Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who. So, thanks for the reads, basically, we're doing Stolen Earth now, so spoilers. This is all Donna's POV, too, so I'm sort of assuming you've seen it. Anyway, please let me know what you think because it's getting sort of lonely and happy reading!
The Doctor immediately took he and Donna to Earth. They arrived somewhere in London and ran outside to find...
"Everything's normal," said Donna.
The only sign of activity was a milkman doing his morning deliveries.
"What day is this?," asked the Doctor.
"Saturday," the milkman answered eyeing the pair quizzically.
"I like Saturdays. Saturdays are good."
"So I just met your ex?," asked Donna.
"I don't know if I'd call her my ex," said the Doctor.
"What do you mean she's not your ex?," asked Donna.
He turned, confronted by her glare. "I didn't mean it like that! I mean there was hardly anything done that could make me consider her an 'ex' as you would put it," he said making air quotes in exasperation.
The milkman was staring at them.
"You said she was in a parallel world," said Donna. She found her memories of the Time Beetle universe were already slipping away for the most part.
"Exactly. If she can cross from her parallel world to your parallel world, then that means the walls of the universe are breaking down, which puts everything in danger. Everything, but how?"
They walked back in the TARDIS. The Doctor fidgeted around with the console.
Donna took a breath. "Okay, I get that this is a big deal and all and something really bad's happening, I get that..."
The Doctor looked up at her.
"So, Rose is coming back," said Donna.
"I'll take care of it, Donna."
"Really? How do you plan on breaking that?"
"Gently."
"I don't know if there's a gentle way to say 'Sorry you were in that parallel world, but I've found someone else'," said Donna. "You're sort of bad with big, emotional announcements."
"Like when?"
"Like 'I didn't mean the detox' and then slinking away like nothing happened."
The Doctor nodded. "Okay, you have a point."
Donna sighed, remembering the current announcement she was failing at delivering. "Doctor, I have to tell you something."
The TARDIS gave a big crash and they both fell to the floor.
"What the hell was that?," asked Donna.
"It came from outside," said the Doctor, running to the doorway.
He opened the doors and found nothing but space, rocks floating lazily by them. Donna joined him.
"What did you do?," she asked.
He ran back to the console. "We haven't moved. We're fixed. The TARDIS is still in the same place, but the Earth is gone. The entire planet... it's gone!"
Donna looked around the console. "Doctor, if the Earth's been moved, there's no sun. What'll happen? What about my Mum? And Grandad? They're dead? Aren't they? Are they dead?"
The Doctor looked up at her helplessly. "I don't know. I just don't know. I'm sorry. I don't know."
"That's my family," said Donna. "That's my whole world."
He looked up. "I know, Donna." He looked back to the monitor. "There's no readings, nothing. Not a trace. Not even a whisper. Oh, that is fearsome technology."
"So, what do we do?"
"We've got to get help." He went back to the navigation controls. "Donna, I'm taking you to the Shadow Proclamation. Hold tight."
Donna gripped the console. "And that is what, exactly?!"
"Posh name for police. Outer space police. Here we go!" He initiated a control that sent him on his back onto the console.
He got up.
"Okay, just a few things before we go," said the Doctor.
"You're giving me tips about a place?," asked Donna. "Before we go? That's different."
"Yeah, first thing, you might not want to say we're married."
Donna narrowed her gaze. "Why not?"
"Well, you might be treated as an accessory to various... things."
"What things?"
"Laws are a little different here. They arrested the Oracle once. That really wasn't good for anyone. When you get out there, you might notice that this place is asteroids that are connected by walkways and one of the walkways doesn't go anywhere..."
"Is that what they want you for?," Donna asked with dread.
"No, that's what they want her for. Like I said various things. She didn't take it too kindly."
"What things?," Donna repeated.
"Well, if I told you about them, then you would know, then you might actually be an accessory."
"To what?!"
"Well," said the Doctor looking around, "theft of a TARDIS."
"What?!"
They walked outside and were greeted by rhinos in black leather.
"Sco po tro no flow jo ko fo to to."
The Doctor answered them. "No bo ho so ko ro toe so."
Donna looked over at him.
"Bo-ko-do-zo-go-bo-fo-po-jo!," the Doctor continued.
The rhino men lowered their guns.
"Ma ho," the Doctor finished.
"What did you just call me?," asked Donna.
They were led to the office of the Shadow Architect. She was sort of thin and pale with cross-looking red eyes.
Or maybe that was just seeing the Doctor.
"Time Lords are the stuff of legend. They belong in the myths and whispers of the Higher Species. You cannot possibly exist," she said.
"Maybe they lost your arrest warrants," Donna whispered.
The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, more to the point, I've got a missing planet."
"Then, you're not as wise as the stories would say. The picture is far bigger than you imagine. The whole universe is in outrage, Doctor - twenty-four worlds have been taken from the sky."
"How many? Which ones?"
A three-dimensional map popped up. The Doctor ran and put his glasses on.
"The locations range far and wide. They all disappeared at the exact same moment, leaving no trace," said the Shadow Architect.
"Callufrax Minor, Jahoo, Shallacatop, Woman Wept, Clom - Clom's gone?! Who'd want Clom?"
"Didn't you say they had a Disneyland once?," asked Donna.
The Doctor glanced back at her. "It's not as good as Disney Planet."
"All different sizes. Some populated, some not, but all unconnected," said the Architect.
"What about Pyrovilia?," asked Donna.
The Shadow Architect looked crossly at Donna. "Who is the female?"
Donna stiffened. "Donna. I'm a human being. Maybe not the stuff of legend, but every bit as important as Time Lords, thank you." Donna looked at the Doctor, catching his smile. "Way back when we started, that auger, he said Pyrovilia had gone missing."
"Pyrovilia is a cold case," said the Judoon. "Not relevant."
"What do you mean?," asked Donna.
"The planet Pyrovilia cannot be part of this, it disappeared over two-thousand years ago," said the Shadow Architect.
"Yes, yes. Hang on. But there's the Adipose breeding planet too. Miss Foster said that was lost. That must have been a long time ago." She looked up at the Doctor.
"That's it! Donna, brilliant! The planets have been taken out of time as well as space. Now, if we add Pyrovilia and Adipose 3." He stopped and stared at it, searching. "There's something missing. Where else, where else, where else, lost, lost, lost, lost...? Oh! The Lost Moon of Poosh!"
"Poosh?," asked Donna.
The Doctor added it and the planets rearranged themselves.
"What was that?," asked Donna.
"What did you do?," asked the Shadow Architect.
"I didn't do anything," said the Doctor, staring at the planets. "They arranged themselves. They fit together like that, like a puzzle, like an engine. It's like a power house. But what for?"
He turned around. "Donna, come on, think. Earth. There must have been some sort of warning. Was there anything happening back in your day, like... electrical storms, freak weather, patterns in the sky?"
"How should I know? I don't know..."
The Doctor sighed, turning away.
"Although there were the bees disappearing," said Donna.
"The bees, Donna?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, the bees!"
"The bees!"
"Shouting at me won't help! That's all I have!"
"No, Donna, the bees! The bees disappearing!" He ran to the computer.
"How is this significant?," asked the architect.
Donna hurried over next to the Doctor. "On Earth, we have these insects. Some people said it was pollution or mobile phone signals."
"Or they were going home," said the Doctor.
"Going home?," asked Donna.
"To Melissa Majoria."
"You mean bees are aliens?" She then realized what the inevitable response for this comment was.
"Don't be ridiculous, Donna. Not all of them." He turned to see her mouthing the words he had just said. She smiled at him. "Anyway... if the migrant bees felt something, some sort of danger, and escaped... Tandocca!"
"The Tandocca Scale," said the Architect.
"The what?," asked Donna.
"The Tandocca Scale is a series of wavelengths used as carrier signals by migrant bees. Infinitely small, no wonder we didn't see it. It's like looking for a speck of cinnamon in the Sahara. But look!There it is! The Tandocca trail!," he said pointing at the screen. "The transmat that moved that planets was using the same wavelength! We can follow the path!"
Donna was already running for the TARDIS. "And find the Earth! Well, stop talking and do it!"
"I am!," he said running after her.
"Doesn't look like it! Still scared of my mum?!"
"She had an axe, Donna!"
Donna looked back, totally relishing being in front of him for a change. They rushed to the console.
"We're a bit late. The signal's scattered, but it's a start!" He hurried back to the door to talk to the Shadow Architect. "I've got a blip! It's just a blip, but it's definitely a blip."
"Then according to the strictures of the Shadow Proclamation, I will have to seize your transport and your technology."
"Oh, really? What for?"
"The planets were stolen with hostile intent. We are declaring war, Doctor! Right across the universe! And you will lead us into battle!"
Donna looked over at the Doctor. He didn't seem to be loving this idea. "Right. Yes. Course I will. Just go and... get you a key."
He shut the door and ran back to the console. "Just so you know, you are probably an accessory to that."
Donna rolled her eyes. "Being married to you has some many benefits."
He started the controls. The rota rose and fell as they hung on to the console. Then it stopped.
Donna looked at the Doctor. "What just happened?"
"It stopped."
"What do you mean? Is that good or bad? Where are we?"
"The Medusa Cascade." He looked at her. "I came here when I was just a kid. Ninety years old. It was the center of a rift in time and space."
"Where are the planets?," asked Donna.
"Nowhere. The Tandocca trail stops dead. End of the line."
"So, what do we do? Doctor? What do we do?"
He looked at her with an air of defeat.
She shook her head. "Please, Doctor, don't give up. You never give up. I never gave up on you. Please, this is my planet, my family. Now, tell me what we're going to do."
The Doctor sat on the jump seat. He motioned for Donna to join him. She did, slumping with her head on his shoulder.
"We're going to be together," said the Doctor. "Alright? No matter what."
Donna nodded, she felt tears coming down her face. "Yeah."
She finally realized what he had been going through all this time. How much pain. They were alike now.
"Doctor," said Donna, "I have to tell you something."
There was a beeping from the console.
"Phone!," the Doctor shouted, leaping towards it.
"Phone!," Donna echoed.
He picked the mobile up off the console. "Martha, is that you?!" He looked at Donna. "It's a signal."
"Can we follow it?"
He pulled his stethoscope out of his pocket. "Oh, you watch me, Donna!"
He put the mobile on the console and pressed the stethoscope to it. "Got it! Locking on!"
He started the console controls again. "We're travelling through time! One second in the future! The phone call's pulling us through!"
The TARDIS began lurching more than usual, like a rollercoaster.
Donna gripped the console. "I'm going to be sick."
"What's that, Donna?" The Doctor shouted. He turned his attention back to the console. "Three, two, one!"
The lurched around again, finally ending up still. Donna made her way to look at the monitor with the Doctor.
"You look green," said the Doctor.
"Never mind that," said Donna. "There's the Earth. Why couldn't we see it?"
"The entire Medusa Cascade has been put a second out of sync with the rest of the universe. Perfect hiding place, tiny little pocket of time. But we found them!" The screen began blurring and the Doctor reached to adjust it. "Oh, what is that? Some sort of subwave network..."
Suddenly the screen was split into squares. Martha on one, but Donna didn't know the rest as they began talking over her.
"Where have you been?"
"It's the Daleks!"
"But it's not just Dalek Caan!"
"They're taking the people! But we don't know what for!"
Donna looked at the Doctor. "Who are these people?"
"Well, that must be Torchwood, aren't they brilliant? Oh." He turned to face her. "That's Jack, just..." He turned back to the screen and pointed a finger at the man. "Don't. And that's Sarah Jane. Who's that boy?"
"So, it's like outer space Facebook!"
"Yeah, everyone's here..." said the Doctor.
The screen turned to white noise.
"We lost them," said Donna.
"No, no, no, no, no! There's another signal coming through, there's someone else out there." He hit the top of the monitor. "Hello? Can you hear me?"
"Doctor..." a voice said.
The Doctor gripped Donna's wrist.
"Your voice is different, and yet, its arrogance is unchanged."
A figure appeared on the screen, a man Donna thought would be best described as a mix of the Star Wars Emperor and a wheelchair. He spoke. "It is only fitting that you should bear witness to the resurrection and the triumph of Davros, Lord and Creator of the Dalek Race."
His grip got tighter.
"Have you got nothing to say?"
"Doctor, it's alright," said Donna. "We're in the TARDIS. We're safe."
The Doctor kept his gaze fixed on Davros. "But you were destroyed. In the first year of the Time War at the Gates of Elysium. I saw your command ship flying into the jaws of the Nightmare Child. I tried to save you..."
"But it took one stronger than you. Dalek Caan himself."
A robot, pepper pot thing appeared. Donna realized it was a Dalek, the thing she had only heard about.
It looked like a pepper pot.
"I flew into the wild and fire. I danced and died a thousand times!"
Clearly, a mad pepper pot.
"Emergency temporal shift took him back into the Time War itself," said Davros.
"But that's impossible, the entire War is time-locked," said the Doctor.
"And yet, he succeeded. Oh, it cost him his mind, but imagine - a single, simple Dalek succeeded where Emperors and Time Lords have failed. A testament, don't you think, to my remarkable creations?
"And you made a new race of Daleks," said the Doctor.
"I gave myself to them. Quite literally. Each one grown from a cell of my own body." He opened his jacket to reveal visible ribs and heart.
"I'm going to be sick," Donna whispered.
"New Daleks. True Daleks. I have my children, Doctor. What do you have, now?"
"Davros," he said, "After all this time... everything we saw, everything we lost... I have only one thing to say to you. Bye!"
He pulled a lever and looked madly at Donna as the TARDIS landed.
"Okay," said Donna, "just tell me you're okay. I understand about the Daleks and all. Just you're not about to go mad or anything?"
"Well, no more than usual."
Donna nodded. "Okay."
He frowned at her. "Are you alright? You said you weren't feeling well. Do you need to stay in here?"
Donna shook her head. Just now he was paying attention! "I'm not letting you go out there on your own."
They stepped out of the TARDIS. The street was a shambles, devoid of people.
"We're here," said Donna, following the Doctor out. "It's like a ghost town."
"Sarah Jane said they were taking the people, but what for? Donna, in the parallel universe, what did Rose say?"
"Why don't you ask her yourself?"
The Doctor turned to see Rose. She was holding a giant gun. Rose began running towards them and that's when the Doctor spotted the Dalek coming from the shadows.
"Rose, don't!," he shouted, sprinting towards her.
"Exterminate!"
Donna realized instantly what it was and that's when it shot the Doctor.
"Doctor!," Donna shouted, horrified. Someone blew the head off the Dalek as she ran towards the Doctor. She held him. "Come on. I've got you. It missed, right? It missed!"
The Doctor was looking at Donna. "I'm sorry, Donna."
She shook her head. "What? Don't be sorry."
"This is it."
Donna realized what he meant.
"This regeneration?"
"Yeah."
He looked afraid.
She shook her head. "I won't leave you. I promise."
Rose's arrival was signalled by the clattering of a large gun on the tarmac. She knelt down beside the Doctor, trying to take him in her arms, clearly having missed that he and Donna were in the middle of something.
"It's alright, Doctor, I'm here."
"Hi..." the Doctor said uneasily. "Long time no see."
Rose smiled. "Oh, you know, I was busy." She was starting to lose it. "Don't die. Oh, my God, don't die."
"Come on." Donna looked up to see Jack had arrived in the flesh. "Let's get him in the TARDIS."
Next Time: Journey's End and things get awkward... Reviews are like thinking you had finished off your bag of Nestle Crunch Easter Eggs and finding there was one more! Or insert Easter candy of your choice.