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In what seemed to pass for early morning in the Time Vortex, Donna woke up in her old room on the TARDIS. It had been a surprise to learn it still existed, untouched. After dinner last night (or what passed for night on the TARDIS), while she and Jack had been shown to their old rooms, Martha and Mickey had been given a new one while her grandfather had been given one of his own.
For a long moment, Donna just laid in bed, trying to process all the thoughts going on in her head. She had two sets of memories now: one where she met The Doctor and one where she didn't. She'd been focused on the recordings yesterday, but now she had a moment to process it.
It was strange, surreal, Donna decided. It was difficult to sort everything out in her head, as she remembered two different versions of her life. But that was only one thing weighing on her.
Donna had no idea how she was going to explain all this to her husband. Shaun was a good man, but he liked things decidedly less complicated. She didn't know how to begin explaining all this to him. Could he handle it? Or would this scare him off and make him leave. These thought tormented Donna for several minutes.
Unable to stand being alone with her thoughts anymore, Donna got out of bed and exited her room after getting dressed. She looked around the hall as she began walking. It was so very different than when she had traveled with The Doctor.
Donna must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, because instead of the kitchen, she found herself outside a room that resembled an office. Inside, Jane was sitting at a desk, holding a book that Donna almost mistook for River's diary. But it was just a bit more faded than River's. Jane had it opened and was wearing a pair of reading glasses as she read it. Donna was about to leave when Jane spoke up.
"You can come in you know," Jane said as she closed the book.
"I didn't mean to interrupt," Donna said as she entered.
"You didn't. I've been up for a bit," Jane assured Donna as she put the book down.
"That's not River's diary, is it?" Donna asked as she eyed it curiously.
"No. It's Dad's journal. He'd keep lots of them over the years, this is the one he started writing in after Regenerating for the last time," Jane explained as she looked down at it. "Sometimes I read it when I feel like I need his guidance, when I can't go to him for advice, ya know?"
Donna did. There were times where she wished her own father were still here, where she could talk to him. She'd wished she'd had something like a journal he'd left behind.
"Nice glasses," Donna mentioned as Jane took them off.
"They were Dad's," Jane said and Donna blinked.
"They're not the same as the ones he used before," Donna noted and a sad smile flashed across Jane's face.
"They weren't his at first. They belonged to someone very important," Jane said as she looked down at them.
Donna sensed she had touched a painful subject and decided to let it drop. As she looked around the room, she saw various pictures on the wall. Some she recognized, others she did not.
In one, Rose and Jack stood next to a big eared man who could only be the Ninth Doctor. Next to it was a picture of the Tenth Doctor with Rose and Mickey. Donna also saw two other pictures of the Tenth Doctor, one with herself and one with Martha. There was a picture of the Eleventh Doctor with a bearded man and a baby, which really confused Donna. Next to it was one of the Eleventh Doctor with his arms around Amy and Rory. She even saw one of a younger Sarah-Jane with one of The Doctor's earlier Regenerations.
"This used to be Dad's office," Jane said as she saw Donna looking at the pictures. "The one place on the TARDIS where he'd come to get away from everything else. I guess now it's mine."
"And the pictures?" Donna asked although she already had a pretty good idea.
"Taken over the course of his life, of his many companions," Jane said with a slight smile.
Donna nodded absently as she walked over to one of the pictures before looking at the desk. There were three pictures on the desk in frames. One of a dark haired woman in a hat, one of River, and one of Amy and Rory. Donna's eyes lingered on River's picture for a moment, trying to process everything she had learned about her.
"Were they…were they happy? The Doctor and River?" Donna asked after a moment, not able to keep the question inside.
"For a while. Then they sort of went their separate ways for a bit," Jane said, sadly thinking of Manhattan. "They saw each other a few more times before the Library. Dad was…quiet for a few days after he saw her that last time. Didn't come out of his room for days. He never really talked about her afterwards."
"Losing her, it really hurt him," Donna noted and Jane nodded.
"River wasn't exactly his first love. He's had people like Rose, although I do wonder how much of that was just him needing someone after the Time War, and his wife on Gallifrey, he even mentioned someone named Romana from time to time. But River was special. She was the only woman who knew him completely, the good, the bad and the ugly. And she loved him not in spite of it, but because of it. It wasn't something Dad had ever had before. I don't think he was ever really able to accept that there was nothing he could do to save her," Jane said with a faraway look in her eyes.
Donna was silent, her heart breaking for The Doctor all over again. What more could he lose?
But there would apparently be much more for him to lose, if the grave Jane had shown them was any indication. It was this thought that steeled Donna and allowed her to bring up her next concern.
"Can I ask you something?" Donna asked and Jane looked at her curiously. "What happened? How did he…"
"Like I said, it's complicated," Jane said and an annoyed look crossed Donna's face. "But, I think you've earned part of the answer. In the future, the near future for you, there will be a paradox. One so powerful it nearly destroys New York. So powerful it rips a brief hole in time and space. When that happens, it lets something out."
"What?" Donna asked and Jane smiled tightly.
"Spoilers," Jane said and Donna gave her an irritated look. "I said I'd give you part of the answer, not the full one. Not yet. But what got out began manipulating Dad's life from that point on. By the time Dad was able to figure it out, it was too late for him to do anything about it."
"So, you're trying to prevent the paradox?" Donna asked and Jane shook her head.
"The Paradox may be unavoidable. I'm trying to prevent what came after," Jane said, her eyes haunted by what came after. "Is that good enough for now?"
"I guess," Donna muttered, still not completely satisfied.
"Wasn't talking to you," Jane said, turning her head slightly.
Donna followed her gaze and was surprised to see Jack standing in the doorway. How long had he been standing there, Donna wondered.
"Is that good enough for now?" Jane repeated.
"For now. But I expect a full answer at some point," Jack told her and she nodded in understanding.
"And you'll get it. For now, let's find Mickey, Martha and Wilf, get some breakfast and then start again," Jane suggested.
Jack and Donna exchanged a look and Jack shrugged, finding no issue this. So Donna nodded and the three exited the office, on their way to wake up the others so they could get started.
Gave you guys some little hints here about what happened with The Doctor, and I will continue to do so as the story goes until the truth is revealed.
Now, onto The Vampires of Venice.