The Doctor watched her face light up as she approached the blue box on the sidewalk. She ran one hand appreciatively along the smooth wood.
"You know," she said turning to him, "I always loved this thing, but now-- now that I understand what it is, how it works. Well," she looked a little overwhelmed, "Now I just..." she shook her head, for once at a loss for words. The Doctor just nodded in understanding, resisting the urge to reach out and give it a pat as well. "And, it's the only one of its kind, " she said sadly. Their eyes met again.
Just then the door opened and Martha poked her head out. "Oh hi!," she said, "We were just starting to worry." She gave Donna a knowing look, "I know how he can be with mums." She stepped out and gave Donna a hug. "So you're OK then? He worked it all out?"
The Doctor and Donna exchanged glances.
"Err, well, not exactly," admitted the Doctor. "We're in a bit of a rush to get inside and work on that right now."
"Oh, sorry," Martha stepped to the side and let them pass, noting the very Doctor-like look of excitement on Donna's face. It was the look he usually got when they were faced with an impossible problem.
The Doctor and Donna fell immediately into a rapid exchange, speaking too low for Martha to hear, their heads almost touching as they leaned in towards one another over the console. She wondered if this was how he had been with his own kind-- people who could keep up with his genius, who knew what we was going on about with all the technobabble. She thought probably not as she closed the door behind her.
"So, then we have to reroute the--" Donna stopped mid-sentence and started to smile over the Doctors shoulder.
"Hey there," said Jack, heading over to them, but he slowed when he saw the look on her face. It had changed from happy welcome to something closer to distress. She put one hand to her chest as if she were having trouble catching her breath.
"Is she OK?" asked Martha rushing over. "Is it the metacrisis? It's hurting her already?"
The Doctor looked up, glancing from Donna to Jack and back again, a deep frown on his face. He rubbed his eyes and put a hand on Donna's shoulder. "Just look away, think of something else. It'll pass," he spoke softly into her ear.
Donna slumped against him, covering her eyes. "But, but it's just so awful!"
"What's going on Doctor," asked Jack sharply. "What's wrong with her?"
"There's nothing wrong with her," the Doctor replied, not meeting his eyes. "I told you before-- it's you that's wrong Jack. She can just see that now, that's all."
Jack drew back as if he'd been slapped.
"It's nothing personal," the Doctor added before turning back to Donna."Better?"
"A little," she wiped a thin sheen of sweat from her forehead. "It's... it's just so wrong. I don't know why... but it's like everything breaks around him."
"Time breaks around him," said the Doctor. "He doesn't move along with it like the rest of us. He's like a rock in a river."
Donna was nodding, "yeah, that's what it's like. It's terrible. But I think I'm OK now. I think I can look." She threw a quick glance at Jack and closed her eyes once more. Taking a deep breath, she straightened up. The Doctor kept a hand on her shoulder. She looked directly at Jack, barely flinching this time. "I'm sorry. I'm so..." she trailed off, realizing she was borrowing the Doctor's words.
"No, it's OK," said Jack, not sounding very OK at all. "I was just going to go do some work.." he looked around vaguely before gesturing to a far corner of the control room, "over there..."
"Come on Donna," said the Doctor, "we need to get this working." She nodded and they both hunched back over the console. They were soon immersed in tiny parts and long words all punctuated by the occasional whine of the sonic screwdriver (which, Martha noticed, got handed casually back and forth between the two).
Martha wandered over to Jack, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hey," she said simply.
"Think you can stand looking at me?" he asked glumly.
"Oh," she tried to sound flirtatious, "you're not so bad to look at."
He smiled back, irrepressible as always, and put an arm around her shoulder. "So what do you make of those two," he nodded towards the console.
"Thick as thieves they are."
"He's basically talking to himself you realize," said Jack. "And he thinks I'm narcissistic."
"You're dealing with it all very well," she said, surprised at his light tone.
"Oh, I'm a hard man to keep down."
She felt a blush burning on her face as he held her gaze. Finally she broke the stare and swatted him on the shoulder. "You never stop do you?"
He smiled at her, still standing very, very close. "Do you want me to stop?"
She held up her left hand, palm towards her, flashing the ring on her finger.
Jack rolled his eyes. "You 21st century girls..."
"Haw!" Donna's yell interrupted them followed closely by the Doctor's almost identical exclamation. "Haw!"
"Is that a good sound?" Martha asked.
"Yes!" said the Doctor, holding up something too small for her to see. "Yes it is." He turned to Donna and she held out her hand demurely. The Doctor slipped the ring onto her finger.
"We have to stop meeting this way..." joked Donna.
"I don't know which is worse," muttered Jack. "The technobabble or the humor. I'm beginning to think that one Doctor is about all the universe can handle."
"I know what you mean..." Martha whispered back.
"What are you two going on about, now?" asked Donna. "Haven't you heard? We have a planet to save!"
ok, that part seemed to be mostly filler-- didn't really plan for all that chit-chat. Promise plot picks up again in the next chapter! Reviews will help me keep going (actually, most of the end is done, just need to fill in the middle bits). Thanks!
