Donna Noble was annoyed. She was many other things as well – most notably majorly confused about how exactly she'd ended up in Cardiff, of all places, but for the most part she was annoyed.

Because it was just so bloody typical, wasn't it. She'd saved the whole of reality from a cackling madman and his oversized pepperpots, created a human-time lord metacrisis, thereby making herself the DoctorDonna, the Doctor had wiped her memory to save her... only now it turned out he wasn't even right, was he? She'd changed more than he'd given her credit for, she'd gained the ability to regenerate. Granted, she'd regenerated into herself at 10-ish years old, judging by her hair colour, rather than into a completely different face the way he did, but that was beside the point. The actual point was that the process had rewired her brain, giving her back not only her own memories, but also – a little harder to reach – the Doctor's, the whole reason she'd nearly fried her own brain.

Which left her stranded, really. Whatever had transported her from London to Cardiff, likely happening simultaneously with but separate from the regeneration, might just as well have dropped her off in the past or the future. Her guess was past, since most major city centres had long since banned cars, and the vehicles she could see here were much blockier than the sleek designs she'd been used to in her time.

So, first things first, she needed to figure out the date, and decide on her next course of action depending on the answer. She didn't much fancy living on the streets, but who could she go to? Not to herself – either she hadn't met the Doctor yet, she was travelling with him, or she'd forgotten him, and in that last case she would have remembered a 10-year-old her contacting her.

She would have to do something about the clothes fairly soon too, the constant adjusting so they wouldn't slip off was adding to her annoyance.

Just as she set off in search of a newspaper stand – yes, she was aware of the cliché, thank you very much, but it was better than asking a random person – a familiar figure rounded the corner into the deserted street she'd found herself on. Donna couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. There could only be one person in the greater Cardiff area running around in a World War II greatcoat. If her guess about being in the past was correct and he hadn't met her grown-up self yet, he'd know to keep his mouth shut about current events when that time came. And not only that, but he'd seen enough during his time with the Doctor, and his time in Cardiff for that matter, to listen to her story with an open mind.

"Jack!" she said when the man was close enough to hear her. He was pointing some sort of scanner at her, though he stopped walking when he heard his name to regard her suspiciously.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

"You might? It sort of depends on what year it is."

She could tell that comment piqued his interest.

"It is May of 1991."

Donna harrumphed and crossed her arms in front of her in mock outrage. "Good god, I'm living through the nineties again?"

In response, Jack showed his trademark thousand watt smile for the first time. "I can tell there's quite a story attached to your appearance. Wanna talk in a more comfortable place? It's not exactly Torchwood procedure, but who the hell cares about those, anyway."

Donna nodded emphatically. "Yes please! And if we could find some more size-appropriate clothes, that would be wonderful."

Jack grinned and offered his arm. "Well, my lady... what's your name?"

"Donna, Donna Noble."

"My lady Donna... I'm sure something can be arranged."

She smiled back at him and took the offered arm. "Lead the way, sir Harkness!" She ignored the sideways glance he gave her. There'd be time enough to explain – or at least sum up – how they'd met. Were going to meet. God, she hadn't even started yet and the tenses were already giving her a headache.

Some time later they were sitting opposite each other in a Cardiff cafe. He was drinking coffee, she a hot chocolate. She found she'd lost her taste for the bitter beverage, though she suspected she'd find it again eventually. She had explained as much as she could without creating a paradox along the way. Even now, she hoped she hadn't given away too much by admitting that he did eventually find the Doctor again.

"Ok, so now what?" Jack asked.

She thought he was probably still trying to wrap his head around the whole tale, but she'd given enough details for him not to doubt her word. It helped that she didn't have to convince him of the time travelling aspect of it.

"Well, I was hoping you'd be able to help me. I'll need something like a legal guardian, until I can take care of myself again. I'll have to go back to school!" Jack laughed at the horrified expression on her face, and she chuckled ruefully back.

"Anyway, I wouldn't be too much trouble. I can keep myself busy just fine, it'd just be a legality. D'you think you can help with that?"

Jack nodded. "I can come up with an arrangement, yeah. I have a flat for when I want to get away from Torchwood for a while, I can put you up there. It's not seeing much use otherwise, anyway. Not like my daughter ever visits or anything."

Donna felt her eyebrows rise up of their own accord. "You have a daughter? You never mentioned her before."

Jack laughed, although there was little humour in it. "I can imagine. Our relationship is tense enough as it is, what with my condition. I'm not sure when in my relative timeline we meet, but I'm fairly sure something will happen between now and then that I won't want to bring her up every chance I get. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, how about I show you my place, we get you settled in, and in the coming week we get the legalities taken care of. How does that sound?"

Donna nodded and smiled. "Sounds good. I do appreciate your doing this, Jack, I really do. Especially since we haven't actually met yet."

Jack shrugged and showed her his famous smile. "Anything for a friend, Donna. Future or otherwise."