Previously:
Finally, they silently agreed that they needed to move forward. Rose stepped out of the control room to wash her face, and the Doctor moved to the TARDIS console, pushing the buttons and levers as he walked slowly around it with a great deal less of his former enthusiasm. There was a strange sound in the room and he looked up, expecting to see Rose retuned.
Instead, he felt his eyes go wide with shock. Standing by the door, with her back to him, was a bride.
"What?" he choked out.
The bride turned around to see him standing there and yelped with surprise.
"What?!" he repeated, utterly confused.
She made a face at him."Who are you?"
He looked around, wishing Rose would come back and help him. "But—"
The bride shouted, "Where am I?"
"What?!" His vast vocabulary was wretchedly useless at this moment.
"What the hell is this place?" she shouted.
The Doctor did the only thing he could think of in this desperate situation. He turned to the door his dearest companion had gone out and shouted as loud as he could, "ROSE!"
-The Runaway Bride-
He shook his head, staring at the woman like some kind of creature in a zoo. "You can't do that, I wasn't... we're in flight! That is- that is physically impossible! How did-?"
"Tell me where I am. I demand you tell me right now - where am I?" she points at him accusingly.
The Doctor was still staring at her incredulously. "Inside the TARDIS."
"The what?"
"The TARDIS."
"The what?"
"The TARDIS!" he shouted, wishing his Rose would come help him as he felt completely out of his element here. He turned back to the controls.
"The what?" the woman in the wedding dress nearly screamed.
He forced himself to be calm. "It's called the TARDIS. Rose! A bit of help then?"
She glared at him with a toss of her head. "That's not even a proper word. You're just saying things."
"How did you get in here?" he asked pointedly.
The bride went rigid, absolutely livid. "Well, obviously, when you kidnapped me. Who was it? Who's paying you? Is it Nerys? Oh, my God, she's finally got me back. This has got Nerys written all over it."
The Doctor watched her rant, looking her up and down with utter confusion. "Who the hell is Nerys?"
"Your best friend," she replied scathingly.
He finally registered that this woman seemed to have stepped off the pages of a bridal magazine. "Hold on, wait a minute - what're you dressed like that for?"
She sputtered for a bit before shrieking, "I'm going ten pin bowling. Why do you think, Dumbo? I was halfway up the aisle!"
The Doctor began to adjust his settings and check all the readings on the TARDIS whilst this unexpected passenger stalked around, ranting.
"I've been waiting all my life for this. I was just seconds away! And then you- I dunno, you drugged me or something!"
He looked up indignantly. "I haven't done anything!"
She whirled around, pointing at him again. "We're having the police on you! Me and my husband - as soon as he is my husband - we're gonna sue the living backside off ya!"
The Doctor didn't reply this time, engrossed in operating the controls. The woman finally noticed the doors and rushed over to them. The Doctor looked up in alarm, hurrying after her.
"No, wait a minute! Wait a minute! Don't-!"
But it was too late - she had already thrown open the doors and was now looking upon the super nova that they were still orbiting. Her mouth fell open slightly. The Doctor moved to stand next to her.
"You're in space," he explained gently. "Outer Space. This is my... space-ship. It's called the 'TARDIS'."
"How am I breathing?" she asked, hardly able to form the words.
"The TARDIS is protecting us."
Turning to look at him, she asked, "Who are you?"
"I'm the Doctor. You?"
"Donna."
He looked her over carefully. "Human?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Is that optional?"
He shrugged lightly, fighting a smile. "Well, it is for me."
Donna glanced around at him, but there wasn't much room for more surprise.
"You're an alien."
"Yeah."
She shivered. "It's freezing with these doors open."
So the Doctor slammed them shut and darted back to the console. This shouldn't have happened. He had to figure out what went wrong.
"But I don't understand it and I understand everything! This- this can't happen! There is no way a Human Being can lock itself onto the TARDIS and transport itself inside. It must be..."
Suddenly he was all energy - he grabbed an ophthalmoscope and used it to look into Donna's eyes, all the while muttering an endless flow of techno-babble. Donna seemed struck silent with confusion.
"Impossible. Some sort of subatomic connection? Something in the temporal field? Maybe something pulling you into alignment with the Chronon shell. Maybe something macro mining your DNA within the interior matrix. Maybe a genetic—"
She slapped him, right across the face.
He reeled back, effectively stopped. "What was that for?"
"Get me to the church!" she shouted.
He dropped the instrument and jumped to the controls. This woman was so completely different than his Rose. "Right! Fine! I don't want you here anyway! Where is this wedding?"
She waved her hands grandly. "Saint Mary's, Hayden Road, Chiswick, London, England, Earth, the Solar System."
Donna suddenly spotted a blouse slung over one of the railings. It's one of Rose's - the purple one she was wearing in 'New Earth'. She snatched it up and stalked toward the Doctor.
"I knew it. Acting all innocent. I'm not the first, am I? How many women have you abducted?"
"None that I know of," a blessedly welcome voice says with much amusement as Rose returns to the control room. "Honestly Doctor, I can't leave you alone for a moment. Hello there."
The Doctor snatched Rose's shirt from Donna, irrationally not wanting her to touch it and looked to his companion with a fair amount of desperation. Rose smiled at him comfortingly and came to his side. The Doctor looked away, a bit embarrassed at how much better he feels just for that.
"Just take her home, Doctor," she said. "She's confused and frightened, and just wants what any girl wants, to marry the man she loves."
Donna stared at them for a moment, realizing this woman is here because she truly wants to be. Her heart melted a bit at the tender look in their eyes, but dammit! If she hadn't been snatched up, she might begetting her own tender look about now!
Finally, the Doctor spoke. "Right! Chiswick!"
Moments later, Donna alighted from the TARDIS - the right time, the right planet, but unfamiliar surroundings. She whirled and snarled at the alien.
"I said 'Saint Mary's'. What sort of Martian are you? Where's this?"
The Doctor stroked the TARDIS with concern, ignoring Donna completely now.
"Something's wrong with her..."
Rose took a breath and looked around. Seemed she wasn't feeling that wonderful herself. Donna rolled her eyes.
"It's like she's... recalibrating!" He rushed back into the TARDIS and over to the console. "She's definitely adjusting to something."
Donna was standing outside with her mouth open - she's finally noticed what she's stepped out of and how small it is in comparison to its interior. Rose opened her eyes and looked at the woman.
"Bigger on the inside," she said softly. "Yeah."
Donna wasn't listening - she was pacing around the outside of the TARDIS, feeling the walls in utter bewilderment.
From inside, they can hear the Doctor calling out to Donna. "Is there anything you know of that might have caused this? Anything you might've done? Any sort of alien contacts? I can't let you go wandering off in case you're dangerous. I mean, have you... have you seen lights in the sky? Or... did you touch something? Something- something different? Something strange? Something made out of a sort of metal or... who're you getting married to?"
All the while, Donna has completed her circuit of the TARDIS and popped her head back inside, as if to check whether she wasn't just imagining how big it was. Having confirmed this, she stumbled backwards, hands over her mouth. Rose puts a hand on her back.
"Deep breaths now, that's a girl," she murmured.
"Are you sure he's human? He's not a bit overweight with a zip around his forehead, is he?" the Doctor continued.
"Oh really, Doctor," Rose said, exasperated. "Donna is much too pretty to be stuck with a Slitheen!"
The strangeness of it all was too much for Donna - she turned and sprinted away. The Doctor and Rose chased after her, worried about her.
Catching up rather quickly (as they were quite used to running) they fell into step beside her.
"Donna," the Doctor said softly, trying to apologize.
"Leave me alone. I just want to get married."
"Of course you do,"Rose commisserated. "He's rubbish at communicating. He's just trying to figure out what happened to you, so it doesn't happen again."
He shot the blonde woman a quelling look before speaking. "Come back to the TARDIS."
Donna shook her head adamantly. "No way. That box is too... weird."
"It's... bigger on the inside, that's all."
"Oh! That's all?" She sighed exaggeratedly and checks her watch. When she spoke again, there was a hint of tears in her voice. "Ten past three. I'm gonna miss it."
Rose was instantly trying to help. "You can phone them. Tell them where you are."
"How do I do that?"
"Haven't you got a mobile?" the Doctor asked, glancing at his Rose. Didn't all humans have those things?
Donna stopped dead in the street and stared at him. "I'm in my wedding dress. It doesn't have pockets. Who has pockets? Have you ever seen a bride with pockets? When I went to my fitting, do you think I said "Alison, the one thing I forgot to say is give me pockets"?!"
"He's alien, and male," Rose laughed, unable to stop herself. "He doesn't know how important a wedding is to us."
The Doctor looked between Rose and Donna, a gleam in his eye. Was a wedding important to Rose? Was she wishing she'd just settled down instead of going with him? Would she have married Mickey? Would she leave him to marry someone else someday? His hand sought hers with that thought, holding firmly. Even the idea of his Rose and someone else... hang on then. When had she become HIS Rose?
"... This man you're marrying - what's his name?" he asked to distract himself from the thoughts.
Donna stared into the air for a moment, the look in her eyes fair gone on the man in her thoughts. "Lance. "
"Good luck Lance. " he grinned at his companion, who nudged and shushed him.
"Rude again," she admonished him, fighting a grin.
Donna changed her manner with terrifying abruptness. "Oi! No stupid Martian is gonna stop me from getting married. To hell with you!"
She ran off again, hell bent on getting to her nuptials.
"I'm- I'm not... I'm not... I'm not from Mars," he protested weakly.
"Some of them don't get it," Rose reminded him. "But she's kind of our responsibility now, isn't she?"
He nodded reluctantly, and the pair ran after her. They found her several streets away, trying to hail a taxi.
The Doctor and Rose come up alongside her. The taxi, however ignored them and continued driving along.
Donna raged in frustration "Why's his light on?"
The Doctor pointed. "There's another one!"
He ran to try and catch it, Donna screaming at the driver. The three of them stumbled into the road in their effort to catch the driver's attention - but again, it just drove straight past. Twice more, they attempted to hail a cab, only to be ignored.
The Doctor, panting, looked at the woman in the bridal gown. "Do you have this effect on everyone? Why aren't they stopping?"
Rose elbowed him, but he thought it a fair question.
Confused, Donna shook her head. "They think I'm in fancy dress."
Another taxi drove past, the driver hooting his horn. "Stay off the scotch darlin'!"
"They think I'm drunk!" she moaned.
Two guys in their car yelled out of the window as they drove past. "You're fooling no-one, mate!"
"They think I'm in drag!" Donna shouted, horrified.
The Doctor looked Donna up and down appraisingly. Rose tugged his hand, as he still had hers firmly gripped.
"Don't comment on that," she warned him.
He winked at her. "Hold on, hold on."
He put his fingers between his lips and whistled, long and piercing, causing Donna to wince and cover her ears and Rose to cringe. However, it attracted the attention of a taxi, which ground to a halt before them. The Doctor, Rose, and Donna clamber in the back seat where the Doctor slipped an arm around Rose's waist, pulling her close. She was only too happy to lean against him.
Donna pointed out the windshield. "Saint Mary's in Chiswick, just off Hayden Road. It's an emergency, I'm getting married! Just... hurry up!"
The driver nodded complacently. "You know it'll cost you, sweetheart? Double rates today."
"Oh, my God!" Donna cried, not believing how bad her luck was. "Have you got any money?"
He blinked. "Um... no. And you?"
She gestured to her dress violently. "Pockets!"
The taxi screeche to a halt and they were booted out. The Doctor slammed the door looking a bit shocked at the driver and Donna who was finishing her returning insult.
"And that goes double for your mother!"
The taxi drove off, leaving the three standing.
"I'll have him." Donna fumed. "I've got his number. I'll have him. Talk about the Christmas Spirit."
Rose blinked, nudging the Doctor. "Is it Christmas?"
"Well, duh. Maybe not on Mars, but here it's Christmas Eve," Donna snapped.
"How come you're getting married on Christmas Eve?" the Doctor asked, placing a comforting arm around Rose, who realized she would not be seeing her mother on Christmas.
"Can't bear it. I hate Christmas. Honeymoon in Morocco. Sunshine - lovely," the red head prattled on, oblivious to the pair.
Rose pulled away from the Doctor, reaching in her pocket and holding her mobile out. "Call them."
Donna takes the phone, seeing the shadow in the other woman's eyes. "Is... is it long distance?"
She forced a smile. "Nah, just call. Doctor will get money for a taxi."
Grateful for the direction, he sprinted to the nearest cash machine. The man currently using it in front of him was being aggravatingly slow - so the Doctor hopped from foot to foot impatiently.
Donna moaned into the phone. "Ohh, answer the phone!" When there was no answer, she began to leave a message. "Mum, get off the phone and listening! I'm on my way, I dunno what happened... I'm at... Oh, my God- I dunno where I am! It's... it's a street. And there's WH Smith... but it's definitely Earth.
Rose looked over at the Doctor still waiting to use the cash machine, growing more agitated by the second. Finally the man in front of him left and the Doctor darted forwards, casting a furtive look about him before using his sonic screwdriver to retrieve cash from the machine. Distracted by him, the blonde laughed at his antics, not noticing Donna walk away and approach a woman at random on the street.
The Doctor retrieved the cash from the machine and turned back to Rose. His eye was caught by a row of masked Santa's playing trumpets a short distance away. He watched them for a moment drawing Rose's eyes to them as well. They remembered their last encounter with similar Santa's, and immediately their suspicions were aroused.
Donna called to Rose then. "Oi! Thanks for the phone! I'm going to the church!"
She tossed the phone to the other woman and climbed into the taxi and it drove away - the driver a masked Santa.
"Donna!" Rose shouted fearfully.
"Rose!" the Doctor yelled, racing toward her as the Santas lowered their weapons. The Doctor soniced the cash machine causing notes to fly everywhere and there was a mad scramble and mass confusion as people ran around trying to catch the money and stuff it into their pockets. Grabbing Rose, he ran back in the direction of the TARDIS.
Running to the console at full tilt, the Doctor pummeled the TARDIS into action with his usual equipment - namely his fists and a hammer. The rotor starts to rise and fall.
"Don't do that!" Rose admonished. "She hates it!"
"Not now, Rose!" he shouted.
Rose traced the taxi's progress on his monitor as the Doctor launched them after the kidnapped bride. "They're on the motorway."
"On our way!"
Sparks flew from the TARDIS console and it tilted dangerously as the chased after the taxi. The Doctor swore and thumped it again with the hammer.
"Behave!" he snapped.
Rose took over the controls as he ran to the door, throwing it open just beside Donna's taxi, zooming along beside it on the motorway. Donna stared at him, hands pressed against the window, absolutely not believing it.
"Open the door!" he shouted at her.
"Do you what?"
"Open the door!"
She yanked on the handle and shook her head desperately. "I can't, it's locked!"
The Doctor pointed the sonic at the door, enabling Donna to push the window down. Rose held the course.
"Doctor! She's really having a time keeping up!" the blonde woman called.
The kidnapped bride pointed at her driver. "Santa's a robot!"
"Donna, open the door," he said again, gritting his teeth.
"What for?" she exclaimed.
"You've got to jump!"
The robot driver turned his head slightly at the Doctor's words. He felt his stomach drop.
"I'm not bleedin' flip jumping, I'm supposed to be getting married!" the woman in the car protested.
The robot put his foot down and the taxi accelerated, leaving the TARDIS behind.
The Doctor called back to his companion. "Speed up Rose! We're about to lose her!"
She pushed the controls, making a pained face. There was a crash and Rose screamed as sparks fell over her.
"Rose!" the Doctor exclaimed, taking a step toward the console.
"Save Donna!" she shouted, making a few adjustments. The TARDIS banged the roof of the car of a distressed man before pulling itself back in line with the taxi.
Children in a nearby van were watching, muttering to each other excitedly. The Doctor barely noticed as he struggled to regain his balance, then he pointed the sonic screwdriver at the robot, disabling it.
"Listen to me - you've got to jump," he called to her, reaching out.
It was hard to tell if it was fear or sheer stubborn will keeping her in the car. "I'm not jumping on a motorway."
He growled in frustration. He needed to check on Rose. "Whatever that thing is, it needs you. And whatever it needs you for, it's not good. Now, come on!"
She shook her head. "I'm in my wedding dress!"
"Yes! You look lovely! Come on!" he shouted in exasperation.
Breathing heavily with fear, Donna opened the door and positioned herself ready to jump. The Doctor held out his arms to catch her. The children in the van were chanting 'jump! jump!'.
The redhead whimpered in fear, "I can't do it."
"Trust me," he said, calming for her sake.
"Trust him, Donna!" Rose shouted from her place at the controls. "Trust me! You can do this!"
Donna, with a scream, jumped and landed on top of the Doctor in a heap on the floor. Leaving the children cheering, the doors slammed closed and the TARDIS sped back up into the sky.
The Doctor quickly disentangled himself from the woman on the floor and rushed to Rose, taking over the controls and setting a nice, calm landing for them on a nearby building. Donna picked herself up and watched him tenderly inspect the woman where the sparks hit her.
"I'm okay, Doctor," Rose promised. "It just scared me a bit."
He nodded, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Rose."
"We were all yelling, don't worry yourself."
The TARDIS thumped heavily onto the building it landed on and there was a massive bang from the console, which immediately began billowing thick black smoke.
"Everyone out!" the Doctor shouted, pulling his Rose to fresh air.
Donna looked at her watch as she exited onto the roof of a high rise. "It's just gone half three."
"The funny thing is, for a spaceship, she doesn't really do that much flying. We'd better give her a couple of hours. You all right?" he asked, keeping Rose pulled to his side as she seemed a bit green after the turbulent flight. He studied the sad face of the woman in the wedding dress.
"Doesn't matter," she replied with a shrug.
"Did we miss it?" Rose asked softly.
"Yeah."
"Well, you can book another date..." the Doctor said hesitantly.
"Course we can."
"Still got the honeymoon..." he tried again.
"It's just a holiday now."
Her answers were flat, her eyes veiled as she looked out at the city. Rose hugged the doctor and looked up at him. He couldn't resist the pleading in her hazel eyes.
"Yeah... yeah... sorry," he apologized, trying to think of a way to make Donna cheer up, as that would make Rose happier.
"It's not your fault."
Seeing an opportunity to rib her a bit, he grinned at the woman in white. "Oh! That's a change."
"Wish we had a time machine. Then we could go back and get it right," Donna sighed.
"Even if we did, we can't go back on someone's personal timeline," Rose said. "Trust us."
Donna gave them a suspicious glance before going to sit on the edge of the roof. The Doctor sat next to her, removing his jacket and draping it around her shoulders. Rose stood back a bit, staring at the TARDOS with an unreadable expression.
Donna plucked at the jacket. "God, you're skinny. This wouldn't fit a rat."
"Oh and you'd better put this on," he told her producing what looked like a wedding ring from his pocket.
"Oh, do you have to rub it in?"
She sounded so dismayed, even Rose's attention was pulled away. She blinked at the ring in confusion until the Doctor explained what it was.
"Those creatures can trace you. This is a bio-damper. Should keep you hidden." He slipped it onto her finger. "With this ring, I thee bio-damp."
"For better or for worse," Donna sighed.
The Doctor smiled encouragingly at her, then glanced back at Rose, the smile slipping a bit as she appeared less than pleased with the display. He would have asked if she was all right, but a question from Donna distracted him.
"So, come on then. Robot Santas - what are they for?"
He looked back at the woman they'd rescued. "Ah, your basic robo-scavenger. The Father Christmas stuff is just a disguise. They're trying to blend in. We met them last Christmas."
Rose made a noise, and then the Doctor was on his feet. He knew how hard this was on her, painful memory after painful memory dragged to the surface. Pulling her close again, he stroked her hair gently.
"What happened then?" Donna asked.
He gaped at her a moment. "... Great big spaceship? Hovering over London? You didn't notice?"
"I had a bit of a hangover."
The Doctor decided not to pursue the matter, instead he scanned the landscape.
With a nod toward where Jackie once lived, he said, "We spent Christmas Day just over there, the Powell Estate. With Rose's family… well, our… that is…"
He paused for a moment, lost in thought. Rose looked up at him, a sad smile on her face.
"I like that. Our family."
He nodded, a sigh escaping. He would have liked calling them family, it had been so long since he'd had one. "Still... gone now."
"Yes, gone now," Rose echoed.
Donna tipped her head at them. "What happened to them?"
Abruptly changing the subject, the Doctor said, "Question is, what do camouflaged robot mercenaries want with you? And how did you get inside the TARDIS? I don't know..."
He contemplated her for a long moment until Donna rolled her eyes.
He pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his jacket pocket. "What's your job?"
"I'm a secretary."
With a glance at Rose to assure himself she was all right, he moved closer and scanned the bride. "It's weird, I mean - you're not special, you're not powerful, you're not connected, you're not clever, you're not important..."
Donna jotted a look in the blonde's direction and asked, "Have you ever punched him in the face?
Rose laughed a bit, which drew a smile from the Doctor. Donna simply whacked the screwdriver aside.
"Stop bleeping me!"
"What kind of secretary?" he asked, not at all bothered to be yelled at.
"I'm at HC Clements. It's where I met Lance. I was temping. He made me a coffee, and no one makes the secretary coffee. We really hit it off, and began seeing each other. Even now, he makes me a cup of coffee every morning."
"That's really sweet," Rose murmured.
"When was this?" the Doctor asked.
"Six months ago."
"Bit quick, to get married..." he glanced at Rose for confirmation. "Isn't it?"
Rose shrugged. "Some people just know, Doctor."
Donna blushed. "Well... he insisted. And he nagged... and he nagged me... And he just wore me down and then finally, I just gave in."
Rose giggled, looking away when the Doctor shot her a look. Honestly, she'd never mentioned things like weddings and marriages, and domesticity until this woman blundered onto their ship.
… HIS ship!
Turning back to the accidental stowaway, he asked a bit more forcefully than he meant, "What does HC Clements do?"
"Oh, security systems, you know... entry codes, ID cards - that sort of thing. If you ask me, it's a posh name for 'locksmiths'."
He thought over that. "Keys..."
Donna sighed, standing and moving toward the roof access door. "Anyway, enough of my CV. Come on, it's time to face the consequences. Oh, this is gonna be so shaming. You can do the explaining, Martian-boy."
"Yeah. I'm not from Mars."
Donna shrugged and Rose smiled at him, slipping her hand into his. He gave her a bright smile back as the followed Donna.
"Oh, I had this great big reception all planned. Everyone's gonna be heartbroken…"
When they arrived at the hall, however, it looked as though everyone had decided to go on with the reception without the bride. 'Merry Christmas Everybody' blared out at full volume, everyone dancing, drinking, eating and laughing. Donna walked in with Rose and the Doctor, staring around at the merriment, thunderstruck. She folded her arms, feeling absolutely betrayed. Her mother spotted her first and froze - the rest of the room soon following suit until all was silent and all eyes were on the people in the doorway. The groom was the last notice, having been dancing with a leggy blonde in a flashy dress.
"You had the reception without me?" the intended bride said slowly.
"Donna... what happened to ya?" the groom asked desperately.
Her voice raised a notch. "You had the reception without me?"
There was an awkward pause.
The Doctor waved cheerfully. "Hello! I'm the Doctor, and this is my… well… Rose."
She waved cheerfully, not making any sort of reaction to his stumbled introduction. "Cheers!"
She turned to them. "They had the reception without me."
"Yes, I gathered," the Doctor said slowly.
"Well, it was all paid for - why not?" the leggy blonde sneered.
"Thank you, Nerys," the woman in white snapped.
Donna's mother stepped forward. "Well, what were we supposed to do? I got your silly little message in the end - "I'm on Earth"? Very funny. What the hell happened? How did you do it? I mean, what's the trick because I'd love to know—"
The whole room began talking at the same time until all Donna could hear was an incomprehensible babble of voices - so she burst into tears, at which their anger immediately melted into pity. Lance hugged her and she cried into his shoulder. Everyone applauded - and Donna winked at the Doctor and Rose through her fake tears. He smirked and squeezed his companion's hand.
The reception party continued as before, except now Donna had joined in with the dancing. The Doctor, leaned against the bar, and smiled slightly as he watched her. Rose wasn't far from him, several men around her, trying to get her to dance. She laughed at them, shaking her head. The Doctor tried not to yank her away from them, but it was quite hard to resist.
When had he begun feeling… jealous? Should he even?
Then she looked at him, and the light in her hazel eyes warmed him. As he held her gaze, she moved away from the others, back to his side. Always Rose did that. No matter where they ended up, or who else was around, she would leave everything just to be at his side. The idea was staggering. There was no way he could possibly be worth such devotion.
"Thinking deep thoughts?" she asked when she reached him.
"Not this time," he confessed, grabbing her hand. "You left your fan club behind."
She grinned at him. "I didn't know you were watching." At his scowl, she pressed against his side. "Oh, Doctor, relax." She leaned up and whispered teasingly in his ear. "They're much too young for me."
She was absurdly pleased at the smile that elicited.
"Rose, can I borrow your mobile?" he asked, abruptly changing the subject. It was amazing how clear his thoughts became when all was right between him and his Rose.
She nodded and handed it over. The Doctor, putting on his glasses, did a WAP search for H C Clements. He cast a furtive look around the room before using his sonic screwdriver to speed the process up - the result "Sole Prop. TORCHWOOD" displayed on the screen. The two exchanged a dark look before the Doctor closed the phone and tucked it into her pocket without thinking how intimate a gesture it really was. The music becomes more prominent as he watched the dancing. His eyes fell onto a couple dancing - the man threw the woman backwards over his arm and the Doctor was reminded briefly of the moment on New Earth when Rose fell into his arms after Cassandra left her body. He swallowed and pulled Rose to him, needing to reassure himself that she really was still with him.
"It's all right, Doctor," she murmured to him, not knowing what's going on in his head at the moment, but knowing he needed reassurance.
He noticed the cameraman in the corner, who is recording the proceedings, and pointed him out to her. They were at the cameraman's side moments later, watching as he put a tape in the camera to show the couple what had happened at the ceremony.
"I taped the whole thing - they've all had a look," the man explained. "They said "sell it to You've Been Framed". I said "more like the News". Here we are..."
He played the tape - the camera zoomed in on Donna's face as she seemingly disintegrated into golden particles with a scream. Rose jerked as though she were slapped and her eyes darted to the Doctor.
"Can't be! Play it again?"
"Clever, mind! Good trick, I'll give her that. I was clapping."
The Doctor watched the video again, brow furrowed incredulously. He glances at Rose, knowing exactly where he had seen that before.
"But that looks like... Huon Particles!"
"What's that?" the cameraman asked, clearly confused.
"Doctor…" Rose said softly, looking around the room.
He was a bit in thought, and didn't notice her. "That's impossible, that's... ancient! Huon energy doesn't exist anymore, not for billions of years! So old that..."
"Doctor…" she tried again.
His eyes were suddenly drawn to the ring/biodamper he earlier placed on Donna's finger.
"... it can't be hidden by a biodamper!"
He ran as fast as he could to a window - and sure enough, there were the Santas, making their way slowly to the house. Rose joined him.
"I tried to tell you. They're already here," she said.
They rushed to Donna.
"Donna! Donna, they've found you," the Doctor exclaimed.
"But you said I was safe," she said, bemused.
"The biodamper isn't going to work this time," Rose told her gently. "We've got to get everyone out."
Donna looked around at everyone. "Oh, my God - it's all my family..."
"Out the back door!" the Doctor announced.
They ran out the back door, only to be confronted with two of the Santas.
"Maybe not," he conceded.
They ran back inside. The Doctor darted over to another window and saw two more Santas.
"We're trapped," Donna whispered, horrified that this was happening again.
The Santas held some kind of remote control, which they raised. The Doctor and Rose looked at the Christmas tree in the middle of the room, then at each other.
Rose murmured with an appalled expression, "Christmas trees..."
"What about them?" Donna asked, confused.
"They kill," the Doctor replied before running into the crowd. "Get away from the tree!"
Rose echoed his cries, "Don't touch the trees!"
The Doctor waved people into a circle, away from the trees. "Get away from the Christmas trees, everyone get away from them!"
The Santas stood at the ready with their remote controls as Donna ushered a group of little girls away from the Christmas tree, trusting the people who had saved her life earlier.
"Out! Lance, tell them!" she ordered her fiancee.
Rose helped an elderly couple move as she called to the guests, "Stay away from the tree!"
Outside, the Santas pressed a big red button in the middle of their consoles.
The Doctor snapped at Donna's mother, "Stay away from the tree!"
The woman scoffed at him. "Oh, for God's sakes, the man's an idiot! Why? What's a Christmas tree gonna... oh!"
She trailed off as she observed the baubles float away from the tree in some kind of weird dance. The Doctor watched them mistrustfully as they hovered above everyone's heads. Everyone chattered excitedly until the homicidal decorations started dive-bombing around the room and causing small explosions. Everyone suddenly started screaming and running for cover. Donna pulled Lance down to hide under a table with her.
"Oh, now they listen," the Doctor muttered as Rose ran to his side.
"Not the time, Doctor!" she chided. "We've got Santas coming inside."
Nodding, the Doctor runs over to the DJ's stand, pulling her along and putting her behind him protectively. The Santas lined up on the opposite side of the room.
"Oi! Santa! Word of advice: if you're attacking a man with a sonic screwdriver..." the Doctor grabbed the microphone and spoke into it. "... don't let him near the sound system."
He held the sonic screwdriver next to the amplifiers and it made a horrible, high-pitched screeching sound. Everyone covered their ears and the Santas vibrated violently until they fell to pieces. The Doctor removed his sonic screwdriver and then ran to examine the mechanics of the Santas, Rose just behind him, wiggling a finger in her ear. The guests began to get up off the floor. The Doctor picked up the consoles which the Santas were using. Rose glanced around, seeing that Donna and her family were checking on everyone, making sure they were all right. She turned back to what the Doctor was doing.
"Look at that," he said, in his thinking mode, showing Rose the console. "Remote control for the decorations, but there's a second remote control for the robots."
They bent down to examine the head of one of the robots.
"They're not scavengers anymore, are they?" Rose said softly. "I think someone's taken possession."
"Brilliant, my dear," he praised her, pressing a kiss to her forehead in his excitement. "The question is - who?"
Donna came to them. "People have been hurt, you're a doctor..."
"Not that kind of Doctor," Rose tried to explain.
"Still, you could help."
"I am!" he exclaimed, holding the head to his ear. "Gotta think of the bigger picture... there's still a signal! Come, Rose!"
And with that, he takes off, Rose's hand firmly grasped in his. Donna makes to follow him when she's stopped by her mother.
"Donna... who are they? Who are those people?"
Donna paused, not having an answer for her. After another heartbeat, she followed the Doctor, leaving her mother and Lance staring after her. Outside, the Doctor stood scanning the helmet with his sonic screwdriver, Rose smiled at Donna.
"There's someone behind this, directing the robo-force," the Doctor was saying.
"But why is it me? What have I done?" Donna asked.
"If we find the controller, we'll find that out. Oh!" He raised his sonic screwdriver into the air. "It's up there. Something in the sky."
He listened for a moment, as Lance exited the building and watched them, glancing toward the sky.
"I've lost the signal. We've got to get to that office, H C Clements. I think that's where it all started." The Doctor turned to look at Rose and saw the man who'd joined them. "Lance - is it Lance? Can you give us a lift?"
The small group arrived at H C Clements and ran into the building and then into Donna's office. The Doctor went straight to a computer, while Rose looked around the woman's desk, and then the coffee machine.
"This might just be a locksmiths, but H C Clements was brought up twenty three years ago by the Torchwood Institute," the Doctor explained.
"Who are they?"
The man at the computer glanced at his companion before answering, "They were behind the battle of Canary Wharf."
There was only a blank silence from Donna.
"... Cyberman invasion."
She looked at him inquiringly.
"Skies over London full of Daleks?"
"Oh, I was in Spain," Donna nodded.
"They had Cybermen in Spain," Rose grinned.
"Scuba diving."
The Doctor shook his head. "That big picture, Donna - you keep on missing it." He darted over to another computer. "Torchwood was destroyed, but H C Clements stayed in business. I think... someone else came in and took over."
He whacked the monitor.
Rose returned to his side. "Would you stop hitting things?"
"Percussion engineering," he grinned at her.
"But what do they want with me?" Donna prompted.
He turned to the woman with a serious expression. "Somehow you've been dosed with Huon energy. And 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. See? That's what happened. Say... that's the TARDIS," he held up a mug and then a pencil, "and that's you. The particles inside you activated. The two sets of particles magnetised and WHAP! You were pulled inside the TARDIS." He popped the pencil into the mug.
"I'm a pencil inside a mug?" she said weakly.
He nodded before moving on. "Yes, you are. 4H. Sums you up. Lance? What was H C Clements working on? Anything top secret? Special operations? Do not enter?"
Donna's intended puffed up, defensive. "I don't know, I'm in charge of personnel. I wasn't project manager."
The Doctor held his sonic screwdriver to the screen and it instantly displayed the page he was looking for.
"Why am I even explaining myself? What the hell are we talking about?" Lance asked.
"They make keys, that's the point. And look at this, Rose," the Doctor points out something on a 3D plan of the building on the screen. "We're on the third floor."
He jumped up and ran over to the lift, the others following just behind him. He punch the button with a flourish and turned to explain.
"Underneath reception, there's a basement, yes?" The doors pinged open and the Doctor moved inside to look at the controls. "Then how come when you look on the lift, there's a button marked 'lower basement'? There's a whole floor which doesn't exist on the official plans. So what's down there, then?"
"Are you telling me this building's got a secret floor?" Lance asked.
"No, I'm showing you this building's got a secret floor."
"It needs a key," Donna argued."
"I don't," he answered cheerfully, applying the sonic screwdriver to the lock before reaching out and tugging Rose to his side. "Right then, thanks you two, we can handle this - see you later."
"No chance, Martian," Donna insisted. "You're the man who keeps saving my life, I ain't letting you out of my sight."
She joined them in the lift.
"Going down," the Doctor said with a grin to Rose.
"Lance?" Donna asked expectantly.
The man visibly hesitated. "Maybe I should go to the police."
"Inside."
Lance meekly joined them in the lift.
"To honour and obey?" the Doctor asked, darting a glance at Rose.
"Tell me about it, mate," Lance muttered.
The doors close and the lift descended, pinging when it reached the lower basement and the people inside stepped out into a long, dark, dank corridor, dimly lit with an eerie green light.
"Where are we? Well, what goes on down here?" Donna asked, curiously.
"Let's find out..." the Doctor answered easily.
"Do you think Mr. Clements knows about this place?" she asked her fiancee.
"The mysterious H C Clements? I think he's part of it," the Doctor said easily, looking around. "Oh, look - transport."
Soon, the Doctor, Rose, Donna and Lance were trundling down the corridor each standing on their own electric scooters, all feeling just as extremely comical as they all looked. Donna looked around at the image they made and burst out laughing. The Doctor and Rose joined in, but Lance scowled, just not getting it.
They came to a door which said "Torchwood - authorised personnel only", so naturally they abandoned their scooters and headed for it. The Doctor turned the wheel that would open the door to reveal a ladder. The Doctor peered upwards.
"Wait here. Just need to get my bearings. Don't do anything."
The doctor started up the ladder.
Rose watched him. "Just make sure you come back."
"You couldn't get rid of me if you tried, Rose," he shot back.
"I'm holding you to that!" she called, fidgeting. It was the first she'd been without him since the day at Canary Wharf.
Donna smiled at their banter, but Lance tugged on the woman's arm.
"Donna... have you thought about this? Properly? I mean, this is serious! What the hell are we gonna do?" he asked, a note of panic in his voice.
"Oh, I thought July." She hadn't really been listening, and she smiled brightly, before turning her attention back to the Doctor climbing the ladder.
The Doctor reached the top of the ladder where he was confronted with the underside of a manhole. He opened it and climbed out into the waning daylight and found he was overlooking the Thames Flood barrier.
He hurried back down, jumping down the last bit. "Thames flood barrier! Right on top of us. Torchwood snuck in and built this place underneath."
Rose laughed. "Another secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark?"
He laughed with her, nudging her arm at the shared joke. "I know! Unheard of."
They explored further, finding some kind of laboratory, full of massive test tubes bubbling away and chemistry equipment.
"Oh, look at this! Stunning! Particle extrusion!" the Doctor cried at the work.
Rose leaned close. "What does it do?"
Instead of explaining, the Doctor had a thought. "Particle extrusion. Hold on..." He darted over to one of the bubbling tubes and tapped it. "Brilliant. They've been manufacturing Huon particles. In case my people got rid of Huons, they unravelled the atomic structure."
Lance looked interested. "Your people? Who are they? What company do you represent?"
"Oh, I'm a freelancer," the Doctor explained evasively. "But this lot are rebuilding them. They've been using the river! Extruding them through a flat hydrogen base so they've got the end result - Huon particles in liquid form."
He picked up a small test tube full of the Huon particles.
"And that's what's inside me?" Donna asked.
The Doctor gently turned a knob at the top of the test tube, making the contents glow gold - and Donna with it.
"Oh, my God!" the woman yelled.
"Because the particles are inert - they need something living to catalyse inside and that's you. Saturate the body and then... HA! The wedding! Yes, you're getting married, that's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle - oh, your body's a battleground! There's a chemical war inside! Adrenaline, acetylcholine, WHAM go the endorphins, oh you're cooking! Yeah, you're like a walking oven! A pressure cooker, a microwave, all churning away, the particles reach boiling point, SHAZAM!"
"You've got 'em too?" Lance asked, causing both Donna and the Doctor to look in Rose's direction.
She was glowing moreso than Donna, though she was calm about it. "Could you maybe put that back, Doctor? I'd like to give up the light show."
He looked shaken as he set it back down, moving to take Rose's hands. "But... but I took that out of you..."
She smiled a bit. "I was too far gone," she told him. "She had to give me a boost or you were gonna lose me, and you'd have been even worse off if that had happened."
"The TARDIS?" he clarified.
She nodded. "Look, we can talk about this later, yeah? Bigger problems an' all."
Donna took a deep breath, "Just tell me, am I safe?"
"Yes!"
She pressed, "Doctor... if your lot got rid of Huon particles... why did they do that?"
The Doctor released Rose and look away. "Because they were deadly."
"Oh, my God..."
"I'll sort it out, Donna. Whatever's been done to you, I'll reverse it. I'm not about to lose anyone today," the Doctor looked at Rose as he spoke.
They were distracted by crashes and bangs that seemed to come from all around them.
A voice creeped out from the shadows, "Oh, she is long since lost."
One of the walls slid upwards to reveal a secret chamber with an enormous round hole in the floor.
"I have waited so long, hibernating at the edge of the universe..." the voice continued as Lance, eyes widened in horror, hurriedly retreated through the door. "... until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to waken!"
The walls of the chamber were lined with the armed robots wearing black hoods.
The Doctor peered down the hole. "Someone's been digging... oh, very Torchwood. Drilled by laser. How far down does it go?"
"Down and down, all the way to the centre of the Earth!"
The Doctor made an interested noise. " Really? Seriously? What for?"
Rose moved to peer down the hole. "The heat, where is it?
"What?" the Doctor asked, turning to her in surprise.
She gestured to the hole. "If that goes to the molten center of the earth, shouldn't there be some sort of breeze, or air moving from the magma?"
He blinked. "Rose! You brilliant thing! You see it too! There's something in that hole that's been protected from the magma."
She nodded, but didn't appear to like being right.
The voice spoke again. "Such a sweet couple. And a pretty bride."
The Doctor glanced around, the reference to Rose making the voice a problem. He would not tolerate anything further happening to her. "Only a madman talks to thin air and trust me, you don't want to make me mad. Where are you?"
"High in the sky, floating so high on Christmas Night."
"I didn't come all this way to talk on the intercom! Come on, let's have a look at you!"
Rose elbowed him sharply. Did he always have to rush headfirst into dangerous situations?!
"Who are you with such command?"
"I'm the Doctor."
A noise fills the air. "Prepare your best medicines, doctor-man, for you will be sick at heart."
A huge spider with the face and torso of a humanoid female teleported herself into the chamber, snarling and growling. The Doctor tucked Rose behind him, as he always did when there was danger.
"The Racnoss... but that's impossible, you're one of the Racnoss!" he said ominously.
"Empress of the Racnoss," the creature hissed, gleeful in its seeming victory.
"If you're the Empress, where's the rest of the Racnoss? Or... are you the only one?" Rose asked from behind the Doctor.
"Such a sharp mind," the Empress praised her.
While inclined to agree, the Doctor didn't want anything as deadly as one of the Racnoss acknowledging his Rose. "That's it, the last of your kind. The Racnoss come from the Dark Times, billions of years ago, billions. They were carnivores, omnivores, they devoured whole planets."
The Empress seemed to like his description. "Racnoss are born starving, is that our fault?"
Donna screamed out, "They eat people?"
Instead of answering, the Doctor asked, "H C Clements, did he wear those- those erm, black and white shoes?"
Not catching his point, she nodded with a wide smile. "He did! We used to laugh, we used to call him the fat cat in spats."
Rose pointed to a web on the ceiling - a pair of black and white shoes still attached to the unfortunate H C Clements could just be seen poking out. "I think it's safe to safe he knew about this at least for a little bit."
"Mm, my Christmas dinner," the Empress cackled.
"You shouldn't even exist! Way back in history, the Fledgling Empires went to war against the Racnoss - they were wiped out," the Doctor scolded her.
Lance appeared on a balcony above the Racnoss', unbeknownst to her. Donna spotted him and Lance motioned for her to stay silent.
Donna screeched at the Empress, trying to keep her distracted. "But that's what I've got inside me, that Huon energy thing. Oi! Look at me, lady, I'm talking. Where do I fit in? How comes I get all stacked up with these Huon particles?"
Lance descended the stairs, axe at the ready.
"Look at me, you! Look me in the eye and tell me," Donna shouted.
The Empress laughed. "The bride is so feisty!"
"Yes, I am! And I don't know what you are, you big... thing. But a spider's just a spider and an axe is an axe! Now, do it!"
Lance swung the axe - the Empress swung around and hisses at the last moment - then he stopped. He glanced round at Donna and started to laugh and the Empress laughed with him.
The man looked conspiringly at the Empress. "That was a good one. Your face!"
"Lance is funny."
Donna gaped, so confused. "What?"
The Doctor murmured. "I'm sorry."
The redhead shook her head. "Sorry for what? Lance, don't be so stupid! Get her!"
The man in question shakes his head. "God, she's thick."
Donna stared at him. Rose put a hand on her arm.
"Oh Donna…"
"Months I had to put up with her," Lance lamented. "Months. A woman who can't even point to Germany on a map."
"I don't understand," Donna said.
"How did you meet him?" the Doctor asked gently.
"In the office…"
Rose explained. "He made you coffee."
"What?"
Lance spoke as though addressing an idiot, "Every day, I made you coffee."
"You had to be dosed with liquid particles over six months," the Doctor told her.
"He was poisoning me?"
The Time Lord gestured to Lance. "It was all there in the job title - the Head of Human Resources."
With a cheesy grin, Lance joked, "This time, it's personnel."
He and the Racnoss laughed, though no one else found it amusing.
Donna's voice was weak. "But... we were getting married."
Lance sneered, "Well, I couldn't risk you running off. 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 - "oh, 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 fountain of fat, stupid trivia."
Donna listened to that torrent of abuse with an expression of increasing hurt and confusion.
The man heaping it on rolled his shoulders. "I deserve a medal."
Rose glared at him, slipping an arm around her new friend. "Oi! Shut it, you. You deserve a big fat kick in the arse."
"Oh, is that what she's offered you? The Empress of the Racnoss? What are you? Her consort?" the Doctor questioned him.
The man sneered. "It's better than a night with her."
"But… I love you," Donna whispered.
"That's what made it easy. It's like you said, Doctor - the big picture - 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?"
"What she said – Martian," Lance shrugged.
"Oh, I'm sort of... homeless," the Doctor evaded. "But the point is, what's down here? The Racnoss are extinct. What's gonna help you four thousand miles down? That's just the molten core of the Earth, isn't it?"
Lance glanced at the Empress. "I think he wants us to talk."
"I think so too," the Empress laughed.
"Well, tough! All we need is Donna!" Lance snapped.
"Kill this chattering little doctor-man!" the Empress shouted.
The robots pointed their guns at the Doctor.
Rose shoved her way in front of him. "Over my dead body!"
He grabbed her, "No you don't."
The Empress laughed. "So kill them both!"
The Doctor gave the Racnoss a fierce look. "Ah, now. Except."
"Take aim!"
"Well, I just want to point out the obvious—" he said in a warning tone.
"They won't hit the bride. They're such very good shots."
The Doctor tucked Rose into his side, determined to protect her. "Just- just- just- hold on, just a tick, just a tiny- just a little- tick. If you think about it, the particles activated in Donna and drew her inside my spaceship. So, reverse it... the spaceship comes to her."
He once again tweaked the tube of Huon particles which causes both the particles in the tube and inside Donna to glow. He wished he could hide the fact that Rose glowed also, but he could tell they'd seen her.
"Fire!" screamed the Empress. "Kill the doctor-man, bring me the females!"
The robots fired their guns, but too late - the TARDIS had already materialised around them and the Doctor, Rose, and Donna were safe inside.
"Off we go!" he cried, darting to the console.
The TARDIS dematerialised, impervious to the bullets hitting it.
"Oh, you know what I said before about time machines? Well, I lied. And now we're gonna use it."
The TARDIS shot through the vortex. Rose moving to his side as Donna stood trembling a bit.
"I'm sorry, Doctor. I should have told you when I first suspected," Rose said softly.
He gave her a long look. "I know. It's all right. We'll figure this out, just not now. First we stop her, and to do that we need to find out what the Empress of the Racnoss is digging up. If something's buried at the planet 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 going further back than I've ever been before."
It's only then that they notices Donna's shoulders shuddering with the silent tears pouring down her cheeks. Rose goes to her instantly, wrapping her arms around the other woman.
The TARDIS, having arrived at its destination, clicked quietly as it cooled down. The Doctor peered around the console at the miserable Donna held tightly by his Rose.
He spoke softly, "We've arrived... want to see?"
"I s'pose," the almost bride sniffed.
"C'mon," the blonde woman encouraged her. "He's never let me down yet."
The Doctor swung the monitor round.
"Oh, that scanner's a bit small. Maybe your way's best. Come on."
Rose pulled Donna to resignedly join him.
"No human's ever seen this. You'll be the first."
"All I want to see is my bed," Donna moaned.
The Doctor smiled, wrapping Rose in his arms as the three of them stared out the open doors. "Donna Noble - welcome to the creation of the Earth. We've gone back 4.6 billion years. There's no solar system, not yet. Only dust and rocks and gas." He pointed. "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 woman in the wedding dress shivered. "Puts the wedding in perspective. Lance was right. We're just... tiny."
The Doctor sighs joyfully, pressing a cheek to Rose's. "No, but that's what you do. The human race. Making sense out of chaos. Marking it out with weddings and Christmas and calendars. This whole process is beautiful, but only if it's being observed."
The woman in his arms turned slightly to look at him. "So, I came out of all this?"
"Isn't that brilliant?" he said, breathless with the combined excitement of watching the beginnings of the planet he adored, and being with the woman he…
Whoa, that was a bit scary to even admit.
A massive chunk of rock floated lazily past the TARDIS.
"I think that's the Isle of Wight," Donna commented drily, breaking the spell over the other two.
They laughed and the Doctor loosed his hold on Rose, heading back to the console.
"Eventually, gravity takes hold," he said as if lecturing a couple of students at a university. "Say, one big rock, heavier than the others, starts to pull other rocks towards it. All the dust and gas and elements get pulled in, everything, piling in until you get the..."
"Earth," the women answered together, exchanging a grin as they watched with wonder.
Behind them, the doctor made some adjustments to the flow of time outside the TARDIS. "But the question is... what was that first rock?"
A star shaped rock emerged through the clouds.
"Look!" Donna said, pointing.
"It looks like a… web," Rose said softly.
"The Racnoss... Hold on - the Racnoss are hiding from the war! What's it doing?"
The rocks, the particles of dust and gas, they were all zooming towards the Racnoss as though drawn by a magnetic force.
Rose tipped her head. "Exactly what you said."
He sped back to watch with her. "Oh, they didn't just bury something at the centre of the Earth... they became the centre of the Earth. The first rock."
The TARDIS suddenly shuddered violently and they were nearly knocked off their feet.
"What was that?" Donna exclaimed.
"Trouble," both the Doctor and Rose answered her.
The Doctor slammed the doors shut. They struggle to keep their balance as the TARDIS shudders and tips. Rose reaches for him, panic in her eyes.
Donna screamed over the noise, "What the hell's it doing?"
"Remember that little trick I pulled - particles pulling particles. It works in reverse - they're pulling us back!"
The Doctor desperately tries to pilot the TARDIS but it is beyond his control as they whirl through the vortex.
"Well, can't you stop it? Hasn't it got a handbrake? Can't you reverse or warp or beam or something?" the redhead shouted.
"Backseat driver," he said, pulling Rose up next to him. "Oh! Wait a minute!"
He moved to a panel and opened it pulling out the extrapolator from underneath the console.
"The extrapolator!" Rose grinned.
He nodded to her, "Can't stop us, but it should give us a good bump!" He whacked the extrapolator. "Now!"
The TARDIS appeared down the corridor. The people inside emerged.
The Doctor nodded. "We're about 200 yards to the right. Come on!"
They ran, and soon arrived at the doorway leading up to the Thames Flood Barrier.
Donna gasped for air, terrified. "But what do we do?"
He listened behind the door with a stethoscope. "I don't know! I make it up as I go along! But trust me, I've got a history."
"He really does," Rose agreed, but it was said fondly, with a soft look at him.
He shot the same look back at her.
"But I still don't understand. I'm full of particles - but what for?" the almost bride begged.
"There's a Racnoss web at the centre of the Earth, but my people unravelled their power source. The Huon particles ceased to exist but the Racnoss are stuck. 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."
Rose tugged his arm. "Problem."
He finally looked behind them and noticed that she was gone. He groans and looked up and down the empty corridor.
"Where..?"
His companion shook her head. "I don't know. One minute she was here… then…"
Rose gestured to the empty hall.
"Right." He opened the door with his sonic screwdriver, only to be confronted with an armed robot.
After a fair bit of threatening and posturing on the part of the Emperess, and the unfortunate death of Lance, one of the robots ascended the stairs running up the side of the chamber.
The Empress hissed, "My children are climbing towards me and none shall stop them! So you might as well unmask, my clever little doctor-man."
The robot unmasked with a wry expression. "Oh well. Nice try. I've got you, Donna!"
He aimed his sonic screwdriver up at her and the web loosened.
"I'm gonna fall!"
"No, you're gonna swing!"
"But where is your pretty little golden pet, doctor-man?" the Empress taunted him.
Donna grabbed a loose strand and swung towards the Doctor.
"I'm right here," Rose answered defiantly, catching Donna and guiding her safely to the platform with the Doctor.
"The doctor-man no longer amuses me."
"Empress of the Racnoss - I give you one last chance. I can find you a planet. I can find you a place in the universe to coexist. Take that offer and end this now," the Doctor said in a commanding tone.
"Oh - I'm afraid I have to decline," she purred at him. "But my babies will grow into mighty creatures when they feed on your pet."
The Doctor went rigid. "Threaten her, and what happens next is your own doing."
"I'll show you what happens next. At arms!" she shouted.
The robots raised their guns, pointed at the people on the stairs. Rose looked up and locked eyes with the Doctor for a moment, absolute trust in her eyes.
"Take aim! And—"
The voice of the Doctor was barely a murmur, but it still had the tone of command. "Relax."
The robots went limp.
"What did you do?" Donna gasped.
"Guess what I've got, Donna?" His tone was teasing as he produced the remote control from one of his pockets. "Pockets."
"How did that fit in there?" she asked, eyes wide.
He shrugged. "They're bigger on the inside."
"Better yet, when you gonna let me clean 'em out?" Rose asked pointedly.
"Another day, my dear," he grinned.
"Robo-forms are not necessary. My children may feast on Martian flesh, before they drain the power from the golden pet."
"Oh no they will not," he bit out to her. "And I'm not from Mars."
"Then where?"
"My home planet is far away and long-since gone. But its name lives on. Gallifrey."
A roar of anger burst from the Empress. "They murdered the Racnoss!"
"I warned you. You did this," he said, his tone a mixture of cold disgust and fury. He produces a handful of baubles.
She waved her hands, panicking. "No! No! Don't! No!"
The Doctor threw several handfuls of the baubles into the air. Some surrounded the Empress and some smashed into the walls of the corridor, destroying them and letting the water from the Thames rush though in torrents. Another bauble exploded causing a fire at the Empress' feet. She wailed as water flooded into the chamber and down the hole.
"My children!"
The Doctor stood watching in silence, surrounded by fire and water, while the river swirls down the hole like it's a plughole. His eyes are cold, unfeeling. Donna is frightened of him, but Rose hugged her.
"He's lost so much… it's ok, I'll stop him."
The Empress was hysterical even as she was consumed by flames. "No! My children! My children!"
Donna couldn't stay quiet. "Doctor! You can stop now!"
But the Doctor couldn't stop - he watched the Racnoss writhe and wail in agony with dark eyes, full of centuries old some secret pain and then Rose moved to him, taking his hand.
"Doctor."
At that word, he snapped out of it, turning to look at her and then Donna. "Come on! Time I got you out!"
They ran up the stairs, soaking wet as the Empress attempts to teleport herself to the safety of her ship.
"What about that Empress thing?" Donna shouted.
"She's used up all her Huon energy - she's defenceless!" the Doctor replied.
Cannons shot at the star from all directions and it quickly fell to pieces until finally it burst into flame and disintegrated completely, the Empress and all.
The people climbing reached the top of the ladder and they clambered out into the night, whooping and cheering in delight when they realised the Racnoss has been destroyed.
After catching her breath, Donna looked around. "Just... there's one problem."
"What's that?" Rose asked her.
"We've drained the Thames."
The three couldn't help themselves. They collapsed in laughter at the sight of the dry riverbed.
Later that night, the TARDIS materialised across the road from Donna's house. She stepped outside, followed by Rose first, then the Doctor who looked the TARDIS over.
"There we go. Told you she'd be all right. She can survive anything."
"More than I've done," commented the woman, still in her wedding dress.
The blonde woman shook her head. "You did wonderfully, Donna."
"I'm right dead after this."
The Doctor turned and scanned her with the sonic screwdriver. "Nope! All the Huon particles have gone. No damage, you're fine."
"Apart from that... I missed my wedding, lost my job and became a widow on the same day. Sort of."
The Doctor nodded solemnly. "I couldn't save him."
The redhead sniffed. "He deserved it."
The Doctor raised his eyebrows, and Donna's face softened.
"No, he didn't." She sighed and looked round at the house. "I'd better get inside. They'll be worried."
"Best Christmas present they could have," Rose said simply.
They watched Donna's parents embrace each other through the window.
"Oh, no, I forgot - you hate Christmas," the Doctor said to the woman, a bit teasingly.
"Yes, I do," she said, though even she's not sure anymore.
"Even if it snows?" he asked cheekily.
He tweaked a hidden switch on the TARDIS and a ball of light shot out of the top and exploded like a firework in the sky into softly falling snow. Donna laughed with delight.
"I can't believe you did that!" Rose cried, turning her face and hands up to the snow.
He shrugged, looking up. "Oh, basic atmospheric excitation."
He grinned at Donna and she smiled back.
"Merry Christmas," Donna said sincerely.
"And you," he told her in return. "So... what will you do with yourself now?"
Rose turned, wondering herself about that.
"Not getting married for starters," she joked. "And I'm not gonna temp anymore. I dunno... travel... see a bit more of planet Earth... walk in the dust. Just... go out there and do something."
"Well, you could always…" he nodded his head back to the TARDIS.
"What?"
"... come with us…"
Rose blinked, surprised, then grinned as the idea settled in her mind. "Oh yes, Donna. We'd have such fun!"
Donna smile and shook her head. "No."
The Doctor shrugged easily. "Okay."
"I can't…"
He held up a hand. "No, that's fine."
Donna looked at the pair. "No, but really... everything we did today... do you live your life like that?"
"... Not all the time," Rose said evasively.
"Hardly ever," the Doctor agreed, making a face that said plainly they weren't even fooling themselves.
"I think you do. And I couldn't," the redhead laughed.
Rose looked as though she didn't understand. "But you've seen it out there. It's beautiful."
The other woman nodded. "And it's terrible. That place was flooding and burning and they were dying and you were stood there like... I don't know... a stranger. And then you made it snow - I mean, you scare me to death!"
The Doctor was a bit torn. Rose never minded. "Well then."
"Tell you what I will do though - Christmas dinner. Oh, come on." Donna gestured for them to follow her into the house. You might as well because Mum always cooks enough for twenty."
The Doctor looked at Rose, who was now looking in the window at Donna's family, a stricken expression on her face. He shook his head.
"No, thank you, Donna Noble," he said softly, reaching for Rose and tucking her into his side. "I think it's best if Rose and I be by ourselves for this one."
"Am I ever gonna see you again?" the woman asked.
"If we're lucky," the Doctor smiled.
"Just... promise me one thing; take care of Rose," she said, looking at the blonde woman as though saying goodbye to her sister.
He smiled down at the top of Rose's head, the tender look in his eyes obvious to anyone. "Oh, count on that. Thanks then, Donna - good luck - and just... be magnificent."
She smiled and laughed. "I think I will, yeah."
He led Rose back into the TARDIS and closed the door - and instead of its usual dematerialisation, the TARDIS shot up into the night sky. Donna watched with a sad smile and then walked into her home.
On their own again, Rose buried her face in the Doctor's chest and cried. He held onto her. She'd been so strong, saying her farewell, then having Donna burst in and running with him to save the people from the Racnoss. She had to be exhausted, and he told her so.
"I'm sure I am," she sniffed. "But I… I can't be alone just now."
He brushed the hair out of her eyes and kissed her forehead. "You'll never be alone, Rose Tyler. I promise you that."
She nodded and hugged him tight, cuddling against his chest as they stood against the rail. He just held onto her, finding it easy to hold her. His last incarnation hadn't been fond of touch, but this one seemed all for hugging and touching. Especially in the case of a particular blonde human woman. The Doctor wasn't sure what would come their way next, but he was buoyed knowing she would be there with him to face it.
A/N: Well, there is The Runaway Bride, my way. I would love to hear what you think! I know there were skipped scenes, but that's because I was just concentrating on how it would be different with Rose, and I was too lazy to write them out. Please, please leave a note and tell me what you think. You wouldn't believe how important your reviews are to me!
