Chapter 7: Let it Begin

oOo

"It is," said the Doctor, looking equally disgusted. "It seems that whoever this man is, he's the boss of the camp. What else did he say?"

"Something about how her daddy will come running when he sees his daughter in danger."

The Doctor shuddered; he could only imagine how he might feel if it was his own daughter, Jenny, in that situation. But Jenny was dead, he had held her in his arms as she drew her last breath. Shaking this thought from his mind, the Doctor vowed to do what he could to save the daughter of this anonymous man; while he had lost his own daughter, the Doctor couldn't bear the thought of someone else going through the same thing.

oOo

The three days passed by quickly, with not much being learned to further the investigation into the goings on at the Grove. But that did not matter much, for what really interested Donna, Jamie, and the Doctor was the upcoming ceremony. When the day of said ceremony arrived, the three were resting and relaxing in the TARDIS. Because it was the day of the ceremony, Jamie and the Doctor had been given the day off and were free to go wherever they liked within the Grove, which they did plan on doing as soon as they left the TARDIS with Donna in tow wearing her perception filter.

At the moment, the three of them were in Donna's room, with Donna sitting on her bed and the Doctor and Jamie reclining in a couple of wicker chairs; they were all facing each other in a kind of triangular circle.

"I feel like I'm back in university," Donna commented.

"What makes you say that?" the Doctor asked.

"Because my friends and I would always hang out in my dorm room like this, just relaxing and enjoying each other's company," Donna replied.

"And drinking, perhaps?"

Donna looked at Jamie. "Now whatever makes you say that?"

"Trust me; being a university professor, I know these things. I pick up tidbits here and there about what students get up to."

Donna looked guilty.

"You did, didn't you?" the Doctor asked her, amused.

"Well, yeah, we might have," said Donna. "It was all in good fun, though! We had a great time, and we used to hide the bottled under my bed so school officials who occasionally came by wouldn't find them."

Jamie and the Doctor laughed at this.

"Donna Noble," said the Doctor with a grin. "Is there anything else we should know about you?"

Donna grinned back and said in a coy manner, "All in good time, my Time Lord and human companions."

"You sound like the Doctor," Jamie remarked.

"Well, I am a female version of him," Donna replied. "Partially, at any rate. Making that clone put a bit of himself inside me. Or something like that."

Jamie grinned evilly and glanced at the Doctor. He said, "So, Doctor, whenever you kiss Donna, you're basically kissing yourself? My my, I never thought you'd be so self-infatuated."

The Doctor glared at him and sternly replied, "She's mostly Donna; she only has a bit of myself in her. So when I kiss Donna, I'm kissing mostly her. And if you ever tell Jack what you just said to me, I'll plunk you down on a distant uninhabited planet and never speak to you again."

Jamie threw back his head and laughed loudly.

"What happens if I tell Jack?" Donna asked innocently.

The Doctor glared at her. "Don't even think about it."

Donna grinned. "Oh all right, have it your way, space man," she said.

"Thank you," the Doctor replied.

After a little while more of ambling chatter, Donna, Jamie, and the Doctor went to the TARDIS to fix something to eat. When they were done, the Doctor made the suggestion of going outside and mingling with the Grove's fellow patrons.

"Beats hanging around inside here all day," the Doctor finished.

"But I like it in here," said Donna.

"Aye," Jamie agreed. "So many places inside this ship to explore."

"He's probably explored them all already," Donna said to Jamie.

"So what if I have?" the Doctor replied. "You'll have plenty of time for exploring later. Come on; let's mingle!" The Doctor ended this by hopping from one foot to the other in anticipation, head tilted and a boyish grin on his face.

Donna took one look at him then shook her head, grinning to herself.

"Oh all right, come on," she said. From out of her pocket, she drew the perception filter and put it on. "Let's get moving!"

Donna, Jamie, and the Doctor stepped outside under the leafy canopy of trees. After closing the TARDIS doors and making sure they were locked, they set off toward the main center of the encampment. It was easy going at first, due to the flat ground and solitude due to the remote location they were at, but once they drew closer to the Grove's center, the land started rising and more and more people began appearing here and there. Donna was having to be rather careful, for she knew that if she were to bump into even one person, her cover would be blown. So it was in such a manner that the three reached the center of the encampment, and once they did, Donna made sure to stick as close as she could to the Doctor and Jamie without bumping into anyone else.

The first place Jamie and the Doctor went to was the restaurant café; the reason, they whispered to Donna in hushed tones so that no one would hear, was so that they could pick up their paychecks.

"Paychecks?" Donna whispered back, keeping her voice equally low. "You've only been working here for three days!"

"The manager likes to do things differently," Jamie said to her. "Likes paying us by the day."

"Does that include everyone or just you two?"

"Just us two," said the Doctor. "Weird, now I come to think of it."

"Maybe he can see into the future and knows you two will be leaving soon?"

"Now, Donna," the Doctor began. "No human can actually see into the future. They might think they can, but it's really just a slip in the space-time psychonetic neutron-manipulation barrier that gives certain people who are more sensitive to spacial movement flows the illusion of seeing into the future, when really all they're seeing is blips and pictures brought in from other universes."

Jamie looked at Donna. "Do you have any idea what he just said?"

"Not really, even though I'm a Time Lady."

The Doctor sighed. "It's all just an illusion brought on due to spacial disturbances."

"That makes so much more sense."

"Bite me, McCrimmon."

"Settle down, you two," said Donna. "Go grab your paychecks so we can mingle around."

After the paychecks had been picked up and the three had left the building, they ran into, what was to Jamie and the Doctor at any way, a familiar face.

"Jamie, Doctor!"

It was the driver who had taken the two mentioned to the main encampment a few days previously. The Doctor had hoped he would not see them, especially with Donna in tow, but that wish was not to be granted. As such the Doctor, and Jamie, eyed him warily.

"Oh, hello," said the Doctor. "What was your name?"

"Kevin," he replied. Kevin held out his hand in greeting, which Jamie shook. Then Kevin turned to the Doctor and asked, "So, your girlfriend still as bangable as ever?"

"Can I ask why you want to know?" the Doctor said to Kevin.

Kevin shrugged. "Curiosity," he replied. "Do you still have that picture of her? Can I see it?"

"Um…no," said the Doctor.

"Understandable," said Kevin. "That girlfriend of yours is pretty hot. Of course, she's probably so bangable that you want to keep her to yourself. Shame, really; I'd be willing to share her."

The Doctor place his face in the palm of his hands while Jamie roared with laughter. Kevin laughed along with Jamie then, bidding them good-bye, went on his way toward a group of official looking men.

As soon as Kevin was out of earshot, Donna said, "Did he just say what I think he said?"

"Unfortunately," said the Doctor.

"If he ever says anything like that again," Donna said in a low, dangerous voice, "I'll make sure he can never "bang" anyone ever again. You can be sure of that."

"In that case," said Jamie, "let's make sure you keep a safe distance from him, for his safety, hm?"

"Best idea I've heard all day," said the Doctor. "Come on, Donna, Jamie, let's mingle some more."

And mingle they did, all the way until that evening, when the ceremony was to begin.

The sun was setting, casting shadows over everything its rays touched. And it was time for the ceremony to begin. As everyone headed to the amphitheater-like area, Donna, Jamie, and the Doctor made sure to stick close together; they did not want to get separated. The three of them went with the flow of the crowd to the seating area, where they thankfully found seating all together (thankfully, because seating was apparently hard to come by). What's more, they found with some luck, that they had found seats right at the edge of the seating area, at the very front by the lake. Little did they know that this would prove useful later on in the ceremony; at the moment, they were merely grateful to be getting a good view.