas Eve?" the Doctor asked
"Can't bear it, I hate Christmas." Donna replied, causing both time travellers to stare at her, bewildered at how someone could hate Christmas. "Honeymoon in Morocco. Sunshine, lovely." Donna continued as they reached the phone box. "What's the operator?" she asked, "I've not done this in years." She looked at the receiver. "What d'ya dial? 100?"
The Doctor flashed his sonic screwdriver at the phone. "Just... just call the direct." he told Donna as the dial tone sounded on the receiver.
"What did ya do?" she demanded
"Something... Martian." the Doctor replied distractedly, "Now, phone!"
"I'll get us some money." Shareen said and dashed off to a nearby speed bank, the Doctor accompanying her.
Donna dialled her mother's mobile number. "Oh, answer the phone!" she grumbled.
~8~
At the church, Syliva's phone rang. "Hello?" she answered, only for her phone to die. "Oh, no, the battery's gone! Has anyone got a charger?"
Lance was talking away on his phone. "Have ya tried the hotel?" he asked, only to realise that his battery had died too. "Vicar, is your phone working? Mine's run out!"
But the Vicar was too busy talking on his phone to take any notice. "I've already got one wedding about to arrive and another wedding refusing to leave, so yes, I do think it's a police matter."
~8~
Having no luck phoning direct, Donna decided to leave a message. "Mum, get off the phone an' listen. I'm in..." She looked around. "Oh, my God... I dunno where I am! It's... it's a street. An' there's a WH Smith... but it's definitely Earth."
Shareen meanwhile was using the cashpoint. "Oh, come on!" she grumbled as the machine took it's sweet time to process her request.
Donna left the phone box and approached a woman on the street. "Excuse me... I'm begging you. I'm gettin' married, I really am, an' I'm late an' I just need to borrow a tenner an' I'll pay ya back I promise an' it's Christmas." she rambled breathlessly
The cash machine finally printed out the £50 that Shareen requested and gave her debit card back. She quickly pocketed them and was about to leave when the Doctor tapped her on the shoulder. She looked up to see something very familiar; three masked Father Christmases playing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen on trumpets. "Oh, not those guys again." she groaned. They were Pilot Fish, the same ones she'd encountered during the Sycorax invasion last Christmas.
"Taxi!" Donna called, and a black cab pulled up beside her. She conversed with the driver for a few seconds before shouting back to the Doctor, "THANKS FOR NOTHING, SPACEMAN! I'll SEE YA IN COURT!" And she jumped into the cab, which the Doctor and Shareen noticed was being driven by another masked Pilot Fish.
"DONNA!" they yelled, but it was too late. The taxi sped away. The Doctor looked back at the Pilot Fish and saw that they were readying their weapons. Thinking quickly, he soniced the cash machine, causing notes to fly everywhere. There was a mad scramble as people ran around trying to catch the money and pocket it. This gave the Doctor and Shareen a chance to slip away from the Pilot Fish and run back in the direction of the TARDIS.
~8~
"I promise ya, mate, I'll give ya the rest when we get there." Donna said to the taxi driver, unaware of the danger she was in. "Oh, I look a mess." She took her veil off, trying to catch her breath. "Hurry up!"
~8~
The Doctor and Shareen sprinted into the alley where the TARDIS had landed. The Doctor unlocked the doors, and they hurried inside.
"We've gotta save her, quick!" Shareen urged, "I saw what those Santa things did last year. They'll kill her!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm workin' on it." the Doctor waved her off, dashing around the console.
~8~
"Hold on a minute, I said Chiswick." Donna said to the taxi driver, "You've missed the turning."
The driver didn't respond.
"'S'cuse me? We should've turned off back there. We're goin' the wrong way!"
~8~
The Doctor pummelled the TARDIS into action, giving the console a whack with his trusty mallet. The time rotor started rise and fall, and they were off.
~8~
The taxi drove onto the motorway and cut across several lanes of traffic, causing other drivers to blast their horns angrily.
"What the hell are ya doin'?" Donna demanded, starting to get unnerved now. "I'm late for the weddin'. My own wedding. D'ya get that?!"
~8~
The Doctor tracked the taxi's progress on the scanner. "Got her!" he called
"Then what're ya waitin' for?!" Shareen said, and the Doctor set an intercept course.
~8~
"Turn around!" Donna yelled as the taxi driver continued to ignore her. "Turn this cab around right now! Are ya deaf or what?" She lunged forward and yanked the Father Christmas hood off the driver. The mask fell down to reveal a gold robot underneath. Donna fell back into her seat in shock. "Oh, my God." she breathed, then started frantically banging on the windows, trying to attract the attention of other drivers. "Help me! Help me! Help me!" she cried, pummelling the glass. "Get me out! Help me! I'm being driven by a robot!"
But of course, no one could help her in the middle of the motorway.
~8~
The TARDIS' console sparked, and the box shuddered. "Behave!" the Doctor scolded, giving the console another whack with the mallet.
~8~
Donna looked behind her and saw the TARDIS appear out of thin air just above the traffic. "You are kiddin' me." she breathed.
As the box drew level with the taxi, the door opened to reveal the Doctor standing there. "OPEN THE DOOR!" he yelled
"DO WHAT?" Donna yelled back
"OPEN THE DOOR!" the Doctor repeated
Donna tried the door, but it was locked solid. "I CAN'T, IT'S LOCKED!" she called. The Doctor flashed his sonic screwdriver at the door, allowing Donna to push the window down. "Santa's a robot!" she called
"Donna, open the door!" the Doctor called
"What for?"
"You've gotta jump!"
"I'm not blinkin' flip jumping!" Donna shrilled, "I'm supposed to be gettin' married!"
Overhearing them, the Pilot Fish put it's foot down and the taxi sped ahead.
"Shareen, that lever there, pull it!" the Doctor called, pointing to a lever on the console.
Shareen complied and pulled the lever the Doctor indicated. The console promptly sparked, causing Shareen to shriek as a few sparks landed on her hand.
The TARDIS sped up, ricocheted off the roof of a car, and caught up with the taxi. The Doctor then disabled the Pilot Fish with his sonic screwdriver. "Listen to me, you've gotta jump!" he called to Donna.
"I'm not jumping on a motorway!" Donna said obstinately
"Whatever that thing is, it needs you." the Doctor called back, "And whatever it needs ya for, it's not good. Now, come on!"
"I'm in my weddin' dress!"
"Yes! You look lovely. Come on!" an exasperated Doctor said
Breathing heavily with fear, Donna pushed the door open and positioned herself ready to jump. "I can't do it!" she whimpered
"Trust me." the Doctor said calmly
"Is that what you said to her? Your friend? The one you lost? Did she trust you?"
"Yes, she did!" the Doctor said, dead earnest, "And she is not dead. She is so much alive. Now jump!"
So Donna plucked up courage and jumped. She landed on top of the Doctor in a heap on the floor. The Doctor nudged the door shut with his foot, pushed Donna off him and dashed off to the console to pilot them away while Shareen came over to help Donna up.
~8~
The TARDIS had landed on a helipad on top of a high-rise building. Shareen and Donna stood outside while the Doctor used a fire extinguisher to deal with some small fires on the console. "The funny thing is, for a spaceship, she doesn't really do that much flying." the Doctor commented as he finished up. "We'd better give her a couple of hours. You alright?" he asked Donna
"Doesn't matter." Donna sighed
"Did we miss it?"
"Yeah."
"Well, ya can book another date." the Doctor tried to encourage her
"Course we can."
"Still got the honeymoon."
"It's just a holiday now." Donna said dejectedly
"Yeah... yeah... sorry."
"It's not your fault." Donna shrugged
"Makes a change." Shareen remarked, trying to cheer Donna up.
"Wish we had a time machine." Donna laughed slightly, "Then we could go back an' get it right."
"Um... yeah, yeah." the Doctor shifted, "But... even if I did, I couldn't go back on someone's personal timeline. Apparently."
Donna gave him a suspicious glance but decided to leave it and sat down on the edge of the roof. The Doctor and Shareen sat down either side of her, the Doctor slipping off his suit jacket and draping it around Donna's shoulders. "God, you're skinny." she remarked, "This wouldn't fit a rat."
"Here, have mine." Shareen said, slipping off her hoodie and giving it to Donna. "Sorry it doesn't go with the dress."
Donna gratefully took the hoodie and slipped it on, giving the Doctor his jacket back.
"Oh, and you'd better put this on." the Doctor said, reaching into his pocket and producing what looked like a wedding ring.
"Oh, d'ya have to rub it in?" Donna groaned
"Those creatures can trace you." the Doctor told her, "This is a bio-damper, should keep ya hidden." He slipped it onto Donna's finger. "With this ring, I thee bio-damp."
"For better or for worse." Donna managed to joke, and they all shared a small laugh. "So, come on then. Robot Santas, what're they for?"
"Oh, ya basic robo-scavenger." the Doctor replied, "The Father Christmas stuff is just a disguise. They're trying to blend in. We met 'em last Christmas."
"Why, what happened then?"
Shareen stared at her in astonishment. "Great big spaceship hoverin' over London?" she prompted, "People standin' on rooftops? Ringin' any bells?"
"I had a bit of a hangover." Donna said dismissively
"Must've been a hell of a party." Shareen snorted
The Doctor scanned the landscape. "We spent last Christmas just over there, the Powell Estate." he said, nodding to where the estate was visible in the distance. "With this... family. My friend, she had this family. Well, they were..." He broke off and swallowed hard. "Still, gone now."
"Your friend... who was she?" Donna asked. She could see that both the Doctor and Shareen had cared very much for this friend of theirs, if their stony expressions were anything to go by.
"Question is, what do camouflaged robot mercenaries want with you?" the Doctor asked, changing the subject before Shareen could answer Donna. "And how did ya get inside the TARDIS? I dunno... What's ya job?"
"I'm a secretary." Donna replied
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned Donna with it. "It's weird." he muttered, "I mean, ya not special, ya not powerful, ya not connected, ya not clever, ya not important..."
An irritated Donna turned to Shareen. "This friend of yours, before she left, did she punch him in the face?"
"No, but he's gonna get one from me in a minute." Shareen grunted
"Stop bleeping me!" Donna grumbled to the Doctor, swatting the sonic screwdriver away.
"What kind of secretary?" the Doctor asked
"HC Clements." Donna replied, "It's where I met Lance. I was tempin'. I mean, it was all a bit posh really. I'd spent the last two years at a double-glazing firm. Well, I thought, I'm never gonna fit in here. An' then he made me a coffee. I mean, that just doesn't happen. Nobody gets the secretaries a coffee. And Lance, he's the head of HR! He needn't bother with me! But he was nice, he was funny. An' it turns out he thought everyone else was really snooty too. So that's how it started, me an' him, one cup of coffee. That was it."
"When was this?" the Doctor asked
"Six months ago."
"Hmm, you ain't wastin' any time." Shareen commented, "Six months an' ya already gettin' married."
"Well... he insisted." Donna replied, "An' he nagged... an' he nagged me... An' he just wore me down an' then finally, I just gave in."
Shareen smirked knowingly, suspecting that it was actually the opposite way round.
"What does HC Clements do?" the Doctor asked, getting back on topic.
"Oh, security systems, ya know... entry cards, ID cards, that sorta thing." Donna replied, "Ya ask me, it's just a posh name for a locksmiths."
"Hmm, probably is." Shareen agreed
"Keys..." the Doctor mused
"So, enough of my CV." Donna said and got to her feet. "Come on, it's time to face the consequences. Oh, this is gonna be shaming. You can do the explainin', Martian Boy."
"Yeah, I'm not from Mars." the Doctor said lamely as he and Shareen got to their feet.
"You might as well be." Shareen shrugged, "You've never said where ya home planet is."
"Oh, I had this great big reception all planned." Donna said, handing Shareen her jacket back. "Everyone's gonna be heartbroken."
~8~
One bus ride later, and the trio arrived at the venue where the reception was to take place. They found that everyone had decided to go on with it without Donna. Merry Xmas Everybody blared out at full volume, and everyone was dancing, drinking, eating and laughing. Donna's blood boiled at the merriment, especially when she saw Lance dancing with Nerys. Everyone soon saw the missing bride and the room fell silent, with all eyes on Donna, the Doctor and Shareen.
"You had the reception without me?" Donna glared
"Donna... what happened to ya?" Lance asked, immediately letting go of Nerys.
"You had the reception without me?!" Donna repeated, raising her voice a notch.
There was an awkward silence, which the Doctor tried to break. "Hello! I'm the Doctor." he said cheerfully
Donna turned to him. "They had the reception without me!" she fumed
"Yeah, they did." Shareen replied, patting Donna's arm in comfort.
"Well, it was all paid for, so why not?" Nerys said haughtily
"Thank you, Nerys." Donna glared, realising that it was most likely Nerys' idea to carry on with the reception.
"Oh, that's Nerys, is it?" Shareen said and turned to Nerys. "Well, 'Nerys', I'll tell ya why not. Cos' the bride disappeared. That's why not." she snarked, causing Nerys to scowl.
Sylvia stepped forward. "Well, what were we supposed to do?" she burst out, "I got your silly little message in the end: 'I'm on Earth'? Very funny. But the hell happened?"
"You vanished!" Geoff added, relieved to see his daughter back in one piece, but baffled as to why she'd disappeared in the first place.
"How did you do it?" Sylvia demanded, "I mean, what's the trick because I'd love to know..."
The whole room started talking at once, all demanding answers from Donna, and soon all Donna, the Doctor and Shareen could hear was an incomprehensible babble of voices. Donna suddenly burst into tears, and everyone shut up. Lance hugged her and she cried into his shoulder. Everyone applauded and Donna shot a sneaky wink at the Doctor and Shareen through her fake tears.
"I like her." Shareen said quietly to the Doctor. Donna clearly knew how to take care of herself in awkward situations.
~8~
The reception party was soon back in full swing, except now Donna had joined in with the dancing. The Doctor and Shareen were both standing by the bar, Shareen drinking a pint of lager she'd bought with some of the money she'd obtained from the cash point. Every now and then, single male attendees approached her and asked her if she wanted to dance. She turned them down, not feeling up to much festivities right now. She was still upset at loosing Rose and now that the adrenaline from chasing after Donna had worn off, she felt very lonely and sad.
The Doctor leaned against the bar next to her, watching Donna dancing with Lance. He was still puzzled as to how Donna had ended up in the TARDIS in the first place, so he decided that now was the time to try and get to the bottom of it. He asked Shareen if he could borrow her phone and she handed it over to him. The Doctor put his glasses on and did an internet search for HC Clements, suspecting that there was more to the company then met the eye. He used his sonic screwdriver to speed up the process and the screen flashed up with 'HC Clements, sole prop: Torchwood'.
Shareen winced at that familiar name while the Doctor silently closed the browser window and handed Shareen her phone back, then he looked at the people on the dancefloor. His eyes fell on one couple in particular. The man threw his blonde-haired partner backwards over his arm and the Doctor was reminded briefly of dancing with Rose in the TARDIS. He swallowed and looked away, his eyes landing on a man with a camcorder filming the reception.
~8~
The cameraman was soon showing the Doctor and Shareen the footage from the church. "Oh, I taped the whole thing, they'd all had a look." he said, "They said: 'sell it to You've Been Framed'. I said: 'more like the news'. Here we are..." He played the tape. The camera was zoomed in on Donna's face as seemingly disintegrated into golden particles with a scream.
The Doctor's eyes widened. "Can't be! Play it again."
The cameraman obliged. "Clever, mind. Good trick, I'll give her that. I was clapping."
The Doctor watched the video again, his brow furrowed incredulously. "But that looks like... Huon particles!"
"And what're they when they're at home?" Shareen asked
"That's impossible, that's... ancient!" the Doctor frowned, pulling off his specs. "Huon energy doesn't exist anymore, not for billions of years! So old that..." His eyes were suddenly drawn to the bio-damper on Donna's finger. "It can't be hidden by a bio-damper!" he exclaimed, and he and Shareen swiftly ran to a window. Sure enough, there were masked Pilot Fish making their way slowly towards the building.
"Sh*t!" Shareen cursed, then she and the Doctor sped back to the dance floor.
"Donna! Donna, they've found you!" the Doctor said anxiously
"But you said I was safe." Donna protested
"The bio-damper doesn't work." the Doctor told her "We've gotta get everyone out."
"My God, it's all my family!" Donna gasped, looking around at everyone.
"Out the back door!" the Doctor urged, and the trio raced to the back doors, only to be confronted by two more Pilot Fish. "Or maybe not." the Doctor said hastily, pulling the doors shut. They darted over to some French windows on the side, but two more Pilot Fish prevented that means of escape.
"We're trapped!" Donna realised. There was worse to come.
The Doctor noticed that one of the Pliot Fish was carrying a remote control, then his eyes fell on something in the room. "Christmas trees..." he breathed
Shareen followed his gaze and saw the massive Christmas tree in the middle of the room. "Oh, sh*t!" she breathed, remembering what had happened last Christmas.
"What about 'em?" Donna asked
"They kill!" Shareen replied and sped into the crowd on the dance floor. "Get away from the tree!" she hollered, "No one go near that tree!"
"Get away from the Christmas tree!" the Doctor warned, joining her. "Everyone get away from it!" And they began to shepherd people away from the tree.
"Oh, for God's sakes, they're idiots!" Syliva scoffed, "What harm's a Christmas tree gonna... oh!" She trailed off as she observed the baubles floating away from the tree in a sort of dance. Syliva and some of the guests were entranced by the sight. Others, such as Geoff, Lance and Nerys were confused, while Donna, the Doctor and Shareen watched the baubles mistrustfully.
Suddenly, one of the baubles zoomed over everyone's heads and exploded. More baubles then started dive-bombing around the room and exploding. "Everyone down!" Shareen hollered, and dived for cover underneath a table, Geoff and Sylvia joining her.
People screamed and ran for cover, diving under tables, chairs, the bar, anything that could provide shelter. Donna and Lance hid underneath a table, while the Doctor took refuge behind the DJ's stand.
"What in blazes is going on?!" Sylvia demanded as absolute mayhem unfolded.
"Robot Santas are tryin' to kidnap Donna, and they can turn Christmas trees into weapons." Shareen told her, "Now stay down!"
The Doctor peered out from his hiding place to see the Pliot Fish lined up opposite him and did some lightning-fast thinking. "Oi, Santa!" he yelled, standing up and grabbing the mike. "Word of advice: if ya attackin' a man with a sonic screwdriver... don't let him near the sound system!" And with that, he plunged his sonic screwdriver into the amplifiers, producing a horrible, high-pitched screeching sound. The Humans all covered their ears and the Pilot Fish vibrated violently as the amplified sonic waves hit them until they broke apart and fell in pieces all over the floor. The Doctor removed his sonic screwdriver and ran to examine the remains of the robots, while the Humans came out from cover.
"It's alright, Stan." Geoff said to Lance's father as he helped him off the floor. "You'll be alright, it's over."
"Michael? Connie?" Donna called, running to check on two badly shaken kids. "Oh, Senita, do something useful." she called to someone else.
The Doctor picked up the Pilot Fish's remote control.
"But what is it?" Lance blustered as he came out of hiding, "What were they?"
"Stop witterin', just help 'em." Donna told him
"Look at that." the Doctor said to no one in particular, "Remote control for the decorations, but there's a second control for the robots." He examined the head of one. "They're not scavengers anymore, I think someone's taken possession."
"Oi, never mind that, Peacock." Shareen called over to him from where she was busy tending to a man who had been sent flying into the cake by the explosions. "You're a doctor, these people are hurt, so bloody help 'em!"
But the Doctor wasn't paying attention. "They wanted Donna alive." he mused, "They're not active now." He tossed a bauble to Donna, who had just joined him.
"All the same, you could help." Donna said to him
"Gotta think of the big picture." the Doctor waved her off, holding the head to his ear. "There's still a signal!" He jumped to his feet and took off outside.
"Leave him to me." Shareen said to Donna, and went off after the Doctor.
"Donna... who are they?" Sylvia asked her daughter, "Who are that man and that girl?"
Donna didn't have an answer. She went off after the Doctor and Shareen, leaving Sylvia and Lance staring after her.
~8~
"I can't believe you just turned your back on those people!" Shareen complained to the Doctor, "Honestly, some doctor you are!"
"I'm tryin' to find out what's goin' on here." the Doctor tried to defend his actions
"Yeah, but you could at least spare five minutes to think about the people who suffer cos' of you!" Shareen shot back, "You didn't even care about those people in there!"
"It's not important." the Doctor waved her off
Shareen promptly slapped the Doctor across the face, her patience with the arrogant Time Lord exhausted. "Just who the hell d'ya think you are?" she stormed, "Standing there on ya high horse actin' like you're God! What gives you the right to decide what's important and what's not?!"
The Doctor was taken aback. "I-I..." he blustered, trying to think of an excuse.
"I'm willing to bet that it was that very attitude which caused Queen Victoria to set up Torchwood." Shareen scowled, "Maybe if you've showed some care for other people, then maybe Rose would still be with us!"
The Doctor winced at the mention of Rose, but he realised that Shareen had a point. "Alright, I'm sorry." he said, "I'll be more considerate." He then started scanning the robot head with his sonic screwdriver just as Donna joined them. "There's someone behind this, directing the robo-forms." the Doctor told her.
"But why's it me? What've I done?" Donna questioned
"If we find the controller, we'll find that out." the Doctor replied, "Oh!" He lifted his sonic screwdriver into the air. "It's up there. Something in the sky." He tried to pinpoint the source, but it was no use. "Lost the signal." he sighed, "Donna, we've gotta get to your office, HC Clements. I think that's where it all started." He then noticed that Lance had joined them. "Lance, is it Lance? Lance, can ya give me a lift?"
"Hold on." Donna interrupted, "Have you been drinking?" she asked Lance
"Oh, well, a couple, yeah." Lance replied
"No, I'll do the driving." Donna said as she, Lance and Shareen followed the Doctor towards the car park.
"No, you're not insured to drive my car!" Lance protested
"Alright, then we'll take mine." Donna waved him off.
~8~
A Smart Car ambled through the streets. Donna drove, Lance sat in the front passenger seat and the Doctor and Shareen were squeezed in the back. "Not exactly a chase, is it?" the Doctor sassed, his tall frame squashed against the roof of the tiny car.
"Oi! There's a speed limit, I'm not goin' to jail in my wedding dress." Donna retorted
"I miss Mickey's Mini." Shareen muttered to herself. Being 5'7, it was rather an uncomfortable squeeze for her, with her legs pressed against Lance's seat and her head touching the roof.
"Hold on, speedbumps." Donna warned, and the car drove over a set of speedbumps, causing both the Doctor and Shareen to smack their heads on the roof.
"That's alright, no rush." the Doctor grumbled.
~8~
The Doctor, Shareen, Donna and Lance arrived at HC Clements. They ran into the building and into Donna's office. "This might just be a locksmith, but HC Clements was brought up 23 years ago by the Torchwood Institute." the Doctor explained as he messed about with a computer.
"Who're they"? Donna asked
"They were the idiots behind the Battle of Canary Wharf." Shareen told her.
There was a blank silence from Donna.
"Cyberman invasion?" the Doctor tried to jog her memory.
Donna just looked at him blankly.
"Skies over London full of Daleks?"
"Oh, I was Spain." Donna replied, remembering her grandfather telling her about something like that when she'd came back from her holiday that summer.
"There were Cybermen in Spain, ya know." Shareen remarked
"Scuba diving." Donna retorted
"The big picture, Donna, ya keep on missing it." the Doctor huffed, darting over to try another computer. "Torchwood was destroyed, but HC Clements stayed in business. I think someone else came in an' took over the operation." He whacked the monitor.
"But what do they want with me?" Donna questioned
The Doctor gave Donna his full attention. "Somehow you've been dosed with Huon energy. An' that's a problem because Huon energy hasn't existed since the Dark Times. The only place you'd find a Huon particle now is a remnant in the heart of the TARDIS. Ya see, that's what happened. Say... that's the TARDIS." He showed Donna a mug. "An' that's you." He picked up a pencil. "The particles activated, the two sets of particles magnetised, an' whap!" He threw the pencil into the mug. "You were pulled inside the TARDIS."
"I'm a pencil inside a mug?" Donna asked, somewhat baffled by the Doctor's technobabble.
"Yes, you are. 4H. Sums you up." the Doctor said cheekily
"Oi!" Shareen chided
"Lance, what was HC Clements workin' on?" the Doctor asked, "Anything top secret? Special operations? Do not enter?"
"I don't know, I'm in charge of personnel. I wasn't project manager." Lance said defensively as the Doctor soniced a computer screen. "Why am I even explaining myself? What the hell are we talking about?"
"They make keys, that's the point." the Doctor told him, looking at a plan of the building on the computer, "And look at this... we're on the third floor." He went over to the lift. "Underneath reception, there's a basement, yeah?" The lift doors opened and he peered inside, looking at the controls. "Then how come when ya look at the lift, there's a button marked 'lower basement'? There's a whole floor which doesn't exist on the offical plans."
"Like the secret hangers on Tracy Island." Shareen nodded, "So what's hiding underneath here?"
"Are you two telling me this building's got a secret floor?" Lance asked sceptically
"No, we're showing you this building's got a secret floor." the Doctor retorted
"It needs a key." Donna pointed out
"I don't." the Doctor said simply, sonicing the lock on the LB button. "Right then, thanks you three, I can handle this. See ya later."
"No chance, Peacock. I'm comin' with ya." Shareen said, stepping into the lift with them.
"Me too." Donna said, joining them, ""You two keep savin' my life, I ain't letting either of ya out of my sight."
"Going down." the Doctor announced
"Lance?" Donna said pointedly
"Inside." Donna ordered, and Lance meekly joined them in the lift.
"To honour an' obey?" the Doctor joked
"Tell me about it, mate." Lance grumbled.
"Oi!" Donna and Shareen scolded together, then they looked at each other and laughed as the doors closed and the lift descended.
~8~
The lift reached the lower basement and the quartet stepped out into a long, dark, dank corridor, dimly lit with an eerie green light. "Talk about mood lighting." Shareen commented to no one in particular
"Where are we? What goes on down here?" Donna asked
"Let's find out." the Doctor replied
"D'ya fink Mr Clements knows about this place?"
"The mysterious HC Clements? Oh, I think he's part of it." the Doctor replied, then his eye was caught by something. "Ooh look, transport!"
They were soon riding down the corridor on four segways. Donna looked at the others and burst out laughing at how absurd everyone looked. The Doctor and Shareen both started laughing too, but Lance didn't get it and just looked at the trio as if they were loony.
They soon came to a door marked 'Torchwood- authorised personnel only'. The Doctor disembarked from his segway and turned the wheel to open the door. On the other side of the door was a ladder leading up to a manhole. "Wait here. Just need to get my bearings." he said to the Humans. "Don't..." He pointed a stern finger at them. "... do anything." And he started up the ladder.
"You'd better come back." Donna called after him
"I couldn't get rid of ya if we tried." the Doctor smirked, then resumed his climb.
"Donna... have ya thought about this?" Lamce asked his fiancé, "Properly? I mean, this is serious! What the hell are we gonna do?"
"Oh, I thought July." Donna waved him off, not really listening.
The Doctor reached the top of the ladder, opened the manhole and climbed out into the daylight to find himself standing on top of the Thames Flood Barrier. He had a quick look around, then climbed back down to join the others. "Thames Flood Barrier, right on top of us." he said, jumping off the last rung. "Torchwood snuck in an' built this place underneath."
"What, there's a secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark?" Donna stared
"Wouldn't be the first time." Shareen shrugged. Rose had told her about the Nestene Consciousness' lair beneath the London Eye.
The Doctor led the way through another door and they found themselves in some sort of laboratory, full of massive test tubes bubbling away and advanced chemistry equipment. "Ooh, look at this!" the Doctor said excitedly, feeling like a kid in a sweet shop. "Stunning!"
"What does it do?" Donna asked
"Particle extrusion." the Doctor replied "Hold on..." He darted over to one of the tubes and tapped it. "Brillant. They've been manufacturing Huon particles. Cos' my people got rid of Huon particles, they've unravelled the atomic structure."
"In English, please, Peacock?" Shareen said dryly
"Your people?" Lance questioned, "Who're they? What company do you represent?"
"Oh, I'm a freelancer." the Doctor waved him off, "But this lot are rebuilding 'em. They've been using the river! Extruding 'em through a flat hydrogen base so they've got the end result: Huon particles in liquid form." He removed a phial from one of the tubes.
"And that's what's inside me?" Donna questioned. The Doctor gently turned a knob on top of the test tube, causing the liquid inside to glow gold, and Donna with it. "Oh, my God!" she gasped.
"Genuis." the Doctor breathed, turning the knob again, causing Donna to stop glowing. "Cos' the particles are inert, they need something livin' to catalyse inside an' that's you. Saturate the body an' then... Ha!" He laughed excitedly, making Donna jump out of her skin and Shareen give him an annoyed look. "Oh! The wedding! Yes, ya gettin' married, that's it!" the Doctor rambled enthusiastically, "Best day of ya life, walkin' down the aisle, oh, your body's a battleground! There's a chemical war going on inside! Adrenaline, acetylcholine, wham go the endorphins, oh ya cooking! Yeah, ya like a walking oven! A pressure cooker, a microwave, all churnin' away, the particles reach boiling point, SHAZAM!"
Donna promptly slapped him across the face again.
"What did I do this time?!" the Doctor spluttered indignantly
"Being an annoying d*ck, that's what." Shareen said, folding her arms and giving the Doctor a 'serves you right' look.
"Right, just tell me." Donna said, breathing heavily in her distress. "These particles, are they dangerous? Am I safe?"
"Yes." the Doctor lied, but Donna wasn't buying it.
"Doctor... if your lot got rid of Huon particles... why did they do that?"
"Because they were deadly." the Doctor answered truthfully
"Oh, my God..." Donna whimpered
"I'll sort it out, Donna." the Doctor reassured her, "Whatever's been done to you, I'll reverse it. I'm not about to lose someone else."
Then, they heard a series of bangs and crashes that seemed to come from all around them. "Oh, she is long since lost." a raspy female voice called out from somewhere, and one of the walls slid upwards to reveal a vast chamber with an enormous hole in the floor. "I have waited so long, hibernating at the edge of the universe..."
Lance hurriedly retreated out through the door, apparently overwhelmed by everything.
"Until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to waken." the voice continued.
The Doctor then noticed that the walls of the chamber were lined with Roboforms in black hooded cloaks, all armed with blaster rifles, then he walked over to the hole in the floor. "Someone's been digging." he remarked, peering down the hole. "Oh, very Torchwood. Drilled by laser. How far down does it go?"
"Down, down, all the way to the centre of the Earth!"
"Really? Seriously? What for?"
"Stahlman's gas?" Shareen suggested, causing the Doctor to look at her in surprise. "I did my homework, Doctor." Shareen told him, "I read about that drilling thing in the 70's."
"Hmm, could be." the Doctor nodded, though he suspected that this was something else this time.
"What about dinosaurs?" Donna suggested
"What?" the Doctor stared
"Dinosaurs?" Donna repeated
"What've dinosaurs gotta do with it?" Shareen asked
"That film, Under the Earth, with dinosaurs." Donna explained, "Tryin' to help."
"That's not helping." the Doctor told her dryly
"Good thinking, though." Shareen reassured Donna
"Such a sweet group." the voice hissed
"Only a madman talks to thin air." the Doctor called out, "An' trust me, ya don't wanna make me mad. Where are you?"
"High in the sky, floating so high on Christmas night." the voice answered poetically
"I didn't come all this way to talk on the intercom!" the Doctor rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's have a look at you!"
"Who are you with such command?"
"I'm the Doctor."
"Prepare your best medicines, doctor-man, for you will be sick at heart." And with that, a huge, red-skinned alien that looked to be a cross between a spider and a Human teleported into the room, snarling and growing.
"The Racnoss..." the Doctor breathed
"What the hell is that thing?!" Shareen stared
"But that's impossible, you're one of the Racnoss." the Doctor said to the alien
"Empress of the Racnoss." the Racnoss hissed
"If you're the Empress, where's the rest of the Racnoss?" the Doctor questioned, "Or... are you the only one?"
"Such a sharp mind." the Empress cackled
"That's it, the last of your kind." the Doctor observed and turned to Donna and Shareen. "The Racnoss come from the Dark Times, billions of years ago, billions." he explained, "They were carnivores, omnivores, they devoured whole planets."
"Racnoss are born starving!" the Empress retorted angrily, "Is that our fault?"
"They eat people?!" Donna stared
"Um, Donna, did HC Clements wear black and white shoes?" Shareen asked suddenly, going pale in the face.
"He did!" Donna replied, "We used to laugh, we used to call him the fat cat in spats."
Shareen shakily pointed to a web on the ceiling, where a pair of feet in black and white spats could just be seen poking out.
"Oh, my God!" Donna gasped in horror.
"Mm, my Christmas dinner!" the Empress joked
"You shouldn't even exist!" the Doctor said, then explained to Donna and Shareen. "Way back in history, the Fledging Empires went to war against the Racnoss, they were wiped out."
"Except for this one, obviously." Shareen said
"Isn't this one clever?" the Empress cackled
Just then, Lance appeared on a balcony above the Empress. Donna spotted him and Lance motioned for her to distract the Empress.
"But that's what I've got inside me, that Huon energy thing." Donna said, doing as Lance requested. "Oi! Look at me, lady, I'm talkin'! Where do I fit in all this? How comes I get all stacked up with these Huon particles?"
Lance descended the stairs, an axe in his hand.
"Look at me, you! Look me in the eye an' tell me." Donna added
"The bride is so fiesty." the Empress sniggered
"Yes, I am!" Donna retorted, "An' I dunno what you are, you big... thing. But a spider's just a spider an' an axe is an axe! Now, do it!"
Lance raised his axe, ready to swing. The Empress swung round and hissed at him, and Lance halted in mid-swing. He glanced round to Donna and started laughing, the Empress laughing with him. "That was a good one." he said, "Your face."
"Lance is funny." the Empress sniggered
"What?!" Donna stared
"I'm sorry." the Doctor told her quietly
"Sorry for what?" Donna frowned, "Lance, don't be so stupid! Get her!"
"God, she's thick!" Lance sneered, staring at Donna pityingly. "Months I've had to put up with her, months! A woman who can't even point to Germany on a map!"
Comprehension dawned on Shareen. "You bastard!" she growled at Lance
"I don't understand." Donna said to the Doctor
"How did you meet him?" the Doctor asked her
"In the office." Donna replied
"Yeah, and he made you coffee." Shareen said, glaring daggers at Lance.
"What?!"
"Every day I made you coffee." Lance said callously
"You had to be dosed with liquid particles for six months." the Doctor told Donna
Realisation dawned on Donna. "He was poisoning me?"
"It was all there in the job title, the Head of Human Resources." the Doctor scowled, looking at Lance with utter contempt
"This time, it's personnel." Lance joked, and he and the Empress laughed.
"But... we were getting married." Donna blustered
"Well, I couldn't risk you running off." Lance sneered, "I had to say yes. And then I was stuck with a woman who thinks the height of excitement is a new flavour Pringle. Oh, I had to sit there and listen to all that yap yap yap... 'Ooh, Brad and Angelina... is Posh pregnant?' X factor, Atkins Diet, Feng Shui, split ends, text me, text me, text me, dear God, the never-ending medal of fat, stupid trivia."
Donna had been listening to this torrent of abuse with an expression of increasing heartbreak and confusion. Shareen put an arm around her to comfort her. "I'll give you trivia when I get my hands on you!" she spat at Lance, looking at him with pure hatred.
"I deserve a medal." Lance said, ignoring Shareen's threat.
"Oh, is that what she's offered you? The Empress of the Racnoss?" the Doctor scowled, "What are you? Her consort?"
"It's better than a night with her." Lance retorted, pointing to Donna.
"But I love you." Donna said plaintively
"That's what made it easy." Lance retorted nastily, "It's like you said, Doctor, the big picture. There I was, working in the city. Every day I was climbing that ladder. Then it happened. The Cybermen... Daleks in the sky. Everything I spent my life doing seemed so small. What's the point of it all if the Human race is nothing? That's what the Empress can give me. The chance to... go out there. To see it. The size of it all. I think you understand that, don't you, Doctor?"
"Who is this little physician?" the Empress sneered
"What she said, Martian." Lance replied
"Oh, I'm sorta... homeless." the Doctor waved them off, "But the point is, what's down 'ere?" He pointed down the hole. "The Racnoss are extinct. What's gonna help ya 4000 miles down? That's just the molten core of the Earth, isn't it?"
"I think he wants us to talk." Lance smirked
"I think so too." the Empress agreed
"Well, tough!" Lance told the Doctor, "All we need is Donna."
"Well, tough, cos' you ain't getting her!" Shareen shot back
"Kill this chattering little doctor-man and the spunky little girl!" the Empress ordered her Roboforms.
"Don't you hurt 'em!" Donna glared, jumping in front of the Doctor and Shareen.
"No, no, it's alright." the Doctor said calmly, having already thought of a plan to get them out of this.
"No, I won't let 'em!" Donna continued
"At arms!" the Empress ordered, and the Roboforms readied their weapons.
"Ah, now." the Doctor began "Except..."
"Take aim!" the Empress yelled, and the Roboforms aimed their weapons at the Doctor and Shareen.
"Well, I just wanna point out the obvious..."
"They won't hit the bride." the Empress interrupted, "They're such very good shots."
"J...j... just hold on, just a tick, just a tiny... just a little... tick. If ya think about it, the particles activated in Donna an' drew her inside our spaceship." the Doctor said, pulling the phial of Huon particles out of his pocket. "So, reverse it... an' the spaceship comes to her!" He twisted the knob on top of the phial, causing Donna and the particles to glow.
"FIRE!" the Empress ordered, and the Roboforms opened fire, but too late. The TARDIS had already materialised around Donna, the Doctor and Shareen, protecting them.
"And off we go!" the Doctor said, darting to the console.
Donna sat down dejectedly on the jump seat, her whole world crushed. Shareen noticed and went over to comfort her.
"Oh, ya know what I said before about time machines?" the Doctor rambled, oblivious to this. "Well, I lied. An' now we're gonna use it. We need to find out what the Empress of the Racnoss is diggin' up. If something's burried at the planet's core, it must've been there since the beginning. That's just brilliant. Molto bene! I've always wanted to see this. Donna, we're goin' further back than we've ever gone before."
"Doctor, ya wanna shut up?" Shareen told him reproachfully, and the Doctor looked up to see that Donna was crying. Shareen turned back to the crying bride. "Donna, I'm sorry. I am so sorry." she soothed, "Don't listen to Lance. He's a bastard and I'll make him pay for what he's done, mark my words!"
"I love 'im!" Donna sniffled, "An' all the while he was just using me!"
"I know, and I'm sorry." Shareen consoled her, hugging the heartbroken woman. "Believe me, I know what it's like to be belittled by someone you love. Don't listen to him. You're brilliant, you are."
~8~
"If a key is lost, then another must be cut." the Empress decided. "At arms!" she ordered her Roboforms, who all turned their weapons on Lance.
~8~
The TARDIS arrived at her destination and came to a stop. The Doctor peered round the console to where Shareen was comforting the miserable Donna. "We've arrived." he said tentatively, "D'ya wanna see?"
"I s'pose." Donna said unenthusiastically
The Doctor swung the monitor round. "Oh, that scanner's a bit small. Maybe your way's best." he said and moved to the doors. "Come on. No Human's ever seen this."
"All I wanna see is my bed." Donna sighed as she and Shareen joined him
"Yeah, I know what ya mean." Shareen consoled her
"Donna Noble, Shareen Costello, welcome to the creation of the Earth." the Doctor announced, and he threw the doors open to a spectacular sight. Donna and Shareen's mouths fell open as they saw beautifully coloured clouds of dust and gas, the sun shining through them and enormous rocks floating around. "We've gone back 4.6 billion years." the Doctor explained, "There's no solar system, not yet. Only dust an' rocks an' gas." He pointed to the sun. "That's the sun over there, brand new. Just beginning to burn."
"Where's the Earth?" Donna asked
"All around us... in the dust." the Doctor replied
"Puts the wedding in perspective." Donna murmured, "Lance was right. We're just... tiny."
"No, but that's what ya do." the Doctor encouraged, "The Human race, making sense out of chaos. Marking it out with weddings an' Christmas an' calendars."
"Huh, you've changed ya tune from earlier." Shareen remarked
"This whole process is beautiful." the Doctor continued, "But only if it's being observed."
"So, I came out of all this?" Donna asked, smiling for the first time since Lance's betrayal.
"Isn't that brilliant?" the Doctor encouraged
They watched as a massive chunk of rock floated lazily past. "I bet that's the Isle of Wight." Shareen joked, and they all shared a laugh.
"Eventually, gravity takes hold." the Doctor explained, "Say, one big rock, heavier than the others, starts to pull other rocks towards it. All the dust an' gas an' elements get pulled in, everything, pilling in until you get the..."
"Earth." Donna finished, getting the picture.
"But the question is... what was that first rock?" the Doctor asked rhetorically
Shareen suddenly noticed something. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to a star-shaped ship emerging from the clouds.
"The Racnoss." the Doctor realised, recognising the ship as a Racnoss Webstar.
~8~
"Now I have measured the bride's catalysis, I can force feed it." the Empress gloated as one of the Roboforms force-fed Lance a jug of water spiked with Huon particles. "Drink the particle! Become the key!"
~8~
The Doctor ran back to the console and turned a dial frantically. "Hold on, the Racnoss are hiding from the war." he said, "What's it doing?"
"Exactly what you said!" Donna replied, she and Shareen watching as the rocks, dust and gas all zoomed towards the Webstar as if they were being drawn by a magnetic force.
"Looks like they're that first rock you were talkin' about, Doctor." Shareen added
The Doctor rushed to the doors to join them. "Oh, they didn't just bury something at the centre of the Earth... they became the centre of the Earth." he said
Suddenly, the TARDIS shuddered violently, nearly knocking the trio off their feet. "What was that?" Donna asked
"Trouble." the Doctor replied grimly, slamming the doors shut.
~8~
"My wonderful key." the Empress crowed, "Now, my servants, bind him!"
A protesting Lance was restrained by two Roboforms as he glowed gold.
~8~
The Doctor, Shareen and Donna struggled to maintain their balance as the TARDIS shuddered and tipped from side to side. "What the hell's this thing doing?!" Shareen shouted over the noise
"Remember that little trick I pulled, particles pulling particles?" the Doctor replied, desperately trying to regain control of the TARDIS, "It works in reverse, they're pullin' us back!"
"Well, can't you stop it?" Donna asked, "Hasn't it got a handbrake? Can't you reverse or warp or beam or something?"
"Backseat driver." the Doctor muttered, then suddenly had a brainwave. "Oh, wait a minute!" He reached under the console and produced the tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator. "The extrapolator!"
"You kept that thing?" Shareen asked, remembering all the trouble the extrapolator caused in Cardiff.
"Can't stop us, but it should give us a good bump!" the Doctor said, plugging the extrapolator into the console, "Now!" He gave the extrapolator a good whack with the mallet.
~8~
The TARDIS landed in the corridor of the underground base. "We're about 200 yards to the right." the Doctor said as he, Shareen and Donna emerged, come on!"
They ran along the corridor until they reached the door leading up to the flood barrier. "But what do we do?" Donna panted
"I dunno! I'm making this up as we go along." the Doctor waved her off, listening at the door with the stethoscope, "But trust me, I've got a history."
Donna turned to Shareen, who looked exhausted. "I had to admit it, but he does tend to succeed." she said
Donna turned back to the Doctor. "But I don't understand. I'm full of particles, but what for?" she asked
"There's a Racnoss web at the centre of the Earth, but my people unravelled their power source." the Doctor replied, focussing on the door, "The Huon particles ceased to exist, but the Racnoss are stuck."
At that moment, a Roboform suddenly grabbed Donna from behind, covering her mouth so she couldn't scream and dragged her away. Shareen saw this and rushed forward to intervene but a second Roboform came out of nowhere and grabbed her too.
The Doctor had seen nothing of this and continued to ramble, "They've just been in hibernation for billions of years. Frozen. Dead. Kaput! So you're the new key. Brand new particles, living particles! They need you to open it and you have never been so quiet." He turned round and saw no sign of Donna or Shareen. "Oh!" he groaned, looking up and down the empty corridor. He opened the door with his sonic screwdriver to find a Roboform waiting for him.
~8~
Shareen and Donna had been taken to the Empress' chamber, with Shareen now handcuffed to a pipe on the wall while Donna and Lance were both being held in the web on the ceiling. "I hate you!" Donna sneered at her treacherous fiancé.
"Yeah, I think we've gone a bit beyond that now, sweetheart." Lance rolled his eyes, not at all happy at being full of Huon particles himself.
"While we're on the subject, I hate you too!" Shareen called up to Lance.
"My golden couple." the Empress gloated to Donna and Lance, "Together at last, your awful wedded wife." She laughed at her own joke. "Tell me, do you want to be released?"
"Yes!" Donna and Lance shouted
"Oi, Aragog, do I get a choice?" Shareen snarked
"Silence, puny Human!" the Empress hissed at her, then turned back to Donna and Lance. "You're supposed to say, 'I do'."
"Huh, no chance!" Lance scoffed
"Say it!" the Empress demanded
"I do." Lance rolled his eyes
"I do." Donna huffed
"I don't!" the Empress cackled
"Then why did ya ask?" Shareen snarked
"Activate the particles!" the Empress ordered, "Purge every last one!" Donna and Lance both glowed gold. "And release!" The Huon particles extracted themselves from the Humans and shot off down the hole in the ground. "The secret heart unlocks. And they will awaken from their sleep of ages."
"Who will? What's down there?" Donna questioned
"How thick are you?!" Lance spat
"Oh, shut up!" Shareen snapped at him
"My children, the long-lost Racnoss." the Empress crowed, "Now they will be born to feast on flesh."
Sure enough, the chirping of spiders and the patters of their feet could be faintly heard from the bottom of the hole but getting closer and closer.
"The Webstar shall come to me." the Empress announced, "My babies will be hungry. They need sustenance. Perish the web.
"No!" Lance protested in panic, "Use her!" He nodded to Donna. "Or her! He nodded towards Shareen. "Not me!"
"Oh, my funny little Lance." the Empress smirked, "But you are quite impolite to your lady-friends. The Empress does not approve." And she sliced Lance's web with her claws, sending him plunging down the hole to his doom.
"Laaaaance!" Donna screamed, while Shareen winced.
~8~
The Empress' own Webstar descended over the River Thames. The confused Londoners looked at it in wonder and awe.
~8~
"Harvest the Humans!" the Empress ordered, "Reduce them to meat!"
~8~
Bolts of lightning shot out of the Webstar's points, killing any unfortunate Human who happened to be in the way. The crowds ran screaming for cover. A little girl nearly got vapourised by a bolt, but her father pulled her to safety in the nick of time.
~8~
"My children are climbing towards me, and none shall stop them!" the Empress crowed, then looked up at a Roboform climbing up the stairs above Shareen. "So you might as well unmask, my clever little doctor-man."
The Roboform removed it's cloak and head to reveal the Doctor. Oh well, nice try." he shrugged. "Let's get you free." he said to Shareen and unlocked her handcuffs with his sonic screwdriver.
"About time you got here." Shareen grumbled, rubbing her sore wrists.
The Doctor then aimed his sonic screwdriver at Donna's web. "I've got you, Donna." he said
I'm gonna fall!" Donna screeched as the web loosened.
"You're gonna swing!" the Doctor told her. Sure enough, Donna swung right over the hole on one of the web's strands and towards the Doctor. "I've got ya!" he called, his arms outstretched.
Donna screamed and swung right underneath him. Shareen rushed to catch her, but Donna was going so fast that she knocked Shareen over and both women fell in a heap on the floor.
"Oh, sorry." the Doctor called down sheepishly to them.
"Thanks for nothing." Donna grumbled as she and Shareen both sprawled on the floor, groaning and feeling their bruises.
"The doctor-man amuses me." the Empress commented
The Doctor turned to her. "Empress of the Racnoss, I give you one last chance. I can find you a planet. I can find you an' your children a place in the universe to co-exist. Take that offer an' end this now."
"These men are so funny!" the Empress cackled
"What's ya answer?"
"Oh, I'm afraid I have to decline." the Empress chortled
"Then what happens next is ya own doing." the Doctor said in a dark and unforgiving voice.
"I'll show you what happens next." the Empress retorted, "At arms!" And the Roboforms raised their weapons. "Take aim!" They aimed at the Doctor. "And..."
"Relax." the Doctor said quietly, and the Roboforms promptly deactivated
"What did ya do?" Donna asked
"Guess what I've got, Donna?" the Doctor said and produced the controller he'd obtained at the reception from one of his pockets. "Pockets!"
"How did that fit in there?" Donna stared
"Oh, they're bigger on the inside!" Shareen realised
"Roboforms are not necessary." the Empress sneered, "My children may feast on Martian flesh."
"Oh, but I'm not from Mars." the Doctor answered back, his eyes dark with cold anger.
"Then where?"
"My home planet is far away an' long-since gone. But it's name lives on. Galifrey."
That name enraged the Empress. "They murdered the Racnoss!" she roared
"I warned you." the Doctor said darkly "You did this." He produced a handful of exploding baubles.
The Empress realised what he was about to do. "No! No! Don't! No!"
The Doctor threw the baubles into the air and used the remote to pilot them. Shareen realised what was about to happen. "Down!" she warned Donna, and they both took cover behind the stairs as some of the baubles surrounded the Empress while others smashed into the walls of the corridor, destroying them and letting water from the Thames pour in a raging torrent. Another bauble exploded at the Empress' feet, starting a fire.
"No! My children!" the Empress wailed as water flooded into the chamber and down the hole.
Shareen and Donna came out of cover to see the Doctor stood on the stairs, watching in silence, surrounded by fire and water while the river swirled down the hole like a plughole. "Peacock!" Shareen called, "Come on! We've gotta get outta here!"
But the Doctor didn't move. He remained where he was, watching the Empress writhe and wail in agony with dark eyes, full of pain and anguish.
"Doctor!" Donna called, "You can stop now!"
That snapped the Doctor out of his trance. "Come on, time we got out!" he said, and the soaking wet trio ran up the stairs.
"Transport me!" the Empress shouted and teleported herself back to her Webstar. "Oh, they will suffer! So suffer! This planet shall be scorched!"
~8~
The Doctor, Donna and Shareen climbed up the ladder towards the manhole. "But what about the Empress?" Donna asked
"She's used up her Huon energy, she's defenceless." the Doctor replied.
~8~
British Army tanks rumbled down the London streets, their guns aimed at the Webstar. "Orders from Mr Saxon, fire at will!" a commander said over the radio.
"Fire!" a soldier yelled, and the tanks let the Webstar have it.
~8~
The Doctor, Donna and Shareen climbed out onto the Thames Barrier just in time to see the Webstar explode in a spectacular fireball. Thus ended the Racnoss threat. "Yeah, feast on that, Aragog!" Shareen yelled, making a rude gesture with two fingers at the fireball, while the Doctor and Donna laughed in relief.
"Just... there's one problem." Donna said after she'd caught her breath.
"What's that?" the Doctor asked
"We've drained the Thames!" Donna replied. And sure enough, the Thames was completely empty of water. All three of them collapsed laughing. They couldn't help it, they were all just glad that the worst was over. The Racnoss had been stopped and the river would soon refill itself again, so Earth was safe.
~8~
The TARDIS materialised outside the Noble house in Wessex Lane, Chiswick. The Doctor, Shareen and Donna stepped out. "There we go. Told ya she'd be alright." the Doctor said, patting the box's woodwork. "Survive anything."
"More than I've done." Donna sighed, the reality of the day's events hitting her.
The Doctor scanned Donna with his sonic screwdriver. "Nope! All the Huon particles have gone." he told her, "No damage, you're fine."
"Yeah, but apart from that... I missed my wedding, lost my job and became a widow on the same day. Sort of."
"Yeah, um, sorry about all that." Shareen mumbled
"I couldn't save him." the Doctor said
"He deserved it." Donna said unfeelingly, then took a beat. "No, he didn't." She looked at her house. "I'd better get inside, they'll be worried."
"Best Christmas present they could have." the Doctor said, watching a worried Geoff and Sylvia embracing each other through the window. "Oh no, I forgot, you hate Christmas."
"Yes, I do."
"Even if it snows?" the Doctor asked, reaching into the TARDIS and flicking a switch on the top of the doorframe. A ball of light shot out of the box's rooftop lamp and exploded like a firework in the sky into softly falling snow.
"I can't believe ya did that!" Donna laughed in delight
"Oh, basic atmospheric excitation." the Doctor replied casually
"Merry Christmas." Donna beamed
"And you, Donna." Shareen said, "So, what're ya gonna do now?"
"Not getting married for starters." Donna replied, "An' I'm not gonna temp anymore. I dunno... travel... see a bit more of Planet Earth... walk in the dust. Just... go out there an' do something."
"Well, you could always..." the Doctor began
"What?"
"Come with me." the Doctor said tentatively
"No." Donna replied
"Ok." the Doctor said quickly
"I can't... I mean, everything we did today... do both of ya live ya lives like that?"
"He does, not me." Shareen said
"Not all the time." the Doctor said unconvincingly
"I think you do." Donna said, "An' I couldn't."
"But you've seen it out there." the Doctor said, "It's beautiful."
"And it's terrible." Donna countered, "That place was flooding an' burning an' they were dying an' you were just stood there like... I dunno... a stranger. And then you made it snow. I mean, you scare me to death!"
"Well then." the Doctor said after a short silence, understanding.
"Tell ya what I will do, though..." Donna said more cheerfully, "Christmas dinner."
The Doctor looked alarmed at the idea.
"Oh, come on." Donna encouraged
"I don't do that sorta thing." the Doctor said hastily
"Ya did last year." Shareen reminded him
"And ya might as well cos' mum always cooks enough for 20." Donna said
"Oh, alright then." the Doctor groaned, "But you go first, better warn 'em. And don't say I'm a Martian. I just have to park her properly; she might drift off to the Middle Ages."
Shareen realised that he was lying. "See ya, Donna." she said and went inside the TARDIS.
"I'll see you in a minute." the Doctor said to Donna and followed Shareen inside.
Suddenly, Donna heard the TARDIS' dematerialisation sound and that was then she realised that she wasn't never going to see either time traveller again. "DOCTOR! SHAREEN!" she bellowed.
The TARDIS' engines stopped, and the Doctor and Shareen poked their heads out the door. "Blimey, you've got some lungs on ya." Shareen remarked
"Am I ever gonna see either of you again?" Donna asked
"If we're lucky." the Doctor replied
"Just... promise me one thing." Donna said to him and motioned for him to come closer.
The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, shutting the door behind him.
"Shareen." Donna told him, "Listen to her. Don't shut her out and ignore her. You need someone like her.
"I don't need anyone." the Doctor said automatically
"Yes, you do." Donna told him, "Because sometimes, I think you need someone to stop you."
"Yeah." the Doctor said thoughtfully, digesting this information. "Thanks then, Donna." he said cheerfully after a moment, "Good luck, and just... be magnificent."
Donna smiled and laughed. "I think I will, yeah."
The Doctor smiled and retreated back into the TARDIS.
"Doctor?" Donna called
"Oh, what is it now?" the Doctor grumbled, poking his head out again.
That friend of yours and Shareen's... what was her name?" Donna asked
"Her name was Rose." the Doctor answered with a lump in his throat. He went back inside the TARDIS and Donna watched as the box dematerialised, then she turned and walked back home.
~8~
The Doctor soon had the TARDIS back in the Time Vortex. He cautiously looked at Shareen who was sat on the jumpseat. She was still damp from all the water, and she looked completely drained, with dark circles under her eyes and she had a burn on her hand from when the console had sparked during the taxi chase. "You alright?" the Doctor asked her
"Yeah." Shareen replied quietly, "Just... been a rough couple of days."
"I know." the Doctor sighed, "D'ya want to go home?"
"I don't know." Shareen sighed, "I don't think I can back to the estate. With Rose, Jackie and Mickey all gone, there's nothing for me there now."
"What about ya family?" the Doctor asked
"I haven't spoken to 'em in three years." Shareen replied, "And my grandparents live in Tenerife. S'pose I could move an' start fresh somewhere else."
"Hmm, you could." the Doctor nodded, "Course, ya could always come with me. If-if, you want to, that is."
Shareen considered this. "Well, I can't go home, and Rose asked me to look after ya... alright." she said after a moment, "I'll stay with you, Doctor."
"Right, that's alright then." the Doctor said, "Welcome aboard, Shareen Costello." He held out a hand.
"Cheers, Peacock." Shareen said, accepting the handshake.
"Allons-y!" the Doctor said, piloting the TARDIS off to another adventure.
Author's notes: And that's The Runaway Bride completed. Shareen has now finally become a full-time companion, so she'll be travelling with the Doctor for series 3. She got a big role in this chapter, thus setting up her place in events from here on in. She got to challenge the Doctor on his attitude which is something we'll again in series 3, as the 10th Doctor really needed a good reality check sometimes. Shareen and Donna were fun to pair up. They'll be a fun pair to write in series 4! Also note that I included a couple of deleted scenes. I'm quite partial to including deleted scenes. I don't always do it, but I do when I'm in the mood for it. So, hope you liked this chapter and hope to see ya next time for the start of series 3.